• France,  Iran,  Iran Nuclear Watch,  Jacques Chirac

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Chirac – OK If Iran Has One or Two Nukes?

    irannukeseptember24cweb

    French President Jacques Chirac (C), Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel review the troops. Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the need to secure Russian energy supplies to the EU were expected to dominate a summit in an elegant chateau north of Paris between the leaders of France, Russia and Germany (September 2006)

    New York Times: Chirac Unfazed by Nuclear Iran, Then Backtracks

    President Jacques Chirac said this week that if Iran had one or two nuclear weapons, it would not pose a big danger, and that if Iran were to launch a nuclear weapon against a country like Israel, it would lead to the immediate destruction of Tehran.

    The remarks, made in an interview on Monday with The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune and Le Nouvel Observateur, a weekly magazine, were vastly different from stated French policy and what Mr. Chirac has often said.

    On Tuesday, Mr. Chirac summoned the same journalists back to Élysée Palace to retract many of his remarks.

    Mr. Chirac said repeatedly during the second interview that he had spoken casually and quickly the day before because he believed he had been talking about Iran off the record.

    “I should rather have paid attention to what I was saying and understood that perhaps I was on the record,” he said.

    So, President Chirac of France has been complicit with Iran in the STALL GAME that has enabled Iran to advance its uranium enrichment program?

    Wonder what the Brits and the rest of the European Union have to say?

    And the P-5-Plus-1 talks were WORTHLESS?

    But, isn’t that what Flap said the first time……?

    irannukeseptember18aweb

    French President Jacques Chirac speaks during an interwiev at the French Europe1 radio studios, Monday Sept.18, 2006 in Paris. Chirac said that he has very good relations with U.S. President George W. Bush, while stressing that France cannot be submissive to the United States.

    The tape-recorded, on-the-record interview was conducted under an agreement that it would not be published until Thursday, when Le Nouvel Observateur appears on newsstands.

    On Monday, Mr. Chirac began by describing as “very dangerous” Iran’s refusal to stop producing enriched uranium, which can be used to produce electricity or to make nuclear weapons. Then he made his remarks about a nuclear-armed Iran.

    “I would say that what is dangerous about this situation is not the fact of having a nuclear bomb,” he said. “Having one or perhaps a second bomb a little later, well, that’s not very dangerous.

    “But what is very dangerous is proliferation. This means that if Iran continues in the direction it has taken and totally masters nuclear-generated electricity, the danger does not lie in the bomb it will have, and which will be of no use to it.”

    Mr. Chirac said it would be an act of self-destruction for Iran to use a nuclear weapon against another country.

    “Where will it drop it, this bomb? On Israel?” Mr. Chirac asked. “It would not have gone 200 meters into the atmosphere before Tehran would be razed.”

    Clue One to Chirac:

    Tehran may be NUKED anyway. Natanz for sure and Istahan and Bushehr and Arak.

    israelaugust24njpgweb

    Chirac is either going SENILE, is an imbecilic FOOL or mistakenly gave up his countries secret bottom line on Iran’s nuclear weapons development program. Hell, perhaps France is selling them the material and the technical know-how? They supplied Saddam Hussein, remember?

    It was unclear whether Mr. Chirac’s initial remarks reflected what he truly believes. If so, it suggests a growing divide with American policy, which places the highest priority on stopping Iran from gaining the capacity to produce nuclear weapons.

    Mr. Chirac has privately expressed the view occasionally in the past year that a nuclear-armed Iran might be inevitable and that it could try to sell the technology to other countries. But publicly the policy has been very different. In fact, Élysée Palace prepared a heavily edited 19-page transcript of the Monday interview that excluded Mr. Chirac’s assessment of a nuclear-armed Iran.

    The transcript even inserted a line that Mr. Chirac had not said that read, “I do not see what type of scenario could justify Iran’s recourse to an atomic bomb.”

    Flap bets one thing – Ahamdinejad and the Iranian Mullahs are laughing their asses off at Chirac in Tehran this morning.

    And the United States?

    Well, we knew we were ALONE with Israel, now didn’t we?

    Stay tuned…..

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    Previous:

    Iran Watch: Bush Warns Iran Against Action in Iraq

    Iran Nuclear Watch:: Boasts of Nuclear Program Propaganda?

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Currently Installing 3,000 Uranium Enrichment Centrifuges

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Continuing Uranium enrichment

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Bolton – United States Iran Policy FLAWED

    Iran Nuclear Watch: North Korea Helping Iran With Nuclear Testing

    Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Warns Iran – BACK DOWN

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Bars 38 IAEA Inspectors

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Defiant of United Nations Sanctions, Plan Missile War Games

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadiejad – Iran is Ready for Any Possibility

    Cox & Forkum: Dead Ball

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Russian Missiles Delivered to Iran: Ivanov

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran To Install 3,000 Uranium Enrichment Centrifuges

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Next Target Tehran?

    Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Has No Plan to Strike Iran?

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Arrests a Nuclear Spy

    Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Submarine Collides With Japanese Ship

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Iran Will NEVER Abandon Development of Nuclear Technology

    Cox & Forkum: Saber Rattling

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Israel Planning Nuclear Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities?

    The Iran Nuclear Files

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    The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.


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  • GOP,  Iraq,  Iraq War

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part VII

    ramireztoon012907web

    AP: Senate foes of troop buildup join forces

    Two senators – a Republican and a Democrat – leading separate efforts to put Congress on record against President Bush’s troop buildup in Iraq joined forces Wednesday, agreeing on a nonbinding resolution that would oppose the plan and potentially embarrass the White House.

    Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., had been sponsoring competing measures opposing Bush’s strategy of sending 21,500 more U.S. troops to the war zone, with Warner’s less harshly worded version attracting more Republican interest. The new resolution would vow to protect funding for troops while keeping Warner’s original language expressing the Senate’s opposition to the buildup.

    Levin replaced Warner as chairman of the Armed Services Committee when the Democrats took control of the Senate in January. Their resolution could well gain more support from members of both parties than their separate versions had been attracting. It lacks Levin’s language saying the troop increase is against the national interest, and it drops an earlier provision by Warner suggesting Senate support for some additional troops.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wants to begin debate Monday on the new measure, bypassing committee review. Levin’s original resolution would no longer be considered unless offered as an amendment.

    “I believe we have a better chance now” of passing a resolution against the president’s plan, said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

    Filibuster and Flap is just about done with John Warner – GOP primary challenge for him. Will 11 GOP Senators break ranks and vote for cloture and the amended resolution?

    If they do, the NRSC is DEAD MEAT and those Senators up for re-election in 2008 better start fundraising the day after their betrayl of our troops.

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    Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., right, and committee member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, talks with Adm. William Fallon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007, prior to Fallon’s confirmation hearing before the committee to head commander of the U. S. Central Command.

    “It’s been a hard work in progress,” Warner said of his resolution, which has been struggling to win support of 60 senators so as to prevent a filibuster.

    The agreement comes as several leading Republicans who support the troop buildup said they will give the administration and the Iraqis about six months to show significant improvement. Many other Republicans say they are deeply skeptical additional troops in Iraq, rather than a political settlement, would help calm the sectarian violence.

    Warner had attracted at least seven other Republicans who were inclined to vote for his resolution. Scrambling to find additional support, Warner added language proposed by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., that would protect funding for troops.

    As of late Wednesday, Gregg had not said whether he would support the revised resolution.

    “Colleagues have come up to me and said, ‘Can you assure me that this doesn’t provide a cutoff of funds?'” Warner said.

    Warner’s resolution will now rival a proposal by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that would identify benchmarks for the Iraqi government. McCain’s measure is intended to give Republicans an outlet for expressing that the U.S. commitment in Iraq must not be open-ended, without openly criticizing the president.

    McCain’s measure also picked up steam Wednesday, with Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and GOP leaders saying they might support it.

    It is obvious that Senator Warner has NOT been listening to the over 31,000 people who have taken the PLEDGE.

    31,598 people have signed The Pledge thus far. Will you?

    If the United States Senate passes a resolution, non-binding or otherwise, that criticizes the commitment of additional troops to Iraq that General Petraeus has asked for and that the president has pledged, and if the Senate does so after the testimony of General Petraeus on January 23 that such a resolution will be an encouragement to the enemy, I will not contribute to any Republican senator who voted for the resolution. Further, if any Republican senator who votes for such a resolution is a candidate for re-election in 2008, I will not contribute to the National Republican Senatorial Committee unless the Chairman of that Committee, Senator Ensign, commits in writing that none of the funds of the NRSC will go to support the re-election of any senator supporting the non-binding resolution.

    Don’t blame Flap if GOP fundraising goes into the toilet.

    The way these fools, especially Warner and McCain have been handling this slap at the President and our troops, they really don’t deserve MY money or MY VOTE.

    Contact their offices tomorrow and let them know how you feel. Flap will be on the phones early and often.

    The contact list in the Senate:

    Senator McConnell: Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499E-mail here.

    Senator Lott: Phone: 202-224-6253 Fax: (202)-224-2262 E-mail here.

    Senator Kyl: Phone: (202) 224-4521 Fax: (202) 224-2207 E-mail here.

    Senator Ensign: (202)-224-6244 Fax: 202-228-2193. E-mail here.

    Senator McCain: Phone: (202)-224-2235 Fax (202)-228-2862. E-mail here.

    Senator Warner: Phone: (202) 224-2023 Fax: (202) 224-6295. E-mail here.

    Senator Cornyn: Phone:202-224-2934 Fax: 202-228-2856. E-mail here.

    Senator Smith: Phone: 202-224-3752 Fax: 202-228-3997. E-mail here.

    Senator Coleman: Phone: 202-224-5641 Fax: 202-224-1152.E-mail here

    Update:

     Now, some of the GOP Senators are complaining.

    One GOP lawmaker, who declined to be named, said it is “starting to get really ugly” among Republicans when they try to talk about Iraq and the wisdom of the new Bush policy. This lawmaker said when a Republican stands up who has doubts on Iraq, he’s immediately “beaten down” by other Republicans who believe that any deviation from the White House position is intolerable.

    Said another Republican with concerns about Bush’s new strategy: “It’s as if we are stabbing the party in the back, and we are only trying to do what we think is right.”

    Similar passions were on display Tuesday, when Senate Republicans held a closed-door, members-only meeting to talk about Iraq, a debate that took place in front of Vice President Cheney, who has been one of the most strident voices on Iraq within the administration.

    “It was contentious. People feel firmly, and many of us very passionately, in support of our position,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is opposed to Bush’s surge plan. “What really upsets me is that those of us who (are) opposed to the surge are somehow not supportive of our troops and General Petraeus.” Gen. David Petraeus has been named to command U.S. forces in Iraq.

    GOP Senators are digging themselves deeper…….

    Stay tuned…….

    ramireztoon012307web

    Previous:

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part VI

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: GOP Senators Debate 5 Different Iraq War Resolutions

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part V

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part IV

    John McCain Watch: DNC Criticizes McCain Contradictions on Iraq War

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part III

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part II

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge

    The Michael Ramirez files


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  • Giuliani Notes,  President 2008,  Rudy Giuliani

    Giuliani Notes: Pitching Congress

    ****Scroll Down for UPDATES****

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    Obviously Rudy is pitching for support on Capitol Hill.

    Thanks to the Politico for the grabs…..

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    Page 2

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    ****UPDATE****

    AP: McCain, Giuliani post fundraising totals

    The race for presidential cash in its infancy, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) on Wednesday collected $1.7 million in his campaign’s first few weeks while Republican rival Rudy Giuliani’s early take totaled $1.4 million.

    Financial documents detailing 2006 year-end totals showed McCain, an Arizona senator, had only $472,000 on hand while Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, had about $1 million available. Both spent money setting up campaign headquarters, buying equipment and hiring workers.

    With the Republican nomination fight just getting under way, the significance of the totals is little more than negligible because the reports detail a period before any candidate began presidential fundraising efforts in earnest.

    Most candidates are spending the first months of 2007 focusing on raising money so they can post big numbers in April, the Federal Election Commission’s first reporting deadline and, in turn, the first major test of who is a viable candidate.

    Previous:

    The Rudy Giuliani Files


    Technorati Tags:

  • GOP,  Hugh Hewitt,  Iraq,  Iraq War

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part VI

    ramireztoon012907web

    Senate Iraq Battle Nears Showdown

    The political battle over the war in Iraq continued Wednesday on Capitol Hill, where at least seven resolutions are on the table in response to President Bush’s plan for a troop buildup.

    With a Senate showdown just days away, No. 2 GOP leader Trent Lott of Mississippi said he had concerns with each of a host of the resolutions introduced so far. If Republican leaders do not rally behind a single proposal, the party could avoid taking a clear, united stance on the widely unpopular Iraq war – a consequence Lott suggested he wouldn’t mind.

    “To herd the cat sometimes you have to let them stray,” he said. “Think about that. Keeping them together by letting them stray.”

    It sounds like Senator Lott has been listening to the NRSC Pledge folks.

    31,484 people have signed The Pledge thus far. Will you?

    So, what is happening with the Biden and Warner resolutions?

    It appears the original Iraq resolution, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Joe Biden and endorsed by Republican Chuck Hagel, is losing steam, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports. It expresses symbolic opposition to the president’s troop increase.

    “It’s dead, politically,” said one Republican source.

    Gaining steam are a similar bipartisan proposal from Repubican Sen. John Warner and a new alternative being drafted by Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham.

    CBS News has learned the McCain-Graham resolution would “allow Republicans cover” by “admitting that the past strategy has failed.” But it would support the president’s troop surge. It would require Iraqi benchmarks like disarming the militia, allowing local community elections. It would not set out consequences because that, says one person close to the negotiations, “would empower the enemy.”

    The Biden resolution is DEAD.

    But, the GOP has to endure John McCain and Benchmarks?

    No Way……..

    Robert Novak has some inside poop from his newsletter that will eventually be posted to Human Events:

    Iraq Resolution: The saucer phenomenon is most clear with respect to the non-binding resolution being planned to oppose President Bush’s new strategy in Iraq. Democrats had high hopes — and the Bush Administration faced long odds — just last week on the prospect of a strongly worded and bipartisan resolution against a troop surge or “escalation” in Iraq. Somehow the administration dodged a bullet.

    1. The Democratic plan was for Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joseph Biden (D-Del.) to sit down over the weekend with Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) and hammer out a consensus bipartisan resolution opposing the troop surge. But not even the influx of anti-war protesters on Saturday — who vandalized the Capitol and the Capitol South Metro station — could focus the Senate on finishing this work. Warner, who has been making backroom deals for 28 years in the Senate, informed Biden late last Thursday that the “will of the Senate” should be determined in “open” session. This effectively killed the Democrats’ hopes of passing a Biden-crafted anti-surge resolution. Such a proposal now cannot get the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster (and could even fall short of the 50 senators needed for a simple majority). It remains unclear whether any resolution will pass the Senate.
    2. Biden wanted to force through a harsh resolution condemning Bush’s plan, but advisers prevailed on him to meld his proposal with Warner’s milder non-approval language. Biden and his principal Republican co-sponsor, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), said last Wednesday that they would negotiate with Warner. Biden would have accepted most of Warner’s resolution, except for the parts leaving the door open for further troop increases and perhaps its affirmation of the President’s constitutional role as commander in chief. Biden was surprised when Warner and the conservative Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) asserted that “issues set forth in [the resolution] should occur as a consequence of the will of the Senate, working in ‘open’ session.” In other words: no private negotiations.
    3. That stand poses a dilemma for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) because of bipartisan support for Warner’s resolution. Besides Nelson, co-sponsors include Democrat Senators Mary Landrieu (La.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Ken Salazar (Colo.), and Republican Senators Norm Coleman (Minn.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Gordon Smith (Ore.). If they all stick together, Biden cannot change the Warner resolution. With Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) joining Hagel as the only other Republican backing Biden’s version, it may lack even enough votes for a simple majority. Reid faces a difficult choice: He could crack the whip on Democrats to get a majority to pass the Biden resolution, or he could swallow an unaltered Warner resolution to win a bipartisan vote.
    4. Democrats are learning what Republicans found out after they last regained Senate control in 2002: The U.S. Senate is a sluggish, quirky and madly frustrating body that slows all progress and stops most legislation in its tracks. In the House, Speaker Pelosi has held back quick House passage of an anti-surge resolution, awaiting action in the cooler Senate.
    5. Despite the apparently good result for Bush with regard to the resolution, all is not rosy. Republicans feel withdrawal of troops must begin in the next six months for their party to have any chance at retaining the presidency in 2008. Even if Biden can’t have his way, there is little or no enthusiasm for sending more troops to Iraq.

    ********

    Hugh Hewitt is RIGHT:

    Senator McCain needs to hear from you, again.

    His Senate office phone is: (202) 224-2235

    His Senate office fax is: Fax (202)-228-2862

    His Senate office e-mail is here.

    His campaign phone is: (703) 418-2008

    His campaign e-mail is here.

    And here is the expanded list of contacts of other key senators:

    Senator McConnell: Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499E-mail here.

    Senator Lott: Phone: 202-224-6253 Fax: (202)-224-2262 E-mail here.

    Senator Kyl: Phone: (202) 224-4521 Fax: (202) 224-2207 E-mail here.

    Senator Ensign: (202)-224-6244 Fax: 202-228-2193. E-mail here.

    Senator McCain: Phone: (202)-224-2235 Fax (202)-228-2862. E-mail here.

    Senator Warner: Phone: (202) 224-2023 Fax: (202) 224-6295. E-mail here.

    Senator Cornyn: Phone:202-224-2934 Fax: 202-228-2856. E-mail here.

    Senator Smith: Phone: 202-224-3752 Fax: 202-228-3997. E-mail here.

    Senator Coleman: Phone: 202-224-5641 Fax: 202-224-1152.E-mail here.

    Finally, here is the contact information for Senator Brownback, who is about to completely dash his already small hopes of becoming the conservative alternative for GOP primary voters if Romney falters. Senator Brownback is not mentioned in the Times’ story, but earlier reports had him somewhere in the Warner/McCain camp. You can contact his presidential campaign here, or call his Senate office at (202) 224-6521.

    Call senator McCain and the Senators again.

    Ask them to FILIBUSTER or VOTE AGAINST CLOTURE on ALL Iraq War resolutions supporting FAILURE coming to the floor of the Senate tomorrow/this week/the coming week.

    Flap is and you will be glad you did.

    ramireztoon012307web

    Previous:

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: GOP Senators Debate 5 Different Iraq War Resolutions

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part V

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part IV

    John McCain Watch: DNC Criticizes McCain Contradictions on Iraq War

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part III

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part II

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge

    The Michael Ramirez files


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  • Cox & Forkum,  Iraq,  Iraq War

    Cox & Forkum: War Power

    cox&forkum07.01.30.WarPower

    Cox & Forkum: War Power

    AP: Congress to test bounds of its war power

    President Bush may be the decision maker, but the Democratic-controlled Congress holds the purse strings. Whether to yank them shut when it comes to the conflict in Iraq, and under what conditions, is the question facing newly empowered majority Democrats.

    No one challenges the notion that Congress can stop a war by canceling its funding. In fact, Vice President Dick Cheney challenged Congress to back up its objections to Bush’s plan to put 21,500 more troops in Iraq by zeroing out the war budget.

    Underlying Cheney’s gambit is the consensus understanding that such a drastic move is doubtful because it would be fraught with political peril.

    But there are other legislative options to force the war’s end, say majority Democrats and some of Bush’s traditional Republican allies.

    The alternatives range from capping the number of troops permitted in Iraq to cutting off funding for troop deployments beyond a certain date or setting an end date for the war.

    “The Constitution makes Congress a coequal branch of government. It’s time we start acting like it,” said Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., who is chairing a hearing Tuesday on Congress’ war powers and forwarding legislation to eventually prohibit funding for the deployment of troops to Iraq.

    His proposal, like many others designed to force an end to U.S. involvement in the bloody conflict, is far from having enough support even to come up for a vote on the Senate floor.

    Closer to that threshold is a nonbinding resolution declaring that Bush’s proposal to send 21,500 more troops to Baghdad and Anbar province is “not in the national interest.” The Senate could take up that measure early next month.

    But some senators, complaining that the resolution is symbolic, are forwarding tougher bills.

    Maybe it will be Senator Barack Obama?

    Obama calls for US combat troops out of Iraq by March 2008

    Likely presidential contender Senator Barack Obama called for the removal of all US combat forces from Iraq by March 31, 2008, to counter what he called President George W. Bush’s “failed policy of escalation.”

    “The American people have waited, the American people have been patient. We have given chance after chance for a resolution that has not come,” Obama said on the floor of the US Senate, as he pledged to introduce legislation calling for the troop pull out.

    “The time for waiting in Iraq are over. The days of our open-ended commitment must come to a close, and the need to bring this war to an end is here,” said the Illinois Democrat, a leading contender for his party’s presidential nomination in 2008.

    “In a civil war where no military solution exists, this redeployment remains our best leverage to pressure the Iraqi government to achieve the political settlement between its warring factions that can slow the bloodshed and promote stability,” Obama said.

    The legislation he proposed, dubbed the “Iraq War De-escalation Act of 2007,” would reverse what Obama called the administration’s “dangerous and ill-conceived escalation.”


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  • Barack Obama,  Hillary Clinton,  Joe Biden,  John Edwards,  President 2008

    Joe Biden Watch: Biden UNBRIDLED

    ***Update***

    Matt Drudge is having a field day with Biden’s “CLEAN BLACK” remark – in red below.

    Biden Calls Obama To Clarify

    Joe Biden called Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to clarify his “clean” comment to the New York Observer, Biden told reporters in a conference call this afternoon. Biden said Obama told him: “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I know exactly what you meant.” Asked to clarify his comments, where he said Obama was “articulate and bright and clean,” Biden said he “really” regretted the word “clean” was taken out of context. Biden: “My mother has an expression clean as a whistle sharp as a tack, that was the context.” As to the effect it might have on the African-American vote, Biden: “I have no doubt that Jesse Jackson and other black leaders … knew exactly what I meant. We have a very, very long relationship. … There will be no misunderstanding.”

    Biden said of the Observer piece: “I believe I was quoted accurately but they weren’t meant to take shots.” As for his Democratic competition, Biden: “I think they’re all great. I think I’m better.”

    bidenjune27aweb

    NYO: Biden Unbound: Lays Into Clinton, Obama, Edwards

    Loquacious Senator, Democratic Candidate on Hillary: ‘Four of 10 Is the Max You Can Get?’ Edwards ‘Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About’

    Senator Joseph Biden doesn’t think highly of the Iraq policies of some of the other Democrats who are running for President.

    To hear him tell it, Hillary Clinton’s position is calibrated, confusing and “a very bad idea.” John Edwards doesn’t know what he’s talking about and is pushing a recipe for Armageddon in the Middle East. Barack Obama is offering charming but insubstantial fluff. And all of them are playing politics.

    “Let me put it this way,” Mr. Biden said. “You didn’t hear any one of them get in this debate at all until they announced for President.”

    Good ol’ “SLOW” Joe Biden.

    One of the reasons why Senator Biden receives his nickname is not because he is NOT bright or is SLOW but he does the damnest things – like plagiarisng his speeches from a British politician.

    So, let’s restate the quotes:

    Hillary Clinton:

    Her Iraq War position is “calibrated, confusing and a very bad idea.”

    “From the part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’ We’re not going to equip them? O.K. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea.”

    The result of Mrs. Clinton’s position on Iraq, Mr. Biden says, would be “nothing but disaster.”

    “Everyone in the world knows her,” he said. “Her husband has used every single legitimate tool in his behalf to lock people in, shut people down. Legitimate. And she can’t break out of 30 percent for a choice for Democrats? Where do you want to be? Do you want to be in a place where 100 percent of the Democrats know you? They’ve looked at you for the last three years. And four out of 10 is the max you can get?”

    ******

    Barack Obama:

    “Charming but insubstantial fluff.”

    …about Mr. Obama. “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

    But—and the “but” was clearly inevitable—he doubts whether American voters are going to elect “a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate,” and added: “I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.”

    ******

    John Edwards:

    “I don’t think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about,” Mr. Biden said, when asked about Mr. Edwards’ advocacy of the immediate withdrawal of about 40,000 American troops from Iraq. “John Edwards wants you and all the Democrats to think, ‘I want us out of there,’ but when you come back and you say, ‘O.K., John’”—here, the word “John” became an accusatory, mocking refrain—“‘what about the chaos that will ensue? Do we have any interest, John, left in the region?’ Well, John will have to answer yes or no. If he says yes, what are they? What are those interests, John? How do you protect those interests, John, if you are completely withdrawn? Are you withdrawn from the region, John? Are you withdrawn from Iraq, John? In what period? So all this stuff is like so much Fluffernutter out there. So for me, what I think you have to do is have a strategic notion. And they may have it—they are just smart enough not to enunciate it.”

    **********

    Flap supposes there is NO 11th Commandment for the Democrat Party: “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Democrat.”.

    Wait for the debates – this will be good.

    Oh yes, Flap almost forgot. Slow Joe announced this morning he is seeking the Presidency.

    “After nine months of doing this, there is no exploratory committee _ I’m running,” the Delaware senator told The Associated Press.

    Remember Slow Joe’s previous racist remark?

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    Others Blogging:

    Michelle Malkin says he is “TOAST”

    Flopping Aces

    Hugh Hewitt

    Previous:

    Senator Joe Biden Watch: Biden Wows the GOP in South Carolina

    Senator Joe Biden Watch: Biden Defends Remarks

    Joe Biden Watch: Indian-American Slur Sinks Slow Joe

    President 2008 Watch: Senator Joe Biden – “I’m IN”

    President 2008 Watch: Senator Joe Biden – “I’d Rather be at Home Making Love To My Wife While My Children Are Asleep”


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  • Giuliani Notes,  President 2008,  Rudy Giuliani

    Giuliani Notes: Giuliani’s Website Undergoes Make-Over

    giulianijan31a

    The Join Rudy 2008 Website has undergone a make-over of sorts. But, along way to go to compete with ANY of the Democrat sites.

    Donors have also complained to Flap that they have donated through the internet and have NOT received a thank you note or acknowledgement or receipt of contribution.

    As Flap said – a ways to go.

    And how about some video of the Mayor’s speeches?

    In the meantime the Mayor yesterday attended a closed fundraising event in Palm Springs, California.

    Former New York City mayor and possible presidential aspirant Rudy Giuliani was in the Coachella Valley on Wednesday, though you weren’t alone if you missed him.

    Giuliani was in town for a fundraiser for his presidential exploratory committee sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono’s campaign and hosted by Edra Blixseth and her family’s home and golf course, Porcupine Creek Golf Club.

    Attendees doled out $2,100 each for golf and a luncheon with Giuliani. The Desert Sun’s request to attend was declined.

    Figures on the number of attendees and amount raised were not available Wednesday afternoon.

    Note to the campaign: Rudy is a HOT item. Don’t cool him off worrying about a Macaca moment or closing him off from the MSM or blogs. Hillary seemed to manage her large press entourage in Iowa this past weekend.

    Hint: Allow the local press some photo opportunities and brief interview opportunities, otherwise you get negative pieces written by the locals.

    And Flap is not the only one with these thoughts (H/T Around the Capital)

    It appears this blogger was covering a Rudy Guiliani appearance in the Granite State, “when, all of a sudden, a blond blur of Blackberry, Gucci, Neiman Marcus and Prada bustled over to me and chirped, “What are YOU doing here?”

    “And then, without letting me even answer the question, Gucci continued, “YOU can’t be down here!’

    A fierce battle of wills ensues. Nothing is resolved. Life, it appears, will go on, with a warning to the Mayor from the Blogosphere…

    “Fair warning to the Giuliani campaign – New Hampshire is a small state where everyone knows everyone else. This is not New York City and we don’t expect to be treated like we are in New York City.

    A humble Blogger with a simple Blog might not mean much to your earned media strategy.

    But when that humble Blogger, slighted by an obnoxious broad on a power trip, tells the story over and over to high applause from his new friends in The Gang of 500 (limited watering holes in Manchester you may suppose) and all the NH Hampshire activists who read his blog every day, the storyline starts to stick…

    “And, if Katie Levinson wants to apologize for the way she behaved yesterday, it would be appropriate. Even if all I’ve got is a simple Blog and have never worked for The Terminator.”

    Another Flap Hint: The Mayor better FIX this QUICK.

    Previous:

    The Rudy Giuliani Files


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  • GOP,  Iraq,  Iraq War

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: GOP Senators Debate 5 Different Iraq War Resolutions

    Readers: Please Vote in Flap’s January 2008 GOP Presidential Poll

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    Washington Post: For GOP, Discord In Dissent On Iraq

    Republican misgivings over President Bush’s new war strategy are increasingly dividing the GOP as the Senate moves toward a showdown over the deployment of 21,500 additional troops to Iraq.

    Republican strategy had envisioned a single resolution that would allow the party’s senators to express doubts about the plan without stating their outright opposition. Instead, Republicans appear to be balkanizing, with at least five GOP drafts now in play and more Republicans stating their reservations.

    Why can’t these Senators pass a resolution supporting VICTORY in Iraq? These idiots except a few are looking WEAK – and what does that tell our enemies?

    31,153 people have signed The Pledge thus far. Will you?

    The Quotes:

    “We’re all looking for a plan that will work,” said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). “The current plan is not working, and 21,500 additional troops — it’s a snowball in July. It’s not going to work.”

    “This war has been mishandled. No one doubts that mistakes have been made in Iraq,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), long a supporter of Bush’s war policy, told Adm. William J. Fallon at Fallon’s confirmation hearing to become the top U.S. commander for the Middle East. “I have to tell you, this committee did not get candid assessments in the past, and I view that with deep regret.”

    Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, pushed back against Bush’s claim he is the “decision maker,” saying the White House needs to accept Congress’s role in shaping war policy.

    “I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole decider,” Specter said during a hearing on Congress’s war powers. “The decider is a shared and joint responsibility.”

    “Resolutions are flying like snowflakes around here,” Specter said.

    “This isn’t about party loyalty. This isn’t about presidential politics. It’s about policy,” said an exasperated Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), who has been urging Warner to negotiate an agreement to meld his language with the Democratic-driven resolution approved last week by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “What America is desperately thirsting for is for the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives to come to terms with where we are in Iraq.”

    One group of ruminating Republicans is made up of the 20 GOP senators who will face voters in 2008. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) said she plans to support at least one of the measures — but first “I’ve got to study them all.”

    Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), another Republican whose term will expire in two years, said he was speaking for many of his GOP colleagues in asserting, “I’m not persuaded that sending 21,500 troops into a civil war in Baghdad is a good idea, but I haven’t found a resolution I can support.”

    Pressed on what he is looking for, Alexander replied: “I’d like to express my unhappiness with the way this war is being conducted, but also my support for the troops. I think that’s what we all want.”

    Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.), the GOP whip, said most Republican senators believe they must support some statement about the war, given the public’s growing concerns. But he noted: “I am actually reading all the different resolutions, and each one of them does have critical differences.” He added that he is leaning toward the Cornyn measure, which offers the fewest objections to Bush’s plan.

    He said he will not try to rally Republicans around a single approach but, rather, will urge them to “vote their conscience.”

    “The worst thing would be for the Senate by 60 votes to express disapproval of a mission we are sending people to lay down their lives for,” said Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), a member of the Republican leadership.

    **********

    The Republican Senators need to grow a backbone. Flap supposes he won’t have to worry about a GOP Senate Majority any time soon.

    Frankly, I wouldn’t give any of my money to any of these FOOLS except maybe John Kyl. There are 30,000 plus other GOP activists that feel the same.

    Flap saved the best quote for last:

    Democrats, who are united in their desire to stop the escalation, are regarding the Republican divisions with some glee. “You cannot have a resolution that is both meaningless and undercuts the troops. That’s impossible. Their position is totally inconsistent,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), a member of the House Democratic leadership.

    The House is expected to embark on a similar debate in the coming weeks.

    The plan should be simple: FILIBUSTER the Biden resolution and drop Warner et. al..

    Stay tuned…….

    ramireztoon012307web

    Previous:

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part V

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part IV

    John McCain Watch: DNC Criticizes McCain Contradictions on Iraq War

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part III

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge Part II

    Iraq War Senate Resolution Watch: Take the Pledge

    The Michael Ramirez files


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  • President 2008,  Rudy Giuliani

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy a STAR in California

    Readers: Please Vote in Flap’s January 2008 GOP Presidential Poll

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    KLO @ NRO: Rudy’s Star Power

    A friend of mine was at a fundraiser for Rudy Giuliani in Los Angeles last night. His walkaway thought: “[Rudy] might have a tough time in the primary but he will crush in the general.”

    Said friend says of last night: “I have to tell you the man is very impressive. When he talks about the war on terror he does so more clearly than anyone I have heard including the President. He doesn’t bash the President ever and this was LA where he could really get away with it.”

    Could it be that Rudy Giuliani is a LEADER and knows NO American gains (except for cheap political points) by bashing the President.

    After watching Giuliani’s video interview here and his speech in New Hampshire this past weekend, Flap is assured that Rudy is RIGHT on the global War on Terror. Concomitantly he wold RIP Hillary and the Democrats on their political expedient Bush-hating NON-PLAN.

    And a clip from Rudy’s speech before the New Hampshire GOP:

    More from K-Lo:

    Rudy did an immigration bit that was “to the right of everyone else except maybe Tancredo. He talked about immigration in terms of national security. He said we needed to revamp our entire system so that we can get good people. He also said that if the twelve million already here expected to get any type of citizenship they would have to prove that they could read, write, and speak English.”

    The fundraiser was sponsored by Bill Simon (who worked with Rudy in the U.S. Attorney’s office). My friend, who is the rare pro-life, Hollywood hawk, left wondering if he could support Rudy if it came to that. “We all know where Rudy is on abortion but my question is what does he think of Judges Roberts and Alito? If he says that he would appoint judges of like mind then I think he can skate on the abortion issue because it does come down to the judges.” It was Hollywood though so no one asked about any social issues.

    Here is Giluiani on the Judges:

    While in Ohio, Rudy called into the Bill Cunningham radio show. Speaking about the Supreme Court, Rudy said: “Justices Roberts and Alito were both colleagues of mine [in the Reagan Justice Department] – people I worked with and I admire tremendously. I thought that they were inspired choices that the President made – inspired in many ways, because they also were people who had a strong conservative background and strict constructionists.” He added, “Justice Scalia was also a colleague of mine…and he probably would have been my choice for Chief Justice.”


    Here is Giuliani on illegal immigration:

    Last night, in an interview with Fox‘s Bill O’Reilly, Rudy Giuliani again put himself squarely in the president’s camp on immigration reform. The mayor is for tough border security, but he has also made the case in recent speeches that real reform must include a guest worker program and a “path to citizenship.” On Fox, Giuliani argued that comprehensive reform is not only practical but also aides in fighting crime and thwarting terrorists.

    ******

    Flap knows the reader will appreciate the “common sense ” approach of the Mayor.  An approach that cannot be pigeon holed as either Amnesty or Minuteman – but practical.

    Sounds like a Star performance to Flap.

    If Flap gets any audio or video he will post an update.

    Others Blogging:

    Race42008

    Patrick Ruffini

    giulianijan27lweb

    Previous:

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani LEADS in Latest Rasmussen GOP Poll

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Latest New Hampshire Survey USA Poll

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Los Angeles Times Hits Rudy’s “Prickly Style”

    Giuliani Notes: Dollars for Rudy

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Who Has the Vision and Who Can Perform?

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Scouting New Hampshire at Littleton Chamber of Commerce

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Bush Iraq Plan Should Be Given A Chance

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Paul Cellucci, Former Massachusetts Governor Endorses Giuliani

    Rudy Giuliani Watch:Giuliani 30% Leads McCain 22% and Romney 10%

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Latest Time Magazine Poll Has McCain Leading Giuliani by 4 Points

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: What Does a Mayor Know About Iraq?

    The Rudy Giuliani Files


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