Surfing Politics

I've been surfing politics tonight. You know, following link to link to link. Absorbing this and that, lifting eyebrows, scowling, and just plain laughing at what I've seen.

I followed a link to John Kerry's "plans". You tell me if he's off his rocker:

From JohnKerry.com

End The Cop Crunch. Even before 9/11, many cities were having trouble recruiting police officers as fast as they were losing these officers. George W. Bush made this problem worse by slashing funding for the Federal Community Oriented Policing (COPs) program by 80 percent. As a result, police officers today are receiving fewer resources while being asked to shoulder responsibilities for homeland security as well as crime.

John Kerry has been a leading supporter of the COPS program and offered the original amendment to expand the program to place 100,000 police officers on the street. As president, he will restore funding to the COPs program.

In reply:

From The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), US Department of Justice

Attorney General John Ashcroft announces award of $9.8 million for the COPS Secure our Schools Program

COPS awards $4.6 Million to 19 Jurisdiction to Combat Methamphetamine

COPS Grants $15 Million for National Law Enforcement Training Network

COPS Funds $1.2 Million for Ex-Offender Reentry Programs in Five Cities

COPS Office Awards $82.6 Million to Support First Responder Interoperable Communications Systems

COPS Office Awards $24 Million to Native American Law Enforcement Agencies. Awards were made under the COPS Tribal Resources Grant Program (TRGP)

COPS in Schools Program Awards $35.2 Million in Grants

COPS UHP Awards $40 Million in Grants to Hire Police Officers

I am convinced John Kerry is getting his "facts" from this site:

AmericanVoice.com

*laughing so damn hard*

From JohnKerry.com

Fight Violent Crime Against Women. John Kerry was an original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, which has provided over $1 billion for battered women's shelters, hotlines, and other crucial resources. The Violence Against Women Act also significantly strengthened federal law by including several new federal crimes and enhanced penalties for acts of domestic violence. John Kerry will take this commitment to the White House and support those working to help crime victims and put attackers behind bars.

Really? Doesn't look that way to me.

In reply:

The Violence Against Women Act of 1998

Bill HR 3514 and S 2110

Kerry's name appears nowhere on the Bill or the listing of co-sponsors.

Evidently, I was mistaken. It is the 1994 Bill on which Kerry was a cosponsor. No follow-though or dedication from Kerry on this issue then, huh?

John Kerry's "Detailed" Homeland Security Plan

I'm still laughing...

Veiled Threats in London

Commentary by Steve Harrigan
October 19, 2004 11:48 AM
London

There's no reason to lie in bed and listen for an explosion in London. You can lie there and it just won't happen. The only thing you can hear in the distance is the automatic voice of the elevator saying "fourth floor."

When you walk outside, in the evening, alone, with no armored vest on, you stretch your arms out and wonder why it feels so good.

I'm working on a story on radical Muslim leaders in Britain. The first one lost both hands and an eye in Afghanistan. The second one had heart trouble, was heavy and walked with difficulty. He kept referring to Westerners as "crocodiles." He said Westerners were like "crocodiles in the bedroom." What he meant, but didn't say, was that they should be killed. He spoke in veiled
language to avoid legal troubles. He had a soft round face and smiled a lot. He said if he wanted to call for violence he could "make you forget the name of your mother and father."

Another Exposé:

A Dark Ride
October 18, 2004 3:47 PM
London

There are two ways to get out of the Marine base at Fallujah: you can fly out in a helicopter, or drive out. The Marine advising me there, 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert, prefers to drive. That way, he says, if you get hit at least you can get out and fight. You have your fate in your own hands. In the air, he said, if you get hit you're probably dead.

I figured flying was a lot safer, but there were sandstorms in the West so nothing was flying. I stood out with a bunch of other guys at a post in the sand until 4 a.m., then got a bus back to my tent. To avoid the same thing the next day, I got a place booked on a ground convoy out.

The ground convoys are something some guys do almost every day. This one was to shuttle food back to the base from Baghdad, so there would be military Humvees escorting about a dozen big container trucks, with air support overhead in case the convoy got attacked.

There was an 8 p.m. briefing for the convoy departure. There were about 100 Marines in the briefing. I stood in the back of the tent with 1st. Lt. Gilbert. An officer was in the front with a slide projector. One of the slides showed the ground route from Fallujah to Baghdad. A red star meant that a convoy had been attacked at that spot on the route during the past two weeks. There were a lot of red stars. In two areas it was just a blur of red. I looked at 1st Lt. Gilbert and thought about asking if it was too late to try to get on a helicopter.

There were questions and answers. A common Marine answer was "hoo-rah" or just "rah" or sometimes just "rrrrr." I saw a female Marine walk into the tent and a male Marine said something to her and she just growled "rrrrr."

My seat was in the back right of a Humvee. It was not a fully armored Humvee, just armored doors. 1st Lt. Gilbert said if they started shooting just to get low behind the door. I am tall so a good part of my body was above the metal door. I tried slouching or sitting in different ways to reduce the amount of my body exposed. Then I practiced my duck, lowering my head and body inside the vehicle, but my side was still fairly exposed. In the end we went over a bump on the road and the door lock broke, so I had to lean back and hang on to the door for the rest of the ride.

It was a dark ride and I waited for it to be over. I kept thinking along the ride that I was not playing enough golf. I ought to play more golf.

I Loathe Michael Moore and All of His Ilk

Alright... I've had it. Michael Moore needs to be arrested and thrown in jail.

A few months ago on FoxNews' Dayside with Linda Vester, she had on a young military man, fresh from the war in Iraq, who was promoting a new website generated and maintained by soldiers serving in Iraq, called Operation Truth.

Ms Vester seemed impressed, as did the audience, with what the young man spoke about. His spiel was smooth and calmly stated, stressing through the interview the website contained videos and diaries of a soldier's daily routine. He portrayed the website as a pro-Iraq war website. Pro-soldier. Pro-Bush. In actuality, it is far from that.

From GreaterDemocracy.org

One final group, that I don’t know much about, but they sound interesting, and have an interesting piece of swag: Operation Truth is giving out dogtags, with the tagline, The Truth about Iraq from those who served. The accompanying card talks about encouraging soldiers to tell their own stories in their own words and states that when they say they support our troops, they mean it. They are focusing on projects like fighting against VA budget cuts. Sounds like a pretty cool group.

Now, how does Michael Moore figure into all of this? Bill Maher has a "talk show" called Real Time. Michael Moore is a regular guest, via satellite, from one of the sixty cities he's currently touring promoting Kerry, Farenheit 9/11, and Moore's new book, Will They Ever Trust Us Again?. Moore said:

"Well, I've received over 3,000 letters from soldiers in Iraq, emails mostly. And they're very powerful letters. We haven't heard from our soldiers about how they feel about this war. And they very clearly and very powerfully, in these letters, tell me the truth about what's going on over there... They're saying, number one, that they've been lied to; that they are being forced to re-enlist. If they don't, they're being told that they're going to be kept there indefinitely unless they re-enlist for another two or three years. They have told me in these letters that the Iraqis are not happy with the American presence there, and they believe that Bush has simply lied to the American people about the real threat - or actually the 'no threat' that Iraq has posed to this country. So it's great to hear from them in their own words about this."

Think about it. These soldiers may have written to Moore originally to denounce his movie, F9/11, and upon receiving a reply from Moore, who of course is very eager to glom onto something current and very real, received the numerous questions about their situation.

Questions which probably were phrased like; "How is it going there. Tell me what you're feeling. You'd like to go home wouldn't you? You don't have enough to eat, do you? You don't have good training, do you? You're too young to be there, aren't you? You miss your friends and family, don't you? It's all a big mistake, isn't it? You can tell me. Tell me it's all a big mistake."

These young people are in the midst of a war. They're frightened and under stressful conditions 24/7. Any outside contact speaking to their swallowed fears is going to get a huge reaction.

Moore drummed up his own sales pitch to these young soldiers to profit from their tours of duty in Iraq. He's using them to denounce President Bush and the war on Iraq.

The soldiers think they're doing a good thing, when in fact, they've played into Michael Moore's plans to embarrass the United States, the governemnt of the United States, the President of the United States, the military, and the Republicans.

I'm sure it was Moore's idea to begin the website. I'm sure it was Moore's idea to send those associated with it to the Democratic National Convention.

Moore is a bottom-feeder.

The Press and John Kerry

Tuesday, October 19, 2004
By Bill O'Reilly

The press and John Kerry, that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."

As you know, “The Factor” has been trying to secure an interview with the senator since July. And we've been getting the runaround, even though Kerry told "TV Guide" he wants to do “The Factor”.

So what's going on? Well, first of all, we don't know who's calling the shots inside the campaign. There are many people involved, but no one that is the el supremo as far as we know. Some of the senator's closest advisers have told him this is a venue he should do, but somebody's preventing it, maybe even the senator himself. We just don't know.

Each day the Kerry campaign does internal polling, which tells them where they should campaign and what areas they have to concentrate on. But there's no question that the Kerry campaign is staying away from the national press, especially TV.

Since Labor Day, the senator has appeared on exactly two TV news programs nationally, one on CNN, the other "Good Morning America." That's it. Kerry's playing the media game exceedingly cautiously.

To be fair, so is President Bush, but the president did come in here and answered the questions while Kerry has not. This isn't personal. This is simply keeping you posted. All Americans need as much information as possible to make informed decisions. You can learn from the debates, but forget about the political ads. They're propaganda. John Kerry is making a mistake by avoiding the national TV news, because some polls now show him losing ground.

For example, a new Gallup poll released today has Bush up by eight points. Others like Rasmussen still have the contest in a dead heat.

"Talking Points" believes that unless Senator Kerry begins to define himself to the voters, he will lose. Americans know who President Bush is, for better or for worse. But most of us don't know if John Kerry shares our values.

If the '92 election was the economy, stupid, the '04 election is about what these men stand for, who they are, rather what they say they'll do.

TV is the most powerful tool in the world. When a person wants to persuade someone, the camera gives you a window that all the printed paper in the world cannot give you.

John Kerry has two weeks to show America just who he is. If he continues to avoid TV interviews, he will lose the election.

And that's the "Memo."

MORE Facts

Jimmy Carter last night (10.18.04) on Letterman

"I thought the war was unjust and unfounded."

WHAT???

unjust and unfounded to go to war because multiple resolutions signed by the entire body of the United Nations requiring complete transparency from Iraq (Saddam) were arrogantly ignored?

unjust and unfounded because the intelligence in the world community was the same about Saddam and his weaponry. everyone had the same intelligence. everyone, including the United Nations agreed Saddam Hussein was in breech of the multiple embargos against him. everyone!

Saddam Husseim BOUGHT France, Russia, Germany, and China with Oil-For-Food money and favors in return for their veto against America.

because the United States was the only country strong enough to demand Saddam account for his numerous and continuing violations and told Saddam and the United Nations, "enough is enough."

how is it this "great humanitarian", Carter, can turn a blind eye to the years of suffering of the people in Iraq under Saddam's Oil-For-Food rape? how can he NOT KNOW Saddam stole billions of dollars from the Iraqi people leaving them with meager rations, expired vaccines and medicines, cheap and shoddy machinery; barely enough to survive; while Saddam reconstituted his weaponry with a certain lean toward nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. he had scientists working on turning Reisin into an aerosol spray. how's THAT for a weapon of mass destruction?

not only has this "great humanitarian", Carter, turned a blind eye to the years of suffering of the Iraqi people, he has turned a blind eye to the egregious and treacherous behavior of the body of the UN. France, Russia, Germany, and China to be more specific.

these are the countries that agreed to veto any American action of force toward Iraq in enforcing the resolutions they all signed. all fourteen of them.

we weren't backed up in the United Nations by France, Russia, Germany, and China because when it got down to brass tacks, these countries saw their almost-free pipeline of oil and cash beginning to dry up because America demanded Saddam keep his word to the United Nations and the rest of the civilized world.

Saddam, by using Oil-For-Food money, got these countries to agree to supply all the weaponry and intelligence necessary for a war with the United States despite the arms embargo against him. Saddam paid them to agree to veto any act of force coming from the United States toward Iraq. billions and billions of dollars.

maybe if i "comic book" it for the one's unable to comprehend such treachery...

"Hey, Jacques. It's me, Saddam.

I've got some more oil vouchers, ya want 'em? You can have them for pennies on the dollar and re-sell it. Whatever profit you make, send back two percent, okay? Deal? Deal.

Oh, while you're at it, please send us repair parts for this missile system and send some machinery so I can get my nuclear stuff up and running again, cool? Cool. Just write "factory equipment" on the manifest. It'll move right through. Thanks, Jacques. *chuckle*

No, no, no. *laughing* America will never know what hit them. I've increased the salaries of my scientists ten-fold and they're working day and night on getting the nuclear stuff started again. It's going great. They're also close putting Reisen into a small spray can. Yeah. Like that Binaca breath stuff. I could kill thousands with one little spritz. Send one of Osama's trainees over to the United States and let him walk through a school or an office building, some mode of public transportation. Hell, I'll send hundreds of the guys over there. They all want to have their seventy virgins. I can wipe the place out in a matter of days.

Be sure to thank Patrick for me, will you? He's getting you all the cash you need, right? Good.

You heard what Shakir was able to pull off? *laughing* It was great! Worked like a charm! The way he got that idiot has-been UN weapons inspector and arrested internet pedophile, Scott Ritter, to make a propaganda film for me was wild, wasn't it? Shakir has always been a supporter of mine. It's nice to have friends in America. Yeah. I know George Soros. Marc Rich! Yeah. Him, too. He's really buddy-buddy with Clinton, ya know... Oh, you did know that. *smirk* Good to have friends in high places, isn't it?

Did you know Clinton actually turned down four opportunities to "get" Osama? Yeah! Four! What a fool. Worried about public and world opinion. And probably his wife, too. *wild laughter* What a schmuck. Doesn't have the balls. *laughing* Yeah, Monica was busy licking them for him. *howling* I've got all the Democrats thinking one thing while I'm doing another. What is that saying from the Bible? Don't let Peter know what Paul is doing? Stupid Ritter. What a fool.

But, I will have the hearts and the minds of the Democrats in America. They need a "cause" and I have the perfect angle to feed them. *laughing* The Democrats bought it, but, they're easily bought. *whispering* They're the one's on the governemnt dole there. They've always got their hand out for something. Not the self-made type, the Democrats. They need to be led. The Democrats have no mind to speak of. Seen Star Trek? They're like the Borg. They do the bidding of the Democratic politicians. Damn! Look at the time! I gotta call Vlad! Remember, Jacques -- VETO! VETO! VETO! *chuckling*

"Vlad! Hey! It's your old buddy, Saddam. How are those oil vouchers workin' for ya? Everything going okay? Good. Good.

Listen... I wanted to tell you what a good job you did in convincing everyone in the intelligence community I had all those weapon systems up and running after i pretended to dismantle everything. You convinced the Italians, the British, and even the Americans. What a coup! That was a stroke of genius, Vlad. Damn, I love having all of these billions to buy people with. They'll do anything for money. But, you already know that, don't you, Vlad?

I need some really cool weapons; long-range missiles, bombs, launchers, rocket-propelled grenades and launchers. How may? Hell, man! I'm going to war with America, send me a shit load! *chuckle* Stupid sons of bitches. *more chuckling*

Siphoning this money through Kofi was the best plan I've ever dreamed up. The Americans will never suspect a thing. What's that? Yeah, yeah. They've voiced complaints about the peculiarities in the books, but... well, you know how smooth Kofi is, right? *laughing* He's got 'em snowed completely. Hell! He's the UN! Yeah, yeah. His son, Kojo, is doing a bang-up job.

What? Bush? Well, I'm really pissed push has come to shove. It's not going to affect your cash flow, though, Vlad. It's only going to get America in an uproar. All the seeds have been perfectly planted. They thought 9/11 was bad? *chuckling*

Hell, Osama's boys have been here for years training. Yeah. I built them some really good training camps. Salman Pak? Yeah! That's one of the training camps. Heard of it, have you? *chuckle* Always filled with willing recruits. Osama's one good egg, isn't he? Hey, have you heard from him lately? Me neither.

Okay, Vlad, send me the weapons systems as soon as possible and a check for my two percent. Write up the manifest as "water pumps", no one will suspect. Is your TV on? Baghdad Bob's doin' alright for us, isn't he? Denying the Americans are even here. Wait until we start lobbing some of the missiles you and Jacques have set their way. It'll be raining helicopters! *chuckle* I love a good war. Alrighty! Cool! Say it with me, Vlad... VETO! VETO! VETO! *laughing*"

"Gerhardt! Guten tag! How ya doin'? Good. Good. Listen, Gerhardt, you're honoring your commitment to me to veto the United States if they want to start a war with me, right? You're cool, right? *chuckling* Money talks, huh, Gerhardt? Yes. Yes. They have no idea, and, if we keep this way on the down low, I'll own their asses. What's that? The food baskets? Yes, they're arriving and being passed out. *snicker* Barely enough to keep them alive, though. Just the way I like it. Dependent upon me for every morsel they get. If they get it. Oh, Gerhardt! You should have seen it! It was hilarious. The Iraqi people all lined up at a medical clinic for medicines. The doctors and nurses were handing out expired stuff! Expired! They won't get well, hell, the effects of an expired drug could, hopefully, kill the grubby little beggars. I had to wipe the tears from my eyes I was laughing so hard. What? Oh, I've got a new HUMMER. Gold. Very nice. Came in through Kofi's kid. Yeah. Called it a "farm truck" on the manifest. Nah. No one suspects a thing. I'll let ya get back to your beer, Gerhardt. C'mon. Say it with me... VETO! VETO! VETO! *hysterical laughter*"

"Hello? China? Check? Cool. VETO! VETO! VETO! Bye!"

months go by

Jacques and Vlad are on the phone to one another:

"Jacques! It's Vlad. About Kerry... What? He's already called you? You're kidding! *belly laugh* What did he say? Friends? *roaring with laughter* Friends? Oh, that is funny. What a fool! Of course you led him on, didn't you? Good, Jacques. Timing is everything. When he needs us the most to bolster his "they're our friends" campaign, let's publicly cut him off. Watch. He's so stupid and arrogant, he'll keep on insisting to the Democrat Americans that Europe is on his side. He's fed them so much shit already, the Democrats don't know what to believe.

Hey! See if you have some pull to influence an early vote. You know, before November 2nd. Once a vote is cast, it's cast in America. *chuckle* Well, the Democrats have their ways of turning one vote into dozens, but, we need Kerry in the White House so we can keep up this money making thing. Cool, Jacques, I knew you had some ties. Kerry'll be calling me any minute. I better hang up. I don't want an aid taking a message on this one. *laughing* Kerry is so hungry for popularity and to be friends with you and me politically, he'll say and promise anything to the American people for a vote. Our kind of guy!

And you know what the beauty part of all this is? Only one news station is giving any information about this Oil-For-Food rape we have going on. Only one! And the newspapers are so liberal, they'll never get it to print. The liberals are so hell-bent on removing the only guy who had the balls to stand up to Saddam, they've lost sight of the real issue. Us! *laughing* Saddam's plan has worked. We've turned America into a divided country we can now conquer with all this money we've stolen. We can pass it around to other "Saddam's" and get rid of the United States once and for all."