[robowombat]

"the Bush-haters do not mean to be denied. They smell blood, and they mean to produce it. And fairness is not part of their vocabulary. It will be an ugly Fall."

[veronica]

It's infuriating. But Bush can be heard above the din, if he tries hard enough, and often enough. So far, I don't think he has done so.

[PhiKapMom]

Speaking of 527 groups and MoveOn.org. Please read the following especially the last two sentences! All - A friend of mine is on MoveOn.org email list to follow what the enemy is doing and just received this (30 June). Check out the bottom of the email. This is an obvious coordinated message since the Kerry campaign approved the message (see end of email) which we believe is against the law! What do you think? Isn't this against CFR? Sharon From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn PAC" Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 14:53:58 To: xxxxxxx Subject: Send Kerry a message before his deadline Tomorrow night marks a critical fundraising deadline for the Kerry campaign. Send him the message that progressives support him and want him to fight for our values by contributing now at: Dear MoveOn member, Fahrenheit 9/11's record-breaking box office sweep this weekend is just the latest indication that times are changing. A new poll released this morning finds President Bush with lower job approval than at any time in his presidency. Thanks to your hard work and inspiring activism, we stand a better chance of firing George Bush than we ever have. This is the moment for us to send Kerry a powerful message, one he'll want to hear. The more we show Kerry that real people with strong, progressive values are key to his success, the more strongly he'll fight for our values as President. Of course, those values include everything from opposing Bush's policy of endless war to making sure our kids have a real chance at success -- through good schools, affordable health care, and a strong economy. Given a critical fundraising deadline tomorrow night, it's an especially good time to reinforce that we value this kind of leadership from John Kerry. Help send this message now by giving to his campaign through the link below, which will track donations from MoveOn PAC members and put a progressive stamp on our funds. https://contribute.johnkerry.com/contribute.html?team=2566 Already, we may have had a dramatic impact, encouraging Kerry to stake out a leadership position. Not long after we called on Kerry to go big, he released a bold new health care plan that would provide coverage for millions of Americans without health care. Just a few short months ago, as the primary season drew to a close, few people thought that John Kerry could match George W. Bush's massive campaign war chest, filled to the brim by Bush Pioneers who each raise hundreds of thousands of dollars from their wealthy friends. We have proven that conventional wisdom wrong. Small donors, hundreds of thousands of us, have helped ensure that John Kerry's campaign to beat George Bush is competitive. And our small donations have helped the Kerry campaign get a strong message out to undecided voters across the country about Bush's failed policies and Kerry's own plans for America's future. Contributions from grassroots activists like us have helped shape the course of the 2004 campaign and have changed political history. We have shown that the average college student, senior citizen, or working person contributing $25 or $50 can have a real impact in a presidential election campaign. And through our dollars, as donors and supporters, we are sending a message about the new direction we want for our country and the kind of progressive message and issues we want John Kerry to emphasize in his campaign, and in his presidency. The next few weeks will be the Kerry campaign's last opportunity to accept and spend individual donations. After he accepts the nomination at the Democratic Convention on July 29th, he is legally obligated to begin the Presidential Public Funding period, and will have approximately $75 million to spend to run his campaign between August and November. After July 29th, his campaign will no longer be allowed to accept or spend individual contributions from the public. Because the Republican Convention begins nearly a full month after the Democratic Convention, George Bush and the Republicans will have an extra month to raise and spend money attacking Kerry. While Kerry will be at a distinct disadvantage in August, contributing today -- and inviting others to join us -- will help minimize the effect. That's why the Kerry campaign needs your help today. If you can, please consider giving $25, $50, $100 or more today at: https://contribute.johnkerry.com/contribute.html?team=2566 Sincerely, --Eli Pariser MoveOn PAC June 29th, 2004 PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC Authorized by John Kerry for President, Inc.

[G.Mason]

" It will be an ugly Fall."

Yaaawwwwwwnnnnnn ..............

Just wake from a 12 year nap Richard?

[dirtboy]

Very good analysis. Thanks for the post.

[ohioWfan]

The President’s re-election will depend on two principal factors: the continued strength of the economy, and a situation that does not get any worse overseas in Iraq or elsewhere.

Adding a third, and the only one that counts, IMO........ God's will, and HIS supremacy over evil.

Pray for this election.

[Badeye]

"At some point Kerry will be forced to surface; certainly he cannot hide during the debates. Americans then will be able to make a judgment, free of media spin. Watch closely for any move to gin-up a dispute which would derail the now-traditional Presidential debates.

But the Bush-haters do not mean to be denied. They smell blood, and they mean to produce it. And fairness is not part of their vocabulary. It will be an ugly Fall."

Kerry is a fundementally flawed candidate, and I doubt he will come close to beating the President when we finally get the opportunity to vote.

What I think many are missing is whats happening to the New York Times. Its dying before our very eyes, and its by its own hand.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Many American newspapers and other media organs -- especially the network news broadcasts -- get their leads and inspiration from the Times. Another way of saying this is that these other organizations are lazy. They copy, rather than create. Since the major network new shows and their anchors share the editorial sympathies of the New York Times, including of course their Presidential preference, the same patterns of omission and commission in the Times, are repeated later in the day on television.

But a better way of putting it is that the Constitution rules out government censorship of journalism because journalism is just politics, and cannot be otherwise. That means that broadcast journalism, based as it is on the censorship of the many without broadcast licenses in favor of the government-favored few who do, has a core lack of legitimacy and perforce must herd together with the biggest print journalisms to create a pseudo-objective consensus.

It is possible to evaluate the perspective of any given journalism, be it The New York Times or the Fox News Channel, only from a historical perspective. From a historical perspective it is easy to see that the Democratic Party has been anti military since John Kerry threw the idea of honor in military medals over the White House fence. And it is easy to see that journalism supported the Democratic Party in that position. And it is easy to see that those whom the journalists and other Democrats labeled "Right Wing Cold Warriors" were vindicated by history.

The only conclusion is that "objective journalism" is a cabal of those who uses their propaganda power to define the term. And that that cabal has no historical record of actual objectivity. And that government-sponsored (broadcast) journalism which propagandizes to the effect that it is objective but which has no record of actual objectivity is illegitimate propaganda.

Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

There are advantages to incumbency that Bush will need to use to match the media onslaught he will face. Fortunately for Bush, Kerry appears to lack basic human warmth. The Kerry campaign has caught on to this, and Kerry has receded to the background for months, as the Democratic attack machine has attempted to make the campaign all about Bush, as if anybody else (even Kerry) will do. At some point Kerry will be forced to surface; certainly he cannot hide during the debates. Americans then will be able to make a judgment, free of media spin. Watch closely for any move to gin-up a dispute which would derail the now-traditional Presidential debates.

The presidential debates are not a noble tradition because they are moderated by "objective" journalist(s) who are positioned above the present and (the) future POTUS. Since the institution of the debates they have failed to embarass an incumbent standing for reelection only when the shameless x42 was standing for reelection.

Being on live TV they tend to place great emphasis on appearance rather than substance. It is for instance no accident that no bald man has been nominated to the presidency since the institution of the televised debates.

The broadcast time allotted to the debates is too short. Combined with the moderation of the journalist(s), that puts excessive pressure on the Republican to avoid the "gaffe."

In sum, the TV "debates" amount to an audition for the TV role of "president" rather than a realistic test of actual presidential temperament and prudence. All very well, when the Republic is blessed with a Ronald Reagan who is well suited to the position of POTUS and also well suited to audition for the TV role of "president" - but otherwise an x42 administration is all too easily the result.

The solution to that is to conduct the debates on the radio rather than on TV, to conduct them as true unmoderated debates with microphone time equalized by a chess timer, and to conduct them in a long form - perhaps 3 hours. Rush Limbaugh should produce them.

[tobyhill]

While I believe the Liberals have exposed most their Bush Bashing weapons in the media, there is one that never gets mentioned. Warren Buffet! Warren Buffet owns 18% of the Washington Post and is a Director for the paper. Most of the biggest "represented" polls come from the Washington Post/Wall Street Journal Polls. Warren Buffet is a financial Adviser to Kerry and has directed the use of any means to end Bush's position as President. I believe this could be an issue with concerns of poll rigging or campaign kickbacks. While this is very possible it has not been proved but should be viewed as possible. While Fox uses it's own polling, other media outlets use WP/WS Polls. After reading the FEC regulations, in my opinion, Warren Buffet can not receive benefits from campaign advertising through a source he owns. I have contacted the FEC and have expressed my concern with possibilities of conflict of interest with Kerry and Buffet and was advised that unless they receive other complaints they can not investigate the possibility although they did state it is possible.