the hearts & minds -- remember... ?

Obama Would Hold Muslim Summit

Muslim and Western leaders would be invited to the summit for "a discussion about how we can prevent the widening misunderstandings and gaps between the Muslim world and the West," Obama said in the interview to Paris Match.

"I will ask them to join us in battling terrorism but we should also be willing to listen in terms of some of their concerns," he said in the interview to be released Thursday.

Wow! Listening. What a novel idea. A damned good one, too, that'd require treating a quarter of the world's population with respect rather than dismiss them as lackeys or "evil-doers." Of course that never occurred to the Bushies, who could only talk about victory and not know anything of the actual concept -- victory as being defined by winning the hearts and minds of the Arab street. Absent that, we have what a McCain presidency would portend -- "More wars!"

And while a Republican-lite, corporate Clinton co-presidency, would be infinitely superior to anything the Neo-con can offer, it is still believed here that as only Nixon could go to China, so too can only Obama heal this wound.