So Much Swirling Around...

There's been a lot of stuff going on since I last posted...

I think the Kerry campaign's latest "ad" (I say "ad" because it's only an Internet ad and isn't being run anywhere, but the free media here is almost more important than the paid media) is absolutely fantastic. Hitting the McCain issue is just right and it may force McCain to say something further in defense of Kerry, as Kerry is one of the five senators who signed the letter McCain references in the ad. How can McCain let his friend come to his defense in 2000 and not stand up to Bush himself now, without feeling incredibly personally obligated to Kerry?

So today Bush calls on ALL ads of this type to be halted:

“I think they’re bad for the system,” he said. When asked specifically
whether the ads by the group "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" should be halted,
Bush said: "All of them. That means that ad, every other ad. Absolutely.""I
can't be more plain about it," Bush said. "I hope my opponent joins me in
condemning these activities of the 527s (political groups that sponsor to ads).
I think they're bad for the system."

Hmm. Let's compare this comment with his comment when he signed McCain-Feingold (thanks to Atrios):

However, the bill does have flaws. Certain provisions present serious
constitutional concerns. In particular, H.R. 2356 goes farther than I originally
proposed by preventing all individuals, not just unions and corporations, from
making donations to political parties in connection with Federal elections. I
believe individual freedom to participate in elections should be expanded, not
diminished; and when individual freedoms are restricted, questions arise under
the First Amendment. I also have reservations about the constitutionality of the
broad ban on issue advertising, which restrains the speech of a wide variety of
groups on issues of public import in the months closest to an election. I expect
that the courts will resolve these legitimate legal questions as appropriate
under the law.

Who's the flip-flopper and who's the political opportunist?

And Josh Marshall deals with Bob Dole's comments over the weekend quite nicely:

Today Bob Dole suggested that one or more of John Kerry's Purple Hearts may
have been fraudulent in some way because they were for "superficial
wounds."

Dole knows better.

In a 1988 campaign-trail autobiography, here's how Dole described the
incident that earned him his first Purple Heart: "As we approached the enemy,
there was a brief exchange of gunfire. I took a grenade in hand, pulled the pin,
and tossed it in the direction of the farmhouse. It wasn't a very good pitch
(remember, I was used to catching passes, not throwing them). In the darkness,
the grenade must have struck a tree and bounced off. It exploded nearby, sending
a sliver of metal into my leg--the sort of injury the Army patched up with
Mercurochrome and a Purple Heart."

Reminds me of someone complaining about "damn Democratic wars"...

Finally, after borrowing so much from other bloggers today, here's one of my own. If we're focused on what people were doing the late '60s-early '70s, how about someone asking George Bush about the community service that he served in 1972, the same year he got into a fight with Poppy over his drunk driving. Rumor has it Bush got caught with cocaine and Daddy worked out a deal where the conviction was expunged from W's record, in exchange for community service work.

It's possible, however, that this issue may come into focus next month, when Kitty Kelley's biography about the Bush Family is published. I've heard that the fact that Bush paid for an abortion for a girlfriend in early '70s (pre-Roe v. Wade, when abortion was still illegal in Texas) will be discussed in the book, moving that line of discourse up from the likes of Larry Flynt.








- posted by Joshua @ 1:36 PM