Entre Nous / Musings of a former Belgian

Pandering, not principle

(via LGF comments): The universal ultimate John Kerry ad, mostly made up of Kerry soundbites. "John Kerry, more positions than any other candidate, and the courage to stand by all of them."

Pandering, not principle

The universal ultimate John Kerry ad, mostly made up of Kerry soundbites. "John Kerry, more positions than any other candidate, and the courage to stand by all of them."

Principle, not pandering

Jeff Jacoby points out that American Jews vote Democrat almost by spinal reflex (and give a decent if brief summary of the historical reasons why), that Bush Jr. knows very well this isn't going to change anytime soon, and that his pro-Israel stance is a matter of principle rather than pandering.

Kerrytosis

Gotta love Jonah Goldberg:

I have a theory to explain why the Democratic presidential ticket is growing lamer by the week. It suffers from a little-understood condition known as the "Kerry Syndrome." This is closely related to Simple Chronic Kerrytosis, a malady that causes poll numbers to drop when the candidate opens his mouth.

Soro$: rank hypocrite

Via LGF, this article on George Soros' advocacy of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act (which, more fool me, I once believed to be a good thing), only to become the biggest exploiter of its "527" loophole.

Over the last seven years, Soros gave about $18 million to groups dedicated to changing campaign law to remove high-dollar contributions from the political process. His grants included $625,000 to Common Cause, $2.5 million to the Brennan Center for Justice, $1.2 million to Public Campaign, $125,000 to Democracy 21, $1.7 million to the Center for Public Integrity, $75,000 to the Center for Responsive Politics and $665,000 to the Alliance for Better Campaigns.

And when McCain-Feingold passed, Soros' Open Society Institute patted itself on the back. Mark Schmitt, director of the Institute's Governance and Public Policy program, praised the provision that eliminates the "soft money" loophole "through which long-prohibited corporate and labor union money, in unlimited and staggering amounts, came to directly influence the outcomes of federal elections."

But Soros apparently has no qualms about using his own $7 billion fortune to make donations in unlimited and staggering amounts to defeat President Bush and the GOP this fall.

In just a few short months in 2003, Soros pledged $5 million to America Coming Together, $4.5 million to the Joint Victory Campaign and $2.5 million to the MoveOn.org Voter Fund.

These groups are classified as "527" committees, after the tax code section that governs their activities. A 527 group can accept unlimited contributions for spending on political ads, voter-mobilization drives and other advocacy efforts as long as it doesn't directly coordinate with a political party or candidate. Concerned about a Bush-Cheney fundraising advantage, liberal activists created the 527s to run anti-Bush ads and mobilize voters.

By 2004, Soros had donated money to other new 527s — such as Harold Ickes' Media Fund. Calling the president a "danger to the world" who must be defeated, Soros to date has given an estimated $12.6 million to the liberal 527 network.

So much for campaign-finance reform.

Charles Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity says Soros' contributions are legal but violate the reform spirit: "I have a hard time seeing what the difference is between a soft-money donor to a party and a big 527 donor, especially when both give million-dollar checks."

Nielsen ratings: Fox News outstripping all other cable news channels combined

res ipsa loquitur.

According to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News averaged 1.8 million viewers, while CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Headline News averaged a combined total of 1.7 million. The quarter ended Sunday.

CNN came in a distant second, averaging 882,000 viewers, while MSNBC drew 421,000. Headline News averaged 226,000 in primetime, and CNBC attracted a paltry 133,000.

Most of the cable news nets were up significantly vs. Q3 2003 thanks to a busy news cycle. The one exception was CNBC, which was down 13%.

Buoyed by the Olympics and convention coverage, MSNBC saw the most growth in its primetime aud, up a hefty 55%. Fox News came in second in terms of growth, up 39%. CNN was up 19% and Headline News 17%.

In the key news demo, Fox News averaged 405,000 viewers in 25-54, a 44% improvement on the same period in 2003. CNN averaged 195,000 viewers in the demo, up 17%. At 115,000, MSNBC was up 34%.

Headline News averaged 75,000 viewers in the demo, up only 6% from the same frame last year. CNBC improved its performance in the demo, averaging 53,000 viewers, a 36% jump.

53,000 viewers?!? Littlegreenfootballs.com, with a staff of one, has twice as many!

To my Jewish readers: happy Sukkot!

Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam and Hamas

The National Post traces the links. A padded cell with Iron Maiden piped 24x7 through the speakers, and gefilte fish and matza (all he can eat) as the only foods available, seems fitting punishment.

CBS learned nothing

res ipsa loquitur/the thing speaks for itself.

UPDATE: Say Anything digs up an old plan by Kerry to revive the national draft if he got elected --- the very thing his campaign is now accusing the Bush administration of. (See also this FactCheck.org debunking of that latter accusation.)

Jean-Fraud Kerry indeed.

UPDATE 2: BeldarBlog has lots more info, on how the supposed "Republican soccer mom" they interviewed is in fact a founding member of an organization called Parents Against the Draft. And on how the only actual proposed draft law in recent years was sponsored by a number of hard-left Democrats. (Consensus among Pentagon top brass as well as soldiers in the field is that, in the current "high-tech" army, a draft is neither necessary nor even desirable.)

Alan Dershowitz: End the occupation

... of Lebanon by Syria.

Moonbattus Israeliensis, part 2

Subspecies Sinistris ("left"): Tali Fahima, the (technically) Jewish bedmate of a Arab terrorist gangleader and alleged accomplice in a murderous terror attacks, was released to house arrest on condition that she pay the expenses of 24-hour guard of her house.

Subspecies Dextris ("right"): Women in Green head Nadia Matar (apparently a former Belgian like myself) is being investigated for incitement (hasata) after she called the head of the Disengagement Administration "worse than the Judenrat" (the Nazi-appointed Jewish ghetto leaders).

Flush'em both, I say.