As I think most readers know, Kerry is way ahead on both his number of major newspaper endorsements and total circulation of those papers. Bush supporters may not take this seriously, arguing that of course the "liberal press" is supporting the Democrats. Well, it turns out in the great majority of presidential elections, newspapers have supported the Republican candidate . In fact, only in 1996 and 1992 did the Democrat receive more endorsements from newspapers. The fact that the ...
It really says something when Republicans are so concerned about George Bush that they're willing to support John Kerry, a candidate with whom they have large policy differences. Non-Democrats are Endorsing Kerry If you've been following the newspaper endorsement race, you know that Kerry's built up a substantial lead in terms of both number of papers and the combined circulation of the papers supporting him. Many papers that supported Bush in 2000 are now supporting Kerry, while onl...
This is the big Iraq news of the day, high up at sites that rank stories by reader interest, although not higher than the Ashlee Simpson lip-syncing scandal -- "Lip-sunk" as the AM-NY daily put it. Anyway, Bush's policies are less of a problem than his incompetence... This is from the NY Times : BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 24 - The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives - used to demoli...
The government's contract with Halliburton stinks, and new information keeps coming up to cast suspicion both on the contract itself, and how it was issued without the normal competitive bid. Some people keep defending Halliburton and the contract, even as the Pentagon is investigating the company for huge overcharges. The linked article is about a contracting specialist who thought that the contract was fishy, pointed it out to the Pentagon people making the deal, and was totally ignored...
I've been suprised at how little concern there's been about Abu Ghraib -- and I think liberals are as guilty as conservatives when it comes to downplaying the significance that America is torturing people. That's a big deal, (1) because it's immoral and (2) because it's a huge fscking recruitment poster for al-Qaeda. I see people justifying the torture by arguing that anything we do that's not as bad as beheading people is morally justified, but I don't buy it. I hate to think what that ...
You can see the story here . Ex-governor Ventura was joined in his endorsement by Agnus, another independent governor from the late 1990s - early 2000s. A few prominent Republicans who've endorsed Kerry: Lee Iacocca, former Chrysler Chairman William Milliken, former Republican Governor of Michigan Marlow Cook, former Republican Senator from Kentucky There are very few equivalent endorsements going the other direction. The only governor/senator level Democrat supporting Bush is Zel...
Last week, we had some discussion regarding Senator Kerry, his Catholicism, and whether American catholics would support him. Yesterday, two polls came out showing that Catholics favor Kerry over Bush , at least for now. I've left the second ABC poll out of these snippets, but its results are similar. Both polls are off white Catholics, but the Senator's support among non-white Catholics has always been higher anyway. A Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday has Kerry winning among ...
Sorry, I don't have any brilliant commentary on this. It was in the liberal New York Observer , and made me laugh. A lot. We’re all God’s children. And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney’s daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she’s being who she was. She’s being who she was born as. Which is a lesbian. All of us need to feel comfortable being who we are, even if someone happens to be a lesbian, which is what Dick Cheney’s daughter is. Even if a young woman prefers t...
I saw this a couple of days ago, and thought it was hilarious . Honestly, if you're stupid enough not to read what you put your name to, you deserve what you get. Students, who last month signed a petition that was being circulated on the Blue Bell campus to legalize marijuana for primarily medicinal purposes, now are finding out that they are registered Republicans. "This is just very disheartening," said Plymouth resident Jennifer Fugo. Yes, Jennifer, it's a real buzz kill.
This is an excerpt from a short Dahlia Lithwick piece at Slate. Basically, the essay touches on two points: (1) Bush appealed to his base when he talked about the Supreme Court and (2) it makes more sense to look at Bush and Kerry's records than to engage in dreaming up scare stories about what they will do. That Bush appealed to his base is part of Bush, and Karl Rove's, general strategy for this election. Rove think that there are more votes in turning out the conservative base than ...
The linked article is a balanced article on Kerry's beliefs regarding foreign policy, and his record. I recommend a look -- it's fairly short. For those of us who believe the Bush doctrine has failed, it's informative to get to know the alternative. From the Washington Post : In Senate debates and media interviews over the years, John F. Kerry has repeatedly returned to three axioms on the use of military force: Win as much allied support as possible before going to war, listen to advi...
There's been lot's of JoeUser buzz about dirty tricks, as we near the election. Tempers are high, and I think we'll all be relieved when the election has passed. And I guess any following fights between the parties regarding recounts, hanging chads, voter intimidation, and voting of the dead. Mrs. blogic's parents live in Pennsylvania, and have had their Kerry signs stolen several times. We've traveled to PA several times, mainly to register voters, and the excitement there is palpable....
The title is from an really interesting article the Guardian is running, on the role of faith in the Bush campaign. Not so much faith in God, as faith in George Bush. I strongly recommend taking a look at it. To me, it sometimes seems that some Bush supporters have an absolute confidence in their rightness that I can't even imagine feeling about my own opinions. Anyway, check it out : First among these taboos is the military. No politician can utter a word that seems to question th...
This is a followup to an earlier post that linked to an article condemning the way the Bush administration responded (or didn't respond) when it learned there be a problem with the production of this year's flu vaccine. While that post was focused on what has happened over the last few months, some of the readers understandably wanted to talk about the deeper issues that have developed over years. Some of the Bush supporters have argued that the shortage is Clinton's fault. I hav...
This is from the Telegraph: If the US marines and Iraqi national guardsmen living at the Karmah military barracks near Fallujah talk at all, they speak through the bars of a small window. [snip] The sinister atmosphere at Karmah barracks is not difficult to understand. The marines are convinced that many, perhaps most, of the 140 members of the Iraqi National Guard (ING) they share the camp with are double agents working on behalf of the insurgents holding Fallujah. [snip] "We...