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Saturday, September 04, 2004

President Dick

For those “undecided” folks out there who have been unable to tear themselves away from the Kobe Bryant farce and the latest revelations that Michael Jackson might have a thing for little boys long enough to think about the most important election of their lifetimes, consider this for a second: this man is only a heartbeat away from the presidency.

I know, I know. Cheney is older and the one with the bad ticker. Shrub is Mr. Buff, a man who clearly spends for more time working out than he does worrying about some guy in Bangladore who wants to do your job for a buck eighty an hour. He’s as fit as a man his age can possibly be. All true. But don’t forget the pretzel. All it takes is one long Sunday afternoon with a couple of six packs of those “non-alcoholic” beers our president consumes in mass quantities, Laura downstairs in the gym showing Arnold her pecs, an overly aggressive pretzel, and Dick “I Don’t Anything About Anything That Happened While I Was CEO of Halliburton” Cheney is your president.

President Dick Cheney. Think about it. The nasty little fat man with the psychotic scowl and the wretched old cow wife who thinks Hitler was just misunderstood and the daughter who licks bush (not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you). Dick “Go Fuck Yourself” Cheney, who never served a single day in uniform, the man most responsible for the war in Iraq and the soon-to-be 1,000 unnecessarily dead Americans killed in an ineptly planned and managed war of choice designed to show the world just how bad we are.

Cheney and Rumsfeld picked Iraq not because they gave a rat’s ass about the freedom of the Iraqi people, or that Saddam was a bad man or had some rusty Scuds lying around or that he had anything whatsoever to do with 9/11; they chose Iraq because they figured it would be “cakewalk” that would “shock and awe” the world with the valor of our fighting men and the beauty of our weapons. Dictators and terrorists everywhere would see what happened to Saddam and start cleaning up their act. The stinking French and the Krauts would understand that we were willing to go it alone and they could no longer bottle up our more aggressive instincts through UN Security Council. The “demonstration effect,” some of the neocons called it, and it has proven to be as bogus a reason for the war as all the others.

The world is demonstrably less safe from terrorism since the invasion of Iraq. If you add the Russian school incident toll to the list of terrorism-related deaths around the world since September 11, 2001, you’ll find the a number nearing 3,500 with more than 60% of those deaths coming in the past year. If they’re scared they’re sure not acting like it.

Far from being cowed by our overstretched military, newly empowered Iraqi insurgents have seized control of entire large cities and virtually all of the Sunni triangle. They blow up pipelines and assassinate local officials and police at will. Westerners are not safe anywhere in Iraq, not even the so-called Green Zone.

As they did in Afghanistan, the tough guys in the Pentagon have thrown a rock into a hornet’s nest and have no idea how to get the nasty little devils back into the hive. They have provided Islamic fundamentalists with vast, unguarded terrorities from which to operate, the necessary revolutionary fervor to recruit thousands of new followers, and live training grounds to perfect the art of asymetrical warfare. Cheney and the Pentagon have provided moral guidance to our own military that would have done Saddam Hussein proud. Osama bin Laden could never have achieved all this without the help of Dick Cheney and George Bush.

The war in Iraq has exposed the limits of U.S. military power and shown to the world that the largest and most expensive intelligence-gathering agencies on the planet are badly run bureaucracies, headed by incompetent, political hacks, and staffed with people of low imagination. There is no way we could fight even a small war anywhere else in the world right now without re-launching the draft. The fact is, we are feared and respected around the world far less today than we were four years ago.

The lesson of Iraq ought to be that military force alone cannot deter jihadists. The judicious use of military force—or threat of military force--when necessary is certainly an important component but we cannot kill enough Muslims to scare all of the true believers on the planet into submission.

We can only “win” this war against Muslim extremism by building strong, mutually-respectful partnerships with other countries that are being targeted by the same enemies and whose national interest is to help us. This cannot be a coalition of store-bought friends in which we say “we’re invading Iraq and you’re either with us or against us and even if you’re with us you still have no say in how we do it.” We need France and Germany and Spain and Russia on our team and, the truth is, they need us. We have to do the hard work of building trust, identifying common goals, mutually shoring up defenses, sharing intelligence, and—then—after all the bridgebuilding has been done, demanding, with a single voice, that Arab nations clean up their internal terrorism factories and start to join the modern world or face dire consequences.

Just yesterday Dick Cheney accused John Kerry of “a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the world works," adding that "Terrorist attacks are not created by the use of strength. They are a result of the perception of weakness."

Clearly, it is Dick Cheney who has the fundamental misunderstanding of how the world works. What he and Bush and Rumsfeld have demonstrated in Iraq and Afghanistan is that military force alone is not the same thing as strength and that a more nuanced, sensitive, inclusive and intelligent approach to the war on terrorism is badly overdue. Surely, he doesn’t really think that our inability to control Baghdad, much less the rest of Iraq, is a show of strength that has the bad guys quaking in their sandals.

Do you really want a man this thickheaded a pretzel away from the presidency?
posted by Jerry Bowles 7:01 PM


The catcher in the lie

James Ettwein got tired of being bombarded by pollsters and, like Howard Beal of "Network" fame, he decided he wasn't going to take it anymore. So he set up his own website www.lietothepollsters.com ...so far 59% percent of those who respond to his question "when called, do you tell the truth or lie to the pollster" indicate that they provide the pollster with a random answer. Only 40% say they tell the truth. That blows a big hole into the "scientific" margin of error. Check it out.
posted by Groom 2:40 PM


Setting up the “October surprise”

Less than a month to go… while the Kerry krewe tries to redirect the campign toward the economy, the White House continues its major diplomatic stroke job on Pakistan. President Bu$h praises strongman Gen. Parviz ”the pusher” Musharraf during his acceptance speech. And over in Islamabad, counterterrorism czar Cofer “Mr. October” Black is denying that the US has tasked Pakistan to capture Osama Bin Laden before the November election. “...it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, it could happen a month from now.” the ambassador mused. If it does, the Paks will own Osama, but probably lay him off on the Saudis. Bu$h will get credit for the win. That could be enough to send Sen. Kerry to the showers early. According to “Mr. October” everything is “in place.”
posted by Groom 6:38 AM

Friday, September 03, 2004

Say it ain't so, Joe...

Katie Couric was working new Kerry media mayordomo Joe Lockhart on the Great Pontificator's slow response to the Swifties this morning. The best the former Clinton mouthpiece could do was say "the public doesn't like negative campaigning." Maybe he'll tell Cigar Afficionado magazine the same crap when they put him on their cover with a big Honduran stogie in his mouth. Hey, Joe... if the public doesn't like negative campaigning, how come it works. America loves blood and guts, violence, watching people and animals hurt each other. NASCAR, reality tv, studs vs duds, weakest links and when the Donald sez..."you're fired" Time to throw those body punches, head butts and thumbs and take back America. Otherwise, Joe, Obersturmbannfuehrer Rove, Marc Racicot and his Cubans will have your ass on a plate come November. Some people get with the program. Others get with the pogrom.
posted by Groom 6:49 PM


And a Class Act

From the AP:
President Bush on Friday wished Bill Clinton "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery."

"He's is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally.

Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wis., booed. Bush did nothing to stop them.

posted by Jerry Bowles 5:05 PM


Shrub Is a Sissy

The indispensible Frank Rich nails it:
Only in an election year ruled by fiction could a sissy who used Daddy's connections to escape Vietnam turn an actual war hero into a girlie-man.

posted by Jerry Bowles 1:28 PM


Debates

Kerry needs to get ahead of this now. Start calling for debates on a weekly basis. Call for more debates even as 43 tries to get out of the number already planned. Plant the seed that Bush is too cowardly to engage in honest debates. This is a no-brainer. Do. It. Now. Really.
posted by Blackdogred 11:25 AM


"This is how Republicans dishonor our armed forces..."

Here's a good graphic everybody should pass around. It's quite powerful and should be extremely effective against the chicken hawks. There's a link to it on atrios.blogspot.com:

http://www.on101.com/dishonor2/
posted by Vicki 10:32 AM


Department of Things We Already Knew

From today's Los Angeles Times:
Despite its fervent denials, Israel secretly maintains a large and active intelligence-gathering operation in the United States that has long attempted to recruit U.S. officials as spies and to procure classified documents, U.S. government officials said.
Hey, maybe, those crazies who thought the Iraqi war might just be a favor for Israel cooked up by a bunch of dual-loyalty guys in the Pentagon were on to something after all.
posted by Jerry Bowles 9:59 AM


Lost in Translation

The Shrubster's acceptance speech lost the morning news cycle big-time to the breaking news of the hostage shootout in Russia, Hurricane Frances, Kobe Bryant and some new, old revelations about Michael Jackson. Only the nice folks at folks at Fox keep treadmilling away. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
posted by Jerry Bowles 7:42 AM


Cover by Condi

Relationships between world powers often feature a “back channel” or “intelligence conduit” outside traditional statecraft where information of a sensitive nature is peddled, traded, or hung out to dry. That’s what AIPAC and the “Franklin Affair” are about. In this grey world, the only crime is getting caught. And in today’s post Cold War environment, the only time you get caught is when one government wants to pressure another to obtain a particular outcome. Perhaps that’s why the FBI now says it has been conducting a monster “counterintelligence” investigation into Israeli lobbying activity for nearly three years. Reading today’s Washington Post one gets the impression that Rice-a-roni just learned about it yesterday. But Reuters reports that “Dial M” for Mueller’s crew at the Hoover Bldg. gave Con-gal the heads-up nearly three years ago… which puts us right back to 9/11. And if Condi got the buzz back then, who did she give the heads-up to?
posted by Groom 7:16 AM


What I want to hear Kerry say is,

"I believe that on average the American voter is smarter than George Bush.

"The average American voter knows that when you say X [Bush promise 1] and your record shows Y [Bush performance 1], you have a credibility problem.

"The average American voter knows that when you say X [Bush promise 2] and your record shows Y [Bush performance 2], you have a credibility problem.

"The average American voter knows that when you say X [Bush promise 3] and your record shows Y [Bush performance 3], you have a credibility problem."


What would, of course, be totally cool is if Kerry then continued by picking up each of the issues Bush was addressing in his promises and for each offered his own, more sensible proposal, in no more than one or two sharply crafted sentences.
posted by John 1:15 AM


Looks Like They Woke the Big Guy Up

From today's Washington Post:
"Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without health care makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi royal family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions in government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit."
I'm feeling more optimistic. The nastiness is going to rebound. Shrub is still an empty suit. Our guy is still standing and looks like he's finally going start throwing some leather. Let's roll.
posted by Jerry Bowles 12:02 AM

Thursday, September 02, 2004

September 02, 2004

Shot this picture a couple of hours ago out on the harbor. A reminder that all things heal with time.

posted by Jerry Bowles 10:26 PM


Obama vs Miller

Hey, DNC, I hope you have in production RIGHT NOW a commercial that would say, "Here's who keynoted the Democratic Convention, here's who keynoted the Republican." Then show sharp, eloquent, optimistic Barack Obama and then show raving, spittle-drecked, fear-mongering Zell Miller. Be sure to show shots of the bloodthirsty GOP delegates. Then ask, "Which represents your vision of America?"

Be warned, though: the Zellous one may challenge you to a duel.


posted by Blackdogred 3:50 PM


NY Times... the foreshadowing of an endorsement

Read between the lines this morning's editorial about terrorism and you'll see which way the wind is blowing... "president Bush was absolutely right when he said it was impossible to win a war against terror." Follow that with "chances of a serious dialogue about terror took a blow when Mr. Bush retracted his completely sensible statement about terrorism after the Kerry-Edwards campaign attacked it." Ask yourself when's the last time you heard The Great Pontificator Kerry retract any of the bonehead statements he's made, then add a little NY Times icing on the GOP cake with "... the president has been honest." Looks like the jetstream is blowing west from Herzliya just over the 10th floor of Times Tower. Remake... it better be what's for dinner.
posted by Groom 2:59 PM


Fighting Words from James Carville
I know we can win this election and send Bush back to Crawford. But George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the Republicans have made it clear that on their way out of town, they'll be taking the low road.

Bush's campaign has abandoned any pretense of defending his own record and concentrated tens of millions of dollars on anti-Kerry attack ads. And, for weeks now, Bush allies have been running a scurrilous, indefensible campaign attacking John Kerry's military record. In the latest shameless incident, a long-time mentor of Karl Rove chose to mock those wounded in war by distributing "Purple Heart band-aids" on the floor of the Republican Convention -- a deep and hurtful insult to America's decorated veterans.

Push back against shameless attacks. Donate now.

This is a close, tough campaign against a relentless opponent. If we give these characters victory in this election, we'll never wipe those smug grins off their faces. And we'll never be able to undo the damage they will cause with four more years to stack the courts, destroy the environment, tilt the economy in favor of the rich, and create an America that we won't even recognize.

You and I have to flat out refuse to let that happen.


posted by Jerry Bowles 12:45 PM


A Little Harmless Self-Promotion

My thanks to Bell Roe for the generous comments about my personal blog Postcards From a Life. I like what Bell is doing at Little Iowa, too. If any of you know of similar blogs--personal memoirs with a literary touch or a strong sense of place--pass on the addresses and I'll put together a recommended list. I've been neglecting Postcards a little lately because of all the political stuff but I just put up a new piece that is especially meaningful to me.
posted by Jerry Bowles 11:02 AM


While the Rabid Dogs Were Barking

Under cover of the media coverage of Zell Miller's insane screed and Big Dick's snide, cynical and dishonest character assassination, here's what Bushco released to the press yesterday.

I'm sure the impoverished will be pleased to learn that through statistical manipulation they are no longer poor (even if there's no more food on the table or a winter coat for the children). Not that they will learn it if they rely on the media to report it (or a certain Democratic presidential ticket to decry it?).

This is an example of exactly how Bushco does business. Remind me again why the rural poor vote Repugnican? Oh, right.
posted by Blackdogred 9:36 AM


Reflections on Coronation Day

Politics are made for men, and not men for politics. We do not want to live on fables. In the world of violence and death around us, there is no place for hope. But perhaps there is room for civilization, for real civilization, which puts truth before fables and life before dreams. And this civilization has nothing to do with hope. In it, man lives on his truths.
Albert Camus
posted by Groom 6:16 AM


Separated At Birth?



thanks to Mark Abbott for flagging this one down
posted by Michael 2:38 AM


Yo, Mitt. Fuck You.

When the awards for the slimiest comments made during the RNC are being chosen, this little gem from Mitt Romney, the carpetbagger governor of Massachusetts who--by the way--never served in the armed forces for a single minute in or out of harm's way and wears bizarre underwear, has to be considered:
Let me say I respect his four months under enemy fire in Vietnam; we should honor that service as we do the service of all our fighting men and women.
These people are beneath contempt.
posted by Jerry Bowles 12:02 AM

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Karl Rove Says Terror War Unwinnable

"This is going to be more like the conflict in Northern Ireland, where the Brits fought terrorism, and there's no sort of peace accord with al-Qaida saying, 'We surrender.'" Washington Post, September 1, 2004
posted by Jerry Bowles 8:19 PM


Is There a Clothing Doctor in the House?

The Twins enact their version of a fashion 9/11.
posted by Jerry Bowles 6:43 PM


Ashcroft's Jihad

Six days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the FBI arrested—with great fanfare and enormous self-congratulation by our Holy Roller Attorney General--Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi, Karim Koubriti and Ahmed Hannan in Detroit on charges that they conspired to provide material support to terrorists. The indictment accused them of operating as a "covert underground support unit for terrorist attacks" and functioning as a "sleeper operational combat cell" and claimed the men planned to acquire missiles, use shoe bombs, truck bombs and planned attacks on Comerica Park, Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., Las Vegas, an air base in Turkey and a hospital in Jordan.

Ashcroft even suggested the men “had knowledge of September 11” but recanted after being threatened with judicial censure. During the course of the trial, Ashcroft described the key witness in the case, Youssef Hmimssa, as a “critical tool” in the war on terror whose testimony had provided “substantial value.” He was admonished by the judge and apologized again.

In June 2003, Elmardoudi, Koubriti were convicted of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Hannan was found guilty of a document fraud-related charge.

Last December, U.S. District Judge Gerald Rose ordered a review of the case after learning that prosecutors failed to turn over evidence that raised questions about whether the government's star witness—Hmimssa, Ashcroft’s “critical tool”--lied to investigators. The judge said that the two lead prosecutors, who had by then been removed, withheld at least one other piece of evidence as well.

Today, the Justice Department asked a federal judge in Detroit to throw out the convictions admitting that "In its best light, the record would show that the prosecution committed a pattern of mistakes and oversights that deprived the defendants of discoverable evidence (including impeachment material) and created a record filled with misleading inferences that such material did not exist."

Defence lawyers have suggested all along that the allegations against the men were cooked up by Hmimssa, a self-confessed scam artist who lived briefly with some of the defendants and whose photo was on fraudulent documents found during the raid.

This case is yet another in a distressing pattern of overhyped arrests and prosecutions of American Muslims that later prove to be either false or greatly exaggerated. Ashcroft’s nasty little domestic jihad has got to be stopped.
posted by Jerry Bowles 4:47 PM


Leave the Kids Alone

Howie the Prude gets all spastic today over the twins' giggling attempt to suggest that even Republicans have sex, albeit only of the "normal" him-on-top, her-on-the-bottom kind and only on Sundays after church. For shame, Howie. I thought they were almost as adorable as they thought they were themselves. Modesty is an old family habit with the Bushes who don't want to sully their "beautiful minds" with thoughts of Americans dying in Iraq. The twins are intelligent, witty, well-read and like totally committed to world peace and stuff. I can't wait for Jenna's "Paris" video although neither of them is as "hot" as mom who (I have on good authority; let's just say a certain retired general who took student driving with her and is famous for getting to the end zone quickly, if you know what I mean) is wearing under this lovely pale green feedsack (styled especially for the convention by Ralston Purina) this lovely little number.

posted by Jerry Bowles 10:44 AM


Trust issue dogs Bu$h version of 9/11 "who knew what when"

For those of you who may not have noticed it in the mainstream press, a new Zogby poll indicates that 49.3 of New Yorkers believe the US government had some advance knowledge of the terrorist attacks- conducted mostly by Saudi nationals- on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Additional poll results suggest that there's a broader "trust issue" running in the background. Unfortunately, the Demos don't seem to have the right team on board to exploit it.
posted by Groom 5:14 AM


Boo- yah!

Sticking with the subject of outspoken immigrants, it should be noted that George Soros has now written and delivered the "Eff you, and the horse you rode in on" letter to little Denny Hastert, predicate to suing his ass (I predict) for defamation:

I must respectfully insist that you either substantiate these claims -- which you cannot do because they are false -- or publicly apologize for attempting to defame my character and damage my reputation.

Sounds like George has been consulting with wartime consigliere to me.

posted by Michael 1:40 AM


The Terminator Speaks

Ahnuld came across as a nice enough guy who sincerely believes that anyone with a little common sense who is willing to work hard can get off a plane at JFK speaking no English and 30 years later become a movie star, marry a Kennedy, and become governor of Kali-for-ni-a. Because it happened to him, his faith that such a fate is available to all appears unshakeable. Rather than viewing his life as the result of a combination of circumstances less likely than, say, winning the Powerball drawing twice on consecutive nights, Ahnuld sees his good fortune as a natural outcome of his willingness to work hard and his ironclad belief in the Republican virtues of self-reliance, limited government, and free enterprise.

The thought that if it were all that easy we would have dozens of naturalized citizens who are movie stars and governors seems to have eluded him. His sunny optimism is sweet but his faith in his party to do the right thing is misplaced, as he must have sensed, himself, at the awkward moment when he suggested that maybe all Republicans didn't have to agree with each other. The silence threatened for a moment to become deafening as the crowd tensed and waited to see if he was going to stray into "moderate" territory. That moment told you everything you need to know about the state of the Grand Old Party and about how the Bushes are willing to exploit the blind faith of America's most famous--and luckiest--immigrant to further their own narrow little agenda.

posted by Jerry Bowles 12:37 AM

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Do we detect a bit of ambivalence here?

If you haven't seen it already, do check out Christopher Buckley's piece "Behind Enemy Lines: Advice from a Partisan" in The New York Times.

Then, send it on to any intelligent Republicans you know. (Irony not intended.)
posted by John 10:28 PM


Perspective

The important thing to remember about Rudy Guiliani is that he was for most of his years in public office the most divisive mayor in the modern history of New York City. Arrogant, combative, loud, and frequently wrong-headed, he waged a daily, running war with the city's black leaders, the press, and its cultural establishment. He behaved extraordinarily after 9/ll--nobody can take that away from him--but up to that point he was definitely more heat than light, an arrogant, prissy little prick who enjoyed getting dressed up in a ball gown and who had become a running joke after being kicked out of Gracie Mansion by his now ex-wife. He is, as a comedian whose name I can't recall put it, like a movie where you don't like the hero until the last 15 minutes. As someone who has lived in New York for 35 years I can tell you that Mike Bloomberg is a hundred times better mayor with a hundred percent less of the drama queen stuff.

posted by Jerry Bowles 6:39 PM


Bu$h “Credibility Gap” cuts both ways

April seems an eternity ago in the world of retail politics. That’s when Ted Kennedy, the only senator from Massachusetts who bothers to vote, fired his best shot. Ready Ted accused president Bu$h of having a “credibility gap” greater than the one that knocked Dick Nixon from office in 1972. For some reason the “liberal media” didn’t give the story from “America’s most powerful liberal” any legs. Shortly thereafter, the Swifties started pumping their slime on Kerry’s Vietnam record over the mighty Wurlitzer and we know who has the “credibility gap” now. Kennedy’s broadside didn’t focus on the “war of lies” in Iraq. He kicked Bu$h’s butt up Pennsylvania Ave. on all the issues, and what’s more, the Tedster accused our leader of avoiding “open & candid debate.” Where’s Teddy now? Is he hearing footsteps because he knows all the Texas money behind the Swifties comes from folks who believed that Gen. Edwin Walker was right and never heard a single bullet theory that they didn’t like? If you’re the “intellectual author” of the Kerry strategy, Ted, how ‘bout getting back on message with your “credibility gap” charge... unless Shrum and From find it "too divisive." Bu$h’s “idiot savant” interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer this morning offers an easy target and there will be more tomorrow. Otherwise, time to open your autographed copy of Frank O’Connor’s “The Last Hurrah.”
posted by Groom 5:17 PM


The Luddite Detour On The Way To The Voting Booth: A Modest Proposal

The more I hear and read about touchscreen voting, the push among some swing states for e-voting by overseas troops, the apparent efforts to remove from office or bypass California's Secretary of State before November (given that he recently "decertified" touchscreen voting throughout the state, because it leaves no paper trail for accurate recounts), the more firmly I secure my tinfoil hat onto my noggin.

The fact is, there is a method readily available, inexpensive and low-tech, with a proven history of accuracy for casting and counting votes: Paper ballots. Hand-counted, in a perfectly "transparent" process. Canada -- a country with nearly as many citizens as we have California residents, still uses hand-counted paper ballots exclusively in their federal elections -- and they manage to complete the vote count in a matter of hours.

What's more, there's a bill prepared, but evidently not yet introduced in Congress -- the Federal Paper Ballot Act of 2004 -- that would immediately put these safeguards in place here in the U.S. for the upcoming election.

Last time around, the election hijackers wore black robes. This time, I'm thinking, they'll have ways to keep the count from even getting that close. Ask yourselves this: If we can't trust the vote count, this whole democracy thing really is a sham, isn't it?

posted by Michael 4:01 PM


The Definitive Word on MTV Booing

From the Village Voice:
Biggest Sluts: The Bush twins. After Kerry's conservatively dressed daughters scowlingly delivered their please-vote talking points, the twins, via satellite, repeated same but looked, of course, like they were about to kick off a Girls Gone Wild video. (You can just see it in their beady little eyes.) Incidentally, apparently because they weren't LL Cool J, both sets of ladies were booed.

posted by Jerry Bowles 3:17 PM


Swiftie (non) Surprise

Read this article. If Kerry is going to start punching back, as Jerry suggests, here's a place to start swinging. Also, here, not only a place to swing but more proof of the utter putrescence that is Robert Novak.

Again I raise the (rhetorical) question: why hasn't anyone pointed out in the "liberal" media that there are far clearer, far more plentiful connections between the SBVFT and Bushco than there were between Al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein's Iraq?

posted by Blackdogred 2:34 PM


Flip-Flopper

In a speech to the national convention of the American Legion today, George 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."
posted by Jerry Bowles 12:34 PM


Sliming George Soros

Tavist Smiley had the Newtster on this morning, and with his own particular twist, Gingrich used to occasion to join "Slime Boat Republicans for Sending George Soros to a Concentration Camp." This is all by way of personalizing the “527” non-controversy by evoking the vision of a billionaire, “liberal”, Jewish banker, think “Rothschild,” who is undermining the Fatherland with his internationalist ways. The new moniker, in case you have missed it, goes like this: "George Soros, who is in favor of legalizing heroin."

For me, this is like sliming Mother Teresa. Soros is a personal hero, a throw-back to the days when billionaires were broad-minded, informed and felt a responsibility to use their gains to create a better world. No need to go into all his contributions, but major among them is the fact that as the Soviet empire was collapsing, he used his fortune and influence to pretty much single handedly keep Russian scientists from packing nukes in their bags and heading for places like Baghdad.

Of course, he has been a vocal and generous critic of George Bush, admitting to one interviewer that he would spend every dime he had to guarantee that George Bush not be reelected. But somehow I always believed that he was beyond the reach of Rove and the Slimesters, if only because as a target he is a little too rarified and he has done so much to support the same goals of “freedom” through his Open Society Institute.

But as with all the Big Lies pounded out now, this one has a nugget of reality, if not real truth. In 1994, Soros helped to found the Drug Policy Alliance, whose mission is not to “legalize” heroin or any other drug, but to “decriminalize” certain illegal drugs, like marijuana, and to re-focus the billions of dollars being wasted in the fruitless War on Drugs towards the goal of “harm reduction,” a strategy that by the way has worked successfully in other countries and is way more cost-effective.

Many Republicans, law enforcement officials, and those concerned about fighting an effective war against Islamic jihadists are also coming around to this view as a way of committing greater resources on, of all things, preventing future terrorist attacks. Not to mention, reducing the numbers of non-violent criminals stuffing our prisons.

But naturally, understanding the truth here, and its attendant “nuance,” is far less attractive than branding Soros for pushing drugs to little kids in the playground.
posted by Evelyn 12:04 PM


GOP To Wounded Vets: Go Cheney Yourselves

Republican Convention delegates have been "mocking" John Kerry's Vietnam War wounds (and by extension, those of every other wounded American veteran, ever), "by sporting adhesive bandages with small purple hearts on them."

Come the next terrorist attack (Allah forbid), I hope all Purple Heart recipients, past and present, will choose *not* to assist or defend any of these people; they should be required to defend themselves.

And I think they've now provided the answer to Joseph Welch's rhetorical question put to Sen. Joe McCarthy: No; at long last, they don't have any sense of decency.

posted by Michael 11:22 AM


Stop Whining and Start Punching

Already, the whining starts. The Bushies don't play fair. They distort, they lie, they twist the facts to suit their purposes. They stage elaborate diversions like the Swift Boat nonsense to distract voters from real disasters like Iraq and the economy. They play dirty tricks (as if Farenheit 9/11 were not the mother of all dirty tricks). They don't play nice.

Well, boo hoo. "Fool me once and I won't get fooled again" as the revised famous saying now goes. The Bushs' blood has always been as cold as it is blue. Hillary may only need a village but the princes of Kennebunkport and Crawford believe it can't hurt to have a Willie Horton or two in your back pocket. No serious student of their campaigns should have been surprised by the slime boat slander.

Appealing to the electorate's sense of fair play isn't going to help. The truth is, most voters like a little bare knuckle action in their election campaigns. They perceive Shrub's unhinged combativeness as strength and Kerry's elaborate rationalizatons as weakness.

The election is not slipping out of our grasp because the Republicans are not playing fair, it is slipping away because we have a weak candidate who has painted himself into a corner on the one issue that matters most and has run a cowardly and grossly incompetent campaign.

I know, I know. He's raised more money than any Democrat in history, the crowds are huge, he's hanging even in the polls. But, the money and the crowds would have been there for any Democrat this year. And, frankly, Howard Dean or Wesley Clark would have been leading by 10 points at this stage because they offered a clear, unambiguous alternative to "I would done exactly what he did, only better, even though I know now it was a dumb thing to do."

We got John Kerry because he came to life in the last week of the Iowa campaign when he felt he had nothing to lose and convinced some nice folks with cow shit on their boots that he was the "electable" choice. The rest of us were so anxious to win that we jumped on the bandwagon without taking a hard look at his many weaknesses. The Republicans didn't do that to us, we did it to ourselves.
posted by Jerry Bowles 10:40 AM


Bits and Pieces

race2004.net, which claims to be impartial, has electoral vote estimates as follows,

Bush: 177 Strong: 142 Weak: 35
Kerry: 216 Strong: 190 Weak: 26
Undecided: 145

as of August 30.

Meanwhile, Pepe Escobar writing for Asia Times nails the RNC.

In God, and terror, we trust
Be afraid. Be very afraid. That is the essence of the Republican platform for "four more years" of the president of permanent war. Oh, but don't ask how the "war on terra" is actually going, with the 1,000th US soldier about to die in Iraq, which along with Afghanistan is in chaos; because God, and Karl Rove's dirty tricks, are on George Bush's side.
posted by John 8:31 AM


More Latin bashing from Washington Post

When is the "Hispanic" lobby going to call out the white bread Washington Post for its anti-Hispanic coverage? Until recently, oil-rich Venezuela was the target of its anti-mestizo barbs. But Hugo Chavez beat the Eliot Abrams-backed recall vote fair and square. Now Mexico is looking independently to develop its oil markets and guess who's the new second-class citizen on the block? Today, the town topic is that US experts are certain that Mexico's state oil monopoly (PEMEX)is faking the size of new deposits they have discovered in the Gulf of Mexico. We're talking an estimated 54 billion barrels, folks. That's roughly $2.7 trillion, more than enough to pay off Mexico's foreign debt and to give it a modicum of economic independence. The Post says PANista president Vicente Fox has "blown up the stats rather significantly" for his own political gain. Jeez, I remember having breakfast at the table next to Jim Baker at the Galleria in the Zona Rosa on Election Day 2000 and hearing him hold forth to wonks and wonkettes about all the good things "Vicente" would do for his country.

Of course it's just conventional Beltway wisdom that, unlike American pols, all Mexican politicans are corrupt and will squander the oil profits anyhow... verdad? The subtext being that the US and big oil don't want Mexico working with Venezuela or the Europeans, who are comfortable dealing with state oil giant PEMEX, which was created for the explicit purpose of avoiding the rip-ola from US operators. So what if the PEMEX crew is fudging a few billion barrels. At least they aren't lying about Iraqi WMD and terrorizing a nation into a "war of lies" that will cost the American people a lot more than Mexico's latest oil find.
posted by Groom 3:50 AM


The Horse Whimperer

Well, if we've got to sink lower than the swiftboat bottomfeeders in order to catch those voters yet "undecided" between restoring democracy and oh, let's call it raging kleptocratic incompetence, I think a promising fishing hole can be found on Bush's horse-free "ranch."

Honestly, have you *ever* seen Bush anywhere near Man's Favorite Equine Companion?

You know, "it's been widely reported" that the little drugstore cowboy is askeered (as they say in Texas) of horses. If so, I think we need to "swiftboat this thing along" for a few weeks on television.

I mean, what does it say about the "character" of a "cowboy" -- who's really a Horse Whimperer?

And there ain't but one way Bush can lay this whole thing to rest. Saddle up, pardner!

posted by Michael 1:49 AM


Flog the Zog... 50% believe Bu$h knew in advance of 9/11 attacks

I don't know whether Sir Rudy Giuliani watched "Sieg des Willens" (Triumph of the Will) to get his body language right to praise the Bu$h leadership in front of the cameras. But I do know that a Zogby International poll found that half of the New Yorkers queried believe that some of our leaders "knew in advance" that the Saudi attacks were planned. The poll, conducted August 24 through August 26, also found that 66 percent of those who participated want a new probe of unanswered questions. Hope this ammo isn't "too divisive" for the Great Pontificator, Shrum and From to lock and load with.
posted by Groom 1:04 AM


Well, That Didn't Take Long

The LA Times reports that Governor Schwarzenegger's $350,000 three-day visit to the Republican Convention in New York is being paid by corporations, "including drug companies who oppose health-care related bills that soon will land on his desk." Guess that Terminator schtick's not paying the bills like it used to.

posted by Jerry Bowles 12:05 AM

Monday, August 30, 2004

Raising McCain

Aside from a small dig at Michael Moore, John McCain's speech was remarkably devoid of content and a considerably less effusive endorsement of the Shrubster than might be excepted. Man here just doing his duty with an eye on 2008.
posted by Jerry Bowles 11:44 PM


Outing Schrock

It's not the sex, it's the lying.

Why can't we all just agree that gayness happens--on all sides of the political spectrum--and move this non-issue out of politics?
posted by Jerry Bowles 10:04 PM


CIA-Pentagon "merger" news for Al-Jazeera... not US

It was nice to see former Gotham mayor Ed Crotch do his Yenta schtick at the GOP shindig this morn. Meanwhile, back in the real world, the CIA has kicked up its heels in response to the Kissinger... oops Kean Commission recommendation that says Langley should be integrated into Rummy's Pentagon as second fiddle. No action over at the NY Times on this one. Ditto the Washington Post. But Al Jazeera is all over the story like white on rice. Nice to see that the future of our intelligence capabilities are more important to them than to our "free press." Maybe they should get an MTV award for that.
posted by Groom 8:15 PM


Interesting Dilemma

43, in a rare moment of (unscripted?) candor makes a true statement, saying the war on terror cannot be won.

How to use this statement, politically? Does anyone have any doubts how this statement would be handled by Bush/Rove/Cheney and their cohorts in the media had Kerry been its utterer? Scarborough, Hannity, O'Reilly, et all, would devote whole shows to the question of whether this statement disqualifies Kerry to be commander-in-chief in a war he doesn't think can be won. Bushco speechwriters would make it a prime sound-bite in every speech. How much, if anything, should Kerry make of Bush’s statement.

To me this is one of the major dilemmas of this campaign in particular (and any campaign in general). How do you fight against an opponent who has not only total disregard for the truth but believes he has the moral obligation to lie if necessary to win? On the practical side, to go into the gutter and wrestle with Bushco IS what Bushco wants Kerry to do; anything that distracts voters from focusing on Iraq or the economy or the kleptocratic cronyism that drives this administration's motives is a good distraction. Yet to not fight back is to invite the public to infer that the charges are true or have a tinge of truth. It’s a brilliant damned if you do, damned if you don’t trap. We may find Rovian tactics despicable, but we’d be naive to not think they’re effective.

But I think we on the left are honorably squeamish about setting such reprehensively dishonest traps ourselves. There has been, on this and other blogs, much teeth-gnashing over Kerry’s unwillingness to take the attack to Bushco with body blows and eye gouges, yet I don’t think most of the people urging the fight want that battle to be waged with outright dishonesty (even if the so called liberal media would give us the same play for our lies as they do for the GOPs). I’m sure that Bushco’s supporters would disagree, but I cannot think of any Democratic attack on 43 as disgustingly and transparently false as the SBVFT ads. There is no Democratic Matt Drudge putting up pictures of Bush hugging Cheney and implying homoerotic tendencies between the two. In my prior post I talked about how Dennis Hastert casually throws out the accusation that George Soros might have made his money as a drug lord. Where is the Democratic member of Congress (much less the highest ranking Democrat in Congress) accusing a Republican billionaire of having made his money in the white slave trade? We don’t have one, and that shouldn’t need to be a distinction that needs to be made.

The dilemma posed by Bush’s statement: much of the crucial criticism of 43 has been his deliberate bait and switch with the American public, saying one thing while implementing the opposite - think of the Clean Air Act. It is one thing to say you’re for clean air when standing in front of a microphone, another to go behind shut doors and sign legislation which relaxes regulations on energy companies. Here, when 43 says that we cannot win the war on terror, is a rare moment of intellectual honesty in a remarkably dishonest politician. Isn’t this what we’ve said we’ve wanted out of a president, someone realistic, honest, pragmatic, someone who doesn’t always make statements that will play well with the electorate? Would attacking 43 for this statement be, well, fair?

This is a rhetorical question, to be sure. Of course it’s fair. But if and when Democrats attack 43 over the statement, and that’s making the very tenuous assumption that the media will even make a big deal out of it, you can be sure that the GOP will howl with outrage. The GOP henchmen in the media will attack Kerry for attacking Bush. When it does we need to remember to contrast our sense of fairness with theirs.
posted by Blackdogred 3:33 PM


Meanwhile, under the Column of Truly Important News

Did anyone watch the MTV Music Awards last night? I did not, but did get the important lead (from CNN American Morning, Fox and Friends) supported by Drudge that the Kerry Daughters were booed when they appeared at the show and asked the attendees to vote, and to vote for their dad.

Interestingly, and not reported by either Fox or Drudge, according to the New York Times the Bush twins, straight from their shopping outing with Paris Hilton, were also booed when a videotape of their voting endorsement aired later in the show. Who got the biggest Bronx cheer? According to the Times, "hard to say." The twins are most likely here in New York, no doubt visiting wounded Iraqi war veterans.

This is a critical issue and the truth must be told. Not to doubt Drudge or Fox, but does anyone at BofB actually know what happened?
posted by Evelyn 3:17 PM


Big Democratic Contributors Must be Drug Cartel Overlords

According to Dennis Hastert, George Soros must be. (It's about the third graf down.) He didn't mention that Soros is a Jew, but since they've already done that there's no need to do so again. Not that they won't.

Next graf down there's a story about ritzy GOP dinner party w/some of the famous. What's interesting is that Daryn Kagan, known for her sloppy right-wing partisanship when shaking her ear-nests as anchor on CNN is (a) invited to party and (b) perhaps snuggling (word chosen to help you avoid ugly mental image) w/Rush Limbaugh. Now, she's entitled to have her opinions, to go to parties, and to befriend any demagogue she chooses; what she's not entitled to do is present slanted news as unbiased non-punditry. Oh wait, she works for CNN. I guess she is entitled.

posted by Blackdogred 1:40 PM


Thinking the Unthinkable

With two months to go and the presidential race still too close to call it may be time for those of us who aren’t sure the planet can survive another four years of George W. Bush to consider the ugly possibility that it just might have to.

Sure, there are unknown events that could still tilt the election toward Kerry—an October “Tet” offense in Iraq of the type George Will keeps talking about, a major terrorist attack here at home—but these are not things that sane people want to see happen. Dick Cheney doing the perp walk in handcuffs, sure, but nothing actually bad.

A lot of agnostics are praying for a big Kerry win in the debates but that’s not likely to happen either. The majority of people who will vote for Bush already know he’s not a bright man but they don’t care; he loves Jesus, he’s against abortion, and he can answer a question with a yes or a no. Most Americans don’t know what “nuance” is and certainly can’t spell it, but they know it sounds vaguely French. All Shrub has to do is show up for the debates, deliver his standard one-trick pony line about “making decisions and sticking to them” and he wins. He hasn’t lost a debate so far; there is no reason to think he’s going to start now.

So, let’s think the unthinkable. What would a second Bush term look like?

War and Foreign policy – No new wars. Our military is exhausted, personnel stretched thin, materials depleted. No French, German or Russian troops are going to ride to the rescue—even if Kerry is elected. Iraq, like Afghanistan, is an unwinnable quagmire that will slowly, slowly fade down the memory hole. Bush will get his fig leaf election, his “Karzai,” and then start bringing the troops home. The Shia, Sunnis and Kurds will settle into some kind of uneasy low grade warfare that will go on for the next 500 years or so. Democracy? You’ve got to be joking.

So, the second-term Bushies will rage and shake a stick at Iran and North Korea but the bad guys have seen what we can do in Iraq and they’re not that impressed. The war that was supposed to show the world how tough we are and how we didn’t need no stinking help from nobody has, instead, exposed the limits of the American military. On the war issue, Bush may actually have an advantage over Kerry; he knows it’s hopeless, Kerry, who is now committed to the position that he would have done exactly the same thing, only better, even if he had known in advance that it was going to be a disaster, seems to think he can fix it.

The economy – Those manufacturing jobs are gone and they aren’t coming back, no matter who is president. In a couple of years the workforce will adjust but the days of guaranteed wage, unionized jobs with decent health benefits are a thing of the past. A new high tech boom should get the market humming in time for the 2008 cycle if Greenspan doesn’t kill the recovery with interest rate increases.

More tax cuts? No way. Congressional gridlock is the flavor of the year.

People – I suspect a second Bush term might see some kinder, gentler faces. Wolfowitz and Feith and Scooter Libby are history, probably Rumsfeld too. Defense is an excellent place for McCain although it gives the Dems a chance to tear him down a bit before he and Hillary duke it out in 2008. Armitage is out and so is his boss Colin Powell. (Condi may get that job on the old corporate theory that the best way to get rid of an incompetent is to promote him or her). Minetta and Thompson and that awful woman at Energy will probably be replaced. With any luck, Dick Cheney’s pacemaker will malfunction sometime in the next four years.

Domestic affairs – Lots of children left behind, lots of money poured down the Star Wars rat hole, scientific panels stuffed with religious nuts, more Americans living in poverty and without medical insurance.

The major danger of a second Bush term is the Supreme Court. Four of the justices are over 70 and a couple of them are frail. The opportunity to further “conservatize” the court for decades to come will almost certainly arise.

In fact, look for a couple of the Radical Right justices to retire right after the Ohio recount is finished and the Kerry vs. Bush suit is settled in favor of you know who.
posted by Jerry Bowles 9:52 AM


Our political system is broke in more ways than one

Yesterday the New York Times called for the abolition of the Electoral College and direct election of the president by popular vote. That requires a constitutional amendment. In another pre-GOP convention "surprise" legislators in California announced plans to “un-front load” their primary election back into June… an eternity in retail politics. Thumbing their nose at the "Super Tuesday" states, California's move could radically change the presidential nomination process. No more “anointed” candidates. From coverage so far, “consultants” and “experts” aren’t too excited about the possibility that citizens might actually “take back America” from the likes of Terry McAuliffe, Obersturmbannfuehrer Rove and, of course, themselves.

Howard Dean should be front and center on these issues. If Al Gore wants change, he should weigh in too. Ditto the folks at MoveOn. But will the Kerry minders in the form of schlamiels like From and Shrum get in the way? Moderate Republicans who just might lie about their presidential vote (if election not postponed) ought to make their voices known. But these aren’t “grass roots” issues. They are trickling down from the top instead of percolating up from what’s left of the “body politic.” Could Phyllis Schafly be right about agents of the “global economy” trying to amend the US Constitution?
posted by Groom 5:22 AM


Imagining Bush

Found myself thinking about last night was all the talk about once Bush makes up his mind he doesn't waver. Just like a broken clock, I thought. May be right twice a day, but the rest of the time he is always dead wrong.
posted by John 12:37 AM


Larry Who? (Continued)

From the NY Times:

Although he was involved with Middle East policy, a defense official said Sunday that he had no impact on United States policy and few dealings with senior Pentagon officials, including the deputy defense secretary, Paul D. Wolfowitz.

At one point in the run-up to the Iraq war in early 2003, Mr. Franklin was brought in to help arrange meetings between Mr. Wolfowitz and Shiite and Sunni clerics across the United States, a defense official said. But he was never regarded as an influential figure.

"He was at the bottom of the food chain, at the grunt level," a senior defense official said. Another defense official said Mr. Franklin "had a certain expertise and had access to things, but he wasn't a policy maker."
From the LA Times:
"You're not talking about someone toiling away in the bowels of the U.S. government," said a former Pentagon official who worked for Feith until last year and spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Franklin was the go-to guy on Iran issues for Wolfowitz and Feith."
From the Washington Post:
...foreign policy specialists said they were skeptical that the pro-Israel group under FBI scrutiny, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, would jeopardize its work with classified documents from a midlevel bureaucrat when it could find out almost anything it wanted to by calling top officials in the Bush administration.

posted by Jerry Bowles 12:20 AM

Sunday, August 29, 2004

In a Nutshell

"I massively want Bush to lose, but I don't like Kerry." - Kurt Trachte, 47, a construction worker from St. Charles, Mo., quoted by Knight Ridder.
posted by Jerry Bowles 5:36 PM


Born on the Fourth of You-Lie

It's great when you're president and can have your front men do all the lying as with the Swifties, then, martial your best shot of disingenuousness and tell NBC that John Kerry was a bigger hero than you were. Your hero is bigger than my hero? Does Morgan Fairchild know for sure?


posted by Groom 4:34 PM


Larry Who?

From the LA Times:
A Pentagon statement released Friday characterized Franklin as a "desk officer" with no significant influence on U.S. policy. Yet some who have worked with him offer a different picture, saying he was very influential in high-level Pentagon policy debates.

"You're not talking about someone toiling away in the bowels of the U.S. government," said a former Pentagon official who worked for Feith until last year and s