Hopeless

The emerging conventional wisdow is that the situation in Iraq is hopeless. Expect to see more articles like Fred Kaplan's in the near future.

Money quotes from Larry King Live

From the AP:

"I haven't seen the ad, but what I do condemn is these regulated, soft-money expenditures" by outside groups that have filled the airwaves with attacks on both candidates, Bush said.

Bush said his opponent is justifiably proud of his record in Vietnam, but said the question is who can best lead country in time of war, declaring "I think it's me. Because I understand the stakes."

Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton criticized Bush for refusing to "condemn the dirty work" of the ad.

Bush also defended his decision to continue sitting in an elementary school classroom for seven minutes on Sept. 11, 2001, after being told of the terrorist attacks. Kerry and filmmaker Michael Moore have criticized Bush for doing so.

"I was collecting my thoughts and I was sitting with a bunch of young kids, and I made the decision there that we would let this part of the program finish," he said.

I am dumbfounded

Kerry's latest electoral vote lead is 327 - 211.

One thing confuses me though: Why are Minnesota, Wisconsin and Oregon so close? These are fairly liberal states. Sure, Nader is attracting 3% of the vote, but Kerry should be stomping Bush in these states.

Same deal goes with Missouri, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Kerry leads by a point in Missouri, and Bush only leads by 2 in Tennessee and Arkansas. Bush should be stomping Kerry in these states as well.

Are you kidding me?

We can't import prescription drugs from Canada. According to the Bush administration, here's why:

"Cues from chatter" gathered around the world are raising concerns that terrorists might try to attack the domestic food and drug supply, particularly illegally imported prescription drugs, acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Lester M. Crawford says.

....Crawford said the possibility of such an attack was the most serious of his concerns about the increase in states and municipalities trying to import drugs from Canada to save money.

Pathetic...

Chalabi

Honestly, I think George W. Bush's legacy might be as the man who was snookered by the fast talking Iraqi exile, Ahmed Chalabi. What's Chalabi been up to lately?

Despite the day's troubles, there were signs that Mr. Chalabi might be enjoying the new attention. In an appeal to poor Shiites, his staff printed posters with his face and the words, "We'll be back to stop the massacre at Najaf," the city where the rebel Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr has been under siege by American and Iraqi forces since last week.As for Mr. Chalabi's relationship with Mr. Sadr, Mr. Musawi said that the two men "are not that close. Yet."

Gotta love this guy.

No housing bubble?

What? We're not experiencing a housing bubble? So you think that rusty shack in that crime ridden area of Richmond is really worth $350k?

Remember the "New Economy" that supposedly didn't permit stock bubbles? Sounds like the same sort of rubbish.

Sell now. SELL SELL SELL!!!

I agree with Bush???

On this one thing:

How can we reduce US troop strength in Iraq 6 months after John Kerry gets into office? Does he seriously think that allies will commit troops to the fight? I guess it's possible. I doubt it though. And by saying, "If elected, I'll withdraw some troops," John Kerry is signalling to the world that a Kerry victory would be a victory for the terrorists, when the opposite is clearly true.

Kerry's plan is irresponsible and unrealistic. It's election year posturing towards angry "Reagan Democrats" who supported the war, but oppose further involvement in Iraq because they don't think the Iraqi people deserve democracy.

Of course, no matter who is elected, we'll eventually turn tail and run from our miserable failure in Iraq. So maybe we should spare ourselves the embarassment, quickly arm an Iraqi army, and get out of there. What's the point? Does anyone really think we'll create a democracy in this place? I wish we could, but Bush has already squandered the brief window of opportunity by bungling the reconstruction. So maybe we should just get the hell out. Allow Alawi to consolidate power, but force him to make some democratic concessions.

It's called foreign policy realism folks. And maybe that's what Kerry's aiming towards. Or maybe he's just pandering...

Scum

I wish I had some analysis on "Swift Boats for Truth". But I don't. These people are the scum of the earth. They're swine and they're trash. And they'll probably influence the election...I have infinite confidence that stupid swing voters will buy this hook line and sinker.

We need to strike back, and hard. It's time to bring the AWOL charge back. George W. Bush and Karl Rove are behind this BS 100%.

This John O'Neill bastard claims that he "would have voted for John Edwards if he received the nomination." That's pure propaganda. That's a lie, like 100% of this advertisement.

Sometimes I wonder if these people are watching old Nazi films and copying their techniques.