According to this CNN Money story recent stock market trends are favoring a Bush victory.  The increase in prices in defense, utility, tobacco, and pharmacuetical stocks since the Dems convention in July are being interpreted as a sign that Bush's chances of reelection have increased recently. These stocks have increased at twice the rate of the rest of the S&P 500.

I guess this proves the old saying "follow the money".  It's a tragic thing that people (investors) will ignore the threats to our society represented by a Bush victory, but money talks.

Want to know who in your neighborhood is donating to Kerry or Bush?  DNC or RNC?  

There's a web site called Fund Race 2004 that gives you this information.  Not only who, but how much.  Just enter your address and zip code, or zip code only if you wish, and you'll see the names of lots of people you know and how much they have donated to who.

The site is not exhaustively accurate, since it fails to show my name or donations, but I still learned who the ardent financial donors are "in my neighborhood".

How far will these guys go to try to keep their man in office?  It seems that the "Swift Boat Veterans Against John Kerry" have hired a private investigator to look into the validity of John Kerry's first Purple Heart, won in the Viet Nam conflict.

Here's the story in the Dallas Morning News

It beats me how these people have the gall to continue this charade to discredit a very courageous man.  The only thing I can figure out is that they know that GWB's AWOL cannot be proved because of destruction of his ANG records.

Last evening we had a Republican couple for dinner (not in the sense of Hannibal Lector, however, more's the pity).  Despite trying to avoid the subject of politics, they made a few remarks about John Edwards, and called him an "ambulance chasing trial lawyer".  Since I knew that the GOP candidate for Florida senator, Mel Martinez, is also a trial lawyer, I Googled him, and came up with this.
It's like reading about John Edwards' career!

We're going to their house for dinner tonight, and I printed the piece and plan to deliver it to them.  I thought you may have similar friends who  like to stereotype our candidates with meaningless labels.  Wingnuts are pretty good at bad-mouthing the competition.  I'll find out how good they are at defending their position when confronted with facts they didn't know.

 

Today I received an email, originated by Grassroots.org and passed on to me by a wingnut who doesn't know I'm no fan of King George.  

You've got to read this

Would you say that the Bush/Cheney campaign is pulling out all the stops to discredit Kerry, Michael Moore, Moveon.org, and anyone else who won't take a blood oath to support Bushco?  I would!

I haven't decided how to respond to my wingnut neighbor.  Should I tell him he's a nutcase?  Or should I just hit the delete button?

You have probably already seen the story on CNN about the mother who invited the press to photograph the coffin of her son, who was killed in Iraq on June 22, 2004.  This may be most powerful and significant protest of the Iraq war I've seen.  My heart goes out to Sgt. Patrick McCaffery's mother, and my anger about the Iraq fiasco has increased because of her loss.

There is no violation of government rules here, because the coffin was being transported from Dover AFB to the deceased's home in Sacramento.  So the Bush administration couldn't do a damn thing about it.  

What kind of spin can the far right media put on this?

Did anyone besides me see this piece at about noon Central time today?  It was, I think, part of a continuing series on Iraq, and this one was a corker.  It pitted ex-Senator Max Cleland and James Zogby, President of the Arab-American Institute, against Rep. Mac Collins, a congressman (R) from Georgia.  Collins also had on his side a former POW, one of our pilots who was shot down.  A fine young man, but he was testifying as to what he observed more than a year ago, and nothing else.

Cleland and Zogby were magnificent.  Cleland quoted General Zinni's book, which called the Iraq debacle a big mistake, and himself called Iraq a "catastrophe", and a "quagmire", "just like VietNam."  He was, I would say, an angry man.

This is the best political commentary comic I've ever seen.  Sean Hannity's book "Deliver Us From Evil" is reviewed satirically.

http://www.ucomics.com/nonsequitur/index.phtml

Take that, you conservative sob's!

Karen Hughes.  Why not?  She talks and acts like she would do anything for George, and she stays pretty much out of the limelight, perhaps contributing to a feeling of safety.  And she's a woman.  No offense ladies, but outing another woman doesn't seem strange to me.

I don't have any evidence that my idea has merit.  It's just an idea, and I don't know why it attracts me so, but it does.  OK, now fire away at me.  I've been insulted before.

On CNN right now (12:30 CST) a Deputy Attorney General is outlining the case against Jose Padilla, the "dirty bomber".  He is explaining why Bush had him confined as an "enemy combatant", and the case sounds pretty good.  The man trained in Afghanistan with Al Queda, was financed by them, and was given an assignment to destroy apartment buildings and/or to build and use a nuclear "dirty bomb".  

My worry is that undecideds watching may consider this story grounds to vote for Bush as "tough against terror".  In fact, I'm not so sure that the long, detailed appearance on CNN is not a political message, paid for by CNN advertisers.

Any opinions from those who have seen it?

Just a little over a year ago, the Resident appeared in Canton, Ohio, at the Timken Company and gave his big speech about how his economic policies were going to create jobs, yada, yada, yada.  Well... see this link to find out what is now happening at the Timken Company.

http://counterspin.blogspot.com/

How can we arrange to hold the election before November?  Anybody got any ideas?

I saw two things on CNN news today that especially interested me.  First, GWB's approval ratings have gone way down except in two areas, the "war in Iran" and the "war on Terrorism".  In both cases, Bush was seen to be preferable to Kerry.  Then I saw some shots of a Kerry campaign stop, with General Wesley Clark leading the cheering for John Kerry.  

Could this mean Clark, a retired General Officer with real combat bona fides might be moving into position as the best running mate for Kerry?  

What do you think?