Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 - Just last week, Stanley Greenberg was the polling mastermind guiding the way three liberal groups spent tens of millions of dollars attacking President Bush and registering voters. But he quit that position to be an unpaid adviser to the Kerry campaign as it presses to sharpen its message in the final 56 days before the election. Mr. Greenberg is just the latest in a procession of top strategists who have moved between the campaigns and advocacy groups called 527's - the very organizations that are not supposed to coordinate their activities under campaign finance rules. The...

Local readers on both sides of the political spectrum want to check out "Unfit for Command." Phil Pons of Newport News ordered his copy early, so he was one of the lucky ones. ............Pons pre-ordered his copy through Beck & Stein Books, a locally owned Port Warwick shop that does not ordinarily stock books with an inflammatory political tone. Because Pons ordered early - and perhaps because the shop had requested only one copy - Beck & Stein received his book on its Aug. 15 release date. Local readers who had reserved copies through the larger chain stores had to...

Vladimir Bukovsky, the great anti-Soviet dissident, once reproved me for quoting the old joke about the two main official Soviet newspapers: "There's no truth in Pravda [Truth] and no news in Izvestia [News.]" He pointed out that you could learn a great deal of truthful news from both papers if you read them with proper care. In particular, they often denounced "anti-Soviet lies." These lies had never previously been reported by them. Nor were they lies. And their exposure as such was the first that readers had been told of them. By reading the denunciation carefully, however, intelligent readers could...

Sharp words on Labor Day CANDIDATES SPAR OVER EMPLOYMENT, IRAQ INVASION SPEECHES IN MID-AMERICA .......``As the president likes to say, there's nothing complicated about it,'' Kerry said, speaking to a crowd of about 2,000 at a United Mine Workers Labor Day picnic. ``It all comes down to one letter: W. W stands for wrong. Wrong choices, wrong judgment, wrong priorities for our country.'' Aides said Kerry intends to jettison talk about his own Vietnam War record that dominated his campaign throughout the summer and will hit Bush on the economy -- believing that job losses, falling wages and rising health...

Traditionally, political campaigns are said to move into high gear with the passage of Labor Day, a concept that may horrify most Americans already sick to death of a campaign that is too much with us in its vitriol and triviality. But in the case of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, that old bromide had better apply. With the passage of Labor Day, will the Massachusetts senator give American voters reason to shrug off their well-earned cynicism and listen to what he has to say and consider what he has to offer? The Kerry campaign has been in the same...

Since February I have been ranting that the Veteran community would eventually, inevitably, become the prime contributor to the destruction of the John Kerry campaign. For months, I have been the Lone Ranger and viewed as a moderately amusing gadfly. Guess what? I was right in February, and March, and April, and May. I was right in June, July, and August…and despite what smarter, more insightful and ‘connected’ pundits maintain, Kerry is TOAST! In March I wrote, “ Friends and foes in the punditry class have been pontificating ad nauseam, manipulating a kaleidoscope of factoids and data to support whatever...

It appears that John Kerry has realized his campaign is quickly taking on water. Even members of his own party sent out the claxon call reported in a September 5, 2004 New York Times article that the "Minnow would be lost". What is truly amazing is that these Democratic heavyweights went on the record to voice their concerns. The scramble for life vests has started. While the source of the leak is subject to speculation (from the torpedoes launched by the Swift Boat Vets, to the lack of substance of the Candidate himself, to President Bush's strong speech at the...

Readers aren't always bothered by what appears in the pages of The Star. Sometimes the problem is what doesn't make its way into print. For the previous two Sundays, the recap of the New York Times best-selling books did not run in the Arts section. That worried many of you who have learned to expect it in its usual place every week. Even worse, the timing made this particular omission look suspicious to some readers. “I notice there's no best-sellers list in the books pages for two weeks running,” wrote one e-mail correspondent, echoing dozens of others I heard from....

Sen. John Kerry's campaign biographer Douglas Brinkley said Sunday that if an ongoing Navy investigation into Kerry's military decorations turns up evidence of "purposeful" deception, it could spell doom for the top Democrat's White House bid. Praising reporter Thomas Lipscomb, who broke news of the Navy investigation on Friday, Brinkley told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg, "Journalists are going to have to see whether there's a discrepancy on [the citations posted to Kerry's] web site - whether there's something wrong that's said there or not." "If so," said the "Tour of Duty" author, "Kerry would have to fix it immediately -...

Gents........... Sincere thanks to Chosin Few member Hector Cafferata, MOH, F/2/7 for forwarding the enlightening communication which follows. If anyone still believes John Kerry is an honorable Navy Veteran, the following should remove any remaining doubt. Thank God he did not attempt to enlist in our beloved Marine Corps. SAEPE EXERTUS, SEMPER FIDELIS, FRATER INFINITAS "Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever" United States Marine Corps The IceMan howard mason Even I'm getting tired of learning all of the rotten stuff about Kerry but it's best that we know. I pray that many Kerry supporters are beginning to understand why he...

Check out this video featuring Michael Connelly reading his letter about his sons in the military, and his concern about John Kerry leading them to war. Lots of great images flashed over the screen.

Bush/Cheney Lead Kerry/Edwards 54 to 43 Percent; in a Three-Way Trial Heat, Bush/Cheney Receive 13-Point Margin Bounce Bush Approval Rating Rises to 52 Percent; First Time Above 50 Since January; Majority (53%) Wants to See Him Re-Elected-Highest Since May 2003 27 Percent of Registered Voters Think Bush/Cheney Campaign Is Behind Swift Boat Ads NEW YORK, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire NEW YORK, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Immediately following the Republican National Convention in New York, the latest Newsweek Poll shows that, in a two-way presidential trial heat, the Bush/Cheney ticket would win over a Kerry/Edwards ticket by 54 percent vs. 43 percent...

EDITOR’S NOTE: The letter to the editor from Roland Gauvin of Cumberland, which ran Friday on Page B-2 headlined Local vet knows how Kerry feels, prompted this sharp response from another Vietnam veteran. Mr. Gauvin, in 1969, a year after I graduated, I received my draft notice but I did not consider it a dilemma. My country did not draft me for my opinions on a war, it drafted me for my service. I studied history all through high school, and no war is popular but it is the reality of living in a world full of people who hate...

COMMENTS PLEASE: Kerry Is What Kerry Does Countering Swiftboat Vets Has anyone thought to look at the way John Kerry and his fellow Democrats are running his campaign as an indication of his fitness for the office of President of the United States? His response to the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth provides a chilling, timely insight into how Kerry IS what Kerry does. What Swiftboat Veterans for Truth has accomplished with the book, “Unfit for Command,” and their television advertisements is truly amazing. However, their efforts deal with Kerry’s character and credibility in only a limited fashion: What Kerry did...

Fighting back, Democratic Sen. John Kerry (website - news - bio) called President Bush (website - news - bio) "unfit to lead this nation" because of the war in Iraq and his record on jobs, health care and energy prices. He lashed out at the incumbent and Vice President Dick Cheney (website - news - bio) for avoiding service in the Vietnam War. "I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq," Kerry said in prepared remarks...

The second day of the Republican convention, my friend Herbie and I set out for West 43rd Street. I had a stethoscope tucked into my jacket pocket. Herbie, a reliable guy, the kind you want with you in a dicey situation, was carrying a battery operated brain wave detector/monitor in his green backpack. We got off the subway at the 50th Street stop, rather than chance being stopped by the cops on duty at the Times Square station. We walked swiftly but nonchalantly to the New York Times building. Quickly, I applied my stethoscope. Herbie attached the brain wave machine...

Mr. Kerry was not much of a war hero. He was no Audie Murphy, no Alvin York. He was a regular guy who simply fought with the rest of them, doing his job like the rest of them...sort of.... well... actually... not really. It turns out that Lt. Kerry was an irritatingly self-promoting medal hunter (all wars have them). And when he had enough medals he bugged out -- after only 4 of the normal 12 months of combat duty -- using the long-established rule that three purple hearts earns you the right to opt out of combat. At least...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — John Kerry was politely received by the American Legion yesterday, delivering a speech focused on veteran pocketbook issues and President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq without addressing the attacks leveled against him last month by fellow veterans.     "I'm proud to be here, and I'm proud to be a Legionnaire," he said after saluting the several thousand veterans seated in the giant hall. [snip]The audience politely responded to most of Mr. Kerry's pauses for his applause lines and gave him a standing ovation.     It was the candidate's first appearance before a major national veterans group since...

NOTE: John Kerry refuses to sign DD Form 180 or to release his journals, necessary to get at the truth of open questions. The American people deserve the truth. When will the press demand it of Mr. Kerry? I've had many requests for the transcript of my interview with Terry McAuliffe from yesterday, so I've posted it below: HEWITT: Sitting across from me Terry McAuliffe. Strike me dead. It’s so good to see you here Mr. Chairman. It’s good to have you at the Democratic National Convention and at the Republican National Convention MCAULIFFE: Who would have thought that I’d...

NEW YORK — So, there's this guy with a monkey on his shoulder walks into a voting booth. . . No, wait, that's not how it goes. Try this: A Republican, a Democrat and Ralph Nader are out in a rowboat and . . . no, no, that's not it either. But, hey, keep reading because political humor does work. And that helps explain the Internet websites popping up over the past week to spoof what have already become the most notorious political attack ads of this year's presidential race, those featuring the Republican-backed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. While...