PhD -- Player Hater's Degree

Media Matters For America has a round-up of the outrageous comments offered by Jerome R. Corsi, PhD -- co-author of the new book Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.

Here's a greatest hits collection of sorts, assembled on the fly.

CORSI: Maybe while he's there he can tell the UN what he's going to do about the sexual crimes committed by "priests" in his "Church" during his tenure. Or, maybe that's the connection -- boy buggering in both Islam and Catholicism is okay with the Pope as long as it isn't reported by the liberal press. (03/03/2003)

CORSI: So this is what the last days of the Catholic Church are going to look like. Buggering boys undermines the moral base and the lawyers rip the gold off the Vatican altars. We may get one more Pope, when this senile one dies, but that's probably about it. (12/16/2002)

CORSI: Let's see exactly why it isn't the case that Islam is a worthless, dangerous Satanic religion? Where's the proof to the contrary? (04/24/2004)

CORSI: Islam is like a virus -- it affects the mind -- maybe even better as an analogy -- it is a cancer that destroys the body it infects... No doctor would hesitate to eliminate cancer cells from the body. (11/26/02)

CORSI: Isn't the Democratic Party the official SODOMIZER PROTECTION ASSOCIATION of AMERICA -- oh, I forgot, it was just an accident that Clintoon's first act in office was to promote "gays in the military." RAGHEADS are Boy-Bumpers as clearly as they are Women-Haters -- it all goes together. (11/18/2001)

CORSI: Too bad the plane didn't crash into the TV set of the NBC show "THE LEFT WING" -- especially when Martin Sheen was "acting." (06/07/2003)

Queen Amidala For Kerry

As an obsessed political-junkie and sci-fi/comic book nerd, I must say I never thought I would see all of my interests tied together in a package so easy on the eyes.

Money Matters II

I have no idea who he is, but CNBC's reporter from the Chicago Board of Trade floor just reported that, as the disappointing payroll figures were released, there was "some chanting going on" which was "not very favorable to the incumbent."

What this means, who knows? But it's good for a laugh. I'll try to find a transcript later.

Money Matters

Congrats to the Administration on the latest payroll numbers.

The nation's payroll growth slowed dramatically in July with a paltry 32,000 jobs being added -- a potentially troubling sign that the rough patch the economy hit in June was no aberration.
Analysts were expecting the economy to add anywhere from 215,000 to 247,000 jobs in July.

That sounds to me like the economy is taking a step backward, but here's President Bush from last night in Saginaw, Michigan. Does it count as a flip-flop?

"We're turning the corner and we're not turning back."

And for an overall view of the payroll report, this seems to sum it up quite well.

“It’s a disaster all around if you think about it,” Jack Bouroudjian, principal at Brewer Investment, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Story Time

John Kerry explains what he would have done on the morning of September 11 after being informed that America was under attack. Hint: it doesn't involve reading The Pet Goat with a bunch of first graders.

"I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to," Kerry said before flying to Missouri to resume his cross-country campaign trip. "And I would have attended to it."

In other news, Swift Boat Veterans For Truth has released this photo of John Kerry from his Vietnam days.

Swift Vote Veterans Who Should Be Beaten With A Blunt Object

Media Matters For America has a thorough debunking of these assholes, who trying to discredit John Kerry's service in Vietnam. Politics aside, these are just awful people lacking conscience, soul, or any of the other trait consistent with humanity. Through the use of vague language, the group's members are trying to present themselves as having served with Kerry in Vietnam; this is true only the most generous interpretation of the word -- that they were in Vietnam at the same time as Kerry.

In truth, "10 of the 11 men who served on his two swift boats all have sworn by John Kerry; nine living members were in Boston [for the Democratic National Convention]."

Swift Boat Veterans For Truth is being run by the same group who, stumping for Bush during the 2000 Republican Primary in South Carolina, claimed that POW John McCain was a "Manchurian Candidate" and "communist agent."

McCain commented on the group's latest ad earlier today.

Another veteran, Republican Sen. John McCain, put the president on the spot by urging the White House to condemn the "dishonest and dishonorable" commercial.

Bush's spokesman declined to do so.

Shocking.

I'm In Love With A Jersey Girl

From the AP:

A collection of more than 20 prominent musicians from John Fogerty to Bruce Springsteen to Pearl Jam joined forces yesterday calling for President Bush's ouster, announcing an unprecedented series of fund-raising concerts across nine swing states.

"I feel this is one of the most critical elections in my lifetime," Springsteen said in the most overtly political statement of his career. "This wasn't one that a concerned citizen felt comfortable sitting out."

...

Springsteen's concerns and commitment were shared by other performers, including Dave Matthews and his band.

"It's the first time Bruce and the E Street Band ever stood up and made a clear political statement," Matthews said. "This is the first time we've ever stood as a band, unified, and said we want a change."

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder was a Ralph Nader backer in 2000, but he feels Democratic nominee John Kerry is the choice this time around. "There's a vote coming up, and a chance to have a regime change at home," Vedder said. "I'm feeling the same way, there's a need for change."

Yet Republicans need not be concerned, because the GOP equivalent of "Vote For Change" will be taking the stage in late August as well. And trust me, if one man can deliver the coveted "Soccer Mom" vote, it's him.

Results Matter

President Bush, Friday.

"We are turning the corner and we are not turning back" in the war on terrorism and on issues from improving education and health care to maintaining the tax cuts he has put in place, said Bush, declaring: "Results matter."

Agreed. Here are the lastest results.

a) U.S. oil prices notched up a fresh record high above $44 a barrel on Wednesday, fanning growing concern that consistently high prices are denting global economic growth.

b) American consumer spending dropped 0.7 percent in June, the steepest monthly fall since September 2001, the government reported Tuesday. With income growth stalling as well, the numbers raised new concerns about the strength of the economic expansion.

...

The June results "raise increasingly serious questions about the strength and sustainability of the economy in the months ahead," said Charles McMillion, president and chief economist of MBG Information Services.

c) It was only an exhibition game, the first time the current U.S. Olympic basketball team has played a game overseas, but the result exposed all its weaknesses, showed the perils of youth in international competition and might have announced the Olympic gold medal is up for grabs.

...

The Italian Olympic team, with crisp ball movement and deft three-point shooting, defeated the USA 95-78 Tuesday in Cologne, Germany.

Okay, so maybe the last one isn't his fault. Still, the first two seem to hint that the "steady growth, steady growth" the President talks about may be just that -- talk.

Pay No Attention To That Afghani Behind The Curtain

Putting the debacle in Iraq aside, at least the administration still has a pretty firm hand on Afghanistan, right?

Right?

Oh -- wait.

Doctors Without Borders, which has provided life-saving medical aid to Afghanistan through the Soviet occupation, the rebellion of the mujahadeen, and the rule of the Taliban, announced that it was pulling out of the country because it has become too dangerous. Five of the organization's aid workers were gunned down on June 2. So far, no one has been charged with those killings, and the group said it had little confidence that President Hamid Karzai's government could protect it from warlords and resurgent Taliban fighters. The aid agency has pulled out of only one other nation - North Korea.

No F*cking Way Redux

Via Atrios, we come across this New York Times editorial.

Mr. Bush spoke on a day when Americans were still digesting the terrifying warning of possible terrorist attacks against financial institutions in New York, Newark and Washington. The authorities in those cities did the right thing by stepping up security. But it's unfortunate that it is necessary to fight suspicions of political timing, suspicions the administration has sown by misleading the public on security. The Times reports today that much of the information that led to the heightened alert is actually three or four years old and that authorities had found no concrete evidence that a terror plot was actually under way. This news does nothing to bolster the confidence Americans need that the administration is not using intelligence for political gain.

And concerning the 9-11 panel's recommendations:

Mr. Bush did embrace the 9/11 commission's suggestion - one that did not challenge his turf - that Congress stop supervising intelligence and homeland security through scores of committees and instead have one committee in each house to oversee intelligence and one for homeland security. And he went beyond the 9/11 panel in one way by proposing a post to coordinate intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. That sounds like a bad idea, especially with the administration's record of fanciful interpretations of that intelligence on Iraq.

Mr. Bush's bureaucratic dodge on the intelligence director's job is the same one he used on the job of director of homeland security. Then he was forced to reverse field, endorse a new cabinet department and claim it as his own idea. We don't care who gets credit. What's important is that Congress reject what Mr. Bush came up with yesterday and do the job right when it returns in September.

More On Terror

Given the lastest news, it seems prudent to lower the things fall apart Terror Alert Chart from EGGHEAD -- Severe to:


KING TUT -- Elevated

No F*cking Way

You've got to be kidding me.

Most of the al Qaeda surveillance of five financial institutions that led to a new terrorism alert Sunday was conducted before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authorities are not sure whether the casing of the buildings has continued, numerous intelligence and law enforcement officials said yesterday.

More than half a dozen government officials interviewed yesterday, who declined to be identified because classified information is involved, said that most, if not all, of the information about the buildings seized by authorities in a raid in Pakistan last week was about three years old, and possibly older.

"There is nothing right now that we're hearing that is new," said one senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the alert. "Why did we go to this level? . . . I still don't know that."

Regional News

CNN is reporting that the Terror Alert Level in Washington, DC is being raised from Yellow -- Elevated to Orange -- High.

Thirty minutes outside of DC, I'll do them one better; I am happy to announce that the things fall apart Terror Alert Chart is being raised from BOOKWORM -- Elevated to:


EGGHEAD -- Severe

Cause And Effect

A post-convention bounce for Kerry? This, from the latest edition of Newsweek.

Three weeks ago, after he chose Edwards as his running mate, Kerry led Bush 47 percent to 44 percent in a three-way race, with Ralph Nader at 3 percent. In the latest NEWSWEEK Poll, Kerry is leading 49-42-3. The survey, conducted half on Thursday night and half on Friday, indicates that Kerry picked up the most support after he delivered his acceptance speech. And there is another hopeful sign for Democrats: only 36 percent of voters say they are "satisfied" with the country's direction, a number that is even lower, other polls show, among undecided voters.

Then amazingly, this news was released last night.

Federal and city officials have received information that Al Qaeda is planning suicide truck bombings at major New York City corporations, according to a news report yesterday.

These two events couldn't possibly be related, could they?

I mean...

Nah. I'm just getting too cynical.