I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
first?
this cannot be going as the white house planned.
hah!
Can you imagine Dick "other priorities" Cheney doing this?
Of course not. Dick is a man's man. He doesn't cry. Besides, who in their right mind would pull him from a river?
OT - (Sorry, it's early and i can't share this with anyone else awake...)
Why on earth is DELIVER US FROM EVIL, by Sean Hannity. #1 on the Nytimes list for the 3rd week in a row? WTF?
David Lesar's eyes still tear up when he, as Halliburton's chairman and CEO, when he counts the millions his company makes from no-bid contracts and war profiteering thanks to Dick Cheney.
Of course not. Dick is a man's man. He doesn't cry. Besides, who in their right mind would pull him from a river?
Tecla
HAHAHAHAHA!
Let's face it, Bush will never have this kind of personal story that Kerry is able to portray at the moment.
Kerry is truly the strong silent type.
Its great to hear that the Democratic 527 organizations are matching the Bush advertising blitz in the swing states. What is Bush going to do-raise even more money and run more ads? That is just going to turn people off.
Kerry is truly the strong silent type.
Rook
No he's not, and thank goodness for that!
http://www.canada.com/montreal/m...islin/
0305.html
You know they often say that courage is not the lack of fear, but being able to overcome it. GWB was a chickenshit when it came to Vietnam and Kerry faced it head on.
Say what you will about Kerry, but he's certainly not a fucking coward like GWB. That's for damn sure.
This sort of unity is essential to victory in November. I admit, not too long ago I was afraid that the Democratic Party would be divided amongst itself again. Glad to see myself proved wrong.
It's great to have a genuine war hero for a candidate. How can any honest, upright Republican support a yellow-bellied deserter like W? Oh, I forgot, there are no honest, upright Republicans.
Why on earth is DELIVER US FROM EVIL, by Sean Hannity. #1 on the Nytimes list for the 3rd week in a row? WTF?
Not many people (especially Americans) actually read, so it's relatively easy to manipulate best-seller lists with block purchases. The right has been known to buy books in quantity that they give away at functions or 'donate' to organisations (or leave in the basement).
There's also an interesting piece about the topic at 2blowhards.
My backing of Kerry basically doubled with his "These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary." comment.
I've really started to warm to him, it's surprising (to me)...I just wish he had more progressive policies. I guess I wish he had kucinich's policies.
Tecla,
Contributing to Hannity's book being on the best seller list would have to be the fact that you could get it for $.99 if you subscribed to NewsMax (their "free offer" has changed, but that had to help).
I guess I wish he had kucinich's policies.
Wouldn't it be nice if Kerry would, post-election, become a proponent of Kucinich's proposed Department of Peace, and then appoint him to be Secretary of Peace. That would get the progressives fired up.
Not many people (especially Americans) actually read, so it's relatively easy to manipulate best-seller lists with block purchases.
the NYTimes marks books with reported bulk purchases with a "+" on their weekly list, and Hannity's shitty tome (I'm just assuming, here, i won't read it) doesn't have this icon. Regnery books usually shoot up the list based on this technique.
Being somewhat more moderate, I think Kerry's about where a president should be. I respect Kucinich, but I, and most of the rest of America just think he's too liberal.
the kerry team played the counter-attack ad perfectly. They asked "why is a sitting president putting out negative ads. He has NO positive ads to run since he HAS NO POSITIVE RECORD to run on! "Uhh, I invaded and occupied 2 countries in failed wars, ehh, uhh, I helped tax cuts get passed which pushed out unemployment down. uhh.."
Absoulutely beautiful. Now everytime bush runs a negative ad they say "why is a sitting president running negative ads? shouldnt he run positive ads?
And when he runs "positive" ads, his record is even more exposed.
Animal. Angry. Cornered.
Meanwhile:
A string of glaring missteps by President Bush's economic team has raised alarm among the president's supporters that his economic policymakers may have lost the most basic ability to formulate a persuasive message or anticipate the political consequences of their actions.
In recent weeks, the White House has had to endure its chief economist's positive comments about job "outsourcing," or sending work overseas; controversial passages in the annual Economic Report of the President; questions over the legitimacy of Bush's 2005 budget; a California swing in which Bush bragged about the possible addition of two or three jobs to a 14-person business in Bakersfield and a flap over a job-creation forecast that not even the president could stand by.
...
Republicans on Capitol Hill and in the lobbying world of K Street say that the incidents may be minor, but they are many, each amplified by the last. And they are supplying a steady, nourishing diet for Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who has made jobs and Bush's economic policies a centerpiece of his campaign to capture the White House.
Several former administration officials said the debacle over Raimondo illustrated broader weaknesses in Bush's White House as he gears up his reelection campaign. Some Republicans said the situation crystallized their concerns about his weakened political position. These Republicans refused to speak on the record because they said that if they did, they could not be candid about the problems without infuriating Bush and his most powerful aides.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp...-
2004Mar12.html
Can you imagine Dick "other priorities" Cheney doing this?...John F. Kerry snatched him out of a muddy brown river in Vietnam and saved him
Or Commander Bunnypants? I'm sure he snatched a lot of beer out of kegs and saved it from going stale. The most heroic cheerleader in the history of Yale.
Let's face it, Bush will never have this kind of personal story that Kerry is able to portray at the moment.
I'm kind of glad that W's Guard duty is still an issue. We have this amazing story, and W can tell us how he bravely transported tropical plants in his fighter jet.
Give 'em hell, Kerry!
Dump the miserable failure!
And remember, kids... you can't spell "AWOL" without "W"!
"I'm kind of glad that W's Guard duty is still an issue. We have this amazing story, and W can tell us how he bravely transported tropical plants in his fighter jet."
BudMan
I'm sure he displayed great bravery in fighting the plants, too.
Hey guys, I'm here on year five of a H1-B visa.
Do any of you know if I'm allowed give money to the Kerry campaign?
(We're obviously not talking millions here, but I don't want to do anything that could get anyone - including me - in trouble).
billyfrombelfast, I don't know the specific rules about contributions, but if some Iranian businessman can give Bush big bucks, I don't know why you can't give Kerry a little.
pie, I missed the 'Iranian businessman' -- can you fill me in?
I'm with tecla, my support of Kerry has blossomed this week with his 'fighting' back spirit this week!
"Why on earth is DELIVER US FROM EVIL, by Sean Hannity. #1 on the Nytimes list for the 3rd week in a row? WTF?"
Richard Scaife added a wing to his basement?
Streaker, I read a story several weeks ago about Arab-Americans making big contributions to Bush's campaign. It turns out the biggest amount came from an Iranian businessman. I don't remember the source, but I think I even commented on it here at the time.
As time goes on I'm more comfortable with the Kerry campaign. I agree with those above, if he wants to energize the Democratic base attacking Bush head on is the way to go. Answer every Republican slam and lie without letting a single news cycle to go by.
Tom D. is proof that trying to be nice doesn't work.
Thanks pie.
"Hey guys, I'm here on year five of a H1-B visa.
Do any of you know if I'm allowed give money to the Kerry campaign?"
I'm pretty sure you have to be a citizen to LEGALLY contribute.
I read a story several weeks ago about Arab-Americans making big contributions to Bush's campaign.
Thanks, pie -- I think I remember this now -- it was surprising but I guess it shouldn't have been given the way things are.
I want a debate RIGHT NOW! Screw it. What are we waiting for? Let's finish this campaign by June and spend the rest of the summer toasting Bush's demise.
A.
Athenae - That sounds perfect to me.
billyfrombelfast, foreign nationals cannot directly make contributions:
Foreign nationals -- may not contribute to any candidate or party in any Federal, state, or local election in the United States. Foreign citizens who have permanent US residency status (posses a "green card") are allowed to contribute according to the same laws as American citizens.
he can voluteer though. which is all i can contribute. time is needed too.
maybe george has a heroic stapling story?
But of course the media can't comment on any matters of substance, no time, got to go to a break.
But about Kerry's clothes, what's with those brown shoes... And that yellow barn coat...
Clearly this guy isn't seeking the color anaylist's advice, so now they'll say he really should, oh my, too frumpy, tsk, tsk.
Rush, or his drugs, said something to the effect that something didn't seem right about Kerry's Vietnam service record -- as if old ass boil any direct experience on which to form that opinion. One of Kerry's old subordinates heard the blowhard (there is no proof he did blow) and went public about Kerry avoiding combat. Seems he and Kerry didn't get along and he was once threatened with a courtmarshall.
I hope they liars and cheats give this guy some rope, so Rassman and all the others who tell a much different story get more face time.
But about Kerry's clothes, what's with those brown shoes... And that yellow barn coat... Clearly this guy isn't seeking the color anaylist's advice, so now they'll say he really should, oh my, too frumpy, tsk, tsk.
Kay Stone
----------------------------------
Kerry isn't into earth tones and doesn't want to impress Ms. Dowd at the NY Times. Besides, why doesn't anyone question why all the folks in the Bush Administration (in zombie-like fashion) all wear baby blue ties? I mean, other than to match their pink underpants.
So, Stencil. Rush is questioning Kerry's Vietnam War record? What do you suspect. Even Mad Magazine reports that Rush won't open his medical records to Florida authorities because recent X-rays confirm that he is indeed full of crap. But the real reason he's creating bogus information may have to do with, as the National Enquirer reported, that his marriage to Marta is "like Jiggs and Maggie." Marta has bounced enough dinnerware and vases off his head, Rush is lucky to still know what planet he is on.
Maybe if all the Vietnam vets supporting Kerry threatened to boycott Rush's sponsors?
"I want a debate RIGHT NOW! Screw it. What are we waiting for? Let's finish this campaign by June and spend the rest of the summer toasting Bush's demise.
A.
Athenae"
Oh, please! And I really do hope Kerry gets some good advice on how to handle W in the debates. I'd just love to see him drooling, spluttering, giving Kerry the Evil Eye, really letting out his Psychokiller Within...que est que c'est?! (Is that French for "waazzzuuup?)
billyfrombelfast - pansypoo's right, volunteers are needed.
But if you want to give money, you can legally contribute to MoveOn or other organizations working to oust Bush. They don't have the same restrictions about whom they accept contributions from that candidates and parties have.
why doesn't anyone question why all the folks in the Bush Administration (in zombie-like fashion) all wear baby blue ties? Answer here.
i turned hannity's book at the store display upside down today.
is that civil disobedience?
kerry has the job he's always wanted, and will continue to grow in it. it also appears he has a wise retinue, at least so far.
have you heard of any friends of bush that compare to kerry's 'nam pals? they don't seem to have been in alabama. maybe we'll hear from a cheerleader soon.
i need to take care to not maintain a tone of hate when talking about the repubs...many of them, as are many christians, would happily jump ship to a sane and wise course.
that said, this guy makes nixon look good.
who'd have thought it.
Tecla,
I'm warming up to him, too. And I was surprised that he has consistently taken more Kucinich-like positions than I thought.
About a month ago, I went to a site called "electa-blog" and took their online poll to see which of the Dem candidates most closely matched my positions on various issues. Kucinich came in first, but Kerry came in second, even above Dean.
Yeah, every one whoop it up. Kerry supported the war, the Patriot Act and, like Bush, supports almost every thing else the government might spend our money on. Nader said it takes a micrometer to measure the difference between the two. Ralphs right this time.
Is that the Ralph who lunches with Grover Norquist, was begged to run by good friend Phyllis Schafly, has huge stock in many of the most corrupt companies he used to fight against, and has strange ties to quasi-Islamic cults?
How can any honest, upright Republican support a yellow-bellied deserter like W? Oh, I forgot, there are no honest, upright Republicans.
Town Drunk
There must be a few, except this time out, they'll be voting Democratic.
Jon:
"has huge stock in many of the most corrupt companies he used to fight against, and has strange ties to quasi-Islamic cults?"
Prove those.
Streaker, I read a story several weeks ago about Arab-Americans making big contributions to Bush's campaign. It turns out the biggest amount came from an Iranian businessman.
Is it just me, or did anyone else notice a problem with this? Iranians aren't Arab, are they? I'm sure this was a problem with the reporters not being able to tell one brown person from another, especially if they're Muslim, but still....
Good call MAJeff. Iranians aren't Arabs.
Ralphs right this time.
Blow it out your ass, moronic greenshirt fuck.
Kerry is really looking like Presidential material. I'm ebolient at his prospect for winning.
And, I've got to hand it to John Edwards, the man has class.
Dave:
"Blow it out your ass, moronic greenshirt fuck."
Yep, you sound like a really good Kerry voter. You all must be so proud...
Just thought of a fun bumpersticker idea:
"Honest Republicans For Kerry!"
About 11% of Republicans say they'll vote for Kerry, a poll sited by DailyKos says.
I got sick of hearing about Kerry and Vietnam a year ago. Where have you folks been that you're not sick of it already? The wider public will be sick of it way before November, guaranteed. Its manipulative and theres something of the melodramatic, self-pitying old man-quality about it, the same way Dole was always tearing up about his WWII service and terrible wounds.
I will vote for Kerry if I think he'd do a good job as President but this stuff doesn't earn my vote any more than some female politician tearing up over how she didn't go to her junior prom.
My hunch right now is that Bush will win, even though he has been a lousy president and got us stuck in a stupid war and occupation. He will win because Kerry won't give people a good reason to want to replace Bush. I.e., the devil you know is better than the one you don't know.
My hunch right now is that Bush will win, even though he has been a lousy president and got us stuck in a stupid war and occupation. He will win because Kerry won't give people a good reason to want to replace Bush. I.e., the devil you know is better than the one you don't know.
Reasons:
1.) Bush's tax cuts. More of the same will ony lead to a bigger deficit.
2.) Gay marriage amendment. Do you really want the federal government wasting its time on something like this when the economy is in the shitter. Do you really want the government acting to limit peoples' rights?
3.) Integrity. Bush has exploited 9/11 and stonewalled the 9/11 commission.
4.) NeoMcCarthyism and Ashcroft. Protecting Civil Liberties is a damned good reason to vote for Kerry and his record is pretty clear. He's a proper, by the book lawyer and he's not likely to continue the erosion of my personal freedom in the name of fighting some terrorist bogeyman.
I personally don't understand why you think that you can consider Kerry or Bush in a vacuum, that somehow "Bush will win" because "there's no reason to vote for Kerry."
Elections are a binary, either/or choice. You can't arbitralily run Kerry against some blank spot (Bush intentionally removed). Kerry's running against Bush, not white space.
Now Bush *could win* but it has a lot more to do with the way an imcumbant President can marshall free media and the size of Bush's war chest than it does with some imaginary voter's somehow pulling the lever for Kerry in some sort of imaginary election where he doesn't have an opponent.
I got sick of hearing about Kerry and Vietnam a year ago. Where have you folks been that you're not sick of it already?
There's a reason that most people aren't "sick of it."
Ask yourself why Britain, India, and Pakistan have all had female heads of state and why its still unimaginable in the US.
Unlike in the UK, the President of the United States is both the head of government AND the head of state. Character and personal history count because we are, in a sense, voting for an elected King not a PM.
That's why Kerry's behavior during the Vietnam War and Bush's dishonorable behavior are issues. They're not the only issues (otherwise, as you say, Dole would have beaten Clinton) but you can't dismiss them entirely either.
And you can bet your ass that if Dean had taken the nomination and not Kerry, the Republicans would be talking about Vietnam even as I'm typing this.
Is it just me, or did anyone else notice a problem with this? Iranians aren't Arab, are they?
Exactly, and when I read about it, this was pointed out. The whole thing was a big slam on the Bushies for touting these contributions. I wish I could remember where I saw this.
Roderick-
Dave's right.
A 2000 Salon article about St. Ralphie's holdings in Fidelity, which invests in Occidental Oil, Halliburton, Wal-Mart and General Dynamics, to name a few. http://tinyurl.com/2vkyk
You, clearly, are perfectly happy with Bush, which either makes you a rich person who's doing well in Bush's economy; or you're blinded by your political narcissism.
i.e., you're a greedy pig or a fool.
this stuff doesn't earn my vote any more than some female politician tearing up over how she didn't go to her junior prom...
Alexa,
I should let this pass because you sound young, you sound female, and most of all, you sound sincere.
But I can tell you that the bonds men form in combat are stronger, deeper, and more profound than you can imagine. It is a tie so powerful that you, quite literally, hold your friend's life above your own. I have experienced that intense love, shared sacrifice and commitment with only two other people on the planet: my wife and my daughter, both of whom I would give my life to protect.
I can understand if you're tired of hearing about Kerry's heroism, and I can understand if you're not excited by him as a candidate because he can be a stick. But please, for the sake of the many thousands of strong men who tear up over events that happened thirty years ago, 10 thousand miles away, to a boy they hardly recognize in the mirror, please don't equate that experience with a junior prom. To do so is to dismiss as trivial a deep and lasting experience that changed anyone who had the courage or misfortune to stare into the abyss and come home to tell about it.
Thanks.
cosmic, great writing. I think part of the problem here is that certain young and uninitiated Americans just don't have sufficient understanding of the tragedy of war. If they did, they would have never backed this one, especially since the justifications were so flimsy.
If a country goes to war, it had better be for a damn good reason.
If a country goes to war, it had better be for a damn good reason.
The right is always comparing the left to Neville Chamberlain and they're always bashing the French for being less than enthusiastic about going to war with Germany in 1940.
But they fail to put appeasement in its historical context. Appeasement for the elites was just a way of turning Hitler against Stalin and hoping they'd snuff each other out. But Appeasement for the common people in Britain and France was basically war weariness. From 1914-1918 they watched a whole generation get slaughtered for nothing, nada. So they were sceptical about anybody wanting to take them to war.
That's the lesson. If you bully people into fighting a senseless war, they're going to be very, very sceptical when a good reason to fight a war actually comes along.
pie,
Tim O'Brien, the best writer on war of my generation, said that we tell untrue war stories to the young because if we told them the truth, no one would ever go to war again.
Amen.
Kerry is really looking like Presidential material. I'm ebolient at his prospect for winning....
2˘
I hope you meant ebullient eboliant sounds like you've been struck with the Ebola virus or something 
Nader said it takes a micrometer to measure the difference between the two. Ralphs right this time.
No, Ralph is an asshole, and if you believe this, you're an asshole too.
Just a hint, think about getting yourself a basic primer on grammer so you won't look like such an ignorant fuck. Punctuation is a beautiful thing.
"Nader said it takes a micrometer to measure the difference between the two. Ralphs right this time." --Roderick
I don't think so. If it was a GOP establishment candidate like Bob Dole running against Kerry, I woudn't care who won either. In 2000, I would have agreed with you about Bush. But given what's happened since then, I don't know how you can say what you're saying.
I'm under no illusions about Kerry. On foreign policy and trade issues, he's very close to what used to be the bipartisan establishment view at the corporate center. On civil liberties, he'll probably work with police statists like Schumer and Feinstein, and just do some token trimming around the edges of USA Patriot.
The problem is, Bush is a horrible deviation from the old GOP establishment--and I mean even the 1996 establishment, not just the pre-Reagan party establishment.
The personal cabal surrounding the Bush family scares the living shit out of me--so badly that the old bipartisan corporate consensus would be almost a relief.
The old bipartisan consensus that got us Suharto, Mobutu, Marcos, Somoza, et al, over a fifty year period, was bad enough. An administration staffed with people like Otto Reich, Roger Noriega, and Richard Poindexter is worse. Janet Reno was bad enough. Ashcroft is worse.
As a matter of fact, the way Congressional Republicans are starting to defect, I suspect Bush is even scaring the current GOP establishment. I think the party establishment that anointed Bush in 2000 was under some kind of illusion about how controllable Bush was. It was a lot like the German industrialists, von Pappen and Hindenburg thinking they could install an ideological nutcase as a useful puppet, and then finding out how hard it was to stay on the tiger.
Even if you don't like Kerry or are indifferent, after reading this story the only word I thought of to describe him was "Hero" This was like a scene in a movie.
grr:
"A 2000 Salon article about St. Ralphie's holdings in Fidelity, which invests in Occidental Oil, Halliburton, Wal-Mart and General Dynamics, to name a few. http://tinyurl.com/2vkyk\"
Is that the best you can do; Fidelity?
The article you link to points out that Al Gore has much closer ties to Occidental Oil than does Nader! If no one voted for any pols that have Fidelity holdings or any pols backed by unions with Fidelity holdings we would have a political earth quake, which would be a good thing.
I find it just pathetic that there are those who get so enthused about Kerry, who supported the war, the Patriot Act and, like Bush, supports almost every thing else the government might spend our money on.
If someone wants to vote for either Kerry or Bush, if they're honest, they will have to hold there nose and wretch afterwards.
"Hero's Welcome for a Hero"
Geez Atrios; You're showing all the subtlety of Fox's war coverage.
Roderick-
"Is that the best you can do; Fidelity?"
You asked for evidence, and I gave it to you. Perhaps you should've qualified it, setting a minimum $ amount for a St. Ralph transgression that you would deem sufficient.
Go ahead and vote for the old narcissist. In November, feel proud that you stuck to your guns, and used your vote to validate your feelings of political purity. Because in the end, your vote for Nader is no less a self-important, deluded vote than those that will be cast for Lyndon LaRouche or (in the event he runs) Roy Moore.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will gladly take up the responsibility of restoring sanity to America. You just go ahead and sit back, self-assured that none of us nose-holders are equal to your heightened understanding of liberalism.
I went to a Democratic caucus in Kansas today. My long-time opposite-sex partner -- I apologize for cheapening this gay institution -- was the chairwomen.
A bunch of Kucinich supporters from a nearby university town came down and won the most delegates. As a volunteer, I took the paperwork to the Kucinich group. One ardent supporter tried to sway me, I supported Kerry out of realism and unity. Two months ago, I probably would have supported Clark or Dean.
The woman told I should support Kucinich because of electability -- a very hard case to make given his primary track record. But she replied with the "if we don't give people something different to vote, people will just vote for bush."
My reply was that the assholes have done a very good job of defining the differences the last four years. She agreed. I didn't disagree with her argument that Kucinich supprt could help push the platform to the left.
Although I heard some Nadar defenders, everyone was pragmatic enough to pledge to support and work for Kerry.
grr:
"the rest of us will gladly take up the responsibility of restoring sanity to America."
Sanity? With Kerry?? Not only did he support the war. Not only does he not advocate bringing our troops home.
Kerry questions Bush's "commitment to the whole region". The neocons must just be delighted. Kerry, like Bush, never met a spending program, including corporate subsidies, (IMF, ExIm Bank, World Bank, etc.) he didn't love.
Kevin Carson mentioned the desertion of Bush by limited government Republicans both in congress and out. They now seem more anti-Bush policies than the Dems. I do think that Kerry might well be better for civil liberties than Bush and that's important, but that's like saying Kerry is probably more honest than Richard Perle. We’re talking a tragically low bar here.
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