The Guild 7-22-2004 Revenge on the Chatty Cathy crowd

PageSix/Gawker.com

[Timeout]

Re: the JFK angle.

I'm always on the lookout for Effin's affectation of the Kennedy mystique. It's apparent to all of us that he's led his much of his life with the "camera's eye" in mind.

Yesterday one of the networks was doing their usual "bio" thing before the convention. They used extensive images of John Heinz' funeral: flag-draped coffin, Tereza in black, veiled, holding the hands of her young children.

I couldn't help but wonder whether those images entered into Effin's calculations.

[mountaineer]

WHAT should have been a slam dunk for John Edwards was instead a bitter pill for his supporters. A crowd of about 500 eager young Democrats had packed into Chelsea's Crobar last Wednesday for a fund-raiser, expecting to see not only the Democratic veep nominee but also the Beastie Boys and Kerry's stepson Chris Heinz.

Earlier in the day, the Kerry-Edwards New York campaign office had confirmed the rappers and Heinz would speak at the event — but the kids who had shelled out a minimum of $50 to attend had to content themselves with only a Kwame Jackson sighting. Finally, after keeping everyone waiting for over an hour, Edwards was hastily introduced by his 21-year-old daughter, Cate, then took the stage to the tune of Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" and spoke for a mere 20 minutes.

The whole event was over and done with in a speedy 45 minutes, leaving his fans even more resentful.

Event organizers explained later that the Beasties had all stayed home with lead singer Mike D's new baby. [Earning at least 'honorable mention' in the Lamest Excuses competition]

Meanwhile, Kerry staffers told attendees privately that Heinz had gotten stuck in Pittsburgh — but our spies spotted the ketchup heir watching from Crobar's second-floor balcony. NY Post

______________

These people have no more respect for their supporters than they do for the nation as a whole. Another case in point, the way Kerry is dissing Massachusetts politicos: 'NO-SHOW JOHN' BURNS BEANTOWN by Howie Carr.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Detroit News Voter Guide

I am so angry at the Detroit News right now. I was asked to submit answers to 5 questions for the voter guide which appears in today's news. I had well researched and documented answers, but when I submitted my replies, the News told me that I had to limit my responses to 1000 words per question. I had to hack away at my answers and was disappointed that I couldn't make all my points.

If you click on my link you will see my opponent's answers. Far more than 1000 words. Also, she was allowed to submit a color photo and didn't have to state her age and religion, all things that can count against me.

Feel free to write the Detroit News about their bias against Republicans.

Sorry for my rant, but this is blatant unfairness.

[lodwick]

[Earning at least 'honorable mention' in the Lamest Excuses competition]
***
Your commentary should be much more widely disseminated.

Good job, M.

[BigWaveBetty]

I hope you saved your orginal, demand they reprint the "guide" with your full answers.

[lodwick]

So much for fair and balanced...

[BigWaveBetty]

The hubris that emanates from that crowd is nauseating but it does make for really funny AP stories that can cause gut busting laughter. Here's one now! Some of the funnier lines:

In 1963, John Kerry was just a college kid looking for adventure on a summer abroad. Traveling on better wheels than most, there were Kerry and a buddy exploring Europe in a low-slung Austin Healy, racing against an Alfa Romeo on the twisting road to Nice, chasing a Porsche across Italy.

The gendarmes caught him in Monte Carlo: Kerry, so intent on retracing the course of the Grand Prix that he headed the wrong direction on a one-way street.

“John had to do those types of things,” says his travel companion and longtime friend Harvey Bundy.

Even the youthful hijinks of John Kerry had an extra element of intensity about them. [snippy snip]

...as Kerry windsurfs Naushon Island in a full-on Northeastern gale or silences a campaign heckler by declaring: “I never run away from anything, especially George Bush.”

William Stanberry, Kerry’s debate-team partner at Yale, says Kerry’s interest in the presidency was clear even in college.

“I couldn’t help admire the gall, in a way, of someone who had such a clearly stated long-term objective,” he recalls. “To some extent it was impressive, and to some extent almost ridiculous.” [snippy snip]

On waffling:

He has this good and bad characteristic to describe at length the things that he sees,” said former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., who served with Kerry in Congress. “Sometimes he can give you the impression that he’s on two sides of an issue. He’s not.”

As a 27-year-old war protester who captured the attention of a nation, Kerry told a “60 Minutes” interviewer in 1971 that when he went to Vietnam, “I was gung-ho in a certain sense but had doubts in another sense.”

He came home from war, he said, with “a tremendous amount of hope” but also “a certain depression.”

Watching Kerry debate an issue can be “a little bit like at a tennis match, watching the ball going back and forth,” says David Leiter, his former chief of staff. “He is curious. ... He’s engaged and thoughtful. He always struggles to get it right.”

Adds Blakely Bundy: “He doesn’t think in black and white. He thinks in shades of gray because he is so knowledgeable.”

The nuance that typifies Kerry’s public statements is there as well in his life portrait, which is painted with blended colors and dappled brushstrokes rather than sharp lines.

He is the promising young man of Brahmin bloodlines who managed to attend an elite prep school only through the largesse of a generous aunt. [this is killing me! there's so much that's funny] [again with snippy]

That funny, self-deprecating side of Kerry, and his warm, generous side — which friends say are his true persona — doesn’t always come across in public. Voters too often see him as remote, standoffish.

“Have you had a beer with me yet?” Kerry protested when a local reporter once asked about his reputation for aloofness. “I like to have fun as much as the next person, and go out and hack around and have a good time.”

What would someone learn about him if they did go out for that beer, he is asked later.

“You just have to do it,” he insists. “You just have to have fun, let your hair down, relax, laugh, kick some jokes around, have a good time — talk about something other than this.” Link

I'm stopping here, if I don't you'll have the equivalent of the toon's book on your comment page so I'll leave you with this lovely... but when you can, please go read the rest, it's begging to be picked apart.

Calling all Guilders, it's have fun with John Effin' Kerry time!

[mountaineer]

High-priced prep schools, European vacations and zippy sports cars, all on other people's dimes. Now it's high-priced presidential campaigning, bicycles and other manly toys, on the wife's dime. Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose avec Jean-Francois Al-Qerry.

[BigWaveBetty]

There's film of Teresa and the kids at the funeral? Imagine Kerry's disappointment if there had been no cameras to record the event.

This is the book I've been waiting for.

"American Solider" by General Tommy Franks

Regan Books, is using the tag line... "The Man Who Will Tell You the Truth."

This book is loaded with revelations about the Iraq war. Loaded.

It is a whale which will splash all the water out of the pool, and leave the book publishing minnows flopping on the lawn.

I can't reveal the revelations — I promised not to break the embargo — but I can tell you Gen. Franks' book will change the political debate in this country in a few important ways.

He will tell us why we believed WMDs were in Iraq, who told us they were there and why it was believable. He will tell us how foreign nations left us hanging out to dry, breaking their promises to help. Full story

[Timeout]

Watch for one apparently well-tested-focus-group word in all of Kerry's speeches: "STRUGGLE". He uses it constantly.

I look forward to Gen. Franks' book. (But suspect the media will give it little coverage unless he's hyper-partisan---which I doubt he'll do.)

[Endeavor]

Not in that outfit she wore the other night. It was one of those Neru numbers.

[Endeavor]

Elizabeth looks like the Michelin tire guy in that photo.

[lodwick]

Heheh - good afternoon up there.

CenTex is baking, but there's hope of a cooling front soon.

I hope.

[daisyscarlett]

I liked your responses for the Detroit News voting guide but it was very flagrant of them to let your opponent not follow the rules.

How are you polling? Have you been to any black churches. If you do go to an evangelical church, be it black or white, I do hope you show more emotion and enthusiasm than JFK. I have been to black and white evangelical services (sometimes under duress), yet the music and passion has always moved me and I have never sat through a service so totally uninvolved as this dude appears to be.

[lodwick]

Our first embalmed candidate.

[mountaineer]

Effin is a man of deep faith, dontcha know.

[BigWaveBetty]

(But suspect the media will give it little coverage

They might not have a choice because of the republican convention. Each time our side gets the indignant sneer accompanied by a (you name it) question about Iraq they can refer to Gen. Franks' book. :-)

On cspan yesterday a focus group from Ohio that consisted of 12 people, 4 had their minds made up, 8 undecided, was one of the most frustrating things to watch, ever. One lady said she might lean toward Bush because he's a strong leader, decisive and other relative terms, then in the next breath said he acted too quickly on Iraq. About half the group agreed with those opinions. ???!!!

There was a lot of moaning about jobs and Bush hasn't done anything for ME kind of jargon but they couldn't come up with a reason to vote for Kerry. There wasn't much to smile about with this group except on one question and their answer to the word was universal (a couple had synonyms). Give me one word or phrase that describes this person: bill clinton. Answer: AMORAL

Even this group of fence sitters could agree on that. There's your legacy bill, enjoy!

[Endeavor]

I wish you luck. It's that time of year. However, for whatever reason, we've had a very mild summer up here. I can't figure it out. I'm heading for Maine on Friday for three solid weeks of sailing and then more sailing and they've had an incredibly mild summer - lots of rain and cool weather. I'm bringing my foul weather gear and hope August turns a bit warmer and drier -- for Maine! I haven't decided yet whether I'm coming back. And I'm not kidding.

[lodwick]

Until the last couple of weeks, we had unseasonably cool (relatively) and wet weather - and then, blammo! SUMMER, as we know it here.

Safe and happy sailing to ya - find a connection, and keep us posted of your adventures.

[daisyscarlett]

I have decided that Kerry is just plain exhausted which is why he is so inert at the black church. As we have all noted, he does not have any stamina at all and anyone who thinks he can campaign for three months without breaks is wrong. (Teresa needs to share some of those "vitamins" she takes.)

W, on the other hand, loves to campaign and is looking forward to campaigning most of August. He will take a break and go to Maine for George P.'s wedding. As someone noted, W loves his ranch but he loves winning even more.

He sure looks relaxed here, talking to Lance Armstrong on the phone....

President Bush (news - web sites) congratulates Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong via the telelphone from his ranch in Crawford, Sunday, July 25, 2004. (AP Photo/Official White House photo, Eric Draper)