MADCAPADAM will like this.

i swear the press conferences seem to always be funny. The press seems to be getting really frustrated with the white house. read on...!

BUSH, READY FOR ANYTHING!

(from Swirly) At a news conference with Georgian President Saakashvili yesterday, they were alternating between English and Russian language questions;
This is from the official transcript;

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. Hold on for a second. Deb, we're going to --

Q: What do you think about --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Hold on. Will somebody translate --

PRESIDENT SAAKASHVILI: It's in English.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I understand. I understand.

25 Miles - Edwin Starr

IS there a more excited, urgently thrilled song than "25 Miles" by Edwin Starr? Likely not.

The New Republic

Something i hear about every week put into perspective (from the article):

President Bush and his allies have long blamed "activist judges" for thwarting democracy. But in San Francisco, where democracy has produced gay marriage, conservatives aren't dreading judicial activism. In fact, they're counting on it.

KNOW THY RAP!

As much as sampling James Brown did for Hip Hop, the remake of The Ventures song "APACHE" by The Incredible Bongo Band (i could not be making this up) is perhaps the paradigm for a decade of hip hop AND dance music. find this song and be amazed.

THE FIRST SEAL IS BROKEN

I just took an overt action to acquire and listen to "baby come back" by Player. I swear this is THE song that soft rock radio was built around.

...The shame....

Speaking of music, I've got a few things on my mind:

*Can't get enough of The Spinners' "The Rubberband Man", recently highlighted in some office depot like commercial.
*I am trying to put together an essay on Memphis without completely or inadvertently stealing the whole thing from the book I'm reading.
*trying to buy FRESH and STAND! by Sly & the Family Stone and no one has them.

and finally, the theme song...anyone that's talked to me for more than a few hours will probably get around to me telling about the opening credits to POLLY AND THE MOOCH. POLLY AND THE MOOCH has a theme song. It's called "Hip Hug Her" by Booker T and the MG's. it is set over our opening credits which i envision as an animated short centered around Mr. Mooch and I joining up in my convertible and driving through downtown jackson. as we stop at each light we see our re-occuring co-stars like La Federala and Gorj. the camera of course freeze-frames on them before we drive on. Now if only i knew someone that could do this in Flash Animation, ohhh.. I don't even like to think about it too much...Mostly because i'm ready to pay someone to make it a reality.

Tenet Says Dangers to U.S. Are at Least as Great as a Year Ago

Oops! The President can't like this. I can't count the times that Bush has said 'We're safer now without Saddam in power.' So what does it mean when the head of the CIA says we're not? Bush just can't get a break, can he? (good!)

Putting Bias in the Constitution

The NYTimes piece on the Family Marriage Amendment (FMA) is somewhat telling in what it does NOT say. read:

"The Constitution has been amended over the years to bring women, blacks and young people into fuller citizenship. President Bush's amendment would be the first adopted to stigmatize and exclude a group of Americans. Polls show that while a majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, many would prefer to allow the states to resolve the issue rather than adopting a constitutional amendment. They understand what President Bush does not: the Constitution is too important to be folded, spindled or mutilated for political gain."

Note they go from saying how a majority feels into saying "many" agree with the author that the amendment is bad. I have a sneaky suspicion that this is because a (slim) Majority may also be in favor of the amendment. the Times certainly wants to keep that fact down (in the editorial page, at least). This gets to my complaint over this issue--it's too much, too fast. Gay Rights advocates, in my mind, are foolish to press so hard at this point. With a President looking for any issue he can hold onto (to cover himself on his own record), they are handing him a goldmine. Bush has a few hundred million dollars to fund this backlash and make it the centerpiece of the election year conversation. This gives Bush troops, a message, and a point that he might not have had before. I'm deeply concerned about the galvanizing effect that this might have for the people normally turned off by the bush legacy.

The Gay Marriage issue would have had MUCH more political mileage (with much less risk) in 2005. The advocates just couldn't wait that long and the GOP thanks you for it. The Post also had a few things to say. Notably, they too were unwilling to say that a majority of people may just favor the amendment:

"This reluctance is not surprising, said Andrew Kohut, whose nonpartisan Pew Research Center has polled extensively about gay marriage. Recent polls, including a new Washington Post-ABC News survey, show majorities oppose gay marriage, but the public is divided on the need for a constitutional amendment."

This has to be a concern of both sides.

Justices Overturn Texas Death Sentence

Amazing. This man had a stay of execution placed 10 minutes before he was to die in 2003. the Supreme Court Ruled this week that the prosecution broke the law by hiding evidence in his case in order to get the conviction. You know, when prosecutors do this, it not only hurts the innocents that get convicted, it insults the victims of the crime when the real guilty party is knowingly allowed to go free.

Kinda Clever...

Edwards is behind and Bush seems to be sharpening his claws for Kerry, so what does Edwards do? He says 'look at bush trying to pick the nominee himself. He's afraid of a race with ME! all the more reason to nominate John Edwards' (paraphrased).

heh. i agree.

Bush to Back Gay Marriage Ban Amendment

Told you so! The only question is whether they push for it BEFORE the election? I say no (but with great pressure to do so). Anyone have an idea on this?

For the sake of repeating myself AGAIN, I have to tell you that we are in for a stormy election. The president is having to do THIS sort of stuff to energize his base, the people that are with him or NO ONE, and it just goes to show how weak his record is. We are heading to divisive politics, mud, and voter suppression on a level never seen...You mark my words!

POLITICAL SHILL ALERT!

President Bush's Council of Economic Advisors decided to move the official start date of the last recession from the generally accepted March 2001 to the fourth quarter of 2000, when Bill Clinton was still president. Surprised?

Pentagon Opens Criminal Fraud Investigation of Halliburton

Ah, but don't get too excited, the committee appears to be a bunch of ringers for the Profiteer President!

Island Chaos Casts a Pall Over Miami's Little Haiti

Anyone have any thoughts on how the situation in Hati (and our countries roll, or lack of) will effect Florida votes in the fall. i have no sense of what the South Florida feel is on the Hatian matter.

I TOLD YOU SO!

It's gonna be a dirty campaign. The President's first campaign speech starts with him attacking Kerry. Beware the chickenhawk.

Education Secretary Paige calls national teachers union a 'terrorist organization'

Um, i don't know if i have anything more to add to that crap.

THE QUOTABLE CHICKENHAWK:

'I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes.'
George W. Bush, 1990
as quoted in The Houston Chronicle
May 8th, 1994.

yeah. proud service, ranked just over draft dodging and suicide for him.

I MANUFACTURED A BURGER!!

This one has been making the rounds a little this week, so i may as well pile on.

**SO WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE US IS LOSING MILLIONS OF MANUFACTURING JOBS!?!

CHANGE THE RULES!

Seems N. Gregory Mankiw (chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers) came up with a way to kill those nasty stats showin us lose manufacturing jobs by the millions - reclassify fast-food workers and count them as manufacturing jobs.

You know why? They're manufacturing hamburgers!

BUSH-leage at the NASCAR event.

I just found out that PR trip to the Daytona 500 wasn't a campaigning trip, but rather a tax payer funded OFFICIAL TRIP! jesus. how on god's green earth could this be considered anything official except for being an official campaign trip!

"White kids are at a handicap,"

more on the Rhode Island College Republicans. Their President, Jason Mattera, seems to be very worried about the hard time white people have getting into college. as one of the aforementioned white people, i have to wonder if Mr. Mattera has been sipping to much of the 'Conservative' Kool Aid.

Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us

Seems this came from the Pentagon...has me alarmed. is it trumped up?

WHAT A FARCE! NADER RUNS!

In an incredible turn of events, Ralph Nader is running for President as an independent, NOT as part of the Green Party! on the good side, this makes him a non-entity. on the critical side, it makes one wonder what's the point? He has abandoned those (right or wrong) that tossed a LOT behind him in the past. I'm more than a little shocked that he would do this, but I'm also a bit happy that he's going to barely be an asterisk in this election.

Scott McClellan LOSES IT in Press Conference

This is pretty funny. Read what happens when McClellan (White House Press Secretary) gets pressed by the press over The President's WEAK excuses regarding his Guard Service.

RIAA gets sued for RACKETTEERING and EXTORTION

I'm not sure they have a legal leg to stand on, but some defendants have counter-sued the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), claiming their lawsuits for downloading and then subsequent strong-arm settlements amount to extortion. This is the sort of legal territory more associated with the John Gotti's of the world, but i have to admit...these RIAA guys can be pretty sleazy.

OOPS!!

SORRY!!

The Bush Administration is currently apologizing for "mistakenly" doctoring reports regarding the heath of American citizens. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, led by Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy produced the report. BUT, it seems the Bushies wanted to clean up the reports showing drastic disparities in healthcare among minorities and white americans. Supposedly Clancy and others fought this attempt before folding for the administration. This doctored view of american health came along with a Presidential budget that cuts money targeted towards improving healthcare among these minority groups.

It appears that they got caught trying to change the science to fit the policy:

On Wednesday, more than 60 influential scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, issued a statement criticizing what they described as the misuse of science by the administration to bolster its policies on the environment, arms control and public health.

The theme of the original report was that members of minorities "tend to be in poorer health than other Americans" and that "disparities are pervasive in our health care system," contributing to higher rates of disease and disability.

By contrast, the final report has an upbeat tone, beginning, "The overall health of Americans has improved dramatically over the last century."

I believe this is the most kravenly political White House in all US History.

Disenchanted Bush Voters Consider Crossing Over

About some bedrock republicans that just can't believe the guy they ended up with after their hopes were so high 4 years ago. these aren't just some fiscal conservatives in Seattle, these are WW2--Vietnam War vets from South Carolina and active party members. the question is less about "will they vote democrat?" and more about "Will they NOT vote republican?"

CIA Analyst doesn't hold back:

CIA analyst Ray McGovern calls the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate:
"the centerpiece of an incredibly cynical campaign playing on the trauma of 9/11 to deceive our elected representatives into forfeiting to the president their constitutional prerogative to declare war. One is left wondering: How did they think they could get away with it?"

Storm brewing...

GOP Senators (and or staff) have been caught stealing over 5000 documents from US Senators computers and a criminal pop seems to be coming...

Bush: Job Ratings this gives you a weekly update. now at an all time low (yay!)

I TOLD YOU SO!

Seems the FIRST campaign ads bush is working on attack Kerry. just out of the box we have negative campaigning. like i said before, Bush's negatives are too high and he has too little to run on. he has to go negative.

Bush in a Freefall?

I hope not because its too early and he has time to bounce back. i want a steady drop. This new poll is out looking at ANY democrat vs. bush:


WH '04 General Election Matchup:

Dem nominee 54%
Bush 37%
Undec. 9%


The same poll shows independants supporting the dem by 61% and (finally) the dems are showing more unity behind their candidate (85%) that the GOP'ers are behind bush (79%).

problem? Well, Bush has had the worst 6 weeks of his political life and he's not started to fight back with money or campaign trash we all know is coming. it may look good, but have no doubt, this race will be hard as hell.

on another note, i think its going to be increasingly hard for him to avoid a push for a Const. Amendment to ban Gay Marriage. you'll know how desperate he is if he pushes for passage BEFORE the eleciton.

I love Comic Strips

there is a blog called Catoptric, which is an awful name (sorry), and its really more of a collective because everyone under the sun (but me) is a contributor. lots of good stuff there and its all over the map, but one thing has really gotten me going lately.

a contributor nicknamed Gorjus, who holds an ultra secret job with real life spies, is also a cartoonist. he'll say he's an artist, and he is, but to me he's a cartoonist, because of all the things i like to see him do...i enjoy seeing his comic strips. (Ahem...the fact that i star in them from time to time has nothing to do with it...natch!). He puts them out on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I usually think "i wonder what its gonna be this time" each night beforehand.

You should do yourself a favor. check them out 3x a week, and while you're at it, you should click on the calendar and look at the ones from the previous weeks.

NOTE: for the first time i used the word Gorjus. i never say that. i say Gorj. I'm just like that line from Cedric the Entertainer in The KINGS OF COMEDY:

Daryl: Everybody call me Delicious. You can just call me delicious.
Cedric: I'm a grown-assed man dog, I ain't gettin' ready to call no nother dude "Delicious"

and I ain't fixin' ta call no nother dude "Gorjus"...so you get Gorj.

Bush Heckled at NASCAR race

Seems the president isn't so SOLID with his base in the NASCAR circuit.

JUST SO YOU KNOW...

In Mississippi, a man may not seduce a woman by lying, and claiming he will marry her.

CITATION: 97-29-55 Seduction of female over age of eighteen by promised or pretended marriage.
If any person shall obtain carnal knowledge of any woman, or female child, over the age of eighteen years, of previous chaste character, by virtue of any feigned or pretended marriage or any false or feigned promise of marriage, he shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than five years; but the testimony of the female seduced, alone, shall not be sufficient to warrant a conviction.

EDWARDS and Kerry lead Bush in poll

John Edwards leads the president in today's (gallup) poll by over 10 points 54 to 44!

White House downplays job predictions

Remember how the white house said we're in a boom now? a recovery that would create 2.6 million new jobs? well they want you to forget about all of that. we're no where near that:

The White House backed away Wednesday from its own prediction that the economy will add 2.6 million new jobs before the end of this year, saying the forecast was the work of number-crunchers and that President Bush was not a statistician.

um, ok. so did you just make that up using some kinda wish, hope, and dream?

AMAZING

First ever pictures (at least that i've seen) of a star being ripped apart by a black hole!

Democrat Ben Chandler Wins Ky. Election

First Democrat to win a special election from a (seated) republican since 1991. best part? Kerr, the GOP'er, ran in Conservative Kentucky almost exclusively on her support of Bush policies! that is good.

HOLY SMOKES!! U.S. Prosecutor Sues Ashcroft

Assistant US Attorney Richard Convertino HAS sued John Ashcroft for "gross mismanagement" because of his mis-handling of a a counter-terrorism case in Detriot. the article states:

Convertino also accused Justice officials of intentionally divulging the name of one of his confidential terrorism informants to retaliate against him.

The leak put the informant at grave risk, forced him to flee the United States and "interfered with the ability of the United States to obtain information from the CI about current and future terrorist activities," the suit alleges.

WOW. i've never even HEARD of this sorta thing happening.

MSN Entertainment Guide to the 2004 Academy Awards

interesting. a list of the crappiest WINNERS of the academy award!

Bob Dylan Some great lines from some great songs...

SHE BELONGS TO ME.
She's got everything she needs,
She's an artist, she don't look back.
She can take the dark out of the nighttime
And paint the daytime black.


A HARD RAINS A-GONNA FALL
Oh, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin',
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
Where the executioner's face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it,
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it,
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin',
But I'll know my song well before I start singin',
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

DON'T THINK TWICE, ITS ALRIGHT
"I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I'm bound, I can't tell
But goodbye's too good a word, gal
So I'll just say fare thee well
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right"

BALLAD OF A THIN MAN (the best dylan song and the one that makes me think of reading Hunter S. Thompson)
Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Ben Chandler: For Congress

Looks like Kentucky just elected another Democrat to Congress!

IT'S ALREADY STARTED

A few weeks ago I commented that this will be a very negative campaign year. This greatly comes from the high negative numbers bush posesses, while still retaining a VERY loyal base. Unless something big happens to bring up the bush numbers, they are something with which he's stuck. When your negatives stay high, your only real recourse is to try to drive up the opponent's numbers so that there is no high road and the election comes down to turning out the base. you do that by a hard pander to your core and pump money into monitoring the polls and getting people out where they are lagging.

That being said, its already started in the TRUE bush fashion: accuse others of what you are doing yourself. This has been the Bush Modus Operandi since at least 2000, most effective in the post election fight for the presidency in florida. the idea is to pull attention away from what you are doing by accusing someone else of doing the very same thing (implying your own innocence). this is very similar to the Passive Aggressive FOXNews with its "fair and balanced" slogan. This makes the accused have to explain THEMSELVES before they utter the first breath attacking you!

There have been some legitimate questions (i think since 2000) about Bush's service. while fighting the idea of revealing the very same info that EVERY veteran candidate has released (in modern history), they accuse the Democrats of SLEAZY campaign tricks while trying to avoid even ANSWERING the touchy questions offered by the press. its called mis-direction, and it's worked so well for bush in the past, i just don't think they know what to do now that the free passes have dried up. See previous dialoges between the Press and the Bush Press Secretary below for (now) daily examples.

One has to wonder if this story actually has legs, or if the White House is just so used to keeping whatever info it likes, that it just doesn't know how to react to someone demanding real answers...over and over.

1971 Photo of Kerry Doctored

Seems a Photo of John Kerry speaking at a Vietnam Protest is making the rounds. the only problem is that some of the GOP faithful have been doctoring the photo to insert Jane Fonda. "Hanoi Jane" as she's called, is often a rallying point for those who want to malign war protesters. This is pretty remarkable when comparing the war record of Bush vs. Kerry.

The Washington Post reviews 2 Graphic Novels

One is a collection of previously released comics (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2) and one is a stand alone story.

While i did enjoy the second League, and while it is about 1000x better than the movie which bears its namesake, i have to admit this story was a bit more on the Lurrid side...of course, those were the parts i liked in the first story, so i'm not complaining.

as for the other, i always like a good Sgt. Rock story and Joe Kubert is THE guy for this character. that being said, i should read this if i can ever get my hands on it. You know, for the life of me, i cannot understand why Sgt. Rock has not been made into a movie.

Comic Book Legend Julius Schwartz dies at 88.

Few have given more to direct the field of sequential art (as a writer and editor) over the last half century, compared to Julius Schwartz. In the most vital ways, Schwartz brought about the modern super hero comic. I would go so far as to say his work has had an effect on the whole of adventure storytelling in the last half century--regardless of medium.

A giant sleeps.

Iron Chef: Man, i love the concept of this show. the show itself is pretty good, but i just love the idea of this rich madman, Kaga Takeshi, holding these gladiator (cooking) battles for his own pleaseure. the actor playing Kaga...and i say this, hoping he's not an actor but just an eccentric...he does such a good job being bizarre.

College Republicans offer whites-only award

Well, someone is open about it.

GET YOUR LIES STRAIGHT

So it looks like the Bush camp finally found someone in the Alabama guard to claim they served with the president, his name is Lt. Col. John Calhoun. up until now, despite claims he didn't skip out on a year of service, no one on the entire planet has been willing to come forward and say "yes, i saw him in Alabama, doing his duty". those days are over. now we've got that John Calhoun magic !

Oh, but Mr. Calhoun...you should have talked to Karl Rove before you started talking...Didn't you know that the dates you claim to have served with Bush don't match up with the President's own military records?

OUCH! Try again! these guys need to cooridante their stories. really.

Extroverted (E) 69.23% Introverted (I) 30.77% Imaginative (N) 58.14% Realistic (S) 41.86% Emotional (F) 60.98% Intellectual (T) 39.02% Easygoing (P) 71.05% Organized (J) 28.95% Your type is: ENFP You are an Inspirer, possible professions include - conference planner, speech pathologist, HR development trainer, ombudsman, clergy, journalist, newscaster, career counselor, housing director, character actor, marketing consultant, musician/composer, artist, information-graphics designer, human resource manager, merchandise planner, advertising account manager, dietitian/nutritionist, speech pathologist, massage therapist, editor/art director.

Take Free Career Inventory Personality Test

this is funny. it says i'd make a good CHARACTER ACTOR. not just an actor, but a charactor actor. like i need ONLY COP ROLES or something. haw!

Open letter from Michael Moore to our big shrub.

Dear Mr. Bush,

Thank you for providing the illegible Xeroxed partial payroll sheets (or whatever they were) yesterday covering a few of your days in the National Guard. Now we know that, not only didn't you complete your tour of duty, you were actually paid for work you never did. Did you cash those checks? Wouldn't that be, um, illegal?

Watching the press aggressively demand the truth from your press secretary -- and refusing to accept the deceit, the dodging, and the cover-up -- was a sight to behold, something we really haven't seen since you took office (to watch or listen to the entire press conference, or to read the full transcript, go here).

More than one reporter pointed out that those pieces of paper your press secretary waved at them yesterday mean nothing. Even if they aren't forged documents, getting paid does not necessarily mean you showed up to do your duties. As retired Army Col. Dan Smith, a 26-year veteran, told the AP:

"Pay records don't mean anything except that you're in or you're out," said Smith. "It doesn't necessarily reflect what duty you've actually performed because pay records simply record your unit of assignment and then all of your pay and benefits per pay period."

Mr. Bush, this issue is not going to go away -- and I think yesterday's actions just dug you into a deeper hole. You're probably wondering why the heck this story won't just die. You probably thought that after I brought it up last month and then got slammed by Peter Jennings for uttering the "d" word, the whole matter would just disappear as fast as a bag of blow being thrown out the window of a speeding car on a deserted Maine highway.

But your "desertion" didn't go away -- and here's the reason why. You have sent countless numbers of our sons and daughters in the National Guard to their deaths in the last 11 months. You did this while misleading their parents and the nation with bogus lies about weapons of mass destruction and scary phony Saddam ties to al Qaeda. You sent them off to a never-ending war so that your benefactors at Halliburton and the oil companies could line their pockets. And then you had the audacity to prance around in a soldier's uniform on an aircraft carrier proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" -- while the cameras from your re-election campaign ad agency rolled.

THAT is what makes this whole business of your being AWOL so despicable, and makes the grief-stricken relatives want to turn away from you in disgust. The reason your skipping-out on your enlistment didn't matter in the 2000 election was because we were not at war. Being stuck in a deadly, daily quagmire now in 2004 makes your military history-fiction and your fly-boy costume VERY relevant.

You still have not answered the questions surrounding your National Guard "service." Let me repeat them as simply as I can for you (all of them based on the investigative work of the Associated Press and the Boston Globe):

1. How were you able to jump ahead of 500 other applicants to get into the Texas Air National Guard, thus guaranteeing you would not have to go to Vietnam? What calls did your father (who was then a United States Congressman representing Texas) make on your behalf for you to get this assignment?

2. Why were you grounded (not allowed to fly) after you either failed your physical or failed to take it in July 1972? Was there a reason you were afraid to take the physical? Or, did you take it and not pass it? If so, why didn't you pass it? Was it the urine test? The records show that, after the Guard spent years and lots of money training you to be a pilot, you never flew for the rest of your time in the Guard. Why?

3. Can you produce one person who can verify that he served with you in the Guard during the year that your Texas commanders said you did not show up? Why have you failed to bring forth anyone who served with you in the Guard while you were in Alabama? Why hasn't ONE SINGLE PERSON come forward?

4. Can you tell us what you did when you claim to have shown up in Alabama for Guard duty? What were your duties? You were grounded, so what did they have you do instead?

5. Where are the sign-up sheets that would have your name and service number on them for each weekend you showed up? Aaron Brown on CNN told us how, when he was in the reserves, he had to sign in each time he reported, and his guest from the Washington Post said, that's right, and there would be "four copies of that record" in the files of various agencies. Will you ask those agencies to release those records?

6. If you were in fact paid for that time when you apparently went AWOL, will you authorize the IRS to release your 1972-73 tax returns?

7. How did you get an honorable discharge? What strings were pulled? Who called who?

Look, I'm sorry to have put you through all this. I was just goofing around when I made that comment about wanting to see a debate between the general and the deserter. I had no idea that it would lead to this. And there you were, having to suffer through Tim Russert on Sunday, saying weird things like "I'm a war president!" I guess you believe that, or you want us to believe that. Americans have never voted out a Commander-in-Chief during a war. I guess that's what you're hoping for. You need the war.

But we don't. And our troops in the National Guard don't either. I know you see the writing on the wall, so why not come clean now? We are a forgiving people, and though you will not be returned to White House, you will find us grateful for a little bit of truth. Answer our questions, apologize to the nation, and bring our kids home.

You know what kinda crowd you're in when someone breaks out HEGEL...

somehow Hegel came up in a conversation between good natured democrats and republicans at a bar tonite. moreover, the first reference to Hegel was tossed to me in the bathroom at a bar tonite.

Heady times indeed.

PLANET EARTH CALLS "BS" ON DRUDGE!

Seems no one is taking that scoop Drudge had on Kerry's Affair. i guess when you have no details and no sources, its hard to run with it....Hell, the ENQUIRER did a better job on BUSH's AFFAIR! look below for that sex scandal.

The National Enquirer: GEORGE W. BUSH SMEARED IN ADULTERY SCANDAL

Now a bush sex scandal? MY!

Elliott Smith - Needle in the Hay : "Needle in the Hay" always kicks me when i'm down.

FYI--Kerry-Edwards ticket unlikely

i agree. i don't think it will happen.

"Several" advisers say John Kerry "is skeptical" about John Edwards' "strength as a running mate." Kerry is "said to be unconvinced that Edwards is experienced enough to step in as a wartime president should something happen to him" (Boston Globe).

Hmmm...

KERRY CHEATS? or old news made to look suspicious?

So my pal, Swirly Wand, and i are talking about the Democratic Primary. she says she heard a far fetched rumor that Dean is in this thing still, even after all hope seems lost, because there will soon be a bomb dropped on the Kerry Campaign. Kerry is/was cheating on his wife.

Well, drudge is all over his site with it today. To make sure you don't get distracted, he even cleared all other headlines OFF his site when this stuff all went up. Gen. Clark supposedly said :"Kerry will implode over an intern issue." in a (not so?) off the record comment last week. ONE BIG ISSUE is that it appears to reference something from years ago...possibly from when he's single. can you even have a sex scandal between 2 consenting adults? well, the GOP can always try....

The questions now are:
is it BS?
does it hurt him?
does #2 catch a boost?
Can Edwards pull it out?
is dean too far down to capitalize on this (or anything else)?
if Kerry goes on, does he enter the general election wounded?

we'll see.

After talking to the Swirly Wand, I agreed with her. Dems don't need another one of these right now. you know what they say...where there's a Jennifer there'll likely be a monica....i mean where there's smoke, there's fire. heh.

NOTE: trying not to be shy about this, Drudge carries these lines on this story:
**World Exclusive**
**Must Credit the DRUDGE REPORT**

heh.

Groucho Marx is a Quote Machine

I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it.

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

A man is as old as the women he feels.

Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.

Here's to our wives and girlfriends... May they never meet.

I have nothing but confidence in you. And very little of that.

He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot.

If I held you any closer I would be on the other side of you.

I must confess, I was born at a very early age.

Don't look now, but there's one too many in this room and I think it's you.

(For La Federala's dad) Oh are you from Wales ?? Do you know a fella named Jonah ?? He used to live in whales for a while.

Who are you going to believe, me or your lyin' eyes?

[to carriage driver] Hey you. I told you to slow that nag down. On account of you I almost heard the opera.

Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted.

The Random WC Fields Quotes Page

During prohibition he was asked, why if he didn't have a drinking problem, did he buy 300 cases of gin before it started, he replied "I didn't think prohibition would last that long."

Anyone who hates small dogs and children can't be all bad.

I never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast.

(When asked why he never drank water) "Fish **** in it."

(When "caught" reading a Bible) "Just looking for loopholes."

There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation

(For La Federala) My illness is due to my doctor's insistence that I drink milk, a whitish fluid they force down helpless babies.

OOPS!

"WASHINGTON — As Texas Gov. George W. Bush prepared to run for president in the late 1990s, top-ranking Texas National Guard officers and Bush advisers discussed ways to limit the release of potentially embarrassing details from Bush's military records, a former senior officer of the Texas Guard said Wednesday.

A second former Texas Guard official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, was told by a participant that commanders and Bush advisers were particularly worried about mentions in the records of arrests of Bush before he joined the National Guard in 1968, the second official said."

HO HO HO! people talking about efforts to "cleanse" bush's file in this article too...hope this doesn't drive him to drink...
and drive...
drunk...
again....

Chuck McRae World Tour He seems to be in Cuba.

Amazon.com: Music: The Blood Of Heroes: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

good god, this exists...?!

A QUICK JOLT TONITE.

iN tHe 1961 nOvel ThE ReMOvERs, super spy Matt Helm meets the man who married the spy's ex-wife. the questions insue...

--"Are you a Martini or a bourbon man, Mr. Helm?"

--"Either one. It deends on the circumstances. For the long haul, bourbon, but for a quick jolt, nothing beats a Martini. I think tonite might be classed as a Martini night, Mr. Logan."

HeRe It CoMeS!!

Bush is endorsing an election year push for a Constitutional Amendment to.....

(drum roll)....

BAN GAY MARRIAGE!!

SEE, I HAD MY FINGERS CROSSED...

On sunday's Meet the Press, Bush said He'd release all his military records when Tim Russert questioned him about holes in his military service.

Russert: When allegations were made about John McCain or Wesley Clark on their military records, they opened up their entire files. Would you agree to do that?

President Bush: Yeah. Listen, these files — I mean, people have been looking for these files for a long period of time, trust me, and starting in the 1994 campaign for governor. And I can assure you in the year 2000 people were looking for those files as well. Probably you were. And — absolutely. I mean, I —

Russert: But you would allow pay stubs, tax records, anything to show that you were serving during that period?

President Bush: Yeah. If we still have them, but I — you know, the records are kept in Colorado, as I understand, and they scoured the records.

And I'm just telling you, I did my duty, and it's politics, you know, to kind of ascribe all kinds of motives to me. But I have been through it before. I'm used to it. What I don't like is when people say serving in the Guard is — is — may not be a true service.

Russert: But you authorize the release of everything to settle this?

President Bush: Yes, absolutely.
---

So then comes Monday's pay stub release, which is conflicting at best. the Press starts to wonder when the rest is going to come along. His spokesman, Scott McClellan says soon.

So, today do we get the full release...oh no. Scottie says he remembers the above exchange differently:
"No, I think the question was payroll records, payroll records that would show you served. It was relating to the issue of whether or not you served."

something stinks.

Our Best Chance

...but certainly not our only one. Clark was my favorite.

THE HEAT IS ON!

This funny exchange came today when White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan released some of Bush's guard info in a hope to dispell any controversy (edited by Mr. Mooch for Brevity and Levity):

Q Scott, a couple of questions I have -- the records that you handed out today, and other records that exist, indicate that the President did not perform any Guard duty during the months of December 1972, February or March of 1973. I'm wondering if you can tell us where he was during that period. And also, how is it that he managed to not make the medical requirements to remain on active flight duty status?

MR. McCLELLAN: *BS ANSWER*

Q That wasn't my question, Scott.

MR. McCLELLAN: *BS ANSWER*

Q Scott, that wasn't my question, and you know it wasn't my question. Where was he in December of '72, February and March of '73? And why did he not fulfill the medical requirements to remain on active flight duty status?

MR. McCLELLAN: *BS ANSWER*

Q I asked a simple question; how about a simple answer?

MR. McCLELLAN: John, if you'll let me address the question, I'm coming to your answer, and I'd like --

Q Well, if you would address it -- maybe you could.

well, at least it ends on a more positive note for the president...



MR. McCLELLAN: - these documents make it very clear that the President of the United States fulfilled his duties --

Q Well, that's subject to interpretation.

HAW!

DO OVER

today we are revoting my state senate seat. the Democrat beat the GOP incumbent, but that wasn't good enough and the GOP controlled state senate is making them redo this race. in an effort to hurt Democratic Turnout, there was a bomb threat called into a one of the Largest democratic precincts closing it down for a while.

Oh, by the way, this was at a SCHOOL where classes are in session.

the sleaze just does not end.

SCUM-Y

Stolen from |span|

Top 3 Reuters headlines this morning from Reuters:

Bush Offers Shifting Rationale for Iraq War
Blix Says Bush, Blair Insincere Salesmen on Iraq
U.S. Soldier Killed South of Baghdad

Doesn't sound like Sunday's interview pulled in too much damage control. anyone see it?

New York Post

An interesting take from a Conservative paper:

As a frustrated White House official told me last week, everything the president has done to anger conservatives arises from proposals he made while he was running for president in 2000. They accepted his advocacy of the proposals then, so why are they complaining now? He did not run for president as a small-government conservative, and yet they backed him to the hilt four years ago. So why the enmity today?

interesting. so basically you are getting what he told you he'd bring. why are you suprised? I guess you better be careful what you ask for.

CRAP

You can say what you want about the results, but 12 years ago MTV made the first real stab at getting the young voters involved in a presidential race since the civil rights era. Rock The Vote took itself seriously and it took young voters seriously. now, in 2004, we get this. VH1 does the election year thing, but this time its just a packaged insult. an insult to serious candidates and an insult to the young Americans.

Questions ran from "what does bling bling mean?" to what do you know about "bennifer".

jesus.

Its as if VH1 is just flipping me the bird.

Imminent Threat.

uh huh. this is just for BG after a little bit of snooping.

This Modern World

The truth in 4 Colors and multi-panels.

The Press Giveth & The Press Taketh Away

I'm convinced that press hype (not reality) made dean appear so far ahead. By the same token, they seemed just as eager to knock him down. i found it was as if they were "putting him in his place" after Iowa...

Gay Marriage Issue Solved in 2004?

How do you take it off the table (or at least try to)? as this question: "Do you agree with the position on gay rights put forward by Vice President Cheney in his 2000 debate with Joe Lieberman?" This puts him in agreement with all the democratic front runners.

LSAT


La Federala takes the LSAT today. she's been studying so hard...lets keep our fingers crossed!!

FORTUNE COOKIE

Today I got the best Fortune at the table, even though it was more advice or a command than actually a fortune revealed. it says:

Keep on charging the enemy so long as there is life.

Pretty cool. i couldn't decide if it meant as long as there is life in ME or rather to charge my enemy until he no longer breathes life himself. I like both. heh.

AP poll notes sharp decline in support for Bush

What does this mean Mr. Mooch?

It means we get a NASTY campaign in the fall. anytime someone's negatives go up sharply (and stay there), they are in a situation where they often can't get new people to START liking them again. The solution? make the other guy seem worse. If this poll trend continues, you can expect the campaign against the Dem to be nasty so to drive up the Democratic Candidate's negatives. This creates the 'lesser of 2 evils' feeling in the voter. Bush has already been prone to this in the past, so we can find even more as the fall approaches, so get ready.

Frist Vows Senate Will Block U.S. Gay Marriages

Residents of Mass. do not fret, Bill Frist to your rescue! On the floor of the Senate, Billy said:

"I want to be very clear. We reject intolerance, we reject hatred. We must treat all our fellow citizens with civility and kindness, but marriage should not be redefined by the courts and we in this body can't let it, we won't let it."

This being an election year, there is too much Hay to be made for the Right. The fact that 3 states allow any sort of gay union and no other state has to recognize such a union (thanks to the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996) doesn't seem to be enough. why you ask? If Kerry can be tied to gay marriage it can energize the GOP base. does it matter that Kerry and Cheney's view on the matter is identical? of course not!

Salon.com News | Bush's missing year
This is Juicy! looks like bush had his Military file altered to change a few items showing he'd been AWOL.

"His records have clearly been cleaned up,' says author James Moore, whose upcoming book, 'Bush's War for Re-election,' will examine the issue of Bush's military service in great detail. Moore says as far back as 1994, when Bush first ran for governor of Texas, his political aides 'began contacting commanders and roommates and people who would spin and cover up his Guard record. And when my book comes out, people will be on the record testifying to that fact: witnesses who helped clean up Bush's military file."

you know how i know this story has legs? NOBODY, including the pres. has anything but a lame, vague defense that really doesn't answer the questions at hand. here is an example from Sunday. Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe called bush "a man who was AWOL in the Alabama National Guard."

Now for the hardnosed defense from South Carolina's Gov. Mark Sanford (Republican): it was wrong for Democrats to be "taking shots at [Bush] for being a guardsman."

Um...Governor...No one said he was a bad guy for being in the guard. it was the whole leaving for a year while the country was at war that kinda sticks in the craw.

Know the most damning part of all this? If he really DID go to Ala. and do his job, why hasn't ONE PERSON come forward to say "i saw him there" or "i served with him"? why hasn't the Bush campaign come up with someone to say this? i know why. there IS no one to say it.

Cheney's Staff Focus of Probe

Federal law-enforcement officials said that they have developed hard evidence of possible criminal misconduct by two employees of Vice President Dick Cheney's office related to the unlawful exposure of a CIA officer's identity last year. The investigation, which is continuing, could lead to indictments, a Justice Department official said.

According to these sources, John Hannah and Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, were the two Cheney employees. "We believe that Hannah was the major player in this," one federal law-enforcement officer said. Calls to the vice president's office were not returned, nor did Hannah and Libby return calls.

thanks to |span| and Kos.

Roy Moore for president?:

"Ousted Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy (10 commandments) Moore is focused on trying to get his job back but will not rule out a third-party run for the presidency that could threaten President Bush's re-election chances. "

heh, If only!

NEWS FLASH!!

from the times:
President Bush condemned the Massachusetts court ruling on gay marriage on Wednesday, and conservative groups said the White House had informed them that the president would soon endorse efforts to pass an amendment to the United States Constitution defining marriage to be between a man and a woman.

As a married man, i have to thank bush for doing SOMETHING to stop the devaluation of my marriage. do you think he'll go after Britney Spears too? she devalued my marriage with her "i was kidding" deal. OH, and FOX! for "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance"!! they are devaluing my marriage every damn week! WOW, we'll have like a DOZEN new constitutional amendments!

OOH! can i have one that protects me from the dark?

--Mr. Mooch ads that he's single and he's only partially afraid of the dark.

CIA: Iraq was not an Imminent Threat

Amazingly, it seems the press won't be letting bush slide on this one (for now). CIA director George Tenent reveals today that the CIA never claimed that Iraq was an imminent threat.

Now wait a minute. Bush claimed Iraq WAS an imminent threat based on the intelligence he had. Now if the CIA said it didn't come from them, where DID it come from? Two options:

1. It came from the intelligence sub-group that cheney was known to have formed within the intelligence community. They cherry picked the good stuff and left the reality on the cutting room floor.

OR

2. It came from thin air. Bush and Co. made it up.

I believe it could be both, actually. I also believe that this sort of treachery and mendacity has to be exposed. the question is whether the press will fall asleep on this issue as it has done before. I'm hopefull that is not the case.

HAW!

Dennis Kucinich "did not break out of the single digits in any state" but was "pleased" 2/3: "We're finally starting to show some movement from the 1 percent bracket" (thanks swirly).

CBS

bunch of cowards! heh.

U.S. payrolls disappoint again in December - Jan. 9, 2004

the administration expected 148,000 new jobsin dec., but 1,000 were actually created. that's down 43,000 from last month. do they just make up numbers and hope?

SO WHAT HAPPEN?

Am i to believe politics fell off the Map? so many states up for grabs and Drudge covers Janet Jackson's Breasts all day? Hell, the drudge link covering the election said Kerry was "in Charge" but really linked to Joe Lieberman quitting (finally). so what's wrong? Edwards do too well? Clark is in for one more week and then its over. he fooled around too long and got in too late. stinks, bc i think he's great. Dean isn't on the map. Edwards/Kerry? good night for Kerry. better for edwards if he can pull out next week. i believe he can do it. all day i kept thinking about meeting him 2 years ago. thinking "this guy is gonna be president".

i still believe.

Kerry...if i'm a dyed in the wool dem and i can't get excited for him...who the hell else will? its Edwards or we lose. all there is too it.

Gen. Clark's Son

with a few words worth reading.

Faces of Valor

These are our soldiers who have died in Iraq at a rate of one a day. they deserve better than they have gotten thus far.

oooh, the Budget.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates a (record) $477 billion budget deficit this year. Deficits over the next 10 years could be more than $2 trillion if we extend Bush's tax cuts.

FLASHBACK!--two years ago the administration projected a fiscal 2004 deficit of $14 billion.

REVISE your history!!

Sept. 2002: The CIA is underrepresenting the threat posed by Iraq.

Oct. 2002: The CIA needs to stop claiming that the White House is overstating the threat posed by Iraq.

Early 2003: In the battle between the White House and the CIA, the White House is right and the CIA is wrong: Iraq poses a far more serious threat than the CIA will admit.

Late 2003: Everyone agreed all along about the nature of the threat posed by Iraq. There never was a battle over the intelligence between the CIA and the White House.

Early 2004: The CIA overrepresented the threat posed by Iraq, overwhelming the White House in the battle over the intelligence (slactivist)

From the Weekly Review:

Powerful Republicans were said to be urging President Bush to get rid of Dick Cheney, who continued to insist, contrary to all evidence, that stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction will be found in Iraq, and that Saddam Hussein was allied with Al Qaeda. "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole?" Cheney asked an interviewer. "It's a nice way to operate, actually."

YES, this is EXACTLY what we need in a world leader. a guy that shuts himself off from the world and ignores any data that does not meet with his paranoid eye.

OH MTV...

MTV President Judy McGrath: 'I'm mostly horrified as what I think would have been an entertaining, exciting great halftime show that ended so badly in five seconds none of us knew anything about'... McGrath says the 'shocking scenes' were supposed to be Timberlake's appearance - and not what he did afterward... (drudge).

So, does that mean that Justin and Janet are going to be "BANNED FOR LIFE" like Andrew Dice Clay when he went "off script" on a live show? don't hold your breath (Mr. Mooch)

HOW ABOUT THAT!?!

Billy Tauzin, the Republican that chaired the House Energy and Commerce Committee just got a Million Dollar job offer from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association. Oddly enough, Billy boy JUST FINISHED ushering through a radical revamp of the Medicare system which gives pharmaceutical companies sweetheart deal. See, Billy made it where the Federal Government (when buying the millions of Rx drugs purchased each year) is FORBIDDEN from buying at a bulk discount. rarely do we see such a direct line from the legislation to the payoff.

Ethics charges anyone?

Soldiers Don't Approve of Bush

A bipartisan poll published by Business Week in December showed approval for the president at a mere 36 percent among soldiers, their families and veterans.

YIKES!

CROM'S DEVILS!!

watched Conan tonite for the first time in years. here's some trivia:

"The Mattel Toy Company started to make some Conan action figures, but after viewing the film, the executives realized that they couldn't afford to be associated with a film with such graphic sex and violence. They gave their doll blonde hair, called him 'He-man', and thus created 'He-Man and the Masters of the Universe' (1983)."