Did Kerry Sign his 180’s?

By William Teach May 24, 2005 – 5:44 pm

He may just have done that (via Conservative Friends)

AT THIS POINT it comes as no surprise. John Kerry is releasing all his military records — but then again, he isn’t.

During an interview yesterday with Globe editorial writers and columnists, the former Democratic presidential nominee was asked if had signed Form SF 180, authorizing the Department of Defense to grant access to all his military records.

”I have signed it," Kerry said. Then, he added that his staff was ”still going through it" and ”very, very shortly, you will have a chance to see it."

The devil is usually in the details. With Kerry, it’s also in the dodges and digressions. After the interview, Kerry’s communications director, David Wade, was asked to clarify when Kerry signed SF 180 and when public access would be granted. Kerry drifted over to join the conversation, immediately raising the confusion level. He did not answer the question of when he signed the form or when the entire record will be made public.

The question is what will he allow people to see? I cannot complain too much, to be fair, since I was in fact asking him to sign his 180’s. Nothing was said about making sure that every single bit of info was released, though it was implied.

Six months after Kerry’s loss to George W. Bush, it feels somewhat gratuitous to point out how hard it can be to get a clear, straight answer from Kerry on this and other matters. But as long as the Massachusetts senator is thinking about another presidential run, the candor gap remains on the table, because he puts it there.

Chuckle, snort, LOL. And for those who want to go with the "Kerry Doctrine" on Iraq:

On Iraq, Kerry basically endorsed the outcome of the Bush Doctrine, saying: ”I do think we’re making a kind of progress, slowly but surely."

Woops. Will he flip flop on that?

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Bonfire of the Vanities, week#99

By William Teach May 24, 2005 – 9:06 am

This weeks Bonfire is up at Pajama Pundits, dedicated to, well, I won’t ruin the surprise :)

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Respect for Religious Icons

By William Teach May 24, 2005 – 7:48 am

More examples of the radical Muslims.

On Monday, at least 19 people were killed when a car bomb exploded outside a Shi’ite mosque in Mahmoudiya south of Baghdad, local police and hospital officials said. Many of those killed and wounded were children, they said.

and

A car bomb exploded near a girls school in central Baghdad on Tuesday, killing six people and injuring at least three others, a police official said. (what the AP forgot to include is that this was a Christian neighborhood)

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Mr Russert, Why Won’t John Sign the 180’s?

By William Teach May 24, 2005 – 7:31 am

Perhaps we can help. It’s been 114 days since he said he would sign them. Remember this?

Image hosting by Photobucket The furor over military credentials hasn’t ended with the campaign. Kerry pledged to sign Form 180, releasing all of his military records, but challenged his critics, including Bush, to do the same.

”I want them to sign it, I want [swift boat veterans] John O’Neill, Roy Hoffmann, and what’s their names, the guys on the other boat,” Kerry said. ”I want their records out there. They have made specific allegations about my record, I know things about their records, I want them out there. I’m willing to sign it, to put all my records out there. I’m willing to sign it, but I want them to sign it, too.”

Kerry later confirmed that his decision to sign the form is not conditional on any others signing, but he expressed lingering bitterness over double standards on military service.

The folks at Conservative Friends (whose site was hacked, so the original post is gone) have recommended a Tuesday blogburst. I have sent mine in. Send yours in by going here for the Form 180. Then, email the link to Kerry at this address. He has tried to dodge by changing that email forms web address. Like we wouldn’t find it again. Cass at Villainous Company has an excellent insert for the email:

 

On the April 18th, 2004 taping of Meet the Press you promised to make all your records public but then reneged. In January of 2005, you again appeared on Meet the Press and promised to sign Form 180. We would like you to keep your word – please sign Form 180 immediately and release the missing thirty-one pages of medical records, your DD Form 256N, and any other military records still unreleased.

Some have asked why this matters. It is called accountability. The Left was all up in arms about President Bush signing his, yet Kerry was not held to the same standard. Time to hold him to his word.

Furthermore, email Tim Russert, whose interview with Kerry prompted this whole issue. You can email him at MTP@NBC.com. Send it off to other stations, as well, if ye want.

Cao’s Blog is hosting the Blogburst. Here is the link to Cao’s 5/24/05 post. Head over, and let her know if you want to be included. Spread the word. Others blogging:

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Moderate #$%^&^%$^er’s

By William Teach May 23, 2005 – 8:21 pm

Great. Wonderful. Awesome. <<<<<<sarcasm. Complete nimrods

A bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement after days of talks to avert a showdown Tuesday over President Bush’s judicial nominees, Sen. John McCain announced Monday evening.

Bite me. (If you are looking for proper discussion on this, ‘taint going to happen: this pisses me off). More:

These officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the agreement would clear the way for yes-or-no votes on some of Bush’s nominees, but make no guarantee.

Under the agreement, Democrats would pledge not to filibuster any of Bush’s future appeals court or Supreme Court nominees except in "extraordinary circumstances."

For their part, Republicans agreed not to support an attempt to strip Democrats of their right to block votes.

Under the agreement, Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen, nominated to a seat on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, would advance to a final confirmation vote.

Woosie’s. Wimps. Boneheads. YOU ARE THE MAJORITY PARTY!!!! Act like it.

And throw McCain out.

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New Blog Showcase

By William Teach May 23, 2005 – 8:13 pm

Jody at Steal the Bandwagon has stolen the New Blog Showcase this week, and has done a bangup job of showcasing (couldn’t resist) a bunch of great new bloggers. Stop by her spot (don’t steal anything) and check out some of the new talent.

Also, she has link to some great blogging helpers that. Go. What are you waiting for, a plank?

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American Flag Bidness

By William Teach May 23, 2005 – 7:44 pm

Everyone give a warm welcome to Ravings of John C. A. Bambenek, as he is inducted into the American Flag League. Welcome aboard, matie!

PS: he is also hosting this weeks Bonfire of the Vanities, #100! So get those entries in!

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Newsweak Responds

By William Teach May 23, 2005 – 8:59 am

In the May 30th edition of Newsweak, Chairman and Editor in Chief Richard M Smith responds:

As most of you know, we have unequivocally retracted our story. In the light of the Pentagon's denials and our source's changing position on the allegation, the only responsible course was to say that we no longer stand by our story.

We have also offered a sincere apology to our readers and especially to anyone affected by violence that may have been related to what we published. To the extent that our story played a role in contributing to such violence, we are deeply sorry.

"Readers and those affected by the violence." How about to the American people in whole? I'll get back to that in a bit.

We will raise the standards for the use of anonymous sources throughout the magazine. Historically, unnamed sources have helped to break or advance stories of great national importance, but overuse can lead to distrust among readers and carelessness among journalists. As always, the burden of proof should lie with the reporters and their editors to show why a promise of anonymity serves the reader. From now on, only the editor or the managing editor, or other top editors they specifically appoint, will have the authority to sign off on the use of an anonymous source.

This seems to be a far cry from the initial news reports that went around briefly that stated that Newsweak would no longer use anonymous sources. They will still use them, but someone else has to sign off on them.

I have had the privilege of being part of NEWSWEEK's proud editorial tradition for nearly 35 years. I can assure you that the talented and honorable people who publish NEWSWEEK today are dedicated to making sure that what appears on every page in the magazine is as fair and accurate as it can possibly be. Based on what we know now, we fell short in our story about Guantanamo Bay. Trust is hard won and easily lost, and to our readers, we pledge to earn their renewed confidence by producing the best possible magazine each and every week.

Reread that. I'll wait a moment before typing more. Ok, let's go to this story:

With Newsweek still reeling from its forced retraction of the Quran-in-the-toilet story, the magazine is now under fire for publishing what some see as staunchly anti-American covers in foreign editions.

For instance, while a Japanese edition of Newsweek dated Feb. 2 published a cover story featuring an American flag in a trash can under the headline, "The day America died," and the international edition featured a photo of President Bush with the headline, "America Leads … But Is Anyone Following?," the U.S. edition cover story was an "Oscar Confidential" featuring Hilary Swank, Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio

I guess Newsweak means that they will do a better job of hiding their anti-American sentiment in the future. Not much of a proud history there. Considering Newsweak is more like People then a news magazine, perhaps they should just go whole hog and become a Hollyweird mag.

BTW, I wonder if Arianna will notice that I am hosting the photo on my own site?

Linked to Basil's Breakfast

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Typical Loon thief

By William Teach May 22, 2005 – 9:50 pm

Welcome to the world of blogging, Arianna. For those not in the know, The Huffington Post (who, like Beth, I refuse to link to,) is a bandwith thief. Redstate.org was a victim of THP’s theivery, go here for the details. (h/t JediGoddess Beth)

And, as one of the commenters at Redstate pointed out, many of her pics are stolen from other sources. Put your mouse over a photo. Look down at the task bar. Notice that the source ‘taint The Huffington Post. I see Yahoo News, SFgate, and Newsday on there at the moment.

And, just a take from a Large Mammal who, in reality, gets about 500 hits minimum (from my internals, previously discussed), her blog sucks. No other way to put it. Crap is all over the place. The formatting is atrocious. People give Glen Reynolds crap, I think mostly in jest, for his quick little takes and links. But at least Glen is linking. Seems as if more then half of THP’s posts are a sentence or two or a simple paragraph (if ye get my meaning), with no links.

Let me write like that:

The Huffington Post is a nauseating pile of shit that violates my right to be annoyance free. Stop hotlinking, beatch!

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TarHeel Tavern

By William Teach May 22, 2005 – 2:17 pm

This weeks Tavern is up at Ogre’s Politics and Views. Everyone go read. Ogre has done his normal stellar job, making something great out of literally almost nothing.

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