Sunday, August 22, 2004

You....



You are the custodian of your life's meaning.

The Swift Boat Controversy Continues

The Swift Boat Controversy Continues

-FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT
Officer Recalls Boat Mission With Kerry
by William Rood, Chicago Tribune


--BIG LIES FOR BUSH
Boston Globe Editorial
August 22, 2004



--Update: Two New Witnesses
Contradict Kerry's Swift Boat Critics

FactCheck.org



--Please take the time to view Patty Ann Smith's brand new blog Hope4America.

Today, she asks you this question:



What could be more un-American than people trying to discredit a soldiers medals? That is sacred territory. And, if it no longer is, then think about the almost 1,000 dead of ours right now...many of whom received medals. Are we going to start investigating whether they or their still living comrades deserved theirs?

[LINK]





Voice of a Veteran in an e-mail to CNN:



For Judge Napalitano:

No sir, not all veterans agree with the swift-boaters, not by a long shot. In fact you are going to see that the Bush campaign will be sorry it ever started this attack when Mr. Bush’s avoidance of military duty is hammered home in the next two months before the election. The Repubs thought they had a “Willie Horton” issue and were frustrated when Hurricane Charlie and the Olympics knocked their issue off of every conservative media outlet. Now they are trying to again force the issue, not Sen. Kerry.

The massive assault on John Kerry's war record appears to be being blamed, by you, on Kerry hyping the subject himself. But let's look at one very important piece missing from what you might call the "chain of evidence." This whole onslaught actually began with conservatives and their media sympathizers’ heavy criticism of Kerry, before the Democratic Convention. Mr. Bush and virtually all of the talk radio conservatives (and several CNN TV notables) blasted Kerry for being, in their words, “the most liberal of U.S. Senators, who is soft on national security.” Mr. Bush continues to use those words, and because Mr. Bush led the polls in that subject area, the attack had to be addressed at the convention and afterwards, and the Kerry campaign did so. This is one veteran, as even Senator John McCain has expressed, who believes that the swift-boaters and their supporters are in deep water and over their heads in personal agendas.



Bush heading for Athens?

Bush heading for Athens?

Drudge says Bush may go to Athens to attend the Iraq soccer playoffs. (Even though the Iraqi soccer team wants him to take a hike and the White House is trying to sell us on the fact that those Iraqi athletes are simply "naive".

I think Bush would be be less nauseatingly political and better at uniting America if he was gutsy enough to attend a Dixie Chicks concert or an NAACP rally.

Tenor of Bush Campaign: Play Base

Tenor of Bush Campaign: Play Base

The Bushites are approaching the presidential election campaign in much the same way that they have approached their political agenda over the past four years.

Play only to your avid supporters. Give them what they want and talk out the other side of your face about the good you're doing for the other 53% of America.

Ram idiotic talking points down the neck of the media and listen to those points warble and worm back up the parrot-throats of cable news networks 24/7.

If that fails to work, just lie.
Don't worry--it doesn't matter if it's ludicrous on its face.
What is in the military record and has not been disputed for 40 years means nothing when you have a media who will talk about any old reckless subject day in/day out.
Go ahead. Get some nice fellows together to raise up doubts that any rational person would dismiss as nonsense.
Give them plenty of money to place a few TV ads and Brit Hume and William Kristol will do the rest.

A lazy recipe for Republican election success?

-Go negative on your opponent hoping swing voters will stay at home on election day (while constantly reminding them they might be attacked by terrorists come voting-time).
-Play to your base--only your base. Screw the rest of them. Watch out especially for those precious under-45 white males from small towns and rural areas. They've got your back.
-Don't allow anyone to hear you publically speak if they have any small quarrel with the fact that they have you figured out.
-Have plenty of friends in corporate media who will keep their cameras off thousands of pesky protesters.
-Avoid talking about your actual record at all costs.
-Code words: Tax-cuts, tax-cuts, tax-cuts.
-Trot out the "Three Ms": The Moderates, the Matrons, and the Minorities in numbers incredibly disproportionate to the reality of your voting bloc.

Soon, the Republican party will trot out their most popular moderates (and one traitorous Democrat) to put a happy face on what has actually been a radical agenda without a mandate, a piss-poor jobless economic recovery, and an unnecessary war for which we were misled and unprepared.

Trust Destiny: Letter to John Kerry

Trust Destiny:
A Letter to John Kerry




Dear John Kerry:

Manipulation of the media will not win the election. The muse that inspired you to speak out so eloquently against the Vietnam War might. In truth, if the Creator means for you to be elected, you will -- if not, you won't, and there is nothing you can do about it. More importantly, if you speak from your heart, what needs to be said will have been said, regardless of whether you win or not. The question is: do you trust this, or are you as cynical as your actions appear to be to anyone who has their eyes open? Trust destiny, not your handlers. Trust that the process of life will unfold things as they should be, and that your job is to speak your truth from as deep a place inside yourself as you are able. Then leave the rest to the Creator. The American people are hungry for the truth. They feel in their hearts that they are in a wasteland of lies, falsehood, and sham. They need inspiration, not rote speeches, infantile squabbles, and canned messages that have no heart and soul. Please, wake up! Damn the mines! Push the throttle forward, and let greatness form in your wake!

Sincerely,
Jim Bush
Portland, Oregon



Sadr Standoff-The Fight for a Shrine

Sadr Standoff

-A journey into the epicenter of the Sadr standoff
Scott Baldauf
Christian Science Monitor


-Continued Violence in Iraq
Juan Cole
Informed Comment

Fired in Frederick

Fired in Frederick
Advertising employee Glen Hiller of Berkeley Springs, WV made the mistake of thinking free speech at Bush-Cheney political rally was actually free.

"[Bush] surrounds himself with people who support him," Hiller said of Bush. ``Your opinion ... is viewed as right or wrong."

Obama has 41-point lead over Keyes

Obama has 41-point lead over Keyes


Say what?!

Distortion, blindness and the 'liberal' media

Distortion, blindness and the 'liberal' media
by Jimmy Dee, OnLineJournal.com

Right-wing pundits and politicians cry media bias almost any time a conservative figure or issue receives negative coverage. Through unending repetition, the notion of a liberal media has become such a staple of the American political dialog that it is only rarely questioned, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.
[LINK]

New Kerry Ad Shows McCain Shaming Bush

New Kerry Ad Shows McCain Shaming Bush



Go HERE to see the powerful new ad.