We reached another inflection point in March-April with the Charge of the Knights, which crippled the Shiite militias, cleared the towns around Basra and helped the Iraqi authorities assert their control. The interesting thing about this is that Western media initially reported it as a problem or a failure. They fixed on costs and missed the big picture. (It was a lot like reporting that casualties had risen after June 6, 1944 compared with the week before.)

It may not be too much to say that we have never been in a better overall position. Terrorists and insurgents can still create serious suffering, but they have lost the initiative. As I wrote above, our success creates options. We now have the options of being innovative and generous from a position of strength. That is why I think it is a good idea to talk about the conditions that would allow the withdrawal of most U.S. forces, now that it is clear that we are doing it out of our own strategic calculations and have not been forced by the bad guys.

This is not a change in general policy. We have always intended to get out as soon as possible, but some of our friends have forgotten that, while some of our enemies pounded on that all "war for oil" lie and said we plan to stay forever. It would be a good idea to remind friend and foe alike of the righteousness of our position.

1) - The system isn't working...when communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids, when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, WHEN PEOPLE ARE DETAINED WITHOUT ACCESS TO LEGAL COUNSEL...

As long as Mexico continues to dump its poverty and political dysfunctionality north of the border and America continues to coddle them once they arrive, there will be no solution to the massive and unprecedented illegal immigration crisis. What's good, though, is that Obama is twisting the arm of every American to learn Spanish, apparently so that we can communicate more readily with the millions upon millions of illegal aliens already in our midst.

2) - I could no more disown him than my own grandmother that once confessed to me she was afraid of black men she passed on the street.

- The infamous "throwing Grandma under the bus" quote delivered at a time when Obama was actually trying to defend hate speech peddler Rev. Jeremiah Wright. On multiple occasions Obama has made some disturbing comments in regards to race and he seems to struggle with his bi-racial heritage on a reoccurring basis.

3) - I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby.

- Children are a punishment? Not a nice thing to say about one's possible future grandchildren. That is if one of his daughters makes a "mistake" but decided not to actually sacrifice it on the bloody altar of convenience. His grandchildren might someday find it very interesting what "Grandpa Obama" thought about them before they were even born.

It is in fact this very type of attitude towards little 'surprises' that leads to people resenting their children instead of loving and accepting them. Just because a child is unexpected shouldn't mean that it is antagonistically viewed as little more than a problem, inconvenience and undue burden that should automatically receive the death penalty for being 'a mistake' as defined by Obama.

4) - It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

- An elitist comment by an elitist delivered to a closed door group of elitists. Way to go Barack. I'd be mad but I'm a bit busy cleaning my gun and reading my Bible while angrily pushing one for English on the telephone. If I might take the liberty of quoting humorist and blogger Charlie Foxtrot:
"233 years ago, a group of bitter men clung to their guns and religion, driven by their antipathy towards people who weren't like them. In the end, I think it worked out OK."

5) - We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen.

-Obama apparently calling for ration cards, government monitoring of your thermostat and the outlawing of your vehicle all at the same time. A totalitarian, socialist, nanny state mindset is not usually the best virtue to be found in a possible President of the United States. Can anyone show me in the Constitution where the government can tell me how much I can eat? That quote is downright disturbing, and perhaps a bit more revealing than the Obama camp would like to admit.

6) - We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old - and that's the criterion by which I'll be selecting my judges.

-I guess asking for an impartial, objective judge who enforces the law and doesn't legislate from the bench would be too much to ask. What was I thinking?
You can always tell a conservative from a liberal. One begins a sentence with the words "I think that..." while the other begins a sentence with "I feel that..." It's not all about feelings and emotions; sometimes you've got to be able to think as well.

7) - Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

-More nonsense that barely makes any sense to anybody, But at least he'll bring "change", and that is what is more important than anything, isn't it? Not what kind of change, or the specifics of such change, or whether it is change for the better or for the worse. Does one dare mention the fact that change for the sake of change is intellectually adolescent at best?

8) - We should be more modest in our belief that we can impose democracy on a country through military force. In the past, it has been movements for freedom from within tyrannical regimes that have led to flourishing democracies; movements that continue today. This doesn't mean abandoning our values and ideals; wherever we can, it's in our interest to help foster democracy through the diplomatic and economic resources at our disposal. But even as we provide such help, we should be clear that the institutions of democracy - free markets, a free press, a strong civil society - cannot be built overnight, and they cannot be built at the end of a barrel of a gun. And so we must realize that the freedoms FDR once spoke of - especially freedom from want and freedom from fear - do not just come from deposing a tyrant and handing out ballots; they are only realized once the personal and material security of a people is ensured as well.

-Obama apparently slept through fifth grade history class. I wonder if he understands that both Japan and Germany (and a good number of other countries) had democracy imposed on them from the "barrel of a gun". I'm just asking. This quote also contradicts his repeated efforts to abandon Iraq to the various groups of thugs waiting in the wings who wouldn't mind making a play for power if the US abandons Iraq. So much for "free markets, a free press, [and] a strong civil society - cannot be built overnight". Picking up your ball and going home in a huff in the middle of the game won't accomplish those goals either.

In war you have to play to win, do whatever it takes to win, and accept no substitute for the destruction or neutralization of your enemy and the accomplishment of your goal. The Surge was two years later than it should have been, bitterly opposed by Obama and his cabal, and only McCain seems to have had it right all along. If you are going to fight, then you better fight to win. The enemy of Islamic jihadism, fundamentalism and radicalism has no such wavering, flip flopping, concern for the enemy and crisis of conscience. Neither should the heirs and protectors of Western Civilization.

Of the two major political candidates for president, one is willing to lose the war so that he can win the election. The other would rather win the war than win the election.

9) - Like no other illness, AIDS tests our ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes -- to empathize with the plight of our fellow man. While most would agree that the AIDS orphan or the transfusion victim or the wronged wife contracted the disease through no fault of their own, it has too often been easy for some to point to the unfaithful husband or the promiscuous youth or the gay man and say 'This is your fault. You have sinned.' I don't think that's a satisfactory response. My faith reminds me that we all are sinners.

- Apparently no one is to blame for the behaviors and practices that spreads such deadly, but entirely preventable, diseases (except for the conservative who fails to cheerlead and excuse it). And to not call sin, sin, is to deny the obvious, obscure the truth, excuse the inexcusable and in the end only contribute to the devastating plague that has killed millions instead of acknowledging the truth that could save the lives of millions more. We are all sinners, but wallowing in sin and not recognizing that actions have consequences can have serious, and deadly, results.

10) - I found the tears running down my cheeks.

-It is one thing to rather callously hook up with a church for "street cred" to gain an entry into a certain voting bloc community (Wright was Obama's ticket into acceptance by Chicago's black community) but to subject one's own offspring and spouse to racist, paranoid, twisted and anti-American vitriol as well as to those who advocate such sickening philosophies for years on end is not only questionable, but downright disgusting and objectionable. If a Caucasian presidential candidate had done the same he'd be lucky to garner 15% of the vote, but Obama is given the usual pass solely based on his race and ideology. What a tragic commentary on the current state of politics and statesmanship in this country.

And to show my generosity, kindness and willingness to go the extra mile I'd like to also add a couple more "reasons" why Obama is pathetically unqualified to the be the next leader of the free world.

[03-14-08] - The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign...

[03-18-08] - Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

Will the real Barack please stand up? Which is it? You can't have it both ways. I demand answers and the truth. By the way, it would appear that Mr. Obama is woefully uninformed on what actually comes forth from the average pastor, priest or rabbi. If anyone has actually watched the various clips of the good Reverend at his best it is amazing that Barry could stand ten minutes of that, let alone twenty-three years worth. Obama has defended, funded, entertained and encouraged what is little more than a rotten river of sludge from the man that has been his pastor for the last two decades. Shame on him for supporting and legitimizing such drivel.

In the end, I believe that the American people do not need the government to be their savior, doctor, nanny, nutritionist, psychologist, and mother regulating and dictating every aspect of an individuals life. We are free citizens not serfs, subjects or slaves.
Democrats are increasingly experiencing buyer's remorse for anointing a puppet of the hard Left to be their presidential candidate. His inexperience, nanny state complex, and questionable views on a wide variety of issues should make all thinking and intelligent people take a long pause before voting for a person who is so stunningly unqualified, ill- suited and unready to be the next President of the United States.