Michelangelo's Atrios

A thing of beauty.

Jenna and NotJenna

A prediction I can love.

Girly Men

Suck it up if you're unemployed. Pussies.

Great Headlines

"For G.O.P., Another Night of Moderation Lies Ahead"

(thanks to reader d)

Losing Berube

I've so far managed to watch absolutely none of the convention, despite my best intentions. But, it's good thing I haven't. Apparently the power of those forceful steadfast speakers has turned that lefty over to the dark side. Perhaps for good.

So, all good liberals, please turn off your television before it's too late!

(via digby)

Convention Thread

Enjoy.

Shut Up

Briefly stopped off at the Fox News protest. Sorry - no camera, no pictures. Poofy haired John Gibson wandered out briefly to survey the crowd.

Was sizeable and growing crowd. I enjoyed the much more effective "The More You Watch The Less You Know" chant rather than the "Shut Up!" one. The latter is funny, but only if you realize what the joke is, otherwise it's just those crazy liberals trying to stifle free speech.

The police were all well behaved as far as I can tell, except for the fact that they were videotaping the crowd which I don't believe they're allowed to do. But, the crowd was growing bigger and I left so who knows...

...looks like I left just before it got a bit ugly.

Being There

Lord Saletan briefly drops his aristocratic way and gets a bit shrill.

Open thread

Enjoy.

God's Own Party

jesus wept.

Atrios vs. Trump

Donald Trump, who recently spoke some truth and pointed out that the stock market does better when Democrats are in charge, is raising cash for Arlen Specter in NYC.


How cool would it be if I can raise more money for Hoeffel than Trump can for Specter?

Show some love for Joe!

In the Garbage

Bush on Limbaugh

According to Drudge. Here's a recent Limbaugh best of.

The Big Story

In the middle of the Republican National Convention, a co-sponsor of the Bush-supported FMA and virulently anti-gay congressman is forced to resign... over allegations that he's gay.

For some reason this hasn't yet been as newsworthy as the McGreevey resignation.

One Party State

MSNBC gives us choices.

Via Liberal Oasis.

Blogging on 34th Street

Well, my camera battery is dead so I can't take any exciting pictures until I get back to my hotel and charge it up. Anyway, some thoughts...

I've managed to not see too many Real Live Republicans. Maybe they've built a special system of underground tunnels or something that they're using to go from place to place without having to actually interact with the natives.

I'm sitting at the Starbucks here, and across the street are 3 banners right in a row. Two are identical Fox News banners "America's Newsroom -- Trusted. Independent. Powerful." Maybe they're no longer fair and balanced. On the banners are pictures and times for "HUME-SMITH-O'REILLLY-HANNITY&colmes-VAN SUSTEREN."

Then, just a few feet away is a giant, very similar looking, banner advertising the Daily Show. Slogan -- "The Most Trusted Name In Fake News."

Last night the Planned Parenthood benefit was quite enjoyable. Lewis Black was great, and he said something which was really on target. Paraphrasing -- 'I can't believe we still have to come together and raise money for this shit.' Indeed.


..."Nobody" provides the picture of my view, roughly. There's one more Fox banner off to the right.

Self-Parody of a Self-Parody

Why do editors continue to run the inane garbage of Easterbrook? Check out this article in the Monthly, in a forum on a 2nd Bush presidency, in which he asserts this:

A reelected Bush, if he wants to win favor with historians, will have to do something impressive, statesmanlike, and out of character.
Which is why I think a second-term Bush will be the president who imposes global-warming controls

And, no editor should run anything in which Gregg "Intelligent Design" Easterbrook claims to know something about "science."

A Family With No Class

Sr.:

Former President George Bush fanned doubts yesterday about Senator John Kerry's service in Vietnam, sustaining a decades-old debate that has dominated the presidential campaign in the last few weeks.

In an interview with CNN, Mr. Bush did not directly challenge Mr. Kerry's record but rather, with the subtlety of a seasoned pro, parried questions in a way to gently bat the controversy aloft.

Pressed about advertisements by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Mr. Bush called "rather compelling" the claims of some veterans who have attacked Mr. Kerry's service, and he noted that others had accused these veterans of lying. "I have great confidence in Bob Dole," he added. "I don't think he'd be out there just smearing."

Have you no shame, Fly Boy?

SECTION: Section 1; Part 1, Page 33, Column 5; National Desk

LENGTH: 262 words

HEADLINE: Dukakis Defends Bush Over Record in War

BYLINE: Special to the New York Times

DATELINE: FALMOUTH, Mass., Aug. 13

"Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, questioned about a World War II gunner's challenge to Vice President Bush's account of being shot down over the Pacific, said, ''I don't think that kind of thing has any place in the campaign.''

The Democratic Presidential nominee said the challenge to Mr. Bush's war record was ''unfair'' and ''unfortunate.''

Mr. Bush ''served this country,'' Mr. Dukakis said. ''He served it well and with tremendous courage, and you don't fly 58 missions without enormous courage and tremendous patriotism.''

Mr. Bush, who was a Navy pilot, , has said his airplane was in flames when it plunged to the ocean Sept. 2, 1944.

Chester Mierzejewski of Cheshire, Conn., a turret gunner on another plane in Mr. Bush's squadron, said that the plane was not engulfed in flames, as the Vice President has recounted, and that Mr. Bush might have saved the lives of two other men on the plane had he tried a water landing.

In his autobiography, Mr. Bush wrote that his Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber began burning after it was hit in an attack on a Japanese radio installation and that he ejected after radioing his gunner and radioman to jump.

(via Hesiod)

Delegate on Schrock Resignation

Link:

Not all delegates were disappointed. “I’m a conservative Christian, and the gay lifestyle is the wrong lifestyle,” said Fred Gerald, a delegate from southern Virginia. “It does not set a very good example for our young people, and it lowers the values in America having gay people in government.”

Fox Convention Speech Coverage Watch

Day 1: DNC, 0:41, RNC 1:14.

Who is Morton Balckwell?

Let's see here...

THE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ($25,000): Trains young right wing activists, primarily on college campuses. TLI's attitude toward gays was summed up by its president, Morton Blackwell, in a speech titled "Survival Values," in which he declared, "I believe it could be demonstrated statistically that in the last ten years major network television productions have portrayed sympathetically fewer clergy than homosexuals. And in doing so they have killed a lot of people. Literally killed them by leading them into temptation... Studies indicate that about one third of former homosexuals have reformed themselves."

Another major supporter of TLI was former Vice President Spiro Agnew, who resigned in disgrace while being investigated for taking bribes--an indiscretion tastefully referred to in TLI's newsletter as "charges that he had received unreported income."

Republicans Hate Veterans

All class:

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Delegates to the Republican National Convention found a new way to take a jab at Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Vietnam service record: by sporting adhesive bandages with small purple hearts on them.

Morton Blackwell, a prominent Virginia delegate, has been handing out the heart-covered bandages to delegates, who've worn them on their chins, cheeks, the backs of their hands and other places.

Blackwell is president of the Leadership Institute, a nonpartisan educational foundation he founded in 1979. According to its Web site, the institute prepares conservatives for success in politics, government and the news media.

Contact the Leadership Institute.

(via barry)

Late Night Thread

Hopefully more bloggy goodness from me tomorrow.

But, coolest thing tonight? Watching Lou Reed sing "Walk on the Wild Side" while he was wearing a "Buck Fush" t-shirt.

Late Night Open Thread

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

So... still sober watching the GOP convention?

Open Thread

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

For those who have the stomach to watch the GOP Convention... I sure don't. Or whatever else that might be going on...

Congressman Shrock (R-VA) Resigns

Story here.

Real story here.


...Kos has more.

527s

So, the Republicans have been attcking "527 ads" from a group which isn't a 527. So, all we can conclude now is that they really don't believe .in any kind of freedom of speech.

(sorry about posting problems, troublesome wireless network).

Open Thread

Chat away.

The Company You Keep

If I were the Dems, I'd be snidely talking about how Dick Cheney cavorts with Rush Limbaugh at every opportunity.

PARTY PEOPLE: Talk about a power dinner. Rush Limbaugh, Peggy Noonan and Matt Drudge - Republican sympathizers all - hosted a glittering affair at Patsy's last night, headlined by Vice President Dick Cheney and wife Lynne, Gov. Pataki and wife Libby, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and the ubiquitous Mary Matalin (sans her Democratic firebrand husband, Ragin' Cajun James Carville.

...and, then, there was this line:

A restaurant source told me that a surprised guest was CNN anchor Daryn Kagan, who I hear is friendly with recently separated fellow broadcaster Limbaugh.

Explains a lot. One finds the Kagan/Limbaugh "rumor" elsewhere on the web...


...Kagan flashback.

Penn Station

Anyone know if the train system in New York is a complete mess?

Train or bus, the decision I face...

"Bush Leadership"

Since the central focus of the convention is apparently "Bush's Leadership," doesn't that mean that a 500,000 ad buy by the "Pet Goats for Truth," should provide for 3 weeks of free media coverage to just how great Bush's leadership was on 9/11?

Just asking...


...Oh, and, phrase most likely to be in Bush's speech...

"I can hear you."

Not One Word

Still not one word in the press about the fact that the person the RNC decided was the very best person to give the convention's opening invocation thinks that those who support gay marriage are just like those who supported the man who implemented the systematic slaughter of 6 million Jews, gypsies, gays, etc...

But, I do hear that Candy Crowley will report that Dew likes her cheesesteaks "Wiz Wit."

Movie Reviews

Dirty Pretty Things -- Two Thumbs Up.

Matrix 3 -- Craptacular! Even worse than I'd been led to believe, and I didn't hate the second one...

Nuclear

One thing we should be on the lookout for during the convention is for any of the speakers to make any kind of nudge nudge wink wink disparaging remark about Kerry's military service. Presumably a chickenhawk might do this. I'm thinking we all step up to the plate and make a donation pledge in case this happens. It'd be nice if one nasty comment raked in 50 grand or so.

Put your pledges in the comments. I'm in for $100.

Convention Blogging

Well, like last time I'm mostly going to hang out and meet people and see what's up. No plans to revolutionize journalism, but one never knows. I'll be hanging out at the Tank at times starting tomorrow, where other bloggers are hanging out. Their RNCblogger aggregator is here.

Sheri Dew

The General informs us that apparently Jerry Falwell didn't quite hate gay people enough to be chosen to perform the opening invocation at the RNC hatefest. That honor has been bestowed upon one Sheri Dew.
A recent speech by the childless, single Ms. Dew:

Also, while I was peddling away, I found myself reading the latest edition of one of the nation’s most popular news magazines. One of the major articles was about gay “marriage.” There were several statements that stood out for me in a dramatic and terrifying way, but one of the most sobering features of the entire article was a picture of two handsome, young men, getting “married.” What distressed me most was the fact that they were both holding an infant “daughter”–twin girls they had adopted. I was, frankly, heartsick. What kind of chance do those girls have being raised in that kind of setting? What will their understanding of men and women, marriage and families be? Is there any chance that, as adults, they could expect to marry and enjoy a healthy relationship with a man, including rearing children together? In addition, there were alarming concepts about “family” presented throughout the article–concepts that even questioned the validity of heterosexual families.

To say I found the entire article sobering would be a grand understatement. And I found myself thinking, “Talk about influence. Imagine the influence of that one magazine in presenting ideas about the family that are totally in opposition to God’s plan and will for His children.”

Lining Up With Hitler or Against Him

This escalating situation reminds me of a statement of a World War II journalist by the name of Dorothy Thompson who wrote for the Saturday Evening Post in Europe during the pre-World War II years when Hitler was building up his armies and starting to take ground. In an address she delivered in Toronto in 1941 she said this: “Before this epic is over, every living human being will have chosen. Every living human being will have lined up with Hitler or against him. Every living human being either will have opposed this onslaught or supported it, for if he tries to make no choice that in itself will be a choice. If he takes no side, he is on Hitler’s side. If he does not act, that is an act—for Hitler.”

May I take the liberty of reading this statement again and changing just a few words, applying it to what I fear we face today? “Before this era is over, every living human being will have chosen. Every living human being will have lined up in support of the family or against it. Every living human being will have either opposed the onslaught against the family or supported it, for if he tries to make no choice that in itself will be a choice. If we do not act in behalf of the family, that is itself an act of opposition to the family.”

At first it may seem a bit extreme to imply a comparison between the atrocities of Hitler and what is happening in terms of contemporary threats against the family—but maybe not. I just turned 50 years old, and I have never married. That was not my intention, and it has not been my choice. When someone asks me why I have never married, the simple and truthful answer is that nobody has ever asked me. Nonetheless, when I speak about the family, I have a deep, profound and abiding belief that the family is absolutely ordained of God, that it is part of His plan for His children, that marriage is supposed to be between a male and a female, and that children deserve to be born to and raised by two parents, father and mother. That is the ideal.

A letter to the SL Metro gives Ms. Dew a little history lesson:

I would have thought that the President of Deseret Book would at least be educated enough to know that homosexuals were also targeted by the Nazis. Homosexuals were arrested and sent to Dachau, Mauthausen and other concentration camps. Homosexuals were enslaved, beaten, raped, tortured and murdered alongside the Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, common criminals and other “undesireables” considered to be a threat to Hitler, morality and the Nazi Party. Unlike the others, however, upon liberation by the Allied Forces, homosexuals were sent to prison to complete their sentences. Murderers, thieves and other common criminals were released from the camps while homosexuals were re-imprisoned for their sexual orientation. To suggest that those who support gay marriage would have also supported the Nazis is illogical, dishonest and just plain stupid.

If Dew still wishes to ignore documented world history perhaps a refresher course in LDS church history is in order. Concerned members of the LDS Church in Germany asked then-president Heber J. Grant what they should do about Hitler’s rise in power. He told them not to make waves but rather to obey the 12th Article of Faith, which required them to honor and sustain their elected leaders. I could more accurately rephrase her statement to say those who oppose gay marriage are like the members of the LDS church who, at the counsel of their prophet, did not oppose Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Certainly she must aware of the story of Helmuth Hubener. Deseret Book has sold at least three books about him and one of its recent ad campaigns featured his story. He was an LDS youth who, with a few friends, secretly fought against Hitler and the Nazis. He was eventually arrested and executed for those actions but not before the LDS church excommunicated him for “conduct unbecoming a member of the church” or, as she so succinctly put it, opposing Hitler’s rise to power. By her comparison, the LDS leaders of the time, including President Heber J. Grant, were the type of people who would have supported gay marriage.

Maybe she should learn a little bit about Hitler and the Holocaust before calling anyone else a Nazi.

If we had a decent press, every Bush surrogate would be asked "do you agree with Sheri Dew that support for gay marriage is like support for Hitler?"

If we had an even better press they'd get asked "Do you think Dick Cheney who thinks that people should be free to enter into whatever relationships they want to is, as Ms. Dew thinks, equivalent to someone who supported Hitler?"

Senator Peddles Lies

Check out this op-ed by Jim Boyd of the Star Tribune. Here's a bit, but read the whole thing:

We have a responsibility to separate legitimate political opinion -- and the latitude is great -- from deliberate smear. That responsibility is especially important in this campaign. Sometimes it's difficult to tell whether a piece crosses that line; to me, this is not one of those times. A legitimate piece might have raised hard questions about Kerry in Cambodia; theirs wasn't that piece.

Colleagues wanted to print today's Hinderaker and Johnson piece to be "fair" to them. But these are folks who take unfair advantage of that concern.

And what about fairness for John Kerry? These authors take great umbrage at my use of the word "fraudulent" to describe their writing. That word choice was quite deliberate: They hurled it at Kerry; I merely hurled it back.

Here is some of what I've seen during this presidential campaign: About six weeks ago, former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz submitted a piece that took on former counterterrorism expert Richard Clarke. The piece contained demonstrably false statements. I required that they be stripped from the piece, and they were. The piece ran.

Days later, Sen. Norm Coleman submitted a piece on Joe Wilson, who made the famous trip to Niger to investigate the yellowcake episode. The Coleman piece contained demonstrably false statements against Wilson. I asked that they be stripped out. One was not. It claimed that Wilson had "repeatedly" accused President Bush of deliberately lying to the American people about Iraq. Wilson is on the record, including in the Star Tribune, denying he ever said such a thing. I insisted that Coleman provide at least one quote in which Wilson accused the president of deliberately lying to the American people. His office either could not or would not do that. The piece did not run.

Then along came the Hinderaker-Johnson piece on Kerry. It should have set off all kinds of alarms. As one of the editors responsible for these pages, I regret that it did not -- and that I was not here to weigh in on the decision.

Fun in the Sun

Off to New York tomorrow to join the party.

With a Capital T

So, the media is beating the drum that all of the latest polls spell trouble for Kerry and his candidacy must be doomed, blahblahblah.

Remember when, you know, Kerry had been consistently up in the polls for months? Remember how Bush's campaign people were badgered about how much in trouble their candidate was?

First Lady Attacks War Record of Decorated Hero

Astounding:

TIME
Do you think these swift-boat ads are unfair to John Kerry?

BUSH
Do I think they're unfair? Not really.

We have a First Lady who spits on Veterans for sport. Disgusting.

Send this classless couple and the rest of the gang home:

Donate to Stan and Patsy!
Donate to Joe!
Donate to the DNC!


Donate to the DSCC
Donate to the DCCC

Morning Bobblehead Thread

Discuss the atrocities.

Accountability Follow Up

My bashing of the Post below, though a joke, was actually a serious comment in the context of their editorial. What our media has failed to understand throughout the Bush administration, and especially since 2003, was that they have a slightly different role to play than when divided government exists. With Republican control of everything, the Democrats have no ability to set the agenda. They have no investigative power. They are unable to get out in front in a way which allows the media to happily continue its "one side/the other side" reporting. They actually have to get out in front of things - not just investigate them but make some noise about them.


Right now the 4th Estate shouldn't be lecturing anyone on accountability - the lack of accountability can be placed squarely at their feet. I missed the daily editorials calling on top DOD officials to resign - instead, we're just given a bit of whining.

...Digby was on this yesterday.

Newsweek Scoop!

They've discovered a previously unknown border between Israel and Iran!
(thanks to c)

A Failure of Accountability

I thought this WaPo editorial was going to be talking about the Post. But, it's still ok I guess.

Ghorbanapalooza

It appears our little friend Michael Ledeen has been very busy.

And, it seems, the CEO president can't control his employees.


...you can also read this post by Swopa and watch him chat with the real Michael Ledeen here.


...and, Juan Cole feels in some more details on this nexus of right wing thuggery.

The Neoconservatives have some sort of shadowy relationship with the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization or MEK. Presumably its leaders have secretly promised to recognize Israel if they ever succeed in overthrowing the ayatollahs in Iran. When the US recently categorized the MEK as a terrorist organization, there were howls of outrage from scholars associated with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (a wing of AIPAC), such as Patrick Clawson and Daniel Pipes. MEK is a terrorist organization by any definition of the term, having blown up innocent people in the course of its struggle against the Khomeini government. (MEK is a cult-like mixture of Marx and Islam). The MEK had allied with Saddam, who gave them bases in Iraq from which to hit Iran. When the US overthrew Saddam, it raised the question of what to do with the MEK. The pro-Likud faction in the Pentagon wanted to go on developing their relationship with the MEK and using it against Tehran.

So it transpires that the Iranians were willing to give up 5 key al-Qaeda operatives, whom they had captured, in return for MEK members.

Franklin, Rhode and Ledeen conspired with Ghorbanifar and SISMI to stop that trade. It would have led to better US-Iran relations, which they wanted to forestall, and it would have damaged their proteges, the MEK.

Since high al-Qaeda operatives like Saif al-Adil and possibly even Saad Bin Laden might know about future operations, or the whereabouts of Bin Laden, for Franklin and Rhode to stop the trade grossly endangered the United States.

...

Franklin's movements reveal the contours of a rightwing conspiracy of warmongering and aggression, an orgy of destruction, for the benefit of the Likud Party, of Silvio Berlusconi's business in the Middle East, and of the Neoconservative Right in the United States. It isn't about spying. It is about conspiring to conscript the US government on behalf of a foreign power or powers.

Cicadas

I'm starting to think that every dozen years ago the same bunch of corrupt idiots, or their intellectual progeny, get into power and proceed to screw things up until they get caught, at which point the "establishment," with which they're intimately intertwined, demands leniency, letting them go lurk underground until they're ready to pop up and screw things up all over again.

WASHINGTON - An FBI probe into the handling of highly classified material by Pentagon civilians is broader than previously reported, and goes well beyond allegations that a single mid-level analyst gave a top-secret Iran policy document to Israel, three sources familiar with the investigation said Saturday.

The probe, which has been going on for more than two years, also has focused on other civilians in the Secretary of Defense's office, said the sources, who spoke on condition they not be identified, but who have first-hand knowledge of the subject.

In addition, one said, FBI investigators in recent weeks have conducted interviews to determine whether Pentagon officials gave highly classified U.S. intelligence to a leading Iraqi exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, which may in turn have passed it on to Iran. INC leader Ahmed Chalabi has denied his group was involved in any wrongdoing.

The linkage, if any, between the two leak investigations, remains unclear.

But they both center on the office of Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, the Pentagon's No. 3 official.

...

But other sources said the FBI investigation is more wide-ranging than initial news reports suggested.

They said it has involved interviews of current and former officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department.

Investigators have asked about the security practices of several other Defense Department civilians, they said.

...

A former Feith employee, Karen Kwiatkowski, has described how senior Israeli military officers were sometimes escorted to his Pentagon office without signing in as security regulations required.

Open Thread

Enjoy.

All Hail Foghat

Contrary to the previously reported lies by the unreliable media, Foghat have not expressed a desire to tour in support of the Bush administration.

Anti-Truth

God, so I make the mistake of flipping open the NYT book review of a few books written by Jacob effing Weisberg, and I'm treated to these comments.

There was, as I remember it, a fairly vigorous debate about the wisdom of invading Iraq in the months leading up to the war, even if one did not find the most sophisticated expressions of it on cable news. Almost all of this argument was premised, however, on the erroneous assumption that Saddam retained an active W.M.D. program, a belief not questioned at the time by Wolcott or most others who today accuse Bush of intentional deception.

Well, I don't know if Wolcott questioned it, but I questioned it and so did lots of other people. But, you see, these people were nutters who weren't allowed to participate in the incredibly sophisticated debate that went on in the pages of such intellectual treasure troves as Slate effing magazine.

And, then, there was this one:

The liberal caricature Phil Donahue was axed after a few months by MSNBC not because it prefers Republicans but because his ratings were too weak to make the show profitable.

Amazing that MSNBC cancelled what was at the time its highest rated show because it wasn't profitable, unlike all those other lower rated shows which managed to be miraculously more profitable, despite their low ratings. Or, hey, maybe there's another explanation. Wow, holy shit, I think there is another explanation! Lookie here!

While "Donahue" does badly trail both O'Reilly and CNN's Connie Chung in the ratings, those numbers have improved in recent weeks. So much so that the program is the top-rated show on MSNBC, beating even the highly promoted "Hardball With Chris Matthews."

Although Donahue didn't know it at the time, his fate was sealed a number of weeks ago after NBC News executives received the results of a study commissioned to provide guidance on the future of the news channel.

That report--shared with me by an NBC news insider--gives an excruciatingly painful assessment of the channel and its programming. Some of recommendations, such as dropping the "America's News Channel," have already been implemented. But the harshest criticism was leveled at Donahue, whom the authors of the study described as "a tired, left-wing liberal out of touch with the current marketplace."

The study went on to claim that Donahue presented a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war......He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives." The report went on to outline a possible nightmare scenario where the show becomes "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."

A source close to Donahue claims that while he wasn't aware of the specific study, the tone and outcome aren't surprising.

"It's not a coincidence that this decision comes the same week that MSNBC announces its hired Dick Armey as a commentator and has both Jesse Ventura and Michael Savage joining the network as hosts. They're scared, and they decided to take the coward's road and slant towards the conservative crowd that watch Fox News."

In other words, MSNBC was scared to death that another side was being presented in that incredibly sophisticated debate that Weisberg was just telling us about, which somehow managed to exclude an entire segment of the population who, like me, DIDN'T THINK SADDAM WAS A THREAT TO US.

I didn't even like Phil Donahue's show, in part because I don't think his schtick has aged particularly well, in part because if we're going to have one unashamed lefty with his own cable news show he wouldn't really be my first choice, and most of all because his producers insisted on stacking his show with more frothing right wingers than even I knew existed. But, Donahue's show wasn't cancelled because of low ratings.

arrrgh


Oh lord, someone stop me before I go insane. I just made the mistake of reading more:

The free pass given the author's allies of the moment -- Michael Moore, Joe Conason, Eric Alterman, Sidney Blumenthal -- calls into question his choice of targets like Thomas Friedman, Andrew Sullivan and my colleague Mickey Kaus, shrewder commentators with whom he simply disagrees.

Yes, Friedman, Sullivan, and Kaus - shrewd commentators. And, yes, I remember in the runup to the war Michael Moore, Joe Conason, Eric Alterman, and Sidney Blumenthal -- man, those guys were everywhere! I mean, you couldn't turn on your television without seeing them on TV news somewhere. It was like Alterman-a-palooza on CNN!

Thankfully, it's 5 o'clock somewhere.

Facts of Life

oy.

A Bit of Air America in Philly

Only a bit of the programming, on a wee station, but it's a start.

Starting Monday, WHAT-AM (1340) will add Al Franken (noon to 3 p.m.) and Randi Rhodes (3 to 7 p.m.).

The move trims the final hour from Mary Mason’s morning show; she will air from 6 to 9 a.m. Thera Martin-Connelly moves from afternoons to late mornings (9 a.m. to noon). Syndicated host Bev Smith remains at 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Reggie Bryant moves from middays to the 10 p.m.-to-1 a.m. shift.

Earlier this month, nighttime sports-talk personality Johnny Sample was let go. At the time, station manager Kernie Anderson said the move was to accommodate a time change in Smith’s show.

The 1,000-watt WHAT bills itself as the voice of the African American community. Anderson said the notion that Franken and Rhodes’ focuses are "non-black is not significant to me. ... We’re committed to the African American community ... and there’s no abandonment of our mission. My challenge is to lead the station in a direction to make it a more successful station and offer more compelling programming."

The Beard Actually Does His Job

Ken Mehlman tries to just make stuff up, assuming he'll get away with it, and surprisingly Wolf actually calls him on it:

MEHLMAN: Michael Moore is one of John Kerry's surrogates. He has been out there. He sat with Mrs. Kerry in John Kerry's box during their convention.

BLITZER: Did he sit with Mrs. Kerry, I don't think he sat with Mrs. Kerry.

MEHLMAN: Well, I know he sat in the box. And he has made a number of outrageous statements during the course of this campaign. And I...

BLITZER: He sat with Mrs. Carter, Jimmy Carter -- and former President Jimmy Carter, just to be precise. I was there.

Post Fingers Franklin

WaPo:

The FBI is investigating a mid-level Pentagon official who specializes in Iranian affairs for allegedly passing classified information to Israel, and arrests in the case could come as early as next week, officials at the Pentagon and other government agencies said last night.

The name of the person under investigation was not officially released, but two sources identified him as Larry Franklin. He was described as a desk officer in the Pentagon's Near East and South Asia Bureau, one of six regional policy sections. Franklin worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency before moving to the Pentagon's policy branch three years ago and is nearing retirement, the officials said. Franklin could not be located for comment last night.

And, Gertz over at the Moonie Times says:

The FBI is investigating a senior Pentagon official who is suspected of passing classified information to the Israeli government through a pro-Israel lobbying group, U.S. officials said yesterday.
The probe is focusing on whether the senior official, who has not been identified by name, disclosed classified information related to White House policy toward Iran.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the suspected mole works in the office of Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy who is considered one of the top three officials in the Pentagon.
One U.S. official said the FBI had unconfirmed information that Mr. Feith supplied information to Israel in the 1980s. However, the officials declined to provide further information citing the ongoing investigation. It could not be learned whether arrests are expected in the case.
But a third official, also speaking anonymously, said an arrest could come as early as next week.

It's hard to imagine that this is about some draft policy on Iran.

Pro-Choice Catholics

It really was a sad moment in journalism when we had the Kerry communion watch. Amy Sullivan reminds us:

The dirty little secret about these groups is that they don't demand that Catholic politicians -- who, according to church teaching, should be held to a higher standard because of their visible status -- conform to all church positions on issues like the death penalty or war or immigration reform or combatting poverty. And they don't really care if PCRCs stray from church teaching on abortion (sounds like you need to read Evangelium Vitae a bit more carefully, guys...)

What they do care about is defeating Democrats. Some of them don't even try to gloss over that fact. Deal Hudson (the now-disgraced and resigned former head of Catholic outreach for the Bush/Cheney campaign) told the Washington Post last spring that "he believes the denial of Communion should begin, and end, with Kerry." . . .

The silence coming out of the Catholic League regarding the prominence of a bunch of heretical babykillers at the GOP Convention is simply deafening . . .

Next time reporters are tempted to let these guys drive the story, they should think twice. And while they're at it, they might want to turn the tables and write about the partisan involvement of supposedly neutral religious figures.

The Full Scoop (so far)

Laura Rozen.

Shame on Bob

Unbelievable:

But Dole also made another statement that day, one that hasn't been aired until now. Of McCain's charge to President Bush during a 2000 debate—"You should be ashamed"—Dole told Wolf Blitzer, "He was right." Dole made the remark off-air, while CNN broadcast the Kerry ad called "Old Tricks," the one featuring McCain's 2000 debate remarks. The campaign stopped airing it recently at McCain's request.

Although the remark was made off-air, it wasn't made off-camera. A CNN employee who asked not to be named made a digital file of the raw camera feed from the Late Edition studio. The footage does not include the graphics or other video, such as the McCain ad, that was shown during the live broadcast. "Once the control room punches the ad, it automatically kills the mics in the studio," the CNN employee told me. "He knows he can speak to Wolf and no one will hear him." Slate has posted the video, so you can see Dole's remark for yourself. (Click the image to view the clip.)

Question for Bob Dole: If President Bush should be ashamed of his behavior four years ago, why aren't you ashamed now?

...Of course, it's Blitzer who should be ashamed.

Ghorbanifar

NYT says it's one of two:

The Pentagon analyst who officials said is under suspicion was one of two department officials who traveled to Paris for a secret meeting with Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms dealer who had been a central figure in the Iran-contra affair.

It's either Harold Rhode or Larry Franklin.

Larry Johnson on the "Israeli Spy"

According to him (on MSNBC), it has something to do with the forged uranium documents...

Background here.


Over to you, Josh...

Keyes off the Ballot?

This election gets sillier and siller...

"I got a young man named George W. Bush in the National Guard"

Former Lt. Governor Ben Barnes. Watch the video...


"the worst thing that I did was that I helped a lot of wealthy supporters..."

....jmm has a bit more.


...full transcript from MF:

Josh Marshall reports that this is in fact Barnes in the video. The beginning and end show Barnes speaking at a rally, Marshall says this was recorded 6/8/04. The middle portion has Barnes seated, speaking as though in an interview.

Transcribed myself watching the video:

Speaking to an audience:
"Let's talk a minute about John Kerry and George Bush, and I know them both. And I'm not name dropping, saying I know them both. See I got...I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard when I was the Lt. Governor of Texas, and I'm not necessarily proud of that. (audience laughs) But, But I did it, and I got a lot of other people into the National Guard because I thought that's what people should do when you're in office and you helped a lot of rich people. And I walked to the Vietnam Memorial wall the other day and I looked at the names of the people that died in Vietnam, and I became more ashamed of myself than I've ever been because it's the worst thing I did was help a lot of wealthy supporters, and a lot of people who had family names of importance get into the National Guard. And I'm very sorry about that, and I'm ashamed. And I apologize to you, the voters of Texas. (Applause)"

Cut to Interview:
"John Kerry volunteered to go to Vietnam. And that was a pretty courageous thing, because John Kerry could have gone on and gotten another degree. He was in a position where he didn't have to go to Vietnam. I admired that so much, that he went. But I admired even more the fact that he came back talking about Vietnam and what a mistake it was. A matter of fact he talked about it so much that he got the FBI looking at him and got on Richard Nixon's list. And that took, that takes a lot of courage of a young man who particularly has an interest in politics and that wants to serve this county to go get on the President's black list. And I know a little bit about that because I got on Richard Nixon's black list also, and that's a story for another time. But it's, it's incredible that John Kerry, uhh, had the courage to go do that. And, you know, I think he deserves to be in Profiles of Courage for his service in Vietnam. But I also think, and I'm not upset with him at all that he came back and, and, talked about Vietnam and said that we were wrong. And I think he deserves equally as much credit for that as he does fighting. We should not look upon anyone that disagreed with our Vietnam policy as being unpatriotic. As we should not look upon anyone today that disagrees with our policy, or our lack of policy in Iraq. I am very unhappy with Republicans that want to make anyone that questions this administration's policy in Iraq is, is not being a freedom loving American."

Cut back to him speaking to the audience:
"And I tell you, for the Republicans to jump on John Kerry and say that he's not a patriot, after he went to Vietnam and was shot at and fought for our freedom and came back here and protested against the war - "he's a flip flopper." Let me tell you, John Kerry is 100 times a better patriot than George Bush or Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld."

What Do They Have to Hide?

Remember when it took the White House about 5 minutes to pore through their telephone logs to try to discredit Wesley Clark?

How many times has the White House had contact with the Swift Boat Liars? Rove has already changed his story. Why won't the press demand this information? The White House has already set a precedent -- releasing the information whenever it suits them. Release the logs!

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 U.S. Newswire -- Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) received a letter from the Executive Office of the President denying CREW's Aug. 24 request for records detailing White House contacts with individuals connected to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT). As grounds for the denial, the White House claimed that it was exempt from having to disclose the information.

CREW had asked the White House to release information regarding contacts between the Executive Office of the President and members of SBVT and others associated with the group, including public relations, advertising, detective and fundraising organizations.

CREW decided to file the FOIA after learning that President Bush's political advisor Karl Rove had claimed not to have spoken with his longtime friend and primary SVBT donor Bob J. Perry, in over a year. Yesterday, Rove had changed his tune, telling FOX news: "I don't want to leave any misimpression. But he's (Perry) not somebody that I've had, you know, any extended conversation with in years . . ." Rove denied, however, speaking with Perry about SBVT.

Rove's comments were made the same day CREW discovered that a Republican party Committee website in Collier County Florida was soliciting donations for SBVT and showing the group's ads, something clearly not allowed under the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Upon receiving the denial of the FOIA request, CREW's Executive Director Melanie Sloan stated "If the White House really had nothing to do with SBVT or its ads, then there was no reason for it to deny CREW's request. The White House could have released the records and silenced its critics. Its refusal to respond suggests that there is information the White House would prefer not become public."

More Coverage For the Republicon

So, MSNBC is increasing its coverage. ABC will add coverage during MNF halftime. CBS's New York affiliate, with Dan Rather anchoring, will have an additional hour of coverage (I don't believe their Boston affiliate did the same, though I could be wrong).

The National Joke That is CNN

From drudge:

CABLE NEWS RACE
THURS, AUG 26, 2004

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2.0 [RATING]
FOXNEWS HANNTIY/COLMES 1.8
FOXNEWS GRETA 1.6
FOXNEWS BRIT HUME 1.3
FOXNEWS SHEP SMITH 1.3 MSNBC OLBERMAN 0.6
MSNBC NORVILLE 0.6
MSNBC HARDBALL 0.6
MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 0.6
CNN LARRY KING .5
CNN AARON BROWN 0.5
CNN PAULA ZAHN 0.5
CNBC DENNIS MILLER 0.1
CNBC MCENROE 0.1

Entire primetime lineup has moved behind MSNBC's.

Meow

First MoveOn PAC Ad

This is one of the better ones, I think.

Friday Cat Blogging

The cats have informed me that they refuse to be photographed until there's a little bit more money thrown into the various begging bowls.

Mars, bitches!


(click to watch "Black Bush in the White House")

Greenspan the Hack

What Sam Rosenfeld says:

OH, THE GALL. Alan Greenspan is again calling for policymakers to show some political courage and take tough actions to deal with the looming Social Security and Medicare crises. Forget for a moment his elision of the two entitlement programs into a single looming problem, which is a clever way of obscuring the relative fiscal health of Social Security (in contrast to the very real troubles with Medicare) so as to legitimize more drastic changes to it. Forget also for the moment that the remedies he calls for -- like raising the retirement age -- would barely make a dent in the long-term fiscal crisis the country is heading toward.
Instead, note only that this is yet another article on Greenspan’s Social Security agenda that fails to mention his leading role first in pushing for increases in the regressive payroll taxes in the 1980s to secure the system and then, two decades later, advocating for George Bush’s massively regressive tax cuts -- tax cuts that are, of course, the underlying cause of the ostensible Social Security “crisis” he’s so worried about now. It’s simply the most brazen and drawn-out Robin Hood-in-reverse scheme I’ve ever heard of, and it’s worth emphasizing every time the Maestro opens his mouth on the subject.

This is exactly right - Greenspan advocated raising payroll taxes which later allowed him to advocate for using that revenue to pay for tax cuts for the rich and then advocate against using that money for the purpose he said it should be used for.

Decent people should shun this man.


There is no problem with Social Security, except if it's lumped in with the overall looming financial crisis which the Bush tax cuts created. There is a problem with Medicare, but that's wrapped up in the general problem of the health care system as a whole. If you think the solution is "letting more old people die by cutting their benefits" - well, that's a solution to *something*, but not really the solution most of us have in mind.

Through the Roof And On To Mars, Bitches!

In the immortal words of Gogol Bordello:

There is a trap set up for you
In every corner of your town
And so you learn the only way to go is underground
And there is trap set up for you
In every corner of your room
And so you learn the only way to go is through the roof
Through the roof 'n' underground

...

They don't hide and don't advertise
Their strategy of being is one of in your face-disguise
Through the roof 'n' underground

Through the roof! Donate! Get up off your ass! Donate! If your local, head over to Walnut Street and help the Hoeffel campaign! Do something damnit! Stop reading this damn blog!


The Hoeffel campaign says:

We've got a definite need for volunteers at our Center City Philadelphia office every day for the next two weeks -- phone banking, assistance with mailings and other tasks. Email us at info@hoeffelforsenate.com, or call us at 215.789.3700, and let us know when you're available.

Donate! Volunteer! Join!

Donate to Stan and Patsy!
Donate to Joe!
Donate to the DNC!

Donate to the DSCC

Donate to the DCCC


Sign up with ACT
Sign up with Move On's Leave No Voter Behind Project.
Volunteer some time for your local candidate.

Concerts for Change

Another thing you can do.

Mars, My Little Bitches!

Tough times demand a little tough language. From a post in comments by Hubric Sonic (slightly edited):

What a bunch of wussie boys. You better gird your loins we have another 67 days of this shit. Did you forget that bush has the office of the presidency, the ability to lie his ass off, dick cheney, karl rove, $200 million dollars, and of course the media whores.

did you think this was going to be easy?

put your fucking backs into it, get busy, send lawyers, guns or money. Do Something

Mars, my little bitches!

Donate to Stan and Patsy!
Donate to Joe!
Donate to the DNC!

Donate to the DSCC

Donate to the DCCC


Sign up with ACT
Sign up with Move On's Leave No Voter Behind Project.
Volunteer some time for your local candidate.

Bitching is no longer enough, so Mars, My Little Bitches! Mars!

What's the World Coming To

When World Nut Daily starts to be more reasonable than CNN.

Self-inflicted Ethics Violations

Ginsburg may have admitted to one, if not two, violations of the DC bar.

Suggestion for Brad DeLong

Just stop reading the Economist. I did. I'm much happier, and no less well informed*, now.

*aside from being informed about what those who write for the Economist think.

The Moral Bankruptcy of Anti-Choice Republicans in Congress

If I were an anti-choice person, which of course I'm not, I would be really angry that the people who claim to represent me and the things I care about in congress insisted upon passing laws which would clearly be overturned by the courts in order to keep it alive as a political issue. I don't share their moral worldview, but if I did I'd be pretty disgusted (of course, I'm disgusted, but for different reasons).

Iran

BMM says this about Iran:

The only problem is that near as I can tell there's nothing the US can really do to help the Iranian opposition except hope, any more than we can do anything to ensure that Sistani uses his considerable stature and influence in a constructive way....

That's true to some degree, but there's definitely something we could have NOT done in January 2002 - and that's have a president who pointlessly played bully and referred to Iran as part of an "axis of evil," completely stopping in his tracks a relatively pro-reform president who had, up until that point, had some success beating back the power of the anti-reform clerics.

Jim Rassman May Be Dead

According to Miles O'Brien at CNN, its a "point of dispute" whether Kerry actually saved his life.

miles.obrien@turner.com

MoveOn PAC

I just took a sneak peek at the forthcoming MoveOn PAC ads. Most were pretty entertaining in one way or another, some were probably pretty effective, although given that I'm not really the type of person they should be aimed at I have no idea if that's true or not.

But, they'll be sure to drive the mainstream media nuts for a variety of reasons. However, there's one thing I hope we can all get straight. MoveOn PAC is, as it suggests, a...wait, here it comes... a PAC! Otherwise known as a... POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE. As we're all smart well-informed reporters out here in media land, we understand that PACs have nothing to do with the "shadowy 527s" we keep hearing about. PACs have very strict donation limits and timely financial disclosure requirements. Individuals can't give more than 5 grand in a calendar year to it, and there are overall PAC contribution limits as well.

Stand Up For Choice

Planned Parenthood is hosting a cool show on Monday. Click here for info. And, click here for tickets.

(full disclosure - this plug scored me a couple of tickets)

Mylroie Heart Hezbollah

Oh boy.
...yes, I know that Mylroie didn't express a love for Hezbollah. The rule here is that we treat others we the degree of seriousness and/or contempt that they themselves treat the world. Mylroie is a very silly person who treats all of our intelligence with contempt, so having a bit of fun seems appropriate.

More Lies

From Rove.

Pig Farmers for Truth!

BREAKING, from 'Another Bruce':

I swear that I witnessed George W. Bush having carnal relations with a swine. I am willing to sign an affadavit stating so.

I can now appear in commercials stating. "I am a pig farmer. While at a campaign stop in Iowa. George Bush attacked one of my sows. George Bush is a pigf****r. I know, because I was there."

Soon I will appear on the cable news shows. The Washington Post will dutifully report on my claims, because, it will not judge my credibility. I will be appointed to be a federal judge by the Kerry administration. My career path is set. Bring it on.

...developing, on the front page of the Washington Post, tomorrow!

Journamalism 101

What can one even say when the executive editor the Washington Post seems to not have any idea what the most basic principles of journalism are? From a letter to Romenesko:

From CHARLES KAISER: Editor and Publisher quotes Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie as saying, "We are not judging the credibility of Kerry or the (Swift Boat) Veterans, we just print the facts." If that quote is accurate, the Post has abandoned a basic function of journalism.

The first duty of every reporter is to judge the credibility of his sources. The one thing we know from the Post's own reporting is that all of Senator Kerry's attackers in the Swift Boat controversy share a hatred of him because of his anti-war activism after he returned from Vietnam. This uniform hatred should be a red flag to any reporter repeating their attacks on Kerry for what he did as a Swift Boat Commander during the war. Combined with the fact that many of the people associated with the advertisement attacking Kerry were also involved with previous dirty tricks of Bush I and Bush II, including the Willie Horton ad and the scurrilous attacks on John McCain's war record, it is difficult to understand why the Post has taken these latest charges so seriously.

Blogging the RNC

Remember all that outrage about how the DNC wasn't credentialing enough righty bloggers? Here's the RNC list. Let all the outrage begin.

(chirp)

Personally, I don't think either party had any obligation to make any attempt at ideological balance for something like this, but still...

Bigots at the GOP

The amazing thing in our contemporary news media is that they're quicker to jump on people who say something disrespectful about People in Power - something I always thought was a long and honorable American tradition - while they continue to give a pass to those who verbally assault members of marginalized groups.

Consider the disparate treatment of comedians who (horror!) make fun of Bush (shock!) and even occasionally use bad language (just like the vice president!) with an entertainer who is going to be singing at the RNC who, as John Aravaosis says, "thinks homosexuality is a "curse," that it's caused by men raping small children, that being gay is a choice, that it can be cured, and most explosively, that gays are trying to "kill our children."

Liar!

At some point, one has to wonder if John O'Neill ever tells the truth.

And, look, the idea that you were "50 miles 100 yards from Cambodia" but never, you know, actually crossed the forced field which our alien overlords installed to separate the two countries is just ridiculous.

He also had previously claimed that there was no watery border between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Look, if I just start making a bunch of shit up and someone publishes it can I get on every TV station in the country multiple times?

The Wisdom of Charlie Daniels

Who'll be entertaining at the RNC this year. Maybe MSNBC can fill the sad little hole which was left after Michael Savage left.

Bad Bob

Amazing how the guy threw away his respected elder statesman status in about 5 minutes. And for what? For W and a bunch of proven liars.

Press Failure

This Campaign Desk post is pretty good.

39%

Wow. That's one craptacular approval rating.

I've said it a few times, but the reluctance of the media to seize on what is the clear narrative of the election right now - the incumbent Bush is in serious trouble - amazes me. I'm not sure if it would be a good or bad thing for the Kerry campaign if they did, but nonetheless when a sitting president consistently polls below 50%, and is generally behind in national popular and electoral vote analyses, the failure of the media to start up the "Is Bush Going to Be a One Termer?" mantra is truly strange.

Can We Put the Ism Back in Terrorism?

Please? It's really time. At the very least I hope that President John Kerry will demonstrate his ability to articulate a 4 syllable word.

Tricky Dick and Tricky John

Listen to O'Neill discuss his time in Cambodia with Nixon.

Shazbot

I really don't understand why the Bush campaign gets away with so much crap. Bush has spent the last 10 days on a holy crusade against the first amendment, saying that outside groups shouldn't be able to fund political ads, and now they're attacking Kerry for being against free speech. Here they shift gears - they're now actively supporting the right of the swift boat liars to do what they do best - lie.

Moonie Times link, just for the full spin.

Cleland Convention Speech

Link:

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to share with you my story of how I came to know and love John Kerry. In April of 1968, while I was being airlifted out of Vietnam on a stretcher, Ensign John Kerry was headed in a different direction. He was on a Navy ship in the Pacific requesting to be transferred into Vietnam - into the line of fire. He had graduated from college. There were a lot of other things he could have done with his life. But he went to serve because he had been raised to believe that service to one's country is honorable, noble, and good.

While John Kerry was earning a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts, I was being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. I was 25 years old. My body was broken and my faith was shattered. One day, on leave from the hospital, a friend was pushing me around the city, in my new wheelchair. In front of the White House, it hit a curb. I fell forward out of the wheelchair. There were cigarette butts and trash all around me. I remember trying to lift myself up off the street. I was angry at the war. Saddened that veterans weren't getting good care. And frustrated that people in power weren't listening. Those were difficult days for me.

But, I ultimately realized that although I had lost a lot, I still had a lot left, and I resolved to make something of my life. I decided to run for the State Senate in Georgia. I won, but when I got there, in 1971, I was a lone voice.

Then I heard this young veteran on TV speaking about the war. It was John Kerry. He put everything I was feeling into words.

Tonight, I'd like to let you know, that even before I met John Kerry, he was my brother. Even before I knew John Kerry, he was my friend. Even before I spoke with John Kerry, he gave me hope.

The Bible tells me that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends. John Kerry's fellow crewmates - the men I am honored to share the stage with - are living testimony to his leadership, his courage under fire, and his willingness to risk his life for his fellow Americans. There is no greater act of patriotism than that.

As I look back over the last 36 years, I now realize John Kerry's service to his country didn't end in Vietnam. It began there. Since Vietnam, John Kerry's life has become an object lesson in what was once described as the true definition of patriotism - "the long and steady dedication of a lifetime."

When we make John Kerry our next president, he will put America back on the long and steady road toward the vision of the country we fought for - a vision of the country we can become once again. A country that doesn't alienate our allies, but works with them. A country that doesn't lose jobs, but creates them. A country that doesn't limit educational opportunity, but expands it. A country that doesn't make health care less available, but more affordable. A country that doesn't spoil our environment, but protects it. A country that is strong a country that is respected, a country that is worthy of generations of sacrifice, and our children's highest hopes.

That is the America John Kerry volunteered to fight for. That is the America John Kerry will lead.

When John Kerry declared he was a candidate for the presidency of the United States, on a hot, steamy day in Charleston, South Carolina, a little less than a year ago, I joined the band of brothers at his side. After the ceremony, I grabbed his arm and pressed a Bible into his hand. It was the Bible I once read from as a child. I knew that he would need its strength, its guidance and its comfort in the days ahead. At first, he said he was afraid he might lose it, he refused to take it. I insisted. I told him: "Hold on to this... You'll need it like your country needs you now." He took the Bible, and said softly, "I won't let you down."

My fellow Americans - John Kerry has never let me down. He'll never let you down. He is an authentic American hero. He is the next captain of our ship of state. And he will be the next president of the United States.

In every hour of challenge - in every hour of danger - American heroes have answered their country's call. Just blocks from where we are tonight, some 230 years ago, a group called the Sons of Liberty assembled to demand democracy, and a voice in their future. Mere steps from where we are, a former slave named Crispus Attucks gave his life for freedom. And around the corner from where we are, a beacon of light from the old North Church set Paul Revere on a mission to save this country's people from danger.

Those were fateful hours for our young nation. Tonight I am honored to introduce to you another son of liberty, a brother in arms, a man called by destiny at this fateful hour in our nation's history.

He is my brother. He is my friend. He is my hero. Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, John Kerry answers the call.

CNN Ratings Toilet

They're doing better in primetime, but otherwise they're at MSNBC territory. CNN's primetime schedule is marginally better, overall, but their "hard" news coverage is fast becoming a national joke.

Silly Bush

Sure, Cleland ambushed Bush for a bit of theater, but a real man would have known how to handle it. As Steve says:

Yes, this was a campaign stunt, and yes, Cleland has his own grudges against these people, but a real man would have invited Cleland and Rassman up to the ranch house, gave them some sweet tea, taken the letter and let them go.

...

Now, let's be real. Cleland probably owes Kerry a $20 because one of them had to have bet Bush would live down to character, and the other bet that he couldn't be so stupid as to turn away a triple amputee from his home. But make no mistake, they knew what Bush would do, and they bet on him doing it.

Yet, once again, the Bush campaign walks into a trap set by Kerry. Two decorated veterans show up to you door and you hide from them? That's just stupid. It's bad politics if nothing else.

Great American Shout Out!

Fuggedaboudit!

In the spirit of Paddy Chayefsky's classic movie monologue from "Network," the liberal comedian Wednesday urged New Yorkers -- and other Americans -- to simultaneously scream the all-purpose local wisecrack at the moment that President Bush accepts the nomination.

"This is a form of protest that is very non-disruptive," Franken said at a press conference in the Park Avenue office of Air America radio network, where he hosts a talk show.

Franken said the September 2 protest, called the "Great American Shout-Out," will not "tax our public safety system at all."

Website here.

Three and You're Out...

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

Last open thread from me. Play nice until Atrios gets back. I am sure he brought lots of goodies for y'all.

You've Been Served

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

Here's the letter. Here is a picture of the delivery.



(thanks to wtfwjd? in comments)

Open Thread

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

Bad apple or bad tree edition... (I am sure you already seen it but here you can talk about it or about anything else you might want...).

Speaking of Resignations...

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

The one I want to really see.

(via TalkLeft)

Start Value

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

Good Pierce. Go read.

One Degree of Separation

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

And one more resignation. How long until this resignation is turned to question Kerry's campaign?

Mid-morning Open Thread

(posted by Mrs. Atrios)

Yes, it is me again. Go ahead, be my guest...

Oops

From Newsnight:

JOHNS: Behind the scenes, Kerry's aides were fighting the swift boat charges with unusual ferocity. They say they have evidence one of the top members of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is an outright liar.

The co-author of the book "Unfit for Command," former swift boat commander John O'Neill said Kerry made up a story about being in Cambodia beyond the legal borders of the Vietnam War in 1968.

O'Neill said no one could cross the border by river and he claimed in an audio tape that his publicist played to CNN that he, himself, had never been to Cambodia either. But in 1971, O'Neill said precisely the opposite to then President Richard Nixon.

O'NEILL: I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water.

NIXON: In a swift boat?

O'NEILL: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Now, O'Neill may have an explanation for this but he has not returned CNN's calls. What does seem clear is that a top member of the swift boat group is now being held to the same standard of literal accuracy they've tried to impose on John Kerry -- Aaron.

Official Navy Record Confirms Official Navy Account

So, here we have an AP article discussing the fact that yet another Navy document confirms, you know, what ALL THE OTHER NAVY DOCUMENTS say. But, instead of phrasing it that way they say it confirms "Kerry's description" as if it were just something he could have made up.

idiots.

Divided Loyalty

Wow. Michelle Malkin is a dual citizen.

Daily Show Thread

Enjoy

This Week With John O'Neill

What, he lied? I'm shocked, really.

JOHN O'NEILL: The whole country's watching him avoid the question. You asked about Cambodia. How do I know he's not in Cambodia? I was on the same river, George. I was there two months after him. Our patrol area ran to Sedek, it was 50 miles from Cambodia. There isn't any watery border. The Mekong River's like the Mississippi. There were gunboats stationed right up there to stop people from coming. And our boats didn't go north of, only slightly north of Sedek. So it was a made up story. He's told it over 50 times, George, that was on the floor of the Senate. He wrote articles about it, it was a malicious story because it painted all the guys above him, all of the commanding officers, in effect, as war criminals, that had ordered him into a neutral country, it was a lie.

(tip thanks to Hudson)

O'Neill in Cambodia

In comments, Liberal Oasis provided us with the Nixon/O'Neill transcript just on Newsnight:

CNN's Newsnight just played the O'Neill-Nixon tape, with text graphic on screen:

O'NEILL: I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water.

NIXON: In a swift boat?

O'NEILL: Yes, sir.

Wow, he worked along the border and he was in Cambodia. And no one court martialed him? Jeebus. I'm shocked.

Moby

Says it exactly:

"I'm not working under any grand assumptions that my involvement will change the course of the election," Moby says. "My great fear is that we will wake up on November 3, George Bush will have won and we will say, 'What more could we have done?'"

What more can you do? No one is asking you to do more than you can - just try to do what you are able to do.


...do whatever.

O'Neill in Cambodia?

Alan Colmes just said swift boat liar John O'Neill was recorded telling Nixon that he was in Cambodia. I'm shocked. Bring on the court martial.

McChesney Misspoke

Josh got a follow-up to this post. Not surprised.

States' Rights

From Drudgey

During a rally in Davenport, Iowa on Tuesday, Vice President Dick Cheney was asked by a woman "What do you think about homosexual marriage?"

"Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue our family is very familiar with. With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.

"The question that comes up with the issue of marriage is what kind of official sanction or approval is going to be granted by government? Historically, that's been a relationship that has been handled by the states. The states have made that fundamental decision of what constitutes a marriage."

Cheney then went on to blast the courts for interfering in the matter and not allowing for the states to decide the issue:

"I think his perception was that the courts, in effect, were beginning to change, without allowing the people to be involved. The courts were making the judgment for the entire country."

People can differ on what is and isn't appropriate judicial action, but Cheney isn't espousing some sort of coherent legal theory here. The consitutions of the United States - Federal and State constitutions - function, in part, to protect minority rights against the tyranny of the majority. While that doesn't defend any particular judicial ruling along these lines, Cheney's complaint that they "were making the judgment for the entire country" is ridiculous.

Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virgina are a couple of cases where Courts made decisions which made "the judgment for the entire country" which I find sound on both moral grounds and constitutional law.

If Big Time Dick wants to argue a legal critique, that's fine. But, he hasn't - he's just thrown out some red meat for the bigots, while exploiting his daughter in the process.

Sad.

Open thread

And yes, Kerry is on the Daily Show, much to the chagrin of others.

Frenched

I do think this swift boat liar who is a DA in Oregon does have a wee problem. I imagine he's opened himself up to all kinds of fun in the courtroom.

Radio Fun

Eric Muller, who actually knows what he's talking about, will debating with Michelle Malkin tomorrow. At 9 AM in North Carolina on WZTK (correction - on THURSDAY) and at 10AM TOMORROW on WHYY in Philly.

Another Swift Boat Liar

It never ends.

Cambodia

O'Neill and the bigot Corsi write:

Kerry was never ordered into Cambodia by anyone and would have been court-martialed had he gone there.

Court-martialed, eh? Hm.

...Nixon chats with O'Neill.

June 16, 1971: Oval Office meeting with John O’Neill
Nixon: I really feel that what you’re doing, you’ll take brickbats, you go on some of these TV shows like the Cavett thing, you’re gonna get banged, but – you’ll get terribly discouraged and say the whole country’s – and so forth. But I think ya gotta remember, uh, you have to remember, that uh, that uh, now {unintelligible] in Vietnam should be enough, that now you would have the [unint] to get back and reassure people that those few that come back – like Kerry and the rest – don’t speak for all.

[edit]

Nixon: That’s great. Give it to him, give it to him. And you can do it, because you have a pleasant manner, too, because you’ve got – and I think it’s a great service to the country.

[edit]

Nixon: You fellows have been out there. You’ve got to know, seeing the barbarians that we’re up against, you’ve got to know what we’re doing in that horrible swamp that North Vietnam is. 33:40 You’ve got to know from all our faults of what we have in this country that, that what we’re doing is right. You’ve got to know too, people are critics. Critics of the war, critics of [unint], run America down. Those that are, uh – well in every respect, either get out of Vietnam, get out of [unint], get out of the world, etcetera etcetera. You’ve gotta know that you’re on the winning s—that, that you’re on the right side.

Wish I had the rest of that conversation.

The Fakest News Show

Last night's Daily Show:

STEWART: Here's what puzzles me most, Rob. John Kerry's record in Vietnam is pretty much right there in the official records of the US military, and haven't been disputed for 35 years?

CORDDRY: That's right, Jon, and that's certainly the spin you'll be hearing coming from the Kerry campaign over the next few days.

STEWART: Th-that's not a spin thing, that's a fact. That's established.

CORDDRY: Exactly, Jon, and that established, incontravertible fact is one side of the story.

STEWART: But that should be -- isn't that the end of the story? I mean, you've seen the records, haven't you? What's your opinion?

CORDDRY: I'm sorry, my *opinion*? No, I don't have 'o-pin-i-ons'. I'm a reporter, Jon, and my job is to spend half the time repeating what one side says, and half the time repeating the other. Little thing called 'objectivity' -- might wanna look it up some day.

STEWART: Doesn't objectivity mean objectively weighing the evidence, and calling out what's credible and what isn't?

CORDDRY: Whoa-ho! Well, well, well -- sounds like someone wants the media to act as a filter! [high-pitched, effeminate] 'Ooh, this allegation is spurious! Upon investigation this claim lacks any basis in reality! Mmm, mmm, mmm.' Listen buddy: not my job to stand between the people talking to me and the people listening to me.

STEWART: So, basically, you're saying that this back-and-forth is never going to end.

CORDDRY: No, Jon -- in fact a new group has emerged, this one composed of former Bush colleages, challenging the president's activities during the Vietnam era. That group: Drunken Stateside Sons of Privilege for Plausible Deniability. They've apparently got some things to say about a certain Halloween party in '71 that involved trashcan punch and a sodomized piñata. Jon -- they just want to set the record straight. That's all they're out for.

STEWART: Well, thank you Rob, good luck out there. We'll be right back.

(thanks to reader n)

Combat Training Slashed in Half

This is rather depressing. The Marines are cutting their final combat training time in half.

Politically Motivated

In a report which hasn't yet gotten much attention, yesterday NPR's John McChesney reported that:

And over the weekend, another swift boat Veteran, William Rood, also broke 35 years of silence to support Kerry's version of how he won a silver star. Rood is now an editor with the Chicago Tribune. The Bush campaign denounced Rood's article in the Tribune as politically motivated.

If this is true, this is absolutely astounding. The Bush campaign denounced an article by someone defending Kerry's military record?

I'm pretty sure the reporter just got this one wrong. I contacted him, hopefully I get a response...

These Charges Are False

LA Times:

The technique President Bush is using against John F. Kerry was perfected by his father against Michael Dukakis in 1988, though its roots go back at least to Sen. Joseph McCarthy. It is: Bring a charge, however bogus. Make the charge simple: Dukakis "vetoed the Pledge of Allegiance"; Bill Clinton "raised taxes 128 times"; "there are Communists in the State Department." But make sure the supporting details are complicated and blurry enough to prevent easy refutation.

Then sit back and let the media do your work for you. Journalists have to report the charges, usually feel obliged to report the rebuttal, and often even attempt an analysis or assessment. But the canons of the profession prevent most journalists from saying outright: These charges are false. As a result, the voters are left with a general sense that there is some controversy over Dukakis' patriotism or Kerry's service in Vietnam. And they have been distracted from thinking about real issues (like the war going on now) by these laboratory concoctions.

It must be infuriating to the victims of this process to be given conflicting advice about how to deal with it from the same campaign press corps that keeps it going. The press has been telling Kerry: (a) Don't let charges sit around unanswered; and (b) stick to your issues: Don't let the other guy choose the turf.

At the moment, Kerry is being punished by the media for taking advice (b) and failing to take advice (a). There was plenty of talk on TV about what Kerry's failure to strike back said about whether he had the backbone for the job of president — and even when he did strike back, he was accused of not doing it soon enough. But what does Bush's acquiescence in the use of this issue say about whether he has the simple decency for the job of president?

Dionne

Link:

The media have to do more than "he said/he said" reporting. If the charges don't hold up, they don't hold up. And, yes, now that John Kerry's life during his twenties has been put at the heart of this campaign just over two months from Election Day, the media owe the country a comparable review of what Bush was doing at the same time and the same age.

If all the stories about what Kerry did in Vietnam are not balanced by serious scrutiny of Bush in the Vietnam years, the media will be capitulating to a right-wing smear campaign. Surely our nation's editors and producers don't want to send a signal that all you have to do to set the media's agenda is spend a half-million bucks on television ads.

This is also a test of John McCain. When he ran against Bush four years ago, McCain was smeared mercilessly. When McCain protested to Bush about the attacks at one of their debates during the 2000 primaries, Bush brushed him off. "John," Bush said, "it's politics."

McCain snapped back, "George, everything isn't politics."

Questions about Bush's Service Unanswered

In USA Today.

• Why did Bush, described by some of his fellow officers as a talented and enthusiastic pilot, stop flying fighter jets in the spring of 1972 and fail to take an annual physical exam required of all pilots?

What explains the apparent gap in the president's Guard service in 1972-73, a period when commanders in Texas and Alabama say they never saw him report for duty and records show no pay to Bush when he was supposed to be on duty in Alabama?

• Did Bush receive preferential treatment in getting into the Guard and securing a coveted pilot slot despite poor qualifying scores and arrests, but no convictions, for stealing a Christmas wreath and rowdiness at a football game during his college years?

Objective Journalism

Daryn Kagan on the new swift boat ad "They're not just attacking the medals that Kerry might have won."

daryn.kagan@turner.com

Krugman

Go read.

Silly Specter

Even Scaife's rag goes after him:

A small slice from the corpulent creature called the Arrogance of Power:

Sen. Arlen Specter is a busy and important man. So beyond the pale of ordinary humans, according to a report by John Shumway of KDKA-TV, that his aides skirted security regulations at Pittsburgh International Airport in order to speed the senator's departure from the erstwhile Steel City.

How? By getting his boarding pass with the help of authorities so Mr. Specter could breeze on his way to accomplish even more important things.

Someone tipped off Mr. Shumway, who arrived at the airport and talked to an indignant Specter -- who asserted he would personally obtain his pass per our wartime airport security protocols.

Specter did not answer the underlying issue, to wit: How dare he seek special treatment. Indeed, Specter's unbecoming attitude was more like: How dare Shumway ask me an embarrassing question.

Shumway's approach -- polite, persistent and professional -- was not entirely dissimilar from someone of our acquaintance when he asked Teresa Heinz Kerry to explain herself. Specter, however, was better behaved than Mrs. Heinz Kerry.

Specter did disclose to Shumway that he is not a security risk. That's a relief. But the millions of ordinary Americans who undergo the inconvenience of establishing their bona fides at the airport also present no danger to the traveling public.

You can watch the video here (Scroll down to "Did Sen. Arlen Specter's Aides Try To Bypass Airport Security?")

Incompetent

Goss:

President Bush's nominee to be the director of central intelligence, Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.), sponsored legislation that would have cut intelligence personnel by 20 percent in the late 1990s.


Goss, who has been chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for the past eight years, was one of six original co-sponsors of legislation in 1995 that called for cuts of at least 4 percent per year between 1996 and 2000 in the total number of people employed throughout the intelligence community.


The legislation, part of a wide-ranging budget-cutting measure that included abolishing the Energy Department and privatizing the air traffic control system, never received a vote. But the nine-year-old legislation, exhumed by Democrats, presents a political hurdle for Goss.

The Bush reelection campaign has been blasting Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry as deeply irresponsible for proposing intelligence cuts at the same time. A Bush campaign ad released on Aug. 13 carried a headline: "John Kerry . . . proposed slashing Intelligence Budget 6 Billion Dollars."

But the cuts Goss supported are larger than those proposed by Kerry and specifically targeted the "human intelligence" that has recently been found lacking. The recent report by the commission probing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks called for more spending on human intelligence.

Get Up Get Up Get Get Down

CNN's a joke in your town.

It is really true. MSNBC has become a better news operation during the day. MSNBC.com has always been pretty good. The evening lineup is pretty much six of one, half a dozen on the other. On CNN you have Anderson Cooper (good, but too frivolous), Paula Zahn (atrocious), Larry King (horrible), and Aaron Brown (whatever good is demolished by his smugness). And, on MSNBC you have Hardball (horrible with an occasional ray of truth shining through), Olbermann (pretty good), Norville (okay), and Scarborough which is so bad it's probably, in the net, good.

More on the War

One of the interesting things which is floating around now is that, with hindsight, the "best argument against the war" was the "this gang is just to goddamn incompetent to do anything right" argument. I find that interesting, because at the time it was the argument which, aside from pithy-anti-war-slogan-protest-sign-arguments, was the one which was inevitably met with the most derision. Embracing that one was the sure route to being tarred as a "partisan" who just "hated Bush" and would "put politics ahead of national security" because you "liked Saddam more than Bush."

I never really understood (nor do I now) the idea that "anti-war" people needed to make profound arguments against the war -- that burden, it seems, was on the pro-war people. Frequently we heard "where are the serious anti-war arguments?" as if that were somehow meaningful. I didn't need to make a case against war -- its supporters needed to make a case for it. The fact that the argument was poor, ever-changing, and in many cases obviously fraudulent should have been enough.

But, yes, for me too... what little feeling I had that this war could be the right thing, overall, was beaten back by that general idea - that these people were too incompetent and/or corrupt to do it right.

Sadly, though, I had no idea. I really had no clue just how incompetent they could be (corrrupt doesn't much surprise me, though the media's continuing willingness to not care about billions of dollars thrown away does surprise me).


...in comments, old fashioned patriot gives us yet another choice Rice flashback, down the media's memory hole:

So Ambassador Bremer has been talking about a seven-step plan: constitution, followed then by elections and then by the transfer of sovereignty. And it makes perfectly good sense to do this as soon as possible, but to do it in a way that is responsible. And I think that the -- as all of us have said, the French plan, which would somehow try to transfer sovereignty to an un-elected group of people, just isn't workable.

Sweet Sweet Blue

Latest Zogby Battleground.

Those Evil 527s

From Tapped.

MORE ON THOSE 527s. My colleague Matthew Yglesias rightly notes that President Bush's denunciation of 527s is hypocritical and self-contradictory. This is especially true given (let me add some more examples) that the campaign finance law the president signed just a few years ago deliberately avoided closing the 527 loophole; that Bush beat Sen. John McCain (R-Ari.) during the 2000 primary in part with the help of a 527 run by his supporter Sam Wylie; that Bush's own campaign manager, campaign counsel, and political guru (Ken Melhman, Ben Ginsburg, and Karl Rove, respectively) have attended fundraising and organizational events for Progress for America, a 527 founded by Bush's political director from the 2000 campaign, Tony Feather; that GOP chairman Ed Gillespie and Bush campaign chairman Mark Racicot recently issued a statement designating PFA and yet another GOP 527, the Leadership Forum, as a good place for Republicans to give money to; and that the second-biggest 527 in the U.S. is the Republican Governors Association, a group spun off by the Republican National Committee two years ago specifically to collect and harness soft money for state and local GOP candidates.
If President Bush is opposed to 527s, somebody better tell his senior campaign staff, and quick.