Nutjobs Ranting About Politics.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I can swear with certainty bilmore was not within 50 yards of a book store this AM.

bilmore's secretary

I always expected the relationship was something like that, Hank.

But can you tell us if he was there, say, yesterday?

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I can swear with certainty bilmore was not within 50 yards of a book store this AM.

bilmore's secretary

bilmore lied!

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I can swear with certainty bilmore was not within 50 yards of a book store this AM.

bilmore's secretary

How does she know? Was she on the sidewalk with him?

Seems to be seared in his memory...

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I can swear with certainty bilmore was not within 50 yards of a book store this AM.

bilmore's secretary

Partially correct. She can certainly swear with certainty.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
bilmore lied!

I never said I was actually IN a bookstore. I had traveled CLOSE TO several bookstores as I was walking.

Okay, I wasn't walking. Big deal.

"This morning"? I must have confused my dates. Those of us who have served our country bravely and strongly in Viet Nam and Cambodia and China and Laos and . . . those other bad places . . . sometimes confuse our dates. But by adhering to the patriotic, brave, selfless principles that led us to serve our country bravely and strongly in the Phillipines, Sumatra, and Thailand, we can work past those dates and bring the American People And The Children into a better life.

Oh, and I never said anything about books. Ty brought that up, and he was secretly financed by Atticus to do that.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by bilmore
It's Kerry's main, and sole, selling point. "What will you do about unemployment?" "If elected, I will . . . Hey! I was in Viet Nam!"

If he would shut up about it, and tell us what he will do as president, we might be able to move on.

Not responding just to you on this, Bilmore, but posts like this were something I've devoted some more thought to.

It's positions like this one (and ones that Slave and Club posted a while back that I can't find at the moment) which essentially posit that dwelling on Swiftboats and Cambodia and God-knows-what-else we'll hear about between now and November is entirely justified because Kerry's fucking fault. He's the one who made it his front-and-center reason for his candidacy, not the GOPers, and therefore, we have the justification, nay the solemn obligation, to open the box and toss around whatever we can find inside, from whoever wants to talk about it -- because really, Kerry's given us nothing else to examine, right?

Well, no.

Ty already responded to the substance -- that there's loads of substance on the other issues out there.

But beyond that, this is exactly where Bush has to fight the battle. Polls show that everytime he talks about Homeland Security, fighting Terrorism, and Defeating EvilDoers (with a sprinkling of Spreading Democracy, Hope and Light Around the World) his poll numbers go up. Anytime he talks about anything else, they go down. That's part of the reason why his filtered campaign stops are so devoted to those topics.*

What's more, even if this issue is where we choose to have the discussion, it's telling that the Bushies have chosen this particular tack.

Seems that they could attack Kerry on the Natl Security/Terror issue by saying, who cares? Kerry was a Lieutenant who served 4 months in a war that happened over 30 years ago. That's wonderful, but says absolutely nothing about whether he'd be a good CiC. Instead, stick with us! We've got 3 years of experience with it now, and look at our record! We've prosecuted two wars, and we know what we're doing.

Instead, that the GOP is attacking Kerry's VN record as as proof that he's a lying, preening, cowardly, baby-killer sack of shit tells me that they have little confidence in their record, and feel enormously threatened that they can't say (as they have in past elections) that the Democratic candidate cowers in fear when presented with national security crises or the prospect of sending the military into battle.

Gattigap

*Bilmore, I'd be curious to hear if his MN stop resembled at all other descriptions that are out there.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Not responding just to you on this, Bilmore, but posts like this were something I've devoted some more thought to.

It's positions like this one (and ones that Slave and Club posted a while back that I can't find at the moment) which essentially posit that dwelling on Swiftboats and Cambodia and God-knows-what-else we'll hear about between now and November is entirely justified because Kerry's fucking fault. He's the one who made it his front-and-center reason for his candidacy, not the GOPers, and therefore, we have the justification, nay the solemn obligation, to open the box and toss around whatever we can find inside, from whoever wants to talk about it -- because really, Kerry's given us nothing else to examine, right?

Well, no.

Ty already responded to the substance -- that there's loads of substance on the other issues out there.

But beyond that, this is exactly where Bush has to fight the battle. Polls show that everytime he talks about Homeland Security, fighting Terrorism, and Defeating EvilDoers (with a sprinkling of Spreading Democracy, Hope and Light Around the World) his poll numbers go up. Anytime he talks about anything else, they go down. That's part of the reason why his filtered campaign stops are so devoted to those topics.*

What's more, even if this issue is where we choose to have the discussion, it's telling that the Bushies have chosen this particular tack.

Seems that they could attack Kerry on the Natl Security/Terror issue by saying, who cares? Kerry was a Lieutenant who served 4 months in a war that happened over 30 years ago. That's wonderful, but says absolutely nothing about whether he'd be a good CiC. Instead, stick with us! We've got 3 years of experience with it now, and look at our record! We've prosecuted two wars, and we know what we're doing.

Instead, that the GOP is attacking Kerry's VN record as as proof that he's a lying, preening, cowardly, baby-killer sack of shit tells me that they have little confidence in their record, and feel enormously threatened that they can't say (as they have in past elections) that the Democratic candidate cowers in fear when presented with national security crises or the prospect of sending the military into battle.

Gattigap

*Bilmore, I'd be curious to hear if his MN stop resembled at all other descriptions that are out there.

That's a good theory, except that Bush (a) has repeatedly commended Kerry for his service, (b) disavowed all 527 groups, and (c) has not commented on Swiftboatgate, and (d) despite Kerry's false accusations, is not affiliated in anyway with the Switftees.

[sgtclub]

She just cracks me up. For those of you that don't see the humor in this, I feel sorry for you:

The problem with a suck-up press for Democrats is that with no adversary press to call them on it, Democrats develop wilder and wilder Walter Mitty fantasy lives until finally one day, when they are at the zenith of their political careers, someone notices that they're not Irish, they didn't deserve their war medals, 254 swiftboat veterans hate them, and they didn't spend Christmas Eve, 1968, in Cambodia. (Or that they are white-trash serial molesters and unrepentant rapists who somehow talked their way into an Arkansas governorship.)

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Exploiting Kerry's faux pas in ordering a cheesesteak with Swiss cheese, Bush went to Philadelphia a few days ago and told an approving crowd that he likes his cheesesteaks with Cheez Whiz:

• You know, this is my 32nd visit to your state since I've been president. A lot of people wonder why I'm coming so much. It ought to be obvious to you; I like my cheese steak Wiz with [i.e., with Cheez Whiz and onions].

Turns out he was lying:

• In contrast to the bigfoots of the national press, Kathleen E. Carey of The [Delaware County, Pa.] Daily Times went beyond mere stenography and did a little leg work on the issue, as well she should. For, while it's certainly not in the top 100 critical campaign issues this election year, it's safe to say that the proper construction of a Philadelphia cheesesteak matters more to Daily Times readers than it does to a national audience.
  
  And the intrepid Carey came up with her own expose. She reported that Bush actually "prefers his steak absent of the usual Cheez Whiz and provolone, accompanied only by cheese of the American variety," information that she obtained from her own Deep Throat, one Caeser Barnabei, the owner of the well-known cheesesteak shop, Jim's Place. Barnabei, who has fed the Bush camp on previous swings through Pennsylvania and provided "70 to 80 hoagies" for the Bush campaign yesterday, confided to Carey that "the Jim's Special is altered to whet the 'W' appetite."
  
  In Philadelphia, the classic cheesesteak recipe is hot beef strips and fried onions dripping with grease, slathered with Cheez Whiz straight from the squeeze bottle, all atop white bread. Solemnly, Carey reported her devastating conclusion: "The commander-in-chief fooled thousands Tuesday to believe he eats like the epicureans here."

More here and here. It just shows that when you were educated at Andover and Yale and summered in Kennebunkport, sometimes you have to take some liberties to pretend to be one of the people.

Who cares? I know Slave cares, deeply, and I post this for him.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by sgtclub
She just cracks me up. For those of you that don't see the humor in this, I feel sorry for you:

I guess so, maybe, sorta in the way that bumfights or the FB two days ago are funny.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Exploiting Kerry's faux pas in ordering a cheesesteak with Swiss cheese, Bush went to Philadelphia a few days ago and told an approving crowd that he likes his cheesesteaks with Cheez Whiz:

Not touching upon the substance of your post, but just curious:

Do people really consider Cheez Whiz to be a good thing on a sandwich?

(I mean, just, yuk, ya know?

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by sgtclub
That's a good theory, except that Bush (a) has repeatedly commended Kerry for his service, (b) disavowed all 527 groups, and (c) has not commented on Swiftboatgate, and (d) despite Kerry's false accusations, is not affiliated in anyway with the Switftees.

I like how the responses have been framed too. Directly, Bush said he hasn't seen the ads, but he'd like to see work done on these type of soft money groups. I don't even remember which side is for the ban, but the evenhanded tone of his remark was that hey, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right Democrats?

Indirectly, Fox News commentators were saying where was Kerry for the Moveon ads? How about for that Fahrenheit movie? Where has he been for the last two years while Democratic fringe groups used all kinds of ugly words to compare Bush to Ghengis Khan? Exactly, Moore was invited to sit with Carter at the flippin convention. Its better for Bush not to even get involved and let others make these comparisons for him, and he comes across looking great by not responding to Kerry's attack. Kerry looks shrill and desperate. Incidentally, under pressure of a different type but a similar level, Richard Daley in Chicago is looking sort of shrill and desperate under a similar level of pressure from numerous scandals.

Hello

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by sgtclub
She just cracks me up. For those of you that don't see the humor in this, I feel sorry for you:

Funny in an Andrew Dice Clay kind of way, perhaps. Entirely useless as a political pundit.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by sgtclub
That's a good theory, except that Bush (a) has repeatedly commended Kerry for his service, (b) disavowed all 527 groups, and (c) has not commented on Swiftboatgate, and (d) despite Kerry's false accusations, is not affiliated in anyway with the Switftees.

Not "affiliated in any way," huh? Certainly he's"connected" to them in a number of ways, but you've picked up the trick to this smear game -- pick your words very carefully. (If you don't, you can get nailed, even if you're a Colter-esque hottie.) This is why the Swift Vets (and "Merrie Spaeth, a powerful public relations executive who has helped coordinate the efforts of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth") have to be careful, like this:

• When asked if she had ever visited the White House during Mr. Bush's tenure, Ms. Spaeth initially said that she had been there only once, in 2002, when Kenneth Starr gave her a personal tour. But this week Ms. Spaeth acknowledged that she had spent an hour in the Old Executive Office Building, part of the White House complex, in the spring of 2003, giving Mr. Bush's chief economic adviser, Stephen Friedman, public speaking advice. Asked if it was possible that she had worked with other administration officials, Ms. Spaeth said, "The answer is 'no,' unless you refresh my memory.''

The President is careful, too. Bush campaign stops feature "Ask the President" town hall meetings where selected supporters get a turn with the mike. This is how Bush takes the high road:

• THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.
  
  Q On behalf of Vietnam veterans -- and I served six tours over there -- we do support the President. I only have one concern, and that's on the Purple Heart, and that is, is that there are over 200,000 Vietnam vets that died from Agent Orange and were never -- no Purple Heart has ever been awarded to a Vietnam veteran because of Agent Orange because it's never been changed in the regulations. Yet, we've got a candidate for President out here with two self-inflicted scratches, and I take that as an insult. (Applause.)
  
  THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Six tours? Whew. That's a lot of tours.
  
  Let's see, who've we got here? You got a question?

You're right. He certainly didn't comment on the accusations against Kerry there. That's some real brave leadership he showed. Jesus would have done something like that, right?

Maybe his spokesman is willing to say a little more:

• Q Let me ask it this way: The President has said and believes that John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam, right?
  
  MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he's made that very clear. We've made it very clear that we will not make his -- will never raise questions about his service. We haven't, and we won't.
  
  Q This advertisement raises questions about his service, and in fact concludes that he served dishonorably. So the President thinks this ad is false, right?
  
  MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the issue here is these unregulated soft money groups that exist. The campaign finance reforms were passed in order to get rid of this kind of activity. Yet there is a loophole in the law, and the FEC has refused to address it. We think that all of this activity should be stopped.

Nope. Gee, club, I would think that someone with your dedication to the First Amendment would be a little concerned when the President of the United States is suggesting that political speech "should be stopped." I guess it's OK with you so long as it's part of this sort of smear and dodge, huh? Kerry saying that book stores should choose not sell lies is "book banning" to you, but the government says that political speech "should be stopped" and you're praising him for it.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by bilmore
Not touching upon the substance of your post, but just curious:

Do people really consider Cheez Whiz to be a good thing on a sandwich?

(I mean, just, yuk, ya know?

I actually don't consider Cheez Whiz to be food. Period. Although the Wonk Monster loves it on broccoli. I would disown him, but he also loves barbecue and my prosciutto and asparagus risotto.