I'm a Packer fan- so I root for them even in games that don't decide the next presidential election.

In all seriousness I don't really believe the performance of the Redskins is a reliable predictor of who's going to become president. You know who this is really going to disturb?

Members of the faith-based community.

That's why it's nice that the game came out the way it did- Those of us in the reality-based community will view it as it is, a statistical oddity- meanwhile Bush and his supporters are probably messing their pants right now.

Isn't it Bush who sat in that classroom for seven-plus minutes? It's not like Moore used special effects- this actually happened. How can that possibly be pinned on Moore?

Well, they're trying- and their desperation is obvious for all to see.

Wes Clark told what I thought was a pretty interesting story of a meeting he had at the Pentagon in the aftermath of 9/11 on last night's Real Time with Bill Maher.

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I confused.

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This clears up some questions I had- for instance, the followup article on KSTP's web site seemed to indicate the soldiers stopped short of breaking IAEA seals- Also FOX News reported that the camera crew didn't see any of the explosives that were under seal, but had only peered in the vents which, by the way, were incredibly easy to open and were probably used by the Russians when they ran that convoy off to Syria. Thanks for that, FOX...

The reporter confirms they broke the seals:

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Pentagon's argument that the stockpile of powerful HMX explosive was likely long-gone from the Al Qaqaa facility when U.S. troops arrived in April of 2003, was seriously undercut by this video, shot by Minneapolis television station KSTP.

Reporter Dean Staley was embedded with soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division when they entered a locked bunker at the Al Qaqaa facility on April 18, 2003, nearly a month into the war. But to get in they cut what now appears to be an International Atomic Energy Agency seal.

DEAN STALEY, FMR. KSTP-TV REPORTER: We thought it might have been some sort of booby trap, because it was such a thin wire. But we broke the lock and broke that wire to get in.

MCINTYRE: That IAEA seal, arms experts tell CNN, is the strongest evidence yet that at least some of the missing explosives were in side, because HMX was the only material placed under seal at Al Qaqaa.

And the reporter says the troops he was with were on an unofficial mission just looking around. They were not searching for or securing any material. There was, he said, nothing to stop anyone from looting.

STALEY: And some of the bunkers were even locked. I mean, we had to break a couple of padlocks to get into some of them. Others we did not, they were wide open.

We also saw Iraqis at the time, driving around in a pickup truck, an old beat up pickup truck, clearly scavenging. Clearly sort of looking around. And we kept an eye on them, because this was sort of no-man's land.

MCINTYRE: The revelation came on a day when the Pentagon released this satellite photograph taken on March 17, 2003, a few days before the war began. It shows a truck and heavy equipment transporter outside one bunker that is not believed to have contained HMX. But the Pentagon admits the photograph is inconclusive, showing there was only activity at the site and not that any explosives were moved.

Still Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in a series of radio interviews, repeated the Pentagon's contention that it is unlikely the stockpile could have been looted after the U.S. got there.

How long can they keep saying this tape doesn't show what everybody knows it shows?

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Bush turned to introduce the mother of a police officer killed on Sept. 11. When he said "God bless" to her - the phrase he usually ends his speeches with - an explosion of confetti banged loudly. Bush looked over toward his senior staff, startled, before finishing his speech as the red white and blue confetti fluttered down on him.

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According to Drudge a soldier has been asked by the Pentagon to say that he and his unit were tasked with removing explosives from the facility on April 13, five days before the KSTP tape was made.

That would be a neat trick.

First they were gone before we got there, and there are pictures of the trucks, then the Russians took it (those must be Russian trucks!), now we took it, but didn't know we took it or bother to tell anyone for a year and a half.

My eyes are getting tired from all the rolling.

Update: Sounds like the press conference was a complete wash out. The soldier they trotted out was there before the news crew got there, broke the IAEA seal and viewed the explosives.

This was just another attempt to kick up some dust- They've got to be realizing by now that it's not working. Wonder what's next, maybe a little more blame for the troops? That seemed to work so well yesterday...

Anybody know the "street value" of the explosives Bush let get away in Iraq?

Not that I'm in the market, you understand. I'm just wondering how much this funded the insurgency.

Daily Kos has posted a transcript of the Racicot implosion from Larry King last night- after Larry showed his viewers the tape Racicot seemed to insist that the tape didn't exist and that satellite photos from a month earlier showed the explosives had been carted away anyway- so it didn't matter if the explosives were found later under IAEA seal.

As you can see from my previous post, I watched FOX first thing this morning- they ever so briefly brushed by the KSTP tape while also being sure to show the suddenly declassified Pentagon spy photo (while claiming it was from an independent satelite company for some reason) showing trucks (which one of the hosts claims are Russian) outside some bunkers while throwing their hands up and saying no one knows for sure.

I don't know... they look more like mobile biological weapons labs to me- and as we all know, Iraq was just crawling with those things... right? Right?

It's really something. I'll hopefully have a chance to post a clip later on today.

Meanwhile a quick check of right-wing blogs shows they've chosen to remain quiet on this topic.

Finally shamed into silence?

Update: Here's a few paragraphs from MSNBC this morning- I wonder how they can report something like this without attempting to square the facts with Bush campaign's statements- check this out:

“The photographs are consistent with what I know of Al-Qaqaa,” David A. Kay, a former American official who directed the hunt in Iraq for unconventional weapons and visited the site, told The New York Times. “The damning thing is the seals. The Iraqis didn’t use seals on anything. So I’m absolutely sure that’s an IAEA seal.”

The question of what happened to the tons of explosives has become a major issue in the closing days of the presidential campaign.

Democrat John Kerry says the missing explosives — powerful enough to demolish a building, bring down a jetliner or set off a nuclear weapon — are another example of the Bush administration’s poor planning and incompetence in handling the war in Iraq. President Bush says the explosives were possibly removed by Saddam’s forces before the invasion.

Well... no. No. We know for a fact that the explosives were there. David Kay saw the tape. We all saw the tape. Can they keep this wall of denial up through election day?

Here's a little taste of what FOX Viewers are getting as far as election analysis on their morning show-

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Just wanted to be the first to say it. I doubt having ads will actually make us any money, but maybe it'll cover some hosting costs...

Nah... probably won't even do that. Oh well.

Here's last night's Daily Show coverage of the 377 tons of missing explosives.

BitTorrent link (Size: 9.17 MB, Length: 4:49)

Feel free to mirror, as always.

Update: Here's O'Reilly's statement from his show tonight... plus a little something extra I tacked on the end.

This is what's called a smoking gun my friends.

No clones here.

Finally.

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from The Stranger via Boingboing

The tape is from April 18, 2003.


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via Juan Cole

This answers the question how looters could have gotten into the bunkers:

Once the doors to the bunkers were opened, they weren't secured. They were left open when the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew and the military went back to their base.

Sounds to me like we could have used more troops to guard these weapons so they couldn't be used against us. You know what would have been nice? A global coalition. That would have been great. Or not invading at all! Think of that! 1111 Americans and countless innocent Iraqis still alive. Wow. Wouldn't that have been grand?

"The actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough? Didn't they search carefully enough?"

-Rudolph Giuliani, October 28, 2004

Meanwhile Bush has been on the campaign trail ascribing his failures in leadership to the commanders and troops in Iraq:

"The Senator is denigrating the actions of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts."

So Kerry says Bush made a horrendous mistake in allowing 380 tons of explosives to go missing, and Bush deflects the blame onto the troops.

How can any thinking human being accept this?

The good folks at the Associated Press have put together a handy timeline of events surrounding the disappearance of 380 tons of high explosives. I added a few updates in RED

Key dates:

* January [2003]: IAEA inspectors view the explosives at Al-Qaqaa for the last time. The inspectors take an inventory and again place storage bunkers at Al-Qaqaa under agency seal.

* March 9-15 [2003]: Nuclear agency inspectors visit Al-Qaqaa for the last time but apparently don't examine the explosives because the seals aren't broken. The inspectors then pull out of the country. [Note: They were forced out by Bush.]

* Washington Times claims the Russkies stole the explosives right around this time.
* Explosives may have vanished right in here somewheres according to the White House.

* March 20 [2003]: The U.S.-led coalition invades Iraq.

* April 18th 2003 - US news crew films bunkers with explosives intact.

* May 27 [2003]: U.S. troops search specifically for high explosives. The troops find the seals have been broken. It's not clear whether they did a further accounting of the materials themselves.

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Bush yesterday:

Well, September the 11th changed me. I remember the day I was in the -- at Ground Zero, on September the 4th, 2001 [sic]. It's a day I will never forget.

Clearly.

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I'm not going to post that picture of Bush giving the camera the finger, because this is a family web site.

Motherfucker.

Or... wait... I guess I'm confused.

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Here's a post from Metafilter on this:

I'll give credit to the webmasters over there for applying such a perfect metaphor for how they handled the Iraq war in their site coding.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 7:40 AM PST on October 27

Indeed.

From the press gaggle today:

Q Scott, the inspectors are saying that the seals were intact five days before the invasion. Are you saying that they regime removed the weapons in those five days?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's another thing you might want to talk to the military about the specific time line, because my understanding is that the site was inspected in January, and they looked to see if the weapons were there. Then later, in March, they saw that the seals were still there, but that doesn't mean that they did a full inspection of the site. And then there was a period between March and April when the invasion was going on and troops were moving toward Baghdad to remove the regime. So there's a whole period in there when -- very real possibility that the regime could have removed those weapons. We don't know the facts -- the military does not know what happened to those weapons, neither does Senator Kerry. And it is Senator Kerry who, time and time again, has shown that he will say anything for political gain. And this is all part of a pattern by Senator Kerry.

But, isn't it the President's job to know the facts? Especially the important ones?

I think the military doesn't -- the material -- the military doesn't know -- well, because all during that time period there was the time -- that was the time period when they could have. And that's why I said, the military doesn't know what happened to those explosives, neither does Senator Kerry. Yet Senator -- the issue here, now, is that it just goes to show the pattern by Senator Kerry that he will say anything, even when he doesn't know the truth, for his own political advantage.

Isn't the "real issue" the 380 tons of high explosive that's being used to kill our soldiers?

By the way, the gaggle is worth reading today aside from the fun of watching Bush's faltering campaign in a tailspin- Here's one of the reporters:

Q When you say that 400,000 musicians [sic] have been seized or destroyed, what, specifically, are you referring to?

That's a lot of musicians. Best part about this is he/she repeatedly asks about the status of the musicians. I'd crack a joke here, but I'm a little depressed by this.

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Here's a handy cronology put together by the good folks at the Associated Press.

Bush today:

"A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not who you want as commander in chief."

Exactly. When can we expect your resignation, Mr. Bush?

I'm a Howard Stern addict- so I can't miss talking about Howard's confrontation with FCC Commissioner Colin Powell's Son.

Stern: You know, the thing that amazes me about you is, you continually fine me but you're afraid to go to court with me and I'll explain myself if you give me a second:

Fine after fine came and we tried to go to court with you to find out about obscenity and what your line was and whether our show was indecent, which I don't think it is. And you do something really sneaky behind the scenes. You continue to block Viacom from buying new stations until we pay those fines.

You are afraid to go court. You are afraid to get a ruling time and time again.

When will you allow this to go to court and stop practicing your form of racketeering that you do by making stations pay up or you hold up their license renewal?

Powell: First of all, that's flatly false.

Stern: It's not false. It's true.

Powell: I'm afraid it is. There's no reason why Viacom or any other company who feels that they have been wrongly fined can't sue us in court. We have no basis whatsoever to prevent them from going to court.

Stern: You're lying. I've lived through your fines, Michael. And Mel Karmazin came to me one day and said, Howard, we're gonna have to pay up some sort of cockamame bunch of fines that we don't think we're wrong because we can't get our paperwork done. We are finding it increasingly difficult to buy radio stations. I know you're not telling the truth. And I question why you are selected to be one who is the FCC commissioner....

This is a big allegation, and Stern has made it several times on his show over the years. Previously he's been hesitant to say who at Viacom told him this, but now that Karmazin is out and Stern is on his way to satellite he's swinging away.

The FCC's actions, aside from the racketeering charge, amount to regulating content for people who can't afford satellite or cable. I contend that those people want swearing, nudity, and violence on their TV screens just as much as anyone else. Programming for the neglected six-year-old who might be watching is killing broadcast television. As cable and satellite grow the FCC will want to regulate content there as well. It's up to us to stop them.

Check out the full transcript. Boingboing has links to the audio.

Over at the parody site georgewbush.org they've posted emails sent to their address by mistake by Bush's (faltering) campaign staff.

The emails posted include any and all attachments- there are two emails in the pile with the subject header, "caging" which contain Microsoft Excel files filled with names.

Could this be a list of people the Republican party wants to give free rides to the polls to on November 2nd?

Or could it be something more (gasp!) sinister?

I'm glad Greg Palast is on the case. How long will it take for the American media to take a look?

This new John Kerry spot is right on the mark:

John Kerry: “The obligation of a Commander in Chief is to keep our country safe. In Iraq, George Bush has overextended our troops and now failed to secure 380 tons of deadly explosives. The kind used for attacks in Iraq, and for terrorist bombings. His Iraq misjudgments put our soldiers at risk, and make our country less secure. And all he offers is more of the same. As President, I’ll bring a fresh start to protect our troops and our nation. I’m John Kerry and I approved this message.”

No, it's not the Michael Jackson one- this one will give you chills.

via Kos

(Updated with new link)

Interesting... but not surprising.

Charlie Gibson's Bush Interview via Dan Froomkin:

"Final question. What the hell was that on your back, in the first debate?"

Bush chuckled.

Bush: "Well, you know, Karen Hughes and Dan Bartlett have rigged up a sound system -- "

Gibson: "You're getting in trouble -- "

Bush: "I don't know what that is. I mean, it is, uh, it is, it's a -- I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly tailored shirt."

Gibson: "It was the shirt?"

Bush: "Yeah, absolutely."

Gibson: "There was no sound system, there was no electrical signal? There was --"

Bush: "How does an electrical -- please explain to me how it works so maybe if I were ever to debate again I could figure it out. I guess the assumption was that if I was straying off course they would, kind of like a hunting dog, they would punch a buzzer and I would jerk back into place. I -- it's just absurd."

So it's the shirt? Sure doesn't look like a shirt.

I'd say the buzzer Mr. Bush mentioned seems more plausible.

I originally thought it might be suspenders- maybe they should have tried that one.

Other choice quotes:

"I think they pray to a false god, otherwise they wouldn't be killing innocent lives like they have been."

I want you to understand, I want your listeners to understand, I don't get to decide who goes to heaven. The almighty God decides who goes to heaven

Wait- he doesn't decide? I thought that was in the oath- right after not wiping your ass with the Constitution... eh... whatever.

I had a thought the other day that I should vote early in case I die before Election Day. But, it turns out, this wouldn't help. Here's an explanation of the law, at least in Wisconsin. And here's a case of this actually happening in North Carolina.

Just a quick Daily Show clip about a phrase Bush is fond of, but perhaps should consider retiring...

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Better late than after November 2nd- WSJ:

As the toll of mayhem inspired by terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi mounts in Iraq, some former officials and military officers increasingly wonder whether the Bush administration made a mistake months before the start of the war by stopping the military from attacking his camp in the northeastern part of that country.

Months passed with no approval of the plan from the White House, until word came down just weeks before the March 19, 2003, start of the Iraq war that Mr. Bush had rejected any strike on the camp until after an official outbreak of hostilities with Iraq. Ultimately, the camp was hit just after the invasion of Iraq began.

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That hit, the article goes on to say, was well after Zarqawi and his men left the camp.

The article doesn't really expose Bush's reasoning for not hitting the camp, though we all know it was to avoid undercutting Bush's rush to war in Iraq.

Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senators said on Sunday they were troubled by a report that U.S. intelligence officials secretly transferred as many as a dozen detainees out of Iraq in the last six months, possibly violating international treaties.

In an interview on ABC's "This Week," Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who has campaigned for President Bush in his re-election bid, warned against violating international treaties that aim to ensure humane treatment of prisoners and civilians during a war.

"These conventions and these rules are in place for a reason, because you get on a slippery slope and you don't know where to get off," McCain, who was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War, said.

"The thing that separates us from the enemy is our respect for human rights."

McCain said the report in Sunday's edition of The Washington Post about the CIA invoking a confidential memo written by the Justice Department to secretly transfer detainees out of Iraq was "another argument" for revamping the intelligence agency.

I'm pretty sure Senator McCain isn't ignorant of Bush's record on human rights... Sad to see a so-called straight shooter whore it up like this.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Kerry-Edwards Senior Advisor Joe Lockhart issued the following statement on reports of missing explosives in Iraq:

"Today, the Bush administration must answer for what may be the most grave and catastrophic mistake in a tragic series of blunders in Iraq. How did they fail to secure nearly 380 tons of known, deadly explosives despite clear warnings from the International Atomic Energy Agency to do so? And why was this information unearthed by reporters -- and was it covered up by our national security officials?

"These explosives can be used to blow up airplanes, level buildings, attack our troops and detonate nuclear weapons. The Bush administration knew where this stockpile was, but took no action to secure the site. They were urgently and specifically informed that terrorists could be helping themselves to the most dangerous explosives bonanza in history, but nothing was done to prevent it from happening.

"This material was monitored and controlled by UN inspectors before the invasion of Iraq. Thanks to the stunning incompetence of the Bush administration, we now have no idea where it is.

"We need to know what the administration knew about this and when. We need to know why they failed to safeguard these explosives and keep them out of the hands of our enemies. The National Security Advisor should be at her desk in Washington tomorrow to work this problem and answer these questions, instead of giving speeches in battleground states."

Dru made us a new logo- thanks dude!

This is big.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 24 - The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives - used to demolish buildings, produce missile warheads and detonate nuclear weapons - are missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.

The huge facility, called Al Qaqaa, was supposed to be under American military control but is now a no-man's land, still picked over by looters as recently as Sunday. United Nations weapons inspectors had monitored the explosives for many years, but White House and Pentagon officials acknowledge that the explosives vanished after the American invasion last year.

more

In this case, both the crime (of not guarding high explosives) and the cover-up are equally heinous.

Of course, Josh Marshall has been all over this the last couple of days- if you're not checking his site every ten minutes you're missing out.

One last thing- this quote stuck out in the Times piece:

"Should we have gone there? Definitely," said one senior administration official. "But there are a lot of things we should have done, and didn't."

Does this sound like Rumsfeld? Of course.
Does he always pose questions to himself? Not always, but often.
Isn't this yet another reason to throw the bums out? Absolutely.

Kerry is nailing Bush on his latest prediction of failure on the war on terror.

Go get 'em, John.

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The American Conservative magazine, tied with Pat Buchanan, has an article from conservative writer Scott McConnell who endorses John Kerry. While admitting they will oppose a Kerry administration from day one, McConnell basically says Bush is unable to run the country. Here's a quote from the article with the endorsement, titled "Kerry is the one":

George W. Bush has come to embody a politics that is antithetical to almost any kind of thoughtful conservatism.

And another:

I’ve heard people who have known George W. Bush for decades and served prominently in his father’s administration say that he could not possibly have conceived of the doctrine of pre-emptive war by himself, that he was essentially taken for a ride by people with a pre-existing agenda to overturn Saddam Hussein. Bush’s public performances plainly show him to be a man who has never read or thought much about foreign policy. So the inevitable questions are: who makes the key foreign-policy decisions in the Bush presidency, who controls the information flow to the president, how are various options are presented?

The editors of the magazine include the piece while admitting they were split on the election. Among six other articles about the election, only one endorses Bush -- as many as support Nader, Kerry or not voting at all. Buchanan endorses Bush in a well-written piece that suggests something Nader had claimed earlier this year: the corporate-backed major parties are vulnerable to a third-party charge. While he falls in line, you can see the beginnings of a viable alternative to Republican or Democrat.

How'd this guy get all this tape?

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Thanks Dave!

I actually don't think there will ever be another draft, and I generally oppose these types of scare tactics in the name of politics (particularly ones with bad Photoshop-ing). But if Bush is going to keep pulling this shit:

Bush also expressed gratitude to Hispanic families that lost loved ones in the wars in Iraq, adding that they died for a noble cause. "I would tell them the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war against those who caused the deaths on 9/11 is necessary," he said. "The most solemn duty of the president of the United States is to protect the American people. And the biggest danger we have is that a terrorist group obtains weapons that can cause more damage than a few planes." (MSNBC)

Then fuck 'em. Dems should use every trick they've got to win this thing, because you know as you read this Rove et al are coming up with some seriously twisted ideas to suppress turnout, rig elections and generally steal another four years. If that means overstating the likelihood of a draft, fine. If that means taking a lame Bush joke and turning it into a brutal attack, even better. It's that kind of election.

P.S. The new Fiery Furnaces album is amazing.

Buried at the bottom on the NYDN article about disgraced right-wing talk show host Bill O'Reilly's legal troubles is this:

Meanwhile, O'Reilly's lawyers filed new papers yesterday in Nassau Supreme Court specifying what evidence they want Mackris and Morelli to disclose.

It includes any tape recordings, telephone and credit card statements and communications between Mackris and liberal radio host and author Al Franken.

I wonder if this is just paranoia from O'Reilly or if Mackris really had contact with Franken. Not that it would be anything out of the ordinary- she's a producer, Al has a radio show that gets better ratings than O'Reilly's, and a brand new TV show.

I've been amazed at Al's restraint- he's taken the high road on this. He's a better man than I.

I will never let this rest. Can't wait for those tapes.

Someone threw custard pies at Ann Coulter during a speech she was giving in Arizona.

The report says she was hit in the shoulder- the quote from her is "From that far away they couldn't even hit me?"

Wow. That sounds like a challenge.

From AP:

Vice President Dick Cheney poked fun at Sen. John Kerry's goose hunting Thursday, arguing that the image of the gun-toting, camouflaged Democrat was an "October disguise" that masked his voting record against gun rights.

Get it? Normally people say there's an "October surprise" before an election, but Cheney said "October disguise." It's funny because it rhymes!

Took 'em long enough.

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This is a half-assed parody of the "Ashley's Story" ads being run on right-wing web sites. In the end, there's really nothing funny about using a young girl's pain to fund right-wing hate.)

...before the election?

I dunno... I just wanted an excuse to repost this image:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hamburger chain Burger King said on Wednesday that it would not run its commercials during a controversial program about U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry to be aired by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

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"Bush Relatives for Kerry" grew out of a series of conversations that took place between a group of people that have two things in common: they are all related to George Walker Bush, and they are all voting for John Kerry. As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!

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1. I liked this article from Slate, mainly because it's a reasonable breakdown of the election that shows Kerry winning. The map shows Kerry trailing in Florida, but still winning the election because he's leading in Pennsylvania and Ohio. While the whole thing looks close, if the election was held today, it looks pretty good for Kerry. A recent Wisconsin poll showed Kerry up 5, but within the margin of error. This is a pretty sizable swing from other recent polls.

2. A friend the other day told me she felt W. was getting shorter. I guess the Kerry linger at the handshakes before the debate had some effect.

3. I've been telling people for the past week that there are no undecided voters -- everybody has made up their mind. In response, I usually get 2-3 examples of people who are still undecided. While this is good news for Kerry, since undecideds typically break to the challenger, I don't believe them. Everybody knows where they're going in this race, it's just a matter of voter turnout and overcoming election day tricks.

4. Not much insight here, but it's worth repeating. The polls are undercounting people -- roughly 5 percent of the population -- who only use cell phones for their phone service. I'm not sure how cell phone users break politically, but my guess is that a lot of college students are being left out of polls, which could mean a lot of uncounted Kerry votes.

5. A Bush supporter said the other day: "I don't really know who to vote for, but, well, the president prays." Sigh.

I propose that every time the Bush campaign is mentioned from now on it be labeled "faltering."

Just like Bill O'Reilly is now "disgraced right-wing talk show host Bill O'Reilly."

Sure it's Orwellian- but as Bush's also faltering presidency shows, it works short-term.

The new Bush Air National Guard documents yield some answers-- Bush was then, and is now, unfit to serve.

Pat Robertson on Paula Zahn Now:

"And I warned him about this war. I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, 'Mr. President, you had better prepare the American people for casualties.' "

Robertson said the president then told him, "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."

Robertson, the televangelist who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, said he wishes Bush would admit to mistakes made.

"I mean, the Lord told me it was going to be A, a disaster, and B, messy," Robertson said. "I warned him about casualties."

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Also don't miss the "What Do You Think?" section this week- Disgraced Right-Wing Talk Show Host Bill O'Reilly is the topic.

A Lakewood Republican stealing campaign signs late one night got nabbed when he ran across a low- hanging driveway chain, fell face first onto a pilfered sign and the concrete and knocked himself unconscious.

Randal Wagner, 50, was loaded into an ambulance, treated at Lutheran Medical Center for abrasions and facial cuts and issued a summons.

Wagner, who unsuccessfully tried to steal a "Dave Thomas" congressional sign that evening, had signs for other Democratic candidates in his Toyota pickup, Wheat Ridge police reported.

"I did a very stupid thing," Wagner said Monday, admitting theft of the signs.

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They're not playing "Stolen Honor" as originally planned. Despite what they say in their press release, they've changed their plans and now are putting out whatever this is:

The news special will focus in part on the use of documentaries and other media to influence voting, which emerged during the 2004 political campaigns, as well as on the content of certain of these documentaries. The program will also examine the role of the media in filtering the information contained in these documentaries, allegations of media bias by media organizations that ignore or filter legitimate news and the attempts by candidates and other organizations to influence media coverage.

Some days it's just hard to get a handle on how corrupt the Bush administration is. Now comes word that a report about 9/11 was finished in June but it is being withheld from Congress until after the election. The new Republican head of the CIA is just as evil as I suspected.

"What all the other reports on 9/11 did not do is point the finger at individuals, and give the how and what of their responsibility. This report does that," said the intelligence official. "The report found very senior-level officials responsible."

By law, the only legitimate reason the CIA director has for holding back such a report is national security. Yet neither Goss nor McLaughlin has invoked national security as an explanation for not delivering the report to Congress.

"It surely does not involve issues of national security," said the intelligence official.

Dear CIA analysts:

You folks do great work, it's unfair for the CIA to be blamed for the President and Vice-President's mistakes. Please, for the good of the country- LEAK THIS FUCKING REPORT!

via Kos

Instapundit:

Bush's campaign on Monday released a letter signed by Prescott and five other Nobel laureates critical of Kerry's proposal to roll back tax reductions for families earning $200,000 or more.

In The Republic interview, he said such a policy would discourage people from working.

"It's easy to get over $200,000 in income with two wage earners in a household," Prescott said. "We want those highly educated, talented people to work."

Wow. If it's easy why don't 97.6% of American housholds (which earn under $200,000) just go get better paying jobs?

Glenn Reynolds says he's surprised this hasn't gotten more attention- so am I. It shows how out of touch these people are.

This is the kind of advice Bush is getting. Yikes.

NYDN:

Scandal-hit Bill O'Reilly's accuser had a crush on the talk show host and voluntarily engaged in "intimate" phone talks with him, according to a former friend of the woman.

But at some point, the ex-pal said, O'Reilly's relationship with Andrea Mackris went sour - and she vowed to take her boss down in a juicy tell-all book.

Well, sure she fell in love with him- who could resist this bald, creepy, old fart?

Best case for O'Reilly- he was attempting to cheat on his wife with a willing participant. Worst case she was unwilling. Either way he bragged about previous affairs with young women. Either way he was masturbating while talking to her on the phone. Either way he was her boss and he used his position to threaten her. Either way he's screwed.

Can't wait for the tapes.

Final thought for now- can any amount of smearing the accuser possibly make a difference to O'Reilly's wife?

I'm betting he loses much more than $60 million when this is all said and done, but it won't all necessarily go to Mackris. His wife should take him to the cleaners.

Presidential Senior Advisor Karl Rove, lays down in front of the landing gear of Air Force One so that President Bush (news - web sites) could see during antics before their departure at McGuire Air Force Base, in N.J., Monday, Oct. 18, 2004. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

What a total spaz.

UPDATE: Salon had a caption contest- the winner was "Let's Roll"

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 the supposed veterans who took part in the event were later "discovered as frauds" who "never set foot on the battlefield, or left the comfort of the States, or even served in uniform."

The suit said viewers would be left with the perception that Campbell had lied about his military service.

Campbell attached copies of his military records to the lawsuit, showing that he received a Purple Heart and eight other medals, ribbons and decorations for his service in Vietnam.

Film producer Carlton Sherwood's company, Red White and Blue Productions, did not immediately return a call on Monday seeking comment.

Indeed.

...with days or hours to spare before the election.

Bush just gave his "major speech" (in which he talked endlessly about his opponents crazy ideas) and the media was again fooled into covering his stump speech. When will they learn? Not this election, it would appear...

So Bush spent a good five minutes building up Al-Zarqawi in today's speech- now we all know what a horrible, horrible person who hates your freedoms he is.

Clearly Bush is trying to turn Al-Zarqawi into the new bin Laden. Bonus for Bush- he's easier to catch.

Let's look at the facts- they captured Saddam too early to help Bush in the election, Osama can run and hide contrary to Bush's claims, so they need a new bad guy. Enter Al-Zarqawi.

Though I wouldn't be shocked if we catch Osama in the next couple of weeks, I'd be very surprised if we don't capture or kill Al-Zarqawi. That way Bush can claim victory over his new made for TV enemy.

Just you watch.

Review Finds More Bush Military Records

By MATT KELLEY
The Associated Press
Saturday, October 16, 2004; 5:00 AM

WASHINGTON - 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.

Article Link

See the documents here.

Rob Hiaasen of the Baltimore Sun gives us some choice quotes from disgraced right-wing talk show host Bill O'Reilly's advice book for kids:

Given the nature of the lawsuit, it's difficult not to contrast his advice to children and Mackris' charges against him.

He wrote: "I didn't have sex until I was twenty years old! Can you believe it? I was kind of a shy guy around girls, and I had absolutely no 'moves.'"

She wrote: Among other accusations, O'Reilly described to her a Caribbean fantasy. "Well, if I took you down there then I'd want to take a shower with you right away, that would be the first thing I'd do."

He wrote: "Here's another smart thing to consider. Whatever you do, don't give the details to your friends. That is a betrayal of trust. I don't care if it was the best sex in your life."

She wrote: O'Reilly in 2003 regaled her and her friend over dinner "with stories concerning the loss of his virginity to a girl in a car at JFK, two 'really wild' Scandinavian airline stewardesses ... and a 'girl' at a sex show in Thailand who had shown him things in the backroom that 'blew his mind.'"

He wrote: "I am going to tell you to look for love, though. For most of us, it's a lengthy search, but the challenge is fun. Some people think that's why we're here. Maybe so."

She wrote: Over dinner in 2002, Mackris says, O'Reilly advised her to avoid contact with her ex-fiance and to "pick up 23-year-old men in bars" and to "meet men with credentials" and to spend the next year doing what she likes "without thinking about the consequences."

He wrote: "Are you surprised by my thoughts on the subject? Did you think that O'Reilly would tell you sex is off-limits?"

She wrote: O'Reilly advised that she should just use a "vibrator to blow off steam ... 'What, you've got a vibrator, don't you? Every girl does.' "

He wrote: "And guys, if you exploit a girl, it will come back to get you. That's called 'karma.' And don't allow yourself to be exploited by a troubled partner ... "

She wrote: O'Reilly became threatening when reminded he had bragged of his sexual exploits. "If any woman ever breathed a word, I'll make her pay so dearly that she'll wish she'd never been born," she quoted him as saying.

While Regis and Kelly were probably not the only talkers who were interested in having O'Reilly on their show to promote his book, they may be the last ones he visits with, for now.

"Because of the intense media scrutiny Mr. O'Reilly is currently facing, he and HarperCollins have jointly decided to postpone the final media interviews," said a statement released yesterday by the publishing house.

"We wish him well during this difficult time."

link

"We cannot simply suspend or restrict civil liberties until the War of Terror is over, because the War on Terror is unlikely ever to be truly over," Judge Gerald Tjoflat wrote for the three-member court. "September 11, 2001, already a day of immeasurable tragedy, cannot be the day liberty perished in this country."

It took three years, but at least somebody's finally saying it.

link

That strikes me as an incredibly bad move.

FOX is trying to claim it's unrelated to the lawsuit- I suppose we're to believe this firing is just an incredible coincidence.

link

Please, please, please forward your URL to billoreilly.com until you have some content of your own up there.

Just parking it is such a waste.

Respectfully,

McLusky

Here's Jon Stewart's incredible appearance on today's Crossfire. (15.7 MB, Length: 13:33)

Clearly they were expecting Jon to dance for them- wasn't gonna happen. He told them off. It was beautiful.

Media Matters nails the manly one on Fox & Friends.

HILL: You know what? That's like if you talk to an alcoholic's family and you say, boy, that kid of yours sure is a wino, but you know, you're really dealing with it well and I'm sure that he has no choice about being a wino. I mean really that's what it is. I'm sorry. Senator Kerry, there's nothing you can say here. It is what it is.

I'm sorry, E.D. - there's nothing you can say here. You're a bigot. It is what it is.

link

Joe Lockhart has some thoughts:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In response to reports that Karl Rove testified before the grand jury investigating the CIA leak case, Kerry-Edwards campaign Senior Adviser Joe Lockhart issued the following statement:

"With two weeks to go before the election, the American people are still in the dark about how it is that their White House leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative to the press, jeopardizing the life of this agent and possibly violating federal law.

"Instead of hiding behind the lawyers he so often likes to criticize, George Bush should direct Karl Rove and anyone else involved to go to the White House briefing room and come clean about their role in this insidious act. If the president sincerely wanted to get to the bottom of this potential crime, he'd stop the White House foot dragging and fully cooperate with this investigation."

At a Bush speech:

Three Medford school teachers were threatened with arrest and escorted from the event after they showed up wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Protect our civil liberties." All three said they applied for and received valid tickets from Republican headquarters in Medford.

The women said they did not intend to protest. "I wanted to see if I would be able to make a statement that I feel is important, but not offensive, in a rally for my president," said Janet Voorhies, 48, a teacher in training.

“We chose this phrase specifically because we didn't think it would be offensive or degrading or obscene," said Tania Tong, 34, a special education teacher.

Thursday’s event in Oregon sets a new bar for a Bush/Cheney campaign that has taken extraordinary measures to screen the opinions of those who attend Bush and Cheney speeches. For months, the Bush/Cheney campaign has limited event access to those willing to volunteer in Bush/Cheney campaign offices. In recent weeks, the Bush/Cheney campaign has gone so far as to have those who voice dissenting viewpoints at their events arrested and charged as criminals.

Thursday’s actions in Oregon set a new standard even for Bush/Cheney – removing and threatening with arrest citizens who in no way disrupt an event and wear clothing that expresses non-disruptive party-neutral viewpoints such as “Protect Our Civil Liberties.”

When Vice President Dick Cheney visited Eugene, Oregon on Sept. 17, a 54-Year old woman named Perry Patterson was charged with criminal trespass for blurting the word "No" when Cheney said that George W. Bush has made the world safer.

link

The news that we've just now shut down Zarqawi's funding (after years of choosing not to do that) comes exactly a week after the administration announced we we now have a written strategy for Iraq.

These guys are just incompetent. Say your piece November 2.

This maudlin display is a total put-on by the Cheneys- no one believes they are this embarrassed by their daughter, do they?

All the Vice-President's previous statements on this topic haven't been cheap, tawdry political tricks, have they?

Saying Mary Cheney is gay is not an insult, and it's not something the Cheney's should be ashamed of. She's not.

It's pretty obvious what's happening here- the BC04 Campaign is flailing. There can be no doubt about it, and it's really an amazing thing to see.

This is an indication of what's to come in the next few weeks- now we know for sure- they won't hesitate to throw their own kids under the bus.

Wow. As if the Swift Boat Vets for Bush weren't discredited enough, Nightline investigated their claims and found that Kerry and his boat mates have it right, O'Neill's group has it wrong. Not only that, the witnesses Nightline talked to had already confirmed Kerry's version of the battle to a camera crew working for the Swift Boat Vets.

Let me say that again- the Vets had confirmation of Kerry's version of events before their campaign started.

Liars. All of them.

Via Kevin Drum

Update 10/16/04: Kevin has an update on this

The Pentagon plans to promote Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former head of military operations in Iraq, risking a confrontation with members of Congress because of the prisoner abuses that occurred during his tenure.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have privately told colleagues they are determined to pin a fourth star on Sanchez, two senior defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this week. Rumsfeld and others recognize that Sanchez remains politically "radioactive," in the words of a third senior defense official, and would wait until after the Nov. 2 presidential election and investigations of the Abu Ghraib scandal have faded before putting his name forward.

Well, they've got to be thrilled that Sanchez stopped the investigations into the prison abuse scandals before they reached Rummy. I was always taught crime doesn't pay... I guess we'll see November 2nd.

link

Bush yesterday:

My opponent talks about fiscal sanity. His record in the United States Senate does not match his rhetoric.

Bush today:

[T]he Bush administration said on Thursday that the federal government had hit the debt ceiling set by Congress and would have to borrow from the civil service retirement system until after the elections.

Bush's people knew this was coming. They were hoping we wouldn't notice. No such luck.

link

Notice anything weird about this USA Today/Gallup Poll graphic?


Enhance, center up, enhance, stop...

If you actually read through the poll it's totally devastating to Bush, but this is right at the top of the page. Since when is 50% less than half?

Update: So from here I click on the link "Candidates On The Issues" and I get this:



Has Bush finally figured out a way to make the pie bigger/higher?

Another Update: They've fixed the "Candidates On The Issues" pie chart, but not the one on the first page. Maybe they figure that one is close enough.

All fixed now.

"All of us are intensively working to bring security and the rule of law to every part of Iraq so there can be elections," al-Yawer, a Sunni Muslim, was quoted as saying. "Yes, it's scheduled for Jan. 31, but that date is not sacred."

Hmm... that ain't what our guy's been saying...link

Just felt like saying it.

Saletan:

Bush blinked, bubbled, giggled, and blurted at odd moments. He grinned strangely as he talked about tax increases, entrenched special interests, defeat in Iraq, and contaminated flu vaccines. He held his chin up and tried to smile each time Kerry rebuked him, but the expression on his face was that of a fraternity pledge struggling to look like he was having a good time in the midst of a spanking. The picture of the senior and junior Bonesmen cried out for the caption: "Thank you, Sir, may I have another?"

Bush said Kerry would raise taxes; Kerry made clear that he would raise them only for the rich and would cut them for the middle class. Bush said Kerry's health care plan was government-controlled and would deprive patients of choices; Kerry made clear that it wasn't and wouldn't. Bush said Kerry would let other countries veto American security decisions; Kerry made clear that he wouldn't and that the "global test" he had embraced was simply the "truth standard." The more Kerry explained himself, the more I came to understand his recovery in the polls. For seven months, Bush buried Kerry under negative ads. Now tens of millions of people who saw those ads are seeing Kerry for themselves. The debates are washing out the ads.

link

The spaz who brought us the ill-concieved "Kerryisms" has really come around, hasn't he?

When I hear Bush speak I have this image of Yoda's younger, retarded brother.

Last night he meant to say, "A litany of complaints is not a plan." That actually would have been a good line- not applicable to anything Kerry said, but none the less, a good line that would have been repeated. Run this line through retarded Yoda here and it turns into an unquotable, jumbled mess.

"Buggy and horse days"??? What the fuck?

I don't know how his speechwriters put up with this stuff.

Did you notice the little pat-down Kerry gave Bush at the end of the debate? He slapped him on the back, shook his hand, then grasped his arm. If Bush was wearing a wire tonight Kerry knows about it.

Meanwhile Begala says:

This performance should forever dispel the myth that someone is feeding Mr. Bush lines through a secret earpiece. Believe me, if someone was feeding Bush lines, he wouldn't sound so goofy.

Good point.

Here's the most obvious lie of the night from the President.

Mmmm... handy...

link

I haven't even read the whole thing yet, but this'll get you started:

However, throughout her employment on "The O'Reilly Factor," Plaintiff ANDREA MACKRIS has been subjected to the mercurial and unpredictable mood swings of her boss, Defendant "BILL O'REILLY," a personality who can be paternal and engaging at one instant, tyrannical and menacing the next.

Commencing approximately May 2002 through January 2004, and commencing again approximately July 6, 2004 through the present, Plaintiff ANDREA MACKRIS was sexually harassed by her immediate supervisor, Defendant BILL O'REILLY.

O'REILLY's eyes became glazed and bizarrely strayed in opposite directions. Suddenly, without provocation or warning, Defendant BILL O'REILLY said to Plaintiff ANDREA MACKRIS: "And just use your vibrator to blow off steam." When Plaintiff reddened, Defendant BILL O'REILLY asked lewdly: "What, you've got a vibrator, don't you? Every girl does." When Plaintiff responded indignantly, "No, and no, they don't. Does your wife?" Defendant replied: "Yes, in fact she does. She'd kill me if she knew I was telling you!" Plaintiff was repulsed.

Dude, she ain't the only one...


Oh so much more right here...

Update: It appears paragraph 66 is the literal money shot.

I tried Photoshopping a gorilla in to this picture of Cheney, but the original was still funnier:

...but this time he claims someone was attempting to extort $60 million:

Benedict P. Morelli, a Manhattan attorney, and the FOX News employee, threatened to sue Mr. O'Reilly and FOX News claiming Mr. O'Reilly allegedly engaged in offensive conversations with the employee.

link

Hmm... I guess there's a fine line between a settlement offer and extortion in O'Reilly's mind...

C'mon Smoking Gun- get those documents!

UPDATE: WOO HOO! They've got 'em! Thanks for the heads-up TheDudeTim!

UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix:

"I think that it would have been desireable for us to have more time... I think that the Iraqis were actually beginning to try to do cooperation of substance, and they were almost frantic to do so..."
more

On March 7, 2003 Blix reported that the inspectors were about to investigate a WMD disposal site. Bush ordered the inspectors out of Iraq and on March 20, Bush invaded.

There's a pretty easy case to be made here- Bush invaded because the UN inspectors were about to undermine his plans to invade.

Meanwhile, claims that we're somehow safer because of Bush's invasion ring pretty fucking hollow about now.

The bastards. Sinclair makes money when we're at war- is it any wonder why they support Bush?

link

The Independent:

Tony Blair's claim that Iraq was within 45 minutes of launching weapons of mass destruction ­ a central plank of his case for war ­ fell apart yesterday as the Foreign Secretary formally withdrew the infamous claim and revealed MI6 had abandoned its source for the bogus intelligence.

In a humiliating climbdown, Jack Straw told MPs in a special Commons statement that MI6 has severed ties with the sources for both the 45-minute claim and intelligence that Saddam Hussein had produced a biological weapons agent in 2000.

link

You know, the war sounded like it was going to be so much fun at first. Making shit up to justify the invasion wasn't going to matter because once we got there we'd be greeted as liberators, with the candy and the flowers.

Oh well. Stay the course and all that. I'm sure we all feel confident that Bush and Blair have learned their lesson... right?

Right?

Germany might deploy troops in Iraq if conditions there change, Peter Struck, the German defence minister, indicated on Tuesday in a gesture that appears to provide backing for John Kerry, the US Democratic presidential challenger.

link

Gosh... sounds like the stuff Kerry's been saying on the campaign trail isn't as bullshit-ridden as Bush wants you to believe.

I look forward to the wealth of retractions from the morons on Fox and Friends, O'Reilly, and every other FOX News show that ridiculed this eventuality.

Ugh... It's probably pretty naive to think this is an isolated incident. These bastards are ruthless.

I'm serious-- they've got hardly any ruths at all.

FCC Commissioner Copps: Criticizes Sinclair Corporate Decision to Preempt Local Stations for Political Broadcast
10/12/2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jordan Goldstein: (202) 418-2000

Commissioner Michael J. Copps reacted to reports that Sinclair Broadcast Group will preempt more than 60 local stations across the country to air an overtly political program in the days prior to the Presidential election.

Copps stated: “This is an abuse of the public trust. And it is proof positive of media consolidation run amok when one owner can use the public airwaves to blanket the country with its political ideology -- whether liberal or conservative. Some will undoubtedly question if this is appropriate stewardship of the public airwaves. This is the same corporation that refused to air Nightline’s reading of our war dead in Iraq. It is the same corporation that short-shrifts local communities and local jobs by distance-casting news and weather from hundreds of miles away. It is a sad fact that the explicit public interest protections we once had to ensure balance continue to be weakened by the Federal Communications Commission while it allows media conglomerates to get even bigger. Sinclair, and the FCC, are taking us down a dangerous road.”

If you've listened to Howard Stern in the last few years, one thing is clear- FCC Commissioner Michael Copps is a complete douche bag.

This time the douche bag got it right.

This is the problem we all were screaming about when media consolidation regulations fell by the wayside. There were those who said this kind of thing would never happen. Well, we told you so, and fuck you for not listening.

So far it's been Clear Channel deciding that Britney's next turd is a hit.

Now Sinclair wants to paint Kerry as a VC sympathizer (or something). Who's gonna stop 'em if they own all the stations?

Can't hurt to try-- sign the petition. (thanks AdobeChallenged)

From the London Telegraph- will we ever read about any of this stuff in our own newspapers?

In the latest clash, a senior former CIA agent revealed that Mr Cheney "blew up" when a report into links between the Saddam regime and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist behind the kidnappings and beheadings of hostages in Iraq, including the Briton Kenneth Bigley, proved inconclusive.

Other recent leaks have included the contents of classified reports drawn up by CIA analysts before the invasion of Iraq, warning the White House about the dangers of post-war instability. Specifically, the reports said that rogue Ba'athist elements might team up with terrorist groups to wage a guerrilla war.

Critics of the White House include officials who have served in previous Republican administrations such as Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA head of counter-terrorism and member of the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan.

"These have been an extraordinary four years for the CIA and the political pressure to come up with the right results has been enormous, particularly from Vice-President Cheney.

...if we allow the wackjobs in charge there to keep talking.

Assuming these quotes are true, I can't imagine an advertiser wanting to get anywhere near them.

via TPM

Update: I don't mean to insinuate that we shouldn't be protesting Sinclair- they're obviously scumbags, it's surprising anyone would advertise with them.

By the way, it looks like calling the advertisers is working.

The suspects were detained with no notification to their families, no Red Cross access and, in some cases, no acknowledgement that they are even being held, the New York-based watchdog said in a 46-page report.

"'Disappearances' were a trademark abuse of Latin American military dictatorships in their 'dirty war' on alleged subversion," said Human Rights Watch special counsel Reed Brody.

"Now they have become a United States tactic in its conflict with Al-Qaeda," Brody said.

We're better than this, but not under this president.

link

aProgressive sez:

Due to Sinclair Broadcasting's decision to air the anti-Kerry film just prior to the election, www.kerrysupport.com has decided to host the movie, Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry, for people to see and get a better idea of John Kerry's experience in Vietnam and when he returned from Vietnam. Maybe you could make a post, recom