What is Barack Obama's problem with voters?

In poll after poll, more voters say they would vote for Barack Obama than Hillary Clinton against John McCain. -The Jed Report

The only problem I see is the Clinton campaign's inability to deal with the reality of the situation.

Bush Marks US Memorial Day at National Cemetery

Bush Marks US Memorial Day at National Cemetery

Chickenhawk Mars Holiday By Rubbing Salt In Wounds at National Cemetery

There. That's better.

Hillary's Latest Delusion: It's Obama's Fault

Acting delusional? Playing the Blame Game? How Bushwellian of the Clinton campaign. How not surprising.

As he packs his desk just 15 steps from the Oval Office, Karl Rove says he will not join any 2008 presidential campaign. That's just as well because none of the Republican candidates presumably could afford the association even if they wanted his strategic smarts. Besides, none of them is running the campaign quite the way he would. The candidate who seems to be adopting his style and methods the most so far? Hillary Rodham Clinton. -Washington Post, 08-15-07

Questions: Why the URGENCY to get into the White House? It's become creepy and fanatical - why? What's wrong with that picture?

Retro Quote of the Day

Via Political Wire

"Well, in 2004, I expect to be campaigning for the reelection of President George W. Bush, and by 2008, I think I might be ready to go down to the old soldiers home and await the cavalry charge there."

-- Sen. John McCain, in an interview with Jim Lehrer in 2000. Hat tip: David Brody.

Supporting The Troops

Via John M. Grohol, World of Psychology

Free Counseling for Our Troops

On Memorial Day, it seemed appropriate to mention a volunteer project called, Give an Hour.

As the Washington Post notes, thousands of private counselors are offering free services to troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health problems, jumping in to help because the military is short on therapists:

There are only 1,431 mental health professionals among the nation’s 1.4 million active-duty military personnel, said Terry Jones, a Pentagon spokesman on health issues.

About 20,000 more full- and part-time professionals provide health care services for the Veterans Administration and the Pentagon. They include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and substance abuse counselors.

According to veterans groups and health care experts, that is not enough for a mental health crisis emerging among troops and their families.

It’s estimated that 300,000 returning soldiers will suffer from some form of mental illness, most commonly posttraumatic stress disorder. We support this effort to help provide psychotherapy services to these brave men and women who have fought for our country. (Sadly, the donation button on Give an Hour has been broken all weekend, but check back later this week if you’d like to donate to this good cause.)

Read the full article: Private psychiatrists offer free service to troops

Atheists In Foxholes Get No Respect

This Memorial Day, I ask all Americans to honor the sacrifices of those who have served you and our country. One way to do so is by joining in a moment of remembrance that will be marked across our country at 3:00 p.m. local time. At that moment, Major League Baseball games will pause, the National Memorial Day parade will halt, Amtrak trains will blow their whistles, and buglers in military cemeteries will play Taps. You can participate by placing a flag at a veteran's grave, taking your family to the battlefields where freedom was defended, or saying a silent prayer for all the Americans who were delivered out of the agony of war to meet their Creator. -President Bush, Radio Address, 05-24-08

EARTH TO LAME DUCK: Not everyone in the military is religious.

The monument reads:

In memory of ATHEISTS IN FOXHOLES and the countless FREETHINKERS who have served this country with honor and distinction.

Presented by the national Freedom From Religion Foundation with hope that in the future humankind may learn to avoid all war.

Pandering To Veterans On Memorial Day

Via Google News

Anti-war Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, a strong backer of the Iraq conflict, were reaching out to veterans on Monday, the country's Memorial Day holiday, as the presidential candidates inched closer to a likely faceoff in the November general election. Continued here...

Obama anti-war? Well ... sorta kinda ... it depends.

Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances.

The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.

I don’t oppose all wars.

After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.

That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

Source: Barack Obama's Iraq Speech on 10-02-02

The Clintons as veep?

Via The Swamp

The question of the hour seems to be: Should Barack Obama put Hillary Clinton on the ticket?: The idea of a Democratic "dream ticket," of course, has been out there a long time. It originated, you may recall, when Clinton began trailing Obama, and the Clinton camp floated the idea of a Clinton-Obama ticket to persuade voters they could vote for her and get him, too. Continued here...

Wait. After everything that has happened so far this suggestion is still viable?! Wow. Go ahead Dems - put Mr. and Mrs. Clinton on the ticket and see what happens.

Memorial Day 2008

Atheists in Foxholes
By Alice Shiver

Atheists in foxholes, some say they are myths,
Creations of the mind who just don't exist.

Yet, they answered the call to defend, with great pride.
With reason their watchword, they bled and they died.

They took Saratoga from the British crown,
Secured America's freedom at the Battle of Yorktown.

From Sumter to Appomattox, fields flowed with their blood.
When the cannons grew silent, the flag proudly stood.

From the Marne to the Argonne, in trenches and tanks,
They defeated the Germans -- the whole world gave thanks.

They were bombed at Pearl Harbor, fought on to Berlin.
Many freethinking women served along with the men.

Still war keeps erupting -- Iraq, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
Where is the peace that eludes people so?

It is broken by tyrants who bear crosses and creeds,
That overshadow reason with hate and cruel deeds.

So atheists prevail until your work is complete.
Mothers mourn, children cry, and bigots plan your defeat.

By air, land, and sea, you answer freedom's call.
Without god or faith, you seek liberty for all.