The KevStar Pavilion

Thursday, October 26, 2006

What the hell--back from the dead for a little '06 information on the evil-doers:

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

posted by Kevin 11:05

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Thursday, March 18, 2004

Starship...Lock on to these Coordinates

Fuad Ajami just did his best Captain Merrick impersonation on Charlie Rose. Basically he said "when the guys in the deck of cards are surrounded they come out with their hands up. Al Qaeda are made of different stuff." He seemed to have a little too much pride i that for a respectable professor at Johns Hopkins.

posted by Kevin 23:43

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Appeasement?

Yeah, I've been in and out of the blogosphere and haven't been tending the garden here too well. It's been an eventful month or so. I've sleepwalked through a dreamlike state and have awoken a sadder and a wiser man.

I wish the same would happen to Bush and the neocons, both the cause and the result. The latest fascistic idiocy they are propogating is that the Spanish electorate caved in to al Qaeda. The estimable Juan Cole dives off the turnbuckle onto this infantile argument. Best line: 'Multilateralists are like a set of married couples who are old friends; the Neocons' unilateral superpower is like Hugh Hefner, surrounded by a constantly changing bevy of hand-picked "girlfriends."'

Oh yeah, and the comments are shot...I'll see what I can do about that, although I doubt I'll move too fast on it. In the meanwhile I'll gladly publish mailbag comments. Please give a handle for attribution...

posted by Kevin 16:14

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Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Big Day

Stuff is flying fast and furious...Props to Ben Chandler for winning the special election in Kentucky HD#6...John Edwards certainly has kept the Democratic nominating contest interesting through March 2 at least. One factor not to be overlooked: his trend lines. In every contest this year, he's raised his support dramatically the longer he is in front of voters. It started in Iowa, continued in New Hampshire (where the press snoozed on his virtual tie with Wes Clark) and was illustrated again in Oklahoma and last night in Wisconsin. It still may not be enough to garner the nomination, but that ability to keep improving your positive image would be a major asset from the VP slot on a ticket. Go John(s), go..! Howard Dean has dropped his bid for the White House. Whatever happens, this guy revitalized the Democratic Party. I hope the next Democratic administration finds a meaninful cabinet role for him; he's earned it, despite his penchant for popping off. The guy even had someone like me a breath away from sipping the Kool Aid.

You'll also note that I've removed the link to Dean's website fromt he list of links to Democratic candidates on the left of the page. However, it's not gone from the KevStar blogroll (you'll find it under "Progressive Organizations" on the right), because Dean promises to keep Dean for America active in electing Democrats. Go howard, go!

posted by Kevin 14:58

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Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Ms. Williams Goes to Augusta...

...We all hope. Mary Beth Williams of Wampum has decided to run for the Maine state legislature. She's actually said nice things about the KevStar Pavilion before and even blogrolls me on her high profile site, so show her some love, and feel free to take a few swings with her fundraising bat.

posted by Kevin 16:52

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Thursday, February 12, 2004

KevStar's Greatest Hits, Volume 1

Howie Kurtz is sheepish.

The KevStar editorial staff stands by its statements, especially regarding the figurative description of Mr. Kurtz's protein fixation.

posted by Kevin 16:46

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Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Release of Bush Military Records Raises More Questions Than It Answers

Despite the assertions of the White House, the partial release of Bush's service point detail yesterday does not answer whether he completely fulfilled his service requirements in the Texas Air National Guard. The White House press corps was skeptical in yesterday's press gaggle. And judging by the output in today's paper's, the maneuver by the White House was akin to sending the late Donnie Moore in with the bases loaded.

Why the limited output of proof, first of all? Where are the complete pay forms and documentation that Bush showed up where he was ordered? There's this tantalizing story in The Dallas Morning News that a retired Texas Guard colonel was privy to a set of events in 1997 where Bush related program activity documents were destroyed at the direction of future FEMA head Joe Allbaugh. May very well not be an accurate description of events, but the question still remains: where are the rest of the official documents?

The New York Times notes White House press secretary Scott McLellan in full Texas two-step mode.

But the records, which the White House obtained from blurry 30-year-old microfiche files in Colorado, show only the specific days in 1972 and 1973, 82 in all, that Mr. Bush was paid for his service.

Although Scott McClellan, the White Houses press secretary, the said the documents "clearly show that the president fulfilled his duties," he would not say, under repeated questioning at a contentious White House briefing that the records definitively prove that Mr. Bush reported for duty on those dates.

"These documents show the days on which he was paid," Mr. McClellan said. "That's what they show." The president, he said, "does recall showing up and performing his duties."

The Washington Post notes that more records will be forthcoming for review from a military archive in Denver. The story also notes that the White House was "stunned" at the intensity of the press briefing. Apparently, they've become accustomed to the press rolling over.

The Boston Globe, which first broke the story in May 2000, is still ahead of the curve with their reporting. It quotes the operations officer from the Texas Air National Guard at the time saying the time detailed in the released documents fell short of Guard expectations.

Retired Colonel Earl W. Lively, who was the operations officer for the Texas Air National Guard at the time, said Bush's performance for the 12 months fell short "of what everyone was expected to do." Lively said that had Bush been under his direct command, "I'd have wanted to know why he didn't meet the requirement. Then I would have decided whether to keep him on or send him to the inactive Reserve."

The Globe goes on to note:

Still, both [Lieutenant Colonel Albert C.] Lloyd and Lively said Bush logged enough points to continue with his Guard service. And other officials said commanders could give guardsmen leeway on meeting service requirements.

"There is definitely some commander discretion," said Reggie Saville, a civilian spokesman for the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va. "If you go the extra distance to stay in touch with your commander, you have extra leeway." Receiving an honorable discharge "is a matter of maintaining a good relationship with the unit. It doesn't necessarily mean making every drill, and getting every `i' dotted and every `t' perfectly crossed."

So the question seems to be, especially in light of the revelations Kevin Drum has produced showing what could have been Bush's attachment to the inactive reserve disciplinary detail, did Bush's Guard commander have the kind of conversation Col. Lively describes and ship Bush off to the inactive reserve, or did Bush maintain a "good relationship" with his unit; and if so, what does this say about Pres. Bush's commitment to his service? Did minimal or just-below-minimal-but-teacher-said-it-was-okay service—in other words, a gentleman's C—fulfill the spirit as well as the letter of his Guard requirements? And what should that mean to a sitting President/Presidential candidate?

And this Washington Post piece has a similar rundown to what I've provided and links to primary source documents.

posted by Kevin 12:07

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