Among more recall news, a very dumb statement at a Dem rally in Cali (hey, that rhymed):

The crowd of about 200 saved its biggest applause for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who joined the rally by telephone and said that Davis was less to blame for tough times in California than the "miserable leadership in Washington."

Leaving aside the fact that George W Bush has not been crowned Imperial Dictator of California and thus cannot have direct effect on it, this completely ignores that despite the widespread downtime across the country, more people are mvoing OUT of Cali than are moving IN for the first time in years -- if that isn't an expression of displeasure beyond the general mood, I don't know what is.

Also, even if we really resided in this mythical HillaryWorld where the president can single-handedly destroy a state's economy from thousands of miles away, all it does is change this from a looney quip to...an arguement for States' Rights & limiting the power of the federal government, which she doesn't believe in.

This FoxNews-CNN feud is getting VERY childish...

The two leading cable news networks, Fox News and CNN, have engaged in a tit-for-tat public battle over phone numbers.

According to Fox, Tucker Carlson, co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," made a "journalistic blunder" by giving out the phone number of Fox's Washington bureau on the air when he was prodded to reveal his own home number...Carlson had been defending telemarketers on the show, and an e-mail writer during the show suggested he give out his home phone, saying he wanted to direct-market to Carlson some of his "junk in the garage."

According to the report, co-host Paul Begala encouraged Carlson to reveal the number, which he did – only it was the Fox News number, not his home number.

"Get out your pen," Carlson said before reciting the main line at the Fox newsroom.

"You can reach me there anytime"

Funny, but dumb. Check out what Fox did:

After Fox began receiving "numerous phone calls," according to the report, Fox posted a story on its website that included Carlson's actual home phone number.

"Viewers who want to reach Carlson can, in fact, dial the television 'personality' at his Virginia home at [number]. "After numerous callers made clear they had intended to reach Carlson, Fox News felt obligated once again to get the facts right and correct Carlson's error. …"

*imagines FoxNews viewers calling at 2am*...LOL.

Whitehouse revenge?

Whoa...

-Death toll in France's heatwave higher than originally reported:

A study by scientists at INSERM, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, determined that 14,802 people had died in August. The prior government figure was 11,435, but that was based only on deaths in the first two weeks of the month.

Draw your own conclusion.


-Finally some good news: Opus is back! Wonderful, a reason to read the comics besides Fox Trot & Get Fuzzy (Dilbert's in the business section of my paper for some reason), I just may find some semblance of sanity.

-The price of gold on the market hit a 7-year high.

And I thought those ads on Newsmax were a joke...

Bush approval ratings poll: an observation

This is something I noticed on TV, so no link (NBC apparently doesn't believe in putting the full results on their website).


Ok, on the Nightly News they showed that Dubya's approval rating was down to 49%. Simple enough...

Then, a graphic came up showing the partisan breakdown between Dems, Republicans, & "independants", which came out like this (minus undecideds):

Democrats -- 12% approve, 73% disapprove
Republicans -- 85% approve, 9% disapprove
Independants -- 46% approve, 44% disapprove


Now, notice a few things were not mentioned:

-how big was the sample?
-what were the demographics of the respondents? Were they representative of the general public?
-what was the proportion between partisan affiliation? Was any indication given of a leaning among independants? Were 3rd party members screened out?

Without this information, how do we know how accurate the poll is?


Leaving that aside for a moment, consider the breakdown just as it's shown in the result. If the independants are truly independant (unaffiliated with a party, pretty much down the middle), then what other response did they expect? I'd be suspecting a fix somewhere if there was a significant slant one way or another among independant response, barring a very PUBLIC abuse of office.


BTW: what people are failing to realize in the media is that there is a BIG difference between "we would rather not re-elect Bush" & "we want ______ to be our next president". It is entirely possible for a sentiment to emerge that since what we really want is not what we're going to get, whether from Bush or from a Dem, that it's not worth it to change horses. This needs to be illuminated more than it is currently.

Cali recall: going on as planned, October 7th.

Make up yo minds, y'all...

The something-for-nothing conundrum of democracy revisited, across the Atlantic via Samizdata:

Truly this is almost a picture perfect snapshot of a schitzoid nation. The common folk are always grumbling menacingly about the taxes they are forced to pay but at the same time they are not prepared to entertain even a suggestion of a reduction in the size of government (national or local) nor any diminution in the level of state largesse which they demand with an unquenchable vigour.

Oft-times this infected body politic breaks out in pustules that send the political classes scurrying around to find a less tender part of the body onto which to shift the burden. I suppose that method of treatment has a limited shelf-life.

To the hope that we do not collapse at the same time, so that one of us will finally learn before it's too late...
*raises glass*

A California student wants to start a club...a Caucasians Club:

McClelland's ethnic background includes American Indian, Hispanic, Dutch, German, Italian and Irish. She says she and her friends feel slighted by other clubs at Freedom High School in Oakley, such as the Black Student Union and the Asian Club...One person who won't be signing up is Darnell Turner, first vice president of the local chapter of the NAACP. Turner says he thinks the club will create racial tension.

A few questions to ask yourself:

-what's the difference between having a "caucasian" club & a "black" club or an "asian" club?
-The girl has a mixed ethnic background, why is she calling this "caucasian"?
-What's the point of a club w/ an ethnic designation if anyone can join?
-if a "caucasian" club will create ethnic tension, what's that say about the other clubs? Isn't the mere appearance of this idea a sign of racial tension already?

Ignorance, all around. How about an "americans club"? We're all mutts here, if there's one place where race should be irrelevant it's America.

Clark again: "I would've been a republican if Karl Rove would learn to answer a f$%^ing phonecall"

Nice flip-flop there. An' that's on top of him saying "well, I would've voted in favor of the war" after having spoken out against it for so long. I feel sorry for any democrats currently fooled into following this guy...wait, no I don't.


Let's look at the field of ten now:

-Mr Flip-Flop right here.
-A New England "liberal" that thinks because he fought off outright socialists in Vermont & only wants to revoke the 2nd amendment in "urban areas" (read: black neighborhoods) instead of everywhere, he's got "centrist" points despite calling for a huge tax increase.
-An old school union hack that cost his party seats in the house practically single-handedly & apparently hasn't read the constitution.
-3 dyed-in-the-wool ultra-libs even worse than Dean, 2 of them big-time race-baiters.
-a guy who's only positive is "I was in 'Nam, dammit!", unless you count the roundabout admission of having been "tricked" by the same president routinely called an idiot by democrats (which only tells me "I'm dumber than I think Bush is!").
-a one-term senator essentially cutting his career short by thinking he can jack a page from Clinton's playbook & run as "the handsome one w/ the law liscense"
-Bob Graham, who is such an unknown & longshot that I can't think of a quip to describe him
-and Lieberman, who seems to be a heartbeat away from being repulsed into the arms of the GOP.

Good grief...If all 10 of these people were to pull a Voltron & form into a single candidate somehow they STILL wouldn't have enough redeeming qualities to make a case against Bush that would convince most of the public (and this is coming from someone who is no fan of Dubya).

Unemployment would have to reach double-digits for Bush to lose in '04, period.