McCain Did NOT Put Country First After Hurricane Katrina

Oh yeah - both Obama and Biden were either co-sponsors of, voted for or drafted Katrina relief or oversight bills. Biden was the sponsor of Senate amendment 1661, which was to provide emergency funding to victims of Katrina. The vote failed 41-56, with McCain voting against it.

As Geiger notes: Read more

Read My Lips No New Taxes

“Read my lips: no new taxes” was a famous pledge made by Republican Presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention in his acceptance speech on August 18. Written by speechwriter Peggy Noonan, the line was one of the most prominent sound bites from the speech. The no tax pledge had been a consistent part of Bush’s 1988 election platform, but its prominent inclusion in his speech cemented it in the public consciousness. The impact of the pledge was considerable, and many believe it helped Bush win the 1988 United States presidential election.

Once president, however, Bush agreed to raise several taxes as part of a 1990 budget agreement. This has been attributed to a declining economy, ballooning budget deficits, and the need to compromise with the Democrat-controlled Congress. This reversal caused great controversy, especially in the more conservative wing of the Republican Party. Read more

Cindy Sheehan arrested at State of the Union address

Cindy Sheehan was arrested and dragged off Tuesday night before the start of the president’s State of the Union address.

A guest of California representative Lynn Woolsey, who has called for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, Sheehan was handcuffed in the House chamber for wearing an anti-war T-shirt.Sheehan pledged back in October that she would launch a campaign of civil disobedience. Charged with the misdemeanor of demonstrating inside the Capitol and released on her own recognizance, Sheehan is free to keep getting arrested for her cause.

Bush wins Election?

Senator John F. Kerry has called President George W. Bush conceding Ohio and the presidency, according to the Associated Press.

Kerry is expected to make a speech at 1 p.m. at Faneuil Hall and the president is scheduled to make a statement at 3 p.m. Although the White House claimed that Bush’s margin in Ohio is statistically insurmountable, no public word has come from Ohio officials.

Vote Today

If you are registered to vote in the United States, please vote today.

And while you’re at it, vote for my man, John Kerry

George Bush alters TV ad to fool viewers and GETS CAUGHT

President Bush campaign acknowledged Thursday that it had doctored a photograph used in a television commercial to remove the president and the podium where he was standing. The campaign said the ad will be re-edited and reshipped to TV stations. Read more

Jon Stewart Crossfire appearance on bittorrent

One of the most powerful televised exchanges in recent history. Stewart hits it out of the park. BoingBoing reader bryan says, “Jon Stewart blasted the hosts on CNN’s Crossfire for hurting the democratic process instead of helping. He also calls Tucker Carlson a dick. Bittorrent: Link, and transcript here.

Michael Moore Considers Legal Action Against iN DEMAND

Michael Moore is considering taking legal action against a US cable pay-per-view TV company for dumping his pre-election special, which included the airing of his controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11.

The cable company, iN DEMAND, said it based its decision to drop the program on “legitimate business and legal concerns.”

The US$9.95, 3 hour pay-per-view special was to include interviews with celebrities with strong political opinions, as well as Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

The special was to air on the eve of the US presidential election.

Moore told the press he signed a contract with iN DEMAND early last month and is considering legal action.

“Apparently people have put pressure on them and they’ve broken a contract,” the Associated Press quoted Moore as saying.

“There’s been one struggle or another over this, but we’ve always come out on top because you can’t tell Americans they can’t watch this.”

The film, Fahrenheit 9/11 has just been released on DVD.

iN DEMAND reaches about 28 million households across the US.

John Kerry & George Bush Joke

A stranger was seated next to little Tommy on the plane when the stranger turned to the boy and said, “Let’s talk, I’ve heard that flights will go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.”

Little Tommy, who had just opened his book, closed it slowly, and said to the stranger, “What would you like to discuss?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said the stranger. “How about politics? Should we keep Bush or elect Kerry?”

OK,” said Little Tommy. “That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow and a deer all eat grass. The same stuff. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?”

Jeez,” said the stranger. “I have no idea.”

Well, then,” said Little Tommy, “How is it that you feel qualified to discuss who should run the country when you don’t know shit?

Let’s Just Hope the President isn’t Lying

A day after CBS News presented documents questioning President Bush’s National Guard service, the veracity of those papers is coming into question.

The development comes in a campaign in which charges continue to fly about the authenticity of Bush’s time in the Guard and Sen. John Kerry’s Web site listing of medals and naval service.

On “60 Minutes II” on Wednesday night, CBS’ Dan Rather introduced four documents he claimed were written by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, 1st Lt. George W. Bush’s superior, establishing that Bush failed to meet the standards required by the Texas Air National Guard in the early 1970s.

These appeared to support charges by Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Kerry that Bush had been “AWOL” and had failed to meet his Guard commitments.

The documents were presented by CBS as coming from Killian’s secret personal files. In them, Killian appears to complain that he was being pressured by his superior officers to “sugarcoat” Bush’s substandard performance in his official records and described how Bush had asked him “how he could get out of coming to drill,” among other things.

Forgery experts take a look

The morning after the “60 Minutes II” airing, the Internet was buzzing with claims that the documents were forged.

Powerlineblog first aired speculation that there was persuasive evidence from the typefaces and spacing that the documents supposedly prepared in the age of typewriters in the early 1970s showed the unmistakable characteristics of computer printing.

Another blogger, Bill Ardolino at INDC Journal, who had read Powerline, said, “I decided to find a top typeface expert and ran his analysis on my Web site.”

Ardolino’s expert, Philip D. Bouffard, is a nationally recognized forensic authority in typewriter and electronic typefaces.

Bouffard has the largest collection of full letter impact typewriter specimens in a private collection today. Having worked at NCR and a forensic laboratory for more than 30 years, Bouffard still works with entities such as the State of Ohio on Medicare fraud cases.

Bouffard said the CBS documents appear to have been copied about 10 times in the state he saw them. Nevertheless, he states, “All the documents have been created on the same printer. And the proportional spacing and the common characteristics of numbers like 4 and 7 and letters like lower case c and upper case G are beyond the capabilities of any of the typewriter impact specimens I have in my collection. The centering of headings is also beyond the capabilities of any typewriter I know of.”

His conclusion: “It is remotely possible there is some typewriter that has the capability to do all this … but it is more likely these documents were generated in the common Times New Roman font and printed out on a computer printer that did not exist at the time they were supposedly created.”

Bouffard is a registered Democrat planning to vote for Kerry.

In a related story, the Associated Press has reported that the son of Killian, Gary Killian, has questioned the authenticity of the documents as well and said they didn’t come from his family.

CBS says it stands by its story and claims that the handwriting and document experts it consulted believe the documents are genuine.

Excerpts of John Kerry’s Upcoming Remarks

The election comes down to this. If you believe this country is heading in the right direction, you should support George Bush. But if you believe America needs to move in a new direction, join with us. John and I offer a better plan that will make us stronger at home and more respected in the world. And we need your help to do that.

For three days in New York, instead of talking about jobs and the economy, we heard anger and insults from the Republicans. And I’ll tell you why. It’s because they can’t talk about the real issues facing Americans. They can’t talk about their record because it’s a record of failure.

We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention. For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as commander in chief. Well, here’s my answer. I’m not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.

The vice president even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I’ll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.

Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without health care makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi royal family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you’re still on their payroll makes you unfit. That’s the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And it’s not going to change. I believe it’s time to move America in a new direction; I believe it’s time to set a new course for America.

And we have a specific plan to do just that. So tomorrow morning, John and Elizabeth and Teresa and I are hitting the road across America’s heartland. From here, we’ll go out and talk with Americans in towns across Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. And because a stronger America begins at home, we’ll talk about our plan to create jobs, cut taxes for the middle class, lower health care costs, and make America safer and more secure.

You got my vote Senator Kerry. Let W go run his Haliburton company which must have made Billion$ in this war. When the economy is struggling, do what ever you have to to profit for your company. Even start a war.

“The vice president even called me unfit for office last night,” he said. “I’m guess I’ll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of combat duty.” via usndemvet.com

Although funny, this is how politicians kick some ass!!

Lowell’s History with John Kerry

By 1972, John Kerry was a national figure, but without roots in one place he could call home. For a young man with congressional ambitions, that was a handicap, one he would quickly compound. Read more