Campaign Scare Tactics and Terrorism

The Republican and Democratic tickets continue to take election-year potshots at one another over the terrorist issue.

Cheney has aired views that terrorists would take Kerry’s winning the election in November as a green-light to launch devastating terrorist attacks on America, while Kerry-Edwards have suggested a Bush victory would mean more wars for America.

Now seems to be a good time to take a look at a few hot spots where our forces might be sent into action:

Iran. Some are predicting a low-intensity war with Iran that sees the fighting centered on nuclear hotspots in Iran. It’s been suggested that U.S. Special Forces would be used to destroy Iran’s nuclear-weapons making potential. The chances of this happening are pretty low right now as the Bush Administration has made it clear that they will pursue diplomatic solutions. I don’t think they want Iranian special forces stirring up trouble in Iraq.

Iraq. Insurgents have taken over large parts of Iraq and the government of Iraq may request additional troops to retake parts of the country. An overwhelming American sledgehammer force will be needed to destroy the opposition. The chance of this happening is close to 100% in my view.

North Korea. We won’t start a fight over there, but North Korea is crazy enough to try something stupid and then try to throw the blame on the U.S. With so many nations trying to get North Korea to come to their senses, the chance of unilateral action on the part of any one nation is slim to none. Kerry wants to talk directly to North Korea and cut the other nations out of the discussion, but I think the other regional governments who have to worry about North Korea firing Nodong missiles over their territory should be in on this.

Afghanistan. Until the Afghan army is strong enough to fight the Taliban, the coalition will continue to do the bulk of the fighting. If the Taliban or al-Qaeda reconstitutes enough, we may have to send more troops over there. I would say that there is a 60% chance of this happening.

Taiwan Strait. With the total makeover of the Chinese government under new leader Hu Jintao, China’s policy toward Taiwan is a big question mark. The previous government said that it would invade Taiwan if it declared independence from Chinese rule. There will probably be statements coming from the red Chinese press about where the new government stands on the issue. If China does invade, what will the U.S. do? If it decides to defend Taiwan, it will be a war that is largely fought by the U.S. Navy and Air Force. Slim to no chance of U.S. intervention right now. I think Taiwan should be independent, but should we fight a naval and air war with China over it? Fighting China will not help us stop al-Qaeda.

Saudi Arabia. There are going to be lots of diplomatic and economic rows between the U.S. and the Saudi government. They are involved in the war on terror only because al-Qaeda has threatened the house of Saud. They like high oil prices. If al-Qaeda starts attacking Saudi oil terminals and pipelines, expect enthusiastic support from the Saudis. Jerks. I don't forsee U.S. troops protecting Saudi pipelines.

Philippine Islands. We are assisting the government there fight Marxist and Islamic terror groups by sending the Philippine government arms, advisors and money. I don’t see 50,000 American troops heading over there anytime soon.

Conclusion: There is no greater chance of wars on the scale of Iraq and Afghanistan, unless Osama bin-Laden is elected President of Iran or North Korea or Cuba. If Bush tried to push us into a full-scale war with Iran or Syria, without proving to the American people or Congress that the intelligence is rock-solid, he'll be impeached. I would say that under Bush, we would have to send more troops to support the battlefronts that we are already engaged in, not start new ones. Iran is a problem, but there may be a coalition with our friends the French and Germans over this issue. They should take the lead on this since they're making lots of noise over how unhappy they are with Iran.

Conclusion: There is no greater chance of terrorist strikes on the U.S. under Bush or Kerry. The chance is equally great.

My advice to both campaigns would be: stop trying to scare people. It’s good to make them aware of what might happen in the future under EITHER Bush or Kerry, but politicians scaring the American public isn’t a good idea. Election-year BS.

Chair-Throwing Texas Ranger Pitcher Suspended

The chair-throwing pitcher from the Texas Rangers has been suspended for the rest of the season.

My response: good.

Maybe the time off will give him some time to grow up. He threw a chair at a fan and ended up hitting the fan's wife and breaking her nose.

He was subsequently arrested and taken to jail while the woman made up her mind whether or not to press charges. She has since decided to press charges and file a lawsuit.

Totally irresponsible behavior. He has apologized, but he is not nearly as sorry as he will be once the court action gets underway. That's for sure. Hothead.

North Korea Tricks Diplomats

North Korea had a group of foreign ambassadors and other diplomats inspect a site that was the subject of much debate over the last two weeks since a two mile wide mushroom cloud and seismic event were detected in North Korea.

Hoping to dispel the controversy, the communist state allowed diplomats to visit the site to verify that it wasn’t a nuclear test. Everything looked fine to the diplomats.

Unfortunately, the North Koreans pulled a fast one.

The site that the North Koreans allowed the diplomats to inspect was more than sixty miles away from the site of the blast!

We have to ask ourselves: why would the North Koreans allow outsiders to see one of their missile bases? The answer: they wouldn’t and didn’t.

What happens next?

Prince Harry Lifts Princess Diana's Torch

Great Britain’s Prince Harry has taken up Princess Diana’s causes in helping the sick and needy.




British ITV1 is set to air a documentary about the prince who spent eight weeks helping people with AIDS in the poverty-stricken African nation of Losotho. He sat down with the camera crew and did an in-depth interview.

Prince Harry’s decision to lift his mother’s torch is particularly noteworthy, since the world press (and in particular the British tabloids) have been so nasty to him when dealing with some of his youthful “indiscretions” that he has more than made up for.

Princess Diana was well-known in the U.S. and around the world for her good works (and the scandals around her). Her decision to take on the landmine issue around the world was a courageous one. Her visiting AIDS countries and helping the poor endeared her to millions and I think it is great that Prince Harry is taking on her humanitarian mission to the poor.

Prince Harry will be entering the British military in the near future. I hope that he never forgets the lessons that he learned when he was in the AIDS camps. There can be no substitute for good character.

Good luck, Prince.

CBS News in Major Decline

The latest overnight numbers have confirmed that people have turned away from watching CBS News as their house of cards continue to collapse over the falsified Bush memos that 60 Minutes aired.

CBS’s insistence that the documents are authentic and then insisting that the “gist of the memos is accurate” show that CBS is having second thoughts about the entire situation. Their viewership is in sharp decline and all of their competitors are laughing at the predicament that CBS has gotten itself into.

The perception is that CBS has gone from reporting the news to making the news up.

Dan Rather is said to be very worried. It is never easy for a newsman to go on the air and admit that he and his organization made a mistake, and he’s probably sweating bullets over it.

CBS screwed up and it hasn’t rectified the situation yet. The question now is how much damage CBS is willing to accept before it admits its mistake and gets back to reporting the news. The damage from this scandal could cause several high-profile firings and resignations.

CBS can kill this story immediately, but the impact of this will be felt for years to come.

NHL Lock-Out Begins

The NHL lock-out has begun.

The immediate result is that there will be no National Hockey League games for the foreseeable future.

No Red Wings.

I know some members of my family will be very disappointed by this turn of events. I think everyone was hoping that the team owners and the players would resolve their differences at the bargaining table to avert the partial or total cancellation of the 2004-2005 hockey season.

Some are saying that this might go into the 2005-2006 season as well. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

If the lock-out goes on into the scheduled season, the NHL had better treat the fans like royalty when pro hockey resumes a full schedule. Discounted tickets, discounted prices at the stadiums, the whole works.

My advice to both sides would be to resolve their issues quickly and get the teams onto the ice as soon as possible.

'Goofy' accused of shoving 2 at Disney

CNN.com - 'Goofy' accused of shoving 2 at Disney - Sep 16, 2004: "ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- A Walt Disney World worker who was acquitted of charges he fondled a 13-year-old girl while dressed as Tigger has been suspended again, accused of shoving two people while in a Goofy costume. His lawyer said the man was just 'goofing around because he was Goofy.'"


Yeah, right. Time for this guy to find another occupation!

Batman and Robin Take On Buckingham Palace

British security forces in charge of securing the Royal Family seem to have holes in their security net. Yesterday a Fathers 4 Justice protestor dressed up as Batman scaled the front face of the palace and stood on a ledge for five hours mere feet from a balcony used by the Royal Family for important events.

This group is made up of fathers who have been denied access to their kids in custody cases that result from the parents divorcing. They dress up in superhero costumes and climb onto buildings and other objects to draw attention to their plight. A member of their group dressed up as Spider-Man and climbed up a 450 foot Ferris wheel in London a few days ago and unveiled a Fathers 4 Justice banner.

This breach of security also represents another major embarrassment for the officials who are in charge of security around the Royals and the British government. Two Fathers 4 Justice protestors were arrested four months ago after they penetrated security around the House of Commons and threw purple powder in condoms at Prime Minister Tony Blair as he was engaged in Prime Minister’s Questions with Parliament. The powder was harmless, but it provoked a huge security alert and a major review of the security procedures after it was determined that it was not a terrorist attack.

A popular British comedian also crashed Prince William’s birthday party dressed up as a woman, and a British reporter got a job as a server in Buckingham Palace before President Bush visited to prove that security wasn’t up to the task.

Batman was lucky the guards didn’t think he was a threat, because if they thought he was, he would have been shot, according to security officials.

I thought the protest was funny, but it also highlights the plight of fathers in other countries who are battling the legal system, and it definitely proves that security needs to be tighter around critical people and places, whether it’s in Great Britain, or in the United States or anywhere in the world.

Russia Demands Lithuania Remove Web Site

There is a controversy brewing between Russia and Lithuania over a pro-Chechen web site that offers a $20 million reward for the capture of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It started when someone in Russia noticed the web site and contacted the Russian government to complain. The Lithuanian Ambassador to Russia was summoned to the Russian Foreign Minister’s office on Monday and requested that the web site be taken down.

The Ambassador relayed the request to his government and got a response that Lithuania couldn’t do that without court authorization, saying that it would also be unconstitutional.

The web site article accused Putin, a Russian citizen who is “currently acting as President of the Russian Federation” of war crimes and genocide. That’s the same language found in the indictment of Slobodan Milosovitch, former President of Yugoslavia and accused war criminal who is currently on trial in the Hague. Very clever way of linking the two leaders.

There’s no way to tell what is fact and fiction. The Russians are furious over the accusations and are putting pressure on Lithuania to remove the web site. This is part of the Kremlin's new hard-line policy toward Chechnya.

Here’s the web site and the story.

North Korean Explosion Near Missile Base

North Korea is trying to pull a scam.

That explosion that I've been writing about happened near the underground missile base where North Korean nuclear weapons development is believed to be underway.

Some intelligence agencies believe that a rocket motor blew up and caused the entire missile launcher to explode as well. It may have been a Nodong missile test that went bad.

That's even more plausible that the North Koreans claiming they were demolishing a mountain and more plausible than a forest fire.

Teacher in Trouble for Tearing Up Bible In Class

An English teacher destroyed a Bible in class to make her students feel like people did in the book "Fahrenheit 451" when their society ordered them to destoy all literature.

Totally unacceptable behavior from a teacher!

No respect for the religious beliefs of others, no courtesy. The point she was trying to make was fine, but she shouldn't have destroyed the Bible to do it.

Here's the story.

Assault Weapons Ban Set to Expire

I’m all for protecting the Second Amendment from government and court interference.

But…

What do civilians need AK-47s for? Home defense? Let’s go with a home defense scenario: If someone were to cut loose with an AK-47 in their house to shoot a bad guy, it’s very likely that the rounds would go through two more houses next door before they stopped. It’s like using a sledgehammer to kill a mosquito.

During the North Hollywood shootout a few years ago (1997), bank robbers armed with AKs opened up on the police and the bullets were hitting the police cruisers so hard that they were punching clean through the cars and hitting the crouching cops who were valiantly returning fire with everything they had in their arsenal. One squad car took 57 AK hits in a few seconds; it took over 350 police officers to stop the criminals.

1980 saw a bank robbery in Norco, California that was similar: five men robbed a bank with assault weapons and explosives and wounded eleven police officers, killing one. They then fled and shot down a police helicopter that was in hot pursuit. Eventually the police tracked down and captured/killed all of the criminals, but the damage was done.

And it might now be possible to freely acquire fully automatic assault weapons?

If the ban expires, the next time we have a Columbine-like situation, and two nutters acquire machine guns, there will be ten times as many dead students as in Littleton, Colorado.

I can’t imagine seeing a hunter firing at a deer with an AK-47. There might not be anything left to eat.

Another way to look at this: why should a civilian need to outgun their police department? Some police departments in the country still use older weapons and would be no match for a single AK-47 in the hands of a lunatic.

Keep the machine guns in the hands of the military and the SWAT teams. Assault weapons are too powerful for most civilian uses.

The last thing we need is someone blazing away at a bad guy in his house and then having to go to jail for killing his next door neighbor, who dies after the bullets start coming in through the walls or floor of his house or apartment.

That already happens, but we don’t need a bigger problem.

If I had a chance to buy an AK-47, I would decline it and go with something a little more contemporary like a nice shotgun or rifle, then buy a computer or something else. I wouldn’t want to accept the additional responsibility of an AK.

I am no gun control freak, but I see no need for AK-47s or similar weapons to be available for purchase. They’re much too powerful to be on the streets.

North Korea Nuclear Update

North Korea is reporting that the two-mile wide mushroom cloud spotted on satellite photos and the resulting seismic activity that was registered hundreds of miles away was them demolishing a mountain to make room for a power plant.

That’s more plausible than a forest fire.

Still, I’ll believe it when a power plant is built at ground zero.

Does North Korea manufacture its own dynamite? It seems like it is a waste of money when thousands of North Koreans are facing starvation.

Hurricanes and the NHC: Incomplete System

Has anyone noticed how inaccurate the National Hurricane Center is in predicting where a hurricane will hit?

When Charlie and Frances were on the way in, the NHC changed its prediction of where each one would hit. They were very wrong when Charlie hit further south than they thought, and many people who fled south to escape Charlie took the full brunt of Charlie’s fury.

Frances didn’t do what they thought either.

Now with Hurricane Ivan approaching, they’re doing it again, changing their predictions several times, with Ivan looking like it may hit Florida or the Gulf Coast.

One would think that they would be able to tell where a monster hurricane (the size of Texas) would be going, given the prevailing wind direction, water temperature, warm or cold fronts that collide with the storm, solar winds, barometric pressure, plus other variables that impact on the direction of a hurricane. Apparently it’s not that simple.

I’m not blaming the Hurricane Center, but it’s become glaringly obvious that much more research needs to be done. This morning they were predicting a hit on the Gulf Coast, but they apparently cannot establish that it will come ashore at Nowhere City, USA on Thursday morning. What are they going to do, evacuate everyone living near the Gulf of Mexico? What if it doesn’t go to the Florida panhandle? What if it hits Texas instead?

If we knew three days ahead of time exactly where it was going to hit, disaster relief agencies could marshal their resources ahead of time and be proactive, rather than reactive. People could also evacuate days ahead of time, instead of hours.

It costs money to board up your house and leave, driving hundreds of miles to escape a killer hurricane. Most lose wages when they leave, and most businesses lose money too.

The disruption to people’s lives should be minimized as much as possible and accurate hurricane forecasting would go a long ways toward achieving that.

North Korea: Nuclear Accident Last Week?

News broke this weekend that there was a major explosion in North Korea that caused a two mile wide mushroom cloud to form.

So how much dynamite would it take to produce a mushroom cloud two miles wide and cause seismic readings hundreds of miles away?

According to experts, about a thousand tons of dynamite would do it.

Question: why would the North Koreans have that much dynamite in one location?

Our government says the cause was a “forest fire.” I think that’s a boatload of hooey.

I think North Korea has been setting off nukes, whether accidentally or intentionally. This is the second time North Korea has had a “disaster” like this. If you recall, a train exploded, leveling everything within two miles of the train and causing two thousand casualties. That accident took place not far from China.

I think that North Korea had a nuclear accident which resulted in a partial-yield detonation on Thursday. Since it happened in open air, it stands to reason that something went wrong and the bomb detonated prematurely. Nuclear radiation may have been contained to ground zero.

We should know within a couple days what the real deal is. “Forest fire” indeed. Forest fires do not cause seismic activity. I can accept a lot of non-nuclear possibilities, but not a forest fire. If there is a forest fire, it happened after the explosion.

9/11 Remembered

As we pause to remember those who lost their lives on September 11th, we should also pause to remember those who have given their lives to stop terrorism around the world.

Terrorism isn't going away. It's here to stay; the question then becomes: what are we going to do about it? Sit around and wait for it to happen again, or be proactive?

We owe it to all those who died three years ago today to do all we can to protect others from the plague of terrorism. Every government on earth should be tracking down terrorists so that their own citizens are safe from the plague of our time.

Hold the phone!

Enter politics. As we continue to debate our course of action until we're blue in the face, the terrorists have continued to attack countries that have upcoming elections: Australia and Indonesia were recently attacked by terrorists who tried to destroy the Australian embassy in Jakarta. The Madrid terror bombings showed the terrorists that they can cause governments to fall if they hit hard enough and fast enough before an election. They are on the move.

In the meantime, WE are arguing about Vietnam, thirty years after that war ended. We are arguing about whether Iraq posed a threat to us. We are arguing about the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission. We are arguing about this and that. We are arguing about what some jackass said about another jackass. Who cares!

Here's what we are NOT doing: we are not moving fast enough on the 9/11 Commission recommendations. We are not moving fast enough to secure our borders. We are not moving fast enough to catch bin-Laden. We are definitely not getting body armor to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan fast enough, nor are we retrofitting their transports with armor quickly enough. We are not dealing with al-Sadr's thugs in Iraq quickly enough or forcefully enough. All of this because of ELECTION YEAR POLITICS!

I don't give a hoot about election year brownie points anymore. I've already decided who I'm voting for. If Democrats and Republicans see that they have a job to do, then they should get on with it and quit wasting time! The terrorist vermin will not wait until we decide on a course of action.

He/she who does the job and gets results will get the undecided votes on Election Day. So there!

CBS Fraud Story Deepens

This story gets bigger as the hours tick away.

Congressional Democrats took to the airwaves and blasted President Bush for lying about his Vietnam record. Their feigned outrage was based on the (increasingly likely) erroneous 60 Minutes story.

Dan Rather has also gone out a limb, insisting that the story is accurate.

The evidence against the documents being authentic are getting stronger and stronger as the hours go by. The other news networks have picked up the story and have been asking type experts what the real deal is, and the leading experts have said that the documents were created in Microsoft Word and not on a typewriter in 1972.

Some Democrats were saying at noontime that the Republicans set them up; that’s unlikely as well. The Republicans wouldn’t want to damage their own candidate and sitting President; the Democrats are far more likely to do something like this to level the playing field between Bush and Kerry.

It looks like a Bush-hater tried to pull a fast one and got nailed, leaving Congressional Democrats, Dan Rather and CBS with egg in their faces.

I took a journalism class last spring and they were talking about stuff like this happening and what most credible news organizations do to protect themselves from this kind of screw-up. It looks like someone fell asleep at the wheel when the story was being checked out.

CBS May Have Royally Screwed Up

The much-talked about Bush/National Guard documents that aired on CBS’s 60 Minutes program appear to be forgeries.

Questions began to be asked after experts discovered that the supposed 30+ year-old documents that were part of an Air Force officer’s official records were in fact made on Microsoft Word recently.

CBS may have been the victim of a fraud intended to defame President Bush’s assertions that he did his duty during the Vietnam War. In the last few hours CBS launched an internal investigation to find out if they were hoodwinked or if someone at CBS decided to take Bush down a few pegs by lying.

The story began to unravel when experts noticed that the print on the paper was from Microsoft Word, and not from a 30 year-old typewriter. The font in question, Times New Roman, is the default font in Word. There was no Times New Roman back then. Typewriters were using a font that featured straight hash-marks for quotation marks, and not the comma-like ones used in Microsoft Word and other computer programs. The spacing was wider apart with typewriters, while fonts today are much closer. In the 60 Minutes story, the documents were in Times New Roman.

Dan Rather is said to be shocked and has promised to deliver an on-air apology if the accusations of fraud turn out to be correct. The question everyone is asking now is “whodunit.”

More to follow on this.

Dog Shoots Man in Self-Defense

A man who was shooting his Shepard-mix puppies was himself shot by one of the puppies after it put its paw onto the trigger. Seems he was holding the puppies in his arms and as he was shifting his arms and puppies around, the puppy snagged the trigger.

This accident is so ridiculous that it defies belief.

This idiot was charged with animal cruelty and is being treated for a gunshot wound to his wrist. Serves him right for killing puppies.

Here’s the story. What a moron.

International Interference in U.S. Elections

Here we go with polls again.

A group did a poll in thirty-five countries outside the United States on who they favored to win the U.S. election on November 2nd. Kerry carried thirty of thirty-five countries, some in very wide margins.

So?

That’s over there and I don’t care what the world thinks about our elections. Personally, I think Kerry would do a better job of running France than French President Chirac. That’s a debate for another day. I also think some of these other nations should be getting their own houses into order before they try telling us how to run ours.

If it came out that any country had tried to influence the U.S. elections, I would consider that an extremely unfriendly act, whether or not they support the candidates I favor. The principle of respect for sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations says that one nation does not campaign for or fund specific candidates in the election process of another nation or nations. Some nations have interfered and it's caused some scandals in past elections.

This is why the U.S. is keeping a hands-off approach to the Afghan elections and the upcoming Iraqi general elections. Iraq is again a sovereign nation. So is Afghanistan.

International governments and agencies (like the International Monetary Fund) should stay out of the internal political affairs of the United States. The American people will deal with the U.S. elections without help from overseas, thank you very much.

Russian 9/11 Rhetoric Threatens Terrorists

There are confusing signals coming from the Russian Federation on what their course of action will be following a major terrorist attack on a school in southern Russia, the bombing of the Moscow subway, and the terrorist strikes on two Russian airliners. Chechan separatists and international Islamic fighters are believed to be responsible.

One one hand, Russia has ruled out nuclear strikes. On the other, a top Russian general has said that Russia will strike terrorist bases around the region. This could be big trouble for the former Soviet republic of Georgia as it has been accused by Russia of harboring terrorists. It’s looking like Russia may attack parts of Georgia that terrorists may be hiding in.

The post-Russian 9/11 rhetoric is familiar: preemptive strikes on terrorist bases worldwide, security, fighting Islamic terrorism, etc. Israel was the first nation to come to Russia’s aid in the form of sharing its databases with Russia and Russia gladly agreed to work with Israel on fighting international terrorism. I’m surprised the U.S. hasn’t joined in too.

Russia wants two Chechan spokespeople turned over to them that are currently in Great Britain and the United States. The Chechan in Britain has been granted sanctuary by the British government and the U.S. government has been silent on the issue.

It’s starting to get interesting.

Kerry & Guns

Tasteless!

Kerry co-sponsored S-1431 (“The Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003”), yet here he is playing to a West Virginia audience on Labor Day with one of the the very guns he tried to ban! That is a Remington Model 11-87 that is favored by many hunters and outdoorsmen.



The Second Amendment needs to be preserved, not played around with by politicians like this!

I think it would be better if they tried to classify PEOPLE as “semi-automatic assault weapons” since people can kill people with ANYTHING they can find. A firearm is but a tool for the hand that wields it. People (gun control advocates especially) need to remember that always.

People have been killing people for many thousands of years before guns came on the scene. To insist on a total ban would take guns out of the hands of people who accept and exercise the responsibility of being a firearm owner and leave guns in the hands of criminals who have no such sense of responsibility and are the ones who are in the news today for staging disasters like the Columbine slaughter.

Who would gun-ban advocates have protecting the innocent from criminals? The police? We are already cutting police services across the country. Who does that leave? Unarmed Johnny and Jane? I think not.

Kerry needs to explain his position more clearly and stand by his record, not play to different groups of people.

Polls & Elections: What a Bunch of Hooey

President Bush seems to have gotten the bounce that John Kerry didn’t get at his own convention. Bush appears to hold a double-digit lead over John Kerry, after weeks of being behind an average of six points in the polls.

But past experience has taught us not to place too much faith in the polls.

The difference between a poll and a vote is that the poll reflects how a person feels at that particular moment. A vote is the final decision of the person and may change at the last possible moment.

An 11% advantage for Bush or Kerry may be 2% five minutes later and a 3% advantage to the previous underdog ten minutes later.

Polls do not decide elections. Votes do. Everything else is secondary to that.

Election Day Nightmare: Tie in Electoral College

USA Today had a list of scenarios that could happen on November 2nd in the event of a close election. The first and only time there was a tie in the Electoral College was in 1800 and the House of Representatives elected the President and the Senate elected the Vice President. Here are some of the nightmare scenarios:

Both candidates end up with 269 votes, one vote shy of being elected President. In this case, the election goes to the House of Representatives and the President is chosen from the top three vote-getters. Each state is allowed one vote. In the Senate, they choose the Vice President; each Senator gets one vote.

However, if there is enough of a shift in the general election that both parties are of equal strength, this scenario could get very weird. We could end up with Bush as President, and John Edwards as his Vice President. Or Kerry as President and Cheney as Vice President. The Kerry-Cheney combo would be explosive as they are not being nice to one another right now.

How could something like this happen? Here’s what USA Today says:


•For a tie: Every state votes the way it did four years ago, except for two. New Hampshire and West Virginia, which voted for Bush last time, go Democratic this time. Kerry is competitive in both states.

•For a divided result that elects Bush: Every state votes the way it did four years ago, giving Bush an electoral-vote majority of 278. (That's a more comfortable edge than last time, a side effect of the redistribution of congressional seats and electoral votes after the 2000 Census. In 2000, Bush got 271 votes, one more than required.) But Kerry carries the popular vote, as Al Gore did, by rolling up big totals in such strongholds as California and New York.

•For a divided result that elects Kerry: Every state votes the way it did four years ago, except for one. Kerry wins Florida, for a majority of 287 electoral votes, or Ohio, for 280. They went Republican in 2000; state polls released Sunday show Kerry and Bush tied in both. But Bush carries the popular vote by scoring oversized margins in his home state of Texas and in the South and Mountain West.

So what does this mean? It means get out and vote so we have a clear winner and no confusion. Having a clear winner will clear the air about stolen elections and put the 2000 Presidential Election to bed forever.

The ideal result would be to have the candidate win the popular vote and the Electoral College in a landslide, but that is unlikely to happen.

Here is the story.

Russian Bear Awakened

Russia is going to level Chechnya.

After murdering 156 Russian children and 200 others, Islamic terrorists have shown their true colors.

There can be no peace with Islamic terrorists. If they can make war on children, they can make war on anyone, anywhere or at anytime. They are too dangerous to be allowed to continue to exist.

Russia won't stand for this slaughter of the innocents. Question: what is to stop terrorists like the ones who seized the school in Russia from doing the same thing here? At least ten of the terrorists were not even Chechan; they were from Arab countries.

I think it is time to give some of our reluctant allies a kick in the butt to get them moving on stopping terrorists in their territories. Kerry ought to forget about waiting around for the terrorist threat to materialize and start advocating going after them in their hiding places.

One thing is certain: Russia won't be asking for international permission to retaliate for this naked aggression. I think Russia's reaction will go beyond anything we have seen so far; I don't think the course of action they're talking about taking will solve the problem.

Blame can also be put on Russia for having troops in Chechnya in the first place. I do not think that Russian public opinion will favor pulling those troops out now; the Russians haven't been this enraged in decades. No good can come of this.

Attacking a school to get Russia to pull it's troops from Chechnya? What were they thinking?

Alien vs. Predator: Gloom and Doom Debunked

For weeks, film critics have been predicting that the sci-fi movie “Alien vs. Predator” would leave Fox millions of dollars in the red.

Several critics predicted that the film might break even after it begins to play in foreign markets.

They were wrong. Again.

As of today, the 2nd of September, the film has made $73 million. It cost $60 million to make. That puts it firmly into the moneymaker category. The foreign ticket sales will pay for the domestic and worldwide advertising campaign that Fox put into it.

Granted, the plot had some major problems (the scientist joining the hunt, short fights between the Predators and the Aliens, and the Alien-Predator hybrid that defies all the rules of the previous movies.) But the public doesn’t seem to mind it. It was entertaining.

Perhaps some of these professional film critics should stick to chick flicks and drama stuff because they are clearly missing something when it comes to action and sci-fi movies.

Moore at GOP Convention as a Reporter

A curious story going on at the GOP convention is the presence of Michael Moore, director of the anti-Bush “Fahrenheit 9/11” film, as a USA Today reporter. Scores of reporters are following Moore around and not even paying attention to the event going on around them.

He got booed when his film was mentioned.

Maybe Moore will be converted into a Republican by all the energy around him. Yeah, right! If you believe that will happen, then I’ve got some land in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean that I’d like to show you.

Bush's "Flip-Flop": The Real Flip-Flop and The Rest of the Story

The press and the Democrats are going on and on about President Bush’s “flip flop” on terror.

Bush said in a candid interview that the war on terror couldn’t be won. The Kerry campaign latched onto this statement and then went on the offensive when Bush clarified his statement yesterday.

The Democrats took this as blood in shark-infested water, but I took it thus: FINALLY, we have some truth about how the war on terror is really going. For the Democrats to attack such a truthful statement and then say the war on terror CAN be won to score election year points is irresponsible. Kerry/Edwards will not win the war on terror either.

Let’s face it: al-Qaeda will not be face to face with the United States at the bargaining table negotiating the unconditional surrender of all al-Qaeda forces around the world or on a battlefield. Bush was absolutely right on this point. They will fight to the death if they can or commit suicide. If we are fortunate, our people in the field may capture them.

I believe Bush compounded his mistake by saying the next day that “we will win the war on terror.” No, no, no. He should have clarified his mistake as he did, but not said we will win. That is the Bush flip-flop that the Democrats are attacking. He should have thought that one through a little more. He was hasty.

The war on terror is not about winning, or being sensitive. It’s about prevention and deterrence. It’s about making sure that our mortal enemies never hurt us again as they did on September 11th. It’s a long-term fight, not a conflict that will end after a hundred hours of ground combat or by fighting a war that lasts two months. Anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves. Stopping terrorist activities will not involve only the military, but law enforcement and intelligence agencies as well. If any politician is naïve enough to declare victory against all future terrorism, then they deserve to lose their office.

Hopefully no politician is stupid enough to do something like that, but the rumblings coming from the campaigns is disturbing enough to make me think that they might do so if they thought it was the best political thing to do. That kind of politicking must STOP!

Delegates Assaulted

Read that some GOP delegates are having ugly confrontations with protesters, some of whom have turned the altercations violent. Sounds like some people have serious maturity problems to me.

Peaceful demonstrations are one thing; using physical force against delegates and police to express a political view is wrong and should be condemned. Likewise, delegates should conduct themselves professionally as well and report dangerous situations to law enforcement.

Anarchists and other radicals are behind the attacks on the delegates. Reminds me of Nazi tactics used to intimidate their opponents in 1930's Germany.

I do not recall reading about incidents like this at the Democratic National Convention. The hypocrisy is astounding.

Elian Gonzales Revisited

Does anyone recall this national disgrace?

The Elian Gonzales case was another example of the Clinton Justice Department taking shortcuts to resolve a situation to their satisfaction. In this case, they bypassed court rulings by attacking the house that the boy was staying at, entering it by force, and abducting the boy.

The end result was what I wanted, but the way that it was done was unconscionable.

The Justice Department has this nasty tendency to violate its own procedures and the law to get what it wants. Right or wrong, the court system had agreed with Elian's relatives in Florida that he should be allowed to stay. Rather than go for a court ruling, then-Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the boy removed by force.

This action was representative of the Clinton Justice Department's willingness to take shortcuts. It withheld thousands of pages of documents from Timothy McVeigh's attorneys in his death-penalty case, they blew the Ruby Ridge and Waco standoffs, which resulted in innocent people being burned alive or shot by federal officers. Using battering rams and weapons to force a family to give up a child?

I mention all of this because the family sued the government for use of excessive force (see above picture) and for violating court orders. The courts recently ruled that the government was within its rights to use force.

I do have a problem with this because legal procedures were short-circuited for political gain. Reno wanted a dramatic end to the case and so sent guys with guns in. This should have been the measure of last resort...if the family had disregarded an order from the court to give Elian up and they refused, then the use of force would have been more palatable.

Instead, they did a night raid, swooped in and took the screaming child.

I wanted the kid to go back to his dad, but I wanted the system to deal with it properly first. The courts were not allowed to do so due to political considerations. We ought to legislate that!

Oil Prices Drop After Iraq Oil Stops

OK, now the price of oil has fallen below $42.00 a barrel. This in spite of the fact that Iraq's southern oil terminals have been stopped by terrorists who attacked parts of Iraq's main southern pipeline. If we were to follow the usual pattern of behavior in the oil futures markets, it should have sent prices skyward once again. It didn't and the price continues to fall.

A million barrels of oil per day have been taken out of the equation, and the price drops?

What kind of crock is being pulled on us?

First Lady Under Fire

It’s been brought to my attention that First Lady Laura Bush is under fire from Democrats because she also refused to condemn the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads that criticize John Kerry’s military record.

CNN posted this on their web site about the comment:

In the interview she is asked, "Do you think these swift boat ads are unfair to John Kerry?"

"Not really," she replies. "There have been millions of terrible ads against my husband."

That’s what she’s being criticized for? Big deal!

Also from CNN’s web site: "Mrs. Bush's statement in support of the swift boat smear ads is more sad evidence that these attacks have been coordinated from the top down at the White House," Kerry campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said in a statement.

Kerry is still trying to have it both ways, with him pressuring Bush to condemn the Swift Boat “527” ads that are anti-Kerry, while refusing to condemn the (overwhelmingly) anti-Bush 527s.

Democrats should really vote for someone other than Kerry…his candidacy is approaching total meltdown stage.

Democrats & The GOP Convention

I think that it is interesting to note that when the Democrats had their convention, the GOP pulled all of its ads off the air and went silent for the duration of the Democratic convention. Only after Kerry had made his speech did the Republicans go back on the offensive.

You would think that the Democrats would show the same courtesy while the GOP convention is going on.

Nope. In an election year, the Democrats go right back to breaking unwritten rules of conduct in the hope of saving their sinking candidate. Kerry should have picked up a twelve point lead in the polls, but Bush got the bounce instead and the GOP got fired up, not the Democrats.

Here’s another prediction from me: At the upcoming debates, Kerry will agree to the debate rules but will proceed to break every one of them in short order, speaking out of turn and too long, while Bush will stay within the confines of the rules. It will be a mirror image of Gore sighing while Bush was talking at the 2000 debates.

9/11-Style Hit in Russia

The Russian Federation confirmed today that one of two Siberian airliners that crashed three minutes apart was blown out of the sky by terrorists. Russian FSB (the reformed KGB) confirmed that they found traces of explosives in the wreckage of one of the downed airliners. In addition, a Chechan web site linked to the separatist movement in Chechnya itself has claimed responsibility for the hijacking and destruction of both airliners.

So it was terrorism.

It should be noted that it’s the first coordinated terrorist attack on multiple civilian airliners since al-Qaeda struck New York City and Washington. Although there is no evidence that al-Qaeda itself was involved, al-Qaeda is believed to provide material and logistical support to the rebels, many of whom share Islamic ties with one another.

Though this terrorist act was against Russia and the elections that are due to be held any day in Chechnya (which the pro-Moscow candidates are expected to win), it points out weaknesses in airport security around the world and that many nations have a long ways to go before achieving mass-transit security.

It’s a very troubling situation.

Bush Trumps Kerry on 527s

President Bush asked Senator John McCain to assist in stopping all “527” ads today. As predicted, Bush has taken the lead in dealing with the problem, while the silence from the Kerry campaign is deafening.

While I was expecting Bush to take the lead on this, I wasn’t expecting it this soon and I didn’t expect him to draw in John McCain.

The fact of the matter is that Kerry needs the 527s to hurt Bush so he won’t denounce them.

Definition: "527 organization": According to the IRS, a Section 527 (§527) organization is an organization that is created to receive and disburse funds to influence or attempt to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office. Unlike Political Action Committees (PACs), they have no limit on what they can spend to attack or defend candidates. This is considered "soft money" that has been the subject of much debate in Congress in recent months.

The good news is that 527s are required by law to stop their campaigns 30 days prior to a primary election and 60 days prior to a general election. However, this is being challenged in court right now as the 527s want to keep going. Other 527s are spending millions on ads that haven't been released yet.

527s Again

This is getting utterly stupid now.

Not satisfied with Bush’s denunciation of all “527” ads, John Kerry is dispatching two of his Vietnam war buddies to President Bush’s ranch to pressure President Bush to go even further and condemn specific ads that have been effective in neutralizing Kerry’s military record.

Now wait just a damn minute!

Like I said before, Kerry won’t condemn the anti-Bush 527s, but if he’s crying about these ads and sending his friends to speak to his opponent about discrediting specific ads that are anti-Kerry, that’s not right! The door HAS to swing both ways!

My advice for Kerry would be to get up on the podium, denounce all 527s, call for a ban on those ads, and THEN approach President Bush with an offer to denounce specific anti-Bush ads in return for President Bush denouncing specific anti-Kerry ads.

That is a fair and equitable solution to this mess.

I am also a little sick of campaign staffers of the Bush and Kerry campaigns not being able to support whatever group that they want without the candidate being accused of supporting the same causes. I don’t think that Bush supports the Swift Boat Veterans; some of his supporters do. I don’t think Kerry is funding moveon.org or supporting their efforts, but some of his supporters do.

So what? Get over it and let these people practice their First Amendment right to association. Neither group mentioned has done anything illegal, so there should be no problem with a staffer belonging to groups that he/she supports.

Russian Air Disaster--Terrorism?

The news coming out of the Russian Federation this morning is very troubling and it highlights the fact that other countries aren’t doing enough to secure their airports from terrorist takeovers or attacks.

Two commercial airliners took off from the same airport near Moscow several minutes apart and then went down three minutes apart several hours later. One of the airliners sent out a distress signal indicating that a hijacking was in progress. The Russian Emergency Ministry indicated that there were no survivors among the passengers or crew.

Russia has been fighting a bloody war in Chechnya to keep the breakaway republic as part of the Russian Federation and Chechen rebels have spread the war outside Chechnya’s borders, striking Moscow itself and several border provinces with terrorist attacks. Some of the Chechen groups are allied to al-Qaeda and get funding from Osama bin-Laden.

Those aircraft could have been rammed into the Kremlin in a 9/11-style attack or some other target.

Russian officials are eliminating other possibilities before coming out and saying that it was terrorism. Fuel problems and pilot error are being examined closely as well as the usual mechanical things that are part of crash investigations, but the hijacking distress call puts this tragedy into the “highly suspicious” category.

Terrorist attacks can happen in any country, anywhere in the world, and all governments are responsible for anti-terrorism measures to protect their citizens and foreign nationals who are on those aircraft and in those airports.

527 Fallout

As predicted, Kerry is taking full advantage of Bush’s call to ban “527” ads. I hate to say “I told you so,” so I’ll say “told ya” instead.

Kerry launched a blistering attack on Bush today, blaming Bush for the 527s that attacked his military record and have called his character into question.

It’s Kerry’s own fault for being so wishy-washy on his record and FLIP-FLOPPING faster than a fish would out of water.

The latest Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad has devastated Kerry’s support among veterans, especially Vietnam vets who were prisoners of war and had Kerry’s 1971 congressional testimony played back to them while they were prisoners of the North Vietnamese.

Kerry would be in much better shape if he hadn’t made his Vietnam service an issue. Regardless of whether he earned his medals or not, his past is coming back to bite him in the butt and he isn’t holding up too well. It’s starting to backfire and this entire issue has blown the Presidential campaign off track.

Speaking of going off track, whatever happened to that Kerry intern who fled to Africa? There’s more to that story than what came out on the news.

If Kerry wins, betcha that issue comes up again. The media will keep that story in its back pocket until Kerry is in power. They don't want to use that ace yet.

Death Ship on the Move

For the fourth year in a row, an abortion ship is prowling the waters off of Europe, performing abortions in international waters that are beyond the reach of law enforcement officials in various parts of pro-life Europe. Abortion is not universally accepted as some would lead the public to believe and this ship has been showing up in strong Catholic countries like Poland and Portugal. This is offensive to the extreme.

As a pro-life advocate, I hope that governments around the world ban such ships from entering their ports. “Women on Waves” operate the clinic and lay a course into international waters to perform abortions that may be illegal in the country that they are docked in. What a travesty!

Murdering the unborn on ships AND flaunting the laws of the nations that they are docked in. Sounds like a good case of persona non grata to me.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3592718.stm

Bush Denounces "527" Ads

It’s nice that President Bush denounced all "527" ads today, including the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad, which has brazenly attacked Kerry’s military record.

Now let’s see if Kerry denounces moveon.org’s Bush/Hitler advertisements and “Fahrenheit 9/11”, which is nothing more than an anti-Bush ad in the movie theaters. Betcha he won’t. He now has an advantage over Bush due to Bush denouncing the anti-Kerry ads first.

Chances are that he will do the political thing and demand a stop to 527 ads, but won’t acknowledge the specific ads, even if he is questioned about it. That would fall into his usual pattern of statement and denial.

I doubt anything will change. This is positive publicity for both candidates, but things are going to get a lot worse before Election Day happens.

Janet Jackson Blames White House For Her Problems

It’s been reported that Janet Jackson told Genre magazine that the Bush Administration used her “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl to distract the public from the Iraq War.

EXQUEEZE me, but if anyone distracted the public from the Iraq War, it was Janet Jackson with her publicity stunt, not the White House.

Who did the wardrobe, the exposed body part, the wardrobe tear-off idea itself and the ultimate responsibility belong to? Janet Jackson. Those “items” did not belong to a member of the government, Congress, the courts or the Bush Administration. Janet’s obviously joined Bruce Springstein’s “beat Bush” campaign and is using an error that was totally hers and Timberlake’s to bash Bush.

She ought to quit blaming others for her dismal sales on her last release, which coincided with the Super Bowl and directly with her actions there. For the record, I felt sorry for her and bought the stupid CD when it was released. I gave the CD away because I do not listen to her music.

Genre magazine managing editor Mike Slezak says the interview will be printed in the October edition. Big whoop.

Oil, Investors, Russia & Iraq

What is the deal with oil investors, events in Iraq, and the cost of a barrel of oil? It is likely that the price of a barrel of oil will top $50 in by the weekend or early next week..

Consider this: U.S. forces continue to stomp all over the terrorist al-Sadr's henchmen in Najaf after the terrorists continued shelling Iraqi citizens and Iraqi and U.S. military positions. al-Sadr's acceptance of the Iraqi government terms may have been some kind of ruse, and the fighting continues. Civilians continue to die faster on the battlefields than the combatants.

Just a few hours ago it was announced that members of al-Sadr's militia broke into an oil company's compound in Basra and torched several buildings. The price of oil jumped immediately. Why?

Iraq's oil has been embargoed for years. The addition or subtraction of ANY Iraqi oil (whether it be 900,000 barrels a day, or 1.8 million barrels a day or 40,000 barrels a day) should LOWER the price of crude oil, not raise it.

If you ask me, this spike in oil prices is a conspiracy between the oil companies, the oil sheiks, and investors who all stand to profit from high oil prices. Think about it: the oil companies decide to cut back their estimates of how much oil is left in their oil fields. This new estimate allows investors to spike the price of crude oil. The Saudis and OPEC insist they need $28-$34 a barrel to make a decent profit and raise their production levels to keep the supply up and the demand down. But they won't turn away the extra billions of dollars that $48.75 a barrel brings in. Why should they?

In the meantime, the investors are keeping watch on every little thing that will allow them to raise the price even further. Attacks on oil terminals in Iraq; the possible (but HIGHLY unlikely) bankruptcy of a Russian oil firm; the "estimated" amounts of oil left in the oil fields, the amount of fuel coming in from Venezuela and other nations currently undergoing civil unrest that contribute to the oil supply, the phases of the moon and everything else that suggests that the sky is falling.

We do have to allow for unexpected growth in China and in the Third World that contributes to more gas being purchased and consumed by those nations, which leaves less for other nations that need the oil. However, even with that, the price of gas should be around $35 a barrel.

If anyone has any ideas for alternative fuels, now is the time to speak up!

Najaf's Imam Ali Mosque: Flashpoint

Fact: Muqtada al-Sadr is a renegade Iraqi terrorist leader.

Let’s not mince words. He’s hiding behind his religion to oppose the government of Iraq. His troops are firing indiscriminately from the mosque that they’ve holed up in and are killing more Iraqi civilians than they are Iraqi or American/coalition troops who are there to keep his murderous henchmen bottled up. This turns his statement that he's a freedom fighter into a lie. He's fighting freedom, that's what he's doing.

I hope the Iraqi courts get their hands on him.

His occupation of the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf is a political move designed to raise Shiite hatred of the United States to a new level and to discredit the outgoing Iraqi provisional government. It is al-Sadr that has endangered one of Islam’s holiest sites, not the United States or the Iraqi government.

al-Sadr is called a cleric, but he’s actually a terrorist who happens to be a cleric. Shiite Islam would do well to get rid of him; his war crimes speak for themselves.

NPR Weighs in on Crusader vs. Jihad

For those who are interested, my dialogue on crusader vs. jihad was online two days before the National Public Radio report aired. NPR’s report centered on the history of the Crusades themselves and the historical backdrop behind the words. I thought it did a great job of doing the historical perspective.

Terrorists Detained in Britain--Orange Alert Justified

It appears that the recent Orange terror alert in parts of New York and New Jersey were well-founded, much to the distress of political hacks who were hoping that the Bush Administration was using the terror threat to divert attention from domestic politics in an election year.

Britain has detained al-Qaeda members who were in possession of blueprints of the New York Stock Exchange, the International Monetary Fund headquarters (also in New York), the Prudential Building in Newark, New Jersey, and the Citigroup Center skyscraper in New York City, which is the fifth tallest building in New York (915 feet high).

Well, well, well. The system appears to be working.

The eight terror suspects are being held in London and will be charged with violating the British Terror Act.

Too bad, hacks.

Military Draft in 2005?

I think a military draft has become inevitable.

It has become painfully clear that we do not have enough troops to do the job that is needed around the world. We’ve already sent the reserves into combat and National Guard units have been stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan for a year or more. Some are already going back over for a second tour of duty.

Eventually these troops will have to be replaced, and I don’t see a line outside the Army recruiter’s office these days. I think the writing is on the wall.

Another successful (and large-scale) terrorist attack on the United States could be the trigger needed to start the process. If we are hit in October as the government has hinted at, I think by mid-2005 we will see the first draft notices. 18-21 year olds will be at risk first.

I hope I’m wrong.

Whistleblower's Family Threatened

The soldier who blew the whistle on the Abu Gharib prison abuse scandal remains a controversial figure and so, apparently, is his family.

Sgt. Joseph Darby brought the scandal to the attention of his superiors as he was required to do under the Uniform Code of Military Justice as well as U.S. Army regulations with regards to treatment of prisoners.

Astonishingly, some in the military and some civilians view Darby as a traitor.

Sgt. Darby is in protective military custody, and now his family has been taken into protective custody as well after being threatened by people who they thought were their friends and neighbors.

Members of the 372nd Military Police Company were seen in now-infamous photographs humiliating naked Iraqi men and forcing them into homosexual acts. NOTE: Not all in the 372nd were involved. That has to be made clear.

So are these people upset that their family members or friends have been exposed as war criminals? Are they mad that their precious code of silence was broken? Did they enjoy the photos? What are they mad about?

Darby talked, that’s what the problem is.

Too bad. Hopefully Darby and his family will come out of this all right. He did what his conscience told him to do and no one should fault him for that. He should be credited with upholding the honor of the United States Army when others in his unit chose to abandon it. For others to defend the actions of the accused is indefensible.

To blame his family for his choice is utterly moronic and brainless.

Do a web search on Sgt. Joseph Darby to view all the stories.

It's the Oil, Stupid!!

Is anyone pleased with the price of a gallon of gas these days?

The oil companies and oil sheiks are. So's al-Qaeda; anything to screw us meets with their approval. Screw them.

Now is the time to pour tons of money into finding an alternative to Arab oil. And I don't mean Texas oil or Alaskan oil. We need to be free and clear of oil in the next ten to fifteen years or so. Then we can tell the cartels what to go and do with their oil!

It is clear that we won't get any relief from "W" as he is heavily invested in the oil industry. We'll have to wait until the next President (after Bush's second term in office) to pour the needed billions into alternative fuel research.

So much of our foreign policy is geared toward securing and maintaining our oil supplies. When we no longer have need of it, how will our foreign policy change? Hopefully whatever it turns into, it will be for the betterment of all humankind.

Jihad vs. Crusade

When someone from the Middle East hears a Christian talking about a "crusade" against something, the Middle Easterner gets all offended because he or she thinks it is about destroying Islam. That's incorrect.

When someone from the West hears the word "jihad" thrown around by al-Qaeda or Yasser Arafat, the Westerner thinks "terrorism" and "anti-Christian" and "9/11." The Afghans declared jihad against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979; Iran and Iraq declared jihad on one another after Saddam's troops invaded Iran; Iran also declared jihad on the United States; the Palestinians declared jihad against Israel (and so have all of Israel's neighbors at one point or another), and Osama bin-Laden declared jihad on the United States. This interpretation is not entirely correct either.

Here are some dictionary terms:

Crusade--1) Any of the military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. 2) A holy war undertaken with papal sanction. 3) A vigorous concerted movement for a cause or against an abuse.

Jihad--1) A Muslim holy war or spiritual struggle against infidels. 2) Crusade or struggle for a cause against an abuse.

Muslims: When a Christian talks about launching a crusade against injustice, it's definition #3.

Christians: When a Muslim is talking about jihad against poverty, it's actions taken to combat the causes of poverty and a great deal of prayer.

Now, when either term is used against another country or group of people, then people have good reason to be nervous. Both sides would be trying to destroy one another. If Bush had spoken of a Crusade against the Iraqi people, I'm sure we would have had entire Arab armies from neighboring Arab countries fighting alongside the Republican Guard and the Fedayeen Saddam against the U.S. Army and Marines. The portion of the Navy in the Persian Gulf would find air attacks coming in from every direction and the Air Force would have to fly their missions in from halfway around the world.

Likewise, if any Arab nations had declared jihad against the United States on 9/11 or shortly thereafter, we would OWN those countries. There would be no talk of rebuilding or friendship. Libya, Syria and Saudi Arabia would belong to us now.

See how nasty words can be?

If I launch a holy war against poverty, which definition would fit better? Crusade or jihad? In this case, it's the same definition, so both words would be equally valid.

I wish people wouldn't freak out when someone uses the term that they're more uncomfortable with.

Better Nader than Kerry!

I think Democrats who are voting for Kerry should consider voting for Nader instead.

You know where Nader stands on things. He doesn’t flip-flop like Kerry does. Kerry just won’t take a stand, and when he does he reverses positions on where he stands. Liberal Democrats opposed to the Iraq War don’t know what Kerry’s going to say next either. The flip-flops are getting worse as the election gets closer. A few weeks ago, he was telling a group of liberal Democrats that he was THE anti-war candidate. A few days later he was pro-Iraq War for another audience. "Sensitive war on terror" ring a bell? Does he comprehend the fact that the media reports everything he says in public?

Bush definitely knows where he stands. He says what he’s going to do, and then he does it. Love him or hate him, he’ll tell you straight-up where he stands on every issue.

Picked up on Kerry’s most common refrain yet? “I started thinking about tax cuts in the trenches of Vietnam.” “I started thinking about gay rights while I was in Vietnam.” “I started thinking about civil rights when I was shooting at the North Vietnamese Army.” His attempting to tie his war record into his stands on the issues is ridiculous! It really started at his acceptance speech when he would make a profound statement (in his own mind) about foreign policy, then tie it in to domestic issues, which killed his original statement. He must have done that twenty-five times in fifty-five minutes. Unbelievable!

People used to say “anyone but Bush” for President. Some of those people are now saying “anyone but Kerry” now. The world turns, does it not?

Chicanery in New Jersey Governor's Office

New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey startled the political world yesterday when he resigned from his office over a gay affair that he had after being married.

So what? I am not interested in his sordid affairs.

However, there is something rotten in the state of New Jersey. Under the New Jersey constitution, if a vacancy occurs in the Governor’s office sixty days or more before a general election, then an election is to be held on said general election.

Governor McGreevey announced he didn’t want to weaken the governorship with the scandal and felt that his ability to govern had diminished. If this was true, then his resignation should have gone into effect at noon today. It didn’t happen. He announced that his resignation will be effective November 15th. So New Jersey is left with a lame-duck governor whose ability to govern will be diminished even further.

Here’s my problem: he announced his resignation eighty-two days before the general election on November 2nd. This means that the New Jersey constitutional requirement is fulfilled and an election can happen on November 2nd. But instead of giving the people the choice on November 2nd of selecting a new Governor, McGreevey is clinging to power to guarantee that the people have to wait until the following November to elect a new Governor, who could very possibly be a Republican. The New Jersey constitution states that if the vacancy occurs WITHIN sixty days of a general election, then the next one in line of succession will become acting Governor until the following general election, which is in November 2005.

In this case, it’s a liberal Democrat who is next in line. There may be more politics at play, however. There is a very popular Republican in the state legislature who has signaled his intention to run for the position. He may well be the next elected Governor of New Jersey, but the Democrats don’t want a heavy Republican turnout as it may shift the balance of the Presidential election in George Bush’s favor. New Jersey has been very independent on whom they vote for and Kerry holds a slim lead right now over Bush.

McGreevey really ought to step down now so that the people can decide who their next Governor will be, not be stuck with an unelected acting Governor. Three weeks from now it will be too late for the vote to happen, so the Republicans are probably thinking about suing to allow the election on November 2nd.

Strange story.

Rule of Law Returns to San Francisco

Finally!

The California Supreme Court ruled that the mayor of San Francisco overstepped his authority when he illegally issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of state law.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you don't change laws by disobeying them, and that's especially true of politicians on all levels of government! If you are a politician, you use your position to influence legislation for or against an issue, not do what you want in defiance of the law. The mayor's actions weakened the entire system and the California Supreme Court's unanimous decision strengthened and reinforced it.

I would have been cheering if Governor Schwarzenegger had ordered State Police to arrest the mayor for defying the law. This ruling is not about gay rights, it is about a politician who took an issue and illegally used his authority to effect change on the entire system after it had already been decided by state law. California law currently states that marriage is solely between a man and a woman. The mayor knew that, and he broke the law. What can happen to politicians who break the law?

The gay rights issue itself (in California) will be decided in about a year when brand-new lawsuits challenging the state law finally reach the California Supreme Court.

The mayor should still be charged with abuse of power, corruption and failure to uphold the California Constitution as he swore to at his inauguration. His attempt to force the system to change has failed. The California Supreme Court may agree with the mayor's goal in about a year, but at least it will be a LEGAL change, not a hokey act of defiance by a bombastic politician.

For the record, I think California's current law is correct. Marriage is between a man and a woman; civil unions are for everyone else.

Plan To Curtail Guard Towers Opposed--Mining Journal

There is a debate going on in Michigan about cutting back on guards in guard towers in the Michigan prison system in favor of electronic surveillance cameras. This is a bad idea.

Maximum security prisoners don't respect cameras. They respect the snipers. When a "lifer" has nothing left to lose but his life, how much effect will a camera have? Deterrence is the only thing that keeps maximum security prisons under control. Here is part of a story from a recent issue of the Daily Mining Gazette:

In July, a warning shot from a guard in the tower of the Carson City Correctional Facility was the only thing that gained control in a melee involving four inmates and correctional officers.

That's a circumstance that correctional officers at the Baraga Maximum Correctional Facility say they face periodically. Carson City houses levels I, II and IV prisoners, and the correctional officers at the maximum security prison in Baraga must deal with Level V offenders, or as one called it, "the worst of the worst."

These are not nice people in Level V prisons. They are convicted murderers, rapists, arsonists, drug dealers, bank robbers, habitual offenders and the worst parts of the human condition. They are a threat to society and belong where they are. This means that the prison guards have to exercise total control over the prisons. If a warning shot can stop a killer from murdering or beating a prison guard or another prisoner, then it doesn't need to be changed.

If they wish to add cameras to the guard towers in addition to keeping the snipers in place, I have no issue with it. But replacing snipers (or gunners if they so wish to be called) with cameras OR reducing the number of guards up there in favor of electronics is a REAL bad idea.

Cut coffee or weight rooms out of maximum security prisons, not the guards in the guard towers. If the prisoners can seize control of a prison, they can get out.

I can't imagine the chaos that would result if Alger Maximum Security Prison near Munising, MI, emptied or Marquette Max in Marquette, MI, experienced a mass breakout. The same thing goes for Baraga Max near Baraga, MI. The local police departments would be outnumbered and the residents of those small Upper Peninsula towns would begin to be murdered in their homes, front yards, or in the street. The crime wave would be unprecedented.

Replacing a sniper with a camera? I don't think so! Those towers need to be manned 24/7. See the link below or do a Google search on "Michigan guard towers prison."

Addendum 8/13/04: I think there should be gun turrets at the end of every hallway in Level V prisons as well as the gun towers.

EMP Weapons: America's Achilles Heel

A study was recently released that suggests that the U.S. is extremely vulnerable to the effects of an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP). It has been long feared that a nuclear weapon exploding high above the United States could black out the entire country and send the U.S. back into the Stone Age for years.

For this post, here is the definition of an electromagnetic pulse from the EMP Commission:

In addition to the ability to kill thousands of people instantly, nuclear weapons have another, equally crippling capability to destroy or disrupt power grids, electronic systems, and communications in an entire country, while sparing the lives of its people--at least initially.

Specifically, a nuclear bomb detonated above the earth's atmosphere would create a split-second electromagnetic pulse, similar to an extremely high-energy radio wave.

For example, a single nuclear weapon detonated at an altitude of 500 kilometers could produce an EMP that would blanket the entire continental United States, potentially damaging or destroying military forces and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure essential to modern society.


EMP can also be created artificially. Some police departments were testing a new EMP device that causes a car’s alternator to shut down if it is hit by a focused pulse. Police have hopes that the EMP field will enable them to stop pursuits that often turn into high-speed chases that lead to fatalities. Unfortunately, it destroys the alternator and could cause someone with a battery-powered pacemaker to die as well as it would destroy the battery powering the pacemaker. See the hit movie “The Core” for an illustration of what happens when a pulse hits people with pacemakers.

Back to the subject at hand, some nuclear weapons are designed to produce huge electromagnetic pulses. Others have EMP effects that are not as severe.

It would be a good idea to expand EMP shielding to include critical military systems as well as critical areas in the civilian sector as well. Here’s the commission’s recommendations:

Develop a clear policy about how it will respond to an EMP attack;

Assess which assets of the nation's power grid and telecommunications infrastructure are most critical to the overall system;

Harden those critical assets against EMP;

Retrofit at least a portion of U.S. military assets to protect against EMP;

Engineer EMP protections into a greater percentage of future military capabilities; and

Deploy an effective ballistic missile defense.

The EMP Commissionpoints out that this is an old threat, but now we are dealing with terrorists who are crazy enough to use weapons like this against us.

An ounce of prevention....you get the idea. If they turn the United States into a sub-Third World country, will our American civilization survive long enough to rebuild?

The link below leads to the full article. It's pretty scary.

(http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/bg1784.cfm)

Kerry, Vietnam & Iraq

Will the real John Kerry please stand up?

The ghost of Vietnam will be unleashed again with the anti-Kerry book "Unfit for Command" due to be released on Tuesday.

Kerry's record in Vietnam will be under extremely heavy fire next week from Vietnam veterans who are hotly disputing Kerry's assertions about his military record in Vietnam.

So we have the anti-Bush films (NOT DOCUMENTARIES) "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "The Manchurian Candidate" and the anti-Kerry "Unfit for Command" book.

This Presidential race sucks.

U.S. Elections To Be Observed By International Group

It was announced by the State Department that international observers will be coming in to monitor the Presidential election in November.

Here’s the background:

Florida 2000: A constitutional crisis began when the electoral system in the state of Florida broke down and the winner was unclear. Court challenges to the election began and the issue was finally decided the following month in the United States Supreme Court. George W. Bush was declared the winner (even though the media recount confirmed the results of Gore’s court-ordered recount) and the embarrassment of the election ended.

Fast forward to last month (July 2004): Thirteen Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives petitioned the United Nations to ask for international monitors to make sure that there will be no civil rights issues in the November 2004 election. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan rejected the appeal, saying that the Bush Administration had to make the request.

The Democratic delegation then asked Secretary of State Colin Powell and he took it under advisement. Powell asked the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to send in observers.

Now, this is not the first time the OSCE has sent observers here: they monitored the midterm 2002 elections and the California gubernatorial recall election. Over the last ten years, they’ve sent 10,000 observers to monitor 150 elections in 30 countries around the world, including Europe, the United States and other industrialized nations.

They monitored elections recently in Spain and in Northern Ireland.

This is nothing to get worked up about. With any amount of luck, they’ll be able to go home to their native countries and tell their countrymen that our elections are a model for the rest of the world to follow.

9/11 Justice Un-delivered

There is a report in the Associated Press being circulated in the papers and on cnn.com, foxnews.com and other web sites that 9/11 prosecutors are angry with the Justice Department for not sharing evidence needed to prosecute suspected terrorists.

Several jihaddists have gotten off because the government did not tie them to al-Qaeda, nor were they shown on video engaging in planning for terrorist strikes on buildings and other targets around the country. The evidence is officially classified information and so the prosecutor’s hands were tied; it could not be shown to jurors.

This weakened the government’s position and caused some of the prosecutions to collapse.

Why do we even bother to prosecute these people if the prosecution doesn’t have the evidence that they need?

The Justice Department needs to be doing a whole lot better.

9/11 Politics

There has been a lot of noise over the raising of the terror alert to Orange last week.

Critics are charging that it shouldn't have been raised because part of the information is 3-4 years old. Some people are ignoring the fact that there is direct evidence that 9/11 was at least four years in the making.

If that's true, then what is all this noise about? If we had discovered plans (on September 10th) that dated back to 1996 that laid out the attack on the World Trade Center, complete with plans to ram hijacked airliners into both towers, would we have done nothing? WHOOPS!! That's exactly what happened last time!

This is election-year politics, AGAIN!

Why do idiot politicians put election year POLITICS ahead of preventing the terrorists from carrying out attacks on specific targets?

They're unfastening our country's belt and preparing to drop our nation's drawers as al-Qaeda prepares to turn around and give us a thrashing! Burying our heads in the sand will NOT make this problem go away, so do us all a favor, politicians, and deal with reality AS IT IS, not AS YOU WANT IT.

School of the Americas, School of Shame

I’ve been following the saga of the School of the Americas for the last four years or so and have come to some conclusions about this “school.”

It either needs to be closed down, or totally transformed, and the U.S. government needs to take responsibility for what the school has helped to bring about in Latin America.

This is not good.

To give you some background, the school is located at a U.S. military base in Fort Benning, Georgia, and was started in 1946 to professionalize Latin American and Caribbean armies. In 1963, the school was renamed as the “School of the Americas” by President Kennedy’s administration and the new focus was on resisting communist aggression in central and south America as well as in the Caribbean. Their new Cold War mission was to train anti-communist Latin American army units in the arts of counter-insurgency, infantry tactics, military intelligence, counter-narcotics operations, and commando operations.

It became a goal of the United States government to keep neutral and friendly countries from falling under the USSR’s influence and so the school’s mission changed to accomplish that goal. The results were much different than what was intended.

Instead of helping preserve democracy and freedom, SOA graduates led military coups and were responsible for massacres of hundreds of people. Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates were notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, and Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador. SOA graduates were responsible for the Uraba massacre in Colombia, the El Mozote massacre of 900 civilians in El Salvador, the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, and the Jesuit massacre in El Salvador, the La Cantuta massacre in Peru, the torture and murder of a UN worker in Chile, and hundreds of other human rights abuses over the years.
In 1996, the U.S. government released seven Spanish-edition manuals to the media and the true horror of what our military was teaching to the participants became known. The techniques in the manual included instruction in interrogation techniques like torture, execution, blackmail and arresting the relatives of those being questioned. This is wrong.

The system turns out professional terrorists and kidnappers, not professional soldiers! This was not intended, but the system was not changed when the results of the training became known. So the U.S. government has some work to do.

It’s time to change the SOA into a military police academy, or a training center for the new Iraqi army, or SOMETHING other than what it is currently being used for. If the cause of freedom and democracy are not being advanced, then it’s no good.

Most Americans have developed a natural hatred of terrorists, so why, then, are we producing them? It makes no sense!

Scientist Thinks Ireland is Lost Island of Atlantis

A scientist from Sweden has put forth an unusual theory about where Atlantis is:

It's just off the coast of England, and is now called Ireland.

I don't know if this theory will hold up in the scientific community, but it's a facinating idea for discussion and for works of science-fiction.

According to myth, Atlantis was an advanced civilization that existed some 11,000+ years ago, and was destroyed by some kind of natural disaster that caused the entire island to sink beneath the surface of the ocean.

Many movies have been made about Atlantis being discovered on the bottom of the Atlantic, and many researchers have set out to discover the location of Atlantis. Predictibly, all efforts have failed.

This theory may be laughed at, but I think someone will write some great works of fiction about this idea!

What do I think? I don't know if I buy into the scientific part of the theory, but if it's proven to be true, it could change some parts of western history. That hasn't happened in quite some time. What a cool theory!

What do you think?

Abu Ghraib Hearing Day 2

During the U.S. Army Abu Ghraib Prison scandal hearing today, government witnesses revealed that others were complicit in the sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners and have escaped prosecution so far. The list includes officers, civilians, CIA operatives, security contractors and military intelligence officials.

What is the United States government doing to do about that? They need to arrest some people and put them on the stand too.

Others testified that they saw what was happening to the Iraqis and did nothing (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,128233,00.html). One soldier testified that he didn’t report anything, including the “human pyramid” because he thought “someone was in charge.” So what? Just because someone’s “in charge” makes it right?

The following statement is from the “Soldier’s Manual of Common Tasks” (Skill Levels 2 - 4 STP 21-24-SMCT August 2003) and it reads: You are a soldier in the U.S. Army. As a soldier, you are responsible for identifying, understanding, and complying with the provisions of the Law of War, including the Geneva and Hague conventions. You are also responsible for identifying and notifying the appropriate authorities of any suspected or known violations of the Law of War. The appropriate authorities, including your chain of command, must enforce the provisions of the Law of War, including the Geneva and Hague conventions.

This is required reading for every U.S. Army soldier, whether it is for an infantryman, or a cook behind the lines, or a water treatment specialist, or a military policeman, or a prison guard.

This is from FM 27-10, the official U.S. Army Field Manual for conduct during wartime:

93. Questioning of Prisoners

Every prisoner of war, when questioned on the subject, is bound to give only his surname, first names and rank, date of birth, and army, regimental, personal or serial number, or failing this equivalent information.

If he willfully infringes this rule, he may render himself liable to a restriction of the privileges accorded to his rank or status.

Each Party to a conflict is required to furnish the persons under its jurisdiction who are liable to become prisoners of war, with an identity card showing the owner's surname, first names, rank, army, regimental, personal or serial number or equivalent information, and date of birth. The identity card may, furthermore, bear the signature or the fingerprints, or both, of the owner, and may bear, as well, any other information the Party to the conflict may wish to add concerning persons belonging to its armed forces. As far as possible the card shall measure 6.5 x 10 cm. and shall be issued in duplicate. The identity card shall be shown by the prisoner of war upon demand, but may in no case be taken away from him.

No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.

Prisoners of war who, owing to their physical or mental condition, are unable to state their identity, shall be handed over to the medical service. The identity of such prisoners shall be established by all possible means, subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

The questioning of prisoners of war shall be carried out in a language which they understand. (GPW, art. 17.)

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So, not only were the Geneva and Hague conventions violated, but these soldiers also violated standing Army procedures for questioning and treatment of prisoners.

As for the others, the authorities need to make a complete list and charge them with violations of the Geneva & Hague Conventions respectively, if U.S. Army policy doesn’t apply to them.

It should also be pointed out that this sex abuse scandal was to punish the prisoners in that particular section for killing one of their own who was cooperating with the U.S., not to "soften them up" for interrogators. Several of the accused have already said this.

Soldier on Trial

The pre-trial of one of seven soldiers accused of abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad has gotten underway.

The female soldier is accused of thirteen counts of abusing detainees and six counts stemming from possession of sexually explicit photos, which are prohibited by U.S. Army policy.

I said so before and I’ll say it again: do some of our people not know the difference between a right and wrong? Is it now acceptable behavior to force unwilling participants into committing homosexual acts on one another? Or any sexual act for that matter?

It doesn’t matter if the soldiers were ordered to do it, they had a right and a moral obligation to say “NO!” and to speak out, as one brave soldier finally did, which brought about an end to the torture.

The accused soldier may not have done what she is accused of, but she failed to say “NO!” The Army doesn’t want officers and soldiers that blindly follow orders that violate their conscience. “I was only following orders” is a pathetic excuse used by many around the world to justify war crimes, as this is.

The soldier faces up to thirty-eight years in prison if she is convicted. I have very little sympathy for a soldier that disobeys her orders, goes into a part of the prison that she has no business being in, gets caught in the sack with her boyfriend by her superiors, is counseled four times in six months for not doing her job or violating regulations, gets caught up in the scandal, and comes home pregnant. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing their j-o-b-s properly WITHOUT violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but these seven couldn’t?

Here’s the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,128095,00.html

So in the end, it doesn’t matter if they were ordered to commit these atrocities or not. They had the moral obligation to say “NO!” but they didn’t do it. They are guilty of violating moral decency and human respect. The criminals they are in charge of have basic human rights as well, even though many of them are scum and are as guilty as sin. The criminals ought to be tried under the rule of law, NOT by the law of the jungle!

If the soldiers were ordered to do it, then those responsible should be in the dock as well to face trial.

Let justice be done and the laws of the United States be vigorously enforced.

Clarification on a Previous Post

A clarification on a previous post:

Whenever I mentioned Howard Dean's name in the post, I inserted the infamous "Dean Scream". That's not me screaming about Dean, that's me reminding everyone of why he's not the Democratic candidate.

There were some questions about that. That's the deal with it.

Heinz-Kerry and "Shove It" In The News Again

OK, now this is really getting ridiculous!

Teresa Heinz-Kerry’s telling a reporter to “shove it” has been the subject of some 381 stories in publications around the country since July 25th when the incident happened.

In contrast, Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign mottos did not catch. According to Factiva, "One America" got 57 mentions, "Hope is on the way," got 50 mentions and "America can do better" just 21 in the same time period.

What is this press fascination with the words “shove it”? Is the ENTIRE presidential election to be based on Billionaire Teresa’s rudeness to a reporter?

This is the dumbest continuing story that I have EVER seen. The Washington Times is reporting that the reporter who had the argument with Heinz-Kerry (and I don’t care if she uses hyphens in her name or not either) has been the subject of death threats and obscene messages (http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040803-121322-5779r.htm). How childish. Sounds like some people still need to grow up.

I have nothing but contempt for people who think other people deserve to die for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Kerry's campaign is in REAL trouble: the press is more interested in what his wife is saying than what he is. The numbers prove it.

Dean & Terror

Was out in the woods for the last four days and so completely ignored the news.

Heard that Howard Dean (yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!) accused Bush of changing the subject to terrorism whenever “he gets into trouble” on the domestic side of things. That’s not how the system works.

The Director of Homeland Security and other intelligence agencies brief the President daily on terrorist threat detection and make recommendations based on the latest intelligence that is gleaned from interrogations of terrorist prisoners (both “in-custody” or “newly captured” al-Qaeda/Hamas/Ansar al-Islam/other agents).

The President then makes a decision about the terror alert posture based on that daily information, regardless of timing.

One important note: Bush/Cheney are getting briefings and so is Kerry/Edwards. They are qualified to make statements about current threats and the threat detection posture of the nation. Dean (yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!) is NOT getting briefings and is making assertions based on his interpretations of the NEWS, which is not told everything either.

Dean (yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!) the cowboy is the one turning this into a political issue. In an election year, all actions are deemed political, regardless of who does what and when and I’m a little surprised that Dean (you get the idea) would do that too. Dean (uh huh) is going to really look like an idiot if something happens in the next few weeks with the Republican National Convention kicking off in New York and the 9/11 anniversary approaching not long after that.

Now is not the time for partisan politics over terror.