06-14-2004 

QUOTABLES:

“After Mr. Bush detailed Mr. Berlusconi's leadership and commitment to the Iraq mission, the prime minister's poll numbers improved. This is an impressive sign of the president's prestige. It is not a surprise that the U.S. media failed to report it.” -- writes the WashingtonTimes, regarding the misrepresentation of Bush’s trip to Italy.

"If we win the solid South, that means he's [Kerry’s] got to win 76 percent of the rest of the electoral votes in the country," Bush campaign chairman Ken Mehlman said.

“The White House, for its part, is eager to keep Saddam locked up and locked away for as long as possible, in the hope — and growing expectation — that he might finally disclose what he did with the weapons of mass destruction that everyone, even Jacques Chirac and the United Nations weapons inspectors, know he once had.” -- writes Wesley Pruden of the Washington Times.

Asked by Imus if he believed the reports that Kerry has asked McCain to consider being his running mate, Howard Fineman said, "I think he was practically kissing his butt."

BUSH BEAT

Media Distorted Bush’s Italy trip

Is the mainstream media willfully misrepresenting President Bush’s trip to Italy this month? According to an article in the Washington Times: Yes!

The Washington Times says Bush’s trip to Italy was a success. It also says that the negative reports of it were misrepresented. For example, numerous publications touted headlines of Pope John Paul II scolding America about Iraq and the prison abuse. Just how accurate were these reports? According to the article:

While the pope did briefly refer to the Iraq war in his meeting with Mr. Bush, he did so vaguely and in the context of the need for all nations to respect human rights. He only used one sentence to refer to "deplorable events" but did not specifically discuss Abu Ghraib prison or any other aspect of the operations. In a classic example of Vatican diplomacy, John Paul II carefully avoided embarrassing Mr. Bush and did not even reiterate the pontiff's opposition to the war. He merely noted that the president is "very familiar with the position of the Holy See" -- and left it at that.

The media ignored developments that could have an impact on this year's presidential election. For example, the pope strongly endorsed Mr. Bush's "commitment to the promotion of moral values in American society, particularly with regard to respect for life and the family." This is important given that abortion and same-sex marriage are issues in the 2004 campaign. John Paul II's praise is relevant because John Kerry, a Catholic, is opposed to the church's positions against abortion and same-sex marriage. It can also be seen to correct liberal U.S. Catholic bishops, who have ignored the Vatican's order that Catholic politicians such as Mr. Kerry who support abortion should not receive sacraments in the Catholic Church.

Another pet headline had to do with mobs of angry protesting Italians, crowding the streets to protest Bush. According to the WashingtonTimes, this also is misrepresented in the press coverage:

Mr. Bush's state visit with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi similarly was misreported. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators were predicted, but the Italian police stated that significantly less than 10,000 actually showed up. A plan to plaster Rome with peace signs flopped, and even leftist politicians came out against the protesters after they chanted in support of a massacre of Italians in Iraq. After Mr. Bush detailed Mr. Berlusconi's leadership and commitment to the Iraq mission, the prime minister's poll numbers improved. This is an impressive sign of the president's prestige. It is not a surprise that the U.S. media failed to report it.

 Just POlitics

Embracing Liberalism

The Washington Times reports on how Democrat Congressional candidates are being asked to endorse or reject Kerry’s campaign:

[Bush campaign chairman Ken] Mehlman said Mr. Kerry's failure to win support in Southern states has put his campaign in an "electoral straitjacket."
"They're worried about the states that Bill Clinton won, but Al Gore lost — states like Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri," he said. "If Al Gore, a sitting vice president from Tennessee, at a time of peace and prosperity, couldn't win these states, how is the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts going to win these states?"

There is a belief that moderate Democrats and Democrat congressional candidates in conservative districts can be divided from Sen. John Kerry’s campaign for President.

Another Kerry flip-flop

Word is coming down that Sen. John Kerry’s campaign is going to change its theme...  again. That is right. They are no longer going to let "America be America Again!" No, now Kerry’s mantra is: "Making America Stronger at Home and Respected in the World."

That certainly meets the challenge of not being more than six words -- the standard test of being ‘catchy’ and easy to remember.

This seems it is the latest attempt to breathe life into Kerry’s dullard campaign. How do you think that it will do?

Dem’s VP Sweepstakes: Iowa’s Vilsack

The LA Times reports on Iowa’s Governor Tom Vilsack’s visit to a bio-tech conference in California. Vilsack continues to get a lot of buzz in the Democrats’ V.P. sweepstakes:

He [Vilsack] also has the sort of dramatic biography that television and newspaper reporters love: orphaned at birth, then adopted as an infant by a well-to-do Pittsburgh couple. He managed to transcend physical abuse by his alcoholic mother to build a successful career in law and politics.

"He has a great personal story — a difficult childhood he overcame," said Lisette Lehman, a onetime Iowan who greeted Vilsack at the San Francisco cocktail party last week. "And being from the Midwest, that might be a nice balance with Kerry being from the East and from a different background."

ABC’s The Note reports on how Howard Fineman phoned into Imus’ radio program:

Asked by Imus if he believed the reports that Kerry has asked McCain to consider being his running mate, Fineman said, "I think he was practically kissing his butt."

Concern is beginning to rise about Kerry’s obsession on McCain making whoever he picks look like second best.

Senators are reported by the NY Times and CNN as supporting Sen. John Edwards. This of course might offer some cover for Southern Democrats -- who seem to need it. However, this problem still remains: How does a wooden performer like Kerry stand next to someone who has charisma on the stump?

Terminator to N.Y.

The LA Times reports California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be attending the Republican National Convention in New York this August. The paper infers that Schwarzenegger is less than enthusiastic in his support of President Bush given the President’s low standing in the California polls.

However, Schwarzenegger is very interested in coming onto the national stage as a leading Republican, according to the LA Times. The Times may be making a story where there is not that much of a story as well:

"Back East he's still the celebrity action hero. This is an opportunity to show the rest of the country that he's not just an action hero but a serious and effective governor," said Dan Schnur, a Republican political consultant close to aides in the Schwarzenegger administration.

Vatican politics

There are some undercurrents regarding President Bush’s visit to the Vatican in which he supposedly asked officials to help with American Cardinals who were not against gay marriage and other family value issues. The Washington Times reports that some found it unprecedented:

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told the New York Times that "it is just unprecedented for a president to ask for help from the Vatican to get re-elected, and that is exactly what this is."

Lynn doesn’t seem to know a great deal about political history. There were Catholic candidates who have long asked Vatican officials for help. There is even the case of CIA Director William Casey asking the Pope to help overthrow Communism specifically by helping Solidarity in Poland.

There is a reason the Vatican exchanges ambassadors.

clinton comedies

Bubba’s Big Book Blitz

“You want to whet people’s appetite,” says Knopf spokesman Paul Bogaards, regarding the Bill Clinton memoir “My Life.”

The folks at Alfred A. Knopf Publishing are readying to more than ‘whet people’s appetite’ with a pre-publication publicity plan designed to practically gag Americans. With an official book release date of June 22nd, the deluge begins. Here’s the plan, according to a Washington Post article:

June 18-23, Infinity Broadcasting will begin playing excerpts from an abridged audio version of “My Life” read by Clinton -- a different one each day – and made available for use by news shows and via the Internet through AOL.

June 20, CBS’s “60 Minutes” will dedicate the entire hour to Clinton.

June 21, Clinton will tape an hour-long conversation with Oprah Winfrey.

June 22, Clinton’s hour-long Oprah show will be broadcast. Clinton will make appearances in several New York stores to sign.

June 23, Clinton will guest on the  “Today” show and “Good Morning America.”

June 24, Infinity and AOL team up to broadcast a live town hall meeting with Clinton in California.