Thursday, October 07, 2004
Bombings at an Egyptian Resort, near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, at a religious rally in Multan, Pakistan. Even the previously safe “Green Zone” in Baghdad (U.S. military headquarters) is upping its security.
“President Bush Unveils a new Stump Speech!” Such was the buoyant announcement by the local NPR newsreader. Makes you turn to Air America Radio, 1430AM in Boston. [But, it’s a weak signal that becomes weaker at night.]
Bush’s “speech” was actually the usual stump speech, replete with distortion (again, Kerry has set a deadline for withdrawal) and mockery. As I noted before, will the stations offer equal time to Kerry? Will Kerry demand it?
VP Debate:
*Fascinating in that a few of the t.v. networks called it for Cheney; but ALL of the web sites I went to- national ones and a bunch in swing states gave it to Edwards, usually by at least 2:1. Even the Fox poll had Edwards up.
*Some folks (not ‘terrorists’) are wondering why Cheney would make up his line of ‘I never saw you till tonight’ when there are videotapes of them together. Well, simply, it’s a good line, and most people will not ‘follow up.’
*I still wish Edwards had done to Cheney what Kerry didn’t do to Bush. Chances missed include Cheney’s discussion of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi which was deliberately misleading, and he should have underscored the Administration’s choosing to give tax breaks to the extremely wealthy and invading weak Iraq instead of assigning funds to protect chemical and nuclear plants, ports, loose nukes. Another goodie would have been to throw back Cheney’s words from the 2000 debate where he discussed the defeat of Iraq in 1991.
The thing about Iraq, of course, was at the end of the [1991] war we had pretty well decimated their military. We had put them back in the box, so to speak. We had a strong international coalition raid against them, effective economic sanctions, and an inspection regime was in place under the U.N. and it was able to do a good job of stripping out the capacity to build weapons of mass destruction, the work he had been doing that had not been destroyed during the war in biological and chemical agents, as well as a nuclear program.
But, at least…
Newsweek Attacks Cheney. Unusual, cover story- “Rewriting History”- on Cheney’s new argument, with lies, as to why the attack on Iraq.
With virtually all of the administration’s original case for war in Iraq in tatters, Vice President Dick Cheney provided shifting and sometimes misleading arguments in last night’s debate with John Edwards about Saddam Hussein’s ties to terrorists and his access to weapons of mass destruction. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6192327/site/newsweek/
And Howard Fineman, no liberal he, intones Bush is Beginning to Sound Desperate, that he no longer controls the news.
Not long ago, Kerry's decision to attack the president as commander-in-chief (remember all those Swift Boat vets in Boston?) was dismissed by analysts (including me) as naïve at best, folly at worst. Well, it may turn out to have been the move that wins this race. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6200854/
E.J. Dionne: He makes a good case as to what the campaign SHOULD be about.
If the Cheney-Edwards debate made nothing else clear, it is that the central issue in this presidential election is becoming the administration's lack of credibility and its tendency to say whatever is convenient to make whatever case it is trying to make…
The political take on the debate will see Cheney as a more skillful, more informed debater than Bush, and Edwards as Cheney's equal. But the substantive point is more important: The administration's story is falling apart. Bush and Cheney mercilessly attack their opponents and promote a climate of fear because they are finding it increasingly difficult to defend the choices they made and the words they have spoken.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13425-2004Oct6.html
Kerry Movie: Much good word on this movie; a reminder that although many of us have had our problems with him over the years, Kerry remains an admirable fellow.
I wanted to pass along one such ‘word’, from Barbara Ackermann, former Cambridge mayor, MASS-CARE stalwart/leader:
"People who are still perplexed about who John Kerry is should go see the movie 'Going up River: the Long War of John Kerry.' (At Harvard Square Theater among others) It gives you an extraordinarily clear picture of a remarkable young man."
Barbara will appreciate the following. She and MASS-CARE activists have long emphasized how our health care system spends almost 40% of health care funds on administration and advertising. Well, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a rather conservative think tank, found that of each dollar spent on aid to Iraq, only 27 cents makes it to projects that benefit Iraqis. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9627-2004Oct5.html
Electoral Fraud Alert: If it’s close…
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating 1,500 voter registration forms received by the Leon County elections office that apparently were altered to register local students as Republicans. http://www.local6.com/news/3786610/detail.html
Again, no Saddam wmd, nukes The Bush-Cheney spin was fitting: every item of contrary news “proves” their points. Up is Down. [The Moonie-owned paper, The Washington Times, chipped in with its take- Saddam worked secretly on WMDs.]
The WaPost story:
Charles Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons investigator in Iraq, told Congress today that Saddam Hussein destroyed his stocks of chemical and biological weapons and agents in 1991 and 1992 and that his nuclear weapons program had decayed to almost nothing by 2003.
Duelfer, a former U.N. inspector and the personal representative of the CIA director, said the former Iraqi dictator had intentions to restart his program, but after weapons inspectors left Iraq in 1998, Hussein instead focused his attention on ending the sanctions imposed by Western governments following his incursion into Kuwait and the Persian Gulf war of 1991. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12115-2004Oct6.html
But, I ask, why is this news? I have no access to Iraqi files, haven’t been to Iraq, have no Ellsberg-like figures in the Pentagon to inform me. Yet, I noted in February, 2003 that Saddam’s son-in-law had told the CIA that all weapons had been destroyed after the Gulf War. I even cited Newsweek’s article which headlined this admission.
After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them, Saddam Hussein's slain son-in-law told intelligence agencies and United Nations inspectors in 1995, Newsweek magazine reported on Monday.
Hussein Kamel, who headed Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs for 10 years, told his story to the CIA, British Military Intelligence and UN inspectors, Newsweek said.
Kamel defected from Iraq, returned and was killed. According to sources not named by the magazine, Kamel had "hoped his revelations would trigger Saddam's overthrow, but when he realized the United States would not support his dream of becoming Iraq's ruler, he decided to return." http://www.rense.com/general35/destr.htm
So, we invaded a sovereign country because it might have produced chemical weapons if it acquired machinery/material it didn’t have and wouldn’t have secured because of the sanctions (and the inspections). Of course a number of other nations had chemical weapons programs fully operative, such as China, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Russia...
The Hammer Hammered?: DeLay judged. We would be focusing on him much more so if this weren’t an election year. The Ethics Committee of the House keeps targeting him. So, Judicial Watch makes its statement:
Judicial Watch, the conservative public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today called on Rep. Tom DeLay to step down as House Majority Leader in the wake of the bipartisan House Ethics Committee's recent findings that he acted improperly in attempting to win a vote from Rep. Nick Smith in exchange for endorsing Smith's son in a congressional primary. It is the second time that DeLay has been chastised by the ethics panel [...]
"Frankly, the ethics report was too kind to Mr. DeLay and the other House members implicated in the controversy. Mr. DeLay's actions in trying to trade a political endorsement for a vote were inappropriate and unacceptable, and given this grave ethical lapse, he should step down as Majority Leader. The Republican Party should not countenance its leadership violating House rules and standards of ethical behavior," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. http://www.judicialwatch.org/3844.shtml
The informative book on DeLay, by Lou Dubose, is addressed here: http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?display=day&todayDate=09/29/2004
Guantanamo: Update on the Round-up
Most of the alleged al Qaeda and Taliban inmates at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are likely to be freed or sent to their home countries for further investigation because many pose little threat and are not providing much valuable intelligence, the facility's deputy commander has said.
The remarks by Army Brig. Gen. Martin Lucenti in yesterday's edition of London's Financial Times appeared to conflict with past comments by U.S. military commanders who have stressed the value of the information obtained from the detainees and the danger many would pose if released.
"Of the 550 [detainees] that we have, I would say most of them, the majority of them, will either be released or transferred to their own countries," Lucenti was quoted as saying in the British newspaper. "Most of these guys weren't fighting. They were running. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A9626-2004Oct5?language=printer
Iran- Israel: October Surprise? Danny Schechter passes on one line of thinking from a BBC report.
In context of talking about how close the election in US is right now, the BBC's main Washington correspondent predicted dramatically . . . this is paraphrased (but very close to a quote):
"I may be putting my neck out, but I think the "October Surprise" is coming very soon and will be in the form of an Israeli preemptive missile strike against Iran."
She then went on to reference Israel's (US-financed) mega-missile purchase of last week. The BBC World News' anchor didn't bat a verbal eyelash at this ominous prediction." http://64.224.42.246/weblog/dannylog.cfm
Tax Cut: This made the business pages; the renewal of the “middle class tax cut” was a major item reported dutifully by NPR et al, as Bush signed it in Iowa. Excellent politics, subservient “journalism.”
In an act of pre-election largess, House and Senate negotiators approved a sprawling corporate tax bill on Wednesday that would shower corporations and farmers in politically sensitive states with about $145 billion worth of new tax cuts.
In an attempt to get backing from Southern Democrats, Republican leaders included a $10 billion buyout for tobacco farmers, but they rejected a Senate provision to link that buyout with a requirement that cigarette companies be subject to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.
Without the F.D.A. link, the bill could be jeopardized on the Senate floor, where opponents have threatened to stretch the debate to run down the clock as Congress tries to adjourn on Friday.
But Republican leaders said they had more than enough votes to stop a filibuster, contending that the overall tax bill has provisions sought by so many different lawmakers that it was almost assured of final passage by the end of this week. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/07/business/07corptax.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=
More on a Bush 2nd Term: More Disempowerment, of course, of those who tend to support Democrats. From George Will:
Bush is pressing to put hundreds of thousands of federal jobs up for competition with the private sector. Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform says: "The people who cut the Pentagon lawn are government employees. Why?" People listed in the phone book will do it cheaper. How many of the 15 million state and local government jobs could be privatized, with how many billions of dollars in savings? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13427-2004Oct6.html
Polls: Momentum Continues/Resumes for Kerry: It’s Even
Democracy Corps survey: Kerry 49% to 48%.
Economist: Kerry with a one point lead, 47% to 46%.
Arguably the most reliable is Zogby, which has Kerry recapturing the lead in the battleground states:
The presidential debate has lifted John Kerry back to where he was in our battleground analysis before the Republican convention energized the Bush campaign.
The latest Zogby Interactive poll puts Mr. Kerry ahead of President Bush in 13 of the 16 closely contested states -- two more states than the Massachusetts senator led before the debate and the most since August. The latest survey was conducted between last Thursday, after the debate ended, and Tuesday afternoon, before vice-presidential contenders Dick Cheney and John Edwards debated.
Mr. Kerry moved ahead in two states (Ohio and Nevada) and increased his lead in seven others -- though Mr. Kerry's margin over Mr. Bush in Ohio, Arkansas and Florida was negligible -- less than one percentage point. Mr. Bush's lead narrowed in the three states (Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia) that he remains ahead of Mr. Kerry. Overall, seven of Mr. Kerry’s leads are within the margins of error, while all of Mr. Bush’s leads are. http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-battleground04-an1006.html?mod=home_interactive_features
State polls: Even.
New Mexico: Kerry 46, Bush 43 (Albuquerque Journal)
California: Kerry 49, Bush 40 (Field Poll)
Iowa: Kerry 47, Bush 46 (University of Minnesota)
Missouri: Bush 49, Kerry 47 (Survey USA)
Washington: Kerry 54, Bush 43 (Survey USA)
North Carolina: Bush 52, Kerry 45 (Survey USA)
Ohio: Kerry 49, Bush 48 (Survey USA)
Florida: Kerry 47, Bush 45 (ARG)
New Hampshire: Kerry 47, Bush 47 (ARG)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 50, Bush 43 (West Chester University
New Jersey: Kerry 49, Bush 46 (Quinnipiac)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 48, Bush 41 (Franklin and Marshall)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 48, Bush 46 (American Rsearch Group)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 49, Bush 47 (Survey USA)
Missouri: Bush 51, Kerry 45 (Rasmussen)
Maine: Kerry 49, Bush 47 (Survey USA)
Florida: Bush 48, Kerry 44 (Mason-Dixon)
Ohio: Kerry 48, Bush 47 (American Research Group)
Florida: Bush 46, Kerry 42 (Quinnipiac)
New Jersey: Kerry 49, Bush 41 (Fairleigh Dickinson)
Electoral: Too many; to summarize, no one’s got it!
-R
“President Bush Unveils a new Stump Speech!” Such was the buoyant announcement by the local NPR newsreader. Makes you turn to Air America Radio, 1430AM in Boston. [But, it’s a weak signal that becomes weaker at night.]
Bush’s “speech” was actually the usual stump speech, replete with distortion (again, Kerry has set a deadline for withdrawal) and mockery. As I noted before, will the stations offer equal time to Kerry? Will Kerry demand it?
VP Debate:
*Fascinating in that a few of the t.v. networks called it for Cheney; but ALL of the web sites I went to- national ones and a bunch in swing states gave it to Edwards, usually by at least 2:1. Even the Fox poll had Edwards up.
*Some folks (not ‘terrorists’) are wondering why Cheney would make up his line of ‘I never saw you till tonight’ when there are videotapes of them together. Well, simply, it’s a good line, and most people will not ‘follow up.’
*I still wish Edwards had done to Cheney what Kerry didn’t do to Bush. Chances missed include Cheney’s discussion of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi which was deliberately misleading, and he should have underscored the Administration’s choosing to give tax breaks to the extremely wealthy and invading weak Iraq instead of assigning funds to protect chemical and nuclear plants, ports, loose nukes. Another goodie would have been to throw back Cheney’s words from the 2000 debate where he discussed the defeat of Iraq in 1991.
The thing about Iraq, of course, was at the end of the [1991] war we had pretty well decimated their military. We had put them back in the box, so to speak. We had a strong international coalition raid against them, effective economic sanctions, and an inspection regime was in place under the U.N. and it was able to do a good job of stripping out the capacity to build weapons of mass destruction, the work he had been doing that had not been destroyed during the war in biological and chemical agents, as well as a nuclear program.
But, at least…
Newsweek Attacks Cheney. Unusual, cover story- “Rewriting History”- on Cheney’s new argument, with lies, as to why the attack on Iraq.
With virtually all of the administration’s original case for war in Iraq in tatters, Vice President Dick Cheney provided shifting and sometimes misleading arguments in last night’s debate with John Edwards about Saddam Hussein’s ties to terrorists and his access to weapons of mass destruction. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6192327/site/newsweek/
And Howard Fineman, no liberal he, intones Bush is Beginning to Sound Desperate, that he no longer controls the news.
Not long ago, Kerry's decision to attack the president as commander-in-chief (remember all those Swift Boat vets in Boston?) was dismissed by analysts (including me) as naïve at best, folly at worst. Well, it may turn out to have been the move that wins this race. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6200854/
E.J. Dionne: He makes a good case as to what the campaign SHOULD be about.
If the Cheney-Edwards debate made nothing else clear, it is that the central issue in this presidential election is becoming the administration's lack of credibility and its tendency to say whatever is convenient to make whatever case it is trying to make…
The political take on the debate will see Cheney as a more skillful, more informed debater than Bush, and Edwards as Cheney's equal. But the substantive point is more important: The administration's story is falling apart. Bush and Cheney mercilessly attack their opponents and promote a climate of fear because they are finding it increasingly difficult to defend the choices they made and the words they have spoken.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13425-2004Oct6.html
Kerry Movie: Much good word on this movie; a reminder that although many of us have had our problems with him over the years, Kerry remains an admirable fellow.
I wanted to pass along one such ‘word’, from Barbara Ackermann, former Cambridge mayor, MASS-CARE stalwart/leader:
"People who are still perplexed about who John Kerry is should go see the movie 'Going up River: the Long War of John Kerry.' (At Harvard Square Theater among others) It gives you an extraordinarily clear picture of a remarkable young man."
Barbara will appreciate the following. She and MASS-CARE activists have long emphasized how our health care system spends almost 40% of health care funds on administration and advertising. Well, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a rather conservative think tank, found that of each dollar spent on aid to Iraq, only 27 cents makes it to projects that benefit Iraqis. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9627-2004Oct5.html
Electoral Fraud Alert: If it’s close…
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating 1,500 voter registration forms received by the Leon County elections office that apparently were altered to register local students as Republicans. http://www.local6.com/news/3786610/detail.html
Again, no Saddam wmd, nukes The Bush-Cheney spin was fitting: every item of contrary news “proves” their points. Up is Down. [The Moonie-owned paper, The Washington Times, chipped in with its take- Saddam worked secretly on WMDs.]
The WaPost story:
Charles Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons investigator in Iraq, told Congress today that Saddam Hussein destroyed his stocks of chemical and biological weapons and agents in 1991 and 1992 and that his nuclear weapons program had decayed to almost nothing by 2003.
Duelfer, a former U.N. inspector and the personal representative of the CIA director, said the former Iraqi dictator had intentions to restart his program, but after weapons inspectors left Iraq in 1998, Hussein instead focused his attention on ending the sanctions imposed by Western governments following his incursion into Kuwait and the Persian Gulf war of 1991. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12115-2004Oct6.html
But, I ask, why is this news? I have no access to Iraqi files, haven’t been to Iraq, have no Ellsberg-like figures in the Pentagon to inform me. Yet, I noted in February, 2003 that Saddam’s son-in-law had told the CIA that all weapons had been destroyed after the Gulf War. I even cited Newsweek’s article which headlined this admission.
After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them, Saddam Hussein's slain son-in-law told intelligence agencies and United Nations inspectors in 1995, Newsweek magazine reported on Monday.
Hussein Kamel, who headed Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs for 10 years, told his story to the CIA, British Military Intelligence and UN inspectors, Newsweek said.
Kamel defected from Iraq, returned and was killed. According to sources not named by the magazine, Kamel had "hoped his revelations would trigger Saddam's overthrow, but when he realized the United States would not support his dream of becoming Iraq's ruler, he decided to return." http://www.rense.com/general35/destr.htm
So, we invaded a sovereign country because it might have produced chemical weapons if it acquired machinery/material it didn’t have and wouldn’t have secured because of the sanctions (and the inspections). Of course a number of other nations had chemical weapons programs fully operative, such as China, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Russia...
The Hammer Hammered?: DeLay judged. We would be focusing on him much more so if this weren’t an election year. The Ethics Committee of the House keeps targeting him. So, Judicial Watch makes its statement:
Judicial Watch, the conservative public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today called on Rep. Tom DeLay to step down as House Majority Leader in the wake of the bipartisan House Ethics Committee's recent findings that he acted improperly in attempting to win a vote from Rep. Nick Smith in exchange for endorsing Smith's son in a congressional primary. It is the second time that DeLay has been chastised by the ethics panel [...]
"Frankly, the ethics report was too kind to Mr. DeLay and the other House members implicated in the controversy. Mr. DeLay's actions in trying to trade a political endorsement for a vote were inappropriate and unacceptable, and given this grave ethical lapse, he should step down as Majority Leader. The Republican Party should not countenance its leadership violating House rules and standards of ethical behavior," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. http://www.judicialwatch.org/3844.shtml
The informative book on DeLay, by Lou Dubose, is addressed here: http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?display=day&todayDate=09/29/2004
Guantanamo: Update on the Round-up
Most of the alleged al Qaeda and Taliban inmates at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are likely to be freed or sent to their home countries for further investigation because many pose little threat and are not providing much valuable intelligence, the facility's deputy commander has said.
The remarks by Army Brig. Gen. Martin Lucenti in yesterday's edition of London's Financial Times appeared to conflict with past comments by U.S. military commanders who have stressed the value of the information obtained from the detainees and the danger many would pose if released.
"Of the 550 [detainees] that we have, I would say most of them, the majority of them, will either be released or transferred to their own countries," Lucenti was quoted as saying in the British newspaper. "Most of these guys weren't fighting. They were running. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A9626-2004Oct5?language=printer
Iran- Israel: October Surprise? Danny Schechter passes on one line of thinking from a BBC report.
In context of talking about how close the election in US is right now, the BBC's main Washington correspondent predicted dramatically . . . this is paraphrased (but very close to a quote):
"I may be putting my neck out, but I think the "October Surprise" is coming very soon and will be in the form of an Israeli preemptive missile strike against Iran."
She then went on to reference Israel's (US-financed) mega-missile purchase of last week. The BBC World News' anchor didn't bat a verbal eyelash at this ominous prediction." http://64.224.42.246/weblog/dannylog.cfm
Tax Cut: This made the business pages; the renewal of the “middle class tax cut” was a major item reported dutifully by NPR et al, as Bush signed it in Iowa. Excellent politics, subservient “journalism.”
In an act of pre-election largess, House and Senate negotiators approved a sprawling corporate tax bill on Wednesday that would shower corporations and farmers in politically sensitive states with about $145 billion worth of new tax cuts.
In an attempt to get backing from Southern Democrats, Republican leaders included a $10 billion buyout for tobacco farmers, but they rejected a Senate provision to link that buyout with a requirement that cigarette companies be subject to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.
Without the F.D.A. link, the bill could be jeopardized on the Senate floor, where opponents have threatened to stretch the debate to run down the clock as Congress tries to adjourn on Friday.
But Republican leaders said they had more than enough votes to stop a filibuster, contending that the overall tax bill has provisions sought by so many different lawmakers that it was almost assured of final passage by the end of this week. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/07/business/07corptax.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=
More on a Bush 2nd Term: More Disempowerment, of course, of those who tend to support Democrats. From George Will:
Bush is pressing to put hundreds of thousands of federal jobs up for competition with the private sector. Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform says: "The people who cut the Pentagon lawn are government employees. Why?" People listed in the phone book will do it cheaper. How many of the 15 million state and local government jobs could be privatized, with how many billions of dollars in savings? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13427-2004Oct6.html
Polls: Momentum Continues/Resumes for Kerry: It’s Even
Democracy Corps survey: Kerry 49% to 48%.
Economist: Kerry with a one point lead, 47% to 46%.
Arguably the most reliable is Zogby, which has Kerry recapturing the lead in the battleground states:
The presidential debate has lifted John Kerry back to where he was in our battleground analysis before the Republican convention energized the Bush campaign.
The latest Zogby Interactive poll puts Mr. Kerry ahead of President Bush in 13 of the 16 closely contested states -- two more states than the Massachusetts senator led before the debate and the most since August. The latest survey was conducted between last Thursday, after the debate ended, and Tuesday afternoon, before vice-presidential contenders Dick Cheney and John Edwards debated.
Mr. Kerry moved ahead in two states (Ohio and Nevada) and increased his lead in seven others -- though Mr. Kerry's margin over Mr. Bush in Ohio, Arkansas and Florida was negligible -- less than one percentage point. Mr. Bush's lead narrowed in the three states (Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia) that he remains ahead of Mr. Kerry. Overall, seven of Mr. Kerry’s leads are within the margins of error, while all of Mr. Bush’s leads are. http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-battleground04-an1006.html?mod=home_interactive_features
State polls: Even.
New Mexico: Kerry 46, Bush 43 (Albuquerque Journal)
California: Kerry 49, Bush 40 (Field Poll)
Iowa: Kerry 47, Bush 46 (University of Minnesota)
Missouri: Bush 49, Kerry 47 (Survey USA)
Washington: Kerry 54, Bush 43 (Survey USA)
North Carolina: Bush 52, Kerry 45 (Survey USA)
Ohio: Kerry 49, Bush 48 (Survey USA)
Florida: Kerry 47, Bush 45 (ARG)
New Hampshire: Kerry 47, Bush 47 (ARG)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 50, Bush 43 (West Chester University
New Jersey: Kerry 49, Bush 46 (Quinnipiac)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 48, Bush 41 (Franklin and Marshall)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 48, Bush 46 (American Rsearch Group)
Pennsylvania: Kerry 49, Bush 47 (Survey USA)
Missouri: Bush 51, Kerry 45 (Rasmussen)
Maine: Kerry 49, Bush 47 (Survey USA)
Florida: Bush 48, Kerry 44 (Mason-Dixon)
Ohio: Kerry 48, Bush 47 (American Research Group)
Florida: Bush 46, Kerry 42 (Quinnipiac)
New Jersey: Kerry 49, Bush 41 (Fairleigh Dickinson)
Electoral: Too many; to summarize, no one’s got it!
-R
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Jugular: I know it’s easy to do it ‘from here’, but Kerry’s reluctance to lay out Bush’s failures is startling and befuddling. We know that most Democrats have trouble being combative, and as many have commented, there were innumerable opportunities to score big in last week’s debate.
A seemingly lesser example is over North Korea where a hard-to-understand exchange about the value of bi-lateral talks went on. Kerry didn’t tell the audience that the Bush Administration walked away from talks with North Korea, that their disengagement is what has so agitated those in D.C. who are capable of thinking.
Edwards similarly had oodles of opportunities, especially re Cheney’s lying re the al-Qaeda-Saddam non-link, the secrecy, the alliance with corporate Amerika and did a better job than Kerry. Still, he too took almost 30 minutes to remind us that Cheney didn’t answer the first question, and did so gently. Edwards did well re the 9/11 Commission, Heartland Security, “reaction” vs action.
Very difficult to listen to the drumbeat of lies from Cheney. The loss of “over 1 million jobs” from 9/11” is especially galling, as that claim keeps escalating, as it hasn’t been countered. And, the nonsense about 1.7 million jobs since last August- why don’t Kerry/Edwards say, "The economy must produce 1.8 million jobs for each 12 months just to keep up with the growing population.”
Of course Cheney does a much better job with his lies than Bush; they are “credible” for those who don’t know, which should make this event a draw. Again, SO many lies that Edwards could have said, ‘Gwen, there are so many misstatements, distortions and lies to correct, if I answered them all, I’d barely address your questions.’
Remember to visit some of these web sites to register your opinion.
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NPR Shilling for Bush: Who needs Fox when you have Juan Williams? I’m trying to avoid NPR because of the fundraising, but managed to catch the house mediocrity Juan Williams parroting the Republican line that Kerry “talked about getting global consent for America to take preemptive action.” Naturally, the host, Renee Montaign, didn’t correct him.
Not to be outdone: ABC had a fair and balanced panel for the program This Week: 3 conservatives and a middle-road-should’ve-retired-when-she -said-she-would (2 years ago)- George Will, David Brooks, Fareed Zakaria, and Cokie Roberts
…Which reminds me:
Progressive Radio, Boston: This week begins Boston’s participation: 1430 on the AM dial hosts Air America programs. Al Franken, noon- 3PM is heartily recommended, and the hourly news casts are friendly. Try it; great for morale.
Bush To Give a Speech. He can’t do well in debates, so he gets time to explain Iraq / “war on terror”. Of course, Kerry will get equal time, or will the corporate media rule otherwise?
Playing on Fear: It works. We knew that; here’s some proof:
When the federal government issues a terrorist warning, presidential approval ratings jump, a Cornell University sociologist finds. Interestingly, terrorist warnings also boost support for the president on issues that are largely irrelevant to terrorism, such as his handling of the economy.
Robb Willer, assistant director of the Sociology and Small Groups Laboratory at Cornell and a doctoral candidate in sociology who expects his Ph.D. in May 2005, tracked the 26 times that a federal government agency reported an increased threat of terrorist activity in the United States between February 2001 and May 2004. He also tracked the 131 Gallup Polls that were conducted during the same period. He then conducted several time-series and regression analyses on the relationship between government-issued terror warnings and Gallup Poll data on approval ratings of President George W. Bush.
"Results showed that terror warnings increased presidential approval ratings consistently," says Willer. "They also increased support for Bush's handling of the economy. The findings, however, were inconclusive as to how long this halo effect lasts." http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Oct04/terrorist.Bush.ssl.html
“Dirty Campaigning” in Full Swing: Minneapolis papers:
A series of billboards around the Twin Cities that brazenly declare "DON'T VOTE" have angered civil rights activists. Fifteen of the billboards have sprung up in Minneapolis, St. Paul and its suburbs in the last few days. Several are in areas with large minority populations, including the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis, leading the NAACP and other groups to criticize even the suggestion that citizens shouldn't exercise the right to vote [...]
And, there’s the “Group” and their web site, “Kerry Wrong for Catholics.’
http://kerrywrongforcatholics.com/.
If one takes a hard look at the site, you find:
Paid for by the Republican National Committee Not Authorized By Any Candidate Or Candidate Committee - http://www.gop.com/
Amen.
What’s Happening, Iraq: Poland Withdraws: The Coalition of the Drilling is NOT growing.
Poland should withdraw its troops from Iraq by the end of next year, Polish leaders said Monday, the first time the key U.S. ally has indicated a timeframe for pulling its soldiers out of the wartorn nation.
President Aleksander Kwasniewski said no final decision has been made on when to withdraw forces but Warsaw was considering the late 2005 deadline with the hopes that elections scheduled for January in Iraq would bring stability to the country. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4534125,00.html
Ex-Hostages Lose Their Popularity. They were golden: two attractive Italian women released after five days in captivity. But, now…
"If you ask me about terrorism, I'll tell you that there is terrorism and there is resistance. The resistance struggle of people against an occupying force is guaranteed by international law."
The women's comments are likely to cause renewed anger in government circles, following their call soon after their release for Italy's peacekeeping forces to be withdrawn.
Miss Torretta admitted that was now studying Islam, although she denied that was planning to convert.
The two women have also ruffled feathers by thanking Italy's Islamic community for working for their release before thanking the government and the Italian Red Cross.
After they were taken hostage on Sept 7, the two Simonas achieved iconic status in Italy and the conservative government and the opposition put aside their differences to work together for the women's release. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml;sessionid=DTC5ZXO5CV1MBQFIQMFCM5OAVCBQYJVC?xml=/news/2004/10/02/wsim02.xml&site=5
Moonies and Bush Administration
President Bush has some new troops in his crusade to promote "healthy marriage" and teen celibacy with federal funds -- followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial Korean evangelist and self-proclaimed new world messiah.
At least four longtime operatives of Moon's Unification Church are on the federal payroll or getting government grants in the administration's Healthy Marriage Initiative and other "faith-based" programs.
In some ways, Moon is an unlikely ally for President Bush's crusade to promote traditional family values.
The 85-year-old Korean is perhaps best known for presiding over mass marriage ceremonies for devotees whose unions are arranged by Moon or other church leaders. After marriage, Unification Church couples are given detailed instructions for their honeymoon, right down to the sexual positions they are supposed to assume during their first three conjugal couplings.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/03/MNG4M936HP1.DTL&type=printable
Bremer re the Troops: The Administration Lies Never Cease Edwards could have drawn this out even more.
Bremer, 10/4/04: We needed more troops.
Pentagon, 10/5/04: A senior Defense Department official said that Bremer never asked for more troops and expressed annoyance the ambassador appeared to be second-guessing the advice of military officials. Bremer stepped down after the June 28 handover to an interim Iraqi government. http://www.cnn.com/
Bremer: 7/1/03: The top American administrator in Iraq, confronting growing anti-U.S. anger and guerrilla-style attacks, is asking for more American troops and dozens of U.S. officials to help speed up the restoration of order and public services.Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was reviewing the request from L. Paul Bremer, U.S. officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/6213247.htm
Charley Pierce on Bush and Religion. Touche.
One element of the essential C-Plus Augustus that few people dare examine is the possibility that he's as ignorant of his professed Christianity as he of so many other important things in this world. I mean, that is one of the most famous passages in Christ's public ministry. Hell (you should pardon the expression), "casting the first stone" has become a famous secular colloquialism.
I think his Christianity is simply a form he found with which to give structure to what was rapidly becoming a wastrel's life. I think it's a set of exercises -- the way some reformed drunks take to jogging or lifting weights to fill up those long, thirsty hours. I think he has some faith-based palaver that he runs through as though it were calisthenics, the same way he tosses around words like "freedom" and "liberty" when he can't think of anything else to say to explain the hash he's made of things in Iraq.
We've had a year in which John Kerry's fitness to receive communion was a topic of extended debate, but the sincerity of his opponent's religiosity was taken on, well, faith. Here's what I think: I don't think this guy knows enough Scripture -- let alone enough theology -- to throw to a cat. And I can't think of an institution less capable of examining this question than the modern mass media. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/
True Believers: Gallup: 62% of Republicans think Saddam was personally involved in planning 9/11. So, what does it mean?Discuss.
In response to another question, 32% said they thought Saddam had personally planned them. The same poll in June showed that 56% of all Republicans said they thought Saddam was involved with the 9/11 attacks. In the latest poll that number actually climbs, to 62%. The independent commission that investigated 9/11 concluded in June that there was "no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." The panel also said "contacts" between al-Qaeda and Iraq "do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship." http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000653667
Putin: The former democrat does his part.
Practically unnoticed in all the hoopla surrounding the presidential debate this week was Vladimir Putin’s signing of the Kyoto Protocol. Although the Russian parliament must still ratify the pact, Putin’s turnaround marks a key moment in the world’s efforts to do something about global climate change, inarguably the most fundamental environmental issue of our time. Well, not inarguably. Because there are still people who say the evidence is nonexistent, or mixed, or, even if it’s real, has nothing to do with human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases. Or, even if climate change is occurring, and even if humans are contributing to it, that contribution is small compared with, say, fluctuations in solar output. Or, even if climate change is occurring, and even if humans are the major cause, there’s nothing we can do about it. And, if we did do something about it, it would wreck our economy. This, of course, has forever been the argument against every bit of environmental legislation from the get-go. Foes of protecting endangered species, recycling bottles and cans, prohibiting clear-cuts, banning dangerous chemicals or curtailing tailpipe emissions have always found their most potent objection in economics, which, they boil down to “lost jobs.”
Polls:
National polls are mostly even, a few have Bush up by 3- 5 points. More importantly, the state polls have Bush ahead, but many remain statistically tied.
New Jersey: Kerry 50, Bush 45 (Survey USA)
Florida: Bush 51, Kerry 46 (Survey USA)
Florida: Bush 51, Kerry 47 (Rasmussen)
Nevada: Bush 50, Kerry 46 (Survey USA)
New Hampshire: Bush 50, Kerry 45 (UNH) http://politicalwire.com/
-R
A seemingly lesser example is over North Korea where a hard-to-understand exchange about the value of bi-lateral talks went on. Kerry didn’t tell the audience that the Bush Administration walked away from talks with North Korea, that their disengagement is what has so agitated those in D.C. who are capable of thinking.
Edwards similarly had oodles of opportunities, especially re Cheney’s lying re the al-Qaeda-Saddam non-link, the secrecy, the alliance with corporate Amerika and did a better job than Kerry. Still, he too took almost 30 minutes to remind us that Cheney didn’t answer the first question, and did so gently. Edwards did well re the 9/11 Commission, Heartland Security, “reaction” vs action.
Very difficult to listen to the drumbeat of lies from Cheney. The loss of “over 1 million jobs” from 9/11” is especially galling, as that claim keeps escalating, as it hasn’t been countered. And, the nonsense about 1.7 million jobs since last August- why don’t Kerry/Edwards say, "The economy must produce 1.8 million jobs for each 12 months just to keep up with the growing population.”
Of course Cheney does a much better job with his lies than Bush; they are “credible” for those who don’t know, which should make this event a draw. Again, SO many lies that Edwards could have said, ‘Gwen, there are so many misstatements, distortions and lies to correct, if I answered them all, I’d barely address your questions.’
Remember to visit some of these web sites to register your opinion.
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NPR Shilling for Bush: Who needs Fox when you have Juan Williams? I’m trying to avoid NPR because of the fundraising, but managed to catch the house mediocrity Juan Williams parroting the Republican line that Kerry “talked about getting global consent for America to take preemptive action.” Naturally, the host, Renee Montaign, didn’t correct him.
Not to be outdone: ABC had a fair and balanced panel for the program This Week: 3 conservatives and a middle-road-should’ve-retired-when-she -said-she-would (2 years ago)- George Will, David Brooks, Fareed Zakaria, and Cokie Roberts
…Which reminds me:
Progressive Radio, Boston: This week begins Boston’s participation: 1430 on the AM dial hosts Air America programs. Al Franken, noon- 3PM is heartily recommended, and the hourly news casts are friendly. Try it; great for morale.
Bush To Give a Speech. He can’t do well in debates, so he gets time to explain Iraq / “war on terror”. Of course, Kerry will get equal time, or will the corporate media rule otherwise?
Playing on Fear: It works. We knew that; here’s some proof:
When the federal government issues a terrorist warning, presidential approval ratings jump, a Cornell University sociologist finds. Interestingly, terrorist warnings also boost support for the president on issues that are largely irrelevant to terrorism, such as his handling of the economy.
Robb Willer, assistant director of the Sociology and Small Groups Laboratory at Cornell and a doctoral candidate in sociology who expects his Ph.D. in May 2005, tracked the 26 times that a federal government agency reported an increased threat of terrorist activity in the United States between February 2001 and May 2004. He also tracked the 131 Gallup Polls that were conducted during the same period. He then conducted several time-series and regression analyses on the relationship between government-issued terror warnings and Gallup Poll data on approval ratings of President George W. Bush.
"Results showed that terror warnings increased presidential approval ratings consistently," says Willer. "They also increased support for Bush's handling of the economy. The findings, however, were inconclusive as to how long this halo effect lasts." http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Oct04/terrorist.Bush.ssl.html
“Dirty Campaigning” in Full Swing: Minneapolis papers:
A series of billboards around the Twin Cities that brazenly declare "DON'T VOTE" have angered civil rights activists. Fifteen of the billboards have sprung up in Minneapolis, St. Paul and its suburbs in the last few days. Several are in areas with large minority populations, including the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis, leading the NAACP and other groups to criticize even the suggestion that citizens shouldn't exercise the right to vote [...]
And, there’s the “Group” and their web site, “Kerry Wrong for Catholics.’
http://kerrywrongforcatholics.com/.
If one takes a hard look at the site, you find:
Paid for by the Republican National Committee Not Authorized By Any Candidate Or Candidate Committee - http://www.gop.com/
Amen.
What’s Happening, Iraq: Poland Withdraws: The Coalition of the Drilling is NOT growing.
Poland should withdraw its troops from Iraq by the end of next year, Polish leaders said Monday, the first time the key U.S. ally has indicated a timeframe for pulling its soldiers out of the wartorn nation.
President Aleksander Kwasniewski said no final decision has been made on when to withdraw forces but Warsaw was considering the late 2005 deadline with the hopes that elections scheduled for January in Iraq would bring stability to the country. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4534125,00.html
Ex-Hostages Lose Their Popularity. They were golden: two attractive Italian women released after five days in captivity. But, now…
"If you ask me about terrorism, I'll tell you that there is terrorism and there is resistance. The resistance struggle of people against an occupying force is guaranteed by international law."
The women's comments are likely to cause renewed anger in government circles, following their call soon after their release for Italy's peacekeeping forces to be withdrawn.
Miss Torretta admitted that was now studying Islam, although she denied that was planning to convert.
The two women have also ruffled feathers by thanking Italy's Islamic community for working for their release before thanking the government and the Italian Red Cross.
After they were taken hostage on Sept 7, the two Simonas achieved iconic status in Italy and the conservative government and the opposition put aside their differences to work together for the women's release. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml;sessionid=DTC5ZXO5CV1MBQFIQMFCM5OAVCBQYJVC?xml=/news/2004/10/02/wsim02.xml&site=5
Moonies and Bush Administration
President Bush has some new troops in his crusade to promote "healthy marriage" and teen celibacy with federal funds -- followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial Korean evangelist and self-proclaimed new world messiah.
At least four longtime operatives of Moon's Unification Church are on the federal payroll or getting government grants in the administration's Healthy Marriage Initiative and other "faith-based" programs.
In some ways, Moon is an unlikely ally for President Bush's crusade to promote traditional family values.
The 85-year-old Korean is perhaps best known for presiding over mass marriage ceremonies for devotees whose unions are arranged by Moon or other church leaders. After marriage, Unification Church couples are given detailed instructions for their honeymoon, right down to the sexual positions they are supposed to assume during their first three conjugal couplings.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/03/MNG4M936HP1.DTL&type=printable
Bremer re the Troops: The Administration Lies Never Cease Edwards could have drawn this out even more.
Bremer, 10/4/04: We needed more troops.
Pentagon, 10/5/04: A senior Defense Department official said that Bremer never asked for more troops and expressed annoyance the ambassador appeared to be second-guessing the advice of military officials. Bremer stepped down after the June 28 handover to an interim Iraqi government. http://www.cnn.com/
Bremer: 7/1/03: The top American administrator in Iraq, confronting growing anti-U.S. anger and guerrilla-style attacks, is asking for more American troops and dozens of U.S. officials to help speed up the restoration of order and public services.Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was reviewing the request from L. Paul Bremer, U.S. officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/6213247.htm
Charley Pierce on Bush and Religion. Touche.
One element of the essential C-Plus Augustus that few people dare examine is the possibility that he's as ignorant of his professed Christianity as he of so many other important things in this world. I mean, that is one of the most famous passages in Christ's public ministry. Hell (you should pardon the expression), "casting the first stone" has become a famous secular colloquialism.
I think his Christianity is simply a form he found with which to give structure to what was rapidly becoming a wastrel's life. I think it's a set of exercises -- the way some reformed drunks take to jogging or lifting weights to fill up those long, thirsty hours. I think he has some faith-based palaver that he runs through as though it were calisthenics, the same way he tosses around words like "freedom" and "liberty" when he can't think of anything else to say to explain the hash he's made of things in Iraq.
We've had a year in which John Kerry's fitness to receive communion was a topic of extended debate, but the sincerity of his opponent's religiosity was taken on, well, faith. Here's what I think: I don't think this guy knows enough Scripture -- let alone enough theology -- to throw to a cat. And I can't think of an institution less capable of examining this question than the modern mass media. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/
True Believers: Gallup: 62% of Republicans think Saddam was personally involved in planning 9/11. So, what does it mean?Discuss.
In response to another question, 32% said they thought Saddam had personally planned them. The same poll in June showed that 56% of all Republicans said they thought Saddam was involved with the 9/11 attacks. In the latest poll that number actually climbs, to 62%. The independent commission that investigated 9/11 concluded in June that there was "no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." The panel also said "contacts" between al-Qaeda and Iraq "do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship." http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000653667
Putin: The former democrat does his part.
Practically unnoticed in all the hoopla surrounding the presidential debate this week was Vladimir Putin’s signing of the Kyoto Protocol. Although the Russian parliament must still ratify the pact, Putin’s turnaround marks a key moment in the world’s efforts to do something about global climate change, inarguably the most fundamental environmental issue of our time. Well, not inarguably. Because there are still people who say the evidence is nonexistent, or mixed, or, even if it’s real, has nothing to do with human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases. Or, even if climate change is occurring, and even if humans are contributing to it, that contribution is small compared with, say, fluctuations in solar output. Or, even if climate change is occurring, and even if humans are the major cause, there’s nothing we can do about it. And, if we did do something about it, it would wreck our economy. This, of course, has forever been the argument against every bit of environmental legislation from the get-go. Foes of protecting endangered species, recycling bottles and cans, prohibiting clear-cuts, banning dangerous chemicals or curtailing tailpipe emissions have always found their most potent objection in economics, which, they boil down to “lost jobs.”
Polls:
National polls are mostly even, a few have Bush up by 3- 5 points. More importantly, the state polls have Bush ahead, but many remain statistically tied.
New Jersey: Kerry 50, Bush 45 (Survey USA)
Florida: Bush 51, Kerry 46 (Survey USA)
Florida: Bush 51, Kerry 47 (Rasmussen)
Nevada: Bush 50, Kerry 46 (Survey USA)
New Hampshire: Bush 50, Kerry 45 (UNH) http://politicalwire.com/
-R
Sunday, October 03, 2004
Post Debate Activity: As Le Monde put it, Kerry retrouve un élan après le débat. As to Bush, of course this wasn’t the first time he was pathetic. Without Michael Gerson’s speeches or the hermetically-sealed rallies, he is insecure, petulant, arrogant and easily dwarfed by a full person.
Facts: Bush talked of the “100,000 Iraqi troops trained.” Absurd. For example, this Reuters dispatch notes that the number of fully trained (8 weeks worth) number 8,169. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=590914§ion=news
Left Bloggers Penetrate Republican Conference Call
A humorous side note, the GOP held a "conference call" with Ken Mehlman in which campaign "Team Leaders" call in to be told what to think and get their talking points for the debate. Atrios, bless his heart, posted the number and the password to be accepted to the conference call. I got in without a problem and, after enduring ten minutes of painful smooth jazz, got to hear firsthand how the Bush campaign was going to spin this. Mehlman said Kerry started with a credibility gap and ended with a credibility canyon, and babbled in and around this point for five minutes or so. Then they announced that they were going to take three questions. The first was from a "young Republican in Washington." She proceeded to say that Kerry was very credible and that she had decided to vote for him. The second caller said she thought Kerry would make a credible Commander in Chief and the third call took Bush to task for not mentioning the al Quida members not captured.Mehlman apologized to the Bush supporters listening and acknowledge that the call had obviously attracted some Democrats. We had, essentially, hijacked their own spin distribution and thrown it in the GOP's face. A small, yet hilarious victory for the blogosphere. http://jackpinesavage.blogspot.com/2004/10/post-debate.html
Bush and Poland: He tried to make a big deal about their (belated) support, but naturally ignored what Poland’s President Aleksander Kwasniewski said: "They deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride."
Right Fights Back: How to contest the reality that their fella did poorly? Attack the moderator and cite an “anonymous Democrat” who insists it was a tie. It would be laughable if…
But there were no queries to Sen. Kerry about his long Senate record of voting against defense appropriations, or his sponsorship of a bill to cut CIA funding by $6 billion a year after terrorists struck the World Trade Center in 1993, or Kerry's support of the nuclear freeze movement during the height of the Cold War.
Kerry wasn't asked why he teamed up with Jane Fonda to protest the Vietnam War while his band of brothers were still on the battlefield, or why he met with enemy leaders in Paris, or why he accused fellow soldiers of being "monsters" and "war criminals."
Most Americans would consider the answers to those questions extremely relevant to the selection of any U.S. commander in chief during a time of war.
But not Jim Lehrer. Instead, he focused on Iraq with question after question that suggested Bush had blown it. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/30/223850.shtml
A Democratic consultant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the president "turned in a pretty solid performance." "I think that loyal Democrats were hoping the president's head would fall off during the debate," he said. Mr. Bush came across as "calm, folksy and grounded," but that each man got "a little testy" once they started to hurl some of their campaign stump-speech accusations at each other, Republican political consultant Bob Moran said. http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20041001-123117-5788r
And, Drudge, the conservative host of The Drudge Report floated one spin attempt -- that Bush was emotionally drained because he had spent the day meeting with hurricane victims. Radio callers repeated the line, expressing their empathy for ‘a preoccupied president who must have had a difficult day emotionally seeing all that tragedy in Florida.’ Yes, empathic Bush, that’s the guy.
Karl Rove tried, "That wasn't irritated. I know irritated." Bush was "pensive" and "focused," said Rove.
Sean Hannity said on Fox News that he had never seen Bush "more passionate, more articulate, more on top of his game."
Meanwhile, Left bloggers are also taken with that odd moment when Bush said “Let me Finish” even though no one was stopping him. Speculation was that ahe was talking to the person who was giving him instructions via an earpiece. Not a nutty thought, as pictures in the past have shown such, though addressing it seems unlikely to be productive. http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/298647.shtml
Media Spin: CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: Integrity, Wolf, Integrity…
PRE-DEBATE:
A pivotal night in this presidential campaign, perhaps a decisive moment. A key opportunity for the Democratic challenger, John Kerry, to break through, to try to establish himself as a formidable candidate in this race.
That's a huge audience. A lot of people, of course, most of that audience has already made up their minds. But those undecided voters are still critical.
A defining night. I think everybody agrees potentially. This certainly could be a defining night. Historians will be writing about this for many years to come. [CNN, live debate coverage, 9/30/04]
POST-DEBATE:
So even if John Kerry decisively won the debate, we shouldn't jump to any conclusions, let alone on the final outcome on November 2, but even if there will be a significant movement in the poll numbers, the real polls, not these instant polls over the next three or four or five days. [CNN, News From CNN, 10/01/04] www.mediamatters.org
Polls:
Rasmussen Tracking Poll shows no bump for Kerry.
Newsweek: It’s “statistically tied”.
With a solid majority of voters concluding that John Kerry outperformed George W. Bush in the first presidential debate on Thursday, the president’s lead in the race for the White House has vanished, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll. In the first national telephone poll using a fresh sample, NEWSWEEK found the race now statistically tied among all registered voters, 47 percent of whom say they would vote for Kerry and 45 percent for George W. Bush in a three-way race. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6159637/site/newsweek/
Memo to Edwards: Take Him Down. It’s doable. The excerpt below is from a mammoth article in Sunday’s NY Times which gently exposes the Administration’s cooking / selective use of, etc. intelligence. Still they all come off badly, but who will read this opus?
Mr. Cheney spoke openly about one of the closest held secrets regarding Iraq. Not only did Mr. Cheney draw attention to the tubes; he did so with a certitude that could not be found in even the C.I.A.'s assessments. On "Meet the Press," Mr. Cheney said he knew "for sure" and "in fact" and "with absolute certainty" that Mr. Hussein was buying equipment to build a nuclear weapon.
"He has reconstituted his nuclear program," Mr. Cheney said flatly.
But in the C.I.A. reports, evidence "suggested" or "could mean" or "indicates" - a word used widely in a report issued just weeks earlier. Little if anything was asserted with absolute certainty. The intelligence community had not yet concluded that Iraq had indeed reconstituted its nuclear program.
Mr. Kellems, Mr. Cheney's spokesman, said, "The vice president's public statements have reflected the evolving judgment of the intelligence community." …
Yet so far, Senate investigators say, they have found little evidence the White House tried to find out why so many experts disputed the C.I.A. tubes theory. If anything, administration officials minimized the divide...
Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said in an interview, "the secretary listened to the discussion of the various views among intelligence agencies, and reflected those issues in his presentation. Since his task at the U.N. was to present the views of the United States, he went with the overall judgment of the intelligence community as reflected by the director of central intelligence." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/international/middleeast/03tube.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=
Faith…counts more than competence
Frank Rich on “George W. Bush: Faith in the White House," 300,000 DVDs are being released this week to Churches. Read it and shiver… and do what you can.
More than any other campaign artifact, it clarifies the hard-knuckles rationale of the president's vote-for-me-or-face-Armageddon re-election message. It transforms the president that the Democrats deride as a "fortunate son" of privilege into a prodigal son with the "moral clarity of an old-fashioned biblical prophet." Its Bush is not merely a sincere man of faith but God's essential and irreplaceable warrior on Earth. The stations of his cross are burnished into cinematic fable: the misspent youth, the hard drinking (a thirst that came from "a throat full of Texas dust"), the fateful 40th-birthday hangover in Colorado Springs, the walk on the beach with Billy Graham. A towheaded child actor bathed in the golden light of an off-camera halo re-enacts the young George comforting his mom after the death of his sister; it's a parable anticipating the future president's miraculous ability to comfort us all after 9/11. An older Bush impersonator is seen rebuffing a sexual come-on from a fellow Bush-Quayle campaign worker hovering by a Xerox machine in 1988; it's an effort to imbue our born-again savior with retroactive chastity. As for the actual president, he is shown with a flag for a backdrop in a split-screen tableau with Jesus. The message isn't subtle: they were separated at birth.
"Will George W. Bush be allowed to finish the battle against the forces of evil that threaten our very existence?" Such is the portentous question posed at the film's conclusion by its narrator, the religious broadcaster Janet Parshall, beloved by some for her ecumenical generosity in inviting Jews for Jesus onto her radio show during the High Holidays. Anyone who stands in the way of Mr. Bush completing his godly battle, of course, is a heretic. Facts on the ground in Iraq don't matter.
Rational arguments mustered in presidential debates don't matter. Logic of any kind is a nonstarter. The president - who after 9/11 called the war on terrorism a "crusade," until protests forced the White House to backpedal - is divine. He may not hear "voices" instructing him on policy, testifies Stephen Mansfield, the author of one of the movie's source texts, "The Faith of George W. Bush," but he does act on "promptings" from God. "I think we went into Iraq not so much because there were weapons of mass destruction," Mr. Mansfield has explained elsewhere, "but because Bush had concluded that Saddam Hussein was an evildoer" in the battle "between good and evil." So why didn't we go into those other countries in the axis of evil, North Korea or Iran? Never mind. To ask such questions is to be against God and "with the terrorists." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/arts/03rich.html?ei=1&en=564ce2e04a0d65f5&ex=1097543762&pagewanted=print&position
Meanwhile, worst fighting- and death toll-in Gaza... Ignored at the debate, along with most other foreign policy issues.
Kerry's own electoral website declares that if elected he will "strengthen weak states and secure and rebuild failed states around the world." George Bush is already committed to democratic reconstruction of the whole "Greater Middle East."
That sort of unbridled ambition to solve the world's problems and more is the conventional wisdom, and the conventional hypocrisy as well. You might think Bush or Kerry would be content if they could get out of Iraq without setting ablaze the rest of the Middle East.
The conventional cowardice is that neither will assume responsibility for resolving the most poisonous and dangerous conflict affecting the global situation of the United States, which still may be within American power to solve: the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Even to carry out the commitment already made by the US government to the so-called "road map," which requires antiterrorism actions by the Palestinian authorities and a nearly total Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, would mean a frontal clash with the Sharon government in Israel. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/10/01/a_misleading_focus_on_iraq?pg=2
What’s Happening, Africa: Oil Strife
The country's Niger Delta region, which produces nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil a day and accounts for 10 percent of US crude imports, is infused with a deep popular anger over pollution and the failure of oil revenues to bring development. Mr. Dokubo-Asari, who claims to command 2,000 armed fighters, earlier this week called for the immediate withdrawal of all foreigners from the delta until the resolution of political issues, including control of the country's oil resources. Peace talks continued Thursday between Dokubo-Asari and the Nigerian government.
The dispute over natural resources is at the heart of some of the most intractable conflicts in Africa today, from Sudan to Congo to Nigeria. Even amid international efforts to bring greater transparency to the continent's resource exploration, the recent strife here is a microcosm of widespread theft and mismanagement, which observers attribute to a combination of colonial-era intervention, corrupt governments, and cynical behavior by Western policymakers and multinationals…
Western multinationals are also widely accused of helping sustain graft. A report published in July by the US Senate found that US oil companies in Equatorial Guinea made payments to government officials and their relatives and formed joint ventures with companies linked to members of the country's repressive ruling clan. A consortium of Western companies including a subsidiary of Halliburton is under investigation in the US, France, and Nigeria over allegations that it made more than $150 million of illicit payments to Nigerian officials and expatriates. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1001/p06s02-woaf.htm
What’s Happening, Iraq:
Forty-two U.S. troops were killed in June, 54 in July and 66 in August. At least 76 in September.
Spin that Failure!
The Bush administration, battling negative perceptions of the Iraq war, is sending Iraqi Americans to deliver what the Pentagon calls "good news" about Iraq to U.S. military bases, and has curtailed distribution of reports showing increasing violence in that country.
The unusual public-relations effort by the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development comes as details have emerged showing the U.S. government and a representative of President Bush's reelection campaign had been heavily involved in drafting the speech given to Congress last week by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Combined, they indicate that the federal government is working assiduously to improve Americans' opinions about the Iraq conflict -- a key element of Bush's reelection message. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60725-2004Sep29?language=printer
Guantanamo, an intelligence Bust. 5000 arrests, no convictions, etc.
Prisoner interrogations at Guantánamo Bay, the controversial US military detention centre where guards have been accused of brutality and torture, have not prevented a single terrorist attack, according to a senior Pentagon intelligence officer who worked at the heart of the US war on terror.
Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Christino, who retired last June after 20 years in military intelligence, says that President George W Bush and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have 'wildly exaggerated' their intelligence value.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1318702,00.html
Porter Goss: Ideologue shows his stripes
When he was going through his confirmation hearings for the post of CIA director, Republican congressman Porter Goss swore repeatedly that he would end his career as a partisan hack. Yet, in his first week he named four Republican congressional aides to key positions in the CIA.
“Tensions” Continue at the CIA:
The tensions have simmered for years, mostly over intelligence about Iraq, including whether Iraq posed a threat. But in the last few weeks, they have surged into the open in a remarkable way, in a struggle in which both sides believe they have much at stake.
Already, the contents of classified intelligence estimates about Iraq have been leaked by people sympathetic to the C.I.A., to the considerable embarrassment of the White House. In response, the White House associated the documents' authors with "pessimists and naysayers," and President Bush initially dismissed one particularly damaging forecast as nothing more than a guess. And in newspaper columns in recent days, Republican partisans have variously described what is now afoot as part of an insurgency or vendetta being waged by the C.I.A. against the White House. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/politics/02intel.html?ei=5090&en=0a7bddde0d30458a&ex=1254456000&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=print&position=
Another Tax Aid for Business:
The strategy defies expectations that agreement can't be reached until a lame-duck session planned for November and appears driven by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, who has concluded that a deal is more feasible now than later.
The California Republican has been meeting with senators behind the scenes and last night distributed a working draft that reflects significant movement toward the Senate. Rep. Thomas said he is committed to a bill that won't add to the deficit as preferred by senators. His draft embraces a tax deduction for American manufacturers as proposed by the Senate rather than the corporate rate cut in the House bill. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109650010530831931,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
-R
Facts: Bush talked of the “100,000 Iraqi troops trained.” Absurd. For example, this Reuters dispatch notes that the number of fully trained (8 weeks worth) number 8,169. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=590914§ion=news
Left Bloggers Penetrate Republican Conference Call
A humorous side note, the GOP held a "conference call" with Ken Mehlman in which campaign "Team Leaders" call in to be told what to think and get their talking points for the debate. Atrios, bless his heart, posted the number and the password to be accepted to the conference call. I got in without a problem and, after enduring ten minutes of painful smooth jazz, got to hear firsthand how the Bush campaign was going to spin this. Mehlman said Kerry started with a credibility gap and ended with a credibility canyon, and babbled in and around this point for five minutes or so. Then they announced that they were going to take three questions. The first was from a "young Republican in Washington." She proceeded to say that Kerry was very credible and that she had decided to vote for him. The second caller said she thought Kerry would make a credible Commander in Chief and the third call took Bush to task for not mentioning the al Quida members not captured.Mehlman apologized to the Bush supporters listening and acknowledge that the call had obviously attracted some Democrats. We had, essentially, hijacked their own spin distribution and thrown it in the GOP's face. A small, yet hilarious victory for the blogosphere. http://jackpinesavage.blogspot.com/2004/10/post-debate.html
Bush and Poland: He tried to make a big deal about their (belated) support, but naturally ignored what Poland’s President Aleksander Kwasniewski said: "They deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride."
Right Fights Back: How to contest the reality that their fella did poorly? Attack the moderator and cite an “anonymous Democrat” who insists it was a tie. It would be laughable if…
But there were no queries to Sen. Kerry about his long Senate record of voting against defense appropriations, or his sponsorship of a bill to cut CIA funding by $6 billion a year after terrorists struck the World Trade Center in 1993, or Kerry's support of the nuclear freeze movement during the height of the Cold War.
Kerry wasn't asked why he teamed up with Jane Fonda to protest the Vietnam War while his band of brothers were still on the battlefield, or why he met with enemy leaders in Paris, or why he accused fellow soldiers of being "monsters" and "war criminals."
Most Americans would consider the answers to those questions extremely relevant to the selection of any U.S. commander in chief during a time of war.
But not Jim Lehrer. Instead, he focused on Iraq with question after question that suggested Bush had blown it. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/30/223850.shtml
A Democratic consultant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the president "turned in a pretty solid performance." "I think that loyal Democrats were hoping the president's head would fall off during the debate," he said. Mr. Bush came across as "calm, folksy and grounded," but that each man got "a little testy" once they started to hurl some of their campaign stump-speech accusations at each other, Republican political consultant Bob Moran said. http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20041001-123117-5788r
And, Drudge, the conservative host of The Drudge Report floated one spin attempt -- that Bush was emotionally drained because he had spent the day meeting with hurricane victims. Radio callers repeated the line, expressing their empathy for ‘a preoccupied president who must have had a difficult day emotionally seeing all that tragedy in Florida.’ Yes, empathic Bush, that’s the guy.
Karl Rove tried, "That wasn't irritated. I know irritated." Bush was "pensive" and "focused," said Rove.
Sean Hannity said on Fox News that he had never seen Bush "more passionate, more articulate, more on top of his game."
Meanwhile, Left bloggers are also taken with that odd moment when Bush said “Let me Finish” even though no one was stopping him. Speculation was that ahe was talking to the person who was giving him instructions via an earpiece. Not a nutty thought, as pictures in the past have shown such, though addressing it seems unlikely to be productive. http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/298647.shtml
Media Spin: CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: Integrity, Wolf, Integrity…
PRE-DEBATE:
A pivotal night in this presidential campaign, perhaps a decisive moment. A key opportunity for the Democratic challenger, John Kerry, to break through, to try to establish himself as a formidable candidate in this race.
That's a huge audience. A lot of people, of course, most of that audience has already made up their minds. But those undecided voters are still critical.
A defining night. I think everybody agrees potentially. This certainly could be a defining night. Historians will be writing about this for many years to come. [CNN, live debate coverage, 9/30/04]
POST-DEBATE:
So even if John Kerry decisively won the debate, we shouldn't jump to any conclusions, let alone on the final outcome on November 2, but even if there will be a significant movement in the poll numbers, the real polls, not these instant polls over the next three or four or five days. [CNN, News From CNN, 10/01/04] www.mediamatters.org
Polls:
Rasmussen Tracking Poll shows no bump for Kerry.
Newsweek: It’s “statistically tied”.
With a solid majority of voters concluding that John Kerry outperformed George W. Bush in the first presidential debate on Thursday, the president’s lead in the race for the White House has vanished, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll. In the first national telephone poll using a fresh sample, NEWSWEEK found the race now statistically tied among all registered voters, 47 percent of whom say they would vote for Kerry and 45 percent for George W. Bush in a three-way race. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6159637/site/newsweek/
Memo to Edwards: Take Him Down. It’s doable. The excerpt below is from a mammoth article in Sunday’s NY Times which gently exposes the Administration’s cooking / selective use of, etc. intelligence. Still they all come off badly, but who will read this opus?
Mr. Cheney spoke openly about one of the closest held secrets regarding Iraq. Not only did Mr. Cheney draw attention to the tubes; he did so with a certitude that could not be found in even the C.I.A.'s assessments. On "Meet the Press," Mr. Cheney said he knew "for sure" and "in fact" and "with absolute certainty" that Mr. Hussein was buying equipment to build a nuclear weapon.
"He has reconstituted his nuclear program," Mr. Cheney said flatly.
But in the C.I.A. reports, evidence "suggested" or "could mean" or "indicates" - a word used widely in a report issued just weeks earlier. Little if anything was asserted with absolute certainty. The intelligence community had not yet concluded that Iraq had indeed reconstituted its nuclear program.
Mr. Kellems, Mr. Cheney's spokesman, said, "The vice president's public statements have reflected the evolving judgment of the intelligence community." …
Yet so far, Senate investigators say, they have found little evidence the White House tried to find out why so many experts disputed the C.I.A. tubes theory. If anything, administration officials minimized the divide...
Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said in an interview, "the secretary listened to the discussion of the various views among intelligence agencies, and reflected those issues in his presentation. Since his task at the U.N. was to present the views of the United States, he went with the overall judgment of the intelligence community as reflected by the director of central intelligence." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/international/middleeast/03tube.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position=
Faith…counts more than competence
Frank Rich on “George W. Bush: Faith in the White House," 300,000 DVDs are being released this week to Churches. Read it and shiver… and do what you can.
More than any other campaign artifact, it clarifies the hard-knuckles rationale of the president's vote-for-me-or-face-Armageddon re-election message. It transforms the president that the Democrats deride as a "fortunate son" of privilege into a prodigal son with the "moral clarity of an old-fashioned biblical prophet." Its Bush is not merely a sincere man of faith but God's essential and irreplaceable warrior on Earth. The stations of his cross are burnished into cinematic fable: the misspent youth, the hard drinking (a thirst that came from "a throat full of Texas dust"), the fateful 40th-birthday hangover in Colorado Springs, the walk on the beach with Billy Graham. A towheaded child actor bathed in the golden light of an off-camera halo re-enacts the young George comforting his mom after the death of his sister; it's a parable anticipating the future president's miraculous ability to comfort us all after 9/11. An older Bush impersonator is seen rebuffing a sexual come-on from a fellow Bush-Quayle campaign worker hovering by a Xerox machine in 1988; it's an effort to imbue our born-again savior with retroactive chastity. As for the actual president, he is shown with a flag for a backdrop in a split-screen tableau with Jesus. The message isn't subtle: they were separated at birth.
"Will George W. Bush be allowed to finish the battle against the forces of evil that threaten our very existence?" Such is the portentous question posed at the film's conclusion by its narrator, the religious broadcaster Janet Parshall, beloved by some for her ecumenical generosity in inviting Jews for Jesus onto her radio show during the High Holidays. Anyone who stands in the way of Mr. Bush completing his godly battle, of course, is a heretic. Facts on the ground in Iraq don't matter.
Rational arguments mustered in presidential debates don't matter. Logic of any kind is a nonstarter. The president - who after 9/11 called the war on terrorism a "crusade," until protests forced the White House to backpedal - is divine. He may not hear "voices" instructing him on policy, testifies Stephen Mansfield, the author of one of the movie's source texts, "The Faith of George W. Bush," but he does act on "promptings" from God. "I think we went into Iraq not so much because there were weapons of mass destruction," Mr. Mansfield has explained elsewhere, "but because Bush had concluded that Saddam Hussein was an evildoer" in the battle "between good and evil." So why didn't we go into those other countries in the axis of evil, North Korea or Iran? Never mind. To ask such questions is to be against God and "with the terrorists." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/arts/03rich.html?ei=1&en=564ce2e04a0d65f5&ex=1097543762&pagewanted=print&position
Meanwhile, worst fighting- and death toll-in Gaza... Ignored at the debate, along with most other foreign policy issues.
Kerry's own electoral website declares that if elected he will "strengthen weak states and secure and rebuild failed states around the world." George Bush is already committed to democratic reconstruction of the whole "Greater Middle East."
That sort of unbridled ambition to solve the world's problems and more is the conventional wisdom, and the conventional hypocrisy as well. You might think Bush or Kerry would be content if they could get out of Iraq without setting ablaze the rest of the Middle East.
The conventional cowardice is that neither will assume responsibility for resolving the most poisonous and dangerous conflict affecting the global situation of the United States, which still may be within American power to solve: the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Even to carry out the commitment already made by the US government to the so-called "road map," which requires antiterrorism actions by the Palestinian authorities and a nearly total Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, would mean a frontal clash with the Sharon government in Israel. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/10/01/a_misleading_focus_on_iraq?pg=2
What’s Happening, Africa: Oil Strife
The country's Niger Delta region, which produces nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil a day and accounts for 10 percent of US crude imports, is infused with a deep popular anger over pollution and the failure of oil revenues to bring development. Mr. Dokubo-Asari, who claims to command 2,000 armed fighters, earlier this week called for the immediate withdrawal of all foreigners from the delta until the resolution of political issues, including control of the country's oil resources. Peace talks continued Thursday between Dokubo-Asari and the Nigerian government.
The dispute over natural resources is at the heart of some of the most intractable conflicts in Africa today, from Sudan to Congo to Nigeria. Even amid international efforts to bring greater transparency to the continent's resource exploration, the recent strife here is a microcosm of widespread theft and mismanagement, which observers attribute to a combination of colonial-era intervention, corrupt governments, and cynical behavior by Western policymakers and multinationals…
Western multinationals are also widely accused of helping sustain graft. A report published in July by the US Senate found that US oil companies in Equatorial Guinea made payments to government officials and their relatives and formed joint ventures with companies linked to members of the country's repressive ruling clan. A consortium of Western companies including a subsidiary of Halliburton is under investigation in the US, France, and Nigeria over allegations that it made more than $150 million of illicit payments to Nigerian officials and expatriates. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1001/p06s02-woaf.htm
What’s Happening, Iraq:
Forty-two U.S. troops were killed in June, 54 in July and 66 in August. At least 76 in September.
Spin that Failure!
The Bush administration, battling negative perceptions of the Iraq war, is sending Iraqi Americans to deliver what the Pentagon calls "good news" about Iraq to U.S. military bases, and has curtailed distribution of reports showing increasing violence in that country.
The unusual public-relations effort by the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development comes as details have emerged showing the U.S. government and a representative of President Bush's reelection campaign had been heavily involved in drafting the speech given to Congress last week by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Combined, they indicate that the federal government is working assiduously to improve Americans' opinions about the Iraq conflict -- a key element of Bush's reelection message. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60725-2004Sep29?language=printer
Guantanamo, an intelligence Bust. 5000 arrests, no convictions, etc.
Prisoner interrogations at Guantánamo Bay, the controversial US military detention centre where guards have been accused of brutality and torture, have not prevented a single terrorist attack, according to a senior Pentagon intelligence officer who worked at the heart of the US war on terror.
Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Christino, who retired last June after 20 years in military intelligence, says that President George W Bush and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have 'wildly exaggerated' their intelligence value.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1318702,00.html
Porter Goss: Ideologue shows his stripes
When he was going through his confirmation hearings for the post of CIA director, Republican congressman Porter Goss swore repeatedly that he would end his career as a partisan hack. Yet, in his first week he named four Republican congressional aides to key positions in the CIA.
“Tensions” Continue at the CIA:
The tensions have simmered for years, mostly over intelligence about Iraq, including whether Iraq posed a threat. But in the last few weeks, they have surged into the open in a remarkable way, in a struggle in which both sides believe they have much at stake.
Already, the contents of classified intelligence estimates about Iraq have been leaked by people sympathetic to the C.I.A., to the considerable embarrassment of the White House. In response, the White House associated the documents' authors with "pessimists and naysayers," and President Bush initially dismissed one particularly damaging forecast as nothing more than a guess. And in newspaper columns in recent days, Republican partisans have variously described what is now afoot as part of an insurgency or vendetta being waged by the C.I.A. against the White House. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/politics/02intel.html?ei=5090&en=0a7bddde0d30458a&ex=1254456000&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=print&position=
Another Tax Aid for Business:
The strategy defies expectations that agreement can't be reached until a lame-duck session planned for November and appears driven by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, who has concluded that a deal is more feasible now than later.
The California Republican has been meeting with senators behind the scenes and last night distributed a working draft that reflects significant movement toward the Senate. Rep. Thomas said he is committed to a bill that won't add to the deficit as preferred by senators. His draft embraces a tax deduction for American manufacturers as proposed by the Senate rather than the corporate rate cut in the House bill. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109650010530831931,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
-R
