Another Arafat for Palestinians?

The terrorist group Hamas is planning on having one of their members run for President of the Palestinian Authority, the position formerly held by Yasser Arafat.

The opposition is said to be a jailed Palestinian terrorist who is being held for killing four Israelis and a Greek monk.

The jailed Palestinian is said to be in favor of a negotiated settlement with Israel, but Israel won’t release him.

Am I the only one who thinks that having two terrorists run for Palestinian President (formerly held by the father of modern terrorism) is a REAL bad idea? I was talking with someone over the weekend who thought it was not such a bad idea given the fact that the Palestinians are at war with Israel and that Arafat was a PLO terrorist. I told him that this was the kind of appeasement that would cause the Palestinians to be dominated by terror groups whether they wanted it or not.

This will set a very bad precedence and could hurt the democratic process in that region of the Middle East for years to come.

Ashcroft Accused Judges of Interfering in National Security

Retiring Attorney General John Ashcroft says activist judges are threatening Bush Administration decisions on national security.

While I think he is right about activist judges, here’s what he forgot to say:

The Bush Administration decisions in question are unconstitutional and unconscionable. And Ashcroft, as the attorney general, was wrong to support such unconstitutional measures as detaining Americans without access to lawyers and the court system for over three years.

It should have been Ashcroft who was telling Bush that suppressing Constitutional protections was a wrong decision, instead of the idiot judges in question that Ashcroft has no control over. Further, suppressing the Constitution is not national security…it’s bad policy.

I think that the Bush Administration should spend a little bit of time studying the American Civil War, and President Lincoln’s attempt to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in 1861, so that Confederate sympathizers and copperheads could be arrested for the duration of the war. The Supreme Court eventually ruled the suspension without an act of Congress as unconstitutional.

Some of the Americans arrested shortly after 9/11 had nothing to do with terrorism, but because they are of Middle Eastern background, the authorities held onto them. Now I think they’re afraid to let them go without charging them with something, because they’ll have an open-and-closed case of false imprisonment, denying American citizens their civil rights, and other similar accusations. It’s a huge liability question for this Administration or the next one to deal with.

We cannot hold people prisoner until they do something wrong. If they haven’t done anything wrong, they should be released. Period.

Police Use Stun-Gun on Six Year-Old

This one I have to question…

Police were called into Kelsey Pharr Elementary School in Miami to stop a six-year old boy from hurting himself and others with a shard of glass that he had gotten from breaking a picture frame in the principal’s office. He apparently cut himself and was wielding it like a knife to keep everyone at bay. There are several versions of the news story circulating on the web with different facts of the incident so I’ll leave it there.

The police arrived and used a stun-gun on the kid to immobilize him so that he could be disarmed.

Nailing a six-year old with 50,000 volts to take a piece of glass away? Give me a break! Why the hell didn’t two or three people rush the kid and take the glass from him? Was this boy 6’4” and 275 pounds and built like Arnold Schwarzeneggar? No, he’s probably 3’9” tall and weighs 45 pounds. Perhaps he’s obese and weighs 90 pounds. Who cares?

Both the staff at that school and the police need to be retrained on how they deal with aggressive six-year olds. DUH!!

I did a google news search on “boy taser” to research this story and came up with lots of news articles of cops using tasers to stop rampaging kids both successfully and unsuccessfully. There have been a handful of deaths resulting from police using these weapons on children.

Electricity can affect heart rhythm and 50,000 volts can have a devastating effect on a person’s long-term health. If we put this in another light, a medical procedure that used to be used to restart someone’s heart is now being used by police on children of all ages to control them. Is this wise?

Since the cops and the staff (all adults mind you) were overmatched by a six year-old child with a piece of glass, I guess they needed the help. I’M KIDDING!!

Arafat: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

The world now knows that Yasser Arafat passed away quietly during the night. He wasn’t killed by a Hamas sniper, as the so-called Bible Code predicted; he died quietly in a hospital bed.

I do not like to speak ill of the dead, but the tributes coming in from world leaders are an affront to Arafat’s victims.

Exactly how many people did Arafat send to their graves when he was a radical PLO leader?

He ordered airliners blown out of the sky, the terrorist attack on the Olympics in 1972, bombings of pizzerias, bus stations and assassinations of his enemies. Some have said that he introduced modern terrorism to the world. Islamic Jihad and other terror networks benefited from Arafat’s support in their terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

Does the name Leon Klinghoffer ring a bell?

I’m not going to offer the Palestinians condolences on the loss of their leader. I hope that there isn’t a Palestinian civil war and that they and the Israelis find peace before they blow one another off the map.

May God show more mercy to Arafat than he showed to his victims.

Gonzales May Be Next Attorney General

White House counsel Alberto Gonzales is said to be an early favorite to replace John Ashcroft as Attorney General.

I’m concerned about this choice as he has been involved in creating some of the problems that I perceive within the Justice Department. He publicly defended policies of holding onto suspects without access to legal representation or to the court systems for prolonged periods of time. The Supreme Court has ruled that legal limbo is illegal under the due process clause as I’ve mentioned before.

We need a new direction, not a continuation of a failed direction.

This is most unwise. They need an independent thinker who is not a buddy of the President.

An Attorney General needs to have enough distance from the President to order up independent investigations in the event that wrongdoing by the President or the Administration is discovered. That is what infuriated me about Janet Reno; she didn’t when she should have; she did when she shouldn’t have. The Justice Department is not the White House defense team. As the nation’s top cop, the Attorney General needs to enforce the law, not disregard any aspect of it.

The President really needs to think this through.

List of Ashcroft Replacements Being Circulated

There are names being circulated around Washington as to who might be John Ashcroft’s replacement. PepsiCo Executive Larry Thompson, New York Governor George Pataki, former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, and Marc Racicot, chairman of Bush's re-election effort, are on the short list as well as some others that the Administration haven’t revealed yet.

I don’t know much about most of these names, but I think Giuliani would be a better Director of Homeland Security. He would do an excellent job as attorney general, but his statement that he would like to be the one to flip the switch on Osama bin-Laden gives me pause.

I am against the death penalty in all forms. That will set me against about 70% of Americans who favor the death penalty and 84% of Americans who think bin-Laden should get the death penalty if he is ever captured.

I do not know if it was a spur-of-the-moment comment, or if he meant it, but I think his style of leadership would be better put to use at Homeland Security as they are still in the formative stage. His book on leadership was excellent, and his acute powers of observation would get the Homeland Security Department to where it needs to be; protecting America’s security from external terrorist threats.

They may make their choice known later today.

Ashcroft Resigns

I wish John Ashcroft well on his health and his retirement.

I hope President Bush chooses a jurist and not an ideologue for the post of Attorney General. He needs someone who will run the Justice Department, defend the Constitution in all aspects, and enforce the law, not supersede it.

Kerry Liberals Need Group Therapy??!

On the heels of a Kerry volunteer committing suicide at Ground Zero over Kerry’s loss to Bush, it was revealed today that some people in Palm Beach County, Florida, are seeing counselors because of their depression over the election.

People ought to quit crying and get on with their lives. Most mature people shrug their shoulders and vow to win the next time around and go back to their jobs.

I’ve been pointing out the dangers of rampant emotionalism the last few posts. There was so much liberal rage at Bush that you had to wonder what was going to happen to these idiots next. Well…here’s the story.

I wasn’t happy about Clinton winning in 1992 or 1996 or his surviving impeachment on the only charge that mattered, lying under oath, but I sure as hell didn’t need group therapy to talk about my feelings. Idiots! Grow up!! Get over it!

Federal Judge Stops Illegal Military Commission Prosecution

Finally, a little common sense in the U.S. legal system!

A federal judge stopped a military commission from prosecuting Osama bin-Laden’s former driver until his status is ruled upon by a “competent tribunal.”

I’m not objecting to the trial of this man, but it should be in a civilian court, not a military one as the legality of military commissions is still in dispute.

This is a good decision based on Constitutional law, something that the Ashcroft Justice Department has been turning a blind eye to for far too long.

One of the consequences of re-electing Bush is that we have to be ever vigilant in protecting our Constitution and Bill of Rights from ill-conceived and reactionary acts of the Administration and the Justice Department.

That means never willingly surrendering our freedoms in the name of security.

Here’s the story.

Street Fighting in Fallujah: What Did He Say??!

SecDef Rumsfeld said today that there was little possibility of large numbers of Iraqi civilians getting killed as coalition and Iraqi ground forces engage militants in street combat for control of Falljuah.

Why does he make statements like that? Of course there will be large numbers of civilians killed or wounded. When you’re talking about 200,000 non-combatants being in between the coalition and the insurgents, and bullets and bombs flying in every direction, of course there will be large numbers of Iraqi civilians killed or wounded. Plus the enemy looks like the civilian population AND the enemy has no problem with gunning down unarmed civilians to throw blame on the coaltion.

With untold thousands of Iraqi civilians dead from this war, and tens of thousands more wounded, “one would think” (Rumsfeld lingo) that the Secretary of Defense would learn not to make broad statements like that.

It’s statements like this that make me think that Rumsfeld needs to retire.

Some Americans Looking at Leaving U.S. Over Bush Win

It’s being reported that the number of Americans visiting a Canadian immigration web site is way up following George W. Bush’s victory. If Americans want to go live in Canada, they will receive a warm welcome; Canada wants 200,000 people to immigrate there next year.

But a mere election being the primary cause for some Americans wanting to quit their jobs, uproot their families, renounce their U.S. citizenship and move across the border into another country seems radical to me. That’s their choice, but I have difficulty believing that there aren’t other reasons for such a drastic move. In days past, people have fled across the border to avoid the draft or to outrun the IRS.

Some job-seekers will be happy if lots of people move to Canada; that means there will be job openings left behind here in the U.S.

People ought to stay at their jobs and express themselves in a more meaningful way, like starting a web site or running for office instead of tucking tail and running across the border or putting a gun to their heads.

More rampant emotionalism overriding common sense.

Man Kills Himself Over Bush Victory at Ground Zero

Yesterday there was a report of a man who was so despondent over Kerry’s loss to Bush that he killed himself at Ground Zero in New York.

I don’t understand this at all. What kind of conditions existed in this man’s life that he felt life had no meaning anymore with Bush’s victory on Election Day? This is almost beyond belief. Did he not realize that eventually Bush will have to leave office due to the 22nd Amendment term-limiting the President?

Democracy will survive any President that comes along.

What is at stake, libs, is not democracy, but our interpretation of what democracy is. The modern liberal interpretation took a beating on Election Day, because it doesn't represent mainstream America anymore. It lost because the man who represented it was more concerned about getting Bush out than for representing the people who he claimed to represent.

So when someone puts a 12 gauge shotgun to his head and pulls the trigger over a lost election, that's rampant emotionalism overriding common sense. That's not a disaster for democracy. That's a disaster for that man's family and friends.

This was a man who was preparing to get married. It just doesn't make any sense.

Constitutional Amendment: Change Term Limit of the U.S. President?

Someone raised a question of what would it take to term-limit the President to (1) six year term.

The 22nd Amendment limits the President to (two) four-year terms. It would have to be repealed and a new Amendment written with the new six-year term limit.

I’m not sure if they could repeal the 22nd and write the new term limit in one Amendment, or if it would take an Amendment to repeal the 22nd and then another Amendment to set the limit at one six-year term.

If it was decided that it would take two Amendments, there is a danger.

Current Constitutional law calls for the Amendments to be ratified by two-thirds of the House and Senate respectively. The Amendments then have to be ratified by three quarters of the states in order to go into effect.

With two Amendments, what happens if the repealing of the 22nd Amendment is approved and goes into effect, but the “six-year term” Amendment fails? The end result…no term limits for the President whatsoever. He/she could serve as many terms as they wanted, depending on the voters. With someone as popular as Bill Clinton was (bleah!) he could still be in power today.

That’s my take on the procedural side of it.

Some would argue that a single term would allow a President to get more work done instead of having to campaign in his/her fourth year of their first term.

Others would argue that the President should follow the example of George Washington and only run for two terms. Which is better?

Ashcroft & Rummie Have to Go

The time for cabinet changes in the Bush Administration is now.

Two definite changes: Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and Attorney General Ashcroft need to go.

I have been dissatisfied with the last two people to hold the directorship of the Justice Department: John Ashcroft and Janet Reno. Reno liked circumventing the Constitution in dealing with legal issues, and Ashcroft is turning a blind eye to parts of it (due process).

All parts of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights need to be observed by the government and John Ashcroft's Justice Department has not done their part. He’s still holding American citizens on U.S. soil without legal counsel and without their day in court as he thinks they may have had something to do with 9/11.

If so, then why haven’t they begun criminal proceedings? Legal limbo is illegal under the due process clause. It’s being said that Ashcroft may leave on his own terms before President Bush is sworn in for his second term. This would be an excellent start.

Bush needs a competent Secretary of Defense and Rumsfeld is clearly not up to the task. The entire battle plan for Iraq needs to be redone and goals clearly spelled out. Treating Iraq like a liberated Soviet satellite nation was a huge mistake. I think Poland, Lithuania, and other nations under Soviet domination would have welcomed U.S. troops and taken full advantage of their freedom, but Iraq is a Muslim nation that has been invaded by largely non-Muslim armies of the West.

Now that we’re there, it is important to get the Iraqi army, paramilitary and police set up with all the tools that they need to retake their country in all respects, and to secure their own country.

2004 Election Ends

The 2004 election ended this morning when John Kerry threw in the towel after doing the math and correctly deducing that he wouldn’t have enough punch left from the provisional ballots in Ohio to capture the Buckeye state and turn the election.

Kerry was very gracious in his concession on TV today, promising to help reunite the country and thanking his supporters for their dedication to his campaign.

I did not agree with many of his stands, and was appalled by some of his personal choices in choosing liberal politics over his faith. His stock went through the ceiling with me when he stuck a fork in the election and pronounced it done without resorting to the legal system to get his way, as Gore did in 2000.

He even said that the election is best left in the hands of the American people, and not in the legal system. In spite of all the pre-election lawsuits that happened, and some of the antics of party challengers in many states at the polling stations, the election went very smoothly, and I wanted to express my appreciation to Kerry for keeping his word and not allowing a repeat of the 2000 election fiasco in Florida.

I’m very glad this campaign and election is over.

Oh, and if you are reading this and still have campaign signs up in your yard, or stuck them onto roadsides at various places around where you live, please pick them up. They will become major eyesores now that the election has come and gone. Thank you for helping to keep the litter problem to a minimum.

Moveon.org and Other Idiots Cause Voting Problems in Michigan

The radical liberal group moveon.org has caused problems at several polling stations in the Michigan cities of Grand Rapids, Lansing, Milford, Dearborn and Troy. They are supposed to be watching the election, not actively interfering.

In Detroit, the police were summoned to shoo away white Republican Party members from Grand Rapids who were pestering the residents of mainly African American areas of Detroit. Then the Democrats showed up with attorneys wearing hunters orange vests. Oh yay. Attorneys. And insulting hunters, too!

Polling monitors should keep their mouths shut or go home. This is why this kind of behavior should be strictly enforced by the courts. Under Michigan law there is no campaigning within 100 feet of a polling place, but that is not enough.

Party challengers need to be banned. I’m glad that the election workers were uncooperative with the self-appointed party challengers. Instead of intimidating people, the self-appointed party challengers ought to be contributing to society instead of being two-bit bullies.

Space Shuttle Enterprise On Permanent Display

The space shuttle Enterprise has finally returned to the public eye, taking its rightful place as the centerpiece of a new display at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington, DC.

The original space shuttle never left Earth’s atmosphere, but was a testing platform for the active shuttle fleet, including the Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavor, and the two doomed space shuttles Challenger and Columbia.

Built in 1976, the Enterprise has been mothballed for many years and is now finally available for the public to view up close. The shuttle had been available for a year to view, but from the other end of a hangar.

The shuttle has proven useful over the years; most recently, parts of it were used to conduct experiments which led scientists to conclude that a damaged wing led to the destruction of the shuttle Columbia on February 1st, 2003, as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.

In a scenario recreation of the foam coming off the shuttle as Columbia lifted off, foam was fired at the leading edge of the Enterprise’s wing to see what effect the foam would have. An audible gasp was heard from the stunned scientists as the foam penetrated the wing, leaving a large hole where the heat shield would have been.

This led investigators to declare that the smoking gun had been found, and that super hot gasses entered the Columbia’s wing, catching everything on fire and causing the Columbia to break up 203,000 feet above Texas, while traveling across the sky at Mach 18.

For the moment, the parts of the wing that were borrowed from the Enterprise have been replaced with plastic substitutes. It should be noted that parts of the shuttle are flight-ready as NASA still uses the Enterprise for testing purposes. The missing pieces have been ordered and will be installed in 2005, according to NASA.

I wrote a letter to NASA two days after the Columbia was destroyed, asking about whether the Enterprise would be on permanent display and NASA sent a beautiful letter back, with a link to the new display that was being constructed. I was happy to hear back from NASA that the Enterprise was on the front burner and that America’s first space shuttle was going to be honored with a display of its own.

The Enterprise display opened up yesterday. Along with the Enterprise, there are over a hundred other displays in the hangar, all from America’s space program. Outstanding!

See-Saw Legal Battle in Ohio Elections

In an 11th hour decision, a superior court in Ohio has allowed party challengers to go to the polls this morning to challenge the identity of voters in that state.

The lawyer who represents the African American voters that filed the lawsuit have fired an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is uncertain if the high court will intervene.

As many as 23,000 voters will be challenged and stopped today as that is the number of voters that the Republicans suspect of being frauds.

The political parties should keep their noses out of the balloting areas.

Major questions:

How do the challengers know which people to challenge? Are they working off of a list of suspected names? Are they picking people at random to challenge? Are they challenging everyone? What questions are they asking? What makes them more qualified to determine who is eligible to vote? Do the poll judges have the power to override the challengers? Will there be batteries of attorneys who will be standing outside the polls to offer legal representation to those voters who are turned away?

I can see violence happening in the Ohio polling places due to this. This is an unfortunate turn of events.

Federal Judges Outlaw Ohio Party Challengers

In a positive development today, two federal judges in Ohio barred “party challengers” from being deployed across the state to check on voter eligibility. In addition, they decided that poll workers are the sole judges of who is/is not eligible to vote. The “challengers” in the Ohio court case are not the poll workers themselves, but Democratic or Republican Party representatives who float around and stop whomever they want from entering the polling place. This court decision will eliminate another Democratic reason to claim voter intimidation in the battleground state.

Party challengers should be banned across the country!! Having a stranger stopping you outside the voting station and demanding identification could be intimidating all by itself, especially for first-time voters. Then there is the possibility that certain party members could be challenging for reasons other than simple identification and eligibility validation, which is troubling.

Where I come from, you fill out a card, sign it, and a poll worker checks your name and valid ID against a master list to determine if you are eligible to vote. If you are, they hand you the ballots and you move on to a voting booth. If not, you are asked to leave or given directions on what to do next. This system is fair and efficient.

The Ohio Republican Party, strangely enough, was in favor of the party challenge system and is vowing to appeal the decisions. While I support the conservative movement, I do not agree with the Ohio Republican stance. We don’t need another “2000 Florida-style” Presidential election.

I think they need to have a little more faith in the poll workers, who can compare a valid picture ID against a master list of eligible voters. If there are legitimate cases of voter fraud going on in Ohio, then I don’t know what the solution is. Thumb prints? I have no idea. Criminal punishment? Definitely!

There is no guarantee that everyone who registers to vote will vote, either. Let the polling judges do their work.

Here’s the story.

Pre-Election Lawsuits Underway

Lawsuits are underway in a dozen states. The ballots haven't even been cast yet, and they're already suing.

So much for a clean one-shot election.

If this keeps up, it will be taken out of the hands of voters and put into the hands of the lawyers. Again.

If some of these lawsuits are carried through, elections will be delayed for weeks in some of the most vote-heavy states until replacement voting machines can be manufactured and delivered. Ridiculous!

Osama bin-Laden & News Coverage: ENOUGH!!

With twenty-four hours left before Election Day, the news networks are giving Osama bin-Laden lots of press attention, and so are the campaigns. Osama doesn’t deserve it. The only news coverage he should be getting when he is either captured or confirmed dead. Osama's message was designed to distract American voters and/or pass on messages to his al-Qaeda terror network. Nothing more, nothing else.

The news networks should focus on non-bin Laden issues, not videos from a terrorist who has stepped away from his radical Islamic speech and addressed the American people in a political speech. I do not hear the words of killers; I see their actions and the need to stop them first, then punish them. Everything Osama says is to fit his own agenda. Coming from a bastard who has vowed to kill four million Americans, his rhetoric is meaningless, and I hope the candidates and the news media put bin-Laden on the back burner. Let Homeland Security, the FBI and CIA worry about him for now.

All Americans need to worry about is getting to the polls.

Bush & Kerry: Why Are They Giving Free Press to bin-Laden?

Osama bin-Laden entered the U.S. political fray with a videotaped message to the world, announcing that he’s still alive and that U.S. foreign policy could trigger another terrorist attack.

It’s unfortunate that the two candidates are trying to use the bin-Laden video to their advantage. This election has progressed to the point that they have to rely on. . . OSAMA BIN-LADEN to help them win?

Disgusting!

I don’t know which side started this, but it looks really bad. The two campaigns should have contacted one another and agreed to ignore the video in the campaign, and not give it any press whatsoever; leaving it to Homeland Security, the FBI and the CIA to deal with. Instead it’s the centerpiece of the campaign with less than forty-eight hours to go before the election.

I do not like politicians using the bin-Laden video to score brownie points on one another. By calling more attention to the bin-Laden video, they are giving bin-Laden more press than he deserves.

New Video Sheds Some Light on Disappearance of Iraqi High Explosives

Newly surfaced video of the al-Qaqaa ammunition facility shows U.S. soldiers standing around what some are describing as drums of high-explosives, lending credence to the story that the explosives disappeared after the facility fell to the U.S. military, and casting doubt that the Russians were involved in the disappearance of three hundred tons of high explosives (at this facility).

I’m told that in conventional warfare, it’s customary to either use, burn or destroy ammo dumps like this so that enemy soldiers who are caught behind the advancing lines cannot access ammo/weapons to wreak havoc on other advancing units and supply lines that are following the leading regiments. The supply lines came under attack as the U.S. military stormed northward. Experts are unsure if the weapons stolen have been used or who has them.

Key questions: did this happen at other facilities too? What were the rules of engagement during the drive to Baghdad? What other orders were our soldiers following? Was it in the plan to capture and then abandon enemy weapons depots?

This story is changing by the hour, so I'm putting a disclaimer on this post as details are changing rapidly.

Washington Times Report: Russian Involvement in Disappearance of Iraqi Weapons

The Washington Times is running a story that says Russian spetsnatz (special forces) moved special weapons of Russian manufacture out of Iraq and into Syria and Lebanon before the war began, including the missing high explosives that have seen so much political play in the U.S. Presidential campaign this week.

According to the report, the Russians were unable to convince Saddam to give up the arms programs, so they struck a deal with Iraqi intelligence services to remove the weapons and disperse them, with Saddam’s knowledge. Iraqi reports written by Saddam’s government and captured by the coalition provide a revealing insight into what the Russians did.

Whether the missing Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program were part of the deal is not yet known.

This would explain a great many things, such as the failure to find weapons that the Iraqis had before the war began, and how Saddam could obsess over Iran gaining nuclear technology, while being determined to keep apace with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

If this story is proven to be correct, then we have to ask ourselves: has a new Cold War begun between the U.S. and Russia? What was taken out of Iraq by the Russians? Where are those weapons now? And what is yet to come?

Finally, is this the long-awaited “October Surprise” that will vindicate Bush’s decision to invade Iraq?

It’s going to be very interesting to see how this plays out.

Here’s the story.

Man Claims First Amendment Protection After Vehicular Assault On Harris

In the latest example of irrational left-wing rage, someone tried to run over Representative Katherine Harris, the former Florida Secretary of State who oversaw the 2000 Florida election disaster, and several Harris supporters.

The man turned himself in a short while later to Sarasota police, saying that he was trying to “exercise his political expression” in attempting to mow the group down as they were walking on a sidewalk.

This is almost beyond belief! Some people need serious psychological help as they are devolving right before our eyes. Behavior like this should be seriously punished; at the very least, idiots like this should be institutionalized so that they can start to get straightened out.

And there will be idiots on TV supporting the actions of this pyscho, too!

Bush Re-Election Offices Attacked Across Country

For all the statements coming in from voters that they are intimidated at the polls, it seems that the Republicans have incurred more damage and injury from angry anti-Bush nutters than any other group this election year.

The following Bush/Cheney re-election offices have been attacked or damaged by person or persons unknown in the last four weeks:

Canton, Ohio
Orlando, Florida (office was shot at)
Fairbanks, Alaska
Galatin County, Montana (twice)
Huntington, West Virginia (office was shot at)
Knoxville, Tennessee (office was shot at)
Spokane, Washington
Edwardsville, Illinois
Flagstaff, Arizona
Bellevue, Washington
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (twice)
Cincinnati, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio

In addition, there are widespread reports of cars sporting Bush/Cheney bumper stickers being vandalized, B/C 2004 yard signs being stolen or vandalized, homes with Bush/Cheney signs in the front yard being damaged or broken into, and Bush supporters being assaulted. The news has daily occurrences of hate-related crimes related to the election.

You would expect these types of political crimes in Nazi Germany or in Third World countries with two-bit dictators who are trying to keep the opposition from booting them out of office, not in the United States. I’ve never seen such widespread hate before, and the ones who are perpetrating these crimes are not mainstream Kerry supporters. This is the radical left at work.

In elections past, party headquarters on both sides have been ransacked or vandalized, but nothing approaching the damage that has been done to Bush/Cheney offices and staff this election year.

In all fairness, Kerry yard signs are being ripped off too, and some vandalism against Kerry offices and supporters have taken place. But Bush supporters are taking the brunt of the violence and property damage. People who are doing these crimes, no matter what their persuasion, and no matter who they support, ought to be ashamed of themselves. What’s happening goes far beyond the First Amendment. This is not free speech. This is a bunch of malcontents taking advantage of a political situation for whatever pleasure they derive from violence and hatred.

CBS News Is At It Again

Many people were angered by news that over three hundred tons of high explosives have gone missing from a former Iraqi Army base in Iraq and were quick to point the fingers at Bush and the military for allowing it to happen.

It’s bad enough that these weapons and explosives are missing. I’m not too concerned about the timeline as to when they disappeared; before the war, during, or after. And some in our country were unconcerned that the same thing couldn’t have happened to any nuclear/biological/chemical stockpiles that Iraq could have had?

This has had a major effect domestically. CBS was going to hold the report until twenty-four hours before the U.S. Presidential election began, instead of releasing the news immediately. They were scooped by a couple of newspapers who released the stories within hours of confirming the information.

This latest episode proves that CBS News is willing to make itself the news once again; their claims of being neutral in their reporting are proven false, and all their gains in apologizing for airing false documents that attacked Bush’s record have been erased.

I have nothing but contempt for news organizations that play the news to influence American voters.

Kerry & Congress & the $87 Billion Backtrack

Do you know why Kerry voted for war against Iraq but voted against the funds to support it?

The answer is simpler than you think.

Some in Congress are more likely to vote for a use of force if they are assured that only certain types of weapons will be used (not ground troops), or no military action will be taken. Remember when the U.S. launched major air strikes in Iraq in 1998 (Operation Desert Fox) to force Saddam to allow arms inspectors back into Iraq? The not-hawks in Congress were pushing for military action then, fully realizing that then-President Clinton wouldn’t use all the military force he had available to force the issue. In fact, Clinton was dragging his feet, which made the not-hawks even more bombastic about authorizing the use of force, because they knew that Clinton was going to limit his military options or go for a diplomatic solution and forget about using force. In fact, military action had been delayed the month before (Operation Desert Viper) due to Saddam agreeing to let the inspectors back in; the B-52s were airborne and twenty minutes away from launching their missiles, and Saddam knew it.

Well, the same thing happened when many in Congress (including Kerry) voted for the use of force against Iraq in 2003. When they realized that they had a President who was going to use the military firepower at his disposal, some of them backtracked (including Kerry), voting against the $87 billion in additional military spending for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This backtracking is right in line with their past history, so we shouldn’t be too surprised that this has been a major campaign issue, and that Kerry has gotten massacred in this area.

The simple fact is that the not-hawks gambled, lost and then backtracked, which has lead to Bush having a huge stick to beat Kerry with repeatedly and often.

This is an example of what happens when politics interferes with good common sense.

They voted to send our military off to war, then didn’t back up their vote under the pretense that money was being spent in this congressional district, but not that one. No, no, no. They got cold feet, pure and simple.

For those that are interested, “not-hawk” = war hawk…not!

Guardian Newspaper Ends Anti-Bush Campaign

It was announced the United Kingdom left-leaning Guardian newspaper has abandoned its campaign to influence American voters in Ohio to vote against Bush.

Previously, the Guardian was exhorting its readers to send letters to undecided voters in Clark County, Ohio, to encourage them to vote against Bush. When the British paper realized that the opposite effect was happening, they put an end to their campaign. It turned out that the furious locals began volunteering to help Bush in the battleground state.

Good riddance, Guardian lefties. Don’t let the door hit you in the a$$. I hope the rest of the world observes strict neutrality in American domestic affairs and politics, even as we respect their politics and elections.

Design Flaws Ruled Out in WTC Structural Failures

Design flaws have been ruled out in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

Some have suggested that lack of fireproofing and lack of strength in the lightweight floors played critical roles in the eventual collapse of both towers after they were rammed by hijacked airliners.

A detailed report that was released yesterday points out that “the twin towers failed because the structural columns at the buildings' core, damaged by the impact of the airliners, buckled and shortened as the fires burned, gradually shifting more load to the tower's trademark exterior pinstripe columns.” Those external columns took most of the weight load of the floors above the impact areas and failed, which caused the structures to fall in on themselves.

In other words, the internal structures holding the buildings up were severed, severely damaged, or melted by the 1,000 to 2,000 degree fires that were raging in the damaged areas of the building. Eventually both buildings began to sag in the damaged areas and the weight was caught by the outside columns. You could almost see it happening when you look at video of the burning buildings.

Some of these columns were damaged by the impact as well, or were damaged also by the unbelievable heat, so failure was only a matter of time. When enough of the columns were weakened, the weight overcame the strength of the columns and the skyscrapers collapsed in a matter of seconds, killing thousands of people who were still inside the burning towers as well as people standing near the buildings who couldn’t escape the huge sections of building that came crashing down on top of them.

Here’s the New York Times story.

I don't know if any lessons can be learned from this or what can be done to strengthen existing skyscrapers against the same kind of thing happening. I don't think armoring new towers will help either. Steel and concrete have been shown to be susceptable to this new kind of terrorism. I can't see making the walls one hundred feet thick either. The weight load would be unbelievable. Could such a structure even be built and not collapse under its own weight? More questions than answers.

UK Guardian Newspaper Sends Anti-Bush Letters to Ohio Voters

The Guardian newspaper out of the United Kingdom sent anti-Bush letters across the Atlantic to Ohio after acquiring lists of unregistered voters in the battleground state.

Kerry campaign officials were quick to express horror at what has happened.

The news media in this country have begun to tear into the left-leaning Guardian for attempting to influence American voters. Fox News in particular has been very harsh in its coverage of the incident.

In the meantime, the Guardian has stood its ground in its blatant cross-Atlantic attempts to influence American voters to pick the British left’s choice for U.S. President.

Isn’t this kind of thing illegal in the U.S.?

This is what I was afraid of when other nations began to weigh in on our elections. Now we’ve got liberals from other countries sticking their noses in where they’re not wanted.

We don’t need input from overseas, thank you very much. I would suggest that the Guardian get its own house into order before it goes making suggestions on how to run ours.

International Leaders Begin to Weigh in on American Elections

The leaders of Russia and Malaysia have urged American voters to vote for Bush on terrorism issues.

While I do not totally disagree with their sentiment, I do disagree with them taking a side in an American election.

Nations need maintain their neutrality in the American political process, even as America maintains neutrality in their political campaigns. This is how it has always been.

This is a continuation of my condemning international polls that show that the rest of the world favors one candidate over another. We don’t care what the rest of the world thinks of our candidates since they are not electing the American President. The American people are.

This could open the floodgates for world leaders to publicly weigh in, which I would take as an attack on our right to choose our own leaders without being influenced by foreign interests.

So I would hope that other nations would remain silent, or if asked by the media, use appropriate diplomatic language that says that they are neutral in American politics.

Flu Vaccine Shortage: Solution Needed

The flu vaccine problem in this country needs to be handled differently.

I’m no expert on vaccinations, but there really should be a different way of getting the vaccine into the hands of people that need it the most. There is no reason for a 76-year old grandma or grandpa (lugging around an oxygen tank or standing there on a walker) to stand in line for six friggin’ hours to get a shot and then to get turned away because they run out of doses.

The report that an elderly lady died waiting for a shot really struck a nerve with me.

She apparently fainted from exhaustion, hit her head and died from her injuries.

Can’t the flu vaccine be administered orally and be sold at the local pharmacy, or supermarket, or wherever, and let people buy the damned things on their own time along with their groceries or other pills?

There has to be an easier way to do this.

Kerry and Bush are blaming one another for the shortage. They ought to shut up and fix the problem!

Army Investigating Mutiny of Reserve Unit in Iraq

Part of an Army Reserve platoon apparently disobeyed an order to deliver fuel and supplies to a base and have been placed under house arrest.

They felt that the mission was too dangerous to undertake and refused to carry out the order. Other soldiers from their unit carried out the order without incident.

The Army is conducting an investigation. But one thing is certain: they will probably face court-marital proceedings for disobeying an order.

For those of us who do not understand what size a platoon is, here is how the army is organized and who commands each:

Squad: 4-10 soldiers—Staff Sgt.
Platoon: 3-4 squads (16-40 soldiers)-Lieutenant
Company: 3-4 platoons (100-200 soldiers)-Captain
Battalion: 3-5 Companies (500-900 soldiers)—Lt. Colonel
Brigade: 3 or more battalions (3,000-5,000 soldiers)--Colonel
Division: 3 brigades (10,000-18,000 soldiers)—Major General
Corps: 2-5 Divisions (36,000-90,000 soldiers)—Lt. General
Field Army: 2-5 corps (54,000-450,000 soldiers)—General
These figures are approximate given the size and strength of each individual unit.

Approximately 17 soldiers are being held for questioning.

Before we condemn or support the actions of the soldiers involved in this apparent mutiny, we have to understand something…99.99999% of us weren’t there, so we don’t know if their refusing to obey a lawful order was justified or not.

Let’s give the Army time to sort this out.

Bush & Kerry Campaigns Leave Unpaid Bills Behind

One of the unfortunate consequences of a Presidential campaign coming to town is the bill that is left behind for the locals to deal with.

Under current campaign finance law, the local governments are able to get reimbursed for expenses incurred when a Presidential candidate comes for a visit. The exception is that the locality cannot be reimbursed for security expenses.

Excuse me, but security arrangements are often the biggest expense that there is. Many cities in battleground states are tired of the frequent visits and the ever-larger bill that they will have to deal with.

Here’s a rundown of some of the security tabs that some Midwestern city governments are dealing with:

Cleveland, Ohio: $270,000
Dubuque, Iowa: $36,800
York, Pennsylvania: $21,000
Cloquet, Minnesota: $10,000 (for a 45-minute visit from one of the candidates!)
Davenport, Iowa: $23,000
Akron, Ohio: $21,000
Traverse City, Michigan: $20,000
Grand Rapids, Michigan: $80,000

It is estimated that both campaigns have or will incur a total of $450,000 in unpaid-for security expenses across Michigan.

Michigan communities are making budget cuts to balance their budgets, laying off firemen and police officers, while Bush and Kerry are running up a tab for THEIR campaigns!

Thanks but no thanks.

The law needs to be changed so that towns that play host to national candidates are reimbursed for all of the overtime and security expenses. Or each candidate needs to budget at least $25 million to fully reimburse every community that they visit.

This is ridiculous!

Human Rights: International Setback

Recently a news story broke in the media about a U.S. intelligence unit that is interrogating high-value al-Qaeda leaders at a special Jordanian prison.

The reason that they’re in Jordan is because United States legal protections do not apply to prisoners that are being held by other countries, and Jordan permits torture and other human rights violations on prisoners. It has been shown in recent months that the government is willing to torture enemy prisoners to get information and so you can guess what these intelligence agents are doing in Jordan.

I’m not pleased with this development. The cause of human rights has taken several major body blows in the last couple of years. One of the major parties responsible for this is the United States government. In its pursuit of terrorists, it has disregarded the rule of law to get what it wants from enemy prisoners, and has been reckless in its treatment of civilians in occupied zones.

Our intelligence services need to be bound to observe United States law, whether they are in the United States or in other countries. An unknown number of enemy prisoners have died while in captivity; some have died during interrogation. What caused their deaths during the interrogations? Drugs? Beatings? Other inhumane torture methods? Natural causes?

In addition, we are still holding al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners in Cuba. The methods used there to get information have been called into question in recent months. We already know about the sex abuse scandals in Iraqi prisons. We also know that there are still Americans who are being held on terror-related charges but have been left to languish in prison with no attorney, no trial and no recourse. This is wrong.

This is not the United States legal system at its finest hour.

The United States no longer has the right to criticize the human rights abuses of other nations. This is a sad moment in our history. Until the U.S. straightens up its act and gets with the program of advancing the cause of human rights in its relations with other nations and brings those who are responsible for the violations to justice, it can no longer call itself a champion of human rights.

This country was founded on principals of liberty and justice for all, not liberty and justice for some. Our government needs to do much better. By all means, bring these individuals into courtrooms and charge them with specific crimes, but do not leave them in darkened rooms, outside of the legal system, with nothing but beatings and interrogations to look forward to. This is so wrong.

Final Bush-Kerry Debate: Surprise Victory for Bush

Tonight’s debate was a clear victory for Bush. I was very surprised that he did as well as he did. I was equally surprised by Kerry’s lackluster performance tonight. Kerry looked worn out and came out on the short end of the stick. Bush stayed on the attack while Kerry was on the defensive for most of the debate.

Some talking points:

Kerry insisted 1.6 million jobs have been lost under Bush. The number is closer to ½ that.

Bush insisted that 75% of al-Qaeda’s leadership has been eliminated. I’m sure the terrorists have found others to replace the pre-9/11 leadership.

In my opinion, Kerry made a tactical error in bringing up Cheney’s daughter. Kerry stuffed words into her mouth. He’ll probably end up apologizing to her tomorrow, both in public and in private. She’s a private citizen, not a political figure.

He also screwed up when he said that Bush had never met with the Congressional Black Caucus. Bush met with them a little more than two weeks after he was inaugurated (January 31, 2001) and during the crisis in Haiti (February 25, 2004).

Bush and Kerry both promised to cut the deficit in half in the next term. Nope. Can’t happen. If they disbanded the military, laid off 98% of the government, ended Social Security and did a whole bunch of other nasty things, they MIGHT cut the deficit by 2009 as both have promised.

Kerry seems to be faltering. Bush got stronger and stronger as the debate went on. Bush's best effort yet.

Reviewing my predictions: I had predicted a Kerry victory in the first debate, a Bush win on the second one, and a draw on the third one. I was correct about the first debate, the second debate was a draw and the third one turned out to be a Bush win. I didn't see that one coming.

Twenty days to go before the election. We'll see what happens next.

Let "Stolen Honor" Run on TV

So, let me get this straight.

The Bush haters had no objections to the Michael-Moore/anti-Bush "Fahrenheit 9/11" movie, and the CBS fraud on Bush, but OBJECT to "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" being shown on TV.

What kind of double standard is this?

There ought to be equal time for so-called "documentaries" on both candidates. It seems to me that Michael Moore started a food fight, and now the DNC doesn't want to get hit by food that is being caught and thrown back. Someone once told me never to start a fight unless I was prepared to take major damage in return. The Moore crowd and the DNC is coming across as having thrown a vicious punch and now are begging Bush supporters not hit back and begging the referee to stop the recovering Bush from hurting them back.

Moore made well over $100 million with his movie. The people who created "Stolen Honor" won't make a fraction of that amount. The Bush haters cheered the inaccuracies in Moore's movie, but won't tolerate the same thing in return on Kerry?

Unbelievable hypocrisy.

Edwards Politicizes Reeve's Death

John Edwards' turning the death of actor-turned-activist Christopher Reeve into a political speech to rah-rah John Kerry is sickening and could backfire.

It’s just like the Democrats turning the memorial service for Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota into a political rally. The Democrats paid dearly for their campaigning at Senator Wellstone’s funeral. A furious then-Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura stormed out of the service and chose an independent to take Wellstone’s seat for the remainder of the term, and the Democrats lost in national elections that they were expected to win eleven days later. The Republicans captured control in the Senate and widened their lead in the House. The liberal Democrats were moaning for months afterwards. Oh, and they lost Wellstone’s seat in the election too, in spite of popular liberal Democrat Walter Mondale taking Wellstone's place in the campaign.

Edwards' making wild promises that defy logic and science could cost the Kerry ticket dearly as well. The solution to spinal cord injuries is not four years, or eight years away. It’s decades away; for all the research that has been done so far, the kind of research that could have helped or cured Christopher Reeve is still in its infancy.

This is the worst kind of politics that there is, and I thought that John Edwards would be above that kind of politicking. Revolting!

Opportunistic politician.

Goodbye, Christopher Reeve

I was saddened to learn of the death of actor Christopher Reed this morning.

He was an example of someone who overcame tremendous odds and confronted his physical disability with a great deal of courage and determination. He was a living, breathing embodiment of a real-life “Superman.”

He went into cardiac arrest and died following a short hospitalization for treatment of a pressure wound, which is a common injury for those who are paralyzed.

I remember when his near-fatal horse accident happened in 1995, and the appearances that he made after his recovery had begun. He gave hope to many who have similar kinds of injuries and their families by becoming an activist for spinal cord research, and lived his life as an example for others to follow.

My favorite quote from him was this: “America is better when all of us take care of all of us.” Words to live by.

Farewell, Superman. You will be missed.

Global Warming Spike, Political Move, or Data Error?

A British newspaper is reporting that CO2 emissions have risen sharply over the last two years and that a global breakdown of the Earth’s ability to absorb carbon may be occurring.

I do not know the science behind it, but I do understand the politics of it. It is funny that this report is issued the day before the global warming disaster movie “Day After Tomorrow” is released on video and DVD.

To some, this will come across as a publicity stunt, while others will take it seriously, while yet others will scratch their head and wonder what is really going on.

Here’s my take on it: I’m suspicious about the timing of this news story and something else: why did they put a CO2 sensor on top of a volcano in Hawaii? Of course there will be more CO2 there. This entire report is based on some sensor readings from Mauna Loa and I think it’s borderline fraud to use data from there. If a volcano enters an active phase, it will give off CO2 emissions. The Rim of Fire is entering an active phase for some reason, and many volcanoes that have lain dormant for years are all of a sudden coming back to life.

Here’s the report. Take it as you will.

Election Timeframe Change Needed

There must be major changes to the way that elections are held.

The states need to change their primary election dates so that they are in May through mid-July with both parties having their conventions in the late July/early August timeframe. This leaves the candidates who remain plenty of time to get to work and campaign for the general election in November.

The states are responsible for this very long campaign by scheduling their primaries earlier and earlier. It's ridiculous! Who wants a campaign for eight months? I am so sick and tired of the endless inaccurate polls, the nastiness of the two candidates, the nonsense, and the endless prattle of TV analysts who make predictions that are way off.

We're waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for the election in November so that this ENDS!

Enough, already!

Is Bush the Worst President in American History?

An opinion column in today's Los Angeles Times has declared that George W. Bush is the worst President in American history. Columnist Jonathan Chait wrote in part:

“I used to think U.S. history had many bad presidents. Now, my 'bad' category consists entirely of George W. Bush, with every previous president redefined as 'good.'

"There's also the fact that, on a personal level, I despise him with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns. What I'm saying is, advocating Bush is kind of tricky." But "what I'll argue instead is that his very awfulness is the reason he deserves reelection. Begin with the premise that a second-term Bush administration is unlikely to make things a whole lot worse." Bush's presidency "is a great mass of contradictions. There's an enormous gap between his purported values - fiscal discipline, toughness against terrorists, a commitment to social conservatism - and his true record.

"Sure, it would be emotionally satisfying to see Bush rejected by the voters once again. But maybe, for this president, defeat is too kind a fate."

-------------------------------------
My, my, my. Such rage.

So let me get this straight…this character is willing to put aside old liberal arguments against other Presidents to denounce the current President? What about George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, who presided over wholesale slaughters of Native American tribes? By their own arguments, liberals have pushed new interpretations of history into the schools that say these men allowed genocide against a race of human beings to occur. So, by liberal standards…Bush is worse than them? For the record, George Washington was a great President, and I wouldn't compare "W" to George Washington at all.

Let’s look at some other Presidents: James Polk, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and George H.W. Bush engaged in wars of aggression against weaker opponents. Kennedy’s and Johnson’s Administrations got us heavily involved in Vietnam, a war that cost 58,000+ American lives. Bush is worse than that?

Remember the Gulf of Tonkin lie that Johnson used to escalate the war in Vietnam, which led to tens of thousands of American deaths and millions of Vietnamese deaths? Bush is worse than that?

I think this joker needs to read some more books, and not liberal history books, which are subject to the whim of popular opinion. From how he describes his hatred of Bush, it sounds like he has some anger management problems, so he should take a pill, or do whatever to control himself.

A More Sensitive War? Yeah, Right!

To the Israeli people and members of the Jewish faith, the words "never again" have special meaning. They were, of course, talking about the Holocaust that the Nazis carried out on European Jews and other enemies of the Nazi regime.

I know I feel the same way about those two words when I think about people throwing themselves out of skyscrapers to escape the 2,000 degree heat as the World Trade Center burned. I think about the firefighters and police officers and first responders who were vaporized as the towers fell. I think about all the first responders who were crushed underneath the collapsing towers. I think about Todd Beamer and the other passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 who fought to retake their hijacked airliner from terrorists who had killed the pilots and were steering the plane toward their target. I think about the 3,000 lives that were lost that day. And all of the kids that lost family members...

Never again. Not like that.

One of the candidates wants to sit around and wait for another terrorist threat to materialize. We need a wartime president who will kick the enemy in the ass HARD, not sit around and wait for them to hit us first!

The sitting President will do a better job with the war on terror.

Fight a more sensitive war? Against a merciless enemy who did all of those things on 9/11?

If you believe that kind of hooey, then I've got some land in Fallujah that I'd like to show you.

Does The U.S. Military Need More Soldiers?

One of the interesting debates going on between George Bush and John Kerry is whether to increase or decrease the size of the military. I have a few things to say about that.

Kerry’s argument is that the military is overstretched and we need two more divisions. He also wants to double the number of Special Forces.

Bush’s argument is that those extra soldiers are unnecessary and is pulling two heavy divisions out of Europe and thousands of soldiers out of Asia, including South Korea. The brigades that will be taking the places of the 1st Armored Division and the 1st Infantry Division will be smaller units with the new Stryker fast assault vehicles and air support to move them around the world in short amounts of time.

I have to disagree with both of them.

North Korea is crazy enough to start a war and not worry about the consequences. If they think they can win, or win by bluffing, they will invade South Korea with their million-man army, or launch missiles at Japan. Whether this huge force can be put into the field at the same time is questionable, but if they think they can win concessions from the United States, they'll do their best to make trouble.

We also need more troops on the ground to secure Iraq and Afghanistan; now is not the time to be reducing the size of the military. We still need large divisions and massive firepower to secure the peace.

With respect to Kerry's and Bush's plans for the military and North Korea's ambitions, it's a proven fact that armored forces with infantry and air support (or vice versa) will stop the enemy faster than sniper, sapper and demolition operations can. Special Forces belong behind enemy lines wreaking havoc.

Changing the basic structure of the the military is a very unwise move. I'm not sure I follow Bush's logic in doing this. With most of the U.S. Army on the move to or from Iraq (nine out of ten divisions), we need the extra strength to fulfill our treaty obligations, complete our current campaigns and have a fresh military force that is ready to strike terrorists worldwide.

Let's do the job right so we can accomplish ALL of the missions that we have (foolishly at times) taken on and have enough military power in reserve to deal with new threats.

My advice would be to add four more heavy divisions and the mobile brigades, plus triple the number of Special Forces soldiers.

Cheney vs. Edwards: VP Candidates Debate

The Vice-Presidential debate between Vice-President Cheney and Senator Edwards was excellent, with both men scoring critically needed points on one another.

I gave the edge to Cheney on foreign policy and the overall debate, while Edwards did better in domestic issues. The debate did get heated in some spots, and Cheney was able to get Kerry’s voting record back on the table. Since people still do not know who John Kerry is, they have to look at how the senator voted on various issues over the last twenty years to determine where he stands on issues and what is important to Kerry.

The picture there is confusing at best. Kerry knows this, and that's why his campaign is telling voters not to look to the past, but to the future.

I also saw no signs of cheating, which is very good news. Both stretched the truth as only politicians can, and now the various news web sites and networks are analyzing both candidates' statements for accuracy. But they were both on even ground, and the rules were enforced by the moderator.

It was obvious that Edwards was on Cheney’s ground and was uncomfortable with it. I liked Edwards during the Democratic primary because he was always more positive than the other candidates (I preferred Joe Lieberman on the Democratic side). But last night he had to fight Cheney in a negative way, and he didn’t do as well as he would have if his orders weren’t to “get Cheney” or “hold Cheney accountable,” as the political banners on CNN’s web site are loudly proclaiming this morning. Journalistic integrity on display at cnn.com?

Now, about the morning-after polls: my advice would to be to ignore the polls that are coming out. They can manipulate the data by interviewing more Democrats or Republicans to get the result that they want to see and by interviewing fewer undecided voters. That’s why so many polls have had different results. It all depends on who they are polling, not what they are polling about.

Polish President Responds to Kerry's Snub

The President of Poland shot back at Kerry's ignoring his country's contribution (and war dead) in the Iraq War during the debate.

Said President Kwasniewski: "It is sad that a senator with 20 years of experience does not recognize Polish contribution. This is immoral.....There is one thing which should be stated clearly: this coalition is not just the United States, Great Britain, Australia alone; it also involves participation of Polish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Spanish soldiers who have died. It is immoral not to recognize the involvement we contributed based on our conviction that there should be unity in fighting terrorism, that there was a need to display international solidarity and that Saddam Hussein was a dangerous individual of this world."

The Polish President was unhappy that Kerry disrespected the coalition and ignored the fact that few countries can match our military strength or contributions to the Iraq situation. Why Kerry chose that tactic during the debate defies belief, and undermined a possible Kerry Administration. It wouldn't surprise me if those countries that he insulted went flying out of Iraq en masse if he won the election and took office in January.

He's got some explaining to do to the coalition.

News Organizations Screwing Up

CBS News, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal have all made blunders recently that call into question their editorial command-and-control systems.

CBS News, which aired falsified documents on their 60 Minutes program, is again being accused of a similar situation, this time involving a woman who is “petrified” that her sons may be drafted. CBS omitted the fact that the woman in question is the head of a liberal group called the “Parents Against the Draft”, that the Selective Service debunked any talk of a draft, and that a mass e-mail that was sent out a few weeks ago concerning the possible reinstatement of a draft was totally false. Here’s what FactCheck says.

Fox News had to apologize because of a story (that was supposed to be humorous and kept in the office) ended up being posted on their web site. In it, they made up a whole bunch of false Kerry statements; kind of like some of Jay Leno’s skits on the first Presidential Debate. But they posted it as news and then hurriedly took it down after the mistake was discovered. Dumb! Who was the genius who approved that article?

The Wall Street Journal is defending one of its reporters who wrote a nasty e-mail about Iraq that ended up on the Internet. She had just returned from Iraq, and wrote that “Despite President Bush's rosy assessment, Iraq remains a disaster. ... [the] Iraqi government doesn't control most Iraqi cities. ... The situation, basically, [is] a raging barbaric guerilla war.” This has led the Wall Street Journal to defend her journalistic neutrality on her reporting from the war zones.

Journalistic integrity seems to be in trouble these days. When reporters break rules, or take shortcuts to get a story out, or do whatever they do to call their integrity into question, it is bad news for the free press. It takes people a long time to forget that an incident happened. And government oversight is NOT the answer. That would lead to government judging whether news content is “good” or “bad” or “approved”, which is a violation of the First Amendment.

News organizations need to be doing their jobs better, and their stories need to be verified before the story sees the light of day.

Russians Sign Flawed Kyoto Accords

The Russian Federation has signed the flawed Kyoto treaty that is supposed to limit greenhouse gases to below 1990 levels. The Russians did this to gain entry into the World Trade Organization with the support of the European Union, which had been encouraging Moscow to sign the treaty.

Most observers do not think that Russia will obey the terms of the treaty as it will fall way short of the goals that are now imposed on it by other nations.

The other bad news is that since Russia signed the accords, it now goes into effect worldwide and now all nations who are signatories will have to abide by the treaty.

The treaty calls for nations to cut their emission levels to 5% below 1990 levels by the year 2012. If any signatory nation falls short, it has to cut industrial production under the terms of the treaty.

I’m all for cutting greenhouse gases, but not at the cost of hundreds of thousands of jobs. We ought to be building “green” plants to replace the older ones that feed pollution into the atmosphere and then transfer those workers into the new plants. We don’t simply cut back on industrial production, which will harm our economy more than any other on the planet. We make the processes better by making them cleaner, not by stopping them outright and under threat of international sanctions.

It's better to spend more on building new plants and reducing our greenhouse emissions that way than having a treaty that is based on flawed and tampered-with research to impose penalties on us. The major research done to sell the treaty was exposed as being manufactured and influenced by environmental groups. This is very unfortunate.

You can’t get a straight answer from any group that has dedicated itself to a cleaner Earth. You also can’t get a straight answer from industry either. It’s kind of like the Presidential campaign.

Fox News Beats Combined Rating of Its Competition

No wonder the left wing is so angry with Fox News! They are howling with rage over these just-released ratings and demanding that Fox News play in the sandbox a little nicer with the competition! They've been attacking Fox for months now, while at the same time realizing that Fox was beating them soundly in the daily ratings.

Fox TROUNCED the competition, drawing in more viewers than all of its competition combined! According to Neilson Media Research:

Fox News vs. CNN for 3rd Quarter of 2004:
1.8 million viewers vs. 882,000 viewers

Fox News vs. MSNBC for 3rd Quarter of 2004:
1.8 million viewers vs. 441,000 viewers

Fox News vs. CNN Headline News for 3rd Quarter of 2004:
1.8 million viewers vs. 226,000 viewers

Fox News vs. CNBC
1.8 million viewers vs. 133,000 viewers

Fox News vs. combined total
1.8 million viewers vs. 1.7 million viewers

Bill O’Reilly’s interview with President Bush earlier this week on the “O’Reilly Factor” drew 4.6 million viewers, which is unprecedented. He averages 2.4 million viewers per show. In fact, Fox owned nine of the top 10 rated talk shows in the 3rd quarter of 2004. CNN’s Larry King Live was #6.

Here’s the article.

The question that I have is this: do the results have anything to do with the political leanings of the country right now? Conservatives and right-leaning voters are more likely to get their news from Fox News, while liberals and liberal-leaning voters gravitate more toward CNN, MSNBC and other more-established networks. If these results do reflect the mood of the country, Kerry's in deep trouble going into the debates.

Time will tell.

Ring of Fire Acting Up?

The zone around the Pacific Rim known as the "Rim of Fire" seems to be entering a more active phase. Mount St. Helens is preparing to blow it's top, there was a magnitude 6 earthquake in California yesterday, last week there was an earthquake in Japan, and in the last two days there have been swarms of magnitude 3 earthquakes on the Alaskan part of the Rim. In addition to the magnitude 6 quake shaking California, they have had well over a thousand aftershocks, which is normal for a major earthquake.

In addition to the aftershocks, there have been over a thousand earthquakes in California, Nevada, the Pacific Northwest, Montana (from Mount St. Helens) and Baja California, Mexico. Hawaii has seen some earthquakes in the last week as well.

The debate has started up again whether all of these events are interconnected. I'm no expert on earthquake prediction, nor on earthquakes, nor on plate tectonics, but something's up. The expected Mount Saint Helens eruption is expected to be smaller than the 1980 explosion that leveled and buried communities for miles around the mountain and blew volcanic ca-ca (ash) all over the country.

The government is tracking the increase in activity at their web site. It's updated once every five minutes.

It should be interesting to see what develops.

International Parental Kidnapping: International Scourge

There are currently 11,000 American kids who are being held in Islamic countries against the wishes of their non-Muslim parents.

They have been kidnapped.

How did this happen? Typically, an American woman marries a Muslim man, has kids, decides she doesn’t like how she is treated under Islamic law, tries to get a divorce and is left for dead as her husband returns to his country of origin with the kids, never to be seen or heard from again.

This is an ugly situation, and one that has been going on for years.

This has lead to some remarkable stories of mercenaries being sent in to take the kids back, shootouts with the man’s family member and friends, kids being reunited with their mother; or kids, mercenaries, father, father’s family and friends ending up dead. For more details, do a search on "international parental kidnapping."

International parental kidnapping is a serious crime. There is an international treaty that treats this as a crime, but dozens of Islamic countries haven’t signed the treaty or have shown any interest in returning these American kids.

We should stop giving foreign aid to those countries that have American victims of international parental kidnapping. This means Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Turkey, Yemen, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, Pakistan, Oman and other countries need to condemn this crime, punish the kidnapping parent and return the kids to their countries of origin. This is not just an American problem, but a Western problem. Every Western nation has cases like this. Here’s a Newsday story on this problem.

If they (non-complying nations to the Hague treaty) do nothing to help the problem, then they support it. Just because an idea is popular in a culture doesn't make it right.

Copper Country Celebrates 100 Years of Professional Hockey

Many people do not realize this, but professional hockey began in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Copper Country and spread throughout North America, laying down the roots for other leagues that followed, including today’s National Hockey League.

As part of the celebrations, the Michigan Tech Huskies alumni took on the Detroit Red Wings alumni team and the Stanley Cup was on display in Houghton. Gordie Howe, Randy McKay and Dennis Hextall were among the hockey alumni who were present.

Here’s a link to the birthplace of organized professional hockey. Congratulations to the Copper Country on this great event!

France and Germany Snub Kerry's Promise to Internationalize Iraq War

On Friday the 24th, I wrote about Kerry's disasterous NPR interview. In it I said: I can’t see any difference between the two, except that Kerry is making promises to internationalize the Iraq solution that he can’t keep. France and Germany won’t send troops to Iraq; they’ve already said so.

Well, France and Germany reiterated what they've already said today. Here's the story. Will Kerry keep making promises that he has no way of keeping?

Strange CNN Headline on Abu Ghraib Scandal

CNN is reporting that a soldier featured prominently in the Iraqi prison scandal photos will face a court-martial next year.

That’s good.

However, the way cnn.com is reporting it is strange. The headline on their story reads: “Pregnant soldier faces Abu Ghraib court-martial”

Excuse me, but she wasn’t pregnant when the abuse happened. She got pregnant as the abuse was going on.

The way that CNN has carefully worded it, it’s to draw sympathy for the soldier as she faces her trial for abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Odd way to describe a war crime if you ask me.

U.S./Taiwan Arms Deal Should Go Forward

We should support Taiwan's bid for independence from China by making sure the deal to sell American anti-missile defense systems, diesel-electric submarines and aircraft goes through.

Taiwan is a fledgling democracy and we should not allow a democracy to fall to the evil of communist aggression without lifting a finger. If we can deter Chinese aggression against one of our trading partners, and encourage the Chinese to come to a peaceful settlement, that would be even better. The best-case solution would be for China to unilaterally recognize Taiwan's freedom and independence from China. That will, of course, never happen. If it did, the entire world could recognize Taiwan's government immediately and establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Taiwan cannot beat China in an arms race, or in a war if Chinese shock armies and marines invaded the island. The Red Chinese numbers are too great.

By selling the Taiwanese the defensive weapons, we could possibly help Taiwan delay the Chinese onslaught and buy some time to come up with a diplomatic solution in the event that Red China ever did decide to take over Taiwan by force.

The Nationalist army settled on Formosa in 1945 after being driven into the sea by the Chinese communist armies on the mainland. This happened after the end of World War II and following a Chinese civil war. The Nationalists rejected communism as foreign to their way of life and fought for control of the mainland. They lost.

For us to allow Red China to take over Taiwan by use of force would be like Europe handing over Austria and Czechoslovakia to Hitler (in 1938-1939) in exchange for peace. I hope China's new leaders take advantage of the goodwill it would earn IF it forgot about conquering Taiwan and sponsored Taiwan's membership in the United Nations as a free and independent state.

Taiwan's latest bid to join the U.N. failed three weeks ago due to China's interference as it still clings to outdated "one China" diplomacy. There are two Chinas, one a communist superpower, and the other a struggling democratic nation that we should support.

Carter Says Florida Not Ready For Election

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has said that Florida is not ready to handle an election. If he's right, this is bad news for not only Florida, but the entire country as well.

With less than six weeks to go before the nation heads to the polls, the much sought-after reforms that would have taken care of 2000-style electoral problems have yet to be implemented. In addition, Florida is still reeling from the onslaught of four hurricanes, including Jeanne, which is continuing to cause devastation throughout the region at this hour.

Looks like we will be waiting for Florida again. Hopefully the election will be decided with a wide-enough margin that Florida’s electoral votes will not be enough to turn the tide and throw the entire election into turmoil again. We go to the polls to decide questions, not to end up with indecision as we did in 2000.

The first one to go to court on November 2nd ought to be given a swift boot in the butt and be shown the door. The loser should have the grace to acknowledge the loss and go home and write a book.

A prediction:

If it’s close, Kerry will litigate. Bush won’t (unless Kerry does first).

Russia Threatens Georgian Republic

As predicted, a military conflict between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Georgia came a step closer after the Kremlin announced it was suspending all air flights from Russia to Georgia next week. This step is seen by Tblisi as confirmation that Moscow is going to launch preemptive strikes against Georgian territory that the Russians suspect is being used by Chechan guerillas in their war against the Russian occupation of Chechnya.

There's more to this story than first meets the eye.

Georgia is currently embroiled in a confrontation similar to Russia's in Chechnya; the South Ossetia region of Georgia declared independence and Georgia is using force to try and reign it in. Complicating matters, the Russian government has recognized a rebel government in South Ossetia against Georgia's wishes and has sent Russian troops to keep the peace following the unilateral withdrawal of Georgian troops.

Georgia is also trying to join NATO; U.S. Marines are currently in Georgia training the Georgian Army in NATO and U.S. tactics and procedures to prepare Georgia for entry into the alliance. This annoys Russia to no end.

Georgia's problems do not end in South Ossetia; it has another breakaway province near Chechnya called Abkhazia. The Russians are claiming that Chechans are using this province as a staging area to attack Russian forces in Chechnya.

The Russians have vowed to deal with the terrorists using any means necessary. The questions being asked by a worried Georgian public are: will Russia invade? Will it launch air strikes? What will happen?

This preemptive strike strategy being followed by the U.S., Israel and Russia seems very reckless. The U.S. attack on Iraq did not meet the criteria called for by Article 51 of the United Nations charter, Israel's assassination of a Hamas leader in Syrian territory (yesterday) doesn't either, and Russia's threatening Georgia doesn't either.

Very complex situation.

What Happens If a Hurricane Hits Florida on November 2nd?

What will happen if Florida takes another hurricane hit on November 2nd when millions of Floridians are to be voting in the national election?

Does this mean we will be waiting for Florida again to find out who the next President will be?

How long would it take for Florida to be prepared to hold an election if another Category 3 or 4 hurricane slams into Florida just before the elections are to start?

What's the deal? Has this ever happened before?

ROTC Causes Firestorm in Michigan's Copper Country

I am really torn over whether to write about this next topic since I’ve worked alongside the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) unit involved in this situation, but their current crop of cadets went WAY over the line.

The firestorm of controversy began last Thursday when a front-page article appeared in the Daily Mining Gazette, the local newspaper for the Copper Country area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The article described a program that was put on for a group of local sixth graders at Camp Nesbit, a Forest Service camp that is used by many of the local school districts for outdoor camping experiences. I attended this camp as a sixth grader myself and then as a counselor. According to the Gazette article, “…course activities included physical fitness training such as marching and running, along with military exercises such as grenade tossing and a "buddy crawl" using plastic guns.



Of particular concern was a cadence used in the marching exercise that repeated the phrase "I want to hurt someone. I want to kill someone."

The course was put on by Michigan Tech ROTC cadets who were part of a so-called “leadership training” course. Who was in charge of this disaster? And why was this farce allowed to happen? Where were the teachers and the administration? Where were the ROTC commanders? It sounded like the officer in charge wasn't even around when this happened.

I worked with the Michigan Tech ROTC as a Scouting professional and they helped us with staffing some of our events. The cadets that helped us were totally professional and at least one of their commanding officers were there to make sure that things were done right. I got to know several of the cadets personally and followed their careers with great interest. Two of them are in harm's way in Iraq right now and I know that they would be horrified about this.

I am a supporter of the military and it's a shame to see ROTC cadets tarnish the image of those brave men and women in uniform who have graduated from the ROTC and are fighting and dying to spread democracy to other parts of the world.

The Michigan Tech ROTC has let us all down. They should be barred from participating in any school-related activities short of talking to high schoolers for recruitment purposes. Teaching an eleven year-old to throw a dummy grenade. What a bunch of utter BS!

Use Nuclear Weapons To Stop Hurricanes?

It's been suggested (foolishly) that in the light of all the devastation in Florida, we ought to use nuclear weapons to stop hurricanes before they come ashore.

That's all we need. A radioactive hurricane spreading nuclear radiation at 145 mph over an area for HOURS or DAYS. Really smart. Florida would be left uninhabitable after that. So would any other state that the hurricane or tropical storm touched. That would mean radioactive contamination of huge swaths of land as well.

No nuclear weapon in existence is big enough or powerful enough to stop a hurricane. If we used multiple weapons, it still wouldn't blow apart a hurricane. It would just be more radioactive.

The idea is not bad, but the means to do it is.

OPEC Loses Control of Oil Market

According to a brief article from the World Tribune, OPEC members have lost control of oil prices.

Well, duh! That was obvious.

The oil surplus that OPEC produces daily is no longer enough to have an impact on the price of a barrel of crude oil. Are they really unhappy about this development? Higher oil prices=more profits for them.

New York light crude oil hit $48.88 a barrel today.

Kerry on NPR: On-Air Disaster

I listened to John Kerry’s interview on National Public Radio with Robert Seigel this week and came away with some major impressions of the Senator’s comments. First of all, I noticed that he was confrontational when Seigel questioned him about what was different between Kerry’s position and what the Bush Administration was doing. He was completely negative and highly combative when he was laying out the differences between his position and Bush’s. I can’t see any difference between the two, except that Kerry is making promises to internationalize the Iraq solution that he can’t keep. France and Germany won’t send troops to Iraq; they’ve already said so.

Senator Kerry also laid out a plan and demanded that President Bush implement it immediately. How can a man who was sent home after four questionable months in Vietnam and THEN become an antiwar activist lay out a battle plan for a sitting U.S. President and his generals to follow? Kerry’s credibility is stretched almost beyond belief. In fact, he has NO credibility here. If he had kept his focus on the economy and domestic issues (including national security) and international relations, he’d be in a much stronger position than he currently finds himself in.

I’m no military expert, and I don’t know what the military needs for victory, but I know how politics work, and Kerry’s politics are way off-center. Nader, anyone?

I don’t think there has been a more hapless candidate in modern times than Kerry. His flip-flops have become so severe that his base is faltering. He’s down in the polls (if you believe them), he has no clear vision, and people still don’t know who he is. His NPR interview was a disaster.

When Osama bin-Laden is captured next month, Kerry’s going to be foaming at the mouth.

2004 NHL Lock-Out: Week 1

The first week of the NHL lock-out has come and gone.

There has been no progress. In fact, there has been no communication between the two sides, and no meetings.

They ought to get off their duffs and GET BUSY!

Dan Rather Target of E-mail Campaign

Dan Rather has been targeted by an e-mail campaign for his role in the memo scandal at CBS. The campaign seeks to have him replaced as anchor of CBS News; affiliates across the country are getting the petitions.

This campaign was organized by rathergate.com, a conservative blog operated by someone (not me) who is very upset with CBS for the memo scandal and for other media blunders.

Rathergate.com is so big that they are mentioned in the mainstream media. Amazing!

War of Words: Bush Press Secretary vs. Clinton Press Secretary

Joe Lockhart, President Clinton's former press secretary during the Lewinsky scandal, took to the airwaves to snarl about the White House (under Bush) not communicating enough with the press, which led to President Bush's press secretary to return fire.

The press secretaries are clashing now? Or is Lockhart trying to deflect some heat away from his own involvement in the CBS memo scandal?

Whatever. He'll probably be subpoenaed as the CBS libel lawsuit proceeds.

I always thought Lockhart was the only honest person in the Clinton White House. I hope I wasn't wrong about that.

CBS Being Sued Over Memo Scandal

In a new twist to the CBS memo saga, it was announced that CBS is being sued by the former TexAirNatGrd officer who supplied CBS and the Kerry campaign with the forged documents.

According to reports, the individual is claiming that he warned CBS that they had to verify the authenticity of the documents. The lawsuit accuses CBS of libel and defamation of character.

He further accused CBS of violating a (non-binding) confidentiality agreement in which CBS promised to keep the source's identity a closely guarded secret. When the story began to collapse, the agreement unraveled as well.

If this man was so worried about his identity or character being questioned on national TV, he should have said NO to the interview. He MADE that bed, now he should SLEEP in it!

CBS Conspiracy with Kerry Campaign?

Now that the CBS document scandal has been partially settled, new questions need to be asked: how much collaboration went on between CBS, the Kerry campaign, and the liar who passed the documents to both parties?

I've let CBS off the hook for not doing enough research before they ran with the report, but they're still in the hot seat with me on other matters, including the question I've asked above.

We saw the Congressional Democrats get up on stage to blast Bush like I've described in previous posts. I predicted that the Dems would remain silent rather than admit that they screwed up. Much to my surprise they spoke up and did the old "Well, we know what's true and false now, but..." and then totally buried the entire issue. This makes it look like they're avoiding responsibility for defaming another's character.

So we now know that there is a definite connection between CBS and Joe Lockhart, who was President Clinton's spokesperson and a senior Kerry campaign advisor. Lockhart got the memos after getting a tip from CBS staffers that a former Texas Air National Guard officer who has been after Bush for four years. Kerry mentioned the memos before they were aired on 60 Minutes.

So who typed the false memos? I wouldn't be surprised if it came from an ultra-liberal "527" group that hates Bush.

CBS Admits Mistake

True to his word, Dan Rather took to the airwaves and apologized for not doing more to investigate the memos that have unleashed a firestorm against CBS News. I believed what he was saying and that he wouldn’t have used the falsified documents if he knew that the source was lying to hurt President Bush.

I think that CBS and other networks will soon tighten their journalistic standards of proof and verification as is taught in most journalism classes. It seems like many of the networks are ignoring the two-or-more source rule to get their stories onto the airwaves and onto the Internet before their competition does.

Dan Rather’s interview was quite good. His responses were delivered much better than the interviewer’s questions were, that’s for sure. She seemed to be intimidated to be asking her boss these kinds of tough questions. He seemed genuinely sorry that he and his team didn’t do as much as they could have to verify the documents before they went on the air. Rather’s excellent speaking style saved the interview from the reporter doing the interview, who appears to need a little more time in front of the mike and camera.

Now that CBS has admitted it screwed up, it can get back to reporting the news instead of being the news. One interesting note: the other networks are not taking advantage of CBS’s vulnerability and sticking it to Dan Rather because they all know that they may be in a similar situation down the road. As hard as they try, honest mistakes do happen, and I hope all the networks are big enough to admit when they’ve made a royal screw-up.

I would be even happier if the major networks would keep their politics to themselves and just report the news. The way that I see things, Fox News is a needed conservative counterbalance to more liberal networks which do a poor job of presenting both sides of an argument. Fox does not do a good job of presenting both sides either, but we can watch both liberal and conservative news outlets and decide where we stand on the issues. That's what's great about having a free press.

When it crosses the line and writes the news instead of reporting it, that's when we ought to stand up and demand that networks follow their own rules and forget about what their competition is doing.

There are many more questions to be answered, but it was a good start tonight.

New Election Year Timetable Needed

Has anyone gotten sick and tired of Bush and Kerry hammering away at one another?

An eight month campaign is TOO long! It should be set up so that the primaries run from May to August and then the campaign between the two (or more) parties runs from September to November.

Now some would say that this timetable is not not enough time to "vet out" the candidates, but I disagree. We would find out no more about the candidates than we have after a five-month (and counting) campaign between Kerry and Bush. We still don't know the truth about Bush's or Kerry's respective (barely) Vietnam records.

We don't know who John Kerry is yet. We don't know if Bush will start a draft in 2005. We don't know, we don't know, WE DON'T KNOW! So much for an informed public. Two of the most deceptive men in modern politics are running for President and the public can't tell which of them is being more truthful. (Actually, I know who is...read my previous posts to figure out where I stand on that one yourself!)

So why prolong this agony and discord? Do the primaries, then do the conventions (as unnecessary as they are) and get on with the general election! This process should stop wasting time!

CBS Reverses Course on False 60 Minutes Document

CBS has finally come to its senses and reversed course on the Bush/National Guard memos that were presented on the September 8th edition of 60 Minutes. They are expected to announce as early as today that they were deceived about the authenticity of the documents, which originated in a Kinko's copy shop somewhere in Texas.

It's about time.

There were dozens of mistakes in the CBS document ranging from grammar and spelling errors to type errors to margin errors to language errors to every conceivable type of error that there is. Take a look for yourself (GIF, 316k). Thanks to the Washington Post for the excellent graphic.

In any case, one has to wonder if CBS is admitting its mistake because they were wrong, or because of the negative impact this scandal has had on their viewership.

And what about the Congressional Democrats who (on September 9th or thereabouts) stood up in front of a microphone to blast Bush after they heard the erroneous report? They sure got left with egg in their faces. They will, of course, remain silent. After all, it's an election year and all's fair in politics and elections. I think that's bull, but that's the way it is.