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The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes...

By Brad Friedman on 7/19/2004 11:20am PT  

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In Pictures & Song!
By Brad Friedman on 7/16/2004 8:21pm PT  

The best summary of this year's campaign that I've seen so far. (At least as set to music). Well worth the download. Sound definitely required.

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By Brad Friedman on 7/16/2004 2:51pm PT  

First they compare Democrats to Hitler in a campaign video on the Official Bush-Cheney website. (They edited the version of the ad they now have up to include a limp disclaimer at the front, and buried the ad itself deep into the website.)

And now, the Jefferson County, Kentucky Republican Party is handing out "Kerry is bin Laden's Man/Bush is My Man" signs at their rallies, just like the one hanging in the window of their headquarters in Louisville!

Their chairman, Jack Richardon IV, told Josh Marhsall (in a short blog item worth reading so you can see that this is no joke) that he makes "no apologies for it" and thinks "it's funny how the truth not only can be amusing but also make a point."

If you have any points, amusing or otherwise, to make to Jack, feel free to let him know at (502) 584-7111 or jcreppty@bellsouth.net.

Kudos to the BlueGrassRoots blog for the find and the good blogging in the name of a country that may someday again find itself truly united instead of divided by the likes of these sorts of people.

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More Political Tit-for-Tat
(Sorry.)
By Brad Friedman on 7/16/2004 1:34pm PT  

Kurt Kurowski at Democratic Underground outlines just a few of Dubya's many Flip-Flops.

As Kurowski points out, however, it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who sagely called consistency "the hob-goblin of little minds."

None the less, in the interest of "a silly little round of political pat-a-cake", since the bulk of his piece outlines indeed how the "flip-flopping" charge, as the GOP Talking Points put it, is little more than rhetorical sleight-of-hand, political expediency and shamless opportunism.

But in this season, I suppose, the unanswered shot can be the fatal one. Yes, we've covered some of the many George W. Bush "Flip-Flops" before, but it's always nice to have a well-bulleted list as a refreshing reminder/reference tool when met with the robotic-like parrotted Rush-rhetoric of your Fake-Conservative-Beyond-Any-Reason Brother-in-Law at this year's Labor Day BBQ.

I present to you George W. Bush, running for his first term as president and second term as White House flip-flopper:

• Bush is against a Homeland Security Department; then he's for it.
• Bush is against a 9/11 commission; then he's for it.
• Bush is against a WMD investigation; then he's for it.
• Bush is against nation building; then he's for it. (Even before 9/11 it was part of his foreign policy, PNAC. So drop the "everything changed after 9/11" malarky.)
• Bush said he'll provide money for first responders (emergency services); then he doesn't.
• Bush is against deficits; then he's for them.
• Bush is for free trade; then he's for tariffs on steel; then he's against them again.
• Bush said he'll reduce Greenhouse gases; then doesn't do it.
• Bush is for a patient's bill of rights then; then he fights against it.
• Bush say that "help is on the way" to the military; then he cuts benefits.
• Bush talks about helping education; then he cuts funding.
• Bush says the U.S. won't negotiate with North Korea; then he says we will.
• Bush campaigns at racist Bob Jones University; then says he shouldn't have.
• Bush says he will demand a U.N. Security Council vote on whether to sanction military action against Iraq; then he announces he won't call for a vote.
• Bush says the "mission accomplished" banner was put up by the Navy; then he admits it was his advance team.
• Bush is for fingerprinting and photographing Mexicans who enter the US; then he's against it.
• Bush is for a state's right to decide on gay marriage; then he's for amending the constitution to prevent it. (Cheney, whose daughter is a lesbian, shared this flippety-flop big time. "Gee thanks, dad." "Don't fret, hon, daddy's only playing up to the rubes!")

And there are almost one hundred more examples, all accomplished in only three and a half years. Just imagine how proud his mother must be.

From what I understand of the Republican horror of flip-flopping and the integrity deficit it indicates, and given Mr. Bush's record as a flip-flopper, many Republicans will now be forced by conscience into a third party vote, or into not voting at all. But maybe Rush Limbaugh can give them dispensation, I dunno.

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Executions? Sure, but at least there's no Torture and Rape Rooms!
Right?
By Brad Friedman on 7/16/2004 11:46am PT  

Would anybody actually be surprised if the following story, reported in today's Sydney Morning Herald was true? The writer, Paul McGeough, was further grilled on his report late last night by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Allawi shot prisoners in cold blood: witnesses
By Paul McGeough in Baghdad
July 17, 2004

Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings.

They say the prisoners - handcuffed and blindfolded - were lined up against a wall in a courtyard adjacent to the maximum-security cell block in which they were held at the Al-Amariyah security centre, in the city's south-western suburbs.

They say Dr Allawi told onlookers the victims had each killed as many as 50 Iraqis and they "deserved worse than death".

The Prime Minister's office has denied the entirety of the witness accounts in a written statement to the Herald, saying Dr Allawi had never visited the centre and he did not carry a gun.

But the informants told the Herald that Dr Allawi shot each young man in the head as about a dozen Iraqi policemen and four Americans from the Prime Minister's personal security team watched in stunned silence.

Why do I have a feeling we won't be hearing much about this in the NY Times or CNN? (See my upcoming article shortly for more details).

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By Brad Friedman on 7/15/2004 8:30pm PT  

While I'm otherwise engaged for the moment...

Fun, funny and smart game to play at BushGame.com Click on Janet Jackson's animated tit on the left to begin! (Thanks to BRAD BLOG commentor, Quinn for the pointer!)

And the "Republican Survivor" series is now complete, but you can still watch all the episodes right here.

Both links are more fun with the sound turned up. Enjoy.

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By Brad Friedman on 7/14/2004 11:26pm PT  

Well, here's an interesting "development"...if indeed it is one...

NYT PAGE ONE THURS: BUSH TO DROP CHENEY GOSSIP
Wed Jul 14 2004 18:21:14 ET

The latest theory about Vice President Dick Cheney's future on the Republican ticket, advanced privately by prominent Democrats, including members of Congress, holds that Cheney recently dropped his personal doctor because of drug addiction so that he could hire a new one, who will conveniently tell him in August that his heart problems have made him unfit to run with Bush!

So reports the NEW YORK TIMES, in a planned Front Page story on Thursday.

Reporter Elisabeth Bumiller is set to kick the gossip into high gear with a 1,600-word speculative, newsroom sources tell DRUDGE.

Developing...

We'll see what the Times actually says on Thursday. But it's certainly an interesting, and Bush-like (Rove-like) way to dump Cheney without it seeming like they're actually dumping Cheney.

Note that the theory is said to have been advanced by "prominent Democrats" which could mean one of two things: 1) It's a lie to make the Bush Campaign appear to be in disarray and panic or 2) It's true, and by getting the word out early, the Dems hope to force a Bush denial, and in the bargain, keep it from happening.

Dumping Cheney (and putting a more centrist, moderate...dare I say "compassionate" conservative on the ticket), of course, being the best thing Dubya could do for himself. But why should he start now? Let's hope he doesn't anyway. Bush - CHENEY '04!!!

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Whatever...
By Brad Friedman on 7/14/2004 2:05pm PT  

In a short blog item on more of Dubya's latest double-talk, wherein he's on a tear to convince folks that the Iraq War made perfect sense, Josh Marshall quotes two statements taken directly from the White House website...

President Bush: "Saddam Hussein said, I'm not going to expose my weapons, I'm not going to get rid of my --- I'm not going to allow inspectors in, he said." February 26th, 2004.

President Bush: "We gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in. And, therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power..." July 14th, 2003.

Yes, if only Saddam had let those inspectors in, we could have avoided all of this.

History Rewritten 101. Vote Bush-Cheney.

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By Brad Friedman on 7/14/2004 12:55pm PT  

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By Brad Friedman on 7/14/2004 12:17pm PT  

Sure, it's just a rumor. But that never stopped Drudge from running with something before. BuzzFlash says it's more than just a rumor so they've gone ahead and outted him. Seems only fair.

As Republican Senators display their contempt for Americans via today's crashed and burnt Gay Marriage Amendment bill, it seems only just to add Gay Baiter / Mainstream Media Assignment Editor, Matt Drudge to the list of folks being "outted" of late through innuendo, evidence, or just plain nastiness.

With Lott-in-Sheep's-Clothing, Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist and Soon-to-be-Ex-President George W. Bush lighting up a new wave of Anti-American, Anti-Gay zeitgeist in this country in their will-do-and-say-anything attempt to retain power, the list of Outted-by-Innuendo homosexuals at the top of the political food chain has been exploding of late.

In the last two weeks alone, I have heard, read or seen reference of one type or another to every one of the following as being gay:

Matt Drudge, John McCain, Rudy Guilliani, John Kerry (and "his ward" John Edwards), and even the manly "President" George W. Bush.

All prompting this years most crucial question for voters: Are you --- like all of the above --- more gay than you were four years ago? If so, save yourself through God, Jesus and the Republican Party! Vote Bush-Cheney '04. Poofter.

Developing...Hard...

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One tree at a time...
The Timber Lobby Rejoices, of course!
By Brad Friedman on 7/12/2004 9:08pm PT  
"Our actions today advance the Bush administration's commitment to cooperative conserving roadless areas," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said in announcing the plan in the Idaho Capitol Rotunda.

It almost sounds as if she's protecting the environment, doesn't it?

But if you look closer at the sentence, you'll find...that it makes no sense whatsoever. Except in as much as it's meant to sound like she's protecting something.

Actually, what she's doing is giving up Federal Protection of much of our (previously) unspoiled precious National Forests so that Logging Companies can build roads in them to log some more! Cool, huh? George W. Bush is one great "President"! Let's have some more!

The whole story is here...January 20th, 2005 cannot come around quick enough.

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By Brad Friedman on 7/12/2004 7:21pm PT  

Two documentaries from Producer/Director Robert Greenwald. Both available on DVD online for just $9.95 each as these important films find their way to theatrical wide-release via Internet word of mouth. I bought 'em last night. Why don't you?

Fox News Fans will love 'Outfoxed' as much as they love factual, accurate, fair and balanced information! You can watch trailers for both right here...for free!

· See the Trailer (via Quicktime or Windows Media)
· Visit the Website
· Buy the DVD or VHS for $9.95

· See the Trailer (via Quicktime or Windows Media)
· Visit the Website
· Buy the DVD or VHS for $9.95

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What "Conventional Wisdom" isn't telling you.
By Brad Friedman on 7/12/2004 7:08pm PT  

The Rightwing Extremist-controlled "Conventional Wisdom" will tell you that the recent Senate Intelligence Report on the WMD fiasco sited "no evidence" of the Bush Administration pressuring the CIA to sex up their intelligence.

Well...the truth (for those who are interested in such a thing) is that this report was specifically meant to deal only with the CIA's failures. The report on the Administration's culpability in it all was --- by agreement between Senate Republicans and the White House --- set to come out only after the November election. So hopefully Dubya can look forward to reading that one from Crawford. It's only the American Electorate who once again get the shaft and will go to the polls without all the info they might have been able to use to make an informed vote.

But David Corn in The Nation finds the goods in this report anyway. Where the "National Intelligence Estimate" had one thing to say about the WMD's, the Bush Administration routinely upped the rhetorical ante when they spoke to Americans about it. Here's an example from deep within the report (deep enough that the Mainstream Media couldn't be bothered with it):

Bush and his lot overstated the overstatements of the intelligence community. The National Intelligence Estimate said Iraq had an extensive biological weapons program. Bush said Hussein was sitting on a "massive stockpile" of biological weapons. The NIE concluded (also falsely) that Iraq was developing unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to hit the United States with biological weapons. Bush warned that Iraq already had a "growing fleet" of UAVs ready to hit the United States. The NIE noted that Iraq was "reconstituting" its nuclear weapons program but had no nuclear weapons yet. Bush said, "We don't know whether or not [Hussein] has a nuclear weapon"--a comment suggesting he might possess one.

The Senate intelligence report indirectly indicts Bush. It notes that there was one area where the intelligence community was correct: the supposed relationship between Hussein and Al Qaeda. "The Central Intelligence Agency," the report says, "reasonably assessed that there were likely several instances of contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida throughout the 1990s, but that these contacts did not add up to an established formal relationship." This means that when Bush said before the war that Saddam Hussein was "a threat because he's dealing with Al Qaeda," he was not basing this significant assertion on the findings of the US intelligence community. And he ignored the intelligence when he called Saddam Hussein "an ally" of Al Qaeda during his May 1, 2003, speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Mr. and Mrs. America (Mom and Dad): You were being lied to. Whether you like to hear that or not. Face it. Do the right thing, don't vote to put such a man back in the White House this November. Your country deserves so much more.

Corn also asks this on-the-money question:

Since 800 Americans lost their lives because of a phony threat assessment--and thousands of GIs lost limbs and the American taxpayers are out up to $200 billion--don't the relatives of the dead and injured and the rest of us have a right to know, before the election, whether the Bush Administration mishandled or misrepresented the intelligence?

Of course they do. As do we. But of course, in Bush's America, we're supposed to believe that we're not deserving of such consideration. Get with the program, Corn! You Freedom Hater!

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Comedy from The New York Times!
Go figure!
By Brad Friedman on 7/12/2004 5:17pm PT  
Sneak Preview! The Cheney-Edwards Debate

PLANNING for the 2004 vice presidential debate is already under way. In an attempt to level the playing field, Senator John Edwards's image will be digitally altered to make him 40 percent less "hot looking," and Vice President Dick Cheney will be on a five-second delay. Finally, each man has submitted a wish list of questions to ask the other during the high-stakes face-off.

QUESTIONS FOR DICK CHENEY

1. Former Senator Alfonse D'Amato has suggested President Bush dump you from the ticket. What's your response to him, in two words?

From Andy Borowitz in the NY Times. Read the rest of the questions, including those for John Edwards here.

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By Brad Friedman on 7/12/2004 5:10pm PT  

Uniting, not dividing...Available on Frisbee or T-Shirt...And don't miss the "tone-changing" fine print at the bottom...

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