Good Speech, But ...

I just watched Kerry's "response" to the Republican convention. Not bad; I think he got a kick out of chewing out Cheney.

One problem. No mention of terrorism. Could be a really big problem. Terrorism is the big Republican talking point — keep 'em as scared as possible. How many times did speakers at the RNC praise Bush's "heroism" in going to Ground Zero only three days after the attacks? Idea seems to be that since Georgie Bush allowed 9/11 to happen in the first place, he's somehow uniquely qualified to keep it from happening again. The attitude seems to be "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice — can't get fooled again."

Kerry needs to add something to his speech like:

To the terrorists — to Al Qaeda and to Osama bin Laden — you'd better hope and pray that George Bush wins this election. George Bush tried to come into Afghanistan "on the cheap" and let you walk away. George Bush does not understand intelligence operations. George Bush distracted himself with Iraq. I tell you now, we will not let you get away. We will unite the world to deny your funds and support. Above all, we will not be distracted until you are totally destroyed. This I promise you.

Anybody who thinks that Kerry wouldn't follow through on that should read his Silver Star citation. This is not a guy that you want mad at you.

Last One Down

Well, the last reason for voting for Bush (unless you're a corporate CEO or a hardcore Peronist) just evaporated. Economy in the toilet, unemployment up, deficit way up, army in Iraq, National Guard on the ropes, Afghanistan back to the warlords and the Taliban, scandals everywhere. "But we need Bush" went the line, "to keep this country secure. Bush will protect us from terrorism."

Oops. They can't even keep protesters out of their own convention, and they're supposed to keep terrorists from doing anything?

Now, convention security is fairly straightforward. You need a pass to get in. You have to have a pass to get anywhere. You put the pass on a cord around your neck. The convention has guards at doors. You don't have a pass? You don't get in, and I don't care if you are Dick Cheney. Not rocket science. Now, I don't know how the protestors got in and I don't really care; the fact that they got in at all was a failure of security. We're all lucky that they didn't have anything more dangerous than whistles and T shirts. Assuming that they didn't. Consider the effect of a tear gas grenade with a timer ...

Oh, and another thing re terrorism: where's Osama? Funny thing, I haven't heard his name mentioned at all.

LATER — Twistedchick has found a report that 1000 Thursday credentials are missing. Tonight may get more exciting than anybody wants ....

LATER STILL — From the NY Daily News (via) Sheesh! They're giving them away!

Omens

So NYC's ex- mayor and demigod Rudy Giuliani says, on Monday

The only two things I'm thinking of in the future right now are the Yankees getting themselves into the World Series and President Bush being re-elected.

Tempting the gods is a bad idea. Poking them with a sharp stick is an even worse idea.

Would these guys recognize an omen if it bit them on the arse?

"Girly Men"

California's honorable governor's favorite phrase for people he doesn't like is "girly men". Odd phrase. Austrian? Nope. Bodybuilder. Check out the side effects for massive steriod use.

Now, who do we know who has used massive doses of steriods? Who's the real "girly man" here?

Keep the Republicans Out of the Tunnels!

Security is tight at Madison Square Garden. (At least, for anybody important) Access to the train stations under the Garden (both subway and Amtrak) is quite limited.

How carefully are they checking the tunnels around the Garden? After all, isn't the whole point of having the convention in NYC to let the Republicans lay their eggs under the Garden?

This is especially worrisome in that Al Qaeda has expressed interest in the same scenario ...