Laura Bush, Stepford wife. Why isn't anyone commenting on her fairly obvious botox job and not so obvious but probable lip filler.... It was fair game for Theresa Heinz Kerry. Is there a "don't ask, don't tell" policy going on?

From Garrison Keillor speaks against remaining neutral in the face of the Republican threat:

This year, as in the past, Republicans will portray us Democrats as
embittered academics, desiccated Unitarians, whacked-out hippies and
communards, people who talk to telephone poles, the party of the Deadheads.
They will wave enormous flags and wow over and over the footage of firemen
in the wreckage of the World Trade Center and bodies being carried out and
they will lie about their economic policies with astonishing enthusiasm.

The Union is what needs defending this year. Government of Enron and by
Halliburton and for the Southern Baptists is not the same as what Lincoln
spoke of. This gang of Pithecanthropus Republicanii has humbugged us to
death on terrorism and tax cuts for the comfy and school prayer and flag
burning and claimed the right to know what books we read and to dump their
sewage upstream from the town and clear-cut the forests and gut the IRS and
mark up the constitution on behalf of intolerance and promote the corporate
takeover of the public airwaves and to hell with anybody who opposes them.

His point? Don't stay neutral. Get out there and do your part to defeat Bush.

5280, Denver's excellent and credible monthly magazine reports in an exclusive interview that Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell is considering a run for Colorado governor. He says his decision depends on current Governor Bill Owen's career path:

"For instance, if between now and the end of his term, he was picked for the Cabinet or some very important position by President Bush, and then our Lt. Governor became the Governor, I don't think I would challenge her," Campbell tells 5280. "It's not in the best interest of the party to have an in-house fight among high-level Republicans."

But if Owens were to finish out his term as governor, Campbell says his options would change. "If the seat was open however, I might consider it. I've had a number of people call and ask if I would consider it," he says.

If Bush gets re-elected, I don't doubt that Owens will be offered a cabinet position. He's been shilling heavy for the party for a long time--even being selected with Giuliani, Romney and McCain to provide spin from the Republican war room during the Democratic Convention.

Nighthorse Campbell is dreaming if he thinks we want him for Governor. He's another flip-flopper. Elected as a Democrat, he switched parties in his first term and now hails from the right. Fool me once....

Business Week reports that Bush is going after Florida's Jewish vote big-time--and that it could make the difference in that state for him.

Bush's support for Israel may be the only Bush position I agree with....but it pales by comparison to every other issue on which his stand is deplorable.

Who sits on our Supreme Court, preserving constitutional rights and civil liberties, getting us out of Iraq and ending his Administration's lust to take over the world in the name of fighting terrorism is of much greater concern.

Just saw an NBC interview with President Bush and Matt Lauer. Bush told Matt that John Kerry's war service was "more heroic" than his.

"I think him going to Vietnam was more heroic than my flying fighter jets," said Bush, who served in the Texas Air National Guard. "He was in harm's way and I wasn't. On the other hand, I served my country. Had my unit been called up, I would have gone."

Former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, in a speech, says that as Speaker of the House, he got George Bush in the National Guard as a favor to a privileged kid He expresses remorse. Watch the video here. [link via Matthew Stoller at Blogging of the President.]

If you need another reason to vote for Kerry over Bush, here it is: During three of the four years of the Bush Admninistration's reign, both the poverty level and the uninsured level have risen.

The number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million last year, while the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 1.4 million, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. It was the third straight annual increase for both categories. While not unexpected, it was a double dose of bad economic news during a tight re-election campaign for President Bush.

Approximately 35.8 million people lived below the poverty line in 2003, or about 12.5 percent of the population, according to the bureau. That was up from 34.5 million, or 12.1 percent in 2002.....Nearly 45 million people lacked health insurance, or 15.6 percent of the population. That was up from 43.5 million in 2002, or 15.2 percent, but was a smaller increase than in the two previous years.

The poverty rate is even higher for children. Leave no child behind? Who does Bush think he's fooling? Let's hope its not the voters.

Swift Boat vet John O'Neill, now accused of lying himself about being in Cambodia, may be feeling the heat. His law firm's website, Clements, O'Neill, Pierce, Wilson & Fulkerson, L.L.P, which was accessible Tuesday night, and which provided O'Neill's e-mail address, is now giving the message "Access is Forbidden."

[hat tip to Randy of Beautiful Horizens and Atrios.]

David Sirota has compiled a group of articles reflecting the GOP's real attitude towards New York which can be summed up in two words: Drop Dead. The latest is Speaker Dennis Hastert's attack. The earliest quotes are from Newt Gingrich back in 1989 and 1990.

On a related note, don't miss Tom the Dancing Bug's cartoon in Salon called "A Republican Guide to NYC."

Take this, Bob Dole--from one who knew you when.

Former Senator and Vietnam War Veteran Max Cleland went to Crawford today to deliver a letter from 9 Senators to President Bush asking him to condemn the Swift Boat Vets ad. He was turned away and left, still holding the letter. Buzzflash has the text of the letter here.

As Cleland approached the ranch, he was greeted by Bush supporter Jerry Patterson, also a Vietnam Vet, who handed him a letter written by some other vets criticizing Kerry for criticizing the war when he came home.

This whole Swift Boat affair has gotten beyond tiresome. It's a major distraction and the Bush camp is hoping it continues. Because, otherwise, the focus goes back to Bush and his failures as a leader the past four years.

Ben Ginsberg, the lawyer for the RNC and Bush campaign, has tendered his resignation as outside counsel to President Bush as a result of yesterday's disclosures that he provided legal advice to the Swift Boat vets regarding their anti-Kerry ad. [link via Mrs. Atrios, who's doing a great job subbing for her husband today.]

I cannot begin to express my sadness that my legal representations have become a distraction from the critical issues at hand in this election," Mr. Ginsberg told the president in a letter distributed today by the Bush-Cheney campaign. "I feel I cannot let that continue, so I have decided to resign as national counsel to your campaign to ensure that the giving of legal advice to decorated military veterans, which was entirely within the boundaries of the law, doesn't distract from the real issues upon which you and the country should be focusing."

Ben Ginsberg and I used to spar sometimes on the old CNBC Rivera Live show about the Clinton impeachment and Ken Starr investigation. I considered him very smart, although predictably partisan on the issues. To his credit, unlike some (most) of the other right-wing pundits, his arguments were grounded in law rather than emotion. I doubt this will be a setback to his career. But, have his actions hurt Bush?

Ginsberg says there is no connection between the Bush campaign and the Swift Boat vets--both were just clients seeking his expertise on campaign finance laws, and it's not unusual for a lawyer to advise more than one group.

The group "came to me and said, 'We have a point of view we want to get into the First Amendment debate right now. There's a new law. It's very complicated. We want to comply with the law, will you keep us in the bounds of the law?'" Ginsberg said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I said yes, absolutely, as I would do for anyone."

That's a hard sell for me. Imagine for a moment that the outside group seeking Ginsberg's legal advice on campaign finance laws was one that intended to publish an anti-Bush or pro-Kerry ad. Do you think he would have agreed to advise that group? I don't. Also, Ginsberg hasn't decided whether to charge the Swifties for his advice--in other words, he may have been working for free, or "pro bono" as it's called in the trade.

The manager of the Kerry-Edwards campaign had this to say about Ginsberg's role:

Now we know why George Bush refuses to specifically condemn these false ads," she said. "People deeply involved in his own campaign are behind them, from paying for them, to appearing in them, to providing legal advice, to coordinating a negative strategy to divert the public away from issues like jobs, health care and the mess in Iraq, the real concerns of the American people."