From the Post editorial page.

Yet it is also possible to imagine elections so flawed that they would not have the hoped-for effect of sapping legitimacy from an insurgency that appears to be gaining ground.

All of the thought of the republicans can be reduced to this statement by Lyin' Dan Bartlett, a man who has never met a falsehood he would not happily support to further the fascist takeover of America:

"'I'm sure some of the best zingers he's given have been out there with a fishing pole in his hands,' Mr. Bartlett said of Mr. Bush's private preparation.

I understand real estate in New Zealand is still pretty reasonable.

Tony Blair, aka "The 1600 Crew Attack Poodle" was heckled today during an address to his own party. In an imitation of his master, he skirted a direct apology about being well you know, wrong about WMD's...instead falling back on the hackneyed "Evil Man" talking point.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, skirting a direct apology, acknowledged to his Labour Party Tuesday that intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq was wrong, but insisted the world was safer with Saddam Hussein in prison.
...
"And the problem is, I can apologize for the information that turned out to be wrong, but I can't, sincerely at least, apologize for removing Saddam. The world is a better place with Saddam in prison not in power."
...
Blair said he knew some thought he was "just pandering to George Bush and what's more, in a cause that's irrelevant to us."

As for irrelevancy, we're about a month away from deciding that. How long will the Poodle be around before being electorally euthanized by the British voters once Cap'n Cokespoon is gone? Once one is gone, the other truly becomes irrelevant, and we know who the first to get tossed will be...Mr. Dime Bag himself.

Since they are going to Courts-Martial PFC England, can't we have Preznit Lucky Sperm and Rummy join her in the dock?

Pfc. Lynndie England will be court-martialed in January on charges stemming from the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, the Army announced Monday.

This is what the future Iraq will probably look like when President Nguyen Van Thieu Illawi has his first "elections" as a bought and paid for representative of CheneyBurton:

For this trip, Karzai flew from Kabul, first in a U.S. military C-130 Hercules plane and then in a Chinook helicopter. A bus and several SUVs picked up Karzai and his entourage and drove them to the road opening. The new road, about 34 miles long, will connect Shiberghan and Sar-i-Pul. Roads such as this are a major achievement in Afghanistan, where 23 years of war turned most roads into ruts.

Remember, Preznit Twins and War has said that we are on our way to more catastrophic success in BaghdadLand. Why just today in the Volkischer Beobachter Washington Post comes a story of the Fabulous recruitment drives going on to help fill those 100,000 police spots that Fearless Leader already assured us in the Rose Garden with Rose Colored Glasses were ummm...filled. Now, he'd never lie right? Seems that according to the Post recruiting is just phenomenal over down by the Old Maelstrom*.

Sabah Kadim, a spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, said that despite the attacks, young Iraqis continue to apply at a furious rate.

"Word spreads through the community; you don't need any publicity at all," Kadim said. "If we want 100 in an area, 3,000 show up. This is the amazing thing: Without any recruitment drive at all, the numbers are not only doubling but tripling."

Jabri said the phenomenon is easily explained: "Everyone wants jobs, and there really are no jobs but the police."

The United States military has arrested the head of the Iraqi National Guard in the city of Baquba on suspicion of collaborating with insurgents.

Lieutenant General Talib al-Lahibi headed the Iraqi National Guard in the violent Diyala province and commanded three battalions before being arrested on Thursday.

"Lahibi was detained by multinational forces [on] September 23 for having associations with known insurgents," the US military said in a statement.

Or is it Pimp My Pol? I'm never quite sure. The latest polling numbers from the Post/ABC down-lo media whores is showing Preznit Wet Spot with a six-point lead over John Kerry. Of course, one has to wonder if they are actually sampling or are they oversampling a la Gallup?

Bush currently receives 51 percent among likely voters while Kerry gets 45 percent and independent Ralph Nader receives 1 percent. Among all registered voters, Bush holds a seven-point advantage.
...
Kerry continues to be viewed unfavorably by a plurality of voters. Fewer than four in 10 voters -- 37 percent -- say they have a positive impression of him, while 42 percent have an unfavorable impression of him. That finding suggests more people intend to vote for him than personally like him and highlights the fact that Kerry continues to be buoyed by a strong anti-Bush vote despite broad reservations about him.

The Post says that Kerry has to do well in the first debate to get Preznit Snowflake on the ropes. The expectations set for him are so low that the punditry will be handing him a "victory" within minutes fo the end of the debate broadcast if he merely shakes Kerry's hand and avoids falling off the stage while doing it. Preznit Barely Intelligible will get bonus points if he does not mispronounce 'nuclear' more than once. Asshats.

Top form for the Duchess today...he's now pushing the "loud-mouthed Chick" philosophy (aka "Hitlery" meme) about Teresa Heinz Kerry...because she has her own life, does not live eternally in John Kerry's shadow and has the means and desire to be independant, why (no stereotyping here, Tinkerbell...)

She really is an embarrassment: a stereotype of the arrogant, mega-rich liberal, ...

I really like the part where her majesty speaks for the women of the heartland.

...where women are no longer as Democratic as they once were. Women look at Kerry's marriage and do not relate.

Ah, speaking for the women of the "heartland". Whatta gal.

Oh, and forgive me, before she was a "liberal" she was a Republican. How do you like them Apples, fool?

Sorry for the sporadic postings lately...been working some weird hours on a project, and it's required the "early to bed, etc..." philosophy. Hopefully by the middle of next week, it'll be done and I'll be back to my usual schedule of ranting...after all, I'm proud to be "Worse than Indymedia off their meds" as one wingnut called me...I miss not getting to slap the r's around on a regular basis and have actually had to resort to watching TV. Now I remember why Tweetie disgusts me.

They'll do anything, say anything to hold on to power. It is, the end all and be all of their tiny, perverse universe.

President Bush and leading Republicans are increasingly charging that Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry and others in his party are giving comfort to terrorists and undermining the war in Iraq -- a line of attack that tests the conventional bounds of political rhetoric.

Appearing in the Rose Garden yesterday with Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, Bush said Kerry's statements about Iraq "can embolden an enemy." After Kerry criticized Allawi's speech to Congress, Vice President Cheney tore into the Democratic nominee, calling him "destructive" to the effort in Iraq and the struggle against terrorism.
...
On Saturday, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.) said at a GOP fundraiser: "I don't have data or intelligence to tell me one thing or another, [but] I would think they would be more apt to go [for] somebody who would file a lawsuit with the World Court or something rather than respond with troops." Asked whether he believed al Qaeda would be more successful under a Kerry presidency, Hastert said: "That's my opinion, yes."

I guess that if there were to be an internet movement to send cards, letters and faxes to the fat little shit reminding him that He Who Shall Not Be Named, brother to Bush Bidness Rescuer bin Forgotten is still out there because of the incompetance of republicans, well that would be a 'bad' thing? I guess that such a campaign would mean the Terra™-ists had won, right? Well, maybe only by the low standards of republican incompetance....

I more than understand the intent here. After spending most of the 80s going in and out of the Philippines (the "PI"), it's pretty obvious (to me, anyhow) what the relationship between the oldest profession and the military is. And it's heartbreaking in many, many cases. Women who have little to nothing coming to sell themselves and sometimes even their children into sexual servitude, it's pretty awful on a scale that the average person can not even begin to imagine. But making what is human nature a courts-martial offense, will really do nothing to end a relationship that's as old as recorded history. It will ultimately cause more problems than it solves, and give an opportunity for another double standard to be enforced in the military justice system...some will be prosecuted, others persecuted and many will just walk away.

U.S. service members stationed overseas could face a court-martial for patronizing prostitutes under a new regulation drafted by the Pentagon.

The move is part of a Defense Department effort to reduce the possibility that service members will contribute to human trafficking in areas near their overseas bases by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution.
...
If approved, the amendment would make it a military offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to have contact with a prostitute, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, an Abell spokeswoman, said later. The draft rule is open to 60 days of public comment after being published in the Federal Register, she said.
...
Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, commander of the 37,000 U.S. service members in South Korea, said another initiative started on the peninsula has been to "make on-base military life a more desirable experience, and attempt to diminish the seductive appeal of many of the less wholesome off-duty pursuits."

That effort includes offering expanded evening and weekend education programs, band concerts, late-night sports leagues and more chaplain activities. emphasis added

So, while I'm certainly not condoning trafficking in human beings for the gratification of the troops, I'm also pretty strongly against criminalizing human nature. There seems to be some talk in all this for "education", which is an attempt to sugar coat this. Once the rules are in place, money and manpower for those efforts will be deemed 'too costly' or infeasible, since DoD will need some new Flash Gordon weapons system, and education efforts will be defunded, since after all, finding a hooker is illegal, right?

I applaud the spirit, but certainly not the implementation...this one might just be a disaster.

Even if the House "Alleged" Ethics committee does nothing to The Bug Man, it looks like there's always hope in Texas. Following the indictments of several of his key supporters/aides, there's always the hope that one (or more) of them may decide that loyalty only extends so far, and give up Delay, without...delay.

Three top political aides to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) were indicted Tuesday on charges of illegally raising political funds from corporations in 2002, much of which was funneled into the Republican takeover of the Texas legislature.

Corporate contributions to state legislative candidates are illegal in Texas. A Travis County grand jury indicted DeLay political aide Jim Ellis, fundraiser Warren RoBold and John Colyandro, the executive director of DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, known as TRMPAC. Eight corporations also were indicted for illegal political contributions.
...
Since 1905, Texas law has prohibited the giving or receiving of political contributions from corporations and labor unions to candidates.

I was googling today for some other information and came across this editorial written just before the outbreak of hostilities last year. I'm sure that the author probably was at the least the subject of some hatemail...hopefully, that was it.

If Americans think it is going to be easy to bring democracy and social change to Iraq following Saddam Hussein's ouster, it might pay to take a lesson from Vietnam, where I served as a war correspondent in the 1960s. There, American foreign and military policy were dedicated to fundamental reform of an economy and society.

The Bush administration believes, as the Kennedy administration did in 1961, that through the energetic application of American ideals, a society can be transformed to provide an example to an entire region. It was called "nation-building behind a military shield."

South Vietnam's people would have to be won over "village by village, hut by hut, by social and political means," according to the late Robert Komer, who was in charge of America's failed pacification efforts.
...
The administration would do well to ask the Israelis in Nablus, Ramallah and Gaza about pacifying the Middle East. The Kennedy administration thought the light at the end of the tunnel would be in two years and cost $50 billion. It cost $494 billion in direct spending and an incalculable amount in indirect costs.

President Lyndon Johnson's attempt to provide American society with both guns and butter -- refusing to raise taxes to pay for the war -- engendered an inflationary cycle that lasted for a generation. The Bush administration today is asking for additional tax cuts at a time when its planners think the Iraqi occupation would last two years and cost $50 billion to $60 billion. Obviously, the situations are not parallel.

There is little doubt that Saddam should go and that the vast majority of Iraq's population would like to throw him out. But Americans, beware. This may not be easy. It could take untold amounts of money and time, and, if Vietnam is any gauge, its chances of success are not assured.

Then I found what I was looking for, a cite of the phrase "Light at the end of the Tunnel" and here's another interesting tidbit:

In November of 1967, the Administration launched an extensive "public relations" campaign. It was designed to convince Congress, the press, and the public that there was "progress" in Vietnam and that the war was being "won." Johnson was advised to "[E]mphasize light at the end of the tunnel instead of battles, deaths, and danger." "There are ways," Johnson was told, "of guiding the press to show light at the end of the tunnel" (quoted in Larry Berman, Lyndon Johnson's War, p. 98 and 99). To head this effort, Johnson brought General William Westmoreland, commander of American forces in Vietnam, to Washington. Westmoreland addressed the National Press Club saying that the U.S. had reached the point "where the end comes into view" (Berman, p.116).

When the Neocons so disgracefully let Gen. Shinseki go off to what they assumed was an ignominious retirement right before their anticipated glory-covered march into Iraq and the hearts of all Iraqis (except the evil man and his evil troll-like henchmen), little did they know that he was a four-star general and a leader for some reason or another. I guess they thought the Army just naturally promoted knotheads for no reason to the top spot.

Now, out of South Carolina comes a story that's being given the best possible spin by someone in the National Guard chain of command. Despite the comments by the Battalion Commander and his top enlisted man, I don't think that morale and readiness are at their peak...you don't lock down and punish soldiers who are really behaving themselves. Unless of course you're Captain Queeg.

The 635 soldiers of a battalion of the South Carolina National Guard scheduled to depart Sunday for a year or more in Iraq have spent their off-duty hours under a disciplinary lockdown in their barracks for the past two weeks.

The trouble began Labor Day weekend, when 13 members of the 1st Battalion of the 178th Field Artillery Regiment went AWOL, mainly to see their families again before shipping out. Then there was an ugly confrontation between members of the battalion's Alpha and Charlie batteries -- the term artillery units use instead of "companies" -- that threatened to turn into a brawl involving three dozen soldiers, and required the base police to intervene.

That prompted a barracks inspection that uncovered alcohol, resulting in the lockdown that kept soldiers in their rooms except for drills, barred even from stepping outside for a smoke, a restriction that continued with some exceptions until Sunday's scheduled deployment.
...
This Guard unit was put on an accelerated training schedule -- giving the soldiers about 36 hours of leave over the past two months -- because the Army needs to get fresh troops to Iraq, and there are not enough active-duty or "regular" troops to go around. ...
...
A series of high-level decisions at the Pentagon has come together to make life tough for soldiers and commanders in this battalion and others. The decisions include the Bush administration's reluctance to sharply increase the size of the U.S. Army. Instead, the Pentagon is relying on the National Guard and Reserves, which provide 40 percent of the 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
...
McCarty, the commander, disagrees with those assessments. Overall, he said, the unit's morale is not poor. "The soldiers all have their issues to deal with, and some have dealt with it better than others," he said in an interview in his temporary office.
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Sgt. Maj. Clarence Gamble, who as the top noncommissioned officer for the battalion keeps a close eye on morale and discipline, said he does not see any big problems. "I get out and see troops every day," he said. "From my talking to the troops, morale is good right now."
...
Gamble, who at age 51 is a 33-year veteran of the Guard, said he is not worried about putting an already stressed unit into the cauldron of Iraq duty. "I haven't ever been deployed before, myself," he said. But, he concluded, "I feel like this unit will handle this well. Once we get in-country and get into missions, I think the stress will level off."

Imagine, alcohol in the barracks of some troopers about to deploy to Iraq. There's a crime worthy of punishing every one. Maybe someone ought to tell the good LCOL that when he makes statements like this:

"The soldiers all have their issues to deal with, and some have dealt with it better than others,"

The Duchess does math. Again. When Andrew does numbers, the only thing he ever manages to print are the numbers 9 and 11 and somehow bring them to bear on anything that he writes about Iraq. Hell, Andrew that talking point is past being discredited. The only ones still using it are your Hero, Crashcart and McMellon. Oh, and Andrew, despite all that fancy edumacation here are two definitions of two disparate terms.

Main Entry: in·va·sion
Pronunciation: in-'vA-zh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English invasioune, from Middle French invasion, from Late Latin invasion-, invasio, from Latin invadere to invade
1 : an act of invading; especially : incursion of an army for conquest or plunder
2 : the incoming or spread of something usually hurtful

Main Entry: lib·er·a·tion
Pronunciation: "li-b&-'rA-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : the act of liberating : the state of being liberated
2 : a movement seeking equal rights and status for a group

Perhaps you're beginning to see that an invasion is not always a liberation. Or in your case, maybe not.

This is what I've been waiting for...John Kerry taking on Preznit Bunnypants straight on. Talking like this,

Citing a new classified intelligence report predicting serious troubles ahead for Iraq, John F. Kerry yesterday accused President Bush of living in a "fantasy world of spin" and refusing to speak honestly about mounting casualties, indiscriminate killings and chaos in Iraq. "Stability and security seem further and further away," Kerry said.

But, for the most part, spending time on the trail with Bush is like being transported to a parallel universe. The only music is Christian rock and country tunes about plain-talking everymen. The only people who ask the president questions are his most feverish supporters, never the press. In this alternate universe, Iraq and Afghanistan are marching effortlessly toward democracy.

If Preznit Can't B. Bothered is living in that parallel universe, I'd encourage him to stay there...where everything is hunky-dory and no one ever heard of .... dissent. On November 3rd, I'll encourage him to take his criminal enterprise and return to the Faux Ranch in Crawford, where he can run for dog-catcher, if they'll vote for him.

When David Kay left as the Weapons Inspection Kahuna, Preznit Dime Bag hired some guy named Charles Duelfer...I remember because it sounded like he was calling him Doo-fer everytime he talked about him. Anyway, ol' Chucky is about ready to release his final report on the Bad Man's Aresnal of Imminent Destruction. Guess what? Some day Saddam was gonna...which sort of goes to the old "woulda, shoulda, coulda" thing, I think.

Drafts of a report from the top U.S. inspector in Iraq conclude there were no weapons stockpiles, but say there are signs the fallen Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had dormant programs he hoped to revive at a later time, according to people familiar with the findings.
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Duelfer also says Iraq only had small research and development programs for chemical and biological weapons.
...
After a year and a half in Iraq, however, the United States has found no weapons of mass destruction — its chief argument for overthrowing the regime.

A bad idea whose time should never come.

A proposal to scrap the federal income tax and replace it with a national sales tax has received renewed attention after President Bush last month called it “an interesting idea that we ought to explore seriously.” Republican leaders in the House including Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay have endorsed a sales tax bill that would do nothing less than transform the nation’s consumer economy.

Bush has made a campaign priority out of retaining the current marginal tax rates and making them permanent. And he has proposed a series of tax changes under the banner of an “ownership society” that would continue a movement away from taxing income derived from investments such as dividends and capital gains.

The Bush administration efforts have been incremental, but they add up to progress toward a long-cherished dream of some conservative tax activists toward a tax on consumption rather than income. They argue that income taxes are highly inefficient, expensive to collect, and distort economic activity through the many subsidies and exemptions in the massive U.S. tax code.

Preznit Coke Lines is pretty much a religious fanatic. No matter how much the GOoPers try and paint his religious views as "moderate"...when someone in a position of authority spends his days getting advice from his personal Kozmik Muffin on minor things like War, fanatic is about the only handle that fits.

George W. Bush is among the most openly religious presidents in U.S. history. A daily Bible reader, he often talks about how Jesus changed his heart. He has spoken, publicly and privately, of hearing God's call to run for the presidency and of praying for God's help since he came into office.
...
How voters perceive Bush's beliefs could be a major factor in a tight presidential contest. As he courts both conservative Christians and swing voters, the GOP is seeking to move those perceptions toward the middle.

Then there's this little gem, and shame on MSGOP for leaving out the context of who's speaking:

"I think most of us recognize him as a guy who sure has the same orthodox beliefs we do," said Charles W. Colson, a Nixon White House aide who heads Prison Fellowship Ministries.

One of the least talked-about aspects of the 1600 Crew agenda has been their hatred of the environment. With oil and gas lobbyists occupying more key decision-making positions than any time in history, in an administration so openly hostile to clean air, clean water and the preservation of natural resources it'll be a miracle if there's any breathable air or drinkable water left of the 1600 Crew remains in power. And animals...fugeddaboudit. Go to the Zoo.

In a recent interview, Michael O. Leavitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, summed up the Bush administration's philosophy. "There is no environmental progress without economic prosperity," Mr. Leavitt said. "Once our competitiveness erodes, our capacity to make environmental gains is gone. There is nothing that promotes pollution like poverty."

I wonder what the good folks in New Orleans will think of pollution laws if the storm bitch-slaps the Big Easy? I understand from reading various stories on-line that it could be a pretty toxic aftermath due to chemical plants, refineries and raw sewage. Something tells me reservations at some of the fancy New Orleans eatin' establishments won't be real hard to come by for awhile.

In fact, I'm thinking that almost everyone in this community said this at one point or another, and if you didn't say it, by golly you were thinking it...

A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq, government officials said Wednesday.

The estimate outlines three possibilities for Iraq through the end of 2005, with the worst case being developments that could lead to civil war, the officials said. The most favorable outcome described is an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous in political, economic and security terms.

But hey, Saddam is gone and the mosaic on the floor of the Al-Rashid hotel has long since been destroyed. Had Preznit Wastrel asked anyone why the Brits gave up their occupation of Iraq, someone might have told him. Not that he'd have listened of course...he needed his wagging dog for the upcoming election.

Oh, and Osama bin Laden, he's still a free man. Just thought I'd mention that.

Unbelievable.

Outside the house, other soldiers had seven men lined up facing the mud wall surrounding the house. Two of the detainees massaged prayer beads as the soldiers fitted them with plastic flexible handcuffs and blindfolds. Some wore trousers, others white gowns.

"You have the right to remain silent," one soldier told an uncomprehending detainee in English. "Anything you say will result in a punch in the face."emphasis added

Will it one day be called Operation Frequent Wind II?

Kerry Bled
Bush Fled

This should be getting more attention from the SCLM. With the 1600 Crew triumphalism about the June 30th "hand over" (or was it bend over) of Iraq, perhaps one of the things the Democrats ought to be talking about is the way that the 1600 Crew is behaving in Iraq. Badly would seem to be the proper word.

Investors and other outsiders also need a place in the capital where they can feel safe. "Hand it over? No way," said one U.S. official. "The government wouldn't want that either. Anybody who comes here, they all want in. Who wouldn't? It's the safest place in town."
...
To some, the Green Zone feels like a vast isolation chamber. One recent night at a saloon called The Bunker, a resident contractor asked, "So, what's going on out there in Iraq anyway?" He hadn't left the Green Zone in six months. "It's like Plato's republic in here, all of these well-meaning, smart people who want to do the right thing," says one security contractor and Green Zone regular. "But they never leave here and they have no idea what's happening in the country they're supposed to be building. It's totally absurd."

Hard to believe that the object of the Duchess' affections would ever get this treatment:

What I like is Kerry's challenging the Bush administration's propensity to avoid facts, deny reality, and slime opponents as a campaign strategy.
...
What gets me about Bush is his utter refusal to take responsibility for the consequences of his own decisions.

The man-child defines the word chutzpah, no doubt about it, from the fabled flight-suit follies to the speech in front of the National Guard Association today, Fearless Leader is the definition of chutzpah personified. Check this out.

"Our troops, our friends and allies, and our enemies must know where America stands -- and that America will stand firm," Bush said...

Well, we know that there's some element of the Southern Strategery alive and well in the Fearless Leader Follies. Seen at a Codpiece Campaign stop in Ohio:

A sign spotted Friday at a campaign rally for President Bush in Chillicothe, Ohio: "If Jesus weren't a Jew he'd be an American." We could not immediately reach Him for comment.

This just kills me. It's the lede in an editorial in the NY Times.

If facts mattered in American politics, the Bush-Cheney ticket would not be basing its re-election campaign on the fear-mongering contention that the surest defense against future terrorist attacks lies in the badly discredited doctrine of preventive war.

Hey, NYT editorial board: How about a glass of Whitewater with those billing records, or are you all too busy getting a blow-job from an RNC hooker?

Wouldn't it be better if the Times changed their masthead from "All the News that's Fit to Print" to "Facts are Malleable Things, Sometime Convenient to Print"?

Back in the olden days before the Mess O'Potamia (saw that somewhere), Fearless Leader was a-beatin' his hairy chest and loudly proclaiming the bad, bad man had to be disarmed...there had to be a deadline, there had to be closure or surely the balsa-wood gliders O'Death would be dive bombing our cities. Many of us said, hey, what's the rush? Senor Mas Macho lied and told us to be afraid, very afraid of the 45-minute imminent gliders o'Death aimed at the wimminfolks. Not wanting to be Left Behind, the pussy congress told him...okey dokey.

So, now that North Korea, a real threat has reared its ugly head (again), who's talking about it? Well, not Der Kommander Kodpiece. But John Kerry is.

Senator John Kerry on Sunday accused the Bush administration of letting "a nuclear nightmare" develop by refusing to deal with North Korea when it first came to office.

The current fear that North Korea may be preparing to test a plutonium bomb is a consequence of Mr. Bush's preoccupation with Iraq, Mr. Kerry said in an interview. He presented his charges in a 15-minute telephone call he made to The New York Times.
...
While intelligence analysts are still debating whether the activity is a harbinger of a test, Mr. Kerry insisted that the fact that North Korea was threatening such an action was a sign of failed diplomacy. "I think that this is one of the most serious failures and challenges to the security of the United States, and it really underscores the way in which George Bush talks the game but doesn't deliver," Mr. Kerry said.

In the past, Mr. Kerry has accused Mr. Bush of ignoring a far larger nuclear threat in North Korea because of his determination to oust Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

"They have taken their eye off the real ball," Mr. Kerry said, his voice almost shaking in anger. "They took it off in Afghanistan and shifted it to Iraq. They took it off in North Korea and shifted it to Iraq. They took it off to Russia, and the nuclear materials there, and shifted it to Iraq."

Besides, it had the secondary benefit of keeping Crashcarts CheneyBurton money rolling in...and it's important to take care of those who'll pay for take care of someone's unemployed ass after being tossed out soon.

Let's see, John Kerry goes to Vietnam, is wounded and is awarded the nations third highest award fo valor, comes home and tells the truth about the Vietnam War and is branded by the American Fascists who will do or say anything to subvert the very constitution of our country to stay in power (and 5 to 4 says I'm right) a traitor for telling the TRUTH.

Preznit Oathbreaker contemplates shooting his eardrum out, but opts to have Poppy buy him into the National Guard, then runs away from that with the help of some well-placed friends, in the process he disobeys a direct, written order from his commanding officer to get a physical, whether he wants to or not. After said disobedience, he just up and leaves, letting his squadron-mates pull the load for his no-load ass, something they were all probably pretty accustomed to doing anyhow. Then he starts to LIE and LIE and LIE and LIE about his mas macho years as a fighter pilot in the TANG. When confronted he lies somemore. Then he sends men and women of the US Military (including the National Guard) over to Iraq based on another LIE and continues to LIE about why and how poorly planned it was even as he struts around like somekind of junior fascisti-wannabe.

The difference: Truthteller vs. LIAR. Man of Integrity vs. a Man who can't spell integrity. A man who loves his country and can't do enough for it vs. a worm who hates his country because it can't do enough for him. A Man vs. a petulant man-child.

What will we tell the children?

Thanks, Atrios.

Indicators measure the nation's unemployment rate, consumer spending and other economic milestones, but Vice President Dick Cheney says it misses the hundreds of thousands who make money selling on eBay.

"That's a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago," Cheney told an audience in Ohio. "Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay."

Pretty futuristic, it's a Fillmore isn't it? I dig the fins...*

Coming from a person whose "received" emails are the subject of speculation, you would think that the Duchess would be an absolute expert on forgery. Although La Sullivina claims no expertise in the matters of fake paper, it's hard not to disagree after reading some of the 'interesting' emails on The Daily Duchess.

After watching 60 Minutes it ought to be pretty clear that Poppy Bush bought Junior an Honorable Discharge just like he bought him a seat in an F-102. The disobedience of the direct order alone to get a flight physical should have bought him a courts-martial, and nothing more.

The next wingnut who says Preznit Wastrel got an honorable discharge needs to tell me what the going price was for one of those in 1973. Inquiring minds and all that...

Update: from cbsnews.com

More difficult to brush off are two official memos that seem to contradict previous White House statements.

One "orders" the president to report for a physical. The White House has said the physical was "not necessary" because the president stopped flying.

And where the White House says the president's flying status was revoked simply for missing that physical, the memo points to both the missed physical and "failure to perform to (USAF/TexANG) standards."

"The official files tell the facts," says Bartlett. "And the facts are President Bush served. He served honorably. And that's why he was honorably discharged."

I can't wait for the 60 Minutes transcript to come out. How about Dan Bartlett spinning like top concerning that Memorandum ordering Preznit Absolutely AWOL to get that physical? And calling him a substandard officer who did not keep up his training certifications or physical exams...wow. Bartletts spin to the direct questions: the president met with his commanding officer and that's how he got his honorable discharge (note: not verbatim). Yeah, the meeting probably went something like this: "Fuck with me and my daddy will have you reporting for duty at a weather station above the Arctic Circle. Fuck with me and you'll be sorry you were ever born. I'm headed back the bar now for a drink and a couple of lines of blow, anything else you want to say to me?"

Remember Bartlett was the one who first came up with the "his personal physician was in Houston" routine, which the stupid media whores never questioned because they did not know any better.

Squat McMellon in a press conference:

" Q Senator Kerry is calling it a tragic milestone, reaching 1,000 deaths in Iraq.

"MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we remember, honor and mourn the loss of all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending freedom. And we also remember those who lost their lives on September 11th. The best way to honor all those who have lost their life in the war on terrorism is to continue to wage a broad war and spread freedom throughout a dangerous part of the world so that we can transform that region of the world and make the world a safer place, and make America more secure.

"Q And you're convinced each one of those lives is worth it, Scott?

"MR. McCLELLAN: Each one -- well, let me say, when I say we remember, honor, mourn the loss of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, we do so for those in Iraq and Afghanistan. We also remember those who lost their lives on September 11th, nearly three years ago today. And that's why I said it's important that we continue to wage a broad war on terrorism and that we work to spread freedom throughout the Middle East and transform that region so that we defeat the ideologies of hatred and tyranny.

"Q But the question is, for -- each of those families lost someone, a loved one, and each one of those is worth it -- that's the question.

"MR. McCLELLAN: Mark, I think -- I think of the cost we paid on September 11th, and September 11th changed the equation, as you've heard the President say."

Glen over at A Brooklyn Bridge has Preznit Wasted Life's resume. Pretty good. Check it out.

I love this. It made my day.

Over the next three years, he logged 326.4 hours as a pilot and an additional 9.9 hours as a co-pilot, mostly in his the F-102A jet used to intercept enemy aircraft. Of the 278 hours he flew in the interceptor, about 77 hours were in the TF-102A, the two-seat trainer version of the one-seat fighter jet.
...
A six-month historical record of his 147th Fighter Interceptor Group, also turned over to the AP on Tuesday, shows some of the training Bush missed with his colleagues during that time.

Significantly, it showed the unit joined a "24-hour active alert mission to safeguard against surprise attack" in the southern United State beginning on Oct. 6, 1972, a time when Bush did not report for duty, according to his pay records. emphasis added

Bush's lone service in October was outside Texas, presumably with an Alabama unit he had permission to train with in September, October and November 1972.

As part of the mission, the 147th kept two F-102a jets - the same Bush flew before he was grounded - on ready alert to be launched within five minutes' warning.

If this does not point out the difference between a guy who shows and goes and a cowardly fratboy who just couldn't be bothered, I don't know what does. During the Cold War those exercises were taken with immense gravity by the aircrews who participated, because the Soviets had aircraft that could reach our shores and target our country. Many folks don't realize how often the Soviet Bears flew up and down both coasts on "patrols", armed and ready to go. Units like the 147th stood lonely, nessescary vigils as did many others against that threat. Apparently threats to this country have never been of any real concern to one George W. Bush, unless there's something in it for him, and his "friends".

Update: Kristof has a bit of an epiphany about the Preznit's military service, but concludes his column with this:

Does this disqualify Mr. Bush from being commander in chief? No. ...

Kristof also has a link to an excellent analysis of Preznit Deserting Wastrel's service record by a retired Army COL, who spares no details.

No, really. I expect to see him start oozing green slime and need a treatment with some kind of antibiotics...clap if you love the little turdlet. Since the politics of fear is all that the 1600 Crew has to run on, it's unsurprising that Crashcart made this statement:

It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice," Mr. Cheney told a crowd of 350 people in Des Moines, "because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."

He also said if Mr. Kerry was elected the nation risked lapsing to a "pre-9/11 mind-set'' where attacks are viewed as criminal acts, not part of a war against terrorism.

Yeah, more of that thinking...bankrupting the country, which by the way is a legitimate National Security concern.

The funniest part of this: Crashcarts handlers tried to spin these remarks after the meeting in Iowa. If I can get the spin, I'll post it. Pretty amusing that. I wonder if that counts as a "flip-flop"?

One Thousand Dead. A number that seemed unimaginable to the Neocon Chickenhawks, who really don't care, and were looking for that walk in park, with candy, flowers and docile grateful Iraqis at the end of the road.

The rising death toll includes more than a dozen US soldiers killed in fighting and attacks by insurgents since Friday. Nearly 7,000 US soldiers have also been wounded since the invasion.
...

At the Pentagon, General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, blamed the increase in US combat deaths on an insurgency that "is becoming more sophisticated in its efforts to destabilise the country".

"Make no mistake, we will continue to pursue those who seek to disrupt progress in Iraq," Gen Myers said.

Can't possibly imagine why anyone would be displeased with that whole set-up if they were Iraqi. Interestingly, with all the talk of "freedom" in Iraq, the buzz I seem to hear is that the repressive Islamists are getting the upper hand, and they are being aided by the piss-poor planning and efforts of the 1600 Crew in its efforts, minimal as they are to "rebuild" Iraq into some kind of Third-World Jeffersonian Democracy in the image of Grover Norquist and Stephen Moore. It's only a matter of time before the Islamo-Fascists and Christo-Fascists join forces in Iraq to propose a flat tax and a Contract With Iraq. Can't wait.

Interesting little vignette of Texas by a writer for The Scotsman. He went seeking Democrats in Texas, and what he found was, intruiging. The Texas psyche has always been a bit ... different. I spent some time there in Corpus Christi as Student Naval Aviator, and later in Dallas. I remember it was pretty conservative in parts of Dallas, but 20 or so years ago it seemed about 60-40 Democratic. How times have changed, or so it seems.

At a French-style café (in Texas) two women are having lunch, eating fruit salad and drinking cappuccinos, and I overheard one talking about her drama class trip to Rome.

She ticks all the boxes marked "Democrat". She is shocked at the very suggestion. "I’m a Roman Catholic," she explains, as if this spoke for itself. But Mr Kerry, I offer, is a practising Catholic. "Not if he doesn’t believe in the church’s fundamental teaching - the right to life," she said, meaning opposition to abortion.

Worse, it emerges, Mr Kerry has been excommunicated for his sins. This, as it turns out, is a widely held myth. Some priests have said he should be denied communion. But in Texas, it’s gone down as fact.

Here is a 19-year-old drama student staunchly and instinctively Republican. None of her peers, she says, are Democrats - which she attributes to the success of the education system.

I try again - to Starbucks, where Susan Martin, a 52-year-old Barista, was taking a break.

She was just as fired-up as the liberals in San Francisco, but from the opposite side of the debate. The Bush administration, she believes, is leading the US into the most noble chapter of its history - and is midway through a vital election.

"This is not a political election. It’s a spiritual election. It’s about the kind of freedom our ancestors fought for and spilled their blood for," she says.

She adds: "[If Mr Kerry is elected] we will be loosening our grip on freedom. If we stop fighting for the oppressed overseas, we’ll stop doing it here as well. That’s why President Bush has got to win."

I've gotten several e-mails over the last few days (thanks y'all) about the website www.phonyfighterpilot.com, and I had not gotten around to checking it out. My Bad. It's written as a prologue to a book by an ex-Air Force Tanker Pilot, a registered Reagan Republican who is now one of the most eloquent Kerry supporters I've seen. Hugh Scott and I disagree on Ronald Reagan, but there could not be more congruence with respect to the 1600 Crew. One word: WoW.

There are too many good parts to start excerpting many but this is pretty good

I first learned of Bush's possible aerophobia while reading All the Best, one of his daddy's autobiographies. In the 1999 publication, George H.W. referred to his first offspring's military service in just one place. Within a 1968 - 1969 timeframe, the former 41st U.S. president wrote, "Last weekend, our son came home leaving his frightening jet behind in Georgia."

Frightening jet? I wondered at the time.

I suspected the impression had come from Dub-ya since his father had been a WWII naval aviator who was clearly unafraid of military aircraft.

As for me, I’m an ex-USAF pilot, former Strategic Air Command (SAC) combat crewmember and retired Continental Airlines captain. I’ve flown over 16,000 hours in multiengine jet aircraft, most of it for Continental, and not once did I ever hear a cockpit crewmember say he or she had operated a "frightening" plane. Real fliers don’t think that way.

So exactly how did George W. describe his USAF flight school experience?

Just the way I had thought. On page 51 of his 1999 autobiography, A Charge to Keep (hardcopy edition), Bush admitted in regards to his primary pilot training, "I’ll never forget one of the first flights with my new instructor--a tough, gr