Interesting things I've found along the way...

I read this quote as the controversy over the Swift Boat ads was stirring. "Mr. (Scott) McClellan (the White House Press Secretary) needs to understand that John Kerry is not the type of leader who will sit and read `My Pet Goat' to a group of second graders while America is under attack," said Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter in a reference to President George W. Bush's activity during the first minutes of the Sept. 11 attacks. While being a supporter of President Bush, I feel it's necessary to make this correction to the quote just for a cheap laugh. George W. Bush wasn't reading "My Pet Goat" to a group of second graders on September 11, the teacher was reading it to him and the second graders.

It seems Microsoft isn't widely accepted throughout the world because employees at the company didn't have geography lessons according to news.com. Among the gaffes that have caused its products to be banned: the Spanish-language version of Windows asked its users to choose between male, bitch, and not specified when asked for their gender, a couple of games featured the chanting of the Koran as well as Muslim fighters turning churches into mosques, and the incorrect coloring of 8 pixels meant to represent Kashmir.

USNews.com says officers who had swum in Saddam Hussein's old pool in Baghdad can't anymore because somebody gave all the lifeguards two weeks off. But one colonel has chosen to swim anyway. His response? "What are they going to do," he said. "Send me to Iraq?"

The reference above to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has made for interesting conversation as it has dominated the airwaves for the past few days even though the ads they produced have been out for about 3 weeks. It wasn't until last Thursday when Kerry denounced these ads and called for the President to do the same. Coincidentally, or not, Thursday was also the day a CBS News poll was released showing Kerry's support among veterans weakening to the point that even though it was tied at the beginning of August, President Bush now has a commanding 18 point lead among them.

The center of the controversy is the ads by this 527 group. A 527 group can collect as much money as they want for political purposes as long as coordination between any campaign is non-existent. The most popular one among Democrats is moveon.org. Republicans who were pretty much opposed to 527s, saw Democrats take advantage of this loophole and have thus been far behind in their own 527s. Spending by these groups along with Kerry/Edwards have exceeded Bush/Cheney spending. In regard to the Swift Boats, there are many points and counterpoints that can be made.

Point: The ad claims Kerry lied about his service in Vietnam and betrayed his comrades, both by leaving early and protesting against the war when he returned.

Counterpoint: Kerry volunteered to serve in Vietnam and in the process saved at least one life and earned 3 purple hearts, a bronze star, and a silver star.

Point: It is this organization that is lying and it is the front of a negative attack machine from the Bush/Cheney campaign. Kerry is pushing for an end to the attacks on his service in Vietnam.

Counterpoint: While we don't know who is telling the truth, we do know you can't have a double standard when it comes to letting veterans talk. On the day Kerry denounced the ad and wanted those veterans silent, he allowed Wesley Clark and others to attack Bush's service in the Texas National Guard. Yes, the Swift Boats have a lot of Republican connections that make it possible for coordination to occur but it's also entirely possible that there are numerous Democratic connections in the 527s. I say there will never be total independence from the campaigns until heavy regulations are put down almost to the point that there is public financing of the campaigns.

Point: Bush should denounce this ad.

Counterpoint: Bush has denounced all ads made by the 527s and has pushed for Kerry to do so also. Democratic 527s have been big business, attacking Bush with $63 million worth of ads throughout the campaign. The Swift Boats ad has cost less than $1 million to run.

Point: With Kerry taking a break from campaigning, running mate John Edwards said Bush needs to tell the group to pull its ads, a step the White House and the Bush campaign refuse to take.

Counterpoint: Of course not. First of all, it's helping Bush, as those similar ads that attacked Bush helped Kerry. Then there's that independence rule. 527s can't do what campaigns tell them to do so even if Bush told them to stop, there's no guarantee that they will. This group has insisted that if Kerry was a Republican, they'd still be doing what they were doing.

Luckily with the Republican convention next week and debates shortly after, we may have heard the last of the Swift Boats. In the end, it may hurt both campaigns, raising questions about Kerry's military records as well as the poor comparison of Bush's military record against Kerry's accomplishments. Negative campaigning does work, but at the cost of voter turnout.