Kerry Haters: We're Not Fonda John

 
Mark Steyn Notices the Tepid Endorsements

And goes wild. This is another one of his romps.

Sullivan's big idea is that the best way to force the Democrats to get serious about the war is to put them in charge of it. That's a helluva leap of faith -- and, in John Kerry's case, it's at odds with a 30-year track record of not being serious on the Cold War, Grenada, Central America, the first Gulf War, etc. As Dr. Laura would advise, you should never marry a man in hopes of reforming him.

Yes! Kerry's undeniable flaw at every stage of his career has been his utter unwillingness to consider our enemies for what they were--enemies to be defeated.

It's only a day or so now till the chad-dangling round of Campaign 2004 begins but, when the lawsuits are over and the bloodletting begins, serious Democrats need to confront the intellectual emptiness of their party, which Kerry's campaign embodies all too well. The Dems got a full tank from FDR, a top-up in the Civil Rights era, and they've been running on fumes for 30 years. Their last star, Bill Clinton, has no legacy because, deft as he was, his Democratic Party had no purpose other than as a vehicle for promoting his own indispensability. When he left, the Democrats became a party running on personality with no personalities to run. Hence, the Kerry candidacy. Despite the best efforts of American editorialists, there's no there there.

Yep. As we have commented in the past, the Democrats have no goal in mind, no guiding light or objective since the fall of communism.

 
Be of Good Cheer

Went to a couple of enjoyable parties this weekend (which is the reason for the lack of late evening blogging, sorry). The first one was dominated by liberals who were glum about Kerry's prospects, and most admitted that the Osama tape was the last nail in Lurch's coffin.

The second was dominated by Republicans who hate Kerry and who are all concerned that we are going to lose. And I told the second group to be concerned, to make sure they vote.

That said, don't worry, be happy. We are going to win this thing. We need to keep doing the things that will bring us victory, we can't slack off, but we can be confident that our efforts will be crowned with success.

 
Time's Person of the Year Prediction

Is it too obvious to predict that it will be the ankle-biting pundits, the pajamahadeen, the digital brownshirts; in other words, the bloggers?

A "blog" is a website where self-appointed experts can spout off on subjects of their choice, no qualifications required. But sometimes people listen to them. It was the blogs that, in July, noticed the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Campaign that questioned John Kerry's war heroism. The mainstream media noticed and followed up in August.

That's a gross oversimplification. KH noticed the Swiftees when they made their first appearance back in May. Nobody much noticed them in July; they were silent until August 4 when the first commercial hit. The next day came the first chapter (in released order; it was the third chapter overall) of the book and the Christmas in Cambodia story hit. What happened then was the interesting part--watching the media largely try to avoid the story, seeing the same patterns that had been established in the VVAW assassination plot, even to the point of the Times burying the major story in the 75th paragraph.

 
Bet on Bush

That's what gamblers are doing at Betfair, an internet gambling site.

Betfair's latest figures show 2.3 million pounds ($4.2 million) have been wagered on Bush, while Kerry has attracted only 680,000 pounds ($1.25 million) in bets. Bush is now at 1-5 odds to stay in office, whereas gamblers can still get odds of 2-1 on Kerry to win.

On the other hand, the Iowa Electronic Markets are only showing a modest advantage to the President, with his shares going at about 55 cents versus 45 for shares of Kerry.

 
CRUSHKERRY’S PREDICTION






In case you’ve been trying to access CrushKerry, like I have all afternoon, they just got back online after a frustrating time offline. They’ve posted their prediction and made their case. Do you agree with them?
What You Will See on Election Day
We were prepared to predict a Bush victory primarily because of the embarrassing effort by John Kerry.

 
Just a Regular Feller



Drinking beer and talking health care...

 
FOX NEWS POLL

I'd like to try my hand at analyzing a poll like our friends at Polipundit. I have not looked at their site...so if they already said what I said, that just means I am learning.

Fox news said Bush went from 50% to 47% while Kerry stayed the same at 45%. But it is the internals that demonstrate that this polling sample is somewhat skewed.

First, this poll gives Bush the edge for independents. While normally this sound good, this is not the case in most polls. Opinion Dynamics has 44% for Bush and 41% for Kerry.

Second, we should look at the gender gap. Opinion Dynamics has women for Kerry at 53% and Bush at 50%. If Bush has this close of a lead among women, why is he only 2% points ahead in the national poll?

Third, it has Bush only garnering 49% among men. This cannot be the case.

Fourth, [and I am paraphrasing from the television report] show that 12% of Bush supporters are swayable to Kerry but only 6% of Kerry supporters are swayable to Bush. This is the antithesis of every other poll out there.

My conclusion: this is simply a bad sample. I hope Lorie Byrd reads this and comments on my analysis.

 

DASCHLE'S PINK SLIP

The South Dakota Republican Party has mailed to a national list of contributors a "pink slip" soliciting eleventh hour funds against Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's re-election.

Labeled "Notice of Dismissal," the card lists possible contributions from $25
to $1,000 supporting former Republican Rep. John Thune against Daschle. "Here's your last chance to hand him the PINK SLIP he deserves," says the card.

We love the ever handsome and infinitely more competent John Thune.

Thanks, Robert Novak.

 
VIET CONG: RUN FOR OFFICE



More from the documents discovered from our brave, patriotic Swift Vets published on WND:

The document, noting that the U.S. anti-war movements have received "assistance and guidance" from Vietnamese communist delegations, outlines the strategy of the radical U.S. group People's Coalition for Peace and Justice, or PCPJ. That organization was tied to Kerry through Al Hubbard, a coordinating PCPJ member who also served as executive director of Vietnam Veterans Against the War while the future senator was its national spokesman and an executive committee member. The PCPJ also shared office space and conducted joint activities with the VVAW.

"Through its activities," the document says, "we can see that the PCPJ has made progress in its newly-adopted policy lines with the following strategic alteration:"

The first point in the strategy reads:

"To gain success in struggles, it is necessary to strengthen internal unity, contact other associations, other social classes, and influential personalities and take part in ((U.S. congressional)) elections (instead of boycotting them), to eliminate reactionary candidates and plant progressive people in the Senate and House of Representatives."

 
Weekly Standard Predictions

Not quite the same as Slate, where the employees were revealing whom they were voting for, these are predictions of the outcome:

Bush, Kerry, Bush, Kerry, Bush, Kerry, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush.

They all give their predictions on percentages, too. Here's mine. Bush wins 53%-45%, with Ralph Nader and the others getting roughly 2%. Kerry wins New England except NH, New York, Illinois, California and Washington. I think Hawaii will go red, maybe because they'll know when the polls are still open that the President has won.

Thune wins, Coors wins. Obama of course wins, that's a pickup for the Dems. On balance, I think the Republicans come out of the election with 53 Senators.

 
Is There No End to the Evil Machinations of Karl Rove?

The most trusted man in America:

CRONKITE: What we just heard. So now the question is basically right now, how will this affect the election? And I have a feeling that it could tilt the election a bit. In fact, I'm a little inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing.

Walter also makes a rather rash and bizarre prediction:

CRONKITE: Well, I think it's one of the biggest messes we've had in a long time. I believe that we're undoubtedly not going to know the results of this election. I don't want to knock you off the air on Monday night or anything, or Tuesday night. But I suspect that we're not going to know who the next president is, whether it is Bush or the new man, until very probably sometime in the early spring. There's so much controversy that they're planting, deliberately planting at the polls, that there's almost certainly to be a suit going back to the Supreme Court eventually, going through the other courts slowly first.

Walter, Walter, Walter. We'll know who the next president is before going to bed on November 2. And his middle initial is W.

Hat Tip: Polipundit

 
The Nuisance Returns

David Brooks:

Well, the Osama bin Laden we saw last night was not a problem that needs to be mitigated. He was not the leader of a movement that can be reduced to a nuisance.

And:

One of the crucial issues of this election is, Which candidate fundamentally gets the evil represented by this man? Which of these two guys understands it deep in his gut - not just in his brain or in his policy statements, but who feels it so deep in his soul that it consumes him?

You already know the answer to that one. Broken glass, people!

 
THE WOLF RETURNS


Video image from a campaign ad for President Bush released Friday, Oct. 22, 2004. President Bush's campaign, using powerful imagery of prowling wolves, suggests the country under John Kerry would be vulnerable to terrorists in the new television ad that says 'weakness attracts those who are waiting to do America harm.' (AP Photo/Bush-Cheney 2004)

I didn’t see the OBL tape, but looking at the stills, it doesn’t appear as though he’s healthy … or even living. Is it just my overactive imagination, or could the tape be a WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S stunt?

Impact Of October Surprise Uncertain
The Washington Post, by Dana Milbank
Kerry aides appeared visibly alarmed aboard the candidate's plane as they planned a response to the tape's airing. One prominent Democrat speculated that for swing voters who have not followed the election closely, bin Laden's reappearance may well boost Bush.
On the other hand, the bin Laden appearance may reinforce some of Kerry's arguments. Bin Laden practically quoted Kerry when he said "Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you," and he seemed to be familiar with the liberal filmmaker Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" and its mockery of Bush for reading "My Pet Goat" with children while the World Trade Center towers burned. "It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the American forces would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone . . . because he thought listening to a child discussing her goat and its ramming was more important," bin Laden said.
Marshall Wittmann, with the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, observed that the first commercial on one network after the bin Laden tape was Bush's campaign ad about wolves gathering for an attack. The tape "was a reminder that the head of the wolf pack was still on the loose," he said.
…
Kerry adviser Mike McCurry appeared unusually somber as he told reporters that the candidate would proceed with the campaign as if the tape had not appeared. "It's very important for us to move forward. We're in the closing days of the campaign. We're going ahead and doing our events as we would." Pressed for more, he responded with uncharacteristic brevity: "We gave the reaction right now to you that he wanted to give."

Belmont Club weighs in:
Osama Bin Laden's Surrender Proposal
It is important to notice what he has stopped saying in this speech. He has stopped talking about the restoration of the Global Caliphate. There is no more mention of the return of Andalusia. There is no more anticipation that Islam will sweep the world. He is no longer boasting that Americans run at the slightest wounds; that they are more cowardly than the Russians. He is not talking about future operations to swathe the world in fire but dwelling on past glories. He is basically saying if you leave us alone we will leave you alone. Though it is couched in his customary orbicular phraseology he is basically asking for time out.

And Gerry Daly:
I look at it as very good news for America.
Al Qaeda wanted to influence the Spanish elections, and did so by bombing and mass murder
Now they want to influence our elections. They did so by releasing a tape.
They would have hit us if they could.

 
KERRY’S VIETNAM KARMA


Photograph of John Kerry meeting with Comrade Do Muoi, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in Vietnam, July 15-18, 1993. Photo taken in the War Remnants Museum (formerly the "War Crimes Museum") in Saigon in May 2004.

Kerry's October surprise
How's this for an October surprise?
While John Kerry is running around claiming President George Bush and our troops overseas failed the American people by not guarding an explosives dump without explosives in it, documents have been uncovered at Texas Tech University that show Kerry was following Vietnam War protest guidelines from North Vietnamese communists in the early 1970s.
…
The documents -- which actually LOOK like they came from the 1970s and not from a Microsoft Word program -- were found at the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock and reproduced from captured communist records. These documents have been PROVEN 100 percent authentic BEFORE their release, unlike those 60 Minutes National Guard documents that CBS refuses to investigate. They show that Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, the Viet Cong provisional governor of South Vietnam at the Paris Peace Talks, delivered a plan from Le Duc Tho -- Ho Chi Minh's second in command -- for American anti-war activities that anti-war protesters followed to the letter.
…
Madame Binh subsequently became the Minister of Information for the People's Republic of Vietnam after Saigon fell. You know what "Minister of Information" means in communist countries, right?
Of these organizations, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and the communist organizations Peoples Committee for Peace and Justice and National Peace Action Committee were represented at the talks. Some representatives of these groups had their airfare covered by the United States Communist Party.
Shortly after Kerry returned from the talks he delivered Madame Binh's peace proposal through a press conference on July 22, 1971. He did so with veterans' families around him, a tactic that was suggested by the communists. However, he said he only attended the peace talks because he was on his honeymoon in Paris.
There are two problems, Hanoi John met twice, and possibly thrice, with communist officials in Paris. Also, his honeymoon was spent at the Jamaica home of the Pershing family with then (other) heiress wife, Julia Thorne, in 1970. I suppose Paris was a second honeymoon.
Kerry had also met illegally with Binh in 1970 while he was still a Naval officer on inactive reserve status, and in fact, all his meetings were under the six-year window of the term of his enlistment. This precludes him from even running for elective office, much less president, but nobody is mentioning it for some reason. Amendment 14, Section 3 states: "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-president, having previously taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, [who has] engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."

 
Total Eclipse

 
The Communist Puppet Story Lives On

Gaylon Parker picks up the scent.

While John Kerry is running around claiming President George Bush and our troops overseas failed the American people by not guarding an explosives dump without explosives in it, documents have been uncovered at Texas Tech University that show Kerry was following Vietnam War protest guidelines from North Vietnamese communists in the early 1970s.

 
"I Suppose the Good News Is That Osama Stopped Short of Endorsing Me"

 
Text of Bin Laden's Statement--Updates at End!

DUBAI (Reuters) - Following are excerpts from a speech by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden addressing the American people in a video tape, parts of which were aired by Al Jazeera television on Saturday, as translated by Reuters.
"O American people, I am speaking to tell you about the ideal way to avoid another Manhattan, about war and its causes and results.

"Security is an important foundation of human life and free people do not squander their security, contrary to Bush's claims that we hate freedom. Let him tell us why we did not attack Sweden for example.

"It is known that those who hate freedom do not possess proud souls like those of the 19, may God rest their souls. We fought you because we are free and because we want freedom for our nation. When you squander our security we squander yours.

"I am surprised by you. Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you and therefore the reasons are still there to repeat what happened.

"God knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers but after the situation became unbearable and we witnessed the injustice and tyranny of the American-Israeli alliance against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, I thought about it. And the events that affected me directly were that of 1982 and the events that followed -- when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet.

"In those difficult moments many emotions came over me which are hard to describe, but which produced an overwhelming feeling to reject injustice and a strong determination to punish the unjust.

"As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women.

"We had no difficulty in dealing with Bush and his administration because they resemble the regimes in our countries, half of which are ruled by the military and the other half by the sons of kings ... They have a lot of pride, arrogance, greed and thievery.

"He (Bush) adopted despotism and the crushing of freedoms from Arab rulers and called it the Patriot Act under the guise of combating terrorism.....

"We had agreed with the (the Sept. 11) overall commander Mohammed Atta, may God rest his soul, to carry out all operations in 20 minutes before Bush and his administration take notice.

"It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the American forces (Bush) would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone at a time when they most needed him because he thought listening to a child discussing her goat and its ramming was more important than the planes and their ramming of the skyscrapers. This had given us three times the time needed to carry out the operations, thanks be to God...

"Your security is not in the hands of (Democratic presidential candidate John) Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe."

(Pat speaking again). Patti Murray was right, Osama's a liberal. Look at the list of things that he says:

1. Bush is lying.
2. The Patriot Act crushes freedom.
3. Bush read (not listened to) a story about a goat instead of reacting immediately to the attacks.
4. We're helping the Israelis too much against the Palestinians.

My god, take out the parts praising Mohammed Atta, and it's Michael Moore!

Update: Right & Wrong has a similar take.

Update II: Wild Bill takes a closer look at Osama.

 
Wimpy Kerry

Aaron posted below about Kerry's interview with Tom Brokaw. I was taken with this part:

It's absolutely impossible and irresponsible to suggest that if I were president, he wouldn't necessarily be gone. He might be gone. Because if he hadn't complied, we might have had to go to war. And we might have gone to war.

Aaron and Jim Geraghty highlighted the first two sentences, but I'm boggled by the last two sentences. If Saddam hadn't complied we might have had to go to war, and we might have gone to war.

Get it? It's a two step switch. We might have had to go to war, and if that happened, then we might have gone to war.

Reminds me of the kid threatening the bully "If you don't cut it out, I might have to beat you up. Ow! I said I might have to beat you up, not that I would."

 
Bin Laden's Appearance Hurts Kerry

I'm sure the spin from the Kerry camp will be that Bin Laden's appearance in the videotape backs up their argument that Iraq was a distraction from the war on terror. But really, this tape, along with the tape of the American Al Qaeda released yesterday, focuses the American public on the topic of terrorism again, and that's not a winning issue for John Kerry.

Update: Gerry Daly has a brilliant take. Hat tip: Kerry Spot

 
It's Woodstock All Over Again

 
GOD BLESS NBC

Look, most MSM is totally corrupt. But I was arguing with other Republicans in the District that there have been some saving graces in the MSM. The first is the Washington Post. The Post used to be a beacon for liberalism like the New York Times. But since the death of its owner, I have seen--between the lines--the journalistic restrain to remove emotions and opinions from it's pages.

But now I want to discuss NBC. Not only did NBC within 24 hours debunk the October Surprise (not) from the New York Times and CBS, but now we have Tom Brokaw actually asking questions! From the National Review we have:

Kerry: But that's what you have inspectors for. And that's why I voted for the threat of force. Because he only does things when you have a legitimate threat of force. It's absolutely impossible and irresponsible to suggest that if I were president, he wouldn't necessarily be gone. He might be gone. Because if he hadn't complied, we might have had to go to war. And we might have gone to war. But if we did, I'll tell you this, Tom. We'd have gone to war with allies in a way that the American people weren't carrying the burden. And the entire world would have understood why we were doing it.

Wait, there's more:

Brokaw: Let me ask you about social and domestic issues. Your colleague from Massachusetts, Senator Ted Kennedy, says that he's proud to be a liberal. Are you proud to be a liberal?

Kerry: That depends on what the issue is, Tom. I've always hated labels. And I don't abide by labels... On certain issues, I'm a liberal, Tom. On certain issues I'm a conservative.

Wait, there's more!

Brokaw: Someone has analyzed the President's military aptitude tests and yours, and concluded that he has a higher IQ than you do.

Kerry: That's great. More power. I don't know how they've done it, because my record is not public. So I don't know where you're getting that from.

I repeat, Pat, "because my record is not public."

Sign the 180! This should be a law for being president!

 
Another Riveting Speech....ZZZZZZ....



Better than Sominex.

 
Kerry-Lee Harvey Oswald Link

I doubt this really means anything, but it's interesting just the same.

....a cousin of Kerry's, Michael Paine, was a close friend of Oswald who frequently had the assassin as a house guest. Paine even stored the rifle Oswald used to shoot Kennedy at his house. Paine's mother, Ruth Forbes, and Kerry's mother, Rosemary Forbes, were cousins. It has never been fully explained how Oswald came to have such socially prominent pals, says A.J. Weberman, author of the JFK assassination book "Coup D'Etat in America," who notes that according to documents released under the JFK Documents Act, Paine's sister-in-law and father-in-law were both closely connected with the CIA.

Well, the CIA connection is quite a stretch. The Left hates hearing about this, but Lee Harvey Oswald was a Leftist, even living for three years in that worker's paradise, the Soviet Union. It seems quite a bit easier to posit that Kerry's cousin was a Leftist. Heck, another Kerry cousin ran for President of France as a left-wing environmentalist back in the 1980s.

 
HE'S BACK: I SAY NUKE PAKISTAN



MSNBC (yuk) reports:

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in a videotape broadcast Friday on Al-Jazeera television, claimed full responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and warns Americans that “your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al-Qaida. Your security is in your own hands.”

U.S. officials, who said the government had obtained the tape independently, told NBC News that the message authentic. They said, however, that there was no plan to raise the terrorist threat level, currently at yellow, or “elevated,” because bin Laden makes no specific threat.

Neither the Qatar-based channel nor U.S. officials would say how it had received the tape.

In the tape, bin Laden — wearing traditional white robes, a turban and a tan cloak — reads from papers at a lectern against a plain brown background. Speaking quietly in an even voice, he tells the American people that “Bush cannot protect you.”

Bin Laden says “we decided to destroy towers in America” because “we are a free people” who wanted to “regain the freedom” of their nation. He accuses President Bush of “misleading” the American people for the three years since the Sept. 11 attacks. Most of bin Laden’s message is in regard to Bush, who faces Democrat John Kerry in next week’s presidential election.

He ridicules Bush for reacting slowly to the Sept. 11 attacks, saying: “I never thought that the supreme leader would leave 50,000 of his people in the two towers to face the terrifying events alone at the time they were in need for him.”

The last authenticated contemporaneous video message from bin Laden appeared in December 2001, when he discussed a U.S. attack on a mosque. U.S. officials said all subsequent videos of bin Laden were believed to have been recorded earlier and broadcast much later.

The last audio message from bin Laden was on April 15, when he offered a truce to European nations if they removed their troops from the Middle East within 90 days. On Oct. 1, bin Laden’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, issued an audiotape calling on young Muslims to strike the United States and its allies.
By MSNBC.com’s Alex Johnson with NBC’s Robert Windrem and Adam Ciralsky. Reuters contributed to this report.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6363306/

 
How to Get a Pro-Choice, Feminist Democrat to Vote for Bush

Get her to read this column.

The simple answer? It means you’re a confident liberal, a thoughtful person who realizes that game of party loyalty takes a back seat to the safety of your family and this nation. It also means you take the slogans of “choice” and “radical individualism”seriously. Isn’t it ironic that there’s nothing more radically individual these days than a liberal who doesn’t conform?

For me, Authentic Feminism is rooted in making it possible for people to make the choices that best suit them. If you have recognized the weakness of John Kerry, and know in your heart a vote for the president is the right thing to do, join me and do it! It can be done with a clear conscience as you embrace the radical individual inside you that attracted you to liberal causes in the first place.

Because some things simply transcend party lines, when in front of that Early Voting touch screen, I stood there as an American first, and voted for George W. Bush. This nation, our lives, and the lives our children require nothing less.

I explain to detractors and supporters alike that President Bush is the man who will keep this nation safest. The president and I hold dramatically divergent views on a number of social issues of importance to me, and yet for the 3,000 people who died on September 11th, abortion rights and same-sex civil unions mean absolutely nothing to them now. These issues, while important to me and ones on which I will continue to speak out about, are luxuries in the face of a world war where the enemy is a stateless savage who hunts children and cuts off people’s heads.

I've got a hunch that the security moms are going to deliver this election.

 
Kerry's North Vietnamese Masters

We've covered this story already, but there are a couple more interesting items coming out about it.

First, here's an article by Joseph Farah.

Documents prepared by the Communist North Vietnamese government in 1971, and later captured by U.S. forces, show unmistakably that Kerry was operating under the direction of the enemy. He was being steered by Hanoi. He was being coached by the Viet Cong. And he was taking this direction, this steering and this coaching willingly.

In case you missed it, you can find all the gory details in a report in WorldNetDaily earlier this week. It's fascinating reading. But it is more than that 72 hours before Americans decide who is going to be the next president.

Linda Chavez is also on the beat.

Not only did John Kerry and his group Vietnam Veterans Against the War follow this game plan, but Kerry went to Paris to meet with the communist official designated as the point of contact for guiding these activities. In June 1970, Kerry met with Madame Binh, foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (Viet Cong) of South Vietnam and a delegate to the Paris Peace Talks. The documents discovered this weekend -- one titled "Circular on Antiwar Movements in the U.S." was disseminated in Vietnam in the spring of 1971, and the other titled "Directive" was captured by the U.S. in April 1971 -- are available for viewing at www.wintersoldier.com. They reveal a detailed plan to use antiwar activists in the U.S. as propagandists for the communist cause in Vietnam.

Here's a link to an article where Bud Day, America's most highly decorated living soldier, calls Kerry a Benedict Arnold.

Here's a link to a series of blog posts by In the Bullpen. Chad's doing a great job of analysis of the evidence.

If you'd like to read the original document, it's here.

Hat Tip to an anonymous source for the Farah article and to KH reader Deb for the other links.

 

The first African-American Senators and Representatives to serve in Congress -- all Republicans: (Left to right) Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi, Representatives Benjamin Turner of Alabama, Robert DeLarge of South Carolina, Josiah Walls of Florida, Jefferson Long of Georgia, Joseph Rainey and Robert Elliott of South Carolina.

I did a post a while back about the white-wash (no pun intended) of blacks into thinking Republicans are evil. I encourage everyone on this site to read it immediately and share it with any black friends they may have.

Also, share with them the columns I posted here.

 
GOOD NEWS FROM THE INSIDER

Kerry Spot's insider gives us some good news:

Among early and absentee votes cast already, Bush has huge lead in FL, bigger than his advantage in Florida in 2000.

There’s a great contrast in the respective get-out-the-vote operations for Bush and Kerry. Around 25 percent of registered voters report being contacted by a Bush-Cheney volunteer, most often members of their church or community organization or neighbor. About 19 percent of registered voters have been contacted on behalf of the Kerry-Edwards campaign, but the vast majority of these contacts are by paid temps of the campaign, the DNC, or a related 527. Will the personal touch have an effect?

In Hawaii, the Bush campaign has quietly had its eye on this state for a while, and been building a surprisingly strong statewide organization with more than 2,000 volunteers. Kerry put up ad about how bad the economy was, while Hawaii has one of the lowest unemployment rates in country.

In New Mexico, Bush is only few thousand behind in early/absentee ballots in Bernalillo county, a heavy Democrat county.

In Florida, the campaign expects Bush to end up with an estimated 100,000 vote advantage among early and absentee voters.

In Nevada, there is little expectation that this state will be all that competitive. Bush is competitive in Clark County (which includes Las Vegas). Right now Kerry leads 44 percent Bush 41 percent. Kerry needed over 50 percent out of Clark county to win NV. But Bush within a few thousands votes of heavy Dem county.

Finally, a big point of enthusiasm for the GOP is their deep bench of Bush surrogates who can garner big crowds and lots of media attention. The President is in New Hampshire and Ohio today, vith Ah-nuld. Cheney is going to Hawaii. Tommy Franks is in Florida, as is John McCain and former President Bush. Rudy Giuliani is in Iowa, Mitt Romney is in Michigan, and former President Bush will also be in Pennsylvania later.

 
USAMA RETURNS?

Fox News reported that Al Jazeera will be airing a videotape from Bin Laden. More as it develops...

 
Here's a Nice Little Cause

Go visit Small Town Vet and leave a note in his comments that you'll send a birthday card to the little girl in question. It's for the daughter of one of the more beloved bloggers out there.

 
How Many Deaths in Iraq?

Our frequent commenter A. Hermit linked to an article yesterday; today the NY Times runs with it.

An estimated 100,000 civilians have died in Iraq as a direct or indirect consequence of the March 2003 United States-led invasion, according to a new study by a research team at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Superhawk took a look at the story the way I would--he compared it to other sources not known to have a conservative bias, and found out that it overstates the number of deaths by a factor of at least 6 times.

This is all just part of the last minute push by the media to get Kerry over the top. Expect lots more of the same over the next couple of days. Just remember that if we all vote on Tuesday, the media will be eating crow Tuesday night.

 
Dishonorable Discharge?

We are getting a lot of requests to keep the heat up on two stories in particular. First up is the possibility that Kerry received a dishonorable discharge. This seems quite likely to me, as it has never been explained to my satisfaction why Kerry's discharge date is in 1978. Kerry signed up in 1966 for six years; there is zero chance he would have re-upped in 1972, and even if he had wanted to, it is outside the realm of possibility that the Navy would have accepted him given his notorious anti-war activities.

Here's a link to New Conservative Voice which has a post about a letter to Sean Hannity requesting that he help break this story.

The second story, which I will cover a little later is the story about Kerry's doing the bidding of his North Vietnamese masters, which got some fresh attention today. Tip to people asking me to keep on these stories: Provide me with links to fresh articles/blog posts. If it's older stuff chances are we've covered it.

Hat Tip: KH Reader Ellen (who provided the link to New Conservative Voice).

 
If Your Liberal Friends Try to Change Your Mind

Just got this in an email from Chris at Kerry Waffles, and it's tremendous:

Wanted to share something else that my Dad said that hit home with me. Lots of my family is Hispanic and will vote Kerry. They invited my Dad to a family meeting to convince him to go with Kerry, which I know is a snowball's chance in hell. My Dad is a 35 year Army vet that retired as an officer, but started as an enlisted door gunner on a Huey in Nam. He made a comment that silenced the entire room of 30 people.

He said, "This is a free Country. How you vote doesn't bother me a bit. I fought for your right to vote any way you want. Just remember, when I vote for Bush that vote is for my Country that I love. When you vote for Kerry, that vote is for yourselves and your petty wants and needs. Your vote is a selfish one."

Now, that's a smackdown!

 
ABSENTEE BALLOTS



Have a friend or loved one overseas who has not yet received their absentee ballot? For help, go to
Federal Voting Assistance Program
FVAP NEWS
Only 4 days until the 2004 General Election!
FVAP has created an online version of the Federal Write-In Ballot. Please check this page to see if your state will accept the form.

 
Kerry Whiffs

The NY Sun takes a detailed look at Kerry's professed love for the Red Sox.

Mr. Kerry may be from Massachusetts, but it's Mr. Bush who is the real baseball fan. Voters don't need to be convinced that the president knows the stats and the players. He's owned a baseball team, and he sponsors tee ball on the White House lawn. The Kerry campaign may think a Boston win in the World Series helps their candidate. But what it's really disclosed is that Mr. Bush shares America's pastime while Mr. Kerry condescends to it.

 
BREAKING NEWS!





From CrushKerry: Bret Baier, Fox's Pentagon Correspondent says the Pentagon will have press conference w/ a soldier in the hour so show they destroyed about 200 tons of the explosives at Al Kaka - or however it's spelled. That's all for now.
If true, then "Nail - Meet Coffin"

 
Religious Blacks Breaking for Bush

This is bad news for Kerry.

"I don't agree with the war in Iraq and I think Bush lied to us about that," said Cynthia Brown, 42, a financial adviser who identified herself as a registered Democrat. "But we'll survive Iraq. Those babies being aborted won't survive, they'll be dead."

Audra Booker, 35, whose husband is in the Navy, said she and other blacks had voted Democrat in the past, but the moral issues surrounding gay marriage and abortion had changed that.

"You can't vote one way and believe another way," she said. "Bush supports more of our values."

If the President pulls a few percentage points more among blacks than he did in 2000, Kerry's job gets very difficult. If he pulls 5% more, it becomes virtually impossible for Nuancy Boy to win. If he pulls 9-10% more, as some polls have indicated, then the rout is on.

 
LOOKING GOOD!

Hugh Hewitt is overflowing with good news.
It is looking very good indeed.
The Battleground Poll --along with Gallup, the best over many election cycles-- has Bush up by 5, with his approval rating at 53%.
…
A soldier's question.
"Sir, eight out of ten soldiers support the president. Why is it so hard for the civilians to get it?"
…
A call to the program yesterday from the proud mom of a member of the 3rd I.D. was a voice of outrage and anger directed at Kerry. "He [Kerry] has no idea how he sounds," she fumed. "My son is a brave and competent hero." Kerry thinks he's a bumbler. But how surprising is that. He also thinks the men and women he served with in Vietnam were war criminals.
…
The Beltway turns on Kerry
Matthew Dowd, senior strategist for the Bush-Cheney campaign, is "cautiously optimistic." He should be. Here is one of those small signs of Beltway conviction that Kerry is a loser. Anthony Cordesman is no friend of the Administration, but the senior analyst at the Center for International Security is one of the "go-to" experts admired by the press. The Washington Post puts him on the front page this morning:

 
The Missing Explosives Story

I haven't been keeping up with this one because there's so much news about Nuancy Boy, but here are some links if you want the facts:

Jim Geraghty tackles the issue of what was in the boxes and drums.

Captain's Quarters puts the amounts reportedly missing in perspective.

 
ROPE-A-DOPE


t-shirt

JOHN KERRY, FOOT IN MOUTH
By JOHN PODHORETZ
HERE'S a question for which only Tuesday will provide an answer: Did John Kerry make a colossal blunder by deciding to spend the last week of the campaign highlighting the fact that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was one giant ammunition dump?
…
Kerry has just bollixed up his own storyline about the war in Iraq. He is concluding his campaign by drawing an explicit association between Saddam Hussein, dangerous weaponry and international terrorists.
That's Bush's argument. Not Kerry's.
Kerry's account of the past 18 months is that Saddam's weaponry wasn't sufficient grounds for invasion and overthrow. After all, he said in the first presidential debate, "35 to 40 countries in the world had a greater capability of making weapons [of mass destruction] at the moment the president invaded than Saddam."
But in thundering about the vast danger posed by 380 tons of high explosive, Kerry is sure making it sound like Saddam possessed uniquely dangerous weapons
…
Kerry has inadvertently added fuel to Bush's fire. He has advanced Bush's case without meaning to. In his eagerness to jump on any piece of anti-Bush news and turn it to his advantage, Kerry failed to examine just how his new argument makes a hash of his old argument — and how it might actually do the president a little bit of good.
This is more proof of the Bush campaign's secret weapon — Kerry's poor political instincts

 
Okay to Root For the Packers

Best of the Web Today checked out the Washington Redskins factor (when the Redskins win the last game before a Presidential election, the party in power wins, when they lose, the party in power loses). Turns out that this particular curse was broken in 1996, when the Redskins lost and Clinton won reelection.

 
L'AMI CHIRAC DE JACQUES KERR-EE



JOHN KERRY'S FANTASY FRIEND
By AMIR TAHERI
THE main criticism that John Kerry has leveled against President Bush's foreign policy is that it has alienated U.S. allies. Kerry proposes to "bring back the allies" with a multilateralist approach.
There is, of course, no factual basis for Kerry's claim. The United States is heading a coalition of 67 nations in Afghanistan and 34 nations in Iraq. All NATO allies are actively present in Afghanistan. And in Iraq, the only NATO allies dragging their feet are France, Belgium and Greece. All of America's Arab allies also provided valuable help in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Britain's Tony Blair is under attack from his own Labor Party friends for allegedly favoring Bush. Italy's Silvio Berlusconi has made no secret of his preference for the incumbent at the White House. Even Germany's Gerhard Schroeder has gone out of his way in recent months to patch things up with Washington and, by siding with the U.S. in NATO against France over Iraq, is clearly endorsing Bush.
Australians have just re-elected the unambiguously pro-Bush Prime Minister John Howard with an increased majority. Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi makes no secret of his admiration for Bush, whom he calls "Gary Cooper." And Russia's Vladimir Putin has just offered his own roundabout endorsement of Bush.
So who are "the allies" that Kerry wants to bring back on board? The only possible answer is French President Jacques Chirac. But Kerry would quickly find out that he has more in common with George W than with frere Jacques.
…
Suppose that Chirac does abandon his Gaullist ideology, and a lifetime of opposing various U.S. presidents of both parties, to please John Kerry. There is precious little that France can do in practical terms to help the United States rebuild Iraq in a way that reflects the interests both of the United States and the Iraqi people. Chirac has no troops to send to Iraq and, even if he did, he might not find it easy to do, since he has been heating up French opinion against any intervention in Iraq on the side of he Americans.
Reduced to its bare bones, Kerry's foreign policy amounts to little more than wishful thinking, especially as far as enlisting Chirac's support for American ambitions is concerned. Don't be surprised if Kerry, if elected president, quickly reverts to the Bush Doctrine . . . after renaming it after himself.

 
FACE-OFF



Masked revelers prefer Bush
Forget about the guesswork from the political pundits and ignore all those election polls.
The real key to predicting the outcome of the presidential election is this year's face-off of the Halloween masks.
It's as unscientific as it gets, but the theory, according to some people in the costume business, is that the winner in every election since 1980 has been the candidate whose masks were most popular on Halloween.
…
BuyCostumes.com says Halloween sales figures from manufacturers, national store chains and its own efforts have accurately picked the last six presidential elections.
So does this mean W. gets a second term in office?
"It hasn't failed us yet," Daniel Haight, chief operating officer at Buyseasons, said in an interview. "The masks are a great way for people to express their political leanings at a Halloween party or at a political gathering."

 
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY?



Paul Krugman, fake economist and DNC sqwak box

 
HELP OUR SWIFTIES!



WND reports they have already bought airtime in the following places:

COLORADO
Denver: KPXC (PAX), Saturday at 1 p.m.

FLORIDA
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale: WPXM (PAX), Sunday at 5 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
West Palm Beach: WPXP (PAX), Sunday at 5 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
Orlando: WOPX (PAX), Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.
Tampa: WXPX (PAX), Sunday at 5 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
Jacksonville: WPXC (PAX), Sunday at 5 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

MINNESOTA
Minneapolis-St.Paul: KPXM (PAX), Sunday at 1 p.m.

OHIO
Cleveland: WVPX (PAX), Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

WISCONSIN
Milwaukee: WXPE (PAX), Sunday at 1 p.m.

IOWA
Des Moines: KFPX (PAX), Sunday at 1 p.m.
Cedar Rapids: KPXR (PAX), Sunday at 1 p.m.

PENNSYLVANIA
Scranton: (PAX), Sunday at 1 p.m.

WEST VIRGINIA
Charleston: WLPX (PAX), Sunday at 1 p.m.

But they can get THREE more stations if they can raise $15,000 by noon today! Please donate here.

 
Red Hawaii?

I have to admit when Lorie Byrd first suggested that President Bush pay a surprise visit to Hawaii about a week ago, I laughed it off, with memories of the disastrous attempt to pick off California in 2000, diverting precious resources that could have been used to secure Florida beyond a recount.

But Mark Steyn highlighted the Hula State in his column today, and suddenly comes the announcement that VP Cheney is going to be saying Aloha.

We are not worthy!

Lorie also has her own blog over here.

 
Is the Rout On?

Andrew McClure has some speculation that I endorse. There are lots of signs that Kerry is going to get his butt kicked on Tuesday. The gender gap has disappeared with women moving strongly for the President and no reported similar move to Kerry among men. Blacks are reportedly twice as strong for Bush this time around. That might be optimistic, but there are a lot of great black bloggers for Bush. There is some report that Bush could do a bit better among Jews. Evangelicals have rallied to his side over the gay marriage issue. Veterans for the most part hate Kerry with a passion, so some guys (like John O'Neill), who might otherwise support the Democratic candidate are actively campaigning against him.

And I'm thinking, where is the President doing worse? I could buy that he's doing worse among seniors, who've been scared. But most of them were Democrats anyway. He's not doing worse among young people; that is for certain.

I say it's a complete rout, that the reason the pollsters are not recording that is because they are adjusting things to a perceived normal distribution that applied on September 10, 2001.

 
TRICK'r'TREAT?

 
Latest Hostage Crisis In NYC

The Commissar has been taken hostage.

In the video broadcast on Wednesday, a confused-looking, bearded Commissar, wearing a plaid shirt, was shown in a dimly-lit room. He claimed that his circular saw was "right there in the basement, provided I can find it amidst all the junk."

Close to tears, he spoke directly into the camera to repeat his message of a video issued last week, asking American President George Bush to keep US forces in Iraq.

 
Secretary of State?



According to the London Times the job has been offered.

Remember, Joe Biden is the guy who wanted our troops to go "mano-a-mano" against the Taliban, apparently thinking it unfair that we should use our technogical advantages on the battlefield.

“I'm not a military man. I think the American public and the Islamic world is fully prepared for us to take as long as we need to take if it is action that is mano or mano, if it is us on the ground going against forces on the ground.

The part that I think … plays into every stereotypical criticism of us is we're this high tech bully that thinks from the air we can do whatever we want do and it builds the case for those who want to build the case against us, that all we're doing is indiscriminately bombing innocents, which is not the truth.

There is no way you can go after and root out Al Qaeda and Bin Laden without folks on the ground, in caves, risking and losing their lives. I believe the tolerance for that in the Islamic world is significantly, exponentially higher than it is for us bombing.”

Got it? If we have guys on the ground, in caves, risking and losing their lives, it's okay. But if we're bombing and not losing lives, that's not okay?

 
Marty Peretz: Another Liberal Who Gets It

Wow, this is kind of a surprise, given that his magazine endorsed John Kerry:

John Kerry speaks, not unfairly, of George W. Bush's habits of denial. But Kerry himself is in denial. He is in denial about the United Nations. He is in denial about the Australian election that returned to office for an unprecedented fourth term its prime minister who has been, with his country, a pillar of the Iraq coalition. He is in denial about Japan, whose government, unlike Germany's and France's, does not carp at the United States. He is in denial about Afghanistan, where, for the first time in history, men and women, riding on donkeys and walking barefoot across great distances, have exercised the right to choose those who govern them. He is in denial about Iraq itself. The Jordanian daily Al Ra'i recently called Moqtada Al Sadr's apparent retreat from armed struggle "a farewell to arms" that is as politically significant as the establishment of the provisional authority. Has Kerry come close to recognizing this? Has he acknowledged that the Bush administration has negotiated with nato a plan to send, starting in November, up to 3,000 soldiers to train Iraqi troops? These soldiers will be under the command of General David Petraeus, who is mustering the military might and political will to retake much of the Sunni triangle. Many Iraqis now have second thoughts about opposing the coalition. Even the BBC has said as much. But Kerry hasn't.

Peretz was a huge Gore supporter in 2000. I see many, many influential Gore fans who have come over to the Bush side post-9-11. I see very few who have gone the other way.

 
UN Secretary?

 
Homeland Security Czar?

 
Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back to the Voting Booth

Shaking Spears with an amusing cultural reference tied into current events.

 
Bud Day's Letter on John Kerry

Okay, first you gotta know who Bud Day is.

Okay, did you click the link and read? A pretty impressive individual, wouldn't you say? Here's what he thinks of John Kerry (all quotes from Bud Day's letter from here on but I'll spare you the italics since it's so long):

The major issue in the Swiftboat stories is, and always has been, what John Kerry did in 1971 after he returned from Vietnam. Kerry cast a long dark shadow over all Vietnam Veterans with his outright perjury before the Senate concerning atrocities in Vietnam. His stories to the Senate committee were absolute lies, fabrications, perjury, fantasies, with NO substance. That dark shadow has defamed the entire Vietnam War veteran population, and gave "Aid and Comfort" to our enemies, the Vietnamese Communists. Kerry's stories were outright fabrications, and were intended for political gain with the radical left, McGovern, Teddy and Bobby Kennedy followers, Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, and the radical left who fantasized that George McGovern was going to be elected in 1972. Little wonder that returning soldiers from Vietnam were spit upon and castigated as "baby killers".

A returned war hero said so. Kerry cut a dashing figure as a war hero, lots of medals, and returned home because of multiple war wounds..even a silver star. His Senate testimony confirmed what every hippie had been chanting on the streets.."Hey hey LBJ..How many kids did you kill today"????? He obviously was running for political office in 1971.

Until Lt. John O' Neil, himself a Swifboat commander, spoke out before the 1972 elections against Kerry's outright deceptions, there was no one from the Swiftboat scene that could contradict Kerry's self serving lies.

I was a POW of the Vietnamese in Hanoi in 1971, and I am aware that the testimony of John Kerry, the actions of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, and the radical left; all caused the commies to conclude that if they hung on, they would win North Vietnamese General Bui Tin commented that every day the Communist leadership listened to world news over the radio to follow the growth of the anti-war movement. Visits to Hanoi by Jane Fonda and Ramsey Clark gave them confidence to hold in the face of battlefield reverses. The guts of it was that propaganda from the anti-war group was part of their combat strategy.

While the Commies were hanging on, innumerable U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Air Force members were being killed in combat. Every battle wound to Americans after Kerry's misdirected testimony is related to Kerry's untruthfulness. John Kerry contributed to every one of these deaths with his lies about U.S. atrocities in Vietnam. He likewise defamed the U.S. with our allies and supporters. His conduct also extended the imprisonment of the Vietnam Prisoners of War, of which I was one. I am certain of at least one POW death after his testimony, which might have been prevented with an earlier release of the POWs.

My friend and room mate Senator John S. McCain denounced the Swiftboat video by John O'Neil. I have a different take on the Swiftboat tape and disagree with my good friend John.

John Kerry opened up his character as a war hero reporting for duty to the country with a hand salute...and his band of brothers..of which he was the chief hero. Most of his convention speech was about John Kerry..Vietnam hero, and his band of brothers. John Kerry's character is not only fair game, it is the primary issue. He wants to use Bill Clinton's "is", as an answer to his lack of character.

The issue is trust. Can anyone trust John Kerry?? "Never lie, cheat or steal" is the West Point motto. When a witness perjures himself at trial, the judge notes that his testimony lacks credibility. Should we elect a known proven liar to lead us in wartime??

I draw a direct comparison of General Benedict Arnold of the Revolutionary War, to Lieutenant John Kerry. Both went off to war, fought, and then turned against their country. General Arnold crossed over to the British for money and position. John Kerry crossed over to the Vietnamese with his assistance to the anti-war movement, and his direct liaison with the Vietnamese diplomats in Paris. His reward. Political gain. Senator..United States. His record as a Senator for twenty years has been pitiful. Conjure up, if you will, one major bill that he has sponsored.

John Kerry for President? Ridiculous. Unthinkable. Unbelievable. Outrageous.

Col. Geo. "Bud" Day, Medal of Honor, Vietnam POW 1967- 1973, USMC- USA- USAF- Attorney 1949-2004

 
Curt Schilling Redux

Heard on the Hugh Hewitt show he's going to be campaigning for the President in New Hampshire. Check out this picture, and you'll know why they didn't think he would be able to play after his Game 2 masterpiece.



Now, that is what I call a broken glass Republican!

 
Great Anti-Kerry Ad

Thanks to KH Reader Arb for locating this wonderful ad, easily the best ad ever produced by the Kerry Campaign.

"Something peculiar, something familiar, something for everyone, a comedy delight!"

Thanks also to regular KH contributor Dan for sending me the MP3 via email!

 
The Terrorists Warn: Elect Kerry Or Else

Those appalling endorsements continue to pile up on Kerry's doorstep.

 
Win One for the Gipper

Crush Kerry does their usual marvelous work with a video that should get you motivated to vote.

Broken glass, people!

 
In Search Of....

I heard a tremendous commercial today on the Dennis Prager show. The theme was that Kerry was the man for all Americans; that if you thought the Iraq War was a mistake, John Kerry agrees with you, and if you thought the war was just, John Kerry agrees with you, too. Just wonderful stuff; it went on for at least three minutes. Anybody know where I can find it?

It reminded me of the opening song in the movie "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", "Something for Everyone!"

 
No Caption Needed



I just like the photo.

 
The Question

Our buddy Bill, AKA Small-Town Vet, publishes another one of Russ Vaugh's marvelous poems.

 
PA in PLAY

Readers of the Kerry Spot know they have a secret political operative dubbed Obi-wan Kenobi that has been giving predictions for the last two weeks. So far he's been correct. He said last week that the tracking polls will go from Bush up three to Kerry up one (that happened this week), but then said on Thursday (today) will show a breakout for Bush and it will give him a five point lead.

This seems to be happening just like he said. If you read Real Clear Politics, you'll notice that they did something they predicted wouldn't happen: PA is now a toss-up state.

Also, he said to look for one state that is ALWAYS Democrat to suddenly be in play over the next two days. My prediction: Maryland. We just elected the first republican governor in like half a century and the state has a huge military and military contractor population AND all counties but three (Baltimore, Prince Georges and Ann Arundel--which is actually becoming more Republican) are Republican. His prediction of an additional state becoming in play excluded NJ and HI which he said were already in play.

 
Kerry's Map Shrinking

Hugh Hewitt just pointed this out on the radio. Where are the Johns campaigning?

Kerry: 10/29: Orlando, W. Palm Beach, Miami, FL; 10/30: Appleton, WI; 10/31: TBD 11/1: TBD

Edwards: 10/29: LaCrosse,WI; Muskegon, MI; Raleigh, NC; 10/30: Marietta,OH; 10/31: TBD 11/1: TBD

Jim Geraghty was scratching his head about Edwards in North Carolina. My take is that it's just getting him out of the way. Kerry must realize by now what a disastrous pick the Breck Girl was.

 
Secretary of Defense?

 
Daschle's Desperation

The Aberdeen News reports that Daschle has reneged on his promise not to allow third-party ads in his campaign.

A third-party group started running advertisements on behalf of Tom Daschle Wednesday.

The move by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee comes despite the fact that Daschle, the Senate minority leader, has for months said he wouldn't accept help from outsiders.

The better news is that you have helped John Thune raise more money than Disappointed Boy.

South Dakota Republican Senate candidate John Thune raised more than $1.117 million during the first two weeks of October while Senator Tom Daschle raised only $720,785.

Thune also significantly outraised Daschle during July 1 through September 30 when Thune raised $6.747 million to Daschle’s $4.774 million.

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) report filed this past Wednesday, the Thune campaign raised $1,117,783 during October 1 through 13 and had $3,687,083 cash on hand. Daschle raised $720,785 and had $2,664,328 cash on hand.

President Bush is going to win this election, and next year he's going to have John Thune helping him out in the Senate, instead of Daschle obstructing him. This is the last time I'll ask you to help out by clicking here. The next time we have a picture of John Thune it will be of him celebrating his victory over the Senate Minority Leader.

 
There Goes the Neanderthal Vote

The Ketchup Queen gets out of the attic again.

"The perpetration of certain myths that diplomacy and alliances are a sign of weakness is Neanderthal," Heinz Kerry said. "I never heard of teaching a child to make enemies so they can get along in the playground."

And I never heard of teaching a child to scorn his current friends in favor of future "friends".

 
Kerry The Me-Too Guy

Muckdog over at the Learning Curve says there's a John Kerry in every office.

 
Blogging the 72-Hour Effort

Carl at No Oil for Pacifists is working for the campaign in Florida. He reassures us that he's not suppressing the vote. He also meets the Chairman of the RNC, Ed Gillespie.

 
Kerry Voted Against Death Penalty For Terrorists Who Kill Americans

Robert Moran covers this in the National Review.

He [Kerry] is opposed to the death penalty in general, though said after September 11 he supported the death penalty for terrorist acts. In 1989, he voted against the death penalty for terrorists who kill Americans abroad.

Hmmmm, against the death penalty for terrorists who kill Americans abroad. Like in Lockerbie?



How about Leon Klinghoffer?

Like the USS Cole?

Like the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam?

Remember, this is the man who wants us to believe that he's going to hunt down the terrorists and kill them.

 
Swift Boat Vets Mini-Documentaries

You can watch them here. I'll let you guess which one's my favorite. (Hint: Visions of sugar plums really do dance in your head).

Don't forget, you can now watch Stolen Honor for free!

 
The Next Senator from South Dakota



Make it happen!

 
Steyn Bets His Column

In one of those brilliant articles for which he has become justly famous, Mark Steyn says he'll resign his column if Bush fails to win.

As is typical with Steyn, I started out by clipping one paragraph, then saw another one that was just perfect, and a third that was better still. Go read it all, and be sure to note that there are three pages to this one--mucho Steyn fantastico! Here's his prediction:

My sense is that the 2002 model is still operative, and that the Democrats and the media, talking to each other in their mutually self-deluding cocoon, have overplayed the Bush-bashing. Next Tuesday the President will win the states he won last time, plus Iowa, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Maine’s Second Congressional District to put him up to 301 electoral votes. Minnesota? Why not? Nudge him up to 311 electoral votes. Oh, and what the hell, give him Hawaii: that’s 315. The Republicans will make a net gain of two seats in the Senate, one of which will bring with it the scalp of the Democrats’ leader, Tom Daschle. Despite distancing himself from Kerry and running ads showing him and Bush embracing, Daschle’s floundering in South Dakota, and his lugubrious mien will be even more lugubriouser within the week. Look for a handful of Republican House gains, too. And Democrats tearing their hair out — or John Kerry’s and John Edwards’s hair, if they can penetrate the styling gel.

Let's hope Steyn's writing these columns for many years to come!

 
Kerry Down in Florida, Pennsylvania

Quinnipiac says President Bush is leading by 3 in the Sunshine State by 2 in Penn's Woods.

 
We Did It!

Here's the text of an email I received from the Swiftees this morning:

We did it! Thanks to wonderful citizens such as you, we have raised enough money to get our message into Pennsylvania. Our ads started playing this morning.

The importance of this cannot be understated. We have obtained an email from the Kerry campaign which proves his campaign has been actively blocking the ability of the POWs to have their video Stolen Honor played. Three different venues have been booked in the Philadelphia area, and in each instance, the facility cancelled after various threats. It just seems so unfair to us that a man like Michael Moore can readily have his video viewed, but men who were imprisoned for several years by the Vietnamese, such as Congressional Medal of Honor winner Bud Day, would be blocked from the same activity.

You can now view this video by going to www.StolenHonor.com.

Though a number of organizations have approached us about purchasing our contributor list, we want you to know that all information about donors to Swift Vets and POWs for Truth will be kept private, as stated in the Privacy Policy we have provided on our web site.

We will keep you posted. And, thank you again for your help.

Thank you, Swiftees! We are completely humbled by the thought that we have played a tiny part in helping your efforts this year!

 
Born Free

Chris at Kerry Waffles has done it again! (Choose Open). This is one of his funniest films yet. If you've been hanging out at KH for awhile, you'll recognize some of the photos, and a lot of the anecdotes. Remember Kerry claiming that he learned his first swear words by riding on a tractor? Or how he had to learn to swear in Italian in order to get food?

Great job, Chris!

 
Deaniacs Trying to Prop Up Deanosaur Daschle

You can smell the desperation and fear in this email:

Last month Governor Dean asked all of the Democracy for America community to focus on South Dakota and help Tom Daschle combat the vicious campaign being waged against him. They rallied.

Now is the time for you, in South Dakota, to help us finish the job.

The coming days will be essential to our success. You are on the ground - you have the opportunity to talk to voters and get them to the polls on Tuesday. Please help do that:

(Link Deleted)

Hundreds of thousands of Dean supporters across the country care about this race. Not only because Tom Daschle is a good man and a good senator, but because the kind of campaign that his opponent has run should not be rewarded.

Their strategy has been clear from the beginning: brutal attacks and huge distortions designed to keep people from voting. And it has only gotten worse as they have grown more desperate. John Thune and right-wing groups have spent more than $7 million on TV commercials slamming Tom Daschle - that's over $20 for every voter in the last election.

The only way to counter this barrage is to get out the vote:

(Link deleted)

The only way to counter this kind of negative campaign is with volunteers on the ground. Tom is ahead right now thanks to the help of the largest field organization that has ever been assembled in South Dakota. Dedicated staff and volunteers are making personal, direct contact with voters to make sure they know the facts.

The rest of us are relying on you to make an impact on this race. Talk to your friends and neighbors to make sure they know what's at stake. Volunteer at one of Tom's field offices. We cannot afford to rest because turnout will decide this election - our victory will depend on your efforts to get people to the polls.

(Link Deleted)

Thank you,

Steve Hildebrand
Campaign Manager, Sen. Tom Daschle

&

Tom McMahon,
Executive Director, Democracy for America

Those brutal attacks and vicious distortions mostly consist of using Tom Daschle's liberal record against him in a very conservative state.

Let's make sure that Tom Daschle says "I'm very disappointed" next Tuesday night!

 
Crush Kerry Says Thanks

We're holding back on our big thank you post, but Crush Kerry's posted theirs.

Crush Kerry has been one of our biggest supporters, and we really appreciate the work Patrick Hynes and the Mystery Partner have done to expose Le Fraude and promote our little blog. They're the first site I check in the morning, because I know that their posts are of excellent quality, by writers who know politics.

As an example of the latter, consider this post, about how Kerry's campaign, which has been built on lies, is finally going down with the big NYTrogate falsehood. And remember, Crush Kerry is not going away after Nuancy Boy gets the steamroller treatment on Tuesday; they will become the Ankle-Biting Pundits.

 
Kerry's Faith

Here's a superb post on that issue at a fairly new blog called Let's Try Freedom.

He also is on record as saying that faith without works is dead. So obviously he has to do something to implement that faith-based opposition to abortion, right? If I am really, strongly opposed to something bad, but I think people have a right to do it anyway, what will my actions be? It seems to me that I will take action to mitigate the bad thing, as much as possible.

That is a very smart post. Of course, Kerry's stated opposition to abortion is like the goose-hunting outfit he wore last week: Camouflage. Robert's points as to what Kerry would be doing if he really had a moral center prove it.

 
Thursdays 'R' for Thune

Last chance, folks. I've got an email from the Deaniacs that I'll post a little later; short version is that they know Kerry's going down and they want to prevent him from dragging Tom Daschle with him. If you want to disappoint Tom, click here to contribute to John Thune.

 
How a Real Man Throws the Ball

 
Vote for Bush to Annoy His Enemies

This is a pretty good article.

But above all, in this oppositional sort of age, when it is often easier to be defined by what one is against rather than what one is for, I have to say it is his enemies who most justify Mr Bush’s re-election.

The list of those whose world could be truly rocked on Tuesday is just too long and too rich to be ignored. If you think for a moment about those who would really be upset by a second Bush term, it becomes a lot easier to stomach.

The hordes of the bien-pensant Left in the universities and the media, the sort of liberals who tolerate everything except those who disagree with them. Secularist elites who disdain religiosity except when it comes from Muslim fanatics. Europhile Brits who drip contempt for everything their country has ever done and long for its disappearance into a Greater Europe.Absurd, isolationist conservatives in America and Britain who think the struggles for freedom are always someone else’s fight. Hollywood sybarites and narcissists, self-appointed arbiters of a nation’s morals.

Soft-headed Europeans who think engagement and dialogue with mass murderers is the way to achieve lasting peace. French intellectuals for whom nothing has gone right in the world since 1789.

The United Nations, which, if it had its multilateral way, would still be faithfully minding a world in which half the population lived under or in fear of Soviet aggression. Most of Belgium.
Above all, of course, Middle Eastern militants. If your bitterest enemies are the sort of people who hack the heads off unarmed, innocent civilians, then I would say you are probably doing something right.

This may sound petty. It is not. This constellation of individuals, parties and institutions has very little in common other than the fact that it has contrived to be wrong on just about every important issue of my adult lifetime.

And so, perhaps for the wrong reasons, perhaps less because he has been right and more because those who hate him so much have been so wrong, I want this President re-elected.

Go on America. Make Their Day.

 
POISON PEN PALS UPDATE



DINKINS AIDE LOSES OHIO
(outdated link)
October 27, 2004 -- IT turns out that a former New Yorker, one-time David Dinkins press rep Albert Scardino, is behind the stunts that have embarrassed Britain's looney-left newspaper, The Guardian. Scardino is executive editor of the paper, which launched an ill-advised letter-writing campaign to convince Ohioans to vote for John Kerry. The Guardian abandoned the effort last week when it became clear Americans don't like being told how to vote by foreigners and that the campaign was helping rev up the GOP base for Bush. Republican National Committee's Christine Iverson told The Post: "Now if only we could get the French to organize a letter-writing campaign for Kerry." This week, the paper had to apologize when a George Bush-bashing columnist wrote: "John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr., where are you now that we need you?" Scardino, 55, had a tempestuous 14-month stint in City Hall, which started badly in 1990 when he told the press corps never to address the mayor as "Dave" but always "Mr. Dinkins." He was later quoted in Vanity Fair gloating that City Hall was no longer run by "tired old Jewish men." Scardino, a former New York Times reporter, denied making the remark.

 
Curt Schilling, Two-Time World Series Hero: Vote for Bush!

From Good Morning America today:

GIBSON: "Well, well said, Curt and Shonda. You both have certainly lifelong membership now in the Red Sox nation. It was a great thing to watch, and I think everybody – whether they were great Red Sox fans or not — had to admire what this team did. It was extraordinary, and one of the great stories of sport. And sport always produces such great stories. Curt, Shonda, great to have you with us. Congratulations."

SCHILLING: "And make sure you tell everybody to vote, and vote Bush next week."

One of my favorite ballplayers, because of his dedication. His support for the President is just icing on the cake.

Hat Tip: Kerry Spot

 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES



Weren't we told of a man who would try to unify the world (grovel to the UN)?

Organize a one world government (International Criminal Court, KYOTO)?

Speak of peace, peace when there is no peace (sell Israel to the highest bidder for peace)?

Have the world practice a universal religion (earth worship, aka environmentalism)?

I am just feeling a little superstitious with Halloween in the air...

 
I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT IT!



He ain’t got it. For all of the hype, Kerry has displayed the political poise of a marionette on Prozac.
KERRY CAMP'S FINAL FUMBLE
By Dick Morris
ONCE again, John Kerry shows his instinct to go for the capillaries, rather than the jugular
…
By stepping up to bat and running an ad in which he speaks directly into the camera in an effort to win votes over the issue, Kerry has made the dubious journalistic accusations his own and bet his credibility and his candidacy on the outcome.
…
When Kerry should be scoring aggressive points, he will find himself debating the fine questions of who did what in Iraq in the frenzied days of late March and early April of 2003.
…
On Bush's worst days, voters have consistently told pollsters they trust him more than Kerry to run the war, usually by double-digit margins. What makes Kerry think he can win the point now? He's failed at it all year; now he squanders his final week on one last effort.

 
KERRY COMING FULL CIRCLE



The Commander-in-Chief
By Hugh Hewitt
JOHN KERRY now closes his presidential campaign exactly as he opened his political life: Attacking the United States military.
Thirty-three years ago, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he indicted the soldiers of Vietnam as war criminals, the heirs of Genghis Khan.
This week he embraced an already discredited account of missing munitions to attack the reputation of the 3rd Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne. Make no mistake, that is exactly what Kerry is doing when he asserts that deadly weapons went unsecured and unreported as these two divisions rushed to liberate Baghdad. And not just these divisions, but every officer and soldier who had a hand in drawing up the war plan. If the negligence that Kerry charges the military with was real, additional troops would not have made a difference. The initial search would still have been conducted by the 3rd I.D. and the site pronounced clear. The 101st would still have spent 24 hours in the munitions complex before moving on. Kerry cannot avoid owning the latest of many slanders he has launched at the military as a means of wounding the president.



THIS ELECTION has had a Greek Chorus--the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the POWs who testified in Stolen Honor. The mainstream media did not want to hear this chorus, even when the first volley aimed at Kerry successfully exposed his fabricated tale of a secret mission to Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1968--an episode Kerry asserted on the floor of the Senate was "seared, seared" into his memory. The mainstream media has refused to question Kerry on his other accounts of incredible adventures transporting CIA men up river and running guns to anti-communist Cambodians, afraid perhaps to pull on a thread that might leave the candidate exposed as a serial fabulist. Despite the hostility, the chorus has kept chanting, this week even, pointing to meetings Kerry held in Paris with the North Vietnamese.
…
The veterans' real significance has been to keep the question of fitness for command front and center for the past three months. The Kerry campaign has been almost all low ball--from the moment he blamed the Secret Service agent for his fall on the slopes, to his venom picked up by a mike he thought was off to his, his staff's, and Elizabeth Edwards's abuse of Mary Cheney's privacy to his wife's condescension towards Laura Bush. And when not low ball, he was bouncing a pitch at Fenway and bagging (or not) a goose in full hunting regalia. Kerry's not a closer: He's a poser, or maybe what the Canadians would call a hoser.
But what he most certainly is not is a commander-in-chief.

 
They'll Be Voting Kerry

 
More Foreign Leaders for Kerry

Heh, those troubling Kerry endorsements just continue to flow in.

Leaders and supporters of the anti-U.S. insurgency say their attacks in recent weeks have a clear objective: The greater the violence, the greater the chances that President Bush will be defeated on Tuesday and the Americans will go home.

"If the U.S. Army suffered numerous humiliating losses, [Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John] Kerry would emerge as the superman of the American people," said Mohammad Amin Bashar, a leader of the Muslim Scholars Association, a hard-line clerical group that vocally supports the resistance.

Resistance leader Abu Jalal boasted that the mounting violence had already hurt Mr. Bush's chances.

"American elections and Iraq are linked tightly together," he told a Fallujah-based Iraqi reporter. "We've got to work to change the election, and we've done so. With our strikes, we've dragged Bush into the mud."

 
40 Excuses and a Mule

The Kerry campaign is hemorrhaging black voters like teenaged girls fleeing an R. Kelly house party...The Democrats' inspired 11th-hour message to black voters is: Here are your crumbs, your scraps, your measly handouts. Too bad you're so childish, incompetent and dependent, huh? Now run along and cast your vote for the guy with the "D" next to his name and we'll see you in four years, 'K? Buh-bye, now.Ann Coulter

There is probably no group that has been hurt so much when they voted by inertia. The reason is that the Democrats' most influential constituencies have interests and agendas with major negative impacts on blacks. Thomas Sowell

The black pseudo leader is a parasite. He nourishes himself on the suffering of others. He exists by satisfying the mob's voracious appetite for excuses and easy solutions. If there is no easy solution for the complex problems of racism in our country, the black pseudo leader will create one. In a calm baritone he will talk about reparations. Sure, that causes people in the crowd to pump their fists in support. But what does it actually do to affect progress? Armstrong Williams

The gay marriage issue may very well be the tip of the iceberg of change among the black electorate. Gay marriage, and claims equating the gay movement to the civil-rights movement, has been a wake-up call. Black pastors and their congregants are waking up to the fact that the liberal agenda that they have been supporting all these years does not liberate, but denigrates, dehumanizes and enslaves. Star Parker

Have you watched some white politicians talking to black audiences? It's bad enough to watch the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do an imitation of Flip Wilson's Rev. Leroy. But to watch Al Gore and Bill Clinton do it is insulting at the least. They don't talk to white audiences that way. As a matter of fact, Sharpton and Jackson don't talk to white audiences that way, either -- talking about going from the outhouse to the White House and from disgrace to amazing grace and other such nonsense. Walter Williams

John Kerry said a million black voters were disenfranchised. I assume he means all over the country, not just in Florida, in the year 2000. Is that true? Larry Elder

I am proud to be a Christian, Republican, black supporter of Bush!

 
Why Arab-Americans Should Vote for Kerry

James Zogby (brother of the pollster) writes:

Just as the Bush administration will continue to be pressed by its base to move in a rightward direction, a Democratic administration will be pushed by its base in a more progressive direction. I believe our concerns are better met by the party that includes: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson and Congresspersons like John Conyers, John Dingell, Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Jim Moran, Nick Rahall, Maxine Waters and so many other champions of peace and justice.

Hey, if your list of great politicians of the 20th century includes that group, then by all means, you should vote for John Kerry on November 3rd.

 
Guest Rant

KH Reader Jeff P sent this with a request that it be posted. It was originally an email that he sent to two of his brothers, one of whom resides in Massachusetts:

Yes. Sorry for all the emails. They are mostly directed at Mike. I'm just shocked that you are choosing to vote for a compulsive liar, borderline communist, liberal a**. Also, I am surprised that (being as bright as you are) you haven't looked at Kerry's Senate voting record for the past 20 years and you find nothing wrong with the fact that he was absent for 76% of Senate Intelligence Committee meetings and has never voted for increased intelligence spending (including funding for things like the Apache helicopter, the stealth bomber, bunker busters and other weapons that are securing our borders, our children and killing these animals abroad before they get to us).

He was a pro-war person ("war hero"...a war hero wouldn't falsify the paper work for his medals when they were nothing other then a scratch on his tucchus. And by the way, he asked for the medals...they were not just given to him.) When he got back from Vietnam, when he saw it didn't work for him politically (to be a "war hero"), he changed to an anti-war person for his own political gain. Then he voted against Desert Storm, when Saddam invaded Kuwait. Then in the late 90's, he said that Saddam was a huge threat and we had to go after him. Then when he saw that the war wasn't popular, he switched to be an anti-war candidate.

This doesn't bother you? This doesn't concern you? It doesn't concern you that he met with the communists of North Vietnam in France in the 70's while the Vietnam War was still going on? It doesn't bother you that he ruined thousands of people’s lives when he lied to the Senate in 1971 about the "atrocities" going on in Vietnam? It doesn't bother you that he said he proudly served his country, yet, threw his medals away? (ooops...his "ribbons"). It doesn't bother you that he lied this week about the weapons cache that was "non-secure" and then it was proven he was wrong? It doesn't bother you that he is saying "wrong war, wrong time, wrong place" yet he is going to step in and be forced to deal with this war? It doesn't bother you that Israel's relationship with the U.S. will be damaged if Kerry is elected? It doesn't bother you that Kerry wants to go back to the U.N. (which is against Jews, Americans and Israelis). Do you find it odd that Israel has no right to vote on matters in the U.N. but Syria (who harbors terrorists) does?

Mitch, I know you are in the very liberal state of Mass. It's no secret that Kennedy and Kerry are the most liberal in the Senate. I know for some reason you hate Bush, but think of the alternative. I guess I will never understand the liberal thought process. It is dangerous.

So far, we have yet to have another attack on our soil. Do you think that is coincidence? I highly doubt it. They may try to attack before the election, but if they don't and Kerry gets elected and this country goes to hell in a hand basket because we farm our government and our safety to the corrupt U.N., I'll say I told you so.

Good rant, Jeff!

 
Annoy the French! Vote Bush!

Analysis: France dreading Bush re-election

 
Democrats Drafting Schoolkids

The latest sign of desperation:

Hundreds of public schoolchildren, some as young as 11, are taking time out of regular classes to canvass neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Madison and Racine in a get-out-the-vote effort organized by Wisconsin Citizen Action Fund - a group whose umbrella organization has endorsed John Kerry for president.

Broken glass, people!

 
My Answer: Churchill

Shaking Spears is asking the question.

 
Thune Up by Four

Daschle v Thune has the scoop. He's also got lots of information on MansionGate, the brewing scandal about Daschle declaring himself a Washington, D.C. resident to save on property taxes. Thune is apparently running a new ad that features Daschle saying, "I'm a D.C. resident."

 
This Could Be a Good Sign

Richard Holbrooke, Kerry advisor in Florida:

''I'm not here to criticize President Bush," Holbrooke, a former United Nations ambassador, told hundreds of members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a major pro-Israel lobbying group, gathered for their annual summit. ''His support for Israel is, in my mind, unquestionable."

The crowd -- to Holbrooke's chagrin -- offered rousing applause. ''That was not," he said wryly, ''supposed to be an applause line."

What did he expect, boos? You think maybe they heard Holbrooke's comment the other day about a Kerry administration putting more pressure on Israel?

 
Those Tepid Slate Endorsements

We pointed out Slate's staff endorsements last night.

Fausta took the time to actually read them, and posts some lowlights over at the Bad Hair Blog. Let's just say that the endorsements are not exactly bubbling over with enthusiasm.

 
The Next Person Impressed With These Photo Ops Will Be the First



Does he seriously think this stuff helps him?

Hat Tip: Power Line

 
Yet More Thuggery



Here's a picture of the Kerry thug who tried to run over Congresswoman Harris (see Aaron's post below this one).

 
MAN TRIES TO RUN OVER KATHERINE HARRIS AND BUSH SUPPORTERS!

He's voting for Kerry! The smoking gun has the report:

A Florida man has been charged with attempting to run over controversial Republican congresswoman Katherine Harris with his Cadillac. According to the below Sarasota Police Department report, Barry Seltzer, 46, told cops that he was simply exercising his "political expression" when he drove his car at Harris and several supporters, who were campaigning last night at a Sarasota intersection. Seltzer--pictured at right in a booking photo--allegedly drove up on a sidewalk and headed directly for Harris before swerving "at the last minute." Harris told officers that "she was afraid for her life and could not move as the vehicle approached her," according to the report. For his part, Seltzer--who's a registered Democrat--told cops, "I intimidated them with the car. They were standing in the street." He added, "I did not run them down, I scared them a little!" That explanation did not stop investigators from arresting Seltzer for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony. Harris, Florida's former secretary of state, is best known for her role in the aftermath of the state's disastrous 2000 presidential election.

 
Hillary Sandbagging Kerry?

Crush Kerry has some inside information.

“It’s safe to say that if you’re working for Kerry in 2004, you won’t be welcome on the Hillary bandwagon in 2008. Hillary is loyal to her people and expects the same from them. She has expressed disappointment to me personally because of my involvement with Senator Kerry’s campaign,” the source said.

Heh. Anybody remember Hillary chiding Kerry during the photo op at the school where Kerry read a Pete Seeger book to some kindergarten class?

 
ADD ABC TO THE LIST OF SEDITION

Drudge is reporting that ABCNews is sitting on a tape from an American Al-queda operative...

In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. "The streets will run with blood," and "America will mourn in silence" because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.

ABCNEWS strongly denies holding the tape back from broadcast over political concerns during the last days of the election.

The CIA is analyzing the tape, a top federal source tells the DRUDGE REPORT.

ABCNEWS obtained the tape from a source in Waziristan, Pakistan over the weekend, sources tells DRUDGE.

"We have been working 24 hours a day trying to authenticate [the tape]," a senior ABCNEWS source said Wednesday morning.

The terrorist's face is concealed by a head dress, and he speaks in an American accent, making it difficult to identify the individual.

US intelligence officials believe the man on tape may be Adam Gadhan - aka Adam Pearlman, a California native who was highlighted by the FBI in May as an individual most likely to be involved in or have knowledge of the next al Qaeda attacks.

According to the FBI, Gadahn, 25, attended al-Qaida training camps and served as an al-Qaida translator.

The disturbing tape runs an hour -- the man simply identifies himself as 'Assam the American.'

 
FIZZLED


Picture: The American Spectator

In Deep Qaqaa
By George Neumayr
No, Jayson Blair hasn't been rehired. The Times wouldn't need to rehire him. Far more ambitious liars are still on staff, practicing a form of dishonesty only liberals who regard themselves as very proper could justify. It is a high-brow dishonesty, a lying punctiliousness that allows the Bill Kellers to feel good about themselves for correcting names and weather times while simultaneously slandering the good name of the U.S. military with a false story that NBC employees could debunk off the top of their heads less than a day after its publication.
…
The byline on the bogus Times story, "Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site In Iraq," lists 7 reporters working on it and "cooperation with the CBS News program '60 Minutes.'" (Steve Kroft can't blame this one on the second-stringers at 60 Minutes II.) Not one of these journalists knew that NBC had traveled with the military to Al Qaqaa and could disprove their story easily? This is as pathetic and shoddy as Dan Rather receiving forgeries from Kinko's. Evidently Bush hatred has left journalists at the Times and CBS so addled they can't even produce plausible propaganda that holds up for a day.

The logistics alone of “secreting” 380 tons of material anywhere is utterly astounding. This CQ post from yesterday is worth posting again.
Insurgents Hauling 380 Tons Of Explosives Not Exactly A Covert Act
Unfortunately for the New York Times, no one gave a thought about the logistics of the notion that small bands of insurgents made off with 380 tons of explosives under the noses of the Coalition with no one noticing. CQ reader and retired Army Reserve Captain Ian Dodgson got paid to think about logistics, and he did some "cocktail-napkin" math that escaped the geniuses at the Paper of Record ...

 
The IAEA’s game

By Douglas Hanson
That United Nations agency also needs to cover up its own ineffectiveness and incompetence by shifting attention and blame to the Bush Administration, while waiting for a more congenial President of the United States to take office, one who won’t be tempted to investigate its numerous inadequacies, nor pursue the investigations of the criminality within its parent.
The “disappearing explosives” incident, in other words, is simply the latest firefight between the US and the IAEA over the UN’s complete and utter failure to enforce the provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) with the nations of the Axis of Evil.
…
[T]he New York Times article tells us that the IAEA had been monitoring the materials in the bunkers and had “even sealed and locked some of it.” But El Baradei admits that during the time the inspectors were not allowed into Iraq – from 1998 to 2002 - about 35 tons of HMX went missing from the complex. And, whether or not being “under IAEA seal” means anything of significance, the US 101st Airborne Division “saw no materials bearing the IAEA seal” when they went through the bunkers during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The common thread that runs through these cases of missing equipment, nuclear material, and high explosives, is that they were all under the non-existent control of the UN’s so-called nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. Every complaint since July of this year to now has consisted of El Baradei faulting lax security on the part of the US and the Coalition, which supposedly allowed looters to make away with these banned substances. In reality, looters couldn’t move this amount of material and not be noticed by Coalition forces and their reconnaissance assets.
…
And John Kerry wants to entrust our national security to these same people.

 
WHATEVER IT TAKES


(new Bush ad, click on the pic to watch)

We have to do whatever it takes for our president on November 2. Please pray for this great man and for all the volunteers who work tirelessly to keep him in office.

 
Quinnipiac: Tied in New Jersey

My sister said that the dream result for her is that Bush wins easily, and that he takes New Jersey. She just might get her wish.

President George W. Bush has closed a four-point gap with Democratic challenger John Kerry and the two candidates are locked in a 46 - 46 percent tie among New Jersey likely voters, with 2 percent for independent candidate Ralph Nader, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Six percent remain undecided.

I'll say it now: If Bush takes New Jersey, Kerry's goose is cooked.

 
Secretary of Labor?



This might be a good running gag--whom would Kerry appoint to his cabinet? Defense Secretary Fonda?

 
THEM DEMS: HOW THEY THINK

Sorry, Pat, but I have to post the whole thing from NRO:

Women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies. ... If you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote. — Cameron Diaz, 9/29/04.

All the gay guys, all my friends, all my gay friends, you guys you have got to vote, alright? Because...the people, like, in the very right wing of this party...if they get any more power, you guys are going to be living in some state by yourselves. So, I hate scare tactics, but I really believe that that's true. I think that ... if Bush gets elected, he will put in new Superior Court judges [sic], and these guys are not going to want to see gay pride week. — Cher, 10/22/04.

Here's more from John Derbyshire (who change the names to protect privacy:

Yenta Streidant, singer/actress: All our liberties are at stake in this election. Bush and Cheney and Ashcroft will tear up the Constitution and totally remake this country. A vote for Bush is a vote to send yourself and your children off to work in sweatshops run by big corporations, 14-hours days with no minimum wage, no union protection, no health coverage. And if you try to protest, they'll hit you with the Patriot Act, they'll drive you to the sweatshops with electric cattle prods. The blue laws will come back, there'll be compulsory praying in the public schools...

Morris Lardbutt, independent producer of movie documentaries: The war against the peace-loving, democratic nation of Iraq by George W. Bush and the corporate puppet-masters who pull his strings is only a dry run for what they plan to do to the American people if they win this election. Remember those TV shots of the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down? They'll be using the same tackle, the same technique, on the Statue of Liberty. All the forces of reaction in this country — the big corporations, the gun manufacturers, the Religious Right — they will unite to strip us of our rights. Your children will be dragged away to be cannon fodder in the further wars for oil that they're planning. Your job will be outsourced to Indonesia. Health care? — ha! Your aged parents will be pushed out into the snow...

Vadge Endshaver, feminist playwright: Our bodies will be taken away from us. We shall be forced to have babies. That's what the Republicans will do, they will force us to have babies. Any woman who doesn't permit herself to be used for breeding will be killed. I heard just the other day, while I was in a store buying batteries for my...

Tony Tushnerd, award-winning playwright: What is in store for gay people in America if George W. Bush is reelected? Death, obviously. The failure of the government to find a cure for AIDS — their refusal even to care about the issue — tells the whole story. First they will use this Federal Marriage Amendment to force us back into the closet. Then they’ll exclude us from jobs, from voting, from the academy. Traitors from our own community will aid and abet them: I don’t have to tell you who Roy Cohn was — the most evil man in the history of the world! When Joe McCarthy was terrorizing America and gay people were cowering in fear...

Hooray Goldfarb, actress/comedienne: There is no doubt in my mind that George W. Bush, if reelected, will bring back slavery. I have seen documents outlining his plans. Already they have secret camps operating down in the Talladega National Forest, to train overseers and slave dealers. There is a factory outside of Jackson, Mississippi, working flat out, 24/7, to produce manacles and shackles and whips. I tell you, I've seen it, you better believe this. Another thing: You heard about these so-called "private space flight ventures," right? That's all financed by Bush and Cheney and their corporate pals. What they're actually going to do is open up Mars for cotton planting, using slave labor. You know why the space shuttle has that big cargo bay, so-called? So they can pack in....

Suzanne Saranwrap, actress: We already know what Bush and his people want: They want war, never-ending war. They think war will solve humanity's problems, while at the same time making their friends rich. In fact, of course, war doesn't solve any problems, it just makes new problems. We must speak out against all acts of violence, whether committed with hijacked passenger planes or American tanks. I predict that if elected, Bush will declare more wars. I'd expect war against Iran, war against North Korea, war against China, war against Cuba. There will be nuclear war, with nuclear missiles raining down on our cities. There will be mushroom clouds everywhere you look. We shall all die in George W. Bush's wars. We shall all be dead, all dead, our children will all be dead...

Sixpac 45, hip-hop recording artist: Bush an' those guys hate my music, they hate my kind of music, 'cause it's all about the youth, the urban youth, know whad I'm sayin'? An' they don' want to deal with that, they just want to wipe out all the urban youth with AIDS an' drugs an' sh**. An' they got all these white record company executives on they side, so they goin' to destroy us if they can. You goin' have nothin' to listen to but Pat Boone an' Merle Haggard, know wha' I'm sayin'? 'Cause they is down on the black man, they is down on the urban youth — they an' them white record company executives...

Stefan Spielenglock, movie producer: It will be bad, very bad. As my good and dear friend, that great national leader Fidel Castro, remarked during my recent visit, in the ninth hour of our wide-ranging conversation...

Sundance Kidd, actor/environmentalist: Well, I think that Bush's first move, if he is reelected, will be to sell off our national parks to his corporate buddies — you know, Halliburton and so on. They just can't wait to get their hands on what's left of our open spaces, burn the trees and kill the wildlife, asphalt them all over and start drilling for oil. But the real threat, of course, is to the larger global environment. You saw that movie The Day After Tomorrow, right? That's pretty much it. By refusing to join in the Kyoto agreement, by their wanton and short-sighted assaults on the environment in the pursuit of profit, they will bring down on us a new Ice Age. Tornadoes, tidal waves, earthquakes, asteroid strikes... It will be the end of civilization, the end of the human race...

What friggin' planet are these people from?

 
Legion Members at Work

 
Faithless Kerry

Jeff Jacoby wonders when Kerry got religion.

I have been following John Kerry's career for 22 years, ever since his 1982 run for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. I have encountered him in small private gatherings and in large public settings. I have spoken about him often with people who know him well. I have read innumerable accounts of his non-political passions and pastimes. And if at any point during all those years you had asked me whether I thought Kerry was a religious man, I would have answered without hesitation: "No, not at all."

Maggie Gallagher wonders the same thing.

Kerry's private faith is his own, and I do not cast aspersions on it. But any voter has to wonder: Why is it that 10 days before a national election, John Kerry is suddenly spouting Scripture?

Fortunately, in these modern campaign days, we are not left to wonder long. Senior Kerry adviser Mike McCurry helpfully explained to The New York Times: "We know that Americans are a very faithful people; the vast majority believe in God and worship. Over 70 percent tell pollsters routinely that they want a president who is deeply grounded in faith and speaks to those issues."

We have commented many times in the past that Kerry uses his faith for photo ops, but that's about it. Anybody remember the time he showed up 10 minutes late for church in Idaho, wearing his ski outfit (including the infamous daisy zipper pull)?

 
Surprise Party

Investors' Business Daily takes a look at the attempted October surprise by the New York Slimes.

There's no polite way to put it: This story was a lie, apparently cooked up to serve the Times' partisan ends. It's not the first time.

Just a week and a half ago, The New York Times Magazine featured an extraordinary hit piece on President Bush's faith by Ron Suskind. It made no pretense of any sort of balance or fairness, opting instead for dark, unsubstantiated hints that Bush is driven by religious fanaticism and suffers from a near-messianic complex.

CBS, which also acts as if it were a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party, was lucky it got beat on the arms story. It had planned to run it on "60 Minutes" just two days before the election. But it bailed after the Times got the "scoop."

The sad part is that you know more is coming. Now that the media have been exposed as naked partisans, what's to prevent them from launching some more hit pieces? Just us pajamahadeen.

 
Why the Early Vote Poll Matters

It matters because teams that are up at any point in a ballgame are more likely to win than teams that are down. Here in Arizona we have had early voting for almost a decade. Janet Napolitano, our annoying Democrat governor, actually lost among those voting on election day, but she racked up a big enough victory among early voters that she won.

Despite the name, by the way, early votes are actually counted last. This may be one reason that exit polling may be skewed. Think about it. ABC's poll says that 51% are voting for Bush and 47% for Kerry among early voters, which we'll round up to 52%-48% to eliminate the goofballs. Suppose we assume that 2004's turnout is comparable to 2000's, with say, 50,000,000 voters for each side. And say 10% have already voted with early voting. That's 10 million voters, but 5.2 million Bush supporters and 4.8 million Kerryites. But remember our assumption was 50/50, so that means Kerry's got 45.2 million remaining voters and Bush only 44.8 million. This might appear to pollsters to be a slight (1%) lead for Kerry when in fact, by the assumptions underlying, both candidates are even when adjusted for the early vote totals

And that's where things might get ugly. Knock Kerry down to 44.8 million on election day, and he's still at 50% in exit polling around the nation, despite the fact that he'd now be losing by the 400 thousand vote lead President Bush got from the early voters. As the early votes are counted (after the election day ones are), states that might have previously gone to Kerry turn over to Bush, and the seeds of resentment are sown.

The good news of course is that in all probability the 51-47% lead in early voting reflects or even understates the lead around the nation, and then Kerry stays a Senator (unlike Tom Daschle).

 
FILE UNDER: STATING THE OBVIOUS

The Washington Times reports that reporters interviewing terrorists and insurgents in Iraq say they are trying to...unseat Bush!

Leaders and supporters of the anti-U.S. insurgency say their attacks in recent weeks have a clear objective: The greater the violence, the greater the chances that President Bush will be defeated on Tuesday and the Americans will go home.

"If the U.S. Army suffered numerous humiliating losses, [Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John] Kerry would emerge as the superman of the American people," said Mohammad Amin Bashar, a leader of the Muslim Scholars Association, a hard-line clerical group that vocally supports the resistance.

Resistance leader Abu Jalal boasted that the mounting violence had already hurt Mr. Bush's chances.

"American elections and Iraq are linked tightly together," he told a Fallujah-based Iraqi reporter. "We've got to work to change the election, and we've done so. With our strikes, we've dragged Bush into the mud."

 
The Only Way the Sox Could Lose Now?



The same way America could--if they bring in the screwballer from the bullpen.

 
Slate Writers Announce Whom They're Voting For

Here's the list:

Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Bush (intern!), Kerry, Kerry, Bush (economic writer), Kerry, Not Voting (Canadian), Bush, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, David Cobb (?), Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Badnarik (Libertarian), Kerry, Bush, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry.

I know, you're saying, What Liberal Media? Even Hitchens says he's voting for Kerry, although he claims it's some sort of "stick him with the problems" vote. Mickey Kaus, whose blog inspired this one in a lot of ways is voting for the guy with the lower IQ (Kerry).

 
A-HUNTING WE WILL GO



Barbara Allen (doctor and now stay-at-home mom), decided to take a bit of literary license with John Kerry, “Regular Guy” (he must eat prunes to be so regular) in her short story:

We go Hunting with John Kerry
By Barbara Allen
Fort Worth, Texas
John Kerry is just a regular guy. He loves the Red Sox. He can identify with the machismo of deer hunters. We West Texans were so thrilled to learn that he was a hunter that we called to congratulate him. We just know that our fellow outdoorsmen everywhere will want a man like this in the White House, guarding our Second Amendment Rights and reducing Osama and al-Zarqawi to the mere nuisances that he believes they should be. You must read this with an accent to appreciate the oozing, positively dripping testosterone: a proper Boston Brahmin accent.

"Yeah, that's the ticket! I crawl on my belly with my trusty shotgun. Get that "t" now, my good man, as my gun boy doesn't let it get "rusty," haw-haw-haw! Gun boy? Yes, of course! Doesn't every one have a gun bearer? Yeah, that's the ticket! My trusty gun-bearer and my trusty shotgun, just like my rifle and my little brown friends in Vietnam. That's the ticket!

 

ABC Early Voting Poll: Bush Ahead

ABC News reported Tuesday that polling of people who have already voted shows George Bush with the lead over John Kerry by a significant margin, 51% to 47%.

The network reports that this early voting represents 1 in every ten voters who will likely vote through Election Day.

But the poll results "doesn't mean Bush is 'winning' the absentee vote; the difference is within sampling tolerances. And among all likely voters, including those waiting for Election Day, the race is essentially tied: Forty-nine percent support Kerry and 48 percent Bush, with 1 percent for Ralph Nader in interviews Friday through Monday."

ABC's early voting polls also don't show results for key battleground states like Florida and Ohio. Democrats are already saying privately that results in key states look good for Kerry.

From NewsMax.com

 
No Oil for Pacifists Live Blogging the 72 Hour Campaign

His first post is up here. Warning: This post may make you a little apprehensive.

The younger people (paid and volunteers) are enthusiastic. But senior RNC staff seems gloomy about Dem voter registrations--word is that millions more have registered this year and Dem GOTV efforts will dwarf anything Republicans can muster. Talk is that the new voters are undercounted in polls of likely voters--so that Kerry might be ahead as much as five points.

If that makes you nervous, and it should, go here and sign up for the 72-hour push.

 
Don't Be Softened

KH reader Grant pointed us to this excellent article by David Horowitz, who, like me and a lot of other conservatives, started out on the left side of the aisle.

On Sunday, the New York Times featured a political ad counseling defeatism in Iraq – a counsel that has become commonplace in its pages. It was sponsored by an organization called "Church Folks for A Better America," and based in Princeton. The signatories included the same "church folks" – among them William Sloane Coffin Jr., Robert Drinan, and Robert Edgar (National Council of Churches) who counseled defeat in Indo-China, aided the torturers of American POWS in North Vietnam, and fronted for the Soviet dictatorship’s "nuclear freeze" campaign. (If successful, this campaign would have consolidated a Soviet missile advantage and prolonged the Cold War.) Robert Edgar was a leader of the campaign to force Elian Gonzalez into the clutches of Fidel Castro, a sadistic dictator who has made his nation an island prison.

Trivia aside: Anybody know what Robert Drinan is best known for (at least in this election cycle)?

 
VOTING IN FLORIDA

This is a stab at Bush, but it is funny because it shows how the left actually believes something like this would happen...

 

 
Write This Number Down

From Ken Mehlman:

In Missouri, a flyer shows a photograph of a young black man under a fire hose in the 1950s. The flyer tells African-Americans this is an example of how Republicans have kept voters from the polls. In Colorado, Republican voters got calls telling them their family members in Iraq had died. The callers claimed that call would be real unless Kerry was elected.

In these final days, we can only expect more of this filth.

I urge you to turn on your answering machine. If you get a call from an unknown number, let the machine pick it up. It may be the latest campaign of smear, fear and lies from our opponents.

If you get one of these disgusting calls, or an outrageous flyer or mailing, save the message, call our hotline and let us know.

1-888-610-8170

Just a few weeks ago we saw a Kerry campaign manual that told their staff to allege intimidation even if no evidence existed. Now their allies have begun an incredibly dishonest and disgusting campaign of shadowy calls and misleading flyers.

We need to know immediately if you get one of these calls. We need to know the lies, threats, and distortions those allied against us are spreading.

With very few days left, we need you to be our eyes and ears on the ground.

Call our hotline at 1-888-610-8170 if you get any suspicious messages.

 
UN Screws Up

Wild Bill has a links-rich post on the Al Qaqaa story, which has blown up in the NY Times' face.

Drudge points out that SeeBS' 60 Minutes planned on running this story on Sunday, less than 48 hours before the election. Guess they'll have to do something on President Bush's National Guard service. Ooops! Maybe they could have an interview with that guy that President threw a punch at in a rugby game back in his college days?

 
Root For the Redskins?

According to this blog post, when the Washington Redskins (or their predecessors, the Boston Redskins and Boston Braves) win in their last game prior to the Presidential election, the party in power stays in power. When the Redskins lose, the party in power loses.

The Redskins are facing the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, fortunately not at the frozen tundra of Lambert Field. Most of the sports lines rate the Redskins as a 2-1/2-point favorite, although a couple have taken the game off the board (is Favre injured?). I usually root for the Pack, but I might have to change that this weekend.

 
Around the Blogosphere

KH co-blogger Kitty has a good post at Kitty Litter on the myths of the undecided.

Aaron (aka STCA) has a humorous little photo animation of Castro's recent purler.

GOP & the City has Part 7 of his series on "You're So Liberal If..."

Shaking Spears has a little game of Jeopardy!

The Blogspirator says Joe Lockhart is on crack.

Bar Code King has lots of good posts (and no good permalinks) on topics I wish we had time to cover--Ahnold's stumping for Bush in Ohio, Bubba's return to the campaign trail, Al Qaqaa (or All Caca), and the dismal turnout for Cher and Rosie in the Sunshine State.

We've only got a week left before this blog starts to lose all its readers. We'd love to spotlight more blogs. If you've got a post you'd like us to link to, either send us an email to the addy at the left, or mention it in the comments. We try to link to everything we can, although sometimes things slip through the cracks.

 
Andrew Sullivan Endorses Kerry

With strong praise like this:

I know few people enthused about John Kerry. His record is undistinguished, and where it stands out, mainly regrettable. He intuitively believes that if a problem exists, it is the government's job to fix it. He has far too much faith in international institutions, like the corrupt and feckless United Nations, in the tasks of global management. He got the Cold War wrong. He got the first Gulf War wrong. His campaign's constant and excruciating repositioning on the war against Saddam have been disconcerting, to say the least. I completely understand those who look at this man's record and deduce that he is simply unfit to fight a war for our survival. They have an important point--about what we know historically of his character and his judgment when this country has faced dire enemies. His scars from the Vietnam War lasted too long and have gone too deep to believe that he has clearly overcome the syndrome that fears American power rather than understands how to wield it for good.

Yep, that's part of Andrew's endorsement. Hilariously, he brings this in:

And when you think of what is happening in the two major parties, the case for a Kerry presidency strengthens. If Bush wins, the religious right, already dominant in Republican circles, will move the GOP even further toward becoming a sectarian, religious grouping. If Kerry loses, the antiwar left will move the party back into the purist, hate-filled wilderness, ceding untrammeled power to a resurgent, religious Republicanism--a development that will prove as polarizing abroad as it is divisive at home. But if Bush loses, the fight to recapture Republicanism from Big Government moralism will be given new energy; and if Kerry wins, the center of the Democratic party will gain new life. That, at least, is the hope. We cannot know for sure.

Yeah, the kooks like Moo-On and Michael Moron will just fade back into the scenery if Kerry wins, and the centrists among the Democrats will gain power. That's nonsense, and Andrew knows it. Look at the history of the Democrats over the last 32+ years. They have kept trying to nominate a leftist--McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore (well, he campaigned as a leftist) and Kerry. The only times they have gone with more moderate candidates (Carter, Clinton) was when they were slapped down a few times and got tired of losing. They're not tired enough yet or they wouldn't have nominated the more liberal Senator from Massachusetts.

 
One Dares Call It Treason

Superhawk has a terrific post up on Kerry's doing the bidding of his North Vietnamese handlers.

 
The Consigliere Sings!



Swimming, singing, Ted is just plain full of hidden talents.

 
Swift Boat Vets Busy

KH reader Jack alerted us in the comments to the new Swift Vets' ad. They also have a 1/2 hour documentary on Kerry called Unfit to Lead that is reportedly going to air in Florida (provided the TV stations don't chicken out ala Sinclair). Don't forget, you can see the Stolen Honor documentary for free here.

 
Move Colorado into the Bush Column

Our buddy Desert Rat points us to this column.

John Kerry has canceled ads in Colorado through Election Day. With one weekend poll showing the Democratic nominee narrowly ahead in Colorado, but others showing him trailing, his campaign pulled dozens of spots starting today.

The hilarious thing about this is that Kerry actually campaigned in Pueblo, Colorado on Saturday, wasting time and precious resources on a state he was going to pull out of only a few days later.

 
NO DRAFT

By RALPH PETERS
THERE is not going to be a military draft. No matter who is elected. No draft. None. Period.
Clear enough?
The shameless lies told for political advantage, the immoral scare tactics behind the warnings that President Bush has a "secret plan" to bring back the draft, have reached a new low point in recent American politics.
Sen. John Kerry knows there isn't going to be a draft.
Sen. John Edwards, who doesn't know much else, knows there isn't going to be a draft.
The Democratic National Committee knows there isn't going to be a draft.
And they're all warning us that a draft is on the way — unless, of course, young people vote for the Democratic ticket.
Apart from assuming that all young Americans are cowards with no sense of patriotism, the naked dishonesty of the "draft scare" tactic is stunning even to someone who's watched politicians misbehave for decades.
There isn't going to be a draft.
Why?
1) The military doesn't want a draft.
The generals and admirals would fight tooth-and-nail to prevent the resurrection of the draft. We've built the best military in the world through the all-volunteer force. At this point in our history, draftees would do more harm than good.
…
If you want to break the finest military in the world, bring back the draft.
2) A draft is entirely unnecessary.
…
No president is going to ask for a draft that the military doesn't want and the country doesn't need. And if he did, Congress wouldn't give it to him. End of issue.

 
More Stuff at Kerry Waffles

Kerry Waffles has links to a couple more movies on the home page, and all the rest of the Heinz Center emails in his possession. I was particularly amused by this excerpt from one of the emails where the writer blames the Bush Administration for the fact that her car was stolen:

I apologize, profusely, for not sending this e-mail to you earlier. Unfortunately my vehicle was stolen recently and the paperwork and effort which goes into protecting my accounts and aiding the police in this matter is, of course, quite time-consuming.

Ironically, if the current party were not in power, in our highest office, there would not be such desperate attempts, by those in our society, whom have suffered the most financially, to attain that which they desire materially.

Of course, it helps the woman's case that there were no cars stolen during the Clinton Adminstration.

Chris has done an amazing job with his website, and has probably sacrificed more, personally and financially for this election than anybody on our blogroll. Please consider dropping a sawbuck or two in his donation jar.

 
Kerry Channelling Joe Biden?

The NY Sun has another good article this morning, on the obvious plagiarism by Kerry in his books.

In one instance, Mr. Kerry wrote, "Russian mobsters have been arrested in Germany for extortion, car theft, counterfeiting, prostitution, selling drugs and illegal weapons, and smuggling everything from icons to uranium."

A 1993 Philadelphia Inquirer article, written by Barbara Demick, said, "Suspected Russian mobsters have been arrested in Germany and charged with extortion, car thefts, counterfeiting, prostitution, gambling, and selling drugs and illegal weapons. They have been caught smuggling everything from religious icons to uranium." Mr. Kerry's book contains endnotes but makes no reference to the Inquirer story.

The Sun also notes the irony that the person who nailed Joe Biden for plagiarizing the speeches of Neil Kinnock, was John Sasso, who is now working for the Kerry Campaign, but then was working for Michael Dukakis.

 
NYTROGATE



The Daily Recycler shows us that Kerry truly is an emporer with no clothes.

 
NY Sun on Kerry--the Favorite Son of North Vietnam

Tom Lipscomb returns in the NY Sun with similar info to the WND piece highlighted by Aaron below.

The two documents provide a glimpse of the favorable way the Viet Cong viewed the activities in which Mr. Kerry was involved. They are from many documents of a kind that were ordinarily sent to a unit called the Captured Document Exploitation Center at the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, which was headquartered in Saigon. Documents like these that were sent to the center were immediately translated into English and processed for battlefield intelligence for targeting or operations as required, or filed.

The CDEC cover sheet of the "Directive" indicates it was "acquired" on May 12, 1971. The cover sheet itself is dated June 30, 1971, and is entitled "VC Efforts to Back Antiwar Demonstrations in the United States." It shows a detailed knowledge of such VVAW activities as the Dewey Canyon demonstration on the Mall in Washington in April 1971, mentioning the "return of their medals." And the Saigon American military intelligence cover sheet dates the information in that document as being assembled in Vietnam only a week after the Washington VVAW demonstration had taken place.

Uh, shouldn't that be "return of their ribbons?" ;)

 
A Little Blast from the Past

As a follow-up to Aaron's great post below this one, here's a link to an article that KH linked in its very first post, back in February, where the highest-ranking former intelligence officer ever to have defected to the US, Ion Mihai Pacepa claims that Kerry used Soviet propaganda in his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

As a spy chief and a general in the former Soviet satellite of Romania, I produced the very same vitriol Kerry repeated to the U.S. Congress almost word for word and planted it in leftist movements throughout Europe. KGB chairman Yuri Andropov managed our anti-Vietnam War operation. He often bragged about having damaged the U.S. foreign-policy consensus, poisoned domestic debate in the U.S., and built a credibility gap between America and European public opinion through our disinformation operations. Vietnam was, he once told me, "our most significant success."

Is Kerry the Manchurian Candidate?

 
OCTOBER SURPRISE!

Well, for everyone disappointed with the Washington Times let down yesterday, the Swifties (God Bless those Patriots!) give us the October Surpise!

WoldNetDaily reports:

Discovered papers: Hanoi directed Kerry
Recovered Vietnam documents 'smoking gun' researchers claim

The first documentary evidence that Vietnamese communists were directly steering John Kerry's antiwar group Vietnam Veterans Against the War has been discovered in a U.S. archive, according to a researcher who spoke with WorldNetDaily.

One freshly unearthed document, captured by the U.S. from Vietnamese communists in 1971 and later translated, indicates the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese delegations to the Paris peace talks that year were used as the communications link to direct the activities of Kerry and other antiwar activists who attended.

Kerry insists he attended the talks only because he happened to be in France on his honeymoon and maintains he met with both sides. But previously revealed records indicate the future senator made two, and possibly three, trips to Paris to meet with Viet Cong leader Madame Nguyen Thi Binh then promote her plan's demand for U.S. surrender.

Jerome Corsi, a specialist on the Vietnam era, told WND the new discoveries are the "most remarkable documents I've seen in the entire history of the antiwar movement."

"We're not going to say he's an agent for Vietnamese communists, but it's the next thing to it," he said. "Whether he was consciously carrying out their direction or naively doing what they wanted, it amounted to the same thing -- he advanced their cause."

Corsi, co-author of the Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth best-seller "Unfit for Command," and Scott Swett, who maintains the group's website, have posted a summary of the discovery on the website of Wintersoldier.com.

It's like Christmas In Cambodia this morning!

And here's a pic to turn that smile into laughter...

 
French Decide Bush Is Going to Win

My interpretation of this:

The French government said yesterday that it would seek a "new alliance" with whomever won the US presidential election next week.

 
CNN Disses Their Own Poll

That's the way I read this, anyway:

President Bush outpolled Democratic challenger John Kerry by 8 points among likely Florida voters surveyed in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday, but other polls indicated a tighter race.

One has the sneaking suspicion that had Kerry been leading, we would not have heard about other polls.

 
KERRY'S SUPREME COURT

Read why the Supreme Court should be front and center in the minds of voters here.

 
Crowds

Bush can draw a crowd of 50,000 people in the northern part of the "swing state" of Florida.

Kerry drags Clinton out of his hospital bed and he can only get 100,000 people in the liberal bastion of Philadelphia.

Hmmm.

 
Buy-Polar?

Kerry has frequently demeaned our coalition partners in Iraq. I suppose the good news is he doesn't talk that way in Polish.

"America must give its allies a stake in stabilizing Iraq. The best way to achieve that is through binding their interests with the peaceful future of that country. On the economic front this will mean granting true and tried friends - like Poland - a share in the multi-billion dollar reconstruction contracts, in a share proportional to Poland's contribution to the Coalition. I assure you that just as Poland was treated as an equal with other members of the Coalition, so she will be an equal partner in the task of rebuilding Iraq."

Hat Tip: Superhawk, who covers about 15 topics on this one post; read through to the end to find his (very strong language) thoughts on this.

 
Holbrooke: Kerry Will Put Pressure on Israel

Kerry likes to claim that there will be no difference between his administration and the Bush Administration on Israel, but Richard Holbrooke, thought to have the inside rail on the Secretary of State job if Kerry wins, disagrees.

Unfortunately, they forgot to tell the man who is perhaps Kerry's top foreign policy adviser and surrogate, Richard Holbrooke. Appearing on The O'Reilly Factor Friday night, Holbrooke warned of a possible "Iran-type clerical dictatorship" in Iraq: This would be "very dangerous for Israel, the U.S. and the world." Then Holbrooke segued into an account of how Kerry would improve the situation in the Middle East: "He [Kerry] has said already he would start intense talks with the allies . . . and he would reach out to the moderate Arab states. He'd put more pressure on Israel, Syria, Saudi Arabia above all."

Hat Tip: Roger L. Simon

 
Best of the Blogs

The Washington Post has announced their winners. The National Review cleaned up, winning awards for Best Democratic Party Coverage, Best Republican Party Coverage, Best Inside the Beltway (all won by NRO's the Corner), and Best Campaign Dirt (Kerry Spot). Interestingly, no liberal blogs won at all, although several got Honorable Mentions (including the ridiculously overrated Wonkette, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Atrios/Eschaton). Kudos to Bill at InDC Journal who got honorable mention for Inside the Beltway, the one unexpected (but well-deserved) pick.

 
Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder

Joel Achenbach hits the nail on the head with me...how about you? Are you a sufferer?

Americans are in the grip of a monster case of Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder. No one is talking about voter apathy anymore, because the opposite is more likely the case. People care too much. They're losing sleep. They're having bad dreams about unfavorable tracking polls.

PEAD worsens as Election Day approaches and it's a 50-50 country and there's a war going on and people are dying and the talking heads are howling and the polls come firing at your head like fastballs. It's too close to call, too close, too close, we know the whole thing could pivot with the slightest breeze, that nothing is too trivial now, that even the slightest verbal gaffe by a candidate or his wife or one of the daughters could have a butterfly effect on world history.

Lawsuits are flying as we speak, and the election may come down to a single precinct in Winter Haven or Deland or Immokalee, followed by the soon-to-be-traditional Recount, the dueling press conferences, James A. Baker flying to Tallahassee, and a final and definitive verdict by Nino Scalia.

 
The Guy Who Broke the UN Security Council Story?

We commented on an earlier post that we heard about the story from Hugh Hewitt (on the radio) who noticed it in a Freeper post.

Here's the blog of Steven W., the Freeper who started the thread over at Free Republic.

We're still the first to blog on it (Steven didn't start his blog until later), and we added quite a bit of fact-checking to the story, but we remember how disappointed we were when only a few bloggers recognized that we had broken the Christmas in Cambodia story, so we're not going to hog the glory on this one. Had it not been for Steven W., and Hugh Hewitt, we would probably not have heard of this story.

 
Security Council-Gate Reactions

I'd say that Republican/conservative bloggers are about equally split in their reactions to this story, with half yawning and saying "Is that all?" and half insisting that it's important.

Yawning:

Spoons has a roundup here.

What a disappointment.

This is what happens when we take plays from the Josh Marshall playbook. The thing is, even if this had turned out to be a big story, what purpose would the early "tip" posts have served? We had no details, no sourcing, and no context. What were we supposed to do with this information?

It's Important:

Bill at InDC Journal.

Interestingly, they both cite Captain's Quarters, who says this may cost Kerry a few percentage points (which I would call major damage).

Here's a superb post by Red State defending their hyping of the story over the weekend. It's not just that Kerry lied, it's that he lies so often, and so often about things that can be checked quite easily. It almost seems like he's daring the press to catch him.

 
Zogby: Kerry Losing by 12 Points Among Independents

Lord knows how he still shows Kerry losing by only 3 points overall.

About 5 percent of likely voters are still undecided heading into the final full week of the campaign, but Bush has opened a 12-point lead on Kerry among independents.

 
They'd Vote Kerry If They Could

 
But the Thrill We've Never Known....



Is the thrill that'll getcha when you get your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone.

 
ANOTHER FEATHER IN CK’S CAP



CrushKerry In The News! Our very own Patrick Hynes is interviewed in this article about the effect of websites like crushkerry.com, and specifically the video ads like our original can effect the election. One correction however, Hynes has not been a political consultant for 32 years - although he does look it. He's 32 years old but has been named a "Rising Star" by Campaigns and Elections Magazine.

Congratulations PAT!

 
What's The Score, John?

Okay, this isn't a big deal, but it's funny just the same.

 
Ten Reasons to Vote Against President Bush

I'll mention for the humor-impaired that this post is an intentional joke.

9. Two words: You. Are. Dumb.

The sad thing is that Oliver Willis, Kevin Drum, Atrios and Daily Kos won't come up with better arguments.

Hat Tip: Roger L. Simon

 
Elizabeth Edwards Admits the Truth

From Drudge:

The wife of Dem vice presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday there will be no riots around the election -- if Kerry/Edwards wins!

C-SPAN cameras captured spouse Elizabeth Edwards making the startling comments to a supporter during a Kerry Campaign Town Hall Meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Supporter: Kerry's going to take PA.

Liz Edwards: I know that.

Supporter: I'm just worried there's going to be riots afterwards.

Liz Edwards: Uh.....well...not if we win.

 
Whatsa Matta U

Ruth R. Wisse, a professor at Harvard, looks at liberal academia.

The Federal Election Commission could not have foreseen that when it required employment information on political donations of over $200, it would expose scandalous uniformity in a university community that advertises its diversity. The Sacramento Bee reported that the University of California system gave more to the Kerry campaign than any other single employee group, and that Harvard was second, with only 15,000 employees to UC's 160,000. Campus bloggers computed the percentages of Kerry contributions over Bush: Cornell 93%, Dartmouth 97%, Yale 93%, Brown 89%.

 
Did Kerry Haters Break A Major Story Again, Months Before the Media?

Washington Times story, 10/25/04: Security Council Members Deny Meeting Kerry

(Front Page, above the fold)

Kerry Haters post, 8/11/04.

Okay, we're having a lot of fun with the Christmas in Cambodia story, what about October at the UN?

I put up a post about this yesterday, but in the fuss over Cambodia it appears to have slipped through the cracks.

Kerry claimed in a speech to the Unity Conference that he had met with the Security Council the week before the vote in the Senate:

I believe in my heart of hearts and in my gut that this president fails that test in Iraq. And I know this because I, personally, and others were deeply involved in the effort with other countries to bring them to the table. I met with the Security Council of the United Nations in the week preceding the vote in the Senate.

We relied on internet-available records perhaps too much, but Mowbray could have strengthened his already excellent case by referring to them. Big hat tip to KH reader Chuck, aka Phillies Fan, who I recall insisting in emails that this was a real story, which IIRC resulted in the post linked above, which grew out of this original shorter post. Also to Hugh Hewitt, who mentioned on the air this Freeper thread and to the Freepers, who really started the story here.

 
Woodward's Questions

This is pretty interesting. Kerry's team obviously decided they had nothing to gain from getting grilled by Bob Woodward. But Woodward didn't let him get away with it; he published his questions, unanswered. We've taken the liberty of filling in a few for Senator Nuance:

3. In January 2002 President Bush gave his famous "axis of evil" speech singling out Iraq, Iran and North Korea as threats.

Questions: Was this speech too undiplomatic? How would a President Kerry frame the issues and relations with Iran and North Korea? Do you consider these two countries part of an axis of evil now?

Yes, Bob, that speech was too undiplomatic. I (Senator Kerry) would characterize Iran and North Korea as future friends. We will no doubt have friends among the Ayatollahs once we give them the nuclear fuel they need to power their reactors. As for the North Koreans, we have no doubt Mr Jong-Il will appreciate his new friendship with the US when we give him the long-range missile technology he needs to feed his people.

6. On June 1, 2002, President Bush announced his preemption doctrine.

Questions: Do you agree with it? What are the acceptable conditions for preemptive war? Bush has said that he believes the United States has a "duty to free people," to liberate them. Do you agree? Under what circumstances?

No, I don't agree with President Bush's preemption doctrine, because he's done it all wrong. You act preemptively by getting permission slips from foreign countries. Now I want to emphasize here that we are not talking about old-fashioned permission slips like you used to bring in from your parents so you could go on a field trip. These are modern, emailed permission slips. You can download them yourself at johnkerry dot com.

As for freeing people, who is to say what's free? You or I might say that freedom is the right to marry billionairesses, while others might claim it's more to do with free health care. And in that sense, aren't we here in America unfree?

There are a total of 22 questions. Feel free to answer one or more for John Fraude Kerry and mention it in the comments and I'll link to you tomorrow.

 
Yeah, She's Got a Billion, But She's Costing Me the Presidency!

 
Why the Kerry UN Security Council Story Matters

The Democratic response is already obvious; that Kerry was just saying "I met with the U.N. Security Council" when what he meant was that he met with a few members (apparently just the French and British).

If there weren't a pattern of fabulism from Kerry, I might be inclined to accept that explanation. But Kerry has continually lied. And I'm not talking about "I won't raise your taxes" type lies, I'm talking about crazy lies, lies that seem so obvious that you have to think something is wrong mentally with the person who tells them. Just to start a little list here:

1. Christmas in Cambodia. Now established as a lie, apparently told many, many times by Kerry (John O'Neill claimed in radio interviews that they found over 50 instances of Kerry telling that particular lie).

2. Kerry running the Boston Marathon (although he can't remember when or his time).

3. Kerry's encounter with a 16-point buck on Cape Cod.

4. VC the flying dog story.

5. Kerry's claim to have the support of several foreign leaders.

6. Kerry's claim to have assisted in the breech-birth delivery of a baby to a Vietnamese woman.

7. That he was complimenting the Cheney family when he mentioned that Mary Cheney was a lesbian.

8. That he has been 100% consistent on Iraq.

9. That he doesn't remember attending a VVAW meeting where the assassination of US Senators was proposed.

10. That he was in attendance at Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

11. Obviously, now, the UN Security Council Meeting.

12. That he hunted deer by crawling through the underbrush with a shotgun.

Update:

13. That he flew an Israeli fighter jet nearly into Egyptian airspace and then performed a loop maneuver.

14. That he went down South in the 1960s to help in the registration of black voters.

15. That he was in Vietnam when Martin Luther King was assassinated. (In fairness to Kerry, it should be noted that he was in fact off the coast of Vietnam on the Gridley).

That's before we get into the various claims about Kerry's medals. It is clear to me that he is lying about the Rassman story, as it is contradicted by his own eulogy of Thomas Belodeau, which Kerry had inserted into the Congressional Record. He appears to have lied or accepted lies told about him being involved in PCF-94's incredible action on January 29, 1969 under its prior commander, Tedd Peck. He probably lied about the Sampan incident to his superiors, he almost certainly made up the story about rescuing 42 Vietnamese villagers in a curious story that seems to have been created to offset the telling of the Sampan incident in Tour of Duty.

Please put other Kerry lies that you have heard in the comments, so I can update this post. I'll also start adding links to the various lies I've already covered.

 
Here It Is

The article is here, and concerns Kerry's claimed meeting with the UN Security Council prior to his vote authorizing the Iraq war.

Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, Mexico's then-ambassador to the United Nations, said: "There was no meeting with John Kerry before Resolution 1441, or at least not in my memory."

All had vivid recollections of the time frame when Mr. Kerry traveled to New York, as it was shortly before the Nov. 7, 2002, enactment of Resolution 1441, which said Iraq was in "material breach" of earlier disarmament resolutions and warned Baghdad of "serious consequences as a result of its continued violations."

We covered the story before and expressed extreme skepticism about Kerry's claim. I'll do some digging around and find the link.

Update: Here's our post from August on this subject.

Hat Tip: Superhawk

 
The Body Armor that Kerry Voted Against Funding

A great post from Bill at Small Town Veteran. Very strong language warning.

 
Kerry Lying About Witnessing Buckner's Wicket?

Football Fans for Truth catch Kerry in yet another lie.

 
Tomorrow's Big Story

Mike at Red State provides us with some details to the big story we heard about yesterday:

1. The story may be broken by Drudge tonight (no sign of it as of this posting).

2. The story is written by Joel Mowbray and will appear in tomorrow's Washington Times, page 1 above the fold.

3. Mowbray will appear on Fox & Friends tomorrow morning, and will be blogging on Red State this week. Apparently the investigative lead came originally from the Red State editors.

 
NASCAR Update

The ten people aboard the plane were all killed. However, it does not appear that any of those killed were drivers.

 
Digital Brownshirts News Is On the Air!



Click here to listen to Wild Bill
Click here to listen to Kitty
Click here to listen to Aaron

 
Owner of These NASCAR Racers Family Dies in Airplane Crash









All Bush Supporters!

Please, please pray for the crash victims. Absolute tragedy.

Fox News reports:

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — A plane carrying members of the Hendrick Motorsports (search) organization was missing Sunday after losing contact with the Federal Aviation Administration on its way to a NASCAR race, and a search was underway for the aircraft.

NASCAR (search) spokesman Jim Hunter said the FAA has notified the National Transportation Safety Board, and "they're investigating to see what might have happened or what has happened."

NASCAR has spoken with team owner Rick Hendrick, Hunter said, but he added no other details about who was on the plane, where it disappeared or what may have preceded the loss of contact were immediately available.

"We're working very closely with members of the Hendrick organization," Hunter said. "We're just saying extra prayers right now."

Hendrick owns the teams of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers in the Nextel Cup Series (search).

Johnson won Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway.

NASCAR learned of the plane's disappearance during the race and withheld the information from the Hendrick drivers until afterward, Hunter said. All the Hendrick drivers were summoned to the NASCAR hauler immediately after the race and Johnson was excused from Victory Lane.

FOX News reported that the plane has crashed. Pray for the families of the victims. NASCAR represents a wonderful part of our culture; Americans always have a need for speed.

UPDATE: PLEASE SEE PAT'S POST ABOVE REGARDING THIS TRAGEDY.

 
NEW BLOG ALERT!

Tucker Eskew launcehed his new blog on Friday.
Who’s TE?
I’ve got a professional biography you can link to ... but for the purposes of this blog, let’s say I’m a politically active (GOP) communications consultant, former White House aide, husband and father, music fan, Atlanta Braves supporter, and lifelong Southerner with a taste for travel, art, good food, and history. Because of the first two characteristics listed, I’m frequently on television as a commentator and Bush supporter. I have a theory about going on Talk TV – it’s sometimes just a cheap date: Get tarted up, enjoy minor gratification but no real love, go home again, lather, rinse, repeat. At times, Tucker’s Talk TV Time transcends the tawdry, though. Stay tuned.

 
ANOTHER REASON TO VOTE BUSH

 
9 DAYS TO GO


Photo: Rush Limbaugh

 
WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?

MRS. KERRY NEEDS TO REVEAL ALL
By TERRY KEENAN
IF Senator John Kerry wins the presidency nine days from now, his family will be the richest ever (even adjusted for inflation) to occupy the White House.
How rich? And how much taxes does this rich family pay to Uncle Sam?
Well, that's where things start to get murky. And there are no signs voters will get any illumination on the subject before election day.
Despite repeated promises from the Kerry campaign back in May that Teresa Heinz Kerry would disclose her 2003 tax returns this October, this week's release of just two pages of her 1040 form (with no attachments) offerred a mere peek into Heinz Kerry's vast fortune, and an extremely limited one at that. In fact, the filing raises more questions than it answers.
…
Question #2: How does someone worth about a billion make only $5 million dollars on her investments? Perhaps the Kerry's need a new money manager, but the more likely answer is that much of Mrs. Kerry's wealth is shielded from taxes through various types of trusts — income that is not reported on her personal tax returns. Whether some of that money is sheltered in off-shore accounts also remains one of this campaign's enduring mysteries.
…
But the most important reason for full disclosure of the Kerry family finances comes from the candidate himself. Senator Kerry has made tax hikes on what he calls the "rich" the hallmark of his domestic agenda while refusing to disclose the income and tax payments that helped fund his campaign and define his opulent lifestyle.
Kerry's running mate, Senator John Edwards, loves to talk about the "two Americas," the one he says "pays taxes" and the other America that doesn't because of tax breaks. It's only fair that the voters see which America the Kerrys really inhabit.

 
KERRY’S WMD



Why Teresa Heinz Kerry is such a flake
By Michael Goodwin
The issue is "fair game" because of how Teresa Heinz Kerry is behaving. Already wildly unpopular - her approval rating is an anemic 30% - she did the political equivalent of mooning her neighbors last week by insulting First Lady Laura Bush. Said Heinz Kerry in an interview: "I don't know that she's ever had a real job - I mean, since she's been grown up."
…
There was the blast at the "scumbags" who criticize her, the claim that "only an idiot" wouldn't like her husband's health care plan and her goofy suggestion that Caribbean hurricane victims "go naked for awhile" until food was delivered.
My favorite came on her recent visit to Nevada to discuss health care. The 40-minute speech, per her usual rambling, it's-all-about-me style, included her remedy for arthritis: "You get some gin and get some white raisins - and only white raisins - and soak them in the gin for two weeks. Then eat nine of the raisins a day."
Got it - not eight raisins, not 10 raisins, nine.
…
"We could have a bona fide head case as First Lady," said a supporter.
"She's weird," says another. "She looks like she's on Prozac or something."
Radio man Don Imus, as usual, said what others can't: A Kerry supporter, Imus wondered whether Teresa is "too crazy to be First Lady."

 
At the Other End of Kerry's Photo Op Tosses



Hat Tip: Power Line

 
The Loser-Tarian Case for Kerry

Is provided by Steve Chapman.

Kerry, it's true, is worse than Bush on some issues. But he can probably pass a test that Bush has failed, namely, avoiding catastrophe.

His presidency would also restore something valuable: divided government. Unlike Bush, Kerry would face a Congress dominated by the opposition party. As Cato Institute Executive Vice President David Boaz puts it, "Republicans wouldn't give Kerry every bad thing he wants, and they do give Bush every bad thing he wants."

I've heard the divided government argument before. You can make a case for it in a period of relative peace and stability, say in 1996. But not in a time of war, particularly when you're replacing the commander in chief.

 
Dumb Charlie Brooker

This story is getting a fair amount of attention.

On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?

Just disgusting.