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October 31, 2004
Powell on Iraq
From Newsweek:
Even Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former general who stays in touch with the Joint Chiefs, has acknowledged this privately to friends in recent weeks, NEWSWEEK has learned. The insurgents have effectively created a reign of terror throughout the country, killing thousands, driving Iraqi elites and technocrats into exile and scaring foreigners out. "Things are getting really bad," a senior Iraqi official in interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's government told NEWSWEEK last week. "The initiative is in [the insurgents'] hands right now. This approach of being lenient and accommodating has really backfired. They see this as weakness."
Posted by Eric at 09:22 PM | Comments (60)
Elections Short Workers
AP: "A shortage of at least 500,000 poll workers nationwide means many voters could face long lines, cranky volunteers, polling places that don't open or close on schedule and the chance that results won't be known until long after the polls are closed."
Posted by Eric at 08:26 PM | Comments (23)
Call Voters for the Election
America Coming Together has a list started up here.
Also, see VoterCall, which "is a non-partisan campaign to mobilize over one million young, low income and minority voters for the November Elections."
Posted by Eric at 08:19 PM | Comments (27)
October 30, 2004
Pundits spin Osama tape for Bush
Disgraceful. But you knew our liberal media they would do it.
Posted by Eric at 08:09 PM | Comments (33)
Kerry Takes Alt Weeklies Endorsements
Perhaps not much of a surprise, but here's the tally:
Their endorsements don't get the attention major dailies' picks do, but alternative weeklies are one of the players in this year's election effort to get out the important "youth vote." To the surprise of no one, the alts are going for Kerry.Asked by Editor&Publisher to survey its member papers, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies provided this breakdown today:
30 for Kerry.
0 for Bush.
10 don't endorse.Interesting tidbit: Nine of the Kerry papers backed Ralph Nader the last time around. Also, four papers made their first presidential endorsement ever this year, and they all went for Kerry.
Posted by Eric at 06:54 PM | Comments (17)
Republicans for Kerry
I have an entry over at the Franken blog quoting Republicans for Kerry.
Posted by Eric at 02:07 PM | Comments (20)
Those Polls?
Kos has this interesting reminder from the year 2000:
BLITZER: And now, let's take a look at the latest poll numbers. The new CNN/"USA Today" Gallup Tracking Poll results are being released at this hour. It shows George W. Bush with 48 percent, Al Gore 43 percent, Ralph Nader with 4 percent, Pat Buchanan with 1 percent.And those numbers are similar to other tracking polls. Take a look: ABC's poll has Bush at 49 percent, Gore at 45 percent; The Washington Post, Bush at 48 percent, Gore at 46 percent; the NBC-Wall Street Journal tracking poll, Bush at 47 percent, Gore 44 percent. And both the CBS and MSNBC-Reuters-Zogby tracking polls have Bush at 46, Gore at 44 percent.
Posted by Eric at 02:00 PM | Comments (24)
America's Rising Dependence on Oil
From a new NRDC analysis:
America's dependence on oil is a threat to our national security and our economy. Growing demand and shrinking domestic production means America is importing more and more oil each year - much of it from the world's most unfriendly or unstable regions. We spend more than $200,000 per minute -- $13 million per hour -- on foreign oil, and more than $25 billion a year on Persian Gulf imports alone.1 So far in 2004, Americans have shelled out $249 per capita to foreign oil-interests.2Also see this graph on consumption vs. production in the USWith U.S. gasoline consumption accounting for 11 percent of world oil production, the U.S. has been hit hard this year by our dependence on oil, intensifying our economic and political vulnerability. Of the $54 billion trade deficit reported in August, more than a fifth or $12 billion is from imported crude oil.3 Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has called the higher value of imported oil a tax on U.S. citizens that has cost us three quarters of a percent of our economic output in 2004, and warned economic impacts for the U.S. will intensify if current trends in oil demand and prices continue.4
Countries on U.S. oil purchases are spending heavily in Washington to make sure the party doesn't end: Since December 2003, OPEC has spent $13.3 million on federal lobbying, $6.6 million of which from Saudi Arabia alone.5 U.S. energy companies are jumping on the political bandwagon too, spending $59.4 million on lobbying in 2003 and $29 million on campaign contributions in the 2002 and 2004 election cycles.6
The immediate result of these contributions is an energy bill currently before Congress that would leave the country more dependent on oil imports, not less. It would invite oil drillers into some of America's last pristine wilderness areas to eke out a relative trickle of oil, while severely shortchanging conservation and efficiency efforts. And this plan would rely even more on shaky overseas governments, exposing us to greater security risks in the name of unrestrained consumption.
Posted by Eric at 01:51 PM | Comments (16)
Mr. Gore Goes to Hawaii
Attends rally at Farrington High School with Alexandra Kerry; Honolulu Star Bulletin:
In his speech, Gore mentioned Gen. Eric Shinseki's 2002 retirement, saying the Kauai native was shunned because he told Bush advisers a war in Iraq would require "hundreds of thousands of troops."Clinton is also hitting the local TV stations for Kerry."That conflicted with the rose-colored lens that the Bush administration had," Gore said. "So they make an early announcement of Gen. Shinseki's retirement and kind of cut off his legs."
The former vice president wore lei and a traditional Filipino dress shirt to the event, which included a concert of local Filipino talent and was attended by many Filipino Americans. He also singled out Filipino veterans as "a group that has been treated unfairly" under the Bush administration.
"John Kerry has fought for the rights of all Filipino veterans," he continued.
Meanwhile, the GOP's response? Send one of the most anti-environment politicians in the country to the most pro-environment state in the country. Talk about out of touch.
Posted by Eric at 01:32 PM | Comments (74)
October 29, 2004
Friday
ABC. Video Suggests Explosives Disappeared After U.S. Took Control
BG. On Sox coattails, Kerry displays his true colors; Senator enlists Springsteen at Wisconsin rally
Orlando Sentinel. Poll shows Castor, Martinez neck and neck
AP. GOP accused of using poll challengers to target blacks
WP. Bush, Kerry Stick to Issue Of Security
WP. GOP Challenging Voter Registrations
NYT. Detainees: Navy Drops Charges Against Commando in Abuse of Prisoners
NYT. Balloting: Sharp Increase in Early Voting Alters Campaign
NYT. Video Shows G.I.'s at Weapon Cache
Reuters. Consumer Sentiment Fades in October
USAT. Wave of voters, and vote watchers, building
AP. Kerry, Bush make appeals in final weekend
AP. Cheney Springs Surprise Visit on Hawaii
AP. U.S. Prepares for Major Fallujah Operation
AP. Bush, Kerry Begin Final Campaign Push
Bloomberg. Republican House Likely in U.S. Election With Few Close Races
ABC. How Clinton Recovered From Surgery
Reuters. NAACP Faces IRS Investigation - Report
SFC. Springsteen rallies Kerry faithful -- Bush calls opponent a manipulator
SFC. Schwarzenegger steps up opposition to Prop. 66
rockymountainnews. Salazar pulls ahead of Coors as the finish line approaches
Guardian. No sleep till election timel The Republican and Democratic Senate hopefuls are burning the candle at both ends in their final push to capture Colorado, writes Sarah Left
AP. Kerry Campaign Seizes on Halliburton Probe
CBS. Edwards: Bush Has Trail Of Failure
Commentary
Dan Kennedy. Cone of silence: From the Patriot Act to presidential records, George W. Bush has presided over an unprecedented rise in government secrecy
Earthjustice / Sierra Club. Groups Target Bush EPA's Refusal to Control Mercury
Paul Street. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Despite the claims of some leftists, there’s a dire difference between Bush and Kerry for African-Americans
Joshua Holland. Pro-Life...Pro-Kerry?
David L. Englin. Breaking Jesse's Silence; Why the ultimate independent voter has finally broken in favor of Kerry
William Rivers Pitt. Believe
Andrew Greeley. For God's sake, vote him out
Krugman. It's Not Just Al Qaqaa
Bob Herbert. Letting Down the Troops
Tim Grieve. "I believe in the promised land" Bruce Springsteen takes the moment into his hands -- and joins John Kerry for a massive Wisconsin rally
David DeBatto. The looting of Iraq's arsenal; The same month Al Qaqaa was being stripped of high explosives, I warned my military intelligence unit of another weapons facility that was being cleaned out. But nothing was done
Kevin Berger. NASA photo analyst: Bush wore a device during debate
Ruth Rosen. Women *Really* on Their Own
John Nichols. Springsteen's political poetry; "The country we carry in our hearts is waiting."
Eric Alterman and Paul McLeary. Sinclair and the Conservative Media
John S. Irons and Christian E. Weller. Business Investment Too Narrow
Lakshmi Chaudhry. A Soldier Speaks: Robert Sarra
Davina Baum. Eminem, Anti-Hero
Kate Michelman. Women's rights mandates vote for Kerry
Jonathan Chait. For Bush, Too Late for Honesty
Derrick Z. Jackson. Food fight
Scot Lehigh. Bush's aversion to facts
Posted by Eric at 11:56 PM | Comments (23)
The War President
President Bush, with war on his mind, was determined to attack Iraq. This, from his former ghost writer; Russ Baker on Mickey Herskowitz:
Houston: Two years before the September 11 attacks, presidential candidate George W. Bush was already talking privately about the political benefits of attacking Iraq, according to his former ghost writer, who held many conversations with then-Texas Governor Bush in preparation for a planned autobiography.“He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999,” said author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz. “It was on his mind. He said to me: ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.’ And he said, ‘My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.’ He said, ‘If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency.”
Herskowitz said that Bush expressed frustration at a lifetime as an underachiever in the shadow of an accomplished father. In aggressive military action, he saw the opportunity to emerge from his father’s shadow. The moment, Herskowitz said, came in the wake of the September 11 attacks. “Suddenly, he’s at 91 percent in the polls, and he’d barely crawled out of the bunker.”
That President Bush and his advisers had Iraq on their minds long before weapons inspectors had finished their work – and long before alleged Iraqi ties with terrorists became a central rationale for war – has been raised elsewhere, including in a book based on recollections of former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. However, Herskowitz was in a unique position to hear Bush’s unguarded and unfiltered views on Iraq, war and other matters – well before he became president.
Posted by Eric at 09:39 PM | Comments (26)
Administration Continues Attacks on Non-Profits
According to OMB Watch, "the election-eve IRS investigation regarding the nonprofit status of NAACP, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization, is part of a growing pattern of intimidation and suppression of free-speech and advocacy rights of charities and other nonprofits." An executive summary notes:
In our newest publication, Continuing Attacks on Nonprofit Speech: Death By a Thousand Cuts II, we found:Retaliatory action against government grantees that engage in controversial policy discussions or active advocacy that includes points of view different from the administration's
Aggressive application of the global gag rule, and signs of a back door “domestic gag rule” that illegally imposes government rules on private funds of grantees;
Selective enforcement of laws against nonprofits engaged in direct action; and
Overbroad implementation of homeland security policy that chills nonprofit action.
Posted by Eric at 09:11 PM | Comments (20)
Howie Kurtz: 3 Mistakes in One Week
The guy the Washington Post sometimes uses to check the media for inaccuracies is pullling out a lot of inaccuracies himself; TVNewser:
As this site has tracked, last week Kurtz screwed up statistics relating to Jon Stewart's Crossfire appearance. On Saturday he said Brian Williams anchored NBC coverage of the 1986 Challenger disaster. Now on Wednesday, Kurtz said that NBC's Jim Miklaszewski was embedded during the Iraq war. Mik is the network's Pentagon correspondent; the closest he came to embedding was spending all night at the network's Pentagon bureau.
But that's not what Kurtz's WP story said. "NBC's Jim Miklaszewski, who was embedded with the Army's 101st Airborne Division during the war, reported Monday that the unit visited the Qaqaa weapons facility on April 10, 2003..."
Does anyone want to volunteer as a fact-checker?...
Posted by Eric at 09:04 PM | Comments (34)
It's Not Just Al Qaqaa
Let us now forget the other blunders from the Bush administration when it comes to national security; Krugman:
Letting Osama get away Just before the story about Al Qaqaa broke, the Bush-Cheney campaign was frantically trying to debunk John Kerry's statement that Mr. Bush let Osama bin Laden get away when he was cornered at Tora Bora. That getaway, Mr. Kerry asserts, was possible because the administration "outsourced" the job of closing off escape routes to local Afghan warlords.In response, Gen. Tommy Franks claimed that we don't know that Osama was at Tora Bora, and, anyway, we didn't outsource the work of catching him. Dick Cheney called Mr. Kerry's claims "absolute garbage." But multiple reports from 2001 and early 2002 confirm Mr. Kerry's version. As Peter Bergen, a terrorism expert, writes, Mr. Kerry's charge is "an accurate reflection of the historical record."
Letting Zarqawi get away On Monday The Wall Street Journal confirmed an earlier report that in 2002 the military drew up plans for a strike on the base of the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an area of Iraq not under Saddam's control. But civilian officials vetoed the attack - probably because they thought it might undermine political support for the war against Saddam. So Mr. Zarqawi, like Osama, was given the chance to kill another day.
The situation in Iraq Dick Cheney is telling supporters that Iraq is a "remarkable success story." But the news from Iraq just keeps getting worse. After 49 Iraqi National Guard recruits were killed, execution style, even Ayad Allawi, the Iraqi prime minister - who usually acts as a de facto spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign - accused coalition forces of "gross negligence." It's now clear that the insurgency is much larger than U.S. officials initially acknowledged, and that Iraqi security forces have been heavily infiltrated.
$70 billion more Earlier this week The Washington Post reported that administration officials were planning to seek an additional $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan after the election. Whatever the precise number, it has long been obvious to knowledgeable observers that this was coming, but the news will come as a shock to many people who still don't realize how deep a quagmire Mr. Bush has gotten us into.
Posted by Eric at 09:01 PM | Comments (24)
Bush on Osama Reminder
AP:
In one of the testiest moments of the evening, Bush protested, "I don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. That's kind of one of those exaggerations."Video.But during a news conference at the White House on March 13, 2002, Bush said something close to what Kerry quoted. "I truly am not that concerned about him," the president said, according to the official White House transcript.
Posted by Eric at 08:04 PM | Comments (13)
On the OBL Tape
From Josh M. Marshall:
A friend tells me that the Bush-propaganda-organ Fox News is calling it bin Laden's 'endorsement' of Kerry.John Kerry's statement:On the other hand, this cuts against the Bush administration's frequent suggestions that al Qaida has been routed or that bin Laden may in fact be dead.
Much depends of course on how the press plays it. I notice for instance that as of 4:37 PM on MSNBC the front page headline momentarily had bin Laden saying "Bush cannot protect America" before correcting it to read "neither Bush nor Kerry can protect America."
[ed. note: That observation is from a rushed clicking back and forth over their site. So let me make that subject to possible later correction. But that's how it appeared.]
Clearly, Kerry has to hit the ground with a tough and emphatic statement in response to this and gear up his team's operation to go head-to-head with what will no doubt be a desperate Bush campaign's effort to use this to connect Kerry and bin Laden to shift the pro-Kerry momentum of the race in the final days of the campaign.
It seems to me that Kerry should tell voters what he's been telling them for months. That he'll take the fight to bin Laden, that he won't get distracted the way the president has, and that the one thing this tape shows is that the president hasn't gotten the job done. If he had, there'd be no bin Laden to be making these tapes.
In response to this tape from Osama bin Laden, let me make it clear, crystal clear. As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. They are barbarians. And I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes. Period.
Posted by Eric at 07:59 PM | Comments (20)
Swing Hawaii for Kerry
To the Hawaii audience, AsianAmericanVoter.com asks you to swing Hawaii for Kerry. Find a sample letter you can send to your friends. Also related is this list of The United Coalition of Asian and Pacific Islander American Independent Arts, Culture and Media Professionals who are endorsing Kerry.
If you are in Hawaii, phone banking is now in progress: "A new wave of phone-banking is underway this week from 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm; M-F. Call 521-0988 to sign up now! Also ask about Kerry-Edwards Sign Waving Events!"
Posted by Eric at 06:50 PM | Comments (32)
Bush Campaign Doctored Ad
AP with the story, which a Kos diary broke.
Posted by Eric at 12:55 PM | Comments (27)
Cheney v. Reality
From the Center for American Progress:
"Well, the reason they keep mentioning Halliburton is because they're trying to throw up a smokescreen... It's an effort that they've made repeatedly to try to confuse the voters and to raise questions, but there's no substance to the charges."
– Vice President Cheney, 10/5/04
VERSUS
"The FBI is investigating whether U.S. officials improperly awarded Vice President Dick Cheney's former company [Halliburton] a lucrative contract work without competition, a probe that was confirmed only days after a top Army contract officer raised the issue of favoritism."
– AP, 10/29/04
Posted by Eric at 12:54 PM | Comments (24)
Bruce: Incredibly Cool
LA Times with this note on Bruce during his campaign rally with John Kerry in Wisconsin:
When the rock star's trailer parked in front of their house, 21-year-old Danya Bader-Natal — one of the seven University of Wisconsin seniors who live in the gray wooden house — scrawled a message in green marker on a flattened box and hung it from their second-story balcony: "Bruce come up for a beer."On his way back to his trailer after playing a short set for a crowd of 80,000 people, the singer pointed at the sign with a grin. And, much to their shock, he took the students up on their invitation.
Springsteen and his wife, Patti Scialfa, clambered up the stairs, tripping over a jumble of computer cords stretched across a doorway, and joined the roommates and their friends on a balcony cluttered with beach chairs and boxes of artichoke pizza. The stunned students handed the rock legend a bottle of Capital Amber, and for the next 20 minutes he hung out with them as Kerry spoke onstage down the street.
Posted by Eric at 10:02 AM | Comments (17)
O'Reilly Settles
How much will that phone sex cost him? NYDN with the report:
Bill O'Reilly and the decades-younger producer who claimed he tormented her with unwanted phone sex reached an out-of-court settlement last night - putting a seeming end to an embarrassing sex scandal for the Fox News superstar.
Sources told the Daily News that O'Reilly will have to pay Andrea Mackris at least $2 million - and possibly as much as $10 million.Under the deal, Mackris will drop the sexual harassment suit she filed against the talk-show host and Fox.
O'Reilly and his Fox bosses, in turn, will forget about the extortion suit they filed against Mackris and her lawyer.
Posted by Eric at 09:58 AM | Comments (33)
Fitzgerald: Ryan Should Have Stayed in Race
An indirect diss from Sen. Peter Fitzgerald to Keyes; Pantagraph:
Outgoing Sen. Peter Fitzgerald believes it would have been difficult for Republican Jack Ryan to win next week's election for Fitzgerald's seat against Democrat Barack Obama -- but wishes Ryan would have stayed in the race ... "I don't think Jack had to step aside," said Fitzgerald, during a visit with The Pantagraph's editorial board. "A lifetime of good works should not be destroyed by a lapse of judgment."
Posted by Eric at 05:11 AM | Comments (12)
"game, set, and match"
David Kay on the explosives story with NewsNight and Aaron Brown:
AB: I don't know how better to do this than to show you some pictures have you explain to me what they are or are not. Okay? First what I’ll just call the seal. And tell me if this is an IAEA seal on that bunker at that munitions dump?DK: Aaron, about as certain as I can be looking at a picture, not physically holding it which, obviously, I would have preferred to have been there, that is an IAEA seal. I've never seen anything else in Iraq in about 15 years of being in Iraq and around Iraq that was other than an IAEA seal of that shape.
AB: Was there anything else at the facility that would have been under IAEA seal?
DK: Absolutely nothing. It was the HMX, RDX, the two high explosives.
AB: OK now, I’ll take a look at barrels here for a second. You can tell me what they tell you. They, obviously, to us just show us a bunch of barrels. You'll see it somewhat differently.
DK: Well, it's interesting. There were three foreign suppliers to Iraq of this explosive in the 1980s. One of them used barrels like this, and inside the barrels a bag. HMX is in powder form because you actually use it to shape a spherical lens that is used to create the triggering device for nuclear weapons. And particularly on the videotape, which is actually better than the still photos, as the soldier dips into it, that's either HMX or RDX. I don't know of anything else in al Qaqaa that was in that form.
AB: Let me ask you then, David, the question I asked Jamie. In regard to the dispute about whether that stuff was there when the Americans arrived, is it game, set, match? Is that part of the argument now over?
DK: Well, at least with regard to this one bunker, and the film shows one seal, one bunker, one group of soldiers going through, and there were others there that were sealed. With this one, I think it is game, set, and match. There was HMX, RDX in there. The seal was broken. And quite frankly, to me the most frightening thing is not only was the seal broken, lock broken, but the soldiers left after opening it up. I mean, to rephrase the so-called pottery barn rule. If you open an arms bunker, you own it. You have to provide security.
AB: I'm -- that raises a number of questions. Let me throw out one. It suggests that maybe they just didn't know what they had?
DK: I think you're quite likely they didn't know they had HMX, which speaks to lack of intelligence given troops moving through that area, but they certainly knew they had explosives. And to put this in context, I think it's important, this loss of 360 tons, but Iraq is awash with tens of thousands of tons of explosives right now in the hands of insurgents because we did not provide the security when we took over the country.
AB: Could you -- I’m trying to stay out of the realm of politics. I'm not sure you can.
DK: So am I.
AB: I know. It's a little tricky here. But, is there any -- is there any reason not to have anticipated the fact that there would be bunkers like this, explosives like this, and a need to secure them?
DK: Absolutely not. For example, al Qaqaa was a site of Gerald Bull's super gun project. It was a team of mine that discovered the HMX originally in 1991. That was one of the most well-documented explosive sites in all of Iraq. The other 80 or so major ammunition storage points were also well documented. Iraq had, and it's a frightening number, two-thirds of the total conventional explosives that the US has in its entire inventory. The country was an armed camp.
Posted by Eric at 12:02 AM | Comments (3)
October 28, 2004
Thursday
NYT. 9/11 Families Group Rebukes Bush for Impasse on Overhaul
NYDN. W rushes last ad onto air
Reuters. Tied Presidential Election Could Be Mother of All Messes
Reuters. Will Bad News Be Bad for Bush in Election?
BG. Both campaigns invoke an image: the liberal's liberal
BG. Denunciations fly about missing munitions in Iraq
BG. Bush: Strategy of attack carries risk in swing states
dmregister. Kerry reaches out for votes; Bush speaks out on missing Iraqi arms
Tampa Trib. Anti-Kerry Veterans Start New Ad Blitz
AP. Breaux on attack in last Senate debate; Vitter reaches 51 in poll
St. Petersburg Times. Gov. Bush: Poll watchers can, should challenge voters
NYT. Bush Rejects Kerry Charge on Explosives
NYT. Provincial Capital Near Falluja Is Rapidly Slipping Into Chaos
WP. Policing Is Aggressive at Bush Events
Copley. Bush, Kerry battle for black votes
WP. Bush Web Site Bars Overseas Visitors
WP. Missing Iraq Munitions Become Focus of Race
LAT. Gov. Coy on How Bush Can Help California
LAT. Election Suits Are Filed Early and Often
LAT. Bush and Kerry Split in Three Key Swing States
St. Louis Post Dispatch. Parties plan armies of poll-watchers
AFP. Control of US Senate hinges on handful of hard-fought contests
AFP. Kerry, Bush plow midwestern electoral fields
AP. Million Dollar-Plus Political Donors Rise
AP. Both Parties Try to Attract Early Voters
AP. Bush, Kerry Spar Over Missing Explosives
Cleveland Plain Dealer. Urban radio ads court black voters
LAT. Technology Adds New Element to Getting Out Vote
Concord Monitor. Get-out-the-vote push may mean all bets off
Commentary
Mary Jacoby. "It will be worse than in 2000" NAACP head Julian Bond says the GOP is going all out to suppress the black vote. Can his "Election Protection" offensive stop them?
Honolulu Advertiser. Stem cell research is worth exploring
memphisflyer. FOR A STRONGER, SAFER, SANER AMERICA
Americans for Democratic Action. Bush Evokes FDR and JFK in Transparent Attempt to Swing Democrat Votes
Ralph G. Neas. Something Is "Terribly Wrong" in Ohio
Richard Cohen. Hold Bush Accountable
Ariel Dorfman. The Struggle for America's Soul
Frederick Sweet. Students Favor Kerry
William Marvel. America's Fake Conservatives
Seattle PI. Story didn't disappear; Unfortunately for the Bush camp, the story of the missing explosives of Al Qaqaa won't disappear as easily as the explosives did
Sidney Blumenthal. Bush has fallen victim to his own hubris
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Blood for oil / U.S. troops should not guard these oil operations
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mortal court / The chief justice's illness shows the stakes
Journal Sentinel. John Kerry for president
Capital Times. Kerry for president
MoDowd. White House of Horrors
NYT. Abu Ghraib, Unresolved
Ellen Goodman. Setting loose the campaign wolves
BGlobe. A new war on poverty
Bill Berkowitz. Introducing 'The O'Sexxxy Factor' Welcome to Bill O'Reilly's fantasy world of porn stars, prostitutes, and web cam exhibitionists
Andrew Young. Dismantling The Dream; Andrew Young asks President Bush why he's disassembling the very programs that help Americans reach the American dream.
Meredith Michaels. Children of Privilege; George W. Bush and I have one thing in common: Our father's friends did us a favor--and came to regret it.
Michelle Goldberg. GOP's worst fears coming true - An influential Republican pollster concludes that a big minority turnout will tip the battleground states to Kerry
Nicole Mlade. Disarmament in Haiti
Andrew Gumbel. A Country on the Verge of an Electoral Meltdown
Jeannette Cooperman. God On Their Side
Posted by Eric at 11:59 PM | Comments (4)
They Were There
Damn, those things called facts are really a nuisance, huh?
A videotape made by a television crew with American troops when they opened bunkers at a sprawling Iraqi munitions complex south of Baghdad shows a huge supply of explosives still there nine days after the fall of Saddam Hussein, apparently including some sealed earlier by the International Atomic Energy Agency.The tape, broadcast on Wednesday night by the ABC affiliate in Minneapolis, appeared to confirm a warning given earlier this month to the agency by Iraqi officials, who said that hundreds of tons of high-grade explosives, powerful enough to bring down buildings or detonate nuclear weapons, had vanished from the site after the invasion of Iraq.
The question of whether the material was removed by Mr. Hussein's forces in the days before the invasion, or looted later because it was unguarded, has become a heated dispute on the campaign trail, with Senator John Kerry accusing President Bush of incompetence, and Mr. Bush saying it is unclear when the material disappeared and rejecting what he calls Mr. Kerry's "wild charges."
Posted by Eric at 11:03 PM | Comments (6)
The Explosives Story
Posted by Eric at 07:17 PM | Comments (1)
Scientists estimate 100,000 Iraqis may have died in war
Winning the hearts and minds ...
Posted by Eric at 06:26 PM | Comments (8)
Our Silly President
"And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your Commander-in-Chief."
– President Bush, 10/27/04
VERSUS
"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories."
–President Bush, 5/29/03
Posted by Eric at 12:06 PM | Comments (8)
Large Shifts in Military About Gays
Finds a University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey:
Fifty percent of junior enlisted service members say that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey. The number is a significant increase since 1992, when two similar surveys found 16 percent of male service members held the same view.
The Annenberg poll follows a report last week from the Urban Institute which estimates 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans serve in the armed forces. “Despite the military’s gay ban, service members have seen first hand the contributions of lesbian and gay Americans,” said Sharra E. Greer, Director of Law and Policy for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). “Heterosexual service members serve alongside lesbian and gay colleagues every day and they are increasingly comfortable doing so.”
Posted by Eric at 11:33 AM | Comments (14)
Democrats Aggressively Courting Hawaii
Including trotting out the Big Dog. Republicans, meanwhile, apparently won't do anything:
The Democratic National Committee is now running an ad attacking President Bush customized for Hawaii.Both major Hawaii newspapers, the Honolulu Advertiser and Star Bulletin, have endorsed Kerry.The new ad follows Republican Gov. Linda Lingle's criticism of the Democrats' first television spot saying "they are out of touch with what is happening in our state." ... The DNC also arranged to have former President Clinton give satellite interviews from his home in suburban New York to the four TV network affiliates in Honolulu. When asked why the presidential race in Hawaii had grown so close, Clinton said, "I don't think the candidates have had a great presence there, and the issues haven't been fully debated."
The DNC announced earlier this week that it would spend $200,000 in the last week of the election in Hawaii to make sure Hawaii supports Sen. John Kerry for president ... Brennon Morioka, state GOP chairman, said the national party does not have any plans yet to buy television or radio ads in Hawaii.
Posted by Eric at 11:23 AM | Comments (15)
Guliani's Soldiers Comments
Things that make you go hmmmm, via Atrios:
The president was cautious the president was prudent the president did what a commander in chief should do. No matter how you try to blame it on the president the actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough? Didn't they search carefully enough?
Posted by Eric at 11:15 AM | Comments (56)
College Republicans Deceive Elderly
From a Seattle Times expose, link via Brown Democrats:
The College Republican National Committee has raised $6.3 million this year through an aggressive and misleading fund-raising campaign that collected money from senior citizens who thought they were giving to the election efforts of President Bush and other top Republicans.
Many of the top donors were in their 80s and 90s. The donors wrote checks — sometimes hundreds and, in at least one case, totaling more than $100,000 — to groups with official sounding-names such as "Republican Headquarters 2004," "Republican Elections Committee" and the "National Republican Campaign Fund."But all of those groups, according to the small print on the letters, were simply projects of the College Republicans, who collected all of the checks.
And little of the money went to election efforts.
Of the money spent by the group this year, nearly 90 percent went to direct-mail vendors and postage expenses, according to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
Some of the elderly donors, meanwhile, wound up bouncing checks and emptying their bank accounts
Posted by Eric at 10:47 AM | Comments (16)
Hamster Numbers: Environment
Bush's accomplishments on the environment in the past four years, according to a Knight Ridder analysis:
Also check out this handy-dandy graphic.Superfund cleanups of toxic waste fell by 52 percent. Fish-consumption warnings for rivers doubled. Fish-consumption advisories for lakes increased 39 percent. The number of beach closings rose 26 percent. Civil citations issued to polluters fell 57 percent. Criminal pollution prosecutions dropped 17 percent. Asthma attacks increased by 6 percent. There were small increases in global temperatures and unhealthy air days.
Posted by Eric at 06:26 AM | Comments (9)
Wilderness: Who Needs It?
Certainly not the Interior Department and the Bush administration; from the LA Times:
The sculpted buttes of Wild Horse Mesa, the vast escarpment of the Book Cliffs and the soaring ramparts of Upper Desolation Canyon near here have become a prime battleground in the Bush administration's campaign to curb wilderness protection throughout the country.In 1999, the federal government acknowledged the unique character of the area, where 150 million years of the earth's geologic history unfolds and the forces of nature continue to shape the rugged landscape. The Bureau of Land Management put more than 440,000 acres off-limits to industrial development.
The protection was short-lived.
Within four years, the area was opened to oil and gas exploration. Under the Bush administration, 2.6 million acres of Utah land that had been shielded from development were suddenly open for business.
The actions were part of a sweeping policy shift by Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton with implications far beyond Utah. Not only does the new policy cancel protection of the Utah land, it withholds the interim safeguards traditionally applied to areas with wilderness potential until Congress decides whether to make them part of the national wilderness system.
But what most distinguishes the administration's position is its claim that under applicable law the Interior Department is barred — forever — from identifying and protecting wild land the way it has for nearly 30 years.
Posted by Eric at 06:06 AM | Comments (12)
Poll: Kerry Gaining Among Swing Voters
From the AP on a Pew poll:
Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) gained some ground on President Bush (news - web sites) among swing voters in the last month, with several citing the presidential debates as a factor in their shift, according to a poll released Wednesday.The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press called back 519 voters who were either undecided in September or said they could still change their minds. That group tilted toward Bush in September and is now evenly split on Bush and Kerry.
By more than 3-to-1, the swing voters said Kerry did the better job in the debates.
Swing voters "have been drifting toward Kerry a little more than Bush," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. "But everything about the remaining slice of the electorate says it's pretty much even."
The number of swing voters in that group either committed or leaning toward Kerry was 40 percent, up from 28 percent in September. The number either committed or leaning toward Bush was 38 percent, compared to 34 percent in September.
Posted by Eric at 02:12 AM | Comments (16)
Thursday Sports Blogging
Posted by Eric at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
October 27, 2004
Bush Gives You the Finger
As if you haven't already seen it, see it again.
Posted by Eric at 11:58 PM | Comments (2)
Wed Stories
Guardian. Suppressing the overseas vote
Rocky Mountain News. Presidential ads evaporating in Colorado
BGlobe. Down homestretch, Kerry steps up pace; Whirlwind trips leave candidate and staff weary
Charlotte Observer. Race for Senate heats up quickly
Post-Dispatch. Missouri reflects tight race
KITV. Hawaii Facing Barrage Of Presidential Ads; DNC, Liberal Advocacy Group Pour Thousands Of Dollars Into Local Television
AP. NRC Cleans Up Web Act
NYDN. Gay-marriage foes may bolster Bush
NYT. Kerry Attacks Bush Over Loss of Explosives
NYT. C.I.A. Is Accused of Delaying Internal Report
NYT. The Billions: White House Weighs Price Tag on Emergency Request for Iraq
LAT. Some Nader Faithful Turn Away
orlandosentinel. Sparks fly in new ad for Senate campaign: Mel Martinez says Betty Castor opposes the war on terrorism. She says he's distorting the truth
NYT. 2 Kerry Votes on War and Peace Underline a Political Evolution
SacBee. Without fanfare, Bush signs California water bill
LAT. Small Places Looming Large in Bush's Reelection Strategy
LAT. Conflicted Evangelicals Could Cost Bush Votes
LAT. Signs of Voter Fraud Appear in Key States
Houston Chronicle. Ills, age catching up with Supreme Court; Chances are slim the same 9 will be serving in 4 years
Houston Chronicle. Execution ends week of pleas; DNA lab worries are not enough to spare Green
Seattle PI. Maligned Murray keeps winning - In a political career that's moved from the improbable to the entrenched, one thing has been constant for Sen. Patty Murray -- the slights of others.
WP. In Wash., Sen. Murray Holds Lead
WP. Bush and Kerry Sharpen Accusations
WP. Students Decry Registration Problems
WP. Experts Ponder Prospect Of Electoral College Tie
SeattlePI. Charter schools: Battle is joined; Washington is the battleground state for the charter school movement this year. And voters here have a lot of rhetoric to sift through.
Reuters. Arab-Americans in Four Swing States Favor Kerry
Reuters. Bush Calls Kerry Chronic Complainer with No Plan
Reuters. Consumer Confidence at 7-Month Low in Oct
AP. New Bush Guard Papers Leave Questions
AP. Court Won't Put Nader on Ballot in Ohio
AP. Cheney Rejects Kerry Criticism on Iraq
AP. Kerry, Edwards Rarely Campaign Together
AP. Bush, Kerry Take Campaigns to Key States
Commentary
Sierra Club. Ground Zero Community Urges Answer from EPA Before Election
Janelle Nanos. A new generation of gay and lesbian students is challenging homophobic policies at religious colleges
Matt Smith. Yo Soy Centroamericano; Why vote Kerry? Exhibit No. 1: George W. Bush has shamelessly hired the dangerous figures behind the Iran-Contra Affair into senior diplomatic posts
Nashville Scene. Kerry for President
Laura Billings. Wellstone Was a True Champion of War Heroes
Harold Meyerson. The GOP's Shameful Vote Strategy
LAT. Once Gone, Gone Forever
StarTrib. Incompetence/Zarqawi, explosives got away
Marie Cocco. Clinton helps Kerry shine brighter
Robert Kuttner. Bush is idle in flu-shot fiasco
BGlobe. Justice in the balance
Kiersten Stewart. Remembering the Wellstones...and Fighting for their Vision
Peter Dizikes. Requiem for a reformer; Four years ago, he drew celebrities and crowds. This time, as it wheezes toward the finish line, the Nader campaign has the feel of Spinal Tap's last tour
CAP. State by State: The Bill for Iraq War
Charles Rothfeld and Thomas Colby. 'Strict Constructionism' and Dred Scott
Bruce Shapiro. The Rehnquist Election
William Rivers Pitt. Promises to Keep
Molly Ivins. Clueless people love Bush
Evan Derkacz. Time's Up for Tom DeLay
Lakshmi Chaudhry. Seymour Hersh: Man On Fire
Posted by Eric at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
Mosh Hits Number 1
On MTV.
Sam Graham-Felsen in The Nation comments on the video.
Posted by Eric at 06:23 PM | Comments (6)
Bush Makes The Case for His Booting
From General Wesley Clark on President Bush:
"Today George W. Bush made a very compelling and thoughtful argument for why he should not be reelected. In his own words, he told the American people that "...a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your Commander in Chief.""President Bush couldn't be more right. He jumped to conclusions about any connection between Saddam Hussein and 911. He jumped to conclusions about weapons of mass destruction. He jumped to conclusions about the mission being accomplished. He jumped to conclusions about how we had enough troops on the ground to win the peace. And because he jumped to conclusions, terrorists and insurgents in Iraq may very well have their hands on powerful explosives to attack our troops, we are stuck in Iraq without a plan to win the peace, and Americans are less safe both at home and abroad."
"By doing all these things, he broke faith with our men and women in uniform. He has let them down. George W. Bush is unfit to be our Commander in Chief."
Posted by Eric at 02:56 PM | Comments (14)
Ooooh, To Be Middle-Aged, Katherine Harris, and In Love
From the NYDN:
Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) might think about sitting too close to the C-SPAN cameras the next time she's in Congress.See the video here.
Harris, who was Florida's secretary of state during the infamous 2000 "hanging chad" recount debacle, is seen whispering, giggling, touching and appearing to peck the cheek of Republican Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona during the 9/11 Commission reforms bill debate. At one point, she throws her head back in laughter as Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) presents intelligence data at the podium.While a Renzi staffer admitted Harris appears to give him a "shoulder grab," Renzi's press secretary, Matthew Ash, told us: "They shared an exchange on the House floor and nothing more. The congressman is looking directly at Simmons and following the debate on the floor."
Posted by Eric at 02:15 PM | Comments (9)
Denver Post Receives Huge Criticism for Bush Endorsement
The Denver Post may have a good sports page, but it's editorial page? Well, 700 letters to the editor say it sucks, including this one:
Do my eyes deceive me? Your endorsement of George W. Bush reads like a stunning indictment of his failed policies and reckless judgment. Conversely, you refer to John Kerry's "fresh ideas," "sensible plans," and "superior proposals." In spite of these obvious distinctions, you conclude that Bush should be our choice for president simply because "we aren't so sure" about John Kerry's decisiveness. I believe four years of Bush decisiveness has us marching straight for a cliff and I see no reason to believe he has any intent of changing course.Here, the Denver Post explains its endorsement and notes: "In the case of Sunday's Bush endorsement, the editorial board, like the country, was divided, and we took extraordinary steps to ensure that the full range of views was represented in our pages. On the adjacent page, we ran a column by two of our editorial writers, "Kerry's appeal - 'America can do better."' We hope our readers will take a look at that piece as well as the endorsement itself. Together, these pieces reflect the sharp division of opinion in Colorado as Election Day nears." Kos notes from this that "the newspaper endorsement may be on its final legs."Marc Champion, Golden
Posted by Eric at 05:34 AM | Comments (121)
Now It's 36
36 papers th at endorsed Bush in 2000 are now supporting John Kerry; WPost:
The Orlando Sentinel has backed every Republican seeking the White House since Richard M. Nixon in 1968. Not this time."This president has utterly failed to fulfill our expectations," the Florida paper said in supporting John F. Kerry, prompting some angry calls and a few dozen cancellations.
"A lot of people thought they could trust that the Sentinel would always go Republican, and when that didn't happen, they felt betrayed," said Jane Healy, the paper's editorial page editor.
The Sentinel is among 36 newspapers that endorsed President Bush four years ago and have flip-flopped, to coin a phrase, into Kerry's corner. These include the Chicago Sun-Times, the Los Angeles Daily News and the Memphis Commercial Appeal, according to industry magazine Editor & Publisher. Bush has won over only six papers that backed Al Gore, including the Denver Post, which received 700 letters -- all of them protesting the move.
Posted by Eric at 04:53 AM | Comments (47)
New Florida Voting Scandal Alleged
From Greg Palast of BBC's Newsnight:
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.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."
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot ... Republican state campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker Fletcher stated the list was not put together "in order to create" a challenge list, but refused to say it would not be used in that manner.
Rather, she did acknowledge that the party's poll workers will be instructed to challenge voters, "Where it's stated in the law."
There was no explanation as to why such clerical matters would be sent to top officials of the Bush campaign in Florida and Washington.
Posted by Eric at 03:40 AM | Comments (22)
Dude, Where's My Draft?
The draft is totally awesome. New premium sponsor. Check them out, and book your junior year abroad now.
Posted by Eric at 02:35 AM | Comments (22)
Help Your Local House Candidates
This election's main event is the presidential race. There's little doubt about that. However, across America, there are important local races with outcomes that'll have a significant effect on the next president's agenda. The DCCC is the main body responsible for directing crucial funding to House of Rep races. Recently, the DCCC compiled fundraising targets by region:
If you can, donate some $$ to the DCCC - the money directly helps candidates in competitive races to take back the House from Tom Delay and his cronies.
Posted by Eric at 02:05 AM | Comments (1)
Slate: Kerry the Choice
Slate also asks you to choose John F. Kerry.
But not the intern!
David Bradley Kenner, Intern: BushWell if that doesn't convince you ...I'm voting for Bush. I don't want, or find it necessary, to defend every piece of his record. The simple fact is that he is the only candidate who has had the courage to envision a long-term solution to the danger of terrorism—the liberalization and democratization of the Middle East. John Kerry, on the other hand, cannot manage to think beyond the next political obstacle. Only one candidate has the courage to keep America safe in these dangerous days. Four more years!
Posted by Eric at 01:06 AM | Comments (18)
Andrew Sullivan Will Vote for Kerry
The conservative blogger says he's had enough of Bush, who Sullivan says has become a polarizer and not a uniter; Sullivan in pro-Iraq war The New Republic (which is also endorsing Kerry):
Which candidate is best suited for this unappetizing ordeal? In Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration has shown itself impatient with and untalented at nation-building. Moreover, the toll of the war has left the United States with minimal international support, one important ingredient for the successful rebuilding of nations. If Bush is reelected, even Britain will likely shift toward withdrawal in Iraq, compounding American isolation there and making it even harder for a new Iraqi government to gain legitimacy. In the essential tasks of building support for greater international help in Iraq--financially, militarily, diplomatically--Kerry is the better choice. No, other countries cannot bail us out or even contribute much in the way of an effective military presence. But within Iraq, the impact of a more international stamp on the occupation and on the elections could help us win the battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis. That battle--as much as the one on the battlefield itself--is crucial for success. I fear Bush is too polarizing, too controversial, too loathed a figure even within his own country, to pull this off.Posted by Eric at 12:58 AM | Comments (24)
October 26, 2004
Tuesday
News
LAT. Officials Downplay Missing Weapons
LAT. Gov. Won't Commit to Stump for Bush
LAT. Voters Are Still Split Sharply, and Evenly
HonoluluAdv. Kerry's team will buy ads in Islands
AP. Georgia Court keeps gay marriage ban on ballot
AP. Bush Blames Poorly Made Shirt for Bulge
USAT. Bush, Kerry start final week of campaign
WP. GOP's Burr Is Back to Basics in N.C.
WP. Sinclair Chief Denies Political Agenda
WP. Bush Hiding Bad News, Kerry Says
WP. Some Fear Ohio Will Be The Florida of 2004
NYT. Fund-Raising: Despite New Financing Rules, Parties Collect Record $1 Billion
NYT. U.S. Action Bars Right of Some Captured in Iraq
NYT. Battle Over the Amazon's Bounty
NYT. Iraq Explosives Become Issue in Campaign
CSMonitor. Kerry tries to close a perceived 'God gap'
CSMonitor. Karzai, a man with no party; Afghanistan's new leader will be under pressure to develop a two-party system
BGlobe. N.H.'s race for governor spotlights scandals
BGlobe. Hawaii: Three groups consider ads to try to trim president's edge
BGlobe. Kerry, Bush spar over who can best lead charge on terror
BGlobe. Cheered by thousands, 'comeback' Clinton returns
AP. Hope Wanes for 9/11 Bill's Pre-Election OK
AP. Springsteen, Bon Jovi Join Kerry Campaign
Reuters. Consumer Confidence Hits 7-Month Low
AP. Allawi Blames Ambush on 'Negligence'
AP. Kerry: Bush Won't Own Up to Bad Decisions
Reuters. Bush Says Kerry Tax Plan Would Hit Small Business
Reuters. States See Federal Largesse as Election Nears
Reuters. Kerry Says Bush Fails U.S. Commander in Chief Test
CSM. Electoral tug of war in final stretch
Cleveland Plain Dealer. Soldiers' moms campaign for Kerry
NY Daily News. As election nears, states see a surge in voter rolls
Commentary
Mother Jones. Conversation with a Conservative: Peter G. Peterson; The Commerce Secretary in the Nixon administration explains that the Republican Party "has lost its moorings" in recent years
Krugman. A Culture of Cover-Ups
Laura Flanders. Reality Check: From ending the Equal Pay Initiative to championing the Partial Birth Abortion Act, Bush’s record speaks for itself
John Cory. 'I need a president — again'
Cynthia Tucker. Homophobia runs rampant in black America
Howard Dean. Why I am Voting for John Kerry
John Nichols. Nader's Flawed Calculus; Nader backers support Kerry more than Bush, a Nation Institute poll shows
Michelle Goldberg. Eminem's anti-Bush anthem; Watch the "Mosh" video, the most powerful broadside against the administration since "Fahrenheit 9/11"
Mark Follman. "Thousands and thousands of potential terrorist attacks" A top nuclear-proliferation expert says that the Bush administration's failure to safeguard almost 380 tons of high-tech explosives "borders on criminal negligence"
Michael Tomasky. "Explosive" Revelations; The Bush administration’s incompetence may have caused the deaths of American soldiers. This time, the media must draw attention to it
Tony Hendra. Surprise, Surprise; An ultra-top-secret memo from Karl Rove to our intrepid leader has mysteriously come into Tony Hendra’s possession
Matthew Yglesias. Cry Wolf; George W. Bush has forgotten Ronald Reagan's lesson: Preparedness matters
E. J. Dionne Jr. The Intensity Gap
W. Ron Allen. Kerry will address Indian concerns
Marie Cocco. Having votes count is not getting easier
LAT. The Man Behind the Oval Office Curtain
LAT. Worse Than the Usual Bad
Thomas Oliphant. Is New Hampshire slipping to Kerry?
BGlobe. Bush's blunders in Iraq
Jerry Burris. Spotlight could shine on Hawai'i
Posted by Eric at 11:54 PM | Comments (30)
Eminem Raps Bush
I won't pretend that Eminem is the smartest man in America, and we should crown him master of the universe, but Ben Wikler is basically right here about Eminem's new video: "Musicians making political statements is nothing new. But there aren’t many recording artists with as wide a following among young people across the country; and fewer still would be willing to risk alienating fans with a video assaulting a candidate this directly, right before an election. And not only is the video unusual, it’s powerful."
So, per Kos, Boldprint, and a bunch of other bloggers, tell MTV's Total Request Live to air the video.
Posted by Eric at 06:43 PM | Comments (23)
Not an Activist?
Sinclair CEO not an activist?
Apparently, even Sinclair CEO David Smith is turned off by his company's programming: in an interview on Friday, Smith denied being a Republican activist and said he rarely watched anything but golf on TV. He denied trying to sway the presidential election by requiring his stations to air a special on Friday that included several minutes of an anti-Kerry documentary, and said he gave more money to Democrats than Republicans. According to Federal Election Commission records, at least the latter of these statements was untrue. Since 1997, Smith has given only $2,250 in donations to Democrats while he has pitched in $22,000 for Republicans. "Brothers Frederick G. Smith and J. Duncan Smith, also Sinclair board members, have made tens of thousands of dollars in GOP contributions over the same period, record show."Posted by Eric at 12:45 PM | Comments (48)
Bush Foreign Policy Hurting Overseas Companies
American corporations are in danger of suffering a major shift in purchasing habits as nearly 20% of foreign consumers say they’ll avoid select U.S. products due to America’s position on foreign affairs, according to the latest poll by independent global market research company GMI, Inc. (http://www.worldpoll.com).
The GMI World Poll reveals that people in China, Japan, Germany and other industrialized Western nations are less willing today to purchase American brands — notably Starbucks, Marlboro and Mattel — or fly American-based airlines than before the Iraqi invasion and the United States’ unilateral foreign policies. More than half of those surveyed cite an increasingly negative perception of the U.S., while 67% believe U.S. foreign policy is guided by “self interests” and “empire building.”
“GMI’s World Poll clearly indicates the rest of the world views America’s intervention in Iraq as arrogant and selfish,” said Princeton University Professor Douglas S. Massey with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. “Because of their anger and frustration, they are consciously considering changing their buying habits,” continued Massey. He added that continued unilateral action on the part of the U.S. will not only “isolate it politically, but economically as well, depressing worldwide demand for American products and services.”Posted by Eric at 12:39 PM | Comments (41)
Hawaii Officially Battleground State
According to the Honolulu Advertiser, the DNC will buy adtime in Hawaii, and the Bush campaign is also thinking about it; From the Honolulu Advertiser:
The Democratic National Committee, concerned that the presidential race has tightened in Hawai'i, has purchased local television advertisements to help Sen. John Kerry's campaign.So why is Hawaii so close? Probably the main reason is the war. Hawaii has a big military culture, and this helps Bush:The decision comes after the Advertiser Hawai'i Poll and other polls found that Kerry and President Bush are in a dead heat in Hawai'i, a state that has traditionally supported Democrats for president.
"This is an indication that John Kerry and the Democrats are not taking a single vote for granted," said Josh Earnest, a DNC spokesman.
Earnest said he could not describe the content or scope of the ads but he acknowledged that Democrats had not invested resources in Hawai'i before because the state was viewed as safe for Kerry. Two local television executives described the ad buy as significant. The Bush campaign has also contacted local television stations about advertising.
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said he has thought for months that the presidential campaign in Hawai'i would be closer than many Democrats believed. He said people are reluctant to oppose the commander-in-chief during wartime but that he believes Kerry still has the advantage.Also this irony:What is interesting about the Hawai'i Poll results reported yesterday is that a substantial number of voters appear determined not to change horses in midstream despite strong negative feelings about such things as the war in Iraq and their own personal economic security.Ah yes, the incumbency. Hawaii has never thrown out an incumbent for Congress. We also voted for Nixon and Ronald Reagan's reelections. One of the things the Hawaii polls made clear is Democrats in Hawaii are willing to vote for Bush. In the past decade, the Hawaii Democratic party has been awful - too many corruptions, poor leaders, and an unpopular governor. This is why Linda Lingle, a Republican, is governor (and quite popular). Has all this made voting for a Republican easier for those Democrats? Perhaps. Also take into account Hawaii has a strong religious base (including a lot of Mormons).Think about it: A majority of those surveyed said they believe they were misled about the rationale for the war in Iraq. A strong majority believe we are less safe than we were before we invaded. A substantial majority believe the troops won't be brought home on schedule.
And they are evenly split about whether Social Security will be there for them when they retire. More than half of the respondents said they were Democrats.
Yet after all that, they were just as likely to say they'll vote for Bush as for Kerry. The power of incumbency!
EDIT: Chris Bowers at MyDD says the polling sample may be a bit off for one of the polls, because the neighbor islands aren't included.
Posted by Eric at 12:23 PM | Comments (17)
October 25, 2004
Monday stories
News
HonoluluAdv. Military families criticize Iraq war
IHT. Closing tactics play to U.S. voters' fears
WTimes. Giuliani to join presidential race for homestretch
NYDN. Bubba's Oct. surprise; He's hitting the hustings today
CNN. Survey: Gas prices up a nickel
BG. Kerry, Bush trade barbs on homeland security
BG. Latinos are a disparate swing bloc
Guardian. Rap star drums up youth vote in key states
ABC. Poll: Close Bush-Kerry Race Gets Closer
AP. From afar, Kerry cheers on the Red Sox
AP. Clinton says stumping for Kerry not a risk
WPMag. No Joke: Eight-time presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche may be a punchline on 'The Simpsons,' but his organization -- and the effect it has on young recruits -- is dead serious
WP. Electronic Voting Raises New Issues
WP. Karzai Is Clear Winner of Vote
WP. Democrats Struggle in Campaigns to Retake House
NYT. Administration Officials Split Over Stalled Military Tribunals
NYT. Gore and Kerry Unite in Search for Black Votes
NYT. Ambush Kills 50 Iraq Soldiers Execution Style
NYT. Obama Wins Kenyan Hearts
NYT. Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site in Iraq
SD UTrib. Boxer has safe edge as the end is in sight
Reuters. Carter Says Bush Exploited Sept. 11 Attacks
Reuters. Bush, Aides Court Jewish Votes in Tight Race
Reuters. Bush Has Two-Point Lead on Kerry -Reuters Poll
AP. Kerry Tries Faith to Win Undecided Voters
AP. Bush Revamps Speech, Keeps Theme Same
AP. Kerry Ridicules Bush on Terrorism Remark
Commentary
Ian Williams. Bush’s War Against the Military
bangornews. John Kerry for President
wausaudailyherald. Kerry's views more closely mirror ours
Tom Thompson. Bush policies against terror fail to cover home base
NYT. Rocky Mountain Politics: The administration's recent restraint on opening up more Western lands to oil drilling looks like a political move rather than a change of heart
Bob Herbert. For Bush, Bad News Is Bad News
WPost. Kerry for President
Florida Herald Tribune. Kerry for president
Stamford Advocate. Kerry is our selection for president
Newsday. Newsday endorses Kerry
DMReg. John Kerry, the real thing
Tom Robbins. Bush's War on Labor
Ward Harkavy. Despite Torturous Year in Iraq, Defense Contractor's Profits Soar
Jonathan Schell. Invitation to a Degraded World
Neal Gabler. Karl Rove: America's Mullah
Leonard Pitts Jr. 'This isn't a presidency, it's a forgery'
David Corn. Why I'm for Kerry
Michael Tisserand. George McGovern on Liberalism's Past, Present and Future
Katrina vanden Heuvel. Who's His Daddy? It appears Bush may be talking to the wrong Higher Father
The Nation. 100 Facts and 1 Opinion; The non-arguable case against George W. Bush
Paul Rosenberg. Voter Supression Part II -Down to the WireVoter Suppression Is Alive In the Heartland
Dusty Rhodes. On the Homefront, Soldiers' Families Cope, Hope
Sean Aday. What's Happening Now; Dog bites man, press just bites.
Paul Waldman. Blue State Slander; Bush to Northeast: "Drop Dead"
Joyce McGreevy. Welcome to the Parade of October Surprises! Block the vote. A loofah in every shower. One flu over the Cuckoo's Nest. There's no telling what we'll see!
Robert Parry. How John Kerry exposed the Contra-cocaine scandal
John Irons. Budget Failures
Gerald Rellick. Scientists Against Bush
DenPost. Kerry's appeal: "America can do better
Nation Institute. Nader Voters Favor Kerry Over Bush by 3-to-1 Margin
Posted by Eric at 11:56 PM | Comments (16)
How Low Can He Go?
From Media Matters on independent commentator Bill O'Reilly:
On his October 21 radio show, FOX News Channel host Bill O'Reilly defended President George W. Bush from a recent Kerry-Edwards '04 TV ad highlighting Bush's opposition to creation of the 9-11 Commission by denying that Bush had ever opposed the commission.
From the October 21 broadcast of the nationally syndicated The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
O'REILLY: "They said they [9-11 widow Kristen Breitweiser, featured in the ad, and her late husband] voted for Bush [in 2000], but Bush opposed the 9-11 Commission -- which he didn't, by the way. He didn't oppose it. I mean, he had questions about it because he didn't want it politicized."
In fact, Bush did oppose the creation of the 9-11 Commission. According to CBS News, the reason Bush opposed the establishment of an independent commission was that "the investigation should be confined to Congress because it deals with sensitive information that could reveal sources and methods of intelligence. Therefore, he said, the congressional investigation is 'the best place' to probe the events leading up to the terrorist attacks."
After the commission's creation, Bush also opposed granting the additional time that commissioners requested to complete their investigation.
Posted by Eric at 09:45 PM | Comments (58)
Conservatives Accidentally Send EMail to Satire GeorgeWBush.org
Instead of the real GeorgeWBush.com address. See the collection here.
Posted by Eric at 09:36 PM | Comments (23)
The Disenfranchised Eric
No sign of my absentee ballot ...
Posted by Eric at 06:32 PM | Comments (65)
Jon Stewart on "60 Minutes"
A transcript here:
And he did some punking himself after 60 Minutes Wednesday
admitted it could not authenticate documents used in a report on Mr. Bush's National Guard service: "CBS issued a statement defending its reporting but vowing to, quote, 'make every effort to resolve the contradictions and answer the unanswered questions about the documents,'" said Stewart. "Among those unanswered questions: Why the f*** didn't you check them before you broadcast it?""I can't believe that the National Guard memo scandal is the only scandal in four years that has gotten elevated to the status of having a gate attached to it," says Stewart. "Rather-gate. For God's sake, we launched a war based on forged documents. That doesn't get a gate. How do you not get a gate outta that?"
"Dick Cheney's old company does business with Iran, in an offshore Cayman Islands group," adds Stewart. "No gate. Nothing."
Posted by Eric at 03:29 PM | Comments (142)
Rehnquist Has Cancer
From the AP:
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the leading conservative figure on the Supreme Court for a generation, has thyroid cancer but will continue working while receiving treatment.A reminder from People for the American Way:Rehnquist, 80, underwent a tracheotomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital in suburban Maryland on Saturday. While no details about his condition were released, a statement issued by the court said he is expected to be back at work next week when justices resume hearing cases.
Even so, Rehnquist's hospitalization little more than a week before the election gave new prominence to a campaign issue that has been overshadowed by the war on terrorism. The next president is likely to at least one — and likely more — to a court that has been deeply divided in recent years on issues as varied as abortion and the 2000 election itself.
At a closed-door luncheon in September with high-dollar Republican donors, President Bush bragged that an election victory would give him an opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice shortly after his inauguration, and perhaps three more high-court vacancies during his second term, according to a report in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Gushed one enthusiastic attendee, “Won’t that be amazing? Can you imagine? Four appointments!”This time, President Bush has his facts straight. It is almost certain that the president elected this fall will have an opportunity to nominate two, three, or four justices. It has been more than ten years since the last vacancy, the longest interval between openings on the Court in 181 years, since the administration of James Monroe in 1823. Over the past 50 years, there has been a vacancy on the average of about once every two years. We are long overdue. In fact, we could be entering an era comparable to the four vacancies between 1969 and 1972 and the five between 1986 and 1991.
Posted by Eric at 03:00 PM | Comments (15)
Puppy Ad All Wrong
Who knew - Bush's new (and very funny) puppy ad is full of doggie poo; from the Progress Report:
FACT – THE VOTE OCCURRED SEVEN YEARS BEFORE 9/11: The advertisement says that John Kerry's vote came "after the first terrorist attack on America" implying that it occurred after 9/11. In fact, the vote in question occurred in 1994. In the years immediately prior to 9/11, John Kerry consistently supported increases in intelligence spending.
FACT – GOSS VOTED TO DRAMATICALLY REDUCE INTELLIGENCE PERSONNEL: The central message of the advertisement is that because Kerry supported reductions in intelligence resources in the mid-1990s, he can't be trusted to be in charge today. But in 1995, Porter Goss "sponsored legislation that would have cut intelligence personnel by 20 percent." That didn't stop President Bush from appointing Goss this year to head the Central Intelligence Agency. In contrast, Kerry's proposal would have amounted to just a 3.7 percent reduction in intelligence funding.
FACT – KERRY'S PROPOSAL WAS PART OF AN EFFORT TO REDUCE THE DEFICIT: It's not surprising Bush would criticize Kerry's 1994 proposal – it was an effort to reduce the deficit, which is something Bush doesn't understand. Bush has turned a $236 billion surplus into a more than $400 billion deficit. The national debt – which Bush said he would "pay down to a historically low level" – now exceeds $7.4 trillion, an all-time high. For more of Bush's broken promises, check out this document from the American Progress Action Fund.
SCARE TACTIC HYPOCRISY: While his campaign runs advertisements featuring menacing wolves, Vice President Cheney has recently accused the Kerry campaign of trying to "scare people" by talking about Bush's public plan to begin privatizing Social Security. Let's review some of what Cheney has said recently on the campaign trail. Cheney on Sept. 8: "if we make the wrong choice [on Nov. 2] then the danger is that we'll get hit again, that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating." Cheney last Tuesday: "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...biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind...able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.'' Cheney on Saturday: "if John Kerry had been in charge, maybe the Soviet Union would still be in business."
Posted by Eric at 02:51 PM | Comments (14)
Headline: Mafia Soldiers Support Bush-Cheney
From the Smoking Gun.
Posted by Eric at 10:36 AM | Comments (28)
More and More 2000 Pro-Bush Newspapers Abandoning Him
Sen. John Kerry continued his raid on newspapers that backed President Bush in 2000, grabbing 24 new "flip-flops," plus The Washington Post, which was a major supporter of the war in Iraq. The Democrat has now won endorsements from at least 35 papers that went for Bush in 2000, while Bush has earned only two Gore papers.Posted by Eric at 07:30 AM | Comments (41)
Report: "Nearly Half of Americans in Medicare at Risk of Losing Coverage"
According to Families USA, "A careful analysis of the new Medicare law and the Administration's proposed regulations shows that approximately half of the program's beneficiaries are at risk of being worse off than they are today ... Those at risk of being worse off include":
* The 6.4 million so-called "dual eligibles," those who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. America's poorest seniors and people with disabilities will lose their current drug coverage provided by Medicaid on December 31, 2005.* The 13 million retirees with drug coverage from their previous employers, who are at risk of losing at least portions of that coverage.
* The 4.7 million seniors currently enrolled in Medicare Managed Care Plans, who will receive fewer protecti