Roger's Clogged Mail Sac

For those of you trying to e-mail me -- a large group, no doubt -- my mailbox was clogged with a 1.4M message. It's no longer there.

Feel free to resume sending fan mail, lottery notifications, marriage proposals and exciting news of business opportunities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Al Ain & Northern Emirates in areas such as Construction, Oilfield Development, Telecommunication, Information Technology, Medical, Power Generation, Roads & Bridges & more.

The Flaming Of The Shrewd

Shrewd like Kaus:

I shouldn't have said Gladwell ignored the sociological issue. He didn't, and I apologize for the mistake.

Shrewd!

Respectable big-time journalist friends who met with the anti-Kerry vets recently found them a lot more credible than expected. Sorry, Note!

Shrewd!

Let's assume that a certain amount of hype is standard procedure in military write-ups, especially when medals are involved. The problem is that Kerry is running for president on this official hype of a more-than-honorable record (one reason he's constantly referring reporters to his official medal citations).

Shrewder still!

All that shrewdness in the space of one week.

Clearly the man is a genius. How could anyone criticize such accuracy, rational thought and eloquence?

Surely Kaus doesn't need a defense by a writer whose greatest accomplishment as a writer was slapping together a book of quotes showing how stupid Bush is.

Foghataboutit

"I have no idea where they got that," Foghat drummer Roger Earl tells PAGE SIX. "Foghat are not supporters of George Bush, and we're certainly not going on the road with him." In fact, Earl seemed downright smitten with the John Kerry-favoring Springsteen tour. "I'd like to see Bruce Springsteen and Bonnie Raitt for president. We'd go on tour with them in a minute!" The Long Island resident also offered up Foghat's services to entertain the troops overseas. "We support the troops 110 percent," he said. "We'd love to go over there and play for them, but no one has asked us yet." ...

My apologies for believing anything published in U.S. News and World Report. Mort Zuckerman, David Gergen, John Leo and Michael Barone should have been my first clues.

Paging Dr. Fraud

It may not last long, but the latest column of psycho babbler Charles Quackhammer, on "Bush hatred," is positioned on washingtonpost.com next to an advertisement which reads "ERECTION PROBLEMS? PREMATURE EJACULATION?"

Now that's what I call target marketing.

"We're adding another first to our first-ever convention in New York City," said Chairman Gillespie. "Rock stations have DJs, MTV has VJs and Republicans are introducing CJs,"

"Convention Jockeys are a new program feature that will make this convention truly unique. The CJs will set the tone and tell the great stories of our party," said Mr. Harris. "By having jockeys reporting from throughout the arena and from coast to coast, the nation will see the broad and diverse support for President Bush and his vision for a safer world and a more hopeful America."

Who are you kidding, Ed? You've been getting CJs for years.

But Dole also made another statement that day, one that hasn't been aired until now. Of McCain's charge to President Bush during a 2000 debate -- "You should be ashamed" -- Dole told Wolf Blitzer, "He was right." Dole made the remark off-air, while CNN broadcast the Kerry ad called "Old Tricks," the one featuring McCain's 2000 debate remarks. The campaign stopped airing it recently at McCain's request.

I say Wolf is the bigger disgrace.

Old Bob Dole may have to sit in the car with the windows rolled up while Liddy gives her speech at the con.

(link.)

The Young Ones

The Hipublicans know how to party.

In addition to the Bush daughters, the Youth Convention will feature Republican Party elected officials and Hollywood celebrities. The lineup of speakers to appear during the hour and a half long program includes the Honorable Andy Card, the Honorable Rod Paige, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), actress Angie Harmon, NFL Cornerback Jason Sehorn, syndicated youth radio host Ben Ferguson, Bush-Cheney '04 Deputy Strategist Sara Taylor, WWE superstar JBL, "Stand Up and Holla!" winner Princella Smith and Michael Mack, Chairman of the Young Republicans.

Only and hour and a half?!? That's not enough time for the Talking Penis and Andy Card to work their magic.

Meanwhile, Babbs and the other one show their respect for the democratic process.

Program participants will talk about the importance of youth participation in the nation's political system and the importance of registering to vote. "Participating in elections is one of the most important and easiest ways we can positively change our future," Barbara and Jenna said recently in an online chat.

Unless you're an African-American living in Flordia.

They seem like they have a lot to say.

But don't ask them what they had to eat.

Hopefully my schedule will lighten up before the con starts.

Here's a timely story from Ann Louise Bardach that the hairless hack won't be linking to:

Following the contentious 2000 recount, e-mails on former Sec. of State Katherine Harris' computer revealed that she had been in contact with Jeb Bush during the recount, contrary to both their claims. Miami Herald reporter Meg Laughlin discovered that e-mail messages sent to Jeb Bush from Harris had been deleted after the recount. Harris then had the operating system of her computer changed, a procedure that erased all its data. "What was odd about what she did," said Mark Seibel, an editor at the Herald, "was that they installed an old operating system - not a new one - which makes you wonder why they did it."

...

For one, [Glenda] Hood and Jeb Bush have strongly endorsed the state's Republican-controlled legislature's new rule that outlaws manual recounts. This means that if any of the new optical-scan or touch-screen machines fail - as they did in the 2002 elections; and the recent March primaries; and just last week, when a backup system failed in a test run in Miami-Dade - there will be no recourse for counting votes. A coalition of election-reform groups has challenged this rule, and Rep. Robert Wexler of Palm Beach sued in federal court after a state appeals court dismissed the matter, ruling that while the right to vote is guaranteed, a perfect voting system is not.

Unlike the recent elections in Venezuela, where the new touch-screen voting machine provided every voter with a receipt, Floridians will have to take the word of Hood and Bush that their vote was counted.

Hood. A very appropriate name.

AEI: Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Liar

In this article, AEI's Sally Satel, M.D., fails to point out the largest source of the misconception that the typical OxyContin addict starts out as a pain patient who unwittingly falls into a drug habit.

These two errors--that people are overdosing on OxyContin in huge numbers and that the typical OxyContin addict starts out as a pain patient who falls unwittingly into a drug habit--reflect common misconceptions.

Sorry, Sally, the only one I know pushing the unwitting addict line is Megajunkie Rush.

Its popularity is due to the fact that it is taken only twice a day.

(Thanks to a reader for the link.)

How To Hack

A textbook example:

Reader M.R. reacts to my comment that "The impression is forming: Kerry behaved honorably and capably in battle, but he was a hero in the write ups!"

So you just now figured out the STANDARD rule of military write ups?

Fair enough. Let's assume that a certain amount of hype is standard procedure in military write-ups, especially when medals are involved. The problem is that Kerry is running for president on this official hype of a more-than-honorable record (one reason he's constantly referring reporters to his official medal citations). He's not only running on the hype but pushing it to the limit, milking it for all it's worth. That's dangerous in, yes, the Internet era! Obsessive fact-checkers can smoke out the exaggerations and get them past the ex-gatekeepers.** Unfortunately, it's more or less all Kerry's got. It wouldn't be so important if Kerry had a) a discernable ideology; b) a political message; c) a record of achievement; or d) an appealing personality! ... P.S.: As Polipundit's reservist reader notes, the standard military practice of grade inflation also puts Kerry's glowing "fitness" evaluations in perspective. "One of the Top Few" turns out to mean "One of the Top 50%." ...

Step 1: Quote an anonymous e-mailer.

Step 2: Posit that the anonymous e-mailer's assertion has meaning, if it is true.

Step 3: In all subsequent sentences, treat the anonymous e-mailer's statement as true, based on nothing more than your wish that it is true.

Perhaps Step 1 should be work for an online magazine that cares nothing about credibility.

But, wait, perhaps e-mailer "M.R." is the noted military expert Michael Reagan. Or military historian Michael Richards, from Seinfeld. According to Larry Thurlow, M.R. is definitely John Kerry.

My guess is Moronic Rightwinger. Is Kaus e-mailing himself?

Sliming To Cambodia

Or, A Swift Kicked In The Nuts.

Guess John O'Neill's trips to Cambodia weren't seared, seared into his memory.

Oh, and he's not a Republican stooge either.

BOZELL: Fuck you!

Ell Brent Bozell the Third, spokesclown for the hate-filled Right, needs to spend less time emulating the rappers, stars of reality television, and Showtime soft-core starlets he constantly monitors ... for the sake of the children.

He's starting to sound like Fucking Dick Cheney.

Fools For The Chimpy

(Yeah, like there's a lot work with.)

There won't be any of that 1960s loving feeling the Democrats are so obsessed with when it comes to the battle of the bands at the Republican National Convention. Compared with the groovy oldies from Little Richard, Carole King, and Patti LaBelle that wowed the Dems, the GOP lineup unveiled to Whispers is hip in a Nashville-Houston-Sunday-go-to-church kind of way. Topping the entertainment list is Latin sensation Jaci Velasquez, the Houston hottie just picked as Pepsi's spokesperson south of the border. Country star and Bush fave Darryl Worley, a star on the USO tour, appears next with longtime country great Lee Ann Womack. And there's more: Third Day, the rock and gospel band; Austin quartet Dexter Freebish; gospel crooner Donnie McClurkin, and motivational speaker and singer Gracie Rosenberger. And it's not just a one-week stand. Bushies say that several performers, including Womack, Randy Travis, and even 1970s rock band Foghat have offered to tour to offset Bruce Springsteen 's pro-Kerry tour with fellow performers Jackson Browne, Pearl Jam, Bonnie Raitt, R.E.M., and others.

Joshua Micah Marshall Is Making Sense

He's not pulling any punches either.

Exhibit A:

I say this is exactly where the Kerry campaign needs to go because it very powerfully captures a truth about President Bush -- namely, that he's a coward who truly lacks shame.

I don't say he's a coward because he kept himself out of Vietnam three decades ago. I know no end of men of that age who in one fashion or another made sure they didn't end up in Indochina in those days....

He's a coward because he has other people smear good men without taking any responsibility, without owning up to it or standing behind it. And when someone takes it to him and puts him on the spot to defend his actions -- as McCain does in this spot -- he's literally speechless. Like I say, a coward.

Exhibit B:

The president has chosen the ground on which he wants to fight this campaign. And as per usual he's mobilized friends and family retainers to do the fighting for him. The president is playing tackle football, not touch or flag. If the Dems keep up with the latter they'll lose.

Exhibit C:

It's the same cowardly rich-boy viciousness we've seen so many times from this guy and his family. But the Post piece gives some sobering signs about how effective it's been.

Well said.

MR. RUSSERT: ..."Hours after that statement, the Kerry campaign organized a conference in which two high-profile ex-military supporters simply parroted the MoveOn commercial's line. Bush `scrambled and used his family's influence to get out of hearing a shot fired in anger,' said failed presidential candidate Wesley Clark. ...Added Stansfield Turner, retired admiral, Carter CIA director, `[Bush] used his family influence to get into the Air National Guard and avoid going to war.'"

It's the same message.

MR. DEVINE: First, that's factually inaccurate. The press conference occurred in the morning. The statement was issued in the afternoon. So it wasn't--you know, one occurred after the other not before. And they did occur in the same day. That's absolutely true. Let me say this...

MR. RUSSERT: So senator--let's be clear. So Senator Kerry condemns the comments made by Wesley Clark and Stansfield Turner?

MR. DEVINE: No, he doesn't.

MR. RUSSERT: Are they inappropriate comments?

MR. DEVINE: The general and the admiral, who served, have the right to speak out on this issue. Senator Kerry wants to focus on the real issues of this campaign, but when he is attacked by lies, by people like the authors, for example, of this book, who have been demonstrated to be both liars and bigots, he will stand up and he will speak out. And that's what's going on right now.

MR. RUSSERT: But do they have a right to speak out just like Turner and Clark?

MR. DEVINE: Sure, but they don't have a right to lie, Tim. And that's what's going on right now. They are lying to the American people. And we will send the truth to the American people. And let me tell you something, John Kerry is not going to allow to happen to him what these guys did to John McCain four years ago.

Lied. It can't be said too often.

Meanwhile, Chinless Ken was left gibbering about 63 million.

Rush Limbaugh:


I think ninety percent of the people who listen to Alan Keyes know in their hearts he's right, but they don't want to reorder their lives to live that way. . . . [Supporting] Alan Keyes is not just committing to Alan Keyes! It is saying to yourself: "I have got to fix my life. I've got to straighten up and fly right, I've got to accept responsibility for things."

Not just a politician, a twelve-step program for loudmouth frauds.