This just in from the Department of Circled Wagons...

Brokaw, Jennings Show Support for Rather

(AP) -- While acknowledging mistakes in CBS anchor Dan Rather's "60 Minutes" report that questioned President Bush's service in the National Guard, competing news anchors Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings offered support Saturday for the beleaguered newsman.

Not much of a shocker there. I dare say the media has as much of a habit of protecting its own as any other specialized field.

Brokaw blasted what he called an attempt to "demonize" CBS and Rather on the Internet, where complaints about the report first surfaced. He said the criticism "goes well beyond any factual information."

Huh... 'goes well beyond any factual information'... the same can be said about a certain batch of memos couldn't it Tommy? Didn't exactly stop Dan Rather's attempt to carry water for the DNC by "demonizing" the President (during an election year, during a time of war).

"What I think is highly inappropriate is what going on across the Internet, a kind of political jihad ... that is quite outrageous," the NBC anchor said at a panel on which all three men spoke.

In all candor, and with all due respect Mr. Brokaw, tough shit. Dan Rather and those like him have had their share of dragons they've relentlessly gone after. Now it's Mr. Rather's time to feel the knight's steel pierce his scaly hide. About damn time if you ask me. But since I'm one of those "internet jihadists" you're not about to ask me.

"I don't think you ever judge a man by only one event in his career," said Jennings, anchor on ABC.

Really Mr. Jennings? Then riddle me this. Why did CBS news spend five friggin' years relentlessly digging into whether or not then Lt. Bush missed a friggin' physical? In order to judge a man by only one event in his career. You're really pathetic, you know that, right?

You jackels make a career out of finding the jugular, that "one event" with which you can tear the throat out of others. Now that the spotlight is on one of yours, now that it's his jugular that's been latched onto, you're crying foul? Again I say, tough shit.

It's funny how often you schmucks prove Bernie Goldberg right.

Rather said he did not ask enough questions before the war or conduct enough follow-up reporting.

"If the country is in dire peril, as the president of the United States says it is ... I want to be a patriotic journalist," he said.

Patriotic journalist my sweet Aunt Fanny. This from a guy who said that if he new a squad of American soliders was walking into an ambush, he wouldn't tell them.

"You know that the role of the patriotic journalist is to put your fear aside, stand up, look them in the eye, ask the rough questions. But you also know that when you do that, you're going to get hammered..." Rather said. "So what happens is you just say ... maybe tomorrow."

Oh cry me a goddamn river Dan. When any other businessman does something flatout wrong, like say... participates in a fraud, you and yours have hammered them.

As the old saying goes, "If you can't take the hammering... tough shit."

John Kerry is a horsefaced moron, and other observations...

Been busy since the debate, but better late than never. A few of the things that stuck out for me...

KERRY: Both. I want bilateral talks which put all of the issues, from the armistice of 1952, the economic issues, the human rights issues, the artillery disposal issues, the DMZ issues and the nuclear issues on the table.

Senator Kerry considers our multi-member alliance in Iraq unilateralism, and deems unilateralism wrong. America, he reminds us, "[is] strongest when we reach out and lead the world and build strong alliances." But insists we act unilaterally in dealing with North Korea.

You don't send troops to war without the body armor that they need.

I agree Senator. Perhaps you should have voted to fund the war you voted to authorize.

We didn't need that tax cut. America needed to be safe.

JFK, the man you're trying to pass yourself off as the second-coming of, knew what Reagan knew, what President Bush knows... when you cut taxes, you increase revenues to the gov't coffers. I really tire of this populist crap from Liberals.

Invading Iraq in response to 9/11 would be like Franklin Roosevelt invading Mexico in response to Pearl Harbor. That's what we have here.

Wow, talk about a falacy of logic. No Senator, what we have here is more along the lines of invading Germany in response to Pearl Harbor.

The United Nations, Kofi Annan offered help after Baghdad fell. And we never picked him up on that and did what was necessary to transfer authority and to transfer reconstruction.

And after the first time the UN got its nose bloodied, they bravely fled. Why anyone thinks relying on this corrupt, coward-laden, despot-infested, debating society is a good idea is beyond me. Stop looking at the UN and seeing what you want to see. Start seeing it for what it actually is.

Darfur has a genocide.

And your precious UN is doing exactly squat in stopping it.

I mean, we can remember when President Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis sent his secretary of state to Paris to meet with DeGaulle. And in the middle of the discussion, to tell them about the missiles in Cuba, he said, Here, let me show you the photos. And DeGaulle waved them off and said, No, no, no, no. The word of the president of the United States is good enough for me.

Wow, invoking JFK and the French all in one statement. All you needed was to mention you'd been in Vietnam to complete the set. Perhaps DeGaulle wasn't making a fortune off of Castro the way Jacques Chirac was off of Hussein. The obstructionists weren't acting out of moral superiority or a problem with President Bush. They were acting out of greed.

And one of the biggest problems I had with Senator Kerry's position(s):

I also intend to double the number of special forces so that we can do the job we need to do with respect fighting the terrorists around the world.

How? Our SpecOps members are litterally the cream of the cream of the crop. They're motivated, driven volunteers. How do you intend on doubling their size? By removing the voluntary aspect, or by watering down the requirements so that more people can get into the SpecOps?

Either way, your "plan" will have disastrous consequences to the military, the SpecOps community and the country itself.

Not that you've ever allowed that to stand between you and your political goals before.

What Media Bias?™

Iraqis Blame U.S. for Massacre of Children

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Families of the 35 children who died in a string of bombings in Baghdad blamed American troops for the tragedy, accusing them of attracting insurgents to a ceremony where the attacks occurred.

That's right. Rebuilding a sewage treatment plant and passing out candy... surefire terrorist attractant. What were we thinking?

I don't necessarily hold this against the parents who lost their children, shock and loss will do that. Even if their blame is totally misplaced.

I do, however, hold this article against the friggin' MSM's desire to report nothing but bad new from Iraq.

This just in from the Department of Pop Quizzes...

Who, in their right mind, would take their political advice from a guy who looks like this?

Talk about your "puppets on a string".

Lights! Cameras! Hey I said no lights dammit!

Kerry campaign demands that timing lights be removed from debate lecterns

(AP) -- Advisers for the Democratic presidential candidate demanded Thursday that the lights signaling when a speaker's time has expired during debates with President Bush be removed from the lecterns because they are distracting. The commission hosting the debates refused.

Oh good grief. Here's a thought Senator Kerry... drop the nuanced circular ramblings that say nothing and end up contradicting themselves. Keep it short and to the point and you won't have to worry about the timing lights.

Speaking of circular ramblings that end up contradicting themselves, anyone know where I can find the transcript of Senator Kerry's interview with Diane Sawyer. The one with the soundbite of him accusing President Bush of using terrorism as a scare tactic and then launching into a list of terrorist attacks that we should be a'scared of?

And with today's Most Disturbing Quote of the Day™ here's Kerry strategist Tad Devine:

"We'll do what we have to. We'll beat them over the head a little bit, then we'll see what happens."

Pretty much sums up the Democrat's overall election strategy in two short sentences.

Telling slip Tad. Very telling.

By the way Tad, the Gay Porn Actors Guild just called. They want their stagename back.

This just in from the Whine Cellar...

Looks like Fox News is laying the smacketh down on the competition and the leftist-infested MSM is collectively freaking out.

While firmly rejecting the conservative label...

And rightly so. FNC, in and of itself, is not a conservative news station. But, when shown in comparison with the rest of the MSM it does look like a conservative news station. That isn't because FNC is so right-leaning. It's because the rest of the MSM is so left-leaning.

Fox embraces its image as the scourge of the media "establishment" -- embodied by the likes of the three broadcast networks and the New York Times -- which it accuses of a long-term liberal bias.

Fox News doesn't need to accuse outlets like NYT of possessing a liberal bias. Anyone with more than three brain cells and is intellectually honest knows the NYT, and much of the rest of the MSM, has a liberal bias. This article, and its hysterical author, serve as a pretty good example.

Fox mixes it's straight news coverage with populist opinion-led programming...

So? So do the other cable news networks.

... such as the "The O'Reilly Factor" -- now the top rated cable news show in the country -- hosted by the unabashedly conservative and pro-Republican Bill O'Reilly.

Has the author of this article even watched Fox News or the O'Reilly Factor?

This just in from the Department of Shutup and Sing...

The political braintrust that is Barbra Streisand is once again gracing us with pearls of her wisdom.

If you cross this administration you get your head handed to you.

Yeah, that never happened before. Detractors of former President Clinton had a nasty habit of turning up dead. Not that I go in for all the conspiracy theories, mind you. And for those who managed to "somehow get out alive" had to deal with the IRS and lawsuits.

Skipping ahead...

And, if you choose to air a story about George Bush's military service, or lack thereof, like CBS did last week, you and your award winning news anchor, get investigated by the FCC.

That, Babs, is because someone forged military records in order to influence a Presidential election during a time of war. The "story" in and of itself, is a moronic straw for you leftist nitwits to be grasping at to begin with. But when someone starts fabricating evidence in order to further that grasping, things start getting serious.

So it's no wonder that the press has taken a backseat to reporting the misdeeds of this administration.

With all due respect, have you been painting without proper ventilation? Not only does the media harp on every misstep and perceived misdeed, CBS has spent five years investigating this non-story in order to take down President Bush. Yeah, they're totally in the tank.

It's not surprising that the press failed to ask the hard questions leading up to the war in Iraq, when a more informed public still had time to speak up.

Of course by "more informed public" she means people who didn't support the idea of taking Saddam (you know, the President of Iran) out. Fellow genuises like Tim Robbins and Sean Penn, no doubt.

Never mind that CBS's story included substantive and uncontested evidence that Bush didn't show up for duty when he was supposed to, that he skipped a required physical that grounded him from flying...

Nevermind that the "substantive and uncontested evidence" was utter bullshit.

...and that he mysteriously received an honorable discharge.

Lady, as someone who has actually been in a position to receive an honorable discharge I can tell you that the military doesn't mysteriously do anything.

And while I'm at it, why can't anyone wonder about Senator Kerry's deservedness of his medals without you collection of wingnuts coming unhinged, but questioning President Bush's deservedness of his honorable discharge is not only fair game but a requirement of a "more informed public"?

Yes...the documents CBS presented could not be confirmed for their authenticity...

Because they were obvious bullshit only capable of fooling those wishing to be fooled. Those like you and Dan Ra^ther.

...but these details of Bush's military record have been out for public consumption for years.

So have the details about the dangers of eating Pop-Rocks while drinking a Pepsi. Doesn't make it true. And while we're on military records being available for public consumption... when do you figure Senator Kerry will be getting around to signing his form 180 so that the public can consume his military records?

Why is the media not discussing the facts behind the story instead of just focusing on CBS?

Becuase, as I've stated previously, the "story" is a waste of time and the "evidence" was obvious bullshit. Obvious bullshit that CBS either fell for or was complicit in the creation of. Anyone could have and should have seen that the memos were bullshit, but they didn't.

Why did CBS fall for them? Why did CBS go to air? What sort of agenda do the alledged "truth-tellers" in the mainstream media have and what lengths are to willing to go do to pull it off? What other "evidence" have the media used before? What other lies have they passed off on the American people as truth?

This is a big, messy, serious can of worm with huge potential repercussions. But you and yours are too busy focusing on a non-story from thirty years ago in the hopes of taking down a President during a war to see that.

Ben Barnes, former lieutenant governor of Texas, admitted that he pulled strings to get Bush into the National Air Guard.

Nevermind that the strings he pulled as Lt. Governor somehow occured a year before he became Lt. Governor. And while you're busy neverminding that, nevermind that Ben Barnes is a major Kerry backer.

And Robert Mintz, retired National Guardsman who served in Bush's unit in 1972, doesn't remember seeing him there.

I'm betting there are thousands of guys and gals that I didn't see serving at Ft. Bragg between the years of 1988 and 1990 and there are thousands of guys and gals that didn't see me. Your point, Babs?

And in contrast to Senator John Kerry, who said "send me" when given the option to go to Vietnam, according to the LA Times, when asked the same question, Bush checked the box stating "do not volunteer for overseas."

The LA Times? Oh yeah, no agenda there. Retired Colonel Ed Morrisey, the officer that swore then Lt. Bush into the TANG has a different story.

"The Air Force, in their ultimate wisdom, assembled a group of 102's and took them to Southeast Asia. Bush volunteered to go. But he needed to have 500 [flight] hours, but he only had just over 300 hours so he wasn't eligible to go,” Morrisey recalls.

Hmmm... moving on. But first, an aside. Babs, did you support former President Clinton in his two successful runs at the White House? How important was service during the Vietnam war era then?

The media's attention is diverted from the real story because we now live in a time where the fear of revenge by this administration sends a chill through the corporations that control our media and overwhelms the press' responsibility to investigate, educate and hold our leaders accountable.

A chill wind! A chill wind! Help! I'm being oppressed!

Shaddup.

Great News

Eight Hostages Are Released in Iraq

(AP) -- BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eight hostages have been released in Iraq. Two Italians and two Iraqi aid workers kidnapped this month were freed Tuesday after three weeks in captivity, Italy's prime minister said. And four Egyptian telecommunications workers kidnapped in Baghdad have been freed, their parent company said Tuesday.

Good deal. And even better for everyone in the long run, Italy and her Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi didn't cave in to these animals in hopes that the aid workers would be released. Giving into the demands of terrorists only encourages more kidnappings and more atrocities.

Previous Crrrap:
Bastards

That sound you just heard...

... was another reason to vote for John Kerry going poof.

(Hat Tip: Fred)

No French or German turn on Iraq

(FT) -- French and German government officials say they will not significantly increase military assistance in Iraq even if John Kerry, the Democratic presidential challenger, is elected on November 2.

Mr Kerry, who has attacked President George W. Bush for failing to broaden the US-led alliance in Iraq, has pledged to improve relations with European allies and increase international military assistance in Iraq.

So, two of the only countries in the world that count when creating a multilateral coalition, Russia and China making up the remainder, seem to have a pre-October Surprise surprise for the good Senator.

can't.... type... laughing... too... hard...

Johnnie Get Yer Yer Staffer's Gun

(Hat Tip: Fred @ Don't Tread on Me)

In a startlingly lame correction clarification footinmouthectomy Senator Kerry set the matter of his Communist Chinese assault rifle ownership straight today.

Apparently the interview in question wasn't one. It was a questionnaire. Senator Kerry, too busy debating with himself over the nuanced questions of the day, pawned the questionnaire in question off to a staffer. And it was the staffer, not the Senator in question, who filled out the questionnaire, including the "favorite firearm" question whose answer has had many a gun owner asking the question, "Could you be a bigger hypocrite?"

Come on now. What are the odds that a Kerry staffer would know a Communist Chinese assault rifle from a Imperial Japanese Gyotaku fish?

Then again, it was a pretty hamhanded "I was in Vietnam" referance/reminder, so maybe it was filled out by a staffer.

Then again, most of John Kerry's "I was in Vietnam" referances/reminders are pretty hamhanded, so maybe it was filled out by Senator Kerry.

I know! Karl Rove filled out the questionnaire! Yeah, that's it.

Is it Nov. 3rd yet?

Previous Crrrap:
Johnnie Get Yer Gun

This just in from the Complaint Department...

Since the HaloScan comments thingamabob cuts you off, and since I'm naturally longwinded, I thought I'd reply to something a new reader left on my Hey Utah, Are You Ready for Some Football? post. Not exactly sure why she chose that particular post mind you.

Norena took exception with my point of view, politically speaking. Certainly not a shocking development, but I felt I should reply out here where I've got elbow room.

I just read some of your blogs and my one problem with your political news is that you have decided to wrap yourself in what they are saying instead of what is happening.

Huh? I actually do both. Deal with what's said and deal with what's actually going on. I especially dig in when what's said and what is going on don't jive up.

There have been over 1000 USA men killed in Iraq.

Yes, many brave American men and women have fallen in the liberation of Iraq. But don't forget about the 66 Brits, the 13 Poles, the 11 Spaniards, the 19 Italians, the 8 Ukrainians, the 6 Bulgarians, the 3 Slovaks, the 2 Thais, the 2 Dutch, the 1 Estonian, the 1 Salvadoran, the 1 Latvian, and the 1 Hungarian that also died liberating Iraq. And those are just the soliders.

No one ever said this was going to be easy. No one ever said this was going to be bloodless. The reconstruction and conversion from a brutal dictatorship to a representative form of government takes time. In addition to that, what we hope for, a representative or democratic Iraq, is what worries the dictators that surround it. It threatens their dictatorial and/or theocratic power. The last thing they want to see, the last thing they want their people to see, is a free Iraq flourish.

Why do you think countries like the old Soviet Union and Cuba and North Korea keep such tight controls on what their people learn about the US? They know that if the people saw what we have, they'd rise up and overthrow those in power.

Since I am a woman, I abhor your attitude about freeing Iraq.

I'm sorry. Did I give you the impression that I was opposed to the freeing or Iraq? That I was opposed to ending a regime that had professional rapists on the government payrolls? That I was opposed to ending a regime that used rape as a means of torture and/or punishment? That I was opposed to ending a regime that had the pair of brutal thugish sons of the dictator who would routinely rape brides on their wedding day?

If I gave you the impression that I opposed the freeing or the Iraqi people, and by default, supported leaving in place a government that had institutional, systematic rape I sincerely apologize.

To clear things up, I supported the freeing of the Iraqi people. I supported the ending of a regime that had professional rapists, that used rape as a means or torture and/or punishment, and I even did a little happy-dance when I learned that Odai and Qusai had reached room temperature.

There ara supposedly 19,000 troops of USA men in Afganistan.

One of the main problems, policy mistakes if you will, was pulling out of Afghanistan out after we helped the Afghan people drive out the invading Soviets. Now that we've driven out the Taliban, surely you don't suggest we repeat the mistake? It was that mistake that made it possible for the rise of the Taliban (by the way, as a woman I'm sure you are aware of how well the Taliban treated women) and their giving aid, shelter and support to Al-Qaeda as they plotted and carried out attack after attack on the people of the US. Many of whom Al-Qaeda killed during these attacks were innocent civilians. Men, women and children.

Maybe you should stop showing your white streak that is down your back and ask for the USA to send their men back home to their women.

First off, what "white streak"? Do you mean yellow streak? Are you implying that I'm a coward, willing to send folks off to do something I wasn't willing to do myself?

Norena, you don't know me, so I'll let you in on a little secret. I've already "been there, done that". I was fortunate in that the war I signed up to fight remained, for the most part, "cold". I'm too old to reenlist now. And with my job being what it is, I'd actually being doing less to help out if I reenlisted.

If you mean that I'm a coward for not standing up and demanding the troops come home, that is because I understand that they can't come home just yet. (See above for an explanation of why we cannot pull the troops out of Afghanistan just yet.) I mean, short of nuking every living thing off the face of the Middle East, we can't exactly just pull the troops out.

There are thousands of Americans dying in the USA for no food.

Don't believe the hype Norena. Do you know what the leading health problem is for the poor in America?

Obesity.

Maybe you should do something about that!

We ("you" collectively) are doing something about helping feed the hungry... the world over. Everywhere in the world where people are in trouble the odds are very good that you'll find an American organization there trying to help. Maybe the rest of the world should get off its collective butt and do something similar. If we have as many people starving to death in the US as you believe, why aren't there EU or UN relief organizations feeding them? Heck, I'd like to see some EU or UN outfit trying to help with the Floridians that have just been hit with their fourth hurricane in a row. As for myself ("you" individually) I contribute regularly to the local foodbank.

By the way Im responding to your blog because you didnt have any comments today. I have a blog also. Look me up.

Ah, I was wondering why you chose a posting about the AFL to say what you said. I mean, sure, if you were some NFL purist ripping me about liking arena football instead of "real" football (BTW, the Cards are 0-3... ugh), that I could understand.

Thanks for stopping by. This was my first fisking as a blogger. I hope it was as good for you as it was for me.

This just in from the Department of Sex, Love and Rock'n'Roll...

Sex, Love and Rock'n'Roll

Is the title of what you've all been waiting for, the first studio album from Social Distortion in 8 years! To be released on September 28, 2004, Mike Ness reveals a more optimistic side on this record, including the emotional journey of love, loss and acceptance on "Don't Take Me For Granted", written for the late Dennis Danell. But, don't let that fool you into thinking he's forgotten his punk rock edge. Ness' signature wrath can be felt throughout, especially on tracks like "Reach For The Sky" and "Nickels And Dimes."

Your wait has been long, but you will find that it will definitely be worthwhile.

Hot damn!

Operation "CBS Freedom Zone"

Those crazy comrades over at Communists for Kerry are at it again. This time, the stalwart defenders of the proletariat rush to the aid of the embattled CBS.

The only thing I'll miss come Nov. 3rd will be these guys. Of course, they'll probably just move their "support" to some other fellow traveler in the DNC. It's not like there's a shortage of them.

Green vs. Black

Thomas Sowell, known to listeners of the G. Gordon Liddy show, as the Smartest Man in America, does not disappoint with this column.

Among the many luxuries that wealth can buy is insulation from reality -- the most dangerous luxury of all. Another dangerous luxury is a sense of being one of the wonderfully special people with superior wisdom and virtue. Environmental extremism flourishes among those who can afford both luxuries.

This just in from the Department of Karmic Justice...

Rathergate is a 'sign' of the times

Skip the bit about Ra^thergate... the fun bit is the letter from an Elderado (an Elder fan) relaying the tale of his recent run-in with an anti-Bush vandal.

Dear Larry,

Last Thursday I put out one of my Bush/Cheney signs in my front yard. Between midnight and 3:00 a.m. someone stole it. On Friday night I put out sign No. 2. Since I didn't have to get up early, I thought my dog and I would "stake out" our sign.

I don't want to spoil the ending for you, so go read it.

This, Boys and Girls...

... is why you detain enemy combatants until the end of the war.

Taliban Commander Killed in Afghan Raid

(AP) -- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Afghan security forces killed a senior Taliban commander and two of his comrades in a raid in southern Afghanistan, an official said Sunday.

Maulvi Abdul Ghaffar, reportedly a former inmate at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, died in a gunbattle Saturday night in Pishi, a village in the southern province of Uruzgan, said Jan Mohammed Khan, governor of Uruzgan.

It's also why whiney-ass handwringers and "anti-war" protestors are seen by many as giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Especially the ones this time around that have had their collective panties in a bunch over Gitmo.

Schmucks.