Politics Blog

After its very successful 2002 Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts, the Republican National Committee has already begun work on 2004 GOTV.

This time the Washington Post says John Kerry is trying to have it both ways on Iraq.

UPDATE: And Ron Brownstein notices the same thing in the LA Times.

UPDATE 2: Even The New Republic’s Peter Beinart calls Kerry “dishonest.” I repeat my suggestion to bring up Ted Kennedy’s Iraq resolution for a vote in the full Senate.

The AP has a brief story about the large disparity between RNC and DNC fundraising and says the obvious: McCain-Feingold is going to hurt Democrats.

The editors of the liberal New Republic take on the “moderate” anti-war crowd in a must-read editorial. The New York Times gets hit particularly hard.

Some of the evidence Colin Powell will be presenting at the UN in his “audio-visual” presentation on Feb. 5 includes:

1. Satellite photos showing truck convoys apparently moving Iraqi weapons - one step ahead of U.N. weapons inspectors.

2. Satellite photos of bulldozers at more than a dozen sites apparently burying chemical and biological materials.

3. At least one photo showing Iraqi Scud missile launchers parked next to a mosque.

4. Telephone intercepts gathered by the National Security Agency that record Iraqi officials giving orders to conceal weapons and to lie to U.N. weapons inspectors.

Are you tired of the Axis of Weasels? Do you want to show your disapproval of Germany and France and reward Tony Blair for his undaunted courage? Well, the best way is to hit the Axis of Weasels where it hurts - their economies. This is especially true when it comes to high dollar items, where Germany and France get much of their export dollars. As someone who consumes some of those items, I have some suggestions to make.

1. Do you like French wines, especially champagne? Buy Gloria Ferrer instead. They make the best sparkling wines I’ve tried.

2. Do you wear a French cologne? Try Burberry’s instead. Many experts say it’s the best cologne in the world.

3. If you’re like me and love beemers, make your next car a Jaguar instead of a BMW. Jaguar’s reputation for unreliability has caused it to make drastic changes to improve quality and its cars are much better now. The S-Type R is to die for.

Each of us can register our disapproval in our own way. If enough of us join in and make the effort to avoid buying German and French products, we can deliver a significant blow to France and Germany’s already-wheezing economies.

(Yeah, I realize this plays into the worst stereotypes of Republicans as champagne-drinking plutocrats. But, as someone who once lived on minimum wage, I can tell you there’s nothing wrong with making an honest buck for a hard day’s work. People who earn their money have the right to spend it as they choose. I choose to spend as little of mine as possible on French and German products.)

More on the evidence that Colin Powell will present to the UN on Feb. 5 in his “audio-visual” presentation:

“Hold onto your hat. We’ve got it,” said one U.S. intelligence official familiar with the evidence gathered by the NSA.

For the past two months, ever since the U.N. inspectors re-entered Iraq and began searching for weapons of mass destruction, the NSA has been closely monitoring the conversations of Iraqi officials. The NSA intercepts establish conclusively that the Iraqis have been “hiding stuff” from the inspectors, the U.S. intelligence official said.

“They

Rachel Lucas takes on Nelson Mandela:

Some days I just can’t stand humanity. The fact that Mandela was applauded for saying these things makes my skin crawl. Who are these people and why do they listen to such things and cheer? Are they just misguided or are they so intent on cheering for anything said against the U.S. that it doesn’t even matter to them how accurate or reasonable those things are?

It’s worth noting that, when Mandela said:

One power with a president who has no foresight and cannot think properly is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust.

The audience tittered and applauded when he said “cannot think properly.”

Ohmigod! A Democratic senator has decided to not run for president!!

Be sure to TiVo/tape/watch the Discovery channel’s “Wings Over Afghanistan” when it runs again. It has plenty of stunning battlefield footage.