I commend for your reading pleasure "Imperial Hubris" by Anonymous, a current CIA analyst. If anyone had any doubts about how dire the situation really is, this will dispell them. Isn't it funny how they now bury the news of the war dead in related stories? Yesterday, the Post reported the war dead in another story; today, injuries were reported in a story about the Italians.And why does the media continue to play dead on the topic of not filming the return of coffins? Yeah, about respect... what a crock that excuse is! It's all about controlling the spin.Speaking of George's Daydream, a song by us, look for it in the LYRICS part of this site, Mayor Williams got the Expos to come to Washington. Schools are still crumbling...Of course, he has to get the City Council to move fast becaues when the new City Council comes in, in january, three stadium supporters won't be there because they got the boot by the voters.Finally on this rant, isn't it funny how Cuban terrorists are welcomed to Miami - and when Israel engages in assassinations it's called "self-defense." The war on terror is a LIE - it's the same old imperial hubris with a different name.

To whomever addressed me in post 1135, thanks for the forum recommendation. I will check it out.I visit this site because I know someone in the band, and I would say that in my experience at least some of the "socialists" who post here will debate some issues if one addresses them respectfully. Those who ask them how the "pro-terrorist" rallies or protests went usually draw responses in kind. Nor am I above dropping the occasional rhetorical bomb.But what I'd really like is some response from those on the right on some issues, because I don't get their reasoning much of the time. Even assuming post 1136 is true, why should I care about Kerry's botox, his wives, his homes, or his bike? I'd really like to hear a response to the article that I posted, as well. Because leaving aside for a moment the issue of torture as policy, one might also notice that, just as in Vietnam, it shows that politics is taking precedence over and determining military operations and that administration politicians and bureacrats are making decisions that those in the field are better qualified to make. Isn't that a legitimate concern, whether you supported the war or not, or have come to the same conclusion as Congressman Bereuter?But poster 1135 is likely correct that I will not find such discussion here. Just those on the political fringes calling each other names while being completely oblivious to the real concerns and everyday challenges facing the majority of Americans. But I'll check back from time to time to see what's up.

Number of days until the Liar in Chief is voted out of office and dignity is restored to the White House: 35

Number of positions taken on Iraq: 12, so far. Number of sides taken on all other issues: both.Number of Botox treatments since he began his run for Commander-in-Chief: 10.Number of millionaire women married: 2.Percentage of 1993 income spent on Serrota bicycle: 6.60%.Percentage of 1993 income in charitable contributions (between wives): 00.13% (not a typo; $175/130,345; Thanks Yale and Boston College!).Current wife's net worth; estimate in billions: $1 to $3.8. Percentage of Swift boat commanders from Coastal Division, USN, who consider him unfit to serve as Commander-in-Chief: 87%Number of hours after Prime Minister of Iraq addressed joint session that Senator Kerry waited before he launched his attack, apx: 3.Number of multi-million dollar homes in which he claims a maritial interest: 5.Estimated value of same, in millions: 29.4.Cost of Gulfstream V jet owned by wife, in millions: 35. Increase in federal spending resulting from his campaign promises, in trillions: 1.9.Number of apologies issued for calling American soldiers and sailors war criminals: Zero.

Regarding your post 1132:“Sorry if this is a bit long.I'd pretty much given up on finding much here besides the trading of insults, but I notice that someone seemed to indicate a desire to respond in some serious manner to a recent post. So I'll give it a shot. In the spirit of a respectful exchange, and with real concern for our country and the future of our efforts in Iraq and the war on terrorism, I draw your attention to…..”You are a much more intelligent debater than these closed minded socialists who drop turds all over the place and disappear without a follow-up. If you want a good debate (on an anonymous forum, no registration required) go here:http://www.hillary.org/hc/Hillary_Clinton_Forum_1239_chat1.cgiDon’t let the name fool you. It is an open forum that discusses the issues of the day. We could use a strong voice like yours to put the right-wingers in their place. Please consider joining in.

The post from Vote Nader is completely lacking in credibility. If you scroll down, you notice some votes apparently very well sourced, citing CQ and the Congressional Record. But claims such as Kerry voted to cut the funding of the FBI by 60%, for the CIA by 80%, and for the NSA by 80%, aren't sourced at all. Why not?When was there ever a vote to cut CIA funding by 80%? This has no crediblity whatsoever. It smacks of a cut and paste job from a combination of places, a few of which may be accurate but enough of which are so obviously untrue that it's not even worth anyone's time to give any serious consideration.

Sen. John Forbes Kerry is trying to run on his Vietnam "war record" instead of his more recent record of the last twenty years or so.In 1991 Kerry voted to cut defense spending by 2 percent. Only 21 other senators voted with Kerry, and the defense cut was defeated. In 1991, Kerry voted to cut over $3 billion from defense and shift the funds to social programs. Only 27 senators joined Kerry in voting for the defense cut. In 1992, Kerry voted to cut $6 billion from defense. Republicans and Democrats alike successfully blocked this attempt to cut defense spending. In 1993, Kerry voted against increased defense spending for a military pay raise. In 1993, Kerry introduced a plan to cut the number Of Navy submarines and their crews; reduce tactical fighter wings in the Air Force; terminate the Navy’s coastal mine-hunting ship program; force the retirement of 60,000 members of the armed forces in one year; and reduce the number of light infantry units in the Army down to one. The plan was DOA. In 1995, Kerry voted to freeze defense spending for seven years, cutting over $34 billion from defense. Only 27 other senators voted with Kerry. In 1996, Kerry introduced a bill to cut Defense Department funding by $6.5 billion. Kerry’s bill had no co-sponsors and never came to a floor vote. In 1996, Kerry voted yes on a fiscal 1996 budget resolution – a defense freeze that would have frozen defense spending for the next seven years and transferred the $34.8 billion in savings to education and job training. The resolution was rejected 28-71. He voted to kill the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. He voted to kill the M-1 Abrams Tank. He voted to kill every aircraft carrier laid down from 1988. He voted to kill the Aegis anti aircraft system. He voted to Kill the F-15 Strike Eagle. He voted to Kill the Block 60 F-16. He voted to Kill the P-3 Orion upgrade. He voted to Kill the B-1. He voted to Kill the B-2. He voted to Kill the Patriot Anti Missile System. He voted to Kill the FA-18. He voted to Kill the B-2. He voted to Kill the F117. In short, he voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988 to include the battle armor for our troops. He also voted to kill all anti terrorism activities of every agency of the U.S.Government. He voted to cut the funding of the FBI by 60%. He voted to cut the funding for the CIA by 80%. He voted to cut the funding for the NSA by 80%. But then he voted to increase OUR funding for U.N operations by 800%. One more arena of hypocrsiy from the left's hero. You all remember that photo op at NASA? Check out his voting record in regard to NASA! Kerry Toured Shuttle That Supplies Space Station—He Voted Against ..... 1991: Kerry Voted To "Reduce Funding For The Space Station From $2 Billion To $100 Million," And Transfer Funds To Other Programs. (H.R. 2519, CQ Vote #132: Rejected 35-64: R 3-40; D 32-24, 7/17/91, Kerry Voted Yea) 1992: Kerry Voted To Terminate Space Station "Freedom" Project. (H.R. 5679, CQ Vote #194: Rejected 34-63: R 4-39; D 30-24, 9/9/92, Kerry Voted Yea) 1993: Kerry Voted "To Terminate The Space Station Program."(H.R. 2491, CQ Vote #272: Motion Agreed To 59-40: R 36-8; D 23-32, 9/21/93, Kerry Voted Nay 1993: Kerry Voted To Terminate Space Station Program And Divert Funds To Tax Cuts. (H.R. 3167, CQ Vote #335: Motion Rejected 36-61: R 10-32; D 26-29, 10/27/93, Kerry Voted Yea) 1994: Kerry Voted To Cut $1.9 Billion From Space Station Program And Terminate Program. (H.R. 4624, CQ Vote #253: Rejected 36-64: R 6-38; D 30-26, 8/3/94, Kerry Voted Yea) 1994: Kerry Unsuccessful In Cutting Space Station Funds Due To International Opposition. ("Space-Station," The Canadian Press, 2/22/94) 1995: Kerry Introduced Legislation To Eliminate Space Station And The National Aerospace Plane Program. (Kathy Gambrell, "Aide: Kerry Supports NASA, But Not Bush Space Program," Aerospace Daily, 5/4/04) 1996: Kerry Voted To Cut $1.6 Billion From NASA's Human Space Flight Program And Terminate Space Station Program. (H.R. 3666, CQ Vote #267: Motion Agreed To 61-36: R 38-12; D 23-24, 9/4/96, Kerry Voted Nay) Warned Of Saddam Nuclear And Biological Capabilities: "It is not possible to overstate the ominous implications for the Middle East if Saddam were to develop and successfully militarize and deploy potent biological weapons. We can all imagine the consequences. Extremely small quantities of several known biological weapons have the capability to exterminate the entire population of cities the size of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. These could be delivered by ballistic missile, but they also could be delivered by much more pedestrian means; aerosol applicators on commercial trucks easily could suffice. If Saddam were to develop and then deploy usable atomic weapons, the same holds true." (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 11/9/97, pp. S12254 -S12255) ... .Quotes from John Kerry taken verbatim from the Congressional Record: Use Of Force Against Saddam Justified To Prevent WMD Production: '[Saddam Hussein] cannot be permitted to go observed and unimpeded toward his horrific objective of amassing a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. This is not a matter about which there should be any debate whatsoever in the Security Council, or, certainly, in this Nation." (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 11/9/97, pp. S12254 -S12255) Military Force Should Be Used Against Suspected WMD"In my judgment, the Security Council should authorize a strong U.N. military response that will materially damage, if not totally destroy, as much as possible of the suspected infrastructure for developing and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, as well as key military command and control nodes. Saddam Hussein should pay a grave price, in a currency that he understands and values, for his unacceptable behavior. This should not be a strike consisting only of a handful of cruise missiles hitting isolated targets primarily of presumed symbolic value." (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 11/9/97, pp. S12254 -S12255) U.S. May Have To Go It Alone To Stop Saddam: "Were its willingness to serve in these respects to diminish or vanish because of the ability of Saddam to brandish these weapons, then the ability of the United Nations or remnants of the gulf war coalition, or even the United States acting alone, to confront and halt Iraqi aggression would be gravely damaged." (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 11/9/97, pp. S12254 -S12255) U.S. Must Do What It Has To Do, With Or Without Other Nations: "While we should always seek to take significant international actions on a > multilateral rather than a unilateral basis whenever that is possible, if in the final analysis we face what we truly believe to be a grave threat to the well-being of our Nation or the entire world and it cannot be removed peacefully, we must have the courage to do what we believe is right and wise." (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 11/9/97, pp. S12254 -S12255)Sen. John Forbes Kerry - Wrong For America

Sorry if this is a bit long.I'd pretty much given up on finding much here besides the trading of insults, but I notice that someone seemed to indicate a desire to respond in some serious manner to a recent post. So I'll give it a shot. In the spirit of a respectful exchange, and with real concern for our country and the future of our efforts in Iraq and the war on terrorism, I draw your attention to the following article, from the New York Review of Books, concerning the Schlesinger Report, concerning Abu Ghraib and systematic use of torture as policy. I also offer a quote from the article that more directly deals with our likely success in Iraq. And I would ask you to consider that clearly low ranking soldiers are being scapegoated for carrying out the directives of superior officers and policymakers in Washington.What do you think?http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17430Schlesinger report puts it bluntly, "there was not only a failure to plan for a major insurgency, but also to quickly and adequately adapt to the insurgency that followed after major combat operations." And though they don't say so explicitly, it is clear that the writers of these reports put much of the blame for this not on the commanders on the ground but on the political leadership in Washington, who, rather than pay the political cost of admitting the need for more troops—admitting, that is, that they had made mistakes in planning for the war and in selling it to the public—decided to "tough it out," at the expense of the men and women in the field and, ultimately, the Iraqis they had been sent to "liberate." All told, the reports offer a vivid and damning picture of a war that is understaffed, undersupplied, underresourced, and, above all, undermanned.In this sense Abu Ghraib is at once a microcosm of the Iraq war in all its failures and the proverbial canary in the mineshaft, warning of what is to come. In fighting a guerrilla war, the essential weapon is not tanks or helicopters but intelligence, and the single essential tool to obtain it is reliable political support among the population. In such a war, arresting and imprisoning thousands of civilians in murkily defined "cordon and capture" raids is a blatantly self-defeating tactic, and an occupying army's resort to it means not only that the occupier lacks the political support necessary to find and destroy the insurgents but that it has been forced by the insurgents to adopt tactics that will further lessen that support and create still more insurgents. It is, in short, a strategy of desperation and, in the end, a strategy of weakness.

Just in case you hadn't made up your mind:U.S. National - APPoll: Having Money Helps With Satisfactionhttp://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040923/ap_on_re_us/ap_poll_satisfaction&cid=519&ncid=716So to those without, just keep singin' that 'ol Stones song.

Read the whole message. I've capitalized the key part that you missed:There was nothing "honorable" about serving in the National Guard DURING VIETNAM. IT WAS A WAY FOR THE RICH AND THE CONNECTED TO STAY OUT OF THE WAR.

How can anybody possibly respond to a peacenik moron who would say ".... there’s nothing "honorable" about serving in the National Guard ..." Have a nice life

Deleted by author 09-22-2004 02:33 AM

There was nothing "honorable" about serving in the National Guard during Vietnam. It was a way for the rich and connected to stay out of the war. Which is fine; most who could have would have done so. But Bush compounds it by continuing to lie about it. Unless he was just so wasted that he can't remember.http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/politics/campaign/20bama.html?hp=&pagewanted=all&position=And I would hope that more people would be upset about being lied to by the President than being lied to (or misled) by Dan Rather.

According to the NYT, CBS is about to announce they were "misled" on the National Guard memos. It's worth noting immediately that this story was given by sources at CBS to the New York Times, which has been extremely bland to the point of evasive in its coverage of the scandal, rather than to the Washington Post, which has been forthright and thorough. It's yet more worth noting that CBS is not even sure they want to acknowledge their mistake:But they cautioned that CBS News could still pull back from an announcement. Officials met last night with Dan Rather, the anchor who presented the report, to go over the information it had collected about the documents one last time before making a final decision. Mr. Rather was not available for comment late last night.These CBS execs are absolutely unbelievable! Even in a situation of blatant fraud, they act as if they were doing us a favor in issuing an apology. I can't figure which they are more - arrogant or stupid. It's a toss-up. By the way, the Times calls it sources CBS News "officials," as if they were some governmental agency, not business "executives," which they are. Doesn't that say it all?

John McCain: "We made serious mistakes right after the initial successes by not having enough troops there on the ground, by allowing the looting, by not securing the borders. There was a number of things that we did. Most of it can be traced back to not having sufficient numbers of troops there."Shinseki was right. This is what you get for abandoning the Powell doctrine of overwhelming force, for trying to fight a war on the cheap.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34111-2004Sep19.html

Learn the TRUTH. Vote the TRUTH in November.http://www.citizensunited-interactive.org/c41.11/

Amen to that.If you get a chance check out the great new Ramones documentary "End of the Century". Some absolutely riveting live footage (too bad it's in short bursts).

Johnny Ramone, guitarist and co-founder of the seminal punk band died Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 55.R.I.P. Johnny

...urge Naderites to vote for Kerry!http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21555-2004Sep14.html

In today's Washington Post, the right's heroine Michelle Malkin blames Karl Rove, in part, "for coddling the illegal alien lobby." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15622-2004Sep12.htmlThe GOP controls the White House and Congress; it's up to them to fix the immigration system. Presumably Kerry/Edwards at least would go after the business community that's exploiting illegal aliens to fatten their bottom line. With all the money being spent on the war and homeland security, deficits be damned, what has the Bush administration done to fix the problems in the immigration system?

3 MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS TO FLOOD THE U.S. THIS YEARThe U.S.’s borders, rather than become more secure since 9/11, have grown even more porous and the trend has accelerated in the past year. Based on a TIME investigation, it’s fair to estimate that the number of illegal aliens flooding into the U.S. this year will total 3 million, enough to fill 22,000 Boeing 737-700 airliners, or 60 flights every day. It will be the largest wave since 2001 and roughly triple the number of immigrants who will come to America by legal means, TIME reports in its cover story , "Who Left the Door Open?" (on newsstands Monday, Sept. 13th). In a single day, more than 4,000 illegal aliens will walk across the busiest unlawful gateway into the U.S., the border between Arizona and Mexico. And many will obtain phony identification papers, including bogus Social Security numbers, to conceal their true identities and mask their unlawful presence. TIME’s Pulitzer Prize winning investigative team, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, takes a look at the damage, the dangers, and the reasons America fails to protect itself as millions of illegal aliens pour across the U.S.-Mexican border this year, many from countries hostile to America. Who are these new arrivals?While the vast majority are Mexicans, a small but sharply growing number come from other countries, including those with large populations hostile to the U.S. From Oct. 1 of last year until Aug. 25, the border patrol estimates, it apprehended along the southwest border 55,890 people who fall into the category described officially as other than Mexicans, or OTMS. With five weeks remaining in the fiscal year, the number is nearly double the 28,048 apprehended in all of 2002. But that’s just how many were caught. Based on longtime government formulas for calculating how many elude capture, TIME estimates that as many as 190,000 illegals from countries other than Mexico have melted into the U.S. population so far this year. The border patrol, which is run by the Department of Homeland Security, refuses to break down OTMS by country. But local law officers, ranchers and others who daily confront the issue tell TIME they have encountered not only a wide variety of Latin Americans (from Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil, Nicaragua and Venezuela) but also intruders from Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Russia and China, as well as people who said they were from Egypt, Iran and Iraq. Law-enforcement authorities believe the mass movement of illegals offers the perfect cover for terrorists seeking to enter the U.S., especially since tighter controls have been imposed at airports. Why Alien Criminals Are at Large in AmericaPerhaps the most alarming aspect of having 15 million illegals at large in society is Congress’s failure to insist that federal agencies separate those who pose a threat from those who don’t. The open borders, for example, allow illegals to come into the country, commit crimes and return home with little fear of arrest or punishment. From Oct. 1, 2003, until July 20, 2004, the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector stopped 9,051 persons crossing into the country illegally who had criminal records in the U.S., meaning they committed crimes here, returned to Mexico, then were trying to reenter the country. Among them: 378 with active warrants for their arrest. In one week, said Border Patrol spokeswoman Andrea Zortman, there were two with outstanding "warrants for homicide." Living in the War ZoneJohn Ladd Jr., a rancher just outside Bisbee, AZ, is forced to work the equivalent of several weeks a year to repair, as best he can, all the damage done to his property by never-ending swarms of illegal aliens. "Patience is my forte," Ladd says, "but it’s getting lower." The 14,000-acre Ladd ranch, in his mother’s family since the 1800s, is right on the border. Ladd says 200 to 300 illegals enter the U.S. Border crossing at the Ladd ranch each night and it is so flagrant that sometimes the illegals arrive by taxi. Ladd doesn’t blame the border patrol, most of whose officers, he says, are doing all they can under the circumstances. Indeed, apprehensions of illegals in Arizona have soared from 9% of the nation’s total in 1993 to 51% this year. "I have real heartache for the agents who are really working. They track down the [smugglers], and the judges let them off, and they get a free trip back to Mexico, where they can start all over." The border patrol, Ladd feels, "are responsible guys in a hypocritical bureaucracy." Rancher George Morin, who operates a 12,000-acre spread a few miles from the border, tells TIME, "All these people say they are coming for the amnesty program. [They] have been told if they get 10 miles off the border, they are home free." The highest levels of the U.S. and Mexican governments have orchestrated this situation as a kind of dance: Mexico sends its poor north to take jobs illegally, and the U.S., in turn, arrests enough of the border crossers to create the illusion that it is enforcing the immigration laws, while allowing the great majority to get through, TIME reports.How Corporate America Thrives on IllegalsInvestigations targeting employers of illegal aliens dropped more than 70%, from 7,053 in 1992 to 2,061 in 2002. Arrests on job sites declined from 8,027 in 1992 to 451 in 2002. Perhaps the most dramatic decline: the final orders levying fines for immigration-law violations plunged 99%, from 1,063 in 1992 to 13 in 2002. In 2002 the old Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) issued orders levying fines on only 13 employers for hiring illegal aliens, a minuscule portion of the thousands of offenders.Both political parties and their candidates pay lip service to controlling the borders. But neither President Bush nor Senator Kerry supports a system that would end the incentive for border crossers by cracking down on the employers of illegals, TIME reports.Kerry will make this and all other problems go away. Kerry is radiant. He is a miracle. Vote for Kerry/Edwards in November!

I hope everyone took time today to remember the 3,000 people killed three years ago today in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania on W’s watch, and to reflect on the fact that three years later the armed forces led by CINC W have yet to capture or kill the perpetrator of that horror.Everyone should also have taken a moment to recall the anniversary of the US-backed coup in Chile that resulted in the Pinochet dictatorship and the murders of 6,000 people.

In his speech to the Republican National Convention, Arnold Schwarzenegger said of his boyhood in Austria, "I saw tanks in the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes."I was an American military policeman stationed in Linz, Austria, in 1947, the year of Mr. Schwarzenegger's birth, when the country was occupied by the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union. Mr. Schwarzenegger was born in Styria, which was in the British zone.That year I witnessed free and fair national elections in Austria, which ushered in a moderate democratic government. The Communist Party in Austria got just 5 percent of the vote.This moderate democracy continued in power through the end of the Allied occupation in 1955 and afterward. There was emphatically no Communist government in postwar Austria. On the contrary, the Austrian government was at loggerheads with the Soviets during their stay in eastern Austria.As for those "tanks in the streets," by the time Mr. Schwarzenegger was born, any Soviet tanks in Austria -- there were never any in Styria -- were long gone.So for what purpose did Mr. Schwarzenegger feel it was necessary to tell lies? Perhaps he was caught up in the Bush campaign's mood of falsehood and distortion.PAUL S. FORBESFairfax (VA)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6943-2004Sep8.html

I agree that Powell deserves credit for labeling the situation in Sudan a genocide. But, from what I've read, it's always in the passive voice, i.e. genocide is being committed. Have you noticed a USG official who has said, "Sudan is committing genocide?"

Please everyone, post only original writing. No cut'n'paste articles please. If there's something you feel that we all need to look at, please provide the link and those who want to check it out, will.That being said, today 10 September, on this particular issue, Franklin, lead vocalist for BLOWBACK, is a strong fan of Secretary Powell and the Bush Administration for having the courage to declare that the situation in Sudan is genocide.The Clinton Administration utterly failed with Rwanda, with Albright playing a downright evil and active role in the UN, preventing any meaningful action to stop the genocide.Our song "For Whom the Bells Toll" is precisely about this failure.Indeeed, just like then, Amnesty International has yet to call the situation a genocide; neither has the European Union done so. Kudos to the Bush Administration and even Resident Bush for telling the truth.

We're Not in Lake Wobegon AnymoreBy Garrison KeillorHow did the Party of Lincoln and Liberty transmogrify into the party of Newt Gingrich's evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk?Something has gone seriously haywire with the Republican Party. Once, it was the party of pragmatic Main Street businessmen in steel-rimmed spectacles who decried profligacy and waste, were devoted to their communities and supported the sort of prosperity that raises all ships. They were good-hearted people who vanquished the gnarlier elements of their party, the paranoid Roosevelt-haters, the flat Earthers and Prohibitionists, the antipapist antiforeigner element. The genial Eisenhower was their man, a genuine American hero of D-Day, who made it OK for reasonable people to vote Republican. He brought the Korean War to a stalemate, produced the Interstate Highway System, declined to rescue the French colonial army in Vietnam, and gave us a period of peace and prosperity, in which (oddly) American arts and letters flourished and higher education burgeoned – and there was a degree of plain decency in the country. Fifties Republicans were giants compared to today's. Richard Nixon was the last Republican leader to feel a Christian obligation toward the poor.In the years between Nixon and Newt Gingrich, the party migrated southward down the Twisting Trail of Rhetoric and sneered at the idea of public service and became the Scourge of Liberalism, the Great Crusade Against the Sixties, the Death Star of Government, a gang of pirates that diverted and fascinated the media by their sheer chutzpah, such as the misty-eyed flag-waving of Ronald Reagan who, while George McGovern flew bombers in World War II, took a pass and made training films in Long Beach. The Nixon moderate vanished like the passenger pigeon, purged by a legion of angry white men who rose to power on pure punk politics. 'Bipartisanship is another term of date rape,' says Grover Norquist, the Sid Vicious of the GOP. 'I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.' The boy has Oedipal problems and government is his daddy.The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong's moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt's evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we're deaf, dumb and dangerous.Rich ironies abound! Lies pop up like toadstools in the forest! Wild swine crowd round the public trough! Outrageous gerrymandering! Pocket lining on a massive scale! Paid lobbyists sit in committee rooms and write legislation to alleviate the suffering of billionaires! Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight! O Mark Twain, where art thou at this hour? Arise and behold the Gilded Age reincarnated gaudier than ever, upholding great wealth as the sure sign of Divine Grace.Here in 2004, George W. Bush is running for reelection on a platform of tragedy - the single greatest failure of national defense in our history, the attacks of 9/11 in which 19 men with box cutters put this nation into a tailspin, a failure the details of which the White House fought to keep secret even as it ran the country into hock up to the hubcaps, thanks to generous tax cuts for the well-fixed, hoping to lead us into a box canyon of debt that will render government impotent, even as we engage in a war against a small country that was undertaken for the president's personal satisfaction but sold to the American public on the basis of brazen misinformation, a war whose purpose is to distract us from an enormous transfer of wealth taking place in this country, flowing upward, and the deception is working beautifully.The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this. The election of 2004 will say something about what happens to ours. The omens are not good.Our beloved land has been fogged with fear - fear, the greatest political strategy ever. An ominous silence, distant sirens, a drumbeat of whispered warnings and alarms to keep the public uneasy and silence the opposition. And in a time of vague fear, you can appoint bullet-brained judges, strip the bark off the Constitution, eviscerate federal regulatory agencies, bring public education to a standstill, stupefy the press, lavish gorgeous tax breaks on the rich.There is a stink drifting through this election year. It isn't the Florida recount or the Supreme Court decision. No, it's 9/11 that we keep coming back to. It wasn't the 'end of innocence,' or a turning point in our history, or a cosmic occurrence, it was an event, a lapse of security. And patriotism shouldn't prevent people from asking hard questions of the man who was purportedly in charge of national security at the time.Whenever I think of those New Yorkers hurrying along Park Place or getting off the No.1 Broadway local, hustling toward their office on the 90th floor, the morning paper under their arms, I think of that non-reader George W. Bush and how he hopes to exploit those people with a little economic uptick, maybe the capture of Osama, cruise to victory in November and proceed to get some serious nation-changing done in his second term.This year, as in the past, Republicans will portray us Democrats as embittered academics, desiccated Unitarians, whacked-out hippies and communards, people who talk to telephone poles, the party of the Deadheads.They will wave enormous flags and wow over and over the footage of firemen in the wreckage of the World Trade Center and bodies being carried out and they will lie about their economic policies with astonishing enthusiasm.The Union is what needs defending this year. Government of Enron and by Halliburton and for the Southern Baptists is not the same as what Lincoln spoke of. This gang of Pithecanthropus Republicanii has humbugged us to death on terrorism and tax cuts for the comfy and school prayer and flag burning and claimed the right to know what books we read and to dump their sewage upstream from the town and clear-cut the forests and gut the IRS and mark up the constitution on behalf of intolerance and promote the corporate takeover of the public airwaves and to hell with anybody who opposes them.This is a great country, and it wasn't made so by angry people. We have a sacred duty to bequeath it to our grandchildren in better shape than however we found it. We have a long way to go and we're not getting any younger.Dante said that the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral, so I have spoken my piece, and thank you, dear reader. It's a beautiful world, rain or shine, and there is more to life than winning.-------Garrison Keillor is the host and writer of A Prairie Home Companion, now in its 25th year on the air. This adapted excerpt is from Keillor's new book, Homegrown Democrat (© 2004).

how utterly surprising: that the supporters of an Administration that is incapable of telling the truth, relying on media specializing in distortion, who attack an actual Vietnam vet and uphold a deserter party boycan't list their sources... and when challenged, just like their Vice President Dick "we need more civility in Washington" Cheney, resort to obscenity.how boring

Deleted by topic administrator 07-29-2006 06:00 AM

C'mon people, what are your sources? Just provide a link!

A Field Day in Saudi Arabia By Rainbow Habib unlocks the giant doors to the Islamic Museum of Saudi Arabia with a digital swipe card and the airconditioning systems and lights automatically flick on simultaneously. He enjoys his job as curator, and looks forward to another day of showing tourists around the museum. He especially enjoys the looks of awe and curiosity on the school age children when he impresses them with his knowledge of history and old Islamic culture. Soon after 9am, solar powered tourist buses arrive and excited school children pour out and run up the steps towards the museum door while the teachers call out for order. These children are from the State of Palisrael; a thriving country situated on the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea and populated by people of mixed ancestry - some are dark, some blonde, some in between. The year is 2104. Habib smiles as his first batch of eager learners appear and he leads them to the first exhibits where the children's excitement turns to awe. "This, children," begins Habib, "is where the story of Islam begins." The children look at exhibits explaining the historical beginnings of Islam and watch a short film of the life of Muhammad. They then move slowly through history, stopping to look at ancient Korans, swords that belonged to Muslim warriors, and then clothing exhibits showing dummies wearing various burqas and veils. The children giggle at the veil with the eye mesh and ask Habib how they managed to see. Slowly, the children move to the a different flavour of exhibits and their giggles turn to gasps when they see photos and short films of the WTC attacks of 2001, the Russian school hostage massacre of 2004, the bombings of French kindergartens, the Olympics, British football stadiums, maternity hospitals, children's parties and simultaneous bombings of Christmas day church services around the world. The children shake their heads in amazement, feeling so much gratitude that they live in this age of Awakening where wars, nationalism, communism, religionism and all the other isms are a thing way back in the past. They wonder if these humans were different types of humans in those days; they seemed so ... different. Next the children are lead to the Age of Awakening exhibits. "This," says Habib, "is how we began to wake up to what we were doing." First he shows them the Political Correctness Exhibits showing copies of laws being passed to stop anyone complaining about Islam. The children shake their heads in amazement and some laugh. Habib continues; "Then after the Christmas day bombings a few years later, a group of Islamic dissidents who had been trying to educate people on Islamic ideology began to be heard. At last the people listened and started marching on the streets and wanting an end to Islam and Political Correctness. The change in thinking gathered momentum when the media got on the bandwagon. Only half the usual numbers went to Mecca that year, an eighth the following year, and only a trickle after that. There were great threats and more bombs, but each attack helped fuel the debate against Islam and its violent ideology and the terrorists started to lose their power. The pilgrimages to Mecca ceased in 2060, mosques opened for tourism, and here is a film clip of the great Koran and hijab burning celebrations around the world in 2065." The children's faces look to be cheering the people on the filmclip who were throwing large books and funny clothing into the fire while singing and dancing and cheering and hugging each other. The film cuts to other places around the world where there are tears of happiness on people's faces as people all over the world danced together in the streets. Habib leads the children to the next exhibit where another film clip shows the Great World Apologies of 2080 from grandchildren of terrorists. They have tears in their eyes as they speak, and the children peer over each other to see. Some recognise well known heroes that are in their school history books alongside Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther. "Was your grandfather a terrorist like that?" asks a small girl with wide eyes. Habib smiles; how many times have children asked him this question, including his own. "No, my grandfather was a sheikh who taught Islam." The children gasp. "But he was a good man with a good heart; he just thought he was doing the right thing in those days," continued Habib. "This is the reason for this museum, children, to let us never forget this lesson in history. Always think, read and educate yourselves; think for yourselves! Never resort to violence to solve problems!" Habib pauses and looks out at the bustling main street in Mecca filled with happy and free people and in a quieter voice, adds; "I just wish my grandfather could see the world today...." The teacher's voice cuts in; "Ok, children, line up now! We are going to the sea for a swim and to look at the beautiful marine life. Jeddah has the prettiest underwater sceneries and the most amazing fishes, then after lunch we go Mecca to see the Old Mosque there ." The children cheer; "Yay! Swimming!" They pile into their solar bus. Oil had become redundant many years ago and Saudia Arabia had to open for tourists. They also had to open the doors to immigration and now Saudi was populated by a variety of people with different s and ancestry. His wife has a Korean Jewish . The next bus was pulling into the carpark and the children from Australia and Iran were lining up. Habib smiles at their innocent and enthusiastic faces.Then he sighs and says to himself; "If only the grandfather could see how it all turned out...."

BUSH 'TOOK COCAINE AT CAMP DAVID' Sep 6 2004And wife Laura liked dope, says book By Emma Pryer GEORGE W Bush snorted cocaine at Camp David, a new book claims.His wife Laura also allegedly tried cannabis in her youth.Author Kitty Kelley says in her biography The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, that the US President first used coke at university in the mid-1960s.She quotes his former sister-in-law Sharon Bush who claims: "Bush did coke at Camp David when his father was President, and not just once either."Other acquaintances allege that as a 26-year-old National Guard, Bush "liked to sneak out back for a joint or into the bathroom for a line of cocaine".Bush has admitted being an alcoholic but, asked during the 1999 election if he did drugs, he said: "I've told the American people that years ago I made some mistakes."I've learned from my mistakes and should I be fortunate enough to become president I will bring dignity and honour to the office."Later an aide clarified his remarks saying Bush hadn't taken illegal drugs in the past 25 years.Kelley says that the Bush family covered up scandals because of their wealth and influence. She claims George W started drinking at school and continued at Yale university to overcome shyness.Former student Torbery George says in the book: "Poor Georgie. He couldn't relate to women unless he was loaded."Another says: "He went out of his way to act crude. It's amazing someone you held in such low esteem later became president."His supporters have slammed the allegations as outrageous.The White House said: "This book appears to be filled with the same trash discredited years ago."

Maybe the Pentagon can double-check all the medals it's given out over the last 40 years. Surely it can't just be Kerry's that are suspicious? Hell, I'd be satified if they could just tell us where Bush was when he was supposed to be defending Texas and Alabama from the Viet Cong, since W. apparently can't remember. Isn't that convenient?Eddie, still waiting for your source, any source, for your statement.And still waiting to hear from Wow! in defense of crony capitalism...

This is your source????

BWAAAWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

News Hounds Manifesto

Like many projects, this one started out as something else. In early 2004, eight middle-aged citizens from different backgrounds and locations around the USA teamed up via MoveOn.org and the internet (thank you, Al Gore!) to volunteer our services for OUTFOXED, a documentary film by Robert Greenwald regarding Fox News Channel. For approximately three months, each of us watched FNC conscientiously for five or more hours a week and posted our findings regarding Fox’s self-proclaimed mission of fair and balanced reporting. Appalled by our results, we, who would not meet in person until months later, banded together in cyberspace in concern and outrage over the failure of American media, and Fox News in particular, to relate the news properly. Rather than serve as the public’s eyes and ears, Fox and other media conglomerates have become echo chambers for the rich and powerful with whom they have become all too cozy. This blog is an attempt to counter that alarming condition. We believe that a viable democracy depends upon viable media. We invite you to join us in our efforts here and elsewhere to make a difference in the future of our country. We offer special thanks to Robert Greenwald, Laurel Busby, Kate McArdle and the rest of the staff at Robert Greenwald Productions, our wonderful Blogfather Jim Gilliam (voted world's best by news hounds across America), MoveOn.org and Center for American Progress with whom we have felt so proud and privileged to associate. We send you and the rest of the media-watching, listening and reading population our News Hounds shout out. Our hope is that you will visit this site regularly so that over time you will come to see, as we have, the ways in which Fox News in particular, lies and distorts its "news" reporting and spins in favor of the Republican party. Let’s put the dogs (and a fox or two) in the doghouse where they belong. We have them OUTFOXED!

Fair and Balanced I'm sure.............WTO Protests in Seattle ring any bells with you kids

Pentagon to check Kerry war record

By Julian Coman in Newark, Ohio(Filed: 05/09/2004) In a fresh blow to John Kerry's flagging presidential campaign, the Pentagon has ordered an official investigation into the awards of the Democratic senator's five Vietnam War decorations.News of the inquiry came as President George W Bush opened an 11-point lead over his rival - the widest margin since serious campaigning began - according to the first poll released since last week's Republican convention. A question mark has been raised over one of John Kerry's awards The highly unusual inquiry is to be carried out by the inspector-general's office of the United States navy, for which Sen Kerry served as a Swift Boat captain for four months in 1968, making two tours of duty. He was wounded in action and subsequently awarded three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star. But for the past month, the exact details of Mr Kerry's military service in Vietnam have become shrouded in a controversy that the navy has now decided warrants a full-blown search for the truth.According to a self-styled group of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, many of whom served in Vietnam during the same period,

Mr Kerry exaggerated the significance of combat incidents and inaccurately reported the circumstances of his injuries, at least one of which was allegedly self-inflicted.

The accusations are repeated in a book, Unfit to Command, which was published last month.Last week, the Kerry campaign attempted to leave the Vietnam debate behind, as signs appeared that the controversy was damaging Mr Kerry's standing in the polls. But to the consternation of campaign strategists, the US navy has now agreed to a request by Judicial Watch, a bi-partisan lobby group, for a full inquiry. Judicial Watch is calling for the Navy to report before the elections, but Navy officials are so far refusing to give any timetable for the inquiry.In an August letter to the Pentagon, the group's president, Tom Fitton, requested an investigation into the "determination and final disposition of the awards granted to Lieutenant (junior grade) John Forbes Kerry, US Naval Reserve", in response to the Swift Boat Veterans' allegations.A navy spokesman confirmed on Friday that the inspector-general's office at the Pentagon had authorised the inquiry. "It is the responsibility of all personnel to correct errors in official records," said the spokesman. Another official said privately: "There's a feeling that it's time to deal with this thoroughly, once and for all."Among other records to be examined is a citation of Mr Kerry for bravery that was apparently signed by the former Navy Secretary, John Lehman, and contributed to the award of his silver star. The glowing citation states: "By his brave actions, bold initiative and unwavering devotion to duty, Lt Kerry reflected great credit on himself."

But Mr Lehman denies all knowledge of the commendation. "It's a total mystery to me," he said last week. "I never saw it, I never signed it and I never approved it." The inquiry will also investigate other reports and citations leading to the award of Mr Kerry's medals.

On Friday, Mr Lehman endorsed the investigation of Mr Kerry's awards, saying that the relevant navy records needed to be "thoroughly researched and the facts established". Mr Fitton said: "We hope this is the beginning of an actual investigation of the legitimacy of Sen Kerry's awards by the navy and the Pentagon."In an angry statement from the Kerry campaign headquarters, Michael Meehan, Mr Kerry's senior adviser, condemned the navy probe as an expensive waste of the Pentagon's resources."The facts are clear," said Mr Meehan. "The navy awarded John Kerry the Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V and three Purple Hearts. This is a waste of taxpayers' dollars and the Pentagon's time, especially during wartime."The inquiry comes at the end of the worst week of Mr Kerry's campaign. The poll showing an 11-point lead by President Bush, to be published in this week's Time magazine, was taken during the first three days of the Republican Convention in New York, which featured repeated direct attacks on

Mr Kerry as an unreliable candidate for the role of Commander-in-Chief during the war on terror.

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Here ya go Eddie: http://www.newshounds.us/2004/07/24/fox_turns_protesters_into_terrorists.phpNow as Craig and I have kindly asked, please cite your sources. In other words, put up or shut up.

Mr. Chairman, delegates, fellow citizens: I am honored by your support, and I accept your nomination for President of the United States.When I said those words four years ago, none of us could have envisioned what these years would bring. In the heart of this great city, we saw tragedy arrive on a quiet morning. We saw the bravery of rescuers grow with danger. We learned of passengers on a doomed plane who died with a courage that frightened their killers. We have seen a shaken economy rise to its feet. And we have seen Americans in uniform storming mountain strongholds, and charging through sandstorms, and liberating millions, with acts of valor that would make the men of Normandy proud.Since 2001, Americans have been given hills to climb, and found the strength to climb them. Now, because we have made the hard journey, we can see the valley below. Now, because we have faced challenges with resolve, we have historic goals within our reach, and greatness in our future. We will build a safer world and a more hopeful America -- and nothing will hold us back.In the work we have done, and the work we will do, I am fortunate to have a superb Vice President. I have counted on Dick Cheney's calm and steady judgment in difficult days, and I am honored to have him at my side.I am grateful to share my walk in life with Laura Bush. Americans have come to see the goodness and kindness and strength I first saw 26 years ago, and we love our First Lady.I am a fortunate father of two spirited, intelligent, and lovely young women. I am blessed with a sister and brothers who are also my closest friends. And I will always be the proud and grateful son of George and Barbara Bush.My father served eight years at the side of another great American -- Ronald Reagan. His spirit of optimism and goodwill and decency are in this hall, and in our hearts, and will always define our party.Two months from today, voters will make a choice based on the records we have built, the convictions we hold, and the vision that guides us forward. A presidential election is a contest for the future. Tonight I will tell you where I stand, what I believe, and where I will lead this country in the next four years.I believe every child can learn, and every school must teach -- so we passed the most important federal education reform in history. Because we acted, children are making sustained progress in reading and math, America's schools are getting better, and nothing will hold us back.I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor America's seniors -- so I brought Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen Medicare. Now seniors are getting immediate help buying medicine. Soon every senior will be able to get prescription drug coverage, and nothing will hold us back.I believe in the energy and innovative spirit of America's workers, entrepreneurs, farmers, and ranchers -- so we unleashed that energy with the largest tax relief in a generation. Because we acted, our economy is growing again, and creating jobs, and nothing will hold us back.I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.I am running for President with a clear and positive plan to build a safer world, and a more hopeful America. I am running with a compassionate conservative philosophy: that government should help people improve their lives, not try to run their lives. I believe this Nation wants steady, consistent, principled leadership -- and that is why, with your help, we will win this election.The story of America is the story of expanding liberty: an ever-widening circle, constantly growing to reach further and include more. Our Nation's founding commitment is still our deepest commitment: In our world, and here at home, we will extend the frontiers of freedom.The times in which we live and work are changing dramatically. The workers of our parents' generation typically had one job, one skill, one career ? often with one company that provided health care and a pension. And most of those workers were men. Today, workers change jobs, even careers, many times during their lives, and in one of the most dramatic shifts our society has seen, two-thirds of all Moms also work outside the home.This changed world can be a time of great opportunity for all Americans to earn a better living, support your family, and have a rewarding career. And government must take your side. Many of our most fundamental systems -- the tax code, health coverage, pension plans, worker training -- were created for the world of yesterday, not tomorrow. We will transform these systems so that all citizens are equipped, prepared -- and thus truly free -- to make your own choices and pursue your own dreams.My plan begins with providing the security and opportunity of a growing economy. We now compete in a global market that provides new buyers for our goods, but new competition for our workers. To create more jobs in America, America must be the best place in the world to do business. To create jobs, my plan will encourage investment and expansion by restraining federal spending, reducing regulation, and making tax relief permanent. To create jobs, we will make our country less dependent on foreign sources of energy. To create jobs, we will expand trade and level the playing field to sell American goods and services across the globe. And we must protect small business owners and workers from the explosion of frivolous lawsuits that threaten jobs across America.Another drag on our economy is the current tax code, which is a complicated mess -- filled with special interest loopholes, saddling our people with more than six billion hours of paperwork and headache every year. The American people deserve -- and our economic future demands -- a simpler, fairer, pro-growth system. In a new term, I will lead a bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the federal tax code.Another priority in a new term will be to help workers take advantage of the expanding economy to find better, higher-paying jobs. In this time of change, many workers want to go back to school to learn different or higher-level skills. So we will double the number of people served by our principal job training program and increase funding for community colleges. I know that with the right skills, American workers can compete with anyone, anywhere in the world.In this time of change, opportunity in some communities is more distant than in others. To stand with workers in poor communities -- and those that have lost manufacturing, textile, and other jobs -- we will create American opportunity zones. In these areas, we'll provide tax relief and other incentives to attract new business, and improve housing and job training to bring hope and work throughout all of America.As I've traveled the country, I've met many workers and small business owners who have told me they are worried they cannot afford health care. More than half of the uninsured are small business employees and their families. In a new term, we must allow small firms to join together to purchase insurance at the discounts available to big companies. We will offer a tax credit to encourage small businesses and their employees to set up health savings accounts, and provide direct help for low-income Americans to purchase them. These accounts give workers the security of insurance against major illness, the opportunity to save tax-free for routine health expenses, and the freedom of knowing you can take your account with you whenever you change jobs. And we will provide low-income Americans with better access to health care: In a new term, I will ensure every poor county in America has a community or rural health center.As I have traveled our country, I have met too many good doctors, especially OB-GYNS, who are being forced out of practice because of the high cost of lawsuits. To make health care more affordable and accessible, we must pass medical liability reform now. And in all we do to improve health care in America, we will make sure that health decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, DC.In this time of change, government must take the side of working families. In a new term, we will change outdated labor laws to offer comp-time and flex-time. Our laws should never stand in the way of a more family-friendly workplace.Another priority for a new term is to build an ownership society, because ownership brings security, and dignity, and independence.Thanks to our policies, homeownership in America is at an all-time high. Tonight we set a new goal: seven million more affordable homes in the next 10 years so more American families will be able to open the door and say welcome to my home.In an ownership society, more people will own their health plans, and have the confidence of owning a piece of their retirement. We will always keep the promise of Social Security for our older workers. With the huge Baby Boom generation approaching retirement, many of our children and grandchildren understandably worry whether Social Security will be there when they need it. We must strengthen Social Security by allowing younger workers to save some of their taxes in a personal account -- a nest egg you can call your own, and government can never take away.In all these proposals, we seek to provide not just a government program, but a path -- a path to greater opportunity, more freedom, and more control over your own life.This path begins with our youngest Americans. To build a more hopeful America, we must help our children reach as far as their vision and character can take them. Tonight, I remind every parent and every teacher, I say to every child: No matter what your circumstance, no matter where you live -- your school will be the path to the promise of America.We are transforming our schools by raising standards and focusing on results. We are insisting on accountability, empowering parents and teachers, and making sure that local people are in charge of their schools. By testing every child, we are identifying those who need help ? and we're providing a record level of funding to get them that help. In northeast Georgia, Gainesville Elementary School is mostly Hispanic and 90 percent poor ? and this year 90 percent of its students passed state tests in reading and math. The principal expresses the philosophy of his school this way: "We don't focus on what we can't do at this school; we focus on what we can do -- We do whatever it takes to get kids across the finish line." This principal is challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations, and that is the spirit of our education reform, and the commitment of our country: No dejaremos a ningún niño atrás. We will leave no child behind.We are making progress -- and there is more to do. In this time of change, most new jobs are filled by people with at least two years of college, yet only about one in four students gets there. In our high schools, we will fund early intervention programs to help students at risk. We will place a new focus on math and science. As we make progress, we will require a rigorous exam before graduation. By raising performance in our high schools, and expanding Pell grants for low and middle income families, we will help more Americans start their career with a college diploma.America's children must also have a healthy start in life. In a new term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programs. We will not allow a lack of attention, or information, to stand between these children and the health care they need.Anyone who wants more details on my agenda can find them online. The web address is not very imaginative, but it's easy to remember: GeorgeWBush.com.These changing times can be exciting times of expanded opportunity. And here, you face a choice. My opponent's policies are dramatically different from ours. Senator Kerry opposed Medicare reform and health savings accounts. After supporting my education reforms, he now wants to dilute them. He opposes legal and medical liability reform. He opposed reducing the marriage penalty, opposed doubling the child credit, and opposed lowering income taxes for all who pay them. To be fair, there are some things my opponent is for -- he's proposed more than two trillion dollars in new federal spending so far, and that's a lot, even for a senator from Massachusetts. To pay for that spending, he is running on a platform of increasing taxes -- and that's the kind of promise a politician usually keeps.His policies of tax and spend -- of expanding government rather than expanding opportunity -- are the policies of the past. We are on the path to the future -- and we are not turning back.In this world of change, some things do not change: the values we try to live by, the institutions that give our lives meaning and purpose. Our society rests on a foundation of responsibility and character and family commitment.Because family and work are sources of stability and dignity, I support welfare reform that strengthens family and requires work. Because a caring society will value its weakest members, we must make a place for the unborn child. Because religious charities provide a safety net of mercy and compassion, our government must never discriminate against them. Because the union of a man and woman deserves an honored place in our society, I support the protection of marriage against activist judges. And I will continue to appoint federal judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law.My opponent recently announced that he is the candidate of "conservative values," which must have come as a surprise to a lot of his supporters. Now, there are some problems with this claim. If you say the heart and soul of America is found in Hollywood, I'm afraid you are not the candidate of conservative values. If you voted against the bipartisan Defense of Marriage Act, which President Clinton signed, you are not the candidate of conservative values. If you gave a speech, as my opponent did, calling the Reagan presidency eight years of "moral darkness," then you may be a lot of things, but the candidate of conservative values is not one of them.This election will also determine how America responds to the continuing danger of terrorism -- and you know where I stand. Three days after September 11th, I stood where Americans died, in the ruins of the Twin Towers. Workers in hard hats were shouting to me, "Whatever it takes." A fellow grabbed me by the arm and he said, "Do not let me down." Since that day, I wake up every morning thinking about how to better protect our country. I will never relent in defending America -- whatever it takes.So we have fought the terrorists across the earth -- not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at stake. Our strategy is clear. We have tripled funding for homeland security and trained half a million first responders, because we are determined to protect our homeland. We are transforming our military and reforming and strengthening our intelligence services. We are staying on the offensive -- striking terrorists abroad -- so we do not have to face them here at home. And we are working to advance liberty in the broader Middle East, because freedom will bring a future of hope, and the peace we all want. And we will prevail.Our strategy is succeeding. Four years ago, Afghanistan was the home base of al-Qaida, Pakistan was a transit point for terrorist groups, Saudi Arabia was fertile ground for terrorist fundraising, Libya was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, Iraq was a gathering threat, and al-Qaida was largely unchallenged as it planned attacks. Today, the government of a free Afghanistan is fighting terror, Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders, Saudi Arabia is making raids and arrests, Libya is dismantling its weapons programs, the army of a free Iraq is fighting for freedom, and more than three-quarters of al-Qaida's key members and associates have been detained or killed. We have led, many have joined, and America and the world are safer.This progress involved careful diplomacy, clear moral purpose, and some tough decisions. And the toughest came on Iraq. We knew Saddam Hussein's record of aggression and support for terror. We knew his long history of pursuing, even using, weapons of mass destruction. And we know that September 11th requires our country to think differently: We must, and we will, confront threats to America before it is too late.In Saddam Hussein, we saw a threat. Members of both political parties, including my opponent and his running mate, saw the threat, and voted to authorize the use of force. We went to the United Nations Security Council, which passed a unanimous resolution demanding the dictator disarm, or face serious consequences. Leaders in the Middle East urged him to comply. After more than a decade of diplomacy, we gave Saddam Hussein another chance, a final chance, to meet his responsibilities to the civilized world. He again refused, and I faced the kind of decision that comes only to the Oval Office -- a decision no president would ask for, but must be prepared to make. Do I forget the lessons of September 11th and take the word of a madman, or do I take action to defend our country? Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time.Because we acted to defend our country, the murderous regimes of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban are history, more than 50 million people have been liberated, and democracy is coming to the broader Middle East. In Afghanistan, terrorists have done everything they can to intimidate people -- yet more than 10 million citizens have registered to vote in the October presidential election ? a resounding endorsement of democracy. Despite ongoing acts of violence, Iraq now has a strong Prime Minister, a national council, and national elections are scheduled for January. Our Nation is standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, because when America gives its word, America must keep its word. As importantly, we are serving a vital and historic cause that will make our country safer. Free societies in the Middle East will be hopeful societies, which no longer feed resentments and breed violence for export. Free governments in the Middle East will fight terrorists instead of harboring them, and that helps us keep the peace. So our mission in Afghanistan and Iraq is clear: We will help new leaders to train their armies, and move toward elections, and get on the path of stability and democracy as quickly as possible. And then our troops will return home with the honor they have earned.Our troops know the historic importance of our work. One Army Specialist wrote home: "We are transforming a once sick society into a hopeful place ... The various terrorist enemies we are facing in Iraq," he continued, "are really aiming at you back in the United States. This is a test of will for our country. We soldiers of yours are doing great and scoring victories in confronting the evil terrorists."That young man is right -- our men and women in uniform are doing a superb job for America. Tonight I want to speak to all of them -- and to their families: You are involved in a struggle of historic proportion. Because of your service and sacrifice, we are defeating the terrorists where they live and plan, and making America safer. Because of you, women in Afghanistan are no longer shot in a sports stadium. Because of you, the people of Iraq no longer fear being executed and left in mass graves. Because of you, the world is more just and will be more peaceful. We owe you our thanks, and we owe you something more. We will give you all the resources, all the tools, and all the support you need for victory.Again, my opponent and I have different approaches. I proposed, and the Congress overwhelmingly passed, 87 billion dollars in funding needed by our troops doing battle in Afghanistan and Iraq. My opponent and his running mate voted against this money for bullets, and fuel, and vehicles, and body armor. When asked to explain his vote, the Senator said, "I actually did vote for the 87 billion dollars before I voted against it." Then he said he was "proud" of that vote. Then, when pressed, he said it was a "complicated" matter. There is nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat.Our allies also know the historic importance of our work. About 40 nations stand beside us in Afghanistan, and some 30 in Iraq. And I deeply appreciate the courage and wise counsel of leaders like Prime Minister Howard, and President Kwasniewski, and Prime Minister Berlusconi -- and, of course, Prime Minister Tony Blair.Again, my opponent takes a different approach. In the midst of war, he has called America's allies, quote, a "coalition of the coerced and the bribed." That would be nations like Great Britain, Poland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, El Salvador, Australia, and others -- allies that deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician. I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget.The people we have freed won't forget either. Not long ago, seven Iraqi men came to see me in the Oval Office. They had "X"s branded into their foreheads, and their right hands had been cut off, by Saddam Hussein's secret police, the sadistic punishment for imaginary crimes. During our emotional visit one of the Iraqi men used his new prosthetic hand to slowly write out, in Arabic, a prayer for God to bless America. I am proud that our country remains the hope of the oppressed, and the greatest force for good on this earth.Others understand the historic importance of our work. The terrorists know. They know that a vibrant, successful democracy at the heart of the Middle East will discredit their radical ideology of hate. They know that men and women with hope, and purpose, and dignity do not strap bombs on their bodies and kill the innocent. The terrorists are fighting freedom with all their cunning and cruelty because freedom is their greatest fear -- and they should be afraid, because freedom is on the march.I believe in the transformational power of liberty: The wisest use of American strength is to advance freedom. As the citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq seize the moment, their example will send a message of hope throughout a vital region. Palestinians will hear the message that democracy and reform are within their reach, and so is peace with our good friend Israel. Young women across the Middle East will hear the message that their day of equality and justice is coming. Young men will hear the message that national progress and dignity are found in liberty, not tyranny and terror. Reformers, and political prisoners, and exiles will hear the message that their dream of freedom cannot be denied forever. And as freedom advances -- heart by heart, and nation by nation -- America will be more secure and the world more peaceful.America has done this kind of work before -- and there have always been doubters. In 1946, 18 months after the fall of Berlin to allied forces, a journalist wrote in the New York Times, "Germany is ... a land in an acute stage of economic, political and moral crisis. [European] capitals are frightened. In every [military] headquarters, one meets alarmed officials doing their utmost to deal with the consequences of the occupation policy that they admit has failed." End quote. Maybe that same person's still around, writing editorials. Fortunately, we had a resolute president named Truman, who with the American people persevered, knowing that a new democracy at the center of Europe would lead to stability and peace. And because that generation of Americans held firm in the cause of liberty, we live in a better and safer world today.The progress we and our friends and allies seek in the broader Middle East will not come easily, or all at once. Yet Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of liberty to transform lives and nations. That power brought settlers on perilous journeys, inspired colonies to rebellion, ended the sin of slavery, and set our Nation against the tyrannies of the 20th century. We were honored to aid the rise of democracy in Germany and Japan and Nicaragua and Central Europe and the Baltics -- and that noble story goes on. I believe that America is called to lead the cause of freedom in a new century. I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in silence for their liberty. I believe that given the chance, they will embrace the most honorable form of government ever devised by man. I believe all these things because freedom is not America's gift to the world, it is the Almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world.This moment in the life of our country will be remembered. Generations will know if we kept our faith and kept our word. Generations will know if we seized this moment, and used it to build a future of safety and peace. The freedom of many, and the future security of our Nation, now depend on us. And tonight, my fellow Americans, I ask you to stand with me.In the last four years, you and I have come to know each other. Even when we don't agree, at least you know what I believe and where I stand. You may have noticed I have a few flaws, too. People sometimes have to correct my English -- I knew I had a problem when Arnold Schwarzenegger started doing it. Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called "walking." Now and then I come across as a little too blunt -- and for that we can all thank the white-haired lady sitting right up there.One thing I have learned about the presidency is that whatever shortcomings you have, people are going to notice them -- and whatever strengths you have, you're going to need them. These four years have brought moments I could not foresee and will not forget. I have tried to comfort Americans who lost the most on September 11th -- people who showed me a picture or told me a story, so I would know how much was taken from them. I have learned first-hand that ordering Americans into battle is the hardest decision, even when it is right. I have returned the salute of wounded soldiers, some with a very tough road ahead, who say they were just doing their job. I've held the children of the fallen, who are told their dad or mom is a hero, but would rather just have their dad or mom.And I have met with parents and wives and husbands who have received a folded flag, and said a final goodbye to a soldier they loved. I am awed that so many have used those meetings to say that I am in their prayers ? to offer encouragement to me. Where does strength like that come from? How can people so burdened with sorrow also feel such pride? It is because they know their loved one was last seen doing good. Because they know that liberty was precious to the one they lost. And in those military families, I have seen the character of a great nation: decent, and idealistic, and strong.The world saw that spirit three miles from here, when the people of this city faced peril together, and lifted a flag over the ruins, and defied the enemy with their courage. My fellow Americans, for as long as our country stands, people will look to the resurrection of New York City and they will say: Here buildings fell, and here a nation rose.We see America's character in our military, which finds a way or makes one. We see it in our veterans, who are supporting military families in their days of worry. We see it in our young people, who have found heroes once again. We see that character in workers and entrepreneurs, who are renewing our economy with their effort and optimism. And all of this has confirmed one belief beyond doubt: Having come this far, our tested and confident Nation can achieve anything.To everything we know there is a season -- a time for sadness, a time for struggle, a time for rebuilding. And now we have reached a time for hope. This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer world. By encouraging liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America. Like generations before us, we have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom. This is the everlasting dream of America -- and tonight, in this place, that dream is renewed. Now we go forward -- grateful for our freedom, faithful to our cause, and confident in the future of the greatest nation on earth.God bless you, and may God continue to bless America.

I hope BIII will pardon me for intruding. Eddie, why don't you just answer his question? What's the source for your characterization of the protests?And I've got news for you, and for Zell Miller. First, to the degree that there's a debate about national security in this race, it's about Iraq, not al-Qaeda. Second, bin Laden and al-Qaeda are not Hitler and the Nazis. Unless you really think that bin Laden is a threat to impose a theocratic Muslim regime on the United States and Western Europe.By Miller's reasoning, we can just postpone the election until the war is over.And I'm still waiting to hear from Wow! about the wonders of crony capitalism. I can only hope that you're not one of those who was demanding a response from Franklin day after day after day.

"and despite the Fox News reports I've seen none of the events you've described." Mr. BIIIWhat Fox News reports are you talking about? I have seen no such reports

"...In the summer of 1940, I was an 8-year-old boy living in a remote little Appalachian valley. Our country was not yet at war, but even we children knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could. President Roosevelt, in his speech that summer, told America "all private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger."In 1940, Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee.And there is no better example of someone repealing their "private plans" than this good man. He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time.And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make national security a partisan campaign issue.Shortly before Wilkie died, he told a friend, that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between "here lies a president" or "here lies one who contributed to saving freedom," he would prefer the latter.Where are such statesmen today?Where is the bipartisanship in this country when we need it most?..."

Zell Miller 9/1/2004 (Zell Miller Rocks!)

Still waiting to hear from Wow! in defense of crony capitalism. Can't walk your talk?

Mr. Eddie, please give an example of, "The peaceful traditional protestors..." who are: "The ones burning cars, maiming horses, looting, attacking police and issuing death threats to government officials"I'm in New York right now, have been to several protests against the RNC and the Resident and despite the Fox News reports I've seen none of the events you've described.

Yeah.... The peaceful traditional protestors... The ones burning cars, maiming horses, looting, attacking police and issuing death threats to government officials