Wise Women Won't Wait Any More

Wise Women Won't Wait Any More

Saturday, July 26, 2008

One world? Obama's on a different planet

The senator's Berlin speech was radical and naive.
By John R. Bolton - The Los Angeles Times - July 26, 2008
SEN. BARACK OBAMA said in an interview the day after his Berlin speech that it "allowed me to send a message to the American people that the judgments I have made and the judgments I will make are ones that are going to result in them being safer."

If that is what the senator thought he was doing, he still has a lot to learn about both foreign policy and the views of the American people. Although well received in the Tiergarten, the Obama speech actually reveals an even more naive view of the world than we had previously been treated to in the United States. In addition, although most of the speech was
substantively as content-free as his other campaign pronouncements, when substance did slip in, it was truly radical, from an American perspective.

These troubling comments were not widely reported in the generally adulatory media coverage given the speech, but they nonetheless deserve intense scrutiny. It remains to be seen whether these glimpses into Obama's thinking will have any impact on the presidential campaign, but clearly they were not casual remarks. This speech, intended to generate the enormous publicity it in fact received, reflects his campaign's carefully calibrated political thinking. Accordingly, there should be no evading the implications of his statements. Consider just the following two examples.

First, urging greater U.S.-European cooperation, Obama said, "The burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together." Having earlier proclaimed himself "a fellow citizen of the world" with his German hosts, Obama explained that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Europe proved "that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one."

Perhaps Obama needs a remedial course in Cold War history, but the Berlin Wall most certainly did not come down because "the world stood as one." The wall fell because of a decades-long, existential struggle against one of the greatest totalitarian ideologies mankind has ever faced. It was a struggle in which strong and determined U.S. leadership was constantly questioned, both in Europe and by substantial segments of the senator's own Democratic Party. In Germany in the later years of the Cold War, Ostpolitik -- "eastern politics," a policy of rapprochement rather than resistance -- continuously risked a split in the Western alliance and might have allowed communism to survive. The U.S. president who made the final successful assault on communism, Ronald Reagan, was derided by many in Europe as not very bright, too unilateralist and too provocative.

But there are larger implications to Obama's rediscovery of the "one world" concept, first announced in the U.S. by Wendell Willkie, the failed Republican 1940 presidential nominee, and subsequently buried by the Cold War's realities.

The successes Obama refers to in his speech -- the defeat of Nazism, the Berlin airlift and the collapse of communism -- were all gained by strong alliances defeating determined opponents of freedom, not by "one-worldism." Although the senator was trying to distinguish himself from perceptions of Bush administration policy within the Atlantic Alliance, he was in fact sketching out a post-alliance policy, perhaps one that would unfold in global organizations such as the United Nations. This is far-reaching indeed.

Second, Obama used the Berlin Wall metaphor to describe his foreign policy priorities as president: "The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down."

This is a confused, nearly incoherent compilation, to say the least, amalgamating tensions in the Atlantic Alliance with ancient historical conflicts. One hopes even Obama, inexperienced as he is, doesn't see all these "walls" as essentially the same in size and scope. But beyond the incoherence, there is a deeper problem, namely that "walls" exist not simply because of a lack of understanding about who is on the other side but because there are true differences in values and interests that lead to human conflict. The Berlin Wall itself was not built because of a failure of communication but because of the implacable hostility of communism toward freedom. The wall was a reflection of that reality, not an unfortunate mistake.

Tearing down the Berlin Wall was possible because one side -- our side -- defeated the other. Differences in levels of economic development, or the treatment of racial, immigration or religious questions, are not susceptible to the same analysis or solution. Even more basically, challenges to our very civilization, as the Cold War surely was, are not overcome by naively "tearing down walls" with our adversaries.

Throughout the Berlin speech, there were numerous policy pronouncements, all of them hazy and nonspecific, none of them new or different than what Obama has already said during the long American campaign. But the Berlin framework in which he wrapped these ideas for the first time is truly radical for a prospective American president. That he picked a foreign audience is perhaps not surprising, because they could be expected to welcome a less-assertive American view of its role in the world, at least at first glance. Even anti-American Europeans, however, are likely to regret a United States that sees itself as just one more nation in a "united" world.

The best we can hope for is that Obama's rhetoric was simply that, pandering to the audience before him, as politicians so often do. We shall see if this rhetoric follows him back to America, either because he continues to use it or because Sen. John McCain asks voters if this is really what they want from their next president.

John R. Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of "Surrender Is Not an Option."

Read more in the Los Angeles Times

Obama’s path to presidency is far from clear


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Click here for interactive electoral map.

Read more in the Los Angeles Times

CAMPAIGN UPDATES By Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times - JULY 25, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Even as his turn on the global stage hit an emotional peak Thursday with a speech before a cheering crowd of more than 200,000 in Germany, Barack Obama faced new evidence of stubborn election challenges back home.

Fresh polls show that he has been unable to convert weeks of extensive media coverage into a widened lead. And some prominent Democrats whose support could boost his campaign are still not enthusiastic about his candidacy.

Several new surveys show that Obama is in a tight race or even losing ground to Republican John McCain, both nationally and in two important swing states, Colorado and Minnesota. One new poll offered a possible explanation for his troubles: A minority of voters see Obama as a familiar figure with whom they can identify.

Republicans are moving to exploit this vulnerability, trying to encourage unease among voters by building the impression that Obama's overseas trip and other actions show he has a sense of entitlement that suggests he believes the White House is already his.

In Ohio on Thursday, McCain hit that theme: "I'd love to give a speech in Germany . . . but I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States, rather than as a candidate for the office of presidency."

Obama also faces discontent from some of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most ardent supporters, who are put off by what they describe as a campaign marked by hubris and a style dedicated to televised extravaganzas.

Susie Tompkins Buell, a major Clinton fundraiser, said: "The Clinton supporters that I know are bothered by these rock-star events. These spectacles are more about the candidate than they are about the party and the issues that we care about."
Obama is to return home Saturday after a nine-day trip that has produced some of the most memorable images of the campaign. Speaking in Berlin before a sea of young faces, the presumed Democratic nominee echoed a famous line from President Reagan, who, at Brandenburg Gate, implored Soviet counterpart Mikhail S. Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."

"The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down," Obama told the warmly enthusiastic crowd in Tiergarten park. He spoke from a stage constructed near the Victory Column, a soaring monument to Prussian military triumphs.

Powerful as the image was, back home some voters wondered whether the trip was necessary. Both Obama and McCain had been invited Thursday to a cancer forum organized by cyclist Lance Armstrong's foundation at Ohio State University.

McCain showed; Obama did not. Some in the crowd took notice.

Ann Marie Jones, a stay-at-home mother whose 10-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer in September, said she had leaned toward Obama "until he didn't show up tonight."

"I feel like I understand what he's doing over there, but I think he needed to be here tonight for this," she said.

Jones, a 40-year-old Republican from Aledo, Texas, said she was troubled by the duration and scale of Obama's overseas trip. "I think we have a lot of things going on with our children -- many different things going on here in the United States that need our attention."

Many voters still seem to be puzzling over who Obama is, even after a race that has lasted a year and a half. By 58% to 47%, voters identity more with the values and background of McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, than with Obama, according to a newly released Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Obama may also be slipping in some key states. He lost a narrow lead in Colorado, falling 5 percentage points in the past month, and now trails McCain 46% to 44%, a new Quinnipiac University poll found. In Minnesota, Obama fell 8 percentage points, though he still leads McCain 46% to 44%, the survey found. The polling spanned the five days before Obama went abroad and the first four days of his trip.

At a time when nearly three-quarters of Americans believe the nation is on the wrong track, the political climate would suggest that McCain, whose party controls the White House, might lag by large margins. Yet a national Fox News poll released Thursday showed that Obama's 4-point lead over McCain in June had shrunk to a single point. The new Journal/NBC poll showed Obama leading by 6 points, unchanged from the month before.

The race remains close even though McCain has stumbled at times and has been largely eclipsed this week by Obama's high-profile trip to Europe and the Middle East, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Thursday, television images showed Obama addressing the throng in Berlin, his speech carried live on cable news networks. McCain, meanwhile, spoke to reporters outside an Ohio fudge shop, where his comments were nearly drowned out by wind chimes.

But Obama is struggling with a different set of obstacles; he has yet to lock in some of Clinton's most devoted supporters and active fundraisers

In interviews, Clinton supporters said they saw in Obama a presumption that had made it hard to give him their allegiance. Some said they were put off by his decision to accept the Democratic nomination at a football stadium that can hold more than 76,000; his use of a knockoff of the presidential seal at a campaign event; and his early interest in giving his Berlin speech at the famous Brandenburg Gate, where Reagan spoke in 1987.

The Republican National Committee has been pumping out regular e-mails titled "Audacity Watch," a compilation of instances in which, in its view, Obama has appeared to act as if he were president. In an e-mail sent Thursday, the RNC mentioned a news report that he had already instructed aides to begin planning for a transition to the presidency.

Amy Siskind of Westchester, N.Y., is a Clinton supporter who said she wouldn't vote for Obama. Siskind said she was especially offended when Obama hired Clinton's former campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, to work with his vice presidential nominee. Given that Solis Doyle was demoted by Clinton, the appointment was perceived by Clinton loyalists as a slight.

"Most folks feel that the battle is over and he's the winner, but he's really acted like a sore winner," Siskind said. "If Hillary had been the nominee, you would have seen a much more deferential approach to Obama supporters."

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a Clinton fundraiser who lives in New York City, said, "What I think is very important is that he has a problem with his image. He is an aloof candidate. He does not connect with people. He has words, but no ordinary person thinks that he is there for them, and women feel that intensely."

Time remains for Obama to unify the party and find ways to win over skeptical voters. His campaign released ads last month that emphasize the parts of Obama's life story that a typical voter might find appealing. Obama, for example, was raised by a single mother and grandparents who lacked substantial means.

The campaign hopes that the images in those ads will boost his standing in the polls.

"As we tell Sen. Obama's story -- being raised by a single mother, pulling himself up, working his way through school -- people will become more familiar with him," said Hari Sevugan, an Obama campaign spokesman.

Seeing an opportunity, McCain's supporters have sought to drive home perceptions that Obama doesn't connect with average voters.

"The fact that Obama is out of touch with voters . . . is certainly something we'll continue to reiterate," said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "To the extent that he's acting as if he's already president when the election is over 100 days away and everyone expects it will be a very close race raises questions about how in touch he is."Times staff writer Maeve Reston in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.

Read more in the Los Angeles Times

Action Alert; Honor a Legacy: Urge Senate to Recognize Suffragist Alice Paul with a Congressional Gold Medal

By NOW - National Organization of Women -


The House of Representatives has voted to recognize Alice Paul with the Congressional Gold Medal. Now it's time for the Senate to do the same!

'Alice Paul was a crusader who fought to turn the ideal of American democracy into a reality. The country that we know today was shaped by her courage, wisdom
and foresight, and her influence is palpable to this day. The Congressional Gold Medal is but a mere token of gratitude for her legacy of groundbreaking change
in our nation and the impact her fight had on democracies around the world.'
--Sen. Robert Menendez [NJ



TAKE ACTION NOW!

Action Needed:
On May 15, 2008 the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass the Alice Paul Women's Suffrage Congressional Gold Medal Act, H.R. 406. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), commemorates Alice Paul's role in the women's suffrage movement and salutes her leadership in advancing equal rights for women.

Out of hundreds of recipients, only a dozen or so Congressional Gold Medal awardees have been women - among them several former First Ladies and several women leaders from other nations. Alice Paul should be on that list, and we ask for your help to recognize this champion of suffrage and women's rights.

The issue of a Congressional Gold Medal recognizing Alice Paul has moved to the Senate, and the Senators from Alice Paul's home state have introduced the Senate counterpart. Sponsored by Senators Menendez and Lautenberg, both Democrats from New Jersey, S.826 can come to the Senate floor only if we get enough bipartisan sponsors.

Take Action NOW

Background:
Alice Paul is best known for her dedication to the suffrage movement in the early 1900's, and 'Iron Jawed Angels,' an HBO movie starring Hilary Swank, brought her story to life for a new generation. Yet there is so much more. In 1912 she chaired the congressional committee of the National American Suffrage Association, where she organized a thousand-strong march in Washington D.C. the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration in 1913 to show support for an amendment giving women the right to vote. At the time, Wilson did not support women's suffrage.

In 1913, Alice Paul formed the more progressive Congressional Union for Women Suffrage, later known as the National Women's Party. For years Paul aggressively promoted women's voting rights and picketed the White House before and during World War I to show the irony of fighting for democracy overseas while denying half the people (women) in the United States democracy at home.

After helping to win ratification of the 19th Amendment and seeing women get the vote in 1920, Paul continued to campaign for women's equality in the United States and abroad. In 1923 she wrote the original language of the Equal Rights Amendment and tirelessly fought for the establishment of equal rights for women in the U.S. Constitution until her death in 1977.

This honor is long overdue, and Congress should immediately recognize Alice Paul's important contributions to women and the world. Ask your Senators to celebrate Alice Paul's lifetime of dedication to equality and women's rights by honoring her with a Congressional Gold Medal. Because the Senate bill has only three sponsors, we need to make sure that EVERY Senator hears from us as soon as possible!

Take Action NOW!

COMPOSE A LETTER
Subject: HONOR A LEGACY

I am writing to you as a constituent and a women's rights advocate and I hope that you will add your name as a sponsor of the Alice Paul Women's Suffrage Congressional Gold Medal Act, S. 826. In May, the House overwhelmingly passed its version of the bill and the Senate should do the same. S. 826 is being sponsored by the Senators from Alice Paul's home state, Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, who believe this honor is long overdue.

Alice Paul dedicated her life to the single cause of securing equal rights for all women, including the right to vote and the right to be in the U.S. Constitution. The impact Alice Paul has made is immeasurable, and her vision and work for equality have forever changed the face of American history.

Please sponsor and help pass S. 826 which will award the Congressional Gold Medal to this historical visionary and recognize this woman's important contributions to the rights of women here and around the world. I look forward to hearing from you that you are supporting and have added your name as a sponsor of this effort to award Alice Paul the Congressional Gold medal.


Sincerely,

NAME
Address
Phone

SEE NOW WEBSITE FOR E-MAIL FORM TO SEND THIS MESSAGE.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

July 26th Celebration of 160th Anniversay of Seneca Falls and Examination of Texas Two Step



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Blogtalkradio: Is Winnie the Pooh's Birth Certificate more Authentic than Obama's?

Clintons4McCain features a live call-in show blog talk radio show on Saturday afternoon from 4-5 p.m. CST.
Call-in Number: 341-633-9273.
To listen in log in to blogtalkradio.com and search for Clintons4McCain.
This week featured guests include a Canadian journalist Judi McLead with Canada Free Press, will discuss her article, 'Winnie the Pooh Birth Certificate more authentic than Obama's'

Also joining us is Dr. Lynette Long - Caucus Fraud, will discuss the work she is doing on collecting acts about caucus fraud in 2008 Democratic primaries

We've invited special, guest, Cecilia Hickey who attempts to "Clean Up" the Democratic Party, and will discuss letter and email she received from Howard Dean (2007) ) asking for money for the DNC to clean up the voting process and make sure that every vote counts!


Dr. Lynette Long will be a special guest in Dallas at SMU July 26th at a forum celebtating the 160th Anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, the first conference in the U.S. on women's rights. Appearing with David Van Os and Dr. Dennis Simon, they'll explore "The Texas Two Step - Trash it or Tweek it!" (10 a.m. to noon - SMU) For reservations call 214 email txrsvp@gmail.com.

Some Texas Voters/ 2008 Democratic Convention participants will have 3 min to address questions, concerns, complaints or recommendations to the panel.
SPEAKERS SIGN UP AT 2008@norespectnovote.com no later than July24th.
Please include subject matter and senatorial district number.Because of time constraints, the number of speakers will be limited.
To speak email