It's election time, so you know it's time to pull the fear card.

WaPo:

Vice President Cheney sometimes starts speeches with a Ronald Reagan quotation about a "happy" nation needing "hope and faith." But not much happy talk follows. Not a lot of hope, either. He does, though, talk about the prospect of "mass death in the United States."

The not-so-happy warrior of the past two campaign cycles is back on the road delivering a grim message about danger, defeatism and the stakes of the coming election. If it is not a joyful exercise, it is at least a relentless one. Even with poll ratings lower than President Bush's, Cheney has become a more ubiquitous presence on the campaign trail than in the last midterm election.

He takes on not only the traditional vice presidential assignment of slicing up the opposition but also the Cassandra role of warning about dire threats to the nation's security. While others get distracted by Capitol Hill scandal, Cheney remains focused on the terrorists, who are, as he says in his stump speech, "still lethal, still desperately trying to hit us again." Bush, he says, is "protecting America" while the Democrats advocate "reckless" policies that add up to a "strategy of resignation and defeatism in the face of determined enemies."

But the message is carefully targeted. More than half of Cheney's fundraisers in this two-year cycle have been behind closed doors. Even at a lunchtime speech to Wisconsin Republican donors that was open to reporters, gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mark Green did not stand on stage, ensuring no pictures of the two together on the news, and some other Republican candidates did not attend at all.

That is okay with the White House, which at a perilous moment is counting on Cheney's under-the-radar campaign to rally the base, not the broader public. Read on...

Raw Story:

Iraqi Shiite residents of Baghdad's Sadr City expressed anger yesterday over a picture of a grinning Jesus they mistook for a Shiite holy figure that appeared in the area after a joint US-Iraqi operation. Residents found a picture of "Buddy Jesus" from the 1999 film "Dogma" posted in the streets, accompanied by a badly photocopied pamphlet bearing a crude approximation of a US military crest and outlining a US "plan" to subjugate the neighbourhood. "That picture abuses our Imam Mahdi and his holy character, and mocks our sacred figures," said resident Abu Riyam, apparently mistaking the satirical movie still of Jesus for one of Shiite Islam's historical imams, whose images adopt a Jesus-like iconography.

[..]The pamphlets outlined a so-called plan to discredit the militias in the sprawling Baghdad slum of two million people, a stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr.

"Destabilize security in the militia areas with explosions and assassinations to create panic" and "killing, raping and kidnapping women" were all measures the pamphlet recommended to cause people to lose faith in the militias. "Do not tell the suspect militias of these plans, but keep them among friendly forces," admonished the pamphlet.

(h/t Don)

Yahoo News:

President Bush recalled his father's heroics as a World War II Navy pilot, during a rare joint appearance on Saturday by the two men amid a report of strains in their relationship over Iraq.

A new book, "State of Denial," by journalist Bob Woodward, says former president George Bush was "anguished" over the Iraq war and its aftermath, although the elder Bush has dismissed that account.

On Saturday, the two Bushes took part in the christening of the Navy's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, named the USS George H.W. Bush after the 41st president.

[..]Bush's sister, Doro Bush Koch, christened it by cracking a bottle of champagne on its bow.

The president jokingly likened the new ship to his mother, who is known for her feistiness.

"She (the carrier) is unrelenting, she is unshakable, she is unyielding, she is unstoppable. As a matter of fact, (the ship) probably should have been named the Barbara Bush," he said.

I'm just not sure if that's more of an insult or a compliment to either parent.

Black Water

The Best of the Doobies

VH1 Biography: As one of the most popular Californian pop/rock bands of the '70s, the Doobie Brothers evolved from a mellow, post-hippie boogie band to a slick, soul-inflected pop band by the end of the decade. Along the way, the group racked up a string of gold and platinum albums in the U.S., along with a number of radio hits like "Listen to the Music," "Black Water," and "China Grove."

The roots of the Doobie Brothers lie in Pud, a short-lived Californian country-rock band in the vein of Moby Grape featuring guitarist/vocalist Tom Johnston and drummer John Hartman. After Pud collapsed in 1969, the pair began jamming with bassist Dave Shogren and guitarist Patrick Simmons. Eventually, the quartet decided to form a group, naming themselves the Doobie Brothers.

AP via YahooNews:

Franklin Roosevelt had his first hundred days.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is thinking 100 hours, time enough, she says, to begin to "drain the swamp" after more than a decade of Republican rule.

As in the first 100 hours the House meets after Democrats - in her fondest wish - win control in the Nov. 7 midterm elections and Pelosi takes the gavel as the first Madam Speaker in history.

Day One: Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation."

Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Time remaining until 100 hours: Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, maybe in one step. Cut the interest rate on student loans in half. Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients.

Broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds - "I hope with a veto-proof majority," she added in an Associated Press interview Thursday.

All the days after that: "Pay as you go," meaning no increasing the deficit, whether the issue is middle class tax relief, health care or some other priority.

To do that, she said, Bush-era tax cuts would have to be rolled back for those above "a certain level." She mentioned annual incomes of $250,000 or $300,000 a year and higher, and said tax rates for those individuals might revert to those of the Clinton era. Details will have to be worked out, she emphasized.

"We believe in the marketplace," Pelosi said of Democrats, then drew a contrast with Republicans. "They have only rewarded wealth, not work." Read on...

One of my favorite comedy bits on Late Night with David Letterman is the Great Moments in Presidential Speeches:

While it is a somewhat cheap shot to make fun of Bush's difficulty in speaking coherently (but oh-so-easy, given the wealth of examples), there is something so incredibly sad in finding no wit and certainly no wisdom from our current President, especially with a whole office of speechwriters at his disposal. And it's not an ideological thing either, because there are some people with whom I completely disagree, but I at least acknowledge their ability to convey their beliefs in a smart and thoughtful manner.

It made me think about this quote by Abraham Lincoln that my father had framed in his office for many years:

"It is better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

So I went on the hunt for other quotes from Lincoln, ones that I wish I could somehow implant in the brain of George Bush. BrainyQuote provided just what I was looking for. If only our current Republican in office could be as sage as the first Republican:

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HuffPo:

ETP Exclusive!* New York magazine has an automatic winner in putting this Stephen Colbert article - or really any Stephen Colbert article - on the cover (if you don't believe me, I have a bridge in Hungary you might be interested in). This particular Colbert article looks to be extra-good, authored as it is by the perspicacious and very funny in his own right Adam Sternbergh. No doubt there will be some interesting ad thoughtful nuggets in there; indeed, we've got some below as Sternbergh deconstructs Colbert's swaggering, outrageous blowhard demeanor and commentary and finds it surprisingly similar to that of...Ann Coulter. Read on.. .

While the discussion about Woodward's State of Denial has largely centered around the communication (or lack thereof) of the Bush Administration, M.J. Rosenberg of TPMCafe caught a little throwaway line in the book that has some deeply disturbing implications:

On page 344, Woodward describes the doings at the White House in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the day after the '04 election.

Apparently, Kerry had decided not to concede. There were 250,000 outstanding ballots in Ohio.

So Kerry decides to fight. In fact, he considers going to Ohio to camp out with his voters until there is a recount. This is the last thing the White House needs, especially after Florida 2000.

So what happened?

James Carville gets on the phone with his wife, Mary Matalin, who is at the White House with Bush.

"Carville told her he had some inside news. The Kerry campaign was going to challenge the provisional ballots in Ohio -- perhaps up to 250,000 of them. 'I don't agree with it, Carville said. I'm just telling you that's what they're talking about.'

"Matalin went to Cheney to report...You better tell the President Cheney told her."

Matalin does, advising Bush that "somebody in authority needed to get in touch with J. Kenneth Blackwell, the Republican Secretary of State in Ohio who would be in charge of any challenge to the provisional votes." An SOS goes out to Blackwell.

The rest is history.

More4 in the UK has produced a drama entitled "The Death of a President" that uses the assassination of George W. Bush as a a starting point to examine how the US would react in the wake of such an event.

In a CROOKS & LIARS EXCLUSIVE, C&L regular Nonny Mouse has previewed the movie and gives us a review and we thank her for her contribution:

On this coming Monday evening in the UK, More4 is premiering ‘Death of a President', a feature long ‘docudrama' by Borough Films and winner of the International Critics Award at this year's Toronto Film Festival, for very good reason. I was lucky/persuasive enough to be allowed a preview DVD copy for a C&L review. The American rights have been sold, so expect this to be on a television in the States near you soon.

Then make sure you watch it.

The premise is remarkably simple: President Bush is assassinated in Chicago after a speech to local business leaders while a particularly large and very angry anti-Bush demonstration rages outside in the cordoned off city streets. For anyone laboring under the illusion that this film is some sort of left-wing wish fulfillment fantasy, Seeing Dick Cheney being sworn in as the 44^th President of the United States should be enough to dispel those thoughts. In any case, this is a remarkably apolitical film, with depths of subtlety and twists that are as logical as they are unanticipated; possibly something that only the British have the proper distance and the finesse to pull off. This is definitely no ‘Path to 9/11', which makes it all the more shocking.

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