Barack Obama in 2008!

YOUR SUPPORT IS ALREADY HAVING AN IMPACT! WE ARE LEADING IN IOWA!PLEASE CLICK OUR BUTTONS, UNDERLINED LINKS AND IMAGES BELOW TO GO TO BARACKOBAMA.COM FOR THE MOST PART FOR MORE INFORMATION! OTHER NON-PROFIT, DEMOCRATIC PARTY, PROGRESSIVE AND LIBERAL ORGANIZATIONS ARE ALSO LINKED IN "GENERAL INTERESTS"."ABOUT ME" IS DEVOTED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO BARACK OBAMA IN 2008!..

Click Here to sign the Darfur Petition!VOTEVETS.ORG RESPONDING TO RUSH LIMBAUGH!58,270MAJOR GENERAL JOHN BATISTEFIVE YEARS AGO, THE EXCUSES FOR "THE WORST FOREIGN POLICY BLUNDER IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES" WERE???Obama's Iraq plan: Addressing the humanitarian crisisSenator Obama will establish an international working group dedicated to addressing the Iraqi refugee crisis, increase aid for refugees by $2 billion, work with Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt to boost access to social services for refugees, and also work to create safe haven for internally displaced Iraqis.

He'll also work with the international community to prevent genocide and to hold potential war criminals accountable.Dear Friend,I just declared my support for ending the war in Iraq.Five years ago, President Bush made his case for war at the United Nations. He was wrong. But conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war.Barack Obama made a different judgment five years ago. He opposed the war from the beginning.Join me in supporting Barack Obama and his plan for turning the page in Iraq:Barack Obama's plan will move our country in the right direction. The time has come to turn the page on a failed approach in Iraq.Join me and sign the petition showing your support for ending this war:Thanks.FROOMKIN ON THE BELTWAY AND PETRAEUS: THE PUBLIC AIN'T BUYINGUSA TODAY/GALLUPCBSPEW RESEARCH CENTERIn an interview on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked House Minority Leader John Boehner (Republican, OH) about “the Americans who are killed every month” in Iraq and “how much longer” the “military commitment is going to require?” His reply is below ...

... Good thing 3,774 dead U.S. troops and counting is not expensive
OBAMA SAYS HIT IRAN WHERE IT HURTS72% OF U.S. TROOPS SAY END WAR NOW61% SAY CONGRESS SHOULDN'T FUND WAR WITHOUT A TIMETABLE FOR WITHDRAWALOBAMA VOTES NO ON SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS TO DEMAND CHANGED COURSE IN IRAQTHE PRESIDENT OVERRODE THE EXPRESSED CONCERNS OF GENERALS ON THE GROUNDTHINK FAST - BRIG. GEN. DANA PITTARD: SURGE IS SLOWING EFFORTS TO TRAIN IRAQI FORCESOPPOSITION TO THE WAR FROM THE START



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LABOR DAY IN MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE - WATCH THE VIDEO AND READ THE SPEECH: OBAMA CALLS FOR END TO SPECIAL-INTEREST POLITICS, RETURN TO SENSE OF POSSIBILITYPLEASE VISIT OUR DOWNLOADS PAGE AT WWW.BARACKOBAMA.COM/DOWNLOADS AND GET NEW WEB TOOLS TO STAY CONNECTED TO THE MOVEMENT. THE PAGE INCLUDES BADGES LIKE THE ONE BELOW HERE, BUTTONS, LOGOS, AND MORE TO HELP YOU CUSTOMIZE YOUR WEBSITE; BUDDY ICONS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR BARACK ON INSTANT MESSENGER DEVICE; AND EVEN WIDGETS TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR MYSPACE AND IGOOGLE PAGES WITH OUR LATEST NEWS AND VIDEO FEEDS.REBUILD NEW ORLEANS. REBUILD TRUST. READ BARACK'S PLAN AND WATCH THIS VIDEO.Click on the arrows at the top of the widget to go between "Obama Press" (In The News),"Obama HQ Blog" and "Obama's Senate Podcast" Click on "Options" then "Get Embed Code" to add this widget to your page.

www.barackobama.comWe are excited to announce that you can now be more connected with our campaign for change on these social networking communities:

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Gather.com Gather is a social networking site for young professionals. Become a friend of Barack's at BarackObama.gather.com In addition, you can join our organizing group called "Obama08" on Gather.com. Join this group at:

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CHECK YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY OR USE THE PICS TO ORDER THESE GREAT READS BY THE CANDIDATE!Barack Obama in His Own Words by Barack Obama and Lisa RogakThe Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack ObamaDreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
(CLOSED AND SPANISH CAPTIONING AVAILABLE. PLEASE CLICK THE BUTTON)DNC MEETING SPEECH, FEBRUARY 2007BARACK AND ROLL!

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AUGUST 23, 2007DICK DURBINMY RECENT TRIP TO THE MIDEASTTwelve days ago, I returned from my third trip to the Middle East, visiting Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan over the course of one, eye-opening week. I had the opportunity to meet with Illinois soldiers who put their lives in harm's way every day and see for myself the effects of the "surge" in Iraq.Like my previous visits, I felt as though I was witnessing first-hand the worst foreign policy mistake in our nation's history.Click here to watch me discuss my recent trip to Iraq, Afghanistan, and PakistanFlying into Baghdad, our helicopter lands in a cloud of brown dirt and we walk our way toward Patrol Base Murray through a foot of deep, fine baby powder dust. The heat is furnace-like: over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Stacks of plastic water bottles can be found at every turn. The minute you sit or stop, someone hands you a water bottle. In Iraq, water can mean the difference between life and death. Recently, a member of the Patrol Base tank crew sat for 10 hours in the heat and died of heat stroke.Colonel Ferrell is in charge of the Patrol Base. He laughs about calling his soldiers "kids" and "sweethearts," but quickly adds they are the best fighting men and women he has ever been privileged to lead. For 20 minutes, he walks us across an aerial photograph showing the progress he has made. He tells us Al Qaeda operatives intimidate the local people by turning off the irrigation pumps needed for their crops and shutting down the electric power station to show their strength. Finally, the locals have gotten fed up and are telling his soldiers where to find Al Qaeda safe houses.Col. Ferrell's unit is scheduled to be deployed for 15 months. Next September they will move out. I ask him whether the Iraqi Army or Police will take over. From his answer it is clear there is no post-surge follow-up plan.As we begin to make our way back toward our transportation to our next destination, one of the senior officers waits until we are alone. He tells me 15-month deployments are just too long. By the end of twelve months my soldiers have "lost their edge, they're just going through the motions." And the 12 months between deployments is only half what they really need to reconstitute their units, rest them, train them and give them a chance to keep their families together."When I left, my daughter was in the sixth grade. When I get back she'll be in the eighth. It's a long time to be gone," he tells me.As we depart in the helicopter that will carry us back to the relative safety of the Green Zone, the dust swirls around us. The only thing that remains clear is that we are no closer to a resolution to this grave error than we were almost five years ago.When the Senate reconvenes this September, I will make sure that bringing the war in Iraq to a close remains our top priority. When the White House reports on the surge and General Petraeus testifies before the Senate next month, we must measure progress not just by our military's performance, which has been tremendous -- but by the more important yardstick of whether or not the Iraqi Government and the Bush Administration have done the hard political and diplomatic work needed to bring that country together.As I saw first-hand during my trip to the Middle East this month, our men and women serving abroad have fought courageously. Now it's up to the politicians to bring about an end to the Iraq War -- and that will be my top priority when I return to Washington in September.Sincerely,Dick Durbin U.S. SenatorP.S. After reading this message and watching the video, please forward this email to everyone you know. Help me get the word out about my recent trip to Iraq. Thanks for your help.Watch the Video | Visit DickDurbin.com
Dick Durbin for U.S. Senate, DickDurbin.com, Dick Durbin Senator for Illinois, Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Dick Durbin U.S. Senator, Richard J. Durbin, Richard Durbin, Richard J. Durbin U.S. Senator, U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, Majority Whip, Senate Whip, Assistant Democratic Leader, cat food, dog food, BP, Lake Michigan, Center for American Progress************SEPTEMBER 21,2007****************CONGRESS FILIBUSTER FRENZYSENATE CONSERVATIVES STOP MAJORITY-PASSED LEGISLATION WITH THE FILIBUSTER*****************SEPTEMBER 11, 2007*******************FOR CAPS FULL WEB REPORT (COPIED IN PLAIN TEXT BELOW) CLICK HERE: IRAQ ENTERING THE DRAWDOWN PHASEAMERICAN TROOPS NEED A MORE RAPID REDEPLOYMENT THAN THE ONE PROPOSED BY GENERAL PETRAEUSIn his much-anticipated testimony before the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees yesterday, Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, called for the withdrawal of 30,000 troops by next summer. That move would return force levels to the "pre-surge" number of 130,000 by mid-July. Beyond that, Petraeus asked for another six months before determining whether further reductions can be made. The general's proposal "opened a new phase" in the debate over Bush's strategy -- "from this point on, the argument will no longer be about whether to withdraw U.S. troops but about how many to pull out and how quickly." Petraeus has repeatedly said he envisions a decade-long presence in Iraq. Thus, his call for a small drawdown can hardly be interpreted as bringing about the safe and orderly redeployment that Americans want and our national security interests demand. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) referred to Petraeus's call as "a token proposal" and "nothing but a political whisper, unacceptable." The general attempted to dismiss a more rapid redeployment plan as impracticable. (The Center for American Progress reports a one-year redeployment can be done in conjunction with a Strategic Reset of our presence in the region.) Saleh Adnan, a 34-year old car mechanic in Iraq, said of Petraeus's report, "I don't think this will change anything in our country because the Americans will never leave Iraq. For us the main point is when the occupation will end." Said Adnan: "For me the main report will be the one which announces the American departure."SPINNING THE DRAWDOWN: In announcing his drawdown, Petraeus claimed that "we will be able to reduce our forces" because significant "progress" has been made in Iraq. The reality is that the military does not have the troops to sustain these high levels without further weakening the overstretched Army. Given the fact the Army has been clear about not wanting to extend the tours of soldiers any longer than they currently are, Petraeus's withdrawal is the natural result of the fact the administration has so few options left but to drawdown. Gen. Ray Odierno, a key Petraeus aide, acknowledged as much last month when he said, "We know we'll have to start to reduce in April of '08 at the latest." Army Chief of Staff George Casey added, "If the demands don't go down over time, it will become increasingly difficult for us to provide the trained and ready forces." While the media is largely accepting Petraeus's spin that the drawdown is a sign of "progress," a New York Times editorial properly notes that Petraeus's call is "the rough equivalent of dropping an object and taking credit for gravity."SPINNING ANBAR: During his testimony yesterday, Petraeus cited the reduced violence in the Anbar province as evidence that President Bush's "surge" is working. "When I testified in January, for example," he said, "no one would have dared to forecast that Anbar Province would have been transformed the way it has in the past 6 months." In fact, Petraeus himself forecasted Anbar's success during his January confirmation hearing before the Senate. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 23, Petraeus said, "[R]ight now there appears to be a trend in the positive direction where sheikhs are stepping up and they do want to be affiliated with and supported by the U.S. Marines and Army forces who are in Anbar province. That was not the case as little as perhaps six months ago, or certainly before that." The significance of this contradiction is that Petraeus is attempting to claim success for Bush's escalation by citing progress that was occurring prior to the surge. Anecdotal evidence suggests that what drove political progress in Anbar was not heavy U.S. military presence, but rather the prospect of U.S. withdrawals.CROCKER'S REPORT SUGGESTS STRATEGY OF SURGE IS FAILING: When Bush announced the escalation, he claimed the strategy was to reduce violence to "make [political] reconciliation possible." Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who testified with Petraeus yesterday, "had the task of making a coherent case for extending a substantial American presence" even though the strategy has failed and political advances in Iraq have amounted to little. His conclusions were "measured and far from rosy. He admitted that he was 'frustrated every day I am in Iraq.'" He also "acknowledged that political reconciliation in the form of legislation in Baghdad is at a standstill," offering little hope of a near-term resolution. Chairman Lantos assessed, "Prime Minister Maliki has not shown the slightest inclination to move in the direction of compromise. Instead of working to build national institutions -- a truly Iraqi army, a competent bureaucracy, a nonsectarian police force -- Maliki has moved in the opposite direction." Crocker refused to sound a critical note about Maliki, telling Fox News's Brit Hume last night, "I think he is a person of integrity and courage." "Really?" a shocked Hume responded.THE VOICES OF IRAQIS: The media circus that enveloped Petraeus's testimony distracted attention away from another important voice that emerged yesterday -- the Iraqi people. A national survey of Iraqi public opinion conducted by ABC News, BBC, and Japanese broadcaster NHK found that 70 percent of Iraqis report Bush's escalation has "worsened rather than improved security." Seventy-eight percent say "things are going badly," a jump of 13 points since the surge began. Almost eighty percent of Iraqis oppose the presence of U.S. forces, affirming the perspective of seven members of the 82nd Airborne who wrote in the New York Times that the military is viewed as "army of occupation" in Iraq. In June, outgoing Joint Chiefs chairman Peter Pace said the fundamental question the United States should use to measure success is whether "Iraqis feel better today than they did yesterday." The answer to that question is a resounding no.GOOD NEWS"The Senate approved $1 billion Monday to speed repair and replacement of America's crumbling network of bridges" -- a 20 percent increase in federal funding.STATE WATCHILLINOIS: "An Iraqi-American near Chicago is overseeing the finishing of the Pentagon memorial" to 9/11 victims.UTAH: A newly formed Utah Mine Safety Commission begins to investigate the Crandall Canyon mine tragedy.CALIFORNIA: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) plans to veto a proposal to overhaul California's health care system.BLOG WATCHTHINK PROGRESS: Report: Gen. David Petraeus spent at least 17 days in August flacking for President Bush's escalation.MATTHEW YGLESIAS: Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlon's tour of the right-wing press shows "that he's cast himself out of the broad left-of-center community" on Iraq and foreign policy.THE NEXT HURRAH: White House misses key deadline for report on its "problems with lost email."TPM MUCKRAKER: Gen. David Petraeus says he "stands by" his disputed 2004 op-ed on progress in Iraq.DAILY GRILLOsama bin Laden "is a man on the run in a cave who is virtually impotent other than his ability to get these messages out." -- Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend, 9/9/07VERSUS"U.S. intelligence and law enforcement chiefs and a Cabinet member said Monday that Osama bin Laden remained the most dangerous terrorist threat to the United States six years after the 9-11 attacks." -- McClatchy, 9/10/07UNDER THE RADARIRAQ -- PETRAEUS TESTIMONY IGNORES ETHNIC CLEANSING IN IRAQ: Yesterday, Gen. David Petraeus told Congress that President Bush's "surge" is working. As evidence, he cited "security gains" and reduced violence in Baghdad. But as McClatchy notes, none of Petraeus's charts that "purported to show the decline in sectarian violence in Baghdad between December and August made" brought up the fact "that the ethnic character of many of the neighborhoods had changed in that same period from majority Sunni Muslim or mixed to majority Shiite Muslim." A recent Newsweek analysis found that the Bush administration's escalation has actually "increased the [internally displaced persons] to some extent." The Iraqi Red Crescent Organization and the United Nations reported last month that the "number of Iraqis fleeing their homes has soared since the American troop increase began in February." Despite the mass exodus of Iraqis from conflict zones, the Iraqi health ministry reports there still have been more civilian deaths this month than in previous months. The National Intelligence Estimate confirmed that where some "conflict levels have diminished," it has been due to ethnic cleansing.AFGHANISTAN -- RUMSFELD PROCLAIMS AFGHANISTAN A 'BIG SUCCESS': In an new interview with GQ magazine, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld insists that in Afghanistan, "28 million people are free. They have their own president, they have their on parliament. Improved a lot on the streets. ... It's been a big success!" In reality, the country has been abandoned by the United States. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said recently that security there had "definitely deteriorated," an assessment one former national security official deemed "a very diplomatic understatement." Yesterday, two suicide bombings killed more than 20 Afghans, representing the rise of terrorist attacks in the country. The Taliban has carried out "103 suicide bombings in Afghanistan in the first eight months of 2007, a 69 percent increase over the same period last year." The resurgence of Taliban power has also led to record production levels of opium for the second year in a row. Rumsfeld, meanwhile, insists that he continues to receive "hundreds and hundreds" of letters "complimenting" him for his service to the country.TERRORISM -- ON ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11, BIN LADEN STILL AT LARGE, AL QAEDA RESURGENT: Recently, Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend called Osama bin Laden "virtually impotent" after he released a tape threatening attacks against the United States. But in a congressional hearing yesterday, intelligence officials said that bin Laden "remained the most dangerous terrorist threat to the United States," contradicting the White House line. "[W]e are not safe, and nor are we likely to be for a generation or more," said John Scott Redd, National Counter Terrorism Center Director. In reality, al Qaeda "retains the ability to organize complex, mass-casualty attacks and inspire others." Bin Laden, who "already has a safe haven in Pakistan" and "may be stronger than ever," is behind much of this resurgence. He has been "able to fill in the gaps between their megaplots with a rising stream of smaller-scale, homegrown attacks." Some Bush administration officials recently conceded that they overestimated the damage done to al Qaeda since 2001.THINK FASTIn New York City, "the firefighters and first responders who helped rescue New Yorkers" -- and later recovered the dead -- from the World Trade Center, will "read the victims' names for the first time Tuesday at the sixth anniversary ceremony." Tributes are also planned in Shanksville, PA, where Flight 93 went down and in Washington, D.C.Six years after 9/11, just three in 10 Americans "believe that the U.S. and its allies are winning the war on terrorism," according to a new CNN poll. That number is down from 41 percent "when the same question was asked at the beginning of last year."A group of Baghdadis watching the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker yesterday were "unimpressed." "I don't think this will change anything in our country because the Americans will never leave Iraq," said Saleh Adnan, a car mechanic. "For me, the main report will be the one which announces the American departure."Contradicting President Bush's homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend, who recently called Osama bin Laden "virtually impotent," "U.S. intelligence and law enforcement chiefs and a Cabinet member said Monday that Osama bin Laden remained the most dangerous terrorist threat to the United States six years after the 9-11 attacks."A new AP poll finds that the "public sees the Iraq war as a failure and thinks the U.S. troop buildup there has not worked." By "59 percent to 34 percent, more people said they believe history will judge the Iraq war a complete or partial failure than a success."Yesterday while Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker testified to Congress about progress in Iraq, nine U.S. troops in Iraq were killed. Additionally, a "truck bomb killed 10 people and wounded 60 in northern Iraq, police said."In an "effort to show that the Justice Department engaged in political prosecutions," House leaders "are beginning an investigation this week of the prosecution of Don Siegelman, the former Democratic governor of Alabama who was imprisoned in June on federal corruption charges."46: Number of senators, including six Republicans, who yesterday called on President Bush "to rescind new administrative restrictions that will make it harder for states to expand their popular State Children's Health Insurance Program."And finally: The "highly anticipated hearing before the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees" yesterday was marked with "outbursts from CODEPINK protesters and snafus with witnesses' microphones." "That really pisses me off, Duncan," said chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO), not realizing his mic was still on. When Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) "leaned in" to talk about the protestors, Skelton could be heard stating, "Those a--holes."*****************SEPTEMBER 10, 2007*****************IRAQ: PETRAEUS'S SONG AND DANCEToday, Gen. David Petraeus begins his much-anticipated report to Congress on progress in Iraq.*****************SEPTEMBER 7, 2007*******************CIVIL RIGHTS: 50 YEARS OF HISTORY, SIX YEARS OF CORRUPTIONTHE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION UNDER PRESIDENT BUS HAS SEEN THE EROSION OF RIGHTS AND BEEN CORRUPTED WITH POLITICIZATION****************September 6, 2007*****************ETHICS - BEYOND LARRY CRAIGCURRENT OVERVIEW OF CONGRESS'S CONTINUING TREND OF NOT DEALING WITH ETHICAL CHALLENGES***************SEPTEMBER 5, 2007*****************CIVIL LIBERTIES - 'ONE BOMB AWAY' FROM NO OVERSIGHTLast month, just before leaving for August recess, Congress caved to White House pressure and passed a revision to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), known as the Protect America Act, which "they may not have fully understood" and "may have given the administration more surveillance powers than it sought."******************September 4, 2007*****************IRAQ: SNOW JOB SUMMER**********AUGUST 10, 2007*************CIVIL RIGHTS - BREAKING DOWN BARRIERSREPORT ISSUED THE DAY AFTER HRC/LOGO DEBATE************AUGUST 9, 2007*************ECONOMY - BUSH'S BUDGET GAMES**************AUGUST 8, 2007***************LABOR - TRAGEDY AT A NON-UNION MINE***************JULY 23, 2007*****************CONGRESS - UNPRECEDENTED OBSTRUCTIONISM***************JULY 16, 2007****************: IRAQ - REDEPLOYMENT DEBATE BEGINS ANEW CURRENT OVERVIEW OF DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN SENATOR'S IRAQ BILL POLICIES AND AMENDMENTS.*****************MAY 29, 2007**********************CLIMATE CHANGE - STANDING ATHWART HISTORY