Nutjobs Ranting About Politics.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

• In a 1988 campaign-trail autobiography, here's how Dole described the incident that earned him his first Purple Heart: "As we approached the enemy, there was a brief exchange of gunfire. I took a grenade in hand, pulled the pin, and tossed it in the direction of the farmhouse. It wasn't a very good pitch (remember, I was used to catching passes, not throwing them). In the darkness, the grenade must have struck a tree and bounced off. It exploded nearby, sending a sliver of metal into my leg--the sort of injury the Army patched up with Mercurochrome and a Purple Heart."

TPM

[Not Me]

• Disabled World War II hero and former presidential candidate Bob Dole demanded yesterday that John Kerry apologize for insulting Vietnam vets — and ripped him because he collected "three Purple Hearts and never bled."
  
  Dole — whose right arm is limp from wounds suffered as an infantry officer on the front lines in Italy more than a half-century ago — lambasted Kerry as undeserving of the Purple Hearts.
  
  "And as far as I know, he's never spent one day in the hospital," Dole said.
  
  "I don't think he draws any disability pay. He doesn't have any disability. And boasting about three Purple Hearts when you think of some of the people who really got shot up in Vietnam."

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
I'm not going to post a link, but if you'd been paying attention, you'd have read that here several times over the last few years. It specifically applies to Ranger school, where they starve you for weeks while they run you through cycles. But I digress; it seemed like nobody here believes it (cept you and me).

Hello

If you're looking for affirmation, I believe it too.

S_A_M

P.S. On another post of yours, I don't know if Kerry has made the right move or not in fighting back against the SwiftVet allegations and trying to paint a picture linking it all to GWB. I do know that the word is that the controversy was hurting Kerry in swing states, and among some groups (such as veterans) where Kerry had been doing much better than Bush could afford him to do. So, the campaign felt that they had to fight back somehow to clearly refute what they could and tar the rest with the brush of partisan hackery. Remains to be seen if it will work.

Second, Kerry can't "laugh off" allegations like these -- not in an environment where we're at "war", national security is a top issues, and when your campaign has highlighted your service. Third, the world has changed, and the constant churning of the cable news, Internet blogs, etc., means that these stories don't just fade away. It is different even than in 1998. Kerry tried to ignore it for weeks, and it didn't help. The net effect is not helpful, but arguably better than remaining silent (if this makes Bush look bad too).

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Second, Kerry can't "laugh off" allegations like these -- not in an environment where we're at "war", national security is a top issues, and when your campaign has highlighted your service. Third, the world has changed, and the constant churning of the cable news, Internet blogs, etc., means that these stories don't just fade away. It is different even than in 1998. Kerry tried to ignore it for weeks, and it didn't help. The net effect is not helpful, but arguably better than remaining silent (if this makes Bush look bad too).

This is the nail in Kerry's coffin. Good thing he kept his day job as a gigalo.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop

• In a 1988 campaign-trail autobiography, here's how Dole described the incident that earned him his first Purple Heart: "As we approached the enemy, there was a brief exchange of gunfire. I took a grenade in hand, pulled the pin, and tossed it in the direction of the farmhouse. It wasn't a very good pitch (remember, I was used to catching passes, not throwing them). In the darkness, the grenade must have struck a tree and bounced off. It exploded nearby, sending a sliver of metal into my leg--the sort of injury the Army patched up with Mercurochrome and a Purple Heart."

TPM

I don't like your subject line, because I've always respected Bob Dole. However, he's also always been pretty much a down-the-line party man too, in a way McCain never was, which leads him to be willing to trot around on the talk shows and talk down Kerry and (by implication) trade on his own service and disability to benefit the GOP and tear down Kerry. [On the plus side, he got to run for President in 1996, which McCain won't.]

S_A_M

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Coltrane, Hand, Wonk --

Is Keyes getting any support from anyone in Illinois? Or is it just sad to watch?

Pretty much the latter. Trib. poll released Sunday shows him down 41 points. Hilariously enough, Jack Ryan would be running 7 points better if he had stayed in. A majority of those polled thought he shouldn't have gotten out, while only 30% thought it was appropriate.

Bush is down 14 points here, and respondents who self-ID'd as Dems outnumbered Repubs. 42-29.

The media has been treating Keyes pretty much as a novelty and frankly as a bit of a joke, though in fairness he hasn't done much to deserve otherwise so far. He does have a lovely singing voice, though.

[sgtclub]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/22/in...rint&position=

Hank, surprised you missed this one.

[sgtclub]

I'm posting this, not for its substance, but to ask what the hell is going on at the Kerry campaign. This is not the first time something like this has happened. These guys are starting to look like amateurs.

The Kerry campaign removed a 20-page batch of documents yesterday from its website after The Boston Globe quoted a Navy officer who said the documents wrongly portrayed Kerry's service. Edward Peck had said he -- not Kerry -- was the skipper of Navy boat No. 94 at a time when the Kerry campaign website credited the senator with serving on the boat. The website had described Kerry's boat as being hit by rockets and said a crewmate was injured in an attack. But Peck said those events happened when he was the skipper. The campaign did not respond to a request to explain why the records were removed.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa..._records_show/

eft

More of the same here: http://large-regular.blogspot.com/20...-seems-to.html

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by sgtclub
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/22/in...rint&position=

Hank, surprised you missed this one.

I saw it. Point is, its just the stray attack that is being overpublisized to turn up the anti-Islamic rhetoric and all, so I passed on posting.

[Gattigap]

1. Despite the "happy face" we'll see at the GOP convention in 10 days, GOP strategists are acknowledging that Bush is increasingly courting his base, to the exclusion of reaching out to any Democrats, independents or others who may not be a Bush Gold Club Member:

"The Bush campaign believes that there are functionally no swing voters, that campaigns are about the mobilization of your base and expanding the turnout of your base," said a veteran GOP operative not working for the president's campaign.

The president's emphasis on stoking the Republican base is evident in his campaign's advertising strategy: Bush has heavily outspent Kerry in about 10 media markets in safely Republican areas across the country, and he is making large ad purchases on cable television networks that reach core GOP constituencies.

"From a Bush standpoint, it appears they want to turn out their people first, and worry about the undecided second or last," said Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of TNSMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group, a firm that tracks advertising spending for The Times.

And, although his campaign says Bush is spending at least as much time in contested communities as Kerry, some analysts in both parties say that an unusual number of the president's campaign appearances have been in places already safely in his corner, from Traverse City, Mich., to Pensacola, Fla.

2. We're treated to the knowledge, a good week in advance, that any protests -- any at all -- that may take place in NY? Kerry's fault. It means, obviously, that Kerry did it, and that Kerry disrepects your president, and hates America.

Mr. Bush's advisers said they were girding for the most extensive street demonstrations at any political convention since the Democrats nominated Hubert H. Humphrey in Chicago in 1968. But in contrast to that convention, which was severely undermined by televised displays of street rioting, Republicans said they would seek to turn any disruptions to their advantage, by portraying protests by even independent activists as Democratic-sanctioned displays of disrespect for a sitting president.

Damn. Where did I put that fundraiser letter from Cheney?

[Dave]

Originally posted by bilmore
So we're only really talking price points now, are we?

Bonus points from the Bulgarian judge for paraphrasing Churchill. Bravo.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Dave
Bonus points from the Bulgarian judge for paraphrasing Churchill. Bravo.

Actually, it was Oscar Wilde. But thanks for playing.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man

P.S. On another post of yours, I don't know if Kerry has made the right move or not in fighting back against the SwiftVet allegations and trying to paint a picture linking it all to GWB. I do know that the word is that the controversy was hurting Kerry in swing states, and among some groups (such as veterans) where Kerry had been doing much better than Bush could afford him to do. So, the campaign felt that they had to fight back somehow to clearly refute what they could and tar the rest with the brush of partisan hackery. Remains to be seen if it will work.

Second, Kerry can't "laugh off" allegations like these -- not in an environment where we're at "war", national security is a top issues, and when your campaign has highlighted your service. Third, the world has changed, and the constant churning of the cable news, Internet blogs, etc., means that these stories don't just fade away. It is different even than in 1998. Kerry tried to ignore it for weeks, and it didn't help. The net effect is not helpful, but arguably better than remaining silent (if this makes Bush look bad too).

This may be the first time this topic has been discussed on this or the other board. Basically, what I'm suggesting is that sometimes a modern leader needs to let out a hearty laugh. The problem with John Kerry is that he can't laugh or smile or giggle like GWB, RR (or Clinton for that matter). He should have set up a great scene with the media as follows:

Media: Mr. Kerry, can you comment about 216 Swift Boat Veterans blah blah blah?

Kerry: Laughing so hard that he turns red and has trouble laughing, "it should surprise no one that not all veterans are Democrats". This or any other humorous non-sequitir would do wonders, as long as its accompanied by a great laugh and smile.

Picture all the times that Clinton laughed so hard he looked silly. If you walk around with a smile (a la RR, for example), people will fall silent on the rare occasions that you aren't smiling.

Will we ever see a picture of John Kerry taking off a hat and waving to a crowd or reporters after his head has been half-shaved?

That's all I'm saying. Basically, he has to treat this like politics. By treating it seriously, he's making it look like the allegations (and 216 veterans) are serious. By treating it like a joke, he'd be treating the 216 veterans as humorous.

What questions do we really need answered from these specific incidents? Cowardice? (No) Stupidity? (No) Recklessness? (Puhleeze).

Can the guy treat things that (while possibly true) sound like slander as humorous? He needs a flippin laughing coach and new strategists. Right now, he's acting guilty. Of what, I don't know. Well, at least going to Vietnam and serving doesn't make him guilty of anything in my book. So why is he acting guilty?

Hello

[Gattigap]

I was wondering this weekend why we hand't heard more about John Edwards' trial lawyer-ness from the GOP. Sure, the news has been filled with Swiftvets stuff for the last week or two, but since the Bush campaign isn't associated with that stuff, I was sure that Rove had something else in the hopper.

Turns out, says the Washington Times, that GOP strategists are concerned that Edwards will turn and beat 'em like a red-headed stepchild (see Faircloth, 1998).

Many remember Mr. Edwards' first campaign, in which he toppled a sitting senator — Lauch Faircloth, a Republican hog farmer from North Carolina — who spent a lot of money attacking Mr. Edwards for making millions from personal-injury lawsuits.

"Every time we talked about it, he'd bring out one of his clients who was some victim in a terrible tragedy," said one Republican who worked on that 1998 campaign. Many of those clients are children or the parents of children who were horribly maimed or killed.

Bush himself may be learning this, too.

President Bush, who does not shy away from noting Mr. Edwards' career on the stump, got a dose of the counterattack strategy during a visit to Mr. Edwards' home state of North Carolina in 2002.

Mr. Bush went to High Point to call for a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical-malpractice suits. "What we want is quality health care, not rich lawyers," he said during a campaign tour to help Elizabeth Dole win her seat in the Senate. "Higher and higher insurance premiums make it nearly impossible for a lot of doctors to practice medicine." He timed his visit with the release of a report by the Bush administration that cited clients of Mr. Edwards as having won "the litigation lottery" with a $23 million verdict.

Mr. Edwards arranged a conference call for reporters with the parents of Bailey Griffin, who eventually died after suffering from cerebral palsy. "What I heard was in some ways we're considered to be lottery winners," Christopher Griffin said. "Every time I go to my daughter's grave, it's hard to feel that way."

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
And you can hear it at http://www.lawtalkers.com/voicemessage.wav

Looks like this is circulating around the blogosphere pretty quickly.

See Gawker

Lawyers aren't often in pretty, glossy magazines, so we tend to forget they exist (unless they're calling us, of course). But then a nice little audio file comes our way and we're reminded that Manhattan lawyers are kind of like hungry rottweilers with expensive degrees. Take, for instance, a voice message left from an associate at legal behemoth Winston & Strawn for someone at uber-firm Latham & Watkins. The attorney (who, in case you were wondering, is a proud Notre Dame graduate) maintains an extremely professional demeanor in which he makes it clear that he doesn't "give a flying fuck" about several snarl-worthy legal issues. Charming -- he's probably single, ladies!

Anybody want the over/under action on how long it takes for this to get on law.com?