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Showing posts from August, 2004

Misc. Convention Notes

It's a shame the networks didn't cover the McCain or Giuliani speeches. The two are media darlings, but no one thought it terribly important to cover their views on why Bush should be re-elected. Both were extremely effective, and both praised Kerry for his Vietnam service while criticizing his record in office. But the spin already is the Republicans are going negative early, and unfortunately, that's all most viewers will hear about on the morning talk shows... Delegates at the convention are reportedly wearing Band-Aids with purple hearts on them... And Don King for W! Rudy Giuliani brought up a point worth remembering, and that is the courage and sacrifice of construction workers in the immediate wake of the WTC attacks. Three years removed we easily remember the tower and Pentagon victims, the passengers and crew on the doomed flights, the police and firefighters, and all those who are serving in our armed forces. But we forget the many New York construction work

Damn Straight

Ron Silver on 9/11: "We will never forget... we will never forgive... we will never excuse."

Patton for Bush!

Kicking off the Republican National Convention with a medley of showtunes was a little bizarre, but the short convention-floor interview with veteran Joseph Petrone of New Hampshire was the strangest thing I've ever seen. I must have rewound ten times to make sure I got the quote right. The RNC interviewer stated Petrone was a former "ambassador to President Reagan" and had fought in three wars, and asked him to talk about the wars. I quote Petrone directly: "Well, the first one was interesting because I was General Patton . The last two I didn't go over into combat... I was a regular army officer and because of that well we've gone on to another one if I could have stayed in." That was Shakespeare compared to what he said about Bush and veterans' benefits, which was something about the army taking money out of injured veterans' retirement pay, and included the phrase "No double dipping!" I don't mean to belittle the man, w

Startlingly Refreshing

Drudge is reporting today that the Kerry daughters were booed soundly at the MTV awards last night. http://www.drudgereport.com/kerrymtv.htm This could not possibly have been predicted. How could this have happened? There seem to be only two possible answers: Despite the tidal wave of anti-Bush criticism coming out of Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general, the young adults of today are unaffected; they are able to compartmentalize entertainment vs. politics. As one who curses at Nickelodeon for sending inappropriate messages to kids, this would be a wonderful finding. Still, it seems wholly implausible that the self-selecting group of young people who would attend this event would be Bush supporters. Though I'm no conspiracy theorist, I wonder if the RNC planted some people at this event. If true, it was a brilliant stroke: hitting the ultra-left on their own turf, and taking them completely by surprise in front of a national audience. Either way, try pictur

Estate Tax

Fascinating piece by John Berlau about Warren Buffett's vested interest in maintaining the estate tax. http://www.nationalreview.com/issue/berlau200408180838.asp (requires subscription for full article)