Republidolphin goes copyright-wingin'

The last post included a link to a DNC-related site, so CNB wanted to be fair and post to an RNC-related site, meaning that Republicans who read CNB can't call CNB partisan (oh, no one reads this -- much less leaves comments -- and CNB knows it). The site is called "Flipper Cam" (it is the "top story" on the RNC site), and features a person in a dolphin suit in Wisconsin, asking which way to "Lambert Field" (some may recall that Kerry referred to Lambeau Field as "Lambert Field", a critical gaffe in a swing state).

CNB notes that the site plays the theme from the show "Flipper" in the background. However, the RNC might want to take note that in September, a federal appeals court held that unauthorized use of copyrighted songs, even if they are unrecognizable samples, requires payment to the copyright holder. Think the RNC got permission and paid for use of the song?

If not, here are some tips to help them get that permission. Tip to RNC: the copyright holder, under registration number RE-529-962 is Turner Entertainment Company, now part of Time Warner. I wouldn't worry too much. Unlike Kazaa users (or the guy who registered roadrunner.com), you'll probably be fine - they probably liked the tax cuts.

Eye-rollin' down the highway

CNB commented on the Bush equivalent of the "Gore sigh" (as did every other known blogger, pundit, or human it appears), but here is video of it.

Best debate quotes

From the transcript:

Bush:

"Of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us. I know that."
In response to Kerry's assertion that Bush's statement that "but the enemy attacked us, Jim" confused Saddam Hussein with bin Laden.

"You know, it's hard work to try to love her as best as I can, knowing full well that the decision I made caused her loved one to be in harm's way."
Did he practice his love on her also?

"Of course we're after Saddam Hussein -- I mean bin Laden."
Oopsie!

"I didn't need anybody to tell me to go to the United Nations. I decided to go there myself. "
Good for you, big fella! You show 'em!! Nobody's the boss of you!

Unfortunately, the uhs and ums (and just dead silence) do not go on a transcript, so CNB cannot include those moments. Those kinda scared me, actually, so maybe it is best they are not included.

Kerry:

"I have no intention of wilting. I've never wilted in my life. And I've never wavered in my life."
Uh . . .don't make CNB do a side-by-side comparison of statements, Mr. Nuance


CNB apologizes for only including one Kerry quote (especially with the CNB's self-given label of non-partisan), but Bush always provides so much more material.

Debate review (like you need another one)

Kerry:

1. You were in Vietnam. We all know, and appreciate it. Let it go.
2. Lay off on the "Iraq is wrong" too much - you did make some statements that open you up. You kept it fairly limited, but be careful on going too heavy.
3. Nice job on the "you can be certain and be wrong". Good sound bite.
4. You said not long ago that you would have voted to give Bush authority to go to Iraq, even knowing what you know now. You can't really go back and hit Bush for that now -- all it does it lead into the flip-flop label.
5. You worked on your timing, didn't you? Hit those timing deadline marks, you did.
6. You seemed to have woken up. Be careful not to give too many nuanced statements in the next few days, as it will just look like you are backing down from a statement.
7. That being said, don't just repeat yourself, like you did tonight. And don't say "I am too" when Bush talks of being resolute. I lost a high school student council election by doing that (not specifically the "resolute" issue, but same general logic). Your best moments were when you just answered the question.

Bush:

1. "Trust me" is not a good platform, especially for you right now. Wouldn't have worked for Clinton in '99, and that was just sex.
2. It might just be me, but your continual stammering reminded me of Parker Posey saying "I'd like to make a healthy...low-fat or non-fat....healthy....blizzard " in Waiting for Guffman. (rent the movie if you don't get that -- very funny stuff)
3. You looked mad on the reaction shots, and creepily like Alfred E. Neumann. Remember the "Gore sigh" from 2000? That could be you now. Sorry your negotiators couldn't push the networks harder.
4. You got some good shots in, especially on the "I agree with him" stuff where Kerry voted for Iraq.
5. Mixing up Hussein and bin Laden might have been just a misspeak, but it sure looked Freudian from here.
6. You dodged a lot of questions (I wanted to hear you actually answer the question about if the world would be safer or not if Kerry wins - Cheney cannot shut up about that), which tends to work for you. Pissed me off, but might work for you.

Overall, Bush looked like he was lost a lot, and Kerry didn't make me fall asleep. Kerry wins this one. However, I cannot imagine that Bush's team is not going to whip him into shape before round 2.

I cannot wait to see the VP debate. I just don't think Cheney will keep his cool, and an Iraq-9/11 comment will come out.

If the Taliban is gone, who keeps shooting at our soldiers?

It has been reported that while campaigning this week, Pres. Bush stated:

And as a result of the United States military, Taliban no
longer is in existence." (emphasis added)

This appears to be an accurate quote (cannot find a link to transcript other than this or in a press release from Kerry campaign), and folks are noting that sounds like former Pres. Gerald Ford's infamous, unfortunate statement in a 1976 presidential debate with Jimmy Carner that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe."

Another one from December 2001:

Well, Jordan, you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my Chief of Staff, Andy Card -- actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much time to think
about it.

And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack."

In case you did not catch this, Pres. Bush stated that he saw the first plane hitting the WTC as it occurred. There is no question that it was not televised live (and CNB does not subscribe to conspiracy theories related to this), so it may be that Pres. Bush was just mistaken. However, Pres. Bush repeated his recollection in January 2002, which would tend to make it appear less likely that the December 2001 statement was a mere slip of the tongue. Remember Al Gore and the Internet -- seems kind of inconsequential by comparison, doesn't it?

It was well-reported that Kerry took RNC heat yesterday for his fractured explanation of his previous statement about voting "for the $87 billion before [he] voted against it" (which factcheck.org did a better job explaining than Kerry ever has).

Malkin misses irony of Bible quote - whodathunkit?

I haven't the time to do a dissertation upon Michelle Malkin (no cite -- CNB doesn't cite to her, Michael Moore, or anyone of that intellectually dishonest ilk -- whether on the left or right) and her views (extremely conservative, in the event you did not know). However, I did run across an article of hers criticizing Kerry for what she perceives to be spite and haughtiness (now there is a word you do not hear/read that much anymore). As she is writing on a Christian website, she includes this nugget from the Bible:

Proverbs 18:12 counsels: "Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility." CNB does cite to sources, so that explains the aforementioned refusal to cite to Malkin.

There may be an issue as to whether Kerry is haughty - he sure isn't burdened with a dynamic personality, to put it mildly. However, Ms. Malkin misses the point that her quote is equally applicable (arguably more so) to Pres. Bush (who I feel fairly certain she supports). As CNB as discussed previously, Pres. Bush does not do well with admitting he is wrong, and a lesson in humility might do him good. To be fair, most, if not all, of us suffer from the same problem, although not all of us test out our abilities while overseeing major international wars.

It is odd that Ms. Malkin seems to be unabile to spot irony, because after watching Ms. Malkin's appearance on Hardball in August, one would certainly think she would have learned something of the value of humility.

To both Kerry and Bush (and all of us, really -- certainly Michelle Malkin), maybe Proverbs 21:23 is more helpful: "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."

Martha Stewart to become Mountain Mama

I don't know what is most odd about this story:

1. Martha Stewart is spending 5 months in West Virginia (although CNB notes that it is "almost heaven")
2. Martha Stewart will earn between 12 and 40 cents a day

As a public service, CNB's crack investigative team has confirmed that Martha Stewart's fellow inmates will not include would-be-Gerald-Ford-killers Squeaky Fromme (currently in a Texas prison) and Sara Jane Moore (currently in a California prison), as is implied in the story.

Starbucks raises prices --- America asks: "How?"

Starbucks announced today that it would raise the price of its beverages by 11 cents at its 4,500 stores in North America because of increases in the cost of coffee and sugar. Oddly, the nice people at Regal Coffee Service can provide Starbucks coffee for 19 cents a cup. CNB does not know if Starbucks cares to discuss its profit margin.

There - something non-political for a change.

Karzai ventures outside Kabul (an item that should not be news)

Remember Afghanistan? That is the country that the US invaded back in late 2001, because the folks in charge there, the Taliban, were harboring Osama bin Laden, a terrorist whose thugs attacked the US in Sept. 2001. The brave US-led forces overthrew the Taliban, and helped set up an interim government there. Then the US went to Iraq in early 2003, and Afghanistan became less of a priority. The US still has a substantial military presence in Afghanistan (1000 more on the way), although experts say that up to half of the intelligence and special forces hunting for bin Laden were diverted from Afghanistan to Iraq.

Now, it is a news story when the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, travels outside the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul. In fact, President Karzai rarely travels inside the country at all. Worse yet, the remnants of the Taliban are now threatening more attacks, which the US confirms. Adding on to that, Afghanistan's opium trade has revived and is thriving under the country's U.S.-backed leaders -- experts say that is not likely to change any time soon no matter who wins next month's first direct presidential election.

All that pleasant news notwithstanding, in light of the President's apparent inability to recognize (or his refusal to acknowledge) problem situations, CNB presumes that Pres. Bush would say that things are just swell in Afghanistan, and that they are moving toward democracy, what with the election set for October 9.

CNB hopes nothing but the best for Afghanistan, and hopes that things swiftly improve. (This last sentence throws a bone to anyone, e.g. Christopher Hitchens, who might think CNB -- a non-partisan blog, thank you -- wants bad things to happen in Afghanistan)

Mixed feelings on this. . .

From the AP:

A pregnant woman in the DC suburb of Wheaton, Maryland said she was handcuffed by transit police and forced to lie on her stomach during an arrest that began with her talking too loudly on her cell phone. Police say she refused to stop cursing loudly during a cell phone conversation, and became abusive and uncooperative. She twice tried to break away, but the officer caught her arm, then placed her face down, handcuffed her, and charged her with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. A doctor later said that the five-month-old fetus was not harmed.

Con: She's pregnant -- you don't need to get so tough-guy on her. Is there that little crime that cell phones require this kind of response? You are near DC, you know.

Pro: I hate loud cell phone talkers, and really try not to be one myself. If this woman was as abusive as the police claim, preggo or not, she brought most of this (the cuffing still seems a bit much) of this on herself. Absent the cuffing, if this shuts up at least one of the jackasses I encounter every day yapping on about his golf game/prostate/favorite TV show, then this is something I can get behind.

Administration Lowers the Bar in Iraq -- Republicans Parrot Kerry and No One Cares

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, on the administration scaling back its goals for democracy in Iraq:

"One of them told me: 'When we went in there, I thought we would build American-style democracy. Hell, I'd be happy with Romanian-style democracy now.'"

Rep. Kolbe is not alone -- some significant Republicans are breaking ranks on Iraq. Republican Sen. John McCain (also of Arizona) said Bush was not being "as straight as maybe we'd like to see" with the American people about Iraq, (CNB notes that Kerry made a similar statement yesterday), which was said mere months after McCain called the plan in Iraq "inadequate." Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, said, "The fact is, we're in trouble. We're in deep trouble in Iraq." Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said "the incompetence in the administration" led to only $1 billion spent out of $18 billion appropriated last year for reconstruction efforts.

Why is it that when Kerry criticizes the decisions leading to the current state there, he is flip-flopping, but when several prominent Republicans say the same thing, nothing is said whatsoever? That seems a wee bit intellectually dishonest to the good ol' CNB.

Who would Jesus punch?

From the wires:

Greek Orthodox and Franciscan priests got into a fist fight Monday at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Christianity's holiest shrine, after arguing over whether a door in the basilica should be closed during a procession.

I've got nothing -- that one just speaks for itself.