BunkBlog

I can’t wait to see how the Dems spin this to make it sound like Bush is not doing anything to stop the attack ads.

It’s pretty well documented that Karl Rove is a devious attack dog, so I don’t doubt that there was some backroom encouragement of the Swift Boat Veterans for Political Gain, but now that the President has promised McCain that he’ll sue to stop the 527 ads, it should be interesting to see how the Kerry campaign (and its supporters) react.

I’m sure the fact that the liberal 527s have outspent the conservative 527s by at least an order of magnitude has nothing to do with Bush’s condemnation of them. And the fact that the lie-filled first SBVFTT ad has received national attention that has caused the race to swing a little back toward the Republicans is just a happy coincidence.

This Mackubin Thomas Owens article says things very clearly and cogently that the Swift Boat Veterans for Political Gain have missed. If Kerry is proud of his military service, why was he ashamed of it in 1971? If he thinks of his fellow veterans as a band of brothers, why did he call them war criminals in 1971? Was he cravenly attempting to curry favor with the Democratic party and the anti-war groups then, or is he trying to curry favor now? Which position is his true core belief?

Read the article – it’s good.

VP raises ‘sensitive’ war issue: Jabs at Kerry remarks

bq. Dick Cheney’s desperate misleading attacks now have him criticizing George Bush’s own words.

From a recent Lou Dobbs commentary:

Bush and Kerry have mostly offered similar policy positions on the most divisive issues of our time.

Both have supported nearly identical plans for winning the war in Iraq. Bush and Kerry also agree on preserving tax breaks for the middle class, demanding greater accountability from our nation’s educators, immigration reform and limiting government spending in an effort to cut the deficit in half by the end of this decade.

What I find interesting is the disconnect between what they say and what they do. Kerry voted to help the President fast-track free trade agreements that Kerry now claims should be looked at more closely. So why did you shirk your responsibility to force that closer look, Senator?

The President, on the other hand, has the gall to claim that he wants to reduce government spending, when he’s increased government spending a record amount so far.

Fool me once…

Esquire has an article by the ever-eloquent Ron Reagan discussing his perceived failings in the Bush administration. The “lying for lying’s sake” argument is a good one. What was gained by pretending that Gore spent more in 2000 than Bush, when anyone with a bit of research can find out the opposite was true? There are other examples.

My snarky comments will be in italics.

Text of President Bush’s speech at Hammons Field on Friday, July 30, 2004:

We will do more to make America more job friendly and America’s workplaces more family friendly. To keep American jobs in America, regulations should be reasonable and fair. To keep the jobs here at home, we must lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy. To keep American jobs here, we must end the junk lawsuits that hurt our small businesses. And to keep this economy growing so people can find work, we will not overspend your money, and we will keep your taxes low. By “reasonable” regulations, do you mean removing ergonomics, safety, and pollution rules? And we’ll only overspend your money on foreign wars, not anything you might benefit from.

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My snarky comments will be in italics.

Text of President Bush’s speech at Hammons Field on Friday, July 30, 2004:

Thank you all very much. Thank you, please be seated. Thanks for coming. It’s great to be in the heartland of our country. And I want to thank you all for being here this morning to help kick off our Heart and Soul of America Tour.

There will be big differences in this campaign. They’re going to raise your taxes, we’re not. The tax cut has not improved the economy so far, and the Dems only want to raise taxes on people making more than $200,000 – probably not most of the audience.

I have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world. Maybe you could have started working on that by now, then?

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After watching Obama’s speech, attempting to sit still through Kerry’s dronefest is just painful. Fortunately, it’s nothing I haven’t heard before. Could someone get the guy a personality transplant? His wife has some to spare, I think.

Bush back to campaigning in battleground states with a message of “we’ve turned a corner” so we should stay the course. I remember his daddy had a “stay the course” message that didn’t work out so well for him.

My question is, if we’ve turned a corner, are we now in a long dark alley, or is that just the perception of most people I talk to? 🙂

It really sucks that I would ever find myself agreeing with anything that Fidel Castro has to say.

bq. Bush, charged Castro, could be having a difficult time “distinguishing between relevant and inconsequential information.”

Apparently the non sequiturs that the President threw around a few weeks ago regarding how proud Castro is of his healthy prostitutes were (read for it?) plagiarised from a college student’s web site. And, they were paraphrased badly at that. Go figure.

Are there any fact checkers working for the White House? Any at all?

Why is it that I have suddenly begun seeing Ready.gov commercials on television every ten damned minutes? They have been on often enough that I noticed them in the past year, but not so often that I was annoyed by them. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the Democratic Convention or anything. Nope. This administration has never used its executive offices for campaign propaganda purposes before.

Try to go to this link from a .mil or .gov computer and tell me if you can get there.

I can’t, from my work machine. I can get to Fox News just fine. I can get the amazingly bizarre Protest Warrior site. But not MoveOn. I wonder how that could be. I’m sure there’s nobody making decisions for NIPRnet that would be biased or partisan, because that would just be wrong.

Kerry, Edwards May Not Vote on Gay Marriage

bq. While Kerry and Edwards oppose gay marriage, they argue that it is an issue that should be left to the states to decide. Both senators support civil unions, which would give gay couples all the legal rights of married couples without letting them wed.

That ranks up there with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the pantheon of stupid weaselly ways of having both sides of an issue. If you think gays can have all the rights of married couples, you think gays should be allowed to marry. Otherwise, it’s just semantics.

But, who has ever seen a politician with a spine?

Republican positions:

# Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
# The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
# Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.
# “Standing Tall for America” means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
# A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting all humankind without regulation.
# Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
# The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay.
# Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.
# If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t have sex.
# A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
# HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.
# Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
# Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
# Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden” diversion.
# A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is a solid defense policy.
# Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
# The public has a right to know about Hillary’s cattle trades, but George Bush’s driving record is none of our business.
# You support states’ rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have a right to adopt.
# What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the 1980s is irrelevant.
# Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist; but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

Democratic positions:

# A divorced, billionaire-heiress-marrying lifetime politician and an ambulance-chasing millionaire trial lawyer are the best possible representatives for the average, working-class American.
# The United States should obey all UN decrees, except when it comes to enforcing the resolutions regarding Iraq, where we should accept an infinite number of ‘just a few more months’ extensions.
# Government should crack down on Big Businesses who spend Big Money to research cancer treatments and pain relief, and ought to hamstring those working to alleviate human suffering with even more regulation.
# Multinational corporations (with competitors who are eager to seize their market shares at their slightest stumble) cannot be trusted, but the monopolistic Federal Government always acts in the best interests of its constituents.
# Americans must show the utmost respect for hate-spewing, murder-preaching Muslim extremists, but sneering leftists are free hold up the worst examples of those who call themselves ‘Christian’ to smear anyone who believes in a Judeo-Christian God.
# If we give free condoms to children and offer no moral education, they will use them with 100% efficacy and treat sex as a serious responsibility.
# A good way to fight terrorism is to try to ‘understand’ murderous dictators and make excuses for radical terror groups that sponsor and train suicide bombers.
# HMOs and Insurance Companies are irredeemably evil organizations that should be seized by the Federal Government and nationalized, so all Americans can get the same efficiency and great service in Health Care that we currently enjoy from the DMV and IRS.
# Promising that the Federal Government will pay all the medical costs every American citizen (and illegal immigrant) incurs is a good way to keep costs low and encourage innovation (“Universal Coverage”).
# Saddam was a good guy who headed an idyllic paradise until “the Great Satan” George W Bush deposed him from Baghdad and killed his wonderful sons.
# Suggesting that there may be conflicting evidence on the topic of global warming is heresy, and anybody who disagrees is obviously a stupid, Bible-thumping redneck.
# The Federal Government exists to enforce wide-sweeping social experimentation on its citizens; anyone who expresses reservations about it are considered enemies of the state and need to be sent to Inner-City Racial Re-Education Camps.

Stolen from , who stole them from , who got them from here and Pjammer. It’s a long and illustrious chain of theft. 🙂

The O’Reilly Factor – Talking Points – The Most Liberal Ticket, Ever

The Bush administration has had a very tough time in Iraq. And the media is heavily weighted against them.

The media is weighted against Bush? Which media is that? Is it the media that refuses to ask him about reports that he paid for a girl’s abortion before they were legalized in the early 70s? Is it the media that doesn’t talk about the giant gaping holes in the explanations for most of his choices while in power? Is it the media that lets him get away with making some of the most egregiously nonsensical statements ever, because he’s a folksy guy? Which particular piece of the media is weighted against Bush?

I’m not saying that everything Bush does is bad (some would find plenty to support that hypothesis, though). I’m just amazed that Bill O’Reilly, one of the most-watched correspondents in the media, who is on the most-watched news channel in the media, can pretend that the media of which he is a huge part is anti-Bush. Hasn’t the “liberal media” myth been blown apart by now?

Just caught a piece of the Fox News commentary on Kerry’s selection of a running mate. They were questioning his experience, since he has only been in the Senate since 1998, never holding an elected office prior to that. Gee, let’s see now…How many elected offices did the current President hold prior to becoming the highest-ranking person in the country? Oh, just the one? And how many years did he serve there? Five? Hmmm… I can see how the Fox folks would question the ability of a U.S. Senator with six years of experience in national politics but think a governor with five years of local politics is acceptable. Sure.

Oh, and for those of you outside Texas, the governorship here is largely ceremonial, except for all those death penalties they get to sign (152 in five years for Governor Bush).

This article (or more accurately, book review) raises some interesting points about the Democratic party leaving the traditional economic stance they were built on, and ending up with no platform at all beyond, “We’re not Republicans.”

When you remove economics from political platforms, all you’re left with is culture and morality. Certainly the once-married teetotaling born again Prez beats out that other guy pretty handily, if that is the measure of the man. I sure hope that’s not the only way people determine their new leader, but history shows otherwise.

How is it that it took 3 months before I heard about Reverend Moon’s Coronation at the Capitol? Moon claims to be the Messiah, back for the Second Coming. Yeah, right. But, we’ve got Senators and Congresscritters helping him with crown and scepter. WTF?

Here’s an example of the dissembling and absurd lengths our elected representatives will go to in order to suck up to Moon while claiming that they don’t even know who he is.

bq. CONGRESSMAN CURT WELDON (R-PA) – When first contacted by investigative reporter John Gorenfeld, Weldon’s press secretary stated: “I’m telling you, he didn’t go.” When Gorenfeld sent her some links showing Weldon was listed as a primary sponsor of the event, she stated that Weldon “planned to attend this awards show, but couldn’t make it due to his schedule.” When Gorenfeld next produced a photo of Weldon standing with a group of Moon associates at the event, she said that Weldon’s participation was apparently “limited to his attendance.” Soon after, Gorenfeld found a photo of Weldon actually giving the welcoming “congratulatory remarks” from the stage — as a photo was displayed of himself giving a pin to Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy. Gorenfeld, who has extensively covered Moon’s involvement in US politics, said that pin presented last year by Weldon to Khadafy was apparently one of Moon’s peace pins. Okay, back to Weldon’s staff for version #4 of Weldon’s explanation. Weldon’s chief of staff told Christian Challenge that Weldon “was at the banquet for ‘5 or 10 minutes’ to speak about his recent trip to Libya; Weldon neither saw Moon at the event, nor witnessed the coronation, nor heard his Messianic speech … [and] ‘in no way does Congressman Weldon share that belief.'” That he did not know of Moon’s involvement strains credibility (see yesterday’s story) as he and Davis also co-hosted Moon’s Capitol Hill event in 2003 and they praised him by name in the Congressional Record. Weldon later added — not that he has any remaining credibility on this issue — that he did not give Khadafy a Moonie peace pin but, rather, pinned a US flag to the anti-American dictator’s lapel.

CNN has a quick article about a fresh challenge to ‘Fahrenheit’, Michael Moore’s anti-Bush movie. One person who is trying to get people to write movie theaters protesting the movie’s release says he’s in favor of free speech. So why not let the market be the speech? If nobody agrees with the movie, nobody will go see it and it will close faster than a J-Lo and Britney double feature.

Of course, what the Move America Forward (blatantly neocon group) spokesman really meant to say was, “I assume my neighbors are idiots and I must tell them what they are allowed to see or hear. Political comments which disagree with me are wrong.”

Bush Honors U.S. Military Dead from War on Terror

Is this the first time he’s been at the cemetary since the war in Iraq began? He’s gone to such lengths to avoid anyone else seeing the caskets, it is a valid query, no? More than 200 American men and women died in the past two months; compared to the 138 who died during the “actual combat” phase. One wonders what this is, if not combat.

As a side note, the Reuters wire article uses the phrase “Bush, who avoided combat in Vietnam.” I guess the media isn’t going to let that one go, no matter how much the President wants them to.