Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Obama's First Speech to Congress

President Obama's speech tonight was the best speech by an American President I can remember. It reminded me of the historic speeches by great former Presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt. Obama's agenda is ambitious, but it is the kind of confidence and leadership America needs right now.

Obama stated that he will "end" the Iraq war responsibly, and today his aides said that Obama is favoring a withdrawal by August, 2010, which is three months longer than the 16 month time line he promised during his election campaign. Liberals like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow were surprised to hear Obama's national security advisers say that a residual force of 30,000 to 50,000 troops may remain in Iraq after August, 2010, and Maddow said this is starting to look more like Bush's withdrawal plan than Obama's original withdrawal plan. The announcement of the planned residual force in Iraq did not surprise me, and nor did Maddow's reaction to it. I wonder if Maddow knows that tens of thousands of US troops have been stationed in Germany since World War II.

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