Pelosi now confident of Iraq reconciliation

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a top Democratic critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, expressed confidence during a visit to Iraq on Saturday that expected provincial elections will promote national reconciliation.

She welcomed Iraq’s progress in passing a budget as well as oil legislation and a bill paving the way for provincial elections in the fall that are expected to more equitably redistribute power among local officials.

“We’re assured sure the elections will happen here, they will be transparent, they will be inclusive and they will take Iraq closer to the reconcilation we all want it to have” she said.

Of course, she must be setting up the democrats to take credit for it if it happens.

Are these the dems who have been declaring Iraq a failure since 2004?

Have the space pods landed? What is going on?

Only thing is, I can’t quite use that colorful language right now. I’m live-blogging the RPW convention today and tomorrow. In fact, John Gard, former Assembly speaker and current challenger for the 8th Congressional district, is speaking as I type this. I’ve got the digital voice recorder rolling electrons, so I’m not missing anything.

Republicans Go to War With Obama Over Foreign Policy Views

After Obama blasted both McCain and Bush on Friday for a failed go-it-alone policy in the Middle East, Republicans ripped Obama for his willingness to meet with nations like Iran without preconditions.

Here’s my favorite though:

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said he thought Bush “hit the nail on the head yesterday in Jerusalem. And today, the nails started to complain. It’s not just naïve. It’s dangerous for our country.”

Former GOP candidate Mitt Romney said if Barack Obama were to meet with “some of the world’s worst actors” as president, it would “bestow upon them the dignity of the office of the president of the United States, giving them a propaganda bonanza.”

“Barack Obama may believe there is an individual right to bear arms in the Constitution. He would simply like to make it impossible for you to exercise that right” former Bush adviser Karl Rove said.

Obama, who has supported tough gun restrictions, said Americans who use their guns legally to hunt or protect their families have nothing to worry about if he is president.

Sure, Obama, it’s your lie, you tell it.

One Obama aide told FOX News the campaign would have had to spend millions in ad money to accomplish what the campaign believes it achieved in the past 36 hours — linking McCain to Bush on foreign policy, and portraying the Arizona senator as the next incarnation of a Bush presidency.

Careful there, guys. People may not always agree with Bush, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they want to return to the Carter days.

Anyway, it looks like there is still some fight in the Republicans. Feels good, doesn’t it guys?

I sometimes think folks have forgotten the awfulness of Jimmy Carter.

Exactly right, Teri. Carter’s incompetence was the reason we had twelve years of Republican Presidents after his pathetic administration. People forgot, and we got Slick Willy for eight years, which also got us 9/11. Then we went back to Republican dominance in politics. Unfortunately, the Republicans have squandered this and look like they are on their way to losing a practically guaranteed election.

I mean, if your only roadblocks to the White House are Obama and Hillary and you CAN’T win, you are in very serious trouble. Or should I say we are all in very serious trouble?