Tuesday, September 14, 2004
I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war. -Bush
Underemphasized Fact of the Week: The Bush disappearance from his National Guard duty back in ’72 just happened to coincide with the beginning of random drug testing.
Kerry, Edwards and Daschle May Face Vote on Flag
Good, disgusting politics at work.
For some Republicans it is the perfect political storm: a Senate vote on a constitutional amendment to protect the U.S. flag that would put Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, running mate John Edwards and Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle on the spot just a few weeks before the Nov. 2 elections.
The Senate GOP leadership has not scheduled a vote on the proposed amendment, but Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) noted last week that it is a high priority for veterans groups. Other Republicans say a vote is likely before the Senate's Oct. 8 target date for adjournment.
As senators, Kerry (Mass.), Edwards (N.C.) and Daschle (S.D.) have voted against the amendment and are described by colleagues as still opposed to it. But Kerry and Edwards, who rarely leave the campaign trail for Senate votes, are not expected to show up for the flag debate unless it appears their votes would be decisive. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16779-2004Sep12.html
What’s Happening, Iraq: Getting worse. Terrible casualties, 70% without electricity, etc.
Rare media acknowledgment:
American forces appear to be facing a guerrilla insurgency that is more sophisticated and more widespread than ever before. Last month, attacks on American forces reached their highest level since the war began, an average of 87 per day.
In an appearance on Sunday on the NBC News program "Meet The Press," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell acknowledged that the United States faced a "difficult time" in Iraq but had a plan to "bring it under control" before nationwide elections scheduled for January. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/international/middleeast/13iraq.html
First-hand account of U.S. Helicopter attack: Columnist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, who was injured in the attack, describes the carnage. Helicopters returned to blow up a disabled U.S. vehicle and inflicted numerous civilian casualties. Painful account, so, only a tiny amount provided.
More kids ventured into the street, looking with curiosity at the dead and injured. Then someone shouted "Helicopters!" and we ran. I turned and saw two small helicopters, black and evil. Frightened, I ran back to my shelter where I heard two more big explosions. At the end of the street the man in the orange overall was still sweeping the street.
The man with the bent knee was unconscious now, his face flat on the curb. Some kids came and said, "He is dead." I screamed at them. "Don't say that! He is still alive! Don't scare him." I asked him if he was OK, but he didn't reply.
We left the kids behind the bent-knee guy, the cellphone guy and the blue V-neck T-shirt guy; they were all unconscious now. We left them to die there alone. I didn't even try to move any with me. I just ran selfishly away. I reached a building entrance when someone grabbed my arm and took me inside. "There's an injured man. Take pictures - show the world the American democracy," he said. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1303827,00.html
And the incompetence. Revealing article in the WaPost describes how the White House overrode the military commanders, ordering attacks in Fallujah then compounded their mistake by ordering a premature (pre-“success”) halt. Mind-boggling.
Still another winner for the Kerry campaign, but not to assume that they’ll use it.
White House first ordered the assault on the city (in response to the killing and mutilation of four US military contractors) over the advice of the commanders on the ground. Then, again over the advice of those same commanders, they ordered the end of the assault before the mission had been accomplished. The outgoing U.S. Marine Corps general in charge of western Iraq said Sunday he opposed a Marine assault on militants in the volatile city of Fallujah in April and the subsequent decision to withdraw from the city and turn over control to a security force of former Iraqi soldiers.
That security force, known as the Fallujah Brigade, was formally disbanded last week. Not only did the brigade fail to combat militants, it actively aided them, surrendering weapons, vehicles and radios to the insurgents, according to senior Marine officers. Some brigade members even participated in attacks on Marines ringing the city, the officers said.
The comments by Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, made shortly after he relinquished command of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force on Sunday, amounted to a stinging broadside against top U.S. military and civilian leaders who ordered the Fallujah invasion and withdrawal. His statements also provided the most detailed explanation -- and justification -- of Marine actions in Fallujah this spring, which have been widely criticized for increasing insurgent activity in the city and turning it into a "no-go" zone for U.S. troops. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A16309-2004Sep12?language=printer
Krugman to Kerry: Attack the Myth of Bush as Leader. Good advice for John:
If Senator John Kerry really has advisers telling him not to attack Mr. Bush on national security, he should dump them. When Dick Cheney is saying vote Bush or die, responding with speeches about jobs and health care doesn't cut it.
Mr. Kerry should counterattack by saying that Mr. Bush is endangering the nation by subordinating national security to politics...
The truth is that Mr. Bush, by politicizing the "war on terror," is putting America at risk. And Mr. Kerry has to say that. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/14/opinion/14krugman.html?hp
Cheney in Charge: ‘Circle the Wagons’. From Seymour Hersh’s book:
"In May of 2004, at the height of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, a senior political Republican Party operative was given the reassuring word that Vice President Dick Cheney had taken charge, with his usual directness. The operative learned that Cheney had telephoned Donald Rumsfeld with a simple message: No resignations. We're going to hunker down and tough it out. Cheney's concern was not national security. This was a political call--a reminder that the White House would seize control of every crisis that could affect the re-election of George Bush." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5981265/
More Hersh:
Equally secret interrogation centres would be set up in allied countries where harsh treatments were meted out, unconstrained by legal limits or public disclosure. The programme was hidden inside the defence department as an "unacknowledged" special-access programme (SAP), whose operational details were known only to a few in the Pentagon, the CIA and the White House.
The SAP owed its existence to Rumsfeld's desire to get the US special forces community into the business of what he called, in public and internal communications, "manhunts", and to his disdain for the Pentagon's senior generals. In the privacy of his office, Rumsfeld chafed over what he saw as the reluctance of the generals and admirals to act aggressively. Soon after September 11, he repeatedly made public his disdain for the Geneva convention. Complaints about the United States' treatment of prisoners, Rumsfeld said, in early 2002, amounted to "isolated pockets of international hyperventilation".
One of Rumsfeld's goals was bureaucratic: to give the civilian leadership in the Pentagon, and not the CIA, the lead in fighting terrorism. Throughout the existence of the SAP, which eventually came to Abu Ghraib prison, a former senior intelligence official told me, "There was a periodic briefing to the National Security Council [NSC] giving updates on results, but not on the methods." Did the White House ask about the process? The former officer said that he believed that they did, and that "they got the answers".
By the time of Rumsfeld's meeting with Rice, his SAP was in its third year of snatching or strong-arming suspected terrorists and questioning them in secret prison facilities in Singapore, Thailand and Pakistan, among other sites. The White House was fighting terror with terror. http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5014360-111575,00.html
Hersh is being constantly interviewed. If you missed, just go to NPR and WBUR sites for interviews on Terry Gross and On Point.
More Prison Abuse Reported:
Allegations that American soldiers routinely tortured and maltreated detainees have emerged from a third Iraqi city, renewing fears that abuse similar to that inflicted in Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad has been systematic and widespread.
American soldiers in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul beat and stripped detainees, threatened sexual abuse and forced them to listen to loud western music, according to statements seen by the Guardian.
Lawyers investigating the claims have sent details to the Pentagon and the British Ministry of Defence and have demanded an inquiry. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1304042,00.html
Bush: Soft on “Terror”
Since this is a refrain of mine, I’m happy to see it in print. Here, Craig Unger addresses one aspect of this laxness, as he re-visits the Saudi issue. [The Administration spokespersons, including congressional allies keep putting out how North Korea, bin Laden et al want a Kerry victory. Kerry, thus far has been too ‘gentlemanly’ to deal with such accusations.]
Yet the truth is that Bush is actually soft on terror. When it comes to going after the men who were behind 9/11 and who continue to wage a jihad against the US, Bush has repeatedly turned a blind eye to the forces behind terrorism, shielded the people who funded al-Qaida, obstructed investigations and diverted resources from the battle against it.
One key reason is the Bush-Saudi relationship, the like of which is unprecedented in US politics. Even after the success of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, the subject is largely taboo in the American media. Never before has a president of the US - much less two from the same family - had such close ties with another foreign power.
Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the US and a powerful member of the royal family, has been a close friend of George Bush Snr for more than 20 years. Nicknamed Bandar Bush, he drops by the Bush residences in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Crawford, Texas, not to mention the White House. He and Bush senior go on hunting trips together. http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5013608-103677,00.html
Saudis Keep the Oil Coming: At least through November 2
Saudi Arabia sought to regain some control of oil markets Tuesday, promising to make available 800,000 barrels a day of new oil by the end of the month and to keep pumping crude vigorously.
Saudi officials also said they might support a move to raise the official oil output target of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries when the cartel meets here Wednesday. Such a move wouldn't likely result in more oil, but would signal that the cartel is uncomfortable with today's prices of more than $40 a barrel.
Saudi officials, who asked not to be named, added that they opposed a move to raise OPEC's target price of $25 a barrel for a basket of crude-oil types.
The push by OPEC's largest producer to calm markets comes amid supply constraints and rising demand that have left the cartel with virtually no spare oil-producing capacity, thus minimizing the Saudi's ability to sway markets and making oil prices vulnerable to sudden moves this year. That is in sharp contrast to the last several years, when under Saudi leadership, OPEC was able to keep the price of oil at just under $30 a barrel. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109518024258517457,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
Attention Football Fans: Al Michaels, conservative shill
Mediamatters.org, the progressive monitoring group, looks at Al Michaels, announcer for Monday Night Football and his history of pro-Bush, anti-Kerry comments and actions, on the air and off. Rush Limbaugh praised the pair the next day on his radio program.
Last Thursday’s transcript:
Following two consecutive turnovers in the September 9 game, which took place in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Michaels and "expert analyst" John Madden had the following exchange:
MICHAELS: What a wacky series.
MADDEN: This is what you call a flip-flop.
MICHAELS: You're in the right state for that.
Additionally, the Center for Responsive Politics records show that Michaels contributed $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign in June 2003 and that Michaels “has a history of pro-conservative comments”, including praising Peggy Noonon, conservative columnist and Reagan speechwriter as someone who gave him “goose bumps. http://mediamatters.org/items/200409100009
Lawless Florida:
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's name can appear on Florida ballots for the election, despite a court order to the contrary, Florida's elections chief told officials on Monday in a move that could help President Bush in the key swing state.
The Florida Democratic Party reacted with outrage, calling the move "blatant partisan maneuvering" by Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, and vowed to fight it.
"I'm in disbelief," said Scott Maddox, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. "This is blatant partisan maneuvering on the part of Jeb Bush to give his brother a leg up on election day."
"They are trying to get ballots printed with Nader's name on them," said Maddox. "I am astounded that Jeb Bush is willing to defy the judiciary to help his brother." http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6224278
Nader’s the Issue…that people can rally around Maybe they can also send a memo to Kerry on how to call Bush on his lies, his miserable role in the so-called ‘war on terror.’
Ralph Nader's bid for the presidency suffered a huge snub from the left Monday when more than 70 prominent supporters of his previous presidential campaign urged voters to swallow their doubts and vote for John Kerry.
They included such heroes of the intellectual left as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Cornel West, writers Barbara Ehrenreich and Studs Terkel, actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and musicians Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
They were aiming at voters in battleground states where Nader's candidacy is seen as a direct threat to Kerry.
"We urge support for Kerry-Edwards in all swing states, even while we strongly disagree with Kerry's policies on Iraq and other issues," they said. "For people seeking progressive social change in the United States, removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority."
The statement was signed by 78 of the 113 prominent Americans who were personally recruited by Nader to endorse his candidacy in 2000. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/14/nader/print.html
Budget B.S.: Bush the Big Spender. And costs are hidden, of course.
The expansive agenda President Bush laid out at the Republican National Convention was missing a price tag, but administration figures show the total is likely to be well in excess of $3 trillion over a decade.
A staple of Bush's stump speech is his claim that his Democratic challenger, John F. Kerry, has proposed $2 trillion in long-term spending, a figure the Massachusetts senator's campaign calls exaggerated. But the cost of the new tax breaks and spending outlined by Bush at the GOP convention far eclipses that of the Kerry plan.
Bush's pledge to make permanent his tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2010 or before, would reduce government revenue by about $1 trillion over 10 years, according to administration estimates. His proposed changes in Social Security to allow younger workers to invest part of their payroll taxes in stocks and bonds could cost the government $2 trillion over the coming decade, according to the calculations of independent domestic policy experts. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18876-2004Sep13.html
Polls: Variability, but on average, some of the bounce definitely gone.
Investors Business Daily: Bush 47-46%, a dead heat.
AP/Ipsos: Bush "significantly ahead" of Kerry for the first time, 51% to 43%.
Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll Bush 47.1%, Kerry 46.5%. [This one is updated daily, and tracks Kerry slowly recovering from his lows just after the Republican Convention.]
State Polls: Kerry slippage
Pennsylvania: Bush 49%, Kerry 48% (Rasmussen)
Wisconsin: Bush 49%, Kerry 45% (Gallup)
Indiana: Bush 54%, Kerry 38% (Research 2000)
Alabama: Bush 54%, Kerry 34% (Capital Survey
In S. Dakota, Daschle is slipping, now a few points behind.
-R
Underemphasized Fact of the Week: The Bush disappearance from his National Guard duty back in ’72 just happened to coincide with the beginning of random drug testing.
Kerry, Edwards and Daschle May Face Vote on Flag
Good, disgusting politics at work.
For some Republicans it is the perfect political storm: a Senate vote on a constitutional amendment to protect the U.S. flag that would put Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, running mate John Edwards and Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle on the spot just a few weeks before the Nov. 2 elections.
The Senate GOP leadership has not scheduled a vote on the proposed amendment, but Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) noted last week that it is a high priority for veterans groups. Other Republicans say a vote is likely before the Senate's Oct. 8 target date for adjournment.
As senators, Kerry (Mass.), Edwards (N.C.) and Daschle (S.D.) have voted against the amendment and are described by colleagues as still opposed to it. But Kerry and Edwards, who rarely leave the campaign trail for Senate votes, are not expected to show up for the flag debate unless it appears their votes would be decisive. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16779-2004Sep12.html
What’s Happening, Iraq: Getting worse. Terrible casualties, 70% without electricity, etc.
Rare media acknowledgment:
American forces appear to be facing a guerrilla insurgency that is more sophisticated and more widespread than ever before. Last month, attacks on American forces reached their highest level since the war began, an average of 87 per day.
In an appearance on Sunday on the NBC News program "Meet The Press," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell acknowledged that the United States faced a "difficult time" in Iraq but had a plan to "bring it under control" before nationwide elections scheduled for January. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/international/middleeast/13iraq.html
First-hand account of U.S. Helicopter attack: Columnist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, who was injured in the attack, describes the carnage. Helicopters returned to blow up a disabled U.S. vehicle and inflicted numerous civilian casualties. Painful account, so, only a tiny amount provided.
More kids ventured into the street, looking with curiosity at the dead and injured. Then someone shouted "Helicopters!" and we ran. I turned and saw two small helicopters, black and evil. Frightened, I ran back to my shelter where I heard two more big explosions. At the end of the street the man in the orange overall was still sweeping the street.
The man with the bent knee was unconscious now, his face flat on the curb. Some kids came and said, "He is dead." I screamed at them. "Don't say that! He is still alive! Don't scare him." I asked him if he was OK, but he didn't reply.
We left the kids behind the bent-knee guy, the cellphone guy and the blue V-neck T-shirt guy; they were all unconscious now. We left them to die there alone. I didn't even try to move any with me. I just ran selfishly away. I reached a building entrance when someone grabbed my arm and took me inside. "There's an injured man. Take pictures - show the world the American democracy," he said. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1303827,00.html
And the incompetence. Revealing article in the WaPost describes how the White House overrode the military commanders, ordering attacks in Fallujah then compounded their mistake by ordering a premature (pre-“success”) halt. Mind-boggling.
Still another winner for the Kerry campaign, but not to assume that they’ll use it.
White House first ordered the assault on the city (in response to the killing and mutilation of four US military contractors) over the advice of the commanders on the ground. Then, again over the advice of those same commanders, they ordered the end of the assault before the mission had been accomplished. The outgoing U.S. Marine Corps general in charge of western Iraq said Sunday he opposed a Marine assault on militants in the volatile city of Fallujah in April and the subsequent decision to withdraw from the city and turn over control to a security force of former Iraqi soldiers.
That security force, known as the Fallujah Brigade, was formally disbanded last week. Not only did the brigade fail to combat militants, it actively aided them, surrendering weapons, vehicles and radios to the insurgents, according to senior Marine officers. Some brigade members even participated in attacks on Marines ringing the city, the officers said.
The comments by Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, made shortly after he relinquished command of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force on Sunday, amounted to a stinging broadside against top U.S. military and civilian leaders who ordered the Fallujah invasion and withdrawal. His statements also provided the most detailed explanation -- and justification -- of Marine actions in Fallujah this spring, which have been widely criticized for increasing insurgent activity in the city and turning it into a "no-go" zone for U.S. troops. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A16309-2004Sep12?language=printer
Krugman to Kerry: Attack the Myth of Bush as Leader. Good advice for John:
If Senator John Kerry really has advisers telling him not to attack Mr. Bush on national security, he should dump them. When Dick Cheney is saying vote Bush or die, responding with speeches about jobs and health care doesn't cut it.
Mr. Kerry should counterattack by saying that Mr. Bush is endangering the nation by subordinating national security to politics...
The truth is that Mr. Bush, by politicizing the "war on terror," is putting America at risk. And Mr. Kerry has to say that. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/14/opinion/14krugman.html?hp
Cheney in Charge: ‘Circle the Wagons’. From Seymour Hersh’s book:
"In May of 2004, at the height of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, a senior political Republican Party operative was given the reassuring word that Vice President Dick Cheney had taken charge, with his usual directness. The operative learned that Cheney had telephoned Donald Rumsfeld with a simple message: No resignations. We're going to hunker down and tough it out. Cheney's concern was not national security. This was a political call--a reminder that the White House would seize control of every crisis that could affect the re-election of George Bush." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5981265/
More Hersh:
Equally secret interrogation centres would be set up in allied countries where harsh treatments were meted out, unconstrained by legal limits or public disclosure. The programme was hidden inside the defence department as an "unacknowledged" special-access programme (SAP), whose operational details were known only to a few in the Pentagon, the CIA and the White House.
The SAP owed its existence to Rumsfeld's desire to get the US special forces community into the business of what he called, in public and internal communications, "manhunts", and to his disdain for the Pentagon's senior generals. In the privacy of his office, Rumsfeld chafed over what he saw as the reluctance of the generals and admirals to act aggressively. Soon after September 11, he repeatedly made public his disdain for the Geneva convention. Complaints about the United States' treatment of prisoners, Rumsfeld said, in early 2002, amounted to "isolated pockets of international hyperventilation".
One of Rumsfeld's goals was bureaucratic: to give the civilian leadership in the Pentagon, and not the CIA, the lead in fighting terrorism. Throughout the existence of the SAP, which eventually came to Abu Ghraib prison, a former senior intelligence official told me, "There was a periodic briefing to the National Security Council [NSC] giving updates on results, but not on the methods." Did the White House ask about the process? The former officer said that he believed that they did, and that "they got the answers".
By the time of Rumsfeld's meeting with Rice, his SAP was in its third year of snatching or strong-arming suspected terrorists and questioning them in secret prison facilities in Singapore, Thailand and Pakistan, among other sites. The White House was fighting terror with terror. http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5014360-111575,00.html
Hersh is being constantly interviewed. If you missed, just go to NPR and WBUR sites for interviews on Terry Gross and On Point.
More Prison Abuse Reported:
Allegations that American soldiers routinely tortured and maltreated detainees have emerged from a third Iraqi city, renewing fears that abuse similar to that inflicted in Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad has been systematic and widespread.
American soldiers in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul beat and stripped detainees, threatened sexual abuse and forced them to listen to loud western music, according to statements seen by the Guardian.
Lawyers investigating the claims have sent details to the Pentagon and the British Ministry of Defence and have demanded an inquiry. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1304042,00.html
Bush: Soft on “Terror”
Since this is a refrain of mine, I’m happy to see it in print. Here, Craig Unger addresses one aspect of this laxness, as he re-visits the Saudi issue. [The Administration spokespersons, including congressional allies keep putting out how North Korea, bin Laden et al want a Kerry victory. Kerry, thus far has been too ‘gentlemanly’ to deal with such accusations.]
Yet the truth is that Bush is actually soft on terror. When it comes to going after the men who were behind 9/11 and who continue to wage a jihad against the US, Bush has repeatedly turned a blind eye to the forces behind terrorism, shielded the people who funded al-Qaida, obstructed investigations and diverted resources from the battle against it.
One key reason is the Bush-Saudi relationship, the like of which is unprecedented in US politics. Even after the success of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, the subject is largely taboo in the American media. Never before has a president of the US - much less two from the same family - had such close ties with another foreign power.
Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the US and a powerful member of the royal family, has been a close friend of George Bush Snr for more than 20 years. Nicknamed Bandar Bush, he drops by the Bush residences in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Crawford, Texas, not to mention the White House. He and Bush senior go on hunting trips together. http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5013608-103677,00.html
Saudis Keep the Oil Coming: At least through November 2
Saudi Arabia sought to regain some control of oil markets Tuesday, promising to make available 800,000 barrels a day of new oil by the end of the month and to keep pumping crude vigorously.
Saudi officials also said they might support a move to raise the official oil output target of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries when the cartel meets here Wednesday. Such a move wouldn't likely result in more oil, but would signal that the cartel is uncomfortable with today's prices of more than $40 a barrel.
Saudi officials, who asked not to be named, added that they opposed a move to raise OPEC's target price of $25 a barrel for a basket of crude-oil types.
The push by OPEC's largest producer to calm markets comes amid supply constraints and rising demand that have left the cartel with virtually no spare oil-producing capacity, thus minimizing the Saudi's ability to sway markets and making oil prices vulnerable to sudden moves this year. That is in sharp contrast to the last several years, when under Saudi leadership, OPEC was able to keep the price of oil at just under $30 a barrel. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109518024258517457,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
Attention Football Fans: Al Michaels, conservative shill
Mediamatters.org, the progressive monitoring group, looks at Al Michaels, announcer for Monday Night Football and his history of pro-Bush, anti-Kerry comments and actions, on the air and off. Rush Limbaugh praised the pair the next day on his radio program.
Last Thursday’s transcript:
Following two consecutive turnovers in the September 9 game, which took place in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Michaels and "expert analyst" John Madden had the following exchange:
MICHAELS: What a wacky series.
MADDEN: This is what you call a flip-flop.
MICHAELS: You're in the right state for that.
Additionally, the Center for Responsive Politics records show that Michaels contributed $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign in June 2003 and that Michaels “has a history of pro-conservative comments”, including praising Peggy Noonon, conservative columnist and Reagan speechwriter as someone who gave him “goose bumps. http://mediamatters.org/items/200409100009
Lawless Florida:
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's name can appear on Florida ballots for the election, despite a court order to the contrary, Florida's elections chief told officials on Monday in a move that could help President Bush in the key swing state.
The Florida Democratic Party reacted with outrage, calling the move "blatant partisan maneuvering" by Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, and vowed to fight it.
"I'm in disbelief," said Scott Maddox, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. "This is blatant partisan maneuvering on the part of Jeb Bush to give his brother a leg up on election day."
"They are trying to get ballots printed with Nader's name on them," said Maddox. "I am astounded that Jeb Bush is willing to defy the judiciary to help his brother." http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6224278
Nader’s the Issue…that people can rally around Maybe they can also send a memo to Kerry on how to call Bush on his lies, his miserable role in the so-called ‘war on terror.’
Ralph Nader's bid for the presidency suffered a huge snub from the left Monday when more than 70 prominent supporters of his previous presidential campaign urged voters to swallow their doubts and vote for John Kerry.
They included such heroes of the intellectual left as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Cornel West, writers Barbara Ehrenreich and Studs Terkel, actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and musicians Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
They were aiming at voters in battleground states where Nader's candidacy is seen as a direct threat to Kerry.
"We urge support for Kerry-Edwards in all swing states, even while we strongly disagree with Kerry's policies on Iraq and other issues," they said. "For people seeking progressive social change in the United States, removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority."
The statement was signed by 78 of the 113 prominent Americans who were personally recruited by Nader to endorse his candidacy in 2000. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/14/nader/print.html
Budget B.S.: Bush the Big Spender. And costs are hidden, of course.
The expansive agenda President Bush laid out at the Republican National Convention was missing a price tag, but administration figures show the total is likely to be well in excess of $3 trillion over a decade.
A staple of Bush's stump speech is his claim that his Democratic challenger, John F. Kerry, has proposed $2 trillion in long-term spending, a figure the Massachusetts senator's campaign calls exaggerated. But the cost of the new tax breaks and spending outlined by Bush at the GOP convention far eclipses that of the Kerry plan.
Bush's pledge to make permanent his tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2010 or before, would reduce government revenue by about $1 trillion over 10 years, according to administration estimates. His proposed changes in Social Security to allow younger workers to invest part of their payroll taxes in stocks and bonds could cost the government $2 trillion over the coming decade, according to the calculations of independent domestic policy experts. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18876-2004Sep13.html
Polls: Variability, but on average, some of the bounce definitely gone.
Investors Business Daily: Bush 47-46%, a dead heat.
AP/Ipsos: Bush "significantly ahead" of Kerry for the first time, 51% to 43%.
Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll Bush 47.1%, Kerry 46.5%. [This one is updated daily, and tracks Kerry slowly recovering from his lows just after the Republican Convention.]
State Polls: Kerry slippage
Pennsylvania: Bush 49%, Kerry 48% (Rasmussen)
Wisconsin: Bush 49%, Kerry 45% (Gallup)
Indiana: Bush 54%, Kerry 38% (Research 2000)
Alabama: Bush 54%, Kerry 34% (Capital Survey
In S. Dakota, Daschle is slipping, now a few points behind.
-R
