GOP Jabberwocky
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
If that made any real-world sense to you, then you must be a Republican.
I was watching Rudy Giuliani on Meet The Press Sunday morning, and I have to say that if there was going to be a Gold Medal awarded at the Republican Olympic Games, er, National Convention this week for doubletalk, Giuliani was going for it. He seemed to be speaking Jabberwocky in his responses to Tim Russert.
[All of the following quotes from the transcript.]
MR. RUSSERT: ... "The question is raised once again, is Giuliani really a Republican?"
MR. GIULIANI: I'm a Republican. I'm a very loyal Republican. I'm very, very close to the president. It doesn't mean that I'm in total agreement with every single policy of the party or every single policy--I worked for Ronald Reagan and I agree with the core philosophy of the party, the way I define it. ...
Let's see - if I got that right, he said something like "I'm a Republican in my own image." Hmmmmmmmmmm...
Continue reading "GOP Jabberwocky"Fallout from Najaf
Since the peaceful end to the Najaf situation there have been a number of people who have tried to figure out who the winners and losers are. There is complete agreement about only one thing and that the US is a loser. The primary reason is the damage to the Shrine, the bombing of the holy cemetary, and the complete disregard the Shia culture.
It seems that its going to take a while longer before the rest shakes itself out. There was a report on Sat that the 4 Ayatollahs had met and announced that violence was not the appropiate way to protest against the continued American occupation. Link
However, a report today contradicts this. Hamid al-Khafaf, the spokesman for Grand Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani, denied that the Shia authority in a meeting on Saturday expressed opposition to armed resistance. Link
More details about the settlement have emerged. Australian news is reporting that as part of the deal brokered by Al-Sistani Sadr's men were allowed to keep their guns and grenade launchers. Link
Continue reading "Fallout from Najaf"Everyone should listen to this again.
August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a Dream" speech on sthe steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
You can find the text and audio link here
I have heard the speech many many times. Still gives me goosebumps. Its timeless and his dream still hasn't completely come true, and may be receeding under the current admin
More to the Bush-Barnes Story
As has been detailed here , former speaker of the Texas House Ben Barnes helped Bush avoid the draft and get into the National Guard. There may be more to the story.
Greg Palast, a reporter for the BBC, is reporting that Barnes exacted some payback from Bush when the later became govenor of Texas (Still Unreported: The Pay-Off In Bush Air Guard Fix)
Barnes called Bush and asked for a "favor", to renew the contract of GTech to run the Texas state lottery. Gtech was about to lose the contract because of corruption. After Barnes called Bush the decision was reversed and GTech got the no bid contract. Barnes got $23 million from GTech.
Apparently, Palast has had this story since 99 and ran it on BBC. He can't get anyone in the US to run it.
Can Bush's "Screw the Middle" Strategy Work?
If anyone is still wondering what the Bush campaign's post-Convention strategy will look like, this Nick Confessore post lays it out succinctly:
THE BASE VERSUS THE MIDDLE. No one should be surprised that the Bush campaign has been doling out interviews with the president and his chief aides almost entirely to right-wing radio talk show hosts, as the Boston Globe reports here. It's part and parcel of the strategy Karl Rove has made clear he intends to pursue: Stir up the base as much as possible, keep John Kerry's voters from turning out, either through negative attacks or shadier endeavors like voter intimidation and disinformation in key states. They've given up any hope of reaching the broad middle ground. And they've shown in the past few years that they will pursue the agenda they have in mind with or without a mandate from voters. They don't care if this election is a squeaker as long as they win, and under the circumstances the best they can do is a base-turnout election that nets 51 percent.
To a large extent, this "feed the base, forget the middle" strategy is borne out of necessity, given that the Bush campaign's assiduous courting of Democratic-leaning voters--Latinos, Jews, Teamsters, seniors, etc.--has all but failed. However, I have the feeling that the Bush campaign honestly believes that it can duplicate its successful strategy from the 2002 midterm election, as this excellent WaPo article indicates:
A top official from a former Republican White House said Bush's governing operation created critical problems for his political arm by deciding to "divide and conquer rather than unite and win." This official, who refused to be identified because he works with Bush's inner circle, said that largely because of Vice President Cheney's influence, the White House adopted a confrontational style with Capitol Hill and with the Democratic Party that is endangering Bush's chance of reelection. "There's nobody over there saying 'No,' " the official said. "It's all the same Kool-Aid. Instead of the art of governing, it's been, 'Are you for me or against me?' "
Steven Schier, a Carleton College political scientist, has edited a book on Bush's political style called "High Risk and Big Ambition." In pursuit of large goals, Schier believes, Bush and his political team are willing to take "audacious risks" with voters in the middle so long as the GOP base is secure; 2002 showed the rewards of this style, while 2004 has so far highlighted the perils.
"When you take risks, if your premises are wrong, you pay a price," said Schier, who noted that Bush might well be coasting to victory had he been proved right that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or that tax cuts would have an unambiguous stimulative effect on the economy. As it is, Schier said, Bush has spent the year stroking his partisan base and pursuing an electoral strategy that amounts to "reaching the top of a low ceiling."
Frankly, I don't see how this strategy will work, barring a spectacular collapse on the part of the Kerry campaign, or "outside events" intruding. As another revealing WaPo article points out, Bush's "stoke the base" strategy has had the effect of energizing the Democratic base as well (which did not happen in 2002), with the Dems outpacing the Republicans in registering new voters in Florida, for example. Moreover, undecided voters, although constituting a smaller slice of the electoral pie, remain skeptical of the Bush campaign, which isn't surprising, given that they are effectively being written off by the Bush brain trust. As Harris and Allen astutely point out, this strategy, which proved devastatingly effective in 2002, may very well be the undoing of BC this fall.
In short, the Bush campaign's "screw the middle" strategy, whatever its motivation, is a profound miscalculation IMHO, and I have the feeling that Republican strategists are going to arrive at this same conclusion after it's too late.
Bush gets smacked around by former Nixon aide
Kevin Phillips is a long time Republican, a former aide to Nixon and has studied the Republican Party for a long time. In today's Washington Post Phillips asks why do we take the Bush family seriously?
I'm just going to present some quotes from the article. Its a good read
"I've never understood why we take Bush and his family seriously," he says. "They come from the investment-inherited-money wing of the Republican Party. They display no real empathy for anyone who is not of their class."
"They aren't supply-siders; they're crony-siders. As far as I'm concerned, I would put Bush on a slow boat to China with all full warning to the Chinese submarine fleet."
.............
"The Republicans I respected really cared about the meatloaf crowd," Phillips says. "The Bush crowd can call me a pinko if they want, but that really doesn't go down well with people who know anything about politics."
.................
He's confounded, too, by the Democrats' inability to savage their opponents. He frowns -- it's as if someone took pliers and pulled out the party's canine teeth. "The Democrats accumulated all this dirt on Bush, but they wouldn't use it," he says. "These people have no taste for the jugular."
......................
"An old buccaneer and bootlegger like Joe Kennedy became an SEC head for Roosevelt and cracked down on his own class," Phillips says, adding: "The Bush family would just appoint a Gucci-shoe-licking sycophant. The family has simply developed a culture of being enormously supportive of their class."
Tartuffe's Truths
Tartuffe, a satire by the famous French playwright Moliere, was about a notorius hypoocrite who would say whatever it took to get what he was after. Just the other day, we got yet another example that the Republicans have many 'Tartuffes' within their ranks:
What Bob Dole really thinks about Bush's tactics
For Shame - A leaked video reveals what Bob Dole really thinks about Bush's tactics.
Democrats now have an unlikely ally in their quest to prove that Bush has a history of these kinds of dirty tricks: Bob Dole.No one has done more to lend establishment respectability to the falsehoods being peddled against Kerry than Dole. The former Senate majority leader and 1996 presidential nominee of the Republican Party made several demonstrably false statements about John Kerry's war record this past Sunday on CNN's Late Edition before saying that "not every one of these people can be Republican liars. There's got to be some truth to the charges."
For pretty much the duration of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth controversy, the Kerry campaign has been trying to demonstrate that the smear campaign being conducted against the Democratic presidential nominee is all the more loathsome because it is part of a pattern of behavior by George W. Bush: the use of front groups to damage his campaign opponents by putting false statements into the political bloodstream. Particularly salient, Democrats believe, is the 2000 campaign conducted against John McCain during the South Carolina primary.
But Dole also made another statement that day, one that hasn't been aired until now. Of McCain's charge to President Bush during a 2000 debate — "You should be ashamed" — Dole told Wolf Blitzer, "He was right."
Dole made the remark off-air, while CNN broadcast the Kerry ad called "Old Tricks," the one featuring McCain's 2000 debate remarks. (The campaign stopped airing it recently at McCain's request.) [See below - ed]
Although the remark was made off-air, it wasn't made off-camera. A CNN employee who asked not to be named made a digital file of the raw camera feed from the Late Edition studio. The footage does not include the graphics or other video, such as the McCain ad, that was shown during the live broadcast. "Once the control room punches the ad, it automatically kills the mics in the studio," the CNN employee told me. "He knows he can speak to Wolf and no one will hear him." Slate has posted the video, so you can see Dole's remark for yourself.
Click either link to see the clip
56K - for dialup modems - 510kb
100K - for broadband - 3006kb
Question for Bob Dole: If President Bush should be ashamed of his behavior four years ago, why aren't you ashamed now?
Yeah, Bob - Why aren't you ashamed now?
Continue reading "Tartuffe's Truths"Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda
"I shoulda listened when I had the chance!"
"I woulda done it differently if I had known!"
"I coulda been a contendah!"
As a now-deceased friend of mine, who was originally from Europe, used to say: people are too soon old and too late smart. Take Tony Blair - PLEASE!
Tony is facing some serious difficulties lately. His blind fealty to the criminality of George Warmonger Bu$h has cost him dearly. His reputation both at home and abroad has been crushed, and within his own party there are rumblings of replacing him lest they lose the next election because the people of Britain no longer trust him to lead. And to make things worse, his opposition, smelling his blood in the political waters, are moving in for the kill.
There's a less-than-subtle message hidden within this tragi-comedy for the American People.
MPs plan to impeach Blair over Iraq war record
MPs are planning to impeach Tony Blair for "high crimes and misdemeanours" in taking Britain to war against Iraq, reviving an ancient practice last used against Lord Palmerston more than 150 years ago. Eleven MPs are to table a motion when parliament returns that will force the prime minister to appear before the Commons to defend his record in the run-up to the war.
Two words: George. Bush.
Continue reading "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda"A Quorum Of Mugwumps
Sorry, Harry Potter fans, not that kind of Mugwump. I'm talking about this kind:
The term 'Mugwump' is a combination of mug and wump, which means respectively the face and the backside. This archetypal American word derives from the Algonquian dialect of a group of Native Americans in Massachusetts. In their language, it meant "great chief". The Puritan missionary John Eliot used it in his translation of the Bible into their language in 1661–63 to convey the English words duke and centurion. Mugwump was brought into English in the early nineteenth century as a humorous term for a boss, bigwig, grand panjandrum, or other person in authority, often one of a minor and inconsequential sort. Later, it came to mean a politician who either could not or would not make up his mind on some important issue, or who refused to take a stand when expected to do so. Hence the old joke that a mugwump is a person sitting on the fence, with his mug on one side and his wump on the other.
Such is the case with the officials of the United States Government, and has been for a long time - at least since the attack on the USS Liberty by the Israelis in 1967. We act like the governments of the Middle East are our friends. They willingly kiss our mugs, yet both sides kick us in our wumps when they get a chance. And we won't take a stand - we might alienate someone.
Continue reading "A Quorum Of Mugwumps"The Duke of Deception
Like one who...made such a sinner of his memory to credit his own lie — he did believe he was indeed the duke; hence his ambition growing... .-- The Tempest, Act I, Sn. 2
The New York Times:
In his first comments on the two major investigative reports issued this week at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Thursday mischaracterized one of their central findings about the American military's treatment of Iraqi prisoners by saying there was no evidence that prisoners had been abused during interrogations.
Not once. Not twice. Not even three times. But four times. Four! Once, with a Pentagon aide's correcting note in front of him.
Continue reading "The Duke of Deception"Oh, no.
This item has me really worried about the domestic fallout of the Iraqi war. I've never been particularly impressed by the various Israel/PNAC conspiracy theories of the Iraq war; U.S.-only conspiracy theories have more than sufficed.
But now the FBI says they're "rolling up" an Israeli spy at a senior Pentagon position. Yikes.
Bush and the Ownership Society
The Financial Times is report that Bush's speech at the RNC will concentrate on the theme of "The Ownership Society".
"One of the most important parts of a reform agenda is to encourage people to own something," Mr Bush says in a television advertisement broadcast this month. "Own their own home, own their own business, own their own healthcare plan, or own a piece of their retirement."
A preview of his ideas can be seen on the Bush Website. The emphasis is on owning something, personal control, and personal choice. The site details some of the Bush initiatives with respect to health care, Retirement, and home ownership.
The Ownership Society has the support of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank who has a site dedicated to this philosophy.
The concept of "ownership society" has been embraced since the time of Aristotle and has found adherents among such thinkers as Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, and most pertinent to today's debate, the American Founders. The central tenet of the ownership society is that we tend to take best care of the things we own, and through which we exercise our liberty; property rights inspire people to act responsibly, to treat one another with dignity and respect, and to create wealth for themselves and others
Certainly the words have a great appeal to them. Ownership, everyone would like to own their own house. Its hard to argue with the idea that ownership will tend to promote responsibility and give people a sense of pride and a sense of control over their lives.
Bu$h The Fortunate One
OK - It's out. I know we're all shocked and dismayed, but it's apparently true:
George W. Bush was the beneficiary of cronyism to avoid Vietnam service:
My name's Ben Barnes. I was Speaker of the Texas House when George W. Bush went into the National Guard. He got preferential treatment. I know - I gave it to him.His family sent a representative to my office and asked me to move their son up on the waiting list, and I did. It was wrong.
He was jumped over hundreds of others in line. Some of them went off to Vietnam and died.
I made a mistake supporting that war. And as other, less-privileged kids were going off to be killed, I helped the son of a congressman avoid combat. I wish I had not.
But I think it's time people know. And it's time for George W. Bush to stop attacking the people who did serve.
See this for yourself.
Quicktime version
MP4 Version [Patience! Slow server due to heavy traffic]
"It ain't me! It ain't me! I ain't no Senators son, no!"
Friday Catblogging
Atrios isn't the only one who does it.
This is my beloved Tiger. Even he knows to vote for John Kerry!
French Fried
I take no pleasure in the serious troubles of others, but it has to be acknowledged that hypocrites bring it on themselves. The Oregonian reports Swift Boat liar Alfred French has been suspended as assistant county attorney for Clackamas County.
Clackamas County prosecutor Alfred French, who called Sen. John Kerry a liar in a political commercial, acknowledged Thursday that he lied to his boss when confronted about an extramarital affair with a colleague.
Hours later, the Clackamas County district attorney's office said French had been placed on a 30-day paid leave while it conducts an investigation into his conduct.
Continue reading "French Fried"
Wall Street and Bush
Wall street has been a big supporter of Bush and his campaign in 2000 and this year. However, according to the Financial Times there appear to be some grumblings and possibly even some have slowed or stopped their fundraising activities.
Again the problem is with the deficits and their long term consequences combined with an unhappiness with foreign policy. Making the world mad at you is not good for business.
But one senior Wall Street figure, once talked of as a possible Bush cabinet member, said that he and other prominent Republicans had been raising money with increasing reluctance. “Many are doing so with a heavy heart and some not at all.” He cited foreign policy and the ballooning federal deficit as Wall Street Republicans' main concerns
[snip]
One New York dinner in June 2003 raised more than $4m, partly thanks to the efforts of Stan O'Neal, chief executive of Merrill Lynch. Yet Mr O'Neal has done no fundraising for the campaign at all since then and friends say he is not supporting Mr Bush.
There appears to be a consensus forming concerning the health of the economy. People are starting to worry.
The Star Of The Show - James Corvus Brachyrynchos!
In a recent comment thread, one of our wrong-winger friends made the comment that 'hater' has joined 'racist' as a lefty insult aimed toward conservatives. I'm not going to make the claim that either applies to all conservatives, for that clearly isn't true. But for the radical fascists that have taken the Republican Party far from its roots, I declare that insults BOTH apply - and justifiably so.
I will show reports of official hatred and discrimination against Blacks, Gays, and those suffering from AIDS.
Continue reading "The Star Of The Show - James Corvus Brachyrynchos!"Effects of Bush Tax Cuts - a summary
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a report summarizing the effects of Bush's Tax Cuts.
1. Data from a new Congressional Budget Office report indicate that the tax cuts will exacerbate income inequality.
Change in after
tax income
lowest 20% 1.5%
middle 20% 2.0%
top 1% 5.3%
2. A new study by Mark Zandi, chief economist at the independent research firm Economy.com, finds the tax cuts were poorly designed as economic stimulus.
$1 dollar of tax cuts yielded 74 cents of added economic demand. Why? Tax cuts skewed toward the richest who are more likely to save it rather than purchasing items
3. The Economic Policy Institute reports that 2.6 million fewer jobs have been created since passage of the 2003 tax cut than the Administration had predicted.
The economy has produced 1.4 million jobs rather than the 4 million estimated by the administration
4. New Administration data show that the tax cuts have played a larger role than all other legislation enacted since the start of 2001 in creating the budget deficit.
tax cuts have contributed more to the worsening fiscal situation than all other new government policies combined, including all new costs related to Iraq and the war on terrorism and all domestic spending increases
5. A recent report by CBPP and the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center finds the tax cuts ultimately are likely to make most households worse off.
this assumes that the deficits have to be paid off in the future. How do you pay them off: cut spending or raise taxes. This is like getting 5 credit cards in the mail and going on a spending spree. Then the bills come in!!!
Flying The Unfriendly Skies
It's happened again - for sure. Civilian aircraft have again been used as terror targets.
Russian investigators have found traces of the explosive hexagen in the remains of one of the planes.
There is reason to believe that Chechens are involved.
Hexogen, the explosive found in the Tu-154, is the material that Russian officials said was used in the 1999 apartment bombings that killed some 300 people in Russia, an attack blamed on Chechen separatists. Female suicide bombers with alleged Chechen connections have carried out attacks in Moscow, including the twin bombing of an outdoor rock concert and another blast outside a hotel adjacent to Red Square. Russian officials, meanwhile, said they were investigating two female passengers — one on each plane — with Chechen names. The two were the only passengers whose relatives did not contact authorities, officials said.
Our sympathies go out to the families of the victims.
Continue reading "Flying The Unfriendly Skies"Are You Hurt Or Are You Injured?
For the past few days, I've been trying to surmise the extent of the damage to the Kerry campaign wrought by the SBVT shenanigans. I'm sure most of you have seen the latest LA Times poll showing an uptick in support for Bush. However, an August 23rd Zogby poll found Kerry leading in most of the key battleground states, while an article in today's Wall Street Journal highlights the Bush campaign's underlying weaknesses on a number of fronts, even after this latest Atwater/Rove special:
The president's personal assets have been eroded by Democratic attacks and controversies over such issues as the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. While Mr. Bush continues to receive positive marks for his "strong leadership qualities," his 50% approval on that dimension matches the weakest of his presidency. Just 45% of voters rate him highly for "being honest and straightforward," while 39% give him low marks.
More problematic are the ratings Mr. Bush receives on the issues, aside from the broader antiterror war, that have dominated campaign debate thus far. On Iraq, a 51% majority says Mr. Bush needs to change his approach, and a 49% plurality says removing Saddam Hussein from power wasn't worth the human and financial costs. By 51% to 43%, voters say it is appropriate to begin considering troop reductions in Baghdad, which Mr. Kerry recently suggested could begin in the first six months of his presidency.
On the domestic front, the most critical issue is the economy, for which Mr. Hart describes the president's ratings as "dreadful." Some 52% of voters overall disapprove of the president's handling of the economy, and the proportion who say the economy has gotten better in the past year has fallen to 29%. Despite a revival of economic growth overall, voters say by a 2-to-1 margin that circumstances for middle- and working-class families aren't improving.
Those negative assessments span Mr. Bush's handling of a series of issues. By 55% to 38%, voters say the president's tax cuts mostly have benefited the wealthy rather than all Americans. As oil prices hit record levels, six in 10 voters criticize his approach to gas prices. Some 58% of voters want major changes in the president's approach to health care, while 55% say the same thing about his policies on jobs.
These results indicate that, although the SBVT imbroglio has undoubtedly damaged Kerry, it has not translated into an increase in support for Bush outside of his already-loyal base. Of course, now that the Bushistas have softened up the Kerry campaign, it is essential that Cahill and Shrum be prepared for any future attacks coming down the pike after the Convention. The SBVT affair doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the Boston brain trust, but I would love to be proven wrong, y'know?
UPDATE: Here's another take on the latest poll numbers.
Surviving The Slings And Arrows
John Kerry continues to lead - Zogby
This is just one poll - all the others have to be taken into account before anything significant can be discerned - but the New Zogby Interactive Presidential Battleground Poll Reveals Democrat John Kerry continues to lead. It shows Mr. Kerry leading, 286 Electoral College votes to 214 Electoral College votes for Mr. Bush.
I follow up with an interesting look at the polls by The Orlando Weekly. They have some very interesting insights that shouldn't be missed.
Continue reading "Surviving The Slings And Arrows"When THIS Man Speaks, I Listen
Everywhere there is talk about John Kerry and whether or not he lied about being in Cambodia in 1968. Personally, I think there are far more important issues of truth and falsehood that need discussion - like the real reasons we are occupying Iraq, what really went on while George Warmonger Bu$h was supposed to be showing up for duty with the Alabama Air National Guard, and why the Republican Party doesn't trust the American people to make decisions like the Constitution says we should.
But I'm no one special. My credibility is no better or worse than yours. My say-so isn't necessarily of any importance to most people, especially if I haven't been tested by them.
But there are people who have been tested and whose veracity should be beyond question, not because of what they say, but because of what they did that gave them the experience to say it.
Few soldiers have had more decorations awarded than Col. David Hackworth - and few speak up louder. He says it's time to put the Cambodia thing to rest:
Once More a Nation Divided
By David H. Hackworth
The Vietnam War rages on. Once again, that tragic war divides America – and this time around it’s vet pitted against vet. The muckrakers, such as John O’Neill and his Swiftboat snipers, are now coming off like eyewitnesses when in fact not one of their testimonies would hold up in a court of law. A judge would call these men liars and disallow their biased statements.Continue reading "When THIS Man Speaks, I Listen"
The Wonga List
The sensation-snarfing scriveners of the mass media must be getting hungry now that the Swift Boat lies have turned indigestible. So, maybe this little tidbit will tide them over.
As you probably know, Sir Mark Thatcher (the honorific is by heredity, not personal deeds) is the ne'er-do-well-son of the Iron Lady. He is presently under house arrest in South Africa after being named by an international arms dealer at the trial of a group of mercenaries.
The Dallas Morning News reports --
Thatcher was arrested Wednesday and charged with helping finance what authorities say was a foiled plot to overthrow the president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. Police in South Africa, where Thatcher has lived since 1995, have information that the 51-year-old businessman had put his $3.3 million home up for sale and had booked flights for his American wife and two children to Dallas, police spokesman Sipho Ngwema said. The children had already been enrolled in schools there.
Dallas, huh? That's a little odd, right? Read on.
Continue reading "The Wonga List"Chill Everyone Chill
I find myself saying this too often lately, and as I have been the first one to admit, I am guilty of it myself. No, I am not going to issue the Rodney King appeal here, but one more time I ask for all of us here to at least tolerate each other and their differing opinions. This is obviously a message for both our valued commenters, as well as we editors here.
Look, you can give any damn sociological reason you want, and each of us has our own theory, but the simple truth is that we live in poisoned political times. You don't need pollsters to tell you that. But it has gotten so bad that the small subset of the populace that frequents blogs, who despite my thoughts to the contrary are better informed than most, can't even be civil most of the time. Sure, it is a residue of how the conservatives felt in the 90's, and we now have the center-left backlash to that. Conservatives should be under no illusion that those of us on the center-left are going to be bullied by you into shutting up or not defending our beliefs, just as we had no illusion that you would have done the same in the 90's. But repeating lies or unfounded or already-discredited conservative talking points isn't going to advance any argument here.
Keep in mind here the difference between arguing facts in evidence and challenging someone's beliefs or perceptions. People are entitled to their beliefs and they are responsible for what they perceive. Just because someone says that they feel Bush is a bad president or that Kerry would be a bad president doesn't allow a frontal attack on what they believe. If someone says however that Bush or Kerry is a liar, then a request for examples or proof is not unwarranted. Assertions contrary to the facts in evidence are best left for where they are welcome, which is the right-wing media.
I am well past my limit of accepting comments from people who come on this site seemingly for the sole purpose of throwing out incendiary nonsense to get a reaction from others. Save it for the right-wing blogs, but don't bring it here. It is bad enough that this site is running slower and slower because spammers are flooding our older comment threads, in many cases I might add by curiously following the last troll post in that thread. I don't want to also have to see flame wars continue here.
Enough moralizing. Take a breath everyone. You hate Kerry because you believe the discredited Swifties crap? That's your decision. You want to blame Clinton for all the evil in the world? That's your decision. You are offended that a Vietnam vet is challenging a combat-dodging boy of privilege? That's your problem.
Let's move on.
Al-Sistani Brokers Cease-Fire With Al-Sadr To End Najaf Insurgency
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was able to broker a peace deal in Iraq today that was accepted by Moqtada al-Sadr. Thankfully, it appears that both the Americans and the Iraqi police observed a cease-fire to allow al-Sistani to broker the deal.
What is interesting is that al-Sistani’s deal calls for all foreign forces to leave both Najaf and Kufa, where there were heavy casualties today, and for those cities to be declared weapons-free. Under the cease-fire agreed to by al-Sadr, the Iraqi government would have to compensate those harmed by the fighting.
"There's One For You, Nineteen For Me..."
George Warmonger Bu$h is truly a leader for the weak-minded opportunists of the world. Take this poor excuse for a public servant - PLEASE!!:
Youngstown's Democratic mayor endorses Bush
George M. McKelvey, a Democrat in his second term, said he had no intention of becoming a Republican but might accept an invitation from Ohio Republicans to attend the Republican National Convention in New York. McKelvey said his decision came after he had gotten to know Bush. He and his wife were guests of Bush at the White House last May, after the president promoted community health centers during a visit to Youngstown, Ohio's eighth largest city with about 79,000 residents. [Demonstrates the weak mind - ed]"What has our community received in return for the past loyal support for Democratic presidential candidates? Dare I speak the answer? Nothing," McKelvey said. "What has our community received in return for the past loyal support for Democratic presidential candidates? Dare I speak the answer? Nothing," McKelvey said.
Now for the opportunism
Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, questioned McKelvey's motives. "I'm not sure what the mayor's agenda is, but it isn't Youngstown's," she said. In the 2000 presidential election, Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee, received 69,212 votes to 40,460 for Bush in Mahoning County, which includes Youngstown. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 5-1 ratio, according to the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
That's OK, Mr. Mayor. If you weren't able to get anything out of Washington, it's because you didn't play the game right. Other Democrats managed to get money out of Washington, even my own Congressman who's otherwise totally useless. Since you're such an obvious incompetent, you won't be missed. Bu$h is welcome to you! We're being more than amply compensated for our loss of you from his ranks anyway.
Continue reading ""There's One For You, Nineteen For Me...""Los Angeles Times Poll Shows Kerry Suffered Slight Damage From Swifties' Smears
(Graphic courtesy of the Los Angeles Times)
Proving once again that lies, smears, and a delayed response to them can hurt a campaign, the first major national poll to come out since the Swifties attacks shows that John Kerry has suffered slightly from those attacks. According to a Los Angeles Times poll out late last night, Bush has moved slightly ahead of Kerry nationally for the first time all year, and this is before Bush moves through his convention and gets a 6-8 point bounce. The poll also shows that Bush improved his position on the issue of honesty, which tells you all you need to know about what Kerry should be hammering him on in the coming weeks, now that Bush through the Swifties has raised this issue against Kerry himself.
According to the Times poll, Bush now leads Kerry 49%-46%, when Kerry had led Bush 48%-46% before the Democratic convention. The poll was taken through Tuesday, and with so many of the Swifties’ claims being exposed as lies this week, it is difficult to gauge how such revelations will affect this poll a week from now.
It should be noted that Bush enjoyed virtually no change in his approval rating since July, and both he and Kerry had a 53% favorable rating. And Bush still clocks in at a 49% “don’t re-elect” rating. It appears from the poll that the Swifties flap has allowed Bush and Rove to firm up their base since July, but not make significant inroads into Kerry’s base or even the swing voting blocks.
The biggest challenge for Kerry is that 4 in 10 of those polled still don’t know about his policies, which means the campaign must push through the media “All Swifties, all the time” blast furnace and keep hammering the real issues in this campaign, while a Tier Two campaign keeps hammering Bush’s lies and overall lack of integrity.
It's All In The Game, Sport!
If it wasn't for rich political-favor-seeking friends, George W. Bu$h would still be drilling dry holes in Lone Star Longnecks after a long day of posing as a West Texas Roughneck and drilling big holes in investor portfolios. Maybe, in order to protect their Good Thing from his incompetence, it was the oilmen who set George up as a partner owning the Texas Rangers (the real law-and-order boys wouldn't have him since he's not a Real Texan - he's really a Connecticut Yankee!). But after trading away Sammy Sosa and demonstrating that he was out of his league as a team owner, they pushed him into the Texas Governor's seat, a safer place than baseball for an incompetent like W.
He was quickly doing to Texas what he's since done to the country, so maybe, in order to protect the state's credit rating and to keep it from sinking as low as Lib'rul California's, it was the oilmen decided to share him with the entire nation, and bought him the presidency. But it's a funny thing - there are 49 other states out there that don't seem too keen on being just like Texas.
These oilmen spent a lot of money making George look good and taking him places, and they expected a return on their investment! And they were dadgum gonna git it! They don't carry those Colts on their hips for show, Pilgrim!
So George promised them an easy quick buck after he took away Saddam's oil. That didn't work out quite as he expected, however, and with the rest of the country beginning to think that just maybe it's time to return the favor to Texas for his services and to ship him back, Bu$h needed to take a breather.
Looking around, he found something that was getting a lot of good media coverage, something he desperately needs. So in good Texas fashion, he decided to help himself to a heapin' helpin' of their international image to boost his own. But wouldn't you know it! Those selfish ingrates didn't want to share the glory with Owwer Glory Us Leedur!
Continue reading "It's All In The Game, Sport!"The Joke Is On The Media
Sometimes it takes a concerned neighbor to gently point out your dog is acting nuts.
The Toronto Globe and Mail in reviewing John Kerry's appearance on The Daily Show observes:
The "most bizarre part of this entire thing" is his need to appear on a spoof of the news to answer serious charges against him and get his message out. That tells you something about the insanity that has gripped the American media. Imagine if the leader of a Canadian political party decided, in the middle of an election campaign, to ignore Peter Mansbridge, Lloyd Robertson and Kevin Newman, and only do an appearance on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.Kerry needed to appear on The Daily Show because the American media itself has become ridiculous and he needs the endorsement of the jokers, not political pundits. The cable news shows that Jon Stewart mocks have become absurdly partisan. The print press is going through a period of self-flagellation as newspaper after newspaper apologizes and backtracks on its initial coverage of the need to go to war with Iraq.
There's more
I get it. I heartily agree with it. But can anyone explain where one can see/hear "This Hour Has 22 Minutes"?
More Swifty Lies Debunked: There Goes The Cambodia Smear
I know that some of you are tiring of all the focus here on the lies and deceits of the Bush campaign and that of the Swifties. But it is important to stomp on these guys for their lack of integrity and their outright lies so that it can be established clearly that any further coverage of them, their comments, and the comments of those who support them should be ignored.
The latest examples of Swifties’ lies came last night from two sources, David Brock’s Media Matters for America, and a piece CNN (of all folks) ran on Aaron Brown’s show that clearly shows the lack of truthfulness of John O’Neill, one of the major forces behind the Swifties and a Kerry nemesis for three decades.
First, Brock’s MediaMatters.org outfit has compiled a list of O’Neill’s lies, including his statements that he isn’t a Texas Republican and hasn’t given to Republicans.
Second, you have heard that the Swifties and their supporters want to make a big deal over John Kerry’s comments on his adventures in Cambodia. One of their claims is that it wasn’t possible to run a swift boat to Cambodia, and no one went to Cambodia. We now know that this Swifties line of attack is bogus too, as Fred Kaplan of Slate has noted. How do we know?
Because John O’Neill himself did it, as he told none other than Richard Nixon as recorded in White House tapes in 1971.
Al-Sistani Returns To Iraq As US/Iraq Military Threatens To Crush Al-Sadr In Najaf Shrine
The situation in Najaf is at a critically sensitive phase, with the US military moving to within only 20 meters of the Imam Ali shrine, claiming to have obliterated almost all of the Mehdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr. The Iraqi government is still threatening to attack the shrine at any moment with Iraqi security forces if al Sadr’s forces don’t lay down their arms.
The new development is that Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani has returned today from England, and has come into Iraq through Kuwait. Al-Sistani is preparing to lead a nationwide march to Najaf tomorrow to end the siege. We can only hope that the US military or the Iraqi government don’t try and storm the shrine before al-Sistani can attempt to defuse the situation in a final effort to crush al-Sadr and make him a martyr. But quotes like this from our military don’t lend themselves to optimism:
US Army 1st Lieutenant Michael Throckmortan said: "What we are trying to do is shape up the battlefield. We are trying to isolate them in one place before attacking."
Let’s hope this is a pressure tactic only, and that something stupid doesn’t happen before al-Sistani can bring the siege to a conclusion.
What "Clear Skies" means to Bush
I talked about this before but the story continues to ripen. You want BushSpeak, here you go.
One of every three lakes in the United States, and nearly one-quarter of the nation's rivers contain enough pollution that people should limit or avoid eating fish caught there.
snip-
Though the number of advisories rose to 3,094, up from 2,814 in 2002, according to figures released Tuesday, EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said the increase was due to more monitoring, not more pollution.
Which does not make it okay or acceptable, but he's gotta let us know, it isn't because there's more pollution or anything. And he cites studies to back it up.
Leavitt said mercury pollution from industry is decreasing, though he cited figures only as recent as five years ago.
But the Bushites are working on it.
[Sen.] Jeffords and President Bush have each proposed ways of regulating mercury and other pollution from coal-fired power plants. Jeffords would have the government force industry to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent by 2008; Bush wants to cut mercury emissions by 70 percent by 2018.
That's right, 90% in four years, versus 70% in FOURTEEN YEARS.
A question occurs to me. Bush's EPA is planning on issuing new regulations, and [Secretary] Leavitt promised to issue the nation's first regulations for mercury emissions "within a few months." Yet, at the same time, [t]he EPA also provided a chart showing the level of mercury emission from human causes fell 45 percent in 1999 from 1990. The agency said that was the most recent data it had available.
Does this mean they're making decisions based on old data, or does this mean that they aren't releasing ALL of the data available? Or
Continue reading "What "Clear Skies" means to Bush"Swifties Claim Officially Discredited
The Navy officially confirmed this morning John Kerry's account of his rescue of Jim Rassmann, and undercut any claims by the Swifties that Kerry's boat didn't come under enemy fire.
Now let's see if this official smack down is blasted across the front pages tomorrow or in the right-wing cable TV echo chambers today.
Don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't immediately compare where your local paper has been running the Swifty smears and compare that to where they will run this tomorrow, if they run it, and then astroturf their asses with letters to the editors and their Ombudsman complaining about conservative bias.
Bush Lied About His Military Record
While we’re on the subject of a presidential candidate’s truthfulness about his or her military record, David Corn of the Nation reminds us that none other than George W. Bush lied about his military record when running for Congress in 1978, and again in 1999, with the assistance of Karen Hughes. Corn points out that Bush’s campaign material from his unsuccessful 1978 race made an issue of his military record, by claiming that he served in both the Texas Air National Guard and the Air Force.
The fiction continued right to 1999, when Governor Bush was asked if it was right for him to claim that he was in the Air Force. Bush replied “I think so, yes. I was in the Air Force for over 600 days.”
Except that he was never in the Air Force. Did the media in 1999 make a big issue out of a candidate who falsely hyped his military record in a presidential race? No.
So where was all the hollering about Bush's exaggeration of his military service? True, Bush was hyping his military record way back in 1978. But he repeated and defended the misrepresentation in 1999 while campaigning for the White House. And, no doubt, Kerry's critics would consider any remark Kerry made twenty-six years ago fair game. Admiral Roy Hoffman, a founder of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, recently said that his group is not politically motivated: "It would make no difference if John Kerry were a Republican, Democrat or an Independent, Swift Boat veterans would still be speaking the truth concerning John Kerry's military service record." But are any of Kerry's accusers willing to criticize Bush for falsely representing his service?
This flap has little if anything to do with Kerry’s service and everything to do with some of the veterans’ understandable dislike of Kerry for his antiwar activities after he returned, mixing in with Karl Rove’s need to tear Kerry down because his candidate has a poor record and is a liar himself.
Some would say that Bush was only mistaken, or embellishing his war record, although it is hard to see how someone could plausibly claim they thought they were in the Air Force. But these same supporters of Bush who would excuse such a mistake or embellishment are the same folks who allege that Kerry embellished his record for his medals, even though such acts would have required many accomplices up the line. And those defenders of Bush who would say this is no big deal after making a big deal about Kerry when no evidence has been presented to back up their claims are nothing but hypocritical liars.
Bush Campaign Lawyer Resigns After It's Revealed He Works For The Swifties
Chief outside counsel for the Bush campaign Ben Ginsberg resigned from BC04 this morning, after it was revealed last night that he was also working for the Swifties.
By the way, Ben Ginsberg isn't just any attorney. He was counsel for the RNC, a major player at Patton Boggs, and the number two attorney under Jim Baker during the Florida recount.
But remember, there is no connection between BC04 and the Swifties. And it sure looks like the White House is not at all bothered with any such appearances.
Oh, wait...
Bush Campaign Chief Counsel Also Advises Swifties
It was revealed tonight that the Bush re-election campaign’s chief outside counsel has been providing legal services to the Swift Boat Veterans for (un)Truth.
But remember, there is no connection between the White House and the Swifties.
Fun in the Sun
We do more than pound on the miserable failure on this blog. We also encourage actively pounding on the miserable failure too. So, with that in mind, I note that there are efforts afoot to make Californian’s vote count outside of the state, by helping out in neighboring states. MoveOn and the Kerry Campaign and others are looking to organize safe California volunteers and ship ‘em over State lines to battleground States like Arizona and Nevada. So if you’ve always wanted to visit Yuma, AZ in the Summertime, now’s your chance.
Abu Ghraib Washes Up At The Pentagon
So much for the White House argument that Abu Ghraib was the fault of several rogue staff at the prison. Two reports issued today laid the problems at the now infamous Iraq prison at the feet of Don Rumsfeld for his poor supervision, unclear direction, and inadequate staffing. Not to be left out, the report also concluded that the White House and Justice Department contributed to Rummy’s difficulties with the issuance of a now-retracted and bogus legal opinion on the applicability of international law to prison detainees.
Yet commission chairman James Schlessinger, a fellow Defense Secretary, said it would be wrong for Rummy to resign, as it would only give comfort to the enemy.
Yeah, I can just see the kegger parties now in Tora Bora if Rummy resigned.
Swifties and Charley Didn't Help Bush In Florida
Yup, it sure looks like the Swifties smear campaign has had a big impact in Florida. Check out the latest Gallup Poll from that key state.
Likely Voters-August 20-22 (July results in parentheses)
Bush/Cheney: 48% (50%)
Kerry/Edwards: 47% (47%)
Registered Voters-August 20-22
Bush/Cheney: 46% (49%)
Kerry/Edwards: 46% (45%)
Looks like all that help that Jeb and W lined up for Florida from Charley sure earned a lot of brownie points from the locals…
Kerry Attacks Bush's Campaign Of "Fear And Smear"
John Kerry went to New York today to state the obvious: the Bush campaign relies on a diet of smear and fear, using tactics that the Bushes have used going back to the Dukakis/Willie Horton smears and fear from 1988. And they are doing it because they have no record of accomplishment or meeting their campaign promises to run on.
"I'm here to call for a truthful and robust debate about our values as Americans and the fundamental choices we will make at a critical time in America's and the world's history," he said. "But from the other side, we see a calculated effort to evade that debate. The Bush campaign and its allies have turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can't talk about jobs, about health care, about energy independence."
Continue reading "Kerry Attacks Bush's Campaign Of "Fear And Smear""
