When Barry Goldwater said “Extermism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue” in his 1964 Republican nomination speech, he was actually cribbing from Thomas Paine’s “A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.”

Ronald Reagan was a much more successful right-wing politico because he didn’t mess around with high-brow figures such as Paine and instead just stole from Clint Eastwood: “I have only one thing to say to tax increases: ‘Go ahead and make my day.” (Incidentally, George Bush I (*)was less successful with his watered-down bit of machismo “Read my lips…” (broke that promise during a particularly brave moment, actually.)

Howard Dean is accused by the The Nation’s Matt Talibi of having taken the rather common outsider refrain “I Want my Country Back” from past Joe Trippi – influenced campaigns: Jerry Brown and Dick Gephardt. But, I suspect it might be more deriviate of the 2000 anti-Dean gay civil unions backlash election year slogan “Take Vermont Back.”

Meanwhile, Kerry is taking Bush’s line “Bring it On”, which begs an entirely different discussion. One I’ll post later.
………….

(*) Actually in the Bush family hiearchy it would be George Bush II, with the current president being George Bush III. But, the father of Prescott Bush was never named “King”, so…

Kerry Mania is sweeping the country!

Tumble weed blows by. Reach over to pres the “Snooze” button. Crickets expand and contract their lungs.

KERRY-MANIA!

Can’t you just feel it?

“Well, we’ve got the nomination just about wrapped up.”
“That’s good.”

“The former frontrunner challenged the media, and the media took him down. He just self-destructed, as we always suspecte he would.”
“That’s good.”

“You’re ahead by a pretty wide margin of George Bush in the polls in a hypothetical matchup, and the Democratic primary voter has taken a deep breath at their wide anger and is now looking straight at ‘electibility’. And you’re the ‘it’ boy. Just make ‘electibility’ the issue in the next round of primaries and you’re there!”
“That’s good.”

“George Bush is vulnerable on a host of issues: corporate malfeasance, intelligence brohahaus. This is doable.”
“That’s good.”

“The Democratic Party hiearchy has revamped the primary schedule practically for your success. They’re so tired of losing that they wanted to get the insider the major mojo… and that’s you.”
“That’s good.”

“You inspire confidence. Steady experience. Sure, you’re a bit boring, but the people want a steady hand at the wheel — just keep it moderate and you’ll be fine.”
“That’s good.”

“You may have some trouble in the south, but your military record should help you out there. Why, a photo-op or two will go a long way!”
“That’s good.”

“Next January, we’ll be calling you ‘President Dukakis.'”
“That’s good.”

(What? You were expecting a new punchline?)

President Bush will establish a bipartisan commission in the next few days to examine American intelligence operations, including a study of possible misjudgments about Iraq’s unconventional weapons, senior administration officials said Sunday.

NY Times 2-2-04

I don’t know why exactly, but I’m not really interested in reading the Lieberman / Rumsfeld Report. The fascinating thing here is that those with eyes to see can pretty well connect the dots on what happened (at least during the Bush Administration) with regards to Iraq, and it’s not terribly pretty. This should be as big a self-parody as the Hutton Report turned out to be.

For the conspiaranoid, check this one out:

Mr Bush will model his inquiry on the Warren Commission into President John F Kennedy’s death in 1963.

What are they trying to tell us there? Next thing they’ll be telling us that they’ve tapped Henry Kissinger to head the Investigation.

Suggestions being taken about other possible bipartisans tapped to look into apologetics for the further obfusication of the run-up to war.
……………

Ted Rall’s blog covering Clintonian inanities.

Meet the Press

MR. RUSSERT: You both were members of Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale. What does that tell us?

SEN. KERRY: Not much, because it’s a secret.

MR. RUSSERT: Is there a secret handshake? Is there a secret code?

SEN. KERRY: I wish there were something secret I could manifest there.

MR. RUSSERT: Three twenty-two, a secret number?

SEN. KERRY: There are all kinds of secrets, Tim. But one thing is not a secret. I disagree with this president’s direction that he’s taking the country. We can do a better job. And I intend to do it.

MR. RUSSERT: And we’ll be watching. Be safe on the campaign trail. John Kerry, thanks for joining us.

……….

George W. Bush is shaking the public’s hands after a campaign fundraiser. Somebody hands him a baby.

George W. Bush looks closely at the baby. He licks his lips, and brings his mouth close to the baby. His thoughts, “MUST… RESIST… URGE… TO EAT.”

Meanwhile, Karl Rove is watching on a closed-circuit television. A microphone is rigged into Bush’s ear to guide Bush. Karl Rove is having a conniption fit.

“Georgie… DO NOT EAT THE BABY! I REPEAT: DO NOT EAT THE BABY!!”

Bush mouths the code “Kluggrat Kopa”, which translated means “Popping the bubble-wrapping”, idiomatically meaning essentially “I know I shouldn’t, but LOOK AT IT!”

George Bush is able to pull back at the last minute, and after kissing the baby hands it back to its mother.

Karl Rove breathes a sigh of relief.

………
Apologies to Rick Emerson.