France Set us Up

Agent behind fake uranium documents worked for France

Remember that cartoon idea from earlier today! Hey Cox and Forkum, how about a cartoon with Lady Liberty with a knife in her back (if they didn't already do one.)

Anyway these are John Kerry's supporters and they would love to have sway over our foreign policy - and would if he were elected.

Italian diplomats have claimed that, by disseminating bogus documents stating that Iraq was trying to buy low-grade "yellowcake" uranium from Niger, France was trying to "set up" Britain and America in the hope that when the mistake was revealed it would undermine the case for war, which it wanted to prevent.

After all, we know they had a huge financial stake and they did tell Saddam they would be able to stop us!
DKK

UPDATE: Captains Quarters has this great analysis:

Indeed, disinformation operations are specifically designed to confuse and damage an opponent's intelligence services, placing them at a disadvantage against their enemies. Any time another country targets the US for such tactics, it puts American citizens at risk and when successful weakens our national security. But especially after 9/11, such activity cannot be seen as the actions of a friend, even an envious or concerned friend. Deliberate disinformation campaigns during wartime make clear that the aggressor considers themselves an antagonist to the US, if not a complete enemy.

Why would France do somthing this stupid and clumsy? After all, if France wanted to convince the US and Britain that war was unnecessary, creating evidence of Saddam's hunt for WMD material would hardly convince George Bush to stand down -- and Jacques Chirac knows this. No, Chirac had bigger fish to fry. Part of his motivation may have been personal, targeting Bush politically in order to cripple his support at home. That would be bad enough, having the French meddling in our electoral processes. However, it's no secret that the French have been casting the EU as a foil to American power, and blinding our intelligence services with a disinformation campaign advances Chirac's vision of France as a competing superpower.

The American electorate should pay close attention to this incident, especially those who may feel sympathetic to John Kerry's blatherings about deferring to our "friends" on issues of national security. Friends do not engage in disinformation campaigns while we face attacks from Islamofascist terrorists. Allies do not meddle in our elections. Kerry's blindness on this issue underscores how dangerous a Kerry presidency would be for our national security.

DKK

Ping Pong Matrix

This is great. (HT NRO Corner).
DKK

Daily Trek 091804

Sorry for the delay, this is really late today. Health acting up and too beat last night to do the Trek, but here it is. (In case you didn't know I am disabled and any support you could give would be appreciated.)

The death and damage from Ivan continues to rise. WND

As I mentioned yesterday Imus had an interview with The Talented Mr. Kerry (just like Mr. Ripley he morphs to fit in no matter what) . Imus is a Kerry supporter but seemed nothing but frustrated! From Frontpagemag's War Blog:

Here’s the entire interview. The Imus-breaking moment might be in this exchange:

KERRY: I mean, what you ought to be doing and what everybody in America ought to be doing today is not asking me; they ought to be asking the president, What is your plan? What's your plan, Mr. President, to stop these kids from being killed? What's your plan, Mr. President, to get the other countries in there? What's your plan to have 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the cost being carried by America?

IMUS: We're asking you because you want to be president.

Er, yes. Thursday, September 16, 2004

Who are our real friends? Well, probably those who aren't advocating a, "strategic alliance between the EU and China to counter American power." Thanks old Europe - thank goodness we spent billions protecting you last century! After we get this terrorism thing knocked down we'll pull the knife out of our back! - Hey Cox and Forkum, how about a cartoon with Lady Liberty with a knife in her back (if they didn't already do one.) BTW, that story is mainly about an EU rapid reaction force - read it - considering the cost, age of their soldiers (who are mostly union by the way - a month off in the summer and all!) , and the fact that they don't have the airlift it makes you wonder why. But remember, as I have warned in the past, as their economy continues to falter they become a danger to us and themselves.

Stem Cell - amazingly they are repairing heart disease and growing arteries using peoples own stem cells. As Slings and Arrows point out, "Note: No unborn babies were harmed in the process."

Great rundown of Kerry campaign's Leviathan Syndrome - along with some campaign slogans at PoliPundit. My fav's "I will keep our enemies guessing, too." and these two go together

• "I have three words for George Bush--bring it on."
• "I have five more words for George Bush--call off your on-bringers."

Now Drudge has had this lead story all night and day so far, "Kerry accuses Bush of hiding troop plan." But there is no hidden plan - from the Kerry Spot:

Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, said that state National Guard officials have known about the deployments for some time and that all units preparing to go for the third rotation into Iraq have been notified. "The mobilization is phased, based on when they have to be there," Cody said

But the best part is the Kerry supporters quoting the Group Boston:

A senior aide to Murtha, who spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday, cautioned that a new call-up was not a certainty, saying enough reservists may still be mobilized by November to avoid one.

"To quote an old Boston line, it's more than a feeling, but less than a confirmed Pentagon plan," the senior aide said, referring to a song from the rock group.

But they fail to note the rest of the lyrics:

"It's more than a feeling, when I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling) I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)."

Obviously they are dreaming!

Now for something really important (kidding of course) Macaulay Culkin busted for pot, pills...
DKK

Implosion Archives

Implosion 101 No Legs Left To Stand On
Implosion 101 Acts of Desperation
Implosion 101 Lie-N-Hippo To The Rescus
Implosion 101 What Paperwork?
Implosion 101 What Not to Throw A Drowning Campaign
Implosion 101 Lower Then Whale Poo
Implosion 101 Grasping At Straws
Implosion 101 Contemptible Argument
Implosion 101 Finding an Adult
Implosion 101 Moores Disease
Implosion 101 The Midnight Message
Implosion 101 Just not getting it
Implosion 101 Reality Reminder
Implosion 101 The Symptoms
Implosion 101 The Big Little Implosion
Implosion 101 Well, um, seeing the implosion
Implosion 101 Peeking Too Soon
Implosion 101 Update Drudge
Implosion 101

Daily Trek 091704

In case you needed any proof that the left could care less about our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere for that matter, comes Moveon.org's new advertisement. The ad shows a soldier sinking in quicksand and calls Iraq a quagmire and says only a new President can get us out. This the day after Kerry explained his position on Iraq to Imus - who was then forced to admit he couldn't make sense of it and that trying to get a straight answer felt like he was hitting his head against a jukebox. Make no mistake, the left is in a panic. Along with the foreign wing of the Democratic party they will do anything they can to get Kerry elected. By the Foreign wing I mean the leaders of the UN (Kofi Annan's proclamation that the Iraq Front of the war on terror was illegal) Europe, Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Latin America. In addition there will most assuredly be an uptick in attacks at home and abroad which could swing the election in either direction.

But why do they fear a second Bush term - for those outside America it means the end of complacency - they will not only have to get off the fence but they will have to spend some money on their own defense. In addition as we take the war to the terrorists and bolster our security at home we make those who aren't willing to take proactive action the soft targets. The UN loses power, the Euro's lose power and influence, the terrorists lose power, the traitors here in our midst lose power (Lie-N-Hype 9/11 Moore, the Democrats, and Media)..........hmm, is there a pattern here? Of course with the Great Satan taking the attacks they were safe!

See, as Ter, shoot I can't even spell here name right when it is pronounced that way, Mrs. Kerry said earlier this year - paraphrase, the Euro's have learned to live with a hot poker up their butts and America will have too do so as well! Of course the hot poker is terrorism and it is her belief that, like the Euro's we must roll over and accept it! Remember yesterday I mentioned our balls in a jar...........

But NO, we don't have to do that - we can take back our own POWER - the power that the left tried to abdicate to the UN, Euro's, and terrorists (remember Arafat) all throught the ninties! Haven't those on the left been screaming for years in their enlightened therapy that we need to empower ourselves! That is exactly what the President has done for our nation - and just as family and friends will react in a knee jerk way when you empower yourself so has the world reacted. But just as you may drift away from those you thought were your friends you will pick up new ones who really care about you..

The Democrat are willing to sacrifice everything troops, respect, security to win an election. The worse part is that they don't see anything wrong with that - but I think deep down they do understand that Americans aren't willing to learn to accept the poker! That is why they have the knee jerk reaction of over-defending themselves when people question their actions. It isn't their patriotism we question, it is their actions! With planning and a bit of luck we can keep those who would do us harm from taking away our power. When this happens the Democrats will need to watch out or that knee jerk reaction will hit them right in their party's pokers!

The Trek:
Oliver North gives us the truth about what is really happening in Iraq

Ben Shapiro describes that "breaking the Dukakis line" is what Terry and Kerry have managed to do so far this year!

Kerry Spot has the best headline regarding Bob Doles reaction to the Moveon's new ad.

BOB DOLE: 'ARG. BOB DOLE DOESN'T NEED TWO HANDS TO SMACK AROUND MOVEON.ORG PUNKS'

Bob's statement includes this:I cannot believe that John Kerry, who reminds us daily of his Vietnam service, would possibly approve the disgusting and demoralizing portrayal of American soldiers fighting for us in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world.

I can!

KOFI ANNAN SAYS IRAQ WAR ILLEGAL Neil Bortz gives a great rundown of why Kofi is wrong!

I've covered this in depth before, so this is the Reader's Digest version. Read UN Resolutions 678, 687 and 1441. Read together these resolutions do the following:

1. Demand that Saddam Hussein leave Kuwait.
2. Demand that Saddam Hussein immediately dispose of all weapons of mass destruction
3. Require that Saddam Hussein provide ample proof to the United Nations that these weapons have been destroyed and that no active weapons program for such weapons exists.
4. Allow any member nation of the United Nations to take military action against Saddam Hussein if the provisions of these resolutions are not completely complied with.

Saddam didn't comply. The U.S. is a member nation of the United Nations. The U.S. compelled compliance through the use of military force, as authorized by these resolutions. End of story.

What's more alarming here is Kofi the Korrupt's idea that the United Nations is in a position to decide when the United States can legally use military force in its own defense. That, by the way, is a view shared by The Poodle.

If you don't read at least one blog from Iraq start - Healing Iraq gives an analysis of some of the coordination and worry the factions there have - he also reviews the brainwashing of the countries and how that affected the coverage in Arab media of the 9/11 anniversary.

Hugh compares the handling of the Tylenol crisis in 1982 to Rathergate! CBS is doing exactly the opposite of what is considered the best crisis management in business history. Of course if the current crop of wacko left were around then GWB would have been blamed for the poisoning!

Attacking Children - no, not the terrorists this time, the Kerry supporters! But don't ever call them on it!

Three-year-old Sophia paroles cries while seated on the shoulders of her father, Phil paroles, after having their Bush-Cheney sign torn up by Kerry-Edwards supporters on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004, at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington, W.Va. Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards made a brief stop at the airport as he concluded his two-day bus tour to locations in West Virginia and Ohio. (AP Photo/Randy Snyder)

Their attempts at intimidation and fear are doing more harm then good. Here is a great analysis, Robert Musil A Climate Of Fear

UPDATE 1300: IUPAT denounces the action

President Bush has surged to a 13-point lead over Sen. John Kerry among likely voters, a new Gallup Poll shows.

<>U.S. Weapons Inspector: Iraq Had No WMD...
Update: Crushkerry.com makes this great point:

It's guaranteed that this report will be the Dems talking points today and for a while. However read a little deeper - it concludes Saddam had a "dormant" WMD program he hoped to restart after interest waned. In other words - a waiting game. There is no need to criticize or second guess the Iraq war based on this report. What would Kerry have us do - apologize for doing now what we would have needed to have done later at a far greater cost? Remember folks, it's easier to stop the mugger before he buys the bullets for his gun than it is when the loaded gun is held up to your head.

The AP still won't give the name of the reporter who reported that Bush supporters booed Clinton - Powerline is still on this one - thanks guys!

By the way, did you hear Kerry at the National Guard Convention? He accused the President of, "...(pause, stammer) gilding" his Iraq and Afghanistan message. Two points here:
1) If today's Dems were around at any point in WWII we would have lost or been forced to lock them up - they are nothing but ...... honestly, the only word that explains it is traitors!
2) Who says gilding - what, he didn't want to offend the Guardsmen by calling a sitting President a liar like he has in other places? GILDING - honestly, I don't even own anything that is gilded do you? Really - this is the best the deems have? This is their man of the people, him and his, "let them go naked," wife! Get my hot poker ready cause if this guy wins I want to start getting used to mine because, as his wife has said, we'll need them!

DKK

UN Scam - Oil For Food Saddam al Qaeda Link

Looks like the investigation into the UNscam oil for food program is starting to dig up truths Kofi and the Euro's didn't want us to know. Wonder what else we will find in there!

My opinion, the violations of the OFF program were reason enough to invade Iraq, but they are also another reason to vote for President Bush! A Kerry Presidency will drop the ball on this in an effort to suck up!

Switzerland — Did Saddam Hussein use any of his ill-gotten billions filched from the United Nations oil-for-food program to help fund Al Qaeda?

Investigations have shown that the former Iraqi dictator grafted and smuggled more than $10 billion from the program that for seven years prior to Saddam’s overthrow was meant to bring humanitarian aid to ordinary Iraqis. And the Sept. 11 Commission has shown a tracery of contacts between Saddam and Al Qaeda (search) that continued after billions of oil-for-food dollars began pouring into Saddam’s coffers and Usama bin Laden (search) declared his famous war on the U.S.

Now, buried in some of the United Nation’s own confidential documents, clues can be seen that underscore the possibility of just such a Saddam-Al Qaeda link — clues leading to a locked door in this Swiss lakeside resort. (To review a series of documents, audits and other stories related to oil-for-food, click here.)

Next to that door, a festive sign spells out in gold letters under a green flag that this is the office of MIGA, the Malaysian Swiss Gulf and African Chamber (search). Registered here 20 years ago as a society to promote business between the Gulf States and Asia, Europe and Africa, MIGA is a company that the United Nations and the U.S. government says has served as a hub of Al Qaeda finance: A terrorist chamber of commerce.

There is more - read the whole thing. (Fox news)
DKK

Basic Differences

Okay, I did it, I went and read Kerry's entire National Guard address (Find it here). It doesn't have the line I referenced in the Daily Trek about the President "Gilding" over things, something he said twice. I know I heard that, but can't find it. Don't have the time or the stomach to watch the address, and I know they post the prepared speech not what is actually spoken.

I did want to point out a couple of things that he said that I believe point out clear differences between the President and Senator Kerry.

He said this:

He was wrong to rush to war without the allies we needed by our side.

In other words we were not then, are not now, nor will we ever be strong enough, or resolute enough, or rich enough to take out an enemy of any size without our so called allies. That belief in America's inherent weakness demonstrates Kerry's feelings about America's strength. This shows what we already know, that he doesn't believe America is a source for good in the world.

He also said:

Finally, if there’s one thing we’ve all learned in the war on terror, it’s that, even if we have the troops and technology we need, America can’t lead abroad unless we’re secure at home.

Before Clinton's axe hit the military I remember we specifically were quite capable of fighting and WINNING a war on two distinct fronts! Obviously Kerry doesn't believe this is true any longer. I think he is wrong and the home front is a key in the President's defense of our nation.

But more importantly if we don't take the battle to the enemy we WILL fight them here at home and our families will be at risk daily! As I said in the Trek - get me my poker!
DKK

Daily Trek 091604

I'm sorry but the inability of CBS to provide a believable story about the memos is sad. Stating that since the White House didn't dispute them they must be true is such circular logic that it makes my brain spin around in my head just trying figure out what they could be thinking! (FYI, of course the White House isn't going to dispute them - they don't know where they came from. How can they dispute them! )

But another interesting thing is how some others in the MSM have taken to reflexively defending CBS with comments implying that while the memo's might be fake what about addressing the contents! WHAT - that really hurts my head! We're supposed to address the issues brought up in FAKE memo's? If we were allowed to do that OJ wouldn't be golfing!

In some cases their partisan colors have been exposed to the light but in some cases there is an arrogance that hasn't been seen since Marie told everyone to have some cake! What do I mean, look at O'Reily last night - he appears truly offended that any intelligent person would listen to investigative journalism that wasn't done by a licensed and approved "journalist". It took him 3 weeks to have the Swifties on (and while the story was blowing up around him he sounded like he hated even having to have them on at all!) while he did his OWN investigation - but he is begging (on the phone all day) Rather to come on Today! What is that - is he already done with his investigation of Rather and CBS? Or is he doing what investigative journalists used to do on the air, try to get the truth. Why does Rather get the benefit of the doubt and a platform to make his bogus case about the "contents." Because he is a journalist! O'Reilly suddenly stopped looking out for you and decided he didn't want you in his business anymore - and by you I mean anyone who reads or writes blogs!

So be prepared to offend some journalists and take today's Trek.

The Trek:

She really is funny - this caring African American woman:

"Clothing is wonderful, but let them go naked for a while, at least the kids," said Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites). "Water is necessary, and then generators, and then food, and then clothes."

Generators right up there with air, more important then food even! Don't get me wrong it is admirable that she was helping out - but isn't it strange that when the Kerry's try to appear like the average guy they end up just sounding like snobs!

US debates military strikes on 'nuclear Iran'

Offending Journalists from 4RWW

While your there check out the new memo! These are great!

Hugh Hewitt's in favor of Congressional hearings and his arguments are very persuasive!

Play the CBS scandal as a partisan game, and you will get a partisan result. Play it as it deserves to be played --as an open assault on the election-- and you'll get the truth.

This is what it is folks and if you don't understand that yet then you better wake up.

Powerline has a few great things today - thanks to readers, analysis of what the new blog media means - including NOT the end of networks,

"Networks merely need to avoid uttering flagrant falsehoods and committing major inexcusable errors. Then they can continue to slant things in the liberal direction without taking any deadly hits from bloggers. The Washington Post can serve as a model."

I think this is accurate, but maybe a bit understated. They also have a rundown of Washington Post's report that the memo's were originally faxed from Abilene Texas, near a gentleman named Billy Burkett's house. Go check them out.

Just a thought, but if CBS got the doc's from the DNC or Kerry camp and they didn't notice that fax numer and it's proximity to Burkett shouldn't they just surrender all camera's and microphones on the way out the door as they shut off the lights!

You have to hand it to CBS thought - they sure can create stories that get people talking!

Speaking of Billy - Wizbang has a great narrative of what we know about the early years of the 60 Minutes story with a second part to follow.

What are we going to do when we find out that Woodward and Bernstein's Deepthroat was really a lie they compiled from many sources - they rode this lie to a life of riches! Of course this cold fundamental truth is okay because they are the liberal media. TAS - Mad Dan's Noble Lie:

The audacity here is surreal, though typical of the post-1960s ends-justify-the-means moral arrogance Rather imbibed as a Watergate reporter. Presidents can't lie to journalists, according to this ethos, but journalists can lie to presidents, and even demand that presidents answer for the journalist's lies

This is the same ends justify the means liberal philsophy that both the Clintons believed and that Kerry and his wife have shown. Which goes along with this analysis of CBS statement yesterday.

Ivan's eye is currently 25 miles from Mobile right now and looks like it is driving right into the bay.

UPDATE 330
Ivan makes official landfall in Alabama's Gulf Shores area, pummels Gulf Coast with 130 mile-per-hour winds; tornadoes cause Florida fatalities

Lie-N-Hype 9/11 (Lie-N-Hype v Swifties) fails again - despite the Iranian governments hopes that Moore's movie would bolster themselves and we know Moore's hope was to give aid and support to our enemies. Unfortunatly this is what they got:

"It sure is a great country, where someone like Moore trashes the president and gets away with it -- and makes so much money!" he laughed.

Another woman said she was impressed with the scene where Moore chases US congressmen to ask them if they would send their children to Iraq.

"How many top officials here sent their offspring to fight in the Iran-Iraq war?" asked the woman, one of several who directed their frustrations at Iranian authorities -- and not President Bush.

Poor guy, a lesson in capitalism and true representative democracy isn't what he planned, wonder if he'll suffer weight gain depression after the elections?

Alaa from The Mesopotamian had a family member kidnapped for ransome - our prayers go out to him and his family.

Kerry spot has this great advice for Kerry based on new poll numbers, Bush is within 4 here in Illinois and ahead in New Jersey!

Kerry's got to grab his party by the lapels and slap some sense into them. "I don't need more Bush-is-the-boogeyman scenarios!" he needs to tell them. "Start talking about me. Talk about my vision, my character, my qualities, my policies and ideas. I'm turning into an afterthought in my own campaign! It's not Bush versus Rather, or Bush versus Michael Moore, or Bush versus George Soros! It's Bush versus me. I mean, Jeez, not even that punk who writes the Kerry Spot writes much about me anymore!"

Ain't gonna happen, he is too reactive but at least NRO tried!

Then there is this from the you can't spell Spain without Pain file:

Notice that is NYC before and after 9/11

Alphabet City Translation:

You can do a lot in one single day.
Just imagine what can happen in three months.

Disgustingly offensive? Yes!
But. I would remind the artists and suits behind this ad campaign that the image above carries an alternate, more precise message than the one intended by the demented minds who created it.
Even though the death toll was much greater in the US on September 11, 2001, than it was in Madrid on March 11, 2004, it was Spain which surrendered to terror. Not America.
So, I ask the publisher(s) of El Pais: In which country did al-Qaida accomplish more "in one single day?

"
Powerline says this:

The ad copy says: "You can do a lot in one single day." And then, I think it says--my Spanish is very rusty--"Imagine what you could accomplish in three months." The "lot" you can do in a single day is, apparently, destroying the World Trade Center. Although, of course, you won't do much thereafter if you're a suicide bomber.

DKK

Ready.gov

Saw my first "Be Prepared" PSA from Ready.gov today - they were actually impressive.

Summarizing:
1) Kids playing baseball - two give out phone numbers of their emergency meeting and contact relative/friends. Taglines about being prepared and making an emergency plan!

2) Kid playing hopscotch - listing emergency supplies - tagline have a plan and be prepared.

They were visually stimulating and on point!

The website www.ready.gov is impressive as well opeing with a Hurricane Ivan update before the homepage!
DKK

Moderate Muslim Crusaders Wanted

As Part of my continued search for those moderate muslims willing to march against the excesses that Islam has become I came across this - BTW, give me your suggestions about what to call this crusade. I can't think of a good one right now.

The world is watching - but all we see very few even willing to speak out - this guy is a former Musim. The lack of support for President Bush in recent polls of Muslim Americans is telling - nothing like wanting to return to the status quo where terrorists ravage innocent men women and children. I fear the complacent attitude gives the appearance of support, and the day will come when one too many atrocities will cause a dramatic backlash!
DKK

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Claiming Muhammad's teachings are the root of terrorism, a website founded by an ex-Muslim attempts to dispel the oft-quoted statement "Islam is a religion of peace."

Headed by Ali Sina, FaithFreedom.org presents articles and commentaries that debunk much of the Quran and charge that Islam's founder, Muhammad, was a rapist, pedophile, mass murderer and an "evil man."

On the site, which features, the description "Islam and Quran denounced by ex-Muslims as the root of terrorism," Sina promises that if anyone can prove him wrong in his assertions about Muhammad and Islam, he will take the site off the Internet.

After presenting a list of charges against Muhammad, Sina writes, "Muslims are triumphalists and claim victory even when they are clearly defeated. A Muslim can never accept defeat. A Muslim's typical response to this site is: 'My faith in Islam grew after I read your site.' How can one's faith grow after reading the proof that the man whom he thought to be a prophet was guilty of all the above charges? Has anyone disproved any of those charges?"

Continues Sina: "I have debated with Muslims who claimed victory because according to them I have not proven that Muhammad's sexual relationship at the age of 53 with the 8 years 9 months old Aisha constitute pedophilia. I consider this a self-evident fact that needs no proof. I do not think there is any need to prove that day is bright and night is dark to a seeing person. And to [the] blind proofs are of no avail."

Besides Sina's writings, the site features other writers who delve into many different areas of Islam.

One section, for example, is called "Wives of the Prophet" and includes this introduction:

"The tales of Muhammad's wives and sex slaves are the most fascinating and also the most embarrassing part of the life of the Prophet. These are stories of lust, intrigues, mind games, jealousy and betrayal."

Another section attempts to disprove the alleged miracles of Islam.

Sina reads Arabic and, he says, uses only "the hadith, the Ibn Hisham's Sira and the Quran" when arguing against Islam.

Also featured on the site are the writings of historical figures that help make Sina's point, like this one from Winston Churchill:

"Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Muhammadan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men."

While Sina's site skewers Islam in many ways, it doesn't suggest a replacement religion.

Writes Sina: "My criticism applies to all religions. The very concept of God sending messengers to be known and worshipped is absurd. All those who come pretending to bring a message from an invisible god that only they can see are charlatans and their claims are bogus. I do believe in a higher Reality and a Single Principle underlying the creation, but not in an egotistic self-centered petulant deity as depicted by these self-appointed prophets."

Ivan the Terrible

This storm is going to hit the Gulf Coast tonight at a catagory 4 level - prayers for safety to all affected.



New Orleans Urges People to Take Shelter
DKK

CBS RatherGate Statement or Was that Kerry's Flip Flop!

From Drudge:
Statement by the President of CBS News, Andrew Heyward:

"We established to our satisfaction that the memos were accurate or we would not have put them on television. There was a great deal of coroborating [sic] evidence from people in a position to know. Having said that, given all the questions about them, we believe we should redouble our efforts to answer those questions, so that's what we are doing."

Okay, these guys ARE working with Kerry - first there was an investigation, then there wasn't, now there is a redoubling of the efforts!

FYI guys 2 X 0 = 0
DKK

UPDATE Captains Quarters points out that this statement says the documents are accurate - NOT authentic! So we can make up our supporting documentation as long as it is accurate! Cool, could have samed me lots of time in school if I had known that!

UPDATE From Rasmussen Polling

September 14, 2004--Twenty-seven percent (27%) of voters believe that the CBS Memos concerning President Bush's National Guard service are authentic. However a Rasmussen Reports survey also found that 38% believe the memos are forgeries.

Among voters who are following the story very closely, 56% believe the memos are forgeries and 27% believe they are authentic. Overall, 38% of voters say they are following the story "very" closely and 34% say they are following it "somewhat" closely.

Only 16% of voters think questions about President Bush's National Guard service are "very" important. That view is held by 27% of Democrats, 13% of unaffiliated voters, and 6% of Republicans.

Kerry's Loon's are all over this issuing video's and holding press conferences - What if you held a campaign - and no one came!

UPDATE from Slings & Arrows:

Picking Your Battles

ABC's Noted Now says the Economist poll has determined that 64% say Bush's National Guard service is "not very" or "not at all" important.

This is the hill that Dan Rather, the Democrat National Convention, and the Kerry campaign have chosen to die on.

It tells one a little about their wisdom, doesn't it?

DKK

Implosion 101 What Paperwork?

Worst National Candidate in History Alert - Union Endorsement Edition (PoliPundit)

John Kerry has been too busy lately to answer a questionnaire.

More specifically, to answer a questionnaire submitted to him by a 300,000-plus member public-employee union.

A large public-sector union made up of . . . . drum roll . . . . . police officers!

The group has since endorsed President Bush.

It's literally beginning to boggle my mind that the Democratic primary base nominated Kerry. He's not qualified to be the dog catcher of my neighborhood, much less President.

What freakin' planet are these people from???


(Hat tip: Viking Pundit.)

Implosion 101 Archive

The Barrier to Defeating Terrorism

This is a MUST READ from Terrorism Unveiled that gets into the mind of the Muslim.

I am on a crusade - yes, that is a BAD word according to the PC crowd - but for the life of me I can't figure out how a once great culture could have decided that murdering innocent people - children - became an acceptable means of accomplishing their worldwide goal.

More on that later - go read this.

We need Muslims to stand up and admit that there is violence in their book and that it is not appropriate for today's time. Admit that Mohammed was wrong when personally oversaw the beheading of 600 men in the trenches near Medina and had the women and children sold as slaves. Admit that following Shariah in a strict fashion is not appropriate for today's times. Admit that freedom of religion means not subjugating people who believe differently. Admit that certain parts of the Quran should be changed.

But see, if they admit this, then they revoke the basic tenet that the Quran is absolutely divine, meaning it cannot be reinterpreted or changed.

DKK

Daily Trek 091504

Sooo, taking out the garbage last night and I notice the bathroom garbage has a popsicle stick and wrapper in it. Now keep in mind this isn't a bathroom one would walk past - you have to go out of your way to get to this bathroom. My question, did someone have a popsicle while using the bathroom? Just sitting there eating a popsicle and decide you have to go NOW! Or are we just too busy to do one thing at a time and have to multitask everything.

I tried but I can't tastefully transition into today's Trek so here it is.

The Trek:

Drudge is reporting on Ivan the Terrible:
DIRECT HIT BY IVAN COULD SINK NEW ORLEANS...
'10,000 BODY BAGS READIED, 50,000 COULD DIE IN DIRECT HIT'...

Remember all the heat the US took when we bombed the aspirin factory in Sudan - we believed that Bin Laden was funding Saddam's scientists manufacture chemical weapons in this plant. Well it turns out that

Syria tested chemical weapons on civilians in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region in June and killed dozens of people.

The German daily Die Welt newspaper, in an advance release of its Wednesday edition, citing unnamed western security sources, said that injuries apparently caused by chemical arms were found on the bodies of the victims.

Wonder where the weapons come from - Saddam's were scattered or Did anyone stop to consider that in this modern era perhaps Saddam was the king of outsourcing! Avoid accountability until the sanctions were lifted or no one was looking and just ship them back in! Chemicals in Sudan, nuclear in Libya, and biological at home!

From NRO's The Corner This is the great system the Democrats would have us copy!

CANADIAN HEALTH GET GETTING SICKER [Jack Fowler]
Amazing: Reuters is running a story admitting that Canada’s health care system is in misery – “creaking alarmingly, with long wait lists for treatment, and shortages of cash and doctors” – and citing a study by the “right-wing” Fraser Institute that the “average waiting time for treatment in 2003 rose to 17.7 weeks from 16.5 weeks in 2002.” Nice of Reuters to come around to the sorry truth about the country’s insane system.
Posted at 03:52 PM

UPDATE EconoPundit Points out:

I know I've argued about the reliability of the health insurance numbers, but now we get this from impeccable sources. The Bureau of Census now reports 15% of the population have no regular medical care and routinely flood emergency rooms with routine problems.

No -- wait I got it wrong! That wasn't the US Census Bureau -- it was Statistics Canada describing problems with Canada's single payer system, where the average waiting time for specialize procedures is about 18 weeks!

Now imagine a system where you knew the price of your routine healthcare and could shop around because the money was coming out of an account you owned! Same with meds - if 10 do the same thing why not shop for price! Catastrophic and chronic would be paid by a much cheaper insurance policy. You own it you keep it! Bring competition back into the market and help regulate costs without stifling research and development. (This is the Bush plan BTW) Just consider the dramatic drop on R&D if the government limits how much money a company can earn by regulating the price!

From Slings and Arrows:

Everything Is Bush's Fault II

The Great Divide blog:

But global warming --- an enemy whom Bush has refused to acknowledge --- may well be the culprit. Sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic are 5C over recent averages, and are directly responsible for the intensity of recent hurricanes. Scientists predict that this recent warming is likely to last for a couple of decades.

Bush's refusal to accept that global warming exists threatens our planet's existence. In the case of increased hurricane activity, his ignorance is deadly.

I am not going to say I told you so, but...

Of course I debunked this yesterday with this link.

Ra^therGate (yes, I got the superscript bug)
Can I just ask where the Media's hero Walter Cronkite is on all this? It is his CBS that is being trashed by Rathers actions! Wasn't he out flappin his mouth about The President earlier this year (and since Vietnam interjecting his personal views)? I think he would RATHER be eating a popsicle then have to admit what might help Bush!

This update from PittsburghLIVE.com seems like a repeat but it isn't quite:

An opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee is said to have received the documents from a retired military officer six weeks ago. Senior DNC and Kerry staff members are said to have reviewed them, the latter supposedly passing them on to "60 Minutes."

Should these memos prove to be the forgeries some think they are, John Kerry will have dug his political grave. So, too, the Democratic Party.

- these memo's have been so completely debunked it makes it hard to say much else. Now it is time to put the Blogsphere to work and force congressional hearings.

Powerline has an analysis of the LA Times (sorry won't link, boycotting along with the NY Times) editorial critical of CBS.

UPDATE: Schieffer: CBS needs to prove memos on Bush were authentic

TAS Prowler: It's Personal Now

Rather's guys are now going after the president of the United States in a way probably no news organization has ever done before. This is now deeply personal to them.

UPDATE 1545
Hmmm, CBS was supposed to have an inportant statement at noon then at 2:30 now it is postponed until 5. I have avoided commenting on this, but I gotta say what the... is up with these guys?

I have said in the past that projecting is a problem for the far left - after all if your censoring someone then of course your scared to death that everyone else is doing it. Michelle Malkin tells us what the people at Borders are admitting to doing - wonder what they aren't admitting to! I think this is the real reason the polls appear so close - the pressure of the looney left for all to conform won't play out in the privacy of the voting booth.

Speaking of being pressured by the loonies - I Lied About Atrocities (Slings & Arrows)

Winter Soldier re-re-re-debunked:

Steven Pitkin, an Army combat veteran, told FOX News that Kerry coached him and others to say they had witnessed war crimes, even after Pitkin told Kerry that he had not.

"Before they started the camera, they told me, 'We need you to speak about the atrocities that happened over there.' The whole company line that I initially came out and said, I was coached to say that over and over again," Pitkin said.

UPDATE 1635: Did you hear John Kerry Changed his postion on Iraq - I think we have gone full circle twice now on this. Playing back to the base is a sure sign of trouble. William Kristol takes you through the nuances!

That is what the wrong war and 200 billion beeping noises were - The Talented Mr. Kerry backing into a position.

UPDATE 1816 Saudis rebuked over lack of religious freedom by the US State Department
DKK

Rathergate Update CBS ignored Experts

CBS ignored it's own witnesses

From Captains Quarters via Kerry Spot

NO MORE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. CBS KNEW THE DOCUMENTS WERE SHAKY. [09/14 09:03 PM]

Blogger Captain Ed points out a previously-unthinkable conclusion that now appears obvious.

ABC Evening News continues to chase down its competitor, CBS, on the Killian forgeries. Tonight, they broadcast an expose that alleges that CBS ignored the advice of several document experts who tried to warn them that the Killian memos were faked:

ABC's Brian Ross interviewed the two experts who CBS hired to validate the National Guard documents and reports they ignored concerns they raised prior to the CBS News broadcast. "I did not feel that they wanted to investigate it very deeply," Emily Will told Ross. "I did not authenticate anything and I don't want it to be misunderstood that I did," Linda James told Ross. Ross reports 2 experts told ABC News today that even the most advanced typewriter available in 1972 could not have produced the documents.

Up to now, we assumed that CBS ran with the forgeries not out of malice as much as avarice and ignorance. Now that view may turn out to have been too charitable. Far from failing to properly vet the documents, CBS knowingly moved forward with these forgeries, only stopping long enough to shop for a couple of supporting opinions from people who turned out to be unqualified to authenticate them.

Time for the blogosphere's legal minds to weigh in. Does this meet the legal standard of actual malice, a legal term which means the defendant knew his statement was false, or reckless disregard for the truth?

Either way, the "we were duped" argument is now disintegrating as we speak, er, read, er, in my case, type.

NRO is demanding that CBS not be allowed to moderate any of the debates as a result of their attempting to influence this election and I agree! There is no way the Republicans should accept a CBS reporter as the moderator of any of the debates.
DKK

Implosion 101What Not To a Drowning Campaign

Then there is this:

Kennedy to hit campaign trail for Kerry...

Okay, beside the obvious comical references to his wasted youth the ranting of Kennedy in the past year have grown further and further from the mainstream!

This is a sign that the Kerry Campaign is extremely worried about their base even showing up to vote for the rest of the ticket.

Hey guys, it isn't that your not ranting enough - it is that your on the fringe of the lunatic left - Moore's Disease clearly attacks the brain and logical thought.

Oh sure, throw a drowning campaign a raving lunatic. You just know the day after the election Kennedy will report the death of the Kerry Campaign right after he calls his attorney - a repeat of 35 years ago!
DKK

Implosion Archives

Starting To Hear the Cries

Frontpage Mag has a great piece by an American Arab in response to the School Massacre!

Are we starting to hear the moderates start to denounce the Islamic Terrorists? We need to hear this EVERYDAY! We need them to march against this and not for it! Until that time I don't want to hear another claim that it is a religion of peace!

Here is an excerpt:

Even worse, how many resolutions by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights condemning an Arab country for human rights violations have ever been proposed or passed? The answer is zero. But the number of Human Rights Commission resolutions condemning Israel for human rights violations is 26. Imagine that.

Is there any doubt that the state-sponsored and culturally encouraged terrorism all over the Middle East perpetrated by the Arab states is not a violation of human rights? Could it be that the U.N. is contributing to the problem? When I saw the horror on the faces of the Russian children, I decided to take a stand against the Islamic culture of terror I grew up in and the madness resulting from its teachings. The intense and repetitive teaching of hate produces inhuman robots. Make no mistake about it: My motivation is out of love for the goodness that I know exists in the Muslim world and a fervent desire for this goodness to prevail.

It is time for the world media and the U.N. to take a serious stand against Islamic terrorism. The U.N. should immediately issue a strong resolution condemning Muslim terror, with serious consequences to oil-rich Arab countries that finance terrorism or teach that terrorists are heroes going to heaven. There must be no “ifs,” “ands” or “buts” and no diluted language by the international media. The out-of-control culture in the Middle East needs a wake-up call and a dose of reality

Hmm, the language of diplomacy is part of this problem - I mentioned this in today's Trek!
DKK

Proof Too Many Lawers!

Lawyers create lawyers - is there another profession out there where you can't just have one - if one is involved then there has to be at least two! Isn't that interesting - and then this from EconoPundit:
Here's a disturbing thought: litigious behavior increases (rather than the opposite) medical error:

The current system fails to spur health care providers to "identify, compensate (for) and reduce errors" because they fear lawsuits, according to a study released in 2002 by the Institute of Medicine, a federal advisory group. It estimated that medical errors result in more than 44,000 deaths a year. A new study by HealthGrades, a health care rating organization, said errors caused 195,000 deaths, on average, in 2000, 2001 and 2002. (Emphasis added)
Link posted by Steve Antler : 6:26 AM

Making it a never ending circle jerk of lawyers - involved in every aspect of your life!
DKK

The SS Skinny

National Review's Corner had this great post on the budget and social security:

BUSH'S AGENDA: THE "COST" [Ramesh Ponnuru]

The front page of the Washington Post claims that extending the tax cuts and creating private accounts for Social Security would cost $3 trillion over a decade. Fully $2 trillion of this estimate comes from the private accounts.

It is important to remember that the "cost" of private accounts is a matter of moving some of the Social Security system's obligations forward in time. The system is supposed to help pay for the retirements of current retirees and of today's workers. Funding private accounts means that some of the money for today's workers has to be set aside today. That is a formidable challenge, but it's not the same thing as creating a new spending program.

If private accounts are part of a deal in which workers accept a lower guaranteed benefit, the long-term costs of Social Security go down. And since those long-term costs are the chief good reason to be worried about deficits in the first place, the apparent price tag should not keep us from going forward with the accounts.

Posted at 01:03 PM

How does that line go - you can pay me now or you can pay me later! Only thing is later we will be so swamped by the cost that we would make Europe look like cheapskates!
DKK

Implosion 101 Lower Then Whale Poo

KERRY POLL RANK LOWER THAN DUKAKIS, JESSE JACKSON, MARTHA STEWART, PUTIN

Drudge is reporting this - and that is a pretty bad statement on the state of the Democratic candidate!

If he were to win the hopes of a successful presidency are lower then Bush's were after the 2000 Florida Dance.
DKK

Implosion 101 Archive

Media Action Alert - Rathergate

From Hugh Hewitt:

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has oversight authority over the operation of broadcasting, specifically the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, chaired by Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan, with Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts as ranking minority member. Here are the rest of the subcommittee's members.

Call them. E-mail them. Ask for hearings on the CBS forgeries.

Congress has held hearings on Howard Stern and "wardrobe malfunctions" at the Superbowl. It has held hearings on the networks' disastrous performance on election night 2000. Now a network is party to a fraud committed with the obvious intent of influencing an election. Where are the hearings? This is very serious stuff, and the rise of technology capable of influencing elections is a worry on many minds. (See John Fund's new book Stealing Elections.) It doesn't do much good for Congress to arrive to conduct an autopsy. It should act before the fraud spreads.

The blogosphere can help Congress frame a witness list and question trees after the first hearing is scheduled, but like-minded bloggers are invited to join in this call for Congress to exercise its appropriate authority of oversight over the federal government's licensees. It will be interesting to see if much in the way of call volume can be generated by the pajama-clad.

Of course Dan Rather made his bones on Watergate, which involved a cover-up begun in the midst of a presidential election and some very famous Congressional hearings, so he couldn't possibly object to participating.

The Congressional switchboard number is 202-225-3121. Ask for Congressman Upton's office. Dan's got nothing to be afraid of, as he told us Friday and yesterday, so let the truth-telling begin.

I made my call - now you make yours! If they can have hearings everytime Rumsfield farts they can look into CBS blatant attempts to influence an election.
DKK

Daily Trek 091404

Iran says it is too late for them to turn back from processing fuel for their "peaceful" nuclear energy program. North Korea blows up part of a mountain and people suspect that they preparing to test a nuclear weapon - AND their negotiator in the group of six negotiations stated that their weapons were too large to dismantle! And Kerry's plan - the same one that Europe and the Clinton's followed - give them more time and in the case of Iran actually give them the fuel. Edwards says if they won't agree then it is proof they aren't in the peaceful nuclear business. Well guess what, they turned down their offer even before the election! What now boys, cower and pray they don't use these weapons in their Jihad?

Europe has only cared about Europe and has conned us into protecting them for the past 60 years. Why would we elect someone who promises to go running back to France and Germany with our balls in a cup they can keep on their shelve - right next to theirs.

I for one love the fact that we have a President who says what he means without the false nuance - aka - lying!

The Trek:

Bush has opened an 8 point lead in my neighbor to the North (20 minutes or so) Wisconsin. Guess all of those campaign trips in cluding the one that made Dad late for a funeral have paid off!

Speaking of Iran: U.S. Wants Iran to Go Before U.N. Council <>

A European diplomat said Washington had revised a resolution originally drafted by France, Germany and Britain, adding an Oct. 31 deadline and toughening language meant to force Iran to dispel all suspicions it is trying to make nuclear arms in violation of treaty commitments..... The draft did not directly threaten to refer Iran to the Security Council, but the Oct. 31 deadline would make clear the likelihood of that happening if Iran failed to fulfill all conditions, the diplomat said.

See, this is the crap I mentioned above, we dealth with this on Iraq, why don't we just tell them what we want them to do and what we will do if they don't and then DO IT - Nuance and GWB is NOT why things are so messed up - this Shit is (pardon the language!) This is the type of "sensitive" government Kerry would have us return to - the one that got us here in the first place.

Ivan the Terrible pounds Cuba and the Track shows it headed.........here to Illinois!

For those seeking financial aid to attend college, it doesn't necessarily hurt to be gay or transgender. An increasing number of charities, professional groups and universities offer scholarships on the basis of sexual orientation. More than 50 such scholarships are available nationwide. Story here.

For those who wondered - Kitty Kelley failed to tape the conversation with Sharon Bush - probably the most important interview in her book! This even shocked Matt Lauer:

Newsmax reports that Bush biographer Kitty Kelley admitted on NBC's "Today" show Monday that she failed to tape-record an initial conversation with key source Sharon Bush in which Mrs. Bush allegedly accused George Bush of using cocaine, plus a follow-up call to confirm the story.

That oversight appeared to astonish "Today" host Matt Lauer.

"You did 88 interviews for this book and you told our producer you taped most of them," the incredulous host reminded Kelley, noting that Mrs. Bush categorically denies her story.

"Why would you go into a lunch [meeting] with Sharon Bush, who is a scorned woman in a major, nasty divorce from the president's brother, and not tape-record that conversation?" he pressed.

Sharon Bush:

Sharon Bush followed Kelley on the broadcast, and after denying her coke story again, suggested that Kelley and one of her witnesses were involved in "a relationship."

Many Pundits thought CBS would cave on the fake memo's. I didn't but that is because I seriously think they only want one thing, their power back! Anyway Stanley Kurtz from NRO knows why:

Why were we so wrong? Why did Dan Rather and CBS News, against all expectations, impeach their own credibility to defend the authenticity of memos that are almost certainly forgeries? The obvious answer is that they did it to save the faltering Kerry campaign from a final and decisive blow. If CBS were to admit that the documents were forgeries, it would have no grounds for protecting its sources. In fact, CBS would have a positive obligation to do everything in its power to expose the malefactors behind the forgeries. If the trail led back to the Kerry campaign, president Bush's reelection would be assured...But I do not believe they would have allowed themselves to be put in this position solely to save Kerry. Yes, the determination to rescue John Kerry is behind the decision to defend the documents. But it is not so much Dan Rather's politics at work here as it is the politics of the CBS audience.

The segmenting of the Mainsteam Media he says - but isn't that really the death of the mainstream media, by defination?

Kerry was part of the Pre 9/11 intelligence failure!

Kerry Spot is reporting that:

the blame belongs with Rather, not with any lower-ranking producer. The pressure within CBS is intense and building steadily, the source said.

The Washington Post has another huge story on this, their expert DIDN'T authenticate the documents!

Still think the Democrats constant attacks on all things American isn't giving aid and comfort to the enemy? Look at this statement from Hamas:

Yisacharov told Channel 1 Television yesterday that Hamas leaders had told him clearly: "It was the Israeli left and your peace camp that ultimately encouraged us to continue with our suicide attacks." Yisacharov said he was told as follows: "We tried, through our attacks, to create fragmentation and dissention within Israeli society, and the left-wing's reaction was proof that this was indeed the right approach.

Think our enemies aren't the same as theirs? Look at the comments from North Vietnam about Kerry and VVAW - wonder why he is pictured as a hero in North Vietnam's museum? Again what was the defination of treason?

Excellent analysis by David Limbaugh that wonders why kerry thinks he should be president.

UPDATE 0339
Breaking - Fox News is reporting 27 dead Baghdad car Bombing.
Update that number has grown from the original report - 47 dead in car bombings.

Rathergate Update 1720
Memo's weren't typed by the Major's Secretary! (Login required)

Ivan is headed to the Gulf Coast - somewhere between the panhandle and Texas. But it appears Illinois is now safe! Track Shheeww!

No - Global warming is NOT causing these storms!
DKK

Bong - Retirement Career Watch

Dan Rather Retirement Watch Update:

At the tone, the Dan Rather Retirement Watch displays a time of

(bong)

11:53PM-- two minutes closer to midnight (retirement)

This came from Ace of Spades and I think it will become part of the Daily Trek - also Polipundit has this WONDERFUL bit:

Overplaying The AWOL Card

I have been trying to remember a campaign issue that destroyed as many careers as the "Bush was AWOL" issue appears to be in the process of destroying. I think "I will raise your taxes" is the closest I have come, but it has been the downfall of different candidates at different times. The Bush/AWOL issue has the possibility of bringing down three candidates, a major network news anchor and even an entire network news division and a major political party.

The first casualty of the Bush/AWOL story was Wesley Clark. When he refused to distance himself from Michael Moore's Bush was AWOL claims during a primary debate, he showed himself to be a little too loony even for Democratic primary voters. John Kerry is now hurting himself by repeating the claims over and over again, while whining about attacks on his service when all Bush has done is praise it. John Edwards looks to be the next candidate to overplay the AWOL card. Terry McAuliffe has pushed this story hard from Day One and if he continues, he will take the entire Democrat party down, as well. If I were one of those conspiracy buffs, I would swear that McAuliffe was doing it so that Hillary could save the party in 2008. Dan Rather is clearly delusional at this point and unless CBS stops taking his assurances at face value and starts doing some serious investigating, they are going down, too.

I can't remember anything else quite like this. Are we witnessing mass career suicide?

DKK

Outrage of Reform

This Email was posted on The American Spectator and gives an excellent analysis of what is wrong with campaign finance reform:

First, major kudos to TAS and the Prowler for your outstanding coverage of this astonishing meltdown at CBS. Your thorough analysis is inspiring -- you are doing the investigative reporting that certain supposedly responsible TV journalists are openly shirking.

Now, I have a separate, but related axe to grind. Of course it galls me that The Dan and company are able to mount a sloppily researched, fraudulently documented attack on the President for openly political purposes anytime they like. What nags me more at the moment, though, is that within 60 days of the election, I cannot buy a countering TV ad that says, "I'm a US citizen, and I believe what President Bush says about his record," without being arrested by the McCain-Feingold police. And neither can you.

Does this finally make it clear that this country's political system needs more political speech on TV, not less?

Now it wouldn't surprise me if the cheerleaders for campaign finance reform would react to this line of thinking by going the exact opposite way -- banning the news from covering political topics in the 60 days leading up to an election. In his partial dissent from the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the pointless, counterproductive CFR law, Justice Thomas points out that the door is now open for just that sort of an attack on the media.

Justice Scalia's wonderful, and typically clearheaded dissent is just over halfway through the doc -- it should be required reading for conservatives. And then comes this chilling warning from Justice Thomas (edited for brevity). The complete text of the opinion, and the dissents are here>

Now, supporters of such laws need only argue that the press' "capacity to manipulate popular opinion" gives rise to an "appearance of corruption," especially when this capacity is used to promote a particular candidate or party... Nor is there anything in the joint opinion that would prevent Congress from imposing the Fairness Doctrine, not just on radio and television broadcasters, but on the entire media... Hence, "the freedom of the press," described as "one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty," ... could be next on the chopping block. Although today's opinion does not expressly strip the press of First Amendment protection, there is no principle of law or logic that would prevent the application of the Court's reasoning in that setting. The press now operates at the whim of Congress.

Think about that. Isn't it easy to say that CBS has an overlarge "capacity to manipulate popular opinion", especially if they somehow succeed in getting their audience to look the other way when they brazenly betray the principles of honest journalism? It's simple to argue for an "appearance of corruption" when CBS won't or can't produce the original documents to support their allegations. And can any thinking person now doubt that CBS does "promote a particular candidate or party"? Surely it's time to expand CFR to include Big Media, right? Rather lies, and free speech dies?

No, of course not. But I find it enormously insulting that Congress passed CFR hoping the Senate wouldn't vote for it; the Senate voted for it, hoping the President wouldn't sign it; the President signed it, hoping the Supreme Court would invalidate it; and now that it's the law of the land, the President is calling for an end to the 527s, brought into existence by the same thoughtless law! Now, I love 96% of what W is doing, but this outrageous assault on free speech makes up about 3 of the other 4%.

Repeal McCain-Feingold! If Soros wants to waste a gazillion dollars trying to elect a dead fish, I say let him - as long as the Swifties can still do their thing, and I can still buy an ad that says "Vote Bush. I'm an American citizen, I live in a free country, and I approved this message."
-- Michael Hammond
Aurora, Illinois

McCain is a well intentioned bungler who can't see the forest for the trees!
DKK

Terrorism Unveiled

For an totally unique outlook on life and the three year anniversary check out Terrorism Unveiled. Go back there regularly for updates on life studing in Jordan.

What did I do on September 11?

September 11, 2001 did not have its full impact on me until September 11, 2004 as I stood on Middle Eastern sand staring at Hadrian's Arch in Jerash at 8:46 Eastern Time.

I felt like I could hardly breathe.

It is truly amazing how certain events can change your life forever and take you to places you never thought you would be. I looked out over the Sea of Gallilee. I looked into Israel, Lebanon and Syria from a hilltop. My cellphone kept sending me text messages saying "Welcome to Palestine, Enjoy your stay" to notify me I was roaming. I saw ancient Roman highways where the chariot tracks were still carved into the roads. I watched religious clerics chant Quranic verses five feet away from me from on top of the first Islamic castle and fortress built by Saladin.

I carry around a picture I took from atop the world trade center looking out over NYC with me in my bag everywhere I go here. It's my way of remembering why I'm here. On September 11, 2004, I put the date imprint on my camera because I wanted to remember.

Remembrance (this is 9 am est time):

Looking into Syria and Lebanon:

The Sea of Gallilee:

Looking out over the first Islamic era castle:

Roman Ruins:

Looking out over Amman:

DKK

Fourth Branch Caught Again

Seems the AP - part of the Old MSM aka Fourth Branch got caught again making incorrect news.

Isn't it amazing that up until this moment in time there was no check and balance on this self appointed Fourth Branch of Government - that was until the bloggers! And you were there folks!

According to WND:

An Associated Press reporter is standing by his story that describes an anti-Bush veteran as a former Navy SEAL in the face of questions about whether or not the man was in fact a member of the elite unit.

The reporter, Elliott Minor says the Albany, Ga., man, Ahmad Majied, doesn't show up on lists of former SEALs because he changed his name when he converted to Islam after leaving the Navy.

Of course they may not be pulling a Rather and this may be accurate, but they are suspect after the Boo Heard Round the World.
DKK

Implosion 101 Grasping At Straws

Game - Bush Rove! Wonder if this chess match was played the way Kerry really wanted! He should have taken Clinton's Advice and dropped the Vietnam - Guard stuff!

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX MON SEPT 13, 2004 15:31:05 ET XXXXX

DNC TO LAUNCH FRESH ATTACK ON BUSH GUARD DUTY: WILL RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT 1978 CAMPAIGN LIT

**Exclusive**

Faster than a CBS eye can blink, dogged Dems are set to take to the airwaves anew hoping to keep questions about President Bush's National Guard duty in play, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

"George W. Bush's campaign literature claimed that he 'served in the U.S. Air Force.' The only problem? He didn't," slams a new DNC press release set for distribution.

"George Bush has a clear pattern of lying about his military service," DNC Communications Director Jano Cabrera blasts in the new release. "From 1978 to the present day, George Bush has refused to tell voters the truth about his service. It's time for the President to come clean."

"Flyers distributed to Texas voters during Bush's failed Congressional race say 'he served in the U.S. Air Force and the Texas Air National Guard.' But according to Air Force officials, Air National Guardsmen are not counted as members of the active-duty Air Force."

But a form obtained by DRUDGE on Monday shows Bush was active duty Air Force, albeit for 120 days.

Developing...

Implosion Archives