Red vs. Blue

I've been adding some of Mathew's most excellent Red vs. Blue cards to the Remove Bush From Power! site.

They offer such a clear illustration of the failed policies of Bush II, adding them was a must.

Right now they're pop-up links from specific phrases, but I think they may need a page all their own.

THIS guy has the late Sen. Wellstone's seat??

Coleman makes mistake about state's Great Lake
September 29, 2004
Washington Bureau correspondent Paul Sand


WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The city of Duluth located on Lake Erie? That's what Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., mistakenly said Tuesday in a speech on the Senate floor.

Coleman, who was speaking on an amendment to the National Intelligence Reform Bill, listed Minnesota's security challenges. He cited the Mall of America, the Prairie Island nuclear facility, the United States-Canada border and Duluth's status as a port city.

"We have Duluth, which is located on Lake Erie, which is the entryway, the gateway to the Great Lakes," he said as C-SPAN broadcast the proceedings. Duluth is on the shore of Lake Superior.

He acknowledged the mistake later and said he corrected the congressional record.

Yes, everyone has had a moment where they've said the wrong word. But this? In a prepared speech?

Let's read that again: Coleman... listed Minnesota's security challenges... "We have Duluth, which is located on Lake Erie, which is the entryway, the gateway to the Great Lakes..."

He's not even talking about the correct end of the Great Lakes- and didn't even use the name of the right lake for that! Lake Ontario (and the St. Lawrence Seaway) is the eastern-most lake, "gateway" to the Great Lakes. Duluth is the port farthest West on the Great Lakes.

Someone needs a serious geography lesson! If he doesn't even know such basic information about this state, he doesn't belong in one of our Senate seats.

How the heck can he possibly have gotten up to speak about Minnesota's security challenges, without having a freaking clue what they are?? Does nobody check his stuff?

Hell, if the staffers that help write and proof his speeches can't recognize such egregious errors, or be bothered to check up on facts in his speeches, it doesn't bode well for anything else he's said on the floor of the Senate, does it?


While both Wellstone and Coleman were born and raised elsewhere, Wellstone cared enough to learn about his adopted home state. Coleman has never seemed to care, and this is just one more example of that.

Gods, how the Wellstones are missed!

Crawford, TX paper endorses Kerry

The one and only paper in Crawford, Texas* has endorsed John Kerry for President.

The bulk of their endorsement describes how an editorial board that endorsed Bush four years ago has come to the realization that Bush is not what he claims to be. How he has let them (and us) down time and again. How he cannot be relied upon.

Few Americans would have voted for George W. Bush four years ago if he had promised that, as President, he would:

• Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits.
  
• Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans' benefits and military pay.
  
• Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent.
  
• Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure.
  
• Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids.
  
• Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and
  
• Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States, creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay.
  

These were elements of a hidden agenda that surfaced only after he took office.

The publishers of The Iconoclast endorsed Bush four years ago, based on the things he promised, not on this smoke-screened agenda.

Today, we are endorsing his opponent, John Kerry, based not only on the things that Bush has delivered, but also on the vision of a return to normality that Kerry says our country needs.

...

When examined based on all the facts, Kerry's voting record is enviable and echoes that of many Bush allies who are aghast at how the Bush administration has destroyed the American economy. Compared to Bush on economic issues, Kerry would be an arch-conservative, providing for Americans first. He has what it takes to right our wronged economy.

The re-election of George W. Bush would be a mandate to continue on our present course of chaos. We cannot afford to double the debt that we already have. We need to be moving in the opposite direction.

John Kerry has 30 years of experience looking out for the American people and can navigate our country back to prosperity and re-instill in America the dignity she so craves and deserves. He has served us well as a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and has had a successful career as a district attorney, lieutenant governor, and senator.

Kerry has a positive vision for America, plus the proven intelligence, good sense, and guts to make it happen.

That's why The Iconoclast urges Texans not to rate the candidate by his hometown or even his political party, but instead by where he intends to take the country.

The Iconoclast wholeheartedly endorses John Kerry.

(alternate link)


Added 9/30:
* Crawford Texas, population 705 (2000 census; est. 751 in 2002)
According to the 2000 census, there were 260 households in Crawford, with an average household size of 2.71.

The Iconoclast has a weekly circulation of 425- all of Crawford and much of the immediate area.