Thursday, July 15, 2004
Kerry is a flip flopper.
Bush 2000:
KING: So if a state were voting on gay marriage, you would suggestto that state not to approve it?BUSH: The state can do what they want to do. Don't try to trap me inthis state's issue like you're trying to get me into.
Bush: 2004:
Today, I call upon the Congress to promptly pass and to send to thestates for ratification an amendment to our Constitution defining andprotecting marriage as a union of a man and woman as husband andwife.
I Love Media Matters.org. Their transcripts of Bill O'Reilly just hammer home perfectly why he is such a fucking idiot.
Here is a recent exchange with a man who is an expert on all aspects of gay amrraige, including legal ones:
O'REILLY: Does it bother you at all, Mr. Wolfson, as an American citizen that in the state of Massachusetts, the activist judges there found a loophole. [...] In Massachusetts, they ruled that gay marriage was legal because the Supreme Court there found a loophole which said the legislature did not define marriage between a man and a woman.
WOLFSON: No, no, that's not correct.
O'REILLY: Yes, it is.
WOLFSON: No, please, it isn't. That is my area of expertise, and what they did say was that the constitution requires that when government discriminates, it has to show a reason. And they looked at all the reasons that the state put forward. And they found that not one stood up. The government is not able to show a reason. And...
O'REILLY: Yes. Yes, that may be your interpretation, but the ruling came down -- I think it was four to three ... that gay marriage was OK because the legislature in the Commonwealth did not specifically ban it.
WOLFSON: No...
O'REILLY: That's the fact.
WOLFSON: Well, no, that's not the fact.
Now here is the exact same debate with a different subject:
O'REILLY: Does it bother you at all sir, that the sky is yellow and I shit toasters?
SANE HUMAN BEING: No, I think you're wrong about that.
O'REILLY: No I am not. I am telling the truth.
SANE HUMAN BEING: No, you're wrong. As you can see the sky is blue, and that is not the smell of a toaster I am detecting.
O'REILLY: That may be your interpretation sir, but clearly the object I am now smearing all over myself that just fell out of my ass is in fact a toaster.
SANE HUMAN BEING: Please stop.
O'REILLY: [begins to eat his own shit and squaks like a bird] It's a fact. It's a fact!
Well hello there.
Yeah, I can see you too.
Yeah. Its soo windy isn’t it. Do you like that?
Thats it. Lick it up. Don't let it spill all over.
You're my little princess aren't you?
DO you mind if she joins us?
Wonkette has the complete list of FOX news memo’s from their senior news editor John Moody. These are the memos he sends out to the entire staff at the beginning of the day advising them about what to cover. That they still pretend to be “fair and Balanced” just continues to make them the laughingstock of real journalism.
Moodys tepid response to their leaking was:
In an interview with The Post, Moody rejects "the implication that I'm controlling the news coverage," saying of his 1,200 employees: "People are free to call me or message me and say, 'I think you're off base.' Sometimes I take the advice, sometimes I don't."
Yeah, im sure there “Free’ to say the boss is off base. Like Brit Hume is gonna stand up and say “hey, this is a little to conservatively biased! Can we just report the news!”
As to the memo’s. Here’s the juiciest parts. My personal favorite is everytime the 9/11 commission is mentioned he alwas calls it the “so called” 9/11 commission. It’s like the scribblings of a petulant child.
Into Fallujah: It's called Operation Vigilant Resolve and it began Monday morning (NY time) with the US and Iraqi military surrounding Fallujah. We will cover this hour by hour today, explaining repeatedly why it is happening. It won't be long before some people start to decry the use of "excessive force." We won't be among that group. . . More than 600 US military dead, attacks on the UN headquarters last year, assassination of Irai officials who work with the coalition, the deaths of Spanish troops last fall, the outrage in Fallujah: whatever happens, it is richly deserved.
Let's spend a good deal of time on the battle over judicial nominations, which the President will address this morning. Nominees who both sides admit are qualified are being held up because of their POSSIBLE, not demonstrated, views on one issue -- abortion. This should be a trademark issue for FNC today and in the days to come.
The president is doing something that few of his predecessors dared undertake: putting the US case for mideast peace to an Arab summit. It's a distinctly skeptical crowd that Bush faces. His political courage and tactical cunning are worth noting in our reporting through the day.
John Kerry may wish he'd taken off his microphone before trashing the GOP. Though he insists he meant republican "attack squads," his coarse description of his opponents has cast a lurid glow over the campaign.
Kerry, starting to feel the heat for his flip-flop voting record, is in West Virginia. There's a near-meaningless primary in Illinois.
The so-called 9/11 commission has already been meeting. In fact, this is the eighth session. The fact that former Clinton and both frmer and current Bush administration officials are testifying gives it a certain tension, but this is not "what did he know and when did he know it" stuff. Do not turn this into Watergate. Remember the fleeting sense of national unity that emerged from this tragedy. Let's not desecrate that.
For everyone's information, the hotel where our Baghdad bureau is housed was hit by some kind of explosive device overnight. ALL FOX PERSONNEL ARE OK. The incident is a reminder of the danger our colleagues in Baghdad face, day in and day out. Please offer a prayer of thanks for their safety to whatever God you revere (and let the ACLU stick it where the sun don't shine).
As the witness list indicates, today is likely to be the apex of the so-called 9/11 commission hearings. Tenet, Clarke, and Clinton NSC advisor Berger all testify. We will carry their statements, along with he Q&A, live. Remember that while there are obvious political implications for Bush, the commission is looking at eight years of the Clinton Administration versus eight months (the time prior to 9/11 that Bush was in office) for the incumbent.
Air America, featuring Al Franken and other liberals, got on the air last week, but at what cost? Well, in New York, it took the place of an ethnic show. In LA, it knocked off a Korean program. And in CHicago,a spanish language broadcast was replaced. None of these people are happy.
Condoleeza Rice's testimony will still be picked apart by those looking to blame someone, whether it's Bush or Clinton, for September 11. Let's not forget UBL's share of that blame.
Ribbons or medals? Which did John Kerry throw away after he returned from Vietnam. This may become an issue for him today. His perceived disrespect for the military could be more damaging to the candidate than questions about his actions in uniform.
The president and VP are MEETING with the 9/11 commission. They are NOT testifying before it as did witnesses last week. It is an important distinction that we need to make.
The president goes to Michigan, accompanied by a powerful campaign asset, the first lady.
Thursday update: the pictures from Abu Graeb prison are disturbing. They have rightly provoked outrage. Today we have a picture -- aired on Al Arabiya -- of an American hostage being held with a scarf over his eyes, clearly against his will. Who's outraged on his behalf?
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
