I can't believe the nerve of these people that while blowing smoke up veteran's asses all day long they are wearing a wacky emblem saying that medals are for pussies. But then I saw them interview a gal that was wearing one and she explained that oh no, we love the military and all the troops and veterans. But John Kerry got a purple heart for nothing. In every single other instance, everybody deserved their medals and are brave and love freedom and America forever and the baby eagle. But John Kerry, I don't know how it happened but somehow in this one single isolated incident, it was weird but the system had a freak one-time-only catastrophic breakdown and gave him a medal for a little scratch. But everyone else with a medal except John Kerry, they are the greatest heroes who ever lived and it brings tears to my eyes just to think of them. Hell, even when I DON'T think of them it brings tears to my eyes. BECAUSE I LOVE EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMN SOLDIER except Kerry is a liar/pussy/communist etc. Only him though thanks otherwise USA rules forever go Bush.

...they don't let you use Saddam or Hitler analogies so let's go to the star wars. Did the star wars rebels try not to say anything bad about Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire? Yeah yeah, he blew up Princess Leah's planet, he tried to kill the Ewoks and all that, but we don't want to be negative and sound like a bunch of whiners. We're not fighting because of what Darth Vader has done. We're fighting because of Princess Leah's positive message of hope!

Over now familiar refrains of "that's unreal," and "I can't believe it," and pregnant moans of "wow," a spectacle of a different kind captured unblinking New Yorkers yesterday afternoon. Out of Manhattan's Union Square came a welcome and commanding sight: former President Bill Clinton, surrounded by a growing mass of people.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Clinton walked south on University Place, starting at 14th Street. He immediately drew a crowd, most of whom just happened to be walking by. Others emerged from stores and apartments. Many snapped pictures or waved flags in a spontaneous moment of patriotism and giddiness over a celebrity. For his part, Clinton restrained himself from returning smiles, greeting people instead with earnest expressions of concern.

"We need to just bolster people's spirits right now, and support the president and the government," he said between handshakes. "They're going to need some time with this."

Clinton, who was in Australia when New York and Washington, D.C., were attacked, said he had spent the previous 24 hours flying to New York on an Air Force plane. He was kept informed of developments by his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Except for a phone conversation with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, he said he has not spoken to anyone at the White House.

Clinton, was accompanied during his walk by his daughter, Chelsea, who stood with a female friend about her age well apart from the center of the crowd.

"We just wanted to support the people affected the most, New Yorkers," said Chelsea Clinton, who said that like most people she had spent the past few days watching television, incredulous.

New Yorkers sought his solace as one after another approached him, some in tears, showing him copies of photos of loved ones or friends who are among the missing. In the Clinton style, he responded with hugs for some, and reassurances, telling one woman who weeped on his shoulder, "They're still finding people. Don't give up hope."

For the 300 to 400 people who saw Clinton, his appearance was energizing.

"It was a nice lift," said Rhon Reynolds, 30, who lives in Manhattan. "I really needed it today. It's been like a war zone here. Everyone's wearing masks. I managed to cry just yesterday. Just to see him here really helped. He represents an era for us, the best era, a great financial time and a time when we seemed to have good relations with foreign governments."

Four days ago, retired naval Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr. seconded accusations made by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth seeking to discredit Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry's record in Vietnam. But since then, Democrats have discovered that Schachte is also a long-standing supporter of President Bush and a lobbyist whose client FastShip Inc. recently won a $40 million grant from the federal government.

On Aug. 27, Schachte issued a statement saying that after he "avoided talking to media" for months, he was reluctantly stepping forward to challenge Kerry's award of one of his Purple Hearts on Dec. 2, 1968. "Kerry had himself in charge of the operation, and I was not mentioned at all," he said. "He also claimed that he was wounded by hostile fire. None of this is accurate. I know, because I was not only in the boat, but I was in command of the mission."

Kerry has said Schachte was not on the boat that night, adding another mystery to the disputed events of 36 years ago. But other events are not in dispute. According to a March 18 legal filing by Schachte's firm, Blank Rome, Schachte was one of the lobbyists working for FastShip on issues such as the effort to win funding for a new marine cargo terminal. On Feb. 2, Philadelphia-based FastShip announced that it would receive $40 million in federal funding for the project.

Barely two months before the presidential vote, Missouri's secretary of state has suddenly announced that he will allow military voters from his state - one of the most pivotal in the election - to e-mail ballots from combat zones to the Defense Department. E-mail is far too insecure to be used for voting. Missouri and North Dakota, which announced a similar rule yesterday, should rescind these orders right away. Missouri's action also sheds light on the Defense Department's role in administering federal elections, a troubling situation that needs far more scrutiny.

The Missouri secretary of state, Matt Blunt, decided last week that military voters in combat zones will be able to e-mail their ballots to the Pentagon, which will then send them to local Missouri elections offices to be counted. This system, which has not been used before, is rife with security problems, including the possibility of hacking the e-mailed ballots, which will not be encrypted. Earlier this year the Defense Department scrapped a pilot program to allow the military to vote over the Internet, after concluding that it could not "assure the legitimacy of votes" cast online.

There is more cause for concern after the ballots arrive at the Pentagon. E-mail voters will be required to sign a release acknowledging that their votes may not be kept secret. When the people handling ballots know who they are cast for, it is not hard to imagine that ballots for disfavored candidates could accidentally be "lost." And because the e-mailed ballots arrive as computer documents, it is possible to cut off the voter's digitized signature, attach it to a ballot supporting another candidate, and send that ballot on to the state to be counted.

I am not above saying that I think the Republicans are trying to rig this election. All pretense is off. You've got the president of Diebold saying, publically, mind you, that they're going to "come through" in Ohio. Few of the Florida problems have been remedied. I think the Republicans rigged the elections in Georgia and Minnesota last time with voting machines. Look at the swing in the actual vote count and polling done days before the election. Notice that exit polling data system....just happened to not work during the 2002 election. What, you're going to tell me they *wouldn't* do that? The science of electronic voting is in dispute to the point that many scientists in the field are outraged that electronic voting is going to be such a wide part of this election. Republican-donor companies DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE THE VOTING MACHINES. And it goes on
and on.

The son of the House's fourth ranking Republican just happens to count the votes in Missouri, one of the most key swing states, and he just so happens to be running for governor. Do you realize what sort of shit-fit the Republican machine would stir in the public consciousness if the scenario were reversed? Are we a damn banana republic or are we the Show-Me State? SHOW ME THE CERTIFIED PAPER BALLOTS, MATT!

I'm sick of trying to be impartial. I'm sick of trying to be "fair." These people are corrupt to the core. They will do anything for power, anything to win, and that's why they do. I feel like the Manchurian Candidate. But you know what? McCarthy *was* a corrupt messiah, and I think these people are devoted to one. And they can get away with it because there's no public outrage. And whatever "outrage" there is, is simply passed off as "liberal elitist anger" or whatever. I've tried to hold it in check because I think that too often Moveon.org's manipulation of facts and quotes are part of the problem, not the solution. It's still not, and I don't like listening
to whining either. But I've had enough of this. It was wrong when Democratic
machines rigged elections in Chicago and Kansas City, and it's wrong now that the Republicans are doing it.

I am outraged. I'm outraged to the point I'm about ready to type right through my keyboard. I'm convinced that this election is about far more than whether John Kerry or George W. Bush is more qualified to lead a war on terror. Allowing the Republicans to win this time will threaten the Democracy. Don't tell me that's too melodramatic. Will you just look at what has happened in just the four years since these guys took control?

I can't even start or I won't stop. Democracy is not about winning; it's about seeking justice and truth. They don't want to be fair and let the best man win. They want to gerrymander all but the most Kucinichian Democrats out of office and create a Republican caliphate. Yes, I know, Democrats are guilty too. But weigh Democratic crimes in this regard in the last decade, and then compare that to Tom DeLay carving five honestly elected Democrats out of office in Texas. My fear is that Missouri may become the next Texas.

These guys are classic literary figures, drunk on their own power, messianic in their conviction beyond all reason. At this point, it's beyond the mechanics of health care policy, education policy, foreign policy, and any other kind of policy you can think of. It's hard for me to think of living in a world dominated by George W. Bush for another four years. They have to lose this time. Just one time, they have to lose, for the good of the country. He hangs in my mind like a fog, like the victory gin clouding over Winston Smith. You read that that it's obvious they're trying to rig the election, and yet, you look out the window at the American people and the sun is still shining. To borrow from Pope, as seems the custom these
days, it's the eternal sunshine of spotless minds.

An explosion that blew out a number of windows at a Boston-area laboratory specializing in stem-cell research was caused by a pipe bomb, local police said on Friday.

No one was wounded in Thursday's early morning blast at Watertown, Massachusetts-based Amaranth Bio, which says on its Web site its technology is focused on organ regeneration and that it is working on cures for diabetes and liver disorders.

In a statement, Watertown police confirmed the explosion was the result of a pipe bomb and said they believe someone broke into the facility. No arrests have been made, police said.

Delegates to the Republican National Convention found a new way to take a jab at Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Vietnam service record: by sporting adhesive bandages with small purple hearts on them.

Morton Blackwell, a prominent Virginia delegate, has been handing out the heart-covered bandages to delegates, who've worn them on their chins, cheeks, the backs of their hands and other places.

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and is demanding records regarding Internet postings by critics of the Bush administration that list the names of Republican delegates and urge protesters to give them an unwelcome reception in New York City.

Federal prosecutors said in a grand jury subpoena that the information was needed as part of an investigation into possible voter intimidation. Protesters and civil rights advocates argued that the Web postings were legitimate political dissent, not threats or intimidation.

President George Bush acknowledged today that he does not think the war on terror can be won, but said it would make it less acceptable for groups to use terrorism as a tool.

In a US TV interview, Bush, who has said he expects the war on terror to be a long, drawn-out battle, was asked: “Can we win it?”

The president replied: “I don’t think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the – those who use terror as a tool are – less acceptable in parts of the world.”

"I, like most Americans, have no idea what that means, but it is long past time for this president to accept personal responsibility for his failures and for his performance."