Is Bush gay?

I don't know. But he seems to think it's important to determine whether Kerry and Edwards are, so it's fair to game to wonder about him. Betty Bowers collects a fabulous assembly of Bush quotes that make you wonder if the Prez is a bit light in his loafers :-)

Betty is even selling buttons (see the photo above)! Read the rest of this post...

Here we go again - threat level raised to orange

Maybe they're right. But the very thought that I'm rolling my eyes at a supposedly-specific threat gives me pause. I simply no longer believe a thing this administration says about anything. Something I never said about Clinton, Bush 1, or Reagan. Sad. Read the rest of this post...

It's official - Bush's talking points include obvious gay-bashing

Remember when I noted last week that one of the Republican attack team sent to the Dem Convention, Senator George Allen of Virginia, called John Edwards a "dandy"? Well, Bush now said again yesterday this about VP Cheney: "I appreciate my running mate - he's not the prettiest man in the race, but he's got sound judgment."

Bush has repeatedly talked about how Cheney isn't the prettiest man in the race. First off, he uses the word "pretty" - not a word you use for a man. You'd use that word FOR A FAG. Second, he's clearly comparing his VP to Kerry's VP, who is, apparently, PRETTY LIKE A GIRL, OR PRETTY LIKE A FAG, in the Bush campaign's eyes. (Put these "fag" attacks also in the context of all the photos the Republicans ran of Kerry and Edwards hugging, etc. Also, Pat Buchanan leveled the same charge, about Edwards being too good-looking, on the McLaughlin Group.)

It is now CLEAR that part of the campaign's talking points is to paint John Edwards as LESS THAN A MAN, and the way they paint him so is to suggest that he's gay, because we all know that gay men aren't "real" men. These people are disgusting. Read the rest of this post...

HOLY SHIT: Bush camp solicits race of reporter

This is BEYOND OUTRAGEOUS. What was the Bush campaign trying to find out, if the reporter was Arab-American? And even if he was, would that mean he couldn't attend? And if that wasn't why, then what WE'RE they trying to do with the info, compile lists of the races of reporters? They can't simply write this off as a mistake, unless the woman was suffering from an aneurysm. She was clearly told to get this info, the question is who told her and WHY.

President Bush's re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Star refused to provide the information.

Cheney is scheduled to appear at a rally this afternoon at the Pima County Fairgrounds.

A rally organizer for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign asked Teri Hayt, the Star's managing editor, to disclose the journalist's race on Friday. After Hayt refused, the organizer called back and said the journalist probably would be allowed to photograph the vice president.

'It was such an outrageous request, I was personally insulted,' Hayt said later.

Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the president's re-election campaign, said the information was needed for security purposes.

'All the information requested of staff, volunteers and participants for the event has been done so to ensure the safety of all those involved, including the vice president of the United States,' he said.

Diaz repeated that answer when asked if it is the practice of the White House to ask for racial information or if the photographer, Mamta Popat, was singled out because of her name. He referred those questions to the U.S. Secret Service, which did not respond to a call from the Star Friday afternoon.

Hayt declined to speculate on whether Popat was racially profiled, but said she is deeply concerned.

'One has to wonder what they were going to do with that information,' Hayt said. 'Because she has Indian ancestry, were they going to deny her access? I don't know.'

Journalists covering the president or vice president must undergo a background check and are required to provide their name, date of birth and Social Security number. The Star provided that information Thursday for Popat and this reporter.

"That's all anybody has been asked to provide," said Hayt, adding that this is the first time in her 26-year career that a journalist's race was made an issue.

Organizer Christine Walton asked for Popat's race in telephone conversations with two other Star editors before she spoke to Hayt. They also refused to provide the information. Walton told Hayt that Popat's race was necessary to allow the Secret Service to distinguish her from someone else who might have the same name.

"It was a very lame excuse," Hayt said.

Popat, a photographer with six years' experience, was on assignment Friday and unaware of the controversy. But she said she was glad the Star refused. "My race shouldn't have anything to do with my job," she said.

Read the rest of this post...

Al Qaeda Again Targeting New York

I mean, like this is any news we didn't already know? They want to kill us. They want to hit NYC. Blah blah blah. I guess the useful part of broadcasting this (aside from it helping Bush in the polls) is that it does signal to the terrorists that we're on to them, which MIGHT help put off their plans. Still, I don't find this information particularly helpful or useful. Read the rest of this post...

Text of the loyalty oath - even reporters were required to sign it

I love that even reporters were required to sign the thing.

'I, (full name) ... do herby (sic) endorse George W. Bush for reelection of the United States.' It later adds that, 'In signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release of your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush.'

UPDATE: One of the comments notes, correctly I believe, that it's not clear if the Bush campaign KNEW it was asking a reporter to sign the loyalty oath. Having said that, it WAS clear that the campaign wanted to know the race of a reporter assigned to photograph the VP (see story a few posts above). Read the rest of this post...