Surfing the razor's edge

John Kerry responds to the bin Laden tape:

In response to this tape from Osama bin Laden, let me make it clear, crystal clear. As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. They are barbarians. And I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes. Period.

Kerry did the smart thing to avoid making any kind of political hay out of this statement (note that he doesn't even mention Bush). Instead he responded to it as if he was already the president.

Let the other side be the first to use this politically.

Then hammer them for it!

 

Update:

Bush responds (no link):

I was informed of tape that is now being analyzed ... let me make this clear Americans will not be influenced or intimidated.  I am sure Kerry would agree with this.  We are at war and will defeat them.

Both of them avoided politics in their canned responses. But I've heard that Kerry went on to make an additional comment about Bush failing to capture bin Laden at Tora Bora. He's right, of course. But its a statement that conflicts with his call for being "absolutely united" and it means that he was the first to "go political" on this event.

Challenge every seat

I've argued in the past that it is important to field challengers in every race, even if the math tells us that we have no chance of winning.

This proves the point:

DeLay's reelection campaign committee has organized precinct walks in the past, but not to the extent it is now -- at least, not in years. His campaign is also airing an estimated $250,000 in television advertisements, after buying virtually no TV time during the past several elections.

And, personally, DeLay is throwing himself into his reelection effort, an effort that in the past required little of his time and attention.

DeLay decided unexpectedly last week to participate in a debate against Democrat Richard Morrison and two third-party candidates organized by a local high school's debating team. It was the first time in political observers' memory that DeLay had exposed himself to the barbs of political pygmies in a campaign debate.

"This is tougher because of this vindictive campaign that's been waged against me," said DeLay.

Morrison is still a long-shot for defeating DeLay. But he has made the race competitive enough that DeLay has had to spend time and money knocking back the challenge. The more time DeLay has to spend back home protecting his seat the less time he has to devote to screwing over the rest of the country. The more time he spends back home the less time he has to devote to helping other Republicans win their races.

The thoughts of the candidates

"I can't believe I'm losing!" (link)

"Believe it George!" (link)

First the Russians, now the Saudis?

Yet another bad day for Bush

Saudi Ambassador Says More Troops Needed in Iraq

LONDON (Reuters) - Iraq (news - web sites) has become a magnet for foreign terrorists since the U.S.-led invasion last year and there are not enough troops to cope, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Britain said on Thursday.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi spy master, said a fragmentation of Iraq would pose a major threat to world peace.

The invasion in March 2003 and subsequent disbanding of the Iraqi security services had opened up a void into which militants were flooding, he told Reuters in an interview.

"Iraq is a magnet for terrorists. The invasion has definitely not met the expectations of President Bush (news - web sites) that it would be an end to terrorism in our part of the world," said Prince Turki.

"There are just not enough security forces on the ground to meet the needs of the situation," he said.

"Centrifugal forces have increased in Iraq. Fragmentation would be detrimental not just to Saudi Arabia but first of all to the Iraqi people, secondly to all of the neighboring countries and thirdly to the world community."

Pooty-Poot not happy with Bush?

Russia Summons U.S. Diplomat Over Iraq Arms Claim 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia summoned a U.S. diplomat to protest at a Pentagon claim that Russian soldiers spirited away hundreds of tons of explosives from a site in Iraq just before the U.S. invasion, Interfax news agency said on Friday.

...

Russia's Defense Ministry dismissed the allegation that there had been any Russian involvement in the disappearance of the explosives in Iraq.

"You can't really take statements like this as anything but far-fetched rubbish," said spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov.

The President Is a Fool

No argument with that

My gripe with President Bush, who has risen above his Yale, Harvard and oil resume to become a man of the people, is that he is an incompetent man of the people. He's smart enough for an elite job, but he has lousy judgment, no sense of history and the dogmatic ways of the insecure. He is a fool, quoting Webster's first definition: "A person lacking judgment and prudence."

Higher turnout favors democrats

Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury predicts an 84 percent turnout.

Telletubbies are a terrorist plot!

As if we didn't have enough evidence that the Bush administration is failing at the task of protecting the homeland, now we find that the Homeland Security department is wasting time visiting toy stories and protecting the patent on Rubik's Cube!

Homeland Security Agents Visit Toy Store

ST. HELENS, Ore. - So far as she knows, Pufferbelly Toys owner Stephanie Cox hasn't been passing any state secrets to sinister foreign governments, or violating obscure clauses in the Patriot Act.

So she was taken aback by a mysterious phone call from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to her small store in this quiet Columbia River town just north of Portland.

"I was shaking in my shoes," Cox said of the September phone call. "My first thought was the government can shut your business down on a whim, in my opinion. If I'm closed even for a day that would cause undue stress."

When the two agents arrived at the store, the lead agent asked Cox whether she carried a toy called the Magic Cube, which he said was an illegal copy of the Rubik's Cube, one of the most popular toys of all time.

He told her to remove the Magic Cube from her shelves, and he watched to make sure she complied.

Telletubbies are a terrorist plot!

As if we didn't have enough evidence that the Bush administration is failing at the task of protecting the homeland, now we find that the Homeland Security department is wasting time visiting toy stories and protecting the patent on Rubik's Cube!

Homeland Security Agents Visit Toy Store

ST. HELENS, Ore. - So far as she knows, Pufferbelly Toys owner Stephanie Cox hasn't been passing any state secrets to sinister foreign governments, or violating obscure clauses in the Patriot Act.

So she was taken aback by a mysterious phone call from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to her small store in this quiet Columbia River town just north of Portland.

"I was shaking in my shoes," Cox said of the September phone call. "My first thought was the government can shut your business down on a whim, in my opinion. If I'm closed even for a day that would cause undue stress."

When the two agents arrived at the store, the lead agent asked Cox whether she carried a toy called the Magic Cube, which he said was an illegal copy of the Rubik's Cube, one of the most popular toys of all time.

He told her to remove the Magic Cube from her shelves, and he watched to make sure she complied.

The gods are smiling on John Kerry this week

FBI probes Pentagon over Halliburton deals
Investigators seek interview with top Army contracting officer

WASHINGTON - The FBI has begun investigating whether the Pentagon improperly awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton Co., seeking an interview with a top Army contracting officer and collecting documents from several government offices.

Has any candidate ever had this kind of luck when it comes to headlines fitting so closely into their campaign's theme?

Wow!

Kerry in Madison, WI today:

Suggested Republican talking point: they were just there to see Bruce!!!

2004's Scariest Halloween Costumes

Courtesy The Stranger

BREAKING NEWS: Bushie accepts responsibility for mistake!

No, not Junior! (link)

INDIANOLA, Iowa - President Bush's campaign acknowledged Thursday that it had doctored a photograph used in a television commercial and said the ad will be re-edited and reshipped to TV stations.

The photo of Bush addressing a group of soldiers was edited to remove both the president and the podium where he was standing. A group of soldiers in the crowd was electronically copied to fill in the space, aides say.

"There was no need to do that," said Mark McKinnon, head of Bush's advertising team who shouldered the blame. "Everyone technically works for me so I accept the responsibility."

Shocking! Someone associated with Bush actually takes responsibility for the actions of an underling!

I think we should chalk this up as a minor victory and leave it at that. We shouldn't let this distract our attention from the al Qaqaa scandal. In fact, considering how Bush has been getting hammered on that over the last four days, I bet his people were happy to be dealing with something as small as this.

We shouldn't let this distract us from the bigger issue.

Boom

It's official. There's videotape of one of the IAEA seals, intact, as of April 18th, 2003.

So much for the argument that explosives were removed before the U.S. took control of al Qaqaa.

Of course, this question was always more of a diversion from the real issue (why was the Bush administration so lax in securing potentially dangerous munitions in Iraq?). But it's nice that there is a visual defense against the diversion.

John Kerry's closing statement to the jury

John Kerry has hit his stride and at just the right moment. It helps that he has been given the gift of the al Qaqaa story as a perfect vehicle for putting forth his message. This one story contains so many of the essential elements of the case against Bush that it's hard not to take its appearance as a sign that the heavens favor Kerry.

This morning, Kerry issued a new statement on the matter that demonstrates a master of political narrative. It's so good that I think it is worthwhile to critique it in detail:

�This week�s revelations about the missing explosives speaks to the president�s continuing misjudgments in Iraq. According to the commanders on the ground, our forces were not ordered to secure a weapons dump in Iraq where 380 tons of explosives were stored. Now, the president�s former chief weapons inspector says it�s likely that these explosives are being used against our own troops. The president�s shifting explanations and excuses demonstrate, once again, that this president believes the buck stops anywhere but his desk.

Hits the meta-narrative points in spades:

• Misjudgements in Iraq
• Lack of planning for the post-war phase
• The consequences of that lack of planning leading directly to a loss of American lives
• The failure of Bush to address the issue demonstrates his fundamental inability to acknowledge and correct mistakes.

Also uses the comments of non-Kerry partisans (commanders in the field and the president's own weapons inspector) to back up the accusation. Message: this isn't coming from me. It's coming from Mr. Bush's own people.

�Lately, George Bush has been invoking the name of John Kennedy. But can you imagine President Kennedy, in the wake of the Bay of Pigs, standing up and telling the American people that he couldn�t think of a single mistake he�d made? That he would do everything again exactly the same way? Mr. President, John Kennedy was a leader who knew how to take responsibility for his actions.

This is beautiful. It hits on so many points:

• Contrasts the leadership of Kennedy and Bush. Makes Bush look small in the process.
• Demonstrates that admitting failure is something that great leaders do.
• Invokes the memory of Democratic hero. Good for getting out the base.
• Invokes the memory of one of the all time great zinger moments in the debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentson.

Finally, it hammers back at Bush and his belated attempt to paint Kerry as not a real Democrat by pointing out that it is Bush who isn't a real president.

�Mr. President, it�s time for you to take responsibility for yours. Our troops in Iraq are doing a heroic job � the problem is our Commander-in-Chief isn�t doing his.

Stop blaming the troops. Stop blaming the generals. Stop blaming the spies. Stop blaming the diplomats. Stop blaming everyone but yourself.

�Yesterday, George Bush said, �a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief when it comes to your security.�

�I agree.

Kerry "steals" this from Wesley Clark's statement from yesterday. But it is such an obvious critique that it's not clear who really came up with it first.

�George Bush jumped to a conclusions about 9-11 and Saddam Hussein.

�He jumped to conclusions about weapons of mass destruction and rushed to war.

�He jumped to conclusions about how the Iraqi people would receive us.

�He not only jumped to conclusions � he ignored the facts.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Kerry the prosecutor is making his closing statement to the jury!

�Here are the facts, the bottom line, about these weapons: they�re not where they�re supposed to be � they�re not secure.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, don't be fooled by their attempts to cloud the issue with irrelevancies about precisely when the explosives disappeared. The failure here is not in the timing but in the act itself. The facts are these: this president went into this war claiming that he was doing it in order to protect us from weapons of mass destruction and the materials that could be used to make them. But when it came time to act, he failed to give the order to secure the very items he claimed as justification for that war.

It's time to hold the defendant responsible for his acts.

�Well, guess what, according to George Bush�s own words, he shouldn�t be our commander in chief. I could not agree more.�

If the accusation fits, you must convict.

Damn, and I thought MY job was stressful!

Caption: Republican observers Robert Brehm, (standing, from left) Sharon Cornish, and Fran Sinnema look on as Washington County elections workers Nancy Evers (foreground), Peggy Martin and Sandy Wallace compare ballot signatures to those registered on the computer.

This was the photo that greeted me today on the cover of The Oregonian's local news section.

Here's the story that goes along with it ("Watchers watch the watchers as ballot counters try to count")

Security?

Josh has more. This time a transcript of an interview with an MSNBC embed, Lai Ling Jew, who was part of the group that some claim said that the explosives were already gone by April 10th.

Amy Rorbach: Was there a search at all underway or was, did a search ensue for explosives once you got there during that 24-hour period?

Lai Ling Jew: No. There wasn't a search. The mission that the brigade had was to get to Baghdad. That was more of a pit stop there for us. And, you know, the searching, I mean certainly some of the soldiers head off on their own, looked through the bunkers just to look at the vast amount of ordnance lying around. But as far as we could tell, there was no move to secure the weapons, nothing to keep looters away. But there was � at that point the roads were shut off. So it would have been very difficult, I believe, for the looters to get there.

Josh chose to emphasize the first part of Jew's statement. But I think the second part is equally compelling since she says that she saw no attempt to secure the facility against looters. She throws in the comment that it would have been difficult for the looters to get there. But she can only report on what she saw in one 24 hour period. She doesn't know what happened after her group left.

This is the thrust of my previous post on this topic: did the administration, because of incompetent planning, fail to secure the facility and prevent the subsequent looting of those dangerous munitions?

Is this is another example of Bush's "catastrophic success"?

"That's to much power for one man to have"

I'm joining the chorus here in recommending the new eminem video "Mosh".

It is an angry video and most of that anger is focused on Bush, which is good. But no one should make the mistake of thinking the video is pro-Kerry. Kerry will benefit from the anti-Bush sentiment, of course, but it includes an epilogue that makes clear that it is also a warning to him that he will be held just as responsible if he doesn't correct Bush's mistakes:

And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present, and mosh for the future of our next generation, to speak and be heard, Mr. President, Mr. Senator

This is a Get-Out-The-Vote/You-Have-The-Power video that is meant to inspire. I can imagine some will miss out on this message because they can't get beyond the powerful image of thousands of eminem clones marching on city hall to demand their right to vote. It reminds me of the scene in "Malcolm X" where Malcom, played by Denzel Washington, impresses a group of policeman by his ability to organize a cadre of black men in suits to "march" on the local police station and just stand there in a calm "don't fuck with us" manner until they get what they want (the release of one of their comrades).

George Bush and John Kerry would both be foolish to underestimate the power of that kind of message.

Bush: Kerry isn't a real Democrat

Now Bush is attacking Kerry for not being a good Democrat!

In Onalaska, Bush said Kerry had chosen a path of "weakness and inaction," putting himself "in opposition not just to me, but to the great tradition of the Democratic Party."

"The party of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and John Kennedy is rightly remembered for confidence and resolve in times of war and in hours of crisis. Senator Kerry has turned his back on 'pay any price' and 'bear any burden,'" Bush said.

...

Bush, who lost Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes by only 5,708 ballots in 2000, was focusing his efforts in Democratic-leaning reaches of the state.

Warming up for that task in his last stop Monday, in Davenport, Iowa, Bush ditched his single-focus, national security speech of earlier events in favor of a broader pitch praising the traditions of the Democratic Party, a theme he returned to on Tuesday.

Bush can't seem to decide whether to attack Kerry for being to liberal or for not being a liberal in the Democratic tradition.

One sign of a floundering candidate is when he keeps switching strategies. It's especially bad when they do it in the final week of the campaign.

al Qaqaa excuse is no excuse

Josh Marshall is the go-to guy on all things al Qaqaa related. He has a report this morning that summarizes the multitude of problems with the "the explosives were already gone when we got there" theory. The biggest problem being that moving that much material in that short a period of time would have required a huge convoy. Administration apologists would have us believe this convoy somehow went unnoticed by the thousands of troops in the area, the hundreds of spy planes flying over head and more than a few military satellites watching from space.

But, even beyond these obvious problems, there is an additional problem. Even if we were to give full faith and credit to this excuse it is still no defense for Bush. Consider that was known long in advance that the materials stored at al Qaqaa would be dangerous if they fell into the wrong hands. If so then why didn't we safeguard the facility as soon as we had access to it?

The earliest report of U.S. troops reaching al Qaqaa was on April 4th. You would think putting a lockdown on the facility would be an urgent priority. Yet I have heard nothing on any effort to do so. Why? Was this just another example of the poor planning that went into this operation?

Things are bad for Bush when even his best face-saving excuse still plays right into one of John Kerry's major arguments against re-electing Bush.

Republican Porn

If you're into that kind of thing (Check it out. It's not what you think)