Gen. Shelton Endorses, Obama Thinks Rumsfeld OK [UPDATED x2]

Wait a minute – wasn’t Rumsfeld a big proponent of the satellite killer plane when he was first appointed and didn’t that put him outside the mainstream? Am I wrong about that? Wasn’t that one of the reason we all thought he was loony from the get go?

Right.

Which also says to me the problems the military has been experiencing have far more to do with Bush, and Washington, than a dearth of any talent.

Maybe a wake up call.

Not just the military, but it’s nice to see people in positions of power who still but country before money, or position.

PUT country before money or power.

Sorry.

Pushed the wrong button.

heh.

One of the crazier dynamics of this election as it pertains to leftwing blogs is how many of the same blogs that went after Joe Lieberman are now lockstep behind Obama, one of the biggest “LieberDems” there is.

I’m concerned about his refusal to denounce private armies in Iraq? How can we get out of Iraq if he wants our ‘business’ interests there to be protected with taxpayer financed private armies who are protected by American law? It’s obvious to me why HIllary has the support of the real military and now why Obama hearts Rumsfeld. Isn’t it time for the occupation to end?

Now you sound like, oops, I-pushed-the-wrong-button Obama. (Which he did, many times in the Illinois State Senate, he claims … to explain some of his stupidest votes … please don’t give this guy the football.)

Nice piece,Susan. Very well done.

As an aside, in Bob Woodward’s book, “State of Denial” he makes the point Shelton saw his job as representing the common soldier at the President’s table, the foot soldier being a legal equal to the President, deserving an equal voice in the decisions made that affected his, or her, life, such as going to war with Iraq, and Afghanistan.

This is the very basis, the foundation of our government, without respecting this philosophy of equality, we fail, America fails.

Woodward went on to say Shelton was soon excluded from top level meetings with Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld, as they didn’t care about the soldier’s welfare, or the law, for that matter, they only cared about implementing their political world vision, even at the expense of US law, or sane thinking.

A really good read about the mindset of this administration, they really thought the US government was their private corporation.

Which is why it’s not OK to take money from men like Auchi, because it directly affects men like Gen Shelton, and those who serve under them, when they ask men like Rumsfeld, for a favor.

Wait. . .

How did Sen. Clinton VOTE on Rumsfeld???

Oops! She voted to CONFIRM him! Does that mean that she thought that he was in the political mainstream?

Or that he was “out-of-the-mainstream”, but she lacked the politcal courage to oppose him???

I would argue that CLinton is MUCH more of a “Lieberdem”. . .

How did SHE vote on Rumsfeld? Ooops! She voted to CONFIRM!

How did she vote on IWR? How about Kyl-Lieberman, cluster bombs, etc?

Because those who prefer a Hitler solution, will gravitate towards equal Hitlerian measures.

There’s not much difference in the poles. Both love violence, both use violence to justify their means.

Why to always keep the radicals in each wing on either side of the aisle in check — or they’ll come back to cannibalize their very ideology they claim to endorse.

It’s not that Liberalism in itself is bad, it’s the flaming Liberal with gas and a match that IS.

I would argue that CLinton is MUCH more of a “Lieberdem”. .

.

Ok, Neb, you stick out like a sore thumb.

Now we all know where all the neocon/Obama resentment of smart people originates:

“Pay attention to ME!”

Probably because O-Bomba’s so proud of his middle name, he’s confusing Hussein with being a Hessian (who were hired mercs in the American Revolution).

Have you all seen this:

Sen. Hillary Clinton has declined to return $170,000 in campaign contributions from individuals at a company accused of widespread sexual harassment, and whose CEO is a disbarred lawyer with a criminal record, federal campaign records show.

The federal government has accused the Illinois management consulting firm, International Profit Associates, or IPA, of a brazen pattern of sexual harassment including “sexual assaults,” “degrading anti-female language” and “obscene suggestions.”

In a 2001 lawsuit full of lurid details, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that 103 women employees at IPA were victimized for years. The civil case is ongoing, and IPA vigorously denies the allegations.

“This is by far, hands down, the worst case I’ve ever experienced,” said Diane Smason, one of the EEOC lawyers handling the lawsuit. “Every woman there experienced sex harassment, they were part of a hostile work environment of sex harassment. And this occurred from the top down.”

Didn’t Obama donate all the money to charity that he received from Rezco?

Why would Clinton KEEP $170,000 from this SCUMBAG?!?!?

[ADMINISTRATOR: NED, THIS IS WHY WE HAVE OPEN THREADS. IT'S WHY MOST ACTIVE BLOGS HAVE OPEN THREADS. THEY'RE FOR OFF-TOPIC ITEMS. DIG? THIS HAD BETTER BE THE LAST TIME YOU POST OFF-TOPIC INFO IN OTHER THAN AN OPEN THREAD. YOU HAVE BEEN SERVED. YOU CAN POST THIS STUFF, BUT DO IT IN THE APPROPRIATE THREADS.]

It’s not that Liberalism in itself is bad, it’s the flaming Liberal with gas and a match that IS.

Or the dimwitted neocons with authority over the US army.

It’s not as if they have to risk anything, they have others do it for them, and, if it fails, well, they’ve always had a free ride, what’s to make them think differently, this time?

“My Dad, or my dealer, can get me out of this, he has connections.”

And to connect the dots further, when men like Gen Shelton leave, (and it was my impression, from Woodward’s book, Shelton was asked by Rumsfeld to disregard American law, and he wouldn’t) anyway, when the Sheltons leave, you end up with the Petreaus’s, and the Petreaus’s can’t win wars.

And America still needs to be able to win wars.

Bulbous Nebbish –

Now you’re all about guilty until proven innocent – even in a civil trial?

No wonder you find it so easy to support Barack Obama. You’re a hypocrite.

Rumfeld is ok?

The “Donald Rumfeld”??

Which planet have you been, Sen. Obama??

Even Bush asked Rumfeld to leave. Don’t tell me you are worse than Bush.!

Good point – never made that connection! Oops – was that the nuke button? Sorry

Probably because O-Bomba’s so proud of his middle name, he’s confusing Hussein with being a Hessian (who were hired mercs in the American Revolution

Right, highly disciplined, if I remember, and not hired to slaughter innocents.

The American revolutionaries were Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington, not Eric Prince, and Barack Obama.

lol.

How did Sen. Clinton VOTE on Rumsfeld???

And Obama voted to fund him, and the war, continually. When it came to putting his money where his mouth is, (heh) obama wussed.

Again.

Why?

You have to come back with something more than white noise, if you wanna dance, neb…

Neo-Cons take Communist beliefs and then try to masquerate as conservatives cherry picking ideals. Traditionals spotted Bush before the Iraq war, and were one of the first dissenters of him.

They’re a bane to both sides of the aisle, as they don’t follow either ideology. But so pleasing to each, too.

A cancer within.

All I can say Dems, be careful of the same sheep covered wolves, like O-Bomba. Once entrenched, you can root them out like Lieberman.

Oops…CAN’T root them out like Lieberman.

Check out Hillary’s new donation campaign! 50,000 donors in 72 hours! You don’t have to donate, but you really should check out the dynamic graphics. Just terrific, and a lot of fun to watch.

Find Obama’s appearance on MTP, when he explains he will vote against Alito, but “he really wished he didnt have to, I mean, Alito and Bush are ok, right?”

He did this when a lot of us, on Kos, even, were in the midst of watching Cheney and Bush try to pull down the Constitution, in the mane of the “great war on terror.” I remember feeling appalled Obama didn’t quite seem to get it.

Fer real.

I wonder if the kos people forgot about all of that?

Or maybe it doesnt matter, there was a kook on Kos posting, not too long ago, about changes he thought should be made to the Constitution.

That’s usually your first tip off…

I’d like to see a link on her voting to confirm Rumsfeld. Or are you just fantasizing? Go ahead – make your case.

Oh, btw, how did Obama vote on Kyl Lieberman?

[...] NO QUARTER wrote an interesting post today on Gen. Shelton Endorses, Obama Thinks Rumsfeld OKHere’s a quick excerpt Ask Army Major General Antonio Taguba (Ret.) what he thinks of Donald Rumsfeld. (Gen. Taguba is one of 28 flag officers who have endorsed Hillary Clinton as of this week. Gen. Taguba endorsed Sen. Clinton because of her “unequivocal opposition to the use of torture under any circumstances” [NoQuarter story].) Let Sy Hersh tell the story of how Gen. Taguba told the the truth in the report he was assigned to write about Abu Ghraib and, for that, was ridiculed by then Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. G [...]

“Rumsfeld is okay”…..what the heck are you smoking Neb?

Where the heck have you been for the past (7) years…give me a break…geeze, get a clue.

>>I’d like to see a link on her voting to confirm Rumsfeld. Or are you just fantasizing? Go ahead – make your case.

It was a unanimous voice vote with no Senator objecting.

Rumsfeld danced through his confirmation hearings and was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote, meaning no one — including then-newly elected Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY — objected.

http://edition.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/20/senate.vote/

>>Oh, btw, how did Obama vote on Kyl Lieberman?

Again, he objected to Kyl Lieberman and stated his opposition on the Senate floor, but was not present for the vote. He had been told that the vote was not forthcoming and had to attend a previously scheduled campaign event.

From the Senate record:

“Mr. REID. Mr. Chairman, there will be no more votes tonight. We have tried to work something out on the Kyl-Lieberman amendment and the Biden amendment. We have been unable to do that.

We have been very close a few times, but we have just been informed that Senator Biden will not have a vote anytime in the near future. There will not be a vote on the other one anytime in the near future. We hope tonight will bring more clearness on the issue.”

As far as missing votes:

From Reuters:

Clinton leads Obama in missed Senate votes

WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton may be falling behind rival Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but she has the lead in missed votes in the U.S. Senate so far this year.

After reviewing Republican presidential hopeful John McCain’s voting record on Tuesday, we examined how the Democrats were handling their day job as well.

Clinton missed 18 of 21 votes while Obama missed 10 of 21 roll calls so far this year, though they spent much of Tuesday casting votes related to a bill that ultimately passed, empowering U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct domestic surveillance on terrorism suspects without court orders.

The two skipped the final passage vote for that measure as they headed back out on the campaign trail but McCain, who has a commanding lead for his party’s nomination, stuck around for it.

McCain matched Obama’s tally for 2008, missing 10 out of 21 votes. In December, Obama and Clinton each missed 27 of 30 votes.

Hope this clears it up for you!

Read the article. We’re off topic here.

Better watch out. It looks like you’re also off-topic. . .

Your point Ned? When did you vote for Rumsfields apointment…? seriously your missing the point being made, which SusanUnPC, does a fine job of highlighting.
So for just fun can you stop with the strawman BS?

You appear to be indulding in a wierd form relativism. You can’t contrast Senator Obama’s
utter failure to expand his experience on the committe he was AWOL from and his big fat O in military affairs. And while we are at it can you please tell me what is his record on the homeland security committe?

I added it to the story above, and just in case people might miss it, i added it in a comment. Author’s prerogative. Me general. You private.

“It was a unanimous voice vote with no Senator objecting.”
(my italics and boldface)

Library of Congress:
“Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote”

Why are you people wasting your time on this poster? Don’t you have sidewalks to shovel, lawns to mow, dogs to walk, paint to watch dry?

Simon: just for clarification: Obama says he wished he could have voted present?

“he really wished he didnt have to, I mean, Alito and Bush are ok, right?”

Right, so Clinton voted with the other progressives in the senate and you have a problem with that. Interesting. so, to your mind – Feingold is a Lieberdem?

And congrats on getting Obama to show up and vote. That’s a change of habit for him. I wonder if he’ll start ducking out on the tougher votes later this year….

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/02/obama.missed.votes/index.html

The Illinois Democrat has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September.

You private

and Ned volunteers for latrene duty ’cause his skill set is a match for the job…

I Salute you General!

BRAVO JACK N. !!! AWESOME AD !!!!

The Kossians have no memory, they forgot about the Obama that castigated them for sticking their lumpen prole noses into senatorial politics just a few years ago.

Obama showed his colors for all and they didn’t see it.

The Kos people didn’t get it either when Pelosi and Reid started 2007 by rolling over for Bush on just about everything he wanted.

Then again the Reid/Pelosi betrayals went over the heads of a lot of folks who now are major Obama supporters in the blogosphere.

Salute!

Some of you may remember the despicable anti-Dean ad in Iowa put out by a 527 called “Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Values.”

A member of the leadership who was also the spokesman for the group was Robert Gibbs, now a spokesman for Barack Obama.

Gibbs not only embraced the ad, he helped make it happen.

And now, he’s speaking for a candidate who also has no military or foreign policy experience. Obama clearly dipped into the slimiest corners of DC to pluck out Gibbs, didn’t he?

So why do they scream like little girls because Hillary put out an ad stating she’s the best choice for CiC?

The King was partly German. So lots of Germans joined the British Army. Many of them stayed on after the war a settled in Pennsylvannia and Ohio!

Wrong premise here-
Obama is questioning her judgement. In that area, you have then examine whether his judgement was better, APPLES FOR APPLES.
And when stacking it APPLES FOR APPLES, he didn’t show different judgement about Rumsfeld.

Did she miss on the Rumsfeld thing, apparently so. But so did he, yet he is saying he has better judgement.

And on the Kyl-Leiberman amendment…strange bedfellows
Not Voting – 2
McCain (R-AZ)
Obama (D-IL)

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00349

Good point. And add another name to the hit parade list. Sorry about the web dust. Historical contexts are crucial to cutting through the current noise.

Barack Obama’s Impressive Team
In announcing his presidential exploratory committee today, Sen. Barack Obama said he will not make a final decision on whether or not to run for president until February 10. Whether or not he’s officially in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination, the Illinois senator already has recruited an impressive group to run his national effort.

Robert Gibbs: Gibbs, a longtime communications operative with a special focus on the Senate, has been with Obama since shortly after his 2004 primary victory. Prior to that Gibbs served as a spokesman for Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) presidential bid. Gibbs, like Plouffe, has experience in the nitty-gritty of Democratic politics, having served as the communications director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and as campaign spokesman for Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) in 1998. He will be the campaign’s communications director.

Chris Cillizza; Wednesday, January 17, 2007
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/01/the_obama_inner_circle.html

Obama Jumps Into Presidential Fray
Senator Forms Exploratory Committee
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011600529.html

How is it on topic? because it contains the name Hillary? The topic is about experience handling military, and you bring up financial contributions. If this is what you call on topic, then you don’t seem to distinguish apples and apples and oranges and oranges.

If I came from the moon and just had the time to inform myself about what General Taguba did in investigating the Abu Ghraib scandal and learning that he endorsed Senator Clinton–that alone would be enough for me to vote for Hillary.
If you do not know what Gen. T. did in this respect as he was fully aware that it would cost him his career, you ought to study this.
Susan, thanks informing me of Gen. T. taking Senator Clinton’s side–one more very important reason to vote for her

I’d be emabarrassed if I was BO…talking about “superior judgment” while making “boneheaded decisions” it’s kind of like saying you’ll repeal NAFTA while telling Canda you won’t. Nothing matches up with this guy. Oh yeah, and talking about transparency while saying, “we will neither confirm nor deny a conversation took place.” Ugh, it makes me sick to my stomach…that’s Bush speak.

Hillary knows what she’s saying, she means it and she’ll stand by it no matter how much energy people exert to get her to compromise. That’s what we need after Bush — a president who says and does everything she says. God, that would be such a relief.

So does this mean that I can’t advocate that people go to Obama’s web site, volunteer, and make a contribution?

This is the biggest election of our generation and the question is: are we going to continue with the failed policies of the past, the division, the triangulation, and the demonization of one’s opponents?

Or are we going to believe in our ability to bring about change in our country, to get rid of lobbyist money, to work together as Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, to take the country back FOR ALL AMERICANS and not just for the special interests?

Over 1,000,000 individuals have contributed to Obama thus far. . . this is a movement which won’t be stopped. Go to Obama’s web site, read his position PDF, watch his speeches and read his books. Then volunteer or contribute.

There is something exciting happening here. Hillary Clinton cannot get it done, she does not inspire people of all persuations and is too mired in divisive political strategies. Her 11 state swing strategy was a failure and the 50-state strategy as designed by Dean and employed by Obama was an enormous success.

Join the campaign and we will have the best nominee we’ve had in generations on Weds!

[...] may speak a bit differently than the 28 flag officers who have endorsed Hillary Clinton. The Osama part is over the top, but he gets it about readiness, just like the 28 flag officers. [...]

[...] Gen. Taguba’s endorsement was but one of 30 flag officers backing Hillary Clinton, including General Henry Hugh Shelton (two-term Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of [...]