George Soros: the Ernst Stavro Blofeld of the Left

FrontPage Magazine has an extensive article on George Soros and his vast network of leftist operatives whose goal is the defeat of traditional, conservative values in this country. Most people have no idea how deeply involved this guy is in left-wing American and world politics in general. Where's 007 when you need him?

The overseas edition of Newsweek also has Soros on their cover.

Another Kerry Flip-Flop

The Corner has another Kerry flip-flop...this one from last night's debate.

Is CNN in the smuggling business now?

Here's an interesting report out of Texas that alleges that an CNN crew may have been involved in some sort of child smuggling operation:

U.S. Customs says everyone in the car was detained and adds CNN reporters were not authorized to be at the bridge and were asked to leave.

The two unidentified women reportedly said they had been paid by CNN to see if they could get the children across the Rio Grande and into the United States without federal agents knowing.

Scary stuff in my home state

Living in Tennessee, this puts a couple of chills up my spine. Glad to see that the feds are on the ball over this sort of thing.

An Iraqi-born Nashville resident has been arrested on charges of illegally possessing machines guns, following a citizen tip that Ahmed Hassan Al-Uqaily, 33, allegedly spoke of “going jihad.”

Al-Uqaily was arrested Thursday in southeast Nashville at his place of business after allegedly paying $1,000 for two disassembled M-16 machine guns, four disassembled hand grenades, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from an undercover agent working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

According to the Tennessean, this guy made his views rather public earlier in the year:

In May, while standing hooded on Lower Broadway in a public re-enactment of one of the infamous pictures taken at Iraq's Abu-Ghraib prison, Al-Uqaily told The Tennessean that his brothers and mother had been killed during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and that his father had been jailed.

Also...

Last night, at 1923B Laurinda Drive — Al-Uqaily's most recent address, according to an Internet records service — a hand-painted van sat parked.

Nearby were the remnants of crime-scene tape from a recent search. Inside the van was a plainly visible utility bill addressed to Al-Uqaily.

Painted in black letters across splotches of bright colors on the van were a series of slogans that echoed Al-Uqaily's Lower Broadway demonstration in May: ''I pray all soldiers lay down their guns.'' ''War won't work.'' ''Stop killing kids for oil.'' And, ''Moses, Jesus & Mohammed all talk peace.''

Ah, yes....no blood for oil, indeed. A peaceful person. Now, how long do you think it will it take for the typical cries of racism and oppression of Muslims to be heard. Stay tuned.

Are Kerry Supporters Running Automated Scripts to "Win" online polls?

A Freeper has posted an interesting theory about why those online polls at sites like MSNBC and others seem to lean toward Kerry so quickly. Good discussion afterward in the comments too:

Kerry is winning the online polls on the debate by such a huge margin, as with the last debate, that its quite obvious that poll spamming by www.DemocratsUnderground.com isn't the cause. In the past, Freerepublic provided online poll links, DU provided online poll links, and it was usually a spirited but decent contest.

Tonight's online polls, as with the last debate, indicate that there are certainly far more sophisticated techniques being used to falsely inflate the Kerry vote than DU's normal multiple voting techniques. I have watched CNN and MSNBC go dramatically into a huge (and unbelievable) lead in only minutes. Automated voting scripts are the only thing that would cause such an imbalance so quickly. Its been done before by computer hacks:

Fixing Polls: An Open Letter to MSNBC.com

Looks like Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe has the good fortune to have some real good computer support working the case for Kerry's online polls. Well, Terry did send an email request for "voters," he didn't say they had to be human.

Meanwhile, at Nutjob Central

Here's the latest from the intellectual sewer known as Democratic Underground, with their newest wackjob theory:Will the Rupublicans Nuke a US city to win the election. Remember, these people actually live in your country along aside you and vote.

ABC? Biased? Nah!

The MSM took another punch to the gut after Drudge released a memo citing that ABC News Political Director Mark Halperin declared that "the current Bush attacks on Kerry involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done."

Halperin said: "We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable when the facts don't warrant that."

Remember, more Americans get their slanted, biased news from ABC than anywhere else...and we must not forget the wisdom of Newsweek Managing Editor Evan Thomas:

"There's one other base here, the media. Let's talk a little media bias here. The media, I think, wants Kerry to win and I think they're going to portray Kerry and Edwards I'm talking about the establishment media, not Fox. They're going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic and there's going to be this glow about them, collective glow, the two of them, that's going to be worth maybe 15 points."

Debate follow up

Looks like last night's debate was a solid win for Bush. (Sorry I couldn't blog along with the rest of you, some of us do have lives away from the computer screen sometimes, but I caught the replay online later.) Instapundit and PoliPundit have good, brief recaps for those who may have missed it.

Gallup say that Bush made significant gains from last night's performance, although it would appear he has a way to go.

Kerry was favored on Iraq before the debate, by 50% to 46%. After the debate, viewers switched to Bush by 53% to 46%.

Viewers also gave increased support to Bush on terrorism, initially favoring the president by 52% to 45%, but favoring him by an even larger margin after the debate, 56% to 39%. Another repeat of last night's performance in the final debate should solidify his standing with voters

Even more bias from the AP

LGF is pointing out the latest piece of bias coming out of the Associated Press, which seems to happen on a daily basis now:

This tone, harshly skeptical of Bush and admiring of Kerry, is maintained throughout Loven’s piece. But the worst part is her blatant distortion of the conclusions of the Duelfer report:

A final report from the chief U.S. weapons hunter in Iraq concluded that Saddam Hussein had no stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons, had no programs to make either them or nuclear bombs, and had little ability - or immediate plans - to revive those programs.

The Duelfer report reached the exact opposite conclusion from Loven’s outrageous mischaracterization.

Oh s@#& alert!!! St. Helen's could blow

Not good...not good at all:

MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. -- Scientists said the earthquakes and explosions at Mount St. Helens could lead to an eruption as powerful as the one in 1980, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.

The volcano reportedly spewed more steam overnight, but earthquakes continued to be fairly light, striking about once a minute and registering about magnitude one.

Meanwhile, the speculation continued about what exactly is happening underneath the mountain.

Scientists said part of the lava dome in the volcano's crater has risen 50 to 100 feet since Tuesday, a sign -- along with mild earthquake activity -- that molten rock may be moving toward the surface without much resistance.

The south side of the dome has been rising for the past week -- about 250 feet so far.

.

Thugs Tied to Kerry?

In response to my Thugs R Us post yesterday, RambleMind forwarded this item from his blog that may answer some burning questions some of us have been having about all these seemingly coordinated acts of violence against Bush campaign headquarters around the country:

Radical activism in America has made strident attempts to hijack the political process over the last few years. Take, for example, the recent voter fraud charges [Bill Hobbs at the Detroit FreePress has several examples] as political organizations attempt to get out the vote...

Even the recent vandalism, mostly by Anti-Bush folks against Bush/Cheney supporters, speaks to the out-of-control nature of these protesters. It seems that protesting has become a way of life for these folks. Indeed, there are even organizations that will train protesters in radical activism, eco-terrorism, media manipulation, and even how to bring a city to a screeching halt. John Sellers, Executive Director of one such organization, the Ruckus Society, said it in so many words. "We plot and scheme and conspire to save the planet. We have a blast." He further stated, "It is theater; it's an artistic expression. It's also a confrontation with power, with The Power."...

There may be a temptation on the part of most Americans to believe that this is a fringe few. That the people involved in this sort of activity are young, idealistic, and immature, and that they will "grow out of it". You may be surprised to know that the many of these organizations are tied to, allied with (unofficially, of course), and travel in the same circles as many of our Democratic Leadership. Including John Kerry, and his wife, Theresa Heinz Kerry.

For example, the Kerry Campaign hired Zach Exley as their Director of Online Communications and Online Organizing. Hired right from MoveOn.org, a far-left wing propaganda organization (vehemently anti-Bush, of course), Exley comes with an impressive resume of political discord. In addition to MoveOn.org, Exley owns the George W. Bush parody site, GWBush.com (temporarily on hiatus until after the election), and was trained by, and works as a Workshop Coordinator for the Ruckus Society.

There is a lot more at the above link. Read the whole thing. My question is this: Why haven't any charges been brought against these thugs? I have not seen a report of a single arrest.

Draft Scare Tactics Working

Bush needs to call Kerry on this stinking lie either in tonight's debate or in ads. I guess if you can't fool all of the people all of the time, you start breeding them for stupidity:

In spite of denials by the Bush administration, half of young Americans believe President Bush wants to reinstate the military draft, a national poll suggests.

The National Annenberg Election Survey found that 51 percent of adults age 18 to 29 believe Bush wants to reinstate the draft. Eight percent said Kerry supports bring back the draft, and 7 percent said both want to. A fourth of those polled said neither candidate favors the idea.

Both Bush and Kerry say they don't support a renewed military draft. Earlier this week, the House defeated a bill paving the way to a draft 402-2. House Republicans have sought to quash the persistent Internet rumor that the president wants to reinstate the draft if re-elected while Democrats have fanned the flames on the rumor.

This blog has covered this before and tried to spread the word about these lies, but it seems that today's kids will believe anything they get via e-mail. Maybe it's time for a little e-mail campaign featuring the facts I laid out here 10 days ago:

On a page that has been pulled from the official John Kerry site, but stored forever in the Web Archives of the Wayback Machine, details for these plans are clearly outlined. Here's just a sample:

...John Kerry believes that in these times, we need to bolster these efforts with a nationwide commitment to national service. Whether it is a Summer of Service for our teenagers, helping young people serve their country in return for college, or the Older Americans in Service program, John Kerry's plan will call on every American of every age and every background to serve. John Kerry will set a goal of one million Americans a year in national service within the next decade.

John Kerry Outlines Plan to Require Service for High School Students

...As part of his 100 day plan to change America, John Kerry will propose a comprehensive service plan that includes requiring mandatory service for high school students and four years of college tuition in exchange for two years of national service.

Soros takes advantage of Cheney flub

My question is, why do we have to check a Russian website to hear about this. Doesn't the MSM care about such trickery? I guess not:

Millionaire philanthropist George Soros, who has been a harsh critic of U.S. President George Bush, hastily responded to what turned out to be an error made by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, the Moscow-based online news agency Lenta.Ru reported on Wednesday.

After Cheney mistakenly referred to the web-site he named factcheck.com (instead of factcheck.org) for explanations on the sensible Halliburton case, the web-site was rented from an independent cyber-squatting company and materials promoting Soros’s views were placed on it.

In response to a series of attacks from John Edwards on Cheney’s tenure as CEO of Halliburton, the vice president said that Kerry and Edwards “know the charges are false. They know that if you go, for example, to factcheck.com, an independent Web site sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, you can get the specific details with respect to Halliburton.”

However, Cheney misspoke. He meant to say “factcheck.org.,” rather than “.com.” George Soros capitalized on Cheney’s error, snatched up the URL, and now if you type “factcheck.com” into your browser, you get redirected to a page titled, “Why we must not re-elect President Bush: a personal message from George Soros.”

Bremer: Stop spinning my words!

L. Paul Bremer has written a New York Times op-ed piece and he's pretty ticked off about how the Democrats and the MSM are using his comments about Bush's handling of Iraq:

The press has been curiously reluctant to report my constant public support for the president’s strategy in Iraq and his policies to fight terrorism. I have been involved in the war on terrorism for two decades, and in my view no world leader has better understood the stakes in this global war than President Bush...A year and a half ago, President Bush asked me to come to the Oval Office to discuss my going to Iraq to head the coalition authority. He asked me bluntly, "Why would you want to leave private life and take on such a difficult, dangerous and probably thankless job?" Without hesitation, I answered, "Because I believe in your vision for Iraq and would be honored to help you make it a reality." Today America and the coalition are making steady progress toward that vision.

Of course, that's not what the MSM has been reporting. They would rather distort and lie to smear the administration during wartime.

Interesting name pops up in oil for food

The Captain's Quarters takes note of a few lines in a Fox News report on the oil for food mess. I wasn't aware of this old name being involved:

One name leaps out from the crowd, however. People may recall the pardon scandals at the end of the Clinton presidency in January 2001, just as Clinton prepared to leave office. One pardon in particular raised eyebrows across the political spectrum, and that same name has mysteriously reappeared in the UNSCAM fallout:

In what the report calls, "an open secret," the Iraqi government demanded illicit surcharges of 25-to-30 cents on all barrels of oil bought, which buyers had to secretly pay before the deals were sealed. They complied because the Iraqis were selling slightly below market prices.

One of the most prolific purchasers of the oil was Swiss-based Glencore run by one-time fugitive American financier Marc Rich, which the report alleges paid over $3.2 million in kickbacks to the Iraqi government. Rich, formerly wanted for tax-evasion was pardoned by President Clinton in his last days in office.

The report says that the company denies any inappropriate deals.

At the time of the pardon, many people puzzled over why Bill Clinton would pardon a man who fled the country and whose status as a fugitive had been under negotiation with the FBI just prior to Clinton's action. Instead of cutting a deal with Rich to get him back to the US to face charges, Clinton pulled the rug out from under the FBI. Without the leverage of the charges, Rich had no further motivation to cooperate with the DoJ on any outstanding investigations.

At the time, the presumption was that Rich's wife had donated enough money to buy the pardon. Now, however, the question may be whether Clinton knew about the corruption and feared that an aggressive Bush administration policy would uncover Rich's participation in undermining Iraqi sanctions while Rich raised funds for both his presidential library and Hillary's election. Or maybe the issue runs even deeper than that? (hat tip: G Gotway)

Thugs R us

Jim Geraghty and Stanley Kurtz are taking a look at the recent violent behavior of those on the left: First, from Jim:

There are also sporadic reports of Kerry signs being stolen or defaced. If you are a Bush supporter, and you tear down Kerry signs, you are among the lamest human beings on the planet.

But so far, the majority of these cases — and the ones involving the most disturbing details of bayonets, guns, fires, and swastikas — are targeting Bush-Cheney signs.

And so far, I've not seen any cries of outrage from Kerry representives to cut it out, have you? Stanley adds his two cents:

Pervasive liberal vitriol against the president has convinced some Bush supporters that they are in danger. Anti-Bush signs and graffiti seem to be at least as common as pro-Kerry signs. The slogans range from "Bushit," to "Bush is a Stupid A** Moron," to bumper stickers that substitute Bush/Hitler or Bush/Satan for Bush/Cheney.

This brings us to what I call "the mechanism of intimidation." It seems that either past violence or present incivility has the power to intimidate. Several Washington state readers pointed to memories of the violence at the Seattle World Trade Organization protests some years ago as a reason why they would not display a Bush-Cheney bumper sticker. A couple of California readers pointed to violence against conservatives on the Berkeley campus as a reason to hold back.

But overwhelmingly, those who were reluctant to put up Bush-Cheney stickers or signs said that the "rabid" nature of this year's Bush-hatred had convinced them that showing their support for the president was no longer safe. Apparently, in addition to all the keyed cars and bumper stickers, many city stop signs have been painted to read "Stop Bush." More than one reader said that people who deface city property can't be trusted to refrain from violence against private cars.

It's going to get even uglier, I'm afraid...and I can't help thinking it's finally going to come to a head with either another poor soul being beaten like that Iraqi vet was a while back--only worse, or one of these vandals or union thugs is going to run into someone who don't take any crap and that person will end up meeting the business end of a baseball bat...or worse. Then guess how the MSM will play it.

At least, action is being taken:

Nearly fifty members of Congress have written to Attorney General John Ashcroft to ask for an investigation of a series of coordinated attacks on Bush-Cheney campaign offices yesterday. The attacks were apparently carried out at the direction of the AFL-CIO. In one of the attacks, a campaign volunteer's wrist was broken. Here is the text of the letter:...

...These attacks are not conduct protected by the First Amendment. The activities were carried out on the same day throughout the country, apparently organized by the same national organization. The lack of any notice and the pattern suggest a plan to intimidate volunteers who were supporting their candidate in the upcoming Presidential campaign.

Because these coordinated invasions violate the laws protecting the civil rights of American citizens, we request you direct the appropriate investigative unit within the Department of Justice to promptly initiate an investigation. We strongly urge that the investigation include whether federal laws have been broken, including those addressing civil rights, conspiracy, racketeering, and others protecting the rights to campaign and vote.

Most importantly, we strongly urge you to depose the participants in these attacks, and to gather any evidence regarding a possible ongoing conspiracy to launch more attacks. Those depositions are urgent, as any delay may lead to destruction of evidence that could lead to identification of those who planned and coordinated the attacks, and who should be brought to justice.

It's clear whose side France is on

Not surprised by this at all:

Paris, France, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- French President Jacques Chirac is calling on the European Union to lift a long-standing arms embargo against China.

I guess since their main buyer of weapons is sitting in jail, they haven't been selling too many. When are we going to stop calling them our friend and ally?

Unbelievable tripe from Chirac

After being exposed as Saddam's bitch, what does the leader of France do? Lash out at us, of course:

HANOI - French President Jacques Chirac warned Thursday of a “catastrophe” for global diversity if the United States’ cultural hegemony goes unchallenged.

Speaking at a French cultural center in Hanoi ahead of Friday’s opening of a summit of European and Asian leaders, Chirac said France was right to stand up for cultural and linguistic diversity.

The outspoken French president warned that the world’s different cultures could be “choked” by US values.

This, he said, would lead to a “general world sub-culture” based around the English language, which would be “a real ecological catastrophe”.

Citing Hollywood’s stranglehold over the film industry as an example, Chirac stressed that only with government assistance could countries maintain their cultural heritage.

France was Saddam's Whore...among others

There's no other way to put it. He may have been giving it to Satan in the South Park movie, but at least he was paying France for what he was doing to everybody else:

SADDAM HUSSEIN believed he could avoid the Iraq war with a bribery strategy targeting Jacques Chirac, the President of France, according to devastating documents released last night.

Memos from Iraqi intelligence officials, recovered by American and British inspectors, show the dictator was told as early as May 2002 that France - having been granted oil contracts - would veto any American plans for war.

The report goes on to say that Saddam hadn't made any WMD since 1992, but then...

Although they found no evidence that Saddam had made any WMD since 1992, they found documents which showed the "guiding theme" of his regime was to be able to start making them again with as short a lead time as possible."

Saddam was convinced that the UN sanctions - which stopped him acquiring weapons - were on the brink of collapse and he bankrolled several foreign activists who were campaigning for their abolition. He personally approved every one.

To keep America at bay, he focusing on Russia, France and China - three of the five UN Security Council members with the power to veto war. Politicians, journalists and diplomats were all given lavish gifts and oil-for-food vouchers.

Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi deputy prime minister, told the ISG that the "primary motive for French co-operation" was to secure lucrative oil deals when UN sanctions were lifted. Total, the French oil giant, had been promised exploration rights.

Of course, the MSM is screaming the part about "no WMDs", while ignoring the other parts of the story...and look who else was getting a cut:

Among the alleged recipients of oil vouchers were Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Russian ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and his Liberal Democratic Party, the Russian presidential office, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Ukraine Community Party, the Ukraine Socialist Party, the son of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and the Peoples Liberation Front of Palestine. There are also many others.

The only U.N. official on the list is Benon Sevan, the head of the humanitarian program for Iraq, who has been accused previously of receiving an oil voucher and has denied it several times. He is list as a Mr. Sifan, a U.N. official.

The AP has this too but who knows how much play this will get in mainstream papers and TV. The New York Times wants to link it to Bush, Cheney and Halliburton. And John Kerry want us to trust the UN, France and the others for that Global Test he's so fond of?

Brownshirts on the march

Yesterday, I commented on the wave of violence and generally ugly behavior that Union thugs and others have been demonstrating. The Captain's Quarters has listed a few examples of this sort of thing that appears to be organized:

...the truth is that the AFL-CIO and the Democrats have started a deliberate campaign of intimidation to keep Republicans from volunteering for this campaign. It's ugly, and the people who do such things are ugly and should be called out as such. If this represents the face of the Democrats, then their earlier accusations that Bush is the new Hitler can only be called a classic case of Freudian projection...

I'd say that after the wave of political violence they've initiated, they've proven themselves to be dangerous organizations. Maybe it's time to push through a federal right-to-work act that abolishes closed shops and mandatory dues throughout the US. At the very least, the Department of Justice should be investigating these related assaults as a possible conspiracy involving the AFL-CIO's leadership as well as some Democratic committees, and start some RICO prosecutions.
If we are to remain a free people, we cannot allow political violence to go unanswered by the rule of law. That, finally, is one parallel to Germany in 1932 that actually applies.

Meanwhile, the Professor is calling for Kerry to call off the thugs.

Good speech

I didn't get to watch the Bush speech that was mentioned yesterday, but after reading the transcript, I wish I had:

We have built a broad and solid record of accomplishment. In the past year, the United States of America has added about 1.7 million new jobs. (Applause.) More than Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Canada and France combined. (Applause.) Real tax -- real after-tax income -- that's the money in your pocket to spend on groceries or house payments and rent -- is up more than 10 percent since I took office. (Applause.) Home ownership is at an all time high in America. (Applause.) Farm income is up. Small businesses are flourishing. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong in the United States of America. (Applause.)

My opponent agrees with all this -- except when he doesn't. (Laughter.) Last week in our debate, he once again came down firmly on every side of the Iraq war. (Laughter.) He stated that Saddam Hussein was a threat and that America had no business removing that threat. Senator Kerry said our soldiers and Marines are not fighting for a mistake -- but also called the liberation of Iraq a "colossal error." He said we need to do more to train Iraqis, but he also said we shouldn't be spending so much money over there. He said he wants to hold a summit meeting, so he can invite other countries to join what he calls "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." (Laughter and applause.) He said terrorists are pouring across the Iraqi border, but also said that fighting those terrorists is a diversion from the war on terror. (Laughter.) You hear all that and you can understand why somebody would make a face. (Laughter and applause.)

The Senator speaks often about his plan to strengthen America's alliances, but he's got an odd way of doing it. In the middle of the war, he's chosen to insult America's fighting allies by calling them, "window dressing," and the "coalition of the coerced and the bribed." The Italians who died in Nasiriyah were not window dressing. They were heroes in the war on terror. (Applause.) The British and the Poles at the head of the multinational divisions in Iraq were not coerced or bribed. They have fought, and some have died, in the cause of freedom. These good allies and dozens of others deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician. (Applause.)

Instead, the Senator would have America bend over backwards to satisfy a handful of governments with agendas different from our own. This is my opponent's alliance-building strategy: brush off your best friends, fawn over your critics. And that is no way to gain the respect of the world. (Applause.)

Teresa has a moment of clarity

Looks like that John Kerry's second wife let it slip about next month's plans:

"Vote often and vote well."

That's what the aspiring first lady said during a recent appearance in Minneapolis. When readers first alerted us, we found the claims too outrageous to believe, but we tracked down her quotation in the liberal St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Threatening World Peace

Among the far left whinning seen in this item is this:

Human rights activist Bianca Jagger added her voice to the fight against the death penalty. She said countries that reintroduce capital punishment because of the war on terror would ultimately fail to stop terrorism.

The ex-wife of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger also criticized U.S. President George W. Bush for failing to stop in 2000 the execution of a Texas man who was imprisoned as a 17-year-old.

She said Bush's re-election would pose a threat to the world and create the possibility of a third world war.

"I think President Bush is, in my view if I may say so, the most dangerous man in power today," said Jagger, who is a goodwill ambassador for the Council of Europe.

Can someone please explain to me why this woman is given any press coverage at all, or is even taken seriously? Her only claim to fame is having sex with a member of the Rolling Stones, and that's all.

FBI looking at Hillary and more AP bias

Buried on page 11A of the Washington Post is this little item:

The Justice Department is trying to secure the cooperation of an indicted businessman as it pursues Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign for possible fundraising violations, according to interviews and documents.

The FBI told a U.S. magistrate in Los Angeles two years ago that it has evidence Clinton's campaign deliberately understated its fundraising costs so it would have more money to spend on elections. Prosecutors contend that businessman Peter Paul made donations because he wanted a pardon from President Bill Clinton. ...

Paul is a three-time convicted felon who hosted a Hollywood fundraising event for Mrs. Clinton in 2000. He alleges he underwrote most of the costs for the event.

Surprised? More at the Captain's Quarters.

UPDATE: Spotting some spin in the later versions of this AP piece. On Free Republic, this is what was posted from a rewrite by Larry Margasak:

WASHINGTON -- The Republican-run Justice Department is setting its sights on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign in pursuit of possible fund-raising violations. In targeting a rising star in the Democratic Party, prosecutors are trying to gain the cooperation of an indicted businessman who raised the allegations, interviews and documents indicate.

The FR post refers to this link, and apparently an editor spotted this obvious bias in the lead and changed it to the following:

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's Justice Department is trying to secure the cooperation of an indicted businessman as it pursues Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign for possible fund-raising violations, according to interviews and document.

But we should not be surprised that Margasak would write it like this. Those of us with long memories remember how Larry would literally take dication from certain members of a previous administration.

Do you feel a Draft in here? Not in the House, you don't!

As expected:

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans sought to quash an undying Internet rumor that the government will reinstate a military draft after the election, hoping a recorded vote will kill legislation ordering a draft and the rumor as well.

Even the Democratic lawmaker who authored the bill to bring back the draft urged his colleagues Tuesday to vote against it, accusing Republicans of cynically trying to use the measure to escape election-season questions about the war in Iraq.

The result? 2 yes, 402 no. 28 didn't even vote. Tom DeLay summed it up nicely:

"For months now, the American people have been subjected to -- and had their intelligence insulted by -- a manipulative, dishonest, and willful campaign of misinformation. This campaign, which started as a whisper but has since been given voice by the leading Democrats in the country today, asserts without any evidence whatsoever that there is a secret Republican plan to reinstitute the military draft.

"This campaign is a baseless and malevolent concoction of the Democrat Party, and everyone in this chamber knows it. It has one purpose -- to spread fear. To spread fear among an unsuspecting public, to undermine the war on terror, to undermine our troops, to undermine our cause, and most of all, to undermine our commander-in-chief ... in an election year.

"It is a lie. And to prove it, all we had to do was to look in the Congressional Record. And lo and behold, there it was. A plan, not secret, but public. Not hidden by Republicans, but openly touted by Democrats. H.R. 163 -- before us today -- is not the product of a Pentagon cabal, but is sponsored by six of the most liberal and vociferous critics of the war on terror.

"The vote on this bill won't be close, and it won't be party- line. Instead, it will be an opportunity for the American people to see who takes the national security of the United States seriously, who respects our armed forces, who wants to win the war on terror, and who just wants to win the next election.

"This bill is a fraud, and so is the pernicious campaign of deception that has brought it to the floor today. I urge all my colleagues to vote no, and expose to the light of truth the craven, partisan whisper campaign now poisoning the national debate."

Indeed. There are lots of other craven, partisan whisper campaigns to deal with.

A preview of tomorrow's Bush speech

From NRO's Kerry Spot:

The President will really put the hammer down in his 10am speech tomorrow morning. He'll lay out his own positions concisely, but the bulk of the speech will be a damning tour through Kerry's Senate record (domestic and foreign policy) and his recent statements on Iraq, the war on terrorism, etc. It resurrects many of the best hits on Kerry that were dropped from the convention speech for the sake of being "positive" ... and it makes a lot of the rebuttals you probably wish you'd heard from the President in last week's debate. Should be a lot of fun — Joe Lockhart and Co. will be whining like little girls tomorrow.

With skinned knees, I hope. Can't wait. Time to open up a can.

And in the hypocrisy department...

Oh...now they are worried about impacting the election:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An external review of how CBS News came to use disputed documents in a report on President Bush (news - web sites)'s military record will probably not be concluded until after the November election so as not to interfere with the presidential race, a top executive said on Tuesday.

Les Moonves, the co-president of CBS parent company Viacom, told an analyst meeting that the review of the CBS "60 Minutes II" report being done by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and retired Associated Press chief Louis Boccardi had no timetable for completion. But he said he did not want it to interfere with the Nov. 2 election.

"Obviously, it should be done probably after the election is over so that it doesn't affect what's going on," he told a Goldman Sachs media conference in New York.

Riiiight...sounds to me like they know it will impact the election.

Bang, Bang

I hate seeing stories like this, and I'm afraid we are going to be seeing more of this type of thing as passions run higher:

An unknown suspect fired several shots into the Bearden office of the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign Tuesday morning.
...
According to Knoxville Police Department officers on the scene Tuesday, it is believed that the two separate shots were fired from a car sometime between 6:30 am and 7:15 am. One shot shattered the glass in the front door and the other cracked the glass in another of the front doors.

Instapundit has pictures and comments here. I agree with Glenn that this will probably backfire in the worst way. This is Tennessee we are talking about and we don't take kindly to this sort of thing down here.

In other violent democratic news:

Bullies Storm Republican Office

A group of protestors caused a commotion Tuesday afternoon at the Bush-Cheney Headquarters at SR436 & the 408. The protestors rushed the front door and Orlando police spokesman, Sgt. Brian Gilliams says what happened 540 WFLA News Byte Bullies at Republican Office Once inside, the protestors used a marker to draw on posters and scribbled remarks. O-P says one employee at the office was slightly injured and police are considering whether to file misdemeanor battery charges against the unidentified protestor. It is believe the intruders were protestor labor policies of the Bush Administration.

Political Jihad and the American Blog

Here's a good read on what's been happening to the Old Media due to us Bloggers. Thanks to Bill Hobbs for the heads up.

Wonderful news from our friends in Iran

From the Captain's Quarters:

The Iranians announced that they could hit targets all over Southwest Asia and even southern Europe with their new Shahab-3 rocket, the AP reports:

Iran can launch a missile as far as 2,000 km (1,250 miles), a senior official was quoted as saying Tuesday, substantially increasing the announced range of the Islamic state's military capabilities.

Such a missile would be capable of hitting Israel or parts of southeastern Europe. Iran says its missiles are for purely defensive purposes and would be used to counter a possible Israeli strike against its nuclear facilities.

"Now we have the power to launch a missile with a 2,000 km range," IRNA quoted influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying. "Iran is determined to improve its military capabilities."

And John Kerry wants to give these madmen nuclear fuel...

Mainstream Media gets it wrong again

Can't they get anything right...or is this distortion done on purpose?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appeared Monday to back off earlier statements suggesting Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had links to al Qaeda.

He also conceded that U.S. intelligence was "wrong" in its conclusions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

No, he didn't.

No. 990-04 IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 4, 2004 A Statement From Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld

A question I answered today at an appearance before the Council on Foreign Relations regarding ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq regrettably was misunderstood.

I have acknowledged since September 2002 that there were ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq.

This assessment was based upon points provided to me by then CIA Director George Tenet to describe the CIA's understanding of the Al Qaeda-Iraq relationship.

Today at the Council, I even noted that "when I'm in Washington, I pull out a piece of paper and say 'I don't know, because I'm not in that business, but I'll tell you what the CIA thinks,' and I read it."

My money is that it's done on purpose.

More ranting from Teresa

After reading this lastest report of statements from the woman who might become the next first lady, I have one question: What in the hell is she smoking?

By sending American troops to Iraq instead of to Afghanistan, Bush permitted Osama bin Laden to escape, Heinz Kerry said. “Osama bin Laden is Osama been lost,” she said.

“The Taliban is back running Afghanistan,” Heinz Kerry said.

Really? I must have been asleep when that happened. Believe me, it would have been all over the wires...becuase it would really hurt Bush.

“No American boy or girl should lose their lives for oil,” she said.

Oh Lord, not "no blood for oil" again.

“Every child in America will receive health care from day one if John is elected. Period,” she said.

Just like that, huh? What about the House? The Senate? Does this woman even know how our government works? That is, unless Kerry has a whole bunch of executive orders lined up and intends to rule over us like a king...

What are you up to, George?

Even mainstream journalists like Tony Snow are getting into blogging, and makes note of something that the MSM needs to look into:

I got a chance to read John Fund’s provocative, balanced book, “Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy.” Fund documents the growth of vote fraud as a minor industry, and explains how it has poisoned the democratic process. Most damningly, he lays out in detail the sheer backwardness of our balloting systems.

As if on cue, vote-fraud stories have begun to fill papers – and there’s a central thread. The George Soros-financed “Americans Coming Together” has become an absolute fraud machine. Here are some swing-state horror stories from suburban Detroit and Cleveland. Blogger Bill Hobbs has a good round-up (scroll down to read his many entries).

I've been checking out Bill's blog for sometime now and you should too. Today, on the subject of voter fraud, he points out:

As I have collected more and more stories, I've noticed three possible indicators of trends: 1. The biggest examples of voter registration fraud are coming from battleground states such as Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio. 2. Most often, the alleged fraud involves partisan liberal groups such as America Coming Together, New Voter Project, Citizen Action, the Public Interest Research Group and more. 3. Supposedly "non-partisan" voter registration groups that are funded in part by tax-exempt donations, are focusing their efforts primarily on communities and populations that are heavily Democratic in orientation, calling into question whether these groups truly are non-partisan or should be stripped of their tax-exempt status.

Less than a month is left until the election...let's hope that we don't have a repeat of the near stroke inducing BS that went down in 2000.

Bombshell?

If this is true...then:

Iraqi intelligence documents, confiscated by U.S. forces and obtained by CNSNews.com, show numerous efforts by Saddam Hussein's regime to work with some of the world's most notorious terror organizations, including al Qaeda, to target Americans. They demonstrate that Saddam's government possessed mustard gas and anthrax, both considered weapons of mass destruction, in the summer of 2000, during the period in which United Nations weapons inspectors were not present in Iraq. And the papers show that Iraq trained dozens of terrorists inside its borders.

Let's keep an eye on this one.

Jim Geraghty has some thoughts too:

Here's my... concern. Why are we hearing about these documents now? I'm not saying I don't believe the documents, but I'm wondering why we haven't seen this unveiled in a major news conference at the Pentagon, White House, or U.S. embassy in Iraq.

October surprise? I just don't think this White House works that way. If you have evidence of WMDs and ties to terrorism in January or May or August, you show it to America and the world as soon as it's vetted and ready. By holding this back, you're giving critics of the war months and months to pound away at you. It would be the longest and most brutal "rope-a-dope" strategy (strategery?) in history...

...I understand some NR folks are looking into this story. Maybe they and a bunch of other outlets will have their own experts look at the documents, and declare them the real deal. As a guy who wants to see American intelligence vindicated, I hope this happens. But - for the second time today - we can't be CBS. We can't let our desire for something to be true affect our conclusion of whether it is true.

Now it's a PEN?

I'm not sure of what to make of all this spin surrounding the so-called Cheat Sheet controversy from last week's debate. Vidoe clips posted here, there and everywhere shows that Kerry apparently reached into his pocket a pulled out an object and unfolded it.

But now, the New York Post is reporting that it was, get this, a pen:

But the mystery was solved when The Post reviewed a Fox News Channel feed from Thursday’s debate: Kerry pulled out . . . a black pen.

Kerry campaign spokesman David Wade remained angry at the bloggers’ guilt-by-insinuation.

“The right-wing attack machine will say anything to steal a debate do-over,” he said.

“We plead guilty to having a pen.”

However, LGF has posted a new video capture which shows the pen he wrote with in one hand while reaching into his pocket with the other.

LGF also makes a notation about the leanings of the author of the Post story here, so who knows what is going on with this. INDC Journal has a piece on it too and aplogizes if it turns out to be a pen...but...

If the NY Post and FOX News are interested in putting a stake in this meme, I'd suggest that they release the high-def stills, seeing as I've already received this comment:

Pen My ASS!!! Look at that movie. Obviously either note cards or a sheet of paper.

I assume that the Post's analysis is accurate, but many will not come to the same conclusion without evidence. Why do I assume that it could be a pen after viewing that seemingly contradictory link? Perhaps the pen was in a case, and Kerry was merely flipping the case's top, and perhaps he shuffled the papers that were already on the podium. Who knows?

Indeed. Who knows? Stay tuned.

Zapruder film of Kerry Cheating at Debate?

INDC Journal apparently has the smoking gun about what this space blogged about yesterday over evidence that John Kerry brought cheat sheets to last Thursday's debate:

IMPORTANT NOTE: For best view, right click on video while it's playing and select 'zoom,' 'full screen.' (NOTE: MUCH HIGHER QUALITY VERSION NOW AVAILABLE HERE)

As indicated by the linked video (fullscreen mode is very compelling), John Kerry clearly removes what look like note cards or papers from his right jacket pocket, and then places them on the podium at the beginning of the debate.

1. A candidate's unilateral use of prepared notes could provide a distinct advantage in the debate, hence their mutual prohibition.

2. While the nature of the object is possibly disputable based on the angle of the video, the rules clearly state that "[n]o ... tangible things may be brought into the debate by either candidate." That includes notes, Mont Blanc pens, magic hats, you name it.

INDC Journal and the Daily Recycler aren't going to hyperventilate and claim that this violation decisively influenced the outcome of the first debate, but it's certainly reasonable to request that the rules are followed by the Kerry Campaign, and enforced by the Debate Commission in the remaining two contests.

Global Test, huh?

No surprise to many of us, but this should cause some sweating in international circles:

A LEAKED report has exposed the extent of alleged corruption in the United Nations’ oil-for-food scheme in Iraq, identifying up to 200 individuals and companies that made profits running into hundreds of millions of pounds from it.

The report largely implicates France and Russia, whom Saddam Hussein targeted as he sought support on the UN Security Council before the Iraq war. Both countries were influential voices against UN-backed action.

A senior UN official responsible for the scheme is identified as a major beneficiary. The report, marked “highly confidential”, also finds that the private office of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, profited from the cheap oil. Saddam’s regime awarded this oil during the run-up to the war when military action was being discussed at the UN.

What timing

Remember that New York Times piece I linked to yesterday? The one that I said that was well timed. Guess what:

Washington, DC - On Sunday, October 3 at 12:00 PM ET, Florida Senator Bob Graham will hold a conference call with reporters to discuss reports out today about what President Bush really knew about Iraq's WMD programs before the war.

Don't tell me that this stuff isn't coordinated. Over at the Captain's Quarters, it's noted that the story ran 14 months ago in the Washington Post, with very little changed. Nothing new here, folks.

Not very smart there, Tom

You know, when there are thousands, perhaps millions for factcheckers out there going over everything you report, that last thing you want to do is say things like this:

"The criticism...goes well beyond any factual information."

"What I think is highly inappropriate is what is going on across the internet, a kind of political jihad...and that is quite outrageous," said Brokaw.

This is the equivalent of putting a "kick me" sign on your own back. Boy, he is really asking for it. Indeed, BoycottCBS.com is already demanding an apology:

Paranzino replied: "Tom Brokaw reads the news, but does he understand it? How could a man who reports on child-killings in Beslan, or beheadings in Iraq, be so insensitive to the reality of jihad?

"Jihad is not Americans demanding reforms from an arrogant and biased media. Jihad is Islamists mowing down children for sport, blowing up families at Tel Aviv cafes, and in case he forgot, terrorists sending jet airliners into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

"We will not be cowed into silence by Mr. Brokaw's intemperate remarks. Is it any wonder the networks have been hemorrhaging viewers for years? They just don't get it."