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The 'Anything to Win' video...

...is right here! Now also available in RealPlayer and MPG formats! Please keep spreading the word!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/6/04 @ 1:41 pm PT
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Monday, September 6th 2004

W is for Women!
Please. For the love of all that's good...Send this man home.

Oh. My. God. Did he just say that?

Yes. Yes, he did.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/6/04 @ 5:01 pm PT
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Bush Guard Records Missing!
Yes. This is a NEW story...

AP is reporting that Dubya's National Guard record is "mysteriously" missing many important documents...

Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts.

For example, Air National Guard regulations at the time required commanders to write an investigative report for the Air Force when Bush missed his annual medical exam in 1972. The regulations also required commanders to confirm in writing that Bush received counseling after missing five months of drills.

No such records have been made public and the government told The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that it has released all records it can find.


Read the whole story for more details on the documents that should be there, but aren't.

None of the 600 to 700 troops in Bush's unit in Alabama ever actually saw Bush report for duty there during the time he went missing (other than a dentist who gave him a check-up), and despite a $10,000 reward offered for the last year to anyone who can come forward to prove that Bush served, we don't have an "Alabama National Guard Vets for Truth" group out there to set the record straight.

We do, however, have some very clear hints, and even a Lt. Col. in the Guard as eye-witness as to what happened to those now-missing records. (See this mostly-ignored CNN story for details.) But without the a bunch of veterans willing to make television spots to the effect, the American media apparently doesn't feel it's worth reporting on. During a "time of war" when National Guardsmen are being called upon to serve unprecedented duty in Iraq, for a questionable war -- or "miscalculation" as Bush himself called it -- I strongly disagree.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/6/04 @ 2:43 pm PT
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The 'Miscalculation' Continues...
9 US Troops Dead...Scores Injured...
(thump, thump...is this thing on?...)

7 US Troops killed yesterday by car bomb in Fallujah. 2 US Troops were killed yesterday and 16 injured in a mortar barrage in Baghdad.

The current total of US Troops now dead in Bush's "miscalculation": 990, as best as I am able to keep track.

Never mind the children that the U.S. has managed to kill and/or injure in the last 24 hours. I'll spare you the photos here. For now.

And in other "miscalculation" news, where at least we've "liberated" a country working towards Democracy (please Email me if you believe that, by the way, as I've got some nice land in Tikrit to sell you, if so!), it turns out the "Democracy" taking shape over there may not be so "Democratic" after all!

The interim "miscalculation" government in Iraq has now banned al-Jazeera permanently. Shoring up, I guess, their "Liberated" Freedom of the Press.

And as to their upcoming elections in January? Well, we may have to start putting quotes around the word "election" as well, as it is now becoming possible that these "elections" will be held at the exclusion of some major cities where the outcome of voting may not be quite as favorable as the U.S. and their "friends" in Iraq may like.

According to today's LA Times:

Iraq remains on course to hold landmark elections in January, but violence could force authorities to exclude hotspots such as the western city of Fallouja from voting, a top U.S. general said here Sunday.


All of this information should be common knowledge to Americans during "war time" if we had a responsible media who were interested in giving us NEWS rather than SPIN and political horse races...Particularly since last month -- August -- was the bloodiest month so far in Iraq! Who knew?

So the "miscalculation" by the guy that wants you to re-"elect" him -- based on his sound judgement and resolute convictions -- continues. But unless you pay attention to folks like me, with blogs like this one, you'd have no idea. And, of course, that's just how George W. Bush would like it to continue.

So do something.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/6/04 @ 1:36 pm PT
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Sunday, September 5th 2004

The Human Toll of the Moment

The war rages on. Pay no attention, please..."These aren't the droids you're looking for"...

According to McLaughlin:

THE HUMAN TOLL as of Friday, 9/4/04...

U.S. Military Dead: 979
Amputees, Wounded, Injured: 26,750
Iraqi Civilians Dead: 20,000


Now go take on the day!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/5/04 @ 9:08 pm PT
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Poster of the Moment

- Blogged by Brad on 9/5/04 @ 9:50 am PT
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Saturday, September 4th 2004

War? What war?
This war...

1,100 U.S. troops injured in Iraq during August alone! The bloodiest month yet for injuries to U.S. Servicemen and women!

Hooray! We've turned the corner! Vote Bush!

And just in case your favorite cable channel didn't bring you any war news today (or this week, or this month), here's a recap of what happened -- yesterday only -- in the Iraq War. Bet ya didn't know they shot down one of our helicopters yesterday, didja?!

Bring ‘em on: Two Fallujah Brigade members, two civilians killed in fighting with US troops near Fallujah.
Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded in patrol ambush near Tikrit.
Bring ‘em on: Seven insurgents killed, 25 wounded in heavy fighting with US troops near Tall Afar.
Bring ‘em on: Oil pipeline ablaze near Basra.
Bring ‘em on: Two US soldiers wounded in patrol ambush near Duluiyah.
Bring ‘em on: “Dozens” of Iraqis killed by car bomb at police academy in Kirkuk.
Bring ‘em on: Three Turkish hostages executed near Samarra.
Bring ‘em on: Seven insurgents killed, seven Iraqi soldiers wounded in fighting near Baghdad.
Bring ‘em on: Four Iraqi policeman kidnapped in Basra.
Bring ‘em on: Oil pipeline ablaze near Kirkuk.
Bring ‘em on: Green Zone mortared in Baghdad.
Bring ‘em on: US helicopter shot down near Tall Afar; two crewmen wounded.
Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqis killed in fighting with US troops near Ramadi.
Bring ‘em on: Associated Press driver assassinated near Baghdad.
Bring ‘em on: Bulgarian soldier wounded in patrol ambush near Karbala.

Courtesy of "Today in Iraq"

Now you get out there and have a great Labor Day Weekend, Mr. and Mrs. America!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/4/04 @ 9:12 pm PT
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George W. Bush: Anything to Win.
A BRAD BLOG Campaign Commercial

Time for another campaign commercial from The BRAD BLOG! It's been too many month since our "Priceless" ad from months ago.

So please enjoy the all new "Anything to Win" video...

UPDATE: 9/5/04 10:15am PT - Hits are through the roof on the ad! About 100/minute over the last hour or so! Apologies if downloads, or the rest of the site is slowed down because of it! Please contact me if you are able to host the ad files on your server so I can make mirror sites available! Just send me the link addresses, and I'll get 'em posted! Thanks! - BF

UPDATE: 9/5/04 12:48pm PT - Had to take the ad temporarily down! Servers overwhelmed! If you can donate space (only 3.5mb or so are needed), PLEASE contact me ASAP at Brad.Friedman@cville.com! File is small, but downloads have been big and we need to spread out the bandwidth drain! Help appreciated! - BF!!!

UPDATE: 9/5/04 2:31pm PT - Ad back up and online! Thanks to John at the excellent AMERICABlog and the folks at nyc.IndyMedia.org! However, still seeking additional file/download sites to link to so that we don't overwhelm any one server! Please write if you can help!!!

UPDATE: 9/6/04 11:38am PT - Thanks to more generous folks, we now have MPG and RealPlayer Versions of the ad now available! Thanks to all who have helped! Keep spreading the word!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/4/04 @ 8:09 pm PT
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Republican 'Family Values'
Hide the bitch! She's gay!

Mary Cheney, the "Vice-President's" own daughter was nowhere to be found in the "Family Portrait" shot at the end of the Republican National Convention. That's Dick, pictured at right after his speech at the RNC with all of his NON-GAY children and grandchildren accompanying him.

As you likely know, Mary is gay, and has a "longtime companion". Hence, apparently, she nor her partner are welcome on stage at a Republican National Convention.

Republican U.S. Senate Nominee for Illinois, Alan Keyes called her a "selfish hedonist" earlier in the day. But for the Bush/Cheney campaign who's willing to throw over their own family to appease the Jesus-Lovin' Hatists on the right it makes one wonder if they, in fact, are the selfish hedonists here.

Either way, so much for "Family Values" at the top of the Republican ticket. But the lip-service to it, like everything else they act like they stand for, goes on and on...

- Blogged by Brad on 9/4/04 @ 3:02 pm PT
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'Real Time'

Last night's "Real Time with Bill Maher" was top-notch from top to bottom. If you have access to HBO, make an attempt to catch one of the reruns today and for the rest of the week. Howard Dean was worth the price of admission alone, but the whole show was great. Excellent panel. Good interview with Pat Buchanan. "New Rules" as sharp as ever. If I have time later, I'll try and post some of the highlights.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/4/04 @ 1:05 pm PT
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The NeoCons and the Cookie Jar
Scandals soon to be discounted, no doubt.
Not nearly sexy enough for Television 'News'.

It's been nearly four years since Bush's invocation of "The Axis of Evil". During that time -- while we tackled (sorta) the non-threatening tinhorn dictatorship of Saddam -- the actually dangerous regimes of North Korea and Iran have been allowed to continue their atomic weapons programs virtually unabated. In regards to Iran specifically, we still have no formal policy 3 1/2 full years since they were declared part of that "Axis".

The reason for a lack of policy towards Iran seems to be explained by information emerging from the recent investigations of spying for Israeli interests at the top levels of the Defense Department and into the Vice-President's office.

It's all likely too wonky to have much of an effect on this Administration during an Election year, particularly as the damage will be controlled by skilled Republican "fixers" (see the abandoned Iran/Contra scandal for a good playbook example). And with both houses of Congress currently in GOP hands, it may be well assumed that there will be very limited policing of all these matters this year.

But it looks like the folks at the focus of the recent probes at the Pentagon may also be the same ones tied into other wonky scandals including the Valerie Plame leak investigation and the use in Bush's State of the Union address of discredited claims that Iraq was seeking uranium in Niger . It's "the whole ball of wax," as one U.S. official familiar with the case described it.

That would include folks in the offices of Douglas Feith and Donald Rumsfeld and even up into Dick Cheney's office. Folks with names like Wolfowitz, Perle, Wurmser and Rhode.

As I say, such wonkery is perhaps too much for Americans to wrap their brains around this year, especially with the predictable lack of help they'll get from the useless Mainstream Media. It's possible too, in my estimation, that confining and then dumping all of these scandals onto a single group of "bad apples" (sound familiar?) would be a convenient way to jettison all of these damaging scandals in one fell swoop should it get too hot in Bush Country between now and November.

Either way, it's worth keeping an eye on...

- Blogged by Brad on 9/4/04 @ 12:51 pm PT
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Zell Thrown Overboard

As I postulated previously, the Republicans have now officially thrown Zell overboard. He served his political usefulness to the party who will use anybody and, like a Reservist sent to die in Iraq, is no longer useful to the them. Sleep with the fishes, Zell.

GOP backs away from Miller’s blast
Democrat ‘speaking for himself,’ Bush aide says

After gauging the harsh reaction from Democrats and Republicans alike to Sen. Zell Miller’s keynote address at the Republican National Convention, the Bush campaign — led by the first lady — backed away Thursday from Miller’s savage attack on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, insisting that the estranged Democrat was speaking only for himself.

Late Thursday, Miller and his wife were removed from the list of dignitaries who would be sitting in the first family’s box during the president’s acceptance speech later in the evening. Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for the Bush campaign, said Miller was not in the box because the campaign had scheduled him to do too many television interviews.

There was no explanation, however, for why Miller would be giving multiple interviews during Bush’s acceptance speech, or what channels would snub the president in favor of Miller. Nor was it made clear why Miller’s wife also was not allowed to take her place in the president’s box 24 hours after his deeply personal denunciation of his own party’s nominee.

The change was made only a few hours after Laura Bush, asked about Miller’s speech, said in an interview with NBC News that “I don’t know that we share that point of view.” Aides to President Bush and his campaign said.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/4/04 @ 11:40 am PT
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Republicans. Dishonor. Disgrace.

Your Republican Party...

- Dishonoring the troops...

- Kicking the demonstrators...

- Rightwing BRAD BLOG commentor "ed", speaks of "wasting a bullet" on Ted Kennedy.

Compassionate conservatism at work. Great Americans, all.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/4/04 @ 11:16 am PT
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Friday, September 3rd 2004

Toon Flurry of the Moment
Commemorative Republican National Convention Edition!
















And one last RNC "Great American of the Moment" Bonus pic!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/3/04 @ 4:07 pm PT
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An Honest West Texan!

An honest West Texan! I knew there had to be at least one out there!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/3/04 @ 3:13 pm PT
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More 'Conservative' Fiscal Fantasies Debunked
The Red State Welfare Queens

Again, we hate to spoil the fiscal fantasies of the Fake Conservatives, but for all those "red" states out there who voted for Bush last time and calling for tax breaks, fiscal responsibility and decrying the "welfare state", you'd think they were subsidizing the "blue" states with all of their hard-earned tax dollars.

Turns out, as usual, the unreported truth is quite the opposite from the Fake Conservative fantasy.

In fact, the "blue" states, on average, get back less money than they pay out in federal taxes, while the "red" states receive more in federal funds than they put out. Go figure.

From Media Matters:

[I]t is actually blue states (states that former Vice President Al Gore won in 2000) that subsidize red states (states that President George W. Bush won in 2000). An August 2003 report by the Tax Foundation -- a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that monitors fiscal policy at the federal, state, and local levels -- compared the federal tax burden in each state with the flow of federal funds back to that state for fiscal year 2002. As former Gore speechwriter Daniel H. Pink pointed out in a January 2004 New York Times op-ed citing the Tax Foundation report, out of the 33 states that received more in federal spending than they contributed in federal taxes (what Pink calls "taker" states), Bush won 25. Out of the 16 states that paid more in federal taxes than they received in federal spending (what Pink calls "giver" states), Gore carried 12.




Is it any wonder then that "red" states want to keep their guy in office so they can keep sucking disproportionately off the Federal Government tit without anybody noticing? Red state welfare queens.

Once again, the "Liberal" Media seems to have forgotten to report much on all of this. I wonder if the Media really isn't so "Liberal" after all? But they must be! Sean Hannity wouldn't keep saying it if it wasn't true!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/3/04 @ 2:54 pm PT
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Real Conservatives Not Dead Yet!
(Sssshh...Don't tell Dubya supporters!)

And on the topic of "Words speaking louder than Actions"...

How to say something without meaning it

Well, the Bush acceptance speech went off last night. And it was a good one. For someone who never held the office.

But for someone who has had 3 1/2 years in office, it was an exercise in willfull ignorance.


A Conservative -- a real one, with character, courage and conviction -- reviews Bush's con job from last night. (Fake Conservatives need not click through. Far be it from us to spoil your illusions by dropping a big reality turd into your fantasy soup.)

- Blogged by Brad on 9/3/04 @ 1:30 pm PT
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Words Speak Louder Than Actions
Your 'Daily Show' Moment...


George W. Bush:
Words Speak Louder than Actions

- Blogged by Brad on 9/3/04 @ 11:49 am PT
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Thursday, September 2nd 2004

Fair & Balanced! Case Closed!
Or, as O'Reilly would say, 'Shut UP!'

FOX News Primetime Convention Speech Coverage

Courtesy of Media Matters

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 11:07 pm PT
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Program Note for Fox Viewers

Dear Fox News Watchers,

The Democratic Candidate for President of the United States is speaking live on television in response to the Bush/Cheney convention.

The Vice-Presidential Candidate is there too! Live!

Feel free to turn to either CNN or MSNBC if you'd like to see it!

UPDATE: Fox finally did go to the Kerry speech. They ran a total of 4 minutes of the speech, picking it up near the end, and dropping it 4 minutes later. Both MSNBC and CNN ran it from the beginning, when Kerry said things like "I’m not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq."

Total coverage of Kerry's speech: MSNBC - 25 minutes, CNN - 15 minutes, FOX - 4 minutes.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 9:04 pm PT
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Osama who?

Just a few miles from Ground Zero. Where "the people who knocked down these buildings" would hear from "all of us soon."

I watched all four nights of the RNC Convention. But I'll be damned if I heard any word about who it was who knocked those buildings down. Did I miss something?

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 9:00 pm PT
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Bush Live (for the most part)

He sounds like he's answering the "platform question" at the Miss America Pagaent, no?

UPDATE: Speech just finished. Lest I be accused of unfairness (I'll leave that to Fox), it seems to me that Bush recovered somewhere around the final third of his speech from the Miss America / School Assembly delivery of the first two thirds that I mentioned above. He finished just fine. And the tear he almost squeezed out will no doubt be the tear heard round the world for the next few news cycles. More later, no doubt.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 7:28 pm PT
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Hannity & Who?

I should have known we were in trouble when Alan Colmes said "Senator Miller, I'd like to talk about the substance of your speech last night". He then went on to fire the only bullet that Sean allowed him, I guess, accusing Zell of having called Kerry "an authentic American hero" in 2001.

Zell said "I was wrong about that." Alan hemmed, hawwed, looked at his notes...and then...cut to commercial.

Wouldn't it be more honest if they didn't even bother to put a name at all after the "Hannity &" part?

Oh, well. Since Colmes is useless, I'll toss out another contradiction and factual inaccuracy from Zell's speech that apparently didn't occur to the hapless and completely useless Colmes.

Kerry in his acceptance speech: "I will never give any nation or international institution a veto over our national security."

Zell last night: "Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if approved by the United Nations. Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending."

There ya go, Alan. Would that have been that hard?

Apparently Colmes has no memory, isn't allowed access to Google by Sean, or simply has no familiarity with what's actually going on anywhere but in the Republican National Party and/or the Fox News Channel. Not that there's any difference.

And Cheney? He said last night: "George W. Bush will never seek a permission slip to defend the American people."

I'm sure Colmes will get right on that. Sigh.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 6:55 pm PT
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More True Lies...
from Arnold at the RNC

There has been so many blatantly and provably incorrect statements on the RNC's podium this week, that it's becoming almost tiresome to point them out.

So forgive me if you have become as weary of it as I have, even though I've only bothered to highlight a few of them. But if folks like you and me don't take the time to point these out who will? The Mainstream Media?!

In this case, it fell to a polling organization, Gallup to be precise, to fact check where the Media has decided to nod off again this year:

Schwarzenegger was incorrect in his GOP convention speech on Tuesday when he asserted: "The president didn't go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the polls said just the opposite."

A majority of Americans supported the idea of the invasion of Iraq before Bush made the decision to commence military action in March 2003. Gallup's March 14-15, 2003, poll showed that 64% of Americans favored "invading Iraq with U.S. ground troops in an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power," and 57% agreed that the Bush administration "has made a convincing case about the need for the U.S. to take military action against Iraq." A March 17, 2003, CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asked: "Do you approve or disapprove of Bush's decision to go to war if Saddam Hussein does not leave Iraq in the next 48 hours?" Sixty-six percent of Americans approved; 30% disapproved.


Provably and factually incorrect statements at the GOP Convention. One after another after another.

Feel free to "liberally" use the "Email it to Someone!" link at the bottom of ALL the entries here on the BRAD BLOG! It's game time, folks! And someone's gotta show up to play! How about you?!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 3:54 pm PT
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Zell Walks the Plank?

Is it not possible that the Republicans knew exactly what they were doing by allowing the angry and ugly Zell Miller to be their counterpoint keynote speaker to the Democrat's hopeful and positive Barack Obama?

No doubt, they knew full well the type of poison they could get Zell to throw into the water. Surely they vetted his speech before hand, and thus must have known how almost none of it would stand up factually to even the most tepid of journalistic scrutiny.

For proof of that, see CNN's interview with Zell after the speech last night, during which CNN took a short break from business-as-usual to become, if only momentarily, journalists again who managed to trash in only just a few minutes almost everything Zell was hoping to sell last night.

So if even CNN, of all media, would be able to debunk this clown in minutes, surely the Republicans must have understood that in advance and decided nonetheless that the effort would be worthwhile.

So why would they do it? We'll have to assume at this point that they are just happy to get the trash into the public domain where it'll be unexamined red meat to the Talk Radio Nation. And then, when the predictable and simple debunking occured among the literatti, the only person who'd stand to look like a jackass would be only be a Democrat after all.

Pretty cagey. Smells precisely like classic Rovian Machinations if ever there were any.

I think, however, that they may have been overly optimistic about Zell being the only one who might get stained in this devil's bargain. But only time will tell.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 2:37 pm PT
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The Marshall Pan
and a few other bits and pieces from last night...

- Josh Marshall, on the entirety of RNC Night 3, demonstrates why he's at the top of the blogging food chain.

- Andrew Sullivan similarly, though from the Conservative side, asks the tough questions about the as yet unexplained second term for Dubya. The real and adult questions about his so far unrevealed agenda that the "real" media is too busy reporting on theatrics and horse-races to ask about.

- Zell Miller, the Republicans Great White Hope, challenges Chris Matthew to a duel on last night's Hardball. Yes, a duel! Here's the video.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 2:06 pm PT
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The Face of the Party
Or, the Ugly Rightwing American

It's tough to wrap one's brain around what happened last night. No doubt, the Dems are rightly indignant about the vicious and fallacious smears of the GOP. And perhaps it'll spur them, and the rest of America, to step up to the plate. Bile of that sort frequently does.

The GOP, seemingly, in free fall towards doing whatever they need to do, have become a party quite willing to "win at all costs". The smears no longer take place solely amongst the shadowy dirty-tricksters, or in the last few days of the campaign. They are now quite public and, more troublingly, acceptable to an entire half of our only two viable political parties of the moment. Never mind the implications for America itself and/or the world through such vitriolic and poisonous tactics, the GOP is all in favor of them! And they're not shy about it anymore!

None other than the "Vice-President" of the United States himself is not only able, but apparently quite pleased with himself thanks for lying about and mischaracterizing his opponent in the number one national public political forum. "He talks about leading a 'more sensitive war on terror,' as though Al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side," said the Veep, knowing full well what the war hero, 20 year public servant and Democratic Presidential Nominee John Kerry actually said on the subject. And never mind what Cheney and Bush themselves have had to say about "sensitivity" in this war.

From Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the Talk Radio Nation, we'd expect it. From a sitting "Vice-President" -- at a supposed "time of war" -- it's just embarrassing, frankly, as a patriotic American.

And yet, the "America Loving" Republican Party goes wild with applause and approval for such slimy tactics and clearly (for surely, even they realize it, right?) disingenous rhetoric.

Then their was Zell, the former Dixiecrat/segregationalist who had until recently referred to John Kerry as "an authentic hero" and "strong on defense" and -- before he flipped -- characterized the Republican party as "having sold out their country". There he was, wagging his crooked finger and flapping his forked tongue for the approval of the trained seals.

He, like Cheney, is more than welcome to do so, of course, but really, is that what the Republican Party wants to reveal as their true face? Is that the "Compassionate Conservatism" we hear so much about for a few weeks every four years?

Never mind the errant and misleading substance itself of Miller's barked outrage. (The bulk of the Defense Cuts he accused Kerry of supporting were the very same ones submitted and requested by -- who else? -- Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney himself!) But, like Pat Buchanan's torching of the '92 GOP convention, it's Miller's tone here that will both enliven the already-sold-on-Bush angry base, but send the moderates and undecideds fleeing for the exit doors once the dust has settled and they come to understand what's really going on here.

It's no mistake, that the smoke-filled back rooms of the GOP bosses chose a guy like Alan Keyes (begged him, in fact, as BRAD BLOG commentor Johnhp has pointed out) to be their US Senate Nominee from Illinois. A guy who refers to his own Vice-President's daughter as a "selfish hedonist". The bosses are angry and bitter, though it's hard to understand why, since they control all branches of the U.S. Government. But hey, even eating their own young is worth it for a few more angry white votes. Their public choices tell that story painfully plainly.

At this point, with the Media itself so cowed by these vitriolic con men, it's reasonable to believe they will continue to do what they've done so far in this campaign: Dutifully stick to repeating Karl Rove's press releases and reporting the thunder of the trained seals as they beat their fins together.

But oddly enough -- and it really is odd, given the noise pitched against them -- the American People have a way of rising above such unseemly phoney-baloney when it reaches the type of fevered pitch that it now officially has. Zell and Cheney lit the fuse last night, and it's likely only going to get worse between now and November. But usually the American People end up getting it. I'd like to think they will this time as well. But if not, they will get precisely what they deserve: Four more years.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 1:29 pm PT
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Hellstorm Headed for Florida!

Is it just me? Or does it seem that even the National Weather Service has turned partisan this year?

- Blogged by Brad on 9/2/04 @ 11:21 am PT
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Wednesday, September 1st 2004

Moron Keyes!
I mean, More on Keyes...

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 publically 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!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 9:32 pm PT
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'Fairness and Balance' Graph of the Moment
RNC Day 3

FOX News Primetime Convention Speech Coverage

Courtesy of Media Matters

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 8:32 pm PT
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Zig Zag Zell
Putting the 'Con' in the RNC Convention!

Tonight, in Zell's wacky keynote address at the RNC, he said: "For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure. As a war protester, Kerry blamed our military. As a Senator, he voted to weaken our military."

He said much more, and no doubt more on that all later.

But first, a few words from Zell about John Kerry back before "the change" that you may have missed while the Media was busy repeating the Bush/Cheney press releases:

"My job tonight is an easy one: to present to you one of this nation's authentic heroes, one of this party's best-known and greatest leaders -- and a good friend. He was once a lieutenant governor - but he didn't stay in that office 16 years, like someone else I know. It just took two years before the people of Massachusetts moved him into the United States Senate in 1984.
-- U.S. Senator Zell Miller (Introducing John Kerry to the Democratic Party of Georgia Jefferson Jackson Dinner 2001)

"In his 16 years in the Senate, John Kerry has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington. Early in his Senate career in 1986, John signed on to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Bill, and he fought for balanced budgets before it was considered politically correct for Democrats to do so. John has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment."
-- U.S. Senator Zell Miller (Remarks to the Democratic Party of Georgia Jefferson Jackson Dinner 2001)


Whacky, huh? Well, perhaps only if you bothered to watch Zig Zag Zell (as they call him back him on George for being on all sides of every issue) tonight at the Republican Con-vention.

UPDATE: For more fun Zig Zagging with Zell, go here!

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 7:52 pm PT
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And speaking of 'True Lies'...
One for you Ahnold fans out there!

Thanks to "Berry's World" for this item. I'd heard it referred to last night, but didn't have the exact quotes:

The L.A. Times reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger became a Republican whilst listening to the famous Nixon-Humphrey debates. Here are two classic quotes from the story:

Fresh from Austria, a socialist country, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to become a Republican after listening to "the debates of Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon when they were debating for the presidential race," or so he told television talk show host Bill O'Reilly in May 2001. " Hubert Humphrey spoke about things I heard in Austria under socialism."

"having watched a 1968 presidential debate for which a friend provided the translation. "[Hubert] Humphrey stood for the government [that] will solve all your problems," Schwarzenegger recalled. "[Richard] Nixon said no, free to choose, let the people decide. So I said to my friend, which party is Nixon? He said Republican. OK, I said, I'm a Republican."


The Times also points out that the Nixon-Humphrey debates are famous, mainly, for the fact that they never took place.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 7:28 pm PT
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The 'Big Tent' Sham
In the words of a Teddy Roosevelt Republican

It's not often that I repost BRAD BLOG comments here as their own item.

But in honor of the nutty Zell Miller's jump to the Republican Party tonight, it seems only "Fair and Balanced" to highlight a spot-on comment from a Republican, or at least somebody who was one up until George W. Bush and his Theocrats came along and hijacked the party. Teddy was once a proud member of the GOP. However, unlike the whacky "cross-dressing" Senator Miller who will give the RNC keynote tonight, Teddy is anything but nutty.

In an attempted bi-partisan spirit, I highlighted his excellent "Bull Moose Forum" blog earlier today. I realize that this would be two pops in one day, but when one chances upon that rarest of creatures -- an intellectually honest Republican -- it seems only proper to give him his due. Especially in this fierce, Crazy World we seem to now live in.

Teddy was replying to Paul's parrot about the GOP's "Big Tent" sham on this item concerning the hypocrisy of Dubya's several flip-flops over the last two days about being able to win, and then not win, and then win the "War on Terror".

Paul is one of the BRAD BLOG's notably intellectually dishonest fake conservatives slash Bush suck-ups slash GOP apologists for those of you who may not bother to read the comments.

Here's Teddy's on-the-money reply:

Paul,

I am one of those socially-moderate fiscally conservative people you have mentioned. I was a Republican ever since I was in the third grade and we held an election between Reagan and Carter (not surprisingly, Carter was trounced). And for a long-time, I believed in the "big tent."

But no more. The big tent is a sham, a myth and a lie. This Administration has gone out of its way to demonize and marginalize every moderate Republican. Calling them "RINOs". Dennis Hastert mocking John McCain on the steps of the Capitol. Trying to pass anti-gay Constitutional Amendments. Ignoring every call to fiscally responsibility made by McCain, Snowe et al.

The "new" Republican Party doesn't want moderates like me, Paul. So fine. I'll leave them, just like TR did when he saw corruption spreading throughout the party he once loved. And maybe, just maybe, others will join me. Not only disaffected GOP moderates, but those moderate Democrats who feel marginalized as well.

And God willing, we'll stomp out both parties, because they've become walking jokes, available to the highest bidder.

Keep drinking the Kool-Aid, Paul.


Keep up the good fight, Teddy. Your party and country will thank you some day. The BRAD BLOG goes ahead and thanks you now.

We also thank Paul for his contributions here, making the difference between your father's GOP, and George W. Bush's GOP painfully clearer each and every day.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 7:07 pm PT
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Lesbians, Procreation and Alan Keyes
Does the GOP have anyone else left to slur?

The Republican Party had the entire United States of America from whom to chose their nominee for the US Senate seat in Illinois. Demonstrating quite clearly the kind of party they are, they chose Alan Keyes. From Maryland.

On Tuesday, Keyes called the "Vice-President's" lesbian daughter Mary Cheney, a "selfish hedonist" apparently solely because of her sexual identity.

He did both that, and took a swipe at married couples who either can't, or choose not to have children all in one fell Republican swoop.

Said Mr. Keyes in a satellite radio interview this week:

"The essence of … family life remains procreation. If we embrace homosexuality as a proper basis for marriage, we are saying that it's possible to have a marriage state that in principle excludes procreation and is based simply on the premise of selfish hedonism."

Asked whether that meant Mary Cheney was "a selfish hedonist," Keyes said: "That goes by definition. Of course she is."


So there ya go. You folks in the "married state" out there who have no children, are apparently "selfish hedonists" along with lesbian Mary Cheney. You, like those homosexuals who'd like to simply be recognized as a legitimate American family seem to have an "improper basis" for your marriage according to your party's national pick for the U.S. Senate.

Bush/Cheney '04: What's not to be proud of?

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 6:37 pm PT
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When Republicans Tell the Truth
And why Arnold didn't.

Teddy, the erstwhile BRAD BLOG commentor and author of the excellent "Bull Moose Forum", a right leaning blog in the true TR/Conservative sense (as opposed to the "Fake Conservative" nonsense one often sees parrotted in comments from the Right on this blog and elsewhere) has an excellent analysis of last night's speech by the Governator.

Using quotes from William Saletan's Slate commentary today on why Republicans like him, should reject George W. Bush, Teddy points out that there is no "Big Tent" in the Republican party. No matter the smoke and mirrors they haul out every four years to appear as though they are either "compassionate" or "conservative".

Of note, along with his own insight and analysis, Teddy ran these quotes from the Slate story:

Schwarzenegger applauds Bush for taking a hard line on terrorism. So do I. Bush's clarity on this subject is his finest quality. But it doesn't make his foreign policy wise, any more than liberal piety about compassion makes liberal social programs effective. In Iraq, Bush has confused a mortal enemy with a less urgent one, and he has botched the worthy idea of American military leadership by biting off more than we can chew.


On the nosey, my boy. And this one...

I'm no huge fan of John Kerry. He sees two sides of every one-sided issue, and four sides of every two-sided issue. But the alternative is a president who sees one side of every issue, no matter how many sides it has. Given the how many sides there usually are, and given how little effort Bush makes to learn about each issue, the odds are that, on average, he'll pick the wrong side.


Right again. And, as the Bush daughters might say, "it's like, provenly knowable!"

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 12:04 pm PT
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Toon of the Moment FLASHBACK!
(Originally published 6/24/03 after the GOP announced their convention site)

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 11:15 am PT
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Question of the Moment

I've heard it suggested of late by several Conservative commentators that the real reason the RNC has chosen to give all of their primetime speaking slots to their largely Pro-Choice, Pro-Gay, Anti-Gun superstars like McCain, Schwarzzeneger, Guliani etc., is because they are the most popular Republicans in America.

So can someone please explain to me how so many of the Neandercons can keep a straight face when they keep trying to tell us that they and the policies they support are the "Mainstream" beliefs in America?

In other words, the most popular Republican Leaders in the country are the ones who wholly disagree with a bulk of the Republican Platform, most of the Ditto Heads, all of the Freepers, and certainly George W. Bush on issue after issue after issue.

Isn't that proof-in-the-very pudding that in reality, it is George W. Bush and his Rightwing Gang of Theo-Neo-Neadner-cons who are the real outside fringe minority group in this country?

I'm just askin'.

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 1:03 am PT
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'Fairness and Balance' Graph of the Moment
RNC Day 2

FOX News Primetime Convention Speech Coverage

Courtesy of Media Matters

- Blogged by Brad on 9/1/04 @ 12:58 am PT
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Tuesday, August 31st 2004

Laura's Bush

"Franklin Roosevelt didn't want to go to war, but he knew defeating tyranny demanded it. And my husband didn't want to go to war, but he knew the safety and security of America and the world depended on it."
- Laura Bush at tonight's RNC Convention on the Iraq War.

FDR and George W. Bush. Yes! Exactly what all of America is thinking! Two peas in a pod those two! Last night he was Churchill and tonight he's FDR!

Abe Lincoln spins in his grave in anticipation of tomorrow night's speeches! But, I digress...

Can anybody here demonstrate a single shred of evidence to support Laura's contention that her "husband didn't want to go to war" in Iraq?

While you're at it, I'll take any shred of evidence that "the safety and security of America and the world depended on it".

Anybody?

- Blogged by Brad on 8/31/04 @ 9:39 pm PT
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The Pacific Northwest Photo Finish!


Brad the Fisherman!


Brad the Tree Hugger!


Brad the Fireside Blogger!

...And a few other photos from our recent Pacific Northwest Road Trip now available online for those who may care.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/31/04 @ 2:36 pm PT
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Schrock and Awww...
The Gay Homophobic Republican
In case, unlike the McGreevy story, you missed this one...

"You're in the showers with them, you're in the bunk room with them, you're in staterooms with them," Schrock told the Virginian-Pilot. "You just hope no harm would come by folks who are of that persuasion. It's a discipline thing."

So said Virginia's Republican US Congressman, Edward L. Schrock when trying to change Clinton's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. Schrock, in October of 2000, told the Virginia-Pilot the he supported asking enlistees whether they have had homosexual experiences in an effort to try to keep gays from serving.

Yesterday, Schrock suddenly dropped out of his race for a third term in Congress due to unspecified "allegations", and now the Republicans are scrambling to find a replacement to run for what had been considered a safe seat.

What were those unspecified "allegations"? That the Married with Child "conservative" US congressman lived a double life as a gay man and tapes existed of him cruising gay phone lines for sex.

Still waiting for the "Liberal" media to give the same type of coverage to the story as they did to McGreevy. Have a feeling we'll be waiting for a while.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/31/04 @ 2:27 pm PT
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Bush Supporter of the Moment
(Actually, the moment was last week, but I was out of town!)
Supporting the 'President' in Portland, Oregon...

- Blogged by Brad on 8/31/04 @ 1:56 pm PT
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Flip-Floppery of the Highest Order
Bush Spins, Rush Helps
The "Liberal" Media Takes the Year Off

As has been pointed out by Josh Marshall and several others, imagine if it was Kerry who said about the "War on Terror" that "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world –- let's put it that way."

Think about it. What if John Kerry had said that yesterday in a speech?

Do you suppose the Republicans, and therefore their handmaidens in the Media, would condemn John Kerry for saying "we can't win the war on terror"? That this war is not about "creating conditions" to make terror "less acceptable in parts of the world"? That it's about defeating and destroying the enemy. Period! And only George W. Bush is strong enough to understand that!

Can you imagine what would have been said about John Kerry capitulating to the terrorists?!

Well, it was Bush who said it. Not Kerry. And so he and his spinners have been out all day trying to spin themselves out of this mess, even though the Media has done little to hold Bush accountable for his statements. None the less, he realizes he screwed up when he was interviewed, as one of his spinners described it, "on a moving bus". (That can be horribly confusing you know!)

But when Dubya shows up on Rush's show, as he did today, you know Dubya realizes he needs to staunch some heavy bleeding.

The hardball interview with Rush (yes, that would be "irony" for those of you Right Wingers not familiar with the concept) included this lie from Bush:

See, I think it's very important for your listeners to know, Rush, that the commander-in-chief ought to try all avenues of diplomacy prior to committing troops and we did that. And so I'm sitting in the Oval Office, and I've seen a threat. I now see that he's ignoring the demands of the free world, he had no intention of disarming, as a matter of fact was systematically deceiving inspectors, and so I made the decision, a very difficult decision.


So exactly how was Saddam "systematically deceiving inspectors"? How is it, that with no arms in the first place, as we've since discovered, Saddam had "no intention of disarming"?

I, personally, refuse -- no matter what the rules are about it -- to give up my Assault Rifle to the Authorities! Trouble is, I don't have an Assault Rifle. According to the practicalities of the "Bush Doctrine", it sounds like someone needs to throw me in jail!

It's amazing how the "Commander-in-Chief" can lie and the media says and does nothing about it. But a War Hero can tell the truth, and he's held accountable and charged with lying by the same media.

There is no more 4th Estate. There is no more investigative journalism. There are only sychophants who repeat the Press Releases of those in power. And those, like Rush and Bush, who complain about the Free Speech of Americans as expressed through the legal 30 second ads of 527's even while they have 24 hours a day of 30 seconds ads around the clock, on every radio (and virtually every television) frequency in the land where they can express any and every lie they feel like. Over and over again.

But take heart America Lovers! Don't be cowed by liars, sycophants and spinners! As Bush might cynically say, whereas I actually mean it; Have faith that Good will triumph over Evil. It will. There is no doubt. I just hope it happens by November 2nd.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/31/04 @ 1:31 pm PT
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Toon of the Moment

- Blogged by Brad on 8/31/04 @ 12:42 pm PT
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The Meaning of 'It'
or, the Bush on the Bus Goes Round and Round...

Today, George W. Bush told Matt Lauer on Today that the "War on Terror" cannot be won.

Actually, he said "I don't think you can win it". Here's the exact transcript:

Lauer: “You said to me a second ago, one of the things you'll lay out in your vision for the next four years is how to go about winning the war on terror. That phrase strikes me a little bit. Do you really think we can win this war on terror in the next four years?”

President Bush: “I have never said we can win it in four years.”

Lauer: “So I’m just saying can we win it? Do you see that?”

President Bush: “I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world –- let's put it that way."


Not being able to win this "war" is a new position for Bush who has said over and over that "we will win" it.

As recently as July 30th of this year he said in Springfield, MO., "We have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world."

And yet that's not what he said on the bush to Matt. So the rest of the day Team Bush went apoplectic contorting to explain that Bush didn't really mean we couldn't win the war on terror...he was...referring to something else. To not being able to win, because there is nobody available to sign a surrender document. But other than that, we'll win. Or something.

They said a lot. They apologized a lot. They spun and danced and twisted and flip-flopped. Even McCain and Guiliani had to change their speeches to try and make sense of the torturued logic and apparent lack of clarity from the "Commander-in-Chief" they tell us should be re-"elected" due to his "clarity of vision". Or something.

Much was said. I'll let you go and figure out how they're now trying to spin it. Spinning is what they do well.

The statement (and I not only read it, but saw it several times) seemed very clear to me, but the Bushies say it wasn't. Bottom line: Apparently, it all depends on what the meaning of "it" is.

Go figure.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/31/04 @ 12:12 am PT
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Monday, August 30th 2004

Publicity Coup of the Moment
'Will These Republicans Never Learn?' Edition

- Blogged by Brad on 8/30/04 @ 9:38 pm PT
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Run, Rudy, Run!

Tonight, Rudy Guiliani successfully began his run for the White House.

It was an ignominious, though perhaps effective, start for him. It's a shame he had to start by making stuff up outta the box.

Guiliani said (quoting from his prepared text here, he may have changed the wording slightly when he said it), "Since September 11th President Bush has remained rock solid. It doesn't matter how he is demonized. It doesn't matter what the media does to ridicule him or misinterpret him or defeat him."

First, I welcome any of the Right Wingers here to demonstrate precisely when or where "the media" has "misinterpreted" George W. Bush. Please feel free to point us towards one of those "misinterpretations" here in Comments. Be specific. It shouldn't be hard, right? With such a "Liberal" media after all!

Hopefully, you'll show us a misinterpretation akin to the way Dick Cheney and the rest of the Foot Soldiers misinterpreted Kerry's "sensitive war" comments. If you do, I'll join you in condemning anything that appalling.

But speaking of "misinterpreting" folks, Rudy cynically then went on to "ridicule and misinterpret" John Kerry by saying, "My point about John Kerry being inconsistent is best described in his own words when he said, 'I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.'"

Anyone who bothered to pay attention (that would not include you Fake Conservatives, of course) knows that Kerry voted for the 87 billion when the bill included a responsible amendment that specified how the 87 billion would be paid for. That's something that honest conservatives (not Fake Conservatives) would appreciate. He voted against the bill when it was to be paid for by future borrowing on the national debt.

In case you Fake Conservatives haven't noticed, America now carries the Greatest Debt in the History of the World as created by George W. Bush for the Biggest Federal Government ever known to Mankind, also courtesy of George W. Bush and a Republican House and Senate.

John Kerry, on the other hand, supports "Pay as You Go". In other words, if it can't be paid for, he won't propose it. Something that an intellectually honest Republican should be in favor of. Or at least demanding from your own Tax Cut and Spend party.

But anyway, like Rudy Guiliani who supports Adultery, Abortion Rights, Gay Rights, endorsed Democrat Mario Cuomo for Governor and is largely more of a Democrat than a Republican, Fake Conservatives -- and presumably the Republican Party that supports them -- are more interested, in politics and power than in standing for anything.

The important note from tonight though; Rudy earned his '04 and/or '08 endorsement for President of the United States. If you Republicans (and us non-Republicans) are lucky, you may get him for your nominee. Though you Fake Conservatives are gonna have to keep flip-flopping to support him.

No biggie. You're used to it.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/30/04 @ 9:34 pm PT
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The Human Toll

I know it doesn't exactly account for whether John Kerry was actually in Cambodia on Christmas Eve or a few days later, but if you've haven't noticed, there is still a war going on...

According to this week's McGlaughlin Group:

The human toll as of 8/27/04...

U.S. military dead in Iraq: 971
U.S. military amputees, wounded, injured, or psychologically disabled: 26,400
Iraqi civilian dead: 19,700.


Now back to your regularly scheduled distraction from the issues.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/30/04 @ 4:23 pm PT
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Be Cool! Stay in School!

- Blogged by Brad on 8/30/04 @ 3:41 pm PT
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A Bush in 'Time'...

Drudge reports selected quotes from a new Bush interview in Time. Among them:

"I couldn’t have sat down and said to you, By the way, we’re going to be so victorious so quickly that we’ll end up having to fight another third of the Baathists over the next year in order to bring liberty to the country.“


Of course you could have. That's your j-o-b. You're the "President"! You are precisely supposed to look at all such possibilities. It's called "Leadership" and "Judgement". You know, those things you are running on and trying to trick folks into believing that you actually have!

And if you "couldn't" have imagined such a thing, perhaps had your read your own father's own book, you might have had a hint! Look what your Dad said, Junior!:

"Trying to eliminate Saddam ... would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. ... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. ... [T]here was no viable 'exit strategy' we could see... Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

To quote you, Mr. "President" -- "Is our children learning"?

Apparently they isn't.

Back to Drudge/Time/Dubya:

On what the most important thing is that he’s learned from the past four years, Bush says, “I’ve learned that Washington is a much more bitter, ugly place, dominated by special interests, than I ever envisioned. I was surprised.”


Is it just me, or didn't Dubya work for his Dad in Washington when he was Veep for 8 years, and then President for 4? And yet, Dubya just "learned" this about Washington? He couldn't have "envisioned" it?!

Who does he want us to think he is, Gomer Pyle who just flew inta D.C. for the first time!?

Sorry, Mr. Smith, we ain't buyin' it. Unless, for some reason, you simply forgot everything that happened to you during the years of 1980 - 1992 for some reason. Which is it Mr. "President"? Are you lying? Do you think we're stupid? Or were you drunk for 12 years?

Or is it all of the above?

Bush/Cheney '04: You're dumber than us!

- Blogged by Brad on 8/30/04 @ 1:05 pm PT
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Sunday, August 29th 2004

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN...

Thanks to the BRAD BLOG's three fine Guest Bloggers, Johnhp, Jaime and Bryan for keeping things lively around here for the last few weeks when I've been galavanting about the beautiful Pacific Northwest!

Thanks also to the inventors of Wireless Internet access for making it easier than ever to stay in touch even while on the road and in the most remote places!

It may take a day or two to get back to speed, but with the Republicans trouncing on the graves of 3000 Americans in NYC for their political benefit, and another 1000 Americans dead in Iraq for no good reason, I imagine my conscience will get me back in action faster than my brain and body might like.

But hey, we've got a country (and world) to save now, eh? Thanks to all the BRAD BLOGGERS, even the confused and desperate Right Wingers for your support.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/29/04 @ 5:05 pm PT
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Great Americans of the Moment
Protest NYC Edition







- Blogged by Brad on 8/29/04 @ 4:54 pm PT
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Saturday, August 28th 2004

Register to Vote NOW!

If you're not already registered to vote where you live, click here to do so right away!

In some states, there's a 60 day advance deadline quickly coming up!

There is also a "Register to Vote Here" link on the right side of all BRAD BLOG pages to use any time! Get it done! Now!

- Blogged by Brad on 8/28/04 @ 11:23 am PT
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Swiftie Publisher: Anti-Kerry, Pro-White Supremacy
More of 'the company they keep'...

(Blogged by Brad on the road...)

No doubt you've already heard of Swiftie John O'Neill being hoisted on his own petard, on tape, in Nixon's oval office telling Tricky Dick that he was "in Cambodia". Such a thing was to have been impossible according to O'Neill in his own book of dirty tricks known as "Unfit for Command".

You've also heard that O'Neill claimed not to be a Republican, and not to have been involved in politics for 30 years. Both lies quickly illuminated to the contrary as it was revealed that O'Neill has given some $15,000 to Republican campaigns over the last decade, and worked for Nixon, Rehnquist and other "not Republicans" during that time.

As well, Guest Blogger Jaime was quick to report here on Co-Author Jerome Corsi's habit of referring to the Democratic Nominee for President as "John Fucking Commie Kerry", Hilary "the fat pig" Clinton and other "ragheads" on various internet hate sites like FreeRepublic.com.

The lies and dirty tricks of these guys go on and on.

So it's probably not a suprise to see a story such as "And Yet Another Anti-Kerry Swift Boat Vet Caught Lying" revealing yet another of the "Swifties for Truth" as being...um...less than truthful by having sworn to an affadavit which he now admits contains only information that relied "on the account of war buddies, not what he witnessed" and that he himself lied about an extra-marital affair with a colleague.

And now I've learned that Regenry, who published "Unfit for Command" after most reputable publishers turned it down, pushes a White Supremacy Agenda! Yet for some reason, I'm still not surprised:

The principals in the company publishing a anti-John Kerry book by the GOP-backed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have a long history of preaching and supporting white supremacy.

William Regnery II, heir to the Regnery publishing fortune, is moving into a new line of business: match-making for "heterosexual whites of Christian cultural heritage."

...the Caucasian dating service would be no ordinary money-making opportunity, but a chance to ensure "the survival of our race," which "depends upon our people marrying, reproducing and parenting."

Promoting white nationalism is nothing new for Regnery — or his family. His grandfather, William I, signed incorporation papers for the America First Committee, an organization that opposed fighting Nazi Germany in World War II. His father, Henry, created Regnery Publishing which, besides the anti-Kerry book, publishes right-wing screeds by Anne Coulter and G. Gordon Liddy.

William II has made his mark as a major fundraiser in radical right circles as the founder of the Charles Martel Society in 2001. The society publishes The Occidental Quarterly, an academic-looking journal filled with articles by white-supremacist luminaries such as Sam Francis, editor for the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens and Wayne Lutton of the hate group The Social Contract Press.

The society is putting together conferences, summer schools and a speaker's bureau — all designed to push Regnery's view that the white race is veering toward extinction.


And if Bush wins in November, who will he have to thank for that now that this book and those ads and this nonsense has finally helped turn around a few of his polls?

- Blogged by Brad on 8/28/04 @ 11:07 am PT
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Toons of the Moment

(Blogged by Brad from the road...though I'll be home soon!)





- Blogged by Brad on 8/28/04 @ 10:36 am PT
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Anyone Remember Abu Ghraib?
The Bushies Hope Note!

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

If you only listen to Talk Radio (and occassionally catch a snippet of Fox News), you'd think the fact that the Bush campaign has finally found their very own "Willie Horton" distraction (Swifties for Bush) is the only news worth reporting.

I've been away from newspapers and other sources of real news for a while, so imagine my surprise when I learned there actually were newsworthy items, that have to do with Americans today, but that seem to be getting little coverage from the Rightwing Extremist Media.

Thursday's USA Today was kind enough to summarize the latest report on the horrors of Abu Ghraib. You recall that place, right? The place where the America managed to create thousands of new terrorists?

It looks like at least 30 more Americans, above and beyond the 7 "bad apples", have now been implicated. And even Don Rumsfeld has been taken to task. And mind you, this is a report by the Army investigating itself. So you can imagine how horrific and far reaching the real story actually is.

I have a feeling this story, below the fold in Thursday's USA Today didn't get the coverage that it might have had only John Kerry not been such a dangerous, lying, evil, traitorous, Communist, America hater.

So, here's a few items from the report that actually matter and that you may have missed:

A long-awaited Army report released Wednesday implicates 27 members of a military intelligence unit in the alleged abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, well beyond the seven reservist military police already charged.

...

[O]fficials did say Col. Thomas Pappas, who was the commander of the 205th Intelligence Brigade, could face criminal action.

[Lead investigator, Gen. Paul] Kern said four officers “above the rank of colonel” face discipline for command failures at Abu Ghraib.

[T]he number of abuse incidents — they cited 44 cases — and types of abuse were greater than previously believed.

Among the incidents: Guards and interrogators competed with dog teams to see which could more quickly make naked teenage prisoners lose control of their bowels and bladders.

Military leaders, while “not directly responsible” for the abuses, bear responsibility, Lt. Gen. Anthony Jones said.

In addition to the abuse cases, Kern said investigators found eight cases in which prisoners were hidden from the International Red Cross, which monitored prison conditions. “We can't tell you why,” he said.

A sharply worded report issued Tuesday blamed top Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, for creating conditions that led to abuse at the prison.


Okay. Now go back to fighting over whether it was shrapnel or bullets that punctured the flesh of John Kerry 35 years ago while he volunteered to risk his life for our country.

Bush/Cheney '04: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/28/04 @ 10:34 am PT
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Recalled Toy of the Moment



(Blogged by Brad from Northern California...)

- Blogged by Brad on 8/28/04 @ 12:31 am PT
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Friday, August 27th 2004

Old failed policy...
Same dumb Bush

(NOTE: This item guest blogged by Jaime)

Knowing his support amongst Cuban Americans in the battleground state of Florida is slipping, George W. Bush went stumping in Miami today. Like a broken record, Mr. Bush accused John Kerry of flip flopping in his vote against the Helms-Burton law. Kerry had actually voted for two earlier versions of the bill and eventually voted against the final passage due to provisions he did not like in the final draft. Simple to understand. Something a Senator does all the time. But Mr. Bush wanted to highlight his point to his captive audience and added this nugget of insight:
'To clear things up, his campaign said that while he did vote against final passages, he had voted for it more earlier'

Seeing his numbers drop from 88 percent support to the mid sixties among Cuban-American voters in Florida, he pulled the old bait and switch by addressing not what the people are so upset about (travel and spending restrictions) but by aggressively attacking Kerry's Flip Flops. Besides failing English, Bush seemingly has failed history as his unwavering stance on the travel ban proves.

The embargo didn't work with Kennedy...or Johnson...or Nixon...or Ford...or Carter...or Reagan...or Daddy...or Clinton...or 3 years into Dubya's term. By heeding the advice of dusting himself off and getting back on the saddle, Bush's election year embargo frenzy is seemingly backfiring. The embargo has outlasted president after president. It never worked and it won't ever work.

What America, and the Cuban-American families, need is a more better policy that should have been enacted more earlier. One that overwhelms Cuba with capital not deprive it of State-side assistance. Unfortunately, in the Bush administration consistency trumps accuracy and the once solid dissident base in Florida will more likely vote no' on Bush rather than Si

- Blogged by Jaime on 8/27/04 @ 7:40 pm PT
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Your 'Daily Show' Does it Again

(Blogged by Brad from the road...)

Not sure if last night's show was a repeat or not, I've missed quite a few while being on the road, but the interview with Bill Clinton (following the one with John Kerry a few days before) was quite a coup for the basic cable, low rent comedy show.

None the less, The Daily Show continues to offer the best coverage of Election '04 available believe it or not. So it's little wonder that so many are now getting the bulk of their news from it, according to a Pew poll released last week.

Surely Daily Show viewers are at least as informed about what the hell is going out on out there as Fox News watchers. And undoubtedly, more so.

Last night, Stephen Colbert's interview with "The Democratic Party" was a stitch. My quick search of The Daily's website didn't turn up the video. So if anyone has a link to it, please post it in comments. (I believe the show will re-run today at 7pm, otherwise).

And while you're there, Rob Corddry's "Don't Mess With Texas" piece was also a hoot. I was able to find the video for that one. Enjoy!

- Blogged by Brad on 8/27/04 @ 12:31 pm PT
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More on 'OutFoxed'
...And the loss of the Public Airwaves.

(Blogged on the road by Brad...)

Blowing back in a southerly trajectory towards L.A., I came across a review of OutFoxed in the Eugene Weekly I picked up at the motel. I never got around to posting a full "review" of the excellent documentary here. Now that it's making the unheard of jump from DVD to Theater-Near-You, I oughta get around to it.

But not for the moment. Instead, a quick thought on Lois Wadsworth's review in the Weekly. She pegs Fox News' Carl Cameron as a "bootlicker" in regards to the ass-kissing he's overseen committing with Dubya on the "feed" prior to his "Fox News Exclusive" with Bush during the 2000 campaign (Cameron's wife worked for the Bush Campaign at the time, no conflict apparently for Fox's "Chief Political Correspondent").

This is not a pretty picture, but it is a cogent commentary on the state of Fox News. The "deregulation" of television began back in the Reagan administration, aided and abetted by Oregon's own bad-boy Republican Senator Bob Packwood. Prior to that time, news organizations were required to provide free, equal time to candidates to rebut the slanted messages candidates with money could buy. If this topic is ancient history to you, Google it. You may be surprised to learn the airwaves used to belong to the people.


Imagine that.

(Another, carbon-based way to learn more about the unravelling of real "fair and balance" on the people's airwaves is The Control Room : How Television Calls the Shots in Presidential Elections, a book by Martin Plissner. It's an excellent pre-2000 examination of the breakdown of the "equal time rules" on television, and how the structure of today's Presidential Elections in America are virtually 100% the product of the News Media.)

And, of course, you can still purchase the OutFoxed DVD for $9.95 online if the film is not playing near you. Or you'd just like to have a copy to pass around to those "Fox Fans" who may need a reality check.

One other point that I'd been meaning to discuss since watching the film, is the study they document showing that people who watch Fox News regularly are far less informed than those who get their news from other sources. The study shows that Fox News viewers get an inordinate amount of simple, fact-based questions -- like, "Was Saddam Hussein responsible for 9/11?" or "Did we find WMD in Iraq?" -- completely wrong.

That survey synchs up with one a few years back (I believe it was a Pew study, can't look it up from the road for now) showing that while Rush Limbaugh listeners thought they were the most informed, it turned out that they were instead amongst the least informed of those who followed current events.

Makes sense. At this point, to be a Bush supporter, one would have to be either uninformed or misinformed. And that's exactly what Fox News, Rush and Team Bush are all counting on.

- Blogged by Brad on 8/27/04 @ 11:48 am PT
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Wednesday, August 25th 2004

Toon of the Moment

- Blogged by Brad on 8/25/04 @ 9:52 pm PT
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Flip-Flopping on the 527's
And other Presidential Distractions...

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 Viet Nam, 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 on 8/25/04 @ 9:28 pm PT
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Good Wood
The Rain Forests of Washington state

(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 on 8/25/04 @ 9:22 pm PT
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