In the second half hour we interviewed one of our favorite bloggers, Bill from INDCJournal.com. We talked to Bill about his blog and the impact that bloggers are having on traditional media, the debates, the election, the Swift Boat Veterans and even talked about John Edwards Bunny fetish, you don’t want to miss it!
Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. In this week’s show we discussed the debates, the DNC dirty tricks campaign, taxes, The Duelfer Report on WMD, John Edwards miracle healing power, Kerry’s draft canard and MTV’s Vote or Die Campaign. That was all in the first half hour!
War of Words
By TOMMY FRANKS
President Bush and Senator John Kerry have very different views of the war
on terrorism, and those differences ought to be debated in this presidential
campaign. But the debate should focus on facts, not distortions of history.On more than one occasion, Senator Kerry has referred to the fight at
Tora Bora in Afghanistan during late 2001 as a missed opportunity for America.
He claims that our forces had Osama bin Laden cornered and allowed him to
escape. How did it happen? According to Mr. Kerry, we “outsourced” the job to
Afghan warlords. As commander of the allied forces in the Middle East, I was
responsible for the operation at Tora Bora, and I can tell you that the
senator’s understanding of events doesn’t square with reality.First, take Mr. Kerry’s contention that we “had an opportunity to
capture or kill Osama bin Laden” and that “we had him surrounded.” We don’t know
to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001. Some
intelligence sources said he was; others indicated he was in Pakistan at the
time; still others suggested he was in Kashmir. Tora Bora was teeming with
Taliban and Qaeda operatives, many of whom were killed or captured, but Mr. bin
Laden was never within our grasp.Second, we did not “outsource” military action. We did rely heavily on
Afghans because they knew Tora Bora, a mountainous, geographically difficult
region on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is where Afghan mujahedeen
holed up for years, keeping alive their resistance to the Soviet Union. Killing
and capturing Taliban and Qaeda fighters was best done by the Afghan fighters
who already knew the caves and tunnels.Third, the Afghans weren’t left to do the job alone. Special forces
from the United States and several other countries were there, providing
tactical leadership and calling in air strikes. Pakistani troops also provided
significant help – as many as 100,000 sealed the border and rounded up hundreds
of Qaeda and Taliban fighters.Contrary to Senator Kerry, President Bush never “took his eye off the
ball” when it came to Osama bin Laden. The war on terrorism has a global focus.
It cannot be divided into separate and unrelated wars, one in Afghanistan and
another in Iraq. Both are part of the same effort to capture and kill terrorists
before they are able to strike America again, potentially with weapons of mass
destruction. Terrorist cells are operating in some 60 countries, and the United
States, in coordination with dozens of allies, is waging this war on many
fronts.
Oct 18 MSNBC
Kerry: Bush planning â??January surpriseâ?? on social security
“The last thing America’s seniors need is the president’s ‘January surprise,’ “
Kerry said, speaking at Mount Olivet Baptist Church, a black congregation in
Columbus, Ohio. “That’s a surprise we can all live without.”so is the truth apparently,
Oct 18
FactCheck.org
Kerry Falsely Claims Bush Plans To Cut Social Security Benefits
It’s not Bush’s plan, and it wouldn’t cut benefitsDoesn’t President Bush frequently talk about reforming social security? He mentioned it in the debates, he mentions it at every campaign stop. What kind of surprise is that? Kerry’s October surprise has been available on GeorgeWBush for a year or so,
President Bush will strengthen and enhance Social Security, guaranteeing no
changes in benefits for current retirees and near-retirees, while giving younger
workers the opportunity to use their Social Security payroll taxes to build a
nest egg for retirement that can be passed on to their families.President Bush has proposed voluntary personal accounts for younger workers
that would allow them to build a nest egg for retirement that they would own and
control, and could pass on to their families.President Bush has proposed to expand savings opportunities through the
creation of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) and Lifetime Savings Accounts
(LSAs). RSAs would provide all Americans with an easy, tax-preferred way
to prepare for retirement. LSAs would give all Americans the opportunity
to save tax free to pay for job training, college tuition, the down-payment on a
first home, a car to drive to work, or their retirement.
Charles at Little Green Footballs makes this observation,
“You don’t even need to Photoshop the pictures of sportsperson/Senator John F. Kerry, showing his decisive manliness personliness on the field of dreams. They’re beyond parody.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin
â??I consider the activities of terrorists in Iraq are not as much aimed at
coalition forces but more personally against President Bush. International
terrorism has as its goal to prevent the election of President Bush to a second
term. If they achieve that goal, then that will give international
terrorism a new impulse and extra power.â?Â
The Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath
The Palestinian Authority made its first open statement Monday expressing
support for US democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Shaath
said that the future of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is unsure if
George W. Bush is re-elected to office.
Meanwhile, New Republic owner Martin Peretz is wondering,
By now, to be sure, Kerry thinks that Arafatâ??s â??supportâ? for terrorism has
already rendered him unfit as a partner for peace. And his votes in the Senate
(like all but a handful of senators) have been routinely friendly to
Israel.So why am I still exercised about John Kerry?
Itâ??s the ramifications of his foreign policy in general, especially his
fixation on the United Nations as the arbiter of international legitimacy,
proctor of that â??global test.â?ÂIâ??ve searched to find one time when Kerry â?? even candidate Kerry â??
criticized a U.N. action or statement against Israel. Iâ??ve come up empty. Nor
has he defended Israel against the European Unionâ??s continuous hectoring.
Another thing that bothers me about Kerry is the deus ex machina he has up his
sleeve: the appointment of a presidential envoy. Itâ??s hard to count how many
special emissaries have been dispatched from Washington to the Middle East to
solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Whatâ??s easy to see is that none of them has
gotten to â??yes.â?Â
Sorry for the delay in posting this weekend’s show with Bill from INDCJournal. We are having some problems with audio blog which should (hopefully) be resolved soon.