Nutjobs Ranting About Politics.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by bilmore
Just in case the forgeries aren't enough to sustain conversation for two months:

-------------------------

Ben Barnes: Another Hoax?

Actually, I'm sure that Ben Barnes' claim of having interceded to place President Bush in the Texas Air National Guard as a favor to his family is a hoax. What I'm not sure about is whether this report is correct:

A woman alleging herself to be none other than Amy Barnes, daughter of fromer Lt Gov Ben Barnes called into a Texas radio program being hosted by well-known host Monica Crowley.
The woman, stating that her politics differed greatly from her Fathers, stated that he informed her months ago that he was going to "go public" with this story, known to be false. She claims that he has acknowledged the untruthfulness of this story to her over the years. She claims that there are two motivations for his doing this. One, to gain publicity for a book he is writing and, 2 the desperation of the Kerry campaign at this moment in time. Apparently Barnes offered to carry this tainted water if it appeared necessary in the general election to help secure a Kerry victory.

I cannot personally verify the woman's identity, although Barnes does indeed have a daughter Amy. Also, WABC radio has replayed the phone-in interview twice tonight in drive time radio host Mark Levin's program.

------------------------------------------

(From Powerline , which, you should all note, broke the forgery story, and is powered by several quite brilliant Minnesota lawyers.)

Barnes has been telling the same story for years, and Bush has previously thanked him for it. Five years ago, Barnes testified that it wasn't a member of Bush's family who asked him to help young W. out, but a family friend (Sid Adger). W. was sohappy that "Governor Bush wrote Barnes a note thanking him for his candor in acknowledging that Barnes received no call from any member of the Bush family.'' Cite.

All of a sudden, he's lying! Imagine that!

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
Kevin Drum has done a fairly good job of keeping up with the major developments.

But unlike Reynolds, Drum isn't giving you great stuff like this:



One of the memos, typed in standard Microsoft Word.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
But unlike Reynolds, Drum isn't giving you great stuff like this:



One of the memos, typed in standard Microsoft Word.

If anyone really cares about what Bush was doing -- or not doing at that time -- this should pretty much seal the deal:

• A senior CBS official, who asked not to be named because CBS managers did not want to go beyond their official statement, named one of the network's sources as retired Maj. Gen. Bobby W. Hodges, the immediate superior of the documents' alleged author, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian. He said a CBS reporter read the documents to Hodges over the phone and Hodges replied that "these are the things that Killian had expressed to me at the time."
  
  "These documents represent what Killian not only was putting in memoranda, but was telling other people," the CBS News official said. "Journalistically, we've gone several extra miles."
  
  The official said the network regarded Hodges's comments as "the trump card" on the question of authenticity, as he is a Republican who acknowledged that he did not want to hurt Bush. Hodges, who declined to grant an on-camera interview to CBS, did not respond to messages left on his home answering machine in Texas.

WaPo

CBS found a Bush supporter which first-hand knowledge who confirms the substance of the Killian memos.

Not that anyone cares. Hell, Dick Cheney could announce that Bush was torturing babies at Abu Ghraib, and some of you guys would be lining up to call Cheney a disgruntled soon-to-be-former employee and pointing out that the babies probably deserved it.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Barnes has been telling the same story for years, and Bush has previously thanked him for it. Five years ago, Barnes testified that it wasn't a member of Bush's family who asked him to help young W. out, but a family friend (Sid Adger). W. was sohappy that "Governor Bush wrote Barnes a note thanking him for his candor in acknowledging that Barnes received no call from any member of the Bush family.'' Cite.

All of a sudden, he's lying! Imagine that!

2. Ed Gillespie of the GOP was so convinced that Barnes was going to change his story form years ago that he sent out emails to party faithful announcing that Barnes was going to be dastardly, evil, and LIE on 60 minutes. Barnes didn't change his story at all, and hewed to the version of events that he had previously testified to and to which Bush publicly thanked him for.

You should stick to the Microsoft Word jokes. They require less willful suspension of disbelief.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
For it to be truly an analouge there would need tobe history similar towhat actually happened 9/11 because of Clinton. Do you know if the Harvard Lampoon actually did kill some dogs?

Mind-numbing accuracy in political metaphor is for pussies. Just ask your political mentors.

This one is easily as close as "Al Gore Created the Internet," so I'm comfortable with it as it is, thanks.

You're still pimping that punch line like a 10 dollar whore, I notice, so I think this one will have a good run as well.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
He said a CBS reporter read the documents to Hodges over the phone and Hodges replied that "these are the things that Killian had expressed to me at the time."

"These documents represent what Killian not only was putting in memoranda, but was telling other people," the CBS News official said. "Journalistically, we've gone several extra miles."

Yes, "extra miles" indeed

Knowing that uncorroborated evidence would fall on deaf ears, they ginned up his "testimony", typed it in memo form and ran it through a copier 26 times.

If I'm Dan Rather, I'm (1) taking a month off and (2) beating to death everyone that assisted with this fraud.

[Atticus Grinch]

• Bush Campaign More Thought Out Than Iraq War
  WASHINGTON, DC—Military and political strategists agreed Monday that President Bush's re-election campaign has been executed with greater precision than the war in Iraq. "Judging from the initial misrepresentation of intelligence data and the ongoing crisis in Najaf, I assumed the president didn't know his ass from his elbow," said Col. Dale Henderson, a military advisor during the Reagan Administration. "But on the campaign trail, he's proven himself a master of long-term planning and unflinching determination. How else can you explain his strength in the polls given this economy?" Henderson said he regrets having characterized Bush's handling of the war as "incompetent," now that he knows the president's mind was simply otherwise occupied.

Fake liberal medium.

[Atticus Grinch]

Bill O'Reilly, showing the cul-de-sac smarts accompanying a hardscrabble Levittown childhood, responds in earnest to a viewer letter from "Jack Mehoffer."

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
If anyone really cares about what Bush was doing -- or not doing at that time -- this should pretty much seal the deal:

• A senior CBS official, who asked not to be named because CBS managers did not want to go beyond their official statement, named one of the network's sources as retired Maj. Gen. Bobby W. Hodges, the immediate superior of the documents' alleged author, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian. He said a CBS reporter read the documents to Hodges over the phone and Hodges replied that "these are the things that Killian had expressed to me at the time."
  
  "These documents represent what Killian not only was putting in memoranda, but was telling other people," the CBS News official said. "Journalistically, we've gone several extra miles."
  
  The official said the network regarded Hodges's comments as "the trump card" on the question of authenticity, as he is a Republican who acknowledged that he did not want to hurt Bush. Hodges, who declined to grant an on-camera interview to CBS, did not respond to messages left on his home answering machine in Texas.

WaPo

CBS found a Bush supporter which first-hand knowledge who confirms the substance of the Killian memos.

Not that anyone cares. Hell, Dick Cheney could announce that Bush was torturing babies at Abu Ghraib, and some of you guys would be lining up to call Cheney a disgruntled soon-to-be-former employee and pointing out that the babies probably deserved it.

Ty, out here in a swing state, when a witness tells a lie that doesn't relate too much to the case, say that he was somewhere on Xmas, his testimony becomes pretty much discredited in its entirety. That's just how jurors think. When one side proves the other side actually made up documents, well the side of fraud losses the whole case. Maybe Cali juries are more willing to understand motives, so you have different experiences.

[Dave]

Originally posted by bilmore
Remember, Kerry's version starts with "as we approached the killer rice, there was a brief exchange of . . . well . . . nothing . . . but it could have been really dangerous rice . . . ."

Lies. They had no idea how dangerous carbs were back in '73.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Ty, out here in a swing state, when a witness tells a lie that doesn't relate to much to the case, say that he was somewhere on Xmas, his testimony becomes pretty much discredited in its entirety. That's just how jurors think. When one side proves the other side actually made up documents, well the side of fraud losses the whole case. Maybe Cali juries are more willing to understand motives, so you have different experiences.

I'd be willing to bet that the closest Ty's ever come to a jury trial was drafting interrogatories.

[bilmore]

Kerry gets the proof he needs on the Cambodia issue!

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by Dave
Lies. They had no idea how dangerous carbs were back in '73.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Actually, that's false. Dr Atkins' Diet Revolution was published in 1972.

Diet Timmy!

[baltassoc]

Did anybody else catch Kerry on The Daily Show last night (I don't think it was a rerun, but it could have been, I suppose).

I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it made him look like a real person who is articulate, thoguhtful and a little funny. On the other hand, he whiffed on a couple fo the softballs JS lobbed him, which surprised me.

For example, JS says (more or less) many have accused you of being a "flip-flopper," is that true? And his answer was a lame flip floping pun and a dodge. It should have been "if they mean I've changed my votes on some matters depending on the time and the circumstances, sure I've done that. When I started serving in the Senate, the Soviet Union was still the Evil Empire. Now Russia is our ally and our greatest threat is from small bands of religious fanatics with no ties to any country. I'd be crazy if I hadn't ever reconsidered a position."

Or, alternatively:
"My positions on most of the issues that effect Americans are a bit more complicated than [caveman]'Iraq Bad! Smash Iraq!'[/caveman]. I try to answer the questions people ask me, Jon, and when people are looking for a statement that basic, it's going to look inconsistent. Especially when a political machine is trying to send that message."


In the end, however, I thought the appearance was a big positive, and Kerry needs to do as many conversational interviews (Leno, Letterman, Oprah, Regis and Kelly, etc.) in as many different demographics as he can. I'd like to see him on Dennis Miller's show, once hes had a little more practice with a few more softballs.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Inter alia, Brinkley, based on Kerry's diary.

I can't believe you would dare post this quote without a smiley face. Kerry's post-dated "diaries", subject to non-disclosure with his biographer/campaign spokesman/Boston Globe reporter (or something like that), and that's your source for a verified Cambodia claim?

Ty, I've always liked you, but this has to be the low point in your posting career. This as a source on Kerry's life is like 500 times more unreliable than a teenage blogger.