GOP Gets House to Nix Draft Bill 402-2
Mood:  cheeky
Now Playing: Baseball Playoffs
Topic: Politics
I'm not too sure about the headline, but this should put an end to all the draft talk:

"The House voted 402-2 to defeat the draft bill offered last year by Rep. Charles Rangel (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y.

"Even he urged Democrats to vote against the bill, and charged Republicans were cynically trying to use the measure to escape election-season questions about the war in Iraq (news - web sites)."

Since Rangel voted against the bill he introduced, I wonder who's really being cynical?

Police Raid Cockroach-Infested Apartment
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Just for Fun
This article left me asking if the cockroaches were showing the effects of drug use.

Robbers Steal $900K of Chocolate in U.K.
Mood:  bright
Topic: Just for Fun
This is some chocolate craving:

"Robbers with their own trucks stole six trailer loads of chocolates worth more than $900,000 from an industrial park in northeast England, police said Monday."

The Joys of Living in a Battleground State
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Vice-Presidential Debate
Topic: Politics
Columbia University Journal Review's Campaign Desk:

"Over 530,000 campaign ads have aired on TV thus far in the 2004 election. Yet those ads -- which barely rise above the creativity of a 15-second talking head -- have been seen by an ever-shrinking pool of would-be voters, as the number of swing states dwindles and the ad buys surge in the homestretch."

Living in Wisconsin, and in the largest metropolitan area of that state, I believe I've seen just about every ad. :^)

Presidential Debate I
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: Vice-Presidential Debate
Topic: Politics
I have to admit, its not easy being a Bush supporter nowadays. Kerry seems to have won the debate according to most pundits and polls. As President Carter in 1980 and the former President Bush in 1992, President Bush did not look presidential while Kerry did. Andrew Sullivan said the same thing.

Though most polls show Bush with a small lead still, most of them are within the margin of error, so the candidates are basically tied.

Some People Will Sell Their Vote Cheaply
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Monday Night Football
Topic: Politics
I posted this before about a man who was trying to sell his vote on eBay. Now comes this. No matter which candidate you're for, your vote ought to mean more to you than this:

"One young man dipped his head out of his second story window directly above the pub and, Miller Lite in hand, shouted Packers score updates to the eager crowd who cheered or groaned accordingly.
At one point, the young man challenged, 'If Kerry can tell me the Packers score, he's got my vote.'

"...As the Senator approached the open door of his idling motorcade, the young man above the pub called out from above, 'What's the Packers score?'
Kerry, cupping his ear, squinted as he stared into the bright sun, and mouthed, 'What?'

"The young man repeated his plea, 'What's the Packers score?'
Without missing a beat, Kerry relayed the score as he had last known it in the Main Street Pub. The young man nodded in concurrence, gave a thumbs-up, and confirmed, 'You got my vote.' "

Sigh.

Fox News Channel Admits Reporter Posted Fake Story about Kerry
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Monday Night Football
Topic: Just for Fun
Perhaps this is a part of the Fox News Channel's quest to be "fair and balanced?"

"An official at Fox News Channel said that one of its political reporters has been disciplined for posting a fake news item on its website about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry."

Dodging the Draft? (part 2)
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Monday Night Football
Topic: Politics
As a follow-up to this post, I found this on a former page from John Kerry's web site (don't look for it there now, it's gone).

"On September 11th, 2001, America experienced the most terrible and deadly attack in its history. John Kerry believes we need to think big and do better and get more young Americans serving the nation.

"As part of his 100 day plan to change America, John Kerry will propose a comprehensive service plan that includes requiring mandatory service for high school students and four years of college tuition in exchange for two years of national service (italics mine)."

Thanks to Opinion Journal's Best of the Web for the tip.

Baseball Returns to D.C.
Mood:  amorous
Topic: Sports
I hope this team stays longer this time.

"Major League Baseball selected Washington, D.C., as the new home for the Montreal Expos on Wednesday, bringing the iconic American sport back to the U.S. capital after a 33-year absence.

"To finalize the deal, Washington's city council must approve a $440 million public financing plan to build a new stadium by selling long-term debt backed in part by a new business tax.

"In addition to building the stadium, Williams said the city would spend $13 million to renovate four-decade-old RFK Stadium, where the Expos would play for three years until the team's new home is ready at a site in a run-down neighborhood on the Anacostia River, about 15 blocks south of the U.S. Capitol."

I love sports but I'm against any government's financial involvements in amusements. If the team can't find the support to build their own stadiums (no matter what else it might be used for), it whouldn't happen.

Potential Election Problems?
Mood:  lazy
Topic: Politics
First, the Democrats just won't let go of Florida. In this article from the Orlando Sentinel,

"Gov. Jeb Bush lashed out at Jimmy Carter on Tuesday, saying the former president was off base in criticizing Florida elections.

"In a Washington Post column Monday, Carter called Secretary of State Glenda Hood and other Florida election officials 'highly partisan' and accused the governor of doing nothing to fix it."

Then,

"On Monday, a federal appeals court revived a lawsuit filed by Florida Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler (news, bio, voting record), who is demanding that all touchscreen voting machines in Florida produce a paper record of every vote cast."

Also there is this story:

"Problems loom for the presidential election including voting equipment changes that could delay the outcome past Nov. 2, a group of international observers said Tuesday in a report.

"A five-member team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a 55-state security group invited by the Bush administration, also pointed to problems with voter registration lists and provisional and absentee ballots, allegations of voter intimidation and slow implementation of the Help America Vote Act."

Finally (for now anyway), Bill Hobbs is collecting stories of voter fraud (tip from WORLD magazine blog).

Good News from Iraq
Mood:  lazy
Topic: Iraq
For those who are looking for a little different tack on Iraq than the MSM (main stream media) gives, try Arthur Chrenkoff's column. Full of lots of links, too.

Poll: Americans Uninformed on Bush, Kerry and Distrust Politicians
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Politics
Hopefully the debates will fix this:

"If matching presidential candidates to their positions on basic issues were like a 'Jeopardy!' category, most Americans wouldn't earn a single dollar."

I'm not sure they will fix this:

"The nationwide telephone survey of 1,100 adults found 61 percent of Americans had lost faith in leaders and institutions over the past four years."

Kerry As Boss
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: baseball
Topic: Politics
The New York Times has a substantial article on John Kerry's decision making process. Hera are some excerpts:

"Mr. Kerry is a meticulous, deliberative decision maker, always demanding more information, calling around for advice, reading another document -- acting, in short, as if he were still the Massachusetts prosecutor boning up for a case.

Then a little later,

"In interviews, associates repeatedly described Mr. Kerry as uncommonly bright, informed and curious.

"But the downside to his deliberative executive style, they said, is a campaign that has often moved slowly against a swift opponent, and a candidate who has struggled to synthesize the information he sweeps up into a clear, concise case against Mr. Bush.

"Even his aides concede that Mr. Kerry can be slow in taking action, bogged down in the very details he is so intent on collecting, as suggested by the fact that he never even used the Medicare information he sent his staff chasing."

No doubt my friend, Ben, would see this as a good thing. My mind keeps going back to Jimmy Carter, who had, it seems, a similar style. If Kerry becomes president, hopefully, he wouldn't become mired as Carter did.

Outrageous?
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: baseball
Topic: Media Bias
Owen again hits the mark again with this post comparing the outrage over Dick Cheney's remarks three weeks back with Ted Kennedy's comments yesterday.

Multilateralism: Always the Way to Go?
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Brewers-Diamondbacks
Topic: Iraq
Owen at Boots & Sabers posts David Brooks' column on the failure of the international community to take action in Sudan.

Should we always intervene unilaterally? No. But there should be a faster way to prevent disasters like Ruanda and Sudan.

An Agile Pilot Who Flew under the Radar
Mood:  special
Now Playing: Brewers-Dbacks
Topic: Politics
The LA Times summarizes Bush's National Guard service:

"As questions continue to be raised, aides point to Bush's honorable discharge as the best proof that he fulfilled his duty. 'When the Air National Guard assessed someone's ability to receive an honorable discharge, they made sure they fulfilled their duties in a manner that was honorable,' said White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan. 'Clearly, they concluded he had.'"

Bottom line? He got an honorable discharge. Bottom line for Kerry? He was awarded his Purple Hearts and Bronze Star.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the Armed Forces during Vietnam were looking for heros, in Kerry's case, and later on, were trying to keep the people who had signed up in Bush's case.

MemoGate Updated
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Brewers-Diamondbacks
Topic: Media Bias
The New York Times reports that CBS postponed a report on Iraq:

"The CBS statement followed a report in the online edition of Newsweek that described the frustration of CBS News reporters and producers who said the network had concluded that it could not legitimately criticize the president because of the questions about the National Guard report.

"According to the Newsweek report, the '60 Minutes' segment was to have detailed how the administration relied on false documents when it said Iraq had tried to buy a lightly processed form of uranium, known as yellowcake, from Niger. The administration later acknowledged that the information was incorrect and that the documents were most likely fake."(Italics mine)

You can see the problem, of course, can't you?

Also reported, this time by the Washington Post about Bill Burkett:

"Burkett is angry with CBS and anchor Dan Rather for disclosing his identity after promising him anonymity, his current attorney, Gabriel Quintanilla, said yesterday. Quintanilla said Burkett's life had become 'pure hell' since Monday, when Rather disclosed on the 'CBS Evening News' that Burkett was the network's confidential and 'unimpeachable' source for the controversial documents."

Lawyers quoted in the article say he doesn't have much of a case.

Dodging the Draft?
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Brewers-D-backs
Topic: Politics
Jonathan Alter in Newsweek suggests the draft may be reinstated sometime:

"Republicans are peeved over Democratic claims that the president will impose a draft if he's re-elected. John Kerry was hammered for mildly suggesting that such an idea was even 'possible.' "

He writes in this vein even after admitting

"Bush backers are right that this is a suburban myth and no such plans are underway. A scary and misleading Democratic e-mail circulating on college campuses highlights pending legislation to revive the draft and efforts by the administration to bolster local Selective Service boards. Predictably, the e-mail doesn't mention that the draft bills, which are going nowhere, are sponsored mostly by Democrats (who think military service falls too heavily on minorities) and that the draft-board system is being kept well oiled because of old laws requiring it--not some nefarious Bush plot.

He even quotes Michelle Malkin

"Not. Gonna. Happen,"

But it doesn't keep him from speculating. Nor does it stop John Kerry, it seems.

The latest in this "dirty trick" (I thought only Republicans did those) is reported by PowerLine:

"A reader forwarded to us the following email, which is being sent to a countless number of young Americans by the 'Rock the Vote' people, an ostensibly non-partisan group..."

He then goes on to quote the email which can be seen here.

The only problem is, Democrats are the ones who've introduced legislation to reinstate the draft.

The proposal to reinstate the draft was made last week by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y....Rangel was backed by Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich.

The reason they have is that they feel the poor and minorities are bearing the brunt of service.

An article on Snopes.com's Urban Legends Reference Pages states:

"...the draft issue has largely come to public attention due to pair of bills introduced in Congress (S.89 and H.R.163) which seek to obligate all citizens and residents of the U.S. beween the ages of 18 and 26 (both male and female) to perform a two-year period of national service (not necessarily as part of the military).... However, both these bills were introduced not by legislators genuinely seeking to reinstate the draft, but by Democrats seeking to make an anti-war statement. The bills have since languished in committee....

Of course, facts are not important. The name of the game on both sides is the "Gotcha!" factor. A shame.

Military Bloggers
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Packers-Colts
Topic: Iraq
The Associated Press has an article on military bloggers and the challenges they face. There are some links included that you can follow to read some of them.

The 80% Minority
Mood:  cheeky
Now Playing: sports
Topic: Politics
In continuing his post on the 80% minority, Lance Burri takes a look at media bias:

"Take this Journal Sentinel editorial entitled 'Smaller tent for GOP?'

" 'Grothman's victory, as impressive as it is, raises concerns that the state Republican party may be moving farther to the right...Panzer got it right when she said, "You don't govern from the extreme, you govern from the center."...A party loses something when it consciously makes its tent smaller.'

"From the Sheboygan Press: 'Grothman's victory will likely mean a veer to the right for the state GOP...'

"And from the Oshkosh Northwestern: 'By promising a vote on TABOR (new Senate Majority Leader) Fitzgerald has stroked the ego of his party's ultra-rightists who intend to vote on the concept until it becomes law.'

"Of course, I wouldn't accuse these fine publications of taking orders from the state Democratic Party, but it's funny just how much their reactions sound like the DPW press release:

" 'The Republican Party took an extreme turn to the right yesterday, when moderate incumbent legislators in both houses were defeated by right-wing conservative sin the Republican primary election.'

"Finally, saving the best for last, consider these paragraphs from the far-left writer Joel McNally, published in the Shepherd Express:

" 'We all could enjoy the gang fight going in Wisconsin right now between the far right Crips and the extreme-right Bloods if we didn't have to worry about getting caught in the crossfire. Paleolithic Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman took on Mary Panzer, the Neolithic Republican majority leader of the state Senate, to prove that the party wasn't ready for such newfangled ideas as using stone implements to carve out their right-wing legislation.' "

He then goes on,

"Extreme. Ultra-right. Right-wing. Knuckle-dragging (to paraphrase McNally)."

Never mind that Grothman got 79% of the vote in a higher than normal turnout. The impression is that a small faction of conservatives are about to take over.