[Liberation News Service]: LNS Countdown to Electoral Uprising -- 12 Day to Go -- SIX MUST READ STORIES ON WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING IN THIS CAMPAIGN

[richard power]

There are only 12 days to go until the national
referendum on the CREDIBILITY, COMPETENCE and
CHARACTER of the _resident, the VICE _resident and the
US regime stream news media that fronts for
it…Please read these SEVEN pieces and share them
with others. They deserve to dominate the air waves
and capture headlines above the fold, but they will
not because the US regimestream news media is a full
partner in a Triad of shared special interest (e.g.,
energy, weapons, media, pharmaceuticals, chemicals,
tobacco, etc) with the Bush Cabal and its
wholly-owned-subsidiary-formerly-known-as-the-Republican-Party…Please
vote and encourage others to vote… The very life of
the Republic itself is at stake. If enough of us vote
they cannot steal it… The Bush abomination is an
illegitimate, corrupt and incompetent regime. There is
an Electoral Uprising coming at the Ballot Box on
November 2…Remember, in this national referendum, when
you vote NO on the Bush abomination you are also
voting NO on the US regimestream news media, which has
fronted for it and provided cover for this
illegitimate, corrupt and incompetent regime…Save the
Republic on November 2, 2004. If enough of us vote
they cannot steal it…Frodo lives!
ERIN NEFF, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: If three days of
early voting can constitute a trend, Democrats think
the beginning of the election in Nevada bodes well for
a John Kerry victory.
In Clark County, Democrats voted in greater numbers
than Republicans on each of the first three days of
the 14-day early voting period. Overall, Democrats had
a lead of 2,104 voters.
Democrats increased turnout on each of the days,
edging Republicans 45 to 41 percent Saturday, 45 to 40
percent Sunday and 46 to 40 percent Monday.
"We don't traditionally vote early," Kerry campaign
spokesman Sean Smith said of Democrats. "Our internal
polling showed that we would do better with voters on
Election Day, so we think this is a very good start
for us."
Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by 57,000 in
Clark County, according to registration for all
eligible voters. Among active voters, the edge for
Democrats is 43,000.
Associated Press: Condoleezza Rice, the White House
national security adviser, is giving a flurry of
speeches in political battleground states in the
closing days of the campaign, bringing allegations
from Sen. John Kerry's camp that she is injecting
herself into the presidential race.
``George Bush will go to any length to cling to power,
even if it means diverting his national security
adviser from doing her job,'' Sen. John Edwards,
Kerry's running mate, said Wednesday. ``It's time for
a fresh start with a White House whose priority will
be to focus on doing everything to make our country
safer -- period.''
Rice is scheduled to give speeches in Pennsylvania,
Michigan and Florida over the next week. In recent
days, she has appeared in Ohio, North Carolina, Oregon
and Washington state. Until May, Rice had not made any
speeches in states considered political battlegrounds…
Former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski,
speaking to reporters during a conference call
arranged by the Kerry campaign, said Wednesday he was
surprised to see Rice giving so many speeches ``which
are obviously timed to coincide with the national
elections.''
``I'm afraid that represents, at least in my book,
excessive politicization of an office which is
unusually sensitive,'' said Brzezinski, who served in
the Carter administration…
``For all its fearmongering on the war on terror, this
White House has a greater commitment to its political
security than to our national security,'' Edwards said
in Canton, Ohio. ``The fact is that the violence in
Iraq is spiraling out of control, Osama bin Laden
remains at large and North Korea and Iran have
increased their nuclear capabilities. With all this
going on, Condi Rice shouldn't take the time to go on
a campaign trip for George Bush.''
John Le Carre, LA Times: Probably no American
president in history has been so universally hated
abroad as Bush: for his bullying unilateralism, his
dismissal of international treaties, his reckless
indifference to the aspirations of other nations and
cultures, his contempt for institutions of world
government, and above all for misusing the cause of
anti-terrorism in order to unleash an illegal war —
and now anarchy — upon a country that like too many
others around the world was suffering under a hideous
dictatorship but had no hand in the events of 9/11, no
weapons of mass destruction and no record of terrorism
except as an ally of the United States in a dirty war
against Iran.
Is your president a great war leader because he
allowed himself to be manipulated by a handful of
deluded ideologues? Is Tony Blair, my prime minister,
a great war leader because he committed Britain's
troops, foreign policy and domestic security to the
same harebrained adventure?
You are voting in November. We will vote next year.
Yet the outcome in both countries will in large part
depend on the same question: How long can the lies
last now that the truth has finally been told? The
Iraq war was planned long before 9/11. Osama bin Laden
provided the excuse. Iraq paid the price. American
kids paid the price. British kids paid the price. Our
politicians lied to us.
While Bush was waging his father's war at your
expense, he was also ruining your country. He made
your rich richer and your poor and unemployed more
numerous. He robbed your war veterans of their due and
reduced your children's access to education. And he
deprived more Americans than ever before of
healthcare…
Editors & Publishers: Sen. John Kerry has widened his
lead in daily newspaper endorsements, landing five of
the seven new additions to E&P's exclusive tally. He
holds a 53-36 edge over President Bush. 
It also pushes the Democrat past the 9 million mark in
circulation total for backing papers. Bush trails with
about 5 million. ..
Kerry has now gained at least nine "switches" - papers
that backed Bush and now support the challenger. (See
chart below.) At least three other papers that
endorsed Bush in 2000 have declined to back either
candidate this year. Bush has picked up one "switch"
from a paper that supported Gore in 2000. 







Support Our Troops, Save the US Constitution,
Repudiate the 9/11 Cover-Up and the Iraq War Lies,
Restore Fiscal Responsibility in the White House,
Thwart the Theft of a Second Presidential Election,
Save the Environment, Break the Corporatist
Stranglehold on the US Mainstream News Media, Rescue
the US Supreme Court from Right-Wing Radicals, Cleanse
the White House of the Chicken Hawk Coup and Its
War-Profiteering Cronies, Show Up for Democracy in
2004: Defeat the Triad, Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/10/int04053.html

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9-11 Widow Lorie Van Auken Trusting in Kerry To Make
America Safer, Realign Priorities
As I was watching the events on television, watching
my husband being burned alive in a building, I would
have thought the president would have gotten up and
told children: "Please excuse me, but I have something
important to attend to." I would hope that we’d have
somebody in office that would act like the commander
in chief if, God forbid, we’re ever under attack
again.
A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW
Lorie Van Auken, the mother of two children, now 17
and 15 years old, lost her husband Kenneth Van Auken
in the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World
Trade Center. Lorie is one of the “Jersey Girls”who,
along with Kristen Breitweiser, Mindy Kleinberg, and
Patty Casazza, fought the Bush administration tooth
and nail for a commission to investigate the September
11th terrorist attacks -- and won. Lorie’s continuing
fight for the truth and seeking answers about the 9-11
attacks is as personal as it is about keeping
Americans safe and preventing another attack. Lorie
believes that until there is full disclosure and
accountability from the Bush administration, the
agencies and processes that need to be fixed to
prevent another attack will be left broken and
Americans less safe. 

Lorie, along with the other “Jersey Girls,”has
endorsed Senator John Kerry for President. 

We were honored to speak with Lorie Van Auken about
her ongoing battles with the Bush administration over
the 9-11 Commission, George W. Bush’s failure on
September 11th, how Bush has made America less secure
since the attacks and why she thinks John Kerry is the
right man for the job. 

* * *
BuzzFlash: Your late husband, Kenneth Van Auken, was
killed in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on
September 11. Tell me how you and other widows and
families formed together to organize and advocate for
the creation of the 9-11 Commission -- a commission
that George W. Bush fought against every step of the
way? 

Lorie Van Auken: Well, at first we assumed that the
government would launch a commission because of the
sheer scope of the tragedy. We knew we needed an
investigation as to what went wrong with every agency
having failed on September 11. 

Then we learned that the president and the vice
president had not planned an investigation into
September 11, which we were completely shocked by.
>From our point of view, hijackers defeated our entire
military with four of our own airplanes and $400,000.
We would have thought that the president, on September
12, 2001, would have said: What on earth happened
here? We need an investigation and we need to have a
good hard look at what went wrong and do what can we
do to make sure it never happens again. 

Of course, that’s exactly what didn’t happen. So we
realized that the only way we were going to ever get
any kind of investigation was to go to Washington and
have a rally and begin to request that people hear us.
We wanted to make everybody understand that it wasn’t
just intelligence agencies that failed. The Bush
administration had asked that there only be an
investigation into intelligence gathering. We knew
that that was not enough because every agency had
actually contributed to the failure -- the INS, the
FAA, NORAD, the Port Authority -- you name it. We
needed to look at all of that to find out what needed
to be fixed, so we could make sure it wouldn’t happen
again.

BuzzFlash: You’ve endorsed Senator John Kerry for
president. Tell us why you think Senator Kerry would
be a better commander in chief in protecting our
country.

Lorie Van Auken: I have many reasons. First of all,
this president waited 14 months for an investigation.
We think that there should have been an investigation
right away. Then they fought funding it properly. Then
they fought providing certain documents. Then we
fought to have pertinent people appear before the
commission, like Condoleezza Rice. And, of course,
President Bush and Vice President Cheney walked hand
in hand to see the commission for only an hour, behind
closed doors, totally off the record, so nobody would
really ever hear what they had to say. It ended up
being longer than an hour, but still we don’t know
what they testified to. 

On September 11, I don’t think the president’s actions
were very commander-in-chief-like. He was sitting and
listening to children read a story to him. As I was
watching the events on television, watching my husband
being burned alive in a building, I would have thought
the president would have gotten up and told children:
"Please excuse me, but I have something important to
attend to." 

I would hope that we’d have somebody in office that
would act like the commander in chief if, God forbid,
we’re ever under attack again. I know that John Kerry
has served in the armed forces and I know that he
knows how to react in a crisis -–that’s first of all. 
Second, he has pledged to enact all 41 of the 9-11
Commission’s recommendations, which this president is
still fighting against. Also, Senator Kerry has said
that he would like to work with our allies in the war
on terrorism, which I think is the only way to
actually combat what’s going on in the world. To find
money lines to stop the funding of terrorists, and to
share intelligence with other countries -- you need
your allies to do that. I think this president has
alienated our allies. I think that’s a really terrible
thing.

BuzzFlash: How did you and Kristen Breitweiser and
Mindy Kleinberg and Patty Casazza get to be known as
the “Jersey Girls”? Was that a label you gave
yourselves or did it come from the media? 

Lorie Van Auken: The four of us had gotten together
relatively early on regarding 9-11 related issues. We
supported each other. Patty Casazza was working with
other families, trying to get information to them, and
we were helping her. And then, when we had our rally
on June 11, 2002, in Washington, D.C., there were
other family members that said they would like to help
us fight for the investigation. We became a group of
around 12 family members that came from Connecticut
and New York, and the four of us came from New Jersey,
and to make it simple, we were coined the Jersey
Girls. That was how this whole thing started. Because
of the [Springsteen] song, it was already a known
phrase, and it just stuck.

BuzzFlash: The Jersey Girls embody the power of
grassroots organizing and advocacy, and you’ve had
many successes. George W. Bush opposed the September
11th Commission and you won. The panel complained
about a lack of money to get the job done, and you
fought and got more money for it. The national
security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, refused to
testify. You won on that. Of course, the fight is not
over. As you said, the Bush administration has said it
won’t implement all the recommendations if Bush gets
reelected. There are still many pages and documents
from the Commission that have not been declassified
and released. Beyond November 2, what’s next for you
and the families? What work do you still feel you have
to do?

Lorie Van Auken: We don’t project forward. We
generally just find the next roadblock that we have to
somehow circumvent. I think the only reason we’ve been
able to keep going is knowing that we have more work
to do. 

We still have the 28 pages that need to be
declassified from the Joint Intelligence Committee
Report. We really need to understand who funded the
9-11 attacks. I don’t think protecting anybody at this
stage is a good idea. I think we all need to face the
facts, and we need to keep it from happening again.
Our theme is to just try to make the country safer,
and we can’t do that by shrouding any of this in
secrecy. 

The Bush administration claims national security is
the reason, but they’re actually protecting
three-year-old sources. I would say classify anything
that really has to do with our national security. But
from what we’ve heard from people who have read the
information, this isn’t about that. It’s because
members of the Bush administration feel some kind of
embarrassment that we’re protecting someone or
something. That’s really not a good reason to keep
information classified.

BuzzFlash: What is your response to Vice President
Dick Cheney, who continues to lie on a daily basis,
claiming that there was a connection between Iraq and
the September 11 attacks, even though the commission
itself said that it found no credible evidence of any
link?

Lorie Van Auken: Vice President Cheney said in the
debate with Senator Edwards that he never suggested
that there was a connection between 9-11 and Iraq. But
of course he previously suggested that there was a
connection. He suggested it many times, and he more
than suggested it. But now, in the debate, he said he
never suggested a connection between Iraq and
Al-Qaeda. I don’t know what to think other than maybe
he’s coming around with the findings from the
commission. 

BuzzFlash: I know you and the other Jersey Girls have
been fighting so hard because you don’t want to see
another family go through what you had to go through
on that awful day. Do you feel that the Bush
administration has made America at all safer since
9-11?

Lorie Van Auken: No. We feel that they have done the
opposite and made Americans less safe. When we went
into Afghanistan right after September 11, we had the
support of our allies in the world because they were
going to disrupt and destroy terrorist training camps.
That would have been the right thing to do -- to try
to find Osama bin Laden, who perpetrated the attack. 

However, before that job was done, the Bush
administration pulled our troops –- America’s sons and
daughters –- and put them into Iraq, leaving
Afghanistan to the warlords and drug dealers. Opium
production is at all-time highs from what we
understand, and that was one of the ways the
terrorists got their funding. I think that’s certainly
not making us any safer. We shouldn’t be enabling
terrorists with funding and we shouldn’t have left the
terrorist camps with the potential to regroup and
reform. 

>From what I understand, Kabul may be taken care of,
but the rest of Afghanistan is really falling by the
wayside. They’re moving troops into Iraq without any
planning, and they’re not protecting the antiquities
of the cradles of civilization, which is not a way to
win hearts and minds. We have inflamed the sentiments
of the Iraqi people against Americans with the
situation at Abu Ghraib. That does not make us any
safer, and it might increase the recruitment of
terrorists. I do not feel the Bush administration has
done a good job on any of these fronts.

BuzzFlash: It has always surprised me that the
administration put up so many roadblocks and opposed
the 9-11 Commission just on purely political terms. It
feels like the administration has a lot to hide. Did
it surprise you that they set up roadblocks every step
of the way? 

Lorie Van Auken: Yes, it’s just been the height of
hypocrisy to say that you’re trying to make the
country safer, but not want to look at what went wrong
on September 11. It always defied logic, because you’d
think that they’d want to take a look at where the
holes were, where the problems were, how did the
terrorists get here, how did they accomplish what they
accomplished on September 11. We would have thought
that the most important thing would have been to take
a good hard look at everything, examine it and then
fix it and make sure that it couldn’t ever happen
again. And that’s not how that went.

BuzzFlash: If you could meet face to face with
President Bush, what would you say to him?

Lorie Van Auken: I would say that we’ve had four years
of leadership that really has not been good for our
country. You’ve taken us down a path where I just
don’t think we’re respected in the world anymore. For
the good of the country, you should step down.

BuzzFlash: Laurie, thank you so much for speaking with
us.

Lorie Van Auken: You’re welcome. Thank you. 
A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW
* * *
Resources:

New York Times: 9-11 Widows Skillfully Applied the
Power of a Question: Why?

Newsday: 9-11 wives take on government and win

Washington Post: Driven by Their 9-11 Fears, Widows
Pin Hopes on Kerry

Bucks County Courier Times: Sept. 11 widows bash Bush


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/comment/story/0,14259,1332231,00.html
America's hidden vote 

Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday October 21, 2004
The Guardian 

Passing almost without notice earlier this month, the
public release of The Civil Rights Record of the
George W Bush Administration - the official staff
report prepared by the US Civil Rights Commission -
whose submission is required by federal law, was
blocked by the Republican commissioners. None the
less, it was posted on the commission's website: "This
report finds that President Bush has neither exhibited
leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken
actions that matched his words." 
Bush has held the Civil Rights Commission in contempt
since its June 2001 report on Election Practices in
Florida During the 2000 Campaign. Then it concluded:
"The commission's findings make one thing clear:
widespread voter disenfranchisement - not the
dead-heat contest - was the extraordinary feature in
the Florida election ... The disenfranchisement of
Florida's voters fell most harshly on the shoulders of
black voters." 
Vast efforts to mobilise or suppress African-American,
Hispanic and Democratic voters have already reached a
greater level of intensity than in any modern
campaign. The Republicans in Ohio, for example, have
attempted to toss out new Democratregistrations
because it was claimed they were written on the wrong
weight of paper, a gambit overruled by a federal
court. From Pennsylvania to Arizona, a Republican
consulting firm is discouraging new Democratic voters
from getting on the rolls. 
Meanwhile, the Democratic party has more than 10,000
lawyers deployed to defend against voter suppression,
2,000 stationed in Florida; civil rights groups are
sending out more than 6,000 lawyers. Bush v Gore
remains an open wound; and now the battle over voting
rights, over democracy itself, is being fought again. 
Since 2002, when Republicans exploited terrorism to
besmirch the patriotism of Democrats in the midterm
elections, what can only be called a new Democratic
party has been summoned into existence by extra-party
groups. More than 100,000 activists are tramping
through the precincts. In Ohio alone, more than
300,000 new Democratic voters have been added, Cecile
Richards, director of America Votes, told me. These
registrations of literally millions of new voters did
not just happen; they were organised. 
The polls, nearly all showing a dead-even race, fail
to account for the new voters, who have no past
records. They do not measure those for whom a mobile
is their main phone - 6% of the population - who will
vote Democrat by a margin of two-and-a-half to one. 
The Democracy Corps poll, however, filters in newly
registered voters. Four months ago, the newly
registered made up only 1% of the sample. One month
ago, they comprised 4%. Now they are at 7% and rising.
And they will vote for Kerry over Bush by 61% to 37%. 
Bush's job approval has fallen now to 47 in this poll;
presidents below 50 always lose. Bush has not
campaigned in Ohio for three weeks, though he plans to
stop there this week. Unemployment continues to rise
in the state. "There is no other explanation for his
absence," says Stanley Greenberg, Bill Clinton's 1992
campaign pollster, "other than his numbers go down
when he's there. His position on jobs is implausible."

Democracy Corps research shows that best-case
arguments for either candidate shift no voters. The
deciding factor will be turnout: the higher the
turnout the larger the vote for Democrats. 
Since September 11 infused Bush with a mission, he has
evoked hovering angels, crusades, mushroom clouds,
evildoers, shades of a universe of death. His imagery
induces a dynamic of paralysis before the threat and
fervour in embrace of his absolute reassurance and
power. Dread without end requires faith without limit.

Yet Bush found himself on the defensive when the New
York Times reported on the closed gathering of his
campaign contributors, where he revealed his radical
programme for his second term - rightwing capture of
the supreme court, privatising social security,
turning over national land to the oil companies, more
tax cuts. Kerry was prompted to raise these issues.
And Bush whined that Kerry was practising "the
politics of fear". The next day Dick Cheney projected
terrorists exploding nuclear weapons within the US,
and offered Bush as saviour from looming apocalypse. 
"No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its
powers of acting and reasoning as terror," wrote
Edmund Burke. But not even the eve of destruction will
stifle turnout. 
• Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to
President Clinton, is Washington bureau chief of
salon.com 
sidney_blumenthal at yahoo.com 



http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-20-Wed-2004/news/25041088.html
 
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal 

EARLY VOTING: Democrats grab turnout lead
Party says kickoff to election in Nevada bodes well
for Kerry win

By ERIN NEFF 
REVIEW-JOURNAL

If three days of early voting can constitute a trend,
Democrats think the beginning of the election in
Nevada bodes well for a John Kerry victory.

In Clark County, Democrats voted in greater numbers
than Republicans on each of the first three days of
the 14-day early voting period. Overall, Democrats had
a lead of 2,104 voters.

Democrats increased turnout on each of the days,
edging Republicans 45 to 41 percent Saturday, 45 to 40
percent Sunday and 46 to 40 percent Monday.

"We don't traditionally vote early," Kerry campaign
spokesman Sean Smith said of Democrats. "Our internal
polling showed that we would do better with voters on
Election Day, so we think this is a very good start
for us."

Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by 57,000 in
Clark County, according to registration for all
eligible voters. Among active voters, the edge for
Democrats is 43,000.

The Kerry campaign strategy aims at winning Clark
County by 9 percent in order to offset the huge
Republican advantage throughout 15 rural Nevada
counties and a sizable advantage for the GOP in Washoe
County.

Washoe County records also showed a good turnout by
Democrats. At the county's only early-vote site,
Democrats outnumbered Republican voters 387 to 312,
according to Saturday totals.

Democrats said they believe nonpartisan voters are
going to vote in greater numbers for Kerry.

"We think the nonpartisans or independent voters are
going to be breaking for us," Smith said, citing
internal polls.

But Republicans said they like the position they're in
with the early-vote numbers because they believe
Democrats need to have an even larger turnout
advantage in Clark County to carry the state.

"We're pleased with where we are at this point," said
Bush-Cheney spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

Tuesday night, Democrats launched a national
get-out-the-vote campaign in Las Vegas with Kerry's
stepson, Chris Heinz, and a performance by Dave Grohl
of the Foo Fighters rock band.

"We've seen energy for months and months now," said
state Democratic Party spokesman Jon Summers. "People
have been excited for months; they're voting for
change."

Unlike in past years, Democrats and numerous
left-leaning tax-exempt advocacy groups -- known as
527s -- in Nevada are actively working to get voters
to the polls early.

In interviews at the Meadows mall early voting site
Monday and Tuesday, a majority of voters said they had
voted for Kerry.

"I view this as a choice between a poor president and
a fair senator," said Lois Estoque, a registered
Democrat voting for Kerry. "But this is an important
election year, and the presidential race is the most
important."

Sharon Mitchell voted for Kerry on Tuesday at Meadows
mall because she said she worries about health
insurance and about her son serving in the military.
Republican George Melendrez said he voted early
because he wanted to beat the rush on Election Day to
vote for president.
"We just moved here, and we don't know any of the
state issues, but being Republicans, we are morally
speaking that we cannot vote for someone who is for
abortion, like Kerry," Melendrez said. "Abortion is
murder."
Out of 45 interviews at the mall Monday and Tuesday,
26 voters said they were voting for Kerry, 12 said
they were voting for Bush, six declined to offer their
selection and one voted for Libertarian Michael
Badnarik.
Republicans have focused considerable efforts on
mail-in voting, contacting thousands of voters to
offer them a mail ballot. Roughly 11,000 mail ballots
were turned in through the first three days, compared
with 54,000 early votes through 5 p.m. Tuesday.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Condoleezza-Rice-Politics.html?oref=login&pagewanted=print&position
October 20, 2004
Edwards Chides Rice Over State Speeches
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Filed at 1:49 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Condoleezza Rice, the White House
national security adviser, is giving a flurry of
speeches in political battleground states in the
closing days of the campaign, bringing allegations
from Sen. John Kerry's camp that she is injecting
herself into the presidential race.
``George Bush will go to any length to cling to power,
even if it means diverting his national security
adviser from doing her job,'' Sen. John Edwards,
Kerry's running mate, said Wednesday. ``It's time for
a fresh start with a White House whose priority will
be to focus on doing everything to make our country
safer -- period.''
Rice is scheduled to give speeches in Pennsylvania,
Michigan and Florida over the next week. In recent
days, she has appeared in Ohio, North Carolina, Oregon
and Washington state. Until May, Rice had not made any
speeches in states considered political battlegrounds.
The White House defended her appearances.
``She doesn't involve herself in the political
campaign,'' said communications director Dan Bartlett.
``But we're a nation at war, we're a nation that has
troops in harm's way and the president has a foreign
policy staff that helps explain the actions we are
taking. And it's a totally appropriate role.''
Added James Wilkinson, deputy national security
adviser, ``Only those who think nothing worthwhile
happens outside of Washington would attack the
national security adviser for accepting invitations to
discuss national security policy with nonpartisan
audiences in America's heartland.''
Former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski,
speaking to reporters during a conference call
arranged by the Kerry campaign, said Wednesday he was
surprised to see Rice giving so many speeches ``which
are obviously timed to coincide with the national
elections.''
``I'm afraid that represents, at least in my book,
excessive politicization of an office which is
unusually sensitive,'' said Brzezinski, who served in
the Carter administration.
Records provided by the White House show Rice has
given 68 speeches since the beginning of the
administration four years ago and that most of them
were in the Washington, D.C., area. Traditionally, the
national security adviser does not become involved in
politics in an overt way.
``For all its fearmongering on the war on terror, this
White House has a greater commitment to its political
security than to our national security,'' Edwards said
in Canton, Ohio. ``The fact is that the violence in
Iraq is spiraling out of control, Osama bin Laden
remains at large and North Korea and Iran have
increased their nuclear capabilities. With all this
going on, Condi Rice shouldn't take the time to go on
a campaign trip for George Bush.''
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lecarre20oct20,1,3327698.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
COMMENTARY
If Le Carré Could Vote
By John le Carré, John le Carré is the author of "The
Spy Who Came In From the Cold," "Tinker, Tailor,
Soldier, Spy" and many other novels.
Maybe there's one good reason — just one — for
reelecting George W. Bush, and that's to force him to
live with the consequences of his appalling actions
and answer for his own lies, rather than wish the job
on a Democrat who would then get blamed for his
predecessor's follies.

Probably no American president in history has been so
universally hated abroad as Bush: for his bullying
unilateralism, his dismissal of international
treaties, his reckless indifference to the aspirations
of other nations and cultures, his contempt for
institutions of world government, and above all for
misusing the cause of anti-terrorism in order to
unleash an illegal war — and now anarchy — upon a
country that like too many others around the world was
suffering under a hideous dictatorship but had no hand
in the events of 9/11, no weapons of mass destruction
and no record of terrorism except as an ally of the
United States in a dirty war against Iran.

Is your president a great war leader because he
allowed himself to be manipulated by a handful of
deluded ideologues? Is Tony Blair, my prime minister,
a great war leader because he committed Britain's
troops, foreign policy and domestic security to the
same harebrained adventure?

You are voting in November. We will vote next year.
Yet the outcome in both countries will in large part
depend on the same question: How long can the lies
last now that the truth has finally been told? The
Iraq war was planned long before 9/11. Osama bin Laden
provided the excuse. Iraq paid the price. American
kids paid the price. British kids paid the price. Our
politicians lied to us.

While Bush was waging his father's war at your
expense, he was also ruining your country. He made
your rich richer and your poor and unemployed more
numerous. He robbed your war veterans of their due and
reduced your children's access to education. And he
deprived more Americans than ever before of
healthcare.

Now he's busy cooking the books, burying deficits and
calling in contingency funds to fight a war that his
advisors promised him he could light and put out like
a candle.

Meanwhile, your Patriot Act has swept aside
constitutional and civil liberties that took brave
Americans 200 years to secure and were once the envy
of a world that now looks on in horror, not just at
Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib but at what you are doing to
yourselves.

But please don't feel isolated from the Europe you
twice saved. Give us back the America we loved, and
your friends will be waiting for you. Here in Britain,
for as long as we have Tony Blair singing the same
lies as George W. Bush, your nightmares will be ours.
Daily Endorsement Tally: 
    Kerry Carries Louisville, Bush Gets Riverside 
    By Greg Mitchell 
    Editor & Publisher 
    Tuesday 19 October 2004 
    New York - Sen. John Kerry has widened his lead in
daily newspaper endorsements, landing five of the
seven new additions to E&P's exclusive tally. He holds
a 53-36 edge over President Bush. 
    It also pushes the Democrat past the 9 million
mark in circulation total for backing papers. Bush
trails with about 5 million. 
    Each candidate picked up one major paper. Kerry
nabbed the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., while
Bush secured The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif.

    Others going for Kerry: Merced Sun-Star (Calif.),
The Standard-Times (New Bedford, Mass.), The Daily
Astorian (Astoria, Ore.), and the East Oregonian
(Pendleton, Ore.). In addition to the Riverside paper,
Bush picked up The News-Review (Roseburg, Ore.). 
    Several major papers have yet to be heard from,
including: The Washington Post, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, The Columbus Dispatch, New York Post,
Boston Herald, New York Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times,
Saint Paul Pioneer-Press, and Denver Post, among
others. 
    Kerry has now gained at least nine "switches" -
papers that backed Bush and now support the
challenger. (See chart below.) At least three other
papers that endorsed Bush in 2000 have declined to
back either candidate this year. Bush has picked up
one "switch" from a paper that supported Gore in 2000.

    Among the latest editorials, the Sun-Star wrote
that Kerry "offers an experienced, steady choice to
lead the nation in a different direction." The
News-Review backed Bush, "with reservation," but
explaining that his "conservative agenda is more
attuned" than Kerry's to local residents. 
    Our complete tally follows, with notes on who the
paper backed in 2000, if known (B for Bush and G for
Gore): 
John Kerry 
53 newspapers total 
9,223,340 daily circulation
Arizona 
Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) (G): 109,592
California 
San Francisco Chronicle (G): 501,135 
The Sacramento Bee (G): 303,841 
San Jose Mercury News (G): 279,539 
The Fresno Bee (G): 166,531 
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa) (G): 89,384 
The Modesto Bee (G): 87,366 
Merced Sun-Star: 17,247
Colorado 
Daily Camera (Boulder) (B): 33,419
Connecticut 
The Day (New London) (B): 39,553
Florida 
St. Petersburg Times (G): 358,502 
The Miami Herald (G): 325,032 
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale) (G):
268,927 
The Palm Beach Post (G): 181,727 
Daytona Beach News-Journal (G): 112,945 
Florida Today (Melbourne) (G): 90,877 
Bradenton Herald (B): 52,163
Georgia 
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution : 418,323
Illinois 
Daily Herald (Arlington Heights) (B): 150,794
Iowa 
The Hawk Eye (Burlington) (G): 19,000
Kentucky 
The Courier-Journal (Louisville) (G): 216,934 
Lexington Herald-Leader (G): 122,748
Maine 
Portland Press Herald (G): 73,211
Massachusetts 
The Boston Globe (G): 452,109 
The Standard-Times (New Bedford): 35,299
Michigan 
Detroit Free Press (G): 354,581 
The Muskegon Chronicle (B): 46,505 
The Argus-Press (Owosso): 11,438
Minnesota 
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (G): 377,058 
Duluth News Tribune: 45,688 
The Free Press (Mankato): 21,591
Missouri 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (G): 281,198 
The Kansas City Star (G): 269,188 
Columbia Daily Tribune (B): 18,874
Nevada 
Nevada Appeal (Carson City): 15,296
New Mexico 
The Albuquerque Tribune (B): 13,536
New York 
The New York Times (G): 1,133,763
North Carolina 
The Charlotte Observer (G): 231,369 
The Daily Reflector (Greenville): 25,777
North Dakota 
Grand Forks Herald (G): 32,385
Ohio 
Dayton Daily News (G): 183,175 
Akron Beacon Journal (G): 139,220
Oregon 
The Oregonian (Portland) (B): 342,040 
Mail Tribune (Medford): 35,524 
The Register-Guard (Eugene) (G): 72,411 
East Oregonian (Pendleton): 10,236 
The Daily Astorian (Astoria): 8,429
Pennsylvania 
The Philadelphia Inquirer (G): 387,692 
The Philadelphia Daily News (G): 139,983
Tennessee 
The Jackson Sun (G): 35,561
Virginia 
The Roanoke Times: 100,447
Washington 
The Seattle Times (B): 237,303 
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (G): 150,901 
The Star (Grand Coulee): no circ available	George W.
Bush 
36 newspapers total 
4,987,305 daily circulation
Alabama 
Mobile Register (B): 100,244
Arizona 
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) (B): 466,926
California 
The San Diego Union-Tribune (B): 361,317 
The Press-Enterprise (Riverside): 191,802
Colorado 
Rocky Mountain News (Denver) (B): 286,004 
The Pueblo Chieftain: 52,208
Georgia 
Savannah Morning News (B): 57,288
Illinois 
Chicago Tribune (B): 578,843 
The Pantagraph (Bloomington) (B): 47,931 
The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana): 39,190
Indiana 
The Indianapolis Star (B): 253,778
Iowa 
Globe-Gazette (Mason City): 18,947
Massachusetts 
The Sun (Lowell) (B): 50,369
Michigan 
The Grand Rapids Press (B): 139,216 
The Oakland Press (Pontiac): 65,484
Nebraska 
Omaha World-Herald (B): 197,627
Nevada 
Las Vegas Review-Journal (B): 170,061
New Hampshire 
The Union Leader (Manchester) (B): 59,605
New Mexico 
Carlsbad Current-Argus (B): 8,030 
Las Cruces Sun-News (B): 22,168
New York 
The New York Sun: 18,000
Ohio 
The Repository (Canton) (B): 66,014 
The Times Reporter (New Philadelphia): 23,956 
The Courier (Findlay) (B): 22,319
Oklahoma 
Tulsa World (B): 139,383
Oregon 
The News-Review (Roseburg): 19,272
Pennsylvania 
York Daily Record (G): 46,554
Tennessee 
The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville): 22,057
Texas 
The Dallas Morning News (B): 546,177 
San Antonio Express-News (B): 252,889 
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (B): 247,167 
El Paso Times: 74,278 
Amarillo Globe-News (B): 51,105
Virginia 
Richmond Times-Dispatch (B): 191,732 
The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg) (B): 47,866
Washington 
The Columbian (Vancouver) (B): 51,498
________________________________________
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/102104L.shtml

Kerry Aims to Avoid Gore Recount Mistakes 
    The Associated Press 
    Wednesday 20 October 2004 
    Washington - Sen. John Kerry has a simple strategy
if the presidential race is in doubt on Nov. 3, the
day after the election: Do not repeat Al Gore's
mistakes. 
    Unlike the former vice president, who lost a
recount fight and the 2000 election, Kerry will be
quick to declare victory on election night and begin
defending it. He also will be prepared to name a
national security team before knowing whether he's
secured the presidency. 
    "The first thing we will do is make sure everybody
has an opportunity to vote and every vote is counted,"
said Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. "We will be
ready to hit the ground running and begin a fresh
start in this country, given that so many critical
issues are before us." 
    The prospects for another contested election grow
with every poll showing the race neck and neck. 
    Gore prematurely conceded the 2000 race to George
W. Bush, then had to retract his concession after
aides said Florida wasn't lost. He never declared
victory, an omission Kerry's advisers - many of whom
worked for Gore - now believe created a sense of
inevitability in voters' minds about Bush's
presidency. 
    Gore didn't plan for the legal showdown, though
few could have predicted it before Election Day. And
he watched as Bush seized political advantage during
the 36-day recount by publicly discussing a transition
to the White House. 
    Not this time, promise Kerry's advisers. If there
is doubt about the results, they will fight without
delay. 
    Six so-called "SWAT teams" of lawyers and
political operatives will be situated around the
country with fueled-up jets awaiting Kerry's orders to
speed to a battleground state. The teams have been
told to be ready to fly on the evening of the election
to begin mounting legal and political fights. No team
will be more than an hour from a battleground. 
    The Kerry campaign has office space in every
battleground state, with plans so detailed they
include the number of staplers and coffee machines
needed to mount legal challenges. 
    "Right now, we have 10,000 lawyers out in the
battleground states on Election Day, and that number
is growing by the day," said Michael Whouley, a Kerry
confidant who is running election operations at the
Democratic National Committee. 
    While the lawyers litigate, political operatives
will try to shape public perception. Their goal would
be to persuade voters that Kerry has the best claim to
the presidency and that Republicans are trying to
steal it. 
    Democrats are already laying the public relations
groundwork by pointing to every possible voting
irregularity before the Nov. 2 election and accusing
Republicans of wrongdoing. 
    On Election Day, Whouley will head the so-called
"boiler room," probably in Washington, that tracks
vote counts and ensures Kerry doesn't concede too
soon. Whouley was the aide who, after noticing Florida
was too close to call in 2000, called Gore's team in
Tennessee and told them to put the brakes on the
concession speech. 
    Campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill will be with
Kerry in Boston, where they will field Whouley's
calls. 
    Jim Johnson, who headed Kerry's vice presidential
search team, former Labor Secretary Alexis Herman and
longtime Kerry aide David McKean lead the team
planning Kerry's transition to the White House. 
    Aides say the transition process is behind
schedule, but Kerry will be ready to name a national
security team shortly after the election. They say he
has candidates in mind, but is reluctant to discuss
the transition while campaigning. 
    The advisers spoke on condition of anonymity
because Kerry wants the focus to be on his campaign
for now. 
    The plan to quickly name a national security team
is partly practical (at a time of war, continuity is
necessary) and political, aides said, because if there
is another recount Kerry will want to show he's ready
to take power. 
    Amid the tumult of the 2000 recount, Bush sought
to make his presidency appear as a matter of time by
leaking word of his national security team and
bringing news cameras into his transition meetings.
Gore and his staff were more reluctant to talk about
the appointment process. 
    Kerry's advisers say Bush would have a natural
political advantage in a recount in this election
because he is the president, with a national security
team in place and a public relations spotlight that
comes with the White House. 


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