Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker must feel like he's being used to make a bunch of crooks look good. His "investigation" appears to be going nowhere. Meanwhile, the newly released Duelfer report has already blown the lid off of U.N. corruption and complicity with Saddam's schemes. Congress is calling on the U.N. to release its records. We shall see how the rest of the media covers this aspect of the story, or whether they repeat the "no WMD stockpile" story from the days of the release of the Kay report. Claudia Rosett on Duelfer Report on National Review Online

This post at the excellent Kerry Spot at National Review Online was extremely illuminating for me. We now know that Kerry is a failure at rallying allies to a cause. He failed because his disrespects the contributions and sacrifices of the members of the coalition countries supporting us in Iraq. He failed because he does not see that French and German national interests and internal politics are aligned against the US' national interests.

Glenn Reynolds says it best.

Ace of Spades points to an excellent article that points out how a past President was once criticized by a General on the conduct of warfare. Davids Medienkritik: Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time?

Gee...mobile balloon inflation? Maybe a mobile brewery? Nah, couldn't be one of those mobile bioweapon labs that Secretary Powell described in '03? Could it? WorldNetDaily: Is this one of Saddam's mobile bio-weapons labs?

The coalition of the coerced and the bribed won't contain Kerry's favorite parts of "the world". Kerry says Franco-German troops unlikely - The Washington Times

Since it was "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time", I guess that he doesn't have an answer to his own question, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" for the French and Germans.

I wonder if Kerry will begin to say that he'll bring in members of the Arab League to take over for us. Riiiiight. The Iraqis would love that...sure they would.

Here's a link to a transcript of last night's smackdown. FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Transcript & Video: VP Debate

"You hear all that and you can understand why somebody would make a face." President Bush gives a fantastic speech this morning. washingtonpost.com: Text: Bush's Speech in Pennsylvania

The star of "Caddyshack", one of the funniest sports movies of all time, gets all the respects he's due at last. ESPN.com - GEN - Last respect: Rodney Dangerfield dead at 82

One of the best roundups of tonight's smackdown that I've seen. Pejmanesque: THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

"Eeeeuuuuurrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!! Lurch like cookie, too!

Another one of Kerry's "real man" stories comes in for some debunking. Power Line: The Deer Hunter

"Senator Gone" meets his daddy. The Daily Recycler: Zing!

Some say that the President doesn't speak about the UN Oil-for-Food scandal because we need to maintain a relationship with France, Germany and Russia. It's important to learn about the scandal so that we can understand the motivations of these countries in the run up to the war. Roger Simon has done an excellent job following developments in this scandal. Roger L. Simon: The Subject About Which Kerry Dare Not Ever Speak

The very good Captain's Quarters blog points to a disturbing story on Iran's work on long range missile to complement its nuclear arsenal. Yahoo! News: Iran Says Its Missiles Can Now Reach 1,250 Miles

Iran's efforts to obtain long range missile technology and nuclear weapons are a gathering threat to the stability of the Middle East and the world economy. Kerry's proposals--echoing the approach taken by the Clinton Administration to attempt to appease North Korea--have been treated as reasonable by the MSM, when in fact the Iranians appear to be laughing at them.

As I said here, Iran has ample natural gas and oil reserves for power production. Iran's pretense that its nuclear program is aimed at satisfying its domestic electricity needs fools only those willing to be fooled, those who profoundly wish for a return to a September 10 world. While no one wants to see the escalation of dangerous tensions in the world, we cannot pretend to solve problems by papering over them.

The Democrats and their MSM allies want the public to believe that the Bush Doctrine has been shelved. In fact, the recent developments in Iran and North Korea make it clear that the Bush Doctrine is more important than ever.

Update: Read WindsofChange for an excellent take on Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He may still be the greatest pilot that there ever was. Godspeed. Blogs of War: Astronaut Gordon Cooper 1927-2004

I was up way too early--or way too late--this morning and caught part of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's appearance on Fox & Friends. The Governor responded to a question from E. D. Hill (I think) about French rebuffs of proposals made by candidate Kerry (Senator in name only).

The Governor said that we could entice France and Germany to help in Iraq by restoring oil contracts that were in place with the Saddam regime. I can't recall any further comments he may have made, but I think that this one is enough to cause concern.

Kerry has spoken about the "levers" he could use to engage more of our "allies". He calls the President's coalition in Iraq the "coerced and the bribed". I guess that we know see that bribery is a lever that Kerry is willing to use.

Saddam's Iraq was involved in a massive oil-for-food scandal that was a weapon of mass corruption--the UN, France, Russia and others were all tainted by the scandal. Kerry wants to overrule the fledgling government of Iraq's ability to make new contracts based on its own national interest by forcing it to re-enter oil deals it had made with supporters of the repressive regime. And this is a good thing?

Michel Barnier, the French foreign minister, said two weeks ago that France, which has tense relations with interim prime minister Iyad Allawi, had no plans to send troops "either now or later". Gert Weisskirchen, member of parliament and foreign policy expert for Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party, said in an interview, "I cannot imagine that there will be any change in our decision not to send troops, whoever becomes president."

What other levers does Kerry think that he has to entice the French and Germans? More appeals to their commercial interests--their oil interests in other countries? Here's another example of the kinds of levers France responds to and makes use of in its own interests.

No more blood for oil, Monsieur Chirac!

Kerry's opening act at a Cleveland Baptist church today.



Well, OK, that's scary. At least a couple of these women seem to know to keep their eye on such shifty characters.



Well, Stanley, what do you have you to say for yourself?

The two articles immediately below remind me of how much Johnson and Kerry seem to approach warfare alike. Vietnam was the first conflict that offered near real-time communication with the field. Johnson could obtain very fresh information, and with it, issue orders that never would have been possible in Roosevelt's or Truman's day. Johnson thought by starting and halting bombing operations the North Vietnamese understood that he was sending messages. It is apparent today that the North Vietnamese saw his moves as signs of weakness to be exploited, and opportunities to rearm, to propagandize the population of North and South Vietnam alike to hearten the former and demoralize the latter.

When Kerry talks about how he would have managed Tora Bora, he sounds Johnsonian. He sounds like a man who, based on his vast experience as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade), he would make tactical decisions on the conduct of war on the ground. General Franks, meet General Kerry.

I believe that our Afghanistan campaign was successful precisely because we learned from the mistakes that the British and the Soviets made. We did not commit hundreds of thousands of troops and aircraft to the theater. We did not have to support a huge supply line across thousands of miles of terrain to reach the unforgiving land-locked terrain of eastern Afghanistan. We followed successful Special Forces doctrine and trained the indigenous population to fight for themselves. We used our technological advantages in conjunction with air power to provide close air support, often using B-52 and B-1B bombers as effective as massed artillery.

I believe that these things were possible because President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld demanded unconventional thinking, but left the execution of the war plan to the officers and men on the ground. I worry that Kerry would try to over manage Iraq--as well as the next challenge--and make manners worse as Johnson did.

Here's another article on the Vietnam War that takes the US government to task for many mistakes before, during and after the war. The Lessons of Vietnam: "The Christmas bombings of 1972 should have taken place in 1965, before we had filled the Hanoi Hilton with aviators shot down while carrying out the absurd strategy of giving signals..."

This article on the USAF's operation Linebacker II, written in 1997, is as true today as it was then. Here's a quote from the article: "In December 1972, 25 years ago next month, the intransigence of the tough and resilient North Vietnamese foe finally exposed the total failure of gradualist war policies set in motion years before by President Lyndon B. Johnson."

Unilateral disarmament

Kerry is trying to have it both ways.

He says that he is committed to winning in Iraq (during the debate)--except when he doesn't (the big speech on a Monday shortly before the debate).
He says that the President's DOE is wrong to do research on smaller nuclear weapons designed to be bunker busters. He says he'll cancel the program immediately because it sends the wrong message to countries that are trying to produce nuclear weapons--Iran and North Korea. Apparently we are in violation of the "do as I say, do as I do" rule.

Kerry also claimed that the program costs "hundreds of millions of dollars." The actual costs are less than forty million--much of our research is done on supercomputers that simulate the detonation without ever actually building and testing a bomb.

The President's program is right. The mullahs of Iran and the pot-bellied dictator of North Korea have shown that they aren't deterred by words. They apparently believed that the US was a paper tiger during the Clinton Administration, just as Iran showed the world that the Carter Administration foreign policy was. They thought that the US was physically incapable of and politically unwilling to use conventional force to act on its national interests, preferring to intercede in symbolic fashion without risking casualties.

That changed after 9/11. The victory in Afghanistan was shocking: sudden, overwhelming defeat where the British and the Soviets had failed in Afghanistan, using Special Forces, airpower, and indigenous troops with help from Pakistan and other non-traditional US allies. In Iraq, victory seemed certain, but the warnings that Saddam had and would use WMD were ominously issued by Arab leaders in Egypt and Jordan to General Franks beforehand. Chattering class "experts" cautioned against massive US casualties and civilian deaths. Many believed Saddam's propaganda that his army could rival the west's best, and that his troops were loyal. All those pre-war predictions and more were disproven.

Libya looked at the President's determination, and unilaterally surrendered its WMD program, allowing us to display it in Tennessee. Pakistan cooperated with our proliferation investigation, and the A. Q. Khan network that supplied nuclear weapons technology to third world states was rolled up. Initially, the Iranian mullahs and North Korea appeared willing to negotiate the demolition of their programs.

That has changed now. US political news reaches Pyongyang and Tehran. Instead of dismantling their programs, the political calculus in these capitals appears to be that their programs are symbols of strength against the uncertainty of the UN and the west, and that the existence of these programs weakens the President's chance for reelection. They see that Kerry will be bound to pass a "global test" before taking military action. They also believe that the US conventional force structure would not allow another invasion like Iraq.

Both North Korea and Iran have missile programs that, depending on the heat of the rhetoric of the day, may one day carry nuclear weapons, and may one day reach US allies and even the US Pacific coast. See http://www.strategypage.com/fyeo/howtomakewar/default.asp?target=HTICBM.HTM Iran is a customer of North Korea's, and apparently is attempting to obtain long range missile technology from Russia if it can get it.
Attacking the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea will be difficult. Iran has placed its nuclear program in populated centers, at least in some cases. See http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iran/nuke-fac.htm and http://cns.miis.edu/research/iran/nucsites.htm North Korea has also attempted to disperse and hide its nuclear facilities. See http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/nuke.htm and http://www.nti.org/db/profiles/dprk/nuc/fac/research/NKN_F_ynrcen_GO.html

Both have also seen the effects of US airpower on Saddam's ability to control his army, and are designing their own command and control emplacements to reduce their vulnerability to an aerial attack. See http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/facility/c3i.htm for an overview of Korea's approach, and http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm. Note that Iran's facility at Natanz may be buried deep enough and hardened enough to resist almost any conventional bunker buster weapon.

That brings us back to the question of bunker buster weapons. The US has a program to evaluate the capabilities and usage of several approaches to the use of nuclear weapons for this purpose against those of conventional weapons to produce something called the "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator" http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/rnep.htm Although Senators Fienstein and Kennedy opposed the program on the Senate floor, it was successfully defended http://domenici.senate.gov/legislation/record.cfm?id=224732 and passed.

No one can say that the "RNEP" can be used without causing fallout and unacceptable collateral damage. One fact is certain: if concepts like the RNEP are not studied, we are almost certain to be "self-deterred". Our existing nuclear arsenal is made up of weapons that are frankly too big to be used, and probably doesn't intimidate either North Korea or Iran from continuing their research into and possible construction of a small quantity of nuclear weapons. It may be possible for one or both of those members of the Axis of Evil to reconstitute the equivalent of the A. Q. Khan network--perhaps with the addition of actual complete weapons for sale.

Diplomacy is by far the preferred way to deal with North Korea and Iran. However, there must be a credible threat of force that the US can make to protect its vital interests. The range of options should not be arbitrarily limited, although the political opposition to a nuclear first strike would be extremely difficult to overcome without a far higher burden of proof than existed for Iraq or Afghanistan. Still, most Americans do not wish to see us sit by and allow the tools of nuclear blackmail to fall into the wrong hands without having the tools in hand to oppose them. The President can argue that a conventional attack on one or both Axis members could be met with a nuclear response from the Axis simply because they could repel a US attack conventionally, and that a nuclear showdown with the US over our national interests may happen sooner than later. Perhaps demands for the withdrawal of all coalition forces from Iraq, or demands for the removal of US forces from Japan and South Korea.

The RNEP or an effective conventional equivalent that would work as a "surgical strike tool" to remove North Korean or Iranian nuclear weapons, missiles, manufacturing sites, and command & control facilities without a full-scale invasion would be a major deterrent to the Axis. Having that option may serve as a stabilizing influence on negotiations--the Axis would know that the US and its allies could attack to remove their nuclear and missile infrastructure successfully should the Axis attempt to use such weapons or blackmail the US with their us.

We should not unilaterally disarm and remove the President's--or a future President's--ability to counter threats from the Axis. Such a move would be reckless, and would ignore the proven effectiveness of the so-called "MAD" deterrence that served to keep the Cold War from turning hot for decades. Only one who advocated a "Nuclear Freeze" in the 1980s would advocate a self-defeating move before the fact, in effect destabilizing the balance of power between the Axis and the free world.

Nice to see one of my favorite warplanes all Photoshopped up and ready to drop some 30mm DU candy on Islamofascists everywhere. Evil pundit of doom!: Top Bun

I draw the line at changing the key line in the Air Force hymn to "Nothing can stop the US Hare Force"!

Fox News has done some fine reporting on the UN Oil-for-Food scandal. The UN has taken exception to parts of its latest report. Here's a response from Fox News with links to the original reports and the UN's response to them. FOX News Responds to U.N. Comments

Scroll down about 1/4 of the page to read the Department of Energy's report on Iran's natural gas reserves. Essentially, Iran's reserves are second only to Russia's in the world.

Why would any sane person believe that Iran needs nuclear reactors to produce electricity? Natural gas-fired power plants are nearly as clean, and certainly safe to operate.

The Kerry-Edwards proposal for dealing with Iran seems very similar to the "agreed framework" that the Clinton Administration signed with North Korea.

Why on earth would we ever enter into an agreement with Iran to provide nuclear reactor fuel?

The post-debate flash Gallup poll has good news for Kerry, but favors the President overall. USA Today flash Gallup poll

Pumpkin alert.

I once dated a woman with ample...assets whose ancestry was Portugese. She was quite a bit smarter than the women in this story. Telegraph of the UK

C-BS propagates a moonbat-created rumor. HR 161 is authored and co-sponsored by Democrats in the House, including Rangel and McDermott. RatherBiased.com | News | CBS Promotes Draft Hoax

Sorry, "Leon", but this is not your best side.

James Taranto discovers that Kerry is channeling Walter from "The Big Lebowski". OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today

Jimmuh Cartah decides to lead the moonbat parade this year.

I'm not in favor of a poll tax or anything like it. I do believe that the country deserves to have its future decided by citizens who know how to vote, at least. BBC NEWS: Carter fears Florida vote trouble

Ah, the ability of seismologists to couch alarming news in carefully worded warnings. Apparently, "there's an increased likelihood of a hazardous event at Mount St. Helens due to recent changes in the mountain's seismic activity". komo news: St. Helens Quakes Could Lead To 'Hazardous Event'

Another example of the campaign that can't shoot straight, even when the questions are softballs. (hat tip: InstaPundit) The New York Times: No Assault Rifle for Kerry, After All

Update: the invaluable Michelle fisks the story and the Kerry campaign thoroughly.

As Wilfred Brimley might say, "The First Amendment don't say that!" The NYT claims protection that doesn't exist. The New York Times (editorial): A Leak Probe Gone Awry

Portentous speculation in such serious tones about Rather's demise. Hey, CBS! Stick a fork in him. He's done. The New York Times: CBS Tries to Clear Up Signals on Future of 'Evening News'

A very interesting account of a onetime Kerry supporter's change of heart. Althouse: How Kerry Lost Me

Agnew had plenty of faults, but somewhere out there, he may be laughing at the comeuppance of the "nattering nabobs". The Weekly Standard: Dan Rather's Day of Reckoning

The Maryville, TN Daily Times comes through again.



Dolly Parton recreates her pose on the new nose art decorating a KC-135E air refueling tanker Friday at McGhee Tyson Air Base as base commander Col. Timothy Dearing looks on. Photo by Wes Hope, but Col. Dearing is undoubtedly a lot happier.


More here.

This creature puts the "pale" in paleontology. Long-necked sea monster resurfaces after 230 million years

Ed Morrisey Jr. is not only the man who swore George Bush into the Texas Air National Guard, he still praises him now and manages to spank Jimmy Carter in the same interview with his hometown paper. thedailytimes.com: Man who swore Bush into Air Guard speaks out

So many interesting connections between Saddam and nuclear weapons experts or suppliers.
Ramanna: the Indian Saddam wanted so badly - The Times of India

I hope that this is made available somehow, either on TV or DVD. ABCNEWS.com : 'Lost' Episode of 'Honeymooners' Found

I look forward to reading this book. The Australian: Iraqi scientist buried nuke documents in garden [September 24, 2004]

If this turns out to be true, then all that I can say is, "Sausage, meet grinder." Burkett vs. CBS vs. Lockhart vs. Kerry campaign vs. DNC in a death match. I'll bring the popcorn. INDC Journal: Burkett Turns on Kerry Campaign, Dan Rather

Everything old is new again. Back at Raychem, we used to laugh about how much the bandwidth of an airplane full of 6250 bpi tape exceeded that of any network. Though the medium has changed, the statement holds up. The New York Times: From Storage, a New Fashion

Poor Kerry. Even his own hometown rag is losing faith in him, and giving him poor advice to boot. Boston Globe: The ghost following Kerry

I guess we should consider the source before taking this too seriously. Scotsman News: Sweet Discovery at Centre of Milky Way

I'm sure that the NEA, the WEA, and the Kerry campaign are proud of this glaring example of hypocrisy. Public schools no place for teachers' kids - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - September 22, 2004

CBS News, are you that smart? ProfessorBainbridge.com: CBS Names Independent Panel

Another example of Kerry's desperation--telling deliberate lies. Betsy's Page outs the origin of the bill in an e-mail sent to college students concerning HR 163 which was introduced by prominent Democrats like Charlie Rangel, Jim McDermott, John Conyers, and John Lewis. Yahoo! News: Kerry Says Draft Likely to Return Under Bush

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war," says retired TexANG Col. Walter Staudt. The Herald-Zeitung

Well, this is going to be hard to explain to Dad, the deputy sheriff At 205 MPH, Speed Thrills - September 24, 2004

This completely blows. USA NETWORK: Monk--Monk News

I definitely enjoyed this comparison of clarity versus nuance, and whether complexity automatically guarantees greater intelligence.

One of the best parts deals with nuclear waste disposal policy:

"Bush, though, is the complex one on Nevada's Yucca Mountain. That's where the federal government has agreed to deposit nuclear waste.

Kerry wants to drop Yucca. He says transporting the waste from nuclear plants to the site could be dangerous and that the site might not be absolutely safe. Has he considered that nuclear wastes have been safely and carefully transported in this nation for decades without incident? Does he realize that wherever the wastes are sent, they will have to be transported? Is he aware that the wastes pose many times the danger in the 39 states where they now reside than they would in an underground site that has been studied for 20 years, and that it might well take another 20 years to find another site that comes close to being as sound?"

William Safire reminds us that Rathergate may involve criminal acts, and that CBS and its corporate parent owe us an investigation and an explanation The New York Times: First, Find the Forger

And as Drudge reports, it's going to involve a court on some level, if only on a libel charge.

Russ Meyer, the man who brought us such landmark movies as "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!", passed away.

He also brought us this one

Nice editorial on Rathergate from my old hometown paper. Macon Telegraph: Ignoring the basic rules

The 60 Minutes Sunday crew disassociates themselves from Rathergate:

"I think it is safe to say that the overwhelming feeling among correspondents and producers on the Sunday program is that we would not have made the same mistakes," correspondent Steve Kroft said. He added: "It's hard to know at this point exactly what went wrong, because the Wednesday show is an entirely separate broadcast with entirely different people, and brand-new management. But something clearly went wrong with the process."

The Boston Globe reports on CBS' foibles, but not its own. Boston Globe: CBS says it's sorry for story on Bush

The USA Today reports today that Bill Burkett claims his source was Lucy Ramirez of Houston. The story indicates that she hasn't yet been reached. If she exists, what connection does she have to the players in this drama? USATODAY: CBS backs off Guard story

Just when you think that CBS black eye can't turn any more ugly, something like this turns up. USATODAY: CBS arranged for meeting with Lockhart

Well! CBS producer Mary Mapes called Joe Lockhart to ask him to call Bill Burkett. "She basically said there's a guy who is being helpful on the story who wants to talk to you," Lockhart said, adding that it was common knowledge that CBS was working on a story raising questions about Bush's Guard service. Mapes told him there were some records "that might move the story forward. She didn't tell me what they said."

Well, well, well.

Yahoo! News - Kerry Aide Talked to Retired Guard Officer

Indeed, at CBS News the question is, "Where was everybody's judgment on that last day?" The New York Times: CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say

Headline on the Drudge Report: "CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say."

Drudge goes on to say that "After days of expressing confidence about the documents used in a 60 MINUTES report that raised new questions about President Bush's National Guard service, CBS News officials have grave doubts about the authenticity of the material, network officials said last night, the NEW YORK TIMES is reporting in Monday runs. Developing... "

Dandy Don, clear your throat and get ready to sing.

One wonders whether the Kerry campaign will continue to let his family campaign for him after this gaffe down under.

A snippy Dan Rather returns to Dallas, and is captured for a comment by Fox News (hat tip: Johnny Dollar) 'Do You Feel Like You Were Duped?'

Beretta92fs. You're good. Almost as good as a Sig
but are cheaper. Thats why the US military
chose you. You're kinda scary.


What handgun are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Via Instapundit, this could be considered the "abridged" version of Unfit for Command. Admiral Roy Hoffman on the grand deception by John Kerry

This is a surprising outgrowth of Rathergate. I didn't hear Maloney's broadcast, although I live in the Seattle area. I wonder if Mary Mapes did? AP Wire | 09/18/2004 | Host Says Rather Criticism Got Him Fired

Does Robert Fisk earn a royalty every time the technique that bears his name hits the mark? Perhaps he develops a well deserved headache like this guy gets--and frankly, gives--from those annoying dot com loan commercials.

Antimedia at Media Lies fisks the LA Times here.

CBS continues to flail about, now repeating the tinfoil hat brigade's baseless claim that because "Buckhead" posted his guess that the now discredited Bush documents were in fact forgeries, and that the Republicans are somehow behind it all. CBS News: Bush Guard Docs Flap Marches On

I'd say that CBS' "story" resembles the plot of a Bugs Bunny cartoon except that I believe it would insult Bugs Bunny. Why, it's shocking, shocking I say to learn that REPUBLICANS post comments on REPUBLICAN WEBSITES. Oh, what a scandal!

CBS forgets to mention that experts it hired--but did not listen to--raised questions about the documents before the story aired. http://www.dailyrecycler.com/blog/2004/09/hey-hey-hey-goodbye.html

The invaluable Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs passes along the judgment of a former IBM Selectric Composer expert on the capability and facility of that machine for the task of producing the forged documents. http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=12694_Composer_Theory_in_Advanced_State_of_Decomposition

CBS' chief remaining "document expert", Mrs. Knox, said that she used an Olivetti machine. I'm still waiting for a news organization to establish the types of machines in use by the TexANG during that period and their capabilities. We can already guess that the answer won't make Dan Rather very happy.

William F. Buckley lays into Rathergate with his usual panache National Review's Buckley says Rathergate is much ado about nothing.

From Corante, we have a very good summary and timeline of the scandal that takes us up to today's insignificant document release and the interesting connection between Burkett, the DNC and Max Cleland.

A connection between Max Cleland, the DNC and retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, the most likely candidate to be named the source of the now discredited CBS documents, may exist according to the Washington Post Parallels Drawn Between CBS Memos, Texan's Postings

Another sign that the Navy is slowly beginning to confirm some of the Swifties claims about Kerry's records. Navy Contradicts Kerry on Release of Military Records -- 09/16/2004

Apparently we have a "new journalism"

The documents and CBS' own pathetic efforts to line up "experts" to defend their authenticity have been so thoroughly destroyed that they could be referred to in an imaginary headline as "CBS' offer of news division for MOAB testing deemed success". Now we are told, paraphrasing the report that Brit Hume just gave on Fox News' Special Report, that CBS has interviewed Killian's 81-year old former secretary, an admitted partisan for Kerry, and found that she, too, is willing to put words in the mouth of a man who died 20 years ago and say that while the documents are obvious forgeries, somehow the spirit of them is true.

Well, at least CBS has found an "expert" that it will put on the air to debunk the documents.

However, instead of drawing back to report on itself, and how it was mislead and why, CBS plows on. It takes the word of partisans who have been disavowed--the secretary by Killian's family and some of his fellow Guardsmen--and Barnes who has been outed by his deposition in a Texas Gtech trial and his own daughter. No admission that the family was right--as were the blogosphere and some of the MSM elements who saw through the forgeries.

The comparisons to CBS reporting on the "flawed" WMD intelligence and CBS' stonewalling on the forged documents are enough to make one double over with laughter. I love Scrappleface's headline quoting Tenet as telling Rather that the documents are a "slam dunk".

If this stonewalling continues--in the face of overwhelming fact and the founding tenets of journalism after the days of the "yellow sheets"--after the evening news and 60 Minutes II tonight, we'll have a new nickname for Dan: Richard Milhouse Rather.

Update: Instapundit found this excellent take on CBS' public statements on the scandal.

This is dynamite, as though Rathergate hasn't already had its share of earth shaking revalations about the sad state of "CBS News" Captain's Quarters: CBS ignores its own experts' cautions

The ingenuity of our soldiers is a thing to behold. Seriously, this is very, very funny, especially the song on page 8.

RatherBiased.com | News | CBS Asks Anti-Bush Group for Help With Story.

If this is true, it certainly adds to the evidence that CBS enjoys a close relationship with those who oppose the President RatherBiased.com | News | CBS Asks Anti-Bush Group for Help With Story.

Cirque du Kerry--la danse acrobatique Taking Kerry's Flip-Flops Seriously

I suspected as much. The comments on this post offer some very valuable insights as well. Froggy Ruminations: Doubling Special Ops?

More WMD news from the U.N. that isn't fit to print in the old media. According to this report, the Iraqis shipped WMD-related materials out of the country before the war.

Drat! No smoking gun here. However, this may be one. As Bugs would say, what a maroon.

This is funny, and almost true.

A fair review of Kerry's stance on national defense, since it quotes Lurch extensively.

Good grief! From NewsMax.com: Brinkley hedges over Kerry's veracity.

Interesting reading. The man with the third name down will apparantly appear on the 9/5/04 edition of 60 Minutes.

Perhaps there will be more domestic employment and less immigration after the Halliburton engineers help get this great find south of the border moving.

I want one.

Personally, I thought it was a great speech. Much better than this one. And this can only be regarded as the pathetic rant of a desperate man.

The Chinese are free to act sanely in respect to their energy production plans and power plant construction in order to provide for growth in their population and industrial output. Contrast this with the US domestic record over the past 20 or so years, thanks to the restrictions imposed by our domestic enviro-wackos.

Having just been forced to buy a new washing machine, I'm somewhat distressed to discover that they populate the wilderness freely. Well, perhaps not inexpensively.

Is the truth out there?

Kerry is in a beehive that is swarming over his national security credentials, and the bees aren't finding any honey.

Kerry's buds were there, then.

This document isn't a perfect transcript, but it's close. The Mayor of America's speech was about as perfect an indictment of the failed Democrat Party's candidates as you'll find anywhere, though.

A new report reveals that Kerry was present at a meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War at which the group debated and voted down a plan to assassinate senators who supported the Vietnam War.

Maybe the MTV generation shouldn't be thought of as dumb after all.

The nightmare grows more intense for Kerry as former Navy Secretary and former 9/11 Commission member Lehman questions how his signature came to appear on a revision to Kerry's Silver Star citation Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief

The Navy now disputes "combat v" for valor for Kerry's Silver Star and four campaign stars for his Bronze Star. Vets question the number of citations for the two medals. Plot thickens after checking records

Admiral Schachte puts another torpedo in Kerry's first Purple Heart saga Lanny Davis attack awakens silent Admiral