Kerry: Put a fork in him, he's done

I was away for a while on vacation. Upon my return, I've been getting caught up on the news. I downloaded the RNC speeches from Apple's iTunes Music Service (they're free downloads).

Firstly, Bush has built commanding leads over Kerry in the polls post-convention. If you listen to the RNC speeches versus the DNC speeches, you'll find the Republicans are more specific and more relevant to what's actually going in in the world today.

Secondly, there are reports that the U.S. Navy has launched an investigation into Kerry's Vietnam War decorations. The media has not really talked about this issue because of the massacre of children at the hands of Muslims in Russia and Hurricane Frances. Kerry made a major strategic blunder by making his medals the foundation of his campaign. He forgot that Massachusetts is a liberal state that is out of sync with the nation as a whole when it comes to military issues. People in Massachusetts could care less about these medals and take them at face value. The nation as a whole, however, scrutinizes them much more closely.

The two main knocks on Kerry's medals:

1) The first Purple Heart: The Purple Heart is to be awarded to people who
a) require medical treatment by a medical officer for
b) injuries received in action with the enemy

Kerry wrote in his journal on December 11, 1968 that he and his crew "hadn't been shot at yet." Oddly enough, Kerry's first Purple Heart was awarded the medal for wounds sustained 9 days earlier. I would think this medal would be a pretty open and shut case, given that Kerry's campaign has already acknowledged it is possible that Kerry's medal may have been awarded for an unintentional self-inflicted wound.

2) Kerry's Silver Star with a combat "V" for Valor: Silver Stars with combat "V"'s were never issued.

From frontpagemagazine.com:
Bronze "V" (Combat Distinguishing Device).

Prior to . . . 1974, the "V" was authorized for wear on the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal. Between . . .1974 and . . . 1991, the "V" was authorized for wear on the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal and Navy Commendation Medal. [In] . . . 1991, the "V" was authorized for wear on the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. In all cases, the Combat Distinguishing Device may only be worn if specifically authorized in the citation. See also http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Valor_device.

Because the “V” is authorized for only the ten awards cited above, but not for the Silver Star, Kerry’s Silver Star citation (the “explanation” of why the award was made) does not even mention the “V” for valor (see www.johnkerry.com).

Thirdly, Kerry's running mate released his AND HIS WIFE'S tax records showing that the Edwards paid a boatload in taxes. Kerry, on the other hand, paid 15.2% for the past tax year. Kerry's tax records were already disclosed in May, but it's befuddling why his running mate would release both his and his wife's tax records dating back ~10 years when Kerry won't do the same. With Kerry sinking in the polls, this will become a new question for Kerry to answer. And when your combined net worth approaches ~$1 bln, you've got some explaining to do.

For these reasons, I think Kerry is cooked. It will be interesting to see how these stories develop. I think the most damaging story is the Silver Star with a "V" for valor. If the Navy finds that it shouldn't have been awarded, Kerry will be out of things to talk about.

Bush invites foreigners to monitor U.S. election

Worldnetdaily.com reports that the Bush Administration has yielded to the wishes of 13 Democratic Senators and will allow observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor the upcoming 2004 election.

The Democrats' rationale for getting foreign observers to monitor U.S. elections is to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election in which the Democrats allege voting irregularities occurred. What I find stunning about the "irregularities" that the Democrats allege occurred is that they do not cite one specific example with proof to back it up.

The Democrats have made a big stink about the 2000 election because they forced recount after recount and still couldn't come up with a Gore win in Florida. In fact, no major media outlet was able to come up with a vote tally in Gore's favor utilizing all the major vote counting methodologies.

I'm anxious to see what sort of reception these observers get and what the media's response will be to this story.

The Shelby Storm, Fox News, and being American before being a reporter

Just read a stunning article that illustrates 1) the media's bias against Fox News and 2) how CNN undermined our nation's security.

These are the facts:
* Senator Shelby (R-AL) spoke to Carl Cameron and told him that several messages were intercepted before 09/11/01 indicating an attack on the U.S. and they were not translated until 9/12/01.

* The messages said, "The match is about to begin" and "Tomorrow is zero hour."

* The investigation found that Carl Cameron elected NOT to report the information.

* The investigation found that Carl Cameron met with CNN reporter Dana Bash, who in turn, reported the information citing "two Congressional sources."

First off, Senator Shelby has no business being on the intelligence committee if he's going to give the media information on sources and methods of intelligence collection. While the sources and methods that the U.S. used to get the information were not divulged to us, the person that sent those messages is now well aware that we were tapped into their communication line and will not use that for sensitive messages.

Secondly, I've got a beef with CNN. CNN compromised national security by reporting that information. One could rationalize disseminating it if it was received on 09/10/01 and nothing had happened yet. Reporting the information after the fact served no purpose other than illustrating the reporter had connections. She put her job before being an American.

Here's the quote from the second paragraph of the Washington Post article:

Specifically, Fox News chief political correspondent Carl Cameron confirmed to FBI investigators that Shelby verbally divulged the information to him during a June 19, 2002, interview, minutes after Shelby's committee had been given the information in a classified briefing, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the case.

This article demonizes Senator Shelby, as it should. I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat, you don't jeopardize our national security by blabbing about classified information to the media.

This article does not question the CNN reporter's judgement, which I take issue with. Anyone can see that the CNN reporter put all Americans at risk for a paycheck. Carl Cameron is a hero for not airing the information. As for CNN, this article's discussion of her conduct illustrates why I don't watch CNN. CNN, as a media outlet, has no regard for national security.

The Moore Solution for catching Bin Laden examined

Above is a link to globalsecurity.org which discusses the resources the Soviet Union pumped into Afghanistan. As those of you who have seen Fahrenheit 911 know, Michael Moore thinks it would have been a better idea to send in 100,000 troops to hunt bin Laden in Afghanistan.

According to globalsecurity.org, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with 40,000 troops in 1979. At the peak, the Soviet Union had an estimated 118,000 troops in Afghanistan. The massive troop presence in Afghanistan by the Soviet Union was one of the reasons for its collapse. I'm glad George W. Bush and his advisors are better students of history than Michael Moore.

Kerry says U.S. policies encourage terrorism. An examination of the Clinton response.

Timeline of Terrorism against the U.S.

February 26, 1993
World Trade Center bombed
Killed: 6 people
Injured: 1,040 people
U.S. response: Several Middle Eastern men were arrested and convicted of the crime.

June 25, 1996
Khobar Towers bombed
Killed: 20 people
Injured: 372 people
U.S. response: On July 21, 2001, after Clinton left office, and indictment was issued against several Middle Eastern men.

July 17, 1996
TWA Flight 800 "exploded" in mid-air off the coast of Long Island, NY.
Killed: 230 people
Injured: None. They were all killed.
U.S. response: Despite hundreds of eye witnesses that say they saw a streak of light ascending from the water and striking the plane, the Clinton Administration's investigation concluded that the plane spontaneously combusted. The official conclusion of the investigation was that a spark from an electrical switch in the center fuel tank caused the plane to explode. Rather stunning when you consider the same plane was struck by lightening several months before and nothing happened. No Boeing 747-131s were grounded to investigate this incident. Given the threat posed by shoulder launched missiles that we're hearing about today as well as eye witness accounts of what happened, it makes a lot more sense that a shoulder launched missile was responsible for the downing of this plane.

August 7, 1998
U.S. Embassies in Kenya & Tanzania destroyed
Killed: 225 (213 in Kenya, 12 in Tanzania)
Injured: 4,085 (4,000 in Kenya, 85 in Tanzania)
U.S. response: On August 20, 1998, Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on Sudan and Tanzania. Osama bin Laden was indicted on November 4, 1998.

October 12, 2000
The USS Cole was bombed.
Killed: 17 people
Injured: 39 people
U.S. response: None

Conclusion
Prior to 9/11, the Clinton Administration did nothing effective to address the threat of Islamic terrorism. We see the action taken was to 1) indict someone, 2) cover it up, or 3) do nothing.

Today, John Kerry said that U.S. policies combatting encouraged terrorism against it. John Kerry is clearly not a student of history. As any objective observer can see, indicting terrorists, launching half-hearted cruise missile strikes against them, and doing nothing in the 1990s did not dissuade terrorists from killing Americans. Terrorism is not a law enforcement issue. Terrorism is a national security issue. Terrorists must be killed, not indicted, not ignored.

Kerry loses ground in the polls after the Convention

A USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll shows Kerry lost ground after the Democratic Convention. I'm a little skeptical of the poll, however. All the latest state-by-state polls show Kerry gaining (if you lay the state-by-state polls over the Electoral College map). Nonetheless, I think this will cause the Kerry camp to do damage control because it's pretty bad to get a poll like this from media outlets with such widespread name recognition.

In the survey, taken Friday and Saturday, Kerry trailed Bush 50%-46% among likely voters. Independent candidate Ralph Nader was at 2%.

The survey showed Kerry losing 1 percentage point and Bush gaining 4 percentage points from a poll taken the week before the Boston convention.

Source: USA Today

Kerry revived a hamster. Does he milk cats, too?

As the cage sank beneath the waves, Alexandra continued, her father- the future Democratic nominee for president-"grabbed an oar, fished the cage from the water, hunched over the soggy hamster and began to administer CPR." "There were some reports of mouth-to-mouth, but I admit that's probably a trick of memory," Alexandra said. "He was never quite right after that, but Licorice lived."

Source: azcentral.com

How low can you stoop to get a vote? Does he milk cats, too?

Lessons learned in Afghanistan applied to Iraq

The U.S. helped the Mujahadeen fighters defeat the Soviet Union in the late-1980s by giving them weapons and aid to combat the USSR in a guerilla war. After the immediate threat to the U.S. was eliminated, the U.S. packed its stuff and left Afghanistan. Due to destroyed infrastructure and lack of a strong government in Afghanistan, Islamic fundamentalism was permitted to gain a foothold there. The failed state we left in our wake later came back to haunt our country as the launching point for the 9/11 attacks.

Lesson learned: The U.S. can never walk away from a broken state, even though its immediate goal is achieved. We sought to defeat the USSR in Afghanistan and our support of the Mujahadeen fighters achieved that immediate aim. When our immediate objective was obtained, we walked away.

History within the past 60 years gives us three great examples of what happens when the U.S. fixes a broken country.

Example 1: Germany - The U.S. and its Allies bombed everything in Germany, except the churches, to end WWII. After the Allies won the war, we stuck around and fixed Germany. We stablized the government, rebuilt infrastructure, and helped the country establish a democracy. The German economy went on to be the largest economy in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

Example 2: Japan - We nuked Japan to end WWII. We killed hundreds of thousands of people in an indiscriminate fashion and firebombed the cities we didn't nuke. After the war, we did the same thing as we did in Germany. We went through and rebuilt infrastructure, developed a constitution that laid out rights for the citizens, and helped them establish a democracy. The Japanese economy went on to become the second largest economy in the world. Even more astounding is the fact that Japan has little in the way of natural resources, aside from fish and rice.

Example 3: South Korea - There are two lessons learned from Korea. First, we did not fight the war to win. Rather than defeat our enemy, we held ground, drew a line, and walked away. The Korean War was fought by the U.N. The outcome of the Korean war was two countries: South Korea and North Korea. This picture says a lot about what happens when the world is governed by the lowest common denominator. The end result of the Korean War, where the enemy was not utterly defeated, was two countries--one a failed state where people starve to death and the other a prosperous democracy.

As these examples illustrate, the U.S. is a force for good. It is no accident that Germany has the most prosperous economy in Europe. It is no accident that South Korea and Japan have the two most prosperous economies in Asia. The U.S. system isn't as bad as the media would have you believe.

These are three examples of the U.S. cleaning up the mess it left after it fought a war. Whether or not you agree with why we went to war is irrelevant at this point, as Iraq is a broken country. We need to stick around and fix it. Our immediate objective in invading Iraq was 1) to find WMD and 2) to oust Saddam Hussein from power. One of our objectives was attained, however we have not found WMD. The lesson learned from our late-1980s experience in Afghanistan illustrates we cannot walk away from a failed state. We must fix it. We must make it a better country. There is no alternative. Given the track record of what happens to countries that the U.S. fixes, the Iraqi people have a bright future to look forward to if the U.S. has the will to stand for what is just.

Clinton's response to terrorism

It pains me to hear people citing the 9/11 report and claim there was no relationship between Iraq and Al-Queda. The media cites this report as fact, when the actual facts tell a different story.

Fact: The Clinton Adminsitration indicted Osama Bin Laden on 11/04/98 for the 08/07/98 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The indictment said Iraq and Al-Queda would work together on weapons development. Without the aid of 20/20 hindsight, what other conclusion would a rational person make than to conclude Iraq had WMD and intended to share them with Al-Queda.

In the indictment, the following statement was made:

"In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the Government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq," the indictment said.

Source: U.S. State Department Press release, 11/04/98

Fact: The CIA had a Predator drone over Afghanistan in the Fall of 2000 that spotted Osama bin Laden. Click here to see the footage.

Fact: Bill Clinton, after 9/11 attacks, admitted to a private meeting with businessmen that he was offered Osama Bin Laden on a silver platter by the Government of Sudan. Click here to hear Clinton in his own words tell the story.

These are facts, not opinions. Clinton had numerous opportunities to do something about Osama Bin Laden and chose to treat the threat posed by him as a law enforcement issue. He did not seek to kill him, he sought to arrest him.

We hear the same rhetoric out of John Kerry. John Kerry says he wishes to try him in the United States. Trying someone in court implies placing them under arrest. Have we not learned, as a country, that the only way to deal with these people is to kill them?

Unfortunately, I think it take another 9/11-type attack for people to stop politicizing the issue of terrorism and realize that the only way to deal with it to kill terrorists en mass. How long will the media portray Islam as a peaceful religion and the perpetrators of terrorism as extremists? Read through the Koran and you'll see that intolerance against non-Muslims is precisely what is preached the the Koran.

Kerry on Healthcare

Anybody listen to the convetion address regarding healthcare? I liked Kerry's importation of cheaper drugs because it makes sense. I do not, however, agree with much else with him regarding healthcare.

A big part of the reason car insurance, medical insurance, and consumer goods costs going up has to do with the "litigation tax." There are many doctors out there that can't afford to practice medicine because of the insurance costs associated with their line of work. Increased litigation leads to 1) fewer physicians (less supply) and 2) higher costs for those that are left which are passed on to the consumer. A lot of physicians aren't even practicing medicine anymore. Take a look through some of the Wall Street research that is published and you'll notice more and more physicians dispensing medical investment advice rather than engaging in actual patient care. You spend 8 years in medical school and you gotta find a way to pay off all those loans!

There should be a "three strikes" rule for lawyers. File three frivilous lawsuits in a five year period and you're disbarred. There should also be rules like "loser pays" in cases where punitive damages are sought. Let people sue for actual damages and the "slip and fall" lawyers can do work pro bono. If the plaintiff seeks punitive damages, let them incur the bill if they lose the case in court. There's too much of an incentive to sue today. As it stands now, it's cheaper to sue and win than it is to buy a lottery ticket and win--and the awards from lawsuits often match or exceed lottery jackpots.

As an example of how awry our tort system has gone, I know a person who hit a pedestrian. There was an attorney that was an eye witness that observed the woman jumping in front of my friend's car. The passenger in my friend's car also observed the woman jump in front of the car. The woman was hit 200 feet from a crosswalk. The woman sued the car manufacturer, the insurance company, and my friend for $50,000. Rather than go to court, the insurance company settled for $40,000. Rather disgusting, given two witnesses (one that was completely independent) saw her deliberately put herself in peril.

Those are the types of lawsuits John Edwards engaged in. He's not looking out for the little guy, he's looking out for himself. There has to be a disincentive to sue and a three-strikes law and "lower pays" in cases where punitive damages are sought would go a long way towards helping to fix our legal system, which is the root cause of higher medical costs.

Fascinating GOP Documentary

The GOP assembled all of Kerry's comments on Iraq. Normally I would dismiss it as partisan banter, but Kerry is doing all the talking. Everyone thinking of voting for Kerry should watch this movie. This man has no beliefs of his own and I find his lack of certainty very scary. The documentary is 11 minutes long, very educational, and well worth watching.