LA Times on Schrock outing

From the LA Times:

John Aravosis, a Washington political consultant, runs another Web site, www.DearMary.com, which encourages supporters to write Vice President Dick Cheney's openly lesbian daughter, Mary, entreating her to lobby her father against Bush administration policies.

Aravosis said the White House all but invited the outing tactic by endorsing the constitutional amendment.

"They declared war," he said. "We're not going to respond with a hug."

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CNN bans Log Cabin ad

CNN has refused to broadcast the Log Cabin Republicans' (gay Republicans) new ad. You can view the ad here. Read More......

Oh, so THAT's what he meant

when he said the war against terrorism was unwinnable. Associated Press reports:

The Justice Department has asked a judge to throw out the convictions of members of a suspected terror cell in Detroit because of prosecutorial misconduct, reversing course in a case the Bush administration once hailed as a major victory in the war on terrorism, legal sources said Tuesday.

So I think what he really meant was we can win the war, but then we have to drop the charges.

My.
Pet.
Goat.
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Bush tells environment: Go Cheney yourself!

Wake up Kerry. Here's another issue that will ignite Americans: Bush and the environment. Considering how they have lied about everything else, I do not believe them when they say that they won't destroy these areas. Why else would they open them up to logging? They're serial liars and we now know better than to trust their word. Follow the money.

About one of every 13 miles of the Appalachian Trail between Maine and Georgia passes through national forests where a Bush administration plan could allow clear cutting of wooded areas, an environmental group said Tuesday.

The administration announced in July that it would allow logging in areas that former President Clinton had put off-limits to such activity shortly before he left office in 2001.

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Suicide Bombers Attack Innocent Israeli Citizens

I don't care where you stand on the Israeli-Palestinian debate, suicide bombers are immoral and despicable and should be condemned at every step. They undermine the moral legitimacy of the Palestinians and target innocent people. Isn't the biggest attack on Israeli men, women, and children in six months -- 15 dead so far and more than 85 wounded -- shameful? Does it compare to targeted Israeli attacks against top Palestinian militia people which try to minimize civilian casualties? No.

So is this the latest front in the war on terror (which we can or can't win, depending on which Bush quote you want to use)? Or, as some would have you believe, is the fact that we defend and support Israel (the only legitimate democracy in the Middle East) the only reason there's a war on terror in the first place?
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As predicted, Bush flip-flops on terror war

It's time to ignore today's flip-flop and simply run ads, over and over again, showing Bush saying we can't win. Then let his campaign explain that he really didn't say that, well, that he did but now has changed his mind in one day. Devastating.

President Bush said Tuesday 'we will win' the war on terror, seeking to quell controversy and Democratic criticism over his earlier remark that victory may not be possible.

In a speech to the national convention of the American Legion, Bush said, 'We meet today in a time of war for our country, a war we did not start yet one that we will win.

That statement differed from Bush's earlier comment, aired Monday in a pre-taped television interview, that 'I don't think you can win' the war on terror. "

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Worthless media once again re: Purple Heart band-aids

As TBogg is rightly mentioning, Morton Blackwell, the man who has organized the purple heart band-aids at the RNC is yet another Chickenhawk. Considering the fact that Blackwell is giving jabs to Kerry, Blackwell apparently had other priorities as well during the war. Apparently being a College Republican and then a Young Republican in the National Committee was given priority over military service. I can't say that I would have been keen to go to Vietnam back then but this punk ought to be exposed. I have already sent an email to CNN asking them to offer his full background so we can all join in on the joke. Visit here to send your comments to CNN. Maybe one day we will again have a media that investigates instead of repeating what these people want repeated.

That isn't to say that Morton hasn't had some experience with militaries:

Blackwell has also trained rightist political forces in Latin America and Africa(19) through IPF, notably supporters of the Pinochet military dictatorship, Argentinean rightists, and supporters of Inkatha chief Buthelezi in South Africa.

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Consumer confidence drops sharply in August

No wonder Bush wants to talk about Vietnam. The economy has been looking weak for a while now and another tax cut is going to send Wall Street into a tailspin. Bush must be pretty happy about his tanking economy (how many job losses are we at now?) now that he's blown the bank on tax cuts and war. Oh the options that you've left for yourself are limitless, aren't they George? Great planning, once again. Is he going to announce another miscalculation or will he hold firm, no matter how wrong he is? Confidence all around is dropping hard and fast.
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NOW Bush says we CAN win war on terror, total FLIP FLOP

AP is reporting that Bush is NOW saying we CAN win the war on terror, and we're already winning it! This only ONE DAY after he told NBC's Matt Lauer that we CAN'T win the war on terror. Now who is the king of flip flops? Less than ONE DAY and he's totally changing his tune on - what issue? - no less than THE WAR ON TERROR. The president who, say what you will about him, ALWAYS had CONVICTION and always STUCK TO HIS GUNS, has now gone soft. He's now pandering to the polls, pandering to the media, pandering to the electorate. When the going gets tough, George Bush simply sings a different tune.

It's time WE wore flip flops to every Bush event.

From the AP:

President Bush will tell the nation's largest veterans' group Tuesday that "we will win" the war on terror, seeking to quell controversy and Democratic criticism of his remark aired a day earlier that victory in the anti-terror battle may not be possible, his spokesman said.

In a speech before the national convention of the American Legion, the president will make it "crystal clear" that America will win the war on terrorism, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

"Not only are we winning it, but we will win it," McClellan said in describing Bush's speech.

That message contradicts Bush's statement, aired Monday in a pre-taped television interview, that "I don't think you can win" the war on terror.

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GOP Invokes 9/11 to Make Case for Bush

Wellstone's funeral, my ass. When the Dems simply tried to have a memorial service for a dead man, the GOP went down their throats and it lost us an election. Now we have the GOP holding a partisan political rally and intentionally focusing the entire thing on 9/11 with the purpose of, as the headline notes, "GOP Invokes 9/11 to Make Case for Bush," and that's NOT a problem?

These guys chose NYC to take advantage of 9/11 to help Bush's election, and now they got caught red-handed. Let's not miss the opportunity to point this out, early and often. Read More......

Network news giving more air time for RNC

Who would have guessed this outcome? Fortunately Media Matters is pointing out the inconsistencies of network coverage. Not that it should be a surprise to any of us, but Faux News has already aired 1:14 of the RNC compared to 0:41 in the first day or the DNC. ABC even slipped in a special program during Monday Night Football. How about a little balance folks? I expected this from Faux but CNN and ABC also are coming up short.
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Another Republican lie exposed. Do they know how to tell the truth about anything?

From DailyKos, a review of the commonly reported pitch about Kerry being the most liberal member of the Senate and Edwards being number four. Hell, I don't care if either is or was a liberal but for national politics, there's always the issue of attracting independent voters in the middle. It's interesting that the GOP has to keep making up lies and repeating them when they attack Kerry. With a record like theirs though, I suppose what else can they do?

The actual National Journal ratings look a little bit different:

But if the standard is votes over a lifetime, Kerry isn't the most liberal senator. By that measure, Kerry is the 11th-most-liberal senator, coming in below such Democrats as Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, Barbara Boxer of California, and, yes, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, according to a National Journal analysis published in March.

John Edwards, who was ranked the fourth-most-liberal senator in 2003 (and who also missed many votes that year), is the 27th-most-liberal senator based on votes over his career.

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US dead in Iraq now 975, wounded 6,323

After a politically influenced cease-fire (just before the RNC, as the numbers were rapidly approaching 1,000) US soldiers continue to die and be wounded for a war that is not making us safer and has nothing to do with 9/11. Iraqi death toll figures are estimated to be in the range of 11,717 and 13,724. It's interesting to see that despite earlier criticisms of politicians meddling in the war in Vietnam, he seems to be doing the same thing. Does this qualify as a flip-flop? Perhaps after reading My Pet Goat he changed his mind on the matter.
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"There ought to be limits to freedom"

Here's a Bush supporter in Oregon who, like her president, doesn't think much of free speech and the right to protest or question a government that continues to lie to the American people.
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Bush Bitch-Slaps Cheney

Bush amended his platform to make it virulently anti-gay, which proves he was lying when Bush claimed he just wanted to "protect" marriage. But more interesting, far right radicals admit it was also done as a slap in the face of the Vice President, who wanted to pretend he respects his daughter when in fact his voting record in Congress was one of the most anti-gay possible.

"At a news conference yesterday, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a group of social conservatives, said that the push to strengthen the platform's opposition to same-sex civil unions was partly a response to Vice President Dick Cheney's statement last week that he personally favored leaving the issue up to the states.

"'We are obviously troubled by the vice president's comments last week, which in ways led to the strengthening of the language in the platform,' Mr. Perkins said. "


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Bush Flip Flop Over War On Terror

By now, everyone has heard Bush's awkward, politically stupid comment that you can't win the war on terror. Does anyone doubt that if Kerry had said this that Bush would have ripped him for it and there'd be an ad on the air in every battleground state within hours? Of course not. The White House has been desperately backpedaling and coming up with all sorts of excuses. (Our favorite was on 'Nightline" where a Bush spokesperson started off by saying well, hey, he was being interviewed on a moving bus!)

But the New York Times does a good job of showing how Bush's new, nuanced view of the war on terror flatly contradicts many statements he's made in the past. Then they twist the knife by saying his stance is now close to that of Europe.

"In the interview with Matt Lauer of the NBC News program "Today," conducted on Saturday but shown on the opening day of the Republican National Convention, Mr. Bush was asked if the United States could win the war against terrorism, which he has made the focus of his administration and the central thrust of his re-election campaign.

"'I don't think you can win it,' Mr. Bush replied. 'But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world.'

"As recently as July 14, Mr. Bush had drawn a far sunnier picture. 'I have a clear vision and a strategy to win the war on terror,' he said.

"At a prime-time news conference in the East Room of the White House on April 13, Mr. Bush said: 'One of the interesting things people ask me, now that we are asking questions, is, 'Can you ever win the war on terror?' Of course you can.'

"It was unclear if Mr. Bush had meant to make the remark to Mr. Lauer, or if he misspoke. But White House officials said the president was not signaling a change in policy, and they sought to explain his statement by saying he was emphasizing the long-term nature of the struggle. Taken at face value, however, Mr. Bush's words would put him closer to the positions of the United States' European allies, who have considered Mr. Bush's talk of victory simplistic and unhelpful."
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THE transcript

"Uh, hi, I weigh 200 pounds, I'm 6'4" (inaudible) blond hair....very muscular, very buffed up, uh, very tanned, uh, I just like to get together a guy from time to time, just to, just to play. I'd like him to be in very good shape, flat stomach, good chest, good arms, well hung, cut, uh, just get naked, play, and see what happens, nothing real heavy duty, but just, fun time, go down on him, he can go down on me, and just take it from there... hope to hear from you. Bye." - From the RawStory.com (home page link)

Feel free to come up with your own version of the transcript :-) Read More......

Nightline leads Convention night coverage w/ Bush's unwinable war

Nightline tonight, Bush's unwinable war is the topic du jour. From a political perspective, this is probably not what one wants to have as the lead coming out of your convention. Edwards is the primary guest.

If you want to know where momentum gets tripped up in an election, this is it. Hence the ebb and flow of polls up until the end of an election. Things like this raise doubts, switch a few minds, move the polls a point or two.

In the end, in an election like this, there will be a number of events like these over the next two months. Get out the vote will be what drives this election in the end. That's my call. Read More......