Guliani: Snappy, Pithy and Wrong

Mr. Guliani's speech last night at the GOP Convention was effective. I watched it with my girlfriend, who said "it almost makes you like George Bush." Scary.

After one of Guliani's many attacks on Kerry, my girlfriend also asked "did Kerry really call himself the anti-war candidate?". I wonder how many people thought the exact same thing. I also wonder how many people made the effort to check into what Guliani was talking about. See, Mr. Guliani was not being honest with the American people. In fact, as Saletan points out, all of Guliani's attacks on Kerry were rooted in dishonest spin.

For weeks, the Bush campaign has claimed that Kerry called himself an "antiwar"
candidate on Iraq. Chris Matthews, the interviewer who actually used that word,
has pointed out that Kerry did not. Other news organizations, including Slate,
have noted that Kerry said he opposed the war as Bush conducted it, not
categorically. Giuliani doesn't care. He repeats that Kerry "declared himself as
the antiwar candidate." Putting more words in Kerry's mouth, Giuliani says the
senator claimed "that certain foreign leaders who opposed our removal of
Saddam Hussein prefer him" to Bush. And referring to Kerry's claim that he
voted "for the $87 billion [for postwar Iraq appropriations] before I voted
against it," Giuliani jokes that Kerry needs two Americas so that in the second
America, "he can vote against exactly the same thing" he voted for in the first
America. The delegates roar their approval, but it's a lie. What Kerry voted for
was an alternative that would have paid for the $87 billion by rolling back
Bush's tax cut.

Saletan's blog also burns down to the core of Guliani's message and exposes it for the troubling paen to Bush's blundering stubborness that it is.

In a time of war, Giuliani concludes, "Americans should put leadership at the
core of their decision. There are many qualities that make a great leader, but
having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and
unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader." No.
The most important characteristic of a great leader is being right. And the most
important characteristic of a great speaker—contrary to the view of my
colleagues who are raving about Giuliani's speech—is being honest. Bush wasn't
right, and Giuliani isn't honest, and no amount of bullheadedness can make up
for that.

Amen.

Oh, and to stifle disagreement, this entry is dedicated to 9/11.

Guliani: Snappy, Pithy and Wrong

Mr. Guliani's speech last night at the GOP Convention was effective. I watched it with my girlfriend, who said "it almost makes you like George Bush." Scary.

After one of Guliani's many attacks on Kerry, my girlfriend also asked "did Kerry really call himself the anti-war candidate?". I wonder how many people thought the exact same thing. I also wonder how many people made the effort to check into what Guliani was talking about. See, Mr. Guliani was not being honest with the American people. In fact, as Saletan points out, all of Guliani's attacks on Kerry were rooted in dishonest spin.

For weeks, the Bush campaign has claimed that Kerry called himself an "antiwar"
candidate on Iraq. Chris Matthews, the interviewer who actually used that word,
has pointed out that Kerry did not. Other news organizations, including Slate,
have noted that Kerry said he opposed the war as Bush conducted it, not
categorically. Giuliani doesn't care. He repeats that Kerry "declared himself as
the antiwar candidate." Putting more words in Kerry's mouth, Giuliani says the
senator claimed "that certain foreign leaders who opposed our removal of
Saddam Hussein prefer him" to Bush. And referring to Kerry's claim that he
voted "for the $87 billion [for postwar Iraq appropriations] before I voted
against it," Giuliani jokes that Kerry needs two Americas so that in the second
America, "he can vote against exactly the same thing" he voted for in the first
America. The delegates roar their approval, but it's a lie. What Kerry voted for
was an alternative that would have paid for the $87 billion by rolling back
Bush's tax cut.

Saletan's blog also burns down to the core of Guliani's message and exposes it for the troubling paen to Bush's blundering stubborness that it is.

In a time of war, Giuliani concludes, "Americans should put leadership at the
core of their decision. There are many qualities that make a great leader, but
having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and
unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader." No.
The most important characteristic of a great leader is being right. And the most
important characteristic of a great speaker—contrary to the view of my
colleagues who are raving about Giuliani's speech—is being honest. Bush wasn't
right, and Giuliani isn't honest, and no amount of bullheadedness can make up
for that.

Amen.

Oh, and to stifle disagreement, this entry is dedicated to 9/11.

Laura Bush: Lying About Kerry is Fair

From an interview with First Lady Laura Bush:

TIME: Critics throw out so many charges against the President. Is there any one
that you found the most unfair?
BUSH: I think they're all very unfair.
[Laughter.] I really do.
TIME: Do you think these swift-boat ads are
unfair
to John Kerry?
BUSH: Do I think they're unfair? Not really.

Finally . . .

Someone who will admit that he is ashamed of something he's done.

And he should be.

It's Unanimous Then...

We at 2GL recently noted the stomp of the Kerry campaign ad in which McCain (2000 incarnation) told Bush he should be ashamed of his support for despicable and personal attacks on McCain's service record. McCain has asked Kerry to stop using the footage (doesn't look very good for McCain, given that he is out stumping for Bush now), and Kerry has honored McCain's wishes. Too bad. It was a powerful ad.

But should Bush have been ashamed of himself, as McCain directly charged in 2000?

Despite his new support for Bush (future cabinet position?), McCain's still got to be pissed about the new lows the Bush campaign reached in 2000. And, despite his request that Kerry stop using the footage, McCain did not say that he no longer things Bush should be ashamed.

Of course, the look on Bush's face at the end of the ad suggests that the man knew he should be ashamed.

Now we learn that even Bob Dole, in his new role as toothless GOP attack dog, thinks McCain was right.

Groundhog Bush Sees His Shadow

Bush poked his head out of his cocoon of supporters for a half hour this week for an interview with the New York Times. You've got to read this.

Brief summary:

(1) Bush refuses to condemn the recent dishonest attacks on Senator Kerry's service record, instead whining that he has been attacked by 527s too. He gave no examples.

(2) Bush for the first time admitted that he "miscalculated" the long and violent reception which greeted our troops in Iraq.

(3) Shown evidence that his administration has flip-flopped on its position about the causes of global warming, Bush said "Ah, we did? I don't think so."

(4) Asked for his response to reports that North Korea now has enough fuel to produce 6 or 8 nuclear weapons, Bush opened his palms and shrugged. He shrugged, people.

He was then hurried off - back down into the hole of loyal followers for four more weeks.

Let the Horses Run the Race

John Kerry challenged George Bush to engage in weekly debates between now and the election on the issues that matter most: e.g. education, health care and national security. I'm all for this. Enough with the surrogate attacks, misleading advertisements, and canned applause. What could be better for the American people than listening to the two go at it head to head?

Unfortunately, Bush's spokesman politely declined, saying "We respect Senator Kerry's eagerness to contrast his vision for America with President Bush's vision, but we feel that the appropriate time for debates is after both parties have had their conventions. At that time, President Bush will gladly stand before the American people and show them that his accomplishments and his plan are superior."

Kidding. These guys are far more smarmy than that. What the Bush/Cheney spokesman actually said is: "There will be a time for debates after the convention, and during the next few weeks, John Kerry should take the time to finish the debates with himself."

Of course, this snottiness is meant to deflect attention from the fact that Bush once again backed down from a personal challenge. That really does seem to be his m.o.

The Boat Goes Down...

By now, anyone paying attention has come to the conclusion that the Swift Boat Veterans attacking John Kerry are dishonest and dishonorable. Bob Dole is the only major voice joining their chorus, and that, Dole's colleagues admit, is just sad. Apparently the Swifties are banking on people just not paying attention.

However, the public will notice when the "shadowy" group's smear campaign switches from fraudulent but effective to simply fraudulent. For example, their latest ad is based on Kerry's statement that he spent Christmas in Cambodia in 1968, which Kerry has since backed away from. Turns out he may have only been on the watery Cambodian border on Christmas, and that he likely crossed into Cambodia at a different time.

Why is this ineffective? Well, for one, the timing of Kerry's crossing into Cambodia is a trivial matter. But the big stomp is right here. Yes, the leader of the Swifties, who today claims that he was never in Cambodia, once told the President of the United States: "I was in Cambodia, sir." As the headline says, O'Neill lied.

And the public will know. Finally, the fact that these guys are full of bullcrap is getting more play than their baseless accusations.

So there you have it. One leader of the Anti-Kerry veterans is shown to be a blatant liar about the very thing he is accusing Kerry of lying about. Of course, the other leader has, among other things, said that "ragheads" are "boy buggers"; referred to "John F*ing Kerry"; called Senator Hillary Clinton a "Fat Hog"; referred to her daughter as "Chubby Chelsie" Clinton; referred to Janet Reno as "Janet Rhino"; called Katie Couric "Little Katie Communist"; suggested Kerry was "practicing Judaism"; and expressed the wish that a small plane that had crashed into a building in Los Angeles had instead crashed into the set of NBC'S The West Wing, thereby killing actor Martin Sheen. Quite a guy, that Corsi. All class.

And still, the President of the United States of America refuses to condemn this group's message. No wonder he's afraid to face Max Cleland.

Bush's Amazing Technicolor Smoke Machine

While the major newspapers, authoritative websites, and Sen. Kerry himself continue to waste their time discrediting and debunking the glue-sniffing swiftboat critics, President Bush conspicously hides behind his well-placed smokescreen, the USA Today reports.

Some of GW's still unanswered questions:

• Why did Bush, described by some of his fellow officers as a talented and enthusiastic pilot, stop flying fighter jets in the spring of 1972 and fail to take an annual physical exam required of all pilots?

• What explains the apparent gap in the president's Guard service in 1972-73, a period when commanders in Texas and Alabama say they never saw him report for duty and records show no pay to Bush when he was supposed to be on duty in Alabama?

• Did Bush receive preferential treatment in getting into the Guard and securing a coveted pilot slot despite poor qualifying scores and arrests, but no convictions, for stealing a Christmas wreath and rowdiness at a football game during his college years?

Yet, your President remains mum.

Bush's Shame

Still more debunking of Those Who Bush Refuses To Condemn. Remember, folks, this is a group your President is using to gain political points.

McCain is right. He should be ashamed.

George's Toy Boats

If your president's administration really had nothing to do with the creation of the Swift Boat smear ads, which is suspect given the ties that have been exposed, he should have condemned the ads when McCain called on him to do so. Actually, he should have done it before McCain called him out. It wouldn't have been hard, and it probably wouldn't have lessened the stomp of the ads very much.

But he didn't. And now he has to face this.

Stomp!

UPDATE: Josh adds some context to the Old Tricks ad:

There's another element to this ad that we'd be remiss not to note too. It puts McCain on the spot and pulls him right back to the center of this battle. Given the fervor of his words, he can hardly disavow them or complain of their use. But there's something else too. If you listen to the ad you'll see McCain hangs his demand for an apology on a letter signed by five senators, each Vietnam vets, calling on Bush to apologize for his smears against McCain.
The five, as reported by the Times on February 5th, 2000: Senators Max Cleland of
Georgia, Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Charles S. Robb
of Virginia, and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.

Hey, that blood's just ketchup

A couple of months back a staunchly conservative, bordering on fascist friend of mine forwarded me an e-mail on Teresa Heinz Kerry. Now this friend, whom I will call Benito for anonymity's sake, and I have long had debates stretching for decades on topics ranging from the mundane, the exciting flat tax debate, to the controversial, whether we're better off nuking the Iranians and/or the French, to the bizarre, that Dennis Hastert is secretly cloning himself to ensure a Bush victory in November and future world domination.

Well, I lost that last debate when my reliable informant was found dead in a rundown hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi.

If you haven't received this forwarded e-mail, which likely was started by Benito himself (or perhaps good old Denny), the e-mail claims that Teresa Heinz's chests of money are going to a bevy of "anti-American" causes such as giving $4 million to a foundation that used the funds to support a list of "radical" groups including one with alleged links to Hamas and another foundation that is said to have offered to provide a lawyer for Saddam Hussein.

Further, the e-mail claims:

They support the National Lawyers Guild, organized as a communist front during the Cold War era. One of their attorneys, Lynne Stewart, has been arrested for helping a client, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, communicate with terror cells in Egypt He is the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Holy wack, unlyrical lyrics!, you say, if Teresa is funding Hamas and other terrorists, then John Kerry IS funding terrorists, then John Kerry IS essentially a terrorist (an "evildoer") and thus not fit for the presidency. Case closed. End of election. Kerry is Dukakis. Kerry IS bin Laden.

Not so fast, Benito. You've been spinning lies, innuendos, and falsehoods and blowing toxic gas in my face since well before 2000. You've also told me that the election was over with Kerry's surprise early victories in the primaries. You long told me that venerable Dick Gephardt, who incidentally lost the House in 2000, was the Democrats' only hope. You told me it was over with Kerry's medals flap and, around the same time, when it was alleged that Kerry cheated on his wife. You told me it was over when the salacious Drudge Report reported that Kerry's coiffure is trimmed for a non-blue collar $75 and his hound dog face was regularly injected with Botox. You told me it was over when standup comic Al Sharpton spoke at the DNC, when the boyish John Edwards was chosen as the runningmate, when the respectable John McCain began pushing for George Bush despite their past acrimony and hate, when the vacuous Woopi Goldberg shot off her big, dirty mouth, when certain biased Vietnam War veterans denounced Kerry, when the economy upticked slightly, and recently when some crackpot began questioning Kerry's Vietnam record.

Yet, the beat goes on. We remain in a deadheat.

And now, it's Theresa. If you read the e-mail, it is startling. It, in fact, reminds one of the Fahrenheit 911 allegations levied against Bush...that he's too chummy with the Saudis, Halliburton, Enron, and the bin Laden family.

The problem though, Benito, is that the info contained in this e-mail is just another hoax, another fiction. According to Fact Check, who's been fact checking for both sides throughout, the e-mail is completely false, fallacious, apocryphal, bunk, just another unfounded smear campaign. Check it out for yourself. But, beware, the facts might get in the way.

Bush's Hecklers

Your president has been out there on the stump for months now as the American citizens grill him with difficult questions about his controversial positions. Here are a few quick examples of the questions your President has faced recently:

"I'm wondering if I can get some inauguration tickets?''

"Can I introduce my mother and mother-in-law, who are new citizens to this
country?''

Or how about this gem of an exchange:

"I'm 60 years old and I've voted Republican from the very first time I
could vote. And I also want to say this is the very first time that I have felt
that God was in the White House.''
"Thank you,'' Mr. Bush replied, to applause.

Of course, as we all know by now, these aren't just any American citizens. They're hand-picked supporters of your President. Here's a quick video about it from CBS News. Tellingly, your President has appeared at more of these lovefests than at actual Presidential news conferences ... in his entire three and a half years in office.

Is this the level of confidence your President has in his radical new foreign policy? Is this a self assured leader of a strong economy? Folks, there should come a time when you ask yourself why your President, the leader of the free world, is afraid to face the nation.

Well, here's a pretty good reason.

Guess Who Said:

It's obvious to me that this country is rapidly dividing itself into two camps: the wimps and the warriors. The ones who want to argue and assess and appease, and the ones who want to carry this fight to our enemies and kill them before they kill us…this country is being crippled with petty partisan politics of the worst possible kind. In time of war, it is not just unpatriotic; it is stupid, and it is criminal.

[H]e dubs Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe "Terry McAwful." And the 2004 Democratic presidential field – all "good, smart and able
folks" ... are compared to "streetwalkers in skimpy halters and hot pants plying their age-old trade for the fat wallets on ‘K' Street."

"Hollywood weenies like Martin Sheen and Sean Penn…are lower than a snake's
belly, hypocrites at best, all gurgle and no guts."

[Blames] "the culture of far left America" for the Super Bowl halftime show, "brought to us courtesy of …the pagan temple of Viacom-Babylon." Kid Rock and his "bony butt," [He] thundered, "should be tarred and feathered and ridden out of this country on a rail."

In the Wall Street Journal, he accused the entire Democratic presidential field
– "the Naïve Nine", he called them – of wanting to abandon Iraq, to "cut and run
with our shirttails at half-mast," something that could only fairly have been
said about Dennis Kucinich.

[Once] called Lyndon Johnson "a Southerner who has sold his birthright for
a mess of dark porridge," and pleads guilty not to racism but to having
"followed the Pied Piper into the quicksand of political expediency."

Give up? Well, here's a hint. He's a Democrat. Yep, it's our old friend: anti-choice, anti-gun control, pro-ANWR drilling, pro-Federal Marriage Amendment, Bush-supporting Democrat Zell Miller.

What kind of Democrat is that, you ask? Well, for starters, the kind scheduled to be the keynote speaker a the Republican National Convention.

Just Ask My, err, Supporters...

(1) Your president runs a campaign ad featuring images of those killed in the 9/11 attacks. MESSAGE: "You can bet if these dead folks could talk they'd be glad I'm out there starting wars."

RESPONSE: Victims' families asks the Bush Administration to stop using their loved ones' corpses for political gain.

(2) In a public speech scoffing at the notion of sensitivity, Dick Cheney invokes the name of Daniel Pearle. MESSAGE: "You can bet the Pearles are glad we're waging insensitive war"

RESPONSE: The Pearle family asks the Bush Administration to stop using their loved one's corpse for political gain.

(3) In a new campaign ad, your president claims credit for Iraq appearing at the Olympics as a "free" country this year. MESSAGE: "You can bet that soccer team is glad I invaded their country."

RESPONSE: "Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," Sadir told SI.com through a translator, speaking calmly and directly. "He can find another way to advertise himself."

Hairy Kerr(e)y

Damn. How would you like to be the staffer who effed this one up? Bad times. It is surprising that somebody didn't catch the mistake. The fellas at CC have some fun with it.

Don't Call it a Comeback

As you may have noted, I was just AWOL from the blog for a couple of weeks. I was fishing in Alaska with some family. Check out the pics if you'd like. I returned with 225 pounds of salmon and halibut and a mild disdain for both work and the issues of the day. It may take me a while to get back into both.

Swift Vote Veterans For Bush

If you haven't seen the latest attack ad against Kerry, you ought to check it out. It is ugly.

The ad is clearly dishonest and dishonorable and a cheap stunt. None of these individuals served on the boat Kerry commanded. Kerry's actual crew has testified to his courage under fire. So says Bush supporter and war hero John McCain, who called on the White House to condemn the dishonorable and cheap ad.

The White House declined.

So who is behind this smear campaign? Take a peek.

Bush Determined to Harm America

Just ask him.

The Darkness on the Edge of Town

"America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside our hearts . . . It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire: New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen."

Ronald Reagan

Like many others, in the aftermath of 9/11, I felt the country's unity. I don't remember anything quite like it. I supported the decision to enter Afghanistan and I hoped that the seriousness of the times would bring forth strength, humility and wisdom in our leaders. Instead, we dived headlong into an unnecessary war in Iraq, offering up the lives of our young men and women under circumstances that are now discredited. We ran record deficits, while simultaneously cutting and squeezing services like afterschool programs. We granted tax cuts to the richest 1 percent (corporate bigwigs, well-to-do guitar players), increasing the division of wealth that threatens to destroy our social contract with one another and render mute the promise of "one nation indivisible."

Bruce Springsteen

I'm interested to see how the Bush team tries to smear the Boss.

Bush's Buddies Stick it to Stockholders

More bad times for Halliburton. Turns out they pulled a fast one on the stockholders back when your Vice President was in charge, and the SEC today slapped the company with a $7.5 million fine. Of course, your Vice President had nothing to do with it, right?

Well, for some context, Billmon breaks it down very nicely. Read the whole thing.

Oh, and your Vice President gave sworn testimony to the SEC. Think we'll see it before the election. Not a chance. John Kerry, as he damn well should be, is all over it.

21st Century Civil Rights, Missouri-Style

Sad day in Missouri.

The people of the Show Me State have spoken, and they have shown us that they are against equal marriage rights for gays. Thus, the ludicrous anti-marriage movement takes an embarassing step forward. I've said it before, these people are going to be horribly ashamed in thirty years. Or... maybe not. Maybe they'll go to their graves with hearts full of inexplicable hate for gay people.

It's hard to know what to do when democracy goes awry like this, but it's not like our country hasn't seen it before:

After the war, Southern state legislatures, dominated by former
Confederates, passed laws known as black codes that severely limited the rights
of blacks. The codes were slightly different from state to state, but they
usually contained limitations on black occupations and property owning, and
vagrancy laws under which blacks could be forced to work for whites if they were
considered unemployed. Mississippi, for example, prohibited blacks from renting
property in towns or cities and provided severe penalties, including fines or
imprisonment, for blacks who did not sign labor contracts agreeing to work for
whites. These codes effectively segregated blacks into the rural areas of the
state where they were virtually forced to become farm workers. Laws were also
passed that segregated schools, courts, and juries. The black codes successfully
prevented the newly freed slaves from improving their status in society.

Here's hoping that other states refuse to follow Missouri's shameful example, and that the Supreme Court of the United States finds Missouri's Anti-Gay Amendment unconstitutional.

Silly Sully's Memo to Kerry

Andrew Sullivan is still one of the most insightful bloggers in the sphere. He earnestly cruises the highway of thoughtfulness on almost all issues. There are two topics, though, that provide off ramps into ranting territory nearly every time: (1) gay marriage, and (2) Iraq.

His take on Kerry is well worth reading, until... uh oh... Iraq time:

This is a man who clearly wants the U.S. out of the region where our future is
at stake, and who believes that simply by taking office, other powers can
somehow pick up the slack. Memo to Kerry: no other powers can pick up the slack.
They don't have the troops or the technology or the will.

Presumably Sullivan is suggesting that President Bush invaded and occupied Iraq knowing that this was a job to be shouldered by good old American boys, with a couple Brits tossed in for good measure. Yep, our President never expected any other powers to pick up the slack. I mean, it wasn't like Bush tried to get other powers to help out, but failed miserably in his childish effort at diplomacy, right?

Can we collectively thank Atrios for pulling this out of the memory hole from May 2003, just over a year ago? -

The Bush administration is planning to withdraw most United States combat
forces from Iraq over the next several months and wants to shrink the American
military presence to less than two divisions by the fall, senior allied
officials said today.

The United States currently has more than five divisions in Iraq, troops
that fought their way into the country and units that were added in an attempt
to stabilize it. But the Bush administration is trying to establish a new
military structure in which American troops would continue to secure Baghdad
while the majority of the forces in Iraq would be from other nations.

The simple truth is that Bush failed to adequately internationalize the Iraq effort. Sullivan is correct about one thing: other powers do not currently have the will to assist Bush with his botched distraction from the War on Radical Islamic Terrorists. Kerry can help foster that will with a "hey-listen-I-agree-Bush-effed-this-place-up-but-how-about-lending-me-a-hand-to-fix-this-mess" approach. Seems simple enough to me.