Pat Oliphant Does Slime Veterans and POWs

It's always nice to know what Kerry supporters really think. Thanks for sharing, you little pissant.

Kerry Tries to Slime POWs

When you're in a hole, dig deeper, I guess. Kerry buttboy, Chad Clanton, fresh from trying to ban books, provides a press release that attempts to discredit the two POWs in the latest Swift Vets ad.

Let's see. Kenneth Cordier is a Republican donor, despised LBJ, is a member of a "Bush administration advisory panel on veterans' issues," is "open about his conservative views", made a joke about "pulling of ladies' panties over the faces of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. interrogators at Abu Ghraib as preferable to beheading," and wait, stop! Chad's killing me ... with laughter.

And what about Paul Galanti? Well, they don't mention that he had endorsed and was named to serve on the board of Virginia's new Department of Veterans' Services by Democrat Governor Mark Warner of Virgina. But they do have stuff like this:

JUDGEMENT: Insulting Disabled Vets?

"Life has a way of throwing curve balls and John (Hager) got beaned by one when he acquired polio as an adult and lost the use of his legs. He would have been forgiven for tossing in the towel, drifting over to the VA hospital and spending the rest of his life feeling sorry for himself." (Richmond Times Dispatch, 6/2/01)

Does that sound like an insult to "disabled vets" to you? Here's the free abstract of the article authored by Galanti:

HAGER MAKES THE HEROES LIST; [City Edition]
Paul E. Galanti. Richmond Times - Dispatch. Richmond, Va.: Jun 2, 2001. pg. A.8

People: Hager, John
Section: Editorial
Text Word Count 290

Abstract (Article Summary)
When faced with this terrible adversity, this former Army officer, community and business leader, husband, and father never looked back. Like the fighter pilot who goes fast enough that he doesn't worry about rear-view mirrors, [John Hager] threw himself back into life with a gusto that few of us will ever know. John has been one of the most illustrious Lieutenant Governors the Commonwealth of ...

C'mon Chad, your press release was satire, right? And don't miss the part where Chad accuses Galanti of being a "Carter Basher." Bwahaha!

Chad, you aren't worthy to even mention these guys' names.

Today's Hoot: Communists for Kerry Take Union Square!

They are the vanguard of the proletariat! August 14:

The Great Revolution Was Great!

Official Party historians have completed the first volume of the Great Revolution!!!

On August 14, 2004, Communists For Kerry took up position in New York City's Union Square. For those of you not familiar with Union square, it is a sight to behold every Saturday. It is populated with every left wing nut group ranging from the Peoples Front of Judea to the Front For the Liberation of the Madagascar Dung Beetle. Needless to say we had to turn it into Soviet Union Square.

So the arrival of Lenin, Che and Castro didn't even warrant a second look. We hung our posters, distributed fliers with the Get Our Of Gulag Coupon on the front and the Party-Approved Slogans For Spontaneous Protests on the back. We handed out band aids from a box marked Kerry's free health care for all, delivered short but passionate speeches - End the two Americas and create one homogeneous welfare state! - and played communist marches using a bullhorn connected to an iPod.

At first the libs that came by to view our material were devoid of any sense of sarcasm, irony or satire. One individual who approached me said, "get your commie crap out of here; you're making John Kerry look bad!" Other libs thought we were really "cool" (wow, our heroes, real communists!).

That is until they read our literature and their faces turned to that angry twisted expression that only the lib face can do when confronted with a differing point of view (see: Bulldog licking piss off a nettle).

Much, much more by following the link. And they are headed back today for The Revolution Reloaded!

Lurch's Hissy Fit

Our favorite gigolo seems to be freaking out! When the Swift Boat Vets first appeared, the Kerry strategy was to have his lawyers threaten any station that played the ad, while his big media pals ignored it except for the occasional fly swat by them and George Soros' sock puppets. Then he went to the VFW convention on Wednesday:

Sen. John Kerry is said by several advance staffers to have been visibly upset at the reception he received at the VFW convention on Wednesday in Cincinnati. "He was upset after the speech, visibly upset when he was out of public view," says a Kerry adviser, confirming the story.

Kerry was greeted by polite applause in the large auditorium, with many VFW members sitting with their arms crossed and not applauding at all. A few VFW members stood in the rear of the room with their backs turned to the dais.

Kerry appeared thrown by the reception, giving a flat, sometimes-meandering speech that was intended to be a strong rebuttal of President Bush's announced troop pullback in Europe and Korea.

Two things apparently changed Kerry's aggressive stance. First, before going onstage, Kerry was informed that NATO officials in Brussels had essentially backed the Bush proposal as being sound and in line with NATO's own troop deployment plans. Second, according to an advance staffer, the candidate had been told that he would be received at the very least warmly, based on feedback the campaign had received from VFW officials.

"He's not used to not getting a warm reception," says the advance staffer. "He can handle the Bush hooligans we get, but when he's told he'll be greeted well, he expects that to be the case."

(More here and here.) Watch out everyone! Lurch is in a tizzy! And he must be living in a really serious delusionary state. He expected to be warmly received by a real veterans' group? Hey John, it wasn't Jane Fonda and the VVAW.

Anyhow, Lurch was apparently fulminating all the way back to his wife's Boston mansion and decided that night to unleash the flying monkeys:

Kerry reversed course Wednesday night after arriving in Boston from a campaign trip to Cincinnati. As his motorcade pulled up to his Beacon Hill townhouse, he asked senior adviser David Morehouse, communications direction Stephanie Cutter and press secretary David Wade to come inside.

With campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill on the phone, Kerry told his aides, "I think it's time to go at this."

That must be how Boston Brahmins say, "Fly, my pretties!" The early birds at the WaPo got their hit in on Thursday and all the other big media weighed in on Friday. I'm sure it was just a coincidence they all jumped on it at the same time, aren't you? Meanwhile the campaign (and their pals at George Soros' front groups) are trying to ban the book, Unfit for Command, and whining to the FEC about the television ads. Yeah, that'll make it go away!

Anyhow, Imperial Stormtrooper Adam Nagourney has a gag-inducing piece today describing the Empire's point of view - Kerry Might Pay Price for Failing to Strike Back Quickly. There's no consideration of the idea that just maybe Lurch has some explaining to do. It's all about how he should have called out the flying monkeys earlier. Best line:

In fairness to Mr. Kerry, his aides were faced with a strategic dilemma that has become distressingly familiar to campaigns in this era when so much unsubstantiated or even false information can reach the public through so many different forums, be it blogs or talk-show radio.

Oh, please! It's really great when the premier media spinners turn "holier than thou." No word on how many column inches the Times devoted to the unsubstantiated charges about President Bush's military record. But don't let us keep you, Adam! You don't want to be late for the Kool-Aid chugging contest!

Geez, guys, Kerry said he’s telling the truth. Let it be. The carefully scripted, evasive half-answers and the New York Times’ tilted take is good enough for the Democrats. So, what’s the problem? I mean, who cares if 60 eyewitnesses, and a total of 254 combat mates, think Kerry is a grade “A” bulls**t artist? No need to check the facts: they’ve gotta be wrong, and Kerry’s obviously right. Drink the juice.

Now, repeat after me: it makes no difference that John-boy claimed until just last week that he spent Christmas Eve 1968 in Cambodia. It’s really just a bit of poor navigation that he was 55 miles away, deep in Vietnam, although he insisted on it every chance he got including on the Senate floor.

And it really, really doesn’t matter that he claimed Richard Nixon was the lying president at the time, although he still was waiting to be inaugurated. We all know that worse things have been said about Nixon, so you can’t blame the ever-so-honest, self-righteous John Forbes Kerry.

More by following the link.

UPDATE: More meltdown news in a NY Times article from yesterday:

Stephanie Cutter, the Kerry campaign's communications director, said Mr. Kerry decided Wednesday night to respond to the attacks, hours after receiving a mixed reception at a convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars. Many veterans interviewed there parroted the charges from the Swift boaters' group.

Parroted? It's the Slimes.

"When somebody's attacking your military record, you reach a boiling point, and he reached a boiling point last night," Ms. Cutter explained. "When you go and fight in a war, when you spill blood for your country, your instinct is to fight back and defend your record."

Give him his meds and put a bandaid on it, Stephie.

The story that didn't exist and now they don't want you to hear

I linked it before, but it bears repeating - watch the latest Swift Vets ad and then read about the veterans in the ad at the Mudville Gazette. Stand up guys commenting on John Kerry's own words. Think about it when you spot the Flying Monkeys in the press or Kerry's campaign trying to prevent these guys from speaking their minds.

Update: Hugh Hewitt is all over this. The numero uno flying monkey talking point seems to be that it's yet another Vast Right Wing Conspiracy:

CNN has been reporting that the Kerry campaign is scampering off to the Federal Election Commission with a complaint of illegal coordination between the Swift Boat Vets against Kerry and Bush-Cheney '04. Of course it is a nonsense complaint, but it will give the Kerry surrogates something to change the subject to when the new ad gets discussed this weekend, and provide friendly editors at the big papers something else to write about other than the new ad itself, which to repeat from this morning's post, is simply devastating to Kerry.

The Kerry campaign seems to be headed by incompetents, moving at every turn to draw more attention to the worst aspects of their man's flawed character. Now they are resorting to absurd charges as a means of trying to do anything but confront Kerry's lies about his own service and his slanders about the service of others.

They sure had the talking points on the network morning shows today:

So long as the Kerry campaign chose to largely ignore the charges of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), the morning shows dutifully imposed their own blackout on the story.

But when Kerry broke his silence on the campaign trail yesterday, dusting off his hackneyed "bring it on" boast, it was clear that the honchos at the morning shows got the word from the DNC: start covering the story - using our talking points, of course.

And so each of the morning shows, for the first time to my recollection, had extended pieces on SBVT. Flipping madly among the channels, it is difficult to distinguish which network said what, but the basic approach was - predictably - consistent throughout.

Rather than focus on the substance of the charges, the emphasis was to suggest that this was effectively a Bush campaign plot.

And another post from Hugh:

Mudville Gazette has a must-read post on the disgust that met John Kerry when he appeared before the VFW in Cinncy. Surprised that you didn't read about this in your daily paper? Do you suppose the Kerry campaign will be filing a complaint with the FEC about illegal coordination between the VFW and Bush-Cheney '04?

It's being reported that Lurch decided to try to shut down the Swift Vets in the evening when he got home from the VFW convention. I guess he'll show those lousy veterans who's boss!

The Bush campaign has responded to Senator Sybil's absurd FEC complaint: "This is a frivilous complaint that even John Kerry's chief strategist has said they have no evidence to support. Real coordination is what John Kerry's campaign has been engaged in with the Media Fund, America Coming Together, and MoveOn.org. The revolving door of personnel, coordinated strategies and overlapping fundraising between the Democrat 527s and the Kerry campaign is a flagrant disregard of the spirit and the letter of the campaign finance reform law."

Which reminds me of ole Jim Jordan opening his piehole:

"Out of desperation, the Bush campaign has picked the wrong fight with the wrong veteran," said Jim Jordan, former Kerry campaign manager who now runs an outside group airing ads against Bush. "Today's the start of the mother of all backlashes."

Shh, Jim. You're supposed to be "uncoordinated" so you're not supposed to mention Lurch! But that "mother" line has a certain ring to it!

Of course it goes the other way too, like ole Zack Exley, a graduate of MoveOn.org who is now Lurch's Director of Online Organization.

It just gets better!

Having a hard time explaining why your candidate has claimed for years to have been "seared" on Christmas Eve in Cambodia in 1968 at the command of Richard Nixon, when quite plainly he was not? Well, how about suggesting a little book burning to Eric Boehlert in Salon?

The Kerry campaign has told Salon that the publisher of "Unfit for Command," the book that is at the center of the attack on Kerry's military record by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, is retailing a hoax and should consider withdrawing it from bookstores. "No publisher should want to be selling books with proven falsehoods in them, especially falsehoods that are meant to smear the military service of an American veteran," said Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton. "If I were them, I'd be ducking under my desk wondering what to do. This is a serious problem."

It's a serious problem all right, Chad, but it's Lurch that's under the desk. Probably working on yet another revision of his diary.

But wait, there's more! George Soros' sock puppets at Media Matters decided to dig the hole little deeper:

On the heels of the August 19, 2004 Washington Post article shining the light that a key allegation in "Unfit for Command" is false, Media Matters for America (MMFA) called on three of the nation's leading booksellers to, at the very least, inform customers about the book's false allegations and lies. David Brock, president and CEO of MMFA, today wrote a letter to Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble calling on each to reassess "the responsibility of book sellers when it becomes established that prominent non-fiction books are based on false information."

Nice try Davey, but the WaPo's attempted hatchet job fell flat just like the Boston Globe's before it.

Salon.com's Eric Boehlert reported today that the Kerry campaign has said that Regnery, the right-wing publisher of "Unfit for Command," should consider pulling the book from bookstores, citing the widespread falsehoods throughout the book.

Brock specifically asked Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble to consider taking action -- if not simply pulling it from the shelves -- then prominently calling attention to one of the many refutations of the book, including items on posted http://www.mediamatters.org. "Customers should be made aware that Unfit for Command is a paid political hatchet job, full of false allegations and lies," Brock said.

Isn't it great the way the hack left wing outfits like Salon and Media Matters refer to each other like they had some sort of credibility? But my only question is haven't these dung flies been keeping up with current events? Who had to change his story about his life-changing epiphany on Chrismas Eve? Right about now, Unfit for Command has more credibility than Kerry does.

Counterattack against the Deathstar!

POWs Join Swift Boat Vets in Criticism of Kerry. About time. How would you like it if some poltroon was parroting the line of your torturers?

UPDATE: Not to worry, Lurch fans! You'll always have your fantasy role-playing Lurchster game!

More Dark Helmet News!

The Instapundit has a great round-up of reactions to the NY Times dud (the Patterico quote is a hoot) and another post which points to something I overlooked. Of course, along with the editorial in the "news" pages, the Times has to provide an editorial in the editorial pages to instruct the Kool-Aid drinkers in proper thought patterns. Mickey Kaus:

Like many of my friends, I wasn't paying much attention to the Swifties until Kerry went postal on them. (Hmm. Was that a smart move? What happened to the rope-a-dope strategy?) I don't know which side is right. I don't know that I'd even hold it against Kerry if he did exaggerate a bit to get the three Purple Hearts that let him leave Vietnam.

Kinda like some of the fishing stories I hear, I guess. Of course, fishing stories aren't the basis of anyone's campaign for President.

I do know that if freedom of speech means anything it means that a group of citizens can get together to bring up this sort of charge against a presidential candidate, subject to the laws of libel. But read this New York Times editorial and see if you can avoid concluding that the Times doesn't think the Swift Boat Veterans Ad should be stopped because it might be financed with corporate or union money in violation of the spirit of McCain-Feingold. The Times doesn't even really think it should be stopped because it was financed by a rich individual Republican (something that's clearly perfectly legal under McCain-Feingold as long as the group running the ads is not incorporated). The Times thinks the ad should be stopped because you just shouldn't be able to make such "outlandish" independent charges in a campaign. They're against the speech, not the financing. Like Kerry, they're trying to come up with a "process" reason that avoids the inconveniently messy issue of truth. But their process reason--an attack on "independent" criticism per se--seems particularly dangerous.

Hey, it wasn't "approved speech," Mickey! I also like the idea of Lurch going postal - what a concept!

UPDATE: Drudge is currently headlining "KERRY CAMPAIGN CALLS FOR BOOK BAN"

This is their best shot?

The New York Times "big hit" on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is a damp squib. Aside from a cute title, "Friendly Fire: The Birth of an Anti-Kerry Ad," it seems to mostly be whining about the Vets getting the seed money for their advertising campaign from two "large" donors. Large in this context is about equivalent to George Soros' pocket change. And of course, there was no word on all the small contributions they have received since then.

Then there's the big "conspiracy" ramblings brought on by John O'Neill (co-author of "Unfit for Command") being a prominent attorney in Houston and knowing a lot of prominent people. Must be the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy's Houston Chapter. Of course, John readily admits that he voted for Al Gore in 2000 and liked John Edwards this year, but that part would spoil the tin foil wingnuttery.

As for anything substantive about the Vet's complaints about Kerry, it was more hauling of the same tepid water that had been carried previously by other Big Media outlets with a steaming helping of ad hominem attacks. If that's the best that is in the Kerry campaign's Brown Books, they better rethink their attack plan. Of course, they could always start by having Kerry sign his form 180 so that everyone can see his all of his military records.

More at The Captain's Quarters, but the really interesting part of this is how unhinged the usual suspects are getting over the Swift Boat Vets. Also at CQ see Malkin: My Evening In Hell With The Moron Twins:

Once again, the failure of the mainstream media to understand basic military terminology causes them to act like idiots, and the reference to the terminal puffery of Keith Olbermann will become apparent later in Malkin's story. Matthews kicked Malkin off the show at the break for being "irresponsible" -- and then immediately runs off with her copy of Unfit For Command to fact-check after the fact:

As the show broke for commercials, Matthews scrambled for his producers to see if what he said was true. And I'm irresponsible? One staffer ran to the office where I had left my copy of the book, and handed it to Matthews, who--for the first time, apparently--started flipping through it. I asked for my book back and politely said thank you. After I left, he trashed me again on the air and his scurrilous charges were repeated by his MSNBC colleague Keith Olbermann, who called me an "idiot."

Olbermann and Matthews are two main reasons why the CNBC/MS-NBC tandem can't scratch the underbelly of Nielson ratings. The meltdown of Chris Matthews has become almost complete, and the only part we're missing is a complete nervous collapse on camera, which would then be reported by Olbermann with the smirk he uses for every story for which he reads copy.

Michelle's full story of her visit to the asylum is at her blog - Ambush Journalism ... or My Evening With Caveman Chris Matthews:

What I take away from all this is that the Democrat Party waterboys in the media are in full desperation mode. I have now witnessed firsthand and up close (Matthews' spittle nearly hit me in the face) how the pressure from alternative media sources--the blogosphere, conservative Internet forums, talk radio, Regnery Publishing, FOX News, etc. --is driving these people absolutely batty.

Keep bringing it on.

I guess they have the uncomfortable feeling of the French aristocracy during the Revolution. Too bad. As the Marines say, "Get some."

Here they come!

It was bound to happen when the media couldn't ignore them any longer - EMPIRE STRIKES BACK AGAINST ANTI-KERRY VETS:

TIMES editor Bill Keller has reserved the lead of Page One for "the story of how swift boat veterans with a grievance were found by Republicans looking to tarnish Kerry's image," newsroom sources tell DRUDGE.

More than 250 of them?

"A modern day tale of the creation of a political attack machine," declares TIMES reporter Jim Ruttenburg.

You mean they're going to cover George Soros and MoveOn.org? Nah, I guess they're going to try to slime some veterans trying to set the record straight about that poseur, John Kerry.

The TIMES plans to piggyback on comments made by John Kerry on Thursday against allegations that he exaggerated his combat record in Vietnam.

Funny how that turned out. I wounder if Kerry has to record it as a campaign donation?

"Some of the veterans have recanted their stories and made charges that military records prove untrue," the TIMES explains in its 3,500-world splash, which has been previewed by DRUDGE.

Sounds like a rehash of the tripe the Boston Globe and the Washington Post tried out.

Impacting late Thursday.

Ain't we got fun? I wonder if these veterans knew their hardest fight would be 35 years later and against the prostitutes of the mainstream media?

When Flying Monkeys Attack

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth must be hurting them, because they called out the A-Team. Michael Dobbs of the Washington Post reported for duty with Records Counter a Critic of Kerry. What's Mikey's beef?

A document recommending Thurlow for the Bronze Star noted that all his actions "took place under constant enemy small arms fire which LTJG THURLOW completely ignored in providing immediate assistance" to the disabled boat and its crew. The citation states that all other units in the flotilla also came under fire.

Hmm. let's see. This is the same action where Lurch also won a Bronze Star for his actions "under enemy fire." Why might that be? Take it away Swift Boat Vet Jack Chenoweth:

The reason the citation mentions "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" is because it is based on the "spot report" that John Kerry submitted. Any and all awards presented for actions on 13 March 1969 would be similar, if not verbatim, regarding enemy gunfire, because the only information submitted to the chain of command was falsified by Kerry.

Take it away Swift Boat Vet Van Odell:

The mine’s detonation lifted PCF-3 completely out of the water just yards ahead of me. All boats commenced suppression fire in case enemy small arms fire ensued. None did.

All boats came to the aid of PCF-3, except one: John Kerry’s boat. Kerry fled.

Larry Thurlow piloted his boat straight toward the mine-damaged PCF-3 from which thick, black smoke billowed. He jumped aboard and personally led damage control operations that saved the boat and rescue operations that saved the lives of badly wounded men. Larry’s leadership was in the highest traditions of the naval service. His leadership allowed the other men and boats of the mission to exit the river safely. This "single act of meritorious service" -– the chief requirement of the Bronze Star -– should be honored, not ridiculed, by the Kerry campaign and its allies in the mainstream media.

To reiterate, only one enemy weapon was deployed that day -– the command-detonated submerged mine that disabled PCF-3. Larry Thurlow's citation contained references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire," because that was the language chosen by John Kerry who penned the "spot report" on the action that day. There was no "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" received that day. John Kerry’s report was fiction -– a hoax on the entire chain of command. Larry Thurlow's heroism and meritorious service, however, is real.

And what does Thurlow say?

I am convinced that the language used in my citation for a Bronze Star was language taken directly from John Kerry's report which falsely described the action on the Bay Hap River as action that saw small arms fire and automatic weapons fire from both banks of the river.

To this day, I can say without a doubt in my mind, along with other accounts from my shipmates -- there was no hostile enemy fire directed at my boat or at any of the five boats operating on the river that day.

I submitted no paperwork for a medal nor did I file an after action report describing the incident. To my knowledge, John Kerry was the only officer who filed a report describing his version of the incidents that occurred on the river that day.

It was not until I had left the Navy -- approximately three months after I left the service -- that I was notified that I was to receive a citation for my actions on that day.

I believed then as I believe now that I received my Bronze Star for my efforts to rescue the injured crewmen from swift boat number three and to conduct damage control to prevent that boat from sinking. My boat and several other swift boats went to the aid of our fellow swift boat sailors whose craft was adrift and taking on water. We provided immediate rescue and damage control to prevent boat three from sinking and to offer immediate protection and comfort to the injured crew.

And what about Lurch?

After the mine exploded, leaving swift boat three dead in the water, John Kerry's boat, which was on the opposite side of the river, fled the scene. US Army Special Forces officer Jim Rassmann, who was on Kerry's boat at the time, fell off the boat and into the water. Kerry's boat returned several minutes later -- under no hail of enemy gunfire -- to retrieve Rassmann from the river only seconds before another boat was going to pick him up.

Kerry campaign spokespersons have conflicting accounts of this incident -- the latest one being that Kerry's boat did leave but only briefly and returned under withering enemy fire to rescue Mr. Rassmann. However, none of the other boats on the river that day reported enemy fire nor was anyone wounded by small arms action. The only damage on that day was done to boat three -- a result of the underwater mine. None of the other swift boats received damage from enemy gunfire.

And in a new development, Kerry campaign officials are now finally acknowledging that while Kerry's boat left the scene, none of the other boats on the river ever left the damaged swift boat. This is a direct contradiction to previous accounts made by Jim Rassmann in the Oregonian newspaper and a direct contradiction to the "No Man Left Behind" theme during the Democratic National Convention.

These ever changing accounts of the Bay Hap River incident by Kerry campaign officials leave me asking one question. If no one ever left the scene of the Bay Hap River incident, how could anyone be left behind?

Indeed.

Nice try Mikey, but no bananas for you.

More Lurch Loving!

I guess the Hedge Fund Mistress wasn't a parody despite the sappiness. The Boston Herald has an interview with her - Senator’s secret love: Coed tells steamy tales of Kerry affair. I'll say one thing for Lurch, he sure knows how to treat a lady:

Whitnum said the affair began on a snowy day in 1990 when Lee, who lives in Nevada where she writes under the name Lee Roystone, went to a Kerry press conference in Boston. She was one of only a handful of people who turned out for the event, because of the weather. When it was over, the senator offered her a ride home to Cambridge.

``We just hit it off,'' she recalled. ``We had both just seen Kathleen Turner in a play, `Cat On A Hot Tin Roof,' and we talked about that. We went from topic to topic. Rapid-fire conversation, and when we got to my place he asked me `Lee, would you like to have dinner with me tonight.' ''

She agreed and Kerry picked her up later and took her to his Back Bay apartment where he cooked her lobster.

``I was surprised that we didn't go out but he said, `I like to keep my private life private,' '' she said. ``I saw him the next night and the next night too.''

But what Whitnum never did see was the outside of Kerry's bachelor digs. He never took her out on a date. They never went to a restaurant or to a theater. They never were seen in public. Kerry explained that he didn't want to be ``gossiped'' about and Whitnum said she was ``fine with it.''

In fact, the senator was so concerned about keeping the romance secret that he gave them phony names.

``He was Michael, I was Katherine,'' she recalled. ``It was to keep it quiet in case we needed to reach each other. Once he called my apartment and say in a fake accent, `This is Miguel.' ''

Back in the days of my youth, we used to refer to this arrangment as "just bedroom friends." Of course, there are other ways to characterize it too.

Finish him!

Helen Thomas thrashes Kerry


I'd pay to see that!

Lurch Hottie Humor!

I viewed the Hedge Fund Mistress web site yesterday after Drudge linked it, and thought the John Kerry Scrapbook was so bizarre (and gag inducing) that it was some kind of parody. I'm still not sure. but the site has been hammered by the traffic, so if you want to see it, follow the advice of Lorie at the PoliPundit that there's a facsimile at Kerry Waffles with a suitable musical accompaniment.

Blogspot has issues today

Or more precisely, it's sucking a lot. Ignore any "doubled" posts or other oddities, I will fix 'em by and by.

What were those lyrics to the theme song?

Oh yeah, I remember!

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,

The tune was going through my head as I read the Stephanopoulos interview with Lurch over at Footnotes:

10:46:54 GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (ABC NEWS)
(OC) Can you promise that American troops will be home by the end of your first term?

10:46:57 SENATOR JOHN F. KERRY (DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE)
I will have significant, enormous reduction in the level of troops. We will probably have a continued presence of some kind, certainly in the region. If the diplomacy that I believe can be put in place can work, I think we can significantly change the deployment of troops, not just there but elsewhere in the world. In the Korean peninsula perhaps, in Europe perhaps. There are great possibilities open to us.

That was August 1.

On August 18 - Kerry faults Bush plan on redeploying troops:

John Kerry told a veterans' group on Wednesday that President George W. Bush's plan to withdraw troops from Europe and Asia was the "wrong signal to send at the wrong time."

Wooee! He is faster than lightning! The smart part is a tad dubious though.

They're still nuts

The Gweilo (apparently unintentionally) points us to a beauty from the moonbats at Al-Jiz - Was McGreevey ‘sex scandal’ an Israeli Intelligence operation?!:

And here Foreign Policy/Intelligence Columnist Andy Martin uncovers some secrets to this regards, and asserts that McGreevey sex scandal was an Israeli Intelligence operation.
...
"McGreevey said he had sex. He did. Golan Cipel says he is not gay. He's not. They are both right. Mr. Cipel was a junior Mossad case officer, originally posted to New York under official cover. The Mossad is well known for using human sex toys. McGreevey was lured into a relationship that was intended to penetrate New Jersey's homeland defenses.

"Since 9/11 there has been barely suppressed anger at the fact Israeli intelligence knew about the hijackers and said nothing. Israelis have found themselves under suspicion and restricted by some intelligence channels. The state homeland security position was seen as a back door way of spying on anti-terror preparations in the New York-New Jersey area, and possibly nationally.

Sheesh! New Jersey's homeland defenses. There's a real hot target for the Israelis, fer sure - send out a poet to infiltrate it! They better not try that around here though - our homeland defenses are much more secure and might not take kindly to those "lyrical" fellas.

It's not clear exactly who Andy Martin is, but I'm betting it's this guy. If you have plenty of tin foil, there's more. Explain to me again why Al-Jiz ia an accredited news organization?

But I'll give 'em credit for one thing - they have a polling box down at the bottom of the page for readers to rate believabilty of the wingnuttery. Imagine that at the New York Times! Of course, they might be the same demographic as the readers of the Al-Jiz English service.

I believe it (60 % ) These are lies (32 %) I dont know (8 % )

More poseur fun

If you're not familiar with ole wingnut Tom Harkin, see the previous post.

Birds of a feather

Flock together.

Or per the picture, suck up to Third World thugs together.

Kerry's limousine liberation theology led him into one of the most embarrassing moments of his early Senate career -- his disastrous Neville Chamberlain-style diplomacy with Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega. Shortly after becoming a Senator, Kerry took off for Nicaragua with Tom Harkin on a free-lancing fact-finding tour, the purpose of which was to stymie congressional support for the Contras by "finding" that the Sandinistas weren't such bad guys after all. After Kerry met with Ortega, he returned to Washington waving a promise from Ortega that the Communist leader would moderate his policies. "We believe this is a wonderful opening for a peaceful settlement without having to militarize the region," Kerry said. "The real issue is: Is this administration going to overthrow the government of the Sandinistas no matter what they do? This opportunity puts this to the test." The normally cautious Secretary of State George Shultz was so flabbergasted by Kerry's shilling for Ortega that he denounced Kerry publicly for "dealing with the communists" and letting himself be "used" by Ortega.

Kerry's diplomacy blew up in his face. As Kerry was reassuring his colleagues that Ortega wouldn't establish Soviet and Cuban bases in Nicaragua, Ortega (a few days after he met with Kerry) was flying to Moscow to arrange a $200 million transfer of Soviet monies to Nicaragua. Kerry's sales pitch for the Sandinistas -- "I see an enormous haughtiness in the United States trying to tell them what to do. Our economic squeeze on them is very sad. The whole population is suffering" -- worked in Congress. It voted against aid to the Contras, even as Ortega was collecting aid from his Soviet bosses.

This angered Republican senators enough that they wondered if Harkin and Kerry hadn't known about Ortega's impending trip to Moscow and just didn't tell their colleagues about it lest the information change the vote. Said one press report at the time: "Liberal freshman Senators John Kerry and Thomas Harkin made a much publicized trip to Nicaragua shortly before the May vote in Congress on U.S. aid for the anti-communist freedom fighters. Insiders say the two senators learned while in Managua that Nicaraguan ruler Daniel Ortega was planning a trip to Moscow to ask for more Soviet support for his communist government, yet the senators failed to mention Ortega's plans, either to the State Department or to their colleagues in the Congress, before a majority in the House voted against aid for the freedom fighters."

Hard as it is to believe, the best line goes to Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd:

A new book by the Boston Globe on Kerry's Senate career quotes Kerry as saying that he was "as mad as anyone" that Ortega went to Moscow. But Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd said, "Where did my colleagues think he was going to go? Disney World? The man is a Marxist."

Of course, that was in the old days when Lurch actually showed up in the Senate.

Today's Hoot!

Go visit Allah for step 1. Click on the picture for the explanation.

Take that, you Doubting Thomases!

Well, maybe the Lurchster wasn't actually getting "seared" in Cambodia on Christmas Eve 1968, but the campaign now says he saw Cambodia in his role as secret agent and have released a snap to prove it.


(Click pic to supersize)

(Graphic from Cadet Happy) Much more at Hugh Hewitt's place.

It could happen to anyone

More on the "Vice Chairman" story - Kerry Campaign Explains Bob Kerrey Mixup:

WASHINGTON - John Kerry, Bob Kerrey. It's easy to get confused.

At least that's how the Kerry campaign is explaining claims that Kerry — the Democratic presidential candidate — served as vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Oops. Make that Bob Kerrey — the former Democratic senator from Nebraska who did serve as the panel's vice chairman.
...
"John Kerry, Bob Kerrey — similar names," said Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan, adding that any reference to Kerry as vice chairman was an error.

It could happen to any grade school student writing a report, I guess.

"It's difficult to take John Kerry's claims about his intelligence experience seriously when one of his credentials is completely made up," said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson. "If he had shown up for Intelligence Committee hearings he would notice he wasn't vice chairman."

Which is the essential point, of course. Lurch graced less than 25% of the meetings with his presence.

The Kerry campaign has not denied he missed meetings but has said the criticism relies on accounts of 65 open hearings and doesn't note that the panel held more than 329 meetings.

Ah yes, but notice how that is worded. It doesn't say how many of the closed meetings ole Lurch was able to find time for in his busy social calendar. And releasing Lurch's attendance records for the closed meetings requires his authorization. Since he hasn't released his full medical records, his full military records, or his full financial records, don't hold your breath. Particularly since Lurch only comes to life when the cameras are on and closed meetings are kinda like icky work and stuff.

And speaking of Lurch and sports

We all know Lurch isn't the brightest bulb on the string, but over at Power Line, the Big Trunk tries to explain the sports fetish:

Rocket Man has periodically expressed interest here about John Kerry's exhibitionist approach to sports. Kerry snowboarding (with the classic daisy zipper pull), Kerry biking (with the fully color coordinated bike/shorts/gloves/helmet combo), Kerry playing catch on the tarmac of various airports -- what's the deal with the guy?
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Now comes ABC's Teddy Davis, who has posted a report that sheds some light on the situation, but that raises even more questions regarding the judgment involved here: "Kerry on a roll -- but risks remain."

It appears that Kerry's carefully wrought public sports poses are calculated to prove his manhood! I guess I must have been thrown off by the daisy zipper pull:

Throughout his campaign, Kerry has made it clear that he is not ready to cede to President Bush what Steve Rosenthal, the former political director of the AFL-CIO, once called "the hang test."

So whether it's been shooting pheasant, playing hockey, tossing a football, or riding a Harley, Kerry has been presented to the public as fun-loving, athletic, outdoorsy, and, most importantly, the kind of Democrat who crosses the "testosterone threshold" needed to be commander-in-chief.

But the exotic nature of some of the sports he plays (say, kite-surfing in Nantucket) and the great lengths he goes in order to play them (say, flying from Idaho to Oregon to windsurf), can have the unintended effect of making him seem out of touch with the hard-pressed middle class whose cares he says have been his concern.

As his plane was flying from Oregon to Idaho on Saturday, Kerry defended his taste in sports, saying, "The guys who do it are all local guys -- plumbers, construction workers."

Asked if these regular folks fly from one state to another, the husband of the condiment heiress downplayed the cost, saying, "What? 250 bucks for a ticket?"

I guess Lurch doesn't remember the old days:

Of course, in 1993 he was between his first and second heiresses - a time he now calls "the wandering years," although an equally apt description might be "the freeloading years."

For some of the time, he was, for all practical purposes, homeless. His friends allowed him into a real-estate deal in which he flipped a condo for quick resale, netting a $21,000 profit on a cash investment of exactly nothing. For months he rode around in a new car supplied by a shady local Buick dealer. When the dealer's ties to a congressman who was later indicted for racketeering were exposed, Kerry quickly explained that the non-payment was a mere oversight, and wrote out a check.

Another Dork sports pic here and there's a further update at Power Line on the "250 buck ticket."

Today's Hoot!

Is that one of those extreme sports?

(Hat tip: FR)

Line forms on the left

Via The Corner, an update on artiste angst:

Nashville-based singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith is taking a more personal approach in her opposition to the administration of her fellow native Texan:

''I've made a conscious decision in my life that if Kerry does not win in November, I'm leaving this country in January,'' Griffith said. ''It hasn't been an easy decision to make, because I love my country. But I think that if we have another four years of George W. Bush, we won't have a democracy.''

Ah, the penetrating intelligence and heightened sensitivity of the true artiste! The only problem is that I've never heard of "Nanci." A minor bit of Googling reveals her web site and this:

Nanci Reinvests In America

The Reverend Jesse Jackson will host a very special Labor Day rally and concert in Charleston, WV to focus the region's attention on the issues that most affect working men and women: jobs, healthcare and education. Nanci will perform a very rare solo-acoustic set.

Yum! Plenty of Kool-Aid to go around!

Which reminds me. Anyone seen Alec Baldwin lately? Ah, there he is!

The fun with Lurch never stops

The "Vice Chairman" even gets mentioned in the Boston Globe:

The purpose of Hastert's comments was to increase Republican pressure on Kerry over his Senate record on intelligence, a major issue for both presidential candidates. They also coincided with the first broadcast in 19 battleground states of a new Bush television ad, titled ''Intel," that highlights Kerry's attendance record and questions his commitment to intelligence spending. And in a separate press statement, the Bush side tweaked Kerry counterparts for erroneously asserting Friday that the Democrat was once vice chairman of the intelligence committee. (Former senator Robert Kerrey held that position.)

Hastert yesterday, echoing previous comments from six GOP senators, called on Kerry to authorize release of his attendance record for closed-door intelligence committee meetings during his eight years on the panel -- which Republicans expect to be spotty.

''The most basic responsibility of a lawmaker is just showing up," Hastert said. ''Based on John Kerry's attendance record on the Intelligence Committee, Kerry didn't even do that."

That's just mean! Maybe the surf was up or he needed a haircut?

But not to worry, Lurch fans! He's on the case on prescription drug benefits:

Again, the big media is asleep at the switch on calling Kerry's lies on the carpet. He's lying about having voting against the RX Drug Bill. Kerry claims he "proudly" voted against the Prescription Drug Bill that passed Congress last year. The little problem with that statement is that like about 90% of the other votes this session, Kerry didn't bother to vote. We're certain he WOULD have voted against it had he bothered to show up for the vote, given that it allows him to scare seniors into thinking George Bush wants them eating dog food out of trash bins. But he should at least be honest about what he didn't do. Oh wait, Kerry be honest? Sorry.

I'm sure Lurch is a really busy guy. Maybe he was shopping for jock straps with his daughter?

But it's all part and parcel of the Lurch we've grown to love. Kathleen Parker:

If Kerry didn’t fabricate, he exaggerated. Or misspoke. Or got confused. Or something. But whatever the differences among versions, the story is part of a larger narrative that may matter more than the details.

It is a story of naked ambition and grandiosity, the narrative of a self-absorbed man who always needed to be best and first, whether captain of the boat in Vietnam or winner of the debate in school. Who, when accidentally knocked off his snowboard as an adult fumed, “I don’t fall down.”

He’s the sort of man who thinks to take a movie camera to war to document himself for uses now known to be political; who willingly exploits his heroism in ways real heroes never do; who builds a career on disgust toward a war he later characterizes as the crowning achievement in a life that seems more resume than real.

All the usual suspects

I certainly hope that we won't have John Kerry to kick around anymore after the election so I can get back to to the usual crew of scamps and rogues:

EU to build wall after blasting Israel's

Just one month after the U.N. and EU launched a furious campaign against Israel's security fence, culminating in the International Court of Justice ruling that the fence is illegal, the EU announced it's planning to build a separation fence of its own, and invited Israel to participate in the construction.

The fence is being built to separate recently added EU members Poland and Hungary from their new neighbors – Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The EU said the fence is necessary to "prevent the free movement of migrants seeking to enter" EU territory.

How can we get some of that?

Meanwhile over on the East River - Global Taxes Are Back, Watch Your Wallet:

Like a bad sequel to a rotten horror movie, the debate over global taxation once again is rearing its ugly head — courtesy of the United Nations. And, despite lacking the requisite hockey mask and chain saw, the seemingly countless proposals for the imposition of global taxes are truly terrifying.

In July, Inter Presse news service reported that a top U.N. official was preparing a new study that will outline numerous global tax proposals to be considered by the General Assembly at its September meeting. The proposals will likely include everything from global taxes on e-mails and Internet use to a global gas tax and levies on airline travel. If adopted, American taxpayers could wind up paying hundreds of billions of dollars each year to the United Nations.
...
Global tax proposals are not new. Various plans have been flitting around in academic circles and liberal and socialist think-tanks for decades. And while the United States and other developed nations have staved off such proposals in the past, third world nations have increasingly dominated the U.N. General Assembly by sheer numbers since 1970. As a result, they have begun to see promise in their quest to take and keep for themselves the wealth of citizens from nations like the United States — specifically using the term "redistribution." Recent U.N. actions have also provided a new excuse and set the stage for the third world to not only renew its pursuit of global taxes but also hold out hope for eventual success.

Is there anything sadder than a bureaucrat without an ample supply of cash? Reminds me of this cartoon.

It just gets better!

The President's campaign is running a new TV ad titled Intel which observes that Lurch mostly graced Senate Intelligence Committee meetings by his absence. Now (via Ace) here's a laugh (lightly edited):

Fox News just had a news segment where the Kerry campaign, in angry response to Bush claims that Kerry attended few Intelligence Committee meetings, said that Kerry had at one time been the Vice Chairman of the Intelligence Committee.

In response, the Bush people gleefully (Fox's word) returned fire by saying that it was BOB Kerrey, not JOHN Kerry who was Vice Chairman of the Intelligence committee.

And it's still up on the Kerry "Rapid Response" web site. He's famous for not doing much in the Senate other than some occasional grandstanding, but it's pretty bad if your own campaign can't figure out what you did.

And where's the Lurchster during all of this? He's taking another vacation and an expensive haircut. He does have a lot of experience with that on the Intelligence Committee.

Must be on target because here come the Flying Monkeys

They even took away Carville's meds and let him off the chain in the basement. But the best part is the garden variety flying monkeys from George Soros' herd whining about political funding. As long as MoveOn is making ads "setting the record straight", maybe they should run one with a snap of Lurch in Cambodia wearing his "lucky hat."

It is a tad curious

(Click pic to supersize)

From Iowa Presidential Watch.

Today's Hoot!

I know it's early yet, but how about Spoons:

Puerto Rico stuns Team USA with decisive win

Wait a minute....

Puerto Rico has it's own Olympic team? What's wrong with this picture?

Hey, maybe it's a step in the right direction and they'll declare independence from the teat of the US taxpayer. But I doubt it.

Mayor Daley would be proud!

Thug Hugo swipes one in Venezuela:

It's the very worst thing that could've happened. CNE head Francisco Carrasquero, by himself, announces a set of partial results that give the government a huge advantage. The opposition CNE members immediately say the announcement was made without following proper procedures. The opposition cries foul, and announces mirror-image results. The Carter Center/OAS mission is missing in action, at least at first.

A national disaster, in short. The referendum was meant to bring closure to the governance crisis in Venezuela. With results that fly in the face of exit-poll results, announced on the basis of a fishy procedure, the referendum takes Venezuela further away from closure, not closer.
...
Pray for Venezuela, folks...it's going to get ugly.

More here:

The CD says the results are exactly the opposite based on : Exit polls and the addition of all of the final results of all of the polling stations in the country added by Sumate. They said that the two CNE Directors that are not pro-Chavez were not allowed in the totalling of the data of the CNE. There was no audit of the paper ballots and this was a gigantic fraud. Nothing yet from OAS and the Carter Center. I hear two different rumors, one that at ten AM there will be a press conference, two, that OAS may leave the country without saying anything a la Peru. Very sad and confusing outcome. This is the worst possible. The CD also said they will ask for the addition of all paper ballots printed by the voting machines.

The laugh of the night was the left wing UK Independent reporting that "Venezuela's Chavez on brink of referendum defeat" on the basis of the exit polls. Now that they got the talking points, the link goes to a 404.

And actually, I'm doing Hizzoner a disservice. He was always deft enough in Chicago to steal "just enough" votes, not everything in sight.

What fictional character does Lurch most remind you of?

This review of Unfit for Command reminds me most of ole Eddie Haskell:

One officer shares his testimony of Kerry's bellyaching in Vietnam: "He objected to the various operations, complaining that they were poorly thought out." He is still doing so today, only the war in question is in Iraq. Kerry's Vietnam journal is bursting with fabrications, not unlike the fantastic story he lately tells about a New Hampshire woman who was forced to work through her chemotherapy just to keep her health insurance. And Kerry concocted elaborate, hero-villain conversations with his superiors that never occurred, reminding us this man claims to have met with the United Nations Security Council before his vote to authorize the use of force to remove Saddam Hussein.
...
But the presence of eyewitnesses betrays Kerry's self-serving remake of the incident. According to gunner Steve Gardner, who "sat above Kerry on the double .50-caliber mount that night," Kerry stayed in the pilothouse during the incident. Kerry failed to spot the sampan on radar and give warning; he didn't join the crew when they heard an engine noise and saw the boat; he wasn't there when they threw the PFC lights on; he did not order them to fire warning shots; and he wasn't there when Gardner ordered the craft to stop.

What happened was that Gardner, spooked and in the absence of a commanding officer, believed that one of the occupants of the boat was reaching for a weapon. He opened up, as did others, killing a man and, unintentionally, his child. The gunshots finally roused Kerry who "ordered the crew to cease fire and then threatened them."

The authors state this Kerry's failure to spot the boat on radar is "hard to understand." Harder still to comprehend is Kerry's "absence as the officer in charge during the critical part of the episode." This absence, one is compelled to repeat, resulted in the death of a two-year old child. But, as O'Neill and Corsi explain, that's not all:

Kerry avoided any problem by filing an after action report in which the dead child simply disappeared from the record and was replaced by a fleeing squad of Viet Cong, some likely killed by Kerry. A terrible human tragedy was converted by another Kerry lie into another sterling triumph by the young war hero.

It's hard to believe this could be the man the Democrats have nominated for as their candidate for President of the United States.

Indeed.