Bush Gets Networks to Give Him Millllions and Millllions in Free Advertising

Bush promised a major policy statement today, networks all cut away to see it, and word is that it was just the same stump speech he gives 3x a day (4 if you count him retelling it during those quiet, contemplative moments with Condi). They were had, and yet I didn't hear anything about that on the networks tonight. I don't usually catch large volumes of network news, but tonight, I hit most of them (I'm hiding from deadlines).

Matthew Yglesias:

What is this bullshit? The president went and gave his standard stump speech and relabeled it a major address and got all these TV stations to cover it. Is the press really going to stand for that? (don't answer).

This is how The Times presents it (with mention about retooling his stump speech to go on the attack against Kerry ( Bushius Pre-emptorumpus is a terrible thing):

delivered on the day when a new report raised questions about his rationale for going to war, Mr. Bush seemed to be trying to make up ground that polls show he lost during last week's debate. He accused Mr. Kerry of "proposing policies and doctrines that would weaken America and make the world more dangerous" and of pursuing a "strategy of retreat" in Iraq.

...Mr. Bush's new speech signaled that he would stand firm between now and Election Day over his handling of Iraq and appeared to be an effort to take attention away from the 918-page report released in Washington on Wednesday detailing how Saddam Hussein's stockpiles of unconventional weapons had been dismantled years before the invasion last year, and how the Iraqi dictator's ability to pose a serious military threat - a justification for war Mr. Bush still makes regularly - had eroded after 1991.

But the speech also gave the president a chance to break the cycle of news articles about his performance in the last debate and to accomplish in a controlled setting what many Republicans have said the president failed to do as forcefully as he needed: draw sharp, compelling differences between his position and record and those of Mr. Kerry. He tried to do so in many different areas, arguing that Mr. Kerry had earned the title of "the single most liberal member of the Senate" by "voting for higher taxes, more regulation, more junk lawsuits and more government control over your life."

But Mr. Bush was silent on the weapons report. And he made no mention of Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld's statement on Monday that he had seen no firm evidence of a link between Mr. Hussein and Al Qaeda, or of the statement by his former top official in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, that the United States had not put enough troops into Iraq to secure the country.

Maybe Those CBS Memos and Dan Rather Deserve Further Review?

From Gen. J.C. Patriot:

After we gave CBS the butt-whupping they deserved, someone had to point out that the White House released not just another TANG memo, but a proportionally-spaced TANG memo from 1971 after the fuss had died down. (Of course they released it on a Friday afternoon!) And some French professor thinks the Burkett documents were printed by a typewriter as well. Our Morale Division dealt with that disloyalist appropriately.

More Iraq, Al Qaeda "Tie" Lies

Speaking of the erudite Diana, she posts two stories from al Jazeera that have gotten little (but not zero) attention here: that the CIA has completely debunked the al Zarqari - Saddam link (on the heels of the disclosure that although the Bushies have blamed al Zarqawi as the great mastermind, the one behind all the "Islamic" beheadings and the insurgency, he may just be our newest scapegoat) and that Donald Strangelove Rumsfeld is not saying he didn't understand the question when he said there were no real ties between Iraq and al Qaeda. Do you know how many times he's been back and forth on this?

But then, the Bushies and the far right have learned that their lies pay big dividends and that we won't hold them accountable even when the depth of the lies are discovered. The media won't pay attention to them. Keep giving them a free ride, folks.

Updating Links

I'm trying to get some long overdue updating of links. I've been blessed to discover a great many new sites with good voices, several of which I'm sharing here. I was spurred to do this after finding Stained Glass Soul and then read a lovely post by Diana at Democracy for California who reminded me how rich we are in voices right now.

As we pass the election, I expect to expand my listings to include more of a non-political nature.

The Funny Dick

From Wonkette about one more of Cheney's little truth issues last night:

Hey, thanks all the oodles of people who've written in to point out that Dick Cheney said "factcheck.com" not "factcheck.org" and -- ha! ha! -- factcheck.com now points to George Soros's site. Oh, God. We're dying. It's like. . . wait, wait: There's a word for it! Irony. Hey, what's the word for the vice president telling a bald-faced lie that's cost the lives of over a thousand Americans and thousands of Iraqis?

So Who's the Worst Political Journalist

(Man, will that field be wide this year!)

From Skippy:

the new york press is holding wimblehack! the first quadriennial head-to-head contest to see who is the worst political journalist in the country.

the rules are very simple. we have chosen 32 of the country's leading campaign reporters, mostly from the world of print, and bracketed them into pairs. each week, the pairs will square off against one another. whoever writes worse, advances. it's that simple.

the tournament progresses until the week after the election, when the writer of the worst and most slavish and dishonest election post-mortem among the two remaining contestants will receive an illustrious mystery prize from the new york press tournament committee. anyone familiar with the history of these sorts of competitions is welcome to speculate as to what that might be.

to determine a winner in each match-up, the contenders' articles will be examined by a three-person panel of drug-addicted judges culled from the editorial ranks of this newspaper. our decisions are completely subjective and cannot be appealed. in fact, one of our rules is that any appeal from a contestant, whether in private or in public, results in automatic advance through to the next round.

So the Feds Erase Al Qaeda tapes to save drive space???

You know, I was very ill with a respiratory infection combined with a problem wisdom tooth on Election Day 2000. After I voted, I came home with a raging fever spent the day on the couch (something I've done about twice in a decade). Middle of the night, while the vote debacle was getting started in earnest, I was so ill I wondered if I'd live. I remember praying to God, "Look if you have to take me, fine. But please, please don't leave my loved ones behind to live with the travesty of a Bush presidency."

Since then, I've wondered often if the past four years have been one long miserable "better have a bucket handy because the heaves come often" sickness.

Stories like this posted by Tom Burka at Opinions You Should Have that we're deleting al Qaeda evidence - some not even translated yet - to save hard drive space:

Three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, more than 120,000 hours of potentially valuable terrorism-related recordings have not yet been translated by linguists at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and computer problems may have led the bureau to systematically erase some Qaeda recordings, according to a declassified summary of a Justice Department investigation that was released on Monday.

Thoughts on the VP Debate Last Night

I watched the entire thing last night as opposed to the 2000 debate where I watched Cheney wipe up Lieberman faster that a good piece of toast absorbs a runny egg yolk.

Do I think Edwards didn't stretch or embellish last night? No.

But Cheney deliberately lied any number of times. His first statement was a lie, that he'd never said there was a link between Iraq and al Qaeda. Even as he spoke this lie, he was there with qualifiers saying "even though we don't have video of Osama committing gross acts of fellatio on Saddam's limp dick, I think it's very clear Saddam paid Osama to do 9/11."

Then the stupidity by saying he'd never met Edwards, implying Edwards is too busy to meet his responsibilities. Right now, there's proof he met Edwards a number (7 noted tonight) of times, even personally acknowledged him before a meeting once. Even in the face of that today, Cheney says he can't recall.

I can find out where John Edwards was for 2 years after 9/11. Where the hell was Dick Cheney? Always hiding in an undisclosed location.

So if you think Cheney won last night, I guess it's a matter of ethics whether a deceitful win is a win. But I'm sure Bush/Cheney feel they won what was due them in 2000, too, while the American people by majority did not vote for them. And the Supreme Court didn't want the truth; they wanted to hand Bush the seat on a technicality. Remember? Their ruling basically stated it was not fair to Mr. Bush to continue to recount, but using a law that is meant to protect the fairness of voting for VOTERS not candidates. When voters tried to use the same law, they were told they could not.

I Must Have Missed the Part Where Cheney Sent Edwards Home Crying

That's what NBC keeps telling me happened. Of course, most of the panel gets at least some of their income from the GOP or its designates (Andrea Mitchell, Joe (there's a dead campaign worker in my office so please try not to notice her) Scarbrough)).

OK, I Missed it

Chris Matthews' group is telling us that Edwards got creamed.

September Second Deadliest Month for US Troops

But you didn't hear this from the mainstream media. Watching pink flamingos blow around in Florida and listening to the president's full stump speech was all they reported.

From AP/Boston.com:

September was the second-deadliest month of the year for U.S. forces in Iraq and brought to nearly 500 the number who have died since the insurgency escalated in late March.

The Pentagon announced Sunday evening that two soldiers died late last week of injuries suffered earlier in the month, and another was killed Sept. 30 by a roadside bomb. That brought the month's death toll to 80, up from 65 in August and equal to the 80 who died in May.

The worst month of the year for U.S. troops in Iraq was April when 135 died in a wave of insurgent attacks. Some had hoped the violence would decrease after an interim Iraqi government was given sovereignty June 28, but the death toll has risen steadily since then.

US Yet Again Vetoes Any Action Against Israel By UN

As Cheney keeps citing UN Security Council, I'm reminded of my disgust at how the US today vetoed sanctions and a condemnation of Israel for its recent actions in Gaza and elsewhere, where more and more civilians are dying.

See, here, we hear about the suicide bombers, but we pay far less attention to the US-supplied gunships used on Palestinians. Again and again, we act like the only precious life in the Middle East are those in Israel. But all life there is precious. The problem isn't just the Palestinians.

Cheney is Such a Talented Liar

Where do you start? Here are just a few highlights from the first 15 minutes:

* Cheney: I never said there was any link between Iraq and al Qaeda.
* Cheney: It's Kerry's fault for naysaying now that we couldn't build a useful coalition back then.
* Cheney: It's Kerry's fault we don't have a strong military, even though I was the one who started carving up the military bases and soldiers in the early 90s.

Hold Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, and Powell Accountable

With word now plain that the leadup to war was cooked by the White House related to the aluminum tubes and yellow cake and the bogus Iraqi nuclear program and Bremer's comments (which he's been making for some weeks) now that Iraq is such a mess because we did not enter Iraq with enough troops (and how many lives were lost because of this?) how can anyone vote for Bush-Cheney?

OK, how can anyone who isn't a Halliburton stockholder vote for Bush-Cheney?

"I fault this president for not knowing what death is."

Common Dreams reprints a moving piece by E.L. Doctorow first printed in an Easthampton, NY paper last month:

I fault this president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-Day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.

But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the weapons of mass destruction he can't seem to find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphal, a he-man.

Why's Dubya's Pew Always Empty?

Finally. TNR looks at a question I've wondered since before he became president: why's the president never in church? His holier-than-thou crowd likes to paint Dems as people having orgies on Sunday mornings when they should be at church but Bush is rarely near one except for photo ops.

Or perhaps, in one of God's frequent talks with him (according to Dubya), God mentioned he's not welcome. If the argument is that Bush is a religious man but not a church goer, that doesn't really work. A person of God (or Allah or Jehovah or..) may be a deep believer who doesn't go to service. But a religious person isn't necessarily a person of God. They're people who need the structure and power machinery of religion (and I'd argue that the only thing that ever really gets between a person and his or her God is religion which is a shell).

From TNR:

Most Americans are aware that George W. Bush is a religious man. He is, after all, the man who presided over a religious revival of sorts at the Republican National Convention. He is the man who has pioneered what could be called cardio-diplomacy, judging world leaders--and, at times, entire nations--by their "hearts." He is the subject of at least four spiritual hagiographies currently in bookstores, and one religious documentary ("George W. Bush: Faith in the White House"). Most famously, Americans know him as the man who, when asked to cite the philosopher who had the greatest influence on him, named Jesus Christ.

What most--including many of the president's fiercest supporters--don't know, however, is that Bush doesn't go to church. Sure, when he weekends at Camp David, Bush spends Sunday morning with the compound's chaplain. And, every so often, he drops in on the little Episcopal church across Lafayette Park from the White House. But the president who has staked much of his domestic agenda on the argument that religious communities hold the key to solving social problems doesn't belong to a congregation.

It should be a politically intriguing story. Bush is one of the most explicitly religious politicians in American history. Both of his presidential campaigns have used religion to appeal emotionally to voters. The entire philosophy behind his signature slogan, "compassionate conservatism," rests on the belief that religious communities have a unique ability to tend to the nation's social ills. And yet, after the flood of coverage around Bush's first--and only--visit to a neighborhood church during inauguration weekend in Washington, D.C., no one has bothered to report on the president's whereabouts on Sunday mornings.

I encourage you to read it, and I don't always recommend TNR articles. It's from Amy Sullivan who you may know - if from nowhere else - from The Washington Monthly and Kevin Drum's Political Animal blog.

Is Bush Wired with Earpiece to Feed Him Lines?

This is all over, but Buzzflash points us to Is Bush Wired?

You'd think he would speak better if he was getting help. Which leads one to wonder how much worse it would be if his barbershop quartet of Condi, Karen, Karl, and Cheney weren't feeding him words.

The Seasonal Flu Vaccine Crisis

Excuse me, but didn't Dr. Dingbat (God, this woman seems like something out of a Coen Brothers movie) who heads the CDC assure us last year that vaccination from flu was almost like part of homeland security and that THERE WOULD be enough flu shots for all this year, that they'd all the precautions to make sure of that?

She did. And we saw how valuable her word is.

So please, believe her when she tells you there is no reason to worry. I mean, the CDC isn't prepared for the bird flu from last year which is both growing in severity and for which we have no vaccination.

They Were Hypocrites Then, Too

Richard Leiby at The Post gives us a story today (from nearly a quarter century ago) that reminds us they were hypocrites then, too:

24 years ago: Washington chatters about the political future of three-term Rep. Robert E. Bauman (R-Md.), who, facing a charge of soliciting sex from a 16-year-old male nude dancer, agreed on Oct. 3, 1980, to enter a court-supervised rehab program for his drinking problem. FBI agents said they'd received numerous reports about Bauman, a conservative moralist, cruising in gay clubs in Washington, but at an Oct. 8 news conference, with his wife and his priest by his side, the 43-year-old politician said, "I do not consider myself to be a homosexual." He lost reelection in November and later became a gay rights advocate.

He also brings us this:

"Girlie men": The phrase won roars of approval when Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger used it at the Republican National Convention, but is it an insult? Sean Bulson, the principal of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, thinks so, and he won't allow the school's young Republicans to wear it on their chests.

After 16-year-old Hanna Buckley proposed the slogan "Young Republicans Aren't Girlie Men" for her club last month, Bulson shot it down. Decrying what she considers censorship, Buckley -- the great-niece of William F. Buckley -- told us: "I didn't think it was offensive to anybody. It's just a quote from Arnold!" (At the convention, Schwarzenegger said, "To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie men.")

Bulson, citing the school district's "human relations and nondiscrimination policies," said he didn't want to give the term an official blessing. "The slogan struck me as insensitive at best," he told us. "In one way it's anti-gay, and I'm certain I could find people who say it's anti-female. I know there are people here who would find this offensive."

Buckley, a junior, has no avenue for appeal but, like the Terminator, promises she'll be back: "I come from a very political family. I want to be a politician when I'm older."

Wait. You know how they say that no child grows up wanting to be a prostitute or a junkie? Ms. Buckley has proven that wrong!

The Technology Times

David Anderson at In Search of Utopia has started a new tech-focused blog as well, specifically geared toward Latin America. At first, I thought I was going to have to pull out my rusty Spanish (a language I don't have cause to use frequently here in Vermont where you hardly ever hear French either considering we're within a good throw of French-speaking Canada), but he's done it in English, too.

As a tech writer with a passion for this stuff (but a really jaded view of the hype surrounding tech), I see I'll be visiting there too. Check it out.

[Actually, I'm having some fun reading the Spanish version. Turns out my Spanish no sucko mucho after all.]

The Tragedy of Terri Schiavo

She's the woman who's been in a persistent vegetative state since she suffered a stroke when she was around 30. Some decade has passed, and her husband won the right to disconnect her feeding tube (against the wishes of her parents who do not provide her primary care and who feel their former son-in-law is a terrible person for resuming his life after a few years) only to have Jeb Bush intercede and then get the Florida Congress to create a special law just to give Chubby Jebby the right to do this.

Another court has decided that Florida's reps had no right to do this (God, it's nice to know something is illegal there since interfering with the right to vote and keeping a little boy from his father in Cuba isn't). But Chubby Jebby says no, he's going to overrule the court.

I've seen the video that Ms. Schiavo's parents use to try to prove she's capable of coming back. It's moving. You see her as a very real person. But that's true of almost every person whose brain is gone. Something of what made them real and human remains so long as their breathing does.

But can any of us imagine having to live for more than a decade like Ms. Schiavo has done? This issue touches home for me. My dad died before his body died. Three rapid brain hemorrhages destroyed everything that made him who he was. For the days before his body died too, it was especially terrible for my family because my father (although under 40) had repeatedly said that he'd rather be shot than be a vegetable. And of course you hope for a miracle. But miracles are pretty rare when most of the brain is no longer functioning.

Even at not quite five, I got a quick education on why there are worse things than physical death. It would have been terrible for everyone concerned, but most of all, for the spirit of who my father was, had he been forced to stay alive mechanically. In his case, however, he was in a US vet hospital and even then (four decades before War Bushie got his hands on the DoD budget, the government wasn't going to take extraordinary measures to keep a vet alive when there was no hope of real life.

Jeb is using this case to appeal to his far right base who wants life preserved at any cost unless of course they decide to execute someone. He'll never care for or take care of this woman. He wasn't there for a decade of preserving her physically when she made no progress away from her irreversible situation.

He has no right to do what he's done. Someone needs to stop him. Someone needs to tell all these privileged Bushies that we're not just chess pieces in the game of their political careers.

Vice Prez Debate

Right now, CNN's poll favors Edwards winning about 2:1.

How little faith we have in The Dick's charm.

Vice Prez Debate

Right now, CNN's poll favors Edwards winning about 2:1.

How little faith we have in The Dick's charm.

Lincoln Chaffee, one of the half dozen GOP moderates left in the Senate

Good piece about a good man, GOP RI Senator Lincoln Chaffee who basically says that he cannot in good faith vote for George Bush.. This takes guts, and I have no doubt the GOP will pay him back by trying to oust him by a far righty. They've gone after all the moderates: Snow, Collins, and even Arlen "Magic Bullet Theory" and "Really, Ira Einhorn isn't a flight risk. He's a valued member of the community and he knew nothing about the dead body in his closet for months" Spector). I had a good deal of respect for Chafee's late father, too.

But this brings me to subject close to the heart of Chafee's decision.

You know, I don't think the overwhelming majority of the American people are at the far right of the political spectrum anymore than I think a majority is at the far left. Most people on both sides of the political aisle seem to be fairly moderate, with many issues in which they would agree with the other party's platform on the subject.

So why has the House and the Senate been allowed to get so imbalanced? Extreme money and a feeling by the the right (vs. far right) that they're more than willing to pander to the Limbaugh and Falwell crowds if it keeps the WH away from such heathens as Clintons (and hey, what really kills them is that the majority of the American people sided with Clinton after the witch hunt and the farcical impeachment.

But the majority of Republicans would be no better served by a majority of their elected reps being power mad fatcat corporate whores than the majority of Dems would be immediately grateful to be served by having the likes of Ron Kuby (whom I respect a great deal btw along with his late mentor and partner, William Kuntzler). The difference here is that about 5% of the Dem representatives are the left of center from a Democratic viewpoint. Some of those 5% (the late Paul Wellstone, the very much alive Bernie Sanders of Vermont) are truly great, others seem to deliberately marginalize and separate themselves.

However, on the GOP side, the ego nutcases who still feel uncomfortable when a person of color walks into the room rule (and not because the majority of Republicans are ego nutcases - I don't think they are at all): DeLay, Frist, Lott, what Hastert has become (but didn't seem to always be), Zell Miller (a Dixiecrat isn't a Democrat), and just about all the red House members.

Mind you, there are a couple of exceptions where I feel I see some maturing of Republican Congresspeople. Lindsey Graham during some of the Abu Ghraib abuse hearings acted like a more reasoned individual than the Cotton Mather-with-a-twang thing he was during the Clinton impeachment. But he's up in the Senate now.

Libby Dole isn't far right, but she walked into a far right base and she's a whore. She'll do whatever she can to get ahead. She'll never be president though. The people who love her are the same people who still think women should stay at home unless they're working at a bar or a brothel, who sign abortion laws away while insisting their daughters get one if they dated someone of mixed ethnicity or a low credit rating. And really, the only thing they love about Libby is that she was a placeholder for the seat that might have lost otherwise.

Katherine Harris may not be far right either but she also knows the power base is there now and the whore for her own cause that she is would change sides faster than Italy in WWII (or Bush on whether Osama's a threat) if a new sheriff came to town. She's old news now. She was rewarded with a job then, when it didn't behoove Bush to have Harris running for Bob Graham's seat in Florida during his own re-election, Bush gave her the heave. Oh, she'll be able to afford all the pounds of cosmetics she wears each day. They'll take care of her there, but you don't brag about old prostitutes often (or Carville would look happier married to Matalin).

Insist that Tom DeLay Be Held Accountable, Be Tried

Tom DeLay is accused of some extremely serious crimes that would mean serious prison time for anyone else, and certainly would not allow him to continue in the House. But why is group after group giving him at best a slap on the wrist? First Texas, now the Ethics subcommittee.

From Friday's Slate (Tim Noah):

The House Ethics Committee finally released its report about allegations by Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., that the House leadership tried to win his support for the Medicare drug bill last November by offering a $100,000 bribe. (In the end, Smith voted no.) The big news is that Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, admitted that he offered to endorse Smith's son Brad, who was running for Congress at the time, in exchange for Smith's "yea" vote on the Medicare bill. According to the Ethics Committee—more precisely, its investigative subcommittee—this is a violation of House rules and warrants "public admonishment." But it may warrant a good deal more.

The Ethics Committee wasn't able to find anyone who would admit having mentioned to Smith that his vote was worth $100,000, and Smith (for reasons that are getting clearer) now contradicts his earlier statements and says no bribe—and certainly no $100,000—was ever offered. But DeLay's statement alone is grounds for indictment. United States Code, Title 18, Section 201, "Bribery of public officials and witnesses," states that a bribe can be "anything of value." There's an exception for horse-trading confined wholly to government business—you vote for my bill and I'll vote for yours—because that's constitutionally protected. But endorsing a candidate for office is not government business. There are no House committees that vote on DeLay's endorsements, or Cabinet secretaries who issue them as regulations. DeLay doesn't even have to clear them with the House speaker (who at any rate seems to take orders from DeLay, not the other way around). When DeLay endorses someone, he's speaking for himself and his party.

We Need a Balance of Power

Read here where John at AmericaBlog makes a good point about balance sorely needed between Dems and GOPers in Washington.

We are in big trouble whenever one party rules everything. The last four years have given us an explosion of the debt, unchecked political power, pointless wars, a much greater tax burden being placed on low income Americans, untold job loss, and a total amnesia about the average American voter because the GOP has ruled every roost.

If this is allowed to continue, we'll have a draft in place targeting poor Americans before Bush is done with his 2 month post-electoral vacation ("It's a tough job.... I got a tough job... but it's a tough job you know... did I mention it's a tough job?").

Balance is incredibly important almost everywhere, but we simply cannot afford to have even another year in which Rove-Bush-Cheney control everything in DC.

I don't want or need for the Democrats to take the entire slate. I would like to see them regain the WH and perhaps the Senate. But there has to be a balance.

Fox Completely Makes Up Stuff and Gets No Coverage

I'll spare you all the gritty details which you've no doubt heard elsewhere, but Faux Snooze was caught twice in the past week with a) total fabrication and b)making no effort to research partisan stories that served only to embarrass Sen. John Kerry (a man who served his country in war).

I know, it's just hard to imagine, isn't it?

But we know Faux is the Propaganda Network. I don't expect better from them.

But I didn't expect that Dan Rather and CBS would be pilloried when no mainstream media is paying any attention to Faux's stories (one in which a political analyst completely made up comments he said were from Kerry about being a metrosexual and loving manicures, the other a story about Communists for Kerry which is actually a GOP 527 which again only exists to defeat Kerry). In fact, breezing through channels this afternoon, I heard a Faux 'head talking about Rather and CBS and journalist ethics with no mention of what they did.

The Two, Four, Six, Eight and Ten Faces of Dubya

If you want a compendium of Bush "faces" from last Thursday's debate, it's here.

But I was actually a little disappointed to see Democrats.org publish it. The video seems like a low class Karl Rove-Grover Norquist stunt. There are much more important concerns about Mr. Bush than that he's a petulant bully.

Yes, I know the far right is playing incredibly dirty and low. But I don't like it any better when Dems do it. Granted, this isn't nearly as low as any one post on Lucianne.com or a Drudge fan site, but it doesn't matter. One of the things that I think we lost sight of on 9/11 and aftr was civilized humanity, often one of the first sacrifices made when we're operating under fear. We shouldn't strive to return to the muck from which we sprang. As it is, we're not so far from it.

Osaddama

As I suggested to Alex in a comment, I think President Bush should just make it easier on himself by morphing Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden into one bogeyman, Osaddama.

But Bush isn't that dumb. He knows he's switching the name. He wants a) the justification for the Iraq war that more and more good Americans don't see and b) to keep mentioning Saddam, who we got, instead of Osama who we "not" got.

Is David Dreier or Isn't He?

According to BlogActive which cites a Raw Story article, David Dreier - a GOP congressman who's had his own buried deeply in Bush and The Arnold's butt - has been outed as a homosexual.

Now, before I bury myself deeply somewhere else (cough), my interest was piqued when I saw a post on Scoobie Davis with Scoobie explaining why he has not raised this particular issue. I happen to agree with him on that score.

Being a homosexual - contrary to the ultra right's position - is not wrong or a sinful choice. If Dreier's gay, that's fine. My only problem with this of course is that Dreier is yet another of the GOPers whose own homes aren't in order in so many other key ways who also tries to keep homosexuals from being recognized. He's been part of the "gays are killing straight marriage" crowd.

If it's true about Dreier (and I don't know that it is), it's bad not because he's gay but because he's another self-hating sadist and hypocrite who does what he wants and tells anyone else who tries to do it that they should be penalized. David? Meet Roy Cohn, J. Edgar Hoover and a few others of your ilk.

US Soldiers Fire on Car, Killing at Least 6 Kids

From the AP via WMTW via Buzzflash:

FALLUJAH, Iraq A U-S military offensive in Fallujah (fuh-LOO'-juh) is being blamed for over a dozen Iraqi civilian deaths -- including six children.

Witnesses say U-S soldiers fired on a car with eight people inside. A hospital official say the driver was shot in the head, and the car plunged into a canal. Later, the official says, the bodies of two women and five children arrived.

Also, according to witnesses, a strike against a suspected terrorist safe house in Fallujah killed at least four Iraqis. There is news footage showing two homes flattened, and residents using their bare hands to search the rubble for survivors.

The U-S military has not confirmed the reports.

Sharon Bush, the Crude Bush Dynasty, and 20/20

Almost none of the media outlets took note of Sharon Bush's appearance on ABC' 20/20 Friday night in a portrait that I swear sounds just like what Kitty Kelley wrote that Sharon Bush denied.

I actually very much believe that Barbara Bush is uber general in that family and probably more corrupt than any man. I used to respect her, but that facade began to crack a decade ago. The Barbara Bush I thought I knew wouldn't have inflicted Georgie upon us. And I think Georgie and the Bush Twins are a good example of Bush family values.

But I don't feel any sympathy for Sharon. This is a woman who was happy to go along with all this shit as long as she had the nice house and clothes and jewelry and trips. When she got dumped, suddenly, those values were all so bad! She reminds me of a number of women - the fictional Carmela Soprano included - who want grasp for sympathy for what they endure with one hand while they happily spend the blood money with the other. Political, rich, and mafia wives (or husbands) probably really aren't that far removed from one another.

Neil, Marvin, Jeb, and George are all the same fuckup. It's just ironic that the chief fuckup got to the White House, but he's certainly not the first to make Americans foot the bill for his greed and power frenzy.

CNN Deserves a Spin Prize

CNN is taking a short break in its all volcano and hurricane all the time coverage to tackle the topic of the so-called October surprise. Some polls show voters are expecting Bush to pull Osama from under his cowboy hat.

But couched in the article is this:

Usually speculated-upon October surprises fail to materialize. There was talk that the Carter administration would produce a deal in 1980 to free the U.S. hostages in Iran. In 1968 and again in 1972 came speculation that a deal to end the war in Vietnam might be at hand.

Notice how they make it sound like Carter's failure when Reagan ACTUALLY DID THIS. He bargained and paid terrorists to win the election; there have been charges over the years that the hostages were kept longer than was needed just to make Reagan look so darned powerful.

I just can't believe this.

If Bush and Allawi Were Right Last Week

when they said Sumarra was one of the peaceful cities completely under our control, why did they spend the night of the debate bombing the hell out of the city, killing "109 insurgents" (some of them, as reported by indy media, who appear to be about 3 years old)?

Methinks we controlled more of Iraq before the war when we had no-fly-zones over the entire north and south. Certainly a lot less people died everyday. And we hadn't spent $200-465 billion (the latter may be a truer figure by some estimates) to free Iraqis to get butchered and bombed.

I daresay that less people probably died under Saddam, who was a cruel and terrible man. What does that say about this war?

The Fascination with That Which Needs No Analysis

You'd think the news would have more things to report today. The news channels stayed glued to Mount St. Helens (which blew the day I graduated college, incidentally) all day when all it's done is spew gas.

I mean, I guess they could watch Bush after he's chowed down on Texas baked beans, too, if they want to see noxious gas that's more than he usually belches. But why would you?

Oh, I understand. There was no Florida hurricane and we don't want to bother with the inconvenient news where reporters and investigations are needed. Gotcha.

Bush's Strange Debate Performance

Kevin Drum at The Washington Monthly says just about everything I was about to post (and probably better stated, too):

the DNC has a quickie video up on its site that showcases all of George Bush's off camera grimaces and eye rolling during the debate. Go take a look. It's only about a minute long.

It's worth nothing that this was different from Al Gore's infamous sighing in 2000. Gore's performance was quite obviously that: a performance. He made a conscious decision that this was a good way to get across the idea that Bush was a dimwit. Conversely, Bush's gestures this year seemed entirely genuine.

What does it mean? The sense I got from Bush's weird inability to control himself wasn't so much that he was bored or annoyed — although he was obviously irked during some of his responses — but that he just can't stand to wait around while someone else has the stage. He's the guy in charge, and people are supposed to listen to him, not the other way around.

At least, that's how it struck me. Your mileage may vary.

Let me add just a couple of notes.

Bush seemed awfully eager to interrupt or insist that he get to rebut almost everything Kerry said (broke the rules more than five times, so I can tell, but that's nothing for a privileged little Bushie), but he never had anything to say when he did. Or it was a broken record. He behaved like a pull-string talking doll. Kerry said something to pull the string, and Bush recited a phrase. Sometimes, the very same phrase. It rarely meant much of anything.

But I'd be less generous in saying simply that Bush doesn't like sharing the stage. This man thinks he's such hot shit. And he is hot shit. But as anyone who's ever had explosive diarrhea knows, hot shit is a bad thing.

That comment about "I loved her the best I could" referring to the widow of a dead soldier actually creeped me out more than "the leash" he says he tries to put his daughters on. And I intensely dislike his daughters who are as vain, vapid, and riding along solely on privilege as their dad. But he's 58 and they're 22.

Bush was petulant, pouting, ill prepared with more that his chosen messages, and it's so fucking obvious he doesn't know what's going on and possibly doesn't care. He doesn't feel the need to audition for an audience. Hell, he knows he can be president without the majority of Americans voting for him and without a fair and full count.

Then.. the fucking nerve of the Bush people to claim he was a little off only because he had spent such a tough day dealing with the Florida hurricane victims. Always an excuse for George but never an admission of culpability. Pathetic.

Slacking on Posts

Sorry I haven't posted much today. First, while I started the week with only 16 chapters to write by Monday afternoon, I still have 5 to go (pure madness). Second, it's been a really bad week.

Third? The little kitten we took in just two weeks ago disappeared early this morning. The dog let himself out a sliding door this morning and apparently the kitten debarked. I've been walking miles around in circles screaming myself raw trying to find him, but it's been nothing but rain and wind today which doesn't bode well for the kitten team. We've been up and down roads, looking in culverts, bothering neighbors, and nothing. Damn it.

Another Baghdad Beheading Video

CNN has this, and they even have a shot of the Web page (I guess showing Iraqis dying is fine).

An Islamist terrorist group posted a video on its Web site today that it claims shows the beheading of a Baghdad contractor. In a statement, the Army of Ansar al-Sunna said it captured Bari'e Dawood Ibrahim -- whom it described as a "traitor."

Did Bush Actually Say the Tax Cut is More Important than National Security?

A few other people heard it that way too.

He also told us how tough a job he has 11 different times.

Some Many Lies

Bush's performance - which I have no doubt will be lauded from here til the next one - is terrible. He's lied or misstated on some many issues so far, including:

What Kerry's said
* that the coalition can't function unless Bush is president (if true, very bad considering the president's history with bikes, pretzels, and scooters)
* kept cutely messing up Osama and Saddam's name
* that were he to question the war at all, "what kind of message would it send to the troops?" (what kind of message does it send to the troops if you kill them without thinking)
* that Saddam took us to war
* that he would try not to start a pre-emptive war in the future and that really, he hadn't already (ha!)
* that he's responsible for Libya (a non-issue for years) disarming
* tried again to say Saddam attacked us
* that the only reason we're fighting in either Afghanistan or Iraq is to liberate them (we're liberating 'em right to death)
* THAT NO ONE HAD TO TELL HIM TO GO TO THE UN BEFORE IRAQ (bull bull bull bullSHIT)

A bit more debate and my head shall implode.

Delay's Ethics are Among the Worst

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay should not be untouchable. The powerful Texas Republican has wiggled out of ethics investigations before, but not this time. Not when criminal indictments for illegal fund-raising activities are handed up in Texas against three men associated with his political action committee and eight corporations.

The Houston Republican is trying to brush off any attempt to link him to a scandal unfolding in Texas with a PAC he set up, and on whose advisory board he served, by insisting it "isn't about me." Besides, said the tough-talking Texan, "this is 41 days before the election. You do the political math. People see this for what it is."

That they do, which is why the criminal investigation under way in Texas on the conduct of the fund-raising network formed by Mr. DeLay bears urgent examination by the House Ethics Committee.

A Texas grand jury indicted three close Delay associates running his Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee, and eight out-of-state companies, on 32 felony charges of illegally funneling corporate money to Republican Texas House candidates.

The $2.5 million in corporate contributions raised and spent in 2002 helped Republicans take control of the Texas House for the first time since Reconstruction. In turn, that majority redrew the state's congressional map under Mr. DeLay's direction to give the GOP as many as seven more U.S. House seats this election.

"What has emerged is the outline of an effort to use corporate contributions to control representative democracy in Texas," said Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.

The grand jury investigation is chilling both in its scope and its ramifications for the congressman. Prosecution documents say Mr. DeLay's PAC raised corporate contributions that were illegal under state law and laundered the money through other groups, including the Republican National Committee, to state candidates. Those indicted in Texas include Mr. DeLay's top political aide and two key fund-raisers.

Dead Soldier Families Wage Their Own War

From The Times:

Angered by President Bush's policy in Iraq, a group of military families whose relatives died there is targeting the president in new television ads to be aired ahead of the Nov. 2 election.

``I think the American people need to know that we have been betrayed in this rush to war,'' said Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey is among more than 1,000 U.S. troops who died in Iraq.

Sheehan joined a small group of military families at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday to launch new political ads by an interest group called RealVoices.org, which supports Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's White House bid.

The first ads are set to run next week nationally and in battleground cities of Las Vegas, Orlando and Albuquerque.

Watch someone who loves to say "they died for our freedoms" tell these families to shut up, as they did with Sue Niederer. Just think of how the GOPers rallied around Sue to drown her out, had her arrested AFTER she left the hall.

Gads... Is Everything Named Bush Fucked?

Well, at least that previous set of tables are, but all attempts to fix it delete the tables. So... scroll.

Like our leader, I can be a pompous ass.

Cheat Sheet for the Debate

Since the pundits, the media, and the Bush machine have all declared him the winner (like Florida, you can decide the results you want and then not let any nasty details get in the way of obtaining those results), I figure we can stop focusing in on issues.

So, to help, I'm offering these cheat sheets. The first tells you what Bush means when he says something else, while the second tells you what the talking heads mean when they praise Mr. Bush.

Bush Cheat Sheet

What Bush Says	What He Means
"I love this country!"	"I love what morons you are."
"We rescued the Iraqi people.	"They didn't know screwed over til they met me."
"We gotta help Florida."	"I already gave 'em $15 billion of your money and had Jeb "fix" the voting machines."
"Why should I have second thoughts?"	"That would imply I have first ones. I don't!"
"God told me..."	"Dick Cheney or Karl Rove told me..."
"What's Kerry know? He doesn't say 'nucular' right."	"Really, all those thousands on my education were misspent."
"I want our kids to grow up strong..."	"They effing well better, 'cos I've got wars for 'em to wage."
"We turned the corner..."	"...from any hope of redemption to NONE!
"Abu Nadal"	"Abu Abbas (I can't get anything right)."

Bushed Talking Heads Cheat Sheet

What the 'Heads Say	What They Really Mean
"Bush was never better!"	"He didn't drool."
"He's a brilliant orator!"	"He got through the words "the" and "a" without messing 'em up."
"Who could possibly beat this man?"	"Look, the fix is in. Mr. Bush will return. Don't force us into Abu Ghraib."
"This is a man who thinks on his feet."	"Well, he has feet. The rest is questionable."
"This was a sobering moment..."	"Karen and Condi wouldn't let him drink beforehand."
"He's firm and decisive!"	"God could proclaim he's wrong and George wouldn't listen."
"He's a man's man...."	"...who falls off bikes, scooters, and chokes on pretzels."
"He didn't bat an eye."	"He couldn't; he couldn't lip-read Dick then."
"Why have two more debates? Bush won!"	"Please don't make us sit through 2 more Bush debates. Have mercy."

FEMA: Largest Response Ever?

The media keeps telling us that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is conducting its largest response ever to the latest Florida hurricane, "even larger than 9/11".

What they never do is ask why? This hurricane did less damage than many others in relatively recent history and one questions why it would need to mount a larger effort than 9/11.

The only possible answer to this is because of Bush's desire for the Florida vote. Remember? Alabamans and Louisianans in the wake of the previous hurricane said they got NO attention and help. They're not swing states.

In other words, the country will foot any bill that serves Bush's purpose. This isn't about helping people. This is about helping Bush-Cheney 2004. If Florida wasn't a swing state and the president's porcine brother were not governor, Bush would let it fall into the ocean.

Italian Women Released, Not Executed

Finally, some good news.

Two Italian female aid workers who were reported executed by their Iraqi captors last week have actually been freed instead.

But there's no new word on Mr. Bigley, the British hostage threatened with beheading after his two American contractor colleagues were beheaded early last week.

The Parts of Iraq "Not Safe Enough" to Vote in January?

Well, those "little" sections Donny Rumsfeld talked about not being able to vote in January elections turn out to be the entire city of Baghdad (representing between 25-30% of the entire Iraq population) and two prominent Sunni communities (which may account for another 10-20% of the population). That's more than just a little problem, unless Bush has already told Allawi the election results so people showing up at the polls is an unnecessary step.

By that reasoning, it's fine if Texas, Florida, and Ohio don't get to vote in November. Sheesh.

To Ann Coulter:I Can Smell Your Soul Rotting from Here

Yes, it's from a Daryl Hammond as Chris Matthews spot on SNL (a rerun from 2003) as he talks to "Ann Coulter" (or as James Wolcott refers to her, "the toxic toothpick."

It's my new favorite phrase.

"Rathergate" Hardly Worst Media Scandal Ever

I agree with Jesse Taylor on this point.

DanRather Being Held to a Different Standard

As I read this column by David S Broder today, I was reminded of the right-wing's determination to (and stated outright by some of them) end 60 Minutes, Dan Rather, and the entire "trashy leftwing media".

I'm very bothered if there was a forgery. But PC World among other sources proved that the documents may not have been a forgery since the IBM Selectric of that period could produce that font AND that if the documents were provided as a fax or were scanned into a computer, the font would adjust and you may be no longer able to tell whether they were typewriter or PC printer produced.

Yet I'm even more bothered by the fact that the media allowed itself to buy the font story and run with it, without doing much checking into things. Later, it turned out that people who worked with Killian said the documents - real or fake - reflect what Killian thought of Bush.

I'm also bothered by the fact that Dan Rather is being held to one standard, while the right-wing media (which purports to be the fair and balanced alternative - ha!) calling for his removal has a completely different standard. No journalism for Fox - only what's good for Bush because it's good for Murdoch and O'Reilly. They lie and distort and it becomes truth to some.

And I'm even more bothered that no one sees the irony, the pathology in having a man like Bush take our men and women into constant war, war that doesn't seem to be ending terrorism but is completely enriching Halliburton et al (=Bush-Cheney's corporate sponsors), or that the media is not spending more time on what seems very clearly a) a back door draft b) plans for a more direct draft immediately after Bush-Cheney re-assume the throne and c) the lies with which we keep going to war.

Bush's Spin on Terror Numbers

From Newsweek. Basically, they debunk Bush's constant announcements that they have al Qaeda et al on the run, with the majority in custody or dead. One can hardly accuse the co-author Isikoff of being a Dem whore, considering he's the one he brought us Linda Tripp when no one else would talk to Lucianne Goldberg (who isn't a whore because she gives whores a bad name).

Convenient: Poor Job Market Here Means Lots of Applicants to Work High-Danger Iraq Jobs

That's what NBC News reported tonight. People standing in long lines to get one of the high-paying, "oh yeah, and you might get beheaded or otherwise killed like the other 46 American contractors have" jobs being offered by Halliburton spawn, Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR). Many said they simply couldn't find decent jobs here, and the last few years of sucky economy have left them with debts to pay.

Wow, isn't that convenient that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney led this country and the job market into a massive sink hole so that (wow, what a coinky-dinky) when we realized (ha!) that Iraq was responsible for all the world's terrorism, there would be people willing to lose life, limb, and sometimes head to serve. Oh yeah, and Mr. Cheney led Halliburton, too, such as in 1999 when he told the Senate that Iraq wasn't bad and sanctions should go. And - yet another coincidence - I bet Mr. Cheney goes back to Halliburton if his heart survives another Florida vote-stealing session.

The Censoring Broadcast System and Falwell Says Evangelicals In Charge of US

Buzzflash brings us this worthwhile read by a Congregational minister re: CBS and its policies as well as this scary-but-ignoring-it-could-just-make-it-true piece of fertilizer from the Smite Reverend Jerry Falwell (I hope God has big plans for him - big, big plans and lots and lots of smite).

Time's Analysis of Cat Stevens "Capture" Last Week

Read it and weep.

Bush Says Iraq's Doing Great; Powell Admits Situation Worsening; Rumsfeld Says Democracy Doesn't Require Free Elections

Which is it?

Here's a hint: this is one time recently Colin's correct.

Meanwhile, Donald Strangelove Rumsfeld says it's fine if lots of Iraqis can't vote. I mean, democracies aren't build on free elections. Florida 2000 taught us that, no?

Poverty Rises, Social Services Decline

From Saturday's Washington Post:

Taylor, 44, a single mother, had spent six years on public assistance. After 1996, when changes were made in welfare law to push people into work, she got a job that paid $400 a week and allowed her family to live independently. For the first time in a long time, she could afford to clothe and feed her two children, and even rent a duplex on the beach in Norfolk.

After losing her job last year, however, Taylor has been unable to find full-time work in an economy that still has a million fewer jobs than it did at the start of a brief recession more than three years ago.

She is back in poverty. But she hasn't gone back on welfare.

Her story illustrates a seeming paradox in the U.S. economy: Though the number of welfare recipients continues to decline, poverty rates -- particularly for single mothers and children -- have surged in recent years. Just last month, the government reported that the number of people on welfare had declined by 149,000 at the end of 2003 compared with 2002, while the number in poverty rose by 1.3 million. Those divergent trends offer fresh ammunition to both sides in the debate over whether, eight years after the fact, welfare reform is working.

Nationally, fewer than half of the families eligible for welfare received it in 2001, the most recent year for which statistics are available, compared with roughly 80 percent before the 1996 legislation. Reform supporters say that is exactly what the changes were meant to accomplish -- recasting welfare as a last resort instead of a crutch. "What is happening is that people are making do, without having to go back on welfare," said Douglas J. Besharov, a University of Maryland professor and resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

But some advocates for the poor say cases like Taylor's show that families are not getting the assistance they need at a time when a good job -- or any job -- can be hard to find. "The same people who fall through the employment net now also fall through the welfare net," said Ellen Bravo, outgoing director of the Milwaukee advocacy group 9to5, National Association of Working Women.

I'm all for finding ways to keep people off the welfare rolls. Yes, I actually believe that after a period of time, it becomes more of a societal "learned helplessness" than real aid.

However, I felt Clinton was wrong about the way he helped start welfare reform, and President Mood Swing (Bush) completely killed the economy for many Americans, vastly compounding the problem. Starving children aren't my idea of compassionate conservatism.

Sharon: Israel's Mad Cowboy

Some attention was actually diverted from Florida's hurricane last week to the fact that a young Palestinian woman killed herself and others. What got far less attention, however, was an announcement right before this that Israel no longer planned to honor its commitment to leave some occupied territories this year.

Again and again, Israel's Ariel Sharon pulls this crap; again and again, the U.S. lets him; again and again, the Palestinians send suicide bombers in; again and again, Israel responds by killing lots of civilians by claiming it's going after a terrorist leader. Vicious cycle? You bet.

Sound familiar (think Bush and Iraq) You bet.

Bush Fundraiser Runs Out on Bill

Read this from General JC Christian:

The number-two-rated Bush/Cheney 2004 volunteer, Armando Cortinez, found a great way to meet his fundraising goals at a hoity-toity nightclub last week--he ran out the door when the club's manager brought him the bill.

Don't you love ethical, responsible people? But his business practices are pure Bush/Cheney. And trust us, it won't be his fault. It never is.

Er... George, Tell Them Again Iraq's Great; Some Aren't Getting the Message

Right now, CNN has a poll up asking if we believe Iraq will be safe enough for free and fair elections; 76% say no.

And after we flew Mr. Allawi here at taxpayer expense to lie for George, too.

Fate of British Hostage Still Unknown

American colleague Eugene Armstrong was beheaded a week ago today, and Jack Hensley on Tuesday. But we haven't seen or heard from their British housemate Bigley since he pleaded for his life perhaps last Thursday.

Blue State Homes to Be Seized and Shipped to Florida

"And in an exclusive ONLY reported by us, Faux Newz, President George W. Bush has announced plans to seize homes currently owned by Blue State potential Kerry voters to replace the homes of Florida Republicans who lost their pink flamingos in the latest hurricane."

[Fade to commercial as newsreader, wearing a flag lapel pin, wipes a tear from her glycerine-moistened eye on cue.]

Dowd on the Dance of the Marionettes

And she says it beautifully, may I add?

President Bush has his own Mini-Me now, someone to echo his every word and mimic his every action.

For so long, Mr. Bush has put up with caricatures of a wee W. sitting in the vice president's lap, Charlie McCarthy style, as big Dick Cheney calls the shots. But now the president has his own puppet to play with.

All last week in New York and Washington, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of Iraq parroted Mr. Bush's absurd claims that the fighting in Iraq was an essential part of the U.S. battle against terrorists that started on 9/11, that the neocons' utopian dream of turning Iraq into a modern democracy was going swimmingly, and that the worse things got over there, the better they really were.

It's the media's fault, the two men warble in a duet so perfectly harmonized you wonder if Karen Hughes wrote Mr. Allawi's speech, for not showing the millions of people in Iraq who are not being beheaded, kidnapped, suicide-bombed or caught in the cross-fire every day; and it's John Kerry's fault for abetting the Iraqi insurgents by expressing his doubts about our plan there, as he once did about Vietnam.

"These doubters risk underestimating our country and they risk fueling the hopes of the terrorists," Mr. Allawi told Congress in a rousing anti-Kerry stump speech for Bush/Cheney, a follow-up punch to Mr. Cheney's claim that a vote for John Kerry is a vote for another terrorist attack on America.

First the Swift boat guys; now the swift dhow prime minister.

Just as Mr. Cheney, Rummy and the neocons turned W. into a host body for their old schemes to knock off Saddam, transform the military and set up a pre-emption doctrine to strike at allies and foes that threatened American hyperpower supremacy, so now W. has turned Mr. Allawi into a host body for the Panglossian palaver that he believes will get him re-elected. Every time the administration takes a step it says will reduce the violence, the violence increases.

Mr. Bush doesn't seem to care that by using Mr. Allawi as a puppet in his campaign, he decreases the prime minister's chances of debunking the belief in Iraq that he is a Bush puppet - which is the only way he can gain any credibility to stabilize his devastated country and be elected himself.

Actually, being the president's marionette is a step up from Mr. Allawi's old jobs as henchman for Saddam Hussein and stoolie for the C.I.A.

It's hilarious that the Republicans have trotted out Mr. Allawi as an objective analyst of the state of conditions in Iraq when he's the administration's handpicked guy and has as much riding on putting the chaos in a sunny light as they do. Though Mr. Allawi presents himself as representing all Iraqis, his actions have been devised to put more of the country in the grip of this latest strongman - giving himself the power to declare martial law, bringing back the death penalty and kicking out Al Jazeera.

Bush officials, who proclaim themselves so altruistic about bringing liberty to Iraq, really see Iraq in a creepy narcissistic way: It's all about Mr. Bush's re-election.

Non-stop Hurricane

I've been trying to resist the temptation to watch this non-stop hurricane coverage tonight, and that's been hard considering I was also tempted to bet money on how long it would take Anderson Cooper and Gary Tuchman to blow away in the wind.

Ironically, just on CNN and just today alone, they have spent more time talking about the hurricane than they have EVER spent at any time on the subjects of global warming, what really happened in the Florida 2000 Election, who outed Valerie Plame, and why going into Iraq was wrong COMBINED.

Meanwhile, however, Bush will schedule yet ANOTHER trip to Florida (he's been there 4-5 times in as many weeks, while I believe there are blue states he has been in no more than once in his entire "I'm not the Republican president, I'm the American president" presidency.

Hmm... you know, if Anderson Cooper blows into the weather guy one more time, I think they'll have to get married. But not in Florida, of course.

Allawi Proves He's GOP Washington's Man

(Ed. note: We were being kind and changed "Bitch" to "Man", a benefit of the doubt we try to provide to people like Tom DeLay (who isn't bitch but a deep burrowing bug who missed his own extermination service), Bill (here kitty, kitty, let me torture you) Frist, and Denny (my breasts are bigger than any other bitch's) Hastert.)

It was almost sickening to watch, as an American, the Iraqi prime minister giving his slavish support of Mr. Bush and the GOP this week. But just imagine how this played in Iraq.

In other words, Bush and Karl Rove have NO problem using Iraq to promote their agenda, even when it proves the charges that the Iraqi PM is nothing but a figurehead for Washington who has no concern about the Iraqi people as a whole (but lots of concern for Halliburton, WorldCom, Bechtel, et al, and Bush's political future.

"Night of the Living Rapturists" Indeed

Skippy brings us this uh... wow, piece:

now, this is scary.

thanks to atrios, we found this on blast off!: we get wingnuts. it's a transcription of a call to c-span:

caller (in a very airy voice): good morning. i’m going to vote for president bush because, after all, you know, god made us there, you know, in his image, free from any black color and all [host looks up, surprised]. the only church that kerry can go to is where they say the black mass, and that is in the merriam-webster pocket book dictionary, where it says that that is the devil worshippers. [host looks uncomfortably off-camera, at producer?] i would never vote for, you know, senator kerry.e every effort to give you the same booth again, or very nearso, definitely, i would never vote for, you know, senator kerry.

and that isn’t the only reason. also, in the bible, god said … god … that, uh, also, like (unintelligible) and faggots, that he says, anybody that lays down with another man and has sex with his own sex, and any woman that lays down with another woman and has sex should be put to death and their blood upon them. it also says that about interracial marriages and everything. so that’s the reason why i’m voting for my president, bush.

slen: what do you do in, uh …

caller: and that isn’t the only reason. they also have other reasons also. the other reason is political, because like the political terrorists, they’ve been out there for eight months, and they’ve been out on the road, and they’ve been talking about … they’ve talked against our president. they put him down in every way. and god knows that that is wrong. he’s out there doing god’s work. he’s taking care of all our children.

like when clinton was in, he made – he tried to make whores and faggots out of our little girls – whores out of our little girls. he put the pornography in the schools. and god’s gonna condemn him for that

What mental illness explains this? How can anyone actually believe any of this?

CNN Says Reports Brit Hostage Beheaded Appear Wrong

Apparently conjecture earlier today said the third hostage from Hensley and Armstrong's group (both men beheaded earlier this week), a man named Bigley, had been beheaded, too. But CNN says that's incorrect and showed an ad some British Muslims had taken out in Arab-language papers with Bigley's picture and an ardent appeal for his safe release.

But why was their so little coverage of the Italian women hostages killed this week? Granted, I expect American news to focus more on Americans taken and beheaded, but they've covered others. These women were NOT contractors for companies like Halliburton.

No New Word on Brit Hostage Threatened with Beheading

As far as we know right now, the third of the trio that was kidnapped less than 10 days ago from their Baghdad home is still alive, despite the fact that the two Americans from the group - Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley - were beheaded this week. Their bodies have already been recovered.

CNN is reporting that a group of British Muslims is trying to make an appeal for the Brit's release. You may have heard the heart-breaking plea for his life that this man made earlier this week. His family also made a heart-wrenching appeal, saying that the hostage takers had shown mercy before and hoped they would this time.

No Blogging for Jon Stewart

From Wonkette:

Time: Writing a book is so retro. Shouldn't you be blogging or something?
Jon Stewart: I can't. It's too hip. Then I'd have to get a BlackBerry, and I'm wired in, and next thing you know, I'm at a Black-Eyed Peas concert with a crack problem. I just can't go down that road.

Also, Wonkette reports that a recent Annenberg Institute study shows "Daily Show" watchers are better informed, especially about the election, than viewers of mainstream news (certainly true, especially if you factor in Faux Newz).

When You Care Enough to Send Email After You're Dead

See this.

"The Dems Will Ban the Bible"

As I said, Swaggart's ilk's intolerance seems like a good lead-in to this mailing by Repugs in the Deep South claiming that Dems will ban the bible, outlaw heterosexual marriage, and eat babies. The president - as always - said he doesn't know anything about it (exactly what does ol George know anyway? There's a $64,000 question.)

But the irony here is that the Repugs are appealing to an inate fear among many Southern Christians that some fundamental right of theirs will be taken away. OK. It's a total lie but I guess any misinformation that gives Georgie a vote is cool to them.

Actually, no, the irony is that the group that fears so much having their rights taken away is the same group who is so RABID about stripping rights from others (gays and biracial couples shouldn't marry, people MUST salute God in government and schools, you do NOT have a choice in religion, women may NOT have a choice over their own bodies).

Please. Could people who haven't suffered brain damage come out and vote in 5 weeks? Pretty please?

Jimmy Swaggart Sorry (Again)

I start off today with this story because it leads into another topic.

Disgraced (how many times?) evangelist Jimmy Swaggart said this week that he would kill any homosexual who looked at him with lust. Now, of course, he's retracted.

But why do the people who always feel they're God's anointed always threaten and perform violence? There are variations on this, but from Falwell to Swaggart, Robertson to those nut cases on his show, these Southern Christians (and no, I do not feel they are representative of all Southern Christians, and some Northern Christians espouse similar things), these are people with hate in their heart and eager to side with God - or so they think - in promoting bias, violence, intolerance, and so much more.

You know, as a woman, I've had more than my share of "lustful" approaches, mostly from men but a couple of women. I might have wanted to take a shower after the encounter just from the talk or behavior, but I've never wanted to kill someone. I loathe Swaggart and his ilk, and I wouldn't like to kill them either.

The Orange Prison Jumpsuit Again

Reader RH wrote in to note that he says he found a place mirroring one of the gruesome hostage beheading videos this week and notes that the one he saw was wearing those US style orange prison uniforms again.

The orange prison uniform (the ones we took to Abu Ghraib and other places, which from what little I can tell, aren't usually sold or used elsewhere) still bothers me. It's like a puzzle piece that does not fit in.

Yeah, you can argue that lots of pieces don't fit together if you saw our treatment of Iraqi prisoners on Nightline last night (very, very disturbing) and what appear to be honest, non-combatants being beheaded on video. But I feel like that orange US prisoner outfit so many hostages are placed in before execution is either a clue or a signal.

West Side Stadium

NY is going nuts, divided among itself, over plans for the new West Side Stadium. Now, they've gotten a few firefighters to promote the project, acting like that's God's seal of approval.

I'm not a big fan of these city, state, and other taxpayer funded sports programs. Sports attendance is declining, they practically had to pay people to attend the Summer Olympics (lots of Athens businesses during the Olympics and NYC businesses during the Republican National Convention closed because there was NO business), and there is no reason why a team of multi-millionaire players and billionaire owners need taxpayers to foot the bill.

But the whole firefighter thing bothers me. Since 9/11, everyone has solicited firefighters to appear for this, that, or the other. Granted. But lots of New York City firefighters aren't magically made into wise divine beings by 9/11. Many were heroes that day, no question. But whoring is whoring. I don't think much of firefighters whoring, and I think even less of those who eagerly sign them as whores.

The building of the West Side Stadium will help some with the construction, but the rest of it is questionable. Wanting to hold the Olympics in your city to me is the height of stupidity (and the stadium is tied to plans to redo part of the city to host an upcoming Olympics - they're hoping maybe 2012, not sure).

Teachers in NY make shitty salaries. So do firefighters and police BEFORE overtime (and more than a few hit the six-figure mark with it - so excuse me if I don't tear up). Money should go to priorities first. Let the million/billionaires pay for their own stadiums and Olympic venues.

"You Know What? The World Would Be Better if We Did Leave"

I haven't found a transcript of this speech, given in the last few days by President Bush, but Jay Leno showed a portion of it last night.

Bush is saying something like, "The world says the country (Iraq) would be better off if we left Iraq. But they're wrong. You know what? The world we be better if we left."

That isn't what he meant to say but it's what he did say. Sometimes, his misspeak is quite telling.

Italian Women Hostages Executed

Two of the Italian women taken as hostages in Iraq earlier this month have now been executed, the evening news shows say. Supposedly, there's (yet another) video of this floating about on one of the Islamic Web sites.

Beheadings? No idea.

Horror Close to Home

Word today that a 20-year-old mother and a four-or-six month-old child were stabbed to death in my old town in Connecticut. Seven days ago, another woman was killed in the same town.

This in a tiny city, less than 30,000 people.

New Video Shows Brit Hostage Pleading for His Life

I just saw it and I'm devastated.

Can anyone blame this man? He's no doubt heard about or possibly even witnessed the beheading of his American housemates Armstrong and Hensley in Baghdad, and perhaps how the hostage Kurds had their heads sawed off

When is enough enough? We were wrong to go into Iraq. Everyone is paying the price now (Americans, Iraqis and especially those who try to help the Americans, coalition members, simple contractors and workers).

Third Hostage in Group May Be Beheaded

That's the news from Iraq, with the group holding him (which is purported to have already beheaded Americans Armstrong and Hensley from the same group in the past two days).

Now, there's something here that I'm going to say and which some may not like. Let me preface it by saying that no, I don't think it's normally wise to cut deals with terrorists. But lying about a situation is bad, too, when lives are at stake.

Here's the thing. This group says they're going ahead with the beheadings because the U.S. has not responded to requests to release all female prisoners from Abu Ghraib and other prisons. The U.S. says it only has two women in custody, both officers under Saddam and linked to bioweapons.

True? Don't think so. At least, not based on previous reports from Abu Ghraib and other facilities. Women have been imprisoned beyond these two. We've never heard that all these women were released. Women are not taken into custody with the same numbers as men, but I've read dozens of reports about women being picked up just in the last six months.

If I can pick up this lie, I suspect the Iraqis can. So I expect them to execute the third man, and perhaps pick up others and make the same demand.

Hensley Identified as Most Recent Beheaded Hostage

Contractor Jack Hensley, 48, of metro Atlanta, has been identified as the second hostage to be executed since yesterday by their captors, which the U.S. says is a group loyal to al Zarqawi.

If you watched TV yesterday, you no doubt saw his wife making appearances to ask for his safe return. The couple has a young son.

Feds to Airlines: Turn Over Your Passenger Information

As part of operation Secure Flight, the government has issued orders to airlines to turn over all passenger information, including name, address, flight specifics, credit card(s) used, and even what type of meal has been ordered.

It must be working, too. They picked up the former singer once known as Cat Stevens today because they found the man, now a Muslim convert, is on a terrorist watch list.

Gee, I haven't heard of Cat Stevens planning to blow anything up. Have you?

Bill Baroni, a Real Jersey "Class Act"

I'll let General JC Christian tell you about this jerk in his own special way:

Assemblyman Bill Baroni
New Jersey State Assembly

Dear Assemblyman Baroni,

Thank you for putting Gold Star Mother, Sue Niederer, in her place after she asked our First Lady when the First Daughters were going to Iraq. Your remark that "[s]he really ought to find something to do with her time" was right on the mark. I'm sure the First Family appreciated it.

We're all growing very tired of these parents of slain soldiers questioning our righteous crusade in Iraq. How dare they speak out against the war. Don't they realize that their children died in the defense of freedom? Don't these parents understand that it is irresponsible to use their freedom of speech to criticize our leaders in this way?

Sure, the death of Mrs. Niederer's son may seem pointless, but that does not excuse her for making the First Lady feel uncomfortable about her own children's lack of service. Doesn't Mrs. Niederer realize that someone has to stay home and party to provide our nation with a sense of normalcy in this horrific post-911 world?

Thank God we have courageous leaders like yourself to defend our First Family's honor in the face of these mourning mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and children. It's easier to be resolute and unyielding in the face of defeat when you don't have to see those whose lives have been destroyed by your bold, decisive leadership. I'm sure the First Family is appreciative.

Heterosexually yours,

General JC Christian, patriot

Mr. Baroni is a crass, class-less, partisan politician of the worst type. He apparently is not suffering too much from this war, based on the careful attention paid to be sure his hair is free of gray, and does not appear to be missing many meals or much sleep.

CNN Says Second Hostage Execution Also a Beheading

Crap.

Second Hostage Executed

Al Jazeera is reporting that a second hostage has been executed from the group from which contractor Eugene Armstrong was beheaded yesterday. Crap.

CIA Says Voice on Islamic Tapes Showing American Hostage Beheading is Likely al Zarqawi's

Here's the story.

My only issue with this - of course, aside from the sheer horror of decent people of any ethnic background being seized, tortured, and executed - is that we now have assigned al Zarqawi (sometimes spelled Zarqawe) the same bogeyman status we once gave to Osama. Everything that happens, we say it's Zarqawi.

It's probably no coincidence that a) Bush and the GOP try never to raise Osama's name b) seem to systematically "confuse" Saddam Hussein's name with Osama, substituting Saddam's name so they don't have to mention the still-free-Osama, and c) all guilt for any action is now assigned to al Zarqawi.

Oh yeah, and "we've killed" Zarqawi any number of times. They'll say they're pretty sure they got him with the last bombing (and we've bombed dozens of homes and buildings, and killed many civilians in "getting" him), only to turn around and either blame him for something new or announce they've killed him yet again.

However, from what I can tell, I may be the only one - besides the Iraqis - to notice this.

Kerry's Letterman Top 10 on Taxes Last Night

I missed this part. Reprinted from CNN which I assume got it from CBS and Letterman:

Kerry's "Top 10 Bush Tax Proposals" are:

10. No estate tax for families with at least two U.S. presidents.
9. W-2 Form is now Dubya-2 Form.
8. Under the simplified tax code, your refund check goes directly to Halliburton.
7. The reduced earned income tax credit is so unfair, it just makes me want to tear out my lustrous, finely groomed hair.
6. Attorney General (John) Ashcroft gets to write off the entire U.S. Constitution.
5. Texas Rangers can take a business loss for trading Sammy Sosa.
4. Eliminate all income taxes; just ask Teresa (Heinz Kerry) to cover the whole damn thing.
3. Cheney can claim Bush as a dependent.
2. Hundred-dollar penalty if you pronounce it "nuclear" instead of "nucular."
1. George W. Bush gets a deduction for mortgaging our entire future.

Working in Iraq

This is more of a personal note than anything else. It comes because some of the hostages taken in recent waves are people who went to Iraq seeking work they could not find back at home.

Like some of them, I've been in terrible financial straits recently (one publisher went bankrupt just as they issued me a check I found I could not cash, while others have been very slow to pay; example: after two months of working 20 hours a day, 7 days a week, I've yet to see a penny). It's made me weigh the question of whether I would consider taking a higher-paying job in a place like Iraq or Afghanistan on the chance I could stay alive long enough to catch all my accounts up to date. I've actually looked at a number of positions posted online that were based in one of the war-ravaged countries.

It's a sad commentary on the U.S. economy for one. For another, I think most of us with a good sense of ethics get rather desperate to make sure our bills are paid and that extends to consideration of extremes like going into a war zone to work.

It also makes me think of the GIs, many of them choosing the military because there were not other decent job prospects where they came from. Sad news? A recent study shows that in 85-95% of cases, the military screws up their pay. Facing bullets on the job and a desperate family back home, these soldiers must try to find time to get the military to correct problems that may reduce or completely withhold their pay for weeks or months on end. Reservists and guardsmen, with a long history of being able to fulfill their duties on weekends and scheduled times, now find themselves plants in wars for months or years at a time, while their businesses collapse or their jobs evaporate back home.

The Bush Economy, you know.

Bush Masks Outselling Kerry Masks for Halloween

That's what CNN and AP report.

Understandable. Bush is both funnier (in a twisted way) and much scarier. When I was in college, "gay Hitler" and "Joan Crawford as Mommy Dearest" costumes were all the rage.

Is the Goat Named George By Any Chance?

From MSNBC alerts:

CAMDEN, N.J. - Documentarian and liberal rabble-rouser Michael Moore kicked off a 62-speech, pre-election tour Monday with a relatively subtle dig at President Bush.

He read “My Pet Goat” to an audience of more than 6,000. That was the children’s book Bush read to an elementary school class after he heard about the 9/11 attacks.

One can argue that Mr. Moore has the luxury of time to do such reading; on 9/11/01, I do not feel the president did.

Kerry on Letterman Tonight

For me, and considering I caught only the first 5 minutes or so, I found this the most effective sale of himself that Mr. Kerry has given. I like what he said about AIDS because 4 more years of ignorance (added onto all those Reagan-Bush 41 years) has resulted in a rise in AIDS cases throughout the world). We could see many parts of Africa nearly wiped out if this continues.

Sadly, however, there are those who think that's a great idea. Some of them, I bet, call themselves Christians.

And yes, AIDS kills far more people every year that even our War on Terror.

The Beheaded Hostage is Eugene Armstrong

One of the three taken from their Baghdad "home" on Thursday. Armstrong and another man taken are Americans, the third in this group a Brit.

MSNBC: Islamic Site Shows Video of American Beheaded

This is a new one, although it's unclear yet whether the American was one of those taken most recently. Boy, this goes from bad to worse to deeper, deeper shit in record time.

Three Iraqi Hostages Beheaded

Man. From AP:

Militants sawed off the heads of three hostages believed to be Iraqi Kurds in a grisly videotape that surfaced Sunday, hours after Iraq's prime minister said January elections would be held on schedule and asserted that American and Iraqi troops were winning the fight against an increasingly bold insurgency.

In another sign of continuing instability 17 months into the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, a suicide car bomb killed three people in Samarra — a northern city that U.S. and Iraqi commanders have portrayed as a success story in their attempts to put down the insurgency.

Over the past week, about 300 people have been killed in escalating violence, including bombings, street fighting and U.S. air strikes. Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned there could not be "credible elections if the security conditions continue as they are now."

This is so, so bad, and Mr. Bush, never one to admit error, says things are going well.

I'm afraid the January elections will be a sham, too, every bit as much as the "American handover of power".

Iraqi PM Claims Terrorists are Streaming into His Country

I'm afraid I'm not inclined to simply assume this is true.

The Bush Administration told us this before (part of their, "let's corner 'emall there so we don't need to fight them in downtown Hoboken" initiative), and it turned out that Iraq was not seeing a huge influx of simple fighters - let alone terrorists - from other lands.

To the trained eye, Mr. Allawi is the U.S. I suspect many Iraqis feel this way, too. It's our mismanagement of things that has turned Iraq into a festering quagmire with mothers, grandmothers, and such suddenly now labeled insurgents simply because they're using their newly-found "freedom to speech" to say they don't like how things are going. And a lot of old men, women, and tiny children are dying with the bombs we drop on "insurgents".

Sunday Night/Monday Morning Cat Non-Blogging?

Er... I'd expected to post more tonight but it's like this. A tiny black kitten (maybe 6 weeks or so old) happened to wander into a friend's dog kennel while she was on vacation; her nice neighbor kept the poor little guy alive with meals for most of a week, but the weather here in Vermont is getting mighty cold.

So "Mabon" (think autumnal equinox) is now rearranging the living room. Tomorrow, we'll make prints of his picture and post it around to see if someone lost this sweet little guy. If not, I think he's adopted us.

Needless to say, none of my four chapters got finished tonight. Eek.

Hastert Needs a Dozen More Eclairs

Maybe that will restore sanity to his fat-besodden brain. From CNN:

At a campaign rally Saturday in his Illinois district with Vice President Dick Cheney, [Republican Speaker of the House Dennis] Hastert said al Qaeda "would like to influence this election" with an attack similar to the train bombings in Madrid days before the Spanish national election in March.

When a reporter asked Hastert if he thought al Qaeda would operate with more comfort if Kerry were elected, the speaker said, "That's my opinion, yes."

Thanks to men like Hastert and DeLay, Washington is far worse a place than it used to be. It's all pork, special interests, and partisanship. Vets can wither and die. We could lose all (poor) citizens under age 21 to this "War on Terror". We can watch the economy go through the septic tank.

None of it matters. The American people don't matter. All that Denny Hastert and company worry about is their next free meal, their next free ride, their corporate contributions, how many millions they'll leave office with (and Denny's certainly worth every bit of his $160K+ base pay since he was a wrestling coach before Congress) and keeping the prince in power. I presume, however, that any wrestling matches the tubby Mr. Hastert won involved sitting on his opponent.

Rural Areas Feel Neglected by Mr. Bush's Post-Hurricane Largesse (Our Money, His Benevolence)

Yeah? Vote for him again! Chant "four more years" in the darkness.

Also from CNN:

ATMORE, Alabama (AP) -- As President Bush viewed Hurricane Ivan wreckage on Alabama's coast Sunday, many in its rural hamlets felt they were without not just power and water, but also the government's attention.

"We're just forgotten," said Gordon Lightfoot, an Atmore businessman.

Lightfoot, 63, said President Bush, who toured the Alabama coast and the Florida panhandle Sunday, also should have viewed Escambia County's destruction. Lightfoot's home survived, but a tree fell on his car and "poor folks have a hard time getting around with no gas," he said.

I'd read this as presidential way of saying, "You're poor. You won't give me a contribution. I don't need your vote. Fuck you!"

Absentee Ballots

Folks, if you won't be around on November 2nd, be sure you request, receive and return an absentee ballot.

Time is getting slim!

Turkey Confirms 12 Hostages Taken in Iraq

Meanwhile, insurgents are threatening a host of hostages, including many Americans and some humanitarian workers too, with death. The Pentagon seems to be almost laughing it off (oy!) and Mr-in-touch-with-reality-Bush thinks things are going well.

Minorities Must Remember Election 2000; Should Vote

I debated long and hard before I did this, but here goes.

If you're black, brown, Latino/a, yellow, purple with white polka dots and yes, even a woman (I know we're not a statistical minority, but tell the fat old white men in Washington that), make sure you're registered, make sure you vote.

Maybe you're a different minority. For example, maybe you're the minority who has a decent paying job and still retains health benefits. VOTE because you've got friends and loved ones and neighbors who don't, who can't afford four more years.

Or maybe you're the minority who hasn't been affected by the drastic militarization and the backdoor draft. Before you join the majority there, get registered and vote!

We can't afford apathy. We can't afford to just hope things will improve. We need change. We need you. We need you to participate. We need you to vote!

Paid for by no one special except a person who is tired of watching men and women die for unjust causes, of watching public education die and vets' benefits with it.

Maureen Down on Sue Niederer and So-Called Security Moms

From her Sunday column in The Times:

Instead of a gold star, Sue Niederer, 55, of Hopewell, N.J., got handcuffed, arrested and charged with a crime for daring to challenge the Bush policy in Iraq, where her son, Army First Lt. Seth Dvorin, 24, died in February while attempting to disarm a bomb.

She came to a Laura Bush rally last week at a firehouse in Hamilton, N.J., wearing a T-shirt that blazed with her agony and anger: "President Bush You Killed My Son."

Mrs. Niederer tried to shout while the first lady was delivering her standard ode to her husband's efforts to fight terrorism. She wanted to know why the Bush twins weren't serving in Iraq "if it's such a justified war," as she put it afterward. The Record of Hackensack, N.J., reported that the mother of the dead soldier was boxed in by Bush supporters yelling "Four more years!" and wielding "Bush/Cheney" signs. Though she eventually left voluntarily, she was charged with trespassing while talking to reporters.

The moment was emblematic of how far the Bushies will go to squelch any voice that presents a view of Iraq that's different from the sunny party line, which they continue to dish out despite a torrent of alarming evidence to the contrary.

Aside from moms who are handcuffed at Bush events and the Jersey 9/11 moms who are supporting John Kerry after growing disillusioned with White House attempts to suppress the 9/11 investigation, the president is doing very well with women. The so-called security moms, who have replaced soccer moms as a desirable demographic, are now flocking to Mr. Bush over Mr. Kerry, believing he can better protect their kids from scary terrorists.

In the new Times poll, 48 percent of women supported the president, compared with Mr. Kerry's 43 percent - a reversal from July, when Mr. Kerry had the women's vote 52 to 40 percent. This is an ominous sign for the Democrat, who lost his gender gap advantage after his listless summer and the G.O.P.'s convention swagger.

How did the president who has caused so much insecurity in the world become the hero of security moms? He was, after all, in charge when Al Qaeda struck, and he was the one to send off Mrs. Niederer's son and other kids to die in a war sold on a false premise. And that conflict has, despite what Mr. Bush claims, spurred more acts of terror and been a recruiting bonanza for Osama bin Laden.