AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Comment on Comments STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Nota Bene DATE: 11/30/2004 11:23:35 AM ----- BODY: Don't touch that dial, we've taken control of your comments We're switching over to a new software for publishing [MT 3.01 for those that are interested], and in the transition theres a new comment spam filter in place. For now, during the transition, comments to the site are marked for "approval" before being reflected on the post. This will change soon but for now bear with us. If you post a comment, it will appear just as soon as I can run the approval script on it. Don't think that we didn't get it just because you don't see it. It will arrive -- unless of course you are an evil spammer. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harvey EMAIL: harvolson@charter.net IP: 24.196.92.227 URL: http://badexample.mu.nu/ DATE: 11/27/2004 07:23:47 AM Do what you need to do, sir. Comment spam is evil and must die :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen B EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 64.160.144.243 URL: DATE: 11/27/2004 12:03:20 PM I see that the Bozo(R) filter works on my comments... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nicholas EMAIL: nrusson@NOSPAMrogers.com IP: 199.71.120.67 URL: http://www.bolditalic.com/quotulatiousness DATE: 11/30/2004 01:10:14 PM Keep us techno-peasants-back-in-the-dark-ages (MT 2.661) updated. Maybe the pain and anguish you put yourself through can help some of the rest of us! ----- PING: TITLE: comment spam: state of the arms race URL: http://www.andunie.net/mt-archives/000499.php IP: 63.247.142.130 BLOG NAME: andunie.net DATE: 11/28/2004 10:12:54 PM My apologies for the extended absence. And in lieu of either policy rumblings or idle distractions, tonight's offering is about...blog maintenance—in particular, dealing with the scourge that is comment spam. ----- -------- AUTHOR: sheryl TITLE: That was *so* last year's gift STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Pure Products of America DATE: 11/30/2004 08:58:12 AM ----- BODY:

Mrwonderful_1

We interrupt your regularly scheduled content for a note from Mrs. VDL. Don't worry, Mr. American Digest will return tomorrow. The December issue of Coast magazine (which is tossed on our driveway monthly for free) includes the obligatory gift guide for befuddled holiday shoppers. Just to show how culturally-savvy my dad is, one of the presents that he gave Gerard last year is featured in the magazine’s collection of this year’s hot-hot gifts. Yes, I’m talking about Mr. Wonderful, and when I wrote about him last year, it was my first-ever post:
"The biggest laugh of Christmas morning came when my witty and urbane husband Gerard opened a large package containing Mr. Wonderful, a 12” talking doll that spouts off 16 different phrases when you squeeze his palm. He’s every woman’s dream come true, in plastic, anyway. Handsome, sensitive, and a good listener, he says things that women want to hear, but seldom do, like:
You know honey, why don't you just relax and let me make dinner tonight? Why don't we go to the mall? Didn't you want some new shoes? You know, I think it's really important that we talk about our relationship. You've been on my mind all day. That's why I bought you these flowers."
The original post is here. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@nowhere.net IP: 69.105.85.110 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 12/01/2004 10:24:13 PM Mrs. Wonderful isn't bad either. "Its ok honey, I forgot about our anniversary too." ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Good Question on "Blackness" Seeks Good Answer STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/29/2004 08:39:11 PM ----- BODY: Blogger baldilocks relates an incident en route to a concert where a the blackness of Colin Powell and Condi Rice's thoughts were called into question. To illustrate she proposes a thought experiment at baldilocks: More Than A Notion . At the conclusion of the experiment she notes:
Simply consider why those blacks who have been accused of bad behavior or demonstrate questionable character do not have their "blackness" questioned, but those who are conservative and/or preach the virtues of hard work do.
I, for one, would be very interested to see a good answer to that. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.54 URL: DATE: 11/29/2004 09:28:07 PM It's a simple answer. The rule of the few outweighs the rules of the many. Freedom of speech is a one way street; affirmative action completes the insult. You live in California; surely you see it first hand. PC gone crazy. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Doug A. EMAIL: honif@foxinternet.com IP: 168.103.154.251 URL: http://sunbreak.blogspot.com DATE: 11/30/2004 12:19:38 AM I'm a white daddy raising a 4 year old black stepson in a mostly black neighborhood. I hate it when we cross the street and the first stopped car is some brother in an SUV with the windows open and some rap song going full bore boom whack mutha boom boom fucka whack boom bitch boom I'll slap ya boom whack on yo boom mutha whack boom fuckin boom whack. This has happened more than once but fewer than 500 times over the past year. Jesus, I think, really now, why don't we ease up a bit on the classical piano playing Tolstoy reading in the original Russian 1st black woman Secretary of State of the United States of American and turn some of our collective scorn on these foul wave air mind-assaulters? Oh shit, maybe I shouldn't have noticed this. Guess I must be a racist deep down. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dave Schuler EMAIL: thalian@compuserve.com IP: 67.175.72.187 URL: http://www.theglitteringeye.com DATE: 11/30/2004 07:34:41 AM Not being black myself I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this discussion. Or so I've been told. Repeatedly. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mark H EMAIL: zx11@sprynet.com IP: 66.18.154.7 URL: DATE: 11/30/2004 01:03:58 PM Someone should find Bill Cosby's email address and send him a link to this subject. It would be interesting to see what his "comment" would be. He's the only one in the black community saying what needs to be said. It's a sad state of affairs... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ripley (R) EMAIL: jm.sawyer@verizon.net IP: 4.65.5.209 URL: DATE: 11/30/2004 10:46:38 PM please run the next puppet shot through the script checkin checker.exe (space photos are much more MSM) or a link to the Trident 3 specs... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jaed EMAIL: bittersanity@jaedworks.com IP: 66.93.39.98 URL: http://bittersanity.blogspot.com DATE: 12/01/2004 01:16:33 AM Slightly moonbatty friend: Well, I think it's an open question whether Bush really respects Condi as anything other than a yes-woman. Me: Four. Heartbeats. Away. S.M. F.: Oh. Well, yeah, I guess there is that. ----- PING: TITLE: Have Rights, not Dreams URL: http://www.instapunk.com/archives/InstaPunkArchive.php3?a=291 IP: 67.19.41.52 BLOG NAME: InstaPunk DATE: 12/02/2004 06:39:37 AM InstaPunk highlights something that has been in print since 1991 with little or no comment from the African American community. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Awww, Puppies .... (by Nintendo) STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Moving Images DATE: 11/29/2004 08:02:49 PM ----- BODY: The utterly virtual but still cute and modestly amazing Nintendo Pups! virtualpups.jpg They cute too! ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.54 URL: DATE: 11/30/2004 04:36:50 PM So, Gerard, you're into ebonics now too? (You're last line). ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Fish Highway STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Pure Products of America DATE: 11/29/2004 07:39:49 PM ----- BODY: What? "Imagine a means for fish to swim out the top of your aquarium, up to the ceiling, across the room and then down into another tank. That's a fish highway ." fishhighway2.jpg ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill EMAIL: wkeezer@mindspring.com IP: 149.173.6.25 URL: http://billscomments.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/30/2004 07:06:58 PM How do you open the tanks to clean and feed without the water surging out of the tube? How do you keep any air bubbles out? Neat idea, but how is it engineered? I see a disaster in the making. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jaed EMAIL: bittersanity@jaedworks.com IP: 66.93.39.98 URL: http://bittersanity.blogspot.com DATE: 12/01/2004 01:10:36 AM This is not a pure product of America, not quite. If there is a version 2.0 that provides the fish with tiny motorized assists, and if these assists are given an automobile or rocket theme, then it will be a pure product of America. I mean, this thing could be made in Italy, or Japan. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Uncle Mikey EMAIL: mbolduc515@yahoo.com IP: 70.112.101.147 URL: http://unclemikey.blogspot.com/ DATE: 12/01/2004 05:19:09 AM Am I just paranoid, or does that look like a disaster waiting to happen? "Fish Highway, oh Fish Highway Wrapped in lucite over the love seat Keep that guy with the nunchaku Away from the the old Fish Highway, 'Cause judging from them bruises, He don't look too skilled to me, baby." ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Democratic Dementia Rising: Victims in the Night STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/29/2004 01:01:55 PM ----- BODY: After the Florida Election fiasco of 2000, masses of the outraged losers at The Well [ better known as The Leisure World of Online Conferencing] descended into a depression that deepened into what can only be described as a political psychosis. The same elements we see now were born then -- Liberalosis, Bushophobia, Halliburtonhallucinogenia, Dumbmentia, MovingOutItus, Progressophrenia, and a tendency to froth at the mention of the word "Florida." I'd been a member of The Well for over ten years at the time and, as the months dragged on, I became an increasingly unpopular member. Not that I didn't deserve it. My many issues with their manias grew apace. Nobody likes a person who, once insane, returns to his senses in the middle of the asylum and informs the inmates that they are stark raving mad. It's a buzzkiller and the inmates of the Well loved their BushBuzz more than life itself. Following the attacks of September 11, many of The Well's manias went into remission -- some for nearly 90 minutes before roaring back. For some weeks now I've viewed the mental diseases previously held in check behind the conferencing wall of the Well metastasize into the general population of online political losers across the blogsphere. For some time I had hoped it was a temporary mania of the type chronicled in Charles Mackay's classic 19th century work, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds . In this tome, Mackay notes the subject of the book in the Preface:
In reading the history of nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities; their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.
Yes, I had hoped some "new folly more captivating than the first" would present itself to these sufferers and that they would, at last, "go gentle into that good night." But this, alas, is not to be. The Democrats dementia deepens and darkens across the cyberscape. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Indeed, listening to the unremitting moans, screams and quiet sobbing of the Damned it is impossible not to think of that other 19th century classic, Poe's The Raven wherein we read:
But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour. Nothing farther then he uttered-not a feather then he fluttered- Till I scarcely more than muttered, "Other friends have flown before- On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before." Then the bird said, "Nevermore." Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, "Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore- Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden more Of 'Never-nevermore.'"
I admit I thought that analogy somewhat melodramatic, but then I learned it is not nearly melodramatic enough. Reality has outstripped Poe's literary classic in the form of the "new, improved Raven," with the advent of one Mel Giles, whose sopping wet effort The Politics of Victimization is the current Cloverine-Brand Mental Salve for those now in orbit outside the political realities of our planet. Ms. Giles, introduced as one "who has worked for many years as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse," has it all worked out and blended into a rich brew of caramel-laced, non-fat, decaf Dysfunctional Latte. It is strange that the "complex and highly intelligent " minds that make up the shrinking remnant of true believers lust for simple answers, but they do. And Ms. Giles is not slow to spoon the froth onto the cup.
The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence.
This is a classic example of what is called "The illusion of central position." Ms. Giles simply takes the pap she's conjured up from endless hours of swapping suppositions at domestic abuse clinics and slaps it onto electoral politics. She also likes to play with the word "beat," substituting the act of slapping someone around with the situation in which one is bested in a democratic election. It's important for her to get that little verbal slight of hand in early because once the sufferer accepts it, everything else follows. It is also handy to slap on the label "abuser" since who can argue that an abuser who slaps someone else around is an evil person, or persons, or group? Typically, the victims of a domestic abuser are women and who likes a woman-beater? Nobody. The lowest of the low. Now that we've got that little bit of intellectual slight-of-hand out of the way, we're ready to be "looped into the cycle of violence." Well, this is more loopy than looped, but we must descend deeper into this dab of dementia. According to Ms. Giles, she and her fellow sufferers are going to have to get used to the notion that they are undergoing an non-stop stream of "verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence." I note that very few American voters are in Iraq and, if election reports from there have any merit, the vast majority are not only for President Bush but exceedingly well-armed. For the rest of Ms. Giles millions of "patients," I suggest that they tune out of the info-stream for a few days and see if that doesn't quiet the "verbal and mental" violence of the voices in their heads. Fortunately for the sufferers, Ms. Giles, the Compassionate, does not just reveal to them their debased state, she offers them a kind of "Dummys Guide to Abuse Avoidance." It's a fascinating insight not so much for the advice, but for the insights into the deeply rooted wrongheadedness and woolly thinking of the author and her cohorts:
As victims we can’t stop asking ourselves what we did wrong.
Actually, you can. In fact one of the best ways stop beating on yourself is to stop beating on yourself.
We can’t seem to grasp that they will keep hitting us and beating us as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating.
Humm, I was under the impression that the losers in this election were the "smart" people. This phenomena, if true, seems to betoken a set of people that are either born dumb, achieve dumb, or have had dumb thrust upon them. Perhaps all three. Still, if true, it is terrible to see so many reduced to intellectual servitude at the hands of an oppressing race. There must be a way out! And Ms. Giles does not disappoint.
How to break free? Again, the answer is quite simple.
Again, the simple answer for the self-proclaimed complex minds. And what is the way, the truth and the light?
First, you must admit you are a victim.
Catchy, but I can help feel the phrase is a bit derivative. Maybe I've heard it somewhere before.
Then, you must declare the state of affairs unacceptable.
"I hereby declare I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Okay, done. What's next?
Next, you must promise to protect yourself and everyone around you that is being victimized. You don’t do this by responding to their demands, or becoming more like them, or engaging in logical conversation, or trying to persuade them that you are right.
Ah yes, no dialogue over questions of law, policy or taxation. No examination of the self or the Party to see if you can't alter your behavior, your policies or your programs to make them more mainstream. No arguments from logic -- ever. And above all do not attempt to use persuasion. Sounds like a Platform for No Power Ever to me, but what do I know?
You also don’t do this by going catatonic and resigned, by closing up your ears and eyes and covering your head and submitting to the blows, figuring its over faster and hurts less is you don’t resist and fight back. Instead, you walk away.
Am I alone in finding this metaphor weak, wet, ill-conceived, and more revealing of the author's troubled psyche than any actual political situation? I hope not.
You find other folks like yourself, 56 million of them, who are hurting, broken, and beating themselves up.
Here we descend directly into the asinine. The concept that everyone -- 56 million! -- are afflicted with psychological political injuries on the order of a sucking chest wound is inane in the extreme. Fifty-six million people have about 56 million different sets of reasons for voting one way or another. The proposition that they all "share the pain" is one of the bigger myths being floated. The reason for it is clear. You need to cite a big number to make yourself important in political terms. The underlying human reality has nothing to do with it. In politics no lie is useful unless it is a big lie.
You tell them what you’ve learned, and that you aren’t going to take it anymore.
Howard Beale, come on down!
You stand tall, with 56 million people at your side and behind you, and you look right into the eyes of the abuser and you tell him to go to hell.
First off, you're not tall, you are cramped and bent over with an internally generated rage that less effect on the world than the least dogcatcher elected in the fifth ward of Podunk. Second, you do not have "56 million people at your side." You might be able to fill the Meadowlands if the Boss plays for free, but don't all head for the parking lot at the same time, okay? Third, looking into "eyes of the abuser" assumes you can get an appointment. With this attitude, I wouldn't count on getting more than a form email back and then being dumped in the spam filter.
Then you walk out the door, taking the kids and gays and minorities with you, and you start a new life. The new life is hard. But it’s better than the abuse.
Well, as we used to say on The Well, "Door. Ass. Bang." But if all 56 million are going, you'd better make sure Canada has a homestead act ready for places somewhat above the Arctic Circle. As for the Pied Piper moment that has erupted from your skull, I'm sure more than a few parents, minority and other wise, will have something to say about the kids. Plus, even though there may be some members of the Gay community that favor Lumberjack garb, I don't think they'd be all that crazy about the lifestyle. With that said, you'd think Ms. Giles cup of froth runneth over. You'd be wrong. She needs to share more of her fantasy with you.
We have a mandate to be as radical and liberal and steadfast as we need to be. The progressive beliefs and social justice we stand for, our core, must not be altered. We are 56 million strong. We are building from the bottom up. We are meeting, on the net, in church basements, at work, in small groups, and right now, we are crying, because we are trying to break free and we don’t know how.
Except for the weeping part, this little excursion back to the time of Trotsky certainly should chill the blood of the Oppressive Regime of Amerika. The vision of 56 million of our fellow citizens, even the godless ones, humming about and building God-Knows-What in "church basements" (Of all places!), and elsewhere, should have Homeland Security checking out known outlets of fertilizer across the country. Me, I'm shaking in my boots even as I feel their pain. Ms. Giles then begins, at long last, to take her leave of us with a semi-sweet coda:
Any battered woman in America, any oppressed person around the globe who has defied her oppressor will tell you this:
With this we are back to one of the core fantasies of the addlepated Left; that violence against a single woman is equal to the enforced enslavement of millions of people by a Dictatorship or a Theocracy. The mass graves of Cambodia and Iraq, the genocides of Africa and the Balkans give the lie to this concept, but these little facts cannot be seen by the delusional Left. Finally, Ms. Giles is ready for her close-up:
There is nothing wrong with you. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You must change only one thing: stop responding to the abuser. Don’t let him dictate the terms or frame the debate (he’ll win, not because he’s right, but because force works).
This little packet neatly assumes that there's nothing wrong on the 'victims' side and nothing correct on the other side. A handy point of view to have if you are addicted to losing elections. Handier still if you actually have no ideas that will work if they are ever implemented.
Sure, we can build a better grassroots campaign, cultivate and raise up better leaders, reform the election system to make it failproof, stick to our message, learn from the strategy of the other side. But we absolutely must dispense with the notion that we are weak, godless, cowardly, disorganized, crazy, too liberal, naive, amoral, “loose”, irrelevant, outmoded, stupid and soon to be extinct.
Really? Are you sure? Care to run another reality check on that in 2006? Keep it up and you will.
We have the mandate of the world to back us, and the legacy of oppressed people throughout history.
Oh, puh-lease! This is just pure tripe and beneath contempt. Any person or group that asserts or, worse still, believes that they have "the mandate of the world" is simply delusional to the Nth degree. If anyone knows where, exactly, one applies for a "World Mandate" this side of Funky Town, please let me know. What Ms. Giles has is a mandate from the Heart of Her Own Darkness to believe in porcine aviation. Those that choose to join her in her Children's Crusade are advised to pack a lunch and take a candle, for the way will be long and the path dark. And, oh yes, also put on a lot of protective padding because, as Ms. Giles notes at the bitter end of her bitter buffet of bombast and balderdash:
Even if you do everything right, they’ll hit you anyway. Look at the poor souls who voted for this nonsense. They are working for six dollars an hour if they are working at all, their children are dying overseas and suffering from lack of health care and a depleted environment and a shoddy education. And they don’t even know they are being hit.
You'd think someone so "informed" would have a deeper understanding of the vast array of different people that voted against her tattered fantasies, but that is obviously not the case. She begins in darkness and she ends in ignorance. It's a kind of intellectual Black Hole of Calcutta. I don't know how many others are going to join her in there, but it is already feeling very overcrowded. Would some compassionate conservative please go over in the morning and let the survivors out? I will wait here for you. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Alan Sullivan EMAIL: alan@seablogger.com IP: 166.153.45.191 URL: http://bilge.seablogger.com/ DATE: 11/29/2004 04:07:59 PM You may not have intended your quip about fertilizer stores literally, but that's where this mentality leads. Picture ten thousand Unibombers. If the economy sours, or if the Middle East War widens to Iran or Syria, there's no telling how far some of these sweet, pacific folks might go. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dave EMAIL: davistill@37.com IP: 24.45.18.36 URL: DATE: 11/29/2004 05:25:32 PM dumb ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: scarshapedstar EMAIL: JMButcher@yahoo.com IP: 128.61.34.68 URL: DATE: 11/29/2004 06:24:36 PM I'd like to hear how 56 million people didn't vote for Kerry. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Connecticut Yankee EMAIL: rebeccafrey@snet.net IP: 64.252.66.96 URL: DATE: 11/29/2004 07:11:53 PM GvdL and Alan Sullivan-- You are so right about the potential for trouble from angry "pacifists"-- here is a link (courtesy of one of the posters at LGF) to a news item about a murder/suicide involving these folks: http://www.tnimc.org/feature/display/3745/index.php The story: "Southern Activists Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide": "In an apparent murder-suicide, virginia activist Niklan Jones-Lezama murdered activist Sue Daniels, set fire to the cabin Daniels was residing in, and then slit his wrists on the evening before he was scheduled to attend to the annual SOA protests in Fort Benning, Georgia. Both Nik and Sue were active around varous social justice issues, such as opposing war in the Middle East, oppression in Central America, and violent mountaintop removal in Appalachia. The two had spent several months in federal prison last year due to their participation in the annual School of the Americas protests in Georgia.... [Sue's] presumed murderer, Niklan Jones-Lezama of Blacksburg, VA 38, was married to a Nicaraguan Sandinista, Claudia and had two sons, Emilio Jose and Omar Eli. He was a past co-coordinator for the Coalition for Justice in Central America; 1987 Witness for Peace/Fellowship of Reconciliation/Buddhist Peace Fellowship delegate to Nicaragua and Honduras. He was also part of fact-finding delegation to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala and an intern with Global Issues Project in Haiti. He was currently helping to build a local chapter of the Colombia Support Network and was a Re-evaluation co-counselor, studying and practicing healing touch and reiki energy therapies for the past four years. People who knew the two said that in the past, Sue had sought protection from Niklan who had developed an unhealthy romantic preoccupation with her. Authorities (allegedly) denied her request for a restraining order and mutual friends failed to adequately respond. Another friend close to the community Nik and Sue were involved in reported that Sue had unsuccessfully sought a police restraining order from Nik and had an emergency response team of friends who were on-call and ready to show up immediately if Nik came around. These people also were completely shocked by what happened and had no idea that Nik's instability was this serious and dangerous." Feel the love. Gerard, once again, thank you for this blog. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Juliette EMAIL: baldilocks@sbcglobal.net IP: 69.109.56.4 URL: http://baldilocks.typepad.com DATE: 11/29/2004 07:16:37 PM Yikes! That was a frightening read. Note how she lumped minorities and gays in with children. That says a lot about how she thinks of those in the first two categories. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Richard Bennett EMAIL: richard@bennett.com IP: 216.65.151.101 URL: http://mossback.org DATE: 11/30/2004 01:56:44 PM Ah yes, the amazing Welberts, I remember them, uh, well, for their wonderful hive mind. Keep up the good work, Boswell. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tongueboy EMAIL: robbin_smith@corvel.com IP: 208.139.7.64 URL: DATE: 12/01/2004 09:31:00 AM A first rate Fisking. Lord help us if these Jacobins ever get hold of the reigns of political power. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aaron EMAIL: ald@frantic.org IP: 69.162.247.20 URL: DATE: 12/01/2004 09:56:39 PM I blame Gans. Having walked away from Welltopia a good four or five years ago, I'd always wondered how they were dealing with the strain of being more marginalized with each passing day of the Bush Administration (and their increasing irrelevance in a world where they haven't just lost the title of "Most Influential Online Community", but have fallen so far below the noise floor that hardly anyone even knows they exist). I can't say I'm surprised to learn they've been acting pretty much the way I expected they would. ----- PING: TITLE: The Psychology of Political Loss URL: http://www.bolditalic.com/quotulatiousness_archive/000731.html IP: 64.26.174.91 BLOG NAME: Quotulatiousness DATE: 11/30/2004 01:33:59 PM American Digest has a fascinating post on the psychosis that seems to have taken hold among some groups after the last US Presidential election: For some weeks now I've viewed the mental diseases previously held in check behind the conferencing... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Soros Buys Kiev Holiday Inn for Inbound Contingent of Blue State Human Shields STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Political Corrections DATE: 11/28/2004 10:14:48 PM ----- BODY: story.soros.jpg Soros to Shields:"If I'm buying, you're flying." In a stunning move to reverse the threat to democracy in the Ukraine George Soros wrote a check on Sunday to take possession of the Kiev Holiday Inn and Bali-Themed singles Bar in order the guarantee housing for some 15,000 Blue State Human Shields now inbound to the beleaguered Republic. Working closely with the recently unemployed staff of MoveOn.org, Soros raised the money from himself during a tense, non-stop negotiating session at his wet-bar last Friday. "I thought of all the angst and agita I've experienced over the last three weeks," said the reclusive billionaire at a press conference attended by Graydon Carter, Annie Leibovitz and the entire newroom of The New York Times. "What good is money to me when there are democracies to save? And after all, isn't MoveOn.org's motto 'Democracy in Action' ? It is. But what can a humble billionaire do in a world ruled by Halliburton?" Mr. Soros paused as Ms. Leibovitz made a few deft adjustments to his hair. "Then it came to me. The Human Shields have been out of work and gathering rust and dust in the remainder bins of history for well over a year. The millions of depressed Democrats who have been considering relocation to a Bush-Free Zone have run out of gas long before the petroleum exporting countries ruled by Halliburton. Kerry isn't giving the $16 million back, and I don't know what to think about the rumors that Teresa is out buying a house and new suits for Obama. "I'm an entrepreneur who's always looking to make lemonade out of lemons, and this thing in the Ukraine seems to have more than its share of lemons. So I thought, hey, we could get the Human Shields back in the game, move MoveOn.org on, give the Democrats another chance of saving democracy, and show up that Boston bozo for the stiff that he is. On top of that, if it works out and democracy is actually saved in the Ukraine, I can flip my Holiday Inn for a nice appreciation ride. The left profile is my best, Annie. How many times do I have to tell you?" ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Eagle1 EMAIL: lawofsea@aol.com IP: 24.168.180.101 URL: http://www.eaglespeak.blogspot.com DATE: 11/29/2004 04:19:08 AM Good one! Has he got room for the "We're Sorry" crowd, too? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harvey EMAIL: harvolson@charter.net IP: 24.196.92.227 URL: http://badexample.mu.nu/ DATE: 11/29/2004 04:46:43 AM I find it quite disturbing that I wasn't sure this was satire until the second paragraph :-/ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mark butterworth EMAIL: johnmark@surewest.net IP: 65.78.130.225 URL: http://www.callistergreen.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/29/2004 03:18:20 PM Yeah, I was kind of hoping this was true. This belongs with the best of Scrappleface or The Onion. (Boy, you don't hear many references to that mag anymore, do you?) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jaed EMAIL: bittersanity@jaedworks.com IP: 66.93.39.98 URL: http://bittersanity.blogspot.com DATE: 12/01/2004 02:39:24 AM The one problem with this is that the human shields would mass (if they indeed massed) against the threat OF democracy in the Ukraine, not the threat TO democracy. After all, Powell and Bush have both made statements in favor of the protestors, who are clearly imperialists imperiling the valiant Putinite resistance, etc. ----- PING: TITLE: There is no Holiday Inn URL: http://www.TheGlitteringEye.com/archives/000501.html IP: 216.193.215.150 BLOG NAME: The Glittering Eye DATE: 11/29/2004 06:15:46 AM As I read the most recent post on American Digest:In a stunning move to reverse the threat to democracy in the Ukraine George Soros wrote a check on Sunday to take possession of the Kiev Holiday Inn and Bali-Themed singles... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: My Personal Treasure Reviews National Treasure STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Flick-Pix DATE: 11/28/2004 02:49:19 PM ----- BODY: What's this, a film review? Indeed it is. I'd once hoped to have a regular film reviewer for this page, but that person hasn't happened along as yet. Instead, I'll go with this insightful review of National Treasure by the one person I know who's not only quick to sum up a film correctly, but quicker still to find out what's really of value, my wife:
If you've read the reviews, which are pretty snarky for the most part, you might think Nicholas Cage's new quasi action-adventure movie would be a pass. But you'd be wrong.  Because I was there, at the end of the movie, when a surprisingly healthy round of applause erupted. Gerard looked at me like, "What?" and I said, well, you know there's something to be said for a movie with no sex, barely any violence, and a body count of one (and that was accidental).
She's right. It is suprising how surprising a decent movie can be these days. Perhaps because there are so few of them. Maybe, given the success of National Treasure, there will be more. Read the rest at :             Cheaper Than Therapy: "National Treasure" on a National Holiday ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jeff EMAIL: jeff@beautifulatrocities.com IP: 64.171.255.20 URL: http://www.beautifulatrocities.com DATE: 11/28/2004 05:08:07 PM She's right. And one reason I don't trust reviewers is that they see so much CRAP (the stuff the rest of us avoid), it has to unconsciously lower the bar for them ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Meditation for this Sunday STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Grace Notes DATE: 11/28/2004 10:17:55 AM ----- BODY:

Until Then

[In Flash so it takes time to load but is well worth it.]
Homeward Bound In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed, When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red. When the summer's ceased its gleaming, When the corn is past its prime, When adventure's lost its meaning, I'll be homeward bound in time. Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow. Set me free to find my calling and I'll return to you somehow. If you find it's me you're missing, if you're hoping I'll return. To your thoughts I'll soon be list'ning, and in the road I'll stop and turn. Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end. And the path I'll be retracing when I'm homeward bound again. Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow. Set me free to find my calling and I'll return to you somehow. In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed, When the sparrows stop their singing, I'll be homeward bound again. Words and music by Marta Keen. Lyrics found by RickinVa @ Brutally Honest: Homeward Bound ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mark butterworth EMAIL: johnmark@surewest.net IP: 65.78.130.225 URL: http://www.callistergreen.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/28/2004 08:50:15 PM Beautiful. "A two hanky movie," as my wife said. ----- PING: TITLE: Homeward Bound URL: http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2004/11/homeward_bound.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Brutally Honest DATE: 11/28/2004 02:14:16 PM Homeward Bound In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red.When the summer’s ceased its gleaming,When the corn is past its prime, When adventure’s lost ----- PING: TITLE: Tribute To Those Who Were Called URL: http://acornsfromanokie.typepad.com/acorns_from_an_okie/2004/11/tribute_to_thos.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Acorns from an Okie DATE: 11/30/2004 02:04:20 PM I mentioned earlier a moving tribute to our armed services. I now point you to Greg's American Digest for the lyrics to the song. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Legacy of the Long Peace STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Political Corrections DATE: 11/28/2004 09:52:20 AM ----- BODY: The peace movements of the last 150 years have been animated by "wishful thinking," which helps to explain their often self-destructive behavior. But .... it's not merely a wish for, but a lust for peace that's the root of this evil. -- Demosophia: Lust for Peace It isn't always the case that a politician's promise is the birth of a lie. More often than not, it just turns out that way. It turns out that way not because, I hasten to add, the politician lied at the time of the promise, but because the promises of politicians are most often descriptions of a future that can never come to pass. The promises of our politicians are but articulations of our own fantasies about the future and, since we know in our bones these things can never come to pass, we hear the promises as lies, but go with them anyway if they reflect our own childish wishes. In the political theater of our days, each side gets the audience to chant, "I do believe in fairies," that Tinkerbell might fly. And Tinkerbell does, while all agree not to notice the wires. The big lie of the bitter season just past was unusual in that, at the bottom, it was a promise not about the future (although both camps insisted it was), but about the past. The big lie promised a return to the lost lands of September 10, 2001 when all was calm and secure. The big lie was "We'll keep you safe." Neither side wanted to go too deeply into the "how" of this in very specific terms. But a nod is as good as a wink to a willfully blind electorate, and we all knew "how" our candidate of choice would handle things. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bush would continue the war and expand it, while putting our enemies on notice that there was always worse waiting in the wings should anything "too unfortunate" happen to the homeland. He would engender respect through strength. Kerry would wind the war down and place his bet on the kind of diplomacy and bribery that had failed in such a spectacular fashion on September 11. He would "regain respect" through apology, so that those Americans who valued summers in places like the French countryside could once again rent villas without having to parade around the village with an "I'm so sorry" placard hung about their necks. In either case, the big promise and the big lie was "You'll be safe. Vote for us and we'll stop any more attacks on the homeland." The election did not end this lie from either side and we can expect the messages to continue to be placed before us for years to come. On November 3, we each chose the party that seemed to us to represent our favorite fantasy future and cast our ballots. We went with Door Number 1. We nearly went for Door Number 2. It didn't matter. Both doors open into the same long tunnel, and the best we can really hope for is that the light at the end of said tunnel is not an approaching freight train. We knew, deep in our bones, that it didn't matter because the promise made by both parties was, is, and will be a lie. It will remain a lie until we understand that we no longer live in the era of the Long Peace but in the time of the Long War. We will come to understand this on some terrible day in the months or years ahead when the next unstoppable and unavoidable attack occurs. Until then, we will be content to dream, and our leaders on the right and on the left will continue to assist us in the dream with the lie. Those of us aged 60 or less have lived our entire lives in the Long Peace; that time beginning in late 1945 and continuing until late 2001, that saw no global conflicts that slaughtered millions and swept up whole nations into a state of total war. Those 56 years were a respite and a refuge from the tragic nature of humanity as expressed by the decades that came before. The Long Peace in America meant that several generations could work on a new vision of humanity, one that was softer and more optimistic. It meant that vast institutions such as the media and academe could be populated with true believers in the perfectibility of man by man. It allowed an free economic system powered by peace to prosper to such an extent that it was able to crush a slave economic system without a nuclear confrontation. And with the collapse of the USSR, the full promise of the Long Peace blossomed as the shadow of nuclear annihilation faded. But it did not, as we know today, fade away, but only withdrew into the caverns of the human soul for a moment to return now into the light and cast a darker and more sharply defined shadow on all those who live in the cities. Other disturbing possibilities lurk next to it, but the advent of a nuclear attack remains the most vivid since it will be the most dramatic evidence that no promise of the September 1oth world can be fulfilled. The unfortunate legacy of the Long Peace is that many of our fellow citizens still believe peace can return through either the careful modulations of the policies of the present administration, or the continuing carping and insistence on the policies of the opposition. Both policies however are not the policies of an era of a world at war, but extensions of those of the Long Peace; both seek a middle-way of management rather than a path towards victory. Both seek, if not a status quo ante, a status quo of an endless series of days in which "no attack" is seen as the equal of "victory." It is not, but for the moment it seems to please many to believe it. The election of 2004 turned, in the end, on the question, "Who can make you safe?" Both sides claimed the capability. Neither side had the power or the policy. Now one side has the power but not yet the policy. It will discover the policy, I am sure, just as I am sure we will all discover to it. All it will take will be a terrible day of human sacrifice. While waiting for that day, you'll excuse me if I don't lust for another Long Peace for a long, long time. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Demosophist EMAIL: freewheeling-at-verizon-dot-net@nada.nix IP: 4.14.57.109 URL: http://www.demosophia.com DATE: 11/28/2004 04:56:57 PM Gerard: Well, that "long peace" was also called the "Cold War" for a reason. And it got pretty hot every once in awhile. I do think it's at least possible that we can limit the consequences of the present war to similar numbers, if we play things right. I wouldn't be supporting our project in Iraq if I didn't believe that. But I'm not lusting for peace, and I'm not willing to trade an unreasonable need to believe in peace now for the high probability of an internecine war later. That said, it's not yet clear that this strategy of our Vanguard for Democracy cancelling their Vanguard for Islamo/Fascism will work. The way I see it we've decided to attempt to defuse the bomb, but that in itself is no guarantee of success, and the defusing process (or perhaps it's more accurate to call it the dewarring process) could take a long time. As Natan Sharansky puts it: "It's better to have democracies that hate you, than fear regimes that love you." If they hate us, but they're reliably democratic, it'll be a reasonably soft landing. The question for us ultimately will be: How do we move from a predominantly democratic world with a weakness for social democratic "third way" institutions, to a predominantly Lockean world that reveres individual sovereignty? So, what is this Long War going to look like? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jeff EMAIL: j_smi72@bellsouth.net IP: 65.7.64.170 URL: DATE: 11/28/2004 07:53:55 PM Good post, and about time too. Actually, this bothered me quite a bit during the campaign. We are at war, and I just can't see how safety can be promised during wartime. I would gladly give up safety in order to win the war. Jeff ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Lost Angeles Times and the Evil Within STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: 5-Minute Arguments DATE: 11/27/2004 08:52:48 AM ----- BODY: Those of us who have cast the legacy media of printed newspapers behind can, for all the advantages of electronic news, miss out on certain crimes against the language that are being committed every day. Crimes so disgusting that I for one believe the perps should be sought out and given a long swing on a short length of knotted hemp. This morning my wife, who for parenting purposes still believes in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and printed newspapers, brought a two disturbing examples of the Lost Angeles Times' continuing felonious assault on the English language to my attention -- a misdemeanor and a felony. The misdemeanor headline can be seen online:

Bringing Serious Bling to Colorado Boulevard

But the deeper shame is on the continued or jump page from that story where the innocent and utterly unprepared reader is greeted with the overwhelmingly awful headline:

Rose Queen Will Bling in the New Year

I knew that there would be no stopping the penetration of the spoken language by "bling" more than a ----- EXTENDED BODY: year ago when my step-son and his 9-year-old posse was reported to have used it on a field trip. I made my peace with "bling" in the whitest realms of pop culture when it was announced that the next Paris Hilton / Peanuts Christmas Special was to be called "Give Me All Your Big Bling-Bling, Charlie Brown!" (Special guest appearance by Anna Nicole Smith as Schroder.) I am one with Gary Snyder's Zen-moment that as far as the whole culture goes, "Aristotle's in the outhouse. They're up to the part on Ethics now." I accept that the "Official Commercialized Underclass of America ®" is compelled to assault the language in order to keep up the payments on the Ferrari and any number of random children. I can even see the deeper linkage between Hip Hop and its predecessor Cockney rhyming slang. But when I am assaulted by

Rose Queen Will Bling in the New Year

in the morning paper, I think it is high time to cancel not only my subscription, but the vast number of medical marijuana prescriptions afflicting the Lost Angeles Times newsroom. Perhaps we should move them all to a more palliative medicaton -- a flagon with a dragon, or, at the very least, some People's Temple Jonestown Punch. Just for the holidays. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Schnitpoog EMAIL: schnitpoog@aol.com IP: 65.8.78.147 URL: http://schnitpoog.com DATE: 11/29/2004 10:38:00 AM Other assalts on the current language that bear mentioning: "utilising" instead of "use" in order to sound more techno or something. Also: "Go Ahead" ex: Let's go ahead and get some water,Let's go ahead and turn the light on Etc,Etc. Please rant at will on these. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Allen EMAIL: hormeltrap-weblog1493@yahoo.com IP: 68.15.125.171 URL: http://acornsfromanokie.typepad.com DATE: 11/30/2004 01:40:47 PM Ummm.. Shouldn't that be the chalice from the palace? Or the vessel with the pestle? Peesley with the poisley? Anyway... Peace out, hep cat. Bling will no longer be phat and will gag with a spoon and get knarly in 23skiddoo-land. Ya dig? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Daughter That Disappeared STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/26/2004 11:17:35 AM ----- BODY: While I accept that there is a lot to value in having a son (After all, I'm one myself.), there is something even more special in having a daughter. At least that's how it starts and, for many I pray, how it continues. But not, I think, for me -- at least at this stage of my life. My daughter has, for some years now, simply disappeared from my life and from the lives of my family. No, not the tragic disappearance where something unknown and possibly lethal has happened, but the more common abrupt fading into the shadows of her own self-involved life where a thought or a grudge blossoms into a denial of family in favor of a lifestyle believed to be, somehow, "better." I know this because, when I was young, selfish, foolish and convinced of my own immortality and infallibility, I did the same to my parents. I worshiped "ambition," "intelligence," "cool," "sophistication," "money," and a politics and lifestyle that elevated self and self-esteem to the status of a religion. For many years in my 20s my family, "so uncool and so unhip" was not so much lost to me as something I discarded and kept far away. What I "lost" in this was the "the good," and with that the compass that guides you through all the dark passages in life that, when young, you always believe you can avoid. I'm thinking of my daughter who disappeared today. This is unusual since her disappearance, without a note, a nod or a word of goodbye, is one of the deeper wounds; a wound that does not heal over if looked at too often. I am thinking of it because of two small things that I've read in the past week. The first is one of those offhand but striking passages that proliferate in James Lileks' daily online journal, The Bleat. Lileks is relating his very young daughter's first pre-school parent-teacher conference and reflects, in passing,
Confidence comes from experience, but self-esteem comes from self-regard, which isn't always the clearest judge of character. This goes back to the conversation I had with Gnat about goodness -- would Daddy rather someone said "She's so pretty" or "She's so smart" or "She's so good"? Pretty fades, smart can trick you, but good gives you a compass.
He's right. Good does give you a compass, but you need some other connections to make sure you don't lose it. Connections that tie it to you, a lanyard of sorts. And lanyards are often broken. My daughter, back when I knew her -- what is it? 11 or 12 years ago? -- had "pretty," had "smart," and had "good." I believe she's still got all three, but what I've come to understand is that she lost the connection to her compass, that somehow her lanyard was broken. As a result she has lost that compass -- for now. Because she is my daughter I believe that she will in time find that compass again, and find it before it is too late for her to reconnect to the things that last in life beyond self, cool, and fashion. I believe this, but I cannot know it. I can't know it because, for some years now, it has been impossible to know her directly. I only know of her life via distant signals, vague semaphores on a far horizon. Her modus operandi in fashioning her first temporary self as a young adult in New York City is to reject and expunge all messages from this side of her family. Calls are screened and not answered. Messages are never returned. Letters and cards and presents remain unacknowledged. Instead of ----- EXTENDED BODY: confronting whatever demons she has, she -- like so many others of her generation -- simply ignores them, hoping that "The Silence" will send a message that she can neither articulate nor defend. I've seen this behavior before in my previous life. I've seen it practiced by a master, and I well understand how she learned to just drop people with no word of farewell. The technique requires a lot of screening for the first year or so, but after that the habit of zero acknowledgement becomes so much a part of the self that she probably doesn't even have to think about it at all. Over the years I've grown to accept this snobbish technique as one of those things over which I have no power. I view it as one of the inevitable costs you pay in this twisted age for divorce. And these kinds of fees are truly "no-fault," since you pay them regardless of whether or not you wanted the divorce in the first place. They are the dues paid to the Society of Infinite Selfhood and they are most often paid not by those that join it, but by those they leave behind. I mentioned reading two things this week that brought this to mind. The second one is from the deeply loathsome New York Times Sunday Magazine column, "The Ethicist," penned by that dampest of New York scribblers, Randy Cohen. "The Ethicist," which purports to instruct puzzled readers in the awful quandaries of modern life, is most rightly thought of as the New York Time's secular religious commentary in the magazine. It's weekly "call and response" format of the secular and self-sated faithful brings either condemnation or absolution from the bully pulpit of the Times and the asinine emissions of Cohen. It's a noxious brew but one that satisfies that set of Times readers who, by believing in nothing, affirm the nothing of their non-belief. It's scriptures are summed up in one phrase from Sartre: "Hell is other people." When I returned from my mother's 90th birthday party [ See My Mother at Ninety ] last Sunday a number of thoughtful friends in New York City had forwarded to me an item written by my daughter to the vile Ethicist and, worse still, published:
On the noisy $10 Chinatown bus from New York to Boston, the girl behind me spent the entire four hours on her cellphone, telling the same inane story to five different people. I wanted to ask her to stop, but I didn't know if I should, considering the price of the ride and that I don't mind noise in general, just her nasal, repetitive noise. What should I have done? Justine Van Der Leun, New York -- NYT Magazine The Ethicist: Chatter Bus
This is, you see, how I learn of my disappeared daughter's life wrenching concerns. A bit here in a newspaper, an occasional article in the magazine she works for, a bizarre photograph that illustrates it. Through these fragments I learn that she has a boyfriend (a kind and good one I hope), that she travels to Boston in a manner that suggests she's not making a reasonable living at OPRAH, The Magazine, and that she views people yammering on cell-phones as an ethical issue worthy of correspondence to the New York Times. The item and Cohen's response is, to my mind, a measure of how small both souls in this exchange have become. One old friend who knows the whole backstory of my catastrophic divorce at the beginning of the 90s, and who has known my daughter since infancy, asks in email how I would respond to her "sensitive ethical issue." I tell him, "Well, if I were to write the hideous Cohen, I might put it this way.
Dear 'Ethicist,' Would you think there is an ethical problem with the young woman who would take the time to write to you about cellphone use on a bus trip to Boston if the following were the case: 1) For many years now, this same young woman has gotten a call monthly from her 90 year old grandmother. This elderly woman calls her seeking some small modicum of contact with her granddaughter. For years now, your young correspondent has failed to return every single call from her grandmother. 2) Last weekend in Chico California, this same grandmother celebrated her 90th birthday with her family and friends, many of whom are of advanced years and came thousands of miles for the occasion. Your young and chic correspondent failed have the decency to RSVP her own invitation to this event. Neither did she send so much as a Hallmark card in response. Keep in mind that the father of this young woman has been left utterly without a hint at what inspired this and other similar behavior of your young female correspondent. Regardless of that or any other issues she may have with said father, he is certain that her grandmother has never expressed anything except unconditional love and understanding for her. In light of these facts, Mr. Cohen, would you say that your female correspondent's issues with cell-phone use rank near the top of her ethical concerns these days, or should she be looking to issues a tad more profound?"
I know. I know that all our children are, like the rest of us, hostages to fortune, and slaves to the self. I know. I know that we must accept who they become and know wish for them to become what we are not. I know. I know that we only hold them through our letting go. All this I know though I wish, at times, it were not so. To return to the off-hand journal item by Lileks mentioned above where he concludes:
The teacher noted that she’d like to meet Gnat in 20 years. “Me too,” I thought. I mean, I hope it works out that way. You never know. Can’t take anything for granted.
I know. I know. Still I like to think, before it becomes -- as everything sooner or later becomes -- far too late, that there would be at least one evening when two of the women I love would speak across the continent, across the decades, and hear each other once again after all the past, gone years. Some things, I think, should not be lightly left forever in the realm of the disappeared. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mark butterworth EMAIL: johnmark@surewest.net IP: 65.78.130.225 URL: http://www.callistergreen.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/26/2004 12:16:51 PM Heartbreaking! I have a 19 year old daughter ready to go to Hollywood. She, too, is pretty, smart, and good. I have a great deal of confidence in her character, though, for she has developed a strong moral compass and willingness to be be humble in her religious faith. Even so, you never know, do you? In the meantime I have a sister and brother whom I never did any harm to who hate me (after becoming a Christian), and will not communicate with me. Shakespeare wasn't kidding when a character of his said, "sharper than a serpent's tooth, a child's ingratitude." Man, I feel for you and your family. Gratuitous cruelty like you experience in this is hard, hard as it can be. May God bless you and your mother. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Armed Liberal EMAIL: armed@armedliberal.com IP: 4.61.22.149 URL: http://www.windsofchange.net DATE: 11/26/2004 01:20:15 PM Gerard, you voice my deepest fear, and any good parent's deepest fear - that we somehow lose the tie that connects us to our children. I'm sorry...but I also know that nothing is forever. Marc ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jeff Brokaw EMAIL: jeff@nothanks.net IP: 66.73.160.33 URL: http://jeffbrokaw.net/notes/ DATE: 11/26/2004 01:55:23 PM A very sad story. My condolences to you, G. I hope she wakes up before it's too late for both of you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: The Owner's Manual EMAIL: gcruse@netscape.com IP: 212.100.251.149 URL: http://gcruse.typepad.com DATE: 11/26/2004 02:06:36 PM I'm sorry your daughter feels the need for such disconnection. As for The Ethicist, I read it every week to compare my compass to a 'professional's.' This, I think, is not perfect, but is still better than subsuming my behavior to the dictates of an invisible man in the sky, hoping that he will, as a result, not condemn me to eternal fires in his 'love.' ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/26/2004 03:55:07 PM I'm not a booster of the "invisible man in the sky" theme myself. I believe that what is going is is much, much more subtle than that, more subtle than we know or, at this stage, can know. That said, I would believe in the "invisible sardine in a can on the dark side of the moon" as an ethical arbiter before I took one word of the Times' hack as more worthy of anything except disdain for a failed and corrupt elitism. Cohen is no more a "professional ethicist" than I am a "professional plumber." He's a hack with a paycheck. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Old Dad EMAIL: cvbarr @comcast.net IP: 68.35.140.178 URL: DATE: 11/26/2004 05:37:17 PM Dear Mr. Van der Leun: My kids are 23,17, and 16, and they're still talking to me. It might be mostly luck. I'd like to think that I had a good handle on things, but I don't. "Luck" is as far as I'll go. But my Old Dad's intuition is that you've still got your little girl. She's probably way too sophisticated to accept the diminutive. But that's often the problem. They don't get us, and we don't get them. Profound, huh? If it were me, and it might be and I'm too "Old Dad" to see it, I think I'd force the issue a little. Go see her. Get a cup of coffee, or what ever. It's no wonder that Pride is the deadliest of the seven deadlies. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/26/2004 07:16:35 PM Thanks. I've thought of that often but, although we lived near each other in New York City for years, even then it was difficult and then slid to impossible. Now that I live a continent away just dropping in is not a casual option. Not that I won't the next time I'm in New York City. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mrs. VdL EMAIL: sherylvanderleun@writeratlarge.us IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://www.cheaper-than-therapy.com DATE: 11/26/2004 07:47:41 PM I've never even had the opportunity to be an evil stepmother. The one time we spoke on the phone, which would have been almost two years ago, was a few hours before Gerard and I were married. I was to be in New York within the next couple of days for work and suggested we get together. I called several times when I got to town, and she never returned my phone call. (But then, if she won't return her own grandmother's calls, why would she return mine?) I tried one more time, about a year later, sending her an email under the pathetic guise of suggesting an article for "O" magazine. Again, no response. I'm sure she has her reasons. I just wish, for my husband's sake, she'd let him know what they are. When people ask my son if he has any brothers or sisters, he'll say, "I have an older stepsister in New York, but it's weird, I've never met her. I'd like to some day, though." ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Moonzoo EMAIL: mmarion@adelphia.net IP: 69.161.64.190 URL: DATE: 11/27/2004 06:22:45 AM I ask this with understanding and respect: should you have published this item? I cannot articulate exactly why it seems wrong to me, but I think it has something to do with a sense that your anger is not disconnected to the situation you describe. Also, people do not want to hear about anyone's divorce, in any way, shape or form, because it is impossible to talk about divorce without it sounding immature. I cringe when I think of all the foolishness I have said and done. I would hope that even the profound pain I have caused others, would not cause them to make public the error of my ways. And if they did, I would hope that some day I could gather the wisdom to speak to them again. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Woody EMAIL: wooddad@sbcglobal.net IP: 64.175.120.214 URL: http://woodyswoundup.blogspot.com DATE: 11/27/2004 12:52:16 PM Gerard, Mrs. VdL, and fam, Tough times. I'm at the beginning edge of having a teenage son who desperately wants to be six months older than he is now. He lives with his mother and step-Dad (a good soul), but only about half-way across the continent. Still, distance is distance. With my son, I can readily see the pattern of decay: The falling in with not-so-good friends; the desire for pleasure without responsibility; the academic lethargy; the desire for film school; anger directed towards a church with oppresive rules. All coupled with a condition requiring medication that he sometimes "conveniently" forgets to take. Through it all, a word to his mom: This is not your fault. You've done the good mothering things, and he's simply making dumb choices. The divorce? An excuse. Older sister leaving under less-than-favorable conditions? Also an excuse. Patterns that he uses to his advantage in a psychological war. With our daughter, the repair was not long in coming. A couple of years to let off steam, and a couple more for me to accept her husband for the good man he is. My son? Heaven only knows. May take years. I hope not, and my prayers are always sent in that direction. Still... He is his own person. Best of luck to all of you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: SallyVee EMAIL: jonnyvee@aol.com IP: 24.196.29.16 URL: DATE: 11/28/2004 08:15:07 AM Dear Justine: Phone home, dear, lost child. Phone home. My very best to the Van der Leun family, may it become whole once again. For the record, I think it took a lot of guts to publish this, including even the severe "outing" of Justine's note to the Ethicist, and her recent behavior. It's a hail Mary, but it just might jolt Justine into reality, in time to beat her Grandmother's clock. I think that's a risk worth taking. I can also testify that only straight talk (and often harsh criticism) from my mother ever succeeded in getting my attention or changing my ways & attitudes. Thank you Mom. ----- PING: TITLE: Perils of Parenting URL: http://www.technochitlins.com/mt-archives/000642.html IP: 66.216.102.163 BLOG NAME: TechnoChitlins DATE: 11/30/2004 11:48:56 AM If you're a parent with growing children, read this post. Both heartbreaking and uplifting..... I wish I could express myself... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Pat Tillman, Champion STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Patriot Gains DATE: 11/26/2004 08:47:54 AM ----- BODY: I'm not a fan of online polls and am even less sanguine about "stuffing the ballot box," but Matt at BLACKFIVE makes a strong case for:

SI Sportsman of the Year - Vote For Ranger Pat Tillman

Patrick M. sends the link to Sports Illustrated's fan poll for Sportsman of the Year. Background:  Sports Illustrated is conducting it's annual fan poll for Sportsman of the Year.  This year there is one athlete who stands out.  Tim Layden of CNN/Sports Illustrated lays it out for you. I'd appreciate it if you took some time to go there, select Pat Tillman on the sliding window on the left of the site (he's second from the bottom and wearing a red football jersey), click on his picture, then hit the vote button.  Just in case you have trouble finding his picture, here is a screenshot of what Pat Tillman's ballot looks like. Currently, he is in third place behind Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps.
I admire Lance Armstrong and am agnostic on Phelps, but it seems to me that this should be the year of Pat Tillman above all others. If you don't know why, click on the link above and find out. Then do the right thing for this brave and nobel man. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- PING: TITLE: Select Pat Tillman as Sportsman of the Year URL: http://www.blogsofwar.com/archives/2004/11/26/select-pat-tillman-as-sportsman-of-the-year/ IP: 70.241.110.8 BLOG NAME: Blogs of War DATE: 11/26/2004 10:53:18 AM You can vote here. Unfortunately you’ll have to use some horrid Flash application to vote but I’ve included a screenshot (above) to help you identify Tillman. He is the second athlete from the bottom. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Five Pictures in Search of an Explanation STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Myths & Texts DATE: 11/25/2004 05:38:40 PM ----- BODY: One of my tasks to prepare for my mother's 90th birthday last week was to create a "memory wall" out of photographs spanning her life. My brother went through her albums and brought me some sixty old pictures, in varying degrees of preservation, to have scanned and printed. One of the pictures he brought for scanning was this one (reproduced at approximately the size of the original): momdadhillsA.jpg Mom & Dad, just married, Los Angeles It would have been taken in the mountains above Los Angeles on some day in either 1943 or 1944. Like a lot of the others it had dirt, scratches and smudges, but I was sure I could clean up the image. Then I started to look more carefully at the smudges in this shot once it had been scanned. Here's a section of that shot blown up from the scan and sharpened with the contrast boosted: And a closer section from the shot, blown up even more and enhanced: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Closer still and bumped up another notch: And then, at the end, this: momdadhillsE.jpg I don't know if I should clean up this scan and get rid of these smudges or not. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lileks EMAIL: fence@startribune.com IP: 64.105.116.233 URL: DATE: 11/25/2004 07:06:00 PM Those are not UFOs. Those are experimental aircraft Howard Hughes designed, based on Jane Russell's nipples. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/25/2004 07:19:25 PM Lillian Russell, perhaps. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ripley EMAIL: jm.sawyer@verizon.net IP: 4.65.5.209 URL: http://qwest.com DATE: 11/26/2004 01:17:16 AM a 12 gauge over and under would take care of the anomaly ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mark Alger EMAIL: malger@cinci.rr.com IP: 69.133.17.26 URL: http://www.babytrollblog.com DATE: 11/26/2004 06:55:08 AM I wonder if they aren't those things they hang on high-tension wires to alert flying beings to their presence, seen from an odd angle...? M ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: couisn mike EMAIL: mdmcnair@linkup.net IP: 216.239.19.204 URL: DATE: 11/26/2004 09:42:52 AM now i know your origin-----they are alien sperms! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: McNair EMAIL: dbmcnair@aol.com IP: 198.81.26.78 URL: DATE: 11/26/2004 11:04:37 AM Great shot...you are a spittin' image of the old man, although as I remember, he was much wiser. As for the smudges, I agree with brother Mike...They explain alot.. ----- PING: TITLE: Sunday, November 28, 2004 09:48 PM URL: http://w-uh.com/posts/041128a.html IP: 4.41.182.223 BLOG NAME: Critical Section DATE: 11/30/2004 03:03:11 AM American Digest: Five Pictures in Search of an Explanation. ... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Blog? Vat is dis ting called blog? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/24/2004 04:34:32 PM ----- BODY: Excuse me, can I get to the blogsphere from here? Butter up the popcorn, grab a beverage and settle in for two classics. First the cutting edge, NYblogs - The Movie, and then the ever-popular Digital Convergence - 1994 completes our Thanksgiving double-feature! ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- PING: TITLE: Saturday, November 27, 2004 11:20 PM URL: http://w-uh.com/posts/041127.html IP: 4.41.182.223 BLOG NAME: Critical Section DATE: 11/29/2004 03:01:37 AM By the way, I love the format of these posts. This is video blogging, Ladies and Gentleman, coming soon to a PC near you. [ via American Digest ]... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Clouds of Titan STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Space Patrol DATE: 11/24/2004 03:04:41 PM ----- BODY: Cassini continues to amaze as this item called Hovering Over Titan shows. "A mosaic of nine processed images recently acquired during Cassini's first very close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan on October 26, 2004 constitutes the most detailed full-disk view yet made of the mysterious moon...." -- Ciclops The image above echoes in the mind. We know it is impossibly cold down there. We know the atmosphere is a lethal smog of nitrogen, methane, and ethane. We know that the seas shimmering in the faint light of the distant sun are liquid methane. All these things we know and yet, from this image sent back to us by our instruments, there is somehow the shock of recognition. Unlike any other planet or moon we've seen in our brief glimpse of the solar system, this image and this image alone sends an echo. It resembles, despite what we know about it, nothing so much as the Earth itself, and that resemblance alone causes the soul to rise. For if a moon of Saturn can resemble our own planet, it signals that somewhere, perhaps very far away or perhaps not all that far, there is another planet where the resemblance is more than an echo, but a mirror image. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anthony EMAIL: aristogiton@operamail.com IP: 24.5.75.89 URL: DATE: 11/24/2004 07:22:38 PM Yes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: lmg EMAIL: lgeary@fastmail.fm IP: 24.225.141.29 URL: DATE: 11/25/2004 06:08:19 AM The dark area isn't liquid, but it may be organic material expelled by volcanism. There is much we don't know yet. But we can still dream. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ripley EMAIL: jm.sawyer@verizon.net IP: 4.65.5.209 URL: DATE: 11/26/2004 01:20:05 AM unless they have acid for blood ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Two by Ted Kooser STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Grace Notes DATE: 11/24/2004 10:28:06 AM ----- BODY: In January Only one cell in the frozen hive of night is lit, or so it seems to us: this Vietnamese café, with its oily light, its odors whose colorful shapes are like flowers. Laughter and talking, the tick of chopsticks. Beyond the glass, the wintry city creaks like an ancient wooden bridge. A great wind rushes under all of us. The bigger the window, the more it trembles.        ----{*}---- After Years Today, from a distance, I saw you walking away, and without a sound the glittering face of a glacier slid into the sea. An ancient oak fell in the Cumberlands, holding only a handful of leaves, and an old woman scattering corn to her chickens looked up for an instant. At the other side of the galaxy, a star thirty-five times the size of our own sun exploded and vanished, leaving a small green spot on the astronomer's retina as he stood on the great open dome of my heart with no one to tell. Ted Kooser is America's new Poet Laureate ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Michael McCanles EMAIL: mmccanles@wi.rr.com IP: 65.30.207.214 URL: DATE: 11/24/2004 07:22:29 PM Never heard of or read Ted Kooser, but will now. The second poem in particular has that ineluctable, juxtapositional relation of distant facts that you never can reduce to paraphrase--the poem's the only way to say it. Good choice. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Days of Future Past STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Critical Mass DATE: 11/24/2004 09:36:26 AM ----- BODY: From the Department of "Be Careful What You Wish For," comes this 8-Minute film concerning EPIC 2014. epic.jpg In 2014, what will you have in your wallet? Will it be one of these? ----- EXTENDED BODY: googlecustomer2.jpg And if you do, how did it get there? One possible answer comes from the link above as a public service of: museumofmediahistory.jpg And you may ask yourself What is that beautiful house? And you may ask yourself Where does that highway lead to? And you may ask yourself Am I right?...Am I wrong? And you may say to yourself MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE? ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ed EMAIL: camerafamily@yahoo.com IP: 24.158.175.183 URL: DATE: 11/27/2004 10:02:29 AM I found this interesting and disturbing at the same time. My own biases will be reinforced in what I read, see and buy. Wow. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shayla Roberts EMAIL: shaylar@qwest.net IP: 130.13.170.240 URL: DATE: 11/27/2004 09:54:00 PM EPIC is based on the notion that humans will hold for the next ten years in a pattern based on power by association where religion, politics and patriotism rule; and on power by symbol as exemplified by the influence of branding on human ego. However, humanity is quickly evolving, and is entering a cycle of power by reflection - a state where true power emerges through the process of turning inward. We will ask ourselves to define who and what we are as individuals. This is the human essence, and forces like EPIC will have little staying power because we are essentially too curious, too diverse, too bold, too creative, and too demanding as a species to be defined indefinately by forces outside ourselves. In 2004, America began to awaken from her deep sleep of image and sound byte based reality which is externally driven. Many of us became fascinated once more with the issues of society, turning inward and asking "what has value to me". From here, we will continue to be drawn into thoughts and actions that will contribute to the new social, global renaissance. It will be like nothing before it, not because of it's synthesization of global information giants, but because information for its own sake will receed in value as it becomes more common - like all things do, and be replaced once more by the things that have become rare: shared truth and meaning. As information consumers, we will progressively be driven by a collective unconscious that needs to agree on basic truths. Devisive illusions driven by commerce will not sufficiently capture our imaginations to keep us engaged. Those who do not see this coming will loose the interest of the emerging human culture. Those who hold space for the making of meaning and the formation of collective truth will form the nexus of global, societal - human - connection. The most glaring disconnect at present lies in the perception that corporate power - which relies on power by association and power by symbol will ultimately subsume human power. How silly! If human needs are not met by corporations in the long run, corporations will fail. Otherwise we are lost eating our own tail. We are too intelligent a species to allow this obvious truth to go unnoticed. Ultimately, we will understand that we must foster human "being" in order to maximize our power to live and enjoy life. Such power is driven by the soul's journey to perfection, not by the ego's desire for tailor made information. We will come to eschew war as our means for getting high on conflict, and return to debate. Authentic debate - about important things. Already added into the EPIC mix of mega mind melds, we find social innovations like MoveOn.org. and others, and we realize that human beings are far deeper than their pocketbooks. The shift to "simple living" that is just beginning in America will continue, revealing excessive purchase power for what it really is: false, shallow, and ultimately boring power driven by conformity to external influences - however cleverly reflective of individual tastes and beliefs. Our collective excitement will continue to emerge as we embrace differing styles and points of view. This is already undeniably visible when we compare who we are today with who we were just fifty years ago. It is our curiosity and our fascination for divergence that make us human, much more so than our ability to custom tailor information to our narrowest views. ----- PING: TITLE: 2014 is Thirty Years After 1984 URL: http://www.sweetandsourspectator.org/archives/2004/11/2014_is_thirty.html IP: 216.240.49.21 BLOG NAME: Sweet and Sour Spectator DATE: 11/24/2004 10:52:28 AM In the year 2014 the New York Times goes off-line to become a paper-only newsletter for the wealthy and elderly. EPIC is ascendent. What is EPIC? What is GoogleZON? (VIA American Digest)... ----- PING: TITLE: 2014 is Thirty Years After 1984 URL: http://www.sweetandsourspectator.org/archives/2004/11/2014_is_thirty.html IP: 216.240.49.21 BLOG NAME: Sweet and Sour Spectator DATE: 11/24/2004 10:54:37 AM In the year 2014 the New York Times goes off-line to become a paper-only newsletter for the wealthy and elderly. EPIC is ascendent. What is EPIC? What is GoogleZON? (VIA American Digest)... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: American North STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Art Within America DATE: 11/23/2004 11:52:38 PM ----- BODY: eskimowithboat.jpg Native Man in Gut Parka with Small Carved Boat Photographer: Dobbs Location: Nome, Alaska Date; Unknown An immense and deeply fascinating collection of photographs from Alaska during the late 19th and early 20th Century Alaska. Over 13,500 available online @ The Gallery of the UAF Rasmuson Library ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Four is Enough STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Sites Unseen DATE: 11/23/2004 07:46:01 PM ----- BODY: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: News of Mainstream Media's Death Premature STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Mass Distractions DATE: 11/23/2004 12:49:32 PM ----- BODY: 3anchors.jpg "The rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated. Dan Rather, reporting." Victory laps are being run without surcease across the blogsphere today on the news of Dan Rather's resignation. The heady atmosphere of having "bagged him" is rent with triumphant trumpets and the whoops outnumber the de-doos. I might suggest that the loudest whoops, most brazen trumpets, and fastest lap times are being turned in by those without the slightest experience of how large media institutions are actually structured. Because no matter what you may think of Dan Rather, he's only the front man for an institutionalized attitude that shows no signs of change other than the most cosmetic. Indeed, the problem of the media's petrified mind-set goes far beyond the institutional. Just as the Groves of Academe are now vast stands of petrified forest, so the paralysis of the MSM is lodged deep in questions of class, clique, money and status. The main stream media is not the way it is because of this or that individual at this or that company, but because all those who make their livings in it, and who draw their identities from it, have long ago thrown away any elements of their character that would set them apart and inhibit their advancement. Those that have done so and prospered are careful to vet the young that are allowed entry for a carefully monitored and calibrated set of attitudes. Those that do not exhibit the correct head set never get to the first interview. Those that do almost all have a recommendation in order to elevate their resumes out of the slush pile. It helps to go to the right school, but it helps more to have the right parents with the right connections. This isn't unusual or even wrong, but it is a fact. Last June Peggy Noonan offered some reflections on the graduating class of 2004:
I have been paying attention to the graduates of Ivy League universities. Every one I see the past few weeks is beautiful. They are tall and handsome and gay-spirited; they are strong and laughing and bright. I ask them what they are going to do now. I am repeatedly told things like, "I want to go into TV." And "I'm going to drama school." And "I'm going to journalism school." It occurs to me that all young people who graduate from elite American universities now want to go into communications. It's a whole generation that wants to communicate. But what do they want to communicate? They don't seem to have a clue. For this is a question that involves the area of Deeply Held Beliefs, and as far as I can see it the deeply held beliefs of these particular graduates is a uniform leftism whose tenets involve reciting clichés. They believe racial and sexual diversity is good, peace is better than war, religious fanaticism is bad. But they don't want to spout clichés--that's not why they went to Cornell. And they know their work will not draw attention if it is marked by tired and essentially noncontroversial ideas. No one thinks war is sweet, there's no market for racial segregation or male chauvinism. I see no sign they are going to start thinking anything truly unusual for their time and generation--that religious conversion can be a wholly beneficial and life changing event, for instance, or that breaking with liberal orthodoxy might be the beginning of wisdom. -- Opinion Journal
What Noonan does not say because it goes, indeed, without saying is that the most assertive of the applicants to media glory from these schools will, indeed, get jobs and that their various masses of received wisdom will play a large role in their acceptance. Plus a bit of grease from their parents or the friends of their parents. Again, this is the way of the world and I'd expect no less from the various tenured or established adults involved, but it does not make for a meritocracy. Nor does it make for the kind of diversity that would indeed reverse the slide of the mainstream media into irrelevance. That can only come from the top and only across the decades. It took more than 30 years for the media and academe to complete their strategic retreats into the castles of elitism and reaction, and it would take the same time to move out of them. But they don't have that kind of time any longer and besides, who would hire their children if they didn't? UPDATE: And finally, Scrappleface says it all in one headline --     Bloggers Force Retirement of 73-Year-Old Newsman ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- PING: TITLE: Dan Rather Sacked URL: http://www.starman417.com/2004/11/dan-rather-sacked.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: Flopping Aces DATE: 11/23/2004 07:08:09 PM He is just the talking head of a institutionalized problem. If anyone really believes with this flying monkey's ass gone that things will change then let me slap you silly for a minute. ----- PING: TITLE: So What? URL: http://woodyswoundup.blogspot.com/2004/11/so-what.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: Woody's Woundup DATE: 11/23/2004 09:02:29 PM Gerard at American Digest points out - correctly - that Dan is just the most visible mask covering a much deeper problem. ----- PING: TITLE: The Sad Saga of Dan Rather Continues URL: http://pajamapundits.typepad.com/pajama_pundits/2004/11/the_sad_saga_of.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Pajama Pundits DATE: 11/26/2004 12:12:02 PM Dan Rather, Mary Mapes, and CBS News are still under the illusion that they are pulling the wool over our eyes. There is evidence they are succeeding. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: My Mother at Ninety STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/22/2004 07:59:34 PM ----- BODY: Her earliest memory is being held on the shoulders of her father, watching the men who lived through the First World War parade down the main street of Fargo, North Dakota. She would have been just four years old then. Now she's 90 years old and she comes to her birthday party wearing a chic black and white silk dress, shiny black shoes with three inch heels, and a six foot long purple boa. She's threatening to sing Kurt Weill's 'The Saga of Jenny" and dance on the table one more time. She'll sing the Kurt Weill song, but we draw the line at her dancing on the table. Other than that, it is pretty much her night, and she gets to call the shots. Which is what you get when you reach 90 and are still managing to make it out to the tennis courts three to four times a week. "If it wasn't for my knees I'd still have a good backcourt game, but now I pretty much like to play up at the net." She plays Bridge once or twice a week, winning often, and has been known to have a cocktail or two on occasion. She still drives even though it causes my brother to fret. This is a good thing since he's the kind of man who sees the incipient disaster in everything and it's good for him to fret about something that has a smidgen of reality to it. She keeps a two-bedroom apartment in a complex favored by college students from Chico State and, invariably, has a host of fans during any given semester. She's thought about moving to the "senior apartments" out by the mall, but "I'm just not sure I could downsize that much and everyone there is so old." She was born deep in the heartland at the beginning of the Great War, the youngest of five children. She grew up and into the Roaring 20s, through the Great Depression, taught school at a one room ----- EXTENDED BODY: school house at Lake of the Woods Minnesota, roamed west out to California in the Second World War and met the man she married. They stayed married until he died some 30 years ago. Together they raised three boys, and none of them came to any more grief than most and a lot more happiness than many. After her husband died at the end of a protracted illness, she was never really interested in another man and filled her life with family, close friends (some stretching back to childhood), and was, for 15 years, a housemother to college girls. She still works three mornings a week as a teacher and companion to young children at a local day-care and elementary school. She has always been a small and lovely woman -- some would say beautiful. I know I would. An Episcopalian, she's been known to go to church, but isn't devoted to the practice, missing more Sundays than she attends. She's given to finding the best in people and letting the rest pass, but has been known to let fools pass at high speed. Born towards the beginning of the 20th century, she now lives fully in the 21st. It is her 90th birthday party. It is attended by over 200 people from 2 to 97, many of whom are telling tales about her, some taller than others. We don't believe the man who tells about the time in her early seventies that she danced on his bar. He's brought the pictures of the bar with her high-heel marks in it to prove the point. Other stories are told, some serious, some funny, all loving. But they all can only go back so far since she has only been living in Chico, California for 30 years. I can go back further, and so, without planning to, I took my turn and told my story about her. It went something like this. "Because I'm the oldest son, I can go back further in time. I can go back before Clinton, before Reagan, before Nixon, before Kennedy, before Eisenhower. We'll go back to the time of Truman. "It must be the summer of 1949 and she's taking my brother and I back home to her family in Fargo for the first time. I would be almost four and he'd be two and a half. The war's been over for some time and everyone is now back home and settled in. My father's family lost a son, but -- except for some wounds -- everyone else came out all right. "We're living in Los Angeles and her home is Fargo, North Dakota, half a continent away. So we do what you did then. We took the train. Starting in Los Angeles we went north to San Francisco where we boarded the newest form of luxury land transportation available that year, the California Zephyr. "Out from the bay and up over the Sierras and down across the wastes until we wove our way up the spine of the Rockies and down again to the vast land sea that stretched out east in a swath of corn and wheat that that I remember more than the pitched curves and plunging cliffs of the mountains. You sat in a plush chair at the top of the car and Earth from horizon to the zenith flowed past you. "There was the smell of bread and cooking in the Pullman cars that I can still capture in my mind, and the lulling rhythm of the wheels over the rails that I can still hear singing me down into sleep. "At some point we changed trains to go north into the Fargo Station and, as we pulled into Fargo in mid-morning, my mother's family met us with their usual humble dignity -- they brought a full brass band that worked its way down through the John Philip Sousa set list with severe dedication. They also brought me more family members than there were people living on our entire block in Los Angeles. There may also have been a couple of Barbershop Quartets to serenade us during the band breaks, but I'm not sure about that. "My mother and brother and I were swept away in the maelstrom of aunts, uncles, cousins by the dozens, and assorted folks from the neighborhood on 8th Avenue South. "The day rolled into a huge lunch at a vast dining room table where my grandmother ruled with an iron ladle. Then, after a suitable post-prandial stupor, my entire family rose as one and headed out to the nearby park for their favorite activity -- trying to crush each other in tennis. When this family hit the courts, it was like a tournament had come to town. Other would-be players just took one look and headed for another set of courts elsewhere. "I was still too young to play, although my mother would have a racquet custom-made for me within the year, so instead I would have been exhausting myself at some playground or in one of the sandboxes under the eyes of my older cousins. Then, at dusk, I made my way back to the courts." "In the Fargo summers the twilights linger long and fade slowly and as they fade the lights on the courts come up illuminating them in the gathering dark. And I sat, not quite four, as the night grew dark around me and my mother and her family played on below. "Now it is all more than fifty-four years gone but still, in my earliest memories, they play on in that endless twilight. I see them sweeping back and forth in the fading light. Taunting and laughing together. Calling balls out that are clearly in. Arguing and laughing and playing on forever long after the last light of day has fled across the horizon and the stars spread out high above the lights. Service. Return. Lob. Forehand. Volley. Backhand. Volley. Love All." ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scout Mom EMAIL: SctMom1son@aol.com IP: 198.81.26.78 URL: DATE: 11/22/2004 08:49:07 PM Wow. How very special your visit must have been, and all the wonderful memories that it brought back to life for you, also. We sometimes forget how precious time spent with our family is when we become adults. I'm looking forward to having a good Thanksgiving with my own. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harvey EMAIL: harvolson@charter.net IP: 24.196.92.227 URL: http://badexample.mu.nu/ DATE: 11/22/2004 09:09:06 PM Welcome back. You were missed. So... is your mom ever going to start her own blog? :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Barbara EMAIL: sylvan_sylph@hotmail.com IP: 68.236.152.184 URL: DATE: 11/23/2004 04:15:28 AM A wonderfully evocative story highlighting a blazing example of how to live life to the fullest! Your mother sounds like a classy woman; her qualities shine brightly in this current age of whinging entitlement. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dave Schuler EMAIL: thalian@compuserve.com IP: 67.175.72.187 URL: http://www.theglitteringeye.com DATE: 11/23/2004 06:15:27 AM Sounds like a great woman. Too bad they live so far apart—she and my mother would get along. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Barbara Dix EMAIL: barbdix@yahoo.com IP: 129.33.1.37 URL: DATE: 11/23/2004 01:07:16 PM My Uncle Jim is not interested in women other than his late beloved wife, but what a pair he & your mom would make. He's home after his yearly solo drive from outside Chicago to Colorado to visit his alma mater, the Colorado School of Mines, and an archaelolgical dig near Cortez that his wife and he have helped support for years. Now it's back to the board meetings for the hospital (among others), dinners out, church and the parties. And our Sunday morning calls from which I've learned so much. He'll drive to St Louis for Christmas with his nieces. The most optimistic, forward-thinking, always curious man I've ever known. Your mom and he are great models for aging well and with style! We love them so. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Barbara Dix EMAIL: barbdix@yahoo.com IP: 129.33.1.37 URL: DATE: 11/23/2004 01:09:33 PM Oh. And Uncle Jim is 94. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Denise Lovejoy EMAIL: Lovdjoy777@aol.com IP: 205.188.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/23/2004 06:22:43 PM Lois has a wonderful, vibrant spirit. You certainly captured it well! What a great tribute, sounds like her 90th was a blast! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lileks EMAIL: fence@startribune.com IP: 132.148.80.215 URL: DATE: 11/24/2004 11:43:18 AM Lovely. I'll bet the parade that marched up Broadway was also attended by my great-grandfather, a GAR man; he would have driven into town to see that. Perhaps they made eye contact. Maybe she dropped a hanky and he picked it up for her. I think I know the park, too. You're right: at twilight it's a magical place if you're young or, I expect, old. When you're 20 you're just waiting for it to get dark so you can get out the Pabst. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: david EMAIL: dbmcnair@aol.com IP: 66.74.104.88 URL: DATE: 11/25/2004 10:32:07 AM Dear cousin. I'm a year older than you, but for some reason my memory isn't as vivid as yours. Perhaps one of us was smoking milk weed by then. Or maybe it's the writer in you. As to the Sunday dinners at the grandparents, I always thought grandfather with his white dress shirt rolled up to his elbows, carving tools in hand, was the boss. At least on Sundays. One incident you forgot to mention was that you were there for my brothers birthday and screamed bloody murder when you were told that you couldn't keep the present you so carefully picked out for him. LA Brat !! Your mom is the greatest. She sang the same tune at dad's 95th last summer. We allowed a short dance (it's ok in Fargo) and then she and I sang "I Left My Heart in SF". Dad and 92 year old brother Jack followed with a little Barbershop harmony. I'm thinking that singing might be their secret. Or tennis. I don't think either one of us has a chance. Thanks for the fun reading. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: McNair EMAIL: dbmcnair@aol.com IP: 198.81.26.78 URL: DATE: 11/25/2004 04:21:54 PM Cousin, I'm one year older than you and I don't remember much of your visit to Fargo. Had we started smoking the milk weed by then or is this just the writer coming out in you. I thought grandfather was in charge. I can still see him at the Sunday dinners. White shirt, sleeves rolled up and carving tools in hand. Talk about authoritarian. Maybe she just let him be boss on Sundays. Anyway, you did leave one thing out. I would have too, if I were you. It was my brother Mike's birthday and you through an absolute tantrum when you were informed that you couldn't have the gift back that you so carefully picked out. I knew right then that you would become a liberal. Thank god you've seen the light. Your mom is a hoot and a wonderful lady. She did the same tune at dad's 95th last summer plus a little soft shoe. We allow dancing in Fargo. Then she and I sang "I Left My Heart in SF" followed by dad and 92 yr old brother Jack doing some Barbershop harmony. Fun for all. So, we've got some pretty good genes, I guess. Only one problem. Unlike you and me, their mother scared the bejeezes out of them at an early age and the sauce rarely touches their lips. Oh well, we'll have more fun. Sorry I missed the big party. She is admired and loved by us all, especially my children. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Away STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/18/2004 07:11:59 AM ----- BODY: I'll be going north to Chico, California for a few days for my mother's 90th birthday party. Just the family and about 200 close friends. Back Sunday. My mother promises that she'll take the time to play a set or two of tennis with me, but only if I follow her new rule: "After my birthday, I get two bounces." ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: slimedog EMAIL: m_t_anderson@hotmail.com IP: 129.115.148.25 URL: DATE: 11/18/2004 11:51:22 AM It she's anything like my mother in Redding, she'll not only ask for two bounces, she'll cheat, too. Have fun! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: hanan EMAIL: realhanan@yahoo.com IP: 66.215.253.226 URL: http://growabrain.typepad.com/growabrain/ DATE: 11/19/2004 10:15:42 PM how good for you ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scout Mom EMAIL: SctMom1son@aol.com IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/21/2004 02:46:20 PM Mr. Van der Leun, Upon your return, would you please see if something can possibly be done with your 50 Reasons page? I highly awated being able to read the comments on it after the election, but found it to be copying over itself and virtually unreadable. It's warming to know that America seems to be gaining a conscience once again; something that both my parents ingrained deeply within me while they were busy raising their family. Thank you for yours (conscience), for your fairness, and your inner strength to speak your mind. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Continuing Misperceptions of the "Comfortable Classes" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: TerrorWar DATE: 11/18/2004 12:33:44 AM ----- BODY: Donald Sensing cycles back to something that bears repeating:
Not understanding the intentional lethality of battle is a very common misperception among people of the comfortable classes such as Mrs. Joel - for example, the graduate students I had dinner with one night just after the air campaign began against the Afghan Taliban. They apparently thought that our bombing was a form of posturing, a symbolic display, intended to yield psychological, not lethal, effects on the enemy. One guest said that the bombing "wouldn't intimidate" the Taliban. "We're not trying to intimidate them," I said. "Then why are we bombing them?" came the question. "To kill them," I answered. There was a long silence at the table. The concept seemed not to have occurred to them. -- One Hand Clapping
----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jungus EMAIL: jugnus@yahoo.com IP: 139.177.224.128 URL: DATE: 11/19/2004 12:28:00 PM I think this goes a lot further than our own so called intellectuals. Militant islamists probably think in exactly the same terms and do not realize that when we fight, we do it to kill. They tend to think of fighting as posturing. A way to show their god that they are brave and able to stand up to foes. When captured, they do not think of themselves as defeted but still fighting under greater odds. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The English Teacher STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: TerrorWar DATE: 11/17/2004 01:09:32 PM ----- BODY: englishteacher.jpg As we witness our irreconcilable party of bitterness and defeat retreat from our shared comity through their eagerness to pillory our troops and equate our enemies as, in the words of Chris Matthews of MSNBC, "a rival, I mean they're not bad guys especially, just people who just disagree with us," we are reminded on the same day of the depravity they champion. We are reminded by an execution a woman at the hands of animals. A woman whose video-taped execution was termed "too upsetting" to be viewed by Al-Jazerra. Too upsetting to be viewed? This from an Arab institution that has no qualms about airing in an endless loop war footage of shootings in mosques? That displays the dismembered remains of Americans hung like slabs of meat on bridges? From whence comes this new found daintiness and delicacy in an institution that both before and after this footage will be only too pleased to wallow in blood and offal? May I suggest that it is too upsetting not because of the content, but because of what it reveals about the corrupted souls of our enemy, the friends and primary audience of Al-Jazerra. It is too "upsetting" because it does not advance the aspriations of Islamic jihad, but shows all too vividly what this religious disease looks like inside its rotted interior. The video of this woman's slaughter, placed next to the beheading video of Nick Berg and the mass executions of children in Beslan, completes the trifecta of terror. Last July, I wrote:
Our unluckiest citizens have had their heads severed from their bodies as pilot episodes of what promises to be a long running reality television series in which American heads are held up, to our horror and for the delight of those many millions that support those that take the heads. The message beyond this madness is that they would be pleased to extend this television series to 300 million beheadings in which each of us would have his "star" turn. Our enemy has not yet taken a woman or a child for a beheading, but both clearly on their programming schedule. -- American Digest: The Sacrifice and the Reckoning
This was written early last July. And now we are there. And it is only the very beginning. All this, and fresh horrors yet unknown except in the insect minds of those we fight, will be repeated and repeated until so common they are unworthy of comment at all, or until those that commit and relish them are expunged. Who was Mrs. Hassan, the woman kidnapped, tortured for weeks and finally killed yesterday? There have been thousands of stories about her background published, but in the end, this from a young Iraqi woman in Baghdad, is the single brief testament that answers "Who was she?"

She was my English teacher

In the memory of my teacher and a fellow aid worker colleague Mrs. M. Hassan Mrs. Hassan was my English teacher in The British Council in Baghdad in Al-Wazirya district, I remember her years ago with her Irish accent telling me it's not Important how many words I must learn but the pronunciation of the words I already knew must be perfected. Mrs. Hassan speak s perfect Arabic and she has a heart of gold, she's been kidnapped today killed by (men in pajamas), turn Iraq upside down and save her find them.

-- Baghdad Dweller » Blog Archive » She was my English teacher
Late yesterday evening, my wife finally came home from an exceedingly long day at work. As she walked towards the door I said, as husbands will, "At last. How was your day?" She paused and looked at me, "I'm not complaining. I wasn't killed for doing my job. I wasn't killed." ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill EMAIL: wkeezer@mindspring.com IP: 149.173.6.110 URL: http://billscomments.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/17/2004 08:46:06 PM Those three short sentences...putting it so starkly into complete perspective, and having a punch like a sledge hammer. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Politickal Animal EMAIL: gbuzbee@bellsouth.net IP: 68.214.28.210 URL: http://www.politickal.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/18/2004 05:41:00 PM Powerful post. Thank you for putting this out there. We should never forget the depravity of this enemy, or the goodness and humanity of this one more victim. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen B EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 68.120.43.3 URL: DATE: 11/20/2004 11:04:11 AM Liberate Iraq from what? Iraq is a sovereign country with its own government. Insurgents my ass. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/23/2004 05:39:15 PM You got that right. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Poet's Admonition STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: InVerse DATE: 11/17/2004 11:02:43 AM ----- BODY: Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, As home his footsteps he hath turn'd, From wandering on a foreign strand! If such there breathe, go, mark him well; For him no Minstrel raptures swell; High though his titles, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; Despite those titles, power, and pelf, The wretch, concentred all in self, Living, shall forfeit fair renown, And, doubly dying, shall go down To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonor'd, and unsung.          -- Sir Walter Scott - The Lay of the Last Minstrel - Canto VI ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Most Offensive Racist Cartoon Published In Major US Daily in 40 Years STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Bad Americans DATE: 11/16/2004 04:02:54 PM ----- BODY: By Pat Oliphant. Pat "Some of my best friends are..." Oliphant Published this day in the Washington Post . Syndicated too. I grant that there may have been a more racist cartoon published in a major newspaper in the last 40 years, but I'm not aware of it. If you are, please enlighten me. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: P.A. Breault EMAIL: hedd@compu$$$erve.com IP: 68.233.131.122 URL: DATE: 11/17/2004 04:10:30 PM Anyone want to lay odds that it'll be decried as such? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ken J EMAIL: blg@blg.com IP: 198.187.174.15 URL: DATE: 11/17/2004 04:36:26 PM It not only seems racist, it's so demeaning. Rice is an intelligent, powerful woman and here this man is belittling her. Is pretty sad. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ken J EMAIL: blg@blg.com IP: 198.187.174.15 URL: DATE: 11/17/2004 04:36:31 PM It not only seems racist, it's so demeaning. Rice is an intelligent, powerful woman and here this man is belittling her. It's pretty sad. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Johnny Walker Red EMAIL: rightonred@gmail.com IP: 68.17.157.249 URL: http://rightonred.net DATE: 11/17/2004 04:48:57 PM This one from a month ago is at least as bad, I think. This stuff is making me sick. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: fat kid EMAIL: michaelmurphy@gmail.com IP: 207.213.144.2 URL: http://www.musingsofafatkid.blogspot.com DATE: 11/17/2004 04:54:41 PM Anything by Ted Rall qualifies as "offensive", but you might have a point on the "racist" bit with this one. Unbelievable. But I guess it's OK b/c it's mocking Bushitler... right? //rolls eyes// ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccron EMAIL: c.croninger@cox.net IP: 68.6.34.50 URL: DATE: 11/17/2004 05:13:06 PM LA Times today. "Rice's ability to become an almost clone-like extension of the president — to understand what he wants, to make her only agenda his agenda and to carry out his wishes with unfailing loyalty — has made her invaluable." Remind one of a Parrot? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: slimedog EMAIL: m_t_anderson@hotmail.com IP: 68.89.130.12 URL: DATE: 11/17/2004 05:35:31 PM In a more nearly perfect world, Mrs. Hassan would be writing an English grammar column for the Washington Post, and the muj would have whacked that dipshit Oliphant. This is really starting to piss me off. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/17/2004 07:09:20 PM Point taken and alteration made. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Carole EMAIL: dunner1@telus.net IP: 137.186.216.197 URL: DATE: 11/17/2004 07:56:38 PM The person who wrote this is starting to make him sick is correct. The "sickness" is the thinking of someone who would write this cartoon and the people who would post it in their paper. The liberals are sick, they are sick with hate, they cannot control it anymore, it is leaking out and the country and the world is seeing them as they are. I am not black, but it I was I would be very, very, upset about how this woman is being treated. How long will it take for them to see what is happening? How long before they begin, maybe, to realize they have followed the wrong party? They should be furious at the libs for this one. I am, for Condi and for the african Americans who do not think this is alright as she is just the president's parrot. It is a shameful presentation of a very small minded, racist, stupid liberal and the paper that posted it should apologize. Tomorrow. Dream on, they no longer have any integrity. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harvey EMAIL: harvolson@charter.net IP: 24.196.92.227 URL: http://badexample.mu.nu/ DATE: 11/17/2004 09:30:13 PM I'm with BRD in the "how is this racist?" department. It's not like she's saying "yassuh massa". I'm NOT with BRD in the "unpatriotic" department, though. I don't see it as especially demeaning, either. All it's saying is that Dr. Rice is "too in line" with Bush's agenda, which is a criticism I'm not surprised to hear from the Dems, especially since Colin Powell was a bit unsupportive of Bush's ends. But having said that, I'll also say that Oliphant is an unfunny jackass who should be digging ditches instead of drawing cartoons. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John Hardy EMAIL: jh-b@lagado.com IP: 218.214.129.119 URL: http://www.laputanlogic.com DATE: 11/18/2004 02:03:26 AM And this is racist because the person being lampooned is black? That's being just a little precious isn't it? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dean Esmay EMAIL: dean@deanesmay.com IP: 68.42.180.159 URL: http://www.deanesmay.com DATE: 11/18/2004 02:36:58 AM I have little doubt that were this a cartoon about a Democrat, it would be loudly decried as racist by many. However, I'd probably say "no, it's just obnoxious" to those who claimed that, and I think I have to render the same judgement here. The aluminum tubes cartoon, however... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mikey EMAIL: michaeljorris@aol.com IP: 136.181.195.3 URL: DATE: 11/18/2004 07:47:49 AM Pat Oliphant: What a pathetic little man. What a small minded, emnpty individual. What a jerk. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vulgorilla EMAIL: sandi@eventfulevents.com IP: 143.182.124.4 URL: DATE: 11/18/2004 07:53:24 AM The TSM (Terrorist Supporting Media - AKA MSM) since the election has revealed that they no longer have any credibility, but now they show that they have no integrity either. Dr. Rice is probably one of the most qualified appointees for the position of Secretary of State in a very long time. The fact that she is not only a woman, but a black woman, has the liberal lefty's panties in a rather large twist. To use their own login on this situation would say that Pat Oliphant is a sexist racist, and I for one, will avoid him at all costs. His life's work should be flushed down the toilet so that there is no memory of his ever being. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill Peschel EMAIL: bpeschel@earthlink.net IP: 63.167.21.36 URL: http://www.planetpeschel.com/Weblog/weblog.php DATE: 11/21/2004 02:13:31 PM Nope, much as I dislike Oliphant, you're going to have to come back and explain how this is racist. This is not even close to the jackass radio jock in Milwaukee calling her an "Aunt Jemima." ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Damon EMAIL: tikitikitumboo@yahoo.com IP: 12.159.42.18 URL: DATE: 11/22/2004 01:43:02 PM I don't see it as particularly racist. Derivative, yes...the point that Bush surrounds himself with Yes-Men(& Women) has been made again and again. The fact that he is appointing his personal tutor and wannabe wife as Secretary of State isn't much of a suprise. ----- PING: TITLE: Obligatory Seriousness on Pat Oliphant's Cartoon URL: http://www.mdcbowen.org/cobb/archives/002974.html IP: 66.33.204.4 BLOG NAME: Cobb DATE: 11/17/2004 05:43:37 PM A big lipped bird? In the context of Oliphant, which I cannot recall, he may think that he's not out of line. Maybe he's portrayed other Cabinet members as animals, but whatever excuses will be proffered, this is a pretty... ----- PING: TITLE: NO, SERIOUSLY, IT'S JUST A WALL OUTLET URL: http://badexample.mu.nu/archives/055512.php IP: 67.19.5.2 BLOG NAME: Bad Example DATE: 11/18/2004 05:11:58 PM I've seen several otherwise sane bloggers point to this political cartoon and claim that it's racist: (click to enlarge) and I'm reminded of this old IMAO bit: Sharpton: No. I know what racism is. I am great at spotting it... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Empire, Like the Universe, Expands STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Blodder Award DATE: 11/16/2004 12:33:24 AM ----- BODY: empire_tn.jpg [see site for large version] That last bastion of Grouchoism-Lennonism, The Politburo Diktat has published the retro-definitive Empire of the Blogs map:
In the pre-Marxist era, corrupt aristocrats, bloodsuckers of the people, dominated Central Europe. Not content to oppress the people individually, they joined together, to form a Blogging Empire.
The unusual suspects are revealed. I am pleased to note that my undisclosed location remains undisclosed. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mojave Mark EMAIL: mark12658@yahoo.com IP: 68.227.0.113 URL: DATE: 11/16/2004 05:57:55 PM This is good stuff. I'm wondering if the "Blogging Empire," if that really is your real name, has red and blue states or perhaps pink and skyblue territories? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Nukes South of the Border Will Do, Thank You STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: TerrorWar DATE: 11/15/2004 09:51:14 AM ----- BODY: Why take your nuke to town when just standing on the other side of the fence gets you all the way there? Time Magazine is roiling the blogsphere with its warning of terrorist nukes to be smuggled into Mexico and from there into the the United States
Sharif al-Masri, an Egyptian who was captured in late August near Pakistan's border with Iran and Afghanistan, has told his interrogators of "al-Qaeda's interest in moving nuclear materials from Europe to either the U.S. or Mexico," according to a report circulating among U.S. government officials. Masri also said al-Qaeda has considered plans to "smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico, then operatives would carry material into the U.S.," according to the report, parts of which were read to TIME. Masri says his family, seeking refuge from al-Qaeda hunters, is now in Iran.
And they would "carry material into the U.S.?" The question that occurs to me in that statement is: Why would they bother? Once you have smuggled a nuclear weapon into Mexico what reason would you have to take another, bigger risk and try and get it across the border into the United States? Wouldn't it be much simpler and more straightforward just to take the bomb to Juarez, get as close to the border as possible, and then detonate the device. Given the right set of conditions you could achieve your terrorist aims and never have to set foot in the United States. Why risk two security rings when you can risk only one? Detonating a nuclear weapon in Juarez, Mexico is the same thing as detonating one in El Paso, Texas:
Walk seven blocks south from the heart of downtown El Paso and you’re on the bridge that empties into Avenida Juárez, the tourism center of Juárez, and you’re a few blocks from the city’s cathedral and main plaza. Nowhere else in the world are two major cities of two different countries so closely connected — or so easy to visit from either side. --El Paso Tourist Guide
What would be the advantages of Juarez/El Paso from a nuclear terrorist's point of view? There are several: All of which goes to show that the security of the United States doesn't start at the border, but south of the border, down Mexico way. I don't know what Homeland Security is doing about this, but if I was in the organization, I'd be very concerned about the ports of Mexico right now and be looking very hard at truck traffic coming north towards El Paso. Then, of course, there's the Canadian border. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pat Berry EMAIL: pberry@nc.rr.com IP: 129.33.49.251 URL: DATE: 11/15/2004 03:47:21 PM The coasts are vulnerable as well. In his 1939 letter to President Roosevelt about the threat posed by German research of nuclear fission, Albert Einstein wrote: "A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory." This danger still exists, and it's difficult to see how it can be defended against. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron Deaton EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.67.246.21 URL: DATE: 11/15/2004 04:33:26 PM Thanks for the warm fuzzies. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Eagle1 EMAIL: lawofsea@aol.com IP: 24.168.180.101 URL: http://www.eaglespeak.blogspot.com DATE: 11/15/2004 07:37:43 PM Mexico needs to be concerned. Very concerned. It isn't called the Global War on Terrorism for nada. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chuck Pelto EMAIL: cbpelto@pcisys.net IP: 206.53.23.47 URL: DATE: 11/16/2004 02:59:49 AM TO: Vanderleun RE: Not Good Enough Sure, they could do a lot of damage. Kill a lot of people in a place like Juarez. However, it would not be as spectacular as doing NYC or DC or LA. They seem to like the spectacular gesture, so, if they think they've got a fair chance of success, they'll go for the big one. And, considering how porous the border IS, I think they think they've got a fair chance. Besides, even if they are detected bringing it across the border, if it's primed to blow, they could blow it upon discovery and still make a splash such as you describe. Regards, Chuck(le) [Are we living in a Clancy novel yet?] ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chuck Pelto EMAIL: cbpelto@pcisys.net IP: 206.53.23.47 URL: DATE: 11/16/2004 03:02:59 AM P.S. The biggest and fastest moving threat is an aircraft with a bomb on-board flying over one of the target cities; NYC, DC, LA, etc. The Coast Guard can check ships approaching our ports, but it's hard to check all the aircraft approaching our borders. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: slimedog EMAIL: m_t_anderson@hotmail.com IP: 129.115.148.25 URL: DATE: 11/16/2004 08:51:41 AM And here I was worrying about fallout from a shipborne nuke in Galveston or Corpus Christi. Now you've made me REALLY paranoid. Of course, I'd miss all my vaporized in-laws in El Paso, but Juarez could use some urban renewal... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jeff EMAIL: jeff@beautifulatrocities.com IP: 64.169.93.35 URL: http://www.beautifulatrocities.com DATE: 11/16/2004 10:05:56 AM Does anyone, including the terrorists, have any idea the mechanics in detonating a dirty bomb or god forbid nuclear warhead? It's not like setting off a firecracker. Also, how do they move it around without getting radiation sickness? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Buddha EMAIL: shaferk@hotmail.com IP: 132.58.234.102 URL: DATE: 11/16/2004 12:39:12 PM Think Vicente Fox would get tougher with controlling the border given your scenario? Naw, me neither. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: flannelputz EMAIL: flannelputz@aol.com IP: 68.215.54.32 URL: http://flannelputz DATE: 11/16/2004 07:09:18 PM SCHNITPOOG!!!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Woody EMAIL: wooddad@sbcglobal.net IP: 64.175.120.214 URL: http://woodyswoundup.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/17/2004 08:55:16 AM Then, of course, there's the Canadian border. For which, I may add, we are eternally grateful! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Marty EMAIL: msalo@verizon.net IP: 4.4.156.242 URL: DATE: 11/19/2004 05:35:28 PM What about Tijuana? Granted, we probably aren't talking the same level of proximity, but San Diego is probably a more valuable target. Depending on the atmospheric conditions, the fallout could hurt many more people. Obviously, if they can be successful in getting a nuke on a boat and into new york harbor, or philadelphia, or boston, or baltimore, etcetra, it would probably say more, but even mexico city should be an attractive target. Mexico City won't harm the US directly, but there would be alot of distraction. What about the electro-magnetic pulse of a nuke detonated at ground level? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mesic EMAIL: idont@like.spam IP: 81.5.141.94 URL: DATE: 11/20/2004 09:10:19 AM But blowing up a nuke in Mexico would defeat the point of the action. The Al Quada terrorists want to make a point about US forgen policy, bias against Islam, bias against the palestintans. The symbolism of attacking Mexico or France or anyone other than the US the UK and previously Spain would simply be that they're insane and hate freedom. ----- PING: TITLE: Terrorist Nukes in Old Mexico? URL: http://eaglespeak.blogspot.com/2004/11/terrorist-nukes-in-old-mexico.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: EagleSpeak DATE: 11/15/2004 07:33:39 PM Hey, Mexico how are your borders? Tijuana, Juarez and even Nuevo Laredo offer up some juicy targets. Where are you on the GWOT? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Religion of the Left STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/15/2004 02:01:11 AM ----- BODY: There is a world dimensional For those untwisted by the love of things irreconcilable. --Hart Crane In the endless squabbling of ten thousand web sites this week, the best retort I noted was, "Oh yeah? If you're so smart, why aren't you in power?" The inundation of wails, moans, and screams of pain sweeping through the intellectual deserts of the left like a flash flood show that the election of 2004 wasn't, when all was said and done, about a stolen election. It was about a stolen world. The outraged screeching of those undone by the democratic process they so adored at noon on the 2nd, and loathed so deeply on noon of the 3rd, wasn't, after all, about the fact that Bush in 2002 was selected, not elected, but that he was selected then as he was in 2004 by the wrong people, by people who were -- all the wise pundits of the Liberal/Left now agree -- "not our sort" and therefore "not real people at all." And the reason that this group of malcontents has been so vocal about this is that, as everyone knew going in, this election was a religious confrontation. I've written elsewhere that one of the "things you can't say about the First Terrorist War" is that it is, at bottom, a war of two religions. So it is with the culture wars of which a central battle has just ended in a rout of the Liberal/Left in America. It too is, and you are not supposed to say this either, a war of TWO religions. Then again, that is not quite right. Try it this way. What we are engaged in currently is a war of two religions in which only one side is allowed to be designated as a religion -- the Right. "The Right" in these terms is always code for "The Religious Right" (Except when it is flatly written out as "The Religious Right."), which is, in turn code for "Christianity." This is sometimes, by the legion of scribblers ready to push out the party line at the drop of a hat, modified for form's sake into "Christian Fundamentalism." But realistic observers of this game are not fooled and know it to be the same sort of bearded shorthand by which "Islamic Fundamentalism" is made to stand in for Islam, pure and simple. In whatever form it takes, we have seen, and will continue to see, an attack on Religious Americans, by another group of Americans that previously identified themselves as "secular," but who in the last few days are trying, as John Kerry did in the waning days of his misbegotten adventure, to wrap themselves in the raiments of religion to a greater or lesser extent. I am expecting a plethora of articles to be published soon that include the phrase, "Some of my best friends are Christians." If genuflecting towards God could get a Great Satan like George Bush elected perhaps a small, public conversion of Hillary Clinton might not be too much to pay for power after all. ----- EXTENDED BODY: But this tactic will, in the end, not suffice. It will fail because those of real faith see through those of false faith rather easily. And to profess a faith is worse than to remain simply agnostic. Still, it will be tried because, if this week's election and the last two years of campaigning show anything, they reveal that the Religion of the Liberal/Left is not a religion of the people, but of those who would be master. In the coming years, the acolytes of this Religion may attempt to don the fleece of the flock, but the Shepherd will always be able to tell between the quick and the dead. The real disaster for the Liberal/Left in this era is was not that George Bush was religious, as were many of his selectors, but that Bush's religion was not the Liberal/Left's approved religion; the Religion of the Self. In a way, the Religion of the Self is one of the most ancient of faiths. Indeed, many faiths were created or revealed and promulgated to contain the Religion of the Self. I say "contain" because real faith is always a struggle to contain the Religion of the Self in the hopes of a more transformative life and a closer approach to God. In the age of myth, the Religion of the Self first arose in the Garden as a result of a persuasive conversation between Eve, Adam, and a Serpent. As we know, but do not learn, it did not work out well for Eve or her husband, and humanity has been struggling to get back to the state of the Garden ever since; a state that, without true faith, will forever withdraw beyond its grasp. For the Religion of the Self does not rest upon selfless service but upon ego. Today's Religion of the Self spends a good many cycles advocating that others should serve its endless causes; that others should obey its endless requirements; that others should speak only its approved speech; and that, above all, others should reach for their wallets to pay for it all. The Religion of the Self puts forward a candidate for high office that promises tax equity but pays but 12 percent himself. The Religion of the Self is composed of many millions of believers whose primary aim is good works for their own glory and at someone else's expense. It is little wonder that the high priests of the Religion of the Self are today known as "celebrities," and that the highest state sought by members of this religion is to be, themselves, "celebrated." A poet, who was taken for many decades to be one of their seers, but who has recently revealed he merely used them for his own,deeper purposes, once wrote of them: "But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed You're gonna have to serve somebody...." And they agreed as long as it was clear that the somebody they were to serve was always going to be the Self. This religion, after all, taught as its first and last precept that there was nothing in this world greater than the self and -- beyond this world, out beyond even the unimaginable edges of the universe -- there was... well... nothing at all; "purposeless matter hovering in the dark." After all, there was, in our young, ignorant and still stumbling science, no proof or evidence anywhere they looked -- out to the edges of the cosmos or down into the stringed heart of matter -- that appeared to echo the Biblical. All was merely the blunt physical, the unbearable heaviness of animated meat. The only thing these "Believers" could sense that partook of the spiritual was the Self and the Self alone. Thus they made the Self into their idol and set it on the altar of their brief lives. Obsessed with embellishing this idol many spent large sums and long periods of introspective analysis with professionals that were paid handsomely to confirm to them, at all times and in all places, that the grim visage of the Self reigned supreme, and that only the Self and only this life in this world could be validated. It did not matter, or it somehow escaped their otherwise sharpened intellects, that all men and all worlds dwell within a miracle and a mystery so deep and so far beyond the understanding of the human mind that we simply lacks the senses to perceive it -- except through faith alone. Indeed, relying on the fact that "faith" is not obviously tied to any single sense organ, they would deny that it is a sense at all. Had they looked closely at the infinitely little that is now known at the outward edges of cosmology and quantum physics they might have dimly sensed that the exercise of the power called "faith" was actually the only exercise that would allow them even a glimpse of the glory behind the material manifestation. But the worship of the Self not only obscures all dimensions outside of it, it demands their obliteration. The reporting of and affirmation of faith by billions of human beings was to the worshipers of the Self only ancient superstition. That which was known for aeons as wisdom was to them mere myth. And the things that myth, wisdom and faith pointed towards and revealed were all foolish because at the center they denied the primacy of the Self; reduced the Self a small clot of cells, a few insignificant cubic centimeters of brain matter. This cannot be tolerated, for the Self is the most jealous and wrathful of all the gods. The Religion of the Self cannot tolerate faith. For what faith does, among many other things as it reshapes a human life, is the reduction of self to its proper scale; to remove forever the capitalization of self, and render it as it is in the vaster scheme of things as they are. This reduction also means the diminution of all that the self holds dear, the sense of "I" above all, of Ego Uber Alles. Faith silences the infernal music of "Me." This song of the self is a song our current believers learned in the cradle or, if not there, on their way into the upper realms of higher education. It was a song that needed to be sung for the proper matriculation of the intellectual into the material world. And this matriculation was important because, for all the protestations; all inane bromides of spirituality; all the endless bland pseudo-theologies that asked not for faith but for mere affirmation; all the ballyhooed new-age cults, psycho-babble and boutique spirituality... all these were nothing but paper-mache puppets dropped over their souls to disguise what The Believers of the Self really were -- material boys and girls on the make in a material world. And being of that world, like religious fanatics throughout history, the members of the Religion of the Self, would not be content until all others joined with and affirmed their Religion as the way, the truth and the light. Those that voted against the Religion of the Self were seen not just as citizens who preferred to be left to their own devices, but as heretics and apostates and, worse still, unlearned and ignorant. After all, all those who were of the Religion of the Self were secure in the certain knowledge that there was but One Way; theirs. To discover, within one day, that their way was not the only way and was, indeed, rejected by the majority of their fellow citizens was, in the end, irreconcilable with their religious view of the world. Their reaction was the same that we have always seen when religious fanaticism dominates large groups of people: rage, scorn, mockery, anger, denial, threats of violence in some quarters, and plans for some sort of exodus to a better land over the far horizon. At the same time, the irony of their situation was that they knew, better than most of their less-travelled fellow citizens, that, absent the possession of real wealth, there is no better land. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.15 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 08:13:10 AM Well said, indeed. What truly amazes me is the number of physisists that have become Christians. In all the vastness of the universe, with all the theories and counter theories, none explain the precision, the attention to detail or the sheer magnitude of creation. One scientist I heard recently gave this explanation: If one could take some galactic size ruler and lay it across the cosmos, it is a well known fact that movement by so little as an inch, by any one body, would cause the entire universe to fall into complete ruin and chaos. Another example is that of so-called evolution. Taking the one cell approach scientists have calculated the chances of life ever evolving from a single cell into the complex form of humanity. The odds are beyond unimagineable. They are so infintely small that they are virtually impossible. The Religion of the Self explains in great clarity, the need to promote the culture of the left. Lack of moral values, self-centered indignation, ego, sloth, vanity, vulgar sex for exploitation, all are part and parcel of the Self. You reason accurately, I believe, that it is an inbred trait few Christians will not be able to see through when the anti-Christ appears, though the Bible says otherwise. Modern day quasi-christians, as you say, will fair no better in their zeal to embrace that which they do not believe. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: political EMAIL: info@political-news.org IP: 69.154.213.245 URL: http://www.political-news.org DATE: 11/06/2004 09:01:30 AM "What truly amazes me is the number of physisists that have become Christians." Where do you get your numbers? It's simply not true that physicists are moving toward Christianity. http://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~neum/sciandf/contrib/clari.txt "Most U.S. scientists do not believe in a god, but 40 percent do -- the same percentage as did in 1916." "And although biologists showed the highest rate of disbelief for doubt......that ranking is now given to physicists and astronomers." So out of all scientists, physicists and astronomers have the most unbelievers. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: DTLV EMAIL: diotallevi@zombieworld.com IP: 165.123.30.154 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 09:41:39 AM This is a very good piece, touching on a theme that I have been chewing on for a while, now. I've been calling it Self-worshipping Nihilism, but it's the same thing: "Be your own pagan idol." The observation that this is not a new thing, but the natural state of man absent real religion (or the state man is pulled into by the Enemy whenever he turns his back on God) is an important insight, I think. BTW, I am a neuroscientist and a Christian of the Catholic persuasion. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/06/2004 10:23:51 AM Self-worshipping Nihilism, but it's the same thing: "Be your own pagan idol." Very good.I like that formulation quite a bit. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.106.65.58 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/06/2004 10:41:36 AM "Be your own pagan idol." The ultimate application of Nietzsche, to become your own god unto yourself. The deification of the self. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pbird EMAIL: pzilla@gmail.com IP: 4.5.88.98 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 12:08:11 PM Thank you for a good piece of writing. I concur with your observations, and will send it on to some of my kids raised inside a mileu of self above all. (they don't worship at the altar of self like most but its hard for them...) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mark butterworth EMAIL: johnmark@surewest.net IP: 65.78.130.225 URL: http://callistergreen.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/06/2004 01:24:11 PM This was well said. Chesterton-like. The entire Old Testament can be reduced to one thought - I am the Lord your God, and you are not God. Now listen to me. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen B EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 208.54.15.129 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 01:52:41 PM For Hollywood, religion is just like the backdrop on a movie set: pretty, but two-dimensional and false -- to them. A church wedding is just for the scenery, and not for the content. The odd thing is that their misplaced compassion also comes from religion, but they're too busy sniping at "The Religious Right" to admit it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jim EMAIL: CaishMunnie@yahoo.com IP: 68.74.5.231 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 06:26:22 PM In this acronym riddled world, it only seems appropriate to assign one here. I submit that Religion Of The Self should be henceforth called:   ROTS. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill EMAIL: wkeezer@mindspring.com IP: 149.173.6.110 URL: http://billscomments.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/06/2004 07:39:22 PM It strikes me that ROTS (I love that acronym!) can be equated with Original Sin. Tremendous post Gerard. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kat-missouri EMAIL: kehenry1@hotmail.com IP: 65.26.110.56 URL: http://themiddleground.blogspot.com DATE: 11/06/2004 11:45:58 PM It seems we all have similar thoughts on the subject. As a Democrat who crossed party lines, I realized several years ago that the party had lost it's focus. It was supposed to be the party of the people. Average Joe America. Instead, it's guiding people talk about being for the people but it's headed by elites, socialist left, and celebrities. Basically, they don't know who the "people" are so they can't be them anymore. They can't represent average Joe America when they embrace people that spit on America and thinks they are all stupid sheep. Even stupid people don't like to be called stupid. A serious mis-step in "nuance" While Mr. Luen's post was a very serious review of the situation, I poked a little more fun at the problem: http://themiddleground.blogspot.com/2004/11/open-letter-to-democrat-party20.html Hope you don't mind a little humorous light on the subject. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.15 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 10:04:56 AM political, I didn't cite numbers. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justin Moser EMAIL: nospam@here.com IP: 207.179.127.175 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 11:46:12 AM Yes! i've been annoyed by this for a long while now. how come my values, as a Christian, shouldn't have representation in our representative democracy when everyone from those practicing ROTS to "moderate" Muslims can? i think this election was a clear message from those marginalized as the "religious right" (most, like myself are actually politically moderate) to the Left: "You are irrelevant. Now, go away, or we will taunt you a second time!" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: triticale EMAIL: triticale@hotmail.com IP: 169.207.136.228 URL: http://triticale.mu.nu DATE: 11/11/2004 07:01:02 PM Self-worshipping Nihilism, but it's the same thing: "Be your own pagan idol." If one could travel back in time and kill one person to make the world a better place, it wouldn't be Marx, or Hitler, or Basil Zaharoff, but Nihil that I would go after. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jimbo EMAIL: JLBAIRD3@yahoo.com IP: 68.239.38.225 URL: DATE: 11/11/2004 08:20:31 PM Here's an article from "First Things" that had a deep effect on me when I came across it awhile ago, that talks about the some thing (though not really in a political context): http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0310/articles/hart.html ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: reliapundit EMAIL: reliapundit@msn.com IP: 151.204.155.138 URL: http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com DATE: 11/11/2004 08:21:01 PM http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2004/11/religious-divide-explained.html The Religious Divide Explained Glenn linked to a good article at TECHCENTRALSTAION by Fred Turner. RTWT - even though it COMPLETELY misses the point. Turner creates a false dichotomy: religious versus secular voter. Many religious people - myself and Bush included - are both deeply religious and committed secularists. The true opposition is religious voter versus atheistic voter. UPDATE: CORRECTION AMPLIFICATION = THE REAL DIVIDE IS UNIVERSALIST VOTER VERSUS RELATIVIST VOTER. Here's why: The fact is that democracy was founded by religious people, and this is because democracy is historically based on the first principal of Natural Law : that all humans are created equal and endowed by the Creator with inalienable rights. The State does not grant or define these rights; UNIVERSAL Human Rights exist a priori. Most of atheists - and ALL of cultural relativists and moral relativists - are opponents to any notion of Universal Human Rights because they believe that Human Rights can only be defined culturally/relatively. Such a view provides no universal moral basis for democracy or democratic revolutions; such a view can ONLY explain revolutions as struggles between competing power bases. Which is exactly how Marxists, and moral relativists and cultural relativists explain history. And I would include most of the Left; the Left has become overwhelmingly redefined by its relativism. This fact has been true since at least post-WW2, when post-modernism took root in the Left. This post-modernist Leftist creed cannot offer a way to universally abolish slavery or sexual inequality, or racism, or genocide EXCEPT if-and-when there is CONSENSUS from all the world's nations and cultures - which is precisely why these relativists value multilateralism and the UN so highly: it is the only place where international/cross-cultural consensus can be reached, and for relativists cross-cultural consensus is the only means to temporal universality. This is also why they have so often stood back and done nothing as genocide has been openly committed - they can't act if they can’t forge a consensus. But true morality is NOT on based on polls; it is NOT relative; it is Universal; it holds that all homo sapiens are entitled to the same rights because we are literally and figuratively ONE FAMILY. And in this family we should not tolerate it when our relatives are systematically denied their innate Human Rights. It is our duty to help our brothers and sisters. This concept was enshrined as part of the UN Charter when the UN adopted the Declaration of Universal Human Rights - at the time a liberal notion embraced by all of the West. Since then, it has become regarded by the Left as a neo-con notion - an attempt by the West to culturally hegemonize the world. This shift occurred around the time that the Left realized that the working-class in the West would not lead the proletarian revolution (because of the enbourgeoisment - [their term] - of the working class - or so the Left claims), and that the revolution would be led by the Third World - especially the former colonies of the West. This is why the Left (the hub of of atheistic, post-modernist, cultural & morally relativist political ideology) aggrandizes any Third World dictator who opposes the USA or the West, and abhors only dictators who are pro-USA or pro-West. To the extent that OBL and Saddam and Zarqawi can be seen as anti-USA/anti-West, the Left embraces them. The actual extremely low living standards and lack of basic human rights and liberties that our brothers and sisters have in totalitarian regimes doesn't matter to the Left as long as the regime is anti-USA or anti-West - like North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Iran, Syria - etc... The Left in the USA is no different in this regard than the Left in continental Europe, and this is why they have such great affinity. They're against Natural Law; Natural Law is antithetical to their core beliefs. The UK has a deep tradition of Natural Law and this is why they are natural allies of the USA. Ditto Israel. posted by reliapundit ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/11/2004 10:46:44 PM Baird, Thank you for that link to "Christ and Nothing. " An illuminating work. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mesic EMAIL: not@telling.you IP: 81.5.141.94 URL: DATE: 11/20/2004 08:58:01 AM If all men are born equal why are we prepaired to pay a far higher price in innocent Iraqi civilians than US soilders? Look at the most optimisitc figures and it's still about a 1:10 ratio, yet to who do we devote our attention and prayer? All men are quite clearly not born equal in the trails they will face in this world nor the resources (both spiritual and material) they have available to face these trials. ----- PING: TITLE: A tale of two religions URL: http://onefinejay.com/2004/11/06/a-tale-of-two-religions/ IP: 67.19.16.228 BLOG NAME: One Fine Jay DATE: 11/06/2004 12:57:02 PM When I grow up as a writer I want to be like Gerard Van Der Leun. This piece makes for a telling example. ----- PING: TITLE: Blog Roundup URL: http://jeffbrokaw.net/archive1/001021.html IP: 63.247.134.246 BLOG NAME: Notes & Musings DATE: 11/07/2004 06:27:32 AM A Marine in Falluja wants to get going and kill the bastards. Actually, they all do; it's what they do. Let them, like we should have let them back in April; but instead we foolishly backed off and hence emboldened... ----- PING: TITLE: Los "selfish" atacan de nuevo URL: http://WWW.internetpolitica.COM/archivos/000269.html IP: 64.5.32.43 BLOG NAME: Cuaderno de bitácora sobre Internet y política DATE: 11/07/2004 07:02:47 AM American Digest: The Religion of the Left A través de Hispalibertas me entero de este post que es simplemente genial. La religión selfish, de la que tenemos abundantes ejemplos en esta bitácora, está ahí de nuevo: Glory to me in... ----- PING: TITLE: a simple plan URL: http://www.andunie.net/mt-archives/000312.php IP: 63.247.134.246 BLOG NAME: andunie.net DATE: 11/07/2004 03:04:25 PM This year, for every foretelling of Democratic doom (a genre to which I am a proud contributor), there has been a corresponding prediction of a Republican breakup. If nothing else this election has decided which side has the better prophets, at least f... ----- PING: TITLE: "The Religion of the Self" URL: http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2004/11/the_religion_of.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Brutally Honest DATE: 11/13/2004 12:21:02 PM In my continuing quest to stay abreast of what's happening in the blogosphere (a reflection I might add of what is happening in the world), I bring you to yet another week old post but one worthy of our ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The How of Spam STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 0 CATEGORY: Essays & Items CATEGORY: Essays & Items DATE: 11/14/2004 08:42:28 PM ----- BODY: EWeek has a fascinating wrap-up of the Jaynes Spamming Trial. Short form: 10 Million emails a day = $750,000 per month = 9 years in jail. Trial Shows How Spammers Operate: "Jaynes' business was remarkably lucrative; prosecutors say he grossed up to $750,000 per month. If you have an e-mail account, chances are Jaynes tried to get your attention, pitching software, pornography and work-at-home schemes. The eight-day trial that ended in his conviction this month shed light on the operations of a 30-year-old former purveyor of physical junk mail who worked with minimal assistance out of a nondescript house in Raleigh, N.C. A state jury in Leesburg has recommended a nine-year prison term in the nation's first felony trial of spam purveyors. Sentencing is set for February. " ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Z. Z. Bachman EMAIL: zardozz@gmail.com IP: 67.84.175.184 URL: http://zardozz.com/zz/ DATE: 11/14/2004 09:15:59 PM Excellent site. The editors at the ZZ News Portal occasionally scan the web manually for interesting feed content and we came across your site today. We would like to invite you to add your site's url to our OpenRing as your material appears interesting and aligned with our readership. If you are interested you can find further information at ZZ OpenRing and at the ZardozZ OpenWeb. Hope you'll join us... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen B EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 68.120.43.3 URL: DATE: 11/15/2004 09:04:25 PM Zardoz? That wonderful movie with Sean Connery? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ben EMAIL: blogmail@ritcey.com IP: 68.163.231.107 URL: DATE: 11/16/2004 08:18:08 PM Is it my imagination, or did your post on spamming just get... spammed? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/16/2004 08:31:36 PM Might look like that, but what I see when the spammers hit are about a dozen or so similar posts lobbed deep into the archives. I weed them right away but it is a chore, even with MT-blacklist. I let the one above go because it was the only post and it seems to be, on the surface, a manual entry. A macro perhaps but manual. I'm upgrading the software over the next week and will get a better handle on spam after that. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Lateral Un-Thinking: New Brain Drain Discovered STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 0 CONVERT BREAKS: 0 ALLOW PINGS: 0 CATEGORY: Thinking Right CATEGORY: Thinking Right DATE: 11/14/2004 08:18:52 PM ----- BODY:

Michael Totten observes in They Ain’t Studying War No More: "The fewer intellectuals there are on the left who study military history and strategy, the less likely any otherwise left-minded person who is interested in such things will want or be able to work with or for liberals and Democrats. What has been happening is a nation-wide brain-drain from the left to the right – at least in certain areas. "

(Via IP .)

----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Required Reading STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Companions DATE: 11/14/2004 12:54:01 PM ----- BODY: Pardon my preening, but my amazing, omni-talented and beautiful wife Sheryl, has another article in today's Washington Post. I think you'll find it says, to quote Pope, "what oft was thought but n'ere so well expressed":
Indecent Exposure When Did Cookware and Fly-Fishing Go X-Rated? By Sheryl Van der Leun So there I was, perusing the Perfex salt grinders at my local Williams-Sonoma store, when I overheard an excited thirty-something shopper exclaim breathlessly as she walked by the $1,999 Jura-Capresso Impressa S8 Super Automatic Espresso Coffeemaker, "Oh, this is pure kitchen-porn. Get me out of here...." -- Indecent Exposure (washingtonpost.com)
There's more on this full frontal assault on our traditional linguistic values. Take a look. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccwbass EMAIL: ccwbass@yahoo.com IP: 67.119.159.195 URL: http://wayoffbass.blogspot.com DATE: 11/14/2004 01:19:19 PM Reckon I'll have to stop calling American Digest "one totally pimped site." ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/14/2004 01:25:29 PM I resemble that remark. You'll get yours, Bass. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Woody EMAIL: wooddad@sbcglobal.net IP: 64.175.120.214 URL: http://woodyswoundup.blogspot.com DATE: 11/14/2004 02:31:16 PM Kudos to the talented Mrs. V. The degradation of language through pop culture is one of the great sins of this generation. I am properly impressed. Terrific message! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: greg EMAIL: gwallace46107@comcast.net IP: 68.58.106.28 URL: http://whatattitudeproblem.blogs.com/ DATE: 11/14/2004 03:34:04 PM Several years ago I read Tom Shachtman's remarkable book The Inarticulate Society. Sheryl's article, while humorously engaging on one level (as intended, I'm sure), really speaks to a larger problem, that of the crisis of articulate expression. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill Peschel EMAIL: bpeschel@earthlink.net IP: 63.167.21.4 URL: http://www.planetpeschel.com/Weblog/weblog.php DATE: 11/14/2004 06:56:25 PM Language is all about communication and it changes whether you like it or not, in whatever direction it needs to go, whether you like it or not. The infiltration of the word "porn" through colloquial speech is fascinating on several levels. First, it's felt to be a needed word. It indicates something that is highly polished, but also contains unrealistic expectations (much like porn). How else to describe Martha's lavishly detailed lifestyles. And I've read Levenger's catalog, and how better to describe its "tools for reading"? Do you really need a polished oak reading stand? What happened to using your hands? Second, since so many people consider the word an acceptable and easily understood definition of a certain type of product, what does it say about the ubiquitiousness of porn? Perhaps more people have seen them than we'd like to think? Anyway, good to see your wife make the Post. It's a fine piece of writing. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccwbass EMAIL: ccwbass@yahoo.com IP: 63.196.242.181 URL: http://wayoffbass.blogspot.com DATE: 11/15/2004 12:49:46 AM Gah! I didn't mean it in the pejorative! I used to sell guitars 'n such - "pimp" is actually quite a compliment in certain circles [note to self: insert Dante joke as soon as a good one comes to mind]. Having dodged that bullet, I'm a-goin' to bed, I am. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Michael Moore -- The Really Big Winner of 2004 STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Bad Americans DATE: 11/13/2004 08:12:40 PM ----- BODY: mooresyearweb2.jpg This just in. I really wish a lot of people would drop the concept that Michael Moore is the chief reason for the loss of the election and is, by extension, one of the 'Big Losers' of 2004. Nothing could be further from the truth. Moore is one of the biggest winners of 2004 and I am sure he'd have it no other way. Look at it this way: Playing to the obvious hates of the Democrats: Big Corporations, Outsourcing, Guns, George Bush, and Pets Sold As Meat has been a cornucopia for Moore that just keeps getting bigger. So big, in fact, that Moore has, in the last year alone, gone from being your average millionaire to a man of real wealth. The grosses tell the story. Here's the estimate of revenues and costs of 911 from Box Office Mojo
World Boxoffice Gross: $218,000,000 Budget and Marketing Costs: $21,000,000
Say that half the gross comes back to you and you are looking at a net profit to be split between Moore and his partners of around $88,000,000. If Moore pockets even half of that, and his split is probably more, he takes in $44,000,000. Assuming he pays the standard 'Heinz-Kerry' tax rate of 12%, he nets something north of $38,000,000. And that's before we even start into record shattering rentals and DVD sales of 911:
Moore's eagerly anticipated video of Fahrenheit 9/11 turned 1.36 million copies and earned more than $4.7 million on DVD alone in its first week. -- Box Office Mojo
Oh yes, let's not forget the sales from all his previous films, the book deals, and the speaking fees of $30 to $50K that he's racking up from wounded associations and colleges around the country. On top of that, you have the lionizing awards from the French and the Oscar from the "Academy." Put it all together and you have one fat and happy winner who is, first and foremost, looking forward to continuing this streak now that he has helped keep the Democrats out of power. After all, if they had won, Moore's streak would have been severely curtailed. It was in his interest to do everything he could to make sure this would not happen. We can't blame him if the Democrats helped him along. All in all, a brilliant performance by a genius at manipulation. I'm sure that every morning, Moore looks deep into his mirror and says, "I'd like to thank all the little people for four more years! Oh, yes, and not forgetting those stupid white men, John, John, Teddy and Jimmy." ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.105.197.62 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/13/2004 04:50:53 PM I hadn't looked at it this way, but it makes a lot of sense. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron Deaton EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.246 URL: DATE: 11/13/2004 07:08:00 PM Thanks for ruining my day. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: leelu EMAIL: lawebber@yahoo.com IP: 66.116.64.162 URL: DATE: 11/13/2004 09:10:39 PM Arafat would be a better candidate for Man of the Year. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: P.A. Breault EMAIL: hedd@compuserve.com IP: 68.233.131.122 URL: DATE: 11/13/2004 09:18:44 PM Somebody else postulated something similar to me a year or so back. Any odds that someday, MM just comes out and says exactly that (and laughs at the right for unwittingly playing along)? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mumblix Grumph EMAIL: tharn1@msn.com IP: 67.168.78.41 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 03:12:20 AM When a marginally talented person achieves great success, I always assume a deal with Satan is involved. I've always wondered about this...if such a deal is struck, how is the initial contact with Old Scratch made in the first place? Is there an 800 number? A website? I'd ask Moore, Britney Spears, Eminem, Maddonna, and Fred Durst, but they don't return my calls. If this is the case, there is a silver lining. Most sellers of souls die fairly young in a dramatic fashion. Tick Tock... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dave Schuler EMAIL: thalian@compuserve.com IP: 24.14.10.138 URL: http://www.theglitteringeye.com DATE: 11/14/2004 07:10:46 AM You're on the nose with this one, Vanderleun. And, as I pointed out on The Glittering Eye, so are the MSM and for the same reason. Hyperpartisanship is such a big seller we can expect a lot more of it next time around. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen B EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 68.120.43.3 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 01:46:01 PM I nominate Arafat for Corpse of the Year. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Thomas J. Jackson EMAIL: Scotland62241@msn.com IP: 63.159.36.8 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 07:34:25 PM I guess the billions that Arafat stole also makes him a winner then? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccron EMAIL: c.croninger@cox.net IP: 68.6.34.50 URL: DATE: 11/15/2004 08:33:06 PM "When a marginally talented person achieves great success, I always assume a deal with Satan is involved." And we all know that Pres. Reagan's BH house number was changed from 666 at their request. It is all coming together. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ripley (R) EMAIL: jm.sawyer@verizon.net IP: 4.65.5.209 URL: http://www.qwest.com DATE: 11/26/2004 01:26:24 AM you know if you shaved this fat fuck he'd look just like Arafish's smelly pig of a wife Sooey. and im sure she's just as proud of her take from the Oil for Weapons of mass destruction she's tucked away in her swiss bank account. the lease is up at the UN - get the f out Kofi Cake... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: "Sa-mar-ter than the av-er-age bear..." STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Citizens DATE: 11/13/2004 05:15:25 PM ----- BODY: nzbear.jpg N.Z. Bear types for me in Memo to the Left:Time's Up
Alright kids. It's been over a full week now. I left you alone and let you have your pity-parties. Hopefully you've had a good long sulk and gotten it out of your system. But now, it's time to get your asses back to work. You might not expect me to be saying this, but here's the bulletin: this country needs you.
----- EXTENDED BODY:
We need intelligent voices to criticize the policies of this --- of any --- administration. We need differing viewpoints; different ideas about how to deal with the tremendous challenges that history has decided to toss at this generation. We need the balance that a liberal perspective can bring to the debate about where this country is going. We do not need you sulking in a corner, muttering darkly about homophobic theocrats. But the first thing you have to accept is that opposition in itself is not a policy. You've skated along for the past year by presenting "Bush screwed everything up, Kerry will fix it" as your sole platform. That's no longer a viable answer (in truth, it never was). George Bush is President, and he is going to keep being President for another four years. That's not going to change. So telling us how much he sucks is irrelevant. Telling us how stupid the portion of America which voted for him is: also irrelevant. Discussing secession and to hell with those red states: well that's just plain stupid, forget about irrelevant. What is relevant are answers. Solutions, not a list of problems. Declaring that Iraq is a mess is easy, and worthless. Telling us what we should do to fix it is harder, but far more worthwhile. Don't like the operation in Falluja? Fine: how else would you stop the terrorists? Think we should involve allies more in Iraq? Great. How?
----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron Deaton EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.246 URL: DATE: 11/13/2004 07:00:20 PM What a line of BS. We need liberal ideology like we need screen doors on Trident Subs. You want to extend an olive branch TTLB, fine, they'll slap it back on your hairy paws. You want intelligent discourse? Try the nearest liberal wall. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill EMAIL: wkeezer@mindspring.com IP: 149.173.6.25 URL: http://billscomments.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/13/2004 08:03:54 PM Ron, based on the garbage that got spewed during the election campaign, your comment is on point. However, in a less partisan sense TTLB has a point. On a micro scale, in my experience, diverse opinion arrives at a better solution than homogeneous opinion. I believe the same can be said for the macro scale of governing this country and its subdivisions. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justin Moser EMAIL: spamity@nothanks.net IP: 207.179.127.210 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 01:03:08 AM No. We need to fund a mass exodus of Liberals into Canada. I'd personally am willing to see to it that MI Governer Granholm gets her paperowrk cleared in record time. Then, the Democratic Party needs to utterly detach from it's whacky constituents, and give us a moderate candidate. And I don't mean someone who campaigns as a moderate and policies as a liberal (/me gives Slick Willy Clinton a dirty look), but a real moderate. I look at it this way: the US collectively is moderate with a strong lean to the right. A liberal candidate won't counterbalance a conservative candidate as effectively as a true moderate candidate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: slimedog EMAIL: m_t_anderson@hotmail.com IP: 68.89.130.12 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 12:18:51 PM Geez, RR, how many Iraqi women and kids do the "insurgents" have to kidnap or car bomb before you graduate them as "terrorists?" And how about their "consultants" from out of town? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justin EMAIL: spammenot@here.com IP: 207.179.127.210 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 05:43:34 PM what slimedog said. to not call them terrorists does a disservice to their Iraqi civilian victims. Heck, i don't even think we should call them "insurgents," because that name grants more honor than those snivling turds deserve. ----- PING: TITLE: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 11:00 PM URL: http://w-uh.com/posts/041124.html IP: 4.41.182.223 BLOG NAME: Critical Section DATE: 11/26/2004 03:01:25 AM NZBear nails it: Memo to the left, time's up. "Here's the bulletin: this country needs you. We need intelligent voices to criticize the policies of this - of any - administration. We need differing viewpoints ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Real Death Star STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Space Patrol DATE: 11/13/2004 01:41:28 PM ----- BODY: A solid bit of astronomical insight from one of our favorite pages, Laputan Logic
This is Eta Carinae, the seventh star of the southern Carina constellation and the most massive and luminous star known in our galaxy. It's 100 times as massive as our sun and 5 million times brighter. Its diameter is about the size of Jupiter's orbit and it is extremely unstable. Currently it is in the process of rapidly exhausting its fuel supply and is on the brink of self-destruction. It could collapse into itself and form a black hole at any moment. Eta Carinae is also interesting because it's probably the only star in the night sky that could conceivably kill you.
You'll want to know why. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.105.197.62 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/13/2004 01:56:00 PM Supernovae have long been considered one of the primary menaces to the formation of intelligent life in the universe. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mumblix Grumph EMAIL: tharn1@msn.com IP: 67.168.78.41 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 03:18:42 AM It looks like it's 10,000 light years away. The thing could have alredy blown for all we know. It might have novae'd (sp?) before the Pyramids were built. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: thoughtomator EMAIL: thoughtomator@yahoo.com IP: 66.108.81.62 URL: http://thoughtomator.blogspot.com DATE: 11/15/2004 10:39:01 AM Steven Den Beste of USS Clueless did an in-depth look at Eta Carinae some months back, it's worth a look. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David Tiley EMAIL: tiley@internode,on.net IP: 150.101.148.205 URL: http://dox.media2.org/barista DATE: 11/26/2004 11:18:05 PM I am glad you like the Laputan Logic site - it is a very fine thing. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Proposed Contract Between the Two Americas STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/13/2004 01:24:25 PM ----- BODY: A rich and stunning proposal for getting along by Orthodox & Heterodox . Every clause is pure gold and worth deep reflection and consideration. Herewith a few, and only a few, choice excerpts:
We, the bold, free-spirited peoples of the Diverse Lands of Blue America, hereby contract with you, the safe, ordinary drabs of the Nearly-contiguous Lands of Red America to exist peaceably and amicably in the manner to which we've become accustomed. We will continue to exist in heavily-impacted urban centers in areas where our explosive growth and profligate lifestyle are completely unsustainable -- deserts, swamps, mountains, frozen wastelands, coasts and islands -- and so we will be needing to pull heavily from your water and other natural resources. We will need you to have power plants, waste recycling plants and refineries in your areas, since we can't stand to look at the ugly things. We will need to convert some of the more inhabitable areas you have into parks and bedroom communities for us, since our cities are too disgusting for any of us to consider living in them. We will come out in droves, build densely and go elsewhere to work. We won't care about these communities or put any work into their governance. You are welcome to stay if you'd like -- and if you can afford the housing costs once we're there -- but please don't alter the opinion landscape that we'd like to exist in. In other words, please either be like us or aspire to be like us ... or shut up.
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.... [snip] We will raise our children to be untethered, free spirits with no boundaries like ourselves. In other words, spoiled, bored, self-centered, angry, dispirited, whiny and uncontrollable thugs, sociopaths and cowards. We will want to shape their beautiful little minds into carbon copies of our own, in order to ensure future creativity (and socio-political continuity), but you can help us raise them if you want, as long as you don't impose any limitations on them. Heck, you can even have them in daycare and private schools. Goodness knows we can't stand the little monsters. Ha ha. We're kidding. Okay, we're not. We love our pets. We own our children (and invoke their name to our own political ends). Don't ask why. Because of our precious children, and because it is unconscionable to us to ever frown upon any activity of our populace -- criminal or otherwise -- we will need you to have prisons and drug rehab centers to house our miscreants. Also, it pleases us to maintain a constant supply of non-incentivizing social programs, so remember to pay your taxes promptly and vote in every new bond.
Go and read the entire agreement very carefully. You may be asked to sign. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justin Moser EMAIL: spaminator@optout.org IP: 207.179.127.210 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 01:14:12 AM forget them! if they really wanted a "detente" in the "cultural wars," they would have stopped arrogantly raising their noses at the rest of us, and they would quit talking about us like we are stupid rednecks. We made it clear on Nov. 2, we don't want their enlightened, "let big government wipe your butts for you," ways ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Galaxy Crystal STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 2 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Moving Images DATE: 11/13/2004 12:17:50 PM ----- BODY: galaxy3.jpg Our Neighborhood, 35,000 Lightyears to the Inch The Galaxy Crystal is a cosmic paperweight: an optically perfect glass block 3" square by 1 1/2" deep, laser etched with a 3D model of the Milky Way. Data for this sculpture comes from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. For sale at: Bathsheba Grossman - Galaxy Crystal ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find.... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Enemies, Foreign & Domestic DATE: 11/13/2004 11:42:42 AM ----- BODY: On October 27th this Sidelines posting which requests speed:
========{*}========

WHO SAYS THERE'S NO GOOD NEWS?

"Driven home into the heart of the stone figure attached to it, was a knife. Round its hilt was a frill of paper, on which was scrawled:

`Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from JACQUES.'"

-- Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

========{*}========
And yesterday a request fulfilled. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: And all the news just repeats itself... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Reportage Redux DATE: 11/13/2004 11:27:42 AM ----- BODY: Same old, same old, noted by Anticipatory Retaliation: Same As It Ever Was

Hostage Slaughterhouses, Death Camps, Gulags

Anyone recognize The Beast?

----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Where are the Islamic Moderates? All Around Us. STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: TerrorWar DATE: 11/13/2004 10:42:57 AM ----- BODY: For some years now we have been hearing the clarion calls for the Islamic "Moderates" to speak out. This oft-repeated request has gone out from a wide-spectrum of voices here and abroad. But it would seem that the standard response is that "We hear very little from Islamic Moderates about Terrorism." I think this is utterly wrong. I think we have been hearing a great deal from the "Islamic Moderates" over the last three years. In fact, we hear from them constantly. The problem is not that we do not hear from the "Moderates," but with our current assumption of exactly what "Moderate" means. We've been, indeed, entirely too conservative in our understanding of "Islamic moderates." In the brave new world of "Radical Islam," a conservative Muslim would be one who seeks to live in peace with those of other faiths, does not look for a global or even regional theocracy, and in general would just like to get on with life in a peaceful, diverse, tolerant society. And while it is true that there has not been a lot of speaking out from this group, there has still been some and we can assume it is not a total loss. Fear of Islamic moderates probably mutes an otherwise large segment of the Islamic population. In contrast, an "Islamic Moderate" currently means those members of the Islamic faith committed to a regional caliphate and willing to use conventional terrorism to achieve these aims. This includes beheadings, mass murder, random bombing of civilian targets, infiltration of Iraq, Afghanistan, New York, Cleveland, etc. to kill Americans and other unbelievers with conventional arms and explosives. At the moment, these moderates are being extremely vocal and noisy in Iraq. This moderate group has been extremely vociferous in the past few years and, if the present is any guide, will continue to speak out with explosives, arms and manifestos until they either triumph or are eliminated. Virtually silent at present, are the "Islamic Radicals" who seek to achieve a global caliphate through the use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons to kill unbelievers wholesale. We hear them every so often in the current safe haven of Iran where plutonium futures are traded with the cheers of "Death to America." We hear less from the dispersed members of this cult with the exception of intermittent claims on Muslim websites that, yes, they have a nuclear bomb and they are going to use it. Whether or not they actually have that bomb is open to question. What is not is their devotion to using it as soon as possible. Under these conditions, it strikes me that as long as we are hearing from the "Islamic moderates' " through propaganda and through weapons we need not be too worried. It is when these "moderate voices" fall silent that we need to look out for the big and booming voice of the Radical Islam. But by that time, it is my sad opinion we will be, once again, in a reactive mode. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Deer That Are The Headlights STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Pure Products of America DATE: 11/13/2004 08:59:45 AM ----- BODY: I like to think (right now, please!) of a cybernetic forest filled with pines and electronics where deer stroll peacefully past computers as if they were flowers with spinning blossoms.         -- Richard Brautigan , 1967 Bambi's brood, known as either "cute," "rats with antlers," or "the most lethal animal in North America" when you hit them with your car, are up for some genetic modification @ NIGHTSAVE DEER
With over 500,000 deer/auto collisions every year, the cost in lives and money is staggering While insurers pay over a billion dollars in claims annually, over 200 people are killed. Countless other drivers and passengers suffer injuries and other serious medical complications. By implanting the gene of a special jellyfish into deer, the transgenic NIGHTSAVE deer produced by GENETIATE (patent pending) have fluorescing hair and skin when illuminated by car headlights. The implanted gene has no other effect on the deer, who appear normal in daylight. The NIGHTSAVE project aims to reduce the number of night time deer/auto collisions, saving the lives of both deer and people.
But what about the jellyfish? Are we to IGNORE the billions of jellyfish lives that will be destroyed just to save a few Bambis. Is it because jellyfish aren't cuddly that we consign them to doom? Just what is PETA's position on jellyfish anyway? What haven't we heard from them? ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Grumpy Old Man EMAIL: octopod@cox.net IP: 68.231.197.173 URL: http://www.globaloctopus.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/13/2004 09:34:44 AM Will the mountain lions will be greatful for the phosphorescent heads up? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/13/2004 09:42:11 AM I suspect they will be instantly converted to the scientific method. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Miss America's Defunct STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Mondo Bizarro DATE: 11/12/2004 01:45:47 PM ----- BODY: Long Live Miss Ronald Mc Donald ! The clown make-up's been ditched and the shoes are to die for. The Japanese might go for it, but I really don't think the American mind is ready for this intense variation on the Ronald McDonald theme. On the other hand, this could cause donations to Ronald McDonald House to go through the roof. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccwbass EMAIL: ccwbass@yahoo.com IP: 67.119.159.17 URL: http://wayoffbass.blogspot.com DATE: 11/12/2004 02:08:38 PM Great. McDonald's goes for Bulemia chic. "Now it's okay that you can't keep our food down!" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: slimedog EMAIL: m_t_anderson@hotmail.com IP: 207.193.28.57 URL: DATE: 11/12/2004 04:21:41 PM Bulemia-schmulemia. I wuz lookin' at the tomato. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stewart EMAIL: stewart@insulted.org IP: 24.91.181.174 URL: http://www.insulted.org/ DATE: 11/12/2004 08:11:08 PM It's not enough to aggressively advertise to children food that can only make them less healthy in proportion to the amount the eat, but now they're targetting, what? Women? Using the same type of ad-campaign that has contributed to low self-esteen of young women everywhere, and will provide food that can only make that self-esteen worse? Fabulous guys! Fabulous! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccwbass EMAIL: ccwbass@yahoo.com IP: 67.119.157.252 URL: http://wayoffbass.blogspot.com DATE: 11/12/2004 09:39:40 PM True confession: Tonight I had a double-quarter pounder. Large fries; Lots of ketchup. Large Coke. And I felt not even remotely guilty. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Woody EMAIL: wooddad@sbcglobal.net IP: 64.175.120.214 URL: http://woodyswoundup.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/13/2004 06:19:20 AM No, but you probably felt a few other things! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccwbass EMAIL: ccwbass@yahoo.com IP: 68.120.60.16 URL: http://wayoffbass.blogspot.com DATE: 11/13/2004 12:55:48 PM Heh. You're right about that. That was my first Coke binge in a few weeks, so I had a raging headache all night, and other less discussable problems as well. Learned my lesson, I did, but, once again, felt not the slightest tinge of guilt. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Random Bits from the Buffer Zone STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Drive-By DATE: 11/12/2004 09:21:23 AM ----- BODY:
  • The first casualty of war isn't truth, notes a soldier, but innocence. That's why the Ma-Deuce .50 caliber machine gun is a man's best friend: Heavy Weapons & The First Casualty
  • Faced with declining web revenues in the wake of the election, the execrable Kos is starting to back and fill in order to scuttle towards the center. Here he's actually used the word "thugs" to describe the people we're trying to eradicate in Fallujah. A much earlier Kos remarked when American bodies were strung up on the bridges of Fallujah, "Screw 'em," so there's little reason to think he's changed that much since then. But when called out by his loyal if demented readers on ascribing thuggishness to animals, his response is a hearty "F*** You!" Ah, the garbage does not fall far from the dumpster @ Kos Looks to Sustain His Cash-Flow
  • The big lie that refuses to die. In the waning days of the election, one big gun fired without stop over the heads of the voters was the "100,000" dead citizens of the Iraq meme. Besides the obvious fact that we have not seen the 186 funerals every day reported for even one day, the study on which the lie was based was also deeply flawed. For political purposes? Almost certainly. After all it is much easier to hide bias inside statistics than to hide it in editorial columns. Fred Kaplan, however, eviscerates the lie in terms of statistics @ 100,000 Dead‚ or 8,000 - How many Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the war?
  • Afghans have casualties too. To underscore the continuing use of casualties for propaganda purposes (Who knew!?), the Winds of Change has some background @ Winds of Change.NET: Fraud #2: Herold's Afghan War Casualties
  • The Unbearable Sadness of Being [Blue]: The binge drinking of the bitter herbs continues without letup at "The New Yorker. Yes, The New Yorker." Once again it is not the Democratic Party that's at fault, but the country itself: "The system of checks and balances has broken down, but the country remains divided -- right down the nonexistent, powerless middle. " claims Hertzberg in his bring-out-the crying-towels memory/dream/reflection called, sigh, Blues. ----- EXTENDED BODY:
  • But hope is renewed elsewhere in the New Yorker with a brief look at a group of students taking a course called "What If? The Art and Science of Imagining a Society That Never Was." Tracking their reactions to the election during the course of the actual voting it is an interesting example of what happens when What If? Becomes Is.
  • Jed Babbin at The American Spectator coins the term Legacy Media , which you will probably be hearing again. To Babbin, "The term "legacy media" is a precise one. In the computer biz, "legacy systems" are old, outdated, and must be replaced if their purpose is to be served. It's happening in the media, and the process is accelerating. "
  • Another concept you'll be hearing more about as the days and the Democratic Party's endless Irish Wake of recriminations roll on for, dare I say it?, can we stand it?, Four More Years is Intellectuals Without Intellect by George Neumayr, also in the Spectator. The core of his article is expressed by the sentence: "The reason why liberalism lacks any enduring appeal to ordinary Americans is not that it is too lofty but that it is too low. "
  • A higher and much more lofty vision is found in this extensive interview with the ubiquitous Jeff Jarvis in The Future of Digital Media @ Corante. Jarvis, the machine behind the buzz at Buzzmachine, has long been a tireless promoter of blogs from deep within the Legacy Media. "Jarvis' First Law of Media: Give the people control of media, they will use it. The corollary: Don't give the people control of media, and you will lose. "
  • Also at Corante is this slightly off-the-reservation report that asks the soul-searing question: What's Wrong With Bloggercon? "Bloggercon is more of a fan conference, where the followers of the conference insiders -- great minds all, admittedly -- can come and bask in the philosophical musings of these titans. Its Dave and the Friends of Dave having a love-in. " You know, he could have just written "Dave Winer" and been done with the whole article. Who's Dave Winer, you ask? If you don't know, I'll spare you.
  • Mother of Mercy, can this be the end of WinAmp? An interesting history of the birth, life, buy-out, and slow death of the once proud WinAmp at the hands of the never proud AOL. Death Knell Sounds for Nullsoft, Winamp Moral of the story? Never send a corporation to do an innovator's job.
  • 'Sweet smokin' Jesus,' is there no end to Playstation? [No, of course not, whatever makes you think there can be?] Reporting in from that "paradise in pixels," The Tokyo Game Show, Steve Levy takes his thumbs for a ride on the forthcoming Personal PlayStation from Sony. Is it a Gameboy killer? Who cares as long as every backpack in the world has one. Not Sony which continues to long for those days of yore when Walkman's dominated consumer electronics like tiny Titans.
  • Microsoft's launching a search engine? Gives new meaning to the phrase, "A decade late and an OS short."
  • If your paranoia reserves are running low, and you stay up all night worrying about the knock on the door and hear the jackboots chunking in the distance, this film of tanks showing up and parallel parking at a Los Angeles street demonstration will rev you up.
  • I really liked Marty Peretz's "Good Riddance" article in the Wall Street Journal, but so did everyone else in the world so I won't mention it HERE .
  • Music hath charms to soothe the savage brain, but how? Like every other mystery in the world, science is closing in on it. Take a listen to " The Music of the Brain."
  • Daniel Ben-Ami takes the economics of environmentalism to task and finds that they are not exactly sustainable in "The dismal quackery of eco-economics." Little wonder that this essay has wound up posted on Spiked.com.
  • But that's far too much of the trivial concerns of the day. I'm off on some essential errands. While I'm gone, it's time for you to take on a small techno task -- Overclock Your Toothbrush! Mind the gums and there will be a quiz. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 68.126.140.215 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/12/2004 09:31:13 AM The Tanks on LA strees video was amazingly lame. Those protestors are a farce of those in the '60s. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steve EMAIL: steveb1@rogers.com IP: 66.185.84.207 URL: DATE: 11/12/2004 11:17:33 AM Hmmm ... no tanks in that video, just a couple of LAVs. One expects that sort of mistake from the MSM, but I hope for better from the blogosphere. An amusing show none the less; thanks for the link. Steve ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: "For the Discriminating Lunatic" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Tinfoil Brigade DATE: 11/11/2004 05:21:22 PM ----- BODY: Everybody talks about tinfoil hats, now... dapperside_thmb.jpgkutcherside_thmb.jpg
    Sure, your hat allows you to subvert your oppressors, but let's face it; it makes you look ridiculous. Chances are it's the same origami hat/ship that kids make. What is the alternative, you ask? Designer tin foil hats. Where to find them? Look no further.
    -- tfh - tin foil hats ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron Deaton EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.246 URL: DATE: 11/11/2004 10:20:55 PM Could you, er um, cover that thing to the right with foil? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Heating Up on Mars, Too STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Space Patrol DATE: 11/11/2004 09:23:13 AM ----- BODY: Seems that global warming isn't confined to the Earth these days, but that greenhouse emissions evidently extend across the void to Mars. This from an interesting observation at The Speculist: Getting Warmer .
    Things are heating up on Mars...literally. The planet is experiencing its own version of global warming. The dry-ice polar caps are diminishing. Paul Hsieh speculates that this must be on account of our failure to sign Kyoto. Wow, when somebody close to me told me that I could vote for Bush if I wanted to, but I would have to accept the fact that everything that happens from now on is my fault...well, I just didn't grasp the cosmic implications. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder — if two planets so close to each other are both experiencing a rise in surface temperature, isn't it just possible that it might have to do with that nearby star they both orbit? I'm just asking is all. I mean, what if...
    Fret not, Dear Speculist, for I am sure that soon you will hear from those that note this "warming" only really began when we started landing probes on the surface with parts made by.... Halliburton! ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.111.108.217 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/11/2004 12:16:30 PM Hmmm, almost makes you wonder if the rise of temperature on the Earth and Mars are related, doesn't it? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Riverrun EMAIL: Riverrun2@mindspring.com IP: 67.101.35.142 URL: http://none DATE: 11/11/2004 05:20:47 PM Actually, It was Brown & Root, now absorbed into Halliburton, that made the first (acknowledged) landing on Mars in 1976 ... in watching the scenes at NASA in Texas, there were repeated shots of a rock, which seemed to have some inscription ... looked like a B and a 3 -- The problem at that time of optical scanners unable to distinguish between the two? The big theory was it was graffiti, telling us that was the third time Brown and Root had been there. And heating it up, no doubt. ----- PING: TITLE: Global warming... URL: http://www.bolditalic.com/wankives/000652.html IP: 64.26.174.91 BLOG NAME: blogulaciousness DATE: 11/11/2004 11:55:08 AM ... on Mars.American Digest The Speculist Denver Post article FuturePundit Max Planck Society, with this article stating – Because the brightness of the Sun varies slightly with solar activity, the new reconstruction indicates also that the Sun sh... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Final and Ultimate Electoral Map STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: PictureThis DATE: 11/10/2004 05:19:37 PM ----- BODY: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mumblix Grumph EMAIL: tharn1@msn.com IP: 63.224.56.80 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 10:22:26 PM What kind of map is that? I can't find Jesusland! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.246 URL: DATE: 11/11/2004 07:46:05 AM Deep. Very, very, very, very, very, Deep. The eyes have it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Brian Jones EMAIL: spamcatcher@bovious.com IP: 169.137.201.113 URL: http://www.bovious.com/blogs/main DATE: 11/11/2004 02:16:28 PM I don't get it. Pretty picture, but I don't get it. Can you post a pedantic explanation? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justin Moser EMAIL: spamity@nothanks.net IP: 207.179.127.210 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 05:47:14 PM Uhhh, where did Michigan go? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Movies that do the decent thing STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Nota Bene DATE: 11/10/2004 12:27:05 PM ----- BODY: Last Saturday at the local cinema in Laguna Beach, we went to see the opening of "The Incredibles." Other than state the obvious that it was, indeed, incredible, I won't bother to add to the 386,457 reviews of this film. I did note one thing that struck me. The film is on many levels state-of-the-art, and the sound track does no less. The sound track is so dense and so fully-packed that it frankly overwhelmed the equipment of this little local theater. The staff either didn't know how to balance the speakers or the speakers themselves couldn't cope with the sound track. Either way, a lot of the track was incomprehensible during the last 40 minutes of the film. But this theater is a decent, local business. It lost no time in having a staff member stand out in front at the end of the film, and offer free passes or money back to anyone who felt they hadn't been satisfied by the film's outcome. There were a lot of takers. It was the decent thing to do. Which made me think: If you make a film that promises a satisfying outcome to millions and millions of people, and if you make millions upon millions of dollars with this promise, and if that film, in the end, doesn't deliver a satisfying outcome to the millions who bought tickets, shouldn't you offer to give them their money back? Wouldn't that be the least, the very least, decent thing to do? ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pat Berry EMAIL: pberry@nc.rr.com IP: 129.33.49.251 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 12:54:13 PM You're talking to Michael Moore, aren't you? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/10/2004 01:26:07 PM To answer that question would be to break my news and politics fast. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: slimedog EMAIL: m_t_anderson@hotmail.com IP: 129.115.148.25 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 03:36:36 PM Nah, he's talking Team America! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen B EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 67.122.12.231 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 08:40:22 PM I'm surprised that theater shows "talkies", it's so old. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mrs. VdL EMAIL: shrylvanderleun@writeratlarge.us IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://www.cheaper-than-therapy.com DATE: 11/11/2004 10:01:02 AM Wait a minute. I didn't hear them offering free passes. Did you get them? And who said anything about Michael Moore? Which character was he? Edna or IncrediBoy? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Red Hot Halo: Scoring a Copy of "2" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/10/2004 11:50:36 AM ----- BODY: halo2.jpg
    It would be one thing to "Vote or Die," quite another to choose between "Vote or play Halo 2."
    He's 10 years old and living with him is, at times, like living with a surfing Tom Sawyer who studies Karate. He's getting very good at Karate very fast. I think if this goes on I'm going to have to either arm myself, or at least fortify the office, since he's fond of demonstrating what he's learned for his mother and the handiest demonstration object is me. But, like most 10 year olds in this world, his real love isn't surfing, or chess, or even leaping off the stairs so we can re-enact Kato Vs. Detective Clouseau. No, he worships, adores and lives for video games. And right now, as if anyone in the cosmos didn't know it, the video game of the century is Halo 2. To describe his emotions as the long ballyhooed release of Halo 2 approached as anything less than pure pre-adolescent lust would be understate it by a factor of 10. He'd put in a reservation for the game 10 months ago -- a bit of forward planning seldom seen in Pentagon war planners; and an eternity in the life of a 10 year old. He'd sold off old and used up video games at the GameSpot and hoarded the store credits. He'd begun stashing money away a few months ago with the single-mindedness of a squirrel preparing for winter at the North Pole. As the days ticked down to a precious few, his eyes grew larger. It was like waiting for Christmas Eve in November. Then, late Monday night, THE CALL came. "This is GameSpot. We will begin selling Halo 2 at midnight tonight. Your reserved copy is here and it will be held for 48 hours and then sold. Please come in and collect it. Click." Joy. Buckets of bouncing joy. Joy similar to watching Road Runner careen about the landscape beeping. But then... despair. The awful realization hit that Tuesday was a "school day," and you are not sprung from school to collect a video game no matter how universe shattering it may be. This would mean, at best, you would have to wait all through school ("Oh, eternity!"), then attend your Karate class after school ("Oh, eternity cubed!"), then come home, do homework, have dinner, and then beg to be driven to the GameSpot and then be driven back. ("Not even God has this much time!") Why it could be almost 9 PM before you even got home with Halo 2 and then bedtime would be 9:30 and.... the agony could not be more protracted. What to do? What to do? Solution: Draft the Stay-at-Home Stepfather. Ask, plead, whine, wheedle, bribe with 50% of remaining Halloween candy stash, and beg for him to pick it up during the day. Chance of success -- 75%. Superior solution: Get mom to ask the Stay-at-Home Stepfather. Chance of success 125% and rising. And so it was that I found myself traveling out into the midday mall scene in southern California to pick up his "Precious." ----- EXTENDED BODY: Midday mall scenes are always, as I have noted before, like journeys into "The World of Women;" not a lot of men about who have not taken up residence as either the hard-core unemployed or LeisureWorld. But today, it seems, is different as soon as you approach GameSpot. GameSpot is a small store in a Target-anchored mall just off the 73 in this part of the world. Usually I go there on the weekends when my stepson needs a Strategy Guide or wants to see what he can palm off on the staff for store credit. Whenever I've been there have been no more than three other customers in the store on a weekend day. Not so today. Today, at 2 in the workday afternoon, the door bulges with the tail-end of the line. The line is formed of at least two men across from the door to the cash registers. That makes about 25 people ahead of me. The staff of GameSpot, hardcore gamers all, numbers three. All three have the dark circles under their eyes and the expression known as "The Thousand Yard Stare." They are making an effort to impose order the line, but it is clear that crowd control is not their forte. Still, somehow, it works. The process is to be vetted as you join the line. "Here to pick up reserved Halo?" Answer "No" and you are advised to return on the following Saturday. Then, like some security check at an airport, a staff member takes a close look at your reservation slip and clears you again. After about 20 minutes you get your chance at the cash register and are, at that point, asked to provide a picture ID to go with your reservation slip. "It's not the same name as on the slip." "I'm picking it up for my step-son." "Dude, not the same name as it is on the reservation slip." "Look at me. I'm too old for "dude", dude. It is for... my... STEP-son." "Oh... oh... different names, yes. Okay. Sorry. Have to be careful." "Has it been bad?" "I've been working for 16 hours. You wouldn't believe it. This," gestures at the two dozen now behind me in the line, "is actually a lull." We complete the transaction and I return home with the "precious." It's waiting there when he gets home and I don't think I've ever seen a package opened and a game system booted more quickly. What follows is a merciless annihilation of all the opposition on the ship followed by planetfall into "New Mombasa;" an environment that looks suspiciously like "Blackhawk Down VI" populated with metallic insects among other things. I'm sure there is a subtext to this game that will probably bear some deeper scrutiny, but for now I'm just happy that he's happy. Actually, "happy" doesn't quit cover it at all. And "joy" falls short as does "ecstasy." What is clear is that it is probably just as well that Halo 2 wasn't released on last Tuesday, November 2. If it had been, the youth vote would have evaporated completely. It would be one thing to "Vote or Die," quite another to choose between "Vote or play Halo 2." ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen B EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 63.93.238.45 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 12:09:58 PM At least he isn't begging for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Yet. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Woody EMAIL: wooddad@sbcglobal.net IP: 130.76.32.144 URL: http://woodyswoundup.blogspot.com DATE: 11/10/2004 12:28:44 PM [Looking around the house. Only girls here. Ahhhhhh!] Oh, um, sorry. Hope you survived your foray into the 4th circle. May your return journey be relatively unobscured! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill Peschel EMAIL: bpeschel@earthlink.net IP: 209.86.73.235 URL: http://www.planetpeschel.com/Weblog/weblog.php DATE: 11/10/2004 12:31:43 PM Speaking as a father with three of my own, he sounds like a great kid, well aware of what he needs to do to get what he wants. I'm impressed by his behavior (especially at raising the money himself and getting someone else to pick the game up for him). I predict a fine future for him. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/10/2004 12:40:14 PM Actually, given the content of Grand Theft Auto, that would probably be forbidden to him. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill EMAIL: wkeezer@mindspring.com IP: 149.173.6.50 URL: http://billscomments.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/10/2004 06:57:49 PM I don't know how to break it to you Gerard, but it continues into their 20's. My middle son is a navy diver, 24 years old, and he is still plotting and coniving to get the latest games. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Eric Blair EMAIL: ericblair5@hotmail.com IP: 144.42.9.100 URL: DATE: 11/11/2004 05:36:56 AM I just got mine, but I haven't actually played it yet. I know that when I do, I won't be seen again for quite a while. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hunt Johnsen EMAIL: hjdww@gte.net IP: 67.192.171.104 URL: http://www.huntjohnsendesigns.com/index.htm DATE: 11/11/2004 07:52:08 PM I just fired mine up and managed to get through a few checkpoints before being killed by an elite that snuck up behind me - I really suck at these games, but the tech is so neat that I have to try them out at least. I'm 62, surf,and flew gliders, but the hand and eye coordination of the real gameplayers is amazing and I don't have it. I went through the first Halo accompanied by my 17 year old nephew who is hot, but my wife and I are going to have to do this on on our own. Wish us luck! ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Pushing the Mach 10 Envelope STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Space Patrol DATE: 11/10/2004 08:24:37 AM ----- BODY: scramjet.jpg With 'Scramjet,' NASA Shoots for Mach 10
    They call it a "scramjet," an engine so blindingly fast that it could carry an airplane from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., in about 20 minutes -- or even quicker. So fast it could put satellites in space. So fast it could drop a cruise missile on an enemy target, almost like shooting a rifle. Next week, NASA plans to break the aircraft speed record for the second time in 7 1/2 months by flying its rocket-assisted X-43A scramjet craft 110,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean at speeds close to Mach 10 -- about 7,200 mph, or 10 times the speed of sound.... About 50 miles off the California coast, the B-52 will drop the craft at an altitude of 40,000 feet. The booster rocket will ignite and bring the X-43A's speed close to Mach 10 at an altitude of 110,000 feet. At that point, controllers will fire two small pistons to jettison the rocket. Then they will open the cowl covering the X-43A's air intake and light the engine.
    The Scramjet process explained @ How the Scramjet Works ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott R EMAIL: srettig@five24.net IP: 64.108.206.210 URL: http://five24.net DATE: 11/10/2004 08:39:50 AM That is extraordinary. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.104.40.251 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/10/2004 08:59:55 AM From what I have heard, that is nothing. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.104.40.251 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/10/2004 11:17:56 AM Actually, I really can't say much, because much isn't known. All that I know is this: its called Aurora, and its supposed to be fast. And weird jet trails have been seen over Nevada Air Space for a few years now. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mumblix Grumph EMAIL: tharn1@msn.com IP: 63.224.56.80 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 10:27:57 PM I've heard about hyper-sonic planes using some kind of "deflection" technology to get around the heat buildup associated with high-speed travel. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mumblix Grumph EMAIL: tharn1@msn.com IP: 63.224.56.80 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 10:30:27 PM PS...the "deflection" technology is the reason for the weird jet trails that have been reported. I'd say more, but "they" are listening. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steel Turman EMAIL: cosmic@renonevada.net IP: 216.105.193.85 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 11:40:16 PM Ramjets leave a trace much like a smoke ring... twixt a short stream. PUFF BAM PUFF BAM. I've seen them for some time in NV. Scrams are all BAM. No contrail at all. Too efficient. And the tests have been too high for such to be manifest. BAM and gone. Delete my saying so. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mrs. VdL EMAIL: sherylvanderleun@writeratlarge.us IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://www.cheaper-than-therapy.com DATE: 11/11/2004 10:45:14 AM I'm just pleased to see that you're linking to such an excellent, enlightened paper, one with the most perceptive and discerning of all editors, especially that Sunday Outlook section. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: My Recovery Continues STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Analog World DATE: 11/09/2004 10:44:15 AM ----- BODY: Many thanks for the letters and expressions of concern about my well-being after last month's unfortunate incident: American Digest: Blogger's Head Explodes To update you all, my recovery is almost complete even though the recent elections and the sad state of the Democratic Party has complicated matters considerably. In physical terms I have been rebuilt from the ground up and am in better shape than I have been in months. Here's a recent photo and I think you will all agree it is an improvement: MrWon2aweb2.jpg On the internal front, things are not as well advanced. It seems that in replacing my motherboard and controlling OS, the boffins at JPL were running a little short of parts and hence had to make do with stripping the essentials from a Roomba: roomba.jpg This has resulted in a painful bumping into ideological corners during the last week since the election. Symptoms also include an increased build up in pressure within my new head. The chances of a new explosion are therefore increased. Hence, under orders from my doctors and the head of the Replicant Bureau at JPL, I have been placed on a one-week news and politics fast. As you can see below, I have already had the "small slip." So, in order to preserve my new head and return to full functionality, I will be staying away from the News and from Politics for at least a week. Longer if necessary. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccwbass EMAIL: ccwbass@yahoo.com IP: 63.196.242.130 URL: http://wayoffbass.blogspot.com DATE: 11/09/2004 02:50:35 PM Why am I not surprised you're a member of the Folio Society? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Grumpy Old Man EMAIL: octopod@cox.net IP: 68.231.197.173 URL: http://www.globaloctopus.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/09/2004 06:16:21 PM Gerald, you're a very versatile guy. And I don't mean that in some special Laguna Beach sense. We never know what you'll come up with. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.66.20.239 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 07:37:52 PM Gee. You look even better now. Your mother must be truly proud; those businessy looking glasses, the charming white smile, and those puffy little hands. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: RandMan EMAIL: rbean001@charter.net IP: 24.207.143.101 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 07:51:11 PM I see a lot of books, but no Bible. You are banished from Jesusland. Oh. You live in California. Nevemind. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mumblix Grumph EMAIL: tharn1@msn.com IP: 63.224.56.80 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 10:00:38 PM Better...Stronger...Faster... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mrs. VdL EMAIL: sherylvanderleun@writeratlarge.us IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://www.cheaper-than-therapy.com DATE: 11/10/2004 07:36:11 AM Dear CWWBass, Ever a stickler for accuracy, I'd like to point out that the Folio membership is mine. Though it has been years since I added to the collection, they are fine editions, aren't they? And yes, there are many Bibles in the house. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccwbass EMAIL: ccwbass@yahoo.com IP: 67.119.156.67 URL: http://wayoffbass.blogspot.com DATE: 11/10/2004 08:33:13 AM Mrs. V., my respect for the VdL household only grows. (Myself, I'm more of a "Penguin paperback at a little used-book store in Thousand Oaks" kinda guy." Someday, by gosh, I'll be able to indulge my Folio aspirations.) ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: "Things" You Didn't Know Were "Evil" About America STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Tinfoil Brigade DATE: 11/09/2004 09:54:55 AM ----- BODY: One of my favorite "interesting links" pages is the elegant things magazine , an offshoot of an annual magazine out of Britain. I recommend it highly. Still, like everything else in the world, it too is infected by a political virus that explodes even things' collective head from time to time. Case in point, this amazing bit of drive-by nonsense: .... things grow better with Coke: Indian farmers discover the pest-controlling qualities of the world's favourite thirst-quencher. Ironic, given Coke's alleged habit of extracting too much ground-water in the country. Up until that moment I'd never fully realized that the groundwater crisis in India was due to Coca Cola. I always thought it had something to do with being unable to get basic environmental controls in place and the thermonuclear population bomb. Silly me. It was Coca-Cola all the time. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dan Patterson EMAIL: danpatterson@remax.net IP: 66.194.22.92 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 10:56:38 AM Yeah. See, if you PISS in the drinking water it becomes...wait for it... UN-DRINK-ABLE!!! Then, if you gnash your teeth and wail, and if you DON'T clean-up after the barnyard animals that roam the streets add large plops of their waste to the runoff, well then the UN will jot on down and blame...wait for it... Coca-Cola for the ongoing water shortage. And THEN Jimmuh Cah Tuh can add his hand wringing and teeth gnashing to the mix, blame the US and our...something...for the problem. Don't you see? Dan Patterson Winston-Salem, NC ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/10/2004 12:39:01 PM Not to mention that, in countries such as this, drinking the ground water may kill you while Coca Cola will only keep you awake. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rene EMAIL: rdescartes@howdoyouspellstoopid.net IP: 24.61.221.159 URL: DATE: 11/13/2004 12:38:38 PM Coke accused of extracting too much ground-water. Therefore, groundwater crisis in India is attributable to Coca Cola. Yeah, you're a triumph of modern education and Western reasoning. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: News Untouched By Human Hands STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: PictureThis DATE: 11/09/2004 09:34:31 AM ----- BODY: At any rate, that's what 10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time / by Jonathan J. Harris claims to be providing.
    Every hour, 10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. After this process, conclusions are automatically drawn about the hour's most important words. The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories. At the end of each day, month, and year, 10x10 looks back through its archives to conclude the top 100 words for the given time period. In this way, a constantly evolving record of our world is formed, based on prominent world events, without any human input.
    The feeds currently being scanned are Reuters, BBC World, and New York Times International, so I think we can assumed there's human input in there somewhere. Still, this is an amazing tool to look at and play with. Well executed and elegant. [Requires Flash] ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mumblix Grumph EMAIL: tharn1@msn.com IP: 63.224.56.80 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 10:04:52 PM This is totally cool! Thanks. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Designer Soda Craze Hits New Low STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Pure Products of America DATE: 11/09/2004 09:26:22 AM ----- BODY: turkey04_06.jpg File under "Holiday gifts for people I hate" : The Jones Soda Co. Holiday Pack
    Jones Soda Co. (the "Company" or "Jones Soda" or "Jones"), announces today its limited edition holiday pack of five new seasonal flavors which includes: Green Bean Casserole Soda, Mashed Potato & Butter Soda, Fruitcake Soda, Cranberry Soda and Turkey & Gravy Soda. "Our holiday pack takes the work, worries and cost out of preparing a turkey dinner, so our consumers can spend more time with their loved ones. We even included utensils," says Peter van Stolk, President & C.E.O. "We realized consumers are concerned about the 2,000 calories that each full holiday meal contains. That’s why we made our sodas zero calories and zero carbs. Now, you can enjoy all the mashed potatoes and butter without worrying about the carbs."
    Good News: The online ordering store is closed for repairs. Bad News: It opens November 11. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.66.20.239 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 09:42:48 AM It's a charity dude. The proceeds benefit Toys for Tots. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/09/2004 10:11:01 AM I'm aware of that Ron. Good thing too. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lileks EMAIL: fence@startribune.com IP: 64.105.104.140 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 06:41:54 PM And they use the House League Night font, which is always nice. Three years old and it still looks good. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Phases of the Eclipse STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: PictureThis DATE: 11/09/2004 09:13:43 AM ----- BODY: When most American eyes were focused on the nation, a few took notes on the heavens. One note was this time-lapse photograph of the recent Lunar Eclipse by Forrest Egan @ Digital Astro! [Larger images at the site.] ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Always a lovely day, somewhere, sir. STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: FuturePerfect DATE: 11/09/2004 01:15:39 AM ----- BODY: "His senses uncrossed in the ivory-and-gold Star Chamber of Castle Presteign... he saw the high mirors and stained glass windows, the gold tooled library with android librarian on library ladder... he heard the android secretary tapping the manual bead-recorder at the Louis Quinze desk... he sipped the cognac that the robot bartender handed him. ...He ignored his enemies and examined the perpetual beam carved in the robot face of the bartender, the classic Irish grin. 'Thank you,' Foyle said. 'My pleasure, sir,' the robot replied and awaited its next cue. 'Nice day,' Foyle remarked. 'Always a lovely day somewhere, sir,' the robot beamed. 'Awful day,' Foyle said. 'Always a lovely day somewhere, sir,' the robot responded. 'Day,' Foyle said. 'Always a lovely day somewhere, sir,' the robot said. " The bartender robot hurled its mixing glass across the room with a resounding crash. In the amazed silence that followed, Dagenham grunted: Damn! My radiation disrupted your dolls again, Presteign.' 'The answer is yes,' the robot said, quite distinctly. 'What?' Foyle asked, taken aback. ----- EXTENDED BODY: 'The answer to your question is yes.' 'Thank you, Foyle said. 'My pleasure, sir,' the robot responded. 'A man is a member of society first, and an individual second. You must go along with society, whether it chooses destruction or not.' 'Completely haywire,' Dagenham said impatiently. Switch if off, Presteign.' 'Wait,' Foyle commanded. He looked at the beaming grin engraved in the steel robot face. 'But society can be so stupid. So confused. You've witnessed this conference.' 'Yes, sir, but you must teach, not dictate. You must teach society.' 'To space-jaunte? Why? To reach out to the stars and galaxies? What for?' " "'Because you're alive, sir. You might as well ask: Why is life? don't ask about it. Live it.' 'Quite mad,' Dagenham muttered. 'But fascinating,' Y'ang-Yeovil murmured. 'There's got to be more to life than just living,' Foyle said to the robot. 'Then find it for yourself, sir. Don't ask the world to stop moving because you have doubts.' 'Why can't we all move forward together?' 'Because you're all so different. You're not lemmings. Some must lead, and hope that the rest will follow.' 'Who leads?' 'The men who must . . . driven men, compelled men.' 'Freak men.' 'You're all freaks, sir. But you always have been freaks. Life is a freak. That's its hope and glory.' 'Thank you very much.' 'My pleasure, sir.' 'You've saved the day.' 'Always a lovely day somewhere, sir,' the robot beamed. Then it fizzed, jangled, and collapsed. " -- Bester, Alfred. The Stars My Destination. New York: Berkley Publishing (1975; c. 1956); pg. 240. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dong Nyugen EMAIL: DongNyugen188@hotmail.com IP: 157.95.211.50 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 11:42:47 AM One of my favorite novels. Thanks for reminding me of it. Along with "The Demolished Man" some of the very best of the 1950s. While I hardly read fiction anymore, it's sad that the SF corpus from the 1940s and 1950s seems to be lost. Doubly sad to walk the SF aisle at the bookstores anymore. If I may, you might enjoy "Altered Carbon" by Richard Morgan. However, it is quite violent but also imaginative and has a sense of wonder. Finally, while I didn't like the novel "The Broken God" (David Zindell) as much as some, a quote from it is suggested by this post: "An acorn does not fear becoming an oak." Some will sieze humanity's future and others, alas, will remain acorns. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Shaken & Stirred: Recipe for Ye Olde Democratic Hot Party STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Political Corrections DATE: 11/08/2004 03:37:06 PM ----- BODY: Via Gothamist, the always annoying Chi Chi Valenti, "Nightlife Empress" describes how to make "a party HOT." Sounds distressingly familiar, doesn't it?
    As an expert, can you tell us what makes a party HOT? Since someone's always hooking up, getting wasted or starting a fight these days, my standard for a great party is somewhat higher. Most importantly, there must be a MIX - Vampires and diamond dealers, legends and New Kids, fetishists and objects of worship, romantics and cynics, geeks and pop stars, boys, girls and everything in between. Historically, New York's best parties (and club nights) have combined all ages, gender prefs, income levels and style schools. A roomful of one kind of person is boring and predictable - it is the mark of the provinces.
    We admit that a few hours in a few rooms with this "selection" of types might be of passing interest on those weekends when nothing new is showing at the multiplex, the NASCAR race has the caution flag out, my Bible's out for repairs, and I'm evicted from my trailer out here in the provinces. But the idea of the same group running the country for four years is not our current idea of fun. You know, they talk a good game but I got me a dollar to yer doughnut that Chi-Chi is going to be floor hostess at the 2008 DNC. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Phil EMAIL: phillip.gilbert@comcast.net IP: 170.35.208.20 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 08:23:37 AM Just imagine the parties that they could throw in the White House; table dances on the desk in the Oval Office; orgies in the Lincoln bedroom and naked volleyball in the pool. This would just blow Hugh's mansion parties away. Clinton's White House shindigs with Babs and Yasser are piker efforts in comparison. Oh God, what a freakin' nightmare. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: phil EMAIL: phillip.gilbert@comcast.net IP: 170.35.208.20 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 08:25:44 AM The mention of Yasser caused me to vent...the thought of that aids infected, murderous grotesque doing sleep overs in the White House just makes me ill. I bet the place still has an odor, like the smelly car in one of Seinfeld's episodes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nichelle EMAIL: niche_step@yahoo.com IP: 12.105.17.5 URL: DATE: 11/11/2004 08:17:38 AM It amazes me that you would take a fun post about parties and co-op it for your own right-wing purposes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Michelle EMAIL: mmalkin@ihateeveryone.com IP: 24.61.221.159 URL: DATE: 11/13/2004 12:33:00 PM Nothing this group of hysterical rightwing professional haters does or says surprises me anymore. Nothing. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Ken Layne Unleashes His Inner Marjoe Gortner STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Tinfoil Brigade DATE: 11/08/2004 12:32:08 PM ----- BODY: Sigh. You'd hope that the weekend would have given people a chance to just ! chill out ! You would hope that but You'd be wrong! We've seen one person shoot himself at Ground Zero, which (although he was inconsiderate enough not to leave a note) is taken as a "protest" (noted); we've seen the New York Times on one page declare that it is an US that is apart from USA and run a feature calling for "An act of God" to do away with George Bush in the same manner that an Act of God did away with Abraham Lincoln. With the Democrats' psychotic break approaching the size of the Grand Canyon, its going to be a long four years unless some of George Soros' left over pocket change can be put to work flying in grief counselors from... well, from wherever the grief counselors are stored. I well understand the dangers of Blogger Head Explosions, having suffered several attacks myself in the last month. (Feeling better now, thank you.) Still the public splattering and spew of KEN LAYNE should give pause to us all. It seems that someone showed him that highly bigoted Jesus Land map that's been making the rounds and it was... well it was just to much for Ken:
    I will fight long and hard to prevent this country from becoming a Complete Theocracy -- if you can call the intellectually vapid mishmash of evangelical Christianity a true Theology. Or, maybe you people just take Jesusland. You won't need the economic power of the coasts, because you don't care if you're employed. Your entire economic output will be shoddy Jesus booklets, Christian rock and bad food.
    Whew! (And that's only a random sampling of the stuff on the walls over at Ken's.) ----- EXTENDED BODY: Clearly, there's more here than meets the eye. I guess is that old Ken had a childhood experience or two he isn’t yet ready to share. Probably something to do with a full moon, a canoe, a mandolin, a moose and Marjoe Gortner . I'm sure that when Ken's ready and the medication takes effect, he'll tell us. I'll leave it to others to flag me. Oh, to show once again, that Jesus does have a sense of humor, all the Google ads on this posting offer to take you somewhere that gets you closer to Him. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Johnny Walker Red EMAIL: rightonred@gmail.com IP: 20.137.119.64 URL: http://rightonred.net DATE: 11/08/2004 01:14:28 PM As a native Tennessean and a current resident of Alabama, I am terribly offended by Layne's remarks --- the food here is wonderful, and I demand he retract his statements. I will not stand idly by without confronting anti-barbecue bigotry. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rogers Cadenhead EMAIL: nomail@cadenhead.org IP: 68.218.162.44 URL: http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/ DATE: 11/08/2004 02:48:05 PM If you're going to have a bad experience with lay clergy, Marjoe Gortner would definitely be one to haunt the nightmares for decades. I wonder if he's one of the earnest B-list celebrities prowling the GOP circuit like Larry Gatlin today. They don't make films like Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw any more. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gary EMAIL: gcruse@netscape.com IP: 212.100.251.149 URL: http://gcruse.typepad.com DATE: 11/08/2004 06:16:49 PM The funny thing is Layne taking "Jesusland" as some kind of threat. Since a large number of the unwashed 51% take Jesusland as a joke first, and an insult second, there's little chance of theocracy. If we can get rid of Ashcroft, the odds get even better, but that's predicated on Robert Tilton declining AGhood. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.66.20.239 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 06:32:29 PM Theocracy? With the ACLU running the country? Fat chance. And speaking of theocracy, they should be more concerned with an Islamic Theocracy than a Christian one. Also, sorry to inform Mr. Layne, this country is symbiotic in economic relationships. To pare away either would destroy the other. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Doug Anderson EMAIL: honif@foxinternet.com IP: 168.103.154.251 URL: http://sunbreak.blogspot.com DATE: 11/08/2004 09:15:48 PM Gerard, We can only hope that Ken Layne will attend a Doobie Brothers Revival Tour and that someone will slip LSB in his Pepsi and that he will go down front and center and dance like mad to "Jesus is Just All Right With Me." Otherwise I don't see much hope for him at this point. (Hey if it's OK for Ken Layne not to make any sense I don't see why I have to!) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ben EMAIL: drakon2@worldnet.att.net IP: 134.79.113.205 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 03:47:21 AM There is a BIG problem in the whole "Jesusland" meme. They assume they are taking the entire states. Why? Why should the conservative parts of each state be forced to seceed along with the big cities? Wouldn't that be doing the same thing to the conservative voters they claim is being done to them? But it is even worse. Look at the county maps. Note that where the Dems did well, it was big cities metropolitan areas such as New York City, Chicago, LA and Frisco. Cities do not exist in a vacuum. They need food, and raw material for their factories, like timber and metal. They cannot produce it themselves. And these large cities would die if they did not take their bread baskets with them. The rural counties can do without the big cities far better than the big cities can do without the farm country. They need to think about that, and their hypocracy concerning counties that did not vote for Kerry into secession. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jaed EMAIL: bittersanity@jaedworks.com IP: 66.93.39.98 URL: http://bittersanity.blogspot.com DATE: 11/09/2004 05:32:26 PM Don't be silly, Ben. New York, San Francisco, Seattle and the rest of Enlightened America doesn't need to get bad food from those evil red states. They have plenty of grocery stores - good ones, like Dean & Deluca and Trader Joe's. On a more serious note, didn't Ken used to be sane? I seem to recall it distinctly. ----- PING: TITLE: Can't Win Fer Losin' URL: http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/054200.php IP: 67.19.5.2 BLOG NAME: The Jawa Report DATE: 11/09/2004 09:55:00 PM by Demosophist I'm just guessing, but I figure Ken Layne's Jesusland essay is where a lot of folks who've all but disappeared around the bend are getting their vitriolic edge concerning the sinister impending Christian theocracy. But if you're just... ----- PING: TITLE: Can't Win Fer Losin' URL: http://anticipatoryretaliation.mu.nu/archives/054201.php IP: 67.19.5.2 BLOG NAME: Anticipatory Retaliation DATE: 11/09/2004 09:57:36 PM I'm just guessing, but I figure Ken Layne's Jesusland essay is where a lot of folks who've all but disappeared around the bend are getting their vitriolic edge concerning the sinister impending Christian theocracy. But if you're just tired of... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Purple Map STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/08/2004 10:51:39 AM ----- BODY: Clive Thompson at collision detection does everyone a great service with his thoughts and illustrations on The interface election , a short but sweet summation of the need to upgrade the graphics everywhere.
    Call me nuts, but I think one of the biggest challenges American media and punditry has is an interface problem: They are stuck on one dramatic, manichean way of viewing the data. Imagine if TV news and newspapers regularly showed the second map every time they talked about the election. How can you look at that map and talk about some enormous, festering divide in the country? You can't. As any scientist or graphic artist or video-game player knows, the tools you have for visualizing your situation enormously determine how you think about it.
    He's correct. Enough of the Blue/Red symbol, and, while we're at it we really, really need to toss out that JesusLand / United States of Canada atrocity that's being passed around. I'm going for the purple map. It always was one of my favorite colors. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gabe EMAIL: grmemeor-cmmt@yahoo.com IP: 24.6.172.251 URL: http://www.memeorandum.com/ DATE: 11/08/2004 11:28:28 AM Many more revealing maps at http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/election/ They've got all kinds of variations on blue-red vs. purple, states vs. counties, and cartogram vs. not. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tom L EMAIL: 24036583@bogus.com IP: 170.215.214.172 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 12:16:11 PM As one of the 45% who didn't vote for the winning candidate in his state, I wholeheartedly concur. Heck, 40% of us didn't even vote for the winner in our COUNTY, so let's throw that map out too while we're at it. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with using a choropleth map to display election results. It's been used for decades, and for decades we seemed capable of understanding that it was simply a graphical representation of who won each state, nothing more. Somehow in the last four years it got transformed into the idea that there are two homogeneous, opposite cultures that begin and end at the state lines. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: M. Murcek EMAIL: mamurcekjr@worldnet.att.net IP: 151.201.46.102 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 12:45:22 PM Purple - the color of Barney the dinosaur and the title of a BAD Oprah Winfrey movie. Nuff said. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ben EMAIL: blogmail@ritcey.com IP: 192.250.34.161 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 02:36:48 PM "...he title of a BAD Oprah Winfrey movie." Are you implying that there exists a good Oprah Winfrey movie? The very phrase "Oprah Winfrey movie"... ----- PING: TITLE: Election 2004 - A More Balanced View? URL: http://joatmoaf.typepad.com/i_love_jet_noise/2004/11/election_2004_a.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: I love Jet Noise DATE: 11/09/2004 06:21:03 AM I was surfing this morning and ran across this interesting map - I'm always interested in different ways of displaying information: Click for larger image I stumbled across this post, which commented on the binary view of the popular vote, ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Fallujah Links and Commentary STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: TerrorWar DATE: 11/08/2004 10:12:20 AM ----- BODY: Chester @ The Adventures of Chester is doing a first-rate job of blending breaking news and commentary on the Battle of Fallujah. Chester's "About" states "Former Marine officer who participated in the Iraqi campaign. BA in Int'l Relations from Duke. Now work in finance in Texas." And as always, the always excellent Belmont Club. \ ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: New York Times to America: Drop Dead STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Bad Americans DATE: 11/08/2004 08:14:14 AM ----- BODY: It would seem the Gray Lady is taking her ball and going home. In the lead editorial today, More Troops for Iraq , the paper's top "minds" that did their level worst to actually help the American people re-elect George Bush has their mind set on calling for "more boots on the ground in Iraq." Typical and not surprising. What is also not surprising, but far too typical is the lead sentence in the second paragraph:
    But that is not where Mr. Bush, and the voters who returned him to office, are headed today.
    It would seem the Times is still mired deep in the quagmire of the Two Americas meme and cannot bear, simply cannot bear, to align itself with the rest of America. It has elected to make it very, very clear that there is an US (New York Times editors and the loyal head-bobbing agreeable readers of said rag) and a Them (George W. Bush and all those homophobic, trailer trash, Bible thumping rednecks out thar in the Okie lands.) Well, more power to them in their quest to curtail and eviscerate their circulation. So long and thanks for all the fish wrap. During a conversation with an employee of the New York Times a year or so ago, I asked what the Times' game plan was. She said, "We want to be one of the two papers that are truly national papers. That's the whole goal driving this company." "So how," I asked, "are you going to overcome USA Today?" "USA Today's the 'other' paper," she said. "It goes to those who don't have a lot of time for newspapers to begin with. We're going to be the national newspaper of teachers and college professors stuck out in the boondocks. And, thank God, there are millions of those." A nice encapsulation of the New York Time's plan, to be sure. One that, looking at the attitude of the paper and its columnists, is hard not to miss. Today's editorial goes on to offer the very best of the Times' editors "wisdom" on how to run the war. My only question is why the Times' thinks that "Mr. Bush, and the voters who returned him to office" would spend one nanosecond listening to them? ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.66.20.239 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 09:33:42 AM Remember, people pay for the privelege of being brain-washed by old york's finest. The old tar about you are what you eat never had greater meaning. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: P.A. Breault EMAIL: hedd@compu$$$erve.com IP: 68.233.131.122 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 05:21:06 PM We're going to be the national newspaper of teachers and college professors stuck out in the boondocks. It conjures up an image of all those genteel English ladies in 'fortified' Singapore of November 1941, waiting breathlessly for the papers from London. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Buddha EMAIL: shaferkg@netscape.net IP: 132.58.234.102 URL: DATE: 11/09/2004 09:24:20 AM The Old York Times ranting about how to run the battle in Fallujah reminds me of Arnold's recent gut-splitting comment, "Why should I listen to losers"? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Voices from the Front STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Companions DATE: 11/07/2004 06:56:06 PM ----- BODY: Bookmark this link from Jeff at Beautiful Atrocities It holds a number of links from blogs being run by various members of the Armed Forces, many on the ground in Iraq. As Jeff notes:
    One of the charges thrown around by the Left is that Americans are being 'shielded' from the reality of the war in Iraq. In fact, hundreds of American soldiers are blogging real-life, real-time accounts of their tours. Anyone who claims Americans can't get access to what's really going on either isn't trying very hard, or doesn't like what real American soldiers have to say. Here's just a small sample.
    It is more than just a "small" sample, it's a portal. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: In the Generalisimo Francisco Franco Wing of a French Military Hospital STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Enemies, Foreign & Domestic DATE: 11/07/2004 01:18:29 PM ----- BODY: Dead_Parrot_Small.jpg
    "He is not in a coma." That from an aide to Yasser Arafat who says the Palestinian was "sleeping" in stable condition in intensive care after another round of medical tests on Saturday. -- Spokesman says Arafat "sleeping," not in coma
    A private suite in a French Military Hospital's Intensive Care Ward. Mr. Hamas, in high dudgeon, is addressing the French Doctor in charge.     Mr. Hamas: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this Arafat what I visited in this very French hospital...      M. Le Docteur: Oh yes, the, uh, the Arafat... What's,uh... What's wrong with him?      Mr. Hamas: I'll tell you what's wrong with him, my lad. 'E's dead, and I can't get anyone to sign this terrorist payroll, that's what's wrong with him!      M. Le Docteur: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.      Mr. Hamas: Look, Froggy, I know a dead Arafat when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.      M. Le Docteur: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable Arafat, the Arafat, idn'it, ay? Beautiful headgear, manly face stubble! A right shiny fellow once you get past the facial lesions.      Mr. Hamas: The face stubble don't enter into it. He's stone dead.      M. Le Docteur: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting!      Mr. Hamas: All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up! (shouting at the bed) 'Ello, Mister Arafat! I've got a lovely fresh bribe from Jacques Chirac ----- EXTENDED BODY: and a tasty meat patty for you if you show...      (M. Le Docteur hits the cage)      M. Le Docteur: There, he moved!      Mr. Hamas: No, he didn't, that was you hitting the cage!      M. Le Docteur: I never!!      Mr. Hamas: Yes, you did!      M. Le Docteur: I never, never did anything...      Mr. Hamas: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) 'ELLO ARAFAT!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call!      (Takes Arafat out of the bed and thumps his head on the counter. Throws him up in the air and watches him plummet to the floor.)      Mr. Hamas: Now that's what I call a dead Arafat.      M. Le Docteur: No, no.....No, 'e's stunned!      Mr. Hamas: STUNNED?!?      M. Le Docteur: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Arafats stun easily, major.      Mr. Hamas: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That Arafat is definitely deceased, and when I checked him in here a few days ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein' tired and shagged out following a prolonged effort to erase the state of Isreal and all Jews from the face of the Earth.      M. Le Docteur: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 68.126.142.180 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/07/2004 03:04:23 PM M. Le Docteur: ...So, do you want to go back to my place? Mr. Hamas: I thought you'd never ask. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dave Schuler EMAIL: thalian@compuserve.com IP: 67.175.72.245 URL: http://www.theglitteringeye.com DATE: 11/07/2004 03:52:06 PM Yes, that's how it struck me, too. Points to you for saying it first. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Deborah Koppit EMAIL: dblynkpt@comcast.net IP: 68.61.136.165 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 04:22:53 PM Thank you very much for making me laugh so hard that I spit my tea all over the monitor! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JJ EMAIL: travislaker@yahoo.com IP: 66.25.158.218 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 06:32:41 PM Arafat is "sleeping" the same way armadillos "sleep" by the side of every highway in the southwest. It's just a flesh-wound! I hope that bastard is puching up daisies soon. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JJ EMAIL: travislaker@yahoo.com IP: 66.25.158.218 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 06:32:53 PM Arafat is "sleeping" the same way armadillos "sleep" by the side of every highway in the southwest. It's just a flesh-wound! I hope that bastard is puching up daisies soon. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JJ EMAIL: travislaker@yahoo.com IP: 66.25.158.218 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 06:33:04 PM Arafat is "sleeping" the same way armadillos "sleep" by the side of every highway in the southwest. It's just a flesh-wound! I hope that bastard is pushing up daisies soon. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: P.A. Breault EMAIL: hedd@compuserve.com IP: 68.233.131.122 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 06:54:31 PM "Pining for the fjords?!! Palestine doesn't have fjords!" "Eet does now. Ze Israelis and zeir bulldozers, zey are tres fast..." ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mark EMAIL: johnmark@surewest.net IP: 65.78.130.225 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 10:33:03 PM I was going to do that bit, too, but I couldn't remember enough dialogue and was too lazy to look it up. I have run a Weekend Update, though -- This just in . . . Arafat is Not Dead Yet. This also just in. Generalissimo Franco is still dead. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Capt Smythe EMAIL: jsmythe1@cox.net IP: 138.162.140.42 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 06:05:16 AM God I love Python. Now you've got to get a dead Arafat to visit the Office of Silly Walks... Semper Fi, Capt Smythe ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Roderick Reilly EMAIL: rreilly656@aol.com IP: 63.173.65.242 URL: http://www.geocities.com/rreilly656 DATE: 11/08/2004 07:55:24 AM We need to get this Arafat death thing over with, but first, the numbers to his secret bank accounts must be extracted from him somehow. Once that's done, they can put a pillow over his face and have Michael Moore sit on it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Eric Blair EMAIL: ericblair5@hotmail.com IP: 144.42.9.104 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 07:57:03 AM I'm watching the Suha thing. Its like Thackeray said: "Since the days of Adam, there has been hardly a mischief done in this world but a woman has been at the bottom of it." Heh. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: radley EMAIL: radley@arrakis.es IP: 62.83.155.12 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 10:33:00 AM Well, it's an ex-Arafat what we got now, I guess ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: CGK EMAIL: cgkaufman@hotmail.com IP: 24.193.197.45 URL: DATE: 11/11/2004 07:11:00 AM So Suha was the one who stole the billions? And I thought she was only a minor league opportunist. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Derick EMAIL: dschilling@loa.org IP: 68.161.57.37 URL: DATE: 11/11/2004 03:46:42 PM Pining for the wadis ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Allah's "Courageous" Soldiers STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: TerrorWar DATE: 11/06/2004 01:57:37 PM ----- BODY: I suppose it is too much to ask MSM to stop calling these animals "insurgents." It is, however, clarifying to know that as it is with the killers of children in Russia, so it is with their "brothers" in Iraq.
    INSURGENTS TARGET CHILDREN OF RAMADI CAMP RAMADI, Iraq --An Army unit assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force, discovered and defused an explosive-laden youth center in Ramadi Nov. 4, which was rigged by insurgents to detonate and potentially kill dozens of Iraqi children. They also discovered more than two tons of explosives hidden in a mosque.
    ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Grumpy Old Man EMAIL: octopod@cox.net IP: 68.231.197.173 URL: http://www.globaloctopus.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/06/2004 02:12:45 PM How many lives did we save by overthrowing Saddam? How many will we save if we crush Falluja? ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: If Politics Imitated "The Godfather" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Political Corrections DATE: 11/05/2004 04:51:34 PM ----- BODY: THE OVAL OFFICE (EVENING) KARL Kerry's dead. So is Little Johnny Edwards -- Michael Moore -- Soros --Daschle -- Teresa. Today I settle all Family business, so don't tell me you're innocent, Dan. Admit what you did. (then, to CHENEY) Get him a drink. (then, to DAN, as KARL shifts in his chair) Come on. Don't be afraid, Dan -- Come on, you think I'd make my President a man without a 60 Minutes connection? I'm even going to be taking a seat on Viacom's board after the Inauguration , Dan-- (then, after CHENEY hands DAN a glass of wine) Go ahead, drink it -- drink (then, after DAN drinks) No -- Dan -- you're out of the Media business, that's your punishment. You're finished. I'm putting you in a limo to the Columbia School of Journalism. (then, to CONDOLEZZA RICE, as he reaches out his hand) Condi? (then, after CONDI hands KARL a limo voucher, which he hands to DAN) I want you to stay at the Columbia School of Journalism, but no messing with young students, boy or girl. Understand? (then, quietly, after DAN nods and hmmms) Only don't tell me you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence -- and makes me very angry... (then) Now who gave you the documents? Daschle or Teresa? DAN (after hesitating) It was Teresa. MICHAEL Good. (then, after standing) There's a limo waiting for you outside to take you to the Columbia School of Journalism. I'll call your wife, to tell her what classroom you've been assigned. DAN (as he rises, starts to protest) Karl, please... KARL Come on -- get outta my sight. (DAN turns. RICE helps him put on his coat) CUT TO: West portico of the White House. SECRET SERVICE AGENT is putting Dan's luggage into the rear of the limo. DAN gets into the front seat. CUT TO: Interior of car. OLIVER NORTH is seen behind DAN, in the back seat. NORTH Hello, Dan, remember your reports on the Iran-Contra scandal and and what you did to my run for office ... ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.105.95.235 URL: http:/historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/05/2004 05:46:58 PM North: "Hello, Dan, remember your reports on the Iran-Contra scandal and and what you did to my run for office ..." Dan: "It was just business! Nothing personal, just business..." North: "So is this." ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ari Tai EMAIL: aritai@hotmail.com IP: 207.46.125.16 URL: http://khemenu.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/05/2004 09:18:25 PM Now you've done it. I'm going to be up all night overdosing on GF1, 2, & 3. Amazing contrasts between the individuals and parties. I'll be a while recovering from the discouraged feeling I get in meetings counting the likely Kerry voters and asking "how is it we have so totally different priorities and worldviews?" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dos Equis EMAIL: de@aol.com IP: 24.127.89.88 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 09:12:41 AM You write some of the funniest SH*T! Thanks for keeping me sane. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: toad EMAIL: toaddrc@earthlink.net IP: 4.16.224.234 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 04:01:34 AM The word is that Arlen Spector has been invited on a fishing trip. I don't blame the boss. He was supposed to be family. He fucks up, the local affiliate wants him gone. So, the boss goes down bails him out, pisses of the affiliates. Hey I understand that Arlen is senior family and you have to be seen taking care of family. Then Arlen doesn't deliver the goods. Doesn't even seem to try. Then after the war is over, He threatens the boss. The affiliates bitch, Other senior family members start to rehash old insults, tricks, and fuck ups. If he stays he'll weaken the boss's influence, and put us all at risk. Time for him to retire whether he wants to or not. Time for him to get in the boat. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Why Faith is Not a Fantasy STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/05/2004 03:35:20 PM ----- BODY: Dr. Robert Finnerty in Faith and Reality begins where the rather dubious NY Times Magazine article "Without a Doubt" leaves off, or, more accurately put, cannot go:
    Listening to the secular fundamentalists at the NY Times expound on the mind and heart of a man of the Christian faith is akin to a man blind from birth describing a rose: you are far more likely to hear about the thorns than the subtle coloration and beauty of its petals.
    What follows is a quiet, authoritative and persuasive mediation on the foundations of Christianity in the modern world. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: "All the Dogs of Europe Bark" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Political Corrections DATE: 11/05/2004 03:08:45 PM ----- BODY: E. J. Dionne at the Washington Post is beginning to emit foam with . . . He Didn't Get (Yes, that is the complete sputtering headline.) He begins by noting "We" (Oh, Royal We!) "are aghast at the success of a campaign based on vicious personal attacks, the exploitation of strong religious feelings and an effort to create the appearance of strong leadership that would do Hollywood proud." Well, given to the extent to which Hollywood pulled out all the stops for Dionne's boy and piled up many millions for themselves in the process, we will resist the appropriate response of " Neener.... Neener.... Neener," and issue some calm and reasoned advice to Dionne and his ilk instead. What you must all do is calmly and reflectively look at the glass America has set before you and ask yourselves, quietly, "Is our glass half full or it is pulverized into leetle flecks of silcon dust and shards so small that not even God, if we believed in Him, could put it back together." We understand that prayer is not an option so simply check your email for a reply frequently over the next twenty odd years. Thank you for listening. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: slimedog EMAIL: m_t_anderson@hotmail.com IP: 68.89.129.0 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 06:15:56 PM Perhaps it's time for the Euros, the Demos, and the pinkos to dust off that old question from 9/12 and ask it again, this time focussing on their relationship with the RedStaters: "WHY DO THEY HATE US?" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: J.R. EMAIL: jrjacoby@cableone.net IP: 24.117.122.93 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 06:58:47 PM Have you looked at the electoral map broken down to the county level? electoral-vote dot com This is something that the Democrats should think about. It is ugly if you're a Dem and think that you have a future as a party in this country. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccron EMAIL: c.croninger@cox.net IP: 68.6.34.50 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 08:16:38 PM Four more years of bull shit for the masses and tax cut for the elite. Jon Stewart has go to love it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: P.A. Breault EMAIL: hedd@compuserve.com IP: 68.233.131.122 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 09:17:38 PM Drop us a note when you get to Canada. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccron EMAIL: c.croninger@cox.net IP: 68.6.34.50 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 09:56:38 PM P.A. Not me I am one of the elite who has done well with the Bush plutocracy. I am staying right here in Santa Barbara. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Phil EMAIL: phillip.gilbert@comcast.net IP: 24.98.64.4 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 05:11:30 AM Then do us a favor and shut the F up and wallow in your guilt privately. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Axel Kassel EMAIL: axelkassel@despammed.com IP: 24.198.66.165 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 03:30:06 PM Comrade Dionne is "aghast at the success of a campaign based on vicious personal attacks"? I thought Kerry lost. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Not A Good Year to Be On The Cover of The Rolling Stone STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Bad Americans DATE: 11/05/2004 02:48:11 PM ----- BODY:
    RSKERRY.jpg RSEMINEM.jpgRSSTEWART.jpg RSMOORE.jpgRSDEAN.jpg
    "Rolling Stone, wanna see my picture on the cover Wanna buy five copies for my mother (Yeah!) Wanna see my smilin' face, on the cover of The Rolling Stone...." I guess they forgot the words to the magazine's namesake and theme song: You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat Ain't it hard when you discover that He really wasn't where it's at After he took from you everything he could steal. Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things But you'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe. How does it feel How does it feel To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone? -- BOB DYLAN Oh, by the way: 001019_rs.jpg Next time, the Democrats might want to reconsider their "must have" media list. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mojave Mark EMAIL: mark12658@yahoo.com IP: 68.227.0.113 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 09:52:35 PM Bush keeps gettin' richer but he can't get 'is picture on the cover of the Rollin' Stone... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/05/2004 09:55:48 PM Which is why he is President of the United States. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: albert X. EMAIL: galeote2005@yahoo.es IP: 80.58.7.42 URL: DATE: 11/08/2004 07:57:21 AM Dios los cria, y ellos se junta. God feeds them, and they joins. Spanish proverb ----- PING: TITLE: Everybody Must Get Stoned URL: http://rightonred.net/index.php?p=655 IP: 69.93.199.98 BLOG NAME: RIGHT ON RED >> DATE: 11/05/2004 03:59:55 PM What, no P-Diddy cover story? * ----- PING: TITLE: Rolling Stone Magazine.. URL: http://stephenanuno.powerblogs.com/posts/1099829592.shtml IP: 207.44.199.176 BLOG NAME: Stephen A. Nuño DATE: 11/07/2004 04:13:31 AM
    aka "The Kiss of Death" ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: This Just In STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Reportage Redux DATE: 11/05/2004 10:56:34 AM ----- BODY:


    DEMSDROPDEAD2cpr.jpg



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Click to enlarge Also available at     The American Digest Mall of CyberAmerica!    just in time for the Holidays. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Janette S EMAIL: winterhavens@aol.com IP: 172.174.162.59 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 11:19:27 AM Well I hope you guys plan on producing a t-shirt with this on it! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.105.95.235 URL: http:/historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/05/2004 11:23:46 AM I would like to point out that its not quite that decisive. 55 Million did vote for the Democratic candidate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justin Moser EMAIL: nospam@doesntexist.com IP: 65.118.0.21 URL: http://www.john15.net DATE: 11/05/2004 11:44:01 AM BWAAHAHAhahahahahahaha! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/05/2004 12:28:33 PM t-Shirts are now online! AVAILABLE NOW AS A SNAZZY TEE SHIRT: Immortalize and savor this moment forever is the always smart, snazzy, and so comfy American Digest USA TO DEMS: DROP DEAD tee. Order at The American Digest Mall of CyberAmerica! for only $14.99. Considering how many Dems you can tick off in one cross town block in Manhattan, that's dirt cheap. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: K.N.V. EMAIL: kvumydoc@excite.com IP: 65.166.95.133 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 12:52:47 PM These shall now be known as the days of the "W"! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justin Moser EMAIL: nospam@here.com IP: 207.179.127.175 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 01:26:45 PM Sweeeeet. i'm tempted to buy one right now :D ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: donald hamilton EMAIL: dammy@hotmai.lcom IP: 64.179.116.50 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 02:03:38 PM Canda is already filled with young americans fleeing the draft, maybe that is why they did not turn out to vote. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Greg EMAIL: rightgreg@yahoo.ca IP: 65.93.108.162 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 03:20:21 PM I demand a companion T shirt available to us minority Canadians that says 'Look after your own useless liberal trash, we have too much here already' ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ed from West Slope EMAIL: gjldem@earthlink.net IP: 207.224.92.1 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 03:56:03 PM I entirely sympathize with Greg. Living in Colorado, I know we have far too much 'useless liberal trash' moving into Boulder (the Peoples' Republic of ...'), Aspen and Telluride (Rocky Mountain Highs) and a few other assorted areas. I prefer 'commen folk', even if we all are too stupid to know who to vote for. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Finnelvitz EMAIL: schniptule@aol.com IP: 68.215.54.24 URL: http://flannelputz DATE: 11/05/2004 06:20:59 PM Self-Bobbitisation???? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/05/2004 06:30:37 PM Here: Google Search: "self-Bobbitization" ... and only with a "z," Finnelvitz. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tagryn EMAIL: tagryn@NOSPAMhotmail.com IP: 24.130.59.32 URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tagryn/ DATE: 11/05/2004 10:52:12 PM d. hamilton: "Canda is already filled with young americans fleeing the draft" Considering the draft ended in 1973, I kinda doubt they're anywhere near 'young' anymore... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/05/2004 11:35:13 PM Perhaps he meant the young and very credulous Americans who, hearing that there would be a draft, decided to get ahead of the curve. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Intelligence STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/05/2004 10:18:55 AM ----- BODY: NOTE: This item was originally written and posted on October 17 of this year, but with the current theme of "the voters are dumb" that's babbling it's way about the blogsphere and throughout the MSM, I thought it would be interesting to bring it back. It seems like only yesterday that the Party Line was that the President was stupid and the people wise. Now it is instantly the reverse. As the old song goes, "What a difference a day makes..." It was a smooth evening in Laguna Beach last Spring when I ran into her while going for some Indian take-out. She's a nice woman. Very intelligent. Very political. Very liberal. A good person. I like her. "He's so stupid. So deeply stupid," she said while waiting for her to-go orders of chicken enchiladas prepared in the Mexican place down by the beach known for "authentic" Mexican food made fresh by "authentic" illegal aliens. "Don't you want a President who is smart? We have to have a President who is intelligent." "Seems to me he was smart enough to get the job in the first place. You don't get the job if you're retarded. Besides, I don't remember a clause in the Constitution stating you've got to pass an IQ test to be President. And anyway, don't liberals always say there's no such thing as a valid IQ test?" "Don't change the subject. Can't you see what's happening? Can't you see the censorship that's going on?" ----- EXTENDED BODY: "You got me there. What censorship?" "This thing with Disney and Miramax. You don't really expect to see Moore's Fahrenheit 911 screened in this country, do you? We're going to have to have underground screenings in people's homes, you know." People run all sorts of strange programs in their brains these days. Programs that defy the laws of programming. There are moments, brief moments, when, if you look closely you can see "intelligence's" otherwise smooth set of logic instructions come to a place where an entire set of GOTOs and IF/THEN's has been bulk erased by some sort of ideological magnet. We know the mind is not a mere computer at theses moments. The prover the case. For a program such as this, if the mind were a compuer, would come to a crashing halt and bring down the whole operating system to the level of a hard reboot. But ideology isn't a program but a belief system. A belief system allows for stupendous leaps of pure faith without a core dump. There's just a small flicker in the monitor of the face, a faint screech from the hard drive as it searches frantically for the next illogical sector, finds it, and loops back on itself. Then the program simply starts over... and over.... and over. I noted to myself that I had just seen such a moment. "Please," I said. " This is just an argument between two sets of corporate greed. Miramax is just maneuvering so it doesn't have to split the millions this film is going to rake in with Disney. It's classic Harvey." "They're going to suppress it. You'll see." "They? Who? Who is going to suppress the film?" "The Ashcroft people." "The Justice Department? Don't be silly." "Not the official Ashcroft people. The other ones. The one's that know the film will cost them the election. People just won't be allowed to see it." "It'll be showing everywhere. And you and all your friends are going to go see it. Lots will even see it twice and three times. Trust me on this." She sighed with the indulgent look one gives to a child who just doesn't understand the obvious truths visible to a brilliant mind. She knew she had a brilliant mind. She was a professor. She was successful in politics. "We can't have four more years of this kind of stupidity in power. It will ruin the country." I thought about John Adams who remarked, "There's a lot of ruin in a country," but I didn't say it. She put a lot of faith in intelligence. In fact, I think you could say that "Intelligence" was her religion, the thing she believed in most, the only church she attended unless her political career called on her to attend a less secular version of worship. "I voted for a smart man twice in the 90s," I said. "He was so smart he could parse the word 'is' to the word 'I' in a nanosecond. I don't see that we were left in such a great position in the world. All I see is it got 3,000 of us dead in one morning." She gave me the kind of smile that let me know I was off her "Greetings of the Season" list. At that point, a small Mexican gentleman came out of the shop with enough food to feed the other six people waiting with her. "Well, we've got to go eat. But don't worry. I've got the connections that will let me get a tape of Fahrenheit 911. I'll have some quiet showing at my house. I'll call you when it happens." She tipped the Mexican gentleman a dollar and went off with her dinner party. It's October now and I haven't yet gotten that call to see the secret screening of Fahrenheit 911. I guess it won't happen now. She's probably too busy getting ready to vote for "intelligence". I wonder what she's going to be doing for the next four years. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 68.121.54.253 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 10/17/2004 12:03:38 PM "I wonder what she's going to be doing for the next four years." Therapy. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harvey EMAIL: harvolson@charter.net IP: 24.196.92.227 URL: http://www.badexample.mu.nu/ DATE: 10/17/2004 08:56:29 PM For some reason, I have this mental image of Bart Simpson at Kamp Krusty, sitting in his cabin, clutching his Krusty doll, rocking back & forth, and repeating "Krusty is coming... Krusty is coming" over and over. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: op EMAIL: g5man@rock.com IP: 4.46.140.100 URL: DATE: 10/17/2004 11:14:57 PM LOL There are fools out there who think Kerry will win a landslide. What about the fools who have him millions. This election is much too fun to watch and participate in as fools will remain fools. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Eric Blair EMAIL: ericblair5@hotmail.com IP: 144.42.9.106 URL: DATE: 10/18/2004 05:20:29 AM I think those teeth missing in the gears you mentioned have been missing for a long, long time. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Keith Macdonald EMAIL: keith.macdonald@morganstanley.comj IP: 199.89.64.39 URL: DATE: 10/18/2004 12:44:02 PM You're right; "intelligence" is their religion (as they would use "religion" - that which the lesser ones substitute for a lack of intelligence. As a "lapsed atheist", I think I know something about that worldview). That's why they're sure what the "science" of climatology is telling us about global warming is true - it's scientific (or at least uses the vocabulary of science, computer models, charts/graphs - that's science, right?). It reminds me of a blurb in the NYT book section for a Chompsky book ad - it threatened "... if you don't read this book, you seriously risk being ignorant". Ignorance is normal - an otherwise intelligent person can be entirely ignorant about Chinese pottery glazing techniques in the 4th century, Turkish poetry from the 15th century, quantum physics ... perhaps when they say "ignorant" they mean "diverging from what they think". They say "intelligence" - what they mean is chronically validated unctuous sanctimony. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mumblix Grumph EMAIL: tharn1@msn.com IP: 63.224.56.80 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 12:18:06 AM I had the misfortune to get stuck behind a woman at the grocery store describing to the clerk her hilariously brilliant feat of putting a STOP BUSH sticker on her back window over the third brake light. "It flashes 'STOP BUSH' every time I step on the brake!" She cackled. She started spouting off about the debates and then she got all wound up, screwing her face into a mask of rage saying "Nuc-u-lar! Nuc-U-LAR!!!" The anger and ugliness I saw in that face really scared me. I have seen that same expression in old documentaries on the faces of German's yelling to the "Juden" on Kristalnacht. I really think the Left is self-destructing. If this makes me guilty of invoking "Godwin's Law", so be it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hitler EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 66.124.48.163 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 05:48:34 PM You say that like it's a *bad thing*, Mumblix. (note to humorless Liberal Lurkers: it's a joke.) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jaed EMAIL: bittersanity@jaedworks.com IP: 66.93.39.98 URL: http://bittersanity.blogspot.com DATE: 10/20/2004 11:08:09 PM It flashes 'STOP BUSH' every time I step on the brake! There's a deep symbolic meaning lurking somewhere in there. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.105.95.235 URL: http:/historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/05/2004 09:32:03 AM Well, I still hold to my prediction: Therapy. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pappy EMAIL: hedd@compuserve.com IP: 68.233.131.122 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 10:10:33 AM Agreed.Hopefully it's also not covered under their insurance. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rob EMAIL: mediascan@aol.com IP: 4.240.243.205 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 12:40:20 PM Heh Heh ----- PING: TITLE: Stripped URL: http://www.bolditalic.com/wankives/000556.html IP: 64.56.239.49 BLOG NAME: blogulaciousness DATE: 10/18/2004 12:23:41 PM Vanderluen at American Digest captures what I call the "cross-eyed insanity of fervent belief" with a striking mechanical metaphor: There are moments, brief moments, when, if you look closely you can see the otherwise finely machined gears in a person'... ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 10/22/2004 09:28:44 AM Previous Items of Interest @ American Digest Coin of the PC Realm Cruising Off Baja, Part I Goodbye to the Way We Were I Am the Very Model of A Modern Kerry Democrat Lindbergh's Grave Memo from Israel to Palestine New York Life: An Exhibition and Open ... ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 10/27/2004 10:22:08 PM Previous Items of Interest @ American Digest WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective. Coin of the PC Realm Cruising Off Baja, Part I Goodbye to the Way We Were I Am the Very Model of A Modern Kerry Democra... ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 10/31/2004 01:10:09 AM Previous Items of Interest @ American Digest WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective. PATIENCE PLEASE: An American Empire Takes Time YEARNING FOR THE MUD: The Kerry-Heinz Ticket and the Psychotic Party Pla... ----- PING: TITLE: "He's so stupid..." URL: http://www.centerfeud.com/centerfeud/2004/11/hes_so_stupid.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: CenterFeud DATE: 11/05/2004 09:37:10 AM Gerard Vanderleun takes us back to a revealing conversation last spring about the intelligence required for leadership. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: "I will vote always for best, always:" Conversations with Paul STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/04/2004 04:20:27 PM ----- BODY: Once a week Paul and his sister come to my house to clean it. They're recent arrivals to America from Russia and work at cleaning houses in order to support themselves and take courses at night at Irvine's community college. They're part of a larger group of Russians that live, not in the astronomically expensive beach towns along Southern California's solid gold coast, but inland where life is considerably cheaper. Every Tuesday Paul and his sister arrive in a beat-up old Toyota, haul their vacuums and supplies in and set to work with a single-minded thoroughness at their job. They're in and out in an hour and off to another house. If they're ever down, I've never seen it. They're pleased to be working and they work hard. Paul's sister has better English than he does. His is spotty to say the least, but it improves. We all try to spend a few minutes talking in English since they are keen to learn the vernacular. We once spent 45 minutes going over the inflections of "Too cool for school," "Whatever," and the inner meaning of "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em." I like to think I'm giving them insights into English not available in the classroom. But this is Laguna Beach, a latter-day hippie stronghold of liberal socialist in homes with an average value of $1,300,000, and so we don't ever speak of politics. Until election day this week. Paul and his sister, both in their late 20s, come from a country where they learned in childhood that politics can be, well, a touchy subject. They clean houses for their living and hence might be thought of by some as, well, less than "acceptably intelligent." They never struck me that way, but I know from conversations here and there about my smug and self-satisfied town, how much the population values "intelligence" as measured in testable IQ , and which, as an article of faith, they claim not to believe in. "Intelligence" to these souls is measured it seems not in IQ points per se but in party allegiance. Much simpler than a test you see. Very simple: Democrat = "Intelligent," Republican = "Dumb." This is not a scientific question, you understand. It is a religious belief. Alas, this part of their all-too-secular faith has this week has cost them all significant control of the United States for at least a decade and possibly a generation or more. Yet, they are all so smart they cannot see this -- even now. Paul, my non-fluent, English challenged, house cleaner is smart enough to see this shadow religion of his employers and, what's more, smart enough to be very careful about discussing politics. After all, one false move in Laguna Beach and he might be out of a job. Not that he couldn't replace it, but who needs the aggravation? So I was surprised last Tuesday when I was standing in the laundry room of my home and Paul entered to say, "The election, today, right?" "That's right. The election is today," I said and waited. "You vote?" ----- EXTENDED BODY: "Always. It is the duty," I said dropping quickly into the pompous, "of an American to vote. Your one duty above all others." "I will be American by the next election and I will vote always." "Great." And then it got sort of quiet. After a long moment of just looking carefully at my face, Paul said, "So.... who?" "Bush." He smiled and relaxed. "Good. Very good. I would too and will when I can vote. I will vote always." "He won't get to run again." "Oh, yes. I remember. But I will still vote." "Really. For who, the Democrat or the Republican?" He looked at me and thought about it. "Not for either. I will vote always for best, always. In Russia when I was small there it was always the party this and this..." "This and that..." "Yes. But I don't like the Party. I think. I think I must vote for best." "Did I vote for the best, Paul?" "Yes." "Why do you think so?" "Because he makes freedom. He does not say freedom only, but makes freedom. In my country, a lot of people say things of freedom and make nothing." "So you think the war for Iraq is good?" "Yes, very good for them I think. Here I think, people do not like the war that makes freedom." "I think you're right." "But they do not know. They have too much too long. Me, I remember first no freedom and then freedom quick. When freedom came I knew what I wanted in it." "What was that?" "To come here. To be here. Quick to America." "Why so quick?" He shook his head and looked at me as if I was the one who didn't understand English. "Because in Russia, freedom can go away. Here never." ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 69.104.41.130 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/04/2004 04:42:14 PM "Because in Russia, freedom can go away. Here never." Would that it were the case. I am sure that up until the end many Romans felt that the empire would never die. Rome fell. Not because of the barbiarians, but rather from the rot that ate away its core, and left it a hollow shell of the Leviathan which remained unmatched for centuries. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Carolynn EMAIL: carolynn@morpheusfx.com IP: 141.149.98.43 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 06:00:15 PM I've never posted here before, but this really touched me. Every time I hear a story like this it makes me proud to be an American. Thank you so much for sharing. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Asher Abrams EMAIL: asher813@aol.com IP: 65.100.57.149 URL: http://asher813.blogspot.com DATE: 11/04/2004 06:54:20 PM Beautiful, and very moving. "Because in Russia, freedom can go away. Here never." Paul is right. "But I don't like the Party. I think. I think I must vote for best." A very wise man! Thanks for posting this. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Thomas J. Jackson EMAIL: Scotland62241@msn.com IP: 63.159.36.34 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:30:31 PM Great story. I hope all Americans couldhave the same wisdom as Paul. Its my experience that Americans pay lip service to their freedoms because they are not aware of what they enjoy. Having lived overesas for many years I rejoice everyday when I packed in my former job and was able to live in the US. Because every day I can enjoy running water, a choice of news sources, an abundance of choices due to a free market and the freedom to express my opinions without fear. Try doing this overseas. Even Britain has collapsed and is dominated by a PC thinking that is so strong that you can be arrested for thought crime or attempting to defend yourself. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: slimedog EMAIL: m_t_anderson@hotmail.com IP: 68.89.129.0 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:46:33 PM Outstanding story! But you've made us a promise now, and you have to keep it. The subtitle is ConversationS with Paul, so I'm already waiting for the next episode. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dave Schuler EMAIL: thalian@compuserve.com IP: 67.175.72.245 URL: http://www.theglitteringeye.com DATE: 11/05/2004 07:45:59 AM Thanks for sharing this. I don't know whether it's true or not but it ought to be. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/05/2004 08:44:05 AM I assure you it is. And what's more, it is probably true millions of times over. All over. Had a similar experience in New York with a programmer from the Ukraine who worked with me. Fellow by the name of Lev. My barber in Brooklyn Heights, Tanya, (material girl that she was) felt the same way and was not shy about sharing it -- especially with a pair of scissors in her hand. Come to think of it the entire hair salon was part of her brigade. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen B EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 63.93.238.45 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 09:39:51 AM "Always vote for best!" -- That's a good slogan. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Flannelputz EMAIL: schniptule@aol.com IP: 68.215.54.24 URL: http://nowenis DATE: 11/05/2004 06:36:24 PM Let us keep in mind that it is indeed possible for us to lose our freedom. Thiscan happen gradually through the "temporary" restrictions on citizens rights and the enlargement of government's role in our lives in the form of "oversight". While people scoff at the aclu litigation over small intrusions into our lives, and the gradual but pernicious ramping up of the judicial system,we should all be alarmed at what this may become in terms of our privacy and individual rights twenty years from now. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: triticale EMAIL: triticale@hotmail.com IP: 169.207.95.101 URL: http://triticale.mu.nu DATE: 11/05/2004 08:48:24 PM Flannelputz: The ACLU has done some good thru the years, but firemen decorating their home away from home for the holidays is not Congress making a law regarding the establishment of religion, and stopping them from doing so reduces my freedom. Furthermore, any organization which claims to defend the Bill of Rights which won't lift a finger for the Second Amendment is simply bogus. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Just Thinkin' EMAIL: barbdix@us.ibm.com IP: 12.64.152.31 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 09:53:28 PM Nancy's from Ecuador. She, with various of her relatives and employees also from Ecuador, cleans my house wonderfully well. Her husband has worked 2 jobs most of the 15 or so years they've lived here in CT. Nancy is building her first new house. Nancy is spending $700K on that house. She knows what taxes do to her business. She works very hard, expecting to provide for her two kids. Nancy is very smart and loves her new country, but doesn't yet know she's a Republican. Her husband and brother know they are. She'll figure it out. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: CAM EMAIL: ccsbackup@msn.com IP: 68.165.207.163 URL: DATE: 11/06/2004 04:18:08 PM This is why immigration is so important to the health of this country. It acts, if our laws are enforced and we don't corrupt the prcoess with PC-driven quotas, as a sort of DNA booster shot, adding new and enthused citizens to the country to counteract the rot that seems to afflict those amongst us that take America for granted. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Old Regime STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: InVerse DATE: 11/04/2004 03:28:34 PM ----- BODY:            "The wheel has turned. And it is time.            It is time for them to go." -- Dick Cheney The tumbrils creak and rumble back Along the roads of slate, Retracing rutted years of sand Whose distance storms debate. The passengers stand fixed as stone While faces cheer from snow. The blade awaits it's midday meal, As above becomes below. Innovations carved from clouds Give despair and dance new measures. The blade reflects the people's meal When kings slake lower pleasures. Arrived at now they gaze at mist Where granite horses roam. Their schedules as fixed as dark. Their future -- structured foam. The head within the basket sees Vast parliaments of sky. The ears hear but the fading surf As the past these years deny. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccwbass EMAIL: ccwbass@yahoo.com IP: 63.196.247.151 URL: http://wayoffbass.blogspot.com DATE: 11/04/2004 04:42:36 PM Gerard has done it yet again: A poem for the masses. I'd try it, but 'tis easier To sit on both my asses. Excellent, G., especially that last verse. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The People, Yes STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: InVerse DATE: 11/03/2004 08:20:45 PM ----- BODY:
    rockwellthepeople.jpg by Carl Sandburg Between the finite limitations of the five senses and the endless yearnings of man for the beyond the people hold to the humdrum bidding of work and food while reaching out when it comes their way for lights beyond the prison of the five senses, for keepsakes lasting beyond any hunger or death.     This reaching is alive. The panderers and liars have violated and smutted it.     Yet this reaching is alive yet     for lights and keepsakes.     The people know the salt of the sea     and the strength of the winds     lashing the corners of the earth.     The people take the earth     as a tomb of rest and a cradle of hope.     Who else speaks for the Family of Man?     They are in tune and step     with constellations of universal law.     The people is a polychrome,     a spectrum and a prism     held in a moving monolith,     a console organ of changing themes,     a clavilux of color poems     wherein the sea offers fog     and the fog moves off in rain     and the labrador sunset shortens     to a nocturne of clear stars     serene over the shot spray     of northern lights.     The steel mill sky is alive.     The fire breaks white and zigzag     shot on a gun-metal gloaming.     Man is a long time coming.     Man will yet win.     Brother may yet line up with brother: This old anvil laughs at many broken hammers.     There are men who can't be bought.     The fireborn are at home in fire.     The stars make no noise,     You can't hinder the wind from blowing.     Time is a great teacher.     Who can live without hope? In the darkness with a great bundle of grief     the people march. In the night, and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people march:     "Where to? what next?" ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: pst314 EMAIL: pst314nospam@nospamhotmail.com IP: 207.7.59.69 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 06:56:12 AM In the Rockwell Kent illustration, the banner appears to read "IWO" which I assume stands for International Workers Order: http://international-workers-order.wikiverse.org/ "The International Workers Order (IWO), was a Communist-affiliated insurance and fraternal order founded in 1930 following a split from the Workmen's Circle, a still-extant Jewish fraternal organization." ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: federico EMAIL: fedesierra@yahoo.com IP: 24.232.90.165 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:31:54 AM man, evidentemente sos un gran mogolico. te falla , y espero que vayas personalmente a irak en "mision liberadora" y te re caguen a patadas en el culo ...te lo mereces por GIL le rezare a tu fuckin dios para que eso pase ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: zip EMAIL: zip@hotmail.com IP: 68.38.230.162 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:22:48 AM Federico, Cuando los árabes conquistan andalusia otra vez, nos reiremos de usted. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: LILEKS for #1 @ AMAZON! STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Companions DATE: 11/03/2004 04:14:49 PM ----- BODY: lilekshome.jpg Even though James Lileks' Senate career died aborning,there's nothing, absolutely nothing, that can stop his run for #1 at Amazon if even half the Blogsphere that thought a political life for him was a good idea weighs in. Lileks' readers and supporters were heartened to note today that the master of regrettable food has now given the world regrettable homes @ Amazon.com: Books: Interior Desecrations : Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s "Sweet smoking Jesus, what was the matter with these people?" pretty much sums up the book and the man behind it. This deathless tome just made my "must give it to everyone that ever lived it" slot on our Christmas list. This means I got one for myself, my mother and 7 other people. Since the royalties from this instant classic will go straight into the Jasperwood refurbishing and cigar fund, you can give the books with compassion and a clear mind. Already at #79 on Amazon, I would think that a determined Blogsphere could easily knock Jon Stewart's America out of the top slot. After all, who really speaks for America these days, Jon Stewart or LILEKS, (James)? Advantage: Lileks. Link to this or post your own item, but I think we've really got a shot at winning this election too! If, to quote Dan Rather "the blogging machine which the White House and the Bush-Cheney campaign has used for any number of purposes over their four years" can put a President in office, Amazon should be almost as easy. "I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed...." ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.66.21.221 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 06:20:34 PM You are sooooo funny. God I wish I could cobble a sentence together like you! lol. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: As I was saying last July, STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Reportage Redux DATE: 11/03/2004 02:39:41 PM ----- BODY:
    There are millions and millions of citizens who are registered as Democrats and who talk the Democrat talk but do not always walk the Democrat walk when push comes to shove. You might be in a union-- Trade, Government, Teachers, etc. -- that could harm you if you announced for Bush. You might be in a family with deep Democratic roots. You might be a member of a minority in which you would be ostracised if you confessed you would vote for Bush. You might be of a sexual persuasion where you're chances of dates would be severely curtailed if you said you were voting for Bush. You might be working in an office or in a career where you chances for advancement might be crippled if you voted for Bush. You might be at a school where even your grades would be impacted if you said you were voting for Bush. In short there are hundreds of situations in which millions of people find themselves where a declared preference for Bush would not be a wise thing to announce. Much better to simply nod vaguely and stay out of the way of any negative consequences. The idea that everybody is going to vote the way they say they will is very oversold, particularly by the media or the pollsters who have a vested interest in declaring the race "tight." The "stealth vote" is especially relevant in an election where the single most pressing question that will come into a voter's mind after the curtains close behind him or her and they stand ready to vote is: "What's it going to be? Issue X, Y, Z, or my life?" Sensible people, no matter what they may or may not say, choose life. And sensible people know that that is what this election is about.
    -- American Digest: The Inevitable Bush Blowout, July 29, 2004 Now I have to say that, in terms of effect, it wasn't exactly what I meant by "blowout" at the time. But still, with the largest number of people voting ever, and the largest number of those by far voting for Bush, and the pick-up of seats in the House, the Senate, and in the states across the country .... well, I'll take it as it stands. A blowout? Well that would depend on how close you are standing to the center of the blast. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: op EMAIL: g5man@rock.com IP: 4.46.140.100 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 07:53:31 PM Can you explain why Bush did not win in a landslide like we anticipated? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/03/2004 08:07:19 PM Yes, I can as can many others. But it was, if not a "blowout" as I said in July a complete, decisive, devastating, and historic victory that leaves no one in doubt about his legitimate right to lead this country for four years. And, in the end, that's all it takes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Phil EMAIL: freetochoose@yahoo.com IP: 65.217.188.20 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:28:51 AM Bush got 51%. Barely over half? Yes. But quickly, list the Dem presidential candidates who garnered a larger percentage since FDR. The last 60 years. 15 elections. Don’t bother looking it up, I’ll tell you. Precisely one. Johnson. Not Clinton, either time. Not Carter, not Kennedy, not Truman. And obviously not all the other Dems who did not even win the election. 15 elections since World War II Only ONCE did a Dem candidate get more than 51% of the popular vote. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: op EMAIL: g5man@rock.com IP: 4.46.140.100 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 08:56:25 AM The reason he never got the 55% or more we anticipated is because we underestimated the influence of MSM. Bush ran a campaign against the MSM not Kerry. Any other Democrat would have won 48% with the help of the media. I did not realize that until after this election. Two other items really hurt him. The war in Iraq did not go as well as many had anticipated and he did poorly in the second debate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: phil g EMAIL: phillip.gilbert@comcast.net IP: 170.35.208.20 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 11:47:39 AM op hit it on the nose. If Newsweek's editor who bosted the MSM was worth 15 points is even half right, than taking that into consideration, it was a blow out. Think about what Bush overcame: - his own personal communication deficiencies - daily MSM distortions - Hollywood propaganda - UN intervention - Intellectual elite - a generation of liberal assumptions - a decade+ of false security and a bubble economy - Millions of Soros and other mega-rich dirty money That's a pretty stacked deck. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anonymous EMAIL: anon@anon.com IP: 63.167.21.4 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 03:27:09 PM Don't forget those of us in the media who wouldn't dare mention that they're voting for Bush. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: CANADIAN ARMY FORTIFIES BORDER TO REPEL REFUGEE ONSLAUGHT FROM THE SOUTH STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 2 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/03/2004 01:08:15 PM ----- BODY: refugeesweb2.jpg Above: Led by the "Quest for Burgers" Champion Michele Moore in Search of Free Health Care and a Perpetual Government Grant, the Wretched Refuse of America's Left Trudges North. Below: Canadian Army Masses to Enforce Canada's ""No Flee Zone" Policy with the Latest in Advanced Canadian Weaponry AMERICAN DIGEST NEWS SERVICE DATELINE: OTTOWA, November 3, 2004 Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin (pronounced Pawl Mar-teen) today ordered all 215 members of Canada's armed forces south to stem the tide of millions of disgruntled members of MoveOn, Democratic Underground, IndyMedia, and Daily Kos that have begin to surge towards the socialist haven to the north in search of asylum. "We feel their pain," said Martin speaking to 2 reporters at a hastily called press-conference in the Sauron province headquarters, "but we simply can't let in any more 'sunshine' Americans. We did that during the Vietnam years and our mental health care system is still groaning under the load. To let in more of Les fou Americans at this point would pretty much overload the sidewalk spaces already staked out by Canada's homeless. "Alas, mon amis, we must say to you, as that great French general said at the crisis of the First World War Ils ne passeront pas. "Please take your laptops and your bongs and go back and make what life you can in the ruins of your once celestial city." * * * upuplouisberg.jpg It's up, up and away in Louisberg Square this afternoon. DATELINE: BOSTON In other news, AMERICAN DIGEST reporters embedded in the remnants of the John Kerry campaign in Boston observed an attache case contain the Kerry Plans for Peace in Iraq and a bigger and better United Nations of America being smuggled aboard a helicopter as Teresa Heinz and her consort prepared to flee to an undisclosed location on the French Riviera. Developing..... == Note: As God is my witness, the above item was written, posted and filed before I knew anything at all about this: CNN.com - No Canada safe haven for Democrats - Nov 3, 2004 ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Carole EMAIL: dunner1@telus.net IP: 137.186.251.226 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 01:35:43 PM Very funny, if you are not a Canadian. I am not amused. Well, actually I am! But need to stick up for Canada. I do it for America too! Anyway, great day today with President Bush's speech very well done. The truth is Americans are welcome here, we have quite a lot of them, but we really do not, in any way shape or form need more liberals. We have been sucked under their platform too many times and it is time for a change. We are working on it, and it will come. Just wait and watch. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 198.202.70.233 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 04:10:47 PM Imagine an America with just the red states and you get an idea of what would happen if the "liberals" left. As a result of this election, there is going to be a serious brain drain in the US in general and in red states in particular: educated people do not want to live with those who are so incredibly misinformed and/or irrational as to think that four more years of Bush is a good idea. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: A Leblanc EMAIL: microtubules@gmail.com IP: 134.174.170.188 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 04:26:10 PM I'm a Canuck in the US (been here 10 years in two different blue states), and I'm going home. And any American that wants to join me, well you're more than welcome. Tabarnack! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: 6Gun EMAIL: swefh@ashf.com IP: 69.109.25.1 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 04:39:19 PM Gene, are you serious? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/03/2004 04:40:26 PM You guys still don't get it. It's not stupid to elect a president, it is called democracy. But, sigh, should all you smart folks choose to work,or not work, for Canadian dollars, all one can say is: "Door. Ass. Bang." ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: TJIT EMAIL: nospam@please.net IP: 216.61.135.41 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 06:11:56 PM Genius liberals like Gene calling everybody who voted for Bush idiots remind me of another super genius.... Wiley E. Coyote. Instead of learning from the election they are just going to order another Acme election catapult and wonder why things never go their way:) Hint: Its not because the Bush voters are idiots. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tim EMAIL: void@void.void IP: 4.2.145.164 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 06:21:12 PM Laugh out loud funny! Thanks. I've got a good buddy from Canada who's working hard for his green card and can't wait to become a citizen. He likes Bush, too. Guess the hard working ones come south? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 06:49:49 PM 6Gun, Yes I am absolutely serious. I dont think that too many people will leave the United States as a result of the election, but the immigration of educated people will slow down. And educated people will stay away from states in which people believe that Iraq was involved in 9/11, that gay marriage is the one of the greatest problem facing the world (or anyone's damn business), that tax cuts are good idea during war time, etc. This will tend to amplify the already polarized demographics. People around the world are stunned and I dont think that Bush supporters realize that. Gerard Van Der Leun, Its not stupid to elect a president, but its stupid to elect a president with Bush's record. Regarding the "Door Ass Bang" comment, it reminds me of the "Love it or Leave it" motto which implies that disagreement is somehow unpatriotic. The success of democracy depends upon its citizens being informed and expressing opinions based on that information. I find very many that label themselves as patriotic are profoundly uninformed. They base their votes on prejudice disguised as faith and morality. Such people are simply not fulfilling their duty as citizens of a Democracy and offer an internal challenge to our country far greater than that of outside terroists. Its a shame (but no accident) that the ignorant tend to travel less and hence are less likely to feel the Bang of the door as they leave the US. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/03/2004 07:00:23 PM Actually Gene, the success of democracy depends on people honoring the compact to abide by the results of elections and to continue working for and in the country that they are a part of, not just preening about with the attitude that says 'Humph, I'm going to take my ball and go elsewhere." Indeed, you seem to think that being "informed" means that others have to measure up to some internal notion of yours about what consitutes "informed." Please be apprised that there is nothing in the Constitution that requires being "informed to a certain standard." There is, you will be surprised to know, no IQ test for being and remaining a citizen. There is no law that someone measure up to whatever mistaken and arrogant notions you may have about being informed and not ignorant. One of the real beauties of a democracy is that, wait for it, all those in it are equal. Equal. One man. One vote. Regardless of intelligence. Everybody gets to have their say and they don't have to have a degree to say it. That's the rules, that's the compact, that's the grand agreement that allows us to thrive. Let me put it this way: Democracy is simple. Everybody's in. Nobody's out. I wouldn't have it any other way. Would you? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lee EMAIL: lee2000@mailinator.com IP: 209.103.229.184 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 07:10:27 PM Gene, 54,000,000 "misinformed irrational" people voted for George Bush. Interesting that you believe you can speak for educated people. Smacks of self serving arrogance and ivory tower isolation. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: KOM EMAIL: kelli_om201@yahoo.com IP: 24.241.243.251 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 07:19:12 PM Don't most of you read? Bush had a higher IQ than Kerry does (see Brokaw interview recently). Kerry was defeated because he is anti-american, traitor and pro-communist. If you want that go to a communist country! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 07:26:12 PM Gerard Van der Leun, I have no intention of taking my ball home as I am already home. Yes we have to abide by the results, but the results can be disasterous if the voters are not informed. Talking about that fact is not preening, it is a critical part of the democratic process. I agree that there is no simple measure of who is informed and no such measure should be imposed in any case. But when 40% of the populace STILL believes that Iraq was involved in 9/11 I maintain that those citizens are not pulling their democratic weight. Their ignorance is a threat to democracy and I doubt if many of those people voted for Kerry. TJIT, Ah couldnt you have compared me to the Tasmanian Devil instead?! BTW Wiley was captured recently (though his ACME WMDs were mysteriously absent). ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 07:38:54 PM Debate is degenerating abit (sorry for my contribution to that): Can some of you Bush supporters tell me why you voted for him? That is the first step. Thanks, Gene ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/03/2004 08:09:30 PM Yes I can tell you at much greater length than you might like although the basic reasons can be extrapolated from all sort of material on this page. It's a fair question and one that interests me, especially since I have never voted for a Republican before in my life. But that will, I think, have to wait. I have other large projects to accomplish and would like to take some time to reflect on this. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: TJIT EMAIL: nospam@please.net IP: 66.167.113.75 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 08:10:35 PM I voted for Bush because I think he reached the conclusion after 9/11 that facist, non-democratic, human rights abusing states were the "root cause" and source of terror attacks. These states supplied the people but most importantly the setting for attacks to be planned, incubated and executed. He decided the only effective way to end terror attacks was to replace these facist, non-democratic, human rights abusing states with functioning democracies. I supported this in Afghanistan, I supported this in Iraq, I will support this in Iran and wherever it is possible to do this. Iraq was the obvious next target after Afghanistan. Just as Syria and Iran are the next logical targets after Iraq. Saudi Arabia is the major source of most of the problem but the presence of Mecca and Medina make it a very difficult problem to deal with. I thought spreading democracy and improving human rights was something most liberals would support. However, I soon found out about the we only support spreading human rights if a Democratic president does it mindset of far to many "liberals". ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 08:24:39 PM TJIT, You really think we have the troops to invade Syria and Iran next?! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/03/2004 08:52:12 PM If we have to, we can. That's one of the main reasons for being in Iraq in the first place. You have been keeping up with the pace of base building in that country, haven't you? Pace invasion, just being able to sortie airplanes out of Iraq at the levels that holding bases in the country makes possible is highly significant in both strategic and tactical terms. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David Roberts EMAIL: dnroberts312@att.net IP: 67.176.108.134 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 09:35:49 PM Gene-- I used to live in Massachsetts, and have also lived in DC, Tokyo and San Francisco. I have travelled and worked on every continent except Antartica. I have an undergraduate degree from Brown and an MBA from Harvard. I now live in Colorado where I work with gays, blacks, Hispanics and other minorities. One of my business partners is a Jewish lawyer with undergraduate degree from Brown and a law degree and an MBA from Stanford. The other is a woman with a BA from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard. All three of us are working for less money than we earned in our prior lives in order to live and work here in Colorado. You need to rethink your facile generalizations about those of us who live in the red states. The Islamo-facists killed my friends and family on 9-11. You and I will never be safe until we eradicate this global threat--through force of arms, and by bringing oportunity and democracy to the Islamic world. Look at Turkey and Indonesia for examples. Bush shares this vision. Kerry does not. And don't tell me that you can't impose democracy by force of arms--I lived in Japan for four years and have worked extensively in Germany. Colorado has the highest percentage of college graduates of any state in the union. We are also home to one of the most rad-lib communities in the coutry (Boulder) and one of the most conservative (Colorado Springs--home to Focus on the Family). So, shed your stereotypes and pre-conceived notions. Get out to the red states, spend some time and get to know us. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, and I'm sure you'll feel welcome. Colorado ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: SteveoBrien EMAIL: unclesteve1963@netscape.net IP: 69.149.155.7 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 10:58:32 PM I'm a Vietnam veteran. I voted for the re-election of President Bush largely on the basis of the war on terrorism issue and Iraq and Afghanistan. Your photo of course is of the last Vietnamese refugees, those who were friends of America, dependants, and a host of others who were trying to flee Vietnam in its last hours before the arrival of North Vietnamese troops. I find no satiric wit nor clever attempt at humor in the use of the photo. It's disgusting and, much like the left, shows that the right is as insensitive on many topics. This is a frequent criticism of any satire, i.e., the material is too sensitive, brings back too many memories, etc. I don't know of any good way that someone making that contention can really succeed. But this much I do know. I've seen that SAME photograph used by liberals, now conservatives, for their own purposes. The same photo. Think of that. The same photo. Different agenda? Maybe. But what attracts the right to the same image as the left? Simplistic conslusion (but I like it anyway): both groups with their extemist views are completely divorced from where the rest of us live. It's not somewhere in a narrow defined middle. That's where the left and right wing live: in narrowly defined areas, perhaps in adjoining crawl spaces. We occupy the residency. And we're not "moderates" or "independents" or any other neat and handy label. More of us voted for Bush than for Kerry. So some among us are more pleased after the election than those who are unhappy with its outcome. But neither the right nor the left should find any cheerful or happy (or this sad attempt to be always "clever") about what has happened. The "red states" are largely filled with compassionate and understanding people who have values which include resisting terrorism, raising good families, and being left ALONE by extremists of all persuations. So where are the Right Wing Extremists going, Nicaragua or Chile where they once mucked things up a good deal? Is there any haven now that Franco is dead? Perhaps some enclave in Africa where they can erect a high fence, keep out all the nasty natives with H.I.V., and set up a more proper defense than the old guard in South Africa? Maybe pack up the lot of you (not that many really) and move you to Afghanistan where you can enjoy the view while railing against the drug traffic and poppy crop while railing against it (but putting the profits in your pockets)? I hope all the so-called Liberals in this country do "moveon"somewhere else just as the so-called Conservatives are packing their bags as well. Or is all of this just a reflection of the jealousy the extreme right feels of the left wing which has generally now been their equal in the practice of idiocy? And heck, you can use that Nam photo a second time while you turn the satire on yourselves? Hah. That will be the day. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kilr0y EMAIL: qeq1w2e3@yahoo.com IP: 67.42.86.226 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 11:00:50 PM Gene, i voted for Bush last month from Mosul, Iraq. True, I am from the ignorant unwashed South, but even in my county the republican victories(100%) were seldom more than 55-45. Besides the joy of an absentee ballot for Florida sent from the 'warzone', I had trouble putting into words my reason for initially supporting Bush. Kerrys constant blathering about whatever he thought we wanted to hear("I would have caught Osama" was the last straw for me) just made it easier to go with what i knew was right. -assuming once 'informed' a mind can only reach your given conclusions is the Faith of the left -had many Kerry supporters(most just anti-Bush) who were as ill-informed as my ignorant right leaning brethren, as you see in any college the impetus to 'rebel' feeds more liberal causes than any belief in the actual issues -and if only picking Kerry because of anti-Bush feelings, good riddance to the fleeing enlightened intellectuals who couldn't find a more original and reasonable alternative course -this election mirrored the country i have known for thirty years, what surprised you all was that you thought we were a myth... The Silent Majority Has Spoken! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/03/2004 11:29:53 PM Steve, you've got a point that I hadn't thought of. So I swapped it out for another one. Probably won't satisfy you since it references the same image. Still, it does speak to that point without directly exploiting that image. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: George Taplin EMAIL: tapling@mail.nih.gov IP: 128.231.88.5 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 03:00:04 AM To all of you who believe that it was the "non-educated" people who voted for Bush, look at the demographics: More than sixty percent of the people who voted for Kerry had a high school education or LESS! More than sixty-five percent of the people who voted for Bush have at least some college. But don't send the liberals to Canada (they are good neighbors despite what people think), send them to one of the Muslim countries and see how they like it there. George ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:14:30 AM Thanks for all the pro-bush explanations! I am sorry if I seemed to imply that all pro-Bush supporters were ignorant (never mentioned unwashed) -- obviously many are more informed than I am. And many pro-Kerry people are indeed not educated and/or are misinformed (BTW George where did you go demographic information?). Arguments based on the neocon agenda are at least arguments and certainly the idea of democracy spreading is quite appealing. But if Democracy can be sometimes be imposed by force, this obviously depends upon the situation -- Hopefully demoncracy will take hold in Iraq but it looks like a quaqmire at best to many (now and before the invasion). Moreover, Iraq was not an immediate threat and did attack us on 9/11 (also Sadaam might be characterized as a fascist but not an Islamo Fascist). BTW I have lots of relatives in the red states and know that red state people can be quite caring and welcoming. But I also know that many are quite insulated and their picture of the world is painted with broad "moral" strokes ("axis of evil" and the like) -- this tendency has been understandably amplified by the fear and anger elicited by 9/11. Unlike the debate found here, this tendency towards emotional righteous "reasoning" is, I still maintain, a bigger threat to democracy than is outside terroism. "Liberals" have likewise become VERY guilty of such righteous arguments. Americans of all types should try to quell such reactionary instincts and listen to reason from wherever it comes. I think when the emotional dust settles, we will all realize that Iraq was a collosal mistake. [and then there is the environment, the economy, stem cell research etc etc]. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ilya2 EMAIL: ilya2@rcn.com IP: 209.6.240.224 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:53:07 AM Like (apparently) several people above, I think that Arab CULTURE is a theocratic feudal anachronism, which can only exist thanks to oil riches, and is incompatible with Western civilization. In a world without air travel and biological weapons, the West could have isolated Middle East and waited a few centuries for an Arab version of Reformation. As things stand now, we have no such luxury. Bush understands it. Kerry does not. But another reason I voted for Bush is so obscure, probably one voter in a thousand even thought of it, and far fewer based their vote on it. That issue is - nuclear energy. In my opinion, as a physicist and a computer scientist, nuclear power is the only realistic replacement for fossil fuels. Renewables such as wind and solar are too diffuse, too expensive, and if they are ever produced in significant amounts, their environmental impact is considerable. All anti-nuke hysteria notwithstanding, fission is FAR safer than oil and coal, and unlike renewables can be produced in quantities the world actually needs. Bush has shown support for nuclear power. Kerry showed nothing, but given Democratic Party's record on the issue, Kerry Administration would be certain to stop Bush initiatives in this field. Although I did not think about it until Nov. 3rd, what I suspect sunk Kerry is that he ran a purely negative campaign. He defined himself as "un-Bush", without any coherent policies, other than vague bromides such as "more international involvement in Iraq". A week ago I read Kerry's space policy statement. That "space policy" manages not to mention words "shuttle" or "station" even once, yet mentions the word "Bush" nine times. That says something about the candidate. Finally, speaking of "educated voters" - I noticed no lack of Bush support among engineers, mathematicians, and computer scientists. And I live in Massachusetts! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:54:45 AM You all might be amused (or not) by this: http://mena.typepad.com/dollarshort/2004/11/canada_20.html ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Led_Boots EMAIL: mbradish@adelphia.net IP: 24.53.174.231 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 08:25:01 AM Gene, The emotional dust has settled on the right. That is how we made an educated decision and elected the right person to lead this nation. I have several friends that are Democrats and nearly every point they tried to make in discussions leading up to the election were motivated by nothing more than emotion. Just the fact that you cannot get by the old "quagmire" analogy and the reference to "the evironment, economy, stem cell research, etc." as a problem reflect this same mentallity. The economic numbers for the GDP and unemployment are better than they were during Clinton's second campaign yet they were glorified then and not now. And when you take into account the fact that the 9/11 attack literally TKO'd our economy, that we've been able to recover to the point we're at now in such a short period of time is amazing. Stem Cell research is a big red herring that Democrats love to toss around. Embryonic Stem Cells(which is what Kerry/Edwards were pushing for) will not even be tested in humans because there is overwhelming evidence that they cause serious(ie: inoperable) cancer in EVERY test where they have been used. President Bush is the ONLY president to allocate federal resources for stem cell research, just not Embryonic because there is no proof of their benefit yet. As for Iraq, the 9/11 commision found that there was "No operational connection between Saddam and Al Qaida with regard to the attacks". This is to say, Saddam didn't help them with that particular attack. The amount of evidence linking Saddam, Osama, and Al Qaida is, quite frankly, stunning. Not to mention the mountains of evidence of Saddam's promotion and use of terrorism through numerous other avenues. When the President said we were fighting a war on terror, he didn't say "only those folks that we can definitively link to Al Qaida". The fact that most Democrats are willing to ignore it all to forward a Liberal agenda is, to be honest, frightening. When you get past the emotion, you can actually see. ~ Semper Fi ~ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 08:49:06 AM Led_Boots, Sorry but I didnt really catch your argument about my mentality. I was appealing for removing emotional name-calling from the debate. Quagmire is descriptive not an analogy -- do you really think things are going well in Iraq? Saddam was bad news alright, but there all lots of bad news dictators out there -- we cant take them all out by miltary force. We must choose our targets and methods carefully and intelligently. Time will tell (maybe) if the Iraq invasion was a net good but it looks bad to me. Regarding the economy , dont you think that the deficit is scary and must be reduced rather drastically if the next generation is not going to get stuck with the bill? The Bush tax cuts account for a large percentage of that deficit (simple math) so should we make that cut permanent? Why do you discount concerns about the environment? Do you think that concerns about global warming (for example) is simply unfounded? I agree that stem cell research is actually one of the smaller issues on the table but the argument against it was based on religious fundamentalism not on morality or scientific facts. Its that tendency towards moralistic thinking that I find to be the world's biggest threat... sic transit gloria mundi ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jason EMAIL: jason.podesta@rbc.com IP: 142.245.193.75 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 08:56:33 AM Gene, You keep harping about the voters not being informed. If you are right (and you're not,) what does that say about Micheal Moore, George Soros, the entirety of Hollywood, the Dixie Chicks, the MSM, the Histerical MSM (ie: Rather and the NYT,) MoveOn.Org, and all the other hacks who howled throughout the campaign? Not informed? I'd say you put your talking points out for all to see and the public was not swayed by it. The public is smarter than you give them credit for - and they don't like to be talked down to. They looked at what you had to say and remain unimpressed. The dems will not win if they distain and disparage the values of those they disagree with. If the dems don't respect the people, the people can't be expected to vote for them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Big Bob EMAIL: bberry@irmc.com IP: 208.45.158.30 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 08:57:08 AM There was a legitimate winner, it may be to the sadness of some, but there was a clear winner. Arguing over who is better makes no sense anymore. Kerry conceded...Bush accepted and they both agreed it's time to come together as a country united, not divided. Everyone has good arguments and that tells me that people have strong beliefs to stand on. The problem is it's over, done, finished, etc... There is nothing we can do as Americans but: Keep complaining. Start moving forward. I am no better than anyone here and feel that my vote counted and there is nothing more I can do. It's time to grow up and start trying to make this country better and more united. If you have children, you must help to make this country better no matter who is in charge! If you don't have children, you still have the same responsibility! We are Americans, whether left or right, we are Americans. Let's start acting like Americans who care! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:15:07 AM Jason -- I am making an honest attempt to understand the various reasons for supporting Bush. I appreciate and even sympathesize with some of those arguments (i.e. I find the neocon ideas seductive, but ultimately highly dangerous). Its true that MoveOn.Org, Moore etc propagated some suspect information. But so what? I didnt write-in Moore's name when I voted. I think that the Bush administration spread lots of misinformation and that is a much bigger problem. The Bush administration made an obvious and prolonged attempt to falsely link 9/11 with Iraq and many people bought into that. I find that frighteningly dishonest but apparently many dont --- I am just trying to appreciate their reasoning. Maybe Ill come around so help me out. More generally, such an exchange of information and views (rather than vitriol) is important dont you think? People on both sides of the Bush debate are baffled and angry. We must try to chase away the darkness that keeps each from understanding the other. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Led_Boots EMAIL: mbradish@adelphia.net IP: 24.53.174.231 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:20:58 AM Gene, You must have mistunderstood something I wrote. I never called you anything but Gene in the entire post. As for reference to mentality, that goes to your assertion that conservatives are making their decisions about the war based only on emotion. I made several points to the contrary and outlined how the left is doing exactly what they accuse the right of and you respoond that I'm calling you names. The term "Quagmire" is used specifically to elicit an emotional response. I know for a fact that things are going extremly well in Iraq. Over 80% of the country is stable. Things are tough in a small portion of the country(and that will be corrected soon) but going very well despite efforts by some to disrupt things. As for your comment that the Bush tax cut's are the reason for the deficit, you aren't even willing to admit that the slowing economy(at the time), the 9/11 attack, and the war have no real effect, it's just those damn tax cuts. Wars cost alot of money. Money that we didn't intend on spending at the time but needed to spend none the less. It will be recovered exponentially if the tax cuts are left in place. Yes, all those cuts should be permanent and more should be implemented. No economy has ever taxed itself into prosperity. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:23:10 AM Big Bob -- I agree with you completely and have told my whiny liberal friends essentially that: Stop whining but keep arguing. I am going to stop both on this forum for abit as I have work to do. Love live freedom! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bobby EMAIL: bberry@irmc.com IP: 208.45.158.30 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:35:44 AM I have an idea for everyone. If you feel that there is something wrong with this country, quit your freaking complaining and do something about it! Complaining about has done nothing but divide this country more. Shut up the bickering, no matter what side you're on! You are above the age where whining and moaning works. There are many things Bush could have done better, and there are many things that Kerry sttod for that were wrong. We are humans, and as humans we have the ability to solve problems. So quit complaining about your problems and try to fix them! So Kerry didn't win...does that mean it is time to give up hope(for Kerry followers) and just piss and moan? SO, Bush won, is it a time to gloat (Bush supporters) or mend bridges broken and continue on to better America as a whole? We are all in this together as a nation, no matter your beliefs! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: 2much4me EMAIL: paradigmbiz@everestkc.net IP: 208.24.179.12 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:38:47 AM I'm off to Canada as soon as I can arrange it. I don't want to live in a country with a "gun toting", evangelical Christian group in charge. They've already destroyed the environment, are taking away our personal freedoms (bit by bit) and have saddled us with a war & deficit that we didn't have 4 years ago. They elected Bush on their VALUES, but feel that there's no problem killing our boys for no reason & slaughtering thousands of innocent Iraqis. Bye, bye . . . ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Big Bob EMAIL: bberry@irmc.com IP: 208.45.158.30 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:45:21 AM 2much4me, One of the most offensively stupid comments ever made! I don't that you could survive in Canada! NEW RULE--If you are under the age of 12 or at least your mind is, please do not write anything! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Big Bob EMAIL: bberry@irmc.com IP: 208.45.158.30 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:45:34 AM 2much4me, One of the most offensively stupid comments ever made! I don't that thaink you could survive in Canada! NEW RULE--If you are under the age of 12 or at least your mind is, please do not write anything! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Big Bob EMAIL: bberry@irmc.com IP: 208.45.158.30 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:45:44 AM 2much4me, One of the most offensively stupid comments ever made! I don't that think you could survive in Canada! NEW RULE--If you are under the age of 12 or at least your mind is, please do not write anything! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/04/2004 09:47:56 AM Dear 2 Much, Can we call you a cab, pack you a bag lunch, oil the wheels of your little red wagon? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Led_Boots EMAIL: mbradish@adelphia.net IP: 24.53.174.231 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 09:55:52 AM If there are any lingering doubts about the benefits of liberating Iraq, try reading this. http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_9114.shtml There is no greater commodity than individual liberty. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: dnroberts312@att.net IP: 67.176.108.134 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 10:23:29 AM Gene-- I appreciate your open and thoughtful response. There are several other points I'd like to make about this campaign and election: 1) We have proved conclsively that the Viet Nam war is finally over,and the US won. Neither Kerry's absurd posturing as Cincinnatus "reporting for duty" nor the angry attempts of the SwiftVets to expose his distortions and exaggerations in his military record (driven by righteous anger over Kerry's postwar conduct) nor the media's repeated exhaustive attempts to prove that Bush was a deserter or AWOL in the Air Guard had any meaningful effect on the outcome. Can't we now bury this carcass and "move-on"? 2) The mainstream media have damaged themselves very badly--probably forfeiting their position as the only credible source of news and information. Rather's lame attempt to use forged documents and ridiculous "unimpeachable sources" to attack Bush's guard record, and ABC's internal memo telling reporters to go easy on Kerry because Bush was communicating his message more effectively are just a few of the outrageous examples. It is obvious to most of us that there is a leftist media bias, and they will never again have the naive trust of their viewers. Maybe it is inevitable (and constructive) that their ratings are declining,and that alternative news sources--talk radio and the internet sites and blogs are growing. 3) The mainstream media really gave Kerry a pass in this election. There is no excuse for this. Why didn't they demand full release of Kerry's military records and the circumstances of his discharge--not recorded as an "honorable" discharge until Carter offered amnesty to deserters and those less than honorably discharged in the late '70s. Not that they were huge issues, but if these were questions about Bush, you and I know that they would have been pursued relentlessly. What about Kerry and Theresa's tax records? Why weren't they fully disclosed, and why didn't the press demand disclosure? In all the "tax the rich" rhetoric, why didn't the media report that the Kerry's were paying a 12.8% on their income, well below the top rate and below the average rate paid by US families? If that were true of the Bushes, you know that it would have been widely publicized. Similarly, why wasn't there a simple effort to compare Kerry and Bush's academic records, given the widespread assumption that Kerry is brilliant (because he is articulate) and Bush is a dolt (because he is not)? Bush went to Harvard B-School after Yale, Kerry went to Boston College Law School. I think that suggests that Kerry was a mediocre swtudent at Yale, and Bush did much better, but since Kerry refused to release his academic records, we will never know. Then, there is the obvious question of Kerry's Senate record--why wasn't the record of his votes and the bills he introduced and sponsored reported by the networks, wire services and newspapers? Answer: it is embarassingly mediocre. Why not his attendacnce records in committees and votes? Same story... I'm not trying to re-fight the election, but to point out that the media didn't pursue some obvious inquiries and press for disclosure from the candidate they favored. Obvious and shameful. 4) Looking at Iraq through the lense of Viet Nam has led many of us Baby Boomers astray. In Viet Nam, the news media did a good job (at first) in bringing new information about the conduct of the war to the American public. They were telling the real stories of what GIs in the field were experiencing, when those stories were being surpressed by LBJ, Bob MacNamara, Westmoreland and others in power. In Iraq, they didn't get out of the Green Zone and find out what is really going on. What all of us who know people on the ground in Iraq have heard from them is 100% different from what we hear in the mainstream media. I think the lense of the East Coast establishment--Viet Nam, Pentagon-avers, Eurocentric, UN oriented--put them way out of touch with what most of the people know from thier own personal sources. You are more than entitled to think that Iraq will become a quagmire, but what is your solution? Contrary to what we learned in the 60s and 70s there is NOT a population bomb ticking in the developed coutries, but there IS one in the Muslim world. Over a billion people with much higher birth rates than the developed world, breeding frustrated young men in great numbers. Until we change the game, creating opportunities for these young people and their families, we will have to protect ourselves from their anger and frustration, given the democratization of firearms and explosives. As long as the repressive regimes in the Middle East blame the condition of their people on Western oppression and humiliation, supported by radical Islam, we will be the target of their anger. Take a look at Southeast Asia to see what can be achieved in a generation. This is what can also be done in Arab countries with educated people--Iraqis, Lebanese, Jordanians, Egyptians--and is the only feasible solution to combat terrorism. In the short run, we must discourage and disable them with force of arms; in the long run we need to make it more attractive for them to work and vote than to fight. That's why the neo-con vision of Muslim freedom and democracy, though astoundingly revolutionary and ambitious, makes sense for those of us willing to take the long term view. David ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Puzzled EMAIL: sschaper_iowa@yahoo.com IP: 66.188.194.106 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 11:18:13 AM Carole, At least it should have been the RCMP lancer team rather than Haradrim guarding the border between Crookston and Winnepeg :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 01:24:44 PM oh oh looks like cultural warfare has broken out again! Cant we all just get along? 2much4me, wheel your little red (or is it blue?) wagon back (good gas mileage I bet -- good for you!) and try to engage BigBob and the other good folks at this site without rancor ... We have to reign in those dumb and ancient parts of our brain that elicit an "us vs them" knee jerk response. Those instincts presumably served us well in our evolutionary past but they have no current survival value. If we cant chat civilly here,we are not going to make it.... gene ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bla EMAIL: what@no.com IP: 69.199.225.186 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 06:04:46 PM Was there supposed to be a joke in here? I didn't laugh. Tards. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 06:33:16 PM Bla What does "Tards" mean? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: LarryD EMAIL: 6bq0-c8eu@spamex.com IP: 63.245.176.203 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 06:45:37 PM "... And educated people will stay away from states in which people believe ... , that gay marriage is the one of the greatest problem facing the world (or anyone's damn business), " Such as Califoria? Passed an amendment to their state constitution barring gay marrage in 2000. Passed by 60+%, I believe. Only two counties went against it, and one of those was San Francisco. Face it, if gay marrage won't fly in California, it won't fly anywhere in the U.S. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: RAY COUNTRYMAN EMAIL: RARU@COMCAST.NET IP: 12.38.17.226 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 06:51:37 PM GO YOU LIBERAL BASTARDS. GO TO CANADA, OR BETTER YET, GO TO FRANCE. RARU NOVEMBER 4, 2004 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 06:55:53 PM LarryD -- I cant tell from your message whether you are a despondent gay man or anti-gay. If the latter, why do you think people become so fired up by the issue of gay marriage? And what is the justification for interfering with another person's freedom? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:00:12 PM RAY COUNTRYMAN, Not sure if I am a "liberal" but I know who my father is. And Im staying put. Do you have anything of substance to contribute? g ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Thomas J. Jackson EMAIL: Scotland62241@msn.com IP: 63.159.36.34 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:43:14 PM Great article. If the Left would do what they say they'd have some credibility. Its little wonder that Kerry lost given his record. We now see the same morlocks who said they'd leave digging in. The problem with Kerry is that he had no plan for the election after he'd won the primaries. I guess there is a limit to even what the Canadians will tolerate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 07:54:42 PM another bush/iran related article: http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=8&id=316095 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/04/2004 08:19:11 PM Gene, I believe the highly articulate if humor challanged but aptly self-named "bla" meant with the use of the word "tards" was to call the participants of this discussion "retards" or "retarded." In some circles, this word still cuts to the quick. Alas, those circles are pretty much composed of boys under the age of 9. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Granny Jan EMAIL: grannyjan@hotmail.com IP: 4.230.93.43 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 08:21:02 PM Reading all the "smarts" on this blog make me so proud to be an American and having chance to vote for the leader of our entire country. Pres. Bush is on the job four years then I'll vote for someone else. In the meantime I support our soldiers and am humbled by their courage and dedication to duty with such honor. I read their blogs also. I do believe in one God. I pray for our country to someday be able to build tractors for farming instead of weapons for war. But evil abounds in this world and when good people turn their backs for whatever reason, evil will not rest. I've learned in life that if you see abuse and do nothing then you are not much better than the abuser. I lost family in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam. Good men with families. Families now fat and sassy in America because they were kept safe by the sacrifice of young men who came home in boxes or lame. Weak people need dope to feel high, calm, or happy. I get high, calm or happy being reminded that I am citizen of the greatest country on the face of this planet. Thank you for allowing me write here. Great-Granny B ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: dnroberts312@att.net IP: 67.176.108.134 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 10:22:56 PM Gene-- The connection of Iraq to 9/11 has been muddied by both sides. There is lots of circumstantial evidence of a link between OBL and Iraq through Sudan. After the first Gulf war Iraq outsourced a lot of its chemical and bio weapons development and production to Sudan, where OBL was also active building roads and factories for the new Sudanese Islamist regime using his family construction company. Among the factories he built was the "aspirin factory" that we hit with cruise missles after the African embassy bombings. For more info, look at "The Connection" by Stephen Hayes. The broader question of Saddam's links to and support of the transnational Islamic terrorists is far easier to establish--training facilites, harboring Abu Nidal, supporting the Islamic "fighters" along the Iranina border in Kurdistan, funding the Palestinian suicide bombers, etc. So, the link you seek depends on the definition--if you define it narrowly enough, you can't find it, but if you think more broady, it is clear that Saddam was helping our enemies. I am one that doesn't believe we need legal proof beyond reasonable doubt of a tightly defined linkage--I lost too many friends and family on 9/11 to take any comfort in legal niceties. I firmly believe that Iraq was trying to undermine our country, support our enemies and kill our people. I'm not waiting for another murderous attack to prove their bad intent. By the way, I also believe that in time we will conclude 2 things about Iraq's WMD program. First,that Saddam wanted everyone in the world, especially the Iranians and the Saudis to believe that he had WMD as a deterrent to his enemies. However, he overplayed his bluff, and actually got most of the world to believe that he had more active weapons and production capability than he actually did. Too bad he was such a good actor, he created the case for war by overplaying his hand. Second, we will find that the actual weapons and their supporting research and production equipment were hidden and/or moved to Syria and perhaps to Iran. Remember that there are still planes fron the Iraqi air force stranded in Iran where they were moved in the run-up to the first Gulf War..Hope that clarifies how an educated, internationally oriented person could support regime change in Iraq... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: stan EMAIL: beck267@mchis.com IP: 12.218.17.54 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 07:23:34 AM Crookston? You forget the proud cities of Hallock, Stephen, Argyle and Warren. Not to mention Angus and what ever the name of that other town is. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 07:24:48 AM David, Dont want to rehash that debate (I do think you overstate the link - you have heard those arguments) but I think you have to define the link quite broadly to justify the invasion of Iraq on the basis of a retaliation for 9/11. Even the Bush administration has been careful to not explicitly offer that argument. They linked Iraq and 9/11 simply by mentioning them in the same breath again and again. The evidence of a DIRECT link was very very much less than a reasonable doubt. You can make the argument that the invasion was preemptive to avoid another 9/11 type invasion but I think that is a very dangerous slippery slope. Saddam was fairly well contained. There are very very many potential threats out there on the horizon if we define the link broadly enough. We could have invaded a host of countries out there on the basis of such links (I know that some of you want to do just that!). We must chose our targets wisely, not on the basis of emotion. We must also chose policies that minimize the creation of terroists (the Bush team needs to be more involved in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict). I agree, in theory, with those that want to spread democracy but think the neocons have misunderestimated (I apologize!) the ease with which that will happen. But there is a grand "experiment" (unfortunately involving the daily loss of many lives) taking place in Iraq, lets see what happens. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: dnroberts312@att.net IP: 67.176.108.134 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 11:33:44 AM Gene-- I'll be the first to agree that we don't know how the experiment will turn out, even in Afghanistan. But, if we take the long view (say the last 100 years or so) I think we will both agree that democracy is the long term outcome for most societies on the planet, and that it is a good thing for all. With regard to the 9/11 link to Iraq, I really do think that it is a problem of definition. I agree with you that there is no clear chain of evidence that would prove Saddam's involvement in the 9/11 attack; certainly not to the standards we would demand in a US criminal court. However, I believe that is the wrong question. There certainly have been many terrorist attacks on US and Western targets by Islamic radicals going back many years--Munich, Klinghoffer, Lebanon, the East African embassies, the Cole, the '93 truck bomb at the WTC, etc. Also, there have been many other attempts which have been thwarted. Even if you don't accept the "one per week" that Tom Ridge cites, there were the Algerians trying to bring explosives across the border from Canada, the shoe bomber, etc. So, I think we must ask the broader question--not simply Saddam's link to the specific 9/11 attack, narrowly defined. That's just the most obvious and most successful attack we have experienced in a much larger and more extensive war. It implies that if 9/11 hadn't occurred, or hadn't succeded, we would not be justified in using our military to attack the terrorists. Rather, I think we have to consider a country's role in sheltering, funding and supporting the broader multi-headed Islamic terrorist phenomenon. If we define the problem this way, Saddam's regime was a threat to the US, as I argued in my earlier post. And, as Cheney said in the debate, the intersection of Saddam's WMD efforts with the growing Islamic terrorist movement would have been a much more serious threat in the future. In my personal opinion, Saddam's violation of the terms for the cease-fire gave us the justification to invade and push him out (that's what I mean by overplaying his hand). However, if he hadn't blundered, I think we eventually would have found a way to get him out. I don't believe that he was "well-contained" and I think that the eventual full report on his WMD program will establish that fact. Not that Iraq was about to directly attack or invade the US or even Israel, Saddam was to clever to get caught at something like that. He would supply the terrorists with training, money and WMD, and defy us to prove his involvement. This is what Bush meant after 9/11 that nations are either with us or with the terrorist--it's pretty clear to me that Saddam was with the terrorists. Now, I'm not in favor of invading every country that has links to or has supported the Islamic terrorists in some way. I agree with you that we must choose our targets wisely. In an ideal world, Iran is the most serious threat we face. The mullahs are funding many terrorist organizations (Hezbollah, for example) although these are more of a threat to Israel at the moment. Their oil revenue, their ambitions to spread the theocratic Islamic state and their development of nuclear weapons are probably the most serious threat we face for the next five to ten years. The only reason to invade Iraq before we dealt with Iran is that Saddam gave us the reason we needed. Carpe Diem. I really do think that there was/is an "Axis of Evil" defined as states who support terrorist attacks on innocent civilian populations for political purposes. Perhaps this was not a very diplomatic statement, but it was accurate. Before we invaded Afghanistan i would have added Pakistan to the list (i.e Dr. Kahn's nuclear technology sales). All are/were working on developing nuclear weapons, and have shown little restraint in selling arms to and/or providing support for the terrorist organizations To me, one of the most astounding diplomatic achievements of the Bush administration was gaining the support of Pakistani Presisdent Mushareff. Despite Pakistan's religious, ethnic and financial links to the Taliban, we somehow persuaded Mushareff to "stand with us". Without Pakistan's support, the invasion of Afghanistan would have been much, much harder. Contrast that to NATO ally Turkey's reluctance to let us use their airspace and territory to support a drive south into western Iraq to seal the border with Syria in Gulf War II. Re: Israel/Palestine, I would dearly like to see that boil lanced. Perhaps with Arafat's death, we will have a chance to re-open discussions. After Arafat pulled out of the Camp David agreement, I think that Bush, Rice and Powell decided that there was not going to be a negotiated solution as long as he led the Palestinians. Now, with new leadership and new "facts on the ground"--such as Israel's withdrawal from Gasa and the erection of the wall/security barrier, we may get some pragmatic leadership from the Palestinians. Perhaps they will finally realize that they only get rhetorical support from their Arab brothers, and figure out that they are being used as a pawn and a distraction device by their so-called friends. So, I think I'm out of new ideas and explanations here--thanks for reading and thinking. Let's watch what happens in the next four years. May you live in interesting times... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 06:38:24 PM David, No time to respond in detail now except to note that that your "May you live in interesting times .." has been said to be a chinese curse. The actual origin is uncertain but may be from chinese proverb roughly translated as, "It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time that be a man in a chaotic period." Id rather be a man in either case. But yes its damn interesting thats for sure. Lets hope that the chaos is kept to a minimum. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Former Belgian EMAIL: entre_nous@mailhaven.com IP: 132.77.4.129 URL: http://entre_nous.typepad.com DATE: 11/07/2004 03:35:25 AM Gene: Thanks for your condescension. Just as an example of how "stupid" and "ignorant" some Bush supporters are: * I have two Ph.D.s, am fluent in five languages (plus bits and pieces of three more), and have a job that some people would kill for. (I am considered a minor authority in my line of work --- which is the reason why I blog under an alias.) * My wife speaks six languages, is a concert-level classical musician, and has two college degrees. She knows enough about some "different cultures" to write a book about one of them. Yet she voted Bush (her first-ever Republican vote: she is a registered Democrat), and I would have if I had American citizenship. A number of things drove me away from the left. Its insufferable intellectual condescension towards those who dissent from it was not the chief factor, but an important one nonetheless. It is good to remember sometimes why one slammed the door on one's old home. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 08:55:36 AM Former Belgian, Sorry for sounding condescending. You are responding to my early messages I guess. Those thoughts arose from talking to my colleagues (scientists -- American, European, and Asian) who apppear rather overwhelmingly anti-Bush. Obviously there are very many educated smart pro-Bush supporters (some of my best friends..). I am trying to figure out the basis of these support. Most of what I hear at this site is basically an embracing of the neocon agenda. These pro-Bush arguments are well articulated(though I still think they are very wrong). It is true that I have been guilty of thinking that much Bush support came from voters with narrow concerns (again from my view) about Gay marriage and the like. This view was re-inforced by finding that many Bush supporters have never even heard of the neocons, still think that Iraq was directly involved in 9/11, etc. I thank all of those responding with thoughtful comments. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ConservativeByTheBay EMAIL: zumbrenn@uchastings.edu IP: 67.180.61.152 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 04:56:24 PM Neoconservative is a pejorative term that only those on the left use. I’m so sick of the righteous know-it-all types who condescend to anyone who would be “stupid enough” to vote for Bush. You really don’t know why people voted for Bush? Does it really seem to you as though Kerry was such an ideal replacement? I will not tell you that I believe Bush is an ideal president, he’s far from being one. I will tell you, however, that for many people party trumps person. In an election where both candidates are flawed we vote for the party that corresponds more closely with our beliefs. So, why did I vote for GOP? Because the GOP represents: -relatively smaller government (neither party is an advocate of small government) -the promotion of business (I don’t think corporations are evil as some do, and the GOP is more business friendly) -school vouchers (i don’t think throwing money at the problem will fix our schools) -strong national defense (not because I want to bomb anything that moves in the middle east) -lower taxes (Anyone who pays taxes should get a tax cut, and Bush’s “tax cut for the rich” were not just for the rich) -less government spending (this is my biggest disappointment with Bush) -the privatization of social security (government is inefficient and I’m for privatizing most things) -the promotion of US interests even when they don’t correspond with those of the UN. (The UN is in desperate need of some modernization.....why does France get a veto again? Why doesn’t India or Pakistan?) -free trade (protectionism is economically inefficient) -work-visa programs (let’em work...and pay taxes) -and more..... And finally, I’m for the invasion of Canada. It’s a terrorist state and I’m convinced that they have WMDs. Besides, it'll only take a day or two and it will ease our reliance on mid-east oil. :-) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gene EMAIL: gene@salk.edu IP: 63.206.49.246 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 06:30:41 PM I didnt intend it as perjorative but agree that it is unclear what it encompasses. More generally, and unfortunately, almost all political labels have become dirty words ... Maybe we should invent new ones? I was referring mostly to the foreign policy agenda of the PNAC, which the Bush administration is following and many Bush supporters appear to ignorant of. Yes by all means lets invade Canada. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: don EMAIL: stretchforever@yahoo.ca IP: 24.71.223.140 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 08:38:42 AM Very interesting political satire, I am Canadian and hey our Government will take anyone from any country, particularly if they have a criminal record. As one observer said we don't need anymore liberals, they have systematically eroded our military and made a mockery of our parliament. I for one is very pro United States, in case of an attack, who would be the first to help. I'm sick of politicians on both sides of the borders, painting each other side with the same brush, case in point Carolyn Parrish, MP for Mississaugua who three times has made venomous comments about americans and not once has been relegated to the back benches. It was suggested by someone in Canada, for every American we let across the border, the U.S. will let one of our Canadian beef cows maybe that will open the border. god bless our cooperation and friendship Don ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: don EMAIL: stretchforever@yahoo.ca IP: 24.71.223.140 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 08:38:54 AM Very interesting political satire, I am Canadian and hey our Government will take anyone from any country, particularly if they have a criminal record. As one observer said we don't need anymore liberals, they have systematically eroded our military and made a mockery of our parliament. I for one is very pro United States, in case of an attack, who would be the first to help. I'm sick of politicians on both sides of the borders, painting each other side with the same brush, case in point Carolyn Parrish, MP for Mississaugua who three times has made venomous comments about americans and not once has been relegated to the back benches. It was suggested by someone in Canada, for every American we let across the border, the U.S. will let one of our Canadian beef cows maybe that will open the border. god bless our cooperation and friendship Don ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: peter EMAIL: northwig@yahoo.ca IP: 64.178.148.221 URL: DATE: 11/14/2004 01:31:47 PM Hey Don, our cattle are no more tainted with BSE than any cattle found in the U.S.A. The bad beef scare was a hoax perpetrated by the U.S. media to keep our dollar from appreciating too fast. In fact, much of the shrill crap found in the media regarding our two countries has its roots in the quickly depreciating American dollar. The Canadian dollar would appreciate much more quickly if it wasn't for 'manufactured' news events to manage a controlled rise. As for Americans coming to Canada, I expect more of this. Like Gold, the higher it goes up, the more people want it. Canada, through the mirror of it's appreciating currency, will act the same way. By the time we are at parity, in about 4 to 8 years, we'll have over half a million new Americans calling Canada home. ----- PING: TITLE: Democratic Exodus to Canuckistan? URL: http://www.bolditalic.com/quotulatiousness_archive/000616.html IP: 64.56.239.49 BLOG NAME: Quotulatiousness DATE: 11/03/2004 01:22:51 PM Jon explains why this isn't a good idea, comrades. American Digest provides photos of the military build-up on the border to prevent infiltration by rebel Blue-Staters. Cuba may be welcoming Democratic refugees, however. . .... ----- PING: TITLE: Let's make a deal URL: http://www.bolditalic.com/wankives/000615.html IP: 64.56.239.49 BLOG NAME: blogulaciousness DATE: 11/03/2004 02:10:15 PM Snort. OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Disgruntled Democrats seeking a safe Canadian haven after U.S. President George W. Bush won Tuesday's election should not pack their bags just yet. Canadian officials made clear on Wednesday that any U.S. citizens so ... ----- PING: TITLE: Let's make a deal URL: http://www.bolditalic.com/wankives/000615.html IP: 64.56.239.49 BLOG NAME: blogulaciousness DATE: 11/03/2004 02:22:04 PM Snort. OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Disgruntled Democrats seeking a safe Canadian haven after U.S. President George W. Bush won Tuesday's election should not pack their bags just yet. Canadian officials made clear on Wednesday that any U.S. citizens so ... ----- PING: TITLE: Attention, American Refugees! URL: http://windsofchange.net/archives/005842.php IP: 63.247.72.82 BLOG NAME: Winds of Change.NET DATE: 11/03/2004 02:24:58 PM Gerald Van Der Leun has the scoop, and gives us alla good laugh: Canadian Army Masses to Enforce Canada's "No Flee Zone" Policy with the Latest in Advanced Canadian Weaponry. And he has the pictures... ----- PING: TITLE: Life Imitates Arrt URL: http://www.opinionatedbastard.com/archives/000213.html IP: 67.15.58.78 BLOG NAME: The Opinionated Bastard DATE: 11/03/2004 03:28:14 PM So first, a blogger writes a funny post called CANADIAN ARMY FORTIFIES BORDER TO REPEL REFUGEE ONSLAUGHT FROM THE SOUTH. Then CNN posts No Canada safe haven for Democrats. That’s just funny! ----- PING: TITLE: Let's make a deal URL: http://www.bolditalic.com/wankives/000615.html IP: 64.56.239.49 BLOG NAME: blogulaciousness DATE: 11/03/2004 06:51:56 PM Snort. OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Disgruntled Democrats seeking a safe Canadian haven after U.S. President George W. Bush won Tuesday's election should not pack their bags just yet. Canadian officials made clear on Wednesday that any U.S. citizens so ... ----- PING: TITLE: I try to be cynical but I can't keep up files URL: http://orbital-mind-control-laser.net/leo/archives/2004_11_03.html#002037 IP: 203.194.196.211 BLOG NAME: Low Earth Orbit DATE: 11/03/2004 07:14:21 PM [source] Poor guy. He writes a wonderful spoof on Canada defending itself against the onslaught of digruntled lefties fleeing the... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: "KENNETH, WHAT IS THE BLOGGING CHANNEL?" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Tinfoil Brigade DATE: 11/03/2004 11:59:10 AM ----- BODY: Television news' odd couple, Dan Rather and Ed Bradley are still, it seems having trouble coming to grips with the technology that is taking them apart molecule by molecule. Witness this telling exchange courtesy of Roger L. Simon's "Blogging Machine" here
    DAN RATHER: One would expect that the blogging machine which the White House and the Bush-Cheney campaign has used for any number of purposes over their four years will start now, if it hasn't started already, to say, listen, Kerry-Edwards, for the good of the country, need to concede. ED BRADLEY: I'm sure it's started already. If we could tune into the Internet we'd see that people are already saying that now. That's certainly the drum the White House is beating.
    [Emphasis added] Now I don't want to go off on a rant here.... Well, okay. Short form. It seems to me that with all the CBS producers, interns, and assistants backing up these two overpaid and over-hyped professional blatherers, someone, somewhere could give them a reach-around and explain that the "Internet Channel" is Channel #15,648 on the dial and that "Your arms too short to box with Internet." [Bradley will get the reference. Not sure about Rather.] More sophisticated users might point them towards IRC, but since it is obvious neither has mastered touch-typing (Key Internet Skill # 1, 2, 3, 4....) I'm not looking for them to show up there any time soon. The question is whether or not these media fossils' company Viacom will buy them a clue or simply buy out their contracts. Better still, both Radley and Blather need to heed those few simply words spoken by their arch-nemisis Dick Cheney at the Republican Convention of 2000: "But, my friends, that last hour is coming. That last day is near. The wheel has turned, and . . . it is time for them to go." ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Woody EMAIL: wooddad@sbcglobal.net IP: 68.152.109.238 URL: http://woodyswoundup.blogspot.com DATE: 11/03/2004 12:15:48 PM And need we add that Mr. Rather, in the midst of whatever high tech TV studio devices that surrounded him, resorted to using a good old fashioned pencil to point out various states on his electronic map. That man, unlike Kerry, will never concede. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: 9:55 PM PACIFIC TIME: CNN PANEL SAYS IT'S BUSH STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/02/2004 09:58:08 PM ----- BODY: eagleLOGO.jpg The crew gathered about Paula Zahn is, with James Carville taking point, announcing that George W. Bush has won the Presidency. Carville: Look, there's no point in spin at this hour. I've talked to the Kerry people on the ground in Ohio and they'd like to give me good news, but they've got no good news to give. 2:30 AM Eastern Time, November 3: Kerry, lacking manliness in defeat, sends his boy out to say that while "Hope" is no longer on the way, lawyers are. Sigh. The Democratic Race ends as it began, classless and leaderless. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Matt EMAIL: matt270win@nycap.rr.com IP: 24.29.90.92 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 10:27:40 PM If it holds - Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Grumpy Old Man EMAIL: octopod@cox.net IP: 68.231.197.173 URL: http://www.globaloctopus.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/02/2004 10:35:36 PM He's an odd guy, but he's a pro. Good for him. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 68.125.99.151 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/02/2004 10:44:26 PM We have the names. Now its time to kick ass. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mojave Mark EMAIL: mark12658@yahoo.com IP: 68.227.0.113 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 12:38:50 AM Bush won! I hear they'll be serving some crow at the DNC with a bit of humble pie for dessert. :-) God is good. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Martin Lindeskog EMAIL: Lyceum@gmail.com IP: 130.241.65.109 URL: http://egoist.blogspot.com DATE: 11/03/2004 01:37:12 AM I wonder how my former hometown, Troy, Ohio, turned out. The Swedish tabloids are saying: "Another election scandal." All the Best, Martin Lindeskog - American in spirit. Gothenburg, Sweden (a.k.a the socialist "paradise"). ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: len EMAIL: cpas@cpa.com IP: 64.169.169.101 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 03:09:08 AM bizzare how kerry supporters mostly listened to each other as amplified and fed back to them by national media. drive up the west side hiway in manhattan to see it plastered w vote/die posters. havent met a fellow bush supporter in oakland ca. hmm, havent even met a non bush hater around here. coastal chauvism w unadulterated disdain/dislike of people w religious fath. have my differences w bush domestic policy etc. but the iraqi's we're training and arming are much more likely to stay the course and not go to the dark side if they know bush is still leader of the pack. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: len EMAIL: cpas@cpa.com IP: 64.169.169.101 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 03:09:42 AM bizzare how kerry supporters mostly listened to each other as amplified and fed back to them by national media. drive up the west side hiway in manhattan to see it plastered w vote/die posters. havent met a fellow bush supporter in oakland ca. hmm, havent even met a non bush hater around here. coastal chauvism w unadulterated disdain/dislike of people w religious fath. have my differences w bush domestic policy etc. but the iraqi's we're training and arming are much more likely to stay the course and not go to the dark side if they know bush is still leader of the pack. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: len EMAIL: cpas@cpa.com IP: 64.169.169.101 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 03:09:47 AM bizzare how kerry supporters mostly listened to each other as amplified and fed back to them by national media. drive up the west side hiway in manhattan to see it plastered w vote/die posters. havent met a fellow bush supporter in oakland ca. hmm, havent even met a non bush hater around here. coastal chauvism w unadulterated disdain/dislike of people w religious fath. have my differences w bush domestic policy etc. but the iraqi's we're training and arming are much more likely to stay the course and not go to the dark side if they know bush is still leader of the pack. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ripley EMAIL: jm.sawyer@verizon.net IP: 4.65.5.209 URL: http://verizon.net DATE: 11/03/2004 03:32:51 AM I heard Neil Youngs a Repubbie... 4 dead in Ohio ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Matt Bing EMAIL: mattklf@yahoo.com IP: 81.133.199.145 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 04:20:30 AM Well done America on being "offically stupid". Voting for a monkey in a suit once was bad but twice!!!!! Still, you can have the world as I think most of the worlds population is going to the moon to escape death and destruction. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rick Darby EMAIL: vechzl@yahoo.com IP: 68.227.207.205 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 05:10:46 AM "Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter, Sermons and soda water the day after" (Lord Byron). But on the day after, we do have as much work cut our for us in the next four years as we had during the campaign. Perhaps most of all, we must devise strategies for counteracting and reforming the mainstream media, who demonstrated how despicably corrupt and one-sided they are in pitching "their" candidate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Grumpy Old Man EMAIL: octopod@cox.net IP: 68.231.197.173 URL: http://www.globaloctopus.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/03/2004 06:24:31 AM No class. No realism. No sportsmanship. Not a good way to unite the nation or preserve your dignity. Not a good way for the MSM to rebuild any of their shattered credibility. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dan Patterson EMAIL: danpatterson@remax.net IP: 66.194.22.92 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 06:30:26 AM One measure of a man is how he acts in defeat. Another measure is how he preens and brays about his real and imagined accomplishments. The contrast between the two party leaders is stark and valuable. Carville had it exactly right, and he is to be commended for his insight. The Kerry/Edwards ticket should gather as much of their self-respect as possible, make a generous concession statement, and work toward uniting the country. But they won't. Congratulations to Bush/Cheney and the entire team. Get back to work. Dan Patterson Winston-Salem, NC ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harry EMAIL: hpotter@hogwarts.ac.uk IP: 129.33.49.251 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 07:54:40 AM Well done America on being 'offically stupid'. Voting for a monkey in a suit once was bad but twice!!!!! Still, you can have the world as I think most of the worlds population is going to the moon to escape death and destruction. Matt, this is your wake-up call. The election is over, we have a war to win, and there's a lot of work to do. It's time to grow up now. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jungus EMAIL: jungus@yahoo.com IP: 139.177.224.128 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 08:37:46 AM For those of you who think that all Bush is is a monkey in a suit, all I can say is that description is not vey nuanced. In fact it is very simplistic and showes you to be a spoon fed moron. But I would like to point out that as of hearing that Kerry conceided the race, I will admit that John F. Kerry has a lot more class than Al Gore. I hope that the left can start to listen to the right and see that our views really are based on logic and not Rovian mind control beams. In fact they might find that we will agree with them on many things. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jack J. EMAIL: jjenki@hacm.org IP: 207.250.27.20 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 09:33:35 AM GOD willing the animals who hate freedom and liberty will be eliminated from the gene pool forever". The Author of this statment is truly an ASS and a SICKO! No matter what you or this beast states, this comment refers to fellow Americans who love this country but offer a different opinion!!! Comments such as this will CERTAINLY bring the country closer-yeah right. Let's be real. THE BEST PRESIDENTS IN MODERN TIMES WERE KENNEDY, JOHNSON, and NIXON. This dude (YOUR BUSH) is arrogant uninformed and not the sharpest knife in the drawer and DOES not have one damn thoughtful concern for anyone other than his "ELITE" supporters, oil tycoons, and unscrupulous corporate gangsters/criminals. SHAME ON ALL OF US FOR FOLLOWING THIS PIED PIPER. If you ain't got it now, in four years you WILL have less! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: TK EMAIL: tkozal@well.com IP: 12.30.235.98 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 10:26:46 AM I know you are not on the Well anymore, but the problems all the lefties are having over there is a sight to see. Truly Special. They are ready to drink the kool-aid for good this time, along with the poster above me. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.66.21.221 URL: DATE: 11/03/2004 07:09:15 PM Jack J., The three best presidents in modern times? Kennedy's bootleg, booze-king father bought him into office. Once there he was a philanderer and single handedly almost started a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union in the Bay of Pigs incident. He also, like your erstwhile hero Kerry would have done, turned tail and left the Cuban guerilla's for slaughter by Castro. He also got us into that war you passionite hypocrites loved so well; Vietnam. LBJ was a magnificent political stratigist. You know, the kind that can sell rotten watermellons to liberals. He was as close to a dictator as this country will hopefully ever see. Nixon? By all liberal accounts, the worst president in history. Nixon was actually guilty of the atrocities you claim Mr. Bush is guilty of. As for sharpest knife in the drawer I can tell from your sub 100 IQ that you aren't a Harvard MBA. Of all four candidates this election the poorest of the four is George W. Bush. He also gave more to charity, thousands more, than his opponent. "Elite" supporters? Far fewer than the DNC; millions fewer. What unscrupulous corporate gangsters/criminals? Can you name them? As for following the pied piper; I will indeed. He got all the rats out of Hamlin. Meanwhile you go ahead and follow the pie eyed piper on the left and see where it gets you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tony EMAIL: tonylucero@gmail.com IP: 24.22.33.150 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 01:09:59 AM But I would like to point out that as of hearing that Kerry conceided the race, I will admit that John F. Kerry has a lot more class than Al Gore. Obviously two very different situations, and I understand both of them with the exception that Gore should not have conceeded in the first place. I think Kerry's concession was as graceful as possible... we were expecting recounts or that mayhem would engulf the elections to some extent, I think, and not having any of it was so much better thanks to a wider gap and a considerate Kerry. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tony EMAIL: tonylucero@gmail.com IP: 24.22.33.150 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 01:14:03 AM P.S. I mean that Gore should not have conceeded the first time before taking it back, not that he should have refused to conceed at all, ever. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: BKD EMAIL: timberlnd2@aol.com IP: 205.188.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 09:02:08 AM THE TWO HYPOCRITICAL COWARDS: BUSH & CHENEY Both Bush and Cheney supported the Vietnam War but both did everything they could to avoid combat. Everyone knows that the National Guard during the Vietnam War was a haven for those who did not want to get killed in a foolish war. Bush joined the National Guard to avoid combat, not to serve his country. Anyone who believes that Bush joined the National Guard to serve his country is a dam fool. Cheney used several deferments to avoid combat. These two individuals were too cowardly to serve in a war that they supported but in Iraq they were very eager to sacrifice the lives of others. They are hypocrites when they praise our combat troops. If they really believed this, they would have been in combat during the Vietnam War. Because Bush, Cheney, and their families had nothing to fear about going to war in Iraq, they rushed into this war without exploring all alternatives. They were eager to correct the mistake of the father. War should be the last alternative, not the first. Although an all volunteer military has many advantages, it has one major flaw. Because the powerful have nothing to fear about their sons or daughters being killed, they are much more willing to go to war without adequate reasons and without exploring alternatives. If we had a draft during the past few years, the young would have filled the streets with protest and along with their parents they would have sent Bush back to Texas on November 2 for a permanent vacation. If the mean spirted Republicans had this issue (cowards on the Democratic ticket) they certainly would have exploited it. They even tried to destroy the reputation of a war hero. If the Democrats had focused on the character of Bush and Cheney ("cowards and hypocrites") they would have won the election on November 2. When are the Democrats going to learn -- they have to as mean spirited as the Republican right if they hope to win elections. They tried to run a positive campaign in July and August and paid dearly for this mistakes. They went on the attack much too late. The media gives much attention to the "negative campaigns" but fails to point out that it is the Republican right that forced the Democrats to use this concept. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/05/2004 09:05:44 AM Ah, the old Briarpatch theory of the media. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mortgage Loan EMAIL: webmaster@mortgage-loan.us.com IP: 168.143.113.5 URL: http://www.mortgage-loan.us.com DATE: 11/12/2004 10:41:22 AM This website will help explain how mortgage loans lenders evaluate your spending power and provide you competitive mortgage home loan quotes. Should you have bad credit you can apply for bad credit home loans, as all credit types are considered. Home equity loans can offer significantly better interest rates than other forms of loans. FHA home loans are geared towards real estate buyers who do not have the money to make a large down payment on a home loan. 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Sigh. The Democratic Race ends as it began, classless and leaderless. Juliette: Ohio: Bush. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Fifty Reasons Why STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 2 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/02/2004 02:35:42 PM ----- BODY: [Note: October,29 In case you haven't figured out my vote, here it is and here's why. Returned to the top of the page for the duration. ] Hugh Hewitt asks "Why vote for Bush and What's Wrong With Kerry?" I'll leave it to others to tackle the second half of that question as they do so ably at the many links off Hugh's site. The polls are open in California and after I finish this item, I'm going down to the Albertson's Supermarket across from the beach here in Laguna Beach and cast my ballot. It will be the first time I've ever voted for a Republican ticket in a National Election. Before this, I voted Democrat right down the line. But I was asleep and I was foolish. Now, at least I can say I'm awake. It's not that I'm overjoyed with George Bush (although at least one of my friends cannot be convinced otherwise), nor that I think the Republican Party is overwhelmingly admirable. None of that. It's never easy to vote when the only viable choices are two, but that's the deal right now. And my job today as a citizen is to choose. So I will choose George W. Bush. There are many reasons why, but here's 50. reasonswhy01.jpg reasonswhy02.jpg That our soldiers like this keep flying and they come home soon with honor. reasonswhy03.jpg reasonswhy04.jpg That this hero will not have died in vain, and that our victory means a birth of freedom for Iraq. reasonswhy05.jpg reasonswhy06.jpg That men like this are hunted to the ends of the Earth and destroyed. The Rest of the Reasons ----- EXTENDED BODY: reasonswhy07.jpg reasonswhy08.jpg That those who would do this to children and the innocent are utterly defeated. reasonswhy09.jpg reasonswhy10.jpg That the mass graves vanish never to reappear, and that the animals are given swift and certain justice. reasonswhy11.jpg reasonswhy12.jpg That our soldiers fight with valor and that biotoxins are kept from our land. reasonswhy13.jpg reasonswhy14.jpg That quislings are shown in their true colors, and the carnage of war kept from our shores. reasonswhy15.jpg reasonswhy16.jpg That the cowardice of kidnappers and hate-merchants be brought to a swift end. reasonswhy17.jpg reasonswhy18.jpg That the cowardly killings in Spain are answered even though that country lacks the courage to answer them itself. reasonswhy19.jpg reasonswhy20.jpg That even though many in Spain died in vain, none of our soldiers will. reasonswhy21.jpg reasonswhy22.jpg That the American Flag will be seen around the world as it truly is -- the harbinger of freedom and the last, best hope of Earth. reasonswhy23.jpg reasonswhy24.jpg That the secret assassins of tyranny continue to fall before the secret soldiers of Democracy. reasonswhy25.jpg reasonswhy26.jpg That children may grow up knowing that soldiers came from far away, and gave their lives so that they could be free. reasonswhy27.jpg reasonswhy28.jpg That evil is consumed unto ash, while the good rise up on the prayers of comrades. reasonswhy29.jpg reasonswhy30.jpg That those who order the murder of children be exposed as the butchers they are. reasonswhy31.jpg reasonswhy32.jpg That the creatures who would do this to an American or to any human be removed from the future of the world by any means necessary. reasonswhy33.jpg reasonswhy34.jpg That the body bags of Beslan are never seen in Baltimore. reasonswhy35.jpg reasonswhy36.jpg That the killers of babies are sent to the Pit. reasonswhy37.jpg reasonswhy38.jpg That corrupt institutions are expunged from our soil, ..... and that... this, reasonswhy39.jpg reasonswhy40.jpg ... and this,       ... and this, reasonswhy41.jpg reasonswhy42.jpg ... and this,       ... and this, reasonswhy43.jpg reasonswhy44.jpg ... and this,       ... and this, reasonswhy45.jpg reasonswhy46.jpg ... and this,       ... and this, reasonswhy47.jpg reasonswhy48.jpg ... and this,       ... and this, reasonswhy49.jpg never happen again. reasonwhy50.jpg And that Freedom reign. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mr.Atos EMAIL: mratos@yahoo.com IP: 65.102.59.122 URL: http://www.mysandmen.blogspot.com DATE: 10/19/2004 04:44:01 PM A silent moment in salute to you sir... ...thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mr. Atos EMAIL: mratos@yahoo.com IP: 65.102.59.122 URL: http://www.mysandmen.blogspot.com DATE: 10/19/2004 04:46:11 PM Sorry for the dupes, but your site locked up with a repeating error message. fyi! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: carole EMAIL: bjoyous@shaw.ca IP: 137.186.223.137 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 04:50:50 PM Hugh Hewitt is telling about your presentation and although I am crying I know the American voters will not allow the president to lose, they are too strong for that to happen. Thanks for the hard work done to show us once again what the reality is in the world. thanks. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: capt. george burk EMAIL: gburk@georgeburk.com IP: 216.19.219.165 URL: http://www.georgeburk.com DATE: 10/19/2004 04:55:05 PM Thank you! A Vietnam vet. God bless America and her troops. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: capt. george burk, usaf (ret) EMAIL: gburk@georgeburk.com IP: 216.19.219.165 URL: http://www.georgeburk.com DATE: 10/19/2004 04:55:24 PM Thank you! A Vietnam vet. God bless America and her troops. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anne Gomes EMAIL: gomesanne@hotmail.com IP: 200.12.61.231 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 04:57:56 PM I also cried looking at your blog. Thank you. I believe this is extremely important, especially since my son is a Marine. If I may I would like to add the photos of the bombed US Embassy in Kenya and the USS Cole. We have lots of reasons to make sure this never happens again, Anne Gomes ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Connecticut Yankee EMAIL: rebeccafrey@snet.net IP: 64.252.64.157 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 05:05:17 PM Powerful. Just posted a link to it over at Little Green Footballs. I hope your photo essay gets e-mailed to our troops, too. Thank you for another outstanding post. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephen EMAIL: klendathu99-blogs@yahoo.com IP: 63.93.238.42 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 05:06:42 PM That sums it all up nicely. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Grumpy EMAIL: octopod@cox.net IP: 64.147.31.101 URL: http://www.globaloctopus.blogspot.com DATE: 10/19/2004 05:13:25 PM Once again, you've said it superbly. I am afraid I have to link to your blog again, even if people talk. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: RKA EMAIL: nephys@aol.com IP: 157.127.124.141 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 05:23:49 PM You are a true patriot. Thank you, and God bless our nation. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mary Wadsworth EMAIL: cantlbrook@frontier.net IP: 216.203.250.152 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 05:24:08 PM Thank you. The whole world needs to see and absorb your very, very powerful post, especially those who find truth so difficult to view. You caught my soul. God Bless America, our super troops and you,sir. MaryW. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Allens EMAIL: kent.allen@ngc.com IP: 157.127.124.141 URL: http://yvent.blogspot.com DATE: 10/19/2004 05:31:19 PM It is my hope that this site becomes as widely read as it deserves to be. Thank you for actually voting your conscience - something too few of us seem to do. For those voting the wrong way out of fear of offending the other misled souls of the world, I recommend two minutes viewing this stirring reminder of what we are fighting, and fighting for. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Working Grunt EMAIL: workinggrunt@123.orgx IP: 24.90.49.74 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 05:33:52 PM Thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ford Williams EMAIL: flwilliams@cox.net IP: 168.137.0.15 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 05:41:54 PM If Kerry is elected, who will guard the door to my house, my neighbor's doors, my communities' doors? The Marines, the Army, the Coast Guard, the FBI or my local police? The location of the war will shift from Bagdad to MainStreet, USA. The elites will constantly conduct seminars to discuss the situation. They will discuss ways to get the population to accept the nusance of death on our streets from terriorists. Meanwhile my wife, my kids and I will have to take turns manning the baracades of the fire free zones helping our neighbors and communities survive. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: scott.hartford@fox.com IP: 216.205.234.55 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 05:43:15 PM I'm forwarding to friends and relatives -- thanks and God bless! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill Weber EMAIL: bweberf@yahoo.com IP: 207.151.38.178 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 05:48:51 PM I weep to see, to remember, to know that though the sorrow be true, our land be sound. That though the world knows tears, (and so do I) I will stand, salute America and all she stands for. Thank you for helping us remember. Bill ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steve Blakemore EMAIL: sblakemore@wbs.edu IP: 24.164.198.109 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 06:02:22 PM Thanks for a moving exposition and presentation. I agree with you about having reservations about some of President Bush's policies (although perhaps not the same one). But, one thing is clear. There is a choice to be made between a strong leader and a non-leader. From my blog partner and I at IntheFight, three cheers for your eloquence in word and picture. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dianne weie EMAIL: sunnyday1@cox.net IP: 68.4.78.233 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 06:06:51 PM Hey Hugh, Thank you so much for all you do for America! I'm an educator who is also thankful for how hard you worked to support IUSD (parcel tax) a few years back. Surprisingly, I am also a huge "W" supporter- am trying to get the word out to my colleagues. They are a tough sell, esp. becuz of NCLB. Haven't heard you address this on your show and would love to hear your take on it. So far, this is the one thing I find extremely disappointing about Pres. Bush's policies. We are spending more time testing than actually teaching! (What happened to the feds getting out of local school management?) Please comment. Thank you! Dianne ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 10/19/2004 06:12:01 PM Gee, thank you all for your kind words. I appreciate all them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Robert Franzoni EMAIL: cajungator@verizon.net IP: 4.8.42.73 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 06:24:22 PM Thank you for a powerful presentation. I casted my early ballot in Tarpon Springs FL for GWB this morning. You did not have to convince me but hopefully you will convince many undecided, that in these dangerous times the choice is clear, GWB is the man. Robert Franzoni ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Genny EMAIL: cat7308@msn.com IP: 65.214.41.72 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 06:43:26 PM Thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mary V. Abeyta EMAIL: cruise_mama@hotmail.com IP: 68.69.136.6 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 06:47:55 PM Thank you. I have chosen George W. Bush. My faith and trust have directed me. This presentation only confirms that I have made the right selection. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nancy Ballance EMAIL: npballance@earthlink.net IP: 216.249.107.251 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 06:48:16 PM Superb essay....I am not often moved to tears...this did. Your point elegantly made. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott Rogers EMAIL: scottrogers@fastq.com IP: 69.29.53.18 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 06:58:20 PM It is a war of survival, least we forget - Values over words, actions over good intentions. Thank you Hugh, and especially GW for his steadfastness... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steel Turman EMAIL: cosmic@renonevada.net IP: 216.105.193.200 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 07:02:02 PM That should be its own TV on ad ala 527s. Excellent. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: sitaliaander@finsvcs.com IP: 68.211.12.147 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 07:05:55 PM I had not seen the photo of the beheaded American hostage for months until today. (I am ashamed that I cannot remember his name). I have never seen the photos of the body bags of Beslan. Nor those of Madrid. And thanks to the desire of the MSM to have us act as though 9/11 never happened, in the past three years I have seen precious few pictures of that day the Twin Towers fell. I'm certain there are few in America who thank God every day for John Kerry. And I'm equally certain that hundred of thousands if not millions of Americans who thank God for George W. Bush. Thanks for reminding me why I am voting for George W. Bush. Twice. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nick EMAIL: hagar157@hotmail.com IP: 199.101.36.15 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 07:06:03 PM I read your posting at our public library and openly wept. Thank you for reminding us what it is all about. A VietNam vet. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bat Guano EMAIL: batguano12@yahoo.com IP: 67.182.168.93 URL: http://stopworrying.blogspot.com DATE: 10/19/2004 07:17:40 PM From a guy who voted for Clinton twice (to my eternal shame) here's to Bush redux. President John Kerry would get somebody killed. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cathie EMAIL: Angelclair@adelphia.net IP: 68.66.76.18 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 07:27:39 PM They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words. Let's pray that America wakes up and can truly see the Truth! Cathie in California ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: michelle EMAIL: mamm@pacbell.net IP: 63.202.234.14 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 07:29:38 PM Thank you for reminding us. How quickly we forget. Truly shocking. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 10/19/2004 07:36:04 PM Mr. Truman, The beheaded Americans names are Nick Berg and Paul Johnson. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bethtopaz EMAIL: bethtopaz@yahoo.com IP: 68.189.82.71 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 08:30:39 PM John Kerry once said that the Vietnamese didn't know the difference between democracy and Communism - and that only 3,000 would be affected if we pulled out of Vietnam. They do and millions were affected - and he still is clueless. George W. Bush has been given to this country by God to lead us through a dark and dangerous time. I pray every day that the majority of Americans will see this and re-elect him. Thank you for your beautiful and moving essay. Beth in Winters ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lawrence J. Bach EMAIL: startnofyr@socal.rr.com IP: 24.24.223.54 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 08:36:08 PM Sir, Thank you for reminding us that freedom isn't free, for honoring the willing few who daily risk their lives to serve and protect us, and for honoring those heroes and their families who've made the ultimate sacrifice, paying the full price of freedom for the rest of us, even for those who hate America - U.S. Army Vet, firefighter ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Brent Ramsey EMAIL: susanandbrent@earthlink.net IP: 207.69.140.21 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 08:36:56 PM An eloquent reminder that the GWOT is real. Bush is taking the fight to the terrorists where they are. That course must continue until they are eliminated. CAPT Brent Ramsey, USNR (Ret) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ginny EMAIL: Wapite@earthlink.net IP: 216.175.108.124 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 08:37:18 PM I hope millions of Americans see your pictures. We need to be remeinded why we are fighting and for what. My ancestors have defended this country since the Revolutionary War. I still believe it & what it stands for is worth fighting for. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Joe Ma EMAIL: jkhmjycm@earthlink.net IP: 63.191.129.20 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 08:37:56 PM Sir,You are powerfully persuasive. I hope everyone in the battle ground States gets to see your presentation. God help us if we would to let John Kerry to get into the White House, for that would be to make a mockery of all the sacrifices made by our heros(and their family) in defending this Country and in spreading peace and democracy to the world. Thank you for your excellent post. Joe Ma Morgantown,WV ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Wood EMAIL: whoopen@126.com IP: 218.82.67.105 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 09:12:47 PM do u think it can wipe out terrorists from the earth just by weapons? Do u think Bush can protect us from attacking by terrorists? It is u who r wrong!weapons can never control weapons! Wars can never eradicate war! i think you are asleep now!and all the persons who have decided to choose Bush are asleep!It's a big tragdy for American if Bush succeed in the election! the tragdy is waiting for us in near future! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Wood EMAIL: whoopen@126.com IP: 218.82.67.105 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 09:12:50 PM do u think it can wipe out terrorists from the earth just by weapons? Do u think Bush can protect us from attacking by terrorists? It is u who r wrong!weapons can never control weapons! Wars can never eradicate war! i think you are asleep now!and all the persons who have decided to choose Bush are asleep!It's a big tragdy for American if Bush succeed in the election! the tragdy is waiting for us in near future! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dick Winiker EMAIL: dwiniker@cox.net IP: 68.108.220.27 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 09:15:23 PM This is the best answer to the question that could have been made. I will forever be amazed at the talent and insight that is living in our great country. Dick ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Walt EMAIL: Wally64@earthlink.net IP: 209.179.168.35 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 09:47:09 PM Wepons in the hands of brave and courageous men and women who are willing and able to defend the right. All evil needs to succeed is for good men to remain asleep. Awake and vote! Let everyone choose. Just because a Democrat did the registering does not mean that they are all sheep and believe that the corruption of the U. N. is the way to peace. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ben Kent EMAIL: benkent01@comcast.net IP: 68.63.200.225 URL: DATE: 10/19/2004 10:22:09 PM Thank you sir, for reminding us why good men fight. The struggle to form and maintain democracy demands constant vigilance. Thank God their are those who are willing to put themselves in harm's way for us all. Go U.S.A. Ben in Arizona ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pegleg Pete EMAIL: Forrest@trfproperties.com IP: 66.250.23.22 URL: http://www.trfproperties.com DATE: 10/19/2004 10:35:50 PM Thank you for reminding us what/who an American is. Pegleg Pete High Country, USA ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Elroy Jetson EMAIL: paradigmshift@cox.net IP: 24.253.151.163 URL: http://members.cox.net/paradigmshift DATE: 10/19/2004 11:51:08 PM Thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Linda Levitan EMAIL: Moore@deaf.com IP: 67.51.201.59 URL: http://www.deaf.com DATE: 10/20/2004 01:37:18 AM Ever since I became eligible to vote, I've voted (mostly) Democratic. This will mark the first time I'm voting for a Republican president. I voted for Clinton twice, too...and Jimmy Carter also. I used to admire Ralph Nader. I'm also a pro-choice feminist. And I know I'm in good company. I still don't understand how "enlightened" citizens of the U.S. can so willingly be terror apologists, hate Israel, and support the UN. At least I'm not going to be one of them! Thank you for a powerful assemblage of images that remind us of what's really important. See you at the polls! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lynn Lee EMAIL: dleefamily@centurytel.net IP: 66.112.85.157 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 05:00:22 AM Thank You! Your picture essay was excellent. These are images that need to be seen over and over again--lest we forget. Too many people have rationalized their support of Kerry by downplaying the true danger that terrorism brings to our world. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tom Howard EMAIL: thowardsprint5@earthlink.net IP: 66.1.198.121 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 05:08:11 AM Thank You for the powerful photo essay. I am voting for GWB and I know that he will bring the justice needed to our enemies. I hope every person who votes sees this first. Tom in Arizona ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Doug Gasque EMAIL: DMGASQUE@AOL.COM IP: 64.12.116.210 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 07:03:34 AM It's a true shame that every American not be required to view this. GOD willing the animals who hate freedom and liberty will be eliminated from the gene pool forever. Thank you Sir for this site. Thanks to LGF site for directing me here. God bless you and all us AMERICANS. LET FREEDOM RING all around the world. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dan Patterson EMAIL: danpatterson@remax.net IP: 66.194.22.92 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 07:03:56 AM Oh HELL YES! Could this be sent to the Hollywood power-brokers? I would love to see Mahr, Moore, et al as they watched this one. The eloquence of other posts is very appropriate and speaks to the touching nature of the struggle and of loss. Having let those images and the pain of events since September 11th register once more, my next response is to SUPPORT VICTORY in the face of such a horrible enemy. Dan Patterson ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: M. Murchison EMAIL: murch007@comcast.net IP: 24.16.226.48 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 07:18:07 AM May I add to Bethtopaz: I go to a young Viet manicurist who works her head off to help support her family and is gloriously appreciative of the opportunity to do so. I asked why she came to the US and her instant answer was "Freedom." She told me how her family went hungry and were reduced to eating rats and insects to survive....that's what Kerry had us do to these people. Thanks for your great picture message. Myrt ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mike EMAIL: michaeljorris@aol.com IP: 136.181.195.3 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 07:47:44 AM Very good. Wood: Your post is an argument to do nothing, ever, in response to anything. Does the word "try" exist in your vocabulary, you know, make an effort to do something? If not, get a dictionary and look it up. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Julie EMAIL: jzm8@sbcglobal.net IP: 68.92.86.59 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 08:58:24 AM I was a democrat until September 11 2001. I will be voting for G.W.Bush. 9/11 hit too close to home for me, a close family member of mine is a survivor of the world trade center attacks. AND I WILL NEVER FORGET OR FORGIVE. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: SAS EMAIL: sasullivan5@msn.com IP: 147.153.55.193 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 09:26:45 AM i will never forget, but we have to realize that the middle east is a bloodbath and a shit hole that the world needs to face, not the U.S. alone. we are losing our well trained men and women for a cause that the world needs to be involved in. WAKE UP PEOPLE!! SAS CO, USA ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Peggy Kane EMAIL: pkane4socal@aol.com IP: 66.75.119.102 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 09:42:24 AM I fly my flag 7/24/365 and have done since 9/11 I fly it in honor of those who lost their lives that, day and In Honor of All Our Military, Home and Away, and For Those Who Gave the Ultimate Sacrifice for Our Freedom. I am proud of and support our troops. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to support and vote for President George W. Bush. I salute you for such a moving story ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: E Kaleta EMAIL: ekaleta@mei.ws IP: 66.240.196.131 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 09:50:25 AM Why are the Dems lying to us when they know the truth? Want WMD info about Iraq? Read Bodanskys book. pgs,55,231,241,438,496& 499. Iraq War. Maybe John K missed the itel meetings. The towers were our wake up call, Wake up. Ed ex US Army. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: P Brauman EMAIL: p.brauman@blumbrau.com IP: 141.158.227.221 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 10:05:55 AM Damn. That is the most touching, compelling, insistent argument to vote for Bush that I've seen. Thanks for reminding me of why I'm proud to be an American. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Julie EMAIL: jzm8@sbcglobal.net IP: 68.92.86.59 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 10:09:17 AM Sas...you need to wake up. The UN is CORRUPT, Germany, FRANCE were getting bribe money from saddam, that is WHY they did not want to disrupt a $$good thing$$ for them self's. Do you want to put YOUR trust in the hands of country's who put Greed over HUMAN RIGHTS and freedom for everyone (NOT JUST YOU) in the world so we ALL can live in Peace?? Or are you one of those hypocrite liberals who scream for their rights but care less for anyone else's rights in the world? Do you remember what Bill Clinton said in 1998 about Saddam and Iraq's WMD's... Please Read pull your head out of the sand. SADDAM REGIME THREATENS REGION, WORLD, AMERICA "His regime threatens the safety of his people, the stability of his region, and the security of all the rest of us. What if he fails to comply, and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of weapons of mass destruction and continue to press for the release of the sanctions and continue to ignore the solemn commitments that he made? Well, he will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction. And some day, some way, I guarantee you, he'll use the arsenal." - President Clinton, February 17, 1998 http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/17/transcripts/clinton.iraq/ John Kerry is a panderer, and how people can't see that makes me think of Jim Jones..and all those 900 people who drank his cool-aid. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: btravelstead EMAIL: bmariecoco@hotmail.com IP: 67.124.198.111 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 10:29:42 AM I am so proud to be among the Bush camp. How can we ever forget 9/11-ever. There is not one person on this earth that is perfect and to do everything right is not possible. To be in his shoes is too overwhelming. Thank you for this post to remind us again and again that America has changed forever. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John EMAIL: jpfefd@aol.com IP: 66.99.253.162 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 11:22:09 AM God Bless America! and lets pray we re-elect George Bush so our country remains safe. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Debbie EMAIL: cheeky_ds@yahoo.com IP: 69.208.120.194 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 12:21:38 PM You always know where GWB stands! No FLIP-FLOPPING with him!! He is consistent in his decision making, demanding in getting results and is very definitive in his plan for Iraq. Kerry has told us nothing about his plans, all I know is that he has a plan for everything, but what are the plans? I have backed GWB all the way in this war. Kerry will undo everything that GWB has done. PEOPLE be careful, you may just get what you wish for! A VOTE FOR KERRY WILL MAKE THE WORLD SO SCARY! I personally do not wish to find out what SCARY KERRY has in store for us, his record speaks for itself. Unchartered territory ??? Think about it. GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Debbie EMAIL: cheeky_ds@yahoo.com IP: 69.208.120.194 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 12:21:48 PM You always know where GWB stands! No FLIP-FLOPPING with him!! He is consistent in his decision making, demanding in getting results and is very definitive in his plan for Iraq. Kerry has told us nothing about his plans, all I know is that he has a plan for everything, but what are the plans? I have backed GWB all the way in this war. Kerry will undo everything that GWB has done. PEOPLE be careful, you may just get what you wish for! A VOTE FOR KERRY WILL MAKE THE WORLD SO SCARY! I personally do not wish to find out what SCARY KERRY has in store for us, his record speaks for itself. Unchartered territory ??? Think about it. GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Debbie EMAIL: cheeky_ds@yahoo.com IP: 69.208.120.194 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 12:22:28 PM You always know where GWB stands! No FLIP-FLOPPING with him!! He is consistent in his decision making, demanding in getting results and is very definitive in his plan for Iraq. Kerry has told us nothing about his plans, all I know is that he has a plan for everything, but what are the plans? I have backed GWB all the way in this war. Kerry will undo everything that GWB has done. PEOPLE be careful, you may just get what you wish for! A VOTE FOR KERRY WILL MAKE THE WORLD SO SCARY! I personally do not wish to find out what SCARY KERRY has in store for us, his record speaks for itself. Unchartered territory ??? Think about it. GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mike Simms EMAIL: msimms353@hotmail.com IP: 68.77.25.244 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 12:41:46 PM Those are moving images indeed, but how again does that show that we need four more years of Bush? Those deaths in Spain, as cowardly an act as that was, are a direct result of Bush rushing us and the "coalition" to war. The deaths of those brave contractors were a result of Bush's poor planning of the occupation. What again do those pictures of 9/11 have to do with us going to Iraq?? Why do you not have any photos of Bin Laden? Maybe because Bush doesn't think he's important? I'm not 100% behind Kerry, but I do know from his experiences and what he says, that he respects the lives of our military. And will not be wreckless in how he deploys them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John B EMAIL: jbnwus@hotmail.com IP: 216.177.251.159 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 01:03:51 PM

    Haile Selassie, former Ethopian Emperor in a 1963 speech before a special session of all places, the UN, gets it…. “Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most –  that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” Fits like a glove. Events leading up to 9/11, the war on terror, and liberation of Iraq.

    ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Roger Blackburn EMAIL: rblakbrn@nexband.com IP: 68.17.38.52 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 01:11:19 PM I would just like to ask all you people who like John Kerry so well, if he gets in the White House, how are you going to like fighting the enemies of our country in the streets of our cities instead of Iraq? Thats what we are over in Iraq for! Duh! Rog. in MS. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Roger Blackburn EMAIL: rblakbrn@nexband.com IP: 68.17.38.52 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 01:11:47 PM I would just like to ask all you people who like John Kerry so well, if he gets in the White House, how are you going to like fighting the enemies of our country in the streets of our cities instead of Iraq? Thats what we are over in Iraq for! Duh! Rog. in MS. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mike Simms EMAIL: msimms353@hotmail.com IP: 68.77.25.244 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 01:53:39 PM Roger: So are you saying that our invasion of Iraq has actually made you feel safer walking the streets of Mississippi? No evidence suggests that Saddam was on the verge of deploying troops to our shores anytimes soon. Everybody (even the "Liberals") are happy that Saddam is no longer in power, but by invading Iraq for completely different (and now false) reasons, Bush has not made us any less of a terrorist target. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Harry EMAIL: hpotter@hogwarts.ac.uk IP: 129.33.49.251 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 02:30:06 PM Mike, how many times have the terrorists carried out attacks on U.S. soil since 11 September 2001? None. Zero. Zip. Obviously, President Bush has made our country less of a terrorist target. I suggest you find another argument, one that isn't obviously contradicted by the facts. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mike Simms EMAIL: msimms353@hotmail.com IP: 68.77.25.244 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 02:57:39 PM Harry: were the Anthrax letters not terrorist attacks? What are the facts that Bush has made our country safer from terrorist attacks? Are you talking about how his administration has tried to stonewall bi-partisan commisions from looking into our intelligence failures? Or how he let his energy/chemical industry buddies off the hook from better securing their facilities? Or better inspecting the cargo coming into this country? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: nate EMAIL: nate.gilmore@nsgenterprises.com IP: 64.78.147.5 URL: http://www.nsgenterprises.com/honestamerican.html DATE: 10/20/2004 03:48:30 PM Mike, Do you not know that an enemy who is running from you is less able to attack you? It's basic war philosophy. Read The Art of War sometime. I, for one, would much rather be attacking than defending. And yes, Fighting them over there and keeping them in defense mode has made me feel safer here. Don't fool yourself about Iraq, it was a terrorist state. -also, side note, UBL is not the only person of note on the side of terror, to think that he is is just naive. -Nate ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kermit EMAIL: kermitthetoad@sbcglobal.net IP: 68.126.143.215 URL: http://ablackandwhiteworld.us DATE: 10/20/2004 05:22:31 PM AMEN. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ferris Cromwell EMAIL: bfcromwell@comcast.net IP: 67.181.124.109 URL: DATE: 10/20/2004 06:30:45 PM I am proud to be an American. I'm proud of our president and I pray daily for him that God will guide him in all decisions he makes. I'm proud to support our military personnel. I too served in the military. Please pray for victory in November and a rapid victory in Iraq. God bless America!!!! Ferris Cromwell ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Fred Smith EMAIL: fhsmith3@bellsouth.net IP: 68.155.191.224 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 04:33:25 AM We are at the edge of an abyss--a Kerry victory will see us over the edge ! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: princehal EMAIL: danwest@well.com IP: 24.75.176.5 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 05:07:00 AM Soon, this place might be as popular as free-republic. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ricfoster EMAIL: ricfoster@hotmail.com IP: 204.108.8.5 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 06:27:14 AM Interesting viewpoints! On election Day we ALL need to THINK, methinks. Never mind Party Alliance, Never mind 'We ALWAYS voted [this or that], Never mind - - - - tells lies, Never mind - - - - - - flip-flops; Just before you vote, say a silent prayer [to whomever you pray to] and ask for Guidance - THEN vote what your heart tells you to do! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mikey EMAIL: michaeljorris@aol.com IP: 136.181.195.3 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 07:33:48 AM Killing terrorists doesn't work? It won't solve the problem? Gee, I thought killing workled real well with the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Wehrmacht. Oh, and to be pre-emptive: I realize there is no terrorist country to surrender to our forces or negotiate a peace with. That also means the terrorists do not have an assured training area and base of supplies. That is a weakness of theirs, not a strength. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: carroll EMAIL: integracareers@adelphia.net IP: 69.173.220.176 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 08:08:53 AM This is beautiful tribute. I am a Bush supporter and it sums up my feelings better than I can. Thank you! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Liz EMAIL: Smokeycat024@aol.com IP: 205.188.116.204 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 08:37:25 AM Thank you for your beautiful and thoughtful photo essay. I would like to add a few additional reasons to vote. -to make sure my kids can study any religion they want without fear or censorship even if the religion they choose is wrong -to know that if my kids are ever wrongfuly accused of a crime they will be entitled to a lawyer and a fair trial -to know that if an evil man ever does become president (it could happen in a thousand years or so) the Americans of that generation will be entitled to dissent -to let our brave soldiers know that the freedoms they fought for will not be willingly surrendered to fear There are more than 2 parties offering candidates this election season the libertarian party, the green party, and the reform party all made the ballot in florida this year, so saying you don't like either candidate is not an excuse. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Virginia EMAIL: virginia@compuvision.net IP: 209.184.179.8 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 08:38:18 AM It is refreshing to see so many Bush fans. I was beginning to think the world didn't care that our leader should be led by his faith in God. Your rendition was absolutely enlightening. Hope every democrat can see the truth before it is too late. Become a true christian and see the truth. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mike Simms EMAIL: msimms385@hotmail.com IP: 68.77.25.244 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 08:44:47 AM Save my soul Virginia! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Liz EMAIL: Smokeycat024@aol.com IP: 205.188.116.204 URL: http://n/a DATE: 10/21/2004 09:26:45 AM Nate You are correct in thinking more Americans should read the Art of War. The full text can be found online at http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html Here are a few good quotes for those who don't feel like reading the whole thing Chapter 1 "26. Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose." Chapter 2 "6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. 7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on." Chapter 3 "1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them. 2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. 3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities." Again, I highly suggest every American read this text in its entirety as it has tremendous signifigance in these troubled and dangerous times. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: maestro EMAIL: maestro@technochitlins.com IP: 66.0.4.97 URL: http://www.technochitlins.com DATE: 10/21/2004 09:31:52 AM Absolutely magnificent, Gerard. God willing, we'll make the right choice 12 days from now... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: princehal EMAIL: danwest@well.com IP: 24.75.176.5 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 11:19:01 AM Yeah, IRAQ was the enemy. Is the kool-aid good? The right choice 12 days from now is John Kerry. And you all know that. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 10/21/2004 12:15:14 PM You just keep drinking that deep Well water Dan. Beams!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jinx McHue EMAIL: jinxmchue@juno.com IP: 63.85.117.43 URL: http://shockandblog.blogspot.com/ DATE: 10/21/2004 12:58:20 PM God bless you, God bless the families of the fallen and the murdered, God bless the people fighting for our freedoms, God bless President George W. Bush, and GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Angie D EMAIL: troop710az@yahoo.com IP: 64.140.176.135 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 02:34:26 PM Our president looks to the Lord for the answers, how can he EVER go wrong? God bless the troops, their families and God bless George W Bush. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ed Panzella EMAIL: epanzella@cox.net IP: 68.229.72.150 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 05:11:04 PM Thank you for this. It proves that being a Californian and an American are not mutually exclusive. Ed Panzella ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gcotharn EMAIL: gcotharn@yahoo.com IP: 205.188.116.204 URL: http://www.theendzone.blogspot.com DATE: 10/21/2004 05:47:58 PM Wonderful. Thank You. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tregelles Family EMAIL: btregelles@comcast.net IP: 68.60.211.114 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 10:55:35 PM Thank you..We need our President to stay...He is strong in his beliefs, honor and love of this country and the American dream. He exemplifies what we as Americans are---Freedom, dignity, honor and love of God, freedom of speech, religion and above all the right to VOTE! God Bless! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tregelles Family EMAIL: btregelles@comcast.net IP: 68.60.211.114 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 10:55:42 PM Thank you..We need our President to stay...He is strong in his beliefs, honor and love of this country and the American dream. He exemplifies what we as Americans are---Freedom, dignity, honor and love of God, freedom of speech, religion and above all the right to VOTE! God Bless! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tregelles Family EMAIL: btregelles@comcast.net IP: 68.60.211.114 URL: DATE: 10/21/2004 10:55:55 PM Thank you..We need our President to stay...He is strong in his beliefs, honor and love of this country and the American dream. He exemplifies what we as Americans are---Freedom, dignity, honor and love of God, freedom of speech, religion and above all the right to VOTE! God Bless! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: DJ Westby EMAIL: djwestby@hotmail.com IP: 66.82.9.54 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 08:54:38 AM YEAH BUDDY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA! GO BUSH & OUR TROOPS WE ARE PRAYING FOR YOU ALL! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Elizabeth Prosser EMAIL: elprosser@aol.com IP: 64.12.114.37 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 09:13:20 AM Please God let us not forget one of these pictures. God bless America and be with those fine men and women who defend us and to our leaders who guide us. I am proud to be a voting Republican. Betty in NY state October22,2004 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Friend of Boots and Sabers. EMAIL: somewhere@usa.com IP: 4.225.101.96 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 10:10:22 AM Thank you. This should be seen by every American. Vote for George W. Bush. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: avon EMAIL: rsterling3157@wowway.com IP: 64.7.110.114 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 01:28:38 PM Sadly it has always been the case ...& will always be the case that the strong in America will have to protect the weak & weak minded. Unfortunately the weak minded in America have sided with those who would kill all of us! But does that surprise anyone? Haven't the weakminded in America said & continue to say that its ok--& even preferred that 30 million babies have been killed? Its terribly depressing until someone like you does the right thing...again--by reminding all of us why America is here---why American's are here! Go "W"! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Floyd Jackson EMAIL: floyd77@comcast.net IP: 216.31.232.82 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 02:25:54 PM Well what a surprise, the insurgents are here posting their nonsense about their frenchy friend Kerry. Know what Queen Hal? You're going to be even more lame in a few weeks because that's when you demorats are going to be 2-time losers. What we have to watch out for now is dirty tricks. The voter registration records are so ridiculous that there's obviously a ton of fraud there, plus those idiots are going to be intimidating poll workers in swing states with "poll watchers", plus armies of the evil trial lawyers out to paralize our victory with nuisance lawsiuts. Well I'll tell you. If the Rats are looking for trouble, they're going to find trouble. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Floyd Jackson EMAIL: floyd77@comcast.net IP: 216.31.232.82 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 02:27:15 PM Oh and like they all said, God Bless America! I notice how the left-wingers don't say that ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steve Wright EMAIL: wrightme43@insightbb.com IP: 12.202.220.112 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 05:16:51 PM That is something special. It made me cry. I am a vetran of the U.S. Submarine force. I believe we need a COMMANDER IN CHIEF. I will vote for Mr. Bush. Downing Kerry achives nothing. Your images say all that needed to be said. Thank You. Steven J. Wright ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ElKapiTom EMAIL: ka2pan@hotmail.com IP: 67.167.153.190 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 05:17:47 PM Thank you. When America remembers. Bush will win big! On 9/11, Americans too young to remember Pearl Harbor learned how it felt to have their nation viciously attacked in acts of war. At first we were united by shock and grief, but our tears soon turned to stony resolve. In the days that followed, the descendents of what Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation” suddenly knew for the first time an aching patriotism—the kind that makes generations willing to fight bravely so the next may live freely. The WWII generation knew that pulling together wins wars. In 1944, the morning after the allied invasion at Normandy pushed back the Nazis, can you imagine a politician announcing that 10,000 American soldiers had died in that day’s “colossal miscalculation”? Imagine him rebuking FDR for “taking his eye off the ball” for going after Hitler when it was Hirohito in Japan who attacked us. And nine months later, imagine the public outcry if, instead of the picture of the Marines hoisting our flag on Iwo Jima, a stumping senator held up a picture of some of the 7,000 Americans who died on that island and declared, “Wrong battle. Wrong island. Wrong time!” Such demoralizing defeatism would not have been whispered 60 years ago, and I suspect it will backfire on Kerry before November 2. We did not rush to war. Nor were we “mislead” by Clinton, Bush, and Blair. The thoroughness of the Duefler Report was impossible before we ousted Saddam, and though it indicates that there are no longer stockpiles of WMD in Iraq, it also explains why the UN sanctions and inspections were a game of cat and mouse before the war. Our troops are doing a great job, and as for me, I will joining the 75% of them who USA Today reports will cast their votes to keep President Bush as their Commander in Chief. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Richard Ponte EMAIL: rponte@fmcg.com IP: 38.117.162.243 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 06:09:16 PM I have been scrolling up and down, up and down for nearly thirty minutes now, and I am moved beyond words to express my gratitude for such an expressive piece which lifts the spirit and upholds the values that our nation embraces. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again. Dick ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dan Krawczyk, SMSgt, USAF, Retired EMAIL: gumpydan@gci.net IP: 24.237.34.96 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 06:13:38 PM Well done sir. Viet Nam Vet ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: clark wade EMAIL: clarkwade2003@yahoo.com IP: 137.164.99.135 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 06:35:48 PM I was very moved by this. A hundred essays fail to capture what your photo montage has done to underscore what is at stake in this election. Thank you ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ralph Woods EMAIL: sales@hydra-tension.com IP: 152.163.100.203 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 07:52:15 PM Thank you for the pictorial reminders. They help to keep us focused on the real reasons we are fighting in Iraq. So many young uneducated Americans have short memories and are easily distracted by clever visual tricks and sound bites produced by disengenous film makers. Lets pray they do not become life long liberals. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jack Hazzard EMAIL: jahazzard@lwol.com IP: 4.226.219.116 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 09:54:16 PM I could not have said it any better myself. GWB all the way for four more years and another good Republican for eight more years after that. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jack Hazzard EMAIL: jahazzard@lwol.com IP: 4.226.219.116 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 09:54:27 PM I could not have said it any better myself. GWB all the way for four more years and another good Republican for eight more years after that. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jack Hazzard EMAIL: jahazzard@lwol.com IP: 4.226.219.116 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 09:55:00 PM I could not have said it any better myself. GWB all the way for four more years and another good Republican for eight more years after that. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Elizabeth Fleming EMAIL: eaflem@bellsouth.net IP: 68.217.211.141 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 09:57:03 PM The cut off head was too graphic, but I do agree with you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dave Peterson EMAIL: David_Peterson@urmc.rochester.edu IP: 66.67.60.222 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 10:10:52 PM My fear is that many in America will not remember how hard we were hit on 9/11 until it happens again on our soil. So many seem to have forgotten. They give no credence to other attacks around the world and continue to criticize President Bush's efforts to stay on the offensive against terrorism. Thank you for helping all of us to remember. GWB for President! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: H. O'Toole EMAIL: eaglesrare@cfl.rr.com IP: 65.33.228.100 URL: DATE: 10/22/2004 10:43:57 PM God Bless GWB and the US military.Vote GWB 4 more years. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jeanette Kahl EMAIL: Kahltracy@aol.com IP: 198.81.26.78 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 01:05:03 AM Powerful. Welcome to sanity and reason. Your party left you and we are happy to embrace you. God Bless You and our President GWB and especially our military and their families. Jeanette Kahl ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Marty Malin EMAIL: mmalin@stx.rr.com IP: 24.174.244.228 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 08:43:03 AM Thanks for sharing so much with so many......... especially me. I too, like our Commander in Chief, refuse to be drug back into the 12th century. Marty Malin ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chris H. EMAIL: USMS-SOG@specialoperations.com IP: 12.214.0.30 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 11:30:30 AM I will be voting for Bush. After watching Sen. Kerry and observing his voting record for the past couple of years I am convinced that his heart is not in preserving American freedom, nor spreading world-wide freedom. As I see it, a vote for Bush is tanamount to a vote for freedom. I know 3/4 of my military comrades stand behind me in this. America - please stand with us! God bless ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Roy Kinch EMAIL: randkkinch@msn.com IP: 65.102.193.177 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 01:37:49 PM Excellent piece. I hope you don't mind, but I have some friends here who do not have internet access, so I've copied your piece into Word in order to make copies to hand out and also to make it easier for those who can view attachments to see this. Maybe I'll email this to George Soros. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Todd Gerritzen EMAIL: todd.gerritzen@gmail.com IP: 24.20.165.3 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 01:51:56 PM the current Anti Americanism runnning rampant on the Dems side is embarrasing. it, not the Bush Administation, is what is making this election cycle so divisive. I was walking down the street in downtown Portland yesterday, and there was a grop of filthy hippy wannabes signing up ppl to vote with a huge Kerry sign, and a stack of books titled Spawn of Satan. on the front cover was a photo of Dick Cheney. i detest Kerry as a politician, but to call him the spawn of Satan? now whos being devisive? is it possible that the terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere, dont see Ted Kennedy crowing quagmire every day for the last year from the floor of the Senate? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Todd Gerritzen EMAIL: todd.gerritzen@gmail.com IP: 24.20.165.3 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 01:52:05 PM the current Anti Americanism runnning rampant on the Dems side is embarrasing. it, not the Bush Administation, is what is making this election cycle so divisive. I was walking down the street in downtown Portland yesterday, and there was a grop of filthy hippy wannabes signing up ppl to vote with a huge Kerry sign, and a stack of books titled Spawn of Satan. on the front cover was a photo of Dick Cheney. i detest Kerry as a politician, but to call him the spawn of Satan? now whos being devisive? is it possible that the terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere, dont see Ted Kennedy crowing quagmire every day for the last year from the floor of the Senate? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Brenda Welch EMAIL: bamagrl@gci.net IP: 24.237.203.68 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 02:17:34 PM Thank you for your comments and insight. God bless you and your work. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: weaselteeth EMAIL: wt@weaselteeth.com IP: 24.11.176.230 URL: http://www.weaselteeth.com DATE: 10/23/2004 02:53:18 PM A splendid essay in every respect. Heartfelt congratulations on a job exceedingly well-done. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: w. coughenour EMAIL: c1ww@aol.com IP: 205.188.116.206 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 05:48:39 PM May my daughter only read this and think of her children's future and how important her vote is. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lexington Green EMAIL: lex@chicagoboyz.net IP: 66.54.241.20 URL: http://www.chicagoboyz.net DATE: 10/23/2004 05:58:19 PM Bravo. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: A. Letterie EMAIL: letterie@comcast.net IP: 68.39.31.157 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 08:03:59 PM This needs to be a TV ad. I'm reduced to tears. Thank you sir. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: liz EMAIL: LIZGAMA@AOL.COM IP: 198.81.26.78 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 08:49:11 PM THANK YOU...THANK YOU.....THANK YOU....YOU HAVE SAID IT ALL....THE WHOLE COUNTRY NEEDS TO SEE AND READ THIS....you brought tears to my eyes... GOD BLESS AMERICA....PRAY EVERYDAY ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: TODD EMAIL: TAYLORTTNT@YAHOO.COM IP: 66.223.158.217 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 09:58:10 PM Thanks from ALASKA.... THE LAST GREAT FRONTIER.... AND PACKED FULL OF RIGHT WINGERS.... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: david060990@msn.com IP: 63.231.89.110 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 11:29:38 PM Excellent! Brilliant! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stephanie EMAIL: brownbear@gci.net IP: 24.237.91.77 URL: DATE: 10/23/2004 11:47:59 PM I believe the choice is easy... George W. Bush has never fought against this country. Never in time of war did he meet with the enemy. John Kerry cannot say this. I do not understand who could vote for a traitor. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: yesss EMAIL: hyigvyuv@gree.de IP: 84.31.129.214 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 12:34:36 AM I can not believe there are still so many americans who want an incompetent liar and deserter to be their president again. but then again, if you choose this idiot, you deserve him. But don't forget that the next generation (even earlier) will have to pay for this warminded fool. And if he continuous his war against ghosts for much longer the tour of duty will be back. I'm so glad I am not an american citizen.....I have children who want to live in honesty, respect and peace... Good luck to all of you! grtz Yessss ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yess EMAIL: erfjkbn@dwrr.de IP: 84.31.129.214 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 12:42:58 AM And if you really want some objective information: have an open eye for what has been happening the past few years. Just listen to Bush' lies about Iraq. Fahrenheit 9-11 was not full of lies, otherwise the author would have been 'hanged' by the republicans. 'In plane sight' and 'hijack' are far more interesting than the pictures you are showing. Nothing new about them. Exactly a republican way of dealing with facts. And if you think I'm not against terrorism, than you must reconsider. When Bush said: "who is not with us, is against us" he meant: Follow the leader (that's me),or you will be marked a 'terrorist'. Please, do the world a favour and stop this sick man!! grtz. Yesss ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ClausMerginz EMAIL: cmerginz@wanadoo.fr IP: 84.31.129.214 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 01:03:38 AM Saddam is connected to al-qaida? LOL Saddam had weapons of mass destruction?. LOL We want to free the Iraqi people? LOL We treat our prisoners regarding the Geneve-conventions? LOL Everybody is equal. even if you are gay? LOL The white-house was hit by a Boeing? LOL Anthrax envelopes? LOL Bush (or any other member from his administration, or their kids) fougth for his country? LOL Being against this war means being unpatriotic and means you don't support those serving in Iraq? LOL Pricision attacks, clean war, everything under control? LOL And all of this is not for the oil and stratigic occupation in the middel-east, but it is all about providing freedom to teh rest of the world? LOL Ans because I wrote this down I don't respect the veterans? LOL, I have served in Eastern Europe, I know what I am talking about. Screw chickenshit BUSH (excuse my words, but I've changed and become less diplomatic since my tour) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Yess EMAIL: dfvfv@rekn.de IP: 84.31.129.214 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 01:09:45 AM And oh, don't forget... You won't like this blasfemic idea... But I think.... God is not dead, but he is currently working on a less prestigeous project,.... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ashamed EMAIL: ashammed@wxs.com IP: 84.31.129.214 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 12:08:30 PM http://www.xs4all.nl/~vantrier/vets.swf another set of photos. Be carefull, it's not what you think.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: J.C. Parker EMAIL: freex2@ptialaska.net IP: 209.112.223.161 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 12:18:05 PM On the Capitol Mall lying between the monuments of two great Presidents there rests a black stripe of mourning. Inscribed thereon are the names of men....men who cry out from the depths of that black granite to tell us that, "its only quiet when it rains." Kerry gave a speach yesterday in which he stated that he would attack the terrorists the same way he did when in VietNam. Well, he finally told one truth. I'm sure he would keep this promise if elected. Kerry can talk all he wants but the physical evidence shows him giving aid and comfort to the enemy. He is a traitor to the US and would kiss the ass of all our enemies. We would be building more monuments to fallen and missing comrads. The only necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. As a man and a Vietnam Vet I for one will vote for a man who has the respect of our armed forces and even our enemies. George Bush is truly a Commander In Chief. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Birke EMAIL: inf@birk.com IP: 84.31.129.214 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 12:24:12 PM http://www.bushflash.com/occupied.html ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hal EMAIL: cooper_narr@1leapfrog.com IP: 216.106.9.48 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 03:34:07 PM THANK YOU! It seems we who care, run out of amunition every now and then. I can reload now. In case anyone needs amunition, I suggest you check http://www.texasbobsworld.com/third_world_war.htm and more recent "Election determines fate of nation" by Mathew Manweller, which appeared in the Daily Record, newspaper in Ellensburg, WA. Manweller is a Central Washington University political science professor. www.kvnews.com/articles/2004/10/23/manwellercolumn ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Eunice EMAIL: euniceherko@alltel.net IP: 206.82.88.166 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 04:29:09 PM I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE COULD EVEN THINK OF VOTING FOR KERRY. I'M FOR BUSH ALL THE WAY. HUNTERS IN THE WORLD NEED TO REALLY THINK HARD WHO THEY WANT FOR PRESIDENT. IF THEY ARE NOT CAREFUL THEY WON'T HAVE A GUN. IF GUNS ARE OUTLAWED ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE GUNS. THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!VOTE GEORGE W. BUSH .............GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE.......PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!911 NO ONE SHOULD EVER FORGET IT WAS THE EMERGENCY WAKE UP DAY. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Patricia EMAIL: pd1000@adelphia.net IP: 69.166.203.224 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 05:32:18 PM Thanks, that was beautiful. Made me cry. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John EMAIL: jtilley@canoemail.com IP: 209.89.39.119 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 07:22:06 PM Very moving photo essay. Pretty much says what this election is about. God bless America. John ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Angela EMAIL: Elephant523@netzero.net IP: 64.136.26.228 URL: DATE: 10/24/2004 10:19:46 PM I thank God everyday that GW was President that fateful day in September. Al would of been sitting in a corner crying his eyes out. Thank you so much for reminding those who forgot. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill Floyd EMAIL: billfloyd1@centurytel.net IP: 69.29.152.221 URL: DATE: 10/25/2004 07:54:33 AM Having served in Korea during the war gives me a different perspective about some things that are accepted today. For one --during the Korean war time, if someone was seen burning the American flag, he would have been shot on the spot. If he had been seen collaborating with the enemy, he would have been AT LEAST court marshaled and if it had been known that he removed his military ribbons and defiantly cast them down showing utter disgust and contempt for his nation, the soldiers of that era would have taken him on and he would not look like the pompus ass, well-kept poodle he now is. It makes as much sense to have a traaitor for a President as it does to put an ashtray on a motorcycle. Look out for slick-talking people --- they may flush us all down the drain. I'm a staunch Bush supporter and I ask God to bless America --- but God help us REALLY, if Kerry wins this one. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: girl keni EMAIL: girlkeni1@earthlink.net IP: 205.188.116.146 URL: DATE: 10/25/2004 10:52:22 AM Thank you for putting my thoughts into words! If everyone gets out and votes instead of leaving it to the other guy, we may actually have an election for once! MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: princehal EMAIL: danwest@well.com IP: 24.75.176.5 URL: DATE: 10/25/2004 01:32:33 PM Can you feel the looooooooove tonight.... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: bornman@esgi.net IP: 216.54.110.2 URL: DATE: 10/25/2004 01:43:03 PM The photo essay was so moving....so many pictures, so many thoughts and so many horrific memories. If you could get this past the naysayers and MSM powers-that-be, it would make one excellent ad for GWB. Without any vitriole or hype, Kerry is guilty by his own admission one at least one crime...either treason or violations against the Geneva-Hague Convention. Either one, under a microscope, should DQ him from any serious contention....he gets a free pass. No reason to attack him...he does that well enough for himself. The sad thing isn't that he panders...it's that very few call him on it. The MSM acts as if he can actually have two opposing viewpoints on each issue and that's okay. If we act as lemmings and follow the path laid out for us, we'll perish as lemmings. It only takes a little independent thought about what matters to each of us, some independent research confirmed by multiple sources to guide our knowledge, and a clear mind, unfettered by the garbage that we're being force-fed by those who find us incapable of thinking for ourselves and it all becomes crystal-clear. I lost my father, my uncle and second cousin in Vietnam, my grandfather fought in WWII and Korea and I served in Grenada, Panama, Honduras, Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom and I have a heavy heart. This is the most important election in my forty years of life. I only pray that we understand what this truly represents. I look at my four-year and eighteen month old daughters and pray that they never see what I saw on the morning of September 11. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: AnnCoulter EMAIL: ann@anncoulter.com IP: 63.137.56.34 URL: http://www.anncoulter.com DATE: 10/25/2004 02:36:55 PM It's so discouraging to read the thoughts of Bush backers and realize how completely brain-washed you all are. God Bless Kerry! God Bless America! I found the use of these pictures to be in incredible poor taste. Much like Cheney's use of fear to promote his brain-dead running mate. Find the truth...it's out there. You want something else to remember? George W Bush has killed over 14,000 men, women and children in Iraq... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandi M EMAIL: gmcgoff@daeo.net IP: 165.127.6.71 URL: DATE: 10/25/2004 03:50:40 PM You want the TRUTH? The truth is right here, staring you in the face. 50 TRUTHS. These photos are not in poor taste, they are every AMERICANS REALITY and I refuse to forget because a traitor like Kerry or anyone else says I should. I will remember, my husband will remember, my children will remember, and I pray every TRUE AMERICAN WILL REMEMBER! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nancy EMAIL: woodcarver@usmo.com IP: 4.245.74.29 URL: DATE: 10/25/2004 10:59:44 PM I remember when hearing on the radio while driving to work Sep 11th that the World Trade Center had been attacked with passenger planes. And then immediately thinking a force of pure evil had just been loosed. We are fighting much more than terrorists. This is a wake up call to American to get back to the God who gave us this great free country and stand up for it by voting as we are privileged in this country to do. Supporting our troops and praying for them. Fighting evil and puting the right God fearing man in the highest office to do this. I am voting for Bush to see us thru this. Let's not attack each other but pray we do the right thing, as one day we will all be held accountable. God guide us as we cast our votes, our lives and many others depend on the outcome. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Brian Beck EMAIL: bpbeck30@insightbb.com IP: 12.220.66.186 URL: DATE: 10/25/2004 11:57:40 PM Love it....Long Live America ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kerry EMAIL: comanche71@aol.com IP: 152.163.100.203 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 08:00:09 AM I will pray for poor stupid souls such as Scott. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kerry EMAIL: comanche71@aol.com IP: 152.163.100.203 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 08:00:43 AM I will pray for poor stupid souls such as Scott. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cindy EMAIL: cwpraisinJC@aol.com IP: 198.81.26.78 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 08:49:22 AM What happened on September 11th could easily happen again; let us never forget that and never forget which president stood by us. No effective war is ever fought quickly; freedom costs a price. Don't ever forget what the United States stands for! President Bush, you have my vote again. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lyle mcdaniel EMAIL: landb@pyatt.net IP: 12.28.24.40 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 09:13:02 AM The comment by Ann Coulter ( 6th) from the botton is either some imposter or Ann has gone plumb nuts.Ann Coulter has been a bearer of good for Bush too long to be bushwhacked by a Kerry supporter. Keep up the good work. Lyle Mac ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lyle mcdaniel EMAIL: landb@pyatt.net IP: 12.28.24.40 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 09:13:17 AM The comment by Ann Coulter ( 6th) from the botton is either some imposter or Ann has gone plumb nuts.Ann Coulter has been a bearer of good for Bush too long to be bushwhacked by a Kerry supporter. Keep up the good work. Lyle Mac ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lyle mcdaniel EMAIL: landb@pyatt.net IP: 12.28.24.40 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 09:14:15 AM The comment by Ann Coulter ( 6th) from the botton is either some imposter or Ann has gone plumb nuts.Ann Coulter has been a bearer of good for Bush too long to be bushwhacked by a Kerry supporter. Keep up the good work. Lyle Mac ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lyle mcdaniel EMAIL: landb@pyatt.net IP: 12.28.24.40 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 09:14:34 AM The comment by Ann Coulter ( 6th) from the botton is either some imposter or Ann has gone plumb nuts.Ann Coulter has been a bearer of good for Bush too long to be bushwhacked by a Kerry supporter. Keep up the good work. Lyle Mac ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: AnnCoulter EMAIL: ann@anncoulter.com IP: 63.137.56.34 URL: http://www.anncoulter.com DATE: 10/26/2004 11:11:25 AM Where are those wonderful Abu Ghraib pictures...lest we forget that as well... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: bornman@esgi.net IP: 216.54.110.2 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 12:47:14 PM Kerry, Thanks for your prayers. Regretfully, you resort to typical liberal tactics and switch to the name calling mode. You don't know about me or my intelligence level, but you refer to either me or my soul as stupid. That is expected. I have taken the oath four times in my career that gives you the protection to speak out against that in which you do not believe. The lives of people like me pay the price for you to have an opinion which can be shared. Would you take an oath against your life that would allow me to speak out against you and your beliefs? Assuming that you are a Kerry supporter and further assuming that you would in fact take the oath that allows me to speak out against the popular beliefs, how do you reconcile yourself to the point that your candidate either shot a child in the back ( a war crime) or lied in his After Action Report in which he described the enemy combatant( a felony under the UCMJ)? Either crime should DQ him from the presidency. Do not be surprised if it comes to light that his discharge from the USN was under less than honorable conditions. One does not garner the attention of a special review board for a typical discharge. I do not wish to sway your opinion. I merely ask that you study the facts. Additionally, ask yourself why your candidate will not sign an SF180 allowing the release of all of his military documents. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: bornman@esgi.net IP: 216.54.110.2 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 12:47:58 PM Kerry, Thanks for your prayers. Regretfully, you resort to typical liberal tactics and switch to the name calling mode. You don't know about me or my intelligence level, but you refer to either me or my soul as stupid. That is expected. I have taken the oath four times in my career that gives you the protection to speak out against that in which you do not believe. The lives of people like me pay the price for you to have an opinion which can be shared. Would you take an oath against your life that would allow me to speak out against you and your beliefs? Assuming that you are a Kerry supporter and further assuming that you would in fact take the oath that allows me to speak out against the popular beliefs, how do you reconcile yourself to the point that your candidate either shot a child in the back ( a war crime) or lied in his After Action Report in which he described the enemy combatant( a felony under the UCMJ)? Either crime should DQ him from the presidency. Do not be surprised if it comes to light that his discharge from the USN was under less than honorable conditions. One does not garner the attention of a special review board for a typical discharge. I do not wish to sway your opinion. I merely ask that you study the facts. Additionally, ask yourself why your candidate will not sign an SF180 allowing the release of all of his military documents. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mark EMAIL: monkey@hotmail.com IP: 209.112.223.35 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 01:25:07 PM George Bush could have prevented 9/11. He chose not to. George Bush could have tracked down Osama Bin Laden. He chose not to. George Bush could have listened to the world's conscience when the largest gathering of protesters ever stood up against his desicion to bomb Iraq. He chose not to. George Bush has made this world a more dangerous place, not a safer one. And if he is re-elected, I think someone will probably assasinate him. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: AnnCoulter EMAIL: ann@anncoulter.com IP: 63.137.56.34 URL: http://www.anncoulter.com DATE: 10/26/2004 02:33:46 PM Actually Scott, Kerry's prayers were for me, AnnCoulter...dominatrix of the right. So...he resorted to typical conservative tactics of name calling. GOD IS A LIBERAL! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Floyd Jackson EMAIL: floyd77@comcast.net IP: 216.31.232.82 URL: DATE: 10/26/2004 04:59:18 PM God hates liberals and God hates people who disrespect patriots like Ann coulter, who isn't really you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: AnnCoulter EMAIL: ann@anncoulter.com IP: 66.41.180.112 URL: http://www.anncoulter.com DATE: 10/26/2004 07:23:18 PM Ahh...another typical conservative tactic: "hate" What a wonderful fantasy world you must live in Floyd. To call me a patriot. You know that's not true...I'm a hate-mongering, liberal bashing religious bigot! Get it right...and please pick up a copy of "How to talk to a liberal, if you must." Available at www.barnesandnoble.com. Hey Floyd, what do you think God told George W Bush to do today? Dribble more nut-job rhetoric farted out of Karl Rove's mouth? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Strong Conservative EMAIL: retireby2010@hotmail.com IP: 209.74.38.125 URL: DATE: 10/27/2004 03:14:07 AM It is a real shame what is happening to this country! The fact that a person like Kerry would even be considered as a president. Where are people's morals?? There is proven fact via video or audio tape of Kerry's "flip flops" and lies but people choose to ignore them. People only see what they want to see. They have tunnel vision! Kerry's add about how we are loosing jobs because companies are taking their work to other countries really gets me. How many facilities does Heinz have in other countries? Right off the Heinz website "Heinz became a leader in the nutrition and wellness revolution. He created major company production bases in Spain, Portugal and New Zealand and penetrated such challenging markets as South Africa, Russia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Korea, China, India, Egypt, Botswana and Zimbabwe". "H. J. Heinz Company today is an enterprise with over 110 major locations worldwide". Talk about a hypocrite??? Strong Conservative ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Amanda Weeks EMAIL: AWeeks@AFSLogistics.com IP: 207.254.208.25 URL: DATE: 10/27/2004 01:12:02 PM Thank you. This should be seen by every American. Vote for George W. Bush. True Americans will remember!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nick_T EMAIL: nzook@cfl.rr.com IP: 65.33.33.122 URL: DATE: 10/27/2004 09:33:16 PM Kerry is a lock-in with illegals,Muslims,dead people,dual voters,GBLT''s,academics,MSM,trial lawyers,teachers unions,blacks,felons,and cowards.We few left must take up the slack-VOTE next tues-even if you have a hang-over! SEMPER FI Nick_T ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Larry Palestina EMAIL: lpalestina@yahoo.com IP: 67.123.44.210 URL: DATE: 10/28/2004 11:49:37 AM Thank you for this great piece. All Americans should see the importance of having a president that will stand up for what is RIGHT! The true American Way! GOD BLESS AMERICA!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: miker the biker EMAIL: mtaylor@hewv.com IP: 199.1.196.30 URL: DATE: 10/28/2004 02:05:04 PM God Bless America! And God Bless ALL those who fight to keep her free. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nam Vet #??? EMAIL: quickjon@earthlink.net IP: 65.141.165.229 URL: DATE: 10/28/2004 02:36:14 PM We sure need a decisive person in the White House now and I sure have my doubts about Kerry. Lots of luck to us all. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: C. Brown EMAIL: cjbrown@iland.net IP: 68.184.10.186 URL: DATE: 10/28/2004 04:29:48 PM A very nice dictation and we should always remember………….. C Brown ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Connie EMAIL: prater_connie@hotmail.com IP: 209.48.246.96 URL: DATE: 10/29/2004 11:28:04 AM Thank you for putting this into words and pictures as powerful as these.. God Bless America, and God Bless our president, George W. Bush - and may he be our leader for 4 more years. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jennifer EMAIL: JLHallmar@hotmail.com IP: 209.192.32.130 URL: DATE: 10/29/2004 11:41:57 AM I had never seen the pictures of the burned body hanging from the bridge - truly horrific. Seeing people having to jump from the World Trade Center still gives me chills to core; I pray that this country will open their eyes and reelect the only person who can protect us. Jennifer ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Felix EMAIL: vikingguide@yahoo.com IP: 128.125.163.123 URL: DATE: 10/29/2004 12:15:00 PM what do you guys consider right? do some think that going on this "war on terrorism" will stop terrorism? i was reading some of the posts. they were talking about how bush has made america safer. how? one person talked about how there hasn't been any terrorist attacks on america since september 11th. however the wtc had been bombed once before. it was back in 1993. it had been 8 years until the actual destruction of the WTC. these attacks had taken that long. where is the proof that america is safer? TSA was created. advanced security all over america. airports have extensive searching and has gotten to the point where even a pair of nailclippers can be considered weapons. has it really made america safer? or is it just piece of mind? just because "terror" doesn't happen often, doesn't mean it never will. some people say that americans should vote for bush because they should see the truth. what truth is that? please elaborate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vincent EMAIL: vikingguide@yahoo.com IP: 128.125.163.123 URL: DATE: 10/29/2004 12:15:11 PM what do you guys consider right? do some think that going on this "war on terrorism" will stop terrorism? i was reading some of the posts. they were talking about how bush has made america safer. how? one person talked about how there hasn't been any terrorist attacks on america since september 11th. however the wtc had been bombed once before. it was back in 1993. it had been 8 years until the actual destruction of the WTC. these attacks had taken that long. where is the proof that america is safer? TSA was created. advanced security all over america. airports have extensive searching and has gotten to the point where even a pair of nailclippers can be considered weapons. has it really made america safer? or is it just piece of mind? just because "terror" doesn't happen often, doesn't mean it never will. some people say that americans should vote for bush because they should see the truth. what truth is that? please elaborate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vincent EMAIL: vikingguide@yahoo.com IP: 128.125.163.123 URL: DATE: 10/29/2004 12:16:34 PM what do you guys consider right? do some think that going on this "war on terrorism" will stop terrorism? even in trying, this won't deter terrorism. it will curb it to an extent but will never stop. i was reading some of the posts. they were talking about how bush has made america safer. how? one person talked about how there hasn't been any terrorist attacks on america since september 11th. however the wtc had been bombed once before. it was back in 1993. it had been 8 years until the actual destruction of the WTC. these attacks had taken that long. where is the proof that america is safer? TSA was created. advanced security all over america. airports have extensive searching and has gotten to the point where even a pair of nailclippers can be considered weapons. has it really made america safer? or is it just piece of mind? just because "terror" doesn't happen often, doesn't mean it never will. some people say that americans should vote for bush because they should see the truth. what truth is that? please elaborate. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Husarz EMAIL: lotnik@myway.com IP: 209.101.43.230 URL: DATE: 10/29/2004 01:55:37 PM Re: Felix/Vincent? I don't know what "we" consider right, I only know what I consider right. I don't even want to speak for my nephews who are either in or soon will be in Iraq; if I wasn't a broken-down old fart I'd be there, too. But I do know that there is a right and wrong of things. Murdering innocent people for your version of the truth in the WTC, or Darfur, or stoning them to death on a soccer pitch in Kabul, or slowly sawing off their heads on video is not right. Giving in to those who commit this evil for their prophet is not right, either. If we abandon our responsibilities we cannot assert our rights nor can we demand our freedoms if we do not accept the sacrifices that preserving our liberties demand. The minimal disruption in our lives that increased vigilance and awareness require are trivial compared to the consequences of shirking our duties. Has President Bush made the country safer? I can't speak for you but I believe that he has and will continue to do his best to keep US safe. I believe that he has the honor, the ethics and the love of country before love of himself that makes him the right person, in the right place at the right time. If we accept that we are confronted with an impacable, fanatic enemy who cannot be defeated, then we are doomed to defeat. Understand that evil can never be defeated in the simplistic version that Mr. Kerry espouses, but can be constrained and held at bay. Understand also that the struggle is continuous and the "war" on terrorism must be fought by whatever means necessary for as long as necessary, even for another 1300 years. So, God Bless Mr. Bush, he has this refugee's vote and I will also watch the sun set over Catalina on 11/2, raising my glass in "Na Zdrowie" for four more years. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Uncle Mikey EMAIL: mbolduc515@yahoo.com IP: 70.112.101.147 URL: http://unclemikey.blogspot.com/ DATE: 10/29/2004 08:29:56 PM Even better the second time. Although my irreverent 3/4 keeps playing the Team America song, "Whot would yew dew . . . ?" Naughty brain. Stop it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jim Tuttle EMAIL: kingtut52@yahoo.com IP: 68.210.126.39 URL: DATE: 10/30/2004 09:52:48 AM Outstanding collage and treatise! from a Vietnam Vet but with merely one Purple Heart, Jim ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bush sucks!! EMAIL: mamamela@hotmail.com IP: 81.172.64.119 URL: http://georgebush.esgay.com DATE: 10/30/2004 09:53:38 AM This is a site for idiots! American idiots!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: T. EMAIL: alanzo@yahoo.com IP: 24.215.150.183 URL: DATE: 10/30/2004 11:25:31 AM Hey, Gerard. I thought OBL was dead? Didn't you post that on your site just a few days ago? And: Why are you people thinking that Bush will keep us safer? Did you forget that he was the one who was supposed to be in charge when 9/11 happened in the damn first place? Do you all have Stockholm Syndrome or what? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 10/30/2004 11:49:53 AM Actually, my dear fellow, I've been pretty agnostic on the question. You may have read that here as a quote from another site. And perhaps you may be thinking of this little item this week: "A Cave in Tora Bora" http://www.americandigest.org/mt-archives/002480.php You'll see that that item, fanciful as it may or may not be, says precisely the opposite of what you claim is being said here. I am pleased, however, that you seem to have mastered the concept of "Stockholm Syndrome." I hope it didn't take too much coaching. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: princehal EMAIL: danwest@well.com IP: 70.16.91.190 URL: DATE: 10/30/2004 01:51:39 PM He may have mastered it, but you Gerald seem to be living it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cliff Soon EMAIL: ififall2003@hotmail.com IP: 69.140.227.118 URL: http://www.keystonesoldiers.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20040523092412148 DATE: 10/30/2004 10:45:38 PM Another good reason to vote Bush ... http://www.keystonesoldiers.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20040523092412148 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Palestine EMAIL: johnkerry@hotmail.com IP: 24.207.49.30 URL: http://www.johnkerry.com DATE: 10/30/2004 10:46:46 PM Ignorant Americans. This site shows that there are so many US citizens out there just as narrow-minded as the 'villains' they accuse. Oh, and there are more biological weapons on US soil than that of any other nation. Oops. Guess you can scratch that one! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mike EMAIL: mike@coldfury.com IP: 165.166.181.159 URL: http://coldfury.com DATE: 10/30/2004 11:04:35 PM My God, Gerard. I mean, just....God. I'm speechless. Well and beautifully said, my friend. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vote Bush EMAIL: votebush@bush.com IP: 24.0.15.150 URL: http://none DATE: 10/30/2004 11:08:06 PM GOD BLESS THE AMERICAN WARRIOR MAY HIS SWORD BE STEADFAST HIS BLOW DECISIVE! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Tom EMAIL: tommythompson@hotmail.com IP: 67.160.134.177 URL: DATE: 10/30/2004 11:22:38 PM Uh, and his AIM precise! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steve EMAIL: cricketj@gmail.com IP: 24.237.192.12 URL: DATE: 10/30/2004 11:40:08 PM NEVER FORGET !!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Thankfully Not Insane or a Dem EMAIL: bkayel@bellsouth.net IP: 68.158.137.16 URL: DATE: 10/30/2004 11:45:13 PM Thank you. This is beautifully done, and a powerful reminder of the reasons to vote for Pres. Bush. Note to Palestine: America discontinued their offensive biological weapons programs in 1969. Please see Bio Weapons by Country/State and References. Saddam actually used biological weapons. Given your attempt at moral equivalence, if you had them I absolutely believe you would use them. With Saddam out of power, there is one less place where you can get them. That's one of the biggest reasons why we are in Iraq. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sean Gleeson EMAIL: sean@gleeson.us IP: 68.227.126.73 URL: http://blog.gleeson.us/ DATE: 10/31/2004 12:07:30 AM Wow. I mean, great work. I was going to vote for Bush anyway, but if I weren't, this photo essay would surely have convinced me. (Notwithstanding Osama bin Laden's endorsement of John Kerry.) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Erich Sielaff EMAIL: esielaff@cox.net IP: 68.2.128.49 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 12:17:30 AM Thanks for your extremely moving photo essay.... I am forwarding it to everyone I know. A side comment...I have read the posts from the tiny minority (thankfully) of those who cannot emerge from their partisan deathtrap hatred of Bush long enough to get a glimmer of understanding that sometimes in history, their liberties have to be defended, which your photos eloquently communicate. That kind of vitriolic mentality will always be with us, and what they do not realize is that their crude, hate-filled, name calling merely confirms what we already know about them, and they do nothing to persuade, they just drive more voters to Bush. The contrast is self evident to everyone but them. In the meantime, thanks very much for your efforts! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jason EMAIL: jason@belowstreetlevel.com IP: 68.65.202.187 URL: http://www.belowstreetlevel.com DATE: 10/31/2004 12:39:13 AM well done sir. god bless America. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: contrapunktus EMAIL: contrapunktus@email.com IP: 141.157.67.85 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 12:43:06 AM I fail to see how so many of the horrible situations that Dubya has contributed to or created in the photos above provides evidence toward why he should be elected. They make a better point as to why he should be REMOVED from office. obviously. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: andy EMAIL: andy@andy.com IP: 12.77.163.63 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 01:13:19 AM It amazes me that so many fail to see that every single one of those atrocities happened on this president's watch. The main tactics I see from the right are fear mongering, and disenfranchisement. If you don't voet for the president you aren't patriotic. I hear people calling Kerry a traitor. How so? 20 years in federal governemnt compared to 4? Serving in Vietnam as opposed to occasionally serving in Texas? Oh... maybe it's that he said really bad things when he came back from vietnam. True things... but bad. Things people didn't want to hear. The current preimptive policy has been histroically tried, it's true. And it has failed every single time. It was the policy held by Emperial Japan, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy. Every single governemnt that has had a policy of "destroy your enemies before they can get to you," has failed. It creates an atmosphere of paranoia nad over extends your resources.... it can not work. Meanwhile only 5% of all cargo into the US is inspected. If a bomb were to go off in a cargo container... just one bomb... it wouldn't even have to kill anyone... America would be brought to it's knees because of current procedure... which would be to stop all shipping in or out of the US until investigated. If only three days passed we would loose hundreds of billions of dollars. We are not safer. G.W. is far from an honorable man. He has only given NYC 10% of what he promissed to them in 2001. And please answer me one simple question. This is something I have been having trouble with for a very long time... and most of the flak I see is from the right. When I express that I think the war in Iraq is wrong and our energies would be better spent elsewhere... how am I not supporting the troops? How is wanting them out of harms way not supporting them? I am a patriot. I do support our armed services. I do have family values. I do want what I believe is right for America, myself, and my family. And I'm a liberal democrat. That is how I see things. I don't believe that I am superior to anyone because of those views. You should be ashamed if you do. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: SteveoBrien EMAIL: unclesteve1963@netscape.net IP: 69.149.152.153 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 01:14:05 AM A remarkable collection of images. Assembling images to tell any story is difficult. This is an especially tough story to tell. Well done. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Major John EMAIL: john.tammes@us.army.mil IP: 214.13.0.221 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 01:47:53 AM Thanks Mr. V d L. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mkary EMAIL: markyd@hotmail.com IP: 66.65.105.232 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 01:49:57 AM wait, this looks like fifty reasons to vote against Bush. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Billy EMAIL: drgijn@sdfgsyd.com IP: 64.231.218.36 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:00:52 AM Wow, no mention of 10,000+ Iraqi civilians slaughtered by American soldiers. You people deserve Bush! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: danny EMAIL: kdk1225@siu.edu IP: 12.217.97.126 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:09:02 AM Hello, I am danny, ph.d. student at Southern Illinois University, studying mass communication. I am conducting an online survey about media use and motivations during this year’s presidential election. Please click on the below URL address and take a few minutes for me. If not working, please copy the address and put it to URL I really appreciate your help. Thanks. http://lawson-hall.lawson.siu.edu:8080/survey/entry.jsp?id=1098244717062 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sam EMAIL: samantha.samora@us.army.mil IP: 217.26.84.74 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:22:49 AM From the soldiers here in Baghdad, working to make this country functional and free... thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: g EMAIL: g@btinternet.com IP: 81.153.88.230 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:32:15 AM A powerful collection of images, but it is a betrayal of their subjects to use them as an endorsement of Bush. To someone who supported Bush in 2000 they serve as a painful reminder of the incompetent leadership that has made America less safe and more hated than ever before. Your work is a very emotional reminder of the important problems that face America and the world. Please do not subjugate the brave men and women by using them in propaganda. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rod Stanton EMAIL: rod_992@MSN.com IP: 152.163.100.203 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:21:40 AM I am in complete agreement. God Bless America! Freedom never was free and never will be; but it has always been worth the price. Rod Stanton Cerritos, Cal ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: RP EMAIL: hku_green56@hotmail.com IP: 203.54.163.93 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:34:52 AM That's 50,000 words with a clear message: we must not stop until our work is done; if anything, we must increase the force of hunting down the terrorists and completely diswading their recruitment drive. We will have peace again, once the job is done. But only when the job is done! God Bless America and you all. -R ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Curtis EMAIL: overboc@yahoo.com IP: 66.163.141.161 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:44:37 AM Thank you for this. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: W. Thompson EMAIL: fathertime2003@sbcglobal.net IP: 65.69.66.22 URL: http://www.amanoverthirty.blogspot.com DATE: 10/31/2004 04:00:05 AM Powerful presentation. You have pinpointed what this election is about - the only thing this election is about. The one important task we have as Americans today is to lead the civilized world in eliminating the scum who would lead us to a place infinitely worse than the Dark Ages. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Peter EMAIL: pbriggs0605@rogers.com IP: 198.208.6.35 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:04:22 AM Thanks for the reminder of what we're fighting for. Too often the "root cause" crowd blurs the truth of the evil that confronts us all. As a proud Canadian, I can only despair at the feckless, dithering response my government has put forth in these times. Never forget, when you see surveys that "prove" Canadians are "against" American interests, that there are many, many of us who realize that these butchers make no distinctions between us. My most fervent hope is that the American people, in their wisdom, choose the path of resolution that the President offers and re-elect him overwhelmingly. Thanks again, well done. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: judy van Beuren EMAIL: judyvanbeuren@comcast.net IP: 69.139.8.107 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:23:00 AM I weep as I thank you for your powerfully moving picture essay. So much better than words. There is but one choice in this election. Thanks. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Thomas Ricci EMAIL: tricci18@yahoo.com IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:23:26 AM In order to preserve our way of life "We the People" speak, I support our troops, I support George Bush, Freedom isn't free Lets win this one and not leave the blood of our Warriors behind To animals who will stop at nothing to achive anarchy. This truely is a fight between good and evil! God bless America. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hugh EMAIL: hughhewitt@imclueless.com IP: 68.83.119.42 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:20:55 AM Wow. Where are the flag-draped coffins? The pictures of 19-year-old servicemen with their legs blown off and their faces burned beyond recognition? Where are the pictures of the 100,000 dead Iraqis? Or the Darfurians? Let freedom reign. Tell that to the Iraqis. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: john oconnor EMAIL: jocon1111@aol.com IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:24:40 AM great piece.I am sending this to all my friends and families hoping that they too will send this message to all of their friends to remind all of us that this war is real.Thank you---vote for the right man at the right time fighting the right war--GEORGE BUSH ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Peyton EMAIL: prandolph1@austin.rr.com IP: 70.112.231.101 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:30:17 AM Very, very effective. A Gulf War vet who trains these great soldiers at Fort Hood. I'll be passing this link around all over the place. Well done! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sandy Wade EMAIL: Skunkbead@ao;.com IP: 198.81.26.78 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:39:29 AM If you vote for Kerry, God help us. The land of the free and the home of the brave will be no more. Will be just like the rest of those idiots. Bush is who we should vote for. Sandy Wade, Denver, Colorado. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tgoodell EMAIL: t.goodell@comcast.net IP: 24.21.50.25 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:46:45 AM Showing the decapitated head of a hostage is cruel and inflammatory. I followed a link from another blog here - what if this man's wife did the same? It fails to make your point. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: diane o'conor EMAIL: nydi53@aol.com IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:04:44 AM Excellent!!!!! So true so powerful, George Bush ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chris EMAIL: murdoch50@msn.com IP: 69.201.140.159 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:20:26 AM Well done -- pass it on. I lived through 9/11 and its aftermath in NYC. On Sunday, I pray for peace AND the safe return of our brave troops. On Tuesday, I will vote for George W. Bush! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mike Jones EMAIL: vballjones13@comcast.net IP: 68.47.201.36 URL: http://jones.acs.ac DATE: 10/31/2004 06:23:57 AM You did a great job of expressing how most Americans feel even though the media is trying to persuade us to feel otherwise. I hope more people see your reasoning and realize what we are fighting for. Perfect!!! Tyranny and evil around the world must be defeated. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bob Evans EMAIL: REVANS19@EXCITE.COM IP: 24.94.110.250 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:34:43 AM Thanx for telling it like it should be. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: EddieP EMAIL: ebp3790@aol.com IP: 205.188.116.203 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:36:35 AM Great essay, thank you Gerald. Cast my vote to reelect our president on Friday. Even here in rural Georgia the wait was over 5 hours. I arrived at the Courthouse at 1pm and finally voted at 5:30pm. They locked the Courthouse doors at 5pm, with many voters still inside. None quit the queue. Final votes cast at 10pm. No Kerry bumper stickers in the parling lot. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Carridine EMAIL: carridine1@yahoo.com IP: 203.121.131.38 URL: http://www.aakz.com/kerry DATE: 10/31/2004 06:43:02 AM Very well articulated, with appropriate pictures for what you assert. I was touched, moved and inspired. Thanks for your excellent effort. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: cg EMAIL: cg@cg.com IP: 68.7.149.148 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:46:30 AM Al Jazeera has just played a tape of Osama bin Laden that refers to a recent event in Iraq. It was authenticated by “the government,” though I’m not sure what agency. The tape lists a litany of complaints about the Bush Administration and highlights the motivation behind September 11. “The Bush Administration resembles a corrupt Arab government.” “Bush is misleading Americans.” “September 11 would have been less severe if George Bush had been more alert,” Bin Laden said. “In addition, the infidel George Bush is outsourcing America’s future with tax cuts to the wealthy. Where are the 1.6 million jobs? The infidel Bush is the first infidel since the infidel Herbert Hoover to lose jobs! Awake from your slumber, America! The infidel John Kerry has a plan. You can do better, Insha’Allah!” “Let me tell you, I spoke to the infidel Christopher Reeve a week ago, and if the infidel John Kerry is elected President, Insha’Allah, the infidel Christopher Reeve will walk again!” “Are you infidels aware that the infidel John Kerry killed infidels in a war of imperialist infidel aggression in Southeast Asia?” “The infidel Mary Cheney is a lesbian.” “Let me tell you, I spoke to the infidel Teresa. By Allah, did you not know that Laura Bush never had a real job! He stole Florida, too. I'm John Kerry and I approved this message. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: midwest mama EMAIL: whimsididdlegirl@sbcglobal.net IP: 64.217.135.248 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:55:44 AM This is wonderful. God bless you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dave Lindesmith EMAIL: lindy250@earthlink.net IP: 4.228.135.113 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:57:09 AM We forget so soon, your review is a sacred reminder of the horror and the leadership resolve to bring evil to accounts. Thank you for the effort in this post. Dave ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: OBL EMAIL: obl@alqaeda.com IP: 68.83.119.42 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:01:49 AM Hey, where's my picture? I thought George Bush said about me, "He can run, but he can't hide." But I did. Now I don't even get my picture in the "Men like this are hunted to the end of the earth" section. BTW: Nice touch with the decapitated guy. Classy. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard M. Delaney EMAIL: gerard_m_delaney@member.afa.org IP: 68.202.182.53 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:08:58 AM Why can nobody tell the difference between Gerald and Gerard? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: S.J. EMAIL: KillerElephas@prontomail.com IP: 80.230.75.9 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:33:44 AM Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. -Samuel Johnson ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John G EMAIL: john@gorenfeld.net IP: 67.102.0.236 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:51:53 AM stupid ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Heiko EMAIL: heiko.engelke@ftcommunity.de IP: 80.138.69.21 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 08:07:44 AM I disagree with most of you. This is a proud european speaking, and I am really shocked about your attitude towards other countries. In Europe, we think we can help ouselves well. "Spain does not have the courage"? Maybe it doesn't have the power to go on war alone. But we like to choose ourselves what we do and what we don't. There are other countries on the world than yours, and these countries are as independent as you are. We don't need to be protected by Mother USA. Europe has been dealing with its problems independently for several thousand years now (excluding WW2 here). You haven't. Have you seen the millions of people demonstrating against the Iraq war? Maybe not, it was only in Europe. But be sure, it was not because of "money from saddam" as writtten in the comments above. It was because we don't agree to your "war against terror" campaign. It's okay if you react to 9/11. It's not okay to do a war of agression without the United Nation's placet. Keep in mind that you are just another nation. Mighty and powerful, you are. But be rational. We feel more and more that your policy is "American Imperialism". Prove us that this is wrong. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: T EMAIL: terob@mail.com IP: 68.101.168.228 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 08:14:46 AM The fifty reasons pictured were but a mere few reasons to re-elect GW. For those of you ignorant people who say these things happened on Bush's watch are beyond belief. The terrorists had eight years to prepare for the attacks and if Clinton and his administration had the courage and the brains to deal with the attacks that occured under Clinton's "watch", the attacks on 9/11 probably would not have occurred. It is not a matter of being liberal or conservative, it is a matter of being a lover of America, or a hater of America. I say for all of you who hate America, please leave, if you hate this country so much and take Kerry and Edwards with you. You have no idea what life will be like here in America with war in our streets. I bet you would quiclkly change your minds about Kerry when the Muslim extremists begin their take over of our country. Oh yeah, and the draft would most certainly be executed with Kerry in office because very few Americans would want to serve under a traitor. There are many, many more reasons to vote for Bush, especially if you are Jewish, black, gay, or anything but Muslim because the Democrats don't care about you or want you, they just need your vote. And that's the truth -- What have the Democrats ever done for you? They despise you -- they want to keep you dependent on them for their power, but they certainly don't like you. If you open your eyes and read the truth, stop watching the lies spouting from the mouths of the talking heads, you will see the truth. I pray that the majority of Americans, and the majority of the electors choose to re-elect George Bush for President. God Bless our country, our troops, and our president. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aussie John EMAIL: chestbuster@facehugger.com IP: 138.130.209.101 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 08:18:20 AM War is hell, and Iraq is a bit of a mess at the moment. Many innocents have died (a significant number at the hands of their own countrymen, I might add). But in the post-9/11 age, having a rogue state with actual or potential WMD capacity was untenable. Terrorists are on the record as saying they want to kill as many Americans (and their allies) as possible. It's our solemn duty to deny them that capability and to deny them safe harbour anywhere on the planet. Iraq was a problem that wasn't going to go away; it was going to fester and something would have had to have been done sooner or later (sooner was the safest bet). Remember, regime change had been a policy of both sides of US politics for years; 9/11 just made it more urgent. It's sad that so many innocent Iraqis have died, but it won't have been in vain. The US is acting in defence of itself and the free world, of which Iraq will eventually be a part. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Katherine M. Fesler EMAIL: feskat@charter.net IP: 68.112.253.7 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 08:35:53 AM Very moving: So many things people said were so true. But how do we try and help people understand what someone wrote: FREEDOM ISN'T FREE. With everything that has been said on this website, to me that phrase says it all. Katherine M. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Esther Busenlehner EMAIL: EstherLB@AOL.com IP: 205.188.116.203 URL: http://AIOL DATE: 10/31/2004 08:57:40 AM Thank you, thank you -- if only the entire world would read this -- if only they would read! Posted by: Esther Busenlehner on October 31, 2004 11:57 am ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Esther Busenlehner EMAIL: EstherLB@AOL.com IP: 205.188.116.203 URL: http://AOL DATE: 10/31/2004 08:57:49 AM Thank you, thank you -- if only the entire world would read this -- if only they would read! Posted by: Esther Busenlehner on October 31, 2004 11:57 am ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Luis David Albright EMAIL: luisdavid@luisdavidalbright.com IP: 24.255.116.131 URL: http://ldcalbright.blogspot.com DATE: 10/31/2004 09:00:03 AM Thanks for the reminders. Vote Tuesday. Vote Bush. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gunny C EMAIL: jodialanc@aol.com IP: 198.81.26.78 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 09:12:54 AM An outstanding visual reminder of what we are fighting for. We need to be reminded of the things these images represent before it is to late. Now get out and vote! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justin EMAIL: jhardman2@yahoo.com IP: 210.49.143.127 URL: http://please think seriously about bush DATE: 10/31/2004 09:32:13 AM seriously? see the problem with that photo essay is that is dosen't actually tell me why to vote for bush. showing me pictures of terrorist attacks that happened while bush was president does not make me want to vote for him. The photos do not mention the fact that he has not followed up 911 with policies that will prevent future attacks nor properly bring to justice those that actually comitted the attacks in the first place. This is really a sad thing and a terribly legacy in American history. President Bush should not be judged becuase he happened to be around at a time of great national tradegy. he should be judged by one criterion only: "has he put in place sensible policies to deal with the threat and does he understand the threat we face?" the answers to these questions are: no and no. For gods sake bush supporters need to understand this before its too late. President bush is not making the world a safer place, nor is he making America more safe. vote sensibly on tuesday - DO NOT vote bush! i urge everyone reading this blog to look up some non right wing logs. Look up the richard clarke terrorism recommendation policy report. think about what Bush is saying and if it will really - in the long term- make america safer? please. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ann M. Carroll EMAIL: AnnJimCarroll@msn.com IP: 68.160.211.173 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 09:53:50 AM What a wonderful site! Brought tears to my eyes. I wish the world could read it. I agree with practically all of the comments posted...which were stated so much more eloquently than I ever could. Remember to vote on November 2nd. Vote BUSH. Pray for our military and may God always bless our beloved United States of America! Ann Carroll - Hicksville, NY - October 31, 20204 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ann M. Carroll EMAIL: AnnJimCarroll@msn.com IP: 68.160.211.173 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 09:53:58 AM What a wonderful site! Brought tears to my eyes. I wish the world could read it. I agree with practically all of the comments posted...which were stated so much more eloquently than I ever could. Remember to vote on November 2nd. Vote BUSH. Pray for our military and may God always bless our beloved United States of America! Ann Carroll - Hicksville, NY - October 31, 20204 ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: T EMAIL: terob@mail.com IP: 68.101.168.228 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:19:10 AM Justin: You have got to be joking. Do you really think that America is NOT safer? There have been many attempted terrorist attacks that have not been successful because of Bush. You just don't hear about them from your liberal sources. It would not further the liberal agenda to report on them. America IS safer! The pictures show what the terrorists have done, not what Bush has done or cuased to happen. There is a strong connection between Osama Bin Laden and Saddam, but many of you refuse to believe it. Wake up and read the truth. There were WMD, they were moved, probably into Syria by the indirect aid of the UN. My Goodness, what is going to have to happen for you to realize what life would be like fighting the terrorists and those who hate on American soil? By that time, it will be too late for you to realize your mistake. Those pictures will be a reality here in this country. Will it be your head on a platter, or your child strapped with a bomb? I certainly don't want it to be my head, or my child. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Milo Ward EMAIL: milo4345@comcast.net IP: 68.34.211.249 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:19:24 AM Thank you sir..... A chilling story that the whole world should see and act upon in a positive way Posted October 31, 2004..Milo Ward ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: T EMAIL: terob@mail.com IP: 68.101.168.228 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:35:39 AM Justin: The fact that Richard Clarke does not have any criticism of Clinton is very telling of his character. During the Clinton years Osama had a lot of time to build up his regime. Talk about ignoring terrorism attempts and ignoring the facts, and even hiding them from the American people, Bill Clinton was an expert. If you want to blame anyone, try Bill. Richard Clarke is just a hate monger, and he offers no plan to fight terrorism -- all he has to offer are hateful untruths about a man who has kept us safer than Bill, and will keep us much safer than Kerry would ever be able to. Are you also saying that you think things would have been better with Al Gore as president. I would say that 90+% of the population of the US would have disagreed with you in the days following the attacks. It's just that many people find it easier to forget than to face the truth. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Eli Katz EMAIL: minoolon@hotmail.com IP: 217.132.26.34 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:39:24 AM Although John Kerry is also for the causes you mentioned, we should feel more comfortable with Bush around. He radiates much more genuine patriotism and less demagoguery. Posted by: Eli Katz ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ernest Brown, NYC EMAIL: quedros@hotmail.com IP: 80.179.211.110 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:40:05 AM none of the reasons you described are specific to bush. this is just a test case of wrong judgement and non-intelligent propoganda. I Don't know if you're brainwashed, but you seem to be. putting all the blame or praise only on the president is a bad call. the security policy is also determined by Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld. etc. it depends on who will Kerry (if he wins) bring into those offices. in conclusion, don't believe anything they tell you. Bush's America has not acted enough against terror, especially the palestinian terror. Bin-laden and Zarkawy are still free, even though we changed the government in Afghanistan. And I don't really have to mention the false intelligence on Iraq, do I? Pictures are not enough to convince us, with no real logic behind it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pru EMAIL: pruwhitemore1@yahoo.com IP: 67.50.135.71 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 11:12:39 AM If I had pictures I would post too, the 100,000 dead iraqis, the deformed and sick Iraqis and americans from depleted uranium, blown up children, women, more innocents in this atrocity. If you really care about our troops, you would want them out of there NOW, out of harms way. Our brave ones are being maimed and killed needlessly, the best support you can give is to demand they be sent home! How about our devestated economy, bush asking for more and more billions that sure isn't going to help our troops, sure isn't building the infastructure, and taking away from all the programs Americans really need. How about the environment that has and is being destroyed by Bush's administration. How about all our rights and freedoms being secretly stolen away, even in the night, when no one is watching. You aren't thinking at all, sorry , you are brainwashed indeed, we will just have more of our young people dead in Iraq and other countries as well as their people for only profit for Bush and his crew. Our government has been hijacked, if you can't see this, I am sorry for you and for all of us. I am not for Kerry, by the way, I don't think either one of the two candidates are decent human beings. Wake up!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: funun@pcu.net IP: 67.128.37.79 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 11:13:09 AM Hey Debbie- why is it always our fault that someone comes and tries to kill us. You liberals are all the same- you can never blame the criminals. You say our high crime rates are because of poverty and yet during the great depression crime rates were at nearly an all time low. My grandmother was in Germany during world war II and when they were starving- the last thing they were thinking about was "let's go kill someone"- they wanted FOOD. Bin Laden declared war against us YEARS before GWB was in office. He attacked us several times while YOUR president MR. Clinton was in office and he did nothing about it and they kept escalating until we had September 11. I hate to get crude but we finally have a president with the balls to do something about it while your president was too busy doing something completely different with his! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: True Patriot EMAIL: JMW755@hotmail.com IP: 209.149.57.115 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 11:56:30 AM Hugh Hewitt, I see the unspecific nature of Bush's pre-emptive strike policies are practiced by his supporters. Using photographs to justify a war is rediculous. I hope you didn't base your decision to vote for G.W. Bush looking at pictures. There's a book out called 'The 911 Comission Report'. There are no pictures but, just the same, it is informative and cites specific examples of how the WTC tragedy is in no way connected to the war in Iraq. Not mention newapapers. Don't missunderstand me: I, also, am moved by these photographs, however, action against terrorism will be much more effective if intellegent, not hasty, use of military and diplomatic resources are implemented. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: funun@pcu.net IP: 67.128.37.79 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 11:58:49 AM In response to "Posted by: mark at October 26, 2004 01:25 PM ". CLINTON could have prevented the whole 9/11 by actually confronting the terrorist during his administration -then Bush wouldn't have had to worry about it. Bush shouldn't have had to try to hunt down Bin Laden- he was handed on a silver platter to Clinton 2-3 times- which Clinton repeatedly rejected. As far as the world marching in protest... are you aware that 300,000-400,000 college students marched on the White House to keep us out of WWII as well and look how many more millions of people died during our delay- and how much longer the war took to end. And to someone else's comment that 14,000 Iraqi's have died since Bush started this war- let's look at the numbers. At LEAST 1,000,000 people died during the less than 30 years that Hussein was the leader. That's well over 30,000 people a year on the average. In the year and a half that we've been engaged in the conflict only 15,000 have died- that's a 60-70% decrease in the number of deaths. I would say that that is a major improvement- wouldn't you?? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mairjke EMAIL: quelisequantro@yahoo.com IP: 82.168.65.221 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 12:02:45 PM Tears in my eyes. Thank you American forces for fighting for freedom and taking the blame once again. Somewhere I read a comment from a 'proud European'. Europeans so easily forget. They think their own freedom came for free or that it will never be threatened again. Not this European. I know there's no reasoning with psychopaths and I don't understand that so many of my fellow Europeans rather see the Middle East left to beheaders and islamists than give Afghans and Iraqí's a chance to lead prosperous and terror-by-Saddam-and-Taliban-free lives. In the process the 'root causes' for terrorism and islamism will be eradicated, since their future will be in their own hands and they will have no reason left to feel oppressed anymore. Which was proclaimed to be one of the causes of terrorism in the first place. What would these examples do to the surrounding countries? This comes at a very high price for Americans and the coalition forces and I'm moved to tears by it. Look also at the last tape by Osama. He went from 'You messed with us, so we'll mess with you' to 'If you leave us alone, we'll leave you alone'. What does that say about him being a 'strong horse'? Would his (potential) followers perceive him as a great hero or just a whining fool? Would they be willing to follow a whining fool? What does that say about his recruitment abilities? I say the US must be doing something right. Thirty years ago a significant minority with a big mouth caused the American forces for the first time in their existence to leave a battlefield without accomplishing anything of substance. Death and destruction followed. Please don't give an equally delusional minority with an equally big mouth to cause this to happen again when so much is at stake. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Janith Davies EMAIL: janithd@msn.com IP: 70.56.235.162 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 12:24:28 PM Beautiful...and powerful! Thank you, Janith ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: alwayscowgirl EMAIL: onetrickcowgirl@yahoo.com IP: 63.197.112.58 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 12:27:06 PM GOD BLESS - yes God, whether you left-winged radical, ACLU lover Liberals like it or Not - AMERICA.... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bdowdy EMAIL: bddowdy86@comcast.net IP: 198.70.244.221 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 12:44:08 PM Words are beyond me. My high school friend fights in Iraq behind a .50 gun. We are only 19. I fear for his future if Kerry wins. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Larry Francis EMAIL: larryafrancis@hotmail.com IP: 63.150.69.253 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 12:47:43 PM If not us, then who? SFC Francis, Ret,USA ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: skeptic EMAIL: skeptic@skeptic.com IP: 151.196.49.242 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 01:09:29 PM What do you say to a member of Paul Johnson's family who sees his decapitated head displayed on your website as an endorsement of Bush/Cheney? Especially one who supports Kerry/Edwards? What scares me more than Bush is the type of person who is so zealous and arrogant, so convinced of his own superiority, that he will cross lines that most decent people know better than to cross just to ram his opinions down other people's throats. It would be easy as pie for a liberal to create a liberal version of your photo essay, and I'd be just as ashamed to share my wonderful country with that person as I am to share it with you. This country gives you the right to post this exploitative trash. Have enough respect for America to take it down. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: TerryF EMAIL: cyberheaven@aol.com IP: 69.139.61.198 URL: http://www.thefloridiot.blogspot.com DATE: 10/31/2004 01:15:35 PM I have had the good fortune (or God's Blessing) to have been born in the US, to have had a Catholic upbringing, and living most of my childhood and adult life in Washington, DC I was not ecstatic about the building of the Holocaust Museum, but several years after it was built, I finally made a visit to it. When I left, I understood its primary purpose. NEVER FORGET! And your primary purpose for "50 Reasons" is identical. NEVER FORGET! Thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shirley Templin EMAIL: rstemplin@comcast.net IP: 24.12.6.11 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 01:26:52 PM In my mind I constantley remember 9/11. But your pictures bring it all back more vividly. I have read most of the posts with pride, that these are my fellow americans. And then I read the few that mock the President. I am astounded by the hatred of these people. People who either don't remember the Viet Nam war or have never been in the service. My husband served in Viet nam. But just because you served doesn't mean you did it for your country. Kerry couldn't get a deferrment so he joined the navy and took a camera. Hoping to capture and promote his own image so he could pursue his political ambitions. A man without an honorable discharge which is why he won't sign a 180 form. And I would trust the country in his hands? I think not. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: funun@pcu.net IP: 67.128.37.79 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 01:26:56 PM In response to "Posted by: Heiko at October 31, 2004 08:07 AM ". It's pretty amazing that you're so proud that you can do things "on your own"- that you don't need mother USA to do things "on your own" and then you condemn us for doing things "on our own"! What a hypocrite!!! You Europeans are so proud that you've learned from history and yet it was because YOU ignored dictators and other evil despots in the past that World War I and world War II became WORLD WARS and millions and millions died. You ignore people like Hussein (at least 1 million deaths) just like you ignored Hitler (40 million deaths) and condemn and want to eliminate someone who is actually trying to stop it, President Bush (15,000 deaths- and most of these were accidental because the cowards hide behind civilians). While waiting for your precious UN to do something 800,000 died in the Tutsi slaughter. While still waiting for your precious UN to act.. thousands and thousands are dying every day around the world. I think you're just in denial about your guilty conscience and that you're too egocentric to help others who are defenseless and unable to help themselves. I'm not sure that it was George Lucas' point, but he showed a fantastic depiction of the UN in Star Wars Episode 1. DO SOMETHING FOR PETE'S SAKE- PEOPLE ARE DYING!!!- AND MOST OF IT COULD BE STOPPED IF PEOPLE LIKE YOU WOULD GET OUT OF YOUR ISOLATED AND PROTECTED BUBBLE!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: rational israeli EMAIL: bobbyk@Walla.co.il IP: 217.132.242.135 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 01:31:00 PM u r sick stupid ameri8cans nice propaganda reminds me of gering's flics ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Crystal EMAIL: MFCT@hotmail.com IP: 68.169.226.97 URL: http://crystal.tyepad.com DATE: 10/31/2004 01:42:49 PM Very moving and what a gift this post is to all...You really ought to think about linking it up to the "emblogment" blog that is running behind as far as endorsements for President Bush versus Senator Kerry... the link for you and others is on my own blog or at : http://pres2004.scripting.com/2004/10/29#a4 Thanks again for the tears of pride and faith on my cheeks ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Markolg EMAIL: markolg@blogspot.com IP: 24.29.76.13 URL: http://markolg.blogspot.com DATE: 10/31/2004 01:51:24 PM God Bless you for reminding us of the core values for which we fight. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gopher EMAIL: txgophergdr53@sbcglobal.net IP: 66.141.118.226 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:11:10 PM You betcha! God Bless President Bush for having the courage to stand up and lead! America is Strong and "We the People" are not afraid! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shelayne EMAIL: shelby10@peoplepc.com IP: 199.174.242.163 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:20:46 PM The people on the left must be pretty proud with OBL taking up on their talking points. Osama has picked up on their hysterial propaganda quite well. It must be heart-warming knowing that the monster that orchestrated the murder of 3000 men, women, and children shares their point of view. Really, they must have ulcers with all of the hatred and venom they have had coursing through their veins, not for the actual murderers, but for the President who stood on the ashes and promised to protect us. Now they can know--without a doubt--that they stand shoulder to shoulder with Osama bin Laden. With the new Osama tape, it just as well could have been another 527 ad for Kerry. How sad. Terrorists have been in the business for many, many years. Islamofascism had been growing stronger and bolder with each attack. It made its way to our shores because the enemy realized we were a "paper tiger". Well, now we have become a tiger with teeth. If Kerry gets elected (heaven help us) he will declare that Iraq is a quagmire and pull the troops which will again tell the enemy, we are a paper tiger. I pray that Americans will go to the polls on Tuesday remembering that it was years of ineffective (and nonexistent) responses and cavalier attitudes about terrorism ~not to mention incessant hand-wringing about taking the fight to them~ that brought it home to us. If we go back to the "it's just a nuisance" way of thinking, we deserve what we have wrought. Thank you for the powerful reminder. I am proud to say my ballot will be for President George W. Bush. May God bless America. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Noot Raddingston EMAIL: poli@snoof.cotse.net IP: 195.92.168.166 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:24:12 PM Thanks. It's always lovely when someone manages to put a complete twist on everything. Perhaps if your president wasn't such a vain bastard, and if America as a whole wasn't so convinced it's the world's rescuer when truly, it stirs up more trouble than it's ever been worth... 9/11 would never have happened at all. Stop believing that just because something's American, it must be the best available. Improvements can always be made. And no, I'm not saying 9/11 was justified. I was as shocked as you were. I'm saying perhaps, even though the terrorists are being unreasonable in their methods, it's worth a little introspective time to see if there's anything that could be improved. Like having a member of the simian family for a president. Just a thought, pet. I'm sure it'll be deleted before too long. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Evgen veselov EMAIL: Evgen915@yahoo.com IP: 68.160.218.171 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:29:39 PM We need freedom and justice!!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: voletti EMAIL: sud_voly@yahoo.com IP: 66.67.222.221 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:32:16 PM I am touched. Truly, Voletti ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scary Kerry EMAIL: scarykerry@walla.com IP: 68.170.78.254 URL: http://scarykerry.blogpolitics.com DATE: 10/31/2004 02:33:34 PM I just want to thank the author of this post for reminding us of why we are here. God bless the USA and the Bush administration. And God Condemn the Kerry Campaign, the Leftist Cowards of Europe, and the Islamofacist bastards who bring terror to the world. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Janet Peters EMAIL: poolfooltoo@aol.com IP: 205.188.116.203 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:44:04 PM Knowing for sure President Bush is a Christian and is conscious and very caring of the sufferings of not only our soldiers and their families but of what happens to this world of ours, makes me proud to vote for him in this election. I feel God has put him here and is guiding him for the good of us all. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dr. Leonard Tulman EMAIL: tlltlm@cox.net IP: 68.225.14.137 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 02:50:07 PM The U.S. has given more opportunity and freedom to more people than any other nation. All of it is due to those who died for us. God bless their memories and our country. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lynn EMAIL: Excess_Baggage_23@yahoo.com IP: 66.44.106.143 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:01:40 PM godbless america and its patriots and by all means keep kerry out of office i dont think america needs him right now we need a strong leader and that right now is what we have in office so straight up VOTE FOR W!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gubbaboy EMAIL: satk5948@bigpond.net,au IP: 203.51.106.153 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:08:45 PM Thank You. God bless you American's. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jeremy EMAIL: djdieectify@comcast.net IP: 24.4.136.82 URL: http://www.americandigest.org/mt-archives/002445.php#002445 DATE: 10/31/2004 03:16:54 PM dude, you are so fucking stupid. THAT PICTURE OF BLACK SUNDAY IS FROM A MOVIE. STOP WATCHING SO MUCH FOX NEWS AND GET A BRAIN! ps: There is a newly developed concept called thinking for yourself, anyone can do it i promise.......GIVE IT A SHOT!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Osama bin Laden EMAIL: none@none.com IP: 24.90.107.183 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:25:35 PM Hey, I've been able to both run and hide! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Saddam Hussein EMAIL: none@none.com IP: 24.90.107.183 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:36:15 PM I do miss Donald Rumsfeld and my special moments together . . . :-( ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Marcia Karraker EMAIL: Kent.karraker@verizon.net IP: 4.65.244.137 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:38:18 PM Wow! And amen! I couldnot have said it better than you did with pictures. Thanks Marcia in Normal, Ill. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bertignac EMAIL: melbernstine@free.fr IP: 82.224.127.164 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:45:56 PM The posts here that support Kerry in one way or the other are truly imbecilic. Kerry is such an utter phony I really don't see how anybody with even a modicum of intelligence could support him, even supposing you don't like Bush. (Like Kerry in his duck hunting outfit asking the guy at the sporting goods store, "Can I get me a hunting license here?") Come on. Admit it. You would be embarrassed to be seen with this guy anyplace but a sushi restaurant. I definitely would not like someone like JK covering my back. VOTE BUSH and don't let the phony effete elite try to run things (into the ground). bertignac ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jdog EMAIL: jdog@hotmail.com IP: 70.19.90.191 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:48:50 PM We need a new president who can actually catch the bad guys responsible for 9/11. Bush sent our boys off to shoot the wrong people. Bush lied when he told us they knew there were WMDs in Iraq. He may be steadfast but he's also dead wrong. Bush lied. Who died? 100,000 Iraqi civilians and 1100 American soldiers. WWJD? I tremble because God is just and the lives of the Iraqi civilians is on our hands. Which do you think our Lord values more, the 100,000 Iraqis or the 1100 American troops? May God bless America and protect us under President Kerry. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: nobodysfool EMAIL: melbernstine@free.fr IP: 82.224.127.164 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:48:56 PM KERRY IS JUST SO GAY (and I don't mean homosexual, I am not homophobic). ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Osama Yo Mama EMAIL: none@none.com IP: 24.90.107.183 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:49:26 PM I was very upset when you said at the White House Press Conference when asked about me that "I truly am not that concerned about him. I thought you said you'd get me "dead or alive?" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: BushSnort EMAIL: bushsnort@yahoo.com IP: 66.159.65.102 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 03:54:39 PM You forgot, "because I'm a liar, and me and my friends are makin' a ton of money on this" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: datdamonfoo EMAIL: dontworry@aol.com IP: 68.75.203.46 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:09:34 PM This is stupid. Here's a reason not to vote for Bush: Osama is still alive and well. Way to go Bush. I trust you'll win the war against terror just like you won the war against Osama. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Osama Bin Smokin EMAIL: acm1312@yahoo.com IP: 4.4.50.195 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:09:55 PM Bush, it's kinda dry out here want to swing by and Smoke me out? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: aaron EMAIL: acm1312@yahoo.com IP: 4.4.50.195 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:18:40 PM All of these are just platitudes there is not one actual steatement or reason posted here ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bolo EMAIL: anonymous@aol.com IP: 132.236.75.123 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:19:14 PM This argument boils down to 'I want Bush to win because Kerry will sell out our nation and let the terrorists win.' That's just so wrongheaded on so many levels. Do you believe that half the nation doesn't want us to defend ourselves and stop terrorism around the globe? I'm voting for Kerry because I think he'll do a better job--not because I think a Bush victory would destroy our nation. Please, consider more than just your gut feelings. Our military is extended as far as it possibly can be, yet we need more troops in Iraq and also need to be able to respond to other crises around the globe. We need allies to do this, like India, China, and Russia. Europe can also come along if it wants. Now, who would be the better negotiator? Who would get the troops we need and rally the world to our cause? Kerry or Bush? The 'French-speaking mulilateralist' or the 'resolute, go-it-alone warrior?' Frankly, it would be Kerry. No matter how much you hate him, he's the kind of leader we need for the next 4 years. Bush was fine for the last 4, but he just won't cut it in the future. He's not a deal maker. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: T EMAIL: terob@mail.com IP: 68.101.168.228 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:21:06 PM If Kerry is elected we will not be able to say "God" The liberals will make sure of that. You liberals/Democrats are so ignorant. Do you not see that your rights/freedoms are being taken away from you? You may not be Christian, you may not care about religion, but I do. WWJD? He would say that we should not allow terrorists to take our freedon away. I think you liberals who are posting on this site need to learn American history and I mean real history, not the Democratic re-written version that has been "taught" in the liberal public schools. Osama bin Laden telling us to vote for Kerry should be a huge wake up call to you people. Do you really think they he has America's best interest at heart? Please wake up! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Richard Shell EMAIL: papashell@sbcglobal.net IP: 63.204.72.181 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:26:29 PM If we all put our Freedom Loving American heads and hearts together I'm sure we all could come up with another 87 billion reasons to vote for George Bush as our Commander-in-Chief. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tommy EMAIL: thomasmanuel2004@yahoo.com IP: 198.23.5.11 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:28:29 PM RIGHT WING MORONS ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: aaron EMAIL: acm1312@yahoo.com IP: 4.4.50.195 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:28:39 PM You have the issues confused. The Democrats aren't going to take away Branch Davidianism or whatever your cult happens to be. You'll be fine! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bart EMAIL: bart@yahoo.com IP: 138.88.150.176 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:29:08 PM I believe we face enemies that must be defeated abroad. You have simplified your life by lumping your fellow Americans in with them. When you can separate your unrequited love for Bush from your love for this country, maybe then we can talk, T. Warfighter for Kerry ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: skeptic EMAIL: skeptic@skeptic.com IP: 151.196.49.242 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:30:13 PM "If Kerry is elected we will not be able to say "God" The liberals will make sure of that." HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I see you got the GOP mailing in Arkansas. Hear that knock at your door? It's the Liberal Police. They're going to cuff you up and force you into a gay marriage. You better get online and register at Macy's right quick. It must be so much easier to parrot talking points. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bart EMAIL: acm1312@yahoo.com IP: 4.4.50.195 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:37:39 PM I'm sorry, I thought the headline said "50 GOOD reasons to vote for Bush" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: scarshapedstar EMAIL: JMButcher@yahoo.com IP: 128.61.34.68 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:41:02 PM Gee, I think that needed a few more 9/11 pictures. Isn't it ironic how Bush would be a Jimmy Carter lame duck if all those people hadn't died? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: centaur EMAIL: centaur623@sbcglobal.net IP: 69.211.59.213 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:51:44 PM Wow. Did someone really just use the 'depleted uranium" canard several posts above. I see crack like that and a lot of name calling come from the abb crowd. And this: "In Europe, we think we can help ouselves well." Yes, you do think so, don't you. Look at the past 100 yrs. Ughh. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John Griffin EMAIL: griff1123@optonline.net IP: 68.198.90.162 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:53:38 PM I lost friends & Family at Ground Zero. I worked there on and off for over a year. We would still be waiting to decide what to do if Clinton,Gore or Kerry were CIC. God Bless You And thank you you are a Great American! Griff White Plains,NY ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Van K. Flanagan EMAIL: vankent45@yahoo.com IP: 65.1.126.108 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 04:59:34 PM Powerful photos all. Please remember the more than 1,000 American military men and women who have died including those who didn't have the proper equipment and armor to defend themselves because this DoD failed to plan properly for an extended insurgency. This happened on GWB's watch, remember that as well. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: llbillman EMAIL: lbillman3037@earthlink.net IP: 4.226.186.243 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:09:16 PM Thank you for the moving photos. I was in church this morning to thank those Americans who selflessly defend us and others around the world. Thank you for giving all an opportunity to post and for some, to meditate on their thoughts on what it takes to keep the world free. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Joe Antonello EMAIL: joekaran@msn.com IP: 67.85.185.155 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:10:51 PM What a great site and a great tribute to our spirit and the courage of our fighting forces. God Bless them all...God Bless America & God Bless President Bush! Joe North Brunswick, NJ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: cause for pause EMAIL: cmv@yahoo.com IP: 68.174.170.177 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:15:47 PM I respect your thoughts and feelings. As a person who witnessed 9/11 firsthand, I feel strongly that we must prevent another event such as this from ever occurring again. It was the most frightening day of my life. For that reason, I was very supportive of this president and, like all people, quickly rallied around him. I was also supportive of our mission in Afghanistan. I still do not understand Iraq. I don't see the connection and frankly, do not see why we went into the only secular country in the region. We were attacked by religious zealots, not plain vanilla zealots. I have no problem going in to dismantle regimes that are harboring and supporting terrorists. I think that's where our attention needs to be. I see Iraq as a pet war and am troubled by the fact that our heroic troops are over there, when we should be locking down Afghanistan and looking at the other ultra-fundamentalist countries. I also don't understand this "fly-paper" idea. It doesn't seem to make sense to me. Obviously, we need to attack regimes that harbor terrorists, but to think that terrorists are not going to be able to act over here just because we have our bravest men and women over there? How many people did it take to pull off 9-11? Are you telling me that if we were fighting a war in Iraq at that time that 9-11 would not have happened? Also, don't you think we should strengthen our ability to deal with the terrorists over here? In short, Bush lost me after Afghanistan. That was a mission that made sense. The rest has been nonsense and was akin to smacking the side of a hornet's nest with a large stick. How could he have made such a smart move initially and then ruined it with such a ridiculous mission? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: u_redneck_morons EMAIL: dingus@gmail.com IP: 207.236.152.146 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:23:13 PM The last picture says it all... America at it's redneckest ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Social Scientist EMAIL: whkrause@optonline.net IP: 24.46.18.50 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:30:35 PM 50 real reasons to vote for Bush--- 1) He wants to keep us whipped up in a state of fear and anger (see, I condensed your 50 down to 1). 2) He louses up policy so badly that we really ought to be in a state of fear and anger. ...OK, I'm tapped. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kathy K EMAIL: 3rdhand@site-essential.com IP: 69.69.7.189 URL: http://site-essential.com DATE: 10/31/2004 05:31:22 PM Heh. Don't know much about bikers, do you, u_redneck_morons? Or Americans in general. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ben EMAIL: sparkey789@hotmail.com IP: 131.210.95.97 URL: http://oldweb.uwp.edu/academic/english/martinez/FALL2004/ENG201/children.htm DATE: 10/31/2004 05:34:03 PM I have seen another site like this one. Here it is. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kathy K EMAIL: 3rdhand@site-essential.com IP: 69.69.7.189 URL: http://site-essential.com DATE: 10/31/2004 05:35:28 PM The question, Social Scientist, isn't "How bad is Bush?" The question is, "Would Kerry be better?" Personally, I'm NOT in favor of surrendering. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Don L. EMAIL: djplam@yahoo.com IP: 67.8.219.218 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:55:59 PM Very moving pictorial display . . . says quite a bit for only 50 pictures . . . we need Bush . . . someone who stands his ground . . . Kerry has proven over and over again he does not have the moral fortitude to even be honest with himself . . . how can he be with his constituents? (Retired Vietnam Vet) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tah daa EMAIL: tah@da.com IP: 68.110.250.233 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 05:58:53 PM Kerry Will Win Big Here's something you seldom see in the SCLM: I will highlight to all what was probably the most boneheaded analysis I've ever made on Daily Kos.  Jeeze, saying the Iowa Caucuses would have little or no effect on the results of the New Hampshire primary has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever written.   Why do I highlight an obscure comment buried within a long-forgotten thread posted ten months ago?  Because I want to remember that case of forced humility as I go out on a bit of a limb and make a prediction:  Kerry is going to win big. It's still possible that Bush could pull it off, and it's even more possible that Bush could again win the Presidency through litigation.  But the odds are getting more lopsided in favor of at least a solid Kerry win, with improving odds of a Kerry landslide. I've been open to the possibility of a Kerry landslide since April.  Nothing since then has dissuaded me of that possibility.  The race, as far as we can tell, has the appearance of being close, but with indications of great early voting numbers coming out of places like Iowa and inspiring stories about people determined to have their votes counted in Florida, the early, admittedly highly anecdotal evidence points to good things.  Add the news from Ohio, the tightening polls in places like Arkansas and Nevada, the fact that Kerry is polling better than Gore did on the verge of the election, and that the Dems stand to gain much more from the intensified GOTV efforts, relatively, than should the Republicans, and there is much to suggest that Kerry should do extremely well on Tuesday. So, I decided to do something I almost never do: make a prediction.  Kerry will win big--big as in over 5% (which is big in terms of the last several Presidential races), and big as in 311 or more electoral votes.   This isn't over, and as I clearly stated in April, my confidence in our chances is by no means an excuse for anybody to let up for even 5 seconds.  Follow through on the GOTV work, continue to talk to your friends and neighbors, and do whatever we need to do to elect Dems up and down the ballot.  But do it with confidence, because we're on the verge of a momentous and deeply satisfying victory. Daily Kos | October 31, 2004, 8:00 pm Voter fraud and disenfranchisement Here's a sampling of what we face nationwide. In West Virginia -- it was bad enough the first time.In a letter, Berkeley County clerk John Smalls cites calls from a cell phone were made to Eastern Panhandle democrats telling them that they were not registered to vote. The letter also said the calls informed democrats in some cases they wouldn`t be able to vote on Election Day [...] It`s considered an improper act because when upset citizens called the voter registration office to make sure they were registered to vote, indeed they were. So, who made these misleading calls? The Berkeley County Clerk`s Office traced the number voters gave as the source back to the Eastern Panhandle Republican Headquarters. Bad enough the first time, as I said. Problem is, despite their "slap on the wrist" (or because of it), local Republicans are still up to the same dirty tricks. From an email statement today:Democratic leaders in one of the nation's most hotly-contested battleground states are  receiving reports of voter suppression activities that can be traced back to the Republican Party. The suppression activities have continued despite warnings from officials in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties.Hopefully these WV Republicans face the same fate as those in Ohio who tried to challenge 35,000 new voters for no reason other than disenfranchisement. After hundreds of hearings found zero illegal registrations, the entire lot of challenges was thrown out and the Republican masterminds now face criminal charges. Speaking of Ohio, I got this from a Toledo volunteer:I worked all day yesterday at the largest Toledo area Kerry GOTV phone bank at Gallon and Takacs law offices, 3516 Granite, Sylvania. Out of the 8 phone banks that we had here in the Toledo area yesterday, ours produced one third of all of the contacts made. Both the local phone company and our phone systems provider have confirmed to us that phone relay point into the building was purposely severed. Many volunteers were rerouted to other locations and several also had to rely on cell phones when we found our lines down this morning. We thought it was a coincidence until the phone company verified to us that the lines were intentionally cut. More Republican dirty tactics.And more Ohio, check out this letter supposedly sent from the Lake County (Painesville) Board of Election to newly registered Democrats: Of course, the letter is not from the Board of Election, and it's obviously all bullshit. (From Law Geek.) In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the GOP wants to take a page from the Ohio playbook.Citing a new list of more than 37,000 questionable addresses, the state Republican Party demanded Saturday that Milwaukee city officials require identification from all of those voters Tuesday. If the city doesn't, the party says it is prepared to have volunteers challenge each individual - including thousands who might be missing an apartment number on their registration - at the polls.In Ohio, the "questionable addresses" were those were GOP-sent registered mail wasn't accepted. Wherever the WI GOP's list comes from, it's definitely not reality.City Attorney Grant Langley labeled the GOP request "outrageous." "We have already uncovered hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of addresses on their (original list) that do exist," said Langley, who holds a non-partisan office. "Why should I take their word for the fact this new list is good? I'm out of the politics on this, but this is purely political."Still in Wisconsin, let's head to the ultra-liberal University of Wisconsin -- Madison, which should be a huge source of Kerry votes on Tuesday.UW-Madison students in six residence halls received misleading information this week about how to vote, triggering allegations of dirty tricks. The Dave Magnum for Congress campaign and the College Republicans took responsibility and apologized for the mailing Friday evening, insisting it was an honest error. But a progressive group called it a deliberate attempt to confuse student voters. And University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, saying he was concerned that students might not know where to vote, had e-mails sent to all students Friday afternoon containing correct information.The Campus Republican flyer told students they could vote at the polling location of their choice. Obviously, voters must vote in their assigned polling location. The College Republicans, of course, are mired in a scandal of their own -- bilking innocent seniors of more than $6 million. The College Republican National Committee has raised $6.3 million this year through an aggressive and misleading fund-raising campaign that collected money from senior citizens who thought they were giving to the election efforts of President Bush and other top Republicans. Many of the top donors were in their 80s and 90s. The donors wrote checks -- sometimes hundreds and, in at least one case, totaling more than $100,000 -- to groups with official sounding-names such as "Republican Headquarters 2004," "Republican Elections Committee" and the "National Republican Campaign Fund." [...] Some of the elderly donors, meanwhile, wound up bouncing checks and emptying their bank accounts. "I don't have any more money," said Cecilia Barbier, a 90-year-old retired church council worker in New York City. "I'm stopping giving to everybody. That was all my savings that they got." Barbier said she "wised up." But not before she made more than 300 donations totaling nearly $100,000 this year, the group's fund-raising records show.Makes you glad to be a Democrat, huh? We all knew College Republicans were slime. Now we have hard evidence. I hope to see some of those scum carted off to jail. But I digress, since cheating the elderly of their life savings isn't really voter fraud or supression. Let's wrap up in Alabama, where Democratic areas have been infested with this flyer: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Social Scientist EMAIL: whkrause@optonline.net IP: 24.46.18.50 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:22:50 PM Well, I guess tah daa is done...now, Kathy The question, Social Scientist, isn't "How bad is Bush?" The question is, "Would Kerry be better?" Well, one candidate is demonstrably brave, decisive in action, thoughtful, and has led a remarkably scandal-free public life. Bush is the opposite. Personally, I'm NOT in favor of surrendering. Good for you. Write us from Fallujah. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott Couse EMAIL: Lear2555@hotmail.com IP: 24.19.47.31 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:41:57 PM Who the f**k are you to speak for the Spanish people and their dead? The Spanish government is actively pursuing the people who struck them with such ferocity. That they are not supporting the misguided adventure in Iraq has nothing to do with their resolve to fight terrorism. That you and your ilk continually conflate the war on terror with the war in Iraq is either a cynical, and hence despicable ploy, or else evidence of a profound ignorance of the very real problems that confront us all. In either case, you should be ashamed of yourselves. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gopher EMAIL: txgophergdr53@sbcglobal.net IP: 66.141.122.201 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 06:52:13 PM If Kerry should happen to win, and I really don't think there's a "snowballs chance in hell", they probably will need to start up a draft. Who in the Military today is gonna wanna fight for that Coward and Traitor. Yall good people move on down here to Texas. We got plenty of room for ya and we'll just exercise our right that we kept to leave them Northern States, Vote the Dubya in for our President. Hell, we done got most of the oil refineries, most of the defense contractors, about 300 years worth of oil, and plenty to eat. Plus we got plenty of food and control the space industry. Like I said though, it's a snow balls chance in hell that Kerry will win. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Van EMAIL: villinois@yahoo.com IP: 66.2.65.72 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:08:44 PM Mrs. Cheney: "This is not a good man". Mr. John F. Kerry, 1: Firstly, if you thought the Vietnam War was wrong, you should have never volunteered to fight it. You fooled yourself. You were a liar. 2: Secondly, while in Vietnam if you were a freedom fighter and you killed Communist Vietnamese (or Vietcong, in the Vietnamese language) you were a hero. On the other hand, if you still thought that war was wrong, you should have never fought it valiantly, killed Vietcong and earned medals. You were a hypocrite. You were not a soldier. You were a murderer. 3: Thirdly, you came back from the Vietnam War, if you were still proud of your short military record, you should have never gone to the street to protest it. You were a traitor. You were un-reliable. 4: Do you dare to fight terrorism? Would you rather wait some day that terrorist would kill you on this land? You voted to send troops to war. Then you voted to cut short of their supplies. You made their jobs harder. You were indecisive. You were not trustworthy. 5: Now, you run for the presidency so you proudly claim your military record in Vietnam as patriotic, which you had already smeared it in 1970’s. Did you condemn it on your own? Did Hanoi put words in your mouth to curse yourself? Respect yourself and others will respect you. Man is the only animal that blushes. What kind of animal are you really? 6: Finally, why would people believe you? You are a fool. You are a liar. You are a hypocrite. You are a traitor. You are indecisive. You are unreliable. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Roger EMAIL: someguy@hotmail.com IP: 68.105.148.87 URL: http://www.pandagon.net/mtarchives/003848.html DATE: 10/31/2004 07:09:39 PM Fear, Bitches!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bloghorn Bleghorn EMAIL: gap272@yahoo.com IP: 12.175.216.109 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:10:47 PM I too used to be a liberal. Voted for Carter, for which I am now ashamed. Gave money to Greenpeace and other liberal causes, for which I am embarrassed. Started to get dissaffected with the Dems in the late 80's. Voted for Perot in the 90's, for which I have no explaination. Then, I watched the Pentagon burn out of my office window on 09/11. Kerry says 09/11 didn't change him. Well, it changed me totally, completely, and irrevocably. I took advantage of early voting and cast a vote for the first Republican presidential candidate of my life: George W. Bush. There is not doubt in my mind I won't regret this vote in coming years. No doubt kerry didn't change after 09/11: He's still the same condescending elitist, arch opportunist, and bald-faced liar he's always been. I read this entire thread, and thank GOD I'm not a liberal anymore: What a bunch of stinking thinking garbage they have become. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jack Tobin EMAIL: jntobin@aol.com IP: 214.13.62.216 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:23:47 PM Thanks, SF Vietnam Vet, now stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan Jack Tobin COL SF ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Social Scientist EMAIL: whkrause@optonline.net IP: 24.46.18.50 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:32:07 PM Glad you're clear Bloghorn. The guy who took a month-long vacation when warned "Bin-Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." then sat like a dazed puppy for 7 minutes when told "The United States is under attack" is your hero. The guy who let 9/11 happen and let his Saudi buddy bin-Laden get away is your hero. Vote for your hero and be proud. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: shelley99 EMAIL: cjm77493@yahoo.com IP: 24.238.166.162 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:34:37 PM EXCELLANT! THANKS. If you enjoyed this check out this new mini video- free for viewing. Bush-stand by me @ www.therightviewpoint.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: Coloradocollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 07:41:05 PM Just my thoughts here - There are things I'm unhappy about with "W", one being the Patriot Act - I don't like anything that messes with the Constitution, for ANY reason. The events of 9/11 had little to do with being able to deny rights of due process, the right to privacy, and the right to free speech, all of which are abridged by the Act. I'm not at all pleased with the opening of our borders and allowing an invasion of illegal persons who are taking good-paying jobs from my friends and family. It offends me that American jobs are being off-shored to India, Pakistan, and China, among other countries. But, in losing one brother, one uncle, two cousins, and more than 12 good friends and acquaintances in Viet Nam, I'll be damned if I will desecrate their honor and memory by voting for anyone who: 1) Testified that they were murderous barbarians 2) "Earned" 5 medals in 4 months of tour duty 3) Supposedly threw those medals at the White House in protest 4) Effectively gave support to the enemy by his actions at home. I also cannot see changing Commander in Chief during the middle of a war - sends the wrong message to the wrong kind of the people. Is some of the Iraqi conflict about oil? May well be. Is some of it about money? Wouldn't be a shock if it was. But there is a great deal of it that IS about national security and the continuance of our economy, and the fact that there really are bad people in the world that want to see us dead. In the end, you must all vote your conscience, and so must I. May be make the right choice, because there is no perfect one. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shawn EMAIL: shawn@writtenbyus.com IP: 70.58.134.18 URL: http://www.writtenbyus.com DATE: 10/31/2004 07:49:19 PM Excellent website. Show your soldiers how you feel. Help capture their spirit http://www.writtenbyus.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jimmyc EMAIL: jimmy_creel@hotmail.com IP: 68.184.215.41 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 08:37:11 PM Thanks great photo album. Couple of point on the comments. As I was reading all of the comments it struck me that the only people calling names were the liberals. I was always taught that the man who can not continue his argument rationally start calling names. You liberals love to call GW a moron and an idiot but according to his military entrance exam scores his IQ is min 129. Your boy Johns military entrance exams showed his IQ to be around 120, hmmmm. GW did not sit at reading that book because he didnt know what to do. He knew that the best people were on the job, and nothing he could do would change anything. He did what he should have done, showed confidence in the government and his people, not as Mr. Moore and liberal thought he should have done. I can see it now, Bush jumps up runs out and get on the phone with a look of concern. Liberal all over going did you see that he couldn't control himself he was sooo scared, he should have shown resolve. You can please liberals unless they are in power then all the do is get blow jobs. Clinton, Kennedys, bunch of rich elitists who think everyone else is too stupid, but all they can think with is between thier legs. In every war we have been in there have been casualties, and people protesting that fact that we were in it, but in only one have we listened to the minority and look at the millions that died in the killing fields of cambodia and laos because of it. Yes John, those people died because of your beliefs that communism is better than democracy. The only way to stop a bully, and that is what the terrorists are, is to bloody their nose. I dont care what country we have to invade but those low lifes need to know that you dont mess with us and the rest of the world can to pound salt. We saved Europes butts twice from something they started and how do they repay us, they take bribes from the same people that tell us to our faces they hate. You want a hypocrite go to france and meet Mr. Chirac, or may to Russia and meet Mr. Putin. Both voted for sanctions against Iraq then, too bribes from Hussien to sell him weapons. From the reports I have been reading the russians personally move the WMD's to Syria. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Charlie EMAIL: aafflyer@msn.com IP: 68.7.62.47 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 08:43:23 PM Well done. All the trash by the anti-Bush crowd just shows that they drink the kool-aid. Search out the missing 12 minutes of the latest Osama tape and it's clear that we are winning. Four more years... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: chuck EMAIL: Sport.n.scooter@juno.com IP: 207.69.140.37 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 08:57:37 PM Right on! You did the right thing. Voted your choice without letting it be influenced by the mudslingers on both sides. My vote will be for the same man for the same reasons. cr ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Flyer EMAIL: flyer@ktrange.com IP: 24.209.107.121 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 09:04:31 PM Wonderful. You've pretty much covered the waterfront. God grant that Bush be re-elected Tuesday. If he isn't... we'll all be praying "God save America. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Social Scientist EMAIL: whkrause@optonline.net IP: 24.46.18.50 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 09:07:58 PM GW did not sit at reading that book because he didnt know what to do. No, he sat there because he wanted to know how the story ended. He knew that the best people were on the job, and nothing he could do would change anything. You are a treat! Of course, there were still 2 planes in the air and those "best people" couldn't think to scramble fighters. Oh my heroes! I dont care what country we have to invade Apparently, neither does Bush. Any war is a good one! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: australian living in manhattan EMAIL: american-digest@bitfurnace.com IP: 66.108.8.253 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 09:11:08 PM You make an eloquent case against terrorism, but then, thats not a hard case to make. You make an eloquent case for supporting the troops, and again, thats not a hard case to make. What you dont do is make any case for _or_ against Bush, except that you're going to cast your vote for him. With or without Bush, Bin Laden will still be hunted, terrorism with still be guarded against, soldiers will still be supported and respected, and the safety that soldiers can buy will still exist. But soldiers can only buy you so much security, and war rarely delivers more than grief and chaos that reverberates through multiple generations after it has passed. I live here as a guest, and I cant vote in this election, but if I could, I would choose someone who has experienced war first hand, and especially someone who was revolted by it. I would choose someone who relies on reason and observation to adapt to changing circumstances. I would choose someone who is a member of the reality-based community. Again, I am a guest here, and I cant vote, but I do live in Manhattan, and the simple calculus of "what makes me safer" is one I live with daily. I dont believe that removing Saddam has made me safer, and in fact, I believe it has made me less safe today and much less safe in the long run. The Lancet recently published a study, the conclusion of which was "Making conservative assumptions, we think that about 100,000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq". I wonder what fraction of those people had friends or relatives who are now motivated to take up arms against the US or to sacrifice themselves in suicide bombings. I wonder if any of them will make it to New York. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: A Real American EMAIL: georgebush@alqaeda.com IP: 65.249.10.244 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 09:37:21 PM GEORGE BUSH KILLS AMERICANS George Bush has killed more Americans than Al Qaeda, the Taleban and any Iraqi. He loves to kill Americans. George Bush caused the deaths at the Twin Towers, as did his father. He has killed more Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has killed more in America. Are you American? George is planning kill you and your family. GEORGE BUSH KILLS AMERICANS ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Darleen EMAIL: darleen@darleenclick.com IP: 68.234.41.19 URL: http://www.darleenclick.com/weblog DATE: 10/31/2004 09:59:24 PM Beautiful and moving tribute. Thank you. And I have noticed of all the pro-Kerry trolls who have decided to litter this thread, not one of them can say what Kerry would do, because he himself has never said. Kerry is the ultimate reactionary, who won't take a step without the approval of the UN. Kerry has proven he has no moral center. Just as the trolls who support him have proven their moral bankruptcy by not even acknowleging the reality that we are at war and 9/11 was not the first attack on Americans. For the first time in their whole history, Afghans voted. Women who were threatened by death if they voted got up early to ritually bathe and dress for one who is about to die, then stood in line for hours to vote. Each and every one of the pro-Kerryistas spit on these women, just as Osama did in the unbroadcast part of his tape, just as Edwards did when he said such a vote was not an achievement of the Bush administration. They look at those pictures of 9/11, of Beslan, of Madrid, of Berg ..and they don't recognize the depravity of the ideology of the perpetrators ...no they beat their breast about the "root cause" that is ... gasp ... America. One here even claims leaving Saddam in power would have been a good thing, regardless of how many people he and his sons slaughtered, because it was over there and won't really affect "me me me." The Kerryistas claim to champion democracy even as they physically attack, vandalize and even shoot into the HQ's of their political opponents. Even as they signal their willingness to use as currency the one democracy in the ME that has been America's long time ally. Dennis Prager writes:
    In a nutshell, John Kerry's primary foreign policy goal is to get America into the good graces of the European Union (specifically France and Germany) and the United Nations. He regards America going it alone in the world as an American calamity.
    On the other hand, George W. Bush believes that becoming popular in the EU and in the United Nations would morally compromise America's values and ultimately endanger America.
    Only an American president who does not place great importance on American popularity and who has a realistic view of the immorality inherent in international institutions such as the world court and the United Nations will stand behind Israel. Nearly all the world's governments are prepared to abandon Israel because of their dependence on Arab oil or their fears of their Muslim population and the threat of Islamic terror.
    George W. Bush marches to the beat of the drummer who asks, "What is right?" and not to the beat of the many drummers who ask, "What is popular?"
    What most is being demonstrated by the abject hatred of the Kerryistas on this thread, and by the action of their brethren in the streets, is the moral level of the Left, of the Michael al-Moore faction of the Democratic party, of memo forging CBS, is one of utter depravity. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lisa Herrera EMAIL: lbherrera2003@yahoo.com IP: 67.10.152.196 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:03:04 PM Please read your most recent posts. They made me physically ill. Scum like that should be deleted just for that reason. God bless you and your wonderful post. The REAL Americans love you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lisa Herrera EMAIL: lbherrera2003@yahoo.com IP: 67.10.152.196 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:03:17 PM Please read your most recent posts. They made me physically ill. Scum like that should be deleted just for that reason. God bless you and your wonderful post. The REAL Americans love you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Caroline EMAIL: monkystar@yahoo.com IP: 67.181.139.231 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:05:05 PM Morals, Morals, Morals, why does this consume the minds of so many bush supporters. Is it moral to ignore that since the end of the war over 100,000 women, children, innocent civilians and Iraqi soldiers have died? And why, Oh..Well were safer now, and there free people now right? Hmmm...sure. "Mission Accomplished", Mr.President. I wont feel safer not for a second until we have a president that isnt viewed as an ignorant man,unable to run this country(what he is) by people all over the world. I just hope more people can see this so we can give Kerry the chance to take us out of the deep pit Bush and his administration dug us into! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Darleen EMAIL: darleen@darleenclick.com IP: 68.234.41.19 URL: http://www.darleenclick.com/weblog DATE: 10/31/2004 10:12:35 PM Caroline Was it really your intention to post to the world you are an amoral person? Well, let's start with a very easy question, one in which a simple yes or no is sufficient: Do you see a moral difference between Auschwitz and Hiroshima? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: A Real American EMAIL: LisaHerrera@alqaeda.com IP: 65.249.10.244 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:25:28 PM LISA HERRERA IS A COMMUNIST Lisa Herrera is a communist who believes in censorship. Like George Bush, Lisa believes that freedom of speech means only Lisa and George can express their views. Everyone else must be silenced. Killed even - she says they should be "deleted". It makes me wonder if Lisa Herrera also supports George Bush killing Americans in Iraq. Lisa supports dictators like George Bush. LISA HERRERA IS A COMMUNIST ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Taylor EMAIL: prin@yahoo.com IP: 67.171.14.205 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:31:57 PM Glancing through the tribute pictoral, I thought about the common theme that runs throughout. And I came to the sudden realization (a moment of clarity, you could call it) that the single concept is FEAR. All of these things could threaten the viewer's life, so we must destroy this elusive terrorist enemy, which isn't an army or a united entity of US haters, but a concept that we're still trying to define. We need to put our ego and arrogance behind us and ask the tough questions: why were we attacked on 9/11? What policies over the last few decades have created such disdain for the US Govt's actions across the middle east and other parts of the world? And why are Americans so insulated from the realities of our often destructive and uncompassionate actions around the world? Right now, these questions are considered unpatriotic and downright evil/sinful by many of us. But, when this civil war of an election is over, I hope that we can openly discuss these questions and come to the realization that we must be stewards to the world by our postive outreach, charity and move away from the Imperialistic direction we are currently taking, fueled by the adminstration's use of fear as a motive to create distrust and hate (that's not anti-Bush, it's just a fact). Bad things have happened. We're all still reeling fron it. But, an eye for an eye isn't an ideal stance when the enemy propogates as we destroy dozens of innocent women and children for every misdirected '16-year old terrorist enemy' that falls to our soldiers' bullets. We are creating more enemies than we can kill, and the rhetoric on this site (and many others) is increasingly chilling and disturbing. The more we hate the invisible terrorists who can hurt us, the more we hate anyone who doesn't believe our views. Let's all take a breather folks -- the reality of the war on terror, and the war between the dems and repubs, are becoming one and the same. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Caroline EMAIL: monkystar@yahoo.com IP: 67.181.139.231 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 10:36:52 PM Darleen, Your trying to make it into somthing it isnt. These arent nazis were dealing with. If we can just try to understand the Iraqi people rather than ,unfortanatly, turning it into what it already has become. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Darleen EMAIL: darleen@darleenclick.com IP: 68.234.41.19 URL: http://www.darleenclick.com/weblog DATE: 10/31/2004 10:43:41 PM Caroline Which Iraqi people are you talking about Caroline? Saddam or the people who will be voting in their own government in January? So you don't think Islamists are anything like Nazis. Do educate me on their ideological differences, since I find the remarkable similar ... both deathcult quasi-religious ideologies with the stated goal of world domination, hostility to individualism or individual rights and an obsession with the slaughter of Jews. And what did you find so difficult about my question you couldn't even give a yes or no answer? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: qwerty EMAIL: qwerty@qwerty.com IP: 169.229.36.29 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 11:19:20 PM FASCISTS ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bob EMAIL: go@die.com IP: 128.239.210.21 URL: DATE: 10/31/2004 11:50:57 PM Nice propaganda. No facts though, but thanks for making this to appeal to some moral inkling you have to support this war. You dont need WMDs or facts or real threats to America. All you have to say is that were the good guys and were liberating them no matter what the cost to our society and the resulting global chaos. Those monsters killing americans in Iraq happen to be the people weve liberated. Just as we liberated vietnam. There were no terrorists there, no connections to sept 11th, no WMDs and no direct threats and no possible threats to the US. But hey, even if bush turned into a ha msandwich you'd still vote for him. The Un found no WMDs because there were no WMDs dont hate them for being right, when Bush lied and went in anyways. Has bush been looking for that osama guy he was after before? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: frederoil EMAIL: frederoil@halliburton.com IP: 65.185.154.239 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:05:37 AM This is truly sad if the only reasons you have to keep Bush in office are pictures of dead men and women and 9/11 images. America, my wonderful country, when were you hijacked by idealogues and empty-headed Christian fundamentalists? When did we turn into a shallow, corrupt, war-mongering society? My question to you Bush supporters: Do you really think that bombing their country to rubble is going to make them want to be our friend? Is it working for Israel in Palestine? Who are we convincing to not attack us? The dead? Or the one's left grieving over another dead family member? The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. -- Thomas Jefferson ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/01/2004 12:55:09 AM Well, Fred, it seems that Osama Bin Laden has actually given you your deal, your out, your pass. See: American Digest: Trying to Divide the House Against Itself for the terms under which he'll give you your safety and your peace. If you vote right and live in a state that voted right, i.e. for John Kerry, Osama Bin Laden promises to let you live. It is really quite simple for you and the rest of those like you. Just do as he says and all will be well with your and with yours. He promises this and we all know he's an honorable man. I'd draw you a picture but you don't seem to understand that pictures stand for real things, real dead men and women, not just for themselves. Make your state safe, Fred. Report for duty and vote for the candidate of Osama Bin Laden. You owe it to yourself. Then watch the election returns carefully and if the state you're in doesn't go for Kerry, pack the car and flee. Your pity for those that have given their lives is touching. Don't become one of them. Don't be a sacrifice. If you have to, run. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gjb1968 EMAIL: a1@b2.com IP: 83.70.90.244 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:31:49 AM Re. the first reason: I thought it was taboo to say that the troops would be brought home soon. Something about defeatism and cowardice. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.4.249.20 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/01/2004 02:57:44 AM You need to read and comprehend the entire sentence, not just the part you think you have something new and interesting to say about. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: L.M.KING EMAIL: LM1018KING@AOL.COM IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 03:11:04 AM I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW ANY CHRISTIAN COULD VOTE FOR KERRY. I WILL BE VOTING FOR GWB. THANKS FOR THE OUTSTANDING DISPLAY. WE ALL NEED TO BE REMINDED ABOUT WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: L.M.KING EMAIL: LM1018KING@AOL.COM IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 03:11:23 AM I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW ANY CHRISTIAN COULD VOTE FOR KERRY. I WILL BE VOTING FOR GWB. THANKS FOR THE OUTSTANDING DISPLAY. WE ALL NEED TO BE REMINDED ABOUT WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: richard EMAIL: koastx@hotmail.com IP: 66.185.44.105 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 04:10:30 AM God will decide who our new leader will be and I will support Both. r-stx ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Richard EMAIL: RHEpstein@AOL.com IP: 69.68.46.110 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 04:54:52 AM Wait a minute. A prior poster stated that the theme of the pictures was fear. Those pictures illustrate our present day conflict. Is that poster not afraid? If John Kerry is elected, you will be. You will be. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gjb1968 EMAIL: a1@b2.com IP: 83.70.90.244 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:00:25 AM Gerard, "You need to read and comprehend the entire sentence, not just the part you think you have something new and interesting to say about." You mean the "with honor" bit? Well heck, did Kerry say he wants to bring them back without honor? Is that what people here think the difference is? In that case, those people should read and comprehend what Kerry is saying, not just the parts that the Bush campaign distorts for them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Karen EMAIL: northernlights159@comcast.net IP: 12.109.52.226 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:00:34 AM This one is also for Fred (frederoil) because you like to quote dead presidents, this is also from the biography and a direct quote from Thomas Jefferson. "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Jefferson believed in liberty and was a Christian. This country will never stand by and watch tyrants of any kind, on foriegn soil or our own, kill innocent people. Many of them died by the hand of thier own leader. Many of our people died at the hands of thier leaders also. Freedom is never free and bleeding heart liberals such as you may want to visit one of those places that you are so adamanty for. I know that what we are doing is right and there are many people that are grateful for their freedom, regardless of what the mass media is portraying. I am grateful for our troops and also for the judgement our president had to do something about the tyrannical actions of those who were oppressing others. Isreal is the only democratic nation in the Middle East. Are you against democracy or just the United States and Isreal? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gjb1968 EMAIL: a1@b2.com IP: 83.70.90.244 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:03:29 AM "This country will never stand by and watch tyrants of any kind, on foriegn soil or our own, kill innocent people." Umm, it has done so many, many times, and there is nothing to indicate that that will change. Heck, Reagan not only stood by and watched Saddam kill innocent Kurds and others, they ramped up trade with him afterwards. Not even the mildest of rebukes. Nothing. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: gjb1968 EMAIL: a1@b2.com IP: 83.70.90.244 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:05:30 AM L.M. King, I didn't understand what you were getting at from your first four posts. Good thing you posted it again. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Diego EMAIL: diegocg@gmail.com IP: 80.103.14.180 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:11:42 AM As spanish person, I can't do nothing but speak for my people here in Spain. We don't "lack the courage to answer them ourselves". We DON'T want to fall in the same violence spiral that only brings violence. The people who planned and commited those murders HAVE BEEN PUT IN JAIL. We don't invade randomless countries just because "we have proofs that they have mass destruction weapons". They _already_ are being put in jail. I don't know how you can vote bush. Is not that I like Kerry. Is that Iraq DIDN'T have any mass destruction weapons and Bin Laden wasn't in Iraq. I'm 100% for capturing Bin Laden, but attacking Iraq you just attracted attention over Iraq, and that allowed Osama to escape. Iraq war was a failure at _all_ levels. I'm not saying you should vote Kerry, just get Bush and his crappy administration out of the game and get a REAL republican president. One that tries to catch Osama Bin Laden, not one that invades countries randomlessly. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Abe EMAIL: abe@terror.com IP: 196.31.50.12 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:12:51 AM Wow and you totally fail to see what your govt does in killing innocent civilians all around the world. You fail to show the faces of innocent kids in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine being murdered by the US terrorist govt. Remember terrorism is anything that causes terror to innoncent civilians and a huge bomb most certainly is that ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: AngelsAmazon EMAIL: no1hulakitty@hotmail.com IP: 67.136.143.100 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:41:24 AM Okay....an open forum. The Republicans DO NOT have the monopoly on Christianity. That is a religeous ideation and has no place in politics. We SEPARATED the church from the state. There are Christians voting for the Reps. the Dems. the Green Party, etc. Give over. I support our troops. I believe in the men and women who are doing their best. I love them. Whether the war is "right" or "wrong" doesn't matter to me, it's the fighters and the people they are trying to save that matter to me. I'm a bit peeved that G.W. was part of the CIA that was so happy to bring Saddam to power in the first bloody place. Trying to make up for past mistakes? I'm tired of all the jobs in my state being sent overseas. Our industries here are leaving and our unemployment is insane. Who's going to fix it? The last time period when people were getting this rabid over something...we had the Civil War. Just vote for who you want and don't worry about who everyone else is voting for. Once again..... Christianity and morality are NOT the sole purview of the Republicans. The rest of them/us have the same things.Yeesh. Oh yeah! Before I forget...YOU ROCK SAMI!!!!! Our Amazon Goddess in the Army overseas!!!!!She's fighting for what she believes and that makes us love her even more! Cu ena durus Tae'nah arcis!!!!! *Fist to Heart* ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: AngelsAmazon EMAIL: no1hulakitty@hotmail.com IP: 67.136.143.100 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:54:51 AM About that whole Christianity thing I posted earlier? *Ahem* The United States of America was developed by people who sought freedom for their religeous beliefs. And it is in the Constitution that there is a freedom of religeous beliefs. That means that ALL religeons may vote here in the US. *cough* *ahem* Thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jack EMAIL: mcgeecopy@bellsouth.net IP: 66.156.2.250 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:10:08 AM With respect, These images move us all and re-emphasize the obvious case against terrorism. None of them make the case for George Bush. One can support our troops in Iraq without endorsing an administration that put them there ill prepared, ill equipped and wrongheadedly. I am a loyal patriotic American and I am voting for Kerry. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mary Willis EMAIL: york81@aol.com IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:18:36 AM Mr. Hewitt this graphic and emotional photo set and the simple words you put with them say so eloquently what I have been holding in my own heart. I wish this photo essay could become a tv commercial, it is that powerful. I am crying now as I type this response. God Bless and thanks for the clarity. Go Bush! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: The Perrys EMAIL: pepsongs@aol.com IP: 69.166.105.23 URL: http://www.philperry.net DATE: 11/01/2004 06:42:47 AM You are a Great American! Thank you for doing the RIGHT thing. God Bless you and God Bless our Great Country and our Great President - George W. Bush!! We salute you... Phil and Lillian Perry Rancho Cucamonga, California ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: Coloradocollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:44:24 AM Diego, with all due respect, a story that I just read from a respected British journal is that the scum associated with the attack in Spain are still at large - that only the tip of the iceberg has been apprehended - so, one of two possibilities exist: 1) The British press is misinformed or lying, or 2) The Spanish press is misinformed or lying I think that it will take years to get to the majority of these thugs - to say they are already "in jail" when only a couple people have been detained is not seeing it very objectively. The largest part of those perpetrators are in countries thousands of miles from Spain, and I truthfully doubt the Spanish government is going after them there. There are several posts on here from people that appear to live by the creedo that being pushed around and living in fear by an oppresive regime who limits your freedoms and orders you to observe their values, religion, and ideologies, is fine as long as they don't kill you or your family. Americans don't see it that way, and we are never going to. We don't believe that governments grant freedom and power to the people, but rather, that a Divine Creator did so, and that governments are to serve as an instrument to ensure the freedom and safety of the people. We refuse to live in fear, and we believe that we have the right, and the responsibility to help and protect those around the world who cannot help themselves. We so deeply believe this that we send our soldiers who sometimes die, we spend our money when there are a number of other things we'd really rather spend it on, and we endure adverse world opinion to do what we believe is right. Twice in the 1900's this country stepped up to help others in the world - including Europe - and you might be speaking German now if we hadn't. Impossible? Not according to a host of historians and geopolitical analysts. No weapons of mass destruction? What was it that Saddam used to gas his opponents from Iran with back in the 80's? What did he use against Muslims that weren't part of his sect in the no-fly zones in the northern and southern parts of Iraq? Well, lo and behold, it was deadly gas. What was it that UN weapons inspectors found during the late 80's - nuclear enriching equipment. And what was it that Iraq was buying from Russia and other countries as recently as the late 90's - well gosh, it was inventory for the materials needed to make biological weapons. Where are they now? Someone knows the answer to this question. Even if they cannot be found now, they WERE there and that is a fact. Are they buried in Syria? Were they taken by trucks to Russia or Jordan, or another country? Is it possible they are still hidden in underground bunkers that haven't been found yet? What about the trucks that had been set up as mobile labs to create Rycine gas and biological weapons that were complete with the warhead canisters for holding the compounds and being mounted on a rocket for launch. These were found in the first 60 days of the war - think Saddam had these to "keep up with the Jones'" in his neighborhood? I think, given time, we will have answers to these questions. I've heard reports that some things have been found in the past several weeks but aren't being disclosed because Bush would rather lose the election than have it appear he held information and evidence until it could be used to sway people to vote for him. Any truth to it? I have no idea. Time will tell. But if it is true, we have a much more honorable man here than what Mr. Kerry is trying to paint him as in his campaign rhetoric, and that Michael Moore is helping him with. Mr. Moore's film contains more than 90 falicies, lies, and manipulations used to create a distorted environment in the movie that supports Moore's views. He is the worst kind of liar - the one who creates opinion by mixing 90% truth with 10% lies. But he's okay with it though because of that 'ka-ching, ka-ching' sound you hear - he's made millions with his docufantasy. The part though that is TRULY frightening is that I have friends telling me that they believe the whole movie is true - they've done no research to find that film clips from two different times were used to make an event look like one that serves MM's purpose. They have no comprehension that quotes from various people are about different topics than the one they're supposed to be talking about. I am thankful the election is tomorrow. And when it is done I will stand behind the man the people have chosen, because win or lose, that is how America works. And by the way Abe, Yassir Arafat is the one killing innocent people in Palestine. Arafat was offered everything by Israel that he asked for, AND MORE, in the interest of peace - and Arafat turned them down. Why? Because his revenue stream from supporting Arabs and their nations would slow way down or stop - Arafat is a multi-millionaire made by money through support caused by the death of his own people - some kinda guy there, huh?. And if you really knew the Palestian agenda then you would know that their own leaders have said the strategy is to win consession after consession and eventually drive every Israeli into the sea - that there wouldn't be a single Jew alive - can you see how it would be very difficult to negotiate a true peace with someone who is sworn to your death and destruction? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hoop EMAIL: nomousna@yahoo.com IP: 208.18.143.136 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:59:10 AM Many interesting comments. If we all accept responsibility for ourselves and our actions we would be much better off. Each of us needs to look within to find our good and share it with someone else, no matter their political or religious views. As citizens of the independent and free country of America instead of looking for excuses and handouts from the government lets take on a personal responsibility for our own values and being, and peacefully share them with another. Yes I am for our troops and I am not sure that the war is just or otherwise, because so many who are suppose to be unbiased in there reporting have turned it into a 30 second soundbite either for or against a particular candidate giving it a bad taste in many ways. I feel strongly that to change leaders in mid war would be counter productive and place our country's troups in more danger and that guides me in my voting decisions along with the understanding that our economy is cyclical and the actions of the President generally do not impact it for anywhere from 4 to 6 years from the time they are in office. Maybe we are actually feeling the results of some of the things that Clinton implemented. The arguement is an endless battle that will be resolved with the election. We will have to wait for history to be written to decide the true results. I pray that the results are favorable to a continued free country that the masses from around the world strive to reach so that they may achieve "The American Dream" something many Americans have lost site of. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bettermore EMAIL: bettermore2004@yahoo.com IP: 24.14.150.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:03:34 AM bin Laden is out there... and Bush likes it that way! Chickenhawk George will send our young men & women to war and then have their children foot the bill. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: bettermore EMAIL: bettermore2004@yahoo.com IP: 24.14.150.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:05:13 AM Oops... did I say "will send"??? He's a liar, Cheney's a crook ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anne EMAIL: eachlifeprecious@yahoo.com IP: 24.14.150.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:10:08 AM Abortions in the US were decreasing before Bush took office. Now they are on the rise. Maybe if women felt more optimistic about their future, they'd give life a chance... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:30:42 AM And so Anne, you feel that if John Kerry is elected to office, abortions will decline? I'm not absolutely certain, but I think that is about the most disconnected logic I have ever seen - no disrespect intended. According to a recent study, abortions in this country are performed for the following reasons: Rape, Incest - ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:35:41 AM it didn't seem to like the percent signs I used, so I'll type it all in - abortions are performed for: Rape, Incest - less than 2 percent Life of Mother- less than 2 percent Religious - about 6 percent Birth Control - about 84 percent Other - about 6 percent It looks more like promiscuous behavior than fear of the future to me. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: buck buchana EMAIL: rbuchanan@worldsurfer.net IP: 63.107.199.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:42:37 AM I'll vote for President Bush on election day. I'll vote for him because of the two choices for C-in-C he has proven that he is the man for the job. This is not to say that mistakes weren't made in Iraq or the prosecution of the WoT. Every President from the first to the current have made mistakes in war. I'll vote for President Bush because he has shown that he is willing to make mistakes. John Kerry has shown that he is willing to sell out his comrades for political gain. John Kerry has shown that he is willing to treat with this nations enemies for political gain. John Kerry has shown that he is willing to be anything to everybody. What John Kerry has not shown is that he is willing to do everything nessasary to win the WAR. Our Nation was attacked,Our Nation MUST prevail. I'm not afraid of another terror attack on the U.S. I'm not afraid that our enemy will defeat us. I'm not afraid that my children will grow up in an Islamist society. I AM afraid that John Kerry will be elected President. Vote For President Bush on Nov. 2nd Buck ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Laura EMAIL: Muffy_@hotmail.com IP: 4.165.162.17 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:44:16 AM I find it quite repulsive, myself... that Kerry voted for this war and then has the nerve to try to use it against Bush for his political gain. Kerry will say anything he can think of that people want to hear, to get into the oval office. He's an undecisive and backstabbing Frenchman, just like the French leaders who all stayed out of this war because Saddam was paying them to stay out of it. Who's paying them now? I laugh at their stupidity. And I'm appalled anyone would vote for the likes of John Kerry, a man that should be ashamed of himself for dishonoring every American Veteran of the Viet Nam war. He makes me sick. At least Bush had the guts to stand up and take charge of a situation in defense of the world. Not just us. Russia added to this situation when they informed us that their intelligence found out that Saddam had plans to attack our homeland... before this war came about. Saddam asked for this war when he turned inspectors away from Iraq. When it comes to WMDs.. if he didn't have them, he shouldn't have stopped the inspectors. Saddam brought on this mess we are in. Not George W. Bush. Saddam wanted to play.. so he got more games than he bargained for. Bush did the right thing... WMDs or not. Because when it comes to dealing with someone like Saddam, you don't sit on your azz and wait for him to attack. We believed he had WMDs.. Congress believed it.. Kerry believed it! And 37 other countries that also believed it and have been in this war with us from the begining of it! I praise Bush for the work he's done. God bless our troops. And John Kerry... sit down an shut the hell up, you lousy coward that injured yourself just to get to run from combat after 4 lousy months in Nam! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anne EMAIL: eachlifeprecious@yahoo.com IP: 24.14.150.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:48:45 AM David - I think that if more men and women had jobs, they'd be less afraid to raise a child. I think that if more women had health insurance, they'd use preventive birth control. I think that if we had a country as fervent about peace and prosperity as they are about war, more women would be less afraid to give birth. So I think that whatever president wins should focus on jobs, access to health insurance, and working toward peace (and away from fear-mongering). If you think Kerry is this man, then yes. PS: what is a Religious abortion (your 6 percent)? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Travis EMAIL: travflew@aol.com IP: 129.130.119.9 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:10:57 AM As far as I can tell not many people posting comments on this site see the entire spectrum of what is going on here. You are all extreme conservatives or liberals. Try looking at all the issues and you will see that we are in BIG trouble no matter which candidate gets elected. It seems both candidates care more about themselves than America. I pray for political reform please! Why can't we focus on the REAL issues and not be blinded by party loyalty? Those pictures mean a lot to me too, but they don't prove to me that one candidate is better than the other. A close look at either one makes me wish I could choose 'None of the above.' However, I still commend you all for being passionate about voting. If only more of America cared about politics maybe we could unite to fight against the corruption that is taking place in Washington. Vote your heart and may God bless the USA no matter who we choose. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:11:21 AM Anne - the "religious" 6 percent is generally one that is performed for reasons that it would impede upon the tenets of one's religious beliefs or that of their institution. Many think that it falls into the "Birth Control" catagory - personal thought I suppose. I should very much like to see actual statistics on your thoughts regarding jobs and insurance making people feel more at ease with rearing children. Lack of work and insurance doesn't seem to have deterred the people of India, China, or Africa. But I am in 100 percent agreemnt that this world would be a much better place without war, and I look forward to the day when we truly care for and watch out for every one around us - when there are no starving people anywhere in the world, when disease doesn't ravage the body and mind, and when each of us can see and appreciate that each life IS precious :) ps - Kerry isn't going to receive my vote - Bush may not either, as there is a very talented and informed candidate from the American Constitution Party on the ballot, but we will see. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:28:12 AM Well Travis, my thought on the two-party system is that it doesn't work. It's just two sides of the same coin .... a bit different view to look at, but no real difference in value. There is some very deep and thought-provoking speculation on why things are this way in the two party system - about who is really in charge, and that presidents who don't play by their rules once in office are assassinated, for example. Part of UN control? The old Illuminati, Skull and Bones, or Carlylse Group theories? Hard to say for me, just an average Joe. I understand the "none of the above" thoughts, but you perhaps need to view it more in context of the lesser of evils - and then, good luck on figuring that one out. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lawrence Liu EMAIL: lliu88@hotmail.com IP: 64.81.52.179 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:34:29 AM PEOPLE, WAKE UP! WE ARE FIGHTING THE WRONG WAR! WHILE OUR SOLIDERS (AND MANY CIVILIANS) CONTINUE TO DIE IN IRAQ, BIN-LADEN CONTINUES TO ROAM FREE. HOW CAN YOU VOTE TO RE-ELECT A PRESIDENT, WHO IS SO INCOMPETENT AND WHO HAS DECEIVED YOU AND THE REST OF AMERICAN? I'M TYPING THIS IN BOLD SO YOU CAN SEE RATHER THAN REMAIN BLINDED BY BUSH'S LIES. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bud EMAIL: budmatch@yahoo.com IP: 68.191.137.53 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:34:50 AM 79 Newspaper and Media Endorsements for Kerry since Oct 24th (including 13 reversals since 2000 from Bush!): 1. October 31, 2004 - John Kerry "brings to the presidency two decades of distinguished and principled leadership in the Senate, an admirable familiarity with foreign policy and domestic issues, and a thoughtful, determined approach to governance." The Baltimore Sun (Md.) 2. October 31, 2004 - Mr. Kerry, we're confident, would govern from reasonably close to the political center, as Mr. Clinton did.. It reveals an unusually sharp intellect, and a president capable of seeing not only the dangerous world that Mr. Bush sees, but the complicated world that Mr. Bush will never see. The Times Union (N.Y.) 3. October 31, 2004 - Sen. Kerry's policies on minimum wage, universal access to health care, reduced taxes for the middle class and tough environmental regulations offer hope to Americans that things can get better. Delaware News Journal 4. October 31, 2004 - After 20 years in the Senate, John Kerry is seasoned at statecraft. He has specialized in the biggest foreign affairs problems facing the country. He served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chaired the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations. He worked with Sen. John McCain, America's most famous Vietnam War prisoner, to lay to rest old doubts about Americans in captivity. Anchorage Daily News (Alaska) 5. October 31, 2004 - John Kerry "is the candidate who offers the best hope of ending the war in Iraq in a manner that both minimizes U.S. troop losses and maximizes the chance that Iraq will remain a free and sovereign nation. And he holds the most promise of refocusing the resources now being spent in Iraq on what the real war this nation should be fighting the war on terrorism." Montgomery Advertiser (Ala.) 6. October 31, 2004 - As president of the United States, Kerry would bring to the Oval Office the humility necessary to understanding when he has erred and the agility of mind necessary to making adjustments. If American voters give him the chance to put those assets to work, as they should, things will go better abroad, especially in Iraq, and at home. Myrtle Beach Sun-News (S.C.) 7. October 31, 2004 - We think the calm, reasoned approach to tackling issues that Kerry showed during the three presidential debates will bring us closer together as a nation. Sheboygan Press (Wi.) 8. October 31, 2004 - Sen. Kerry can begin to restore our credibility with the rest of the world, which is right now at one of its lowest points in history. Vallejo Times Herald (Ca.) 9. October 31, 2004 - Kerry has vowed to reverse Bush's efforts to weaken clean air regulations and to take more aggressive legislative action against acid rain. He would enhance tax incentives for automakers that produce more fuel efficient cars -- and for consumers who buy such vehicles. The Ithaca Journal (N.Y.) 10. October 31, 2004 - Kerry is right when he said Iraq is the wrong war, at the wrong place at the wrong time. But now that we're fully engaged, Kerry has a better plan to end the war and secure the peace. As for domestic issues, Kerry is more in tune with the needs of average Americans. The Corning Leader (N.Y.) 11. October 31, 2004 - . He would establish an energy policy that would begin to wean us from Middle Eastern oil and the geopolitical tragedies that our dependence has created. Barre-Montpelier Times Argus (Vt.) 12. October 30, 2004 - John Kerry sees the world through a broader lens than the current president. He understands that the U.S. cannot afford to continue alienating allies. Aspen Daily News (Colo.) 13. October 30, 2004 - Kerry is a man who comes across as thoughtful and reflective, which would be a welcome balm after the sharp-edged presidency of George W. Bush Bennington Banner (Vt.) 14. October 29, 2004 - Mr. Kerry's passion has been foreign affairs. He knows the world and its dangers. He understands that military force is essential to protect us, but that guns and bombs alone won't make us secure; we need to use other weapons as well. Wilmington Star-News (N.C.) 15. October 29, 2004 - President Kerry would appeal to Americans' better nature, restoring some of the optimism that has vanished during the Bush years. . A Kerry administration would give us a proud America untainted by the arrogance of the Bush White House. The Berkshire Eagle (Mass.) 16. October 29, 2004 - Here's the scenario: The deficit is at the half-trillion-dollar level. Almost 150,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators are risking life and limb in a war in Iraq that was fueled by faulty information. Our health care system is reaching the point of dysfunction due to high costs, litigation and regulations. The economic recovery is struggling against steadily rising energy prices. Our air grows more polluted, energy supplies are more tenuous and our civil liberties are on the defensive. Translation: It's time for a change -- and given the two major candidates for president, the Democratic candidate John Kerry is the agent for change. The Ithaca Journal 17. October 29, 2004 - John Kerry will bring a new hope to the White House with an administration that will be open to ideas and dialogue, rather than march in step to a single, inflexible ideology. ... Kerry understands and respects democracy and the importance of a strong middle class to its endurance. That's why we believe he deserves to be the next president of the United States. The Times Record (Me.) 18. October 28, 2004 - Record Medicare premium hikes and Bush's opposition to allowing the purchase of Canadian drugs make Kerry the choice. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. Courier-Post (N.J.) 19. October 28, 2004 - We think once again the nation is ripe for change. We endorse John Kerry and his Seneca-native running mate, John Edwards. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. Anderson Independent-Mail (S.C.) 20. October 28, 2004 - We ask, who has a better right to question what he feels is an unjust war than a hero who fought bravely in that war? Kerry’s opinions about the war in Iraq have also evolved as he and the nation learned about phantom weapons of mass destruction and non-existent connections between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. The Daily Star (N.Y.) 21. October 28, 2004 - We need a leader who can foster our hopes instead of focusing on our anger. We need John Kerry to be the next President of the United States. The Nome Nugget (Alaska) 22. October 27, 2004 - Suburban News Publications has never made a Presidential endorsement. Our 22 community newspapers do not regularly cover national politics, and we have always considered it more important to offer readers our opinions on Central Ohio candidates and issues. This year is different. The stakes in next week's Presidential election are so high, and the contrast between the candidates is so stark, that we cannot in good conscience keep silent. SNP strongly endorses Sen. John Kerry for President and urges voters to support him on Nov. 2. Suburban News (Ohio) 23. October 27, 2004 - Kerry's domestic policies also are more inclusive than Bush's. For all of Bush's folksy ways, it is Kerry who is in touch with the middle class. It is Kerry who understands the toll taken by the high cost of health care, by jobs lost to foreign competition, by fears of being able to put food on the table. Springfield News-Leader (Mo.) 24. October 27, 2004 - Kerry demonstrated during the three presidential debates, that he has the intellectual skills needed to lead. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. La Crosse Tribune (Wis.) 25. October 27, 2004 - Kerry’s record - Vietnam combat vet to anti-war activist to effective U.S. senator - speaks of courage, patriotism and a balanced and thoughtful view of this country, its needs and its role in the world. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wis.) 26. October 27, 2004 - We believe Kerry can keep our country safe against terrorists, forge closer ties with our allies and friends to ensure victory in the war against terrorism and strengthen our economy. The Daily Journal 27. October 26, 2004 - In every crucial area of concern to Americans (the economy, health care, the environment, Social Security, the judiciary, national security, foreign policy, the war in Iraq, the fight against terrorism), Kerry offers a clear, corrective alternative to Bush’s curious blend of smugness, radicalism, and demagoguery. The New Yorker 28. October 26, 2004 - John Kerry has "showed a grasp of complex issues and the ability to sort through ethical and political wickets. Most of all, he displayed a willingness to choose leadership over empire, to return to America's proud tradition of alliances, coalition-building and diplomacy." Burlington Free Press (Vt.) 29. October 26, 2004 - John Kerry's emphasis on stem cell research touches on an area where Bush's narrowness has stood in the way of scientific advancement. Indeed, Bush has a habit of disregarding science when it presents him with inconvenient truths. Thus, he has a record of censoring from government reports — on global warming and other issues — scientific findings that are not to his liking. It is another way he has damaged the credibility of the United States. Rutland Herald (Vt.) 30. October 25, 2004 - Change has become necessary and Senator John Kerry can guide the country in stepping out from the circle of limited options that President George W. Bush has put it in. La Opinión 31. October 25, 2004 - John Kerry "understands that American power depends on American credibility. The pre-emptive war against Iraq will make it harder to rally international (and US) opinion in future crises dealing with aspiring nuclear powers such as Iran and North Korea." Financial Times 32. October 25, 2004 - We believe John Kerry is a strong leader who has the wisdom and courage to guide America through this time of turbulence, rebuild the social and economic fabric of our country and regain the respect of our allies around the world. The Citizens Voice (Pa.) 33. October 25, 2004 - Kerry plans to expand health insurance to cover an additional 27 million people, in part by expanding existing federal employee insurance to private citizens, giving tax credits to the jobless to cover insurance costs, help insurance companies cover the cost of catastrophic medical expenses if they hold down premiums. Record-Eagle (Mich.) 34. October 25, 2004 - The defining issue is who would better defend our country and who would make the better commander in chief. Kerry stands a better chance in carrying out those duties than a man who already has shown failure in those roles. The Herald-Standard (Pa.) 35. October 24, 2004 - John Kerry “pledges both to fight in Iraq and to reach out to allies; to hunt down terrorists, and to engage without arrogance the Islamic world. These are the right goals, and we think Mr. Kerry is the better bet to achieve them.” 36. October 24, 2004 - Kerry is not an ideologue, and his desire for success makes him more likely to compromise and find common ground with his opposition. He is the one candidate who can begin to heal the deeply bitter divisions in the nation. Bush cannot and will not do that. Newsday (N.Y.) 37. October 24, 2004 - Even newspapers that endorsed George W. Bush four years ago have changed their minds in 2004; the Seattle Times and The Oregonian of Portland switched to the Democrat this time, while the Tampa Tribune backed away from Mr. Bush and made no endorsement. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 38. October 24, 2004 - John Kerry, who 20 years ago was leading campaigns to solve problems such as acid rain, has pledged to end obstacles the Bush administration has created to meaningful stem cell research and has proposed a program to ease America's dependence on Middle East oil, important for the nation's security as well as the environment. The Star Ledger (N.J) 39. October 24, 2004 - The question that Americans need to ask themselves, going into the voting booth a week from Tuesday, is this: Do you like the direction our nation is heading? If the answer is no, then your vote should be for Sen. John Kerry. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. Chicago Sun-Times 40. October 24, 2004 - We believe Mr. Kerry would be a more bipartisan and effective leader than Mr. Bush. In the Nov. 2 general election, the Sentinel endorses John Kerry for president of the United States. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. Orlando Sentinel 41. October 24, 2004 - Kerry promises to focus our efforts on terrorists who threaten us, protect civil liberties, return fairness to our tax policy and implement a plan to free us from dependence on Persian Gulf oil. That platform merits his election. The Buffalo News (N.Y.) 42. October 24, 2004 - John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, has demonstrated, particularly during the televised debates, breadth of knowledge, ability to understand complex issues, and sound judgment — qualities that have been missing from Mr. Bush's stewardship. Louisville Courier-Journal (Ky.) 43. October 24, 2004 - Kerry understands that a strong America is an America with steadfast allies. He has vowed to support U.S. troops abroad by providing them with the proper equipment and training. The Tennessean 44. October 24, 2004 - John Kerry “does not tend toward vindictiveness or in-your-face triumphalism. There is a dignity about him.We have seen Kerry grow and develop in presidential qualities to the point we're confident in recommending him as a person of common sense and decency - a leader who has what it takes to bring Americans back together.” The Des Moines Register (Iowa) 45. October 24, 2004 - John Kerry is the better choice for president. Bergen Record (N.J.) 46. October 24, 2004 - We heartily endorse John Kerry. He would be a president who would restore America's respect in the world. There would be a positive resolution to the war in Iraq. Our country would be safer, as our focus on fighting terrorism would not waver. The economy would be more oriented toward ordinary Americans. Las Vegas Sun 47. October 24, 2004 - Kerry offers us the chance for a new beginning, and throughout the past year's grueling campaign, he has demonstrated the toughness necessary to lead the country in a time of war In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. Los Angeles Daily News 48. October 24, 2004 - Kerry and his running mate, North Carolina's Senator Edwards, have not campaigned as driven by ideology, but by principle. That is the profile of a president. The News & Observer (N.C.) 49. October 24, 2004 - Senator Kerry, we are convinced, will be a much more effective president at creating jobs, not eliminating them. The Toledo Blade (Ohio) 50. October 24, 2004 - John Kerry "has the depth of intellect, strength and wisdom necessary to defend our nation against an expanding array of enemies. He possesses the good character and humility necessary to restore credibility and confidence in a White House damaged on both accounts. The Journal News (N.Y.) 51. October 24, 2004 - Sen. Kerry, we believe, has a chance to restore the traditional, cooperative approach toward foreign policy that has served America well since the Eisenhower administration. We need more allies in the war on terror and to help us protect the homeland. The Commercial Appeal (Tenn.) 52. October 24, 2004 - Kerry is an intelligent leader with a high capacity for nuance. He understands the complexity of issues, resisting the simple answers Bush often espouses. On the international front, he argues for building broader and stronger coalitions, much like the one Bush's father put together before the first Gulf War. The Daily Herald (Wash.) 53. October 24, 2004 - Kerry understands the need to work with international partners. As a 19-year veteran of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and a student of international affairs, he understands the uses of diplomacy and its limitations as well. The News Tribune (Wash.) 54. October 24, 2004 - John F. Kerry says he has a plan for a safer America that includes a larger investment in homeland security. He would not leave the nation's seaports, railways and nuclear power plants vulnerable to attack. None of those potential targets has sufficient funds for protection against terrorist attacks. The Republican (Mass.) 55. October 24, 2004 - Change always entails risk, but we believe Mr. Kerry is well-prepared to step into the Oval Office. Although he has been more effective in the Senate as an investigator than as a writer of laws, he is exceptionally well-versed on domestic and international issues — certainly far more so than was Mr. Bush four years ago. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. Telegram & Gazette (Mass.) 56. October 24, 2004 - Mr. Kerry has demonstrated a trait of intellect that has been absent and that must be restored to the White House. That is, he is willing to be self-critical, to challenge the rightness of decisions he has made, and to make changes if new information or situations demand it. Mr. Bush, by his own admission, does not do this. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. The Morning Call (Pa.) 57. October 24, 2004 - John Kerry promises to start us back in the right direction - to an America where moderation is the tone in social policy, where responsibility is the rule in tax and spending policy, and where the commander-in-chief's leadership, like the threat against freedom, is truly global. Daily Press (Va.) 58. October 24, 2004 - Bush, who turned out to be more conservative than compassionate and who has made the nation even more divided, must be held accountable for these failings. John Kerry is the only serious alternative to four more years of this flawed presidency. We are putting our faith in his potential to do better. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. The Flint Journal (Mich.) 59. October 24, 2004 - Sen. John Kerry served his country bravely and with honor in Vietnam. He understands this duty not as a concept but as something very personal. He has demonstrated during the campaign his resolve to successfully conclude the war in Iraq, to reach out to our allies to help in that effort and to direct our attention to the true war on terrorism and not lead us on misguided attempts to settle old scores. For those reasons alone, The Star endorses John Kerry for president. Ventura County Star (Ca.) 60. October 24, 2004 - Kerry will be a more thoughtful, inclusive, consensus-building president - within this country and in dealing with other countries. A president can listen to other world leaders, and at the same time be decisive. We think Kerry has the right stuff to lead the world in the war on terror. Lansing State Journal (Mich.) 61. October 24, 2004 - The country needs a change of course. Sen. Kerry offers a change and a lifetime of service to the nation. We believe the voters ought to elect him president. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. Corpus Christi Caller Times (Texas) 62. October 24, 2004 - Sen. Kerry appears to present a more thoughtful approach to combatting terrorism. Frankly, we're concerned about President Bush's obvious willingness to use America's military might to coerce Arab nations into doing our bidding - something that has never been done successfully and something Kerry would be much less likely to attempt. The Telegraph (Ga.) 63. October 24, 2004 - Kerry offers a fresh start and new solutions whereas the incumbent is locked into a spiral of denial that demonstrates intractability in the face of what many believe are necessary common-sense course adjustments to our nation's direction. The Times (La.) 64. October 24, 2004 - We believe Mr. Bush's opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry, would be better equipped by temperament, character and conviction to lead the United States out of the foreign and domestic predicaments in which it finds itself. The senator is a thoughtful man of proven courage, patriotism and ability to lead. We recommend his election. The Times of Trenton (N.J) 65. October 24, 2004 - The choice came down to which candidate best represented the values that Americans hold most dear: compassion for the have-nots and those who feel they have been left out, a dedication to the principles set forth in the Bill of Rights, and a commitment to open government as well as free and open debate. That candidate is Sen. John Kerry. Reno Gazette-Journal (Nev.) 66. October 24, 2004 - This election, we support the candidate who has the leadership to bring America together to support our troops in ways more tangible than magnetic emblems stuck to the backs of cars. John Kerry can provide that leadership. In the 2000 general election, this publication endorsed George W. Bush for President. Quad City Times (Iowa) 67. October 24, 2004 - We encourage voters to choose optimism and give a Kerry-Edwards team the chance to turn our economy around, to make the world a safer place and to restore the promise that is America to all Americans. Asheville Citizen-Times (N.C.) 68. October 24, 2004 - We believe Kerry will reverse the Bush administration's reckless fiscal policies of tax cuts concurrent with major spending increases. These policies have ballooned the deficit to unprecedented levels. If that trend is not reversed, it will lead again to soaring interest rates and a downward business spiral. Daily Southtown (Ill.) 69. October 24, 2004 - Kerry is a battle tested Vietnam veteran, turned war protestor, turned statesman. He knows firsthand both the folly of fighting the wrong war and the bitter price to be paid for it. As president he will not foolishly nor arrogantly put troops in harm's way. He will work hard to re-establish America's reputation as the world's leading coalition builder. He will restore credibility with our allies and confront our enemies with a true alliance for freedom. The Gainesville Sun (Fl.) 70. October 24, 2004 - John Kerry would respect ordinary working Americans, that he would work to reform entitlement programs for the sick and elderly, and that he would be more involved at an intellectual level with the policy discussions in which every president should be immersed. We also have more confidence in Democrats to get the debt under control. Nashville Scene ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steve EMAIL: sabbott@citlink.net IP: 170.215.40.38 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:36:39 AM Thank you and God Bless! I will continue to pray for our country and our president and that our people will remember as you have when they vote tomorrow! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pete EMAIL: pec924@yahoo.com IP: 68.191.137.53 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:45:00 AM When the new tape of Osama bin Laden was released recently, I saw George Bush and John Kerry's reactions to the tape. Both spoke out strongly and clearly about hunting down this leader of evil. I was convinced that both men have strong convictions about capturing OBL as soon as possible. Then I was amazed this morning to see Dick Cheney in Hawaii, claiming that John Kerry took a poll and put his finger up to see which was the wind was blowing before he gave a reaction to the OBL tape. That's a complete lie by Dick Cheney, along with many others. See Dick Cheney's remarks from 1993, when he predicted EXACTLY what is going on in IRAQ today, as the reason why George Bush, Sr. did not go on into IRAQ then. When we act as the aggressor, we fall right into bin Laden's trap, because he has convinced a large part of the world, (many more people than we have Americans in the world) that we are the aggressors... Dick Cheney's PROPHETIC remarks can be seen at http://www.bush-flipflop.com/ VERY interesting!!!!!!!!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Queenie Austin Texas EMAIL: jenny78738@hotmail.com IP: 66.68.150.177 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 09:10:19 AM Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name... God bless all of our soldiers and their commander-n-chief, GW. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: W.R. Rex EMAIL: rasdorf@aol.com IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 09:49:12 AM " If you can read this thank your Teacher, if you can read this in English, Thank a Vet! God Bless and keep safe our troops everywhere. May the Lord comfort those survivors, of the troops who gave all. May the Lord restore our President to his office, and continue to guide him daily. Rasdorf@aol.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: W.R. Rex EMAIL: rasdorf@aol.com IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 09:51:18 AM " If you can read this thank your Teacher, if you can read this in English, Thank a Vet! God Bless and keep safe our troops everywhere. May the Lord comfort those survivors, of the troops who gave all. May the Lord restore our President to his office, and continue to guide him daily. Rasdorf@aol.com ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: jay EMAIL: specialJay@ignmail.com IP: 24.169.13.28 URL: http://www.rit.edu/~jhb4598/jblog/ DATE: 11/01/2004 10:02:09 AM Most of the "reasons" you have given are not reasons to re-elect Bush, but to remove him from office. Nice going ace. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 10:17:17 AM Gee whiz Jay, how about supporting your position with some clear logic and evidence. Anyone can say "I disagree", but how about some substantiation of your view? We have enough Hit and Run in America. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/01/2004 10:29:15 AM Alas, David, or "not-so-alas," jay's not the kind of guy here for the discussion. He's just a drive-by. On the 3rd the most important link in Jay's bookmark file will be: SuicideHotlines - When You Feel You Can't Go On -- Let Someone Know Your Pain. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: some russian living in Chicago EMAIL: dummy@dummy.com IP: 204.180.130.33 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 10:36:02 AM All your presentations has nothing with either Bush or Kerry, or even election at all. Totally unrelated, thus doesn't answer the question in header! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/01/2004 10:38:51 AM Well, ex-cuuuuse me! BTW, is you email address, dummy@dummy.com, some sort of subtext to the post. Please dilute. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mitch EMAIL: a@b.com IP: 170.135.241.46 URL: http://www.shotinthedark.info DATE: 11/01/2004 10:48:26 AM Gerard, Tip of the hat to you. Amazing. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebeka EMAIL: bekaj_uga@yahoo.com IP: 202.174.156.194 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 10:49:28 AM As an American who is living and working in Kabul, Afghanistan, I see daily what the Afghan people are trying to over come. I do pray that Bush wins the elections, not so much for those that are in the political arena, but for those that have endured true suffering from others, such as the Afhgans and the people of Iraq. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebeka EMAIL: bekaj_uga@yahoo.com IP: 202.174.156.194 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 10:50:16 AM As an American who is living and working in Kabul, Afghanistan, I see daily what the Afghan people are trying to over come. I do pray that Bush wins the elections, not so much for those that are in the political arena, but for those that have endured true suffering from others, such as the Afhgans and the people of Iraq. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebeka EMAIL: bekaj_uga@yahoo.com IP: 202.174.156.194 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 10:50:43 AM As an American who is living and working in Kabul, Afghanistan, I see daily what the Afghan people are trying to over come. I do pray that Bush wins the elections, not so much for those that are in the political arena, but for those that have endured true suffering from others, such as the Afhgans and the people of Iraq. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Joey EMAIL: joey@aol.com IP: 65.66.60.114 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:15:09 AM I like what you've done, and if we have a coward in office we'll never win! My vote's for Bush, a man with a strong spine! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:15:49 AM I think it's funny when all conservatives can say about John Kerry is that he is a "flip-flopper." Perhaps you should read www.factcheck.org (a non-partisan website) and see how untrue and exaggerated the claims that the Bush/Cheney campaing have been making against Kerry really are. Kerry/Edwards also twist facts, but the Republicans seem to have the most mindless irritating rhetoric I have ever had to displeasure to read. I mean, all they do is say "Kerry won't protect us, he's a flip-flopper." This presentation really has nothing to do with re-electing Bush. People should read this article http://www.dangerouscitizen.com/Articles/1254.aspx which talks about the massive number of Iraqi civilian deaths. Their estimated figures are on the conservative side too, because they did not include data from the high-conflict areas, like Fallujah. Doesn't anybody care that this administration has made absolutely zero effort to give the American people (or any people for that matter) even an estimation of civilian deaths? Yeah, we're spreading freedom and liberty, tell that to the approximately 100,000 Iraqi civilians who were killed as a direct result of our actions. Tell their families who are now grieving them. It is circumstances like the ones in Iraq now that breed terrorism in the first place. As long as America continues to be the aggressor, we will never be rid of terrorism. Doesn't anybody care about Bush's assault on our environment (Texas became the most polluted state under his time as governor, and Houston replaced LA as the most polluted city)? How patriotic is it to support a candidate who favors corporate interests to our environment? (the number of "undrinkable, unswimmable and unfishable lake has risen from 40% to 45% under Bush). Not only that, but does anyone realize that when minimum wage is increased for inflation, we have actually not seen an increase, meanwhile corporate profits have went up by around 120% since the 80s. What about the rising number of American families living beneath the poverty threshold (check the U.S. Census for this data). Don't even get me started on Bush's shitty education "reforms", his opposal of gay rights, his attempts to discontinue overtime pay, his ignoring the top environmental and atmospheric scientists, and the fact that the guy is borderline illiterate. I could deliver a speech 1000 times better than that moron, no wonder so many people in the world don't respect us. We need a president who is not a corporate puppet, and frankly, neither Bush nor Kerry fall under this category. We are going to continue to live under corporate rule, with the poverty rate increasing, as CEOs continue to increase their already ridiculous amounts of income. We will always have war, because capitalism needs war. We take advantage of underdeveloped countries for cheap labor, which hurts American jobs. Then we say "well, their governments should do somethine about it." Well, they have tried to.. we are actively involved in keeping underdeveloped countries that way. Just look into the Iran/Contra scandal that took place in the 80s, you'll see what happened when Nicaragua tried to set up a representative government that offered civil rights and labor reforms (along with many other badly needed changes). You conservatives are so ridiculous with your backwards logic 'We haven't seen another terrorist attack since 9/11" well.. before September 11, 2001, when was the last terrorist attack on American soil? Looks like it was quite a ways before that. By that logic, I could say Clinton protected us from terrorist attacks on US soil. Don't believe all the bullshit you hear in campaign ads. Check info from both sides, check info from non-partisan groups, and stop trying to motivate people to vote out of fear. In closing I would like to say... Ralph Nader president. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: karen EMAIL: northernlights159@comcast.net IP: 12.109.52.226 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:25:09 AM Those were some intelligent remarks! NOT ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: karen EMAIL: northernlights159@comcast.net IP: 12.109.52.226 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:25:49 AM Those were some intelligent remarks! NOT ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: you EMAIL: gottabejoking@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:29:02 AM Ralph Nader? Certainly you jest. You had a semblence of credibility up to that point. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jeff EMAIL: Jefftheplacidone@Yahoo.com IP: 67.112.216.161 URL: http://www.internetvetsfortruth.org/ DATE: 11/01/2004 11:33:13 AM Let us all pray to God for a strong Kerry victory to deliver us from the evil, lies, and corporate greed of the Bush administration. May God help Kerry end this unjust war for oil and bring our children safely home. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: karen EMAIL: northernlights159@comcast.net IP: 12.109.52.226 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:37:02 AM Clinton didn't protect us from anything. He was the reason we were left weak. He depleted our military and when they tried to hand Osama over to him, he didn't take that chance. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: karen EMAIL: northernlights159@comcast.net IP: 12.109.52.226 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:39:53 AM Kerry will turn over our troops to the enemy just like in Viet Nam. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kermit EMAIL: rejciorjc@yahoo.com IP: 217.235.79.74 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:52:57 AM Nice to se you remembered BinLaden ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: art EMAIL: art@avccorp.com IP: 216.135.233.15 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:53:32 AM God Bless America, George Bush and Dick Cheney ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dee EMAIL: donnapass@hotmail.com IP: 66.110.229.83 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:56:36 AM "I think that if we had a country as fervent about peace and prosperity as they are about war, more women would be less afraid to give birth." So their response it to burn the skin off their unborn, or pierce their skulls and suck out their brains, dismember them, since these moms-to-be are afraid of raising their children in a hostile world?? Better to kill the babies violently now, than risk something less than perfect happening to them? Yeah, right. Fear of a lack of peace and prosperity makes them do it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: nomad EMAIL: nomad@web.de IP: 217.228.217.181 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:57:49 AM All those things happened while Bush was in charge. I doubt he can prevent them from happening - he is attracting them! Vote for Bush - and and freedom will be but a memory. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chris EMAIL: ensor@graffiti.net IP: 68.164.202.81 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:03:56 PM "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." -- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chris EMAIL: ensor@graffiti.net IP: 68.164.202.81 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:04:14 PM "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." -- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: D. Poe EMAIL: poe34@earthlink.net IP: 24.233.48.134 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:04:43 PM God Bless President George W. Bush who 75% of our men and women in uniform support and 78% of all Christians !!!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: D. Poe EMAIL: poe34@earthlink.net IP: 24.233.48.134 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:05:25 PM God Bless President George W. Bush who 75% of our men and women in uniform support and 78% of all Christians !!!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lon EMAIL: hidalgo727@hotmail.com IP: 12.152.233.67 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:07:56 PM I am a Vietnam Era veteran. That is, by the grace of the good lord, I did not actually spend my active duty time in Vietnam. I was, instead, sent to Europe. But, never-the-less, I was spit on and called a facist and baby-killer by those of the liberal ilk during that time. I have never forgotted it, nor has the pain or the distress gone away. But, after the first Gulf war and the way our GI's were treated by a grateful nation, I have healed some - until now. Every time one of these dirty, deceitful left-wing nut jobs writes his or her loathing comments and defiles our nation and it's great president, I can feel the saliva hitting me all over again. Pay that you do not cross my path!!! VOTE BUSH! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lon EMAIL: hidalgo727@hotmail.com IP: 12.152.233.67 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:09:18 PM I am a Vietnam Era veteran. That is, by the grace of the good lord, I did not actually spend my active duty time in Vietnam. I was, instead, sent to Europe. But, never-the-less, I was spit on and called a facist and baby-killer by those of the liberal ilk during that time. I have never forgotted it, nor has the pain or the distress gone away. But, after the first Gulf war and the way our GI's were treated by a grateful nation, I have healed some - until now. Every time one of these dirty, deceitful left-wing nut jobs writes his or her loathing comments and defiles our nation and it's great president, I can feel the saliva hitting me all over again. Pray that you do not cross my path!!! VOTE BUSH! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: you again EMAIL: xyz@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:13:14 PM Hey Nomad - don't look now buddy, but it's already gone - and they didn't just happen while Bush was in charge - been going on for 40+ years, maybe more - the govt used the Red Threat to justify taking some rights ... then used the drug war to take more rights ... then used 9/11 to take even more .... founding fathers are spinning in their graves like props on a p-51 mustang .... we are under so much more oppression now than they were when they revolted, they'd probably slap the cr*p out of us for pretending we're 'free' ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: nomad EMAIL: nomad@web.de IP: 217.228.217.181 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:19:46 PM So true, you again! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MaxMan EMAIL: maxman@hotmail.com IP: 66.239.149.3 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:24:03 PM Funny, there's not one picture of OSAMA in there. Lots of pictures of 9/11, but not ONE of OSAMA. How convenient. Or was it just an oversight? Wasn't OSAMA the guy who attacked us and killed 3000 Americans? Wasn't it OSAMA who just proudly proclaimed responsibility? Three years later, WHERE'S OSAMA? Oh yeah, and who was president when 9/11 happened? Oh but that's right, Bush said his thinking "changed" on 9/11 and the world "changed" on 9/11. But Richard Clarke's thinking didn't change. Neither did Sandy Berger. They'd both warned Bush with their "hair on fire." Ah, but finally after 3000 deaths, Bush "changed." Thank God Dubya was there to change his mind! Oh yeah, and those head-cutters are in IRAQ. But they wouldn't be there if we hadn't invaded, now would they? All those victims would still be alive -- as would 100,000 innocent civilians. 100,000. 100,000 men women and children DEAD since George Bush went after nonexistent WMD. As the Guinness boys would say: BRILLIANT!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Richard Jenkins EMAIL: tile-guys@mindspring.com IP: 168.193.112.214 URL: http://www.mindspring.com/~oceanfrontrental DATE: 11/01/2004 12:47:33 PM God Bless Our Troops and God Bless AMERICA ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Richard Jenkins EMAIL: tile-guys@mindspring.com IP: 168.193.112.214 URL: http://www.mindspring.com/~oceanfrontrental DATE: 11/01/2004 12:47:55 PM God Bless Our Troops and God Bless AMERICA ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Firedawgs EMAIL: bobsbigboy@yahoo.com IP: 68.234.75.157 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:54:02 PM Actually Maxman, you need to realize the warnings of these terrorist were before our current president. President Clinton had many warnings with the bombings on the cole, the embassies and the first WTC attack. Nice try though. I would rather vote for someone that has made these hard times better, than for someone who is always taking about his 3 purple hearts. The same purple heart that he threw away after he came back to war. This is the same guy who took a stand against his own country with communist China and Jane Fonda after the war. Hhmmm, make you wonder whos side he is on now. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:55:05 PM MaxMan, mind if I ask how you know the barbarians are in Iraq? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Laura EMAIL: ByeBush@yahoo.com IP: 24.14.150.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:58:45 PM God Bless Our Troops and please don't let the 380 tons of explosives that Bush failed to secure explode near them. God Bless Our Troops and please give them a sense of purpose even though Bush lied about the reasons for going to war. God Bless Our Troops and please protect them from the terrorists that are newly inspired by Bin Laden who has not been stopped. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ted EMAIL: punchy444@yahoo.com IP: 4.10.32.152 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 12:59:57 PM So Bush has had over three years no to capture Osama, and is not even close. We have no idea where he is now compared to three years ago. Why should we give this clown another 4 years to try to find him? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: karen EMAIL: northernlights159@comcast.net IP: 12.109.52.226 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:04:08 PM They talk about the 100,000 dead, but before we went over there Saddam was killing even more of his own. I suppose it's okay to look the other way, after all, what they do in their own country is their business. We kill more of our own unborn than they have killed over in Iraq. But that is called the right to choose! You can't have it both ways. These woman aren't afraid of bringing children into the world because of Bush, they are afraid to bring babies into the world because it means they may have a responsiblity. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Darren EMAIL: darren@darrenbarefoot.com IP: 64.69.94.228 URL: http://www.darrenbarefoot.com DATE: 11/01/2004 01:10:00 PM It's a pity that you didn't follow the format of this article (http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041108&s=facts) entitled "100 Facts and 1 Opinion". As a Canadian, I read that and thought that I'd like to read a similar piece in favour of Bush. What you've got here is 1 opinion and no facts--not nearly as persuasive. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:16:12 PM Laura - although I echo the safety issues of your prayer, I have to ask: 1) Wasn't it the troops responsible for guarding the weapons cache that 'lost' the explosives? Bush would have to be in a lot of places, all at the same time in order to bear the amount of responsibility that many of you think he should. 2) Why wasn't it 'lying' when Bill Clinton and Al Gore, and John Kerry, and Ted Kennedy said that Saddam was dangerous and had WMD all over the place nad he would USE them against us? Is it possible that a crippled intelligence network failed us? 3) You either believe that radical extremists are a threat or you don't - if you don't and they keep on killing people, as they were doing, aren't you being blind? And if you do, and they kill 3000 of your own civilians, do you just let it go? If you don't just forget it, you're going to have things not go right when you go after them - that is part of war, and most of life really. If you do just forget it - well, I don't think that would go over well with the public. Was there really any way for any president to 'win' in this situation with everyone? I really can't see how. It's never happended before, and I doubt it will happen whether Kerry, Bush, or Krusty the Clown is in office. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MaxMan EMAIL: maxman@hotmail.com IP: 66.239.149.3 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:19:38 PM Firedawgs - Clinton tried to assassinate Osama more than once. The bombing of the Cole resulted from the dereliction of duty by the Cole's crew, who had been warned to keep away any small craft. Bush did not retaliate for the Cole and refused the attacks on Afghan training camps that were urged by Clarke and others. Bush was specifically warned that Osama was going to attack in the US with hijacked planes. As for Kerry "taking a stand against his own country," I, too took a stand against the Vietnam war at the same time -- a useless, pointless unwinnable war that dragged on for 3 more years and 30k more American deaths and HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of Vietnamese deaths. Kerry was a patriot, as were several US senators who supported him at the senate hearing. The VN war was a MISTAKE, everybody KNEW it, and Kerry was outraged that US political leaders were STILL sending American kids in there as fodder for bullshit "peace with honor." What a crock; and you agreed with that? Do you think the VN war was not a mistake? Were you even alive back then to watch the daily casualty lists? Were you subject to draft or did you get a "daddy" deferment like warmonger Cheney whose plans didn't include the military? Did Nixon achieve peace with honor? And if not, you blame Kerry for that? Why do you think Johnson quit? He KNEW VN was not winnable and was a total waste; McNamara said so (too late). Nixon and Kissinger were war criminals who bombed illegally and whose hands are red with WASTED blood of brave soldiers who should only be called upon to PROTECT our country, not go on ridiculous adventures of ramming "democracy" down everybody's throats with B-52s. What a sick tyrant Bush is. He has NO respect for American military -- having dodged even minimal duty during the draft. His boys Rumsfeld and counsel Gonzalez authorized torturing prisoners against the strenuous objection of Army JAGs and Pentagon attorneys, and the result was the Abu Ghraib stain on our military's earned reputation as the finest in the world. Those bstrds should be strung up. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ruth E. Gagne EMAIL: tweety2@npgcable.com IP: 24.121.23.215 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:26:49 PM If Kerry people could only see this and let it sink into their disgusting heads, then our victory would be overwhelming. May God Bless our soldiers, our country and George Bush. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ruth E. Gagne EMAIL: tweety2@npgcable.com IP: 24.121.23.215 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:27:11 PM If Kerry people could only see this and let it sink into their disgusting heads, then our victory would be overwhelming. May God Bless our soldiers, our country and George Bush. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Cindy EMAIL: c17itzme1@aol.com IP: 152.163.100.203 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:31:05 PM It is unfortunate that so many need to be reminded. Thanks for taking a stand & remembering. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:37:53 PM The VN war was a tragedy on so many levels I wouldn't even know where to start. To say that JFK should have never allowed us to become involved, or that Johnson shouldn't have lied to the American people by saying that he wasn't ramping up forces when indeed he was, or that the military was allowed to actually try to win that war (which they were not) - all of it is indeed sick. But you still don't take a stand against your country, causing great harm to those who are still there by hurling accusations against all they were perhaps committed by only a handful. I think calling Mr. Kerry a "patriot" is probably stepping over the line by quite a margin. I have many friends, current military and veteran, who are amazed by a man who claims 3 purple hearts, one bronze star, and one silver star, in a four month active duty campaign - they say it is "impossible". Does anyone know about that? I never studied the book long enough to determine the requirements, so I can't speak to it, but I have to admit it seems unlikely. And by the way, all those guys, and many, many more, are still war criminals. Some would say Bill Clinton is too. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MaxMan EMAIL: maxman@hotmail.com IP: 66.239.149.3 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:39:30 PM karen, it is you who can't have it both ways. Bush would NEVER have gotten authority from the US people or from congress to attack and occupy Iraq due to Saddam's crimes against his own people. And rightly so. It was the phony stories of WMD, mushroom clouds, yellowcake, aluminum tubes, and Atta meeting with Saddam's agent. It was all a lie to frighten the American people and Bush should go down for it, whether you think WMD was just an "intelligence error" or deliberate deceit. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: MaxMan EMAIL: maxman@hotmail.com IP: 66.239.149.3 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:46:35 PM "But you still don't take a stand against your country." It is our DUTY as citizens to take a stand and BE RESPONSIBLE for the actions of our own government. Nixon wasn't King. Ours is government By For and OF The People, after all, isn't it? Who the hll are you to say that a decorated soldier has no right to oppose his government's war policies? To keep silent in the face of wasted blood because of some kind of pseudo-patriotism-love-it-or-leave-it is disgraceful and un-American. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Piet EMAIL: h.r.harry@foolsmail.com IP: 80.229.153.88 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:48:21 PM Babble of the right wing nuts. This site is a nightmare of sad incoherence, simplistic jargon and good ole boy homespun patriotic fervour. You are the biggest threat to the world, and the monkey you cheated to get to be president is about to be sent back to the Texas zoo. Trouble is, you people never ever learn anything because you have short attention spans and comfortable lives that lull you into obese torpor and you won't wake up again until something else goes bang in your trough. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: abc EMAIL: abc@xyz.com IP: 63.115.18.19 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 01:59:19 PM These pictures evoke strong emotions no doubt. The soldiers look cute. But how do they endorse Bush I fail to see. Iraq has spawned more killings, more terrorists and let loose HDX and RDX. These are facts. 10,000 Iraqi civilians have died. This piece reflects an alternate reality that is widely accepted, no doubt. I am glad that I am not from the US and can see it for what it is. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:01:15 PM Okay MaxMan - you've got all the answers - sorry I tried to ask a few questions of you. Have a great evening - maybe tomorrow you can carry on an intelligent discourse without becoming all p!ssed off and spewing on everyone. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: you again EMAIL: youagain@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:24:00 PM Seems like a couple posts now have stated that they don't see how this site endorses Bush - look at this way: The images are of terrorists, the buildings in New York being bombed, babies being brought up to think it's their life mission to die for Allah by killing Americans and Jews, and those sort of things. To the average Joe, this is going to say, in essence "those guys attacked us and did this to our brothers and sisters in America, and we believe we are justified in going out, finding them, and depriving them of their lives." Unless I missed the point. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Laura Bush EMAIL: laurab@whitehouse.gov IP: 131.107.71.227 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:26:23 PM The assumption that these events, that this America can't derive support from any other than bush is incredibly misguided. The freedoms we have are hardwon by both the left & the right. Your photos have an impact on me, I'm voting for Kerry and an end to the shameful work of the current administration. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Informed Christian EMAIL: iprayforyou@christianvalues.org IP: 24.145.186.198 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:39:37 PM A tip of my finger to you, sir. Your fear-mongering paraded around as righteousness is truly misguided, if not asinine. We've sure killed more children in Iraq than anyone. Those mass graves? Kurds who rose up against Saddam, egged on by Bush Sr., who stood by as they were slaughtered. And, oh yeah: IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: taikubud@aol.com IP: 161.114.64.75 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:41:36 PM Our soldiers are supportive of Bush. He doesn't wait to put his finger in the air and see what direction the wind blows before making a decision. God help us if Kerry actually does win this! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: clark EMAIL: grinch_47@hotmail.com IP: 138.26.185.116 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:47:12 PM you posted a lot of pictures of a lot of horrible things happening and said you're voting to keep them from happening. but did you notice how many of the horrible events depicted in those pictures HAPPENED UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH'S WATCH?! wake up — he's not protecting you ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: David EMAIL: ColoradoCollectors@yahoo.com IP: 64.135.165.168 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:51:23 PM An earnest question Clark: are you saying that they never would have happened if Bush wasn't president? Didn't think so. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: taikubud@aol.com IP: 161.114.64.75 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 02:58:53 PM I'm in touch with many of our soldiers that are overseas. My own cousin is in special ops and a snyper. You may see some bad and some good in these photo's, but you don't hear of all of all the good that is going on there. All we hear of is the negative. Since Saddam has been ousted there have been more hospitals and schools opened and re-opened than ever before. There have been more bridges made by US and co-forces that are now is use today then ever effectively allowing the good people under a terrorist regime to get to other areas than ever before. You can think of all the bad you want and keep your focus, but until you see all the good that has come from Saddam's fall alone you only have 1/2 the picture. Wake up America! They don't show good stuff on 20/20. Support your president with all you have because they will send more planes into buildings if Kerry is elected. And I won't even get into his foolish health care plans... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Charlie EMAIL: hugh@stickybuffalo.com IP: 208.243.54.38 URL: http://www.stickybuffalo.com DATE: 11/01/2004 03:03:51 PM I think you've certainly made the case that Bush fails to protect this country at an ever increasing rate, fails to breed confidence in the American economy and fails to provide a leader in a time of danger for the US. Vote Kerry for a stronger America. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nicole EMAIL: nab2@pitt.edu IP: 130.49.5.179 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 03:04:49 PM This was the worst argument yet! How is bloodshed justification for giving Bush a second term? How can you say killing innocent Iraqis is in anyway a tribute to our deceased? How can you say a "war" (it is actually a conflict, not a war, war is declared by Congress and this was not) will help to end terrorism? If you honestly believe there is an end to terrorism then you are the most naive person alive. The soldiers will come home eventually, but how many do we have to kill first? And for what? This conflict was started on false pretenses when in all actuality it was over oil. And who gets a good percentage of the wealth from oil sales ... hmm.. yea it is Dick Cheney. I want a president who will negotiate. I want a president who will actually send soldiers as a last resort as was promised by the war mongering GW himself. I want a president who actually stands by his word to reform healthcare and education. I want a president who can separate church from state. I want a president who will think about the consequences of banning abortion. I want a president who want deny or change the constitutional rights of citizens. And I want to be associated with a party that does not block black or gay votes and that doesn't tear up voter registrations or use trickery to get them to register as republicans. And don't say I am not patriotic. I stand by the soldiers because they are already there. Plus, the meaning of being patriotic is standing up and defending our country. I am standing up and I am defending our country from another four years of absolute hell. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: taikubud@aol.com IP: 161.114.64.75 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 03:18:07 PM 4 years of hell... I can only imagine what 4 years of Kerry would be like. You think this is hell? He is the fire eternal. Why don't you do the Kerry thing and conduct a poll, then tell me how you feel. Because that's how he will decide what side he's on. Kerry is biggest flip flop going, just no foot to match it too... Why doesn't he just go put himself in for another medal like the others he wrote up for himself - yes - he was the one who wrote himself in for those medals - some valor - some leader... go to vietnam, come back and preach against it, then appear on the cover of a soldier mag with the flag upside down... real patriotic - a real leader... we get him and we are all screwed... and then I'll be sure to thank all you Kerry supporters - you all would be better off as jock supporters... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 03:42:47 PM I agree with Informed Christian. I am also a Christian who does not support George W. It is stupid to think that because he claims to be a Christian we are obligated to vote for him. Look into the hypocrisy of his actions and judge what kind of a leader he has been. I really like how nobody had any intelligent remarks against my earlier posts... Nobody addressed the environmental issues I brought up, nor the rising poverty, nor the increase of corporate control in our government. I particularly enjoy that someone said "Ralph Nader? Certainly you jest. You had a semblence of credibility up to that point." Why is this? Is it possibly that I am voting my conscience and not out of fear? Maybe they don't think the democrats and republicans have too much involvement with corporate interests? Maybe they don't think the rising poverty rate is a big deal? There is always some "emergency" that is supposed to keep us from voting from who we really support. I would much rather see Kerry in office than Bush, but my ultimate preference is Ralph Nader, because he addresses those issues that neither candidate will touch. The people of this country need to break away from the corporate two-party tyranny and have the chance to hear ideas from independent candidates. We need campaign finance reform in order to restore a real sense of choice to the American people. We also need presidential debate reforms, to give independent candidates a better chance of being in the debates. I have been posting comments at many conservative pages like this one for the past few weeks, and I have to say honestly, that the ones here are definitely not the smartest of the Republican party. I have actually had good discussions with some more intelligent conservatives on other sites, but here the typical response seems to be "If you don't vote Bush then you're a freedom hating commy... and possibly a terrorist." There is no real substance, logic, reasoning or critical thinking that has gone into any of the support for Bush on this site. I personally however do not see how a truly intelligent person could support Bush.... but I digress. I mean let's think about the situation in Iraq for a second. Some very powerful country invades, destoys your cities and towns, not to mention kills many of your family and friends. All this in the name of "liberty." I do not think these people can understand how this could possibly be a better situation than the one they had before. Not to mention that it was the US who armed and empowered Saddam so he could fight the Iranians in the 80s. We supplied him with many biological and chemical weapons. Why would Iraqi citizens have any hope that American intervention is truly going to make anything better? When has it ever done so for any country in the mideast? Wake up people! It is not patriotic to allow your government to use a national tragedy like September 11th to instill fear in us, and deceive us into invading a country that results in many more civilian deaths than we experienced. I am not trying to downplay the impact of 9/11... not at all.. but on the contrary.. when our government is responsible for that many innocent deaths. how can the Iraqi people see this as anything but terrorism? Sure we got Saddam out, but at what cost? Here are some quotes that Republicans should think about: A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. --- Edward Abbey In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects. --- J. William Fulbrigh Democracy cannot be forced upon a society, neither is it a gift that can be held forever. It has to be struggled hard for and defended everyday anew. -- Heinz Galins If...the machine of government...is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. --- Henry David Thoreau "They that can give up essential liberty for a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety," - Benjamin Franklin "The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else." - Theodore Roosevelt. Now, I do not form the basis for my political beliefs on personal quotes, but it is interesting to hear what so many patriotic people of the past thought about democracy. It should give you something to think about. That's all.. good day! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nicole EMAIL: nab2@pitt.edu IP: 130.49.5.179 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 04:19:26 PM Okay so I read through all of the prior posts and here is my follow up. I am an accounting and marketing major and I am a Christian democrat. I am pro-life and anti-gun. For all of you who believe that democrats are atheists you are grossly misled. We should, as AngelsAmazon noted, remember that our ancestors came over here and fought for religious freedom so what gives someone the right to impose their beliefs on someone else? And then there are statistics! Statistics are not reliable, 78% of Christians voting for Bush? I don't think so. Where and who were they polling. Of course if you poll in the Bible Belt you will get a lot of ultra-conservative votes, but not if you poll Pennsylvania, New York, California, etc. (And for that person that said that God hates liberals, I want to know what version of the bible you are reading because as far as i know God does not hate anyone. You can hate the sin, but not the sinner but being liberal is definitely not a sin, it is smart) Moving on - "safe" - I do not feel any less safe then I did before September 11th. I felt sad and I wanted to help out the families who lost loved ones, but in no way did I ever feel threatened. I do recognize the fact that Bush cannot handle foreign diplomatic duties and that this may cause some interior conflict down the road, but that will be fixed when Kerry remends the situation. Kerry as a traitor - that is like comparing him to a Nazi soldier - neither men knew what they were fighting for or against, they just knew they had to do it - after they were done they were sickened and had to do something about it. Yes they were wrong in fighting in the first place, but at the time they had no idea what was truly wrong or right. While I am on this subject I will talk about flip-flopping. This ties in because Kerry was like us, he believed the president was being honest in his justification for the war. Then he began to realize that was not the case. Look at the facts before you condemn someone for changing their mind. At least he had the decency to try to rectify the misdeed. And Bush has flip-flopped on issues as well. Banning guns - if you are naive enough to believe that democrats can abolish the right to bear weapons you are a complete and total idiot. Kerry, as do I, supports stricter gun laws. He will not try to ban hunting rifles or hand guns. He just wants to make sure that the guns are going to people who will potentially use them right and for the right purposes. And I do not believe that saying that guns don't kill, people do because I am sorry when a child gets a hold of her parents' gun it is not because she wants to kill it is because she is fascinated, and then an accident happens. You can lock them in a safe but combinations are easy to figure out, that has been tested and proven. Scare tactics - Bush's whole campaign has been based on scare tactics, how does that make him an effective president? Cheney said that a vote for Kerry will kill us all... he said that if Kerry is elected then we are guaranteed to be killed by terrorists. Is that because he will lead it? That is the only way that will happen and I honestly wouldn't put it passed him. SENATE VOTING RECORD - my favorite subject - I hate when this is brought up because all it proves to me is that there is something wrong with Congress and that is desperately needs reformed. I know Kerry is not the only Senator who has missed votes. Bush would have too if he were a senator so this issue should be considered dead. 9/11 - my only statement - NO ONE COULD HAVE PREVENTED 9/11! If suicidal maniacs are on a mission they will succeed! - BUSH IS NOT INTELLIGENT - saying he scored high on the military entrace exam proves nothing, I scored highly on military exams as well, but at least I can spell and speak grammatically correct. And when I speak I actually know what I am talking about. That is all for now. In the rephrased words of George Orwell: God bless you all, but some more than others. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jennifer Hauschildt EMAIL: jhauschildt@dwx.com IP: 216.243.225.77 URL: http://none DATE: 11/01/2004 04:38:34 PM As a proud sister of an Iraqi Freedom vet, I thank you for your powerful post. Everyone needs to see and remember. I am often moved to tears, especially since my brother left and returned from Baghdad unharmed. My heart aches for those whose loved ones will never return. And at the thought of my babies facing the same fears we face today. God Bless You and God Bless America. Jennifer in Des Moines, Iowa ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott in St Paul, MN EMAIL: scott@sphalen.com IP: 66.41.38.215 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:00:08 PM Why is everyone so focused on TODAY? I commend Bush on his efforts to rid the world of terrorists! Maybe there were WMD or maybe there wasn't. Saddam was a threat today, and if left alone he would of been a much bigger threat 10 years from now (to include his sons). The only difference, if left alone, he would have caused more havoc! Try looking at the big picture and think years down the road and not just about today. I served 8 years on active duty in the Marine Corps (0331), was in Desert Storm from Dec '90 to Jun '91 and I would do it all over again! I only wish we could have done back then what they are doing now and continued on from Kuwait City to downtown Baghdad. Then we wouldn't be having this silly conversation. Semper Fi! God bless America and all she stands for! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jim Soltis EMAIL: jimsoltis@direcway.com IP: 66.82.9.23 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:01:35 PM Pray that more people wake up before it's too late and keep Bush as President. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Vic Shepherd EMAIL: Deepwoods@centurytel.net IP: 64.91.86.236 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:07:02 PM We ARE at war, whether people want to admit it or not, and changing presidents during a war could show just how weak we really are. I don't think we need to show the terrorists and the other countries of the world that side of America. God knows we have enough terrorism with our minorities "do-gooders" right here at home, without inviting more terrorism in. God bless the President and may God keep America free. We will prevail over the evil doers in the long run. Vic Shepherd of Webster, WI ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerald L Smith EMAIL: glsda@inreach.com IP: 67.181.53.195 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 05:38:40 PM Thank you. Gerald L Smith Col. USAR, Ret. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Not named EMAIL: nothing@nothing.com IP: 68.175.247.129 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:14:49 PM ok, really good but not necissary to but the mans head who got beheaded in their. Yes, I love George Bush, and I'm glad whoever made this site, but please don't include that next time. It is a very sad and unfortunate thing and I wish his family and everoyne elses family who died much sympathy. That man for fighting for us in Iraq is amazing and he does not deserve that. No one deserves something like that. Rest in Peace. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Not named EMAIL: nothing@nothing.com IP: 68.175.247.129 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:16:48 PM Let's flush the John's. Vote Bush. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Helen EMAIL: treehous_3@charter.net IP: 68.190.152.27 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:23:39 PM To Nicoll, I know as much as you know and you are wrong ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: BobH EMAIL: higginsrj@hotmail.com IP: 192.251.219.11 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:24:08 PM What a bunch of wackos! Living in your delusional, paranoid little world, with terrorists around every corner (of your alleged brains). All GWB has done is piss off the rest of the world, creating more hate than ever. Safer? Not because of anything that idiot has done. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kim dodds EMAIL: kimdodds@msn.com IP: 24.51.247.2 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:31:17 PM The new Bush-Cheney Pledge of Allegiance-Right or wrong, It is not the individuals responsibility to reason why,but to do or die! Kim, A MEKONG DELTA VET ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steve EMAIL: sabbott@citlink.net IP: 170.215.40.38 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:34:31 PM Tomorrow the American people with speak clearly. They have had enough of those who speak against this country, our military, our leaders and our values. Small people with small lives and hate filled agendas are about to feel the full weight of a people that have had enough of negativity, lawyers and Kerry! Shock and Awe is about to be unleashed upon the DNC... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Michael EMAIL: mrohaly@mac.com IP: 24.81.137.129 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:52:50 PM That our soldiers like this keep flying and they come home soon with honor. Doesn't have anything to do with who's in office. Soldiers, in general, do what they do with honour. That this hero will not have died in vain, and that our victory means a birth of freedom for Iraq. It'd be swell if he hadn't died in vain, that's for sure. Maybe it'll all work out, but attacking the wrong place with too few troops to keep order hardly seems like recipe for noble martyrs. That men like this are hunted to the ends of the Earth and destroyed. You kinda had to group Uday and Qusay in there, because Bush Inc. kind of forgot about Osama and went to Iraq instead, where there was no Al Qaeda presence. Bush himself said he wan't worried about Osama. Take a look: http://www.moveonpac.org/debate3ad-QT.html Anyway, sappy post, devoid of smarts and unattached to reality. Your guy seems to be the opposite of much of what you're asking for. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dubya EMAIL: idiot@whitehouse.gov IP: 68.6.185.180 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:54:32 PM You are a fucking moron. I pity your children. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/01/2004 07:00:14 PM I thought Michael was quite reasonable. You should temper your language. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Michael EMAIL: mrohaly@mac.com IP: 24.81.137.129 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:05:44 PM I think dubya is giving a faithful rendition of a presidential response. There's nothing like satire to make a president look bad. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Barbara Boxer EMAIL: jeff@beautifulatrocities.com IP: 63.196.0.225 URL: http://www.beautifulatrocities.com DATE: 11/01/2004 07:09:58 PM Let's keep in mind the most important aspect of this: I WILL NEVER ALLOW US TO RETURN TO THE DAYS OF BACK ALLEY ABORTIONS!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: poll troll EMAIL: @@@... IP: 172.165.235.196 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:31:50 PM These pictures bring it all back instantly. Good piece. Now my favorite poll for undecided voters; Since 1956, Weekly Reader students in grades 1-12 have correctly picked the president http://www.weeklyreader.com/election_vote.asp Weekly Reader kids select Bush in Presidential Poll The students who read Weekly Reader’s magazines have made their preference for President known: they want to send President Bush back to the White House. The results of this year’s Weekly Reader poll have just been announced, and the winner is President Bush. Hundreds of thousands of students participated, giving the Republican President more than 60% of the votes cast and making him a decisive choice over Democratic Senator John Kerry. Since 1956, Weekly Reader students in grades 1-12 have correctly picked the president, making the Weekly Reader poll one of the most accurate predictors of presidential outcomes in history. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pat in NC EMAIL: pawigo@yahoo.com IP: 12.219.208.108 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:39:10 PM Thank God for George Bush. Amazing how many saw no need to go into Iraq. The Iraqi people are praying GWB is elected since they too know history and are very fearful of Kerry and his antiwar-cut and run stance. I lived through WWII and all the rest. There comes a time when we stand and fight those who do us harm and plan to do us harm. Terror camps with airplane body for terrorists to practice was in Iraq. We have killed less people than Saddam and the Iraqis are hungry for democracy. I think our country is so blessed in so many ways and I do not want to sit by and watch millions die while we do nothing. Afghani and Iraqi people thank the US. GWB is not perfect but he has a moral core that is totally lacking in Kerry. The communists loved him because he swallowed their propaganda hook, line and sinker. I do not want a President who will pander to the corrupt UN. I have voted. I must say this site brought out a couple of liberals who had civil arguments and for that I thank them since we will live in this country together. This has not been common in liberal commentaries on other blogs--so much vitriole, hate, name calling and profanity I began to wonder if there were any rational beings on the left that were capable of advancing their ideas with any degree of courtesy. The Dem leaders Ted, Al, Howard and Kerry have been hateful. I am an Independent of the FDR, TRUMAN and Zell Miller style with rare Repubs. This year, a straight R ticket.Kerry is not a good man. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ray EMAIL: raysot@comcast.net IP: 24.22.173.68 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:41:06 PM Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it.... Those pictures served no purpose other than to re-ignite those fears. If Bush wins, Fear will have won yet again... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: PC EMAIL: philcam@nyc.rr.com IP: 68.175.12.64 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:47:01 PM What a crock. Terrorism and anti-Americanism are on the steep rise thanks to Dubya's unnecessary war in Iraq, our soldiers are dying for no reason, Osama bin Laden is still at large and trying to manipulate our election with video warnings from abroad, and you think a bunch of emotionally manipulative pictures on a web site qualify as genuine reasons to re-elect the worst President we've had in decades? Wow. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: James EMAIL: jamesturnham@yahoo.com IP: 24.94.199.220 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:57:28 PM Beautiful Site. What amazes me though is the lack of any inteligence from the people who hate George Bush. When a world leader offers $25,000 to every family for there son or daughter that offers to be a suicide bomber that strikes me as being terroristic. That alleged missing 380 tons of high explosives is the main detonation for "anyone, anyone" an nuclear weapon. They had everything to build themselves an nuclear weapon and the only thing missing was the nuclear material which they were actively seeking. I will vote for someone who doesn't say anything or spews forth lies to be elected. Anytime you get an endoresment from Yasser Arafat, they aren't friends of the USA. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nicole EMAIL: nab2@pitt.edu IP: 130.49.5.179 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:59:05 PM Helen... you got that backwards you are wrong. Plus a good argument is followed by a rebuttal, if you are not intelligent enough to form one then don't waste my time. But then again you can learn from our current president during the debates when he completely ignored the questions at hand and failed to come up with complete and articulate responses for anything. And if really ticks me off when people are saying that democrats are speaking against our country and our values. What right does the (not so) Grand Old Party have to decide the values for all of the US? The last time I checked we had freedoms, freedom to choose, speak our minds, assemble, etc. I think it is about time that we realize this and realize that GW is trying to take away our constitutional rights. And if by some miracle he gets reelected he better not even try to amend the constitution so that Arnold can run in the next election. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: W. Artkin EMAIL: overskill@hotmail.com IP: 66.185.84.79 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 07:59:15 PM Absolutely, we hope that the soldiers return with honour from the Iraqi cesspool. Yes we hope that our soldiers keep flying and hopefully more safely than the poor National Guard grunts who try to protect their vehicles with plywood and sandbags. What NFL coach would send his players on the field without proper helmets. We hope our soldiers will fight with valour. They have to when their leader taunts the opposition to "bring it on". When was the last time Parcells taunted the Redskins defence to try and get his quarterback. Yes we want to hunt these men to the end of the earth. Who's running the hunt for Osama, the mgmt. of the New York Rangers? 175 billion dollars, over 30,000 coalition members killed as we have to include the Iraqis in that total as we were reminded by Big Dick Cheney, not to mention the thousands of our boys MAIMED FOR LIFE. The President hardly thinks of him anymore (AD Disorder Perhaps) yet Osama calmly rears his head again. Would you even hire W to get rid of a squirrel in your garage. Yes we want to keep the botoxins from our land. All of them, including the ones we sold Saddam in the 80's when he was our buddy, and the most advanced ones in the world that we continue to stockpile and develop daily. Yes, of course we hope that the American flag will be seen around the world, including draped on the 1000+ coffins that have been flown back to our country under cover of darkness under threat of firing for anyone who photographs them. Yes we want to expunge corrupt institutions from our soil; like a Bush government which touts an Education Bill leaving no child behind. Perhaps not leaving them behind in civilian life as the Bill had provisions that forced schools to provide all student data to the FBI. Expunge a Bush government which thwarted at every turn the 9-11 commission. Expunge a Pentagon heirarchy which gobbles up trillions of dollars and yet had less than a dozen planes guarding the East coast when there were heightened terrorist possibilities. Bill Parcells wrote that you coach better when you lose because you examine everything carefully, your staff, your offence, defence,special teams,training staff--everything. Before you vote it may be time to examine everything like Bill does. And for all you folks who feel safer with W, just consider what he has done on your southern border where thousands waltz in every week. Do you think prospective terrorists don't realize this. Let's just say that Bill wouldn't hire W on his staff. He knows a little bit about real success. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: julie EMAIL: juleslyn@rock.com IP: 24.159.243.125 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:01:57 PM this is absolutely frightening. so many of you are absolutely clueless as to how the war in Iraq has made us NOT safer. we sent a message to the world that fighting a war against a nation that has NEVER declared war against us is ok. and instead of applauding GWB for his behavior in making us safer becuase of 9/11, how about the fact we had not been attacked UNTIL he took office. the terrorists are not fighting us bc they hate our freedom, (if so, why not denmark? germany? france? australis?) it is bc of the man we put into office. as a side note, the iraqis don't like either kerry or bush, but 21% favor kerry and 17% favor bush with the rest saying neither would directly benefit them. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ray EMAIL: raysot@comcast.net IP: 24.22.173.68 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:14:51 PM That "alleged" missing 380 tons of high-power exposive isn't "Alleged".. it IS missing. Get your head out of the sand! Another event that hasn't quite seen the light of day yet is the fact that Iraq's equivalent of our Center for Disease Control was also looted. Missing are vials of Black Plague, HIV, and numerous other viruses... Safer? As Fox news would say "You get sick, you decide" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ray EMAIL: raysot@comcast.net IP: 24.22.173.68 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:18:11 PM When the new tape of OSB was broadcast, how many of you thought to yourself: "Why isn't he dead yet?" Answer: GWB ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:29:06 PM I am posting once again, in hopes that I might encounter the ever-so-rare intelligent conservative. So far, with comments by Vic Shepherd and let's not forget Helen's thought-provoking comment of: "To Nicoll, I know as much as you know and you are wrong." Wow, I would hate to be Nicole right now. I mean, just look at all the flaws in Nicole's logic that Helen so elequently pointed out. Look people, any moron can just say "you're wrong, you're stupid, I don't agree with you." It seems like there are alot of children attempting to engage in an adult discussion, with a "my dad can beat up your dad" mentality. I esepecially liked the comment.. "Let's flush the Johns." Simply incredible. I would have never thought of using a bumper sticker slogan to use as a rebuttal against intelligent, well-thought out reasons why people don't want Bush re-elected. I will run through much of what I believe again, and hope that there is at least one conservative who won't respond by telling me to move to France, or that I'm a "hippie", or something very childish like that. It's time to face the facts Bush supporters. The man is a complete and utter moron. He is barely capable of articulating even the most basic sentences. He has changed his position on issues much more than John Kerry ever has (check www.factcehck.org to verify this statement). First we were going to war with Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction and posed an imminent threat, though experts that were actually in Iraq thought contrary. After it was discovered that there were nor weapons of mass destruction, we then said we were removing a brutal regime. Okay, but what about the Sudan and Iran, these countries have far more human rights violations than Iraq (and we had verifiable proof that Iran has been actively seeking nuclear weapons). Next, we were told that by spreading democracy, we would aid in the world-wide fight on terror. This is especially interesting, given that the US and Saudi Arabia have funded way more terrorist actions, and with greater impact, than the slight involvement Saddam Hussein had with Palestinian suicide bombers. I mean, we funded mercenaries that killed many civilians in Nicaragua in the 80s, and all so we could overthrow a democratic government that made grave reforms in labor, healthcare, civil rights, education and pretty much every other aspect of life. It is not just our blatant hypocrosy that makes this an ineffective point. Do you really think it is the downtrodden and oppressed citizens of a brutal government that sponsor terrorism? Last I check, the Taliban were the ones in charge in Afghanistan when 9/11 occurred. I mean, does it really make sense that people who hate their own government would travel halfway across the world and pilot planes into the building of a country that had nothing to do with their oppression. The citizens of Afghanistan might have had something against the US though. The fact that we are resposible for the Taliban taking over Afghanistan in the first place, since we armed and funded them to fight Russia in the 80s. My point is though, that the terrorists on 9/11 were a part of the ruling body, not the people who were suffering under that regime. Does anybody actually believe that we can invade another country and give them a democracy? I thought it was about being "for the people, by the people". When has another country come in and liberated another country and it has actually worked out as a democracy? If you say Afghanistan, I would say it is too early to see if that really works. Wait a few years, and we will see the results of the mounting instability in that country. We liberated ourselves from Brittain. We had aid from the French, but we welcomed it, and we were the ones who started the Revolutionary War. It wasn't like the French got the idea to liberate us, and came over here and defeated the Brittish, but left many of our civilians dead in the wake. That was not how it happened. But, that is what is happening in Iraq. Why the Iraqi people trust anyone that we "appoint" to rule over them, afterall, we thought Saddam was a great guy back when he was using the chemical and biological weapons we sold him to fight the Iranians. You have to understand where they come from, what their experiences have tought them. Every involvement the US has had with any country in the mideast has been about oil, and has not been good for the people. I mean, the UN sanctions that were imposed after the Gulf War caused the infant mortality rate to skyrocket, but did no stop Saddam Hussein in the least bit. Genius idea (it was a UN bill, but it was mostly supported and introduced by the US). Before getting into office, Bush promised he the US would sign the Kyoto Protocol. He did not. His reason that it would hurt American business was an exaggerated and false claim. He cares more about pleasing the rich however, than he does about preserving our planet. He also said it should be up to the states to decide whether gay marriages should be allowed, but has since tried to create a nationwide contitutional ban on gay marriages. He wanted to allow a larger portion of mercury in our drinking water, as well as arsenic. Why would he do a thing like this? Because it was in the best interest of the corporations that were producing these emissions that they be allowed to emmit more harmful materials into our drinking water. On his website, he says if re-elected, he would put a cap on mercury emissions, the first president to do so. He didn't do shit for the environment in his four years he already had, so why would I trust him to do so if re-elected? The number of polluted lakes that are now not swimmable, fishable, or drinkable has risen from 40% to 45% under Bush's environmental roll backs. His idea of giving factories that pollute "credits and debits" is one of the most absurd ideas to be passed as environmentally friendly. This would allow factories that are putting out less emissions than their limit to sell their leftover emissions rights to companies that have exceeded theirs. This means that the local people who live around such factories can expect more health hazards, contaminated drinking water, and unclean air. Doesn't anybody know that back in may the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a study that estimated health care costs due to pollution to be in the tens of billions every year in the US alone. When are we going to say we've had enough? I don't know about you, but I like swimming in lakes, taking hikes, breathing clean air and having clean drinking water. Is this too much to ask? Bush's assault on the environment does not end there. Instead of investing in new technologies that would make us no longer dependent on foreign oil, he suggests drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve. Top environmental scientists agree that this would be an ecological disaster. It is because the oil companies want to stay in power, that they right new technologies such as hybird electric cars, and hydrogen fuel cell cars. We can't use oil forever people, it will eventually run our. What will we do then? If we do not start investing in technologies that do not use oil and especially not the emissions of today's cars, we will have a crisis on our hands, and it will be the American people's fault (though mostly the oil companies are to blame.) No Child Left Behind is a ridiculous education psuedo reform. It places a greater emphasis on standardized tests, which we all know is the foundation to a great education. Every single educator that I know thinks this is the worst thing that could be done for education. We should teach our children critical thinking skills, reasoning and logic, not how to fill out "A, B, C or D" on a standardized test. Bush is not interested in helping the working people of this country. His tax cuts that he brags about did not help the people that needed it the most. I do not know a single person who is poor and in need of a tax cut that actually got one. You can also check www.factcheck.org to see who really benefitted from this tax cut. There is so much more I could say, but I am on the phone with my best friend right now, so I will end it now. I'm sure I will see many relevant and intelligent responses to my legitimate reasons why I do not support Bush. You can also check www.factcheck.org, and see how Dick Cheney opposed the same weapons funding that Kerry did, and also that the intelligence cut that Kerry suported was in 1994, before September 11th (the Bush/Cheney ad claims that after September 11th, Kerry voted to cut intelligence funding.) It also shows that Republicans also supported this intelligence spending cut, in fact, they supported cutting more from intelligence than John Kerry did. This website, which Dick Cheney endorsed in the vice-presidential debates (he mistakenly said factcheck.com) also gives evidence on how John Kerry is not a "flip-flopper." If you are brave enough to read these factual findings, I would urge you to do so. But beware, once you start actually thinking about your politics, you can never go back. Having said all this, I am not a supporter of Kerry, but of Ralph Nader. I just think that if you atack Kerry it should be for legitimate reasons (the website also clears up the Vietnam war accusations agains Kerry). Although I do not fully support Kerry, I am looking forward to him winning the election tomorrow, and I pray he will move this country in a better direction. Lord knows we need it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: StanH EMAIL: muckmarine@yahoo.com IP: 12.202.52.224 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:35:30 PM Ya know PC; I encourage people of your kind to exercise their 1st Amendment right. You might be a republican, democrat, liberal, or communist. But one thing is for sure. When people like you open their mouths and speak nothing but a load of psycho-babble brainwashed diatribe, you are no better than the enemy you serve sir. Hence you are not a true patriot or an American. We need to know that you are the enemy within because when the day comes, and it will, you and your comrade’s sir will be the first to die as we rid our country from the vermin that you are. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nicole EMAIL: nab2@pitt.edu IP: 130.49.5.179 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:36:40 PM Thank you "me." It is reassuring to know that some people actually think before they type. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:39:33 PM Poll troll has some ridiculous ideas. Does this person not realize the Washington Redskins thing that has been going on since 1933? Let me tell you about it.. Every election year in which the Redskins won their last home game, the incumbent's party won the election. Every election year that the Redskins lost however, the incumbent's party also lost. The Redskins lost, so according to this statistic that has been consistent since 1933, Kerry will win tomorrow. But, I do not take this too seriously, as it is only a statistic, and has no real correlation. So, we will see which statistic reigns supreme. I think it would be cool if they were both wrong and Nader won. Ha ha ha ha ha! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Another US Aussie EMAIL: dogbadger1967@msn.com IP: 206.255.96.246 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 08:41:04 PM Kerry for Pres? 1. Said he would support war now if we had a bigger coalition ---- Voted against Persian Gulf war --- coalition still was not big enough? (U.N was even supporting the US) 2. Wants to reverse tax cuts for the wealthy.. However he nor his wife paid the highest tax rate when they filed...in mass you have the option to pay the higest amount.....they chose not too.... "Don't do as i do, do as i say" 3. Favours more involvement with the UN -- The same UN who did such a great job with the food for oil program. The same UN who for 12 years had threatened IRAQ over and over. OH, yea the same UN who appointed SUDAN to the Human Rights Council. 4. George Bush and the recession. For all of you who think that the recession was due to GW, think about this --- When did the recession start? --- When does a new Presidents budget go into affect? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Walter EMAIL: celerityspam@earthlink.net IP: 69.22.84.6 URL: http://www.celerityfm.com DATE: 11/01/2004 08:46:42 PM What is so interesting to me is that Vanderleun's post, without the context of him answering "why vote for Bush," could easily have been a part of a page advocating a Kerry victory. If you believe, like Vanderleun, that these images clearly suggest that you should vote Bush then I believe you are mistaken. American's would not be so divided as they are now if it were otherwise. For example, you would not have anomalies like The Tampa Tribune not endorsing Bush if I weren't the case. The Tampa Tribune has endorsed Republican candidates since Eisenhower. Note: They did not endorse Kerry either. Vanderleun et al, I invite you to examine this anomaly, if you haven't already, and hear what The Tampa Tribune has to say on the matter. Perhaps then you will realize that the images and captions you've given us do not invoke a Bush vote in everyone. It only invokes it for almost half of everyone, if that. Read The Tampa Tribune's editorial here: http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBU3UEHF0E.html I'm sorry Vanderleun but you have failed to bridge the gap. Look deeper. Good show though. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JD EMAIL: jcdriscoll@comcast.net IP: 24.61.140.72 URL: http://medianalysis.typepad.com/louisxiv/ DATE: 11/01/2004 08:49:58 PM Has Bush been to ANY of the funerals of the people whose pictures you posted? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: searing light EMAIL: untoldhavoc@yahoo.com IP: 209.30.29.8 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 09:00:26 PM gentle readers...such hypocrisy. "values over words" you say...matthew 5:43. go read and let me know if you still have that gun in your hand. i visited manhattan's ground zero just last month. new yorker's feel the loss and pain of 9/11 a lot more than you people do, but they are voting for kerry. ask yourselves why. don't confuse 9/11 with iraq. they had nothing to do with each other. patriotism isn't about wearing flag pins and marching lock-step with the GOP. it's about freedom of choice. think! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pat EMAIL: payancey@msn.com IP: 67.42.107.78 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 09:01:45 PM Anyone with ANY common sense has to see through Kerry...when he came back from Vietnam he wronged his country and the Vets (every person I know who is from Vietnam will be voting for Bush) He continues to wrong his country and his fellow countrymen with his ridicoulous record in the Senate. Only an idiot would vote for the Dem Party. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gwen Young EMAIL: gwendolyngriffith@yahoo.com IP: 67.158.11.81 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 09:15:15 PM The pictures are so touching, I dont understand how there can be people in this world that dont see it. I truly hope that there are enough people in America that see Kerry for the moronic jackass that he is. Bush may have made mistakes, but he is human and a true American. Kerry could only dream of being a fraction of the man that our president is. GOD BLESS AMERICA and all the people that lost their lives fighting for what we believe in or had their lives taken on our own soil. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gwen EMAIL: gwendolyngriffith@yahoo.com IP: 67.158.11.81 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 09:15:49 PM The pictures are so touching, I dont understand how there can be people in this world that dont see it. I truly hope that there are enough people in America that see Kerry for the moronic jackass that he is. Bush may have made mistakes, but he is human and a true American. Kerry could only dream of being a fraction of the man that our president is. GOD BLESS AMERICA and all the people that lost their lives fighting for what we believe in or had their lives taken on our own soil. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ralph EMAIL: telefonica@peru.com IP: 200.121.159.218 URL: http://www.telefonica.com DATE: 11/01/2004 09:25:37 PM We overestimate the power of the president and underestimate the responsibility of the citizen. One thing we should all remember, including myself: don't stop with your vote tomorrow. Continue your civic call to duty however that may be. Do something yourself to stop the hate illustrated above and keep the love also shown. Voting doesn't count. That's not enough. Don't let yourself off so easy. The winner tomorrow, no matter who it is, is not the answer to resolution of the hate and preservation of the love that is a suicuide bomber baby who has parents who love him...that is the pilot of a bomber or gunner of the tank whose family loves them....Be responsible and do something more than vote to WORK for the world you imagine. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: another aussie EMAIL: dogbager1967@msn.com IP: 206.255.96.246 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 09:34:24 PM I love the way people post websites on here...... I mean if it is on the web it must be true... right.... Since so many others are doing it ....... here is a link http://united-states-of-earth.com/article.asp?MenuID=3333 Talks about links between iraq/wmd ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Maria EMAIL: mcmadera@msn.com IP: 151.203.57.43 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 10:13:54 PM I decided not to vote for only one reason is not up to George Bush or John Kerry to take one life for another.When only you see what they aloud you to,the people in Baghdad are dying in the name of who ? innocent man,woman and children are getting killed also. not all people in this countries are terrorist just few with a twisted mind just like any serial killer in the streets of America.I lost 5 members of my family on 9/11 and everybody seem to forget that only one person will reclaim the blood of all the innocent people,that had died in the name of the war or in the hands of terrorist.Remember always that is not George Bush or John Kerry .Is the greatest men that have live on Earth.... Jesus Christ and his Glorious Father Jehovah God. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Scott EMAIL: funun@pcu.net IP: 67.128.37.79 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 10:27:43 PM OK "ME" let's discuss a few of the items that you brought up. Environment- I find it amusing that you "Green Peacers" were so hoping that your movie "The Day After Tomorrow" would scare the crap out of all us and encourage all of us to go back and live in huts and eat only alfalfa plants. Then we end up having one of the coldest summers that we've had in about one hundred years (some cities set some new records!). Kind of killed your whole momentum- didn't it! The truth is that 98% of all of the waste released into the atmosphere are from NATURAL sources. Meaning we only affect 2% of the total. If we were to cut our total output by 50% we MIGHT decrease the average temperature of the planet by 1/20 th of 1 degree IN FIFTY YEARS!! (See Junk Science article) I do agree that we should continue to work on pollution- we've made some advances, but have a long way to go. We should do everything we can (within reason) to find alternate sources of energy as well. And your Kyoto Treaty is a total joke. It would absolutely destroy our economy. President Clinton knew it (that's why he didn't sign it!) and even the "unintelligent cowboy hick" George Dubyah was smart enough to realize it as well. If you've taken the time to look at it- it would cripple most of our businesses and do nothing to stop "developing" countries like China from polluting all of us to death. A friend of mine just got back from China and he said his eyes burned for the first 2 days he was there and he was never able to see more than 2 miles in any direction because of the pollution. The Kyoto treaty does nothing to stop or even slow them down. Estimates say that within 5-10 years they will be out polluting us! Economy- Let's see you want to cap the polution, raise the wages, increase the benefits, tax them more, pay all health care costs, unionize everyone, make them hire more people, sell their products cheaper than the foreigners, eliminate tarrifs and duties, and penalize them for sending jobs overseas where none of these rules apply. I really hope you don't need a degree in business or economics to understand how ridiculously one-sided all of that is. There are some definite problems, but most of the problems with companies such as Enron are a direct result of changes made in the rules during the Clinton Administration (although both parties pushed for those changes- supporting your claim that corporations have way too much to do with our government- and I agree!!) War in Iraq- In November of last year(after most of the major bombing was pretty well done) CNN did a poll in Iraq and 72% of the Iraqis wanted us there and were grateful for what we had done (granted CNN never showed us the results of that poll until February... why .... I don't know!) The military and their families have been polled and anywhere from 76-82% of them would vote for Bush over Kerry. So who exactly are you standing up for- the wealthy and formerly (or currently) powerful 28% in Iraq or who?? The Iraqi's are not afraid of the US military, but they are afraid to help us because those who do are typically killed by the insurgents. (Or as you would call them Freedom fighters- who are fighting for freedom from ummm freedom!?!) Have you looked at any of the election material that came out of Afghanistan- those people were willing to face death for the opportunity to, once in their lives (their countries life for that matter) to finally be heard as individuals. Can you imagine how discouraging it must be to these countries that we can't even hold a "fair" election?? As far as your comment on the "smarter"... I was recently reading an article in the Readers Digest about what the 2 parties typically look for in a Presidential candidate. Liberals tend to look for an intellectual. Are you aware that if we were to build statues to the two most intelligent presidents that we've ever had- we'd be loaded with statues of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon- the only two presidents to be "impeached". Good thing that all that matters is intelligence. Question for you.... It's so easy to rip apart any position (which is why Kerry still refuses to tell us what his plans are- a smart political move- you can't be attacked if you take no position) what would you do to solve the worlds ills? And please none of those theoretical mumbo jumbo- something that would actually work in the real world- with real people and real dynamics!!! Thanks Scott ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Physics EMAIL: physics@inreach.com IP: 69.225.90.187 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:05:53 PM George W. and Arab Terrorists have one disturbing thing in common...they both are driven by a single-minded desire that is determined solely by their vision of God. This is a dangerous proposition for both, for neither seems to have a desire to follow their own conscience but instead blame everything on what God tells them to do. It is all predicated by "Allah's Will" This web page does a great job of appealing to the emotions of those who visit it… but three things really bug me about the *conclusions* that most of you folk are coming up with when you see these photos… (1) We all agree that Sadam and his regime were terrible and they did terrible things. But there are many tyrants like him throughout the world doing equally terrible crimes against humanity. Is it the goal of the United States to hunt all of these people down and bring them to justice? Many of you seem to feel so happy that we have brought Iraq to justice… so why not go into Iran? North Korea? Why not help solve the terrible pain in Africa? What about forcing all other nations to give up their Nuclear Weapons… that would technically "make us safer"…. Why not *force* Russia's Putin to maintain a fair Democracy? Why not end Communist rule in China and Cuba?? While we are at it, why not "declare" all nations must establish English as the one spoken language… I think we all know that the answer is "because it would be plain WRONG." (2) Many people (especially Republicans) argued that Bill Clinton should have resigned his presidency because of the Lewinsky scandal… they said that "if he is willing to lie about THAT, then he *might* lie about something more important… like GOING TO WAR…" Now here is George W. who DID stretch the truth in order to go to war… and the blind Republicans just don't see it. (3) In my mind the WORST (most emotional) photos on this web page are the ones involving the decapitations… Guess what? Those decapitations would not have happened if George W. were not president… A president with a brain would have focused on surrounding and killing Bin Laden instead of spreading our troops out thinly and making them needlessly more vulnerable. Answer me this: Would you rather have Iraq like it is today (and Sadam in jail)... or would you rather have Bin Laden's head on a pike? Which would have actually gained the USA MORE respect throughout the world? Which would actually have made you feel MORE safe? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Eric EMAIL: dkjf@gjkspam.com IP: 24.60.118.189 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:29:23 PM Weapons of Mass Delusion my friend Vanderleun, your faith-based adherance to Bush is like a sad Chinese communist, blind to reason or understanding, following whatever Bush says. When he says "Jump!" you say "HOW HIGH!?" Pathetic. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:39:09 PM Finally, an intelligent response. Thank you Scott... now it's time for me to tell you how you are wrong. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:42:37 PM And it is still going on. It says: Your comment submission failed for the following reasons: Your comment could not be submitted due to questionable content Please correct the error in the form below, then press Post to post your comment. I will try reloading the page. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:45:16 PM In what part of my comment did I endorse the movie "The Day After Tomorrow"? I never saw the movie myself, and even though I know alot of environmental people supported this film, I did not really care about it either way. As for global warming, basic knowledge of climatology tells us that global warming does not mean the temperature will be consistently warmer everywhere on the planet. The warming of certain parts of the earth can alter weather in other parts of the world. Thus, this unusually cool summer could actually be very well attributed to global warming (not to mention the record number of hurricanes, which result from surface warming in the Carribean, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.) I realize that China is polluting like crazy, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't do our part. As far as the causes for global warming, the fact is most atmospheric scientists agree that the majority cause has in fact been emissions from our factories. These natural causes of global warming have been around for thousands of years, yet it is only in the increased industrialization of the world that we have seen a departure from the earth's fairly consistent warming and cooling trends. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: JLP EMAIL: JLP@yahoo.com IP: 168.209.97.42 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:49:44 PM "That the American Flag will be seen around the world as it truly is -- the harbinger of freedom and the last, best hope of Earth." How DARE you be so arrogant? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:53:31 PM Scott, I know this seems ridiculous, but it keeps telling me it can't post my comment because of "questionable content." Must be that damned USA Patriot Act, I'll probably receive a visit from the FBI tomorrow. In essence, I tried to say (in many, many words) that I am a _________, and I believe ultimately capitalism will fail, because the working people will eventually become fed up with the wealth distribution, and set up a more fair system. I think we need more choice than just Republican/Democrat, as they both seem equally greedy to me. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but I swear I had a very large comment I was trying to post (the previous post is a part of it) but it won't let me post it. I need to go to bed though, so I wish you a good day. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: me EMAIL: nick_metts@yahoo.com IP: 205.143.139.37 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:57:51 PM Scott, I found out at least part of the reason why it would not let me post my comment, and it is because of the word that I intentionally left blank in my last post. The word is: s o c i a l i s t. I can't believe they will not allow me to post a comment with that word. They refer to it is "questionable material." What happened to free speech? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 12:12:11 AM Humm, that is very strange, but it seems to be correct. The word s o c i a l ist is not being accepted by the system. I say strange because the commenting system is protected from spam attacks by MT-blacklist. (Please believe me when I tell you that I see anywhere from 100 to 500 comment spam attacks a day here in the activity log.) It's not a "them" thing, but a computer program thing. And the thing is that the program is only supposed to deny posting if a phrase in the content matches a word, phrase, or url on the list. Now I've looked at the list, which is 2,438 items long and run a search against it and s o c i a l i s t isn't on it. If it was I'd take it off. So why is it doing this? Hey, do I have my super-computer programmer t-shirt on? No. I don't know why and unless someone else can explain to me why I have no way of knowing. But I'll look into it some more. Sorry for the system to be so frustrating, but the only alternative is to sit around all day and weed out comment spam by hand. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 12:18:45 AM I am the very model of a modern major socialist... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 12:23:07 AM AH HA! Oh, the irony. The rich, rich irony. It would seem, Nick,that the system objected to your use of "cialis" with "socialist." A hard fact, I know, but I have instructed the system to ignore the fact that, these days, socialists need cialis to hold their philiosphy up. You will pardon, I trust, my leetle joke at the expense of socialism. After all, it has played more than its share of leetle jokes on us over the years. And now, back to the fist fights..... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Richard A Johnson EMAIL: pepperfox@msn.com IP: 4.179.128.3 URL: http://msn DATE: 11/02/2004 03:19:52 AM THANK YOU FOR YOUR HONESTY AND DEDICATION TO ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE THAT HAVE GIVEN SO MUCH TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY! I TOO BELIEVE IN THE INTEGRITY OF OUR PRESIDENT AND MANY THAT SERVE UNDER HIS ADMINISTRATION. I HAVE WRITTEN SOME POETRY ABOUT HIM AND OUR EXPERIENCE SINCE 911 THAT HAS SEEMED TO STRIKE A NERVE IN THOSE THAT HAVE READ IT! IF ANYONE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN READING IT YOU CAN REQUEST IT BY EMAIL FROM PEPPERFOX@MSN.COM THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR CANDID PRESENTATION OF"50 REASONS TO VOTE FOR PRESIDENT BUSH!" MAY GOD BLESS YOUR EFFORTS TO REACH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AS WELL AS THOSE WHOM ARE OBSERVING US THIS DAY OF THE ELECTIONS. MR BUSH CERTAINLY WILL GET MY VOTE AND MY WIFES VOTE!!! THANK YOU!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Richard Jenkins EMAIL: tile-guys@mindspring.com IP: 63.189.145.48 URL: http://www.mindspring.com/~oceanfrontrental DATE: 11/02/2004 03:45:59 AM God Bless Our TROOPS & God Bless AMERICA ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Adam Lawrence - a father - EMAIL: Lurp23@hotmail.com IP: 64.0.120.18 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 04:23:06 AM Let each american realize that Bush is for nothing more than the prosperity of his corporate friends. He uses everything we hold dear as a carrot in front of our noses! God bless our troops by supporting a man who will bring our troops home quickly! Please vote KERRY / EDWARDS for a stronger america - ** I AM a registered Republican voter, and a patriot! I see a problem with our current government and its administration and will stand tall against it as a patriot would!!! Please, for your children giving their lives overseas, vote Kerry. Vote for someone who would not CUT their pay as your sons & daughters risk their lives! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Carmela DeNobile EMAIL: misscarmela7@aol.com IP: 64.12.116.203 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 04:50:53 AM We Will Never Forget! God Bless America and It's Spirit of Freedom for All. With a grateful heart, we say "Thank You" to our men and women who are fighting the terrorists overseas so that we don't have to fight them here in America. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ASHLIE FORD EMAIL: aford@dlbrownco.com IP: 66.0.231.186 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:07:08 AM TO EVERYONE WHO SPOKE OUT! AND TO THE GREAT PERSON THAT STARTED THIS E-MAIL GOD BLESS YOU! AND TO THE NEGATIVE! FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THEAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT WHO SO EVER SHALL BELIEVE WILL NOT PARISH BUT HAVE EVER LASTING LIFE, FOR THE NEGATIVE YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE! THATS WHAT'S SO WONDERFUL! IT WOULD BE AWFUL TO PUT ALL YOUR CARDS ON THE TABLE NOT ACKNOWLEDGING CHRIST AND THE BIBLE AND BURN IN HELL! THAT IS THE CHOICE YOU NEGATIVE PEOPLE NEED TO BE DECIDING ON! THE PRESIDENT IS THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES! AN ANGEL FOR THE LORD! GOD SPEED! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: T Waren EMAIL: twarren@charter.net IP: 146.115.130.252 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:19:56 AM These are all very good reasons NOT to vote for Bush. From the time he took office until 9/11, he did NOTHING to prevent terrorism--not so much as even meeting with his head of counter-terrorism. He has NO plans for taking our soldiers--who are DYING everyday--out of Iraq with honor or otherwise. He has taken his eye off the ball on Osama bin Laden (what happened to dead or alive?). He has created a ripe environment for new terrorist cells to develop in the Middle East. He tells you things are going well as civilian Americans and allies are being beheaded. He tells you the Iraqis are happy to have us there when it isn't true. He ignores the TRULY dangerous powers such as Korea. Bush is a dangerous man who claims to be a Christian but lied to the American people repeatedly including to start a war of a his choosing, where we too killed babies. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Man with brain EMAIL: man@chicago.com IP: 204.180.130.33 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:21:49 AM Who cares of a god? We're talking election and dirty politics! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Helen L EMAIL: hlittler@comcast.com IP: 68.40.21.193 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:22:30 AM George Bush IS A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. I wish the conservatives could see through him. Could see his true motives are selfish and not for the good of America. God help us all if he is re-elected! As for his religious side, he has changed his religious affiliation three times and I believe his strong beliefs are a farce to get re-elected. Remember, 911 happened on Bush's watch! Helen L. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: schapman EMAIL: schapman@sedgwick.gov IP: 205.172.12.219 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:27:18 AM Normally I do not respond to messages of this nature. However, when I got to the pictures of the devastation on 9/11/2001, all of the emotion and anger came back to the surface. As a child whose father survived Pearl Harbor, We should never ever forget the tragedy of 12/7/41 and the most recent tragedy of 9/11. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Exelsior EMAIL: gwb@whitehouse.gov IP: 24.215.226.175 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:38:05 AM The world is praying that the playground bully, Georgie Bush, is resoundingly vote out of office and driven out of town on a rail. Let wisdom prevail! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: *shaking head in shame* EMAIL: x@x.com IP: 12.222.75.176 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:43:26 AM You consent to the murder of those who are innocent , rather than submit and sacrifice everything in the name of Justice. I am not talking about your texas-walker-it-is-fun-kick-people's-ass-Justice. I am talking about the Truth. I pray that you will see the truth, for if you do not, you will not only perish, but I fear, be forever maimed and tortured by the flames of whatever awaits your soul in the afterlife. Though, you have some good intentions, such as preserving life, how can you advocate non-violence by adopting an attitude of violence. In my reasoning, you a misguided, ignorant soul. Every soul is capable of doing harm, good or misguided, though you, the misguided, are more willing to do harm. (yes, there are innocent deaths, you like to call them "collatoral damage" or the eggs of your rotten omlette) God gives me hope, the likes of which cannot be destroyed by small minded conservatives (or liberals). May god watch down upon this country and forgive us for our hate/war-mongering. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Mike EMAIL: mikem@hotmail.com IP: 63.64.158.20 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:44:27 AM Your all a bunch of Rednecks. Just because you vote Democrat, does not mean you are against the troops. You do not own 911. You are not real Republicans. I am against extremists, and Bush has hijacked the Republican party much as Bin Laden has hijacked Islam. Where has this Walmart, redneck mentality come from? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Joe EMAIL: jbyrne0910@aol.com IP: 63.144.144.141 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 06:55:36 AM Mike: Good luck to you with your surgery. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Justine Shelton EMAIL: misstina1258@aol.com IP: 68.17.121.19 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 07:31:14 AM While your pictures paint a vivid reality, I hate to tell you that we have very simiilar battles being fought by our youth in American streets. Street violence is at a all time high, unemployment as well. What good does it do to fight a battle half way around the world when our country is falling apart economically? Hopefully, after today we will be looking at the backs of Bush and his henchman Cheney as they beat a hasty retreat. Misstina ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Iowa EMAIL: DORMET@msn.com IP: 65.103.227.150 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 07:43:55 AM fas-cism/ any movement, tendency, or ideology that favors dictatorial government, repression of all opposition, and extreme nationalism dem-a-gogue/ a political leader who gains power by appealing to people's emotions and prejudices rather than their rationality prop-a-gan-da/ information or publicity put out to spread and promote a policy, idea, doctrine, or cause My thoughts on the 50 reasons? fascist demagogic propaganda. I'm an elitist, liberal, intllectual Democratic, marginally-patriotic (I left my flag up for a year after 9/11...then it was time to take it down), leaning-toward-agnostic (and an Iowa farm girl, who, oddly, has been living in Utah's 'Happy Valley' for the last 5 years)...and damn proud of all (except the Happy Valley part...). Part of me actually would like to see Bush re-elected, so he can try to clean up the mess he has made and fall flat on his face(plus we can always hope for impeachment); the other part of me isn't guite sure I can handle another four years of the fascist demagogic propaganda. Good job, "me" @ 0342PM on 11/1 for your quotes from Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt... both intellectuals who summed it up correctly. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 07:53:37 AM "(I left my flag up for a year after 9/11...then it was time to take it down)" At last I have a clear understanding of the the limits of patriotism. Thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Wisdom EMAIL: womack@msn.com IP: 65.240.108.2 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 07:55:24 AM Do your homework people. The United Nations is ineffective EXCLUSIVELY because the United States has made it that way. The US is one of the cornerstone members of the U.N. and has systematically crippled the U.N.'s effectiveness and capability in the world. To call the U.N. "corrupt" is to call the U.S. corrupt, which may be accurate, but it's not the institution's fault; it's the primary fault of the number one vigilante participant: USA ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 08:04:07 AM Thank you "Wisdom" Ah, yet another thing that is "America's fault." No doubt the evil US influence explains the consistent UN position on Isreal. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dan EMAIL: danielbritton23@hotmail.com IP: 66.36.20.22 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:12:37 AM I truly do not understand Pro Bush supporters at this stage of the game; I like most Americans looked to him after september 11th to lead our country. He could not have made a bad decision in my mind in the months after september 11th, he waited a patient 2 months before attacking Afganistan with the help of many countries. The world ran to our side, and looked to the U.S once again to lead as it has in the past. That was 3 years ago, now we are losing friends and allies across the world. We are becoming an isolationist country. George W. Bush has taken the American flag and replaced it with his face. He is the most hated politician globally since Hitler (dont believe me, take a trip to Europe, Asia ect.) In response to the picture essay designed to give you reason to vote for Bush, I say it is a travesty. Taking the grusome pictures of fallen soldiers and mutilated prisoners as some sort of compliment to the current leadership of our country makes me sick to the bone. You compliment a leader who aroagantly flew himself onto a Aircraft carrier and declared mission accomplished a year before some of those pictures were taken. The ignorance of current Bush supporters drips from each comment and posting they make, some still believe Al Queda had connections with Iraq. Question my patriotism will you, because I stand up for the lives of members of my generation to not be used and lost to validate false promises and line the pockets of cowards with the blood stained money of thousands killed. If Bush is re elected the worst is yet to come. Wake up America ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: SP EMAIL: Stacey_Perry13@hotmail.com IP: 12.159.8.17 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:15:33 AM George W. Bush has cloaked himself in the tragedy of 9/11 and all of you who support him are letting him get away with it. Neither candidate should benefit from evoking our emotions with images of that tragedy, least of all Bush who has said in a Press conference that he didn't know where Osama Bin Laden was and wasn't really worried about him. Those of you who support Bush have said yourselves that you are voting out of fear that we will have to fight terrorists on our own streets. Clearly, the Republican scare tactics have worked on you. John Kerry has said repeatly that he will hunt down and kill the terrorists in Afganistan. Noone has given any clear reason why we should not believe him. Bush has had over 3 years and he hasn't done it. What's he waiting for? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 08:21:59 AM Humm, I guess you just slept through or don't count the invasion, conquest, liberation, destruction of the Taliban, and recent elections in Afghanistan as proof enough. Seems to me that lots and lots of terrorists were killed there as well as elsewhere. But I imagine you think that only one terrorist counts and that if you just get him all the rest will say "Oh well, game over" and go home. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dan EMAIL: danielbritton23@hotmail.com IP: 66.36.20.22 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:31:40 AM Have you been to Afganistan? have you seen their "free society"? The fact of the matter is any President after september 11th would have invaded Afganistan. It was the easiest decision possible. Not once have I questioned the liberation of the Afgan people. However you throw that in my face as the Bush trump card, the real crime was the invasion of Iraq and the lies and fear mongering that made it politically impossible for any member of congress or the senate to vote against it, or to ask the questions that truly need to be asked before we risked the lives of our military. I had the distinct honor of working for Republican congressman Amo Houghton who voted against the Iraq war he saw through the fear and the lies, why cant the rest of you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: SP EMAIL: Stacey_Perry13@hotmail.com IP: 12.159.8.17 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:42:57 AM And which of these "lots and lots of terrorists" that were killed masterminded 9/11? We have proof bin laden is alive and still running his terrorist network. Iraq is now one big recruitment poster for terrorists. The problem is bigger not smaller. So you consider Saddam's fall a victory despite the thousands of insurgents who remain loyal to him and are now killing American troops, but its ok to leave bin laden alone as long as we get a few of the people who worked for him? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 08:46:24 AM No, it's not ok. But in this world, you don't get to always "make the thing work right now." And, Dan, we need Iraq for a lot of reasons. It wasn't a crime nor a lie, but a military necessity. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dan EMAIL: danielbritton23@hotmail.com IP: 66.36.20.22 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:49:38 AM Give me three reasons that Invading Iraq helped our standing in the world, our security at home and our ability to defeat a global network of terrorists. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pedro Chavez EMAIL: Pchavez@nmi.biz IP: 152.163.100.203 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:54:57 AM Thank you Sir for the 50 reasons, those pictures say it all. I rather die fighting for freedom, that to live as a slave of terrorits. GOD BLESS AMERICA Pedro ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: CATHY EMAIL: CUNDERWOOD@INDUSTRIALCHEM.COM IP: 66.0.33.130 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:54:57 AM THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ESSAY YOU POSTED ALL OF THE PICTURES REMIND US WHY WE ARE AT WAR AND THAT GOD DID GIVE US GEORGE BUSH TO LEAD US THROUGH ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pedro Chavez EMAIL: Pchavez@nmi.biz IP: 152.163.100.203 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:55:29 AM Thank you Sir for the 50 reasons, those pictures say it all. I rather die fighting for freedom, that to live as a slave of terrorits. GOD BLESS AMERICA Pedro ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 09:01:59 AM Reasons, Dan? Okay, here's a few: American Digest: WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Judi Hall EMAIL: judihall@landam.com IP: 206.211.110.217 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 09:05:53 AM Thank you so much for your pictures. If a picture is worth 1000 words, your essay was worth more than a millon. I am so proud to be an American for Bush. Judi, Houston, Texas ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Uncle Mikey EMAIL: mbolduc515@yahoo.com IP: 70.112.101.147 URL: http://unclemikey.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/02/2004 09:07:50 AM I'll play your sad little game, dan: 1. It made clear to those who wondered what we are willing to do to stop the spread of militant Islam and its supporters. 2. It put terrorists on the defensive, taking time away from their plans to spread terror to the US and elsewhere. 3. We've killed or incarcerated a lot of these people, and have concentrated the rest in a pretty small area, where we will kill or incarcerate even more. It's never been harder to be an Islamic terrorist. I understand you want a perfect world. The problem is that it's not available to you, because life is not a choice between the world you live in and a perfect world. Your argument seems to be that since Bush's solution isn't the perfect one, we should get rid of him. But it's really a choice between his solution and doing nothing at all, which is what we were doing for years despite continuous calls from prominent Democrats to spring into action against Saddam before it was too late. If you think Kerry's desire to return to pre-9/11 mode and let the UN lead the way is a better solution than W's, you're deeply ignorant of history, recent and otherwise. Don't be a petulant child about this stuff; start viewing the world in adult terms. You can either be mad about it or become part of a solution. You seem to have chosen the former. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: HDBrown EMAIL: B757ER@hotmail.com IP: 206.195.193.10 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 09:15:44 AM As an American of African descent, I view America in a slightly different light; many people are failing to remember their history....and are doomed to repeat their mistakes. If Bush is re-elected, the repeated disenfranchisement of ethnic minorities will continue. Note: African-Americans are the only segment of the population whose right to vote is NOT guaranteed by the Constitution. People are also forgetting the legacy of the Bush family: 1) Prescott Bush sold oil and coal to the Nazis in WW2 - if any other Americans had done so, they'd be called TRAITORS. 2) George Herbert Walber Bush was Director of the CIA....and along with J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, presided over the mass importation of drugs into ethnic minority neighborhoods (or has anyone forgotten Air America in Vietnam?). 3) Neil Bush, along with Charles Keating, STOLE $2 BILLION from the American taxpayer in the S&L scandal -- and Bush 41 pardoned Neil (a "get out of jail free card"). 4) John Ellis Bush (Jeb for those who don't know) presided over the disenfranchisement of over 56,000 African American voters in Florida in 2000 so that his brother could be selected by the Supreme Court that Bush 41 put in place. 5) Over 25,000 African American voters were disenfranchised in Missouri 6) Republicans in Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have PUBLICALLY stated that they MUST SUPPRESS the African American vote in ourder to ensure victory....and further disenfranchisements are ongoing in Florida....when Jeb sent the Florida State Patrol into Orlando to intimidate elderly African American voter. Economically, the Bushes desire low paying jobs for minorities, and pass tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. Because of Republican policies, I've lost my job three times, and have lost an aggregate earning capability of $50,000!! The War in Iraq was simple retribution to Saddam by Dubya for threatening his father; the REAL terrorist, Usama bin Laden, has yet to be caught....because the Bushes are beholding to the Saudis for their continued wealth. If the troops are dying in vain, it is because the strategy was very ill-conceived. I have a son who is presently stationed near Baghdad; he should NOT be there. For those who are myopic, Bush would be your choice; for those who can see all of the preiphery, Bush can NOT....and SHOULD NOT BE REELECTED!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: michael EMAIL: junk@snap2web.com IP: 12.175.5.133 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 09:40:53 AM Disgusting. Pictures of 9/11 to scare people. Can't you at least make a rational argument instead of these pictures? None of these photo's talk about Bush or Kerry's plans. This is not dicussion this is a bunch of pictures to scare you. Try saying your points with text so we can have a real conversation. Every photo tells me to get rid of bush anyway. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tara flanagan EMAIL: kazoo@comcast.net IP: 68.44.75.85 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 09:41:25 AM Hey Dan, 1) Other countries know when the USA says it will do something we mean it.(because pushing paperwork back and forth in the UN is meaningless) 2) Oil for food program, countries leaders are corrupt and now being exposed. I think these countries citizens and us would want to put honest problem solvers in place where worldly issues are supposed to be dealt with. 3) And with George Bush as Commander-in-Chief they all know now DON'T MESS WITH THE U.S.!!!! To me this is just the tip of the iceberg in how being pro-active about protecting innocent people is helping all of us. And if the U.S. picks Kerry I'll be right on board with him so long as he realizes doing nothing and not everything you can to defeat terrorism anywhere it grows like a cancer is dangerous to all of us. Take care and thanks for listening. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nicole EMAIL: nab2@pitt.edu IP: 130.49.5.179 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 09:50:23 AM Stop giving Dan bullshit answers. In no way is the war in Iraq telling anyone not to mess with the US. All it says is that we are a country on a hasty power trip. We have accomplished nothing over there if you really look at the situation. Killing people in no way constitutes success. I'd rather see someone with dimplomatic skills then a gun-toting idiot on a rampage taking care of what needs to be done. And if you still believe that it was necessary to go to Iraq then maybe you should be over there fighting the good fight. War just causes more devastation, why can't anyone see that? The "war" may have killed off some terrorists and some potential ones, but they are radical people. Killing one just causes more fury and they will come back stronger than ever. And I honestly believe that these men are very intelligent beings. They aren't going to rush into any attempt, they are going to plan it out well so that they accomplish what they sought out for. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stefan EMAIL: swede1284@aol.com IP: 200.207.43.200 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 09:56:11 AM Born in a liberal country of Sweden with: High teenage suicides, enormous taxes, big brother mentality, militant feminists, gay marriges, a joke of justice system where a murderer gets a few years in a 5 star "hotel standard prison", radical enviromentals, anti christ movements, world records in divorce, and the lowest marrige rate in any country. This is also the country whee children rules, where there is no respect for parents, teachers, or even the country.. Lets say you obey all laws and want to practize gun sports... well good luck in Sweden, They want to implement gun restrictions and licence on sling shots, knifes and a cross bow is not something you can buy without licence.. Do I want to live a liberal life? The answer is no, I am proud that my children can grow up to be Americans. I am proud to have served US Army and I am proud to have G.W Bush as President Stefan Larsson Iowa ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Robin EMAIL: robin0501@alltel.net IP: 67.141.129.139 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 10:09:30 AM I appreciate the pictures. Although we do not have to be reminded of any of the 9/11 events. Each picture makes me sad. Does that mean I shouldn't look at them? NO! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I honestly don't know which of the candidates would be best for the job at hand. I voted for the person that God lead me to vote for. There is so much good as well as bad in both of these candidates. I wish that someone would step up to the plate and make honest decisions that would be good for our great country. I haven't seen that happen in any of my adult years. They are all condemming of each other until they need one of them to be their running partner. Why can't they say what they can offer to their country rather than what their opponent can not offer. I hate the thought of all of our men and women fighting in that strange country. How said it must be for each of them as well as their families. Neither of them have been forced to do so. Each person over there offered to fight for their country! President Bush has not made any of these decisions all by himself. Voted for Bush ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: rohug EMAIL: rohug1@hotmail.com IP: 208.48.8.10 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 10:12:14 AM Another Vietnam I think not!!! It's time Bush was gone tho I doubt that Kerry will be able to end it any sooner. 4 more years of Bush economics and were in real trouble. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 10:15:42 AM Well then get used to disappointment. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: the scholar EMAIL: you@hotmail.com IP: 24.208.189.188 URL: http://giddyup DATE: 11/02/2004 10:35:58 AM Bush Caused 9/11 and is thriving in the following chaos, Skulls & Bones = W. A. R. education+awareness=TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! vote for a real American. Anyone but babykiller BUSH~SHIT. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dolores Walker EMAIL: dwalker@psychiatrist.com IP: 216.37.72.119 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 10:40:34 AM Mr. President Bush, The whole Walker family is behind you and we support you. Keep up the job you are doing for us and I know God will bless you and your family. We are here for you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Stop your B.S EMAIL: danielbritton23@hotmail.com IP: 66.36.20.22 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 10:58:57 AM God .... why do Bush supporters all seem to cite God, wasnt it Jesus who said "turn the other cheek". Wasnt it Jesus who even when his time on earth was coming to a close, never resorted to violence? Wasnt it Jesus who preeched and practiced a message of love and understanding? Wasnt it Jesus who said "all are welcome to gods table". It seems you religious zealots use your faith only when it is convenient to your message. If you were a true Christian (I am not and do not claim to be) After September 11th your response would have been in prayer and love, not violence. You "convservatives" are righteous hipocrites! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Amanda EMAIL: arose19@hotmail.com IP: 141.139.76.181 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 11:02:54 AM This really spoke to my heart! As a young Bush supporter, who didn't get registered in time to vote, I hope people see this and are as touched as I was. What a great country we live in. God bless America and our troops... Vote Christian - Vote Bush ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Uncle Mikey EMAIL: mbolduc515@yahoo.com IP: 70.112.101.147 URL: http://unclemikey.blogspot.com/ DATE: 11/02/2004 11:05:28 AM Man this thread has turned spiteful in places. Pre-defeat jitters I guess, hope reality doesn't descend too brutally for some to manage. Might get rough out there . . . ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hope EMAIL: hope123kol@yahoo.com IP: 63.150.111.50 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 11:19:16 AM I ended up on this website by accident, and while I will be wildly unpopular amongst the rest of your readers, I respectfully think you need to open your eyes to what's going on in the world. Those graphic pictures you chose to show will only keep popping up if we re-elect George Bush. I am truly offended that you would say our soldiers will die in vain if a new president is voted into office. I don't know who you think you are to call Spain cowards. This president has lied to us, put our soldiers in harms way, and has increased the hate of America throughout the world. Believe me, I understand the disaster that was September 11 and the atrocities that occur daily in the Middle East. I am proud to be American, but I am more proud to be a human being in this world. I would rather share this world in peace, than live day to day in fear of what will happen with George Bush in control. America is headed into a scary direction, and the only hope I can see is in the election of John Kerry. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: thomas jefferson davis EMAIL: papa_tommie@yahoo.com IP: 80.26.207.198 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 11:49:01 AM you are weak and terrified by your own impotence. how about some critical thinking instead of this blantant propaganda? -a true patriot ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tara EMAIL: kazoo@comcast.net IP: 68.44.75.85 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 11:53:55 AM hi nicole, i gave dan a respectful reply. now i will give you one also. i'm sure if you asked saddam today if he should have messed with the U.S. he would definately disagree. the united nations tried using diplomacy with saddam for 12 years. killing in war has lead to many people living freely which constitutes success to me. look at our own countries history, war was a road travel that lead to this countries success. although i am not over in iraq i respect all the military and i know most of them believe they are fighting the good fight and this is a worthy cause. they understand there is no diplomatic skills one can have to deal with, as you well put it, radical people. our war with terrorist in afghanistan i believe is a success. i believe that because afghan. women who did a ritual cleansing preparing for their possible death were able to vote. they respect the lives that were lost for their freedom and now they have hope. i wish people did not have to die, although history has proven fighting for freedom is a worthy cause. i feel the same way you do though that i wish there was another way. by the way a friend of mine lost his son in iraq and i hope everyone can find constructive critism to help our leaders. NO ONE IS RESPECTING OUR SOLDIERS BY FIGHTING BETWEEN EACH OTHER.MAKE AMERICA A POLITE PLACE TO KINDLY DISAGREE. take care all ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: xoxo EMAIL: xoxo@co.com IP: 68.175.247.129 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 11:55:27 AM GEORGE W. BUSH IS MY HERO! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: edhfdt EMAIL: 3rwe e4 @gdfsg.com IP: 64.252.156.71 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 12:03:51 PM why ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rebecca EMAIL: cherokee_dog@hotmail.com IP: 204.250.83.138 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 12:04:11 PM Thank you for the very moving photo essay. It is for all of those reasons that i am voting for John Kerry. Bush has made the world less safe not more. But i guess it's all a matter of perception. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: D. EMAIL: d_ament@hotmail.com IP: 216.56.60.81 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 12:18:42 PM I support the troops...my own little brother is fighting the fight. I support bring terrorists to their knees. I support making America a shining example of a democracy. For these reasons I cannot and will not support George Bush. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bryan Golba EMAIL: BRYANG34@HOTMAIL.COM IP: 204.87.181.191 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 12:24:34 PM The fifty reasons you give to vote for Bush is a disgrace. Half of those reasons would not be there if Bush did not get us into a war in the first place. Since we are a democratic society the other half of your reasons should apply to all of us. But if you wish to persuade me try giving concrete reasons regarding the economy, health care, taxes and the such. Until then stop with caking of pictures. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sad EMAIL: sad@yahoo.com IP: 216.10.97.56 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 12:29:19 PM "Kerry trolls, righ wing fascists, zealots, war mongers, Bushies..." Doesn't anybody have any decency or respect anymore? Is the anonymous nature of the internet what makes you show your true, ugly selves? I am truly embarrassed to be an American. We all need to go back and read the Gettysburg Address. Meaningful debate is one thing, but this is the most disgusting thread I've ever read. Go ahead, lambast me for saying I'm embarrassed, tell me to go to live in Pakhistan, call me a plinko commie. Then go back and congratulate yourself on how you really nailed me. What a great country - no where else on the earth can someone so freely disseminate hatred and venom. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jackie EMAIL: jackiefntn@yahoo.com IP: 65.173.147.153 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 12:42:26 PM I LOVE GEORGE BUSH!!!!! 4 MORE YEARS!!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill EMAIL: wdmces@aol.com IP: 69.152.197.233 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 12:56:59 PM People need to stop voting based upon their pocketbook and start thinking about the security of this country. All the money you make will just allow your relatives enough to buy you a larger toomstone and an empty epetath. God bless America, and God bless our President. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Versos EMAIL: anipol@yahoo.com IP: 207.215.212.247 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:00:21 PM Your ignorance as to what transpired in Spain is overwhelming. The Spaniards made an incredibly courageous decision to question their government, to question Bush, to stand up to the bully american government, to stand up for what is right for the Spanish people. The train explosions were a criminal act carried out by evil people, but instead of succumbing to their level, as americans have done, the Spanish people declared they were better than that. What did Sadam have to do with 9/11? i'm still waiting for a republican to answer that question. yuxtaposing pictures of iraq and 9/11 is misleading and manipulative, or at best, ignorant. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Judith EMAIL: basketlady@austin.rr.com IP: 24.173.73.142 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:04:33 PM George W got my vote! I would rather have a president that thinks things through and comes to a rational decision, than one that makes a snap decision we would regret for a very long time. Kerry is not presidential material! Go GW Go! Judith ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lorraine EMAIL: SmokeysLorraine@aol.com IP: 64.12.117.5 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:13:17 PM I have already replied to this message within the columns themselves. God Bless America and May God bless the man who wins. I have seen all 50 reasons and I agree since I a New Yorker who watched part of my life come crumbling down on Sept. 11th. For those of you who do not live here and did not see it you will never feel or understand the impact it has had on our lives and our way of living. Our streets are now being named after lost Firefighters and lost Fireman. Children lost their parents. Parents lost their children. Neighbors lost their neighbors. I need to feel safe and I will not feel safe with a new man in office. People have to stop and SEE and not Listen too much. If you SEE what is on this site now then you will truly understand, at least I hope you will.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lorraine EMAIL: SmokeysLorraine@aol.com IP: 64.12.117.5 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:14:10 PM I have already replied to this message within the columns themselves. God Bless America and May God bless the man who wins. I have seen all 50 reasons and I agree since I a New Yorker who watched part of my life come crumbling down on Sept. 11th. For those of you who do not live here and did not see it you will never feel or understand the impact it has had on our lives and our way of living. Our streets are now being named after lost Firefighters and lost Fireman. Children lost their parents. Parents lost their children. Neighbors lost their neighbors. I need to feel safe and I will not feel safe with a new man in office. People have to stop and SEE and not Listen too much. If you SEE what is on this site now then you will truly understand, at least I hope you will.. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jake EMAIL: reddish@earthling.net IP: 195.175.37.55 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:29:16 PM Don't you think that guy on the motorcycle ever broke a law? Haven't you? Why are you the 'good'? Why doesn't Bush serve the jail time he 'owes' the country for his cocaine habit? Hypocritical and arbitrary junk, this site. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Aaron Groenewold EMAIL: agroenewold@pageud.k12.az.us IP: 63.228.155.254 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:31:08 PM So let me get this right, Bush is going to make our soldiers come back with honor but Kerry isn't? I see no facts (anywhere, about any of these claims) to support this or show why Kerry wouldn't bring them back with honor. Bush is going to make that soldier not to have died in vain over....oil? Freedom for Iraqis? I have yet to see a free Iraq or any signs that Iraq will be free and stable any time in the near future. Even the Green Zone isn't as safe as it used to be assumed to be. Iraq has become a crossing ground and recruiting ground for terrorists. That men such as the Husseins and Bin Laden hunted down? The Husseins are no worse than many of the dictators in our world, and what are we doing about the others? What made the Husseins and Iraq so special? The WMD? The threat to our country? I haven't seen any of that. This war distracted from our war on Osama and Al Qaeda. We hired Afghanistan warlords to hunt down Osama and took the majority of our troops out of Afghanistan for Iraq before we had obtained the mastermind of 9-11??? Utterly ridiculous. That those who use children to perform suicide attacks would be killed? Iraq had no ties to terrorism, nor did they use children to attack. Saddam was too much of a dictator to allow terrorists to exist in his country. Terrorism is thriving now, though, and we see children cheering on the hanging of burned American corpses from bridges. That the American Flag will be seen around the world as it truly is -- the harbinger of freedom and the last, best hope of Earth? America's Image AROUND THE WORLD has decreased in terms of respect. Check out other media publications on the web from other countries. You'll be surprised what our media doesn't tell us, and how different their views are. Why do the Republicans keep using these scare tactics to influence the vote? Yes, terrorism is important and home security is important, but there are many other issues to address. Plus, I'd think Bush would downplay his war on terror, since invading Iraq has only made terrorism worse and our situation more precarious. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nicole EMAIL: nab2@pitt.edu IP: 130.49.5.179 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:41:26 PM "I would rather have a president that thinks things through and comes to a rational decision, than one that makes a snap decision we would regret for a very long time." WOW reason enough right there to vote for Kerry. Bush said he'd go to war as a last resort, but that was not the case. He went hastily without any thought, without any real planning. So how does that justify your need for a rational decision making president? I think you need to think things through and come to a real rational decision. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 01:44:50 PM Months and months of military and logistical buildup. Endless trips to the UN. Warning after warning across months and months. Went hastily? Perhaps if you tend to think in geologic time frames. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: saudis_knocked_em_down EMAIL: america@kerryedwards.com IP: 4.20.98.115 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:45:08 PM When the British tried to control our homeland and kill our children we called ourselves patriots...don't be a hypocrite. Wake up America...Liberty lies dying in your own backyard. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Melissa Davis EMAIL: m_d@yahoo.com IP: 152.19.52.146 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:55:01 PM Thank you for the pictorial. I am reminded that this is a great country in which to be free. I am thankful to God for the freedom I have to have my voice heard. The minds and hearts of many Americans have been hardened, and many have forgotten what sets us apart from the majority of the rest of the world...our freedom. If you choose to close your mind, then you are not exercising your right as an American. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Brian EMAIL: windhover3@yahoo.com IP: 158.70.173.46 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:56:48 PM This reads very much like 50 reasons to elect John Kerry. George Bush seems intent on doing everything in his power to strengthen radical Islam. He has ignored the true threats while generating new ones. Why, when we were confronting a terrorist threat from radical muslims did he decide to overthrow a secular anti-islamist leader? We now have galvanized hatred against the United States. We have lost 1,500 Americans to terrorists by puting them in positions where they can be attacked. We have taken a country where terrorists were ruthlessly repressed, and created a space where thirty percent of the land is now open to any terrorist who decides to plant a tent. I genuinely want an end to the atrocities... I hope Kerry is elected so that this end is furthered. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jim J EMAIL: karvrman@yahoo.com IP: 167.83.101.22 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 01:59:15 PM Well I read all this banter from on side to the other and after everything is said and done Any person can sift through data days, months, years, after the fact and said woulda should coulda done somthing different. Each person has to make there own decisions everyday. What are your decisions Most everyone has there mind made up and will only see it from there point of view and no matter who is in office those to do not like that person will see bad and vise versa. We are a divided country. and no amount of outside influence will tear us down if America falls it will be from the inside. Because no one is wrong and there is no options expect the option that each person has and neither side is willing to budge. Someone before mentioned the Gettysburg, The love for each other that was a founding cornerstone of this country had faded away and we are left with nothing. It does not matter who is in office if we as individuals do not take responsibility for ourselves our children instead of pointing fingers at everyone else this great country will rot from the inside out. It is time for this country to just grow up ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Migdalia EMAIL: Dazja7@aol.com IP: 152.163.100.203 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:01:05 PM I am a first time voter, I already know that I am voting KERRY-EDWARDS!!! 110%, But if I were undecided and saw you little photo album, I'd defintly be pursuaded to go for Kerry. You placed a bunch of pictures that are basically stating "This is what has happed since GWB was elected.... Not too smart buddy ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Kids!! EMAIL: Jay@yahoo.com IP: 167.83.101.22 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:13:21 PM Migalia- Yes a first time “uninformed” voter if you really looked at the pictures you would see beyond yourself and see that this has been going on since the beginning of time! As time goes on and you grow older I only hope you grow smarter. The intelligence level was displayed perfectly by you!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Todd Chaeny EMAIL: toddchaney@casneragency.com IP: 66.208.247.131 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:23:31 PM Thank you so much for your essay. How soon so many forget the infamous day of 9/11 and how America under President Bush reacted. Keep praying that America remains strong in standing up for freedom. God Bless George Bush and God Bless America! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Todd Chaney EMAIL: toddchaney@casneragency.com IP: 66.208.247.131 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:24:11 PM Thank you so much for your essay. How soon so many forget the infamous day of 9/11 and how America under President Bush reacted. Keep praying that America remains strong in standing up for freedom. God Bless George Bush and God Bless America! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Saying_It_the_way_it_is EMAIL: NotTelling@whatthefuck.com IP: 24.20.89.119 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:24:59 PM "George Bush could have prevented 9/11. He chose not to. "George Bush could have tracked down Osama Bin Laden. He chose not to. George Bush could have listened to the world's conscience when the largest gathering of protesters ever stood up against his desicion to bomb Iraq. He chose not to".... Clinton choose NOT TOO do a damn thing the FIRST TIME the towers were attacked, Bush inherited Clinton's mess {Yeah the market started to TANK at the end of Clinton's term} Bush has done very well considering what he had to deal with. Unlike his predecessor. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Phil Sisk EMAIL: Pnrsisk@intergate.com IP: 67.36.134.2 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:30:34 PM I'm a Vietnam vet "Infantry", and a Christian. God bless you and Pres. Bush, and this great country we live in.Kerry would turn it all over to the UN. If Kerry wins , cash in your chips folks, it's all over. Go Bush. Let us remain free. Phil S. from Indiana ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Phil Sisk EMAIL: Pnrsisk@intergate.com IP: 67.36.134.2 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:31:04 PM I'm a Vietnam vet "Infantry", and a Christian. God bless you and Pres. Bush, and this great country we live in.Kerry would turn it all over to the UN. If Kerry wins , cash in your chips folks, it's all over. Go Bush. Let us remain free. Phil S. from Indiana ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sarah EMAIL: thomasj56@hotmail.com IP: 63.230.196.17 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:37:55 PM I believe GWB does not make a decision without praying and asking for guidance from God first. He knows we pray for him because he says he can feel it. I know he will make the best decisions he knows how. GWB is a good man and a good leader. I believe in my heart that as Americans we are basically good and will make the right decision today. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Sarah EMAIL: thomasj56@hotmail.com IP: 63.230.196.17 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 02:38:14 PM I believe GWB does not make a decision without praying and asking for guidance from God first. He knows we pray for him because he says he can feel it. I know he will make the best decisions he knows how. GWB is a good man and a good leader. I believe in my heart that as Americans we are basically good and will make the right decision today. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: William P Benson EMAIL: wpbenson@optonline.net IP: 24.190.55.104 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 03:09:18 PM I believe the President thought one day that he could not take a chance on the weapons that Sadam had stored in Iraq. He truly believed that Sadam had WMD's; everyone thought he had those weapons and that is what really gets me so mad with John Kerry. To state that the president new that there were no WMD's; is just so untrue; that I could never vote so such a person. John Kerry is a liar and such a big liar and democrats don't give a shit;It is a little sick on their part; Let't hope we can pull this one out and may the better man win and please we need God's help with anything we do. I also hope we do raise the minimum raise(Why raise this question here?) because we can't keep allowing americans make less than a more livable wage. I know Bush is not for this but we need it. and we need less abortion not more. We need more adoption. We need to spend less money on pork and trim the fat from the budget. God bless you all and let us hope our prayers are answered. Posted by William P Benson at 11/02/04 6:08 PM ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Michelle EMAIL: aka_me_yume@yahoo.com IP: 68.52.122.37 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 03:16:42 PM After reading your overly dramatic blog and a few of the blindly patriotic comments, I must say I am shocked by the ethnocentric views that many americans have. I have personally lived and experienced the beauty of ethnic and cultural diffrences in many diffrent countries throughout the world, and I must say that such comments universally offend any well-cultured humanbeing. To suggest that the world would be a better place, grateful of "freedom" brought by our beloved American flag, would be absurd. Our promises of freedom are hollow; America ultimately aims to economically subjugate the lesser nations of the world..and if you ask me, that's no freedom. To all of you ignorantly-patriotic americans I only have this to say: Get a plane ticket, and go somewhere you've never been before. See the truth that is out there. The places where the destroying hands of america have not touched and ruined. Live life as it was meant to be lived. And remember, America, the juvenile country of all countries. America, the rebellious teenager. America IS the bigger terrorist. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Brad EMAIL: b_beerbohm@hotmail.com IP: 208.243.124.128 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 03:54:57 PM All I can say is this is absolutely pathetic. How easy is it to put up pictures of terrorists, attrocities and dead children and then say "See this, George Bush is against this. If you're against this, George is your man!" Yes, without a doubt, our service men and women are brave and patriotic beyond words, and these terrorist extremists are just as evil. But the thing that has blown me away this election is Bush supporter's inability to look deeper into the issues. Like sheep, they buy into this administration's rhetoric of fear. They put up or create images like the ones here and hope the american public will just go with it unquestioned. Of couse, we need to do everything in our power to eradicate images like these, but that isn't a partisan issue. Both canidates want to and will take every measure to see that these terrorists are stopped. But for you to pull heartstrings and then claim that Bush is the answer is just plain wrong and despicable. And if your answer is "Well, I just think Bush will do a better job." Are you living in a Biosphere? Do you hear and see the reports of ill equipped soldiers? The shifting of a war to country that had nothing to do with 9/11? The miscalculations regarding the number of troops needed? WMD's? The lack of foresight regarding giving muslims a reason to join the insurgency? I mean, come on, all you have to have is have eyes and ears. It seems Republicans can't/don't want to see that Iraq was never involved in the events of 9/11. Bin Laden is still galavanting around Afghanistan/Pakistan. Bush used "The war on Terror" as an excuse to facilitate a take over of Iraq that Wolfowitz and Rove had planned even before 9/11. He's taken troops away from the search for the mastermind of 9/11 and sent them thousands of miles away to take over a country that had nothing to do with it, and in the process, has created animosity that has without a doubt created even more terrorists. Bush making you safer? Please. He's bolstered terrorist recruitment like never before. He's created more terrorists. Mis-steps like this are common-place for this administration. WMD's? Um...not there. The Iraqis, welcoming us with flowers and parades? Not quite working out that way. Wolfowitz and Bush's vision of a smaller, faster fighting force? We're on the verge of sending thousands of more troops. That's what I can't get about these Republican supporters. All they have to do is read a newspaper or turn on the news and see how ineptly this war (which never should have occured in the first place) has been run. It's all there in black and white, and they refuse to see reality. Instead, they just hear Bush droning on and on about how well the war is going, standing in flight suits in front of a "mission accomplished" sign and how it's all going according to plan. It's like this president, his administration and his supporters are all living in some parallel universe. And it steams me even more to think of America's youth being sent over to die on the questionable logic of an arrogant cowboy who has never seen day one actual combat. Hey, don't get me wrong, if we were fighting the right fight, I would have no problem. But he wrapped this war up in "The war on Terrorism," and uninformed republicans supporters bought it. Maybe they were just too busy looking at rhetoric laced pictures to see the facts that are staring them in the face. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: disgusted EMAIL: disgusted@yahoo.com IP: 24.7.46.3 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 05:29:53 PM If Bush wins it will categorically prove that there is no God. By the fundamentalists' own definition He is an all knowing, all caring, all loving God. No God that fits this description would allow such a complete moron to keep the most powerful job on earth after the mess he's made of it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Holly EMAIL: hrezell@earhtlink.net IP: 4.225.90.3 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 05:41:32 PM Pictures are worth a thousand words. Clinton had a chance to stop Bin Laden for eight years, but the liberals wanted to be diplomatic. I am over the liberal ways. During the Carter years, my husband and I had a home interest rate of 15.5% on our first home. During the Clinton years, our health care (thru my husbands work) costs rose, while the coverage lessened. We were able this year to change to an insurance plan with great coverage at $2.00 less per week. We are of working middle class americans. I am an unemployed airline worker. But, will vote Demorcrat when HELL freezes! NOT! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: SapphirePhoenix EMAIL: saphirphoenix@yahoo.com IP: 4.152.156.9 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 08:26:03 PM There are a lot of things wrong with the old Clintion administration and there are a lot of things wrong with the current Bush administration, too. No doubt there will be a lot of things wrong with an administration run by Kerry. Still I hope and preay that God will have mercy on OUR souls should George W. Bush win the 2004 election. Bush is the closest thing to the Anti-Christ that my generation has seen. I seriously doubt any of you that are pro-Bush have watched the movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" and those of you that have seen most likely dismissed it as hogwash and propaganda. I feel for all the innocent that have lost their lives as a result of the attacks on 9/11 and I do think that a response was needed for the devastation that was caused. I was once proud to be an American and now I am ashamed. Ashamed that the most powerful sountry on the face of the planet thinks it has the right to be the parent of the world. The Iraqi people did need to be freed, but not at the cost. The attacks on Iraq were nothing more than a diversion to take minds off the fact that Bin Laden eluded us time and again. Our economy is the worst it has ever been since the Great Depression, and Republicans want to blame that on Clinton. It's not his fault. The fault lies with the G. W. Bush. He has destroyed this country, and most are blind to that because he prmoised tax cuts for the middle class. He promised them and "provided" them so that you got a few hundred dollars back. You didn't notice that that tax break was written so the wealthiest people in the country got millions (and in some cases billions) of dollars in savings. People who didn't need the money got it anyway. Whereas people like myself have struggled for the past 4 years to make it from paycheck to paycheck. No, there is no justice in this country for me, or for anyone like me. I will likely never know the equal rights that I am promised by the US Constitution, and I will always have Christianity force-fed to me although it is not my chosen religion. The rest of the people of the US and the world will always have Christianity force-fed to them although one of the basic principles that founded this country was freedom of religion. If there was no war right now, this election would stand on one thing alone - religion. It would be based on a religion that very few people in this world truly have an understanding of, and I am proud to say that my eyes were opened years ago. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: J EMAIL: j@j.com IP: 68.230.67.166 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 10:55:58 PM Children have been murdered on both sides. Bush is no better than any other terrorist. He kills for vengeance and "God," they kill for vengeance and "God." Neither are reasonable. Both are despicable. the American flag will always be seen as a symbol of greed and regarded with hatred as long as U.S. citizens like yourself retains your arrogance. Don't kid yourself, your ethnocentrism makes you a blind fool. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 10:59:33 PM But, at the end of the day, an American one. And proud to be so. I've given my reasons and many here have given theirs. And now the people have given their answer. "In the night, and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people march: "Where to? what next?" Thank you all for coming. This thread is now closed. What next? ----- PING: TITLE: REASONS TO VOTE FOR THE OIL WHORE PART 2 URL: http://badexample.mu.nu/archives/051005.php IP: 64.91.238.2 BLOG NAME: Bad Example DATE: 10/20/2004 05:43:49 AM Gerard of American Digest has 50 reasons to vote for George Bush, in both words and pictures. Some of the images are graphic and/or disturbing and some deal with 9/11, so you'll need to be feeling particularly strong to view... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons URL: http://www.fringeblog.com/archives/2004/10/20/50_reasons IP: 69.6.196.1 BLOG NAME: Fringe DATE: 10/20/2004 06:33:25 AM Gerard Van der Leun gives 50 reasons why he'll be voting for Bush. It's a poignant list.... ----- PING: TITLE: You want reasons to vote for Bush? URL: http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2004/10/you_want_reason.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Brutally Honest DATE: 10/20/2004 06:33:51 AM Dennis Prager gives a handful: John Kerry was described by Lynne Cheney as "not a good man" after Kerry used the Cheney daughter's sexual orientation to score political points. She may be right. As William Safire writes, "The sleazier ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons Why URL: http://www.mikelief.com/archives/000089.html IP: 63.247.142.244 BLOG NAME: Out on a limb at Mike Lief.com DATE: 10/20/2004 07:34:33 AM Gerard Vanderleun has compiled 50 Reasons Why, a powerful summation of the reasons why we must triumph in our fight against the forces of evil. Check it out.... ----- PING: TITLE: Why we fight URL: http://www.technochitlins.com/mt-archives/000587.html IP: 66.216.102.163 BLOG NAME: TechnoChitlins DATE: 10/21/2004 09:24:34 AM Gerard Vanderleun has a post up giving 50 reasons why we fight. Absolutely awesome. Read entire.... ----- PING: TITLE: Fifty Reasons Why URL: http://www.bootsandsabers.com/index.php/weblog/comments_w_sidebars/fifty_reasons_why/ IP: 63.247.134.231 BLOG NAME: Boots and Sabers DATE: 10/22/2004 08:16:57 AM Vanderleun at American Digest gives his 50 reasons why he's voting for George W. Bush. I couldn't agree more. ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 10/22/2004 09:26:51 AM Previous Items of Interest @ American Digest Coin of the PC Realm Cruising Off Baja, Part I Goodbye to the Way We Were I Am the Very Model of A Modern Kerry Democrat Lindbergh's Grave Memo from Israel to Palestine New York Life: An Exhibition and Open ... ----- PING: TITLE: Fifty Reasons Why URL: http://www.cabalofdoom.com/archives/001262.html IP: 207.44.156.93 BLOG NAME: Cabal of Doom DATE: 10/22/2004 04:56:02 PM Fifty reasons to vote for President Bush. Hat tip: Kerry Haters... ----- PING: TITLE: Fifty Reasons Why URL: http://www.cabalofdoom.com/archives/001262.html IP: 207.44.156.93 BLOG NAME: Cabal of Doom DATE: 10/22/2004 04:56:12 PM Fifty reasons to vote for President Bush. Hat tip: Kerry Haters... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 reasons to vote for Bush. (American Digest) URL: http://www.dummocrats.com/links/?d=2004-10-23 IP: 66.98.158.61 BLOG NAME: Dummocrats.com DATE: 10/22/2004 11:06:50 PM 50 reasons to vote for Bush. (American Digest) ----- PING: TITLE: Vanderleun at American Digest gives his 50 reasons why he’s voting for George W. Bush. (via Boots and Sabers) URL: http://www.dummocrats.com/links/?d=2004-10-23 IP: 66.98.158.61 BLOG NAME: Dummocrats.com DATE: 10/22/2004 11:07:18 PM Vanderleun at American Digest gives his 50 reasons why he’s voting for George W. Bush. (via Boots and Sabers) ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons to Vote for Bush URL: http://www.beautifulatrocities.com/2004/10/chers-been-reading-andrew-sullivan-all.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: Beautiful Atrocities DATE: 10/23/2004 06:51:05 PM Photo montage: 50 Reasons to Vote for Bush ----- PING: TITLE: 50 thousand words URL: http://www.sondrak.com/archive/003635.html IP: 66.112.160.63 BLOG NAME: Knowledge Is Power: SondraK.com DATE: 10/25/2004 05:05:22 PM here, I'll draw you a picture....... ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 10/27/2004 10:21:03 PM Previous Items of Interest @ American Digest WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective. Coin of the PC Realm Cruising Off Baja, Part I Goodbye to the Way We Were I Am the Very Model of A Modern Kerry Democra... ----- PING: TITLE: Fifty Reasons To Vote For Bush URL: http://sayanythingblog.com/archives/004780.php IP: 66.152.98.24 BLOG NAME: Say Anything DATE: 10/30/2004 11:15:00 PM Here's fifty reasons to vote for George W. Bush. In pictures, no less. Here is my personal favorite. Because the people responsible for dressing that baby as a suicide bomber before it can even walk are the same people we're... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons Why URL: http://jameshudnall.com/archives/002333.html IP: 67.120.136.66 BLOG NAME: Hud's Blog-O-Rama DATE: 10/31/2004 12:17:43 AM Someone who has voted Democrat all his life wants to tell you 50 reasons why to vote for Bush. In pictures. It's very moving.... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons to Vote for Bush URL: http://www.sneakeasysjoint.com/sneakeasy/2004/10/50_reasons_to_v.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Sneakeasy's Joint DATE: 10/31/2004 12:43:09 AM Vanderleun, of the Blog American Digest has a brilliant statement, in Photographs, that says it all for why George W. Bush should be re-elected. A must see! Fifty Reasons Why. ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 10/31/2004 01:09:09 AM Previous Items of Interest @ American Digest WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective. PATIENCE PLEASE: An American Empire Takes Time YEARNING FOR THE MUD: The Kerry-Heinz Ticket and the Psychotic Party Pla... ----- PING: TITLE: http://teachersramblings.blogspot.com/2004/10/phot URL: http://www.americandigest.org/mt-new/mt-tb.cgi/1932 IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: Teacher's Ramblings DATE: 10/31/2004 01:25:53 AM (via Instapundit, Vanderleun at American Digest has a photo essay posted, dated 11/2/04, that brought me to tears. ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons to Vote for Bush photoblog URL: http://mitm.piquant.us/000146.html IP: 66.117.40.11 BLOG NAME: Man in the Middle DATE: 10/31/2004 02:03:55 AM This link is powerful, all in photos. And written by one who has never before voted for a Republican Presidential candidate. Just have a look please.... ----- PING: TITLE: Saturday, October 30, 2004 11:47 PM URL: http://w-uh.com/index.cgi/posts/041030a.html IP: 4.35.82.118 BLOG NAME: Critical Section DATE: 10/31/2004 03:00:51 AM Are you still trying to decide who to vote for? No, I didn't think you were. But if you were, Gerard Van der Leun has Fifty Reasons Why (in pictures). My favorite is on the right.... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 reasons to vote for Bush URL: http://roeddog.com/index.php?p=10 IP: 66.103.135.2 BLOG NAME: Roeddog {W} rites DATE: 10/31/2004 05:13:31 AM Still not convinced to vote Bush? Maybe this will convince you American Digest ----- PING: TITLE: Compelling URL: http://coldfury.com/index.php?p=5028 IP: 66.159.239.140 BLOG NAME: Cold Fury DATE: 10/31/2004 05:54:48 AM On the off chance that you haven’t seen it already, I hereby ----- PING: TITLE: 50 reasons to vote for George W. Bush URL: http://virginiapolitics.blogspot.com/2004/10/50-reasons-to-vote-for-george-w-bush.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: Commonwealth Conservative DATE: 10/31/2004 06:48:05 AM In pictures. (ht to Instapundit). ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons to Vote URL: http://www.cenedella.com/stone/archives/001463.html IP: 66.45.226.195 BLOG NAME: Stone DATE: 10/31/2004 07:54:35 AM Fifty Reasons Why... ----- PING: TITLE: You must see this URL: http://www.techievampire.net/wppol/index.php?p=631 IP: 216.180.224.114 BLOG NAME: Poisoning Pigeons DATE: 10/31/2004 08:33:39 AM 50 Reasons Why at American Digest Go now! ----- PING: TITLE: Never forget URL: http://www.pdawwg.com/blog/archives/000851.html IP: 63.247.132.5 BLOG NAME: Peppermint Patty DATE: 10/31/2004 08:47:59 AM American Digest has Fifty Reasons Why to vote for Bush. Go read it and look at it, and never, ever forget. Then go to Crush Kerry and watch this and remember the last four years, from the time of the... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 reasons why... URL: http://www.centerfeud.com/centerfeud/2004/10/50_reasons_why.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: CenterFeud DATE: 10/31/2004 10:00:03 AM 50 reasons why George W. Bush should be re-elected. In photos. Don't miss it. ----- PING: TITLE: A Pictorial Endorsement URL: http://www.indcjournal.com/archives/001242.php IP: 209.123.8.147 BLOG NAME: INDC Journal DATE: 10/31/2004 11:19:48 AM 50 Reasons to Vote for George Bush... ----- PING: TITLE: A Moving Photo Essay: URL: http://www.okieonthelam.com/index.php?p=112 IP: 216.134.222.160 BLOG NAME: OKIE on the LAM — In LA DATE: 10/31/2004 11:50:51 AM (Heads up: Powerline) American Digest: Fifty Reasons Why Posted by Vanderleun at November 2, 2004 02:35 PM on Americandigest.org. ----- PING: TITLE: Pre-Election Stuff To Read URL: http://jeffbrokaw.net/archive1/001000.html IP: 63.247.134.246 BLOG NAME: Notes & Musings DATE: 10/31/2004 01:37:54 PM Being busy with real life today — fixing up my basement into a workshop and putting up shelves for storage and all that rot — I don't have time to sit at a computer and vent vitriol about all the... ----- PING: TITLE: Show Trila #21 URL: http://acepilots.com/mt/archives/001456.html IP: 216.193.202.220 BLOG NAME: The Politburo Diktat DATE: 10/31/2004 01:49:28 PM Even tired old celebration of Halloween, of course inspired by the opiate of the masses, fails to stop the countrer-revolutionatries from spewing their drivel. These bloggers must be called to account! Razor-stuffed apples for all of them: Cowboy Blob,... ----- PING: TITLE: Res ipsa loquitur URL: http://www.know-where-to-go.com/blog_archives/000066.html IP: 216.99.212.52 BLOG NAME: Murphy's Blog DATE: 10/31/2004 02:08:50 PM Casus belli: American Digest: Fifty Reasons Why... ----- PING: TITLE: More Reasons to Re-elect the President URL: http://eaglespeak.blogspot.com/2004/10/more-reasons-to-re-elect-president.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: EagleSpeak DATE: 10/31/2004 02:33:32 PM American Digest offers up 50 great reasons to re-elect the President ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons To Vote For George Bush URL: http://www.pandagon.net/mtarchives/003848.html IP: 66.250.68.52 BLOG NAME: Pandagon DATE: 10/31/2004 03:09:27 PM Actually, it's just one big one: FEAR, BITCHES!... ----- PING: TITLE: Fifty Reasons to Vote for Bush URL: http://theleftrightdebate.com/archives/2004/10/31/fifty-reasons-to-vote-for-bush/ IP: 69.44.56.243 BLOG NAME: The Left Right Debate DATE: 10/31/2004 03:16:45 PM from American Digest, a photo essay. (Warning some graphic realities depicted.) via INDC. ----- PING: TITLE: Pictorial Endorsement: Why You Must Vote For Bush URL: http://ace.mu.nu/archives/052624.php IP: 67.19.5.2 BLOG NAME: Ace of Spades HQ DATE: 10/31/2004 06:35:14 PM Must read post from American Digest. You will not be disappointed.... ----- PING: TITLE: Fifty Reasons Why URL: http://wheelgun.blogspot.com/2004/10/fifty-reasons-why.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: TFS Magnum DATE: 10/31/2004 07:08:29 PM You won't be disappointed ----- PING: TITLE: War and American illusions URL: http://illusionfree.com/weblog/index.php/no_illusions/niperm/20041031_war_illusion/ IP: 66.36.229.134 BLOG NAME: No Illusions DATE: 10/31/2004 10:12:06 PM What's at issue in this election: From American Digest, a pictorial essay: Reflect on this if you think that our mistakes in Iraq are a reason to vote for someone who wants to treat war as a nuisance. By all means, let's issue more subpoenas.... ----- PING: TITLE: Why I'm partial to this Cowboy and why you should vote for him. URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/001661.html IP: 69.93.229.10 BLOG NAME: Mudville Gazette DATE: 11/01/2004 04:20:15 AM Reason 1:In the past three years, he has done more to advance the cause of women's rights around the world than all of the liberal supporting "feminists," ACLU lawyers, Hollywood celebrities and Women's Studies Departments put together. Reason 2:... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons to vote for GWB-in pictures URL: http://respublica.typepad.com/respublica/2004/11/50_reasons_to_v.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: respublica DATE: 11/01/2004 05:39:57 AM Rather brilliant endorsement of President Bush using photos to make the point. From The American Digest. I would have added this one: Or this one: And this as a result of the above passenger/heroes of flight 93 The right man ----- PING: TITLE: Why I'm partial to this Cowboy and why you should vote for him. URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/001661.html IP: 69.93.229.10 BLOG NAME: Mudville Gazette DATE: 11/01/2004 05:56:06 AM Reason 1:In the past three years, he has done more to advance the cause of women's rights around the world than all of the liberal supporting "feminists," ACLU lawyers, Hollywood celebrities and Women's Studies Departments put together. Reason 2:... ----- PING: TITLE: And the coveted American Digest endorsement goes to... URL: http://physicsgeek.mu.nu/archives/052699.php IP: 67.19.5.2 BLOG NAME: Physics Geek DATE: 11/01/2004 06:20:49 AM George W Bush. Excerpt: The polls are open in California and after I finish this item, I'm going down to the Albertson's Supermarket across from the beach here in Laguna Beach and cast my ballot. It will be the first... ----- PING: TITLE: Why I'm partial to this Cowboy and why you should vote for him. URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/001661.html IP: 69.93.229.10 BLOG NAME: Mudville Gazette DATE: 11/01/2004 06:32:09 AM Reason 1: In the past three years, he has done more to advance the cause of women's rights around the world than all of the liberal supporting "feminists," ACLU lawyers, Hollywood celebrities and Women's Studies Departments put together. Reason... ----- PING: TITLE: Fifty Reasons Why URL: http://www.jesusphreaks.com/mt/archives/2004_11.html#000568 IP: 216.58.174.186 BLOG NAME: Confessions of a Jesus Phreak DATE: 11/01/2004 07:59:04 AM . . . I'm voting for George W. Bush, and you should, too. Excellent photo essay.... ----- PING: TITLE: 100 Reasons I'm Voting For Bush, Not Kerry URL: http://www.shotinthedark.info/archives/004409.html IP: 63.247.140.240 BLOG NAME: Shot In The Dark DATE: 11/01/2004 11:09:52 AM I'm not going to do any grandiloquent endorsement; nobody asked me, and nobody cares. I'm not going to tell you how to vote. You're mostly adults, and for better or worse, you all have the same right to vote that... ----- PING: TITLE: Why I'm partial to this Cowboy and why you should vote for him. URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/001661.html IP: 69.93.229.10 BLOG NAME: Mudville Gazette DATE: 11/01/2004 01:55:03 PM Reason 1: In the past three years, he has done more to advance the cause of women's rights around the world than all of the liberal supporting "feminists," ACLU lawyers, Hollywood celebrities and Women's Studies Departments put together. Reason... ----- PING: TITLE: POLITICS: Why Others Are Supporting Bush URL: http://baseballcrank.com/archives/003741.php IP: 63.247.141.200 BLOG NAME: Baseball Crank DATE: 11/01/2004 03:12:12 PM ELECTION EVE UPDATE: This is my final update to this post, which you may or may not find to be a useful resource. May the best man win. Well, I’ve more or less said my piece about who I’m supporting... ----- PING: TITLE: Golden State Blues URL: http://rightonred.net/index.php?p=621 IP: 69.93.199.98 BLOG NAME: RIGHT ON RED >> DATE: 11/01/2004 05:33:01 PM Banagor is a Bush supporter living in the Bay Area, and in a recent thoughtful post, he sounds a little discouraged (naturally so considering his city of residence.) He feels like the only Bush voter in Frisco - but he's wrong by at least one: Jeff at... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons URL: http://www.scrawlville.com/archives/001522.html IP: 63.247.137.8 BLOG NAME: scrawlville.com DATE: 11/01/2004 07:50:00 PM I posted 100 reasons to vote for Bush ealier today, but of course I would like to add to that and give you 50 more. American Digest... ----- PING: TITLE: Election Eve URL: http://lilacrose.nu/archives/000780.php IP: 66.152.97.246 BLOG NAME: LilacRose DATE: 11/01/2004 08:01:18 PM I could write a long-winded post about tomorrow's election, but I don't think it's necessary and I don't have the... ----- PING: TITLE: 50 Reasons URL: http://www.mulattoboy.com/archives/2004/11/index.html#000228 IP: 217.160.226.23 BLOG NAME: The Mulatto Advocate DATE: 11/01/2004 09:33:51 PM Fifty reasons why President Bush is preferable to John Kerry. Forty-nine more than we need, IMHO.... ----- PING: TITLE: Why I'm partial to this Cowboy and why you should vote for him. URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/001661.html IP: 69.93.229.10 BLOG NAME: Mudville Gazette DATE: 11/01/2004 10:11:51 PM Reason 1: In the past three years, he has done more to advance the cause of women's rights around the world than all of the liberal supporting "feminists," ACLU lawyers, Hollywood celebrities and Women's Studies Departments put together. Reason... ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002550.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002550.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 11/02/2004 07:53:43 AM THE ONE YEAR PATRIOTS. I found this sentence in my comments to be, somehow, very revealing of an entire class of today's Americans: I'm an elitist, liberal, intellectual Democratic, marginally-patriotic (I left my flag up for a year after 9/11...then i... ----- PING: TITLE: With An Eye To the Future URL: http://civilization-calls.mu.nu/archives/052923.html IP: 67.19.5.2 BLOG NAME: Civilization Calls DATE: 11/02/2004 08:40:00 AM (Hat tip: David of Ripples.) Fifty Reasons Why by Vanderleun at American Digest. His post summarizes everything I've been trying to say for the last two years.... ----- PING: TITLE: Evening blog round-up URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6385026/#041104L IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: Hardblogger DATE: 11/02/2004 11:56:54 AM Shiny at Pacific Views. Editors in Pajamas says the liberal media is trying to discourage Republicans from voting. Exact vote count predictions at Wampum. Black Commentator sees widening perception differences between blacks and whites. Ameri... ----- PING: TITLE: Submitted for Your Approval URL: http://www.watcherofweasels.com/archives/001391.html IP: 209.152.161.117 BLOG NAME: Watcher of Weasels DATE: 11/02/2004 09:58:45 PM First off...  any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here,  and here.  Die spambots, die!  And now...  here are all the links submitted by members of the Watcher's Council for this week's vote. Council link... ----- PING: TITLE: Wednesday night traffic jam URL: http://www.wesroth.com/mt_archives/000120.html IP: 209.25.170.14 BLOG NAME: Wes Roth DATE: 11/03/2004 08:56:38 PM Wow...I'm still giddy about the Bush and Thune victories today, along with the huge pickups in Congress for the GOP! Anyways, here is the traffic jam from tonight: "Boomer" has a shockwave presentation of Bush set to "When the Man... ----- PING: TITLE: The Council Has Spoken! URL: http://www.watcherofweasels.com/archives/001396.html IP: 209.152.161.117 BLOG NAME: Watcher of Weasels DATE: 11/05/2004 12:24:47 AM First off...  any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here,  and here.  Die spambots, die!  And now...  the winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Fear Itself by Ubique Patriam Remin... ----- PING: TITLE: Watcher's Council - "I Won And Stuff" Edition URL: http://chadster.capitalfocus.org/index.php?p=343 IP: 217.160.181.78 BLOG NAME: Ubique Patriam Reminisci DATE: 11/07/2004 11:28:43 AM The Council has spoken, and I won. Yippee, and all that rot. Really, I'm just happy if I get a vote every week. Thanks guys. But really, the other vote getters did just as spectacular a job. 'Specially Patterico, who has done more hard work for a sin... ----- PING: TITLE: And so it begins... URL: http://daverodrigues.com/archives/000373.html IP: 64.81.52.190 BLOG NAME: Totally Whacked DATE: 11/30/2004 12:19:30 PM Don't miss this great photo essay in American Digest. Meanwhile, France is embroiled in a scandal for meddling in an election.... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective. STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: TerrorWar DATE: 11/02/2004 06:37:03 AM ----- BODY: Resolved: To safeguard the personal and economic wellbeing of the civilized world in the 21st century, it is essential for the United States to control Iraq for strategic and tactical military purposes alone. Let's take a step back from our always entertaining electoral circus to cast a cold eye on what needs to be done in Iraq beyond November and far beyond 2005. Don't watch the hand waving the magic wand around, watch the hand held behind the back. It holds what is going to be pulled out of the hat. Instead of spending untold hours listening to this or that speech from the two sides of the American coin, it's more instructive to take down an atlas, turn to a spread displaying the middle-east and meditate on what needs to be done to control that section of the world. And while you're at it here's a couple of things you can forget about: That answer turns on the general approach to fighting the war. That current strategy and tactics employed in Iraq are being driven by political needs in the United States is an obvious statement. Our current restrained approach will not, nor is it designed to, continue long past November 2 of this year. If you would ----- EXTENDED BODY: have fewer casualties, the best way to achieve this is to reduce your enemy's soldiers wholesale. This is not to say that the current politically-determined military actions in Iraq are wrong. Just the opposite. Too much is at stake in Iraq to be undone by the victory of a faction of the American political class that has shown it cannot be trusted with the strategic needs of the nation in the coming decades. To defeat the dedicated enemies of the United States abroad, it is also necessary to defeat a mistaken political culture at home. Many things are said during an election, but the truth seldom on the list. That's axiomatic. The goal is to win and the prize is power. Victory and power are two elements that readily combine into molecules of falsity and misdirection in electoral politics. Of late, the largest dust cloud of lies cast into what passes for "public discourse" concerns two different ways of hinting towards the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. Even when we know in our bones that we are in a long war, Americans of all political leanings still like to hear that it is going to be a short one. And both parties are happy to oblige our needs. If we listen to the subtext of John Kerry we assume, from his statements, semaphores and metaphors, that the troops will be coming home "soon" after his election; i.e. within the year. If we listen to the subtext being generated by the same mechanisms within President's camp, we might think that the troops are coming home "later," but certainly after just one more year. In the first instance, we are being led to believe that our troops will be out of Iraq in 2005. In the second, we probably think they will be out in 2006, probably on the early side. Both these signals are pure noise. American forces will be in Iraq five years from now, more likely ten, probably 20, depending on how that part of the world shakes out and what sort of attacks it will be able to mount outside its core at targets in the Western nations. We will not remain in Iraq for "democracy" (Although we will spend treasure and lives to try and create one.), nor will we be there for the "benefit" of the Iraqi people (Although overall they will reap benefits in terms of treasure and improved lives.). We will remain in Iraq for one concrete reason alone: We need to have military bases there. In this increasing conflict between Islamic fundamentalism and the civilized world, it is an absolute military necessity that America have a robust network of bases located at the center of mass of the Islamic world. If you clear you mind of either wishing for a lasting peace or hoping for an early victory, and simply look at the map of the Middle East you will know the road ahead is long, brutal and filled with hard choices. If you can assume a military cast of mind, ask yourself, "What must we do to prevail in a war that is global but centered in the Middle East, and can possibly last for 20 years?" One of the most immediate answers is that you need to control significant amounts of real estate at the core of the struggle.Given the nature of the war, nothing else will answer across a long struggle. It is close to a certainty that this answer first appeared in the minds of professional military men around noon on September 11, 2001. To the question of which nation a military mind would choose to conquer in the Middle East, Iraq is the only one that answers. Following the capture of Afghanistan, the map together with tactical realities dictates that Iraq be conquered by, and remain under the control of, the United States into the indefinite future for five core reasons: Given these five reasons derived from the facts on the ground in late 2004, it would be suicidal for the United States to withdraw militarily from Iraq for at least ten years and probably 20. The level of forces needed to maintain control can fluctuate as the situation dictates, but the presence of significant forces is a necessity. This is not to say that the United States will not withdraw, but only to underscore the price of such foolishness. The United States has, through bad politics, misdirection and clouded thinking, made monstrous errors of judgment in the past and is certainly capable of doing so in the future. It is only to say that should we, through a posturing for mere political power at home, cede military control of Iraq and hence the Middle East before the matter of Islamic fundamentalism is settled, and the Islamic cultures fully assimilated into the 21st century, departure early would only require our subsequent return. And that return will be far more bloody and necessary than anything seen to date in what is still a brush-fire war. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Oscar EMAIL: mthayer@ts-software.com IP: 64.219.241.2 URL: DATE: 09/22/2004 06:24:01 PM Very thoughtful post. I hadn't thought of the water issue except in considering the possiblity of taking out the oases in southern SA in certain circumstances. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: LRFD EMAIL: sobotkajc@gmail.com IP: 12.221.83.12 URL: http://vivalablog.blogspot.com/ DATE: 09/22/2004 08:09:15 PM Great post, but you missed something else about the water [http://web.archive.org/web/20000816043104/http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/foreign/anarchy.htm]. Derb on NRO linked to this story earlier today. It's really long and about a decade old, but it makes a number of important points. Amoung them is this: "Resource distribution is strengthening Turks in another way vis-a-vis Arabs and Persians. Turks may have little oil, but their Anatolian heartland has lots of water--the most important fluid of the twenty-first century. Turkey's Southeast Anatolia Project, involving twenty-two major dams and irrigation systems, is impounding the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Much of the water that Arabs and perhaps Israelis will need to drink in the future is controlled by Turks. The project's centerpiece is the mile-wide, sixteen-story Ataturk Dam, upon which are emblazoned the words of modern Turkey's founder: "Ne Mutlu Turkum Diyene" ("Lucky is the one who is a Turk")." Also a paragraph or two later: "Erduhan Bayindir, the site manager at the dam, told me that "while oil can be shipped abroad to enrich only elites, water has to be spread more evenly within the society. . . . It is true, we can stop the flow of water into Syria and Iraq for up to eight months without the same water overflowing our dams, in order to regulate their political behavior."" Here's the kicker though, according to the article, these damns are being built on land where a large number of Kurds predominate: "According to the map, the great hydropower complex emblemized by the Ataturk Dam is situated in Turkey. Forget the map. This southeastern region of Turkey is populated almost completely by Kurds. About half of the world's 20 million Kurds live in "Turkey." The Kurds are predominant in an ellipse of territory that overlaps not only with Turkey but also with Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the former Soviet Union. The Western-enforced Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq, a consequence of the 1991 Gulf War, has already exposed the fictitious nature of that supposed nation-state." You're certainly right on the main point though: water is the key for the Middle East. While desalinization technology is quickly approaching cost per volume of regular tap found in the West, such technology simply is not affordable in the Middle East. Water allows societies to expand, to grow, and to improve their standards of living - all of which are key to that region as their population boom reaches its critical mass. Koranic studies, don't quench thrist. Water does. By the way, it's good to have you back. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nick EMAIL: nickwinning@hotmail.com IP: 24.118.77.68 URL: DATE: 09/22/2004 10:29:47 PM If water is as important as you say, and Iraq monopolizes it, how did Iraq fail to conquer Iran when it supposedly controls their water supply? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Joseph Marshall EMAIL: zopa108@wideopenwest.com IP: 69.47.234.163 URL: http://shotofpolitics.blogspot.com/ DATE: 09/23/2004 06:47:01 AM "Resolved: To safeguard the personal and economic wellbeing of the civilized world in the 21st century, it is essential for the United States to control Iraq for strategic and tactical military purposes alone." Well, you may be resolved about it, but, in case you haven't noticed, the Iraqis still have quite a lot to say about whether we will "control" Iraq or not. It is ludicrous to even think that this neocon chess game is possible under the current circumstances. It wasn't ludicrous once, but George W. Bush blew the real chances for it by diddling around for six months after the declaring that the "mission" was "accomplished". The result: the growing certainty that Iran will successfully go nuclear while we struggle endlessly to finally get Iraq (and Afghanistan) "under control". ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: LRFD EMAIL: sobotkajc@gmail.com IP: 12.221.83.12 URL: http://vivalablog.blogspot.com/ DATE: 09/23/2004 06:50:37 AM Nick, two points. First I don't believe that Iraq had in the early '80s the capability to cut off the water into Iran. A series of dams, levies, reservoirs, etc... would be required, and, as we all know, Saddam wasn't too interested in building up infrastructure. Second, water is clearly crucial to the region, but I don't think a tipping point where access to the Tigris/Euphrates is a question of life or death. Given a few more decades and the population expansion underway, and this might change. Until then, water access is merely a bargining chip, powerful in itself, but not able to win a war by itself. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: tagryn EMAIL: tagryn@NOSPAMhotmail.com IP: 4.246.203.84 URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tagryn/ DATE: 09/23/2004 10:25:59 AM - Saddam actually did build a series of water diversion projects after the '91 uprising, but it was mainly to eradicate the "marsh Arabs" after they rose up against him: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/iraq/marsharabs.html - J.Marshall: My read on the post is that it is taking the long-term view. Sure, we can't project strength to control the region right now given the current security situation, but neither are there indications that the insurgents have the capacity to defeat both the U.S. and the Iraqi gov't. In terms of long range strategic considerations, the points raised are sound. - Something else to consider is that in the long term, having a "friendly" government in Iraq means that that nation's intelligence system will be working *for* us, rather than against us (as Saddam's Mukhabarat was). I'm sure Iraqi agents will have a much higher success rate of infiltrating groups like al-Qaeda, al-Tawhid, and whatever future groups emerge, than American CIA agents would. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Floyd Jackson EMAIL: Floyd77@comcast.net IP: 216.31.232.82 URL: DATE: 09/23/2004 02:52:01 PM Very well written. It's about time someone started talking straight about what's at stake here. Freedom for Iraqis? Really, I think it's only the dumb Dems who ever bought into the idea that this had anything to do with freedom and democracy. I mean, hello, they're Arabs! After all we've done for them getting rid of Soddom and this is the thanks they give us, heck, whatever they end up with is too good for them, let's face it. It's about our democracy, and strategic resources, and the world's stability in the region. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Anti War EMAIL: fu@fu.fu IP: 68.121.244.80 URL: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com DATE: 09/23/2004 07:39:10 PM No war for Israel. All this crackpot is hiding the facts on the ground. The resistance is killing more GI than can be rounded up. so Wolfie is rounding up anybody including 55 years olds. Whyis he scared to put his name on it? Maybe becuase his name is Israeli? If you rednecks are so hip on war get on down to the recruiting station. Wolfie and company are looking for a few good bodies to fight their Chosen war. AW ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Floyd Jackson EMAIL: Floyd77@comcast.net IP: 216.31.232.82 URL: DATE: 09/23/2004 08:36:38 PM We don't have to enlist because we're supporting the troops in the homeland. It's the traitors like you who need to get with the program and either support your country with your words and your vote, or support it on the battlefield. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: M. Simon EMAIL: msimon@xta.com IP: 206.190.18.140 URL: http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/ DATE: 09/23/2004 09:18:09 PM Floyd, The democracy question is a valid one. It determines if our high activity occupation will last 5 years or 500. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: M. Simon EMAIL: msimon@xta.com IP: 206.190.18.140 URL: http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/ DATE: 09/23/2004 09:38:04 PM Anti War, You can stop this war. Tell the jihadis to quit. You could also do your part and personally surrender. The sooner the better. You have in your own feeble way started your own surrender. Except your phrasing was a bit inept. Let me help. Next time you are asked about what should be done just come out and say: "let the Arabs kill the Jews first" ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steel Turman EMAIL: cosmic@renonevada.net IP: 216.105.193.250 URL: DATE: 09/23/2004 10:14:00 PM Ihave bee trying for over a year to vocalize this to my left leaning friends ... kudos to you, for putting it so well. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jeff Brokaw EMAIL: jeff@nothanks.net IP: 66.73.171.173 URL: http://jeffbrokaw.net/notes/ DATE: 09/24/2004 04:56:02 AM Great piece, G. I've thought for a long time that the administration used many or all of these points in coming up with the plan for after Afghanistan, but didn't feel it wise to lay it all out for the public that way. I'm OK with that. I think it's a bit naive of the public to expect the government to be 100% honest with us re: sensitive strategies. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: M EMAIL: mitsu@syntheticzero.com IP: 68.161.216.166 URL: DATE: 09/24/2004 06:58:12 AM I'm sorry, but this argument holds no water (so to speak). You're completely missing the point of a terror war. You're analyzing it as though what's at stake were World War II-era strategic control. But in a war such as this, such notions are quaint at best. This is not a strategic war. A terror war is mostly a political war. The United States doesn't need strategic control of Iraq in order to be able to militarily dominate or threaten any country on the planet. At a moment's notice we could pummel pretty much any country from the air. However, controlling a country on the ground is a lot more difficult. Water or no water, it's very difficult to control a foreign land, as our current occupation of Iraq demonstrates. In fact, the occupation has proven to most of our enemies that we are far LESS capable of invading and dominating them than they might have thought, before. But clearly our goal here cannot possibly be control on the ground. That's imperial overreach and we simply don't have the resources to pull it off. In any event, such control is irrelevant as we are fighting a terror war. In such a war, politics is far more important --- and we've established that we're pretty much everything they claimed we would be, and at the same time demonstrated that our vaunted military is not nearly as powerful as we thought it was. Recipie for disaster in a war such as this. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Demosophist EMAIL: freewheeling-at-verizon-dot-net@nada.nix IP: 4.14.57.44 URL: http://www.demosophia.com DATE: 09/24/2004 07:53:30 AM Iraq may be at the balance point of a resource-dependent Middle East, but it's also at the balance point of an ideological struggle that is at least as important: liberalism vs. totalitarianism. What we're engaged in, at the moment, is the establishment of "our vanguard" of civil society and liberal democracy as a counterforce to "their vanguard" of Islamo/Fascism (a blanket term covering the Sunni/Salafist factions as well as the Shi'a ecumenical factions in Iran). They currently have the upper hand, make no mistake about it. We're playing catch up, and we aren't really doing that well. The key to success involves establishing an enclave or sanctuary for liberals or "Islamic Moderates," and an attempt to turn them into lions for the cause. Our long term prospects are pretty good, but I'm not sure we've yet perceived the critical role that an Iraq with a functioning civil society plays in launching this ideological counterforce. Also, given what one of your commenters has say about the role of the Kurds in controling the water, and the fact that the Sunni triangle controls almost no oil, isn't the ultimate "taming" of the Sunni triangle almost a foregone conclusion? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: ccron EMAIL: c.croninger@cox.net IP: 68.6.34.50 URL: DATE: 09/24/2004 11:19:11 AM "the master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles." In 1918 saying that got Eugene Debs a 10 years prison term. If you want to talk like that you had better do it now. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: M EMAIL: mitsu@syntheticzero.com IP: 216.254.109.226 URL: DATE: 09/24/2004 11:30:06 AM The problem is, of course, that the strategy is failing to create that vanguard. It was doomed to fail, actually, in my opinion --- in this regard, I am in complete agreement with the arguments by the Cato Institute (http://www.cato.org/). If anything we've created precisely the opposite --- a focal point for resistance against what appears to be blatant American empire-building. Whatever our good intentions, it seems to me on the political front this escapade is a losing proposition. Since the political front is THE front in a terror war (we're not engaged in a literal battle over territory, as in a conventional war), this leads me to the conclusion that the Iraq adventure was a dangerous, costly, and unnecessary diversion from the real war against the Islamofascists. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dgree3 EMAIL: donnie@saturnofaustin.com IP: 24.153.142.236 URL: DATE: 09/25/2004 03:13:32 PM What a breath of fresh air. Why is the American population seen as unable to assimilate these facts of life? We, as a political system under attack, need to look at the situation as it is and not as we want it to be. Let us use Occam's Razor and apply it to our national and international policies in dealing with this religious war that we are currently engaged in. What do we have to do to not only survive but also advance our way of life. We have to get serious about calling a spade a spade and get rid of the politcally correct element in our educational system and our media. History is in the very process of excising the moral and political rot that has invaded the body politic of America. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rob EMAIL: mediascan@aol.com IP: 68.71.14.38 URL: DATE: 09/25/2004 08:39:47 PM Just congratulations. I find the Vanderleun analysis of our position in Iraq so refreshing. The MSM looks so childish in comparison. But, I do have a different angle on democracy there. We must offer it, and support it; it is what allows us to be "exceptional" and not an empire. This is our tradition. This is what allows us to look at ourselves in the mirror. We are the anti-colonialist power. Japan, Germany, even Russia were pointed toward a democratic system after we defeated them. Remember that we turned Vietnam back over to the perfidious French colonialists and the trouble we had there. Democracy is what works for us. Whether Iraq can keep it, is a challenge for the Iraqis. Just like democracy is a challenge for the people in Pakistan, our ally. In Pakistan they have tried again and again and just that effort has probably helped to grow some of the moderate middle that is present there. Remember, all this took America a while too; 200 plus years, and a civil war. Have a little faith that this is the right way to go. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Adam Khan EMAIL: adam@engaging.net IP: 212.235.111.133 URL: DATE: 09/26/2004 05:31:35 PM You write: > Iraq borders Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran -- the centers of our enemy's military, financial and demographic strength. And > While it may be too late to prop up the House of Saud, the world will need be able to control and maintain the oil fields should that government be overthrown. It seems to me that you have not applied reason for occupying Iraq is to from Saudi Arabia And > The United States has, through bad politics, misdirection and clouded thinking, made monstrous errors of judgment in the past... But you don't tie together these points as tightly as I believe they can be tied. Occupying Iraq is, it seems to me, partially an admission that Saudi Arabia is a doomed nasty basket-case that the US needs to extricate itself from as of yesterday. Without US support, the House of Saud will fall, probably to Bin-Laden-type Islamists. It will then be be politically easier to walk into that Taliban-like regime than the current ever-so-respected Taliban-like regime. Saudi Arabia, with its oil and role as fount of fanaticism, is the main event in this war. Iraq is, as you pointed out, merely the staging ground for the troops. My point being that the invasion of Iraq was not carried out in case there has to be a take-over of Saudi Arabia, but in preparation for one. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: eag EMAIL: simij@aol.com IP: 152.163.101.5 URL: DATE: 09/27/2004 09:50:57 AM I cannot read this article as it looks corrupted, almost double vision, or dubed over. Please fix it and I will come back. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: eag EMAIL: simij@aol.com IP: 152.163.101.5 URL: DATE: 09/27/2004 09:51:02 AM I cannot read this article as it looks corrupted, almost double vision, or dubed over. Please fix it and I will come back. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: John F EMAIL: farren_john@hotmail.com IP: 193.60.133.202 URL: DATE: 09/28/2004 07:39:15 AM Good analysis of the geo-strategic position re. oil supply assurance and vs. Iran; also that Iraq was the "low hanging fruit". Two disagreements: First: water factor. Though Iraq's water flows are a v. valuable resource, they are not significant to ANY neighbour. The Euphrates flows through Syria BEFORE Iraq. The Tigris is significant to Abadan-Khorramshahr area in Iran; but that is a relatively minor area. If anything, more significant streams run from the Iranian Zagros Mts. INTO Iraq. Water flows to Saudi, Jordan, Kuwait, Gulf States: nil. If you want to look for a M.E. water power, it's Turkey vs. Syria and Iraq both. Second: "Democracy" (or perhaps more important, its accompaniment by limited and lawful government) IS a key interest, at least in the longer term. The present states and societies of the M.E. are pressure cookers of Islamist radicalism and terrorism, or else active promulgators of it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Hank Roberts EMAIL: hank@well.com IP: 204.130.6.8 URL: DATE: 10/28/2004 01:43:10 PM No Exit Strategy, an earlier take on it: http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/research/conferences/boo2002july.html But don't you think we should also take Siberia (or buy it)? Clean air is going to be as scarce as water -- and Siberia's our upwind critical source. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Bill Williamson EMAIL: trfmwly@tca.net IP: 208.180.3.103 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 10:59:25 AM Excellent post, something I have been telling my friends since the begining of the engagement in Iraq. It is essential strategically to have a military presence in the heart of the Islamic Middle East in a country that can't tell us, No! Yet politically, the real reason couldn't have been given. The NY Times and the alphabet networks would have crucified the administration. Furthermore, there were more good reasons to invade Iraq than any other country, consequently, not only are they ideally located geographically they had given us sufficient reason to initiate the invasion. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Floyd Jackson EMAIL: floyd77@comcast.net IP: 216.31.232.82 URL: DATE: 11/02/2004 12:13:46 PM With Old Europe increasingly hostile to America, and terrorists gaining influence in places like Sweden (have you heard Sweden speak up for America after Osama praised them in his pro-Kerry video? no you have not because theyre cowards and they aren't on our side!), Iraq may turn out, long-term, to be actually be a more reliable as a base than any of our old NATO bases in Old Europe. When Iraq finally gets their freedom they'll love us forever, while the French and Sweedish will be liberal or at least unreliable far into the future. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: dmc EMAIL: dmcfadin@yahoo.com IP: 64.161.52.40 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 02:28:20 PM I don't usually "come here", I am surfing in an effort to figure out why things are as they are. Different persuasion you might say. After reading the above, I have to sy that I'm sure it is correct in its analysis of what is going on in Iraq and why. The question I have is, what gives us the RIGHT to be there overseeing the future of the oil and fresh water? Who made us boss of the world's resources? Our military?? Well, yes that gives us the might, but the right? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sjones EMAIL: sid3266@comcast.net IP: 24.20.6.131 URL: DATE: 11/05/2004 09:47:33 PM dmc - you ask what gives us the right? I think that anything that we can do to improve our position in the world and against Islamofacism gives us that right. sjones ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mel EMAIL: lissagator@yahoo.com IP: 68.214.113.96 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 01:06:09 AM It's good to see someone talking straight--politics stinks because nobody wants to tell the truth. But it's not that hard to see. 1) The US is a super-power, and values this position so much that it is willing to pursue pre-emptive strategic wars in order to preserve this world-position. 2) American people are OK with this policy. 3) Christian sentiments (thou shalt not kill) have flown out the window. I still don't think it was right to go to war as a preemptive move for good positioning in the next 20 years. I wish more of the American people were wise to what is actually happening, instead of dreamily believing that we are saving these people's lives and giving them their freedom. What we are really doing is raping their country and killing their children. I hope that Iraq gets a democracy, and that we get out of the country, as fast as possible. I like living in the premier super-power country, but I do not like being lied to by my government. I think we should earn our super-power status by taking care of domestic issues and defending our nation ONLY WHEN IT IS ATTACKED. (We all know that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 did not come from Iraq). It's stupid to pretend like we can catch terrorists by occupying countries. Terrorists can strike anytime, anywhere, and nobody is safe. No war will stop them. We can concentrate on stopping fundamentalist islamic movements in other ways, without war. What are you going to do? Kill every single Islamic person (just to make sure we get rid of ALL the fundamentalists) and then consider our work done? I expect America to play fair. I am an honorable person, and don't want victory unless it was won honorably. The choice is yours: would you rather fight the righteous war (another country declares war on us, and we fight, tooth and nail, to defend ourselves?) or a strategic bully-war in a play for future political power? All I want is for America to play fair. I want to feel righteous when I stand up for what my country does. I don't think that I am asking for too much. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Melvin Twohig EMAIL: mtwohig@hotmail.com IP: 24.61.221.159 URL: DATE: 11/10/2004 05:08:56 AM Mel, you mistake who these posters are. They believe they're smarter, tougher and more moral than everyone else. They never bought that crap about the threat of WMDs, and they're not buying that crap about democracy now. They view their fellow American citizens as pathetic gullible losers and themselves as realistic, tough-minded, visionary colonialists. If you want to feel righteous when you stand up for your country's actions, take your country back from them, because the only force they recognize or respect is power. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jo EMAIL: jo@hotmail.com IP: 20.138.1.245 URL: DATE: 11/18/2004 03:56:24 AM America can try for as long as it likes, order more body bags for the GI. We havent even started with you yet. ----- PING: TITLE: THE REAL REASONS WE'RE IN IRAQ URL: http://badexample.mu.nu/archives/047080.php IP: 64.91.238.2 BLOG NAME: Bad Example DATE: 09/22/2004 10:09:11 PM Gerard of American Digest has the most insightful non-Den Bestian essay I've ever seen on the reasons for invading Iraq. Forget all the fun-sounding election-year pablum, these are the dry, gritty, militarily-sound reasons that club you upside the head... ----- PING: TITLE: The Reason for the War in Iraq: Rated M17 URL: http://acornsfromanokie.typepad.com/acorns_from_an_okie/2004/09/the_reason_for_.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Acorns from an Okie DATE: 09/23/2004 11:15:27 AM Mature adults only. If you are a pie-eyed pacifist who thinks that all we really need to do is sit down with a full set of Joni Mitchell MP3s and discuss our differences, don't go further. If you are a wide-eyed liberal who thinks Iraq was not about th... ----- PING: TITLE: Dignity URL: http://onefinejay.com/2004/09/24/dignity/ IP: 67.19.16.228 BLOG NAME: One Fine Jay DATE: 09/23/2004 10:02:19 PM Dear Friends, For those who have had the privelege of my trust in my sharing the details of the past week, I thank you all for the support and assistance that you have given me. As far as personal crises go, the events of the past week have weighed ... ----- PING: TITLE: There's More To This Picture Than WMD And Terrorist Ties URL: http://jeffbrokaw.net/archive1/000869.html IP: 63.247.134.246 BLOG NAME: Notes & Musings DATE: 09/24/2004 05:27:20 AM It's what adults do Serious analysis of the real reasons behind the Iraq War is rare — which is why you, dear reader, must click over to American Digest and read Mr. Vanderleun's quite reasonable and very likely quite correct... ----- PING: TITLE: The Reason for the War in Iraq: Rated M17 URL: http://acornsfromanokie.typepad.com/acorns_from_an_okie/2004/09/the_reason_for_.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Acorns from an Okie DATE: 09/24/2004 08:35:19 AM Mature adults only. If you are a pie-eyed pacifist who thinks that all we really need to do is sit down with a full set of Joni Mitchell MP3s and discuss our differences, don't go further. If you are a wide-eyed liberal who thinks Iraq was not about th... ----- PING: TITLE: Look at the Map, People! URL: http://www.caerdroia.org/blog/archives/001318.html IP: 66.14.124.104 BLOG NAME: Caerdroia DATE: 09/24/2004 05:36:29 PM You want to know why we're going to be in Iraq for decades, regardless of who wins the Presidential election? Look at a map! (It was Iraq or Egypt, and besides not being nearly as immediate of a threat, try occupying 80 million people (vice 25 million)... ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 10/27/2004 10:23:06 PM Previous Items of Interest @ American Digest WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective. Coin of the PC Realm Cruising Off Baja, Part I Goodbye to the Way We Were I Am the Very Model of A Modern Kerry Democra... ----- PING: TITLE: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php URL: http://www.americandigest.org/sidelines/archives/002302.php IP: 66.226.64.5 BLOG NAME: SideLines DATE: 10/31/2004 01:10:56 AM Previous Items of Interest @ American Digest WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective. PATIENCE PLEASE: An American Empire Takes Time YEARNING FOR THE MUD: The Kerry-Heinz Ticket and the Psychotic Party Pla... ----- PING: TITLE: Mullah Mischief? URL: http://eaglespeak.blogspot.com/2004/10/mullah-mischief.html IP: 67.18.73.162 BLOG NAME: EagleSpeak DATE: 10/31/2004 07:19:37 PM While visiting the American Digest blog found this very interesting analysis of the importance of Iraq in the future direction of the Middle East. ----- PING: TITLE: Bases URL: http://www.murdoconline.net/archives/001697.html IP: 66.246.72.15 BLOG NAME: murdoc online DATE: 11/08/2004 09:45:10 AM WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ : Military Bases Are A Requirement, Democracy is Merely an Elective This past spring I started working on a big post about our plans for basing US military forces in Iraq for the long-term. That... ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Eye STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Grace Notes DATE: 11/02/2004 12:54:15 AM ----- BODY: by Robinson Jeffers The Atlantic is a stormy moat; and the Mediterranean, The blue pool in the old garden, More than five thousand years has drunk sacrifice Of ships and blood, and shines in the sun; but here the Pacific-- Our ships, planes, wars are perfectly irrelevant. Neither our present blood-feud with the brave dwarfs Nor any future world-quarrel of westering And eastering man, the bloody migrations, greed of power, clash of faiths-- Is a speck of dust on the great scale-pan. Here from this mountain shore, headland beyond stormy headland           plunging like dolphins through the blue sea-smoke Into pale sea--look west at the hill of water: it is half the planet:          this dome, this half-globe, this bulging Eyeball of water, arched over to Asia, Australia and white Antartica: those are the eyelids that never close;          this is the staring unsleeping Eye of the earth; and what it watches is not our wars. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Francis W. Porretto EMAIL: fwp@eternityroad.info IP: 68.194.193.162 URL: http://www.eternityroad.info DATE: 11/02/2004 01:53:51 AM "Keep clear of the dupes that talk democracy And the dogs that bark revolution, Drunk with talk, liars and believers. I believe in my tusks. Long live freedom and damn the ideologies," Said the gamey black-maned wild boar Tusking the turf on Mal Paso Mountain. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Gerard Van der Leun EMAIL: gvdl@cox.net IP: 68.5.66.10 URL: http://americandigest.org DATE: 11/02/2004 08:27:16 AM Most excellent response. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: The Election of 1864 STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/01/2004 09:57:44 PM ----- BODY: From the Belmont Club
    The election of 1864 bears an uncanny resemblance to 2004's on several points, a comparison that has not escaped others. After three years of war, victory in 1864 over the Confederacy seemed farther than ever. The Democrats, therefore, fielded ex-general McClellan as a candidate on a something of a peace platform, for many in the party intended to negotiate either a return to the Union of the seceding states (allowing them to keep slavery) or recognize the Confederacy. Lincoln himself thought it unlikely that he would win. In fact, he had made matters worse by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which made it abundantly clear that while he remained President, the South would be fighting not only for State's Rights but to preserve its entire social fabric. It was therefore true that Lincoln, by his obduracy, had made peace impossible in a war that had cost nearly half a million lives on a population base of 30 million. And all the Democrats were saying, was that after a failed war of three years, that it was best to give peace a chance.
    ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Attention, Losers! Housing Swap Opportunities in Holland STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Nota Bene DATE: 11/01/2004 02:13:59 PM ----- BODY: All Democrats who are just fed up! already, take note of Dutch Blogger Zacht Ei's item : Three in ten Dutch want to flee the country
    According to a national survey, 28 percent of all Dutch would leave the country if they had the opportunity. Admittedly, my first emotional response to the Van Gogh murder was: "That's it. I'm moving to the USA."
    Seems like the perfect chance to swap lives, kids. Upsides: No Bush and plenty of weed for your bongs! Downsides: Three bullets in the chest and a knife stuck in your torso if you dare to whisper a bad thing about Islam. So, hey, what's the worry? Start packing. You'll fit right in. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ron EMAIL: rdeat183@swbell.net IP: 65.64.79.15 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 10:01:55 AM The "grass" (pun intended) truly is greener on the other side. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: RandMan EMAIL: rbean001@charter.net IP: 24.207.141.85 URL: DATE: 11/07/2004 09:37:17 PM It's also amusing to note that Australia is a prime candidate for many of those looking to flee the Bush terror. I guess these "well informed reality based" voters are unaware of the recent election results there. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: And the Number One Reason to Vote for Bush is .... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Political Corrections DATE: 11/01/2004 10:31:27 AM ----- BODY: I can't believe I missed this one: "Because he doesn't have a law degree." From Mitch, who has 99 more @ Shot In The Dark: 100 Reasons I'm Voting For Bush, Not Kerry ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Dan Patterson EMAIL: danpatterson@remax.net IP: 66.194.22.92 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 11:46:10 AM This is not my first, nor my 101st reason, but it belongs on any list: "He's not John Kerry!!" Dan Patterson Winston-Salem, NC ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: On the Return of History STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: American Studies DATE: 11/01/2004 02:56:22 AM ----- BODY: In the darkness with a great bundle of grief the people march. In the night, and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people march:       "Where to? what next?" -- Carl Sandburg: The People Yes In the days after the towers fell, in the ash that covered the street where I lived, in the smoke that rose for months from that spot across the river, rising up in the skyscraper I worked in, riding deep beneath the river in the subway, passing the thousand small shrines of puddled candle wax below the walls with the hundreds of photographs of "The Missing," it was not too much to say that you could feel the doors of history open all about you. Before those days, history happened elsewhere, elsewhen. History did not happen to you. In your world, until that day, you lived in the time after history. There were no more doors in front of you, all lay behind you. It was a given. You would have, of course, your own personal history. You would live your life, no bigger or smaller than most others. You would meet people, have children, go to the job, enjoy what material things came your way, have your celebrations, your vacations, your possessions, and your dinner parties. At some point or another you would die and be remembered by some for some time and then it would all fade and the great ocean would just roll on. And that would be fine. History was behind us. It was something our parents entered for a while during the war but they emerged into what was, essentially, the long peace. They'd had enough history, didn't want any more, and did what they could to keep history from happening. In general, the history of the Cold War is the history of what didn't happen punctuated by a few things every now and then such as Korea and Vietnam. But all in all, for over 50 years, history didn't happen. With the end of the Soviet Union in a whimper and not a bang brighter than the sun on earth, history was officially over. The moment even got its own book, "The End of History," which stimulated an argument that even more than the book emphasized that history was over. Most sensible people liked it that way. In fact, a lot of people really liked it that way. Because if history for the world was over, these people could get on making the history that really mattered to them: The History of Me. More and more throughout the 90s "History" was "out," and "Me" was in. "Me," "Having My Space," "How to Be Your Own Best Friend," "Me, Myself, I," were hallmarks of that self-besotted age. The History of Me was huge in the 90s and rolled right through the millennium. It even had a Customized President to preside over those years; the Most Me President ever. A perfect man for the time and one who, in the end, did not disappoint in choosing "Me" over "Country." How could he do otherwise? It was the option his constituency of Many-Million-Mes elected him to select. I know because I was into Me then and ----- EXTENDED BODY: I voted for him because, well, because he seemed to be "just like me." It was a sad day when "Me" couldn't run for a third term, but The Party of Me offered up "Mini-Me" and a lot of Mes turned up for him too. Many millions of Mini-Mes were very upset when there weren't quite enough Mes in one state to put Mini-Me in office to continue with the wonderful Me-ness of it all. I voted for "Mini-Me" in 2000, but not because he really seemed like Me, but because he was the only thing out there that said he was Me. Unlike millions of miffed Mini-Mes, I wasn't too upset when he didn't get in after stamping his feet and holding his breath. I suppose I should have. It was what all the really intense Mini-Mes were doing. But I'd already started to become disgusted with all the Me-ness that had been going around so long and this tantrum of the Mini-Mes just made me not want to hang around them. After all, we were well beyond the End of History by this point, so what did it matter? Then on one bright and unusually fine New York September morning History came back with a vengeance we'd never seen before in the history of America. It came back and it stayed and stayed and stayed. The doors of history swung open again and we were all propelled through them into... what? Please believe me when I tell you that nobody knows. Not the President, not his opponent, not the right, left, center, or just plain unhinged and now in low-earth orbit. We know how it began, but we don't know how it will end. We don't really know what's next. Indeed, we never know. It was better when we lived in The History of Me. We knew how Me would end -- birth, fun, school, fun, job, fun, family, fun, age, fun, death ... probably fun, who knew, who cared? The meaning of this history was not deep but was, somehow, found in the world "fun." Mini-Mes love fun. You could almost say it is their religion, a religion of fun. A funny concept, fun. Fills the space between birth and death. "He was a fun guy" could be a generic epitaph for the era. Now we find ourselves back in history as it has always been and it is not fun. Not fun at all. The history of history has little to do with fun, almost nothing at all. Most of the Mini-Mes don't know what to do in a history that isn't fun. All their lives have been about shaping history towards fun and they've been having a good run at it. They like it so much, they are now willing to do anything to bring it back -- the Kennedy Era, such elegant fun; the Clinton Years, "Hey, we partied like it was 1999." In the run-up to the election there's been a lot of code swapped about getting the fun back in the game. "Remember the fun of the 90s? You can have it all back. Peace. Love. Understanding. Stock-market Boom. Money. Any number of genders can play." Fun is very attractive. It is an illusion. But the Mini-Mes need Fun and want it more than, well, life itself. The Mini-Mes talk a great game about groups, entitlement, empowerment, but it really is, like fun, "all about Me." (Examine the character and makeup of the wannbe first family if you doubt it. You'll see "all about me" writ large.) This is not to say that the incumbent political offering is the second coming in any way shape or form. Nor is it to say that Me-ness doesn't dominate that faction as well. In a way, it is true to say that a lot of what is going on is a fight over which set of Mes shall be master. But that is always the case. It is to say that there is, within the core of the current party in power, at least the clear recognition that "fun" is not longer what we need to be about at this time. Indeed, there is an understanding there, backed with deeds and not "secret plans," that our holiday from history is over and we need to get back to business if we'd like to be around in any kind of recognizable form by mid-century. There is even, if you look at it closely, a distinct lessening of "Me" and the beginnings of an "Us." History as it will now unfold will require little from me but much from us. I'd like to say that country's going one way or another tomorrow will be the ruin of the nation. But that is false. One result or another will not be the ruin of the nation for there is, as one of the founding fathers once remarked, "A lot of ruin in a nation." Should the nation choose to move forward, our encounter with history will move forward at much the same pace as it has these past three years, perhaps a bit accelerated. Should the nation choose to move back retreat, it will simply retard the process that grips it a bit more than otherwise might be the case. Neither result will not place us back in the History of Me no matter how many yearn for it, and evidently quite a few do. History, having returned, will continue to happen, not to me, but to us. We will have war whether we wish it or not because it will continue to be brought to us as it has been brought for many years before we could see it. And it will take a terrible toll from us, soldier and civilian alike. We could, if we wished, withdraw every soldier from every inch of soil that is not American territory and leave them here inside our borders rusting for a decade. War will still come because war is already upon us. The character of our leadership will make a difference to some degree, but it will not decide. It is who we are and who we become as a people that will decide. How that will be in the end, I do not know. What I do know is that history, no matter what they tell you, never comes to an end. And because of that, I no longer vote for me. I vote for us. ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: kat-middleground EMAIL: kehenry1@hotmail.com IP: 65.26.110.56 URL: http://themiddleground.blogspot.com DATE: 11/01/2004 05:51:52 AM Well..I so much agree it's almost scary. But so happy to find someone that thinks like me. The future will come whatever we do. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Steel Turman EMAIL: cosmic@renonevada.net IP: 216.105.193.115 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 06:19:42 AM You sir, are the most spot on and well thought individual I have ever had the pleasure of ... meeting. A treasure. I hope that someday I'll be feasting on abalone at Nick's in Pacifica and hear your thoughts manifested in voice. Damn it man, you work well with words. Thanks. And thank you. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: mkd EMAIL: mgdavey@mindspring.com IP: 205.228.12.40 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 10:03:50 AM It's a pretty sad worldview that believes that the only thing that counts as real is war. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: FH EMAIL: finalhistorian@hotmail.com IP: 68.125.99.151 URL: http://historysend.blogspot.com DATE: 11/01/2004 12:00:07 PM "What I do know is that history, no matter what they tell you, never comes to an end." That is not true. History will end when Man does. We could have ended history whenever we wanted these last few decades, we just haven't chosen to do so yet. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Chris Hunt EMAIL: bandofhunts@consolidated.net IP: 216.176.78.180 URL: DATE: 11/01/2004 03:44:01 PM People who are largely unaware of the history of the human race do not understand that conflict is the norm, and that peace is an aberration. Because we recently passed through a long period of peace (for most in this country at least) we began to think that it was the norm. Hence the shock at the return of conflict, or the potential of conflict, to the majority. It will take some time, but we will again recognize that man is a fallen creature, and he can rise no further than grace allows. We will see that the world works as it always has, and that we must be vigilant if we wish to affect it in any meaningful way. History has indeed returned, and not a moment too soon, or too late. It was there all along, only now we are turning to face it. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Vanderleun TITLE: Trying to Divide the House Against Itself STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: __default__ ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: TerrorWar DATE: 11/01/2004 12:38:31 AM ----- BODY: marlette.jpg A more detailed translation of the threats made against America by OBL comes from MEMRI: Latest News
    The tape of Osama bin Laden that was aired on Al-Jazeera(1) on Friday, October 29th included a specific threat to "each U.S. state," designed to influence the outcome of the upcoming election against George W. Bush. The U.S. media in general mistranslated the words "ay wilaya" (which means "each U.S. state")(2) to mean a "country" or "nation" other than the U.S., while in fact the threat was directed specifically at each individual U.S. state. This suggests some knowledge by bin Laden of the U.S. electoral college system. In a section of his speech in which he harshly criticized George W. Bush, bin Laden stated: "Any U.S. state that does not toy with our security automatically guarantees its own security."
    ----- EXTENDED BODY:
    The Islamist website Al-Qal'a explained what this sentence meant: "This message was a warning to every U.S. state separately. When he [Osama Bin Laden] said, 'Every state will be determining its own security, and will be responsible for its choice,' it means that any U.S. state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has chosen to make peace with us, and we will not characterize it as an enemy. By this characterization, Sheikh Osama wants to drive a wedge in the American body, to weaken it, and he wants to divide the American people itself between enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and those who fight for us, so that he doesn't treat all American people as if they're the same. This letter will have great implications inside the American society, part of which are connected to the American elections, and part of which are connected to what will come after the elections."(3)
    An interesting notion, to divide the house against itself. An appeal to the lowest motive in humanity -- "Oh, if we're good and do what he says, then he'll leave us alone." One wonders who will enter the voting booths determined to take this killer's deal. As one American once put it: "Is life so dear and peace so sweet to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" I imagine that within 48 hours we will, state by state, have the answer. HT: Roger Simon ----- EXCERPT: ----- KEYWORDS: ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: sTEVE EMAIL: j@nospam.com IP: 165.122.142.246 URL: DATE: 11/04/2004 11:01:57 AM Well, I guess that puts my state in the spotlight. I was very happy to see that Oklahoma went red on the election coverage only one minute after the polls closed here. One great big red beacon surrounded by states with no color at all at that time. It did fill in red around us later. ----- PING: TITLE: We Must All Hang Together URL: http://acornsfromanokie.typepad.com/acorns_from_an_okie/2004/11/we_must_all_han.html IP: 66.151.149.25 BLOG NAME: Acorns from an Okie DATE: 11/01/2004 10:09:32 AM Or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. A quote attributed to Ben Franklin during the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So why quote one of our founding fathers before our next election? Because Gerard van Der Luen (recovering nicel... ----- --------