Comments on: Things That Go Bump in the Night http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/ Exposing the ugly truths about the Bush Administration. Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:13:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1.3 by: Jon Swift http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41463 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 17:05:45 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41463 <strong>John Kerry Goes Nucular</strong> Can you imagine having a President who mangles the English language the way Kerry does? John Kerry Goes Nucular

Can you imagine having a President who mangles the English language the way Kerry does?

]]> by: Sachem515 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41440 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 15:44:16 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41440 As much as I disagree with George Will, he is someone who can agree to disagree. He has reestablished his mainstream conservative credentials with this week's column on the last page of Newsweek. Titled: Prohibition II: Good Grief When government restricts Americans' choices, ostensibly for their own good, someone is going to profit from the paternalism. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15265338/site/newsweek/ As much as I disagree with George Will, he is someone who can agree to disagree. He has reestablished his mainstream conservative credentials with this week’s column on the last page of Newsweek.

Titled:

Prohibition II: Good Grief
When government restricts Americans’ choices, ostensibly for their own good, someone is going to profit from the paternalism.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15265338/site/newsweek/

]]> by: CMc http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41434 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 15:32:26 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41434 As I've observed the flap over Kerry's words at Pasadena Community College over the last few hours, I've been struck by how similar this is to the way in which the Republican noise machine distorted, took out of context, and just flat-out lied about Al Gore's remarks on the internet back during the 2000 election. What actually happened was that Gore was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN on March 9, 1999. At that time, he was competing against Bill Bradley for the Democratic nomination. Blitzer asked a question this way: "Why should Democrats, looking at the Democratic nomination process, support you instead of Bill Bradley, a friend of yours, a former colleague in the Senate? What do you have to bring to this that he doesn't necessarily bring to this process?" Gore responded as follows (bear with me, because context is important in these matters): "Well, I will be offering -- I'll be offering my vision when my campaign begins. And it will be comprehensive and sweeping. And I hope that it will be compelling enough to draw people toward it. I feel that it will be. But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system. During a quarter century of public service, including most of it long before I came into my current job, I have worked to try to improve the quality of life in our country and in our world. And what I've seen during that experience is an emerging future that's very exciting, about which I'm very optimistic, and toward which I want to lead." Now, this isn't the best example of spoken English in the history of English-speaking people. It's vague, for example, and Gore overuses the word "initiative." However, it is clear from the context that he was talking about his "service in the US Congress" and about legislative "initiatives," which would include laws authorizing policies and appropriating funds. He applied that language, without giving any specific examples, to a number of issue areas: the internet, economic growth, environmental protection, and our educational system. He never said, "I invented the internet." And yet I don't think it's going too far to say that the endless assertion of that "quote" -- that lie -- by the Republican noise machine was the decisive factor in Gore's "loss" to Bush in 2000. And now we have the Kerry story. When I first heard about this story on a CNN report, all they were talking about was how he had said, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” I thought, what the hell, maybe he's flashing back to Vietnam when we had the draft and when social class was more of an issue in terms of military service than today. The next thing I thought of was the film "Fahrenheit 9-11," where we see recruiters trolling through a mall looking for unemployed or under-employed young men and women. Even though Chris Matthews, to his credit, wasn't buying the Republican spin, I still couldn't figure out the context of Kerry's words, or what exactly he had been trying to say. On Google last night, I couldn't find the text of Kerry's remarks. Here's the way a New York Times article reports the story: Mr. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate who is believed to be considering another run for the White House in 2008, set the stage for bitter back-and-forth as he addressed a gathering at Pasadena City College in California. The senator, who was campaigning for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Phil Angelides, opened with several one-liners, joking at one point that President Bush had lived in Texas but now “lives in a state of denial.” Then, Mr. Kerry said..." So -- now we've got a little context, maybe. He was trying to make some sort of joke about Bush. The nature of Kerry's remarks became even more clear, thanks to Keith Olbermann. Olbermann's basic point: Kerry had been unloading on Bush, and Bush and his minions were too stupid to know they were being called stupid. Listening to Keith, it became clear to me that Kerry had intended to say something along the lines of, "if you don't study hard (and pay attention to your history professors, for example), you will make stupid decisions (which ignore historical facts and basic logic, like Bush did) that get us stuck in Iraq." Later, I found this news report: A Kerry aide told CNN that the prepared statement, which had been designed to criticize President Bush, "was mangled in delivery." Kerry was supposed to say, "I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq." Like Gore, in other words, Kerry didn't use the English language particularly well. But once you see his remarks in context, once you realize that he was talking about Bush and not about our soldiers, it's clear that he in no way insulted or even questioned those serving in Iraq. In fact, he never used the word "soldiers" at all. He -- not as clearly as he should in the words of that single sentence -- advised his student listeners not to emerge from college as ignorant, lazy, callous, and mistake-prone as George W. Bush. Given the context, the obvious meaning, and the clarification, there should be no controversy. Unless Kerry and those of us who sympathize with him fight back, however, the Republican noise machine will get away with a replay of 2000. Speaking of Dubya, he once actually said: “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” Of course, people on our side would never try to make anything out of such an obvious miss-statement. Would we? As I’ve observed the flap over Kerry’s words at Pasadena Community College over the last few hours, I’ve been struck by how similar this is to the way in which the Republican noise machine distorted, took out of context, and just flat-out lied about Al Gore’s remarks on the internet back during the 2000 election.
What actually happened was that Gore was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN on March 9, 1999. At that time, he was competing against Bill Bradley for the Democratic nomination. Blitzer asked a question this way: “Why should Democrats, looking at the Democratic nomination process, support you instead of Bill Bradley, a friend of yours, a former colleague in the Senate? What do you have to bring to this that he doesn’t necessarily bring to this process?”
Gore responded as follows (bear with me, because context is important in these matters): “Well, I will be offering — I’ll be offering my vision when my campaign begins. And it will be comprehensive and sweeping. And I hope that it will be compelling enough to draw people toward it. I feel that it will be. But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I’ve traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country’s economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system. During a quarter century of public service, including most of it long before I came into my current job, I have worked to try to improve the quality of life in our country and in our world. And what I’ve seen during that experience is an emerging future that’s very exciting, about which I’m very optimistic, and toward which I want to lead.”
Now, this isn’t the best example of spoken English in the history of English-speaking people. It’s vague, for example, and Gore overuses the word “initiative.” However, it is clear from the context that he was talking about his “service in the US Congress” and about legislative “initiatives,” which would include laws authorizing policies and appropriating funds. He applied that language, without giving any specific examples, to a number of issue areas: the internet, economic growth, environmental protection, and our educational system. He never said, “I invented the internet.” And yet I don’t think it’s going too far to say that the endless assertion of that “quote” — that lie — by the Republican noise machine was the decisive factor in Gore’s “loss” to Bush in 2000.
And now we have the Kerry story. When I first heard about this story on a CNN report, all they were talking about was how he had said, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” I thought, what the hell, maybe he’s flashing back to Vietnam when we had the draft and when social class was more of an issue in terms of military service than today. The next thing I thought of was the film “Fahrenheit 9-11,” where we see recruiters trolling through a mall looking for unemployed or under-employed young men and women. Even though Chris Matthews, to his credit, wasn’t buying the Republican spin, I still couldn’t figure out the context of Kerry’s words, or what exactly he had been trying to say.
On Google last night, I couldn’t find the text of Kerry’s remarks. Here’s the way a New York Times article reports the story: Mr. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate who is believed to be considering another run for the White House in 2008, set the stage for bitter back-and-forth as he addressed a gathering at Pasadena City College in California. The senator, who was campaigning for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Phil Angelides, opened with several one-liners, joking at one point that President Bush had lived in Texas but now “lives in a state of denial.” Then, Mr. Kerry said…” So — now we’ve got a little context, maybe. He was trying to make some sort of joke about Bush.
The nature of Kerry’s remarks became even more clear, thanks to Keith Olbermann. Olbermann’s basic point: Kerry had been unloading on Bush, and Bush and his minions were too stupid to know they were being called stupid. Listening to Keith, it became clear to me that Kerry had intended to say something along the lines of, “if you don’t study hard (and pay attention to your history professors, for example), you will make stupid decisions (which ignore historical facts and basic logic, like Bush did) that get us stuck in Iraq.” Later, I found this news report: A Kerry aide told CNN that the prepared statement, which had been designed to criticize President Bush, “was mangled in delivery.” Kerry was supposed to say, “I can’t overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq.”
Like Gore, in other words, Kerry didn’t use the English language particularly well. But once you see his remarks in context, once you realize that he was talking about Bush and not about our soldiers, it’s clear that he in no way insulted or even questioned those serving in Iraq. In fact, he never used the word “soldiers” at all. He — not as clearly as he should in the words of that single sentence — advised his student listeners not to emerge from college as ignorant, lazy, callous, and mistake-prone as George W. Bush. Given the context, the obvious meaning, and the clarification, there should be no controversy. Unless Kerry and those of us who sympathize with him fight back, however, the Republican noise machine will get away with a replay of 2000.
Speaking of Dubya, he once actually said: “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” Of course, people on our side would never try to make anything out of such an obvious miss-statement. Would we?

]]> by: Ed http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41429 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 15:18:16 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41429 Who cares? Kerry isn't running for anything this year. How does this help Republican candidates get their message out in this last week? <b>Vote for me because John Kerry said something either stupid or badly!</b> I don't get it. It might hurt Kerry if he runs again but that's it. Otherwise it's a waste of a news cycle for trailing candidates. Who cares? Kerry isn’t running for anything this year. How does this help Republican candidates get their message out in this last week?

Vote for me because John Kerry said something either stupid or badly!

I don’t get it. It might hurt Kerry if he runs again but that’s it. Otherwise it’s a waste of a news cycle for trailing candidates.

]]> by: Swami http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41423 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 15:06:52 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41423 Smart or dumb doesn't change the fact that they are dying for a lie. 58,000 died in vain in Vietnam because Americans cared enough to support a lie. 2,814 have died in vain in Iraq so far because America cares enough to support a lie. a fact that many disabled Iraqi veterans will soon find out,is that when America's false praises of honor and sacrifice fade.. they'll be left alone to bear the burden of the sacrifice that others once attached themselves to so readily. And another thing they should know..when they are out selling their buddy poppies in front of Walmarts, the people who avoid them do it because they are just uncomfortable looking at disfigured men and it's nothing personal. Smart or dumb doesn’t change the fact that they are dying for a lie.

58,000 died in vain in Vietnam because Americans cared enough to support a lie. 2,814 have died in vain in Iraq so far because America cares enough to support a lie.

a fact that many disabled Iraqi veterans will soon find out,is that when America’s false praises of honor and sacrifice fade.. they’ll be left alone to bear the burden of the sacrifice that others once attached themselves to so readily. And another thing they should know..when they are out selling their buddy poppies in front of Walmarts, the people who avoid them do it because they are just uncomfortable looking at disfigured men and it’s nothing personal.

]]> by: Sachem515 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41420 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 15:01:44 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41420 To the best of my knowledge, Dick Armey was never a senator, just a representative from the lone brain cell state. He was the leader of the dick army, er GOP Majority before delay. It was good to see Sen Kerry showing the spine we all knew he had (in his rebuttal), it's just 24 month's too late. However, he has rendered the most accurate description of Tony Snow we've heard (so far). Now back to discussing Iraq. To the best of my knowledge, Dick Armey was never a senator, just a representative from the lone brain cell state. He was the leader of the dick army, er GOP Majority before delay.

It was good to see Sen Kerry showing the spine we all knew he had (in his rebuttal), it’s just 24 month’s too late. However, he has rendered the most accurate description of Tony Snow we’ve heard (so far).

Now back to discussing Iraq.

]]> by: The Moderate Voice http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41324 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 07:02:08 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41324 <strong>Is John Kerry The Gift That Keeps On Giving For Bush And The GOP?</strong> The Big Election is a week away and Christmas is two months away. And yesterday it seemed as if Massachusetts Senator John Kerry gave the Republicans we're-on-the-d... Is John Kerry The Gift That Keeps On Giving For Bush And The GOP?

The Big Election is a week away and Christmas is two months away. And yesterday it seemed as if Massachusetts Senator John Kerry gave the Republicans we’re-on-the-d…

]]> by: maha http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41281 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 03:23:16 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41281 <i>They are, of course, as we all know now not very sophisticated or academically credentialed. Poor little lambs.</i> I'll pass your comment on to my brother, a retired career army officer and Ph.D. They are, of course, as we all know now not very sophisticated or academically credentialed. Poor little lambs.

I’ll pass your comment on to my brother, a retired career army officer and Ph.D.

]]> by: stevesh http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41275 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 02:47:58 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41275 "The usual herd of sheep..." Retired and active service military, and their families, are not happy about Senator Kerry's original, extemporaneous remarks (you can't hide from YouTube). They are, of course, as we all know now not very sophisticated or academically credentialed. Poor little lambs. “The usual herd of sheep…”

Retired and active service military, and their families, are not happy about Senator Kerry’s original, extemporaneous remarks (you can’t hide from YouTube).

They are, of course, as we all know now not very sophisticated or academically credentialed. Poor little lambs.

]]> by: Swami http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41273 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 02:42:10 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/10/31/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/#comment-41273 I can't understand why Bush would think that the America public is stupid. http://www.townhall.com/content.aspx?ContentGuid=f8dcfd3f-6b4e-4127-880f-1ec11908d695&#38;Comments=true#comments I can’t understand why Bush would think that the America public is stupid.

http://www.townhall.com/content.aspx?ContentGuid=f8dcfd3f-6b4e-4127-880f-1ec11908d695&Comments=true#comments

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