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<p>ERIC BURNS, HOST:    This week, "FOX News Watch" Segment One: the media and the John Kerry rumors: the scandal that wasn't.  ... When it started out a week ago Thursday, on the Drudge Report (search), on the Internet, it seemed like a bombshell. Five days later, when "The New York Times" (search) got around to mentioning on it page 19, it was a fizzle.  We begin today by asking whatever happened to the rumors that John Kerry had an extramarital affair?  Neal... Excerpted--click for full article.</p>

<p>CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) -- While acknowledging that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, President Bush on Thursday delivered an impassioned defense of his decision to invade the country and topple the regime of Saddam Hussein, saying the world was now safer.</p>

Columnists' Corner "I Have a Really, Really Sad Story to Tell" By "JohnHuang2" The Recession, which served for 10 memorable quarters as larger-than-life folk hero for millions of Democrats, died Thursday due to complications from low interest rates and chronic tax cuts. Well, actually (if you want to get technical about it) it really died back in July, the beginning of the Third Quarter, but news of its tragic demise was withheld pending notification of next of kin, Tom Daschle, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather. The Commerce Department made the harrowing news official Thursday, announcing the economy...

Columnists' Corner "The U.N. Vote -- A Heavy Blow For Democrats" By "JohnHuang2" In a heavy blow to Democrats, the U.N. Security Council Thursday adopted by unanimous vote a U.S.-drafted resolution inviting support for efforts in transforming Baghdad from east Los Angeles on a typical night to peaceful Chicago on a typical night. (No word yet on whether Al Gore will demand a recount). Passage of the measure, which puts the U.N. stamp of approval on evil neo-con warmongering against peaceful Arab leaders like Saddam, is seen in Democrat circles as evidence evil neo-con warmongerers have finally taken over...

FRN Columnists' Corner "Aren't You Glad The Democrats Aren't In Charge?" By "JohnHuang2"Can the recent economic upswing get even worse? For the fragile recession, already teetering on the edge of recovery, the grim handwriting is on the wall. Like Madonna or Maureen Dowd, the recession has clearly seen better days. But it's more than just a rough patch. The recent spate of economic reports point to a crumbling recession, dashing Democrat hopes for '04. The tumbling recession -- blamed on a nasty outbreak of consumer confidence and business spending bred by lower taxes and interest rates -- make '04 Democrats...

FRN Columnists' Corner "Dean, Ketchup and Audiotape" by JohnHuang2In a newly aired audiotape purportedly of Saddam's voice, Saddam's voice hotly denies involvement in the "deadly car bombing (Friday) in the holiest Iraqi Shiite Muslim city of Najaf," CBS News reports this week. U.S. Democrats, like Saddam, were also highly skeptical of Saddam involvement. Or al-Qaeda involvement. Or Fedayeen involvement. Or Sunni involvement. Democrats won't rule out Schwarzenegger, under attack from campaign rivals after giving a magazine interview only 26 short years ago about sex parties and dope-smoking only 26 short years ago. Iraq was the perfect diversion for Arnie. Hurricane...

<p>"Recession's Woes Grow"</p> <p>An already pathetically sluggish recession was hammered further Tuesday as the "number of new housing units started in July [soaring] 1.5 percent from the previous month to 1.872 million units, the highest level since April 1986," CBS News Market Watch reports, citing the Commerce Department. Dealing the recession a heavy blow, the report indicates that, "Compared to July of last year, housing starts rose 12.4 percent."</p> <p>Plunging the recession even deeper into crisis, the wave in new home construction activity appeared broad-based, gripping "all regions of the country except the West," added Market Watch.</p>

FRN Columnists' Corner "The Recession's Growing Credibility Gap" by JohnHuang2For Democrats, especially '04 wannabes, a once promising recession appears increasingly mired in quagmire. Deepening quagmire. By almost every key measure, from rising personal income to falling weekly initial jobless claims, the recession is struggling badly. Democrat campaign strategists had hoped the recession would be a 1-termer lasting all 4 years of Bush's tenure, then resigning from public service in January, 2005 as a new Democrat president gets sworn in. This is the rosey scenario, or cakewalk theory. The hope was that the recession would unseat Bush as it did his...

FRN Columnists' Corner "Out! Political Opportunity for Dems?" by JohnHuang2Lights Frustration and resentment boiled over all across the northeastern U.S., battered Thursday by the biggest power outage in history, zapping traffic lights, elevators, subways, and nuclear power plants from New York to Michigan amid blistering summer heat. Worse than the blackout of 1996 which cut power to millions in 9 western states in the heat of summer, federal and state officials however stressed there was no evidence the power failure involved sabotage. "One thing I can say for certain," said the President in California, "this was not the work of...

FRN Columnists' Corner "I, Gore. And I hate Bush! " by JohnHuang2Saddam is the victim of a smear campaign based on trumped up weapons charges by a President with no compunction for heaving unseemly accusations, said Al Gore Thursday in a sweeping policy address blasting the White House on issues ranging from Iraq to Iraq, including Iraq. Speaking before a militant audience of internet Fedayeenies at New York University, Gore condemned White House attempts to discredit Saddam by linking Saddam to al-Qaeda and 9/11, lamenting the guilt by association tack has left lasting but "false impressions" in "the public mind"...

FRN Columnists' Corner "Arnold is In!" by JohnHuang2 "Arnold Schwarzeneggar ended the suspense Wednesday and jumped into the race for California governor," reports The Associated Press, just as extremely reliable sources had not predicted. Only moments before, the Associated Press said Arnold Schwarzenegger would end the suspense and not jump into the race for California governor. All week, ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/MSNBC, citing very, very, very, very "reliable sources," had been saying that Schwarzenegger would end the suspense and not jump into the race for California governor. Not content with getting just one prediction wrong, those very, very "reliable sources" are at it...

FR Columnists' Corner ""New `Sexed-up' D.N.C. ad: Will it work?"" by JohnHuang2Democrats are set to launch a major TV ad blitz accusing U.S. Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush of peddling "misleading" information on the nuclear threat posed by now deposed Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, according to published reports. The Democrat National Committee, seizing the initiative as recent polls show support for Bush collapsing -- his job-approval plummeting in one month from 61 percent to 59 percent in the latest CNN/USA Today Gallup poll -- "has been raising money through an e-mail campaign that began July 10 to help finance the ad,...

FR Columnists' Corner "Where's my yellowcake?! " by JohnHuang2"George W. Bushs personal credibility was under threat as senior Democrats used the Niger uranium controversy to attack him and demand a public inquiry into the affair," reports London's Independent newspaper this week. "The issue of whether President Bush knowingly misled the public is fast becoming his government's first scandal," the paper adds. This would be the very "first scandal" after the Bush-Wants-To-Put-Arsenic-In-Your-Drinking-Water `scandal,' the Enron `scandal,' the Halliburton `scandal,' the Arthur Andersen `scandal,' the `Secret'-Energy-Task-Force `scandal,' the BUSH-KNEW-ABOUT-9/11-BEFORE-9/11-BUT-DID-NOTHING- TO-PREVENT-IT! `scandal,' the No-Weapons-of-Mass-Destruction `scandal,' the Baghdad Museum `scandal,' Top-Gun-Landing-On-U.S.-Carrier `scandal,' the `Bring-'em-On!'...

Forgive this vanity, but one of the highlights of FR is the commentary by "JohnHuang2". It is cogent, focused, and far better than any of the drivel on Slate (does that site even exist anymore?) Should not the Freepmeister JohnHuang2 be given his own dedicated page?