I actually didn't plan on watching much of this convention at all! It's the RNC Convention where the fun begins!

But tonight turned out to be a surprise. I was first alerted that Al Gore was being rather funny (claiming he doesn't "lie awake at night counting...and recounting sheep") and pretty sharp ("Wouldn't we be safer with a president who didn't insist on confusing al Qaeda with Iraq?").

So I got sucked in. And as bored as I planned on being, I ended up rather impressed. From Gore to both Clintons (though Hillary was a bit shrill for my taste...if I wanted my ears to bleed I'd listen to Eleanor Clift on the McClaughlin Group each week...oh, wait, I do.)

Anyway, the most endearing --- and ironically, the toughest speaker of the night --- was the 80 year old Jimmy Carter! Who kicked it!

Notable quotes from his speech which is worth the full read! (it's short and sweet):

You go, boy! It was a humdinger! So much for the idea that ex-Presidents are supposed to shut the hell up! Now that's what a great American looks like boys and girls.

Since the big boy bloggers all got invitations to the Convention (yeah, yeah, I might have as well, had I gotten them a copy of my passport in time, but never mind that!) I guess it's left to duffers like me to cover the coverage that they're missing since they're all in the hall itself, and don't get to watch it on TV!

Switching back and forth between Fox and CNN during Clinton's speech was telling for a start.

Fox was continuously breaking away from their shot of Clinton as he was speaking, to folks in the audience with funny hats, dark skin or, in at least one case, a guy who was either reading his program or falling asleep. (It seems unlikely he was falling asleep, but I have no doubt that's why Fox chose to go to that shot). CNN, for the most part, stayed on Clinton while he was speaking, breaking away only during applause breaks.

Anyway, it was after Clinton's speech that "Fair & Balanced" really came into play for Fox as they analyzed it up in the booth.

The panel...
On the Right: Brit Hume, Bill Krystol, Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes
On the Left (sorta): Maura Liason

We report, you decide.

I've never been a fan and never much enjoyed listening to him speak, but tonight --- looking leaner and sounding sharper than I've ever seen him --- Bill Clinton's speech at the DNC Convention was nothing less than extraordinary. Had he been that sharp when he was running for President, he might have tricked me into voting for him!

Granted, I only caught the last 20 minutes or so (hope to catch more later on the repeats, along with Gore, Carter, etc.), but the most quotable phrase from his stem-winder tonight:

There was more notable, but I'll have to get back to you with some of the quotes.

By the way, since so few of the networks and cable "news" channels are covering the convention itself (versus the convention going on down in the hall while Bill O'Reilly talks about Lacy Peterson up in the Fox Booth at the convention), you can check C-Span.org anytime video of the full uncut speeches. If you can stand it.

C-Span itself should be noted for actually just playing the convention without all the bullshit. And for those of us on the West Coast, the nightly repeats are much appreciated!

"Media Matters for America" (who were are now linking to in our sidebar here) has been doing a terrific job of meticulously documenting the lies, innuendo, and out and out partisan bullshit echoed in near lock-step by the supposedly "Liberal" (CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, WaPo, etc.) and Extremist Conservative (Fox, Rush, Sean, Savage, Coulter, etc.) Media.

Take for example the Sandy Berger folderol in which a nine-month old investigation was leaked by Ashcroft's Justice Department just two days before the 9-11 Commission was to release it's report.

Rush told his listeners about it. He told them that this was "far worse" than Abu Ghraib. Even Chris Matthews invoked Watergate during a discussion on the topic.

On CNN, Tucker Carlson told America that "Berger stripped the files of every single copy of a single memo which detailed the Clinton administration's response to the Y2K terror threat." (Never mind that the documents alleged to be missing were copies of the originals.)

But then comes the pants and stock stuffing....

It's too late tonight, and I couldn't approach the superb job that Media Matters does in covering how this smear was perpetrated in the once great 4th Estate. So, if you are interested in how the "Liberal"/Rightwing Media plies it's dirty trade, or if you believe they do no such thing, take a look at this fascinating point-by-point timeline/dissection of how it all works.

Then ask yourself why you're not doing more to put an end to it.

Caught by Josh Marshall:

I was thinking "cowardly un-American desperate pathetic wussies" ... but "idiots" works as well.

In another fine example of how the mainstream, supposedly "Liberal" Media --- in this case CNN --- passes off White House propoganda as "news", take a look at this exchange from yesterday's Inside Politics with Judy Woodruff on CNN which further underscores a point made here recently (and re-published by the Democratic Underground) about the myth of a "Liberal" Media.

Note Judy's first question in the following exchange and how it would seem to have nothing to do with what she's just been told by the reporter. Also note how, in the end, a report/conversation that certainly sounds like news or analysis is anything but. Instead, it's a virtual echoing of the unsupported White House position that George W. Bush served honorably and was not AWOL from the National Guard in 1972:

The fact of the matter is that nothing in the newly released documents shows that George W. Bush actually performed his required service in the National Guard. Nothing in any document has actually been able to prove that. Nor has a single witness to Bush's "service" in the last quarter of 1972 come forward to attest to his presence during that time. Not one.

If these newly released records do anything they serve to further underscore there is no proof that George W. Bush did what he claims, and instead likely deserted his post but was given an "honorable discharge" anyway for some reason. Not that having a father who had just become the chairman of the Republican National Committee after serving as ambassador to the United Nations in 1972 would make such a deserter more likely to receive said "honorable discharge".

None the less, the supposedly "Liberal" Media of CNN is happy once again to spin P.R. duties for the White House.

I was listening for a bit yesterday to Larry Elder (just another Rightwing Talk Radio personality, for those of you not familiar) as he was discussing again one of the most troubling threats to our country and democracy today: Linda Ronstadt.

A caller brought up the "good point", as Elder confirmed, that Americans aren't interested in what actors and performers have to say about our country. She further pointed out how amazed she was that any of these actors and performing artists would think that anyone in America actually cared about their opinions on anything.

The implication there being that, unlike trial-lawyer turned Rightwing Political Talk Radio celebrity Elder, or disk jockey at his father's radio station turned Rightwing Political Talk Radio celebrity Rush Limbaugh are somehow better qualified than these other Americans to give their political opinions.

They are smart, and have opinions worth listening to. But Whoopi Goldberg, Rob Reiner, Alec Baldwin, Rosie O'Donnell, Linda Ronstadt are somehow much lesser Americans.

And of course, as we see frequently here on the BRAD BLOG from commentors like our friend "Paul", it's the janitors and secretaries and tech-support "professionals" at bankrupt companies like MCI/Worldcom who feel they somehow are more informed and better able to comment on important political issues than such lowly actors and performers.

Here's the ultimate irony though...As I've been pondering this, I can't really think of any Liberal, Progressive or Democrat Actors/Performers that the Left has actually put into office to make policy decisions for us!

It seems that only the Republican party elevates these "lowly actors" into office. Just a few that come to mind are Governor/President Ronald Reagan, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mayor/U.S. Representative Sonny Bono, U.S. Representative Fred "Gopher" Grandy, Senator Fred Thompson, Mayor Clint Eastwood. Heck, just last week the GOP was on their hands and knees begging Footbal Coach / Broadcaster Mike Ditka to represent them in the U.S. Senate! Now there's a fella with political acumen!

In other words, actors and performers who actually ply their trade on stage as they are trained and practiced in order to raise money and support a Democratic candidate: BAD!

Republican actors and performers who actually wish to make policy decisions (especially at the National level!): GOOD!

The continuing hypocrisy from the faltering Fake "say-anything-to-win" Conservatives just keep going...and going...and going. It's no surpise by now. But when one takes the time to ponder how black-and-white different the rhetoric is on the Right from what they actually do it still never fails to astound.

The Bush Military Payroll records that might have exhonerated him and proved he actually served in the National Guard in Alabama were reported as "inadvertantly destroyed" by the Pentagon.

Today, however, the AP is reporting that they weren't destroyed after all! And they've been released to the AP. Problem is...there's still no record of George W. Bush having served from July to September of 1972:

In the meantime, nobody has yet to claim the $10,000 prize offered to anyone who actually witnessed George W. Bush reporting for drills between May and November of 1972. The prize has been offered for months now by Doonesbury creator G. B. Trudeau. Still no takers.

Fahrenheit 9/11 continues to smash all records for documentary films. After a full month of release, it's still in the top 10 releases in the nation (moving from #4 to #6 as of yesterday) and will, by tonight or tomorrow, cross the unprecendented $100 million mark.

In related news, Michael Moore fan Linda Ronstadt will likely be invited back to the Aladdin in Las Vegas when the new owners take over in September. Moore has said he'd like to join Ms. Ronstadt during that appearance to sing "God Bless America" together and would screen F9/11 for free to all casino guests.

In a quote that may help explain why the Aladdin is currently in bankruptcy and preparing for new owners (Planet Hollywood, ironically enough), outgoing Aladdin President Bill Timmins elucidated upon his poor business judgement to CBS News, explaining why he had Ronstadt escorted off the property without even allowing her back to her hotel room first:

Yes. How inappropriate for a performing artist to feel "free" to ply her trade in front of an audience! What could that woman have been thinking?! Where does she think she is? America?!

"He" is one Dick Cheney, Halliburton CEO and Former Sec. of Defense, speaking in Kuala Lumpur, April 20, 1998.

Whether or not Halliburton violated U.S. sanctions in dealing with Iran during the time that Cheney was its CEO is currently the subject of a grand-jury investigation.

The above quote was taken from a report by The Malaysian National News Agency, courtesy of the indefatigable Josh Marshall. More quotes from his speech can be found here.

Have been busy, and didn't plan on hitting this until I had more time...but since this measure has already passed the House, it seems I better get the word out there.

BRAD BLOG commentor, O.P., is to be commended for his dilligence in keeping this one in front of my face.

It seems that after the Senate failed, to the embarrassment of the Bush Administration, to even muster a simple majority for their Gay Marriage Amendment to the Constitution that the House is hoping to up the ante. They're including a provision in their latest bill that would make it illegal for the bill itself to be reviewed in any way by the Judicial Branch.

Yes. You read that right.

You'd think that was a joke. But we're dealing with a party in desperation here. So the Republicans --- at least until the election --- have decided that the U.S. Constitution is just too darn limiting for the vision they have for America.

Here's part of the latest Homophobia Act (otherwise known as H.R. 3313 or the "Marriage Protection Act of 2004") that passed today in the House:

Okey doke, you "Conservatives" out there! Let's hear from you how this latest scam is another one of those terrific "Conservative" ideals that you think your representatives in the GOP are up there fighting for.

For good measure, O.P. was also kind enough to quote this part of that useless old document we refer to as the United States Constitution:

Silly antiquated U.S. Constitution! Even the Ultra-Rightwing former Congressman Bob Barr is intellectually honest enough to criticize the unconstitutionality of this bill. What a mess the hypocrites in the GOP have wrought.

No more Judicial Branch!!! Vote GOP this November!!!

The ad to the left, is currently running on the Drudge Report website. Clicking on the ad, as if the text isn't bad enough, reveals even more: "After all whom would Osama vote for?"

BRAD BLOGGERS likely understand that the answer to the above question is perhaps not what these despicable "Authentic GOP" folks would like their target audience to believe, but we're clearly not dealing with brain surgeons over there. At least not in their target audience.

With stuff like that (and other examples of same that we've shown previously, here and here for example) coming out of the Right, it's safe to say that this is a party in big trouble. The final 9/11 Commission Report comes out shortly, and early word is that it doesn't look good for Bush. Not to mention the plummetted poll numbers in the "battleground" states right now for Dubya.

So, it's desperation time, I guess. What other excuse could there be for such atrocious rhetoric comparing a war hero, decades long civil servant and Presidential nominee like John Kerry to Osama bin Laden? No matter what side of the political spectrum you come from!