Dear Joe the Senator (come on, Joe, you know that’s funny), ;)

That memory of yours does play some tricks on you now and then. I understand that. Mine does too. However, as I watched your small part in Senator Obama’s infomercial, I was frankly amazed when I heard you praise him by saying, “I watched him incisively question the Secretary of State during the nomination process.”

Congratulations to Martii Ahtisaari, a fine man who is truly deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

He is respected and revered by the champions of peace and justice all over the world.

Mr Ahtisaari has been awarded honorary doctorates by 19 universities around the world and received UNESCO's peace prize earlier this month.

Let's just stop for a moment and parrot what mccain, palin and the repubs say - "the surge is working" (actually it should be called the escalation).

Now why don't the Democrats and Obama/Biden try responding with something like this...

"Ok, let's say that the surge or escalation is working.

Is the surge working because al-sadr decided he wanted to be an ayotollah, told his army to stand down and took off to Iran for training and schooling?

Is the surge working because we are paying off militant groups to stand down?

Cyril Ramaphosa and Martin McGuinness were amongst the attendees at a conference on national reconciliation in Baghdad that brought together politicians from across Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divide.

The Baghdad conference brought together Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs as well as Kurds....

UPDATE: There's an excellent diary on this story at No Quarter.

I understand why these warriors respect her, they find in her a kindred spririt, a toughness, a tenacity and a willingness to fight against the odds for what is right. Barack likes to claim that he is, “skinny, but he’s tough,” but Hillary has fought alongside these Generals and Admirals on issues they deeply care about. She has earned their respect.

What are the top three reasons someone might doubt Senator Obama's judgment? I know what mine are. What are yours?

Hillary Clinton Talks Military Strength In Fayetteville

Thursday she campaigned in Fayetteville, the home of the Army's Fort Bragg, and in Asheville. Friday she will will be in Jacksonville, near the Camp LeJeune marine corps base.

“We need a commander-in-chief who is ready on day one to keep our country safe,” said Clinton, who spoke under a banner that read: “SOLUTIONS FOR A STRONG MILITARY.”

Blazing Saddle Diplomacy

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20080327/cm_huffpost/093643

Excerpt

Mar 27 2008

Food as a Weapon - The Rape of Iraq by truong son traveler Wed Apr 09, 2008

In 1948 George Kennan, who at the time was a senior US State Department planning official, wrote: