Mark A. Kilmer (the weblog)

Neither candidate scored any major points. Kerry stressed that the President made a colossal mistake by invading Iraq in the way that he did, while Bush hammered away at Kerry for turning off allies with his “wrong war, wrong place, wrong time” and his inconsistency.

I watched the debate on C-SPAN, for which they had what they called the “Debate Podium Watch.” I could see Kerry while Bush spoke and vice-versa, something proscribed by the rules for the networks.

I thought Kerry opened strong and finished strong. He pushed for an undefined change in an uncertain time, however, and I don’t know that one can sell that.

It wasn’t the performance Kerry needed to win the election; neither was it the one the President needed to end this thing early.

The Dick Clarke stuff. Kerry mentioned a “terrorism czar who had been there since the Reagan Administration,” and quoted Clarke’s snooty pabulum.

Monsieur Corette is good post-debate stuff.

It’s a tough one.

Even up to today, he [Kerry] offered his latest contradiction and yet another new position on Iraq. And so I think, obviously, Senator Kerry has his work cut out for him trying to bring some clarity to his shifting positions and his uncertainty in the time of war.

heard John Kerry this morning on Good Morning America for example, say his objective is to get the American troops home. We clearly want them home, but that’s not the way to state the objective. The objective is to finish the mission, to get the job done, to do it right.

The Montreal Expos were the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal. (French speakers called the World’s Fair, “l’Exposition internationale,” Expo for short.)

“Senators” would be kewl, but I bet they go with something more politically correct. Perhaps the Washington Democrats will play in Heinz-Kerry Field and the team will be a perennial loser.

“Start spreading the news…”

In the first game against the Minnesota Twins this afternoon, they broke Johan Santana’s streak of 12-straight starts with a win, but he didn’t get the loss, either, leaving after 5 with a 3-1 lead. The Yankees, however, secured their league leading 60th come-from-behind, taking the game 5-3.

Game 2, Jon Lieber picked up the win as the Yankees cruised, 5-4.

The Red Sox lost, the Magic Numbers is 1. You know, for the size of the checks George writes…

Would they admit it in the modern world?

He has some excellent analysis of the measure. Click on his name.

There is S 89, the Universal National Service Act of 2003, introduced last year by Democrat Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina.

HR 163 is the same bill, introduced in the House by Democrat Charlie Rangel of New York. It was co-sponsored by Democrats Jim McDermott of Washington, John Conyers of Michigan, John Lewis of Georgia, Pete Stark of California, and Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii.

Of the seven men listed as sponsors of the two versions, at least two — McDermott and Stark — are insane, and one — Hollings — is borderline senile. The others are basically just who they are.

But…When the facts don’t fit the model JF Kerry needs to be elected, he or his crew either deny and contradict them or simply invent new ones.

“When I am your vice president we will find al-Qaida. We will find these terrorists where they are and we will crush them before they can do any harm on America.”

That is in stark contrast to what the Bush Administration has been doing, which is to find al Qaeda, find these terrorists where they are and crush them before they can do any harm on America. So to speak.

What Edwards did not tell us is that he will don his “Elliot Ness rubber body and Halloween mask” and swagger to the theme from The Untouchables.

From there, I visited Jim Miller. He offers us the following, gleaned from John Fund’s book Stealing Elections:

15,000 Votes: That’s how many votes John Fund thinks were stolen from George W. Bush in Palm Beach county, in the 2000 election.

He gives us Fund’s reasoning, which makes sense to me.

The most powerful elected Democrat in the country, an incumbent minority leader, might soon receive his walking papers.

Will Dick Durbin succeed him as minority leader, or will they go straight to Hillary in a handbasket? (The question is facetious, but I wouldn’t put it past Toesucker (Dick Morris) to speculate in all seriousness about this.)

Dr. Keyes had to know what he was getting into.

It is good to know where Kerry stands on the war. It has been a long time coming. Nevertheless, it is one thing to be a committed opponent, another matter to be an obstructionist to progress toward resolving the conflict. In his remarks, Kerry has slipped dangerously toward becoming the latter.

I posted a similar sentiment earlier, a tiny, tiny, little, tad bit more harsh. (The post is “JF Kerry had to attack Allawi.”)

Coors has been accused of having, seven years ago, called for lowering the drinking age to 18; Coors insists that he argued that the drinking age is a matter for the State decisions.

Your patriotic support means the world to us! So for those of you that we will never see in the pubs, we’ve made it easy for you to say thank you, here.

If you approve of the job that America’s troops are doing in the Middle East, and other parts of the world, you probably also believe that we deserve a cold beer. We believe so, too!

It says on their site that at least some of them have deployed to Iraq.

They’ll be cleaning the fan for weeks.

He’s a fine composer in his won right, but he’s no JS Bach; of course not, but he is of the spawn. His godfather was the baroque master George Philipp Telemann, eventually replacing Telemann as the Kantor at the Johanneum in Hamburg, Germany.

It might be time for Kerry to introduce himself to the American people. (Perhaps this time, he will introduce himself as the avuncular character who gets the girl in some cheap, dime store novel.)

If the similarity between Lincoln and Bush ended there, the President would still be better suited to lead this country in the years ahead.

Terry Francona made the same sort of mistake as did Grady Little in Game 7 of the ALCS last year: he stuck with Pedro for too long. It got Little fired, but Francona still has the playoffs ahead. Martinez is washed-up.

The magic number is 4, and if any Red Sox fans are reading this, forgive my partisanship. There’s a pretty good chance that these past two weekends are a preview of the ALCS this year, and all bets are off in the postseason.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he appeared in the next month,” said Heinz Kerry, alluding to a possible capture by United States and allied forces before election day.

Or perhaps she believes some officials who have suggested that we are close to capturing the mutant-in-chief. What do you think? [HT, Drudge.]

Again, Kerry cannot define himself because there is nothing there to define. He has tried to define himself numerous times and in quite a few ways, and the closest he was able to get is at his Beantown convention, where he defined himself as having served in Vietnam. He did serve there, and Rassman says Kerry pulled him out of the water (though there’s this).

He has also had some success in defining himself as an ultra-diplomat, though his only diplomatic success came when he and John McCain helped President Clinton to normalize relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (I pretend no expertise on this matter.)

Putting aside efforts to control the federal deficit before the elections, Republican and Democratic leaders agreed Wednesday to extend $145 billion worth of tax cuts sought by President Bush without trying to pay for them.

These were not additional tax cuts; rather, they were an extension of cuts already on the board. Tax cuts are not a government program for which one has to pay with tax increases.

Yeah, it’s the New York Times, the nation’s wordiest daily editorial, cover-to-cover.

Here’s one thing different about this year’s presidential debates: In an apparent first, a light will flash for TV audiences when a candidate’s speaking time is up. That will be followed 15 seconds later by a warning from a moderator.

AND:

U.S. News’ Roger Simon: “One reason the Republicans agreed to three debates, after hinting they would only do two, is that they firmly believe that the more the American public sees John Kerry, the less they like him. And they would like them to see more of John Kerry.”

A very, very bad candidate, that one.

This is a nice precedent: “Renounce your U.S. citizenship or we’ll take you to court and imprison you for a lengthy time.” Or, if the government really wanted rid of you for some reason, they could threaten you with death.

The Constitution provides no provision for renunciation anyway, not that it matters.

Either way, if Burkett reached Lockhart through Mapes, then Lockhart’s insistence that they did not discuss the docs is almost impossible to believe.

Look into his eyes next time he speaks. “You’re getting sleepy, sleepy, sleepy…” Then again, it’s nothing to do with mesmerization and all to do with intellectual lassitude.

The Red Sox beat the Royals, 3-2, on their final batter. I was listening.

The Yankees magic number is 8.

This hole I’ve dug, I insist, is a nice place.

He could write in the name of his late father, Senator John Chafee (R-Rhode Island), except he passed away in 1999 and is probably turning in his grave.

To hear some press experts tell it, CBS’s admission on Monday that it was duped into using questionable documents about President Bush’s National Guard service during the Vietnam War was a watershed moment brought on by a small army of Internet-based commentators known as bloggers.

Someone called bloggers and band of “self-proclaimed experts.” They ought to open the Pullitzer to bloggers, you know; it would at least be funny.

Boston lost, as well. One more day at 4 1/2.

[The aforementioned Del] Ali said Bush is slightly ahead but that Kerry still could turn things around, especially if the situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate.

Well, maybe twelve years ago, it would have been the final word; I do not know that this isn’t the most profound political observation ever, but many in this generation of Democrats have lost the capacity to respect Barbara Bush. That is sad.

“I’m the President and I’m the person who has set policy for this country. And what I’m assuring you of, and assuring your readers of, and assuring the Iraqis of, and our troops in harm’s way, is that we’re on the right path and I intend to keep us there.”

Are we to believe a candidate in trouble who has wanted to be President his whole life or the man who sets policy for this country? Or neither, if one wants to be cynical?

Jon Lieber came in and knocked ‘em dead through 6 no-hit innings, while the Yanks chased the once-and-future reliever Derek Lowe after a single inning. And the fans chanted: “1918! 1918! 1918! 1918!” It was payback for the heartbreaker last night.

This is what I wanted to see from this Yankees team. If they could take the field and thoroughly thrash the second best team in baseball this year, there is hope for this club yet.

Of note, Giambi sat the game out, and Ruben Sierra DH’ed. He did nothing. The Captain, A-Rod, Bernie, the catcher, and the Sayonara Kid carried the offense.

I feel like singing the theme from Clinton/Gore-2000: “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow…”

Or am I getting ahead of myself?

My reaction is that the secretary-general was incorrect. We believe that the war was necessary and it had rested on sound principles of international law. We have made our case and we have, in our words, moved forward directly in the spirit of defense of our position, and of course, it’s a position held by Australia and the United Kingdom and all the other members of the coalition.

I spoke with the secretary-general and we know that we have different views on this, but our view is clear and our view is based on international law.

He said, basically, that he doesn’t want any trouble in front of the President’s Tuesday speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

“We have always considered that it’s international law that constitutes the framework for any action, notably against terrorism or for stability in the world.”

When or if some lunatic mutants choke Marseille with Ricin, do the French want to hold their breath and wait for Russia and the PRC to tell them what they may do? Or have the terrorists broken French law?

It was 2-1 New York when this was posted. Tom Gordon will almost certainly pitch the 8th and Mariano the 9th.

It’s Derek Lowe vrs, Joe Lieber at the Stadium tomorrow afternoon (1:15 scheduled), weather likely not permitting. Sox manager Terry Francona ought to be fired for not demoting Lowe to long relief.

Navy Personnel Command FOIA Officer Dave German wrote in an e-mail to Judicial Watch that the Navy “withheld thirty-one pages of documents from the responsive military personnel service records as we were not provided a release authorization.”

Kerry has to sign a Standard Form 180 to authorize the release of the remaining documents, and he has not done so yet.

He had better do it soon, before CBS News starts inventing the documents.

Still, the headline calls Arizona a “Battleground State” and insists: “Long a Republican Bulwark, a Growing Arizona Is in Play.”

It sounds an awful lot like Kerry explaining his position on Iraq to Imus.

If the memos were faked, CBS News used fake memos in an attempt to influence a Presidential election. For a journalist, that’s treason. It’s time for Rather to get the hell out of there. In fact, it’s time for CBS to fold its news division and concentrate on the various incarnations of CSI.

Last week, on 60 Minutes, we heard for the first time the full story from a Texas politician, former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes, who says he helped President George Bush get a highly coveted place in the National Guard.

60 Minutes also presented documents for the first time which indicated that once Mr. Bush was accepted into the Guard, he failed to live up to the requirements of his service, including following an order. And we also reported that the documents were written by Lt. Bush’s National Guard squad commander, Col. Jerry Killian, who passed away in 1984.

In the past week, those documents have been subjected to extraordinary scrutiny and criticism

The Political Annotation on why Barnes’s allegations can be discarded was written last Wednesday and can be found here.

Have the documents finally been “subjected to extraordinary… scrutiny?” That was your job, Dan-O.

It is Texans for Truth. Since Dan-O knows that it would be derelict to accept documents from that group, it is possible that they came through Kitty Kelly’s publisher, Random House. [See post below].

I’m sorry Dan-O had to drag you into his nightmare, Ms. Knox.

In this years Senate race, 61-percent favored Chuckie Schumer, with 13-percent backing Republican state Assemblyman Howard Mills and 9-percent behind Conservative Party candidate Dr. Marilyn O’Grady.

It’s macabre, but if it works for them.

He might be a Yankee next year, what with Steinbrenner and his wallet.

Eric Erickson (Confessions of a Political Junkie) has scooped this world and others with word that Dan Rather reports that CBS News has obtained photographic proof that there is, in fact, life on Mars. CBS News has authenticated the photo — a copy of a copy — but there is still some dispute.

To the Democrats: EVERY VOTE COUNTS, right?

It’s obvious that it is cathartic for the Dems, in that they can probably think of nothing else to do at this point. For that reason, it is also desperation.

The Mullahs must be trembling. Sorry, guys, but they’re on a mission from god.

“Today, Secretary of State (Colin) Powell made clear [on NBC’s Meet the Press] that there is no connection between Saddam Hussein and the attacks on September the 11th,” Edwards said before an AFL-CIO rally [in Detroit]. “From this day forward, this administration should never suggest that there is.”

Powell said no connection had been proven to his satisfaction. No one in the Administration has suggested such a definite connection, although Representative Henry Hyde (R-Missouri) recently averred: “There is a direct connection between the war in Iraq and the bombing of Sept. 11.” He explained that ” the troops in Iraq are “fighting the same evil and upholding the same virtues [as the passengers on Flight 93]. It is one and the same conflict.” If that counts to Edwards as a proscribed linkage, Hyde’s not with the Administration.

And Henry Hyde is right.

The Seattle Mariners shut out Boston, 2-0.

Or did we lose it when the first shot was fired in the civil war?

You know, a nation born in a violent revolution never really had an innocence of the type referenced in the first place. We do fall asleep, though, forgetting, ignoring, or mistreating the threats.

Well, we cannot forget September 11, 2001. We cannot ignore the terrorists. May God forbid we ever have a government which refuses to treat the terror threat as it must be treated. We must not treat terrorist attacks as if they were law enforcement problems to be witnessed and dealt with accordingly.

Everywhere I looked, I felt, I saw the visage of Spongebob Squarepants. He adorned pillows for sale, T-shirts on children, Spongebob Sweatshirts, everything.

Leap the Dips is the nation’s oldest operating wooden rollercoaster. On either side of a pair of vending machines in front, up on the wooden entry platform itself, was the image of Spongebob Squarepants.

I’ve accepted it and am ready to move on.

Don’t buy the “bloggers as watchdog” line. We do what we do, and most of the time that’s whatever the heck we want.

The genesis of this one was with the Freepers, and they never cease to amaze me. I remember when the old Prodigy dialup online service started clamping down on the Clinton scandal posts and Mike Robinson decided that he was going to do his own thing. What a thing!

The streaking Red Sox play Oakland tonight.

It’s good background music.

“I want to emphasize: I stand by my president. We are in a time of war, and I stand behind my president. There is not joy in reporting such a story, but my job as a journalist is not to be afraid, and when we come with facts, and legitimate questions supported by witnesses and documents that we believe to be authentic, to raise those questions no matter how unpleasant they are,” Rather said Friday.

Rather is invoking the question of his own patriotism by mentioning support for his President in a time of war. Or perhaps he’s laying the groundwork for accusing his doubters of questioning his patriotism.

If he stood by the President, he would not have been so quick to believe a scurrilous charge based on impeachable evidence.

He keeps digging himself deeper. This is an example of a time when someone should admit their mistakes and try to move forward from there. The more he denies, lies, obfuscates, and attempts to paper over his initial mistake, the more he ensnares himself in his own predicament.

He cannot extricate himself. As a supposed “objective news reporter,” he has no recourse to the lazy excuse of “nuance.”

Again, I’ll save my pathos until after the election.

Speaking of oil money used for reconstruction, Schroeder demanded that German companies be allowed to compete for Iraq’s reconstruction contracts. The bottom line.

That, the California Democrat had done for himself, but the tabloids’ publisher and Condit settled out of court for an undisclosed sum Thursday.

Condit’s wife Carolyn sued for $10-million but also settled for an undisclosed sum.

No one asked John Edwards about these lawsuits, and he hasn’t commented.

Then we’d have waited for five hours in a hot and smelly auditorium with 7,000 other people we had probably never seen before, many of whom no doubt chewed tobacco.

I watched the speech [transcript] on television, and I’d heard it before. It’s a great speech, and my wife thought it refreshing that he work a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled partially.

The Yanks won game 2 this evening, 10-5, with Tanyone Sturtze snatching the win after relieving Brad “Admiral” Halsey in the 4th. Reliever Paul Quantrill continued his errant ways, but the