Sorkin, can I get an edit?
When I woke up this morning and checked the blog of ultimate evil, I found a very brief and tantalizing entry, "Barack Obama kicks ass." Having missed the democratic convention coverage last night, and being slightly more right-leaning than anyone else reading he-who-shall-not-be-insulted's blog, I was forced to google to find out just what was meant by this cryptic message.

Turns out this guy is a young tyro for the demmies and up for Senator this year. And apparently he gave quite a stirring speech last night. I just read the article, which only has a few blurbs from it, but one passage in particular struck me as very odd:

"When we send our young men and women into harm’s way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they’re going," Obama said, "and to never — ever — go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace and earn the respect of the world."

I couldn't put my finger on why this passage bothered me for a while. Obviously, I don't agree on the democrat party line about Iraq, but there was something else. It took me a while before it hit me. The line "...never — ever — go to war without enough troops to win the war..." reminded me of an point that a character makes to the president in the film, The American President:

SHEPHERD
Other than not knowing the difference
between Harvard and Stanford, has he
said something that isn't true? Am
I not a Commander-in-Chief who's
never served in the military? Am I
not opposed to a Constitutional
amendment banning flag burning? Am
I not an unmarried father who was
sharing a bed with a liberal lobbyist
down the hall from my twelve-year-old
daughter?

A.J.
And you think you're wrong?

SHEPHERD
I don't think you win elections by
telling 59 percent of the people that
they are.

A.J.
We fight the fights we can win.

SHEPHERD
Don't--

A.J.
You fight the fights that need
fighting! [emphasis mine]

SHEPHERD
Is the view pretty good from the
cheap seats, A.J.?

A.J.
I beg your pardon.

SHEPHERD
It occurs to me that in 25 years I've
never seen your name on a ballot.
Why have you always been standing a
pace behind me?

A.J.
Because if I hadn't been, you'd be
the most popular history professor
at the University of Wisconsin.

SHEPHERD
Fuck you.

The American President, although unabashedly liberal, is a great film, not unlikely Aaron Sorkin's other writing effort, The West Wing. Unfortunately for Obama, I don't think he's seen the flick. His line about the troops contrasts with the moral of the film, which is the president doing what he believes is right rather than what the polls show or what is safe to win. Of course, this is real life and that is a movie, but I don't think it's very rousing to declare, "Let's make sure that we only fight if we are guaranteed victory!" Not exactly an exciting tag line for your campaign.