BAGnewsNotes

Character Adjustment

Rack To Riches

Red Light State District

People have been sending me so many examples of the right wing's current preoccupation with sex, it gave me the excuse to create my own version of the 2004 electoral map.

Instead of compiling links to salacious material being trumpeted by various "family values" coalitions, I'm just directing you to this excellent column by Frank Rich. (Link.)

Working Capital

 

(by vawolf, via MyDD, via DailyKos):

>>1% more than 50% is not a mandate but a bare, thin, majority.

>>This was the largest number of people who have ever voted AGAINST a president.

>>At 80% approval after 9-11 and guaranteed a landslide election by prognosticators 2 years ago, only half the country supported Bush.

>>Assuming Bush wins New Mexico and Iowa, he will have gotten the lowest percentage of electoral votes (54%) of any incumbent running for reelection since Wilson. If those two states should swing Kerry's way (NM might), it'll be even lower.

>>Bush will have won with the lowest percentage of the popular vote (51%) of any incumbent running for reelection since Truman (when a viable third party candidate wasn't involved).

>>Bush will have won the three states that put him over 270 (OH, NM and IA--assuming the last two go his way) by only 161,989 (not counting the provisional ballots, absentee, etc.).

Multipronged Vision

With the suggestion that life imitates art (think: Manchurian Candidate), there was a lot of internet buzz this week about how George Bush supposedly receives talking points through an earpiece. As evidence for this, various sites posted photos allegedly showing an electronic device showing through Bush's suit jacket. Also cited as evidence was the fact that Bush uttered the statement: "Let me finish" at a point in the first Presidential debate when neither Jim Lehrer nor John Kerry were talking.

Even if the story is utterly false, however (which I assume it is), what is relevant about the rumor is how well it fits. George Bush might not be remotely controlled in a literal or physical sense, but what is wildly obvious is how tightly he's programmed.

One Can Never Be Too Prepared

Maybe I've got to stop reading the polls for a few days.

"We Worked It Out With The Military"

It's quite possible we will look back on this week as the turning point in the cover-up of George Bush's military record. As the article in today's NYTimes elaborates, confirmatory evidence has emerged which indicates Bush not only lied about the use of family influence, but also whether he actually fulfilled his National Guard obligations.

It's not that the President looked so innocent prior to this week, however. For example, way back in February, Bush appeared on "Meet the Press" to discuss his justification for going to war. In the course of the interview, Tim Russert asked Bush about allegations that he failed to report for part of his guard duty.

Here's the exchange between Bush and Tim Russert on the "failure to report" issue:

RUSSERT: The Boston Globe and the Associated Press have gone through some of their records and said there's no evidence that you reported to duty in Alabama during the summer and fall of 1972.

BUSH: Yes, they're -- they're just wrong. There may be no evidence, but I did report. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been honorably discharged.

RUSSERT: When allegations were made about John McCain or Wesley Clark on their military records, they opened up their entire files. Would you agree to do that?

BUSH: Yes. Listen, these files have been -- I mean, people have been looking for these files for a long period of time, trust me, and starting in the 1994 campaign for governor. And I can assure you in the year 2000 people were looking for those files, as well. Probably you were.

And absolutely, I mean, I...

RUSSERT: But you will allow pay stubs, tax records, anything to show that you were serving during that period?

BUSH: Yes. If we still have them, but I -- you know, the records are kept in Colorado, as I understand, and they scoured the records.

Before the disclosures of this past week, Bush was able to rest on (or hide behind) what was commonly recognized as an inconclusive paper trail. If you notice, however, Bush spends less energy denying or countering the charges than he does reiterating his confidence that nobody is going to find any incriminating evidence.

Still later in the interview, Russert touched on another aspect of Bush's military service, concerning whether Bush used family connections to cut short his commitment. Interestingly, this issue has earned relatively little attention as compared to the issue of Bush's attendance record:

RUSSERT: You were allowed to leave eight months before your term expired. Was there a reason?

BUSH: Right. Well, I was going to Harvard Business School and we worked it out with the military.

Personally, I find this to be the most incriminating statement Bush has made to date. In asking the question, Russert does not lead Bush in any particular direction. Perhaps because special privilege is second nature to him, however, Bush offers an unqualified admission that a special arrangement was made.

Be Right Back

Duct Tape All Over Again

The Official Games of the 43rd U.S. Presidency -- (with apologies to the Olympic wrestling competition)

Our continuing coverage of the administration's not-quite Olympian efforts at governing. Today's event: Diplomacy