Month: July 2004

Veepstakes

All eyes are on the Kerry VP choice right now. I personally feel the VP candidate should be announced at the Convention if for no other reason than to make it something other than a big waste of time and money. I seem to be a minority view, though. Opinion seems to be the choice will be announced sometime this week.

I’ve mentioned it once or twice over on dKos but I want to say it one final time, because it’s something a lot of people seem to be losing sight of (per Josh Marshall):

If you look back over recent American history you have to go back to Ronald Reagan’s choice of George Bush in 1980 to find an instance in which a favorite or even prominent contender got picked. In fact, with the possible exception of Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, I think you might even argue that not since Reagan’s choice of Bush has a presidential candidate chosen a vice-presidential candidate who anyone had even considered a serious contender for the VP slot.

and

Now, like everyone else did in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000, I certainly figure that it’ll be one of the logical choices — Edwards or Gephardt most likely. But if it is one of those two, it’ll be a break from the trend of the last quarter century.

Not that my opinion matters, but I’d be happy with Edwards as the VP. Not so much with Gephardt, but he’s no Dan Quayle either. But if Marshall is right, neither will be on the ticket. I know zero about Vilsack so have no opinion about him other than it might be a good idea to get someone outside of Congress on that ticket. But my hedge bet is on Wes Clark.

Happy Independence Day Part 2

I said I wasn’t going to post unless something bad happened but insead I wanted to note something good happening: the laying of the cornerstone of the new Freedom Tower.

I hate the name but I’m really glad that rebuilding on the Ground Zero site has begun. It’s a good way to show terrorists that in the long term they didn’t win.

Happy Independence Day

No blogging for me unless something really bad happens. In the meantime, here’s some thoughts for the day:

The Declaration of Independence

The United States Constitution

And in honor of the 800+ members of the US armed forces killed in Iraq. May they rest in peace, and may those still in Iraq come home soon, safely.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Is This What They Died For?

Per the AP via Yahoo News:

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s new government is considering offering amnesty to Iraqi insurgents who fought the U.S.-led occupation, perhaps even pardoning those who killed Americans.

A spokesman for Allawi said fighting with U.S. troops was “justified” as resistance to occupation.

“If he (a guerrilla) was in opposition against the Americans, that will be justified because it was an occupation force,” spokesman Georges Sada said. “We will give them freedom.”

Bush’s Military Record

One of the sections I didn’t quite get about Fahrenheit 9/11 was the big deal Moore made over one name being blacked out of Bush’s military records. It seemed to me that Moore was trying to go for the jugular but instead started chewing on a toenail. Fortunately, the excellent Dave Neiwert over at Orcinus helped fill in the blanks Moore left. Here’s the summary:

Bush’s military record should be a scandal not merely for what it contains (or rather, doesn’t) but because of the extent to which it has been tampered with and lied about in the past eight years or so.

The full post is here, has links to lots of detail backing up his claims that Bush’s records are a scandal, and is, like the rest of his blog, well worth reading.

Only 4 months left until Election Day!