Tonight

Howdy Folks!

Some gleanings.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html

Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 15:47 EST
Kerry takes on the Swift Boat Veterans

“We interrupt this presidential campaign to bring you a blast from the not-so-distant past.

At a recent gala dinner for the American Spectator, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, a major contributor to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, apparently offered $1 million to anyone who could disprove any of the Swifties' claims about John Kerry's service in Vietnam.

In a letter sent to Pickens today, Kerry has accepted the challenge himself. "I welcome the opportunity to prove that you are a man of your word and that the so-called 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' lied," Kerry says in his letter. "While I am prepared to show they lied on allegation after allegation, you have generously offered to pay one million dollars for just one thing that can be proven false. I am prepared to prove the lie beyond any reasonable doubt."

Kerry proposes that he and Pickens meet at some mutually agreeable public forum in either Texas or Massachusetts to settle the score. The senator, who doesn't exactly need the $1 million himself, suggests that the oilman come prepared with a check made out to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, an organization that helps veterans with spinal cord injuries and diseases.

War Room Bonus Fact: Evidence of Pickens' offer comes via a post at RedState.com by Ben Domenech, whose name we last heard when he was resigning as a right-wing blogger for WashingtonPost.com amid revelations that he'd engaged in numerous acts of plagiarism.


Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 08:58 EST
Pickens weasels out on Swift Boat challenge

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens recently offered $1 million to anyone who could disprove any of the allegations the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth made about John Kerry's military service. As we reported Friday, Kerry has accepted the offer himself, inviting Pickens to meet him at a mutually agreeable location in Massachusetts or Texas -- and to bring a check made out to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Pickens has now responded to Kerry's invitation, but not in the "bring it on" way you might expect of a man who's sure of his own righteousness. Pickens doesn't deny that he made the initial challenge, but now that Kerry has accepted, he apparently feels the need to add some conditions.

"In order to disprove the accuracy of the Swift Boat ads, I will ultimately need you to provide the following," he tells Kerry. "(1) The journal you maintained during your service in Vietnam, and (2) Your military record, specifically your service records for the years 1971-1978, and copies of all movies and tapes made during your service."

Oh, and one more thing. If Kerry "cannot prove anything in the Swift Boat ads to be untrue," he'll need to make a $1 million contribution himself to the Medal of Honor Foundation.”


Rathuglicans will always back out when challenged!


Why We Write

By Robert Parry
November 13, 2007

“There is no more effective way to short-circuit democracy than to get large segments of the population to buy into a made-up reality, while keeping other citizens so uncertain of the truth that they are politically paralyzed.”

More here:

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/111207.html



Welcome to the Next Republican Depression?

Fed Chief Warns of Worse Times in the Economy

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/business/09fed.html

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 — Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, told Congress on Thursday that the economy was going to get worse before it got better, a message that received a chilly reception from both Wall Street and politicians.

Ok folks, Chris Mathews, self styled “Hardballer” just said a column by Bob Novack, self styled “Prince of Darkness” that said that the Clinton campaign had some dirt on Obama casts aspersions on Clinton’s character and honesty again.

What’s wrong with this analysis? Well, Bob Novick is the guy who outed Valary Plame undercover CIA agent for one.

W’s father called that Treason

Then there’s that fact that it’s Bob Novack that said it without proof of any kind.


Obama went on TV to denounce dirty tactics. Hillary’s campaign was called out to deny the story.


Now, not one of the other talking heads with him pointed out the silliness of believing a single word that Bob Novack either says or writes.

Somehow Bob Novack, a known Far Right partisan and Traitor get’s to land body blows in the middle of the Democratic Party’s nomination process. All thanks to Chris Mathews and idiots like him.

As if you didn’t know this, Mathews is clearly for Obama, at least tonight.

Immigration reform made simple.

Immigration reform is hot now, but not me. I know how to solve most of the problem-you do too if you think of it.

Put the people who hire illegal immigrants in jail.

Fine them first, sure. Give them a warning, a big fine next maybe. Then, then put them in jail for a good, long time.

Dry up the market first before building walls and border armies.

No need for hysteria, racism and bombast.

P. T. Barnum would have called people who often pay smugglers to death truck them here in the hope of making three bucks an hour “Suckers!”

But they’re just desperate. They’re desperate because where they come from things really suck.

We need to do two things. We need to dry up the market for illegal immigrants and we need to adapt all our policies to make sure that it no longer really sucks where they come from.

Golly.

Veterans Day

Veterans Day seems a great day to start this. With our sons and daughters serving overseas on false pretenses for a phony president, it’s a good time to join the tidal wave of sanity that is finally sweeping our country. Better late than never.

I'll be back.