Thursday, September 02, 2004
"Liberal" NPR report pushes American aggression against Iran?
I’m nervous enough that the Administration could stage more of a confrontation with Iran at its choosing. So, a tad unsettling to hear stories that could be construed as making the case for aggressive intervention, if not war with Iran. NPR did a story that interviewed only right wingers from places like the Project for the New American Century. I don’t have comprehensive info re Iran, but do know that the International Atomic Energy Agency has said that there is no “conclusive evidence” that Iran is involved in illicit activity. So, there’s no rush… Attention Kerry campaign!
As George Jahn of the Associated Press reported:
"New findings by the UN agency appear to strengthen Iran's claim that it has NOT enriched uranium domestically and (this) weakens US arguments that the country is hiding a nuclear weapons program."
Oil, Bases: Excerpt from Oil: Anatomy of an Industry by Matthew Yeomans
Since 2001, new military bases have been established in Eastern Europe and Central Asia -- including Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Romania, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan -- allowing the U.S. to keep watch over the Islamic tinderbox of Central Asia and the strategically crucial Caspian Sea oil region which will soon supply millions of barrels of oil to the U.S. and Western Europe markets. Other bases in Afghanistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Oman (not to mention the huge military garrison in Iraq), guarantee a strong and long-term presence in the Persian Gulf, while new pacts with Nigeria and other West African nations will ensure the U.S. military keeps a watchful eye on another important oil region, the Gulf of Guinea.
Energy security has been a mainstay of U.S. foreign policy ever since Franklin Roosevelt pledged to provide military protection to Saudi Arabia in return for unfettered access to the Kingdom's oil. In 1980, the so-called Carter Doctrine declared the U.S.'s intention to intervene militarily to counter any threat to Middle East security. And in May 2001, Dick Cheney's National Energy Policy announced that the Bush administration would make "energy security a priority of our trade and foreign policy." The most recent redeployment of military forces is just one more reaffirmation that in the post-Cold War global order, preserving access to energy resources is the prime strategic imperative. http://www.salon.com/tech/books/2004/09/02/oil/print.html
Blair Ditches Bush (?)
John Kerry supporters in America have been told by Peter Hain that Downing Street is hoping the Democratic candidate wins the US presidential election in November.
Mr Hain, who sits in the cabinet as Leader of the Commons, has been in the US on a near-private visit. He met Labour supporters in New York, as well as members of the Kerry team. He has declined to discuss the visit, and his public remarks at a party thrown by the former Sunday Times editor Harold Evans were largely bland. But in private discussions with guests, his tone was markedly different. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1294572,00.html
Incompetence: “Terror” Case Thrown Out: From the outset, defense lawyers had suggested that the allegations against the men were cooked up by “Hmimssa”, a scam artist who had lived briefly with some of the defendants.This case is further evidence of Ashcroft’s overhyped arrests/prosecutions, part of the ‘reassuring’ activity that is supposed to prove that there is an active prosecuting of the so-called “war on terror.”
The Justice Department on Wednesday assailed its own legal strategy in the case that had brought its first courtroom victory in the war on terror.
In a 60-page filing released Wednesday, prosecutors asked a federal judge to end the terror case against what they once called a "sleeper operational combat cell" based here. They are asking for a new trial of three men only on document fraud.
After nine months of investigation, federal prosecutors compiled a wealth of evidence that they said fatally undermined every aspect of their terror case. They also sharply rebuked the prosecutor who led the case, Richard G. Convertino, suggesting he knowingly withheld evidence that he was obligated to share with defense lawyers. Mr. Convertino, who was removed as the case prosecutor last year and is the subject of a department investigation, has denied accusations that he did anything wrong and has filed a lawsuit against the department.
The developments were a stunning reversal in a case once hailed by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a major victory in the war on terror. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/02/national/02terror.html?pagewanted=all
Single Payer Health Care: The Campaign for a National Health Program NOW is pushing John Conyers’s HR 675 which would provide universal publicly funded, privately delivered health care for all. A coalition behind this includes the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the United Steelworkers, the United Methodist Church, the Older Women’s League plus the American Medical Students Association.
Also:An inventive video explanation of single payer is at this link. Kerry should watch. http://www.grahamazon.com/sp/whatissinglepayer.php
ELECTION:
RNC Lowlights: Constant repetition from the hate pit:
* So much 9/11; Al-Qaeda and Saddam: They’re re-linked, big time. Democrats were accused of ‘divorcing’ the two!
*Bush: Turning more money over to the supremely, obscenely rich, terror/fear, repetition of familiar themes, LIES and generalizations, i.e. nothing new, even some of the same phrases from 2000- ‘soft bigotry of low expectations’- he’s compassionate, once again! NPR commentators even praising Bush for ‘taking the huge risk’…of giving the speech ‘in the round.’
Yet, can’t forget the comments during the week about not winning the war, then, winning the war, or: "Had we had to do it over again," we would look at the consequences of catastrophic success, being so successful so fast that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in escaped and lived to fight another day." The Media held back, as usual.
* Zell Miller labels Democrats traitors, including bringing back the evil 1960’s and flag burning; Even conservative Andrew Sullivan termed it “crude.” Don’t forget that the Repub big-wigs carefully reviewed it; it wasn’t Zell flipping out. Lowlite: "Today, at the same time young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief."
Yet Miller continues to post the following re Kerry on his own Site:
He was once a lieutenant governor – but he didn't stay in that office 16 years, like someone else I know. It just took two years before the people of Massachusetts moved him into the United States Senate in 1984.In his 16 years in the Senate, John Kerry has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington. Early in his Senate career in 1986, John signed on to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Bill, and he fought for balanced budgets before it was considered politically correct for Democrats to do so.John has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment. Business Week magazine named him one of the top pro-technology legislators and made him a member of its "Digital Dozen." http://miller.senate.gov/speeches/030101jjdinner.htm
The Globe laid out the severe changes Miller has gone through since 1992: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/conventions/articles/2004/09/02/zell_miller_then_and_now/
* Cheney- Same old lies and character assassination
* Romney/Healey: Awful. Healey had a snide tone throughout, they both lied, and Romney did the sleazy “I respect Kerry’s four months under fire in Vietnam” while sounding McCarthyesque/Weimaresque with his “America is under attack from almost every direction.” and “America’s values are under attack from within.”
*Arnold: He actually brought up Nixon!
* Tom Delay: We’ve had al-Qaeda blurring into Iraq, now we have the Palestinian-Israeli conflict blurring with, of course, “terrorism.” From the mouth of Delay- "My friends, there is no Palestinian-Israeli conflict. There is only the global war on terrorism."
Where’s Kerry? What’s been missing is the much-publicized ‘turning the boat into the attack’; The sum result of his failure to respond is NPR’s Melissa Block saying that “Democrats are reeling” from Cheney and Zell Miller’s words. If Kerry/Edwards fought back, NPR would more likely say, ‘Democrats vigorously fought back against charges they termed wildly off-base’. They don’t lack for material. They could:
1) Counter the b.s. re the ‘98 tax hikes, a figure that comes from counting the numerous procedural votes on one bill as separate votes
2) Show that Miller’s charges re Kerry cutting weapons systems are laughable, as Cheney, as Secretary of Defense, tried to or actually did eliminate all of the weapons systems that Miller cited.
3) Portray Bush as leader as laughable; and, it is he who has ‘flip-flopped or whatever to call it—talking of getting bin Laden ‘dead or alive’, then saying ‘bin Laden doesn’t matter’, opposing creating Homeland Security then endorsing it, opposing the 9/11 Commission, then (reluctantly) accepting it, ETC, ETC
4) Focus on the bizarre ‘can’t win the war on terror’ then ‘we will win’, the talk of the invasion’s “catastrophic success” (as to why Baghdad wasn’t secured).
LATE WORD: Kerry’s Midnight speech: Apparently, he’s finally doing it. It must continue. The advance text:
We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention. For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as Commander-in-chief. We'll, here's my answer. I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.
The Vice President even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.
Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without healthcare makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi Royal Family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit. That's the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And it's not going to change. I believe it's time to move America in a new direction; I believe it's time to set a new course for America.
Tony S. at the RNC From Salon:
James Gandolfini came before the crowd and spoke briefly and pithily. "I can't tell you how mad I am these people are in my city," the actor who plays Tony Soprano bellowed, pointing backward at Madison Square Garden. "I can't tell you how mad I am it took Bush four days to get here after 9/11." And the crowd of New Yorkers -- sheet metal workers, transportation workers, teachers -- erupted. http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room//index.html
But, Tony, he inspired us, he pulled the country together, he…
Media and the Republicans’ B.S. They continue to mail in critiques of the lies. Glenn Kessler of the WaPost at least made an attempt on Giuliani’s speech, but could only say that Rudy “didn’t provide context”, as opposed to “lied.”
Pro-Kerry Media: Glenn Harlan Reynolds… With a straight face!
The election coverage from Big Media has been unusually partisan this time around. As Newsweek's Evan Thomas famously remarked: "Let's talk a little media bias here. The media, I think, wants Kerry to win. . . . They're going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic and there's going to be this glow about them . . . that's going to be worth maybe 15 points." When he made that remark, many were worried. If the big media all tilted toward one party (which was pretty clearly true) and if their influence was worth 15 points, enough to swing most any presidential election (which was plausible), then the institutional power of big media seemed to be a threat to democracy itself. But it hasn't worked out that way -- or if it has, John Kerry must be an awfully weak candidate to be neck-and-neck with President Bush despite a built-in 15-point advantage. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109399346571806317,00.html?mod=opinion%5Fmain%5Fcommentaries
Swift Boat Summary: Time, Newsweek, dailies all tended to look for balance, fearing to say the obvious, that the Bush vets charges don’t hold up. Eric Boehlert offers a full picture:
"It used to be we as the press would adjudicate the facts of the battle," says Scott Shepherd, a political correspondent for the Cox newspaper chain who is covering his fifth presidential election. "We don't do that anymore. Now we present attacks. That's troublesome to me. We've gotten the idea if we say something is 'fact,' then somehow we're biased," he says, referring to the constant charge on the part of conservatives that the press shows a liberal bias. "The attacks have worked. People are intimidated."
A Dallas Observer headline was typical of the shoulder-shrugging quality of the Swift Boat coverage: "A group of veterans says John Kerry stretches the truth about his Vietnam service. Whom can you believe? Who knows?" USA Today, ignoring the official Navy records, threw up its hands and announced, "A clear picture of what John Kerry did or did not do in Vietnam 35 years ago may never emerge." Early on in the controversy, ABC's "Nightline" reported: "The Kerry campaign calls the charges wrong, offensive and politically motivated. And points to naval records that seemingly contradict the charges." (Emphasis added.)
Seemingly? A more accurate phrasing would have been that Navy records "completely" or "thoroughly" contradict the Swift Boat Veterans charges that emerged 35 years after the fact. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/01/kerry_media/print.html
Additionally, what’s ignored is that Wall Street Journal articles prior to the August attacks had signaled that the swift boat attacks were coming. Yet, the media did zero fact-checking, and the Kerry campaign was unprepared.
Ben Barnes to be on 60 Minutes.
Maybe now the media will dare to look at more of the lies, how Junior was frequently bailed out and showered with extra funds, what a pathetic fraud he’s always been.
The campaign battle over Vietnam War records is still raging, but President Bush may soon be the one answering uncomfortable questions about his past service. Ben Barnes, the former lieutenant governor of Texas, will finally break his silence and talk to the press about what role he played in helping Bush get a coveted slot in the Texas Air National Guard in 1968. Sources say Barnes has already sat down for a "60 Minutes" interview that will air a week from Sunday. A "60 Minutes" spokesperson declined to comment, saying the program does not discuss reports that are in progress.
Over the weekend, the national press, which for weeks has been amplifying factually challenged allegations against John Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, gave Barnes' stunning remarks only cursory coverage. The Washington Post, for instance, ran a brief wire story on Saturday, the same day it printed yet another exhaustive piece about allegations surrounding Kerry's war past. In a subsequent WashingtonPost.com online chat, the Post reporter covering the Swift boat story suggested Barnes' comments didn't qualify as "fresh information," and consequently he wasn't interested in "simply regurgitating old controversies." The New York Times ran a brief item on Barnes' statements deep inside its Saturday news section, next to yet another lengthy profile of Kerry's longtime Swift boat nemesis, John O'Neill.
With Barnes now being featured in a sit-down interview with "60 Minutes," the highly rated CBS news magazine, reporters may finally be forced to address the consistent curiosities of Bush's National Guard record. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/01/barnes60minutes/print.html
Bush Military Record:
About to come under more assault on Sunday’s 60 Minutes, circulating on the internet is the photo of Bush apparently wearing a uniform that contained honors he didn’t earn. That’s a no-no. The award in question is an “Air Force Outstanding Unit Award which AWOL Bush never earned. Also out there is word that Bush was sent out of Texas back in ’72 by his family, that he was ‘getting into trouble’ in his home state. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/02/allison/index_np.html
Florida: Primary Results aid Bush
Al Hunt has a point, that Mel Martinez’ victory will aid turnout for Bush.
This, top Republican strategists say, is a golden double for the party: It enhances prospects of winning this seat, helping in the crucial struggle for the Senate, and helps energize the big Cuban-American bloc in Florida for President Bush.
On the Democratic side, educator Betty Castor overwhelmingly won the primary, and Democrats noted she received a lot more votes than her fall GOP rival. The race is to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Bob Graham. Republicans insist, however, that Mr. McCollum will overcome the enmity and embrace Mel Martinez.http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109404735504906841,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
Polls:
* The ICR Presidential Election Poll: Kerry 48%, Bush 45%, Nader 2%. * Annenberg Survey: Bush "has erased the modest gains" Kerry made on him after the Democratic National Convention.
* The latest Economist Poll shows Bush and Kerry in a tie, 45% to 45%. Kerry had a three point lead in last week's poll.Wisconsin: Kerry 49%, Bush 45% (Lake Snell Perry)
Michigan: Kerry 51%, Kerry 43% (Lake Snell Perry)
Finally, Kerry headquarters were vandalized in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/local/9561730.htm http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw103565_20040901.htm
-R
I’m nervous enough that the Administration could stage more of a confrontation with Iran at its choosing. So, a tad unsettling to hear stories that could be construed as making the case for aggressive intervention, if not war with Iran. NPR did a story that interviewed only right wingers from places like the Project for the New American Century. I don’t have comprehensive info re Iran, but do know that the International Atomic Energy Agency has said that there is no “conclusive evidence” that Iran is involved in illicit activity. So, there’s no rush… Attention Kerry campaign!
As George Jahn of the Associated Press reported:
"New findings by the UN agency appear to strengthen Iran's claim that it has NOT enriched uranium domestically and (this) weakens US arguments that the country is hiding a nuclear weapons program."
Oil, Bases: Excerpt from Oil: Anatomy of an Industry by Matthew Yeomans
Since 2001, new military bases have been established in Eastern Europe and Central Asia -- including Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Romania, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan -- allowing the U.S. to keep watch over the Islamic tinderbox of Central Asia and the strategically crucial Caspian Sea oil region which will soon supply millions of barrels of oil to the U.S. and Western Europe markets. Other bases in Afghanistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Oman (not to mention the huge military garrison in Iraq), guarantee a strong and long-term presence in the Persian Gulf, while new pacts with Nigeria and other West African nations will ensure the U.S. military keeps a watchful eye on another important oil region, the Gulf of Guinea.
Energy security has been a mainstay of U.S. foreign policy ever since Franklin Roosevelt pledged to provide military protection to Saudi Arabia in return for unfettered access to the Kingdom's oil. In 1980, the so-called Carter Doctrine declared the U.S.'s intention to intervene militarily to counter any threat to Middle East security. And in May 2001, Dick Cheney's National Energy Policy announced that the Bush administration would make "energy security a priority of our trade and foreign policy." The most recent redeployment of military forces is just one more reaffirmation that in the post-Cold War global order, preserving access to energy resources is the prime strategic imperative. http://www.salon.com/tech/books/2004/09/02/oil/print.html
Blair Ditches Bush (?)
John Kerry supporters in America have been told by Peter Hain that Downing Street is hoping the Democratic candidate wins the US presidential election in November.
Mr Hain, who sits in the cabinet as Leader of the Commons, has been in the US on a near-private visit. He met Labour supporters in New York, as well as members of the Kerry team. He has declined to discuss the visit, and his public remarks at a party thrown by the former Sunday Times editor Harold Evans were largely bland. But in private discussions with guests, his tone was markedly different. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1294572,00.html
Incompetence: “Terror” Case Thrown Out: From the outset, defense lawyers had suggested that the allegations against the men were cooked up by “Hmimssa”, a scam artist who had lived briefly with some of the defendants.This case is further evidence of Ashcroft’s overhyped arrests/prosecutions, part of the ‘reassuring’ activity that is supposed to prove that there is an active prosecuting of the so-called “war on terror.”
The Justice Department on Wednesday assailed its own legal strategy in the case that had brought its first courtroom victory in the war on terror.
In a 60-page filing released Wednesday, prosecutors asked a federal judge to end the terror case against what they once called a "sleeper operational combat cell" based here. They are asking for a new trial of three men only on document fraud.
After nine months of investigation, federal prosecutors compiled a wealth of evidence that they said fatally undermined every aspect of their terror case. They also sharply rebuked the prosecutor who led the case, Richard G. Convertino, suggesting he knowingly withheld evidence that he was obligated to share with defense lawyers. Mr. Convertino, who was removed as the case prosecutor last year and is the subject of a department investigation, has denied accusations that he did anything wrong and has filed a lawsuit against the department.
The developments were a stunning reversal in a case once hailed by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a major victory in the war on terror. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/02/national/02terror.html?pagewanted=all
Single Payer Health Care: The Campaign for a National Health Program NOW is pushing John Conyers’s HR 675 which would provide universal publicly funded, privately delivered health care for all. A coalition behind this includes the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the United Steelworkers, the United Methodist Church, the Older Women’s League plus the American Medical Students Association.
Also:An inventive video explanation of single payer is at this link. Kerry should watch. http://www.grahamazon.com/sp/whatissinglepayer.php
ELECTION:
RNC Lowlights: Constant repetition from the hate pit:
* So much 9/11; Al-Qaeda and Saddam: They’re re-linked, big time. Democrats were accused of ‘divorcing’ the two!
*Bush: Turning more money over to the supremely, obscenely rich, terror/fear, repetition of familiar themes, LIES and generalizations, i.e. nothing new, even some of the same phrases from 2000- ‘soft bigotry of low expectations’- he’s compassionate, once again! NPR commentators even praising Bush for ‘taking the huge risk’…of giving the speech ‘in the round.’
Yet, can’t forget the comments during the week about not winning the war, then, winning the war, or: "Had we had to do it over again," we would look at the consequences of catastrophic success, being so successful so fast that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in escaped and lived to fight another day." The Media held back, as usual.
* Zell Miller labels Democrats traitors, including bringing back the evil 1960’s and flag burning; Even conservative Andrew Sullivan termed it “crude.” Don’t forget that the Repub big-wigs carefully reviewed it; it wasn’t Zell flipping out. Lowlite: "Today, at the same time young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief."
Yet Miller continues to post the following re Kerry on his own Site:
He was once a lieutenant governor – but he didn't stay in that office 16 years, like someone else I know. It just took two years before the people of Massachusetts moved him into the United States Senate in 1984.In his 16 years in the Senate, John Kerry has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington. Early in his Senate career in 1986, John signed on to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Bill, and he fought for balanced budgets before it was considered politically correct for Democrats to do so.John has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment. Business Week magazine named him one of the top pro-technology legislators and made him a member of its "Digital Dozen." http://miller.senate.gov/speeches/030101jjdinner.htm
The Globe laid out the severe changes Miller has gone through since 1992: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/conventions/articles/2004/09/02/zell_miller_then_and_now/
* Cheney- Same old lies and character assassination
* Romney/Healey: Awful. Healey had a snide tone throughout, they both lied, and Romney did the sleazy “I respect Kerry’s four months under fire in Vietnam” while sounding McCarthyesque/Weimaresque with his “America is under attack from almost every direction.” and “America’s values are under attack from within.”
*Arnold: He actually brought up Nixon!
* Tom Delay: We’ve had al-Qaeda blurring into Iraq, now we have the Palestinian-Israeli conflict blurring with, of course, “terrorism.” From the mouth of Delay- "My friends, there is no Palestinian-Israeli conflict. There is only the global war on terrorism."
Where’s Kerry? What’s been missing is the much-publicized ‘turning the boat into the attack’; The sum result of his failure to respond is NPR’s Melissa Block saying that “Democrats are reeling” from Cheney and Zell Miller’s words. If Kerry/Edwards fought back, NPR would more likely say, ‘Democrats vigorously fought back against charges they termed wildly off-base’. They don’t lack for material. They could:
1) Counter the b.s. re the ‘98 tax hikes, a figure that comes from counting the numerous procedural votes on one bill as separate votes
2) Show that Miller’s charges re Kerry cutting weapons systems are laughable, as Cheney, as Secretary of Defense, tried to or actually did eliminate all of the weapons systems that Miller cited.
3) Portray Bush as leader as laughable; and, it is he who has ‘flip-flopped or whatever to call it—talking of getting bin Laden ‘dead or alive’, then saying ‘bin Laden doesn’t matter’, opposing creating Homeland Security then endorsing it, opposing the 9/11 Commission, then (reluctantly) accepting it, ETC, ETC
4) Focus on the bizarre ‘can’t win the war on terror’ then ‘we will win’, the talk of the invasion’s “catastrophic success” (as to why Baghdad wasn’t secured).
LATE WORD: Kerry’s Midnight speech: Apparently, he’s finally doing it. It must continue. The advance text:
We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention. For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as Commander-in-chief. We'll, here's my answer. I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.
The Vice President even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.
Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without healthcare makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi Royal Family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit. That's the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And it's not going to change. I believe it's time to move America in a new direction; I believe it's time to set a new course for America.
Tony S. at the RNC From Salon:
James Gandolfini came before the crowd and spoke briefly and pithily. "I can't tell you how mad I am these people are in my city," the actor who plays Tony Soprano bellowed, pointing backward at Madison Square Garden. "I can't tell you how mad I am it took Bush four days to get here after 9/11." And the crowd of New Yorkers -- sheet metal workers, transportation workers, teachers -- erupted. http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room//index.html
But, Tony, he inspired us, he pulled the country together, he…
Media and the Republicans’ B.S. They continue to mail in critiques of the lies. Glenn Kessler of the WaPost at least made an attempt on Giuliani’s speech, but could only say that Rudy “didn’t provide context”, as opposed to “lied.”
Pro-Kerry Media: Glenn Harlan Reynolds… With a straight face!
The election coverage from Big Media has been unusually partisan this time around. As Newsweek's Evan Thomas famously remarked: "Let's talk a little media bias here. The media, I think, wants Kerry to win. . . . They're going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic and there's going to be this glow about them . . . that's going to be worth maybe 15 points." When he made that remark, many were worried. If the big media all tilted toward one party (which was pretty clearly true) and if their influence was worth 15 points, enough to swing most any presidential election (which was plausible), then the institutional power of big media seemed to be a threat to democracy itself. But it hasn't worked out that way -- or if it has, John Kerry must be an awfully weak candidate to be neck-and-neck with President Bush despite a built-in 15-point advantage. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109399346571806317,00.html?mod=opinion%5Fmain%5Fcommentaries
Swift Boat Summary: Time, Newsweek, dailies all tended to look for balance, fearing to say the obvious, that the Bush vets charges don’t hold up. Eric Boehlert offers a full picture:
"It used to be we as the press would adjudicate the facts of the battle," says Scott Shepherd, a political correspondent for the Cox newspaper chain who is covering his fifth presidential election. "We don't do that anymore. Now we present attacks. That's troublesome to me. We've gotten the idea if we say something is 'fact,' then somehow we're biased," he says, referring to the constant charge on the part of conservatives that the press shows a liberal bias. "The attacks have worked. People are intimidated."
A Dallas Observer headline was typical of the shoulder-shrugging quality of the Swift Boat coverage: "A group of veterans says John Kerry stretches the truth about his Vietnam service. Whom can you believe? Who knows?" USA Today, ignoring the official Navy records, threw up its hands and announced, "A clear picture of what John Kerry did or did not do in Vietnam 35 years ago may never emerge." Early on in the controversy, ABC's "Nightline" reported: "The Kerry campaign calls the charges wrong, offensive and politically motivated. And points to naval records that seemingly contradict the charges." (Emphasis added.)
Seemingly? A more accurate phrasing would have been that Navy records "completely" or "thoroughly" contradict the Swift Boat Veterans charges that emerged 35 years after the fact. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/01/kerry_media/print.html
Additionally, what’s ignored is that Wall Street Journal articles prior to the August attacks had signaled that the swift boat attacks were coming. Yet, the media did zero fact-checking, and the Kerry campaign was unprepared.
Ben Barnes to be on 60 Minutes.
Maybe now the media will dare to look at more of the lies, how Junior was frequently bailed out and showered with extra funds, what a pathetic fraud he’s always been.
The campaign battle over Vietnam War records is still raging, but President Bush may soon be the one answering uncomfortable questions about his past service. Ben Barnes, the former lieutenant governor of Texas, will finally break his silence and talk to the press about what role he played in helping Bush get a coveted slot in the Texas Air National Guard in 1968. Sources say Barnes has already sat down for a "60 Minutes" interview that will air a week from Sunday. A "60 Minutes" spokesperson declined to comment, saying the program does not discuss reports that are in progress.
Over the weekend, the national press, which for weeks has been amplifying factually challenged allegations against John Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, gave Barnes' stunning remarks only cursory coverage. The Washington Post, for instance, ran a brief wire story on Saturday, the same day it printed yet another exhaustive piece about allegations surrounding Kerry's war past. In a subsequent WashingtonPost.com online chat, the Post reporter covering the Swift boat story suggested Barnes' comments didn't qualify as "fresh information," and consequently he wasn't interested in "simply regurgitating old controversies." The New York Times ran a brief item on Barnes' statements deep inside its Saturday news section, next to yet another lengthy profile of Kerry's longtime Swift boat nemesis, John O'Neill.
With Barnes now being featured in a sit-down interview with "60 Minutes," the highly rated CBS news magazine, reporters may finally be forced to address the consistent curiosities of Bush's National Guard record. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/01/barnes60minutes/print.html
Bush Military Record:
About to come under more assault on Sunday’s 60 Minutes, circulating on the internet is the photo of Bush apparently wearing a uniform that contained honors he didn’t earn. That’s a no-no. The award in question is an “Air Force Outstanding Unit Award which AWOL Bush never earned. Also out there is word that Bush was sent out of Texas back in ’72 by his family, that he was ‘getting into trouble’ in his home state. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/02/allison/index_np.html
Florida: Primary Results aid Bush
Al Hunt has a point, that Mel Martinez’ victory will aid turnout for Bush.
This, top Republican strategists say, is a golden double for the party: It enhances prospects of winning this seat, helping in the crucial struggle for the Senate, and helps energize the big Cuban-American bloc in Florida for President Bush.
On the Democratic side, educator Betty Castor overwhelmingly won the primary, and Democrats noted she received a lot more votes than her fall GOP rival. The race is to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Bob Graham. Republicans insist, however, that Mr. McCollum will overcome the enmity and embrace Mel Martinez.http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109404735504906841,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us
Polls:
* The ICR Presidential Election Poll: Kerry 48%, Bush 45%, Nader 2%. * Annenberg Survey: Bush "has erased the modest gains" Kerry made on him after the Democratic National Convention.
* The latest Economist Poll shows Bush and Kerry in a tie, 45% to 45%. Kerry had a three point lead in last week's poll.Wisconsin: Kerry 49%, Bush 45% (Lake Snell Perry)
Michigan: Kerry 51%, Kerry 43% (Lake Snell Perry)
Finally, Kerry headquarters were vandalized in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/local/9561730.htm http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw103565_20040901.htm
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