] The statement said it supported President Bush (news -
] web sites) in his reelection campaign, and would prefer
] him to win in November rather than the Democratic
] candidate John Kerry (news - web sites), as it was not
] possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush),
] who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."
]
] In comments addressed to Bush, the group said:
]
] "Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he
] and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy
] and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as
] civilization."

Ha.

Yahoo! News - Purported Al Qaeda Letter Endorses Bush (kinda)

The Iraq on the Record Report, prepared at the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, is a comprehensive examination of the statements made by the five Administration officials most responsible for providing public information and shaping public opinion on Iraq: President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

Iraq on the Record

] The government's top expert on Medicare costs was told
] not to tell key lawmakers about cost estimates that could
] have torpedoed the White House-backed Medicare
] prescription-drug plan.
]
] Richard Foster, the chief actuary for the Centers for
] Medicare and Medicaid Services, told colleagues last June
] that he would be fired if he revealed a number higher
] than some lawmakers said they would approve.
]
] When the House of Representatives passed the
] controversial benefit by five votes in November, the
] White House was embracing an estimate by the
] Congressional Budget Office that it would cost $395
] billion in the first 10 years.
]
] But for months the administration's analysts in the
] Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had concluded
] that the drug benefit could cost upward of $100 billion
] more than that.

[ So, they lied. Again. And not in a pseudo-mistruth, beating-around-the-bush kind of way. In an outright, unprincipled, we-need-this-political-victory-at-all-costs kind of way. The bill passed by 5 votes. More than 5 people would have jumped ship had they known the number was closer to $500 B than $400 B. It's stunning how much total bullshit this administration is willing to shovel.
Also, on the heels of all this indignation over Kerry calling them a bunch of liars, this couldn't be better timing. See, dammit, you *are* liars. Bush's people lied, conspired to get a bill passed under false cost estimates, all while the main administrator was interviewing for private sector jobs (which he eventually got, jumping the HHS ship). Completely outrageous. -k]

Charlotte Observer | 03/12/2004 | Medicare cost expert muzzled

] "The truth is that for reasons that have a lot to do
] with the U.S. government bureaucracy, we settled on the
] one issue that everyone could agree on, which was weapons
] of mass destruction as the core reason."
] - Paul Wolfowitz, quoted by Tim Russert on 'Meet The
] Press, NBC, 06-01-03
]
] "Quit looking at the symbols. Get out and get a job.
] Quit shooting each other. Quit having illegitimate
] babies."
] - State Rep. John Graham Altman (R-SC), addressing
] African-American concerns about the 'symbol' of the
] Confederate Flag, New York Times, 01-24-97
]
] "Two things made this country great: White men &
] Christianity. The degree these two have diminished is in
] direct proportion to the corruption and fall of the
] nation. Every problem that has arisen (sic) can be
] directly traced back to our departure from God's Law and
] the disenfranchisement of White men."
] - State Rep. Don Davis (R-NC), emailed to every
] member of the North Carolina House and Senate, reported
] by the Fayetteville Observer, 08-22-01
]
] "NOW is saying that in order to be a woman, you've
] got to be a lesbian."
] - Pat Robertson again, The 700 Club, 12-03-97
]
] "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and
] how many, what day it's gonna happen? It's not relevant.
] So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like
] that?"
] - Barbara Bush, said on 'Good Morning America' the
] day before the Iraq war started, New York Times, 01-13-03
]
] "I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain -
] I don't need to explain why I say things. That's the
] interesting thing about being the President. Maybe
] somebody needs to explain to me why they say something,
] but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."
] - George W. Bush, Washington Post, 11-19-02
]
] These quotes, and about a thousand others equally as
] preposterous, can be found in a new book by Bruce Miller
] and Diana Maio titled 'Take Them At Their Words.' The
] next time our valiant conservative leadership bemoans the
] "corruption and fall of the nation," remember that, by
] and large, these bemoaners are the clowns who have been
] running the circus for the last several years.
]
] A few are also up for re-election in 2004. Bear that
] in mind.

Great list goes on at this page.

t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | Fish. Barrel. Boom.

Decius wrote:
] ryan is the supernicety wrote:
] ] QUOTE: On April 24, 2003, President Bush traveled to Timken
] ] Company’s Canton plant to promote his tax plan. In a speech
] to
] ] workers, he promised that the tax cut plan “means more money
]
] ] for investments, more money for growth and more money for
] ] jobs.”
] ]
] ] Numerous studies have refuted that claim, showing that while
]
] ] the President's tax cuts rewarded wealthy Americans with
] tens
] ] of thousands of dollars in tax windfalls, the rest of
] America
] ] actually received relatively little. The average Bush tax
] cut
] ] for the wealthiest one percent of Americans is $938,000,
] ] reports Citizens for Tax Justice.
]
] Reads like slight of hand to me. "Studies" (You needed a study
] for this?) which show that wealthy Americans received larger
] tax cuts (in raw dollars, not percentagewise) in no way refute
] a claim that the tax cut plan "means more money for X, Y, or
] Z."
]
] The questions are, have the tax cuts translated into growth,
] and has the growth translated into jobs? I'd honestly like to
] see a study that addresses that question instead of constantly
] having different theories about fiscal policy being thrown
] around as matters of faith rather then of fact.
]
] My intuitive feeling is that economic growth has occured
] because we're reaching the end of inventory surplusses which
] existed at the time of the crash, and the investment
] environment has become less uncertain. And, no this hasn't
] translated into jobs.
]
] But I'd much rather be operating on research rather then
] intuition.

Ryan: Fiscal policy is THEORY and thus truly is FAITH. There are at least three major accepted models of fiscal and monetary policy. All three accepted models are at odds with one another. You should ask my friend (t at the supernicety dot com) about it sometime.

Regardless, the hard and humorous facts for purposes of this story are these: Bush spoke there about jobs and his tax policy. His taxs policy has not driven job growth-- we are at a negative in necessary job growth each month (350k jobs needed each month to replace the ones lost plus population growth). The place where he spoke had a $#||load worth of jobs lost. Oh yeah, and Bush's friends have the highest executive to normal worker pay ratio in the world.

RE: Campaign Money Watch

QUOTE: On April 24, 2003, President Bush traveled to Timken Company’s Canton plant to promote his tax plan. In a speech to workers, he promised that the tax cut plan “means more money for investments, more money for growth and more money for jobs.”

Numerous studies have refuted that claim, showing that while the President's tax cuts rewarded wealthy Americans with tens of thousands of dollars in tax windfalls, the rest of America actually received relatively little. The average Bush tax cut for the wealthiest one percent of Americans is $938,000, reports Citizens for Tax Justice.

According to Reuters, the Chairman of Timken Company, W.R. Timken, made $2.62 million in 2003, clearly placing him in the wealthiest one percent of Americans.

Two months later, W.R. Timken co-hosted a fundraiser for Bush’s campaign in Akron which raised $600,000, and earned Timken ‘Ranger’ status (for those who raise more than $200,000 for the campaign).

Then, in September last year, Timken Company announced it was laying off 700 workers, adding more pain to one of the jobless recovery's most hardest-hit states.

Campaign Money Watch

] Don't expect a "Sex and the City" movie, said the TV
] series' executive producer, Michael Patrick King.

Sorry ladies....

CNN.com - Producer: No 'Sex and the City' movie - Mar 8, 2004

w1ld wrote:
] So all those Haitian rebels are on the CIA bankroll?
] Right.........
] Haitie is such a strategic country for the US to take over,
] you know.
] Im sure that North Korea is shaking in there boots right now
] at
] the coup d'etat that Bush pulled off in Haitie.

[ Um, nooo, all that's being said is that Aristide claims he was removed against his will. Do i see a lot of strategic reason for the U.S. to have done so? No, not really, but he said it, so it deserves some attention. It's not some left wing blogger that's making the claim.
That being said, Aristide is considered by U.S. conservatives to be quite the buddy of U.S. left-liberals, and of course, the evil Bill Clinton supported Aristide by sending troops to Haiti, so i imagine the current administration takes a dim view of him and his policies -- wether it's a dim enough view to forcibly remove the man, i guess we'll see.
Or, given the fickle media environment we've got, maybe we won't. Lord of the Rings won 11 oscars you know! Pay no attention to the monkey in the white house. -k]

RE: Aristide says U.S. deposed him in 'coup d'etat'

] Brit Hume is the Fox anchor who helped orchestrate the
] Republican-led 39-hour Senate talk-a-thon intended to
] counter the Democratic filibuster against four of
] President Bush's most radically conservative judicial
] nominees.
] Hume and fellow anchor Tony Snow pitched the idea
] outright to Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist on Fox
] News Sunday, challenging the Senator's repeated
] contention that an all-night protest session would be
] counterproductive. Two weeks later, the two-day marathon
] session was announced.
] Having successfully prodded Frist to hold the all-night
] session, Hume sought special coverage of the event.
] According to a leaked email, a producer for Hume's
] evening news show, Special Report with Brit Hume, worked
] directly with a staffer for Senator Frist, in an effort
] to choreograph the launch of the Republican protest as a
] "live opening shot" for Hume's November 12 newscast. As
] reported in The Hill, the leaked memo read:
] "It is important to double efforts to get your boss
] to S-230 on time ... Fox News Channel is really excited
] about this marathon and Brit Hume at 6 would love to open
] with all our 51 senators walking onto the floor -- the
] producer wants to know will we walk in exactly at 6:02
] when the show starts so they get it live to open Brit
] Hume's show? Or if not, can we give them an exact time
] for the walk-in start?"
] Hume's behavior in this incident shatters any illusion of
] 'fair and balanced' journalism. Worse, it evidences an
] effort to orchestrate PR coups for Bush Republicans.

Wow. I didn't realize it was this bad. I read this in a thread discussing how the National Press FOundation should not honor Brit Hume as its Broadcaster of the Year. Worth checking out.

MoveOn.org: Media Corps: Award to Fox anchor prompts outrage

] As one who does not support Dean, I would like to say
] this to you: DON'T GIVE UP. You have done an incredible
] thing. You inspired an entire nation to stand up to
] George W. Bush. Your impact on this election will be felt
] for years to come. Every bit of energy you put into Dr.
] Dean's candidacy was -- and is -- worth it. He took on
] Bush when others wouldn't. He put corporate America on
] notice that he is coming after them. And he called the
] Democrats out for what they truly are: a bunch of
] spineless, wishy-washy appeasers who have sold out the
] working people of America. Everyone in every campaign
] owes you and your candidate a huge debt of thanks.

Michael Moore.com : Mike's Message