When she is able (when there is power, and she is emotionally prepared), a women in Iraq who writes under the pseudonym of "river" posts to her blog, "Baghdad Burning". She posted today for the first time since the beginning of August and speaks about the exhaustion of the ever increasing violence, fear and desperation that has wracked the populace in Iraq over the last few weeks.

The entire post is worth reading. Here's her closing thoughts...

Pay attention.

I'm just watching Nightline and there's this story about some kind of a war going on in Iraq! Weird! More later...developing...

As predicted here the day after Ben Barnes came out to explain how he helped Bush leap to the front of the National Guard line, the smears based on the Republican Talking Points have made their way into the Media. Though that GOP web page gives no evidence of Barnes lying, nonetheless, they claim (falsely) that he's changed his story on this issue. In fact, he never has.

Barnes has never claimed that anyone from the Bush family approached him for this favor. Rather that he was asked by a friend of the Bush family, a Houston oilman by the name of Sidney A. Adger.

But truth or decency doesn't matter to Sean Hannity. As reported by the ever-meticulous Media Matters:

Later in the program, Barnes was accused of being "a partisan Democrat trying to help Senator Kerry". While Media Matter notes that Barnes is indeed currently raising money for Kerry, he has also supported many Republicans --- including Jeb Bush and White House press secretary Scott McClellan's mother!!! --- over the years...

Apparently that information didn't show up on those Republican Talking Points for some reason. Anything to win.

Sorry to bother you with this. But with another 59 killed today in a single incident, someone's got to. As always from the excellent "Today in Iraq":

The line from the Bush Administration and their surrogates is that Kerry's proposed programs will cost the tax payers $1.5 Trillion. (Far less, by the way, than Dubya has been able to increase the National Debt so far during his tenure).

But, okay. Fair enough. $1.5 Trillion is the cost for Kerry's proposed programs.

And the cost of Bush's proposed programs? The ones he introduced for the first time at the Republican Convention? According to the Administration's own figures? Bush's programs will cost in excess of $3 Trillion.

And yet there are still folks out there who really believe that George W. Bush is a conservative. These are the people that will believe anything George W. Bush tells them to believe. These are the people George W. Bush is counting on.

Bush/Cheney '04: Suckers for America

SNAP! As usual, on the money, Mr. Maher. And this, in regards to the U.S. Marine Commander in Western Iraq who has just come out as critical of Bush's political intervention into the military battle that he was not allowed to wage in Fallujah:

And finally, on Bush's 527 canard...

And there's the difference.

(Full CNN transcript here. Selections taken from Fin's newly emerging "What We Know" blog.)

Let me be clear; John Kerry sucks.

I think I've been pretty clear on that from Day 1 at the beginning of the Primaries. But in case some of you Rightwingnuts with your head in the sand are unable to comprehend, see the above! Read it closely, read it again, and then read on.

With that said, George W. Bush's sucking out does every bit of suckery by not only John Kerry, but every single Democratic candidate I have ever seen. Anywhere and anytime. And I don't care much for most of what the Democratic Party is usually able to put forward.

None the less, hands down, George W. Bush outsucks them all. Not even a contest.

George W. Bush is incompetent, a liar, nothing like who he would have you believe his is, and mostly he's just outright dangerous.

George W. Bush has sucked the life out of some 50,000+ people in Iraq at this point, for no intelligible reason whatsoever other than, by his own admission, he made "a miscalculation". Apparently, a 50,000+ person and still counting "miscalculation".

That is an intolerable and unacceptable amount of "miscalculation" on his part. On it's own, without all the other embarrassing and dangerous and failed policies that this Administration has already saddled us with for years to come it is worth one big "Your Fired!" this November.

Setting the country on a clear path towards bankruptcy in the next five years by creating the Biggest Government, Biggest Spending, Biggest Budget Deficit in the history of civilization is worth being fired for as well. But that is --- amazingly --- very small beans compared to his grossly off-base "miscalculation" in Iraq and in the War on Terror. That would include the intolerable price we've already paid for it in blood and treasure, and the price we will be continuing to pay for it years from now beyond what the eye can currently even see.

Creating more terrorists, developing more world instability, turning previous allies into enemies, giving li-service to any real Homeland Security reforms has made Americans far less safe than when we were prior to 9/11. For that, he earns the big pink slip. Lying to the American people by telling them we're "safer" in the bargain is just the tip of the hypocritical iceberg for these political geniuses.

And they are political geniuses! Don't get me wrong! The way that Bush has been able to turn a complete and virtually undisputed (though under-reported) disaster in Iraq into an asset somehow displays political slickery beyond Bill Clinton's wildest dreams. Credit where credit is due. As Josh Marshall recently put it "President Bush, has managed to derive political advantage from the magnitude of his own failure." Amazing but true. And that was no easy feat. If only he were as clever, and seemed to care as much, about winning "wars" as he has shown to be at winning elections.

Clearly, it won't be easy for Kerry this year. Even though it should have been. It's difficult to win an election based on the other guy outsucking your guy. That was demonstrated in 1996 when the enraged Republicans, who despised Bill Clinton, were nonetheless unable to unseat him on the singular premise that they felt Bill Clinton sucked.

But this is not 1996. Back then, Clinton's clear lead in the polls and popularity amongst the American people was nothing akin to what we have today. This "President" does not have the strong majority popular support behind him that Clinton did when he ran for re-election. This "President" is vulnerable, rightly, on just about every issue that's he's touched. He is unable to show a clear success on virtually anything in his entire ignominious four year record. Not without spinning hay into gold, which they are very adept at doing and realize they have a receptive media on their side ready to display such spun gold to the American people without challenge.

Yet, this is not a popular "President" and he's clearly "fireable" despite the Mainstream Media's lazy Republican partisanship and their continued obsessive distraction with process over substance.

Kerry certainly needs to get his act together to help out. There are plenty in the blogosphere with suggestions on exactly how to do that, so I won't bother. But suffice to say, this thing would be much easier if he managed to not suck quite so much. But even sucking, he is better qualified, more prepared, more honest, more adult, less dangerous and fully capable of winning this November. An unbiased close inspection of the real poll numbers reveal that. Just as they did in 2000 when, at this point in the race, all of the polls were strongly against Al Gore and we know how wrong those polls ended up being on Election Day.

This year, the national polls are virtually tied at this point. Close inspection of the more important "Battleground States" show a slight lead for Kerry, though even those numbers bounce back and forth within the margin of error.

More importantly though, and even more so than in 2000, there are numbers that simply aren't figured into any of the polls. Beginning with the youth vote, many of whom now don't have landline phone numbers, only cell phones, and thus, don't show up in the polling at all. Neither do newly registered voters generally factor in to most of these polls.

There are many other uncounted numbers in the various polls, and various incorrect weighting of Democrats versus Republicans in many of the polls, particularly those that show an unbelievable lead for Bush over Kerry.

Believe such polls at your own peril. Many of them, by design, are meant to influence exactly such a belief. Nonetheless, this race is still completely winnable for John Kerry at this point. And that's even if he continues sucking and even if the Media continues to avoid doing their job of reporting on issues and facts to the American people and even if Florida is stolen again (where all of Jeb's political machinery is stacking against Kerry via systematic voter intimidation, grossly inaccurate felony voter roll purging, Diebold electronic voting blackbox chicanery, miscounting of absentee, military and over-seas ballots and the blatant defiance of court orders to add Nader to the ballot).

Yes, they will do "Anything to Win". But that doesn't mean it will work. Keep fighting for your country, for what is right, for the good of humanity and civilization. That's all that you can do. And you --- along with the Rightwing demagogues --- may be in for quite a surprise this Election Day. Never give up the fight. Good usually triumphs over evil in the end.

Rob Corddry does it again. On a discussion about the memos and their authenticity...

Never mind that the Republicans were a day late in submitting Dubya for the ballot in Florida. We'll overlook that for some reason. (Do you suppose the Republicans would have done the same for Kerry? But I digress...)

We've pointed out before the necessity to watch out for Florida where brother Jeb will do anything and everything to steal the state once again for brother George.

And now this. As reported by Reuters and caught by Josh Marshall, who reminds us that the GOP is the self-proclaimed "Rule of Law" party:

No. This isn't an Onion story! The report continues...

Remarkable.

What is with these Rightwingers? Why are they such hypocrites?

Here's David Drier (pictured at right with some friends), a fine upstanding Republican U.S. Congressman from California, co-chair of Bush's California Campaign, and a FOX News favorite! He has voted against various gay causes, yet --- according to the Conservative Blogger, BoyFromTroi, and as reported at blogACTIVE, Mr. Drier is the next Anti-Gay Homosexual to come out of the Republican closet! (Well, to be pushed out anyway.) We support you Congressman Drier! Though it'd be nice if you voted similarly to the way that you apparently live your private life!

And then there's George W. Bush, who, like his father, is trying to see a Flag Desecration amendment added to the U.S. Constitution just before the Presidential election. Never mind the anti-conservative notion of writing one new restriction after another into our Constitution, it looks like Mr. Bush may just find himself in big trouble if the amendment should ever pass! That's Mr. Bush on the left desecrating a United States flag! I, for one, am appalled! Why does the "President" hate the Flag of these great United States?

For those of you paying attention, the U.S. was in Vietnam for more than five full years before we'd suffered our 1,000th casualty.

Meanwhile in Iraq, in just under a year and a half, we've already lost 1,009.

Also, for the record, from the start of the war ("Shock and Awe!") through Bush's announced "end of major hostilities" ("Mission Accomplished!") the U.S. had lost a total of 139 troops.

Since handing over fake "sovereignty" at the beginning of July through today, we have lost 155 troops.

How will it end? What's Bush's exit strategy? Is there one? Is there any way out? You tell me.

Source: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

The conservative Seattle Times, who endorsed Bush in 2000, realize now how wrong they were and are instead endorsing Kerry this year!

Wow! I guess they really are conservatives! Unlike the bulk of the Fake Conservatives we see commenting so frequently here on the BRAD BLOG and elsewhere out there in the America Hatin' World of Rightwing Nutballs. There's hope for this country yet!