Ken Lucas is No Zell Miller

U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas put forth an honest and just plain true indictment of the War in Iraq:

"But I have to tell you from all the stuff that we've gotten I really feel like I was misled," Lucas said, responding to a question during the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's monthly Government Forum.

"I think people had good intentions but I feel very badly about that. Particularly with -- 1,000 young men and women who have died, and thousands who have lost body parts. I don't feel good about that," he said, trailing off as his audience listened silently.

Now, I assume the right wing response will be, "he flip-flopped." That will unfortunately be an attempt to ignore what he said, and instead try and make one who is honest, forthright, and nuanced as someone "weak." The game of having one idea or opinion and sticking to it no matter what is the kind of thinking this president has and it is type of 19th Century thinking that brought unnecessary deaths to millions of people. I hope we can bring the intellectual level of our government forward to the 21 century.

The Last Night of the Proms

I am listening to the last night of the BBC Proms an annual tradition of wonderful music. It is live on BBC 3 if you care to listen.

Bad Reporting

I will not get into the game of spin and duck on type fonts etc, but I will comment on this online story from WLWT. The story states that:

Richard Polt, a Xavier University professor, was called on to examine documents from the 1970s that could shed new light on information about George W. Bush's service in the military.

Ok, that is fine, but who called on him?? How did WLWT find out he was called upon? Later on the article states:

Several national magazines have called on Polt for his opinion.

Ok, now we have something added of merit, but WHAT MAGAZINES? National Review? Weekly Standard?

The most insane element was section, including the magazine reference:

"When you think about some of the details of the documents, it just adds up to something recently produced on a computer," he said.

Several national magazines have called on Polt for his opinion. He said the only excuse could be that the documents were handwritten and someone produced them on a computer.

How the hell does this guy know what the "only excuse" could be? That is a theory, but this guy has no knowledge or experience in what else could explain why "might" have been typed recently.

His opinions are being refuted in other places: Here and Here, and CBS is still sticking with their story and they have their own expert, Marcel Matley.

WLWT went for the local angle to this story, but failed to give any qualifications to the professor, failed to show who “called” on him to analyze the documents, and also failed to point out that he undoubtedly had copies of copies of copies of the documents, if not a higher level of distortion. Mr. Polt has done a lot of research on typewriters, but his knowledge of type fonts, seems to be limited. From his bio he appears to be a philosophy professor.

The game of claiming forgery has turned into another case of the Chewbacca Defense. There was far more to the CBS News story, than just those documents, but that doesn’t matter, when the game is afoot.

Bush's Guard Service, Or Lack There Of

I really have little to say about Bush's National Guard Service. I have no respect for him, so this just reaffirms my opinions. What I find humorous is how it compares to the bogus charges against Kerry. The media are directly pushing this one through honest and legitimate means. The Swift Boat liars use spin and conservative media outlets to create a hollow scandal.

Maggie on the Edge

Ok, Maggie Downs offically has more guts than I do. Either that or she really is a bit of a lunatic.

Dick in Cincinnati

Well, Cheney made his staged event with little worry, but rumor has it that the guy in the shades below kept Secret Service agents on their toes:

A Terrorist or "The Man" behind "The Man?"

Local GOP Is Chicken

No one in the local GOP has the guts ask Mike Allen to resign. They have James Rueger on the ballot, why are they a bunch of wussies? It is hilarious that the party of Christian values is not going to do a damn thing about the poster boy for sin running as their law enforcement champion in the county.

Questions For Dick

VP Dick Cheney and his wife are in town today for a "town hall" meeting to take questions from prescreened loyal republicans. If Dick had any balls he would take questions from someone like myself. If he is tough he could take them, but his boss reportedly is wimping out on answering people's questions too. Here is a list that anyone going to the event can feel free to steal and ask Dick:

1. Using specific examples, please demonstrate how Iraq posed a direct threat to the United States at any point in the week leading up to the start of the Iraq war in March of 2003.
2. Using specific examples, please demonstrate how Iraq coordinated any actions or efforts with Osma Bin Laden or other groups with known financial ties to the loosely defined entity called "Al Qaeda" before the United States invaded Iraq in March of 2003.
3. When claiming Iraq possessed WMD in the months/weeks/days leading up the invasion of Iraq did you, the President, and other White House decision makers play up the evidence of the existence of said WMD or did you horribly misjudge the situation?
4. Beyond the fact that the WMD's possessed by Iraq before Gulf War I (in 1991) were not accounted for completely, was there any other credible evidence that Iraq possessed WMD at any time after inspectors left in 1998?
5. Why do you refuse to list which non-governmental persons attended meetings, some call lobbying sessions, regarding the Administration's Energy Policy back in 2001. If you don't refuse to do so, then who attended those meetings? Did Ken Lay attend?
6. Why have you not required your employees (namely your chief of staff) to state under oath if they leaked the name of the CIA agent to the press or not?
7. What reports, research, advise, intelligence, summaries, data, pictures, or other information did the Office of Special Plans in the Defense Department give you, your office, anyone working for you, or anyone else in the White House regarding Iraq, WMD, terrorism, Saddam Hussein, or anything else?

That is just a little to get him warmed up. I know I would not get any answers, and since I think any honest answers are going to hurt their image, I am sure these questions would not be answered truthfully.

GOP Candidate Challenging Mike Allen

James Rueger has filed as a write-in candidate in the race for Hamilton County Prosecutor. So we now have to Republicans. Mike Allen is taking his time about bowing out. I guess he may be waiting to see who is going to try and run against him. Now that Luken is out, he might be confident he can win, even with this unknown Republican in the race.

The Dems still have not announced anyone. They have until early next week.

Spy Club Closing

I never went there. I never wanted to go to there. I never will go there, but Spy Club is closing. Something will take its place. The old owner is going to open something else, somewhere else. The fickle tendency of trendy night clubs ebbs and flows like Red Bull down the chin of a drunken club chick.

I applaud Spy Club for lasting 5 years. Club Clau is likely eating big time into their business. Can Cincinnati support two Clau type clubs?

I want a bar for news junkies, complete with TV trained on 24 hour news from around the world and a PC where I could just sit on my ass drink beer and blog running commentary on transgressions of drunk people trying to get laid. I am dreaming, but a live blog at a bar that was on the bar's website as well as on big screen in the bar, that might work. An idea that maybe Nick Spencer could use?

Hot Seat Is Dead

Sound the Death Bell for yet another locally produced TV show. I have to admit that since they moved it to 7:30 AM on Sunday, I have watched it for a long time. I did try and catch the radio repeat on WVXU when I remembered it was on.

Where will go to see local media types get face time they really shouldn't get?

QCF

Queen City Forum is back. Come on down to their party tomorrow night at the RBC on Main. I will be there with a lamp shade on.

Kerry's Speech

I did not get a chance to read it yet. Security was lax, as usual.

UPDATE: More from The Post, the DDN, WCPO, and a tidbit about the protester claiming he was assaulted.

Not Ready For Prime Time

I am showing my true stripes tonight. I had the chance to cover John Kerry's Union Terminal speech tomorrow morning, but I had to decline. I have to work. I love blogging, I love following politics, but I know who butters my bread, and it ain't in cyberspace. It lies up in Cubical Hell: Mason, Ohio.

So instead of getting a seat at a spotlight event, I will be staring a computer screen filled with numbers. Oh what a corporate stooge I am.

Plain Clothed Sheriff Deputies To 'Protect' Polls?

Why does Columbus, Ohio need Sheriff Deputies to protect polling stations? Is there any specific threat? Which locations will they cover? Why was this information released? Who in the in their right mind is really fearful of a terrorist attacking their polling station?

This is a political ploy. This serves to keep anyone fearful of police away from the polls and to bring in the highly irrational person (likely Bush voters) with highly irrational fears of terrorists and of "them," whomever that may be.

Bronson: Just Making It Up

Ok, I guess Bronson no longer has an editor with bullshit like this:

Moore claims Attorney General John Ashcroft lost his Senate race to a "dead guy.'' False. Ashcroft narrowly lost to Mel Carnahan's widow, Jean. Despite apparent voter fraud, Ashcroft refused to challenge the results.

What name was on the ballot Mr. Bronson? Where is your proof of "apparent voter fraud?" Now he just makes stuff up? Why does he not mention who his UC student contact is? Is he Young Republican? I bet he is. We can't have a Republican activist offended now can we? At least he finally is on UC, instead of using emails from Miami's GOP club as the basis of his columns.

Now, this column is just typical Bronson. All claim, and NO FACT. He can point to a "list", but can't site a single source for any of his claims. He can't even give a link for the right-wing group from which he pilfered half of his column. It is typical of him to ride on Jean Carnahan. Attacking Widows, as long as they are Democrats, is just peachy for hack conservative columnists.

Luken Out, Who's In?

Charlie Luken has ended speculation that he would run for Prosecutor. Burke, local Dem lead, states they have a candidate. Who? Cranley?

Phil Burrss, a simple man of consistency, has changed his tune on Mike Allen:

"Allen's affair with an employee and the pending sexual harassment lawsuit have critically injured his ability to lead the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office," Burress says in a written statement to be released today. "That position demands a leader whose personal moral conduct is beyond reproach."

as opposed to:

"I can't pass judgment on either of them until all the facts are out," Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, said. "We have complete compassion for her if indeed she was sexually abused. But I know Mike Allen so well that this is hard to comprehend."

I guess Phil has made a judgment on Mike after all.

Kerry Coming to Cincinnati

John Kerry is planning a speech on Iraq at Union Terminal. This comes 2 years after Bush made his infamous speech filled with either bad information Bush use bad judgment in stating or bad information Bush knowingly spewed to the public as part of a misinformation campaign. What ever the choice, I hope Kerry points out in detail where Bush mislead us into an ill planned war, still taking lives, and approaching 1,000 American dead.

Who is the Real Funnel Cake?

I guess we have a Funnel Cake Conspiracy.

Reporter for 'DDN' Murdered

Tragic news from Dayton. 47-year-old Derek Ali, a 20 year reporter for the Dayton Daily News, was killed while protecting a woman from gunfire that erupted at a party. A group of individuals was denied entry the party and reportedly opened fire on the building, killing Mr. Ali.