PrairiePundit

Kerry blows it on North Korea Kerry followed the Dem party line that we should be having bilateral talks with the Norks while having the six party talks. Putting aside the fact that the Norks word is no good, he oviously did not comprehend how we got the Chinese into the talks. Of the five countries talking to the Norks, China has the most leverage. The Norks depend on them for their very survival, even in the meager form it now exist. The way we got the Chinese into the discussions was to make it clear that we would not talk with the Norks without them. The Chinese and the Norks would love to have it just between the US and the Norks. By getting the Chinese into the discussion they can put pressure on the Norks to compromise. That pressure would be non existent in bilateral talks. To further incentavive the Chinese we had to make it clear that if they wanted the US to prevent the Japanese, and South Koreans from going nuclear they had to get the Norks to step back. I

Why the Euros want Kerry Neal Boortz: Once again this morning we're hearing that a poll of people in 35 nations (mostly European) want to see George Bush voted out of office in November. Fine. The only way the Euro-weenies get to vote in our election is if they come here as illegal aliens and register. Works almost every time. There is much more to this story. There was another poll of these grand Europeans. In that poll 58% of them said that they wanted to see the role of the United States weakened in international affairs. That word, again, was "weakened." Using the evil of logic here, can we assume that these Europeans want Kerry to be our next president because they believe that he will best serve their interests in seeing the United States weakened in international affairs?

Will Democrats always retreat in the face of an enemy's strategy of weakness? Insurgency and terrorism are the strategies of the weak. If an enemy has the capacity to use a more effective strategy they will. Insurgency and terror are used because the enemy cannot compete against a combat persisting strategy. Today's Democrats believe that any conflict where the enemy uses the strategy of the weak is by definition an unwinnable quagmire. By taking that position liberal Democrats have decided to lose the war on terror and go back to the Clinton era (error?) law enforcement approach that gave us the 9-11 attacks. While Kerry says he would focus on al Qaeda and bin Laden, does taht mean he is going to invade Pakistan where most of al Qaeda and its leadership currently reside, or would he like the Bush administration rely on Pakistan to run these people to ground? If Iraq is a "profound diversion," as Kerry claims, has he considered that it is a diversion for

Rev. Jackson to hook Kerry up with black windsurfers and snowboarders Scrappleface parody: Although the Rev. Jesse Jackson just signed onto the Kerry-Edwards campaign today as a senior advisor , he has already secured the endorsement of several influential African-American groups. The American Society of Black Windsurfers (ASBW) today endorsed John Forbes Kerry's presidential candidacy calling him "the only candidate whom Jesse Jackson says understands our needs...dude." In addition to the Black windsurfers, the Rev. Jackson said he'll welcome the African-American Snowboarding Association (AASA) into the Kerry camp tonight during a news conference in Aspen, Colorado. The famed civil rights leader also characterized as "more than cordial" his talks with the United Negro Ivy League College Alumni Foundation (UNILCAF). This is called getting in touch with his base.

Southern Strategy Glenn Reynolds: ... So what is it about the south? I think it's defence. Some time between the election of John F Kennedy, and the ignominious defeat of 1972 Democratic nominee George McGovern, the Democrats lost credibility on national defence. From Kennedy's stirring "bear any burden, pay any price" language, to the "peace at any price" slogans of the anti-war left in 1972, the Democrats lost their traditional stature as the internationalist and interventionist war party. Instead, they became identified with the welfare-state liberalism of the north-east and west coast, and with the anti-military sentiments of the anti-Vietnam war movement. ... To understand the American south's role on defence, it's helpful to look at what political scientist Walter Russell Mead calls the "Jacksonian tradition" in foreign affairs. Because when Zell Miller - a Democrat from Georgia who is deeply unhappy with

Beslan warlord cornered Independent: The net appeared to be closing around one of Russia's two most wanted men last night after Chechnya's Moscow-backed authorities said they had cornered the breakaway region's long-sought rebel president, Aslan Maskhadov. Ramzan Kadyrov, deputy prime minister in the region's Moscow-friendly government, said that he "had every reason to believe" Maskhadov and his associates were trapped by his forces in a forest in south-east Chechnya. Officials said they had picked up the call signs of Maskhadov's closest aides in radio traffic from the cornered rebels, as well as numerous tip-offs that he was in the area. Mr Kadyrov said he hoped to capture Maskhadov alive after "liquidating" the armed gang surrounding him, which, he said, was led by the rebel president's most senior bodyguard, Akhmed Avdorkhanov. Rebel sources said some of Maskhadov's most senior aides were trapped but denied that h

The Cambodia trip is not the only myth Kerry made up Robert Novak: John Kerry in a press conference last week repeated his accusation that Gen. Eric Shinseki was "forced out" as U.S. Army chief of staff because he wanted more troops for Iraq. The trouble is that the Democratic presidential nominee was spreading an urban myth. The bigger trouble is that it was no isolated incident. Sen. Kerry last week also said the Bush administration may push reinstatement of the military draft, when in fact that idea comes only from anti-war Democrats. At the same time, he said retired Gen. Tommy Franks complained that Iraq was draining troops from Afghanistan, when the truth is he never did. Over a week earlier, Kerry blamed Bush for higher Medicare premiums when in fact they are mandated by law (one that Kerry voted for). Exaggeration is a familiar political staple, but presidential candidates usually are held to a higher standard. Kerry's recent descent into myth maki

NY Times accused of tipping target of FBI raid NY Post: The Justice Department has charged that a veteran New York Times foreign correspondent warned an alleged terror-funding Islamic charity that the FBI was about to raid its office — potentially endangering the lives of federal agents. The stunning accusation was disclosed yesterday in legal papers related to a lawsuit the Times filed in Manhattan federal court. The suit seeks to block subpoenas from the Justice Department for phone records of two of its Middle Eastern reporters — Philip Shenon and Judith Miller — as part of a probe to track down the leak. The Times last night flatly denied the allegation. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago charged in court papers that Shenon blew the cover on the Dec. 14, 2001, raid of the Global Relief Foundation — the first charges of their kind under broad new investigatory powers given to the feds under the Patriot Act. "It has been conclusively e

Kerry was "dead tired" on Paris time Hugh Hewitt: The good news is John Kerry did an interview on Good Morning America, and he was asked about his "I voted for it before I voted against it" comment. Kerry responded, "No, it wasn’t classic at all. It just was a very inarticulate way of saying something, and I had one of those inarticulate moments late in the evening when I was dead tired in the primaries and I didn't say something very clearly." Hey, it happens! No big deal. Everybody has made a comment that doesn't make sense late at night... except... “‘I actually

Kerry to go after "stoned slackers" vote Scrappleface parody: In the wake of Bill O'Reilly's revelation that viewers of Jon Stewart's 'The Daily Show' are a bunch of " stoned slackers " the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign today announced a major ad buy on Comedy Central's flagship news program. "We had been buying time on CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes II to reach the undecided, college educated, leisurely recreational drug users," said a campaign aide. "We've found that stoned slackers--what demographers call 'Generation ZZZZ'--respond well to John Kerry's speaking cadence and his sense of humor ."

The disloyal opposition Martin Gross: I was raised as a liberal in the era of a patriotic Democratic Party. But the present party and its presidential candidate John Kerry are a source of great disappointment to me and to millions of other former Democrats. That once-honored party has now turned dangerously leftward, establishing itself as the anti-American party, creating an unprecedented defeatist, disloyal opposition. Even during the Vietnam War, there were individual protests, but both parties refused to play partisan politics as long as America faced a difficult struggle. Today the historic credo that the opposition should not give comfort to the enemy has been thrown out the window. The Democrats, in their not-so-slow drift leftward, have crossed the bounds of decent patriotic conduct during wartime, undermining the effort by impugning the honor and honesty of the president and commander in chief. If the polls are correct — the Democrats will pay for their dis

Kerry talking like the terrorist Bill Sammon: President Bush's campaign manager yesterday accused Sen. John Kerry's campaign of parroting the rhetoric of terrorists, signaling a new level of aggressiveness in advance of tomorrow's presidential debate. "The enemy listens," Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman told reporters on a conference call. "All listen to what the president said, and all listen to what Senator Kerry said." In particular, Mr. Mehlman said terrorists listened when Mr. Kerry disparaged Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi after he spoke last week to a joint session of Congress. Mr. Kerry accused Mr. Allawi of putting his "best face" on a dismal situation in Iraq. Senior Kerry aide Joe Lockhart also referred to the Iraqi prime minister as a "puppet" of the Bush administration. "That echoes what the enemy is saying in Iraq, and that echoes what a lot of the terrorists have said," Mr.

Kerry's condescending core Michelle Malkin: TV cameras are brutally unforgiving -- especially during high-stakes election debates. They amplified the angst on Richard Nixon's brow, the inexperience in Dan Quayle's eyes, and the vulgarity of Al Gore's visage. How will Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry hold up under the spotlight? What will the cameras reveal? Beneath the Christophe-coifed hair, unnaturally taut skin and artificially enhanced tan, there are some naked attributes Kerry cannot conceal: His spite. His haughtiness. His condescending core. John Kerry detests his opponents. He detests his own staff. He detests anybody and anything that interferes with his political ambitions. Since returning from Vietnam, his main contribution to public discourse has been contempt, not courage. He possesses resentment, not hope. He does not inspire. He sulks. ... Throughout the course of the campaign, Kerry has demonstrate

The CIA insurgency Opinion Journal: Congratulations to Porter Goss for being confirmed last week as the new Director of Central Intelligence. We hope he appreciates that he now has two insurgencies to defeat: the one that the CIA is struggling to help put down in Iraq, and the other inside Langley against the Bush Administration. We wish we were exaggerating. It's become obvious over the past couple of years that large swaths of the CIA oppose U.S. anti-terror policy, especially toward Iraq. But rather than keep this dispute in-house, the dissenters have taken their objections to the public, albeit usually through calculated and anonymous leaks that are always spun to make the agency look good and the Bush Administration look bad. Their latest improvised explosive political device blew up yesterday on the front page of the New York Times, in a story proclaiming that the agency had warned back in January 2003 of a possible insurgency in Iraq. This highly selective

CBS falls for draft hoax RatherBiased: ... Three weeks after he denounced the internet as being " filled with rumors ," the embattled CBS anchor ran a story on his Tuesday "Evening News" program hoping to stir up fear of an impending military draft. In a story that was a textbook example of slipshod reporting, CBS reporter Richard Schlesinger used debunked internet hoax emails and an unlabeled interest group member to scare elderly "Evening" viewers into believing that the U.S. government is poised to resume the draft. At the center of Schlesinger's piece was a woman named Beverly Cocco, a Philadelphia woman who is "sick to my stomach" that her two sons might be drafted. In his report, Schlesinger claimed that Cocco was a Republican and portrayed her as an apolitical (even Republican) mom worried about the future. Schlesinger did not disclose that Cocco is a chapter president of an advocacy group called People

Kerry's antiwar speech on Iraq hurt him in latest polls How out of touch are Democrats and liberal media types? Last week they were talking about Senator John Kerry finally finding his voice on Iraq after his speech in New York where he said the liberation of Iraq was a "profound diversion." Kerry compounded his credibility problem this week by claiming his statements on Iraq have been consistent and clear and that he has not flip flopped on this issue. His challenge now is to try to rationalize his incoherent statements on Iraq. His other challenge is to look strong while retreating in a rout from Iraq in the face of a weak insurgency. If he and the Democrats think the US should retreat whenever a small number of insurgence resist liberation, they make it very easy for al Qaeda to thwart US policy. Does the presence of an insurgency mean it was a mistake to liberate Iraq? Apparently Kerry and the anti war Democrats think so. However, if you analyze the

Kerry explains why he is losing in Wisconsin MSNBC: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry told voters in America’s Dairyland on Monday that President Bush had a secret plan that would hurt milk producers after the election. Kerry tried to convince voters in this rural community, where he is practicing for Thursday’s debate, that he would look out for dairy farms here even though he hadn’t always in the past. In the 1990s, Kerry supported the Northeast Dairy Compact, a regional pricing program that propped up prices for Northeastern dairy farmers over objections from their Midwestern counterparts. “We’ve had a difference between the Midwest and the Northeast,” Kerry said. “I’m going to be very with you about it. “As a senator representing Massachusetts, I fought for the dairy compact and fought to have our dairy farmers get help,” the four-term lawmaker said. “I’m running for president of the United States now and I intend to represent all the farmers of Amer

Inciherence in pursuit of the presidency Oh, That Liberal Media: Last Friday, John Kerry gave a speech at Temple University outlining his so-called plan for winning the war on terror. The speech contained numerous inconsistencies with other statements made by Kerry and his surrogates, not to mention a number of internally inconsistent statements. I mention some of these bewildering contradictions here . Among Kerry's inconsistencies were that an essential part of his plan to win the war on terror is to: promote the development of free and democratic societies throughout the Arab and Muslim world At the same time, he also stated that the war to promote the development of a free and democratic society in Iraq is not "the real war on terror". Nevertheless, none of the major media reports about this speech pointed out or asked any follow-up questions about the absurd incoherence of Kerry's remarks. Instead, we get largely uncritical coverage under the

Swiftvets ad more effective than "fortunate Son" campaign CNN: ... Kerry's military service in Vietnam -- which he showcased at the Democratic National Convention but has since come under attack by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- has become less of an asset, the poll found. In the latest poll, 19 percent of registered voters said Kerry's service made them more likely to vote for Kerry, down from 41 percent at the beginning of August, right after the Democratic convention. The poll also found that the dispute over Kerry's antiwar activism after the Vietnam War is having more of a negative effect on his candidacy than questions about Bush's National Guard service are having on his electability. A third of likely voters said Kerry's antiwar activity made them less likely to vote for him, compared with 49 percent who said it would have no effect. In contrast, 69 percent of likely voters said questions about Bush's Gua

The insurgents are losing David Ignatius: Looking at the gruesome images of beheadings and suicide bombings in Iraq, it's easy to think that the Islamic holy warriors are winning. But a new book by a distinguished French Arabist named Gilles Kepel argues the opposite case. For all the mayhem the jihadists have caused, he contends, their movement is failing. Rather than waging a successful jihad against the West, the followers of Osama bin Laden have created chaos and destruction in the house of Islam. This internal crisis is known in Arabic as fitna : "It has an opposite and negative connotation from jihad," explains Kepel. "It signifies sedition, war in the heart of Islam, a centrifugal force that threatens the faithful with community fragmentation, disintegration and ruin." ... The French scholar argues that the West has been misreading the aftermath of bin Laden's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He cites a Dec

Democracy trumps insurgents David Brooks: Conditions were horrible when Salvadorans went to the polls on March 28, 1982. The country was in the midst of a civil war that would take 75,000 lives. An insurgent army controlled about a third of the nation's territory. Just before election day, the insurgents stepped up their terror campaign. They attacked the National Palace, staged highway assaults that cut the nation in two and blew up schools that were to be polling places. Yet voters came out in the hundreds of thousands. In some towns, they had to duck beneath sniper fire to get to the polls. In San Salvador, a bomb went off near a line of people waiting outside a polling station. The people scattered, then the line reformed. "This nation may be falling apart," one voter told The Christian Science Monitor, "but by voting we may help to hold it together." Conditions were scarcely better in 1984, when Salvadorans got to vote again. Nearly a fifth

Al Qaeda trying to hookup with El Salvadore smugglers Washington Times: A top al Qaeda lieutenant has met with leaders of a violent Salvadoran criminal gang with roots in Mexico and the United States — including a stronghold in the Washington area — in an effort by the terrorist network to seek help infiltrating the U.S.-Mexico border, law enforcement authorities said. Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a key al Qaeda cell leader for whom the U.S. government has offered a $5 million reward, was spotted in July in Honduras meeting with leaders of El Salvador's notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, which immigration officials said has smuggled hundreds of Central and South Americans — mostly gang members — into the United States. Although they are actively involved in alien, drug and weapons smuggling, Mara Salvatrucha members in America also have been tied to numerous killings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings, extortions, rapes and aggravated assaults — including at least seve

Poll reflects success of Bush message Washington Post: President Bush heads into the first presidential debate with a solid lead over John F. Kerry, boosted by the perception that he is a stronger leader with a clearer vision, despite deep concerns about Iraq and the pace of the economic recovery, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News Poll and interviews with voters in battleground states. Bush's relentless attacks on Kerry have badly damaged the Democratic nominee, the survey and interviews showed. Voters routinely describe Kerry as wishy-washy, as a flip-flopper and as a candidate they are not sure they can trust, almost as if they are reading from Bush campaign ad scripts. But Kerry's problems are also partly of his own making. Despite repeated efforts to flesh out his proposals on Iraq, terrorism and other issues, he has yet to break through to undecided voters as someone who has clear plans for fixing the country's biggest problem

Two wars Belmont Club: Robert Kaplan summarizes the real task before America in the coming years. It is not to find "an exit strategy from Iraq", as if there were somewhere on the planet it could hide from terrorism; nor is it simply to find Osama Bin Laden as some, ever anxious to reduce the current conflict to a law enforcement problem, would claim as a goal. It's task is to hold back the dark until a new global civilization can find its footing. ... And the dark is everywhere; in the vast, decayed structure of the Third World where the shambolic post-colonial architecture has rotted away, leaving areas of chaos the size of continents. ... Kaplan, who is writing a series of books on the US military experience in different parts of the world, realized that Iraq was only a part, and not even the best part, of the global war on terror. In Mauretania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Columbia, Afghanistan and the Philippines, Kaplan found smal

Faluja Jackson Diehl: Two and a half years ago this week, the Israeli army launched an offensive against the Palestinian towns of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem -- which, it said, had become havens for extremist groups and suicide bombers who made daily life in Israel unbearable. Images of flattened houses and civilian casualties soon filled the world's television screens: Palestinian spokesmen claimed, falsely, that thousands were being massacred. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan declared himself "appalled." President Bush publicly called on Israel to withdraw "without delay." Some editorial writers -- such as this one -- argued that the offensive would do more harm than good. As Americans and Iraqis now debate what to do about insurgent-held Iraqi towns, it's worth revisiting that Israeli campaign -- because what followed offers a counter to some of the conventional wisdom. Yes, there are innumerable differences be

The NYT take on blogs Lileks: ... But I did want to say something about that silly NYT piece about blogging. All I needed to know I learned from the cover. Doing a story on blogging and putting Wonkette on the cover is like using Janine Garafalo to illustrate a story about the power of talk radio. Sure, Limbaugh has better numbers, but what’s more compelling? A story about someone who attracts 20 million uninteresting people, or someone who attracts 100,000 people who are Just Like Us? This paragraph was amusing: Earlier this month, a platoon of right-wing bloggers launched a coordinated assault against CBS News and its memos claiming that President Bush got special treatment in the National Guard; within 24 hours, the bloggers' obsessive study of typefaces in the 1970's migrated onto Drudge, then onto Fox News and then onto the networks and the front pages of the country's leading newspapers. “Coordinate

Kerry and Zarqawi on the same page William Safire: ... John Kerry, who has evidently decided to replace Howard Dean as the antiwar candidate, last weekend helped to magnify the terrorists' kidnap weapon. In a scheduled commercial Kerry personally approved, just before charging that George Bush had no plan to get us out of Iraq, the Democratic campaign underscored the message Zarqawi has been sending: "Americans," said Kerry's announcer, "are being kidnapped, held hostage, even beheaded." Though undoubtedly accurate, that paid evocation of horror by a political candidate is a terrible blunder. That's the sort of emotional appeal you would expect from President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines who pulled 51 troops out of Iraq, caving to the demand of kidnappers, emboldening them to grab fresh victims. It's bad enough for some thoughtless media outlets to become an echo chamber for scare propaganda; it's worse when the nominee of

Days of awe Powerline has a really interesting account of a visit by a group of rabbis to Washington to meet with President Bush during the 10-day period between the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonment none as the "days of awe." It is very moving and worth the read.

False assertions about Swiftvet claims Beldar Blog: ... This short paragraph from a New York Times article perfectly illustrates the liberal media's widespread characterization of the results to date of the SwiftVets' campaign (boldface added): Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which drew national attention with advertisements making unsubstantiated attacks against Mr. Kerry's military service , has less money and uses several strategies to stretch its dollars, said one of its leaders, John O'Neill. To find a similar example from the blogosphere, one need look no farther than Andrew Sullivan's passing dismissal of the SwiftVets' campaign (boldface added): As word spread, anti-Kerry forces sent in more money to the Swift Boat Veterans for truth website, allowing them to ramp up their ad efforts. And within a few days, the old media was forced to cover the claims extensively — even if much of their coverage amounted to a debunking .

Kerry's draft lie Jack Kelly: Two recent polls indicate the presidential race has tightened again to within the margin of error. John Kerry made it clear that this isn't true in a speech in Florida Sept. 22. In response to a question after a speech in West Palm Beach, Kerry said President Bush might bring back the military draft if he is re-elected. This has become a meme among Democrats. "There will be no draft when John Kerry is president," said vice presidential candidate John Edwards. "America will reinstate the military draft" if Bush is re-elected, said former Sen. Max Cleland, a Kerry surrogate, in a speech at Colorado College. "I think that George Bush is certainly going to have a draft if he goes into a second term, and any young person who doesn't want to go to Iraq might think twice about voting for him," said former Kerry rival Howard Dean at a speech at Brown University in Rhode Island. Web logger Be