I've been in the woods for the past three days without cable or radio. When I came out, same old thing as before I went in.

Dubya, who didn't want to sign the Campaign Finance Reform bill in the first place (after originally supporting it) --- the one that paved the way for the 527's --- because it would supposedly take away "free speech" from those who wanted to band together to make political statements (presumably like the NRA, and other Right Wing groups), is still calling for the end to all those "shadowy groups". Even after he flip-flopped a second time and signed the legislation under pressure to do so.

So he supported those "shadowy groups" before, but now that it turns out most of the folks supporting their "free speech" rights through such groups are freely speaking against Bush, well, now it turns out he's against those groups. Another flip-flop. Follow all of that?

To make matters more appalling, he's against "all" the 527's only now that everyone, including Senator John McCain, has called on him to condemn the despicable smear campaign of the Swifties for Bush in which they've out and out said he lied about his record in Vietnam, including self-inflicting two wounds to win two of his three purple hearts. (Anything to win.)

Will Bush condemn the ads now that the group has been discredited? Now that two members of Bush's own campaign have had to resign because they broke the law and coordinated with the Swifties? Apparently not. Instead, he hides behind his new found distaste for the groups that he had so feared would lose their right to free speech in the past.

Yo, Dubya, you like to tell us about your moral conviction. So do your surrogates. And yet, where is it?

Let's see some, Mr. "President". CONDEMN THE ADS!

Or continue to be the flip-flopping, misleading, lying puppet you've been for the last four years. No suprises there. Just continued disappointment.

That said, some Americans may prefer to choose their President based on things like what they will do about the worst unemployment record since Herbert Hoover, what they will do about more Americans than ever without health insurance, what they will do about losing all credibility throughout the world, and becoming more vulnerable to terrorism than ever before.

Then there's the trouble with oil, a deteriorating environment, and...ya know...actual issues. I guess the Bushies would rather not discuss that.

Never mind. Shoulda stayed in the woods.

(Blogged by Brad from inside the Quinault Rain Forest 8/25/04 at 9:42am PT...to be posted whenever I find net access again.)

Who even knew there were rain forests in the U.S.A.? I didn't. But after having spent the last several days in the Quinault Rain Forest just south of the Olympic National Park in Northwest Washington state, I couldn't be happier about it.

Awesome. Be sure to spend some time to check 'em out if you ever happen to be up in this corner of the country. The hikes among the gi-normous Douglas Firs, Western Red Cedars and Western Hemlocks are awesome. Towering. And even as I write, I'm no more than 100 yards or so from the largest Sitka Spruce tree in the world.

Best thing about spending three days here, in virtually non-stop rain in the Rain Forest? Nobody ever complains about the weather! Truth in advertising. Toss on your raincoat, get out there and enjoy!

Two related political notes:

1) When driving up the near-coastal 101 Northwards toward the Olympic National Forest, it is at times like driving through the apocolypse as the landscape features thousands of acres of once-towering pines that have been devastatingly clearcut for miles in all directions from the highway. It's awful. And then suddenly, a sign that we are "Now entering Olympic National Forest" at the exact point at which the trees once again shoot up towards the heavens, replacing the scrappy, dry hillsides of scarred stumpage with thick, lush, breathable greenery --- hopefully --- protected (by the Government!) for generations to come. Sadly, trees don't get to vote, or have much of a lobby to protect them. So, it's up to folks like you and me. Don't let either party screw up that legacy of a country once smart enough to protect our natural resources. And don't let George W. Bush tell you that he's "protecting the forests" by letting his Timber Lobby have at 'em!

2) Since leaving California, we've been able to drink the water right out of the tap! And it's great! From Oregon up through Washington, we've not once had to pay for clean water. Why isn't clean, drinkable, delicious water out of the tap a top priority for all Americans? If I ever run for office, I believe I'll have to form the W.A.T.E.R. (Water, Air, Trees, Earth, Renew!) Party and run with "Clean Drinking Water from the Tap! For All!" as my number one platform. Someone's gotta do it. Apparently.

UPDATE 8/30/04: Pictures from Lake Quinault Rain Forest and the rest of the Road Trip now online here!

(Blogged by Brad from an Espresso shop in Westport, WA...)

I've been making the case for years that George W. Bush and his supporters are certainly not "Conservative". Not in any classic, Goldwater sense for sure. I've taken to referring to them as Fake Conservatives. Conservative when it serves them politically, and beyond that, happy to spend into oblivion and/or outstretch the arms of the Federal Government into just about any area of private life they wish to. Nothing "conservative" about either of those ideas.

And it looks like Pat Buchanan, of all folks, is helping to make the case.

Drudge breaks the skinny on Buchanan's new book, WHERE THE RIGHT WENT WRONG: How Neoconservatives Subverted The Reagan Revolution And Hijacked the Bush Presidency.

I'm on the move, so don't have too much time. Will just post a couple of quotes from the book. See the link to Drudge above for a full boatload that are sure to put a burr under Rove, Rush and Hannity's Fake Conservative saddles.

Hate to give it to a borderline Nazi sympathizer like Pat Buchanan, but it does look like he's the recipient of the latest rarely given "Intellectually Honest Conservative" Award as occasionally bestowed by the BRAD BLOG. And the republic gently weeps.

Beginning the long journey home now. Access to the net may again be sporadic. We'll see. So we'll leave it to our fine Guest Bloggers to jump in once again, as they have time, to help save the world in my possible absense.

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

Yesterday, I focused briefly on the King of Republican Lies and Moral Depravity: Rush Limbaugh, in his role as "apologist" for the torturers and murderers at Abu Ghraib.

Today, we'll take a look at the Crown Prince, Sean Hannity.

The Center for American Progress, has put together a swell list of just 15 of his greatest "hits". I think it's a good idea to occassional post one or two here to remind our friends on the Right of just who it is they are getting their Talking Points from, the accuracy of that information, and the veracity of the person they are counting on to give them their "information".

So here's the first in a series. All of these quotes are from the "Hannity and Colmes" show on the Fox "News" Channel.

In case you're wondering, the definition of "Patriotism", the only one given by Merriam-Webster, is as follows:

Patriotism
Function: noun
: love for or devotion to one's country

Saying one thing, doing another. Flip-flopping. Lying. Misleading. However you wanna put it, it's the stock-in-trade for the Right's newest Golden Boy. No wonder the Rightwingers commenting here and elsewhere can't seem to get any of their facts correct. Look who their role models are!

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

"People were --- they were saying he was a walking dead man, he was walking around with a bullseye on his head. It was scary."

So said Maxine Carroll, the sister-in-law of Army reservist Spc. Joseph M. Darby on ABC's "Good Morning America" last Monday about her brother-in-law and sister now in protective military custody. Somewhere.

Carroll doesn't know where her sister and brother-in-law Darby are now. For their own protection. Due to the many death threats he's received.

What did Darby do to bring such threats upon himself? He tipped off investigators to the abuse by his fellow soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Mind you, he didn't tell the media. He told military investigators about what was going on.

Darby would seem to be a very courageous and upstanding American to do what he did, turning in criminals who were damaging our efforts to win the peace in Iraq.

So seriously, who would put a "bullseye" on such a man's head? Who would threaten such a person with death?

I'd not think that terrorists, like al-Qaeda would do so. After all, it's arguable that folks sympathetic to their cause might have found the confirmation they were looking for in the photos that subsequently came out of Abu Ghraib.

I don't think Democrats or supporters of John Kerry would threaten Darby, given that the scandal only served to help support their argument that this war was being run irresponsibly, chaotically, and without the necessary resources.

So really, all bias aside, in all reality, what sort of people would do such a thing? What sort of people would stoop so low? Who's supporters would possibly be interested in threatening the life of the brave Army Spc. Joseph M. Darby?!

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

Even as the Rightwingnuts try to apologize for everything from killing thousands of innocent men, women, children and babies in Iraq (see the Comments on this item wherein they justify the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, for instance) to the refusal to allow American's to see their own sitting President if they won't sign a loyality oath, or dare to wear a sticker on their shirt that supports the other candidate, the truth is, they get their marching orders from one man; Rush Limbaugh.

Rush sets not only the agenda for the entire marching band of Rightwing nutballs, but he is their "moral" and "spiritual" inspiration for justifying and apologizing for every appalling act committed against the people of the world, and of course, the Constitution of the United States of America.

Why do these folks despise everything that America stands for? I'll have to assume it's the love of power. How else to explain the moral depravity found in their inspirational leader as exemplified by this montage of Rush clips concerning Abu Ghraib?

Give it a listen!

Be prepared to be appalled. But perhaps it'll give you some idea of who these guys idolize, and how they feel justified spewing the sort of moral depravity that they do every day. If the most popular radio show in America has those sorts of things to say every day, it's little wonder that so do his fans.

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

Loyalty oaths, journalist nationalities profiled, T-shirts banned, and now a tiny sticker will get you tossed from a Bush/Cheney rally. Noticing a pattern here yet?

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

Remind me again...what is we're supposedly fighting for in Iraq? Why does Bush/Cheney '04 hate freedom?

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

First Bush exploited and politicized the victims of 9/11 by showing dead people in the rubble in one campaign spot. And now he's doing it again, using the Iraq soccer team in his latest campaign spots, and in his latest stump speeches.

He didn't ask the 9/11 families if they liked the idea, and I guess he didn't bother to ask the Iraqi soccer team either, according to this piece from Sports Illustrated. It turns out, they don't like it any more than the 9/11 Families did:

For the record, as of 8/19/04:

Total number of American civilians killed on 9/11: 2,976
Minimum number of Iraqi civilians killed in the war so far: 11,619

Geez, what are they so angry about?!

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

(Brad still blogging from the road...)

Updating the recent embarrassing Bush "sovereignty" quote as blogged a few days ago. Alert BB commenter Corey has sent a link to the video of the quote.

If you thought reading the quote itself was either troubling or funny, take a look at the actual video! (Listen for the tittering in the background from the impressed crowd).

Then try to tell us how it's just a slip of the tongue versus a guy who doesn't know what the hell he's actually talking about.

Then tell us how you could possibly feel good about this guy being the leader of your country, much less the free world.

Then tell us what drugs you're taking, which grade you were able to complete in elementary school before dropping out or what it's like being married to your own sister...or what county in Texas you're actually from.

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

Ya know, when I started this blog, it wasn't really meant as a Bash Bush Blog. But the stakes are so high now, and he makes it so damn easy...I look forward to turning on Kerry after the current resident of 1600 gets the boot. But for now...there's a democracy to save...

First loyalty oaths must be signed to see Cheney at a rally in a public high school, then journalists are forced to give their nationalities to the campaign before being given credentials to cover events.

Now, wearing a Kerry-Edwards T-shirt will get you tossed out of a Bush event all together. From Richard Leiby's piece in The Washington Post:

Welcome to George W. Bush's Amerka.

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

While Bush has not only refused to condemn the ads of the ironically named "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth", he's using them to his advantage wherever possible.

Consider this exchange brought to my attention by a must-read Josh Marshall piece as Bush took this question at an "Ask the President" session in Oregon last week:

In the words of former Congressman Dan Burton in reference to a previous President, what a "scumbag".

Anyway, the SBVT stories are beginning to unravel hard, as reported in this morning's Washington Post. But read Josh's article for a fine summation and analysis of the entire ugly mess that has become become the Bush/Cheney '04 campaign's only pathetic and shameful hope.

(NOTE: This entry guest blogged by Jaime)

George W. Bush, the man who once invented an entire combat history with his quote "I've been to war" in 2002 has now completed into his move into an alternate reality with his decisive mentioning of the Soviet Dinar For those who don't know the dinar is Iraqi currency, not Soviet. That currency is the rouble.

How many times can he say something stupid before people realize, he's not just "bad with words"?