Separated at Birth?: Bush and Quagmire from Family Guy

Did you notice during last night's debate how Bush has this awesome tic where he emphasizes seemingly every statement with this hilarious, turkey-like head-jerking motion?

Here's a pic of him, caught in the act. Hilarious.

But then it hit me: He's doing Quagmire! From Family Guy! Awesome! If only he'd just say, Ohhhh Yeahhhhh," just once, why maybe I'd...ah, fuck that. He's still evil. I'm not voting for Bush. I'd still continue to loathe him for the dangerously corrupt and/or stupid leader he is. But still, if he's channeling Quagmire, that's kind of cool.

The Most Liberal U.S. Senator?

This is interesting:

From the Los Angeles Times:

On three occasions during the debate, Bush cited National Journal magazine as having named Kerry as the most liberal U.S. senator, once calling the designation an "award." However, using the authoritative magazine's analysis to reach such a conclusion is "misleading — or just plain wrong," editor Charles Green said.

The magazine's annual rating of senators — which are not "awards" — listed Kerry the most liberal based on votes cast in 2003, but also said the Massachusetts senator missed nearly half of the votes used to compile the rating.

Green said that by examining votes over a lifetime, Kerry is the 11th most liberal, behind such senators as Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California.

The magazine also said Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, was ranked the fourth most liberal senator in 2003 after missing many votes, but he is the 27th most liberal senator based on votes over his career.

Of course, I don't see the word "liberal" as a pejorative, so I wasn't all that worried about it. But this is the first fact-check I've read on this assertion. I've never heard it challenged before. And, you know, I tend to pay attention.

Except in class. :)

FactCheck.org: Distortions Galore at Second Presidential Debate

Have you noticed how the traditional media have jumped on the factcheking bandwagon? It's awesome.

As always, FactCheck.org, suddenly in the spotlight after Cheney's attempt to cite it in his debate with John Edwards, has factchecked the statements of both candidates from last night's debate:

From FactCheck.org:

"Both candidates played loose with the facts at the second Presidential Debate in St. Louis on Oct. 8. Bush claimed Kerry's health-care plan would lead to rationing and 'ruin the quality of health care in America,' a claim unsupported by neutral experts. Kerry claimed the Bush administration had forced the Army Chief of Staff to retire for pushing to send more troops to Iraq, but in fact he retired on schedule."

And there's a lot more than that. Read their complete report here.

Don Tyler: Station's Excuse Not Good Enough

Well, I'm in minute 16:00 of my 15 minutes of fame. When I got home tonight from the Michigan Council of Teachers of English (MCTE) conference down in Lansing, I discovered that I've been namechecked in the CM Life for the FOURTH straight edition. This time it is in a letter to the editor by a guy called Don Tyler.

And once again, other people see more in this incident than I did (at least initially). I like how it's not really about me, but about what the radio station should be doing.

BTW, I've had so many people email me with supportive comments. Nobody's called me a douchebag yet.

At least not for that.

Anyway, you can read Don Tyler's letter here.

Unless you're tired of me. I know I am.

And, Don Tyler, if yer out there...right on! :)

...and I have to wonder if he is out there, because my hits are WAY up this month, easily 3-4 times the usual amount, and I can only assume that it is because of this radio station thing.

Or maybe I have a stalker. :) I am getting pretty hot. 181 pounds right now. Over 20 down from a year ago.

Blah blah blah. I was up at 5:15 this morning and I'm SO tired, I'm actually kind of dizzy.

So...later!

JIb Jab: Good to be in DC

I WOULD post a link to the brand-new Jib Jab cartoon "Good to be in DC" right here. Buuuut...it's just too homophobic for me to deal with. So I won't.

Tsk tsk.

Tom the Dancing Bug: Lucky Ducky

From Ruben Bolling's comic Tom the Dancing Bug, here is another chapter in the continuing adventures of Lucky Ducky, the poor little duck who's rich in luck.

Associated Press: Cheney Slip Sends Surfers to Wrong Site

Here is the full story on Dick Cheney's FactCheck.org slipup.

In a word: Awesome.

Truthout.org: A Big Increase of New Voters in Swing States

Lately I've been telling people that I think John Kerry is going to win the election. Here's why.

The most important thing to take note of is that the vast majority of Americans support liberal, Democractic values. But so many of thse people have become disengaged from the minimal civic responsibility of voting. It's taken the alternating corruption and ineptitude of the Bush administration to bring them back to the polls this year. But make no mistake. Most of these new voters are not coming back to the process to vote for "four more years." They want change. Otherwise, wouldn't they just stay home?

Oh, and forget about the polls. Polls only cover "likely voters," defined as voters who voted in the 2000 election. That does not, of course, include newly registered voters. So keep that in mind when you hear any and all poll results. They do not give you the entire picture.

Fresh Air: John Stewart

I have been noticing recently that the Daily Show with John Stewart has been shaming real newspeople into engaging in some actual journalism and factchecking of their own. The folks at Fresh Air on NPR seem to have noticed this too.

You can listen to their interview with John Stewart here.

Tips: You will need to have Real Player installed and have your sound up, but not too loud. :)

FactCheck.com? Or is it org?

Oh this is TOO awesome: Last night, Cheney referred, in the VP debate, to FactCheck.com, meaning FactCheck.org. Well it turns out that FactCheck.com redirects to the web site of financier and anti-Bush activist George Soros. Awesome!

I'm sure Soros is thanking Cheney for all the increased traffic to his web site today. Heh.

FactCheck.org: Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts

Surely glowing from last night's endorsement from Dick Cheney in last night's debate, FactCheck. org fact-checks the candidates' statements in that debate.

BTW, the amusing thing, to me, is that FactCheck has fact-checked the Bushies A LOT. New visitors to the web site will see corrections of a BUNCH of misleading statements and mischaracterizations from Bush-Cheney ads and speeches. So Cheney hipping millions of viewers to their web site is awesome. And an awesome miscalculation for Cheney.

From FactCheck.org:

"Cheney wrongly implied that FactCheck had defended his tenure as CEO of Halliburton Co., and the vice president even got our name wrong. He overstated matters when he said Edwards voted "for the war" and "to commit the troops, to send them to war." He exaggerated the number of times Kerry has voted to raise taxes, and puffed up the number of small business owners who would see a tax increase under Kerry's proposals.

Edwards falsely claimed the administration "lobbied the Congress" to cut the combat pay of troops in Iraq, something the White House never supported, and he used misleading numbers about jobs."

Read the full FactCheck.org report

My Published CM LIfe Letter

On Monday, I posted a letter to the Editor of CM Life that I thought was going to go unpublished. But it ultimately did not. It was published in today's edition. Read it again, this time in slightly edited form, here.

I'm going to have to think of some way to get into this Friday's paper now. It's like an addiction. Maybe I'll do an armed robbery at Arby's.

CM Life: Orlik: Radio Must Separate Content

The CMU BCA Department responded publicly in today's CM Life. It seems to be a tacit admission that, yeah, it isn't about Equal Time. It's about separation of content. Okay, but that still doesn't explain Howard Stern or Harry Shearer. Oh well.

Read it here.

Associated Press: Republicans Accuse Moore of Vote Bribery

Michigan Republicans say that Michael Moore should be prosecuted for offering underwear, potato chips, and Ramen noodles to college students in exchange for their promise to vote.

These are the same guys, BTW, who spoke of "suppressing the Detroit vote." You tell me, which example is truly evil and which is a just goofy joke.

Read about it here.

Washington Post: Bremer Criticizes Troop Levels

L. Paul Bremer, the former U.S. official who governed Iraq after the invasion, said yesterday that the United States made two major mistakes: not deploying enough troops in Iraq and then not containing the violence and looting immediately after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

Bremer has generally defended the U.S. approach in Iraq, but in recent weeks has begun to criticize the administration for tactical and policy shortfalls.

Looks like Rummy's not the only one having trouble staying on message. Hee hee.

Read about it here.

Washington Post: Rumsfeld Sees Lack of Proof for Qaeda-Hussein Link

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday that he had seen no "strong, hard evidence" linking Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.

Way to stay on message, Rummy! Careful. Cheney might tell you to go fuck yourself. Heh.

Read about it here.

Michael Klare: Oil: The Real Threat to National Security

Michael Klare is the defense correspondent for the Nation. In his new book, Blood and Oil, Klare argues that American support of anti-democratic regimes, particularly in the Middle East, is a clear root cause of anti-American sentiment, and thus, terrorism. And you can read his Salon.com article, "Oil: The Real Threat to National Security," here.

In his review of Michael Klare's book, Salon.com's Andrew Leonard suggests that

"the only way out would appear to be to subsidize massive investment in renewable energy and conservation. The current presidential administration, staffed largely by representatives of Big Oil, will never take that step. It's also easy to have doubts as to whether a Kerry administration will have the will to make the changes necessary. Still, one can dream -- if the $120 billion spent on the Iraq war had been spent on light rail and bike paths and subsidizing research into hydrogen fuel cells and encouraging Detroit car manufacturers to upgrade fuel efficiency, wouldn't we all be able to sleep a little bit easier?"

FactCheck.org: Bush Mischaracterizes Kerry's Health Plan

I've heard, repeatedly, Bush claiming that John Kerry's health plan puts "bureaucrats in control" of medical decisons, "not you, not your doctor." But, according to the seemingly tireless Factcheck.org, experts simply do not agree with that statement.

From Factcheck.org: A Bush ad claims Kerry’s healthcare proposals would put "big government in charge" of medical decisions. In fact, Kerry's plan would leave 97% with the insurance they have now -- while up to 27 million who aren't insured would gain coverage.

Bush's claim turns out to be based on opinions from two conservative advocates whose predictions aren't supported by neutral experts.

Read the enitre Factcheck.org report here.

Washington Post: Poland Leaders Aim to Pull Iraq Troops

In one of President Bush's many moments of frustration during last Thursday's debate, he chastised John Kerry about understating the international effort in Iraq: "Well, actually you forgot Poland," he snorted.

Today Poland announced plans to withdraw its troops from the region. Read about it here.

Poland's 2,500 troops made that country the fourth-largest contributor, and its decision to leave Iraq leaves Bush with one less direction to point in when he's looking to convince people that the "Coalition of the Willing" was anything more than window dressing.

CM Life: Radio Station Needs Reform

Wow, I'm in the paper again. And sadly it is still not for my sexual prowess. :)

In one of two editorials published today, Chad Livengood sees the bigger picture in my little run-in with WMHW and the BCA Department. Read it here.

CM Life: WMHW Mistakes: Political Talk Not Bad for Station

Here is the other CM Life editorial, this one responding to the station's Equal Time defense of its no-politics policy. Brilliant!

Another Unpublished CM Life Letter

This weekend, I wrote another letter to the CM Life, the student newspaper at CMU. It wasn't published, but I still think it's pretty good, so here it is:

Hey Editor,

Despite being a strong John Kerry supporter, my expectations for Thursday night's debate were decidedly modest. After weeks of watching in disappointment as Kerry seemingly allowed himself to be defined by the Bush campaign, on Thursday night, I saw the President lose, within 90 minutes, all of the advantage that he and his allies had lied, misinformed, and mischaracterized so very deftly to obtain. I was utterly astonished to see the president blinking helplessly in the coming headlights of the Massachusetts senator. Beforehand, I thought that Kerry would have difficulty explaining himself without going over his allotted time. But instead it was the President who struggled, in vain, to even fill 90 seconds, even after repeating empty platitudes about "hard work." You could visibly see the fear in the President a mere 15 minutes into the debate. If I didn't already feel that the President desperately needs to go, I might have even found it uncomfortable to watch. But since I do, it was awesome!

But more than the President's abject failure, I was astonished to see such confidence and strength in Kerry. He spoke with a sense and logic that have been absent from American politics for most of my lifetime. He was not detached and he was not at all phony. He spoke with appropriate gravity on serious matters. He articulated positions that were specific and defined.

I knew before the debate that I would vote for John Kerry. I knew well over a year ago, in fact, that I would vote for anyone other than Bush. But I hadn't expected to believe in John Kerry so strongly. The next two debates, if Bush dares to show up for them, will be some serious must-see TV.

Andy Price
Cadillac Senior