Monday, October 11, 2004

Man of Leisure, King George Kayti Didriksen's adaptation of Edouard Manet's Olympia. 1:13:44 AM    comment [] Robertson to Bush: Hands off Jerusalem At a recent news conference in Jerusalem, Pat Robertson uttered the following threat to President Bush: The President has backed away from [the road map], but if he were to touch Jerusalem, he'd lose all Evangelical support. Evangelicals would form a third party" because, though people "don't know about" Gaza, Jerusalem is an entirely different matter. Robertson is suspicious of any territorial concessions to the Palestinians for two reasons. First, they would provide militants a launching ground for terrorist attacks, including attacks with WMD's, that would threaten Israel's existence. Second, they might hamper the Lord's subsequent return: I see the rise of Islam to destroy Israel and take the land from the Jews and give East Jerusalem to [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Yasser Arafat. I see that as Satan's plan to prevent the return of Jesus Christ the Lord. Of course, the plan for Jesus Christ's return, as prophecied in Revelations, includes Armageddon and the incineration of unrepetant Jews. So it seems that from Robertson's perspective, Israelis are doomed whether they concede a share of Jerusalem to the Palestinians or not (that is, unless they're willing to accept Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior). At any rate, I'm sure Robertson needn't worry about the President's intentions regarding Israel. Even if he weren't a true believer, Karl Rove wouldn't let him ignore the wishes of the party's Evangelical wing. 1:08:35 AM    comment [] More on the Bush wired story The "Is Bush Wired?" story has moved from the "internets" to Salon.com to the pages of the NY Times. And it seems the Administration does not have a plausible account for the "bulge" in President Bush's back observable during the first debate: First they said that pictures showing the bulge might have been doctored. But then, when the bulge turned out to be clearly visible in the television footage of the evening, they offered a different explanation. "There was nothing under his suit jacket," said Nicolle Devenish, a campaign spokeswoman. "It was most likely a rumpling of that portion of his suit jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric." Ms. Devenish could not say why the "rumpling" was rectangular. Nor was the bulge from a bulletproof vest, according to campaign and White House officials; they said Mr. Bush was not wearing one. They have also given the non-denial denial that President Bush "was not aided by" any radio device. Of course he wasn't aided by it -- if he was using such a device, it clearly hurt his performance. 12:34:44 AM    comment []

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