Goldberg and Guthrie

Please.

Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi (search), once a favored Iraqi exile of the American government, denied accusations Sunday that he passed secrets to Iran -- and challenged CIA director George Tenet to a verbal duel before Congress.

He wrote this:

Historically, the Democratic party rarely wins with a majority of the vote, notes the website RasmussenReports.com. "Thirteen of the last 14 Republican Presidential victories before 2000 were won with a majority of the popular vote" — the current president was the exception.

I'm not even sure what this means, but I sure like the idea that 13 of 14 Republican Presidents actually winning the majority of Americans' votes is something that Republicans should brag about.

(There's a whole lot of stupid stuff in this article. Another thing: he argues that Republican Presidents and Candidates tend to flip flop less than Democrats. Then, in comparing recent Presidents, HE DOESN'T MENTION THE FIRST GEORGE BUSH. That's right - the most public and famous example of Presidential flip flopping - "read my lips" - somehow escaped Goldberg's analysis.)

I don't know why I bother, but here's shorter Victor Davis Hanson on the National Review Online:

Because George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld were asked to and did apologize for US troops torturing Iraqis, Ted Kennedy must apologize for a remark he made on the Senate floor.

No, seriously, that's the argument.

Apparently, Jack Ryan is having a staffer with a video camera follow Obama around ALL DAY - wherever he goes. Classy move. When asked about it, Ryan's campaign manager immediately apologized and explained that this was simply one overzealous staffer taking things too far. Oh, wait, he defended the campaign's decision to follow Obama around with a video camera all day.

I only wish that this race had taken place when Goldberg was in Obama's class - then we could actually SEE Obama giving Goldberg a bad grade. That would have been a treat for us all.

Actually, this time he's 100% right - and by the way Dennis Hastert sucks.

Amid nervous laughter, the reporter continued with his question: "Anyway, his observation was never before when we've been at war have we been worrying about cutting taxes and his question was, 'Where's the sacrifice?' "

Hastert: "If you want to see the sacrifice, John McCain ought to visit our young men and women at Walter Reed and Bethesda. There's the sacrifice in this country. We're trying to make sure they have the ability to fight this war, that they have the wherewithal to be able to do it. And, at the same time, we have to react to keep this country strong."

Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda National Naval Medical Center are two military hospitals in the Washington area.

McCain, a prisoner of war during Vietnam, later released a written statement, taking issue with the spending habits of Republican lawmakers.

"The Speaker is correct in that nothing we are called upon to do comes close to matching the heroism of our troops," McCain said.

"All we are called upon to do is not spend our nation into bankruptcy while our soldiers risk their lives. I fondly remember a time when real Republicans stood for fiscal responsibility. Apparently those days are long gone for some in our party."

GOLDBERG UPDATE: Digby has more. Read it.

Well, I haven't posted in forever, and I am operating on no sleep this wonderful morning, thanks to the awesome world of lawyering. However, I saw these two headlines, on a major news website, together, and I think it pretty much sums up this election for me:

Kerry Criticizes 'Separate and Unequal' Schools

Bush Renews Call to Ban Gay Marriage

I was, for some reason, watching E! last night, and there was a preview for a show about people and places that famous movies and shows were based on. They will interview, apparently, the guy who Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was based on.

How would you like to be this guy? What is it like, having this be your one claim to fame? And would you brag about it at bars? While hitting on women? And how would you try to weave it into the conversation naturally?

"I'll tell you what man, you're a real prince. Speaking of Princes..."

"Hey, lady, you're dressed well tonight... I bet you put as much thought into your wardrobe as Hillary on Fresh Prince. Remember her brother..."

"Man, this is about as fucked up as the time they randomly changed the actress who played Will Smith's mom. That reminds me..."

Or, you could just wait until E! inevitably interviews you.

I flew home last night, and started reading Plan of Attack on the plane. Remember when Ted Kennedy got in trouble when he said George Bush made up this war in Crawford, Texas. Well, by all accounts, that's exactly what he did.

I should have more thoughts on this next week - but nothing as good as what the Daily Howler has been saying about the book lately. I strongly encourage every American to go through the Howler's archives and in order to understand what a strange, strange book this is. Basically, the non-reported story of the book is that Cheney changed the U.S.'s policy in Iraq in a speech without first telling the President. Or, since this is absurd even for Bush, the whole book is a big fucking lie.

I'm not reading it to find out what really happened. What I am reading it for is to find out what a bunch of people in the administration want me to think happened.

Wonkette with a very funny yet tragic post on Rush's latest outrage.

To its credit, the Corner has linked to this and called it "pretty bad."

"The president must speak clearly..." George W. Bush, yesterday, explaining why he is more qualified than John Kerry to be President.

Other George W. Bush Quotes:

"Recession means that people's incomes, at the employer level, are going down, basically, relative to costs, people are getting laid off."—Washington, D.C., Feb. 19, 2004.

"See, one of the interesting things in the Oval Office—I love to bring people into the Oval Office—right around the corner from here—and say, this is where I office, but I want you to know the office is always bigger than the person."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2004.

"But the true strength of America is found in the hearts and souls of people like Travis, people who are willing to love their neighbor, just like they would like to love themselves."—Springfield, Mo., Feb. 9, 2004.

(All from Bushisms, on Slate.)

New campaign slogan: Vote Bush: Kerry Did Not Serve Honorably in Vietnam, Has Close Ties to Enron, and Cannot Speak Clearly.

Good God, Foxnews is STILL running a report on that UMASS student paper editorial on Pat Tillman on its front page. I also saw a story on the same editorial last night. What in the hell is the big deal? One student at UMASS said something dumb in an editorial in a student newspaper. Obviously, by running it over and over again, Fox is trying to suggest that it somehow represents the thought of many people in this country - namely, those on the left, more specifically, Democrats. Of course, it does not.

And yet, Ann Coulter, an open racist, continually writes columns like the one we linked to a few days ago. Ann Coulter does, in fact, represent the view of a large numbers of Americans - namely, Republicans. Why isn't the so-called liberal New York Time running stories on Ann Coulter every day? Why isn't ABC News doing a special on her? Could it be that because when one person expresses an opinion, however outrageous, it really isn't news?

Over at World O'Crap, they've linked to Rush Limbaugh - a wildly popular Republican talk show host - discussing the pictures of some of our troops torturing Iraqis. Read it.

I am glad, however, to know that Rush will soon be taken off the air by Clear Channel. As we learned following the widespread horror that was Janet Jackson's boob, offensive talk on the radio is very damaging to our society. I trust Clear Channel, under pressure by the FCC, will soon do the right thing and refuse to air this show on its channels. I, and anyone who is capable of human thought and empathy, am deeply offended by these comments - moreso, even, than Howard Stern discussing oral sex with a retarded dwarf.

UPDATE: Here's the link to Rush's site, lest you believe this was made up. He is not a good man.

UPDATE: Oh, Jesus Christ, I just read the whole thing on Rush's site and it's even worse than World O' Crap made it seem. It scares the shit out of me that millions of people - "dittoheads", if you will - listen to this guy. I'm sure as hell glad they're not in my party.

This administration will not even consider rolling back its tax cuts to help pay for the war effort, but will consider forcing young Americans - and, in fact, all Americans under the age of 34, to go to the Middle East and die. George W. Bush really is a terrible President.


CLARIFICATION: I do want to be clear that it's just the head of the Selective Service who threw this idea out there - no evidence that Bush or the White House is actually thinking about it. But we KNOW they won't raise taxes.

The new Kerry ads are excellent. I very much prefer the one where he's talking.

On the other hand, why is it OK for Kerry to exploit our nation's tragedy in Vietnam for his own political gain?