Obama In Spotlight Before Petraeus/Crocker Moment

I guess he’s trying to squeeze one in between campaign stops so at the next debate, he can say he did have a meeting while serving on this committee. Never too late to pad your resume…and his does need it.

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What are you guys
going to do when
Obama is President?
Where will the hate go?
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Imay,liz, WestCoastManager, DCVoter and mpwc, Obama said that we have to lift people up and not to tear them down. Obama will carry out his duties in a very responsible manner better than Hill the Bosnian General and McCain the Governor General of Bagdad. God bless America and God bless Obama. OBAMA08.

Jackt51,
You know, you finally have convinced me. We are so desperate because the Obama campaign is miles ahead and need not worry. As a result, I have to say you guys deserve a little nap. You can wake up in time to get another dose of coolaid, which will be available just short of the finish line.
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Obama doesn’t need any more help!
Obama is way ahead!
Obama, the Harvard elite, crack-smoking, bonehead and his arrogant supporters have time to enjoy a nap!
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Dew5050,
Your man Obama is just perfect isn’t he? He has no serious flaws. He is a Washington outsider. He takes no federal lobbyist money (only paid help). He doesn’t have a relationship with Rezko. He doesn’t really have a relationship with Wright. He didn’t hold a hearing on Afghanistan. He didn’t admit he was a bonehead. He didn’t admit cocaine use. He is just the perfect politician, never knew that such existed before.
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Obama is the perfect guy in an empty suit!
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They’re starting to sound like little kids! lol unbelievable.

Good for him No sense of waiting and doing paper work.
Its called Multi-tasking

The headline should be: After 16 months, Committee chair finally holds a meeting. What a crock! He is using it to pretend like he has been doing something all along.

So let me get this right: there is a foreign policy hearing tomorrow in Congress ,but this article is about how Obama will hold other hearings, because he has no role in the foreign policy hearing. That’s it? You guys are so blatantly in the tank. How’s this: the other candidates are urinating tomorrow but Obama is doing #2…Details at 11….

Sure kitty…its hit home. It’s quite apparent we have a lot of whining children out here because hillary doesn’t know how to run a campaign.
Barack Obama is running for President, NOT his pastor.
Barack Obama is running for President, NOT his pastor.
Barack Obama is running for President, NOT his pastor.
Barack Obama is running for President, NOT his pastor.
Barack Obama is running for President, NOT his pastor.
Barack Obama is running for President, NOT his pastor.
Now for all you special education folks….one more time….
Barack Obama is running for President, NOT his pastor.

Barrack Obama is just like his pastor– birds of a feather.

lol Emily…then maybe you should take a closer look at hillary!

I bet obama up all night studying how a committee is held since he has never held one for his committee.

Fellow Obama supporters, don’t get heated up by the blog thugs! They’re always out here as part of “Operation Chaos”, applying their right wing ‘divide and conquer’ tactics to the race between Hillary and Barack.
Barack will be the Dem nominee first and (just check the overall Dem registration and turnout records) our next President second. And McCain will look sillier, older and dumber every day in the GE. Obama will dwarf him, he’s much easier to beat than the Clinton Power House. Further smear attacks against Obama will only motivate more Americans to send the message of change to Washington.
All will be well! Just keep fighting the honorable fight and let the hate mongers and mud throwers sink away in their own dirt. They will lose, and lose miserably.

manda – Good luck with the FL and MI in the general. Oh, how many caucuses is Obama expected to win in the general?

Hillary was wrong to fire Mark Penn!! Consider me in the Obama camp now!
Yes We Can!!!

Just so you guys know, I’m a closet Obama fan. I just do this because I’m bored.
YES WE CAN!!

Obama is so arrogant that it will be fun watching him lose the general election. Rrreeeeeallly fun. :)

Don’t worry, though. I’ll still support Obama if he wins the nomination. I’m just venting.

Todd, I can only define what it means for me to be Independent. For me, it means there are ideals in both parties that I can align myself with. Heck, if you put two “die-hard” Republicans in the same room, the chances that they both think exactly the same are pretty slim. Same is true for Dems. As I said, today I will pull the lever for Hillary, but, since you thanked me, I might change my mind tomorrow. There’s a whole lot of “us” out there. “We” will probably decide the election. No matter what, though, I will not pull the lever for Obama.

We know that the HillLovers (General of Bosnian Snipers Brigade) and McNasty (the Major General, Governor of Bagdad)supporters have started calling themselves BKMC, that is dishonest, but “la lucha continua y la victoria certa”. You can call us gays, lesbians, transsexuals, sex workers, asexuals, or heterosexuals, no problem at all with these name callings, because we respect Human Rights. This election is about judgement, leadership and vision for America and the world. Obama is winning that competition and Hill and Mc are losers. The writing is on the wall. God bless America ad God bless Obama. OBAMA08.

So exactly what does Obama hope to achieve by having this meeting tomorrow, meetings that he did not have when he was appointed to do so, so he is going to accomplish something now?
Its really funny that the media seems to be giving Obama credit for having this meeting finally as if its a great accomplishment, since when is mediocrity, and downright slackness at doing your job rewarded with praise?
Seems like some will praise Obama even when he does not do diddly squat, I wonder if this was Hillary that was in charge of the Foreign Relations Committee and only tomorrow going about holding this meeting I really wonder what the headlines would of been like.

WOWSA One word – KEEP PENN in your corner Hillary – the one word is – winner. God bless Hillary and all her followers.

I voted for Clinton in the primary, but will NEVER vote for Obama even if he is the VP candidate. Is that clear. and if Obama is the niminee I will NEVER donate to the DNC.

“Let’s ban together once again fellow Americans and let this Obama prove himself elsewhere for a while, if he is who he says he is…he will be back. We just don’t know him right now!!
Hillary 08..If not Mccain will be just fine!! Both will protect our country!!”
This is the truth!

I am still waiting on the Obama supporters to tell me what foreign policy relations Obama gained during the age of 6 to 10 while living in Jakarta, Indonesia.
He must really be the messiah to be sitting at that age in the temples learning foreign policy from the leaders of that country.

Todd – 1. Obama is a great at bowling and enjoys himself despite idiots who worry about his score. 2. Obama is branching out to Hockey and already has a hockey stick to beat off Hillary in the upcoming senate hearings. 3. Young Obama put dinosaur into McCainasaurs the republican dinosaur.

Todd:
You and Dogsoldier make a GREAT couple! You can do what McBush will do to us if he gets the WH!!!
Obama 2008 — Yes, WE CAN!!!

The mainstream media is obviously lacking in credibility. Unfortunately, lots of people are duped by them as much as they are duped by Obama on both fronts.

can all the kool aid drinkers answer one question?why would we want to elect someone to potus that had a marxist mentor as a child[uncle frank]sought out marxist professors in collage,looks up to his father who wrote a marxist manafesto for kenya[which is why he was fired by kenatta]sought out and became amember of a black liberation church for twenty years,quite possibly[THIS ONE I STILL AM TRYING TO CONFIRM]took a trip to the pakastan tribal areas in the mid 80′s,has ties trough rezko to a very shady middle east banker that was linked to saddam.without calling me names please tell me why i should take a chance with the future of my country with someone who has cosistanly sought out antiamerican cohorts.

sandy you obviously havent been paying attention for several years if you think Obama has been doing his job. My post had nothing to do with the hearing with the General with regards to Obama. Please try to comprehend better.

“NO” for Obama. We need to learn alot more about him. He is young, he can run again in 4 or 8 years. By then we should know him better.

First of all for Obama to participate in a democratic function is total hypocrisy.
Obama couldn’t get enough of his Marxist professors.
Obama couldn’t get enough friendship of William Ayers the Weather Underground terrorist who wishes he could of blown up more of America.
Obama could not get enough of Rezko and his criminal methods refarding cheating the prople of Chicago.
Obama could not get enough of Rev. Wright whose Clack Liberation Theology is based on Communist/Marxist teachings.
Obama can’t get enough of anti-american, criminal and Communist/Marxist associations.
Therefore, his JUDGEMENT in any form or fashion involving the direction of this great country IS SUSPECT.
OBAMA IS NOT FIT NOR IS HE WORTHY OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Everyone “liked” George W. Bush so much that he was “elected” to two terms – and look at what we got. This is the year of Obama, the political pop culture icon of the 2008 election. The next presidency will likely be the most difficult in U.S. history, thanks to George W. Bush and his administration, and this is not the time for a popularity contest. First term presidents enter into on-the-job-training the day they take office. There is not really any way to know in advance how a candidate will perform if elected to the presidency, however, in the year 2008, good heart and good intentions will not be enough to begin to tackle our domestic and international problems. The next U.S. President’s shoulders will have to carry the weight of the U.S. and the rest of the world. There is one Democratic candidate who has shown time and again to be crush-proof. The more people attempt to push Hillary down the faster she bounces back. She is tenacious – NOT desperate. She is a fighter, which to some is not becoming and hurts her “popularity.” We have had many years to learn about her flaws and her mistakes. Obama shares with us only what he wants us to know, and to this point that has not been much. His replies to the tough questions have been vague and incomplete. Voters have a responsibility to educate themselves before they pull the lever or face the touch screen, or at the least, to really think about what Obama is not saying, and how beneficial it has been for him to have had so little time and history in the national arena. All candidates are untested as presidents, but Hillary has the heart to fight for what is right for this country, and she has the proven perseverance that will be needed to face the opposition and adversity that will come with the post-Bush presidency.

So Obama who has been “too busy running for president” since 2004 to actually do anything in the Senate is finally having a meeting…..
Dang I hope if he actually gets to be president he doesn’t start running for re-election in 2009. We could all be in trouble if Obama is too busy running for president to actually be president if he gets a chance.

Unfortunately, as was the case with Bush’s elections (even though one was stolen), half the country voted based on popularity and had no clue how to elect a qualified candidate. It appears that is happening in the dem race as it did in the rep race. So I guess we can expect the same in the general election campaign… another popularity contest determined by half the voters in the country. When will Americans ever learn that it is important we elect the most qualified and accomplished candidate still in the race?
Emily, you are correct and there is still time and possibilities. No matter what happens in the next 10 contests, the superdelegates (and possibly 76 additional unpledged delegates appointed to help break a tie) will determine who becomes the nominee at the convention after one or more ballots are cast by all delegates. Many people do not understand the nomination process is not about the votes. The voting that all of us who are not delegates do is simply a guideline for those who are delegates. There are always delegates who switch camps at the convention. Usually, it doesnt matter because the nominee is already presumptive (wide margins between candidates). This time it does matter because the race is tight and will likely get tighter I think. In any case, if the delegate difference is 1-2% that means 40-80 delegates changing camps, 76 appointed unpledged delegates, or any of the 300 or so uncommitted superdelegates can tip the nomination either way. Clinton is in the race because she has a right to be and still has a chance to win. Obama’s camp is calling for her to step out because they know this fact… they are afraid she will win. Nothing will energize voters more than a solid competition all the way to the convention where the winner and the loser will kill and makeup and unite the party. Obama is afraid is all… and so is the media who hates Clinton.

Jackie – let’s be sure to note he isnt bothering to conduct the hearing he has failed to do for so long. That is to hold a hearing on NATO operations in Afghanistan (the primary purpose of the EU subcommittee) to ensure the troops have adequate resources to pursue and capture Bin Laden in cooperation with NATO forces. No, he prefers to hold nomination hearings at Bush’s request. (Anyone who has been paying attention knows Bush has been presuring Congress to confirm his nominees.) He is a Bush boy and people just dont see it… the ties are very strong. The methods are very much alike (publicly pretending to be something you are not while working behind the scenes doing something totally opposite of what you promise). They are cousins ya know.

“for the first time in my life I am proud to be an American”……and I want to thank all the players in this Oscar Winning Performance, whom made it possible for this show to go on.”

Susie: The Obama camp always labels anyone who disagrees with them or their candidate as racist. From what I’ve read on the NY time, ABC blogs, et al, the Obama camp’s principal mechanism is to bully people who don’t agree with them. They use what scant information imbibed from an inadequate arsenal of racial argument to reject any other perspective as “ignorant” or “racist.” If Obama supporters could open their minds, even fractionally, to all the data provided that suggests Obama and company are the real racists, they would have learned a better strategy to argue a point other than to subjectively brand everyone as racist, uneducated, or ignorant. By casting aspersions (i.e. calling anyone who doesn’t support Obama a racist), you perpetrate the same oppressive techniques used to deny women and other targeted groups a voice for thousands of years. It’s textbook projection. Many Obama supporters are what they accuse other people of being.

This is the kind of politics he did in Chicago. He is an expert in this and he fooled a lot of Americans because of charisma. Charisma-Karma, sounds alike ha? Anyway, the republicans are already collecting all these info. They are already hoping that Obama will be the nominee so they can start writing the books for their attacks. I think the Rezko trial is worth watching. That would be more damaging than the pastor story. The media never talked about this.

They are both liars lets face it. Keep going Mark and every belittling remark and putdown to fellow Dems just means more votes for the McCain. Is that what you want? You want to fight, go to Iraq.

General David Petraeus appears on Capitol Hill for another round

MM is liveblogging the latest round of posturing going on on Capitol Hill from opportunistic politicians like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker prepare to brief congressional leaders on…

Change you can enrich your soil with:
There have been at least 3 times when Obama has twisted what McCain said to portray McCain as advocating war in Iraq for 100 years or more: As recently as the end of March in Lancaster, Penn., Obama said, “you know, John McCain wants to continue a war in Iraq perhaps as long as 100 years.” At the Cleveland, Ohio, presidential debate, Obama said the U.S. is “bogged down in a war that John McCain now suggests might go on for another 100 years.” In Houston, Texas, on February 19, Obama said that McCain “says that he is willing to send our troops into another 100 years of war in Iraq.”
Yesterday on MSNBC, Obama senior strategist David Axelrod said Obama “is not saying that Sen. McCain said we’d be at war for 100 years.
I suppose that depends on what the meeting of the word “is” is.

So, while Obama says that we should keep a “Strike Force” in or near Iraq in case al-Qaeda in Iraq should cause trouble–Petraeus has been leading the defeat of AQI. From the General’s opening summary:
- Security in Iraq is better than it was when Ambassador Crocker and I reported to you last September, and it is significantly better than it was 15 months ago when Iraq was on the brink of civil war and the decision was made to deploy additional US forces to Iraq. A number of factors have contributed to the progress that has been made.
- First, of course, has been the impact of increased numbers of Coalition and Iraqi Forces. You are well aware of the U.S. surge. Less recognized is that Iraq has also conducted a surge, adding well over 100,000 additional soldiers and police to the ranks of its security forces in 2007 and slowly increasing its capability to deploy and employ these forces.
- A second factor has been the employment of Coalition and Iraqi Forces in the conduct of counterinsurgency operations across the country, deployed together to safeguard the Iraqi people, to pursue Al Qaeda-Iraq, to combat criminals and militia extremists, to foster local reconciliation, and to enable political and economic progress.
- Another important factor has been the attitudinal shift among certain elements of the Iraqi population. Since the first Sunni “Awakening” in late 2006, Sunni communities in Iraq increasingly have rejected AQI’s indiscriminate violence and extremist ideology. These communities also recognized that they could not share in Iraq’s bounty if they didn’t participate in the political arena. Over time, Awakenings have prompted tens of thousands of Iraqis—some, former insurgents—to contribute to local security as so-called “Sons of Iraq.” With their assistance and with relentless pursuit of Al Qaeda-Iraq, the threat posed by AQI—while still lethal and substantial—has been reduced significantly.

Never have I seen so MUCH negativity and hate spewed in my life. As a senior, who is neither Republican or Democrat…I would certainly hope and pray prior to my demise, this World of ours…and these United States will offer much more love and unity before this universe is totally destroyed by the forces of “pessimissim”!

And..WHAT committee is Hillary chair of????!!!!HELLO….NOTHING!!!!!!
oh wait…that must be because there is too much sniper fire on Capitol Hill!!!

Why are people trying to spin this as a bad thing? While in DC for these hearings, Obama is utiliziting his time well by holding a committee meeting until his turn for questioning this afternoon. That’s called productive and responsible time management. What will Senator Clinton do with her time in DC? TV interviews?

it’s called a joke. Some need to get a life and get away from the TV and computer and do something productive.
Maybe we should just take a break from politics and relax. It worked for Obama.

Hillary used to say “when I am president” during the early debates – she’s not saying it now!!

What all of you guys fail to mention is that nobody is perfect..neither, HRC, nor Mac-the-knife MacCain…..and for that matter, nor Obama!
But you know what, from a british stand point; being outside looking into the role America has forced it self as a beacon of democracy and the predicament the country now faces both in its over stretched armed forces the shabby shabby state of its economy,Global warming, the subprime debarcle….. oh and lest we forget the trade inbalance with China, you know, america…and you guys on this blog need to take this election serious and stop with bashing Obama et al! You need to ask a simple Question here, if the superdelegates are say 70% for Obama, surely there must be something in the guy…other than the colour of skin?!! Surely you guys should sit back and do a bit of soul searching that goes way past inconsequential and infantile opponent bashing and ask yourselves; this coming election is not some football cup final, this is about literally life and death and 4000 deaths in Iraq, innocent lives lost through an unjust war, easy subprime loans lent though an incompetent Greenspan…..You americans need to start asking some hard hitting questions about where you want to see America within the global stage and then after pick a candidate who really stands for something…its not about wanting to be the first Woman President, its not about being the first Black President and its certainly not about an un-yielding temperamental candidates partriotisim, which eskews all common sense a logic! A candidate who would be PERHAPS even quicker than Bush and Cheney in pulling the trigger!
America is far Bigger than war and far cleverer than idle candidate bashing!
The world expects!
The world watches!
Do the right thing!

I think it is nice that Obama could take the time to attend the Senate and make it to his ACTUAL job in order to question Petraeus & Crocker. Will he be sticking around for any other Senate meetings or is he too busy dogging his Senatorial duties?
I am glad the Armed Services Committee did not “play favorites” or politics to extend time for McCain and Clinton. I wonder if that will be true for the Foreign Relations Committee? Stay tuned.

…and might I add- what’s with the clinton supporters who will vote for mccain if hillary doesn’t steal the nomination? what happened to “97% of their platform is exactly the same”?
so clinton supporters would cut off their nose to spite their face, and vote for a republican who has no problem continuing a war for as long as he’s in office- just because they’re mad that a candidate who is the same as their own on 97% of the platform is the nominee?
again, weird. like, bizarroworld weird…

What a joke. What does holding a committee hearing have to do with experience on foreign affairs?? How would that translate into someone being qualified to be President? When does a President hold committee hearings??? Get real people its Judgement that matters in a crisis.

Wow, its amazing how many people are ripping on Obama for holding this committee hearing. I just checked the meetings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (on the website), and I do believe this is the first time that this committee has met during this congress.
So yeah, he hasn’t had any other meetings on this, simply because there have not been any. I have to do a little research to find out how these things are decided, but I’m pretty sure that a subcommittee gets it’s agenda at least partly from the overall Senate committee.
Come on ppl, this is basic debate stuff. Don’t attack the person, attack the issue. DO RESEARCH BEFORE YOU MAKE YOURSELF LOOK LIKE EVEN MORE OF AN UNEDUCATED LEMMING.

It’s misleading to imply that Obama’s subcommittee on European Affairs had primary or even secondary jurisdiction to hold hearings over Afghanistan. Primary jurisdiction is the Senate Armed Services Committee, which Clinton sits on. Secondary jurisdiction goes to the full Foreign Relations Committee–which did hold a hearing on NATO’s role in Afghanistan on January 31, 2008. Even tertiary jurisdiction over the Afghanistan operation would fall in the Subcommittee on Near East and South and Central Asian affairs.

two: You must be dreaming. Obama is not going to be president now or at any other time. If that’s what your thinking you better drink the same stuff Obama was drinking in his college days. Obama doesn’t have the knowledge to who what to to do on Day l or the intelligence to run the country.

Obama will use this opporunity to show about his competency when he did not do his job previously because it is election time. He was considered in the US Senate circle as lazy performer but will be motivated when there is a grandstanding opportunity. At least, we will have the chance to see how he chairs the committee he ignored.