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Latest Featured Reports | Friday, April 11, 2025
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By Brad Friedman on 3/24/2005 1:13pm PT  

So much crime fighting, so little time. I've fallen desperately behind on posting some of the radio appearances I've done of late. (Along with falling behind on everything else...so my continued apologies for unreplied email, unread comments, and un-everything I wish I had more time in each day for! I'm doing my best however, and will keep chasing to get caught where it's possible.) To make up for the unposted radio spots, here's a collection of some freshly minted ones of which you may choose to listen at your liesure...Or not.

  • 3/23/05: 35 Minutes yesterday on Michelangelo Signorile's Sirius OutQ show. Guest-hosted by our good buddy John Aravosis of AMERICAblog! Good fun this one! Covering just about everything! And, on the usually gay-themed show, John calls me a "heterosexist"! Check it out...Streaming RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, or MP3 Download.
  • 3/23/05: Just over 23 minutes yesterday on Atlanta, Georgia's "Wednesday World Party" on WFRG. On BRAD BLOGGING, Velvet Revolution and Georgia's new return to Jim Crow voter ID laws. Live and local, baby! Streaming RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, or MP3 Download.
  • 3/22/05: 20 minutes from our weekly Tuesday gig with our new buddy, Don Grady of Louisiana Live. Always fun. On the latest BRAD BLOG goings on, Raymond Lemme and more... Streaming RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, or MP3 Download.
  • 3/21/05: 30 easy-goin' minutes from a 3/21/05 interview on Guy Rathbun's KCBX show, "An Evening With..." In this case, it was an evening with yours truly. On VR et al. I think it was a nice interview. Enjoyed it very much. Guy is good. The show won't actually air until 3/30/05, but Guy was kind enough to post the recorded interview on his archives today. So kind, in fact, that I'll let him us to the bandwidth for the MP3 of the interview. ;-)
  • 3/21/05: About 15 minutes last Monday on Lila Garrett's Connect the Dots show on KPFK, Pacifica Radio's Los Angeles affiliate. On Velvet Revolution, and Los Angeles registrar Connie McCormack's fight to keep her best friend --- who sells machines for Diebold in Southern California --- in da money. Streaming RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, or MP3 Download.
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    (so far)
    We'll get back to the 100,000+ Innocent Dead Civilians Later.
    By Brad Friedman on 12/20/2004 11:06pm PT  

    Perhaps I missed the announcement on the Fox News Channel, but at some point over the last few days, the official number of U.S. Military deaths in Iraq (may not include troops who died after evacuation due to injuries received in country) went over the 1,300 mark to 1,304.

    We congratulate Mr. Bush on his continuing "catastrophic success".

    We also take note that as of today, The Washington Post is reporting that a majority of Americans finally understand that this war was "not worth fighting".

    Wow. Who knew?

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    (Though I do believe none was intended.)
    By Brad Friedman on 11/24/2004 11:35pm PT  

    "We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse."
    -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, 11/24/04. In regards to Ukraine's recent election and the announced U.S. rejection of the results. From The Washington Post.

    Welcome to CrazyWorld.

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    POST-SHOW UPDATE
    By Brad Friedman on 11/17/2004 1:50pm PT  

    Well, that was fun. Just finished up the interview on the Pacifica Network's LA/Santa Barbara affilliate KPFK with host Jerry Quickley about blogging the whole story of the Election 2004/Voting Irregularity, Fraud, Mistabulation mess.

    A fairly wide ranging conversation about how the blogs have played a key part in the story, the nap the mainstream media is largely taking, and how important it is that bloggers (aka CITIZENS!) are willing to examine what the corporate media, by and large, is apparently afraid to touch until the actual smoking gun shows up in their lap for them.

    Quickley, by the way, is a madman. He also rocks. I look forward to doing it again soon.

    I was able to nab the live stream from KPFK's site, so listen if ya like. About 17 minutes in your choice of 3 deliciously flavored formats:

    God save Public Radio.

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    Need $113,000 to pay for it!
    Paging Mr. Soros...Paging Mr. Soros...
    By Brad Friedman on 11/11/2004 4:10pm PT  

    In a bit of exciting news (which also tends on personal-level to give me some confidence that I I voted correctly), Green Party presidential candidate, David Cobb --- who was on the ballot in all 50 states, I'm sure you're surprised to learn --- and Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik will likely be calling for a full recount in the state of Ohio!

    KPFK (90.7 FM in Los Angeles) broke the news yesterday in an interview with Mr. Cobb...

    Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb declared that in all likelihood he would demand a recount of all the votes in the Presidential election in the state of Ohio. Since David Cobb's name appeared on the Ohio ballot, it is his legal right to ask for a statewide recount.
    ...
    In order for a statewide recount to proceed in Ohio, candidate Cobb will have to raise approximately $113,000; or ten dollars per precinct. The deadline to demand a recount occurs after the State's results are deemed official by Ohio's Secretary of State, which won't take place for a few days.

    The full radio interview can be heard here...

    They have issued a Press Release on the matter this morning with further details.

    Well, this could be it folks! As a presidential candidates in Ohio, Cobb and Badnark are within their rights to demand a recount! And I'd hope that there's enough folks with a few dollars left in their pockets to cover those costs for the Ohio recount!

    This is big (and very encouraging) news for a number of reasons, the least of which will be the ability to give all of the many punch-card ballots in the state a fresh look.

    One of the stories I haven't covered here, while many others have, is Greg Palast's "Kerry Won..." article. Palast discussed the sizeable number of potentially "spoiled" ballots that were not counted for Kerry in Ohio during the initial count. A recount, and I don't know yet if that means it'll be a "manual" recount or not, may likely shake out as many as 93,000 possible new Kerry votes (by Palasts reckoning anyway). It's unlikely that all of the spoiled ballots would go for Kerry, of course, many are likely for Bush, or have no vote or more than one vote on them and "spoiled" for good reason. But the idea of a carefully monitored recount is good news by any definition.

    (Perhaps we'll even get to figure out what the hell went on in Warren County on Election Night!)

    On this blog, I've mainly been focusing on the many computer-related counting errors and/or possible cases of fraud, since those are the issues that I find most haunting as the country moves towards its mandated 2006 deadline for all-electronic voting. So, I've not bothered to point out the more speculative nature of reports like Palast's until now, because until a re-count possibility came into play, his theory was mostly unprovable speculation. That may all now be changing...

    DONATIONS can be made for the recount to either of the following sites. They're working together...Can you imagine that?!:

  • David Cobb's website: www.votecobb.org
  • Michael Badnarik's website: www.badnarik.org
  • Third parties are good for America...don't ya think?

    UPDATE: 11/15/04 Recount fundraising goal has been met! Now seeking funds for "mobilization" costs and also volunteers to serve as "recount witnesses"! Click here for more info...

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    What the hell?!
    By Brad Friedman on 11/10/2004 1:16pm PT  

    I've lived in L.A. for nearly 10 years now. I've never seen armored tanks in the streets.

    Last night, during an otherwise peaceful anti-war demonstration in front of the Federal Building in Westwood, two armored tanks were called out.

    Here's the story, here's the QuickTime video. What the hell is this country coming to?

    (Via Raw Story)

    UPDATE: The links above are not broken as one reader reported, but traffic at both the page and the video is now very heavy, so keep trying. Here, in the meantime, is the text of the article:

    LOS ANGELES, November 9, 2004 - At 7:50 PM two armored tanks showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood. The tanks circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered. Enraged, some of the people attempted to block the tanks, but police quickly cleared the street. The people continued to protest the presence of the tanks, but about ten minutes the tanks drove off. It is unclear as to why the tanks were deployed to this location.

    UPDATE: AMERICAblog now has more details on this.

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    ...And thanks for nothing.
    By Brad Friedman on 11/9/2004 3:15pm PT  

    Both Attorney-General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans were booted resigned just moments ago.

    And they were so darn effective! What a shame that, like Fallujah (where at least 16 American troops have been killed in the last 48 hours), this terrible news just happened to break after the election! What luck!

    UPDATE: In related news...in case you didn't notice...The "Orange" security alert in both D.C. and NYC was lowered back to "Yellow" for the first time the day after the election and today pedestrian traffic was once again re-opened on Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the White House. The timing for all of these events should continue to not be noticed in any way. Thank you.

    UPDATE: Looks like Ashcroft submitted his resignation on Nov. 2. Election Day. But, always in the service of politicizing justice, he remarked in his resignation letter:

    It would be my pleasure to structure the announcement of this resignation and the ensuing transition in conjunction with you so that your administration and the cause of justice are served optimally.

    I have handwritten this letter so its confidentiality can be maintained until the appropriate arrangements mentioned above can be made.

    But rest easy! He also informed the "President-Elect":

    The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved."

    Phew! Thank you Mr. A-G!

    And now, ladies and gentlemen, for (hopefully) the last time...The Attorney General sings.

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    Only E-Voting Results Appear to Have Varied Wildly from Exit Polling.
    Now why would that be?
    By Brad Friedman on 11/3/2004 4:29pm PT  

    As I was trying to get to sleep this morning, I wondered about the wild differences between the Exit Polling numbers, which strongly favored Kerry, versus the Final Results which narrowly favored Bush.

    Given the statement in August of 2003 by Walden O'dell, the CEO of Deibold Inc., the Ohio-based company and the nation's #1 maker of Electronic Voting Machines there is reason to be suspicious.

    He wrote in a fund-raising letter to Ohio Republicans last year that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

    As I lay in bed, trying to make sense of what still makes little sense, I had hoped to look today into how much the Exit Poll results varied from the Final Results in states and districts where there was Electronic Voting versus the difference in states where paper ballots etc. were in use.

    Looks like Raw Story has begun to do exactly that. UPDATE: Here is a graphic representation of the information that the Raw Story article details.

    Their early investigation shows that in states where E-voting with no paper trails were used, there was an enormous difference --- always in favor of Bush --- between the Exit Polls and the Final Results. Whereas in the states with paper ballots or E-voting machines that provided a printed paper trail, the Exit Polling was within .01% of the Final Results. Look at those numbers yourself.

    Perhaps the mainstream media will discover a sense of civic duty and look further into that. For some reason, I'm not holding my breath, and it'll probably fall to folks like us to do their heavy lifting for them.

    Look also at the bizarre numbers that Oliver Willis discovered amongst the vote tabulations as they were coming out of Ohio's website last night. He supplies pictures, so it should be simple for you wingnuts to understand.

    And on Nov. 1, the day before the election, BlackBoxVoting.org --- a site which has been warning for some time of such concerns - issued an urgent release which began:

    MONDAY Nov 1 2004: New information indicates that hackers may be targeting the central computers counting our votes tomorrow. All county elections officials who use modems to transfer votes from polling places to the central vote-counting server should disconnect the modems now.

    There is no down side to removing the modems. Simply drive the vote cartridges from each polling place in to the central vote-counting location by car, instead of transmitting by modem. �Turning off� the modems may not be sufficient. Disconnect the central vote counting server from all modems, INCLUDING PHONE LINES, not just Internet.

    I am pleased to see that that group has now filed "Freedom of Information Act" petitions for the audit logs of Electronic Voting machines in many states, given that they found some three hours of missing data from such audit logs six weeks ago on a central computer in Washington during their primary elections there.

    Finally, I wonder if anyone will follow up with Karl Rove's statement to Sean Hannity on Sept. 29th when he said "We've got a couple of surprises that we intend to spring."

    Now that the election is over and won, perhaps Mr. Rove could elucidate on what those "surprises" actually were.

    Anyone in the media willing to take your job seriously enough to ask him?

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    'Hannity & Colmes' Much Closer to Fair and Balanced Tonight!
    By Brad Friedman on 11/1/2004 7:47pm PT  

    Well, your email paid off! As much, perhaps, as we could hope given that we're dealing with the Republican behemoth that is the Fox "News" Channel. So all in all, a job well done, guys! It pays to make noise and fight for your Democracy.

    As originally reported here, the Hannity & Colmes show had announced on Friday that tonight's guests would be:

    ON THE RIGHT: Karl Rove, Dick Morris, William Weld
    ON THE LEFT: Bill Richardson

    By the time tonight's show aired, Morris and Weld on the Right were dumped, and Terry McAuliffe added on the Left. Unfortunately, Jeb Bush (obviously on the Right) was added as well. Yet, on it's face, it appeared to be more "Fair and Balanced" as such:

    ON THE RIGHT: Karl Rove, Jeb Bush
    ON THE LEFT: Bill Richardson, Terry McAuliffe

    Well, that looks more "Fair & Balanced", doesn't it? But here was the actual show breakdown (Right leaning segments bold)

    SEGMENT 1: Jeb Bush
    SEGMENT 2: Jeb Bush
    SEGMENT 3: Bill Richardson
    SEGMENT 4: Karl Rove
    (Seg 4 Rove interview by Hannity only! Colmes not allowed!)

    SEGMENT 5: Terry McAuliffe

    Final tally was 3 segments with the Right (one that Hannity had all to himself) and only 2 segments with the Left.

    As I've mentioned in the past, my source inside H&C tells me that they have a very difficult time getting the DNC and Kerry campaign to cooperate and give them guests for the show. The theory --- a mostly plausible one --- is that Fox is so far to the Right, the Dems feel they won't get a fair shake when they go on.

    I share my sources belief, however, that it's foolish for the Dems to simply write off Fox "News" in the bargain.

    Yes, of course they won't get a fair shake on Fox, but it's better to show up and represent as best they can than to allow Fox to overweight with Republicans, or worse, stick someone like Pat Cadell on there and call him a "Democratic Consultant" when he hasn't worked or supported any Democrats since, I believe, Jimmy Carter! Or have Susan Estrich on there --- who worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger! --- and call her a "Democratic Consultant".

    Like it or not, more Americans watch Fox these days for political news than anybody else --- and it's not all hard right wingnuts. There are a lot of reasonable, normal, Left-leaning Americans that watch FNC as well! I'm certainly one of them! Frankly because it's not quite as dull as it's competition (who are only slightly less slanted to the Right these days). So it's imperative that Dems show up and at least fight on that turf to try anyway to partially balance Fox's constant imbalance.

    If I hear from my source any plausible explanation as to why H&C still managed to skew things to the Right tonight, on Election Eve of all nights --- even though they had a seemingly even number of Democrats to interview --- I'll update this item.

    Other than that, I'm without ammunition to defend it. So instead, I'll just leave you with this exchange from the end of the segment tonight with McAuliffe:

    MCAULIFFE: Fair and balanced, baby!
    HANNITY: Well, we let you on...that's about as fair and balanced as we can get.

    I guess it is.

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    (Shrub Scrub? HTML-File-Gate?)
    ** A BRAD BLOG EXCLUSIVE! **
    By Brad Friedman on 10/25/2004 2:09pm PT  

    · 10/06/04: WH Scrubs Coalition List from Website...
    · 10/17/04: WH caught red-handed trying to cover tracks...
    · 10/18/04: Bush's "not that concerned" about bin Laden Audio/Video goes missing...
    · 10/21/04: More embarrassing Audio/Video files found missing from site...
    · 10/22/04: 'Vanished Coalition List' story hits AFP news wires...
    · 10/24/04: Scrubbed files in violation of "Presidential Records Act"...
    · 10/25/04: Washington Post gets in game, covers Scrub story twice in one day...
    · 10/25/04: State Dept. website scrubbed as well!...
    · 10/26/04: WH uses website to campaign for Prez!...
    · 10/29/04: SUCCESS! WH restores Audio/Video! Though much still missing...
    · 1/21/05 (Yes, '05!): Reuters Reports: "White House Scraps 'Coalition of the Willing' List" (What took ya so long?!)
    · 9/15/07: White House Still Lying About Coalition in Iraq After All These Years...
    · 12/5/08: Altered White House Iraq War Docs "Discovered" by University Professor...More Than Four Years After The BRAD BLOG Originally Reported Same

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    Calls out CNN for what it is...
    By Brad Friedman on 10/16/2004 12:34pm PT  

    Wow. I told you this thing was gonna get ugly. John O'Neill implodes on live TV on Thursday, and on Friday, live on CNN, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart blows up Tucker Carlson, CNN and Crossfire. Finally!

    Watch it, or read the highlights below. It's funny, sad, true and incredible LIVE television!:


    I don't usually like to quote this much text, but if you missed the show, you've got to read some of this that I pulled from the full transcript...

    STEWART: I made a special effort to come on the show today, because I have privately, amongst my friends and also in occasional newspapers and television shows, mentioned this show as being bad. (LAUGHTER)

    BEGALA: We have noticed.

    STEWART: And I wanted to --- I felt that that wasn't fair and I should come here and tell you that I don't --- it's not so much that it's bad, as it's hurting America. (LAUGHTER)

    CARLSON: But in its defense...

    STEWART: So I wanted to come here today and say...Here's just what I wanted to tell you guys.

    CARLSON: Yes.

    STEWART: Stop. (LAUGHTER) Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.

    ...

    STEWART: See, the thing is, we need your help. Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations. And we're left out there to mow our lawns.

    BEGALA: By beating up on them? You just said we're too rough on them when they make mistakes.

    STEWART: No, no, no, you're not too rough on them. You're part of their strategies. You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks. (LAUGHTER)

    ...

    CARLSON: And I'll tell you. When politicians come on...

    STEWART: Yes.

    CARLSON: It's nice to get them to try and answer the question. And in order to do that, we try and ask them pointed questions. I want to contrast our questions with some questions you asked John Kerry recently.

    STEWART: If you want to compare your show to a comedy show, you're more than welcome to. (LAUGHTER)

    CARLSON: No, no, no, here's the point.

    STEWART: If that's your goal.

    CARLSON: It's not.

    STEWART: I wouldn't aim for us. I'd aim for "Seinfeld." That's a very good show.

    ...

    STEWART: You know, it's interesting to hear you talk about my responsibility. I didn't realize that --- and maybe this explains quite a bit...that the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity. (LAUGHTER) So what I would suggest is, when you talk about you're holding politicians' feet to fire, I think that's disingenuous.

    ...

    STEWART: But my point is this. If your idea of confronting me is that I don't ask hard-hitting enough news questions, we're in bad shape, fellows. (LAUGHTER)

    CARLSON: We're here to love you, not confront you...We're here to be nice.

    STEWART: No, no, no, but what I'm saying is this. I'm not. I'm here to confront you, because we need help from the media and they're hurting us. And it's --- the idea is... (APPLAUSE)

    BEGALA: Let me get this straight. If the indictment is --- if the indictment is --- and I have seen you say this --- that...

    STEWART: Yes.

    BEGALA: ... that CROSSFIRE reduces everything, as I said in the intro, to left, right, black, white.

    STEWART: Yes.

    BEGALA: Well, it's because, see, we're a debate show.

    STEWART: No, no, no, no, that would be great.

    BEGALA: It's like saying The Weather Channel reduces everything to a storm front.

    STEWART: I would love to see a debate show.

    BEGALA: We're 30 minutes in a 24-hour day where we have each side on, as best we can get them, and have them fight it out.

    STEWART: No, no, no, no, that would be great. To do a debate would be great. But that's like saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition. (LAUGHTER)

    CARLSON: Jon, Jon, Jon, I'm sorry. I think you're a good comedian. I think your lectures are boring.

    STEWART: Yes.

    CARLSON: Let me ask you a question on the news.

    STEWART: Now, this is theater. It's obvious. How old are you?

    CARLSON: Thirty-five.

    STEWART: And you wear a bow tie. (LAUGHTER) (APPLAUSE)

    CARLSON: Yes, I do. I do.

    STEWART: So this is...

    CARLSON: I know. I know. I know. You're a...

    STEWART: So this is theater.

    CARLSON: Now, let me just...

    STEWART: Now, listen, I'm not suggesting that you're not a smart guy, because those are not easy to tie...But the thing is that this --- you're doing theater, when you should be doing debate, which would be great.

    BEGALA: We do, do...

    STEWART: It's not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery. And I will tell you why I know it.

    CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?

    STEWART: Absolutely.

    CARLSON: You've got to be kidding me. He comes on and you...

    STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls. (LAUGHTER) What is wrong with you? (APPLAUSE)

    CARLSON: Well, I'm just saying, there's no reason for you --- when you have this marvelous opportunity not to be the guy's butt boy, to go ahead and be his butt boy. Come on. It's embarrassing.

    STEWART: You know, the interesting thing I have is, you have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.

    CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think.

    STEWART: You need to go to one.

    ...

    STEWART: The thing that I want to say is, when you have people on for just knee-jerk, reactionary talk...

    CARLSON: Wait. I thought you were going to be funny. Come on. Be funny.

    STEWART: No. No. I'm not going to be your monkey. (LAUGHTER)

    BEGALA: Go ahead. Go ahead.

    STEWART: I watch your show every day. And it kills me.

    CARLSON: I can tell you love it.

    STEWART: It's so --- oh, it's so painful to watch. (LAUGHTER)

    STEWART: You know, because we need what you do. This is such a great opportunity you have here to actually get politicians off of their marketing and strategy.

    CARLSON: Is this really Jon Stewart? What is this, anyway?

    STEWART: Yes, it's someone who watches your show and cannot take it anymore. (LAUGHTER) I just can't.

    CARLSON: What's it like to have dinner with you? It must be excruciating. Do you like lecture people like this or do you come over to their house and sit and lecture them; they're not doing the right thing, that they're missing their opportunities, evading their responsibilities?

    STEWART: If I think they are. (LAUGHTER)

    CARLSON: I wouldn't want to eat with you, man. That's horrible.

    STEWART: I know. And you won't.

    ...

    STEWART: But let me ask you guys, again, a question, because we talked a little bit about, you're actually doing honest debate and all that. But, after the debates, where do you guys head to right afterwards?

    CARLSON: The men's room.

    STEWART: Right after that?

    BEGALA: Home.

    STEWART: Spin alley.

    BEGALA: Home.

    STEWART: No, spin alley.

    BEGALA: What are you talking about? You mean at these debates?

    STEWART: Yes. You go to spin alley, the place called spin alley. Now, don't you think that, for people watching at home, that's kind of a drag, that you're literally walking to a place called deception lane? (LAUGHTER) Like, it's spin alley. It's --- don't you see, that's the issue I'm trying to talk to you guys...

    ...

    CARLSON: I do think you're more fun on your show. Just my opinion.

    STEWART: You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show. (LAUGHTER)

    Wow. And bravo, Mr. Stewart.

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    2001 Edition
    By Brad Friedman on 9/23/2004 1:49pm PT  

    "[F]rankly, [the sanctions on Iraq] have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors." - Colin Powell, February 24, 2001

    "But in terms of Saddam Hussein being there, let's remember that his country is divided, in effect. He does not control the northern part of his country. We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt." - Condoleeza Rice, July 29, 2001

    For more on the many stunning flips, flops, mixed-messages and more flops of Bush Iraq Policy, click here for documented details.

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    West Virginia voters put on notice!
    Apparently, just another page from the RNC's 'Anything to Win' file...
    By Brad Friedman on 9/18/2004 12:52pm PT  

    Would Republicans actually do this?

    Campaign mail with a return address of the Republican National Committee warns West Virginia voters that the Bible will be prohibited and men will marry men if liberals win in November.

    The literature shows a Bible with the word "BANNED" across it and a photo of a man, on his knees, placing a ring on the hand of another man with the word "ALLOWED." The mailing tells West Virginians to "vote Republican to protect our families" and defeat the "liberal agenda."

    Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said Friday that he wasn't aware of the mailing, but said it could be the work of the RNC. "It wouldn't surprise me if we were mailing voters on the issue of same-sex marriage," Gillespie said.

    So does that sound like the Republicans? The same group who called South Carolina voters during the 2000 primary to ask what they thought of John McCain fathering a black out-of-wedlock baby? Oh, yes. It sounds a lot like them. Gillespie's inability to deny it, of course, seals the deal. Your Republican Party: Anything to Win.

    (If anyone finds a scanned graphic of that mail, please let me know!)

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    By Brad Friedman on 9/13/2004 2:16pm PT  

    The case against Bush's failed execution of the War on Iraq is becoming clearer every day.

    Best put this morning by Pro-Iraq Warrior, Andrew Sullivan, who said today:

    "Mr president, you have the courage to launch vital wars; you just don't have the competence to win them. Get out of the way before we lose this battle - and make things even worse than before 9/11."

    And in regards to the damning report today from the U.S. Marine Corps general in charge of western Iraq that Fallujah was completely bungled by the upper Civilian Command (after Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the boys have gone out of their way to suggest they wouldn't make the Vietnam mistake of getting in the way of Military Command on the ground), Sullivan --- a longtime BRAD BLOG "Intellectually Honest Republican" Award winner --- was also on the money:

    FALLUJAH FLIP-FLOP: How the White House bungled the Fallujah siege - against the advice of the military on the ground. Money quote from Lt. Gen. James T. Conway:

    "When you order elements of a Marine division to attack a city, you really need to understand what the consequences of that are going to be and not perhaps vacillate in the middle of something like that. Once you commit, you got to stay committed."

    Now just imagine if a president Gore had done such a thing. Do you think Republicans would have stayed mum?

    Sullivan's last question there is a doozy. Just imagine if Al Gore had executed this "War on Terror" in exactly the same fashion and as disastrously. Imagine what the Republicans would be saying with 1000+ dead, no WMD's to be found, no exit strategy anywhere on the horizon, and if "insurgents" in Fallujah were now using the arms we gave them against us now as they are! Can you imagine?!

    The blatant and outrageous hypocrisy at work amongst the apologists on the Right at this moment is surely at an all time high (or low). Just incredible.

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    I mean, More on Keyes...
    By Brad Friedman on 9/1/2004 9:32pm PT  

    Wow...that Alan Keyes interview where he called lesbian Veep daughter Mary Cheney a "selfish hedonist" for her lifestyle, along, presumably with any other heterosexual couple who can't, or chose not to mate, is even more astounding than just the quotes I gave you earlier.

    He had more to say about loving couples that God has made incapable of having children together: "They cannot mate. They are not made to do so. Therefore the idea of marriage for two such individuals is an absurdity."

    He then objected "to the notion" that we refer to two partners who cannot mate as having "sexual relations because it is nothing of the kind". Rather, he said, "It is the mutual pursuit of pleasure through the stimulation of the organs intended for procreation, but it has nothing to do with sexuality."

    Here's the full transcript, and a copy of the audio, courtesy of AMERICABlog.

    Wow. Finally, someone who's willing to stand up and publicly support the GOP Platform!

    With that, I might have finally voted Republican, except for my fear that they might "mutually pursue pleasure through the stimulation of the organs intended for procreation" me!

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