When I was a kid, I used to love the 4th of July.  My parents raised me to be a patriotic American, one who loves his country even despite her flaws.  Every 4th, we'd pack the whole family up and have a picnic at Stone Mountain Park.  We'd eat sandwiches, toss a frisbee, play gin, and wait for the sun to go down.  Then came the laser show, one which featured outlining, then animating,  the Confederate generals carved into the rock (this is the South, and, unfortunately, Confederate pride will never go out of style).  Then came the fireworks.  A gigantic, ear-splitting fireworks display, made louder by the soundwave echo slamming against the mountain, bound for our tender eardrums.  It was beautiful, true rocket's red glare and mid-air bomb bursts.  

These days I dread the 4th. It's not for the jingoism I was too young to understand as a child, which irks me, but I try not to let other's infantile politics change the spirit of the holiday for me.  The real reason is I'm not much for fireworks anymore.  I haven't been since I came back from Iraq.

Here it begins the Main Stream Media also known as McCain's Base has smelled Blood. They've heard about the ripping we gave Obama over FISA and they're attempting to sew the seeds of discord.

They're attempting to distort Obama's statements on Iraq. Obama today said he's committed to the 16 month timetable. However that didn't stop the News from running headlines to attack Obama. Our friends at TPM highlight the medias attempt to Fight for McCain while he's South of the border selling us all out.

This was the lede 2 hours ago.  This is an attempt to paint Senator Barack Obama as a Waffler.

First let me state CLEARLY, there is no change, there has never been any change, and there will be no change in Barack Obama's position on ending the Iraq war.  He has been saying since he entered the race that after "consultation" with the Generals on the ground, he would issue an order to the Joint Chiefs to prepare an immediate plan to end the war.  He has said it will take 18 months, at the rate of one to two brigades per month, to get the troops home.  He has said it may be necessary to leave a few troops in place to guard the embassy, and finalize the training of Iraqi police and military.  That's what he said, that's what he is saying, and that is what he will do.

That is NOT how the raving Cable Guys and Gals are presenting a deliberate misreading of a statement he made this morning.  And, although we know the press can't do nuance, this has Karl's sticky finger all over it.

After listening to a 10 minute rant on MSNBC where they basically played two obama quotes back to back that said the exact same thing in different words and them have them characterize it as a flip-flop, I figured I'd come here to see them getting chewed out...but no.

Happy 4th of July long weekend, all kos-friends!

25 letters would really really help!

Il'' make this quick but from the looks of things, a lot of you are being duped by the McCain campaign and the media about Obama's Iraq policy, like putting "refine" in quotes and saying Obama is changing his position on Iraq. Right now he is giving a statement clarifing his earlier statements about Iraq, that he WILL PULL OUT, but will also listen to the commanders on the ground to have a responsible exit, JUST LIKE HE HAS ALWAYS SAID. HE WILL get out.

This is what he is saying RIGHT NOW:

"I think what’s happened is the McCain campaign primed the pump with the press to suggest that somehow we had changed our policy when we hadn’t, and that just hasn’t been the case. I’ve given no indication of a change in policy."

"I intend to end this war... That position has not changed. I have not equivocated on that position. I am not searching for maneuvering room with respect to that position."

Update:

"I have always reserved the right to do what’s best for America’s national interest... I would be a poor commander-in-chief if I didn’t take facts on the ground into account."

Which is completely true. Like it or not.

Do you remember when you were a kid (or maybe if you have kids) and something was just a little too unsure?   Maybe your parents really did want to let you have the really nice bike for your birthday but they weren't sure where the money might come from.   Instead of "YES WE CAN" it's a whole lot safer to say "Maybe, we'll see".

The problem is - when you start the kids out with "YES WE CAN" and it becomes "Maybe, we'll see" - well, let's just say all hell breaks lose - am I right?

Barack Obama today said...

My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything that I’ve said, was always premised on making sure that our troops were safe,” he said. “I said that based on the information that we had received from our commanders that one to two brigades a month could be pulled out safely, from a logistical perspective. My guiding approach continues to be that we’ve got to make sure that our troops are safe and that Iraq is stable.

Now, we all know that Obama has always said that "we need to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in."  One could probably make a twenty minute montage of him saying that in twenty different debates.  We know this.  That's cool, whatever, but "stable..."  Really?  This is new, at least, this is new phrasing.

So, this is my question:

Has Barack Obama changed his position?

Jennifer Loven at AP is writing that Obama appeared to backtrack on his Iraq withdrawal stance.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama opened the door Thursday to altering his plan to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq in 16 months based on what he hears from military commanders during his upcoming trip there.

"I am going to do a through assessment when I'm there," he told reporters on the airport tarmac here. "I'm sure I'll have more information and continue to refine my policy."

I just found this in my inbox and had to share it with you. It's from retired Army National Guard Sgt. Kelly Dougherty, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. The full email is on IVAW's website, but I can't resist sharing a few choice snippets here.

Just a few days ago Independence Day came and went, and did anyone notice? June 28th was the day the US returned sovereignty to Iraq in 2004, and it should be a day of celebration, a day when Iraqis mark their equal status among nations, just as America did more than two centuries ago.

It gets a lot better. Join me below the flip.

Why Bush and McCain let Osama bin Laden Escape

The answer is clear. Read on.

Why We Should Not Drill in ANWR and Offshore.

There is an awful lot of lobbying going on by Republican pundits and politicians trying to change the publics mind about drilling for oil in ANWR and offshore on the outer continental shelf.

They seem to think that the public is oblivious as to how oil is sold on the Open Market, and they have fooled a lot of people into thinking that drilling is going to lower gas prices.

Yet some people cannot wrap their minds around the concept of an Open Market.  They do not understand that any oil that is pumped from American oil wells will be sold on the Open Market and the oil most likely will never see an American gas pump, but will probably go to China.

As it is American consumers never see any of the oil that is pumped from Alaska, it is all sold to Pacific Countries like Japan, North and South Korea, China and others.

Yesterday, as Meteor Blades reminded us, is the fifth anniversary of a George Bush quote so spectacularly dumb that it will make any greatest hits collection--no need to buy the box set.

"There are some who feel like that conditions are such that they can attack us there," Bush told reporters at the White House. "My answer is bring them on."

When Bush's interview was carried on the news, a retired Special Forces non-com named Stan Goff in Raleigh, NC went into a white-hot rage. He sat down at his keyboard and ripped out a response entitled "Bring 'Em On?" You may well remember it, although it was five years ago today. Within hours it swept across the Internet like a prairie fire.

Admit it. You thought twice about the timing of the operation to free the hostages in Colombia. McCain. Trailing in the polls. Goes to speak about Free Trade in Colombia. The week a CNN poll found that 51% of Americans now 'feel threatened by free trade.' As President Bush continues to try to push through a new Free Trade agreement with Colombia before leaving office. The Republican Presidential nominee. And one-time prisoner of war. Is briefed about the rescue operation prior to its execution. The raid is a success. Cable news headlines like "McCain Knew" and "McCain met with Colombians prior to Hostage Rescue" and "Colombian Hostages Free" are read by millions of Americans watching muted TVs in bars, gyms, and noisy households across America. Heading into the Fourth of July weekend. When those Americans will stand around the grill and say, perhaps jokingly, but with the same predictable effect:

The other day a Kos diarist voiced suspicions that AIPAC might have had something to do with a fire that destroyed the home Blue Dem congressional candidate Darcy Burner.  The fire appears to have in fact been electrical in origin.

http://www.nwcn.com/...

What struck me was the bitterness of many of the comments on the diary, which I believe reflect deep tensions within the Kos community, and in the larger progressive world, about how we ought to feel about Israel, and Israeli influence in the US.  

I agree with mcjoan that this wasn't the best compromise Democrats could get.  At the same time, the FISA compromise wasn't worth a quixiotic fight, either.  At the end of the day, below the fold is what this election is about:

Have you ever wondered why...

... it has been the practice of the major media to avoid mentioning oil in connection with military activity in Iraq; something also common in the Congress, all following the lead of the Bush administration.

UPI.com

Shouldn't we all be shocked then? Shouldn't we be shocked to learn, after the US - British led invasion of Iraq to save the world from the dangers of Saddam's non-existant WMDs, struck Iraq with a shock and awe which was to have become the centerpiece for a GWOT, that as Reuters  reported on Tuesday:

Iraq opened its giant oilfields to foreign firms on Monday, putting British and U.S. companies in pole position five years after U.S.-led troops invaded the country to oust Saddam Hussein.

A Nation that sends its Sons and Daughters into Occupations?

A C-17 Airforce Transport plane arrives in Kandahar, Afghanistan to receive the bodies of five U.S. service members killed. Though more than 1,000 US and coalition forces were on hand to participate in the "ramp ceremony," a Los Angeles Times reporter and photographer were asked to leave the area by a military public affairs officer. A Pentagon policy banning coverage of this particular event was cited as the reason. [Photo: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times]