Labor Bailing On Kerry/Edwards At Opening Of Convention?

The Washington Post files the kind of report that the Kerry/Edwards campaign didn’t anticipate at the start of their four-night love fest. The head of the largest AFL-CIO union, representing government workers, openly speculated that unions would be better off if the Democrats lost in November, sharply criticizing the party for its intellectual bankruptcy:

Breaking sharply with the enforced harmony of the Democratic National Convention, the president of the largest AFL-CIO union said Monday that both organized labor and the Democratic Party might be better off in the long run if Sen. John F. Kerry loses the election.
Andrew L. Stern, the head of the 1.6 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), said in an interview with The Washington Post that both the party and its longtime ally, the labor movement, are “in deep crisis,” devoid of new ideas and working with archaic structures.
Stern argued that another four years of Bush policies might be less damaging than the stifling of needed reform within the party and the labor movement that he said would occur if Kerry becomes president.

If Stern had wanted to deliberately stick a knife in Kerry’s back, he could hardly have chosen a better time. Nor did Stern stop there. He accused Kerry of aiming to use unions solely to bolster his own political ambitions, comparing him to Clinton in this regard. Stern also claimed that the Democrats were nothing more than a “hollow party” and that despite sticking $65 million in its coffers this cycle, he is pessimistic about Kerry helping to energize and modernize the labor movement.
Make no mistake — Stern is an old-school labor radical, one that wants government to control major aspects of the market, so his criticism may have a silver lining for Kerry amongst centrists. Expect to see the spin go in that direction. However, Stern’s timing puts Kerry back on the defensive at the precise moment that he needs to push the positive aspects of his vision for America to the nation. It may not do a lot of damage, but it does speak to the profound lack of enthusiasm that affects a substantial proportion of Kerry backers. Voter ennui, combined with pessimistic commentary from constituency leaders that explicitly deliver the message that they support Kerry only as the non-Bush, will result in a lackadaisical response at the polls in November.

His Uncle Would Have Been Proud

Tom Burnett, Jr died on 9/11, fighting to regain control of a jet from lunatic terrorists, and his efforts and that of the heroic passengers on Flight 93 saved the lives of many more Americans. The patriots on 93 made the ultimate sacrifice in order to foil al-Qaeda’s plans, even though they were unarmed civilians and didn’t even know the nature of the enemy they faced so bravely.
Now, Burnett’s nephew is about to pay homage to his uncle by entering public service, right here in the Twin Cities:

A family tragedy means a call to action for one young Minnesota man.
Devin Burnett O’Brien is Tom Burnett Jr.’s nephew. Tom Burnett Jr. grew up in Bloomington and died when United Airlines Flight 93 went down in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11
Nearly three years later, Devin O’Brien is running for the Minnesota Legislature. He says his sense of civic duty has changed since Sept. 11.
The 21-year-old is an English major at St. John’s University. Within hours of Gov. Tim Pawlenty nominating Alice Seagren as education commissioner last week, O’Brien entered the race for her House seat.
O’Brien faces three Republican opponents in the September primary — among them Neil Peterson, a former mayor of Bloomington.

I have no idea what O’Brien’s politics are, nor do I live in his district, and so I have no endorsement to make in this race. However, even while American cynicism seems to have triumphed once again over the sense of mission that public service had after 9/11, it’s refreshing to find out that this young man will honor his uncle’s memory by making a difference to citizens of Minnesota.
Best of luck, Devin. You’ve made a difference just by showing up. Hopefully, more people will follow your lead and participate in the system that your uncle gave his life to defend, even though he never expected the call.

First Mate Update

I had to take the First Mate in for outpatient surgery this morning as she has developed some complications with her kidney transplant. The details are pretty technical, but essentially what happened is that fluid began to build up around the kidney and at the same time, the doctors suspect that an obstruction may have formed inside the kidney. It isn’t a rejection episode, as we originally feared, but she has to go back to having the kidney shunted to the outside, probably for the next six weeks. We’re hoping that the shunt will take some of the pressure off the kidney and reverse some of the suppressed function we’ve been seeing in the lab results.
She’s also fighting a CMV infection, which is not uncommon for transplant patients, especially in the first couple of months. That causes flu-like symptoms, exhaustion, and a lack of energy, and it takes a while to shake off. She’s asleep now, of course, as she just had the surgery. I’m home watching her, so I’m out of the office again.
Thank you for those who keep asking about her progress. I wish I had better news for you. This isn’t bad news — it’s actually fairly common, although we wish the FM could have avoided this. It’s apparent that this transplant will probably have a number of complications in the first few months, and we will just have to be flexible enough to handle them. My bosses have been terrific and patient, but at some point, I may need to make new arrangements that will allow me to be home more during the day without shortchanging my office, which is what I feel I’m doing now.
One day at a time …

Say It Loud, I Aborted And I’m Proud

High-fivin' fetus killing?Bill at INDC Journal rescues this notable web page from the depths of Google that demonstrates the political idiocy of Planned Parenthood leadership. Until earlier today, the fine folks at PP promoted this t-shirt ($15) with the slogan “I Had An Abortion”:

They have finally arrived!
Planned Parenthood is proud to offer yet another t-shirt in our new social fashion line: “I Had an Abortion” fitted T-shirts are now available. These soft and comfortable fitted tees assert a powerful message in support of women’s rights.

I understand that some people do not consider an embryo to be human life, although any understanding of science leads to that conclusion. I know people who honestly believe that an embryo does not become human until viability or birth. While I disagree with them, I respect their integrity. However, this sloganeering does nothing but repulse me, as it celebrates the destruction of embryos as if it were little more than visiting Niagara Falls. (As Bill put it in his title, “… And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.”)
Even if one doesn’t consider an embryo to be human life — and Bill is no pro-lifer — the decision to abort would, presumably, only be made with sober reflection and a sense of regret that a child would not be practical for the mother at that moment in her life. Making into a cheerleading opportunity does not “assert a powerful message for women’s rights,” as PP would have these women believe. It underscores the superficial and selfish motivations that the most ardent pro-lifers assign to abortion seekers as a stereotype.
This promotion shows the extent to which Planned Parenthood occupies the extreme, rather than representing the majority support that they claim abortion rights have.
UPDATE: Apparently, the 404 was merely a way to dodge the Drudge traffic after he linked to this. The PP Yahoo! store page is still active, which means that the shirt is still on sale.

We’re Here To Restore Civility, You %$#*&@%

Teresa Heinz-Kerry strkes again! The woman who wants to replace Laura Bush at the White House urged her home-state Massachussetts delegates to help the Kerry/Edwards ticket replace the “un-American” Republicans and restore civility to politics, and then within minutes told a reporter to “shove it”:

“We need to turn back some of the creeping, un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics,” the wife of Sen. John Kerry told her fellow Pennsylvanians on Sunday night at a Massachusetts Statehouse reception.
Minutes later, Colin McNickle, the editorial page editor of the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, questioned her on what she meant by the term “un-American,” according to a tape of the encounter recorded by Pittsburgh television station WTAE.
Heinz Kerry said, “I didn’t say that” several times to McNickle. She then turned to confer with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and others. When she faced McNickle again a short time later, he continued to question her, and she replied, “You said something I didn’t say. Now shove it.”

No matter how much her husband or his campaign staff display their tone-deafness on the stump, Teresa Heinz-Kerry can always outdo them. Teresa is shaping up as the biggest embarrassment for Kerry/Edwards, a time bomb waiting to go off every time she wanders from prepared speech. She talks about restoring civility, and even before she told the reporter to “shove it,” she inferred that her party’s opponents were un-American. Way to restore that civility!
(As an aside, do you notice that when Republicans criticize Democrats’ voting records, the Democrats screech about their patriotism being questioned, while Democrats have no problem calling Republicans Nazis and un-American?)
Michelle Malkin notes a striking similarity between Teresa and Howard Dean, pointing back to a prediction she made in January.

The Biased (Or Attention-Deficit) Media

Howard Kurtz notes a disconnect in the coverage of Joe Wilson’s disintegrating credibility. In a secondary article of his Media Notes column, Kurtz has the numbers to demonstrate either a leftist bias or simply lousy and lazy journalism in the mainstream media, especially broadcast outlets:

Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV’s allegations that President Bush misled the country about Saddam Hussein seeking uranium from Africa was a huge media story, fueled by an investigation into who outed his CIA-operative wife. According to a database search, NBC carried 40 stories, CBS 30 stories, ABC 18, The Washington Post 96, the New York Times 70, the Los Angeles Times 48.
But a Senate Intelligence Committee report that contradicts some of Wilson’s account and supports Bush’s State of the Union claim hasn’t received nearly as much attention. “NBC Nightly News” and ABC’s “World News Tonight” have each done a story. But CBS hasn’t reported it — despite a challenge by Republican Chairman Ed Gillespie on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” noting that the network featured Wilson on camera 15 times. A spokeswoman says CBS is looking into the matter.
Newspapers have done slightly better. The Post, which was the first to report the findings July 10, has run two stories, an editorial and an ombudsman’s column; the New York Times two stories and an op-ed column; and the Los Angeles Times two stories. Wilson, meanwhile, has defended himself from what he calls “a Republican smear campaign” in op-ed pieces in The Post and Los Angeles Times.

In case you can’t track Kurtz’s numbers, here’s a handy scorecard for you:
Outlet………Wilson Before….Wilson After
CBS………………..30……………0
NBC………………..40……………1
ABC………………..18……………1
Washington Post…..96………….2
New York Times……70………….3
Los Angeles Times…48………….2
Either this demonstrates a severe liberal bias in the media, or a mass epidemic of attention-deficit disorder amongst American journalists. Howard Kurtz reports, y’all decide.

Saddam Hussein Poetry Festival

The London Guardian reports on the captivity of Saddam Hussein in tomorrow’s edition, a “dejected” and dispirited prisoner of the US military that holds him for the new Iraqi government. Michael Howard notes Saddam’s new routine in his more modest digs:

Mr Amin, a longtime Iraqi human rights campaigner who had family members killed by the former regime, said he could not bring himself to speak to Saddam but observed that he was “in good health and being kept in good conditions”.
However, Mr Amin said the former president “appeared demoralised and dejected”.
Saddam is being held in a white-walled air-conditioned cell, three metres wide and four metres long, Mr Amin said. He is kept apart from the other prisoners, who can mix freely with each other during the daily three-hour exercise periods.

Lest anyone think that it’s all bad for Saddam, he also has access to a library of 145 books, but in a bitterly ironic twist, they’re mostly either novels or travel books, the latter of which Saddam is unlikely to ever need again in what’s left of his life. He also gets to tend his garden during his outdoor exercise periods. He eats well, probably better than a good percentage of other Iraqis, and after losing a good deal of weight during his fugitive days and early captivity he’s again putting some weight back on.
He also has taken up another hobby:

Since appearing in court, Saddam had taken to reading the Qur’an and writing poetry, Mr Amin said. “One of the poems is about George Bush, but I had no time to read it.”

Saddam the Poet! Well, wonders never cease. Who knew that under all that genocidal lunacy beat the heart of a poet? In honor of the artistry of this misunderstood bard, Captain’s Quarters invites you to submit poems you think Saddam would write, either about George Bush, John Kerry, Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan, Jacques Chirac, America, the UN … pretty much anything. I’ll post the winners later on this week. We’ll call it the Saddam Hussein Poetry Festival, and whenever Uncle Saddy comes up in the news, we’ll trot out one or two of the poems to commemorate the event.

Caption Contest Winners!

I know it’s still Sunday evening, but we’ve already received the list of winners from this weekend’s Captain’s Caption Contest! You may think that with results this quick that guest judge Chumley Wonderbar from Plastic Hallway has jumped the gun. Well, if so, he’s not the only one:
The Rifleman?
Here are Chumley’s picks:
Captain’s Award (“I’m Perfect” Kerry) — Steverino:
I didn’t miss that clay pigeon. I don’t miss. That son-of-a-bitch Secret Service agent got in my way.
You Have The Conn #1 (“Whiny Bitch Injury Faker” Kerry) — Jim S:
Ouch! Hammer hurt my thumb. Purple Heart! Purple Heart!
You Have The Conn #2 (“Flip Flop” Kerry) — Duke DeLand:
I actually DID vote for gun control… Before I voted against it!
You Have The Conn #3 (“Vietnam Hero” Kerry) — Thief:
News Media: “How can you shoot women and children?” Kerry: “Easy! You just don’t lead ’em as much!”
Kofi Annan Special Award For Political Bravery — Rightwingduck:
I’m not sure if I can shoot. Let’s call the United Nations. If they say “Go” then I shoot.
Report To Sick Bay (But Your Eyes Appear Fine) — Pat Curley:
Yeah, I know you want to see if the gal behind me has a face to match those killer boobs, but I’m doing a photo op right now, so quit yer yapping!
Thanks to everyone who entered, and congratulations to the winners! Remember, here at CQ, everyone’s a winner — just some of us have higher winning percentages than others. Comments on this post will remain open, as usual, in order for the winners to gloat, the others to disparage Chumley’s intellect and/or my parentage, and for any other entries submitted just for the sheer enjoyment of amazing your friends and confounding your enemies.
Send me a photograph or an e-mail with a link to a great picture you think should be the subject of our next Caption Contest, and let me know if you’d like to be the guest judge! I’ll have another picture for Friday — so be sure to come back then for the next contest.

The Trojan Berger — What Did Sandy Bring To The Archives?

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review gives a new twist to Trousergate today, reporting that Sandy Berger may have not only taken top-secret information out of the National Archives, but also may have acted as a Trojan Horse for disinformation getting in (via Instapundit):

What was Sandy Berger up to when he “inadvertently” removed versions of a classified National Archives memo that critiqued Clinton administration intelligence and security efforts regarding the millennium celebrations? We still don’t know.
But a bigger question is being posed by some of the well-sourced wags with whom we regularly converse. In fact, one says the thrust of the federal investigation now looking into Mr. Berger’s actions should center not necessarily on what was taken from the archived files but what was placed in them [emph in original]. …
And adding an entirely new layer of intrigue to the story is word that telephone calls made by Berger during those latter two visits may have been monitored by an “unauthorized agency.”

One of the stories widely reported this week was the discovery that Sandy Berger had blocked four different efforts to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, in one case because the US did not have him under indictment. Could it be that Berger attempted to replace the memo with his handwritten objections to these operations with a new version without the notes? Or, even more possible given the authorship of the draft memos he stole, could Berger have tried to replace the stolen documents with forgeries rewritten in order to coincide with the testimony that Richard Clarke later gave the 9/11 Commission in public hearings? John Lehman blasted Clarke for the changes in his testimony between the closed sessions and the open sessions of the commission hearings in an interview this week. Coult this be related?
The phone calls are even more disturbing, as any kind of electronic communications while reviewing highly classified documents are strictly forbidden, for obvious reasons. It appears that Berger and at least one other person conspired to get information out of the National Archives and possibly to get fraudulent information into it as well. Why didn’t the Archives staff confiscate the phone at the time the calls were made?
The window of innocent explanations has closed on these incidents. It’s clear that Berger knowingly broke the law in a number of different ways. The House investigators and the FBI need to find out why Clinton’s NSA would take such a dangerous and stupid risk, and on whose behalf.
NOTE: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review doesn’t disclose its sources for this editorial, but it does note that the information comes from sources within the investigation. Are they reliable? Maybe, maybe not; we’ll find out eventually. As Sean Hackbarth notes in the comments, it’s good to be skeptical, but the information about telephone calls comes from multiple sources now — and that troubles me most, as it indicates a conspiracy to either take information out or to plant information within the National Archives.

Edwards Returning Tainted Donations From Longtime Trial-Attorney Supporter

In a pre-convention embarrassment, John Edwards announced that he will return over $40,000 in donations bundled by longtime supporter Pierce O’Donnell, who faces election-fraud investigations by federal and California law enforcement:

John Edwards is returning $44,035 in contributions raised by a wealthy Los Angeles lawyer for his presidential primary campaign. The decision to return the money was made because the fund-raising activities of lawyer and longtime Edwards supporter Pierce O’Donnell are being investigated by federal and California elections officials, the Kerry-Edwards campaign said Sunday. Newsweek first reported the story. …
Some of the suspect contributions were made in the name of persons associated with O’Donnell’s law firm, including one person who was not registered to vote and two who had filed for bankruptcy, Newsweek reported.
The magazine said that some of the same purported contributors were listed as $2,000 donors to the Edwards’ campaign.

It appears as though O’Donnell ran a money-laundering operation for contributions to Democrats, like Edwards and James Hahn. Will this be the kind of activity we can expect from the trial-lawyer lobby as the presidential campaign wears on? And if O’Donnell has supported Edwards in the past, we should ask how much he’s brought to Edwards and under what conditions. After all, it’s not as though O’Donnell could possibly have been ignorant of the law.