Obama's revealing Afghanistan war speech: 4,582 words and not one of them was 'victory'

President Obama spoke 4,582 words in his primetime Afghanistan war speech at West Point last night.

He said "al Qaeda" 22 times.

He mentioned the "Taliban" 12 times.

And here's how many times the Democratic chief executive used the word "victory" -- 0.

That telling omission says more than anything about Obama's 322d day in office when he gave his first major address as the United States' commander-in-chief.

Through a clever, timely use of leaks late Monday and suggestive advance excerpts Tuesday afternoon, the Obama White House communications team used the public and news media's intense curiosity about his war decisions to steer public attention toward the number of additional American troops he'll dispatch into that war-torn land in the first half of 2010.

That number is 30,000, significantly less than some reported numbers requested by the ground commander. But added to the existing 68,000 there and taken out of context, that would appear....

Full President Obama speech text on Afghanistan

Text of President Obama's speech on Afghanistan, Dec. 1, 2009, as provided by the White House

Good evening. To the United States Corps of Cadets, to the men and women of our armed services, and to my fellow Americans: I want to speak to you tonight about our effort in Afghanistan – the nature of our commitment there, the scope of our interests, and the strategy that my Administration will pursue to bring this war to a successful conclusion. It is an honor for me to do so here – at West Point – where so many men and women have prepared to stand up for our security, and to represent what is finest about our country.

To address these issues, it is important to recall why America and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan in the first place. We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, nineteen men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people.

They struck at our military and economic nerve centers. They took the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard to their faith or race or station. Were it not for the heroic actions of the passengers on board one of those flights, they could have also struck at one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killed many more.

As we know, these men belonged to al Qaeda – a group of extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam, one of the world’s great religions, to justify the slaughter of innocents. Al Qaeda’s base of operations was in Afghanistan, where they were harbored by the Taliban – a ruthless, repressive and radical movement that seized control of that country after it was ravaged by years of Soviet occupation and civil war, and after the attention of America and our friends had turned elsewhere.

Just days after 9/11, Congress authorized the use of force against al Qaeda and those who harbored them – an authorization that continues to this day. The vote in the Senate was 98 to 0. The vote in the House was 420 to 1. For the first time in its history, the ....

Weekly remarks: GOP warns of new Obama taxes; Obama says reforms needed to help all

Remarks by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, as provided by the Republican National Committee

This week, like most Americans, my family came together to break bread, give thanks and celebrate our blessings.

Even in these times of struggle and trial, we have much to be thankful for, beginning with our men and women in uniform, many of whom will spend this holiday season away from hearth and home. The tragic events at Fort Hood remind us that whether they serve at home or abroad, we owe our soldiers and their families a debt of gratitude we will never be able to repay.

This past Thursday, while empty chairs for America’s defenders were placed at Thanksgiving dinner tables in many homes, many other seats were filled with anxious Americans who are facing their own personal battles and struggles.  Millions of families have seen jobs and careers vanish in the midst of this recession.

Many are asking, ‘when will things get better?’ Many more are asking, ‘where are the jobs?’

President Obama told the American people that his last $787 billion ‘jobs bill,’ the so-called ‘stimulus’ package, would ensure that unemployment would not go above 8 percent.  And the Administration continues to insist their stimulus plan is working. But unemployment is now at a heartbreaking 10.2 percent.

In the city and on the farm, as millions of American families struggle to balance their checkbooks this holiday season, they watch in astonishment as Washington spends billions of dollars it doesn’t have.

And what is the White House’s answer to our struggles? Another meeting next week. A ‘jobs summit,’ and ...

Think you can fix the Obama economy? Try the Federal Budget Challenge

It's no mystery that the U.S. economy is a mess. Why is there a budget crisis? Well, spending a lot of money is a large part of it. But fixing that is more complicated.

The Federal Budget Challenge is a Web application that aims to help Americans get an idea of the complexities facing the Obama administration.

It's a game of sorts that lets players choose which programs to cut or add in hopes of balancing the federal budget. The system breaks down the financial effects of each choice.

We caught up with the development team in Palo Alto for a demo on Wednesday. Sarah Henry, program officer for developer Next Ten, said the product is primarily an educational tool.

The nonprofit organization is collecting plenty of data from the thousands of people who have taken the test so far. Players are asked for demographic info, including age and ZIP Code, which make for some interesting statistics when combined with feedback about programs like the proposed "public option" in healthcare legislation.

"It's not scientific," Henry said. So the team isn't paying too much attention to the responses. "It's not so much about feedback as it is learning new things," she said.

Initial responses have been mostly positive, Henry said.

The few complainers were a mixed bag. Some said the choices were too simple, and they'd like more think-outside-the-box options. Others said it was too long and overly complicated. Can't please 'em all, Henry said.

Next Ten is licensing its platform to cities, including Los Angeles, which plans to release its own version. The Times built a similar app earlier this year called State Budget Deficit.

-- Mark Milian

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Photo: Henry, Next Ten program officer. Credit: Mark Milian / Los Angeles Times

Sunday shows: Steele, Kaine, McDonnell, Gorbachev

UPDATE: 2:44 p.m. Saturday NBC has updated its lineup below.)

ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos": Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee; along with Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee; and a roundtable with Democrat Donna Brazile, Republican pollster Frank Luntz and ABC's Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts and George Will.

Bloomberg's "Political Capital With Al Hunt": House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

CBS' "Face the Nation" with Bob Schieffer: Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Reps. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Republican consultant Ed Rollins.

CNN's "GPS With Fareed Zakaria": Aspen Institute's Walter Isaacson, "The Years of Lyndon Johnson" author Robert Caro, columnist Peggy Noonan, "Creating Black Americans" author Nell Irvin Painter and former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

CNN's "State of the Union" with John King: GOP Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell of Virginia, Republican pollster Bill McInturff, Democratic pollster Peter Hart, James Carville, Mary Matalin and former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev.

"Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace: McDonnell, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). With roundtable of Brit Hume, NPR's Mara Liasson, the Weekly Standard's Willliam Kristol and the New York Post's Kirsten Powers.

UPDATE: NBC's "Meet the Press" with David Gregory: Govs. Haley Barbour of Mississippi (Republican) and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania (Democrat), David Brooks, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Republican strategist Ed Gillespie and NBC's Tom Brokaw. Meet the Press has added Gen. George Casey, Army Chief of Staff, to its guest lineup.

Related items:

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The Sarah Palin speech(es) we never heard

Inside Tuesday's elections: The lessons and warnings for Obama, GOP

-- Andrew Malcolm

Why wait until Sunday for politics? Get politics all day, every day, by clicking here for Twitter alerts of each Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot.  Also on Facebook here.

Photo: Mark Wilson / Getty Images (McDonnell).

Weekly remarks: Obama salutes the troops, Haley Barbour sees elections as 'wake-up call'

Weekly Remarks by President Obama, as provided by the White House

I’d like to speak with you for a few minutes today about the tragedy that took place at Fort Hood. This past Thursday, on a clear Texas afternoon, an Army psychiatrist walked into the Soldier Readiness Processing Center and began shooting his fellow soldiers.

It is an act of violence that would have been heartbreaking had it occurred anyplace in America. It is a crime that would have horrified us had its victims been Americans of any background. But it’s all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable because of the place where it occurred and the patriots who were its victims.

The SRP is where our men and women in uniform go before getting deployed. It’s where they get their teeth checked and their medical records updated and make sure everything is in order before getting shipped out. It was in this place, on a base where our soldiers ought to feel most safe, where those brave Americans who are preparing to risk their lives in defense of our nation, lost their lives in a crime against our nation.

Soldiers stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world called and e-mailed loved ones at Fort Hood, all expressing the same stunned reaction: I’m supposed to be the one in harm’s way, not you.

Thursday’s shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base. And yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the....

Sunday shows: Jarrett, Axelrod, Limbaugh, Boehner

ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos: White House advisor Valerie Jarrett and a roundtable with former Bush White House aide Ed Gillespie, ex-Clinton Press Secretary DeeDee Myers, ABC's George Will and Rev. Al Sharpton.

Bloomberg Political Capital with Al Hunt: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).

CBS Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: Obama advisor David Axelrod and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT).

CNN GPS with Fareed Zakaria: Pakistan ex-President Pervez Musharraf, Matthew Hoh, Martin Wolf and Yale's Robert Shiller.

CNN State of the Union with John King: Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) and James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: Rush Limbaugh and Carl Cameron and Major Garrett on the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races with a roundtable of Brit Hume of Fox, Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard and NPR's Mara Liaisson and Juan Williams.

NBC Meet the Press with David Gregory: Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Jon Krakauer and NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Andrea Mitchell.

Also, for The Ticket's latest coverage of these shows' recent ratings moves, click here.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Why wait until Sunday for politics? Get them all day every day by clicking here for Twitter alerts of each Ticket item. Or follow us  @latimestot  Also on Facebook here.

Photo: Associated Press (Musharraf).

Anti-abortion Democrat Bart Stupak has a problem with Obama's health reforms

As far as northern Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak is concerned, no federal funding for abortions has been the law of the land since 1976.

And as far as Stupak is concerned, his fellow Democrat Barack Obama agreed that the president's idea of healthcare reform does not include federal funding of abortion.

But that seems about to change.

Stupak is a nine-term representative, a Catholic and a former police officer, who's destroyed recent Republican opponents with up to 69% of the vote.

Stupak says he's run up against a stonewall with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other fellow Democrats in seeking to protect that 33-year-old ban in the evolving healthcare reform legislation.

He says he's got 40 fellow House members who stand with him, most of them who'll vote against any reform bill without the antiabortion protection. And Stupak asserts he's prepared to lose his job over this stand.

Actually, he puts it pretty clearly and succinctly himself on this C-SPAN video. See what he says: right here

-- Andrew Malcolm

The Ticket has all the important politics news. Click here and get Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us  @latimestot  Also on Facebook here.

Video courtesy of C-SPAN.

Obama to troops: I won't hesitate to use force, but...

En route to another Democratic Party fundraiser -- this one in Miami tonight -- President Obama stopped in Jacksonville to thank American military personnel and families for their service but to make a vow about no hasty decisions regarding their future deployments.

Sounding slightly defensive after recent criticism that his two-month-long internal discussion of the next step in the Afghan war was taking too long, Obama cited a list of improvements for the military, including increasing spending and cutting waste.

He paid tribute to the 14 latest U.S. casualties that bring 2009 losses in Afghanistan well past the 2008 total after only 10 months. October's U.S. dead now total at least 47, compared with 51 in August, the worst month yet in the eight-year struggle.

And then the president came to what White House speechwriters planted as the day's intended sound bite from the appearance:

And while I will never hesitate to use force to protect the American people or our vital interests, I also promise you this -- and this is very important as we consider our next steps in Afghanistan: I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way. I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary.

It worked. (See video below)

Vice President Biden spent most of the day in Ohio at two Democratic fundraisers and at an official event to highlight stimulus spending. Unemployment in Ohio remains above 10%.

Still no definitive word on when Obama will announce his decision on the Pentagon's reported request for some 40,000 additional troops to quell the Afghan insurgency.

While he wouldn't mind holding the additional support over the upcoming Afghan presidential runoff to help ensure a fair result, Obama wouldn't mind having word of an expanded military commitment emerge after next Tuesday's elections stateside, especially the two governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia. Sending more troops, even considerably less than requested, could well alienate voters on the Democratic left and keep them at home.

As usual, we have the president's full text below.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Remarks by President Obama at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., as provided by the White House
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.  Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody.  How's it going, Jacksonville? (Applause.)

Let me begin by thanking Secretary Mabus for the introduction, for your service, Ray. I know we've got a lot of naval aviators here, and Ray is a former surface warfare officer.  But don't hold that against him.  Don't hold that against him, now. (Laughter.) Because Ray Mabus is doing an outstanding job as Secretary of the Navy. 

I also want to thank all your outstanding local leaders for welcoming me here today: Admiral Tim Alexander; your CO, Captain Jack Scorby; and your Command Master Chief, Jeff Hudson. To Chris Scorby and all the spouses who are with us -- you hold our military families together.  We honor you and we are grateful to you. (Applause.)

Now, it is great to be here at one of America's finest naval air stations. But we also have....

Sunday shows: Abdullah, Karzai, McCain, McCaskill

ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos: Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) with roundtable with George Will, Laura Ingraham, John Podesta and Al Hunt.

Bloomberg's "Political Capital" with Al Hunt: Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine).

CBS'  "Face the Nation" with Bob Schieffer: Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russell D. Feingold (D-Wisc.).

CNN's "GPS" with Fareed Zakaria: Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

CNN's "State of the Union" with John King: Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah (see photo right), and Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

"Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace: Abdullah and Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

NBC's "Meet the Press" with David Gregory: Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) with roundtable of Joe Scarborough, Erin Burnett, Jane Meyer and Dan Senor.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Why wait until Sunday for politics? Click here for Twitter alerts of each Ticket item. Or follow us  @latimestot  Also on Facebook here.

Photo: PBS (Abdullah).