AP: Bush's Iraq war being won

The Associated Press has finally admitted it: the Iraq war is being won.

From the AP yesterday: "The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost. Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years. But the Iraqi government and the U.S. now are able to shift focus from mainly combat to mainly building the fragile beginnings of peace — a transition that many found almost unthinkable as recently as one year ago."

But now, we've moved into a new phase: "The new phase focuses on training the Iraqi army and police, restraining the flow of illicit weaponry from Iran, supporting closer links between Baghdad and local governments, pushing the integration of former insurgents into legitimate government jobs and assisting in rebuilding the economy."

Is it me, or hasn't it been a while now since we've been winning. A few weeks ago, Iraqi Prime Minister al Maliki declared the war has been won, and last week embraced a timetable for U.S. withdraw. The AP and much of the media followed Obama around the world like adoring fans last week. When they all got back, they must have come to the realization of how safe it was to travel in and around Iraq.

The Obama "We are the World" game: play now

Last week, National Review's "The Campaign Spot" poked a little fun at Obama by putting together a game related to the Michael Jackson-led "We are the World" song. Play this game below to see if you can pick out the right tracks. Did they come from Obama's Berlin speech or from the "We are the World" song.

"There comes a time when we heed a certain call."

Pop quiz, hot shot. Pick out the "We Are The World" lyrics vs. Obama speech lines.

A: "We can't go on pretending day by day that someone, somewhere will soon make a change."
B: "This is the moment we must help answer the call."
C: "But if you just believe there's no way we can fall."
D. "The world will watch and remember what we do."
E. "Let us realize that a change can only come when we stand together as one."
F. "We cannot afford to be divided."
G. "These now are the walls we must tear down."
H. "This is the moment when we must come together."
I. "They'll know that someone cares, and their lives will be stronger and free."

Ok, now click over to National Review's article and scroll down to the bottom to see if you got the answers right.

Electoral Map puts McCain in driver's seat

CNN has posted a projected electoral map of the United States for the 2008 race. It shows 16 states "safe" for McCain and another 7 states "leaning" McCain, safely giving him 189 electoral votes. Then it shows 10 states "safe" for Obama and 6 states "leaning" towards Obama, giving him 221 electoral votes.

But then it has another 11 states listed as toss-ups: Florida, Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.

I am going to bank on McCain winning Florida, Ohio, and Virginia. Though, I think Obama will keep Virginia VERY close. If McCain pulls off those 3 states (which Bush won), McCain gets up to 249 electoral votes. 270 is need to be President. If he can pull off Michigan, he's gold. That gets him to 266. Then, he just needs one more state - even New Hampshire will do. But he can pick from one of the rest as well.

The rest are really toss-ups. But Bush won Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, Missouri, and Nevada. He did not win Michigan or New Hampshire, but if McCain puts Romney on his ticket, Michigan may tip his way. Both McCain and Hillary beat out Obama in New Hampshire. Remember, Hillary's tears? It got her New Hampshire.

Those 11 states could go many different ways, but the electoral map shows that Obama has a harder road to climb than McCain. The "maverick" is in the driver's seat.

British paper mocks Obama visit: "He ventured forth to bring light to the world."

Even Europeans are seeing through the Obama facade. And, they don't have to put up with it every day. Some of them are sane and see the fake political posturing for what it is. Imagine if a politician from another country came here and wanted to give a campaign speech for their country in front of the Statue of Liberty or the Lincoln Memorial. What would we think?

The Times of London mocked Obama's visit to Europe and the Middle East with their own editorial. Their headline: "He ventured forth to bring light to the world: The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his followers."

Read the full article here.

Video: Al Gore's Global Warming Hypocrisy Exposed

McCain responds to Obama's worldwide campaign tour

Mark Halperin posted some comments that the McCain campaign released at the conlusion of Obama's "citizen of the world" speech in Berlin today:

“While Barack Obama took a premature victory lap today in the heart of Berlin, proclaiming himself a ‘citizen of the world,’ John McCain continued to make his case to the American citizens who will decide this election. Barack Obama offered eloquent praise for this country, but the contrast is clear. John McCain has dedicated his life to serving, improving and protecting America. Barack Obama spent an afternoon talking about it.”

Nice. Finally the McCain campaign takes a swing. Maybe Senator McCain finally woke up and realized the "mainstream" media has a favorite in this race... and it isn't him. I've never been much of a McCain fan, he's just not conservative enough for me. But, given the options in this election, and the future of our Republic, one has to support just about anyone that comes up against Obama. Whatever we can do to stop Obama. And that option is McCain.

Despite some of his policies, McCain has indeed dedicated his life to the service of America. Obama so far has only talked about it. And today, he talked about his desire to serve the world, in spite of America. If McCain can keep taking some swings like his campaign did today, they'll have many realists enthusiatically on board with them to take down Obama.

Only One President at a Time

I know this sounds repetitive by now, but who does Obama think he is? For the past week, he has gone around the world, playing President. Yes, he's officially on a Congressional fact-finding mission. But, let's be real. He's really on a campaign hype trip.

He began his trip by removing the American flag from his jumbo plane to place his Obama campaign logo on there in replacement. Yes, take down Old Glory for your professionally designed campaign logo. This is similar to when his campaign crafted an Obama-style seal of the President of the United States. This is getting way to creepy for me. 1984? Brave New World? Anyone?

He's not even President yet (and God help us that he never gets to be), but he sure likes playing President. His next book should be called The Audacity of Arrogance.

Today, perhaps he crossed the line the furthest. First, he dared to go to Berlin and give a speech. Berlin, which holds so much history of American involvement and a place where Presidents Kennedy and Reagan gave historic speeches is a place you must "earn" before you attempt such a speech. Obama has such a small record of achievement and almost no political experience, other than campaigning, that he does not yet deserve to give a speech at such a historic place.

Perhaps the Europeans do not even like him as much as those crazy kids in Oregon. Once again, to entice thousands of young people to show up, Obama's speech followed several popular musical acts.

But Obama's speech, as most of them go, included wild declarations. He told the people of Germany: "I come to you as a proud citizen of the United States... and as a citizen of the world." Really? Citizen of the World? The Brave New World? I think maybe Obama has his election wrong. Maybe he should be running to be world President or perhaps chairman of the United Nations. You think he will pull America back from its involvement in the rest of the world? Think again. Like other progressive liberals of history, he wants to further engage America in the world, just in other ways.

He then went on to make further declarations such as:

"Now is the time to build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century"

Did anyone else notice that? "a global commitment to progress." Like abortion on demand? Same-sex unions? Government health insurance for all?

"People of Berlin ... people of the world... this is our moment."

No buddy, this is YOUR moment. Your moment in Berlin, in Germany, in Europe. But, not in America. If anyone votes for you, they're idiots. You're so presumptuous as a candidate, you don't deserve a single vote you get. I am not a citizen of the world. Read your Constitution. If you were born here (as you and I were) or if you were naturalized here (such as my father and your father were), then you are a citizen of the great United States of America. As far as I can tell, there are no alien life forms that we need to represent ourselves to as citizens of the world. And there isn't a world government, unless that's what your aiming for.

We have only one President at a time. And hopefully you'll never know the feeling... as much as you act the part in your playtime.

Who does Obama think he is?

Charles Krauthammer had an EXCELLENT column today in The Washington Post, "Who Does He Think He Is?". I urge you to read it now.

A few tidbits:

"Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials. What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn."

"Americans are beginning to notice Obama's elevated opinion of himself. There's nothing new about narcissism in politics. Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Nonetheless, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?"

"It is a subject upon which he can dilate effortlessly. In his victory speech upon winning the nomination, Obama declared it a great turning point in history -- "generations from now we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment" -- when, among other wonders, "the rise of the oceans began to slow." As economist Irwin Stelzer noted in his London Daily Telegraph column, "Moses made the waters recede, but he had help." Obama apparently works alone. After all, in the words of his own slogan, "we are the ones we've been waiting for," which, translating the royal "we," means: "I am the one we've been waiting for."

Obama's campaign website removes criticism of Bush's "surge"

The latest from the AP wire:

Barack Obama's aides have removed criticism of President Bush's increase of troops to Iraq from the campaign Web site, part of an effort to update the Democrat's written war plan to reflect changing conditions.

Debate over the impact of President Bush's troop "surge" has been at the center of exchanges this week between Obama and Republican presidential rival John McCain. Obama opposed the war and the surge from the start, while McCain supported both the invasion and the troop increase.

A year and a half after Bush announced he was sending reinforcements to Iraq, it is widely credited with reducing violence there. With most Americans ready to end the war, McCain is using the surge debate to argue he has better judgment and the troops should stay to win the fight. Obama argues the troop increase has not achieved its other goal of fostering a political reconciliation among Iraqi factions.

This is simply unbelievable. Obama began his campaign calling this war a mistake, calling the surge a mistake, and saying the only "change" of policy would be to bring the troops home, now. Obama played his cards right. He used this rhetoric towards the far left and captured the Democrat Party nomination. Now, his campaign tries to move towards the center and flat out removes any criticism of the surge from its campaign website.

Obama is reading the polls. He doesn't represent a new kind of politics, as he has self-proclaimed. His candidacy now represents the biggest joke in principled politics. He'll do and say anything to get elected.

School choice: change we can believe in

Some say something is wrong with our education system. Usually the answer they give to solve our problems is: more money. But most studies about money in education actually show that more money isn't the solution. CATO Institute fellow Andrew Coulson has written many articles and books about this subject, including one that appeared in The Washington Post on April 6, 2008. As he points out, most public schools spend more per child than do private schools. Some of the best public schools and districts in the country actually spend less per child than do the worst.

The solution then isn't money. It's freedom. Give parents the freedom to choose the school of choice for their child and learning increases. We are all individuals and education, especially in the information age, should be tailored to our individual choices. We are not pawns that should be used for the service of the state.

School choice actually does exist today, but only for the wealthy. They can send their children to the school of their choice. Low-income and middle class families most often do not have that choice. School vouchers would allow the money to follow the child to any public, private, or charter school of their choice. It's not rocket science. It's common sense. Learn more at: http://www.schoolchoice.org/

School choice. Now that is change I can believe in.

*The James Madison Institute and the Foundation for Excellence in Education brought some true education reformers to Orlando last month to discuss bringing real change to education. Read the Orlando Sentinel article that discusses how we are trying bring about change so that our students can compete with the rest of the world, in the ever emerging global economy.

Youth Will Benefit with McCain: The Change Candidate on Social Security

If a candidate is running for "change," this year, it isn't Barack Obama. It's John McCain. This blog will take up this theme of "real change" issue by issue over time, through November. For today, the subject is Social Security.

Obama has no plan for reforming Social Security, which is really nothing more than a bogus pyramid scheme by the federal government. Since it's inception, the government has taxed younger workers to pay the benefits for current retirees. There is no arguing about it. You have to pay these taxes, and when I look at my paycheck, 6.2% of the income I earned this week (and every week) is going towards social security. Now, I don't want to get into how much I make, but let's just say that 6.2% is a lot of money for me to pay for someone else's retirement.

If I took that same 6.2% and I had the option of putting it into a standard, conservative 401(k) plan, I could get a lot more bang for my buck when I retire, more than the government promises to pay me, if social security is still around then (I'm not counting on it, and have set up my own retirement account). However, the government doesn't even give me the option to take that money and invest it myself. Many companies will even give their employees a retirement fund or match what they put in, allowing them to earn way more interest than the government. In fact, the government is running a trillion dollar deficit in its entire budget. Much of that is due to social security, which soaks up so much funding.

Regardless of how much someone makes in their income, whether it is $50K, $100K, or $1 million a year, the government still sets aside a social security account for them, paid for by current workers, making far less money. This doesn't make sense and this kind of system cannot last forever.

One well-to-do retiree in Palm Beach, FL put it to me this way: he has a nice house, lives on a golf course, and is set for life. He still gets his social security check from the government. He looks out on the golf course during it's off-peak hours and sees legal Mexican immigrants working on his golf course, probably for a meager salary. Those younger workers, who are just making ends meet, are forced by the government, to subsidize the retirement of people who are sitting around hitting the golf balls all day. Something about this system just doesn't make sense.

John McCain finally called it a "disgrace" this week. He said, "It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed." Reforming social security: now, that is change I can believe in.

For more facts on social security and how we can reform it by giving younger workers more options with their own money, please visit: http://www.socialsecurity.org/

We Own It. Let's Use it. Drill in ANWR.

In 1867, the United States government signed a treaty to purchase Alaska. We handed over precious gold to Russia for the territory. Russia was in a difficult financial position and feared losing the Alaskan territory without compensation in some future conflict, especially to their rivals the British, who could easily capture the hard-to-defend region. At the time, some said it was foolish to purchase such a remote, icy region. Ohers called the Russians foolish because of the amount of natural resources, such as oil, that this area contained.

At the time Senator Charles Sumner, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that if the United States purchased Alaska, “A practical race of intrepid navigators will swarm the coast ready for any enterprise of business or patriotism. Commerce will find new arms…”

But today, the liberal establishment in the United States Congress, following the lead of environmental extremists, have shut off Alaska from the commerce that would help end our dependence on foreign oil. They have promoted and pursued a policy of shutting off and locking up Alaska from the people who purchased it. They have locked up our energy and forced us to pay higher fuel prices at the pump and keep a dependence on foreign oil rather than using the land and resources we already own.

When it comes to ANWR, we own it and we should use it. Let your Congressman know. Otherwise, we'll come off as the foolish ones when we hand our economic prosperity and our national security over to China, Saudia Arabia, and other nations who don't like us.

Christian conservative leaders unified behind McCain

The religious right threatened to bolt out of the voting booth if John McCain was the Republican nominee for President. But apparently, like myself, Barack Obama is a scarier alternative. What's the old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Chrsitian conservative leaders gathered in Denver last week and unified behind John McCain. They also approved a "Declaration of American Values" with 10 common goals, such as protecting the sanctity of life and affirming natural, traditional marriage. These are two fundamental tentets of Christianity that Barack Obama has not stood up for, and in many cases, has actually stood against. McCain, on the other hand, has not cozied up to the religious right like some politicians, but his voting record on social issues is definitely more in line with Christian values than Obama.