73 Comments

1. Jamie Irons:

Man, Roger, you are on fire today!

Jamie Irons

Aug 21, 2004 - 12:54 pm 2. Terrye:

I don’t know what he hell their problem is, it is not as if different forms of information are mutually exclusive.

Snobs.

Aug 21, 2004 - 1:57 pm 3. Rick Ballard:

I wonder who will write the story that notes that the Swiftvets episode marked the end of any notion that the MSM has power to influence public opinion? Mr. Lifson’s piece on Jayson Blair’s, oops!, I mean Adam Nagourney’s article stops a bit short of the bottom line. Who cares what Blair, dang it!, I mean Nagourney thinks? He’s got a byline at the DNC/NYT but if that Kerry publicity outfit had any power their boy would be up by 15%. Instead, he’s on the slow slide towards becoming a historical footnote.

I really admire Mr. Lifson’s work. He’s top notch as a thinker and as a writer. I’ve been following him for a bit now and I think we’re going to be reading his work for a long time. I hope this piece turns into a leadin for a longer article focusing on the day the music died for the MSM. Their future is as bright and glowing as Acme Buggywhip’s was in 1899.

Aug 21, 2004 - 2:12 pm 4. Barry Dauphin:

Well the 527s have to stop advertising the first week of September. But the NY Times gets to go through election day.

Aug 21, 2004 - 2:41 pm 5. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):

I think the Kerry strategy was probably based on the decades true fact that the MSM would be loyal to the Democrats. Hence ignoring the book and the ads looked like the way to go. And it did, the first time – when the SBVT put on a historically shocking news conference on May 5, the press did its job and suppressed the story.

But the game is different now. The internet has bloggers, web sites and email lists that spread information quickly. I think that folks underestimate the latter, but a lot of people maintain a list of people they send lots of stuff to (it’s often annoying). But if the item is interesting, it gets on the lists of other people, and the information spreads explosively.

The SBVT had so much traffic on their server for the first ad that they had to jump in mid-stream to a much more powerful capability.

Furthermore, vets have been investigating Kerry for many months. Way back in March (I think) I published an anti-Kerry article on my blog. Before I knew it I had a comment section full of Vietnam Vets. I had to set up an organization and web site just to handle them!

——————-

Then, on the reliability of blogs… anyone who spends much time reading blogs learns which ones are reliable and which are not. I rarely find misinformation on the blogs I read (but then I don’t have time or the masochistic tendencies to hang out on the ABB blogs).

In general, you can get a lot of information from blogs.I suspect that Instapundit’s function (through him or others or a new technology) may become as essential as a Google. A newspaper becomes nothing but a list of headlines – each linked to an appropriate blog article. Read one and you are informed.

The journalists also miss that we get primary material – either from our own observations or from blogs that are on the scene of whatever – suc h as the Iraqi bloggers. Who would have forecast that after the war, we would be getting a lot of information about Iraq from some Iraqi doctors, etc.

Aug 21, 2004 - 3:41 pm 6. holdfast:

I don’t want to sound too Clintonian here, but what exactly does “stop advertising” mean? Can they still release free content on the Web? Can they put more commercials into the can at the end of August and then release them on the web and/or give free copies to interested media?

Aug 21, 2004 - 4:04 pm 7. Rick Ballard:

holdfast,

527’s cannot purchase broadcast air time in the 60 days prior to the election. Nobody told Dumbo McCain what a Real Time Player was, so ads played from internet sites don’t seem to be covered.

Note that 527 websites also do not appear to be covered.

Aug 21, 2004 - 4:25 pm 8. Beldar:

I spent about a half hour late last night wading through the Code of Federal Regulations trying to find a definitive answer before I declared MEGO (mine eyes glazeth over), and my expertise as a lawyer definitely does NOT include campaign finance laws anyway. But I have the impression that unincorporated 527s can continue running “issue ads” that don’t endorse a particular candidate right up to the general election. That impression may be horribly wrong; I caution anyone against putting any faith in it whatsoever. But if by chance someone can point me to something authoritative or even semi-impressive-looking that confirms or refutes this impression (feel free to email me, beldar*at*beldar.org, as I might miss it in the comments here), I’d gratefully take a closer look.

And Roger, thanks for the link!

Aug 21, 2004 - 4:31 pm 9. hollywood:

If I’m not mistaken, there’s some tricky manner in which 527s can morph into PACs thus continuing to run ads, etc. So much for campaign finance reform.

Aug 21, 2004 - 4:44 pm 10. Barry Dauphin:

I was overly general in my post, and I don’t know enough of the specific details. I think that Beldar is right about issue ads. The late ads can’t endorse a candidate, but I was under the impression they can’t “attack” one either. Not sure if that precludes even mentioning a candidate by name.

Aug 21, 2004 - 4:48 pm 11. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):

Campaign finance reform is better titled Incumbent Protection Improvement.

It is, in my opinion, the greatest new infringement on civil liberties in my lifetype.

The idea that some citizens who agree on something about a candidate are prohibited by law from getting together and pooling their funds to be able to effectively express their opinions is repulsive and unconstitutional (and would be ruled such if we didn’t have such a wacky SCOTUS).

One reason I am not fond of my senator McCain is that he kept pushing this. I think its because he is trying to clean his name from the Keating scandal (I don’t think he did anything wrong anyway).

—–meaningless factoid alert———

Speaking of Keating, here’s an odd tidbit. One of his grandkids is Gary Hall, the olympic swimmer ( there are several other swimmers in the family also, including Gary Hall Sr.).

Aug 21, 2004 - 5:07 pm 12. BigFire:

Re: Terrye

The problem is that without Journalist to act as High Priest of Truth, mere mortal can never figure out what News is. Blog and other alternative form of news source upsets this former balance.

Aug 21, 2004 - 5:08 pm 13. Barry Dauphin:

I second what John Moore said.

Aug 21, 2004 - 5:39 pm 14. John Lynch:

Beldar, Holly, others on Political Ads after 7/31

I have not found relevant law, but have found reference to a decision made by the FEC re: Moore and F911.

I believe the relvant part of the decision is:

are running broadcast advertisements that contain images of President Bush and other federal candidates, which would violate the Act’s electioneering communications provisions if aired after July 30, 2004

Corporations, including 527s are prohibited from this.

Aug 21, 2004 - 6:30 pm 15. Terrye:

Big Fire:

Yes I know if these guys say night is light and day is dark I am supposed to think midnight is high noon.

Egocentric in the extreme.

John:

I can remember people saying McCain/Feingold would end up like this and nobody would listen. Too busy trying to make the politicians honest. puhleaze….

Aug 21, 2004 - 6:37 pm 16. Catherine:

off-topic but relevant

Has everyone here seen the “JibJab” satire of Bush & Kerry? Apparently 10,000,000 people have watched it at least. I heard about it from my mom’s next-door neighbor.

I’d be interested to hear people’s impressions.

It’s presented as a nonpartisan parody of both candidates, a la Jay Leno or SNL.

But to me it seems clearly much more harsh to Kerry, especially coming as it apparently does at the same moment as the Swifties’ campaign.

It’s worth watching for the Kerry-in-Vietnam scene alone.

JibJab.com

Aug 21, 2004 - 6:58 pm 17. RandMan:

I’ll second John Moore’s assertion about campaign finance reform. The sad thing about it is that ALL three branches of government had a hand in it. And all three branches failed in their oaths to uphold the constitution. What part of “Congress shall make no law” do they not understand?

Aug 21, 2004 - 7:00 pm 18. John Lynch:

On the act

First, a note of sophomoric humor. The Act is FECA, or FecaL-aw. Sorry.

It can be found at: Federal Election Campaign Act. It is about 1.6M pdf download.

It is about 227 pages and takes some commitment in time and patience to wade through it.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. While I do read case law regularly, my readings are generally Securities Law, Employment Law, and Intellectual Property Law. This stuff is an area I don not generally wander into.

The “Definitions” section covers some of what is relevant.

Page 10, Communications:

(iii) a public communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate for Federal office (regardless of whether a candidate for State or local office is also mentioned or identified) and that promotes or supports a candidate for that office, or attacks or opposes a candidate for that office (regardless of whether the communication expressly advocates a vote for or against a candidate);

Page 11, Forms of:

(22) Public communication. The term ?public communication? means a communication by means of any broadcast, cable, or satellite

communication, newspaper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility,

mass mailing, or telephone bank to the general public, or any other form of general public political advertising.

Getting past the definitions, page 33, Section (3) describes what constitutes communications, and what notices must occur.

Also, there is a fair amount of discussion about the size of the expenditure that requires notification. It appears that communications which cost less than $1,000 require no disclosure.

Again, I am not a lawyer, but if you are interested in this area, the above links provide the law, previous rulings, and the enforcement side of things.

BTW, on the enforcement, it appears that it revolves around being notified by the FEC and then cease-and-desist.

Aug 21, 2004 - 7:10 pm 19. John Lynch:

Damn! Preview is my friend!

Aug 21, 2004 - 7:11 pm 20. Catherine:

Well I for one cherish the 527s, because McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform has been excellent for the mental health status of my marriage.

My husband and I used to spar over campaign finance reform way more than any two semi-rational people ought to do.

Today he sounds like the WSJ op ed page.

I like that in a man. I think.

Seriously, though, there is something to be said for a spectacular failure like the McCain Feingold bill. I don’t think it often happens that the public can see the unintended consequences of “reform” so quickly and dramatically. I don’t mean to sound condescending to my husband, because I was surprised myself. Although I’d been sucked into the WEEKLY STANDARD worldview, and was pretty much taking it on faith that campaign finance reform would be A Bad Thing, I hadn’t actually thought through what it would look like in practice.

Aug 21, 2004 - 7:14 pm 21. Terrye:

Catherine:

Yes I have seen the jibjab thing and it is funny. A paradoy on the whole this is my land thing. It pokes fun at both candidates but Kerry in the S&M outfit was pretty weird.

Aug 21, 2004 - 7:27 pm 22. Beldar:

Further on whether SwiftVets will face an advertising deadline: A reader of these comments graciously emailed me with a link to this impressive looking website which states,

The prohibition against the use of corporate funds to make or finance electioneering communications does not apply to certain organizations incorporated under 26 U.S.C. § 527….

Unincorporated, unregistered “527″ organizations may also make electioneering communications, subject to the disclosure requirements and the prohibition against corporate and labor funds.

There may be other parts of the site that are also relevant, but I notice that the “subject to” language doesn’t mention a sixty-day cutoff. With that, I again declare MEGO (mine eyes glazeth over) and retreat back to subjects I’m at least slightly familiar with.

Aug 21, 2004 - 7:37 pm 23. John Lynch:

BeldarWow! MEGO.

Aug 21, 2004 - 7:44 pm 24. vnjagvet:

Yeoman service from BELDAR. Did anyone check out the lovely and talented Susan Estrich tonight on Kasich’s FOXNews program. Sheeeees Mellllting. Kinda cool.

Aug 21, 2004 - 8:04 pm 25. richard mcenroe:

So if I understand this correctly, the SBVFT can’t run ads “attacking” Kerry after September 1st, but they could run ads selling Unfit for Command…?

Aug 21, 2004 - 8:13 pm 26. julie:

So if I understand this correctly, the SBVFT can’t run ads “attacking” Kerry after September 1st, but they could run ads selling Unfit for Command…?

Not if the ad mentions or refers to a clearly identified federal candidate or political party. That may be tricky. I would take a look at the Moore decision linked above. I guess they could take the photo of Kerry off the cover. The person who would know if they could run ads for the book is, of course, John O’Neill. I have no doubt he already looked into his issue. Another way around it, I think, is to be interviewed as a guest on enough television and radio programs to sell the book/get their message out. The book is news.

Aug 21, 2004 - 8:23 pm 27. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):

Beldar and all, thanks for the info. I’m sure our leaders of (VVT will find out the details from their lawyers or O’Neill, at which point I’ll try to remember to post it.

Catherine

Beware… the Weekly Standard will bounce you all over the map emotionally. I still strongly recommend The National Review as a longer term, more serious conservative journal (Commentary is good too – my new find this year).

And for sheer fun, there’s nothing like The American Spectator (which had all of Clinton’s follies nailed down before the 1992 election). However, their science writer tends to go over the edge of his flat earth every once in a while. An added benefit of TAS is Ben Stein’s diary, which I love – it’s just what the title would suggest, btw.

Aug 21, 2004 - 8:23 pm 28. julie:

Forgot: The title alone, Unfit to Command, would arguably be an illegal reference to Kerry. Still may be a way around this. I just don’t know one way or the other at the moment.

Aug 21, 2004 - 8:27 pm 29. exguru:

On the Nagourney case:

Three or four days ago Gwen Ifel interviewed Nagourney for about 15 minutes on the Lehrer News Hour, exclusively on the subject of the Bush-Kerry campaign… The swiftvets story had been all over talk radio and the internet for at least two weeks, with “Unfit for Command” flying off the shelves everywhere. She did not mention the subject, and neither did he. John Kerry was in his Beacon Hill home planning a counterattack, in collusion with the NY Times, and tearing his hair. But none of this was worth mentioning by Adam. (He did look green around the gills, however.) My guess is he was under orders not talk about it, and alerted Gwen to that fact before they came on.

Aug 21, 2004 - 9:04 pm 30. flenser:

Somewhat OT, but maybe not, is this long but interesting article.

“He [Kerry] gave orders to his committee staff to shred crucial intelligence documents. The shredding stopped only when some intelligence staffers staged a protest. Some wrote internal memos calling for a criminal investigation. One such memo?from John F. McCreary, a lawyer and staff intelligence analyst?reported that the committee’s chief counsel, J. William Codinha, a longtime Kerry friend, “ridiculed the staff members” and said, “Who’s the injured party?” When staffers cited “the 2,494 families of the unaccounted-for U.S. servicemen, among others,” the McCreary memo continued, Codinha said: “Who’s going to tell them? It’s classified.”

Kerry defended the shredding by saying the documents weren’t originals, only copies?but the staff’s fear was that with the destruction of the copies, the information would never get into the public domain, which it didn’t. Kerry had promised the staff that all documents acquired and prepared by the committee would be turned over to the National Archives at the committee’s expiration. This didn’t happen. Both the staff and independent researchers reported that many critical documents were withheld.”

From that bastion of Republicanism, the Village Voice! This seems to suggest that either some papers still have some vestige of professionalism, or that the left is getting ready to cut loose from Kerry. Either one would be nice.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0408/schanberg.php

Aug 21, 2004 - 10:02 pm 31. mcat:

flesner–

Look at that date on the Village Voice article–Feb24!! Amazing that it’s only now being noticed!

mcat

Aug 21, 2004 - 10:10 pm 32. flenser:

Hmmm, you are right. A friend forwarded it to me, and I did not notice the date. I guess that means it is NOT a sign of a seismic shift in the media then. But a damming indictment of Kerry all the same.

I’m always stuck by how many cars and trucks I see with those black POW/MIA stickers. There appears to be a sizable group of people for whom this issue (POW’s) is a significant one. If we could make sure they all read this ….

I’ve started reading “Unfit for Command”; be intersting to see if they discuss the POW question.

Aug 21, 2004 - 10:37 pm 33. mcat:

I suspect with all the stuff coming out about VietNam, WinterSoldier, POWs, etc this article will get wider circulation. Hope so–agree that it’s not one Kerry would want to see circulating.

Still waiting for my copy of Unfit for Command–did get a notice that it had been shipped.

mcat

Aug 21, 2004 - 11:14 pm 34. R C Dean:

In a nutshell, the gaping loophole in the MF law is that it really only applies to corporations.

An unincorporated 527 is free to do whatever it damn well pleases.

There is no deadline on the swifties, as long as they are not incorporated. There is also no dealine on the miscellaneous leftist 527s that do not incorporate.

Aug 22, 2004 - 8:22 am 35. Sandy P:

–are running broadcast advertisements that contain images of President Bush and other federal candidates, which would violate the Act’s electioneering communications provisions if aired after July 30, 2004 –

Even better, Cabana Boy’s disembodied voice reciting testimony while pictures of the Hanoi Hilton occupants run in the background.

Aug 22, 2004 - 9:01 am 36. Sandy P:

–Unincorporated, unregistered “527″ organizations may also make electioneering communications, subject to the disclosure requirements and the prohibition against corporate and labor funds.–

In short, find another vets’ group which can continue the work with donations from the little people.

Aug 22, 2004 - 9:05 am 37. Sandy P:

–My husband and I used to spar over campaign finance reform way more than any two semi-rational people ought to do. –

A well, duh, especially if your husband’s been paying attention as to how the MSM is playing this.

The papers and corps were for it. That alone should have raised his red flag.

Aug 22, 2004 - 9:07 am 38. david:

I fear the media is running a game with their focus on medals and 527’s. Very few are asking the most important question: Cambodia. To borrow from James Carville’s famous dictum: It’s Cambodia, stupid!! Pat Buchanan did a good job on MSNBC yesterday when he cornered the Kerry campaign spokesperson (don’t remember who) and made them twist. This is the one question that must be pushed constantly, it’s Kerry’s downfall.

Aug 22, 2004 - 9:20 am 39. richard mcenroe:

Glenn over at Instapundit nails it:

“FIRST THEY IGNORE YOU. Then they attack you. Then you win.”

Aug 22, 2004 - 11:02 am 40. richard mcenroe:

Flenser/MCAT ó What it means is the Kerryistas better not be relying on the far left to hold its nose and vote for him.

Aug 22, 2004 - 11:06 am 41. Catherine:

David

I find Deborah Orin to be an astute political reporter; she says the same thing you do about the Cambodia question.

KERRY CAMP FRETS OVER CAMBODIA TALE

By Deborah Orin

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/27161.htm

THERE’S now some real angst in Dem ocratic circles be cause of the growing evidence that Democrat John Kerry’s claim to have a memory “seared in me” of spending Christmas 1968 in Cambodia was false ÔøΩ and just didn’t happen.

But what worries some pro-Kerry Democrats is the fear that Kerry has, as one put it, “an Al Gore problem” ÔøΩ that he’s a serial exaggerator. (Remember how Gore claimed to have invented the Internet and inspired the novel “Love Story”?)

Remember Kerry’s claim that “I’ve met foreign leaders” who told him he had to beat Bush? Turned out he hadn’t met any foreign leaders in years.

Kerry’s campaign Web site claimed credit for Vietnam missions when another man, Tedd Peck, was the skipper (that was removed when he protested) and last week was claiming credit for former Sen. Bob Kerrey’s service as Senate Intelligence Committee vice chairman.

“John Kerry, Bob Kerrey ÔøΩ similar names,” blithely explained Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan, as if Kerry didn’t know his own bio.

Why does it matter? Because Kerry has said the Cambodia incident ÔøΩ of being sent on a covert mission to “a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops” was “seared” in his mind and changed his view of America.

Team Kerry’s excuse is that maybe he accidentally crossed the border or his time frame was fuzzy, but that just won’t square with his passionate 1986 claim, on the Senate floor, that the Christmas memory was “seared ÔøΩ seared ÔøΩ in me.”

Unlike the conflicts over Kerry’s medals, this isn’t a he said/he said dispute ÔøΩ Kerry either was or wasn’t in Cambodia. Eventually a reporter will ask him point-blank if he still claims he was in Cambodia that Christmas ÔøΩ yes or no.

. . .

She also mentions the commenters on this blog:

On Web sites like Instapundit.com, captainsquartersblog.com, hugh- hewitt.com and rogerlsimon.com, skeptical veterans are trading details on Kerry’s service and raising intricate questions about his veracity based on their own experience.

Their online dialogue is punctuated with questions about why the “mainstream media” have been mostly ignoring this story ÔøΩ and why the 13 pro-Kerry vets are automatically assumed to have more credibility than 264 anti-Kerry vets.

Just imagine the coverage if 264 vets who served with Bush in the Texas Air National Guard made similar charges. For those bloggers, this story has become a test of the mainstream media’s credibility ÔøΩ and its liberal anti-Bush bias.

Aug 22, 2004 - 11:14 am 42. Catherine:

Something’s probably got to give with Douglas Brinkley fairly soon here, I would imagine.

It’s radically against professional standards for a historian to refuse to produce his primary sources, in this case Kerry’s diary. History has to be based on original sources, and other historians have to be able to check what you’ve written against the sources you used.

If you haven’t seen it, this is from today’s long story in WAPO:

“I never want to see anything like it again,” Kerry wrote later. “What was left was human, and yet it wasn’t — a person had been there only a few moments earlier and . . . now it was a horrible mass of torn flesh and broken bones.”

In “Tour of Duty,” these thoughts are attributed to a “diary” kept by Kerry. But the endnotes to Brinkley’s book say that Kerry “did not keep diaries in these weeks in February and March 1969 when the fighting was most intense.” In the acknowledgments to his book, Brinkley suggests that he took at least some of the passages from an unfinished book proposal Kerry prepared sometime after November 1971, more than two years after he had returned home from Vietnam.

In his book, Brinkley writes that a skipper who remains friendly to Kerry, Skip Barker, took part in the March 13 raid. But there is no documentary evidence of Barker’s participation. Barker could not be reached for comment.

Brinkley, who is director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans, did not reply to messages left with his office, publisher and cell phone. The Kerry campaign has refused to make available Kerry’s journals and other writings to The Washington Post, saying the senator remains bound by an exclusivity agreement with Brinkley.A Kerry spokesman, Michael Meehan, said he did not know when Kerry wrote down his reminiscences.

A book proposal written by John Kerry a couple of years after he returned from Vietnam is not a diary, and does not “count” as a diary in the field.

My sense is that unless Douglas Brinkley starts returning phone calls pretty soon, he will be seen as committing a significant breach of professionalism. Since Brinkley is a professional in good standing, my guess is he’s considering his options at this point.

I think his best bet would be to distance himself from Kerry a bit by telling us exactly what sources he did and did not use, explaining that he confused the sourcing for this particular passage (very possible when you’re working in a hurry), and stating that his book is a campaign bio, not a work of professional history. Then he should decline to serve as Kerry’s public advocate on the Cambodia issue.

It will be interesting to see what he does.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A21239-2004Aug21?language=printer

Aug 22, 2004 - 11:49 am 43. M. Simon:

There are two known major problems with the Wa Po story and graphics

1. It has been pretty well established that Alston was not on the boat 13 March. It was Short. They show Alston in the graphic.

2. The graphic shows Kerry traveling at most 300 to 400 meters down the canal (I measured and took the number most favorable to Kerry and using the most foreshortened boat as my measuring stick – 50 ft).

Kerry actually says he went 5 km down the canal through shot and shell.

Note the curios break in the drawing following the weir.

Rood critique & WaPo graphics

–==–

What is the War Hero Afraid of?

Form 180. Release ALL the records.

Aug 22, 2004 - 12:26 pm 44. M. Simon:

BTW the Alston stuff was worked out here:

Hello CQ

About a week ago.

–==–

What is the War Hero Afraid of?

Form 180. Release ALL the records.

Aug 22, 2004 - 12:29 pm 45. geoffg:

The scrutiny continues: who wrote the after action report?

Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:01 pm Post subject:

“As pointed out previously regarding After Action Reports, Kerry used ‘METER’ to describe distances, as he was educated in France and Switzerland, both countries that utilized and taught the metric system. The United States Navy did not use the Metric System. It used ‘YARD’ to describe distance until the Metric Conversion Act was passed in 1975.

In the above account of Rood, he made the following statement: Quote: a thatched hut?maybe 15 yards inland from the ambush site.

It was assuredly not Rood, who still uses the term ‘YARD’ as he would have in 1969, who wrote the after action report listed above”

Link: http://idexer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=67

Last comment in the thread

Aug 22, 2004 - 1:10 pm 46. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):

I believe that ground units used metrics. A Vietnam Vet SEAL friend, in describing an engagement to me, used the word “meters” regarding the range at which he fired a grenade.

In aircraft, we used English units, but as far as I know those were universal world wide at the time. So on our radar, we measured Nautical Miles. Our altitude was in feet (usually below 100 – try that over the pacific for a few hours some time).

Hence I see nothing odd in Kerry using meters for brown water Navy service. Presumably the swifties were coordinating with ground forces, in a country that used metrics.

Certainly I first bacame aware of the word “klick” for distance in regard to Vietnam – it means kilometer.

Aug 22, 2004 - 1:54 pm 47. Knucklehead:

John Moore:

I have no idea why it matters, but I served in Armored Units ‘76 – ‘80 and we spoke of distances/ranges in metric. A “klick” (no idea where the term came from) was, as you say, a kilometer. We ran PT, of course, according the “english” system.

BTW, I have this little theory that the metric system is one of several reasons Euros are going brain-dead. Units of measure have no bearing on anything – they are nothing more than units of measure. Doing nothing more than moving decimal points back and forth, however, is conducive to self-imposed idiocy. Divide/multiply by 2s, 4s, 8s, and 16s, however, and your brain will stay reasonably healthy. One of several reasons for Moonbatism is the Metricism. Can anybody name a musical piece (worthwhile or otherwise) scored in metric?

Aug 22, 2004 - 5:58 pm 48. Sandy P:

My dad spent 2 years in Germany as part of the tripwire ‘56-58, it was klicks then, too, and I grew up w/that term.

Left over from wWII, maybe even WWI? No, I don’t think we had real bases then, did we?

Aug 22, 2004 - 6:02 pm 49. jerry:

flenser:

Where do you know John McReary from? He is a good a friend of mine and real asset on one my major projects.

Aug 22, 2004 - 6:10 pm 50. TmjUtah:

I was a Marine 1980-88. Our maps were metric. If I had to guess, ground measurements were standardized metric to conform with NATO.

Quite a meltdown weekend underway. I cannot believe that Kerry wants to pursue an FEC complaint. Especially since his campaign and the moonbat 527’s are intermarried with his campaign personnel and finance-wise thicker than a Hollywood-scripted Arkansas family reunion.

I believe that the Dems are prepared to directly attack elections as an institution this November. They aren’t just burning bridges, they are venturing into MAD.

Aug 22, 2004 - 6:18 pm 51. Rick Ballard:

Sandy P., Knucklehead, John M.,

Think map scales. I believe that the US Army first used metric measure (temporarily) in Europe during WWI. There is still no absolute universal for maps but given the high level of coordination of US forces with other forces in the world for the past 60 years I would imagine that the US ground forces adopted metric in order to reduce confusion. All the US military maps that I remember from the early 60’s were metrically scaled. Using different scales produces different coordinates – very embarassing wrt directing artillery fire.

Aug 22, 2004 - 6:25 pm 52. Rick Ballard:

Tmj,

I agree with your observation about attacking elections. The promises to mobilize legions of lawyers indicates a coordinated plan of some sort. The 527 FEC suit has to be one of the most bone headed political moves I’ve ever seen. I understand Kerry’s panic – according to Rasmussen only 39% of the electorate believe Kerry while while 31% believe that he’s exagerating and 15% believe he’s lying. I don’t trust Rasmussen at all but they are the only one that I’ve seen poll this, so far. If Kerry’s got a wheel off and an axle dragging on a relatively minor incident such as this, what the hell would he do as the CIC?

Aug 22, 2004 - 6:41 pm 53. thibaud:

Nagourney’s a hack. Mickey Kaus at kausfiles.com has his number.

As to the rest of the MSM, they still haven’t figured out that increasing numbers of Americans with a college degree and an orientation anywhere to the right of Al Gore consider them a joke.

Journalists are not professionals like surgeons or accountants or achitects. Anyone can become a journalist. This guild has no certification criteria, no agreed ethical standards, no peer review, no sanctions for persistent failure to maintain standards.

This is especially true in three major areas of coverage:

– stories that demand deep subject matter expertise, be it financial, legal, scientific, medical, etc.;

– foreign coverage generally, especially where the crucial actor is a more or less closed regime and the language in question is difficult to learn (cf Russia, most of the Arab world, most of Asia etc)

– stories like A Very Kerry Christmas (in Cambodia) that do not fit the MSM’s meta-narrative (Kerry=hero, Bush=poltroon).

Aug 22, 2004 - 6:57 pm 54. Terrye:

Rick:

What do the remaining 15% believe I wonder?

I just got an email saying my copy of Unfit will not get here until September. How many people are wanting this I wonder?

I sent an email to Roger about what could be an interesting development.Senator Dole wants Kerry to release his records and he is openly questioning some of Kerry’s purple hearts.

Gee, I wonder what kind of snide snotty little comments Kerry’s fan club would like to make about a real war hero?

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:01 pm 55. thibaud:

The blogosphere is vastly more interesting, informative and downright entertaining than the MSM that I wonder why anyone even bothers reading Nagourney and the hacks anymore.

Case in point: of course some of the commenters here are biased against Kerry. So what? Nagourney’s bias is also obvious. But Nagourney pretends otherwise, and bores me shitless. OTOH I can go to Roger’s site, scroll through comments and read gems like this one, from Tmj:

I cannot believe that Kerry wants to pursue an FEC complaint. Especially since his campaign and the moonbat 527’s are intermarried with his campaign personnel and finance-wise thicker than a Hollywood-scripted Arkansas family reunion.

Why does Adam Nagourney have a job as a writer at the NYT and “Tmj” does not? It can’t be because Nagourney is a brilliant reporter. Can’t be because he’s a more interesting read. He’s nto a more thorough or accurate reporter.

Is Nagourney related to Pinch?

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:02 pm 56. Terrye:

thibaud:

I used to farm and I have mentioned here before that when I would read the stories about farming in the media I would think to myself “If this is typical of how much these guys really know then how can I believe half of what I read?”

They were always wrong; on the programs, the markets, the job of farming itself. So wrong as to be laughbable sometimes.

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:07 pm 57. Roberts:

The experience of reading MSM coverage of something you have actually been a part of, or have expert knowledge on, is always enlightening.

When I was involved in litigation on something that got mainstream media coverage, it was very infuriating to see how incompetent the coverage was.

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:17 pm 58. thibaud:

527’s cannot purchase broadcast air time in the 60 days prior to the election. Nobody told Dumbo McCain what a Real Time Player was, so ads played from internet sites don’t seem to be covered. Note that 527 websites also do not appear to be covered.

The other lovely thing about the MSM is their technological illiteracy. They still have yet to figure out that the readers now own the printing presses and can print whatever the hell they please.

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:17 pm 59. Knucklehead:

Terrye,

I agree that whenever I read something in the newspaper portion of the MSM about which I actually know something (admittedly rare) I am ALWAYS amazed by how shallow and out of date it is.

The broadcast (TV) MSM deal with everything from such a shallow perspective it is useless for trying to gain any sort of understanding. Even the “deep dive” programs rarely spend more than 8 minutes or so on a topic. if 60 Minutes gives an entire show to something (what is an entire show, 52 minutes tops?) people seem to think the topic has been covered exhaustively. Has anyone at Roger’s Place or anywhere else given even due-diligence to a topic with one stinking hour of attention?

Some questions for the MSM:

- why aren’t you educating the populace about what 527s are and why we have them?

- why aren’t you mentioning that compliance with Edward’s attacks demanding that Bush “stop” the Swiftvets would require that the president violate the campaign finance laws?

- why aren’t you telling us who finances various 527s?

If the print MSM is going to do 3500 word articles on subjects, why aren’t they subjects that explain something to people?

Regarding Dole… I saw a passing snippet regarding this and couldn’t stop to watch. JMO, but I voted for Dole and still think he would have been a good president. What are the basics of his statements and what do you think the public reaction will be? I can’t imagine a more respectable politician than Dole – he really strikes me as a fundamentally decent man (Viagra commercials aside ;>).

What do the Good Folks here at Roger’s Place think of Dole and his statements today? (He sure knows a hell or a lot more about being wounded than Kerry will ever know.)

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:25 pm 60. Terrye:

thibaud:

I think they are starting to realize that and they don’t like it one little bit.

That is why they treat bloggers like they are dangerous, because to them they are.

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:26 pm 61. thibaud:

Journalists today have as much expertise as medical doctors did ca 1870.

One slight problem: today I can get my news, info, expert opinion from the blogosphere. Esp re politics, about which most bloggers ahve as much expertise as your average journalist, and more integrity.

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:29 pm 62. richard mcenroe:

Only from the Boston Globe ó Kerry Bigger War Hero Than Dole

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:34 pm 63. Terrye:

Knucklehead:

The Boston Globe may think that Kerry is a bigger war hero but I think most Americans, whatever their party, know the one armed Senator from Kansas is a pretty decent guy.

He said that Kerry had himself in a pickle and he should apologize to the more than 2 million veterans for the things he said years ago, becasue after all Kerry was not the only guy to go to Nam. Somebody better tell the Boston Globe that.

Dole also mentioned the bloodless Purple Hearts. I know there are not a lot of the old boys left but wounds like Kerry got would not have merited much if any attention in that war. And think about the soldiers in Iraq who have gotten shrapnel from road sides bombs and haven’t even taken the day off.

I think it will hurt Kerry because Dole is not seen as self serving.

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:46 pm 64. Roberts:

No surprise how many misrepresentations the Globe managed to squeeze into such a small editorial.

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:51 pm 65. Terrye:

Go to realclearpolitics.com and Dole’s quote is there from CNN under notable quotes.

I also noted that Bush and Kerry are neck and neck. The electoral vote is up and down though.

Aug 22, 2004 - 7:54 pm 66. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):

I know someone who got a minor wound in Vietnam, in combat. He refused a purple heart. His SEAL team would have laughed him off the planet.

I’m also getting tired of retired officers and non-retired journalists complaining about the SBVT charges because they are unseemly. I just heard it on Fox from Geraldo and Col Hunt.

What happened to going for the truth?

Aug 22, 2004 - 10:32 pm 67. TmjUtah:

Every time I feel a little presumptious about posting an opinion on a blog, I bring up any current column authored by Paul Krugman, Eleanor Clift, Johathan Alter, Maureen Dowd, or Helen Thomas and read at least the first five or six paragraphs. Okay, first two or three for Alter or Thomas….honesty is important.

Hell, if they can take money with a straight face for what they put out, there’s no possible foul in me venturing an opinion for free.

Rick Ballard -

I proposed that Kerry expected to coast for the five weeks after the convention, confident that whatever questions about his Heroic Vietnam Experience ™might be raised would be blasted by the media. All the charges were already “public”, right? The SBFT even had a press conference back in May that was MENTIONED in major papers. Yup, it was already covered.

I think that Kerry is probably a shitty chess player – and almost without question a catastrophically poor poker player…in a straight game. He has been the junior senator from Massachussets (and before that Boy JFK) for so long he’s forgotten that there really are responsibilities in life beyond his ambitions. As a senator he concentrated on placating his progressive liberal moonbat constituency by voting for policies that would have disarmed, blinded, and bankrupted the country. One senator out of a hundred…even four or five at a time…could be as feckless as Kerry for their whole career but still polish a bench in the Senate because larger men stepped up in enough numbers to choose the right paths. In a nation of even moderately engaged and informed voters, he’d never be remotely considered for any higher station.

Kerry’s NEVER paid for a mistake. Not that I can see. His senate record has been defined as being Ted Kennedy’s page. No bills. Nothing but a relentless, bloviating, hollow prescence on the Senate floor, marked by infrequent attendance in committees, for two decades. No executive leadership of committees…unless you count the P.O.W. betrayal. I imagine we’ll be hearing about that, too, but not from Kerry’s campaign..

No, I’m not indulging in hyperbole. If Kerry thinks he’s got a problem with the Swifties, wait until the RNC starts releasing an ad a week from Labor Day until the election highlighting his record in the Senate. He discounted the possibility that a non-public person like O’Neill would be taken seriously because he’s wired to accept that what media declines to cover isn’t important.

He hasn’t run for office motivated to serve. He’s run by deciding which skids to grease in order to get what he wants. And that in a tiny little liberal state with monolithic machine politics.

The Democrats have no one to blame for what has happened to this candidacy but themselves. I guess they forgot there are rules, too; their apoplectic intent to remove Bush from office has overwhelmed any chance they might look at themselves for a minute and honestly assess what their problem is. Problems are, I should say.

Here’s a freebie for them:

A national party cannot survive the leadership and manipulation of its constituency at the hands of individuals starkly incapable of assuming the responsibilities concommitant with the powers they seek. It just doesn’t work. Whatever the good intentions of the New Deal and subsequent liberal social policies , they have in the end led directly to the practice of vote managing of dependency demographics, class warfare, and have undoubtedly extended the existence of institutionalized racism to the present time.

America is not a government taking care of people. It is three hundred million citizens pursuing their hopes and dreams with the prospect of tyranny only a thin sheet of parchment away. I don’t want to see anything even approaching a single-party system in this country, but the current roster of people at the top of the Democratic party appear more a threat than a loyal opposition. Democrats better find themselves some more Zell Millers.

Aug 22, 2004 - 11:29 pm 68. Charlie (Colorado):

Gee, I wonder what kind of snide snotty little comments Kerry’s fan club would like to make about a real war hero?

Eh, how much of a war hero could Bob Dole be? He just got one Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, and he was in combat for three years.

Aug 23, 2004 - 3:37 am 69. Charlie (Colorado):

Only from the Boston Globe ó Kerry Bigger War Hero Than Dole

Richard, I swear to God I didn’t see this before I posted my response to Terrye.

Aug 23, 2004 - 3:43 am 70. thibaud:

Every time I feel a little presumptious about posting an opinion on a blog, I bring up any current column authored by Paul Krugman, Eleanor Clift, Johathan Alter, Maureen Dowd, or Helen Thomas…Hell, if they can take money with a straight face for what they put out, there’s no possible foul in me venturing an opinion for free.

Eleanor Clift’s latest gem was a 500-word sneer at undecided “swing voters.” She quoted Donna Brazile and a few random swing voters from one of Brazile’s focus groups in order to characterize undecided voters generally as clueless, stupid, irresponsible. Clift has taken an easily quantified, fairly straightforward sociological phenomenon and treated it with less care, precision and seriousness than your average soap opera digest writer.

No effort to even define or quantify the “swing voters.” No reference to any research. No effort to sift through the research and evaluate possible explanations. No attempt at independent thought or hypotheses, or attempt to test those hypotheses in light of her experience as a journalist.

Ditto for Krugman and nearly any topic outside economics. Dowd doesn’t deserve a comment.

Why does such laziness deserve a platform like the NYT OpEd? How does one gain such status? As the internet and blogosphere expand people’s access to expert analysis– or even just conscientious analysis, hell, analysisperiod– can the privileged position of our MSM blowhards be sustained?

pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain

Aug 23, 2004 - 7:07 am 71. TmjUtah:

thibaud -

“How does one gain such status?”

It’s not about being right. It’s about feeling right. I bet Eleanor doesn’t know anyone who’s ever voted Republican…

…and that story was old when Nixon was elected.

Classic institutional arrogance.

Aug 23, 2004 - 7:18 am 72. thibaud:

Screw those incompetents. We deserve far, far better.

The NYTimes is quickly becoming yet another Guardian-style, self-referential left-lib journal whose parochial worldview begins and ends in Manhattan. Perhaps a good niche market strategy but certainly not a strategy for maintaining paper of record status.

Well done, Pinch. Good thing Papa’s not around to see the tawdry little slut his Gray Lady’s become.

Aug 23, 2004 - 7:33 am 73. thibaud:

More funa and games from the incompetent editorial board of the Times. Bob Herbert’s accusations of Republican electoral witch hunts and chicanery in Orlando are so outlandish, so at odds with the facts, that a self-described liberal Orlando reporter is now preparing a rebuttal that will demolish Herbert’s idiotic rants:

http://realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/blog_8_23_04_1015.html

Aug 23, 2004 - 7:40 am

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