WTF is going on here?
 

If you want to nail Novak to the wall, you've got to get the info from some other source. He's not testifying without getting immunity in exchange for waiving his 5th Amendment rights, even if you get past the 1st Amendment argument. If the prosecutor gets into an argument with a third party over a protection of sources privilege, the consequence of being overturned on appeal isn't that Novak walks free.

No idea why the media at issue don't include the Wash Times and FNC, although it could be because they find it cheaper to reprint RNC press releases than hire actual journalists.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

David Broder notwithstanding, there's no inherent virtue in bipartisanship. As fringey and bilmore agree, sometimes it means that legislators get together to dole out pork for everyone.

I believe, though, that when the country is at war, it falls to those in power to put the national interests ahead of party interests. I take it you and the GOP disagree, and care more about getting Republicans elected.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

Yes, the "pandering-to-the-Dean-base-by-voting-against-the-87-mil" was definitely in the national interest.


My general belief is that Republicans get elected because we care more about the national interest.

Not sure I'm picking up the issue that we're purportedly "selling out" on.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

But didn't you see Moore was at the Convention?

TM

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

Which one?

The one where he pretended to be a journalist?

Or the one where he got the VIP suite and got to sit with Fmr President Carter and P Diddy?

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

As I recall, Biden is the guy conservatives quote to prove that Kerry was pandering to Dean voters, and Biden went on to point out that there was no question that the money would be appropriated. In contrast, Bush gladly delayed creating the Dept. of Homeland Security in order to have a political issue, and -- per the post I quoted above -- Republicans are about to forego compromise legislation (proposed, initially, by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission) in favor of a House bill that they can use as a political weapon. The point of the exercise is to try to get Democrats to vote against the bill just before the election. The House bill omits most of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

Doesn't this work both ways? Does Kerry have an obligation to limit statements that encourage terrorist attacks on troops and Iraqis by indicating that difficulties will cause us to back down? Or, is his belief in the correctnes of his position sufficient cause for him to continue? If so, why doesn't the same hold true for Bush?

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

Are you going to put this in your column of witty, biting comebacks? Because now you sound like a low-rent bilmore. And that ain't good.

TM

PS - P Diddy? Wtf does that have to do with anyfuckingthing?

There was a debate????
 

No. I'm saying people don't agree because your arguments usually aren't very good.

Although you and I do share one trait - when beaten handily, we'll be revert to hyperbole. When that doesn't work, we'll get personal. When that fails, we'll argue past the opponent.

We have to get a drink sometime. We're almost soulmates in our shared self-righteous belief that we're always right.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

You're right. "Bring it on," would be the more responsible position.

TM

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

If Kerry were to actually say something that encourages a terrorist attack, I would have a real problem with that. I have no doubt that some of you guys actually believe that -- notwithstanding that we live in a democracy -- it is the duty of the rest of the country to keep quiet until the troops come home, but since most of the Republican leadership didn't see it that way when -- for example -- our troops were in harm's way in Albania and Serbia, I see things cynically.

If you really think, for example, that Kerry hurt our interests by criticizing Allawi as a puppet, then you also need to agree that Bush hurt our interests (first) by bringing Allawi to the United States to support his re-election campaign -- something that did nothing for Allawi in Iraq except make him look like a puppet -- and compounded the problem by having a campaign worker write Allawi's speeches for him. Once Bush left the barn door open, it was hardly wrong of Kerry to point it out.

Belief in the correctness of a position alone certainly doesn't make it right, as Dick Cheney did his best to illustrate for us on Tuesday.

There was a debate????
 

I don't think you're capable of recognizing a good argument if it told you to put your money where your mouth is by showing your wife's tits.

Wrong. I don't wait til I'm beaten to revert to getting personal. But I like this approach. "You and me, we suck." It's quite a put-down, lumping me in with you. You'll excuse me, though, if I resist.

I'll join you for a drink if you never use the word "soulmate" around me again.

TM

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

I like Dennis Miller. One of his latest lines on why he likes Bush - "He wakes up in the morning, stretches, scratches his balls, and says "let's go kill some f*@cking terrorists!" (The Tonight Show audience went nuts clapping.)

Yeah, "Bring it on" is a more responsible position, in my mind.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

As much as the threatened veto by W if the bill didn't include his tax cuts.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

"Off the record, he did it because of Howard Dean. On the record, he has an elaborate explanation," — a Kerry adviser to Philip Gourevitch, "Damage Control," The New Yorker, 7/26/04

Yes, and Rome was built in a day. Gimme a break.


Many people on both sides of the aisle have criticized many of the Commission's proposals. I've read the report myself and think some of the ideas are a big mistake. Perhaps they feel similarly.

Lemme guess. Kerry would rubberstamp the Commission's findings overnight. Until he wouldn't.

Weapons Inspectors Vindicate Bush on WMD!!! . . .
 

You've got me wrong. I don't disrespect any politician for standing on principle. Dean and McCain have both admitted they could have gone further had they towed the party line, but they couldn't bring themselves to do so. That is laudable.

Weapons Inspectors Vindicate Bush on WMD!!! . . .
 

I like McCain because he doesn't buy into the right wing social bs- but he'll never be nominated because he doesn't buy into the right wing social bs. It is a conundrum.

Mc Cain as the nominee in 2000 there wouldn't have been a close race, and there'd be no race now. Que sera sera....

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

I bet you wouldn't be so reckless if you or your son were in combat with an enemy that would use such a dare as recruiting tool. And I'm pretty sure you would be pretty pissed off if you your son was in the line of fire and your Commander in Chief said, "Bring it on!" from the comfort of his ranch while watching the casualties on the T.V., muttering, "Sure looks like hard work," between gasps for air as he chokes on a pretzel.

TM

There was a debate????
 

1. I enjoy them very much. They are spectacular. And thanks for reminding me.

2. Dude, I'm being objective here. Look back through all the boards. There are two people who are the most insane argument-prone nuts on these boards. The conclusion is all but a dead lock winner on summary judgment.

3. But I felt a real connection, like Zell and W.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

That's a fine quote, and I don't doubt that it's true. My point, though, was that Kerry "pandered" with a vote that didn't affect the ultimate outcome. BFD. (Which only goes to show you how easily those Dean voters could be duped. Hell, they also thought Dean was a lefty.)

You've got to be kidding me. First, Bush opposed Lieberman's original proposal. Then, when he reversed on that, he held on the bill in order to roll back civil-service protections. The result was to delay passage by months.

Or maybe you just don't think that what the Dept. of Homeland Security does is all that important.

The perfect is the enemy of the good. I'm sure I wouldn't agree with the Commission's proposals, either, and I suspect that the same is true for most of the Commissioner's. With the many bureaucratic interests opposed to the changes, you have to compromise to get something done. Unless you don't care about getting something done, and would rather beat up on the Democrats to get re-elected.

And nice line about Kerry. He's been absolutely consistent in supporting the Commission's findings -- unlike your guy, who keeps changing his tune on different pieces of it.

There was a debate????
 

Yep. If you say so.

TM

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

I didn't see that -- maybe I'll watch Leno when I'm in the AARP demographic, too -- but James Wolcott did:

• I watched Jay Leno, whose first guest was Dennis Miller, whose soul has sprouted tumors. He belted out the name of Bush's campaign website, and said he was voting for the guy because Bush, man, he begins each day with one thing on his mind. He hops outta bed, "his two feet hit the floor, he scratches his balls, and says, 'Let's kill some fuckin' terrorists.'" Dennis Miller not only sounds like Michael Savage, he's beginning to look like him too, an oily stain possessing the power of speech.

Ouch.

There was a debate????
 

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, you say something that makes me want to hug you so you can feel my rack. This is one of those times.

There was a debate????
 

Hee hee hee . . . .

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

I know. I saw you quoting the guy who said this:

"In the closing statement of the vice presidential debate, Dick Cheney unveiled the terrifying prospect of terrorists smuggling nuclear weapons into major American cities inside Meals on Wheels wagons."

and I said "ouch". Can't be pleasant for you.

There was a debate????
 

Hey! I hate Tom DeLay too!

S_A_M

Weapons Inspectors Vindicate Bush on WMD!!! . . .
 

I love John McCain. I wanted him to kill W so bad in 2000 and was dejected when they annoited Alfred E. the New Prince. But selah, it was destiny. Who are the decent to stand in the way of the Bush destiny?

I wonder, if you removed the economic issues and the war from the equation, and made this election just about the social issues, what the electoral map would look like. My guess is it would be almost exclusively blue, and substantively would show a small very angry minority of people versus 90% of the country. The prime difference between the two groups would be fear. One group would be afraid of the future, the other would have a "lets deal with the troubles progress brings as they arise" approach.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

More Wolcott:

Department of Clarification
Posted by James Wolcott
The allusion in "Tweet Smell of Success" to "Reichian" refers not to Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, but Wilhelm Reich, renegade psychotherapist and founder of the Orgone Institute, who in his 1948 book Listlen, Little Man! addressed the reader:

"You let the powerful demand power 'for the little man.' But you yourself are silent. You provide powerful men with more power or choose weak, malignant men to represent you. And you discover too late you are always the dupe."

Not a bad description of Bush's "base."

10.01.04 7:52PM · LINK · Pings (0)

http://www.jameswolcott.com/

There was a debate????
 

Even those who support DeLay don't like him. They merely recognize the necessity of having him around. He's a dumb second rate version of Newt. When his usefulness passes, he'll be "disposed of" by the party like Newt. Unfortunately, in polirics, hit men don't get "put down" in abandoned warehouse like their mafia namesakes. Tom will "retire" to a fat lobbying gig and probably wind up dying in some sordid affair with a teenager's DNA crusted all over his lips.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

Why's that? Cheney scaring the shit out of us isn't pleasant, I agree, but it's what the man does. Opponents, pundits, independents, supporters -- doesn't matter who they are, what the venue is, or what the topic is. Cheney's role is to evoke images of a big, fiery, painful, excruciating death. If you vote for Kerry.

As an aside, TDS did a bit on Cheney a while back where they quoted part of his stump speech to an audience of his supporters. Something like "The next time we get hit, it is likely that the death toll will not be in the thousands, but in the hundreds of thousands."

Stewart punch line: "The VP then said, 'OK, who wants cake?'"

Smart girl.
 

I never took much notice of her, but I've seen her in several movies recently (for some reason several have been on tv lately --I certainly don't want to leave the impression that I actually get to watch movies in a movie theater), and I think she's gorgeous.

(Sorry, this is more of an FB comment -- worlds colliding!)

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

If I heard "little man" and Reich in the same sentence, I'd assume they were talking about Robert Reich. He may be the only guest ever that Jon Stewart loomed over.

etfs

Smart girl.
 

I take it Ashcroft doesn't like Portman.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

I think he's a riot. Wolcott, that is.

Coming soon to an election near you.
 

That he is. I try not to miss him.

But I suspect we take different things away from the experience.

There was a debate????
 

Yeah, the one who wnats to forgo his tax cut because we as a nation can't afford to give a tax cut to everybody, so he would limit it to those making less than $200,000 a year.

Where's Gramm-Rudman?
 

The new rules on tax shelters aren't really PAYGO because they've been in effect administratively for a couple years now. Also, they only pay for a small fraction of the real cost of the bill. It's called revenue neutral because the cuts are supposed to sunset in a couple years. Just like the tax cuts in the Bush tax bill that were supposed to sunset this year, but were extended by Congress earlier this week.

Weapons Inspectors Vindicate Bush on WMD!!! . . .
 

But yesterday you were just saying... [something about how people can't run like this and complain that they didn't win later... in this case, Dean didn't complain but many of his doe-eyed supporters do]. Any case, on a personal level, I like the guy.

Arms For Peace
 

I can't believe I missed the Pakistan arms show this year. Why did it have to be the same weekend as ACL? 100 live bands or Interaction, Exposure, Mobility, and Live Firing? It's such a difficult choice.

http://www.ideaspakistan.com/

eta This stuff is great:

Why Pakistan?

Increasing Opportunities:

In the rapidly changing geopolitical scenario, IDEAS has taken a unique role in bringing together friendly countries from almost all corners of the globe, ranging from France to Brunei. Also, Pakistan's close relationship with countries in the European, African, Middle East, Central Asian and Far Eastern regions, together with its active peace keeping role through the involvement of its national armed forces, plays an important role in establishing its importance in the global community.

Asia has emerged as the largest market for defence products during the last decade with more than 60% share of the global defence trade and over 27% increase in military related expenditures. Middle East dominates as the biggest foreign arms importing region with over 17% increase during the past few years.

. . .

Integrating the Defence Manufacturing Industry:

Ever since the introduction of Pakistan's defence industry in IDEAS 2000, Pakistan's defence exports have doubled, providing an even greater opportunity for the international companies to render support and services, leading to the manufacture of finished products.

Continuing with the results achieved through IDEAS, Pakistan's export target for the year 2003-04 is US$ 147 million, which is expected to further rise to the level of at least US$ 500 million (i.e., 1% of the US$ 50 billion global arms market) during the next five years.


Grim article on the arms show - http://www.slate.com/id/2107610/

There was a debate????
 

The same one who wants to make sure that working people pay more in taxes so that the [insert hyperbole here]?