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Obama’s 3 Ring Iraq TripJul 19, 2008 | 5:48 AM
Category: Political
Edit | Delete  Obama’s 3 Ring Iraq Trip

Posted on July 17, 2008

Early morning thought: will those on the Port side accuse Obama of going to Iraq for a photo op? IHT - Media stars will accompany Obama overseas

Senator John McCain’s trip to Iraq last spring was a low-key affair: With his ordinary retinue of reporters following him abroad, the NBC News anchor Brian Williams reported on his arrival in Baghdad from New York, with just two sentences tacked onto the “in other political news” portion of his newscast.

But when Obama heads for Iraq and other locations overseas this summer, Williams is planning to catch up with him in person, as are the other two evening news anchors, Charles Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, who, like Williams, are far along in discussions to interview Obama on successive nights.

And while the anchors are jockeying for interviews with Obama at stops along his route, the regulars on the Obama campaign plane will have new seat mates: star political reporters from the major newspapers and magazines who are flocking to catch Obama’s first overseas trip since becoming the presumptive nominee of his party.

I wonder if Obama will have any time to meet with the commanders and troops on the ground? WIll he have some preconditions to meet with General Patreaus? How many photos will they have that make it look like he is wearing a halo? Will Katie Couric ask Obama what’s on his iPod? Will Barry find time to talk to the “insurgents?”

 

I'm glad to see him go to Iraq so he can see first hand what is going on, but with three major network anchors going with him, will it distract him from seeing what is really going on, will the anchors just show violent areas or will they show the progress.

will Obama have time to talk with the leaders of Iraq and will he talk with the American Generals, the media will not put him in the hot seat they will avoid the tuff questions.

Will this be another staged setting, How will the troops in Iraq handle it.

Friday, July 11, 2008  

This week's outrage comes to us courtesy of the fringe animal "rights" group known as the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA). 

We've reported before on animal "rights" groups that try to push their agenda via "educational materials" that are foisted upon our school systems.  The propaganda usually consists of the same, radical, scare tactics and lies we've seen time and again and come to expect.  This time, however, the NJARA has served up a version that, even by current standards, is utterly ridiculous. 

"The Zargon Connection" is part of NJARA's  "Humane and Responsible Teachers" curriculum designed for grades pre-K through 9.  The package includes a variety of classroom exercises, activities and lesson plans.  Included are suggestions to avoid field trips to zoos and aquariums because they "perpetuate the belief that it's acceptable to imprison animals."  And, of course, one of NJARA's major issues is "the killing of wildlife for management or sport."  So far, that's pretty standard fare.  But here's where things really take a turn for the weird.  "The Zargon Connection" is a science fiction story in which Earth is invaded by Zargonians—aliens that hunt and eat human beings for sport.  And, of course, the objective of the curriculum is to create in the minds of young children, the idea that the hunting and eating of game animals (and presumably the raising and eating of chickens, cows and pigs) is the same as hunting and eating your classmates. 

A few "Zargonian" excerpts: 

Parts of Earth have been "designated as 'human management areas' where they hunt us for pleasure and for our meat, which is considered a delicacy by Zargonian gourmets." "Zargonians use a variety of hunting techniques.  They frighten us and then shoot us in the back as we run for our lives.  Or they unleash vicious Zargonian hounds who chase us to exhaustion and desperation, sometimes tearing us apart with their teeth when they catch us." "Occasionally, in a technique known as baiting, Zargonians will set up a fast food restaurant or pizza parlor and burst in on us while we eat, with their street sweepers blazing." "Often, their weapons leave us alive, but dreadfully wounded, and we die slowly and painfully from blood loss, infection or starvation.  Some of us are children, left to starve alone and afraid when they kill our parents." 

There is plenty more, but you get the idea. 

This "curriculum" is nothing more than NJARA's attempt to forward their agenda by terrifying young children with their preposterous and grossly offensive propaganda.  The idea that you can "educate" young children by giving them nightmares is outrageous.

Satirical cover of The New Yorker July 21 issue by artist Barry Blitt, shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist. (The New Yorker/Associated Press)

The New Yorker magazine has stirred up controversy in the U.S. for a satirical cover that shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist.

Both the Obama campaign and the campaign for the Republican candidate, John McCain, have objected to the cover art for the magazine's July 21 edition.

The illustration by artist Barry Blitt depicts Obama wearing traditional Muslim garb and his wife, Michelle — dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder — standing in the Oval Office.

An American flag is burning in the fireplace and over the mantle hangs a portrait of Osama bin Laden.

In a statement, the magazine said the cover "combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are."

The New Yorker says it is satirizing rumours about Obama — including rumours that he's Muslim and anti-American.

It defended its choice, saying its readership is sophisticated enough to get the joke.

Inside the magazine is a serious critique of Obama's political skills by writer Ryan Lizza.

The Obama campaign issued a statement condemning the cartoon.

"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in the statement.

McCain's campaign also issued a statement saying the cartoon is "tasteless and offensive."

The U.S. media are divided on whether the cartoon will provide fuel for right-wing critics of Obama's candidacy.

The Washington Post has termed the image "incendiary" and said the magazine has succeeded in gaining attention.

Sean Gardner of the Huffington Post says the magazine fails to provide an explanation for the satire. Other columnists throughout the U.S. agreed it has gone too far.

But Pulitzer Prize winner Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune said the image is "just lampooning all the crazy ignorance out there."

Behind the controversy is an e-mail campaign that purports to show Obama in Muslim clothing and repeatedly questions his patriotism, political author Jeffrey Feldman said in an interview with CBC News.

"The idea [is] that somehow Barack Obama is an urban terrorist with a secret agenda that is aligned with al-Qaeda and the second he gets in the White House, he's going to launch some covert plan in order to bring down the United States," Feldman said.

"It's such a ridiculous claim, but no matter how many times people fight back against it — including on the Obama website [where] they have an entire section dedicated to just fighting these smears…it still seems to be gaining ground. There's almost an exhaustion, a frustration that this type of smear campaign is working to spread these ideas."

Rachel Sklar, media editor at the Huffington Post, said she believed the image may be used by Obama opponents.

"This is so clearly a send-up and I understood that when I saw the image, but what I also understood was that it so perfectly encapsulated all the most vitriolic smears about the Obamas, that it could well be used as genuine irony-free propaganda," she told CBC News.

The fear among supporters of Obama is that he will be forced to talk about the cartoon, rather than substantive policy issues.

Obama has not yet commented directly on the cartoon.

 

Not only do the liberals tarnish the Conservatives, they also give themselves a bad rap, Why would a liberal paper print this when they know It can be used against them, this is like making the monkey doll.

No wonder Obama droped 15 points in the polls, I don't think the Republicans have to do anything to hurt him, His own party is doing it for them.

This is still what I believe, he is Muslim....

What if we were like Europe, it's a must in Europe to learn different languages just about every Country there speaks a different language.

 

What if we went to war with our neighboring states because of border lines or religion.

 

What if we always have bombs going off in our back yards. military walking down our streets with M-16's

 

What if we didn't have freedom of choice

 

What if we didn't have freedom of speech

 

What if we didn't have freedom of religion

 

What if we didn't have freedom of press

 

What if all you thought about was going to America for freedom..

 

The people I work for fled Germany because of hitler, I heard their story of how they had to go from house to house, to hide. making their way to America.

They hire a lot of Serbians, and I hear about their Country, I wouldn't even want to visit there.

These immigrants speak English because they wanted to come to America, not one of them learned spanish (I asked them) they said why would we learn spanish, America speaks English.

Obama on a few different issues, he says we are to hung up on immigrants needing to learn English, and then he says we need to make sure our childern learn spanish, and then says Europeans know how to speak English, German and french.

Isn't most of the Countries in Europe the size of  some of our states, you have many different languages in europe, and only one in America.

My first question would be, Why would we need to speak spanish for the Europeans.

He doesn't understand why we are so hung up on Immigrants, I don't know anyone hung up on Immigrants, thats what this Country is made up of, it's the Illegal Immigrants we all have a problem with, as for English being our national language, WHY NOT, What is his hang up.

BTW, I now know why he doesn't want to do town hall meetings with McCain, just watch this video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZprtPat1Vk

Pickens Unveils Plan To Revitalize the U.S. with Wind Power by Jennifer Runyon, Managing Editor New York, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

Well-known oil tycoon turned wind developer, T. Boone Pickens, presented a plan at a press conference today that he hopes will reduce America's use of foreign oil.

Pickens announced that he is launching a US $58 million ad campaign to educate the American public about the PickensPlan, a blueprint on how the country can, in less than 10 years, reduce its dependence on oil by as much as one-third.

According to Pickens, the U.S. currently uses natural gas to produce 22% of the country's electricity. In less than 10 years, he said that the country can harness enough wind power to generate that 22% of electricity and allow the country to shift natural gas away from electricity generation and put it to use as a transportation fuel. To view a video presentation of his plan, click here.

According to the PickensPlan website, natural gas is the cleanest transportation fuel available today and critical greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas are 23% lower than diesel and 30% lower than gasoline, according to the California Energy Commission. NGVAmerica says that there are more than 7 million NGVs in use worldwide, but only 150,000 of those are in the United States. Natural gas is significantly cheaper than diesel and gasoline, Pickens said that a gallon costs approximately US $1.50.

At the press conference, Pickens said that it would cost US $10 billion to install natural gas pumps at 25,000 gas stations across the country. He asks Americans to compare that number to the US $700 billion the country spends annually on importing foreign oil.

Replacing natural gas with wind power will also serve to revitalize rural America, Pickens said, and he pointed to Sweetwater, Texas as an example. He said a large wind farm that was built near the town offered economic opportunity that essentially brought the town back to life. The town's population had gone from 12,000 to 10,000 due to lack of jobs but as a result of the wind farm, the population grew back up to 12,000.

In addition to creating new construction and maintenance jobs, new wind farms offer thousands of Americans jobs in manufacturing the turbines and blades, high-skill jobs, Pickens said, that pay on a scale comparable to aerospace jobs.

The goal of Picken's ad campaign is to educate the American public about the country's use of oil and bring the energy question to the forefront of the presidential debate.

Election 2006
People Powered Politics What 3.2 Million Determined MoveOn Members Can Do

Changing the national political landscape is a tall order. But if we build on the enormous grassroots energy we saw over the past six months, we know it’s possible. For us, for our families, for our children, for our country, the stakes could hardly be higher.

-Adam and Justin Ruben, January 18, 2005, in an email proposing a Take Back the House campaign to MoveOn members

TAKING BACK THE HOUSE Volunteers made 7 million phone calls, organized 7,500 house parties, and launched 6,000 in-district events. More people volunteered in 2006 than in 2004.
  We raised and spent $27 million in this two-year election cycle. We spent $25 million on taking back the House. Over 250,000 members contributed $3.6 million to individual 250,000 members contributed $3.6 million to individual 250,000 members contributed $3.6 million to individual House candidates and over $2.8 million to fund MoveOn TV ads in targeted districts.
  Our “Caught Red-Handed” TV ads demonstrated early that Democrats could win a majority in Congress by taking on Republicans others thought couldn’t be defeated. Of the nine long-shot races we targeted with these ads, Democrats won at least five. On-the-ground action by members helped ensure that Republicans who supported the Bush fiasco in Iraq would pay the price at the polls.
  We funded strong progressive candidates like Jerry McNerney (OH) and Bruce Braley (IA) in their campaigns to win House seats, and Sherrod Brown (OH) and John Tester (MT) in their tough Senate battles.
  Our membership grew by 450,000.

“I used to think my one signature or call didn’t matter. But then I got an email from MoveOn and I learned I can make a difference. MoveOn makes democracy work.”

-Helen S., Phoenix, Arizona, MoveOn member

Moveon. org claims they helped get dems elected in 2006 to swing the majority of the vote and take back the house, yet here we are still at war , high gas prices and now high food, and other energy prices, so I ask what have they done in the past 2 years to help bring down the cost of gas, do they not have the power they thought, can't they part the sea, can't they move mountians, where are all the changes they promised, how come they can't get anything done.

Just ask yourself one question!!! WHY?????

Soon football season will be here, and all of you can forget about the Indians and focus on the Browns, August starts the preseason, and we have alot to look forward to, the new additions to the team, the prime time spots, a seasoned QB, and so far no major injuries that put someone out for the season.

I hope we can stand the pressure that is comming, this seasons should tell us how far we have come, I still say Savage has been the best pick for the Browns, the wheeling and dealing this guy does has improved this team 10 fold, all I have to say is!!!!!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BROWNS,  LETS KICK THE "P" OUT OF PITTSBURG

     

I was on my way home last night fom sheffield lake, I left about 9:30 PM, I told my wife that we should see alot of fireworks on the way home, we had about an hour and a half ride.

As we made our way down Innerstate 90 we noticed all the big burst and heard the loud reports, it looked great, there was a few here and there along the way and we were getting closer to Cleveland, and I will say that they had the most, big burst to the left, to the right and in front of us.... I had the radio on listening to 98.5 and nothing good was on I switched it to 97.5 and nothing good was playing, then I switched it to 105.1 a country station something I don't like is Country music, they started playing a audio of Red Skelton explaining the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance, and then it struck me ( like a brick in the Face) my wife said it felt like we were in a war zone, I told my wife that they us to use the fireworks to find the enemy at night, and then I started to picture what it must have been like, I got chills all over my body.

Independeance Day isn't about blowing off fireworks, it's about the long and hard battle our forefathers went through for all of us, all the blood and guts that were left on the battlefield, all the fathers, sons, grandfathers, and uncles that died for our freedom, it's for all the women and childern that were left alone during the battle and after it when they found out their husbands and fathers were not comming home.

 

Red Skelton, if you never heard of him was a comedian, I caught the latter part of his years growing up he was a funny guy, but on this he wasn't funny at all, he made a point and on this July 4 2008 I got it, the passion for this country is dying, the life of freedom is being sucked out of it, freedom of choics is slowly dissapearing in the night, we as a county need to figure out what to do before it's too late.

If you would like to listen to Red Skelton, here's the link,

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfz2XDXaeqcp>

Remember, Independance day was fought for You and me to be free, I hope we never forget that.

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND FOR WHAT IT STANDS FOR.

 

The Catholic Position

What is the Catholic position concerning belief or unbelief in evolution? The question may never be finally settled, but there are definite parameters to what is acceptable Catholic belief.

Concerning cosmological evolution, the Church has infallibly defined that the universe was specially created out of nothing. Vatican I solemnly defined that everyone must "confess the world and all things which are contained in it, both spiritual and material, as regards their whole substance, have been produced by God from nothing" (Canons on God the Creator of All Things, canon 5).

The Church does not have an official position on whether the stars, nebulae, and planets we see today were created at that time or whether they developed over time (for example, in the aftermath of the Big Bang that modern cosmologists discuss). However, the Church would maintain that, if the stars and planets did develop over time, this still ultimately must be attributed to God and his plan, for Scripture records: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host [stars, nebulae, planets] by the breath of his mouth" (Ps. 33:6).

Concerning biological evolution, the Church does not have an official position on whether various life forms developed over the course of time. However, it says that, if they did develop, then they did so under the impetus and guidance of God, and their ultimate creation must be ascribed to him.

Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. It allows for the possibility that man’s body developed from previous biological forms, under God’s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII declared that "the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God" (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36). So whether the human body was specially created or developed, we are required to hold as a matter of Catholic faith that the human soul is specially created; it did not evolve, and it is not inherited from our parents, as our bodies are.

While the Church permits belief in either special creation or developmental creation on certain questions, it in no circumstances permits belief in atheistic evolution.

 

The Time Question

Much less has been defined as to when the universe, life, and man appeared. The Church has infallibly determined that the universe is of finite age—that it has not existed from all eternity—but it has not infallibly defined whether the world was created only a few thousand years ago or whether it was created several billion years ago.

Catholics should weigh the evidence for the universe’s age by examining biblical and scientific evidence. "Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 159).

The contribution made by the physical sciences to examining these questions is stressed by the Catechism, which states, "The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers" (CCC 283).

It is outside the scope of this tract to look at the scientific evidence, but a few words need to be said about the interpretation of Genesis and its six days of creation. While there are many interpretations of these six days, they can be grouped into two basic methods of reading the account—a chronological reading and a topical reading.

Everybody Wants Obama!

Asharq Alawsat -- Suddenly Barack Obama, the candidate for the democratic presidential nomination for the US 2008 elections, has become everybody’s favourite topic of discussion and an example of a political success story.

In the Arab world, there is the famous following saying: “Everybody claims to be Laila’s love,” [Al kul yad’i hob Laila] and today everybody claims some kind of association with Barack Obama. Amongst all the chatter, several stories are being circulated about Obama. For example, some people claim that Obama’s forefathers immigrated from Quraish to Ethiopia and from there they settled and spread across the countries of the Horn of Africa until they arrived in Kenya!

In these discussions, people mention that Obama’s full name is Barack Hussein Obama, emphasising his middle name (which was his Indonesian stepfather’s name). During these conversations, people say that the name “Barack” is derived from “Baraka” [an Arabic word meaning blessing] and that blessings are undoubtedly on their way to shower us and our loved ones.

The people of Africa are in search of a legendary hero from amongst them to rule the world’s superpower, and in Africa Obama’s popularity has soared to a similar level of popularity enjoyed by pop stars and footballers.

Amongst the Afro-Americans however, there are mixed feelings; some of them believe in Obama and believe that he is “one of them” whilst others consider him different since his mother is white. In terms of coffee, they compare him to a “Cappuccino” or a “Latte” but not an “Espresso” in reference to his mixed heritage. The disease of ethnic purity has even reached them!

Barack Obama is a rising star and he, the son of a Kenyan migrant, entered Harvard University and graduated from the prestigious Harvard Law School. The rise of Obama continued in the political field until he became the only Afro-American currently serving in the US Senate.

Until Barack Hussein Obama reaches the presidential office and leads the United States, the fictitious stories about him will continue. Even the Chinese, the Indians and the Eskimos will demand their share in Obama’s upcoming glory.

Barack Obama is a phenomenon and represents the political craze that is occupying the entire world. Let us sit back and enjoy the race.

If Obama gets elected to Office this is what to expect, first off he will ban all clothes and you will have to dress the Muslim way.

Then he will appoint his Vice President, Notice he is being sworn in to Office

Next he will be appointing security advisors

He will change the secret service

Then everybody in the USA must own a M-16

Now I say if you want this in the White House then vote OBAMA.

If you want to keep America the same Vote McCain......

Updated:07:18, Sunday June 15, 2008

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has given hands-on help in a flood zone in Illinois. Barack Obama In Illinois

He helped locals in the town of Quincy to fill sandbags to place on the banks of the Mississippi river, which is swelling to dangerous levels.

Authorities predict it will rise to record levels next week.

Mr Obama said: "Since I've been involved in public office we've not seen this kind of devastation."

He pledged to push federal and state governments to provide aid to the affected areas.

Mr Obama had been scheduled to campaign in nearby Iowa, but that state is also badly affected by flooding and he did not want to draw government resources away from battling the problems.

 

Even Obama states that this is worse then anything he has seen.

This is one time I will have to give Obama a thumbs up for, I can see by the picture that he is out of form when it comes to hard labor but instead of raising money for is campainge maybe he should do what Sr. Bush and bill did for New Orleans.

The differeance between New Orleans and and the flooding in the mid west, New Orleans is a party ground, they were too busy singing and dancing all night and couldn't wake up in time.

The mid west is a rise and shine get up early in the morning and work hard for a living area so they seen it comming, Instead of boozing it up they prepaird for what was comming.

First responce does not come from FEMA, it comes from yourself, if you know something is going to happen you react before it comes not after.

Princeton Releases Michelle Obama's Senior Thesis

 

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(UWIRE.com) This story was written by Esther Breger, The Daily Princetonian

---

Michelle Obama's thesis was released to the public by Princeton University Tuesday after several days of media scrutiny over its availability and content.

The campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), her husband, received criticism from conservative media and bloggers when the University restricted access to her senior thesis until after the presidential election in November.

"A thesis can be restricted or unrestricted for a variety of reasons, including at the request of alumni," University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt '96 said in an e-mail. "It falls within the purview of alumni to discuss their academic work," she said.

Analysis of the thesis' content, in addition to its restricted availability, has featured prominently in blogs over the last few days. Written under Obama's maiden name of Michelle LaVaughn Robinson and titled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community," the thesis has come under scrutiny as the presidential campaign has advanced for its analysis of race relations.

What's in the thesis?

Obama, who concentrated in sociology and received a certificate in African-American studies, examined how the attitudes of black alumni have changed over the course of their time at the University. "Will they become more or less motivated to benefit the Black community?" Obama wrote in her thesis.

After surveying 89 black graduates, Obama concluded that attending the University as an undergraduate decreased the extent to which black alumni identified with the black community as a whole.

Obama drew on her personal experiences as an example.

"As I enter my final year at Princeton, I find myself striving for many of the same goals as my White classmates -- acceptance to a prestigious graduate school or a high-paying position in a successful corporation," she wrote, citing the University's conservative values as a likely cause.

"Predominately White universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the White students comprising the bulk of their enrollments," she said, noting the small size of the African-American studies department and that there were only five black tenured professors at the University across all departments.

Obama studied the attitudes of black Princeton alumni to determine what effect their time at Princeton had on their identification with the black community. "My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'Blackness' than ever before," she wrote in her introduction. "I have found that at Princeton no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my White professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don't belong."

Emeritus sociology professor Walter Wallace, who served as her thesis adviser, declined to comment for this story.

"It is important to consider the time period in which Michelle Obama wrote her thesis," College Democrats vice president Scott Weingart '09 said in an e-mail. "In 1985, Princeton was still a very conservative school; [Tiger Inn] would not admit women members for another six years. Today, the student body is a lot more progressive and diverse."

Completed theses are kept in Mudd Manuscript Library and are generally available to the public for viewing and scanning. Before today, callers to Mudd requesting information on Obama's thesis were told that the thesis has been made "temporarily unavailable" and were directed to the University Office of Communications. Following the thesis' release by the Obama campaign to politico.com, a political news site, the University lifted the restriction.

The University's actions were met with varying reactions by students.

"The school shoud generally default to freedom of information unless there is some compelling school or personal (e.g. the request of the author) interest at stake," Jason Anton '10, co-director of the Students for Barack Obama Princeton chapter, said in an e-mail.

"There's nothing about a senior thesis that's private in nature -- it's written with the knowledge that it will be kept in Mudd for all to read," Zahava Stadler '11 said.

Many students felt that the contents of the work could become a factor in the election, but they were unsure to what extent it would affect the outcome.

"Unfortunately, the thesis may very well revive the race card as a central theme of the election," Anton said.

"Her thesis seems especially pertinent given the questions that have been raised off and on about the supposed 'tight-rope' of racial identity politics that some claim Senator Obama has to carefully navigate," College Democrats president Rob Weiss '09 said in an e-mail.

Molly Alarcon '10, an Obama supporter, said she thought Michelle Obama's writing in college should not have any bearing on her husband's election, but her view was not shared by all students.

"In using Michelle Obama on the campaign trail, the Obama camp has made her a figure, and therefore a factor, in the campaign," Stadler said. "Her opinions and background are just as relevant as those of Obama's spokespeople and campaign manager, no more and no less."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8642.html

." Read the full thesis here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Obama Hopes to Visit Iraq Before Election Share -->by Bonney Kapp

Just days after Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari met with Republican candidate for president, John McCain, he took a phone call from Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

The two spoke as the Senator drove from his home in Chicago to Midway Airport this morning. When the candidate landed in Flint, Michigan, for his speech on competitiveness, Obama shared with reporters details about his conversation.

Obama said during the conversation, “We discussed a broad range of issues I thought it was very constructive. He emphasized to me his belief that as a consequence of the extraordinary efforts and sacrifice of US military forces, we’ve made significant progress in quelling the violence in Iraq. And that the Iraqi government is deeply interested in negotiating an effective Status of Forces agreement and a strategic framework agreement with the United States.”

Of course Obama is the candidate in the race who will begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, and has campaigned on such a platform since he got into the race. He said he told Zebari that while he was encouraged by the reduction of violence in Iraq, he “insisted that it is important for us to begin the process of withdrawing US troops, making clear that we have no interest in permanent bases in Iraq, that any negotiations for a Status of Forces agreement or strategic framework agreement should be done in the open and with Congress’s authorization, because I believe that it’s in the interests of both Iraq and the United States that any such critical negotiations have strong bipartisan support and that they can be sustained through a future administration.”

He also stressed the need for  “political accommodations” and the importance of engaging nearby countries. Finally, he said, “I gave him an assurance that should we be elected, an Obama administration will make sure that we continue with the progress that’s been made in Iraq, that we won’t act precipitously, but that we will move to end US combat forces in Iraq in a manner that’s as careful as we were careless getting in.”

When the Senator was asked if the Foreign Minister expressed concern for withdrawal, Obama replied, “No - he did not express that. He did emphasized his belief that we’ve made real progress and I think was eager to see political accommodations between the factions follow up in the wake of this progress.”

And on the much ballyhooed visit to Iraq, Obama said, “I told him that I look forward to seeing him in Baghdad.” A reporter asked if the trip might be before the Democrats’ August convention. “You know, we’ll make an announcement about that, but as I said, I’m interested in visiting Iraq and Afghanistan before the election.”

The RNC, which has been tracking the days since Obama’s last visit to the country in 2006, welcomes such a trip. “In the nearly 900 days since Barack Obama visited Iraq, the facts on the ground have changed dramatically – but his ideologically-driven position has not. When Obama visits Iraq, he’ll see that he was wrong to oppose the surge, wrong to continue to ignore our commanders’ advice and wrong to demand premature withdrawal. America cannot afford a Commander-in-Chief who needs on-the-job training,” said spokesman Alex Conant in a statement.