Dean's World

A hard-core Democrat of my acquaintance recently bloviated to me at length about how all you had to do to really "understand" the "truth" about the Swift Boat Vets for Truth was to "follow the money," i.e. look at who donated money to them.

Funny thing was, a couple of days later, I pointed out to him how many groups just like the Swift Boat Vets are shilling for Kerry, and how much money they're getting from Democratic donors. He responded that it was all merely "the chickens coming home to roost" because of the President's policies.

Mmm-hmm.

Well anyway, if you haven't seen it already, folks, you really should see the Truth Laid Bear's report on campaign finance funding.

That way you can follow the money, and decide which chickens are coming home to roost where. Don't miss it. Even if you don't care about the Swift Boat guys, it's must reading, for it's a real eye-opener about money in today's politics.

Left-wing sources are being monitored by Blogs of War. At the moment they're noting a sudden rumor flying like mad that some cops or Secret Service agents were attacked in Penn Station in New York. Blogs of War has more.

This may be just rumors, may even be a hoax. But even the hard left is getting jumpy.

If women are to be held to a lesser standard of responsibility when drunk than men, where else should they be held to a lesser standard? And if women are held to this lesser standard, does this mean they are lesser citizens? We hold juveniles to a lower standard than adults, but withhold corresponding rights and privileges. Should this carry over to women?

An Iraqi militant group has kidnapped two Frenchmen and given the French government 48 hours to end a ban on Muslim headscarves, Arabic television station al-Jazeera said on Saturday.

The channel aired a brief video showing two men standing in front of a black banner bearing the name of the Islamic Army in Iraq. One man told the camera: "I would like to tell my family that everything is OK."

Al-Jazeera identified the men as George Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot. Last week, the French Foreign Ministry said two journalists with those names had gone missing in Iraq.

The journalists -- who work for Le Figaro and Radio France International -- were declared missing on the same day that Italy said freelance journalist Enzo Baldoni was also missing and that his driver had reportedly been killed.

Baldoni was ambushed along the Baghdad-Najaf road and taken hostage by the Islamic Army in Iraq. On Thursday, al-Jazeera said the group killed him because Italy refused to heed a deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq.

The al-Jazeera announcer said the Islamic Army in Iraq issued an ultimatum to France to abandon its policy of banning Muslim headscarves in state schools within 48 hours. It did not say whether the group threatened to kill its captives if France did not comply.

A French Foreign Ministry spokesman in Paris said: "We have nothing to say. We are trying to analyze the information we have learned the same way you did."
In France, though, there is a key factor in play that isn't as prevelent in some other European countries:

France is home to five million Muslims, the largest Muslim population in Europe. Its law banning Muslim headscarves in state schools passed its final parliamentary hurdle in March.

The government said it instituted the ban to guarantee religious freedom by keeping all faiths out of state schools.

France also banned Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses at the same time, but the wording of the law -- and the heated debate that preceded it -- made it clear the latest Muslim schoolgirl fashion was the main target.

Some fear the ban could provoke high-profile protests when school reopens in France next week.

Activist groups have branded the law discriminatory and defended what they said was the religious obligation of all Muslim women to cover their hair.

Casey has issues with the word "apologist".

I do too. It's not supposed to have negative connotations, mind you, but in recent years it's come to take on that odor. I've used it once or twice, but I'm going to try to stop now unless I truly think somsone is defending the indefensible.

There goes my man, stompin' some Bush-lover butt!

Yeah, you go man! He wuz askin' for it, he wuz askin' fur it! The Bush-lovin' wussy!

(Via some heathen wench.)

Republican leaders about the future of their party, many have a one-word response, and it typically comes with the same exclamation point that adorns red bumper stickers across the state: Jeb!

While most of this year's delegates to the Republican convention say they're focused on the re-election of George W. Bush as president, many already are thinking ahead to 2008 and the possibility of keeping a Bush in the White House for 16 straight years.

Some Republicans and plenty of Democrats scoff at the idea of the political dynasty, but supporters say Gov. Jeb Bush's success with the economy, education and other key issues would make him a strong enough candidate to overcome any backlash.

"We fought the American revolution to not have a monarchy, but I think each of these brothers has a public track record of success and Jeb Bush certainly has demonstrated leadership here in Florida under very trying times," said Tramm Hudson, the GOP chairman in Sarasota County.

One person staying out of the debate is Jeb Bush himself, who recently announced that work related to Hurricane Charley will keep him in Florida the week the party anoints his brother the nominee. Gov. Bush has repeatedly dismissed the speculation about his political future after his term expires in 2006, but that has done little to quell the hopes of his supporters.

An asteroid the size of a large storage shed came within 4,100 miles of Earth this spring, making it the closest near miss ever recorded, U.S. astronomers said this week.

The 15- to 30-foot space rock, now called 2004 FU162, was spotted on March 31 by MIT's Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research project, or Linear, using telescopes in New Mexico. However, it was not initially submitted to a national astronomy organization for classification as a near-earth asteroid because the telescopes had managed to track the object for only 44 minutes, and because it was deemed too small to be a threat, said Linear team member Jenifer Evans.

Today's the Day. "An asteroid of this size actually hits Earth once every other year and probably passes by at this range four times a year," she said. If one does enter the planet's atmosphere, it usually breaks up before hitting the ground. She added: "You get nice, cool fireworks, but not much else."

The path 2004 FU162 took came nearly 21,800 miles closer to Earth than that of the previous record holder -- 2004 FH, spotted on March 18.

The asteroid's close call intrigued Steven Chesley, a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He found that 2004 FU162's orbit was deflected by about 20 degrees because of the earth's gravity. Whereas the asteroid's orbit once took it around the sun and past Earth each year, it now goes past Venus every nine months, he told New Scientist.

Chesley's interest is what led to the eventual classification and naming of the asteroid, said Evans.

Funded by NASA and the U.S. Air Force, the Linear project was created in 1998 to search for so-called NEOs, or near earth objects, that might pose a threat to life if they were to collide with the planet.

Manhattan was spin city last night as 5,000 activists on bicycles swarmed city streets and snarled traffic during a protest of the upcoming Republican National Convention.
At least 264 riders were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for blocking intersections near Madison Square Garden and in the East Village, police said.

The arrests marked the first real confrontation between cops and the thousands of protesters who have descended on New York ahead of the convention, which starts Monday.

"The cops said, 'Get out of here!' and I was trying to get out and I was cuffed," complained one busted bicyclist who identified himself as Keith from Brooklyn.

At first, police seemed willing to allow the protesters to have the run of the road as they zigzagged up and down Manhattan from Union Square.

But as the cyclists blocked the intersection of W. 34th St. and Seventh Ave. at the Garden, police began arresting demonstrators.

Many more were collared later at Second Ave. around E. 10th St., near St. Marks Church, which was hosting an after-party for the bicyclists.

"The cops are coming! Move out!" bicyclists screamed to each other as they made their way down Second Ave., hurling their bikes over the church fence in a desperate bid for sanctuary.

"They just all came to a stop," said Reggie Lakew, 28, a gift coordinator from Roosevelt Island, who saw the cyclists as they approached E. 10th St. "Everyone picked up their bikes over their heads and started cheering. Some sat down in the street. The cops surrounded them in a line and they were picking them off from the back and arresting them."

Some witnesses said the arrests in the Village began when someone tossed some spaghetti at a cop.

The Catskills have comedians, Las Vegas has showgirls, but the Glenview Public Library has the Whip Guy.

In a meeting room a few steps from the volumes of Dr. Seuss and Richard Scarry, entertainer Chris Camp mesmerized a crowd of children one recent afternoon as he used a 6-foot bullwhip to flick straws from the hands and mouths of young volunteers.

It was his 70th gig this summer at a public library, venues that account for a growing part of his schedule.

"I think there is a demand for things that are a little less ordinary," said Camp, 35. "It opens up a new door, maybe even to people who haven't been to libraries before."

The normally hushed precincts of public libraries have become a new vaudeville for comedians, dog trainers and bucket-pounding musicians, as administrators book sometimes-raucous acts to draw children's summertime attention toward the written word.

"Our competition is the video games, the television, movies. ... What [the performers] do is unique. It's entertainment that's different, that attracts children," said Ruth Faklis of Burbank's Prairie Trails Public Library. It ended its summer reading program last month with a show by CircusBoy, a comedian who juggled knives, balanced atop a ladder and wheeled around on a tiny bicycle.

Libraries have long hired performers to entice children and their parents into stopping by during the summer. But some say traditional acts--such as guitar-strumming folk singers or Mark Twain-channeling actors--are increasingly being supplanted by shows that seem better suited to a nightclub or boardwalk.

The Bucket Boys, two percussionists who bang on everything from stop signs to brake drums for their "Stomp"-like routine, played a library a day during one week in July. Vince Romanelli, 22, said he is eternally amazed that librarians don't mind the racket.

Animal acts are big too. The Library Administrators Conference of Northern Illinois, which keeps a catalog of frequent performers, lists creature features from "Tami's Turtles" to "Ed and Annette's Monkeys & More."

Some libraries restrict performances to children enrolled in their summer reading programs, hoping the promise of entertainment will persuade kids to pick up books. Schaumburg doesn't follow that policy, but some who came to watch Popeye and Swee' Pea said the shows nonetheless motivate them to hit the stacks.

President Bush hopes to reach beyond his conservative base and appeal to undecided voters with a nominating convention designed to make Americans feel better about the direction of their country and the politics of their president.

As they put final touches on the four-day convention script, Bush advisers said that the gathering in New York also will feature sharp criticism of Democratic rival John Kerry and the unveiling of the president's second-term agenda.

The goal: to energize GOP voters while converting some in the middle. It could be a tough task for an incumbent facing a polarized electorate after leading the nation through the worst attacks on U.S. soil, followed by two foreign wars — one of which is increasingly unpopular.

The Democrats, wishing Bush no good luck, contend he has a long way to go.

"To be counted a success, the Republican convention must fundamentally alter public attitudes on President Bush's stewardship of the country," Kerry pollster Mark Mellman wrote in a memo to campaign backers Tuesday.

He said Bush's average job approval rating has been 48 percent, below the norm for presidents en route to re-election, while less than 40 percent of voters believe the nation is headed in the right direction.

"Thus, President Bush must convince the electorate that the nation is in much better shape than voters now believe to be the case," Mellman wrote.

That's exactly what Bush's team has in mind.

Aides said any mention of Sept. 11 would serve to remind voters of Bush's performance, which was highly praised at the time and led to the highest approval ratings of his presidency.

Sen. John McCain, a Republican and former prisoner of war in Vietnam, will praise veterans as well as U.S. troops fighting terrorism. He also will defend the president's position on Iraq....

AP-Ipsos polling shows that undecided voters are more likely than others to believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction and disapprove of Bush's performance — overall and on almost every issue, including fighting terrorism and the war in Iraq.

Eyetech Pharmaceuticals' drug to treat the leading cause of blindness in the elderly appeared to move closer to a broad government approval yesterday after an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration spoke favorably about it.

The advisory panel was not asked to vote on whether the drug, Macugen, should be approved as a treatment for age-related macular degeneration.

But committee members ruled unanimously that Eyetech had provided the F.D.A. with enough information to evaluate the drug. The panel members also did not seem to raise any serious new issues that would block approval.

"It appears to me very efficacious and safe,'' Jose S. Pulido, a panel member and an ophthalmologist at the Mayo Clinic, said during the meeting, held in Rockville, Md.

The F.D.A. is scheduled to make a decision on the drug by mid-December. Pfizer plans to sell the drug in partnership with Eyetech, a New York biotechnology company.

Macugen is directed at the so-called wet form of macular degeneration, which is characterized by a proliferation of blood vessels in the back of the eye that leak and damage the retina, gradually destroying the ability to read, drive or recognize faces. An estimated 1.6 million Americans have the condition and 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Macugen blocks the action of a protein that spurs blood vessel formation and leakiness.

Jennifer D. Harris, the lead reviewer of the drug for the F.D.A., told the advisory panel that the drug "does reduce the risk of vision loss.'' But she said there was no "clinically meaningful" improvement in vision.

The biggest concern of the F.D.A. and of the panel members was that 2 percent of patients in the clinical trials developed potentially serious eye infections. That is because Macugen is given by an injection directly into the eye every six weeks. But panel members said that better monitoring and education of doctors and patients could reduce that risk. Also, after more sterile procedures were adopted during the trials, the incidence of infection dropped.

Some members said more study might be needed of the effects of taking the drug long term because the protein blocked by the drug, vascular endothelial growth factor, has positive effects, like spurring growth of valuable blood vessels in the body.

Amusing to see that apparently the folks at Harper's magazine have a time machine. They have published a tirade about how stupid and uniform and bizarre the speeches at the Republican National Convention were, even though the convention hasn't happened yet. Jacob Sullum has all the details.

(Via Karol Sheinin.)

Apparently, friends of John Kerry are now threatening to sue people who try to reproduce all or part of Kerry's 1972 book. Little Miss Attila has more on the story.

Fascinating. Perfectly legal, of course, but fascinating.

Oops, missed this: the third Swiftvets ad is out.

It's all Bush's fault. Heh.

I am increasingly of the opinion that the best thing about this phenomonon is not that it will hurt John Kerry--hell, it might just hurt Bush in the long run, which I've said before--but that it lets a generation of men who served honorably have a chance to come forward and say their piece about why they feel they have been dishonored.

Guys like Joe Gandelman hate that our politics are about Vietnam again, but why not? It's still a prism through which tens of millions of people see our politics. So we've got a fight between those who see Vietnam as having been a noble struggle with great motives that was meant to help an oppressed people, vs. people who saw it as racist, imperialist, war-for-profit. Which is where we are on Iraq, too.

So why not? It bores some people, it's painful for others, but it still seems to address something very basic: how you ultimately view America's projections of power. And if nothing else, perhaps this will all just be cathartic, and let some people feel a little more at peace.

Although I'm honestly not looking forward to the possibility of four years of people on the right referring to "President Hanoi John" if Kerry wins, and I'll probably spend a lot of time telling 'em to get over it, they lost. But oh well, the Senator did ask for it.

Tim Perry notes a bizarre story from Fallujah. He wonders if it's possible to reason with people who believe such things.

The answer is yes. There are people in this world who believe all sorts of strange things--astrology, voodoo, crystal healing, alien abductions, and more. They can be reasoned with, so long as you understand their weird beliefs.

Mike is working on a poem for the RNC protestors. He's asking for input. When he finalizes it, I'll reprint it on the front page.

Jacob Sullum nails it to the wall regarding both Kerry AND Bush's pro-censorship mentality.

Politics can be an ugly business.

One of the things that constantly chagrins me is how often those of us who supported the liberation of Iraq have to explain, again and again and again, why we viewed it as the right thing to do, still think it's the right thing to do, and don't regret advocating it at all.

It's not that I mind the disagreement. It's just wearisome that most of the people who opposed it still seem to act like they don't even know what the other side's arguments are. It's truly maddening, and often exhausting if you're a writer and you get constantly pelted with questions about it.

Mind you, not everyone on the other side does this. Just a depressingly high number of the ones I encounter.

Although I have some niggling arguments here and there, I think John Weidner has very good summation of the pro-war arguments, none of which have changed substantially in the last two years. For the most part, this is what I and most of the other advocates for the liberation of Iraq have been saying all along--and pretty consistently so, I might add. I suggest you read the whole thing.

That way, those of you who favored it can remember what it's all about--and those of you who are opposed can at least know your opponents and their arguments a bit better.

German scientists have, in an experimental procedure, grown a new jawbone for a cancer patient. They incubated it in his body, and now he's chewing with it.

The biotech revolution continues apace.

Mmmm, yummy.

Michael Demmons has the evidence.

Heh.

Hmm. A group of researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney say they have a process that within seven years could begin revolutionizing the power industry: extracting hydrogen from water cheaply, using solar power.

Normally I stay away from alternative energy stories because it is one of the most oddly political subjects I've ever run across. Still, these guys have two nobel laureates on their team who won their prize just a few years ago for proving the feasibility of this technology, and they look pretty serious.

Luck, mates.

If you want to see what the Republican National Convention bloggers will be up to, you'll want to keep an eye on this page next week, where everything they write about will be appearing.

Pretty cool, huh?

The anti-slavery group known as iAbolish is trying to get people together to protest UN inaction in Sudan. If you're going to be in or near New York, you might want to attend.

I'd go if I could. Although I haven't had time to do a ton of reading on Sudan, I know the horrors going on over there are just hideous.

A film company called "Red, White, and Blue Productions" is putting out a documentary made up mostly of interviews with veterans who were Prisoners of War: Stolen Valor.

The director appears to be a Vietnam vet named Carlton Sherwood, about whom I'm sure the left will be angrily finding dirt soon. I do see that he has an annual award in his name and once wrote a book defending Reverend Moon. I assume some will say all this proves he's a liar, just like they say the Swifties are liars because some Republicans gave them money (how that logically follows I don't know, but that's the logic some people work by).

Some of the movie's sample clips are interesting to watch.

The latest House of Ketchup is available for your reading pleasure.

This is cool. The FDA has approved the release of a new needle-less injection device. It uses ultrasonic waves instead of a needle.

Every Presidential campaign has its share of dirty tricks on both sides. If you want to see a good example of this, just look at the folks who created something called "georgewbush.org," which is not affiliated with the Bush campaign but pretends that it is.

They've even got a racist ad up which lies and says that Bush approved their ad while they make disgusting aspersions at southerners.

Yeah, you got yourself a drawl there, so you're obviously an unquestioning, idiot hillbilly who likes killing gooks, right?

Look at their site closely, and you can see that spreading paranoia about Christians is also one of their goals.

How utterly disgusting. They should rename their site "bigots for Kerry."

The latest Carnival of the Vanities is available for your reading pleasure.

We no longer believe in you.

But it's all Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh's fault, right?

Man, doesn't it suck to realize that the Dave Matthews Band is a horrible polluter of the environment?

I'm just sayin'.

Heh.

You gotta love that Karol Sheinin.

I now you're gonna do us proud, darlin'. Let's just try to avoid all those lame "whee, I'm here!" and "darn it, my laptop ain't workin'" posts, and let's hear about the fun stuff that's actually happening.

Oh yeah, and Karol? Be careful. Those hard-lefty fascists want to hurt you. Keep your eyes wide open whenever you leave that convention center!

Today's Wall Street Journal notes that efforts to spin the Abu Ghraib horrors as an indictment of the entire war effort are false.

Thank God. I always knew our boys (and girls) over there were good and decent people fighting a noble cause, and not a bunch of monsters.

California Yankee notes that Bush is pulling ahead among registered (not likely, but registered voters). This is the second major poll showing this, since Gallup showed the same thing last week. He has some theories as to why this is so, and I think he is dead dead on.

One candidate decided to make this campaign about Vietnam, and asked people to "bring it on." It's been brought, and all the high-chair pounding caterwauling about how the Swifties' attorney has also been an attorney for some Republican causes, and about how a measley couple of hundred thousand dollars came from Republican donors, can't change that.

He really is.

So am I for that matter.

Robert Cox has the story.

I dare you to read this note from Peter and then tell me you don't feel a deep sense of shame.

Peter: I'm so sorry. I was only 7 years old when we left Vietnam. I used to believe those horrible lies about you and your brothers. I'm glad that, whatever comes of this year's elections, people like you will have had their opportunity to come forward into the spotlight and tell people how Hollywood, academia, and the mainstream media portrayed you as psychotics, losers, villains, and helpless victims. I'm glad that you got to come forward and tell people how they lied about you, and how they got away with it for decades.

You were good men, fighting a cause entered into with the best of intentions. I didn't used to know that, but I know that now. More people need to realize it.

People can say that Vietnam was a wrong war, that it was a mistake, that we shouldn't have gotten into it. But they need to stop with the horrible lies: that we merely went into it to "benefit the military industrial complex," that it was a "racist war," and that it was nothing but a parade of horrors and war crimes. The more I read, the more I talk to real veterans, the more I know that that was never the truth. Yes, war crimes and abuses happened--they happen in every war, because man is an imperfect animal--but that was not the norm for you guys who were over there. Some of you were callous, grumpy, scared, annoyed, resentful, confused, but most of you when push came to shove wanted to do the right thing and really cared about the Vietnamese people and about America.

Thank you for serving, Peter, and thank you for speaking. You make me proud to be an American.

Letter to John Kerry

August 25, 2004

Senator John Kerry 304 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Kerry,

We are pleased to welcome your campaign representatives to Texas today. We honor all our veterans, all whom have worn the uniform and served our country. We also honor the military and National Guard troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today. We are very proud of all of them and believe they deserve our full support.

That's why so many veterans are troubled by your vote AGAINST funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, after you voted FOR sending them into battle. And that's why we are so concerned about the comments you made AFTER you came home from Vietnam. You accused your fellow veterans of terrible atrocities - and, to this day, you have never apologized. Even last night, you claimed to be proud of your post-war condemnation of our actions.

We're proud of our service in Vietnam. We served honorably in Vietnam and we were deeply hurt and offended by your comments when you came home.

You can't have it both ways. You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up. There is no double standard for our right to free speech. We all earned it.

You said in 1992 "we do not need to divide America over who served and how." Yet you and your surrogates continue to criticize President Bush for his service as a fighter pilot in the National Guard.

We are veterans too - and proud to support President Bush. He's been a strong leader, with a record of outstanding support for our veterans and for our troops in combat. He's made sure that our troops in combat have the equipment and support they need to accomplish their mission.

He has increased the VA health care budget more than 40% since 2001 - in fact, during his four years in office, President Bush has increased veterans funding twice as much as the previous administration did in eight years ($22 billion over 4 years compared to $10 billion over 8.) And he's praised the service of all who served our country, including your service in Vietnam.

We urge you to condemn the double standard that you and your campaign have enforced regarding a veteran's right to openly express their feelings about your activities on return from Vietnam.

Sincerely,

Texas State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson Rep. Duke Cunningham Rep. Duncan Hunter Rep. Sam Johnson Lt. General David Palmer Robert O'Malley, Medal of Honor Recipient James Fleming, Medal of Honor Recipient Lieutenant Colonel Richard Castle (Ret.)

(Published here.) Note from Dean: You can tell the Kerry folks are feeling the pressure because they keep trying to turn this into an issue about how one of the Swifties' lawyers also worked for some Republicans, and because they got a couple of hundred thousand dollars from some Republican donors--which was and is all perfectly legal and above-board, by the way. How desperate can you get when you try to blame Bush for what Kerry's fellow Veterans are saying about him? Why not just release your service records, Senator, and answer the charges openly?

I would. I mean, jeez, talk about breech of contract....

(Via James Taranto, who's got a bunch of good stuff today.)