This animated GIF I lifted from Charles Johnson (he made it) should end all the debate about the memos.
Really folks. Here it is full size.
Archives for 2004
“Proof” of Bush’s Guilt
Oliver demonstrates what passes for logic on the left today, and provides ‘evidence’ of Bush’s failing to fulfill his National Guard service. Prepare to giggle:
Bush used his connections to get into the guard.
Bush may have refused a direct order.
Bush may have been suspended for failing to meet standards.
Bush may have missed a physical.
Want some more ‘evidence?’ I can make some shit up too:
Bush may have been in the Swift Boat with John Kerry when they went into Cambodia.
Bill Clinton may have been with them.
Oliver may have something in his head other than conspiracy theories and a hatred of Bush, but that is doubtful.
Shorter Andrew Sullivan
This is priceless:
Yes, I’ve looked at the full quote of Dick Cheney’s comments about a terrorist attack if Kerry is elected. Yes, he clearly did mean that the full scope of Kerry’s anti-terror approach would make us more vulnerable, a perfectly fair point. But it’s also indisuptable that his words are most persuasively interpreted the way everyone first interpreted them…
Maybe Cheney misspoke, and it’s certainly fair for a politician to clarify his remarks in retrospect. But Cheney makes no apology. He just says “I did not say if Kerry is elected, we will be hit by a terrorist attack.” This is what gets me about the guy. He cannot acknowledge even minor error. His attitude is essentially: I’m running a war and critics can go fuck themselves.
Shorter Andrew Sullivan:
I am a fathead who didn’t understand Vice President Cheney, and since he won’t apologize, he is a dick.
John Kerry, Liar
John Kerry will say anything for political points:
Citing the 9/11 commission and other reports, Kerry said that al Qaeda, blamed for the attacks on America three years ago, had issued a manual that urged followers to “come to America and buy assault weapons.”
“Why is George Bush making the job of terrorists easier and making the job for America’s police officers harder?” he asked in a separate written statement.
The Massachusetts senator told a town hall meeting in St. Louis: “You can’t fight a war on terror and you can’t make our streets safe … (by) selling assault weapons in the streets of America.”
The Assault Weapons Ban has nothing to do with the War on Terror. Maybe some graphics will help explain:
John Kerry proudly waves an ‘assault weapon’ which was given to him at a rally in Racine, WV. The gun would be banned if Kerry gets his way, and like other assault weapons, was responsible for ZERO deaths in the War on Terror.
Box cutters, which will not be banned in the Assault Weapons ban, which were the weapon of choice in the deadliest day in American history.
Earlier in the piece, Kerry stated:
“It’s real, we’ve got a war,” Kerry said. “But we should do more than just talk about it and try to scare people about it and make it a political issue.”
Indeed, you two bit hack.
Dirty Tricks
This has the the DNC’s fingerprints all over it:
More than six weeks ago, an opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee received documents purportedly written by President George W. Bush’s Texas Air National Guard squadron commander, the late Col. Jerry Killian.
The oppo researcher claimed the source was “a retired military officer.” According to a DNC staffer, the documents were seen by both senior staff members at the DNC, as well as the Kerry campaign.
“More than a couple people heard about the papers,” says the DNC staffer. “I’ve heard that they ended up with the Kerry campaign, for them to decide to how to proceed, and presumably they were handed over to 60 Minutes, which used them the other night. But I know this much. When there was discussion here, there were doubts raised about their authenticity.”
The concerns arose from the sourcing. “It wasn’t clear that our source for the documents would have had access to them. Our person couldn’t confirm from what file, from what original source they came from.”
Wanna end this and prove the documents are true. Do the following:
1.) Name the source of the documents.
2.) Name how the source got the documents.
3.) Release other documents from the same time period.
4.) Explain all the inaccuracies in military lingo and regulations.
5.) Explain the presence of a General’s name in the 1973 document when the General retireed in 1972.
6.) Explain the existence of a machine that had all the capapbilities to produce these documents in the time period. And don;t just say one existed that could do proportional fonts, one existed that could do superscript, etc. Shoe me one that could do all of these things, and then show me that it was in the Lt. Col.’s reach.
7.) Show me one office in any branch of the military who would not only write a memo accusing superiors of illegal pressure, but would sign it , distribute it, and keep it.
Good fucking luck. I must admit I am savoring the backlash that is going to occur against the DNC and CBS. However, in light ofrecent events, an argument could be made they are the same thing.
*** Update ***
Even Kevin Drum has some questions, and no one, and I repeat, NO ONE wants to believe that Bush was AWOL more desperately than Kevin.
The Balls
Every time I read these ham-handed attacks, I am flabbergasted:
Washington, DC, Sep. 10 (UPI) — Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said more than a dozen times Friday that President Bush had lied to the American public.
“It has become crystal clear that the president has lied to the American public about his military service,” McAuliffe said.
“What were they covering up?” he added. “This White House makes the Nixon White House look like it was open, honest and trustworthy.”
But even as he launched the DNC’s third day of accusations that the president was untruthful about whether he fulfilled his duties in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, McAuliffe said the he called the president a liar only reluctantly.
“This is painful for me to have to sit here — stand here today and to say the president of the United States lied,” he said.
“But you know what? I’m not doing this for me. I’m not doing this for the Democratic Party. I’m doing this for every American whose life has been adversely affected” by the Bush administration.
All I have to say about military service. Bill Clinton
I hope they keep getting more and more strident and obnoxious. I predict the polls will go 3-4 more points towards Bush in the next few days.
I Knew It
This explains a helluva lot.