![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
docwebsterI'll get to the actual convention coverage tomorrow, but for now..
Let's get started with a bit of a followup on Schwardzie Arnolnegger's remarks from last night:
"He described arriving in the United States from Austria in 1968 and hearing Republican presidential contender Richard Nixon debate Democratic challenger Hubert Humphrey."
Except, as I recall, Richard Nixon refused to debate Hubert Humphrey in 1968.
Uh.. whoopsie?
Speaking of bald-faced liars, let's move on the Swift Boat Veterans For Tr... For T.. F.. *BWAHAHAHAHA*.. sorry, I just can't say that with a straight face. Anyway, after this little story, perhaps they should change their name to "Swift Boat FORGERS"?
It bothers him that Sen. John Kerry's swift boat history has become such a political hot potato. But he's even more irritated that his name was included - without his permission - on a letter used to discredit Kerry.
"I'm pretty nonpolitical," the 56-year-old Anderson said Tuesday. So, when he found out last week that his name was one of about 300 signed on a letter questioning Kerry's service, he was "flabbergasted."
"It's kind of like stealing my identity," said Anderson, who spent a year on a swift boat as an engine man and gunner.
Now we move on to Rudy Giuliani showing what a complete yammering liar he truly is (snagged from washingtonpost.com, posted here so you don't have to go through the annoying registration crap):
"For example, Giuliani said: "In October of 2003, he told an Arab American institute in Detroit that a security barrier separating Israel from the Palestinian territories was a barrier to peace. Okay. Then a few months later, he took exactly the opposite position."
"The context: When Kerry made his statement about a "barrier to peace," he was referring to, as he put it, the "Israeli government's decision to build the barrier off of the Green Line [the de facto boundary between Israel and the West Bank] -- cutting deep into Palestinian areas."
Kerry's stance was similar to the position taken by President Bush a few months earlier, in July 2003, when he said in the Rose Garden: "I think the wall is a problem, and I discussed this with [Israeli Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon. It is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank."
Giuliani: "I quote John Kerry: 'I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.' "
"The context: The administration's request for the funding was controversial, even among Republicans, and various attempts were made to split off $67 billion for the troops from the $20 billion for reconstruction, or to turn the $20 billion grant into a loan, or to fund some of the spending by raising taxes on incomes greater than $312,000. Kerry voted for a different version of the bill, just as Bush had vowed to veto a version that originally passed in the Senate that would have converted half of the Iraq rebuilding plan into a loan."
Giuliani: "He even, at one point, declared himself an antiwar candidate, and now he says he's a pro-war candidate."
The context: Giuliani's statement appears derived from an appearance by Kerry in January in which he was asked on MSNBC's "Hardball" if he was one of the candidates "unhappy with the war has been fought, the way it's been fought . . . are you one of the antiwar candidates?" He answered: "I am. Yes. In the sense that I don't believe the president took to us war as he should have, yes. Absolutely. Do I think this president violated his promises to America? Yes, I do, Chris. Was there a way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable? You bet there was and we should have done it right."
Fuck Giuliani, let's move on.
How about that wacky funster Alan Keyes?
"After saying homosexuality is "selfish hedonism," Keyes was asked if that made Mary Cheney "a selfish hedonist."
"Of course she is," Keyes replied. "That goes by definition."
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Alan Keyes insulted the Vice President's daughter.
Of course, The Log Cabin Republicans were quick to respond:
"In a political career defined by failures, this is a new low for Alan Keyes," executive director Patrick Guerriero said in a statement Wednesday. "Attacking politician's children is beyond the pale, even for an extremist like Alan Keyes."
Quick quiz - which politician said this:
"America's in trouble today not because her people have failed, but because her leaders have failed. And what American needs are leaders to match the greatness of her people.
And this great group of Americans--the forgotten Americans and others--know that the great question Americans must answer by their votes in November is this: Whether we shall continue for four more years the policies of the last [four] years.
When the strongest nation in the world can be tied down ... in a war ... with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world can't manage its own economy ... and when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration - then it's time for new leadership for the United States of America."
John Kerry? BUZZ! Ralph Nader? BUZZ!
Richard Nixon. No, I'm not kidding. Chew on that one, Governor Grabass.
Let's close tonight with some words actually from John Kerry, folks.
"When it comes to Iraq, it's not that I would have done one thing differently, I would have done almost everything differently" than the president, the presidential candidate said in a speech to the national convention of the American Legion.
Kerry spoke dismissively of a statement Bush made Monday then rescinded on Tuesday that the war on terror might not be winnable.
"I absolutely disagree," he said. "With the right policies, this is a war we can win, this is a war we must win, and this is a war we will win." Kerry said. "... In the end, the terrorists will lose and we will win because the future does not belong to fear, it belongs to freedom."
If you'd like to read a transcript of Kerry's speech, go here.
On a personal note, and because I'm too damn tired to do that broadside I mentioned earlier to the level of venom I promised, I give you this.
What does that have to do with being on a personal note? Let me lay something on you: my mother, who works for the United States Census Bureau in Jeffersonville, Indiana, was recently layed off from that job for the third time this year because there just isn't enough funding or work for them to make her permanent even as long as she's been there. Just about twenty plus years and some, as I recall it.
I get a call from her today, on the verge of a nervous breakdown and in tears, that her unemployment benefits ran out with this last check and she will be getting 96 dollars from that check. 96 dollars, people. She's looking for work but it's hard for a 57 year old woman to get work that gives them any kind of a living wage. My brother still lives at home and helps manage one of the local Pizza Huts, and is going out to San Diego to work in Greg DeFatta's Haunted Hotel again this year, but times are Very, Very Bad for the woman who gave me life, and there's not shit I can do about it.
Do you understand what I'm saying? She wasn't worried about herself. She was upset because she can't give her father the burial he earned.
But the thing that pisses me off most and the thing that had her in such a state and me waiting for my grandfather's military records was the fact that his ashes are still kept in my mother's bedroom cabinet because she can't afford to get them to Arlington National Cemetery for the burial the man earned and dreamt of.
The man was at D-Day in a tank squadron, and to the day he died still had a Nazi office flag and Luger he took from one of the places they captured.
So what does Bush do? Does he fund government offices and programs to keep people working? Extend unemployment benefits? Anything like that? Hell, no. That simian sonofabitch resurrects Star Wars.
I don't know John Kerry will do any better. I don't know he'll do any worse. But I do know that life for my mother and a far too long delayed Arlington burial for the man who taught me to love big band music means the man in charge now has to go.
If you'll excuse me, I've run out of kleenex and patience.
Let's get started with a bit of a followup on Schwardzie Arnolnegger's remarks from last night:
"He described arriving in the United States from Austria in 1968 and hearing Republican presidential contender Richard Nixon debate Democratic challenger Hubert Humphrey."
Except, as I recall, Richard Nixon refused to debate Hubert Humphrey in 1968.
Uh.. whoopsie?
Speaking of bald-faced liars, let's move on the Swift Boat Veterans For Tr... For T.. F.. *BWAHAHAHAHA*.. sorry, I just can't say that with a straight face. Anyway, after this little story, perhaps they should change their name to "Swift Boat FORGERS"?
It bothers him that Sen. John Kerry's swift boat history has become such a political hot potato. But he's even more irritated that his name was included - without his permission - on a letter used to discredit Kerry.
"I'm pretty nonpolitical," the 56-year-old Anderson said Tuesday. So, when he found out last week that his name was one of about 300 signed on a letter questioning Kerry's service, he was "flabbergasted."
"It's kind of like stealing my identity," said Anderson, who spent a year on a swift boat as an engine man and gunner.
Now we move on to Rudy Giuliani showing what a complete yammering liar he truly is (snagged from washingtonpost.com, posted here so you don't have to go through the annoying registration crap):
"For example, Giuliani said: "In October of 2003, he told an Arab American institute in Detroit that a security barrier separating Israel from the Palestinian territories was a barrier to peace. Okay. Then a few months later, he took exactly the opposite position."
"The context: When Kerry made his statement about a "barrier to peace," he was referring to, as he put it, the "Israeli government's decision to build the barrier off of the Green Line [the de facto boundary between Israel and the West Bank] -- cutting deep into Palestinian areas."
Kerry's stance was similar to the position taken by President Bush a few months earlier, in July 2003, when he said in the Rose Garden: "I think the wall is a problem, and I discussed this with [Israeli Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon. It is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank."
Giuliani: "I quote John Kerry: 'I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.' "
"The context: The administration's request for the funding was controversial, even among Republicans, and various attempts were made to split off $67 billion for the troops from the $20 billion for reconstruction, or to turn the $20 billion grant into a loan, or to fund some of the spending by raising taxes on incomes greater than $312,000. Kerry voted for a different version of the bill, just as Bush had vowed to veto a version that originally passed in the Senate that would have converted half of the Iraq rebuilding plan into a loan."
Giuliani: "He even, at one point, declared himself an antiwar candidate, and now he says he's a pro-war candidate."
The context: Giuliani's statement appears derived from an appearance by Kerry in January in which he was asked on MSNBC's "Hardball" if he was one of the candidates "unhappy with the war has been fought, the way it's been fought . . . are you one of the antiwar candidates?" He answered: "I am. Yes. In the sense that I don't believe the president took to us war as he should have, yes. Absolutely. Do I think this president violated his promises to America? Yes, I do, Chris. Was there a way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable? You bet there was and we should have done it right."
Fuck Giuliani, let's move on.
How about that wacky funster Alan Keyes?
"After saying homosexuality is "selfish hedonism," Keyes was asked if that made Mary Cheney "a selfish hedonist."
"Of course she is," Keyes replied. "That goes by definition."
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Alan Keyes insulted the Vice President's daughter.
Of course, The Log Cabin Republicans were quick to respond:
"In a political career defined by failures, this is a new low for Alan Keyes," executive director Patrick Guerriero said in a statement Wednesday. "Attacking politician's children is beyond the pale, even for an extremist like Alan Keyes."
Quick quiz - which politician said this:
"America's in trouble today not because her people have failed, but because her leaders have failed. And what American needs are leaders to match the greatness of her people.
And this great group of Americans--the forgotten Americans and others--know that the great question Americans must answer by their votes in November is this: Whether we shall continue for four more years the policies of the last [four] years.
When the strongest nation in the world can be tied down ... in a war ... with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world can't manage its own economy ... and when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration - then it's time for new leadership for the United States of America."
John Kerry? BUZZ! Ralph Nader? BUZZ!
Richard Nixon. No, I'm not kidding. Chew on that one, Governor Grabass.
Let's close tonight with some words actually from John Kerry, folks.
"When it comes to Iraq, it's not that I would have done one thing differently, I would have done almost everything differently" than the president, the presidential candidate said in a speech to the national convention of the American Legion.
Kerry spoke dismissively of a statement Bush made Monday then rescinded on Tuesday that the war on terror might not be winnable.
"I absolutely disagree," he said. "With the right policies, this is a war we can win, this is a war we must win, and this is a war we will win." Kerry said. "... In the end, the terrorists will lose and we will win because the future does not belong to fear, it belongs to freedom."
If you'd like to read a transcript of Kerry's speech, go here.
On a personal note, and because I'm too damn tired to do that broadside I mentioned earlier to the level of venom I promised, I give you this.
What does that have to do with being on a personal note? Let me lay something on you: my mother, who works for the United States Census Bureau in Jeffersonville, Indiana, was recently layed off from that job for the third time this year because there just isn't enough funding or work for them to make her permanent even as long as she's been there. Just about twenty plus years and some, as I recall it.
I get a call from her today, on the verge of a nervous breakdown and in tears, that her unemployment benefits ran out with this last check and she will be getting 96 dollars from that check. 96 dollars, people. She's looking for work but it's hard for a 57 year old woman to get work that gives them any kind of a living wage. My brother still lives at home and helps manage one of the local Pizza Huts, and is going out to San Diego to work in Greg DeFatta's Haunted Hotel again this year, but times are Very, Very Bad for the woman who gave me life, and there's not shit I can do about it.
Do you understand what I'm saying? She wasn't worried about herself. She was upset because she can't give her father the burial he earned.
But the thing that pisses me off most and the thing that had her in such a state and me waiting for my grandfather's military records was the fact that his ashes are still kept in my mother's bedroom cabinet because she can't afford to get them to Arlington National Cemetery for the burial the man earned and dreamt of.
The man was at D-Day in a tank squadron, and to the day he died still had a Nazi office flag and Luger he took from one of the places they captured.
So what does Bush do? Does he fund government offices and programs to keep people working? Extend unemployment benefits? Anything like that? Hell, no. That simian sonofabitch resurrects Star Wars.
I don't know John Kerry will do any better. I don't know he'll do any worse. But I do know that life for my mother and a far too long delayed Arlington burial for the man who taught me to love big band music means the man in charge now has to go.
If you'll excuse me, I've run out of kleenex and patience.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 06:10 am (UTC)Contact your congress-critter as well. Remind him that there is an election coming, and an American war hero can't be laid to rest in Arlington because of the Bush economy.
The man earned it.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 01:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 06:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 08:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 01:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-02 08:37 pm (UTC)