Great article about Tony Blair and his relationship with George Bush.
Archives for 2004
Democratic Pre-Election Checklist
Let’s see where Kerry and Edwards are to date on the Democratic pre-election checklist:
1.) Have prominent Democrats introduce bills to re-instate the draft and the nclaim to the youth that Bush is going to re-instate the draft.– CHECK:
John Kerry said Friday there is a “great potential” for a new military draft to replace overextended U.S. troops in Iraq if President Bush wins a second term, despite Bush’s repeated pledges to maintain the all-volunteer service. Republicans rejected the suggestion as “fear mongering.”
2.) Scare senior citizens by telling them Bush is going to stop paying their social security. CHECK
Sen. John Kerry accused President Bush on Sunday of planning a surprise second-term attempt to privatize Social Security, and forecast a ”disaster for America’s middle class.” Republican party chairman Ed Gillespie called the charge ”just flat inaccurate.'”
3.) Visit black churches and start race-baiting and making false claims that minorities will not have their votes counted. CHECK:
On Sunday, he attended services at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio, where he delivered a 25-minute address laced with biblical references and promised to protect voting rights.
“We’re not going to let this be a repeat of 2000,” Kerry told the predominantly black congregation. “We’re not going to see a million African Americans deprived of their votes in America.”
He struck the same theme later in the day at a rally in Pembroke Pines, Fla., as he kicked off a two-day swing through the state with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and celebrities such as actress Alfre Woodard.
Kerry’s newfound focus on the group is more than October’s traditional get-out-the-vote effort. It comes amid signs that many African Americans remain ambivalent about the Democratic candidate, despite their antipathy toward Bush and ongoing anger about the contested 2000 presidential election, in which the ballots of hundreds of thousands of black voters were disqualified.
4.) Attempt to scare middle class whites and Jews with threats of Bush leading us into a theocracy. CHECK:
Kerry blasted Bush over his 2001 decision to limit federal funding to the research of existing stem cell lines.
Scientists believe embryonic stem cell research may lead to cures for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and to ways to repair crippling spinal cord injuries.
Kerry said Bush has “made the wrong choice to sacrifice science for extreme right-wing ideology.”
All this, and they are still tied or behind in all the polls. Better bust out the James Byrd commercials or start hoping for a stock market crash.
CLinton To Democrats: Kerry is a Loser
Forget the polls. Here is the best news I have seen for Bush supporters:
Former president Bill Clinton, whose recuperation from heart surgery last month has been slower than he anticipated, will not make more than a few cameo appearances on behalf of Democratic nominee John F. Kerry, and even an abbreviated schedule is far from certain, friends and Democratic officials said.
Clinton has been recuperating from his Sept. 6 quadruple bypass surgery at his home in Chappaqua, N.Y., with a recovery regimen that has included mile-long walks. He has completed the walks but finds himself exhausted after each jaunt, friends said, and he remains in considerable pain from the chest incision.
Two things about Clinton, one that Republicans won’t admit to and one that Democrats are wary to concede to:
1.) Bill Clinton is a winner: Face it, Republicans. Bill Clinton may have his moral failings, but the man is a winner. Son of an alcoholic born in a broken home and raised in poverty, things have turned out pretty well for Bill Clinton, and I don’t know too many people who would not trade places with him. The man is bright, personable, well-respected within his circles, and wealthy. If I remember correctly, he has lost only one race in his entire political life. In a testament to his tenacity, he horse-whipped the candidate four years later.
Wanna argue with me? You better get in your way back machines and remember why it is Republicans hated the man so much, considering he was, by comparison to Gore, previous Democratic presidential candidates, and John Kerry, pretty moderate. Yes his foreign policy was a failure, and yes he had issues with the truth, but the real reason Republicans hated Clinton was because he was so good at kicking our asses. Really, really, good. He stole every one of our winning issues, made them his own, and then kicked our heads in with them. As a fierce partisan, I used to feel like I had spent twelve rounds in the ring with Mike Tyson after one of Clinton’s press conferences or SOTU addresses. He was that good at framing the debate, co-opting our issues, and villifying us.
Still think he is a loser? Two words: Dole/Kemp.
Still think he is a loser? It would probably be President Gore right now had Al not run away from Clinton in 2000.
I am willing to bet that were there no such things as term limits, Bill Clinton, if not dead from over-exertion, would be coasting to election in his fourth presidency. And while Clinton and company are given far too much credit for the boom of the 90’s and far too little blame for foreseeing the bubble and the recession Bush inherited, they do deserve credit for not screwing things up. While we are still living with his foreign policy shortcomings, I don’t know too many people besides Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson who would say the 90’s were that bad. Again, Clinton probably gets too much credit for the economic expansion during his Presidency, but I am not sure how else you judge theman- by someone elses term in office? Clinton was President from 1993-2001, so those are the only years we can really judge him for, and most people would say that the 90’s weren’t all that bad.
2.) Bill Clinton is political to the core- beyond what most of us can even imagine: There is not one aspect of Bill Clinton’s life that is not the result of some political calculus. The man had polls taken to find out where he and his family should spend vacation- need I say more? Do you REALLY, REALLY think he wanted his office to be in Harlem?
I don’t think Clinton has many deeply held beliefs. Unlike most Republicans, I genuinely think he does have the best interests of people in mind, and I do honestly think he really does want the best for people- particularly the poor. Which leads to what I think is Clinton’s one core belief:
“I am the best person to help these people, so anything I do to stay in power is ok.”
There is, quite simply, no other way to explain why Bill Clinton was willing to throw whole portions of the longstanding Democratic agenda down the tubing while adopting and enacting (often times under duress) NAFTA, Welfare Reform, and numerous other issues. I still have no idea why the liberals love Clinton so much, because I remember a time in the 90’s when one wag noted that the ‘reason Republicans hate Bill Clinton so much is because he is a danger to replace Ronald Reagan as the century’s most conservative president.’ Only the liberals hatred of Clinton’s enemies can explain their continued adulation of Clinton today.
First and foremost, Clinton cared about himself, and his electability. Everything, and I do mean everything, was a secondary matter. Just ask Buddy, whose adoption is explained in this manner:
Julia Gorin started worrying about Buddy, the chocolate Labrador retriever, when he was brought to the White House as a puppy late in 1997.
She had heard that Bill Clinton’s poll-oriented advisers feared the president would lose his “family man” image when his daughter, Chelsea, went off to college and recommended a dog as prop. A Lab, America’s most popular breed, was the obvious choice. Even the color was calculated.
Gorin, a dog lover who adopted a pit bull she found discarded on a New York subway platform, didn’t think that was the way to select a pet.
Whether or not you believe Buddy was apoll-driven image prop (and as a dog lover, I find this Clinton tale a little over the top), it does help make my point. Bill Clinton is so political that people would actually believe he WOULD do such a thing.
At any rate, the point of all of this is that if Bill Clinton thought Kerry had a chance, he would be out there campaigning until it killed him. I don’t think he could help himself. That Bill is choosing to sit this election out to recuperate says a lot.
Yeah- That’s Really Newsworthy
I know this will come as a big surprise to many, but the NY Times has come out and endorsed John Kerry.
No screaming eagle shit.
How Cool Is This?
Not only is Big Ben Roethlisberger, the rookie QB of my Beloved Steelers the real deal, but he is also a blogger.
What He Said
There were about ten things I was going to write making fun of Andrew Sullivan, but Tom Maguire beat me to it and saved me a considerable length of time.
When did Andy become so unhinged?
Demagogue In Chief
It appears that John Edwards’ disgusting abuse of Christopher Reeve’s death was not vile enough for the dynamic duo, becuse today John Kerry went back for seconds in the weekly radio address. This speech was so filled with lies, nonsense, pandering, and most evilly, the promise of false hope, that I almost wrecked my car on the way home from the grocery store. Here is a snippet:
This past week, America lost one of its heroes and my friend, Christopher Reeve. Chris was one of the most hopeful people I