Can You Guess this Quote?

War is an option whose time has passed. Peace is the only option for the future. At present we occupy a treacherous no-man's-land between peace and war, a time of growing fear that our military might has expanded beyond our capacity to control it and our political differences widened beyond our ability to bridge them. . . .

Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war.

--Richard M. Nixon

Let's Not Forget Alabama!

Here's an old time favorite to get people out on the WRONG day.

UW - Madison sees GOP trying to trick students!

UW-Madison students in six residence halls received misleading information this week about how to vote, triggering allegations of dirty tricks. The Dave Magnum for Congress campaign and the College Republicans took responsibility and apologized for the mailing Friday evening, insisting it was an honest error.

But a progressive group called it a deliberate attempt to confuse student voters. And University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, saying he was concerned that students might not know where to vote, had e-mails sent to all students Friday afternoon containing correct information.

Honest ERROR? they accidentally put together false information about voting and handed it out? how do you slip up and do that? Their fliers said to "vote at the polling place of your choice." which is a GOP suppression trick that's as old as the hills, the idea being to send your opponent's voters to the wrong place. as you can see the GOP here is employing students in their activity.

scum.

GOP Vote Suppression in West Virgina.

Calls traced back to the GOP HQ in West Virginia have been going out to likely democratic voters. there have been 2 kinds. one 'informing' them that they cannot vote on Nov. 2 because they are not properly registered. the next round of calls did the same but the callers pretended to be from the Democratic HQ and tried to dig into the personal information of the voters.

Oh yeah, in Toledo the Kerry Get Out The Vote (G.O.T.V.) phone banks had their lines severed. 3 guesses at who did that.

So. Anyone see a pattern here yet?

More Dirty Tricks in Ohio

This is some of the stuff that the GOP is sending out in Ohio to cut down on voter turnout. Republicans can't win if more people participate in the democracy.

NO RAIN!

For heaven's sake, it cannot rain tuesday. that would be a disaster.

we went from 40% chance to 80% in the lst 8 hours. maybe it'll miss us. i don't care what it does, as long as its not between 7am and 7pm.

GOP Sues Talk Radio for being TOO Political.

You have to wonder if this is the can of worms they want to open. i just about wish that the GOP wins this lawsuit.

WASHINGTON -- In a complaint to the Federal Elections Commission, the National Republican Campaign Committee accused radio station KFI-AM (640)
co-hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of "criminal behavior" for attacking Rep.
David Dreier, R-Glendora, and endorsing his Democratic opponent, Cynthia Matthews.

By criticizing Dreier's positions on immigration, promoting a "Fire Dreier" campaign and making on-air appeals for voters to elect Matthews, the NRCC said, the hosts gave Matthews an unlawful corporate, in-kind contribution of more than $25,000.

So let me get this straight. these radio guys are crossing a line when they endorse a candidate and appeal to the audience to elect that person? this is an UNLAWFUL corporate contribution? oh PLEASE let this case win, because if it does, my friends...the lawsuit against Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh for the same thing will be enormous!

I think the GOP doesn't know how to handle someone on the radio that doesn't worship at the alter of the GOP platform. they've never heard of anything like this and they don't like it! this isn't the way their world works.

Voter Suppression, South Carolina Style!

So, has anyone reading this site noticed a pattern? Voter supression is an integral part of politics for the GOP. its pathetically unamerican and something they gleefully employ. below is the South Carolina example. there's a Senate race that teh GOP think they should have sewn up. They don't. their candidate is terrible, and the Democrat may win. They can't have that, so its time to try and suppress the black vote. This time with fake "NAACP" letters that threaten arrest if one tries to vote in certain cases. I'll put the Mississippi Voter Suppression report up soon. (thankfully, it is a small report so far). Anyway, from S.C.:

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Charleston County election officials cautioned South Carolinians on Friday to steer clear of a fake letter that threatens the arrest of voters who have outstanding parking tickets or have failed to pay child support.

"I'm outraged," said Jill Miller, director of the Charleston County Board of Election and Voter Registration. "This is so bogus." The one-page letter poses as a message from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Rev. Joe Darby, vice president of the state NAACP chapter, said he received the letter at his home in Charleston. It had Columbia postmark with no return address.

[...]

The letter says voters must have a credit check, provide two forms of photo identification, a Social Security card, a voter registration card as well as a handwriting sample.

South Carolina Voter Suppression

So, has anyone reading this site noticed a pattern? Voter supression is an integral part of politics for the GOP. its pathetically unamerican and something they gleefully employ. below is the South Carolina example. there's a Senate race that teh GOP think they should have sewn up. They don't. their candidate is terrible, and the Democrat may win. They can't have that, so its time to try and suppress the black vote. This time with fake "NAACP" letters that threaten arrest if one tries to vote in certain cases. I'll put the Mississippi Voter Suppression report up soon. (thankfully, it is a small report so far). Anyway, from S.C.:

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Charleston County election officials cautioned South Carolinians on Friday to steer clear of a fake letter that threatens the arrest of voters who have outstanding parking tickets or have failed to pay child support.

"I'm outraged," said Jill Miller, director of the Charleston County Board of Election and Voter Registration. "This is so bogus." The one-page letter poses as a message from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Rev. Joe Darby, vice president of the state NAACP chapter, said he received the letter at his home in Charleston. It had Columbia postmark with no return address.

[...]

The letter says voters must have a credit check, provide two forms of photo identification, a Social Security card, a voter registration card as well as a handwriting sample.

Here's Your Picture!

Because You Guys Can't Get Enough of this Stuff...NASA photo analyst: Bush wore a device during debate

More news on the Bush's Bulge...the lurking lump!

[Oct. 29, 2004] George W. Bush tried to laugh off the bulge. "I don't know what that is," he said on "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, referring to the infamous protrusion beneath his jacket during the presidential debates. "I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly tailored shirt."

Dr. Robert M. Nelson, however, was not laughing. He knew the president was not telling the truth. And Nelson is neither conspiracy theorist nor midnight blogger. He's a senior research scientist for NASA and for Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and an international authority on image analysis.[...] "I am willing to stake my scientific reputation to the statement that Bush was wearing something under his jacket during the debate," he says. "This is not about a bad suit. And there's no way the bulge can be described as a wrinkled shirt."

It goes on from there. Clearly the President was wired. the sad part? he did THAT BADLY with help!

Its Like 31 Flavors! what sorta Suppression do you WANT!?!

A federal judge just ruled against the Republicans that were attempting to force Ohio Election Boards to have hearings for 10,000s of challenged ballots (see the post below for details on this scam). Since they aren't being allowed to challenge on these bogus 'grounds' they're moving to plan #2:

Before the ink was dry on the judge's order, the Ohio GOP's top lawyer said the action meant the GOP would challenge such voters at the polls on November 2. 'We
wanted to have all these questions resolved this week,' said attorney Mark Weaver. 'Now they won't be resolved until Tuesday, when all of these people are trying to vote. It can't help but create chaos, longer lines and frustration.'

Of course this strategy has LONG been used by the GOP and would be in place even if the 1st plan hadn't fallen through. i've dealt with this so many times, it turns my stomach.

Video Proof.

There now seems to be video proof that the 380 tons of explosives removed from Al Qaqaa were videotaped by embedded reporters with the U.S. Military. That means the munitions used to kill our own troops were taken AFTER the fall of Iraq, when Rumsfeld had refused to send enough troops to handle the security during the subsequent looting. Lets see if bush continues to duck responsibility? who do you think he'll blame next?

More Ohio Suppression! Phony Letters Tell People they Can't Vote

More voter suppression--Ohio style! Phony letters sent to newly registered voters signed up by the NAACP and Democratic Campaigns. They say that their registrations were illegal, void, and not authorized by the Board of Elections. This message was 'sent' by Elections Director Jan Clair.

Of course Ms. Clair never sent the letter and all the information is bogus. note again who's been targeted and wonder aloud just WHO could be doing this. i'll give you 3 guesses.

GOP Voter Suppression in Ohio--See how it works!

Here's how they're challenging ballots now, before election day. The GOP gets a list of newly registered voters and picks out the names that are most likely democratic voters. they base this on name, neighborhood, and which organization did the registration. Next they send mail to that address and if the letter is returned or listed as undeliverable, then they are challenging the voter. the GOP has submitted 35,000 challenges so far. Of course, there are MANY reasons why someone's physical address (the one that decides what precint in which you vote) would not match the mailing address.

The transcript in the link shows a College Republican who's challenging authenticity such registered voters. these voters are being made to appear before the Election Board to PROVE they should have the right to vote (the right that they've already registerd for). It seems that this (above) isn't enough to meet the standards required by law for a challenge. the Board is none to happy and the little College Republican gets an INDICTMENT for what she's doing.

I say take those crooked bastards and screw them into the ground.

Here's a little Voter Suppression for ya--Milwaukee Style!

As you can guess, it was distributed ONLY in Black neighborhoods. more evidence that the GOP doesn't care much for that 'liberty and justice for all' part of the pledge.

Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow ! ! !

WOW! What a GREAT movie! This thing was a big love letter to the action of the sci fi and adventure serials of the 30s and 40s. I found myself excited through the whole thing, wondering ‘how are the going to get out of this’ and just wound up to see what was coming around each corner. Now THAT is what a movie is supposed to do to you.

It also didn’t hurt that I got a few of the homages and references that stood out to me:

The “Carriers” are a 30s, prop driven version of the Heli-Carrier from Nick Fury,
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The robots were from the AWESOME “Mechanical Monsters,” a Superman Cartoon of the 40s by Max Fleischer.

1138 pops up as an address and is a reference to THX 1138, George Lucas’
1st movie.

A “co-ordinance” given was a (local) zip code for one of the locations where shooting was done.

Joe Sullivan’s plane (a souped up P-40) was one of the “Flying Tigers” that fought the Japanese in Manchuria prior to WW2 but not actually as U.S. warplanes.

In the Newspaper Headline Montage you can see the outline of Godzilla in the Tokyo paper.

The Empire State Building/zeppelin docking in the beginning was an homage to reality and King Kong (1933). The movie shows zeppelin moorings in the last scene. Originally the building’s top spire was actually designed to allow zeppelins to dock and unload their passengers. Besides being an utterly terrifying idea, it
was completely impossible to do and thus abandoned.

The Electrical Security Device at Totenkopf’s door was an actual thing called a ‘Tesla Coil’ designed by Nikola Tesla. Tesla actually worked to create an electrical ‘Death Ray’ for the U.S. Government before WW1, but was unsuccessful...so we hear.

Things that were neat but I had NO IDEA about until later:

The villan’s name is Dr. Totenkopf, which roughly translates to DeathHead (thanks La Federala).

Dr. Totenkopf is played by Sir Lawrence Olivier, who died in 1989. He was CGI’d from archive footage.

The Tree bridge is a reference to King Kong (1933).

When Polly is on the phone w/ her editor as the robots attack, the words she uses to describe their approach are the same lines used by a reporter character in Orson Welles’ “The War of the Worlds” broadcast of 1938.

Arkansas Is In Play

This one is for gclark. While not a sure thing, Arkansas appears to be up in the air. i know many Mississippi Attorneys going there for the election to pitch in.

Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, just held a conference call with Arkansas media to announce a $250,000 television ad buy for
Arkansas. Starting tonight, and continuing through Election Day, the ads will run on stations in Little Rock, Ft. Smith, and Jonesboro.

McAuliffe said that the commitment, which is their largest in any Southern state besides Florida, was motivated by their own internal tracking polls, which show the
presidential race is a dead heat in Arkansas.

"The state is switching from red to blue," McAuliffe said. "We would not be spending a quarter of a million dollars there if it did not show that we could win."

Zogby and others show bush with 46% and 48%. the last few days have been hitting him and a new $500,000 ad buy that just dropped can't hurt. the ads came from the 'Win Back Respect' organization that has the BEST AD clobbering bush (it shows him joking about not finding WMDs then cuts to a woman who lost her brother while actually looking for WMDs. she didn't find the joke funny, and neither do i).

Maybe the Elvis of Arkansas (Clinton) can juice up the voting public too...?

The Drudge Report has Mud on It.

Anyone else notice that the Drudge Report has become the literal bullhorn of GOP mudslinging against the Kerry/Edwards campaign? now we all know drudge dips into this stuff from time to time, but the last few weeks seem to have one purpose: any headline must benefit the president. just an observation.

SEND IN THE CLONES!!

in an attempt to pad his millitary cred, the bush campaign is running ads where they 'fill in' the crowd with soldiers. you can see here where the same soldiers are digitally added to the shot! i guess the president's required loyalty oaths don't inspire the crowds.

What's the title of the ad? "Whatever It Takes"...How appropriate.

Bush Claims He's NOT Fit for Office!!

but i don't think he quite realizes he was talking about himself. heh.

Our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios, including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops even arrived at the site. This investigation is important and it's ongoing, and a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief.

With his record...I have to agree!

Just HOW BAD was Rumsfeld's Plan?

Let me remind you:

• When it all started, Rumsfeld claimed we only needed 40,000 troops going in.
• CENTCOM asked for 380,000.
• The Administration agreed to 250,000.
• They actually sent 140,000.

Last year General Abizaid testified before the U.S. Senate claiming, 'There is more ammunition in Iraq than anyplace I've ever been in my life and it's not securable, I wish I could tell you we had it all under control, we don't.' He addes that there were not enough forces anywhere to guard this ammunition in Iraq.

Bush short changes our soldiers and when he's called to take responsibility for it, he claims Kerry is badmouthing the very soldiers that Bush sold short! What a leader! never a bullet that someone ELSE can't take for him!

Could Have Been Worse!

From the AP:

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Mississippi State's football program was placed on four
years probation, stripped of four scholarships during each of the next two
seasons and banned from postseason play this year by the NCAA on Wednesday
because of recruiting violations.

The upside is that we're banned from post season play for one year...the ONE year there's no way in hell we'll ever GET a bowl game! so yeah...i'll take that!

The downside is that we're getting penalized for our school breaking the rules to recruit the WORST TEAM of the last 10 years!

You lie with Swine...

Salon reports that some in the Christian Right have offered a helping hand to the Cheney's for fixing their daughter's gay-ness:

Righties tell the Cheneys Mary can be cured

We're sure that Republicans will be shocked and appalled to learn that Mary Cheney is once again being dragged forward to make a partisan political point about homosexuality. Today, Concerned Women for America, the veteran right-wing organization founded by Beverly LaHaye, released 'About Mary: An Open Letter to Dick and Lynn Cheney.' Under the guise of praising the Vice President's daughter -- 'Mary is, I'm sure, a fine young woman with many wonderful qualities,' it says -- the missive actually uses her to make an argument about whether or not homosexuality is a choice.

Spies Like Us...

As you may recall...the former CiA Director George Tenent called the war in iraq 'wrong'. Now his (currently serving) counterpart from Australia--Dennis Richardson--has given the view from a coalition member.

He has linked the iraqi mis-adventure to the growth in number of the terrorists operating worldwide. in particular, followers of Osama Bin Laden have expanded operation in Australia. While he notes that Australia was a target before 9/11...he adds that iraq has become a propaganda machine for the movement.

HAW HAW HAW

i've resisted putting this one up for a while. here you can see the architect of the Florida theft of 2000 in the U.S. Congress. Former Fla. Sec. of State Katherine Harris--now U.S. Congresswoman--can be seen here in the background of a CSPAN shot all but making out w/ her pal Rep. Bob Simmons (R-Conn.).

somebody needs to get a room...heh heh heh.

Rehnquist Likely Worse off than Reported.

Medical experts have noted that the procedure the Chief Justice underwent is usually associated with a serious illness. it has been reported that he had a tracheotomy related to thyroid cancer.

That's the public news...but the experts i mentioned above have commented that such a treatment is most often for a form of cancer called "anaplastic carcinoma is an extremely serious and aggressive thyroid cancer which often results in the death of the patient...within several months of diagnosis." (Univ. of Va. Health Center).

Many have observed that the Chief Justice has been the least healthy of the 9 justices and expected him to be one of the 1st to leave the bench. Just as many have also observed that he (and some say O'Connor) would both like to step down but are reluctant to do so under a Democratic Replacement. i fully expected O'Connor to retire over the last 4 years but she did not. Now Rehnquist may be in such poor health he cannot choose when to leave.

i believe the next President may appoint more new members to the court than any since Nixon.

Caught RED HANDED!

Fla. GOP documents show that they have created lists of Democratic voters for the purpose of intimidation and challenging lawful voters. as has been said here before...the GOP uses supression to win. Note that this story is being covered by the BBC--NOT a U.S. paper (so far).

A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight
investigation reveals. Election supervisor Ion Sancho believes some voters are being intimidated

Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list".

It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.

An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: "The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day." [...]

In Jacksonville, to determine if Republicans were using the lists or other means of intimidating voters, we filmed a private detective
filming every "early voter" - the majority of whom are black - from behind a vehicle with blacked-out windows.

The private detective claimed not to know who was paying for his all-day services.

On the scene, Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown said the surveillance operation was part of a campaign of intimidation tactics used by the Republican Party to intimate and scare off African American voters, almost all of whom are registered Democrats.

Quote of the Campaign

As delivered by Bill Clinton today:

"Now, one of Clinton’s laws of politics is this, if one candidate’s trying to scare you, and the other one is trying to get you to think, if one candidate is appealing to your fears and the other one is appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope."

that is the quote of the campaign for the kerry camp.

Clinton Appearance - update

CNN reports that between 100000 and 120000 people showed u p to the kerry/clinton rally today. i saw the pictures. it was huge.

HARDBALL! ...FOXNews Style

Look at the TOUGH questions FoxNews has been giving Bush/Cheney in their sitdown interviews:

"I've got 15 questions for you. If they're dumb, tell me they're dumb."

"Do you think that when he says these things, John Kerry, your opponent, you were in these three debates with him, do you think he knows he's not telling the truth?"

"In light of the CBS document fiasco, do you think you get a fair shake from the network news and the elite media like the New York Times?"

"A guy over at Newsweek said 80 percent in the elite media favors Kerry. That doesn't surprise you, does it?"

"And you're healthy?"

"What's Chirac's problem? He hasn't been a great ally to the U.S. since 9/11. He doesn't want NATO forces to protect elections in Afghanistan. Come on."

"Do you have any theory on why college professors, pinhead press people why they go into the liberal realm?"

"Has the press given [Kerry] a pass?"

*"Is it a reality that we could turn on our television sets one day -- Fox News Channel, I hope -- and find out that a nuclear weapon has gone off here?"

"You've said one of the things you were most unhappy about is this issue of the tone in Washington. Let me just run down a list of prominent Democrats for a second here, because I can't remember a time in my life where it's been this bad."

"You're the president of the United States. You're also leading troops in harm's way. This is the leader of the opposition party [criticizing you]. Does that bother you?"

"John Kerry has flipped-flopped his way into a dangerous position [regarding Iraq]. So my question is, If John Kerry were president would he make this country more
vulnerable and more susceptible to terror attacks?"

"Now, all this was propaganda. All of this that you didn't ... They say you didn't register in Massachusetts [with the National Guard in 1973]. Is that bogus?"

Tons of Iraq explosives missing UPDATE!

Look at this:

A senior administration official told CNN that national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was notified about the missing weapons about a month ago. Iraq Survey Group inspectors are investigating, the official said.

The discovery was not made public sooner because standard intelligence practice is
not to let the enemy know such information, the official said.

if Condasleeza didn't know...she's incompetent. this happened EiGHTTEEN MONTHS AGO. now look how pathetic excuse is unders scrutiny. they say it wasn't made sooner so the enemy could be kept from knowing...knowing WHAT? that THEY HAVE the explosives? um...don't they already know!?! haw haw haw! we're not morons!

Heck...the only one that had this info hidden from them was CONDi RiCE if you believe this spin! Arming the Terrorists...Welcome to Bushworld!

Elvis Spotted in Philly!

Good lord. There was a SEA of people appearing for the Kerry/CLiNTON. I recall the hatred that Clinton inspired 10 years ago. That pales when you look at the way people seem to LONG for this guy again. Remarkable effect.

i saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's...

and his hair was perfect.

Grape Vine.

i've got some scuttlebutt about where the bush campaign is right now. i cannot really divulge my source but you can verify most of this yourself if you feel the need. here are some points he made:

I predict that Bush will lose. Please note that I still haven’t said Kerry will win. Bush will lose. I watch the inner workings of the campaign. I watch Bush and Kerry language, where they go, their tone, and the planted messages that are recited by rote on right wing talk radio. I see unbelievable desperation in the Bush camp.

The final tiny straw was today. THE WHITE HOUSE PULLED DOWN THE LIST OF NAMES OF COUNTRIES SUPPORTING THE U. S. ACTION IN IRAQ. It turns out that even tiny Costa Rica was embarrassed to be on the list. Also scrubbed from the White House web page (a government site) are links to the audio and video of President Bush’s statement that “I’m not that concerned about Osama bin Laden,” a Q &A when Bush said “misunderestimage” and Bush’s acknowledgement that his decision making on stem cell policy was “unusually deliberative for my administration.”

The Bush people are pounding mid-western states because it is beginning to look like Florida is lost. They need to make up the electoral votes.

He continues about the major things that have come along this weekend and things that should dominate the news as we lead into the election. none are good for bush:

380 tons of powerful conventional explosives are missing from a military installation poorly guarded by the U.S. because of the lack of manpower. That cache will be used to destroy more troops and more people. More poor Bush planning. Remember, those generals were fired who disagreed with Bush on troop strength. (Bush said he looked his generals in the eye and asked if they had what they needed. Of course this came after they cleaned house of any dissent).

50 Iraq soldiers were slaughtered, execution style. More Marines die.

The stock market tanked again and the DOW is around 9700. As the world loses confidence in American they also are losing confidence in our economy. (And some say it doesn’t matter what the world thinks.)

The White House has leaked information that John Ashcroft will not be included in the second administration.

In short, the Bush people are in a corner, barring their teeth, and that tells me they know something we don’t. Maybe, just maybe, we can take back our nation and
start repairing the damage of the past four years.

Rehnquist has cancer.

Seems the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (William Rehnquist) is undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer. the news shows seem to have been suprised by this news today. Rehnquist has been widely rumored to be the next to leave the court due to his health. expect him to retire soon if bush wins next this year.

Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site in Iraq

well this is pretty bad...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 24 - The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives - used to demolish buildings, produce missile warheads and detonate nuclear weapons - are missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.

The huge facility, called Al Qaqaa, was supposed to be under American military control but is now a no-man's land, still picked over by looters as recently as Sunday. United Nations weapons inspectors had monitored the explosives for many years, but White House and Pentagon officials acknowledge that the explosives vanished after the American invasion last year.

The White House said President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was informed within the past month that the explosives were missing. It is unclear whether President Bush was informed. American officials have never publicly announced the disappearance, but beginning last week they answered questions about it posed by The New York Times and the CBS News program "60 Minutes."

Administration officials said yesterday that the Iraq Survey Group, the C.I.A. task force that searched for unconventional weapons, has been ordered to investigate the disappearance of the explosives.

American weapons experts say their immediate concern is that the explosives could be used in major bombing attacks against American or Iraqi forces: the explosives, mainly HMX and RDX, could be used to produce bombs strong enough to shatter airplanes or tear apart buildings. The bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 used less than a pound of the material of the type stolen from Al Qaqaa, and somewhat larger amounts were apparently used in the bombing of a housing complex in November 2003 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the blasts in a Moscow apartment complex in September 1999 that killed nearly 300 people.

The explosives could also be used to trigger a nuclear weapon, which was why international nuclear inspectors had kept a watch on the material, and even sealed and locked some of it. But the other components of an atom bomb - the design and the radioactive fuel - are more difficult to obtain. "This is a high explosives risk, but not necessarily a proliferation risk," one senior Bush administration official said.

now add to that the fact that insurgents ambushed and killed 50 iraqi security soldiers yesterday and you can see where we're heading this week. not looking good.

Team America

well...it made me chuckle. a lot. the problem is that it was just funny to see puppets do stuff. the story--on the other hand--was kinda boring. i say wait for the DVD...and even then see if you still care. probably not.

The Safety President!

Our 'wartime president' said, when asked if we can be safe from another terror attack, "Its up in the air".

HEY! hear that? IT'S UP IN THE AIR! Now that that's certainty of leadership. can we? well, i'm glad to know bush has us at a resounding 'hell if i know!?" Now THAT's the sort of resolve you can't argue with? i'll have to remember that when someone asks me about my job. "beats me!" i wonder if the judge would be ok w/ that?

As Good As it Gets!

This is the best weekend in sports for the year. Sox in the World Series...struggling MSU beats ranked florida...Tulane beats UAB and the Saints Beat Oakland by 5.

just perfect.

Bush's Polls Don't look so Good.

Seem like the Bush folks are aware of some numbers that look pretty bad. i was wondering why he'd cut back his trips to 'must win' Ohio where he's lead much of the year. seems we now know...

GOP officials who talked to Bush-Cheney campaign leaders said the leaders have grown more worried about Ohio, Florida and other key states where Bush lacks a lead with just 10 days until the election. A poll by Ohio University's Scripps Survey Research Center, completed Thursday night, found Kerry leading 49 percent to 43 percent among registered voters, with a margin of error of five percentage points

...

The Republican official said polling for Bush showed him in a weaker position than some published polls have indicated, both nationally and in battlegrounds. In many of the key states, the official said, Bush is below 50 percent, and he is ahead or behind within the margin of sampling error -- a statistical tie.

"There's just no place where they're polling outside the margin of error so they can say, 'We have this state,'" the official said. "And they know that an incumbent needs to be outside the margin of error."

Nobody loves me but my mother...

...And she could be jivin' too."

Listening to B.B. king today. so far that's my favorite lyric.

Umm....HOLY CRAP!

Ashlee Simpson was on SNL this weekend and her lipsync got screwed up when the vocal started before she did. hee HAW! she actually just walked off the stage completely busted.

seems the vocal for the WRONG song started up when she was holding her mic no where near her mouth thus letting the audience know what she was trying to pull. SNL shouldn't let that sorta crap even be attempted....you know?

anyway--Ashlee the jerk BLAMED HER BAND for playing the wrong song! yeah. that's what was wrong.

video above!

Bush's Cocaine Troubles.

Well its out. Bush's volunteer work way back when was related to a cocaine bust. he's presented his work w/ the P.U.L.L. organization as just charity work he once did. This week the people that were there w/ him were interviewed to reveal that his work wasn't voluntary--it was forced on him after running into trouble w/ the law over his cocaine use.

SI.com - NCAA Football - MS State and Croom big win against Florida

GOOD LORD!!! MS State finds its pulse! and HOLY CRAP! Tulane won 59-55 against UAB (um...go defense...eh? heh)! if the Saints win tomorrow and the Sox win tonite it'll be perfect.

Movie Night 2.

Battle Royale
erg... A hyper controversial japanese horror/thriller/Action/Drama i've been wanting to see for a while.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
One of the 1st Film Noir movies!

Breathless
A foriegn film by Goddard. The French New Wave is overdue around here.

Big G.O.P. Bid to Challenge Voters at Polls in Key State

HERE iT COMES!

The GOP is putting 1000s to work in Ohio and other states to sit in precincts and challenge voters that seem like democrats. (read: non-white precincts). this is as much about delaying and tying up the polls as it is about anything else. i've dealt w/ these jerks first hand here in MS.

At the Movies.

i watched 2 movies tonite. 1st was "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." it affected me emotionally. enough that it really suprised me.

Next i watched "Ladykillers". i laughed out loud a lot but its not the best movie ever. i enjoyed it. i also had no idea it took place in Mississippi.

Voter Suppression Watch

Someone is calling Ohio voters--particularly elderly and democratic leaning voters--and telling them their precincts have been moved to another location. Of course--they haven't.

And so it starts...

New Features!

Mr. Mooch added some mail icons for each post. If you click on the envelope and you can send a post you find here on this site to any of your friends (or enemies)!

Win Back Respect

YOW! A pretty strong campaign ad.

This shows the comedy film bush made where he's looking around his office for WMD's. It was a comedy reel played for a joke at (i think) the Radio and Television Correspondent's Dinner (oh yeah, this is really happened).

However, the ad then cuts to the sister of a Soldier who died in Iraq. she doesn't think it's too funny that Bush is joking about not being able to find WMD's when her brother Died trying to find WMD's.

Ah...those College days.

A Raccoon Coat, Pennant, and a straw hat called a 'Boater'. oddly enough, you were suppose to wear a boater at political shindigs such as party conventions and the like.

i used to be facinated by the universal cartoon convention that this is what a college kid looked like (according to Looney Tunes).

23 Skiddoo!

So Bush is in the Lead?

Sorry to just pile on to what others have said but this is worth pointing out. Despite many (most) of the polls out there show kerry or bush in the lead but not beyond the margin of error. this margin shows that the actual number can actually be higher or lower than what's shown by the amount listed in the margin of error. technically if you are within the MoE you can't trully know who is ahead.

That being said--why is it when ikerry is in the 'lead' the race is called a toss-up and when bush has the 'lead' they claim he's leading the race? evidence below:

AP
AP Poll: Bush, Kerry in Dead Heat [...] In the AP-Ipsos Public Affairs poll, the Democratic ticket of Kerry and Sen. John Edwards got support from 49 percent of those who said they were likely to vote, and the Republican team of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney got 46 percent, within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Reuters
Reuters Poll: Bush Grabs One-Point Lead on Kerry [...] President Bush opened a slight one-point lead on Democratic rival John Kerry in a tight race for the White House, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Thursday.

Bush chides kerry for using the 'Politics of Fear'

He s hould talk to Cheney:

'The biggest threat we face now as a nation is the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever before been used against us -- biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind to be able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans,' Cheney said.

'That's the ultimate threat. For us to have a strategy that's capable of defeating that threat, you've got to get your mind around that concept,'

GOP Voter Supression.

Here a Republican talks about how disgusted he is with his party and their methods in supressing the vote in order to win. South Dakota's Bill Janklow talks about how this sort of thing has become a component of the GOP election day plan.

I personally witnessed Mel Thomson, a Republican, ill and in severe pain, force himself up from his seat to shake hands with then recently elected Democrat Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. He did it because he was a gentleman, but he also did it to show respect for the governor and for the people who elected her in a fair election a few months before.

That was yesterday.

Today we hear news that Charles McGee, the former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, and Allen Raymond, a GOP consultant, pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from their involvement in the jamming of telephones on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2002. Democrats' computer-generated calls to get out the vote were blocked and thus voters did not receive the intended message due to illegal action by some in the Republican Party [...]

This is a far cry from the party of Lincoln that proudly and correctly stood on principle to outlaw slavery. It is a far cry from the party of great and principled statesmen like Mel Thomson, Norris Cotton, Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower and Teddy Roosevelt. What a contrast between those great Republicans and current party leaders, who refuse to speak out against this despicable action by pathetic
political hacks.

James Tobin, President Bush's 2004 New England campaign chairman and the Northeast political director of the Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002, said, "These allegations date back to years and have absolutely nothing to do with the present campaign."

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Mr. Tobin, these allegations have everything to do with the present campaign because the people must feel confident that the 2002 election fraud will not be repeated. The best way to restore confidence is for all those involved to tell the truth now.

Both parties have a right to expect a fair election result even if it is not always a favorable one. Tobin also said, "It is disappointing, indeed, to see the opposition party (Democrats) manipulate the court system in a blatant attempt to influence the election."

What a mind-numbing hypocritical answer that is! Who is trying to influence
elections, Mr. Tobin? Please do not insult us further.

New Hampshire Democrat Party Chair Kathy Sullivan said, "The public should know Tobin's role in this, along with the roles of any other high-level GOP officials."

Kathy and I have not agreed very often, but she is absolutely correct. We need the truth now to restore confidence in the coming election. She has a right to be angry. Can you imagine the Republican outrage if the Democrats had been guilty of similar conduct? Does a party that refuses to tell the truth before Election Day deserve our vote on election day?

CNN Headline:

"PUBLIC SPLIT ON WHETHER BUSH IS A DIVIDER"

haw haw haw!

Knight Ridder - Washington Bureau 10/17/2004 Post-war Planning Non-Existent

That's the NEWS HEADLiNE...not mine. the news below is pretty remarkable. read and ask yourself if the TV news is asleep at the wheel for not covering this.ik

In March 2003, days before the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, American war planners and intelligence officials met at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina to review the Bush administration's plans to oust Saddam Hussein and implant democracy in Iraq. Near the end of his presentation, an Army lieutenant colonel who was giving a briefing showed a slide describing the Pentagon's plans for rebuilding Iraq after the war, known in the planners' parlance as Phase 4-C. He was uncomfortable with his material - and for good reason.

The slide said: "To Be Provided."

A Knight Ridder review of the administration's Iraq policy and decisions has found that it invaded Iraq without a comprehensive plan in place to secure and rebuild the country. The administration also failed to provide some 100,000 additional U.S. troops that American military commanders originally wanted to help restore order and reconstruct a country shattered by war, a brutal dictatorship and economic
sanctions.

In fact, some senior Pentagon officials had thought they could bring most American soldiers home from Iraq by September 2003. Instead, more than a year later, 138,000 U.S. troops are still fighting terrorists who slip easily across Iraq's long borders, diehards from the old regime and Iraqis angered by their country's widespread crime and unemployment and America's sometimes heavy boots.

"We didn't go in with a plan. We went in with a theory," said a veteran State Department officer who was directly involved in Iraq policy.

Again ask yourself: has any military expert (not affiliated/serving with the current admninistration) claimed we've had a sound post-takeover policy in iraq? Even General Franks who led the war into iraq has commented that the operation has been bungled after we won the invasion. there is no support for the president from virtually any military minds that don't call the president 'boss'. Think about what that means.

Canned.

Sinclair Broadcasting is the company that owns 25% of the TV stations out there. they are also the ones forcing their local affiliates to broadcast an anti-kerry documentary just before the election under the guise of 'news'. One of their bureau chiefs spoke out about it calling it unethical. the Sinclair group took it so well they fired him today. evidently there's no room for ethics OR Jonathan Lieberman at sinclair.

This Modern World

Pretty dead on yet funny cartoon. Anyone watching the media twist on the terrorism as "Nuisance" deal w/ kerry over the last week will like this too.

Jessie.

Sinclair Broadcasting is decision to force 25% of US stations to Run an Anti-Kerry documentary in the 2 weeks before the election. The movie is called "Wounds that Never Heal" to which Jessie Jackson quipped "For Bush & Cheney it was the 'Wounds that Never Occurred'!"

Heh.

Mississippi soldiers SAY THEY WON'T GO.

To show just how badly the Bush Administration has prepared for the Iraq war there's been a group of soldier...Many from here in Mississippi.

A 17-member Army Reserve platoon with troops from Jackson and around the Southeast deployed to Iraq is under arrest for refusing a "suicide mission" to deliver fuel, the troops' relatives said Thursday.

The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq--north of Baghdad--because their vehicles were considered "deadlined" or extremely unsafe, said Patricia McCook of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Larry O. McCook.

rest assured...We'll see no responsibility until November 2nd. there's a difference between asking our soldiers to risk everything for us and making them commit suicide because the President can't admit that he's not planned for this war. there's blood on Bush's hands and he's just afraid to look.

Cheney's daughter is Gay.

When Edwards mentioned that last week Cheney thanked him. kerry said the same in a complimentary way and you'd think the GOP was about to lose their minds.

well...excuse me if i'm not sympathetic to the GOP being 'shocked' when someone mentions a family member. i mean they NEVER said ANYTHiNG about Hillary Clinton...wait...they never stopped doing that! and don't tell me about her being a 'kid'. 1st of all...she's in her 30's a campaign executive and a gay rights activist...so don't give me the business that she's got no tie to any of this.

these GOP'ers are the ones that have a problem w/ gay people and they are the ones that want to act as if kerry called her some sort of 'name' or 'slur'. he didn't...but in their minds he did bc that is how they see being gay. i'm sorry but if you wanna be indignant...then you have to give half a damn about about gay people. if you don't...then shut the hell up about being hurt and shocked by all of this. if you want to get in a fight w/ me anytime soon...just come bring this up over the weeked.

Scary.

i've avoided the Draft issue here at Polly & the Mooch because it's so politically difficult now. none the less we have troop levels that we cannot maintain and something has to happen. i don't know what will happen...but this stuff on the link above is dangerous and scary.

start here w/ paul wolfowitz's quote.

i've been shown that there's a U.S. Selective Service website that ONCE showed that they were hiring to fill draft board positions and what do you know!?! that got yanked seems the google cache catches it! i'm trying to get you the link now.

UPDATE! HERE'S A LiTTLE!

One More Thought...Or Two.

Bush has tried his best to play up to the anti-gay crowd this year. to the extent that he's offered to amend the constitution to make them happy. The fact that he's put his VP through having to support this though his daughter is openly gay seems not to bother him too much. kerry touched on this fact and the GOP spin masters seem to have pounced on this (i guess there's not much else to go on. the polls show kerry killed--again). the are SHOCkED! i tell you...SHOCkED! that he'd DARE mention that Cheney's daughter is gay...let alone stoop to bringing her into the race. This is the spin they're gonna try but i can't see it lasting too long because it re-enforces a fact that they wanna avoid: Cheney's daughter is gay. openly gay. doing gay outreach work gay. that doesn't go over too well at the assembly of god church out in the country.

none the less...they want to act like the family is off limits which isn't true. never has been. (i'll take Hillary for $1000 alex). what HAS been off limits? minor children. of course that never stopped ole RUSH from comparing teenaged Chelsea to a dog...but hey! the thing is that Cheney's daughter is not a child and is specifically attacked by the President's amendment. if they don't want that to be fair game...well...they're playing the wrong game.

Finally...i have to say that the standard 'you're a liberal' crap that you can expect from the GOP just seemed to go no where tonite. bush is used to delivering those lines to adoring crowds who've already signed their loyalty oaths. when delivered to a crowd that's agreed to remain silent followed by (only) his own chuckles...well it looked bad. mabye even artificially bad. if i had to see that boob chuckle and giggle any more...i don't think i could take it. Very Presidential.

Lump Alert!

many of you have expressed an interest in this story. i still don't know why no one's looked at the 2nd debate shots of bush's cheat box. well anyway...here's a little bit more from tonite. the lump doth return.

oh...it also appeared on the David Letterman top 10 list:

10. "It's connected to an earpiece so Cheney can feed me answers--crap, I wasn't supposed to say that."
9. "It's a device that shocks me every time I mispronounce a word."
8. "Just a bunch of intelligence memos I haven't gotten around to reading yet."

7. "Mmm, delicious Muenster cheese."
6. "John Kerry initially voted for the bulge in my jacket, then voted against it."
5. "I'll tell you exactly what it is--it's a clear sign this econonmy is moving again."
4. "Halliburton is drilling my back for oil."
3. "Oh like you've never cheated in a presidential debate.
2. "Accidentally took some of Governor Schwarzenegger's 'roids."
1. "If Kerry's gonna look like a horse, then I'm gonna look like a camel."

My Post Debate Take

Well...not much to say. no knockoputs but bush didn't do as well. better than the 1st time but jesus...who couldn't? kerry just did a better job of controlling the debate and he sounded very presidential. one of the President's flaws is that he failed to really counter any attacks or challenges put against him. he detracted kerry and underminded his positions but never offered a defense of his own that was very effective at all.

That sorta thing appeals to people that were leaning your way already--and that very well may be the goal...but a president should be able to accomplish more than that and this one hasn't.

Pre-Debate Tea Leaves.

The final debate is a little over an hour away. we are entering the home stretch here its a pretty tense and harsh time. this final stretch will be bitter and there will be little time for rights or the wrong kind of democracy (who are YOU voting for? oh...well let me handle that registration form for you then).

The GOP have a hard fight. they have to move this wounded rotten apple they have to the safety of the election. just get him back in. the issues have long fallen away from their campaign. What do they do now? How do they push this guy? where's the fuel for the last drive?

i say it will fall back on the old GOP favorites. Taxes and liberals. you can expect that every program that kerry suggests doing differently than bush will be claimed as impossible w/o raising everyone's taxes. Bush will try to scare you into the thought that we just might be electing a liberal! i have to wonder just how well this works outside the GOP strongholds.

that is it. you won't hear ANYTHiNG more about what bush or kerry will do on domestic issues from bush. he's gotta get back to terrorism! iraq! the president is like a man nudged into waking up when the topic of what we do about our OWN country. he can't talk about that...there's no polling points in it for him...and just like that man nudged into waking up and being asked a question he doesn't want to hear. he blurts out the easy knee jerk stuff. taxes. liberal. its easier than think about it. who wants to think about the mess he's gotten us into anyway. certainly not the President.

enjoy the debates. i may not be up for the commentary afterwards. we'll see. i would like to hear what you guys thought about it though.

Bill O'Reilly: Sexual Harassment

Earlier today i saw a headline where O'Reilly was claiming to be extorted and suing someone over it. drudgereport.com didn't bother to post what this was over at first. Later it comes out that 'extortion' is what O'Reilly has called the sexual harassment he's accused of and the suit that was filed against him! Sounds like there may be a tape. heh. read the links below to get a better read on Mr. O'Reilly (not for kids).

From the smoking gun:

OCTOBER 13--Hours after Bill O'Reilly accused her of a multimillion dollar shakedown attempt, a female Fox News producer fired back at the TV star today, filing a lawsuit claiming that he subjected her to repeated instances of sexual harassment and spoke often, and explicitly, to her about phone sex, vibrators, threesomes, masturbation, the loss of his virginity, and sexual fantasies. Below you'll find a copy of Andrea Mackris's complaint, an incredible page-turner that quotes O'Reilly, 55, on all sorts of lewd matters. Based on the extensive quotations cited in the complaint, it appears a safe bet that Mackris, 33, recorded some of O'Reilly's more steamy soliloquies. For example, we direct you to his Caribbean shower fantasies. While we suggest reading the entire document, TSG will point you to interesting sections on a Thailand sex show, Al Franken, and the climax of one August 2004 phone conversation.

MORE Republcian Vote Supression.

Here's a new tactic for you. set up a shell organization to register people to vote in battleground state. next go through the forms and destroy the ones where people register as democrats! now they'll be non the wiser until they show up to vote and WHOOPS!! --they aren't on the rolls! this just adds another to the laundry list i put up earlier, showing the ways that the GOP tries to supress the vote. So what's bottomline? the more people vote, the more Democrats win....I guess we don't need THAT much democracy now do we? This scum is trying to steal the votes before they can be cast.

As compiled by Kos:

Found the following links which all seem to point to the same company that is suspected of tearing up Democratic voter registration forms in Las Vegas. It has set up registration drives in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida and Nevada and is accused of the same things in most if not all of these states. Sproul & Associates is a Republican consulting firm run by Nathan Sproul, former head of the Arizona Republican party and Arizona Christian Coalition.

Nevada: Voters Outreach of America AKA America Votes tears up Democratic voter registration forms in Nevada.

Oregon: Company claiming affiliation with non-partisan 'America Votes' to register voters in Oregon is actually GOP consulting firm Sproul & Associates, Inc.

West Virginia and Pennsylvania: Sproul & Associates AKA America Votes workers in WV and PA refuse to register Kerry voters.

Oregon Democrats in Oregon have complained that canvassers for Arizona based Sproul & Associates have been pressuring residents to register as Republicans so that they can get paid.

Arizona: Arizona Nader campaign was assisted in its petition drive by an unlikely figure: the ultra-conservative former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, Nathan Sproul.
About Sproul: Good background story on Sproul and his political track record, cached on Google.
The link: Here is the direct link between Sproul and Voters Outreach of America. According to several sources, two of the contractors Sproul hired to oversee petition gathering for No Taxpayer Money For Politicians -- Aaron "A.J." James, who directs Voters' Outreach of America, and Diane Burns -- were also paid by Sproul to get as many signatures as possible for Nader.

But Mr. Mooch, who's PAYING for all this you ask?

KLAS-TV, Las Vegas:"The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee."
CareerBuild.com listing: Help wanted ad for Voters Outreach of America says "Paid for by the Republican National Committee".

Clear enough for ya?

Does the Corruption Ever End?

I guess not before Nov. 2. Here we AGAIN have the bush administration using the war in iraq to profit the Bush Families business partners.

Former Secretary of State James Baker, the Special Presidential Envoy in charge of reducing Iraq's debt, is also Senior Counselor at the Carlyle Group, which is involved in a multibillion-dollar deal to purchase Iraq's debt to Kuwait. This constitutes "a classic conflict of interest," according to a leading expert on government ethics and regulations.

These are the same guys that put Enron on their taskforce to 'fix' the energy crisis a few years ago. little did we know that fix meant 'rig' and not 'correct'.

BUSH WAS WiRED!

the mysterious lump on bush's back during the 1st debate was part of an earpiece device acording to an expert that sets these machines up for the military:

Now a technical expert who designs and makes such devices for the U.S. military
and private industry tells Salon that he believes the bulge is indeed a transceiver designed to receive electronic signals and transmit them to a hidden earpiece lodged in Bush's ear canal.

"There's no question about it. It's a pretty obvious one -- larger than most because it probably has descrambling capability," said Alex Darbut, technical and business development vice president for Resistance Technology in Arden Hills, Minn. Darbut examined photographs of the president's back taken from the Fox News video feed at the first presidential debate in Coral Gables, Fla., as well as 2002 photos of the president driving and working in a T-shirt on his Crawford ranch, which were posted on the White House Web site.

after lots of jokes dismissing it they wouldn't say 'no' until last week...but the story has been building...

Despite the official denials, the bulge brouhaha is still ballooning. On Tuesday, the New York Daily News produced a master tailor named Frank Shattuck who, after viewing photos from both debates, confirmed, "There's definitely something there, in between the shoulder blades. I can't say what it is, but it's not hidden very well. They should have come to me. I can hide a pistol under the breast."

This article shows a few photos but i'm shocked that no one has shown pics from the 2nd debate. i saw the lump in that one live on TV. the most compelling evidence so far has been the previous times Bush was caught having his lines fed to him. the article uncovers 3 instances where it happened. so far the NYTimes and the Washington Post have both covered the story. this followed salon's 1st story and now we have story number 2 from salon. if the news media looks at the 2nd debate video and really dives into this it could be devestating for Bush. i don't think this country could take the idea of a President that has to have someone tell him what to say. the election would be done. any thoughts on this one?

Dead.

Christopher Reeve died last night. as a child and as an adult i felt deeply inspired by him. he will be missed.

The Missile Shield Idiocy

Despite the $130 Billion price tag and remarkable failures in the testing that lead up to this deployment, we're about to have a 'missle shield'. now tell me, just who is this to protect us from? China? This is pathetic. We're pursuing Reagan era protections (remember Reagan's "Star Wars" program? well that was largely a fake missle shield system which was primarily designed to scare the russians rather than actually work).

The pursuit of this program is remarkable in its lack of understanding of POST-Cold war threats, the willingness to forego proven systems when there's war profiteering to be done, and the abject disregard of budgeting discipline. well, i for one thank my stars we have a poorly working system that will likely not protect us from a form of attack which: (a) has never been visited upon american soil and (b) is less likely to happen now than at any other time in the last 60 YEARS.

Bush sure is conservative!

Where's that LIBERAL MEDIA when I need it?

NEW YORK — The conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose television outlets reach nearly a quarter of the nation's homes with TV, is ordering its stations to preempt regular programming just days before the Nov. 2 election to air a film that attacks Sen. John F. Kerry's activism against the Vietnam War, network and station executives familiarwith the plan said Friday.

Sinclair's programming plan, communicated to executives in recent days and coming in the thick of a close and intense presidential race, is highly unusual even in a political season that has been marked by media controversies.

Has the media just ignored this? i've seen nothing on the TV news networks.

Over at the Talkingpoints website we find that the guy who created this film worked for the Bush Administration's Homeland Security media operation. so just how far can the president go to control this sort of 'news' for his campaign and still get away with it? Moverover, who thinks that mass ownership of the media by a handful of people really has no effect on what we get to see and hear?

HOLY JAMOLEY! NYTimes Picks up on the Bush Earpiece Story

Good lord! if this has any legs, it will be devistating. Evidently after that salon article ran, the white house was flooded with questions. here are the answers they fumbled out:

First they said that pictures showing the bulge might have been doctored. But then, when the bulge turned out to be clearly visible in the television footage of the evening, they offered a different explanation.

"There was nothing under his suit jacket," said Nicolle Devenish, a campaign spokeswoman.

"It was most likely a rumpling of that portion of his suit jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric."

Ms. Devenish could not say why the "rumpling" was rectangular.

Nor was the bulge from a bulletproof vest, according to campaign and White House officials; they said Mr. Bush was not wearing one.

Pretty weak. this will probably go away but if not, it may be crippling. the idea that the president, this strong leader, cannot present his own record without any help. the idea that this president could not function without the training wheel guidence of his staff will be submitted and those dreams of a new face added to Mt. Rushmore will have to dissolve away.

Salon.com News Bush's mystery bulge

there's been a story that's been making the rounds lately. the link is above. its aobut this mysterious bulge on bush's back. it clearly looks like he has something under his coat, and many have speculated that he was using an earpiece to have lines fed to him last week. I was somewhat skeptical about this because this is pretty difficult to do in a debate format. of course, that may be the point. he did an awful job. part of the scuttlebutt on this has to do with a point in this debate where Bush was talking and, while not being interrupted by anyone else, began to talk to a mystery person...demanding 'can i finish?' at a time when no one was talking to him. odd.

Anyway, this article points out a few things that make me wonder:

Suggestions that Bush may have been using this technique stem from a D-day
event in France, when a CNN broadcast appeared to pick up -- and broadcast to surprised viewers -- the sound of another voice seemingly reading Bush his lines, after which Bush repeated them. Danny Schechter, who operates the news site MediaChannel.org, and who has been doing some investigating into the wired-Bush rumors himself, said the Bush campaign has been worried of late about others picking up their radio frequencies -- notably during the Republican convention on the day of Bush's appearance. "They had a frequency specialist stop me and ask about the frequency of my camera," Schechter said. "The Democrats weren't doing that at their convention."

Friday's debate went better for him. i have to wonder if anyone else saw the bulge under his coat last night. i thought i did.

Second Thoughts...

i think ikerry dikd a better job on the debate. he clearly won on healthcare...north korea....and the iraqi coalition issue. and again--with further thought--you just can't give it to bush simply because he didn't blunder through this one. he DiD get something out of it but i can hardly give him the win.

Debate Night part 2 (or is that 3?). Notes as we go commentary and observations from Mr. Mooch.

Bush is doing a LOT better. So far he's sounded good but not better than kerry. i've noticed some odd faces bush has made to the crowd but nothing crazy. it's a tough angle but if you follow the bush view on WMD and terror you have to just accept non sequitors. to wit: we had to go to iraq because the war on terror is bigger than just Afganistan...but don't ask me about why my expanded war on terror didn't hit actual terrorists.

AWESOME line: General's job is to win the war and the Pres' job is to win the peace. (talking about the fact there weren't enough troops on the ground.) this got the crowd nodding. Bush claims he gave the generals what they needed. unfortunately no other generals agrees w/ him.

WHOA! bush just said the report this week that shows iraq had no WMD since 1991 was proof sanctions didn't work...uh...WHAT!?!? that just doesn't make sense.

bush just said he 'heard there's rumors on the internets" HAW HAW HAW! i personally like to get on the interweb.

this debate seems more relaxed and thus more free flowing and less dreamatic.

HAW!! there goes a Poland SHOUT OUT!! woop woop! you knew that was coming and leading up to the comment bush got so mad he just shouted out/over the moderator...testy!

jesus...bush's riffing. i love this stuff. he just starts running through the campaign slogans. sometimes it just doesn't make sense. ...god...i should be doing shots.

drugs: Bush just got spanked. his defense for defeating cheap drugs from canada was 'but clinton did it too!" that was after he claimed he didn't actually block it.

Tort reform was a thud for kerry but bush can't hit it out of the park. bullet dodged...or at least got a nick. kerry hinted at caps on lawsuits. NOBODY believes that. note to anyone talking about caps: you cap a lawsuit and you punish ONLY those who PROVE their case was legit. you punish those w/ a GOOD case and ignore the 'bad' ones.
bush has been much more at ease in this format. one has to wonder about the wisdom of putting the 'home run' iraq debate on the opening night and the more relaxed 'town hall' meeting format on a friday when fewer people would be there to watch.

20 minutes left. nobody just walked off w/ this one. bush did SO MUCH better than a week ago that that's gonna be the story here. the question is how far can you run on 'i did better than "utterly bumbling"?' my guess is that it will firm up the even race we are in at this point.

ok ...the mendacity pulled me away. bush just claimed to be the only pres. to allow stem cell research (while somehow being the only one to ever ban it). what a crock. kerry just hit him right in his pentacostals! haw! kerry said you call it killing but then allow it on some stem cell lines? haw haw haw.

holy moses. bush just flubbed a dred scott reference.

Abortion: kerry just did a great job on the abortion issue.

closing statements: wha? oh i was getting some ice.

my apologies...this has gotta be a boring review. maybe i'll do a better version later. of course...if you liked it...CHEERS! bush didn't utterly fall on his face...which seemed to be the standard tonite. it was probably a draw that changed no one's mind and neither really connected or really 'brought it home' either. well bush's victory came from NOT falling dead on his face but hell...who wants to win that? that's like a goal for the simple. well...i guess that's what we're talking about.

An ill-advised Bulldog

i'm not much of an animal person. i don't hate them but i'm not the guy that just goes gaga over a pet or HAS to be near their beloved animal. i never wish them ill--which the idea of makes me uncomfortable--but none-the-less i've never really cared for them. well i'm finding myself wanting a dog. not just a dog...a BULLDOG! since a few years ago (watching Van Wilder) it got into my head that it would be cool to have a little tree trunk of a dog wandering around my house.

i'm utterly convinced this is an awful idea. one of those things that will get old VERY fast. i don't really want or care for dogs. i just have the Bulldog on my brain for some reason. i don't care for the everyday tending to pets. i've never enjoyed the company of dogs after the age of about 4.

Yeah. this sounds like a bad idea. maybe i should look into an aquarium...?

CNN.com - Official: No WMD stockpiles in Iraq - Oct 6, 2004

I wasn't going to post about this because I'm tired of every single entity in the world giving us the 'final word' on this (senate, UN, etc.). However I will give you this observation. On the eve of war, Bush gave Saddam a deadline to show us his WMD. Cough 'em up, or we invade. He didn't, and THAT was the actual 'trigger' that bush claimed as the reason we went to war. The last chance to avoid it, as he claimed. Now think about this. How could war be avoided if there was nothing to cough up? How could ANYONE on earth prove to bush that war was not necessary?

the answer? Who cares. It didn't matter what was done. The decision was made to go to war and nothing as insignificant as 'the facts' would de-rail that decision.

Peace in the Middle East?

From the AP:

Meanwhile, a former leading figure in the Iraqi National Congress party - the party led by Ahmad Chalabi - remained defiant after an Iraqi court indicted
him Sunday for visiting the "enemy state" of Israel.

Seems we're on the road to peace over there. Iraq's government isn't even 6 months old and Israel is already an enemy state!

CHENEY ADMITS BRIBE FROM HALIBURTON!

(Thoughts from an earlier conversation today) As you should know, Dick Cheney still gets money from Haliburton. He gets millions of dollars--NOW--while serving as the VP and clearly wielding influence that got them their No-Bid contracts worth Billions.

None the less, we have gotten the defense that this money comes from an agreement he made before being elected. Supposedly (and I believe this) he made an agreement to defer payment of "his pay" into the future. They’d fall as payments over the ensuing years and the deal was struck regardless if he was elected VP or not.

Now we, like the press, are expected to be OK with that. Well, I’m not and they shouldn’t be.

OK, just what the hell IS a bribe if not a pre-payment for some benefit to be delivered later? Is the fact that they worked the logistics out ahead of time supposed to make it not a bribe? They claim that no one knew if he was going to be elected so how could it be a bribe. Well, that implies that you are only bribing someone if you KNOW what you want will come to pass. That’s not true at all.

It’s a prepayment for something to be done in the future. No one bribes AFTER THE FACT! This has always been the explanation from the VP and the press has just nodded its head. They act as if an agreement to give millions to a guy that can influence the government to giver your company billion$ in no bid contracts is just some sort of common business set up. Its not. They tried to impeach Clinton over a land deal where he’d LOST money and they couldn’t prove the undue influence. Here the VP admits it and we’re supposed to act like its all ok.

Cheney should be held accountable. Don’t hold your breath.

The Daily Scribble: 10.06.04

I cannot tell you enough. this guy is great. Check out the VP Debate 'toon!

ONE LAST THiNG.

best line(s) of the night from Edwards:

'He voted against Head Start.'
'He voted against banning plastic weapons that can pass through medical detectors.'
'He voted against 'Meals on Wheels' for Seniors.'
'He voted against a holiday for Martin Luther King.'
'He voted against a resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela.'

Cheney had not a word to say to counter it. next time you see a cheney fan...drop that quote on them. indefensible.

As you could guess...somebody took a Poll.

CBS 'instapoll' results, from 200 undecided voters nationwide:

'Who won?'
Edwards: 42 %
Cheney: 29 %
tie: 29 %

'Debate improved your opinion of the candidate?'
Cheney: 29 %, opinion improved
Edwards: 58 %, opinion improved

Odd fact: when light of the question of Bush's qualifications to be Pres. 24% of these undecided voters in the CBS poll said that they were 'scared' of the idea of Dick Cheney as president. YOW! Who knows the quality of this poll but this isn't too bad. (this was reported by CBS and compiled on Salon.com)

Little Effect.

Here are some quick notes on the debate w/o me having seen any commentary so far:

This last Debate should produce little effect. that may not be true but it shouldn't do much. no one hit it out of the park. if you like a little rougher edged attack, you Dick Cheney did it. If you like a more 'above the fray' style attack then John Edwards did it. neither hit a home run or anywhere near it.

Let's stop for a second and just say that the moderator was the WORST in the history of the Pres/VP debates. badly worded questions, bad management of the debate, just bad.

now that i got that out of the way, you have cheney who slouched over the whole time. i kept having to look at the top of his head. he seemed calm and deliberate but only a few times really did he seem to have the upper hand. he's a deliberate speaker but with both these guys, it seemed they'd mostly be pleasing to the folks that liked them already.

I have to say Edwards was somewhat disappointing. while he did seem to have that charm he's famous for, he also screwed up his words a few too many times. not badly but we expect more from him. His answers could, at times wander all over the place and land anywhere but on point with the question. of course he wasn't the only one and the moderator had some god awful questions.

I really did not enjoy this debate. no fireworks. i don't expect it to have much of an impact unless the post-debate spinmasters see something i didn't. the problem is that they only have 2 days until the presidential candidates go at it again so that spin would be lost.

I got a little tired of having better answers in my head than Edwards had in his mouth. this is me being critical, but because i'm slightly annoyed. i just felt like he was trying to bunt the softballs that went his way.

I say there was no head and shoulders winner out of Edwards, Cheney, or the audience. you want a winner? i think you could really only go where ever you were leaning anyway. we'll see if anyone else agrees.

you Know what? i give it to Cheney. he was better prepared and Edwards was all over the place. i got tired of Edward having to go bac to the previous questions to try and clean it up. not good. he didn't seem BAD but he was all over. Edwards gave a MUCH better closing statement but here's the thing. no matter if you HATE cheney's views...he's certain about them and he put it out there well.

That being said...Cheney had a better control over the direction of the debate. to me Edwards seemed a little more canned. i give it to Cheney but not by much. 55 to 45. none the less...i don't expect it to be a problem.

Final thought: the edwards of tonite could not have pulled off the job kerry did last week (and i've been a LONGTiME edwards supporter).

Polly Explains the Polls.

lately there's been a BIG lead for bush in the gallup polls (until the debates came). here's why: they were weighting the polls with more GOP participants. guess what happens? you get a better turn out for bush. take a look!

Likely Voter Samples
Poll of September 13-15
Reflected Bush Winning by 55%-42%

GOP: 40%
Dem: 33%
Ind: 28%

Poll of September 24-26
Reflected Bush Winning by 52%-44%

GOP: 43%
Dem: 31%
Ind: 25%

Poll of October 1-3
Reflected Dead Heat 49%-49%

GOP: 35%
Dem: 39%
Ind: 26%

Also note above that it said "Likely Voters". this is commonly what we see in the news lately. that means registered voters that have a history of voting in previous elections. this sort of poll is designed to completely ignores the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of new voters on the rolls now. it also ignores voters too young to have a vote history. This just shows that a good turnout of new/young/pissed off voters can knock these poll numbers out of the water.

GOP mailing claims Democratic candidate, an Iraq vet, 'weakening' terror war

Amazing! The GOP attacks a man that FOUGHT their war for them. his crime? Not agreeing with the GOP version of the war on terror.

NORFOLK, Va. -- A state Republican Party mailing accuses Democratic congressional candidate David Ashe--a Marine Corps veteran who served in
Iraq--of "weakening the war on terror" by supporting John Kerry.

A flier sent on behalf of his Republican opponent, Thelma Drake, says Ashe and the
Democratic presidential candidate are "two peas in a pod" on "issues like higher
taxes, abortion on demand and the war on terror."

So it seems you can't be a vet and a Democrat. Otherwise they just brand you a traitor. what scum. Shouldn't somebody be egging Thelma Drake's house right now? better yet. thelma...why don't YOU go over to Iraq and show 'em how its done!

The Incompetence.

If you don't want to take my word for it. Read this if you want to have a clear view of what's before us.

Bush Calls Kerry a Danger

Quote swiped from yahoo via www.45net.org:

CLIVE, Iowa (Reuters) - President Bush sought on Monday to regain momentum after John Kerry's jump in the polls, calling him a danger to world peace and shifting gears to drop a health policy speech and focus instead on the war on terror in which the president still holds a solid lead.

This is how bad the debate hurt bush. Think about this: the 'coup' bush supposedly got was that the 1st debate was about foreign policy and that would certainly center around iraq and the war on terror. The 1st debate also gets the best ratings. The hope was that bush would be able to hit it out of the park. This is exactly what he's been building up. Bush is strong on protecting the US and Kerry won't protect us. This is a delicate mantra. Bush wants you to be damn scared of the dangers out there and at the same time feel that he's keeping you safe...All at the same time.

The trouble comes when bush has to move out from the world of his commercials and his rallies filled with people forced to sign loyalty oaths. That's what the debate was.

bush thought his TV ads and stump speeches were a good enough for the policy questions coming his way. When laid next to an opponent with real answers he was stumped. He didn't care for how bad it made him look and he often found himself struggling to find something to say for the full 90 seconds. It was pathetic.

Bush now has to pick up the pieces. Normally he'd be building up to the next debate which centers more on domestic issues. As you can see above he had to drop that homeland stuff. Bush's ONE winning issue has been terrorism concerns. The debates kicked those numbers in the teeth and now we're seeing the utter desperation. bush has abandoned the old implied scare tactics of his campaign to actually claim that a Kerry presidency would enganger the world. you now...it doesn't really bother me now because its so obvious...so desperate...so craven....you can just smell it on him. this is the thrashing of a man defeated. dead.

i say give me more articles like this! i'd like to see him flail about on his way to the bottom.

GREAT Toon!

i plug this guy on my site bc he's great. i look at his stuff every day. this one was great in every aspect.

Debate Night...My take:

2 thumbs up! In boxing there's a term for a guy that gets beat by a more skilled boxer. one that just out did him on the different areas. its called "out classed". Bush was clearly out classesed.

bush looked like a kid struggling to explain himself after (clearly) gettting caught doing something wrong and the split screen of him and kerry wasn't helping him when kerry was talking. best of all, bush tried to use the flip flop business and it went over weakly. bush would use it as a whole answer to a question. calling kerry a flip flopper, then kerry aptly brushed it away and gave a real answer leaving you feeling like bush didn't have much to say on thetopic other than the name calling.

all in all, it was a revealingly weak performance for bush. you know, surrounding yourself with people in "townhall meetings" that must take loyalty oaths to get in the door isn't the best way to get yourself sharp for a debate. he clearly lost and there was little spin material given over by kerry. that will prove to be one of the best parts of this.

On several occasions, while explaining himself on difficult questions,bush said 'this is a hard job'. oh is it? well, was that a shock toyou? being president IS a hard job but you aren't much of a presidentwhen that statement is part of an explaination on how bad of a jobyou're doing. let me show you one example from the night:

In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough.

It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's-and it's hard work.

I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work.

We're making progress. It is hard work.

You know my hardest, the hardest part of the job is to know that I provide comfort for the loves ones who lost a son or a daughter or husband and wife.

Her husband, P.J., got killed-been in Afghanistan, went to Iraq. You know, it's hard work to try to love her as best as I can knowing fullwell that the decision I made caused her, her loved one to be in harm's way.

Yeah, we're the job done. It's hard work.

Understand how hard it is to commit troops. I never wanted to commit troops. I never - when I was running - when we had the debate in 2000, never dreamt I'd be doing that, but the enemy attacked us, Jim, and I have a solemn duty to protect the American people, to do everything I can to protect us.

Which leads us to one of my favorite parts:

Jim Lehrer had asked Bush about his policy of preemptive war. Bush claimed to
have "never dreamt" of starting a war before Sept. 11 "but the enemy attacked
us, Jim."

Kerry: "The president just said something extraordinarily revealing and frankly very important in this debate. In answer to your question about Iraq and sending people into Iraq, he just said, 'The enemy attacked us.' Saddam Hussein didn't attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al-Qaida attacked us. And when we had Osama bin Laden cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora, 1,000 of his cohorts with him in those mountains, with the American military forces nearby and in the field, we didn't use the best trained troops in the world to go kill the world's number one criminal and terrorist ... That's the enemy that attacked us. That's the enemy that was allowed to walk out of those mountains."

Bush: "Of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us, I know that." (which was sorta funny because he'd already mixed up Saddam and Bin Laden earlier in the night).

On many occasions Bush seemed unable to extend his comments past the soundbites of his commercials and he had a few moments where he clearly drew a blank and would stare off searching for his words.

final note:

i've seen nothing on this in the press. During the lead up to the debate we heard a LOT about the strict rules and how the president won out by brokering the deal so that there was to be virtually no back and fourth between the candidates and as i recall, no extended follow ups. on SEVERAL occasions bush interrupted the moderator to demand these rules be ignored. HIS rules.

Tonight was billed as the bush's strongest area. if they wanted this to be his knockout punch, they better start worrying about the next 2 debates