Monthly Archives: August 2004

August 29, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Happier days are here again

The most successful Republican convention in my memory was the one in 1988 that helped propel Vice President George Bush from underdog into runaway winner. What can we learn from that convention? Prior to the convention, the MSM drumbeat had successfully convinced most Americans that things were going badly and that change was needed. But objectively, that was not the case. The economy had been booming for at least five »
August 29, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Who is Andrew Antippas?

In his column today, Star Tribune deputy editor Jim Boyd asserts his “responsibility to separate legitimate political opinion — and the latitude is great — from deliberate smear.” According to Boyd, our two Star Tribune columns on John Kerry’s Kurtz chronicles have both failed the test. In our columns on Kerry’s bogus journey to Cambodia, we rely on the testimony of Andrew Antippas that the Khmer Rouge did not take »
August 29, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Truth and consequences

As we have noted, the Swiftvet controversy has allowed the Democrats and the MSM to whine once more about past instances of highly effective pro-Republican ads — not just the 1988 Horton ad, but also the classic Jesse Helms ad in which a white worker is shown receiving a rejection letter due to preferential race-based affirmative action. Although these ads were truthful — Dukakis did maintain a policy of letting »
August 29, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Worth a thousand words

(Courtesy of Cadet Happy.) »
August 29, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

What are they staring at?

I love this overview of the Swiftvet affair by Michael Graham. A few highlights: “Listening to John Kerry complain about the scrutiny his Vietnam record is getting is like Pamela Anderson complaining about the fact that guys keep staring at her breasts. What the hell did you expect?” “There are people in American public life for whom Vietnam would be a worse campaign issue than it is for John Kerry. »
August 29, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Bomb Plotters Arrested in New York

Yesterday, authorities announced the arrests of two men, one a Pakistani and one an American citizen, who conspired to bomb various sites in New York City, including a subway station one block from Madison Square Garden. It doesn’t sound as if their plans had gotten very far; they apparently didn’t have any bombs, and authorities say they may have no connection to al Qaeda or other groups. So they could »
August 29, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Fisking Boyd

Dave of No Illusions fisks Jim Boyd’s column responding to our column in today’s Star Tribune: “A little vignette of major media in decline: The Minneapolis Star Tribune.” »
August 29, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Putting Jessica back together

On August 8 we posted in full the first installment of the story by Star Tribune health care reporter Maura Lerner regarding the devastating brain injury suffered by Sgt. Jessica Clements in Iraq: “A purple heart for Jessica.” Lerner told the story of Jessica’s injury and recovery-in-progress with great humanity and without a trace of politcal comment. She let Jessica’s remarkable spirit shine through her story and let us see »
August 28, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Apocalypse Kerry Redux

The Star Tribune has posted our reply to last Sunday’s hit piece by deputy editorial page editor Jim Boyd: “Reply to Cambodia piece left main points unchallenged.” Here it is: Last Sunday, editorial staff member Jim Boyd wrote a column (“Republican smear machine can’t stand up to the facts”) attacking our Aug. 18 column on John Kerry’s Christmas in Cambodia fable as “fraudulent,” and attacking us personally as “smear artists” »
August 28, 2004 — John Hinderaker

A Day at the Fair

The Northern Alliance Radio Network broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair today. It was a lot of fun; we sat outdoors, in front of the Patriot studio on the fairgrounds, and a considerable crowd of people enjoyed the show. This was the day we had challenged Jim Boyd, assistant editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, to debate John Kerry’s excellent Cambodian adventure and his slanders of us in response to »
August 28, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Hugh’s take

We’ve read our column responding to deputy editorial page editor Jim Boyd in the early edition of Sunday’s (tomorrow’s) Minneapolis Star Tribune, as well as the accompanying response of our old-media adversary. Boyd attacked us for our initial “Apocalypse Kerry” column in an extraordinarily abusive column last Sunday. We’ll post our column and Boyd’s from tomorrow’s paper when they’re available online, but we won’t have much to add beyond the »
August 28, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Kerry and O’Neill — then and now

I recently saw, courtesy of CSPAN, the 1971 debate between John Kerry and John O’Neill on the Dick Cavett show (I also saw the debate in 1971). Many of our readers have probably seen the old debate by now and I’d be interested in their impressions. I would also encourage those who haven’t seen it to do so, if they get the opportunity. My impression is that John O’Neill did »
August 28, 2004 — Paul Mirengoff

Bursting the bubble, part II

Mark Steyn on John Kerry’s real band of brothers, the mainstream media, also known as “the sheep that didn’t baa” during the first weeks of the Swiftvet controversy. Steyn finds a nearly perfect analogy for Kerry’s plight: “A few months back, I bought a DVD set of an old TV variety show, black and white but digitally remastered. A bit too digitally remastered, as it turned out. It would be »
August 28, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Best of the Web, take 2

Dear readers, after you have read the article by Mac Owens linked below, please check out Jonathan Last’s “The not-so swift mainstream media” (thanks to reader Amelia for the tip), also from the new issue of the Weekly Standard. Last reviews the development of the story of John Kerry’s Kurtz chronicles over the past weeks with great care. Here’s the beauty part: [T]he big news on August 6 was that »
August 28, 2004 — John Hinderaker

Good Question

ABC’s “The Note” says today: Someday, Karl Rove’s precocious grandchildren will say to him, “Grandpapa, what’s it like to run a presidential campaign against an opponent who has had his own background thoroughly researched well before the general election; who is broadly personable and possessed of great campaign skills; and who projects an image of constancy?” To which Grandpapa Rove will reply, “I haven’t the slightest idea.” Of course, it »
August 28, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Fahrenheit 1971

Best of the Web today is the article by Mac Owens in the new issue of the Weekly Standard: “Fahrenheit 1971.” Owens meditates on Kerry’s 1971 testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is also published in the issue: “John Kerry, in his own words.” »
August 28, 2004 — Scott Johnson

Judge Posner’s dissent

Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner is a very smart guy with whom I frequently disagree with on matters of public policy, but whom I always learn from. His lengthy critique of the 9/11 Commission report appears as a book review in tomorrow’s New York Times Book Review: “The 9/11 Report: A dissent.” »