Wheres Obama?

[Vladd44]

I figured it was time to Start a thread with all of the entertaining ways that Obama can never be wrong, after all if you choose both sides how can you be?

[Vladd44]

"I think he's saddened by what's happened, and I told him I feel badly that he has been characterized just in this one way and people haven't seen the broader aspect of him

I don't think my church is actually particularly controversial." [He] is like an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with

Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes

I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened by the spectacle that we saw yesterday, what became clear to me was that he was presenting a world view that contradicts what I am and what I stand for.

The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago,

[Vladd44]

Q: Did Rezko or his companies ever solicit your support on any matter involving state or federal government? Did Al Johnson, who was trying to get a casino license along with Tony Rezko, or Rezko himself ever discuss casino matters with you?

A: No, I have never been asked to do anything to advance his business interests.

I have probably had lunch with Rezko once or twice a year and our spouses may have gotten together on two to four occasions in the time that I have known him. I last spoke with Tony Rezko more than six months ago.

I have to say we're talking over the course of 10 years, there might have been spurts where I talked to him daily.

* About $160,000 for Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate election.
* From $50,000 to $60,000 for Obama’s failed attempt to unseat U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush in 2000.
* Between $10,000 and $15,000 for Obama’s first election, in 1996, to the Illinois Senate.
* “Somewhat less than that” for Obama’s re-elections to the Illinois Senate in 1998 and 2002.

Considering that Obama lives in a house that was was bought on the same day Rezko bought the lot next door, it seems a bit interesting to find out they hardly know each other.

Especially when Obama admits he is the one that brought the property to Rezko's attention.

[Vladd44]

"If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?

To which he checked the YES box, and further clarified his position with the following...

I have been a long-time advocate for public financing of campaigns combined with free
television and radio time as a way to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests. I
introduced public financing legislation in the Illinois State Senate, and am the only 2008
candidate to have sponsored Senator Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) bill to reform the presidential
public financing system. In February 2007, I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of
the public financing system in the 2008 election. My plan requires both major party candidates
to agree on a fundraising truce, return excess money from donors, and stay within the public
financing system for the general election. My proposal followed announcements by some
presidential candidates that they would forgo public financing so they could raise unlimited
funds in the general election. The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the
Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to
preserve a publicly financed general election.

It's not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections, But the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system.

[Vladd44]

Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq.

My first day in office I will bring the joint chiefs of staff in, and I will give them a new mission. And that is to end this war. Responsibly, deliberately, but decisively. And I have seen no information that contradicts the notion that we can bring our troops out safely at a pace of one to two brigades per month. And again, that pace translates into having our combat troops out in 16 months' time.

My 16-month timeline … was always premised on making sure that our troops were safe … And I’m going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold.

If it turned out, for example, that we had to, in certain months, slow the pace (of withdrawal) because of the safety of American troops … of course we would take that into account.

Personally as someone who was in strong opposition to the Iraq war in it's beginning I find it idiotic that people do not understand that leaving now is not a viable option. We made a mess and leaving now will not undo the mess.

As long as we are on the Giant Oil tit, we cannot let the region do as it will, we will have to play interferer.

[Vladd44]

I mean think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us....You know, Iran, they spend one-one hundredth of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance.And we should use that position of strength that we have to be bold enough to go ahead and listen. That doesn't mean we agree with them on everything. We might not compromise on any issues, but at least we should find out other areas of potential common interest, and we can reduce some of the tensions that has caused us so many problems around the world.

Iran is a grave threat. It has an illicit nuclear program. It supports terrorism across the region and militias in Iraq. It threatens Israel's existence. It denies the Holocaust...

[Vladd44]

[It is] time for us to end the embargo with Cuba.... It's time for us to acknowledge that that particular policy has failed

Our longstanding policies toward Cuba have been a miserable failure, evidenced by the fact that Fidel Castro is now the longest-serving head of state in the world. If our isolationist policies were meant to weaken him, they certainly haven’t worked. I believe that normalization of relations with Cuba would help the oppressed and poverty-stricken Cuban people while setting the stage for a more democratic government once Castro inevitably leaves the scene.

BTW, since when was it a democratic government?

I will maintain the embargo

In 2004 in Illinois I guess there weren't that many Cubans voting.

[Vladd44]

Should the Government crack down on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

OPPOSE

No, no, no, no. I think that, if they're illegal, then they should not be able to work in this country. That is part of the principle of comprehensive reform -- that we're going to crack down on employers who are hiring them and taking advantage of them.

[Vladd44]

If there was any argument for vouchers, it was, ‘Let’s see if the experiment works,’ And if it does, whatever my preconception, you do what's best for kids.

What I do oppose is using public money for private school vouchers. We need to focus on fixing and improving our public schools, not throwing our hands up and walking away from them.

[Vladd44]

I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws

In the Oct. 30, 2007, presidential debate, he joined other Democratic candidates in opposing the decriminalization of marijuana.

I guess the brothers on the street explained how this would cut into their Small businesses.

[Vladd44]

“When we talked back in November of ‘04 after your election, I said, ‘There’s been enormous speculation about your political future. Will you serve your six-year term as United States senator from Illinois?’”Obama: “I will serve out my full six-year term. You know, Tim, if you get asked enough, sooner or later you get weary and you start looking for new ways of saying things. But my thinking has not changed.”Russert: “So you will not run for president or vice president in 2008?” Obama: “I will not.”

But then again, perhaps I just need an Obamabot to set me straight and help me understand that the cell structure of the current Obama has been entirely replaced with new skin cells by now, so that Obama is a different one than the one running for president.

[Vladd44]

And when I am President, I will keep the moratorium in place and prevent oil companies from drilling off Florida’s coasts,” Obama says. “That’s how we can protect our coasts and still make the investments that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and bring down gas prices for good.

If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage — I don't want to be so rigid that we can't get something done

[Vladd44]

I strongly oppose retroactive immunity in the FISA bill.

Obama's vote on the Bill? He voted in favor of retroactive immunity.

[Vladd44]

We cannot impose a military solution on what has effectively become a civil war. And until we acknowledge that reality, uh, we can send 15,000 more troops; 20,000 more troops; 30,000 more troops. Uh, I don't know any, uh, expert on the region or any military officer that I've spoken to, uh, privately that believes that that is gonna make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground.

I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq are going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse

My assessment is that the surge has not worked.

What happens is that if we continue to put $10 billion to $12 billion a month into Iraq, if we are willing to send as many troops as we can muster continually into Iraq? There's no doubt that that's gonna have an impact.

Katie, as … you've asked me three different times, and I have said repeatedly that there is no doubt that our troops helped to reduce violence. There's no doubt.

What I can say is that there's no doubt that our U.S. troops have contributed to a reduction of violence in Iraq. I said that, not just today, not just yesterday, but I've said that previously.

[..Ñøßߥ..]

Damn this guys got some serious amount of faces.

[Vladd44]

I happen to be a proponent of single-payer universal healthcare coverage. That’s what I’d like to see

“I never said that we should try to go ahead and get single-payer [healthcare]

[Vladd44]

Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided

Jerusalem is a final status issue, which means it has to be negotiated between the two parties [as part of] an agreement that they both can live with.

[Vladd44]

. Question: "Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?

I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them - which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration - is ridiculous.

Contrary to the claims of some, I have no interest in sitting down with our adversaries just for the sake of talking. But as President of the United States, I would be willing to lead tough and principled diplomacy with the appropriate Iranian leaders at a time and place of my choosing - if, and only if - it can advance the interests of the United States.