I’m a Kerry man and I tend to visit way more left-leaning sites than right-leaning ones, so you can take this with a grain of salt, but I’m just getting a stronger feeling as the days go on that we’re about to see a Kerry landslide. I know everyone’s saying this is a tight race, but I can’t help feeling like things are shifting. Call it a combination of portents, intuition, and an abiding optimism in the strength America’s democratic tradition. I don’t think our pride will let us re-elect George Bush. We’ll see, I suppose.

Now, here’s more stuff you should be reading…

• First of all, there’s actually some great conversation going on in the comments section of this very blog! I’m completely chuffed. (That’s a good thing, for those of you not hep to Brit slang.) If you haven’t already, make sure to check out what Graham and Johnny Walker Red have been talking about, vis a vis my last post. You guys are going to blow my whole “Nothing to See Here” tag, but, hey, I can live with that.

I promised I’d post this link on the front page, though. It’s a lay analysis of the Lancet journal numbers by Jeanne over at Body and Soul, a response to Fred Kaplan’s article at Slate. I think Jeanne rightly points out that the thrust of the study is what’s important to acknowledge, and the thrust of the study is that violent deaths in Iraq are up—probably way up—since the start of the war. The US is responsible for many of these deaths and we have to come to terms with this as a country and decide whether this is acceptable for a nation committed to justice. ‘Cause it’s only likely to get worse. (Washington Monthly)

• Juan Cole recommends this al Jazeera translation of the Osama video as fairly accurate. Worth reading for the fascinating glimpse it offers of Osama’s mind. Interestingly, Kuro5hin notes that there are some significant omissions from the CNN translation. (Or are they significant additions in the al Jazeera version? Did I just blow your mind?)

• William Gibson has the shorter OBL:

“Hi. 9-11 was all my idea. And you haven’t been able to catch me, so I’ll do it all over again if I decide to. I know you’re having an election now, but that won’t make any difference either way. In order to make a difference, you’ll have to get your government to stop doing the things they’re doing that keep me wanting to attack you again. ‘Bye.”

• Josh Marshall compares Kerry’s and Bush’s responses to the Osama bin Laden video.

• Of all the responses the the OBL video, this one is incredibly cynical. (The Poor Man) It’s also, as Brad DeLong points out, Orwellian. Which raises this question: “Are people who think this way likely to improve, or degrade the personal safety of the American people?” (Sid’s Fishbowl)

• Josh Marshall has the text of the Bush Pledge that the lefties are a little creeped out by. I’d like to be creeped out by it, too, but I want to see it in context. I wonder if there’s a video of it? The guy’s a Florida state senator; not the brightest species on the planet. Maybe he just got a little over-creative while he was writing his speech.

• The Medium Lobster, once again, sets us straight on the whole voter fraud issue:

The purpose of democracy is not, after all, to select leaders whose policies carry the support and sanction of the public. The purpose of democracy is to select the right leaders – regardless of public intent.

• Greg at The Talent Show makes a key point: fighting al Qaeda cannot be done by declaring war on nations. What’s disturbing to me is that Donald Rumsfeld rightly backs 4G warfare principles of smaller, lighter, highly trained autonomous forces, but apparently fails to understand the core reason for implementing these forces: we’re not fighting our fathers’ wars.

• Greg also transcribes an NPR piece about the Bush administration’s obsession with secrecy.

• R.I.P. Vaughn Meader. I used to listen to my parents’ “The First Family” albums when I was a kid. Brilliant, funny stuff. I probably still copy Vaughn Meader when I do my Kennedy impressions.

• This blogging-related cartoon made me laugh. (Loic Le Meur)

• I caught a little of Josh Rushing’s interview on Fresh Aire the other day. (NPR) Rushing is a former Marine spokesman in Iraq and was featured in the documentary Control Room. Crooked Timber has a rundown of the interview. (via Shrillblog)

• No Related Post

Sunday, October 31st, 2004 @ 11:42 pm Nothings
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