Well, the first debate is in the history books.

No real surprises though: Kerry kept hammering Bush on the "wrong war" and the WMD and "I have a plan." The President pointed out Kerry's flip-flops, and his voting record against the military, and taking Kerry to task for calling him a liar.

I can safely say that no one who was against Bush has come around and no one who was staunchly anti-Kerry has switched their position either.

It was bland, it was controlled, and it was stilted.

Kerry came off as a smug "say anything" kind of guy, no matter if it contradicticted an earlier statement or not. Bush came off as a little slow, thanks to his slower delivery; it was obvious that he was thinking on his feet.

The press will try to spin this as "important," but in the final analysis, it has been nothing spectacular.

I'm more intersted in the town hall format for next week's debate. With questions from the audience, I'm hoping that the questions will become far more candid than this one's was.

Posted by: mhking at 06:04 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the first 2004 Presidential Debate! In the blue corner, weighing in with lots of botox and ketchup....John Kerry!

And in the red corner, the leader of the free world and current President of the United States....George W. Bush!

"And now, for the thousands in attendance, and the millions watching all over the world..... Ladies and gentlement.... llllLLLLLEETTTSSS GET READY TO RUMBBLLLLLLLLLLEEEEE!!!!!"

If you are not near a television set, you can watch C-Span (RP) or BBC World (WMP) right here.


Jim Lehrer from PBS is moderating from ringside, so let's get it started...

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The Kerry Campaign is demanding that signal lights on the set for tonight's debate be disconnected.

The lights provide a signal to each candidate that their answer is running long.

The debate organizers have refused this demand, because both the Bush and Kerry camps agreed to the lights previously.

Advisers for the Democratic presidential candidate demanded Thursday that the lights signaling when a speaker's time has expired during debates with President Bush be removed from the lecterns because they are distracting. The commission hosting the debates refused.

Bush's campaign accused Kerry, known for favoring long sentences and statements, of trying to violate debate rules against windy answers.

An angry exchange between representatives of the Kerry campaign and the Commission on Presidential Debates took place just hours before the candidates were to meet at the University of Miami for the first of three debates, according to several officials familiar with the meeting.

Kerry's team threatened to remove the lights when they visit the debate site with the candidate later in the day. "We'll do what we have to," Kerry strategist Tad Devine said after his meeting with the commission. Later, after Kerry had toured the debate stage and departed the building, the lights were still in place.

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VotePair.org is the latest attempt by liberals to try to unduly influence the vote.

VotePair.org is a new website set up to encourage Nader voters in key swing states to "swap" their vote with Kerry voters in other states -- figuring that they can swing the vote in those states toward Kerry and get a win for their candidate.

In vote-pairing, swing-state progressives whose first instinct might have been to vote for Nader or Cobb are paired with Democrats (and others whose first choice for President is Kerry) in 'safe' states where either Bush or Kerry has a decisive lead. Paired voters can communicate with each other and decide to vote strategically: swing-state participants for Kerry and safe-state participants for Nader or Cobb. As a result, the paired voters' support for progressive third parties is recorded in the popular vote and their preference for Kerry over Bush finds voice in the Electoral College.

Defeating Bush means redirecting the current Administration's aggressive unilateral foreign policy, protecting the environment and women's right to choose, and keeping Bush from stacking the Supreme Court and federal courts with right-wing judges like Justices Scalia and Thomas.

There are some who would point to 2000, but most of those neglect to figure out just HOW the Electoral College works.

Fascinating, indeed...

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Joanne Bland, director and co-founder of the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, AL, says that black voters in Florida and elsewhere will be disenfranchised because they are not "technologically savvy."

"The computers really terrify me. The electronic voting -- the new machines -- I think it will turn off a segment in my community, particularly the elderly. We are not as technically savvy, and we are afraid of machines like that, and they (African-Americans) probably won't go [to the polls] and they probably won't ask for assistance, said Bland, who spent the last week in Florida.

"It is going to turn them off totally and I want that to stop," said Bland, who also serves as a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Public Accuracy, which predicts that "several million voters" may be "deprived of voting rights again" in 2004.

When asked if she preferred low-tech punch-card ballots that produced the controversial hanging chads in Florida in 2000, Bland responded, "Now that was low technology to who? People that have been privileged to learn technology? There have been lots of changes in the United States, but if you look at the statistics, our biggest block of voters would be between 40 and 80, so when did those people have access to any kind of technology?"

"I think it's insulting to imply that African-Americans are unable to comprehend or assimilate modern-day technology," black GOP consultant Tara Setmayer said.

"As a registered voter in Florida, I am familiar with these touch screen voting machines,and they're very easy to understand, very voter-friendly," Setmayer said. "Her claim is absurd," she added.

She, like so many others in the "Soul Patrol" and elsewhere, would rather see black voters intimidated and shift blame for that intimidation to whites in general, and conservatives in particular. And we're supposed to be the bad guys? Yeah. Right.

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CBS News has taken a set of e-mails that have been proven to be false and urban legend, and run with them as if they were true. The e-mails insist that the government is planning to reinstate the draft as soon as next June.

CBS' story plays on the fears of many youth in the nation, even though President Bush's campaign, along with many on Capitol Hill have insisted that there is no draft in the offing. President Bush's campaign has gone as far as to say that the volunteer military that the United States has in place works well enough.

Bill at INDC Journal talked to CBS correspondent Richard Schlesinger, who reports the story.

Schlesinger: "The point of the piece was taking look at issues through the eyes of people who feel that those issues are the most important ... in the campaign. People who are vitally concerned. We've done many of these stories on many topics. I did another one
around affordable housing ... and minimum wage, for example."

INDC: "A lot of people have a problem with this issue though, because it's specifically something that's been used by the Kerry campaign as a recent talking point. Did this influence ..."

Schlesinger: "No, it was an issue because it was out there. There are issues that we choose to do stories on ... I specifically said in the story, 'both candidates have said they would not support a reinstatement of the draft.'"

INDC: "Probably the main concern with the story is that the e-mails that are shown in the piece are false; they've been debunked on various internet sites long ago ..."

Schlesinger: "The fact is, they were going around. I know several people that got them, and itÂ’s gotten people all riled up. Whether or not thereÂ’s any reality to there being a draft, is almost besides the point. Do I think thereÂ’s going to be a draft? No. But it's
an issue that people are talking about."

INDC: "Ok, another complaint regards the testimony from Beverly Cocco. Some people are pointing out that she's a chapter president for an advocacy group called People Against the Draft, that seems to have a clearly anti-war position. How did you choose her?"

Schlesinger: "Long story short, sheÂ’s a Republican. When we put the story together, I went looking for a Republican. We worked
backwards from the e-mail, thatÂ’s how we found her. She told me that she was going to vote for Bush, though she said she may flip-flop."

On top of that, there is evidence (thanks to the magic of Google's cache) that CBS has altered its' report in order to include Cocco's connection -- after bloggers caught their faux pas.

So which is it, CBS? And why not let everyone know that Cocco has an agenda of her own? Is it because you have your own agenda?

It sounds to me like CBS has gotten their hands caught in the cookie jar once again.

CBS News' ratings continue to plummet as viewers find less partisan alternatives to their evening news. Like Entertainment Tonight. At least with ET, you know you're getting fluff.

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I don't know how long this will be up on eBay (you know those eBay admins...no sense of humor), so you'd better get your bid in for the Democratic Platform on Defense before it's gone.

You are bidding on a rare and EXTREMELY hard-to-find item belonging to the Democratic Party. It falls under the category of Science Fiction collectible for two reasons. One, it's a collectible because it's one-of-a-kind and almost impossible to locate. Two, it's science fiction because it's basically a complete fantasy.

Please allow me to explain...the Good Senator from Mass. has stated something to the effect of (and this is not a true quote) "I have a plan for our nation's defense against terrorism and other mean bad guys *cough*mainly Christians*cough* but I'm not going to reveal it until I'm elected!"

Hey, that sounds like a great idea! Why don't I just go down to my local car dealership, hand them $50,000, and then hope they give me a new car I want! That's a great plan!

Better yet, why don't just blindly vote on the Democratic ticket because I stupidly believe anything is better than President Bush. Hmmm...let's see...are there any Imperial Stormtoopers running this year? Ah yes, perfect! They kill without remorse and wear faceless masks, but they've GOT to be better presidents because they're not Republican. PERFECT!

Anyway, back to the auction...Don't be fooled by the current Democratic running mates; they really do have a defense plan, and I got my hands on it! I can't tell you how, but I will say that many Bothans died to bring me the information. But now YOU can own this rare collectible, and view it in your own home! All before the November elections!! Imagine impressing your friends with your new piece of American history! You can even display it right next to your genuine Mike Moore "Best Picture As Long As You're Not Interested In The Whole Truth" Academy Award!

Here's the best part: free shipping. That's right, if you win this fantastic and rare item, it will be shipped to you FREE OF CHARGE!! How is that possible? Well, don't thank me, thank a liberal who believes I should be taxed more because I make more. Since I went to college and work hard for a living, apparently I can afford to give illegal immigrants and food stamp abusers this special gift of MY HARD EARNED MONEY! It's only fair, right?

But wait, there's more! If you use eBay's special BUY-IT-NOW feature, I'll also throw in the wound Senator Kerry received in order to earn one of his Purple Heard medals! That's right, I've got that, too! In fact, both the wound and the Democratic Party's Defense Plan are pictured below, both in the same box. All of this can be yours if you bid now and bid often!

Serious bidders only! This is not a joke!!

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A caller into the syndicated Larry Elder Show yesterday mentioned a California license plate that he saw on a Los Angeles freeway: F DUBYA. Come to find out it belongs to a smug Volvo-driving liberal from Santa Monica.

Yesterday on the Larry Elder show, a caller reported seeing a license plate in Santa Monica on a Volvo. It said "F Dubya". Then, the purported owner of the vehicle, a jerk named Phil, called in to the show. He was really proud.

After a few minutes, Larry handed Phil his lunch. He claimed to be well-read but Larry showed him to be a hate-filled Santa Monica liberal fool.

Let's do more than hand him his lunch. I spoke to the DMV, and if they get more than one letter, they will look into taking back a plate that citizens find offensive. The woman with whom I spoke, understood how the plate could be offensive. An "F Kerry" plate would not, because Kerry is a real last name. No one has the name Dubya; the only reference anywhere is that it is the nickname of our commander in chief.

On the show, Phil said that he couldn't believe they allowed him to have the plate.

Sounds like a plan to me.

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New video footage has shown British hostage Ken Bigley caged and chained, pleading for his life.

In the recording, shown on Arab TV channel al Jazeera, Mr Bigley is reported to have renewed his appeal for Tony Blair to meet the kidnappers' demands.

He said his captors did not want to kill him and accused the Prime Minister of ignoring his plight.

After the first two were beheaded, footage of Bigley begging British Prime Minister Tony Blair to acceed to the monsters' demands in exchange for his life was shown on the internet and on Al Jazeera. Bigley and the two murdered Americans were in Iraq working for an engineering firm involved in rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq.

UPDATE: The second Bigley video (WMV) has been uploaded and is available on the web.

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NBC's The Apprentice has spawned and showcased all sorts of products, from Donald Trump's Trump Water last year to new Vanilla Mint Expressions Crest toothpaste, which was featured on last week's episode.

But now, comes the ultimate expression of The Donald's ego: The Trump Doll.

The doll (or is it an action figure), which is being introduced at the Times Square Toys R' Us this morning by the man himself, is the same size as a Barbie, and talks. It says 17 phrases, including, of course, "You're fired."

The doll will set you back a whopping $27, or about double the price of Mattel's Halle Berry Catwoman Barbie doll.

My daughter WON'T be getting this one...

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The Expos, or whatever they get named, will play in Washington's RFK Stadium for several years while a new $440 Million stadium on the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington is built.

The largest obstacle to a Washington team has been Baltimore Orioles' owner Peter Angelos. Angelos has claimed that the DC Metro area was part of the Baltimore market for baseball purposes.

Other areas considered for the Expos were Las Vegas, Portland, OR, Norfolk, VA, Northern Virginia, Monterrey, Mexico and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The other areas were eliminated as this season progressed, leaving Washington as the sole selection.

Washington last hosted a professional baseball team in 1971 when the old Washington Senators, the second team to be known by that name, moved to the Dallas area to become the Texas Rangers. The original Senators moved to Minneapolis in the early 1960s to become the Minnesota Twins.

No team has moved since the 71 season, when the Senators moved to Texas.

The Rangers retain the rights to the name "Washington Senators," which means that the new DC franchise will likely have a different name when they take the field next season.

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1 There's really no reason for this team to keep the Expo name. I don't remember the last time DC hosted a World Expo. That being said, there are also no reason for Dodgers to keep their rather archaic name that was originally Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers or for that matter, Lakers (Lake Los Angeles is not in LA, and it's dry). But unlike Dodgers, Giants or Lakers, Expo have really never know genuine success. I'm all for ditching that name.

Posted by: BigFire at September 28, 2004 07:46 PM (DtAIo)

2 Puerto Rico should have gotten the team, they were actually drawing fans there, and it might have been one of the few situations where adding a pro sports team is actually an economic benefit to the area.

Posted by: Gib at September 29, 2004 04:07 AM (PsC2M)

3 Actually, the Rangers version of the Sens was the first team to be officially called by that name. The "old" Senators were officially nicknamed the Nationals; the Senators monicker was more popular, for some bizarre reason. Nic at Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax mentions, "[Washington DC] political commentator Mark Plotkin points out that Senators isn't a good name anyway, since Washington has no senators. I think that's a good point...I wonder if anyone would go with the Washington Non-voting Delegates?" Ted at Rocket Jones has heard a push to name the team after the Negro League Homestead Grays...which would fit, because when the Grays played games in DC (half of their "home" games were in Washington) they'd frequently outsell the Nats.

Posted by: Victor at September 29, 2004 07:27 AM (L3qPK)

4 On The Black Republican, I'm pushing for the team to adopt the Grays nickname.

Posted by: Chris at October 01, 2004 07:46 PM (9VCzx)

5 Preview is my friend, dontcha know...

Posted by: Chris at October 01, 2004 07:48 PM (9VCzx)

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As most folk know by now, Daily Kos has become an "official" Google News source.

Also, as most folk know by now, Kos is slanted so far to the left that a beer would slide off of the table if you tried to put one down.

So the esteemed Rusty Shackleford over at MyPetJawa has launched a move to have MyPetJawa made an "official" Google News source to bring some balance to what is now certainly an unbalanced roster.

If you'd like to help, a quick note to source-suggestions@google.com, would be nice.

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According to a piece in this morning's Washington Times, Al Qaeda operatives are trying to infiltrate a Salvadoran criminal gang in order to get them a foothold once they hop the border into the US.

Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a key al Qaeda cell leader for whom the U.S. government has offered a $5 million reward, was spotted in July in Honduras meeting with leaders of El Salvador's notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, which immigration officials said has smuggled hundreds of Central and South Americans — mostly gang members — into the United States.

Although they are actively involved in alien, drug and weapons smuggling, Mara Salvatrucha members in America also have been tied to numerous killings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings, extortions, rapes and aggravated assaults — including at least seven killings in Virginia and a machete attack on a 16-year-old in Alexandria that severely mutilated his hands.

The Salvadoran gang, known to law enforcement authorities as MS-13 because many members identify themselves with tattoos of the number 13, is thought to have established a major smuggling center in Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas, from where it has arranged to bring illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico into the United States.

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Bill over at INDC Journal was able to buttonhole Bob Schiffer yesterday morning in front of CBS' DC bureau (where Free Republic's pajama-clad DC Chapter had set up a "pajamahadeen" protest) after the taping of Face The Nation.

INDC: "I was just wondering if you had any comment on what you think may happen with this entire (forgery) situation ..."

Schieffer: "Here is all I can tell you: we made a bad mistake. We've admitted we made the mistake, we've appointed some distinguished outside people to help us figure out how not to make that mistake again, and we're gonna have to live with our mistake. [W]hat we have to do ... we've been hurt by this and ... what we have to do is get back our credibility one story at a time, one day at a time. This is not something that we can fix by just turning the light switch on and off. And, uh, it's been a really tough thing for us... both from the standpoint of credibility and emotional. I mean, those of us who work here really love this place and ... we want to fix it and get on with it."

INDC: "Has there been any extreme reaction inside CBS to the allegation that (Mary) Mapes was in contact or collusion with the DNC, or more accurately, with Joe Lockhart?"

Schieffer: "Well, you know, in any political campaign, you're gonna have people on one side that are gonna slip a reporter something because they think it'll hurt the guy on the other side. But the
reporter has the responsibility to determine, number one, whether that is true, and number two, to make a judgment as to whether it's in the public interest and whether or not it should be part of the debate. And if you make that judgment, then, uh, that's a legitimate story to do. But to somehow join up with a campaign, that's totally improper. I don't know what happened here; I wanna wait and see what this commission finds out about this before I make a judgment on what happened here, because really that part of it, all I only know about is what I read in the papers. I'm not gonna make a judgment on that yet,
but we have no business joining up with a campaign on either side, and saying, 'let's all work together here.' That's not what we're supposed to do."

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The NFL, in conjunction with the Miami Dolphins, has postponed Sunday's scheduled game between the Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers, originally scheduled for 1P ET at Miami's Pro Player Stadium.

The landfall of Hurricane Jeanne will make it problematic at best to play the game then, and it could potentially be life threatening not only for the participants, but for locals who would try to go to the game.

As of now, the League has not scheduled a new date for the game, but depending on when and where Jeanne makes landfall, Monday or Tuesday are the most likely choices.

UPDATE 2:30P ET -- According to ESPN, the game will be played tomorrow EVENING at 8:30P ET in Miami. There's no offical word from the NFL yet. Stay tuned.

UPDATE 10P ET - Word from the NFL has finally come down. The game will be played at 8:30P in Miami. As an AFC vs. AFC game, it was originally scheduled as a CBS game. There is no word on whether or not CBS will carry it as a national game in prime time, cede coverage to ESPN, or only broadcast the game regionally. ESPN's currently scheduled Sunday night broadcast is Tampa Bay at Oakland.

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Kenneth Bigley, the British-born Iraqi terror hostage, has been murdered, according to a posting on an AQ-associated website.

The claim has been refuted by the UK's Foreign Office in London.

The Web site where the posting appeared has often carried messages from Zarqawi's followers, including gruesome video that showed Hensley and Armstrong being killed. It also showed video on Wednesday of Bigley, 62, begging for his life.

But it is not as prominent as other sites that have aired similar content, and some of its earlier claims have been picked up from elsewhere. It has also carried messages that appeared not to be true, including two shaky claims that two Italian aid workers missing since Sept. 7 were killed.

The Foreign Office in London said it was aware of the claim but described the site as "discredited."

"It's just a posting," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said on customary condition of anonymity. "We can't see there's anything credible in this at all."

Footage of Bigley pleading for his life was released and shown on the Arabic television network Al Jazeera.

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An almost unprecendented fourth hurricane is bearing down on Florida.

Hurricane Jeanne is set to make landfall on the east coast of Florida on Sunday morning, bringing high winds and heavy rain to an area already hurting behind three previous tropical systems this season.

Evacuations are being recommended up and down the east coast of Florida, and cancellations abound. One event that has not been cancelled -- at least as of yet -- is Sunday's scheduled matchup of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins, set for 1PM Sunday at Miami's Pro Player Stadium. The NFL has ruled out playing on Saturday, but with the storm bearing down, playing on Monday or Tuesday is not out of the question. The League will likely make a final decision sometime tomorrow.

The Dolphins' season opener was moved from a Sunday to a Saturday in advance of Hurricane Frances less than a month ago.

A number of stations are streaming live coverage of the storm: Miami's WFOR-TV/DT Miami (WMP) and WSVN-TV/DT (WMP) have already started coverage; Miami stations WTVJ and WPLG will begin streaming tomorrow, as will Orlando's WESH & WKMG.

Other television stations in the target zone will stream live coverage as well.

HurricaneCity.com (RP) is set to begin streaming their live coverage tonight at 8PM.

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A number of newspapers, including large ones like The Washington Post and the New York Daily News, have pulled cartoonist Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks this week, in response to a series of segments surrounding the fictional Russell Simmons game show, "Can A N****A Get A Job?" (You can fill in the asterisks).

Segments of the series of strips include a woman who would rather sleep than work, and a black man smoking marijuana in a boardroom (not unlike NBC's The Apprentice).

A humor columnist for The Washington Post blasted that paper's "pathetically weak and wrong decision" on the comic.

Universal Press Syndicate gave papers a choice of running the strip with the three symbols in the middle of the "N" word, or with symbols for all five letters in the word, or re-running an old strip. The most severely edited version also deletes the knives from the knife fight. This is the version carried by the Los Angeles Times.

Kathie Kerr, director of communications at Universal Press Syndicate, told E&P that at least four papers killed this week's strip entirely. She said that McGruder had not commented, adding that he is "kind of his own wild child" and that this is "not the first time" the "N" word had been used in the strip.

Greg Melvin, associate editor at Universal, called the content "defensible because it's really trenchant satire," in an interview with a St. Petersburg Times reporter.

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1 SO, what's your view? I think The Washington Post are wussy men.

Posted by: DarkStar at September 26, 2004 12:31 PM (cnw1A)

2 Since I let my Sunday subscription expire a year ago, I really don't have a dog in this contest, per se. I never "got it". T'was just another piece of "must read" MSM. NOT! Later, having seen McGruder in a couple of black roundtables on PBS-- one was with Armstrong, and I thot he was either going to give McGruder the whupping that he should have had as a kid or stick a bar of soap in his mouth -- I'm not impressed with this moonbat. In my mind, he's just an angry punk and 4 more years of Bush ought to get him foaming. In fact, now that I think about it, the next time the local paper calls with their subscription drive, I'll suggest that they send Boondocks to the boondocks. How's that for market-driven censorship? Of course, should he get start getting dropped altogether, some will be sure to cry racism/censorship. Good riddance, Adventures of Spiderman could replace him for all I care.

Posted by: Andy at September 29, 2004 09:17 PM (WC1fj)

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John Kerry, continuing his pandering to various minority groups, told the predominantly-black NNPA in an interview that blacks will decide the November election.

“I think the Black vote can decide this election,” Kerry said in an exclusive interview with the NNPA News Service. “Not only [am I] not taking it for granted. I think it’s the most important vote in the election.”

“Compare our records,” Kerry urges. “I have a 35-year record of consistently standing up and fighting for inclusion, for equal opportunity that I began in the 1960s in the Civil Rights Movement, that I fought for when I came back from Vietnam alongside brothers and sisters of color who were mistreated when they came home from Vietnam, who had been met with discrimination.”

He continues. “I fought for minority set-asides, I wrote the historically underutilized business legislation. I fought for empowerment zones. I fought for educational opportunity for after-school programs for Head Start. All of the things that George Bush has cut, all of the things George Bush attacks, I have fought for.”

“He celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday by sending a challenge to the Michigan case on affirmative action,” Kerry says, referring to Bush. “The next year, he celebrates it by appointing [conservative Judge] Charles Pickering to the court of the United States of America. He is completely insensitive to all of the communities of color in the country. He hasn’t fulfilled his promises with respect to being a uniter, not a divider. And I think it’s important to draw those contrasts and I intend to do it.”

Kerry's comments come in light of comments by black Democrats as well as Republicans that the Democratic party takes the black vote for granted.

So which is it, Ketchup Boy? Do the Dems take the black vote for granted? Or is it an integral part of the November vote? And if it is, then why is there only this passive lip service to campaigning in the black community? We only hear about tacit photo ops at the "black-church-of-the-week"; and even less so, now that the fall campaign is in full swing.

Now comes candidate Kerry with his pandering to blacks. And black America, simply because of the fact that John Kerry is the "not-Bush" candidate, will lap it up. The visceral hatred of George W. Bush among much of black America blinds the masses to rational thought in terms of comparing the candidates.

Black America has become one of the few places that Kerry doesn't meet the forensic challenge to his continued contradictions.

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Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, in an address to a joint session of Congress, had a message for the United States: "Thank you, America."

"I know that some have speculated, even doubted whether this (January election) date can be met," Allawi told a joint session of the US Congress. "So let me be absolutely clear. Elections will occur in Iraq on time in January because Iraqis want elections on time."

Speaking in English after receiving a standing ovation, Allawi told the chamber: "We are succeeding in Iraq. It's a tough struggle with setbacks, but we are succeeding.

"My friends, today we are better off. You are better off. And the world is better off without Saddam Hussein. Your decision to go to war in Iraq was not an easy one, but it was the right one.

"We Iraqis know that Americans have made, and continue to make, enormous sacrifices to liberate Iraq, to assure Iraq's freedom," Allawi said. "I have come here to thank you, and to promise you that your sacrifices are not in vain.

"Thank you, America."

"I think the prime minister is obviously contradicting his own statement of a few days ago where he said the terrorists are pouring into the country," Kerry said. "The prime minister and the president are here, obviously, to put their best face on the policy."

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