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For The Trees
A weblog for Liberals who are FED UP with Bush and the Right! About the Authors: Dave Johnson John Emerson Richard Reich Thomas Leavitt 
Recent Posts: BEST OF STF: Dave's: Articles not at STF: The ATLA Speech on building a progressive infrastructure Lowering the Bar The Attack on Trial Lawyers and Tort Law Who's Behind the Attack on Liberal Professors On the Right and their communications infrastructure: Why Republicans Win Win or Lose The "Conventional Wisdom" Machine Some History of the Conservative Movement HOW TO FIGHT BACK An Amplifier Of Our Own Don't Blame the Democrats How They Do It 1 2 3 4 Getting Rolled Other: You're Gonna Get Drafted Scalia and Self-Government Who is Our Economy For? Voting Machine Story Link Collection What's Wrong with this Picture? (Voting Machines) Like Meat in the Supermarket Get Active Thin Line 1 2 3 Fixing Social Security Seeing the Forest I, II, III "Incredibly Positive News" The Breadth of It The Republican Crony Club Moon Bush Ralph Nader is a Scab John's Best Of: Kerry Smear Page Bandar Bush 9/11 Commission Report Damages Bush -- if you read it Florida Goon Squad Intimidated the Supreme Court The Use and Abuse of George Orwell Zizka's Archives (John's previous identity) Zizka Sampler News Sources: AlterNet BuzzFlash Common Dreams Cursor Drudge Retort Information Clearing House Smirking Chimp TruthOut What REALLY Happened Links to Other Weblogs: |
 Thursday, September 30, 2004 Now Things Get Dangerous Kerry did very well, and even the Republicans admit it. Bush kept repeating "mixed messages" as he was supposed to but the focus-group magic didn't seem to work so well this time. Bush is actually everything we've all been saying -- a spoiled rich-guy who has always had someone show up and bail him out, and consequently hadn't prepped for the debate -- he kept expecting $150,000,000 of "flip-flop" ads to have already eliminated this guy -- or maybe he just couldn't believe that after being hit by that kind of money Kerry even showed up. So what happens now? We can let up a bit from worrying that the election is going to just continue rolling down a path toward Bush actually winning more votes than Kerry. After this debate it does not look very good for Bush. But are the Republicans going to accept that things are turning against them in the election? Are the corporations that have been enjoying no-bid open-ended defense contracts and huge subsidies and tax breaks going to calmly start figuring out how to make an honest living? Are Tom Delay and Dennis Hastert ready to loosen their hold on the balls of the Ethics Committee and take their medicine? No, now is when they get dangerous. How many people do you think are going to jail if the Republicans lose their power over the Justice Department and the FBI and the investigative committees of the House and Senate? How many of them stand to lose their heads to raving mobs if there is ever an audit of what has been happening to the Treasury since Bush took office? Nope. Now is when they get dangerous. You think the Swift Boat Vets smears were bad? Watch your backs. --- Posted at 11:37 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post  
Trippi on Kerry Joe Trippi at Hardblogger - "Why this guy waits til the last days of a campaign to show this fighting side is beyond me— but it seems to work for him and it worked for him tonight." --- Posted at 9:28 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Complete online polls list, with URLs Pay particular attention to Florida, Ohio and other swing states. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x927474 --- Posted at 9:04 PM by Camilo Wilson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
He is And how can this be? For he is the Kwisatz Haderack! --- Posted at 8:48 PM by richard Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
ABC Poll ABC poll: Kerry 45% Bush 36% --- Posted at 7:57 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Scorpion Remember the story about the frog and the scorpion? Bush smirked -- he can't help it, it's what he does. --- Posted at 7:49 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Mixed Messages As I click through channels, most of the Republican commentators are repeating "mixed messages" undermine our safety. So that's the prepared message of the debate. It's clearly a POWERFUL focus-group message. And they know it. It is repeated over and over, especially by Bush, so it might be the only thing people remember tomorrow. --- Posted at 7:41 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Online Polls Go vote in online polls: ABC News: http://www.abcnews.com/ CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/ CNN: http://www.cnn.com/ Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/ MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/ USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/ --- Posted at 7:33 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Bush Just Over His Head Bush is just a guy in waaayy over his head. It's obvious. --- Posted at 7:08 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
ON HIS WATCH! Kerry said it! Kerry said that North Korea got nukes ON HIS WATCH! --- Posted at 7:05 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Kerry Stomping Bush I never thought I'd be saying this, and there is still a half hour left, but it appears that Kerry is just fucking stomping Bush. Maybe the rest of the country will be under the focus-group-tested spell, but I think Kerry is just stomping him. --- Posted at 6:56 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Iraq Attacked Us? Bush just said that Iraq attacked us, and that is why he sent troops there? --- Posted at 6:54 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Two Faced Bush says "you gotta have a president who'll pursue the terrorists" But he also said, "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." and, responding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts "I am truly not that concerned about him."  --- Posted at 6:40 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Bush On Defensive Bush is totally on the defensive, and he seems to only have one talking point that he repeats over and over: "What kind of message does criticism of the President send to our troops?" And "Sending mixed signals." Yes, it's a great, tested, focus-group line, but repeating it over and over to EVERY question? Update He has repeated that SEVERAL times now. He just said that Kerry driticizing the Prime Minister of Iraq undermines the war effort. It must have tested very powerfully in the focus groups! --- Posted at 6:32 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Earpiece? In the iddle of an answer, Bush was getting heated up, starting to shout. Suddeny he stumbled, looked down like he was listening to something, and completely changed the pace, smiled a little... I think he has an earpiece! Someone told him to calm down! Update After Kerry answered the last question, the camera was showing both of them. As soon as Kerry finished and before it was Bush's time Bush cocked his head to listen to something, then gave an answer. Update - Remember, Bush DOESN'T KNOW that he's on camera! It's against the rules, but the networks are doing it anyway. --- Posted at 6:16 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Another Lie "Saddam had no intention of disarming." Disarming WHAT? --- Posted at 6:14 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
First Lie Bush lasted less than a minute. He said ten million Afghans are registered to vote. From June: Karzai Reports 3.8 Million Afghans Now Registered to Vote. (Karzai is President of Afghanistan.) --- Posted at 6:11 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Did Bush Whiten His Teeth? Take a look when it starts. Word is that Bush whitened his teeth! --- Posted at 5:54 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Help Me Make Truth and Facts Matter I want to make truth and facts matter. During and after the debate tonite please post comments here with details of Bush's misrepresentation or distortions of facts, outright lies, and other twisting of the truth. We know he is going to do this, it's what he does. I want to collect these and then get people to start contacting the media, local and national, to try to get them to report on this. Seeing the Forest is not one of the hugely trafficked sites, but there are enough people reading here to swamp phones and e-mail, and this DOES make a difference. If Bush lies or distorts I want us to pin it down, and drive it home. Help me. --- Posted at 5:52 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Republican Intelligence Bill Allows Torture Surprised? Why? Go read at The Sideshow. --- Posted at 5:23 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Rox Populi's Own Best Political Bloggers Contest Rox Populi : I Call Bullshit and Offer My Own Best Political Bloggers Contest. Go see what Seeing the Forest is nominated for, and add your own categories and nominations in the comments.  --- Posted at 4:39 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Jobless Claims Up In case you missed this today: U.S. weekly jobless claims rise: "The number of Americans seeking first-time jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly last week as the impact of recent hurricanes battering the Southern United States continued to be felt.Not good at all. We're a big country -- lots of people lose jobs and find jobs each week. Brad DeLong has said that approx. 350,000 is a break-even level for our economy -- anything higher than 350,000 means the overall economy is losing jobs. They say this is beause of the weather in Florida, and it may be. But that's still a lot more people who have lost jobs than are finding them. --- Posted at 3:30 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
After The Debate Tonite Some post-debate ideas from an e-mail I received: National and local news organizations will be conducting online polls during and after the debate asking for readers' opinions. Look for online polls at these national news websites, and make sure to vote in every one of them: --- Posted at 1:41 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Blatant Tax dollars blatantly spent to propagandize Americans and influence the election: U.S. Effort Aims to Improve Opinions About Iraq Conflict (washingtonpost.com): "The Bush administration, battling negative perceptions of the Iraq war, is sending Iraqi Americans to deliver what the Pentagon calls 'good news' about Iraq to U.S. military bases, and has curtailed distribution of reports showing increasing violence in that country.This is the kind of thing people go to jail for in free countries, unlike here. Bush brings us closer to the old Soviet model every day, with The State promoting The Party and The Party making all decisions. --- Posted at 10:52 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Wednesday, September 29, 2004 Sedition Act Coming See this story, Bush camp rips Kerry rhetoric: "President Bush's campaign manager yesterday accused Sen. John Kerry's campaign of parroting the rhetoric of terrorists, signaling a new level of aggressiveness in advance of tomorrow's presidential debate.Criticizing the President in wartime... 'FIRE BAD!' My prediction: After the election - if Bush is the one in office (notice how I never say "elected" or "wins." We have learned that there are other ways to take office...) - the Congress will pass a partner to the Patriot Act. It will be a Sedition Act, making it illegal to criticize the govenment, especially the President, in time of war. --- Posted at 10:59 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Boobs Confined Space says CBS is learning the lesson: "Don't try exposing boobs on television." --- Posted at 9:43 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
A thought experiment ... A Thought Experiment, over at Media Matters for America: "A thought experiment --- Posted at 7:33 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Tuesday, September 28, 2004 Because We Want To skippy the bush kangaroo writes, "we blog because we want to. when we stop wanting to, that's when it's time to quit." And I use capital letters because I want to. --- Posted at 4:39 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
The Draft -- Will They Do That? The Draft. Will they do that? (Video clip) Will they do that? --- Posted at 4:32 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Welcome New on the blogroll, Tough Luck Charlie, Debunking The Myth of the Frivolous Lawsuit. --- Posted at 3:30 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Is E.J. Dionne Becomming a Blogger? In How to Win the Heartland, E.J. Dionne says what us bloggers have been all about ever since 9/11 happened: "The reluctance to explore what Bush knew before Sept. 11 and what he did about it stands as one of the great mysteries of American journalism."Yes, it does. Perhaps THE great mystery of American journalism - what's left of it, anyway. --- Posted at 11:39 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
What Kerry Actually Said -- Entirely Consistent To people who accuse Kerry of "flip-flopping": If you want to be an honest person you owe it to yourself to actually read and understand Kerry's position before you accuse him of things like changing positions. Fair enough? I encourage anyone who really wants to know what Kerry's position on the war was to read the statement he made to the Senate when he voted to allow the use of force. He says his vote was based on President Bush's promises to get sufficient UN authorization (Bush didn't) if he was going to use force, and only to use that force as a last resort if Iraq did not let weapons inspectors in. (Bush didn't.) Excerpts from John Kerry's Statement on Iraq Before the War: First, he had been told by the Administration that there were WMD. (Remember, the Administration was NOT sharing intelligence reports that contradicted this case for war.): "... Why is Saddam Hussein pursuing weapons that most nations have agreed to limit or give up? ... Why is Saddam Hussein attempting to develop nuclear weapons when most nations don't even try, and responsible nations that have them attempt to limit their potential for disaster? ... Why does he develop missiles that exceed allowable limits? ... Why is he seeking to develop unmanned airborne vehicles for delivery of biological agents? [. . .] Although Iraq's chemical weapons capability was reduced during the UNSCOM inspections, Iraq has maintained its chemical weapons effort over the last 4 years. Evidence suggests that it has begun renewed production of chemical warfare agents, probably including mustard gas, sarin, cyclosarin, and VX. Intelligence reports show that Iraq has invested more heavily in its biological weapons programs over the 4 years, with the result that all key aspects of this program--R&D, production and weaponization--are active. Most elements of the program are larger and more advanced than they were before the gulf war. Iraq has some lethal and incapacitating agents and is capable of quickly producing and weaponizing a variety of such agents, including anthrax, for delivery on a range of vehicles such as bombs, missiles, aerial sprayers, and covert operatives which could bring them to the United States homeland."ALL of these "intelligence reports" given to the Senate by the Bush administration turned out to be untrue, largely based on reports supplied by Chalabi plants -- and the Bush administration KNEW IT. Eventually he starts to get around to his reasons for voting for the resolution, ... I traveled to New York a week ago. I met with members of the Security Council and came away with a conviction that they will indeed move to enforce, that they understand the need to enforce, if Saddam Hussein does not fulfill his obligation to disarm."It's all there. It is exactly what he is saying now. He was voting for this in order to force Iraq to let weapons inspectors back in, which Iraq did. Kerry goes on to predict what will happen if we do not build a solid international coalition in conjunction with the UN, and the prediction is what is now occurring. It's long, really long, and it goes on (and on and on and on) from where I left off, but I encourage you to read it so that you will understand what Kerry said he was voting for, what the President had promised the Congress and the UN, and how the President broke the promise. The President asked Kerry for his support, appealing to his patriotism. It was a trick and a betrayal, and Bush is now twisting what Kerry did to make him appear unpatriotic! It is Bush who has flip-flopped all over the place. But worse, Bush conducted a bait-and-switch operation on us, and launched aggressive war, and is using every dirty trick lie in the book, accusing everyone else of what he himself has done, calling people unpatriotic, even treasonous, BECAUSE they supported him when he asked, in the name of the country. --- Posted at 9:33 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
The Left Coaster Catches Gallup At It Again! The Left Coaster: Gallup Is At It Again - Yesterday's National Poll Had 12% GOP Bias: After supplying CNN and USA Today with a poll two weeks ago that showed a double-digit Bush lead amongst likely voters that turned out to have a significant bias in its sample favoring the GOP, Gallup did it again yesterday.This raises two questions in my mind:
2. This is exactly what we would expect to happen before the election if there were a conspiracy to undercount Democratic votes in the new voting machines. Steve asks, "By presenting these polls with this kind of bias, and then ensuring through CNN and USA Today the farthest possible media saturation, why is Gallup not guilty of engaging in a political disinformation campaign?"Indeed. Combine this with stories like the Ohio Repubicans refusing to allow new voter registrations because the paper is not heavy enough - and other irregularities there (another here), pluss all the news coming out of Florida, and it can start to look like this will not be a legitimate election. Surprise. Watch your backs! --- Posted at 8:22 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
An Excellent Point Stirling makes an excellent point over at The Blogging of the President: 2004: "As the facts later showed, there were half a dozen scams to shave off votes from Gore - no one of which was enough to scew the election by itself, but taken together they were. The media put their thumb on the scales in favor of tax breaks and consolidation, we therefore got Bush. The political system fell into line, we therefore got a strong unilateral control of power. The legitimacy doves said 'tie election! tie election!'. But in a tie election one would get a government of national unity, a group that governed from the center by consensus. The other theory - the unspeakable one that the election had been stolen - predicted a government from the extreme. Which theory has turned out to be more predictive of Bush and his government? The tie election theory, or the election theft theory?"An excellent point. If it were a CLOSE election, we would have gotten a government of unity, governing from the center. But no, we got a far-right extremist government, governing by decree, excluding the Democrats from participating in legislation, using government agencies to consolidate their power, and launching attacks on the opposition. --- Posted at 7:23 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Repetition Repetition works. Remember that. Repetition works. Poll Shows Bush With Solid Lead: "Bush's relentless attacks on Kerry have badly damaged the Democratic nominee, the survey and interviews showed. Voters routinely describe Kerry as wishy-washy, as a flip-flopper and as a candidate they are not sure they can trust, almost as if they are reading from Bush campaign ad scripts. [emphasis added]"Have I mentioned that repetition works? Someone ought to mention this to the Democratic leadership. They seem to like to pursue a strong theme for about a week, and once it starts looking good they think it worked, and move on. Bush has been on ONE theme since the start of the campaign about six years ago, and repeating that. He does that because repetition works. --- Posted at 7:06 AM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Monday, September 27, 2004 Asking Again - Why Did Bush Stop Flying? I'm asking the question again. Why did Bush stop flying? The other day I wrote, Do any of you fly, or know any pilots? Ask ANY pilot if they can understand why a young man would stop flying fighter jets if they didn't absolutely have to. And not only that, why would someone refuse to take a flight physical and stop reporting for Guard drills? MOST of us would face serious consequences for such behaviour. (Of course, most of us would face serious consequences for selling shares of a company when we knew they are about to report a loss. Or for running up a massive deficit. Or for launching a war against a country that did us no harm and was no threat to us, when we were already in the middle of another war.)Keep asking the question: WHY DID BUSH STOP FLYING? --- Posted at 10:09 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Digby! Digby! Digby! Please, please read this piece by Digby at Hullabaloo. I just want to repeat this because it is just so right, and should be echoed around the blogosphere": It is what led me to the point at which I am able to say without any sense of restraint or caution that I would put NOTHING past them --- even a staged terrorist attack. This is because every time I think they have some limits, they prove me wrong. As the old saying goes, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...won't get fooled again....THIS is what we have all been trying to say to the Democratic Party for more than three years now. This is NOT your father's Republican Party. They are NOT fooling around! This is NOT about America for the people who have seized control of the old, honorable Republican Party, or about the public good. No, it is about getting and keeping power and using that power to further a weird, cultish, ideological/theocratic agenda and they have been working toward this end for decades. This is the old John Birch Society crowd, and their current agenda reflects that right down the line. Read Digby's piece and the pieces it points to -- and WATCH YOUR BACKS! Update If you're STILL not mad enough, or don't believe that the Republicans are capable of ANYthing, then go read this. --- Posted at 9:49 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Animation The Dancing Ass --- Posted at 6:31 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Wow! Billionaires For Bush Video This is a must-see: Billionaires For Bush video. (Thru Atrios) --- Posted at 6:25 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Cracking the Code Figuring out what the Republicans are up to is only partly a matter of understanding frames and framing. Sometimes those frames are also codes, a secret, insider language, to which those of us who are not evangelical Christians or otherwise up-to-date on neocon lingo haven't even got a clue. I'll give just one example, but it's a good one. It was recently reported that the RNC had sent out mailings to two states, Arkansas and West Virginia, on September 24 stating that liberals are going to take away their Bibles. I think that neither the press nor the Democratic party had the slightest idea what was really going on or what this means. It was understood as just another dastardly Republican scare tactic. Edwards responded by saying that this was outrageous and Bush should insist that they never do anything like that again. Ha! Rove must have been laughing up his sleeve, it was so obvious that only the insiders, those with secret knowledge, understood what was being said. The public response, in fact, helped to reinforce and spread the desired message. To most of us it would mean that the RNC is saying that secular liberalism will ban reading the Bible. I don't think that's how they meant their audience to understand it. A Google search on "liberals Bibles" brought up 59,100 hits. The battle about "liberals" and "Bibles" has been going on for many years. This battle is terribly important to those involved with it, and the rest of us not only know nothing about it but could care less. Looking into this immediately takes one into an arcane never-never land where only the initiated dare to go. I haven't been to West Virginia for years, but I've recently been to Arkansas. I dearly love Arkansas, so what I'm about to say is an explanation, not a criticism. In Arkansas towns, there seems to be a little church on almost every corner. Vastly more churches than, for example, grocery stores. The mainstream churches are represented, often have large impressive buildings just like everywhere else, but what's happened is that the denominations have split and split again into countless little, separate denominations, each accusing all the others of heresy. Heresy is a very important concept, and accusing each other of heresy is pretty much the local game, like bridge or baseball in other parts of the country. Arkansas is a poor state, and people have to have something to do on those long summer evenings. So what's a heresy? Mostly anything "liberal." "Liberal" does not mean what we think it means. Ultimately, "liberal" means anything that in any way could be traced to the Enlightenment. in other words, although this is never spoken, all the principles on which the Constitution is based, the ideal of society as a contract between reasonable people, everything we think of as the basis for modern civilization. The mainstream churches are understood as having been corrupted by the Enlightenment and to have fallen into "liberalism." The Episcopalians, of course, since they now have a gay Bishop, are the Devil's spawn. But so are the Unitarians, the Presbyterians, and even most of the Baptists. And they mean that literally. The word Bible is also a coded word. Their Bible, as they interpret it, in no way resembles the Bible most of us recognize. Each word has its own secret, arcane meaning and one has to find out what that meaning really is -- while, at the same time, taking the Bible absolutely literally. No allegorical or literary interpretations allowed. The Biblical controversies have also been raging on for years. How literally should one take it? Which version should one take literally? There are those who equate the King James version with the Antichrist, and those who would kill to preserve every sacred word of it. However, it doesn't really matter what the Bible literally SAYS. What matters is what the Bible is interpreted to MEAN. And each little denomination, each little congregation, has its own interpretation, with everyone else's version considered to be heresy. But the really BIG, dangerous, awful heresies are the interpretations of the Bible one learns in those literally damned, take that seriously because they mean it, mainstream churches like the Presbyterians and the Baptists (but not all of the Baptists.) That's the point on which all these little denominations can unite -- against the really BIG "liberal" Enlightenment inspired heresy. So -- one would have to somehow know that what the RNC mailing is really saying is something like if the Democrats win those heretics in the mainstream churches and their Biblical interpretations will be more important for setting public policy than yours. It will no longer matter how you interpret the Bible. They're not really saying that anyone is going to ban the Bible, but that they're going to ban their interpretations of it, and maybe the particular translation they've accepted as the Word of God. This could be why the moderate Republicans have become so unwelcome in the party. So many of them tend to be Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Unitarians, the Devil's spawn (they're actually occasionally called that) liberals corrupted by the Enlightenment, for God's sake! Well, I said this was arcane. Somebody in the Democratic party should be paying attention to identifying these insider coded words and what they mean. There are millions of people who know all too well what they mean, relish the fact that the rest of us don't know, since we're going to Hell because we don't know, and they will vote for Bush on that basis. Because Bush knows. --- Posted at 4:08 PM by Meryl Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Daily Two-Faced Liar Report A surprising story from Reuters! A press organization is actually investigating whether Bush's statements are true!! Key Bush Assertions About Iraq in Dispute: "Many of President Bush's assertions about progress in Iraq -- from police training and reconstruction to preparations for January elections -- are in dispute, according to internal Pentagon documents, lawmakers and key congressional aides on Sunday.I reprinted so much of this article because there is just so much in it that is astonishing. One article prints a little bit of the truth about what is going on, and it is just too much to take! It is so different from the news the public has been receiving. One question is, does Bush even have any idea what is oging on in Iraq, or even care? Another is, will it matter to the public, even if they DO find out this information? Of course, the Republican line on this is that the "liberal media" lies and should not be listened to. --- Posted at 2:37 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Oregon, sane Republicans http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/109594063089030.xml http://www.oregonlive.com/public_commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/109611397171980.xml http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1096286180262511.xml?oregonian?lcg http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1096027307176160.xml?oregonian?lcwa http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040930/REPOSITORY/409300379/1037/NEWS04 --- Posted at 7:08 AM by John Emerson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Sunday, September 26, 2004 TalkLeft Suggests Draft Likely TalkLeft: Newsweek: Are Iran and Syria Next: Apparently, Bush's advisors agree that a preemptive attack is not on the horizon because we've expended our military wad in Iraq. Doesn't that just make a draft more likely? Not to Bush advisors, who say "covert action of some kind is the favored route for Washington hard-liners who want regime change in Damascus and Tehran."Shrill. --- Posted at 8:47 PM by Dave Johnson Link to this | | | | e-mail this post
Too Insider I started this in the morning but was out all day... a comment on bloggers becomming too "insider" for new readers to understand. At Eschaton this morning, Atrios has this: "BalanceThat's the whole post. This is terribly blogger-centric and insider. I would bet that only a small fraction of his readers understand what he was trying to say. Compare this to Josh at Talking Points Memo writing about the same show: "Of the four panelists, one is the profoundly middle-of-the-road David Broder, a paragon of Washington's establishment assumptions. For the sake of discussion, let's call him balanced or neutral.Atrios, you have new readers at your blog -- especially today! They aren't "in the know" but they are interested and want to explore this online phenomenon. Bring them in, don't scare them away. | ||||