October 1-6

October 6, 2004 (8:05pm)
Hannity and Colmes: Poll Tracker scrolls through polls on the bottom of the screen; Kerry seems to be winning certain key states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Mexico, Iowa, which he wasn’t winning before the debates; this worries me very much, even though I still believe Bush will win. It also doesn’t help that I had a dream, or rather a nightmare, a few nights ago that John Kerry won the election. I was surprised at how upset I was when I woke up.

October 1, 2004 (10:33pm)
Real Time with Bill Maher, Guests: Call-in, Dixie Chicks, Tucker Carlson. Panel, George Carlin, Steve Moore, Katty Kay.

Tucker Carlson (Crossfire) - supported Bush when Iraq War a success; now believes we overestimated Iraqis' desire for freedom, war not going well; undecided voter. "You'll never hear me attacking a reporter if what's being reported is true. Period." "Reporter has the right to report the truth. Period." even if truth endangers troops.

On Religion: Carlin rants about how religion is responsible for more death, war, guilt, etc.. Christians are superstitious, mentally ill. Audience roars in applause after this. Katty Kay: worries her that President has to go to church; doesn't understand why he feels he has to go to church; only 20% British churchgoers, Americans 80%. Carlin: Gov't spends every waking minute trying to tilt the system against the little guy. It's rich vs. poor and that's the way it always will be. Maher: "poor think that one day they will be rich." Moore: that's what makes America a great country.

October 5, 2004 (8:13pm)

Vice-Presidential Debates

Moderator asks John Edwards: if John Kerry had been President, would Saddam Hussein still be in power? Edwards responds with the typical, "We would've pressured Hussein, but we would've done it the right way etc.." Cheney gets his 90 second rebuttal but never calls Edwards on his lack of response. Why didn't he just say, "What Senator Edwards just said was a confusing way of answering, ‘Yes. Saddam would still be in power'?"

"You have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test" - Kerry on going to war (1st debate).

8:21 pm, Cheney fucks Edwards up, bad. $96B not $200B. %50 U.S. casualties, not 90%. Download the transcript for this portion of the debate. Cheney finally brings up Kerry's Senate voting record! Praise Jesus! Brings up how they voted against $87B when Dean was winning the primaries. If they can't handle Dean pressure, how can they handle bigger pressures... Edwards brings up the fact that Cheney voted to cut defenses when he was Secretary of Defense in 1988. Brings up Halliburton... Cheney: for war when good, against it when bad... Edwards: Kerry has been absolutely consistent from the beginning. Weapons inspectors needed time to do job. They would've figured out he had no weapons, no connection to Al-Qaeda... Moderator: French/German officials have said they have no intention to send troops no matter what, but that's been a big part of your campaign... Edwards: sidesteps the question of internationalizing effort. Says success brings troops, Kerry will have success... Cheney: they have no plan to internationalize; says Gulf War coalition wasn't stronger; Kerry called "coalition of the coerced and the bribed;" demeans sacrifice of allies by saying "Wrong war, wrong place, wrong time;" brings up how Kerry criticized Allawi... Edwards: 1st Gulf War cost $5B; Now it's $200B no matter what Cheney says; %90 coalition casualties... Edwards: what Cheney says is inconsistent w/ facts on ground; says administration opposed 9/11 Commission, Department of Homeland Security, they weren't aggressive enough; says they would put into effect all of 9/11 Commission's recommendations... Cheney: tries to link Al-Qaeda to Iraq with Zarqawi; earlier he mentioned $25,000 Saddam offered to families of suicide bombers... Moderator: asks Cheney about how he said businesses should be allowed to do business with Iran (download Cheney's answer off internet)... Edwards: says there are some 60 countries with Al-Qaeda members in it; are we supposed to go after all of them? Says Cheney, when CEO of Halliburton, played millions of dollars of fines for false financial information; brings up contracts they got in Iraq, how they're under investigation... Cheney: factcheck.com has real information on Halliburton... Edwards: download answer off of internet. Cheney: said Edwards has one of the worst records in the Senate; he's never there; missed 33/36 judiciary meetings; says Cheney, as VP, is president of the Senate and this was the first time he met Edwards... Edwards: 1/10 who voted against head-start, against MLK holiday, etc... (download transcript)... Cheney avoids rebuttal. Download this part of what Moderator says about how Edwards didn't answer her question about Israel.

IFILL: ... I want people to understand exactly what it is, as you said, that Senator Kerry did say.
He said, "You've got to do" -- you know, he was asked about preemptive action at the last debate -- he said, "You've got to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons." What is a global test if it's not a global veto?

EDWARDS: Well, let me say, first, he said in the same segment -- I don't remember precisely where it was connected with what you just read -- but he said, point blank, "We will never give anyone a veto over the security of the United States of America." What he's saying is we're going to go back to the proud tradition of the United States of America and presidents of the United States of America for the last 50 to 75 years. First, we're going to actually tell the American people the truth. We're going to tell them the truth about what's happening. We're not going to suggest to them that things are going well in Iraq or anyplace else when, in fact, they're not. We're going to make sure that the American people know the truth about why we are using force and what the explanation for it is. And it's not just the American people. We're also going to make sure that we tell the world the truth. Because the reality is, for America to lead, for America to do what it's done for 50 years before this president and vice president came into office, it is critical that we be credible. It is critical that they believe that when America takes action, they can trust what we're doing, what we say, what we say at the United Nations, what we say in direct conversations with leaders of the world -- of other countries. They need to know that the credibility of the United States is always good, because they will not follow us without that. And unfortunately, we're seeing the consequences of that right now. It's one of the reasons that we're having so much difficulty getting others involved in the effort in Iraq. You know, we've taken 90 percent of the coalition causalities. American taxpayers have borne 90 percent of the costs of the effort in Iraq. And we see the result of there not being a coalition: The first Gulf war cost America $5 billion. We're at $200 billion and counting. John Kerry will never give up control over the security of the United States of America to any other country. We will not outsource our responsibility to keep this country safe.

IFILL: Mr. Vice President, you have 90 seconds to respond.

CHENEY: Well, Gwen, the 90 percent figure is just dead wrong. When you include the Iraqi security forces that have suffered casualties, as well as the allies, they've taken almost 50 percent of the casualties in operations in Iraq, which leaves the U.S. with 50 percent, not 90 percent.

With respect to the cost, it wasn't $200 billion. You probably weren't there to vote for that. But $120 billion is, in fact, what has been allocated to Iraq. The rest of it's for Afghanistan and the global war on terror.

The allies have stepped forward and agreed to reduce and forgive Iraqi debt to the tune of nearly $80 billion by one estimate. That, plus $14 billion they promised in terms of direct aid, puts the overall allied contribution financially at about $95 billion, not to the $120 billion we've got, but, you know, better than 40 percent. So your facts are just wrong, Senator.

You also have a situation where you talk about credibility. It's awfully hard to convey a sense of credibility to allies when you voted for the war and then you declared: Wrong war, wrong place, wrong time. You voted for the war, and then you voted against supporting the troops when they needed the equipment, the fuel, the spare parts and the ammunition and the body armor. You're not credible on Iraq because of the enormous inconsistencies that John Kerry and you have cited time after time after time during the course of the campaign. Whatever the political pressures of the moment requires, that's where you're at. But you've not been consistent, and there's no indication at all that John Kerry has the conviction to successfully carry through on the war on terror.

EDWARDS: May I respond briefly?

What the vice president has just said is just a complete distortion. The American people saw John Kerry on Thursday night. They don't need the vice president or the president to tell them what they saw. They saw a man who was strong, who had conviction, who is resolute, who made it very clear that he will do everything that has to be done to find terrorists, to keep the American people safe. He laid out his plan for success in Iraq, made it clear that we were committed to success in Iraq. We have to be, because we have troops on the ground there and because they have created a haven for terrorists.

IFILL: Mr. Vice President, you have 30 seconds.

CHENEY: Your rhetoric, Senator, would be a lot more credible if there was a record to back it up. There isn't. And you cannot use "talk tough" during the course of a 90-minute debate in a presidential campaign to obscure a 30-year record in the United States Senate and, prior to that by John Kerry, who has consistently come down on the wrong side of all the major defense issues that he's faced as a public official.

October 6, 2004 (8:05pm)
Hannity and Colmes: Poll Tracker scrolls through polls on the bottom of the screen; Kerry seems to be winning certain key states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Mexico, Iowa, which he wasn't winning before the debates; this worries me very much, even though I still believe Bush will win. It also doesn't help that I had a dream, or rather a nightmare, a few nights ago that John Kerry won the election. I was surprised at how upset I was when I woke up.