Inspired by Cyberactor's Project Shame on You I sent a letter to the Cincinnati Post calling them to task for their 2000 Bush endorsement:
Four years ago, in endorsing George Bush for President, your newspaper proclaimed that  "tax cuts in the magnitude he describes would be workable only if surpluses stay skyscraper-high year after year."  Needless to say, the surplus is gone but the tax give-aways remained.  After witnessing this Administration provide one justification after another for their tax cuts to the wealthiest we are left with a shaky economy and a country billions of dollars in debt.

In 2000, the Cincinnati Post feared the size of Al Gore's proposals to enlarge government but Mr. Bush has proposed one expensive plan after another without providing the means to pay for them.  This year I hope you realize that Mr. Bush has not been the "commonsensical" President you hoped for and endorse John Kerry for President of the United States.

Today, I learned that my letter is 'in the pipeline' to be published.

Ok- I'm going to put myself out there for a little criticism:  I admit it, I'm a white boy.  But, after several blocks of marching yesterday the question seemed unavoidable:  Where were the black people?  

On the whole, there were some encouraging signs about the demographics of the protest.  While predictably young, I saw more than a few elderly women that probably shouldn't have been spending hours on the pavement on the hottest day of the summer.  Not that you can tell, but it seemed like there was a middle class feel to the people: yuppie families, college kids...

Surely Rove knew this was coming but hoped that Kerry had more to lose from a mudslinging over 'where were you in 1972?'.  But, nonetheless, it's good to see these questions finally resurface:

* Why did Bush, described by some of his fellow officers as a talented and enthusiastic pilot, stop flying fighter jets in the spring of 1972 and fail to take an annual physical exam required of all pilots?

What explains the apparent gap in the president's Guard service in 1972-73, a period when commanders in Texas and Alabama say they never saw him report for duty and records show no pay to Bush when he was supposed to be on duty in Alabama?

Did Bush receive preferential treatment in getting into the Guard and securing a coveted pilot slot despite poor qualifying scores and arrests, but no convictions, for stealing a Christmas wreath and rowdiness at a football game during his college years?

Though this diary entry will contain no news (or at least that was my impression until recent exchanges on the Daily Kos) I feel like many people here don't realize the rhetorically advantageous position of John Kerry.  

First of all John Kerry, is firmly within the middle of the Democratic Party.  Unfortuately National Journal allowed itself to be a tool for the right when they listed Kerry as the most liberal Senator because the only votes Kerry returned to Washington to cast were the important (liberal) votes.  While this may have been factually accurate it is a distortion to the point of meaninglessness to base such a claim on only 19 out of 62 votes.

Other rankings such as Progressive Punch counter the National Journal's ranking and 'punish' Kerry for missing close votes important to liberal causes.  Thus Progressive Punch only ranks Kerry as 24th most liberal Senator for the 108th Congress.  

One week after the death of Ronald Reagan you'd think that the New York Times would be forced by events to provide a fairness in the coverage of Bush vs. Kerry.  However...

The last week has witnessed dozens of examples of the media claiming that Bush was going to be able to grab Reagan's mantle and lift himself back into the White House.  

So, the long anticipated Clinton memoirs are about to reach the shelves and what is the impact on Kerry's campaign:  risk.

Because I've given up such self-flagellation I didn't realize that Dick Cheney was interviewed by Rush Limbaugh until I read it from Josh Marshall.

Aside from the lies in this interview that Marshall takes apart I wonder if there isn't another political point to made that Dick Cheney has been spending time with such dubious characters.  Surely a gig on Monday Night Football can't clear a resume that includes race-baiting and denigrating war protesters as unpatriotic.  

Sad to say, I feel that these types of 'guilt by association' raps carry more weight in the press than an actual accusation of lying which devolves into 'he said, she said'.

So, what kind of dirt does Rush have that should disqualify him from a meeting with the Vice President?

He is in a discussion with EJ Dionne and Robert Siegel on All Things Considered (no link yet) about terrorism, Spanish politics, and the Presidential race.

Brooks tried to show the 'growing rift' between the US and Europe by claiming that the newly-elected PM of Spain says "We cannot use force against terrorism".  Thankfully, he was corrected by Robert Siegel: "He has said that we cannot not use force ALONE against terrorism"

This man has no scruples; these are not equivilent statements.  I can only take this as an intentional willingness to deceive, especially given the insistance of the PM to make the fight against terrorism to be his first priority.

I'm not sure how we are supposed to fight against misrepresentation on such a huge scale from both the Administration and the media.  I'm very depressed.

Perhaps this is nit-picking but to me it seems to go to the heart of the argument for anti-war Democrats:  During analysis of recent political ads with Bob Edwards on Morning Edition Juan Williams incorrectly stated today that the week marks the one year anniversary of the war on terror.  

Unsurprisingly, Bob Edwards failed to correct Mr. Williams that this week actually marks the anniversary of the war in Iraq and that the war on terror has been engaged at least since 2001 and many consider the war in Iraq to be a distraction from this vital national concern.

I feel that its vital for Kerry's chances that the war in Iraq must be viewed, at best, as irrelevant to the war on terror.  To that end I voiced my complaints to morning@npr.org and ombudsman@npr.org

Brian Lehrer, the host of a current events/local interest show for the New York NPR affiliate WNYC will running a discussion on the allegations against Bush that he did not complete his service for the National Guard.  

The show is a call-in show w/ guests- similar, but superior, to Talk of the Nation.  I'm not sure who his guests are but it should get lively.  

The show is scheduled for Thursday and plays from 10-12 AM EST.  I'm not sure what time the segment will begin but it will probably last 30 minutes and can be heard on WNYC.org.

I'm not up for the research but maybe someone could figure out how long it took for Bush Administration to begin investigations on:

Intelligence failures leading to September 11th.
Intelligence failures in Iraq leading to the US invasion.
The circumstances leading to the exposing the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
The circumstance leading to the exposing of Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl halftime show.

I imagine there are some other examples that demostrate the Bush Administration's laser beam focus on the issues that matter to the safety of Americans.

I receive email from several of the candidates but this one from the Dean campaign jumped out:

Many Americans want to send care packages to the troops, but have no idea how to do it. By visiting this site you can get information about sending a care package to one of our troops in the field:  http://www.anysoldier.us

I'm still agnostic on Dean but you have to admire the way that Dean doesn't simply hide his perceived weaknesses but actually makes moves to put his opponents on the defensive.  By focusing on the troops it's not inconceivable that Dean could end up attacking Bush from both the left and the right.

Kudos to Trippi.

"If Saddam can get a medical examination at the expense of the US government why can't we provide health care for 40 million Americans?"

Any chance we'll here that from a Democratic nominee?

When I first heard the news the Bush was going to Walter Reed Army Medical Center I assumed he felt it was finally time to see some troops.  But alas, he has other concerns...  He's got to fix the knees so he can go jogging again!

Is it just that I'm too deep in the echo chamber to see the crystal clear logic of ABC's Note?  I find it hard to believe that they are accepted as non-partisan.

I'm not a Dean supporter at this point but I don't really understand this meme that the Note has been pushing for several months:
Fair or unfair, the media has not held Dean to the same standards as the other major candidates. Wes Clark's entry into the race sucked up a lot of publicity and took the spotlight off of Dean at the one moment when critical mass was being reached.

I'm interested in a large clearinghouse of political information but I feel that each of their analyses seems to show how well Bush is making out and how the Democrats are doomed.

It looks like CBS is going to cave in to conservative pressure and not show the Reagan mini-series.  But they plan on getting the last laugh by showing it on Showtime cashing in on the added publicity.  Everyone wins!  (except for the illusion of media integrity...)