] After weeks of media scrutiny of Democrat John Kerry's
] record in Vietnam, Bush was broadsided by several
] challenges to his account of his six-year stint in the
] air guard in Texas and Alabama, including:
]
] -- A CBS "60 Minutes" interview in which a former Texas
] speaker of the House said he helped secure a pilot's
] position for Bush in the Texas Air National Guard to keep
] him from being drafted.
]
] -- New memos obtained by CBS News suggesting that Bush's
] squadron commander in Texas was under pressure from his
] superiors to give Bush a strong performance review, which
] he refused to do.
]
] -- A Boston Globe investigation that concluded that Bush
] missed training assignments in Alabama and Massachusetts
] despite twice signing statements that warned that he
] could be put on active duty for two years for doing so.

Renewed focus on Bush time in military / Ex-official says he helped politician's son avoid Vietnam

Ok, I don't like to think about shooting puppies either, but I'm wondering....exactly how is what the man was doing that different from what the animal shelter will do?

If they don't find a home for them, they will euthanize them. That's a nice way of saying "kill them." Its maybe just not as messy as a shot in the head, but just as deadly.

[ It's because in one case there is, presumably a standardized method, which is known to be as humane as possible, whereas some guy with a gun isn't necessarily going to have the quality control, for lack of a better term. If he misses the head, and only injures the dog, then that dog suffers until he shoots again, not to mention all the other dogs sit there and watch their brothers get killed, which even an animal recognizes as a frightening situation.

In the grand scheme, it's not pure evil or anything, but it's definitely not the right way to go. -k]

Puppy shoots man

] Electoral College:
]
] Bush 213 Kerry 175
]
] As part of the Bush Convention bounce, Michigan and New
] Jersey have moved to the Toss-Up column in our Electoral
] College projections. Both states had been leaning in
] Kerry's direction. The first Rasmussen Reports state
] polling data released after the Republican Convention
] showed Minnesota remaining firmly in the Toss-Up column.
]
] President Bush now leads in states with 213 Electoral
] Votes while Senator Kerry leads in states with 175.
] Neither man, however, can yet count on the 270 Electoral
] Votes needed for victory in November. States where the
] candidates are within five percentage points of each
] other are considered Toss-Ups.

Rasmussen is one of the best at poll analysis. He correctly predicted the size of the Bush convention bounce, days before recent polls showed that Time and Newsweek signifcantly overestimated it.

Rasmussen Polling Reports

] Now in his appellate case, Gilmore maintains the federal
] government has yet to disclose the regulations behind the
] ID requirement to which he was subjected.
]
] "How are people supposed to follow laws if they don't
] know what they are?" Harrison said.
]
] The government contends its court arguments should be
] sealed from public view and heard before a judge outside
] the presence of Gilmore and his attorneys. The
] government, however, said it would plan to file another
] redacted public version of its arguments.

[ Shenanigans. -k]

Government wants ID arguments secret

] After gauging the harsh reaction from Democrats and
] Republicans alike to Sen. Zell Miller's keynote
] address at the Republican National Convention, the Bush
] campaign -- led by the first lady -- backed away
] Thursday from Miller's -- savage attack on Democratic
] presidential nominee John Kerry, insisting that the
] estranged Democrat was speaking only for himself.

Zell Miller was the featured keynote speaker at the convention, but now we're supposed to believe he was only speaking for himself?

For those who haven't been following this, Miller went on to all but challenge Chris Matthews to a duel, which has led to days of references, between my wife and I, to the "tomacco" Simpsons episode which also features Homer challenging everyone to duels.

[ It's pretty obvious this was their plan from the start. I'm not sure it'll work, but having a crazy democrat to put on display could damage the dems as much as the repubs, if people buy it. Plus, Bush gets to come out and be the calm, steady voice of reason to soothe the more extreme elements of his party. All of that should be in big quotes of course, since that's all shite, but it's a valid ploy.

I'm not sure it's gonna work. I don't really think that many undecided voters view Zell as a legitimate dem. I think he's widely regarded as a tool, who should've switched parties based on ideology, but won't because he's more useful to the right as a way to paint the democrats as divided or weak. I don't think that many people will buy that.

Anyway, he had the *keynote* at *YOUR* convention, W, and he endorsed *YOU* for president. He's fucking yours. It's ultimately unseemsly to trot out your rabid caged democrat and then disavow him for doing precicely what you expected him to. -k]

MSNBC - GOP backs away from Miller's blast

] "I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this
] country questioned by those who have refused to serve
] when they could have and by those who have misled the
] nation into Iraq," [Kerry] said at a midnight rally in Ohio
] less than an hour after the president concluded his own
] remarks.

[ Well, that's more than he's said yet. -k]

Bush says 'we will prevail' over terrorism; Kerry calls president unfit to lead

A very interesting read but I don't know that those who are polarized for Bush will pay much attention. The crap that the Swift Boat Veterans pulled on Kerry had its effect but for some reason Bush has been able to remain teflon coated when it comes to his National Guard issues. This interview, plus the upcoming "60 Minutes" interview on Wednesday with the former Lt. Governor of Texas that admits he pulled strings to get Dubya in the Guard will probably just work to make more anti-Bush people to actually vote. If it works, great.

[ If this thing gets grabbed by the wider media, and by kerry, i think it'll negate the convention bounce. If they get the chance to paint Bush as a hypocrite on matters of honor and service, backed by the words of someone who helped him exploit his background, i think it might finally stick. But maybe i'm just too optimistic. -k]

George W. Bush's missing year

“It’s a federal law, sir; a Secret Service agent came and explained it to us.”

[ This is pretty old by now, but I'll meme it again, because it's such a ridiculous story of uneducated law enforcement. -k]

Priest Accosted by Police Citing WiFi Law

But political assemblies on the eve of the Republican National Convention appear to be taboo. This week, city officials persuaded a federal judge to keep the park off limits Saturday to a protest rally by 75,000 people jointly sponsored by an Arab-American coalition and an anti-war group.

[ It's a bs excuse and no one's even bothering to hide it. They don't want protests and they'll use whatever stupid crap they can find that'll achieve the end result. It's either a public place or it's not, and as I said in an earlier related topic, in any case where there's not a clear and obvious danger to public safety, people have the right to assemble, and that' pretty much it, as far as i'm concerned. -k]

Yahoo! News - New York tramples Bill of Rights to protect 'grass'?

For most Americans, the last four years have represented a low point in our economic history. But for the big-business interests financing the Bush campaign, these have been high times.

American Prospect Online - ViewPrint