He’s gonna be a Beatle before all this is over. A. Continue reading Happy Kerry Photo: Rock Star Edition

From Holden: Jeebus, let’s just slap the prefix “In-” on the name of Ashcroft’s little fiefdom: A federal judge ignored a Justice Department argument Tuesday and ruled that Michigan must count provisional ballots cast by voters who show up at the wrong polling precincts but are in the right city, township or village. U.S. District Judge David Lawson issued an injunction barring Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land from ordering election officials not to count provisional ballots unless voters are shown to have voted in the right precinct. [snip] Lawson agreed with Michigan Democrats, the NAACP and voter-rights groups … Continue reading A Voting Rights Victory

From Holden: Tom Tomorrow on the October Surprise: Today, the phrase October Surprise has come to mean something which is sprung upon the public in the waning days of the campaign–the surprise capture of Osama, a last minute presidential visit to Baghdad, that sort of thing. But–to quote Saint-Exupery completely out of context–sometimes the thing that is important is the thing that is not seen. An October Surprise could have just as much to do with what they try to keep from us as what they try to shove in our faces. Tom could not have been more right if … Continue reading October Surprise Revealed

From Holden: I hope that once John Kerry is president we find out the entire truth about Abu Ghraib and punish those responsible. Weeks before anyone published the now-infamous photographs of prisoner abuse in Iraq, Shereef Akeel, an Egyptian-American lawyer working outside Detroit, received a strange visitor. The caller, an Iraqi with Swedish citizenship, walked into Akeel’s office one day in March to tell a horrible story: He had been tortured by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. “Abu what?” Akeel asked. The visitor, whom Akeel will identify only as “Saleh,” explained to the Huntington Woods, Mich., lawyer that … Continue reading My Heart’s in the Icehouse, Come Hill or Come Valley

From Holden: This might turn into a daily thing for the next two weeks. Here’s my entry: Eatin’ peanut butter ‘s hard work. Continue reading Caption Contest

From Holden: Waiting for Bush to accept responsibility for his inability to manage the nation’s ability to protect itself from simple influenza? Don’t hold your breath, of course it’s somebody else’s fault: In a state flush with elderly voters concerned about the lack of flu vaccine, President Bush on Tuesday sought to allay fears about shortages that he says were caused by a “major manufacturing defect” but Democrats link to incompetence. “I know there are some here who are worried about the flu season,” Bush told supporters in a stadium at a baseball training camp. “I want to assure them … Continue reading Don’t Blame Me, I’m Just the Preznit

From Holden: If you’re not familiar with John Prine then that headline just whizzed by your ears. In my never-ending* search for my Bush Boom I notice today that Consumer Prices are up (and although the article below calls the increase “modest” the increase in the CPI is double we saw in August) and housing starts are down. Neither of these developments are conducive to the discovery of my Bush Boom. Consumer prices rose by a modest 0.2 percent in September as a decline in prices for new cars and airline fares helped to temper a rise in costs for … Continue reading Come Back To Us, Barbara Lewis Hare Bush Boom Beauregard

There goes that big bad liberal media again, scaring Republicans away. A group of Cal Young Middle School students were supposed to get a taste of political spin from both the right and the left, but instead they got no spin at all after a representative of the Republican Party backed out of an assembly at the last minute Thursday. The party pulled the plug on the appearance after learning that a newspaper reporter would be present, school officials said. [snip] Ron Herbison, the Eugene field coordinator for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, declined to comment on the decision to bow … Continue reading Little Wuss, Little Wuss

From Holden: Slate has Kerry pulling away in the Electoral College, 299 to Bush’s measley 239. They’re crediting Kerry with both Florida and Ohio. Continue reading More Electoral College Fun

From Holden: Bill O’Reilly has cancelled his promotional tour for his new book, O’Reilly Factor for Kids. Millions of children around the country will be forced to learn how to yell “Shut-up!” at their playmates all by themselves. Fox News Channel’s star host Bill O’Reilly has canceled a series of TV interviews to promote his new children’s book days after a former producer accused him in a lawsuit of sexual harassment, his publisher said on Monday. The normally outspoken conservative commentator scrapped appearances that had been scheduled for Friday on ABC’s “The View” and HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” … Continue reading What About the Children?

From Holden: Was George Bush thrown out of the Air National Guard because he was unfit to serve? His lips say no-no, but his discharge papers say yes-yes. Continue reading ”Unfit to Serve”

From Holden: Was George Bush thrown out of the Air National Guard because he was unfit to serve? His lips say no-no, but his discharge papers say yes-yes. Continue reading “Unfit to Serve”

From Holden: The new Reuters/Zogby Tracking Poll is out, and it still shows Bush and Kerry tied 45-45. Of more importance than the national horserace is the Electoral College, and the current Electoral College Predictor has Kerry at 284 and Bush at 247, with 270 to win. Looks good. Continue reading Zogby Still Showing a Dead Heat

From Holden: I don’t blog in the evenings much, so I’m probably the last one on the Internets to comment on the latest CBS News/NY Times Poll. But an incumbent polling even with his competitor who also is recording his poorest job approval ratings ever is headed for defeat. Registered Voters Bush 46 Kerry 46 Likely Voters Bush 47 Kerry 46 3-way Registered Voters Bush 45 Kerry 45 Nader 2 3-way Likely Voters Bush 47 Kerry 45 Nader 2 Bush Job Approval Disapprove 44 Rigth Track/Wrong Track Wrong Track 59 (I hear the numbers are better in Iraq.) Bush Viewed … Continue reading CBS News/NY Times Poll

From Holden: Forget what the Bush campaign says, folks in the military are saying that we will have a specialist draft of health workers: The Selective Service has been updating its contingency plans for a draft of doctors, nurses and other health care workers in case of a national emergency that overwhelms the military’s medical corps. In a confidential report this summer, a contractor hired by the agency described how such a draft might work, how to secure compliance and how to mold public opinion and communicate with health care professionals, whose lives could be disrupted. On the one hand, … Continue reading Medical Workers Feeling a Draft

After chewing off my last fingernail and smoking an unheard-of third cigarette in the last hour, it struck me that these last couple of weeks are going to be kind of nerve-wracking. Since I love all of you so dearly, I thought I’d put together a collection of suggestions to help you all get through the next 14 days without losing your minds. For the first hour or so I was working on this post, it consisted of the words “Jose” and “Cuervo,” but not all of you approve of chemical coping skills, so I tried to branch out a … Continue reading Survival Tips: The Final Two Weeks

’cause he’s not afraid of falling down. A. Continue reading Happy Kerry Photo: Our Candidate Takes The Stairs

From Holden: Little Scottie, as the preznit’s press secretary, really should be reading newspaper accounts of what is happening to our men and women in Iraq. First, the news: During a press conference Sunday, [ Brig. Gen. James] Chambers said the Army will study protective measures for supply vehicles and add steel plating if necessary. Some of the soldiers told family members they refused the assignment because they lacked proper equipment and protection. Chambers said the command will “assess armor” on supply vehicles, which are often subject to insurgent attack, and add steel plating if necessary. [snip] Chambers has since … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Oliver Willis looks for My Bush Boom and comes up empty. Continue reading Whatchu talkin’ ’bout?

From Holden: Mine: “You colored folks just stay home.” Continue reading Caption Contest

From Holden: Attaturk points us towards this story about the producer of the anti-Kerry hit-piece Stolen Honor, who is being sued for libel. A Vietnam veteran shown in a documentary criticizing Sen. John Kerry (news – web sites)’s anti-war activities filed a libel lawsuit against the movie’s producer Monday, saying the film falsely calls the veteran a fraud and a liar. Kenneth J. Campbell, now a professor at the University of Delaware, said in the suit that “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” combines footage of him appearing at a 1971 war protest with narration that claims that many of … Continue reading Just Who Stole Whose Honor?

From Holden: I’m paraphrasing, of course: U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Friday said increased oil prices already had made a “notable” impact on U.S. gross domestic product. “So far this year, the rise in the value of imported oil — essentially a tax on U.S. residents — has amounted to about 3/4 percent of GDP,” said Greenspan. Continue reading Greenspan Sez Bush’s Mismanagement of Energy Issues Is a Tax Increase

From Holden: These two daily tracking polls also agree that John Kerry owns all the momentum in the race. Zogby: Bush 45 (-1) Kerry 45 (+1) Rasmussen: Bush 47.5 (-1) Kerry 47.3 (+0.9) Continue reading Zogby and Rasmussen Agree on Dead Heat

From Holden: The United States Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to review its decision approving Tom DeLay’s illegal redistricting of Texas’ House delegation. In effect the Court is asking them to come back with a better decision. Why not reject the lower court’s ruling out of hand? What, are you crazy? We’ve got to install those Republicans in their illegally gerrymandered seats first. The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a lower court to reconsider a Texas congressional map that could give Republicans six more seats in Congress in upcoming elections and help the GOP protect its majority. The … Continue reading A Small Measure of Justice

From Holden: Republican SC Senate candidate Jim DeMint hates gays and unmarried pregnant women who live with their boyfrineds. I understnad he has a rather limited Christmas list. MR. RUSSERT: In a previous debate, Mr. DeMint, you were asked a question, and this was your answer about teaching in South Carolina. (Videotape, S. Carolina Educational TV Debate, October 3, 2004): REP. DeMINT: If a person is a practicing homosexual, they should not be teaching in our schools. (End videotape) MR. RUSSERT: Why not? REP. DeMINT: Well, I apologize for that remark, because I really regret distracting from the main issues … Continue reading Jim DeMint: Mary Cheney Not Fit to Teach School

Americablog lays out the choice for Catholics in this election: Catholic leaders tell me that if I support, as Dowd puts it, “the Catholic candidate and one-time Boston altar boy who carries a rosary and a Bible with him on the trail” I’m not a Catholic. If I support the war-mongering liar who supports executing mentally-ill 16-year-olds and guts funding for things like domestic violence prevention and welfare, I’m suddenly a good Catholic again. I’m tempted to caution that it’s not all Catholic leaders, but really, at this point, if you don’t repudiate this kind of nonsense you become complicit … Continue reading Department of Pretty Much, Yeah

From Holden: Ken “I’m Only A Bit Gay” Mehlman on Meet the Press yesterday: MR. MEHLMAN: Staying the course in Iraq means we do what it takes in order to have victory. It means we take the battle… MR. RUSSERT: And what is victory? MR. MEHLMAN: Victory means that an–Iraqi elections occur in January or early next year. It means Iraqi sovereignty continues. It means what’s happening today, which is the troops–the Iraqi troops that Americans trained in Samarra and other places… Continue reading Bush Campaign Flip-Flops on Iraqi Elections

From Holden: Georgie has succussfully achieved one of his goals for Iraq: Iraq’s most wanted militant has pledged his loyalty to Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, according to a message posted Sunday on Islamist Web sites. Continue reading Next Up For Bush: Producing WMD’s for Saddam

From Holden: Am I the only one who missed last Friday’s installment of the Bush military records document dump? Weeks after Texas National Guard officials signed an oath swearing they had turned over all of President Bush’s military records, independent examiners found more than two dozen pages of previously unreleased documents about Bush. The two retired Army lawyers went through Texas files under an agreement between the Texas Guard and The Associated Press, which sued to gain access to the files. The 31 pages of documents turned over to AP on Thursday include orders for high-altitude training in 1972, less … Continue reading Bush’s Guard Records Full of Shit

From Holden: It comes as no surprise that the preznit lies about supporting our troops and providing our military leaders in Iraq with everything they need. The former top U.S. commander in Iraq complained last winter to the Pentagon that a poor supply situation was threatening the Army’s ability to fight, The Washington Post reported on its Web site on Sunday. Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez wrote in a letter to top Army officials that the lack of key spare parts for tanks, helicopters and other systems was such a severe problem that “I cannot continue to support sustained combat … Continue reading This Just In: George Bush is a Liar