The BRAD BLOG

By David Edwards on 8/22/2005 4:51pm PT

Guest blogged by David Edwards

The American Research Group published the latest poll showing more bad news for President Bush.

George W. Bush's overall job approval ratings have dropped from a month ago even as Americans who approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president are turning more optimistic about their personal financial situations according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 36% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 33% approve and 62% disapprove.

Among Americans registered to vote, 38% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 56% disapprove, and 36% approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 60% disapprove.

This is the second month in a row when improving economic ratings have not been matched by higher job approval ratings for Bush. A total of 24% of Americans now say their personal financial situations are getting better, up from 17% in July, and 27% say they believe that their personal financial situations will be better off a year from now, which is up from 21% in July.

...
Overall, 36% of Americans say that they approve of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president, 58% disapprove, and 6% are undecided.

Bush job approval	Approve	Disapprove	Undecided

Aug 2005	36%	58%	6%
July 2005	42%	52%	6%
Jun 2005	42%	53%	5%
May 2005	43%	51%	6%
Apr 2005	44%	50%	6%
Mar 2005	47%	48%	5%
Feb 2005	49%	45%	6%
Jan 2005	51%	44%	5%
Dec 2004	50%	45%	5%
Nov 2004	51%	43%	6%
Oct 2004	45%	47%	8%
Sep 2004	45%	48%	7%
Aug 2004	43%	50%	7%

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OPEN THREAD for the BRAD SHOW of August 22

LIVE and RAW from CRAWFORD, Texas

Blog along with us if you please!

By Winter Patriot on 8/22/2005 9:52am PT

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

The BRAD SHOW returns, LIVE and RAW and coming to you direct from Crawford, Texas.

LISTEN LIVE via:The IBC Radio Network
or at WhiteRoseSociety (Option 1)
or WhiteRoseSociety (Option 2)

For more details, click here.

URGENT REMINDER: The BRAD SHOW is still supported primarily by listener donations ... and we still need more listeners and more contributors! So please pick up the phone, or send some e-mail, and tell a few friends about The BRAD SHOW. You (and they) will be glad you did.

LIVE OPEN THREAD BLOGGING below: click on the "comments" link at the bottom-right corner of this item to join in!

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THE BRAD SHOW LIVE FROM CAMP CASEY! {UPDATED!}

'Operation Noble Cause' Hits the Air at HIGH NOON in Crawford Texas!

Live Listening Links via www.BradShow.com!

By Brad Friedman on 8/22/2005 3:51am PT

It's 5:40am as I type this in Crawford, Texas. I've got radio interviews beginning in about an hour, and then I'll be heading back to Camp Casey for our first LIVE BRAD SHOW via RAW RADIO from on the ground in the center of the action!

Come hell or high water, after driving all the way across the country, we hope to get on the air! (My money is on "hell" but either way...)

Join us for this historic simulcast on several different radio networks! Find out how I do a LIVE show from the middle of nowhere with no sleep! Even as I find out!

Spread the word! And yes...we still very much need your DONATIONS to pull off this radio miracle!

I'll try to explain how it all came to this once we're on the show. If you like your radio RAW, don't miss this very first daily BRADcast from deep in the heart of Texas! CLICK HERE FOR LIVE LISTENING LINKS!

LATE UPDATE: We are very happy to announce that JOAN BAEZ will be a guest on today's historic BRAD SHOW. Don't miss it!!

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Huffington defends Sheehan to Howard Kurtz on CNN

By David Edwards on 8/21/2005 2:10pm PT

Guest blogged by David Edwards

The host of CNN's Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz, interviewed Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post this morning. Kurtz questioned Huffington on articles she has recently written on Cindy Sheehan, Judith Miller and the coverage of the Iraq war...

KURTZ: Let me just ask the question and then you can respond.

You said that some people on the right are sliming Cindy Sheehan, your word, and you say that Bill O'Reilly said that this kind of behavior borders on treasonous. But in that particular case what he said was, quote, "Other American families who have lost sons and daughters in Iraq feel that this kind of behavior borders on treasonous." So do you owe O'Reilly an apology on that point?

HUFFINGTON: No, absolutely not.

Listen, words like treasonous being used by O'Reilly, words like crackpot being used by Fred Barnes, Michelle Malkin trying to tell us what she believes Casey Sheehan would have thought about his mother --- you know, all that is completely inappropriate.

But more important than that, let me raise a point which has to do with the scrutinizing of her comments. I mean, if 10 percent of that kind of scrutiny was given to comments made by people who are actually making life and death decisions in this country, like Dick Cheney's "last throes" statement about the insurgency, like Condoleezza Rice's statement about the mushroom clouds, like "mission accomplished," all the ludicrous statements made by...

KURTZ: Hold on, hold on.

You're saying that the journalists in this country are giving far more scrutiny to Cindy Sheehan than to the vice president of the United States and the secretary of state, really?

HUFFINGTON: When it comes to ludicrous statements like the last throes, the insurgency being in its last throes, the statement that journalists should be scrutinizing every day, because it shows a massive disconnect between the reality in Iraq and the vice president of the United States.

Rice's statement about the imminent mushroom cloud before we invaded Iraq should be scrutinized every day as an example of how this woman and this administration misled this country to war.

These are incredibly significant statements that should be scrutinized instead of the statements that Cindy Sheehan, who does not claim to be a foreign policy expert, or who does not have any power to send people to war, has made over the last year.

Here is a video of the entire exchange between Huffington and Kurtz. (streaming Windows media)

A transcript is also available from CNN.

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A Warning to Traitors: Fitzgerald pursues 'man at the top'

By David Edwards on 8/21/2005 11:10am PT

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Special prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, is investigating the outing CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. Suspicions have been solidly cast upon Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. There is no doubt that the crime wasn't committed alone or without the help of others.

An article published today in the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, suggests that Patrick Fitzgerald's instincts are to root out corruption at the highest levels:

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has prosecuted mobsters, terrorists and even journalists. He has investigated and charged state and city officials in this notoriously crooked state with pit bull tenacity.

And always, he has methodically, inexorably pursued his investigations to target the man at the top of the organizational pyramid.
...
The 6-foot, 2-inch, 215-pound former rugby player is considered one of the most aggressive and uncompromising prosecutors in the country.
...
He won the high-profile job in Chicago when Illinois' maverick senator, Peter Fitzgerald, (no relation) recommended him to the White House as someone who would be "untouchable" --- a modern-day Elliot Ness --- by the political power brokers in the state.
...
People who have watched Mr. Fitzgerald operate in Chicago, and before that as assistant U.S. Attorney in New York City, are not surprised by his zeal in pursuing the journalists. But don't expect him to stop there.

That's how he operates: Apply maximum pressure to reluctant witnesses in order to build an air-tight case against the most senior member of a criminal conspiracy.
...
Cindy Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said Mr. Fitzgerald has "stepped up the pace of prosecutions tremendously" since taking the job in September, 2001.

"You get the sense that there are absolutely no sacred cows with him. He aims straight for the top."

Take a look at this August 8th video clip from PBS NewsHour for more background on Patrick Fitzgerald. (Windows Media format)

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UPDATE ON BRAD SHOW'S "OPERATION NOBLE CAUSE"...

By Brad Friedman on 8/21/2005 8:59am PT

We've finally made it to Texas! We hope to roll into Crawford at some point this afternoon!

If all goes well (and why would it?) we'll be up and on the air with a Special DAILY Edition of The BRAD SHOW on the ground LIVE at High Noon in Crawford (1p ET, 12p CT, 11a CT, 10a PT) each day for the duration!

We've still got many mountains to climb as we've been trying to make the whole thing happen even as we've been barreling across the country by car. Pulling this off will be a Radio Miracle...but it's time for a miracle or two!

We hope to be simulcasting these special LIVE broadcasts over several networks. Details on all of that to come as things come together (if they continue to come together!)...Stay tuned here and at www.BradShow.com for more info as soon as we can get it to ya!

And thanks for ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO HELP PAY FOR THIS EFFORT to try and make this necessary national discussion possible! The discussion we should have had in this country three years and thousands of dead bodies ago! (If you'd like to sponsor or advertise on this broadcast in some way, please contact our producer Kat ASAP!)

See this previous post for details of how we decided to interrupt our previously planned vacation to try and make this all possible!

Thanks to the BRAD BLOG Guest Bloggers for allowing me the time to pull all of this off! As well to indefatigable BRAD SHOW Producer, the infamous Kat L'Estrange for the various miracles she's already made happen, along with dozens of folks who have jumped in to try and help as well! More on all of them, and much more on all of this soon...

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Video of the Moment...

HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher kicks off new season

By David Edwards on 8/20/2005 12:45pm PT

Guest blogged by David Edwards

HBO premiered the new season of Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday night. We are pleased to share this video clip with some highlights from the show.

Some of our favorite parts were Bill's jokes about Bush's reading habits, an interview with Paul Hackett, a hilarious rant about the debate over 'intelligent design' and, of course, Bill Maher's monologue. Chris Rock managed to squeeze in a few funny lines too.

Streaming video in Windows Media format

Streaming video in Real Media format

Streaming video for dial-up

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The BRAD SHOW's Re-Brad-Cast Plans for the Weekend

We Have A GREAT Show On Tap --- If The Network Plays Our Cards Right!

By Winter Patriot on 8/20/2005 12:16pm PT

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

A great old BRAD SHOW is almost ready to hit the airwaves. Again. It was broadcast LIVE two weels ago, had a great lineup and was fantastic show. And if the folks at the network pull up the right files, you can hear it again via the Web! Saturday from 7p-11p ET (4p-8p PT) and Sunday 12noon-4p ET (9a-1p PT)

Here's the guest list:

Rep. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY (D-GA) on Diebold in Georgia and the need for Election Reform (and on her 9/11 Forum!)

SAM WALKER of the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma,
Alabama with an eyewitness account of Bloody Sunday.

KEENAN KELLER Special Counsel to Conyers' & the House Judiciary Comm. on the Voting Rights Act & SCOTUS Nominee John Roberts' opposition to it.

An Exclusive Account of what led to the Voting Rights Act in 1965 from civil rights icon Rep. JOHN LEWIS (D-GA) who was beaten on Bloody Sunday and then marched next to Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery.

PLUS! If the Radio & Democracy Gods are with us...

Rev. JESSE JACKSON calling in LIVE from the Rainbow/PUSH Rally in Atlanta! and...

Rep. RUSH HOLT (D-NJ) on his Election Reform Bill!

Also...

A LIVE report from BRAD BLOG reader, KIRA, just home from the Rainbow/PUSH March & Rally (August 6th) in Atlanta! "March like your rights depended on it!"

It's free speech at its best, but it's not free! Brad pays for the studio rental --- out of his own pocket --- at $500 per week! He doesn't need to rent a studio this weekend but he still needs donations, so please donate here to help defray costs! Every little bit helps, friends.

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Wise Man Crushes Vicious Lie

Robert Parry Explains Why The Old 'We Need To Stay In Iraq' Ploy Is Bogus

By Winter Patriot on 8/19/2005 11:40pm PT

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

It's always an extreme pleasure --- and a severe challenge --- to post an item based on a column by Robert Parry. His excellent piece of August 17, 2005, is called Iraq & the Logic of Withdrawal. It's compelling reading, and it should be mandatory for all who say "we have to stay in Iraq until the Iraqis can provide their own security".

Washington's conventional wisdom on the Iraq War is roughly divided into two camps: those who still think George W. Bush's invasion was a good idea and want to “stay the course” – and those who opposed Bush on going to war but now say “we must get it right.”

I am not in either camp, as regular readers of this space probably know. And I've been saying at every opportunity. So it's good to see that a very wise observer agrees with me. His take on the issue is a bit different than mine, but we reach the same conclusions. I find that comforting. It's like a math problem --- when you've solved it, you go back and check your work by doing the same problem in a different way. If you get the same answer the second time, you can be fairly sure that your answer is correct.

Both sides – representing nearly the entire political spectrum in Washington – rule out a prompt U.S. military withdrawal because that supposedly would turn Iraq into a “failed state” and a “breeding ground for Islamic terrorism.” Therefore, the thinking goes, U.S. troops must remain while Iraq builds a democracy that can stop the extremists.

But there is a case to be made for U.S. withdrawal as the best option for both resolving the conflict and neutralizing the foreign Islamic extremists in Iraq. A corollary of this thinking holds that the continued U.S. military presence does more harm than good.

More harm than good to Iraq? Or to the USA? I would say "both!"

The logic of withdrawal goes like this:

First, a distinction must be made between the Sunni-led insurgency, which is fighting out of a sense of Iraqi nationalism and to protect the Sunni minority's interests in Iraq, and the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network of Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It is engaged in a jihad to drive Americans and other Westerners out of the Middle East.

While the interests of the Sunni-led insurgency and the Zarqawi-led terrorists may overlap under the present circumstances, that is primarily because an American force of 138,000 troops remains inside Iraq.

And the rest of the column goes like this.

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Comcast Customer Service! Better Than Ever!

By Winter Patriot on 8/19/2005 11:03pm PT

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Speaking of Comcast...

LaChania Govan said she got bounced around by her cable company when she called to complain. She made dozens of calls and was even transferred to a person who spoke Spanish, a language she doesn't understand.

But when she got her August bill from Comcast she had no trouble understanding she'd made somebody mad. It was addressed to "Bitch Dog."

AP has more on that, and someone by the name of "Jeffery Scrotum Bag Barnes"...

(Hat tip to BRAD BLOG Emailer GGilpatrick)

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Report: AOL Blocking Emails From USCountVotes

Is The Pro-Democracy Movement Under Attack From AOL?

By Winter Patriot on 8/19/2005 5:43pm PT

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Hot on the heels of a recent item about Comcast [and other ISPs] blocking email containing the address of Cindy Sheehan's website, I have received a report from US Count Votes saying that that they are no longer able to reach AOL customers via email.

UPDATE: Since this item has been posted I have received more specific information. The email that is being blocked comes from the Announcements List at US Count Votes, a.k.a. election@uscountvotes.org. According to our source,

AOL blocked it once and an AOL customer got it unblocked but then it was blocked again very shortly and has stayed blocked.

AOL technical support could easily look at any email from our announcements list to see that it is a legitimate list that tells how to unsubscribe from it at the bottom of every email from our list, so there is no excuse for blocking it, even once.

If this report is true, then it should not be too hard to fix. I can think of a few useful things you might consider doing.

Fast Symptomatic Relief:
If you are an AOL subscriber, you want to set up an additional email account. Hotmail and gmail come to mind; both are free and both allow you to access your account easily from any browser. No doubt there are other options, perhaps better options. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment for us below. Once you have your account set up, you can visit US Count Votes and ask to have your new address added to their mailing list.

Treating The Cause Rather Than The Symptoms:
Then there's the tried and tested method: Make Some Noise. We've already seen the sort of impact 6 or 7 people can make. If you are an AOL user, and if you are on the US Count Votes mailing list, and if you haven't heard from US Count Votes in a while, then AOL definitely needs to hear from you. As always, please remember to be polite; nobody wants to help an abusive caller. But please also be firm and persistent: we all know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I regret that I haven't more time to spend investigating this issue. Please use the comments thread below to post any relevant information you happen to have. I will update this post with AOL contact info as soon as I can find some. It you have such info and wish to share it, please do so via the comments, or send me e-mail here: wp112263 at hotmail dot com.

Ah, the old 6-or-7 routine! Thanks to you, the blogosphere is working ... for all of us.

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RIGHT-WING PANDERER OF THE MOMENT

HEART SURGEON RENOUNCES SCIENCE FOR VOTES

BACKS 'INTELLIGENT DESIGN' IN CLASSROOMS

By Jaime on 8/19/2005 4:29pm PT

Guest blogged by jaime

Cat Killer. Flip-Flopper. Transparent panderer.
And now... convenient Creationist

Congratulations, Senator Frist...You're an A-1 jack-ass!

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Camp Casey Begins Move, Protestors Vow to Continue

Prayer vigil scheduled for this afteroon

By David Edwards on 8/19/2005 12:34pm PT

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Brad is on the way to Camp Casey in Crawford to amplify the voices of the anti-war movement and provide us with extended daily broadcasts of The BRAD SHOW. We need your donations to make this mission successful so, please, take a moment and donate what you can.

In the meantime, there is more news coming out of Crawford than we can keep up with. Cindy has had to return to California to tend to her mother who had a stroke. The protestors have vowed to increase their numbers and continue calling for President Bush to answer Cindy's questions.

Protestors marched to the Bush ~~1600 acre palatial estate~~ ranch to deliver letters to the First Lady. Emily Sharpe of Crawford Update reports...

This afternoon, over 100 of us marched three miles from Camp Casey to the gate of President Bush's ranch in 90 degree heat, all to deliver hundreds of letters written by women to Laura Bush. Our marching group ranged from infants to octogenarians, and was led by some really gutsy moms.

...
As we walked along singing "This Land is Our Land" and "God Bless America," we couldn't fathom that we were about to do what no one had done before: march up the entrance of the President's ranch, special delivery in hand, without shots being fired. But we definitely did not expect what was there waiting for us... emerging from behind the beefy Secret Service agents was a Bush staffer ready to personally accept our letters to the First Lady!

(Be sure to click the following link to view all of the Camp Casey updates!)

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---

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NY Times Tells The Truth! --- Three Times In Three Days!!

And The Readers Are Loving It!

All On The Editorial Page, Of Course --- But We'll Take It Anyway

By Winter Patriot on 8/19/2005 12:15pm PT

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Regular readers of this space will recall that The BRAD BLOG is not a big fan of way the New York Times "covers" the news. But regular readers also know that we do our best to be fair, and to give credit where it's due. Therefore it behooves me to point out three excellent columns in recent editions of the NYT, and to report that two of them are at the top of the NYT's list of "most e-mailed stories".

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---

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BOB KOEHLER: 'Hiding from Cindy'

Columnist Asks: 'Will you look her in the eye?'

Good question, Bob!

By Winter Patriot on 8/19/2005 8:43am PT

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Sometimes this job is too easy. What to read? What to post? Some of these questions answer themselves. For instance, if it's Friday morning, then it must be time to visit Common Wonders and have a look at Bob Koehler's newest column. It starts this way:

My guess is that the Army's new $350 million recruitment-ad blitz targeting parents will not feature any footage of Cindy Sheehan camped in a ditch five miles outside of Crawford, Texas, waiting patiently for the vacationing president to talk to her.

Nor, I suspect, will “Arlington West,” the makeshift cemetery containing more than 1,800 crosses spread out along the road to the Bush ranch, be part of the slick, insidious hype the Leo Burnett agency is hoping will soften the fearful grip American parents have on their teenagers these days, only one in four of whom wants his or her kid to enlist.

Slick and insidious is right, Bob. Slick like oil on the water. And "insidious" is a perfect word to describe the practice of spending $350 million of our money to lure our kids into a raging man-made disaster. Well, maybe there are some other words. And maybe it's not even our money. It's our kids' money, or our grandkids. Some day the bill for all this insanity is going to come due. And even if the current crop of White House madmen are not around to pay it, somebody is going to have to pay. Guess who? Who always pays? But I digress.

The entire column is worth a read --- as always --- one passage is worthy of particular attention. Koehler quotes the famous line, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori", as many writers have done in the past. Refreshingly, rather than assuming that all readers know what it means and where it comes from, he provides not only a translation but also a context.

In one commercial, for instance, a boy clinches a conversation with his skeptical mom about enlisting so he can have a way to pay for college by saying, “And besides, it's time for me to be a man.”

What brilliant (and shameless) manipulation of human psychology — as though the Army's raison d'etre is the personal growth of young people. Yes, boys have to grow into men, and rites of passage are crucial for this, but the admen and the Army are hawking a cynical lie. Almost 90 years ago, poet Wilfred Owen, who died in World War I, captured the essence of that lie in his extraordinary poem “Dulce et Decorum Est.” (The last line, translated from the Latin, means, “It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.”)

“If you could hear,” Owen writes, describing the death of a fellow soldier in a gas attack, “at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, —
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.”

Thanks again to Bob Koehler, whose care-packages of truth and sanity are always welcome after another week of craziness and vicious lies. Here's the permanent link to this week's column: Hiding from Cindy: The world is watching, George — will you look her in the eye?.

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