Sunday, October 31, 2004
Top Ten Reasons To Vote Against Kerry Tomorrow
We have picked the Top Ten Internet Articles about John Kerry, in the last year, and we have a Letterman style countdown to the election, Nov 2th, Tomorrow.
10. Kerry Campaigns With His Butler (04/27/04)
9. Kerry Flies in Hairdresser for $1000 Haircut (04/28/04)
8. Kerry Flops While Parachuting In For A Day (06/24/04)
7. Dictators, Tyrants and Weasels for Kerry (03/22/04)
6. Kerry Honored At Communist Museum (10/27/04)
5. Kerry Faces Questions About Senate Hit Plot (03/24/04)
4. Kerry's Secret Cambodia Mission (08/10/04)
3. JohnKerryIsADouchebagButI'mVotingForHimAnyway.com (04/28/04)
2. Kerry's Flip Flops (09/28/04)
1. The Number 1 Reason To Vote Against Kerry Tomorrow: Teresa Heinz Kerry
Teresa: 'Where's the Bar?'
Heinz Kerry Tells Reporter to "Shove It"
Malkin: Howard Dean in a Dress
Teresa Heinz Kerry in 1975: Democrats "Putrid," Teddy Kennedy a "Perfect Bastard"
Laura Bush's 'Real Job',a Mother
Teresa: I Was A Witch
Teresa Urges Democrats to 'Vote Often'
We have picked the Top Ten Internet Articles about John Kerry, in the last year, and we have a Letterman style countdown to the election, Nov 2th, Tomorrow.
10. Kerry Campaigns With His Butler (04/27/04)
9. Kerry Flies in Hairdresser for $1000 Haircut (04/28/04)
8. Kerry Flops While Parachuting In For A Day (06/24/04)
7. Dictators, Tyrants and Weasels for Kerry (03/22/04)
6. Kerry Honored At Communist Museum (10/27/04)
5. Kerry Faces Questions About Senate Hit Plot (03/24/04)
4. Kerry's Secret Cambodia Mission (08/10/04)
3. JohnKerryIsADouchebagButI'mVotingForHimAnyway.com (04/28/04)
2. Kerry's Flip Flops (09/28/04)
1. The Number 1 Reason To Vote Against Kerry Tomorrow: Teresa Heinz Kerry
Teresa: 'Where's the Bar?'
Heinz Kerry Tells Reporter to "Shove It"
Malkin: Howard Dean in a Dress
Teresa Heinz Kerry in 1975: Democrats "Putrid," Teddy Kennedy a "Perfect Bastard"
Laura Bush's 'Real Job',a Mother
Teresa: I Was A Witch
Teresa Urges Democrats to 'Vote Often'
Dog Phones 911 for Fallen Owner
RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - Faith the service dog phoned 911 when her owner fell out of her wheelchair and barked urgently into the receiver until a dispatcher sent help. Then the 4-year-old Rottweiler unlocked the front door so the responding police officer could come in.
"I sensed there was a problem on the other end of the 911 call," said dispatcher Jenny Buchanan, who answered the call from Faith.
"The dog was too persistent in barking directly into the phone receiver," Buchanan said at Benton County's Southeast Communications Center. "I knew she was trying to tell me something."
Faith is trained to summon help by pushing a speed-dial button on the phone with her nose after taking the receiver off the hook, said her owner Leana Beasley, 45, who suffers grand mal seizures.
Guided by experts at the Assistance Dog Club of Puget Sound, Beasley helped train Faith herself.
"She's a real trooper," Beasley said Thursday.
The day of the fall, Faith "had been acting very clingy, wanting to be touching me all day long," Beasley said.
The dog, whose sensitive nose can detect changes in Beasley's body chemistry, is trained to alert her owner to impending seizures before they happen.
But that wasn't what was happening on Sept. 7, and Faith apparently wasn't sure how to communicate the problem. During Beasley's subsequent three-week hospital stay, doctors determined her liver was not properly processing her medication for the seizures.
"So my whole system was not working right," she said.
Faith "was just very concerned," Beasley recalled. "She wouldn't let me out of her sight. She wanted to be touchy-feely."
After her adult son left for the graveyard shift, Beasley tried to go to sleep. But Faith kept jumping up on the bed, which is off limits.
"It's kind of hard to sleep when you've got an 80-pound dog running around in circles on your bed," she said.
So Beasley got up and checked to make sure all the doors were locked and that there was no one outside. She made another attempt at sleep, but Faith would have none of it. "Within five minutes she was doing the same thing all over again."
So Beasley got up again and decided to make some hot chocolate.
The last thing she remembers is reaching for the tea kettle.
"I didn't feel anything," she said. "I just went unconscious."
After the call from Faith, Buchanan dispatched Richland police Cpl. Scott Morrell. He arrived to see Faith and her predecessor, now-retired service dog Bronson, peering at him from Beasley's front window.
Morrell knocked, and then realized the door was unlocked.
"Faith had already opened the door for him," Beasley said. The dog has been trained to recognize police officers, firefighters and medical personnel as "special friends with cookies."
Inside, Morrell found Beasley on the kitchen floor - unconscious after striking her head in the fall and suffering a seizure - and called for medical assistance.
Faith watched intently while a paramedic tended Beasley and at one point tried to tell him that another seizure was imminent. He didn't recognize the signal, but minutes later, "Boom, I went into another seizure," Beasley said.
She woke up in the hospital several days later. Faith joined her after her transfer to the Veterans Administration hospital in Walla Walla.
Authorities learned about Faith's intervention when Beasley stopped by to thank Buchanan and Morrell after her release from the hospital.
A Benton County Emergency Services news conference Thursday put Faith and her owner in the limelight.
RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - Faith the service dog phoned 911 when her owner fell out of her wheelchair and barked urgently into the receiver until a dispatcher sent help. Then the 4-year-old Rottweiler unlocked the front door so the responding police officer could come in.
"I sensed there was a problem on the other end of the 911 call," said dispatcher Jenny Buchanan, who answered the call from Faith.
"The dog was too persistent in barking directly into the phone receiver," Buchanan said at Benton County's Southeast Communications Center. "I knew she was trying to tell me something."
Faith is trained to summon help by pushing a speed-dial button on the phone with her nose after taking the receiver off the hook, said her owner Leana Beasley, 45, who suffers grand mal seizures.
Guided by experts at the Assistance Dog Club of Puget Sound, Beasley helped train Faith herself.
"She's a real trooper," Beasley said Thursday.
The day of the fall, Faith "had been acting very clingy, wanting to be touching me all day long," Beasley said.
The dog, whose sensitive nose can detect changes in Beasley's body chemistry, is trained to alert her owner to impending seizures before they happen.
But that wasn't what was happening on Sept. 7, and Faith apparently wasn't sure how to communicate the problem. During Beasley's subsequent three-week hospital stay, doctors determined her liver was not properly processing her medication for the seizures.
"So my whole system was not working right," she said.
Faith "was just very concerned," Beasley recalled. "She wouldn't let me out of her sight. She wanted to be touchy-feely."
After her adult son left for the graveyard shift, Beasley tried to go to sleep. But Faith kept jumping up on the bed, which is off limits.
"It's kind of hard to sleep when you've got an 80-pound dog running around in circles on your bed," she said.
So Beasley got up and checked to make sure all the doors were locked and that there was no one outside. She made another attempt at sleep, but Faith would have none of it. "Within five minutes she was doing the same thing all over again."
So Beasley got up again and decided to make some hot chocolate.
The last thing she remembers is reaching for the tea kettle.
"I didn't feel anything," she said. "I just went unconscious."
After the call from Faith, Buchanan dispatched Richland police Cpl. Scott Morrell. He arrived to see Faith and her predecessor, now-retired service dog Bronson, peering at him from Beasley's front window.
Morrell knocked, and then realized the door was unlocked.
"Faith had already opened the door for him," Beasley said. The dog has been trained to recognize police officers, firefighters and medical personnel as "special friends with cookies."
Inside, Morrell found Beasley on the kitchen floor - unconscious after striking her head in the fall and suffering a seizure - and called for medical assistance.
Faith watched intently while a paramedic tended Beasley and at one point tried to tell him that another seizure was imminent. He didn't recognize the signal, but minutes later, "Boom, I went into another seizure," Beasley said.
She woke up in the hospital several days later. Faith joined her after her transfer to the Veterans Administration hospital in Walla Walla.
Authorities learned about Faith's intervention when Beasley stopped by to thank Buchanan and Morrell after her release from the hospital.
A Benton County Emergency Services news conference Thursday put Faith and her owner in the limelight.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
CNN WOLF BLITZER REPORTS
Bin Laden Releases New Videotape; Pentagon's Attempt to Provide Answers About Missing Explosives Leads to More Questions
Aired October 29, 2004 - 17:00 ET
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: Welcome to New York, Wolf.
BLITZER: You saw the videotape of Osama bin Laden. Listen to this direct reference to the American presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: What do you -- you've had a chance to digest it a little bit. I know you haven't studied it as closely as you used to when you were a full-time diplomat. But what do you make of this?
HOLBROOKE: It's an outrageous attempt to intimidate everybody involved.
The important thing, unfortunately, is that it shows that Osama bin Laden alive and he looks pretty well. He is using at least one of his hands very vigorously. And we've got a real problems on our hands three years after 9/11. He is still out there and still issuing these terrible threats.
BLITZER: Do you see this on as an effort on his part somehow to try to intervene in the U.S. presidential election?
HOLBROOKE: If that's his effort, he's making a huge mistake.
This isn't going to affect the mood of the American public. The U.S. is determined to defeat al Qaeda and its allies and the war against their use of terrorist tactics. And if he thinks it is going to affect anyone, he is wrong.
But I would point out that the tape shows that he is still around. We should have captured him and we haven't. And the other thing it shows, illustrates, a key point, which is that Senator Kerry in his relentless pursuit of terrorism is going to be very aggressive. And the tape doesn't show that, but Senator Kerry's comments continually, his experience should indicate that Osama bin Laden will draw no comfort from a Kerry presidency.
BLITZER: Because the sense is -- and it could be totally misguided -- that before the elections in Spain, as you know, there was a huge terrorist attack to try to affect the political situation in Spain.
HOLBROOKE: What happened in Spain was unique, because the Spanish government blamed it on Basque separatists and it wasn't. And that's what blew up in their face.
The United States is not Spain. We're united in the war against al Qaeda. We're united against this murderer who you've just shown on television. And John Kerry has sworn and pledged it will be his top priority to pursue him and hunt him down.
BLITZER: In all the polls, virtually all the polls, when the American public is asked who do you think can do a better job in the war on terror, Bush scores better than Kerry, as you will concede.
HOLBROOKE: I think that to the extent that polling data is correct, it stems from President Bush's very effective activities right after 9/11.
But the point here about what we've just seen is that Senator Kerry has said repeatedly that we should have closed the door on bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains on the Afghan--Pakistan border in December '01 and January 2002. And had we done so, had we not subcontracted the war against al Qaeda to the warlords in the area, many of whom had been in cahoots with bin Laden until a few weeks earlier, we might have captured him.
Now he is able to send out this vicious threat through Al-Jazeera and everyone else in the world.
BLITZER: Are you concerned, though, that when Americans see this videotape -- it will be all over the news media, as you can imagine, not only today, but in the days to come -- they will be reminded of what happened on 9/11 and they will say, you know what, I better vote for Bush, because he is tougher in dealing with al Qaeda than Kerry?
HOLBROOKE: I don't think so.
I think it also raises a much deeper question. How can this grotesque mass murderer be out there on worldwide television more than three years after 9/11? Why haven't we captured him, if the Bush administration was going to be so effective in the war on terror? President Bush said in the debates that he has rolled up 75 percent of al Qaeda. Well, it sure doesn't sound like it now. And, in Iraq, we have created a new terrorist center in places like Fallujah. And now it turns out that we also have some very serious missing high explosives.
BLITZER: He is referring to that CIA assessment that 75 percent of the al Qaeda leadership, which may be 50 or 60 people, has been rolled up.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLBROOKE: He did not say leadership in all those things.
BLITZER: But that's what he is referring to.
HOLBROOKE: And how does he know?
Let's bring in Danielle Pletka right now. She is a foreign policy adviser to the Bush-Cheney campaign. She's at the campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
Danielle, thanks very much for joining us. I want to play another excerpt from the Osama bin Laden videotape, this one where he makes fun of the president.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIN LADEN (through translator): It never occurred to us that he, the commander in chief of the country, would leave 50,000 citizens and the two towers to face those horrors alone because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: It sounds, Danielle, as he may have watched Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," based on that little clip.
DANIELLE PLETKA, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: I'm glad to know that Michael Moore is giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
BLITZER: Well, do you want to give us your bottom-line assessment? You just heard Richard Holbrooke make the case for the Kerry campaign. Make the case for the Bush campaign, your reaction to what we just saw.
PLETKA: I have to tell you, Wolf, Richard Holbrooke used the word astonish. And I have to say, sitting here listening to him, I was astonished to hear him exploiting a tape that has been out barely an hour, using threats against the United States and against the American people to help his presidential candidate in the elections.
The fact is, he is trying, as Senator Kerry is, to mislead the American people into believing that, somehow, there is a silver bullet out there. It is a lie to suggest that we had Osama bin Laden in our clutches. And it is a lie to insinuate to the American people that once he is caught that the war on terror will be over. This is a very broad war and it's one we need to take to the enemy. It's not about propaganda, tricks and games.
BLITZER: But the point he was making is that, here, we look at this videotape. We see Osama bin Laden very much alive, apparently well, dressed in that golden robe out there, making these threats to the American public, nothing specific, but general threats to the American public and the presidential candidates, reminding, he says, the American public that the president's administration, in his words, missed the boat, could have gotten Osama bin Laden at a moment near Tora Bora and didn't do it.
PLETKA: The general who was there, Tommy Franks, has said very clearly, repeatedly, that that is not the case.
My inclination is to believe the people who are there, not the people sitting in their comfortable chairs in investment banks in New York. So, when Tommy Franks says that it is absolutely not the case that bin Laden was in our clutches, I believe him over an investment banker sitting in New York. And I'm sorry.
BLITZER: But the argument is, as you well know, Danielle, that resources were diverted from the war against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to Iraq to prepare for the war against Saddam Hussein, badly needed, at least...
PLETKA: Well, actually, I don't well know that.
I have to tell you, watching this, all I have seen in Afghanistan is one success story after another. I have seen 10 million people register to vote in a free and fair election. I have seen enormous success for the Afghan people. I have seen that most of the leadership of al Qaeda is on the run.
Yes, we have seen a videotape, but the bottom line is -- and there is no disagreement in any part of the international intelligence community about this -- that al Qaeda is in a much worse situation than they were three years ago. The idea that we have diverted from Afghanistan in order to fight in Iraq or that somehow we should want to have Saddam Hussein in power, as Senator Kerry keeps insinuating, is just disgraceful.
BLITZER: What about the other argument that we just heard from Ambassador Holbrooke, that it's 18 months after the war, the Al-Qaqaa facility in Iraq was one of the most valued facilities, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and, even at this point, the Bush administration does not know what happened to those tons of explosives?
PLETKA: I reject that out of hand.
First of all, in 1995, Al-Qaqaa was noticed by the inspectors there. Americans asked for the stash there to be blown up. The inspectors said they weren't even sure it should be part of the sanctions and they weren't going to blow it up. So I have a little bit of a suspicion about the international inspectors.
In addition, 18 months afterwards, I don't think we have a clear idea of exactly what happened. I have been working on Iraq issues for 20 years. My inclination is to believe people who were on the ground. It's not to blame Americans first and go with what the United Nations and "The New York Times" is telling me I ought to go with. I want to know the facts. And Senator Kerry ought to be responsible enough to also want the facts before he flies off the handle and makes accusations.
BLITZER: Danielle Pletka, thanks very much, representing the Bush/Cheney campaign in Washington.
PLETKA: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Terror threats and now a new videotape from Osama bin Laden. Does al Qaeda have its eye on this election in the United States? We'll show you what's being done to keep all of us safe at the polls on Tuesday.
Stay with us.
BLITZER: And we're standing by to hear directly from John Kerry. He has got comments on the Osama bin Laden videotape. We'll air those as soon as we get those. The president of the United States also commenting formally on the Osama bin Laden tape, saying the United States will not be intimidated. We'll hear from both of them.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry just gave an interview to WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, spoke about the Osama bin Laden videotape. Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My reaction is that all of us in this country are completely united. Democrat, Republican, there's no such thing. There's just Americans. And we are all united in hunting down and capturing or killing those who conducted that -- we always knew it was Osama bin Laden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He goes on to say that...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry.
I hate to interrupt you, but he does go on to say that he is actually saying that the president has misled the American people, but at the same time, says it doesn't matter who becomes president of the United States, whether it is President Bush or you, that it's basically going to boil down to what the American policy is going to be, what our foreign policy will be.
KERRY: Well, let me tell you this: My policy is that there's no such thing as a negotiation with terrorists. Terrorism is going to be hunted down and killed. We are united on that.
I believe I can run a more effective war on terror than George Bush. I'm absolutely confident I have the ability to be able to make America safer.
But we are united in our determination to hunt down and kill the terrorists.
And I regret that when George Bush had the opportunity in Afghanistan at Tora Bora, he didn't choose to use American forces to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden. He outsourced the job to Afghan warlords.
I would never have done that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And that was John Kerry speaking with television station WISN in Milwaukee.
Only a few moments ago, the president spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One in Toledo, Ohio. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Earlier today I was informed of the tape that is now being analyzed by America's intelligence community.
Let me make this very clear. Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I'm sure Senator Kerry agrees with this.
I also want to say to the American people that we are at war with these terrorists, and I am confident that we will prevail.
Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The president not answering reporters' questions, making, as we all saw, a brief statement, saying the United States will not be intimidated by Osama bin Laden on this new videotape that was released some -- almost two hours ago on the Al-Jazeera Arabic- language broadcast.
The White House also saying that a preliminary view of this tape shows it is in fact authentic. It is Osama bin Laden, the first time in some two years that we have actually seen him on videotape.
Stay with CNN throughout the night, throughout the weekend, as we get ready for the election on Tuesday. I'm Wolf Blitzer in New York.
Bin Laden Releases New Videotape; Pentagon's Attempt to Provide Answers About Missing Explosives Leads to More Questions
Aired October 29, 2004 - 17:00 ET
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: Welcome to New York, Wolf.
BLITZER: You saw the videotape of Osama bin Laden. Listen to this direct reference to the American presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: What do you -- you've had a chance to digest it a little bit. I know you haven't studied it as closely as you used to when you were a full-time diplomat. But what do you make of this?
HOLBROOKE: It's an outrageous attempt to intimidate everybody involved.
The important thing, unfortunately, is that it shows that Osama bin Laden alive and he looks pretty well. He is using at least one of his hands very vigorously. And we've got a real problems on our hands three years after 9/11. He is still out there and still issuing these terrible threats.
BLITZER: Do you see this on as an effort on his part somehow to try to intervene in the U.S. presidential election?
HOLBROOKE: If that's his effort, he's making a huge mistake.
This isn't going to affect the mood of the American public. The U.S. is determined to defeat al Qaeda and its allies and the war against their use of terrorist tactics. And if he thinks it is going to affect anyone, he is wrong.
But I would point out that the tape shows that he is still around. We should have captured him and we haven't. And the other thing it shows, illustrates, a key point, which is that Senator Kerry in his relentless pursuit of terrorism is going to be very aggressive. And the tape doesn't show that, but Senator Kerry's comments continually, his experience should indicate that Osama bin Laden will draw no comfort from a Kerry presidency.
BLITZER: Because the sense is -- and it could be totally misguided -- that before the elections in Spain, as you know, there was a huge terrorist attack to try to affect the political situation in Spain.
HOLBROOKE: What happened in Spain was unique, because the Spanish government blamed it on Basque separatists and it wasn't. And that's what blew up in their face.
The United States is not Spain. We're united in the war against al Qaeda. We're united against this murderer who you've just shown on television. And John Kerry has sworn and pledged it will be his top priority to pursue him and hunt him down.
BLITZER: In all the polls, virtually all the polls, when the American public is asked who do you think can do a better job in the war on terror, Bush scores better than Kerry, as you will concede.
HOLBROOKE: I think that to the extent that polling data is correct, it stems from President Bush's very effective activities right after 9/11.
But the point here about what we've just seen is that Senator Kerry has said repeatedly that we should have closed the door on bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains on the Afghan--Pakistan border in December '01 and January 2002. And had we done so, had we not subcontracted the war against al Qaeda to the warlords in the area, many of whom had been in cahoots with bin Laden until a few weeks earlier, we might have captured him.
Now he is able to send out this vicious threat through Al-Jazeera and everyone else in the world.
BLITZER: Are you concerned, though, that when Americans see this videotape -- it will be all over the news media, as you can imagine, not only today, but in the days to come -- they will be reminded of what happened on 9/11 and they will say, you know what, I better vote for Bush, because he is tougher in dealing with al Qaeda than Kerry?
HOLBROOKE: I don't think so.
I think it also raises a much deeper question. How can this grotesque mass murderer be out there on worldwide television more than three years after 9/11? Why haven't we captured him, if the Bush administration was going to be so effective in the war on terror? President Bush said in the debates that he has rolled up 75 percent of al Qaeda. Well, it sure doesn't sound like it now. And, in Iraq, we have created a new terrorist center in places like Fallujah. And now it turns out that we also have some very serious missing high explosives.
BLITZER: He is referring to that CIA assessment that 75 percent of the al Qaeda leadership, which may be 50 or 60 people, has been rolled up.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLBROOKE: He did not say leadership in all those things.
BLITZER: But that's what he is referring to.
HOLBROOKE: And how does he know?
Let's bring in Danielle Pletka right now. She is a foreign policy adviser to the Bush-Cheney campaign. She's at the campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
Danielle, thanks very much for joining us. I want to play another excerpt from the Osama bin Laden videotape, this one where he makes fun of the president.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIN LADEN (through translator): It never occurred to us that he, the commander in chief of the country, would leave 50,000 citizens and the two towers to face those horrors alone because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: It sounds, Danielle, as he may have watched Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," based on that little clip.
DANIELLE PLETKA, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: I'm glad to know that Michael Moore is giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
BLITZER: Well, do you want to give us your bottom-line assessment? You just heard Richard Holbrooke make the case for the Kerry campaign. Make the case for the Bush campaign, your reaction to what we just saw.
PLETKA: I have to tell you, Wolf, Richard Holbrooke used the word astonish. And I have to say, sitting here listening to him, I was astonished to hear him exploiting a tape that has been out barely an hour, using threats against the United States and against the American people to help his presidential candidate in the elections.
The fact is, he is trying, as Senator Kerry is, to mislead the American people into believing that, somehow, there is a silver bullet out there. It is a lie to suggest that we had Osama bin Laden in our clutches. And it is a lie to insinuate to the American people that once he is caught that the war on terror will be over. This is a very broad war and it's one we need to take to the enemy. It's not about propaganda, tricks and games.
BLITZER: But the point he was making is that, here, we look at this videotape. We see Osama bin Laden very much alive, apparently well, dressed in that golden robe out there, making these threats to the American public, nothing specific, but general threats to the American public and the presidential candidates, reminding, he says, the American public that the president's administration, in his words, missed the boat, could have gotten Osama bin Laden at a moment near Tora Bora and didn't do it.
PLETKA: The general who was there, Tommy Franks, has said very clearly, repeatedly, that that is not the case.
My inclination is to believe the people who are there, not the people sitting in their comfortable chairs in investment banks in New York. So, when Tommy Franks says that it is absolutely not the case that bin Laden was in our clutches, I believe him over an investment banker sitting in New York. And I'm sorry.
BLITZER: But the argument is, as you well know, Danielle, that resources were diverted from the war against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to Iraq to prepare for the war against Saddam Hussein, badly needed, at least...
PLETKA: Well, actually, I don't well know that.
I have to tell you, watching this, all I have seen in Afghanistan is one success story after another. I have seen 10 million people register to vote in a free and fair election. I have seen enormous success for the Afghan people. I have seen that most of the leadership of al Qaeda is on the run.
Yes, we have seen a videotape, but the bottom line is -- and there is no disagreement in any part of the international intelligence community about this -- that al Qaeda is in a much worse situation than they were three years ago. The idea that we have diverted from Afghanistan in order to fight in Iraq or that somehow we should want to have Saddam Hussein in power, as Senator Kerry keeps insinuating, is just disgraceful.
BLITZER: What about the other argument that we just heard from Ambassador Holbrooke, that it's 18 months after the war, the Al-Qaqaa facility in Iraq was one of the most valued facilities, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and, even at this point, the Bush administration does not know what happened to those tons of explosives?
PLETKA: I reject that out of hand.
First of all, in 1995, Al-Qaqaa was noticed by the inspectors there. Americans asked for the stash there to be blown up. The inspectors said they weren't even sure it should be part of the sanctions and they weren't going to blow it up. So I have a little bit of a suspicion about the international inspectors.
In addition, 18 months afterwards, I don't think we have a clear idea of exactly what happened. I have been working on Iraq issues for 20 years. My inclination is to believe people who were on the ground. It's not to blame Americans first and go with what the United Nations and "The New York Times" is telling me I ought to go with. I want to know the facts. And Senator Kerry ought to be responsible enough to also want the facts before he flies off the handle and makes accusations.
BLITZER: Danielle Pletka, thanks very much, representing the Bush/Cheney campaign in Washington.
PLETKA: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Terror threats and now a new videotape from Osama bin Laden. Does al Qaeda have its eye on this election in the United States? We'll show you what's being done to keep all of us safe at the polls on Tuesday.
Stay with us.
BLITZER: And we're standing by to hear directly from John Kerry. He has got comments on the Osama bin Laden videotape. We'll air those as soon as we get those. The president of the United States also commenting formally on the Osama bin Laden tape, saying the United States will not be intimidated. We'll hear from both of them.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry just gave an interview to WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, spoke about the Osama bin Laden videotape. Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My reaction is that all of us in this country are completely united. Democrat, Republican, there's no such thing. There's just Americans. And we are all united in hunting down and capturing or killing those who conducted that -- we always knew it was Osama bin Laden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He goes on to say that...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry.
I hate to interrupt you, but he does go on to say that he is actually saying that the president has misled the American people, but at the same time, says it doesn't matter who becomes president of the United States, whether it is President Bush or you, that it's basically going to boil down to what the American policy is going to be, what our foreign policy will be.
KERRY: Well, let me tell you this: My policy is that there's no such thing as a negotiation with terrorists. Terrorism is going to be hunted down and killed. We are united on that.
I believe I can run a more effective war on terror than George Bush. I'm absolutely confident I have the ability to be able to make America safer.
But we are united in our determination to hunt down and kill the terrorists.
And I regret that when George Bush had the opportunity in Afghanistan at Tora Bora, he didn't choose to use American forces to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden. He outsourced the job to Afghan warlords.
I would never have done that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And that was John Kerry speaking with television station WISN in Milwaukee.
Only a few moments ago, the president spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One in Toledo, Ohio. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Earlier today I was informed of the tape that is now being analyzed by America's intelligence community.
Let me make this very clear. Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I'm sure Senator Kerry agrees with this.
I also want to say to the American people that we are at war with these terrorists, and I am confident that we will prevail.
Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The president not answering reporters' questions, making, as we all saw, a brief statement, saying the United States will not be intimidated by Osama bin Laden on this new videotape that was released some -- almost two hours ago on the Al-Jazeera Arabic- language broadcast.
The White House also saying that a preliminary view of this tape shows it is in fact authentic. It is Osama bin Laden, the first time in some two years that we have actually seen him on videotape.
Stay with CNN throughout the night, throughout the weekend, as we get ready for the election on Tuesday. I'm Wolf Blitzer in New York.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Carville, Who is The Clown and Goofball?
Carville does not know the different between Millions and Billions.
CNN CROSSFIRE - Aired October 26, 2004 - 16:30 ET
CARVILLE: All right, and we're all blank here. So remember the debates when Senator Kerry said the war in Iraq would cost $200 million and Republicans said it was inaccurate, that he shouldn't say that because the war wouldn't cost $200 million. As much as it pains me to say this, and as surprised as you may be, the Republicans were right.
Senator Kerry, you were wrong. The war isn't $200 million, as you claimed. Today, we find out that they're asking for another $70 million, which would bring it to $225 million and add to the hundreds of millions they already spent.
So, the next time someone says at the war cost $200 million, tell them, oh, no, this fiasco is going to cost a lot more than that. And, Senator Kerry, you shouldn't say it cost $200 million, when you knew full well it was going to cost a lot more with these clowns running it.
CARVILLE: Charlie, of course, there is no economic argument to make, because this president hasn't created a single job.
Let's go to the war in Iraq, where they're just asking for another $70 million for this fiasco. And I said that Paul Wolfowitz was the biggest idiot to serve in the U.S. government in my lifetime.
Now, I don't understand. Why are we asking for another $70 billion to add to the money we already have to bring it to $225 billion when this idiot was telling us that we could get it out of oil revenues? Why doesn't the president fire this goofball?
So, James Carville, who is the clown? Who is the idiot? Who is the goofball?
Carville does not know the different between Millions and Billions.
CNN CROSSFIRE - Aired October 26, 2004 - 16:30 ET
CARVILLE: All right, and we're all blank here. So remember the debates when Senator Kerry said the war in Iraq would cost $200 million and Republicans said it was inaccurate, that he shouldn't say that because the war wouldn't cost $200 million. As much as it pains me to say this, and as surprised as you may be, the Republicans were right.
Senator Kerry, you were wrong. The war isn't $200 million, as you claimed. Today, we find out that they're asking for another $70 million, which would bring it to $225 million and add to the hundreds of millions they already spent.
So, the next time someone says at the war cost $200 million, tell them, oh, no, this fiasco is going to cost a lot more than that. And, Senator Kerry, you shouldn't say it cost $200 million, when you knew full well it was going to cost a lot more with these clowns running it.
CARVILLE: Charlie, of course, there is no economic argument to make, because this president hasn't created a single job.
Let's go to the war in Iraq, where they're just asking for another $70 million for this fiasco. And I said that Paul Wolfowitz was the biggest idiot to serve in the U.S. government in my lifetime.
Now, I don't understand. Why are we asking for another $70 billion to add to the money we already have to bring it to $225 billion when this idiot was telling us that we could get it out of oil revenues? Why doesn't the president fire this goofball?
So, James Carville, who is the clown? Who is the idiot? Who is the goofball?
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Dumb show
Charlie Brooker
Saturday October 23, 2004
The Guardian
Heady times. The US election draws ever nearer, and while the rest of the world bangs its head against the floorboards screaming "Please God, not Bush!", the candidates clash head to head in a series of live televised debates. It's a bit like American Idol, but with terrifying global ramifications. You've got to laugh.
Or have you? Have you seen the debates? I urge you to do so. The exemplary BBC News website (www.bbc.co.uk/news) hosts unexpurgated streaming footage of all the recent debates, plus clips from previous encounters, through Reagan and Carter, all the way back to Nixon versus JFK.
Watching Bush v Kerry, two things immediately strike you. First, the opening explanation of the rules makes the whole thing feel like a Radio 4 parlour game. And second, George W Bush is... well, he's... Jesus, where do you start?
The internet's a-buzz with speculation that Bush has been wearing a wire, receiving help from some off-stage lackey. Screen grabs appearing to show a mysterious bulge in the centre of his back are being traded like Top Trumps. Prior to seeing the debate footage, I regarded this with healthy scepticism: the whole "wire" scandal was just wishful thinking on behalf of some amateur Michael Moores, I figured. And then I watched the footage.
Quite frankly, the man's either wired or mad. If it's the former, he should be flung out of office: tarred, feathered and kicked in the nuts. And if it's the latter, his behaviour goes beyond strange, and heads toward terrifying. He looks like he's listening to something we can't hear. He blinks, he mumbles, he lets a sentence trail off, starts a new one, then reverts back to whatever he was saying in the first place. Each time he recalls a statistic (either from memory or the voice in his head), he flashes us a dumb little smile, like a toddler proudly showing off its first bowel movement. Forgive me for employing the language of the playground, but the man's a tool.
So I sit there and I watch this and I start scratching my head, because I'm trying to work out why Bush is afforded any kind of credence or respect whatsoever in his native country. His performance is so transparently bizarre, so feeble and stumbling, it's a miracle he wasn't laughed off the stage. And then I start hunting around the internet, looking to see what the US media made of the whole "wire" debate. And they just let it die. They mentioned it in passing, called it a wacko conspiracy theory and moved on.
Yet whether it turns out to be true or not, right now it's certainly plausible - even if you discount the bulge photos and simply watch the president's ridiculous smirking face. Perhaps he isn't wired. Perhaps he's just gone gaga. If you don't ask the questions, you'll never know the truth.
The silence is all the more troubling since in the past the US news media has had no problem at all covering other wacko conspiracy theories, ones with far less evidence to support them. (For infuriating confirmation of this, watch the second part of the must-see documentary series The Power Of Nightmares (Wed, 9pm, BBC2) and witness the absurd hounding of Bill Clinton over the Whitewater and Vince Foster non-scandals.)
Throughout the debate, John Kerry, for his part, looks and sounds a bit like a haunted tree. But at least he's not a lying, sniggering, drink-driving, selfish, reckless, ignorant, dangerous, backward, drooling, twitching, blinking, mouse-faced little cheat. And besides, in a fight between a tree and a bush, I know who I'd favour.
On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?
Charlie Brooker
Saturday October 23, 2004
The Guardian
Heady times. The US election draws ever nearer, and while the rest of the world bangs its head against the floorboards screaming "Please God, not Bush!", the candidates clash head to head in a series of live televised debates. It's a bit like American Idol, but with terrifying global ramifications. You've got to laugh.
Or have you? Have you seen the debates? I urge you to do so. The exemplary BBC News website (www.bbc.co.uk/news) hosts unexpurgated streaming footage of all the recent debates, plus clips from previous encounters, through Reagan and Carter, all the way back to Nixon versus JFK.
Watching Bush v Kerry, two things immediately strike you. First, the opening explanation of the rules makes the whole thing feel like a Radio 4 parlour game. And second, George W Bush is... well, he's... Jesus, where do you start?
The internet's a-buzz with speculation that Bush has been wearing a wire, receiving help from some off-stage lackey. Screen grabs appearing to show a mysterious bulge in the centre of his back are being traded like Top Trumps. Prior to seeing the debate footage, I regarded this with healthy scepticism: the whole "wire" scandal was just wishful thinking on behalf of some amateur Michael Moores, I figured. And then I watched the footage.
Quite frankly, the man's either wired or mad. If it's the former, he should be flung out of office: tarred, feathered and kicked in the nuts. And if it's the latter, his behaviour goes beyond strange, and heads toward terrifying. He looks like he's listening to something we can't hear. He blinks, he mumbles, he lets a sentence trail off, starts a new one, then reverts back to whatever he was saying in the first place. Each time he recalls a statistic (either from memory or the voice in his head), he flashes us a dumb little smile, like a toddler proudly showing off its first bowel movement. Forgive me for employing the language of the playground, but the man's a tool.
So I sit there and I watch this and I start scratching my head, because I'm trying to work out why Bush is afforded any kind of credence or respect whatsoever in his native country. His performance is so transparently bizarre, so feeble and stumbling, it's a miracle he wasn't laughed off the stage. And then I start hunting around the internet, looking to see what the US media made of the whole "wire" debate. And they just let it die. They mentioned it in passing, called it a wacko conspiracy theory and moved on.
Yet whether it turns out to be true or not, right now it's certainly plausible - even if you discount the bulge photos and simply watch the president's ridiculous smirking face. Perhaps he isn't wired. Perhaps he's just gone gaga. If you don't ask the questions, you'll never know the truth.
The silence is all the more troubling since in the past the US news media has had no problem at all covering other wacko conspiracy theories, ones with far less evidence to support them. (For infuriating confirmation of this, watch the second part of the must-see documentary series The Power Of Nightmares (Wed, 9pm, BBC2) and witness the absurd hounding of Bill Clinton over the Whitewater and Vince Foster non-scandals.)
Throughout the debate, John Kerry, for his part, looks and sounds a bit like a haunted tree. But at least he's not a lying, sniggering, drink-driving, selfish, reckless, ignorant, dangerous, backward, drooling, twitching, blinking, mouse-faced little cheat. And besides, in a fight between a tree and a bush, I know who I'd favour.
On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?
Friday, October 22, 2004
Leno
John Kerry went hunting today. He said he killed a goose. He didn’t bring Teresa along because he was a little rusty and he was afraid he might kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
It’s getting ugly and uglier out there - Teresa Heinz Kerry said she doesn’t know if Laura Bush has ever held a real job. Laura Bush fired back - she said she was busy raising three kids - Barbara, Jenna, and George W. that is a full time job.
Both candidates are trying to scare voters for votes in the last weeks of the campaign. And they’re doing a pretty good job. Voters are petrified that on November 2nd they’re actually going to have to pick one of these guys. What’s scarier than that?
The Kerry campaign announced today they will have "10,000 lawyers at the polls in battle ground states.” 10,000 lawyers. Well, let’s hope you don’t slip and fall on the sidewalk outside a polling place. You could be buried alive in business cards.
Neither Bush or Kerry have gotten a flu shot and both said today they won’t get one. Ralph Nader also said he wasn’t getting a flu shot. Though in his case he doesn’t need one, because he doesn’t come in contact with any large crowds.
Ralph Nader latest complaint, he says he's being held back by special interest groups working against him. I think they’re called the American people.
Did you watch "Lost” last night? But enough about the Yankees.
Congratulations to Boston Red Sox! The Red Sox murdered the Yankees. 10 to 3. It was so bad, I couldn’t tell when the game ended and "CSI: New York” began.
This is the most embarrassing thing this to happen in New York since the Mets!
Even Hillary said, "Does this mean I no longer have to pretend to be a Yankees fan?"
The Yankees looked stunned, didn’t they? Usually you only see this many depressed Dominicans after their raft springs a leak.
Steinbrenner is not taking this lying down. Today he signed the entire Red Sox team. They’re Yankees now.
Did you see the Red Sox partying in the locker room? All that champagne. Finally, the Red Sox had something on ice besides Ted Williams.
Health experts have 3 tips to avoid getting the flu; one, wash your hands often, avoid crowds, get elected to congress, and you’ll be guaranteed a flu shot. See, they get all the flu shots they want.
Well, congress also says seniors will get a social security increase in January. Assuming the flu doesn’t kill them first.
According to a poll by ABC’s "Primetime Live”, Republicans have wilder sex lives than Democrats. Apparently this survey was taken while Bill Clinton was still in the hospital. His absence drags the entire average down for Democrats.
Bill Clinton is scheduled to campaign for John Kerry next week. He’s still under doctors orders to take it easy, though - no girlfriends over 180 pounds.
Yesterday was one of the biggest events in world history. The fall of Castro. Take a look (drop-in video clip: Castro slips and falls.) The bad news, he got back up.
Castro said he’s okay, because he’s got the best healthcare in the world right there in Cuba. In fact, he was rushed to the hospital on their fastest donkey.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed a ballot measure that would spend up to $6 billion in state money on stem cell research. That shows you how clever Arnold is. He’s hoping by the next election, he’ll be able to clone more Republican voters.
And Turner Broadcasting is now casting for a new reality show called "The Real Giligan’s Island” where they’re looking for a real life Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Skipper, and Giligan. You know, don’t we have that on TV already. John and Teresa Kerry are perfect for Mr. and Mrs. Howell. Dick Cheney is the Skipper and Bush can be Giligan! What’s better than that?
Here’s something interesting. According to a new medical study, one out of every hundred people have had a near death experience. Do you know what you call those people? New York Yankees fans!
The ratings for Bill O’Reilly’s show have risen 34% since he was accused of sexually harassing a female producer...34%! This is the best news for Bill O’Reilly since the hands-free telephone. This is unbelievable.
And today, Chris Matthews asked a female executive on his show if she wanted to see his hard ball.
Letterman
In Ohio today John Kerry was duck hunting. This was all part of his pledge to hunt down the ducks and kill them.
He came back with two ducks and four purple hearts.
This is all part of John Kerry’s plan to appeal to hunters. So what he did was got drunk and shot his buddy in the ass.
This just in – George Steinbrenner has just fired Babe Ruth!
It’s getting bad for the Yankees. No team has ever come from behind after four straight loses!
I think the Yankees are in denial. Like today they announced their starter for game eight.
After the Red Sox won the game last night the Red Sox fans were stunned and dazed. They had to get on the Internet to find out how to celebrate.
Things got crazy and insane down in Boston. A group of rowdy fans actually tipped over Ted Kennedy.
Conan
In Ohio today John Kerry went duck hunting. President Bush quickly said it was just a photo opt. The strange thing was that Bush said this while in a flight suit on an aircraft carrier.
In Florida there are already voting problems. The started early voting there. Many senior citizens are complaining about problems at the polls. Apparently they are pulling the lever and no quarters are coming out.
The big Yankees-Red Sox game was last night. The Red Sox won the American League Pennant over the Yankees after trailing in a three games to none deficit. In a related story George Steinbrenner is being treated for rabies.
Election Day is almost here. Yesterday Bill Clinton sent out an email to Democrats about how to handle the last days of the election. The bad thing was that he sent the message with his private email "studcraker89”.
John Kerry went hunting today. He said he killed a goose. He didn’t bring Teresa along because he was a little rusty and he was afraid he might kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
It’s getting ugly and uglier out there - Teresa Heinz Kerry said she doesn’t know if Laura Bush has ever held a real job. Laura Bush fired back - she said she was busy raising three kids - Barbara, Jenna, and George W. that is a full time job.
Both candidates are trying to scare voters for votes in the last weeks of the campaign. And they’re doing a pretty good job. Voters are petrified that on November 2nd they’re actually going to have to pick one of these guys. What’s scarier than that?
The Kerry campaign announced today they will have "10,000 lawyers at the polls in battle ground states.” 10,000 lawyers. Well, let’s hope you don’t slip and fall on the sidewalk outside a polling place. You could be buried alive in business cards.
Neither Bush or Kerry have gotten a flu shot and both said today they won’t get one. Ralph Nader also said he wasn’t getting a flu shot. Though in his case he doesn’t need one, because he doesn’t come in contact with any large crowds.
Ralph Nader latest complaint, he says he's being held back by special interest groups working against him. I think they’re called the American people.
Did you watch "Lost” last night? But enough about the Yankees.
Congratulations to Boston Red Sox! The Red Sox murdered the Yankees. 10 to 3. It was so bad, I couldn’t tell when the game ended and "CSI: New York” began.
This is the most embarrassing thing this to happen in New York since the Mets!
Even Hillary said, "Does this mean I no longer have to pretend to be a Yankees fan?"
The Yankees looked stunned, didn’t they? Usually you only see this many depressed Dominicans after their raft springs a leak.
Steinbrenner is not taking this lying down. Today he signed the entire Red Sox team. They’re Yankees now.
Did you see the Red Sox partying in the locker room? All that champagne. Finally, the Red Sox had something on ice besides Ted Williams.
Health experts have 3 tips to avoid getting the flu; one, wash your hands often, avoid crowds, get elected to congress, and you’ll be guaranteed a flu shot. See, they get all the flu shots they want.
Well, congress also says seniors will get a social security increase in January. Assuming the flu doesn’t kill them first.
According to a poll by ABC’s "Primetime Live”, Republicans have wilder sex lives than Democrats. Apparently this survey was taken while Bill Clinton was still in the hospital. His absence drags the entire average down for Democrats.
Bill Clinton is scheduled to campaign for John Kerry next week. He’s still under doctors orders to take it easy, though - no girlfriends over 180 pounds.
Yesterday was one of the biggest events in world history. The fall of Castro. Take a look (drop-in video clip: Castro slips and falls.) The bad news, he got back up.
Castro said he’s okay, because he’s got the best healthcare in the world right there in Cuba. In fact, he was rushed to the hospital on their fastest donkey.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed a ballot measure that would spend up to $6 billion in state money on stem cell research. That shows you how clever Arnold is. He’s hoping by the next election, he’ll be able to clone more Republican voters.
And Turner Broadcasting is now casting for a new reality show called "The Real Giligan’s Island” where they’re looking for a real life Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Skipper, and Giligan. You know, don’t we have that on TV already. John and Teresa Kerry are perfect for Mr. and Mrs. Howell. Dick Cheney is the Skipper and Bush can be Giligan! What’s better than that?
Here’s something interesting. According to a new medical study, one out of every hundred people have had a near death experience. Do you know what you call those people? New York Yankees fans!
The ratings for Bill O’Reilly’s show have risen 34% since he was accused of sexually harassing a female producer...34%! This is the best news for Bill O’Reilly since the hands-free telephone. This is unbelievable.
And today, Chris Matthews asked a female executive on his show if she wanted to see his hard ball.
Letterman
In Ohio today John Kerry was duck hunting. This was all part of his pledge to hunt down the ducks and kill them.
He came back with two ducks and four purple hearts.
This is all part of John Kerry’s plan to appeal to hunters. So what he did was got drunk and shot his buddy in the ass.
This just in – George Steinbrenner has just fired Babe Ruth!
It’s getting bad for the Yankees. No team has ever come from behind after four straight loses!
I think the Yankees are in denial. Like today they announced their starter for game eight.
After the Red Sox won the game last night the Red Sox fans were stunned and dazed. They had to get on the Internet to find out how to celebrate.
Things got crazy and insane down in Boston. A group of rowdy fans actually tipped over Ted Kennedy.
Conan
In Ohio today John Kerry went duck hunting. President Bush quickly said it was just a photo opt. The strange thing was that Bush said this while in a flight suit on an aircraft carrier.
In Florida there are already voting problems. The started early voting there. Many senior citizens are complaining about problems at the polls. Apparently they are pulling the lever and no quarters are coming out.
The big Yankees-Red Sox game was last night. The Red Sox won the American League Pennant over the Yankees after trailing in a three games to none deficit. In a related story George Steinbrenner is being treated for rabies.
Election Day is almost here. Yesterday Bill Clinton sent out an email to Democrats about how to handle the last days of the election. The bad thing was that he sent the message with his private email "studcraker89”.
Top Ten Ways CBS News Can Improve Its Reputation
10. Stick to stories everyone can agree on, like cookies are delicious.
9. Move nightly "happy hour" to after the broadcast.
8. Stop hiring guys with crazy names like "Morley."
7. Can't figure out if a news story is true? Let Judge Joe Brown decide.
6. Every time Mike Wallace tells a lie he gets a life-threatening electrical shock.
5. Newsroom patrolled by some kind of lovable but strict "truth monkey."
4. If it turns out the story is wrong, give away 276 brand new cars.
3. After delivering a report, correspondent must add, "Or maybe not--who knows?"
2. Newscast consists of Dan Rather sitting down to watch Tom Brokaw.
1. Oh, I dunno, stop making up crap?
Kerry Flies in Hairdresser for touch-up before 'Meet The Press', $1000 Haircut?
Kerry Can't Pronounce His Wife's Name
Kerry Campaigns With His Butler
Kerry Flops While Parachuting In For A Day
"John Kerry and Ralph Nader are glum and glummer"
Kerry honored at communist museum
'Kerry lied while good men died'
Kerry 'Flips Off' Vietnam Vet
'Uh-oh, We've Nominated a Turkey' Part 2
'Uh-oh, We've Nominated a Turkey'
JohnKerryIsADouchebagButI'mVotingForHimAnyway.com
Beware Secret Cambodia Mission
Then & Now: "How Can You Ask a Man…"
Kerry Takes Illegal $ from Kids, Koreans
10. Stick to stories everyone can agree on, like cookies are delicious.
9. Move nightly "happy hour" to after the broadcast.
8. Stop hiring guys with crazy names like "Morley."
7. Can't figure out if a news story is true? Let Judge Joe Brown decide.
6. Every time Mike Wallace tells a lie he gets a life-threatening electrical shock.
5. Newsroom patrolled by some kind of lovable but strict "truth monkey."
4. If it turns out the story is wrong, give away 276 brand new cars.
3. After delivering a report, correspondent must add, "Or maybe not--who knows?"
2. Newscast consists of Dan Rather sitting down to watch Tom Brokaw.
1. Oh, I dunno, stop making up crap?
Kerry Flies in Hairdresser for touch-up before 'Meet The Press', $1000 Haircut?
Kerry Can't Pronounce His Wife's Name
Kerry Campaigns With His Butler
Kerry Flops While Parachuting In For A Day
"John Kerry and Ralph Nader are glum and glummer"
Kerry honored at communist museum
'Kerry lied while good men died'
Kerry 'Flips Off' Vietnam Vet
'Uh-oh, We've Nominated a Turkey' Part 2
'Uh-oh, We've Nominated a Turkey'
JohnKerryIsADouchebagButI'mVotingForHimAnyway.com
Beware Secret Cambodia Mission
Then & Now: "How Can You Ask a Man…"
Kerry Takes Illegal $ from Kids, Koreans
Bush pauses to comfort teen
(Sent to us by Martha Harrison and Jerry Orndorff)
Kristina Goetz,The Cincinnati Enquirer: In a moment largely unnoticed by the throngs of people in Lebanon waiting for autographs from the president of the United States, George W. Bush stopped to hold a teenager's head close to his heart.
To View the Picture Of President Bush hugging the Girl (Click Here)
Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn.
He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:
"This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11."
Bush stopped and turned back.
"He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said.
"He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."
Faulkner snapped one frame with his camera.
"I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' " he said. "That's more emotion than she has shown in 2 1/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' "
"And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment."
Special for Lynn Faulkner because the Golden Lamb was the place he and his wife, Wendy Faulkner, celebrated their anniversary every year until she died in the south tower of the World Trade Center, where she had traveled for business.
The day was also special for Ashley, a 15-year-old Mason High School student, because the visit was reminiscent of a trip she took four years ago with her mother and Prince.
They spent all afternoon in the rain waiting to see Bush on the campaign trail. Ashley remembers holding her mother's hand, eating Triscuits she packed and bringing along a book in case she got bored.
But this time was different. She understood what the president was saying, and she got close enough to see him face to face.
"The way he was holding me, with my head against his chest, it felt like he was trying to protect me," Ashley said. "I thought, 'Here is the most powerful guy in the world, and he wants to make sure I'm safe.' I definitely had a couple of tears in my eyes, which is pretty unusual for me."
"I'm a pretty cynical and jaded guy at this point in my life," Faulkner said of the moment with the president. "But this was the real deal. I was really impressed. It was genuine and from the heart."
Thanks to Martha Harrison and Jerry Orndorff
(Sent to us by Martha Harrison and Jerry Orndorff)
Kristina Goetz,The Cincinnati Enquirer: In a moment largely unnoticed by the throngs of people in Lebanon waiting for autographs from the president of the United States, George W. Bush stopped to hold a teenager's head close to his heart.
To View the Picture Of President Bush hugging the Girl (Click Here)
Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn.
He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:
"This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11."
Bush stopped and turned back.
"He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said.
"He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."
Faulkner snapped one frame with his camera.
"I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' " he said. "That's more emotion than she has shown in 2 1/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' "
"And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment."
Special for Lynn Faulkner because the Golden Lamb was the place he and his wife, Wendy Faulkner, celebrated their anniversary every year until she died in the south tower of the World Trade Center, where she had traveled for business.
The day was also special for Ashley, a 15-year-old Mason High School student, because the visit was reminiscent of a trip she took four years ago with her mother and Prince.
They spent all afternoon in the rain waiting to see Bush on the campaign trail. Ashley remembers holding her mother's hand, eating Triscuits she packed and bringing along a book in case she got bored.
But this time was different. She understood what the president was saying, and she got close enough to see him face to face.
"The way he was holding me, with my head against his chest, it felt like he was trying to protect me," Ashley said. "I thought, 'Here is the most powerful guy in the world, and he wants to make sure I'm safe.' I definitely had a couple of tears in my eyes, which is pretty unusual for me."
"I'm a pretty cynical and jaded guy at this point in my life," Faulkner said of the moment with the president. "But this was the real deal. I was really impressed. It was genuine and from the heart."
Thanks to Martha Harrison and Jerry Orndorff
Saturday, October 16, 2004
PAULA ZAHN NOW
Interview With Senator John Kerry
Aired October 15, 2004 - 20:00 ET
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Paula.
It seems to me that John Kerry was fairly calm, seemed very upbeat. Mostly, if I were to take away an impression from the 15, 20 minutes we spent with him, very, very cautious. He's by nature a cautious politician.
But with 18 days left to go, this is a campaign that feels that they're on the right track, and they're headed in the right direction. They're very excited about their ground game. They say, we've got a great team out there. They say it's unprecedented in its numbers. So, mostly, it seemed to me what he was trying to do in the interview was to be very, very careful.
ZAHN: And we're going to take a look now at that interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: We're on the stage where you just gave an economic speech. I want to bring it down to one person. A middle-aged guy lives in Wisconsin. He doesn't have a job. John Kerry becomes president in January. His life changes February, March, April?
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, his life will change very quickly providing Congress responds. There are immediate things that I can do with respect to trade policy, immediate things I can do in the regulatory system that will help. But the most important thing is to lower the cost of health care and to raise incomes for middle class Americans, put in place a $4,000 tuition tax credit, get a $1,000 into the pocket of Americans by lowering their health care premiums.
CROWLEY: But can you get him a job?
KERRY: Well, I -- directly, day one? No. I'm not going to pretend that I can do that on day one. But what I can do is put in place policies that are going to expand the private sector of America. And I will do that. I'll do that by closing the tax loophole that encourages companies to go overseas. I'll do it by providing a manufacturing job credit which could have an immediate impact on helping companies to expand here in America. I can do it by creating a fair playing field in trade so that companies are more inclined to stay here.
And if you lower the cost of health care, Candy, you really make American companies more competitive. And that's what I'm going to do.
CROWLEY: A lot of talk about the programs that we've heard you talk about now for two years.
KERRY: I know.
CROWLEY: You will not end Social Security. You don't want to raise the age. You don't want to lower the benefits. And you don't want to privatize. You want to make health care available to as many people as possible. You want to add to the loans and grants for college. You want to fully fund No Child Left Behind. You want to increase veterans' benefits. You want to give another tax cut for the middle class.
KERRY: Correct.
CROWLEY: That's an awful lot of money. And a lot of people say you are...
KERRY: Actually...
CROWLEY: ... falling very short. Where are you going to -- you know, I know that you want to pay for a lot with those tax cuts but...
KERRY: No, you can't pay for all of it from that. And I've shown exactly where I'm going to pay for it. Principle number one -- and I want Americans to here this clearly, principle number one, with which I am approaching the budget, is we have to reinstate pay-as-you- go and we have to be fiscally responsible.
Now every program you just listed, I've shown precisely how we're going to pay for it. We pay for it partly by rolling back the tax cut for people earning over $200,000 a year. I give a tax cut, cut, to 98 percent of Americans. All of middle class America gets $1,000 tax credit for child care, a $4,000 tuition tax credit for college, and we lower the cost of health care. I also close corporate tax loopholes. We have $40 billion going to Bermuda and other countries. We have incredible giveaways through the tax code that subsidize companies for going overseas. I don't want to the American worker subsidizing a company that goes overseas, I want them to give a tax credit break to a company that creates jobs here.
I'm going to cut 100,000 contractors from the federal government. I'm going to consolidate 70 different statistical agencies into one. I'm going to consolidate 10 export agencies into one. So we're going to actually -- George Bush has the biggest government, biggest spending in American history. We can reduce the burden on the taxpayer and put money into these things that are more valuable.
CROWLEY: Let me turn you to Iraq. Over the past couple of days, three car bombs in Baghdad, many deaths. We have the full scale attack now on Fallujah. When you came back from Vietnam, the word "quagmire" was used quite a bit. You said: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
You have called this war the wrong war, wrong time, wrong place, which says to me a mistake. Why do you think we have to stay in Iraq when you didn't think we should stay in Vietnam?
KERRY: They're very different. This is a war on terror, that was a civil war, an ideological war.
CROWLEY: But you said there wasn't a terror threat, right?
KERRY: Oh, there is now. That's the problem. The problem is that where there wasn't a connection to al Qaeda, now you have this extraordinary magnet that has been created for jihadists who have crossed the border in the thousands. And it is a haven for terrorism now. And I have said...
CROWLEY: So we are staying
(CROSSTALK)
KERRY: But I've also said since day one -- no, what you have to do now, Candy, is make certain that it isn't a mistake. And the way you make certain it isn't a mistake is to do it right, which is what I have said from day one.
I believed you had to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. And I said from day one there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. This administration in almost every decision chose the wrong way. I mean, they look how they went to war. They went to war without giving our soldiers the body armor they need. They went to war without the Humvees that are armored. They went to war without adequate troops. Paul Bremer has said that. General Shinseki said that.
You have to be accountable for your decisions. The decision they made was to go to war without adequate planning to win the peace. Now we're paying the price. I know how to win this peace. And we have to win it and I'm determined to win it. And we have to win the war on terror. But I can fight a smarter, more effective war on terror than George Bush has. And I can bring allies to our side.
George Bush has pushed people away and isolated America rather that America joining with other people to isolate the radical extremists of Islam. I think that you have to separate them from the real Islam and the religion. They haven't done that effectively. I will.
ZAHN: And welcome back.
Before the break, we heard from Senator John Kerry on health care, taxes, terrorism, and the war in Iraq. And in the second part of Candy Crowley's exclusive interview, Senator Kerry responds to the controversy over his comment during the last debate about Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: How comfortable would you be if one of your political opponents used your daughter's sexual orientation to make a point of their own?
KERRY: I've said what I'm going to say about that yesterday, it was meant as a very constructive comment, in a positive way. I respect their love for their daughter and I respect who she is, as they do.
CROWLEY: Do you understand why the Cheneys are upset that this feels like an invasion of their privacy? KERRY: They have talked about it themselves publicly.
CROWLEY: But you know other gay -- other people with gay children, you could've mentioned them, but you specifically mentioned her.
KERRY: I think that people understand. They've become familiar with that particular situation. I think it was a way of saying, look, she's who she is. I have great respect for her, great respect for them. It was meant constructively in terms of their love and affection for a person who is she is.
CROWLEY: Your buddy John McCain said it was inappropriate.
KERRY: Well, people have different opinions. I've said what I've said.
CROWLEY: Let me ask about Ralph Nader. He was quoted in "The New York Times" today, saying that you are not your own man, that you've let George Bush push you to the right, that you're taking your liberal base for granted and that it doesn't say much for your character. Can you respond to that?
KERRY: Well, let me just say that my record and my -- what I want to do for America is the response to that. I want to provide health care to all Americans. And I have a plan to do it. George Bush does not.
I led the fight to stop the drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. I'm very proud of that accomplishment. I lead the fight to stop Newt Gingrich from undoing the Clean Air, Clean Water Act. I've fought against powerful interests my entire life. And I'm not going to take a second seat to anybody, including Ralph Nader, in terms of my agenda for this nation, fighting to raise the minimum wage, fighting to guarantee equal pay for women, fighting to guarantee that the middle class gets a fair shake in their tax breaks, not to corporations.
If people want a change and they want responsibility for the middle class in America, don't throw away your vote.
There is only one choice here. Either George Bush is going to be president, or John Kerry.
CROWLEY: Have you talked to Ralph Nader? Since I know you saw him in early spring -- maybe in late spring...
KERRY: No, I haven't had a chance to.
CROWLEY: Is anybody trying to talk him out of this, because there are some Democrats that are worried he could make a difference?
KERRY: I've had no conversation with him. And I'm not aware of anybody who is.
CROWLEY: Are you worried? KERRY: I'm confident the American people are going to look at this race as the most important election of our lifetime. There could be four justices of the Supreme Court at stake in this race. Certainly fairness for middle class Americans who are increasingly squeezed. They've seen their income go down, $1,500. Their jobs going overseas, the jobs that replace them pay $9,000 less. If people want an economy that's fiscally responsible and we want a future where we engage with other nations responsibly as we have in the past, there really is only one vote I think.
CROWLEY: You've said repeatedly throughout this campaign that George Bush misled the American people into Iraq. More recently you came closer to the L-word, saying he has lied. Did George Bush deliberately distort intelligence information because he wanted to go to war in Iraq?
KERRY: Candy, I can't tell you that.
CROWLEY: But you think it's possible?
KERRY: I can't get into the intent.
What I know is this, that the president made a promise, a series of promises to America. He stood up in Cincinnati and he said to us, before we voted, we will take every precaution. We will plan carefully. War is not inevitable. He said he would go to the U.N. and go through that process respectfully.
Now Candy, he didn't. He didn't let the inspectors finish their job. He didn't built a real global coalition. He didn't go to war as a last resort. And all I can do...
CROWLEY: But did he lie to get us to go along with it?
KERRY: Candy, I'm not -- I think that language is -- I've never used it and I'm not about to tonight. I think that he misled America in the statements he made about what he would do. And, look, how can you call leaving 850,000 tons of ammunition unguarded planning carefully?
How do you call not having enough troops and firing your Army chief of staff who tells you you're going to need 200,000 troops or more and you basically retire him early -- how do you call that listening and planning carefully? How do you send troops without the body armor and the Humvees that are armored and without adequate -- without the 4th Infantry Division in the north and all the things we needed to make certain that this was successful/
I believe this president rushed to war without a plan to win the peace and America is paying an extraordinary, hundreds of billions -- $200 billion price. And, more importantly, our young are at risk. I want those young properly protected and I'm going to put in place a policy that does it.
CROWLEY: Name me one mistake that you've made in the past three- and-a-half years as a public policy-maker. (LAUGHTER)
KERRY: Gosh.
I think I made a mistake in terms of the breadth of some of the programs that I have talked about in the primaries, because the deficit was larger than we anticipated and we obviously couldn't afford it. So I've scaled them back since then.
CROWLEY: You never once said to yourself, I wish I hadn't voted for that war resolution?
KERRY: No, it wasn't -- because, you see, what we did, we gave the president the authority to load the gun, to hold the trigger so to speak. We didn't tell him to shoot himself in the foot. We gave him an authority that he had to use properly. I would have wanted that authority if I was president because it was the only way Saddam Hussein ever responded to anything was with that threat of force.
But I would have used it very differently and more responsibly. That's the difference.
CROWLEY: Last question. Name two mistakes the Red Sox have made?
(LAUGHTER)
KERRY: Oh, gosh.
(LAUGHTER)
KERRY: How about Grady Little not pulling Pedro a year ago, and maybe a trade here or there.
CROWLEY: Pretty painful.
(CROSSTALK)
KERRY: But, you know, being a Red Sox is the way to kind of really be in touch with the ups and downs of life.
(LAUGHTER)
CROWLEY: Thank you, Senator. Appreciate it.
KERRY: Thank you.
Interview With Senator John Kerry
Aired October 15, 2004 - 20:00 ET
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Paula.
It seems to me that John Kerry was fairly calm, seemed very upbeat. Mostly, if I were to take away an impression from the 15, 20 minutes we spent with him, very, very cautious. He's by nature a cautious politician.
But with 18 days left to go, this is a campaign that feels that they're on the right track, and they're headed in the right direction. They're very excited about their ground game. They say, we've got a great team out there. They say it's unprecedented in its numbers. So, mostly, it seemed to me what he was trying to do in the interview was to be very, very careful.
ZAHN: And we're going to take a look now at that interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: We're on the stage where you just gave an economic speech. I want to bring it down to one person. A middle-aged guy lives in Wisconsin. He doesn't have a job. John Kerry becomes president in January. His life changes February, March, April?
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, his life will change very quickly providing Congress responds. There are immediate things that I can do with respect to trade policy, immediate things I can do in the regulatory system that will help. But the most important thing is to lower the cost of health care and to raise incomes for middle class Americans, put in place a $4,000 tuition tax credit, get a $1,000 into the pocket of Americans by lowering their health care premiums.
CROWLEY: But can you get him a job?
KERRY: Well, I -- directly, day one? No. I'm not going to pretend that I can do that on day one. But what I can do is put in place policies that are going to expand the private sector of America. And I will do that. I'll do that by closing the tax loophole that encourages companies to go overseas. I'll do it by providing a manufacturing job credit which could have an immediate impact on helping companies to expand here in America. I can do it by creating a fair playing field in trade so that companies are more inclined to stay here.
And if you lower the cost of health care, Candy, you really make American companies more competitive. And that's what I'm going to do.
CROWLEY: A lot of talk about the programs that we've heard you talk about now for two years.
KERRY: I know.
CROWLEY: You will not end Social Security. You don't want to raise the age. You don't want to lower the benefits. And you don't want to privatize. You want to make health care available to as many people as possible. You want to add to the loans and grants for college. You want to fully fund No Child Left Behind. You want to increase veterans' benefits. You want to give another tax cut for the middle class.
KERRY: Correct.
CROWLEY: That's an awful lot of money. And a lot of people say you are...
KERRY: Actually...
CROWLEY: ... falling very short. Where are you going to -- you know, I know that you want to pay for a lot with those tax cuts but...
KERRY: No, you can't pay for all of it from that. And I've shown exactly where I'm going to pay for it. Principle number one -- and I want Americans to here this clearly, principle number one, with which I am approaching the budget, is we have to reinstate pay-as-you- go and we have to be fiscally responsible.
Now every program you just listed, I've shown precisely how we're going to pay for it. We pay for it partly by rolling back the tax cut for people earning over $200,000 a year. I give a tax cut, cut, to 98 percent of Americans. All of middle class America gets $1,000 tax credit for child care, a $4,000 tuition tax credit for college, and we lower the cost of health care. I also close corporate tax loopholes. We have $40 billion going to Bermuda and other countries. We have incredible giveaways through the tax code that subsidize companies for going overseas. I don't want to the American worker subsidizing a company that goes overseas, I want them to give a tax credit break to a company that creates jobs here.
I'm going to cut 100,000 contractors from the federal government. I'm going to consolidate 70 different statistical agencies into one. I'm going to consolidate 10 export agencies into one. So we're going to actually -- George Bush has the biggest government, biggest spending in American history. We can reduce the burden on the taxpayer and put money into these things that are more valuable.
CROWLEY: Let me turn you to Iraq. Over the past couple of days, three car bombs in Baghdad, many deaths. We have the full scale attack now on Fallujah. When you came back from Vietnam, the word "quagmire" was used quite a bit. You said: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
You have called this war the wrong war, wrong time, wrong place, which says to me a mistake. Why do you think we have to stay in Iraq when you didn't think we should stay in Vietnam?
KERRY: They're very different. This is a war on terror, that was a civil war, an ideological war.
CROWLEY: But you said there wasn't a terror threat, right?
KERRY: Oh, there is now. That's the problem. The problem is that where there wasn't a connection to al Qaeda, now you have this extraordinary magnet that has been created for jihadists who have crossed the border in the thousands. And it is a haven for terrorism now. And I have said...
CROWLEY: So we are staying
(CROSSTALK)
KERRY: But I've also said since day one -- no, what you have to do now, Candy, is make certain that it isn't a mistake. And the way you make certain it isn't a mistake is to do it right, which is what I have said from day one.
I believed you had to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. And I said from day one there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. This administration in almost every decision chose the wrong way. I mean, they look how they went to war. They went to war without giving our soldiers the body armor they need. They went to war without the Humvees that are armored. They went to war without adequate troops. Paul Bremer has said that. General Shinseki said that.
You have to be accountable for your decisions. The decision they made was to go to war without adequate planning to win the peace. Now we're paying the price. I know how to win this peace. And we have to win it and I'm determined to win it. And we have to win the war on terror. But I can fight a smarter, more effective war on terror than George Bush has. And I can bring allies to our side.
George Bush has pushed people away and isolated America rather that America joining with other people to isolate the radical extremists of Islam. I think that you have to separate them from the real Islam and the religion. They haven't done that effectively. I will.
ZAHN: And welcome back.
Before the break, we heard from Senator John Kerry on health care, taxes, terrorism, and the war in Iraq. And in the second part of Candy Crowley's exclusive interview, Senator Kerry responds to the controversy over his comment during the last debate about Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: How comfortable would you be if one of your political opponents used your daughter's sexual orientation to make a point of their own?
KERRY: I've said what I'm going to say about that yesterday, it was meant as a very constructive comment, in a positive way. I respect their love for their daughter and I respect who she is, as they do.
CROWLEY: Do you understand why the Cheneys are upset that this feels like an invasion of their privacy? KERRY: They have talked about it themselves publicly.
CROWLEY: But you know other gay -- other people with gay children, you could've mentioned them, but you specifically mentioned her.
KERRY: I think that people understand. They've become familiar with that particular situation. I think it was a way of saying, look, she's who she is. I have great respect for her, great respect for them. It was meant constructively in terms of their love and affection for a person who is she is.
CROWLEY: Your buddy John McCain said it was inappropriate.
KERRY: Well, people have different opinions. I've said what I've said.
CROWLEY: Let me ask about Ralph Nader. He was quoted in "The New York Times" today, saying that you are not your own man, that you've let George Bush push you to the right, that you're taking your liberal base for granted and that it doesn't say much for your character. Can you respond to that?
KERRY: Well, let me just say that my record and my -- what I want to do for America is the response to that. I want to provide health care to all Americans. And I have a plan to do it. George Bush does not.
I led the fight to stop the drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. I'm very proud of that accomplishment. I lead the fight to stop Newt Gingrich from undoing the Clean Air, Clean Water Act. I've fought against powerful interests my entire life. And I'm not going to take a second seat to anybody, including Ralph Nader, in terms of my agenda for this nation, fighting to raise the minimum wage, fighting to guarantee equal pay for women, fighting to guarantee that the middle class gets a fair shake in their tax breaks, not to corporations.
If people want a change and they want responsibility for the middle class in America, don't throw away your vote.
There is only one choice here. Either George Bush is going to be president, or John Kerry.
CROWLEY: Have you talked to Ralph Nader? Since I know you saw him in early spring -- maybe in late spring...
KERRY: No, I haven't had a chance to.
CROWLEY: Is anybody trying to talk him out of this, because there are some Democrats that are worried he could make a difference?
KERRY: I've had no conversation with him. And I'm not aware of anybody who is.
CROWLEY: Are you worried? KERRY: I'm confident the American people are going to look at this race as the most important election of our lifetime. There could be four justices of the Supreme Court at stake in this race. Certainly fairness for middle class Americans who are increasingly squeezed. They've seen their income go down, $1,500. Their jobs going overseas, the jobs that replace them pay $9,000 less. If people want an economy that's fiscally responsible and we want a future where we engage with other nations responsibly as we have in the past, there really is only one vote I think.
CROWLEY: You've said repeatedly throughout this campaign that George Bush misled the American people into Iraq. More recently you came closer to the L-word, saying he has lied. Did George Bush deliberately distort intelligence information because he wanted to go to war in Iraq?
KERRY: Candy, I can't tell you that.
CROWLEY: But you think it's possible?
KERRY: I can't get into the intent.
What I know is this, that the president made a promise, a series of promises to America. He stood up in Cincinnati and he said to us, before we voted, we will take every precaution. We will plan carefully. War is not inevitable. He said he would go to the U.N. and go through that process respectfully.
Now Candy, he didn't. He didn't let the inspectors finish their job. He didn't built a real global coalition. He didn't go to war as a last resort. And all I can do...
CROWLEY: But did he lie to get us to go along with it?
KERRY: Candy, I'm not -- I think that language is -- I've never used it and I'm not about to tonight. I think that he misled America in the statements he made about what he would do. And, look, how can you call leaving 850,000 tons of ammunition unguarded planning carefully?
How do you call not having enough troops and firing your Army chief of staff who tells you you're going to need 200,000 troops or more and you basically retire him early -- how do you call that listening and planning carefully? How do you send troops without the body armor and the Humvees that are armored and without adequate -- without the 4th Infantry Division in the north and all the things we needed to make certain that this was successful/
I believe this president rushed to war without a plan to win the peace and America is paying an extraordinary, hundreds of billions -- $200 billion price. And, more importantly, our young are at risk. I want those young properly protected and I'm going to put in place a policy that does it.
CROWLEY: Name me one mistake that you've made in the past three- and-a-half years as a public policy-maker. (LAUGHTER)
KERRY: Gosh.
I think I made a mistake in terms of the breadth of some of the programs that I have talked about in the primaries, because the deficit was larger than we anticipated and we obviously couldn't afford it. So I've scaled them back since then.
CROWLEY: You never once said to yourself, I wish I hadn't voted for that war resolution?
KERRY: No, it wasn't -- because, you see, what we did, we gave the president the authority to load the gun, to hold the trigger so to speak. We didn't tell him to shoot himself in the foot. We gave him an authority that he had to use properly. I would have wanted that authority if I was president because it was the only way Saddam Hussein ever responded to anything was with that threat of force.
But I would have used it very differently and more responsibly. That's the difference.
CROWLEY: Last question. Name two mistakes the Red Sox have made?
(LAUGHTER)
KERRY: Oh, gosh.
(LAUGHTER)
KERRY: How about Grady Little not pulling Pedro a year ago, and maybe a trade here or there.
CROWLEY: Pretty painful.
(CROSSTALK)
KERRY: But, you know, being a Red Sox is the way to kind of really be in touch with the ups and downs of life.
(LAUGHTER)
CROWLEY: Thank you, Senator. Appreciate it.
KERRY: Thank you.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Senior Citizen Against Bush
See The Picture Of This Senior Citizen (Click Here)
I am a senior citizen.
During the Clinton Administration I had an extremely good and well paying job.
I took numerous vacations and had several vacation homes.
Since President Bush took office, I have watched my entire life change for the worse.
I lost my job.
I lost my two sons in that terrible Iraqi War.
I lost my homes.
I lost my health insurance.
As a matter of fact I lost virtually everything and became homeless.
Adding insult to injury, when the authorities found me living like an animal, instead of helping me, they arrested me.
I will do anything that Senator Kerry wants to insure that a Democrat is back in the White House come next year.
Bush has to go.
Sincerely,
Saddam Hussein
Thanks to Ed and Norma Bzdyk Of Milledgeville Ga
See The Picture Of This Senior Citizen (Click Here)
I am a senior citizen.
During the Clinton Administration I had an extremely good and well paying job.
I took numerous vacations and had several vacation homes.
Since President Bush took office, I have watched my entire life change for the worse.
I lost my job.
I lost my two sons in that terrible Iraqi War.
I lost my homes.
I lost my health insurance.
As a matter of fact I lost virtually everything and became homeless.
Adding insult to injury, when the authorities found me living like an animal, instead of helping me, they arrested me.
I will do anything that Senator Kerry wants to insure that a Democrat is back in the White House come next year.
Bush has to go.
Sincerely,
Saddam Hussein
Thanks to Ed and Norma Bzdyk Of Milledgeville Ga
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Posted on Fri, Oct. 08, 2004
Clay rips Marshall for privately funded trips
By Don Schanche Jr.
Telegraph Staff Writer
Calder Clay criticized U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall this week for taking three trips paid for by private interest groups - trips that dollar value totals more than the cost of similar trips by most members of Georgia's congressional delegation.
Clay, the Republican who is trying to unseat Marshall, cited figures that were published Sunday in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, based on a study released last week by Medill News Service and two broadcast news organizations. The study looked at congressional travel paid for by private groups since 2000.
The news organizations' analysis showed that Marshall, D-Macon, has taken trips valued at $31,156.96, paid for by private interests. Within Georgia's congressional delegation, only Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Zell Miller had trips whose total cost was greater than Marshall's, according to the study.
Some critics say the privately funded trips are a way for special interests to influence elected officials.
Clay called Marshall's ranking "a dubious honor." He noted that one of Marshall's trips was an $18,000 visit with his wife to India, paid for by the Confederation of Indian Industry. According to the group's Web site, it "works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India."
"At a time when Middle Georgians are looking for a member of Congress to help protect their jobs, it sends the wrong signal for their representative to be taking his family on an all-expense paid trip bankrolled by the very people who are working to take our jobs overseas," Clay said in a prepared statement.
Marshall replied in his own prepared statement that the India trip concerned military matters, and he said that he opposes outsourcing American jobs to other countries.
"I was invited as a member of the Armed Services Committee. I received extensive briefings by the Army and spent most of the trip encouraging Indian officials - including the defense minister - to assist us with the war against terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, all at no taxpayer expense," Marshall said. "I even gave a speech on the topic for Indian national television. And I can tell you that the hosts were not at all happy when they heard my opinions and voting record on outsourcing."
Marshall's other trips were to Israel, at a cost of $11,629.30, and a congressional retreat in West Virginia, at a cost of $1,576, according to the news organizations' report. His wife, Camille, accompanied him on all three trips, according to the report.
Posted on Fri, Oct. 08, 2004
This is Viewpoints for Friday
Owes an apology
As a disabled U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam era, I think calling Jim Marshall AWOL from his duties is a bit harsh. However, he has been derelict in the performance of his duties when it comes to representing the Third Congressional District.
I keep reading about Calder Clay and "negative attacks" but I still have not seen Mr. Marshall on record denying that he voted against veterans. It's just plain wrong for him to tell us he is working on our behalf to keep our benefits in tact, but vote against millions of dollars for veterans who are in need of prosthetic limbs.
I looked it up for myself at www.house.gov and I saw how Marshall failed to side with veterans on this issue. Look it up for yourself. You can't say you're for veterans 100 percent of the time, then go to Washington and vote against funding for disabled vets.
Calder Clay said that he would have voted for the veterans; Jim Marshall took us for granted by voting against us. I believe Mr. Marshall owes veterans an apology.
Burl Jimmerson
Warner Robins
Posted on Wed, Oct. 06, 2004
This is Viewpoints for Wednesday
Clay a leader
One of the best leaders in the community is Calder Clay. He is from a fine family and has strong Christian values. He did a great job on the Macon City Council, as well as on the Bibb County Commission and on the water board.
Clay grew up in Macon and understands Southern values and culture and the needs of this district.
I urge you to vote for and elect Mr. Clay. He will not let you down.
Gary E. Mann
Macon
Clay rips Marshall for privately funded trips
By Don Schanche Jr.
Telegraph Staff Writer
Calder Clay criticized U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall this week for taking three trips paid for by private interest groups - trips that dollar value totals more than the cost of similar trips by most members of Georgia's congressional delegation.
Clay, the Republican who is trying to unseat Marshall, cited figures that were published Sunday in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, based on a study released last week by Medill News Service and two broadcast news organizations. The study looked at congressional travel paid for by private groups since 2000.
The news organizations' analysis showed that Marshall, D-Macon, has taken trips valued at $31,156.96, paid for by private interests. Within Georgia's congressional delegation, only Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Zell Miller had trips whose total cost was greater than Marshall's, according to the study.
Some critics say the privately funded trips are a way for special interests to influence elected officials.
Clay called Marshall's ranking "a dubious honor." He noted that one of Marshall's trips was an $18,000 visit with his wife to India, paid for by the Confederation of Indian Industry. According to the group's Web site, it "works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India."
"At a time when Middle Georgians are looking for a member of Congress to help protect their jobs, it sends the wrong signal for their representative to be taking his family on an all-expense paid trip bankrolled by the very people who are working to take our jobs overseas," Clay said in a prepared statement.
Marshall replied in his own prepared statement that the India trip concerned military matters, and he said that he opposes outsourcing American jobs to other countries.
"I was invited as a member of the Armed Services Committee. I received extensive briefings by the Army and spent most of the trip encouraging Indian officials - including the defense minister - to assist us with the war against terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, all at no taxpayer expense," Marshall said. "I even gave a speech on the topic for Indian national television. And I can tell you that the hosts were not at all happy when they heard my opinions and voting record on outsourcing."
Marshall's other trips were to Israel, at a cost of $11,629.30, and a congressional retreat in West Virginia, at a cost of $1,576, according to the news organizations' report. His wife, Camille, accompanied him on all three trips, according to the report.
Posted on Fri, Oct. 08, 2004
This is Viewpoints for Friday
Owes an apology
As a disabled U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam era, I think calling Jim Marshall AWOL from his duties is a bit harsh. However, he has been derelict in the performance of his duties when it comes to representing the Third Congressional District.
I keep reading about Calder Clay and "negative attacks" but I still have not seen Mr. Marshall on record denying that he voted against veterans. It's just plain wrong for him to tell us he is working on our behalf to keep our benefits in tact, but vote against millions of dollars for veterans who are in need of prosthetic limbs.
I looked it up for myself at www.house.gov and I saw how Marshall failed to side with veterans on this issue. Look it up for yourself. You can't say you're for veterans 100 percent of the time, then go to Washington and vote against funding for disabled vets.
Calder Clay said that he would have voted for the veterans; Jim Marshall took us for granted by voting against us. I believe Mr. Marshall owes veterans an apology.
Burl Jimmerson
Warner Robins
Posted on Wed, Oct. 06, 2004
This is Viewpoints for Wednesday
Clay a leader
One of the best leaders in the community is Calder Clay. He is from a fine family and has strong Christian values. He did a great job on the Macon City Council, as well as on the Bibb County Commission and on the water board.
Clay grew up in Macon and understands Southern values and culture and the needs of this district.
I urge you to vote for and elect Mr. Clay. He will not let you down.
Gary E. Mann
Macon
Candidates take sides in Monday's forum
By Amy H. Mullis - The Union-Recorder
Candidates for local and state office discussed their platforms during Monday night's candidate forum sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Milledgeville-Oconee Area.
In two races, incumbents were challenged by their opponents as being unavailable or ineffective.
The first charge came from Johnny Grant (R), who is challenging Faye Smith (D) for the District 25 state Senate seat. Grant said he plans to work to protect jobs in the state.
"To me, the biggest issue in Baldwin County is who best can protect the state jobs and state institutions," he said. "Our local economy and these institutions are too important to leave to two more years of ineffective leadership from our current state senator."
Smith responded by challenging Grant's definition of ineffectiveness.
"My opponent talks about ineffective. I don't know what he thinks effective is," she said. "I spread myself quite, quite efficiently over (the 10 counties in my district)."
The second challenge came from Bob Williams (R), who is running against Sheriff Bill Massee (D). Williams said he has heard complaints that Massee is hard to contact and has taken no effective action against gangs.
"I've heard in neighborhoods directly affected by gangs that we have in town that nothing's been done," he said. "They want the gangs out of their neighborhoods. They want the gang influence out of their children's lives."
Williams said he would counsel those involved in gang activity and would encourage his staff to do the same. For those that seem to have no interest in changing, Williams said tougher action will be necessary.
"I will come down hard on them, make federal cases and get them out of our neighborhoods, and hopefully teach the younger generation not to follow that path," he said.
Massee had a two-in-one response to Williams' allegations.
"We're like any other agency," he said. "We respond to the squeaking wheel. When people call from neighborhoods, and they're having problems, whether it's drugs, gangs...that is the area that we try to spend as much time in as we can."
Massee added that the public should not have a hard time contacting him because he carries a cell phone and pager and his home phone number is in the phone book.
The issue of law enforcement also came up in discussions by candidates for the District 5 seat of the Baldwin County Commission.
Challenger Bubba Williams (R) said he wants to strengthen the infrastructure of emergency agencies to ensure that employees will not leave their jobs. He said the county loses money when people are trained and then leave for higher pay.
A member of the audience asked Williams how he planned to cover that cost without raising taxes.
"I believe priority is what's going to have to direct funds," he said. "Right now, priority is not trying to retain our emergency workers."
Incumbent Ace Parker (D) said he is very pleased with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office and other services in the county, including the already-expanded water system and the Sinclair Water Authority.
The last set of candidates to speak were those competing in the race for chief magistrate, Shane M. Geeter (D) and Genna McLeod Wilkes (R).
Geeter said he believes professional education and experience are required to be successful in the position.
"Magistrate court is the court that handles all kinds of cases, everything from animals down to wills and estates," he said. "I think the magistrate court requires somebody who has knowledge in the law, has graduated law school and passed the bar to show a proficiency exam and has experience in dealing with various kinds of cases."
Wilkes, who has served as a magistrate judge since 1996, said she feels her experience will be valuable and that she would be in the office daily and would assist in the daily operation of the office.
Candidates whose opponents were not at the forum were allowed three minutes to speak and an opportunity to answer questions from the audience.
Mark A. Bell (R), who is running against W.R. (Bobby) Blizzard (D) for the District 4 County Commission seat, said he has five focal points in his campaign: public safety, water expansion, job growth, tourism and city/county consolidation.
Bell said all citizens in Baldwin County should have the option to use county water and that voters should have the speak out on consolidation.
Blizzard said earlier Monday he was not able to attend the forum because of a conflicting Sinclair Water Authority meeting .
Harold B. Simmons is opposing Kathy Browder-Hawkins, who was not present at the forum, for the District 2 school board seat. He said improvements to the quality of education top his list.
"I know that education is not defined by good buildings, good-looking buildings and spending taxpayers' dollars," he said. "The school system is failing. We have not met the AYP in the past two years, and there are consequences when the schools do not meet the AYP."
Rep. Bobby Parham (D) was the last to speak. Parham, who is running against Wilbur E. Baugh (R), said in his 37 years of service as a state representative, he has never been as concerned as he is now about the upcoming term.
"We have had three budgets that have been passed by department heads for review by the governor, and all three of them spell disaster for Baldwin County," he said, adding that each calls for more budget cuts than the one before it.
Parham said he feels the state has turned from its recession and is seeing a gain in collections and he hopes the governor will consider that and postpone the proposed cuts.
Amy H. Mullis covers Jones County for The Union-Recorder. She can be reached at (478) 453-1458 or by e-mail at newsroom@unionrecorder.com
By Amy H. Mullis - The Union-Recorder
Candidates for local and state office discussed their platforms during Monday night's candidate forum sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Milledgeville-Oconee Area.
In two races, incumbents were challenged by their opponents as being unavailable or ineffective.
The first charge came from Johnny Grant (R), who is challenging Faye Smith (D) for the District 25 state Senate seat. Grant said he plans to work to protect jobs in the state.
"To me, the biggest issue in Baldwin County is who best can protect the state jobs and state institutions," he said. "Our local economy and these institutions are too important to leave to two more years of ineffective leadership from our current state senator."
Smith responded by challenging Grant's definition of ineffectiveness.
"My opponent talks about ineffective. I don't know what he thinks effective is," she said. "I spread myself quite, quite efficiently over (the 10 counties in my district)."
The second challenge came from Bob Williams (R), who is running against Sheriff Bill Massee (D). Williams said he has heard complaints that Massee is hard to contact and has taken no effective action against gangs.
"I've heard in neighborhoods directly affected by gangs that we have in town that nothing's been done," he said. "They want the gangs out of their neighborhoods. They want the gang influence out of their children's lives."
Williams said he would counsel those involved in gang activity and would encourage his staff to do the same. For those that seem to have no interest in changing, Williams said tougher action will be necessary.
"I will come down hard on them, make federal cases and get them out of our neighborhoods, and hopefully teach the younger generation not to follow that path," he said.
Massee had a two-in-one response to Williams' allegations.
"We're like any other agency," he said. "We respond to the squeaking wheel. When people call from neighborhoods, and they're having problems, whether it's drugs, gangs...that is the area that we try to spend as much time in as we can."
Massee added that the public should not have a hard time contacting him because he carries a cell phone and pager and his home phone number is in the phone book.
The issue of law enforcement also came up in discussions by candidates for the District 5 seat of the Baldwin County Commission.
Challenger Bubba Williams (R) said he wants to strengthen the infrastructure of emergency agencies to ensure that employees will not leave their jobs. He said the county loses money when people are trained and then leave for higher pay.
A member of the audience asked Williams how he planned to cover that cost without raising taxes.
"I believe priority is what's going to have to direct funds," he said. "Right now, priority is not trying to retain our emergency workers."
Incumbent Ace Parker (D) said he is very pleased with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office and other services in the county, including the already-expanded water system and the Sinclair Water Authority.
The last set of candidates to speak were those competing in the race for chief magistrate, Shane M. Geeter (D) and Genna McLeod Wilkes (R).
Geeter said he believes professional education and experience are required to be successful in the position.
"Magistrate court is the court that handles all kinds of cases, everything from animals down to wills and estates," he said. "I think the magistrate court requires somebody who has knowledge in the law, has graduated law school and passed the bar to show a proficiency exam and has experience in dealing with various kinds of cases."
Wilkes, who has served as a magistrate judge since 1996, said she feels her experience will be valuable and that she would be in the office daily and would assist in the daily operation of the office.
Candidates whose opponents were not at the forum were allowed three minutes to speak and an opportunity to answer questions from the audience.
Mark A. Bell (R), who is running against W.R. (Bobby) Blizzard (D) for the District 4 County Commission seat, said he has five focal points in his campaign: public safety, water expansion, job growth, tourism and city/county consolidation.
Bell said all citizens in Baldwin County should have the option to use county water and that voters should have the speak out on consolidation.
Blizzard said earlier Monday he was not able to attend the forum because of a conflicting Sinclair Water Authority meeting .
Harold B. Simmons is opposing Kathy Browder-Hawkins, who was not present at the forum, for the District 2 school board seat. He said improvements to the quality of education top his list.
"I know that education is not defined by good buildings, good-looking buildings and spending taxpayers' dollars," he said. "The school system is failing. We have not met the AYP in the past two years, and there are consequences when the schools do not meet the AYP."
Rep. Bobby Parham (D) was the last to speak. Parham, who is running against Wilbur E. Baugh (R), said in his 37 years of service as a state representative, he has never been as concerned as he is now about the upcoming term.
"We have had three budgets that have been passed by department heads for review by the governor, and all three of them spell disaster for Baldwin County," he said, adding that each calls for more budget cuts than the one before it.
Parham said he feels the state has turned from its recession and is seeing a gain in collections and he hopes the governor will consider that and postpone the proposed cuts.
Amy H. Mullis covers Jones County for The Union-Recorder. She can be reached at (478) 453-1458 or by e-mail at newsroom@unionrecorder.com
Mistakes Question
GRABEL: President Bush, during the last four years, you have made thousands of decisions that have affected millions of lives. Please give three instances in which you came to realize you had made a wrong decision, and what you did to correct it. Thank you.
BUSH: I have made a lot of decisions, and some of them little, like appointments to boards you never heard of, and some of them big.
And in a war, there's a lot of -- there's a lot of tactical decisions that historians will look back and say: He shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have made that decision. And I'll take responsibility for them. I'm human.
But on the big questions, about whether or not we should have gone into Afghanistan, the big question about whether we should have removed somebody in Iraq, I'll stand by those decisions, because I think they're right.
That's really what you're -- when they ask about the mistakes, that's what they're talking about. They're trying to say, "Did you make a mistake going into Iraq?" And the answer is, "Absolutely not." It was the right decision.
The Duelfer report confirmed that decision today, because what Saddam Hussein was doing was trying to get rid of sanctions so he could reconstitute a weapons program. And the biggest threat facing America is terrorists with weapons of mass destruction.
We knew he hated us. We knew he'd been -- invaded other countries. We knew he tortured his own people.
On the tax cut, it's a big decision. I did the right decision. Our recession was one of the shallowest in modern history.
Now, you asked what mistakes. I made some mistakes in appointing people, but I'm not going to name them. I don't want to hurt their feelings on national TV.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: But history will look back, and I'm fully prepared to accept any mistakes that history judges to my administration, because the president makes the decisions, the president has to take the responsibility.
GIBSON: Senator Kerry, a minute and a half.
GRABEL: President Bush, during the last four years, you have made thousands of decisions that have affected millions of lives. Please give three instances in which you came to realize you had made a wrong decision, and what you did to correct it. Thank you.
BUSH: I have made a lot of decisions, and some of them little, like appointments to boards you never heard of, and some of them big.
And in a war, there's a lot of -- there's a lot of tactical decisions that historians will look back and say: He shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have made that decision. And I'll take responsibility for them. I'm human.
But on the big questions, about whether or not we should have gone into Afghanistan, the big question about whether we should have removed somebody in Iraq, I'll stand by those decisions, because I think they're right.
That's really what you're -- when they ask about the mistakes, that's what they're talking about. They're trying to say, "Did you make a mistake going into Iraq?" And the answer is, "Absolutely not." It was the right decision.
The Duelfer report confirmed that decision today, because what Saddam Hussein was doing was trying to get rid of sanctions so he could reconstitute a weapons program. And the biggest threat facing America is terrorists with weapons of mass destruction.
We knew he hated us. We knew he'd been -- invaded other countries. We knew he tortured his own people.
On the tax cut, it's a big decision. I did the right decision. Our recession was one of the shallowest in modern history.
Now, you asked what mistakes. I made some mistakes in appointing people, but I'm not going to name them. I don't want to hurt their feelings on national TV.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: But history will look back, and I'm fully prepared to accept any mistakes that history judges to my administration, because the president makes the decisions, the president has to take the responsibility.
GIBSON: Senator Kerry, a minute and a half.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Kerry's Undeclared War
By MATT BAI
Published: October 10, 2004
Page 6-7
When I asked Kerry what it would take for Americans to feel safe again, he displayed a much less apocalyptic worldview. ''We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance,'' Kerry said. ''As a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life.''
This analogy struck me as remarkable, if only because it seemed to throw down a big orange marker between Kerry's philosophy and the president's. Kerry, a former prosecutor, was suggesting that the war, if one could call it that, was, if not winnable, then at least controllable. If mobsters could be chased into the back rooms of seedy clubs, then so, too, could terrorists be sent scurrying for their lives into remote caves where they wouldn't harm us. Bush had continually cast himself as the optimist in the race, asserting that he alone saw the liberating potential of American might, and yet his dark vision of unending war suddenly seemed far less hopeful than Kerry's notion that all of this horror -- planes flying into buildings, anxiety about suicide bombers and chemicals in the subway -- could somehow be made to recede until it was barely in our thoughts.
Kerry came to his worldview over the course of a Senate career that has been, by any legislative standard, a quiet affair. Beginning in the late 80's, Kerry's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations investigated and exposed connections between Latin American drug dealers and BCCI, the international bank that was helping to launder drug money. That led to more investigations of arms dealers, money laundering and terrorist financing.
Kerry turned his work on the committee into a book on global crime, titled ''The New War,'' published in 1997. He readily admitted to me that the book ''wasn't exclusively on Al Qaeda''; in fact, it barely mentioned the rise of Islamic extremism. But when I spoke to Kerry in August, he said that many of the interdiction tactics that cripple drug lords, including governments working jointly to share intelligence, patrol borders and force banks to identify suspicious customers, can also be some of the most useful tools in the war on terror.
By MATT BAI
Published: October 10, 2004
Page 6-7
When I asked Kerry what it would take for Americans to feel safe again, he displayed a much less apocalyptic worldview. ''We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance,'' Kerry said. ''As a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life.''
This analogy struck me as remarkable, if only because it seemed to throw down a big orange marker between Kerry's philosophy and the president's. Kerry, a former prosecutor, was suggesting that the war, if one could call it that, was, if not winnable, then at least controllable. If mobsters could be chased into the back rooms of seedy clubs, then so, too, could terrorists be sent scurrying for their lives into remote caves where they wouldn't harm us. Bush had continually cast himself as the optimist in the race, asserting that he alone saw the liberating potential of American might, and yet his dark vision of unending war suddenly seemed far less hopeful than Kerry's notion that all of this horror -- planes flying into buildings, anxiety about suicide bombers and chemicals in the subway -- could somehow be made to recede until it was barely in our thoughts.
Kerry came to his worldview over the course of a Senate career that has been, by any legislative standard, a quiet affair. Beginning in the late 80's, Kerry's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations investigated and exposed connections between Latin American drug dealers and BCCI, the international bank that was helping to launder drug money. That led to more investigations of arms dealers, money laundering and terrorist financing.
Kerry turned his work on the committee into a book on global crime, titled ''The New War,'' published in 1997. He readily admitted to me that the book ''wasn't exclusively on Al Qaeda''; in fact, it barely mentioned the rise of Islamic extremism. But when I spoke to Kerry in August, he said that many of the interdiction tactics that cripple drug lords, including governments working jointly to share intelligence, patrol borders and force banks to identify suspicious customers, can also be some of the most useful tools in the war on terror.
Friday, October 08, 2004
Kerry Lied Again About 1.6 Million Jobs Lost
At the debate Kerry: He lost 1.6 million (Jobs), ladies and gentlemen. And most of that tax cut went to the wealthiest people in the country.
The second presidential debate - Read the transcript.
U.S. Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics
Using The Current Employment Statistics (Payroll) Survey (Wrong Survey), in Jan 2001, when Bush took office there were 132,388,000 Jobs and in Sep 2004, 131,567,000 Jobs.(132,388,000 - 131,567,000 = 821,000)
Even using the wrong Survey, only 821,000 jobs have been lost, not 1.6 Million that Kerry lied about in the debate.
More good news, there were 236,000 more jobs in the March 2003 through March 2004 period than originally estimated by the employer surveys. So in Jan 2005, these 236,000 jobs will be added. This will bring the 821,000 jobs down to 585,000.
The above numbers are from the wrong Survey, the Right Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population (Household) Survey, the total number of jobs for Sep is 139,480,000. This is about 2 million jobs created by Bush since he took office.
CNN LIVE TODAY - Aired October 8, 2004 - 10:00 ET
DON EVANS, COMMERCE SECRETARY: If you look at the Household Survey it shows we gained 2 million jobs since President Bush took office. The Household Survey simply says we got more Americans working today than we've ever had working in the history of our country.
KAGAN: So you're saying you need to count the jobs differently than they're being counted is what you're saying? Than the numbers that are actually...
EVANS: The Payroll Survey doesn't count everybody. The Payroll Survey does not count. It just counts jobs. It does not count entrepreneurs, small business owners, sole proprietors, farmers. It doesn't count everybody.
President Bush: The policies in place are working, the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, the small business sector of our economy is vibrant.
Don't let Kerry lie about 1.6 Million jobs lost, or Pelosi lie about 2.1 Million, or the Media lie about 2 Million Jobs lost under Bush.
Even, using the wrong survey, Only 821,000 Jobs lost. You do the Math. You write emails to them and tell them: "They are Lying".
At the debate Kerry: He lost 1.6 million (Jobs), ladies and gentlemen. And most of that tax cut went to the wealthiest people in the country.
The second presidential debate - Read the transcript.
U.S. Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics
Using The Current Employment Statistics (Payroll) Survey (Wrong Survey), in Jan 2001, when Bush took office there were 132,388,000 Jobs and in Sep 2004, 131,567,000 Jobs.(132,388,000 - 131,567,000 = 821,000)
Even using the wrong Survey, only 821,000 jobs have been lost, not 1.6 Million that Kerry lied about in the debate.
More good news, there were 236,000 more jobs in the March 2003 through March 2004 period than originally estimated by the employer surveys. So in Jan 2005, these 236,000 jobs will be added. This will bring the 821,000 jobs down to 585,000.
The above numbers are from the wrong Survey, the Right Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population (Household) Survey, the total number of jobs for Sep is 139,480,000. This is about 2 million jobs created by Bush since he took office.
CNN LIVE TODAY - Aired October 8, 2004 - 10:00 ET
DON EVANS, COMMERCE SECRETARY: If you look at the Household Survey it shows we gained 2 million jobs since President Bush took office. The Household Survey simply says we got more Americans working today than we've ever had working in the history of our country.
KAGAN: So you're saying you need to count the jobs differently than they're being counted is what you're saying? Than the numbers that are actually...
EVANS: The Payroll Survey doesn't count everybody. The Payroll Survey does not count. It just counts jobs. It does not count entrepreneurs, small business owners, sole proprietors, farmers. It doesn't count everybody.
President Bush: The policies in place are working, the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, the small business sector of our economy is vibrant.
Don't let Kerry lie about 1.6 Million jobs lost, or Pelosi lie about 2.1 Million, or the Media lie about 2 Million Jobs lost under Bush.
Even, using the wrong survey, Only 821,000 Jobs lost. You do the Math. You write emails to them and tell them: "They are Lying".
