I’m in plain text, Tena’s bold. I’m drunk, she’s stoned. Where the fuck are my chicken wings? Pre-debate on MSNBC. Sharpton clarifies Kerry’s position: I was wrong to trust you with that power, Mr. Bush. Yeah, that’s it, that’s the answer Kerry hasn’t come out with yet, so listen up, Mary Beth. And FUCK YOU, Joe Scarborough. God, how does presidential cock taste, anyway? Laura and the future First Lady, Teresa Kerry, are saying hello. Laura looks like she just swallowed a codfish whole. Catty moment: Mrs. Allen Greenspan looks like the Crypt Keeper. Yeeaaarch. “She’s got an odd-shaped head. … Continue reading If Tena and I Blogged Ali Vs. Foreman: The Debates, Vol. 1

Tena and I and hopefully Holden will be posting our thoughts later. If any of you are not partying over at Atrios and Kos, feel free to party here. A. Continue reading Debate Open Thread

An Iowa Flashback. A. Continue reading Confidential to Everybody Freaking Out About the Polls

He will track down those last five undecided voters, and he will convince them. A. Continue reading Bonus Debate Day Happy Kerry Photo

From Holden: OK, so I’m a bit early. Kerry’s gonna KICK ASS! Continue reading Congratulations to the Winner!

From Holden: I’ve been courting the Bush Boom for many months now, but I still can’t get it to make an appearance. This is further evidenced by the fact that consumer spending was flat in August. Remember, consumer spending comprises roughly two-thirds of our economy. If Joe Lunchpail ain’t buyin’, the economy ain’t growin’. Continue reading Bush Boom, Bush Boom, Give Me Your Answer True

An e-mail from a foreign correspondent that’s getting a lot of play on Romenesko and other places: Iraqis like to call this mess ‘the situation.’ When asked ‘how are thing?’ they reply: ‘the situation is very bad.” What they mean by situation is this: the Iraqi government doesn’t control most Iraqi cities, there are several car bombs going off each day around the country killing and injuring scores of innocent people, the country’s roads are becoming impassable and littered by hundreds of landmines and explosive devices aimed to kill American soldiers, there are assassinations, kidnappings and beheadings. The situation, basically, … Continue reading In the “Oh, shit” department

Okay, here’s the story on every radio station I listen to in the morning on my drive to the kitten groomer’s, up to and including the teeny-bopper Avril Lavigne-obssessed spot on the dial: Kerry must win this debate in order to salvage his campaign. That’s the meme. Not that Kerry has won or lost, but that this is it for him. You’d think there was only one debate. You’d think this was the last debate. You’d think that if Kerry didn’t actually rip Bush’s heart from his body and eat it on TV, Mary Beth and the rest of the … Continue reading The Meme and the real expectations game

From Holden: New Jobless claims spiked last week: In the week ending Sept. 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 369,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 351,000. The 4-week moving average was 343,500, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 341,250. Continue reading 369,000 New Jobless Duckies Can’t Find Their Bush Boom

From Holden: I have one small piece of advice for John Kerry leading into tonight’s debate: shake your opponent’s hand. Kerry should walk over to Bush’s podium when the debate begins and shake Bush’s hand. Maybe even give him a little hug. Why? Because the Bush campaign made it plain in the 32-page debate memorandum of understanding that they do not want to have their candidate appear on camera with the much taller John Kerry. If Kerry tries to shake Bush’s hand at the beginning of the debate he will put Bush in a tough spot. Bush will face the … Continue reading Hey John Kerry: Shake Bush’s Hand

From Holden: Sorry is still the hardest word: Q Tony Blair has apologized for the evidence that brought the country into war against Iraq, apologizing since apparently some of it was wrong. Do you think the President will also apologize? MR. McCLELLAN: The President has already talked about what Prime Minister Blair said. The President said we all thought we were going to find the stockpiles, and we’re surprised that we did not. But also look at what Prime Minister Blair said and what the President has said: It was the right decision to go in and remove Saddam Hussein’s … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

Wow, is Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin’s opponent in Wisconsin a superficial prick: Much of the debate focused on how the contenders would represent the people of Wisconsin during their term in office. According to Republican Magnum, Baldwin has spent more time representing special interest groups from the East and West Coasts than dealing with her constituents. “I promise you that I won’t hang around Hollywood enough to get a starring role in a movie like ‘Fahrenheit 9/11,’” he said. “I have a goal to be your local representative in Congress. My special interest group is going to be you folks, the … Continue reading Jerk Opens Mouth, Story at 10

From Holden: Today the Washington Post tells us that the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development are pulling out all the stops to help Bush lie about conditions in Iraq: The Bush administration, battling negative perceptions of the Iraq war, is sending Iraqi Americans to deliver what the Pentagon calls “good news” about Iraq to U.S. military bases, and has curtailed distribution of reports showing increasing violence in that country. The unusual public-relations effort by the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development comes as details have emerged showing the U.S. government and a representative of President … Continue reading Where Does the Bush Campaign End and the Government Begin?

So nobody who supports Bush knows shit, basically: Majorities of Bush supporters incorrectly assumed that Bush favors including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements (84%), and the US being part of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (69%), the International Criminal Court (66%), the treaty banning land mines (72%), and the Kyoto Treaty on global warming (51%). They were divided between those who knew that Bush favors building a new missile defense system now (44%) and those who incorrectly believe he wishes to do more research until its capabilities are proven (41%). However, majorities were correct that Bush favors increased … Continue reading Ignorance Isn’t Free, Either

From Holden: A member of the Italian Parliament has confirmed that his government paid a $1 million ransom for two hostages: Despite an official government denial, a leading parliament member said he believed Italy had handed over about $US1 million ($1.39 million) to secure their freedom. “In principle, one should not give in to ransoms. But this time, they had to,” Gustavo Selva, the head of the Foreign Affairs committee of the Chamber of Deputies, said on France’s RTL radio. “The lives of the two girls was the most important thing.” [snip] Mr Selva belongs to National Alliance, a right-wing … Continue reading Coalition Patrners Giving In To Terrorists

From Holden: Talkradio News Service is a must-vist site for me each day. Not only do they provide me with gaggle transcripts (often before the White House deigns to post them) but they also give great audio clips. Today we have: Rep. John Lewis (D-CivilRightsHero) calling for Paul Wolfowitz’ resignation. (32 sec.) Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-KickAssGirrrl) calling for Paul Wolfowitz’ resignation. (39 sec.) Rep. Brian Baird (D-TellItBro) calling George Bush a liar. (1 min.) Continue reading Congressmen Sound Off!

From Holden: According to CBS News’ David Paul Kuhn. Check out the full story, Kuhn has done a good job of putting together the relevant quotes. Weapons of Mass Destruction Nation Building and the War in Iraq Iraq and the Sept. 11 Attacks The Sept. 11 Commission Free Trade Homeland Security Department Same-Sex Marriage Winning the War on Terror Campaign Finance Reform Gas Prices Continue reading Bush’s Top Ten Flip-Flops

From Holden: Henderson, Nevada, today: Building a democracy takes time. Think of how long it took us in our country, even though we were given the perfect document by our founders. It took almost 100 years after our founders declared all men are created equal to abolish slavery in America. And not until 84 years ago did American women get the right to vote. Continue reading Laura Bush Says We Will Be In Iraq for 80 to 100 Years

A. Continue reading Give ‘Em Hell, Kerry

From Holden: Fresh from deployment in Iraq, two young New York lawyers will never be the same: Nightmares haunt Jason N. Thelen four times a week. When he’s awake, he struggles with memory and concentration problems. Allen R. Vaught still deals with pain from where his back snapped in four places. He, too, battles memory problems. Both men — former Army captains who returned home recently from fighting in Iraq — not only share symptoms, they share the cause: They nearly were killed while together on a mission. [snip] In the long months they served in Iraq before the ambush, … Continue reading Channel the Young John Kerry

From Holden: Check out the New York Times online today. They have a special interactive feature on the debates, represented online by headshots of Bush and Kerry Look at thier photo of Bush and tell me if he doesn’t look cross-eyed. I realize it’s probably just the shadow obscuring Chimpy’s right eye that makes him look cross-eyed, but…Dayum! Continue reading Picture Perfect

Kay. Enough politics. Let’s talk about little kids swilling margaritas: “It is with great regret that I tell you that your child may have been exposed to alcohol today at lunch,” said the missive signed by Alexander Harvey IV, head of the private Alexandria Country Day School. It was tequila and margarita mix, to be precise, left in the refrigerator in a pitcher and mistaken for limeade by kitchen staff, who poured it into small cups and served it to children as a lunch treat, he wrote. [snip] Bill Paxson, a former U.S. congressman who has two children at the … Continue reading Your Daily Dose of Hee

From Holden: MoJo blog points us to an account of life at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center: Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 18,000 military personnel have passed through the hospital from what staff refer to as “down range”: Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those, nearly 16,000 have come from Iraq. Last month, 23 percent of those were casualties from combat, slightly higher than most months; the rest had either accidental or disease-related complaints. Thirteen have died at the hospital. Each day, an average of 30 to 35 patients arrive on flights from Iraq. The most on a single day was 168. … Continue reading Our Invisible Wounded

From Holden: The Bush campaign insisted in the 32-page preznitial debate agreement that there be no camera shots of one candidate while the other candidate is speaking. This is their attempt to keep the audience from seeing their trained monkey smirk. However, even Fox News is balking at that provision: “Because of journalistic standards, we’re not going to follow outside restrictions,” said Paul Schur, a spokesman for Fox News, which is manning the pool camera for the first debate Thursday in Miami, Florida. While your head is swimming from the concept of a Fox media whore using the words “journalistic” … Continue reading Fox Gots Ethics

From Holden: I wonder if John Kerry is preparing for tomorrow’s debate by reading the New York Times and Washington Post. Start with the Times, which contradicts both Bush and Allawi by documenting 2,368 insurgent attacks throuhgout Iraq over the past 30 days (including this nifty map suitable as a visual aid during the debate). Then there’s Walter Pincus and Robin Wright’s story in the Post featuring our brightest intelligence professionals discussing Bush’s mess in that unfortunate country: A growing number of career professionals within national security agencies believe the situation in Iraq is much worse, and the path to … Continue reading Debate Prep from Big Media

From Holden: The latest Investor’s Business Daily/Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll shows Kerry up 1 among registered voters, tied among likely voters. Registered Voters Bush 45% (-1) Kerry 46% (+3) Likely Voters Bush 44% (unchanged) Kerry 44% (+1) Continue reading Gallup My Ass

Here’s a comparison that took absolutely no thought at all: It appears, however, that young African American men from Washington, DC might be safer going to war than staying at home. According to this week’s story from Scripps Howard News Service, there are 140,000 troops in Iraq, and there have been 286 fatalities from all causes since the war began in March (about 24 weeks ago). That gives us an annualized death rate of 443 per 100,000. Only about half of these deaths (147) were in combat, for a combat death rate of 228 per 100,000. According to Center for … Continue reading Dishonest On Multiple Levels

From Holden: Italy is paying a $1 million ransom to terrorists/kidnappers in Iraq. Who will tell Georgie? Captors of two Italian hostages in Iraq have agreed to free the women, as early as this week, for a $1 million (550,000 pound) ransom, a Kuwaiti daily says in a report splashed over the front pages of Italian newspapers. In Rome, both the prime minister’s office and the foreign ministry said they had no immediate comment on the report, which also led all radio and television news bulletins. Al-Rai al-Aam, one of Kuwait’s leading dailies, quoted sources “very close to Islamic factions” … Continue reading Coalition Pawdnuh Smokin’ Buyin’ ‘Em Out

From Holden: Tonight I find myself reluctantly agreeing with Beautiful Mind: Last week her husband, the former president, criticized CBS news anchorman Dan Rather during a stop in Manchester. In Exeter, Barbara added to that list Peter Jennings, Katie Couric, and Judy Woodruff saying they were part of the reason she know longer watches television. However, you can probably here me *whoop* from where you sit as Chris Heinz reads my mind: Referring to Iraq and Afghanistan, Heinz said Bush has “started two wars in four years” and said neither is going well. Noting that there are many dictators who … Continue reading Family Time: ”It’s better to be a flip-flopper than a complete flop.”

From Holden: Tonight I find myself reluctantly agreeing with Beautiful Mind: Last week her husband, the former president, criticized CBS news anchorman Dan Rather during a stop in Manchester. In Exeter, Barbara added to that list Peter Jennings, Katie Couric, and Judy Woodruff saying they were part of the reason she know longer watches television. However, you can probably here me *whoop* from where you sit as Chris Heinz reads my mind: Referring to Iraq and Afghanistan, Heinz said Bush has “started two wars in four years” and said neither is going well. Noting that there are many dictators who … Continue reading Family Time: “It’s better to be a flip-flopper than a complete flop.”