Update: Barack Obama's policy switches are giving the Left whiplash
Everyone can add two more Obama flip-flops to the ever-growing list. Obama managed to make a full circle twist on the war in Iraq. After gathering the liberal masses on his promise to quickly withdraw troops from Iraq, now that its time to tack to the center he makes a full reversal. In his words, he has always held the right to "refine" his position on Iraq depending on circumstances.
“I’ve always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability. That assessment has not changed,” he said. “And when I go to Iraq and have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I’m sure I’ll have more information and will continue to refine my policies.”…
“My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything that I’ve said, was always premised on making sure that our troops were safe,” he said. “I said that based on the information that we had received from our commanders that one to two brigades a month could be pulled out safely, from a logistical perspective. My guiding approach continues to be that we’ve got to make sure that our troops are safe and that Iraq is stable.”
He added, “I’m going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold.”
ABC's Political Punch Blog is one of the few MSM spots not to ignore this, and they seem to be concerned.
Obama has almost always built in some wiggle room into his proposal — including promises to consult with commanders on the ground — but surely not always. For point of reference, go to Obama’s own campaign Website:
“Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.”
It becomes more than obvious how much of a flip-flop this is when you can compare what he said before to what he says now. Still, he tries to climb down. I think Philip Klein sums it up best.
It's official. The Obama campaign has entered John Kerry territory when it comes to changing positions on Iraq.
It doesn't end here though. Since this flip-flop is too big for all the media to ignore, certain ones will paint it up and "refine" it as much as possible. Also, I don't want to beat Obama up on this one too much since its a "change" in the right direction. After all, whats the difference between Obama's "refined" position on the Iraq War and the position McCain has always held? Obama couldn't end the day with just one flip-flop. He had to hit a double whammy!
The second "refined position" the media will do their best to ignore is on abortion.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says "mental distress" should not qualify as a health exception for late term-abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of abortion rights.
In an interview this week with "Relevant," a Christian magazine, Obama said prohibitions on late-term abortions must contain "a strict, well defined exception for the health of the mother."
Obama then added: "Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term."
Last year, after the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on late-term abortions, Obama said he "strongly disagreed" with the ruling because it "dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women."Last year Obama said he would trust women to make the right decision on partial birth abortion. This new position on abortion by Barack goes against his 100% NARAL rating in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Of course the MSM will not report any of these details to you. This is why you read Newsbusters.
