Mickey Kaus Skewers Krugman

Mickey Kaus is no friend of George Bush's. But Paul Krugman is so extreme that Kaus feels compelled to administer a fisking.

"Krugman, revealingly, fails to grasp the meaning of the Orwell quote he starts with, no? It seems pretty clear to me that what Orwell's describing is the way our unconscious mind often deceives our conscious mind--until we're finally forced by brutal reality to change (or until we're extinguished on the battlefield). Krugman converts this not unsubtle insight into the crude: "So they lied to us; what else is new?"

Please Somebody Take Down This President

Alternate title: Please somebody pay attention to me!

The latest book attempting to bring down President Bush has been authored by James Wilson. Who? Excuse me. I mean Joseph Wilson. Best known as the wife of Valerie Plame who is supposed to be unknown, except that Joseph Wilson keeps telling everyone who she is so he can stay in the news.

In this book, Joseph Wilson, who does not have the slightest idea what he's talking about name three suspects in the outing of this CIA wife.

Of course, he has no evidence. And the New York Times doesn't demand any.

The Whole World Is Safer

Contrary to the squealings of Howard Dean and his hand puppet, John Kerry, George W. Bush has made the world a safer place.

There were 190 acts of international terrorism in 2003, a slight decrease from the 198 attacks that occurred in 2002, and a drop of 45 percent from the level in 2001 of 346 attacks. The figure in 2003 represents the lowest annual total of international terrorist attacks since 1969.

A total of 307 persons were killed in the attacks of 2003, far fewer than the 725 killed during 2002. A total of 1,593 persons were wounded in the attacks that occurred in 2003, down from 2,013 persons wounded the year before.

In 2003, the highest number of attacks (70) and the highest casualty count (159 persons dead and 951 wounded) occurred in Asia.

There were 82 anti-US attacks in 2003, which is up slightly from the 77 attacks the previous year, and represents a 62-percent decrease from the 219 attacks recorded in 2001.

Another Kerry Voter

Pat Tillman got what was coming to him.

The University of Masschussetts president did scold the school's student paper for printing such filth.

Somebody Has To Be Lower Than John Kerry

In order to prevent John Kerry from sinking to the absolute bottom, somebody has to behave in an even more disgusting manner. This week, it was Frank Lautenberg who accepted the duty.

"Chickenhawks: they shriek like a hawk but they have the backbone of a chicken," Mr. Lautenberg said. "We know who the chickenhawks are. They talk tough on national defense and military issues and cast aspersions on others. When it was their turn to serve, where were they? A-W-O-L, that's where. A-W-O-L."

What Does He Know? And When Did He Learn It?

Suddenly, John Kerry is adopting a straddle position on the weapons of mass destruction issue.

The old John Kerry: "George Bush sold us on going to war with Iraq based on the threat of weapons of mass destruction. But we still haven't found them. ... We were misled about weapons of mass destruction."

The new John Kerry: "It appears, as they peel away the weapons of mass destruction issue - and we may yet find them," he told host Chris Matthews. "Look, I want to make it clear. Who knows if a month from now, three months from now, you find some weapons? You may."

Sucking Up To The Kucinich Voters

Until he learns to disassociate himself from comments like this, he'll never gain mainstream credibility.

"At a town hall meeting in Toledo, Kerry spoke dismissively of the president, saying Bush had been ''selected" to hold office by the Supreme Court and had broken with most US presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, who had worked with other nations and alliances on global concerns. And Kerry nodded as one audience member, 74-year-old Dorothy Sahadi, accused Vice President Dick Cheney of engineering an ''invasion" of Iraq to benefit Halliburton, the energy giant he once headed, then said of Cheney and Iraqis: ''How many has he murdered? He has murdered women, children, babies for nothing, just for the money in his pocket."

Kerry said he disagreed with some parts of Sahadi's remarks. ''But I know exactly where you're coming from," the Massachusetts senator said, in remarks that were broadcast live on local television in this election-year battleground state. ''I know where that anger comes from, I know where the frustration comes from." Kerry spokesman David Wade said afterwards that Kerry disagreed with Sahadi's ''murdered" comment."

Corrupting All He Touches

Before he met John Kerry, David Brinkley was a respected historian. Not any more.

How Would He Know?

John Kerry says that we've reached a moment of truth in Iraq. John Kerry hasn't had much luck recognizing truth lately, so we shouldn't take this too seriously.

The Alternative Is Nukes

When civilization’s only other alternative is turning Middle Eastern sand into glass, the Iraq war becomes a rather mild response to the war on terror.
Liberal civilized society cannot coexist with terrorism. The terrorists appreciate this even if some of our own leaders do not. We cannot sit idly by while terrorists hijack planes and fly them into skyscrapers. Our society cannot function in fear of a crop duster spreading nerve gas over a major city, or of smallpox virus introduced into a subway air system, or of nuclear-armed suicide bombers. And we certainly cannot absorb the reality of such attacks. Nations, such as Spain, that cower before terrorists and embrace appeasement, can at best hope to be the alligator’s dessert.
And nations such as France and Russia that sold their souls in the United Nations Oil For Food corruption scandal only prove that those who embrace decadence before principle don’t have to wait for terrorists to incinerate them before they fade into historical irrelevance.
Terrorism cannot be accommodated. Osama Bin Laden has no interest in breathing the same air as Christians. Terrorism cannot be appeased. Bill Clinton tried and terrorists simply escalated their attacks. Terrorism cannot be negotiated with. Blown up school buses are the rewards that Israel has reaped for its agreements with the Palestinians. And terrorism certainly cannot be rewarded. Spain’s capitulation to terrorism has only brought a torrent of fresh demands from terrorists. And, most importantly, it cannot be deterred. Its soldiers believe that death earns them an eternity in the sack with 70 virgins.
But we cannot simply triumph over terrorism in the same manner that we defeated Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan. If we filled the entire universe with chimpanzees and gave each of them a typewriter, every now and then, their random pecking will yield a great novel. It is by similar serendipity that liberals are correct in their assertion that we cannot wipe out terrorism by simply killing terrorists. Each one we kill has ten more martyr wannabes standing ready to take his place.
For that reason, the war on Iraq and its aftermath is every bit as critical to the survival of civilization as was World War II or the Cold War. Arabs must be yanked out of their spiral of ignorance and paranoia that tyrannizes their societies as much as their despotic rulers.
It’s true that Islamic countries find us threatening. But it’s not just our military might that makes them quiver. It’s Brittney Spears French kissing Madonna that frightens them. They fear that their children will be seduced by western depravity. Liberals who are eager for the west to disarm are unwilling to give up Hustler magazine or MTV.
For that reason, we must have a strategy for choking off the source of terrorists. One way is to nuke ‘em. At White Sands, New Mexico, at the site of the world’s first nuclear explosion, one can find shards of trinitite, a glassy substance created by the fat boy plutonium bomb. I don’t doubt that Syrian sand would make an equally good substrate for more trinitite. The other alternative is to take the Islamic world by the lapels and shake it into the modern world. A free, prosperous and democratic Iraq will not serve as an incubator for terrorists. It will serve as an example of what Arabs unshackled from tyranny and intolerance are capable of.
Unless we can drag Iraq into modernity, that country, and every other in the region, will be at the mercy of every organized crime boss who wishes to call himself a cleric or a champion of Arab nationalism.
We have taken on an awesome challenge in Iraq. We are trying to lift an entire country out of 1000 years of backwardness. In his own perverse way, Saddam Hussein facilitated this by creating the most secular nation in the Arab world. Iraq’s schools are run by the state and not by Islamofascists. And, he made himself so hated that we were able to enter the country and be greeted as liberators.
We cannot measure success by how quickly we leave. The historical path that Iraq takes will determine the course of history for centuries, unless we are forced to bring World War III to a quick end in a flash of fission and fusion.

The Filth Keeps Rising To The Surface

Marc Rich might need another presidential pardon. It seems that he man who purchased one from Bill Clinton was skimming money in the UN's Oil For Food program.

Bob Kerrey Makes A Fool Of Himself

Before walking out on the president and vice president at the 9/11 commission hearings, Bob Kerrey ampy demonstrated his unsuitability for such a solemn job as a 9/11 commissioner during his appearance on "The Daily Show."

"Catapulted back into the limelight thanks to the mass murder of 3,000 innocent men, women, and children, Kerrey took advantage of his terrorist-induced celebrity to appear on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Now, it would be one thing if Kerrey used his privileged position to inform Stewart's younger audience of the gravity of the 9/11 panel's task. But instead, Kerrey yukked it up. First, he dished with Stewart about President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's upcoming private meeting with the commission. When Stewart mocked the president's "buddy system," Kerrey guffawed: "He is bringing his buddy, that's exactly right, for safety." Emboldened by audience applause, Kerrey riffed that it was more like "Screw you, buddy." Asked by Stewart whether people were really blaming each other over the terrorist attacks during closed hearings, Kerrey snorted: "Oh, Jee-zus, yeah." More audience approval. (Taking the Lord's name in vain is always good for a few cheap laughs.)

Next, echoing a profanity uttered earlier in the show, Kerrey blurted out with a clownish grin: "Life is [expletive bleeped]." When Stewart proposed that Kerrey ask the vice president, "What the [expletive bleeped] is wrong with you people?" Kerrey cracked up and promised to use the question. And when Stewart called Attorney General John Ashcroft a "big [expletive bleeped]," Kerrey chortled some more."

Bush Voters Love America. Kerry Voters Don't

We've always known that liberals hold this country in contempt. Kerry has taken that attitude to new levels by sneering at our allies as well.

But, now, there's actual data that proves the point.

"Rasmussen Reports survey found that 64% of voters believe that American society is generally fair and decent. Additionally, 62% believe the world would be a better place if other countries became more like the United States.

However, while a solid majority views the nation in this way, there are significant differences of opinion among partisan, ideological, and political fault lines.

Among Bush voters, 83% say that American society is generally fair and decent. Just 7% say it is basically unfair and discriminatory.

While Bush voters are united behind this perception, Kerry voters are divided--46% say fair and decent while 37% say unfair and discriminatory.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of Bush voters also believe the world would be better if other nations were more like the United States. This view is shared by just 48% of Kerry voters.

From an ideological perspective, 74% of conservatives say the world would be better if other nations were more like ours. Just 15% of conservatives believe it would be worse.

However, among self-identified liberals, the numbers are 49% better and 37% worse. A plurality of those who say they are very liberal believe the world would be in worse shape if other nations were more like ours."

Where's The Rainbow, John?

For the second time, John Kerry is being criticized for his lilly white campaign staff.

Some black officials and independent analysts expressed concerned about the campaign's lack of racial diversity. Campaign officials and the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus said the criticism was unfounded.


"I am concerned about diversity, but more importantly I am concerned about the experience in that diversity — senior policy people who know people from one end of the country to the other," said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., a caucus member.


He said the issue may dampen voter enthusiasm. "The senator should remedy this very quickly," Jackson said.


Added Ron Walters, who worked on the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson Sr. and runs the African-American Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland: "There is a sense that Kerry's people don't get it."

It's no secret that Democrats take black votes for granted. John Kerry seems determined to rub that fact in black faces though.

Is It Possible For Jim McDermott To Embarass Himself?

You've heard by now, of Jim McDermott's cowardly stunt on the floor of the House of Representatives.

It's no surprise that he's one of the truly fringe wierdos in the house. He's also one of the most cowardly. He wouldn't even stand by his slimy stunt.

When asked about the incident, the congressman's spokesman, Mike DeCesare, explained that his boss "hesitated, unsure of what he should do because the words 'under God' are under court review."

Without Television Cameras, Why Bother?

We can now safely pronounce BS upon the 9/11 tribunal. Two Democrats, Bob Kerrey and Lee Hamilton walked out of the 9/11 commission's interview with the president and the vice-president. They had "prior commitments."

Along with Jamie Gorelick and Richard Ben Veniste, the Democrats have turned the commission into a partisan side show, just as Republicans predicted they would.

To Democrats, keeping America safe means keeping Republicans out of office, and nothing more.

Dumb Luck

Five years isn't enough time to bury the truth. The Clinton Administration's one success, the thwarting of a terrorist attack at LA International Airport, was a stroke of luck - the work of a lone, attentive border guard.

Bill Clinton, Richard Clarke, and Janet Reno all claimed that it was their hard work that saved lives.

"It's almost become an article of faith at the 9/11 commission hearings that high-level meetings in Washington helped stop a terrorist attack at the Los Angeles airport just before the turn of the millennium. But the inside-the-Beltway gospel just isn't true.

NBC News went back to the customs agent who actually stopped an al-Qaida terrorist from entering the United States in 1999, and she says it was her gut instincts — not meetings in Washington — that helped her make the arrest.

In December of 1999, upon arriving on a ferry from Canada, al-Qaida operative Ahmed Ressam was arrested with a trunk full of explosives. His plan: to blow up Los Angeles International Airport."

The Cost Of Success

Is there no depth to which university athletic departments will not sink to win? Not at the University of Washington.

More here and here.

This is disgusting.

No, It Was The Seattle Voters Who Made The Mistake

It was just an honest mistake that Baghdad Jim McDermott omitted "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance yesterday.

McDermott makes a lot of mistakes, but few, if any, are honest.

Gorelick On The Wrong Side Of The Questioning

More information has come to light proving that Democrat Jamie Gorelick should be answering questions from the 9/11 tribunal, instead of asking them as a member of the commission.

The newly released memos also show that Ms. Gorelick has been far less than truthful in her self defense.

Nobody believes that Jamie Gorelick wanted to facilitate a terrorist attack. But, it's entirely believable that she was trying to save her boss's ass from a criminal investigation.

Trying To Make The New Good For Democrats

A 4.2% quarterly growth rate in the GDP is usually great news. The Times tried to make is sound anemic. Why wasn't it 5%?

"The economy grew at an annual rate of 4.2 percent in the opening quarter of 2004, a solid showing and fresh evidence that the business recovery is solidly on track. But the performance wasn't the blowout that some analysts wanted."

More News Unfit To Print

The United Nations Oil For Food scandal and its attendant bribery of John Kerry's favorite foreign leaders isn't the only huge news story being given the cold shoulder by the elite media. Al Qaida attempted a huge chemical weapons attack in Jordan recently. As many as 80,000 might have been killed had the terrorists not be caught first.

But, the big media has decided that it's not big news. Why?

"Perhaps the problem here is that covering this story might mean acknowledging that Tony Blair and George W. Bush have been exactly right to warn of the confluence of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Jordan's King Abdullah called it a "major, major operation" that would have "decapitated" his government. "Anyone who doubts the terrorists' desire to obtain and use these weapons only needs to look at this example," said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

More details of the plot emerged Monday night with the dramatic broadcast on Jordanian television of confessions from the terror cell's leader and associates. The idea apparently was to crash trucks--fitted with special battering rams and filled with some 20 tons of explosives--through the gates of targets that included the U.S. Embassy, the Jordanian Prime Minister's office and the national intelligence headquarters. The explosions notwithstanding, the real damage was reportedly to come from dispersing a toxic cloud of chemicals, which included nerve and blister agents."

John Kerry and his stooges are accusing Republicans of attacking his war record. One fine stooge is E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post. How dare Republicans, like Bush and Cheney, attack this hero's war record.

In truth, they aren't. They're attacking his anti-war record and his inability to tell the truth, as even Dionne demonstrates.

The decorated combat veteran was transformed from a hero to "Hanoi John," in the phrase of Rep. Sam Johnson, a Texas Republican. Johnson deserves our gratitude for his seven years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. But his agenda last week had election-year politics stamped all over it. Johnson declared that in speaking out against the war, Kerry showed "his true colors, and they are not red, white and blue." Kerry, Johnson said, was engaged in "nothing short of aiding and abetting the enemy."

Show me one word of criticism of Kerry's combat record in that. Apparently, the left has suddenly adopted the view that war heroes are above criticism on any front. I don't recall Bob Dole or George Bush Sr. receiving any such deference.

Why The Post Is Sinking Into Irrelevence

There has been a lot of news worthy of printing that hasn't made it into the New York Times lately. A big, big story has been the United Nations Oil For Food scandal and the bribery of France and Russia.

You won't find this news in the Times for example. "Now we know why the French and Russians were so insistent. Iraqi government documents (leaked to the Baghdad newspaper Al Mada) list at least 270 individuals and entities who got vouchers allowing them to sell Iraqi oil - and to keep much of the money. These vouchers, and the promise of instant great wealth they carried with them, bought vital support in the United Nations to let Saddam stay in power."

The Times is reluctant to print it because such news would undermine their assertion that all the nations and organizations that opposed our war in Iraq were not smarter than we were, but rather were paid off by Saddam.

If you want to learn about this and other bits of information that contradict the Times' world view, you'll have to buy another paper.

John Kerry Isn't Really A Dolt. He Just Plays One On TV

Once again, we're being told that a Democratic presidential nominee isn't nearly as stiff or stupid as he seems.

More Bad News For Democrats

Over 60% of Iraqis believe that the war was, on balance, a good thing for Iraq.

How Liberals Think

This is what passes for insightful, liberal thinking.

Living In The World Of Make Believe

The news has been too good lately. The economy is booming, the air is cleaner, and it's been nearly three years since the United States has endured a terrorist attack.

So, the Democrats have decided to embrace make belielve.

They Don't Make War Heroes Like They Used To

They make them better. These guys aren't trying to get three quick purple hearts and a trip home, as a certain other "war hero" did.

ZAHN: "According to "The Los Angeles Times," there have been so many Marines wounded in Fallujah that there is actually a backlog of Purple Hearts. What does that do to the morale of troops?"

PETERSON: "Well, it's surprising, to be honest. ... I have spoken to a lot [of Marines] who have been engaged in some of these firefights. In fact, I was in one of the combat surgical rooms where they were working on a couple of these guys.

Two of them had been ambushed, not where the main fight is going on tonight, but their unit had been ambushed east of Fallujah. And seven people rolled in. There were two that had gunshot wounds. And they pulled a huge slug, a bullet, out of the leg of one of the Marines. And another one had a bullet wound right through the back.

And, amazingly, they were trying to convince their commanders that they were ready to go and go back out. I have been really surprised at ... the high degree of morale that these Marines have shown. Remember, they have only been here for a month and a half. Many of these units that are here now engaged in the initial invasion last year and were in Iraq for several months.

Now they're back. But they seem to be engaged. They're taking casualties. But it's really surprising. You don't see much head-dragging or anything like that. I mean, you know, what you see is kind of more encouragement for these guys.

And, for example, the one who had the gravest -- the bullet in and out through his back -- was trying to convince his commander that he'd be back. And his commander actually promised him that his spot was still going to be there. Another soldier who was injured in that huge firefight yesterday who I spoke to earlier this morning, he wanted to get back out there. But the only problem was, was that half his shoulder was missing around his firing arm.

But he was convinced he would be able to sit there on a roof and not have to run anywhere and he could contribute that way. So it's been surprising. But ... the Marines that are here certainly appear to be geared up for whatever the future"

Ratings? What's That?

Ratings? Leroy Sievers, producer of Ted Koppel's "Nightline," don't care nothing 'bout no stinking ratings.

It's just coincidence that Nightline is exploiting our war dead during the May sweeps.

Donald Rumsfeld Sums Up Media Bias Very Nicely

Are we targeting mosques, or are militants using mosques to stage operations?

To Know Him Is To Loathe Him

John Kerry is forever "introducing" himself to the voters. The problem is that, the more they see of him, the less they like him.

But there seems to be a very clear reason why: Mr. Kerry is terrible on TV.

"Abysmal," said John Weaver, the former strategist for Senator John McCain’s Presidential run and the man who coined the "Straight Talk Express."

Watching Mr. Kerry on TV, he said, "I don’t know if it’s a stream of consciousness or stream of unconsciousness."

"It’s a lot of words and no clarity, a lot of presence and no warmth," said Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC’s Hardball, who was preparing to interview Mr. Kerry for an hour on April 27. "And I think he’s got to deal with that."

Take a look, for example, at NBC’s Meet the Press on April 18. Tim Russert aired a tape of Senator John Kerry’s appearance on the show 33 years earlier, when he was a young, jut-chinned veteran, 27 years old, full of baleful gravity, expressing a sense of shame for his actions in Vietnam. The camera cut back to Senator Kerry, now a man running for President of United States.

"You committed atrocities," said Mr. Russert gravely, asking Mr. Kerry to address the statements of the young man on the screen.

Suddenly, the current John Kerry, of 2004, gave a stumbling, inexplicable guffaw.

"Where did all that dark hair go, Tim? That’s a big question for me."

The Rats Are Fleeing

Air America is stumbling. It's CEO, Mark Walsh is getting out while the getting's good - as is David Logan, director of programming.

Logan insists all is well, but Michael Harrison of "Talkers" magazine disagrees: "Chaos is not a good sign," he said.

From the start, Harrison said, there were signs that Air America's business plan was less than sound. The network approached its operations like a political campaign, soliciting investors with goals of unseating President Bush and sending Limbaugh packing, rather than approaching potential advertisers and focusing on programming, according to Harrison. The result, he said, was akin to putting a day-long infomercial on the air.

"Most of the media's attention has been on the fact that they are liberal and little attention has been given to the fact that radio networks make it on their business plan, not their politics," Harrison said. "One would have to question their business plan -- whether you're liberal or conservative, whether you're playing music or comedy, radio is radio and it requires sound broadcasting practices."

Oil For Terrorism

In order to launder Saddam's Oil For Food money, the crooks at the UN set up an illicit finance operation that was very useful to Osama Bin Laden.

More Bad News For Democrats

The United States military expects to have an operation missile defense system by the end of the year.

Dumb Jock Killed In Afghanistan

The Left shows its true colors. A pro-Kerry organization calling itself the "Independent Media Center" is pleased that Pat Tillman is dead.

"[Pat] Tillman chose to go to Afghanistan. He's partially reponsible for the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands of Afghan civilians. No need to feel sorry for him, other than feeling bad that he was brainwashed into serving as a grunt."

"It's amazing the kind of attention this insignificant incident is going to cause. well, he was rich, white, and an american. 10,000 (brown) iraqis get killed, and it barely merits a mention in the american news. how utterly f---ing sad."

"If he 'sacrificed' anything it was his common sense. He had a good American thing going and blew it."

Religion Of Peace

Muslim youth in Thailand attacked the police and at least 112 are dead.

The eight hours of mayhem ended when police fired tear gas and bullets into a mosque, killing 34 militants who were holed up inside.

Television news reports showed the bodies of suspected Islamic fighters lying in pools of blood, some of them in front of police stations clasping machetes and wearing colored shirts and camouflage pants.

See No Evil

It's not just the major media in the United States that is pretending that nothing's wrong at the UN. The Oil For Food scandal is being ignored elsewhere as well.

ABC viewers were shocked to learn last week that the man who spent six years administering the UN's Iraqi oil-for-food program stood accused of receiving millions of dollars in bribes from Saddam Hussein's regime. The official, Benon Sevan, had conveniently slipped off to a Queensland resort as the scandal broke and gave reporters who showed up on his hotel doorstep a brusque "no comment" before retreating to the comforts within.

But the ABC that aired the story and tracked Sevan down in Noosa Heads was not Australia's taxpayer-financed broadcaster but the American television network. Meanwhile, Australia's ABC has remained virtually silent on the story, choosing to run little more than a couple of newswire stories on Sevan's trip on their website.

New York Times Needs To Check Sources

The New York Times got a bunch of stuff wrong in a story recently. It failed to check its source - The United States Constitution.

More Bad News For Democrats

Consumer confidence soared last month.

Billy Boy, You've Got Nothin'

Bill Clinton's $200 haircut on Air Force 1 at LA International was peanuts. John Kerry paid $1000 for his makeover before his appearance on "Meet The Press." And that does not include the price of private jet that ferried the hairdresser to Washington, DC.

Another Foreign Leader For Kerry

Courtney Love, who clearly hails from another planet, or perhaps a parallel universe, blames George W. Bush for her recentl personal problems.

It seems that Courtney Love has fallen on some hard times. She’s facing felony drug charges. She could lose custody of her daughter. And she’s reportedly broke.

But the former Hole singer has come up with an interesting way of explaining why she’s experiencing the string of troubles. She believes she’s a victim of Republican circumstance.

Love told Rolling Stone that “the last thing I want to say is that I’m a victim, but I am.” She elaborated by saying, “I believe it’s a trickle down from Bush.”

Justice

Two Palestinians muggers died along with a suicide bomber they were attempting to rob when his bomb detonated.

Clinton Lied!!!!!!!

Once again, John Kerry has accused George W. Bush of lying about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

"We know that the president and the White House exaggerated material that they were given purposefully, even though they were told otherwise,” Kerry said in an interview on MSNBC-TV’s “Hardball.”

Hillary Clinton recently said that she and her husband believed the same thing. And Bob Woodward's book, which Kerry claims to have read, says that if anybody exaggerated, it was George Tenet.

What Will Hillary Serve At Fundraisers?

Back when she was Mrs. First Lady, Hillary Clinton offended her Hollywood allies by serving pate fois gras at a fundraiser. Now, the California legislature, bowing to those same celebreties has moved to ban pate.

"[A] Senate panel voted 4 to 3 to ban the sale of any foie gras produced by force-feeding."

Maybe they can still give duck those fatty livers by feeding them Happy Meals.

No Depth Too Low

DNC chairman Terry McAwful claimed yesterday that Lynn Cheney timed her pregnancy to allow her husband to evade military service.

I think that Republicans should simply place unedited tape of Terry McAwful on the air, just to show the voters precisely who the Democrats are.

Bush's Edge

The stars are aligned for a Bush landslide. The economy is booming, we are winning in Iraq, Woodward's book disproves the left's claims about Iraq, and best of all, John Kerry is the Democrats' nominee.

THE conventional wisdom is that the presidential election will be close. It's a 50-50 country, so the CW goes, just as it was in the year 2000.
The problem is that the conventional wisdom hasn't taken a proper accounting of John Kerry. Here's the truth that Democrats don't want to admit and that Republicans are fearful of speaking openly because they don't want to jinx things:

Kerry is a terrible, terrible, terrible candidate.

It's not so much the policies he proposes, although they don't add up to all that much. The problem is Kerry himself. He no sooner opens his mouth than he sticks first one foot and then the other right in there.

Missing The Point

John Kerry stooge Thomas Oliphant misses the point.

"Some people have written secondhand accounts of that day stating that Kerry at that moment also threw "medals" that had been given to him by a couple of vets who were not there. I remember Kerry doing that later in the day after the event had broken up. He was in the company, for part of that time, of a small group of Gold Star Mothers (who had lost sons in the war). In addition to the events involving the military decorations, the veterans also held a tree-planting ceremony near the Capitol and attended congressional hearings on civilian casualties of the conflict.

From what I could observe firsthand about Friday, April 23, 1971, Kerry did not make even the slightest effort to pretend that he was throwing all of his military decorations over that fence. He did what he did in plain view, and in my case in the view of someone close enough to kick him in the shins."

While Kerry thowing medals or ribbons or whatever over the wall is an issue in and of itself, the problem is that Kerry has lied routinely about what happened that day, tailoring the story to whomever his audience was. The problem is that, when one puts them side by side, it's clear that Kerry is a liar.

Changed Your Mind, Eh John?

A few months ago, John Kerry pleaded with DNC chairman Terry McAwful to stop questioning George Bush's National Guard service. Now, Kerry needs to change the subject, so he's raising the issue himself.

And of course, he gets all the help he wants from the New York Times.

ABC caught Kerry in a lie and exposed him yesterday. Kerry responded by accusing Bush of evading National Guard service.

"This is a controversy that the Republicans are pushing," Mr. Kerry said on "Good Morning America" on ABC. "The Republicans have spent $60 million in the last few weeks trying to attack me, and this comes from a president and a Republican Party that can't even answer whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard. I'm not going to stand for it."

Later in the day, Mr. Kerry challenged what he called attacks on his military record from Republicans who did not fight in Vietnam.

"I did obviously fight in Vietnam, and I was wounded there, and I served there and was very proud of my service," Mr. Kerry said. "To have these people, all of whom made a different choice, attack me for it is obviously disturbing."

The truth is that Kerry lpush the issue to the forefront by lying to Peter Jennings, the LA Times and just about everyone else since that fateful day in 1971.

One has to read two-thirds of the way through the Times' article to learn what provoked Kerry's temper tantrum.

Good Riddance

Enjoy your virgins.

Imagine What Saddam and Al Qaida Could Have Done

An attempted chemical weapons attack by Al Qaida that potentially could have killed 80,000 was narrowly averted in Jordan.

Preventing things like this is why we went into Iraq and why Libya's capitulation is a much bigger deal than elite media wants you to know.

Is Clinton Slippping The Noose Again

Republicans just lack the killer instinct for this sort of thing. Partisan hacks like Jamie Gorelick and Richard Ben Veniste never had any business on the 9/11 tribunal. But, the Republicans let Democrats have their way and even now, when their unsuitability is obvious, the Republicans let them have their way.

And so, it's no surprise that only people hostile to George W. Bush are testifying publicly, or perhaps only people hostile to the current administration are reported on by elite media.

More likely, it's the latter.

"Roughly a week after the flap over the August 6, 2001 briefing dominated the national discussion, we learned that the CIA had warned in a classified memo, according to the Associated Press, “that Islamic extremists likely would strike on U.S. soil at landmarks in Washington or New York, or through the airline industry.”

The same AP story also reveals, “And in 1997, the CIA updated its intelligence estimate to ensure bin Laden appeared on its very first page as an emerging threat, cautioning that his growing movement might translate into attacks on U.S. soil.”

Donald Rumsfeld, Coalition Builder

Among elite opinion's favorite cliche's is that Donald Rumsfeld is a rogue who alienates allies and potential allies around the world. The truth is quite different.

Aside from kicking terrorist ass, Donald Rumsfeld has organized joint cooperative military agreements with countries around the world, to the benefit of the people living in those countries as well as our own.

"Joint exercises give each military a better understanding of the others' tactics and abilities. More importantly, mid- and high-level officers make personal connections with their counterparts in other militaries. This opens up lines of back-channel communications, increases the chance for shared intelligence, and eases the complex task of joint combat operations. The mission in Thailand next month won't directly involve counterterrorism training, but the lessons learned will certainly be applied to the fight against al Qaeda.


All this makes it easier for the U.S. to assemble ad hoc coalitions to target specific threats. Even in larger operations, in which the U.S. does most of the fighting, a good understanding of an allied military capability helps in forming coalitions. Few nations can send frontline troops, but some allies can help by augmenting medical or communications capabilities, for example. One reason why the Pentagon felt confident going to war in Iraq without the French and Germans is that the war planners knew from such experience that the coalition was strong enough without them."

Who Says Democrats Are Worthless?

Here's how they can help.

Feel The Excitement!

John Kerry returned to the site of his resurgence. He planned of 5000 fans. They could only entice 2000 to show up.

Maxine Waters Lament Her Own Birth

At Sunday's Pro-abortion rally over the weekend, Representative Maxine Waters (D-California) shrieked, "I have to march because my mother could not have an abortion.”

More Bad News For Democrats

New home sales soared last month to record levels.

"The increase pushed sales of new, single family houses to a record seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.228 million last month. That was up from 1.128 in February, the Commerce Department reported Monday."

What Would It Take?

Attempting to distract attention from his own reprehensible antiwar activities, John Kerry is demanding that George Bush prove he fulfilled his National Guard service.

According to CNN, he already has.

"In February, the White House released Bush's military records amid questions about whether Bush reported for duty during a year he spent in Alabama while working on the Senate campaign of a friend.

A review of those records by retired USAF Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd, a military analyst for CNN, found that those records appeared to be in order and that Bush was paid during the time period in question."

Attack Of The Giant Snails

No, really.

More Bad News For Democrats

Boeing launched its new 7E7 with a 50 plane order - a record for Boeing - from All Nippon Airlines.

"ANA's order was valued at $6 billion at list prices and a dozen other airlines are now set to announce their own 7E7 orders, Boeing said in a statement."

Good Timing

The suddenly pro-Vietnam War left has just put out another anti-Bush ad. It concludes with this line: "This election is about character."

Uh Oh. More Bad News For Democrats

The Washington Post reports that the economy is thriving in the paper's circulation area. And, the Post credits the Bush tax cuts.

Why would anybody wish to rescind those cuts? Ahem - Mr. Kerry?

"At the beginning of last year, as war loomed with Iraq, it looked like another slack year in Washington business for almost everyone but the defense contractors.

But then the lowest interest rates in decades and tax cuts turned up the flame under the economy. Even though business remained jittery over the continuing bloody conflict in Iraq and fears of new terrorist attacks, by the second half of the year business was thriving."

It must make the Post's editorial board gag to see that in their paper.

At Last, The Truth About Sudan

I've been reading an awful lot about the ethnic cleansing in Sudan recently, but not a word about the religious cleansing. While the Sudanese Arabs have recently turned their attention to the extermination of all blacks, the slaughter occurring there began not so much Arabs killing blacks as it is Muslims killing Christians. The Washington Post finally said what everybody else was too squeamish to mention, mostly because it gives lie to the claim that Muslims hate us because of our power and would play nice if we disarmed. The Sudanese Christians have no power and few weapons. All the power is in the hand of the Muslims and they are exploiting the advantage.

"Sudan's Islamic and Arab government has a long history of denying humanitarian access to civilians as part of its long war with Christian and animist Africans in the south. It is applying those same tactics to Darfur, whose people, though Islamic, share the southerners' aspiration for regional autonomy."

Subordinate US Foreign Policy To These Crooks?

John Kerry would tie American foreign policy to the whims of the world's largest organized crime syndicate - the United Nations.

If you want Security Council cooperation, it'll cost you billions. Saddam paid France and Russia $11 billion. No wonder he was in their pocket.

Now This Is The Issue Kerry Should Focus On

John Kerry thinks that we should be looking at pictures of our war dead. I'm sure this is the burning issue that will sway the electorate in his favor.

Who Do They Think They Are - CBS?

I can still remember 1980, when CBS cameramen ochestrated anti-American demonstrations in Iran for their cameras. Now, we learn that many of those scenes with Iraqi children dancing around burning humvees were staged by the Arab newschannel, Al-Arabiya.

Several Iraqis there did say the children had been incited to jump around the burning Humvee by a cameraman for Al Arabiya, an Arab news channel, which American officials say is guilty of stoking a much broader anti-Americanism among viewers around the Arab world. The station denies that its cameraman did anything but film.

Kerry: "I Don't Use Electricity From Coal, Except When I'm Campaigning In West Virginia"

Okay. I made that up. But Kerry did say: "Where we see a beautiful mountaintop, George Bush sees a strip mine."

There are a lot of coal miners in Ohio and West Virginia - two state Kerry must have to win the election. While in the Senate, Kerry cast votes to end coal mining altogether.

You Mean, They Used To Like Us?

I guess we're supposed to be bothered, or surprised or something by Hosni Mubarek's declaration that, sinc the Iraqi occupation, Arabs now hate the United States.

"In the beginning, some people thought the Americans were helping them," Mubarak told the French newspaper Le Monde. "There was no hatred toward Americans." But "after what has happened in Iraq, there is an unprecedented hatred."

Gee. Weren't those Arabs dancing in the streets after 9/11? Weren't the hijackers Arabs?

Jeff Jacoby points out that Arabs have hated us (and just about everyone else) before we invaded Iraq.

For example, it was Al-Ahram, a newspaper controlled by the Egyptian government, that claimed in October that US pilots flying over Afghanistan were dropping "genetically treated" food into areas booby-trapped with land mines -- hoping not only to make Afghans sick but to cripple or kill those who attempted to gather the food. It was Al-Akhbar, another regime-sponsored daily, that declared in August: "The Statue of Liberty . . . must be destroyed because of the idiotic American policy that goes from disgrace to disgrace in the swamp of bias and blind fanaticism. . . . The age of the American collapse has begun."

Oops! Caught In Another Big Lie

Some of us remember John Kerry from 33 years ago. It was back then that he made himself famous by throwing the medals he had won in Vietnam over the White House wall. It was there rather surprising to learn that the medals he supposedly threw over the wall were on display in his Senate office.

We've since learned that those were somebody else's medals he threw back. And, he recently argued that he had never claimed that they were his own medal in the first place.

"I never ever implied that I did it, " Kerry told the [Los Angeles Times], responding to the question of whether he threw away his medals in protest.

"I'm proud of my medals. I always was proud of them," he told Jennings in December, adding that he had only thrown away his "ribbons" and the medals of two other veterans who could not attend the protest.


But ABC News has acquired footage showing a young John Kerry making precisely that claim.

"I gave back, I can't remember, six, seven, eight, nine medals," Kerry said in an interview on a Washington, D.C., news program on WRC-TV called Viewpoints on Nov. 6, 1971, according to a tape obtained by ABCNEWS.




Once a plastic banana, always a plastic banana.

Update

Kerry's response on ABC was as lame as it gets. Depending upon which was most expedient at the moment, either the ribbons he threw away were the equivalent of medals, so he didn't lie when he said that he threw his medals away. Or, when that conflicted with this claim that he never implied that he threw his own medals away, then they were just ribbons, not medals after all.

The whole thing is a creation of a vast right wing conspiracy of course - which includes ABC News and John Kerry himself I suppose.

Just Because You're Crazy Doesn't Mean They AREN'T All Out To Get You

The United States is withdrawing it's troops from the North Korean border. This proves that we're about to attack.

"The U.S. decision to take even its small force out of ... Panmunjom ... indicates that the U.S. preparations for a pre-emptive attack upon the DPRK are underway at a final phase," said a spokesman for the North Korean army's mission in the truce village of Panmunjom, according to KCNA, the North's official news agency.

Where's The Money

Numerous analysts have noted that John Kerry's second mortgage on his Beacon Hill mansion cannot make fiscal sense unless his wife is making the interest payments - and that would be a campaign finance law violation.

Maybe that's why his wife is hiding her income tax returns.

More Bad News For Democrats

Not only is the US economy booming, but so are the economies of all of our allies.

America and its wealthy allies expressed optimism yesterday about the global economy, saying overall prospects have improved despite worries about rising oil prices and violence in the Middle East.
The Group of Seven major industrial countries — the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada — struck an upbeat tone while acknowledging the risks.

They said they stood ready to provide financial assistance in the Middle East, hoping efforts to improve the prospect for jobs will help to stabilize what is now a deteriorating security situation.

The Stossel Problem

The major media is very uncomfortable with John Stossel. He trusts you too much. And, he doesn't simply parrot leftist cliches. He examines them and often debunks them.

According to some leading journalists and consumer activists, ABC's news division suffers from a major problem: John Stossel. He used to be such a good consumer reporter, years ago, worthy of his numerous Emmies. But now he thinks that markets protect consumers better than governments do, and he's skeptical of all sorts of beliefs that we all just know are right. No need to question them. None at all.


Stossel's media critics have it all wrong. There's a Stossel Problem, but it's not that he's broken ranks. The real Stossel problem is that he's so alone, that "the ranks" still file forward (or is that backward?), marching left, left, left, right, left.

A Man Who Means What He Says

Pollsters supposedly can't figure out why Bush remains popular in spite of the spate of manufactured negative news. According to the Washington Post, it's because Bush doesn't play weathervane politics, like his opponent, who can't even decide who owns his SUV on Earth Day.

Reds Getting Redder, The Blues Getting Bluer

Mature, married and faithful equals Republican.
Single, immature, and profane equals Democrat.

The nation is becoming more and more polarized, politically and demographically.

"We have two parallel universes," White said. "Each side seeks to reinforce its thinking by associating with like-minded people."

John Kerry - Fun Guy!

It seems that Democratic presidential nominees are only stiff, formal, and snobbish in public. In private, they're really fun guys.

"The idea that John isn't fun to hang out with is nonsense," says former Nebraska Democratic senator Bob Kerrey. "He has a range of interests and a capacity for introspection that most who have taken the time to know him love. Is he a backslapping, glad-handing butt-kisser? No, but he is terrific company."

So, just as was the case with Al Gore, we're supposed to take the mainstream press's word for it that we can't trust our own senses about a candidate.

He's not really a robot. He just plays one on the campaign trail

We Should Take Up A Collection For These Guys

Two radio show hosts got through to Fidel Castro with a crank call, and have been fined $4000 by the FCC for it.

The hosts of the show on WXDJ-FM, Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos, fed pleasantries to Castro before breaking in and calling him an assassin. The conversation ended after Castro denounced the callers with a stream of vulgarities.

They shouldn't be fined. They should be rewarded.

Foil The Polsters

Those telephone polls that are cited almost nightly on the evening news are becoming less and less reliable for a number of reasons - mostly related to the fact that they are telehone polls - and the number of people who are willing to participate is falling.

WASHINGTON - More Americans are refusing to participate in telephone polls these days, but carefully conducted surveys still can get accurate samples of public opinion — according to a new poll.

The study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found the percentage of people reached for interviews in a typical five-day Pew survey dropped from 36 percent in 1997 to 27 percent in 2003.

Another problem is that more and more people are using cell phones as their sole telephone number and polsters are not allowed to call those numbers.

Thin Skin

Clearly, the Colorado GOP reacted with humor to the New York Times' use of Republican Senatorial candidate Pete Coors' photo in an article about a Ku Klux Klan murderer.

Cinamon Watson, spokeswoman for Coors, said the error was "so outrageous it's kind of funny. It could have been worse. Pete could have been identified as John Kerry."

Kerry was outraged.

Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said the comment was "the kind of thing people hate about politics."

If there's anything about this that people hate, it's hypersensitive egomaniacs.

Another Opportunity For The United Nations To Fail

The United States compared the ethnic cleansing in the Sudan to what occurred in Rwanda - and demanded that the UN do something this time.


The U.N. Commission on Human Rights (news - web sites) is due to take up Sudan on Friday, but U.S. ambassador Richard Williamson expressed concern the wording of a planned resolution was too weak.


The United States had initially co-sponsored a text with the European Union (news - web sites), but a new, softer version had emerged from negotiations between the EU and African member states, he said.


"Ten years from today the only thing that will be remembered about the 60th annual Commission is whether we stand up on the ethnic cleansing going on in Sudan," he told journalists.

Of course, they'll screw it up and show the world once again why we can't trust them in Iraq.

Nuanced Foreign Policy

It seems that nuance is not the sole property of John Kerry. The presumptive Democratic nominee talks the talk, but George W. Bush walks the walk.
We had a secret ally in our war against Saddam Hussein - Saudi Arabia.

"WASHINGTON - During the Iraq (news - web sites) war, Saudi Arabia secretly helped the United States far more than has been acknowledged, allowing operations from at least three air bases, permitting special forces to stage attacks from Saudi soil and providing cheap fuel, U.S. and Saudi officials say.


The American air campaign against Iraq was essentially managed from inside Saudi borders, where military commanders operated an air command center and launched refueling tankers, F-16 fighter jets, and sophisticated intelligence gathering flights, according to the officials.


Much of the assistance has been kept quiet for more than a year by both countries for fear it would add to instability inside the kingdom. Many Saudis oppose the war and U.S. presence on Saudi soil has been used by Osama bin Laden to build his terror movement."

Leave Her In Pittsburgh

Most candidates have wives who are campaign assets. John Kerry does not.

Mrs. Kerry asked Rep. Bob Brady, master of ceremonies at the event, whether she could introduce Gov. Edward Rendell (who in turn would introduce the prospective Democratic presidential nominee). The candidate's wife then launched into a 10-minute speech about her early life in Mozambique and on the iniquities of George W. Bush, but forgot to introduce Rendell.

After the event concluded, Brady told a Kerry aide: "Next time you come to Philadelphia, leave her in Pittsburgh (Mrs. Kerry's hometown when she was married to the late Republican Sen. John Heinz)."

Re Writing History

John Musgrave, a disabled ex-marine from Baldwin City, Kan., who told The Kansas City Star that Mr. Kerry was at the meeting [where the assassination of US Senators was contemplated], said he got a call from John Hurley, the Kerry campaign's veterans coordinator.

"He said, `I'd like you to refresh your memory,' " Mr. Musgrave, 55, recounted in an interview, confirming an account he had given to The New York Sun. "He said it twice. `And call that reporter back and say you were mistaken about John Kerry being there.' "

The fact is that John Kerry was at that meeting. And another attendee, in fact the man who proposed the assasinations worked for the Kerry campaign until he became an embarassment.

Since the news of the meeting first came out, other attendees have said that Kerry was there and FBI surveillance records place Kerry at the meeting.

"Mr. Kerry says he still has no memory of being there but does not dispute the F.B.I. files. They describe the November meeting as tempestuous, with a showdown between Mr. Kerry and Mr. Hubbard, who it turned out had lied about his rank, claiming to have been an Air Force captain when he had been a sergeant. His actual service in Vietnam was also called into serious question."

John Kerry is trying to rewrite and edit his own history. He reminds people of his Vietnam service so frivolously that he has become a laughing stock. But, he would just as soon everyone forgot that he was a member of the Vietnam Veterans Against The War. He wants people to overlook his slanderous comments about his fellow servicemen.

"When Mr. Kerry appeared on "Meet the Press" last weekend, he disavowed his own remarks on the same program in April 1971, when he said he and thousands of other soldiers had committed "atrocities."

That's what happens when you're a plastic banana from the first. His famous act of pretending to through his own medals away in front of television cameras has become a metaphor for his entire political life.

John Kerry, Common Man

John Kerry is trying to displace his "Do you know who I am?" personna with a more palatable common man facade.

"The other day, when Teresa Heinz Kerry she sat down with a gossip columnist for the New York Post, she fretted about the way her hair frizzes in the humidity and noted ruefully how she has gained 10 pounds on the campaign trail from the temptations of "quick snacks and junk food." Surely people everywhere could relate to the struggle.

The Kerrys recently have been reminding people that they have hobbies and foibles that would be familiar in any American household. It is an apparent response to a sustained effort by Republicans to tell people that, in many other ways, the presumptive Democratic nominee and his wealthy, foreign-born wife have lives far removed from the experience, or even the imagination, of most voters."

All Would Have Been Better With Ozone Man

Old Fat Albert ain't what he used to be. Apparently forgetting that it was Earth Day, Al Gore launched against George W. Bush on the subject of the war on terror.

"If we had read that [the August 6, 2001 PDB], we would have certainly asked for more information," he opined.

Oh yeah? What would you have done. Invade Afghanistan? You mean bombing the USS Cole wasn't enough reason and blowing up two embassies wasn't enough? But a vague memo would have jump started you into action?

What? They Don't Go Home After Three Boo Boos?

Just saw Oliver North interviewing a Special Forces soldier in Iraq. There, the soldiers get their wounds stitched up and race back to their units. They don't declare themselves homeward bound after three scratches.

Maybe He Should Stop Dancing On Top Of Cars

Michae Jackson wants the press to leave him alone.

Other Men's Honor

John Kerry has tried to take credit for his predecessor's achievements in Vietnam.

Paul Krugman, Military Strategist

Paul Krugman was once a mediocre economist. Since going to work for the New York Times, he's become an authoritative military strategist.

John Kerry Must Ask Wife's Permission To Drive The Suburban

It really isn't his car. It's Theresa's.

At Least They're No Worse Than The New York Times

"We all have off days." So explains the New York Times use of a picture of a Republican Senate candidate in a story about a racist killer.

Any Flag Draped Coffin Will Do

In their rush to show flag draped coffins of slain US servicemen, the press used pictures Challenger astronauts.

Who's Buried In Petrach's Tomb?

Hint, it's not Petrarch.

Show The Way To Your Followers

Muqtada al-Sadr should lead from the front and set an example. Then we'll know if he really has followers.

Pat Tillman RIP

Could he speak, Pat Tillman would tell you his death is no more important than anyone else's in this noble cause. He shunned publicity. He just wanted to be another soldier serving a cause much bigger than himself.

Nevertheless, the New York Times had to cast aspersions on his motives saying that he wished to avenge acquaintences who died in the 9/11 attacks.

Update. The offending lines have been expunged. This is a much more fitting tribute.

Another Kerry Impersonator Ridicules The Candidate

Certainly, that couldn't have been the real John Kerry rambling out that, "I tried an SUV, but I didn't inhale." line. Only a John Kerry impersonator would be handing Bush lines like that.

"I don't own an SUV," said Kerry, who supports increasing existing fuel economy standards to 36 miles per gallon by 2015 in order to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil supplies.

Kerry also has made rising gasoline prices an issue in the campaign against President Bush. In Houston on Thursday, Kerry said the president broke a 2000 campaign pledge to "jawbone" oil-producing nations by pressuring them to increase their output.

Kerry thought for a second when asked whether his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had a Suburban at their Ketchum, Idaho, home. Kerry said he owns and drives a Dodge 600 and recently bought a Chrysler 300M. He said his wife owns the Chevrolet SUV.

"The family has it. I don't have it," he said.

By the way, Kerry said that he drives a Chrysler 300 because he wants to drive a car built by Americans. Well, at least they're North Americans. The 300 is built in Canada.

Christine Gregoire's Little Pet

Since when does an independent investigator maintain a “lawyer-client” relationship with the person she is supposed to be investigating? Back in 2000, former federal prosecutor Susan Barnes was appointed as an independent investigator to look into how Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire’s office managed to fumble away roughly $18 million.
The error was both expensive for the taxpayers and politically embarrassing to the ambitious attorney general. But Gregoire was not about to leave things to chance, so, as we have now learned, her office helped shape the final report and even influenced the date of its release to minimize its political impact.
The sordid tale begins about four years ago when Christine Gregoire’s office failed to file an appeal of a $17.8 million dollar judgment against the state. Known as the Beckman case, it involved three disabled men who sued Washington charging that they had been abused at a state medical facility. The state decided to appeal, but the filing deadline came and went with no action from the Attorney General’s office. A “pretty please, we just don’t know where the time went,” appeal was denied. The judgment stood and the state forked over $18 million to the plaintiffs and their lawyers, as interest had accrued while the attorney general dragged her feet.
Now if you are Christine Gregoire, you don’t take this lying down. The state’s loss is nothing when compared to the damage it might do to your ambitions. The attorney general’s office was only meant to be a stepping stone for Gregoire. She has managed that office with an eye toward higher office rather than as the state’s chief law enforcement officer.
For example, earlier in her career, she worked with the Washington Education Association to evade the clear intentions of initiative 134. I-134 briefly forbade unions from using mandatory union dues for political campaigns.
The teachers’ union flagrantly disobeyed the law, but Gregoire enforced it only after the private Evergreen Freedom Foundation forced the issue in the courts. But although she slapped the union’s hand with a fine, she also provided the union with a legal roadmap for eluding the law in the future. The WEA rewarded Gregoire last week by endorsing her candidacy for governor, so she’ll be benefiting from those extorted dollars.
The Beckman case blunder was politically problematic for two reasons. First Christine Gregoire faced an imminent reelection campaign. Secondly, she did not want this blot on her resume when she laced up her running shoes for her next climb up the ladder.
The career path of a politician rarely includes coming down the success ladder. So they don’t really care whom they step on while climbing up that ladder. Christine Gregoire needed someone to serve as a rung on her ladder. This is where Janet Capp and Susan Barnes entered the picture.
Janet Capp worked on the Beckman case and was ultimately blamed for failing to get the proper papers filed in a timely fashion. Susan Barnes was the supposedly independent investigator who pointed the finger at Capp. Susan Barnes’ report forced Capps resignation from the Attorney General’s office.
The problem is that Susan Barnes was not all that independent. The Seattle Times recently acquired documentation that throughout the investigation, Christine Gregoire’s chief deputy attorney general, Kathy Mix, kept up an almost daily dialogue with Susan Barnes. Kathy Mix helped Barnes with her conclusions, the identification of a scapegoat, the exoneration of Gregoire, and even with the timing of the report’s release.
Mix asked that Barnes be “more positive” in one part of the report, and “can you give us any leeway here?" in another.
The Attorney General’s office even manipulated the date of the reports release, arguing that it would be "insane to write something before the election." So, the report was withheld until after the votes were counted and the election certified.
Susan Barnes waves away any appearance of impropriety by saying that the communications were only what one would expect in a lawyer-client relationship. The problem is that Susan Barnes was paid $50,000 by the State of Washington to discover the truth, not to represent the political interests of Christine Gregoire.
Richard Nixon taught us that the cover up is worse than the crime. Voters probably would have forgiven human error. Cover ups should never be forgiven.

I'm Not Responsible!

The big news on Earth Day was that John Kerry owns and drive a humongous, gas guzzlling SUV - a Chevrolet Suburban. No! Wait! It's not his fault. He doesn't actually own the SUV. His family does.

Of course, this tells us why he really doesn't oppose higher taxes on gasoline. He won't have to change whe he drives. His wife can afford to pay any price for gas.

Old Farts On Bikes

I'm 51 years old and I love competing in triathlons. I'm not unusual. Lots of old farts are doing the same thing.

"Multisport events, such as triathlons and duathlons, have grown in popularity among all age groups in the past 15 years. In its initial season in 1988, Triathlantic hosted only five races. This year, it has 17 events scheduled and more than 25,000 member athletes. Meanwhile, the USA Triathlon Mid-Atlantic Region boasts a 110-race schedule. The triathlon season runs spring to fall, meaning there's an event within a day's drive of Washington almost every weekend between now and October.

"Sold-out events are the norm," Jaeger says. "Athletes are beginning to realize the benefits of competing in multisport competitions -- more diversity, less monotony and generally less stressful on the body's joints than the individual acts of running, swimming or biking."

Witnessing the sport's rising popularity, the AARP decided to sponsor its own 12-city sprint triathlon series from 2001 to 2003. The idea was to promote fitness in the over-50 population. Although a triathlon -- even a short one -- takes a good bit of preparation, the series attracted 6,600 participants in its three years."

I don't do races limited old farts though. I get my greatest satisfaction beating the young punks.

Hillary Clinton - Hawk

Saint Hillary is not going to make John Kerry's mistake. She is determined that, when she runs for president, Republicans will not be able to point to an anti-military voting record.

"Even as the war in Iraq proves unpopular with her core base of liberal supporters, not to mention some mainstream Democrats, Mrs. Clinton has emerged as one of the most prominent Democratic backers of the military activities. In recent months, in speeches and interviews, she has defended her vote authorizing the Republican president to wage war, argued for more troops in Iraq and sided with President Bush's contention that Saddam Hussein was, as she put it, "a potential threat'' who "was seeking weapons of mass destruction, whether or not he actually had them.''

Last week, with violence surging in Iraq, she stood by her decision to approve a Congressional resolution permitting military action there, though she did accuse the president of failing to build sufficient international support for the war and failing to plan adequately for the aftermath of Mr. Hussein's downfall. And she appeared to agree with President Bush's contention that the conflict in Iraq was part of the broader fight against terror, indicating that global threats like Mr. Hussein took on greater urgency in a post-Sept. 11 world. "After 9/11, a lot of threats had to be looked at with fresh eyes,'' she said in the interview."

And The Winner Is

The Coogler Award winners have been announced. The worst books of 2003 have been recognized. All the losers won. Even some losers who lost won.

"The Coogler Committee did consider giving a non-fiction award to Michael Moore for his "Stupid White Men," but that was before we actually read the book, and from its title, we were under the misapprehension that Moore had written a confessional autobiography. Actually, it is a good thing Moore's infantile book did not qualify in the non-fiction category. He is such a repellent self-promoter that he would probably be the first Coogler laureate ever to show up at the awards ceremony to claim his trophy and deliver one of his customary whines about the Bush Tyranny or how he was practically swept out to sea by an automatic flush toilet at a public amenity that is a grave threat to the nation's water tables."

But the big winner was Al Franken with his ironically titled tome, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right."

Food For Fraud

Helle Dale has a fine primer on the Oil For Food scandal.

If you're new to this one, her column is a good place to catch up.

Shine A Light On The Cockroaches

Mainstream press coverage of the corrupt Oil-For-Food program has suddenly blossomed. I'm convinced that it's because George Bush and Tony Blair have suddenly made gestures in favor of granting the UN a greater role in Iraq.
In fact, I'm convinced that that's the real reason for the sudden embrace - to show the world precisely why the UN can't be trusted.

When people get a good look at the UN, John Kerry's plan for Iraq goes down the toilet.

Howard Fineman Expect Bush To Win

He lists nine advantages Bush has. One is John Kerry.

"He is a wooden campaigner, and his 20 years in the Senate have left him unable to see that bragging about legislative maneuvers is the last thing you want to do. Kerry explained to supporters recently that he’d voted for the $87 billion before he’d voted against it. In his mind, evidently, he was merely explaining (with a mordant sense of humor) how the Senate works."

Whatcha Hiding John?

Theresa Heinz likes being married to ambitious United States Senators. John Kerry needs rich women to fund his life style and ambitions. Maybe that's why Theresa Heinz Kerry is refusing to release her tax returns.

Maybe The Public Doesn't Want A President Who Apologizes

After the press conference at which President George W. Bush refused numerous reporter demands that he apologize, the Washington Post published a poll showing that Americans consider Bush a strong leader.
Hmmmm. Just a coincidence?

Kerry "Disgusted" By The Prospect Of Lower Gas Prices

John Kerry is disgusted that the Bush administration has asked Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices. Even though, Kerry himself has vowed to do exactly the same thing.
What bothers Kerry is that lower gasoline prices might boost Bush's reelection prospects. I can't help but notice that Kerry finds the prospect of lower gasoline prices disgusting, but he has had no comment on reports that Al Qaida may be planning major terrorist attacks just before the election to defeat President Bush.

Reaping The Whirlwind

Saudi Arabia has poured an awful lot of money into Al Quaida. Now Al Qaida is paying them back.

Kerry's Retreat

One thing is clear about the modern Democrat. They hate George W. Bush much more than they love their traditions.

During last week's "Meet The Press" appearance, John Kerry made it quite clear that he would accept just about any form of "stable" government in Iraq. He wouldn't even rule out an Iranian-style theocracy.

The Wall Street Journal notes: "In historic terms, this is a remarkable reversal. Once upon a time Democrats were the great promoters of morality and idealism in foreign policy. During the Cold War, those Democrats included Harry Truman and John Kennedy, the latter most famously in the aspirations of his inauguration speech to "pay any price" and "bear any burden" in the cause of liberty."

Blacks Not Enrolling In University of California System

That ain't necessarily bad. It's better to get a bachelor's from California State University, Hayward than to flunk out of the University of California, Berkeley.
But liberals don't like it.

Everybody Does It

When John McCain was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he reacted by blaming "the system" for his own corruption. Perhaps this is the reason that John Kerry claims that everybody was committing war atrocities in Vietnam.

Rob A Bank. Allah's Down With It

A Fatwah gives Muslims license to rob Jewish owned banks.

Put A Bandaid On That Booboo Then You Can Go Out And Play Again

That's what your mother would tell you if you if you had this injury. Instead, John Kerry demanded and got a Purple Heart and an early trip home from Vietnam.

Not A Complete List

Any list of the worst songs ever that doesn't have, "In The Year 2525" at the top is bogus. On this list, it doesn't even make the bottom 50.

Don't You Just Hate It When This Happens?

If you're squeamish, you won't want to look at this.

Outed!

I can't help it if I was born this way.

Dissent Equals Naziism

John Kerry's rather silly notion that any criticism of him is equivalent to questioning his patriotism has been surpassed by (tah dah!) environmentalist wackos.

"Rajendra Pachauri, as head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is expected to exaggerate and say silly things without any evidence. It's his job, really. Yet he goes too far in comparing Bjorn Lomborg to Hitler (link in Danish). A native Danish speaker advances the following translation of the key part:

Where is the difference between Lomborgs view of the human race and Hitler's? You can't treat humans as if they were cattle. If you were to accept Lomborgs way of thinking then maybe what Hitler did was the right thing.
Nature magazine published a review of Bjorn's book accusing him of "the equivalent of holocaust denial." Now Pachauri is accusing him of the equivalent of holocaust promotion. That is completely beyond the pale. Pachauri, an UN official, should resign."

Stones Like Basketballs

It doesn't sound much like the Iraq war was cooked up in Texas for political advantage. If Bob Woodward's book does nothing else, it reveals that Tony Blair has political balls that John Kerry could only dream of.

ABC News Discovers UNSCAM

Maybe Bush's strategy is bearing fruit already. I believe that Bush and Blair's sudden embrace of the United Nations is intended to shine light on the UN rather than actually surrender control of Iraqi reconstruction.

It may be bearing fruit already. After ignoring it for months, the mainstream press has suddenly discovered corruption in the United Nation's Oil for Food program. The latest is ABC News.

Oil Contracts for Political Support

The inquiries into the United Nations Oil-for-Food program result from the release in January of a list of 270 individuals, companies and institutions that allegedly received lucrative oil contracts from Saddam Hussein's former regime in return for political support.

The list was published by an Iraqi independent newspaper which claimed the document was discovered in the files of the former Iraqi Oil Ministry in Baghdad.

Oil vouchers were allegedly given either as gifts or as payment for goods imported into Iraq in violation of the U.N. sanctions.

The following are the names of some of those listed as receiving Iraqi oil contracts (amounts are in millions of barrels of oil):

Russia
The Companies of the Russian Communist Party: 137 million
The Companies of the Liberal Democratic Party: 79.8 million
The Russian Committee for Solidarity with Iraq: 6.5 million and 12.5 million (two separate contracts)
Head of the Russian Presidential Cabinet: 90 million
The Russian Orthodox Church: 5 million


France
Charles Pasqua, former minister of interior: 12 million
Trafigura (Patrick Maugein), businessman: 25 million
Ibex: 47.2 million
Bernard Merimee, former French ambassador to the United Nations: 3 million
Michel Grimard, founder of the French-Iraqi Export Club: 17.1 million

Along with several United Nations administrators of the program who undoubted were will to look the other way in exchange for millions of dollars.

Kerry Awards A Fellow Veteran The Right To Criticize.

According to John Kerry, not everyone has a right to criticize him. You have to earn that right. One man whom Kerry has genrously bestowed that right upon is John O'Neill. O'Neill is very upset about Kerry's smear of his fellow Vietnam veterans.

"His allegations that people committed war crimes in that unit, and throughout Vietnam, were lies. He knew they were lies when he said them, and they were very damaging lies." So says John O'Neill, who served in the same unit in Vietnam.

The dispute arises from John Kerry's 1971 allegations that he and many other servicemen committed atrocities in Vietnam.

"His allegations that people committed war crimes in that unit, and throughout Vietnam, were lies. He knew they were lies when he said them, and they were very damaging lies," said O'Neill, adding that other former sailors from the same unit also plan to come forward to take on Kerry, whose Vietnam service has figured prominently in his campaign for the White House.

What does John Kerry's spokesman have to say about this?

"He was a young man who came back, had seen a lot in Vietnam, wanted this country to end that war and came back worked very hard to bring that war to an end," Meehan said.

"Mr. O'Neill has certainly earned his right, through his service, to speak whatever he wants and have his opinions," Meehan said. "We would disagree with some of his characterizations. Sen. Kerry volunteered to go to Vietnam. ... [He] won a Silver Star for bravery, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts leading that division."

Maybe there's a good reason that John Kerry has been trying to conceal his military records.

UNSCAM Continues To Bubble To The Surface

Eventually, all of Kerry's favorite allies, the French, the Russians, and the United Nations, will be exposed for the bums they are.

This story has been slow to make headlines, but it's much too big to keep down, even though it will undercut liberal cliches and embarrass Kerry, the New York Times, and all the rest of the one world elite.

John Kerry Comes Down Solidly On Both Sides Of High Gas Prices

Today, John Kerry is against lowering gasoline prices, because that might benefit George W. Bush.

Scarcely a month ago, the presumptive Democratic nominee was chiding Mr. Bush for his failure to engage Middle Eastern oil producers. In a March 30 statement, Mr. Kerry claimed, "I'll use real diplomacy to do what George Bush hasn't — pressure OPEC to start providing more oil." The release added, "As president, John Kerry will engage in diplomacy to ensure that U.S. consumers are not held hostage to price fixing by OPEC." A few days later, Mr. Kerry said, "By treating the Saudis with kid gloves, the president is giving them the green light to produce less oil and drive prices up."

Not Even The Post Can Endure Kerry's Flip Flops

John Kerry has always known just what needs to be done in Iraq. But, it's not always been the same thing, as the Washington Post points out.

"Mr. Kerry contends that he has not shifted his public position. But there are major differences between what he said in December -- right after Saddam Hussein's capture, when Mr. Kerry was seeking to discredit dovish Democratic challenger Howard Dean -- and his remarks last week, which followed several weeks of bad news from Iraq and growing public disenchantment with the course of the war. Where once he named democracy as a task to be completed, and the alternative to "cutting and running" or a "false success," Mr. Kerry now says democracy is optional. Where once he warned against setting the conditions for an early but irresponsible withdrawal of U.S. forces, now he does so himself by defining the exit standard as "stability," a term that could describe Saudi Arabia or Iran -- or the Iraq of Saddam Hussein."

How To Create News

If told with enough hyperventilation, no news, or old news, becomes big news. Especially if the guy doing the huffing and puffing is Bob Woodward.

The other Woodward "revelation" is that the president asked Donald Rumsfeld on Nov. 21, 2001, to develop a plan for war against Iraq. The inference, I suppose, is that President Bush planned to attack Iraq shortly after 9/11. But, of course, he didn't order Iraq attacked immediately after 9/11. The war wasn't launched until March 2003.
In any event, on April 28, 2002, the New York Times reported that "in developing a potential approach for toppling . . . Saddam Hussein . , . [the Bush administration] is concentrating its attention on a major air campaign and ground invasion, with initial estimates contemplating the use of 70,000 to 250,000 troops." On July 20, 2002, the AP reported that Mr. Rumsfeld "ordered an internal investigation into who leaked [to the New York Times] a highly classified document on possible military actions to topple" Saddam. So, we all knew the Pentagon was developing a contingency plan. Why does it matter whether the plan was ordered on Nov. 21, 2001, Dec. 21, 2001, Jan. 21, 2002, and so forth?

John Kerry Is No Patriot

Jonah Goldberg says so. So do I. So does anybody who criticizes John Kerry, according to John Kerry.

"I fought under that flag and I saw that flag draped over the coffins of friends," Kerry declared, referencing his service in Vietnam for the 12,098,876,918th time by my rough count. "I'm tired of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney and a bunch of people who went out of their way to avoid the chance to serve when they had the chance," he said.

According to The Washington Post, after one of these outbursts, Kerry was asked by reporters if he knew anything about Karl Rove's draft record. Kerry said he didn't, but "I'm just not going to be accused by any of these people of not being strong on defense, period."

Woodward Is Right. Everyone Else Is Wrong

It's Bob Woodward against everybody. He claims to know what is in everybody's mind. But, when they speak for themselves, they don't agree.

He Didn't Really Mean It

On Sunday, John Kerry promised full disclosure of his military records. By Monday, he had changed his mind.

Where Can Residents Of South Dakota Go For Honest News

Not to the state's largest newspaper, that's for sure.

Colin Powell Lied

The Dallas Morning News has the goods on the Secretary of State.

No Easy Answers

John Kerry argues that the solution to Iraq is to bring in the UN, regardless of the cowardice, corruption, and incompetence that has defined the UN lately. Not even the Washington Post believes Kerry is right.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), the presumptive Democratic nominee, continues to advocate that the United States hand authority in Baghdad to the United Nations, ignoring the reality that the U.N. leadership is unwilling and unable to take over from the Coalition Provisional Authority.

The Post also scolds the Bush Administration for recently placing too much faith in the UN. I don't agree. I think Bush is calling the UN's bluff. He wants to draw attention to the corruption and the utter bumbling incompetence of the United Nations by placing it front and center of the Iraq stage.

Between now and the election, the UN will prove its utter incapacity in this regard and Bush will have Kerry's nuts on a skewer.

Another Liberals Sniffs At The Idea Of Sincerity

Richard Cohen finds it ludicrous that Bush does what he genuinely believes is right. How dare he?

Whatever the case, the real news in this engrossing book is not exactly what Bush says but that he says it at all -- and sometimes, surprisingly, both articulately and with some erudition. Here is a man convinced that he did the right thing, convinced -- despite contrary evidence -- that there was some sort of link between Saddam Hussein and terrorism and that, as he told Mexican President Vicente Fox, "The security of the United States is on the line."

This is what Bush said on the eve of the war and what, presumably, he still believes.

Democrats Are Scaredy Cats

The MRI doesn't lie.

Remember When This Guy Was A Mover And Shaker In The Democratic Party?

Michael Moore roots for the Iraqi insurgents.

Doom and Gloom

One person wrote a memo expressing his opinion that Iraq could dissolve into civil war. One person (anonymous). One memo (just one). The world is coming to an end - at least the Village Voice hopes so.

No High Hopes For Kerry

Hillary Clinton doesn't seem to think much of Kerry's candidacy.

Asked by Kalb if John Kerry could beat Bush in November, she said "he will," putting his odds at "better than 50/50." But asked what that was based on, she said, "Based on hope."

Denmark Lied!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Danes believed that Saddam had WMD's too.

Yielding To Hangovers

Duke University is the place to go if you need a little more time to sleep it off.

Collateral Damage

Yesterday was the 11th annivesary of Janet Reno's slaughter at Waco.

Our Friends, The Canadians

Another of those opponents of the United States that John Kerry admires has placed its law and prestige behind a terrorist.

Shooting Blanks

The Democrats have manipulated the 9/11 commission to attack Bush. Bob Woodward and Richard Clarke have written books attacking Bush and the media has done its best to use those books against Bush. The media repeats Democratic distortions about the state of the economy.
And Bush's poll numbers continue to rise. Clearly, Americans have left the mainstream media behind.

Blood For Oil. Our Blood. Oil For The French

Jacques Chirac had a lot invested in Saddam Hussein. It's no wonder he fought so hard to undermine our efforts in Iraq.

"Chirac was determined to maintain Saddam Hussein in power so that two extraordinarily lucrative oil contracts, negotiated by the French, could go into effect. Very little has been written about this until now.

The deals were negotiated separately by CFP Total and by Elf Aquitaine during the mid to late 1990s. At the time, both companies were state-controlled. They have since been privatized and combined into the world’s second largest oil giant, TotalFinalElf."

A Clear Link Between Saddam And Al Qaida

John Kerry disparaged United States allies as the "coalition of the bribed."
Saddam Hussein had his own coalition of the bribed too. He used the corrupt Oil For Food program to buy off polticians in France, Russia and the United Nations. Plus, he used it to funnel money to Al Qaida.
John Kerry has always saved his respect for those countries that oppose the United States. So, the coalition he admires most includes terrorists.

"One link ran from a U.N.-approved buyer of Saddam's oil, Galp International Trading Corp., involved near the very start of the program, to a shell company called ASAT Trust in Liechtenstein, linked to a bank in the Bahamas, Bank Al Taqwa. Both ASAT Trust and Bank Al Taqwa were designated on the U.N.'s own terror-watch list, shortly after 9/11, as entities "belonging to or affiliated with Al Qaeda." This Liechtenstein trust and Bahamian bank were linked to two closely connected terrorist financiers, Youssef Nada and Idris Ahmed Nasreddin — both of whom were described in 2002 by Treasury as "part of an extensive financial network providing support to Al Qaeda and other terrorist related organizations," and both of whom appear on the U.N.'s list of individuals belonging to or affiliated with al Qaeda.

The other tie between Oil-for-Food and al Qaeda, noted by Perelman, ran through another of Saddam's handpicked, Oil-for-Food oil buyers, Swiss-based Delta Services — which bought oil from Saddam in 2000 and 2001, at the height of Saddam's scam for grafting money out of Oil-for-Food by way of under-priced oil contracts. Now shut down, Delta Services was a subsidiary of a Saudi Arabian firm, Delta Oil, which had close ties to the Taliban during Osama bin Laden's heyday in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. In discussions of graft via Oil-for-Food, it has been assumed that the windfall profits were largely kicked back to Saddam, or perhaps used to sway prominent politicians and buy commercial lobbying clout. But that begs further inquiry. There was every opportunity here for Saddam not solely to pocket the plunder, but to send it along to whomever he chose — once he had tapped into the appropriate networks."