opinionjournal.com
BY JAMES TARANTO
Monday, October 25, 2004 3:17 p.m.
Angry Left Meltdown!
With eight days to go, most indicators seem to point to a narrow Bush victory as the likeliest outcome. Most polls show a slight Bush advantage, though children in the Weekly Reader poll gave him 65% to just 33% for Kerry (though Kerry won among high school sophomores). The Tradesports.com futures market shows Bush leading, 271 electoral votes to 243, with 24 up in the air.
Political scientists are more bullish on Bush: Gary Andres reports on National Review Online that of seven scholars or scholarly teams who specialize in election forecasting, six think Bush will "win the popular vote"; the average of the seven estimates has Bush carrying 53.8% of the two-party popular vote. (That would translate into 53.3% of the total vote if third parties get 1%.) Only one of the forecasts has Bush getting less than 50%--49.9%, to be exact. Take this with a grain of salt; political scientists predicted an even bigger Gore victory (53% to 60%) in 2000, and Gore's actual two-party total was 50.3%.
But here's a totally different indicator that also favors Bush: the mood of Kedwards supporters. They still seem angry, not confident. Start with Elizabeth Edwards, wife of running mate John Edwards. The Drudge Report notes that a C-Span camera caught her on camera talking to a supporter about the possibility of postelection violence (MP3 audio clip here):
Supporter: Kerry's going to take PA.
Edwards: I know that.
Supporter: I'm just worried there's going to be riots afterwards.
Edwards: Uh, well, not if we win. We're going to [unintelligible] . . .
London's left-wing Guardian caused a stir over the weekend when it published a Bush-bashing article by Charlie Booker that concluded with this call:
On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr--where are you now that we need you?
The article subsequently disappeared from the Guardian's Web site, replaced by this odd third-person apology:
The final sentence of a column in The Guide on Saturday caused offence to some readers. The Guardian associates itself with the following statement from the writer.
"Charlie Brooker apologises for any offence caused by his comments relating to President Bush in his TV column, Screen Burn. The views expressed in this column are not those of the Guardian. Although flippant and tasteless, his closing comments were intended as an ironic joke, not as a call to action--an intention he believed regular readers of his humorous column would understand. He deplores violence of any kind."
Then there's Lawrence O'Donnell, "senior political analyst" for MSNBC, who suffered a complete crackup on the air Friday night. O'Donnell appeared on "Scarborough Country" along with John O'Neill, co-author of "Unfit for Command." (Pat Buchanan was guest-hosting.) Blogress Michelle Malkin has a nice roundup on the incident, and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have MP3 audio clips, here and here.
We've transcribed a portion of O'Donnell's comments to give you the flavor:
It's one of the many lies that the book advances. To me the most interesting lie, John O'Neill, that I would submit to you that you should answer, is, you make a lying claim that John Kerry's antiwar activity prolonged the amount of time that prisoners of war were held in Vietnam. . . . That's a lie, John O'Neill! Keep lying, it's all you do! . . . Lies! . . . Which is not in John O'Neill's book, 'cause it's a lie! . . . That's a lie! It's another lie! That's a lie! Absolute lie! You lie in that book endlessly! . . . You lie about documents endlessly! . . . You're just lying about it! And you lied about Thurlow's Bronze Star! You lied about it as long as you could until the New York Times found the wording of what was on the citation that you as a lying writer refused to put in your pack of lies! . . . Disgusting, lying book! . . . You have no standards, John O'Neill, as an author, and you know it! It's a pack of lies! You are unfit to publish! . . . He just lied to you! He spews out this filth! Point to his name on the report, you liar! Point to his name, you liar! . . . You just spew lies! . . .
I just hate the lies of John O'Neill. I hate lies. It's not an argument; they're proven lies. . . . O'Neill's a liar, he's been a liar for 35 years about this, and he's found other liars [unintelligible]. . . . They lied! . . . They're lying somewhere! . . . Lies! Just tell me the initials, you liar! Creepy liar! . . . You are a liar who makes things up! . . . You want the lies! That's how you make your living, on lies!
Wow, we can sure see how Larry O'Donnell got his job as a senior political analyst with MSNBC. The guy is nothing if not sagelike. But does he sound as though he thinks his man is going to win the election?
Did You Know He Served in Vietnam?
Reuters quotes John Kerry at a rally in Pueblo, Colo.:
"With the same energy . . . I put into going after the Viet Cong and trying to win for our country, I pledge to you I will hunt down and capture or kill the terrorists before they harm us," Kerry said. "And we will wage a war on terror that makes America proud and brings the world to our side."
We were pretty young then, but we're pretty sure we remember we lost the Vietnam War. Moreover, Kerry put a lot of effort into "ending the war"--which is to say, into losing.
Alternative Fuels
"Gore Urges Black Voters to Turn Anger Into Energy"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 25
From Cambodia to Turtle Bay
During the second presidential debate, John Kerry had this to say in explanation for his vote in favor of the war with Iraq:
I went to meet with the members of the Security Council in the week before we voted. I went to New York. I talked to all of them to find out how serious they were about really holding Saddam Hussein accountable.
I came away convinced that, if we worked at it, if we were ready to work and letting Hans Blix do his job and thoroughly go through the inspections, that if push came to shove, they'd be there with us.
We wondered at the time if he was telling the truth about his diplomatic efforts, and now the Washington Times has evidence that he wasn't:
Of the five ambassadors on the Security Council in 2002 who were reached directly for comment, four said they had never met Mr. Kerry. The four also said that no one who worked for their countries' U.N. missions had met with Mr. Kerry either.
The former ambassadors who said on the record they had never met Mr. Kerry included the representatives of Mexico, Colombia and Bulgaria. The ambassador of a fourth country gave a similar account on the condition that his country not be identified.
The Times says Kerry did meet with representatives from France, Singapore, Cameroon and possibly Britain. But in addition to the debate, he claimed during a 2003 speech at the Council on Foreign Relations that "I sat with the French and British, Germans, with the entire Security Council, and we spent a couple of hours talking about what they saw as the path to a united front in order to be able to deal with Saddam Hussein" (emphasis ours).
At the very least, this would seem to be one of those exaggerations. Oh well, at least he didn't say it was seared--seared--into his memory.
Kerry Remembers Poland
John Kerry loves to disparage the "coalition of the bribed and the coerced" that liberated Iraq. "The phoniest thing I ever heard," he called it in September. But blogger Arthur Chrenkoff (known to readers of this Web site for his roundups of good news from Iraq and Afghanistan) notes that Kerry is himself offering what might be termed bribes to an important coalition member. In an interview with a Polish newspaper and a Polish-language American one, which Chrenkoff translated, Kerry had this to say:
America must give its allies a stake in stabilizing Iraq. The best way to achieve that is through binding their interests with the peaceful future of that country. On the economic front this will mean granting true and tried friends--like Poland--a share in the multibillion-dollar reconstruction contracts, in a share proportional to Poland's contribution to the coalition. I assure you that just as Poland was treated as an equal with other members of the coalition, so she will be an equal partner in the task of rebuilding Iraq.
Kerry also promised to ease visa requirements for Poles who want to come to America. And he praised Poland's contribution to the Iraq effort: "Poland is playing a significant role in the coalition and I fully appreciate the contribution of Polish units in Iraq. . . . Poland showed courage when she joined American and allied forces in Iraq. My countrymen are grateful for that and I myself will also never forget that."
Well, Kerry makes a hell of a lot more sense when he speaks Polish than when he tries to speak English. But this does make clear that the coalition is much less phony than Kerry's attacks on it.
A One-Sided Interview
The Washington Post's Bob Woodward has an interview with John Kerry that consists entirely of questions, prefaced with the reporter's explanation why:
Beginning on June 16, I had discussions and meetings with Sen. John Kerry's senior foreign policy, communications and political advisers about interviewing the senator to find out how he might have acted on Iraq--to ask him what he would have done at certain key points. Senior Kerry advisers initially seemed positive about such an interview. One aide told me, "The short answer is yes, it's going to happen."
In August, I was talking with Kerry's scheduler about possible dates. On Sept. 1, Kerry began his intense criticism of Bush's decisions in the Iraq war, saying "I would've done almost everything differently." A few days later, I provided the Kerry campaign with a list of 22 possible questions based entirely on Bush's actions leading up to the war and how Kerry might have responded in the same situations. The senator and his campaign have since decided not to do the interview, though his advisers say Kerry would have strong and compelling answers.
Well, if his advisers say he would have strong and compelling answers, how can anyone doubt that he would?
All in the Family
Hillary Clinton, New York's Democratic junior senator, campaigned in Florida for John Kerry Saturday, the Associated Press reports:
''If we were living in another country and we had the president of the country and his brother controlling one of the biggest provinces or states, we would . . . have some doubts about whether, given their track record, they really believe in democracy,'' Clinton told about 300 cheering supporters in a theater in downtown West Palm Beach.
It's true that President Bush and Gov. Jeb Bush are brothers. But here's something you probably didn't know: Sen. Clinton is a relative of the man who was president when she was elected to the Senate. Though her supporters would doubtless point out that they're related only by marriage.
You Don't Say
"Electorate Is a Key Unknown"--headline, Washington Post, Oct. 24
What Does This Say About Kerry?
"For Bush, Bad News Is Bad News"--headline, Bob Herbert column, New York Times, Oct. 25
Who's Incompetent?
A running theme of the Kerry campaign and its supporters has been that President Bush's foreign policy is "incompetent." Another is that America should cede more power to the United Nations. This report from London's Daily Telegraph should give pause to anyone inclined to credit these arguments:
Early results from the weekend's general election showed that five years of UN rule had only deepened ethnic divisions as Kosovo's voters signalled their despair with the Balkan province's administrators.
Barely more than half of Kosovo's 1.4 million voters went to the ballot box. While the province's majority ethnic Albanians were struck by apathy, its 130,000-strong Serb minority was seized by anger and completely boycotted the poll.
Only a handful of Serbs voted, following calls from Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian Prime Minister, and the Serbian Orthodox Church to stay away. Mr Kostunica described the election as a "failure."
Compare this with the successful elections in Afghanistan, and the whole Kerry argument falls apart, does it not?
Shouldn't People Get Them First?
"Some Chicago Bears Get Flu Shots"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 22
Those Homophobic Hosts
"LGBT Resource Center Hosts Mock Gay Marriage"--headline, Cavalier Daily (University of Virginia), Oct. 22
Why Would They Want to Restart Their Habit?
"Study Aims to Help Smokers Ctrl+Alt+Del Their Habit"--headline, American Cancer Society News Center, Oct. 25
Sing a Song of Suicide
Our item Friday on Hamas's search for a new anthem, brought lots of response, as we expected it would. Among the most popular songs nominated was "Suicide Is Painless," the theme song from M*A*S*H (the lyrics, written by Mike Altman, can be heard in the 1970 movie directed by Altman's father, Robert; the TV series used an instrumental version):
The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
So this is all I have to say
That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please
Along similar lines is Bukka White's "Fixin' to Die Blues":
I'm lookin' funny in my eyes and I believe I'm fixin' to die,
believe I'm fixin' to die
I'm lookin' funny in my eyes and I believe I'm fixin' to die
Eddie Money's "Two Tickets to Paradise" evokes the 72 virgins promised to Hamas terrorists:
I've got two tickets to paradise
Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight
I've got two tickets to paradise
I've got two tickets to paradise.
Of course, murder is the real purpose of suicide bombings, and AC/DC's "TNT" captures this spirit:
See me ride out of the sunset
On your color TV screen
Out for all that I can get
If you know what I mean . . .
Ain't got no gun
Ain't got no knife
But don't you start no fight
'Cause I'm TNT, I'm dynamite
TNT, and I'll win the fight
TNT, I'm a power load
TNT, watch me explode
Stephen Sondheim's "Send In the Clowns" begins with what could be a description of a suicide bombing in progress:
Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground
You in midair
Send in the clowns
Given Israel's success in targeting Hamas's leaders, Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" is a strong contender:
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
But of course, the glorification of "martyrdom" is really about killing Israelis, so perhaps Hamas would prefer Weird Al Yankovic's parody. It's called "Another One Rides the Bus."
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Napoleon Cole, Barak Moore, Allen O'Donnell, Steve Eggleston, Michael Hopkovitz, Eric Coulson, M. Gilbertson, Tom Linehan, Kathy Reitz, S.E. Brenner, Thomas Mayer, Ed Lasky, Lisa Trieste, Ethel Fenig, David Merrill, Moshe Bell, Michael Zukerman, Joseph Kershenbaum, Joe Hancock, Dave Sibert, Rosanne Klass, Samuel Walker, Michael Williamson, Sam Wakim, Alisa Duncanson, Steve Prestegard, David Stoughton, Scott Lahti, Igor Gurovich, Kathleen Sullivan, Julie Beck, Steve Baus, Mark Van Der Molen, Dennis Powell, Terry Harris, David Beebe, Doug Payton, John Lott, Dan Calabrese, Douglas Noren, Lee Harris, Royal Dellinger, Thomas Brueckner, John Forsberg, Ben Lopatin, Kenyon Wilson, Jacob Oslick, Adam Schmidt, Reuben Poupko, Ronald Scheffler, Michael Kingsley, Rick Vaughan, Lloyd Graves, David Land, Paul Zabbo, Rob Westrick, Julie Walker, Jeremy Kortes, Christopher Conrad, Robert Sherrod, Gordon Stewart, Todd Stanton, Jay Grimes, Joe Lazauskas, Joel Goldberg, Chris Craft, Chuck Meyer, Regan Dickenson, Mike LeBlanc, William Dooley, Pat Sullivan, Bruce Hill, Krewe Maynard and Joy Blackburn. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Today on OpinionJournal:
Ruth Wisse: At Harvard, a few of us stray from the "herd of independent minds."
John Fund: Meet Michael Whouley and Morton Blackwell, the gurus of getting out the vote.
Arthur Chrenkoff: A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq. |
