Monday, August 30, 2004

Blogging at the RNC

Since the networks have decided to show reruns of Fear Factor instead of the Republican National Convention, we'll have to rely on the blogs for coverage. Well, to be honest, I'd be getting the news from the blogs anyway. RNC Bloggers is tracking all of the credentialed bloggers covering the convention. Bookmark this one.

Sunday, August 29, 2004

If Kerry Were a Republican

A family member emailed this to me. It originally came from Midwest Pundits.

The strange, parallel world of John Kerry floats along with little intruding on its feeling of self-importance and entitlement. It might be said that all presidential candidates have a bit of strangeness about them, but Kerry goes beyond the caricatures that have been created of those from the past. He, or rather his wife, is exceedingly rich, at a level of which few can even dream. His ancestral line can be traced back to the Pilgrims of the seventeenth century. He was educated in private, expensive schools. He is the “champion” of a party that likes to consider itself the defender of the little people. A strange brew indeed.

A person can’t help but to wonder how John Kerry and those supporting him would be treated if fortune were to shake the world and John Kerry were to land on his feet as a solid Republican. Some ideas:

1. John Kerry would be vilified as a war criminal based upon his own words regarding his conduct in the Vietnam War.

2. He would be mocked for having the vanity and foresight to take a movie camera with him to war in order to record heroic images of himself walking about with a weapon.

3. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth would be booked solid from now until the election day on “news” shows with Katie Couric, the folks at 60 Minutes, Chris Matthews, Paula Zahn, Harry Smith, etc.

4. He would be peppered with sarcastic questions regarding his choice of women. What are the chances that a man would fall in love two times in his life, first with a woman whose family was worth $300 million and second with a woman with a net worth of possibly $1 billion? That he was a “kept” man would always run beneath the surface of any such questions and stories.

5. Pictures of the multi-million dollar mansions (all five of them) of which he calls home and the jet and watercraft which he calls toys would flood the airways.

6. He would be derided for his stiff, patrician mannerisms, his well-coiffed hair and his obvious use of either medicine or the services of a plastic surgeon to keep the face as tight as possible.

7. Theresa Heinz-Kerry would not be considered a breath of fresh air, but instead would be thought a kook and a pretentious one at that.

8. We would have many in-depth reports of the deleterious effects of one George Soros on American Politics. The nefarious manner in which he earned his billions, though they might be legal, would be much reported and condemned.

9. Michael Moore would be in Vietnam, searching for and interviewing the family of the wounded Vietcong that Kerry shot in the back to win his Silver Star.

10. Sandy Berger would be in seclusion and John Kerry would find no relief from the blistering inquiries of a rabid press wondering how Kerry could have as his primary security advisor one who purloined classified documents by hiding them in his trousers and then throwing them away.

If Kerry is one to have nightmares, this might be the scariest. To wake up a Republican and find out that, yes, there is media bias in the world.

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Open Letter to Kerry

Here's the text of the letter that Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson tried to give to Max Cleland. He wouldn't take it though.

Dear Senator Kerry,

We are pleased to welcome your campaign representatives to Texas today. We honor all our veterans, all whom have worn the uniform and served our country. We also honor the military and National Guard troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today. We are very proud of all of them and believe they deserve our full support.

That's why so many veterans are troubled by your vote AGAINST funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, after you voted FOR sending them into battle. And that's why we are so concerned about the comments you made AFTER you came home from Vietnam. You accused your fellow veterans of terrible atrocities and, to this day, you have never apologized. Even last night, you claimed to be proud of your post-war condemnation of our actions.

We're proud of our service in Vietnam. We served honorably in Vietnam and we were deeply hurt and offended by your comments when you came home.

You can't have it both ways. You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up. There is no double standard for our right to free speech. We all earned it.

You said in 1992 "we do not need to divide America over who served and how." Yet you and your surrogates continue to criticize President Bush for his service as a fighter pilot in the National Guard.

We are veterans too -- and proud to support President Bush. He's been a strong leader, with a record of outstanding support for our veterans and for our troops in combat. He's made sure that our troops in combat have the equipment and support they need to accomplish their mission.

He has increased the VA health care budget more than 40% since 2001 -- in fact, during his four years in office, President Bush has increased veterans funding twice as much as the previous administration did in eight years ($22 billion over 4 years compared to $10 billion over 8.) And he's praised the service of all who served our country, including your service in Vietnam.

We urge you to condemn the double standard that you and your campaign have enforced regarding a veteran's right to openly express their feelings about your activities on return from Vietnam.

Sincerely,
Texas State Land Commissioner
Jerry Patterson
Rep. Duke Cunningham
Rep. Duncan Hunter
Rep. Sam Johnson
Lt. General David Palmer
Robert O'Malley, Medal of Honor Recipient
James Fleming, Medal of Honor Recipient

Monday, August 23, 2004

Olympic Basketball

It seems like I'm not the only one that really doesn't care that the U. S. Men's Basketball Team is losing. When we send a group to represent the United States in internation competition, they should be proud to be there. These guys just don't seem to grasp that. This is exactly why I just can not get into the NBA. Let's quit sending pro players to the game and instead make up a squad of college all-stars. I bet that they would hustle and realize just how special it is to play in the Olympics.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

We got us a troll

Grouchy Old Cripple gives a recap on a troll that came onto his site with the normal moveon.org talking points. In short, there was a big gang up on the troll with, get this, FACTS! Trolls can be fun. It's a good read.

I'm Back

I'm back from school now. I apologize for the lack of blogging the past week and a half but I've been trying to catch up with everything that piled up while I was gone. So I hope that you'll start checking in on a regular basis.

Saturday, August 07, 2004