Molly Ivins: Unmitigated Gall

Molly Ivins:

"While I was prepared to listen to much rhetoric about Bush%u2019s stalwart firmness as he steers the ship of state in the wrong direction, I was startled to hear Giuliani try to make points over our falling out with so many allies.

Look, the Coalition of the Willing is a public embarrassment, a monument to diplomatic witlessness, not to mention open bribery. To blame others for our diplomatic failure is both fatuous and offensive. Then to repeat Bush%u2019s obnoxious little bully line, %u201CYou%u2019re either with us or you%u2019re with the terrorists,%u201D is both stupid and dangerous.

The perception that we lack a decent respect for the opinions of mankind itself contributes to terrorism. Why encourage Americans, many of whom are already dangerously xenophobic, to treat the arguments of other nations with contemptuous dismissal? Especially when so many of them have been proved right?

Loved the Schwarzenegger speech and apologize again for having accidentally misappropriated the wonderful line of Clive James', the Australian journalist: 'He looks like a condom stuffed with walnuts.' "

Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | George Jr sent out of Texas by father as a 'drunken liability'

Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | George Jr sent out of Texas by father as a 'drunken liability'

Sieg Heil

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Politics -- A father gets anti-war message to the floor

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Politics -- A father gets anti-war message to the floor:

"Escondido resident cracks GOP security
By David Washburn
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

September 2, 2004

NEW YORK %u2013 Thousands voiced their anger toward President Bush in the streets on Tuesday, but peace activist Fernando Suarez del Solar of Escondido took his message to the floor of the Republican National Convention.

As first lady Laura Bush was delivering her prime-time speech in Madison Square Garden, Suarez, standing near the Texas delegation, held a banner that read, 'Bush Lied. My Son Died.'"

Bush is going over the edge, say his aides

Bush is going over the edge, say his aides:

Monday June 28, 8:46 PM
Bush is going over the edge, say his aides

Washington, June 28 (ANI): US President George Bush is said to have gone crazy, at times going over the edge in cursing the media and liberal critics while calling them 'enemies of the state', the Daily Times quoted an online publication 'Capital Hill Blue' as saying Monday.

Bush has become increasingly unpredictable and erratic, the report said.

'In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as 'enemies of the state',' it added.

According to it, the worried White House aides describe Bush as a man on the edge increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home. 'It reminds me of the Nixon days,' it quoted a longtime GOP political consultant as saying adding 'Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That's the mood over there.'

Aides further say that the President gets 'hung up on minor details', micromanaging to the extreme while ignoring the bigger picture, and spends hours personally reviewing and approving every attack ad against his Democratic opponent and then kiss off a meeting on economic issues.

According to them, Bush says that he rules at the behest of God, can tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them 'Editors bleep-bleep' in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labelling anyone who disagrees with him 'unpatriotic' or 'anti-American.'

One troubled aide was quoted as saying: 'The mood here is that we're under siege, there's no doubt about it. In this administration, you don't have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President.' He added that he was looking for work elsewhere to avoid Bush's remarks. (ANI)"

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Of Campaigns and Breakfast Cereals

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Of Campaigns and Breakfast Cereals:

Of Campaigns and Breakfast Cereals
By BOB HERBERT
Published: August 30, 2004

Reason: The Vets' Case: A detailed analysis of the Swift Boat affair

Reason: The Vets' Case: A detailed analysis of the Swift Boat affair:

"The Vets' Case
A detailed analysis of the Swift Boat affair
Jesse Walker"

Assault on Kerry Dishonors G.O.P.

Assault on Kerry Dishonors G.O.P.:

"The attack on John Kerry%u2019s war record is a standard Republican 'gray propaganda operation,' created and financed by the Texas G.O.P. machine so that the White House can deny complicity, however implausibly. The attackers lack credibility, not only because of their partisan motives but because their most important witnesses have contradicted themselves or recanted their own prior statements, while offering no substantial evidence to support their grave accusations about whether Mr. Kerry earned his battlefield honors.

The Navy's official record, including numerous documents signed by senior officers now leading the assault on Mr. Kerry shows that he conducted himself with exemplary courage and honor in Vietnam. That official record is confirmed by the men who served in the boats he captained, as well as by other veterans now stepping forward to speak on his behalf after many years of silence.

Within the past week, the chief eyewitness against Mr. Kerry was thoroughly discredited. Larry Thurlow, the former Swift boat captain who claims that there was no enemy fire on the day when Mr. Kerry won his Bronze Star, turns out to have won his own Bronze Star in the same March 13, 1969, firefight. Confronted with that fact, Mr. Thurlow lamely retorted that he didn%u2019t remember what his own medal commendation stated about the incident. Did he never notice that his Bronze Star included the 'combat V' for valor which can only be awarded for bravery under enemy fire?"