LiberalOasis

But sending out a Hollywood millionaire to chastise anyone who is struggling to succeed in today's economy as "economic girlie men," is not quite the best way to convey compassion.

Perhaps that captured the real theme of last night: "I Got Yer Compassion Right Here."

As anyone who has checked out the official George W. Bush campaign site knows, "compassion" to George Bush means, "look like you're helping black people".

In turn, the biggest people of color names they had (outside of Colin and Condi, who are not there) spoke last night: Ed. Sec. Rod Paige, MD Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and Bush's nephew George P.

But none of them were on in the 10 PM ET hour, when the network coverage began.

(Like the Dem convention, relatively small numbers of people are watching on cable. Unlike before, the clear majority of cable watchers are choosing Fox. In other words, the choir, not the undecided.)

Instead, it was the European-bred Arnold Schwarzenegger who was given the job to appeal to minorities, particularly Latinos, with his heavy emphasis on immigrants.

Apparently, based on what CNN commentators were saying throughout the day, GOPers think that since Arnold got 31% of the Latino vote against a Latino opponent, he holds some massive appeal for Latinos nationwide.

But while Schwarzenegger wrapped himself in the immigrant identity, he offered Latinos no substance beyond GOP boilerplate and a desperate "you don't [have to] agree with this party on every single issue".

Schwarzenegger was also billed as someone who could appeal to "moderates."

But he shot that to hell early with a lame partisan swipe, calling all Dems liars in an opening "joke."

Ah, compassion.

The compassion theme was supposed to be capped with a closing speech from Laura Bush.

But her speech was strangely reminiscent of her husband's '03 State of the Union, where he gamely ran through his domestic proposals, but only got really passionate at the end, when he spoke of war and terrorism.

In Laura's case, after asking herself why should people vote for Dubya, she quickly ticked off a list of domestic issues.

But she downplayed them, saying over and over "I could talk about" -- such as "I could talk about health care" or "I could talk about…home ownership."

After dispatching with those "I could"s, she then heavily dwelled on the "most important" issue: "George's work to protect our country and defeat terror…"

Of course, since Rove needs to close the gender gap that favors Kerry, Laura put on a "security mom" spin: "...so that all children can grow up in a more peaceful world."

She went on, trying to make Dubya not sound like a overly-macho warmonger.

For example, "I knew he was wrestling with these agonizing decisions."

That's the best they can do on compassion. He compassionately ponders his wars.

The whole "security mom" conceit is the GOP wishful thinking that if they can pick up some suburban moms on terrorism alone, that negates any need to revise and moderate domestic policies.

But that logic hasn't gotten Bush over 50% versus Kerry.

However, the second-term "big ideas" on the domestic front will be revealed before the convention is out. We wait with baited breath.

If they were drafted by the same people who thought up Mission to Mars, or who wrote Jenna and Barbara's remarks for last night, then there's definitely nothing to worry about.

QUICK HIT

Theater Discount For LO Readers

If you're in the NYC area, the producers of the anti-Bush play "Voting For Godot" are offering a $5 discount off of the $15 ticket price for LO readers.

You can order tickets through SmartTix, online or by phone at 212-868-4444. Use the discount code "prot04".

The show runs through Monday (except Thursday) at 8 PM at 14th St. Y Theatre, 344 E. 14th St.

August 31, 2004 PERMALINK
The Ultimate Flip-Flop
Dubya & Co. Find Their Inner Nuance
(posted Aug. 31 3 AM ET)

[In] the first week of the administration, Dr. [Condi] Rice asked for the ideas that [Richard] Clarke had in mind, or the previous policies of the previous administration.

But we wanted to go beyond that.

We didn't feel it was sufficient to simply roll back al Qaeda. We pursued a policy to eliminate al Qaeda.
-- WH Press Sec. Scott McClellan, 3/22/04

I don't think you can win it [the war on terror].

But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world -- let's put it that way.
-- George W. Bush, 8/28/04

[Emphasis added in both above quotes]

Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos have already noted that Bush's proclamation that we can't win the war on terror is a massive flip-flop from all the times he said we would.

John Kerry's blog did too, and John Edwards led an aggressive Dem response to capitalize on it, saying, "This is no time to declare defeat." (which seems to have helped shape some media coverage.)

On CNN, Bush surrogates in the convention hall were tied up in knots trying to spin their way out of this.

For example, here's WH Communications Director Dan Bartlett, talking with Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff:

BARTLETT: When he said we can't win "it," what he is saying is that this, "it," Al Qaeda, is not a conventional enemy, not one that's going to sign up to a treaty and say we surrender.

What he's talking about is we've got to get to the root causes on the war on terror.

And that's what spreading freedom and hope and liberty is all about.

WOODRUFF: But when he was asked that almost identical question on CNN just a few weeks ago, the same question, can the war on terror be won, he said absolutely it can be won.

BARTLETT: That's what I'm saying.

WOODRUFF: So which is it?

BARTLETT: Exactly...

Of course, you can read the original Bush quote above and know he was not merely saying the war could not be won by conventional means.

He was saying it could not be truly won.

The comment must have been made too late for Rudy and McCain to strip out lines like these from their convention speeches:

GIULIANI: When President Bush announced his commitment to ending global terrorism...

GIULIANI: We will see an end to global terrorism. I can see it. I believe it.

McCAIN: My friends in the Democratic Party...assure us they share the conviction that winning the war against terrorism is our government's most important obligation.

I don't doubt their sincerity...And they should not doubt ours.

But now we have even more reason to doubt Bush's sincerity, based on his own revealing unscripted words.

They are more than just a flip-flop.

They reveal why Bush shifted resources away from fighting Al Qaeda and into Iraq.

They reveal why Bush's so-called democracy initiative actually props up friendly dictators with taxpayer dollars.

Because deep down, the Bushies don't believe you can end terror, and don't believe you should spread freedom.

Hell, they don't even believe in really going after terrorist organizations.

They believe "state sponsors" like Iraq (and Iran) are the real game, still not accepting what non-state terror groups can accomplish on their own.

They only believe in the power of the military to push bloodshed elsewhere ("Our military is confronting terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and in other places so our people will not have to confront terrorist violence in New York, or St. Louis, or Los Angeles.")

And even then, only most of the time. ("You can never protect against every attack of terrorists, you just can't.")

Which also explains why they don't bother to spend what it takes to secure our borders, ports, and cargo.

They don't believe in comprehensive strategies that cover offense and defense -- military, economic, and political.

They believe a military component is enough to (brace yourself, Iraq War lovers) "contain" radical Islamic terror.

They mocked the notion of "rolling back" Al Qaeda when they needed a talking point to smear Richard Clarke.

But at their core, they are gloomy Hobbesian pessimists, and a roll back is the best they think can be accomplished.

John Kerry is not one of them.

And since the Right always accuses Dems and liberals of appeasing terrorists and given them incentive to attack (as was implicitly done last night), it is fair to ask:

Is telling the terrorists they can't truly be defeated showing the dreaded weakness that you always insist they feast upon?

QUICK HIT

So Many Lies, So Little Time

Allow LO to debunk just one of the lies and distortions Rudy slung at Kerry last night.

In Rudy's flip-flop rant (geared towards peeling off some Jewish vote for the GOP), he said:

In October of 2003 he told an Arab-American Institute in Detroit that a security barrier separating Israel from the Palestinian Territories was a "barrier to peace." OK.

Then a few months later, he took exactly the opposite position. In an interview with the Jerusalem Post he said, "Israel's security fence is a legitimate act of self defense."

But here's what the Jerusalem Post reported this past February:

Sources inside the Kerry campaign said Kerry's position on the fence was misconstrued after the October speech.

While he has objected to the route of the fence – as has Bush – Kerry has never opposed Israel's right to build the barrier for security reasons, they said.

When Kerry said, "We don't need another barrier to peace," he meant a barrier that deviates from the Green Line and makes peace talks harder, the sources added.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said he sees no contradiction between Kerry's two statements...

...Steve Rabinowitz, a Democratic strategist in Washington, said he sees no contradiction. "Kerry's position is no different from Bush's," he said.

August 30, 2004 PERMALINK
The Sunday Talkshow Breakdown
A weekly feature of LiberalOasis
(posted Aug. 30 12 AM ET)

See if you can figure out what Dubya's position is on so-called independent 527 groups, from what transpired on the Sunday shows.

Here's Sen. John McCain on CBS' Face The Nation:

If we can get the Democrats to join us [Bush and McCain] … that we will force these 527s -- not to be banned, not to be outlawed -- but live under the same rules that everybody else does.

In other words, they should [funded by] hard money contributions, the same campaign contribution limitations that all of us have.

And for pundits to say, "We're suppressing free speech," speak all you want to but play by the same rules as everybody else has.

Basically, McCain says that the Bush position is it's the unlimited, unregulated soft money contributions that's the problem with 527s.

And if they were solely funded with hard money -- contributions with limits from individuals -- that'd be alright.

But here's Sen. Bill Frist on Fox News Sunday:

We ought to do what the president has called for. And that is to address 527s -- to get them off the table, out of the system.

Hmmm. Either Frist or McCain must be wrong.

Because George W. Bush would never, ever take a mushy, flip-floppy stance on an issue.

Let see what Dubya said last Monday:

I'm denouncing all the stuff being on TV of the 527s...I said this kind of unregulated soft money is wrong for the process.

And I asked Senator Kerry to join me in getting rid of all that kind of soft money, not only on TV, but used for other purposes, as well.

Well that sounds like what McCain thought, that it's the funding of 527s that's the issue.

But wait, a little bit later in that press conference, Bush also said:

I don't think we ought to have 527s. I can't be more plain about it.

Right. Plain.

Then three days later, he announced he would join McCain's lawsuit to ban activities funded by soft-money.

So you can see how Frist and McCain each got their impression.

Well then, what's Bush real position on 527s?

Let's go to Sen. Russ Feingold for the answer. Looks like he revealed it on Friday to Wisconsin's Capital Times:

Feingold said Bush tried to protect [527] groups when he signed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill two years ago...

...Bush told reporters last week that he didn't know the McCain-Feingold bill didn't cover 527 committees and he promised to work with...McCain...to limit their activities.

[But] Feingold said Bush is "flat-out distorting the truth when he tries to pretend he thought the bill addressed 527s."

He said Bush even objected to the bill's regulation of "phony issue ads," which look like regular campaign ads but don't tell voters directly to vote for or against a candidate.

"So it is completely disingenuous for the president to now pretend -- as a way to protect himself against the criticism for the Swift boats -- that he somehow didn't know this."...

..."I'm glad the president has finally joined the fight. But the president didn't say a word about these 527s until it was a political problem for him, and that's just the reality," he said.

[emphasis added]

So Bush's position is merely that he'll hypocritically and disingenuously do whatever helps him at a given moment.

That clears everything up.

One more key 527 point.

On FTN, McCain had this exchange with Time's Karen Tumulty about the soft money lawsuit:

TUMULTY: But what good does going to court do? The court almost certainly will not act before the November election.

In the meantime, these Swift Boat Veterans have $2 1/2 million they'll be putting on the air. George Soros has more than that.

McCAIN: Yeah. I say, shame on you, Mr. Soros, and shame on all of the people who are funding these, both from the Republican side as well as the Democrat side.

Well, shame on you McCain and Tumulty and most of the media.

For not explaining that under the current law, after Sept. 2 (60 days before Election Day), 527s can't use soft money any more.

So this is a moot point after Thursday.

But what isn't a moot point is that the Swift Boat ads lie, and the Dem 527 ads don't.

All politicians have a moral obligation to denounce slanderous ads.

And even though soft money is a problem, they do not have an obligation to denounce ads simply for being funded as the current law allows.

QUICK HITS

Lies Lies Lies Yeah

Here are the lies from the GOP surrogates that were completely unchecked by their interviewers yesterday.

-- Gov. George Pataki, on ABC's This Week:

President Bush has called for them all to stop, whether it's the Swift Boat Veterans, or MoveOn.org, that have spent tens of millions of dollars for months, distorting our President.

And we haven't heard that from Senator Kerry.

He criticizes the ones that attack him, but he's silent about the ones that attack the President.

Apparently, this Kerry statement counts as silent:

I agree with Senator McCain that the [MoveOn.org] ad [on Bush's National Guard service] is inappropriate. This should be a campaign of issues, not insults.

-- Mayor Rudy Giuliani, on NBC's Meet The Press:

You can't ignore the fact that President Bush did what no one else had done, which is to support stem cell research.

As LiberalOasis noted earlier this month, it was Bill Clinton who signed the first executive order supporting stem cell research.

-- And more Giuliani:

I agree that John Kerry is a hero...I also think we shouldn't emphasize just those four months of his life, however.

Uh, try four years. (See JohnKerry.com and Atrios)

The Blog Wire
Tracking the liberal blogosphere

Red State, RNC blog, has a guest post from Terry McAuliffe

Reuters: "preliminary estimates indicate only lukewarm viewer turnout for the telecasts of speeches by ... Schwarzenegger and ... Laura Bush"

MyDD: Kerry has 7 pt lead

Blogging Of The President at the Dem Rapid Response Ctr: "I hate these reporters. I just hate them."

Salon: "Ben Barnes ... will finally break his silence and talk to the press about what role he played in helping Bush get a coveted slot in the Texas Air National Guard"

War and Piece and Juan Cole stay on top of the Franklin spy scandal

TBogg: Arnold forgets Cheney was, and is, anti-Mandela

The Stakeholder debuts WBLOG radio

AP: Big-City Bush ticks off Iowans with condescending remark

Talking Points Memo: Beltway Dems, shut up and calm down

The Memory Hole finds a eye-popping DoJ redaction of an ACLU legal filing on the Patriot Act (more from Orcinus and Crooked Timber)

Cosmopolity is the go-to place for liberal blogs covering the convention from NYC

**************

REVIEWS
What people are saying about LiberalOasis

"Among the best ways to [pay close attention to the grass roots] is logging onto Web sites like Liberal Oasis."
Joe Conason

"indispensable"
Tapped

"bloggeriffic"
Air America

"something interesting"
Eric Alterman

"quite well reasoned, almost scholarly"
Star Tribune's 2cents

"one of the sharpest political minds around"
Hartford Advocate

"must-read liberal mega-site"
Swing State Project

"unsurpassed political commentary"
P.L.A.

"wonderful"
BushOut.tv

"one of my many must-read-every-day sites"
Terminus

"it's what our site would be like [if we had] more time"
Bear Left

"smart new weblog for us lefties"
Reading & Writing

"always-excellent"
Groupthink Central

"consistently interesting"
Body and Soul

"If you're one of the few who has not been to Liberal Oasis, get on over there for great blogging, sharp humor and activism"
Ruminate This

"It's like a freakin' candy store!"
Chernovog's Journal

"Liberal Oasis is so good I ought to print it out and mail it to my Senators."
The Sideshow

"Excellent commentary"
The Guy James Show

July 26, 2002
"Political Site of the Day"
AboutPolitics.com

"Left-wing twits"
Right-thinking.com

"The parallel dimension in which supporters of Stalin, Hitler, Saddam Hussein and various and sundry other shitheels live."
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

"Pathetic site"
Sean Hannity

July 29, 2002
"The Many Faces of Satan© Website of the Week"
Patriotist.com

GET AIR AMERICA

The Randi Rhodes Show

GET HUMOR

GET A JOB

GET ART

GET MUSIC

GET FOOD

Homestead Healthy Foods

Lasater Grasslands Beef

GET TRANS FATS

Ban Trans Fats

Boycott Hydrogenation

GET COFFEE

Coffee Traders

Counter Culture Coffee

GET A DATE

GET MORE HUMOR

The Cougarstein Ramble

Fanatical Apathy

Faux News Channel

Foundation for a Patriotic America

Funny Times

Humor Gazette

I Drew This

Alexander Pierre Luboknovich

MadKane

Michael Moore

Nothing Like The Truth

GET BRITISH HUMOR

PLAY A GAME

BUY STUFF...

Card Carrying Liberal

...OR DON'T

GET OFF THE GRID

Solar Panels for Energy

Source for Renewable Energy

GET FUNDING

Ford Foundation

Pew Charitable Trusts

GET PR

Fenton Communications

GET CAPITAL GAINS

Calvert Foundation

Domini Social Investments

Greenmoney Journal

Parnassus Investments

GET UNIONIZED

GET LAID SAFELY

Nat'l Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Planned Parenthood

Scarleteen

GET REPRO CHOICE

Center for Reproductive Law & Policy

NARAL Pro-Choice America

GET ABORTION

National Network of Abortion Funds

GET HAPPY ANIMALS

GET GOD

American Islamic Congress

The Ba'hai Faith

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Catholic Worker

Center for Progressive Christianity

Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

Clergy Leadership Network

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Unitarian Universalists

United Church of Christ

Universal Life Church

GET GODLESS

Church of Critical Thinking

Infidels

GET MOON

Where in Washington, D.C. is Sun Myung Moon?

Rick A. Ross Institute

GET EQUALITY

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Anti-Defamation League

Human Rights Campaign

NAACP

Nat'l Conf. for Community and Justice

National Council of La Raza

National Urban League

GET MARRIED

GET UNMARRIED

GET JUSTICE

Brennan Center for Justice

EarthJustice

Lambda Legal Defense

Legal Momentum

Mexican American Legal Defense

NAACP Legal Defense

National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium

Native American Rights Fund

Southern Poverty Law Center

GET RADIO

GET AMERICAN

Americans for Democratic Action

Campaign for America's Future

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State

People For the American Way

GET SOMEONE ELECTED

America Coming Together

Democracy For America

Democratic National Committee

Emily's List

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund

League of Independent Voters

21st Century Democrats

Wellstone Action

Young Democratic Candidates Network

GET SOME MORE BLOGS OVER HERE

Aron's Israel Peace Blog

Idols Of The Marketplace

Just Another Bump In the Beltway

Mark A.R. Kleiman

Long Story; Short Pier

Progressive Spirit Blog

Project For a New Century of Freedom

Shadow of the Hegemon

An Unenviable Situation

Liberal Oasis Logo Design: Ed Kim | Advice and Assistance: LuckyDave, Gina-Louise Sciarra and Maya Voskoboynikov | Special Thanks to Eric Alterman, Bartcop, Hated.com, MediaWhoresOnline and Smirking Chimp for their early cybersupport