"I'm Osama bin Laden and I approved this message"

By now, everyone has either seen or heard about Osama bin Laden’s latest taped message, first aired on Al-Jazeera last Friday. The first thing that struck me when I read the transcript was that it resembled a campaign ad. It looks like one, too: Bin Laden has ditched the fatigues… Read more »

GOP whines, while operatives cheat

I don’t know how much more of this I can take. The state GOP has challenged 5,600 questionable addresses in Milwaukee among new voters. This number conveniently mirrors the gap between Bush and Gore in the last election. So if you can’t win the vote by convincing people your ideas… Read more »

And that's the end of that

Video Shows Explosives Went Missing After War… Read more »

WI Voters' Bill of Rights

No matter who you intend to cast your vote for on Tuesday, know your rights. Print this pamphlet off and take it into your polling station if you’re worried about being challenged—although Madison will be just about one of the safest places in the country to vote, both in terms… Read more »

FBI investigating Halliburton, Cheney

From the AP: “The FBI has begun investigating whether the Pentagon improperly awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton Co., seeking an interview with a top Army contracting officer and collecting documents from several government offices. The line of inquiry expands an earlier FBI investigation into whether Halliburton overcharged taxpayers for fuel… Read more »

100,000 for Kerry

The fire marshall has confirmed that the crowd at today’s Kerry rally had at least 60,000 supporters plus another 20,000 on side streets. [update] “Madison Assistant Fire Chief Carl Saxe told AFP that at least 80,000 people were in the main crowd, while, at least 20,000 more were trying to… Read more »

100,000 dead in Iraq war

The AP reports that a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University and the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva estimates that 100,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion of Iraq. The survey indicated violence accounted for most of the extra deaths seen since the invasion, and… Read more »

Economist endorses Kerry

Readallabouddit here.… Read more »

Where else but in Florida?

Police: Bush Supporter Imprisons Kerry-Supporting Girlfriend… Read more »

HAVA used to keep voters from polls

Even though it was passed in the wake of the disastrous 2000 election with the goal of making it easier for Americans to vote, the Help America Vote Act appears to be a tool for some election administrators to actually prevent eligible citizens from voting, particularly in Ohio. The recent… Read more »

"The Russkie talks big, but frankly we think he's short of know-how"*

[updated, with a fresh injection of passive voice] Now the Washington Times claims that the Russians stole the missing explosives, solely on the basis of the claims of one John Shaw. Before we succumb to Drudgitis, here’s an overview of the story so far. To begin with, Scott McClellan said… Read more »

Go Pack Go!

If this isn’t a reason to cheer for the Packers then I don’t know what is. This is hilarious. If the Redskins lose this weekend, then Kerry wins. And I love the Packers! Too cool….… Read more »

Bush's One Finger Salute

You know, the president is just a regular guy. As this video shows Bush really knows how to connect with the common man. Now, after watching this brief bit of hilarity (back when Bush was a governor) I didn’t really think any worse of him. It’s actually kind of funny.… Read more »

Tomorrow's News on the Weapons Cache

Tomorrow’s Washington Times: Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein’s weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned. John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said… Read more »

BBC documents voter intimidation in FL

A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan—possibly in violation of US law—to disrupt voting in the state’s African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals. Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign’s national research… Read more »

The headline says it all

Judge Rules Against 10,000 Floridians Barred From Voting… Read more »

Web-based politics

Like it or hate it, Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 is now available for free distribution via BitTorrent. And Bush has apparently blocked overseas surfers from viewing his campaign website.… Read more »

A Blue for Bush?

Today’s Slate discusses how our fair state is one that neither candidate can afford to lose, and how it hangs precariously in the balance.… Read more »

FT endorses Kerry

Noted wacko left-wing rag the Financial Times endorses John Kerry for President.… Read more »

New Yorker endorses Kerry

The New Yorker, one of the country’s longest running journals of politics, literature, and criticism, has broken with its eight-decade tradition of refraining from endorsing candidates for office by running a pro-Kerry op-ed piece that is, in large part, a stark critique of the past 3… Read more »

What Did Kerry Know About the Fraudulent 60 Minutes Story?

Shortly before 60 Minutes ran the forged documents regarding President Bush's National Guard service, John Kerry began talking about the issue again, and he raised questions as to whether President Bush went AWOL. What a coincidence! How did he know to start talking about that story just days before 60… Read more »

Another Fraudulent Story from CBS's 60 Minutes

As it turns out, the story on the weapons cache that the New York Times ran yesterday was being held by CBS's 60 Minutes for airing on October 31, right before the election. This election's October Surprise apparently came a week early! To add insult to injury, we now know… Read more »

Newspapers Abandon Bush

You know, Hunter has alluded to this, and Salon points out the good work that Editor and Publisher magazine (a non-partisan trade rag for you journalists) has pointed out that only two Democrats have ever won the majority of endorsements in this country. Since in this election Kerry is crushing… Read more »

OMG! Ashlee can't sing!

Did everybody see Ashlee Simpson on the Radio Music Awards? I mean, I know she was caught lipsynching on SNL and her daddy said it was because her tummy hurt but ugh! She just sang tonight on NBC and she, like, so sucked! What effect will this have on swing… Read more »

Charming to the last

Ann Coulter on The Sean Hannity Show: “I’m sure—being good liberals—their views on gay marriage will serve them well” in prison.… Read more »

Judge dismisses Wexler's FL vote concerns

U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn ruled that the state of Florida will not be required to create a paper trail for its new touchscreen voting system. U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) had filed suit against Secretary of State Glenda Hood in an attempt to ensure that “undervotes” and voting… Read more »

Today is not Opposite Day

The Idaho Statesman, the paper with the largest daily circulation in the most Republican state in the Union, has endorsed John Kerry: … We recognize Bush’s finest moments on the job: The president showed remarkable poise and leadership in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and earned all… Read more »

11th Circuit: x-rays hazardous to your civic health

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has declared that the specter of terrorism is insufficient to warrant the reduction of First Amendment protections as understood by the courts in its decision in Bourgeois v. Peters, a case with broad implications for the screening procedures used at the GOP and Democratic… Read more »

Why Wisconsin matters

From the Christian Science Monitor.… Read more »

A Plague of Lockerbies

The news networks are abuzz after a NYTimes article shows that about 371 tons of high explosive are missing in Iraq from the Al Qaqaa weapons facility. This facility used to be monitored by the IAEA, who have raised the alarm on the missing explosvies. Kerry has pounced (as he… Read more »

Ohio ballots

Ohio voters (of all persuasions) are now truly screwed. Just try and read that ballot.… Read more »

The "Non-Arguable Case"

…against the Bush Administration: “100 Facts and 1 Opinion”.… Read more »

By popular demand

It is becoming increasingly evident that a distinct possibility exists for George Bush to become America’s first ever two-term President to have not even claimed a plurality of a popular vote. Karl Rove and company seem to have engineered a plan that manipulates the Electoral College to the nth possible… Read more »

Bush supporters miss the point

According to the Program on International Policy Attitudes, 72% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (contrary to the Duelfer Report) and 75% believe that Hussein’s Iraq had a relationship with bin Laden’s al Qaeda (which even Bush Administration officials deny, in their more… Read more »

J'accuse

Bush supporters deride Kerry as both Francophone and -phile. Kerry boosters accuse Bush of being in bed with the Saudis. Now you can figure out who’s worse, courtesy of Slate.… Read more »

Hanky Panky with the Elderly

Thanks to Talkingpointsmemo for this link. In our discussions of what constitutes voter fraud, this situation seems to take the cake. Lying to the elderly and impersonating an elections official in doing so? Now that’s a dirty trick.… Read more »

Voter Fraud Discussion

Mark and I have been keeping up regular posts (and the other Rob) on the on-going issues regarding voter registration and the voter fraud vs. voter suppression debate taking place between Democratic and Republican camps. Lets be clear. No one is denying that both are taking place. I do not… Read more »

Kerry and the Global Test

A while back, Senator John F. Kerry discussed the idea of U.S. troops being killed in Bosnia and made some rather interesting comments. This was another mission in which then President Bill Clinton did not seek U.N. approval to clean up the mess that Europe refused to take care of.… Read more »

Axis of Evil for...Bush?

The Iranian government has announced it is backing George Bush for reelection.… Read more »

Vote Fraud Update (10/20/04)

We could almost have a daily update going for vote fraud across the country. Today, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that thousands of new-voter registration cards in Ohio were returned as undeliverable. The story speaks for itself- vote fraud is out there whether we like to admit it or not.… Read more »

The Boy in the Bubble

The Washington Post’s Harold Meyerson on Bush’s departure from the reality-based community: [T]he Bush campaign has all but made a virtue of the bubble in which Bush resides and presides. This presidency is a triumph of the will, of resolve. Facts are for flip-floppers; data, for girlie-men. Kerry commands the… Read more »

"The most self-assured man I've ever met in my life"

Robertson: “Mr. President, you had better prepare the American people for casualties.” Bush: “We’re not going to have any casualties.”… Read more »

Sinclair Drops Stolen Honor

Facing a shareholder lawsuit, an advertiser boycott and a $105 million stock shortfall, Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced that it will not air the anti-Kerry documentary Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal on its 62 member stations. Instead it plans to run a “balanced” news presentation titled A POW Story:… Read more »

"God is not a Republican or a Democrat"

The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne, Jr. does an excellent job of puncturing the religious hyperbole surrounding the campaign.… Read more »

Voter Registration Fraud Strikes Again

Some of my colleagues on the opinion page have pooh-poohed my concern over vote fraud in Wisconsin. One argued that those intending to vote fraudulently would have to steal mail before a fraudulent registration turns into a fraudulent vote. There are a number of problems with this argument. First, it… Read more »

CIA stalls on damning 9/11 report

The LA Times (login: heraldreader | password: badger) reports that the CIA has “named names” of senior officials in its own 9/11 report, but as it contains material that would be extremely damaging to the Administration it will be kept under wraps until after the election. Definitely an article worth… Read more »

Thoughtcrime at GOP rallies

Let it be known that the phrase “Protect Our Civil Liberties” is “obscene”. And disagreeing with the President in public is a “criminal trespass”. That is all.… Read more »

Breaking up

It should come as no surprise that, as Salon (linked through the Guardian so you don’t have to register) reports, George Bush and the Administration have dumped the New York Times. Love it, hate it, or ignore it, the Times is the country’s paper of record, and for most of… Read more »

Sinclair moves to silence internal critics

Sinclair Broadcast Group fired Jon Leiberman, its Washington bureau chief, on Monday for publicly critizing company plans to air a documentary—charging John Kerry with prolonging the Vietnam War through his antiwar activities upon his completion of his tour of duty—on all of its 62 stations across the country just before… Read more »

Kerry & The Church

John Kerry has apparently been excommunicated from the Catholic Church.… Read more »

The Path to Florida

Supreme Court clerks break the tradition of silence and spill the beans to Vanity Fair (posted in two parts in PDF format) on the behind-the-scenes partisan dealings in the Court following the 2000 election.… Read more »

"A civil war"

In today’s New York Times, Ron Suskind—the journalist who quoted former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill as describing George Bush’s leadership style as that of a “blind man in a room full of deaf people”—describes how Bush’s particular reliance on guts, instinct, and above all, unswerving religious conviction to guide decisionmaking… Read more »

A liberal rag for a liberal man

To paraphrase “Casablanca,” I am shocked, shocked, to see that the New York Times is endorsing John Kerry. But what I can’t understand is why such a self-important fish-wrap as the Times would endorse more than two weeks out. If they are as furious with President Bush as their piece… Read more »

Dirty Tricks

It’s true that both sides are engaging in vandalism in this debate when it comes to compaign headquarters. And when I say that I usually doubted that vandals painting a W on a Democratic headquarters or throwing a rock through the window of a Republican one are higher-ups. But when… Read more »

Hussein's Brain

Since Iraq is one of the biggest topics of the election it seems odd that when the Duelfer report came out, it didn’t have as big a splash as it might have had about two months ago. That’s namely because it came in a week of huge news (the first… Read more »

Keeping it in the Family

I don’t really want to….there are just too many jokes possible. Just take a look at this picture and come up with your own.… Read more »

Bush not a favorite among economists

An informal, stochastically-selected poll of academic economists conducted by the Economist, has yielded somewhat surprising results, with more than 70% of respondents labelling Bush’s first-term economic policies as “bad” or “very bad”, and nearly 60% disapproving of his economic agenda for a second term. 27% disapproved of Kerry’s proposed overall… Read more »

Commission on Civil Rights criticizes Bush

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an agency of the federal government, has released a report, Redefining Rights in America—The Civil Rights Record of the George W. Bush Administration, 2001-2004, taking President Bush to task for having “neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched… Read more »

Point/Counterpoint

—Bush: “Non-homeland, non-defense discretionary spending was raising at 15 percent a year when I got into office. And today it’s less than 1 percent, because we’re working together to try to bring this deficit under control.” (from the St. Louis debate) —The Cato Institute: Nuh-uh.… Read more »

Yes, it's the same Sinclair as last time

If Michael Moore’s Farhenheit 9/11, seen by some as an anti-Bush screed, were screened on major network television on or just before the election, there’d be a storm of outrage from right-wing politicians, pundits, and activists. But what if an anti-Kerry documentary received the same treatment? You guessed it…… Read more »

WV GOP attempts to intimidate Democrats

In a move that stinks of voter intimidation, Republicans in the battleground state of West Virginia have resorted to calling registered Democrats and informing them that they are not registered to vote in November. Republican spokesperson Mary Diamond defended the calls, saying, “[e]veryone needs to be registered to vote in… Read more »

And they thought Dean was out of control

Angry, defensive, loud, and irascible. Click here to see Bush tearing into moderator Charlie Gibson and ranting rather than allowing Gibson to ask him the next question. And that’s all I have to say about the debate.… Read more »

What is John Kerry's Secret Plan?

John Kerry keeps telling us he “has a plan”. But what is it? He apparently doesn’t know himself, as became apparent in his speech yesterday in Englewood, Colorado: “And I’ll have to wait until January 20th. I don’t know what I’m going to find on January 20th, the way the… Read more »

What you won't hear in tonight's debate

…is a discussion of the most important issue of this campaign: the future make-up of the Supreme Court. The next president will be in a position to appoint three and perhaps four justices, dramatically affecting the composition of the court in terms of legal and jurisprudential philosophies. This in turn… Read more »

Third party shenannigans

Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik and Green Party candidate David Cobb intend to storm tonight’s debate in a bid to rumble with the big-leaguers or get arrested trying. If they do get arrested, they won’t be able to show up for a special airing of NOW with Bill Moyers on… Read more »

Glad to see they've finally started

U.S. Said to Develop Strategy for Iraq… Read more »

Rove's Mouthpiece?

Bush has been accused by many of simply parroting the lines fed to him by Karl Rove. But no one thought it was this direct. Is it possible that while Republicans were whining about Kerry bringing out his own pen, Bush was getting answers fed to him by an in-ear… Read more »

The peaceful left...terrorizing their opposition

The peace loving, "let's talk about it", left has resorted to brutish techniques to silence their critics. There have been several shootings at Bush Cheney campaign sites and protestors have taken over and trashed several others across the country. It seems like every conservative speaker on this campus is protested… Read more »

Election day terrorism alert

John Ashcroft has issued a directive expanding the powers of federal law enforcement agencies and dramatically increasing the scope of police and law enforcement presence before and during November 2nd in order to secure polling areas. No word yet on whether or not this is motivated by a genuine concern… Read more »

So Desperate

Alright, it’s official folks, the BC04 campaign has gone off the deep end. After a week in which every bit of news was bad, from L. Paul Bremer saying we never had enough troops, to the current Duelfer report which indicates that Saddam had no WMD’s, no programs in place,… Read more »

No WMDs in Iraq, then or now

From CNN: Contradicting the main argument for a war that has cost more than 1,000 American lives, the top U.S. arms inspector reported Wednesday that he found no evidence that Iraq produced any weapons of mass destruction after 1991. He also concluded that Saddam Hussein’s weapons capability weakened during a… Read more »

Listen for it! The Spin that is...

You know what keeps the Republicans such a tight oiled machine when it comes to message? Thinking in lockstep. People believe things they hear over and over, it’s why advertising works. So when the Bush-Cheney campaign sends this out to the campaign staff…. TO: BC’04 Surrogates FROM: BC’04 Communication RE:… Read more »

Draft? No Way

Draft? No way Some people in the media are using the prospect of a draft as a scare tactic to get young people to vote against Bush. Come on! That is ridiculous. Bush will not reinstate conscription and no one has shown me proof to the contrary. If there are… Read more »

Cheney handedly wins debate

Once again, experience beats wealth (and health) when Dick Cheney trampled Edwards last night. Dick Cheney is a wealth of information and had Edwards retreating the entire evening. Whenever things got bad for Edwards, he would latch onto the Halliburton issue, but as Cheney said, there are no facts to… Read more »

Significant damage control

In an effort to counteract the recent poll trends that brought the candidates into virtual parity following last Thursday’s debate, President Bush will deliver an unexpected “significant speech” tomorrow instead of a previously scheduled local stump speech. The new speech will be an attempt to restate Bush’s foreign policy positions… Read more »

Bait 'n' switch?

Recent remarks by Kerry and Edwards (in which they emphasized that they have no plans for any kind of draft) have led to renewed speculation that Bush intends to reintroduce the draft after (if) he’s reëlected. Pundits have been alternately touting or decrying the rumors for over a year now,… Read more »

Why doesn't Bush go to church?

It may seem like a trivial issue (and ordinarily I would be the first to say that), but for a president who has made faith such a large issue in this and previous campaigns (by calling for a larger role for churches in policymaking through “faith-based initiatives,” not to mention… Read more »

Rumsfeld's Freudian Slip

Donald Rumsfeld, everyone’s favorite cranky plutocrat, told the Council on Foreign Relations there was no hard evidence of a connection between Iraq and al-Queda . This statement was quickly repudiated by Rumsfeld saying he was “misunderstood.” Yet, this goes to the heart of the matter on Iraq and on our… Read more »

Faces of the Fallen

The Administration has worked hard to keep the human cost of the invasion of Iraq out of the public eye, by prohibiting any photography of the fallen, and through the President deliberately avoiding military funerals. The Washington Post now has a special feature, Faces of the Fallen, which allows readers… Read more »

Did Kerry cheat? Nope.

The blogosphere was briefly abuzz yesterday with “Pocket-Gate” — Drudge called attention to Kerry pulling something out of his pocket before the debate began, and then apparently handling a piece of paper. Wingnuts everywhere, of course, saw this as incontrovertible proof that Kerry was cheating with a crib sheet. So… Read more »

WMD Challenge

I firmly believe there are or were WMDs in Iraq at the time of the liberation. Don't forget that a dorm room full of Anthrax could infect every person in the State of Wisconsin. They are not hard to hide but very difficult to find. Chemicals can be stored in… Read more »

Did Kerry Cheat??

Video Evidence suggests that John Kerry brought a "cheat sheet" into the debate. Before the debate starts, with the back to the Audience, John Kerry seems to pull something out of his coat and put it on the Podium. The rules clearly state: c) No props, notes, charts, diagrams, or… Read more »

Rookies Run the White House

You know, in the whole flip-flop vs. mendacious liar debate (that’s Kerry v. Bush) in case you were wondering…it shocks me that people are more worried about Kerry’s changing views than the fact that BUSH BLEW IT when it came to intelligence. In fact, why is that a president who… Read more »

Kerry's Flip Flops on Iraq should be news!

Kerry's Flip Flops should have been the forefront of the first debate and I find it interesting that the liberal media establishment has done little to high light it. Although Bush alluded to it a little, Kerry has taken so many sides on Operation Iraqi Freedom that many in his… Read more »

Bush's lead increases in Electoral Math polls

If the election were held today, President Bush would win based on the newest set of state polls and the electoral math that accompanies them. Kerry is barely winning New Jersey (one point race) and is losing Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the entire south. For more information and to follow… Read more »

Kudos to Kerry

I’m pretty firmly on record as a Bush guy, but that doesn’t mean the Kerry campaign doesn’t have its classier moments. As noted in this USA Today article, a Fox News reporter recently erred tremendously and allowed a satirical piece of creative writing end up on the network’s website as… Read more »

Bush's poll lead "evaporates"

According to the latest Newsweek/MSNBC poll (the first after Thursday’s debate), Kerry now leads Bush 47% to 45% among registered voters. What remains to be seen is how this will affect the state races, which in the end are the only ones that matter. Only one month remains until Election… Read more »

FOXNews' faux pas

Fair and balanced… until caught with their pants down.… Read more »

Points proven, opportunities missed

This debate was one of those events in which the average viewer could come away with a different perspective, depending on his thoughts of the two candidates in the first place. It's sort of like a controversial defensive pass interference penalty. Those strongly rooting for one team or the other… Read more »

Bush on Valium

Bush on Valium Now, this is hard for me to say, but I was, in fact, wrong. My prediction was that Bush would wipe the floor with Kerry. Now, I don't think Kerry won overwhelmingly, but I will say that he held his own. Bush had a unique chance to… Read more »