Clinton hits rivals on Iraq war
Hillary Clinton, marking the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, assailed both her presidential rivals this morning -- Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain for gladly taking the baton from President Bush and Democrat Barack Obama for not doing more to stop the conflict.
McCain, who is on a fact-finding trip to Iraq, would continue what she described as Bush's failed policies, Clinton said. She also hit McCain for his much-cited comment that US troops could be in Iraq for another 100 years, though McCain was talking about a non-combat role akin to the presence in Korea. McCain argues that Americans would be fine with that, as long as US troops aren't taking casualties.
McCain, for his part, said on CNN that Clinton's proposal to begin withdrawing one or two brigades a month within 60 days of taking office shows that she doesn't understand the situation on the ground and such a withdrawal "means that al Qaeda wins."
UPDATE: The McCain campaign issued a statement in response: "At a time when Senator Clinton knows that American and allied forces are making real progress in Iraq, it is unfortunate that she would look to score political points by mischaracterizing Senator McCain's statement with intellectually dishonest attacks. The differences between Senator McCain's position, that we must win this war, and Senator Clinton's position, withdrawal and de facto surrender on day one, are important enough to have an honest debate over. It would be the height of irresponsibility to stick with campaign promises to the left-wing of the Democratic Party and proceed with withdrawal regardless of what the situation is on the ground in Iraq in January 2009. The point that Senator McCain was making was one about American troop presence versus American combat presence. He was speaking of a post-war scenario, not a hundred year war, when he suggested that the American people could support maintaining a military presence in Iraq should the Iraqi and U.S. governments determine it to be in their mutual interest, just as the U.S. and German, Japanese, and South Korean governments did after conflicts. One would suspect Senator Clinton is aware that American troops have been present peacefully in Germany and Japan for more than six decades. The American people deserve more than blatant mischaracterizations, and we invite Senator Clinton to participate with us in an honest debate."
In what her campaign billed as a major foreign policy speech, Clinton also said that Obama, after making a much-cited antiwar speech in October 2002, did little after arriving in the US Senate -- after the war was well underway -- and did not follow through on his words with action.
"In uncertain times, we can't afford uncertain leadership," Clinton said at George Washington University.
UPDATE: The Obama campaign just posted a web video responding to Clinton's speech, questioning her judgment by showing her speech before she voted to authorize the war and showing her acknowledging she didn't read intelligence reports on Iraq's weapons programs before making that vote.
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WHAT MEDIA IS NOT REPORTING: RE: TRINITY CHURCH!
Rev. Thomas (Pastor of Mainly White Congreation of UCC) denounces e-mail smear campaign against UCC’s largest congregation - Written by J. Bennett Guess, Jan. 11, 2008
Obama, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, has been a member of Trinity UCC for 20 years." "Trinity UCC is rooted in and proud of its Afrocentric heritage," Thomas said. "This is no different than the hundreds of UCC churches from the German Evangelical and Reformed stream that continue to own and celebrate their German heritage, insisting on annual sausage and sauerkraut dinners and singing Stille Nacht on Christmas Eve. ." While Trinity UCC is predominately African American, it does include and welcome non-Black members. The Rev. Jane Fisler-Hoffman, Illinois Conference Minister, who is white, has been a member of the congregation for years.
"Trinity is a destination church for many members of the UCC, a multi-racial, multi-cultural denomination that is largely Caucasian," Thomas pointed out. "When in Chicago, many UCC members flock to Trinity to share in and learn from its vibrant ministries, dynamic worship and justice-minded membership. Contrary to the claims made in these hateful emails, UCC members know Trinity to be one of the most welcoming, hospitable and generous congregations in our denomination." [...]
Rev. Steve] Gray, a member of First Congregational UCC in Indianapolis (mainly caucasian), has worshiped several times at Trinity UCC and is most impressed by the overflowing sense of welcome it extends to visitors. "When you're Euro-American, (White) the people [at Trinity UCC] are so exceedingly gracious, warm and welcoming. They hug you and say, 'Welcome to our church!'"
This ramped-up smear campaign against the UCC's largest congregation and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's home church — Trinity UCC in Chicago — has raised the ire of the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, who called the e-mail-driven claims "absurd, mean-spirited and politically motivated."
The Main Stream Media has been filled with images and video of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial statements for the past four days, 24/7, which Obama has strongly condemned. My concern, however, relates to equal time. When Senator Obama, who, after all , is actually the Candidate, gave a speech in Indiana, addressing his faith, diversity, and unity, and Invoking Robert Kennedy, it has gotten such a tiny percentage of coverage in comparison to Rev. Wright's controversial statements shown every hour in the hour. The main stream media has asked the questions how is Obama to deal with this controversy and when he does they give very little air time to his Answer, which he spells out beautifully in this Indiana Speech. This is just not Right.
Here is the link to the transcript/video of Obama's speech. Let's urge our friends in the blogosphere, and in every level of media, to Air this and to tell the whole picture, not just a part of it, regarding The Trinity Church which Obama belongs to.
On the Other hand we have an Interesting article on Huffington Post describing how a right-wing preacher is treated with similar contoversial remarks:
When Senator Obama's preacher thundered about racism and injustice Obama suffered smear-by-association. But when my late father -- Religious Right leader Francis Schaeffer -- denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the US government, he was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr.
Every Sunday thousands of right wing white preachers (following in my father's footsteps) rail against America's sins from tens of thousands of pulpits. They tell us that America is complicit in the "murder of the unborn," has become "Sodom" by coddling gays, and that our public schools are sinful places full of evolutionists and sex educators hell-bent on corrupting children. They say, as my dad often did, that we are, "under the judgment of God." They call America evil and warn of immanent destruction. By comparison Obama's minister's shouted "controversial" comments were mild. All he said was that God should damn America for our racism and violence and that no one had ever used the N-word about Hillary Clinton.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html