Thursday, September 30, 2004
Debate Reaction - What exactly is the 'Global Test'?
I thought Kerry did as good a job as his constantly shifting positions would allow. His 'tan', newly whitened teeth and manicure all looked good. And Bush refrained from calling him a "wrinkle-tard" (ref: Conan O'Brien).
InstaPress reaction will be that Kerry edged Bush. But I think the Bush strategy was much craftier than that of the Kerry camp. Kerry was speaking to the mainstream press, trying to cement his positions after making so many, divergent statements. At that, he did reasonably well. But his content was vastly inferior to that of the president.
In contrast, President Bush was speaking to the people, hammering home the point that Kerry is an equivocator and that in this, the nuclear age of terrorism, equivocation equals catastrophe.
The reaction will come two, three, four days out as the messages are digested. People will remember three things about the debate: Kerry's ultra-bright teeth, Kerry's comment regarding pre-emptive attack... provided it passed the 'global test' (big mistake), and Kerry's return to a nuclear freeze (another monumental error).
The 'global test' will not pass the 'smell test' for most Americans. Nor will unilaterally stopping development of weapons system. So... Kerry goes full circle, returning to his anti-Reagan roots instinctually, promising to unilaterally stop development of necessary weapons system.
John Kerry... I don't like you, because you're gonna get me killed.
Jonah Goldberg: "WHY Does Kerry keep saying we didn't secure Saddam's nuclear facilities if he thinks he didn't have any?"
InstaPundit: Bush is hitting Kerry on North Korea, contrasting the Clintonian bilateral strategy with his own multilateral strategy -- see, he can bring in allies! "Now there are 5 voices speaking to Kim Jong-Il." Kerry straddles in response to a Lehrer followup: I want both bilateral and multilateral talks!
Hugh Hewitt: Biggest mistake by Kerry: "The Global Test." The FoxNews panel agrees: "Global Test" is the takeaway. On substance, Kerry wants appeasement of North Korea and Iran, gloablization of conflict resolution, and a summit. Bush wants to take the war to the terrorists. Kerry wants meetings... tomorrow and for 30+ days I'll be playing the 'global test' clip, because it was the window into Kerry's soul, and Bush immediately rejected it because Bush wants nothing of it. As I wrote below: Game, set, match.
DJ Drummond: Now I know Kerry does not respect the voters, he actually denied ever wavering or being equivocal. He brought up domestic issues again. FUMBLE??? Did Kerry just say he would STOP US development of Nuclear Weapons UNILATERALLY, in order to stop proliferation?
Kerry tied in Knots by Diane Sawyer
 How hard can it be to tie John Kerry in knots over Iraq if even Diane Sawyer can do it? Consider this exchange, as reproduced by PoliPundit:
There's little need to analyze this exchange-- the real story is Kerry's inability, after all this time, to sound coherent on Iraq, and his testiness when a relatively friendly journalist asks for straight answers. But there is another story. Kerry is now claiming that there "absolutely" were ways to "get rid" of Saddam without the U.S. going to war with him. And it is through this claim, apparently, that Kerry intends to argue that it was not worth it to go war, while avoiding a concession that he prefers having Saddam in power to the present situation. Sawyer did not ask Kerry how we could have toppled Saddam without taking him on militarily (why should she have; she was already trouncing him?). If she had asked, Kerry might have responded that eventually the U.S. could have taken him on with a broader coalition, as if (a) France would ever have joined us and (b) having a few Frenchmen on the ground would make the present situation materially different. In any event should Kerry's statement to Sawyer become his latest position on Iraq, he might as well throw in the towel. In the current environment, I can't conceive of Americans electing a president that prone to ducking hard choices through wishful, if not delusional, thinking. |
Kerry tied in Knots by Diane Sawyer
Tina Brown gets Antsy
Captain's Quarters reports that Tina Brown is getting antsy...
Former magazine publisher Tina Brown writes in her Washington Post column today that Democrats have tired of hearing what a great closer John Kerry is, and wants the closing to start now rather than later:
I've thought about this reputation Kerry has garnered as some fourth-quarter genius who outlasts his opponents and scores a last-minute victory, but I'm not buying it, and it looks like Brown isn't either. He's won four terms in the Senate and a term as lieutenant governor in highly liberal Massachusetts as Ted Kennedy's protege. Really, how difficult is that to do? The wonder is that he had to come from behind at all, even against William Weld. |
Captain's Quarters: Tina's getting Antsy
Links o' the Day
Kerry concedes Missouri, Florida next?
Gallup reports Bush leads Florida by 9 points
'Enthusiasm gap' threatens Dems
Watch for 'the race is tightening', after the debates
MIT determines that all 6 billion people on the planet are descended from one man who lived 3,500 years ago
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Hamas in America
Is this the same Hamas that was funded by Saddam Hussein? Uhmm... that would be 'yes'.
| On August 20, two suspected high-level Hamas operatives, Mohammed Salah and Abdelhaleem Ashqar, were detained on American soil and charged with providing material support to Hamas, racketeering, and money laundering.
That same day, accused Hamas money man Ismail Elbarasse was arrested after authorities witnessed his wife videotaping Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge from their SUV as Mr. Elbarasse drove. The images captured by Mr. Elbarasse's wife included close-ups of cables and other features "integral to the structural integrity of the bridge," according to court papers. Given that Mr. Elbarasse was recently announced as an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to finance Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, you'd think the Bay Bridge incident would raise serious alarms. |
Hamas in America
I just received a letter from Terry McCauliffe!
Okay, it was a mass emailing based upon a signup I did many months ago. Here's the text of the email with my comments in bold.
| Our mission right now -- yours and mine -- is to make sure John Kerry, John Edwards, and all our Democratic candidates have the support they need to win on November 2. That's why we need you to flood Democratic Party headquarters with a history-making outpouring of financial support between now and our critical September 30th deadline... What, did George Soros pull the plug on this disastrous mess? Why should I contribute when you've got a billionaire on the hook?
Are you sick of seeing the Republicans tell bold-faced lies about John Kerry's military record? You mean like 'Christmas in Cambodia'? The CIA man and the magic hat? Or the rice-bin purple heart? Or the rejected first purple heart application that somehow magically got sent in and approved weeks later? Could you elaborate on which of those are lies, just for my own edification? Are you angry at Cheney, Hastert, and all the rest who keep implying that voting for Kerry leaves America more open to terrorist attacks? Well, don't take their word for it. You can ask the (link) Mullahs, Ayatollahs, terrorists, rogue nations, and other radicals... they're happily endorsing John Kerry. Why would they, unless they could further their agenda? Or have they been frightened into submission by the 'great equivocator'? Have you had it up to here with Bush turning a blind eye to the reality in Iraq? What, that we've collected a bunch of terrorists in one place so we can kill them more easily, rather than having them scattered to the four winds planning attacks in Peoria? Does your blood boil when you see Bush and his administration ignore the hardship caused by the jobs they've lost and the health care crisis they haven't lifted a finger to solve? No, my blood boils when partisan stooges casually ignore events like 9/11, which were the result of repeatedly failed Clintonian policies, and which destroyed a million jobs in a matter of weeks. Or ignore the true health-care crisis: frivolous lawsuits against the medical community by unethical trial lawyers. Well this is it. It's our moment to give John Kerry, John Edwards, and all our Democratic candidates the all-out, no-holds-barred support they need to drive on to victory. Yes, this is it. My wife has some more Instant Tanning lotion your candidates can use. Will that help towards a victory? Let the Republicans know that we're not going to take it anymore. Contribute by our urgent September 30 fundraising deadline...Do you know of I way I can donate lotion online? ...Have you heard all the talk about how "relentless" our Republican opponents are? Well, they don't know the meaning of the word. We'll show them what happens when a slew of right-thinking Democrats fight back. 'Right' thinking? No, no, no, not a faux pas in a fundraising letter! Oh Jeez, what will Colmes think! And don't forget to join Paul Begala and James Carville on September 30th at 8 p.m. ET as they host the National Debate Watch House Party conference call. They'll tell you how to push back against Karl Rove's spin and how you can help win the debate for John Kerry. It all comes down to you and what you do to help John Kerry... Can't you just see Carville and Begala high-fiving each other in the backroom, watching a day-glo Orange Kerry... 'John, this Instatan lotion will really help! You look a little wan, take the whole bottle... scuze me, I've gotta make a phone call... [dials Hillary while walking away]... [whispering]... Hill, looks like we got this thing wrapped up. He looks like the Tropicana Logo... talk to ya...' Let's tell them to get out of our way. October's almost here and we've come to take our country back. Act now to make these last three days of September a turning point in this campaign. Send the biggest donation you've ever sent -- and send it right now. Will do, my 64 oz. bottle of lotion is on the way! |
Links o' the Day
Rudy Guiliani: Unveils Debate Briefing Book
Frontpage: Is Islam Tolerant?
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Arrests made in Plutonium Black Market
 Authorities in Kyrgyzstan say they have arrested two men who were trying to sell a large quantity of plutonium on the black market. The men were detained last week near the capital, Bishkek, but the news was not immediately released...
The national security service in the remote mountainous republic says it arrested two Kyrgyz citizens and confiscated 60 small containers containing plutonium-239. There is no information on exactly what quantity of plutonium was in the containers. Kyrgyz security agents tracked the men who were attempting to sell the plutonium and arrested them while posing as buyers. The origin of the material is unknown. Security officials say it is not used in Kyrgyzstan, so they think it may have come from one of the neighbouring republics or from Russia... |
Black-Market Plutonium Dealers Arrested In Kyrgyzstan
O'Reilly: the Bush Interview
 President Bush's interview with Bill O'Reilly tonight was a great exchange. O'Reilly asked pointed questions -- tough questions. The president answered them with confidence and conviction.
This contrasts with Kerry who has not sat for an extended interview, or even a short interview, on camera with a journalist since August 1. Kerry cannot do so because he cannot answerer the questions without colliding with himself. So its Letterman, Dr. Phil and Jon Stewart. Some Commander-in-Chief, who won't even risk a meeting with Bill O'Reilly. "[Kerry's] habit of soliciting one more point of view prompted one close adviser to say he had learned to wait until the last minute before weighing in: Mr. Kerry, he said, is apt to be most influenced by the last person who has his ear. His aides rejoiced earlier this year when Mr. Kerry yielded his cell phone to an aide, a move they hoped would limit his seeking out contrary opinions." --Sunday's New York Times on John Kerry. The last person to talk to Kerry will usually be Theresa or Teddy Kennedy. Really. So be sure to read what Teddy had to say at George Washington University yesterday. Kerry's collapse must be across the board to allow the aging lion of the incoherent left to come out and growl. Kennedy is Kerry's mentor. Kennedy will be the decisive voice on foreign affairs. America is fully warned as to what that means by reading through the remarks Kennedy gave yesterday. |
Hugh Hewitt on Bush @ O'Reilly
Kennedy says Bush makes U.S. more vulnerable to nuclear attack
From, you guessed it, the AP:
| The Bush administration's failure to shut down al-Qaida and rebuild Iraq have fueled the insurgency and made the United States more vulnerable to a nuclear attack by terrorists, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said Sunday.
In a speech prepared for delivery at George Washington University on Monday, Kennedy said that by shifting attention from Osama bin Laden to Iraq, Bush has increased the danger of a ''nuclear 9/11.'' ''The war in Iraq has made the mushroom cloud more likely, not less likely,'' he said in the remarks released late Sunday... ...Kennedy's Monday speech details 13 reasons why Bush's policies have not made the United States safer from terrorism. Among other things, he said the war in Iraq created a new breeding ground for terrorists, distracted from efforts to eliminate al-Qaida, alienated America's allies and allowed North Korea and Iran to pursue nuclear weapons. |
Suprisingly, Kennedy made no mention of Madeline Albright's brilliant 1994 negotation techniques with the North Koreans or Jimmy Carter's failure to support the Shah of Iran, which resulted in the current Iranian government.
Kennedy on...
The Narcissist
 It isn’t hard to see, or hear. All one has to do is listen to John Kerry for a bit. His every word drips of it. It emanates from his every action. John Kerry is arrogant. This has never been more obvious than in his recent remarks about Iraq in the face of Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s speech to a joint session of Congress. John Kerry essentially said that the prime minister didn’t know what he was talking about and that he, John Kerry, did.
We’ve heard about Kerry’s legendary elitism. We’ve heard the stories of him bucking lines in small town Massachusetts, chastising those he usurped with a flippant, ''Don’t you know who I am?'' We’ve read accounts of him demeaning Secret Service agents for his lack of balance on his snowboard: ''I don’t fall down. That son-of-a-bitch knocked me over.'' It’s clear that he believes he is above the Everyman. Better than the Everyman. Superior to the Everyman. He is an elitist. He is a narcissist. All of this pales in comparison to the statements he made directly after the speech to Congress by Prime Minister Allawi... |
The Narcissist
Halliburton... Fannie Mae
 It was John Kerry’s very own idea recently to begin popping the Bush-Cheney team over Halliburton, lifting a theme from the playbook of Howard Dean. Fate has now handed the Bush campaign a rejoinder: Fannie Mae.
Beneficiaries of alleged book-cooking by the federally-sponsored housing colossus include: Jim Johnson, who ran Mr. Kerry’s vice presidential search process and is a former Fannie CEO; Jamie Gorelick, former Clinton Justice Department official and partisan member of the 9/11 commission who formerly served as Fannie’s Vice Chairman; and, most of all Franklin Raines, former Clinton budget director and the politically oleaginous current Fannie CEO who has been touted in recent months as a Kerry Treasury Secretary... |
Halliburton... Fannie Mae
PoliPundit's Quote of the Day
“Day One of [Kerry’s] presidency, every child in America will have health care. Period.”
- Teresa Heinz. Would someone please explain to Queen Teresa that, unlike her butlers, the US Congress isn’t at her beck and call?
Links o' the Day
John Kerry has already lost the first debate
New York Times: Nuclear Nightmare
Democrats at it again: If it isn't close, they can't cheat
John Kerry's Health Plan: Nope
MSN: Plans: Next, War on Syria?
Belgravia Dispatch: Maureen Dowd, Marionette
Listen: The ultimate John Kerry Ad
MadTV: Presidential Debates
Bumperstickers:
Monday, September 27, 2004
Allawi KO's Kerry
 Thank you, Prime Minister, for thanking us and giving us an eye-witnessed, favorable report. We sure aren’t getting either gratitude or an unbiased picture from CBS, NBC or ABC.
These three nutworks, TV’s Axis of Drivel, run negative reports on Abu Ghraib prison cruelty, on American soldiers’ death tolls, on terrorist beheadings of relief workers and on the insurgents in just three of Iraq’s 18 provinces... Think about it, skeptics: Iraq will have free elections for the first time in its history. For more than 80 years there was been no such thing as a free vote... For nearly 30 years Saddam was the only person on the ballot … and you voted, if you valued your life. The last time he “ran” for President, a couple of years ago, Saddam received 99.6% of the vote... ...During his reign of terror if you spoke out against Saddam, you could count on being sodomized, having your tongue cut off or watching your teenaged daughter gang raped by Udai and Qusai … or perhaps a combination of the above. Now, that’s not a problem, with Saddam festering in jail and his boys roasting in hell. It was refreshing to get Allawi’s take on the insurgencies in Iraq. He views the terrorists’ flurry of activity not as a sign of strength, but of desperation. They are upping their attacks in a few provinces to derail the coming elections in the US and later in Iraq … kind of like John Kerry trying anything and everything as he tries to salvage his shipwrecked campaign... |
Doug Giles: Allawi KO's Kerry
Battling for Iraq
General David H. Petraeus weighs in on progress in Iraq:
| Helping organize, train and equip nearly a quarter-million of Iraq's security forces is a daunting task. Doing so in the middle of a tough insurgency increases the challenge enormously, making the mission akin to repairing an aircraft while in flight -- and while being shot at. Now, however, 18 months after entering Iraq, I see tangible progress. Iraqi security elements are being rebuilt from the ground up.
The institutions that oversee them are being reestablished from the top down. And Iraqi leaders are stepping forward, leading their country and their security forces courageously in the face of an enemy that has shown a willingness to do anything to disrupt the establishment of the new Iraq... ...there are reasons for optimism. Today approximately 164,000 Iraqi police and soldiers (of which about 100,000 are trained and equipped) and an additional 74,000 facility protection forces are performing a wide variety of security missions. Equipment is being delivered. Training is on track and increasing in capacity. Infrastructure is being repaired. Command and control structures and institutions are being reestablished... Most important, Iraqi security forces are in the fight... With strong Iraqi leaders out front and with continued coalition -- and now NATO -- support, this trend will continue. It will not be easy, but few worthwhile things are. |
Battling for Iraq
New York Times on Kerry's Leadership Habits
Even the Times is coming down hard on Kerry's tendency to dither, relying upon heavy analysis before decisions are actually made. And the last person to have his ear may, in fact, influence the outcome. Makes you wonder what Theresa Heinz-Kerry's agenda may be...
| ...Kerry is a meticulous, deliberative decision maker, always demanding more information, calling around for advice, reading another document - acting, in short, as if he were still the Massachusetts prosecutor boning up for a case...
...the downside to his deliberative executive style, [his staff] said, is a campaign that has often moved slowly against a swift opponent, and a candidate who has struggled to synthesize the information he sweeps up into a clear, concise case against Mr. Bush. Even his aides concede that Mr. Kerry can be slow in taking action, bogged down in the very details he is so intent on collecting, as suggested by the fact that he never even used the Medicare information he sent his staff chasing... ...His habit of soliciting one more point of view prompted one close adviser to say he had learned to wait until the last minute before weighing in: Mr. Kerry, he said, is apt to be most influenced by the last person who has his ear... |
NYT: Kerry as the Boss: Always More Questions
Former Prime Minister of Spain: Terror Attacks on the Way
Important predictions from someone who's been there.
| Former Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, spoke at breakfast Friday morning at AEI and predicted three spectacular terrorist events in the near future. First, a major destructive action in the United States before election day on November 2, possibly during the last 72 hours, for massive effect in causing confusion and commotion. Second, a dramatic escalation of action in Iraq leading up to November 2, and again in late December and early January to head off the Iraqi election at the end of January. Third, a spectacular attack in the United Kingdom next May to disrupt the re-election campaign of PM Tony Blair.
Aznar's main subject was the serious gap between European elites (and even European popular opinion) and the United States. This gap originated before Bush and it will continue for many years to come. But Americans need seriously to reach out to Europeans, assisting and encouraging our friends (not only fair-weather friends, but friends in difficult times), and making clear to others that gratuitous obstructionism toward the United States is not cost-free. |
Former Prime Minister of Spain: Terror Attacks on the Way
Mark Hatfield Endorses President Bush
From Powerline:
| Kerry's band of brothers brought to mind his fellow liberal-pacificsts in the Senate, such as Mark Hatfield of Oregon who boasts: "I was the only senator who voted against both the Democrat and Republican resolutions authorizing the use of force in the 1991 Gulf War. In my final years in the Senate, I opposed President Clinton's decision to send American troops to Bosnia. During my 30 years in the Senate, I never once voted in favor of a military appropriations bill."
But guess what? Mark Hatfield has endorsed President Bush. Hatfield explains: "My support is based on the fact that our world changed on Sept. 11, 2001, a day on which we lost more American lives than we did in the attack on Pearl Harbor. I know from my service in the Senate that Saddam Hussein was an active supporter of terrorism. He used weapons of mass destruction on innocent people and left no doubt that he would do so again. It was crucial to the cause of world peace that he be removed from power. Having seen atrocious loss in World War II, I understand the devastation of armed conflict. We have paid dearly with American and Iraqi lives for our commitment, but we cannot afford the alternative. Nor can we afford a president who puts a wet finger in the air and turns over his decisions to pollsters." |
How Barney Frank Helped the 9/11 Hijackers
 I have just finished reading the 500-page ''9/11 Commission Report,'' and what becomes quite apparent is that the weakest link in our antiterrorism defense system prior to 9/11 was the Immigration and Naturalization Service...
...It was so weak that it became a revolving door for al Qaeda sleeper terrorists who were issued visas that permitted them to come and go as they pleased. And the one man responsible for creating this revolving door was Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, whose 1989 Frank Amendment to INS procedures paved the way for the 19 hijackers to freely enter this country, take flying lessons, and quietly prepare for their deadly attack with no notice from our intelligence agencies... ...Thanks to Barney Frank, there was no way that the U.S. government could keep these sleeper members of al Qaeda out. Nor could they be tracked after arrival. They came with a lot of money, rented cars and apartments, took flying lessons, worked out at gyms, and took transcontinental flights to familiarize themselves with the interiors of the planes they would be hijacking and the routines of the pilots and cabin attendants. |
How Barney Frank Helped the 9/11 Hijackers
Beldar's Challenge to the Media, re: SwiftVets
 My lawyer readers will immediately recognize this as an invitation to Kerry supporters to make a motion for partial summary judgment on the SwiftVets' claims...
Hence my challenge for the weekend to my readers - you're probably a minority, as these things go, but I know from my comments pages that you're out there - who may agree with the NYT or Mr. Sullivan: Can you identify even one specific and material SwiftVets allegation that you believe to have been fully "debunked" or fully proven to be "unsubstantiated"? A challenge to those who claim that the SwiftVets' allegations have been "debunked" or are "unsubstantiated" |
What's John Kerry been doing for the last 20 years?
 During Candidate John Kerry’s quest for the Presidency he has brought up many topics. He’s told us about his service in Vietnam. He tells us he can do a better job against Terrorism and that he has a plan to recruit reluctant allies to help out in Iraq.
What we have not heard enough of is Senator Kerry tell us what he has been doing for the past 20 years. John Kerry was elected to the United States Senate in 1984. He sat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence between 1993 and 2000. John Kerry has had 20 years to make a difference as a Washington insider, yet he spends little time on the campaign trail discussing what he’s done for two decades. Instead he chooses to focus on his record in Vietnam and regularly attacks the current administration without offering specific solutions of his own. Why won't John Kerry talk more about his Senate record as proof of his qualifications? His voting record in the Senate and public statements contradict his current positions on Iraq, Terrorism, and the Economy, the three most important topics to voters... |
KerrySenate.com
Around the Web
Chicago Tribune: Kerry's looking for American failure -- and he's it
New York Times: Quick. Change the Brand. In Five Weeks.
Weekly Standard: Dan Rather's Day of Reckoning
Terrorism solution: 1-way ticket to paradise
UK Police Arrest Four in ‘Dirty Bomb Plot’
German trader suspected of selling nuclear detonators to Iran
Hamas leader killed in Syria by Car Bomb
Lt. Bush volunteered to fly F-102's in Vietnam
OpinionJournal: The Last Two Weeks in Iraq
Lokisfur: If a man with a gun is pointing it at a cop and he refuses to drop the gun after oh say 14 UN resolutions... and the cop shoots him... and then the cop finds out that the gun was not loaded... does that mean the cop was a liar about the threat. Of course not.
I've got you my pretty!
...And your little dog too!
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Iraq, Iran and WMD's
In the final report from the Iraq Survey Group, a team of weapons inspectors in Iraq determined that Saddam Hussein had no WMD stockpiles at the time of the US invasion, but that Iraq had plans in place to produce them as soon as economic and military sanctions were lifted.
An Iraqi nuclear scientist's new book details how Saddam hid his nuclear secrets and the dictator's plans to control the Middle East with his nukes. What happened to this 'nuclear knowledge'? An answer probably lies in the fact that Syria is negotiating with Iran to send Iraqi nuclear-weapons scientists to Teheran. In conjunction with Iran's newly deployed strategic missiles, said nuclear warheads reportedly could hit London.
John Kerry's Accomplishments
In response to a question from B, I decided to research John Kerry's record and accomplishments. We know that he is the Senate's most liberal member (more liberal than both Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy). We know that he has voted against funding virtually every important defense and intelligence program, including one so "reckless that it had no co-sponsors".
So what exactly are John Kerry's accomplishments? I couldn't easily find a list on the web, for reasons that will become readily apparent, so I checked his official Senate web site. What I found was a tad... uhmmm... frightening.
Over his entire Senate career spanning two decades, John Kerry lists 25 major accomplishments. No signature legislation. No major bills sponsored or co-sponsored. Apparently, though, he did miss a lot of Intelligence meetings. Nonetheless, here are some of the highlights of John Kerry's career, according to his own Senate web site:
2002
- Massachusetts Telecommunications Council "Policy Maker of the Year"
2001
- Visiting Nurse Association of America's "Legislator of the Year"
- Gerry Studds Stewardship Award from the Boston Harbor Island Alliance for his work to preserve the Boston Harbor Islands
2000
- Massachusetts Association of Home Health Care's "Legislator of the Year"
1999
- Friends of the Public Garden's "Henry Lee Award" for efforts to preserve Boston's green spaces
1998
- Assumption College's "Presidential Medal"
1996
- Armenian Assembly of America's Award for service and commitment to the Armenian people.
1993
- Tri-Community Chamber of Commerce George B. Wells Award for leadership in tourism
1988
- Commencement speaker for Umass/Boston 20th Commencement UMass Boston Honorary Degree
- Brockton Little League's "Appreciation Award" March 7, 1988 for work with special needs division
A tad frightening, no? A Brockton, Massachusetts Little League award is one of his 25 signature accomplishments in a 20 year Senate career? These are the finest accomplishments of a man who would be president? The hair is standing up on the back of my neck.
John Kerry's Accomplishments
An Email Conversation - continued
Here's the email conversation from yesterday, continued.
> I appreciate your effort to provide an academic feel to your rhetoric
> through citations. That might be another difference between us. I don't
> care to spend my time creating citations that I can provide for each of
> my points. These are opinions; not facts. In fact, I think you'd be
> hard pressed to separarate the facts from the fiction in these
> discussions. Too much rhetoric and too little truth....it's an amazing
> time to be alive.
While it is easy to smear the citations themselves as rhetoric, they are not. Did party A meet with party B? Did party C cast a vote against legislation D? I'm guessing that close to 100% of my citations point to facts. Now, ascertaining what those facts mean -- I would agree -- are subjective. But the citations themselves are, almost entirely, related to fact... while their interpretation consists of opinion. But at least my opinions are built upon fact. I would ask you to point to _any_ of my citations that is, of itself, rhetoric or opinion.
> I don't have the sense of paranoia, panic, etc that you appear to have
> because I don't think that we're in the ultimate struggle for the
> survival of western civilization...
This is obviously my opinion, but I completely disagree. For all of human history, marshalling the forces necessary to destroy a city required raising an army, feeding it, supplying it, transporting it, and providing for its logistics. Only then could a city be leveled and its residents killed, dispersed or sold into slavery. History is replete with examples of wanton barbarism of this type, from the Mongol hordes to present day Darfur.
Today, leveling a city requires only acquiring, positioning, and detonating a suitcase-sized package. Further, the primary actors are no longer nation-states that fear massive reprisals (the Mutual Assured Destruction doctrine of the Cold War). Instead we must now deal with suicidal extremists who believe that their ascent into heaven will be accelerated by killing infidels.
Contention #1: At the intersection of these two trends -- availability of highly portable, massively destructive war machines and suicidal religious extremists -- lies a not insignificant probability of a worst-case scenario as described in the book _EndGame_.
Contention #2: If NYC and DC were vaporized tomorrow, our economic and governmental infrastructures would be devastated. Medicare, Social Security, welfare, and untold other Federal systems would stop printing checks. Brokerage accounts would be, at a minimum inaccessible for weeks, if not months. Tens of millions of jobs would instantly disappear. The best case scenario in this eventuality would be a depression. End of civilization? I don't know, but it's close enough for my tastes.
Now, which of these contentions is invalid? Subject matter experts who are paid to simulate and hypothesize on topics such as these are rightfully concerned. So am I.
> If I thought the struggle was that critical I'd not be talking about
> it; I'd be doing something about it.
And some of us are.
> These are opinions, as are yours,
> no matter how many cites you care to give me. I can find a source for
> any opinion I care to take. That's one of the interesting things about
> this election.
Again, please point to a single citation of opinion and not fact.
> 1) We are not at war in the traditional sense. Yes we were when we
> invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. We aren't in the "war on terror"TM. Iraq
> was done without a plan, based upon false information, for the wrong
> reasons, and at the very least at the wrong time.
Now we've got some rhetoric! I let the results (and the facts) speak for themselves. Since the hostilities began:
- The AQ Kahn Nuclear Parts Network, possibly the most ominous threat to world peace on the planet, has been destroyed. Part of the war on terror? I think so.
- Libya has re-entered the world community and shed its WMD aspirations. Part of the war on terror? I think so.
- Afghanistan, formerly home to one of the most brutal regimes (the Taliban) in modern history, is poised to hold national elections next month
- Iraq, formerly a home to Abu Abbas, Abu Nidal, a Boeing 707 used to train hijackers, Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al Islam, and which funded Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups is now poised to become a secular Democracy. Despite the bleak picture you see from the MSM in select cities, 15 of 18 provinces could hold elections tomorrow (ref: Allawi). And that accounts for 75% of the population. Need proof? Check the ever-increasing Iraq Blog Count. More and more Iraqis are blogging, not fighting.
These are facts. Not rhetoric.
> 2) Yes, there is a struggle and yes it's important, but casting it in
> the light of "war" is the wrong way to view it. We won't win treating
> it like "war". Nor would we win if we treat it like a criminal/police
> event either. We need a new way to look at it. It certainly isn't a
> threat to western civilization as we know it.
The enemy is treating it like a war. And my two contentions above, which I personally believe are true, indicate that -- indeed -- this war is a threat to our basic way of life.
> This needs to be addressed with a long view as I've stated numerous
> times in our discussions. It requires that we change the way we live
> (true energy independence) which is a lot more difficult than sending
> our troops abroad to die without a plan to win the peace (or the
> long-term struggle).
That's all fine, you're saying 'we need to fix the system'. Agreed. But to fix the system, you must have a system to fix. There won't be a system to fix if NYC and DC go up in mushroom clouds. Or it won't be a system we recognize. Perhaps you don't mind that scenario. I do.
> 3) Both candidates from the major parties involved in this coming
> election are pathetic. Bush has shown his inability to unite, lead and
> bring effective change during his four years. His cabinet is rife with
> cronyism and they have skewed views on what this country should be going
> forward.
I don't dispute that both candidates are sub-optimal. But skewering folks like Colin Powell and Condi Rice, who seem to me to be both honorable, ethical and intelligent, does nobody any good.
> Kerry is a lame offering that is an embarrasment. I cut him more
> slack than you because I understand that when he is attacked it's only
> half of the story. This is particularly true with respect to his voting
> record.
Yes, Kerry is an embarrassment. Joe Lieberman? Sure, I could get behind him. And, yes, John Kerry's voting record is egregious. Watch for a later post regarding his accomplishments. There's nothing to dissect in his record because, according to his own Senate web site, three of the 25 most important accomplishments of his career are:
- Gerry Studds Stewardship Award from the Boston Harbor Island Alliance for his work to preserve the Boston Harbor Islands
- Friends of the Public Garden's "Henry Lee Award" for efforts to preserve Boston's green spaces
- Brockton Little League's "Appreciation Award" for work with special needs division
The man is an empty suit and there is no positive half to his Senate record. In fact, I promise to highlight on my blog any keystone legislation he sponsored, any single act that made a difference to the United States.
> 4) There is a lot of noise and very little truth out there. If you go
> in with bias (and I have mine...see #1, #2, & #3) you can find a source
> that will support you. You can always discount the information you get
> that doesn't match your view so that you can avoid the discomfort of
> having to change said view (and perhaps your behavior). Sure, I can
> cite links that support my view. However, most of those links would be
> opinions which you would discount because they can always be said to
> come from the liberal media. And we know they are out to get us and
> turn the country to communism.
I return to my citations. Please find a citation that does not refer to a fact and instead references an opinion or judgment. And speaking of the media, a peer-reviewed academic study entitled A Measure of Media Bias indicates that the MSM truly does have a liberal agenda. CBS's egregious forgery topped off a string of four consecutive 'hit pieces' on President Bush, while the Swiftboat Veterans -- all 250+ of them -- have yet to be heard from on CBS.
And a quick sidetrack on that topic: so far, it's been Kerry who has backtracked on the areas in dispute, not the SwiftVets. Christmas in Cambodia? The CIA man with the magic hat? The rice-bin purple heart? Kerry refusing to sign a Form 180 and release his medical records? That should have been a huge story and, if it hadn't been for the blogosphere, FoxNews and a ton of grassroots support, you'd have never heard it. Instead we get forgeries, apparent collusion with the Democratic National Committee, and ignored witnesses... all intended to influence a presidential election... but I guess there's no news story there.
> Look, we're all citizens of this great country and I'm of the belief
> that we all love our country. There are very few of us that want us to
> be socialized or "communized" and certainly less that want us
> terrorized. However, we're more than happy to speak of our countrymen
> (including Bush and Kerry) as if they are traitors. Both sides use
> this rhetoric and can support it with "citations". I think it's all
> useless bullshit that excites the emotions without accomplishing
> anything other than to support the existing oligarchy.
It sounds like we're both on the same page with respect to the two-party system. It's both tragic and counterproductive that we can't choose from a larger pool of candidates. But, again, this is the system we have. Fixing the system is much easier if there is still a system around to fix.
John Kerry's history of indecision, poor decisions, appeasement and political expediency is unacceptable from where I stand. And his statements, votes and continual position-shifts on matters of war and peace are neither rhetoric nor opinion. They are a matter of record.
MSM Turnaround?
Even WaPo is turning around. Columnist Colbert King has had a change of heart regarding the Swiftboat Veterans. Quoting Democratic Vietnam Vet Rodney Coleman:
"Kerry still hasn't satisfied me and many others. . . . It's September and I'm still conflicted. Speaking for myself, it is NOT enough that he served!" Those aren't the thoughts of a Republican-funded, right-wing, over-the-top Swift boat veteran. Ignore them, Kerry camp, at your peril.
Kerry's Unlikely Detractors
Suggested Debate Zingers
From Polipundit:
My opponent’s habit of following the prevailing winds may work for windsurfing. But it is not a strategy for dealing with our enemies.
Senator Kerry, I’ve faced undecided voters before. But until this moment I’ve never met an undecided candidate.
My opponent has had twenty years in the Senate to fix that problem.
Senator Kerry we have some common ground-neither of us was in Cambodia.
As your running mate once said, that was the longest answer to a yes-no question ever.
The senator says this is the “wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time." Makes you wonder why he voted for it.
No, not “Are you sure?" The correct zinger response to anything Kerry says is, “Is that your final answer?"
I saw a press release from my opponent’s campaign yesterday, and it looks like they used the same word processor my commander did way back in ‘72.
As you all know, the world economy has suffered since 9/11. And my policies have brought much of the world back. But a lot of credit has to be given to Senator Kerry’s wife, whose company has created over 10,000 overseas jobs.
I believe America knows where I stand on the war on terror. I yield the remainder of my time to Senator Kerry so that he can debate himself.
After Kerry states his opposition to the Patroit Act.., 'Sen. Kerry which part of the Patriot Act were you against that we used to round-up an al Queda cell in America that was planning to execute a Beslan type school attack?’
I do not care to be all things to all people. To our friends around the world, I care to be a voice for America’s interests. But we have also heard from some evil people - and I am only one thing to them: a mortal enemy.
Our coalition of [x] nations is larger then the [y] allied nations who won World War II. One nation with right on its side is stronger than a whole axis of evil.
Expanding on the “Is that your final answer" add, “or would you like to poll the audience?"
Senator, since 9-11, we have taken the battle to the terrorists and prevented them from attacking our homeland again; not one major attack since then. What is your plan, sir, to improve on this record?
Sen. Kerry says he would’ve done “everything" differently with regard to Iraq. I guess that means he would’ve lost the war."
"Sen. Kerry says the situation in Iraq is disastrous. He hasn’t been there to see for himself, but he says that Dan Rather has given him memos about it."
“You’ve spent 20 years in the Senate, and you have created or sponsored exactly zero bills that have been passed into Law. What exactly have we been paying you for?"
Bush: “Senator Kerry has changed his position on this issue so many times I had to be prepared for both of his answers."
Suggested Debate Zingers
Daily Worker^H^H^H^H^H^HKos
One thing that fascinates me about the Leftie blogs: like the Daily Worker of years past, the truth tends to disappear when it no longer matches their vision of the way the world should be. The Daily Kos is an excellent example.
At the onset of RatherGate (9/10), Kos published a well, rather, detailed treatise on how the forged memos could, in fact, be real. On 9/12, it followed up with another astonishing article whose central contention was that the documents were, in fact, real (I think... however, the tortured logic is admittedly hard to follow). From that point forward, all of the discussion on this topic... disappeared. The pathetic attempts at forgery... the wanton, desparate swipes at the Right to shore up the forgeries... all of the pandering discussion about experimental hybrid, space-age 1972 typewriters that could have existed to create the memos... well, those topics just disappeared.
Nice work, Kos! There might be a blogosphere Pulitzer in your future with work like this!
And today: the big story in the rest of the world? Kerry's comments regarding Allawi - for good or ill. Guess what, on the Kosmonaut site, those comments never happened.
And those with opinions that differ from the Kosmunist are... banished to Siberia. These persons, even reasonable and civil folks who disagree with the majority, never existed. And their comments are banished with them. Gone... without a trace.
Truth is the best weapon to use against the Left. Sites like Chronwatch and Polipundit, which lean to the Right, accept all opinions, from the Left and the Right... and, at that, even trolls. No one is banished to Siberia. Major issues of the day are always discussed, and mistakes are categorized and even owned up to.
That doesn't happen in the socialist, moonbat world of the Left. Truth is on vacation in Fantasyland. Or it was banished to Siberia.
Heard around the Web
Captain's Quarters: Iraq Hid Nuclear Program Intending On Rebuilding It
A Physicist's Perspective: Nuclear Iran, and bombing by Israel?
Power Line: The AP: Toast
Althouse: John Kerry's Final Mistake
Claremont: Apocalypse Kerry
Saturday, September 25, 2004
An Email Conversation
In the context of an email conversation, B wrote the following.
| You could take 50% of the GOP and 50% of the Dems and put them in a room. Remove their labels and you could NOT tell which is which. I, however, do disagree with several of this administration's policies and therefore, in general, feel that it is bad for America and must change. So your generalization of Dems is without merit and I am offended. I have heard so much about "Kerry's voting record", but no facts.... if you do have such information, please share. |
First off, I consider myself a Democrat in many ways - in fact, probably on the majority of social issues. I feel Bush has become less fiscally conservative than I think is wise; and has also brought certain faith-based aspects to the office with which I am personally uncomfortable.
But the issue I believe is one thousand times more important than any social issue is this: confronting and defeating extremist Islam. Do you doubt that Mohammad Atta would have detonated nuclear weapons in New York City if he'd had them? Do you doubt that there are other suicidal extremists who are trying -- at this moment -- to acquire small payload nuclear weapons to detonate in our major cities? In fact, their stated goal is to kill 3,000,000 Americans. I, for one, don't doubt that they are trying to make good on that promise.
And please note that my generalizations are not of "Democrats"... they are of the "Democratic leadership". Please note this exact phrasing in this post from July, in which the following Democratic Senators and Representatives met with groups affiliated with terrorists: Nancy Pelosi, Charles Rangel, John Conyers, Nick Joe Rahall, Democratic whip David Bonior, and Gregory Meeks. My article was picked up by DhimmiWatch.com because the very act of meeting with CAIR, in the opinion of many, borders on 'aiding and abetting the enemy' (see Anti-CAIR for more on CAIR's ties to terror groups). And what were they meeting about? Dismantling the Patriot Act.
Also note that almost every claim I make is backed up by 'linkage', attribution in the form of articles, press releases, or other citations. Yesterday's post, with multiple hyperlinks, outlined the Democratic leadership's efforts in the following areas:
1) Calling Iraqi ally Prime Minister Allawi essentially a liar (Investors Business Daily: "by snubbing his Thursday speech to Congress and, as soon as it ended, calling him little better than a liar")
2) Attempting to tear down our alliance with Australia (Captains Quarters: "Kerry Campaign Attempts To Destabilize Australian Partnership")
3) Meeting with groups tied to terrorists, as described above.
and many more. These statements and actions are used by our enemies.
As for John Kerry's voting record... I have many, many posts on this subject, including his statements on the floor of the Senate which do more to illustrate his egregious record throughout his entire career. Are you wondering why the DNC never brings up his Senate record? Because any inspection of it reveals that he has no business running for any public office, much less President.
This post, for example, outlines some of his more outrageous strategic mistakes during his long and refreshingly accomplishment-free career including specific statements and votes (I also have a more complete list I can send you if you're interested).
Again, just to re-emphasize: I am not tarring all Democrats with one broad brush. I am indicting the Democratic leadership, which has hijacked the true spirit of the Democratic party in the interest of greed. How else do you explain insulting our allies, meeting with groups tied to terror, undermining troop morale, and providing talking points for our enemies?
I'll close with a little Hugh Hewitt:
"Just how much damage can Kerry do to the war effort in the 40 days of self-destruction he has left? John Edwards will help make it a record certainly, using the Q word today...
So John Kerry will end his political career as he began it, attacking America's role in a just war, undermining the morale of the troops who are fighting it, and expressing contempt for the leadership of a nation struggling to be free of oppressors. It is the only mark of consistency he's displayed, but not one that many voters will admire."
John Kerry's Scorched Earth Policy
Irresponsible? Outrageous? You decide.| ...[When] Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi spoke to a joint meeting of Congress. Sen. Kerry could not be troubled to attend, as a gesture of solidarity and respect. Instead, Kerry said in Ohio that Allawi was here simply to put the "best face on the policy." So much for an impressive speech by perhaps America's single most important ally in the war on terror, the courageous and internationally recognized leader of a nation struggling to achieve democracy against terrorist opposition. But Kerry's rudeness paled beside the comment of his senior adviser, Joe Lockhart, to the Los Angeles Times: "The last thing you want to be seen as is a puppet of the United States, and you can almost see the hand underneath the shirt today moving the lips." Is Kerry proud that his senior adviser's derisive comment about the leader of free Iraq will now be quoted by terrorists and by enemies of the United States, in Iraq and throughout the Middle East? Is the concept of a loyalty to American interests that transcends partisan politics now beyond the imagination of the Kerry campaign? John Kerry has decided to pursue a scorched-earth strategy in this campaign. He is prepared to insult allies, hearten enemies, and denigrate efforts to succeed in Iraq. His behavior is deeply irresponsible--and not even in his own best interest... |
Disgraceful
An offer to vote for Kerry, if...
 Michael Barone made a great point on Brit Hume’s show. He pointed out that John Kerry critcizes President Bush for not showing respect to foreign leaders. Kerry, however, shows contempt for all the world leaders that stand with America......If I were a foreign leader I don’t think I would be too eager to join the coalition of the "bribed" as Kerry calls them. In fact, I have even questioned whether or not Kerry could hold the current coalition if elected. Don Hyatt of Cary, NC... made an offer to John Kerry:
|
An offer
Disgraceful, part 2
Allawi told a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday that democratic elections will take place in Iraq in January as scheduled, but Kerry disagreed.| "The United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq," Kerry told reporters outside a Columbus firehouse. "There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone." So the Democratic Party's candidate for President is on record as saying that January elections are impossible; or, if held, they will be illegitimate. The primary purpose of the terrorists' current terror campaign is to force the postponement or cancellation of the Iraqi elections. A secondary objective has been to secure the election of John Kerry. Through Kerry's own actions, those objectives have now become one. Kerry's message to the terrorists is: What you're doing is working. Keep it up. If I'm elected, you'll get your wish and there will be no elections in Iraq. In all of American history, is there any parallel to Kerry's disgraceful conduct? |
Powerline: Disgraceful Conduct
John Kerry's Message to the Enemy
One man's vision of the future. And it ain't pretty.| ...Kerry came home from Viet Nam and with a vengeance turned on his fellow vets... In desperation, John Kerry has resurrected the same plan that gave the North Vietnamese, by their own admission, the will to fight on--to continue the killing of our soldiers and innocent civilians... ...As president, Kerry will pull the troops out of Iraq and leave that country to radical Islamists as a reward for their assistance with the hope that Iraq will be enough for them. He will do it slowly, in the first few months, then quickly, proclaiming that the United Nations now has control. The terrorists will have won and Iraq will be their playground... ...but Iraq with its oil-producing ability next to Iran and Iran’s budding nuclear program and picture both these countries under radical Islam’s control and what picture to you see? Let’s not forget about Syria, also under the strong arm of the Ba’ath Party and a harbinger of terrorists. Now, instead of sporadic terror attacks in a couple of cities in Iraq, the civilized world will be facing at the very least, a triumvirate of radical Islamic terrorist-controlled countries with nuclear weapons and billions of dollars of oil. They will, in effect, have control of the world’s economy via the oil and weapons that can obliterate any enemy that dares challenge them. Their victory will be complete--almost... There will be the small matter of the North American Continent, target rich and full of infidels that need to be killed. For those who need to kill like a junkie needs a fix, their new playground will be California, Texas, Indiana, and Rhode Island. With fifty states to choose from, they can take their pick. Europe, already seen as weak, can wait. Europe will be dessert after an American main course. People must understand. We must stop these killers in Iraq. If we don't, you can expect a suicide bomber in an elementary school near you. The goal of radical Islamists is not just to conquer Iraq. Their goal is to conquer the world. Never forget that. |
John Kerry's Message to the Enemy
Zarqawi's mentor gets whacked
Big news that you might not have caught in the mainstream media. Surprise, surprise.| Reader Mark Sebald draws our attention to this article from today's Washington Times: "Zarqawi's mentor said to be killed by a U.S. hit." The Times reports: The Muslim cleric responsible for the practice of beheading hostages in Iraq - including two Americans this week - has been killed in a U.S. air strike, a newspaper and Islamic clerics said yesterday. The Muslim cleric, Sheik Abu Anas Shami, 35, was killed when a missile hit the car he was traveling in on Friday in the western Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib. Mr. Sebald observes: Notice any similarities to the way Israel takes out terrorists? To me this is good news. It implies that U.S. forces are developing intelligence sources and making progress fighting the insurgents. I had thought there would be some reaction to this by now, but so far I haven't seen any. |
Zarqawi's Mentor Eats a Missile
Bush's National Guard Service: a first-person Perspective
Courtesy Powerline, Air Force Col. John H. Wambough, Jr.:| I can say from my experience that flying operational fighter jets is highly dangerous. People don't strap fighter jets to their backside if they are overly concerned for their future. While in F-105 training at McConnell AFB in early 1968, we lost five aircraft in six weeks. I can assure you that Lt. Bush was continuously exposed to similar dangers during all weather scrambles and during training exercises as evidenced by the F-102 pilots killed in his unit. Cowards (or people who lack courage) don't take on the risks that Lt. Bush did in flying Fighter Interceptor Aircraft. Flying jets in wing formation in the weather and carrying explosive ordnance on board is dangerous work. The pilots in these squadrons (including Lt. Bush) did what their country asked them to do. They performed their assigned mission and did it well. In November 1970, the Commander of the Texas Air National Guard, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, called Mr. Bush, then 24, "a dynamic outstanding young officer" who stood out as "a top-notch fighter interceptor pilot." "Lt. Bush's skills far exceed his contemporaries," Colonel Killian wrote: "He is a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to for leadership. Lt. Bush is also a good follower with outstanding disciplinary traits and an impeccable military bearing." Lt. Bush entered the ANG in May 1968 and took his last (F-102) flight in the Guard four years later in April 1972. His flying tour included pilot training and than operational flying in the F-102 (111th Tactical interceptor Squadron). During Lt. Bush's time in the Guard he accumulated hundreds of hours of flying time; he served his nation honorably; he flew close to 4 years straight and performed Guard duties in 1972 and 1973 satisfactory to his Squadron Commander (Lt. Col Killian) and satisfactory to the ANG; he was given an honorable discharge in October 1973. Like all Guard members, Lt. Bush was required to accrue a minimum of 50 points (annually) to meet Guard service requirements (a minimum of 300 points in six years). What the liberal media may not have covered in their many articles about Lt. Bush's ANG service is that Lt. Bush accumulated 954 points - exceeding the six-year Air National Guard requirement for service - threefold. Of course, everyone knows this, right? All those investigative reporters must have brought this fact out a dozen times. I just must have missed it. |
A First-Person Perspective on Bush's Guard Service
The Fall
 If we wonder why CBS is in trouble, why no one trusts the universities or the U.N., or why the Democrats may soon lose the Senate, the House, the presidency, and the Supreme Court, the answer has a lot to do with arrogant hypocrisy - the idea that how one lives need have nothing to do with what one professes, that idealistic rhetoric can provide psychological cover for privilege and preference, and that rules need not apply for those self-proclaimed as smarter and nicer than the rest of us. But none of us - none - get a pass simply because we claim that we are more moral, educated, or sophisticated than most. |
The Fall of CBS
GOP Chairman Says Dems, CBS Coordinated Bush Attack
Excellent timeline that details the exquisite timing of the Democratic National Committee's "Fortune Son" strike with the CBS 60 Minutes II debacle. You would think that forgery, apparent collusion between a network and a political party, and related skulduggery designed to influence a Presidential election would be worthy of some major news coverage, a la Watergate. Aside from Fox, it appears, you'd be wrong. And they say there is no media bias. Uhmm hmmm.GOP Chairman Says Dems, CBS Coordinated Bush Attack
Remembering Saddam
 As Iraqis emerge from the dark ages of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, the staggering dimensions of his cruel atrocities are becoming known. One million, three hundred thousand Iraqis are still missing and believed murdered through his orders. "Remembering Saddam" is the story of nine Baghdad merchants who incurred the wrath of Saddam in 1995 for allegedly dealing in foreign currency and who were brutally punished. Unlike many others, they survived to tell their story and even discovered video of their ordeal shot by the Secret Police for Saddam's amusement. They spent a year in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, and then were led into the clinic where Doctor's surgically amputated their right hands... |
Remembering Saddam
PoliPundit's Quote of the Day
"We know we can’t count on the French. We know we can’t count on the Russians. We know that Iraq is a danger to the United States, and we reserve the right to take pre-emptive action whenever we feel it’s in our national interest."
- John Kerry, on CNN’s Crossfire, in 1997.
Also Heard around the Web
"While Mr. Kerry has every right to criticize U.S. conduct of the war, one would think he'd be wiser than to attack Mr. Allawi for saying it will be possible to hold the same elections that Mr. Kerry said just this Monday were his own exit strategy from Iraq. Or to accuse Iraq's Prime Minister of painting an unrealistic picture about a country the Senator has never visited. Having described the U.S. allies who liberated Iraq as a "coalition of the bribed," Mr. Kerry now insults the Iraqis he'd be working with if he becomes President."
- OpinionJournal
Friday, September 24, 2004
Allawi's Iraq
From PoliPundit, excerpts of Prime Minister Allawi's speech and a powerful wrapup by Alexander McClure that unleashes a stinging (a much deserved) assault on our generation's Tokyo Rose. And why was John Kerry speaking in a Columbus firehouse while most Senators and Representatives were listening attentively and giving standing ovations to Prime Minister Allawi?
There is nothing which should make every American’s heart beat faster than to hear a representative of the land where Western Civilization was born pledge to the nation which has saved Western Civilization, not once, but twice, in the last 60 years, that the people of his country will defend us too. The Old World has reached out its hand to the New World. I believe that George W. Bush will be remembered for many things, but the powerful symbolism in the House Chamber and at the White House shall not soon be forgotten... While the heir to the legacy of Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, and Reagan was discussing the future triumph of democracy and freedom in the world, a sad farce was taking place in Columbus, Ohio. The most pathetic disgrace to be nominated for any national political office since the days of Richard M. Johnson, namely Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, responded to Prime Minister Allawi’s speech. The content of it is pretty much what you would expect from a man who supported the victory of the Vietcong, the Communists in South America, and opposed defending the people of Kuwait from invasion. He said Allawi was lying, and inferred that President Bush “let Bin Laden escape.” He demands that the President call for an international conference. Senator, you have faith in the “international community.” However, I have great faith that the Iraqi people will rise up on their own under a heroic leader and win this war against terror and oppression. And I have an even greater faith - that my fellow countrymen and countrywomen will spurn your brand of defeatism on November 2, 2004 and leave it in the dustbin of history with Marxism and Facism, and ultimately, terrorism. |
PoliPundit - Allawi & Kerry
Allawi, part II
Hugh Hewitt has another powerful take on Kerry's anti-US, anti-military, anti-Allawi, defeatist, terrorist-encouraging, slapdash and politically expedient behavior:
| Just how much damage can Kerry do to the war effort in the 40 days of self-destruction he has left? John Edwards will help make it a record certainly, using the Q word today...
So John Kerry will end his political career as he began it, attacking America's role in a just war, undermining the morale of the troops who are fighting it, and expressing contempt for the leadership of a nation struggling to be free of oppressors. It is the only mark of consistency he's displayed, but not one that many voters will admire. |
Hewitt - Allawi & Kerry
Kerry disses yet another Friend in the War on Terror
It wasn't enough for the Democratic leadership to attempt to destabilize our alliance with Australia, to meet with groups tied to terrorists, or to take both sides on the Palestinian question and the Patriot Act.
| ...Now the Democrats, led by John Kerry, are undermining US troop morale, encouraging terrorists, and echoing defeatist themes from his undistinguished, consistent track record of taking the anti-freedom positions: the Soviet Union, Nicaragua, Vietnam. And now Iraq. Read on.
...if you want to be the next president, and the Prime Minister of Iraq comes to Washington to address a joint session of Congress, where should you be? In the U.S. Capitol chamber! Not in a Columbus, Ohio firehouse! Senator, if you win, you're going to have to work with this guy - or his successor. Kerry should have tried to get a meeting with Allawi himself, to try to make the challenger look like Bush's equal... Major mistake number two: Even if you can't be there, you don't take a jab at Allawi. ...Instead, Kerry is essentially calling Allawi a liar, and continuing his gloom and doom rhetoric about Iraq. |
No wonder terrorists, mullahs and ayatollahs prefer John Kerry over George Bush. And what does that say about John Kerry's fitness to command?
TWO DISASTROUS MOVES BY KERRY
The Chicago Tribune Pounds Kerry on Shape-Shifting
 After his 2002 Senate vote to authorize the war, Kerry often characterized disarming Hussein as "the right decision." In May 2003, Kerry said on ABC that while he "would have preferred" more diplomacy before going to war, "I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein. And when the president made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact that we did disarm him."
As recently as last month, Kerry was sticking by that principle, stating that even if he had known the U.S. wouldn't find unconventional weapons in Iraq or prove close ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda, he still would have voted to authorize the war. But succeeding weeks have confronted Kerry with two harsh realities: His presidential candidacy has ebbed in public opinion polls, and Iraq has grown bloodier. So it was bizarre, although not exactly shocking, to hear Kerry veer left during a speech on Monday: "We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure ..." he said. "Invading Iraq has created a crisis of historic proportions, and if we do not change course, there is a prospect of a war with no end in sight." Kerry, who knows a few things about changing course, evidently believes he and his Senate colleagues were right to give President Bush the authority to wage war, but that Bush was wrong to use the authority... |
Chicago Tribune: Channeling Howard Dean
The view from Egypt
If you boil this down, the equation is simple. Acting like a rollover patsy (can you hear me, Jimmy Carter?) gets innocent people killed. This was proved by Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and many other dictators and tyrants. But projecting strength does just the opposite. It saves lives and intimidates those who would hurt the weak.
| ...The attacks on Jewish cemeteries and synagogues in France, explosions in Turkey, assassinations and booby- trapped cars in Iraq, suicide bombings of buses in Bir Shiba and the massacre in a school in Beslan in North Ossetia have all rained undreamed of blessings on the Bush administration and its re-election campaign...
...US military policies also appear to be tending towards a preference for long-distance strikes aimed at destroying the infrastructure of nations branded as terrorist. There is little doubt that the US will continue its campaign to topple regimes it classifies as uncooperative in the war against terrorism and to intervene in the affairs of those nations whose economic and cultural conditions it feels have made them breeding grounds for terrorism... |
The view from Egypt
Links o' the Day
Mary Mapes' other legal problem: aiding white supremacists
NY Daily News: 'Stunning' Democrat Vote Fraud
"Buy us Beer"
Blame Bush: Kerry to Troops: "You Suck"
Junkyard Blog on Mikhail Moore: TUBBY REIFENSTAHL RETURNS
Photo Album: Bush & Kerry
WSJ: The kind of reporting we need from Iraq
WSJ: The CEO of CBS's parent Viacom endorses President Bush
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Dead Soldiers
This New York Post column by Thomas Sowell summarizes the reasons many Americans are livid at both the DNC and the Kerry campaign. Try to keep your blood pressure in check as you read this piece.
| IMAGINE if, in the presidential election of 1944, the candidate opposing FDR had insisted that we were losing the Second World War and that, if elected, he would begin to withdraw American troops from Europe and the Pacific.
We would have called it treason. And we would have been right. In WWII, broadcasts from Tokyo Rose in Japan and from Axis Sally in Germany warned our troops that their lives were being squandered in vain, that they were dying for big business and "the Jew" Roosevelt. Today, we have a presidential candidate, the conscienceless Sen. John Kerry, doing the work of the enemy propagandists of yesteryear. Is there nothing Kerry won't say to win the election? Is there no position he won't change? Doesn't he care anything for the sacrifices of our troops in Iraq? ... Imagine the encouragement the terrorists, insurgents and global extremists draw from Kerry's declarations of defeat, from his insistence that our efforts in Iraq and in the War on Terror have failed... |
Dead Soldiers
"We Have Received a Wake-up Call From Hell"
The question you must ask yourself is: does John Kerry have the will to wage war against suicidal Islamic extremism? His answer appears to be no. Withdrawal, appeasement, and concessions are his answer. In other words, "pressing the collective snooze button". The very real possibility of a nuclear holocaust in our cities hangs in the balance. Benjamin Netanyahu wrote the following...
| ...For the Bin Ladens of the world Israel is merely a sideshow. America is the target. But reestablishing a resurgent Islam requires not just rolling back the West; it requires destroying its main engine, the United States. And if the U.S. cannot be destroyed just now, it can be first humiliated -- as in the Teheran hostage crisis two decades ago -- and then ferociously attacked again and again, until it is brought to its knees. But the ultimate goal remains the same: Destroy America and win eternity. Some of you may find it hard to believe that Islamic militants truly cling to the mad fantasy of destroying America. Make no mistake about it. They do. And unless they are stopped now their attacks will continue, and become even more lethal in the future.
...[I]n 1996, I wrote a book about fighting terrorism, I warned about the militant Islamic groups operating in the West with the support of foreign powers -- serving as a new breed of domestic-international terrorists, basing themselves in America to wage Jihad against America. Such groups, I wrote then, nullify in large measure the need to have air power or intercontinental missiles as delivery systems for an Islamic nuclear payload. They will be the delivery system. In the worst of such scenarios, I wrote, the consequences could be not a car bomb but a nuclear bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center. Well, they did not use a nuclear bomb. They used two 150 ton fully fueled jetliners to wipe out the Twin Towers. But does anyone doubt that given the chance, they will throw atom bombs at America and its allies? And perhaps long before that, chemical and biological weapons? This is the greatest danger facing our common future. Some states of the terror network already possess chemical and biological capabilities, and some are feverishly developing nuclear weapons. Can one rule out the possibility that they will be tempted to use such weapons, openly or through terror proxies, or that their weapons might fall into the hands of the terrorist groups they harbor? We have received a wake up call from hell. Now the question is simple: Do we rally to defeat this evil, while there is still time, or do we press a collective snooze button and go back to business as usual? The time for action is now. Today the terrorists have the will to destroy us, but they do not have the power. There is no doubt that we have the power to crush them. Now we must also show that we have the will to do just that. Once any part of the terror network acquires nuclear weapons, this equation will fundamentally change, and with it the course of human affairs. This is the historical imperative that now confronts all of us... |
The fate of you, your children and your children's children hinge on this election. A waffler, equivocator, "anybody-but-Bush" candidate who believes only in concessions, appeasement, and political expediency spells nothing less than disaster in this, the nuclear age of terrorism.
"We Have Received a Wake-up Call From Hell"
Scaring up Dem votes with a phony Draft
 Betsy's Page notes that college students are receiving alarmist e-mails warning them they may be drafted if President Bush wins re-election...
...No mention by these fear-mongerers that it has been Democrat Charlie Rangel pushing the draft and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld opposing it. Wouldn't want to spoil the pre-Halloween frightfest with the truth. Here's a reality check from military.com. Excerpt: "A draft? It's just not going to happen," said Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., a member of the House Armed Services Committee... |
Kerry Kills Ad Buy in Four States
The first visible cracks are appearing. Keep the foot on the accelerator until New York is a Swing State!
| Bowing to political realities, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (search) has canceled plans to begin broadcasting television commercials in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana and the perennial battleground of Missouri.
The decision to shrink his political playing field reduces Kerry's strategic options -- at least for now -- in the homestretch of the campaign. George W. Bush (search) won all four states in 2000, and Kerry can't win the White House without taking one or two of them away from the Republican incumbent. The ads were scheduled to begin airing Oct. 5 as part of a $5 million investment through Nov. 2, but campaign advisers concluded Kerry isn't doing well enough in the states to justify the cost... |
Kerry Kills Ad Buy in Four States
Israel: Winning by fighting back
 The most remarkable thing about Israel's campaign against the Intifada was not it's adoption of new warfighting concepts, like Europe's Human Security Doctrine, but its reversion to the oldest method of all: winning by fighting back. Social historians in the future, should we ever attain it, may endlessly wonder how it was possible for Western European and liberal American intellectuals to forget 5,000 years of military experience in favor of the slogans, some composed facetiously, of the Peace Movement of the 1960s. However that may be, Totten concludes that Israel is a test case, the pathfinder to the America's future in the war on terror. "Israel's present may be our future. Best get used to it now." |
Israel: Winning by fighting back
Aiding the Enemy Again
 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has achieved something that may be unique in the history of our country. He has managed to oppose two wars while they are being fought, undermine the objective of the nation and give aid and comfort to those who are killing American soldiers and kidnapping American civilians.
In a speech at New York University on Monday, Mr. Kerry questioned President Bush's judgment in ordering American troops to topple Saddam Hussein, saying the president had exchanged a brutal dictator for "chaos." |
Baltimore Sun: Aiding the enemy, again
Rathergate: A Call to Action
LGF reader web1110 has written a very good letter you can use as a model, to send to your representatives about the serious implications of the CBS forgery affair.
| Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to you regarding the GW Bush National Guard story broadcast by CBS on 60 Minutes last week. I concur with the experts that I have seen interviewed by the media and I believe the memos presented were fraudulent. I believe that somewhere in this great nation there is someone who is guilty of perpetrating a crime, a crime against the American people. They are guilty of the crime of election fraud, guilty of attempting to influence the upcoming presidential election through deceit and misrepresentation. Such an attempt is abhorrent and must not be tolerated... |
A Call To Action
The speech CBS's president Les Moonves needs to give
Hugh Hewitt, in the Weekly Standard, ghost writes for the CBS president:
| On Tuesday, CBS president Les Moonves told the Los Angeles Times that it was "clear that something went seriously wrong with the process" that produced DanScam. That's like The Zepplin Company announcing that the Hindenburg had a little trouble landing in New Jersey.
Moonves is the boss of an organization under siege, one whose brand is being gutted. He might find the Harvard Business School case study of Johnson & Johnson's reaction to the Tylenol poisonings of October 1982 useful, but he would find Khrushchev's "secret speech" even more compelling. Moonves needs to gather everyone employed by CBS News in one place or via video link, and deliver a speech. I suggest this... |
The speech CBS's president Les Moonves needs to give
Praying for Beheadings
 Earlier this year, an Al-Qa’ida member in Saudi Arabia warned of beheadings in his last will and testament. Hazem Al-Kashmiri, the son of a retired leading general of the Saudi internal security force, informed the world that Al-Qa’ida had “a message to the American soldiers... We promise that we will not let you live safely, and you will not see from us anything else just bombs, fire, destroying homes, cutting your heads...”
The 18th issue of the Al-Qa’ida-identified journal ‘Sawt Al-Jihad’ included an interview with Fawwaz bin Muhammad Al-Nashami, commander of the Al-Quds Brigade which took responsibility for the May 29 attack at Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in which 22 people were killed. Al-Nashami detailed how Al-Qa’ida members cut the throats of non-Muslims, and in one case, beheaded one of their victims-all as “acts of devotion to Allah:” “We turned to the third site... found a Swedish infidel. Brother Nimr cut off his head, and put it at the gate [of the building] so that it would be seen by all those entering and exiting.” The beheading of Daniel Pearl, which at the time seemed like an isolated incident, has now influenced other Islamists in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Even in London, the website of Islamist Sheikh Abu Hamza Al-Masri earlier this year featured video of children pretending to behead other children. Islamic history includes periods in which beheadings against ‘infidels’ were a common practice, and it seems that this cycle has begun to repeat itself... |
Praying for Beheadings
Heard around the web
Noemie Emery's questions for Dan Rather: "We understand that numerous people disputed both the content and authenticity of these disputed memos, talked to you repeatedly, and referred you to others, none of whom ever appeared on air. We wonder if anyone ever told you that when there appear to be two sides of a story, it is common to mention them both. There are two situations in which it is customary to present only one side of a disputed story, and neither one is called journalism. One is in court when making a case to a jury, and the other is when making a case for a candidate in a campaign. Which did you imagine yourself to be in this case, a prosecutor or a campaign official?"
Links o' the Day
Thomas Sowell: Kerry's Blank Resume
Arab News: Al-Qaeda Controls Young Operatives by Torture Threats
The Belgravia Dispatch: Bush's UNGA Speech
Kerry in France: John Kerry's Crimes
LGF: Canadian Islamic Congress Calls for Alcohol Ban
Rathergate cartoons
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
AP: Kerry Fund-Raisers Met With S. Korean Intelligence Agent
In keeping with the Democratic leadership's bizarre history of holding high-level meetings with groups tied to terrorists, undermining our anti-terror Allies, taking both sides on the Palestinian question, taking both sides on the Patriot Act, as well as its poll-driven attitudes towards the Iraq war... well, this is pretty much par for the course:
| ...[A] South Korean man who met with John Kerry's fund-raisers to discuss creating a new political group for Korean-Americans was an intelligence agent for his country, raising
concerns among some U.S. officials that either he or his government may have tried to influence this fall's election... |
AP: Kerry Fund-Raisers Met With S. Korean Intelligence Agent
Rather: the Anchor as Madman
This troubling history of Dan Rather at CBS News was recently published by Slate. And Slate, my friends, is not what you would term the mouthpiece of the Right. In fact, about the only thing better would be a Kerry hit-piece in Vanity Fair.
| ...The CBS cocoons engender a kind of madness. Rather is paid an outsized salary-he makes $7 million per year-that is in no way commensurate with the number of viewers he delivers. Where most prime-time shows have a few weeks to prove their viability, newscasts often are given years and decades. The network's former glory allows Rather to shroud himself in the aura of Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. "I'm confident we worked longer, dug deeper, and worked harder than almost anybody in American journalism does," Rather told the Washington Post Sunday, when in fact CBS spent less time verifying the Guard documents than most bloggers... |
Dan Rather - The anchor as madman
Terrorism: The Price of Victory
Israel's experience fighting terror (hat tip: Powerline):
| ...[T]he Israeli army destroyed most of what remained of Hamas's organization in the West Bank and a substantial part of its infrastructure in Gaza. Just last week, Israeli gunships rocketed a Hamas training camp in Gaza, killing 15 operatives. Hamas leaders, who once routinely led rallies and gave interviews to the media, don't dare show their faces in public anymore. Even their names are kept secret. Hardly a night passes without the arrest of a wanted terrorist. Hamas's ranks have become so depleted that the organization is now recruiting teenagers: At the Gaza border, Israeli forces recently broke up a Hamas cell made up of 16-year-olds. Meanwhile, life inside Israel has returned to near normalcy... |
The price of victory
Death Blow for the Kerry Campaign
Imus was on this morning with Howard Fineman, commiserating with him about the fact that the campaign is "over". According to Imus, many media insiders (staunch Democracts) have conceded that the election is a foregone conclusion. Fineman tended to agree, although he felt that a solid debate performance could pull Kerry's butt out of the fire.
The problem, according to Fineman, is that Kerry leaves a terrible impression in public appearances. The bollixed "Lambert Field" reference in Lambeau-crazy Wisconsin, getting the Red Sox standings wrong, screwing up Letterman's Top Ten list... all were mentioned as evidence Kerry is simply an out-of-touch elitist.
Despite what Imus and the polls say, keep the foot on the accelerator until election day. This election is simply too important for our children and the entire civilized world to slack off in the last handful of days. Keep the pressure on, my brothers and sisters!
| I think that many people who have seen the sixth ad being put out by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth will agree with me when say that the ad, entitled “Friends” had the potential to do as much damage to the Kerry campaign as the entire Rathergate/Danron fiasco...
The beauty of this ad is that it is simple, verifiably true, and utterly devastating. We know that John Kerry met with the Vietnamese Communists because he admitted it to us. We know that, as American boys fought and died in the muck of Vietnam, John Kerry sat with their perfumed diplomats in Europe and conspired to hand victory in the war to the Communists. We know this to be true. We know it because John Kerry told it to us. ...Does any sane person really believe that whether or not George W. Bush showed up for a week’s worth of drills in Alabama thirty-three years ago is somehow more consequential than the admitted fact that Senator Kerry, as a nearly thirty year-old politician, travelled to a foreign nation to meet with the enemies of this country while the nation was at war and then returned in order to advocate that the United States accept peace on the terms of the communist Vietnamese (or, in other words, surrender)? ...[The Kerry campaign] can ignore the accusations altogether, but I don’t think they’ll try that one again, seeing as it worked so well with the first Swift Vet assault. ...The most obvious point that must be taken from his claims as to Vietnamese intentions at the time is that either Kerry is a liar or he is an extremely gullible man (or perhaps both). ...Even worse, this wasn’t the only time that Senator Kerry allowed himself to be deceived by foreign enemies of the United States, nor was it the only time that Kerry was used to deliver the demands of an enemy of the United States to the American government and people. In... 1985, the newly-elected Senator Kerry took a trip to Nicaragua, where he met with the communist dictator of that country. When he returned to the United States from that trip, the Senator had brought something with him: the Sandinistas’ offer for peace with the United States. Once more John Forbes Kerry voluntarily conveyed the demands of a hostile foreign power to his own government. Yet again John Kerry called upon the President of the United States to accept, in whole, the terms offered by an enemy of the Republic. Once the American people know this history, once they’ve taken it all in, they’ll be left with the same frightful question that I’ve carried with me for nine months: what happens if the person receiving that offer is no longer Lieutenant Kerry or Senator Kerry, but President Kerry? |
Adam Yoshida: Ad #7: A death blow for the Kerry Campaign
Michael Moore Hates America - The Movie
Finally... an honest recap of CelluliteBoy's propaganda. Filmmaker Michael Wilson visits Mikhail Moore's F911 subjects and records the true story that Tubby was too dishonest to tell (hat tip: PrestoPundit):
| ...But easily the most powerful sequence is a visit with Peter Damon, a soldier who lost both arms in the Iraq war. In a transparent attempt to elicit pity, Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11 included footage (taken from an NBC News report about a new painkiller) of Damon in the hospital while he was recuperating from his grievous wounds.
In MMHA we see a recovered Damon at home with his family, enjoying life, proud of his service. Damon has no patience for those who feel sorry for him. The only anger he feels is at Moore for exploiting him. Asked by Wilson what he would like to say to Moore, Damon addresses the camera: "I don't want any part of your propaganda. I don't agree with what you're doing." At the movie's recent premiere at the American Film Renaissance in Dallas, Wilson said, the audience grew really quiet during this scene: "You could hear a pin drop." But that changed when Wilson asks Damon if Moore had the right to make his movie. Despite his obvious distaste for Moore's film, Damon says without hesitation, "That's the reason we go off to fight - to defend his right to make a movie." At that, Wilson said, the audience erupted into the loudest cheers of the evening... |
Michael Moore Hates America - The Movie
Kerry Campaign Touted Forged Doc Info... in April!
From Newsmax... can you spell C-O-L-L-U-S-I-O-N ?
| The Kerry campaign made an explicit reference to information in at least one of four forged military documents broadcast 14 days ago by CBS's "60 Minutes" - in a detailed campaign press release attacking President Bush's National Guard service dated months before the Sept. 8 "60 Minutes" broadcast... |
Kerry Campaign Touted Forged Doc Info in April
CBS: another Bush conspiracy
| ...CBS News has obtained exclusive documents asserting that George W. Bush was in Dallas on Friday 22 November 1963, the day of the Kennedy assassination.
* Lt. Bush's e-mail records for that week in 1963 show several contacts with someone known as desperatelybehindthepolls@DNC.com. * T-Mobile cell phone records also show that Lt. Bush made several cell phone calls from behind the Grassy Knoll five minutes before President Kennedy's motorcade was due to pass by... |
CBS: another Bush conspiracy
Links o' the day
Jonah Goldberg: Ten criticisms I'm willing to concede are valid about Iraq
Wienerlog: Sticking it to CBS and Kerry - a debate strategy
Nazi or Blogger: a fun multiple choice game
Heinz-Kerry watch: "You have to treat stepchildren like pets."
A knock-down, drag-out fight
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Proof and linkage: Terrorists for Kerry
Ever wonder which terrorists, Mullahs, dictators and despots are endorsing John Kerry? LGF has some answers.
| House Speaker Dennis Hastert tells it like it is, causing the DNC to whine furiously: Hastert’s al Qaeda comment draws fire.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Top Democrats slapped back Sunday at a remark by House Speaker Dennis Hastert that al Qaeda leaders want Sen. John Kerry to beat President Bush in November. At a campaign rally Saturday in his Illinois district with Vice President Dick Cheney, Hastert said al Qaeda “would like to influence this election” with an attack similar to the train bombings in Madrid days before the Spanish national election in March. When a reporter asked Hastert if he thought al Qaeda would operate with more comfort if Kerry were elected, the speaker said, “That’s my opinion, yes.” Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe called Hastert’s comments “disgraceful,” saying there was “no room for this in our political discourse.” I don’t think Al Qaeda has issued their endorsement of a candidate yet, but here are just a few LGF stories about support for John Kerry from Islamic supremacists, terror supporters, appeasing Spanish prime ministers, and anti-American moonbats: The mullahs of Iran. Mahathir Mohamad. Noam Chomsky. Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero. An Iraqi mujahideen. France. The Arab world... |
Proof and linkage: Terrorists for Kerry
CBS and The DNC - Timeline
I am shocked... SHOCKED... that the mainstream media hasn't pursued the CBS/DNC collusion story more diligently. So what if a major network news organization coordinated with the Democratic party to launch a vicious attack on a sitting president to influence an election? Where's the story?
| Last week, I tried to make some sense of CBS's stonewalling inthe faceof obvious forgeries, and I noted...
"I think we are now to the point where CBS is frantically trying to minimize the damage, and this statement, while it says nothing, really, is rather inciteful. It seems pretty clear to me that they understand how damaging this memogate bit has been to their reputation and their credibility. However, they have determined that revealing their sources and methodology in a forthright, open statement would be more damaging still... I think we are going to learn, in the not so distant future, about a serious incestuous relationship between CBS News and some person, persons, or group..." Enter Joe Lockhart... [timeline follows] ...Really though- this is all just a coincidence. Joe Lockhart meeting with Bill Burkett via 60 Minutes several days before the 60 Minutes piece aired had nothing to do with the timing and shape of the attacks from the Democrats. Just a big, fuzzy, uncoordinated occurrence. Don't read anything into it at all... |
CBS and The DNC - Timeline
Michael Moore tries to cheer up the Kerry campaign
There's hilarious hijinx aplenty when Michael Moore tries to rally the troops from a disappointing seven weeks of campaigning, Kerry-style. Hey, Michael, maybe John Kerry could sit down with a real reporter (it's been what, fifty days?) and take real questions and provide real answers... that might bring some undecideds into the fold.
Oh wait, then Kerry would have to answer the painful questions about his medical records, the fibs about his unreleased service records, the secret mission to Cambodia with the CIA man and his magic hat, the rice-bin purple heart... okay, scratch that!
I can just see Terry McCauliffe now, wringing his hands in exasperation at the latest poll numbers. And whining, "Fine, let's go with Michael Moore: the fat new face of the Democratic party!". It worked well for General Wesley Clark, Moore's last candidate (oops, I said "candy" around Michael Moore... - major mistake!). Moore should work equally well for an already doomed Kerry campaign, which continues to lose traction as the hubcabs start rolling off and the lug-nuts loosen.
| ...Enough of the handwringing! Enough of the doomsaying! Do I have to come there and personally calm you down? Stop with all the defeatism, OK? Bush IS a goner -- IF we all just quit our whining and bellyaching and stop shaking like a bunch of nervous ninnies. Geez, this is embarrassing! The Republicans are laughing at us...
...Look at us -- what a bunch of crybabies. Bush gets a bounce after his convention and you would have thought the Germans had run through Poland again. The Bushies are coming, the Bushies are coming! Yes, they caught Kerry asleep on the Swift Boat thing. Yes, they found the frequency in Dan Rather and ran with it. Suddenly it's like, "THE END IS NEAR! THE SKY IS FALLING!" |
Finally! A sentiment from Fat Bastard^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HMikey Moore that I can agree with!
Mikey Moore passes gas
President Bush's Speech to UN General Assembly
Here are the highlights of a great speech.
| ... In this young century, our world needs a new definition of security. Our security is not merely found in spheres of influence, or some balance of power. The security of our world is found in the advancing rights of mankind...
...In the last year alone, terrorists have attacked police stations, and banks, and commuter trains, and synagogues -- and a school filled with children... ...Members of the United Nations, the Russian children did nothing to deserve such awful suffering, and fright, and death. The people of Madrid and Jerusalem and Istanbul and Baghdad have done nothing to deserve sudden and random murder. These acts violate the standards of justice in all cultures, and the principles of all religions. All civilized nations are in this struggle together, and all must fight the murderers... ...Because we believe in human dignity, peaceful nations must stand for the advance of democracy. No other system of government has done more to protect minorities, to secure the rights of labor, to raise the status of women, or to channel human energy to the pursuits of peace. We've witnessed the rise of democratic governments in predominantly Hindu and Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian cultures... ...The advance of freedom always carries a cost, paid by the bravest among us. America mourns the losses to our nation, and to many others. And today, I assure every friend of Afghanistan and Iraq, and every enemy of liberty: We will stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes of freedom and security are fulfilled. These two nations will be a model for the broader Middle East, a region where millions have been denied basic human rights and simple justice. For too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even excused, oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability. Oppression became common, but stability never arrived. We must take a different approach. We must help the reformers of the Middle East as they work for freedom, and strive to build a community of peaceful, democratic nations. This commitment to democratic reform is essential to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Peace will not be achieved by Palestinian rulers who intimidate opposition, tolerate corruption, and maintain ties to terrorist groups. The longsuffering Palestinian people deserve better. They deserve true leaders capable of creating and governing a free and peaceful Palestinian state... ...Because I believe the advance of liberty is the path to both a safer and better world, today I propose establishing a Democracy Fund within the United Nations. This is a great calling for this great organization. The fund would help countries lay the foundations of democracy by instituting the rule of law and independent courts, a free press, political parties and trade unions... ...I believe we will rise to this moment, because I know the character of so many nations and leaders represented here today. And I have faith in the transforming power of freedom... |
President Bush Speaks to the United Nations General Assembly
John Kerry's Resume
| My name is John Kerry and I would like to report for duty. Here is my resume for your review. (We've never had an ethics problem with two Democratic lawyers in the Whitehouse before - why worry now?)
NAME: John F. Kerry RESIDENCE: 7 mansions, including Washington, DC, all worth multimillions. EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Law Enforcement. I voted to cut every law enforcement, CIA and defense bill in my career as a US Senator. (Source: Congressional Record) I ordered Boston to remove a fire hydrant which I considered unsightly, in front of my mansion, thereby endangering my neighbors in the event of fire. (Source: Boston Globe)... |
John Kerry's Resume - click here to read the entire resume!
CBS Biased? Like Hell!
| This Sunday, Sept. 19, at about 1:40 pm we happened to be near the CBS Broadcast Center at 530 57th Street in New York City (betw. 10th & 11th Ave.) filming the next episode of our heroic revolutionary struggle under the working title "Operation CBS Freedom Zone - Communist Broadcast System."
In the middle of the photo shoot, a very newsworthy CBS News van parked at the main entrance, with a rather tasteful sticker under the windshield... |
CBS: Biased? Like hell!
Politicizing 9/11
From the always erudite Hugh Hewitt:
| Bush-Cheney '04 campaign manager Ken Mehlmen on the program tonight, on John Kerry's speech today featuring some of the widows of 9/11 endorsing Kerry:
"Apparently they were against politicizing 9/11 before they were for it." |
The Dems advocate politicizing 9/11... when it suits them
Links o' the Day
Washington Times: Al Qaeda seen planning 'spectacular' attack
Iran Advances Its Move to Nuclear Fuel, Defying UN
Humor: Communists for Kerry
Monday, September 20, 2004
Where do you want to fight?
M raised a good point this morning. He believes the current administration's approach of:
is sheer genius. Why?
The answer hinges on where we prefer terrorists like Zarqawi to reside. Do we want them to collect -- together -- in a foreign country fighting our topnotch military, or scattered throughout the world targeting our domestic infrastructure? Which would you prefer?
| ...There is a problem in the Sunni Triangle and in certain Baghdad suburbs. If you look at the figures for August, over half the 71 US fatalities that month died in one province - al-Anbar, which covers much of the Sunni Triangle.
Most of the remainder were killed dispatching young Sadr's goons in Najaf or in operations against other Sunni Triangulators in Samarra, with a couple of isolated incidents in Mosul and Kirkuk. In 11 of Iraq's 18 provinces, not a single US soldier died. ...In two-thirds of the country, municipal government has been rebuilt, business is good, restaurants are open, life is as jolly as it has been in living memory. This summer the Shia province of Dhi Qar, south-east of Baghdad, held the first free elections in its history, electing secular independents and non-religious parties to its town councils... ...And, in the end, the reality is this. A few weeks ago, Prof Bernard Lewis, the great historian of the Muslim world, told Die Welt that "Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century". That seems demographically unavoidable. Given that much of what we now know as the civilised world will be Muslim, it seems prudent to ensure that what is already the Muslim world is civilised. And, for those who say that Islam is incompatible with democracy, we might as well try to buck that in Iraq today than in France, Scandinavia and Britain the day after tomorrow. |
London Telegraph: All the good things they don't tell you about Iraq and Sept. 9, Three Years On - A roundup of good news from Afghanistan
Kerry Campaign Attempts To Destabilize Australian Partnership
From Captain's Quarters... well, you just have to read it. The Kerry campaign keeps sinking lower and lower.
| ...John Kerry's campaign has sent Kerry's sister Diana down under to tell Australians that their American alliance makes them less safe...
..."Asked if she believed the terrorist threat to Australians was now greater because of the support for Republican George W. Bush, Ms Kerry said: "The most recent attack was on the Australian embassy in Jakarta -- I would have to say that." So much for "building alliances"! Kerry has now acted to undermine a critical relationship in the war on terror just to score some electoral points. A failure on John Howard's part to be re-elected would certainly give Kerry ammunition to attack George Bush on his standing overseas. However, with Howard running ahead of the pack in Australia, Kerry sent his little sister to attempt to influence the Australian election... ...Besides, it's a ludicrous charge. The al-Qaeda Bali bombing that killed more than 200 people, mostly Australians, came in October 2002, well before the invasion of Iraq. Diana Kerry isn't competent enough to read a calendar; Australians are smarter than that. Does John Kerry care more about grabbing power than he does about the United States? It certainly appears that way... |
Kerry Campaign Attempts To Destabilize Australian Partnership
The Grand Deception
If you didn't get to read Unfit for Command, this Times-Dispatch column by Admiral Roy Hoffmann does a nice job of summarizing the Swiftboat Veterans' charges against John Kerry (hat tip: PoliPundit).
| The widely repeated myth of "John Kerry, the Vietnam Navy Hero" is one of the most dishonorable and dangerous deceptions ever perpetrated upon the American public.
John Kerry is not a hero. He built this facade with unabashed personal promotion, aided and abetted by a supportive liberal media ready and willing to repeat in print his gross exaggerations, distortions of fact, and outright lies about his abbreviated four-month, 12-day tour of duty in Vietnam... ...Kerry is not a hero. He betrayed his comrades-in-arms in time of war. He is a chronic liar and a fraud. This is not about politics; it's about truthfulness, reliability, loyalty, and trust - all absolute tenets of command. John Forbes Kerry is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States of America. |
The Grand Deception: 'Kerry, War Hero,' Is a Myth
Rathergate and the Kerry Campaign
| “Bill Burkett, Democrat activist and Kerry campaign supporter, passes information to the DNC; Kerry campaign surrogate Max Cleland discusses “valuable” information with Bill Burkett; Bill Burkett talks to “senior” Kerry campaign officials; an apparently unsuspecting news organization uses faked forged memos and an interview with Ben Barnes at the same time the Democratic National Committee launched Operation Fortunate Son; and Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill was among the first to call Ben Barnes and congratulate him after his interview. The trail of connections is becoming increasingly clear.” |
- RNC Communications Director Jim Dyke (hat tip: PoliPundit)
Toons
Need proof the Left is whacked?
If you need proof the Left has a severe case of BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome), just pay a visit to the Gallery of "Bush = Hitler" Allusions (hat tip: LGF).
Links o' the Day
On the Kerry/Don Imus interview: New, improved Kerry even more Incoherent.
Aussie press on Kerry undermining the Australian alliance: US 'endangers Australians'.
The title says it all. And this is from Kerry's hometown newspaper. Kerry courting both sides on gun-control issue.
Did you know Teresa Heinz-Kerry believes her detractors are 'scumbags'?
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Celsius 41.11
This is a graphic, disturbing trailer for the new film Celsius 41.11. If you're a mature audience member, it's a must-see.
Celsius 41.11: There is no terrorist threat
Incoherent
The inimitable Don Imus is caught banging his head on the desk in frustration.
| ..."'Today,' said Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt, 'John Kerry's position on Iraq descended into complete incoherence.' Mr. Imus seemed to agree. 'I was just back in my office banging my head on the jukebox,' Mr. Imus said. 'This is my candidate, and ... I don't know what he's talking about.'"... |
Dallas Morning News: Incoherent
Document Experts
There's big money in document examining! Take our free 30-second test to see whether you have what it takes to help the mainstream media investigate documents...
Flip-flop of the Week
Courtesy of the Federalist:
| Flip: "We should increase funding [for the war in Iraq] by whatever number of billions of dollars it takes to win." --John F. Kerry, 31 August 2003
Flop: "$200 billion [for Iraq] that we're not investing in education and health care, and job creation here at home. ... That's the wrong choice." --JFK, 8 September 2004 |
A True Friend of Israel... Not
Despite his best efforts at winning over the Jewish vote, Kerry is rapidly losing momentum because of flip-flopping on major Israeli issues. Kerry stands on both sides of major issues such as the security fence, Yasser Arafat, etc.
| ...John Kerry called Yasser Arafat a “statesman” and a “role model” in a 1997 book that Kerry cites as proof of his own foresight about foreign policy...
...Kerry expressed the opposite view eight days ago, when he told Jewish leaders in New York that he shares President Bush’s belief that Arafat must be isolated because he’s not a “partner for peace” - much less a statesman... |
John Kerry: a true friend of Israel... not
Pictures from Iraq
This is one of a series of photos you won't see in the mainstream press. Click for more info.
Doug Giles on Rathergate
| ...Let me help you here: missing a physical doesn’t come close to Kerry’s Swift Boat fantasies, his highly questionable, totally bloodless Purple Hearts, much less his traitorous testimony before the Fulbright Committee and subsequent meeting with the enemy in Paris.
Then we have Dan busting an O-ring over President Bush getting preferential treatment in the military. Now that’s the putz calling the kettle black now isn’t it? I don’t recall Rather screaming “injustice” or “preferential treatment” as Ted Kennedy waltzed away from Chappaquiddick or as Bill Clinton walked away unscathed after multiple rape charges, Whitewater, Monica and lying under oath. And as far as preferential treatment goes, Rather gets it every week by being allowed to broadcast 20 years after he has lost all objectivity. Geez, I wonder what are they going to accuse President Bush of next? How about: 1. He once drank red wine with fried chicken? 2. He wore white after Labor Day? 3. In 1968, he insisted on swimming after lunch, refusing to wait the full thirty minutes? 4. He has been known to drink milk after the expiration date? 5. He started the Civil War? 6. When he was nine, he missed a dentist appointment? 7. Some say he was present during Christ’s crucifixion? ... |
Doug Giles
They got a bad case of hatin' you
Trial lawyers in the White House? Malpractice insurance premiums skyrocketing? Now some (rightully terrified) Doctors have joined forces to help defeat the Kerry/Edwards ticket... not motivated by partisan politics, but in order to survive...
| ...DoctorsAgainstEdwards.com's mission is to inform physicians and the public about the history of personal-injury trial lawyer Senator John Edwards, Democratic vice-presidential candidate, and the detrimental impact he has already had on the American healthcare system and the furthur damage he could have on both the healthcare system and the economy in general if elected to the vice-presidential office... |
http://www.doctorsagainstedwards.com/
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Al Qaeda Link Seen in U.N. Oil-for-Food Program
 Now, buried in some of the United Nation's own confidential documents, clues can be seen that underscore the possibility of just such a Saddam-Al Qaeda link — clues leading to a locked door in this Swiss lakeside resort... |
Al Qaeda Link Seen in U.N. Oil-for-Food Program
Europe Will Be Islamic by the End of the Century
 How quickly is Europe being Islamized? So quickly that even historian Bernard Lewis, who has continued throughout his honor-laden career to be strangely disingenuous about certain realities of Islamic radicalism and terrorism, told the German newspaper Die Welt forthrightly that “Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century.”
Or maybe sooner. Consider some indicators from Scandinavia this past week: Sweden’s third-largest city, Malmo, according to the Swedish Aftonbladet, has become an outpost of the Middle East in Scandinavia: “The police now publicly admit what many Scandinavians have known for a long time: They no longer control the situation in the nations’s third largest city. It is effectively ruled by violent gangs of Muslim immigrants... |
Europe Will Be Islamic by the End of the Century
Kerry campaign may have been explicitly involved in Forgeries
Hmmm. So, the Kerry campaign may have been directly involved with Rathergate, Danron, or whatever the blogosphere is calling it these days...
| ...The former Texas National Guard officer suspected of providing CBS News with possibly forged records on President Bush's military service called on Democratic activists to wage "war" against Republican "dirty tricks" in a series of Internet postings in which he also used phrases similar to several employed in the disputed documents. ...
...In an Aug. 21 posting, Burkett referred to a conversation with former senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.) about the need to counteract Republican tactics... Cleland confirmed that he had a two- or three-minute conversation by cell phone with a Texan named Burkett in mid-August while he was on a car ride. He remembers Burkett saying that he had "valuable" information about Bush, and asking what he should with it. "I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign," Cleland said... |
Kerry campaign may have been explicitly involved in Forgeries
ABC Steps on CBS' Throat
Just when a woozy CBS was trying to teeter back up during an eight-count, ABC News comes along and rabbit-punches Dan Rather. The last remaining tendril, the last tiny shred, the final thread in the cord... has snapped. CBS is toast.
| ABC News has just within the last 15 minutes or so posted an exclusive report based on exclusive interview with Col. Walter Staudt, the retired former brigadier general of the Texas Air National Guard. ABC News reports that Staudt is refuting CBS News' assertions (based on those now-infamous forged documents) that Staudt pressured others in the TANG to help cover for George W. Bush during his stint in the TANG. Staudt also says Bush didn't get preferential treatment to get into the TANG, and nobody pressured him to accept Bush into the Guard... |
ABC Steps on CBS' Throat
Straight out of Iraq
The real situation in Iraq, as described by a Major in Operational Headquarters in Baghdad, courtesy of Captain's Quarters:
| The US media is abuzz today with the news of an intelligence report that is very negative about the prospects for Iraq’s future. CNN’s website says, “[The] National Intelligence Estimate was sent to the White House in July with a classified warning predicting the best case for Iraq was ‘tenuous stability’ and the worst case was civil war.” That report, along with the car bombings and kidnappings in Baghdad in the past couple days are being portrayed in the media as more proof of absolute chaos and the intransigence of the insurgency.
From where I sit, at the Operational Headquarters in Baghdad, that just isn’t the case. Let’s lay out some background, first about the “National Intelligence Estimate.” The most glaring issue with its relevance is the fact that it was delivered to the White House in July. That means that the information that was used to derive the intelligence was gathered in the Spring – in the immediate aftermath of the April battle for Fallujah, and other events. The report doesn’t cover what has happened in July or August, let alone September. The naysayers will point to the recent battles in Najaf and draw parallels between that and what happened in Fallujah in April. They aren’t even close. The bad guys did us a HUGE favor by gathering together in one place and trying to make a stand. It allowed us to focus on them and defeat them. Make no mistake, Al Sadr’s troops were thoroughly smashed. The estimated enemy killed in action is huge. Before the battles, the residents of the city were afraid to walk the streets. Al Sadr’s enforcers would seize people and bring them to his Islamic court where sentence was passed for religious or other violations. Long before the battles people were looking for their lost loved ones who had been taken to “court” and never seen again. Now Najafians can and do walk their streets in safety. Commerce has returned and the city is being rebuilt. Iraqi security forces and US troops are welcomed and smiled upon. That city was liberated again. It was not like Fallujah – the bad guys lost and are in hiding or dead. You may not have even heard about the city of Samarra. Two weeks ago, that Sunni Triangle city was a “No-go” area for US troops. But guess what? The locals got sick of living in fear from the insurgents and foreign fighters that were there and let them know they weren’t welcome. They stopped hosting them in their houses and the mayor of the town brokered a deal with the US commander to return Iraqi government sovereignty to the city without a fight. The people saw what was on the horizon and decided they didn’t want their city looking like Fallujah in April or Najaf in August. Boom, boom, just like that two major “hot spots” cool down in rapid succession. Does that mean that those towns are completely pacified? No. What it does mean is that we are learning how to do this the right way. The US commander in Samarra saw an opportunity and took it – probably the biggest victory of his military career and nary a shot was fired in anger. Things will still happen in those cities, and you can be sure that the bad guys really want to take them back. Those achievements, more than anything else in my opinion, account for the surge in violence in recent days – especially the violence directed at Iraqis by the insurgents. Both in Najaf and Samarra ordinary people stepped out and took sides with the Iraqi government against the insurgents, and the bad guys are hopping mad. They are trying to instill fear once again. The worst thing we could do now is pull back and let that scum back into people’s homes and lives. So, you may hear analysts and prognosticators on CNN, ABC and the like in the next few days talking about how bleak the situation is here in Iraq, but from where I sit, it’s looking significantly better now than when I got here. The momentum is moving in our favor, and all Americans need to know that, so please, please, pass this on to those who care and will pass it on to others. It is very demoralizing for us here in uniform to read & hear such negativity in our press. It is fodder for our enemies to use against us and against the vast majority of Iraqis who want their new government to succeed. It causes the American public to start thinking about the acceptability of “cutting our losses” and pulling out, which would be devastating for Iraq for generations to come, and Muslim militants would claim a huge victory, causing us to have to continue to fight them elsewhere (remember, in war “Away” games are always preferable to “Home” games). Reports like that also cause Iraqis begin to fear that we will pull out before we finish the job, and thus less willing to openly support their interim government and US/Coalition activities. We are realizing significant progress here – not propaganda progress, but real strides are being made. It’s terrible to see our national morale, and support for what we’re doing here, jeopardized by sensationalized stories hyped by media giants whose #1 priority is advertising income followed closely by their political agenda; getting the story straight falls much further down on their priority scale, as Dan Rather and CBS News have so aptly demonstrated in the last week... |
Straight out of Iraq
Kerry campaign advocates Surrender
The Kerry campaign... performing its un-American duties once again... is advocating surrender in Iraq, when we have a chance to build a Democratic Iraq and begin the viral spread of freedom in the Middle East. What does it say about the American Left when its optimal campaign scenarios involve American casualties or the beheadings of innocents?
| ...[L]ast week began with Richard Holbrooke, one of Kerry's top foreign policy advisers [ed: along with Madeline Albright], saying on Fox News Sunday that in Iraq we've created "a mess worse than Vietnam." "Wait a minute, Mr. Ambassador. You're telling me that you think that Iraq is worse than Vietnam?" an incredulous Chris Wallace asked. "Yes. It is strategically worse than Vietnam," Holbrooke responded.
Well, if Iraq is worse than Vietnam, the only thing to do is get out. We are back in 1971, and, as Kerry memorably said then, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" You don't. So at midweek, Kerry's allies at MoveOn.org released a 30-second ad, "Quagmire." The ad accuses President Bush of having "no real plan to end the war." "It will take a new president," the narrator concludes, "to get us out." Get us out. That is in fact the real Kerry position, one might even say the real Kerry promise, with respect to Iraq... |
Victory or Surrender
Kerry Slogans
From Iowahawk...
| * "I will keep our enemies guessing, too."
* "Projecting American strength through intricately complex nuance." * "Fear not, America, I have deigned to lead you." * "The next time America is attacked, I promise to open up a carafe of whupass." * "I have three words for George Bush--bring it on." * "I have five more words for George Bush--call off your on-bringers." * "Restoring America's seat at the global popular table." * "Some look at things as they are and say, 'Why?' Others look at things as they are not and say, 'Why not?,' and I suppose a few might look at things as they are not, and say 'why?,' and vice-versa, and so forth, and one might be tempted to look at these people looking at things and ask 'Who?,' but this would not be constructive, because the important thing to realize is that some people like to look at things, and this is precisely my point." |
Al Gore or John Kerry... Which should play Gollum?
Which presidential wannabe really could play Gollum? Hugh Hewitt solicits some answers.
| Saruman (as played by Mr. Kerry) is plotting the overthrow of Middle Earth. His orc minions are in a fair way to completely overwhelm the good guys by great strength disproportionate to their numbers (like the [mainstream media], the halls of academia, Hollywood). He sits in his (formerly ivory) tower, Orthanc--untouchable, scheming how he can get his hands on the Ring of Power (the presidency) before it passes forever to the Dark Lord (who might that be? Hillary Clinton?)... |
Al Gore or John Kerry... Which should play Gollum?
And I'm spent
Check out ElectionQuest! You won't be sorry.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Framing the Presidential Debates
I strongly agree with this Polipundit poster (MJ), who believes the Bush campaign must fight for a level playing field with respect to the debates.
| All proposed debate moderators from CBS should be dismissed as biased. Additionally, Brit Hume from Fox should be added.
Also no debates should take place until two weeks after all Mr. Kerry's military records are releases by Kerry signing the "180 Form" and all 100 pages or so of the requested information has been received by the press and the Bush-Cheney Campaign. Additionally, the debates should be delayed in the same manner until Kerry's second rich wife releases her financial information including her 2003 federal income tax returns and supporting schedules. Not releasing their information provides the Kerry-Edwards an unfair advantage over Bush-Cheney and it is not in the best interests of the Republicans to have the debates to provide the challengers a forum if the Democrats cannot make available required disclosures. It is fine to just negotiate the terms until November 3rd if that is what it takes. |
Framing the Debate
A History of Bias at CBS
Interested in learning about CBS' egregious and biased tactics? While CBS News hit new lows with its forgery scandal, the folks at Black Rock have a long history of outrageously biased behavior. This, the final chapter in their story, is the culminating one... that of total destruction of brand equity. The "CBS News" name is now synonymous with "Pravda", only with less credibility.
| In 1992, Dan Rather saw nothing but smears when a document emerged on February 12, a letter Bill Clinton wrote to his soon-to-be-forsaken ROTC commander Eugene Holmes that said "thank you...for saving me from the draft." CBS was not happy. "Bill Clinton says President Bush's 1988 Willie Horton crowd is smearing him with new campaign dirty tricks," Dan Rather said over the show's opening music. |
Red Flags over Black Rock
CDC: Effect of the Assault Weapons Ban... None
It turns out that banning firearms based upon their appearance (thanks, Barbara Boxer and Bill Clinton!) had no noticable effect on violence. Who'da thunk it? Most folks aren't aware that the ban outlawed guns based upon cosmetic featuers (e.g., pistol grips, flash suppressors, and other gun components that look scary in the movies). Well, the CDC 's latest report indicates that the ban had...
| [Having investigated the effects of]
# Bans on specified firearms or ammunition... # Restrictions on firearm acquisition... # Waiting periods for firearm acquisition... # Firearm registration and licensing of owners... # "Shall issue" concealed weapon carry laws... # Child access prevention laws... # Zero tolerance laws for firearms in schools... # Combinations of firearms laws... ...In summary, the Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence. |
Hmmm. No, so not only are the laws unconstitutional, but they also don't work. Make sure you distribute this report to your gun-banner-wannabe friends. The facts always seem to intrude into their fantasy world.
First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Firearms Laws
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Navy Contradicts Kerry on Release of Military Records
Hmmm... John Kerry caught in another lie^H^H^Hmisstatement? Who'da thunk it? When he was asked about the The Washington Post's complaint that his records were not released on the Imus program, Mr. Kerry suggested that his campaign was "trying" to get them, but the military was standing in the way. Uhmmm, no, that's not the case, according to the Navy:
| The U.S. Navy released documents Wednesday contradicting claims by Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry that all of his available military records have been released.
The Navy, responding to a Freedom of Information Act request from the legal watchdog group Judicial Watch, also referred interested parties to Kerry's campaign web site for government military documents. Navy Personnel Command FOIA Officer Dave German wrote in an e-mail to Judicial Watch that the Navy "withheld thirty-one pages of documents from the responsive military personnel service records as we were not provided a release authorization." A "release authorization" would have to come from Kerry filling out and signing a Standard Form 180, something he has yet to do... |
Navy Contradicts Kerry on Release of Military Records
Illegal Compared To What?
 This morning I awoke to see a story on Fox News that Kofi Annan had declared the U.S. action in Iraq an "illegal" war. So what would he call the U.N. Oil for Food program? Or the U.N. inaction in the Sudan? I wonder how he would describe his buddy, Saddam's, human rights record before he ended up in a spider hole? I suspect he is doing what he can to brace himself and the U.N. for the coming revelations about the corrupt U.N. program in Iraq. (I was unable to find a link to the story at the Fox News website or any other news site before needing to leave for work. I will update with one later.)... |
UN's Oil-for-Food Crooks badmouth Bush
Kerry's Master Plan in Iraq
The inimitable OpinionJournal was listening carefully when Don Imus interviewed Kerry. Imus asked Kerry what his plan is for dealing with Iraq. Kerry's reply:
| Kerry: . . . The fact is that the president is the president. I mean, what you ought to be doing and what everybody in America ought to be doing today is not asking me; they ought to be asking the president, What is your plan?
What's your plan, Mr. President, to stop these kids from being killed? What's your plan, Mr. President, to get the other countries in there? What's your plan to have 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the cost being carried by America? I mean, he is the president today, and we have given him advice from day one; from day one, from the floor of the Senate when we debated it where I said don't--you know, you've got to have other countries with you, don't make an end runaround the U.N., the difficulty is not winning the military, it's winning the peace; and he ignored it. And others--the bipartisan, Dick Lugar, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Joe Biden, and the Foreign Relations Committee gave him advice that he chose to ignore. And since then, many times we've stood up and said, "Mr. President, this is what you have to do." He's chosen not to do those things. Imus: We're asking you because you want to be president. |
John Kerry. A man with answers. A decisive man. Comforting, eh?
President Bush's Real National Guard Record
Polipundit posted an extremely newsworthy analysis of President Bush's ANG service records. Poster "Oak Leaf" "is an active reservist with over twenty years of service that includes both the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve [and] has extensive experience in personnel programs management". His conclusion:
I have three comments on Oak Leaf's post. First, I want to thank him for taking the time to review these documents and to write such a detailed, yet clear and easy to follow analysis. Second, I think one reason the media has done such a pathetic job covering these matters is because they do not have enough people within their ranks with any military experience. Third, this point that Oak Leaf makes illustrates one more stark contrast between President Bush and Senator Kerry. Bush evidently worked without pay, and probably, due to inadequate follow-up on the paperwork, without any recognition for that time. John Kerry went to ridiculous lengths to document every bruise and scratch he got in Vietnam, and to make sure every activity he was engaged in was not only written up for awards, but was even recreated and memorialized on film. Isn't that just everything voters need to know about the character of these two men in a nutshell? |
President Bush's Real National Guard Record
Straight out of Palestine
The educational system at work in the Palestinian territories.
Palestinian Child Abuse
Rafsanjani: Muslims should use Nukes against Israel
This 2001 article is worth re-reading in light of Iran's nearing completion of Nuclear warheads. And all the more reason that a John Kerry presidency should be avoided at all costs. Equivocation, indecision and waffling are not the traits one wants for the leader of the free world in this, the nuclear age of terror.
| One of Iran’s most influential ruling cleric[s] called Friday on the Muslim states to use nuclear weapon against Israel, assuring them that while such an attack would annihilate Israel, it would cost them "damages only"...
"Jews shall expect to be once again scattered and wandering around the globe the day when this appendix is extracted from the region and the Muslim world", Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani warned, blaming on the United States and Britain the "creation of the fabricated entity" in the heart of Arab and Muslim world... |
Rafsanjani says Muslims should use Nuclear Weapon against Israel
Ayatollahs and Mullahs for Kerry
Want to vote with the Mullahs and Ayatollahs? Then vote for John Kerry!
| And so, the rhetoric in the Arab world is heating up, pointing to a real desire to see the US president go down in defeat... Cairo University’s Prof. Hassan Nafaa. Bush, he wrote, is a “wild eyed zealot” and an “evil fanatic”, one whose “departure from the Oval Office will mark the beginning of the decline of the forces of extremism and the rise of the forces of moderation.”
...Yasser Arafat [is] said to be among those who is rooting for a Democratic victory. “Arafat is waiting for November in the hope that George Bush will lose the election to John Kerry," Israel’s military intelligence chief Maj.Gen. Aharon Ze'evi Farkash told a cabinet meeting just over a month ago... ...[The] Tehran Times... was even more critical, comparing Bush and his neo-conservative advisers to “neo-Nazis” who have created a “stinking heap of a mess” throughout the world. “Kerry,” the paper asserts, “is exactly what the US needs right now." ...Why, after all, would Yasser Arafat, Bashar Assad and the Ayatollahs want to see Kerry elected, if they didn’t have good reason to believe that he would go soft on terror?... |
Ayatollahs for Kerry
Report: Israel's 'first strike' plan against Iran ready
I missed this article the first time around (July 2004), but it is worth considering in context with the previous two articles. Consider these first three articles a "trifecta": the exact reasons why John Kerry is the wrong man, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
| Israel has completed military rehearsals for a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear power facility at Bushehr, Israeli officials told the London-based Sunday Times...
...An Israeli defense source in Tel Aviv, who confirmed that the military rehearsals had taken place, told the paper: "Israel will on no account permit Iranian reactors - especially the one being built in Bushehr with Russian help - to go critical." The source was also quoted as saying that any strike on the Gulf coast facility at Bushehr would probably be carried out by long-range F-15I jets, overflying Turkey, with simultaneous operations by commandos on the ground... |
Report: Israel's 'first strike' plan against Iran ready
Beldar on Rathergate: Dan Rather was complicit
 Dan Rather was complicit in defrauding the American public in an attempt to defeat a sitting President. Rather must be fired now. Congress should subpoena CBS News' lawyers and all documentation of their advice.
...CBS, through its affiliates' licenses to use broadcast frequencies that belong to the public, is a repository of the public trust. Its employees, acting within the course and scope of their actual and apparent authority, have deliberately and knowingly abused that trust for the most venal of motives — motives that are antithetical to the function of the press in a free and democratic society. If Dan Rather is still an employee of CBS News by next Monday, then the appropriate committees of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate should convene public joint investigative hearings immediately, with Dan Rather as their second subpoenaed witness... |
Dan Rather was complicit in defrauding the American public
A little Protein Wisdom
"If they were done in Word™, your defense is absurd."
Commission on Presidential Debates: Remove CBS
Think the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) will act quickly in regards to a request to remove CBS employees from the list of moderators? Check the list of honorary chairmen. That should clue you in to their reaction time.
What you can do to get Dan Rather fired
Palestinian "Toys" Injure 10 Children
| Ten Palestinian children were wounded, three seriously, when an explosive device they were playing with blew up in the Jelazoun refugee camp north of Ramallah Wednesday night... Security officials did not rule out the possibility that a makeshift bomb prepared by Palestinian terrorists exploded prematurely wounding the children. |
10 Palestinian children wounded in bomb explosion
Ridding the US of Islamofascism
T has an idea for ridding the US of Islamofascists. His plan involves sensitive monitoring equipment in Mosques (listening for sedition), an "apprehension" team, an AC-130H Spectre, and plenty of pigs' blood. Suffice it to say that T won't be nominated for a post with the diplomatic corps any time soon.
World Peace, Part Deux
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Kerry & Edwards: the Appeasement and Negotiation Candidates
I heard John Kerry on the Imus show this morning. I was shocked by several of the things he said.
He was, for instance, pitching Madeline Albright for a key international relations/foreign advisor position. Yes, the same Madeline Albright responsible for the egregiously flawed negotiations with the North Koreans, which culminated in their secret development of nuclear weapons.
This follows John Edwards' remark that their administration would give nuclear fuel to Iran's Mullahs in exchange for promises to refrain from developing nuclear weapons.
Oh my.
I think Kerry and Edwards are woefully unprepared to deal with a world that brooks no appeasement; that sees negotiation as weakness. I would have hoped that they would recognize the failures of the Clinton administration (North Korea, the A.Q. Kahn nuclear parts network, etc.) as signs that things must change. Apparently not.
| For the first time since the Madrid train bombings, six images from a security video have been published showing the initial terrifying seconds after the March 11 explosions at the Atocha train station...
...The images were taken by a security video camera positioned about one level above the commuter train platform. 
 |
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/14/madrid.images/index.html
What's John Kerry Hiding?
The Village Voice, not what you would term a bastion of conservative thought, had some interesting remarks about Kerry's refusal to sign a Form 180 (disclosure of DOD records) or release his medical file. The latter seems especially odd, given he (ostensibly) is running for president.
Not so remarkably, on the Imus program this morning, he denied holding records back (other than medical records, which - by the way - should also be disclosed). This despite the fact that the Washington Post has reported that the Navy indicates there are about 100 unreleased pages of records in "the Kerry File". This appears to be blatantly misstatement on Kerry's part, as he has not executed a Form 180, which would allow full disclosure of his DOD records.
| I am absolutely telling you the God's honest truth about what happened and what took place over there [in Vietnam]. - John Kerry The New York Sun, August 27-29
...But deep in a long, front-page story in the August 22 Washington Post... Michael Dobbs raised the question of why Kerry has been hiding considerable parts of his Vietnam record... [m]uch later in Dobbs's story, there was this revelation, since overlooked by much of the media: "Although Kerry campaign officials insist that they have published Kerry's full military records on their Web site (with the exception of medical records shown briefly to reporters earlier this year), they have not permitted independent access to his original Navy records. "A spokesman for the Navy Personnel Command, Mike McClellan, said he was not authorized to release the full file, which consists of at least a hundred pages." This guy is running for president. Shouldn't the electorate know what's in those more than 100 pages? ...Another question: Why doesn't Kerry sue John O'Neill, principal author of Unfit for Command, and the other Swift Boat Veterans for Truth for defamation? Why would all these "liars for Bush," as Kerry loyalists and many journalists persistently charge, have made themselves vulnerable to huge damage to their careers and incomes if Kerry were to win such a suit? Both sides would have to be cross-examined in depositions under oath. John O'Neill has challenged Kerry, saying, "Sue me!" ... |
Village Voice: Would you buy a pre-owned car from John Kerry?
Hugh Hewitt: Congressional Investigation of Rathergate Warranted
| Following his appearance on my program this evening, Congressman Cox sent a letter to Congressman Fred Upton, Chair of the Subcommittee of Telecommunications and the Internet, of which Cox is a member. The letter reads in part:
"Dear Chairman Upton: This is a request that you commence a Subcommittee investigation into the continued use by CBS News of apparently forged documents concerning the service record of President George W. Bush intended to unfairly damage his reputation and influence the outcome of the 2004 presidential election. In February 2001, the Energy & Commerce Committee held hearings calling the television networks to account for irresponsibly (and inaccurately) calling the outcome of the presidential election in Florida before the polls had closed. At those hearings, CBS News vowed that the competitive drive to get the story first would be subordinated to 'making sure we are correct,' given that the stakes --the outcome of the presidential election-- were so high.... Despite the growing abundance of the evidence that CBS News has aided and abetted fraud, the network has declined to reveal the source of the disputed documents. USA Today possesses the same documents, obtained independently from a person representing them to be authentic, and likewise is refusing to disclose his identity. Given the shortness of time between now and the election which the apparent fraud is meant to influence, and the even shorter time before Congress is scheduled to adjourn, I strongly urge that the Subcommittee move with all deliberate speed to uncover the facts. Thank you for your attention to this important matter within the Subcommittee's jurisdiction. Sincerely, Christopher Cox U.S. Representative" |
Take action against CBS News
Classic
| To be or not to be President: that is my platform:
Whether 'tis more nuanced to vote for before against The 87 billion of outrageous appropriation, Or to make my case upon the seas of health care, And by raising taxes get it fully funded? To windsurf: to trap-shoot: To say "I cannot bring a gun to the debate." Oh end The heart-ache and the thousand polling shocks... |
Shakespearing Kerry
Rather calls out Laura Bush!
 I saw Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News tonight and all I can say is what an arrogant jerk! They covered Bush's appearance before the National Guard convention and had the cajones to jab the President for not answering the latest questions about his national guard service.
Why should he Dan? Almost all of the aspects of your story have been thoroughly debunked for the fraudulent and biased crap that it was! CBS once again stood by the memos and made no mention of all of the experts on other mainstream outlets that think the documents are fake. CBS went one step further and played audio of First Lady Laura Bush saying she thinks the documents are fake followed by the reporter saying she offered no proof to back up her claim. Again, what arrogance! Journalists are the ones who should be proving that these documents are authentic not the other way around! |
Arrogance
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
And the Hits just keep on Comin'
Here's Ben Barnes (via PoliPundit):
| To accept CBS's insistence the four documents from the early 1970s are authentic, you would have to believe the following:
(1) That the late Jerry Killian, Bush's commanding officer, typed the documents--though his wife says "he wasn't a typist." (2) That Killian kept the documents in his personal files--though his family says he didn't keep files. (3) That the disputed documents reflect his true (negative) feelings about Bush and a contemporaneous official document he wrote lauding Bush did not. (4) That he typed the documents on a technically advanced typewriter, an IBM Selectric Composer--though that model has been tested and failed to produce an exact copy of the documents. (5) That this advanced typewriter, which would have cost $15,000 or so in today's dollars, was used by the Texas National Guard and that Killian had gained the significant expertise needed to operate it. (6) That Killian was under pressure to whitewash Bush's record from a general who had retired 18 months earlier. (7) That Killian's superior, Maj. Gen. Bobby Hodges, was right when, sight unseen, he supposedly said the documents were authentic, but wrong when, having actually viewed the documents, he declared them fraudulent. Now if you can't accept all that, there's another side. To believe the documents are forgeries, you have to believe this: (1) The documents were typed recently using Microsoft Word, which produces documents that are exact copies of the CBS documents. (2) There's no number 2. All you have to believe is number 1. |
Ben Barnes
Even the Washington Post abandons CBS
The final pillars of mainstream media support for CBS' untenable position are crumbling. Even the Washington Post has abandoned CBS' lost cause. Rather and his network are left swinging in the wind like sausages during crow season. Hey, that was kind of a Rather-seque simile, dontcha think?
| One CBS memo cites pressure allegedly being put on Killian by "Staudt," a reference to Col. Walter B. "Buck" Staudt, one of Bush's early commanders. But the memo is dated Aug. 18, 1973, nearly a year and a half after Staudt retired from the Guard. Questioned about the discrepancy over the weekend, CBS officials said that Staudt was a "mythic figure" in the Guard who exercised influence from behind the scenes even after his retirement |
Uhmmm, yeah, there's certainly something mythic about CBS' story. At least this signals it's open season on Pravda^H^H^H^H^H^HCBS.
WaPo: Expert Cited by CBS Says He Didn't Authenticate Papers
The bizarre candidacy of John Kerry
| ...He either perjured himself in his antiwar testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in admitting to committing atrocities or he actually committed those atrocities, which is worse...
...He was present at a meeting of the VVAW where assassinations of public officials were discussed. Whether or not he voted against them or left the meeting, he has never explained why... ...He was rated the most liberal senator in 2003 by the nonpartisan National Journal. And that doesn't even begin to tell the story of his egregiously anti-defense and anti-intelligence record for his entire 20 years in the Senate. He has failed to denounce Michael Moore's deceits, but demands that President Bush denounce the Swiftees' truths. He insists Iraq isn't part of the War on Terror yet claims that we've lost 1,000 people in the War on Terror... ...He refuses to release all his military and medical records and hides behind his biographer Brinkley, who contradicts him, saying Kerry alone possesses authority over his records. He brutalized Vice President Cheney for saying America would be safer under Bush-Cheney but in the next breath, said he would make America safer... ...He says he won't delegate our national security to other nations, but never stops complaining, essentially, about Pres. Bush's failure to delegate our national security to other nations. |
The bizarre candidacy of John Kerry
Zell Miller Speaks Out
In the Journal, Zell Miller responds to his critics including one former peanut farmer-turned-president.
| ...I charged that John Kerry is weak on national security, and I listed some of the many weapons systems he has opposed over the years. My critics tripped over themselves to point out that Dick Cheney opposed some of the same weapons systems when he was defense secretary.
But, like with so many things in life, timing is everything. Mr. Kerry was proposing the cancellation of many of these weapons systems at the height of the Cold War--the worst possible time to weaken our military strength. It would be comparable to a senator in 1943 proposing to scrap the B-29 Bomber or Sherman tank or Higgins landing craft. By contrast, Mr. Cheney waited until after we had won the Cold War to propose modernizing our forces and replacing older weapons systems. There's a huge difference. Whether it's the Cold War of yesterday or the war on terror today, Mr. Kerry has sought time and time again to weaken our military at the exact moment we need to show our strength... ...But for David Gergen and this newspaper's Al Hunt, among others, to call me a racist was especially hurtful. For they know better. They know I worked for three governors in a row, not just one: Carl Sanders, Lester Maddox and Jimmy Carter. They knew I was the first governor to try to remove the Confederate emblem from the Georgia flag. And by the way, when I called each of Georgia's former governors to tell them what I was about to attempt, Jimmy Carter's first question to me was, "What are you doing that for?"... |
I will never trust John Kerry with my family's safety
Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota are trending Bush
| The Boston Globe brings news that Kerry's position is as bad as Rather's, with the report that Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota are "trending" Bush:
"In short, Kerry is no longer expanding into Republican turf as much as he is defending his own. Kerry's struggle to hold the Upper Midwest is one of the first problems Democrats mention when they describe their anxieties about the campaign -- especially faced with recent polls, such as one released yesterday by CNN/USA Today/Gallup that suggested Bush was leading Kerry in Wisconsin by 8 percentage points. Of the trio, Wisconsin is the site of the most intense campaigning, having supported Gore over Bush by less than 6,000 votes last time. ''Bush right now is smelling blood,' said former Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile." |
Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota are trending Bush
Swiftboat Veterans: 3, Kerry: 0
| The spot report for John Kerry's Silver Star action has resurfaced at Bandit's Hideout, and it affirms the story told by the Swiftvets while contradicting the later two versions of his citation. Bandit, who has done yeoman work on Kerry's Viet Nam narrative, has posted scans of the two-page document from Newscentral.tv.
Fox News reports that this spot-action report was written by Kerry himself, ironically, since it supports the Swiftvet version of events for the engagement... ...Although it's difficult to see how this action should have resulted in a Silver Star, it would seem a commendation of some sort would be appropriate. It's all of the exaggeration, lies, and paperwork alterations after the fact that calls Kerry's character into serious question. |
I no longer wonder why Mr. Kerry won't sign his Form 180 that would release all of his records.
Silver Star Spot Report Surfaces
Seen around the web
eBay: RARE 1961 IBM 72 SELECTRIC TYPEWRITER GREAT FOR FORGING
Fafblog: Damning interview with an IBM Selectric
Country Store:
Citizen-Journal: Obituary for the NY Times
Monday, September 13, 2004
Take action against Pravda^H^H^H^H^H^H CBS, Part II
The latest smear by CBS/Viacom against President Bush appears to be a blatant violation of federal election law.
If you're unfamiliar with the Rathergate scandal, here are two articles to get you up to speed: Sun Times: CBS Falls For Kerry Campaign's Fake Memo and American Spectator: Kerry Campaign & DNC Involved with Fraud?. They describe CBS' apparent attempts to influence the presidential election using forged documents and rigged testimony.
When given the chance to acknowledge and retract their story, they have refused. Thus, the proud "CBS News" brand, so valuable in years past, has continued on its slide to irrelevance. And, in the process, it's become a laughingstock.
Here's how you can help fight CBS' apparent attempts at election-rigging:
| Boycott CBS Petition
Demand a Retraction from CBS News File a complaint against CBS (may be down right now, for obvious reasons) CBS Television Group 51 W 52nd St # 35 New York, NY 10019 (212) 975-4321 CBS News FAX is (212) 975-1998 60 Minutes Spokesperson: Kelli Edwards 212-975-6795 CBS News Comments Answering machine: 212-975-3248 - Leave a complaint about CBS egregious use of fraudulent documents and rigged testimony 60 Minutes 524 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 Feedback line: 212-975-3247 - Call and complain about CBS' egregious use of fraudulent documents and rigged testimony Email Leslie Moonves, President/CEO, CBS Email Sumner M. Redstone, Chairman of Viacom/CBS Email a complaint to the FCC Suggestions for remarks (be polite, but stay on point): "As a [prospective] shareholder, I'm extremely dismayed with CBS News' use of fraudulent memos and rigged testimony in order to influence the presidential election. Dan Rather and his associates have effectively destroyed what little brand equity remained with the CBS News name. These acts continue to decimate shareholder value and I believe that senior management must take action before the entire situation implodes. Thank you very much. My name is [ ] and my phone number is [ ]." |
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Iraq Justified: a Strategic Analysis
Thomas Barnett is a strategist at the US Naval War College. Since 1998 (in other words, for two administrations), he has advised the Department of Defense regarding global military strategy. He states, in possibly the clearest language I've seen, the driving reasons behind the invasion of Iraq.
| Taking down Saddam, the region’s bully-in-chief, will force the U.S. into playing that role far more fully than it has over the past several decades, primarily because Iraq is the Yugoslavia of the Middle East-a crossroads of civilizations that has historically required a dictatorship to keep the peace. As baby-sitting jobs go, this one will be a doozy, making our lengthy efforts in postwar Germany and Japan look simple in retrospect...
...But it is the right thing to do, and now is the right time to do it, and we are the only country that can. Freedom cannot blossom in the Middle East without security... We are the only nation on earth capable of exporting security in a sustained fashion, and we have a very good track record of doing it. Show me a part of the world that is secure in its peace and I will show you a strong or growing ties between local militaries and the U.S. military. Show me regions where major war is inconceivable and I will show you permanent U.S. military bases and long-term security alliances. Show me the strongest investment relationships in the global economy and I will show you two postwar military occupations that remade Europe and Japan following World War II... |
The Pentagon's New Map
Letter to the Editor
Here is yet another letter to the editor of the local paper.
| During his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, John Kerry spent but a scant few minutes discussing his two-decade Senate record. During his career:
Kerry was wrong about the Soviets, opposing Reagan's arms buildup during the eighties. Kerry was wrong about Nicaragua, favoring appeasement of the pro-Communist Sandanistas. Kerry was wrong about Vietnam. Kerry was wrong about Iraq, taking multiple positions based upon political expediency. Conversely, under President Bush's watch, the Pakistan nuclear parts network was crushed. Libya dropped its nuclear aspirations. Afghanistan is ready for its first elections. And Iraq is poised to become the Middle East's beacon of freedom, spreading the promise of democracy. We are living in the nuclear age of terrorism. Indecision and poor decision-making could have tragic repurcussions for America. |
Take action against Pravda^H^H^H^H^H^H CBS
Hhere's how to take action against CBS.
| 1) If you are a shareholder of Viacom, call 1-800-516-4399 (Investor Relations) and politely tell them that Dan Rather's fraudulent and biased reporting is destroying the brand equity of CBS News and hurting the value of the entire network. As a shareholder, you will not stand for someone destroying the CBS brand name.
2) If you are not a shareholder, call 1-212-258-6000 - press 6308 (not sure which one did it, but I got to the voicemail directory, say the name of Mel Karmazin, and leave a voicemail politely expressing your desire for CBS to rectify the situation immediately before what little brand equity remains with CBS News is completely eradicated). Other names you can leave messages with: Sumner Redstone, Richard Bressler (CFO), Michael Fricklas, and William Roskin. If you're stuck with what you should say, try the following: "As a [prospective] shareholder, I'm extremely dismayed with CBS News' use of apparently fraudulent memos and ignoring testimony counter to the story they tried to tell regarding President Bush's Guard service. They have effectively destroyed what little brand equity remained with the CBS News name! These acts are decimating shareholder value and I believe that senior management must take action before the entire situation implodes. Thank you very much. My name is [ ] and my phone number is [ ]." Be polite, but make your point! |
Sign the petition and boycott CBS
Was the Beslan Massacre to have taken place in Maryland?
From JihadWatch, in November of 2003:
| WASHINGTON -- The FBI is investigating a Saudi college student and his American wife who recently videotaped a Jewish school in Baltimore and said they sent the footage to Saudi Arabia, according to law enforcement officials and community leaders who know about the case.
The Saudi man, who came to the United States on a student visa four years ago, and his wife were seen videotaping an Orthodox school for girls, Beit Yakov, on Oct. 26 and fled after witnesses wrote down their automobile's license plate number, officials said. Law enforcement officials were contacted and later interviewed the couple, who said the video was intended for the man's parents in Saudi Arabia. |
Was the Beslan Massacre to have taken place in Maryland?
Can't say they weren't warned...
I wrote the following email to the staff of "60 Minutes" on September 6, 2004. We can't say we didn't warn 'em.
| Regarding the Ben Barnes story: I believe the New York Times has just reported that Mr. Barnes is a large individual contributor to the Kerry campaign. If the Swiftboat veterans are less credible because they took a contribution from a common contributor to Republicans, then Ben Barnes' status as the third largest contributor to Kerry's campaigns should render any direct testimony from him completely invalid.
And that's without even getting into Mr. Barnes' odd history as a "lobbyist". The Barnes story, and your reports on this issue, are being carefully fact-checked in the blogosphere (e.g., http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/002430.php and http://blogspirator.blogspot.com/2004/08/exclusive-dirt-on-ben-barnes-claims_29.html ) . The Swiftboat Veterans have already proven what kind of a force lies in the blogosphere. Simply from your sharedholders' perspective, I would suggest that you not further undermine your credibility as a news organization by publishing only half the Ben Barnes story. CBS' ethical reputation -- and market-share -- hinge on decisions like these. Fully disclosing Ben Barnes' history is a step in the right direction. Regards, Doug |
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Pravda and the Politburo
The CBS/National Guard documents are, without question, forgeries. The typeface is bogus (font, kerning, line-spacing, superscripts, and "auto-centering" of text) , the dates are bogus, and the key General mentioned had been retired for many months at the time they were purportedly written.
Worse, CBS sought and then ignored, direct testimony from the reputed author's son (a pilot who served with Bush), wife, and other key personnel who all disputed the possibility that the memo was authored by Killian. And CBS misled General Hodges in a phone interview, telling him the documents were handwritten. Further, Ben Barnes' (the key figure in the CBS story) own daughter dismissed her father's charges as "political and opportunist", motivated by the opportunity to cash in on a Kerry administration.
And yet, despite massive and conclusive evidence of fraud, CBS News is fighting, tooth and nail, to hold the line by claiming that the documents are real. These are not the traits of a news organization. These are the traits of unabashed propagandists: Josef Goebbels and Pravda come to mind.
The "CBS News Brand Name" has been destroyed
As the Powerline bloggers put it on the Hugh Hewitt show: CBS News needs corporate adult supervision from Viacom to set things straight. The CBS News brand, once the most valuable name in the business, has been utterly and completely eviscerated by this latest debacle.
CBS has no more credibility now than Pravda had in the days of the Politburo. And there's more to that analogy than you may think.
The Startling Ramifications
Frightening facts:
1) CBS' fact-checkers (Mr. Magoo and the late Ray Charles?) completely missed the fact that the documents were poorly-conceived forgeries;
2) Once the forgeries were discovered, CBS did not reinvestigate the documents or re-interview the witnesses in question;
3) CBS, instead, stonewalled and disavowed the very possibility that the documents could be false, using a defense known as the 'divine right of Kings' (Hugh Hewitt: "that defense hasn't worked in centuries, and it isn't working now");
Even more frightening:
This isn't the first time that CBS and other major media outlets have seemingly linked hands with the Democratic party and launched a coordinated attack on the GOP.
The startling ramifications:
CBS does not have a news organization. They are the Pravda to the Democratic Party's Politburo. They continue to suppress the truth. They continue to stifle dissenting opinion. CBS News acts as though it is managed by Communists, Islamofascists, or complete incompetents. Either way, CBS News must be completely gutted and overhauled. The evisceration and reconstitution of CBS News will not be pretty. And it won't be televised.
Links to the DNC
According to the American Spectator, the Democratic National Committe (yes, that DNC) may have provided the forged documents to CBS.
If this turns out to be true, the DNC is a co-conspirator in a fraud of massive proportions. A fraud that would help them regain the American Presidency. A fraud designed to change the course of history.
What does it say about the Democratic party if it is so desperate that it is willing to use forged documents in pursuit of the presidency?
What does it say about a Democratic party if it conspired in a fraud so poorly conceived that it was exposed in a matter of hours?
What does it say about a Democratic party that stations anti-American cult hero Michael Moore in its Presidential box at its convention?
What does it say about the Democratic party whose leadership meets with groups tied to terrorists?. And then pushes their rogue agendas?
The Democratic Party is Dead
This is no longer your father's Democratic party. This is not the Democratic party of Reagan, Roosevelt, and Truman.
This is a Democratic party that has been subsumed by the Far Left. This is a Democratic party that has been hijacked by Anarchists, Communists, Islamofascists, and Hollywood.
And this is the party that the Anybody-but-Bush crowd has banked on. But the real Democratic party is no more. And now... there will be hell to pay.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Consistent Track Record
Hugh Hewitt, once again, has demonstrated a mastery of historical detail that is completely (and ominously) germane to Kerry's fitness to serve as commander-in-chief.
| IN THE SPRING of 1985 Ronald Reagan struggled with a Democrat-dominated Congress for authority to ship aid to the Nicaraguan Contras fighting the spreading grip of the Sandinistas on their Central American country... On the eve of a major Senate vote on the issue of aid, John Kerry and Tom Harkin jetted off to Managua for a weekend of intensive talks with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega...
Kerry was wholly wrong about Nicaragua, about the limits of American power, about the applicability of the Vietnam experience outside of Vietnam, indeed even about the lessons of the Vietnam War. Kerry's instinct in 1985 was appeasement of Ortega, and there is no reason to believe that his fundamental views, quite visibly revealed in his mission to Managua, have in any way evolved to a more mature understanding of the nature of America's enemies or the use of American power. John Kerry: Wrong about Vietnam. Wrong about the Sandinistas. Wrong about the Soviets. Wrong about Iraq. The wrong man with the wrong ideas at the wrong time. |
One Weekend in April, a Long Time Ago...
Iran's first nukes possible within the year
I have a few simple questions for citizens and residents of the United States:
1) Is it acceptable for Iran to possess nuclear weapons, given their longstanding sponsorship of suicidal extremist terror groups?
2) If you answered no to #1, how should Iran's steady progress toward nuclear weapons be stopped, given the breakdown of diplomatic approaches (which most analysts see as stall tactics on the part of the Mullahs)?
3) If a military option to dismantle Iran's nuclear program is necessary, which candidate has the persistency and consistency to execute such a plan?
U.S. sounds alarm on Iran: First nukes possible within year
Could Beslan happen here?
 Could what happened in Beslan happen in the US? Two months ago, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported on a fellow called Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi, a suspected terrorist who'd fought with his fellow jihadi in Chechnya and somehow wound up in Minnesota, where he'd applied for licences to transport hazardous materials and drive school buses... |
Licensed for transporting hazardous material and driving school buses
| The Portland '7' intended exactly this sort of slaughter for my neighborhood... for my hometown... for the community center where my little brother learned to swim... all because it's named the JCC, the Jewish Community Center.
The conversations ranged from inquiries about bomb making, to talk of cutting the heads off nonbelievers, to a desire to have "real" Muslim wives who would be willing to carry AK-47 assault rifles and be "ready to run and blow something up." He [Jeffrey Leon Battle] had said he wanted to kill hundreds of Jews at a Portland-area synagogue or Jewish school... |
Looking for a few "real" Muslim wives
Still wondering why Kerry won't sign a Form 180?
"How many [American] soldiers do you know who are exhibited as honorary war heroes in the Communist War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City? I know of only one, his name is John Kerry. This is hardly a qualification to be Commander-In-Chief of our Armed Forces..."
Kerry Unfit for Command
And JustOneMinute notes:
| The President is not running on a service record he has nonetheless fully disclosed; John Kerry is running on a service record he has not fully disclosed... |
And the hits just keep on comin'
| [An interesting] analysis from the Small Business Survival Committee over at Townhall.com regarding John Kerry's voting record on small-business issues over the past 10 years... Kerry's voting record displays a remarkable hostility to small businesses... be sure to read the entire SBSC report to learn how a Kerry/Edwards administration would unleash its hostility towards small business. |
For Small Businesses, Kerry's Help Has Never Been On The Way
38 days and counting
| The Washington Post has an ... account of Kerry's August collapse, but for all the focus on tactics, the weakness of Kerry as a candidate is obvious from the fact that it has now been 38 days since Kerry sat down... for an in-depth interview that would be certain to bring up Kerry's whoppers about his Vietnam service. Kerry's still in the box he built from himself of fables of CIA men and hats and gun-running to Cambodia... |
38 Days and Counting...
What the hell is he saying?
| I need a big favor from someone. Please watch this John Kerry interview with MTV and explain what in the hell he is talking about. It has now been 38 days since Kerry has been interviewed by a real reporter. |
National Guard
| What do you really know about George W. Bush’s time in the Air National Guard? That he didn’t show up for duty in Alabama? That he missed a physical? That his daddy got him in?
News coverage of the president’s years in the Guard has tended to focus on one brief portion of that time — to the exclusion of virtually everything else. So just for the record, here, in full, is what Bush did... |
The National Guard story, without the Spin
Forgery?
| The [Boston] Globe story is itself based on last night's 60 Minutes report: "New questions on Bush Guard duty." The online version of the 60 Minutes story has links to the memos. Killian died in 1984; CBS states that it "consulted a handwriting analyst and document expert who believes the material is authentic." Reader Tom Mortensen writes:
Every single one of the memos to file regarding Bush's failure to attend a physical and meet other requirements is in a proportionally spaced font, probably Palatino or Times New Roman. In 1972 people used typewriters for this sort of thing (especially in the military), and typewriters used mono-spaced fonts. The use of proportionally spaced fonts did not come into common use for office memos until the introduction high-end word processing systems from Xerox and Wang, and later of laser printers, word processing software, and personal computers. They were not widespread until the mid to late 90's. Before then, you needed typesetting equipment, and that wasn't used for personal memos to file. Even the Wang and other systems that were dominant in the mid 80's used mono-spaced fonts. I doubt the TANG had typesetting or high-end 1st generation word processing systems. I am saying these documents are forgeries, run through a copier for 15 generations to make them look old. This should be pursued aggressively. |
Pop goes the "evidence"
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Cult of Death
The New York Times' David Brooks wrote a startling and eloquent op-ed that appeared in this morning's edition.
| We've been forced to witness the massacre of innocents. In New York, Madrid, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Baghdad and Bali, we have seen thousands of people destroyed while going about the daily activities of life.
We've been forced to endure the massacre of children. Whether it's teenagers outside an Israeli disco or students in Beslan, Russia, we've seen kids singled out as special targets. We should by now have become used to the death cult that is thriving at the fringes of the Muslim world. This is the cult of people who are proud to declare, "You love life, but we love death." This is the cult that sent waves of defenseless children to be mowed down on the battlefields of the Iran-Iraq war, that trains kindergartners to become bombs, that fetishizes death, that sends people off joyfully to commit mass murder.  This cult attaches itself to a political cause but parasitically strangles it. The death cult has strangled the dream of a Palestinian state. The suicide bombers have not brought peace to Palestine; they've brought reprisals. The car bombers are not pushing the U.S. out of Iraq; they're forcing us to stay longer. The death cult is now strangling the Chechen cause, and will bring not independence but blood.
But that's the idea. Because the death cult is not really about the cause it purports to serve. It's about the sheer pleasure of killing and dying.  It's about massacring people while in a state of spiritual loftiness. It's about experiencing the total freedom of barbarism - freedom even from human nature, which says, Love children, and Love life. It's about the joy of sadism and suicide.
We should be used to this pathological mass movement by now. We should be able to talk about such things. Yet when you look at the Western reaction to the Beslan massacres, you see people quick to divert their attention away from the core horror of this act, as if to say: We don't want to stare into this abyss. We don't want to acknowledge those parts of human nature that were on display in Beslan. Something here, if thought about too deeply, undermines the categories we use to live our lives, undermines our faith in the essential goodness of human beings.  Three years after Sept. 11, too many people have become
experts at averting their eyes. If you look at the editorials and public pronouncements made in response to Beslan, you see that they glide over the perpetrators of this act and search for more conventional, more easily comprehensible targets for their rage. The Boston Globe editorial, which was typical of the American journalistic response, made two quick references to the barbarity of the terrorists, but then quickly veered off with long passages condemning Putin and various Russian policy errors. The Dutch foreign minister, Bernard Bot, speaking on behalf of the European Union, declared: "All countries in the world need to work together to prevent tragedies like this. But we also would like to know from the Russian authorities how this tragedy could have happened." It wasn't a tragedy. It was a carefully planned mass murder operation. And it wasn't Russian authorities who stuffed basketball nets with explosives and shot children in the back as they tried to run away. Whatever horrors the Russians have perpetrated upon the Chechens, whatever their ineptitude in responding to the attack, the essential nature of this act was in the act itself. It was the fact that a team of human beings could go into a school, live with hundreds of children for a few days, look them in the eyes and hear their cries, and then blow them up. Dissertations will be written about the euphemisms the media used to describe these murderers. They were called "separatists" and "hostage-takers." Three years after Sept. 11, many are still apparently unable to talk about this evil. They still try to rationalize terror. What drives the terrorists to do this? What are they trying to achieve?  They're still victims of the delusion that Paul Berman diagnosed after Sept. 11: "It was the belief that, in the modern world, even the enemies of reason cannot be the enemies of reason. Even the unreasonable must be, in some fashion, reasonable."
This death cult has no reason and is beyond negotiation. This is what makes it so frightening. This is what causes so many to engage in a sort of mental diversion. They don't want to confront this horror. So they rush off in search of more comprehensible things to hate. |
New York Times: Cult of Death
Picture credits: Little Green Footballs and Lileks Bleats
The Resume
Think about this for a moment or two.
| Now say someone comes to you looking for a job. Right off the bat, you notice something strange about his résumé: It goes on for page after page about a job he held for four months, more than 35 years ago, but makes only the barest mention of anything he's done since. You have him in for an interview, and he can't give you a straight answer to any question about what he plans to do in the job if you hire him. Instead (to borrow a description from Joe Conason), he sounds like a bar-stool bore, with a bad habit of repeating the same lame boasts about that long-ago four-month stint again and again.
Still, you decide to check out his references. (John Edwards: "If you have any question about what John Kerry is made of, just spend three minutes with the men who served with him.") Some sing his praises quite extravagantly, but a greater number describe him harshly as a man of dubious character, and some accuse him of lying on his résumé. He acknowledges a few embellishments but refuses to provide you with documents that would shed light on the other accusations. Would you hire this man? And would you fire an employee of four years' standing in order to create an opening for him? |
The Resume
The 75
The American Spectator had an interesting snippet about Kerry's own campaign staffers analyzing Unfit for Command... and finding 75 disagreements between the book and Kerry's records...
| According to a Kerry campaign source, senior campaign advisers tasked two Washington-based campaign staffers to vet the recently published Unfit for Command.
"The purpose was to compare what that book had with what we had on file from Senator Kerry," says the campaign source, who said that the research project developed more than 75 instances where Kerry's recollections, previous remarks, or writings conflicted with the book's reporting. "We took some of the most glaring examples, like the Christmas in Cambodia story, and presented them to senior staff, and we assume that those things were put in front of Senator Kerry," says the source. "We haven't heard a word about it. All we were told is that it was being taken care of." The campaign source said that the book was not considered a "serious" problem for the campaign, because, "the media wouldn't have the nerve to come at us with this kind of stuff," says the source. "The senior staff believes the media is committed to seeing us win this thing, and that the convention inoculated us from these kinds of stories. The senior guys really think we don't have a problem here."? |
Aside from the 75 areas of dispute, it's interesting to note the dismissal of the mainstream media: they "...wouldn't have the nerve to come at us with this kind of stuff...".
Hmmmm. I guess it's being taken care of.
Command Confidence
It's 2002 all over again
| You know, if John Kerry weren't so darn electable, the Democrats would be panicking right now. Oh wait, he isn't and they are. Ever since the Iowa caucuses in January, two assumptions had guided the party: that its loathing of President Bush is shared by the country, and that John Kerry's Vietnam service is a huge political asset. It now seems clear that the headlines on Nov. 3 will not read "War Hero Wins by Default." Had the Dems ventured outside the liberal media echo chamber to read this column, they'd have seen this coming months ago |
It's 2002 all over again
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
World War IV
For some reason, the AP and the New York Times haven't fully documented the complete tragedy of the terrorist attack on the Russian school. If we didn't know better, we'd think they had a "more important" agenda. Although what would be more important than continued evidence of an ongoing World War escapes me.
Folks, this really is World War IV. John Kerry's 20 year record of anti-military and anti-intelligence efforts should completely disqualify him from any consideration of him as a war-time candidate. We... are... at... war. And the leadership of the Democratic party just doesn't seem to get it.
Warning: the following story, as reported in the U.K., is graphic.
| THE full horror of the Russian school atrocity began to emerge yesterday as traumatised children told horrific tales of stabbed babies and brutal rapes.
It has also emerged that scores of the 323 who died - including many children - had been shot in the back. While despairing soldiers and rescue workers moved among the growing pile of body bags, it was revealed that an 18-month-old baby had been repeatedly stabbed by a black-clad terrorist who had run out of ammunition. |
They Knifed Babies, They Raped Girls
Uh oh
| In a fresh blow to John Kerry's flagging presidential campaign, the Pentagon has ordered an official investigation into the awards of the Democratic senator's five Vietnam War decorations...
...The highly unusual inquiry is to be carried out by the inspector-general's office of the United States navy, for which Sen Kerry served as a Swift Boat captain for four months in 1968, making two tours of duty. ...to the consternation of campaign strategists, the US navy has now agreed to a request by Judicial Watch, a bi-partisan lobby group, for a full inquiry. Judicial Watch is calling for the Navy to report before the elections... ...A navy spokesman confirmed on Friday that the inspector-general's office at the Pentagon had authorised the inquiry. "It is the responsibility of all personnel to correct errors in official records," said the spokesman. Another official said privately: "There's a feeling that it's time to deal with this thoroughly, once and for all." ... |
Pentagon to check Kerry war record
Uh oh, part deux
| Sen. John Kerry's campaign biographer Douglas Brinkley said Sunday that if an ongoing Navy investigation into Kerry's military decorations turns up evidence of "purposeful" deception, it could spell doom for the top Democrat's White House bid...
...The presidential historian called on Kerry to authorize the release of his full military file, saying, "Clearly some of these military records should be made available to the press." |
Brinkley: Navy Probe Could Doom Kerry Campaign
Uh oh, part tres
Let's examine the background of Kerry's refusal to lend his signature to a Form 180.
1) There is credible, eye-witness evidence that various incidents during the war were either fabricated or embellished (as outlined in the book Unfit for Command).
2) Kerry's campaign has repeatedly claimed that all records have been released, but that appears not to be the case, according to the mainstream press.
3) Lipscomb's reporting indicates that a Navy spokesman implied that there are at least 94 unreleased pages in Kerry's file.
4) Kerry's hagiographer, Brinkley, has publicly stated that Kerry should sign a Form 180 and release his records.
This all boils down to a simple conclusion, in my opinion. The file has not been scrubbed, otherwise it would have been released to destroy the Swiftvets' claims.
Therefore, there must be some data in the file that supports the Swiftvets, in my estimation.
I vant to be alone
Polipundit notes:
| It has now been one month and four days since John Kerry last answered questions from a real reporter.
Can he go all the way to election day without telling us whether his "searing" memory of being in Cambodia is true? Or why every eyewitness disagrees with his claims of enemy fire during the incident he used to obtain his first Purple Heart? Or why his Silver Star mysteriously has a V for valor, in contradiction to Navy regulations? Or why he won't file form 180 and release his military records? Or why he won't make his journals, which form much of the basis for the book Tour of Duty, public?" |
Still in Hiding
President Schwarzenegger
| I am going to go out on a limb here: I don't think Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is ever going to be president of the United States.
But Schwarzenegger's performance last week at the Republican National Convention in New York had the political world buzzing about the possibility, however remote. Speaking in a packed convention hall before a national television audience estimated at 20 million households, Schwarzenegger delivered an inspirational ode to freedom, immigration, enterprise and the American Dream... |
President Schwarzanegger
Heard around the web
"Kerry decided to make Vietnam the centerpiece of his campaign for one clear reason: Imagine him without his military record -- he would just be another liberal from Taxachusetts," (Kerry Biogapher Douglas Brinkley)
"Kerry tells bookstores not to carry the O'Neill book and tells TV stations not to run the vets' ads, all the while stating, 'BRING . . . IT . . . ON!'" (Jay Nordlinger)
"A couple of days {18 Feb 69} before his second Purple Heart, Kerry was also operating with Bob Hildreth, officer in charge of the accompanying boat {PCF-72}. It was a day Hildreth would never forget. Kerry was the lead boat, with Hildreth behind. There was a small hole in a line of fishing stakes. Kerry's boat slipped through first. When Hildreth's boat started through, a mine went off, and then at least five rockets were fired at the boat. Standard doctrine and procedure when a boat was under such intense fire was for accompanying boats to stand and fight or return and provide fire support. According to Hildreth, Kerry simply fled, providing neither fire support nor even mortar support. Instead, Hildreth and his gallant crew were left alone to fight their way out of the ambush--which Hildreth has never forgotten: 'I would never want Kerry behind me. I wouldn't want him in front of me either. And I sure wouldn't want him commanding our kids in Iraq and Afghanistan.'" (John O'Neill)
"After voting for the war, but against funding it, after saying he would have voted for the war even knowing everything we know today, my opponent woke up this morning with new campaign advisers and yet another new position." (President Bush)
Monday, September 06, 2004
"A Kerry Administration would pose... a National Security threat"
Insight Magazine's John Wambaugh logically breaks down the Kerry campaign and its implications for a Democratic administration.
Wambaugh states that a Kerry administration would, in itself, pose a dire national security threat to the US. Why?
Because a Kerry administration would incorporate Kerry's long-time backers: Left-wing anti-war, anti-military, anti-Patriot act, anti-Intelligence, pacifists, appeasers and the 'Blame America' crowd. And that's without even mentioning the Democratic leaderships' odd meetings with Islamic groups affiliated with terrorists. Read on.
| John Kerry faced major challenges at the beginning of this election cycle: first, the popularity and credibility George W. Bush had with the American people post 9/11; second, his anti-war movement with Jane Fonda - to include abusive statements about the 2.6 million American soldiers that served during the Vietnam War; third, his abysmal anti-national security voting record; and fourth, his failure to leave a legislative footprint in the Senate after being there twenty years...
In response to these challenges, Kerry settled on a strategy that maligned President Bush's military service and undermined the peoples' trust in Bush as Commander-In-Chief. At the same time, this strategy called for Kerry promoting himself as a war hero as a calculated offset to his anti-war activities and his extreme anti-national security voting record... ...It's a sad day for the United States when Middle East Terrorist Organizations use the film Fahrenheit 911 and the statements of Left-Wing Democrat Leaders to support the recruiting of terrorists... ...A Kerry Administration would pose, in itself, a National Security threat to the United States... Why? Because a Kerry Administration would incorporate Kerry's long time supporters: Left-Wing anti-war, anti-military, anti-Patriot Act, anti-intelligence gathering people, pacifists, appeasers and the blame America first crowd. These Kerry supporters would be far more interested in dismantling the U.S. military and turning our national security over to the U.N. than in aggressively going after global terrorism. |
Kerry's Strategy To Undermine Bush
The Bush Doctrine
The Bush Doctrine:
|
1. We will fight for freedom. We reject moral relativism. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom -- the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time -- now depends on us. Our nation -- this generation -- will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail. 2. The friends of our enemies are also our enemies. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime. 3. We reserve the right to hit our enemies before they strike us. The war on terror will not be won on the defensive. We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans, and confront the worst threats before they emerge. In the world we have entered, the only path to safety is the path of action. And this nation will act. 4. We will not negotiate with those who continue to support terrorism. Every leader actually committed to peace will end incitement to violence in official media and publicly denounce homicide bombs. Every nation actually committed to peace will stop the flow of money, equipment, and recruits to terrorist groups seeking the destruction of Israel, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah... |
The Bush Doctrine
My Letter to 60 Minutes
In anticipation of the long-discredited Ben Barnes story ('Ah got Bush into the National Guard'), the following note was emailed to CBS' 60 Minutes.
| Regarding the Ben Barnes story: I believe the New York Times has just reported that Mr. Barnes is a large individual contributor to the Kerry campaign. If the Swiftboat veterans are less credible because they took a contribution from a common contributor to Republicans, then Ben Barnes' status as the third largest contributor to Kerry's campaigns should render any direct testimony from him completely invalid.
And that's without even getting into Mr. Barnes' odd history as a "lobbyist". The Barnes story, and your reports on this issue, are being carefully fact-checked in the blogosphere (e.g., http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/002430.php and http://blogspirator.blogspot.com/2004/08/exclusive-dirt-on-ben-barnes-claims_29.html ) . The Swiftboat Veterans have already proven what kind of a force lies in the blogosphere. Simply from your sharedholders' perspective, I would suggest that you not further undermine your credibility as a news organization by publishing only half the Ben Barnes story. CBS' ethical reputation -- and market-share -- hinge on decisions like these. Fully disclosing Ben Barnes' history is a step in the right direction. Regards, Doug |
Out of the Kitchen
The Chicago Sun-Times pillories the Democratic candidate for his inability to roll with the punches. Address the criticisms? Nope. Sign a Form 180 to release all records? Nope. Debate the two approaches? Nope. Kerry's answer is to talk about serving in the National Guard versus serving on a Swiftboat. Hmmmm....
| ...less than 60 minutes after President Bush gave a sober, graceful, droll and moving address, Kerry decided to hit back. In the midnight hour, he climbed out of his political coffin, and before his thousands of aides could grab the garlic from Teresa's kitchen and start waving it at him, he found himself in front of an audience and started giving a speech. As in Vietnam, he was in no mood to take prisoners: ''I have five words for Americans,'' he thundered. ''This is your wake up call!''
Is that five words? Or is it six? Well, it's all very nuanced, according to whether you hyphenate the ''wake-up.'' Maybe he should have said, ''I have four words plus a common hyphenated expression for Americans.'' I'd suggest the rewrite to him personally, but I don't want him to stare huffily at me and drone, "How dare you attack my patriotism." ... ...That seems to be the way John Kerry likes it. Americans should be free to call Bush a moron, a liar, a fraud, a deserter, an agent of the House of Saud, a mass murderer, a mass rapist (according to the speaker at a National Organization for Women rally last week) and the new Hitler (according to just about everyone). But how dare anyone be so impertinent as to insult John Kerry! No one has the right to insult Kerry, except possibly Teresa, and only on the day she gives him his allowance... |
Kerry's showing he just can't take the heat
Sunday, September 05, 2004
"Lies and half-truths"
The shrill and intellectually dishonest Susan Estrich claimed in a recent column that the Swiftboat Veterans were "assassins" and that their charges were "lies and half-truths".
The central premise of Susan's column is this statement:
| ...all the newspapers and news organizations that investigated the charges of the Swift Boat assassins found them to be full of lies and half-truths... |
She then goes on to recommend spending the Democratic war-chest on such voter-relevant issues as the current administration's past drinking habits (despite the fact that the Left already pursued that course of action... four years ago). And that's the best tactic she can come up with. In a near-hallucinogenic flight of fancy, she goes on to invent her own Swiftie-like groups ("George Bush's Former Female Friends for Truth").
Back in the real world, we can ask: what do the Swiftboat Veterans claim? And why didn't Susan Estrich address a single one of their "lies and half truths"?
"It is a matter of public record that John Kerry lied before Congress when he falsely portrayed his fellow service personnel in Vietnam as rapists and baby killers."
Kerry, himself, said that his broad-brush Congressional comments were, "a little bit over the top" - as close to an admission of falsehood as we'll likely get. Point for the Swifties.
"[We] believe that [Kerry's] testimony endangered our prisoners of war."
Paul Galanti, a Navy Pilot who spent seven years in Hanoi as a POW, said as much: "...during torture sessions, [Galanti] said, his captors cited the antiwar speeches as 'an example of why we should cross over to [their] side.'". Point for the Swifties.
The book "Unfit for Command" raises several eye-witness issues with Kerry's war stories, including "Christmas in Cambodia" and his first purple heart.
Kerry's campaign has backtracked on both of these issues. Regarding Christmas in Cambodia, "[the] Kerry campaign responded, initially, that Mr Kerry had always said he was 'near' Cambodia. Then a campaign aide said Mr Kerry had been in the Mekong Delta 'between' Vietnam and next-door Cambodia - a geographical zone not found on maps". And several other versions of the story, including CIA drop-offs months later, have arisen. Point for the Swifties.
Regarding the first purple heart, Kerry's own campaign has again backtracked. According to Fox News, "Kerry received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered on December 2nd, 1968. But an entry in Kerry's own journal written nine days later, he writes that, quote, he and his crew hadn't been shot at yet, unquote. Kerry's campaign has said it is possible his first Purple Heart was awarded for an unintentionally self-inflicted wound.". In other words, the first Purple Heart was, shall we say, bogus. Point for the Swifties.
"Winning three Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star and the Silver Star in four months is rare. We have received letters from countless veterans outlining serious injuries -- far more serious than any Kerry sustained -- who said they did not seek a Purple Heart, because they did not feel it was warranted by the minor nature of their wound. In any case, the Senator’s full disclosure of his military records will shed light on the truth."
Over 250 Swiftboat veterans, many of them eye-witnesses to the events in question, oppose John Kerry. Perhaps 15 or less support him. Full disclosure of Kerry's records -- by signing a Form 180 -- will clear up the remaining issues.
There are a bunch of lies and half-truths floating around, but none that I can find on the part of the Swiftboat Veterans.
The title "Michael Dukakis' campaign manager" says pretty much all you need to know about Susan Estrich. Feel free to write Susan with your thoughts.
Susan: when will John Kerry sign a Form 180, so we can clear up the remaining "lies and half-truths"?
SBVT FAQ
John Kerry's Biggest Problem
<Exactly what is John Kerry's most formidable problem in marshaling support for his campaign? J.B. Williams diagnoses Kerry's reactions to the Swiftboat crisis and mentions an ominous surprise that may be waiting in the wings. If true, it could throw a few more anvils on the desk of his sinking candidacy.
| ...John Kerry’s biggest problem is John Kerry. He can’t run on his Senate career because his voting record is opposite to his campaign rhetoric. He can’t run on his ability to run anything, a company, a state, a municipality, a Girl Scout troop, because he has never run anything. And now, he can’t run on his self-proclaimed hero status because despite the fact that he has a dozen or so willing to stand with him in this effort, there are more than 250 standing opposed, and they won’t go away.
There’s more: former POW’s tortured with his pictures and words in captivity have a September surprise of their own for Kerry. Kerry’s implosion is completely self-inflicted and it was completely predictable. Snared by his own web of lies and cornered by all the bridges he burned over the years, he is in serious trouble... ...Kerry is depending on the American people not noticing that through his barrage of counter attacks, he has yet to answer a single charge. |
John Kerry's Biggest Problem Is John Kerry
John Forbes Dukakis
Is any sort of criticism of John Kerry valid? Or are all critiques "smears" and "lies"? Glenn Reynolds asks some poignant questions.
| It's hard to criticize John Kerry these days. Apparently, every criticism of him is unfair. At least, we're not supposed to criticize his time in Vietnam -- or even what he's said about Vietnam more recently -- because that would be a "smear" (even when the Kerry campaign admits, as it has regarding Kerry's Christmas-in-Cambodia claims, that he hasn't been telling the truth)...
...One question for voters -- among many, many others that we're apparently not supposed to be asking -- is this: If Kerry can't run a campaign, how can he run the Presidency? |
John Forbes Dukakis
Pataki
I missed Governor George Pataki's speech but just had a chance to read it. Great stuff. Here are some highlights:
| Almost four years ago, George W. Bush raised his right hand and took the oath of office. And from the first, he showed us something we hadn't seen in a while. When he said he was going to do something, he meant it. And then he did it. Given recent history, that's amazing.
He inherited a recession. And then came September 11th. But George Bush said he would turn around the economy and create new jobs. He said he'd do it. And he did. He said he would cut taxes on the middle class and ease the tax burden on all Americans. He said he'd do it. And he did. He said he'd help small businesses, protect Social Security and expand home ownership. He said he'd do it. And he did. He said he'd apply tougher standards to our schools. He'd help our seniors get the prescription drug coverage they need. He said he'd do it. And he did. And George Bush said he'd fight to allow the power of faith to help our young and help our troubled. He said he'd do it. And he did. There's much more, but you get the point. ... Where does Senator Kerry stand on [the terrorist attacks]? In Boston, he said that in the future "any attack would be met with a swift and certain response." Well, respectfully, Senator, that's not good enough. We've already been attacked, time and again. And President Bush understands we can't just wait for the next attack. We have to go after them, in their training camps, in their hiding places, in their spider holes, before they have the chance to attack us again. ... Senator Kerry says, "America should go to war not when it wants to go to war but when it has to go to war." Well, Senator, the firefighters and cops who ran into those burning towers and died on September 11th didn't want to go to war. They were heroes in a war they didn't even know existed. America did not choose this war. But we have a president who chooses to win it. |
Demos: Can we panic now?
The Left-leaning pundits are starting to sound the alarm claxons. Others are simply rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking vessel that is the Kerry campaign. What is that off in the distance... is that a Swiftboat?
| He's a good closer! In Massachusetts! For Kerry, the race is at worst very close, and there's plenty of time. I'd be more confident of his ability to pull himself out of his rut, though, if I could think of any instance when he's aggressively campaigned over a sustained period before an electorate that wasn't overwhelmingly Democratic and actually moved the needle significantly in his direction. I can't. If anyone out there can, please let me know. ... |
Can we panic now?
Saturday, September 04, 2004
Liberty's Century
The president's speech was outstanding. By the end of the first half hour, though, I was not expecting much. I was a bit bored. It sounded, as the analysts put it, like a typical State of the Union speech. But the president warmed up in the second half... and was outstanding.
He described the rationale for Afghanistan and Iraq - and the difficulty of the decision-making process. He, and many others, are convinced that freedom in Iraq will ignite Democracy and it will spread like wildfire throughout the Middle East. The only safety we can hope to achieve is by destroying dictatorships and fascist regimes, not only to disrupt the flow of WMD compontents, but to liberate entire populations.
The president's mentor in this regard is none other than Ronald Reagan, who was equally convinced that the Soviet Union would collapse once its constituent states tasted freedom. This approach requires a visionary... and someone with steadfast conviction.
Despite the vocal and long-running opposition of the Left (Senators Kerry and Kennedy come to mind), Reagan's instinct proved right. As will President Bush's belief that this is "Liberty's Century". Once again the Left has been Left Behind. They've been wrong throughout history, and they will continue to be wrong. And that is why they must be defeated again.
Some highlights of the president's speech.
| ...My opponent takes a different approach. In the midst of war, he has called American allies, quote, a "coalition of the coerced and the bribed." That would be nations like Great Britain, Poland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, El Salvador, Australia, and others--allies that deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician. I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget.
...Not long ago, seven Iraqi men came to see me in the Oval Office. They had X's branded into their foreheads, and their right hands had been cut off, by Saddam Hussein's secret police, the sadistic punishment for imaginary crimes. During our emotional visit one of the Iraqi men used his new prosthetic hand to slowly write out, in Arabic, a prayer for God to bless America. I am proud that our country remains the hope of the oppressed, and the greatest force for good on this earth. |
What we're fighting against
Lest Michael Moore and Al Franken forget, this is what we are trying to avoid on our soil.
Extremists who value nothing, not even the lives of innocent children.
What will it take for the Left to understand the stakes? Will it take a nuclear weapon detonating in New York City? How can the Left not understand that equivocation and nuanced approaches will result in a nuclear holocaust if the enemy is not struck with massive force and punishing persistence?
Slothower on Iran
| Having studied the Middle East for some time now, Slothower's opinion is that the center of fundamental Islamic terrorism was never Iraq; it was Iran. Iran is feeling very threatened in its determination to build and obtain nuclear facilities and weapons. Iran's government, ruled by
radical fundamental clerics, knows a showdown is coming over its nuclear program, especially if President Bush is reelected as president. With U.S. military bases in Afghanistan, to the east of Iran, and U.S. military bases in Iraq, to the west of Iran, the ruling clerics of Iran believe the United States and Israel are readying themselves to strike the Iranian nuclear facilities after the election. Rather than wait, Iran is threatening its own preemptive strike and may bring on the battle before the presidential election in order to damage Bush's reelection possibilities. Slothower thinks this is an extremely dangerous situation, and Iran's control of al-Qaeda and radical Shiites in Iraq make this a powder keg that could explode at any time. He is on guard for something to happen before the election. He can't imagine Iran would be so foolish as to pick a fight with the most powerful nation on earth. But the clerics may believe Iran can gain strategic long-term benefits if it can damage President Bush's reelection chances. Slothower is sure they will try to commit an act of terror between now and the election; he prays each night that he is wrong. With all these factors weighing on the stock market (and Slothower's mind), the Fed is not letting me sleep any better at night. |
Here's my take on Iran and the Election: if not dealt with quickly, Muqtada al Sadr will rise from the ashes once again with his "Religious Militia". Whether in Sadr City or Najaf, he will attempt (with Iran's backing) to wreak havoc with the new government. This will allow the Left to raise the "quagmire" issue once again, breathing new life into Kerry's campaign.
What does it say about the Kerry campaign that its most effective strategy is to have our avowed, mortal enemies succeed?
Slothower on Iran
Selling out on core issues
Even the San Francisco Chronicle (not what I would term a bastion of conservativism) has labeled the Democratic party... sell-outs.
| ...A New York Times/CBS News poll in July found that three-quarters of Democratic voters and 86 percent of Boston delegates opposed the war in Iraq... The same poll found that 19 percent of GOP voters and 3 percent of GOP delegates oppose the war...
That's the central difference between the GOP and the Democrats: The Democrats were willing to -- no, they chose to, by nominating Kerry -- sell out their core issue in order to beat George W. Bush. That's how fanatical their hatred is. Republicans, on the other hand, are willing to lose an election for a cause they believe in. Bush knew when he began that the war in Iraq could cost him the election, but he did what he thought was best. And he still isn't flinching... ...Kerry won the nomination because many Democrats believed they had to pick a pro-war candidate in order to beat Bush. They were able to look at Kerry's vote against the Persian Gulf War and determine that he did not believe his 2002 Iraq vote and does not mean the pro-war statements he has made during the campaign. Some of the very folks who bellow, "Bush lied," are crossing their fingers in the hope that Kerry lied... |
San Francisco Chronicle: Deserving victory
Vets for Sale?
In honor of Kerry's speech to the veterans, Ralph Peters blistered the content of the speech and the substance of the man himself.
| ...Before getting to a few examples of his breathtaking cynicism, let's put two crucial questions to the junior senator from Massachusetts:
First question: Sen. Kerry, will you admit that you lied to Congress and the American people when you stated that our troops routinely committed atrocities, and that rape, torture and murder were sanctioned by our military chain of command? Second question: Will you apologize to our Vietnam-era veterans for the lies you told? This means a direct, no-waffling, public apology. Will you tell our vets, the living and the dead, that you're sorry? Of course not. John Kerry wants to have it both ways. But he isn't going to get the military vote. Perhaps the best line making its way around veterans' Web sites these days is: "A Kerry defeat would be the welcome-home parade we never had..." |
Ralph Peters: Vets for Sale?
Friday, September 03, 2004
Senatorial Jeopardy
Hello, and welcome to Senatorial Jeopardy!
Doug: Alex, I'd like Senatorial Critiques for $200.
Alex: "This Senator said the following about John Kerry's 1984 defense proposals, '...ill-advised, and I think some of them are stupid in the context of the world we find ourselves in right now..."
Doug: "That would be John Kerry... oops, I mean, 'Who is John Kerry'?"
Alex: That is correct!
Back When Kerry's Views Were Ill-Advised and Stupid
Give 'em Zell
From DailyRecycler, a full Windows Media video replay of Zell Miller's speech at the RNC, which pounded Kerry deservedly and mercilessly.
Fact-checking Snopes' Ass
| ...Kerry still explicitly called for the outright cancellation of:
NUCLEAR FORCES * MX Missile --- Cancel --- $5.0 billion * B-1 Bomber --- Cancel --- $8.0 billion * Anti-satellite system --- Cancel --- $ 99 million * Star Wars [sic] --- Cancel --- $1.3 billion * Tomahawk Missile --- Reduce by 50 per cent --- $294 million LAND FORCES * AH-64 Helicopters --- Cancel --- $1.4 billion * Division Air Defense Gun (DIVAD) --- Cancel --- $638 million * Patriot Air Defense Missile --- Cancel --- $1.3 billion NAVAL FORCES * Aegis Air-Defense Cruiser --- Cancel --- $800 million * Battleship Reactivation --- Cancel --- $453 million AIRCRAFT * AV-8B Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft --- Cancel --- $1.0 billion * F-15 Fighter Aircraft --- Cancel --- $2.3 billion * F-14A Fighter Aircraft --- Cancel --- $1.0 billion * F-14D Fighter Aircraft --- Cancel --- $286 million * Phoenix Air-to-Air Missile --- Cancel --- $432 million * Sparrow Air-to-Air Missile Just taking the last section, as somebody who's been working on fighter jets and air-to-air weapons for the last decade, I can't even imagine how our armed forces would be able to operate today if Kerry's advice had been heeded. Certainly we would not have been able to fight the Gulf War, or Afghanistan, or the liberation of Iraq. More likely, we'd have a small caretaker force today, something more resembling Canada or one of the lesser Euro states. Despite what you read in Snopes, that's the kind of military John Kerry wanted the United States to have the last time we were facing an enemy dedicated to destroying and/or enslaving us. |
Fact-checking Snopes' Ass
Before it's too Late
Today's Chicago Tribune editorial as concise and excruciatingly accurate, in my opinion. Pre-emption, in today's world, must be a tenet of our defense policy if the United States is to survive.
| The widely admired report of the Sept. 11 commission includes several cautionary passages for those who reject taking this war to the enemy as aggressively as possible--even if our intelligence reports may be flawed, even if our allies disagree, even if we can't fully comprehend the risks. As one passage puts it: "Once the danger has fully materialized, evident to all, mobilizing action is easier--but then it may be too late." ...
...The issue that most divides them is that [Kerry] sees terrorism as a mortal menace that he would answer with "a swift and certain response." The other [Bush] envisions the militarily aggressive--and, if need be, unilateral and pre-emptive--attack on terrorism overseas. |
Taking the War to the Enemy
Navy Challenging a Kerry Medal?
How did a supposedly non-existent medal show up on John Kerry's web site? I doubt we'll be getting answers from the candidate any time soon.
| [Chicago Tribune's] Thomas Lipscomb has been a hound dog on questions surrounding Kerry's Silver Star, and now he gets results. In his third story on this, he mentions Judicial Watch:
"A legal watchdog group, Judicial Watch, has issued a statement, which may be read at www.judicialwatch.org, that reads, 'Kerry should remove [the] Silver Star citation from his internet site pending review by [the] U.S. Navy.' It raises other questions about the Web site records as well."... |
and:
| The United States Navy is challenging the authenticity of Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam War medals, in a development that could prove to be the most damaging yet to the embattled Democrat's presidential campaign.
A Navy spokesman is calling Kerry's Silver Star citation with Combat V "incorrect" as it appears on his campaign web site, explaining in an interview with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Thomas Lipscomb that the Navy has never issued a Combat V at any time for the Silver Star. |
PENTAGON INSPECTOR GENERAL CONTACTS SECRETARY OF THE NAVY ABOUT KERRY AWARDS and Navy Challenging Kerry's Medals
Talk about yer smears
'Be sure to share this with all your Guard and Reserve friends:
"George Bush betrayed his country by not fighting in Vietnam"
-- Mary Anne Marsh, Democratic campaign strategist (Hannity & Colmes, Aug 23, 2004)
Ms. Marsh apparently did not offer her views on Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Tom Harkin or Al Hubbard.'
Tim Russert admits Kerry is losing
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Kerry Campaign begins to Implode
If you hadn't heard, there's been a major shakeup in John Kerry's campaign staff.
| Kaus is skeptical that Joe Lockhart |
The Faltering Kerry Campaign
Impressions of Wednesday Night: Zell & the Veep
Holy cow! Democrat Zell Miller's speech was the most powerful and angry convention speech I've ever heard. Fire, brimstone, and an utter evisceration of Kerry's Senate record. He wrote the same kind of speech that I would have written, only orders of magnitude better.
In a nutshell: Kerry's woeful record in the Senate is his own worst enemy.
I don't know whether any left-leaning moderates would have flipped to Bush based upon Miller's speech, but as Peter Jennings announced, he threw "red meat to the crowd."
By contrast, VP Dick Cheney's speech came off like he was a soft-spoken Uncle spinning some yarns over the holidays. The best part:
| [Kerry's] back-and-forth reflects a habit of indecision, and sends a message of confusion. And it is all part of a pattern. He has, in the last several years, been for the No Child Left Behind Act and against it. He has spoken in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement and against it. He is for the Patriot Act and against it. Senator Kerry says he sees two Americas. It makes the whole thing mutual - America sees two John Kerrys. |
Where's Eliot?
Flashback one month. New York's ubiquitous attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, had just laid down the law to the GOP convention.
| Democratic state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on Thursday warned Republicans not to "dare" use the memory of 9/11 for political purposes when they convene for their convention in New York City next month. "Do not go there," Spitzer said at a breakfast he sponsored for the New York delegation at the national convention Thursday. "We have seen in the 9/11 report how many errors were made and opportunities were missed. No one, and I mean no one, should use it for politics."...."we will not let you do it." |
Uhmmm, Eliot, the convention speakers appreciate your advice. You can now go back to chasing headlines and further positioning yourself for a run at the Governor's office.
Kerry's Impossible Task
TechCentralStation:
| The position taken by John Kerry vis-à-vis the Vietnam War is simply untenable; and he is not likely to find any satisfactory way to resolve it, because to do so would be to make himself comprehensively unpalatable to the American electorate...
The position taken by John Kerry vis-à-vis the Vietnam War is simply untenable; and he is not likely to find any satisfactory way to resolve it, because to do so would be to make himself comprehensively unpalatable to the American electorate. |
Of Swift Boats... and Double Standards
The entertaining Vodkapundit spells out the hypocrisy of the mainstream media.
| • Kerry campaign lawyer Bob Bauer and Democratic National Committee counsel Joe Sandler also represent 527s -- not illegal, but doesn't it deserve a little scrutiny?
• Jim Jordan, John Kerry's campaign manager until last November, works for three of the 527s. • Harold Ickes, an executive committee member of the Democratic National Committee, heads the Media Fund. • Bill Richardson simultaneously chaired the Democrats' national convention and a 527. • Michael Meehan became Kerry's spokesman after running NARAL Pro-Choice America's "soft money" programs. • Zack Exley went from being a MoveOn.org executive to the Kerry campaign. Now I must go into Ron Popeil Mode and say, "But wait, there's more!" • Fred Baron, chairman of Kerry Victory 2004, who gave $50,000 to Richardson's 527. • Stephen Bing, John Edwards's top donor, who contributed $8 million to 527s. • Susie Buell, Kerry vice chairman, who raised more than $100,000 for the campaign and gave more than $1 million to 527s. • Lewis Cullman, a major DNC donor who raised more than $100,000 for the Democratic Party and gave $1.65 million to 527s. Today's bullet points come to you courtesy of Benjamin Ginsberg, the lawyer who once served as outside council to President Bush, but was forced out due to media scrutiny over his connection to the Swift Boat Vets. |
Ginsberg's article, published in the Washington Post of all places, is instructive.
| ...If the media clamor that President Bush renounce the $500,000 Swift boat ad is fair, how many reporters asked Kerry whether he would request his 527s to cease their $63 million in negative ads? Also, wouldn't an unbiased press corps have gotten John Edwards to release his list of major fundraisers, as the Bush-Cheney campaign voluntarily did? ...
...In a 50-50 nation, how do the media square this imbalance with the claim of being objective, fair and nonpartisan? The double standard in reporting on 527s suggests that some of the withering scrutiny visited on the Swift boat veterans should be directed inward. |
Swift Boats and Double Standards
Franken Explodes!
As reported by Powerline, Al Franken was involved in an, ahem, altercation at the RNC. Click the pic to see Powerline's reporting.
Franken Explodes!
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
My Speech at the RNC
Here is the full text of my speech at the RNC.
| To: National Desk
Contact: Darlene Iverson of the Republican National Committee Communications Office, 202-555-5024; NEW YORK, Aug. 31 /US World Presswire Exclusive/ -- Below is transcript of Doug Ross' speech at the Republican National Convention Transcript follows: News flash for John Kerry: We are at war. Our enemies do not simply want to defeat us. Nor are they hoping that we retreat. They want to kill us - and they want to kill the American way of life. They want to destroy freedom, both here and abroad. They want enslavement - of women, ideals and hope. They have admitted it is their religious duty to destroy freedom using chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. A senior Al Qaeda representative said it plainly when he proclaimed a goal of killing four million Americans. Yes, their goal is to murder at least four million Americans. But John Kerry has a short memory. He seems to have forgotten the horror of 9/11. He seems to have forgotten the threat that global terrorism represents. Most importantly, he has forgotten that we are at war. Unfortunately, this is a characteristic that we have seen all too often, both in his voting record and his public statements during his entire tour of duty on Capitol Hill. John Kerry spent less than a minute during his hour long speech at the Democratic Convention talking about his 19-year Senate record. There's good reason, if one takes the time to investigate the record of the country's most liberal Senator: Kerry viciously fought Ronald Reagan's attempts to end the Cold War and to save much of humanity from oppressive, communist regimes. History shows that the former President was right and Kerry was wrong. Kerry viciously fought against support for the anti-Communist Contras in Nicaragua. History shows that Kerry was wrong. He voted against funding countless weapons systems, including the B-1, B-2, F-14, F-15, F-16, Tomahawk Missile, Patriot Anti-Missile System, The Aegis Cruiser, among others. He continually tried to gut our intelligence capabilities by cutting funding to frontline agencies. Time and time again, John Kerry was on the wrong side of history. On Iraq, he has changed his position continually, depending upon shifting political winds and opportunism. He has changed positions regarding the Patriot Act. He has publicly expressed support both for and against the Israeli Security Barrier. I think John Kerry is a likable person, but one reason I could never cast a vote for him is that he tries too hard to be likable. He tries to be all things to all people, by modifying his position, by shape-shifting on an almost daily basis. I think the terrorists would prefer John Kerry as President. The terrorists would like his record of equivocation. The terrorists would sense weakness, not strength. Unfortunately for John Kerry, history has shown that extremists, dictators and tyrants never bow to appeasement and negotiation. They bow to force. That much we know. Contrast Kerry's shape-shifting behavior with that of President Bush. After the attacks on 9/11, he stated in crystal clear terms a plan of action. He followed through with persistency and consistency. Today, the Taliban is gone. Saddam Hussein is facing trial. And millions of oppressed people are free. President Bush followed through. Despite ever-changing sentiments and public opinion that waxes and wanes, President Bush followed through. From a strategic standpoint, we now have a Middle East where Democracy is positioned to spread its wings. Freedom -- just as it did with the Communist Empire -- will defeat tyranny every time. President Bush followed through. President Bush has principles, a core, a solid set of beliefs and he sticks with those beliefs even though the political climate may be unfavorable. Conversely, John Kerry frequently deflects attention from the war on terror and talks about the economy, but I have another news flash for him: there was a massive attack on 9/11 that could have decimated the economy. President Bush and his administration acted quickly and decisively to prevent a major recession. In the last year, over 1,000,000 jobs have been created. The economy continues to grow and to provide more and better opportunities for Americans who are willing to pursue their dreams. President Bush not only led the global war on terror, but he also helped rescue the global economy. President Bush has proven, time and again, that he is the right man for the job. The choice is simple: do we elect a leader... or someone who can't make up his mind? A man with convictions, or a weather-vane moving with the shifting winds of poll numbers and political expediency? In this, the age of nuclear terrorism, America can ill afford to choose unwisely. It is my firm belief that America needs a leader - and George W. Bush has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is that man. We need... four more years for our President. Live from New York: It's Four More Years! /// Transcript Ends |
Of course, I really didn't speak at the RNC, but this was the speech I would have used had I been invited.
What would the French do?
The French are in trouble, according to Iraq's Iyad Allawi. Instapundit also points out the folly of the French response to the hostage-taking, "which appears to consist of wandering around the Middle East looking for someone to surrender to".
| The hostage ordeal has hit France hard. It is a gloomy rebuttal of the theory held by some-though not by most French government officials or those knowledgeable about Islam-that France's anti-war, pro-Arab policies had inoculated the country against such aggressions.
Meanwhile, Iyad Allawi is giving the French some advice, which Greg Djerejian has translated. The French, like all democratic countries, can't content themselves with adopting a passive position. The Americans, British and other nations that are fighting in Iraq are not only fighting to protect Iraqis, they are fighting to protect their own countries. The governments that decided to stay on the defensive will be the next targets of the terrorists. Terrorist attacks will occur in Paris, in Nice, in Cannes or in San Francisco. The time has come to act against terrorism, in the same fashion...that Europe fought Hitler. Every day, tens of people are killed in Iraq. They are not dying because we are going through a major national crisis, but because we have decided to combat evil. That's why the entire international community must assist us, as rapidly as possible, to improve the security of our country. ...the U.S. decided to disembark in Normandy, to eliminate Hitler. They suffered heavy losses to accomplish this objective. The same thing is happening today. People must assume their responsibilities. The decision to assist Iraq is courageous. Let me tell you that the French, despite all the noise they make--'We don't want war!'--will shortly have to fight the terrorists. |
Instapundit: Allawi's advice
The Swiftvets' Open Letter to John Kerry
The Swiftvets keep on hammering away. They have delivered the following open letter to the Kerry campaign.
| Senator Kerry: Tell the Truth and We'll Stop the Ads
Dear Senator Kerry: As you prepare for your address before the American Legion in Nashville, Tennessee, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth encourages you to use this opportunity to clarify your actions in Vietnam and your statements about your fellow Veterans and shipmates when you returned home. Since you have made your four-month tour in Vietnam the centerpiece of your campaign, we respectfully insist that you be truthful. The public is owed a full and honest accounting of your actions. Veterans are owed an apology from you and an acknowledgement that there was no basis in fact for the accusations you made against them. We urge you to: 1. Apologize for your conduct once you returned from Vietnam. Your exaggerated testimony before the US Senate; the blanket indictment of your fellow veterans; throwing away medals and ribbons; all of these actions dishonored America and the armed forces. Your rhetoric and actions were not only wrong, they aided the enemy and brought great pain to POW's, veterans and their families. 2. Clarify the conflicting accounts involving the Bay Hap River incident of March 13, 1969 (Bronze Star and 3rd Purple Heart). You have now described three different versions of this incident... |
Senator Kerry: Tell the Truth and We'll Stop the Ads
Kerry Interview in GQ
The Kerry interview appeared in GQ and Hugh Hewitt weighed in with some interesting analysis.
| The Kerry interview in GQ is on stands now and it is pretty bizarre, as well as venal. Kerry brands the Bush operations as "craven," "pathetic," and "stupid." These are terms for surrogates and the punditry, not the nominee. Unless the nominee is defeated and embittered. Which Kerry is increasingly behaving as. So now he's about to jet off to the American Legion to try and appear to be other than avoiding interviews, but he continues to avoid interviews. If the nominee isn't tough enough to talk to Tim Russert or Chris Wallace, is he tough enough to deal with the terrorists? ... Kerry isn't displaying much in his refusal to meet the charges of his old comrades-in-arms head-on, with cameras-rolling and the questions unrestrained by preconditions...
Kerry's off in a strange world of his own making. In the real world, at least a dozen innocents were blown up in Israel this morning --a country that Kerry didn't mention in his acceptance speech. In the real world, Iran should not be shipped nuclear fuel, which John Edwards proposed doing yesterday, and which left Roger Simon speechless when I told him about it yesterday. There's a serious party with a serious nominee, and there's a silly party led by a narcissist and inspired by a repugnant propagandist [ed: Michael Moore]. The contrast will continue to emerge with devastating political impact tonight. |
Hewitt on Kerry's Interview in GQ
John Kerry's Iraq - A documentary
If you have a spare ten minutes, check this out. Warning: it's very, very scary.
| "Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik, in Boston to stump for President Bush, saw the 11-minute video yesterday and called it ‘scary’ and ‘extremely difficult to watch.’ ‘This is a time when you don’t need someone to sit in the White House and not be sure of [his] commitment,’ Kerik said." |
Watch the video
