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KerryHaters was first to blog on the Christmas-in-Cambodia lie, way back on May 21. Too bad the elite media hadn't cast their net widely enough. They'd have had a scoop long ago.--Hugh Hewitt

Our friends Pat and Kitty at Kerry Haters deserve the blog equivalent of a Pulitzer for their coverage of Kerry's intricate web of lies regarding Vietnam.--Crush Kerry


Saturday, September 11, 2004
 
Stupid or Unpatriotic?



What bonehead came up with the idea of a flag on a rug? And what idiot thought it would be okay to walk on the flag?

Hat Tip: KH reader Brent caught this one. Thanks, Brent!
- Pat, 6:44 PM
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CBS LIES



Our good friend Chris, at KerryWaffles, dragged himself in from 18 holes of golf just to photoshop the above for us. Knowing Chris, it was a labor of love. Thanks, Chris!

He also the John F. Kerry Scrabble Page up with another great photoshop addition.
Comeback to Kerry's treating American voters like 6 year olds with his "W" is for wrong spew.
The scrabble game is to think of a middle name for Kerry that begins with "F." Then send your ideas to Chris (e-mail provided). My submission was "Fool." Check it out and have fun!

- Kitty, 4:36 PM
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Some 9-11 Thoughts

I'm particularly staying away from watching anything on 9-11 today. I have mentioned in the past (maybe not here, but on Brainster's) that I had a very difficult time getting over 9-11, and the only thing that helped me climb out of the depression that I was sinking into was reading everything I could find on Flight 93.

The Cluebat Factory has some thoughts on heroes.

Desert Rat reminds us that the war is not over.

Danegerus has lots of 9-11 remembrances.

Michael King suggests that 9-11 be known as Patriot Day.
- Pat, 3:17 PM
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Okay, What Do We Want From CBS?

Obviously, at this point we're in position to demand more than just the head of Dan Rather. Make Bernard Goldberg the evening news anchor, and executive producer of 60 Minutes? Make Jonah Goldberg the evening news anchor and executive producer of 60 Minutes?

I'm half serious here. We have tremendous power at this point, and CBS is in no position to negotiate. They've been caught in an obvious lie and to compound things, despite being caught red-handed they've tried to huff about how President Bush has to answer the charges.

How do I know we've got them on the run? Well, the blogs just keep coming up with more evidence. But more important is what's going on with the lefty bloggers. Suddenly they're backing down on the story, aware that their credibility is at risk. Here's Josh Marshall:

If a few qualified experts came forward and said, 'Well, those criticisms don't add up if you know the subject. And the bottom line is that there's nothing about these documents that raise any question about their being produced in the early seventies" that would be plenty for me -- because I don't have the expertise to evaluate the criticisms and the defenses in the face of such expert opinion.

But I'm not hearing anyone say anything like that. In fact, rather the contrary.

The ball is in the court of the publishers of these documents to authenticate them. And so far I'm not hearing any adequate defense.

Matt Yglesias:

Charles Johnson (that's Little Green Footballs) puts his graphic design background to use and makes a rare constructive contribution to the public discourse. I've got to agree with JMM -- quite possibly you could have done that with a typewriter in the early 1970s, but what are the odds it would have shaken out just like that? Not good, I would say.

Kevin Drum:

Until then, I'm afraid skepticism is warranted. I hope CBS hasn't gotten burned by crude forgeries, but like they say, hope is not a plan.

When even the lefty bloggers are heading for the exits, you know the game is over. So the question becomes what do we want from CBS News?

1. They must reveal their source for the documents. There's some speculation that Rather's drawing a line in the sand because he's protecting the Kerry campaign. Rather's immediate defense on CNN the other day that the attention should be on the questions raised rather than the source is certainly revealing.

2. The firing of Dan Rather and others with decision-making roles on the 60 Minutes piece.

3. The hiring of an ombudsman with some real authority at CBS who can hold the network accountable, perhaps with a weekly segment on the evening news. Some possible candidates would include Brent Bozell and Bernard Goldstein (DOH! Goldberg, of course).

That sounds like a good start to me. Any other suggestions?
- Pat, 3:00 PM
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Heroes











- Pat, 8:22 AM
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Time Poll: President Bush up 11

Lots of bad news for Kerry in this one.

Bush’s favorability scores have risen significantly, to 54% favorable - 38% unfavorable. In early August, his favorability was even, 45% favorable – 45% unfavorable. Meanwhile, Kerry’s unfavorable ratings have increased significantly. His favorable – unfavorable scores are now even, 43% favorable – 42% unfavorable. In early August, Kerry favorable – unfavorable ratio was almost 2 to 1, 53% favorable – 29% unfavorable.
- Pat, 8:17 AM
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Swiftees Raise $6.7 Million

Despite the headline, "Bush Backers Donate Heavily to Veteran Ads", the article is pretty fair.

Democrats made heavy use of these groups early in the race, raising tens of millions through organizations like the Media Fund, America Coming Together and the MoveOn.org Voter Fund, drawing complaints from Republicans who said they were illegal. Mr. Bush's campaign filed a complaint with the election commission in March alleging that the Kerry campaign and the Democratic groups were violating campaign finance laws by coordinating illegally.

Indeed, a procession of top strategists have moved back and forth between Mr. Kerry's campaign and the advocacy groups, drawing fresh rounds of Republican protests.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has spent more than $4.2 million since April, Mr. Russell said, with most of it spent on radio and television advertisements. It had about $2.5 million left in the bank this week, he said, leaving the group in a strong position to continue its barrage of attack ads.
- Pat, 7:06 AM
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“thE DISHONESTY thING”


Shop here.

This is classic Steyn. Aren't all of his columns? But I do have a sobering thought: Are there enough Bush-haters who don’t care what kind of person Kerry is who will still vote for him come November?

CBS falls for Kerry campaign's fake memo
By Mark Steyn
Unfortunately for CBS, Dan Rather's hairdresser sucks up so much of the budget that there was nothing left for any fact-checking, so the ''60 Minutes'' crew rushed on air with a damning National Guard memo conveniently called ''CYA'' that Bush's commanding officer had written to himself 32 years ago. ''This was too hot not to push,'' one producer told the American Spectator. Hundreds of living Swiftvets who've signed affidavits and are prepared to testify on camera -- that's way too cold to push; we'd want to fact-check that one thoroughly, till, say, midway through John Kerry's second term. But a handful of memos by one dead guy slipped to us by a Kerry campaign operative -- that meets ''basic standards'' and we gotta get it out there right away.
…
The tragedy for Rather, Oliphant, Krugman and Co. is that even if the memos were authentic nobody would care. Their boy Kerry had a crummy August not because he didn't hammer Bush for being AWOL in the Spanish-American War but because the senator's AWOL in the present war. Big Media are trashing their own reputations in service to a man who can never win.
After the 2002 election, I wrote, ''Remind me never to complain about 'liberal media bias' again. Right now, liberal media bias is conspiring to assist the Democrats to sleepwalk over the cliff.''
…
George W. Bush ought to wake up every morning and thank the Lord the media aren't on his side.

- Kitty, 5:32 AM
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Friday, September 10, 2004
 
Kerry Lied Weekend

Let's not forget about this great story:

John Kerry told the world we were war criminals who raped, tortured and murdered in Vietnam. Now, thirty-three years later, we will tell America the truth. Join us at the rally we call:
KERRY LIED . . . while good men died
A gathering of Vietnam veterans from across America

Where: Upper Senate Park, Washington, D.C. It is easy to get to, shady and pretty, with a great view of the Capitol dome in back of the speaker's platform. THIS IS A NEW LOCATION AS OF 7/17/04

When: Sunday, Sept 12, 2004 2:00-4:00 PM (EDT)

Why: To tell the truth about Vietnam veterans.
To counter the lies told about Vietnam veterans by John Kerry

All Vietnam veterans and their families and supporters are asked to attend.Other veterans are invited as honored guests.

NOTE: Bring a blanket or lawn chairs. None will be provided.

PLEASE NOTE: WHILE THIS RALLY IS CONDUCTED IN HONOR OF AND ON BEHALF OF VIETNAM VETERANS, EVERYBODY IS ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND! PLEASE COME AND BRING A FRIEND!

(Pat again)
If you are in the DC area, try to attend. Please let me know of any coverage of the event that you see, we really want to highlight this event all weekend.
- Pat, 8:58 PM
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Let's Say the Obvious About The Memos

Beyond the forgery is WHY they were forged. CBS is now claiming that they had lots of "other" evidence that backed up the memos; however, it is clear that what they actually had was a couple people saying, "That sounds like something Jerry Killian would say."

It's pretty obvious what the story would have been without the memos:

A couple people recalling that Jerry Killian had some negative comments about 1LT George W. Bush. HEARSAY evidence in other words. Hence the need for the documents.
- Pat, 8:20 PM
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Dan Rather is an Honest Man

"I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things."
--Dan Rather on FNC's The O'Reilly Factor, May 15, 2001.

Hat Tip: Chuck & Dan both emailed me this one.
- Pat, 7:06 PM
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Legion Members Reporting for Duty

- Pat, 5:25 PM
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The Problem With Blogs

Is the lack of fact-checkers according to a former 60 Minutes producer that Tony Snow just interviewed.

Pot, meet kettle.
- Pat, 5:09 PM
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Caddell: It's Over

Jimmy Carter pollster Pat Caddell:

Longtime Democratic strategist Pat Caddell said Friday that if documents aired by CBS newsman Dan Rather Wednesday night turn out to be forged, as alleged by experts, the presidential race "is over."

"It would be the end of the race," Caddell told Fox News Live. "It would be the end of the race," he repeated.

We can only hope!
- Pat, 3:59 PM
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Dan Keeps Digging

Statement from CBS News:

Statement From CBS News
Friday September 10, 3:53 pm ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Later today, CBS News will address on the air and in detail the issues surrounding the documents broadcast in the 60 MINUTES report on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. At this time, however, CBS News states with absolute certainty that the ability to produce the "th" superscript mentioned in reports about the documents did exist on typewriters as early as 1968, and in fact is in President Bush's official military records released by the White House. This and other issues surrounding the authenticity of the documents and more on this developing story will be reported on tonight on THE CBS EVENING NEWS WITH DAN RATHER.

Sorry, not watching, Dan.
- Pat, 2:00 PM
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Things Getting Worse for Kerry

Catch the end of the Washington Times piece I commented on below in the humor post:

The Prowler, an Internet political column, is reporting that the documents attributed to Col. Killian were given to a DNC staffer "more than six weeks ago." It says the documents were handed over to the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.



Kerry heads for the cliff....
- Pat, 12:44 PM
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60 Minutes Humor Abounds

GOP & the City has a look at Dan Rather's 2nd Grade report card.

The Commissar finds the missing memo on Kerry's trip to Cambodia. (Language warning).

Comedian Terry McAuliffe says Karl Rove's behind Rathergate. Oh, wait, that's serious news!

One of the Freepers says CBS is being honest with their call letters, because when you watch CBS, you See BS. For the record, the initial breaking of this story belongs to Freeper Buckhead. Great job, sir!

The Weekly Standard jazzes up Scrapplefaces "60 Minutes Next Big Scoop".

Chris at American Liberty Journal has a memo for Dan Rather.
- Pat, 11:54 AM
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CBS News Reports on Questions about Memos

This is pretty schizophrenic:

The personnel chief in Killian's unit at the time also said he believes the documents are fake.

"They looked to me like forgeries," Rufus Martin told the Associated Press. "I don't think Killian would do that, and I knew him for 17 years." Killian died in 1984.

Independent document examiner Sandra Ramsey Lines said the memos looked like they had been produced on a computer using Microsoft Word software. Lines, a document expert and fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, pointed to a superscript — a smaller, raised "th" in "111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron" — as evidence indicating forgery.

Maybe they can put Dan Rather on the story? He exposes the Kerry Campaign as the source and wins an Emmy for his sterling investigative journalism!
- Pat, 11:50 AM
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Rather Keeps Digging

Guess Kenneth never heard of the first rule of holes.

QUESTION: Apology or any kind of retraction or...

RATHER: Not even discussed, nor should it be. I want to make clear to you, I want to make clear to you if I have not made clear to you, that this story is true, and that more important questions than how we got the story, which is where those who don't like the story like to put the emphasis, the more important question is what are the answers to the questions raised in the story, which I just gave you earlier.
- Pat, 10:09 AM
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Kerry Camp Stonewall Day 40

It's now 40 days since Kerry has taken questions from the national media.

Sometimes, Kerry takes questions from local television reporters. Other times, he speaks by satellite with local television reporters in other parts of the country.

But most of the time, he stays away from the 60 or so members of the national press corps, other than to occasionally wish someone a happy birthday.

"Between two national conventions, bus trips and train trips, it's made the schedule different from the usual stops on the campaign trail," explained Kerry spokesman David Wade. "We'll be accessible on the campaign and we'll continue to be accessible."

Hilariously,

Perhaps the reason he has been unavailable has something to do with what happened the last time he took questions from a small group of reporters, known as a pool, while visiting the Grand Canyon on Aug. 9. He was asked if he, knowing there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, would have voted to give the president authority to use force there.

"Yes, I would have voted for the authority; I believe it's the right authority for a president to have," said Kerry, in remarks that were instantly controversial and a deviation from Democratic orthodoxy.

Or perhaps he just doesn't want to answer questions about his Vietnam service, about why he recently shook up his campaign staff and about whether he's worried about losing.
- Pat, 9:14 AM
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TODAY’S CRUSHKERRY

Besides the forgery fiasco, there IS other news, for which CrushKerry never has to look further than Kerry himself.
John Kerry is taken to task by CrushKerry today for his supremely hypocritical speech to the National Baptist Convention yesterday. He invoked biblical verses about compassion and deeds, and George Bush's lack to provide both. But a man with his history of charitable giving (which is referenced both in a prior article and HILARIOUS video ad) should really keep his mouth shut.
- Kitty, 8:26 AM
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DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN?



CBS Fraud----AGAIN
Well, well, well. It seems that CBS has been caught using fraudulent documents regarding President Bush's National Guard record. Many people are going to wonder how did the upstanding citizen of Mr. Rather and the icon CBS get taken in.
I won't be one of those people.
…
The Dan Rather "documentary" became part of the CBS video history series on Vietnam and is graced with a formal introduction by Walter Cronkite.
This is how Dan Rather introduced his TV audience to one of his prize victims: "At age 16, Steve was a Navy SEAL, trained to assassinate. For almost two years, he operated behind enemy lines, then he broke. He came home in a straightjacket, addicted to alcohol and drugs."
…
It seems to me that right now, and the issues raised in the current Presidental Campaign, the time is right to note not only the issues with CBS and Dan Rather are now, but what they were in the past. It all ties together, particularly the myths of atrocities told by those who WERE NOT VIETNAM VETS, but whose stories were nonetheless given legitimacy by Guess who? John Kerry in his 1971 Senate Testimony, and by, that's right boys and girls, Dan Rather. Interesting how they both seem to come together again? And right in the middle of the same issues so many years later.

- Kitty, 8:15 AM
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Hard to Believe Kerry Campaign is Behind the Memos

After all, if they are, it would be a self-inflicted wound caused by their own stupidity, which would be unusual for Camp Kerry.

Not!
- Pat, 7:33 AM
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BOMBSHELL PROWLER POST

Prowler, like a “Deep Throat” for The American Spectator, has written a bombshell column, which has crashed their site. But the column, in its entirety, can be read here and here.
"More than a couple people heard about the papers," says the DNC staffer. "I've heard that they ended up with the Kerry campaign, for them to decide to how to proceed, and presumably they were handed over to 60 Minutes, which used them the other night. But I know this much. When there was discussion here, there were doubts raised about their authenticity."
...
"There is a school of thought here that the Kerry people dumped this in our laps, figuring we'd do the heavy lifting on the story. That maybe they had doubts about these documents but hoped we'd get more information," says the producer. "If that's the case, then we're bigger fools than we already appear to be judging by all the chatter about how these documents could be forgeries."

Hat tip to CrushKerry and L.dotters everywhere!

- Kitty, 7:31 AM
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TAKE A BOW, BLOGGERS!



CBS'S BIG BLUNDER?
By John Podhoretz
These were "previously unseen documents . . . obtained by '60 Minutes,' " the network bragged Wednesday night on its Web site. Their author, supposedly, was Bush's squadron commander, Jerry Killian, who died 20 years ago.
…
Liberals went wild with glee about the story, especially after the onslaught on John Kerry's Vietnam record by his fellow Swift-boat veterans.
Kevin Drum, the most talented of the left-wing bloggers, wrote: "This story is a perfect demonstration of the difference between the Swift-boat controversy and the National Guard controversy. Both are tales from long ago and both are related to Vietnam, but . . . in the National Guard case, practically every new piece of documentary evidence provides additional confirmation that the charges against Bush are true."
Drum simply assumed that the documents were above-board. So did The New York Times and The Washington Post, both of which put the story on its front page on Thursday.
…
The Minneapolis lawyers who run powerlineblog.com were on the case early.
…
Charles Johnson, who runs the wonderful littlegreenfootballs.com, simply typed one of the memos over using Microsoft Word's New Times Roman font and, lo and behold, the document came out exactly identical to the one on the CBS site, down to the letter spacing.
…
By 3 o'clock, the very careful and honest Jim Geraghty, who produces invaluable material every day on nationalreview.com's Kerry Spot, was saying flatly, "CBS had better have one heck of a defense for this."

- Kitty, 5:55 AM
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ROUNDUP

8 Psychiatrists refer to this as PROJECTION.
KERRY RAGES AT 9/11 'POLITICS OF FEAR'
Kerry told the AP that " It proves they will say anything and do anything to get re-elected."

In the meantime, Kerry was quoted as saying this.

8 Pack your bags yet?
READY TO GO
NONE of the celebs who promised they would leave the country if George W. Bush won four years ago actually kept their word. But we'll keep track again for the next few weeks to see who will make the same vow. So far, we have Brooklyn author Paul Auster, whose novels include "Leviathan" and "City of Glass," and his wife, poet/essayist Siri Hustvedt. Auster was vague as he told the London Observer, "I don't know what I'll do for the next four years if Bush wins." His wife was more specific. The Observer's Robert McCrum reported that Hustvedt "says she will emigrate to Norway if Bush wins."

8 Lorie, at PoliPundit, is having fun:
I asked our readers for their favorite scandal-gate name for the Bush National Guard forged docs story and I chose "Rathergate" with a superscript "th" as the winner.

8 Chris, at KerryWaffles, is finding lots of laffs with Kerry:
Big Bad John Song and Page
This is one of the funniest songs out there.
Then, I have a video of a Kerry interview. Kerry says we can build a coalition and win in Iraq if we sign Kyoto and fight global warming. Gets even weirder. Really highlights what a blathering idiot this guy is. Not nuance...just plain idiocy.

- Kitty, 5:30 AM
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Pardon Me for Profiling, But I'm Seeing Vampire Here



Lots of weird "Kerry is Jesus" pictures on Yahoo news tonight; not hard to interpret this one that way as well.
- Pat, 1:17 AM
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Thursday, September 09, 2004
 
Rather Must Go

The Washington Post fronts the 60 Minutes scandal.

For once in my life, I feel akin to Flounder in the middle of the mayhem at the Faber homecoming parade, saying, "Oh, boy this is great!"

Hey Dan! If a frog had long enough lips, he'd kiss his butt goodbye!
- Pat, 11:53 PM
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ABC Goes with Real Story

Their wimp-out, serious charges nonetheless article is still up, but they go for the CBS jugular in a new article.

The memos were written using a proportional typeface, where letters take up variable space according to their size, rather than fixed-pitch typeface used on typewriters, where each letter is allotted the same space. Proportional typefaces are available only on computers or on very high-end typewriters that were unlikely to be used by the National Guard.

The memos include superscript, i.e. the "th" in "187th" appears above the line in a smaller font. Superscript was not available on typewriters.

The memos included "curly" apostrophes rather than straight apostrophes found on typewriters.

The font used in the memos is Times Roman, which was in use for printing but not in typewriters. The Haas Atlas — the bible of fonts — does not list Times Roman as an available font for typewriters.

The vertical spacing used in the memos, measured at 13 points, was not available in typewriters, and only became possible with the advent of computers.

Drudge is reporting Rather to be shocked--shocked that this went on under his very nose.
- Pat, 11:30 PM
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ABC Trots Out The Seriousness of the Charges, Not the Forgery of the Documents Defense for CBS

Snicker. Get this:

But the authenticity of the memos was questioned Thursday by the son of the late officer who reportedly wrote them. One of the writer's fellow officers and a document expert also said Thursday the documents appear to be forgeries.

Still, the documents marked the second time in days the White House had to backtrack from assertions that all of Bush's records had been released.

The White House hastened to correct the record by saying that all of Bush's records have been released, except for the forgeries created by unscrupulous (and incompetent) Democratic operatives. But still, ABC caught them in a lie, because they didn't know these CBS forgeries were out there. Potentially quite embarrassing to the Bush Administration. CBS promptly congratulated ABC for their brilliant investigative work proving that the Bush administration didn't know of these attacks.
- Pat, 10:22 PM
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Idea for an Editorial Cartoon

Just the world "Lie" but with the "e" made to look like the CBS logo. Alternative: with the e superimposed on Dan Rather's face as a black eye.
- Pat, 10:12 PM
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NY Times Goes With 60 Minutes Scandal

They don't feature it on the front page, but the story is there.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, the officer's son, Gary Killian, said he doubted his father wrote some of the memos. "I am upset because I think it is a mixture of truth and fiction here,'' Mr. Killian said.

Throughout the afternoon, questions arose about the authenticity of the memos as various forensics experts told news organizations, including The New York Times, that the fonts of the documents resembled those of modern-day word processors, namely Microsoft Word.

Bye, Bye, CBS Eye!
- Pat, 10:05 PM
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Why I'm Angry

I'll admit, I took the "facts" presented in Wednesday's CBS 60 Minutes II story as given, that lying fraud Dan Rather and company presented fairly memos that they had unearthed that had been authenticated. And I was duped. I wrote a post that basically assumed that lying fraud CBS was telling the truth. Big mistake, and I apologize to all my readers for trusting anything that those liars and frauds at CBS News ever said.

CBS, we'll see you again for next year's Masters. And I'll check on the net to make sure you're telling me the truth about who won.
- Pat, 9:57 PM
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Earlier 60 Minutes Fraud on Iraq Oil

Frank Warner has an earlier case of 60 Minutes committing a fraud on the American public.
- Pat, 8:41 PM
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The Next 60 Minutes Story!--Welcome Crush Kerry & Betsy's Page Readers

(Satire)

60 Minutes is prepared to break stunning news this Sunday, as John F. Kerry reveals for the first time the identity of the CIA man who gave him the magic hat!

tickticktick

"It was Dick Cheney," Kerry says.

This might seem unbelievable, but consider the facts. Cheney, when asked whether he served in Vietnam in the armed forces, has said he "had more important things to do." It now seems obvious that those more important things to do included spying in Cambodia, according to a memo that 60 Minutes has obtained from confidential sources. Our experts have verified that the document appears to be legitimate.

tickticktick

Christmas Eve, 1968

From: President Richard S. Nixon
To: Lt (j.g.) Kerry, USN

Merry Christmas! You are hereby ordered to escort CIA man and future Vice President Richard V. Cheney to Cambodia up the secret canal to Cambodia. Furthermore, upon your return to America you are to slander all Vietnam veterans by calling them baby killers and village burners. You must keep quiet about this order for the rest of your life. You are a true American hero, but this must be kept secret.

60 Minutes questioned Senator Kerry about the story. It took a little urging, but finally the gaunt solon opened his ever-present briefcase and opened up a secret compartment and removed an ancient, mildewy hat. Wordlessly, he opened up the brim of the hat and pulled out a card, on which was neatly printed, in 17-point Garamond: Property of CIA: Richard V. Cheney.

tickticktick

(Feel free to come up with your idea for 60 Minutes' next bombshell scoop and put a link to your post in the comments section)
- Pat, 8:16 PM
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AWOL Kerry?

Dislogue finds another interesting tidbit in Tour of Duty.

No doubt the media will pursue this as avidly as it repeated the fraudulent story perpetrated on the American public last night by CBS News and Dan Rather.
- Pat, 7:21 PM
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ANOTHER KERRY ATROCITY

John Kerry Friend Tries to Shut-Down Website Offering Free Access to "The New Soldier"
The website http://freekerrybook.com, offering the public free access to a PDF copy of "The New Soldier" by John Kerry was temporarily shut-down by Yahoo following a complaint filed by an attorney representing George Butler, co-editor of the book and a close personal friend of John Kerry. In response, a new 527 organization has been established with a new website at http://freekerrybook.org to make information regarding this book widely available to voters prior to the Presidential election.

Hat tip to Chris!
- Kitty, 6:57 PM
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Rather Must Go!--First Update!

I have to admit being just blown away by by the forgery story; it's unbelievable that they would be caught in such a lie.

Rather must go!

This is the most obvious smear job ever.

Rather must go!

Powerline's latest is here.

Rather must go!

I left a feedback telling them that I would not watch CBS again until they fired Dan Rather. If anybody has Leslie Moonves' email addy please put it in the comments. This is time to push things hard. If you have a blog, continue the chant:

Rather must go!

First Update: Here's an email to write to expose scams: scams@cbsnews.com
- Pat, 6:44 PM
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RECALLING A PREVIOUS FORGERY

Lorie, at PoliPundit, asks:
Remember The Forged Document That Caused The "16 Words" Apology?
Remember the reaction to the discovery that some of the intelligence leading the Brits to believe that Saddam was seeking uranium from Africa was based on forged documents? Well, the forgery was used to "prove" that the allegation was a "lie" made up by Bush to mislead the country into a war. I wonder if the same will be the case if the documents whose authenticity is being questioned in the Bush National Guard matter turn out to have been forged? Will that prove that the "Bush is an AWOL deserter" attack is without merit and even that the Democrats lied about it?
Okay, I really don't wonder. Somehow the forgery will probably end up
being Bush's fault, too.
- Kitty, 6:07 PM
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LYING, FRAUDULENT CBS

Jon Podhoretz is on Hugh Hewitt and pointing out that there are ligatures between the letters that could only arise with a computer. It is obvious that CBS has perpetrated a massive fraud on the country! CBS claimed to have had it checked by a document expert; how did he miss the obvious errors?

This is nothing less than a massive fraud aided and abetted, indeed, committed by the mainstream media. Amazingly, CBS is sticking to the story, but ABC reportedly covered the possibility of fraudulent documents during their evening news (pre-empted by the football game here).

One really obvious thing: the P.O. Box on one of the memos is #34567; nobody would have had that P.O. Box back in the 1970s; it's almost like somebody mentioned Sergeant Baba-Hooey in the middle of one of the memos. Lying, fraudulent, STUPID CBS.

You know what I wish? I wish it was 3-4 days before the election; this would make the Wellstone Funeral look reasonable. If they can tie this back to Kerry, he's toast.
- Pat, 5:46 PM
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Forgery Story Exploding--UPDATED

It's all over the blogs now. Looks like Dan Rather will be retiring into the sunset. "If a frog had a word processor, he'd be able to type in superscripts." Medved and Hewitt are all over the story; Drudge and Lucianne link to Powerline, knocking out Hindrocket & Co's server. Bill at InDC Journal sends the info to a forgery expert; he's 90% certain the memos are fraudulent.

One obvious question: Where are more documents that were written by that person/office?

UPDATE--Powerline is back up. The original post is here. Their latest update is here. Not sure what their emailer means with the comment. "Alger Hiss could not have created a more obvious fraud. CBS has been duped--again."

In fact, Alger Hiss did not create obvious frauds, he was caught much as CBS has been, by proof involving typefaces. There was a particular problem with one of the keys on his typewriter which made it obvious that a document that Hiss denied having seen had in fact been typed on his home typewriter.
- Pat, 3:26 PM
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WaPo: Bush Leads Kerry by Nine

So much for liberal hopes that President Bush's convention bounce was substantially smaller than the 11 points reported by Time and Newsweek.

For the first time in the campaign, a majority of likely voters now say they plan to vote for Bush. Among those most likely to vote in November, Bush holds a 52 percent to 43 percent lead over Kerry, with independent Ralph Nader receiving 2 percent of the hypothetical vote. Among all registered voters, Bush leads Kerry 50 percent to 44 percent.

Again, the only thing this poll means is that if we win every day between now and the election, we win the election. Kerry's gotta play catch-up.
- Pat, 2:21 PM
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Blogger Roundup

Matt's Rants has a good post about the memo Ed Gillespie sent out about the Kerry counterattack launched yesterday. Matt got a little crazy (and funny) with the links on this post, so be sure to click on them for grins.

Tom over at Just One Minute has been bashing the NY Times on the Nicholas Kristoff story which introduced Bob Mintz as making his "first interview with a national news organization". In fact, Mintz had been interviewed by CBS News back in February, when he said the following:

"I cannot say he was not there," Mintz said. "Absolutely positively was not there. I cannot say that. I cannot say he didn't do his duty."

Cadet Happy has a number of posts up today, but I'm linking to him mainly because I was thrilled to see where he places his link to Kerry Haters. At the top band of his blog, he has links to Hugh Hewitt, Kerry Haters, Drudge, Kerry Spot, Instapundit, and Free Republic. Wow! That's pretty classy company!

John Moore at Useful Fools is curious about the sudden discovery of new documents by the Boston Globe and 60 Minutes.

Nudnik notices how quickly the media have jumped on the Bush ANG story compared to their extreme reluctance to cover Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia.

Fausta at Bad Hair Blog writes about a "Progressive Remembrance" of 9/11 that the local paper describes as a non-partisan group. Fausta has doubts (as do I).
- Pat, 1:10 PM
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About the Air National Guard Story

As I mentioned earlier, this story doesn't worry me, because it doesn't answer either of the two questions being asked by the electorate this year. In addition, the media flogged this story to death earlier this year.

What does concern me, however, is the obvious coordination of effort on the part of the media, the Kerry campaign, the DNC, and Texans for Truth. Or are we supposed to believe that the Boston Globe, the New York Times and 60 Minutes all just happened to have a story on President Bush's Air National Guard service yesterday, the day Texans for Truth starting hawking their ridiculous advertisement?

The media are going to look especially guilty on this point if, as it now appears, that the documents used to move the story yesterday turn out to be forgeries.
- Pat, 12:20 PM
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UPDATE:

Hugh Hewitt is urging readers to read Powerline on the subject of Bush’s records.
Could the material used to try to discredit Bush be forgeries?

- Kitty, 11:12 AM
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More Memories Seared--Seared In His Brain?

KH reader Richard tipped us off to this story. In the Boston Globe's 2003 article, while discussing Kerry's role in the Senate as an investigator, he noted the following paragraph about the BCCI scandal and Kerry's somewhat deferential treatment of Clark Clifford, a long-time Democratic advisor:

[Kerry] defends his decision to treat Clifford courteously: "There was a balance of what I thought was decency. I am one of those kids who grew up watching Joseph Welch respond to Joe McCarthy and I remember his line about decency." (In 1954, Welch, an attorney for the US Army, replied to Senator Joseph McCarthy's latest red-baiting accusations with the words: "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?")

What's so interesting about this story? Well, it so happens that Kerry wasn't in the United States during the Summer of 1954, when Joseph Welch made his famous retort to Senator McCarthy.

Kerry says his first memory is from age three, of holding his crying mother's hand while they walked through the broken glass and rubble of her childhood home in Saint-Briac, France. The memorable visit came shortly after the United States had liberated Saint-Briac from the Nazis on August 14, 1944. The family estate, known as Les Essarts, had been occupied and used as a Nazi headquarters during the war. When the Germans fled, they bombed Les Essarts and burnt it down.

The sprawling estate was rebuilt in 1954. Kerry and his parents would often spend the summer holidays there. Kerry occupied his time there racing his cousins on bicycles and challenging relatives to games of kick the can. During these summers, he became good friends with his first cousin Brice Lalonde, a future Socialist and Green Party leader in France who ran for president of France in 1981.

But if Kerry was in Saint Briac in the Summer of 1954, how did he see the McCarthy hearings? On CNN (which was not established for another 26 years)? Did French television carry the hearings?
- Pat, 11:11 AM
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Who Wants a Roundup Link?

Put a link to your post in the comments on this post and we'll include you in this afternoon's roundup post. Usual conditions; no pro-Kerry or anti-Bush posts will be linked.
- Pat, 10:50 AM
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Kerry's Third Tour?

KH reader Richard pointed us to this copy of an article from 1971, in which Kerry claims to be planning a three-week tour of South Vietnam in July of that year. Note that the photo shows Kerry and Jesse Jackson doing the Revolutionary Drug Brothers handshake.
- Pat, 10:10 AM
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SEPARATING MEN FROM BOYS



The subject of Bush’s National Guard years is not about Bush, it’s really about Kerry. We know who Bush is, how he reacts in a crisis. With George “I don’t do nuance” Bush, what you see and hear is what you get. Kerry, on the other hand, changes his story to maintain his political viability. He’ll say and/or do just about anything to be president. But, why does he want to be president? Because he feels he’s entitled? Because it’s his turn? Is that a good enough reason for you to vote form him?

Bush’s National Guard years
Before you fall for Dems’ spin, here are the facts
By Byron York
The future president joined the Guard in May 1968. Almost immediately, he began an extended period of training. Six weeks of basic training. Fifty-three weeks of flight training. Twenty-one weeks of fighter-interceptor training.
That was 80 weeks to begin with, and there were other training periods thrown in as well. It was full-time work. By the time it was over, Bush had served nearly two years.
Not two years of weekends. Two years.
…
At the time, guardsmen were required to accumulate a minimum of 50 points to meet their yearly obligation.
...
Bush earned 340 points in 1969-1970. He earned 137 points in 1970-1971. And he earned 112 points in 1971-1972. The numbers indicate that in his first four years, Bush not only showed up, he showed up a lot. Did you know that?
...
Then, at his request, he was given permission to go. Bush received an honorable discharge after serving five years, four months and five days of his original six-year commitment. By that time, however, he had accumulated enough points in each year to cover six years of service.
During his service, Bush received high marks as a pilot.
A 1970 evaluation said Bush “clearly stands out as a top notch fighter interceptor pilot” and was “a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to for leadership.”
A 1971 evaluation called Bush “an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot” who “continually flies intercept missions with the unit to increase his proficiency even further.” And a 1972 evaluation called Bush “an exceptional fighter interceptor pilot and officer.”

FRUSTRATED JOHN GOES ON ATTACK WITH TEAM CLINTON
BY DEBORAH ORIN
THE Clinton war room is back — now operating at full throttle on behalf of John Kerry.
But the question is whether the slash-and-burn tactics that protected Bill Clinton against Sexgate prober Kenneth Starr will do as well against President Bush because, no matter how much Democrats hate to admit it, Bush is liked by most Americans.
Still, Dems vow to paint Bush as AWOL from the National Guard.
And they're salivating over dreams of dishing dirt from Kitty Kelley's upcoming Bush bio, said to even feature nasty tales about popular First Lady Laura Bush.
…
Kerry's campaign, which once boasted it had only positive TV ads, has churned out nine different Bush-bashing messages over the past week in a sudden shift to hard negative as Clinton pals get aboard.

- Kitty, 9:37 AM
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Our Man in Managua

Hugh Hewitt has a Weekly Standard article about Kerry's trip to Nicaragua to play kissy-face with Daniel Ortega. Conclusion?

Kerry was wholly wrong about Nicaragua, about the limits of American power, about the applicability of the Vietnam experience outside of Vietnam, indeed even about the lessons of the Vietnam War. Kerry's instinct in 1985 was appeasement of Ortega, and there is no reason to believe that his fundamental views, quite visibly revealed in his mission to Managua, have in any way evolved to a more mature understanding of the nature of America's enemies or the use of American power. John Kerry: Wrong about Vietnam. Wrong about the Sandinistas. Wrong about the Soviets. Wrong about Iraq. The wrong man with the wrong ideas at the wrong time.

I love it, especially since it throws that "W stands for Wrong" comment right back in the International Man of Mystery's face.
- Pat, 9:10 AM
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Kerry's Got More Positions Than the Kama Sutra--Updated

George Will filets Nuancy Boy:

But when pandering to Iowa's Democratic activists last winter, Kerry placed himself among the ranks of "the anti-war candidates." More recently he has said that even knowing what we know now about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, he would still have voted to authorize force. But on Monday he said Iraq was "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." He has said that "it would be unwise beyond belief" for America "to leave a failed Iraq in its wake" -- and that too few U.S. troops are there. But he has also said that he will bring some of them home -- "where they belong" -- in his first term. Then he said in his first year. Then in his first six months.

The New Republic, which supports him, says his position, which had been "inscrutable," is now "indefensible." He represents a party whose activists detest the war in Iraq, so he dwells on his participation in the Vietnam War, which those activists detested then or have learned to detest through liberalism's catechism. And having made a hash of his thoughts on the most serious subject, his speeches about the outsourcing of jobs appear, grotesquely incongruous, on newspaper pages carrying photographs of the broken bodies from School No. 1.

Update: The Blogspirator has a good post on this subject. Kerry commended the efforts of the President in conducting "the wrong war, at the wrong time".
- Pat, 7:40 AM
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EXPOSING KERRY’S RECORD OF BETRAYAL



“And they, the interrogator went through all of these statements from John Kerry. He starts pounding on the table. “See here, this naval officer, he admits that you are a criminal.”
(Excerpt from “Stolen Honor”)
- James H. Warner
Former Vietnam POW

- Kitty, 6:19 AM
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Wednesday, September 08, 2004
 
They Call Him "Live Shot"



Kerry talks about lower healthcare premiums, but he has no details.
- Pat, 10:22 PM
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ANG Story Getting Heavy Rotation

Barnes was unimpressive. CBS did report that Barnes is working for Kerry but didn't mention that he's a co-chair of the campaign. And they carefully blurred the line that Barnes had promoted Bush as Lieutenant Governor. They recycled the "Never showed up for his physical" bit; yawn.

Kristoff hits on the story in the Times.

But the real issue comes up:

Does this disqualify Mr. Bush from being commander in chief? No. But it should disqualify the Bush campaign from sliming the military service of a rival who still carries shrapnel from Vietnam in his thigh.
- Pat, 8:34 PM
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Is This The Largest Crowd He Can Find?



That is, when they don't have the union thugs in tow.
- Pat, 5:47 PM
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Put Arizona in the Bush Column

Kerry and the Democrats were dreaming of a breakthrough in the Grand Canyon state, but that has turned out to be a pipe dream.

President Bush emerged from the Republican National Convention with a surge of support that, if it lasts, would give him a solid win in Arizona, a new Arizona Republic Poll shows.

A survey of 600 likely voters found that if the election were held now, Bush would sweep Democratic Sen. John Kerry by 54-38 percent.

Hugh Hewitt's been talking about 40 states going for Bush for awhile. I might as well put down my prediction: Kerry wins Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Illinois, California, Hawaii and Washington, DC. That's nine states and DC. Bush sweeps the rest of the board.

Hat Tip: Kerry Spot.
- Pat, 5:15 PM
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"HE SERVED THE NORTH VIETNAMESE BETTER"

The POWs Speak
By Jed Babbin
Kerry's combat service in Vietnam was brave but insignificant. His actions didn't change the course of even a small part of the war. But his actions after leaving the war did. He helped to cripple America's war effort as leader of the radical Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
…
Other than the POWs, perhaps the best judge of the protests' effect was General Vo Nguyen Giap, the commander of the North Vietnamese armed forces. In his article, "How We Won the War," Giap said:

Politically, the Vietnamese always believed in the importance of the anti-war movement…They encouraged it as best they could, knowing that creating a climate of opinion hostile to the war would be one important way of ending it. In the end, their victory was accelerated by Congress' refusal to vote more aid. That refusal was a response to a climate of public opinion which the anti-war movement helped to forge.

John Kerry served well during the Vietnam War. Unfortunately for the POWs, he served the North Vietnamese better than he served those held in a brutal captivity.

- Kitty, 4:51 PM
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The "Not-So-Swift" Boat Vet

Chris at Kerry Waffles has a nice page up on "Mekong John". As usual with Chris' pages, it's a multimedia experience, with sounds, pictures, gags & newspaper articles all around a central theme. Be sure to check out Kerry's Boat Ox at the bottom.
- Pat, 3:24 PM
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Roundup Time

M@ at Manifest Content has an interesting post about his experience at a rally for President Bush in Missouri.

So the President is a real guy, and not just that, he seems even more likable than on TV. He just seems much more like a regular guy who is telling you what he *thinks and believes* instead of telling you what he thinks you want to hear (I'm looking at you, John Kerry).

Matt at Matt's Rants has something to think about.

Dislogue analyzes Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia as a "Road to Damascus" event, and points out that Brinkley writes it more as a gradual process rather than a sudden revelation.

Dave has some comparison stats for the 1,000 US dead in Iraq.
- Pat, 2:53 PM
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Solid Article on the Kerry Lied Demonstration

Nice to see these folks getting some good press.

A whole bunch of those common soldiers Kerry purported to speak for on that April 1971 day are coming to Washington on September 12. They will rally under a banner that says, "Kerry lied while good men died."

That Sunday afternoon, hundreds — perhaps thousands — of Vietnam-era veterans will gather near the Capitol building to condemn Kerry for his 1971 libel, and for repeating those lies again and again in his political career. Members of Vietnam Veterans for Truth — and other Vietnam vets — will come by plane, by car, and by bus from New England and Florida, from the Midwest and all over.

When I spoke to organizer Larry Bailey, he said that about 5,000 men were expected at the rally. More than 500 have contributed to Vietnam Veterans for Truth in amounts as little as $2 and as much as $1000. Money was coming in, but the story needed to get out. As you'd expect, the Vietnam Veterans for Truth aren't getting any coverage in the papers or the network news. They need help spreading the word.

Hat Tip: Prestopundit.
- Pat, 2:14 PM
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Why The Attacks on Bush's Air National Guard Service (And the Silly One on Cocaine at Camp David) Won't Work

Tonight we'll hear the Barnes story on 60 Minutes II (I plan to listen if not watch), and it's obvious that this is the Democrats counter-attack. Why won't it work?

Because it's not relevant to the two questions that Americans are asking themselves.

Question #1: Should George W. Bush be re-elected based on his performance so far as President?

Question #2: If the answer to Question #1 is no, is John F. Kerry an acceptable alternative?

Note that Question #1 is not, should George W. Bush be re-elected based on something that happened 30 years ago? This may seem unfair, as we at Kerry Haters and much of the right wing blogs and radio have been talking about nothing more recent regarding Nuancy Boy than that for the last month or so.

But nobody's going to vote for or against the sitting President based on what he did prior to his presidency, as the Republicans found out to their dismay in 1996. It's all what the guy did in office.

On the other hand, we are weighing for the first time the notion of John Kerry as President, and in that regard lots of things matter. President Bush's DUI when it was reported just days before the 2000 election clearly mattered tremendously, even thought it was 26 years before. But revelations about his Air National Guard service are not going to move the dial at all in 2004, because Bush is not being asked Question #2. Kerry is, and not surprisingly he's suffering from a combination of more folks answering yes to Question #1, and fewer folks who say yes to Question #2.

Obviously, this is a Question #2 blog. :)
- Pat, 2:13 PM
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PUT ON LIFE SUPPORT

THE NEW NEW KERRY
By ERIC FETTMANN
Here's a word of advice for all the Clintonistas who are being recruited for John Kerry's presidential campaign: Never forget that this isn't Bill Clinton at the head of the Democratic ticket.
Bimbo eruptions aside, working for Clinton had to have been a campaign staffer's dream. The former president is the consummate pol, crafty and shrewd, understanding at a glance what issues should be stressed at any given time and never straying off-message.
Plus, unlike John Kerry, Clinton never had a short-term memory problem. Which means that when he'd say something to an audience on the campaign trail, it didn't flatly contradict something he'd said four weeks earlier.
…
Kerry calls that a "nuanced" position. Most Americans, I suspect, would call that someone who either can't make up his mind or is trying to be all things to all people.

- Kitty, 1:41 PM
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KERRYCARE = CLINTONCARE

CLINTONCARE VS. CLINTON'S CARE
By MICHAEL F. CANNON
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said that when doctors at Columbia-Presbyterian saw the extent of the blockage, "They did advise him to have bypass surgery, and to do it as soon as he could." Columbia-Presbyterian admitted the former president Friday and performed a successful quadruple bypass Monday.
The timeframe is important.
President and Sen. Clinton's greatest health-care legacy is their attempt to pass the Health Security Act in 1994. At the time, it was said that 39 million Americans lacked health insurance. The president made "health coverage that cannot be taken away" his administration's top priority, and sought to do so by turning America's health-care system over to the federal government.
…
The power of individuals to make countless choices about their health care would have been handed over to government, and the few remaining market mechanisms that contain costs and promote quality would have been lost.
…
When government makes medical care "free," people demand medical care without regard to cost. Governments can't keep up with the excess demand and therefore must find some way of allocating care amid shortage conditions. Most choose to make patients wait.
…
"The government of British Columbia contracted Washington state hospitals to perform some 200 operations in 1989 following public dismay over the 6-month waiting list for cardiac bypass surgery in the province . . . A California heart-surgery center has even advertised its services in a Vancouver newspaper."
Had America had followed his lead 10 years ago, President Clinton might not have been able to get his diagnosis and surgery appointment so quickly. Instead of waiting overnight for an appointment with a cardiologist, he might have had to wait the 3.4 weeks Canadians do. Instead of waiting three days for quadruple bypass surgery, he might have had to wait more than two weeks
…
Sen. John F. Kerry is aggressively promoting his $1 trillion health-care plan, which borrows heavily from the Clinton plan. Kerry too seems to believe that having government issue a paper guarantee of "coverage" is the same thing as having access to medical care.
Truth be told, presidents and senators will never have a hard time getting medical treatment. Esmail and Walker report "a profusion of recent research reveals that cardiovascular surgery queues are routinely jumped by the famous and politically-connected." It's the rest who have to wait.

- Kitty, 1:09 PM
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YOUR DAILY CRUSHKERRY FIX



If It's Tuesday It Must Be a Quagmire.
That's the title of the new piece at CrushKerry which tries to make sense (and it's really hard) of Kerry's statements on Iraq - in the last few days.

And while you're there, check out this:
Kerry: Some American Casualties In Iraq More Important Than Others.
How else to interpret the Kerry campaign's clarification of Kerry's comment saying the the Americans killed in Iraq died fighting the "war on terror"? Their explanation: Kerry was referring to U.S. soldiers fighting in parts of Iraq that have now become a breeding ground for terrorists. So Senator, can you delineate which specific dead in Iraq were killed in the "good war" (the war on terror), and which were killed in the" Bad War" or as you say, the"wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time" or the "quagmire" (the Iraq war)?

- Kitty, 1:01 PM
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The Big Get

John Hawkins interviews Swiftee spokesman (and one of the earliest members of the Legion of Kerry Haters) John O'Neill.

John Hawkins: I’m sure you have heard about this. There are some really strange things going on with John Kerry's Silver Star. It has been rewritten 3 times and the man whose name is on the third one, John Lehman said he "never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me." Also, Kerry has been claiming to have a Silver Star with Valor. Finally, after the Navy pointed out that there is no such thing, the Kerry camp is saying it's just a typo. Any thoughts on this because it seems more than a bit strange?

John O'Neill: Kerry makes a lot of typos but they are always in one direction. For example, on his website he claimed to captain PCF-94 in a savage battle on January 29, 1969. He wasn’t even on board the boat and wasn’t present and when that was pointed out, he finally deleted it. It was a totally different guy, Lieutenant Peck, who was wounded there.

With respect to the over-claiming of medals my understanding is he has too many campaign stars, he shows the “V” with valor, and he has re-written over and over again his citations to make them more and more glorious as the years roll on and so on and further and further removed from the original actions. This is a process that began in Vietnam with the very first report that he prepared because his reports repeatedly present occasions in which nothing serious occurred or even occasions in which he participated in a disaster as tremendous victories.

Read it all. Getting a guest like John O'Neill is a real coup for Right Wing News.
- Pat, 1:00 PM
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Great Take

Here's an excellent and creative post by Mark Reznya, showing the LA Times front page if Kerry wins and if Kerry loses. I especially loved the reactions from the French. Very smart post, Mark!
- Pat, 11:08 AM
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BLOGGING PROBLEMS!
We want you to know that
we're experiencing lots of blogging problems today.
Pat'n'Kitty
- Kitty, 10:23 AM
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ANOTHER TRANSPARENT PLOY




This is the first time I heard that Ben Barnes not only has a close relationship with Kerry, but he is also a co-chairman of Kerry’s campaign. However, hypothetically speaking, even if all of what Barnes claims to be true is true, so what? Unlike Barnes himself, he isn't claiming Bush did anything illegal or unethical. And, unlike the idiot Kerry, Bush never balanced his campaign upon his military service. In fact, he rarely refers to it unless asked. But, as you'll learn in this article, that's a moot point.

Ben Barnes: John Kerry’s Unbelievable Last-Ditch Weapon
By Lowell Ponte
“[A]fter [Ben Barnes] was involved in a bribery and stock fraud scandal in the early 1970s,” wrote leftwing Mother Jones Magazine, Barnes “never held office again. He was involved with a number of banks and thrifts that were mentioned during the S&L crisis, and forced into bankruptcy when the Texas thrift industry cratered in the late 1980s.”
…
Ben Barnes has a large vested interest in the outcome of the 2004 election. He is a co-chairman
of John F. Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. Barnes, as CBS News reported in June 2004, has made bundled contributions of more than $500,000 to Kerry’s campaign. Barnes owns a home near his friend Kerry’s home in Nantucket on the Massachusetts shore.
For many years Barnes and the lobbying firm he founded in Austin, EntreCorp, have made many millions of dollars by acting as the go-between bringing special interest groups and companies together with highly-placed Democrat officeholders. The Center for Responsive Politics has listed Barnes as the third largest all-around Democratic donor in America
1999-2004. So influential and important is Barnes to the Democratic Party, as this column reported last January, that Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle has nicknamed this fat cat money man and lobbyist “the fifty-first Democratic Senator.”
…
Mr. Bush served in the National Guard for six years. During the first four of those years George W. Bush far surpassed the time and work requirements for National Guard service, and during his remaining two years Mr. Bush complied with those basic requirements. (After returning from his four months in Vietnam, metamorphosed radical anti-war leader John Kerry was required to serve for several years in the Naval Reserve, but the establishment media has refused to investigate charges that Kerry shirked this required duty.)
In mid-1968, when George W. Bush joined the National Guard, Democrats controlled the White House and both houses of Congress, and Texas was still a yellow-dog Democratic one-party state that would take another decade to elect its first Republican governor in more than 100 years. The Republican Bush family had no power to twist then-Texas House Speaker Democrat Ben Barnes’ arm, even if it wanted to. The notion that Barnes was “pressured” by the “powerful” Bush family to get George W. into the National Guard is absurd. But this phony claim is apparently what CBS, to rescue the desperate Kerry campaign, is preparing to broadcast.

- Kitty, 6:08 AM
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- Pat, 1:34 AM
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Tuesday, September 07, 2004
 
Kerry Flopping Among Veterans

Newsday reports on Kerry's rapidly declining support among veterans.

Among typical survey findings were views expressed by Bob Lohrer, 57, a West Hempstead resident who spent most of 1968 with the Army in Vietnam and headed the Nassau County chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America for five years.

"No way in hell am I going to vote for this man," Lohrer said of Kerry. "He tarred all of us, and I took it personally."

Nick Graziano was even more fervent.

"I consider him a traitor," said Graziano, 57, a Mineola resident who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 and subsequently contracted by cancer (attributed to Agent Orange) and post-traumatic stress syndrome. "He has blood on his hands because he gave aid and comfort to the enemy."

"He slandered a whole generation of veterans," said Harold Leung, 56, a Jackson Heights resident who served two tours of duty in Vietnam between 1968 and 1970.

Hat Tip to Dan (via email).
- Pat, 5:34 PM
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Kerry Avoiding the Vietnam Issue

This article is revealing, because it shows how Kerry finally intends to get back in front of the press.



After one supporter rose to call Mr. Kerry "a true American hero" for his service in Vietnam and apologize on behalf of "those who have not served who had the audacity to question you," Mr. Kerry thanked him and quickly returned to the economy.

"What bothers me is they're using it to cover the attacks on you," Mr. Kerry said of the television commercials produced by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that questioned some of his conduct during the Vietnam War.

Can you say, "Tim, we're not going to spend the rest of the election talking about a war that ended 30 years ago. The American people deserve better than that. How about talking about the war that the Republicans are waging on our middle class right now?"

Of course, Kerry could have said that a month ago. What in the world is wrong with this man?
- Pat, 3:50 PM
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And Now For Something Completely Different

As you know, this blog is dedicated to hammering John Kerry into the ground. Some of you may have noticed that we have a regular commenter hereabouts named Paul, who's a pretty nice guy, but whose blog (Bush-Haters) is dedicated to doing the same thing to President Bush.

Paul mentioned in an email that he would be interested in doing something different together. After some discussion we hit on what we hope will be an interesting idea--why not take the opposite tack with our own candidates, but focusing on the issues, rather than the personalities? In other words, I would write positive posts on Bush policy standpoints, while Paul would write positive posts on Kerry's positions on the same issue. We each agreed to refrain from bashing the other side or each other, although we could discuss the other side's positions to draw distinctions.

The first posts are up here, regarding tax policy. I'll admit, and Paul agrees, that writing positive posts on our own candidates proved tougher than we had originally thought. There's an old saw about how it's a lot easier to tear down than build up, and I think we both discovered how true that is.

If you go, please keep your comments in the spirit of the new blog; that is to say, positive and on-topic.
- Pat, 2:59 PM
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"The Threat of Terrorism Has Been Greatly Exaggerated"

Chris at Kerry Waffles uses that line from John Kerry during one of the debates as the starting point for a very moving film. (Choose open after clicking on the link). This is pretty graphic, with disturbing images, but not gratuitously so. Chris deserves some congratulations for this fine piece of work, let him know you appreciate it by signing his guest book.
- Pat, 2:20 PM
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The Case of the Vanishing Press Release

Tom Maguire wrote an excellent post yesterday pointing out that the Kerry campaign was now accusing John McCain of lying in a press release.

Apparently the Kerry camp got the word that bashing someone who has been very helpful to Nuancy Boy was not the wisest decision, as the press release has vanished into thin electrons.

Fortunately, Captain Ed, knowing of the disappearing nature of many of Kerry's press releases, cached a copy of the page.

Hat Tip: Instapundit
- Pat, 2:00 PM
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Local Color

Kerry's gaffes are getting to be pretty legendary. We've talked a couple of times in the past about how he likes to throw in a little local color to his speeches to show he's hip to the area. Unfortunately, these have been little short of disastrous for him. For example, he did okay in Ohio with a joke about how he wasn't going to choose sides between two local colleges, because everybody knows Buckeye (Ohio State) football is the best. However, the joke did not work in Michigan, where folks don't appreciate anybody talking up OSU.

We talked about how he raves about local food joints, saying "he's in trouble" if he doesn't stop by Joes Pizza or Bubba's Ribs; inevitably, it is discovered the next day that he never got a slice or some barbecue.

But this one is truly hilarious:

"Everybody told me, 'God, if you're coming to Canonsburg, you've got to find time to go to Toy's, and he'll take care of you,'" Mr. Kerry said, dropping the name of a restaurant his motorcade had passed on the way in. "I understand it's my kind of place, because you don't have to - you know, when they give you the menu, I'm always struggling: Ah, what do you want?

"He just gives you what he's got, right?" Mr. Kerry added, continuing steadily off a gangplank of his own making: "And you don't have to worry, it's whatever he's cooked up that day. And I think that's the way it ought to work, for confused people like me who can't make up our minds."

Yeah, we've noticed!

Hat Tip: Instapundit
- Pat, 1:59 PM
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Democrats Go Here!

Texans for Truth has been formed to attack President Bush on the AWOL in Alabama story (shouldn't it be Alabamans for Truth?). They've got a 30-second ad prepared but need your help to get it on the air. If you're a Democrat, or a supporter of John Kerry, you should send them every dollar you can.

Why am I posting this? Because I want the Democrats to flog the AWOL story all the way to another roasting like they got in 2002.

Hat Tip: A Hermit (in the comments)
- Pat, 12:20 PM
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Crush Kerry: Next Week's News Today

Crush Kerry comments on what is becoming increasingly obvious; that if you want NEWS, come to the blogosphere. Crush Kerry has been almost eerily prescient on the Kerry campaign this year, nailing things like the Kerry campaign staff shakeup, their response to the Swiftees, and predicting accurately Kerry's response to news events.

Hugh Hewitt talks about the blogs in his new book, If It's Not Close They Can't Cheat as sources for high consumers of information.

In the old days, if you wanted lots of information about politics, you could subscribe to a couple of magazines; depending on your orientation you might get The Nation, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard or the National Review. You could watch a few political shows on PBS on Friday night, and Meet the Press on Sunday morning.

Today, you've got that plus talk radio and the blogs. You can read the op-ed columns of hundreds of writers instead of the 3-4 chosen for you by your local newspaper.

But the blogs are where the interesting stories are being broken first, followed by talk radio, and then only reluctantly by old media. If you wanted to read about Christmas in Cambodia (indeed, if you wanted to even know it was a story) before August, you had to come to Kerry Haters. If you wanted to learn that David Alston was not with Kerry during the Silver Star incident, despite his claims at the DNC, you had to go to Captain's Quarters.
- Pat, 11:39 AM
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Blogger Roundup

Right Wing News is off today, but John Hawkins promises a BIG interview tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Matt's Rants comments on the failure of John Kerry to condemn the terrorists in Beslan. I did find this press release:

"Teresa and I are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths and injuries of so many young schoolchildren, their families and teachers at Middle School No. 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia. Our prayers and sympathy are with the people of Russia in these days of immense grief.

"The tragedy in Beslan follows a horrific series of terrorist attacks in Russia. Americans stand united with the people of Russia against terrorism and share the Russian people's grief and mourning at these senseless deaths."

This seems typical of the Democratic response to terrorism, which is to express sorrow at the deaths, and no anger at the culprits.

New Kerry Haters reader Grumpus Rex has a blog of his own, called A Fork in the Road after one of Yogi Berra's more famous quotes. He's got a pretty good parody of Kerry's VC the Flying Dog story.

Our buddy Aaron at Something to Cry About is following the (Chinese) money.

If you've got a post you'd like to see highlighted in our blogger roundups, feel free to mention it in the comments. One of our friends mentioned that we sent 128 visitors over to his blog in one day last week with a post link.
- Pat, 10:50 AM
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Breaking News from Winter Soldier!

Check this one out:

"Everything I said about atrocities and racism was a lie. My unit never went out with the intention of doing anything but its job. And I never saw black soldiers treated differently, get picked out for the worst or most dangerous jobs, or anything like that. There were some guys, shirkers, who would intentionally injure themselves to get sent home, so I talked about that for a while. But the fact is I lied my ass off, and I'm not proud of it. I didn't think it would ever amount to anything."

Read, as they say, it all. Great job by the folks at Winter Soldier!
- Pat, 10:05 AM
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WHAT WILL JAMES BRADY SAY?



Drudge Reports:
KERRY COSPONSORED BILL BANNING GUN HE WAVES
Was Dem presidential hopeful John Kerry seen this weekend waving a gun which would have been banned if legislation he co-sponsored became law?
Kerry co-sponsored S. 1431 last year (“The Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003) which would have banned a "semiautomatic shotgun that has a pistol grip.”
Kerry was presented with the gun during a Labor Day stop in Racine, West Virginia.
"I thank you for the gift, but I can't take it to the debate with me," Kerry told a cheering crowd as he held up the device.
[Kerry's gun bill would also ban any "gift" transaction. Kerry did not submit to a waiting period or background check before he claimed the gun.]
Photos show Kerry's hand resting on the semiautomatic shotgun's "pistol grip."
Kerry's bill would ban millions of semi-automatics, including those with "pistol grips." [Section SEC. 2; (H) (ii)]
Opponents of the bill successfully argued how nearly all guns have "pistol grips," inluding millions of Browning Auto-5 shotguns produced since 1903.
Developing...

- Kitty, 9:42 AM
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