Monday, September 29, 2003

Smear machinery at work Check out this typical example… Of course, the smear was not completely aborted as Atrios believes, I’ve already read in the “mainstream” (and sloppy) press that Joseph Wilson was a Clinton appointee when in reality he had ties to Reagan and Poppy Bush as well, including donating to Poppy's campaign.   The essence of the smear is that "nothing Joseph Wilson says can't be believed... cause he's 'partisan'" -- as if these sh-tslingers are not.   And how does that change the truth of Novack disclosing the ID of a CIA asset at the behest of "two senior administration officials" who were experiencing a fit of pique?   Answer: it doesn't -- it just serves to obscure the true issue, like slinging sh-t against a window.   Truth means nothing to these people -- true nihilist who worship power for power's sake. 8:54:17 PM

Is the recall over? That’s just what Ahhnuld would like you to believe… he can’t win with ideas, so he has to win with the “inevitability” argument --- you know, if it’s raining you might as well relax and enjoy it…   But the race may NOT be over, since the latest poll is based on a lowball estimate of voter turnout (the GOP always does better under low turnout conditions). So this “poll”—based on depressed turnout estimates--by depicting the race as over, may actually lead to depressed turnout! Talk about the tail wagging the dog…   The following is from Californians Against the Costly Recall:   Many of you have called and inquired about the CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP poll and the status of the anti-recall effort.   THE CNN POLL IS AN ABERRATION.   I have attached a memo from our pollsters, Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, explaining the current polls.   Additionally, Sunday's Matier and Ross column in the San Francisco Chronicle, has a detailed discussion of a half-dozen polls released in the past four or five days, all of which have the YES on the recall below 55%, which is consistent with our own polling (see below).   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/09/28/BA193375.DTL   TO: Californians Against the Costly Recall   FROM: Paul Maslin and Ben Tulchin Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates   DATE: September 29, 2003   RE: Poll Results   A lot has been made about the recent CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP poll that was just released showing the recall and Arnold Schwarzenegger both winning by wide margins.  It is fair to say that this poll is an exception to what every other poll on the recall, both public and private and Democratic and Republican, has been finding recently.   Our own internal tracking polls show the margin of the recall in single digits, with the "Yes" vote barely at 50% (51%, to be precise).  Furthermore, we have seen the no vote increase over the past week as Democrats and union members have been coming home.  These data hold true even for interviews conducted after last Wednesday's debate between the candidates and for the most likely voters, which the CNN poll claimed they used as their universe.   On the second part of the recall, our internal tracking polling shows Arnold with a single-digit lead over Cruz Bustamante.  This dynamic has been consistent over the past couple of weeks and is similar to what other reputable private polls have been finding.   Furthermore, sources have informed us that other private polling conducted on the behalf of independent, Democratic, and Republican interests all confirm what our own polling shows.  Therefore, based on the litany of evidence, the CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP is clearly an exception to what other polls that have interviewed thousands of voters statewide are finding. 8:36:19 PM

Will Rumsfeld be looking for work? Oh if only that were true…. That especially seems appropriate after you read how Rummy hamstrung the occupation through ideological hamhandedness. I ask you, has there ever been a more incompetent group of ideological thugs in charge of a great power since the wall crumbled? 8:28:25 PM

Not your father's Bush Rove reportedly outs CIA asset to intimidate critics. Hmmm… wonder what Poppy would do? We need more human intelligence. That means we need more protection for the methods we use to gather intelligence and more protection for our sources, particularly our human sources, people that are risking their lives for their country. Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors. George H.W. Bush April 16th, 1999 And it is apparently what he DID do back in 1992: Blast from the past? Sources close to the former president [George H.W. Bush] say Rove was fired from the 1992 Bush presidential campaign after he planted a negative story with columnist Robert Novak about dissatisfaction with campaign fundraising chief and Bush loyalist Robert Mosbacher Jr. It was smoked out, and he was summarily ousted. "Why Are These Men Laughing?" Ron Suskind Esquire January 2003   If you want a real laugh go read the transcript from today’s press conference here. Josh Marshall has been all over this story, kinda like what one would expect from reporters if they weren’t so busy being celebrities.   And as some have noted, if the white house phone logs were so quickly scanned for a hit job on Wes Clark from National Review, then why can’t we have a similarly quick turnaround on this?   But I guess that won’t happen -- after all, this only threatened national security (Valerie Plame was working for the CIA on WMD, so now all her associates and any front org she worked with is rendered useless), whereas Clark threatens Dubya’s political career… 6:04:56 PM