"Samarra is a beaming success story over here," writes Lt. Col Jim Rose, a Tennessee Marine whose parents live in Old Hickory. "We were getting ready for a take-down there right after Najaf. We told the locals, 'Hey, see what happened in Najaf? Is that what you want? Cause we're coming.' It took the locals about two days to get the bad guys out."

Rose verified a message I received from another Marine officer in Iraq. He provided perspective missing in the media: "Those achievements, more than anything else - account for the surge in violence in recent days - especially the violence directed at Iraqis by the insurgents. Both in Najaf and Samarra, ordinary people stepped out and took sides with the Iraqi government against the insurgents, and the bad guys are hopping mad. They are trying to instill fear once again."

"The Najaf shrine - HUNDREDS of dead women and children were brought out after Sadr left," Rose wrote. "They (Sadr's supporters) rounded them up during the battle and brought them in to be executed. Why? Because they anticipated the Americans would eventually enter the shrine and walk into a media ambush. We never went in. The people of Najaf love us right now because of that. They hate Sadr and want him dead."

Is there nothing Kerry won't say to win the election? Is there no position he won't change? Doesn't he care anything for the sacrifices of our troops in Iraq?

And if he does care about our soldiers and Marines, why is he broadcasting remarks that insist - against all hard evidence - that the terrorists are winning?

... He's reverting to form. Just as he lied about our troops three decades ago, encouraging our enemies of the day and worsening the suffering of our POWs in North Vietnam, today he's pandering to a new enemy.

In an election year, our engagement in Iraq is a legitimate topic for sober debate. But Kerry isn't serious. All he does is to declare defeat. He certainly doesn't want to be al Qaeda's candidate, but he's made himself into their man through his irresponsibility.

... The terrorists and their allies already intended to increase the level of violence in Iraq before November. But Kerry's pandering has encouraged them to pull out all the stops. I wish it were otherwise, that our election process had more integrity, but the truth is that every roadside blast and car bomb in Iraq is meant to support John Kerry.

Or ask my friend Jake who is stationed near An Nasiriyah. In one of his emails to me, he sent me a picture of him riding on a camel and this statement, "Here's me doing some crazy stuff with some of the locals. They are great people and so friendly. 90% of this country are people like these who simply want a safe country to live in." ...

But my favorite story to tell you is the one that Natalie shared. She told us about a convoy that was traveling in Baghdad yesterday and it was hit by an IED. Unfortunately, one of the vehicles was so close to the seat of the explosion that it injured two of the soldiers in the vehicle. A Mercedes who had passed the convoy, saw the explosion in his rear view mirror and turned around to double back. When he got there, he got out of his car to help. The soldiers, all pulling security now as the medic tried to tend to the wounded, pointed their weapons at him, unsure of his intentions. The Iraqi man put up his hands and said in broken English, "I'm here to help!" He pointed to his cell phone in his hand. "Please tell me who I should call for help." The soldiers lowered their weapons and gave him the number to call. In the meantime, another vehicle came up behind the convoy. An Iraqi man ran over to the exploded vehicle where the soldier lay on the ground. With his hands raised as well, he told them, "I am a doctor, please let me help." With tears in her eyes, Natalie told us that he probably saved that soldier's life.

In the final analysis, the invasion of Iraq did more than enforce the conditions of Resolution 687. It did more than rid that country and that region of a sadistic dictator and his brood. These were worthwhile things to do in themselves. But, more importantly, the invasion served notice to our enemies worldwide: If you give us sufficient cause to doubt your intentions, we won't necessarily wait for the threat to materialize.

So far, that message has served us well.

"We just didn't make enough birdies," Woods said. "I mean, geez, they made eight birdies in 14 holes and birdied six of the first eight holes. That is awfully impressive.

"But we were right there. We were only one down. I thought we could, if we could get it to even somehow, that might turn the momentum. We never got it to even."

Bauer said bell ringing will continue at Marshall Field's stores, which Target Corp. sold this year to May Department Stores Co. She said it also will continue at such retailers as Sears, J.C. Penney, Kmart, large grocery stores and Wal-Mart, among other stores.

6. You opposed the 1991 Gulf War even though Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, had invaded another country, and France and Germany had supported the war. In the current conflict no WMDs have been found, France and Germany oppose the action, and Saddam hadn't invaded another country. Yet you recently stated that knowing what you know now, you'd nonetheless authorize the use of force — even though you voted against funding it. Could you please reconcile these positions?

7. You acknowledge meeting with representatives of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong in Paris in 1970. Afterward you urged Congress to accept the North Vietnamese proposals. Please explain how this wasn't a violation of the Logan Act and, if you were still in the Naval Reserves at that time, how it wasn't a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibiting unauthorized communications with the enemy.

8. In several speeches before black audiences you've stated that a million African Americans were disenfranchised and had their votes stolen in the 2000 presidential election. There are no official or media investigations that support that statement. What evidence do you have to support the statement and if you believe a million blacks had their votes stolen, why haven't you called for criminal prosecutions and congressional investigations?

11. You once entertained supporting charter schools but backed off after teachers' unions objected. You were once critical of affirmative action but backed off after some civil-rights organizations protested. In June you stated you might appoint some pro-life judges but backed off the next day after abortion-rights groups expressed alarm. Could you please take this opportunity to assure voters that you'll be able to handle North Korea, al Qaeda, and Iran more successfully than you're able to handle the NEA, NARAL, and other interest groups?

14. You maintain that public schools aren't adequately funded. The D.C. public schools spend approximately $13,000 per pupil — one of the highest levels in the nation — yet its students' academic performance is among the worst in the nation. Could you please explain why you oppose parental choice in education?

a. Given that pursuant to court order the Kansas City public schools spent one billion dollars with no discernable improvement in academic performance, what is your definition of "adequately funded"?

15. In your convention speech, you stated that every terrorist attack would be met with an immediate response and you've also stated that you would emphasize a law-enforcement approach to the fight against terrorism. This is identical to the pre-9/11 U.S. approach to terrorism. Could you please explain how a pre-9/11 approach to terrorism will prevent another 9/11?

a. Please describe the lessons you've learned from 9/11.

The truth was uncovered by B.G. Burkett, a Vietnam veteran and author of Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History (with Glenna Whitley). ...
As Burkett notes, the records of all of these vets were easily checkable through Freedom of Information Act requests of their military records - something Rather and his producers simply didn't bother to do. They accepted at face value the lurid tales of atrocities committed in Vietnam and the stories of criminal behavior, drug addiction, and despair at home.

If women really do offer equal work for 23 cents less on the dollar, why does anyone bother hiring men?

I thought on Wednesday that it was scandalous for "60 Minutes" to turn over a good deal of its time on Wednesday night to one Ben Barnes, a one-time Texas political powerhouse who now claims he got George W. Bush into the National Guard.

The problem is not, as some would have it, that Barnes has raised half a million dollars for Kerry. The problem is that Barnes has already lied about this on videotape, and I use the word "lied" without difficulty, where he says he pulled strings for Bush when "I was lieutenant governor of Texas."

The thing is that George W. Bush was sworn into the National Guard in May 1968. Ben Barnes didn't become lieutenant governor until 1969.

"...the war on terror isn't some racket cooked up to boost Halliburton profits but a profound challenge to America and the world."

But at that gathering he was also confronted by a supporter who feared that he and Mr. Kerry had not batted away Republican claims about their records.

Katie Simenson, 41, a massage therapist, accused the Democratic ticket of letting Republicans suggest that Mr. Edwards had taken frivolous cases as a lawyer and that Mr. Kerry was a waffler and soft on defense.

"They're going to run you right over and make you look like idiots," Ms. Simenson said.

Mr. Edwards sought to answer, promising " to fight every day between now and Election Day" and assuring her that Mr. Kerry "is strong, courageous and he is a fighter."

"And I like to believe I am the same thing," he said. But Ms. Simenson shook her head.

"We will - don't shake your head! - we will fight,'' Mr. Edwards continued. "No, we will fight every way we know how. But we are fighting for you, we are not fighting with these politicians. George Bush wants to fight with politicians. We are fighting for you. We want to make your life better - don't argue with me, let me finish. We're going to stand up - I let you talk, let me finish - we're going to stand up for the things that we believe in."

Afterward, Ms. Simenson pronounced his answer a "typical politician response," but said she would grudgingly vote for Mr. Kerry.

"[Kerry] called the contributions of allies such as Britain, Italy, Poland, and South Korea "the phoniest thing I've ever heard," saying that they had "500 troops here and 500 troops there," despite these countries having thousands of troops -- especially Britain, which stations tens of thousands in Iraq and had 40,000 at the beginning of the war fighting alongside America. "

"If Muslim religious leaders around the world will not publicly condemn the taking of children as hostages and their subsequent slaughter -- if those "men of faith" will not issue a condemnation without reservations or caveats -- then no one need pretend any longer that all religions are equally sound and moral."

young George "was a very avid and skillful poker player" when he was a business administration student and that "one of the secrets of a successful poker player is to encourage your opponent to bet a lot of chips on a losing hand. This is a pattern of behavior one sees repeatedly in George W. Bush's political career."

Indeed one does. In the months following Lifson's observation, the president sat back as John Kerry's consultants, the Iowa caucus voters, the Democratic Party at large, and the media convinced themselves that the one card that trumps Bush's leadership in the war on terror was Kerry's four months in Vietnam, and then bet everything on it.
They just lost that hand.

So after six rough months, Cool Hand Bush still has most of his chips, and John Kerry is riffling through empty pockets. The likely outcome this November is an increased Republican majority in the House, a couple of extra Senate seats, and a second term for Bush. I might be wrong. Anything is possible. But the reluctance of all the European and most of the American press to admit the possibility that Bush isn't a loser suggests that they too got way overinvested in John Kerry's very weak hand.

If you ask me, I think Zell just dug up the stinking corpse of the effete Carter presidency, and rubbed it all over John Kerry. On the national security issue, and to a lesser extent the God thing, Zell reminded Reagan Democrats why they became GOP voters in the first place.

NRO: Cynthia McKinney, the former congresswoman, has reemerged in Georgia as the Democratic nominee in Georgia' 4th congressional district.

MILLER: Yes, she has.

NRO: Any thoughts on that?

MILLER: They're not printable.

After listening one morning to their effusions on this subject, Mr. Bennet coolly observed,

"From all that I can collect by your manner of talking, you must be two of the silliest girls in the country. I have suspected it some time, but I am now convinced."