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It's over. It's over. It's over.
I'm sorry, but it's over.
By Brad Friedman on 10/6/2004 8:22pm PT  

Dear Bush Supporters:

Please read the following carefully...

Hans Blix was right. David Kay was right. Scott Ritter was right. Your "President" was wrong.

There were no stockpiles of WMD.

There were no WMD.

There were no WMD programs.

There were no WMD related program activities.

Is that now clear?

If it isn't, please take another swig of Kool-aid or refer to the FINAL Report of the United States' Chief Weapons Inspector in Iraq.

Thank you. We'll now consider this matter closed.

(If you still haven't gotten the message, please go here and be with the other sad, confused and deluded people like yourself who are now officially in a perpetual state of denial and/or dementia. Please consult a doctor before November 3rd for your own safety. Good day.)




Removes Pages of Historic Record from the White House Website
** A BRAD BLOG EXCLUSIVE! **
By Brad Friedman on 10/6/2004 5:17pm PT  

Given Cheney's silly attempt at bait-and-switch last night attacking Edwards for not including Iraqi casualties in his statement about America "having taken 90 percent of coalition casualties", I thought I'd dig a bit.

Though Edwards said "coalition casualities" clearly all three times he used the phrase, it didn't stop Cheney from using a strawman attack on Edwards' stating that his comments were "beyond the pale" because he didn't count Iraq amongst the coalition casualties apparently.

So does the White House themselves now count Iraq as part of the "coalition of the willing"?

Checking the White House website's own report on "RENEWAL IN IRAQ: The Coalition" is revealing!

The report (linked above) offers several links to several supporting documents/pages. Strangely enough however, the link on that page to "Who Are the Coalition Members?" now leads to a "The file you have attempted to access cannot be found." error page!

All the other links on the page work fine. But the list of "Coalition Members" has seemingly been scrubbed from the website.

Thanks to the Wayback Machine, we can check the originally linked file however.

That file, apparently last updated and archived by the Wayback on February 2, 2004, but still dated "April 3, 2003" lists a coalition of 49 countries. Needless to say, several of them have since pulled out of the coaltion (Spain, Costa Rica, etc.)

I understand why they might wish to update the page at the White House website as coaltion members come and go. But deleting it entirely certainly raised my eyebrow.

I don't know when the page officially came down, if it was before last night's sleight-of-hand about coalition casualties or not. But isn't it a bit deceptive and/or cynical to simply disappear the page entirely from the historic record?

There is a "Press Release" I found that is still on the site dated "March 21, 2003" which lists 48 countries as part of the coaltion. But the page from their "Policies in Focus > Iraq: Special Report" is gone.

I'm sure the folks in Blogistan will correct me if any of the information above is somehow inaccurate. But in the meantime, I'm left wondering what other official pieces of information once posted to the White House website (theoretically owned by the people of the United States of America) have been scrubbed as well from the historical record?

UPDATE 10/22/04: Hooray! Mainstream media finally picks up on this story!




Presided on only Two Tuesdays in Four Years!
By Brad Friedman on 10/6/2004 3:23pm PT  

From last night's V.P. Debate:

CHENEY: Now, in my capacity as vice president, I am the president of Senate, the presiding officer. I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session.

The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight.

Meanwhile, back in Reality Land, where at least 3 meetings by Cheney and Edwards have already been verified, it is now revealed that Cheney has actually only provided over the Senate on two Tuesdays over his entire tenure! No wonder he doesn't recall meeting Edwards in the Senate!

Incidentally, that's the same number of Tuesdays that Edwards himself has presided over the Senate! Daily Kos has the embarrassing details this time from Reality Land...

This thing is becoming a disaster for Bush/Cheney. Cheney may have given the Dems a gift as good as Bush's performance last week! Made-to-order, Cheney has in one fell swoop demonstrated on video, and in front of a national audience, everything that is wrong with both the Bush/Cheney campaign, and their four year reign of error, misleads and misinformation. Thank you, Mr. Cheney. A job well done.




(Some previously pointed to...Will try to keep this index up-to-date as new notable ones come in.)
By Brad Friedman on 10/6/2004 2:57pm PT  

DEBATE #1 · "Bush: Still Misleading" · "Miserable Failure" · "How Bush Did" · "This or That" · "Song and Dance" · "It's Hard Work" · DEBATE #2 · "Bush's Top 5 Moments" · "Greatest Hits and Misses" · DEBATE #3 · "Smile!" · "Still Misleading America" · V.P. DEBATE · "Cheney: Still Misleading" · "Cheney's Heart Breaking Resume" · IRAQ & 9/11 · "BRAD BLOG's Anything to Win" · "BRAD BLOG's Wrong Choice" · "Bush Reads My Pet Goat" · "Rumsfeld Busted on Face the Nation" · "Fear at the RNC" · "Lone Wolf" · "A Mother's Tears" · "Right Track" · "Hold Them Accountable" · "Seymour Hersh on Abu Ghraib" · "Not There" · "Bush's Hysterial Joke" · FOX NEWS · "O'Reilly: Shut Up!" · "Who Runs Fox News?" · OTHER · "BRAD BLOG's Take Your Country Back" · "Bush's Mis-State of the Union" · "Bush on OB-GYN's" · "Restoring the Promise" · "Bush's New Director of the CIA" · "Enron: Got the Power!" · "A Man of His Word" · "The Two Faces of Bush" · "Bush: The Ten Year Difference" · "Jon Stewart on Crossfire" · "Asshole" · ELECTION DAY INSPIRATION! · "Angry? Start Over!" · More soon...




It easy to make a claim. Harder to back it up with facts.
By Brad Friedman on 10/6/2004 12:39pm PT  

It occurs to me that on the day after Election Day, the Bush/Cheney sycophants may well acknowledge a Kerry/Edwards landslide but then try to tell us "Bush/Cheney, however, actually won the election on substance."

Now I realize each partisan side is more likely to believe their candidate won whichever debate on the substance since they likely agree with what their candidate said. But in the two debates so far where Republicans have been unable to claim a clear victory with a straight face (obviously, even less so in the first Presidential Debate), they keep falling back on this "but he won on substance" canard.

Given that Bush, in the first debate, seemed almost devoid of actual "substance", even proving to have a difficult time explaining many of his Administration's own policies, and Cheney's demonstrable twisting of facts and logic in his debate, how can Republicans even suggest that either Bush or Cheney won either of those debates on "substance"?

In order to do so, they are required to twist, turn, remove context, and otherwise prevaricate on just about every point which was made in both debates. So on which points, in either of the first two debates, did Bush/Cheney manage to make a "substantive" point that Kerry/Edwards was unable to effectively rebut? I am unable to think of any off-hand, but I look forward to being proven wrong. Please try and do so using "substance" in your comments if you have any...not style, twisted logic or out-of-context and/or inaccurate quotes. Please stick to what was actually said. Here's the transcripts from Debate #1 and the V.P. Debate for reference.




By Brad Friedman on 10/6/2004 12:09pm PT  

(Thanks Desi for the tip!)




By Brad Friedman on 10/6/2004 12:07pm PT  

On the continued Bush/Cheney tactic of taking virtually everything Kerry/Edwards have to say completely out of context. (For background, see FactCheck.org's take on just one recent Bush/Cheney commercial.)

STEWART: What is going on? The Media is playing this out like this "global test" phrase is up for grabs with what Kerry really meant by it, when it seems very clear to anybody listening to the context.

CORDDRY: Yes, John, and therein lies the fundamental problem with the Kerry campaign. The enormous gap between what John Kerry means and what the Republicans say he means.

(laughter, applause)

STEWART: I don't...I don't...I don't think I follow what you're saying.

CORDDRY: Look, John, the Bush camp's been very clear that John Kerry would give France the veto over U.S. security and John Kerry has had a real hard time being straight forward about admitting what the Republicans say he believes.

STEWART: Why, why should he admit that? It is, it is the opposite of what he said in the debate?!

CORDDRY: Right, John, and that's the problem. This constant flip-flopping. John, say what you will about George W. Bush, but you always know exactly what he says John Kerry stands for.




By Brad Friedman on 10/5/2004 11:15pm PT  

Classic Bush/Cheney-esque sleight of hand in this exchange from tonight's debate...Note Edwards talks about coalition casualties in his statement. By the time it's done, Cheney has pulled the old switcheroo. The same way everything else from these guys has worked...Read, and see if you can spot the rabbit as he sneaks it into the hat...

EDWARDS: ...90 percent of the coalition casualties, Mr. Vice President, the coalition casualties, are American casualties. Ninety percent of the cost of this effort are being borne by American taxpayers. It is the direct result of the failures of this administration.

IFILL: Mr. Vice President?

CHENEY: Classic example. He won't count the sacrifice and the contribution of Iraqi allies. It's their country. They're in the fight. They're increasingly the ones out there putting their necks on the line to take back their country from the terrorists and the old regime elements that are still left. They're doing a superb job. And for you to demean their sacrifices strikes me as...

EDWARDS: Oh, I'm not...

CHENEY: ... as beyond the pale...

EDWARDS: I'm not demeaning...

CHENEY: It is indeed. You suggested...

EDWARDS: No, sir, I did not...

CHENEY: ... somehow they shouldn't count, because you want to be able to say that the Americans are taking 90 percent of the sacrifice. You cannot succeed in this effort if you're not willing to recognize the enormous contribution the Iraqis are increasingly making to their own future.

That slippery Dick.




By Brad Friedman on 10/5/2004 10:43pm PT  

Tonight at the V.P. debate...

CHENEY: Now, in my capacity as vice president, I am the president of Senate, the presiding officer. I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session. The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight.

Meanwhile, back again in Reality Land on February 1, 2001...

UPDATE: More pictures from Reality Land of Cheney and Edwards not meeting, along with an ABC News report on at least three acknowledged occasions when they did meet. Ugh. Those god-damned partisan facts again!




...of 'a connection between Iraq and 9/11'
By Brad Friedman on 10/5/2004 9:11pm PT  

Tonight at the V.P. debate...

CHENEY: The senator has got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11.

And previously...back in Reality Land...

"If we're successful in Iraq...we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11." - Dick Cheney

Source: Meet the Press, NBC (9/14/2003).

And this...

"We did have reporting that was public, that came out shortly after the 9/11 attack, provided by the Czech government, suggesting there had been a meeting in Prague between Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker, and a man named al-Ani (Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani), who was an Iraqi intelligence official in Prague, at the embassy there, in April of '01, prior to the 9/11 attacks. It has never been --- we've never been able to collect any more information on that. That was the one that possibly tied the two together to 9/11." - Dick Cheney

Source: Transcript of Interview with Vice President Dick Cheney, Rocky Mountain News (1/9/2004).

DEVELOPING...MORE...

MR. RUSSERT: The Washington Post asked the American people about Saddam Hussein, and this is what they said: 69 percent said he was involved in the September 11 attacks. Are you surprised by that?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: No. I think it's not surprising that people make that connection.

Source: Meet the Press, NBC (9/14/2003).

More on the lying Dick from Kerry-Edward's peeps...right here.




By Brad Friedman on 10/5/2004 8:10pm PT  




By Brad Friedman on 10/5/2004 7:36pm PT  

Thoughts on what you saw now that it's over? Fact-checks? Media spin you catch in the analysis? Who won and who lost? If anyone?

I'll share my thoughts here in Comments. Please share yours as they hitcha!




Come on in!
By Brad Friedman on 10/5/2004 5:49pm PT  

Okay, please join us in COMMENTS for Play-by-Play Open Thread throughout the V.P. Debate tonight! Starting now! Come on in, and share your on-the-fly two cents!

Let's hear from ya!




Paul Bremer Off Ice.
By Brad Friedman on 10/5/2004 3:22pm PT  

When I heard the story of Bremer's speech to DePauw University late last night, I realized that we hadn't thought about him, seen him, or heard from him since the day he hightailed it outta Baghdad when "sovereignty" was handed back to the Iraqis.

He's been nowhere to be found. Oddly enough, he wasn't even pulled out of mothballs to appear at the Republican Convention Fear-Fest. He was a likeable character and projected some sense of confidence to the American people. So it was strange that they didn't exploit him the way they exploited Rudy, McCain, Arnold and the others.

Perhaps now we know why. Here's part of the statement he made:

"The single most important change --- the one thing that would have improved the situation --- would have been having more troops in Iraq at the beginning and throughout... Although I raised this issue a number of times with our government, I should have been even more insistent."

Ah...not a "friendly". Might go all "Dick Clarke" on 'em I suppose the Bushies feared.

And now, as Atrios reports, the Bushies are going all "Dick Clarke" on him! Apparently calling Bremer a liar, claiming that he never asked for more troops.

Atrios set the record straight, with this July 2003 report from Mercury News:

WASHINGTON - The top American administrator in Iraq, confronting growing anti-U.S. anger and guerrilla-style attacks, is asking for more American troops and dozens of U.S. officials to help speed up the restoration of order and public services.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was reviewing the request from L. Paul Bremer, U.S. officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Bremer's request underscores how difficult it has been for his small civilian staff and some 158,000 U.S.-led troops to meet the demands of Iraqis for security and other basic needs. It also conflicts with upbeat public statements from President Bush, Rumsfeld and Bremer himself on the progress made on Iraq's political and economic reconstruction.

Enough. Enough lying. Enough dissembling. Enough character assassination. Enough saving their own ass, and not giving a damn about America's ass. We can and must do so much better. It's time for them to go.

UPDATE: John Aravosis points out, in regards to this story, that the folks at the Dept. of Defense who are lying now about Paul Bremer, would be from the same Pentagon also currently telling us that no draft will be necessary. Fool me once?




By Brad Friedman on 10/5/2004 12:42pm PT  

Stop on by during tonight's V.P. Debate! We'll be having another Open Thread where you can toss in your play-by-play two cents as it happens! We had much fun last week during the first Presidential Debate, and tonight should be even nastier :-) --- So please stop on by during the big show. I'll open up the thread about 30 minutes or so prior to show time! See ya then!




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