September 21, 2004 by s.z.

Blogging With Jenna and NotJenna For some substantive reporting on the issues, we go to the Bush Twins: September 19 -- Barbara and Jenna's Journal: On the Road in Michigan Hey, guys. We’ve had an incredible time traveling all around Michigan. In the morning, we had the chance to meet staff and volunteers at the Bush-Cheney Michigan Headquarters and thank them for working so hard to re-elect our Dad. These people were pretty incredible; they totally renovated an office space to create the headquarters. We sat with them and exchanged stories about the campaign trail, and they asked us a couple questions about what we are seeing on the road. What were those questions?  What were the girls' answers?  That's for them to know and you to find out.  But the key thing to remember is that the people were pretty incredible. On our second stop, we headed over to Brighton for a Bush-Cheney rally and to visit with volunteers at a phone bank. We had an incredible time meeting so many people of all ages (we meet a 90 year-old woman and a four-month old baby) who all support our Dad. What do four-month-old babies do to support Bush?  Presumably, the same thing as Jenna and NotJenna: pose for photo ops, and empty bottles.  The most moving part of our day was speaking with a soldier who had just returned from Iraq. He told us how proud his family is to have our Dad as their commander-in-chief. We both felt so awesome that a true hero — not a Hollywood actor — but a man who defines courage and puts his life on the line in the name of freedom respects our father. Well, I guess it would make the twins feel awed ... I mean, awesome, to find out that somebody respects their Dad.  Especially somebody who isn't an actor! We also met a soldier’s wife and their four-month old baby, Allison - she told us that they pray for our family. So, that's how the baby supports Bush: she prays for the Bush family. Finally, we finished out the day in Lansing at a Michigan State University Students for Bush rally. Walking on to the beautiful college campus, we were both overcome by a huge rush of nostalgia — maybe it is a twin thing — but, we both had to admit that we were a little jealous of these students who are still experiencing college. (We know we’ve only been out for four months, but it was a great four years.) Yes, it's a "twin thing"  to want to stay irresponsible college students forever.  Oh, and didn't you girls also get overcome by nostalgia for the carefree days of college while at each of the three universities you visited in Ohio?  Have you considered going for your doctorates -- that way you could stay in school for at least 4 more years? The rally really was incredible. MSU has the third largest Students for Bush organization in the nation. There were more than 300 energetic college students there, all waving Bush-Cheney ’04 signs (along with two guys us who made us laugh hysterically when they held up signs that read “CALL US” and their phone numbers)! Yeah, it was hilarious that they thought that the twins would ever call losers like them! We had a great time speaking to the students and meeting so many people who love our parents! It was a great day! Our time at MSU was awesome and we really challenge every college and university across the country to top the numbers of Students for Bush at MSU!! You never know where we will visit next!  And I too really challenge every college and university to build more Students for Bush, because then the Bush girls will visit, and that way we can keep J and NJ away from  the night clubs. Jenna and NotJenna practicing safe sex with a Trojan.  Now, wasn't that an awesome, incredible report?  So, how many think the twins really wrote it, and how many think that somebody pretending to be two airheaded teens wrote it?  (Personally, I can't decide.) 7:42:13 AM

Carnival of the Wingnuts 1.  Let's hear first from Selwyn Duke, international man of mystery and tennis.  He writes about "What we really have to fear from John Kerry."  And what we have to fear is his liberal cabinent, which will undoubtedly discriminate against white men.  It seems that white men are the new Jews, while liberals are the new Nazis. Now, please read what follows very carefully, because I'm going to illustrate the real reason why the prospect of a Kerry presidency should give you pause for thought. Most people don't remember the name Hazel O'Leary, but she was the secretary of the Department of Energy [DOE] during the first term of one of the Kerrys of the world, Bill Clinton. She didn't last long, however, and for good reason. She was a thoroughly corrupt individual who blended in seamlessly with a characteristically corrupt administration. She made a practice of awarding government contracts based on whether or not you were willing to play ball with the Clinton Administration. She would also try to punish those who strayed off Clinton's plantation by threatening to kick them off the gravy train. But while this garden-variety corruption was bad, worse still was the corruption that extended beyond that of a flawed moral compass and into that of ideology. You see, it also was revealed that O'Leary issued marching orders forbidding underlings to promote white males within the DOE.  The horror, the horror!  Yes, that was WAY worse than corruption! But is it even true?  Well, the only source for the claim seems to be David Schippers, who told Bill O'Reilly in 1999 that he'd heard the story from a client.  "As I understand it -- this is secondhand. As I understand it, when Hazel O'Leary got into the office, she asked for the promotion list and then asked them to strike the names of all white males," charged Schippers. Odd that nobody else reported it, or at least confirmed this story.  But I guess everybody else were part of the vast PC conspiracy -- or part of the 4th Reich. O'Leary's common-sense and sense of duty were trumped by her obsession with her brand of social-engineering. It reminds me of how the Nazis preferred to see Jewish scientists flee Germany or be killed rather than use them to further the war effort.  Yup, Kerry would rather see white men killed than use them to further the war effort.  However, the un-PC George Bush works to insure that young men and women of all races die to futher the war effort. Now, make no mistake about it, none of these inanities are merely aberrations unique to one politician or one administration. They are the fruits of a Kerry of the world mindset — one to which all imperatives, even national security, must be subordinated to their obsession with remaking society in their god's image. Expecting their judgement to not be colored by their curious little ingrained prejudice is a lot like expecting a Nazi's judgement to not be colored by his. Clearly, if President Clinton appointed a Secretary of Energy who, per one secondhand account, didn't promote white men, then it means that President Kerry would appoint al Qaeda members to cabinent positions (to futher diversity), and they would order all white men to concentration camps.  Can you take that risk??? 2.  And speaking of Bill O'Reilly, his latest column is about how the elite media won't call terrorists "terrorists."  You've heard it all before. But Bill has secret goverment info! What are we to make of the New York Times describing terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a "Jordanian militant?" I mean, this guy is one of the most vicious al Qaeda thugs in the world; right now he's behind much of the violence in Iraq and has been active in the worldwide terror network since at least 1990. On June 17th of this year, a U.S. intelligence official provided my researcher Nate Fredman with the following information [snip info] I demand that the FBI investigate the claim that a U.S. intelligence official provided U.S. intelligence info to Bill O'Reilly's researcher!  That sounds like it might be a leak, and we know how much George Bush hates leaks! The reason the Times and some other liberal media operations continue to downplay Zarqawi and, indeed, the entire worldwide terror threat is twofold: first, the liberal press does not want another pre-emptive strike against terrorists like the one the USA launched against Iraq. But everybody else wants another one of those pre-emptive strikes, because they are so effective, so sensible, and so cheap.  Next time it could be a pre-emptive strike against Denmark, to prevent terrorists from ever thinking about going on vacation there -- wouldn't that be cool! By denying Zarqawi was an al Qaeda guy, the liberal media can falsely claim Saddam had nothing to do with al Qaeda. O'Reilly logic: Zarqawi is an al Qaeda member.  Zarqawi is now fighting in Iraq.  Sadam used to be the head of Iraq.  Therefore, Sadam was allied with al Qaeda, and by implication, responsible for 9/11.  And secondly, the anti-Bush press believes that terrorism is the president's strongest issue. So keeping the very real danger of coordinated terror down is good political strategy for those who want to see President John Kerry. And because Bush's anti-terrorism plan in Iraq is going so well, the press doesn't doesn't you to think about it. And the press doesn't want you to know that terrorists are basically all members of the same club. The truth is that terrorists do seek each other out and cooperate. The IRA, for example, used PLO training facilities in North Africa and the Middle East. So our next pre-emptive strike should be against Ireland! 3.   Paula Devlin longs for the good, old days, when everybody believed in God, so we didn't need laws. Every aspect of our lives is increasingly controlled by so many laws it is humanly impossible to know all of them. The one true God got his laws across to mankind in ten sentences. Apparently Paula has never read the Old Testament, or she would be aware of the pages and pages of laws contained therein -- for instance, the book of Leviticus is basically nothing but laws, and it runs about 45 pages.  And actually, the Ten Commandments (as recorded in the KJV of Exodus 20) are composed of 11 sentences, since "keep the sabbath day holy" gets two. When the majority believed in a final judgment and man was expected to regulate his behavior accordingly, there was no necessity for laws defining everything. Yeah, those were the good old days, back before the Code of Hammurabi. Civilizations that become so enmeshed in regulations have collapsed because they no longer produced anything. We have become dominated by the chattering class: people without souls, ethics or productive abilities yet with enough unearned capital to control those who produce it.  I'm not sure who exactly Paula is describing here: it sounds like she's railing against rich Republican legislators, but that seems kind of out of charactor for her. 4.  Ron Paul, a regular writer for "TruthNews," has a column entitled "Forcing Kids Into a Mental Health Ghetto."  A presidential initiative called The "New Freedom Commission on Mental Health" has issued a report recommending forced mental health screening for every child in America, including preschool children. The goal is to promote the patently false idea that we have a nation of children with undiagnosed mental disorders crying out for treatment.   When, of course, the truth is that our nation has no children whatsoever with undiagnosed mental disorders.   Anyway, from an initiative recommending "universal" mental health screenings of children, Paul infers that there is a government plan to have goverment officials do the screenings.  What's worse is that these officials will prescribe unneeded drugs to your kids (because we frequently let GS-8 clerks diagnose kids and prescribe dispense medication) -- maybe as part of a sinister plot to benefit the drugs companies and the ritalin industry.  Oh, and children who believe in God and conservatism could be labled "crazy" and put in mental hospitals!   All because the government thinks it owns your kids! The real issue is whether the state owns your kids. [...] Forced mental health screening is just the latest of many state usurpations of parental authority: compulsory education laws, politically-correct school curricula, mandatory vaccines, and interference with discipline through phony "social services" agencies all represent assaults on families. The political right has now joined the political left in seeking the de facto nationalization of children, and only informed resistance by parents can stop it. Yeah, first the state makes your kids go to school.  Then it makes you get them vaccinated against deadly diseases.  And then it makes you stop beating them!  When will this interference with parental rights end?!?  So, who is this wingnutty new columnist? Congressman Ron Paul, a Republican, represents the 14th Congressional District of Texas, which encompasses the Gulf Coast region south and west of Houston.   5.   John Kyl also writes regularly for TruthNews.  He's here to tell us about how poor people LIKE paying unfair taxes! Ever since President Bush’s second round of tax cuts was enacted last year, Democratic partisans have dramatically stepped up their rhetorical attacks on upper-income taxpayers. Such "class warfare" is a common political strategy, although its effectiveness has been inconsistent because Americans are typically less interested in stoking resentment than in joining the ranks of the wealthy themselves. See, if you vote for lower taxes for the rich, they will be grateful, and will invite you to join their privileged number. Aimed initially at "millionaires," then broadened to include those in the top tax bracket, Congressional Democrats’ tax hike proposals now target individuals with taxable income above $200,000 a year. Who are these people? In many cases, small business owners - the engine of growth and job creation in our economy and a group that virtually all politicians claim to want to help.   And if small business owners are made to give up more of their income to help run the country, then they will sulk and refuse to create more jobs. The Democrats’ tax hike proposal is based on the rather simplistic belief that upper-income taxpayers have more disposable income and, therefore, can easily afford to pay higher taxes. Besides the fact that more than half of these individuals are small business owners generally operating on razor-thin margins, it’s also worth noting that they already account for more than 37 percent of all income taxes collected in the United States, despite filing fewer than 2 percent of all individual tax returns. In plain English, they’re already paying their fair share, and then some. Yes, the top 2% of taxpayers account for 37% of the collected income tax (something that poverty-stricken Rush Limbaugh mentions on every possible occasion).  But it's probably fair to mention a few more statistics, such as: One percent of the U.S. population owns sixty percent of the stock and forty percent of the total wealth.   So, are they really paying "their fair share, and then some"? Since 1973, every group in society except the top 20 percent has seen its share of the national income decline, with the bottom 20 percent losing the most. They have just 3.6 percent of national income, down from 4.4 percent a quarter century ago.  [Note: the above facts are from a few years ago, and since the rich have continued to get richer in recent days, the disparity between rich and poor is even greater now.] Oh, and this Rush Limbaughesque pundit is "Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican, [who] represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate. 6.  Joel Mowbray writes about how counterintelligence investigations which involve Israel are anti-Semitic. Beyond mishandling of classified documents—not an inconsequential offense, to be sure—every other accusation leveled by unnamed State Department and intelligence officials appears part of a carefully calculated campaign to question the loyalty of several Pentagon civilian employees by name, as well as a much larger group by implication. Joel, passing a classified document to agents of a foreign power goes beyond "mishandling of classified information" -- you can look up the federal codes yourself.  Mishandling classified documents would be like if, say, Sandy Berger, accidentally carried home classified documents and then distroyed them without ever letting unauthorized people see them.  And he was hanged, wasn't he? According to someone with intimate knowledge of the draft presidential directive that low-level Pentagon Iran analyst Larry Franklin allegedly leaked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the document contained no sources and no methods.  [...] Why was it marked “secret?”  Nearly every document emerging out of that Pentagon office was stamped secret—the lowest grade of secrecy. No, Joel, the lowest grade of secrecy is "Confidential." A memo about an office Christmas party would probably be classified secret too. Only if the classifier could cite one or more reasons (from the official classification guidelines) why it should be so classified.  Ask that "someone with intimate knowledge of the draft presidential directive" what the classification citation for the paper was, and I'll bet you'll find out that there were reasons that we didn't want it being passed out to foreign nationals. Bandying about words like “espionage” and “spying,” as many news outlets have, serves the goals of the State Department and the CIA, the mortal policy enemies of the hawks at the Pentagon.  But unlike previous leak campaigns, State and CIA’s latest effort may have crossed into dangerous territory. Most politically appointed administration officials on the foreign policy team who support President Bush’s agenda seem to have at least an uneasy feeling that the anonymous smear campaign flirts dangerously close to classic anti-Semitic libels. Others are of decidedly less mixed opinion.  Says one official, “It is not a witch hunt; it is a pogrom.” Because passing a classified document to agents of a foreign power ISN'T "espionage" or "spying" if it involves Isreal, and only an anti-Semite would say that it is. Though Franklin is Catholic, few articles mention that he is not Jewish, and none from the Post do so.  Obviously, part of the anti-Semitism in action. The reported track record of the FBI agent in charge of the investigation, FBI assistant director of counterintelligence David Szady, is also troubling.  Szady has for years “led investigations into Jewish American CIA employees believed to be spying for Israel that have also failed to persuade the Justice Department even to investigate the cases,” reports Eli Lake of the New York Sun. Dave isn't the sharpest knife in the counterintelligence drawer, and MANY of his cases fail to persude DOJ to prosecute anybody.  But most of those cases don't involve Jews, Israel, or neocons.  So, sorry, Joel -- I think this is about the espionage, not the anti-Semitism.  Oh, and the fact that the press noted that your neocon friends in the Pentagon screwed up the Iraqi war isn't about anti-Semitism either -- it's about incompetence on Feith's (and the rest's) part. 5:50:29 AM