The (Almost) Daily Comments and Musings from Dave

I've dropped one link. It was becoming so front-loaded with graphics and other stuff, it was taking forever to load on my little 'ole phone line connection. Plus, it wasn't very funny any more. I've added Captain's Quarters. There is some interesting, thoughtful reading to be found on this site. As I've said before, I will drop links and add links as things change or evolve. Some bloggers seem to go a bit stale after awhile, or get on something where they tend to fixiate. As there is always something new coming along in the way of blogs, there is no sense in staying with someone who isn't interesting any more.

(From the nice folks at Country Store)

Wow, could the election actually turn on the Mother of All Typewriters?! Actually, when I saw the documents, it was obvious they were fakes: first of all, I was in the service at that same time, nothing, nothing was typewritten on plain pieces of paper. Everything was done on forms. Secondly, what typewriters there were on base were pretty plane-jane. Although now that we are all typewriter experts, we now know there was some pretty exotic stuff out there in '72-'73, but I rather doubt some Guard or Reserve outfit (I was in the Reserves) would have such, because there was no need of such. While we can argue about superscripts (apparently some typewriters could do such back then), the one damning bit of evidence these are fakes is the fact they show kerning. No typewriter has/had the physical ability to do that. Beyond all that, CBS and Dan Rather are cooked, and their days as gatekeepers are over. Thanks to the Internet, these creeps can't get away with this stuff any longer.

UPDATE: As Mark Steyn and others have pointed out, this now-deceased TANG officer had to be some kind of pioneering genius: imagine having a magic typewriter in 1973 complete with Windows XP !! Amazing !!

There is an interesting theory floating around the Internet, blogs and other opinion pieces, which seems to be gaining in popularity: at this point John Kerry is viewed as a placeholder, and the Clintonistas job is to make sure he loses, but not by much, to keep the Democratic Party valid PLUS seek the sucess of "down-ballot" Democrats in the various House and Senate races. And, all of this being done with an eye for 2008 and the Return of the Red Queen of the Universe. Interesting, maybe of the tin-foil hat viewpoint, but nevertheless interesting.

The news that various Clintonistas have been brought into the Kerry campaign in order to get it setting upright again is amusing. It seemingly has escaped everyone's notice that Clinton and the Clintonistas have been of absolutely ZERO help to anyone outside of Clinton. Anotherwords, the magic wand is broken. Ask Gray Davis about the "help" he got!

UPDATE, 20 August: Did I say implode? How about 24 hours later, MELTDOWN? The completely hysterical reaction on the part of the Kerry people only insures this story keeps getting more and more legs. I knew the anti-Vietnam War stuff would surface sooner or later, but I was surprised to see it "sooner." This means Kerry has to fight on two fronts, Vietnam Hero (or not?) and anti-War sell-out and creep. And, this is a classic situation where something finally comes home to roost. I thought this election would be about Iraq; it is almost surrealistic that Vietnam, yes, Vietnam is now the focus of attention. And, Kerry has no one to blame but himself. Fitting.

Implosion?

My sense is that the Kerry campaign is starting to ever so slowly implode. The latest, Christmas-in-Cambodia with the Magic Hat, is amazing. But it isn't the only thing to come up in the last few weeks. We have seen the Wendy's incident, the "wind-surfing plumbers" with the $250 plane tickets, the zero bounces, the hairdresser shows up again, more flip-flopping about everything in general, the "watery borders" that no one can find on a map, you name it. By themselves, these things range from incredibly stupid to merely amusing, and everything in between. But added up, I see a pattern of arrogance in that Kerry & Co. seem to think they can get away with something and no one will notice or call them on it. While the "National" Media have been acting like a bunch of lap dogs, there are other people who have been all over these stories, and slowly, ever so slowly, the general public is beginning to realize this guy is unfit for public office.

UPDATE, 20 August: Did I say implode? How about 24 hours later, MELTDOWN? The completely hysterical reaction on the part of the Kerry people only insures this story keeps getting more and more legs. I knew the anti-Vietnam War stuff would surface sooner or later, but I was surprised to see it "sooner." This means Kerry has to fight on two fronts, Vietnam Hero (or not?) and anti-War sell-out and creep. And, this is a classic situation where something finally comes home to roost. I thought this election would be about Iraq; it is almost surrealistic that Vietnam, yes, Vietnam is now the focus of attention. And, Kerry has no one to blame but himself. Fitting.

Implosion?

My sense is that the Kerry campaign is starting to ever so slowly implode. The latest, Christmas-in-Cambodia with the Magic Hat, is amazing. But it isn't the only thing to come up in the last few weeks. We have seen the Wendy's incident, the "wind-surfing plumbers" with the $250 plane tickets, the zero bounces, the hairdresser shows up again, more flip-flopping about everything in general, the "watery borders" that no one can find on a map, you name it. By themselves, these things range from incredibly stupid to merely amusing, and everything in between. But added up, I see a pattern of arrogance in that Kerry & Co. seem to think they can get away with something and no one will notice or call them on it. While the "National" Media have been acting like a bunch of lap dogs, there are other people who have been all over these stories, and slowly, ever so slowly, the general public is beginning to realize this guy is unfit for public office.

UPDATE: Bounce, what bounce? Oh, you mean the one Bush got?! No matter how they try to spin it, they don't have anything to show for four wasted days. Meanwhile, we try to change the subject: meet the new shiny John F. Kerry Secret Plan for Ending the War ^®! BUT, you have to elect him President before he'll tell you what it is. Are these people pathetic, or what?

The Speech

Well, I sat through it. It was terrible. It was too long, and Kerry began to rush through it to beat the end of the hour mark. He began to sweat, talked through applause, and at times was incoherent. His physical moves were jerky and forced. When I had a chance to read the transcript, it was at once obvious the entire "speech" was some strange cut-'n-paste thing, with fragments of this and snippets of that. At one point he is critical of not aligning with "allies," then a paragraph later is complaining about jobs going to "foreigners" (e.g., out-sourcing). His biographical statments ended at about age 24, leaving the audience to wonder what he's been up to the last 30 years or so. In short, the entire thing was a mess.

The overnight ratings were down compared to Gore's speech of four years back. Also, Drudge reported he began to loose the TV audience numbers in the second half of the speech. Gee, I wonder why? It will be most interesting to see the polling numbers in the next several days, but I have a hard time seeing how this speech, or indeed this completely dull convention, could generate much of a bounce.

This is a hoot,

Of course, the Kerry bunch is so stupid, they start in on dark conspiracy theories involving NASA, etc., instead of just laughing it off, thereby creating a greater distribution of the photo. Really dumb, dumb, dumb.

Possible captions for the photo:

"Hi, I'm here to clean your ductwork"
"Wait until you see the beautiful butterfly I turn into"
"NASA made me wear this stupid bunny suit"
"How do you like my Woody Allen impression?"

Oh, meanwhile there is something going on in Boston, or so I heard. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

After the initial news reports of Linda Ronstadt's successful disaster of a concert in Las Vegas, came the anticipated wailing about "free speech" and "First Amendment," etc. Overlooked in all of this is the simple fact that free speech in this country has some definite limits, and one of them involves property rights.

Look at it this way: you host a party in your home. A guest says something you or another guest find objectional. You are completely within your rights to ask the first guest to leave, and no if, ands or buts about it. Our song bird was on private property, not hers, and she was hired to entertain an audience who paid money to access the (private) venue. The Hotel and Casino was competely within their rights to ask her to leave, as they hired her as an entertainer, not as a political pundit.

Now, had she been a share-holder or partner in the Hotel, then the stage would have been "hers," and as stupid as it is for an entertainer to go around insulting audiences, she would have grounds for a complaint. But, NOT as a hire and NOT on private property in which she has no financial interest. Of course, when it comes to public property, such as her appearing on stage in a municipal park, she can say anything she wants to, even if half the audience finds it objectionable.

Once again, lemme' see if I have this straight: ex-Clinton shoeshine boy and all-around hack "inadvertently" stuffs classified documents into his pants and socks at the National Archives and walks out of a supposedly "secure" reading room (and does this on five separate visits!). Then, when he was "informed" of these "missing documents," he brought some back. Said documents are involved with Clinton's "handling" of terrorism, and part of the 9/11 Commission proceedings. Hum, anyone else see a pattern here? Connect the dots? Whoo Whoo, anyone??

And to top it off, said hack has been under a criminal investigation for months over this matter, but meanwhile he doesn't bother to tell the Kerry campaign, who he is advising, about it. And, the Kerry campaign apparently finds out about it when everyone else does, thereby making the campaign look stupid. This guy is a real piece of work and deserves to have the book thrown at him. He's compromised national security, embarrassed the Kerry campaign, tainted whatever the findings will be from the 9/11 commission, and all for what?

Of couse, we could consider this part of a giant conspiracy: this came out just in time to divert attention away from Linda Ronstadt's little Whoopi Goldberg moment, which came out just in time to divert attention away from the "Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson III" melt-down, which diverted attention away from the Edwards' dead-cat poll bounce........................

Heh.

UPDATE: Now Clinton, who hasn't had a camera pointed at him in the last 15 minutes and feeling neglected, comes out and says they "were laughing about it," that it's a "non-story," and he's known about the investigation for "months." Thanks to this bozo, we now have it on record on how the Democrats feel about national security, and further, how he really feels about Kerry (in that he didn't bother to tell him what was going on, apparently).

...except for just one tiny, little thing: the needle no move!

Of course it's hard to get excited when Kerry, without a trace of irony, unleashes pearls like this one: "Don't get suckered into the how many years you've been in one job or this job" debate, Kerry said. "You've got people in [Washington] who have been in one job [for] 30 years of what you call experience, and they have done nothing, they don't stand for anything and they don't know how to fight" . Turns out he was trying to defend Edwards, not highlight his own past.

Heh.

....things don't seem to be going too well for the 'big-time' vice-presidential roll-out this week. First, no poll bounce, 2 percent in one poll, Bush ahead in others (Clinton got a 19 point bounce when he brought Algore on board). Then, everyone is all over the touchy-feely hugging stuff. Finally, Kerry makes the incredibly stupid comment he's too busy to make it to national security briefings, while everyone gleefully points out at the same time, he can pal around with Larry King, then go on to Whoopi Goldberg's "Values for America" obscenity-fest.

Are these people for real? Who is scripting this disaster of a political campaign? Maybe some of the conspiracy theory people are correct, this is being done in such a way Kerry is sure to loose, opening the way for the Queen of the Universe, herself.

Pardon me if I don't get caught up in all of the exitement today. A one-term Senator, who could not be re-elected, and a guy who sued his way out of poverty (credit Mark Steyn with that one), and pretty much a one-dimensional type gets picked to run with Mr. Snooze himself, John Kerry.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

This pretty much spotlights what a dull, boring candidate Kerry truly is, by having to pick a Pretty Boy to inject some "excitement" into the campaign. Well, Pretty Boy will get a pass from the MSM and the Kerry bunch will get a boost of a few polling points, but it will soon pass, just like everything else has with this completely pathetic excuse for a political campaign.

Mark Steyn puts out some pretty good commentary, covering not only politics, but the arts, as well. His website is a must-read, and has something new almost every day. One feature is a "Letter of the Week" from a reader. Well. this week, it's Dave's turn at a moment of fame. I wrote a note in response to a column he did on Latin America. Steyn's website is here, Dave's letter is here. Enjoy!

The other day, some Kerry flack was talking about the Senator's "foreign policy experience." Well, yeah if the flack was referring to this:

That's Kerry on the left, Tom Harkin in the center and the thug (and I use that word deliberately) on the right is none other than Daniel Ortega, the Caudillo of Nicaragua. Ten times worse than Somoza ever was, a Communist hack, and a toady to Castro and the Soviet Union, he was a disgrace. Once the people got organized, they threw him out along with his gang of thieves. Kerry of course, was there what see what he could to to keep this guy propped up, and to undercut the efforts of the patriotic resistance movement.

Ronald Reagan once referred to the sainted Ortega as the "dictator in designer sunglasses," and I well remember the "outrage" on the part of the American Left over this comment. Reagan was of course, spot on, and Kerry was merely interferring in a situation of which he had exactly zero knowledge and only to try to show up Reagan. If this is "foreign policy experience," trying to prop up a failed Communist thugocracy, I'm not buying it.

why someone hasn't pointed out the obvious about Kerry: he's running for President yet has remained in the Senate. Thus, he still has a job if he loses the election. So, someone now points it out. Bob Dole had the courage of his convictions to resign (oops, Kerry has no convictions, I keep forgetting). But missing 87% of the roll call votes this year isn't serving the good citizens of his state very well (but the nice paychecks keep rolling in for the Senator, heh heh).

Remember 'way back, um, like, oh, four days ago when the "Media" were complaining the Reagan coverage was "excessive," or "over the top"? Well, I do, and as Ronald Reagan might say himself, "you ain't seen nothing yet." Yes, I'm talking about Billy Jeff's new shiny book, due out shortly, and already the media p.r. engine has been started and is reving up. Once it gets going it will be 24/7 non-stop for weeks. And guess who gets dumped by the wayside, yep again, John Kerry. It must absolutely gall him, and doubly-so when BJ announces he'll be "helping" Kerry. Hum, who was the last person BJ "helped"? Oh yeah, the current governor of our great state, re-elected in a landside, Gray Davis!! Heh.

UPDATE: This New York Times John Kerry article---yes, THAT NYT---starts out by comparing Kerry to a "caged hamster," and then goes downhill from there. The entire piece is a picture of what many people have of Kerry: a stiff, pompous, arrogant bore. Sheesh, I thought the NYT was on Kerry's side! Here's Mickey Kaus' take on the same article.

I've added Medienkritik as a link. From Germany, and written in English, this blog has a sharp eye out for political events in that country. Give it a look.

I was going to post some comments about D-Day, this being the day. However, the sad news of Ronald Reagan's passing yesterday somewhat overshadows that historic event. I've been reading some very nice tributes to President Reagan's memory, mainly on the Internet, and I have little to add or offer, other than to reflect on the fact his critics, going all they way back to when he was Governor of California, seem awfully small today. History has a way of doing that and it's a lesson some people could take under advisement even now.

The various links to the right run an entire gamut, from deadly serious to wild humor. They are sites I've found of interest, and I list them in the hopes you will at least look in on some of them once or twice to see if they would be of interest to you. It goes without saying that I have no control over their content, and yes, occasionally, foul language may appear, and particularly with Wonkette. Also, political agendas ARE on parade in many of these sites, and do include such things as bare-knuckled politics, religion, sexual orientation issues and personal attacks. I DO NOT necessarily give a blanket endorsement for such-and-such a site; only that I've found things of interest as they have developed to date. I have dropped links in the past because they got stale, or tended to repeat themsevles, or had server problems, or whatever. And, any of the current sites are certainly subject to de-linking at any time, depending on circumstances. 'Nuff said.

Let me see if I can get this straight: John Kerry just announced he will accept the nomination at the Democratic Convention, so that means he accepted the nomination, then didn't accept it, and now accepts it again. So, is that a FLIP, a FLOP and then another FLIP ??

Why is this making me hungry for some pancakes ?? !!