Clooney endorses Obama for President...

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9916568/

Harsh words for Hillary Clinton
George Clooney — an outspoken critic of the Bush administration — also has some harsh words for Hillary Clinton.

The “Syriana” star says he is “frustrated and disappointed” that Clinton and many other Democrats were “scared” to oppose the war on Iraq, and “now they are paying the price.”

“I hate it when smart men and women are saying, ‘Well, if I knew then what I know now,’ ” Clooney told the Sunday Times of London. “The fact is: I knew it then and I don’t have national security clearance. . . . Basically, the Democrat leadership was scared and it’s too bad, because it’s come back to haunt them.”

Clooney’s choice for president: Barak Obama. “Of course he doesn’t want to right now; he just wants to be senator for Illinois,” Clooney told the paper. “But he could attract the two groups who rarely show up to vote — young people and blacks. He’s the guy to get behind.”

[Oceansaway]

1. K&R

Obama is one awesome guy, however, a tad green right now....i think he'd make a GREAT POTUS !!

[acmejack]

5. His voting record should make you a little leery.

From Sirotablog: "I have high hopes for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), and not just because he gave one good convention speech at the Democratic National Convention. As a civil rights lawyer who represented a working class urban district in the Illinois state legislature, Obama has all the trappings of a leader who could break conventions and be a serious voice for progressives on the national stage. Unfortunately, his first six months in office have given progressives a reason to be worried that he will be just another cog in the Establishment's machine, throwing his significant political capital behind some of the worst initiatives to move through Congress.

Despite his anti-war positions as a candidate in 2004, Obama's second vote as a U.S. Senator was in support of confirming Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State. He also voted to confirm John Negroponte as Director of National Intelligence, despite Negroponte's involvement in Iran-Contra and other situations that clearly raise questions about his ethics and discretion. Obama also voted for a bill to limit citizens rights to seek legal redress against abusive corporations. During the bankruptcy debate, he helped vote down a Democratic amendment to cap the abusive interest rates credit card companies could charge. And now, Obama cast a key procedural vote in support of President Bush's right-wing judges.

Sure, sure - some other Democrats have cast some of these votes as well. Doesn't that mean I'm just picking on him? No, of course not. Obama was supposed to be different - he was supposed to be a real progressive champion. Isn't that why so many liberals/progressives are so excited about him?

Speculation about why Obama has cast these votes centers around the typical posturing that has created the soulless image of the Democratic Party for the last few years - namely, that he's just opportunistically angling for higher office. One political scientist said "I think he’s moving to the center to position himself to perhaps run for president in 2012." Another said Obama "does not want to be seen as a maverick." If this speculation is really true, it's just another sad commentary on the state of the Democratic Party today. Did John McCain teach Democrats nothing about the potential appeal of a "maverick?" Do polling numbers teach Democrats anything about what the "center" really is? Do the Democrats not understand that their biggest challenge is convincing the public they stand for something more than just political calculation/aspiration?"

http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/05/whats-happened-to-barack-obama.html

Voting Record: http://bolson.org/gov/us/senate/2005/Obama.html

[progressoid]

2. I think Obama knows he needs to get some experience

first.

Other than the extreme loony RW, I think even a lot of repubs would vote for him.

[Pirate Smile]

4. Too much experience in the Senate seems to be a negative.

VP might be good in 2008.

[riverwalker]

3. great quote

“The fact is: I knew it then and I don’t have national security clearance. . . ."

Many of us knew it as well, and without security clearance. How anyone with Internet access or even a handful of newspapers can say they believed the president, is beyond me.