Forester, Rudy did it

“In choosing a president, we really don’t choose a Republican or Democrat, a conservative or liberal,� Giuliani said in remarks that compared Bush with Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill. “We choose a leader. And in times of danger, as we are now in, Americans should put leadership at the core of their decision.�

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3429745

Apparently he will make that comparison again during his speech tonight. On the positive side this is the night that the ABC, CBS and NBC are not covering the convention.

Randi Rhodes (Air America Radio) asked what was Bush’s finest hour, the one he spent in the classroom when the buildings came down?

I was thinking it might be cool to have SEB shirts that have the right breast area torn away to reveal a map of Iraq.

The shirt could say something like “Iraq; A War-Drove Malfunction? Stupid Bastards Want To Know!“

iono, maybe not. What do you guys think? And if anybody does do them, don’t forget it’s 50-50.

captcha is “design”. Seems like a confirmation to me.

Thanks Vern;

Churchill must be rolling over in his grave.

By going after Iraq, Bush is rising up and living out the true meaning of his family’s oily creed. (In deference to MLK jr’s “I have a dream.“)

Keep those SUV’s rolling!

Brock, I love that t-shirt idea, but I don’t think it’d be doable using Cafe Press and my resources for engaging a proper graphic artist and silk screener to do that idea justice are, at best, non-existent at this time.

But I do like it.

Though I could do DS’s t-shirt idea using Cafe Press. If folks want ‘em then I’ll whip something up.

“If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government…then you are a Republican! If you believe a person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group… then you are a Republican! If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does… then you are a Republican! If you believe our educational system should be held accountable for the progress of our children ... then you are a Republican! If you believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope of democracy in the world then you are a Republican!â€?

I feel sorry for Koffi Annan.

“No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic background, America brings out the best in people.�

As long as you’re not part of the girlie United Nations!

““My fellow Americans ...I want you to know that I believe with all my heart that America remains “the great idea� that inspires the world.��

Why else would we have been attacked?

“We are still the lamp lighting the world – especially for those who struggle. No matter in what labor camp they slave – no matter in what injustice they’re trapped—they hear our call ... they see our light ... and they feel the pull of our freedom.â€?

So when are we going into North Korea Arnie? Sorry but you can’t be President, you weren’t born in the U.S.A. Speaking of born in the U.S.A I think I’ll take my chances with Bruce Springstein.

Full text of Arnie’s speech can be had at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5879467/

If you say one thing, but mean another, you’re a Republican!  If you spout rhetoric with the fervor of a tent revivalist, but have no intention to fulfill your promises, you’re a Republican!  Well, actually, you’re a politician; no further distinction need be made.

What a load of crap.

“If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government…then you are a Republican!“ 

Didn’t Arnold also say that leadership is doing what’s unpopular? 

“The President didn’t go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn’t about polls.“

So which is it?  The government should do what the people want, or the government should do whatever it is that they want regardless of public opinion?  I don’t expect Arnold Schwarzenegger to be particularly bright, but he could at least avoid making inconsistent claims in the same speech.

StinkAss;
Isn’t this the same guy that denied having used steroids for the longest time? I believe he later recanted and admitted his falsehood (good preparation for the political arena). Although not before he served on Bush senior’s physical fitness board/panel. 

Judging by the quality of his speech, we can suspect that steroid use, other than shrinking a man’s penis and testicles and promoting a host of health related problems i.e heart valve defects (hence his operation), also has deleterious effects on the brain.

I’d rather see his charisma in Hollywood than in politics.

The only thing that scares me about deadscot’s idea, Les, (clever as it is) is that readers might not see the back of the shirt. Then it would serve as a Bush re-election tool.

I like deadscot too much to have him blamed for four more years of Bush.

For anyone who doesn’t know already, former Texas Lt. Governor Ben Barnes will be interviewed tonight on Sixty Minutes II. Barnes has admitted helping George W. Bush get into the Texas Air National Guard in 1968, and will indicate why he now regrets having done so. White House Spokesman Scott McClennan said that he was not surprised at this action of a “... long time partisan Democrat.“ There is a little bit of irony on this one. Although he is a Democrat, last year Barnes was a top contributor to (Republican Texas State Comptroller) Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Strayhorn is McClellan’s mother

This story has been around since the last election and revived earlier this year. Here is a quote from the Aug. 29 Seattle Times.

Barnes five years ago found himself at the center of questions about Bush’s Vietnam-era service when the then-Texas governor emerged as the Republican presidential front-runner.

Barnes’ lawyer at that time issued a statement saying Barnes had been contacted by the now-deceased Sidney Adger, a Houston oilman and friend of Bush’s father, then a congressman. Adger asked Barnes to recommend Bush for a pilot position with the Air National Guard and he did, that statement said.

“Neither Congressman Bush nor any other member of the Bush family asked Barnes’ help,“ according to the 1999 statement.

Since the alleged middleman is safely dead, Barnes will not have any corroboration (assuming that Adger would have come clean).

Another story on Bush’s Guard service appeared in today’s Boston Globe. The story basically says that Bush never met all of the requirements of his service with the Guard.

Lawrence J. Korb, an assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs in the Reagan administration, said after studying many of the documents that it is clear to him that Bush ‘'gamed the system.“ And he agreed with Lloyd that Bush was not alone in doing so. ‘'If I cheat on my income tax and don’t get caught, I’m still cheating on my income tax,“ Korb said.

After his own review, Korb said Bush could have been ordered to active duty for missing more than 10 percent of his required drills in any given year. Bush, according to the records, fell shy of that obligation in two successive fiscal years.

Korb said Bush also made a commitment to complete his six-year obligation when he moved to Cambridge, a transfer the Guard often allowed to accommodate Guardsmen who had to move elsewhere. ‘'He had a responsibility to find a unit in Boston and attend drills,“ said Korb, who is now affiliated with a liberal Washington think tank. ‘'I see no evidence or indication in the documents that he was given permission to forgo training before the end of his obligation. If he signed that document, he should have fulfilled his obligation.“

There has been disproportionate coverage of Kerry’s Viet Nam service. I hope these stories start to reverse the balance.

Source - today’s Progress Report.

I’ve lost track of what records the National Guard does have. One week I read that all relevant materials had been made accessible. Another week, that certain records were accidentally lost and thus irretrievable. Yet another time I read that a Bush aide scrubbed Bush’s military records to get rid of the disparities between those files and an account of Bush’s military service in his official biography.

Then today, I read this:

Lawsuit Uncovers New Bush Guard Records
Sep 8, 9:07 AM (ET)
By MATT KELLEY

Months after insisting it could find no more records of President Bush’s Air National Guard service, the Defense Department has released more than two dozen pages of files, including Bush’s report card for flight training and dates of his flights.

The records, released under pressure of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press, show Bush ranked in the middle of his 1969 flight training class and flew 336 hours for the Texas Air National Guard, mostly in the F-102A fighter.

The Pentagon and Bush’s campaign have claimed for months that all records detailing his fighter pilot career have been made public, but defense officials acknowledged Tuesday they had found two dozen new records detailing his training and flight logs after the AP sued and submitted new requests under the public records law.

“Previous requests from other requesters for President Bush’s Individual Flight Records did not lead to the discovery of these records because at the time President Bush left the service, flight records were subject to retention for only 24 months and we understood that neither the Air Force nor the Texas Air National Guard retained such records thereafter,“ the Pentagon told the AP.

“Out of an abundance of caution,“ the government “searched a file that had been preserved in spite of this policy” and found the Bush records, the letter said. “The Department of Defense regrets this oversight during the previous search efforts.“

(article continues)

If Bush would dig as deeply for the records of his past service to his country as he’s digging for Kerry’s, I might know what to ultimately believe.

I guess I’ll be watching Sixty Minutes II tonight to see if the elusive truth can finally be captured.

Here’s an interesting little collection of clips titled The GOP in Two Minutes.

Is it true that the GOP, much like Christianity, is primarily using fear to gain compliance/acceptance?

http://home.earthlink.net/~houval/gopconstrm.mov