Lie Down With Dogs, Get Up With Fleas
Opinion: McCollum for GOP: " The Mel Martinez campaign's unprincipled attacks on Bill McCollum show Martinez to be unworthy of support in Tuesday's Republican Senate primary." [--snip--]

Until this embarrassing campaign, Martinez also had a reputation as a pragmatic leader more interested in solving problems than in spouting ideological cliches. Before joining the Bush administration as Housing secretary, Martinez was chairman of Orange County government, a nonpartisan position in which he won praise across the political spectrum.

Our apologies to our canine friends.

What does a Republican Have to Do To Get Fired?

USA Today: Yahoo! News - Report catalogues problems in air marshals service: "Federal air marshals have slept on the job, tested positive for alcohol or drugs while on duty, lost their weapons and falsified information, the Homeland Security Department's inspector general said Monday in a scathing report on the air marshals program.

The government logged 753 incidents of misconduct by air marshals during an eight-month period in 2002, according to the report. The report criticizes the undercover program as being too lenient on officers involved in misconduct. Most were placed on leave with pay after the incidents."

Tell the truth, if Paul O'Neill is any example.

But not under your command, aWol

Yahoo! News - Bush Now Saying 'We Will Win' Terror War: "NASHVILLE, Tenn. - President Bush (news - web sites) said Tuesday 'we will win' the war on terror, seeking to quell controversy and Democratic criticism over his earlier remark that victory may not be possible."

True. Cruel, but True.

Time: Kinsley:TIME Magazine: The Case Against Him: "The average gas-station attendant struggled harder to get where he or she is than did George W. Bush. Then came Sept. 11."

Revenge of the Chickenhawks

CNN: CNN.com - Delegates mock Kerry with 'purple heart' bandages - Aug 30, 2004: "NEW YORK (CNN) -- Delegates to the Republican National Convention found a new way to take a jab at Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Vietnam service record: by sporting adhesive bandages with small purple hearts on them."

Pudentilla did not believe the SCLM would cover this story. She was wrong. She apologizes.

Pudentilla observes that justified moral outrage has not been a completely effective response to the efforts of the Republicans to smear Mr. Kerry's heroic record of service in Vietnam. Accordingly, she suggests (originally in comments to Steve Gilliard's post) that those who support Mr. Kerry consider the following response to the purple heart band-aids:

"Oh that's just the revenge of the chickenhawks. They had other priorities than facing battle thirty years ago, and with the passage of time have become heroes in their own minds. If Mr. Bush had a better record of military service they wousldn't but doing this. Those who served and fought for their country find this ploy a little pathetic. But it's a free country."

Or words to that effect.

The End of Moderate Wing of the Republican Party

WaPo: Dionne: Getting Centered In N.Y. (washingtonpost.com): "Rep. Amo Houghton, a classic New York moderate Republican, is retiring from Congress this year. He is a gentleman and a gentle man. He did not sign the ad in the Times. But the 78-year-old Houghton, who joined the party of Dewey in 1948, does not mince words about whether trotting out moderation every four years will continue to be enough to keep the moderates in.

'They want the salesmen of moderation and the policymakers of the right wing,' Houghton said of his party in an interview on the eve of the convention. Moderates, he said, do not want to be 'the guys you pull out of the closet and, after the election, put us back in.'"

We do not believe Rep. Houghton was referring to Ed Schrock.

Wife's Endorsement Not Reassuring

NYT: The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Morning Briefing: For G.O.P., Another Night of Moderation Lies Ahead: "Asked how Mr. Bush had changed since becoming president, Mrs. Bush said he was 'more serious' but still had a sense of humor and, of course, 'is a little bit grayer, he doesn't look quite as young as when he started.'"

Has his experience made him more reflective? More thoughtful engaged in the debates that shape our national discourse? No. But he doesn't laugh as much.

Republicans Outsourcing Foreign Policy?

L.A. Times: FBI Questions Israeli Lobbyists in Spying Probe: "Contact between a Pentagon official and an AIPAC executive would be nothing unusual, those familiar with the lobbying group said.

'That's the part of the story that rings true,' said Ami Eden, national editor of the prominent Jewish weekly newspaper the Forward. 'Assuming nothing unlawful happened, it would make sense that a Pentagon official frustrated with [U.S.] policy on Iran would go to AIPAC to do an end run as a way to pressure the administration to do more on Iran.' "

Make sense to whom? Pudentilla awaits the resignation of administration officials over this fiasco with baited breath. Not.

Turning the Corner in Iraq?

L. A. Times: Sovereign Iraq Just as Deadly to U.S. Forces: "BAGHDAD — Two months after the U.S. handed sovereignty back to Iraq amid hopes of reduced violence, more than 110 U.S. troops have been killed and much of the country remains hostile territory. The toll of U.S. dead since the war began last year is fast approaching 1,000." [--snip--]

"In August so far, 63 U.S. troops have died, and 54 died in July, the first complete month after the hand-over of power. In June, 42 American troops died, according to Associated Press and the Pentagon." [--snip--]

"Overall, 974 U.S. troops had died in Iraq as of Monday, the vast majority — 836 — since President Bush declared an end to major combat May 1 of last year, the Pentagon said. About 6,500 have been wounded. Since January, the majority of attacks on U.S. forces have come in the form of "indirect fire" — such as mortar and rocket strikes — along with homemade roadside bombs.

There is no reliable accounting of Iraqi civilian deaths, but some rough calculations top 10,000. The number of Iraqi military dead is in the 5,000 to 6,000 range, according to think-tank estimates cited by Reuters."

Tell me again how the war in Iraq has made us safer from the terrorist threat.

They are covering the Schrock story

The New York Times > Washington > Virginia G.O.P. Congressman Pulls Out of Race: "Although Mr. Schrock did not comment on why he decided against seeking re-election in November, several Virginia Republicans said reports that Mr. Schrock is gay had roiled the party since they were posted on a Web log on Aug. 19."

We were wrong. We apologize.

Things I've learned reading the open thread at Eschaton tonight:

1. Some RNC delegates are wearing "purple heart band-aids" to mock Mr. Kerry's purple hearts.
2. The Secret Service won't let NPR interview Michael Moore.

A thing I learned reading the blogs tonight.

Ed Schrock, a very conservative Republican from Virginia who co-sponsored the FMA just resigned. It turns out he's queer as a three dollar bill.

Pudentilla suspects that the SCLM will cover only one of these stories tomorrw.

Throwing in the Towel?

Yahoo! News - Bush Tempers Expectations on Terror War: "WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) says staying the course in the war on terror will make the world safer for future generations, though he acknowledges an all-out victory against terrorism may not be possible."

So much for "wanted dead or alive."

So much for the women's vote


A reader of Pudentilla's identifies him/herself as "Professor Bates." Pudentilla has googled "Professor Bates" and discovered a web site called "Misogny-Central." Pudentilla has no way of knowing if the Professor Bates of Misogny-central.com is the Professor Bates who occasionally comments on her blog. But she did find it interesting that there appears to be an ad from Mr. Bush's campaign on the site. The ad - towards the bottom of the 2nd page of the site - is titled "Bush-Cheney '04 news" and contains headlines from Mr. Bush's campaign web site and contains the line "Paid for by Bush-Cheney '04 - Inc."

If it is an ad, Pudentilla (who believes that Professor Bates is entitle to express his opinion of women and that Mr. Bush is entitled to advertise on the web sites he wishes to) wonders how undecided women voters will feel about the campaign advertising on a cite which opens with a fancy little display which reads "Women Suck."

Making Mountains Out of Hills of Moles

Pudentilla's readings on the Larry Franklin story leave her with many unanswered questions. Did others notice how souped up the story was from the very beginning. Friday night headlines used words like mole and spy immediately. Moreover, sources were falling all over themselves to give the back story to the media once Leslie Stahl went public. This feels less like a reporter breaking a story than like a a package being handed to the SCLM to Pudentilla. Finally, if the leaks that Franklin had flipped are true, why go public - had they already wrapped up everyone he could give the FBI or have sting investigations against traitors been burned? One suspects few in the D.C. metro area are taking Mr. Franklin's calls now.

Mr. Mallaby Questions Mr. Bush's Character

The Character Question (washingtonpost.com): "Why did he claim links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein despite the lack of evidence? Had he failed to absorb the facts, or was he being plain dishonest? " [-snip-]

Again, this is not just a policy issue; it goes to Bush's character. How can he push such a dramatic shift in economic policy without grappling with the basic point that his cuts are unaffordable? He chants that he will halve the deficit within five years, but this is beside the point: The cost of the tax cuts falls mainly beyond the five-year window, as does the cost of the baby-boomers' retirement. Perhaps Bush fails to understand that his policies are unsustainable, or perhaps he understands but refuses to say so. In other words he is either ignorant or dishonest: Neither suggests that he deserves the trust of the electorate.

An interesting choice of words by Mr. Cheney

The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > News Analysis: Upstaging Before the Show: "Vice President Dick Cheney arrived at Ellis Island, opposite the gaping hole in the Manhattan skyline, and praised Mr. Bush as 'a man calm in a crisis, comfortable with responsibility and determined to do everything necessary to protect our people

The My Pet goat incident suggests "inert" may be a more accurate term.

Mr. Bush's failure to fire anyone connected with the intelligence failures that led to 9/11 or the false WMD claims or the false claims of an operational relationship between al-Q and Sadaam, or the several national security failures involving the leaking of classified information, suggests that "fanatically loyal to inept cronies" would have more accurately described Mr. Bush.

Pudentilla concedes that the phrase "determined to do everything necessary to procect our people" is accurate if Mr. Cheney is referring to the "have mores" when he says "our people.

Why use this anonymous quote?

The Clintons Tag Team Bush on Record, Campaign: "Asked about the his-and-her Bush bashing, a GOP official noted that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, avoided partisanship during last month's Democratic National Convention in Boston.

'It's unfortunate that members of the New York congressional delegation are not following his lead,' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity."

Because the official knows how to use the L.A. Timeas as a Republican campaign organ and the reporters and editors don't care.

Remnants of the former Taliban regime?
Truck Bombing Kills at Least 7 at U.S. Firm in Afghan Capital: "KABUL, Afghanistan — A truck bomb ripped through the headquarters of a U.S. security firm in the Afghan capital Sunday, killing at least seven people, including two Americans, in the first major attack in the city in more than a year." [-snip-]

Remnants of the former Taliban regime have promised to disrupt the balloting and have been staging increasingly frequent attacks on U.S. forces, election workers and potential voters. Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi claimed responsibility for Sunday's blast and said it was detonated by a Taliban fighter using a remote control.

Pudentilla believes the phrase "a successfully reconstituted Taliban thanks to the failure of Messrs. Bush and Rumsfeld's plans and policies" would be more accurate.

Bush: Kerry's criticism of my war plans is correct

Anti-Bush Protesters Fill N.Y. Streets: "The president, who was campaigning in West Virginia, called the war a 'catastrophic success.' He noted in a Time magazine interview in today's editions that he still would have gone into Iraq, but with different tactics, had he known 'that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in escaped and lived to fight another day.'"

The Republican Scientific Model: Don't collect data that contradicts your thesis

The New York Times > Education > U.S. Cutting Back on Details in Data About Charter Schools: "ASHINGTON, Aug. 27 - The Department of Education is sharply cutting back on the information it collects about charter schools for a periodic report that provides a detailed national profile of public, private and charter schools.

Confirmation of the change, originally relayed in an e-mail message to a university professor, came on Wednesday from a spokeswoman for the Education Department. Last week, the first national comparison of test scores showed students in charter schools largely trailing comparable students in traditional public schools."

Could Nader do that well?

Yahoo! News - Bush: 'I am not going to come in second': "'I have not said that,' Bush repeated, 'because I am not going to come in second."

Yes, but their soccer team is fabulous


The New York Times > International > Middle East > INSURGENCY: In Western Iraq, Fundamentalists Hold U.S. Forces at Bay: "Both of the cities, Falluja and Ramadi, and much of Anbar Province, are now controlled by fundamentalist militias, with American troops confined mainly to heavily protected forts on the desert's edge. What little influence the Americans have is asserted through wary forays in armored vehicles, and by laser-guided bombs that obliterate enemy safe houses identified by scouts who penetrate militant ranks. Even bombing raids appear to strengthen the fundamentalists, who blame the Americans for scores of civilian deaths."


Read the article. We have not clue one as to what we're doing. We are so screwed.

An Exited Utterance from Mr. Bush

The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Bush Takes On Direct Role in Shaping Election Tactics: "Even so, Mr. Bush has brought a focus and intensity that often seemed missing from his father's effort in 1992, and advisers said that was no coincidence. One aide said a common scene in the White House these days was Mr. Bush, after reading the morning news accounts of the campaign, shouting, as he did a few weeks ago, 'Hit him - we need to hit back.'"

Pudentilla thought aWol didn't read the papers.

More Social Insecurity from aWol and the Merry Men

Salon.com News | Bush to propose Social Security plan at convention: "Karen Hughes hinted that Bush would disclose a plan for partial privatization of Social Security. 'You just heard him talk about an ownership society,' Hughes told reporters. 'He wants to give a chance for younger workers to own a piece of their own retirement.'

Pudentilla was under the apparently mistaken impression that folks called it Social Security because they wanted their retirement income to be secure. If we recognize, however, that the purpose of Social Security is to serve as another vehicle to transform the income of middle-class Americans into the capital of Wall Street plutocrats (now that the tax code options have been largely exhausted), we see the error of our ways.

Clarity and concision are highly valued aspects of good analytical prose

Yahoo! News - THE REAL ISSUE: BUSH IS INCOMPETENT: "The core issue is this: Our president is incompetent. He is not a good president."

Pudentilla also believes that Mr. Reeves argues quite effectively as well.

Equal Opportunity Treason

FBI Probe Targets Pentagon Official (washingtonpost.com): "The FBI is investigating a mid-level Pentagon official who specializes in Iranian affairs for allegedly passing classified information to Israel, and arrests in the case could come as early as next week, officials at the Pentagon and other government agencies said last night."

Common Dreams via Bloomberg News
In his book, titled ``Plan of Attack,'' Woodward also says that the ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was given advance information about plans to invade Iraq by Vice President Richard Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Plus Alan Alda?

Jimmy Smits to Join 'West Wing' (washingtonpost.com): "Actor Jimmy Smits, best known for his turns as a lawyer on 'L.A. Law' and a cop on 'NYPD Blue,' will join the cast of 'The West Wing' as a Houston congressman with presidential aspirations, NBC said on Friday."

There is a god, and she has aging boomers in her hands.

An revealing choice of words by Mr. Bush

The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Bush Dismisses Idea That Kerry Lied on Vietnam: "Mr. Bush also acknowledged for the first time that he made a 'miscalculation of what the conditions would be'' in postwar Iraq. But he insisted that the 17-month-long insurgency that has upended the administration's plans for the country was the unintended by-product of a 'swift victory'' against Saddam Hussein's military, which fled and then disappeared into the cities, enabling them to mount a rebellion against the American forces far faster than Mr. Bush and his aides had anticipated."

Given that more coalition soldiers have died this year than last, Pudentilla believes that Mr. Bush would have more accurate to modify the word "miscalculation" with the adjective, "stupendous" or perhaps the phrase "of monumental proportion.

So Much for a Promise Made is a Promise Kept

The New York Times > AP > Business > Greenspan Issues Warning on Retirement Benefits: "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that the country will face ``abrupt and painful'' choices if Congress does not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits that have been promised to the baby boom generation."

Pudentilla believes that people who don't work for a living or whose retirement plans do not include social security income an medicare insurance should consider voting for Bush. If you don't fall into this category, you may want to consider an alternative.

A Damning Conclusion from Jackson Diehl

How Torture Came Down From the Top (washingtonpost.com): "The latest official reports on the prisoner abuse scandal contain a classic Washington contradiction. Their headlines proclaim that no official policy mandated or allowed the torture of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that no officials above the rank of colonel deserve prosecution or formal punishment. But buried in their hundreds of pages of detail, for anyone who cares to read them, is a clear and meticulous account of how decisions made by President Bush, his top political aides and senior military commanders led directly to those searing images of naked prisoners being menaced with guard dogs."

An Interesting Observation from Howell Raines

The 'Dumb' Factor (washingtonpost.com): "In general I've come to feel that what we have in Bush is a shadowy version of Reagan's strengths and an exaggerated version of his intellectual weaknesses."

Q& A:

Q: Who are the Democrats?
A: The people who brought you an economy in which the rich got richer and the poor got richer.

Q: Who are the Republicans?
A: here

Q: What are 527s?
A: Political groups subject to strict disclosure rules.

Q: What are shadowy figures?
A: Persons whose identities are difficulty to determine and tend to be associated with illicit behavior. E.g., the members of the Bush Administration who released the name of Valerie Plame to the media, putting our national security at risk, for the sake of partisan political purposes.

Laws? Laws are for the little people, and Democrats

SI.com - USOC asks Bush campaign to pull television ad - Thursday August 26, 2004 12:00PM

The U.S. Olympic Committee has asked President Bush's re-election campaign to pull a television ad that mentions the Olympics. [snip]

The ad shows a swimmer and the flags of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"In 1972, there were 40 democracies in the world. Today, 120," an announcer says. "Freedom is spreading throughout the world like a sunrise. And this Olympics there will be two more free nations. And two fewer terrorist regimes." [snip]

Campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said last week there were no plans to pull the ad.

"We are on firm legal ground to mention the Olympics and make a factual point in a political advertisement," Stanzel said. [snip]

An act of Congress, last revised in 1999, grants the USOC exclusive rights to such terms as "Olympic," derivatives such as "Olympiad" and the five interlocking rings. It also specifically says the organization "shall be nonpolitical and may not promote the candidacy of an individual seeking public office." [snip]

Boy Idiot Savant?

Maybe it's me, but, doesn't the aftermath of the Swift Boat slander scandal reflect badly on the political competence of the Repubs? Given all the money and support they gave those guys, don't you find it odd that nobody fact-checked their claims. Josh Marshall has the latest newspaper story of an eyewitness (the guy who save Thurlow under fire in the same incident where Kerry was saving Rassmussen (not under fire according to Thurlow)). The Repubs telegraphed that they would attack Kerry's Vietnam record. Kerry telegraphed that he was ready for it. They fire their shot across the bow and in days its a matter spit. Sure the LA Times poll suggests that Kerry's been nicked, but if a nick is all they got out of this, they haven't got much (recall the Willie Horton ad). Worse yet, from their point of view, it's given reporters practice, um, reporting.

Of course, it's possible that they're not incompetent. It's possible that they live in a moral universe where there are truths, but not facts.

Maybe it was the Cheney family party?

NYT: Naked Guys Sing, but Not for Republicans

The city's tourist bureau has pulled an Off Broadway show called "Naked Boys Singing" from a list of discounted offerings to visiting delegates, after the Republican National Committee found it was not suitable.

The gay-themed show, billed as a musical revue that "celebrates the splendors of male nudity in comedy, song and dance," has received generally good reviews without creating much of a stir since it began its run six years ago. It is the 10th longest-running Off Broadway show.

[..snip..]

In fact, before the show was removed from the site, about a dozen people had bought tickets using the special code offered on the Web site. Those tickets will be honored.

WHY?

Schlesinger said Rumsfeld's resignation "would be a boon to all of America's enemies and, consequently, I think that it would be a misfortune if it were to take place." [WaPo].

meanwhile, in a cave somewhere:

"Oh, no! The Americans have refused to replace the incompetent ideologue whose war plans failed to anticipate the Iraqi resistance and managed the victory so poorly that soldiers didn't have sufficient resources to protect themselves or their prisoners. As a consequence the American military's capacity to deploy troops has been greatly undermined and the entire world has condemned their torturers and their mercenaries. Moreover, their actions have greatly helped us recruit more jihadis. Now what will we do?"

A Tale of Two Cheneys

Option 1: The Merry Men are letting Chuckles not publicly attack his daughter as a gesture of compassionate conservatism. All right, that's too cynical.

Option 2: He's trying to do the decent thing. Which leads to a rather weird result in which he annoys his friends to protect his lesbian daughter because he loves her. He is, nevertheless, so committed to his friends' definition of states' rights that he doesn't mind that his straight daughter can marry anywhere and his lesbian daughter can only get married in Massachussets and if she does the act will have no legal recognition in many other states. So he loves his gay daughter, but marriage is a fundamental right only for his straight daughter.

Families - what are ya gonna do.

Is this why the SCLM has begun on occasion to act like journalists of late?

Do You Hear What I Hear? (washingtonpost.com): "The White House travel office signed a contract last week with an airline called Primaris to fly the press corps to Bush events. The two-month-old company has only one airplane. True, media representatives gave their blessing to the deal. But that was before they learned that the company's president twice had his pilot's license revoked related to his flying of an 'unairworthy' aircraft, that the chief executive flopped in his last attempt to start an airline and that the 15-year-old plane itself was damaged in a hailstorm a decade ago and spent most of the past two years mothballed in France."

Remember how unhappy the reporters were about changes in the White House Travel office. They never let Clinton forget.

We Get Letters:

A reader of our Bob Dole post prompts a response that is too long for the poor blogger's haloscan. So we offer the exchange here.
Professor Bates' first comment:

Why is it that you leftists can question Bush's national guard service but will sue to silence the free speech of many decorated Vietnam Vets?

If you want to talk about slander for political purposes look no further than your candidate Kerry, who testified about atrocities in Vietnam only when the national spotlight was on him, long after leaving Vietnam. Why didn't he report these terrible acts as soon as he was able to? Either he lied to Congress or he showed such blatant disregard for the innocent Vietnamese that he didn’t speak up in a way that might have saved innocents from torture, but waited until it would be most politically advantageous?

Professor Bates' second comment:

The truth is Kerry has been slandering Vietnam vets decades before Swift Vets ever came into existence.

His own words and actions must lead us to conclude that he is either a war criminal who kept silent about torture committed by Americans for almost a year after being discharged from the Navy or he lied to Congress and slandered Vietnam Veterans.

Pudentilla's Response:

Dear Professor Bates,

I don't accept the label "leftist." I'm actually pretty middle of the road in my politics: balanced budgets, limited foreign military entanglements, etc. I think your use of the label might reflect your stance, from which the middle of the road seems pretty left, but I don't know you well enough to assume that.

I think it is fair to question Mr. Bush's guard service for two reasons. First, Mr. Bush himself characterized himself as a war president in a national interview. If he plans to run on his martial qualifications it is fair to question his military experience. Second, Mr. Bush has refused to specifically condemn the Swift Boat ad. Mr. Bush is the only beneficiary of the ad. The ad is largely financed by an individual with strong ties to Mr. Bush's campaign and several people who worked on the ad have also worked on Mr. Bush's campaign. These connections may not be sufficient to trigger an FEC investigation, but they are sufficient to come to the common sense conclusion that Mr. Bush believes that he will benefit from a slanderous attack on Mr. Kerry's Vietnam record. If he wants that benefit, is only fair to subject his own Vietnam record to comparable scrutiny. Of course, Pudentilla firmly believes that those who criticize Mr. Bush's Vietnam record do so accurately. Furthermore, she believes that Mr. Kerry should condemn any ads that attack Mr. Bush's Vietnam record unfairly or inaccurately.

I also quarrel with your assertion that I'm attempting to silence the free speech rights of decorated veterans. The Swift Boat veterans have an absolute right to say what they think. If what they say is a lie, I have an absolute right to point it out. If the truth restrains someone from mendacity, I do not believe the First Amendment is in danger.

Next, your argument that Kerry must have been a war criminal since he didn't report atrocities to his superiors in Vietnam is false choice that depends on factual inaccuracies.

Kerry's comments to Congress were reporting the statements of veterans made at hearings conducted in the U.S. by Vietnam Veterans against the War (the Winter Soldier Investigation), after Kerry returned to the U.S. from his second tour of duty in Vietnam. An edited transcript of his remarks is available on the web.

Second, truth is defense to a charge of slander. To those who think atrocities were not committed in Vietnam, I say "Mai Lai."

Third, a charge of slander requires a link to a specific person. As far as I know, no one has ever identified a specific soldier Mr. Kerry called a war criminal. There is a reason for this. He never slandered any specific person. Moreover, Mr. Kerry was fairly explicit in offering his remarks as a critique of the military and political leadership, not the ordinary soldier.

Now it seems obvious to Pudentilla that some vets were and remain angry that Kerry revealed the truth about atrocities that were committed in Vietnam. And I can imagine, from what I have read about the extraordinarily difficult conditions that good men faced because of the extraordinary incompetence of political and military leadership of the time, that the overwhelming majority of soldiers who served honorably might feel brushed by someone else's tar. But it was real tar and it wasn't Kerry's.

Such folks have earned their anger, even if I wouldn't share it. Their anger, nevertheless, is not a substitute for the truth. Kerry did the country a great service by speaking truth to power. The fellow who turned over the photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib did much the same. And many other soldiers (whom no one has accused of misdeeds) have shunned him. I suspect it is a "blue line" psychology that it is totally understandable. That's why those who risk the fellowship of their comrades for the sake of truth are to be commended. It is an act of unusual moral bravery. Calling what Kerry did slander is a disservice to the truth.

On the other hand, calling what Bob Dole said misstatements of fact is simply correcting his misstatements of fact. Dole has an absolute right to speak his opinion. Where his opinion is based on inaccuracies, I have an absolute right to point out his mistakes.

In the end, I think this dust up about Mr. Kerry's Vietnam service has less to do with either his or Mr. Bush's military record, and far more to do with his opposition to the war after he returned from Vietnam. The United States has had many Presidents who did not serve in the military and nevertheless led the country with great distinction in times of war and peace. The U.S., as far as I know, has not had, until Clinton, a President who actively opposed a U.S. military engagement as a young man. Mr. Kerry would only be the second such President. I will post more on this later, but a historian might say that a figure like Kerry (who served under fire and opposed the war) is particularly threatening to a political elite and/or its ideology. I am still musing about why this might be so. When I have an idea, I will post it.

Kerry's Next Ad

Black Screen, white letters: "The Truth Matters"

fade in aWol talking about WMD; superimpose headlines, "No WMD"

Black Screen, white letters: "The Truth Matters when you are talking about war..."

fade in aWol and the "Mission Accomplished" sign; superimpose headlines, "casualties in Iraq."

Black Screen, white letters: "The Truth Matters when you are talking about people's jobs.."

fade in aWol giving the turning the corner speech; superimpose job loss headlines

Black Screen, white letters: "The Truth Matters when you are talking about the schools our children go to..."

fade in aWol talking about NCLB; superimpose headline about underfunding

Black Screen, white letters: "The Truth Matters, even when it is hard for people to hear the truth."

fade in Kerry asking "how do you ask someone to be the last man to die for a mistake?" superimpose headlines about backdoor draft.

Black Screen, white letters: "The Truth Matters, when you are talking about questions of personal honor."

fade in aWol saying he thinks Kerry's service is honorable; superimpose headlines about SBVT lying.

Black Screen, white letters: "Americans deserves a President who isn't afraid to tell them the truth. America deserves better."

We Write Letters:

Thanks to skippy, we have obtained Mr. Dole's email address.

Dear Mr. Dole,

I used to believe you were a man of honor until I read the transcript of your interview in which you questioned Mr. Kerry's military service.

I used to believe you were a serious man until I noticed the number of factual errors you made in the interview. Kerry did bleed, you know. He didn't receive two medals for the same day's service. Didn't you at least think to get your facts straight before you slandered a veteran for partisan political purposes. I think of my Dad's service in WWII and I'm just glad he's dead and doesn't have to see the depths to which you have sunk.

Congratulations, you've ended your career as a joke.

Juan Cole, Pudentilla's personal hero:

What was Bush doing with his youth? He was drinking. He was drinking like a fish, every night, into the wee hours. For decades. He gave no service to anyone, risked nothing, and did not even slack off efficiently.

The history of alcoholism and possibly other drug use is a key issue because it not only speaks to Bush's character as an addictive personality, but may tell us something about his erratic and alarming actions as president. His explosive temper probably provoked the disastrous siege of Fallujah last spring, killing 600 Iraqis, most of them women and children, in revenge for the deaths of 4 civilian mercenaries, one of them a South African. (Newsweek reported that Bush commanded his cabinet, "Let heads roll!") That temper is only one problem. Bush has a sadistic streak. He clearly enjoyed, as governor, watching executions. His delight in killing people became a campaign issue in 2000 when he seemed, in one debate, to enjoy the prospect of executing wrong-doers a little too much. He has clearly gone on enjoying killing people on a large scale in Iraq. Drug abuse can affect the ability of the person to feel deep emotions like empathy. Two decades of pickling his nervous system in various highly toxic substances have left Bush damaged goods. Even for those who later abstain, "visual-spatial abilities, abstraction, problem solving, and short-term memory, are the slowest to recover." That he managed to get on the wagon (though with that pretzel incident, you wonder how firmly) is laudable. But he suffers the severe effects of the aftermath, and we are all suffering along with him now, since he is the most powerful man in the world.

aWol's Latest Lie

Today, Mr. Bush denounced 527's:

"I hope everybody joins me in condemning the activities of the 527s." (WaPo via Lambert at Corrente).

But, as Matt Yglesias (via Amy Sullivan at Washinton Monthly) asks:

"If the president hates 527s so much, how did he and his wife wind up on the cover of Republican Woman magazine, a publication of the National Federation of Republican Women, which you'll find right here on OpenSecrets' list of 527 groups. Or how does he feel about the NFRW's upcoming tribute to Laura Bush at the Republican convention. Even more interesting -- why did the RNC donate $10,000 to GOPAC, yet another insidious 527 group?"

Perhaps, Matt, it is because George Bush is a Big Fat Weenie Liar as well as a coward.

Now Forming: Vietnam Veterans for the Truth About Deferments [and National Guard [dis]Service]

Tomasky in the American Prospect (via Atrios)

But The Washington Post won't do that, because there exists no Vietnam Veterans for the Truth About Deferments, financed by wealthy Democratic donors and out peddling its wares.

Pudentilla believes Tomasky's suggestion is excellent. Surely Mr. Soros or another angel will spare a million for a 527 whose sole purpose is to create media events examining the behavior of aWol and Chuckles the Cheney Clown in a truthful and rigorous way. There must be some wealthy Democrat who served in Vietnam who would not be as generous as Mr. Kerry in describing the service of aWol as honorable.

Moral Cowardice

Mr. Bush is hiding behind the skirts of the lies other men are telling for his benefit. As a child runs to his mother for shelter from a situation in which the child is outmatched, so Mr. Bush turns to liars to shelter himself from the truth. Mr. Kerry served honorably in Vietnam. The Swift Boat Veterans are liars. There statements attacking Kerry today are contradicted, as Time Magazine's demolition of the SBVT charges demontrates by naval records and eyewitness accounts and their own prior statements.

Many have been reluctant to call Mr. Bush a coward for avoiding combat service during the Vietnam War. We all have friends and relatives who, like Bush and Cheney, played the system to avoid injury and death in a war that made no sense. But my friends and relatives did not claim thirty years later to embody America's martial spirit in a war presidency. Nor would they tolerate a mendacious attack on a combat veteran's record for any purpose, much less one of mere political expediency. Mr. Bush has not merely tolerated this deliberately false assault on Mr. Kerry's record, of which he is the only beneficiary, he has refused to condemn it. He claims to honor Kerry's service, but he refuse to condemn his supporter's lies.

That is why we no longer have to be reluctant to call aWol a coward. It will be interesting to see if other member's of the Republican party will so willingly sell they honor so cheaply.

Q & A

• Question: What do you call John O'Neill and Larry Thurlow of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth?
• Answer: Big Fat Weenie Liars

• Question: What do you call Dean Hudson, Bush Advisor and newly resigned Republican liason to Catholic voters?
• Answer: A Drunken Letch

• Question: What do you call Bishop John Smith of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, who has stated that Catholic politicians who support a woman's right to choose and has retroactively voided the Holy Communion of a child whose medical condition prevents her from taking communion wafers made with wheat?
• Answer: A Pharisee - Mark 2: 27
  

aWol to Congress: Save Tax Cuts Not Soldiers

Pudentilla gagged this morning listening to Cokie Roberts recite the RNP talking points: Here's the summary from the Morning Edition web site: "Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's nuanced stance on whether he would have supported the war proves potentially troublesome, but he remains ahead in the polls in a number of battleground states." (audio link).

One wonders whether Mr. Kerry's success in the polls is due to the fact that the "nuance" issue is not an issue for the voting public, which is treating this issue with great seriousness, although the "nuance" mem persists in the minds of lazy journalists who would rather read faxes and emails from the parties than, say, do some reporting.

When the SCLM starts questioning aWol's capacity to lead this country on the grounds that a man who would veto a military spending bill while the country is at war, rather than jeaporize tax cuts to wealthy citizens ($78K or more if you make more than $200K), Pudentilla will believe that the media has begun to address this election with the same seriousness of purpose as the electorate has.


Required Reading

one soldier's view of the war - required reading (via the farmer at Corrente)

Bush is too stupid to be President

says Matt Yglesias (via Mrs. Atrios). Matt is right. How many people will die in Iraq because Americans (both Democrats and Republicans) are too embarrased to admit this.

Poll, poll, poll your vote

BeatBushBlog takes us to an analysis by Prof. Sam Wang (Princeton, Molecular Biology). The analysis, based on current state polls suggests an electoral college blowout for Kerry. From Dr. Wang's mouth to God's ears. DemFromCt at Daily Kos notes that David Broder has joined the ranks of those pundits who think that aWol's never going to be elected president. Those who fervently pray that Dr. Wang and Mr. Broder are right should act as though they are not and donate and participate even more intensely in the political process.

Pudentilla knows that some will argue that a molecular biologist's analysis of polls is of no more value than, say a Latinist's, but such folks forget that Latinists are required to know neither math nor statistics. It appears that molecular biologists are better prepared for contemporary political politics in this respect than classicists are. But classicists still get both the mot juste and from Pudentilla's perspective, the last word.

For today's last words, we offer some political slogans that contemplation of aWol inspired Pudentilla to pursue.

Yesterday's men (they failed before!).
- Labour Party slogan, referring to the Conservatives, 1970
Would you buy a used car from this man?
- campaign slogan directed against Richard Nixon, 1968
Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Führer.
- Nazi Party slogan, early 1930s

[from: "political sayings and slogans" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Ed. Elizabeth Knowles. Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. ]

Salvete Omnes

According to the NITLE Blog Census, there are 1717 blogs written in Latin. Quid agit? (link via BeatBushBlog who got it from Kevin Drum.)

How to Preserve an Oligarchy

The report calculated that households with incomes in that top 1 percent were receiving an average tax cut of $78,460 this year, while households in the middle 20 percent of earnings - averaging about $57,000 a year - were getting an average cut of only $1,090. NYT:Report Finds Tax Cuts Heavily Favor the Wealthy - story.

Pudentilla believes everyone who earns in the top 1% should vote for aWol. Everyone else should vote for the guy who won't rip them off to give more money to rich people who have not created any jobs with their big fat tax cuts.

Cast the Mote, etc.

Since the first discovery of pornographic images late last year, authorities have found about 40,000 photos and numerous videos, including child pornography, on computers at the seminary in the diocese of St. Poelten. Boston Globe: Seminary shut amid pornography probe - story

Pudentilla wonders if bishops would have more time to serve their flocks if they spent less time telling them how to vote.

aWol Closets Christians at Convention

"In the last convention, the thought was to keep all the conservatives out of sight," said Robertson, who has attended every Republican convention since 1988, but said he won't go this year. "The general thrust will be to entice the so-called independent moderates and I am not sure that there would be much reason for a conservative to be there." Boston Globe: Prominent evangelicals say GOP hasn’t asked them to convention - story

Pudentilla notes that in exchange for their week of silence last time, the theocrats received control of the Justice Department and Oval Office. What can they be bought for in this election?

Chuckles the Cheney Clown Goes Butch as Kerry Continues to Kick aWol's Kiester

Republicans on Thursday leveled some of their most aggressive attacks yet against Sen. John F. Kerry, as a series of polls suggested the Democratic presidential nominee had gained slight leads in some battleground states and the economy continued to weigh on President Bush's prospects. L.A. Times: Bush Campaign Steps Up Attacks as Kerry Gains in Polls - story

Pudentilla suggests that chicken hawks consider carefully the effort to deploy gender stereotypes in their political rhetoric. After all, it won't be hard to make the case that aWol was in macho drag for the "End of Major Combat Operations" stunt. Which means that most of the time he wears.....

aWol to Larry King: "I Have Failed at My Most Solemn Duty."

"And I made a determination that we would do everything we could to bring those killers to justice and to protect the American people. That is my most solemn duty." WaPo - Froomkin: Bush Goes Off Message - story

Pudentilla wonders why aWol chose to remind folks that he abandoned the effort to capture OBL in order to attack Saddam. Is he that stupid, or do they have OBL on ice?

Is aWol losing another Iraqi city?

With negotiations ongoing, the US military said it suspended offensive operations against al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, who are holed up in the city's vast cemetery and the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites to Shiite Muslims. CSM: Iraq, al-Sadr aides negotiate Najaf truce - story

Pudentilla asks, "Why do we keep attacking cities, declaring a truce, and then turning the cities back over to the control of the people who had them in the first place. Is this some obscure war plan the Pentagon has pulled down from the shelf? Is so, shouldn't someone tear it up and get a better one?

From the Department of Headlines only aWol Could Bring You

L.A. Times:

U.S. Mulls Assault in Holy City - story
Army Turns to Private Guards - story - this time to protect bases in the U.S.
Halliburton Contracts Face New Scrutiny - story - another 1.8 billion gone missing

N.Y. Times

Pentagon Caution on 9/11 Panel's Intelligence Changes - story - from the people who couldn't defend, the, um, Pentagon
Nuclear Lab's Missing Disks May Not Exist - story - oops, sorry for the panic, the terror, the horror
'West Wing': Is It Facing a Struggle to Survive? - story - going conservative didn't help, hmm.

WaPo

The Post on WMDs: An Inside Story: Prewar Articles Questioning Threat Often Didn't Make Front Page - story - do ya think?
Oil Prices Up Despite Saudi Offer - story - Bandar to aWol: oops!

Ripped from Today's Headlines

aWol Farts at Boy Scouts?
That's what the L.A. Times (story) says.

But will the strategy work as well as the one they used in Fallujah?
AP: U.S. Prepares Major Offensive in Najaf (story)

Ashcroft to Hamdi: Ooops! - I guess we were wrong, sorry for the mistake. Too bad about the Constitution we trashed.
AP story.

Puppy Blogging lite

We journeyed to Boston yesterday and returned home with Fanueil Hall ("Fanny") the 10 week old sister of our resident canine, Quincy Market ("Quincy"). It has been very hectic since. We have pictures and if we ever have five minutes free we will post them. Fanny was born in Canada so she is not eligible to vote in this election. Nevertheless, she seemed dismayed with aWol's performance on the news last night. She hurried over from the t.v., asked to be picked up, huddled in Pudentilla's arms and murmered, "he just makes stuff up," over and over until she finally fell asleep.

Why Couldn't It Have Been Novak?

WaPo (story): Court Holds Reporter in Contempt in Leak Case - Time Magazine's Cooper Threatened with Jail for Not Revealing Source

The story says Russert testified, so indictments should be coming down.

End the exemption

Various excerpts from a NYT story on the role of churches in aWol's election campaign.

To promote involvement on social issues, Mr. Wilson said, the church has formed a dozen-member "moral action team."

They hold open meetings for parishioners each month. They inform church members about socially conservative electoral issues. They register them to vote at stands outside the sanctuary on designated "voter registration" Sundays. Last week, the "moral action team" even drove church members to the polls, and they plan to do the same for this fall's general election as well.....

The tax code restricts churches and other charitable organizations from engaging in partisan politics, although church leaders can speak about social issues and register voters.

So the Bush campaign sent Mr. Reed to recruit pastors at the annual meeting of the conservative Southern Baptist Convention.

A Catholic voting guide in the program noted that Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of the Archdiocese of St. Louis has said it is a sin to vote for candidates who support abortion rights, a group that includes Senator John Kerry. The guide listed "non-negotiable" issues of abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, human cloning and same-sex marriage.


In an interview, Ms. Klarich said that she sometimes discussed political matters in a Bible study group she attends with 300 women each week.

Pudentilla believes that people of all faiths should be able to express their political opinions. Pudentilla thinks its legitimate for leaders of various social institutions to offer their opinions on politics to their members. Pudentilla sees no reason why churches, whether or not they engage in politics, should be exempted from the tax burdens of citizenship. Since our courts are already rather busy, Pudentilla believes that we should not ask the IRS or the courts to determine when churches engage in enough politics to lose their exemption. Rather, we should simply end the exemption.

Perhaps he mispoke, again

aWol (8/7/04): "My most solemn duty as President is to protect our country, and in the three years since our country was attacked, we have taken important steps to overcome terrorist threats to this nation."

Newsweek (8/16/04): "The uncomfortable truth is that a frantic, multibillion-dollar, global intelligence effort has not been able to answer—definitively, at any rate—the scariest and most basic question: are there Qaeda operatives inside the United States?" (story)

Guardian (8/5/04): "The move marks America's most comprehensive effort to date to overhaul security on coasts and seaports. But it is unlikely to satisfy security analysts, who have been scathing of the lack of funds and government commitment to securing American ports." (story)

Foreign Affairs (Sept/Oct 04): "The United States is living on borrowed time -- and squandering it." (story)

Reuters (8/8/04): "We're still not safe," said Bush, who was spending the weekend at his family's oceanfront compound in Maine to attend the wedding of his nephew, George P. Bush, the son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. He also found time to do some fishing with his twin daughters and father, former President George Bush."

"I just haven't figured out how to blame Clinton for it yet," the Commander in Chief muttered before he went fishing.

or perhaps he's a mendacious bag of excrement.

Perhaps he mispoke


aWol: (2/2/03): "The first to benefit from a free Iraq would be the Iraqi people, themselves. Today they live in scarcity and fear, under a dictator who has brought them nothing but war, and misery, and torture. Their lives and their freedom matter little to Saddam Hussein -- but Iraqi lives and freedom matter greatly to us. " (speech)

Guardian: (08/08/04): Iraqi Government Shuts Al-Jazeera Station (story)
Reuters (08/08/04): Iraq Reimposes Death Penalty for Certain Crimes (story); Independent (08/06/04): Iraq set to use martial law in terror fight (story);
- so much for caring about their freedom

Oregonian: (08/07/04): Ordered to just walk away - After observing Iraqi government officials torture prisoners, Lt. Col. Daniel Hendrickson of the Oregon National Guard intervened to stop the prisoner abuse and offer aid and comfort to the detainees. "But in a move that frustrated and infuriated the guardsmen, Hendrickson's superior officers told him to return the prisoners to their abusers and immediately withdraw. It was June 29 - Iraq's first official day as a sovereign country since the U.S. invasion." (story). -
- so much for caring about their lives

or perhaps he's just a mendacious bag of excrement.

Treason - It's ok if you're a Republican

NYT: Republican leaks classified information - no charges: A two-year investigation into how the news media obtained classified intercepted messages has found that Senator Richard C. Shelby, the Alabama Republican and former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was almost certainly a source, a government official familiar with the inquiry said Thursday. The investigation remains open, but the Justice Department is unlikely to file criminal charges against the senator, the official said. (story)

MSNBC: White House blows undercover op against al-Qaida to help aWol win election: The al-Qaida suspect named by U.S. officials as the source of information that led to this week’s terrorist alerts was working undercover, Pakistani intelligence sources said Friday, putting an end to the sting operation and forcing Pakistan to hide the man in a secret location. Under pressure to justify the alerts in three Northeastern cities, U.S. officials confirmed a report by The New York Times that the man, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, was the source of the intelligence that led to the decision. (story)

Are you confused Gentle Reader, because such acts of treason are tolerated? Let us work on our definitions. If aWol (or one of his Merry Men) does it, it cannot be a crime. aWol is above the law.

They just lie

Pudentilla believes that Kerry's surrogates should begin every response to a question from the SCLM with this phrase. The thought occurs to her after reading SCLM accounts of the bathetic unravelling of the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (sic)" attack on Mr. Kerry. According to the Boston Globe (story) their only percipient witness just recanted his testimony. It occured to her again on reading the Daily Howler's howl about the SCLM's adoption of Rove's "most liberal senator" meme. And of course, when we consider Chuckles the Cheney Clown's hours in the grand jury and deliberate insistence upon operational links between Iraq and al-Qaida, the word "liar" seems fair. Come to think of it the constant downward revision of jobs numbers (story) (when's the last time they had to revise upward?)prompts the word "liar" as well.

The problem is how to call aWol and his Merry Men liars without seeming shrill and angry. I think the Kerry surrogates should save their cutting remarks for the press and treat the Merry Men with rueful chuckles. "Oh, I see you've bought that lie about the Senator's record, Bill. Now I know why the Republicans want to paint Kerry that way, but I don't know why you guys in the press repeat what they say like it's the Gospel. Half an hour on the internet would have provided you with ample evidence to reject their assertion rather than repeat it here. But I'm happy to do your job for you. Here are the facts..." Or, "Oh I see you've swallowed wholesale the Republican slander on Senator Kerry's war record. Given the President's military service problems, I can see why they'd be desperate to blacken Kerry's reputation. But I don't get why you guys didn't do the basic research which would have destroyed their allegations. Really, shouldn't you be asking me why I think the White House refuses to repudiate a slandar campaign?" or words to that effect.

Because, the thing is, they just lie.

There's a certain magic in repetition:

Yesterday:Halliburton Settles SEC Investigation (Yahoo press release)

Today:SEC expands probe of Halliburton deal [Chicago Trib story]

No wonder Cheney just makes stuff up (on Iraq, energy policy, etc). He's so busy talking to grand juries he doesn't have time for briefings.

Who Lost Iraq?

C.S. Monitor: Sadr army owns city's streets - Our reporter follows the Mahdi Army as it patrols Sadr City, home to 1 in 10 Iraqi voters. [story]

He reads?

AFP: " White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush did not watch Kerry's speech -- he went to sleep instead -- but read about it Friday morning." [story]

Pudentilla wonders whether it is worse to imagine that Mr. McClellan is lying or worse to believe that he is telling the truth.

George, psst, the WMD is over here.

Reuters: North Korea missiles said to threaten U.S [story]

Answer: War Criminals.

Question: What do you call military leaders who put children in jail?

"Between January and May this year the Red Cross registered a total of 107 juveniles in detention during 19 visits to six coalition prisons. The aid organisation’s Rana Sidani said they had no complete information about the ages of those detained, or how they had been treated. The deteriorating security situation has prevented the Red Cross visiting all detention centres."

Sunday Herald story via Body and Soul

Bush: "Knowing what I know today, we still would have gone on into Iraq" - L.A. Times story

We already knew that, George.

Vatican: Equal treatment for women obscures differences between men and women, which threatens the institution of families based on a mother and a father. - Reuters story

This from guys who wear skirts for a living.

Reports That Led to Terror Alert Were Years Old, Officials Say - WaPo story

Do the cops and security personnel get paid more or less when the alert is bogus?

We Write Letters:

Pudentilla is back from her brief sabbatical. Her paper was warmly received. She hopes her latest literary effort has as gracious an audience. Feel free to cut and paste.

I read in the papers this week that Mr. Bush’s campaign team plans to treat John Kerry as “an object of humor and calculated derision,” at their convention in New York. In part, because the leadership of both the Republican Party and the leadership of Mr. Bush’s campaign have deliberately adopted such tactics, I will vote for Mr. Kerry. I would like to be able to make informed judgments about the plans of each candidate for health care and tax reform, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terror, the problems of job outsourcing and declining wages. If Mr. Bush would rather crack jokes and make snide remarks than engage my interest as a citizen in his own candidacy that is surely his privilege. But it not Mr. Kerry he insults by this tactic so much as ordinary Americans like myself. Mr. Bush apparently believes that by playing the class clown, he’ll persuade us to ignore the issues that face our country while we are at war. I hope the American people prove this condescending assessment of their intelligence wrong. We all liked the class clown when we were school kids, but we almost always knew better than to elect him class president.