Doug Ross @ Journal

Are the mullahs laughing today?

From Hugh Hewitt: a somewhat terrifying snippet on Iran... and John Kerry's preternatural attempts at appeasement of the Mullahs. Apparently, Senator Kerry hasn't been hitting the history books. Appeasement of avowed, suicidal terrorists bearing nuclear weapons? What in the name of Hillary can he be thinking?

John Kerry has sent John Edwards out to offer the Iranian rulers a "great deal," according to the Washington Post: They get to have reactors while others supply the fuel, but only if they promise not to produce bombs. And if they don't sign on to pretending not to build nukes? "Heavy sanctions." Really. Do you suppose the mullahs are more intimidated by the prospect of Kerry-Edwards or of Bush-Cheney? Here are a couple of key graphs: "Iran has insisted that it be allowed to produce nuclear fuel, which would give it access to weapons-grade material. Under Kerry's proposal, the Iranian fuel supply would be supervised and provided by other countries." "Experts on Iran have long speculated that some sort of 'grand bargain' that would cover the nuclear programs, a lifting of sanctions and renewed relations with the United States would help solve the impasse between the two countries... "Experts?" Which experts? Madeline Albright and Sandy Berger? ...But if anyone does bite on the Kerry-to-Tehran "grand bargain" nonsense, they ought to be asking the questions that were not asked of North Korea in 1994, which led to the crisis in that country. Kerry-Edwards are proposing to appease Iran --it is that simple. It did not work with North Korea and it will not work with Iran.

Are the mullahs laughing today?

Something tells me Bush holds all the aces

At the beginning of the year, Thomas Lifson, who was at Harvard Business School with George W Bush, made an interesting observation about the President. He notes that young George "was a very avid and skillful poker player" when he was a Business Administration student and that "one of the secrets of a successful poker player is to encourage your opponent to bet a lot of chips on a losing hand. This is a pattern of behavior one sees repeatedly in George W Bush's political career" ... ...Kerry is in seclusion, unable to expose himself to any but the most sycophantic interviewers, and getting whumped by hundreds upon hundreds of fellow Swift boat veterans, plus former POWs, plus retired admirals, over every aspect of his brief stay in the Mekong Delta. The Senator put his money on the wrong war... The fact is, even if Kerry was a Republican, these Swift boat guys would be hounding him... ...A poll in The Los Angeles Times shows that 3 per cent of Republicans are voting for Kerry, but 15 per cent of Democrats - mainly "conservative Democrats" - are planning to vote for Bush...

Something tells me Bush holds all the aces

New Zogby Poll Gives Bush Lead in Undecideds

NEW ZOGBY POLL GIVES BUSH 25% LEAD OVER KERRY IN UNDECIDED VOTERS - Undecided Voters Speak Out; Bush Favored Over Kerry by 25 Points (35%-10%); 67% Say they “Like Bush As A Person”; 40% Watch Fox Most for News; ... Poll Reveals On the eve of the Republican National Convention, President George W. Bush is favored by twenty-five points over Massachusetts Senator John Kerry (35%-10%) among undecided likely voters when Libertarian, Constitution and Green Party presidential candidates are factored into the 2004 presidential race, according to a new Zogby/Williams Identity poll...

New Zogby Poll Gives Bush Lead in Undecideds

The Dangerous Secret

...Of course, the specific accusations that John Kerry has lied about his service in Vietnam have to be addressed. The Cambodia story, for one, seems mistaken... What's telling is the lack of support from even his friendly crewmates, and Kerry's own prevarications. The Washington Post (no friend of Kerry's critics) has called Kerry's conflicting statements on the Cambodia mission troubling. Given all this, I don't see how the accusations of Kerry's critics can be dismissed as a smear... ...The editorial page of the Washington Post has called for Kerry to release his military records and wartime journals...

The Dangerous Secret