Kitty Litter

 
How Dems delude themselves
By Mark Steyn
"Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response."
Got that? If the Empire State Building's taken out, he'll certainly respond to it. Next time 'round, there won't be any mistakes about where the WMD are because they'll be in the middle of a big crater in Chicago.
For me that one line encapsulates the stale, dozy complacency of the supposedly complex Kerry. Others evidently feel differently. But it seems to me emblematic of the Democratic Party's problem intellectually: It's almost wholly reactionary: on national security, on Social Security. What are the Democrats for? Well, they're for getting rid of George W. Bush, but what else?

 
Why the Dems Will Lose
By Michael Novak
For Democrats, losing is much worse than for Republicans. For Democrats, the purpose of democracy is to milk government for ever more abundant benefits. Republicans in principle believe in limited government, and thus in a certain way they do even better out of power than when they must exercise it. Democrats without power suffer much more. Democrats go listless, purposeless.
…
In 2004, I see six reasons why the Democratic goose is cooked:

Hat tip to AlphaPatriot!

 
BLOGGER ROUNDUP



8 DID THE SYRIAN AMBASSADOR LIE?
By Michelle Malkin
On July 26, the ambassador of Syria had an outraged letter published in the Washington Times regarding Northwest Flight 327:

I am responding to Audrey Hudson's article "Scouting jetliners for new attacks" (Page 1, Thursday). We are shocked by this article. It only reflects paranoia verging on the point of hysterics. The woman mentioned most prominently in this article, Annie Jacobsen, is an advocate of ethnic profiling who survived a horrendous ordeal: a flight with 14 harmless Syrian musicians.

Second passenger saw suspicious behavior
Government officials are questioning a passenger's account of alarming and suspicious behavior by Syrian musicians aboard a recent flight to Los Angeles, although a second passenger has corroborated the events.
…
"Flight attendants see these dry runs and are very concerned," one attendant who praised Mrs. Jacobsen for going public said yesterday. "We, as employees, do not have as much freedom as passengers when it comes to speaking out."

8 Due Process Due
By Don Boudreaux at CafeHayek
Perhaps I'm a simpleton, but why is it not a violation of due process of law whenever such a gargantuan bill is enacted into "law" by legislators who do not read the entire bill?

8 Yet Another Reason to Vote Republican
By Aaron at SomethingToCryAbout
The legendary villian of the Apprentice, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, was sited at the DNC.
8 An added message from Aaron:
Any prayers people can send up will be appreciated. I am going for my call-back interview at the Small Business Administration! Yeah!

8 Not All The Baldwin Brothers are Jerks
By roberto at DynamoBuzz
I saw this article about the youngest Baldwin, Stephen, who says he is a born again Christian and that he would like to start a religious ministry

8 The Acceptance Speech
By Tyler at RedLinerAnts
It wasn't a train wreck, but I don't see how it could have energized anybody who wasn't already voting for [Kerry]. Regardless, the wheels are in motion... here's looking forward to New York.

 
BUZZZ



I love pictures of Bogie, especially the ones in which he’s smoking. He wouldn’t have been Bogie without cigarettes. Imagine Bogart trying to coexist in a world with this sign zeverywhere he turns. Here's lookin' at you, Bogie.

'Scuse me for being snarky, but the Kerry daughters do resemble their father, poor dears. After a while, even the blonde locks and see-thru dresses can't hide that fact.
8 TALK about sibling rivalry. Both of presidential nominee John Kerry's daughters, Alexandra, 30, and Vanessa, 27, seem to have the hots for John Cusack. After Alexandra was seen sharing cigarettes and some kisses with the actor on a bench outside 15 Beacon in Boston, a jealous Vanessa came out and tried to steal him away. A staffer at the restaurant told PAGE SIX that the blond Vanessa tried to sit between her sister and Cusack and was rebuffed, so she sat on the other side of Cusack and chatted with them for a few minutes. Meanwhile, the reason the party was so packed was that both sisters insisted that 35 guests not on the list be let in.

Her Royal C giving advice to Bush? Well, it does fit her matronly persona.
8 HILLARY'S ADVICE TO PREZ
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton warned President Bush against evoking too many 9/11 images in his re-election campaign and the GOP convention in New York or Americans would reject him as an "exploiter."

No, not that Hollywood harlot Hilton ... "South Park"! Alex the Bloviator must be hard up for cash
8 PARIS BURNS
FORGET blaming just Canada. "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker take on the world in their next movie, starting with the French. "Team America: World Police" opens with a chase through Paris that results in the inadvertent destruction of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Voices for the cast of marionettes are led by Alec Baldwin, who plays the president. And in "Zoolander"-style, where the Malaysian president was the villain, this time the bad guy is North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.

 
GONE FISHIN’



It’s been a tiring week, mostly due to an interminably slow AOL and the ever-frustrating Blogspot (my blogging host). I babysat Little H yesterday, who freely displays a boundless supply of energy. If an adult lived at that speed he’d be suspected of doing speed. By the time I got home last night, watching The Man From Mope and his morally arthritic companions was the last thing on my mind. So I’m taking a breather until tomorrow. Hopefully this weekend I’ll catch up on everyone else’s blogs, something I’ve missed this week.

If you’re reading this, please take a moment and tell me what you thought of this past week. I’d love to read your comments. And thanks!

 
ROUNDUP

 

Cindy Adams reports that there were
MORE CELEBS THAN DELEGATES AT DNC
I counted at least 30 non-politician bold-faced names.

PAGE SIX is loaded with goodies today:
8 TOP KERRY DONOR'S MAFIA PAL
A SCANDAL might be brewing in John Kerry's camp over revelations that his biggest donor, billionaire playboy Steve Bing, has close ties to a Mafia hitman.
Bing, who inherited a $600 million real estate fortune courtesy of his grandfather, Leo Bing, has amassed over $16 million for the Democrats. He has donated $8.1 million to groups that are creating and airing anti-George Bush TV ads, according to Variety.
Now, ABC News reports that one of Bing's close friends is Dominic Montemarano, a.k.a. Donnie Shacks, a New York-based Mafia hit man who did 12 years in prison on racketeering charges and is currently serving four years for domestic violence.
…
Former NYPD investigator Joe Coffey told ABC, "Donnie Shacks' main activity was murder, no question about it. That was his main function for the Colombo family and for organized crime in general. He was one of the top hit men in the New York area."

8 BLIND ITEM:
WHICH prickly Democratic senator who has endured a week of bad press called a New York TV reporter an off-color term for the male anatomy when he bumped into him at the breakfast buffet line of the Park Plaza Hotel? "Senator, did you just call me a [bleep]?" the broadcaster blurted. "Yes, I did," snapped the senator, who was still smarting over a tough question at a press conference.

8 WE HEAR …
THAT former candidate Howard Dean was bounced when he tried to horn in on a chat between Tom Daschle and U2's Bono in a private meeting room under the stage at the Prudential Center . . . THAT the DNC made Al-Jazeera take down its banner at the Fleet Center even though the Arab TV network is broadcasting 90 minutes of coverage a night to viewers in the Middle East, more than any of the big American networks.

8 BAD TABLE:
SUSAN Estrich threw a hissy fit Wednesday when she learned that her assigned seat at a cozy little Tina Brown lunch at Radius wasn't next to somebody glamorous, but a Secret Service agent. Sources say that Brown's exclusive gathering in honor of Hillary Clinton was overbooked and that Estrich wasn't even invited. But she walked in and asked for a seat, insisting she'd RSVP'd. Estrich, a familiar TV talking head, took a look at the agent next to her and told staff that unless she had a better companion, she would walk out. "Bye bye," they said, and Estrich beat a hasty retreat.

 
NewsMax.com reports:
Military veterans still aren't buying into Sen. John Kerry's campaign sales pitch that his service in Vietnam qualifies him to be Commander-in-Chief, the latest CBS News poll shows.
The survey - taken on the eve of the Democratic Convention and never mentioned in formal news reports - shows that veterans back President Bush over Kerry, 47 to 41 percent.

 
MOORE vs. LIMBAUGH: NO CONTEST



B’OR failed so miserably against Fatty-Fatty Too-Much-Moore, not because Moore is right but because B’OR’s ignorance was outmatched by Moore’s chutzpah. Thank God Rush spent time on the subject of the “debate” yesterday.
Bush Sends Nobody to Die
Apparently Michael Moore appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox show, the O'Reilly Factor.
…
[I]n this case, the false premise that was put forth that was accepted and thereby shaped the entire interview, was, "Bush sends kids to die." Bush sends no one to die. The Palestinians send their kids to die. The Palestinians strap bombs on their kids and send them into civilian areas in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv with the express purpose of having those explosives blow up and kill not only the kids, but as many innocent civilians as possible nearby. That is "sending your kids off to die."
George Bush sends no one off to die -- kids, adults, anyone. Yet the interview descended into, "Would you die for your country? Would you die for Fallujah?" and that's not at all an acceptable premise to me. Here's why. We have in this country a volunteer army. Since 2000, particularly 2001, everybody joining the Army knows exactly where they're going. The odds are they're going to go to combat. As such, most of them joining do so willingly.
…
But the premise that any U.S. president in this day and age is "sending kids off to die" is insulting. It is banal. It is infantile. It is puerile. It is insane. It is lunatic. It is absolutely degenerate -- especially in this day and age. Now, people are free to say what they want to say, free to make a movie, do whatever they want to do, and anybody's free to glom on to it and sign on to it and say whatever they want. But when this kind of thing is taken up by an out-of-power, scared-to-eath, filled-with-fear-and-rage political party that used to once be great, and seeks to build its own identity around the lies and distortions and the efforts to ridicule and impugn fine people, then it's worthy of concern and discussion.
…
"The purpose of armies is to kill people and break things." The purpose of armies is not to die. Therefore, our United States military is sent by no one "to die." The United States military is sent to kill and win -- and we love them.

Hatch Act Invoked!
This NASA story and John Kerry. This is a classic example of how to totally botch it. Here's what we know. Kerry goes to NASA on Monday, gets in this suit that makes him look like he's in a Woody Allen movie. … [T]he Kerry people asked them to take pictures; and furthermore, the Kerry people asked them to process the pictures quickly … so they can have quick access to them. NASA said, ok, great. And they posted it on the website as well. Then people thought the pictures made Kerry look like a sperm swimming up a uterus. So the Democrats panicked, said, well, this is a dirty trick. NASA leaked these pictures because they're part of the Bush administration, we knew it was a dirty trick. Well, we know today that it was not a dirty trick. The Kerry people asked NASA to put those photos out.
Now, the latest is NASA has been ordered to pull the Kerry photos from its website. … The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (as in lawyers) has told NASA to remove all images of Kerry's visit to the Kennedy Space Center from all NASA websites immediately, due to Hatch Act concerns."
They've invoked the Hatch Act! (laughter) It's just incredible. So in a move guaranteed to keep the pictures alive, in a move that's guaranteed to increase curiosity about the pictures -- (laughter) -- the Kerry people have demanded that they be taken off.

 
UPDATE: STIFLING DISSENT



This message is post on CrushKerry. It concerns Chris’ WaffleHouse blog, and is a good summary of the situation.

Here's what we've been told by the (former) propreitor of the anti-Kerry site www.heinzkerry.org (a/k/a "The Waffle House"). He registered the domain name "heinzkerry.org. The Heinz Center (a non-profit charitable organization we believe is headed by Teresa) used "heinzkerry.org" as their email addresses. Some internal emails of the Heinz Center wer apparently redirected to the heinzkerry.org website by the site host, which came as a surprise to the website owner. The emails the website owner got showed possible cooridination between the Heinz Center and Heinz Foundation (charitable organizations which are not allowed to be political) and the highest levels of the Kerry campaign staff. These contacts raised questions about whether or not there were violations of CFR and tax laws.
When he published these emails on his site the website owner claims to have received death threats via email and a virus from the Heinz Center. His website host shut down his site, saying he violated the terms of service, and that there was impending legal action. The owner did not mention to us if he knew who was behind the impending legal action that the host referenced. We'll continue to keep you updated.

Chris’ New’n’Improved WaffleHouse site.

 
HABITAT FOR TERRORISTS



CHANNELING JIMMY CARTER
BY AMIR TAHERI
EVER since Sen. John Kerry emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Republicans have accused him of hoping to restore the Clinton foreign policy. But the Democratic Party's platform, "Strong At Home, Respected In The World," envisages a Kerry presidency whose foreign policy would more resemble Jimmy Carter's.

 
MEEEEOOOW hsssssst!



DELEGATES FIND NEW ICON
AT A stand on the fourth floor of the Democratic National Convention, a battle is being waged between Elizabeth Edwards and Teresa Heinz Kerry. Mugs emblazoned with both their pictures are being sold - making a new kind of vote.
It is bad news for Mrs Kerry. The beaming image of the Mozambique-born, billionaire widow is not, it seems, something Democrats want added to their breakfast experience.
But Elizabeth Edwards paraphernalia is walking off the shelves. The former lawyer and mother-of-four is fast becoming the new female icon of the Kerry-Edwards team.
Mrs Edwards, 55, is winning rave reviews from Democrats, who declare her the perfect mix of intelligence, political nous, homeliness and sincerity. No trophy wife, but the perfect woman for the podium.
Unlike Mrs Kerry, whose wealth was inherited, Mrs Edwards was a successful lawyer before giving up her career to focus on her family. After losing her son, Wade, aged 16, she started a new family at the age of 48.
Her compelling life story is a major engine in American politics, where the choice of woman is often used to size up the men.
Mrs Kerry is not helped by her failed attempts to identify with Latino voters as "fellow migrants" and her penchant for designer dresses.
Mrs Edwards, by contrast, will tomorrow wear a more modest one-button trouser-suit and a claret satin blouse by Ellen Tracy, an American designer for stylish but not too fashion-forward women in their forties and fifties.

 
LAST CALL



8 Chris, who used to run WaffleHouse until somebody over at Heinz-Kerry-whatever closed it down, is now up’n’running with a new WaffleHouse. Check it out and BOOKMARK!

8 CrushKerry:
Keep in mind that it was www.crushkerry.com that broke the story that showed possible collusion between the Kerry Campaign, and the Heinz Family Foundation - via internal emails shared with the site, which would violate campaign and tax laws. Those stories are here and here and here.

8 Speaking of nasty lawyer-type intimidation:
That Bush-Kerry spoof
The creators of that Boing Boing points out, however, that Guthrie's standard copyright notice was quite forgiving ...

8 Yesterday was Blue’s birthday, which means she can now drink legally. I would have wished her many happy hangovers yesterday, but she took off for The Big City. So, Blue, better late than never: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And, yes, the card is in the mail.

Bottoms UP!

 
A NOTICE FROM CHRIS AT  THE WAFFLE HOUSE

My website The Waffle House has been shut down by my Web Host Lycos for violating their TOS and impending legal action from Heinz Kerry.
Could you all please tell your visitors what happened. Many of them were my visitors too. As of yesterday, I was getting between 400-500 people a day.
All my pics, movies and info have been deleted.
I'm looking for a new host and will start over from scratch today. I'll email the new URL when its up and running, hopefully tonight.
I'm extremely pissed off and feel sorry for the next college kid that comes to my door to promote Kerry, or the next car I see with a Kerry sticker on it. Neat Democracy we live in when a piece of Portugese Euro-trash and her
French poodle can shut down dissent this easily.
Take care and I'll be back tonight,
Chris
used to be webmaster of the Waffle House

 
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY



Here is the mighty Chemung River, which cuts through the middle of Corning. I stood on Bridge Street Bridge to take this and got drenched in the process, even with an umbrella, because it is raining once again. siiiiiiigh
You may not be able to tell, but the river is actually over its banks and over the floodgates. After Corning was seriously flooded during Hurricane Agnes in June of 1972 … we’re talking underwater … dikes were built, which may appear to some to be the banks. Several times since the ’72 flood, the river has risen to the brink of the dikes. When it gets that high, the water table is full and the area is experiencing flooded fields and basements, with some places needing to be evacuated.

 
“BLAND LEADING THE BLAND”



Well waddaya know, I actually agree with Rather!
A Rather cynical look at conventions
BOSTON — Frankly, Dan Rather is a little bored. Make that a lot bored.
…
"We're very close now to putting on conventions only for people whose life's work is politics," Mr. Rather said. "And the audience has spoken by saying, 'This doesn't have anything to do with my life. I've got better things to do.' "
He had his best time so far at Bill and Hillary Clinton's pre-convention party on Sunday night.
"The Clintons played the part of political rock stars, which they are. The party had great energy, pretty good music, too, by the way. But it was strictly a party. Otherwise there's no juice here. It's the case of the bland leading the bland in the belief that that wins elections."

 
MOORE & B’OR



I can’t stomach either of these blowhards. Fatty-Fatty Too-Much-Moore is vile and B’OR is sanctimonious. They’re the yin and the yang of vaingloriousness. Needless to say, I did not watch. Imagine my horror when I awoke in the wee hours of this morning to find the TV on (the cat forgot to turn it off last night) and the two of them verbally preening for the camera. I quickly switched to Roseanne reruns and fell asleep. However, John Hawkins, at RightWingNews, did watch Moore and B’OR, and here’s his review:
Answering Michael Moore's Question To Bill O'Reilly
By John Hawkins

Michael Moore: So you would sacrifice your child to secure Fallujah? I want to hear you say that.
Bill O'Reilly: I would sacrifice myself—
Michael Moore: Your child—Its Bush sending the children there.
Bill O'Reilly: I would sacrifice myself.
Michael Moore: You and I don’t go to war, because we’re too old—

That is of course an intellectually dishonest question because very few people are going to be willing to send their child off to die for any reason at all. If every parent of an American soldier was guaranteed to lose their child in a war, the United States would never go, or have gone, to war for any reason.
…
In other words, if Americans never went to war, we might be taking orders from the Brits, from the Nazis, or maybe the Soviet Union, but make no mistake about it -- we wouldn't be free people.
…
To make the exact same mistake we made before 9/11, to stand back and allow rogue states to continue to aid terrorist groups of global reach, would have been foolish beyond comprehension -- especially in a world where WMD are continuing to proliferate.

 
THE MANY ENDEARING FACES OF TERESA



For more on Teraaaaza, check out KerryHaters.

 
SPOILER



Nader to Crash Dems' Party?
"Absolutely. Ralph Nader could cost us the election. He cost us the election last time and his ego may cost us the election this time."
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.

8 Check out ACE for a Nader view. ACE has lots of good DNC coverage today.

 
“WESTERN MEDIA PATHOLOGY”



The 9/11 Commission's Political Football
By Stephen Schwartz
I have argued repeatedly that the debate over relations between Saddam and al-Qaida is a symptom of what might best be called Western media pathology. Nobody in the Muslim world doubts the cooperation of Saddam and al-Qaida, since they shared the primary aim of getting U.S. and allied forces out of Saudi Arabia. That was a goal equally important to both. But Western media hostile to the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq have insisted on a bar of evidence for a Saddam-Osama alliance so absurdly high, and so mobile, that nothing short of a signed, public statement by Saddam and Bin Laden, proclaiming their agreement to carry out the September 11th attack, would have sufficed to prove the case.

 
BOSTON BUTTONS


“Bound for greatness”? In you dreams, L’Fraude!

I couldn’t find the lavender button Cindy Adams spoke of in her column, but I did find these beauts on the DNC's site. Look at that; Kerry is comparing himself with a great REPUBLICAN! Why not a Democrat president?
Cindy Adams reports from Boston:
8 [N]ote to New York City's GOP Convention organizers: They're trying hard here. U.S. flags fly even in the countryside. Loving, friendly, they're really extending themselves. But not getting it right. Like the campaign buttons. Pale lavender. The words "Democratic Convention" in script. One delegate had to find his glasses, fumble them on and study to see its message. A campaign button you can't read is major dumb.

8 James Carville, who snarls yet never walks away from a reporter: "Kerry's win will be 52-47-1. The 'l' is [Ralph] Nader." . . . Former Attorney General Janet Reno, who's now teaching law at Cornell: "I don't miss this hoopla."

8 And while we're into this Boston mindset, I saw a flier that says: "Save the date: Friday, July 30, 8:30 a.m., join the City of Anaheim, California as we kick-off our bid to host the Democratic Convention in 2008." Anaheim?! What happened to those other exciting citadels like Biloxi, Kookamunga and Tuscaloosa?! Anaheim?! 2008?! Boy, will Hillary be thrilled!


Check out the word behind the button. It must be Kerry’s middle name … or his middle finger.

 
CLUELESS IN BOSTON



A Nearly Perfect Injustice
By Hunter Baker
There is something in us that is able to give [Nancy Reagan] the benefit of the doubt for the sake of the consistency of her love for the man we appreciated so much.
Ron Reagan is a different piece of work, altogether. When his father became President, all that meant for Ron was that he got offers to work in interesting places doing interesting things. The price of the nifty career prospects was that he had to be himself, a person who never "got" his father's politics. I'll never forget watching one of the interminable VH-1 or MTV decade in review programs on the '80s where Ron blathered on about the uselessness of "trickle down economics." As if he had a damn clue. His father was the economist. Ron was a ballet dancer.

 
WHY I DON'T WATCH CONVENTIONS



I have no patience for crap like this. I really don't. Trolling through news reports and photos is enough exposure for me. Conventions have their humorous moments, but mostly they're utterly boring and without any redeeming value.
Protest City
By Shawn Macomber
I know many of these officers have foul mouths and are probably guilty of the normal run of human failings, but the restraint they showed was nothing short of miraculous.
Masked boys and girls got inches from their face bellowing, "That's right! Protect your wall of fascism! Nice work! The wall is safe while the Constitution is in the toilet! You're some public servant!" and lived to tell the tale.
GOD BLESS FREEDOM of speech, but these folks came to make trouble, not a point. The Seattle riots have been romanticized, internalized, and for disaffected youth, resistance has become a rite of passage.
…
"A couple years from now maybe you'll understand what happened here," he shouted at me. "Keep drooling. Keep buying what they're selling. You know how many kids died of diarrhea today? Huh?"
…
This [man in a giant carrot suit], it turns out, works for PETA, and is pushing a 28th amendment to the Constitution requiring that we "treat animals with kindness and respect" and that we "make restitution to our Native American animal citizens who had their lands taken from them."
"I have found the weapons of mass destruction, and they are in your kitchen drawer," Carrot writes. "America, we need to remove the terror from the kitchen table!"


THEN LEARN HOW TO VOTE!

 
LAST CALL



8 Boston, Massachusetts. Check its neighbors: Maine, where folk have maybe four teeth and still ride horses to work. Vermont, which goes its own way and doesn't know it's part of the U.S. New Hampshire, the crunchy hard state priding itself on being New Hampshire. Connecticut, whose main claim is its residents don't live in New York.
Boston. The almost-major city. Try-outs for Broadway. Home of baked beans and bad baseball. I mean, please. Inhale a Yankee Stadium hot dog then try one of their Fenway franks. Tastier to suck your thumb.
…

Over dessert, a little sweet tasty went around about how Gore's convention speech had to be handed in for advance editing and was returned scissored, crossed-out, rewritten and shrunken by Camp Kerry.

8 BILL 'N' HILL OUT OF LIP SYNCH AS THE PARTY'S ODD COUPLE: Hillary leaned in to Bill's face, and he responded by giving her a little kiss. But Hillary completely bypassed her hubby's willing orifice, and instead moved her own maw up to his ear, into which she whispered, curtly, "That's John's brother."
Bill looked momentarily confused.
"John Kerry's brother!" she said sharply, and she pointed Bill in the direction of Cameron Kerry.
And then she was gone.
It was plain as the embarrassment on Bill Clinton's face. The power sinew that has joined this couple has changed.

8 PC CRASH WORRIES TOP DEATH: Worried more about the "blue screen of death" than your own passing? You are not alone.
…
"People say a computer is one of the first things they'll grab if they're running out of a burning building," said Stephens.

 

 
BUSH LEADS



Bush Leads Kerry in Electoral Votes: With three months remaining in a volatile campaign, Kerry has 14 states and the District of Columbia in his column for 193 electoral votes. Bush has 25 states for 217 votes, according to an Associated Press analysis of state polls as well as interviews with strategists across the country.

A swing in the mo for Bush?
Poll Shows Support for Kerry Weakens on Issues and Attributes
The bottom line has shifted only very subtly. Head-to-head, the Massachuestts senator has slipped from a slight lead in late June to a dead heat today, with 49 percent support for Bush and 48 percent for Kerry among registered voters. Including Ralph Nader, it's 48 percent-46 percent-3 percent.

 
ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID, NEVER THE BRIDE?

 

Hillary Like 'Second-String Quarterback': In that position, "Do you want your team to win the championship, or do you want the guy [who's in the game] to get injured? It's certainly a fair question."
But in her interview with Newsweek, Clinton rails against President George W. Bush's efforts to undo the Clinton legacy and leaves little doubt that she is pulling for her team.
…
"Clinton World just had a rude awakening," says one Democrat who has worked closely with both Clintons but sees Kerry as the next president and John Edwards as the new star.
"They all thought Bush would be president for eight years and then they'd all be back. Now the Clinton hold on the Democratic Party is over without any fanfare, to the great relief of a huge segment of the party."

 
LEAVE THEM WANTING FOR MORE



No, not more of the above. Okay, so the article isn’t really about last night’s déjà vu Tip-her-and-gore moment. I couldn’t resist the posting the pix. As far as his speech went, I understand Algore behaved himself. He looks mighty pleased with himself, doesn’t he. Regardless of the tonsil hockey display, it was Slick's night, and, as Wlady points out, by today Slick is gone leaving his party panting and wanting for more.

Top Clinton
By Wlady Pleszczynski
Is it really true that Al and Tipper kissed again like they did last convention summer? I missed it entirely, though what further proof do we need that Al is having trouble coming up with new ideas? Anyone know a good choreographer?
Driving home I tuned in to C-Span radio just as Al was winding down, sending a kiss to his wonderful "friend and … partner for eight years Bill Clinton." A cycle late, and a few dollars short. But music to Clinton's ear, no doubt, as yet again his indispensability was recognized by another of those many losers he's had to put up with over the years.
…
Before the speech some 15,000 pundits in Boston predicted Clinton would hurt Kerry by talking only about himself. Little did they know that Clinton would do just the opposite: hurt Kerry with a display of generosity that only reminded everyone in the universe that a Bill Clinton can have no successors. Once a devil, always a devil, and again dizzied Democrats are in the worst position to see him as he is.

 
LAST CALL



8 Showtime Planning Osama bin Laden Biopic
Notwithstanding a potential powderkeg of controversy, premium cable channel Showtime has quietly begun developing a three-hour biopic of uber-terrorist Osama bin Laden.

8 Emulate Singapore?
Russell Roberts comments on the idea of following Singapore’s example for economic growth: [A] National Economic Strategy worked out with "business leaders and other experts" is not where I'd start if I were worried. I'd actually rather see us muddle through and fix and patch here and there rather than come up with some grand scheme. This view of the economy as a giant locomotive or economic growth as an engineering problem is not just the road to serfdom but the road to poverty.

8 Iowa First Lady Bashes New Jersey
Roberto, who happens to live in New Jersey, takes exception to Christie Vilsack’s insults: Luckily for Mrs. Vilsack she's a democrat so this story will get buried by the media who are too busy smooching democrat rear end at the convention. You'll hear more about Arnold's "girlieman" statement then you will about the bigoted Mrs. Vilsack.

8 Put The Speakers In A Cage
Tyler, at RedLinerAnts, thinks Coulter’s USA-spiked column was “a bit much.” But seriously, how could you not like a column about the DNC which begins:
Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston, conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people sporting shirts emblazened with the "F-word" are my opponents.

 
THE PERFECT BASTARD


Teresa Heinz Kerry, right, in this video-framegrab image, points her finger at Colin McNickle, left, editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Sunday evening, July 25, 2004, during a reception for the Pennsylvania delegates at the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston. Heinz Kerry joined the company of blunt-speaking political spouses this convention week by telling the reporter to stop misquoting her and 'shove it.' (AP Photo/WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh)

I find myself agreeing with Teresa Kerry when she was quoted as saying,

“I know some couples who stay together only for politics,'' Heinz Kerry said at the time. “If Ted Kennedy holds on to that marriage (to ex-wife Joan) just for the Catholic vote, as some people say he does, then I think he's a perfect bastard."

It got me wondering about Joan Kennedy, the long-suffering first wife of Teddy. I couldn’t find that much on a cursory search. She is still alive and will be 68 in September.


Their wedding in Nov. 1958. Chappaquiddick, 1969.

Teddy’s notorious philandering and partying took their toll on their marriage. Joan’s battle with the bottle was well known, having been arrested for drunk driving in 1974, 1988, and 2000. She was ordered into alcohol treatment in 1991. I’m not certain who asked whom for the divorce … their marriage seemed like a sham for years … but they were divorced 12/6/82.

Yeah, I’d have to agree with Teresa that Ted is a “perfect bastard,” whether he hung on to his marriage for the Catholic vote or not.

 
MOORE IS THE SHAME


Just another day for American soldiers in Iraq.

When I read this I began to truly hate Fatty-Fatty Too-Much-Moore. Up until this letter, I viewed Moore as an idiot, a spoiled idiot, someone who begs to be figuratively slapped about. Now I’d like to do it for real. What really burns me is that I honestly don’t believe Moore cares. I think he would view this letter as a victory for him without regard of the effect upon the young soldiers. I hope their commanding officer will set these soldiers straight.

Fahrenheit 9/11 is Having "Devastating" Impact on Military Morale, Says Soldier Deployed Overseas
The National Center for Public Policy Research has posted online an e-mail received from a soldier, Spc. Joe Roche of the 1st Armored Division, who says Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 is "making the rounds" among soldiers at U.S. military bases overseas and is "shocking and crushing soldiers, making them feel ashamed" of their service in Iraq. The letter has been published online by The National Center without abridgment. The full text can be found here. Some excerpts:

"I sometimes want to be mad at my fellow soldiers for being susceptible to Moore's distortions, but I can't really blame them. These are good Americans, who have volunteered to serve our country. Nothing says they all have to be experts in Middle Eastern issues and history and politics to serve. That would be silly. ...But this is, of course, the vulnerability that Moore has exploited."

"I wonder how damaging and shocking a Moore project would have been in the 1940s making such a video of Franklin Roosevelt."

 
ROUNDUP



I feel as though my blog isn’t complete without a picture of the “cage” at the DNC. Like you haven’t already seen it! So, here it is, with great commentary, to boot.
The Democrat's Freedom Cages
I love how every security measure that comes down the pike reminds hysterical left-wingers of the 3rd Reich or Orwell's "1984"...well, if Republicans are suggesting it. On the other hand, here's "an area designated for organized protests" at the Democratic National Convention...

Aaron Margolis has compared L’Fraude’s pitch with Dubya’s, and the reactions of the crowds. Plus, he reminds us of how L'Fraude really feels about National Guardsmen.
Kerry Throws a Wild Pitch
[S]urprisingly there was a comparable mix of cheers and jeers–a sharp contrast to the first pitch thrown by President Bush at Yankee Stadium shortly after 9/11, a perfect strike, greeted by deafening cheering from the fans in a New York, a state that is primarily Democrat.
…
In a rather strange irony of last night’s "first wild pitch" of the game, was the catcher of the pitch, Massachusetts National Guardsman Will Pumyea. We are all aware that Kerry has questioned Bush’s service in the national guard, I wonder if Will Pumyea is aware that John Kerry has likened National Guard service as essentially dodging military service:

I’ve never made any judgments about any choice somebody made about avoiding the draft, about going to Canada, going to jail, being a conscientious objector [or] going into the National Guard.

Michelle Malkin is keeping a running DNC commentary worth checking on periodically.
DEM CONVENTION FOLLIES
This will be a continually updated file on the best of the worst of the Democratic National Convention's freaks, flubs, and follies. Feel free to leave your nominations.

 
UH-OH!



USA TODAY SPIKES ANN COULTER COLUMN AT CONVENTION
Coulter filed her first report from Boston Sunday night, only to be told hours later that editors found it "unusable" and "not funny."
…
Meanwhile Leftwing controversialist and Bush hater Michael Moore has free reign on the floor of the Dem convention hall -- and has been hired to write for USA TODAY at the Republican convention!
"Coulter has been hired for Boston, Moore has been hired for NY," a USA TODAY source explained, unaware of the fallout with Coulter in Boston.
Developing...

 
DEMOCRATIC CHIT- CHAT



WRANGLING boldface names to speak at breakfast chats before Democratic state delegations isn't easy. Maine has snared Al Franken, whose sister- in- law, Carla Bryson, is a Maine delegate. But Nebraska was unable to lure billionaire Warren Buffett, even though his daughter is a stand ing committee member. The Iowa delegation tried in vain to pin down comely Corn husker Ashton Kutcher, but had to settle for former presidential wannabe Howard Dean, Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden. "That's a pretty decent line-up," insisted a mouthpiece for the Iowa Democratic Party. "After all, it's a political event, not a red-carpet walk." If you say so!

Cindy Adams reports: One Sunday event was Teddy Kennedy inviting a kilo of the faithful to a 12-2 p.m. lunch at his Hyannis house. By bus. Two-hour trip. Sighed a New York delegate: "Who the hell wants to waste six hours doing that?" Another Sunday event, the Bill and Hill happening, began as an "invitation-only, private" affair and became so gigantic — with just under 1,000 RSVPs — that, supposedly, fire marshals stopped the guest list.

IN THE HOODS NEW York Times writers covering the Democratic convention in Boston received a cheerful e-mail last week advising them of a compulsory "refresher course" on how to use their "escape hoods." The hoods are designed to protect one in case of nuclear, biological and chemical attacks, as well as fires. But the e-mail, staffers were relieved to note, also informs them that carrying one's hood at all times is not mandatory. One style conscious scribe says, "The hoods are bright orange, and you have to carry it in a box the size of two large milk cartons — which is also bright orange." The writer added, "We'll only need them if the editors turn up."

 
FIRST DAY OF DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION:



• 6:00pm- Opening---- flag burning ceremony.
• 6:05pm- Pledge of Allegiance to the United Nations
• 6:10pm- Secular words by Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton
• 6:30pm- Antiwar concert by Barbra Streisand.
• 6:45pm- Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
• 7:00pm- Tribute to France.
• 7:10pm- Collect offerings for al-Zawahri defense fund.
• 7:30pm- Tribute to Germany.
• 7:45pm- Antiwar rally moderated by Michael Moore.
• 8:25pm- Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
• 8:30pm- Terrorist appeasement workshop.
• 9:00pm- Homosexual marriage ceremony for male and female same-sex partners.
• 9:30pm- CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN strongly urge defeat of President Bush.
• 10:00pm- Posting the Iraqi Colors by Sean Penn and Tim Robbins
• 10:10pm- Reenactment of Kerry's fake medal toss.
• 10:20pm- Solo -- Howard Dean, 'Yeeearrrrrrrg!'
• 10:30pm- Abortion demonstration by N.A.R.A.L.
• 10:40pm- Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
• 10:50pm- Special thanks to the New York Times & Washington Post.
• 11:00pm- Multiple homosexual marriage ceremony for threesomes and other kinky groups.
• 11:15PM- Workshop -- How To Maximize Welfare.
• 11:30pm- Pep rally -- Saddam Hussein Legal Defense Fund.
• 11:50PM- Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
• 12:00pm- Nomination of John Kerry for President.
• 1:00am - Nomination of obscure born loser for Vice-President.
• 2:00am- Rest, Recovery, and Sobering-Up Recess
• 5:00am-- Ted Kennedy will conduct a swimming and water safety class.