If you were wondering why Sec. Clinton wasn’t at the SOTU, it was because she was busy in London at a global conference on Afghanistan:

Talks Plot Handover to Afghan Forces   ~ Nations Set 5-Year Security Transition, Plan Fund to Pacify Taliban Militants

By ALISTAIR MACDONALD, MATTHEW ROSENBERG And JAY SOLOMON

LONDON—Afghanistan agreed at an international conference here to timetables for taking control of certain military and police functions in the war-torn country, and rolled out details of a new program to lure Taliban insurgents back to mainstream life with financial incentives.

The one-day London conference, attended by about 65 nations, was meant to kick-start the transition of the country’s security to Afghan troops from foreign ones and bolster Afghanistan’s ability to develop its economy and stamp out corruption….

Oh dear…It’s always worrisome when “officials and leaders” get together to come up with solutions.

Here’s Sec. Clinton’s statement:

Remarks by Secretary Clinton

Be sure to read the reporters’ questions and her answers too.

Sing with me!

Kumbayah, m’lord, Kumbayah…

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Here’s another interesting news article about certain Congressmen and Hamas:

Hamas’ 54 Democratic Congressmen   ~   Amerabia isn’t as far away as we have thought

By Daniel Greenfield Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Keith Ellison, widely hailed as America’s first Muslim congressman, could more accurately be described as CAIR and Hamas’ man in Congress. Congressman Ellison has been a regular presence at CAIR fundraisers and at pro-Hamas rallies in the United States. As a former member of Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam, Ellison has enough anti-semitic and Islamist credentials to satisfy anyone, and had expressed openly anti-semitic beliefs in the past….

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But the call for Israel to open its borders is nothing more than a way of making it easier for terrorists to strike. Ellison’s letter buries its real agenda in paragraphs of prose about how everyone will be better off, except somehow Hamas, if Israel complies with their demand… that Israel ease the movement of people in and out of Gaza. This of course is a fancy way of saying, “Let my Suicide Bombers go”.

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…what Congressman Keith Ellison accomplished was to convince 53 other Democratic congressmen to join him in this venture….

Be sure to follow the links in the original article.

You may recognize these names:

The Full List of Congressmen who signed on to the letter, by State and District, and their current list of challengers in the upcoming elections

Arizona

* Raul Grijalva = AZ 7th Distict

California

* Lynn Woolsey – CA 6th District
* Lois Capps – CA 23rd District – Challenger John Davidson
* Sam Farr – CA 17th district
* Bob Filner – CA 51st district – challenger Nick Popaditch
* Barbara Lee – CA 9th District
* Loretta Sanchez – CA 47th District – challenger Van Tran
* Pete Stark – CA 13th District
* Michael Honda – CA 15th District
* Jackie Speier – CA 12th District
* Diane Watson – CA 33rd District
* George Miller – CA 7th District

Connecticut

* Jim Himes – 4th district – challenger Dan Debicella

Indiana

* Andre Carson – 7th district – challenger Carlos May and Marvin Bailey Scott

Iowa

* Bruce Braley – 1st district – challenger Rod Blum

Kentucky

* John Yarmuth – 3rd district – multiple challengers

Maryland

* Elijah Cummings – 7th district
* Donna Edwards – 4th district

Massachusetts

* Michael Capuano – 8th district
* William Delahunt – 10th district – multiple challengers
* Jim McGovern – 3rd district – challenger Marty Lamb
* John Tierney – 6th district – Challenger David Sukoff and Bill Hudak
* John Olver – 1st district – challenger Jeffrey Paul Donnelly
* Stephen Lynch – 9th district – challenger Vernon Harrison and Keith Lepor

Michigan

* John Conyers – 14th district
* John Dingell – 15th district
* Carolyn Kilpatrick – 13th district

Minnesota

* Keith Ellison – 5th district – challenger Barb Davis
* Betty McCollum – 4th district – challenger Ed Matthews
* James Oberstar – 8th district – multiple challengers

New Jersey

* Donald Payne – 10th district -
* Rush Holt – 12th district – challenger Mike Halfacre and Scott Sipprelle
* Bill Pascrell – 8th district – challenger Danielle Staub

New York

* Yvette Clarke – 11th district
* Maurice Hinchey – 22nd district – challenger George Philips
* Paul ‘taxin’ Tonko – 21st district – challenger Arthur Welser
* Eric Massa – 29th district – challenger Tom Reed (in a GOP district)

North Carolina

* David Price – 4th district – challengers George Hutchins, Lawson and Frank Roche

Ohio

* Mary Jo Kilroy – 15th district – challengers John Adams and Senator Stivers
* Marcy Kaptur – 9th district

Oregon

* Earl Blumenauer -3rd district
* Peter DeFazio – 4th district – challenger Sid Leiken

Pennsylvania

* Chaka Fattah – 2nd district
* Joe Sestak – 7th district – challenger Patrick Meehan and Dawn Steisland

Vermont

* Peter Welch – 1st district

Virginia

* Jim Moran – 8th district – challengers Matthew Berry , Mark Ellmore, J Patrick Murray

Washington

* Jim McDermott – 7th district
* Adam Smith – 9th district – challengers Dick Muri and James Postma
* Jay Inslee – 1st district – challenger James Watkins
* Brian Baird – 3rd district – challengers David Castillo, David Hedrick and Jon Russell

West Virginia

* Nick Rahall – 3rd district – challengers Lee Bias, Gary Gearheart and Conrad Lucas

Wisconsin

* Tammy Baldwin -2nd district – Tim Terenz
* Gwen Moore – 4th district – challenger Dan Sebring

Virginia

* Glenn Nye – 2nd district – challengers Ben Loyola, Ken Golden, Ed Maulbeck, Bert Misuzawa, Scott Rigell and Scott W Taylor

Feel better now?

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Tags: Afghanistan, anti-semitic, Clinton, congressman, global conference, Islam, keith Ellison, Muslim, pro-Hamas