Anti-Kerry Multimedia Extravaganza

There is great joy in Mudville today. The New York Football Jets now stand at 5-0 for the first time in their history. Although nearly succumbing to the trap awaiting them against the 'Niners on Sunday, the Jets ultimately prevailed in a 22-14 victory. The Patriots also beat the Seahawks 30-20. As Base10 mentioned last week, this now sets the stage for a Pats-Jets battle between undefeated teams next week.

The Jets did not play well. Down by two scores at half-time, the situation looked grim. But they managed to pull themselves together in the second half. Perhaps this tenuous win will motivate the boys in green to play a full sixty minutes against their division rival--and 20 time winner--next week.

The NY Giants, our cross town cousins, were on a bye this week.

On to the fray...

Lileks has a link to a great photo today. Check it out.

If Lileks expressed some righteous indignation today it's nothing of course compared to the righteous indignation of the Secretary General. Kofi Annan believes that the United States has made the world more dangerous because of the war.

I cannot not say the world is safer when you consider the violence around us, when you look around you and see the terrorist attacks around the world and you see what is going on in Iraq.

Ah Kofi, perhaps you are--as they say--an idiot. Does the Secretary General think these people were safer with Saddam in power? Maybe the Iranians would be better off too. It's certainly safer for the Israelis, but since the official UN policy on Israel seems to be something along the lines of "kill the Jews by driving them into the sea," I guess Kofi's right not to consider this.

And this makes it better. When asked if the Oil for Food scandal influenced UN members to lift sanctions against Iraq, Annan asserted,

I don't think the Russian or the French or the Chinese government would allow itself to be bought because some of his companies are getting relative contracts of the Iraqi authorities. I don't believe that at all. It's inconceivable. These are very serious and important governments. You are not dealing with banana republics.

Base10 disagrees. First, comparing France to a Banana republic is an insult to Banana republics everywhere. Second, the fact that Kofi Annan, himself linked to the Oil for Food racketeeing, makes this statement of indignation is priceless. Corrupt apparachiks in France? How dare you suggest that!

Kofi added,

The United States should have relied on the integrity of the United Nations to solve the Iraq situation. Given the UN's proven track record at solving complex international problems like the genocides in Bosnia, Rawanda and Darfur, the United States should have relied on the UN to contain Saddam.

Well okay, maybe Base10 made up that last bit, but it would be funny eh?

And if you thought Kofi was indignant, check out the New York Times. On Sunday, the Times endorsed John Kerry for president. No surprise here. Who didn't expect it, after all? But after reading the editorial, Base10 was close to becoming physically ill. It seems that the Times changed from being an apologist for the angry let to its shrillest voice. Just a few examples from the piece (which reads as if it had been written by the Kerry campaign):

There is no denying that this race is mainly about Mr. Bush's disastrous tenure. Nearly four years ago, after the Supreme Court awarded him the presidency, Mr. Bush came into office amid popular expectation that he would acknowledge his lack of a mandate by sticking close to the center. Instead, he turned the government over to the radical right.

Jeez, for an anti-gun publication, the Times is sure willing to take a shotgun approach. Bush's tenure was disasterous. Forget about the Afghan elections. Forget about the Libyan surrender. Forget about the fact that two-thirds of Iraq is in relative peace and the rest is on the way. Forget about al Qaeda members on the run in the rest of the world.

And the Supreme Court awarded Bush the presidency? Better get that "stole the election" theme in there! Nothing like working up the base!

Don't forget that Bush also turned the government over to the radical right, whatever that means. Forget about the Medicare drug bill. Forget about No Child Let Behind. Forget about the proposed guest worker law. Bush's administration is not too far to the right, it's too far to the left for conservative tastes.

When the nation fell into recession, the president remained fixated not on generating jobs but rather on fighting the right wing's war against taxing the wealthy. As a result, money that could have been used to strengthen Social Security evaporated, as did the chance to provide adequate funding for programs the president himself had backed. No Child Left Behind, his signature domestic program, imposed higher standards on local school systems without providing enough money to meet them.

This one is just ripe for rebuttal. It angers Base10 that the Times seems to assume its readers are idiots. The nation was begining a recession when Bush took office. It was exacerbated by the 9/11 attacks. What did Bush do? Lowered taxes. Hmm...seems like basic Keynesian economics here. Lower taxes to boost GDP. Absolutely non-controversial strategy from an undergraduate Macroeconomics course. The Times assumes you've neve taken that course or you were too stupid to understand its basic concepts. Oh and don't forget the jobs theme! Forget that the unempooyment rate today is almost identical to the rate when Bill Clinton was runniing for his second term. If Bush is too be judged on jobs, he has apparently done at least as well as his predecessor.

There's to much here to argue every point. But here's one more:

If Mr. Bush had wanted to make a mark on an issue on which Republicans and Democrats have long made common cause, he could have picked the environment. Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor chosen to run the Environmental Protection Agency, came from that bipartisan tradition. Yet she left after three years of futile struggle against the ideologues and industry lobbyists Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had installed in every other important environmental post. The result has been a systematic weakening of regulatory safeguards across the entire spectrum of environmental issues, from clean air to wilderness protection.

There are many things you can criticise about Bush. His environmental policies are not one of them. He has been largely bipartisan and effective. The environment is not on the verge of destruction.

One last point. The Times fixation on the hate Bush agenda is telling in another way. Pundits are seemingly unanimous that the race will be tight. That means half the country disagrees with the Times. That also means half the country may stop reading it if they haven't done so already.

On to the multimedia:

Check out this song about Kerry.

The Swift Boat Veterans have two new commercials. The first one here is pretty tame. The second is absolutely scathing.

For a chuckle, check out this ad from the Club for Growth.
- posted by Base10 @ 2:12 PM