Flip-Flop-aholic: Bush says we can win the war on terror. Then he says we can't. Then Newt Gingrich says it's silly to think anyone could win the war on terror. Now--heavens to Betsy--Bush says that "we will win" said war. Seriously. Maybe.

Is Hastert on crack? House Speaker Dennis Hastert makes a wild hypothesis--that Open Society Institute founder and progressive funder George Soros is a drug lord. Yow:

"You know, I don't know where George Soros gets his money. I don't know where — if it comes overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from," Hastert mused. An astonished Chris Wallace asked: "Excuse me?" The Speaker went on: "Well, that's what he's been for a number years — George Soros has been for legalizing drugs in this country. So, I mean, he's got a lot of ancillary interests out there." Wallace: "You think he may be getting money from the drug cartel?" Hastert: "I'm saying I don't know where groups - could be people who support this type of thing. I'm saying we don't know."

Or is Gingrich? It must be a calculated smear; just a day after Hastert's retarded comment, Newt Gingrich reasserted the claim, saying that Soros "wants to spend $75 million defeating [President] George W. Bush because Soros wants to legalize heroin."

The man who bailed out Bush: Former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes, the man who landed young George W. Bush a cushy stateside gig to avoid serving in Vietnam, now apologizes for it:

I became more ashamed of myself than I've ever been because it was the worst thing I did--I help a lot of wealthy supporters and a lot of people who had family names of importance get in the National Guard. I'm very sorry of that, and I'm very ashamed of it, and I apologize to the voters of Texas for that.

Give to Kerry-Edwards today: Every dollar contributed before midnight tonight to defeat George W. Bush and elect John Kerry will be matched by anonymous Democratic donors. Give today: it really matters.

Flip-flopper:
George W. Bush in Springfield, Missouri:

We have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world.

George W. Bush on the TODAY show:

"I don't think you can win it [the war on terror]. But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world.

What were Republicans thinking when they sent out Newt Gingrich to clear the air. The codger ended up contradicting Bush again, essentially calling the prez--in an offhanded slur against Kerry--silly: "I'm sure you're going to have John Kerry, if he's not careful, saying something really silly, which is that he'd win the war on terror."

Protest sign du jour: Osama still has his job. Do you?

Detained protesters denied rights: While Republicans inside the convention can't shut up about "compassionate conservatism," the police are reportedly holding more than 500+ protesters without water, food, access to lawyers or medical attention. A pregnant woman hasn't been fed since Sunday night, and people with chronic illnesses aren't being given medication. More info here. (Via NEWSgrist.)

Truth -->
<-- Bush
The banner.

Bush's other war lie: A photo discovered in George Bush Sr.'s presidential library shows George W. Bush wearing an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award--a commendation he never earned. Meanwhile, delegates to the Republican National Convention are ridiculing Kerry, who actually served and earned merit medals, by wearing band-aids with small purple hearts on them.

Souled out: Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas on Democracy Now: "I think that America doesn't invade countries without provocation, and that's what we've done. And I think that it has tainted us throughout the world. We've really damaged our psyche, our soul, our image."

Read my roof: Say no to Bush. Anti-Bush banners atop buildings in NYC, just for incoming airborne GOP revelers. My fave: "Fire the Liar."

Bikes Against Bush arrest: As Boing Boing reports, Josh Kinberg of Bikes Against Bush has been arrested at the RNC. As Josh writes on his blog, he was merely describing how the chalk-spraying, hi-tech bike works to Ron Reagan for MSNBC's Hardball when a van of cops pulled up and took him into custody. He writes:

Intelligence detectives questioned me about "violent protestors," but seemed disappointed to learn that I am an artist and only know other artists, and had no knowledge of any violence being planned. All my equipment -- bicycle, computer, cell phone, and electronics are being held till further notice. I am scheduled to appear in court on Friday and am facing the possibilty of jail time.

Earlir Eyeteeth posts on Bikes Against Bush: 1, 2, 3.

More heroic? Possibly striking a pre-convention aw-shucks stance of brotherhood and compassion, the president yesterday admitted that John Kerry's Vietnam service was "more heroic" than his own military record. Interesting semantics: Bush implies that his time in the Air National Guard--what he calls "flying fighter jets," which has a distinctly different feel than his dull description of Kerry "going to Vietnam"--somehow puts his service on a continuum of heroicism: whether Kerry is more heroic and Bush less heroic, they're both still heroes! That's not how I'd characterize it: Bush scored in the 25th percentile on the pilot aptitude portion of the Air Force officers test and declared in 1968 (contrary to yesterday's assertion that, if called up, his unit would've served) that he didn't wish to serve overseas. As thousands of American GIs were dying in Vietnam, he used family connections to get assigned to the "Champagne Unit" of the Texas Air National Guard (alongside the son of Lloyd Bentsen), failed to show up for a physical, and allegedly ditched out on the final year of his obligation. And now, as Commander in Chief, he refuses to fully open the archives on his military records.

My hero...

In the spirit of full disclosure: I have not chosen to serve in the armed forces, so I suppose you could say Bush's service is "more heroic" than mine. But before you fill my comment box with irate opinions about honoring our military men and women, I wonder how you feel about the pro-Bush "swift boad" ad campaign that suggests Kerry's combat experience is somehow an issue that impugns his character...

On the topic of heroism: 974 American men and women have been killed to date in Iraq.

Perspective:

This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.

—Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ballot or the bullhorn: Someone commenting on my story about high-tech protest tactics at the Republican convention asserts that "Protesting has outlived its usefullness...it is now a negative force rather than a positive one." With somewhere around 400,000 people taking to the streets to protest Bush on the eve of the convention, perhaps we'll see if he's right. I tend to agree, to a point--yes, please vote, and against George W. Bush, if you don't mind--but if you don't see voices that represent you on the ballot, hit the streets to make your viewpoints known. That's essentially what Naomi Klein had to say in a Democracy Now discussion on protest the other day. Her response to Todd Gitlin's belief that protesters "should do so... in a dignified way, in a way that does not recruit voters for George w. Bush":

Personally, I don't think we have the luxury of waiting until November to oppose the war. We also heard that the protests have nothing to do with the democrats. I would also disagree with that. I think they have a lot to do with the democrats. Precisely because the democrats have really sealed off the possibility of just expressing our opposition to the war by voting. This is not Spain. They are running on a hugely militaristic campaign. They're promising to continue the occupation, even expand the occupation of Iraq. So we need to be in the streets.

How to talk to a conservative: A superb new interview with UC Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff addresses conservative fallacies like the "liberal elite" and suggests new ways for progressives to talk about our values. Some excerpts:

The important thing is not to accept their framing of the issues, nor just negate their framing — that just reinforces it. Simply confronting them with facts won't help. Frames trump facts. The facts alone will not set you free. You have to reframe the issues before the facts can become meaningful and powerful.

Some conservatives are ideologues and you're not going to sway them. But most conservatives are nice people. What you want to do is activate their nurturing model, engage their empathy. Ask them who they care about, what they care about, and why. Find out where their empathy lies. Connect with the part of them that shares your values, and get that to spread to other issues...

...Conservatives have branded liberals, and the liberals let them get away with it: the "liberal elite," the "latte liberals," the "limousine liberals." The funny thing is that conservatives are the elite. The whole idea of conservative doctrine is that some people are better than others, that some people deserve more. To conservatives, if you're poor it's because you deserve it, you're not disciplined enough to get ahead. Conservative doctrine requires that there be an elite: the people who thrive in the free market have more money, and they should. Progressives say, "No, that's not fair. Maybe some should have more money, but no one should live in poverty. Everybody who works deserves to have a reasonable standard of living for their work." These are ideas that are progressive or liberal ideas, and progressives aren't getting them out there enough...

...[Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, et al are] radicals. They're not trying to conserve anything. They're trying to impose a strict father model taken from a terrible, disastrous parenting method — one ruled by the use of abusive power and force — on America and the world. If you're disciplined enough to make enough money to buy good health care, you deserve it, and to buy a good education for your children, you deserve it. Otherwise you don't deserve it and you won't get it.

This goes against American egalitarianism and the idea of economic equity — that is, if people work hard and play by the rules, they should have a decent standard of living, assuming there's enough money in the economy as a whole. There is enough money in this economy. To deny people who work good health care and education goes against the best in American policy. It's radical and it's un-American.

Rock (and read) for a change: There's no austerity in these two new ways to help progressive causes. The Future Soundtrack for America, a joint effort of Move On and Music for America, features 22 "tasty" tracks (sez Ben) from artists like Clem Snide, Death Cab for Cutie, will. i.am (of the Black Eyed Peas), and the late great Elliott Smith. The Future Dictionary of America, a McSweeney's joynt, counts among its 150 speculative-dictionary-entry contributors Colson Whitehead, Donald Antrim, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Auster, Michael Chabon, Chris Ware, Jonathan Ames, and Art Spiegelman. Proceeds support groups like Music For America, Common Assets, The Sierra Club, and others.

Extend the ban on assault weapons: In 19 days--on September 13--president Bush and Congress plan on letting Uzi's, AK-47s, and Tec-9's back on American streets. That's the day the Assault Weapons Ban enacted by Clinton in '94 expires, and the Republicans have no plan to reinstate it. It makes no sense: since the law began, police reported a 66 percent drop in the incidence of assault weapons traced to crimes. And while a majority of Americans want the ban extended--and 64% of gun-owning households support the ban--there's little political momentum to do so. "I don't think there is an appetite in Congress to extend this ban and wage a battle on the gun issue in a presidential election year," said Andrew Arulanandam, director of public affairs for the NRA. (The NRA has been withholding its endorsement of Bush, and some insiders say they'll announce their affiliation for the election on September 14.) Learn more, donate or sign a petition to extend the ban at stoptheNRA.com.

In related news: In a press conference called to expose the "ideological extremism" of his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, Illinois Senate candidate Alan Keyes asserted that the Constitution protects ordinary citizens' right to own machine guns, declaring that "the front line of the war against terror once again involves the citizens."

Laughable politics: Comedy Central's The Daily Show, where John Kerry appeared in his first post-Swift-boat-smear interview last night, continues to run commentary more incisive than the New York Times and every bit as edgy as The Onion's fake news. An excerpt:

STEWART: Here's what puzzles me most, Rob. John Kerry's record in Vietnam is pretty much right there in the official records of the US military, and haven't been disputed for 35 years?

CORDDRY: That's right, Jon, and that's certainly the spin you'll be hearing coming from the Kerry campaign over the next few days.

STEWART: Th-that's not a spin thing, that's a fact. That's established.

CORDDRY: Exactly, Jon, and that established, incontravertible fact is one side of the story.

STEWART: But that should be -- isn't that the end of the story? I mean, you've seen the records, haven't you? What's your opinion?

CORDDRY: I'm sorry, my *opinion*? No, I don't have 'o-pin-i-ons'. I'm a reporter, Jon, and my job is to spend half the time repeating what one side says, and half the time repeating the other. Little thing called 'objectivity' -- might wanna look it up some day.

STEWART: Doesn't objectivity mean objectively weighing the evidence, and calling out what's credible and what isn't?

CORDDRY: Whoa-ho! Well, well, well -- sounds like someone wants the media to act as a filter! [high-pitched, effeminate] 'Ooh, this allegation is spurious! Upon investigation this claim lacks any basis in reality! Mmm, mmm, mmm.' Listen buddy: not my job to stand between the people talking to me and the people listening to me.

STEWART: So, basically, you're saying that this back-and-forth is never going to end.

CORDDRY: No, Jon -- in fact a new group has emerged, this one composed of former Bush colleages, challenging the president's activities during the Vietnam era. That group: Drunken Stateside Sons of Privilege for Plausible Deniability. They've apparently got some things to say about a certain Halloween party in '71 that involved trashcan punch and a sodomized piñata. Jon -- they just want to set the record straight. That's all they're out for.

STEWART: Well, thank you Rob, good luck out there. We'll be right back.

(Via Atrios.)

Don't wake up dead: Worried about a terrorist attack while you sleep? How about hurricaines, tornados, or feisty kidnappers? Don't be. With this saferoom-cum-bed, you can be sure to survive everything from a burglar's visit to a "Bio-Chemical terrorist attack." The Quantum Sleeper--the SUV of beds--features a bulletproof polycarbonate barrier, a bio-chemical filter and "rebreather" system, heater/AC, CD/DVD, an alarm system, and more. Sleep safe! (Thanks, Ben.)

Agroterrorism: The Los Angeles Times reports on the threat of agroterrorism, "the use of microbes and poisons to shake confidence in the U.S. food supply and devastate the $201-billion farm economy." (Via Cursor.)

The wisdom of Alice Cooper: Dessicated shock-rocker (and avowed Bush supporter) Alice Cooper has something important to say to bands like R.E.M, Death Cab for Cutie, Pearl Jam, Jurassic 5, and others who are performing concerts to help defeat George Bush:

To me, that's treason. I call it treason against rock 'n' roll because rock is the antithesis of politics. Rock should never be in bed with politics... When I was a kid and my parents started talking about politics, I'd run to my room and put on the Rolling Stones as loud as I could. So when I see all these rock stars up there talking politics, it makes me sick.

If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we're morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal.

Arundhati Roy on public power: Activist and author Arundhati Roy, from a recording broadcast on Democracy Now, discussing "Public Power in the Age of Empire":

And what of the U.S. elections? Do U.S. voters have a real choice?

It's true that if John Kerry becomes president, some of the oil tycoons and Christian fundamentalists in the White House will change. Few will be sorry to see the back of Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld or John Ashcroft and their blatant thuggery. But the real concern is that in the new administration their policies will continue. That we will have Bushism without Bush.

Those positions of real power - the bankers, the CEOs - are not vulnerable to the vote (. . . and in any case, they fund both sides).

Unfortunately the importance of the U.S elections has deteriorated into a sort of personality contest. A squabble over who would do a better job of overseeing empire. John Kerry believes in the idea of empire as fervently as George Bush does.

The U.S. political system has been carefully crafted to ensure that no one who questions the natural goodness of the military-industrial-corporate power structure will be allowed through the portals of power. Given this, it's no surprise that in this election you have two Yale University graduates, both members of Skull and Bones, the same secret society, both millionaires, both playing at soldier-soldier, both talking up war, and arguing almost childishly about who will lead the war on terror more effectively. Like President Bill Clinton before him, Kerry will continue the expansion of U.S. economic and military penetration into the world. He says he would have voted to authorize Bush to go to war in Iraq even if he had known that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. He promises to commit more troops to Iraq. He said recently that he supports Bush's policies toward Israel and Ariel Sharon 100 percent. He says he'll retain 98% of Bush's tax cuts.

So, underneath the shrill exchange of insults, there is almost absolute consensus. It looks as though even if Americans vote for Kerry, they'll still get Bush. President John Kerbush or President George Berry.

It's not a real choice. It's an apparent choice. Like choosing a brand of detergent. Whether you buy Ivory Snow or Tide, they're both owned by Proctor & Gamble.

Cheese-eating surrender monkeys? The much-trotted-out trope that the French are cowardly--a meme still thriving among the chickenhawks at Bush's rally in St. Paul last week--is "total bullshit, and anybody who knows anything about European military history knows damn well that over the past thousand years, the French have the most glorious military history in Europe, maybe the world," says "war nerd" Gary Brecher. He runs off a list of battles won by the French, from our Revolutionary War ("Well, news flash: 'we' didn't win that battle, any more than the Northern Alliance conquered the Taliban. The French army and navy won Yorktown for us.") to Austerlitz and Jena. A sample of Brecher's colorful verbiage:

Verdun. Just that name was enough to make Frenchmen and Germans, the few who survived it, wake up yelling for years afterward. The French lost 1.5 million men out of a total population of 40 million fighting the Germans from 1914-1918. A lot of those guys died charging German machine-gun nests with bayonets. I'd really like to see one of you office smartasses joke about "surrender monkeys" with a French soldier, 1914 vintage. You'd piss your dockers.

Shit, we strut around like we're so tough and we can't even handle a few uppity Iraqi villages. These guys faced the Germans head on for five years, and we call them cowards? And at the end, it was the Germans, not the French, who said "calf rope."

(Via Metafilter.)

What to say when the Feds come knocking: The federal government's much publicized questioning of antiwar protesters and African American voters in Florida prompts this piece by Steve Weissman--what to say and how to say it if the G-men pay you a visit.

Garrison Keillor on ralphing, Republicans, and renewing democracy: Minnesota's own voice of moderation and midwestern values, Garrison Keillor, explains why he's come out as a fierce Democrat and how Republicans--the party that brought us the Environmental Protection Agency and The Americans With Disabilities Act--have traded in this history for teeth-grinding zealotry:

At the moment, they are drenched in hubris and self-regard, incapable of telling their own history. It takes defeat and regret to give a person a little perspective and self-knowledge, and once the Republicans have gained that, one of them will tell us what happened to the GOP. Like this old Nebraska Republican who, now that he's retiring from Congress, comes out with a closely reasoned attack on the administration's Middle East policy. George W. Bush will retire to his Crawford plantation in January and begin work on his Georgic lament, in which he meditates on the dangers of success. Political skill in the absence of statesmanship is the first act of a tragedy.

Read the rest of the interview where he discusses Al Franken's potential Senatorial run; calls Norm Coleman "a man without a single principled bone in his body"; and urges Nader supporters to "Stand tall for Ralph, wear his button, wave his flag, put on his cologne in the morning, be as ralphic as you like, but in that private sacred moment, make your X for the Man."

What I was trying to say two posts ago: Counterpunch's Jeffrey St. Clair writes that considering his "vaporous record of service during Vietnam, it takes a perverse kind of hubris for Bush to assail the military careers of a POW (John McCain), a bona fide killing machine (John Kerry) and a triple amputee (Max Cleland). It's the trademark of a pampered bully." Read the entire excellent essay.

Money talks: graphic designer fired for heckling Bush. After heckling George W. Bush at a rally in West Virginia, Glen Hiller returned to work to find he didn't have a job--fired for offending the client who gave his free-speech-lovin' employer, Octavo Designs, tickets to the pro-Bush event.