Help research next week's column! "Desperation Isn't Pretty"

[Plaid Adder]

The theme for next week's PA column is going to be "signs that the enemy is getting desperate." By which I mean the Bush team, of course. I'm going to be on the road with limited access to th einternet, so y'all can help me if you want by posting here the URLs to news stories involving these signs of Republican desperation:

* suppression of voter registration
* stupid media tricks
* sudden reversals of position in response to polling
* anything else the Republicans are doing that demonstrates that they know perfectly well they cannot win legitimately

Thanks in advance,

The Plaid Adder

[knowbody0]

1. attempting to use mary cheney as distraction in the news

[July]

2. P.A., just followed a link at Atrios about a classic Rove trick

that is unraveling right now -- it's about the flyers portraying Bush as a Special Olympics child. Apparently, it's just like one of the stunts described in The Atlantic Monthly's article about Rove. Don't know what the link is off the top of my head, but it was at www.atrios.blogspot.com near the top. I'll get back to you.

BTW, loved your latest essay on the main page, very well done, like all of your work.

[July]

6. A little more:

I'm having computer problems and can't connect through the Atrios link, but I'm pretty sure it was from TAPPED at www.prospect.org (The American Prospect).

Describes how a guy brings some slimy flyers into a Democratic candidate's (Dahl, maybe?) HQ, somewhere in TN, I think, a woman there sees they're slime and throws them out, then the 1st guy's confederate comes in to look for them, gets upset when they're not there, is told they were thrown out, gets them out of the trash, and hey,presto!, next thing you know they're on Drudge and in the hands of all kinds of other Republican slimers. Complete denial by the Dem candidate, who says it's hard to undo something he didn't do in the first place, presses for name of guy #2, is stonewalled by Repubs, finally produce a guy who disavows the whole thing.

Just like the story in the Atlantic Monthly this month.

[eataTREE]

3. I would say Bush actually deigning to talk to the press on Air Force One

...for the first time since 9/11, is an indication that he knows that his public image ain't what it used to be. All of a sudden, he needs to engage with the peanut gallery, instead of gazing beatifically down upon them from the lofty heights. That's not Shrubbie's usual style.

ObCite: A Reuters article discussing this is here.

[displacedtexan]

4. John Kerry didn't out Mary; He outed Dick, Lynne, Laura & George W.!

He also outed the entire Republican party.

This is what hypocrisy looks like!

Not a single media hairdo has covered the Kerry side of the Mary Cheney outrage.

[CaptainCorc]

5. Happy to have an opportunity to help....

And to say hi and great work to Plaid Adder. I'll be on the lookout for anything along those lines.

[CaptainCorc]

7. Here's something i found on BBC.....

The state they're talking about is (what else) Florida:

Republicans and Democrats are assembling teams of lawyers ready to be despatched to hotspots.

Indeed, the court cases have already begun. Florida's Republican Secretary of State Glenda Hood was taken to court by Democrats in early October accusing her of trying to thwart first-time voters.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3736820.stm

Who knows what Glenda might be up to now?

[CaptainCorc]

8. This one might be a stretch but on the other hand.....

From a story on the ABC news website about a protest in Harrisburg, PA where "six men arrested for protesting the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse scandal by stripping down to their thong underwear and forming a human pyramid during a visit by President Bush.":

Lancaster County District Attorney Donald R. Totaro said prosecutors would not have been able to prove the defendants' actions served "no legitimate purpose" a requirement under the state's disorderly conduct law.

"The mere presence of unwilling viewers does not determine whether unwelcome views are prohibited from public forums," he said.

He said that pressing charges "would only serve to advance the agenda of six protesters through a very public forum."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=169146

*****

The key of course is this fear of "advancing the agenda". Could be they don't want to rouse the rabble in such a tight race in a swing state.

I found DA Totaro's webpage here: http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/da/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=473035

It doesn't come out and say so but he sure sounds Republican and I'm betting he's voting for Bush

[evilqueen]

9. suppression of voter registration (links)

Voter Registrations Possibly Trashed - KLAS-TV.com
Parties voter drives generate outcry - Seattle Post Intelligencer
Registration Shredding Scandal Threatens Voters, Election - People for the American Way (Press Release 10/13/2004)
City, county spar over ballot supply - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Minorities fear partial voter lists - The Morning Call, Allentown, PA
GOP dirty tricks in Ohio? - Salon.com
Hood & Harris - spot the difference - St. Petersburg Times
Blocking the Latino Ballot? - Washington Post
Jim Crow back for election attack - Chicago Sun-Times
Registering Voters: Add One, Take Away Two - Washington Post
Valley company at center of voter-registration probe - The Arizona Republic
Man Who Stashed Voter Registration Cards Charged With Felony - WCCO.com
Allegations of fraud in voter registration hit Oregon State - Oregon State Daily Barometer

Added:
Republican Dirty Tricks - AlterNet
Block the Vote - Paul Krugman, Washington Post

Will edit this post and add links as I find them.

[Shopaholic]

10. Flu vaccine debacle

[Hazelrah]

11. the old standby

When in doubt, whip “he’s a liberal” out.

And keep repeating it, repeating it, and repeating it.

So sad for them, don’t they know that the overly liberal use of the word liberal lessens its shock value.

-Hillary-loving, tree-hugging, phone-banking, newbie liberal

:evilgrin:

www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/9930394.htm?1c
www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2436663

[evilqueen]

12. Various Links

CBS cancels report on rationale for war - AP via Haaretz.com
Sinclair's airing of Kerry documentary smacks of bias - St. Petersburg Times
Powell Won't Stop Sinclair Anti-Kerry Program - TVTechnology.com
***Sinclair's Cynical Agenda - Progress Report, AmericanProgress.org
DISPATCHES: Fight fire with fire, not censorship - South Brunswick Post
Fox's political reporter raises ire of Democrats over fake quotes - The Seattle Times
Sinclair's slander - Boston Globe
____

A comment I saw online: "Anyone who compares this theft of public airways to the private financing of Fahrenheit 9/11 really needs to get their head screwed on straight. Asking someone to pay money to see your movie is one thing. Force feeding Americans propaganda films is straight out of Nazi Germany. What Sinclair is doing is not only horrendously immoral, but also circumvents the Federal Election Commission guidelines. It is now public knowledge that Sinclair has capped their allowed contribution to the Bush campaign. This blatant favoritism aside, they now want to get around the rules by donating airspace to this ill-disguised attempt of an extended Bush attack ad. It is disgusting to see Americans abused this way and to have others defending it as some sort of tit-for-tat. John Kerry had absolutely nothing to do with the making of Fahrenheit 9/11. George Bush and his campaign cronies have everything to do with this propaganda piece."
____

"Weeks after Texas National Guard officials signed an oath swearing they had turned over all of President Bush's military records, independent examiners found more than two dozen pages of previously unreleased documents about Bush." - Review finds more Bush military records - Boston Globe
***The new files are available here.

9-11 Commission - Ashcroft Smear Tactics - Progress Report, AmericanProgress.org

I will add more as I find them.

[Carolinian]

13. Don't forget Sinclair.

[evilqueen]

14. A Litany of Reasons for Going to War in Iraq

This may not seem related to the Bush campaign, but he does call himself a "wartime" president. I think he honestly believes and runs on the idea that the war will get him re-elected/sElected.


* Eliminating WMD : there were none to eliminate; weapons inspectors were pulled out before their job was completed to allow for the invasion

* UN Sanction Weren't Working : Blatantly untrue. Millions starved as Saddam skimmed off the Oil for Food program, but desperation was beginning to set in. In fact, there is reason to believe that just prior to the beginning of the war, he had offered to go along with any concessions the Bush administration demanded of him if they would cancel the planned war. He was ignored. Fact of the matter is, sanctions do work... see Gadafi/Libya situation (sanctions begun under the Clinton administration which have clearly worked very well and resulted in Libya disarming and attempting normalization).

* Combating Terrorism : if that was true, OBL would already be captured or killed; Iraq was not a center of terrorism until Bush made it one; Saddam's elimination did nothing to combat terror, in fact, it created a recruitment zone for MORE terrorists (prior to and in the aftermath of war, Iraqi and American borders and ports of entry (air, sea, land) are still not secured)

* Response to 9-11 : Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11, neither did Saddam; 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian, OBL was also Saudi Arabian (though located in Pakistan; ref. Tora Bora)

* The Promotion of Democracy : First of all, many of the top leaders of the current administration, particularly Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, happily embraced Hussein's dictatorship in the 1980s when Iraq was the enemy of our enemy (Iran), and thus considered our de facto friend. Further, the United States has developed close ties with the post-Soviet dictatorships in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan -- all ruled by Stalinist dictators who once served the Soviet empire. And there certainly is nothing even remotely democratic about Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, two of America's other close allies in the region.


A Few Possible Real (underlying) Reasons:

Oil : Iraq sits on top of the 2nd largest reserve in the world (behind Saudi Arabia); many in the current administration are connected to the oil business, either thru past employment or current holdings. Ever seen the price per barrel as high as it is now? Guess who is profiting? 'Nuff said.

Government Contracts : reconstruction, oil well firefighting and pipeline equipment, support services, military spending (defense contractors), etc. Billions of dollars up for grabs in no-bid contracts and no accountability over how the money is spent.

Military Bases : US military strategists have hinted for some time that a major goal of war was to establish several bases in Iraq, particularly given the ongoing military withdrawal from Saudi Arabia. Permanent US military bases in Iraq are necessary to protect Caspian as well as Middle East oil sources.

The "Hero" Image : It is well known that Bush has a romantic, almost comicbook reverence for World War II. This is his ego trip. Remember that cinematically presented landing on the aircraft carrier and the speech under the "Mission Accomplished" banner? Nothing must interfere with this faked imagery, including allegations about Bush being AWOL or his spotty National Guard military records. Of particular interest to scholars digging into this topic are Bush's pay stubs during this period (which actually show that he didn't complete his obligation) and the lack of medals he would have earned (and that would have appeared in his records) if he had completed his military obligation.

Feel free to chime in and make additions. :)

[CaptainCorc]

15. And in the category of stupid media tricks.......

Virtually anything on Fox News of course. This morning on Tony Snow:

1. Charles Krauthammer incensed over a speech Edwards gave about stem cell research in which he said something along the lines of "there's no proof that embryonic stem cells will supply a cure for anything" and I guess by extension that means there shouldn't be an expansion of research to find out if they will. Or something. Edwards was a bit dramatic talking about how people in wheelchairs will be able to get out of those wheelchairs and walk etc.....it may have been a bit hyperbolic but Krauthammer said it was (again please allow for the chance I'm not quoting exactly) "the worst example of demagoguery I've seen in 25 years". If those are not his exact words I can guarantee that he did say demagoguery and the time frame was 25 years.

2. Some guy with more on the Saddam/Osama connection. You didn't think Fox would give up on that one did you?

3. I can't claim to have seen every swiftboat commercial so i don't know if this is a new one or not, but it shows a bunch of guys standing around (one of whom appears to be wearing a Medal of Honor) while the voiceover talks about how these great Americans felt compelled to tell the truth about John Kerry....the voice doesn't say much about what that truth might be--the only outright claim is that John Kerry called these men war criminals.

These items assaulted me in the 10 minutes it took me to find something else to watch.

[sandnsea]

16. Kerry health care an albatross

When Bush is proposing health clinics in every county in America, fully staffed health clinics, not shot clinics. And Kerry's plan is government health care that will cost too much??????

[CaptainCorc]

17. And in the category of voter registration shenigans....

Here's something from our friends at Fox News:

LAS VEGAS — Elections officials have rebuffed an attempt by a former GOP operative to purge about 17,000 Democrats from the voter rolls in the battleground state of Nevada, where the two presidential candidates are in a dead heat.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,135334,00.html

Of course Fox is legendary for their fair and balanced approach to the news (shucks, they even modestly admit that themselves) so here's a story about rabid Dem union thugs intimidating voters:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,135143,00.html

Another story about Glenda Hood in Florida:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134844,00.html

And a story headlined "Voter Registration Drives Partisan Fight:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134287,00.html

And well...there's a whole combo box full of stories about voter registration at:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,135502,00.html

And please don't flame me for looking at the Fox News site. I assure you i did it in the spirit of raiding the enemy camp for items to use against them. And if you didn't catch the sarcasm in the part i wrote about "fair and balanced" i promise to be more heavy handed next time.

[CaptainCorc]

18. Another Florida story....found in a Blue Nomad post

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FLORIDA_FELONS_VOTING?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

This one features Jeb

[PerfectSage]

19. Signs of GOP desperation links

-Bush and Rove spent months and $100 million to convince voters that Kerry was weak and unprincipled. The debates showed the senator to be every bit the president's equal and more. The Republican attack message may no longer be believed. Worse still for Rove, an attempt to portray Kerry as a Massachusetts liberal with a left-wing voting record out of the mainstream may be a case of too little too late. After all, if you've been campaigning for months on Kerry's lack of ideology, it's even more difficult to change your story and accuse him of being too ideological. The Republicans are contradicted by their previous argument.

-If Kerry has any skeletons whatsoever in his closet, we'll all know about them by Nov. 2.
-Oct suprise-eg capture/kill OBL

http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_uselection/dix_20041015.html

-Lynne Chenny refering to Kerry: There was a saying in her home state of Wyoming for people like Kerry, she told a crowd of Republicans in Pennsylvania who had just watched the third presidential debate in a dimly lit hotel ballroom. 'When you keep trying to make something look good and it is not so good, you call it putting lipstick on a pig,' she snarled to the crowd's raucous laughter.

-Kerry was a man, Bream said, who would take away America's cherished freedoms. 'The Democrats are the ones who want to burn the flag,' he said 'They want to push abortion, they want to push sex for teens.' His bloodcurdling language did not stop there. In the rural woods and farms of Pennsylvania, hunting is huge; most households own guns. 'We need to make sure that you tell your hunting buddies and let them know that I guarantee that John Kerry and John Edwards will be trying to take away your guns,' Bream declared.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/comment/story/0,14259,1329373,00.html

Campaigning in an area heavily dependent on the military, Bush said, ``We will not have an all-volunteer army'' before correcting himself. ``Let me restate that,'' he continued. ``We will not have a draft ... . The best way to avoid a draft is to vote for me.''
Polls show that a majority of young voters believe Bush would reinstitute the draft, despite the president's denials.

Bush appealed to Florida's large Jewish population by signing a bill requiring the State Department to document attacks on Jews around the world. The department had opposed the measure, calling it unnecessary.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4556327,00.html

[blondeatlast]

20. Read this great MSNBC story about Rove and his "uncooperative"

client:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6262475

Thanks to DUer Montana500 for pointing me to the story.