From Holden: Athenae, pie – come on, it’s never too late. Continue reading Less Than Forty By The 4th 26th

Liar, liar, liar. Kerry’s now sent the Republicans into their convention with pretty much 24-7 coverage of how honorable his service was, what a death-dealing badass he is, and the exact genus and species of slime that pals around with George W. Bush. It’s their show, but it’s all about him. The more I look at this, the more I think Kerry let this hang out there, waiting, until the precise moment when the backlash would hit the Republicans the hardest. He’s Yoda, man. A. Continue reading I’d Call This A Self-Inflicted Ratfuck

From Holden: Your Vice Preznit was in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, today (in the Maryjane auditorium no doubt). From this exchange I take it that the Cheney marriage has seen better days: THE VICE PRESIDENT: Dad got transferred to Casper, Wyoming, which is where I met Lynne. And she eventually went out with me at age 17. And we got married, and will mark our 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday. (Applause.) AUDIENCE MEMBER: Forty more years! (Laughter.) THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, 40 more years, huh? (Laughter.) Well, I’m willing to commit for four. (Laughter.) Keep your chin up, Lynne. You can do … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Revulsion Towards Dick Cheney

From Holden: Paul Glastris, subbing for Political Animal Kevin Drum, reminds us again that George Bush used to love those 527 organizations. For example, The Bush-Cheney 2000, Inc-Recount Fund was a 527 created to disenfranchise Florida voters in November 2000. They raised more than $11 million to do so ($18,000 of which came from Enron-related individuals, with bestest Bush friend Kennyboy ponying up $5,000 himself). One small problem for that particular 527: they failed to file required financial disclosure forms with the IRS until they barely slid in under the wire on the final day of an 18-month amnesty period … Continue reading Back When 527s Where Cool

It seems, after years of trading on being a young, attractive woman in a field (conservative punditry) full of ugly old men and skanks, she’s offended that Chris Matthews quasi-hit on her before he realized what a complete barking looney she is. Suggestion to Michelle. If you want to press a lawsuit over this “chauvinistic, sexist” behavior, you’re going to need a good lawyer. Hire him now, though. He’s gonna be kind of busy after Nov. 2. A. Continue reading Poor Lulu

From Holden: How pathetic is it that the only Vietnam veteran the Bush folks could come up with to counter Max Cleland’s letter delivery gambit is the Texas Land Commissioner? Did Colin Powell decline to participate in this little bit of political theater? UPDATE: Regular Eschaton commenter wtfwjd? points out that Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson received $150,000 from Swift Boat sugar daddy Bob Perry. Small world, ain’t it? Continue reading Go Max!!!

From Holden: The International Olympic Committee is extremely upset with the Bush campaign’s flagrant violation of their copyright. And they should be. The IOC earns a great deal of their revenues from the sale of the name Olympics and the Olympic rings symbol to advertisers. The Bush campaign used the copyrighted name Olympics in their advertising without permission, much less paying for the use of the word. Furthermore, the Olympics endeavors to remain apolitical. The partisan use and abuse of the name weakens that effort. Olympic officials are seething at a campaign ad for U.S. President George W. Bush which, … Continue reading Because He Wasn’t Satisfied Pissing Off One Country at a Time

From Holden: Looks like the furor over the James McGreevey’s resignation did not hurt Big John one bit. Kerry 49% Bush 39% Continue reading Kerry Maintains Double-digit Lead in New Jersey

From Holden: Next week in New York the words “big tent” will only be used to describe the dresses of some of the larger female delegates: A day after Vice President Dick Cheney made it clear that he does not favor the constitutional marriage ban supported by his boss, the platform committee for the Republican Party on Wednesday rejected a proposed plank put forth by the gay political group Log Cabin Republicans and two other groups that sought to add moderate language to the platform. “Today’s decision–refusing to unite our party and refusing to recognize that people of good faith … Continue reading GOP Platform Committee to Dick: Go Cheney Yourself

From Holden: Rep. John Hostettler (R – Well-Armed Indiana) was caught trying to carry a 9mm Glock semiautomatic handgun onto a flight from Louisville, KY, to Washington, DC, on April 20. Yesterday he received a 60-day suspended sentence. He also is prohibitted from purchasing or possessing a gun anywhere but Indiana or DC during the next two years. That’s punishment enough, doncha think? Continue reading Sixty Days in the Hole House

From Holden: Bush Campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg is out on his ass: “I cannot begin to express my sadness that my legal representations have become a distraction from the critical issues at hand in this election,” Benjamin Ginsberg wrote in a resignation letter to Bush released by the campaign. “I feel I cannot let that continue, so I have decided to resign as national counsel to your campaign to ensure that the giving of legal advice to decorated military veterans, which was entirely within the boundaries of the law, doesn’t distract from the real issues upon which you and the … Continue reading First Swift Boat Casualty

From Holden: I understand the military’s need to prevent the enemy from receiving any information that might give them an advantage. And I hope that concern is what drives the Army’s efforts to censor bloggers within the ranks, such as Army Capt. Eric Magnell’s Dagger JAG and Army Spc. Colby Buzzell’s My War. However, I find myself agreeing with this statement: “I really think it has much less to do with operational security and classified secrets and more to do with American politics and how the war is seen by a public that is getting increasingly shaky about the overall … Continue reading Army Cracks Down on Blogging from Iraq

From Holden: Maggie Thatcher’s son Mark appears to be in big trouble: South African police arrested Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, early Wednesday on allegations he was involved in a plot to overthrow the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, police said. Thatcher, 51, was taken into custody during a raid on his home in the upscale Cape Town suburb of Constantia shortly after 7 a.m. by police armed with search warrants. He was expected to be charged with violation of the Foreign Military Assistance Act, police spokesman Sipho Ngwema said. “We have evidence, credible … Continue reading It’s Tough Being the Son of a Conservative Icon

From Holden: Johnny Cash has been dead just less than a year, but the GOP is already trying to rob his grave. Next Tuesday the GOP and the American Gas Association (a collusion of 154 utility multinationals) will try to steal Johnny’s life and legacy by throwing a “celebration” of Cash for the Republican delegation from Tennessee at the oh so exclusive Sotheby’s auction house. We know what Johnny would say to these Big Corporate Assholes: If you are in New York next week, join the good people who organized defendjohnnycash.org as they meet in front of Sotheby’s to serenade … Continue reading Flip Off a Thug for the Man in Black

From Holden: The chief outside counsel to Bush-Cheney 2004 who served as the senior lawyer for the Bush organization in the Florida recount after the 2000 election and also happens to be a former general counsel to the Republican National Committee is working for the Swift Boat Liars: The Bush campaign’s top outside lawyer said Tuesday that he had given legal advice to the group of veterans attacking Senator John Kerry’s Vietnam War record and antiwar activism in a book, television commercials and countless appearances on cable news programs. The lawyer, Benjamin L. Ginsberg, said that the group, Swift Boat … Continue reading More Bush Campaign Ties to the Swifty Lies

Joshowitz requested blogging of John Kerry on The Daily Show. So here you go, Josh, and don’t say I never did anything for you: Tuning in: [fangirl] omigodjohnstewartsosexy!!11! [/fangirl] Stewart: Some people are surprised that Kerry is here and not on Meet the Press. I’ve met the press, and he’s not missing anything. Heh. Showtime! Okay, here we go. Big John, suit and tie (didn’t somebody have a polo shirt he could borrow? Oh, who cares). He looks adorably, dorkishly pleased to be there, like the smart chess club kid who’s been dying to be invited to the cool kids’ … Continue reading Big John, Medium Jon

From Holden: Military prosecutors are preparing charges against two military intelligence colonels. How high will it go? Details of the new suspects came as a US military prosecutor, Major Michael Holly, tried to stop immunity being granted to a number of intelligence officers over fears it would compromise the case being built against them. Holly referred in particular to US Colonel Thomas Pappas, who was in charge of the military intelligence unit that worked at Abu Ghraib, outside Baghdad, and the man responsible for interrogation there, Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan. “We are still trying to identifty the culpability of Colonel … Continue reading Abu Ghraib Dragnet Snags Two Birds

From Holden: It’s long past time to fire Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Miller. Apologies to the Beastie Boys. Continue reading They Are the Crew Who Put The Cru in Cruex

From Holden: As U.S. soldiers tighten their grip on one of the most sacred Islamic holy places Jimmy Breslin notes that the 1,000th U.S. military death in the War on Terra occurred on July 7, the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Marines Division has suffered a 20% casualty rate in Al Anbar Province (with the battalion’s Company E suffering a 36% casualty rate), and the Iraqi insurgency has organized itself to the point where 70% of their attacks against U.S. forces are now centrally controlled. Continue reading Reading Around Iraq

From Holden: New poll numbers for Arizona show that Bush is losing support in the Republican stronghold of Maricopa County: Bush: 46 (-2) Kerry: 41 (+5) Undecided: 13 (-2) The Arizona Republic explains it all: After consistently chalking up 12-point leads over Kerry in three Rocky Mountain Polls since April, the president scored only a 5-point advantage, 46-41 percent, in a mid-August telephone survey of 452 voters, Earl de Berge, research director for Phoenix-based Behavior Research Center, reported Monday. Of those polled, 13 percent were undecided. The margin of error was 4.7 percentage points. Republicans outnumber Democrats in Maricopa County … Continue reading Bush Slipping in Arizona

From Holden: Those shadowy 527 groups are a cancer on the face of our democracy according to your preznit (BTW, how shadowy can groups named after a section of the federal tax code be?). Here is what he said about them yesterday: THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. I don’t think we ought to have 527s. I can’t be more plain about it. And I wish — I hope my opponent joins me in saying, condemning these activities of the 527s. It’s the — I think they’re bad for the system. That’s why I signed the bill, McCain-Feingold. I’ve been disappointed that for … Continue reading Preznitial Flip-Flop on Shadowy Groups

Tonight: Kerry on The Daily Show Tomorrow night: Rescue Me C’mon. You know you like to watch. A. Continue reading Your TV Schedule for the Week

From Holden: Time magazine’s Matthew Cooper has agreed to be interviewed by prosecutors in the Plame case, thus avoiding jail on contempt charges. Can we please wrap this up and pass out some indictments? Justice delayed is justice denied, ya’ know. Continue reading The Cooper Scooper

Joe Strupp, who I picked on yesterday for his staggering naivete, writes in E&P that the best excuse most newspaper editors can come up with for not dismissing the Not-So-Swift Boaters out of hand was that the big bad Internet held a gun to their heads and threatened to pull the trigger. Alison Mitchell, deputy national editor for The New York Times, points to the changing media landscape and its impact on what newspapers choose to cover. “I’m not sure that in an era of no-cable television we would even have looked into it,” she said. Near the top of … Continue reading Feel Ashamed Now? Tough.

From Holden: Rusty Rubin, 80-year-old former boxing champion and managing editor, of Ringsports.com, comments on the Swift Boat Liars: Fact is, John Kerry saw first hand and knew then the horrors and atrocities of that jungle war, he lived them day to day, and he saw the stupidity of losing young, patriotic Americans in a war that we weren’t even trying to win. And this is something all Viet Nam veterans know all too well, many saw and I’m sure all heard of the massacres and the killing of innocent women and children, We all saw pictures of the young … Continue reading A TKO for the Swifties

From Holden: Here’s a few odds and ends for you to contemplate with your morning coffee. No Charley Bounce for Bush The latest USA Today/Gallup poll out of Florida shows a 2 point drop for Bush among likely voters since hurricane Charley struck. I told him to make a bullhorn-enhanced speech from atop a pile of rubble, but does he listen? More Celebs Speak Out Against the Bushboy That shadowy group MoveOn.org is set to release a slew of new anti-Bush ads: Actress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos gets behind the wheel of a car and stars in an ad, co-authored by Norman … Continue reading Reading Around

From Holden: I always thought one of the closely-held, god-given truths of the right was that U.S. troops should never, never, be placed under the command of a foreign government: “It’s civilian control of the military,” said Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who commands the 1st Cavalry. “That’s what our system’s all about.” Except now the civilians are not Americans. Continue reading The Silence of the Freepers

From Holden: Although detailed reports of the abuse, torture and rape experienced by children and teenagers detained by U.S. forces in Iraq have been prominent throughout the European press they have been ignored by our own fabulous media here in America. Today the WaPo gives us a fleeting glimpse inside Pandora’s box: Earlier reports and photographs from the prison have indicated that unmuzzled military police dogs were used to intimidate detainees at Abu Ghraib, something the dog handlers have told investigators was sanctioned by top military intelligence officers there. But the new report, according to Pentagon sources, will show that … Continue reading Abuse of Juveniles in Abu Ghraib Actually Reported

From Holden: Applying this electoral college calculator to the latest Zogby battleground numbers will give you Kerry 321, Bush 217. Continue reading More Fun with the Electoral College Calculator

E&P’s Joe Strupp’s all upset because reporters aren’t doing that fact-checking thing so much anymore (scroll down a bit): From JOE STRUPP: It is amazing that the NY Post and NY Daily News would take this doctor’s word for it that he had an affair with Golan Cipel. Based on what? What happened to checking things out when some unknown guy claims something like this? Basic fact-checking and good reporter skepticism was obviously missing. Welcome to the party, Joe. The keg is over there, by the bunch of guys with crew cuts who say they served with John Kerry. Judy … Continue reading Joe Just Woke Up