The Political Dogfight

Olbermann Apologizes For Shuster

Good HRC Campaign Commercial Featuring Bobby Jr.

The Real Obama?

I believe we are beginning to see the real Barrack Obama. He is a product, as he has said, of the Chicago 'rough' political school. It is a school versed in dirty politics and illegal tactics. I do not believe Senator Obama has done any thing illegal. Certainly not.

Yet repeatedly, since announcing his candidacy, he has struck out at specific people, usually HRC, using passive-aggressive language that is hard to pin down for rebuttal. It's a highly skilled language technique.

He is reportedly Tony Robbins trained, not a bad thing in itself, yet I personally believe he isn't using that training consistently as intended. It can be highly manipulative.

Newt Ginrich was another Robbins trainee who took the training to another level when he went an NLP training facility for a number of weeks. It served him well. It didn't serve the USA well but it got him to a majority in Congress.

Brilliant when reading a speech from a teleprompter, and appearing to be extemporaneous, Obama fumbled a number of times in earlier debates. I watched on pre-primary debate with a cowboy buddy. (A real cowboy...not a line-dancer.)

He turned to me at one point and said, "Isn't he the one that supposed to speak really well?"  "Yep.", I said.

He replied that he couldn't understand how Obama got the reputation as he was doing so poorly. Interesting comment from a man who thinks all politicians are crooks.

Senator Obama has now shifted to direct, angry attacks whenever he's confronted by his own comments, votes or record. (Another trait that Robbins would not condone.)

Sorry, but Obama did glorify Ronald Reagan, a man I admired as a man and despised as a Governor and President, and the 'transformative' movement he 'created'. [In fact that 'movement' had been in the works for many years by powers behind the Republican party. Reagan inherited the decades of work  of others.]

If Obama can be so rattled in a relatively supportive setting what will he do when he doesn't have a substantial majority in either House and is confronted with a Republican threat to shut down the government yet again? Bill Clinton called their bluff and let them shut down the government. The Republicans were roundly 'booed' by the American public and that action led to fracturing of the Republican majority and the retirement of Newt Ginrich. That's just one topic.

What about the nuclear threat in Pakistan and India?

Can he handle that kind of pressure? Standing up to conflicting decisions that have substantial impact far beyond the original action is one strength needed in a President. George Bush has shown us exactly what happens when a President has to rely on advisers to program his answers.We do not need another President that needs that much help.

What happens when Obama learns that the world isn't a happy place waiting to reconcile and join hands? What happens then he learns that rhetoric won't move Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel or the Palestinians?

Those subjects need cold hard analysis with an eye to the consequence of actions. Then the President has to be aware of the consequence of that consequence etc. Thinking 4-5 steps ahead of the action helps lead to effective original choices.

Could Barrack Obama stand up to that kind of pressure with grace and strength? He hasn't shown that to us yet.

I would like to see both John Edwards, HRC and Senator Obama be equipped with exact dates, times and places conflicts in the debate.

Obama does seems to change interpretations when it's in his best interest. Perhaps that's a mis-perception on my part. I think, however, that they aren't allowed to bring notes to the podium. Too bad it would serve everyone better including Senator Obama.

"Clinton's Successful Wager"-Newsweek

From Newsweek:

"The scene on Saturday morning in the employees' cafeteria at Las Vegas's Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino provided a glimpse of where the day was headed. When Sen. Hillary Clinton arrived to greet workers and urge them to caucus for her, they mobbed her like paparazzi. <>Most of these people were members of the Culinary Workers Union—an organization that endorsed Sen. Barack Obama and boasted a muscular turnout operation. Yet judging from their response to Clinton, many decided to part ways with the union's leadership and exercise their own ideas about who to support. "I will vote for Hillary," said Martin Corona, a banquet server who was planning to caucus later that day. "She has a lot of experience. She's better than the new man. I don't know where he comes from." Cinthya Fernandez, a housekeeper, added enthusiastically, "We're going to make history this year." Among the half-dozen union members interviewed by Newsweek, all but one declared themselves Clinton supporters."

From "Clinton's Successful Wager" Newsweek. Worth the time to see how the race shaped up.

Take note: I am frontpaging at The Democratic Daily as an invited author. Please visit that very good blog for a well rounded view of the Democratic race. I will be crossposting here as time permits. Please bookmark The Democratic Daily.

9/11 Anniversary....a New Video "We Need To Get One Helluva Lot Smarter..."

A few months ago this video was produced by Polcampaign at YouTube. It was hard hitting and he debated a long time before allowing The Political Dogfight to finally publish it on this 9/11 Anniversary.

It says a lot about our current leadership and the horrors of 9/11 that are such a reminder of another horror....Pearl Harbor.

The Political Dogfight is proud to sponsor this video.

A Video worth seeing again....

The Political Dogfight is on hiatus. That being said this is worth seeing again. The ending is being re-edited for another message. The new version will be posted ASAP.

Enjoy

IN-06: Barry Welsh Announces For 2008 At YearlyKos

Check here for my full story on Barry's announcement. But if you haven't seen Barry before or this is your first exposure to his candidacy in IN-06 check out this red-meat eatin' Democratic Speech given last Labor Day by Barry Welsh.

Our candidates could learn a lot from this speech.

Apologies for the Absence

The Big Dog is going through some difficult times that are requiring my attention. The Political Dogfight will, for all intents and purposes, be on hiatus for the near future.

I will be posting occasionally at The Democratic Daily. Perhaps those will be cross-posted here. My time is at a high premium as I have to allocate it carefully.

This is a time of great import for America and the World. It pains me to withdraw, slightly, from writing on the issues of the day. Hopefully I'll be back to nearly full-time blogging soon. Please be patient.

I'll be attempting to bring qualified authors into the Political Dogfight world. If you know of some candidates please contact me.

RFK....June 5, 1968

The Tough Reality of Work In Washington

A funny but unfortunately true comment from McCain of all people:
"I’m not sure I dislike anyone in this room enough."
-- Sen. John McCain, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on refusing to say who he might choose to lead the Department of Education if he was elected president.
(hat tip: Political Wire)

A Direct Communications Channel and a Post to Elizabeth Edwards

(You can also find this post on the frontpage of The Democratic Daily.)

Elizabeth Edwards made a post at Dkos about Yearly Kos. Late in the game I made a substantive post that I hope catches the eye of someone in the Edwards or other campaigns.

I fully believe there is a new communications channel that can be created for a candidate or organization. This new channel is a Direct One-on-One Voter Communications channel.

The following is an edited portion of the original comment:

<>But your campaign, and the others, are also missing the ability to create an entirely new type of direct one-on-one voter communincations channel.

I believe the other type of 'spin, which really isn't spin, is using a campaign video blogger whose primary job is to get the off-cuff remark or reply from Senator Edwards on the days campaign or some attack or news or ?. A comment from a tired candidate about the days news or the days campaign is a powerful expression of reality.

This is one-on-one communication in the most authentic manner.

VoteVets and Wes Clark Come Down HARD

Here's the latest from VoteVets and Wes Clark...

Protect America, not George Bush---General Bapiste

A Song From the Past That Speaks To the Present

I'm old enough to think back to another pivotal time in our nation's history. It was a time of great optimism, great despair and more than a little bloodshed. Recently I remembered a song that has stuck in my heart all these years. As you know, I adopted it as the theme song for all my blogs.

With so many similarities to the news of that day, I thought you might take a break and enjoy a song from the past that speaks to the present and the future. And yes, on some days it just breaks my heart that we are truly back in the past while deciding our future.

Goddamn Body Armor Issues Still Exist

The issue of proper body armor for our troops has been in the forefront of the mismanagement of this goddamn stupid war. Once again the DoD has rejected Dragon Skin as a body armor bidder even though it's better, lighter and takes an enormous hit. Soldiers for The Truth, founded by the late, great Col. David Hackworth, once again proves it's value by making these video resources easily available.

Think of the soldiers and Marines that could be saved. To demonstrate the armor the following was created as an pure test. Simply damn amazing....(details below)

From DefenseReview here's a direct quote:

Pinnacle Armor Dragon Skin has been in production since 1996, and is battlefield proven by almost every US Federal Agency. It's been proven in real combat engagements against real enemy threats. It is currently, hands down, superior to U.S. Army Natick's Interceptor body armor (USMC Interceptor Multi-Threat Body Armor System Outer Tactical Vest with USMC Interceptor SAPI/ISAPI/ESAPI) with regard to surface area of coverage, protection level (ballistic threat level and multi-hit capability), durability, longevity, and wearability.

And this is the equipment that the Defense Department is refusing to buy. We need a true Congressional Investigation. This smells and endangers our troops.