Thanks to Ms. Flayton for bringing her to our attention.

Now another reason I thave two bumpers sticker on my car:

"Clinton- Obama '08" and "Obama-Clinton '08"... either one gets my vote!

Samantha Power's involvement suggests that he is not all bad. Others on the team do cause pause.

She would make a swell Secretary of State. She also would make a better president than any of the current choices.

We may be in a significant pickle in the middle east, but at the top of any priority list should be these two criminal outfits.

The first knocks off about 50,000 crooks a year and brokers their organs to the ,high paying, acutely ill, westerner. The second,governed by Tony Soprano Putin and his henchman, is rigging elections and giving summer jobs to Russian teens, whose job description reads "Hassel Westerners,Protest embassies,and wave the Putin Youth flag

If this woman is any kind of reflection of the way Obama thinks or even of the kind of people he will surround himself with as leader of the free world, then his presidency can't come soon enough.

To begin with, the differentness of thinking--the audacity, the originality--of calling an author and asking how her book can be used to make America better: this is not a superficial shell of a candidate. This is an intellectually curious, thoughtful man.

But mainly, Samantha Power's insight and nuance on foreign policy sounds like the real deal--exactly what's been missing from the Bush years. Pointing out that al Qaida and Hamas are not interchangeable (Remember when Bush didn't know the difference --or that there was a difference--between Shia and Sunnis?); that America's approach to Iran's leader is schizophrenic; that the UN will change when states change, starting with a serious commitment from the U.S.; and mostly that our interventions around the world have to arise out of deep concern for their citizens--these are practical and wise foundations for any public servant whose policies affect those beyond geographic borders.

Samantha Power for Secretary of State, 2008!

I agree, lateagain. There's also this

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8113

analyzing differences between policy advisors on both Democratic foreign policy teams. Samantha Power has been intriguing to me for a long time, and I'm glad that she's interested in formulating policies for peace and the prevention of genocide.

The bi-line for this article was "Foreign policy whiz Samantha Power sheds light on a legendary diplomat killed in Iraq, advising Barack Obama and how America can emerge from the Bush era."

Who precisely dubbed her a "whiz"? More specifically, what has she done that proves that she's a "whiz" at any of this? Condi Rice was described as a brilliant and accomplished foreign policy vunderkind before she botched every position she's held thus far, from Russian expert, to NSC leader, to state dept. head. I think Samantha Power has some very nice, very academic insights. But to call her a whiz at anything means that she's both talked and executed, demonstrating that her ideas are salient in the real world. I'm not aware of anything that she's done outside of a few insightful books on some powerful topics. Furthermore, her comments about Obama having "dirt under his nails" really brings home why he's the wrong guy for the world in which we live right now. She couldn't provide one real-world example of how someone who's traveled a bit and read a few books is any better than his rivals, one of whom has met with heads of state and worked on women's issues with foreign bodies for most of her life and another who's actually been to Iraq and fought our wars for us.

I find the whole liberal notion that we should pull out of Iraq with little long-term geopolitical thinking to be nauseating. She said, "But I think it's time to show not only Iraqis but the rest of the world that at least as we leave, we're leaving with a very vigilant eye on how to mitigate the consequences of our actions." The emphasis here should be on 'mitigate'. It's another way of saying, we're gonna pull out, they need to take charge, and we need to make sure they know we are watching them. Well, what the hell good does it do to keep Muslim terrorists on notice that we're going to do everything we can to play nice as we run away from their guns and verbal assaults. The Muslims have a long history and a long memory. They quote battles and victories going back to 640AD when they justify the horrors that they levy on others. When the Israelis pulled out from Lebanon, it taught them something about the Israelis and they keep reminding us of it. When we pulled our troops out of Lebanon after the Iranians blew up the barracks in 1983, it taught the Muslims something about us, and they keep reminding us about it.

The fact is that we are stuck in Iraq until some kind of obvious and public victory is forced down the throats of the people battling against us. It's not a war we should have fought. I don't believe we should have gone there. We should have left a crazed, military secular dictator in charge. However, we're there now and we have moral and geopolitical reasons (oil being one of them) to see this thru to its bloody end. There is no doubt whatsoever, if history is our guide, that withdrawal before a recognized victory is established will be a disaster for us and for the Iraqis who remain. There will be a genocide, and it will be one of Ms. Power's first ironic triumphs.

Ms. Power has worked for Obama for over 2 years. What have the two of them produced during her tenure in his office? I looked up Obama's record in the senate. I had a hard time finding just ONE bill that has made it out of committee or has even a small plurality of co-sponsors beyond, perhaps, 4 senators. He has been in charge of an important sub-committee responsible, I believe, for NATO and European affairs. It hasn't met ONCE under his tenure. Not even once.

I think Ms. Power is, like many in Obama's employ, impressed with his credentials, his intellectual curiosity, and his sincerity. I have no doubt that Mr. Obama's heart is in the right place. I truly believe that he wants to do good. But he hasn't delivered on ANYTHING since he's been in the senate. Not one bill. Not one meeting. Not one investigation. Nothing.

He asks us to take him at his word when he says that he will unite the country and be a leader. He says that we should look at his campaign for signs of his ability to "get things done" and to run a large organization. He has a campaign manager to run his campaign. As far as the senate goes, he's done very little to justify any faith that this guy knows how to get even one bill to a point of an up-or-down vote. That says something. It says that he has high-minded ideals that go nowhere. Perhaps it's a lack of leadership. Perhaps it's a lack of experience. No matter how you argue the point, the dude just ain't baked and should have kept his narcissism in check until he was ready.

I'm sorry Ms. Power came under his spell. Hopefully, President McCain will be able to avail himself of her good council.