Sinclair

We'll be having some more fun with them soon, but just a reminder.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)

August 17, 1996, Saturday, SOONER EDITION

David D. Smith, president and chief executive officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group, was arrested this week in his hometown of Baltimore and charged with a misdemeanor sex offense. Sinclair owns WPGH, the Fox affiliate in Pittsburgh, and programs most of WPTT.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Smith, 45, was arrested Tuesday night in an undercover sting at a downtown corner frequented by prostitutes.

On Thursday night, Sinclair issued a statement that Smith's arrest was unrelated to company business and ''The company will continue to operate under the direction of its current management.''



...more


Broadcasting official charged in sex stakeout
Sinclair president, woman arrested in company car

Published on: August 15, 1996
Edition: FINAL
Section: NEWS
Page: 2B
Byline: SUN STAFFPeter Hermann

372

The president of Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which owns the local Fox television affiliate, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with committing a perverted sex act in a company-owned Mercedes, city police said.

David Deniston Smith, 45, of the 800 block of Hillstead Drive in Timonium, who also is Sinclair's chief executive, was arrested in an undercover sting at Read and St. Paul streets, a downtown corner frequented by prostitutes, Baltimore police said yesterday.

Smith and Mary DiPaulo, 31, were charged with committing unnatural and perverted sex act. Smith was held overnight at the Central Booking and Intake Center and released on personal recognizance at 2 p.m. yesterday. DiPaulo's bail status was not available.

Officials at WBFF-TV (Fox 45) and Sinclair, one of the fastest-growing broadcasting companies in the nation with 28 television and 34 radio stations, would not comment yesterday. The company had $126 million in sales in the first half of this year.

Police said undercover Officer Gary Bowman, on a prostitution detail, was talking to DiPaulo about 9: 15 p.m. in a car at St. Paul and Read streets. She left the undercover car after telling Bowman that ``she had just seen her regular date driving in the area,'' according to court documents.

Police said DiPaulo ran across the street to a 1992 Mercedes, registered to Sinclair, and got in on the passenger side. Police followed the car onto the Jones Falls Expressway, where they said they witnessed the two engage in oral sex while Smith drove north.

Police said they followed the car back to Read and St. Paul streets, where they arrested Smith and DiPaulo, who lives in the 700 block of Washington Blvd.

Go Pelosi!

Nice work.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) surprised Republicans by gaining the House floor just after a 6:30 p.m. roll call, when the chamber was nearly full. Before they could rule her out of order, she introduced a resolution condemning DeLay (R-Tex.). GOP members sat stone-faced as the House clerk read the resolution's summation of the House ethics committee's four admonishments of DeLay's conduct, three in the past eight days.

Pelosi called on the committee to pursue another allegation, which it had deferred this week, and to hire an outside lawyer to help. Her resolution said DeLay has "displayed contempt" for the bipartisan panel by claiming that he had been exonerated and by calling the charges frivolous. Republicans immediately set the resolution aside on a party-line vote.

Hoeffel/Specter Round Two

He should close the gap another couple of points after this debate hopefully. Local listings here. First showings at 7 tonight.

And, Hoeffel's rolling out two new ads.

Kerry Doing Fine

Poor little Furious George.

"For me, the most stunning moment of the whole evening was when George Bush was asked to name three mistakes that he has made ... and the President couldn't even name one mistake."

Kerry looked back on Friday's night's debate in St. Louis, Missouri, recalling that at one stage a riled-up Bush cut off moderator Charles Gibson in midsentence to answer one of his rival's statements.

"I was a little worried at one point, I thought the President was going to attack Charlie Gibson."

Earpiece

Haven't commented on this yet as plenty of others have. But, none of the reporters who have look into this have bothered to address the really interesting question. It would be simple to do -- just request the videotapes from CNN or MSNBC of Bush's D-Day speech, verify something that many commented on at the time and are now bringing up again --- that a strange voice was heard feeding Bush his lines. I didn't hear this live, but I remember people commenting on it at the time, such as Danny Shecter. And, there's this video which of course could be doctored but seems to mirror pretty well what people described at the time.

But, it's simple -- roll the tapes... Go reporters go!

(via isbushwired)

Blame the Military

This was pretty astounding. Shinseki told Bush the right thing and they humiliated him (and, yes, media whores, effectively removing him from the loop 3 months before his announced retirement is equivalent to "firing" him). And, now the Commander in Chief War President, after making it obvious what happens to anyone who did ask for more troops, has the gall to blame the military for the decisions he's responsible for. Unfuckingbelievable:

I remember sitting in the White House looking at those generals, saying do you have what you need in this war? Do you have what it takes? I remember going down to the basement of the White House the day we committed our troops as last resort. Looking at Tommy Franks and the generals on the ground. Asking them do we have the right plan with the right troop level? And they looked me in the eye and said, yes, sir, Mr. president.

Of course, I listened to our generals. That's what a president does. A president tests the strategy and relies upon good military people to execute that strategy.

You Can Run

"You can run but you can't hide."
- Bush, last night (twice).

"[H]e's hiding, and we're trying to find him."

Bush on bin Laden, to Tim Russert, Feb. 8

That Liberal Media II

It's bad enough that Sinclair is ordering its stations to run an anti-Kerry movie produced by a Moonie Moonie apologist, but what's really bad is the "liberal media" will be quiet about it. Imagine if, say, an owner of a bunch of NBC affiliates ordered them to run "Going Upriver" or "Fahrenheit 9/11" the night before the election. A media shitstorm of epic proportions would erupt. Aside from the screeching right wingers, Howard Kurtz would write endless columns about it. They'd trot out hundreds of employees who were outraged by the decision (under cloak of anonymity if necessary) to condemn the horrible liberal bias of their affiliate owner. There would be talk of nothing else on the cable nets all the time. WE'd hear demands for "equal time" or other such nonsense. We'd hear screeching about biasbiasbiasbiasbiasbiasbiasbiasbiasbiasbiasbiasbiasbias until the election.

Three Mistakes

"I didn't do it":

Q. President Bush, during the last four years, you have made thousands of decisions that have affected millions of lives. Please give three instances in which you came to realize you had made a wrong decision and what you did to correct it. Thank you.

Mr. Bush I - I have made a lot of decisions and some of them little, like appointments to boards you've never heard of, and some of them big. And in a war there's a lot of - there's a lot of tactical decisions that historians will look back and say, he shouldn't have done that, he shouldn't have made that decision. And I'll take responsibility for them. I'm human.

But on the big questions, about whether or not we should have gone into Afghanistan, the big question about whether we should have removed somebody in Iraq - I'll stand by those decisions because I think they're right. It's really what your - when they ask about the mistakes, that's what they're talking about. They're trying to say, did you make a mistake going into Iraq? And the answer is absolutely not. It was the right decision.

The Duelfer report confirmed that decision today because what Saddam Hussein was doing was trying to get rid of sanctions so he could reconstitute a weapons program and the biggest threat facing America is terrorists with weapons of mass destruction. We knew he hated us. We knew he'd been - invaded other countries. We knew he tortured his own people.

On the tax cut, it's a big decision. I did the right decision. Our recession was one of the shallowest in modern history.

Now you ask what mistakes. I've made some mistakes in appointing people, but I'm not going to name them. I don't want to hurt their feelings on national TV.

But history will look back and I'm fully prepared to accept any mistakes that history judges to my administration. Because the president makes the decisions, the president has to take the responsibility.

That Liberal Media

Link:

NEW YORK — The conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose television outlets reach nearly a quarter of the nation's homes with TV, is ordering its stations to preempt regular programming just days before the Nov. 2 election to air a film that attacks Sen. John F. Kerry's activism against the Vietnam War, network and station executives familiarwith the plan said Friday.

Sinclair's programming plan, communicated to executives in recent days and coming in the thick of a close and intense presidential race, is highly unusual even in a political season that has been marked by media controversies.

Superfreaky

Wow. On second viewing this is amazing. Bush freaks on Charlie Gibson.

Kerry Rocked

It's a bit of a habit to judge these things on the basis of how Bush did. But, in this debate it's fair to say that Bush was a bit better than he was in the last one, but more importantly... Kerry was a lot better than he was last time.

"I Didn't Do It"

Sam Rosenfeld has it right. One of the worst things about Bush's comments was, once again, his inability to take responsibility.

I think George W. Bush's dodge on the mistakes question is even more revealing, and unflattering, than at first glance. Think about the only thing he pointed to as a mistake: appointments. That is to say, the only mistake he made is some other folks screwing up their jobs. Even his single mistake is someone else's fault.

Later Night Chat

Bush sucks edition.

Dred Scott

There are mistakes which happen in live formats, and mistakes which are pre-fabbed, deliberate, and therefore you're held accountable for. Mistakes involving the issue of slavery are particularly offensive, no matter what the mistake.
Bush said:

Another example would be the Dred Scott case, which is where judges years ago said that the constitution allowed slavery because of personal property rights.

Dred Scott wasn't based on property rights. It was based on racism.

The decision of the court was read in March of 1857. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney -- a staunch supporter of slavery -- wrote the "majority opinion" for the court. It stated that because Scott was black, he was not a citizen and therefore had no right to sue. The decision also declared the Missouri Compromise of 1820, legislation which restricted slavery in certain territories, unconstitutional.

Post-Debate Discussion

All non-poll chat here.

Polls

Post-debate polls. I'll post the obvious ones and people should add their local ones in this thread (please, don't post anything else - I'll have another discussion thread.

http://www.cnn.com
http://www.foxnews.com
http://www.msnbc.com
http://www.hardball.msnbc.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.abcnews.com
http://cbsnews.com
http://nbcnews.com
strib
Inky/PDN
Sun-Sentinel
latimes.com
Atlanta J-C
O-hi-o
toledoblade.com
wyoming

Partial Birth Abortion

"You can run but you cannot hide"

wow.

Thread the Sixth

Mrs. Atrios gets to go to an inaugural ball edition.


Let's give Kerry the House.

...Blinky's back.


...Timber company? News to him?

President Bush himself would have qualified as a "small business owner" under the Republican definition, based on his 2001 federal income tax returns. He reported $84 of business income from his part ownership of a timber-growing enterprise.

Thread Goes Fifth

"I didn't do it."

...."offroad diesel engine"? what the fuck is that?

...."hydrogen generated automobile"? whhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?

Thread Goes Fourth - Presidenty Kerry edition

This is great. Kerry wins.

Let's give him the House.

Thread the Third - TALK LOUDER EDITION!!!

Bush is like a bad American tourist in a foreign country. If only he SCREAMS A LITTLE BIT LOUDER people will understand it.

desperation.


...internets?

...What about Poland??????

Debate Thread the Second

Same thing, different debate.


...man, NBC isn't doing enough reaction shots, but when they do Bush sure is superfreaky.


...did Bush really say he was disappointed he didn't find any weapons of mass destruction? That's *really* superfreaky...

Debate Thread the First

Discuss.

...some serious condescending to questioner Robin.

Debate Cat Blogging

Pre-Debate Spin Thread

Document the atrocities...

Lies

As has been demonstrated recently, Bush and everyone one of his flunkies have absolutely no qualms about going out there and lying. My big worry for tonight is that Bush is going to go out there and just make stuff up. Lots of it. The danger for Kerry is that he'll, as any intelligent honest person would, want to be able to point out the lies and correct the record. However, one doesn't win these debates by "debating." One wins them by not looking like a complete douchebag, and by having one snappy comeback our enlightened pundit class can seize on as "the moment" of the debate, as they tried desperately to do with Cheney's lie. Tim Russert, who even knew it was a lie at the time, still commented on how masterful it was, which is absolutely stunning.

And, what does Russert think about this debate? Apparently, he already knows:

MSNBC: The burden in this second debate seems to be on President Bush to rebound and even the score with Sen. Kerry.

Russert: Even his closest supporters acknowledge the first debate was a lackluster performance. It reminded me very much of Ronald Reagan in 1984, where, after a dismal first debate, he bounced back in the second one against Walter Monday with that witty line about, “I won’t use your youth and inexperience against you.”

Kerry More Likeable Than Bush

So STOP SAYING THAT HE ISN'T. CNN/Time poll.

George Bush and John Kerry are again deadlocked, 45% Bush – 45% Kerry, among likely voters in the three-way race, as they head into tonight's town hall meeting, according to a TIME Poll taken Oct. 6-7. Nader is down to 3%.

On being "likeable," a key strength for Bush in 2000, Bush now trails Kerry, 70% - 65%. (Bush had a slight 4 point lead on likeability before the debate.) Bush still leads Kerry by a wide margin, 81% - 42% on "sticking to his positions."

It's pretty astounding, really. No matter who people intend to vote for, they do tend to buy into the meta-narratives the media feeds them. Even people who are diehard Kerry supporters can find themselves mentally parroting, "Well, yes, I do agree that Bush is more likeable but I don't think that's very important when it comes to choosing a president." And, the "Bush is a likeable guy" [and Kerry isn't] theme has been shoved down our throats more than any of them.

"Lord of the Flies"

Oh. Wow. That's some good pr0n for Democrats. In his quality DeLay roundup, Kuffner points us to this quote in the NYT about what would happen if DeLay were to either lose his seat or his leadership position (or, presumably, get thrown in jail):

"Without Tom DeLay it would be complete and total chaos," said one Republican strategist with close ties to the White House. "The House would descend into 'Lord of the Flies.' "

While winning the Senate would of course be a prize in its own right, I do think that the one-two punch of taking down Bush and the House leadership, one way or another, is the way to throw the GOP off balance for awhile.

Lock Him Up

Digby sez:

We've come full circle. They have so lost touch with reality that Cheney is now implicating himself in Saddam's WMD programs and he doesn't even realize it.

heh. indeed.

Call Them Out

Is the media ever going to hold these people accountable for making military decisions and releasing terror alerts for political purposes? They're not even trying to hide it anymore. Could anything be more outrageous? I don't think the Rude Pundit is rude enough sometime.

First, we have this:

Civilians involved in the process also told the Times that the new approach was formulated in part to counter criticism from President Bush's Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, that the administration has no plan for Iraq.

And, then we have this, regarding the "your children are all going to die" terror alert:

The Department of Homeland Security official said the material was associated with a person in Iraq, and it could not be established that this person had any ties to terrorism. He did have a connection to civic groups doing planning for schools in Iraq, the official said.

(both via Americablog)

When Will People Learn

I understand that Chait is writing the best arguments he can come up with for re-electing Bush, even though he clearly wants no such thing. But, even given that, statements like this drive me crazy:

Begin with the premise that a second-term Bush administration is unlikely to make things a whole lot worse. First of all, domestically, GOP moderates and deficit hawks have finally begun to wake up and realize that they have to rein in Bush's reckless fiscal policies.

Um, no. No they haven't. They don't exist any longer in sufficient numbers. Sane Republicans are not going to save us. They don't have the power.

Max on Jobs

Max has more on the jobs numbers. As he notes, the household survey number, which the wingnuts claims is the "right number" when it's good and then pretend doesn't exist when it's bad, is down 200,000 for September. Oops.

Gutter Media

I have to say even I've been shocked that ever newsreader on TV has decided that it's appropriate humor for them to talk about how Martha Stewart is going to be strip searched, with a smirk and a giggle.

Seems to be the media obsession of the day.

What Kerry Should Say

About the "global test." From the Rude Pundit.

The Rude Pundit is indeed rude, so if such things offend you can refrain from clicking through.

Extremist Organizations

Lois Murphy is running against Jim Gerlach, who is a liar.

Officials for the reelection campaign of freshman GOP incumbent Jim Gerlach attacked his Sixth Congressional District Democratic opponent, Lois Murphy, for accepting money from MoveOn.org PAC, an Internet-based grassroots organization that supports Democrats.

"It is a wacko, extremist group," Gerlach spokesman John Gentzel said. A press release from the Gerlach camp stated that the group's "radical agenda" included spending millions of dollars on advertisements comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler. It called on the Murphy campaign to return any money it received from the PAC.

Hannah Pingree, national candidate outreach coordinator for the MoveOn.org PAC, said the group had never run any such ad. She said that last year, the organization held an online ad contest which attracted 175,000 participants and generated more than 1,500 responses, including one that compared the President to Hitler.

"That ad went up online, and as soon as we knew it was there, we took it down," she said. "We did not create it, endorse it, or run it."

I've added Murphy to my list of candidates. If you're feeling generous... I think she needs some money from members of this "extremist organization."

What About Poland?

Oops.

The new GOP strategy contained some risks to Bush: Some of the countries possibly implicated in wrongdoing in the program include U.S. allies in Iraq, particularly Poland, as well as Russia — countries the administration does not want to alienate.

+96K

That is a pretty crappy jobs number. Need about 150,000 per month just to keep up with the growth in the working age population.

...god, it's so predictable. Kudlow spends a week before the number comes out gloating over how great the jobs number is going to be, then he spends the day it comes out shrieking about how it doesn't matter.

What hacks.

All Your Job Are Belong To Bush -- Final Edition

Max gives the monthly reminder.

Given the apparent lack of administration flaks gloating this evening (I believe the executive gets a heads up the evening before, although I may have dreamt that), I'm guessing tomorrow's number won't be all that scrumdillyicious. I hope it's horrible. And, no I'm not actually hoping the economy's horrible and no one's working - what I hope is that one imperfectly measured data point comes in low to rob this administration of a spin point for tomorrow's debate.

BlogPac

I've joined up with Markos and Jerome on BlogPac. And, when I say "joined up," I mean that they've done 100% of the work and I've thrown my name in.

Anyway, so far what they've been doing is running web-based ads targetting local congressional districts. Kos has the latest. And, as he says, we're going to have a big conversation about where to take it post-election. The general idea, of course, is controlling the board for the '06 midterms and making people weep before the all powerful force that is the blogosphere.. But, for now, if you think what's being done is useful, chip in a few bucks.

Nutty as Hell

I'm watching Newsnight and the Bush shill just said, regarding the Bush's misuse of Iraq intelligence, something like "Every one who has looked at this in a non-partisan way, including the 9/11 commission and others, have concluded that the president did not spin the intelligence..."

Actually, he said roughly the same thing twice.

What the hell did the 9/11 commission have to do with intelligence on Iraq?

Global Test

(thanks to reader l. don't know who created it).

Debate Prep the 2nd

I didn't do so badly last time with my debate prediction:

As for my pre-debate spin, which has the added benefit of being honest, is that what we're going to get from Bush is the exact same thing we've been getting from him throughout his presidency. We'll get "happy talk" on Iraq which contradicts reality. We'll get "tough talk" on unnamed terrrorists, despite the fact that Ashcroft hasn't managed to convict any. We'll get "happy talk" on Afghanistan, with Bush doing things like hilariously claiming that the "Taliban is no longer in existence." We'll probably get some shockingingly unpresidential behavior, including the inappropriate humor he so loves.

But, what we probably won't get is anything new. Same shit, different night, as Iraq continues to burn.

So, let me try again and throw in a little bit of advice. What Kerry needs to do is mostly what he did the first time. Most of all he needs to be presidential. He needs to recognize the reality of the format - reg'lar folks will be asking the questions - and adjust to that. All that'll really take is making sure to be respectful of and sympathetic to the questioners, and perhaps be willing to speak conversationally (though, not verbosely). Kerry's quite capable of that.

As for how he treats Bush, I say that as much as possible he ignores him. Not in a disrepectful way, but Kerry should be there to talk to the people. He should goad him a bit, to knock him off stride, but not too obviously or pointedly. Mentioning his father seems to work nicely. Of course, if Bush throws a punch Kerry should block and throw one back. And, if Bush throws another punch Kerry can consider pummeling him until he's bloody (metaphorically speaking, of course).

But, here's the deal. Coming into debate 2, Bush hasn't got anything. He can't hide behind his "compassionate conservatism face" which he used in 2000 - that was tossed in the garbage. He can't hide behind "war president face" because last week we all saw what a joke that is. All he's got left is the real face - sulky fratboy/petulant child.

As long as Kerry is presidential in a way that Bush cannot be, he'll do fine.

Losing Fineman

As others have already said, if Bush has lost Fineman he's really in trouble...

Trippi

Went to see Trippi and EJ Dionne and a Princeton professor chat about various things. The subject was ostensibly "does your vote matter?" but of course the conversation wandered around quite a bit.

There's one point Trippi made which I want to expand upon. And, hey, since I have a blog I can do that. The point Trippi made was that even if all the electronic voting machines are 100% accurate and 100% fraud-free, the fact that the like a verifiable paper trail is going to cast a cloud over the legitimacy of the election.

I want to add that the sad thing is both sides (or at least, I hope both sides) are of course gearing up to fight the post-election battle, both the legal one and the publicc relations battle. No matter what happens, if the election is anything approaching "close," both sides are going to cast a cloud of illegitimacy over the other person's victory. Whether or not any side can try to use the legal system to yank back a victory is one question, but the noise machine will be cranked up high. The Right will scream "voter fraud" everytime a Hispanic person votes, and the Left will be screaming about voter intimidation and voting machines. Aside from the individual merits of any of those claims, both sides will inevitably be making them in order to control the post-election day spin.

Pre-Writing

I understand why stories are often, at least in part, pre-written. I understand how they sometimes get posted too early. But, a story about Bush winning the election 4 weeks early?

Big Mo

AP says Kerry ahead:

Among 944 likely voters, the Kerry-Edwards ticket led Bush-Cheney 50 percent to 46 percent. The Oct. 4-6 survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

...

Bush and Kerry are considered equally likable, after Bush's ratings went down and Kerry's went up for an 11-point swing.

Can we stop hearing about how Bush is more likable now?

Jodi Jodi Jodi

Hacktackular!

Your Kids Are Going to DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These people are shameless:

WASHINGTON - The Education Department has advised school leaders nationwide to watch for people spying on their buildings or buses to help detect any possibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege in Russia.

The warning follows an analysis by the FBI (news - web sites) and the Homeland Security Department of the siege that killed nearly 340 people, many of them students, in the city of Beslan last month.

"The horror of this attack may have created significant anxiety in our own country among parents, students, faculty staff and other community members," Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok said in a letter to schools and education groups.

The safety advice is based on lessons learned from the Russia incident. But there is "no specific information indicating that there is a terrorist threat to any schools or universities in the United States," Hickok said.

Judith Miller to Jail

Lock her up...

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge held a reporter in contempt Thursday for refusing to divulge confidential sources to prosecutors investigating the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity.

U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan ordered New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed until she agrees to testify about her sources before a grand jury, but said she could remain free while pursuing an appeal. Miller could be jailed up to 18 months.

Soon, perhaps, anyway...

DeLay

Pelosi and Hoyer on the bugman.

Trippi and Dionne in Philadelphia

Tonight - 6:30.

P U

I hate getting so angry first thing in the morning. Apparently it's "Catholics hate Kerry" day in the media, including news stories which dance around the poll numbers without actually giving them to us.

But, one poll which has gotten some attention is a recent Pew poll. Click on this .pdf link. Turn to page 2. Scroll down to religious affiliation. Tell me what's wrong with the poll and then wonder what the hell Pew is doing.

Hoeffel Closing

Poor Arlen. Everybody hates him.

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter is slipping in the new Keystone Poll, but his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel, remains unknown to half the state, poll director G. Terry Madonna says.

"I always thought this was going to be a competitive race, and if Hoeffel can raise the money to get known, it will be a competitive race," said Madonna, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Public Opinion Research in Lancaster.

Among likely voters, Specter, the four-term Republican senator, had 44 percent of the vote. Hoeffel, a Democratic congressman from suburban Philadelphia, had 35 percent. Constitution Party nominee Jim Clymer, a Lancaster County attorney, was at 7 percent. Libertarian nominee Betsy Summers of Wilkes-Barre was not included in the poll.

Hoeffel's not there yet, but getting closer. That 7% for Clymer will probably hold or even grow. Big anti-choice segment of the population who will not vote for Specter.

Morning Thread

Chat away.

Endgame

It's pretty apparent that the Bush-Cheney endgame, borne of desperation, involves 28 more days of an expensive lie campaign. I just watched an ad, approved by Jr., which was implying that John Kerry was trying to tax married people.

This election is going to come down to whether truth or fiction prevails. In the last election, fiction did. Let's hope we, and our media, do better this time.

A Little Help

If there's anyone at blogger/google who reads this and might be able to successfully republish my entire archive I'd really appreciate it...

Traffic

This was my second post. And, no, I wasn't kidding. I never imagined I'd get 100...then 1000...then 5000...then 10000...then 50000...then 100000... then 200000... visits per day. At each level of traffic, I assumed it would plateau, which it often did for awhile, but then it always cranks back up again.

Anyway, I hate these metablogging posts, and I hate most "blog triumphalist" posts, but every now and then I have to step back and realize how astounding it all is -- otherwise I'd have to be way more cynical than I actuallly am.

Chumps

What the Poor Man says:

Again. Imagine what it must be like to be in a position like that, realizing that Cheney and Hannity and Wing Commander Reynolds and all their little patsies are just lying to your face, and playing you for a total chump, again. There's only so much cognitive dissonance that the human mind can take before it rebels. There's got to be point which it just becomes too much - too much humiliation, too much hypocrisy, too much dishonesty. And when that point is reached, they are all going to take a step back, and look with new eyes on themselves, and on the world, and really, really, really start trying to figure out how this is all Clinton's fault.

Oh Jeebus

Nightline:

Giess was finally diagnosed with TBI — traumatic brain injury. It is sometimes called "the invisible handicap." Symptoms include irritability, poor memory, lack of inhibition, anxiety, confusion, unusual fatigue, and persistent headaches. These problems are often dismissed as postwar stress reactions.

While an estimated 20 percent of injured veterans in past wars suffered from TBI, doctors say more than 60 percent of injured troops returning from Iraq may be afflicted. The reason: Troops have new body armor that saves lives by protecting the torso, but not the brain.


...

"The majority of them, they're incontinent, both bowel and bladder, so we have to retrain them when to use the toilet, how to use the toilet," said Alvarez.

In all TBI patients, the frontal lobe — an area of the brain that governs impulse control — is affected. These patients often have trouble focusing if there are any distractions in the room.

I've been wondering about the numbers of amputees. I had no idea there were so many brain injuries. My God.

Ladies Against Women

oy.

oy.

Soros and Fact Check

George Soros responds to all the fun.

Russert - in the Tank

Media Matters notes that Russert knew Cheney had met Edwards, but didn't bother to mention it.

Radio Fun

I'll be on the Majority Report tonight at about 8:30ish, chatting with Sam, Janeane, and Robert Reich. I may have to pull out the increasingly dusty economist hat.

What is Andrea Mitchell's Job?

I recognize that increasingly there are grey areas in our dysfunctional media. Media people move back and forth between "journalist," "analyst," and "pundit," often with most viewers being unaware of either the difference between those things or about which particular hat the person is wearing at any given time.

Bizarrely, NBC currently has her listed as their "Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent." But, in case, for someone who is mostly presented as a straight journalist she's sure been engaging in a lot of partisan Republican hackery lately. Her gushing over Cheney last night was utterly ridiculous.

But, her most hacktackular moment was this one in August:

MS. MITCHELL: Well, let's take a look also at the American support for this. When we looked at our NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, again, as to whether or not all this was worth it, a majority, 51 percent, feel that removing Saddam Hussein was not worth the casualties and the billions that we spent.

So, Joe Lieberman, have we lost the American people?

Manage Jeff Seemann's Campaign

We all get to play campaign manager for a day.

Kudos

There were a lot of complaints about the people running the Kerry campaign/DNC during the month of August when they appeared to be blindsided by the Swift Boat nonsense. But, I think they should be complimented on how they've been doing things. They've managed to completely own the post-debate spin for both of these debates, highlighting what a nitwit Bush was and highlighting what a liar Dick Cheney was. They've managed to get the information out there, and fast. At least after the first debate (I didn't notice this time), they bought up the banner ads a bunch of major newspapers touting Kerry's performance.

It's rare that our side owns even an entire news cycle. And, of course, given our in the tank media it's never quite perfect. But, we've pretty much owned it since Kerry's debate - the thing which came closest to dislodging us was Drudge's magic pen. Nice try, but no luck.

Ezra comments too.

Cry Foul

Eric Boehlert makes the point which was obivous 4 seconds into Bush's speech today -- he told the cable nets he was giving a major presidential policy address, and instead he gave the millionth repetition of his stump speech. If they had any integrity, they would have pulled the plug 10 minutes in, once they'd realized they'd been had. As Yglesias says, "is the press really going to stand for it?"

Well, they already did. Now, of course, they owe Kerry a full commercial free airing of one of his campaign speeches. I won't be holding my breath.

"I Know How the World Works"

This is just wacky. A member of Chalabi's INC was indicted by an Iraqi court for going to the "enemy state" of Israel.

B-School Profs to Bush -- You Stink

Max has their letter.

Republican Race Baiting

Every election.

Corzine, Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) Condemn NRSC

“Race Baiting” Ad in Oklahoma



Corzine Calls on NRSC to Take Down Ad, Says

“Black Hands” Ad Reminiscent Jesse Helms Race Baiting Ads of the Past



http://www.dscc.org/ads/ok_nrsc



Washington, DC -- U.S. Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM), joined together today in condemning an ad being run by the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) in Oklahoma on immigration which Corzine referred to as race baiting and "appealing to the worst" in people. Corzine called on the NRSC to take the ad down immediately. Corzine said the ad, which shows haunting images of Hispanic farm workers and black hands receiving welfare dollars in attacking Congressman Brad Carson's immigration record, "is counter to a productive political discourse."

"Unfortunately, negative attack ads have become a regular occurrence in political campaigns. However, the 'black hands' ad the NRSC is running in Oklahoma crosses the line and runs counter to any kind of productive political discourse," Corzine said. "What happened to leadership that unites, not divides? This ad is a clear example of race baiting and attempting to appeal to the public's worst instincts. The NRSC should take this ad down now and apologize to our nations Hispanic and African American populations. This as is as wrong today as the Jesse Helms 'white hands' ad of a previous era."

“At a time when the Republican Party claims to be reaching out to Hispanic voters, once again their actions speak louder than their words. Stereotypical images that increase racial tensions and play against our fears contribute nothing to the political debate and represent a step backward to the divisive politics of the past," Governor Bill Richardson said.

Is Cheney Delusional?

First he claims he never met Edwards when he has at least 3 times. Then he bragged about being the presiding officer of the Senate, and being there most Tuesdays, even though he's only acted as the presiding officer on two Tuesdays. He's been going on and on about links between Saddam and the 9/11 hijackers and between Saddam and al Qaeda, even though no such links exist. He so misrepresents things that Kerry says that he must have a serious mental illness. He simultaneously claims that Kerry is "inconsistent" and then says he's the most consistently liberal senator. We really can only conclude that Cheney needs some serious psychiatric help.

[/Krauthammer]

Fundraising Pitch

The DCCC has sent out a fundraising pitch I made for them. You can read it there.

I encourage people to give to a variety of candidates and organizations, there's no "right place" to give. But, as I explain in the pitch (hopefully well enough), the DCC C is in a position to really do what no other organization can at this point in the election cycle, given campaign finance laws and their institutional mandate. They're the real strategic players in this game, figuring out where and when to drop money and support into races. House races can change quickly, if a mini-scandal bubbles up or an attack ad manages to have impact. Every candidate's fundraising and media buys are basically public knowledge, but the DCCC gets to make the surprise attacks (and respond to surprise attacks from the other side), dropping an extra few hundred grand into a race at a critical moment.

And, for people who hate spam - it was their email list, I have nothing to do with it. If I didn't make the pitch, then someone else would have...

Who Won?

Last night CNN pulled down their post-debate poll, probably because Edwards was crushing Cheney. They just put it back up -- have at it.

...hit the Toledo Blade too.

DeLay

Kos informs us that even Judicial Watch is gunning for DeLay now.

I suggest everyone click through the ad to the right, or click this link, and do what it says, including calling the Chairman of the Ethics Committee at:

202-225-4422

and tell his office that the reputation of the House of Representatives requires the appointment of an outside counsel to investigate DeLay.

Wolcott

Link:

Dennis Miller not only sounds like Michael Savage, he's beginning to look like him too, an oily stain possessing the power of speech.

Big Pharma

Court rules Limbaugh's medical records were seized appropriately. breaking...



Haha. Just rewound the Tivo. Daryn Kagan:
"We have some breaking news out of Florida, and for that we go over to my colleague Kyra Phillips...Apparently, my boyfriend's in trouble!"

Okay, she didn't say that last part.

Cheney vs. Reality

Over at the DNC.

With the Sound Off

I'm watching Bush's speech with the sound off (too early to actually handle listening to it). But, he looks like he's losing it. His normal cocky swagger is boosted up a few notches, and he look like a drunk little guy who got a bit too lippy in a bar, picked a fight, and he's trying to hold onto those last few moments of self-respect before he gets his ass kicked out in the parking lot.

Mary on Stage

John's right - it doesn't win him any bonus points, but it was gratifying that Cheney's daughter Mary came on stage with her partner after the debate.

MSNBC - Smokin' Crack

Salon puts tweety and crew in their place.

Cheney -- LIIIIIAAAAARRRR

Edwards' hometown newspaper:

CHENEY: "Your hometown newspaper has taken to calling you Senator Gone." (An archive search finds no such reference in The News & Observer.

...Look, a mention in a weekly paper that isn't in his "hometown" does not qualify as his "hometown newspaper". If he'd said, "one newspaper in your home state," it would have been a stretch,* but not a lie. As said, it's a lie.

*Why I mean it would be a stretch is that if Kerry and Bush were debating in Philadelphia, I don't think it would be appropriate for Kerry to say "Your policies have been so disastrous that one Philadelphia paper has said that people who vote for you will burn in hell." Now, that would be true, as the Philadelphia Weekly has said just that, but still a stretch in that for most people across the country they'd be imagining that it was the daily newspaper which wrote it, and not some irreverent weekly.

Fuck You FCC

Stern press release:

NEW YORK - October 6, 2004 - “King of All Media” Howard Stern and SIRIUS (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced today an epic agreement whereby Stern will move to SIRIUS beginning January 1, 2006. SIRIUS is the premium satellite radio provider known for delivering the very best in commercial-free music and sports programming to cars and homes across the country.

The world-renowned Stern is credited with revolutionizing the talk radio format. He is the No. 1 national radio host among males 18-49 years of age and ranks No. 1 in many of the 46 major markets where his show is broadcast, including New York and Los Angeles.

“It has been my dream to have the top-rated show in radio since I was five years old,” said Stern. “SIRIUS - the future of radio - will take this dream to a whole new level as I bring my fans my show my way. It will be the best radio they will ever hear.”

Morning Thread

Chat away.

Polls to Hit

Newsday: http://www.newsday.com (Look for "Poll: Rate the candidates")

Akron Beacon-Journal: http://www.ohio.com/
Pittsburgchannel
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/index.html
Houston Chronicle: Houston Chronicle
www.sun-sentinel.com


FoxNews: http://www.foxnews.com


Hardball


CNN: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004


http://www.kyw.com/
LA Times



The cowards at CNN appear to have changed their poll question.

Cheney Lied

Claimed he'd never met Edwards. LIIIIAAAAAAARRRRRR. February, 2001:

Congressman Wamp, Senator Edwards, friends from across America, and distinguished visitors to our country from all over the world: Lynne and I are honored to be with you all this morning.

Coward

I think the biggest surprise tonight was how Cheney didn't respond to Edwards'criticisms on so many issues, even when he had a chance.

Hear the Spin

Make sure to have your questions ready!
Chat with Ken Mehlman at 10:45

Dial in number: (800) 474-8920
Password: Grassroots

Main Conf. Password: Cleveland

Polls

Ones in bold are definitely live:

Newsday: http://www.newsday.com (Look for "Poll: Rate the candidates")

Akron Beacon-Journal: http://www.ohio.com/
Pittsburgchannel
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/index.html
Houston Chronicle: Houston Chronicle
www.sun-sentinel.com


FoxNews: http://www.foxnews.com


Hardball


CNN: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004


http://www.kyw.com/
LA Times


There are more down below, but I'm pretty sure all these are up.

Where's George

The way Cheney talks, he doesn't even exist.

Snarl

Wow. So much for 'smiling happy Dad' Cheney.

Thread II

Cheney's unusually nervous and snarly. Weird.

Debate Thread I

Chat away.

Pre-Debate Thread

I'm out for a bit. Monitor the pre-debate spin atrocities. Be back for the debate...

Republican Family Values

Salon:

LaTourette's affair with a Washington lobbyist was exposed by the Hill newspaper in 2003. The father of four and husband of 21 years voted for President Clinton's impeachment, but he has also joined moderate Republicans on a number of issues, including support for hate crimes legislation. He was blending into the woodwork as a Republican Party regular -- not as extreme as some of his more partisan colleagues but acceptably conservative (the Christian Coalition recently rated his voting record 84 percent favorable) -- when the revelation of his affair made him a poster boy for Republican "family values" hypocrisy.

The Washington lobbyist and her background have gone unmentioned in previous published accounts of the affair. But two sources close to Susan LaTourette, the congressman's wife, have told Salon that the lobbyist is Steven LaTourette's former chief of staff, Jennifer Laptook, whose work as a vice president for the firm Van Scoyoc Associates consists of pushing the interests of various Ohio-based clients before the staff of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which LaTourette sits. He is also chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

...

Laptook is able to do business as she does because of a loophole in the law. Because she lobbies only the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and not her former boss's congressional office directly, she was able to evade the ban on "direct lobbying" for one year after leaving LaTourette's employ.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government, says such a transparent ploy remains unethical: "You don't get to lobby your former boss just because he happened to get a certain committee assignment. You are still lobbying your former boss. This is yet another unethical situation where members of Congress let close political allies make money off of connections." Neither LaTourette nor Laptook responded to calls from Salon seeking their comment.

As it happens, Rep. LaTourette is also a member of the House ethics committee. He recently sat in judgment on Majority Leader Tom DeLay when he was investigated for offering financial support to the political campaign of a retiring representative's son in exchange for his vote on the Republican Medicare bill. Although LaTourette has received $16,000 in campaign contributions from DeLay since 1994, he said before the committee's report was issued that he would not be influenced by any such relationship. "This is typical of the ethics committee, which is a joke," says Sloan. "It exists only to give cover to those acting unethically." On Sept. 30, the ethics committee voted to admonish DeLay, but not to levy any penalties.

Wimblehack!

A long overdue competition.

Republicans - Too Stupid to Breathe

According to the most recent Gallup poll, 62% of Republicans think Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the 9/11 attacks.

...the numbers were on a CNN report from Gallup and they *were* at the E&P link at one point. Will post transcript when it arrives, and all the trolls can cry.


...ah, here we are:

Well, Americans are focused on their own upcoming election. And tonight, Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards take center stage at their one and only debate. So, how does the public view the vice presidential candidates? For that answer and more, we go to Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport, live from Princeton, New Jersey -- Frank?

FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP: Hello, Kyra.

Indeed, Dick Cheney, not surprisingly, has more negative baggage than John Edwards going into the debate tonight. That's how I would summarize it.

Here's our latest September favorable/unfavorable ratings on the two VP candidates. Dick Cheney over here, 48 favorable, 44 unfavorable -- so, roughly balanced. John Edwards relatively untouched by a lot of negativity, so far -- 56 favorable, 30 unfavorable. So, he goes in with a more positive image. We'll see how he comes out of the debate tonight.

Who's going to win? It's the expectations game, of course, for all these debates. Bush was favored going into the first one; our data show he didn't win. Who's favored tonight? The public splits, Kyra, right down the middle: 40 percent say Cheney, 42 John Edwards. So, no favorite going into tonight's proceedings there in Cleveland.

PHILLIPS: All right. Where do Americans stand on Iraq?

NEWPORT: Well, that's an important question that's clearly been the focus of the first debate. It may come up tonight, of course.

We've seen it change. The question that we've been asking about wars here at Gallup since the Korean War: Was it a mistake to get involved? And the percentage say yes -- it's this bottom line -- right after the Republican convention, it had dropped. Only 38 percent of Americans right here said it was a mistake. In other words, that was more positive about the Iraqi war. Only 38 saying it was a mistake.

But the percent saying it was a mistake has gone up. We're now -- we're at split half and half: 48 say it was a mistake, and 51 percent say not. So, we're kind of back where we were -- America split right down the middle in terms of perceptions of the Iraq war at this point, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, do Americans agree with Kerry's statement during his debate that Osama bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks and not Saddam Hussein?

NEWPORT: Well, that's the key issue. You know, all these comments by Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defense, have come into the fore even yesterday and today. It's very political.

This is fascinating. Look carefully. If you're a Republican, 62 percent say, yes, Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the 9/11 attacks. Almost two thirds say yes. But Democrats and Republicans, exactly as many, two thirds say, no, there was no connection.

Phillips, also, is apparently too stupid to breathe.

LIIIIIIIAAAAARS

God, these people just never stop. Just repeating the post below, with link to CNN article.

A senior Defense Department official said that Bremer never asked for more troops and expressed annoyance the ambassador appeared to be second-guessing the advice of military officials. Bremer stepped down after the June 28 handover to an interim Iraqi government.

On CNN TV just now:

[rough transcript]

Officials here again say that during the time frame Paul Bremer served in Iraq he was in constant contact with the Penatgon, with the White House, he visited here several times and spokesman for Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld says the Secretary doesn't recall any point that Paul Bremer brought up with him at least the need for more troops. If it had come up, the Secretary would have paid a great deal of attention to that.

From July 1, 2003:

WASHINGTON - The top American administrator in Iraq, confronting growing anti-U.S. anger and guerrilla-style attacks, is asking for more American troops and dozens of U.S. officials to help speed up the restoration of order and public services.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was reviewing the request from L. Paul Bremer, U.S. officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Bremer's request underscores how difficult it has been for his small civilian staff and some 158,000 U.S.-led troops to meet the demands of Iraqis for security and other basic needs. It also conflicts with upbeat public statements from President Bush, Rumsfeld and Bremer himself on the progress made on Iraq's political and economic reconstruction.

Jerry

(Watching CNN) Apparently Viceroy Jerry released a statement this morning saying that when he stated that they needed more troops in Iraq, he only meant in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad in order to prevent the looting. CNN dug up a statement he made at DePauw University where he said:

Earlier, at a student forum this afternoon in Meharry Hall, the ambassador admitted, "The single most important change -- the one thing that would have improved the situation -- would have been having more troops in Iraq at the beginning and throughout... Although I raised this issue a number of times with our government, I should have been even more insistent."

And, now all the Bushies are calling him a liar, saying he never asked for more troops. I'm sure Wolf Blitzer will start talking about "weird aspects in his life" any minute now.


...From July 1, 2003:

WASHINGTON - The top American administrator in Iraq, confronting growing anti-U.S. anger and guerrilla-style attacks, is asking for more American troops and dozens of U.S. officials to help speed up the restoration of order and public services.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was reviewing the request from L. Paul Bremer, U.S. officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Bremer's request underscores how difficult it has been for his small civilian staff and some 158,000 U.S.-led troops to meet the demands of Iraqis for security and other basic needs. It also conflicts with upbeat public statements from President Bush, Rumsfeld and Bremer himself on the progress made on Iraq's political and economic reconstruction.

LIAAAAARRRSS

grrr

okay, I've tried to hold my tongue about this, but there's a special place in hell reserved for whoever (DNC?) put me on a media bulk email list after the last debate...

Handing Things Over to the Crazies

It's interesting (replace with more insulting word if you wish) how the media coverage of this election has been entirely on "what would President Kerry do?" without anyone really bothering to ask "what would a 2nd term President Bush do?"

He hasn't laid out any significant domestic agenda. He hasn't made an serious proposals to deal with the deficit, etc... etc...

But, the big elephant in the living is, of course, which foreign policy camp will triumph? As this anonymous author in Salon points out, all signs point to handing the keys to the state department over to the lunatics who took us to Iraq. Porter Goss will completely politicize the CIA. Defense has already been taken over.

Four more years of that and we'll have a foreign policy and intelligence appartus which will effectively be a wing of the craziest parts of the GOP.

What Edwards Should Say

It's probably for the best that the Rude Pundit isn't John Edwards' debate coach, but I have to admit his suggestion does have some merit...

Do Over

So, Bush is scheduling a last minute speech for Thursday night Wednesday. Any outlet that covers it should give equal time to Kerry the night before their last debate encounter.

Drafty

Hackworth says the draft is coming. I'm of two minds on this. On one hand, I really cannot comprehend how a draft could be imposed on today's society. I think the country would explode.


But, on the other hand, with 140,000 troops sitting in Iraq indefinitely, I don't see how it's avoidable. Aside from everything else, Bush has put is in a position where we are unable to respond with appropriate force if the need arises.

Maybe if more of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders would sign up...

PA's Ours

I've never been too worried, but these voter registration numbers are great. Democrats leading 9-1 on new registrations in Philadelphia. And, since the city generally gets 150% or more turnout... (a joke, my Republican friends).

Drinking Liberally And Other Exciting Local Events

Drinking Liberally takes place at its usual time and place - 6pm, Ten Stone, corner of 21st and South. There will be a TV available for watching the debate, too.

Paul Krugman's speaking tomorrow night at Friends Select school.

Joe Trippi will be speaking at the National Constitution Center on Thursday.

Shame on Viceroy Jerry

Courageous Jerry Bremer now says there weren't enough troops. How many have suffered the consequences of his failing to speak up at the time?

Four More Weeks

Please consider making a couple last donations to the candidates and organizations of your choice. The links above provide some suggestions, but don't feel obligated to click through them. The election is almost here, and the date by which donations can really make a difference is even closer.

I gather people have serious donor fatigue at this point, which I understand. I bet a lot of you have given way more to political causes than you ever imagined or can reasonably afford. But, for those of you who haven't yet -- it isn't too late, but it will be soon.

Kids

Howard Dean was on Letterman tonight, and while overall it was a good performance I think it's important to take issue with his characterization of the soldiers in Iraq as "kids." He definitely didn't mean it in a condescending fashion, but instead to highlight the fact that very young people were sacrificing their lives. But, it isn't entirely true.


About 25% of soldiers who have died in Iraq are over 30, and about 80% are over 21. They aren't all "kids."

Ha Ha

Olbermann just covered Fox's fake news scandal with a big "Faux News" logo.

Spitting on Vets

Appears to be a part of the standard Republican playbook now.

NORFOLK, Va. -- A state Republican Party mailing accuses Democratic congressional candidate David Ashe--a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq--of "weakening the war on terror" by supporting John Kerry.

A flier sent on behalf of his Republican opponent, Thelma Drake, says Ashe and the Democratic presidential candidate are "two peas in a pod" on "issues like higher taxes, abortion on demand and the war on terror."

The New Journalism

Dare to tell someone the truth and you get suspended.

Mehlman

Anyone catch Mehlman on Paula Zahn? Ah, panic. A beautiful thing.


There's one simple reason they're panicking. We're up to 4 polls now that show it roughly a dead heat, with one just out today showing Bush with a slight lead.


But, where Kerry has bounced back "big time," is in his favorability ratings. CBS has it tied and:

Before Thursday's debate, 32 percent of registered voters viewed Kerry favorably and 44 percent unfavorably. After the Miami meeting, his favorability mark improved by 8 points to 40 percent, and his unfavorable edged down to 41 percent.

...

While 44 percent of registered voters see Mr. Bush favorably, an equal number of voters see him unfavorably.

ABC has Kerry down by 5, but:

Some views followed. Forty-seven percent now express a favorable opinion of Kerry, up eight points from before the debate. For the first time since the Republican convention, more voters see him favorably than unfavorably, a critical tipping point.


Favorable Views of the Candidates
Date Bush Kerry
7/25/04 54% 49%
8/1/04 50 52
8/29/04 52 43
9/8/04 54 37
9/26/04 53 39
10/3/04 53 47



Bush's favorability rating was unchanged, at 53 percent. But in another measure, the number of "very enthusiastic" Bush supporters lost eight points, to 57 percent, while high-level enthusiasm for Kerry gained eight points, to 50 percent.

Still, Bush continues to lead, not only in favorability and enthusiasm but in the horse race overall: Fifty-one percent of likely voters in this poll support Bush, 46 percent Kerry and 1 percent Ralph Nader — essentially the same as before the debate. Among the broader group of all registered voters, it's 50 percent to 45 percent to 2 percent.

Dismissable Offense

TV Newser has the contents of a new Fox memo.

Some Journalist

So, a source tells Howie something which turns out to not be true. Howie doesn't make any effort to verify the claim. Shocking.

The Boom Years

If I did my quick math correctly, we had over 14% average annual growth rates during the Carter years. Now that's impressive! Shame things went downhill once that Reagan guy got into office.

Of course, the true golden age existed in 1920s Germany. I don't have nominal GDP figures, but with prices going up 854,000,000,000% in just over 4 months, everyone was getting rich!


50 million German mark note from 1923. Good times!

Where do they find these clowns?
(via Yglesias)

Shorter GOP

Haha, I'm laughing my ass off over this video.

...Oliver says the video's author is Brennan Houlihan.

Which is the Real Bush?

That's the question Froomkin asks in today's White House Briefing.

So who was that George Bush we saw Thursday night? The one who at times looked more peevish and bored than gregarious and resolute?

The notion that voters may come away from the debate thinking of Bush as someone who becomes upset when challenged is potentially devastating to the image of the president that the White House has fostered since Sept. 11, 2001

This is the real Bush:

Gas Taxes

Charles Kuffner has a post up dicussing proposals to replace gas taxes with mileage taxes using GPS systems. That is, instead of having people pay based on how much gas they buy, you tax them based on how many miles they actually drive. I'll leave aside the privacy issues which are serious for obvious reasons, and just discuss the economic ones.

Why do we have a gas tax at all? The first is the usual reason we have taxes - it's a revenue instrument for governments. But, why a "special" tax on gasoline? There are two basic reasons:

a) it acts as a very rough form of "user fee" for roads and highway. This has the general appeal that people who use this particular government service end up paying for it.

b) there are unpriced externalities of driving your car around. Obvious one is that you contribute to wear and tear on the roads (this one fits in with the 'user fee' aspect). Second one is that there are negative effects on the environment. Third one is the "congestion" externality - your presence on the road slows things down a little bit for everyone. Taxing gas raises its effective price - if done correctly bringing the cost of driving your car more in line with the actual cost to society - and reduces the amount which gets used, both by discouraging driving generally and by encouraging people to buy more fuel efficient vehicles.

So, how could a per mile fee be superior to a gas tax? For wear and tear, roughly, it would be worse -- heavier cars, which cause more wear-and-tear on roads, would be taxed the same fee as lighter cars, while with a gas tax they're charged more per mile. Ditto for the environment.

A per mile fee could, in theory, be much better for dealing with congestion -- as the fees could vary across time and location. That is, congested roads at peak times could have higher per mile fees than other locations, encouraging drivers to adjust their time of travel and choice of route/mode. But, we can already do that by expanding existing easypass toll systems on primary commuting routes. There's no real advantage gained by making it a universal system - most roads, even at peak commuting times, aren't particularly congested.

On balance, even ignoring the privacy issues I really can't see how a per-mile fee is an improvement over the gas tax. I'm all for both increasing the gas tax (and, yes, offsetting it with a low income tax credit to offset the regressive nature of the tax) and increasing the number of sensible toll road schemes (as well as getting rid of a whole host of various implicit and explicit driving and parking subsidies), but a mile-based fee seems to offer few if any advantages and huge disadvantages. Gas taxes encourage people to buy more fuel efficient cars. A per mile fee wouldn't.

But, what do I care. I don't even own a car.

In Local News...

When the Mask Slips

"He grows worse and worse. Question enrages him." -- Lady MacBeth

For far too long the media has allowed the Bush administration and its spinners to get away with presenting a manufactured image of him, one which was seriously at odds with reality. Digby does a good job explaining how the public face of Bush bears little relationship to Bush the man. But, this has gone beyond being a successful public relations campaign about Bush the candidate. While Bush's people believe that they are able to shape public perception about their candidate, increasingly it seems that Bush himself believes that the spin has the ability to change reality itself. The Daily Show joked that the Bush administration believes "words speak louder than actions," which was probably the most perceptive thing I've seen the entire campaign season.

It's one thing to spin a public persona which doesn't much resemble the actual man behind the mask, and it's another to spin an entire alternative reality. The consequence of having to convey that fake reality day after day is that one begins to inhabit it. Bush has been living in his play universe for far too long.

We saw a little bit of what happens when that reality is challenged this past Thursday. By challenging Bush's reality, Kerry caused the mask which is Bush's public persona to slip and the petulant little child inside came storming out. Hiding the truth from yourself and everyone else is, as Bush says, "hard work." Too much work. And, the strain is showing.


(thanks to reader p for the quote)

Philadelphia Daily News Endorses Hoeffel

Good for them. Let's hope the Inky doesn't make a fool of itself by going with Snarlin' Arlen.

Freeway Free Speech Day

October 13.

Restore the Promise

The people at New Dem Network really do make slick ads.

...the DCCC has a new one too.

Howie

He really is unbelievable.

Your Republican Party

I tried to post about this late last night but Blogger ate the post. Anyway, here's the modern Republican party for you:

DeMint said after the debate that he would not require teachers to admit to being gay, but if they were “openly gay, I do not think that they should be teaching at public schools.”

Cheat Sheet

It's pretty obvious who really had the "cheat sheet" in the debate. Check out the notes in front of Bush.

Bush cheated, and still lost.

(via Hesiod)

Marty

For those of you who have WSJ subscriptions, here's a fascinating glimpse inside the wingnut mind of Marty Peretz, editor of "even the liberal" New Republic.

On a semi-related note, I was doing a little research earlier, reading over some old transcripts from the time leading up to the Iraq war. For some reason, a frequent panel discussion on Wolf Blitzer's show included from the "left," Peter "TNR" Beinart (pro-war), and from the "right," Jonah Goldberg.

CNN's been more "fair and balanced" than Fox for quite some time...

Reality

Bob Herbert gets pretty close to the real issue which faces us this election -- which face of Bush world do we want to accept?

The truth is awful. The rhetoric is sunny.

There undoubtedly were many reasons for Mr. Bush's lackluster effort. But I think there was one factor, above all, that undermined the president in last week's debate, and will continue to plague him throughout the campaign. And that was his problematic relationship with reality.

Mr. Bush is a man who will frequently tell you - and may even believe - that up is down, or square is round, when logic and all the available evidence say otherwise. During the debate, this was most clearly displayed when, in response to a question about the war in Iraq, Mr. Bush told the moderator, Jim Lehrer, "The enemy attacked us, Jim, and I have a solemn duty to protect the American people, to do everything I can to protect us."

Moments later Senator Kerry clarified, for the audience and the president, just who had attacked the United States. "Saddam Hussein didn't attack us," said Mr. Kerry. "Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaeda attacked us."

Given a chance to respond, Mr. Bush flashed an unappreciative look at Senator Kerry and said, "Of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us - I know that."

With no weapons of mass destruction to exhibit, and no link between Saddam and Al Qaeda, Mr. Bush has nevertheless tried to portray the war in Iraq as not only the right thing to do but as largely successful. The increasing violence and chaos suggest otherwise. Even as the presidential debate was being conducted, details were coming in about car bombings earlier in the day in Baghdad that killed dozens of Iraqis, including at least 34 children.

The children were not in school because the turmoil had prevented the opening of schools.

As for the last point, I actually think Herbert is mistaken (though I may be wrong). As I understand it, the kids were encouraged to arrive by soldiers with candy at the precise moment that the press was there to celebrate the repair of a portion of the sewage treatment system. From what I've read, it isn't 100% clear if the soldiers were there because of the opening of the sewage treatment plant.

In any case, I really hope those soldiers weren't given orders to get kids there for a photo op.

Cancel It

If only the Bush administration were a figment of Tommy Westphall's imagination...

(via august, who explains)

Debate Question

I normally don't agree with Amy Sullivan on very much (or, at least, very much that she writes about which is obviously not the same thing), and since the Washington Monthly is down and I therefore I can't find the link to her article on this subject, I won't even link to it (I will once I find it). But, she did bring up what I think is a long overdue question for Bush. Sure, as an evil angry partisan Democrat there are lots of nasty questions that I would love to see asked, but given the rhetoric and image of Bush, and the standards of debates questions passed, I think it's imperative that some version of this question is asked:

Mr. President, why don't you go to church more often?

...here's the article.

...to be clear, I personally see no incompatibility between being "devoutly religious" or even a "devoutly religious Christian" and not being a regular church-goer. I'm not particularly interested in people citing scripture to support or refute that particular requirement. Obviously, there are people who consider themselves to be "good Christians" who aren't regular churchgoers and people who think it's a requirement. But, I do think that given the emphasis that Bush, his people, and the media have put on his "faith," and the degree to which the media, at least, tends to equate "religious" with "churchgoing," it seems to be a fair question to ask. And, no, I don't think it's a "gotcha" question. It would be an opportunity for Bush to describe his personal religious beliefs, whether he feels a strong association with or that he's a member of any particular denomination, and to discuss this issue in more depth. After being treated to many weeks of the 'Associated Press Kerry Communion' watch, it's pretty reasonable to think that the details of Bush's religious beliefs, including his thoughts on the importance of any particular religious rite, are subjects which are long overdue for some attention.

Register to Vote

I'm sure I don't have to remind anyone here, but just in case... deadlines have passed in a couple of states and are fast approaching in many. Deadline's tomorrow here in PA. Was glad to see people out in force today registering people to vote, as well as a mini-impromptu pro-Kerry rally at 16th and Walnut...

3 polls

LA Times 49-47, Newsweek 47-45, Gallup 49-49.

No link yet on Gallup. Was on CNN.

Wingnuttery

I'm watching the Specter/Hoeffel debate which includes the Constitution and Libertarian party candidates as well. The Libertarian candidate just informed us all that members of Congress "opt out" of Social Security. She must read too many of those chain emails.

Foxy New York Times

From uggabugga.

Let Me Finish

One of the weirdest moments during the debate was when Bush, out of nowhere, barked "let me finish." Lehrer hadn't said anything. Kerry hadn't said anything. He was only 60 seconds in to his answer. None of his warning lights had gone off.

I have no opinion on the "earpiece" theory, but just who was he talking to?

Afternoon Thread

Enjoy.

mmm....terducken....

Jesse's right. The "balance" on Meet the Press is a joke. The roundtable consists of Kate O'Beirne, Roger Simon, and Ron Brownstein. O'Beirne's a total partisan hack. Simon and Brownstein are cast as centrist straight journalists, but Simon leans Republican quite a bit and Brownstein leans Republican a bit, from my viewing. But, whatever you think of Simon and Brownstein, there's no one to balance O'Beirne.

This kind of "balance" has been pervasive for years.

Jersey

I was never worried about Kerry's chances in New Jersey, but hopefully this poll puts to bed all the "Oh My God! Kerry's Even In Trouble In New Jersey!" stories.

Why do we never hear stories about, say, Bush Even Being In Trouble In Virginia?

Weird, that.

Fox Again

Link:

Editor’s Note:

In an version of this article that was published earlier, the Communists for Kerry were portrayed as a group that was supporting John Kerry for president. FOXNews.com’s reporter asked the group’s representative several times whether the group was legitimate and supporting the Democratic candidate, and the spokesman insisted that it was.

Well, there you go. The reporter did everything possible to determine the legitimacy of the guy's claim. Everything. You know, except clicking on the "about" section of their website.



And, a big shout out to my homey johnny dollar, for being an idiot.

Late Night Thread

babble babble.