MCCAIN NEEDS TO GET A TRO
Kerry keeps mentioning how much he likes John McCain -- even showing how close they are in one of his new commercials. And the press falls all over themselves reporting how Mr. Bipartisan wants a fine Republican like John McCain on his team if he gets to the White House. Every time Kerry tells someone about McCain's tough Vietnam service, or his dreamy eyes or whatever he likes about him, McCain goes on TV and says he's not interested in John Kerry. They are not an item. They've never been out, and they certainly aren't going off 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue together. B

But the press that run with the Kerry Loves McCain stories seem to ignore McCain when he says he doesn't like Kerry "in that way".

Asked about all of these stories that say Kerry likes McCain for SecDef, McCain said he was not interested in serving in a Kerry administration. "No. No. No." Funny, the press didn't run a bunch of stories about him rejecting Kerry -- yet again. From Hannity and Colmes (seems pretty clear to me)

COLMES: And to further amplify the question you keep getting in every interview and we'll put it to bed, would you accept any role in a Kerry administration, on my level?

MCCAIN: No.

COLMES: All right. There we go. What part of no don't you understand? OK.

MCCAIN: No. They keep asking. No, no, no.

COLMES: I think we may have achieved closure on that right now.

MCCAIN: Thanks.

Kerry just doesn't get it. He's like some creepy stalker that keeps telling his geek buddies that he's going out with the cheerleader who's dating the football player. He's a stalker. Maybe McCain needs to get a TRO.

ATTACK OF THE CICADAS
"Cicadas are harmless", but Pediatrician Warns Parents About Cicadas. I don't know why, but this story is just plain funny. Great mental images of kids coping with swarming cicadas. Perfect Friday reading.

NUMBER 12
$11.6 million for garbage. Discuss: What does this say about western civilization?

REFORM PARTY FOR NADER
The Reform Party endorsed Nader, getting him on the ballot in the following states (Bush|Gore|Nader vote in 2000 in parenthesis):

Colorado (50.7 | 42.4 | 5.2)
Florida (48.8 | 48.8 | 1.6)
Kansas (58.0 | 37.2 | 3.4)
Michigan (46.1 | 51.2 | 2.0}
Mississippi (57.6 | 40.7 | 0.8)
Montana (58.4 | 33.4 | 6.0)
South Carolina (56.8 | 40.9 | 1.5)


Go Ralph!

COMPOSITE POLL BUSH 49.0 | KERRY 47.6
Electoral Vote is still tight, with Bush 182 | Kerry 108 | Close 248. I can't call them tossups because California can't be a tossup. But it is closer.

Details in the usual place.

APPALLING USEFUL IDIOTS OF THE ISLAMOFASCISTS
Gerry found some Democratic Underground nuts agonizing over the U.S. Government beheading an American, and passing it off as the work of al Qaeda. His mind boggles, as it should.

These people (Just Me, ghola, Neecy , daleo, Tinoire- their DU screenames) are pro-terrorist. If your goal is to destroy the U.S war effort at all costs, to attack without regard for the effect of your attacks on the lives of Americans or the success of our mission, then you are on the side of the terrorists and are morally responsible for their success. At least John Kerry thinks we need to finish the job in Iraq. These other folks should be rounded up and sent to Guantanamo.

But, to be fair, at least one DUer thinks we should just pull out the nukes and be done with these terrorists.

RUN THE VIDEO, DON'T SUPRESS THE NEWS
Mark Dayton, pious Democratic Senator and defender of the First Amendment, from Minnesota, complained about General Myers' attempt to get CBS to delay their sensationalism by not running the pictures from Abu Ghraib prison. General Myers thought the airing of the pictures would bring death to Americans in Iraq. Dayton didn't give a damn, while whoring for the cameras, he said

Is that standard procedure for the military command of this country to try to suppress a news report at the highest level?
. . . But attempts to suppress news reports, to withhold information from Congress and from the American people, is antithetical to democracy.

Well, al Qaeda's dogs have retaliated by beheading an American for the cameras. The video has been released. I certainly expect Mark Dayton, and every human being who hates torture and murder, to demand repeated airings of the video in the United States and on Al Jazeera and everywhere the Abu Ghraib story has been used to show how horrible Americans are. This is the face of the enemy and this is what we are fighting. These people deserve death, not sleep deprevation or not naked abuse by dogs and glow sticks.

Senator Inhofe (R-OK) had it right:

I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment
. . .
These prisoners, you know they're not there for traffic violations. If they're in cellblock 1-A or 1-B, these prisoners, they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents. Many of them probably have American blood on their hands and here we're so concerned about the treatment of those individuals.
. . .
I also am -- and have to say, when we talk about the treatment of these prisoners, that I would guess that these prisoners wake up every morning thanking Allah that Saddam Hussein is not in charge of these prisoners. When he was in charge they would take electric drills and drill holes through hands, they would cut their tongues out, they would cut their ears off. We've seen accounts of lowering their bodies into vats of acid. All these things were taking place. This was the type of treatment that they had.

And I would want everyone to get this and read it. This is a documentary of the Iraq special report. It talks about the unspeakable acts of mass murder, unspeakable acts of torture, unspeakable acts of mutilation, the murdering of kids -- lining up 312 little kids under 12 years old and executing them, and then of course what they do to Americans, too.

There's one story in here that was in the I think it was The New York Times, yes, on June 2nd. I suggest everyone take that -- get that and read it. It's about one of the prisoners who did escape as they were marched out there, blindfolded and put before mass graves, and they mowed them down and they buried them. This man was buried alive and he clawed his way out and was able to tell his story. And I ask, Mr. Chairman, at this point in the record that this account of the brutality of Saddam Hussein be entered into the record, made a part of the record.

I don't recall any beheading videos from al Qaeda to "redeem the dignity of the Muslim men and women" he tortured. Animals.

Transcript from The Corner.

Scott McLellan at the White House said, "It shows the true nature of the enemies of freedom. They have no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children. We will pursue those who are responsible and bring them to justice." Well, Scott, just be sure not to embarrass them when you catch them or opportunists will call for Rumsfeld's job.

There's a very good reason to control information in time of war. It's so you don't get killed.

RACE MOTIVATED MURDER CASE REOPENED
By the Justice Department. Any surprise that the name "Ashcroft" doesn't appear in the story?

BUSH LEADS IN LATEST GALLUP POLL
But how does CNN headline its story? Bush approval hits new lows in poll. And Reuters: Poll: Bush Job Rating Dips, Support for War Down.

Buried in the story, is the following:

Bush's decline did not produce new support for Democratic candidate John Kerry among likely voters. In a hypothetical matchup, Kerry fell 2 points since last week — from 49% to 47% — and remained in a dead heat with Bush, who was steady at 48%.

Likely voters also gave Bush an edge in 16 states that were close in 2000. The poll shows Bush leading Kerry, 51%-46%. They were tied at 49% in mid-April. The states are Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin.

Bush's approval levels have hovered in this general range since early February, but the press is blowing it up now in the hope of creating a bandwagon effect. The real story, is that Kerry is making absolutely no head way,and his unfavorable ratings have risen steadily since February.

The Composite Poll is delayed and will be out tomorrow (or tonight). Not much change.

RACE TIED IN CALIFORNIA?
According to a Survey USA poll, Kerry leads Bush 46% to 45% in California. Your first thought, this must be one of those 5% of polls that is outside of the margin of error. The race can't be that close. Gore won California in 2000 by 12%. Sure, New Jersey may be closer, but that could be the 9/11 effect. But not liberal California.

But that same poll shows a 9 point lead by Democrat Barbara Boxer in her Senate race (Boxer won by 10 in 1998). So, maybe it is safe to assume that whatever the right numbers are, Kerry enjoys an 8 point smaller margin over Bush in California. Does this make California a real Battleground state? I think we need more polls to know for sure, then we might see Karl Rove spending some money there.