A Senator Once Isolated on Trade Now Finds a Chorus

Not surprising, give the times and the content of the Senate. The Times notes of Sen Hollings that

"his colleague, Senator John Kerry, the Democratic Party's presumed nominee for president, has made those ideas part of his campaign speeches."

"That has led him to question full-blown free-trade agreements with countries that are not at the same level of development as the United States, a position that remains distinctly unpopular just about everywhere except with his constituents. That does not disturb him.

'Changing the culture on trade is like changing the culture of the South on racism,' Mr. Hollings said. 'It's going to take time.'

Many of the senator's predictions have come to pass: The United States' trade deficit has reached record highs rather than disappearing under the trade accords, even as Japan and the European Union enjoy trade surpluses.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has failed to deliver on its promises to raise living standards, provide hundreds of thousands of new, well-paying jobs on both sides of the border and curb illegal immigration to the United States.

Presented here as a conclusion without evidence.

And the expanding global trading system has proved such a disappointment to poorer countries that they are clamoring for new global trade laws.

They are clamoring against trade BARRIERS such as those against the African textile industry erected by the US, at the urging of Sen Hollings, although the Times does not mention this. Would interrupt the sermon, I guess.

The problem, said Mr. Hollings, is setting trade policy largely with business interests in mind.

'We need a national trade policy like Japan, China and Europe where they put the national welfare first,' he said. 'We leave our trade policy in the hands of the philistines who are out to make profits however they can.'"

Research indicates sex makes us happy

Here is a shock. NEWS.com.au reports on a study in the US by the National Bureau of Economic Research:

"Research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in the United States has found a strong link between people's happiness and the amount of sex they have.

Although the research also shows that people with high incomes are happier than people with low incomes, it found that there is no relationship between people's earnings and the amount of sex they have.

It is not money but quantity that counts. Happiest are those who have sex more than four times a week. They are about 6 per cent of the population. Unhappiest are the 22 per cent of people in the study of 16,000 Americans who didn't have sex at all in the previous year.

However, the relationship between sex and happiness does not extend to the number of sexual partners a person has a year. The more sexual partners one has (several respondents to the survey reported more than 100 in the past year), the unhappier. "

The report costs $5 from NBER. Those seeking to do further primary research on this topic are invited to email this blogger. The full abstract is priceless and reads:

This paper studies the links between income, sexual behavior and reported happiness. It uses recent data on a random sample of 16,000 adult Americans. The paper finds that sexual activity enters strongly positively in happiness equations. Greater income does not buy more sex, nor more sexual partners. The typical American has sexual intercourse 2-3 times a month. Married people have more sex than those who are single, divorced, widowed or separated. Sexual activity appears to have greater effects on the happiness of highly educated people than those with low levels of education. The happiness-maximizing number of sexual partners in the previous year is calculated to be 1. Highly educated females tend to have fewer sexual partners. Homosexuality has no statistically significant effect on happiness. Our conclusions are based on pooled cross-section equations in which it is not possible to correct for the endogeneity of sexual activity. The statistical results should be treated cautiously.

Blix Endorses John Kerry

Be careful what you wish for. Kerry boasted of widespread support among "foreign leaders". Now OpinionJournal notes an interview in La Stampa where Hans Blix is asked:

"Q: 'Are you tracking the U.S. Presidential campaign?'
Mr. Blix: 'I place my trust in the multilateralism of Democratic candidate John Kerry. And in any event, I think that the whole world should vote on 2 November because so much depends on the outcome of that vote.'"

Sorry, Hans. Our philosophy is that governments are legitimized through their election by the governed. You are welcome to campaign for the candidate of your choice, however.

Oh, and about that picture...

Two days after Wapo reported this story, the Globe owns up to it. This is rich fare.

"THE FEATURE photo of three sleepy Boston College students with eyes closed at their graduation ceremony had the potential, in the right context, to make readers smile. But the way the Globe displayed that photo in last Tuesday's paper instead made many readers angry -- and prompted the paper's editor to personally apologize to the school.

Making the weary students' photo the sole image atop the BC commencement story made it look -- unfairly -- like commentary on the ceremony, and on graduates' reaction to the main speaker, "Meet the Press" anchor Tim Russert. The photo, which spanned most of the City & Region front, was also out of sync with the featured quote above it and the headline below it: "Russert BC speech stresses values." Overall, the package was confusing and -- at least to the many readers who contacted this office -- insulting.

Some critics said it was the result of an anti-Catholic bias at the Globe. Why else, they asked, would the paper give Yale, Brandeis, and Tufts nice coverage of their graduations on Monday, and then poke fun at the local Jesuit university the next day?...

Why else, indeed? Just taking a cheap shot at institutions they hold in contempt, perhaps?

Jack Dunn, a spokesman for BC, lamented by e-mail that ‘‘with 8,800 smiling faces to choose from’’ the Globe ‘‘chose to focus on three students who fell asleep.’’ He called the photo choice ‘‘a gratuitous slap in the face that has everyone here asking, ‘Why would Boston’s newspaper take such a cheap shot?’’ But he said he did not attribute it to underlying anti-Catholic sentiment at the Globe. Rather, said Dunn by phone, the Globe is ‘‘susceptible to a lack of sensitivity toward things Catholic, as evidenced by the misjudgment in placing this photo -- a large photo that was at odds with the story beneath it.’’

A very diplomatic response that assumes the best intentions and does not attribute cause or motive. Dunn says that the Globe is only insensitive, not anti-Catholic. Only when judged behaviorally does the paper appear anti-Catholic.

Globe Editor Martin Baron agreed that the photo was ‘‘entirely inappropriate’’ as the lead image with the BC story, and on Tuesday apologized to the Rev. William Leahy, BC’s president, and others at the university. He also offered an explanation:

‘‘While staffers had in mind a lighthearted look at students exhausted at the end of their college years, their effort failed,’’ he said. ‘‘Some holistic thinking about how that photo would appear in conjunction with the story, headline, and featured quote was called for.’’

‘‘We did a disservice to Russert, Boston College, and those who attended and enjoyed the commencement ceremonies,’’ said Baron. ‘‘And we didn’t serve ourselves very well either.’’

To those who saw the photo as a reflection of ill-will toward Catholics, Metro Editor Carolyn Ryan adds: ‘‘We certainly did not intend it as a commentary on the school, or the speaker, or any group of people, and it’s unfortunate if we gave people cause to even think that.’’ I agree.

They'll have to prune the content quite a bit if they want to avoid giving people "cause to even think that".

"Militants"...

Yesterday's Globe page 1 headline identified them only as "gunmen", which is half true. Today these same folks have become "militants". Get past the page 1 part of the story and you can find these tidbits of quite militant behavior not mentionable in headlines:

1) they claim to be Al Queda, on a website audio
2) they sorted out Muslims, and liquidated only infidels
3) they dragged some poor Brit's body behind one of their trucks

If you engage in this type of behavior in some unenlightened locale such as rural Texas, the ideological aspects of your attack would be prominently featured in the Liberal Media. No such worries if you do the same thing in Saudi. Here are a few choice quotes from page 7:

"In an audiotape posted on a website friendly to Islamic militants, a speaker who identified himself as an important Al Qaeda leader claimed responsibility for the attack. The voice on the tape introduced himself as Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Muqrin -- the fugitive accused by authorities of heading Al Qaeda's operations in the Arabian Peninsula -- and bragged of dragging a Westerner's body through the streets.

''The holy warriors didn't leave any of the hostages alive,' the tape boasted. ''All those infidels and crusaders who were in their hands were liquidated.' The tape blasted the Saudi government for providing America with oil ''at the cheapest prices according to their masters' wish, so that their economy does not collapse.' The insurgency would continue, the speaker warned, until the ''crusaders are expelled from the land of Islam.'

"A 45-year-old Iraqi-American engineer told the Associated Press that four young, bearded gunmen asked for his residency papers. ''They said, 'You are American,' and I told them I am an American Muslim. They said, 'We do not kill Muslims.' ' The gunmen then apologized for breaking into his home, he said.

The militants also released five Lebanese hostages almost immediately on Saturday. Abdul Salam al-Hakawati, a 38-year-old Lebanese corporate financial officer, said a gun-toting man told him: ''We only want to hurt Westerners and Americans. Can you tell us where we can find them here?'

By dawn yesterday, nine of the hostages had been killed, and some Saudi reports indicated that their throats had been slashed."

The violence erupted shortly after dawn Saturday, when gunmen clad in military uniforms shot their way through a pair of oil-industry compounds for foreign workers. They paused in the streets long enough to shoot dead an Egyptian child on his way to school, and reportedly dragged the body of a British worker behind the bumper of their car."

Shooting Fish in A Barrel

Offered an opening by the Vatican's cluelessness with respect to PR, Elieen McNamara returns to her favorite topic with even more than her normal bitterness:

"Talk about the Death of Irony.

It wasn't enough to evict parishioners from 65 churches in the scandal-stained Archdiocese of Boston? The Vatican had to choose the same week to install the chief architect of this disaster in a Roman basilica?

Set aside the fundamental depravity of rewarding an unindicted coconspirator in serial child rape with a plush posting to the Eternal City. How much clearer a signal could the Roman Catholic Church send to the faithful that it administers justice in two tiers, one for the laity and another for its clerics?

Before the Rev. Christopher Coyne, the archdiocesan spokesman, calls to remind me of the central role of forgiveness in Catholic theology, how about a review of the concept of repentance? It was still a prerequisite for forgiveness the last time I checked my Baltimore Catechism. "

All quite correct, but when demanding repentance, it's good to practice the demand a few times while standing in front of a mirror.

A Big Lie Marrs an Otherwise Excellent Story on Islamic Terrorists

This is a very interesting story from the LA Times in today's Globe about growing ties between criminal activities and Islamic Terrorist cells. Unfortunately it is marred by a repetition of a huge Liberal Media lie. I don't know if the author meant to say it this way. Perhaps it is just a case of innaccurate writing. Maybe.

"As European investigators analyze the Madrid bombings and try to prevent new attacks, the intensity of the drug connection intrigues them. The predominantly Moroccan cell came together with remarkable speed, teaming a drug gang with students and shopkeepers and raising the specter of ''narco-terrorism.' It also offers a textbook example of the explosive potential of combining Islamic extremism and organized criminal networks.

''It worries us very much,' said a high-ranking Spanish police commander.

''Until now, Islamic terrorism and drugs were two separate areas. Now you are not sure where to look. You are not sure whom you are dealing with. I don't know of any previous cases like this in the West.'
Madrid's hidden jihad reflects a wider effort by Islamic networks in Europe and North Africa to tap the violent energy of criminal networks of diverse ethnicities and specialties, according to anti-terrorist officials.

In Italy, a member of the Camorra, the Neapolitan Mafia, converted to Islam and recently set up an exchange of arms for drugs between the Camorra and Islamic terrorists, according to an Italian prosecutor. In the prisons of Belgium and neighboring countries, recruitment by Islamic groups has accelerated during a worldwide terror offensive stoked by the war in Iraq, said Belgian police antiterror commander Alain Grignard.

So our war in Iraq has stoked the worldwide terror offensive? Tell that to people who lost family in the USS Cole or the embassy bombings. And didn't something happen recently in New York? The skyline looks different somehow.

''The intermingling of terrorist networks with the criminal milieu is becoming more and more important,' said Grignard, an Islamic specialist."

WaPo Mocks Globe Story

Kurtz'c column in WaPo mentions the silly story of all the Democrats who were happy with Kerry's delay idea. I thought this was one of the sillies stories ever. He mentions it in his column Surrogate City.

"The Boston Globe finds Democratic officials who like Kerry's flirtation with postponing the nomination.
'It is the big payoff of every political convention, the moment that makes the years of backbreaking ward and precinct spadework worthwhile. The party's pick takes the stage and speaks the magic words: I accept your nomination for president. The crowd goes wild. The balloons drop. Triumphant fists pump the air . . .
'But to hear Democratic party officials from across the country tell it, delegates won't mind missing out on the traditional climax of the national political convention one little bit. Kerry must do whatever it takes to beat President George W. Bush, they say.' "

I Knew Thinking Could Be Dangerous

Headlines tell me that "Smoking more hazardous than thought"

By how much?

George Galloway's Book May Cause Nightmares

Johann Hari delivers the most perfect zing I have ever heard for a contemptable parasite like Galloway

"Reading this tiny book (more a pamphlet really) in one short sitting made me feel as though I was trapped in a lift with a crack-smoking Stalin. "

Tell me how you REALLY feel, Johann.

Connect the dots: More criminals in jail = less street crime

Here is a media Kibuki dance that is done every year or so. A story is written that bemoans the growing prison populations, and cites falling crime rates as proof that this growth is unnecessary. Conservatives gasp. This one by AP is a classic of the genre. Do they write this way to deliberately antagonize the conservatives, or are they unable to connect the dots? Beats me. I just enjoy the periodic ritual. So we begin...

America's prison population grew by 2.9 percent last year, to almost 2.1 million inmates, with one of every 75 men living in prison or jail.

The inmate population continued its rise despite a fall in the crime rate and many states' efforts to reduce some sentences, especially for low-level drug offenders.

The report issued Thursday by the Justice Department (news - web sites)'s Bureau of Justice Statistics attributes much of the increase to get-tough policies enacted during the 1980s and '90s, such as mandatory drug sentences, 'three-strikes-and-you're-out' laws for repeat offenders, and 'truth-in-sentencing laws' that restrict early releases.

Whether that's good or bad depends on whom is asked.

Parse that. Your dogmatic slip is showing, AP.

'The prison system just grows like a weed in the yard,' said Vincent Schiraldi, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, which pushes for a more lenient system.

Without reforms, he said, prison populations will continue to grow 'almost as if they are on autopilot, regardless of their high costs and disappointing crime-control impact.'

But Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) said the report shows the success of efforts to take hard-core criminals off the streets.

'It is no accident that violent crime is at a 30-year low while prison population is up,' Ashcroft said. 'Violent and recidivist criminals are getting tough sentences while law-abiding Americans are enjoying unprecedented safety.' "

WaPo Reports the Globe's 2nd Major Photo Screw-up of the month

Wapo reports:

It all began when the Boston Globe ran an article Tuesday saying Boston College graduates were napping during their commencement ceremonies, with a photo of said napping. Unfortunately, Tim Russert's commencement speech was the focus of the story. Matt Drudge saw the two together and posted it on his Web site with the headline "School Daze: Grads Snooze Through Tim Russert Commencement Speech," creating a ruckus.

"We voiced our disappointment and questioned the paper's judgment with the editor and ombudsman, and the editor has apologized," Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn told us. "The picture was completely misrepresentative of the event speech." Dunn said the Class of 2004 was wowed by Russert, a Boston native whose son will enter Boston College in the fall.

"Tim Russert gave an excellent commencement speech," Dunn declared. "It was well received, interrupted on several occasions with applause" -- eight times, we hear -- "and ended with a standing ovation."

Globe editor Marty Baron told us yesterday: "I do think it's regrettable that we ran that photo and I think it's not the appropriate photo to select.

This is a recording...or a form letter.

"Typically at any graduation there are going to be kids who fall asleep, and as amusing a photo it might have been, it was inappropriately placed and inappropriately used."

No doubt we'll get a silly apology in tomorrow's tome for the poor choice of photo that accompanied the story. I'll give odds that they make NO mention that they ran the same apology a week ago for running the bogus porn photos as alleged war crimes.

It is worth pondering how unforgiving these haughty sloths would be in blasting some pol or (God forbid) businessman who made the same stupid high-profile mistake twice in two weeks. It is SUPERB to read this first in the WaPo.

The best way to say it is:

Running a porn shot as a war photo: 1 lousy apology
Trashing local school with a tasteless photo: 1 lousy apology with less excuse
Having your foolish blunders written up in WaPo: PRICELESS

Kaplan Reports "The Real Story of Fallujah"

Subscription is required, but this read is worth getting one way or another. Robert D. Kaplan is a personal fave of mine and (IMHO)an authority on war and armed struggle, and here he praises the soldiers and knocks the Brass Hierarchy and the lousy Armed Forces PR machine for being out of date for an Internet war. What he is saying may explain the dissonance felt by people who read both blogs and the Liberal Media. This is just the start of his article, but it is worth a read.

"Because the battles in a counterinsurgency are small scale and often clandestine, the story line is rarely obvious. It becomes a matter of perceptions, and victory is awarded to those who weave the most compelling narrative. Truly, in the world of postmodern, 21st century conflict, civilian and military public-affairs officers must become war fighters by another name. They must control and anticipate a whole new storm system represented by a global media, which too often exposes embarrassing facts out of historical or philosophical context.

Without a communications strategy that gives the public the same sense of mission that a company captain imparts to his noncommissioned officers, victory in warfare nowadays is impossible. Looking beyond Iraq, the American military needs battlefield doctrine for influencing the public in the same way that the Army and the Marines already have doctrine for individual infantry tasks and squad-level operations (the Ranger Handbook, the Fleet Marine Force Manual, etc.)."

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Globe - Some are all ayes for a Kerry delay ("news" story, so Party Line only)

You could probably get these quotes from Democrats...if you tortured them or bought their drinks. The Globe quotes 'em. All the Demos are JUST FINE WITH IT. Anything to beat W. Nobody has a problem with the acceptance delay strategy except for some 3rd rate professor/pundit from (gasp!) Vermont. La-de-dah.

No, the Kerry campaign did not approve this story. Nah. They dictated it. Note the quite alternative world view expressed in the "opinion" piece below

"But to hear Democratic party officials from across the country tell it, delegates won't mind missing out on the traditional climax of the national political convention one little bit. Kerry must do whatever it takes to beat President George W. Bush, they say.

'We're all excited,' said Derek Wooley, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic party. 'We've known for a long time who the nominee is going to be, and the convention is a formality at this point. Democrats, especially in Louisiana, believe that if there is something we can do that's legal and ethical and all aboveboard, any help we can get to beat George Bush, then we want to do that.'

Delegates will wait for their payoff this year, Wooley and others said yesterday. If Kerry needs the nomination maneuver to keep monetary things even with Bush, then so be it. They'll still show up in Boston and wave their signs and shake their noisemakers.

'I don't think it's a letdown, because we want him to win, and if that's what he needs to do to win, why, I think all of us are pragmatists about it,' said Scott Sterling, chairman of the Alaska Democratic Party. 'It's still worth [going], absolutely, you bet.'

Indeed, some state party officials said yesterday that they admire Kerry all the more for coming up with the maneuver.
"Our delegation is just excited to have a strategic thinker as a nominee," said Jon Summers, communications director for the Nevada Democrats. "Everyone here seems to think it's a smart move . . . It's going to be every bit as exciting as it was going to be before. Everyone knows this is a strategic step. Would it be nice to hear the words? Sure. But it's better to win."...

If Kerry does decide to do it, he will not face widespread rebellion. For many delegates, the Democratic National Convention will be about beating Bush, said Gordon Fischer, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party.

"Iowa Democrats are so concerned and angry about the direction of the country, and we just want a change," Fischer said. "The only thing Iowa Democrats want is for John Kerry to win, and set a new course that will help create jobs, lift the economy, and bring us out of chaos in Iraq. And if Senator Kerry and his campaign team determine the best way to do that is to not officially accept nomination at the convention and accept it down the road, that's fine."

Not every delegation will be thrilled, however. Ron Oliver, chairman of the Democratic party of Arkansas, said Kerry would be making a mistake if he were to delay his official nomination so that he can continue to raise money.

Accepting the nomination before the delegates is a "decades-old tradition," Oliver said. Bucking that tradition will take the wind out of the convention, he said. Whatever advantage Kerry gains in fund-raising will be offset by "bad feelings and bad publicity," he said.

"I think that dampens the whole feeling. I just think it's a mistake," Oliver said. Accepting the nomination on the convention's final night "is one of the most exhilarating moments. If you love politics, that is the holy grail of American politics, that speech and the balloons coming down is the most magnificent part of the whole political process. It will feel empty if he doesn't accept."

The general mood in the Democratic leadership contrasts sharply with the view of political pundits, who question Kerry's strategy. One of them, Garrison Nelson, professor of political science at the University of Vermont, called the proposed maneuver "the tail wagging the dog." The moment when the candidate accepts the nomination is "the whole point" of the convention, he said.

"The point is to be there at the moment when you have turned your party's nomination over to the great man and he has accepted it," Nelson said. "That's what you're paying for, what you busted your buns years and years for, to get through county committees and state committees and you're finally there at the national stage. It's one of the great dramatic moments of American politics. And just to take it away because you want to have more money to spend. . . I hope this is just some silly trial balloon."

Globe - The DNC train wreck (OpEd, so probably some truth content here)

Steve Bailey plunges his pen into this beaten-to-death story, but isn't it amazing how different is the perspective on the convention reported by the reporters vs. the Globe columnists -- even the most dogmatic Democrats. Also rich in humor is the fact that all the pols knew about this for months (except apparently JFK, who had no idea, he said yesterday). Mr Bailey, you have the floor:

"Now we know. Now we know that we will have to close down much of the city because Menino, Ted Kennedy and the rest of them sold the Democratic Party on an impossible venue in this post 9/11 world, the FleetCenter, ground zero for the city's transportation network. Our best hope for avoiding complete gridlock is to scare the pants off 250,000 daily commuters and persuade half of them to stay home. Some plan.

In November 2002 Menino, Kennedy, & Co. were taking bows. Now they deserve the heat.
Menino and Kennedy got it wrong on the Democratic convention for the same reason George Bush got it wrong in Iraq, and Steve Case and Gerald Levin got it wrong with their AOL-Time Warner merger. In each case, the architects of these train wrecks saw what they wanted to see. They spent too much time focusing on what could go right and not nearly enough time focusing on what could go wrong.

In Boston, we had both the warnings and the options to do something different. But Menino and the others didn't want to hear it.

Last spring -- a full year ago -- both Gloria Larson, the chairwoman of Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, and Jim Rooney, the authority's director, were telling anyone who asked that it was a sure thing the new $850 million South Boston convention center would be ready in time if the FleetCenter looked unworkable. Wrong answer. This convention, like all political conventions, is about television, and the new convention center doesn't have the stadium-style seating and the luxury boxes favored by network anchors.

By last fall, this disaster-in-the-making was becoming clear. Julie Burns, executive director of Boston 2004, told the Globe's editorial page last week the Boston police in October were already suggesting the Democrats consider abandoning the FleetCenter because of security concerns. Transportation officials say that by January it was obvious both Interstate 93 and North Station would have to be closed, assuring a commuter Armageddon. The same officials say the Secret Service was more than open to moving the show to the new convention center.

It didn't matter. Menino and Kennedy had sold the party on the FleetCenter, and they had to deliver. Moving the convention to South Boston would have involved trade-offs. How daunting is building stadium seating compared to rerouting 200,000 cars a day? Maybe Dan Rather would not have his skybox. But maybe the rest of us could get to work. The message, as they say in politics, of who counts and who doesn't couldn't be clearer.

Herald - Kerry Rankles top party officials

Remember this is the Herald which covers a different planet than the Boston Globe:

Kerry rankled many top party officials by failing to consult them before word leaked of his plan. Several close friends said Kennedy (D-Mass.), a prime mover in landing the convention for Boston, was peeved at the Kerry camp.

Kennedy privately mocked Kerry at a party fund-raising event this week for failing to consult him, pretending to take orders from the junior senator over the phone, sources said.

The senior senator, pretending to be on a telephone with Kerry, said, ``Yes, John. Whatever you say, John,'' according to one eyewitness at the Massachusetts Democratic Party event.

``People are kicking the (expletive) out of Kerry over this,'' said one prominent Democratic lawmaker. ``I can't find anybody who thinks this is a good idea.''

(Funny. The Globe found such people all over the place. Look harder.)

One Democratic source said, ``There's a lot of confusion internally, inside the campaign over this,'' and noted Kerry is still weighing alternatives such as a massive fund-raising blitz by state, local and national party groups to boost the senator's campaign. "

Gray Davis says Kerry must spend in California

He ought to know. In USATODAY the recalled Governor says:

"'I have always maintained that California is far more competitive than pundits believe,' said former Gov. Gray Davis, the Democrat who was recalled by voters and replaced by Schwarzenegger last year. 'Democrats can't win this state on the cheap. Kerry has to spend money here, and I believe he knows that.'"

I thought so, too (see below).

Boston Herald - Hopes for Kerry's campaign take flight

The Presumptive Nominee is now traveling in the style to which he is accustomed. Did Carly write a song about this guy?

"WASHINGTON - Taking to the skies in style, Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday unveiled a custom-designed campaign plane emblazoned with his name and the word ``President'' on its side and boasting a bar and five cabins.

``In the event of emergency, my hair can be used as a flotation device,'' Kerry quipped on board the inaugural flight of the refurbished Boeing 757 from Reagan Washington National Airport. "

No thanks. Just put the hot air in a bag and I'll stay afloat.

Daley says Kerry went too far with joke about president's fall

Chicago Sun Times (reg. required):

"Mayor Daley scolded Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry Tuesday for making a wisecrack about the bicycle accident that scraped the face, hands and knees of President Bush.

According to the Drudge Report, Kerry was having a conversation with reporters that he apparently believed was off the record when he reportedly asked, 'Did the training wheels fall off?'

Daley, who ripped the skin off his kneecap during a bicycle accident a few years ago, said the joke was disrespectful. 'When someone falls . . . you should not wish ill upon anyone. It's not right. . . . You just don't do that. Let's have some respect for one another.'

To Daley, Kerry's remark symbolized a hate-filled brand of politics the mayor has long despised. 'The thing I worry about in politics is all of these people hating one another [saying], 'I hate Kerry', 'I hate Bush.' I wish the former presidents -- Carter and Ford and Clinton and Bush -- would all get up and tell people, 'You may support candidates, but don't hate the other candidate.' 'You see too much hate. And I'll tell you one thing -- hate will turn on people. . . . When hate gets in politics, it's a very, very dangerous aspect.'"

I Always Knew Gay Guys Were More Talented...

Reuters reports that:

"Using artificial insemination to get pregnant, lesbians are four times more likely to have children than gay men. "

(Hat Tip: OpinionJournal.com)

Not So Deep Thoughts: Letter to John Kerry

A parent of soldiers writes:

"Dear Senator Kerry:

Since it has become clear that you will probably be the Democratic nominee for President, I have spent a great deal of time researching your war record and your record as a professional politician. The reason is simple, you aspire to be the Commander in Chief who would lead my sons and their fellow soldiers in time of war. I simply wanted to know if you possess the necessary qualifications to be trusted in that respect."

No more excerpt. I suggest reading the whole letter.

Globe - Johnny on the spot

From the Boston Globe's lowly "people" item comes this little gem. About the 5th Kerry-bash of the day's Globe. Johnny on the spot:

"GOING TO FENWAY FOR THE WEEKEND Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, who watched the Red Sox game Sunday at Fenway, left the ballpark through the players entrance while outfielder Johnny Damon just happened to be trailing a few feet behind. A young fan -- our spies tell us about 6 years old -- yelled: 'Johnny, you're my favorite.' Both Johns turned around, but when Kerry shook the boy's hand, the young fan seemed a bit puzzled. . . . "

Globe - McGrory Joins the Chorus Pleading with Kerry

When the bad guys are fighting each other, let them fight. He lands a few punches here. In Knock it off, and accept he writes:

"The only thing they're going to be thinking about is this politician who's always trying to play every side of every issue, always looking for a way out. He'd be the kind of lawyer always trying to get his clients off on a technicality -- that's what they'll be saying.

Can you hear all the network anchors now? They'll be asking: When's a nominating convention not a nominating convention? Answer: When it's John Kerry's. Bostonians will be asking, if this isn't really a nominating convention, does that mean those roads aren't really closed? Does that mean I can get to my job?

Probably not, but that's beside the point. You've somehow managed to tick off half the free world -- the Democratic half. Look at Tom Menino. He heard about your plan by reading a wire service story at 3 o'clock Friday afternoon. Have a good weekend, mayor. He was running around town for the next two days grousing that he feels like a glorified 'janitor.'

Actually, I think he meant concierge. He's got politicos across America calling him for restaurant recommendations and hotel reservations, but neither of his home state senators bothered telling him that the nominating convention that he fought so hard to land may not actually include a nomination."

Globe - Vennocci Aims for BOTH Bush and Kerry

It's easier to score a hit when there are two targets, especially if one of them is tall and overconfident. She writes:

"Mission Accomplished. George W. Bush looks like an Iraq-obsessed, warmongering incompetent. John Kerry looks like a cash-obsessed, double-talking flip-flopper."

Yep. Two targets, one punch, one hit.

Fisking the Globe Editors' "Too unconventional"

Saying of The Presumptive Nominee that "Kerry ought to stick to the script and accept his party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention in late July."

Kerry is considering a deferred acceptance to avoid a Federal Election Commission rule that would force him to switch from primary campaign fund-raising to the more restrictive general election fund-raising once he is the official nominee. Republicans, who will not nominate President Bush for reelection until early September, can continue raising and spending money for five extra weeks without having to tap the $75 million in federal matching funds provided to each campaign.

The Federal Election Commission needs to change the regulation and give each party access to the federal funds on the same day, and it should move fast enough to affect this campaign cycle. The rule gives unfair edge to the incumbent party, Democrat or Republican, which by tradition holds its convention later.

Sure. Just like the way they stepped in to block the Demo's creation of 527 organizations as a flagrant bypass of campaign spending limits?

Still, the Democrats knew the field wouldn't be level when they chose their convention date. They had already received one break from the FEC when it decided not to challenge the so-called 527 committees that have rushed to fill the vacuum created by the McCain-Feingold soft money ban, raising cash that is now off-limits to the political parties. So far, the 527 groups have tended to favor Democrats."

Here is a statement worthy of Pravda. DEMOS set up 527s to bypass the provisions of McCain-Feingold, and the spineless FEC gave them a 90-day pass on them 90 days before they can tap Federal funds. Note also that this was "filling a vacuum". How rich. That is exactly what those Neanderthals who opposed McCain-Feingold said, wasn't it? That separating big money from politics was like trying to maintain a vacuum. Now that it has become convenient for a certain political party, the ever-consistent Globe Editors have discovered that their former Holy Grail of Campaign Finance Reform is nothing but a futile attempt to draw a vacuum. Save this editorial for the time some Demo whines for the next wave of such "reform".

And the neatest lie is that these groups have "tended to favor Democrats". Which is to say that DNC lawyers have been more energetic in stretching the provisions of McCain-Finegold until the intention of the law was destroyed. Not surprised. They have had plenty of practice at stretching the law during the Clinton/Ron Brown/Johnny Chung fundraising years. Makes a fellow proud to be a member of the "little people's party", doesn't it?

Kerry justifies idea of nomination delay (good luck with that!)

This whole delay thing is such a bad and impolitic idea. Why won't JFK drop it? Maybe because he is now invested in it. Anyway, it is certainly no testament to his good judgement. Here he goes defending it again. Call damage control! Presidential Candidate engages in repeated self-flagellation!

Note the reporter's note drawing the distinction lost in Kerry's B.S. answer below:

"Kerry dismissed Republican threats to ask for equal air time on television during the week of the Democratic convention if he decides to delay his nomination. Without a nomination, said Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel, the Boston convention would be a political pep rally, and Bush-Cheney '04 'would certainly be interested in receiving network coverage for four days worth of Bush-Cheney '04 pep rallies.'

The senator chuckled at the criticism.

'Once again, the Republicans don't know history, and they don't know facts,' he said. 'The truth is that it used to be that the convention, after nomination, traveled to the home or the state of the nominee to inform them they've been nominated. Woodrow Wilson was at his house in Princeton, N.J.; Harry Truman was in Independence,' Mo., he said. 'They're trying to make an issue out of something that they're surprised by, because . . . they're very upset someone might have a way of neutralizing their advantage.'

The nominations of Wilson and Truman occurred in the days before public financing of presidential campaigns and federal election rules about campaign fund-raising."

How Witty

Wapo's struggling gossip column reports:

"Stephen Trachtenberg, president of George Washington University, went a little beyond the usual inspirational pablum at graduation ceremonies May 16, deciding to make a political statement. 'If anybody has a mortarboard, you can move your tassels from right to left, right to left, which is what I hope happened to your politics in the last four years,' he said. Sure, some laughed, but wasn't this further evidence of academe as an inculcator of liberal values? University spokesman Matt Lindsay insisted otherwise yesterday: 'His politics are known, I would say, but I don't think he's trying to impose them on anybody.' "

The Boorishness of the Aging Liberal

Doctorow's arrogance so wonderfully described here by Peggy Noonan reminds me of Slick Willie, the Junior Senator from NY, and (of course) the man of the hour, The Presumptive Nominee. I wonder if Doctorow served in Vietnam?

"Fast Eddy Doctorow told a story at the commencement all right, and it is a story about the boorishness of the aging liberal. An old '60s radical who feels he is entitled to impose his views on this audience on this day because he's so gifted, so smart, so insightful, so very above the normal rules, agreements and traditions. And for this he will get to call himself besieged and heroic--a hero about whom stories are told!--when in fact all he did was guarantee positive personal press in the elite media, at the cost of the long suffering patience of normal people who wanted to move the tassel and throw the hat in the air.

I am a conservative. I have spoken at three college commencements. Each time I spoke I talked about the students, and the life ahead of them, and the nature of their achievement. I spoke to them about them. I didn't tell them Jimmy Carter is a retard or Bill Clinton is a pig. It would have been wrong to do that. It would have been boorish. It would have deserved boos.

I'm glad that's what Eddy Doctorow got this Sunday from what appear to be his intellectual and moral superiors on Long Island. Go Hofstra."

Blanding-Down History

Anne Applebaum, a distinguished historian of the Gulag, has more than academic interest in the wasting away of history education in US schools. Her children are studying there now. In Blanding-Down History: she writes of history textbooks:

"But the worst offense is a tone of cheerful, sanitized neutrality so overwhelming that it actually renders the prose ahistorical. Thus in a section on 'Life Behind the Iron Curtain,' middle-schoolers are taught both that 'Communist governments in Eastern Europe granted their people few freedoms,' and that 'in some ways, Communist governments did take care of their citizens. Food prices were low. Health care was free,' as if all prices really were low and health care really was free in economic systems that depended upon bribery and connections. Thus in a unit on the Industrial Revolution, students are asked how they would react if forced to become child laborers -- 'Would you join a union, go to school, or run away?' -- as if there actually were unions, universal education and places for children to run to in early-19th century Britain. Thus in a chapter on Africa, the word 'tribe' is carefully avoided. Good teachers can and do overcome bad textbooks, but they clearly have an uphill battle.

The issue, then, is not merely the absence of the dead white men: The issue is the absence of both dead white men and slavery, the absence of both the Constitution and the violence that was used to preserve it. To put it differently, the issue is the low expectations we now have of our children, whom we too often judge incapable of hearing the truth. If we want them, someday, to understand why judges and senators and presidents think Brown was so inspiring, we will eventually have to teach them the parts of the story that precede the happy ending. "

Here is another good reason to end the virtual monopoly of public school systems, especially in poorer communities where they offer very little to those who could benefit most from educational opportunity, and have no other alternatives.

A Mole in the Kerry Campaign?

Adrian Walker's last column was a loser. In today's Globe he hits the ball out of the park with a draft non-acceptance speech for JFK at the Democratic non-convention. A sample:

"I'd like to say a few words about my good friend Tom Menino, the mayor of this great city. Mayor, all Democrats owe you a debt of gratitude for your tireless efforts in shaking down everyone in town to raise money for this fabulous shindig. People will say it was all for nothing, that nothing is really taking place here, and frankly, they're right.

But just because I can't accept that thing I can't accept here in my hometown, just because there's a traffic jam outside from Lowell to the Sagamore Bridge, just because you're being picketed by dozens of unions without contracts, doesn't mean that we haven't accomplished a great thing together.

Thank you, mayor, for this wonderful showcase for my campaign's stunning indecision and ineptitude. Teresa and I will never forget it."

Way to go, Adrian. Continuing that thread, is it possible that this series of blunders shows that there is a MOLE in the Kerry campaign? How else can you explain this ham-handedness? Is Shrum a mole?

Kerry: "Convention Will Be Good for Boston"

Yahoo! News reports :

"'Boston will be open for business,' Kerry told reporters aboard his campaign plane. 'People will make a lot of money. We're going to have a full-fledged convention, and people are going to have a fantastic time.' "

Uh-huh. Conventions are bad enough as they are, without being run through for 4 days in the absence of their sole raison d'etre. Maybe the delegates can spend the extra time watching Johnnie's home movies of Vietnam.

Times picks up the Story of Kerry's (latest) unfortunate remark

In time the truth will out.

Kerry pokes fun at Bush mishap - The Washington Times: - May 24, 2004: "Democrat John Kerry joked about President Bush's weekend bicycle accident by comparing the president to a child, Internet newshound Matt Drudge reported yesterday.

'Kerry told reporters in front of cameras, 'Did the training wheels fall off?' ' Mr. Drudge reported on his Web site, www.drudgereport.com.
Interviewed by The Washington Times yesterday, Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter would say only that the words Mr. Drudge reported were 'off the record.' "

Serving Self as Usual

The most polarizing figure in US politics, speaking on a Sunday morning talk show (the "Church of the Chattering Classes") said she could support McCain, and not stopping there, declared herself an admirer.

"Senator Hillary Clinton said she could support John McCain, a leading Republican senator, as the Democrats' vice presidential candidate in November's presidential election. 'I'm a big admirer of John McCain's,' Clinton -- the former US first lady and one of the most prominent Democrats in the US Congress -- told the 'Fox News Sunday' program. "

OK. I still think she wants the nod, and rampant speculation about McCain and HRC will only make it more difficult for The Presumptive Nominee to name a Gephardt or an Edwards, as his new best pal Ralph tells him (via another talk show) that he should.

Globe - Romney is booed at Suffolk commencement

In contrast to Doctorow's screed yesterday at Hostra,

"The governor spoke about his childhood, his success as a venture capitalist, and his work leading the 2002 Winter Olympics.

'When I was asked to leave my investment company to run the Olympics in Salt Lake City, I dismissed the idea out of hand. I was making too much money,' he said, adding that the job paid 'nothing' and 'would lead nowhere.'
But he described the job as 'the highlight' of his professional life and said, 'There are currencies more lasting than money.' He urged students to explore the 'deeper waters' of life, where they would find 'family, friends, faith, community, country, caring, commitment' as well as ' challenging ideas, opposing opinions, and uncomfortable battles.' "

Too bad after 4 years of college some of the grads hadn't yet learned to listen. Hope they do someday soon.

Globe - Amid convention scrambling, rift shows

Sunday's Globe had a story about the Kerry convention non-acceptance option which talked about the grudging support the move was getting among the party loyalists. Monday's story comes a little closer to the truth. It also hangs a poor lecturer at the Kennedy School with some quotes that would embarrass a high school civics class:

"The party wants a message that will help Democrats triumph in November, while host committee members want to see their city portrayed in a glowing manner during the convention, said Linda Bilmes, a lecturer in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

'You have a number of different competing agendas,'[who knew?!] Bilmes said. Meanwhile, Bush campaign officials are considering holding political rallies during the convention should Kerry not accept the nomination.

'If Kerry does not accept the nomination, it's not a nominating convention, it's a political rally,' said Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt. 'Certainly there would be very serious consideration to holding political rallies for all four nights to preserve equal coverage for our candidate.'

Kerry yesterday declined to answer reporters' questions on his way into Fenway Park, where he was attending the Red Sox game against the Toronto Blue Jays. As he made his way to his seat on the third-base line, he was met mostly with cheers, though he also drew a smattering of boos. Kerry went to the game with his daughter, Vanessa, and John Sasso, his point man at the Democratic National Committee.

If Kerry does choose to delay the nomination, he will be effectively calculating that the fund-raising advantage the move would give him is worth the price of 'putting people's noses out of joint in Massachusetts,' Bilmes said. 'I don't think anybody outside of Massachusetts is going to care,' she said. 'In terms of winning the election, I don't think it matters.'"

Well, Linda, try crossing the Charles for once and ask some of the dolts down at the Business School what they think of that statement. There is ceremony, tradition, and ritual at stake here, too, lady. These involve team motivation and morale. How will the delegates feel? How about the big Boston donors? What will Kerry make - a non-acceptance speech to the nation?

Another "Thank You" from Nader to Kerry

If these 2 can stay civil for more than a few weeks, I will be astonished. Kerry should have ignored Nader from the beginning. Just think about this; Unless they fall out of love soon, JFK is going to have to explain to Ralphie why he can't appear in the debates. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they have that conversation. In today's episode Nader urges Kerry to stop opposition groups (opposition to Nader, that is) reports the other Times - The Washington Times -

the Nader team said "'We would like to see a clear message from Mr. Kerry that he opposes this effort against Ralph Nader,' said Nader campaign spokesman Kevin Zeese. 'If we don't get it, we will feel that he deserves credit for it.' "

Mark Rocks

Here is a good way to end the weekend reading. Mark Steyn points out the obvious fact of the "silent majority" of cities and towns in Iraq that are NOT on the evening news, because what is happening there is not "Nitely Newsworthy". Just more important, perhaps. As Mark writes:

"The best bulwark against tyranny is a population that knows the benefits of freedom, as the Iraqi Kurds do. Don't make the mistake of turning Iraq into a dysfunctional American public school, where the smart guys get held down to the low standards of the misfits and in the end they all get the same social promotion anyway. Let's get on with giving the Kurdish and Shia areas elected governors and practical sovereignty, province by province.
And then fix bayonets and stick it to the holdouts."

Another Sign that Academia has Lost Touch

This is an interesting item. E.L. Doctorow is booed at Hofstra's commencement for bashing Bush. One can't blame the clueless administrators. Nobody ever caused a stir on campus or lost a job as a college president for bashing Republicans.

"Doctorow, who spent virtually all of his 20-minute address in Hempstead criticizing Bush, told the crowd that like himself the president is a storyteller. But 'sadly they are not good stories this president tells,' he said. 'They are not good stories because they are not true.' That line provoked the first boos, along with scattered cheers.

'One story he told was that the country of Iraq had nuclear and biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction and was intending shortly to use them on us,' he said. 'That was an exciting story all right, it was designed to send shivers up our spines. But it was not true.

'Another story was that the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, was in league with the terrorists of al-Qaida,' he said. 'And that turned out to be not true. But anyway we went off to war on the basis of these stories.'

Those lines provoked an outburst of boos so loud the 'Ragtime' author stopped the speech. Rabinowitz approached the podium and called for calm. 'We value open discussion and debate,' he said. 'For the sake of your graduates, please let him finish.'"

That is rich. Sure, they "value open debate", so long as it stays within the bounds of the beloved speech codes, and doesn't offend anyone, and affirms the Sole Progressive World View.

If they really valued debate, they would let their faculty spend 20 minutes captive listening to Condi Rice. That would be a learning experience for all involved.

Democrat Panic Meter Edges Up; Eileen McNamara Overcome

The Boston Globe's most bilious columnist, Eileen McNamara, frets over JFK's waffling. She sees this as a strategy of his handlers, who want to move him to the middle and lose the "Massachusetts Liberal" handle, which is a loser in 49 states or so. She is honest enough to admit that he has had "nothing to say"

"Why the campaign is making a foolhardy decision to define Kerry as the nondescript, issue-straddling Other Guy in this race has everything to do with his advisers' outsized fear that the nation will reject a Massachusetts liberal. What those guys, too many of them veterans of the 1988 campaign of Michael Dukakis, are missing is that, in terror-plagued 2004, an indecisive flip-flopper is a much more damaging label. And that label is sticking to Kerry thanks to a campaign strategy that amounts to having the candidate say nothing definitive in an effort to give as little offense as possible.

It is a losing strategy. Kerry is still an unknown quantity to most voters. Desperate efforts to rhetorically moderate a liberal voting record just reinforce an RNC-cultivated perception that John Kerry does not stand for anything."

Eileen still believes in JFK. She is welcome to him.

Me, I think Kerry's core problem with voters is that he has no core, at least as far as any beliefs go. He is a pure political animal, like the Arkansas Slickster in terms of ambition, but without any of the Slickster's charm and personal magnetism.

It is no big achievement getting re-elected to the US Senate from Massachusetts if you are an incumbent Demo. So I think it's fair to say that Kerry has never REALLY been tested in a contest since 1984. So far he has won a bunch of primaries over Dean and (Republican) Clark where the electorate was a bunch of Demo party zealots in heat. What does that translate into in November? Not necessarily anything much, and Kerry has shown zero ability to make anything of it so far.

Can't wait to read Eileen's early November columns.

Drudge Breaks another Kerry Blunder

Quoteth the bane of the LM:

"President fell off bike Saturday.. Kerry told reporters in front of cameras, 'Did the training wheels fall off?'... Reporters are debating whether to treat it as on or off the record... "

Now it is on the record, like many other such stories that were so unflattering to Democrats that they might never have passed "editorial" muster. Thanks again, Matt.

A hypthetical question, of course, but do you suppose that if the shoe was on the other foot and Bush made such a remark it might get just a tad more exposure in Wapo, NPR, and the Times? Bias? What bias? You are imagining again.

Times Story Admits Liberalism of Church Ladies

Seems that the strongly leftist composition of mainline Protestant organizations in the US is being challenged, and not without considerable support from those nasty "people in the pews". Interesting that the leading group that has challenged the Catholic hierarchy in the past 2 years is quite liberal (Voice of the Faithful)and presses them on the basis of lack of transparency in their decision processes (a rich vein indeed).

Unfortunately in the US Catholic Church, conservatives who are appalled at the US Bishops record of burying their head in the sand for 20+ years over clergy sexual abuse, out-to-lunch seminaries, ignoring the vocations crisis, etc have no real place to go. I know several who have just plain left the Church. Sounds like an unmet need to me.

Anyway, in the Protestant scene the Times story reports that:

"Although the institute has an annual budget of just less than $1 million and a staff of fewer than a dozen, liberals and conservatives alike say it is having an outsized effect on the dynamics of American politics by counteracting the liberal influence of the mainline Protestant churches. Together, the Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopal churches have 12.5 million members, and for decades they and other mainline denominations have provided theological backbone and foot soldiers for liberal causes like abortion rights, racial and economic equality, the nuclear freeze, environmentalism and anti-war movements.

For their part, the institute and its allies say they are saving the denominations from themselves by agitating for a return to Biblical orthodoxy. They argue that the churches' liberalism has contributed to their steep decline over the last 30 years even as more conservative evangelical churches have grown.

'It's pretty clear that the church elite in the mainline denominations are to the left of the people in the pews,' said Diane Knippers, the institute's president and an Episcopalian who helped found the American Anglican Council and now sits on its board. "

"The I.R.D. is a kind of parallel universe that upholds the conservative standpoint in the world of religion," Mr. Schambra said. "It is no different in that sense from what the National Association of Scholars is for University Professors or the Federalist Society is for lawyers," he said, referring to two other groups backed by the same foundations.

Self-inflicted Carnage Continues in Kerry Camp

Another day, another blunder.

You have to wonder what their command structure is like if this story makes it to the front page all over the country. The presumptive nominee is considering NOT accepting the nomination at the convention so that he can continue to spend freely and not be constrained by legal limits implicit in his acceptance of Federal (Republicans will correctly say "TAXPAYER")funds. Of course the presumptive campaign still want to collect all the Fed..., er TAXPAYER funds that will be spent to underwrite the convention which is now just a big meeting and won't nominate anybody.

"Senator John F. Kerry may delay his nomination as the Democratic presidential standard-bearer in Boston this July in order to deprive President Bush of a significant spending advantage during the final phase of the campaign. Such a move would be unprecedented in presidential politics and may sharply alter the tone of the convention here, campaign officials and top Democrats said yesterday.

Senior Kerry advisers said that they were considering delaying the nomination process to Sept. 1 and that Kerry would deliver a speech to the delegates at the July 26-29 convention, but not an acceptance speech. The Democratic National Committee would change party rules so that delegates who normally vote at the convention could vote later over the Internet or by proxy on Sept. 1 when ''the nomination would be formalized, accepted, and documented,' Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said yesterday."

Cutter is the chief spokesperson, and this is what she has to explain today and this weekend on talk-TV. This is a message? If so, what is it? That you care more about campaign money than the long-standing political party tradition? That you will either force the party to hold a non-convention or will flip-flop your stance yet again? Maybe the thread that the Repub spokesperson takes up is the most damning (and accurate). This idea hints of a Helmsleyishly haughty attitude that the rules are for the other people.

Broder Discovers that Money Still Talks

This should be required reading before the "reformers" put us through still another attempt to separate money and politics. His WaPo column, "What McCain-Feingold Didn't Fix"

"they did not anticipate that the ban would simply divert the flow of big contributions into other channels. Concerned about the constitutionality of limiting free-speech rights of advocacy organizations, the sponsors did not include a ban on soft-money contributions to nonparty groups. Democrats quickly seized on that opportunity by creating 527s. These groups are nominally independent of the party. But one is headed by Harold Ickes, who ran Democratic politics from the Clinton White House; another, by Steve Rosenthal, the former political director of the AFL-CIO.
Wertheimer claims the FEC is derelict in allowing the 527s to operate this way. He may be right, but last week the agency voted for a 90-day delay in imposing new regulations -- tantamount to a pass for this election cycle. Republicans who had been pressing to shut them down now say they have no choice but to create their own 527s.
The reality, as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a leading critic of McCain-Feingold, has argued, is that in a country like ours, with its constitutional guarantees and its welter of interests, it is virtually impossible to control the flow of money from the private sector into the political world. Any regulatory scheme is likely to be quickly circumvented if it is not countermanded by the courts or the administrative agencies.
The best one can hope is that new rules do not produce more unintended negative consequences than benefits. McCain-Feingold is flunking that test. "

Kerry's "Theme": Take #7, or "The Vision Thing"

The :WSJ reports today that:

"Mr. Kerry remains reluctant to show his own feelings. As a result, he often doesn't bring enough emotion himself, and needs the energy of crowds -- as in Portland -- to provide a lift.

'You have to talk about the things that have moved you and touched you,' he says. 'I think people want to connect to that feeling. They want to know that you get it, that you know what their life struggle is about, and that you share the same values, hopes, aspirations.'

'I've only had seven weeks really to be the 'nominee,' ' he says, and much of that time has been consumed with fund-raising. 'Now I'm able to take the time to refine the lessons I've learned and peoples' stories ... and convey it in a very simple straightforward way. And I think it is coming together.'

"After boarding his plane in Topeka, he spoke proudly of shaping the last line of his speech: 'For America to be America for any of us, America must be America for all of us.' That evening -- feeding on the energy of the cheering Portland crowd -- he pointed to a huge American flag and compressed his life and the challenge ahead for the nation into the single image of all being in 'the same boat.'

'We were Americans and we were literally in the same boat,' he said, recalling his Navy crew in Vietnam. 'We're all in the same boat here in America, and we need to come together now to lift this country up, not tear it down. ... We are the can-do people, we are the can-do country, and we need to get the job done.'"

'For America to be America for any of us, America must be America for all of us.' That would get a "C-" in any secondary school with standards. This makes Bush's speeches appear content-full by contrast. Not inspiring.

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

The media is not more hypotictical than any other group -- just more sanctimonious. Below is a story from the New York Daily News reproduced here without further comment. What more can you say? Too perfect.

"Official respect for the First Amendment is apparently in steep decline.
The other day, an intrepid journalist and truth-seeker was grilling a powerful public figure. But before the interview was over, the powerful public figure's press aide abruptly broke in as tape rolled and stopped the interrogation.
Tim Russert interviewing Colin Powell?
Nope.
Try Brian Lehrer interviewing Tim Russert.
'We were given precisely 10 minutes with Russert to tape an interview about his new book from 8 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. for broadcast at 10 a.m. last Friday,' the WNYC radio host told me yesterday.
'My impression was that he was very tightly scheduled, and had to do five or six interviews one after the other and his people were trying to keep him on schedule ... Eight minutes into the interview, a woman's voice cut in and barked, 'WNYC, you have eight seconds left!' And the interview came to a quick end.'
Lehrer added that the glitch was deleted from what sounded, when it was broadcast, like a seamless conversation.
'It was no big deal,' Lehrer said, noting that the interrupter was not an NBC News employee. 'These things happen. It was just the usual bureaucratic stuff and getting an interview. So we edited it out.'
But two days later, Secretary of State Powell's press aide, Emily Miller, was so desperate to keep her boss on schedule that she tried to end Russert's taped interview when it ran into overtime. The 'Meet the Press' moderator went ballistic.
Not only did Russert castigate Powell's aide on his own NBC show, he gave righteously indignant interviews about 'attempted news management gone berserk' to CNN and The Washington Post."

Maybe I'm not the guy who is MOST paranoid about the media!

Instapundit: writes that:

"A JOURNALIST I KNOW emails that the loss of credibility his profession is suffering is 'seismic,' and that he's considering quitting. What's more, he's hearing depressed comments from quite a few colleagues.

Another reader -- who probably doesn't want his name used because he works for a major newspaper -- emails: 'I've tuned out the MSM and rely on the 'Net -- bloggers, Lucianne.com, etc. -- to keep me informed, which it does quite well. That way I get all the info but don't have to endure Dan, Tom and Peter, Wolf, etc. I miss nothing that's happening but I gain all the stories that the mainstream media simply ignore.' If you saw his address line, you'd know how striking a statement this is."

LUCIANNE? Sheesh! That is a gonzo right-wing site if ever there was one. I check it daily.

The nice thing is that the blogs are tied in to at least parts of the MSM through pubs like OpinionJournal's Best of the Web. That is why the LM is now accused of doing such a big job of moving these stories to the back. They get published, but where they deserve to be according to the reflexively leftist groupthink of MSM newsrooms.

Kerry Open to Anti-Abortion Judges

And the inevitable "Kerry Caveat" is ...as long as it wouldn't make any difference in the outcome of Roe vs Wade. Well, of course this is part of that rightward sashay that takes place every 4 years. Is anybody going to be persuaded by this? No. So I count it as error number 3 of this single day for the campaign. Ouch.

"John Kerry said Wednesday he's open to nominating anti-abortion judges as long as that doesn't lead to the Supreme Court overturning the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion legal. "

I'll believe this when he votes to confirm one such judge between now and November 3, or rather to bring such a confirmation to a vote, which is the Demo strategy for keeping the benches liberal.

Two Pair

Both Kerry and his daughter came off today looking like...sorry...a pair of boobs. Here is JFK's daughter with unfortunate garment choices, both outer and under. While Yahoo! has the AP story of the momentous meeting of one of the Senate's leading Mr. Liberals and the guy on his left. Working together, they are, except that...

"Although Iraq has emerged as a major issue between the two campaigns -- Nader has called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and Kerry, like President Bush, wants to stay the course -- the aide said the two men did not discuss their differences during the hour-long meeting. "

JFK and the young lady both should have called in sick today. Just what they did not need is more self-inflicted damage to the Kerry campaign. So when is Kerry going to get traction? Is this just a run of bad luck? If it is luck then it is one hell of a long run.

Kasparov - A multi-talented genius

The chess champion writes another OpEd in the WSJ entitled "Stop the Moral Eqivalence"

"The Islamic public-relations offensive is focused on proving that the West is corrupt and offers no improvement on the despots in charge throughout the Islamic world. At the same time, Al Jazeera isn't examining Vladimir Putin's war against Muslims in Chechnya. All of Chechnya is one big Abu Ghraib, but the Islamic world pays scant attention to the horrible crimes there because Mr. Putin shares their distaste for liberal democracy. The war is not about defending Muslims; it is about Western civilization and America as its representative.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to pursue a nuclear arsenal and the U.N. Secretariat, France and Russia are busily covering up their involvement in the Oil-for-Food scandal. If we are to impress the superiority of the democratic model upon the Muslim world we must thoroughly investigate any and all allegations of abuse and clean up our act. This goes for plush U.N. offices as well as Iraqi prison cells.

It is a mistake to see the debate on how to deal with terrorism along antiquated political lines. Partisan politics have played a role, but for the most part the battle to do what is necessary to win this war has freely crossed traditional party boundaries. One's beliefs about tax policy and social benefits have little to do with how to deal with the terrorist threat being generated in the Islamic world."

Is Bush too quiet, or is the media too quiet about Bush?

Both, I think. A good point here by Andrew Sullivan that could be answered by speaking regularly from the Oval Office. I don't know why Bush doesn't.

"The president has said nothing cogent about Karbala; nothing apposite about al Sadr; nothing specific about what our strategy is in Falluja. Events transpire and are interpreted by critics and the anti-war media and by everyone on the planet but the president. All the president says is a broad and crude reiteration of valid but superfluous boilerplate. This is not war-leadership; it's the abdication of war-leadership. We are at a critical juncture. With some perspective, we have achieved much in Iraq, with relatively low casualties. But it will all go to hell if we lose our nerve now. It's long past time that people can be asked simply to trust the president. After the WMD intelligence debacle and the Abu Ghraib disgrace, he has run out of that capital. He has to tell us how we will win, what we are doing, how it all holds together, why the infrastructure repair is still in disarray, and how a political solution is possible. I'm not sure any more that this president has the skills or competence to pull it off. But I am sure that he has very little time to persuade us he can."

A Good Answer for Ted's Intemperate Remarks

Comes from the CS visionary, Professor, and Unabomber target David Gelernter (note I say target, because David Gelernter could not be described as a victim. He writes in the Weekly Standard:

"'George Bush's boast of shutting down Saddam Hussein's torture chambers in Iraq rings hollow now.' The hell it does. Anyone who equates Saddam's bloody decades of torture and mass murder to the crimes at Abu Ghraib is the same kind of fool who once preached the moral equivalence of America and Soviet Russia, or of America in Vietnam and Hitlerism. Imbecility is eternal, perpetually reincarnated."

"'Yes, we abominate the Abu Ghraib crimes but will not accept your forgetting what America has paid to liberate Iraq, will not allow foreign nations to slander the United States, will not permit you to forget what we and the British have accomplished: a world without Saddam Hussein; a vastly safer, profoundly better world. And no one will be allowed to dishonor American soldiers and this nation by telling us 'you're just as bad as Saddam'; that lie will never go unchallenged.' "

I bet Prof. Gelernter was the fellow who ruined Kerry's shutout by donating to Bush from the Yale faculty (see below).

Who Knew?

The Globe: performed an analysis of donations originating with universities. Prepare to be shocked.

"The Globe's analysis found that Kerry's advantage increased slightly among employees of independent four-year schools. On the campuses of 136 independent colleges or universities, Kerry outdid Bush in fund-raising by a 3-to-1 margin. At 117 public schools, his advantage was a little better than 2 to 1.
Kerry enjoyed big fund-raising advantages over Bush in the Ivy League ($269,385 to $28,851) and the Big 10 Conference ($134,861 to $31,500), which is dominated by large state universities in the Midwest. About half of Kerry's Ivy League money came from Harvard. From Yale University, which both candidates attended, Kerry collected $33,800 in contributions, Bush's $1,000. Bush did have an edge in the Southeastern Conference ($59,350 to $28,400), which consists primarily of large state schools, and the Big 12 Conference ($77,135 to $37,613) in the West, one-third of whose members are in Bush's home state of Texas. In the entire University of Texas system, Bush also outdid Kerry, $42,700 to $17,650."

Democrats lead 9-1 in the Ivies, 4-1 in the Big Ten, and 30-1 at Yale. Bush leads 2-1 in the SEC.

This shows that despite the claims of those whiny conservatives at Duke, there really IS ideological diversity on campus, as long as you are willing to switch regions of the country to find it.

Insulting the Victims

Here is a sound view of the condition of the Times per the NY Sun:

"In the years before World War II, officials of the New York Times shamed the paper by squeezing stories about millions of Europeans suffering and dying in the Nazi concentration camps, into meager and insufficient space.

Years later,the paper tried to find out exactly who made those decisions. It could not, but it published an apology from its heart.

Since the latest torture story, many editors have failed to present background stories about the millions killed by Saddam.

They worry about being accused of minimizing the brutalization of Iraqi prisoners by Americans, if they recall in print the masses of people Saddam slaughtered.

These journalists are truly embarrassing. They insult all these victims. We should throw roses on their graves. That should not be allowed to weaken our coverage of the horrendous abuse that took place in Abu Ghraib prison. "

...and now for something completely different...

Adrian Walker shows exactly how NOT to begin an OpEd piece. This must have been edited by the guy who was demoted last week as Boston Globe photo editor. OK, Adrian. Hit it!

"Like practically everyone of my generation, I was a child of the Brown v. Board of Education decision."

OK, Adrian. A gentleman's C+. It would have been an honors essay if you had thought to get rid of that sentence. Get yourself an editor, guy.

Helprin Nails It

When he says in Written on Water: that

"Leaving out entirely our gratuitously self-inflicted inability to deal with major contingencies in Asia, this has been the briefest summary of mismanagement, a full exposition of which could fill a thick and very unpleasant book. But to these failings the left offers no better alternative, for if the right has failed in execution, the left's failure, in conception, is deeper."

This may be the most accurate perspective of the current mess, although neither side can take any comfort in his criticism.

Defining Marriage Down

Letter to the Boston Globe:

Now that the last legal obstacles to gay marriage have been removed, I note a change of tone in Sunday's Globe. No longer is this issue spoken of as one of civil rights. Now (at least according to the quoted legal scholars) the question is how to change the law to accommodate a wider range of relationships than monogamous marriage. Quite some change, that.

Only a week ago the office of the Governor, when confronted with planned defiance of state law by the town of Provincetown, asked in exasperation if their disobedience would extend to "marrying 10-year olds". This remark was met with outrage by supporters of gay marriage. Yet Sunday we read that progressives now seek "a more just reform of how the law deals with families -- all sorts of families."

Of course these scholars cannot really mean ALL sorts of families. Rather, they mean those arrangements that meet with their approval and that of our betters in the judiciary. Clearly they also can't perceive any reason to allow parochial values like democracy to stand as a barrier to this social progress.

Mark Steyn Hits the Target Talking About 2 Kinds of Crossfire

Panning both Novak and windbags of the left, he quotes Novak: "''one senior official of a coalition partner,'' who, apropos the Defense secretary, put it this way: ''There must be a neck cut, and there is only one neck of choice.''
Lovely line.
Unknown to the big shot diplomat, 'round about that exact moment halfway across the world, Nick Berg's captors were cutting his head off -- or, to be more precise, feverishly hacking it off while raving ''God is great!''"

Kerry's No. 2 (so says the Times...so one must believe it)

What does this kind of drivel mean? What does it say about Kerry that the NY Times will print this article now and that Chris Lehane will gush like this?

"Even so, Democrats say a bipartisan Kerry-McCain ticket, featuring two decorated Vietnam War veterans from different parties and regions of the country, would give them a powerful edge in the debate over who can best lead the nation in the war on terror. 'It would be a dream team,' Mr. Lehane said."

Does it perhaps say that the fellow at the top of the ticket is a WEAK candidate? Methinks so.

Boston Globe plays dumb to save face

Here is a great story about the Boston Globe trying to repair some damage and maintain it's image at the expense of the truth. It's from WorldNetDaily. Usually the Globe is polishing Kerry, Kennedy, or some left-liberal "advocacy" group( note carefully that right-of-center groups of this ilk are always referred to as "special interests"). They are well practiced in polishing the facts. Money graph:

"It's worth noting that the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Herald did not report on the press conference because they found the photos highly suspicious. In addition, the Wall Street Journal was able to confirm the photos were porn shots within 10 minutes of receiving them, since they checked the Internet and pulled up the WND stories about the source.

The editorial also wails that Turner has undermined his anti-war cause'by giving fuel to outlandish claims that the Abu Ghraib prison photos were faked.'

It's this Globe commentary that's truly outlandish.

Meanwhile, if you're still waiting for the Globe to come clean on the fact they knew the photos were porn for the last three days, it looks like it will be a very long wait. Saving face seems to be their most important corporate value.
Too bad telling their readers the truth isn't."

Kerry's Weak Flank is Exposed

The conventional wisdom at this moment is that Bush is starting to sink in the polls, even if Kerry is not yet gaining ground (because he is unknown, punditry says, but perhaps he is known quite well enough). The amazing thing is that with all the negative press of the past 2 weeks that Bush has any polls left. His 42% or whatever must represent an absolute base which is sticking with him no matter what.

The REAL political news of the last couple weeks is a poll taken in California by Survey USA : which shows Bush trailing JFK in California by a whopping 1 point. Unbelievable? Maybe, but very scary for Kerry. No electoral math for the Democrats comes close to 270 without California. Democrats win there or they lose in a big way.

So why doesn't Bush move now to strengthen himself in California? They have a large Spanish-speaking population. Bush speaks Spanish, and can probably express himself as well in that language as he can in English. On Monday May 17 the first flood of gay weddings in Massachusetts will be in the news and this is not a popular theme among Spanish-speaking voters. Ahhhh-nold is quite popular there and can help Bush with joint appearances, and Bush can help the Governator.

Could Bush take California? Maybe. Could he make Kerry spend time and money defending himself there? Definitely yes, and that is exactly the point. Kerry dow not want to spend time and money in California. It is an expensive media market, but the POTUS get make the news for free by appearing. If Kerry has to spend his campaign's time and money defending himself in California he cannot advance his cause in the swing states. So it just makes sense for Bush to strike there now and start working the state. He will force Kerry's hand. Why not do this?

Here is the Survey USA data:
2004 SurveyUSA Election Polls
Sorted: Newest Data on TopLast Updated:5/7/04

President, CA 5/7/2004
Kerry (D)46%
Bush (R)45%
Other/Undecided9%
Data Collected: 5/4/04 - 5/6/04
Geography: State of California
Sample Population: 635 Likely Voters
Margin of Error: 4.0%
Client:
KABC-TV Los Angeles
KPIX-TV San Francisco
KXTV-TV Sacramento
KGTV-TV San Diego"

"...Appears to..."

The New York Times - Video Appears to Show Beheading of American Civilian:

Parse that.

Given the Times' raging sensitivities what would past headlines be if they could be correctly written?

2001 "Plane Appears to Have Hit WTC"
1944 "Hitler Appears to Be Killing European Jews"
1937 "Stalin Appears to Be Behind Massive Purge"

Oops. I forgot they had Duranty on that last story, so they plain denied it.

Of course the current story is deniable to, because the MSM (which has been so busy just now clamouring for the release of all footage related to the Iraqi prison scandal) has not yet published any of the damning footage regarding this terrorist murder. I guess when you are enlightened with the Sole Progressive World View as are the Times headline composers then you have to give those "insurgents" the benefit of the doubt.

A Great Idea

www.AndrewSullivan.com:

"Let's start an internet campaign to insist that the major media - including the New Yorker, the networks, the major newsweeklies, and every major paper - run a picture of Zarqawi holding up Nick Berg's severed head. It's time to release the Pearl video and stills too. Enough with the double standards. The media were absolutely right to show the abuse photos. But they are only part of the story. It's about time the media gave us all of it, however harrowing it is."

I will write to contribute to this campaign, but as always, they will publish this LONG AFTER Drudge, blogs, and hundreds of net sites already have.

Leadership Failure Behind Iraqi Prison Abuses, Taguba Says

WSJ.com: "Senators' questions about ultimate responsibility for control of the Abu Ghraib prison produced a disagreement between Gen. Taguba and Stephen Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence. Gen. Taguba said that control had been turned over to military intelligence officials, while Mr. Cambone said that was incorrect, and it resided with the military police.
In a further disagreement, Gen. Taguba said it was against Army rules for intelligence troops to involve MPs in setting conditions for interrogations. Mr. Cambone said he believed it was appropriate for the two groups to collaborate."

Not surprising that nobody wants to claim command for that place. In time the truth will out.

"What was that proverb about a plank?"

Channelnewsasia.com: "He condemned the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, made public last week, as 'episodes of brutality, contrary to the most elementary human rights and radically contrary to Christian morals'.

'The scandal is even worse if these episodes were committed by Christians,' [ the Vatican's foreign minister] Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo said in the interview,"

OK, Giovanni-baby. Let us meditate on this together for a moment:

1) These guys are adults who were arrested for some suspicion of hostile action, resistance, or crime. They were not 13 year old altar boys from 1-parent families. Score is US Army 1, Vatican 0.

2) This occurred in the past few months, not after 10 or 20 years of cover-up and subterfuge. 2-0.

3) While some of these people may profess to being Christians, I doubt that many are ordained priests. 3-0.

4) It undoubtedly took some people from the US Army to get this investigation going. 4-0.

5) I bet the leaders of the US Army understand that this scandal makes their mission FAR more difficult to acomplish. 5-0.

6) I don't notice the Army Brass standing around commenting on obvious immorality. I suspect they are very busy trying to change the system and eventually repair the damage. 6-0.

6-0 is a shutout. I am invoking soccer's "mercy rule". Giovanni, you would have served Mother Church better if you had called in sick today.

U.S., Britain, Seek to Contain Iraq Abuse Scandal

Yahoo News:"his reaction 'was one of deep disgust and disbelief that anyone who wears our uniform would engage in such shameful and appalling acts. It does not represent our United States military and it does not represent the United States of America.' "

Well, it happened, and the people doing this were in uniform (mostly). He should say something about it, I think. I personally would like to know what he thinks besides being disgusted. Even the posturers are probably truly disgusted.

Yes. He DID say this. Now watch him sidestep.

:: JohnKerry.com ::: "They misled us; they presented false intelligence to us. The president made a series of promises to us -- number one, that he was gonna make every effort possible to build a legitimate coalition. He did not -- he built a fraudulent coalition. Second, he was gonna exhaust the remedies of the United Nations and the inspection process. He did not. And third, that he would go to war as a last resort. He did not. "

Kerry Shoots Himself Yet Again!

Chicago Sun Times:

''We will repeal every single benefit, every single loophole, every single reward for any Benedict Arnold CEO or corporation that take American jobs overseas and stick you with the bill.'' (Kerry in Virginia, Feb. 10)

To the WSJ: ''You know, I called a couple of times to overzealous speechwriters and said 'Look, that's not what I'm saying.' Benedict Arnold does not refer to somebody who in the normal course of business is going to go overseas and take jobs overseas. That happens. I support that. I understand that. I was referring to the people who take advantage of noneconomic transactions purely for tax purposes -- sham transactions -- and give up American citizenship. That's a Benedict Arnold. You give up your American citizenship but you want to continue to do business.''

Mark Steyn Levels JFK

Kerry's Wife Criticized for Cheney Comment

Yahoo! News: "'To have a couple of people, who escaped four, five, six times and deferred and deferred and deferred calling him anything regarding his service is in and of itself unpatriotic. Unpatriotic.' "

If this is unpatriotic, then what would that make of Kerry's perjurous testimony before the Senate in 1971?

Metaphor Alert

The American Thinker: "Not only would such a move trigger criticism of her pathological ambition, it would also place her personal lightning rod at the top of the tallest tree on the political golf course. "

Can't top that one. Every day and every pummeling that Kerry takes, every time he wounds himself with this own mouth, makes it more likely IMHO that he will pick the other Clinton for Veep. Not to mention that if she is not picked for Veep, the former FLOTUS will have to risk her ambitions in a run against Rudi. She would take it, I bet.

China shuts 8,600 cybercafes

The Register: "China has shut down more than 8,600 cybercafes over the last couple of months because of fears that the Net could corrupt the minds of youngsters."

Paddling against a tide.

This shows why Bush has more likability than his presumptive opponent. Can't fake sincerity.

Bush pauses to comfort teen: "Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn. He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:
'This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11.'
Bush stopped and turned back.
'He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man,' Faulkner said. 'He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest.'
Faulkner snapped one frame with his camera.
'I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' ' he said. 'That's more emotion than she has shown in 21/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' '
'And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment.' "

New York Post Online Edition: commentary

New York Post Online Edition: commentary: "So on a 1-to-10 scale, how high is the panic meter gone?
'Seven -and climbing,' says a New York Dem. "

Ship is still taking on water. Time to call Chappaqua.

1971 FBI memo: group "feels that Kerry is...only using V.V.A.W. to further his political desires"

NYTimes: "The source said the Buffalo group 'feels that Kerry is in support of the U.S. government and is only using V.V.A.W. to further his political desires.'

Shocked, shocked. But in 1971 he made that bed, and now JFK does not want to sleep in it. Rather, he plainly wishes everyone alive in 1971 who remembers those days in general and VVAW in particular had amnesia. Sorry, no dice.

The interesting part of this story is that all this 1971 stuff was never an issue for the Dems or the MSM in the primary season. Why not? A lack of diversity, I believe. I bet almost all the Dem apparatchiks and campaign media WOULD have been in VVAW had they been vets. They were mostly active anti-war protesters, so Kerry's VVAW testimony before the US Senate was no big deal to them. This is SO not the case with the general electorate, that their former unconcern is now revealed to be a huge blind spot. Sorry, folks. Try DIVERSITY and TOLERANCE as remedies for this problem. If you can politely tolerate months of Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich blather, why not show the same courtesy to other Demo elements who might disagree with you about Iraq, Vietnam, welfare, or even abortion? Now is a bit late for the Demos to have found out that the electorate is finding that their baby is ugly. This ticket badly needs a transformation in the selection fo the running mate. Let's see...OK who ELSE could possibly qualify, since McCain has declined? There is only one person I can think of. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that Kerry asks her.