Who Cares?

What kind of value can be placed on a milquetoast endorsement from an editorial board that oh-so-clearly wishes to back Bush, but realizes it still has that troublesome issue of "integrity" to deal with.

The entire piece can be summed up as: "We really, really, really want to endorse Bush but we can't because he lies too much."

I Like To Ride My Bicycle

Digby has once again unearthed my favorite "young Bush" story.

Around the same time, for the 1972 Christmas holiday, the Allisons met up with the Bushes on vacation in Hobe Sound, Fla. Tension was still evident between Bush and his parents. Linda was a passenger in a car driven by Barbara Bush as they headed to lunch at the local beach club. Bush, who was 26 years old, got on a bicycle and rode in front of the car in a slow, serpentine manner, forcing his mother to crawl along. "He rode so slowly that he kept having to put his foot down to get his balance, and he kept in a weaving pattern so we couldn't get past," Allison recalled. "He was obviously furious with his mother about something, and she was furious at him, too."

The sight of that alone would have made my 1972 Christmas holiday complete.

Body Slam

Jesse "The Body" Ventura has thrown his considerable weight behind John Kerry.

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura has officially endorsed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

The announcement was made during a 30-minute news conference at the State Office Building. The former Minnesota Governor was there, but did not make any comments.

Just days ago, Ventura had said that he did not plan to support Kerry or President Bush this election year.

What more can be said, except:

PONCHO: You're bleeding, man.

BLAIN: I ain't got time to bleed.

Tell Me Lies

Via AMERICAblog, we come across this fascinating excerpt detailing the President's interview with Telemundo.

Bush also expressed gratitude to Hispanic families that lost loved ones in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, adding that they died for a noble cause.

"I would tell them the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war against those who caused the deaths on 9/11 is necessary," he said.

Once more, so that everyone in the waaaaay back can hear it, this is the conclusion reached by the bi-partisan 9-11 Commission.

The panel said it found "no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States."

Yet, the President clearly lives in a world where "no credible evidence" equals "plenty of credible evidence."

JERRY: Yeah. Like Bizarro Superman. Superman's exact opposite, who lives in the backwards bizarro world. Up is Down. Down is Up. He says "Hello" when he leaves, "Good bye" when he arrives.

ELAINE: [pause] Shouldn't he say "Bad bye"? Isn't that the, opposite of "Good bye?"

JERRY: No. It's still a goodbye.

Hello...

Newspeak

Kos links to an interesting post on The Brad Blog, where it appears that the Bush administration is doing it's best to rewrite history.

As reported previously here, here and here, it looks like the scrubbing of various historical documents and other elements of the White House Website is continuing! And may be wider and more systematic than previously known. The BRAD BLOG has discovered a boat-load of audio and video that has been removed from the website!

It's more than just Bush's "I'm not that concerned about Bin Laden" Audio and Video (reported here previously) that's been taken down. And more than the White House's "List of Coalition Members" as reported here.

After reviewing scores of pages of White House transcribed Press Conferences by George Bush, it seems that the removal of certain audio and video clips has perhaps been strategically or systematically orchestrated. Here's a few examples of some of the pages that have had their linked Audio and/or Video clips removed, along with some of the notable Bush quotes -- that "notability" is mere conjecture on my part -- from their transcripts that perhaps the White House would prefer not be easily available to folks anymore.

Now where have I heard that before...?

...That's right.

The protagonist is Winston Smith, a member of the Outer Party, working in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth, rewriting and altering records, such as newspaper-articles, of the past.

Guess Who's Back?

The man rises again.

Six weeks after undergoing heart surgery, Bill Clinton is to rejoin the race for the White House by urging Democrats to stump up more cash to counter an onslaught of Republican attack-advertisements in the final two weeks of the campaign.

The former president will join Democrat challenger John Kerry at a campaign rally in the key state of Pennsylvania on Monday and plans to play a "significant role" in the run-up to November 2.

This is the part where Bill Clinton orders the Dinobots to take out Devastator, and then he pauses and says, "Megatro- I mean, George Bush must be stopped, no matter the cost."

I'm Down With The King

Burger King has announced that it will be pulling ads from all Sinclair broadcasting stations on the day the network will run "Stolen Honor," an anti-Kerry documentary.

And, as a bonus, they're still the only fast-food joint that offers (albeit subpar) veggie burgers.

JIMMY: Uhh, Mr. McClure? I have a crazy friend who says its wrong to eat meat. Is he crazy?

TROY: Nooo, just ignorant. You see your crazy friend never heard of "The Food Chain". [Flash to a picture of "Food Chain", with all animals and arrows pointing to a silhouette of a human.] Just ask this scientician.

SCIENTICIAN: Uhhh...

TROY: He'll tell you that, in nature, one creature invariably eats another creature to survive. Don't kid yourself Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about!
JIMMY: Wow, Mr. McClure. I was a grade A moron to ever question eating meat.

TROY: [Laughs.] Yes you were Jimmy, yes you were.

It's Feeling Drafty

Apparently a draft of medical services personnel is in the works.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 - The Selective Service has been updating its contingency plans for a draft of doctors, nurses and other health care workers in case of a national emergency that overwhelms the military's medical corps.

In a confidential report this summer, a contractor hired by the agency described how such a draft might work, how to secure compliance and how to mold public opinion and communicate with health care professionals, whose lives could be disrupted.

On the one hand, the report said, the Selective Service System should establish contacts in advance with medical societies, hospitals, schools of medicine and nursing, managed care organizations, rural health care providers and the editors of medical journals and trade publications.

On the other hand, it said, such contacts must be limited, low key and discreet because "overtures from Selective Service to the medical community will be seen as precursors to a draft," and that could alarm the public.

In this election year, the report said, "very few ideas or activities are viewed without some degree of cynicism."

You don't say...

What Has Four Wheels And Flies?

Yesterday, we noted that this site had become a little low on the Batman news lately. Lo and behold, and much to our shock, we recieved this exclusive photo from the set of Batman Begins in our e-mail today. If you want to be surprised, don't go any further; if you want to see the picture, scroll down.

***SPOILER ALERT***

Jesus Christ, Wet Blanket

Via Tbogg, we learn that if there's one thing Jesus hates, it's not war or revenge, it's when little devil children hoarding for sweets infringe on his day. Damn it.

NEWNAN, Ga. - Across the Bible Belt this Halloween, some little ghosts and goblins might get shooed away by the neighbors - and some youngsters will not be allowed to go trick-or-treating at all - because the holiday falls on a Sunday this year.

"It's a day for the good Lord, not for the devil," said Barbara Braswell, who plans to send her 4-year-old granddaughter Maliyah out trick-or-treating in a princess costume on Saturday instead.

...

"You just don't do it on Sunday," said Sandra Hulsey of Greenville, Ga. "That's Christ's day. You go to church on Sunday, you don't go out and celebrate the devil. That'll confuse a child."

Wait, celebrating Halloween on Halloween will confuse the child, but celebrating it a day early won't? I guess that's just the kind of refreshing, folksy logic you find in "Bush Country."

Also, these dudes probably have an opinion about celebrating anything on a Saturday.

So the mark or seal of the God of heaven is worshiping the Lord on Saturday--His Sabbath--according to God's fourth commandment. In doing this, it is a sign that we show that we love, serve, and worship God. While the mark or seal of the Beast is worshiping on Sunday--the day of the sun or of the Blazing Star or Lucifer, his sabbath--after it is enforced. In doing this, it is a sign that we show that we love, serve, and worship the Beast and Lucifer.

John Kerry

"I, John Kerry -- the Devil -- hereby command you to celebrate Halloween on Sunday. MY day. In doing this, it is a sign that you love, serve, and worship the Beast and Lucifer... Me."

Riddle Me This

This site seems a little light on the Batman as of late. Here's Christian Bale from an IGN interview.

Like with The Machinist, there were a combination of factors which ultimately convinced him that Batman was the next mask he would don. "I was very much interested in playing the character after reading [comic books like] Arkham Asylum and Year One and Dark Victory, and seeing that there was a side to that character that I had never been witness to before and thinking that could make a very good movie," he recalls. "And then the fact that it was Chris Nolan on it; I knew that he was not just going to be doing more of the same and so I wanted to try it."

...

Still, Bale says that not all of the production of Batman Begins was completely painless, even if he's satisfied everything at least looks great on film. "We came up with this very good fighting method which is actually very effective and looks very good," he reveals, "but that was very strenuous learning all of those routines, because there are multiple numbers of them. But beyond that it was all okay. I found that the suit was actually pretty comfortable once you get used to it. You sweat like buckets – that you can't help – and the cowl gives you these migraines beyond belief. I did some wire work, but that was to be honest limited, because there was an accident early in the movie so they got paranoid about sticking me up on the wires. But [even though] I like that stuff, the more I've done it, the more I kind of think I'll leave it to the stunt men."

...

Suggesting a guiding principle for aspiring actors who may not be yet able to discern the wheat from the chaff, Bale suggests, "You need to go with your first instincts. I've often questioned myself in wanting to try and learn something and try and an experiment doing a new kind of movie, and generally it's not worked out. I start to say, 'Okay, you can't single-handedly fix a movie.' It's a collaborative effort and if you get a feeling it's not there, it's probably never going to be there.

And how can you not love a guy who follows up that with this:

"Hopefully I've been able to learn from that, but you know what? I'm sure I'm going to be making many a cock-up in the future."

Sue Me

This is a pretty creative way to go after those douchebags at Sinclair.

PHILADELPHIA - A Vietnam veteran shown in a documentary criticizing Sen. John Kerry's anti-war activities filed a libel lawsuit against the movie's producer Monday, saying the film falsely calls him a fraud and a liar.

Kenneth J. Campbell, now a professor at the University of Delaware, said in the suit that "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" combines footage of him appearing at a 1971 war protest with narration that claims that many of the supposed veterans who took part in the event were later "discovered as frauds" who "never set foot on the battlefield, or left the comfort of the States, or even served in uniform."

The suit said viewers would be left with the perception that Campbell had lied about his military service.

"It paints me as having been a fabricator, a fraud and a liar," Campbell said.

Campbell attached copies of his military records to the lawsuit, showing he received a Purple Heart and eight other medals, ribbons and decorations for his service in Vietnam.

Most. Telling. Gaffe. Ever.

This says it all.

US President George W. Bush surprised his listeners at a campaign rally by seeming to oppose, then favor, then oppose replacing the all-volunteer US military with a draft.

...

"My opponent seems to be willing to say almost anything he thinks will benefit him politically," he said. "After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain we will not have an all-volunteer army." (emphasis added)

"And yet this week..." he continued, before suddenly realizing the gaffe and shouting: "We will have an all-volunteer army."

Walking The Line
with Dr. Victor Von Doom

"I will not lower myself to performing parlor tricks for the rabble, any more than you yourself would. For in my own country, I am also a King!"

Bah! Doom returns from a pathetic 1-2 effort last week, topped with an awful performance by the accursed Miami Dolphins, who failed to cover an absurdly gigantic spread for the second week in a row. "Maestro" Jay Fiedler beware, you have earned Doom's wrath.

CAROLINA (-9.5) @ PHILADELPHIA
Doom ventured to the City of Brotherly Love once in an attempt to procure one of Philadelphia's famous cheesesteaks. Unfortunately for Doom, while waiting in line for said cheesesteak, he was ambushed by the accursed Thunder God, Thor. A battle ensued. Doom was hit over the head with a vat of Cheese-Wiz. Clearly, Doom will never return to Philadelphia. Take Carolina with the points.

WASHINGTON (-1.5) @ CHICAGO
Once upon a Doom, Doom invented a massive, 50 ft. tall Doom-Bot. Then, Doom steered his wondrous creation toward downtown NY City for the purpose of pummeling The Fantastic Four. Then -- the accursed Thing hoisted high above it's head, seconds from being thrown into the Atlantic Ocean -- the gigantic Doom-Bot broke. Despite this, it was overall not as disappointing for Doom as Clinton Portis's performance thus far has been for the Redskins. Still, Doom says take Washington in what is, in essence, a pick-'em game.

MINNESOTA @ NEW ORLEANS (-4)
Doom realizes that the Saints, having lost their last two games, are due for a big performance. However, the antics of fresh-faced youngster Randy Moss give Doom such joy that he cannot pick against the Vikings. Minnesota will win a close game by means of a Randy Moss touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Take the word of Doom as you would take the word of God.