I'm confused why our politicians think it is our right to decide who leads another country, especially one we want to see as a democracy. We can't just preach democracy when it fits our own personal agenda.

Obama does make sense. He does understand the problems that we face in the world of today. I hope he wins and bring the country together.

There are too many enemies outside of the U.S. for us to make enemies of ourselves.

Don is panting a bit, I love him, but bring it down a notch No one does not realize, he butches it up sometimes and queens out with the girls!

Obama is awesome!

All the Clinton haters who were bashing Hillary for telling the truth about the surge…where are they now that Obama has said THE SAME THING??? Hypocrites.

Barack The Vote In 08! He the best of them all!

Hey spinstopper, you sit there an accuse Barack of not understanding that a democratic system is already in place in Iraq? Listen to what he is saying; he is alluding to the role religion plays in this democratic government and how replacing al Maliki will make no difference with such powerful, unchangeable variables in place. He realizes that replacing al Maliki would not change a single thing except destabilize Iraq further. Once again, where Clinton will rant and rave nonsensically just to get her soundbite, Barack actually employs, dare I say it, COMMON SENSE.

[...] is debating Hillary's claim to depose the prime minister of [...]

Hey "spinstopper " I agree with you that about the tone/word choice for removing Maliki. I think that it is a bad idea for any of our elected officials to suggest we can pick and choose who runs Iraq. The fact is though, we did. It's true, and Obama was speaking the truth. It just sounds bad.

There was no democratic election in Iraq or Afghanistan. Don't get it twisted. If you truly think that there was a fair and accurate election in Iraq, you are really naive. If you think that elections a fair and accurate in the US, then you don't do research. The reality is this: Maliki is our boy and the only reason he's in the position, is by the choice of GWB (Rove, Cheney, Wolfowitz etc).

Hey, by the way, news flash, we're not there for democracy, we're there for oil… and there's no Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, or Tooth Fairy.

How can you not like this man? He's the most believable candidate i've ever seen. I agree with all those who have said that he is a creative problem solver… who has great vision and judgement. Calling for the ousting of Maliki is such politically motivated move.

Hey i have an idea: Lets take Hill's advice and boot Maliki and get someone else in there. Then we will see that she is just another power-hungry politician with a non-sense answer to gain political points in order to become president. What a bum. Obama recognized the overall problem, whereas Hillary doesn't quite seem to get it.

Obama rocks, but can he ROCK and Roll?

Posted By Mike: "The Electoral College has created these stupid situations in a few states. I think it is time to abolish the EC in favor of the popular vote winner."

The entire population of the state of Mississippi is 2.9 million. The population of the entire state of Arkansas is 2.8 million. The population of the entire state of Louisiana is 4.2 million.

The population of just New York City alone is 8.1 million. It takes three complete southern states to trump the voting power of this one northern city.

The electoral college is a part of the U.S. Constitution. It is in place to ensure large populace areas do not dictate law to low population rural areas. If the election was based solely on population the candidates would spend their time in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix. Those are the top 5 population areas. The Iowa straw poll would never take place because their population is too low.

States like Alaska and Montana with populations less than 1 million would never have a voice in choosing the President. This is why the electoral college is so important and why our forefathers wrote the system into the fabric of our Constitution.

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with less than 40% of the popular vote.

The thing that struck me most by Obama's interview was his comment about replacing the leader of Iraq with any number of people. And here I thought the Iraqi government was a democracy where the Iraqi people choose their leader.

Say Obama gets elected as our President. How would we in the United States feel if the government of China decided they don't like Obama's views and had heated discussions about replacing him with someone who supports Chinese policy?

Obama nails the issue and Hillary just takes whatever position is going to make her look best. Folks, the Republicans want Hillary as their opposition! She is too unelectable and they will capitalize big time on that.

For a good description of the situation in Iraq, I recommend the following interview with Nir Rosen:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/21/1349252

Think 60 years ago (Palestinians) and think about the Iraqi refugee situation going on now. So much for Bush's (lame) reasoning that a Democratic Iraq will lead to stability in the middle east.

Hey look! My post came back! And who said CNN was biased! It's not biased, it's merely uncredible, like the New York Post!

The only reason Obama looks good is cause the big whigs werent smart enough to be able to spin this one.

Anyone who questions Barak Obama's consistency and COMMON SENSE on the Iraq war situation really should check out this link (http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/iraq/)

This man is the BEST candidate for president HANDS DOWN…Hillary will be just MORE OF THE SAME OL B.S.

08AMA for President

"We can replace Maliki with four, five other guys, but if the underlying political dynamic is not changing, then we will not see progress in Iraq."

Obama doesn't seem to get the fact the Iraq has a democratically elected government now. Isn't that the job of "the people" in a democracy? Why is a do nothing Senator from the sorriest US Congress in history expecting more than he's given from a fledgling democratic government in Iraq? POLITICS??

Posted By spinstopper : August 24, 2007 10:18 am"

I think you are missing his point, amigo. He was responding to Mrs. Clinton's remarks that Maliki should be ousted… Obama was correct in saying that Maliki is not the problem, and the problem would still exist no matter who the leader. Your comment about Maliki being democratically elected has no relevance in the conversation, because the FACT that he was democratically elected was never disputed.

Funny, just yeaterday or the day before you all were slamming Hillary for pointing out the successes in Iraq, but still calling for a withdrawal to ensure the Iraqs start standing up. Now Obama imitates her and you hail him a straight-talker.

Now he's talking about parental involvement and funding schools. I guess he read Hillary's "It Takes a Village" and listened to some of her speeches as First Lady about funding education, improving schools, making pre-k manadatory and college education tax deductable.

Go Obama! I guess if you can't beat them, you just copy them.

Hey spinstopper, you sit there an accuse Barack of not understanding that a democratic system is already in place in Iraq? Listen to what he is saying; he is alluding to the role religion plays in this democratic government and how replacing al Maliki will make no difference with such powerful, unchangeable variables in place. He realizes that replacing al Maliki would not change a single thing except destabilize Iraq further. Once again, where Clinton will rant and rave nonsensically just to get her soundbite, Barack actually employs, dare I say it, COMMON SENSE.

As I always say, pay attention to voice in these postings. You ever notice that when articles appear on Obama, the comments are always favorable to him and they appear to be in the same voice? If this same article were on Hillary, someone would somehow try and connect it to corruption and then say flattering things about Obama. I guess that's an example of turning the page in politics.

The US record of 'selecting' leaders in countries has been a sorry mess! I agree with Obama that its time we learnt to organize ourselves rather than mess about with other countries.

RE: spinstopper…or is that spinStarter?

You don't seem to get the fact that he is merely providing his analysis of the situation.

He's not advocating the removal of Maliki, as some other candidates are 'vocal' about doing, simply noting it wouldn't have any effect until other factors come into line.

Have a good day,

Chip

Though I (mildly) disagree with John Swanson of Chicago on this relatively minor issue, I’d like to support him in criticizing CNN’s bizarre and arbitrary policy on deletion of posts. Though I (obviously) manage to get my two cents in, I’m tired of re-posting or losing the thread of conversation when an entirely reasonable comment is deleted for no reason.

CNN needs to get its act together. Rude, racist or entirely irrelevant comments are left up for weeks, while well-crafted on-topic postings (from all ideologies) disappear without a trace. CNN provides no coherent posting policy and never an explanation from the unnamed moderators. There’s an established netiqutte for hosting a blog, and CNN needs to learn it.

I hope the other regular posters will join us in demanding Ticker reform.

Sorry Hillary, but replacing this guy will take lots of time compromising and will be unnecessary distraction to the real problems underlying his failure.

In a peaceful, stable and less divided country, our congress here has been least effective in reaching agreements because of bipartisan politics.

How more difficult is this in Iraqi where Maliki is trying to hold together a fragile government with warlords in parliament pulling in different directions on one side and Americans issuing threats and ultimatums on the other side. And his life is always in danger.

Maybe some people think they can do better if given the chance to be Iraqi PM.

Common sense politics! Al Maliki is not the problem. He was elected with a lot of compromises by Iraqi sectarian hardline leaders and this took time. Right now Iraqi is highly polarised and No single man or woman from one community will be viewed as neutral and without suspicion. Replacing Maliki wiil be a mere change of guard.
Obama is right, we better tackle the underlying bigger problems and stop the blame game.

Weird, I left a comment on this article last night that merely said, "I agree with Barack. He makes the most sense to me."

Good thing CNN viewed that as a threat and decided to remove it for no reason whatsoever.

Once again Obama speaks plainly and truthfully. I'm surprised CNN couldn't find a way to twist honest rhetoric info a naive mistake of some kind.

Well, they did move the no-substance basketball shot above this story. If you can't twist it, burry it. Right CNN?

"We can replace Maliki with four, five other guys, but if the underlying political dynamic is not changing, then we will not see progress in Iraq."

Obama doesn't seem to get the fact the Iraq has a democratically elected government now. Isn't that the job of "the people" in a democracy? Why is a do nothing Senator from the sorriest US Congress in history expecting more than he's given from a fledgling democratic government in Iraq? POLITICS??

I can see how the orderly withdrawal would create political pressure within the Iraqi government to find quick creative solutions to solve the disunity amongst the competing factions. This is certainly a mess made by the none existent planning for the aftermath of a terrible decision to invade in the first place.
Barak is on top of this and
a creative problem solver. I am with him on this.

I guess it makes some sense that if there is not a known strong leader and US ally to replace al-Maliki it might be premature to call for him to step down. We need to know something about who the replacement is going to be.

I totally agree with Obama's assessments. They show leadership and judgment. With these two, what is the point of further talking about experience?

The Electoral College has created these stupid situations in a few states. I think it is time to abolish the EC in favor of the popular vote winner.

How can anyone NOT vote for Obama??

Really. This guy just calls a spade a spade. He gets right to the heart of each matter with intelligence, wisdom, and TRUE, genuine judgment.

OBAMA 08!!

I agree with obama if the people in iraq government cant come together to pass any type of laws to begin to become a functioning government it doesnt matter what guy they put at the top! It just like iraq is becoming a mirror reflextion of what happens to a government that cant come together to pass legislation to end this war! NONFUNCTIONAL!!!!

Spartan Internet Consulting has released the first SIPP index results for the week of August 16th- 22nd, with Barack Obama ranked highest for the week with a score of 21.29 percent.

http://www.spartaninternet.com/2008/

The most notable gainers included John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich with increases of 0.43 percent and 0.37 percent, respectively.

As is consistent with Senator Obama, he brings up a good point and shows his willingness to bluntly bring up the real truth. Good for him.

[...] weighs in on Clinton's call for Maliki's ouster: White House hopeful Barack Obama called the [...]

I agree with Barack. It makes the most sense.

and people think Obama is "inexperienced" and "naive"? how sad.

Every time I hear Obama calling it like it is, it's like a breath of fresh air. I absolutely love that he refuses to participate in the political games and fluff controversies that dominate our political discussion.

Shame on hillary. She wants to bring down the first elected government in Iraq. Wow !

It sounds like something Bush would do. Perhaps she is REALLY Bush/Cheney Lite. The next thing she will want is to support Bush in gitting rid of the leaders of Iran, North Korea and Syria.
Yes, the same hillary, who voted for the War, just like George W. Bush wanted her to do.

What is she thinking?

This proves she has NO experience, and NO judgement.

Obama has it right again.

I’m still an undecided Democrat. (I’m down to Clinton, Obama, Biden & Richardson). But I have to disagree with Senator Obama on this Maliki situation.

If the problem in Iraq is mostly political, (and I agree that it is), then how is it not relevant to criticize the Iraqi political leadership? If Iraq has a future as a nation, someone has to step up and unify the factions. Miliki hasn’t done the job, and the Sunnis have walked out. It’s not up to us, of course, but considering the circumstances we’re entitled to have our say.

I think Senator Obama is wrong to call this a distraction. I think Senator Clinton is correct in calling for Maliki’s replacement. And I think Senator Biden has the best overall plan for Iraq.

WHY CAN'T AMERICA SEE THAT THIS IS THE MAN WE NEED IN OFFICE RIGHT NOW!

Obama took the Maliki debate and developed a real answer. It's not just about Maliki not working. Clinton is quick to pounce on Maliki and demand he be overthrown. Our next President needs to be cooler headed than that… someone able to reason… someone who doesn't just make a comment to please a crowd of veterans. HRC could have all the experience in the world, and it still doesn't match Obama's ability to come up with real solid answers.