Blog Debate

Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy has a Pro War challenge to bloggers:

First, assuming that you were in favor of the invasion of Iraq at the time of the invasion, do you believe today that the invasion of Iraq was a good idea? Why/why not?

Second, what reaction do you have to the not-very-upbeat news coming of Iraq these days, such as the stories I link to above?

Third, what specific criteria do you recommend that we should use over the coming months and years to measure whether the Iraq invasion has been a success?

Here's a shot:

1. I was strongly in favor and remain that way. I'm a bit of a maniac (hence the name of my blog) and a technology nut at heart. Therefore, I always enjoy seeing our weapons (and tax dollars) at work whether it's against Saddam or some other thug. Nevertheless, that's not the only reason for this war; I also support it because Saddam had to be dealt with. It was either now or later. If it were later (more likely too late) then the actual ground war would have been more difficult rather than the 3 week rout. Or we might have been hit with a terrorist act (Saddam did have connections) on our soil. In that case, the blame directed at Bush would have been brutal. And I don't buy that b.s. from the left that Saddam was a distraction from the war against terrorism or al-Qaeda. Our military is perfectly capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.
2. With respect to downer news, I am usually suspicious. Occasionally a story has some truth to it, but most of the stories (like disgruntled soldiers, poor Iraqis, etc.) are anecdotal, spotty, and merely reflect the reporter's bias. If people need real news then read Chrenkoff. He has good reports from both Iraq and Afghanistan on lots of stuff you won't see on Dan Blather.

3. First, I suspect this is going to take years. The problem is the MTV crowd and 24-hour news cycle has bred a quick-fix mentality in this country. The problem is you cannot inject democracy and respect for human life into a country that existed under the boot of despotism for the past 30 years. Second, as far as specific benchmarks, not only would I look at the January 2005 elections as an accomplish, but also subsequent elections or re-elections sometime in the future. That will be a sign of stability. A further sign would be actual travel to Iraq. Maybe a daily non-stop flight from London or Tokyo (I don't know if NY is close enough) would be a boost and a sign of actual safety on the ground. Also, more whining from the left will be a sign of success.

Apparently CNN Offers News

CNN questions the results of it's own poll with this headline:

Bush apparently leads Kerry in pre-debate poll

Gotta love that confidence bias.

Bring on the French

Kerry's Campaign Manager Mary Beth Cahill laid out the plan:

"Well actually, I think that some of the people who have done the most with this around the world are the Irish and the French, and that if we could draw them into this, helping us train Iraqi nationals, that would be a huge step in the right direction. But they won't do it so long as we have the leadership that we have right now."

Hmm, the French, the Germans and the Irish. The Irish?

I wonder (scratches chin):

French and German government officials say they will not significantly increase military assistance in Iraq even if John Kerry, the Democratic presidential challenger, is elected on November 2.

Oh well, there's still the Irish.

Just Shut-up!

Senators Chuck Hagel and John McCain were in their typical maverick mode over the weekend. Here's the quotes:

"The fact is, we’re in deep trouble in Iraq ... and I think we’re going to have to look at some recalibration of policy," Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said on CBS’s "Face the Nation."

"We made serious mistakes," said Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who has campaigned at Bush’s side this year after patching up a bitter rivalry.

Do these guys realize that each is the chairman of the Re-elect Bush committee for his respective state? They're morons.

Take One for the Kerry Team

The NY Times is reporting that CBS News will admit it was duped and take one for the Kerry team. Unfortunately for CBS, their fall guy, Bill Burkett, will not take one for the Kerry team, so says his lawyer David Van Os.

It's going to be interesting if any muck hits the Kerry campaign when this thing lands.

Dan: "The White House Made Me Do It"

Oh geeez. The LA Times has the story about how CBS pulled the story together and how quickly it fell apart. Here's the money quote:

Josh Howard, the program's executive producer, told the Los Angeles Times in an interview Friday: "The White House said they were authentic, and that carried a lot of weight with us."

But the White House actually said:

Bartlett's answer was: "I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that the fact that documents like this are being raised when, in fact, all they do is reaffirm what we've said all along, is questionable."

I think some heads should roll, especially Dan's.

On the Road Again?

Teddy Kennedy is hitting the road for the Kerry campaign. A warning to everyone out there: don't hitch a ride from him. Also, I wonder why Kerry is hitching a ride?

Colonel Vapor (Rathergate)

Via Kansas.com, the Dallas Morning News is reporting that the colonel who pressured Bush's superior to "sugar-coat" the record wasn't even in the Guard when the memo was made by Killian:

The man named in a disputed memo as exerting pressure to "sugar coat" President Bush's military record left the Texas Air National Guard a year and a half before the memo was supposedly written, his own service record shows.

An order obtained by The Dallas Morning News shows that Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt was honorably discharged on March 1, 1972. CBS News reported this week that a memo in which Staudt was described as interfering with officers' negative evaluations of Bush's service, was dated Aug. 18, 1973.

CBS and Dan Rather stand by their story. This is really starting to unravel.

Smeared by Fakes

CBS News performed a drive-by hit on President Bush's National Guard service by releasing several memos from a dead Texan that was Bush's superior officer in the TANG. Here are the memos: August 18 memo, May 19 memo, May 4 memo, and August 1 memo. Interestingly, the memos are typed in a proportional font, similar to something you'd find on a word processor or a webpage like this, but not in the National Guard of 1972. Plus, the signatures don't match up. CBS said it consulted with a handwriting expert, but that expert is a friend of Barnes, the very guy that is now making scurrilous allegations about Bush.

There's more to this story that needs to come out. In the end, I don't believe it will matter. If they're fake then it will matter because the folks at Moveon.org and Barnes' group in Texas will have this filth thrown back in their faces and splashed onto Kerry.


UPDATE: Powerline has more on this issue. It looks like a former Navy clerk has weighed in the issue of the fake memos, and provides some compelling, though anecdotal, reasons. Hopefully, this has legs.

UPDATE II: Rather than link to everything out there, here's a short list of the fallout:
Captain's Quarters
Powerline
QandO
QandO again

This is rather (pun intended) amusing.

Bush is a Moron, Ooops

The AP and the bloviating media is back on the Bush was AWOL story with this report. It's good to see they're getting deep into this one, just like they dug deep into the Kerry medals flap and his post-Vietnam antics. Nevertheless, the AP story did have an interesting tidbit that I'm sure many lefties will choose to overlook:

The records also show Bush made a grade of 88 on total airmanship and a perfect 100 for flying without navigational instruments, operating a T-38 System and studying applied aerodynamics. Other scores ranged from 89 in flight planning to 98 in aviation physiology.

I think it was at about this time that Al Gore was flunking out of both law school and divinity school and when John Kerry couldn't get into Harvard. By the way, George W. Bush did get into Harvard.

Update: Lies, Lies, Lies

Yesterday, I posted about the lies the Kerry Campaign pointed out from the RepubliCon, including John McCain's lies. Well, it's now disappeared at this link. Here's the new screenshot:

LA Times on the Payroll

The Kerry Campaign shakeup involved shaking the reporters at the liberal media to write more puff pieces like this one in the LA Times that touts Kerry's ability to come back in a campaign. Hey, he's done it twice in the past, unfortunately both times were in Massachusetts. Now, if he can only get every person from Cambridge to go out and breed with middle America and dilute the vote, then he might win. Good luck.

Lies, Lies, Lies

The Kerry for President website has a list of Four Days Filled With Lies from the Republican Convention in NYC. Interestingly, the Kerryites don't refute them and they step on the guy that they oh so covet, John McCain:

Bush Has Done A Good Job With Our Allies.

10. Senator John McCain: “My friends in the Democratic Party and I'm fortunate to call many of them my friends assure us they share the conviction that winning the war against terrorism is our government's most important obligation. I don't doubt their sincerity. They emphasize that military action alone won't protect us, that this war has many fronts: in courts, financial institutions, in the shadowy world of intelligence, and in diplomacy. They stress that America needs the help of her friends to combat an evil that threatens us all, that our alliances are as important to victory as are our armies. We agree. And, as we've been a good friend to other countries in moments of shared perils, so we have good reason to expect their solidarity with us in this struggle. That is what the President believes. And, thanks to his efforts we have received valuable assistance from many good friends around the globe, even if we have, at times, been disappointed with the reactions of some.”

11. Senator John McCain: “Our President will work with all nations willing to help us defeat this scourge that afflicts us all.”

Bush Did It Right Going to War Against Iraq.

12. Senator John McCain: “However just the cause, we should shed a tear for all that is lost when war claims its wages from us. But there is no avoiding this war. We tried that, and our reluctance cost us dearly. And while this war has many components, we can't make victory on the battlefield harder to achieve so that our diplomacy is easier to conduct.”

13. Senator John McCain: “After years of failed diplomacy and limited military pressure to restrain Saddam Hussein, President Bush made the difficult decision to liberate Iraq. Those who criticize that decision would have us believe that the choice was between a status quo that was well enough left alone and war. But there was no status quo to be left alone."

Not too smart, when you want to get independent voters on your side.

This Would Be Great

A report out there claims we're close to getting bin Laden. The Kerry campaign might as well just shut down if that happens.

Geez, Just Go Away

Even on his hospital bed, Bill Clinton help but stick his big, fat nose into the current election. Maybe that conspiracy that he's trying to sabotage Kerry for Hillary's 2008 run is true.

Man the Lifeboats

Time Magazine is reporting doom for Kerry:

For the first time since the Presidential race became a two person contest last spring, there is a clear leader, the latest TIME poll shows. If the 2004 election for President were held today, 52% of likely voters surveyed would vote for President George W. Bush, 41% would vote for Democratic nominee John Kerry, and 3% would vote for Ralph Nader, according to a new TIME poll conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2. Poll results are available on TIME.com and will appear in the upcoming issue of TIME magazine, on newsstands Monday, Sept. 6.

Kerry's campaign must be going nuts. Haha.