It's time to strip the Obama sticker off my car. - Tom Hayden/The Nation

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091214/hayden

It's time to strip the Obama sticker off my car.

Obama's escalation in Afghanistan is the last in a string of disappointments. His flip-flopping acceptance of the military coup in Honduras has squandered the trust of Latin America. His Wall Street bailout leaves the poor, the unemployed, the minorities, and the college students on their own. And now comes the Afghanistan-Pakistan decision to escalate the stalemate, which risks his domestic agenda, his Democratic base, and possibly even his presidency.

The expediency of his decision was transparent. Satisfy the generals by sending 30,000 more troops. Satisfy the public and peace movement with a timeline for beginning withdrawals of those same troops, with no timeline for completing a withdrawal.

Obama's timeline for the proposed Afghan military surge mirrors exactly the 18 month Petraeus timeline for the surge in Iraq.

This is not like the previous conflict with Bush and Cheney, who were easy to ridicule. Now this orphan of a war has a persuasive advocate, a formidable debater who will be arguing for support from the liberal center, one who wants to win back his Democratic base.

The anti-war movement will have to solidify support from the two-thirds of Democratic voters who so far question this war. Continuing analysis from The Nation and Robert Greenwald's videos at rethinkafghanistan.com have a major role to play. Public opinion will have to become a growing factor in the mind of Congress, where Rep. Jim McGovern's resolution favoring an exit strategy

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has 100 co-sponsors and Rep. Barbara Lee's tougher bill to prevent funding for escalation

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now is at 23.

[Oregone]

1. Goo-Gone stock has jumped today

[get the red out]

2. It will be a problem

If he hasn't removed the old sticker by now he may have a hell of a time getting it off.

I removed mine the day after the election and will put on a 2012 re-election campaign as soon as they become available. I tend to put stickers on very early and remove them somewhat quickly. So many right wingers here that I didn't want to end up the victim of a drunken Christo-fascist's revenge soon after the election. It's easy to forget who the real problem people are if you live in the "blue" areas of the country I suppose.