THE 44th President of the United States…

Barack Obama!

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I was watching Countdown last night and there was reaction to John McCain’s comments on the Today Show where he stated that it was “not too imporant” when troops come home from Iraq, as long as they are not taking casualties. Keith Olbermann spoke with Brandon Friedman from Vote Vets to ask what McCain’s statements could mean to troops in the field.

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As you are probably aware, television and the internet are buzzing from John McCain’s recent comments. On an interview on the Today Show, John McCain was asked if he could now, as a result of the surge, estimate when troops could come home. McCain offered the following:

“No, but that’s not too important. What’s important is casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That’s all fine. American casualties, and the ability to withdraw. We will be able to withdraw. … But the key to it is we don’t want any more Americans in harm’s way.”

Not too important? You have people who may have been put on as much as their fifth tour in Iraq but, it’s “not too important” how long people have to be away from their families. Even if some day, many years from now, we get to a point where casualties are non-existent, we still have the fact that we will likely require a significant troop presence there to protect the huge embassy and military bases being built there, as well as protecting all the corporations that are looking to feed at the trough there.

This means that military people will continue to be asked to keep the burdens on their families to support a failed policy because George Bush and, now, John McCain tell us that some day this will all be worth it.

However, try telling people like the families of Marlin Rockhold or LaVena Johnson that when they were coming home was not too important. Both of them died after Bush declared “Mission Accomplished”. For their families, the date on which they came home decided whether or not they would ever see them alive again.

Of course, in John McCain’s world, war is an ideal state of being, allowing him some shining glory. However, for people serving and their families, it’s about sacrifice, hardship and a constant fear of that knock on the door from someone telling you your loved one is coming home in a casket.

So, no Senator McCain, it is imporatant. It’s important to a lot of people.

Also, here’s the interview in a fuller context to show that it’s still no less worse:

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As you no doubt know by now, Hillary Clinton campaign has signaled that Senator Clinton will suspend her campaign and endorse Barack Obama this Saturday.

With this move, Clinton will end her 17-month bid for the Democratic nomination and clear a path for Obama to take on John McCain.

Honestly, I thought this day would not come but, I am glad it finally has.

Maybe now the Democrats can begin the healing process.

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The Associated Press has a story out on some of the biggest mistakes made by the Clinton campaign that cost her the nomination.

Honestly, I had thought for the longest time that she was poorly-served by the people around her, not the least of which was her own husband, former President Bill Clinton.

She has said some things that caused me to raise an eyebrow but, for the most part, it was the management of her campaign and the surrogates that spoke for her that left me most taken aback.

One section of this article stood out for me. It was how the actions of Bill Clinton ended up costing Hillary Clinton the black vote when, at the time, she enjoyed a significant advantage with black voters. It sums ups what I saw quite nicely:

Until January of this year, former President Clinton had been viewed as an asset for his wife among her aides and supporters. Although reviled by conservatives for his affair with a White House intern, Bill Clinton remained a beloved figure among Democratic audiences, particularly blacks, who remembered the 1990s as relatively prosperous and his efforts on their behalf.

That changed in South Carolina, where the former president campaigned vigorously for his wife. Her advisers, aware of his tendency to go off message, had urged him to stay positive and talk up her accomplishments, not criticize Obama.

But Bill Clinton chafed at the campaign’s reluctance to take on the Illinois senator, particularly over what the former president viewed as conflicts between Obama’s rhetoric of opposition to the Iraq war and his voting record. So he took it on himself to speak out, with calamitous results.

Obama soundly won South Carolina, and Bill Clinton then made things worse. He seemed to diminish Obama’s triumph by noting that civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, never the presidential contender that Obama had already become, had also won the state’s primary years earlier.

Once so popular among blacks he was dubbed the first black president by author Toni Morrison, Bill Clinton had helped drive those voters away from his wife. Obama’s already strong black support would climb to as much as 90 percent of the black vote in subsequent contests.

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Congratulations, Barack Obama!

Last night, you went on to become the first black presidential nominee in U.S. history. More importantly, you are now the candidate designated to lead us out of the darkness of the last 7+ years.

So, for a moment, savor your victory then…get back to work!

We have a country to change.

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We might now know why the Clinton campaign adamantly denied today that their candidate will concede.

In a word — leverage.

It now appears that Hillary Clinton has signaled that she would be open to be Obama’s Vice-president.

Perhaps her delay on announcing her exit of the race would be for just that reason and put her in the position to bargain for the spot.

While it would not be the “dream ticket” I would envision, it could help unite the party (did I just say that?)

So, it seems the veepstakes is on and Hillary Clinton may have just thrown her name in the hat.

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Well, we already know that tonight marks the end of the primary season. For a while now, we have heard rumblings that indicated that we could see a delegate fight at the Democratic National Convention in August, which would pose a huge risk to the chances of a Democratic candidate in November.

However, there are signals that this won’t happen.

Today, the breaking news is that Hillary Clinton’s speech tonight will be a concession speech. According to senior officials on her campaign, if Obama has the 40 remaining delegates (pledged and super) that he needs to reach the magic number of 2,118, Senator Clinton will acknowledge Obama as the Democratic nominee.

However, it appears that she will not say that she is formally ending her run.

At any rate, I’ll be up late tonight awaiting this. If this is the case, it will not be the Obama victory speech that everyone will be awaiting. Instead, it will be the concession speech that will own tonight’s coverage.

Update: Now, some in the Clinton campaign say she will not concede. So, we will see which of these stories prove to be true tonight.

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As I shared with you yesterday, Fox News contributor Liz Trotta made a very tasteless joke about “knocking off” Presidential candidate Barack Obama when she said the following:

…”and now we have what … uh…some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama …uh..um..Obama ….well both if we could “…

There must have been some heat on her because, on Fox News, she apologized both yesterday and today.  However, at least in the “apology” I heard, she did not specifically apologize to Senator Obama, the person she actually spoke of knocking off.

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In a previous post, I referenced how, in citing her reasons for staying in the Democratic nomination race, Senator Hillary Clinton invoked the assassination of leading Democratic candidate Robert Kennedy in 1968, seemingly as an example of occurences that could change the complexion of the presidential race.

In this post, I wrote of how low I believe this to be and that, given the very real threat of assassination that Barack Obama lives under, this reference was particularly sickening.

Keith Olbermann, on his show, Countdown, offered a special comment on Senator Clinton’s remarks.  His statements are strong and unequivocating.  I share them with you, now.

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