Two Political Ads Share More Than Fame and Controversy Separated by 16 years, two of the most famous and controversial TV ads in presidential campaign history share a remarkable set of traits. Both were launched by nominally independent groups, not by the candidates themselves. Both aired in just a few small markets, gaining widespread exposure only through news media coverage. Both were denounced as inaccurate and unfair. And both the "Willie Horton" spot of 1988 and the 2004 campaign's...
This is from Andrew Sullivan 's blog: People need leaders who level with them about failures and difficulties in wartime - not gauzy North Korean-style biopics about the invincibility of the Great Leader. But then this war, vital as it is, has been exploited by the Bushies for political purposes since it began. How else to explain the "Mission Accomplished" photo-op or the bare-knuckled 2002 Congressional campaign? Some on the left would have politicized this war under any circumstances. But...
Bush: OB-GYNs Kept from 'Practicing Their Love' President Bush offered an unexpected reason on Monday for cracking down on frivolous medical lawsuits: "Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." George Bush stands up for the little man, so to speak.
Pentagon to check Kerry war record In a fresh blow to John Kerry's flagging presidential campaign, the Pentagon has ordered an official investigation into the awards of the Democratic senator's five Vietnam War decorations. The highly unusual inquiry is to be carried out by the inspector-general's office of the United States navy, for which Sen Kerry served as a Swift Boat captain for four months in 1968, making two tours of duty. This is as about as dirty as it gets, and reflects the ...
Some Republicans Predict Upheaval Within the Party (Washington Post): Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a man known for frank talk, offered a blunt description of the state of his party, which broke camp here Friday after nominating President Bush for a second term. "The Republican Party," he said, "has come loose of its moorings." Hagel was not referring to Bush's leadership or his prospects for reelection but instead to the impact of a presidency that has seen the party embrace the largest ...
New Group to Launch Anti-Kerry Ads Move over, MoveOn.org . The liberal-leaning group that has raised millions of dollars to run negative ads attacking President Bush now has a competitor on the right with a somewhat similar name. The conservative MoveOnForAmerica.org plans to blast battleground states with anti-John Kerry ads until Election Day. You know, I have no problem with "527" group attack ads, although I do wish the media would more prominently evaluate the truth of the ads, i...
Today in my blog: Republican leaders' scattershot slandering. Republicans deserve better leaders than these. First, the who's who: Chris Wallace is a Fox News anchor, Dennis Hastert is the Republican Speaker of the House, and George Soros is a major funder of Democratically aligned interest groups. This is from Fox News Sunday : HASTERT: I don't know where George Soros gets his money. I don't know where — if it comes overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from. And I... WALLA...
From MSNBC : After gauging the harsh reaction from Democrats and Republicans alike to Sen. Zell Miller’s keynote address at the Republican National Convention, the Bush campaign — led by the first lady — backed away Thursday from Miller’s savage attack on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, insisting that the estranged Democrat was speaking only for himself. Zell Miller was the featured keynote speaker at the convention, but now we're supposed to believe he was only speaking for hi...
In Slate today: In some countries, the commander in chief builds a propaganda apparatus that equates him with the military and the nation. If you object that he's making bad decisions and disserving the national interest, you're accused of weakening the nation, undermining its security, sabotaging the commander in chief, and serving a foreign power -- the very charges Miller leveled tonight against Bush's critics. Are you prepared to become one of those countries? When patriotism is i...
When the Democrats held their convention in Boston, Mr. Kerry's advisers made a point of saying they were instructing speakers to refrain from going after Mr. Bush, a strategy that some Democrats questioned as the memory of Mr. Kerry's convention faded and polls showed Mr. Bush back on the rise. By contrast, Mr. Bush's aides said they were determined to use this week tearing down Mr. Kerry, in the calculation that Mr. Bush almost certainly cannot win unless voters are convinced that they can...
Hello Joeusers, This is a another post of a message-and-response regarding the big anti-Republican Convention march yesterday, in New York City. The original message comes from a Kerry supporter who's concerned about possible violence at these events. Many of us who believe in these political rallies are worried about how they'll be portrayed in the media. We want people to understand that we are simply unhappy that Bush has occupied our Democratic city with 50,000 of his most partisan ...
This is a snippet from a debate I had with Someone-On-The-Internet (tm) regarding whether New York City should let people protest in Central Park. SOTI wrote: ] Bloomberg usually sucks, but regarding the convention, ] he has acted with integrity. His primary duty is to take care ] of New Yorkers interests first (including protecting their ] beloved park from overburden), the welcome visitors second, ] and then the rights of a few terrorist sympathizers and ] democrats last. Sounds l...
URL: Why Tech Stocks Stink The wit who dubbed August "the dog days of summer" could have been looking at 2004's tech stocks in his crystal ball. Just what is ailing these critters? Let's look at all of the possible explanations. Perhaps by eliminating the foolish and transient we can discover a theme and pick up some bargains. Here are the possible reasons for tech's slump... Well, I suffered some pain during the crash, so like one would pick at a wound, I read this article to see ...
NewMap : http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/ Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator. A treemap visualization algorithm helps display the enormous amount of information gathered by the aggregator. Treemaps are traditionally space-constrained visualizations of information. Newsmap's objective takes that goal a step further and provides a tool to divide information into quickly recognizable bands which, when ...
Earlier today, I picked up the New York Times, and saw this bit : Bush said he is fighting ``a lot of entrenched interests'' in Washington, but said he would pursue the effort until it is accomplished. ``It's not enough to advocate reform; you've got to get the job done,'' the president told cheering supporters at a picnic. Now, I know that successful politicians are made of a cloth printed with "I'm a Washington outsider", but I'm amazed that people persist in seeing Dubya as ...