Kenny Loggins

Andrew Sullivan says there is no "Edwards Bounce" for Kerry.

Tully at Centerfield says there is an "Edwards Bounce" for Kerry.

Who's correct?

Looks to me like Tully is.

The Minnesota State Republican Party has developed a website that allows it's activists to tap into voters who's info they want to know about.

They're specifically interested in the activists in neighborhoods.

WebVoter gives GOP activists 25 names of people who are mostly within a few blocks of them. The idea is to find out what the hot button issues are for their neighbors. Names are given out with and without permission.

Individuals who appear persuadable will be given Bush Campaign literature.

Next up: Karl Rove implants microchips into the butts of all voters in Texas.

Temptations

According to PK's Washington DC source, you can look for "big numbers" in the polls early this week in the Minnesota 6th Congressionial District for Democrat Patty Wetterling.

Wettlering is running against Republican incumbent Mark Kennedy. Numbers on this race should be released Monday or Tuesday.

Our source also gives us good vibes in Texas for:

Chet Edwards

and

Martin Frost

Yesterday's post on Republican complaints about Dems politicizing the war on terror noted how despite GOP complaints...their side is pretty blatant about merchandising the situation to garner money and votes.

And some of them are even proud of it.

En Vogue

Lance Armstrong is a complete stud.

What an inspiration that guy is. I'm turning 40 on July 28. Maybe it's time to get back to the gym.....

According to the right leaning Washington Times, more than half of the House GOP is wondering why prolife speakers don't have primetime spots at the GOP Convention.

127 of the 227 House Republicans are asking Bush to give Henry Hyde (R-Ill) a longtime prolifer a prominent prime time slot at the Republican National Convention. According to the Times, most of the prime time slots for the GOP are going to prochoicers.

There's been a lot of commentary around the blogosphere about the lack of right leaning speakers in prime time for the GOP Convention. Given that these speakers (except for perhaps Arnold...he may be pushing his luck...see Kevin Drum) have little say in GOP policy and governance...it's a pretty nice dog and pony show.

Looks like the rest of the rats on the ship want some cake.

David Sirota has written a pretty interesting piece on how liberals and conservatives are coming together to fight a common foe: neocons.

The Republicans would never, EVER politicize terrorism, right?

It's Democrats who do stuff like that...just ask the Republicans...

"Remember when Sen. John Kerry and his Democratic colleagues hammered President Bush for allegedly politicizing the War on Terror? Those charges were entirely bogus – it is the Democrats who have been doing the politicizing."--David Limbaugh

"I am disappointed that the discussion in the presidential primary has totally ignored or forgotten the old adage that 'politics stops at the water's edge' -- we should not be getting into political battles when we have troops in harm's way,"Sen. Kit Bond R-Mo

“It used to be that when our nation was engaged in a war, politics stopped at the water’s edge. But it seems that Democratic leaders now want to play politics with our intelligence agencies, as those agencies help fight the war on terror.--Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House

So this is how the liberals are going to campaign this year: By taking the most important issue since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, igniting World War II, and using it oust Bush and put an anti-American liberal in the White House. It’s Bill Clinton all over again. And eight years of the Clintons set the stage for 9/11. --Gordon Bishop, American Daily.com

Those mean and nasty Democrats. How dare they. Republicans would never do such a thing.

The Washington Post reports today that pro-Democratic organizations are seriously outpacing their pro-GOP brothers in fundraising and voter mobilization efforts.

One of the most heavily publicized pro-GOP groups, Progress for America, raised $2.3 million in the second quarter of this year, most of it from three of Bush's major fundraisers, according to new filings with the Internal Revenue Service. Another, the Leadership Forum, backed by some of Washington's most prominent Republican lobbyists and the GOP congressional leadership, raised $15,719.
The two top pro-Democratic groups, the Media Fund and America Coming Together, raised nearly nine times as much in the past quarter, or a combined $20 million, according to IRS filings.
 
I've long maintained that despite the close polls for Kerry and Bush...the Republicans are vastly underestimating how pissed off the left is at Bush.  For the first time, the left is willing to really work hard to get their guy in.  The Republicans are also underestimating their own side's apprehensions about Bush.
 
These numbers from proDem organizations reaffirm that position for me.
 
 

Chubby Checker

Remember that old adage, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? In an effort to honor that sage advice, I've kept myself on an email loop consisting mostly of conservatives. These aren't just any conservatives, either. The vast majority of these people are dyed in the wool Bush supporters. Short of Bush being videotaped naked in the street firing off rounds at the Capitol in broad daylight in front of 100 witnesses, these guys will vote for Bush no matter what.

With the Senate report essentially calling Joe Wilson a liar now in their sights, the proBush email group is all a twitter.

In my response to this I noted to the group, "Even if Wilson is a liar, what difference does it make? Two senior Bush Administration officials outed a covert CIA operative's name to multiple reporters. That's not Wilson's fault. So what's the dif?"

And so they linked me to this blog.

One Hand Clapping proffers the claim that it doesn't matter that Valerie Plame was outed to reporters because by golly....her status didn't meet the legal definition. Also it can't be illegal unless those who outed her knew she was covert.

So with this twisted yet effortless "logic", the Justice Department has undertaken a very expensive, long investigation in which the President of the United States, the Vice President, their most senior aides/advisors and various other folks are interviewed...and there's practically no way that there's criminal wrongdoing. Brilliant, eh?

And how do we reach this incredible conclusion? The Senate report which attempted to completely absolve the President of wrongdoing on WMD says that contrary to what Wilson said..his wife got him the Niger gig.

What the folks at What Hand Clapping appear to be overlooking is that if their conclusions are correct...this makes Justice look completely inept. They take a case in which there's no possible outcome of wrongdoing... and spend millions of dollars and hundreds (or thousands) of man hours investigating it..?

LOL it's gotta be tough to be a Bush supporter nowadays.

Ian Spiers is taking a photography class at Shoreline Community College, which is just North of Seattle. While attempting to complete a class assignment he ran afowl of Big Brother.

The Artist's Statement - Text Only

The Artist's Statement - Graphic Version

Brown Equals Terrorist - Ian Spiers blog which gives more details as they happen.

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. - Benjamin Franklin

The Washington Post reports today that Riggs Bank helped former Chilean Dictator Agusto Pinochet hide millions of dollars in assets from international prosecutors while he was under house arrest in Britain, according to a report by Senate investigators.

The report, drafted by minority Democrats also says the top federal bank examiner,R. Ashley Lee, in charge of supervising the District's largest bank kept details about Riggs's relationship with Pinochet out of the Riggs case file. This took place a few months before Lee retired from government and went to work for Riggs.

Last May, Riggs Bank agreed to pay $25 million to federal regulators for failing to report suspicious activity, the largest penalty ever assessed against a domestic bank in connection with money laundering. The fines were in conjunction with Riggs' dealings with the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Equatorial Guinea.

The FBI also probed Riggs Bank in connection with the bank account of bank account of Saudi Princess Haifa. Money from this Riggs account went toward subsidizing the families of two Saudi students..who then funneled it to two of the 9/11 hijackers.

Yup...there's our old friends the Saudis again.

And there's yet another twist to this story. It seems that the brother of former President Bush and the uncle of the current President Bush is a big shot with Riggs. Jonathan Bush is CEO and President of Riggs Investment Management Company.

A quick search at OpenSecrets.org of Riggs' officers campaign donations shows a heavy but not extraordinary giving to Republicans. Kev and I thought it was curious that this report was done by the Democrats and apparently not bipartisan.

For those of you who missed Sunday's Doonesbury...it's a classic.

Lately there's been kvetching at the federal level about postponing elections if terrorists launch another attack against the US. Some cite concerns about terrorists attempting to meddle with the outcome of our elections.

But what about other outside interests trying to meddle in US elections...such as The Vatican?

Top Vatican Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger says that the decision by some US bishops to deny communion to certain individuals who agree with some Catholic doctrine is "very much in harmony" with the advice sent down from the Vatican. Ratzinger heads Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith an organization that is described by AP as the "orthodoxy watchdog" of the Vatican. This organization watches over the bishops to offer advice on how they should be handling issues. However they appear so far to only be singling out liberals in their quest for religious purity. Abortion and euthanasia and gay marriage are the areas this organization finds problematic. The Death penalty and social justice appear to be much more flexible when it comes to laying the hammer on receiving communion.

What this comes down to is the Vatican putting pressure on US bishops to deny a rite of the Catholic church based on whether or not they're political liberals...whether actual or perceived. Is this only going to apply to politicians or does the Vatican plan on checking each voter's ballot to see if they've voted correctly?

And for the Republicans...


Chinese financiers trying to meddle in US elections=bad

Terrorists trying to meddle in US elections=very bad

The Vatican trying to meddle in US elections=excellent

Stephen F. Hayes piece, Knight Ridder Gets It Wrong, quite correctly points out several instances of very shoddy journalism by Knight Ridder in a recent piece on Bush and Saddam/al Queda. But if Weekly Standard readers are expecting to get the whole truth from Hayes they'd be mistaken.

In quibbling over whether Saddam and Osama had an "established formal relationship" or not, Hayes rhetorically asks, "does the lack of an 'established formal relationship' preclude cooperation? Not according to bin Laden. The same internal Iraqi Intelligence document reports that bin Laden 'requested joint operations against foreign forces' based in Saudi Arabia." (emphasis added) The reader is obviously supposed to connect the proffered dots and arrive at the conclusion that Saddam and Osama were actively cooperating with each other.

First of all, given what we know about the nature of how Saddam ran his regime it seems overly generous to attribute such veracity to any document crafted by members of his government without something more substantive to corroborate them with. After all, weren't the documents purporting to fully account for Iraqi WMD submitted by Saddam's government to the UN soundly rejected as woefully lacking in substance by this very same Bush administration? Secondly, Hayes encourages his readers to arrive at a logically fallacious conclusion. Using his logic one would be forced to conclude that all Fidel Castro would have to do would be to "request" joint operations with the RNC against Cuban anti-communist dissidents and John Q "Dupe" Public could reasonably conclude that the Republicans are guilty of an "established formal relationship" with Castro and his communist regime. Forget whether or not the RNC might reject such a request out of hand, which they undoubtedly would do. According to Hayes the mere act of requesting something can be used to establish a formal relationship, repleat with the implied consentual nature of said relationship.

Then Hayes takes Knight Ridder to task for questioning Bush's assertions about Abu Musab al Zarqawi's alleged relationship with Saddam's regime. He criticizes Knight Ridder for relying on anonymous US intelligence sources rather than a Senate Intelligence Committee report and a CIA report which both infer at least some sort of relationship between Zarqawi and Saddam. Hayes, citing the 2003 CIA report, quotes it thusly: "A variety of reporting indicates that senior al Qaeda terrorist planner al Zarqawi was in Baghdad [redacted]. A foreign government service asserted that the IIS [Iraqi Intelligence Service] knew where al Zarqawi was located despite Baghdad's claims that it could not find him." (emphasis added) Ummm... didn't a foreign government service (England) asserted that Saddam was trying to buy uranium from Niger... a charge cited by Bush and later debunked by former Ambassador Joe Wilson? But, that's not even the most appalling part of Hayes argument. He glibly glosses over the well established fact that Zarqawi's base was in Kurdish controlled territory to bend over backwards in trying to make a connection between Zarqawi and Saddam.

Stephen F. Hayes has a new book out, The Connection: How al Qaeda's Collaboration with Saddam Hussein has Endangered America (HarperCollins). I wonder when we can expect Hayes to write the sequel, The Connection: How Our Kurdish Allies Collaboration With al Zarqawi Has Endangered America.

MJ

Apparently the Bush Campaign no longer considers Oregon a swing state. This week the administration has brought down a full frontal assault on the Beaver State.

First is the continued "dog with a bone" antics of Bush's Justice Department on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act. In May the Ninth Circuit Court ruled 2-1 that the Justice Department couldn't prosecute physicians who write lethal prescription's under Oregon's law. Aschroft has asked the Ninth to reconsider the decision with all eleven justices in attendance. In today's New York Times, Nicolas Kristof (an Oregonian himself)notes:

Mr. Ashcroft and other critics have so far lost in their efforts, in the courts and in Congress, to block the Oregon law. But instead of moving on and letting Oregon proceed with its pathbreaking experiment, the Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Monday for a new hearing.

The Oregon law deserves to be upheld. It forces us to examine the question of what is special about human life. The answer, I think, is the autonomy and dignity inherent in our individuality — in making hard decisions for ourselves and determining our own destinies. Oregon honors that vision of what is sacred about life.

Also this week, the Bush Administration lifted Clinton administration restrictions on building roads and logging in roadless areas. This effects about 58 million acres of land in the US, approximately 2 million of which are in Oregon. The Bush plan requires governors of the individual states to petition the federal government to have these lands protected. It essentially eviscerates a bipartisan plan put together by the Western governors to have a comprehensive western forest management plan.

Oregon Governor Ted Kulingoski blasted the plan on national television yesterday:

"There is nothing in this proposal that is being put forward that will make this certain or stable for any state," Kulongoski said.

Federal agencies already must consult state leaders on land management issues, he said, but "it doesn't get us anyplace." The Bush plan to have states petition on behalf of roadless lands is hardly better, he said, because states have no real authority over those lands.

"I would urge that if in fact the administration is truly interested in providing more jobs for the people of our states which have large holdings of federal lands, that they would do it in a way that would engage us in a partnership, that would allow us to actually have some of the responsibility," .

Oregon is a state that's been at the forefront of many progressive issues...we're mavericks. Oregon was one of the first states to enact comprehensive statewide forest management practices. Oregon was the first state to have a "bottle bill" to encourage recycling. Oregon is also the first state to have a Death With Dignity law. Oregonians don't like the federal government trying to manhandle them, either. If Bush really wanted the votes of the citizens of Oregon, he'd know this.

Money is the inspiration

For those of you that scoff at the idea of "war profiteering"...here's a bit of grist for the mill.

Lobbyists, public relations people, confidential advisors to senior officials...are cashing their fat checks thanks to the war in Iraq.

Examples:

A former Senate aide who helped get U.S. funds for anti-Hussein exiles who are now active in Iraqi affairs has a $175,000 deal to advise Romania on winning business in Iraq and other matters.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey is a vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm. He was a featured speaker in May 2003 at a conference co-sponsored by the company at which about 80 corporate executives and others paid up to $1,100 to hear about the economic outlook and business opportunities in Iraq.

Neil Livingstone, a former Senate aide who has served as a Pentagon and State Department advisor and issued repeated public calls for Hussein's overthrow. He heads a Washington-based firm, GlobalOptions, that provides contacts and consulting services to companies doing business in Iraq.

Randy Scheunemann, a former Rumsfeld advisor who helped draft the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 authorizing $98 million in U.S. aid to Iraqi exile groups. He was the founding president of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. Now he's helping former Soviet Bloc states win business there.

Margaret Bartel, who managed federal money channeled to Chalabi's exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, including funds for its prewar intelligence program on Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction. She now heads a Washington-area consulting firm helping would-be investors find Iraqi partners.

K. Riva Levinson, a Washington lobbyist and public relations specialist who received federal funds to drum up prewar support for the Iraqi National Congress. She has close ties to Bartel and now helps companies open doors in Iraq, in part through her contacts with the Iraqi National Congress.


So much for Michael Moore being a liar on the war profiteering angle of F9/11.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef has decided to 'fess up that Saudi militants have gone into Iraq to fight the US.

Despite having hotly denied that their citizens were in Iraq fighting the US, Nayef finally told reports yesterday that Saudis were in fact there. Iraqi officials have been claiming for months that some of the insurgents were Saudis.

Nayef says that there's been no official word to the Saudi government tht their citizens are fighting in Iraq...but the newspapers in Saudi Arabia just happened to have carried obituaries for Saudis who've died fighting the US in Iraq.

But aren't the Saudis are friends? Weren't we flying their people out of the US on September 13, 2001 to protect them from the frothing mobs of Americans out to retaliate against them? Aren't they helping to manipulate gas prices so W can get reelected? They're the good guys! W has told us so!

The Bush family and Administration is very close to the Saudi royal family...as has been well documented. These are the people who's citizens flew airplanes into our buildings to murder 3000 of our citizens. These are the people who spawned Al Qaida. And now they're killing our soldiers in Iraq.

And we still have diplomatic relations with them because...?

Oh yeah....black gold...Texas "T"....

A little KISS

The Kerry Campaign sent a Anniversary card to the Bush Campaign.

From Kerry's Campaign Manager, Mary Beth Cahill...some highlights:

July 13, 2004
Ken Mehlman
Campaign Manager
BUSH-CHENEY '04, Inc.




Dear Ken:


Over the past several months, allies of the President have questioned John Kerry’s patriotism while your staff has criticized his service in Vietnam. Republicans and their allies have gone so far as to launch attacks against his wife and your campaign has run $80 million in negative ads that have been called baseless, misleading and unfair by several independent observers.

And just to put the cherry on the cake....

We also wanted to wish you a happy anniversary. As we are sure you and the attorneys representing the President, Vice-President and other White House officials are aware, today marks one year since Administration sources leaked the identity of a covert CIA agent to Bob Novak in an effort to retaliate against a critic of the Administration.


Now if only CNN would read this on the air...

Has the October Surprise has been revealed?

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has quietly ordered elements of the long range missile defense system to begin operations on October 1.

This date is about four weeks before the 2004 elections.

So this hardly tested, extremely expensive, unworking "defense shield" is going operational. Nevermind that the single greatest act of terrorism against the continental US would never have been stopped by such a device. Nevermind that the single greatest threat to the United States as outlined by this Administration is terrorism (so much so that some want to have a plan to postpone the election).

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Simon and Garfunkel are amazing.

Latest polling from the Washington Post:

Bush job approval:
approve 48
dissaprove 50

Election (registered voters)
Kerry/Edwards 46
Bush/Cheney 46
Nader/Camejo 4

Election (general population)
Kerry/Edwards 46
Bush/Cheney 45
Nader/Camejo 5

What's really fascinating are the "who do you trust to do a better job..?" questions:

a. The economy: Bush 43 Kerry 51
b. The situation in Iraq: Bush 47 Kerry 47
c. The US campaign against terrorism: Bush 51 Kerry 42
d. Immigration issues with Latin America: Bush 38 Kerry 42
e. Education: Bush 40 Kerry 50

Kerry has made major inroads on the numbers in terms of dealing with the situation in Iraq when compared with Bush. He's still down overall on the "terrorism campaign"...but in my opinion that's more of an issue framing problem than anything else. Kerry has to frame that issue in such a way as to show the American people that this isn't and can't be a "war on terrorism".

It's groups of extremists that need to be dealt with as the criminals they are. And it's also a matter of working with the cultural and social issues in the various regions that are the root causes of developing these young Arab men to terrorists. In addition the major policy changes in the US away from the Bush Doctrine to the traditional method of dealing with foriegn nations of inclusion and working together is also important for Kerry to continue to stress.

Apparently once is not enough.

Bush wants the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider their ruling backing Oregon's Doctor Assisted Suicide Law.

For those that don't know, the citizens of Oregon have twiced passed a measure allowing terminally ill individuals to receive a prescription that would end their lives. Oregon's law was approved for the second time in 1994 by 60% of the state's electorate.

The Ninth split on a 2-1 decision last May. The Justice Department wants all eleven judges to hear the case in an effort to set aside the May ruling.

The priorities of this administration are completely screwed up. Tomorrow we hold a vote on an anti-gay marriage amendment to the US Constitution (that is doomed) but we can't vote on funding for homeland security. We have the President of the United States, the Vice President and the House Majority Leader all having to get attorneys for possible illegal doings and we have Ridge coming out warning about more terrorist attacks to come...but the priority of Justice is to make sure that dying people in pain have to stay alive against their will.

This is nuts.

...I know right now you can't tell
but stay awhile and then you'll see, a different side of me

Weird stuff from around the globe:

Man Dodges Suicide Pact with Bride

Its'y Bitsy spider catches a snake ewwwww

Police resuscitate rabbit

Castration jibe cut from 'Shrek 2'

BNL

Mrs Heinz Kerry is taking no crap from the GOP who are whining about her wealth:

"Those very same people never criticized my late husband for his money or his wealth - in fact, they used it," said Mrs. Heinz Kerry, who inherited an estate estimated at $500 million to $1 billion from her first husband, Senator H. John Heinz III, a Pennsylvania Republican who was killed in a plane crash. "His money was just dandy."

Yup.

The GOP is having a tough time lately with attacks on Kerry and Edwards. First the attack on Edwards not having enough experience...turns out Edwards has more experience that W when he took office. Then there's the "Edwards is an ambulance chasing lawyer" line which was tossed back in their faces by the fact that between Bush, Cheney and DeLay they're eating up more billable hours than you can shake a stick at. And now there's the "well they're just a bunch of wealthy people who can't represent the little guy." Hmmm...this comes from Bush the millionaire and Cheney the millionaire....and as Mrs Kerry so succinctly points out...the money never bothered them when it was in the GOP camp.

Game, set, match.

The RNC is planning to pay folks who raise money for them on their websites.

Okay..I was kidding about the switching....

This is a good idea on it's face but it essentially undercuts these internet movements from being grassroots.

Inspiration by Frank.

A lot has been said in the news about the problems the Democratic Party (and specifically the Kerry campaign) have had with the mayor of Boston in the lead up to the Democratic National Convention.

Apparently it's not going so smoothly for the GOP either.

Michael Bloomberg (Mayor of New York) and the GOP are at odds with some of the nuts and bolts of the convention. Bloomberg is angry with the Republicans in Washington for not doing enough to fund New York City's homeland security issues. Bloomberg has apparently "played ball" with the folks at the national level..only to feel stabbed in the back in return.

Bloomberg is a former Democrat who switched party affiliations a few months before he ran for Mayor of New York.

Given the horror that the city of New York endured on 9/11, one would think the GOP would be smart enough to make sure that they had what they need. Apparently not. Given that the GOP is going to be holding their convention in this very Democratic city already, the GOP are digging themselves in an even larger hole with Bloomberg.

Ron Reagan, Jr is going to be addressing the Democratic Convention in prime time.

The topic? Stem-cell research, of course.

How will the GOP go after their favorite man's son on this?

Very smart play on the part of the Dems. Nice touch.

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me

Tom DeLay's corporate fundraising is under investigation. In 2001 DeLay alledgedley pressured Enron's people to give his political action committee $100,000 (on top of the $250K that Enron had already pledged to the GOP. This information was discovered in an email uncovered during the Enron investigation. The Washington Post reports that they've now come into over a dozen documents that show DeLay and his associates directing money from corporations and lobbyists to various "Republican campaign coffers in Texas in 2001 and 2002 as part of a plan to redraw the state's congressional districts.".

So far, DeLay is not the target of any official investigation.

If the Federal Election Commission doesn't start up an official investigation of DeLay on this matter then they're shirking their responsibility. This guy appears to have completely flouted both federal and Texas state finance laws.

But the real responsibility rest with the 22nd Congressional District. Those people keep sending this charlatan to the House. It's their responsibility to get rid of him. And it's disgusting that the rest of us in the country have to deal with the repercussions of his shenanigans.

Today is day two of the flu from hell.

I don't have any idea where I acquired this nasty virus..but it's kicking my butt. I have been out of bed a total of five minutes to write this post then it's back off to bed.

What a lousy way to go on a crash diet. Ugh.

Hope the rest of you are having a good weekend. I shall live vicariously through you while I lay on my bed moaning watching reruns of old movies on Direct TV.