A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....08-05-04....Take this Bounce and Shove it!

JohnHuang2;Dutchess;Billie | JohnHuang2

[dutchess]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_bear, Dutchess, Aquamarine

Take this Bounce and Shove it!

by JohnHuang2

Regarding Kerry's convention speech last week (you know, the one where he said he defended America in Vietnam after those 19 Vietcong hijackers crashed jets into . . . oops, never mind), Washington Post reporter David Broder wrote in a column Sunday that "preliminary indications are that it worked well, not just inside the FleetCenter and here in his hometown (in Boston), but with many in the national audience. The first feedback I heard was almost uniformly positive." (The feedback consisted of, 'Wow, he finally broke his silence about serving in Vietnam!)

Richard Cohen, another Post columnist, columnized Sunday that Kerry presented "a package that can only be called presidential. He came across as thoughtful and smart and experienced and, critically important, personally compelling." (No wonder the delegates loved his lengthy speech so much. You should've seen the standing ovation Kerry got when he said, "In closing . . . ")

Los Angeles Times reporter, Ronald Brownstein, declared the speech a terrific success, noting that Kerry, sounding "confident and combative," had "signaled his determination to fight the fall campaign on terrain that the White House has long assumed would belong to President Bush: Strength, integrity, values and the prosecution of the war on terror." Indeed, at the convention, Democrats packed the stage with retired generals and admirals, and, to show they're really strong on defense, not once did delegates call them 'War Pigs!' nor 'Baby Killers!' It was a remarkable show of restraint. (And, speak of restraint, did you see Teresa on Tuesday night? Pundits called her "warm," "spectacular," "likable," "sexy." For John Kerry, no doubt Teresa was love at first Billion.)

In his speech, Kerry vowed to "bring back this nation's time-honored tradition" that the U.S. "never goes to war because we want to, we only go to war because we have to," like Kerry did regarding Iraq. Kerry voted for war, not because he wanted to, but because he had to -- he had to avoid looking like Dukakis. Then he changed his mind and voted against it -- the funding, anyway. (Democrats want Bush to confess that taking down Saddam was a mistake, a crime of passion and plead temporary insanity to avoid impeachment.)

Doyle McManus, another L.A. Times reporter, declared Kerry's speech a terrific success. TV "ratings for his acceptance speech" were "strong"; Kerry got a "wave of generally positive news coverage" and the speech conveyed "a message that a Kerry administration would be strong on defense in the struggle against terrorism." (Kerry would be so strong against terror, al-Qaeda plans to disrupt our elections just to get that warmonger from Massachusetts elected to liven things up.) With the speech, "Kerry largely succeeded at the tasks he set for himself at the convention," wrote McManus.

Kerry so largely succeeded, he largely succeeded in giving Bush a 5 point bounce, a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll shows. (Gallup is deemed "the historic standard" in tracking convention bounces, noted Deborah Orin of the New York Post Monday.) Bush now leads Kerry among likely voters, 51%-47%. Kerry led Bush by 2 points before Kerry 'largely succeeded' in Boston last week. Kerry's speech was effective -- it improved voters' opinion of Bush as President, boosting their willingness to vote for Bush. Millions of voters were moved by Kerry's speech to vote for Bush. The convention gave Bush the biggest lift he could have hoped from a Democrat convention that 'largely succeeded.' Kerry emerged from his 'largely successful' convention with the party unified -- the Republican Party. According to Gallup, "a relatively high proportion of Americans (gave) Kerry's acceptance speech stellar reviews," which all but assured Bush's support would go up. Kerry's speech did seem to bring voters closer together -- closer together against Kerry. (Maybe they should've delayed Kerry's speech to 2 a.m. to limit viewer-ship -- just a hunch.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

USA Today reports that "pollsters and strategists are puzzling over Kerry's failure" to produce any bounce for himself after "a convention that even critics acknowledge went almost precisely as planned." (Indeed, for example, Nielsen ratings showed high viewer-ship during the first half of Kerry's speech, though the high viewer-ship fell asleep during the second half.) Keen observers and campaign watchers have no idea why, after a week of Jimmy Carter, Al Sharton, Howard Dean and Ted Kennedy on primetime TV, no Bounce for Kerry has been found. Search crews have scoured polls for days but have failed to turn up any Bounce, the main rationale behind the convention. Experts insist that conventions have always had plenty of Bounce and urged patience. Eventually the Bounce will be found. Yet, questions continue to be raised: Did John Kerry lead his party into Boston based on lies that a Bounce will be found? Did Democrats go to convention on a false pretense? Or could the Bounce have been hidden? With Kerry's credibility at risk in the search for a Bounce, again, some hold out hope that a Bounce might yet be found.

John Harwood of the Wall Street Journal told Meet The Press Sunday that the reason Kerry didn't get the usual 6-7 point bounce is because voters have already made up their minds, and, anyway, these polls were taken "before the historical peak of these bounces," usually during the weekend, when "low information voters start "absorbing this information" (Honey, playback that convention tape one more time. That balloon-drop looked quite compelling), so expect Kerry to get the usual 6-7 point bounce. In other words, Kerry got no bounce because there aren't enough persuadable voters but, by Monday, Kerry will get a bounce because there are enough persuadable voters. It's not more complicated than that.

So, you'd think Bush would be basking in the glow of his post-convention bounce, resting on his laurels, right? Not a chance. Instead, he went right to work, on Monday endorsing creation of a post of National Intelligence Director and counterterrorism operations center, a move immediately denounced by Kerry as too little, too late. Kerry says he can fight a more effective war on terrorism because he served in Vietnam for four months. (In Vietnam, Kerry says he fought the war on communism and lost. So, to fight the war on terror and win -- who you gonna call? Trust me -- I'm your guy!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Monday, Kerry and the media angrily blasted Bush for not taking the threat of terror seriously enough, of not acting with sufficient urgency. More can be done, and must be done -- now! Call the Congress back and get the job done -- now! Ports, bridges, ships, buildings, infrastructure -- all should be secured . . . now! Hire more FBI -- now! The time to act is now, not later!

Frankly, I question the timing of this fearmongering by Kerry. I'm concerned that every time something happens that's not good for Kerry, he plays his 'trump card', which is fearmongering, and then out comes Howard Dean.

Kerry crowed that he endorsed the 9/11 Commission report as written before it was written. (Bush is a slowpoke! Bush is a slowpoke! Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyahhhh, nyah!)

Later on Monday, Democrats and the media angrily blasted Bush for exaggerating the threat of terror, of pushing fear for political gain, of acting as if there was some sort of urgency when there wasn't. The Department of Homeland Security on Sunday raised the threat alert level for financial centers in New York, New Jersey and the nation's capital, a move condemned as political by Democrats. Howard Dean told CNN he questioned the timing, accusing Bush of holding back the new information behind the heightened alert in order to blunt Kerry's post-convention Bounce that hasn't been found, when the right thing to do was to share the information as soon as it was uncovered -- in mid-July -- so that Dean could then accuse Bush of trying to blunt Kerry's pre-convention Bounce that had also never been found. (Notice how we're not talking about Kerry's warm, charming personality nor about the very shy, very quiet Teresa? hmmmmmm?)

Kerry, campaigning in Michigan, told CNN that, by moving so fast and not "reaching out to other countries" in fighting terrorism, "Bush is actually encouraging the recruitment of terrorists." (Bush, in 30-second recruitment ad, with thick Texas twang, says: 'Join al-Qaeda, See the World.') So, lemme get this straight: By killing and capturing so many al-Qaeda, Bush has forced al-Qaeda to recruit more al-Qaeda, in order to replenish al-Qaeda that Bush has killed or captured, or risk running out of al-Qaeda, and Kerry says this is something we should worry about. (I'm melting in fear like marshmallows.) And just think how safe we would be today if only Bush had retaliated more gently after 9/11. (I bet you thought Democrats were Blame-America-Firsters, didn't ya?)

Dean says he's "concerned that every time something happens that's not good for President Bush, he plays his trump card, which is terrorism, and then out comes Tom Ridge" and Condi Rice and Colin Powell and Dick Cheney . . . Yeeeaaaarggggh! Dean's remark should do wonders to reinforce his image as even-tempered, always thoughtful and self-controlled.

Question: Why does Dean say these things? Only a CAT scan of the head can answer.

;-)

Anyway, that's...

My two cents

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 08-02-04...Military Monday 08-03-04...Luvya, Dubya! (Countering the Baddest and Ugliest) 08-04-04...Blue Angels

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

CLICK

[Kitty Mittens]

My Lady Maggie, I've sure missed your posts! Hope you are having a lovely Thursday. :)

[Darksheare]

***I'm hiding***

[dutchess]

Thanks for stopping Taxman. Homerun essay indeed!

[Taxman]

The man does have a way with words!

[dutchess]

Hi Kitty Mittens and Maggie. I just LOVE John's essays too! Maggie..your two cents was GREAT

FredtheCat is still in hiding. We leave tomorrow for vacation "with the dogs" so she'll have the house back to herself with a cat lover checking in on her daily. Her very own "private vacation" LOL!

[dutchess]

Glad you liked the essay cricket. John helps keep us sane around here. Thanks for stopping in.

[dutchess]

Don't bury your Mother-in-Law in Israel

Now that was too funny. Good to see you around!

[dutchess]

Hi Billie. Sorry I missed you earlier. My internet connection kept zapping out at work PLUS last work day before a much needed 1 1/2 week vacation up to Michigan. Giz AND Rusty going with us. Should be interesting!

[dutchess]

Hi Gail. Hope your guy wins. Keep us informed. (and, as always, thanks for the coffee etc.!)

[dutchess]

Hi Lakeside...you have a great rest of today too!

[dutchess]

As we grow older, we can dwell on the failures and hardships of our past, or we can remember God’s faithfulness, accept His discipline, and keep looking to the future in faith. It’s the only way to avoid a bitter attitude. —Dennis De Haan

Worth repeating Rus. Thanks for posting ODB every day!

[dutchess]

We must not get overconfident, but I am now looking for a clean sweep.

Am praying (for our country) that that happens. I still remember 4 years ago like it was yesterday. Thank God that we had FR then!

[dutchess]

Hi Texagirl. John's essay's are the best. Glad you liked it!

[dutchess]

Awe darks...you don't need to hide here. BTW, looks like quite a party you all had with the pipster the other day LOL!

((((((pippin))))))

[dutchess]

I think the Dem convention would have had a more spectacular ending if they had dropped, instead of balloons, several thousands of Kerry's Vietnam medals.

LOL...that creates such a visual...where's aqua's graphic of kerry tossing his medal when we need it :O)

[dutchess]

Have to run...need to get packing for our "summer vacation"...Hope to be back later.

As always John..awesome essay!!!

[Darksheare]

But.. I'm always hiding.
Next I'll be disguised as a plant.
Probably a ficus tree.
And drop leaves everywhere..
..on second thought, scratch that one.

[firewalk]

Hello LadyX (-:
thanks for the ping

[Dubya]

Working a lot of hours. We bought a fixer upper house and doing a little work on it. Will have it ready to rent soon. I could have had it ready but I just been fooling around with it.

[Dubya]

The Purple Hat

Share this with your women friends....the message pertains to everyone one of us!

In honor of women's history month and in memory of Erma Bombeck who lost her fight with cancer. Here is an angel sent to watch over you. Pass this on to five women that you want watched over. If you don't know five women to pass this on to, one will do just fine.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck

(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's." More "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it ... live it and never give it back. Stop sweating the small stuff.

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what.

Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with. And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally. I hope you all have a blessed day.

Beautiful Women's Month

Age 3: She looks at herself and sees a Queen.

Age 8: She looks at herself and sees Cinderella.

Age 15: She looks at herself and sees an Ugly Sister (Mum I can't go to school looking like this!)

Age 20: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly"- but decides she's going out anyway.

Age 30: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" - but decides she doesn't have time to fix it, so she's going out anyway.

Age 40: She looks at herself and sees "clean" and goes out anyway.

Age 50: She looks at herself and sees "I am" and goes wherever she wants to go.

Age 60: She looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see themselves in the mirror anymore. Goes out and conquers the world.

Age 70: She looks at herself &sees wisdom, laughter and ability, goes out and enjoys life.

Age 80: Doesn't bother to look. Just puts on a purple hat and goes out to have fun with the world.