 | Politics "wid" a taste of Philly, by Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News |
| Politics "wid" a taste of Philly, by Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News |
We hear that the first war crimes trial in Iraq is going to be "Chemical Ali." We'll never forget his 1975 "Thrilla in Manilla" against "Chemical Frazier." Gotta watch those sarin and mustard gas attacks , though -- we hear they sting like a bee (or like a "b," anyway.)
It was around the time of the Iowa caucuses last January that aides and supporters noticed some stunning changes in the physical appearance and behavior of presidential candidate John Kerry. To those who knew him best, it was obvious that his face had been disfigured.
Look at these remarkable before-and-after pictures. The furrow of Kerry's brow, which always gave Kerry the thoughtful gravitas of an experienced lawmaker, had suddenly been smoothed out. The so-called "crow's feet" around his eyes also vanished virtually overnight. Just like that, a popular politician known for his bedraggled, hangdog appearance suddenly had movie-star good looks.
Kerry's facial change wasn't his only problem. Those who attended his rallies in Iowa and New Hampshire were also struck by his inexplicable behavior. Rather than answer questions on the stump in a concise, logical way, Kerry would speak in a confusing, elliptical fashion, loaded down with parenthetical remarks and rambling asides. At one point, the Massachusetts senator became so confused he said that he voted for $87 billion in Iraq funding before he voted against it!
In spite of these obstacles, Kerry persisted in his quest for the White House and almost won. He was narrowly defeated by the ruling party's George W. Bush in an election that observers agree was marked by massive voting fraud. Still, even many Democrats believed there was something very wrong with Kerry and his campaign.
Now, the real story can be told. Campaign Extra! has learned that doctors and Kerry aides believe that the candidate was poisoned by his political opponents. They recently sought medical testing after seeing news reports about similar allegations in the disputed Ukraine election, where it's been charged that opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko was also poisoned. (see before-and-after pictures below).
In Yushchenko's case, doctors think the Ukrainian may have ingested the toxic chemical dioxin. In Kerry's case, insiders believe, the American Democrat was injected at least once -- and most likely on several different occasions -- with another type of poisoning agent: Botulism.
Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The toxin can cause death, but other symptoms include droopy eyelids and incomprehensible speech. Insiders who spoke with Campaign Extra! said the poisoning attempts may have been botched, so that while the injections did not cause serious physical harm, they did lead to some of the symptoms -- like the shocking disappearance of Kerry's wrinkles -- that gained notice during the campaign.
Not surprisingly, Republicans are going to great lengths to dismiss Kerry's poisoning as a "conspiracy theory." Some have suggested that he could have eaten bad shellfish at his beloved Union Oyster House. Others have even gone so far as to suggest that Kerry injected himself, using a variation of the toxin known as botox -- although no one has come up with a coherent explanation why he would do such a thing.
Campaign Extra! is both appalled at this attempt to subvert the American political process and relieved that this blatantly criminal act has been revealed. Hopefully now, the U.S. Supreme Court, which has shown a willingness to wade into the political process in the past, can now come forward and order a new election to be held.
We were up early enough this a.m. to catch a highly bloviated U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, the Republican from suburban Delaware County who's a key GOP player on foreign affairs, mouthing off with 1210-AM's Michael Smerconish. He burned through a range of subjects from Ukraine to a local political bruhaha over honoring a deceased 14-year-old firefighter. For some reason, Weldon's pal Sun Myung Moon didn't come up.
In the middle of it all, Weldon broke some news. The influential member of the House Armed Service Committee said that he's in the process of writing a book that will show that Iran is behind the insurgency in neighboring Iraq. He didn't give a time table for when it would be puublished but said four publishers are looking at it.
Weldon believes that the mullahs in Tehran have funded militias supporting radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to the tune of $75 million. The idea that Iran is fomenting anti-U.S. violence next door is not a new one, but Weldon said on the radio that he has never-before-seen evidence. He said that two Iranian exiles he met in Paris last year have been funneling him hundreds of pages of proof of the conspiracy.
It wouldn't surprise us if Iran were funding violent Shiite comrades in Iraq. But Weldon's theory overlooks the most obvious fact about the insurgency, which is that since the spring almost all the violence has come from Sunni controlled areas where the idea of Iranian influence is, at best, highly implausible.
What is important is that we're seeing another piece in the puzzle of what, sadly, is likely to be the foreign policy theme of Bush II, the threat from Iran and a push for war. What's fascinating to us is the way that they're developing the same confusing shopping list of rotating reasons for war. Iraq "had" WMDs, Iran is building nuclear bombs. Iraq was "supporting" al-Qaeda; Iran is supporting the insurgents. Iraq needs "democracy"; Iran needs "democracy."
Oh, here's another quirky coincidence -- they both have oil!
Pulled in a Exxon station out on Highway One
Held up without a gun, held up without a gun
-- Bruce Springsteen, "Held Up Without a Gun," 1981 (B-side to "Hungry Heart.")
From the Associated Press, 2004:
CAIRO, Egypt - OPEC agreed Friday to reduce output by one million barrels a day in hopes of staving off further price declines without triggering a new buying frenzy, delegates said.
..."We have done everything to moderate the price," the Saudi minister said, alluding to overproduction in recent months. "It is moderating and it will probably moderate more."
Thank God the Saudis are such good friends of the United States. Just imagine what they might do if they were our enemies!
Our friend Suburban Guerrilla called to our attention some interesting language on the Web site of www.laptoplobbyist.com, the wingnuts who cost local WHYY radio reporter Rachel Buchman her job over an angry and ill-advised voice mail.
The group's "Privacy Statement" states: LaptopLobbyist.com cares about protecting the privacy of our visitors and subscribers. When you send an Insta-Fax or take other active (sic) at LaptopLobbyist.com we will keep you informed about our activities and projects. In such cases our e-mail will contain a link to a web site. It will be your choice as to whether you decide to visit that site or not. We will never give your email address or other information about you to someone else.
Who knew that the policy doesn't apply to voicemails?!
In fact, check out what's posted on the site today:
We have received tons of requests for the voicemail we received from Rachel Buchman. Therefore, we are linking to an MP3 file of the voicemail that has stirred this literal hornet's nest of controversy. Please note: Ms. Buchman leaves a call back number in the voicemail which went to her office at WHYY. We have left the number intact to validate that she did, indeed, place this call from work. However, please do not call this number as Ms. Buchman is no longer employed by WHYY.
Irony, thy name is Lapto Plobbyist.
Let's see....the president is calling up more troops, the Pentagon is going on TV and lying, we're marking progress by enemy "body counts," and now we're dropping napalm.
Anyone else have a strange sense of deja vu.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson is fast becoming the Bluto of what we like to call the "nothing's-over-until-we-decide-it-is!" movement, seeking a real recount in Ohio and levelling the charge that massive electoral fraud helped get W. "re-elected."
Yesterday, he paid a visit to our offices here at the Daily News, squeezing us in during a whirlwind visit to Philly. The reason? He wants to make sure that we "mainstream media" types in places like Pennsylvania understand what's going on in Ohio, and what's at stake.
Much of what he told the newspaper's editorial board is familar stuff to anyone who's been either reading this site or following the election-fraud flap on the Web: the exit poll discrepancies, "black box" voting, the Warren County lockdown, not enough voting machines in black precincts, etc. In other words, all the stuff that should have folks out marching in the streets like they're doing in Kiev.
He also shed some light for us on some high-level msyteries, such as why Kerry isn't playing an active role in this. He said that he's spoken with Kerry twice in the past week, but Jackson muttered that "apparently he wants to look presidential."
Good point. Isn't the best way to look "presidential" to get yourself elected president?
But what's important is that with Reverend Jackson preaching the gospel of voter fraud, the word is going to start get out there.
Amen. Here's our entire story in today's Daily News: