Hillary's Letter to President Bush

Dear Mr. President:

As you prepare to address the nation tomorrow, I write to request that you seize the opportunity and offer the American people a candid assessment of the challenges that we continue to face in Iraq and offer a change in course to your failing strategy.

Over the past two days, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker have testified before Congress about the current situation in Iraq. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker both have long and distinguished careers in service to our nation and in their testimony, they tried to put the best possible face on the difficult situation that we confront in Iraq.

In their testimony, however, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker could not mask the fact that the ostensible goal for increasing U.S. troops in Iraq earlier this year - to create the "space" for Iraqi political reconciliation - has not been met. And indeed, serious concerns have been raised about many of the metrics cited by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker in support of their assertion that progress is being made in Iraq.

General Petraeus testified that he has proposed a decrease of five combat brigades in Iraq by July/August 2008 and press reports have suggested that you plan to announce your acceptance of this recommendation when you address the nation tomorrow evening. However, if completed, these troop reductions would merely bring troop levels in Iraq back to the levels before you announced the "surge" in January of this year. Moreover, as was discussed during General Petraeus's testimony, troop levels in Iraq must decrease by this amount in order to avoid extending Army deployments beyond 15 months and straining our military even further.

What you are planning to tell the American people tomorrow night is that one year from now, there will be the same number of troops in Iraq as there were one year ago. Mr. President, that is simply too little too late, and unacceptable to this Congress, and to the American people who have made clear their strong desire to bring our troops home, and end this war.

As Commander-in-Chief you have the authority and ability to greatly accelerate the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq, and to bring so many more troops home so much faster. I strongly urge you to choose this course of action.

Mr. President, it has been nearly four and a half years since you landed on an aircraft carrier and stood before the American people under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished." Do not repeat that mistake on Thursday night. Do not misrepresent the facts about the situation on the ground. And do not portray an unavoidable reduction in U.S. troops to pre-surge levels that would occur anyway as a marker of success. Be candid with the American people. They deserve it.

Thank you for your consideration

Sincerely yours,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

This is Hillary's letter, posted today to President Bush, on her presidential campaign website. My first suggestion to Hillary would be, don't speak for the troops, you have no idea what they want, or what they are going through. Leave it to the people who have experience and know what the hell is going on over there to decide how to complete the mission. DO NOT call them liars!

My personal statement to Sen. Clinton is that there are a lot of troops (though she does not know of any) that welcome an extended assignment in Iraq. They know the benefits of succeeding over there; they don't want to have to go back, or to fight them here in two years time. And, this might be a more personal issue, but many of them, even those who aren't sure what the hell is going on, welcome the pay raise for working over there.

Long story short...get some real experience before you try and change the policy or attempt to discredit those who try to inform you.

Toy Safety for Children

After 39 toy recalls this year, Hillary Clinton posted a press release about how she will keep American children from getting dangerous toys when she is president. All of these toys were imported from China, who produces most of the world's toys and about 80% of the toys in the United States alone. Clinton also tried putting some of the blame on President Bush, jabbing at his nominees for the Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Call me crazy, but I never blamed Bush for bringing defective toys into the country, unlike the manipulative Clinton campaign.

This statement from the Clinton camp sounds like another major inflation of bureaucracy and taxes. Which once again makes me wonder how she is going to relieve the middle class of our great tax-burden. Yes, taxes will go up for us too, not just the wealthy. If elected President, Hillary has pledged to double the CPSC's budget, as well as additional expenditures to "overhaul" their testing facility. How often has injecting a government agency with steroids ever increased efficiency?

There should be further precautions preventing importation of dangerous and/or deadly toys, but perhaps we should start by re-examining our trade relations with China, since they have sent us harmful toys, children's products, poisoned toothpaste and pet food. Before pumping more money at the problem, let's stop it at the source or cut the defective source off altogether.

Hillary's Public Service Academy

Sen. Hillary Clinton has said that if elected president, she wants to create a public service academy designed to inspire young Americans to serve others. This seems to contradict her liberal views, where most people count on the government to do everything for them, unless of course she wants this younger generation to all work for the government. Then, of course, this idea will hinder her hopes to make the government run more efficiently. But that's okay, she never would have made that work, even if she had meant it.

She describes this plan of hers as "a new citizenship" that defines who we are as a nation. Hillary once again trashed Bush's response to Katrina, global warming and destroying our world standing. But she said to a group of young Democrats who have not yet learned to think on their own, "We can restore America's image around the world. Let's do it together." So, what she is saying is that she wants the world to view Americans as people who are unable to take care of themselves, but generous incompetents. That sounds really effective. After years of caring about only one thing...her political position...her thought process is truly hindered.

Senator Clinton Condemns the Libby Commutation

Hillary's statement on the Libby Commutation:

"Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice." --Sen. Hillary Clinton

Well before we start dissecting the hypocrisies of Hillary's statement, let me first state that Libby was probably judged a bit too harshly for the crimes he committed, which are debatable in my mind. Libby was targeted because of his relationship to the White House. That's it and that's all.

Even if I were a Hillary-fan I would not be able to take this condemnation of Bush's commutation, or any other pardon he may execute while in office, to heart. I have to first take into account the number of commutations and pardons her husband gave while they "shared" the White House. There were 38 commutations and 147 pardons. Then I have to think about some of the crimes these people were pardoned and commuted for. These offenses include (but are certainly not limited to) cocaine trafficking, tax evasion, perjury (but we know that the Clintons were okay with perjury), bank fraud and sexual assault...to name a few.

I hope that anyone who takes Hillary's words to heart will keep this in mind.

Clinton on Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Yesterday, Clinton spoke to a group of people at Dartmouth College about her push for federally funded embryonic stem cell research. With her, she toted a 10-year-old Type 1 diabetic, and a 23-year-old quadriplegic who would both benefit from advances in stem cell research. Clinton said, "Every day that passes, we have families...waiting and wondering whether their government is really on the side of helping and saving the lives of their loved ones." She also claimed that the Bush Administration has a general contempt for science and disregard of evidence. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/06/15/republican_families_back_clinton_on_stem_cell_research/

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 13 years ago, and I do not support embryonic stem cell research. Personally, this is very much a moral issue. But morals aside, I would also like there to be a few things left in this country that the government is not directly involved in. I want a cure for my disease, I want to live life to the fullest, and I want that for my children too. But I am not relying on the government to cure my disease. The more anyone relies on the government, the more they will be let down.

I support forms of stem cell research that do not destroy life, there is so much that can be accomplished without harming living beings. I think the key phrase here is "federally funded." The government has not stopped private funding for this research, so those who don't have a problem with the destruction of human embryos can still give their support (monetary or biological) to groups using this method without their funds being filtered through the government. Private industry has always been more efficient than the government.

If Hillary becomes our next president my hopes, and the hopes of so many others, for a limited government will be gone. This issue in particular will not be limited to existing embryos. That will only be the start. It will probably end up more like that terrible movie, The Island.

Mrs. Self-Righteous criticizes response to Hurricane Katrina

At the National Conference of Black Mayors, Clinton said that Bush's response to the massive hurricane was a display of "incompetence." I suppose she would have personally flown down there and evacuated every single person from the Gulf Coast with her own private jet.

She tries to make it sound like this region has been slow to recover because Bush doesn't like black people. I don't think it was President Bush who denied help from the Red Cross, or failed to warn any Southern citizens what was to come. Next she will try and say that the president conjured the hurricane himself with black magic.

http://www.hillaryproject.com