380 Tons Of BS or, Kerry Just Doesn't "Get" Loyalty
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin

Losing track of 380 tons of high explosive is a serious charge. You don't accuse someone of having done something like that without an investigation.

President George W. Bush understands that. He ordered an investigation when foreigners from the International Atomic Energy Agency waited until four days before the election to accuse the US Army of losing nearly 400 tons of high explosive.

He didn't rush to cover his ass, or hang a subordinate out to dry.

Kerry doesn't quite "get" that loyalty goes both ways.

In exchange for swearing to obey lawful orders (even the most idiotic ones conceivable), living almost as far away from home as possible for months on end, willingly risking being killed, shot, tortured, beheaded on camera, and in general doing one of the worst, most thankless jobs there is, our soldiers are entitled to the benefit of the doubt when accused of screwing up.

In fact, there's a whole investigation process mandated by Federal Law which John "Fortunate Son" Kerry decided to dispense with, accusing everyone from the sentries posted to guard the explosives all the way up to their Commander-in-Chief of wrongdoing based on the word of a UN agency which has totally failed to distinguish itself in the realm of accurate assessment of where weapons of mass destruction (like hundred-ton lots of high explosives) might be.

But the UN would like John Kerry to win this election, and they decided to help out a little, it looks like. Why wait three years to tell us about a trifling matter like 380 missing tons of HE, unless this was to be Kerry's "October Surprise"?

One more reason to keep the President we have, the one who understands which flag to salute - ours.

Kerry seems to rotate like the weathervane he resembles, saluting our flag, then the Viet Cong's, then ours again, then the UN flag... as he struggles with the concept of loyalty.

In fairness to himself and us, perhaps Kerry should just resign from the Presidential race until he can take the Oath of Office in good conscience, honestly giving allegiance to the Constitution and loyalty to those whom he would be serving.

Spinning Class with Charlie Rose
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin
Just in case

- The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill's rudeness to non-liberal guests,

- NOW with Bill "Crankier Every Day" Moyers, and

- an alleged news documentary the other day which had CBS fake memo source Bill Burkett as just another Vietnam vet, which is sort of like casting Charlton Heston as just another leftist actor from the '50s

wasn't enough overt political programming on PBS, there's Charlie Rose, Dan Rather's Book End.

On today's episode, Charlie had:

- ABC News' political director Mark Halperin for some really uncomfortable-to-watch mutual admiration and very enjoyable to watch hard-core anguished denial about the crack John Kerry's behind is in, electorally speaking;

- Two other guests, each with a new book to sell about the hash we're making of relations with militant Islam (as opposed of the hash the new Iraqi National Guard and the US Armed Forces is making OF militant Muslims dumb enough to dance with them in Fallujah lately)

One of the people with new books to flog was French (and who was actually was much more moderate and sensible than Charlie Rose), the other was an Arab law professor at UCLA Law School (and he was quick to explain, that was he was trained both in "sharia law" and good old fashioned American theft with a fountain pen).

With great big compassionate puppy eyes, Charlie Rose asked each of these fellows if it wouldn't have been better if we hadn't gone into Iraq at least twice.

Impeccable timing, considering whose Presidential campaign this helps.

God, please defend me from the temptation to describe my impressions of Mr. Rose's character.

Charlie Rose, one more Democratic apologist and propagandist posing as a journalist from Texas, gets to play talk-stick jockey on publicly-funded television network affiliate stations.

None of the local (Rocky Mountain PBS - I get two separate stations) affiliates apparently have notion one about objectivity, and both are pitching in with Kerry's campaign - if only by running PBS/CPB programming with blatant pro-Kerry bias - as though their fat charitable endowments depended on it.

Well, having to replace Jim Lehrer's Slanted News Chow with local content... ooooh, I don't know about that.

All of Charlie Rose's programming is either tax-paid or paid for by tax-exempt charitable organizations - who should be tap-dancing in front of the Federal Elections Commission explaining why they're helping John Kerry on the public dime, and whether they've filed the requisite paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service.

Hey, I'd pay to watch that.

The Court Martial of John Forbes Kerry
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin
There are all the charges John Kerry should have had to face from his Vietnam years, when grunts without Kerry's family money and political connections were being jacked up for charges ranging from smuggling in empty rocket launcher tubes as war souvenirs (you can't reload an empty M-72 LAWS rocket launcher unless you have heavy connections with the people who make them - in which case, you can get brand-new ones) to some of the same atrocities Kerry admitted to before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971.

I like to call this "The Court Martial of John Forbes Kerry" (in homage to "The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer")

While as a serving member of Congress, Senator Kerry's person is immune from arrest while Congress is in session; his recall to active duty to stand before an Article 32 hearing to determine whether a court-martial on the following specifications should be convened is therefore probably unlikely.

Unlike the cast of JAG, I don't even play a military lawyer on TV (though I did listen to someone from Air Force JAG talk to my AFROTC class for an hour in 1976), so I can't speak authoritatively, but I understand that Senator Kerry would have to be impeached or lose his Senate seat in some other way (such as a drastic increase in Massachusetts voters' IQ come his next election) before anything judicial or court-martial-like happened to him.

However, it's interesting to ponder just how many ways Kerry and those who served with him say that he screwed the pooch, and what sort of trouble he'd be in if he did what he and others said he did, and was found guilty of it all.

The provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice pertinent to the conduct in which Lt.(jg) John Forbes Kerry, USN has been accused of committing (my notes explaining why I think Kerry ought to be investigated for violating each provision of the UCMJ are given in italics):

SUBCHAPTER X. PUNITIVE ARTICLES

Section 910. ART 110. IMPROPER HAZARDING OF VESSEL

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who willfully and wrongfully hazards or suffers to be hazarded any vessel of the armed forces shall suffer death or such punishment as a court-martial may direct.

(b) Any person subject to this chapter who negligently hazards or suffers to be hazarded any vessel of the armed forces shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(John Kerry has admitted on several occasions, and this has been confirmed by no less an authority than former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, to beaching his Swift Boat against enemy-held positions, needlessly exposing his men and innocent civilians - some of whom died as a result - to enemy fire.

Kerry's demeanor on these occasions, according to witnesses, appears to have reflected intent on repeated occasions to "willfully hazard or suffer to be hazarded" his vessel - and innocent people died because of his depraved indifference to their welfare.

Admiral Zumwalt might have saved us all a lot of trouble at this point - instead of pinning a Silver Star on Kerry, he could have jumped on the chance to convene a summary court, find him guilty of Improper Hazarding and execute him right then and there.

But in fairness to the Admiral, who knew that Lt.(jg) Kerry was going to grow up to imperil the freedom of millions, first as a lobbyist for Southeast Asian Communism, then as a political hack, a supporter of two-bit dictators like Daniel Ortega, and a dedicated, tireless foe of American military preparedness?)

Section 926. ART. 126. ARSON

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who willfully and maliciously burns or sets on fire an inhabited dwelling, or any other structure, movable or immovable, wherein to the knowledge of the offender there is at the time a human being, is guilty of aggravated arson and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(b) Any person subject to this chapter who willfully and maliciously burns or sets fire to the property of another, except as provided in subsection (a), is guilty of simple arson and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(John Kerry testified to having committed acts of arson while serving as an officer in the United States Navy before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.)

Section 907. ART. 107. FALSE STATEMENTS

Any person subject to this chapter who, with intent to deceive, signs any false record, return, regulation, order, or other official document, knowing it to be false, or makes any other false official statement knowing it to be false, shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(Several witnesses have alleged that John Kerry made false statements regarding combat or other action, including statements representing non-combat and self-inflicted injuries as injuries received in combat, or misrepresenting noncombat actions as combat actions in order to receive decorations for valor)

Section 928. ART. 128. ASSAULT

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who attempts or offers with unlawful force or violence to do bodily harm to another person, whether or not the attempt or offer is consummated, is guilty of assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(b) Any person subject to this chapter who--

(1)commits an assault with a dangerous weapon or other means or force likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm; or

(2) commits an assault and intentionally inflicts grievous bodily harm with or without a weapon; is guilty of aggravated assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(John Kerry testified to having committed acts of assault while serving as an officer in the United States Navy before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.)

Section 918. ART. 118. MURDER

Any person subject to this chapter whom without justification or excuse, unlawfully kills a human being, when he--

(1) has a premeditated design to kill;

(2) intends to kill or inflict great bodily harm;

(3) is engaged in an act which is inherently dangerous to others and evinces a wanton disregard of human life; or

(4) is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of burglary, sodomy, rape, robbery, or aggravated arson; is guilty of murder, and shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial may direct, except that if found guilty under clause (1) or (4), he shall suffer death or imprisonment for life as a court-martial may direct.

Section 919. ART. 119. MANSLAUGHTER

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who, with an intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm, unlawfully kills a human being in the heat of sudden passion caused by adequate provocation is guilty of voluntary manslaughter and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(b) Any person subject to this chapter who, without an intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm, unlawfully kills a human being--

(1) by culpable negligence; or

(2) while perpetrating or attempting to perpetrate an offense, other than those named in clause (4) of section 918 of this title (article 118), directly affecting the person; is guilty of involuntary manslaughter and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(John Kerry testified to having killed noncombatant persons protected by the Geneva Convention while serving as an officer in the United States Navy before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Whether, if he were found guilty of the acts he claims to have committed, the act or acts he admitted to would constitute murder or manslaughter, and which degreee of manslaughter (if applicable) is properly a matter for the court-martial panel to determine.

The deaths resulting from Kerry's Improper Hazarding of the vessel under his command might also be actionable as manslaughter.)

Section 878. ART. 78. ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT

Any person subject to this chapter who, knowing that an offense punishable by this chapter has been committed, receives, comforts, or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial, or punishment shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(John Kerry testified to possessing knowledge regarding other servicemen's violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including acts of assault, murder, rape and arson directed at noncombatant persons protected under the Geneva Conventions, while serving as an officer in the United States Navy before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Kerry's failure to report such acts to competent military authority in a timely manner could be construed as assisting or attempting to assist them to avoid being arrested, tried or punished for such violations.)

Section 915. ART 115. MALINGERING

Any person subject to this chapter who for the purpose of avoiding work, duty, or service--

(1) feigns illness, physical disablement, mental lapse or derangement; or
(2) intentionally inflects self-injury; shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(the manner in which John Kerry sustained two injuries could reasonably be considered self-inflicted if the testimony of other officers, including Kerry's commander during his training period, is correct.

Kerry is alleged to have attempted to misrepresent the first such injury to his training base commander as a combat wound, despite other crewmen's denial that combat occurred when Kerry was injured, and despite the evidence that the only weapon fired which could have caused the wound to which Kerry referred was the one fired at a river bank by Kerry himself.

After Kerry's commander refused to endorse his application for a Purple Heart for the wound in question, Kerry appears to have obtained the medal by means unknown to his commanding officer at the time the wound was sustained.

The second wound considered under this specification consisted of a bruise to Kerry's buttocks and lodging of rice grains in Kerry's skin after he (according to others who were present) threw a hand grenade in a cache of rice.

Again, according to others who were present, this was not done in combat. It is open to conjecture whether Kerry knowingly inflicted this injury on himself, but he claimed that it occurred in combat and was successfully awarded the Purple Heart on that basis.

The two injuries in question are alleged by other officers not to have occurred in combat, resulted from Kerry's use of antipersonnel grenades outside of combat and not according to doctrine for employment of these devices, and were alleged to have been fraudulently reported as combat injories - with the ultimate result that Kerry's tour of duty in Vietnam was shortened from the usual twelve months to four months.

Again, if the evidence supports these statements, at least one charge of malingering could be brought against Kerry)

Section 880. ART. 80. ATTEMPTS

(a) An act, done with specific intent to commit an offense under this chapter, amounting to more than mere preparation and tending, even though failing, to effect its commission, is an attempt to commit that offense.

(b) Any person subject to this chapter who attempts to commit any offense punishable by this chapter shall be punished as a court-martial may direct, unless otherwise specifically prescribed.

(c) Any person subject to this chapter may be convicted of an attempt to commit an offense although it appears on the trial that the offense was consummated.

(for trying to violate the provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice which were mentioned in the allegations made against Kerry and to which he testified having committed while serving as an officer in the United States Navy before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; this article applies even though the attempt was successful and resulted in guilt of another offense under the UCMJ.)

Section 933. ART. 133. CONDUCT UNBECOMING AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN

Any commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman who is convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

(self-explanatory)

Section 934. ART. 134. GENERAL ARTICLE

Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court.

(self-explanatory)

NOTE: recycled from an earlier post on this blog. Since I write everything here, that's OK.

Kerry's Saudi Family Libel - One Month Out And John Kerry Hauls Out the Pro-Grade BS
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin
After the debate, John Kerry went into full Kingfish mode, with TV ads here in the Denver area shouting that George W. Bush had given special favors to the Saudi royal family.

Okaaaayyy... we - and by "we," I mean every US Government in living memory - give "special favors" to the royal families of many countries.

It's called "diplomacy," one in which I suspect is a long list of words the Kerry campaign has trouble understanding - or thinks we we're too dumb to understand.

Let's compare the candidates so far:

- a national news network has produced news programs around forged evidence against the President of the United States, thinking we wouldn't spot the forgeries as such; the forgeries were only given to CBS after the network arranged a conversation between the man with the memos and a highly placed Democratic Party official;

- the President, in the meantime, has had nothing but praise for the other guy's Vietnam record.

- Kerry starts talking about "special favors" done by the President for the heads of state of a country with which we have several alliances and with which we have fought as allies as recently as 1991 - which sounds a lot like "The President was doing what we pay him for - providing official hospitality."

John Kerry and his "war room" obviously think we're as dumb as they are - and that's pretty DUMB.

President Bush has spoken straight from the shoulder - no lying innuendo, no frantic accusations.

Which of these people would you rather know?

Reflections on People Who Lie About Where They Were when Martin Luther King Died....
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin
John Kerry has such a supple memory - Christmas in Cambodia, NOT lying about the Vietnam War for the North Vietnamese Politburo after he left the Navy, and now... he's apparently confused about where he was when Dr. Martin Luther King was shot.

According to Barbara Stock's article "John Kerry's 'War Of The Worlds'":

"In a speech that John Kerry gave on January 20, 2003, before a crowd of African-Americans commemorating the death of Martin Luther King, Kerry shared his feelings with them when he received word of this great man's death. John Kerry said to the crowd, "I remember well April, 1968 -- I was serving in Vietnam -- a place of violence -- when the news reports brought home to me and my crewmates the violence back home - and the tragic news that one of the bullets flying that terrible spring took the life of that unabashedly maladjusted citizen."

(Blogger Note: recall that this is John Kerry talking about Dr. Martin Luther King.

I think that Kerry should have saved the epithet "maladjusted" for himself, personally.

The Reverend Dr. King was perfectly well adjusted - to the demands of our Lord and Savior - in a skewed world which Dr. King's ministry and his ultimate sacrifice helped set straight.

For John Kerry to dare call Martin Luther King "maladjusted" is just one more instance of Kerry gall and Kerry effrontery in the face of much greater virtue than Kerry can comprehend, much less muster.)

"John Kerry probably brought tears to the eyes of those in the crowd as he wove his heartfelt remembrance, all the while giving the impression that he was on his boat sweating in the steamy jungle heat of Viet Nam in April, 1968 when he received the tragic news.

"The only problem with this statement is that Kerry didn't set foot in Viet Nam until November 1968.

"While Kerry was on the U.S.S. Gridley when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, the Gridley was a ship that only occasionally ventured into the waters near Viet Nam. Kerry was not in Viet Nam in April 1968."
_

It's possible, I suppose, to concede service on the USS Gridley was technically "service in the Viet Nam Theater of Operations," but North Vietnamese surface combatants would have faced mortal danger for not much reward in attacking the Gridley - not from the Gridley herself, but from the "bubble" of protection afforded by the missiles and airpower of the battle group to which Gridley was attached.

And for the North Vietnamese Air Force, anti-ship operations that far offshore would have just have been a wildly inefficient exercise in destroying their own valuable pilots and aircraft for no effect at all. No anti-ship EXOCET missiles in 1968 - that system hadn't even been developed yet.

FUNDING DISCLOSURE: My Web host, Tripod, picks out my ads automatically, which has often placed me in the hilarious position of having had the Kerry campaign pay my Web-related expenses while I expose Kerry's lies and those of his supporters for what they are.

I wouldn't even accept that inadvertent level of Kerry sponsorship, but:
- I can't actually afford to pay for blog hosting
- If the 527s and other Kerry-touting organizations want to put their ads on a blog which is virulently anti-Kerry and very unlikely to direct surfers to them or make money for their man, well, that ad revenue is wasted!

And, again, my job is done. Is this a great country, or what?

Kerry Lied; People Would Have Died
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin
Stephen F. Hayes, who works with the Weekly Standard, compared Kerry's claim that there was no threat from Iraqi support for terror before the war with the findings of the CIA, Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee reports, and the 9/11 Commisssion findings:

"Kerry campaign:
"There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went to war."
CIA Analysis, January 2003: Iraqi Support for Terrorism, (p. 314 of Senate Intel Report):
"Iraq has a long history of supporting terrorism."

Kerry campaign:
"There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went to war."
CIA Analysis, January 2003--Iraqi Support for Terrorism, (p. 314 of Senate Intel Report):
"Iraq continues to be a safehaven, transit point, or operational node for groups and individuals who direct violence against the United States, Israel and other allies."

Kerry campaign:
"There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went to war."
Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report (p. 315):
"The CIA provided 78 reports, from multiple sources, [redacted] documenting instances in which the Iraqi regime either trained operatives for attacks or dispatched them to carry out attacks."

Kerry campaign:
"There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went to war."
Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report (p. 316):
"Iraq continued to participate in terrorist attacks throughout the 1990s."

Kerry campaign:
"There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went to war."
Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report (p. 316):
"From 1996 to 2003, the [Iraqi Intelligence Service] focused its terrorist activities on western interests, particularly against the U.S. and Israel."

Kerry campaign:
"There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went to war."
Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report (p. 316):
"Throughout 2002, the [Iraqi Intelligence Service] was becoming increasingly aggressive in planning attacks against U.S. interests. The CIA provided eight reports to support this assessment."

Kerry campaign:
"There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went to war."
Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Report (p. 331):
"Twelve reports received [redacted] from sources that the CIA described as having varying reliability, cited Iraq or Iraqi national involvement in al Qaeda's [chemical, biological, nuclear] CBW efforts."

Kerry campaign:
"There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went to war."
The 9/11 Commission Report (p. 66):
"In March 1998, after bin Laden's public fatwa against the United States, two al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraq Intelligence. In July, an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with bin Laden."

From "recently-discovered memos" to "forgeries that reflect real documents.... "
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin
On Thursday, September 9th, 2004, Dan Rather and the other folks at 60 Minutes told us that a public-spirited soul told them where they could get unsigned memos written by George W. Bush's commander in the Texas Air National Guard of a derogatory nature.

I won't repeat the specifics of the charges in the memos because even obvious forgeries can spread misinformation if what is written on them is repeated too often. People working for or with the Kerry campaign and/or the Democratic Party showed us fake papers expecting us to believe that what was on them was the truth. Fortunately, it didn't work out that way.

No, let's look instead at how quickly these memos evolved from genuine proof of some allegations I won't repeat to forgeries that "reflect real documents that once existed." Problem after problem after problem turns up to bring doubt as to the authenticity of these memos, and yet Big Journalism concentrates on the allegations made on the forgeries rather than the implications that - well, that Big Journalism itself may be implicated in the forgeries.

Guess that was foolish of me, wondering why we haven't seen some investigative reporting on forgers who are being protected by a major news organization as "unimpeachable sources." Actually, it's pleasant to reflect that if Senators Kerry or Edwards turn out to be implicated in this forgery personally, they might be "impeachable sources" - impeachment being the first step toward defrocking a Senator or Congressman accused of a serious crime of his or her immunity from arrest or prosecution for that crime.

Let's look, too, at why the same national press which spends so much time preening itself on its objectivity and high professional standards isn't scrambling to cover CBS News' apparent complicity in an attempt to influence the outcome of a Presidential election with forged evidence.

If the Republicans had tried something like this, we'd be hearing about it in prime-time specials all the way to Election Night, wouldn't we? Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings would be intoning grave condemnations of the criminals behind such an outrage in unison. Of course, Molly Ivins' routine would scarcely change - she lacerates President Bush in every column regardless of anything he's actually done that day.

Journalists seem to be very resentful of us bloggers lately - bloggers and Emailers.

One of the more portentuous scholarly journals recently bemoaned the massive Email condemnation of MSNBC's Laurence O'Donnell for calling Senator Zell Miller "crazy" and "a liar" on the McLaughlin Group - something about a "chilling effect" on journalism. The problem, of course, is that the journal article writer had confused O'Donnell's brain-fart with the practice of journalism and assumed it was properly protected from the massive condemnation of people with better manners and Email accounts.

Another person ordained by the conventional news media, while interviewing the law professor who runs the "Instapundit" site, made a snarky remark about bloggers being people who work in their pajamas and write whatever they feel like writing.

That's a very telling point, and I was cut to the quick. I wear pajamas when I write this blog on occasion. And I write what I feel like writing. The clincher, I suppose, is that I don't feel like lying to make my points or covering up my favorite politicians' pasts. I started this blog because I was tired of nationally-published and broadcast journalists doing just that sort of thing.

Journalists, by the same line of reasoning, could be described as people who work in nice casual wear and write whatever their bosses tell them to, or whatever they think will get their favorite political candidate elected.

If the Dan Rathers, Molly Ivinses, Morley Safers, and Chris Matthewses of the world would brush up on the ethics of journalism, people wouldn't go to us bloggers for a second opinion on what's happening in the world.

People aren't idiots - they know when they're being lied to. They know when other people are talking down to them, and maybe pulling a fast one on them. During the Reagan administrations, the press had worn out its welcome in American homes by precisely the same arrogant disregard for manners and journalistic ethics that is making a comeback now.

And our kids have forgotten more about how to make fake documents like the alleged Air Guard memos than the limited knowledge displayed by the "document experts" interviewed on camera by CBS to defend the authenticity of those memos. The last thing the people responsible for this fraud should have tried is to lie to 21st century Americans about what can and cannot be done with computers.

P.T. Barnum may have been right when he first said it, but a sucker isn't born every minute any more. Not in this country.

Sure, they're FORGED, but they "reflect real documents that once existed" - TRUST US ON THIS!"
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin
"The most outrageous lies that can be invented will find believers if a person only tells them with all his might." - Mark Twain


Now, whoever decided to gin up a few transparent forgeries to buttress more attacks on the President is hiding behind the skirts of an elderly lady who used to type for the dead colonel who is supposed to have (gasp) said BAD things about the President.

I wonder if the decision maker behind this escapade dreamed how strange this trip would be when he signed the checks or did whatever else a political mechanic does to initiate a gargantuan fraud.

Perspective shift -

What if the Dallas Morning News went to see Rosemary Woods and she swore to them that nothing bad or incriminating was said in that 18-and-a-half minute gap on one of the Nixon White House tapes.

They would logically be compelled to insist that we take her word for it and stop being mean about Tricky Dick, if they also insist that we take the feisty and (going from their article below) extremely partisan Mrs. Knox's word about what Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian thought of his subordinate Lieutenant George W. Bush.

According to other news organizations, including the Associated Press, Mrs. Knox's statements on that score have been vehemently contradicted by Col. Killian's son and widow, and Col. Killian's personnel officer at the time.

In "A Desperate Campaign, an Eager Media, and Fraudulent Documents," attorney George C. Landrith writes "Gary Killian, the son of Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, said the documents did not come from his family and they are "very dubious" because the signatures were not his father's and the wording was not his father's style. He said his father thought very highly of young Lt. George W. Bush. In fact, unquestionably authentic National Guard documents show that Lt. Col. Killian rated Lt. Bush "an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot."

An Associated Press article, "Authenticity of new Bush military papers questioned," affirms the statements by Col. Killian's son and presents other statements by officers of the 111th Interceptor Squadron when both Killian and Bush were there:

"The personnel chief in Killian's unit at the time said he believes the documents are fake.

"They looked to me like forgeries," said Rufus Martin. "I don't think Killian would do that, and I knew him for 17 years." and

"Retired Col. Maurice Udell, the unit's instructor pilot who helped train Bush, said Friday he thought the documents were fake.

"I completely am disgusted with this (report) I saw on '60 Minutes,'" Udell said. "That's not true. I was there. I knew Jerry Killian. I went to Vietnam with Jerry Killian in 1968."

Also from the Associated Press report:

"Casting further doubt on the memos, The Dallas Morning News said in a report for its Saturday editions that the officer named in a memo as exerting pressure to "sugar coat" Bush's record had left the Texas Air National Guard 1.50 years before the memo was dated.

The newspaper said it obtained an order showing that Walter B. Staudt, former commander of the Texas Guard, retired on March 1, 1972. The memo was dated Aug. 18, 1973. A telephone call to Staudt's home Friday night was not answered."

So far, what we know is that:
- Mrs. Knox, the subject of the article quoted below, heard some bad gossip about George W. Bush when he was in the Air National Guard unit where she typed memos for the commander of Bush's unit;
- Mrs. Knox doesn't care for President Bush at all and isn't shy about saying so;
- even so, Mrs. Knox spoke up about the "unsigned memos" being forgeries, even though that helps the Bush campaign;
- and Mrs. Knox didn't recall typing the memos on which she says the fakes were based, even though she insists "the information is taken from the real ones."
- So far, the case against Lt. George W. Bush, Texas Air National Guard, consists of what most independent experts who have seen them say are forged memos, and hearsay and inexact recollections reported by an 86 year-old woman.
- and the "unimpeachable source" whose identity Dan Rather and CBS News are still hiding is probably a liar and almost certainly a forger - and an inept one, at that.

And the people at the Dallas Morning News exploit little old ladies, we've figured that out, too. No real light on the Bush controversy was shed by that article - it reeks of "X-Files"-grade speculation and lack of firm evidence.

The article - Judge for yourselves:

"Former secretary says she didn't type Guard memos

06:53 PM EDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2004
By PETE SLOVER / The Dallas Morning News

HOUSTON - The former secretary for the Texas Air National Guard colonel who supposedly authored memos critical of President Bush's Guard service said Tuesday that the documents are fake, but that they reflect real documents that once existed.

Marian Carr Knox, who worked from 1956 to 1979 at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, said she prided herself on meticulous typing, and the memos first disclosed by CBS News last week were not her work.

"These are not real," she told The Dallas Morning News after examining copies of the disputed memos for the first time. "They're not what I typed, and I would have typed them for him."

Mrs. Knox, 86, who spoke with precise recollection about dates, people and events, said she is not a supporter of Mr. Bush, who she deemed "unfit for office" and "selected, not elected."

"I remember very vividly when Bush was there and all the yak-yak that was going on about it," she said.

But, she said, telltale signs of forgery abounded in the four memos, which contained the supposed writings of her ex-boss, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who died in 1984.

She said the typeface on the documents did not match either of the two typewriters that she used during her time at the Guard. She identified those machines as a mechanical Olympia, which was replaced by an IBM Selectric in the early 1970s.

She spoke fondly of the Olympia machine, which she said had a key with the "th" superscript character that was the focus of much debate in the CBS memos. Experts have said that the Selectric, and mechanical typewriters such as the Olympia, could not produce proportional spacing, found in the disputed documents.

CBS officials have defended their report. They have declined to say who provided 60 Minutes with the documents, other than that it was an "unimpeachable source" - or exactly where they came from, other than Lt. Col. Killian's "personal file."

The memos, if real, would show that as a pilot, Mr. Bush defied a direct order to obtain a flight physical, enjoyed the benefit of pressure from high officials to "sugar coat" his record, and was grounded for failing to meet military performance standards.

Mrs. Knox said she did all of Lt. Col. Killian's typing, including memos for a personal "cover his back" file he kept in a locked drawer of his desk.

She said she did not recall typing the memos reported by CBS News, though she said they accurately reflect the viewpoints of Lt. Col. Killian and documents that would have been in the personal file. Also, she could not say whether the CBS documents corresponded memo for memo with that file.

"The information in here was correct, but it was picked up from the real ones," she said.

She said that the culture of the time was that men didn't type office-related documents, and she expressed doubt that Lt. Col. Killian would have typed the memos. She said she would typically type his memos from his handwritten notes, which she would then destroy.

Mrs. Knox, who left the Guard before Lt. Col. Killian died, said she was not sure of the disposition of his personal files when he died while still serving at Ellington. But, she said, it would have been logical that a master sergeant who worked in the squadron headquarters would have destroyed any such nonofficial documents after Lt. Col. Killian's death.

That man, reached Tuesday, declined to comment. "I don't know anything about the matter," he said.

She also said the memos may have been constructed from memory by someone who had seen Lt. Col. Killian's private file but were not transcriptions because the language and terminology did not match what he would have used.

For instance, she said, the use of the words "billets" and a reference to the "administrative officer" of Mr. Bush's squadron reflect Army terminology rather than the Air National Guard. Some news reports attribute the CBS reports to a former Army National Guard officer who has a longstanding dispute with the Guard and has previously maintained that the president's record was sanitized.

Mrs. Knox also cited stylistic differences in the form of the notes, such as the signature on the right side of the document, rather than the left, where she would have put it."

Kerry Got Goons! (or why manhandling protesters is OK if they're hassling Hanoi John)
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin

Kerry Takes the Gloves Off!
Topic: Kerry's Lies and Spin
For weeks now, the part of the Kerry for President staff cleverly disguised as national journalists with obligations to report the facts objectively have held forth about what a big wuss Kerry has been about Bush's not having sent Federal Marshals to arrest the Swift Boat Veterans for Justice, and similar failings.

(instrumental accompaniment: organ, music to hymn "Yes, Jesus Loves Me")

"What was this about? Now I know;
Because Dan Rather told me so."

(/instrumental accompaniment)

Kerry has chosen to pay Bush back for not silencing the Swift Boat Veterans for Justice by... (drum roll... ) talking about him behind his back at the American Legion convention.

Bet that went over well - veterans like nothing better than whiners who called them rapists and murderers in 1971 backbiting the President of the United States in time of war.

And I bet Kerry's Secret Service detail - including the agent whom Kerry referred to as a "son of a bitch" for knocking into him accidentally during his recent ski holiday - was really excited over the chance to defend a foul-mouthed egotist against some of the soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors he had accused of killing civilians and generally being all about war crimes.
________

John Kerry told the American Legion "I'd have done almost everything in Iraq differently." Which is why he voted for the war beforehand.

As P.J. O'Rourke put it when Gulf War II started in 2003,

"Massachusetts' thinner, more sober senator, John Kerry, said that he voted for threatening to use force on Saddam Hussein, but that actually using force was wrong. This is what's known, in the language of diplomacy, as bullshit."

"Why Americans Hate Foreign Policy," Peace Kills Atlantic Monthly Press, New York 2004.
_____

CBS showed us a sound and video bite of Kerry saying anything Bush could do, he'd have done better.

We didn't see the reaction of the American Legion to Kerry's remarks.

We didn't see a wall-size map of Iraq and Iran and Saudi Arabia where Kerry could laser-point where, when and how he'd have done almost everything differently than George W. Bush did.

We didn't see flip charts detailing how John Kerry would have known in advance that there were no weapons of mass destruction after Saddam Hussein brought an invasion down upon himself by acting as though he had the things and just wasn't going to tell us where they were.

We didn't see proof that the weapons of mass destruction aren't hidden somewhere in a country the size of France or California, or hidden outside Iraq, perhaps in Iran, which has been acting as a refuge for terrorists who kill in Iraq.

We didn't see proof of John Kerry's absurd claims that he would have forged an alliance to fight the war on terror which included France and Germany as fully-participating partners rather than kibitzing back-seat drivers with a veto over everything and no real contribution to make.

We didn't see the magic wand John Kerry would wield to make the Europeans see that our dominance over the Atlantic Alliance (better known as NATO) is not their problem.

Islamist expansionism and terrorism is the threat which absolutely must be met with resolve - and with the fire and the sword of Western Civilization, now that the scum and dirt of these terrorists have dared kidnap children in Russia or decapitate innocent Frenchmen in order to dictate France's laws to them.

The only question is how long Europe will delude themselves that supporting John Kerry is going to help them somehow. Sure, they'll have a puppet whose strings they can pull - which is why George Soros is throwing so much soft money into the Kerry campaign - so he can own his very own President of the United States.

But John Kerry is showing us that even with George Soros as a Gepetto, there's no real chance for the wooden puppet who likes to tell a lie now and then to turn into someone who can save Europe from the new barbarians at its gates.