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Slime Time Live (Possible clue to source of CBS Story)
Newsweek ^ | Sept. 20 issue | Howard Fineman and Michael Isikoff

Posted on 09/12/2004 12:26:09 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182

Sept. 20 issue - The rap on Mary Beth Cahill, ... is the wrong person to guide the fortunes of Sen. John Kerry during this hypernasty political season. Maybe so, but hers was among the first congratulatory calls Ben Barnes received ....

.....Where did the documents come from? CBS won't say. But the trail pieced together by NEWSWEEK shows that in a sulfurous season like this one, the difference between obscurity and power is small, and anyone can get a hearing. A principal source for CBS's story was Bill Burkett, a disgruntled former Guard officer who lives in Baird, Texas, who says he was present at Guard headquarters in Austin in 1997, when a top aide to the then Governor Bush ordered records sanitized to protect the Boss. Other Guard officials disputed Burkett's account, and the Bush aide involved, Joe Allbaugh, called it "absolute garbage." Burkett may have a motive to make trouble for the powers that be. In 1998, he grew gravely ill on a Guard mission to Panama, causing him to be hospitalized, and he suffered two nervous breakdowns. He unsuccessfully sued for medical expenses.

Still, in theory, Burkett may have had access to any Guard records that, in a friend's words, "didn't make it to the shredder." Fellow officers say he wasn't a crank, but rather a stickler for proper procedure—a classic whistle-blower type. Burkett was impressive enough to cause CBS producer Mary Mapes to fly to Texas to interview him. "There are only a couple of guys I would trust to be as perfectly honest and upfront as Bill," says Dennis Adams, a former Guard colleague. The White House, through Communications Director Dan Bartlett, called Burkett a "discredited source." Indeed, Bush strategists are convinced—or have convinced themselves—that the issue will backfire on its purveyors...

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 60minutes; cbsnews; elections; forgery; isikoff; killian; memogate; napalminthemorning; rathergate; tang
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"...A principal source for CBS's story was Bill Burkett.."

Groan!...I wonder if he has a word processor?

1 posted on 09/12/2004 12:26:11 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Anti-Bubba182
Bill Burkett Is The Looney Left's John Birch Society - Loves to Claim That Republicans Spend Money Like Drunken Sailors While Conquering The World
2 posted on 09/12/2004 12:35:19 AM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Anti-Bubba182
I wonder if he has a word processor?

As I understand it, EVERYONE in the Air National Guard has one.

3 posted on 09/12/2004 12:36:53 AM PDT by VisualizeSmallerGovernment (Question Liberal Authority)
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To: VisualizeSmallerGovernment

"I've sat in total grief for the past three years, watching the institutions of America being spent as if they were lottery winnings.

...

As I said, a UN vote would not stop GW Bush from attacking Iraq. Nor will anything else. And weapons of mass destruction will be discovered in great quantities; but the entire affair will stink to high heavens because it will be as staged as the White House press conference you just viewed.

The human death toll will publicly not be mentioned, yet in truth, it will far exceed 120,000. Our vast size and force will quickly break the back of any Iraqi resistance, yet we will not break their spirit. This is a society which has learned to live in troubled politics. They will go about their business while seething inside. There will be small uprisings, but they will quickly be crushed. The emotion and anger that we will have built will spill over into other countries and meld like an alloy with other problem areas of the Middle East, becoming a deeper seated problem. We will have insured that America's dynasty is nearing an end.

While GW Bush will be cast as a conquering hero by his political team and accepted by the population as such, history will treat him as Napoleonic. Bush will reach a new lofty level of acceptance by first fear and then staged triumph. Those who waited too long to gain their voice will lose their voice again.

America will over pledge economically in order to establish this new footprint; but the economic worth will not go to offset our fiscal investment, or to the Iraqi people. Iraq will be stripped by the vanquishers; the major corporations, who will then control not only the assets, but the cash flow. Their names will be Mobil, Exxon, Halliburton and the likes." - Bill Burkett


4 posted on 09/12/2004 12:38:29 AM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: VisualizeSmallerGovernment

That's right. They've been using Micorsoft Word since 1972 or before.


5 posted on 09/12/2004 12:39:56 AM PDT by BykrBayb (5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
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To: Southack
Could it possibly be that he was the source of the Memos, though the article does not directly say so?

They have a lot of chips riding on this.

6 posted on 09/12/2004 12:40:17 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Anti-Bubba182

Bill Burkett??

Not only is he a yellow dog dem .. he's a nut case who's be after Bush for some time


7 posted on 09/12/2004 12:40:26 AM PDT by Mo1 (Why is the MSM calling the Vietnam Vets and POW's a suspected group??)
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To: VisualizeSmallerGovernment
"...As I understand it, EVERYONE in the Air National Guard has one."

...And in 73 as well.

8 posted on 09/12/2004 12:41:13 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Southack
history will treat him as Napoleonic.

A military genius who changed the entire course of history?

9 posted on 09/12/2004 12:41:25 AM PDT by VisualizeSmallerGovernment (Question Liberal Authority)
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To: Southack

got a source for that burkett quote, which is dynamite as far as motive goes?

Interesting, too, to contarst the obvious venom in that quote with Newsweek's description of him as a straight-arrow whistleblower type.


10 posted on 09/12/2004 12:42:30 AM PDT by Kiss Me Hardy
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To: Mo1

I can't believe they went with this guy!


11 posted on 09/12/2004 12:42:52 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Southack
Rumors about the memos had circulated in the Democratic Party and media circles for weeks; in fact, CBS had used their existence to help persuade Barnes to talk. He told Democratic friends before the "60 Minutes II" broadcast that if documents the network was hunting for were found—and were authentic—"the election is over."

I wonder if this wasn't what Susan Estrich was talking about in that horrid column she did last week.

12 posted on 09/12/2004 12:42:59 AM PDT by Howlin (What's the Font Spacing, Kenneth?)
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To: Mo1

Texas.

Ben Barnes.
Bill Burkett.
Bill Moyers.
Paul Begala.
John Moore.
Dan Rather's daughter.
Dan Rather.

And plenty more where that comes from.


13 posted on 09/12/2004 12:44:15 AM PDT by Howlin (What's the Font Spacing, Kenneth?)
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To: Mo1

Not very exciting if it is him. Unless, of course, they can trace him having recent meetings with Kerry or McCauliffe associates. Now that would be exciting!


14 posted on 09/12/2004 12:44:25 AM PDT by jimboster
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To: Kiss Me Hardy

c#2


15 posted on 09/12/2004 12:44:44 AM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Howlin

Their #1 export isn't necessarily their #1 crop.


16 posted on 09/12/2004 12:45:41 AM PDT by BykrBayb (5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
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To: Southack

sorry, it's late. I'm excited and shouldn't have that last drink.


17 posted on 09/12/2004 12:45:50 AM PDT by Kiss Me Hardy
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To: Howlin

Take a look at this site. I was trying to find
the provenance of AFM 35-13 using google, and found the
sites below.

They are lefty sites, which refer to the documents
MONTHS ago, and in one case, YEARS ago...

August 2004:
http://www.talkaboutinvestments.com/group/misc.invest.stocks/messages/880901.html

April 2004:
http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2004/04/21/who-da-man/

Feb. 2004:
http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/003279.html
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=3261

Which has this text:
Chris,

Yeah, this aspect of the story may die. But the media has a sense right now that there's stuff in the records that Bush doesn't want people to see, and they'll continue to follow that thread.

This document got posted over at Atrios's site, and it has a couple of interesting things. First of all, there was another guy (James Bath) who got suspended the month after Bush for refusing to take his physical. He's been linked to Bush before, but what interested me was this bit:

"Off[icer] will comply with para 2-1, AFM 35-13. Authority: Para 2-29m, AFM 35-13."

Anyone know what this means? I assume it has something to do with the regulations they violated, but googling on the reference (and I also tried assuming that it means Air Force Manual) turned up nothing.

The words This Document are hypertext.
The words linked to Bush are hypertext, and lead to
this site:

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Hatfield-R-091901/hatfield-r-091901.html

which contains the text:

Like his father before him, Dubya founded his oil business with the financial backing of investors, including James R. Bath, a Houston businessman whom Dubya apparently first met when they were in the same Texas Air National Guard unit. (Interestingly, both Dubya and Bath were both suspended from flying in August and September 1972, respectively, for "failure to accomplish annual medical examination.")

This is PRE Kerry, PRE election, even PRE 9-11-2001
smearing of Bush...
Could this be why Rather is saying the facts are genuine?
(Can't vouch for the authenticity of the allegations
about Bath. But they sure would make tempting material
for Rather to chance typing up a 'contemporary copy'.

Any thoughts?

Also, any way to save these sites so they don't disappear
down the memory hole?


18 posted on 09/12/2004 12:46:09 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: BykrBayb

This is a death match between the Dems in Texas and W.


19 posted on 09/12/2004 12:46:53 AM PDT by Howlin (What's the Font Spacing, Kenneth?)
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To: Howlin
"Rumors about the memos had circulated in the Democratic Party and media circles for weeks; in fact, CBS had used their existence to help persuade Barnes to talk."

That's *such* propaganda! You can't get Barnes to shut up, nor Burkett for that matter!

1 Full Legislative Day Left Until The AWB Expires

20 posted on 09/12/2004 12:47:09 AM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Anti-Bubba182

Damn, reading his rants, this guy Burkett has some major emotional problems.


21 posted on 09/12/2004 12:51:04 AM PDT by Casloy (qs)
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To: Anti-Bubba182
Burkett, the unimpeachable source. LOL.

It all makes sense now. The clown is still trying to prove his 1997 story ans CBS fell for it. What dupes.

22 posted on 09/12/2004 12:53:03 AM PDT by KingKongCobra
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To: Anti-Bubba182
I can't believe they went with this guy!

Or is it just convinent to dump it on him ??

23 posted on 09/12/2004 12:53:15 AM PDT by Mo1 (Why is the MSM calling the Vietnam Vets and POW's a suspected group??)
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To: Casloy
Yes, apparently including two nervous breakdowns, if we can believe the article.

He is Not the kind of source I would want a lot riding on.

24 posted on 09/12/2004 12:56:13 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Anti-Bubba182; Shermy; Fedora; doug from upland; Cindy

Nice catch...


25 posted on 09/12/2004 12:56:30 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: Anti-Bubba182
On the ground, a hard-core Kerry group is setting up a new "oppo" squad. Tentatively called Sealords II—Kerry's Mekong Delta mission in Vietnam was known as Sealords—the group has a $1 million budget and will be housed at the Democratic National Committee, where, one of its members says, the mission will be "message, debate prep, attack, attack."

And obviously composed on the barking-moonbat wing of the DNC. Amazing.


26 posted on 09/12/2004 12:57:04 AM PDT by DaveMSmith (Truth and liberty: The Battle Hymn of Free Republic)
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To: grey_whiskers

I think these all refer to the documents that were around before the last election.


27 posted on 09/12/2004 12:57:06 AM PDT by conservative in nyc
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To: Howlin
I just looked at my bookmarks on Burkett and I have google searches for Pacifica Radio, Indymedia and Open Society Institute

But for the life of me I can't remember why I saved them

Wasn't there a thread about Burkett awhile back?
28 posted on 09/12/2004 12:58:48 AM PDT by Mo1 (Why is the MSM calling the Vietnam Vets and POW's a suspected group??)
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To: Anti-Bubba182; All
They're forged documents and easily debunked.

The IBM Selectric Composer (Rather's theory thoroughly debunked)

29 posted on 09/12/2004 1:00:08 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Anti-Bubba182
Question for fellow freepers, but sorry, a bit off the subject,Did Kerry get treated for a mental disorder?
30 posted on 09/12/2004 1:01:42 AM PDT by patriciamary
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To: grey_whiskers

Bath was mentioned along with Bush in one of the USA
Today memos that were posted at their site...interesting...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-09-09bushdocs.pdf


31 posted on 09/12/2004 1:01:47 AM PDT by rolling_stone
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To: Mo1

Here's the URL for the Open Society Institute:

http://www.soros.org/


32 posted on 09/12/2004 1:02:01 AM PDT by Howlin (What's the Font Spacing, Kenneth?)
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To: Kiss Me Hardy

Doubts raised on Bush accuser
Key witness disputes charge by Guard retiree that files were purged

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/02/13/doubts_raised_on_bush_accuser/


33 posted on 09/12/2004 1:02:02 AM PDT by nonkultur
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To: Howlin

That must be part of the bigger death match between dems everywhere and civilization.


34 posted on 09/12/2004 1:02:58 AM PDT by BykrBayb (5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
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To: Southack

They're not going to be able to pawn this off on Burkett. There is a criminal conspiracy here to influence a federal election. Their is a cancer on the Democratic Party!


35 posted on 09/12/2004 1:03:23 AM PDT by claudiustg (Go Sharon! Go Bush!)
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To: Mo1
Or is it just convinent to dump it on him ??

Stooge. Mule. Throwdown. Anyway, the Newspeak article actually gives credence to the Rather hoax. "Oh everybody's throwing mud. The documents 'might' not be real. No bounce for Bush." And blah blah blah.

36 posted on 09/12/2004 1:03:48 AM PDT by FredZarguna (Wearing BLACK Pajamas, in honor of Hanoi John)
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To: Anti-Bubba182

So, if he was the only source you had, you wouldn't name him either? lol


37 posted on 09/12/2004 1:04:11 AM PDT by BykrBayb (5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
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To: Anti-Bubba182

He could not have been the source of the memos. These were Killian's personal memos and would have been in his personal possession, not filed with official records in the office. But his family says he didn't keep personal files. No matter to CBS and Dan Rather. No matter that it doesn't make any sense for a man to indict himself of unethical behavior in a memo to himself - and keep it for 30+ years. I would love to know where CBS got these. Maybe we'll find out this week.


38 posted on 09/12/2004 1:04:51 AM PDT by Sodbuster
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To: rolling_stone

several roads lead to Rome(Burkett)...retired officer, Bath, Bush , access...I smell smoke .....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12809-2004Sep10.html

.....Before airing Wednesday's segment, he said, CBS "vetted" the confidential source who provided the memos and concluded that "he did have the ability to get access to these documents and he was being truthful." Beyond that, Rather said, CBS consulted with military experts about Killian's language and the documents' format and compared them to other Bush service records previously released by the White House. "We decided there was a preponderance of evidence that they are what they purport to be," he said.....


39 posted on 09/12/2004 1:05:14 AM PDT by rolling_stone
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To: Mo1

The fact that Indymedia was created and financed by wealthy individuals such as Soros, Glaser, and Merkle is emblematic of the Vanguardism of Lenin.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11005


40 posted on 09/12/2004 1:05:22 AM PDT by Howlin (What's the Font Spacing, Kenneth?)
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To: Mo1
I think Isikoff is probably correct that he is a major source and it would not suprise me if that included the memos, although the article does not say so. My view of Bill Burkett is as a possibly obsessed person who might provide the material CBS was so keen to get.

I don't see that CBS has ANY interest in revealing their source, especially if it is one like this. If they dump on him, they dump on themselves. His medical problems and long history as a dogged Bush basher are well known.

41 posted on 09/12/2004 1:05:54 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Mo1

well, Open Society Institute is George Soros.


42 posted on 09/12/2004 1:07:27 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: Anti-Bubba182

If he was in the Guard in that time period (68-73)IF, then he should have known the format...hmmm when was he in the guard if he came later after format changed, then...maybe he would not know the ealier format...


43 posted on 09/12/2004 1:09:38 AM PDT by rolling_stone
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To: conservative in nyc

Not sure, I'm a newbie.

BUT...I was trying to establish that the
documents referring to AFM 35-13 have been
around for awhile.

The last website I gave predates 9-11-2001 and
refers to the AMF35-13 and the physical.

My question is: was someone ELSE discharged for
not taking a physical, and they tried a clumsy
forgery to put Bush's name in those documents;
when that didn't work they typed it up on MS Word?


44 posted on 09/12/2004 1:10:04 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: piasa; Howlin; Shermy
well, Open Society Institute is George Soros

Like I said .. I can't remember why I saved those google searches in my Burkett folder ..

Maybe Shermy can help tell if there is a connection the the two

45 posted on 09/12/2004 1:11:28 AM PDT by Mo1 (Why is the MSM calling the Vietnam Vets and POW's a suspected group??)
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To: Mo1
Burkett's been trying to Slime President Bush's TANG service since the last eleciton. He's been quoted by many news organizations, claiming that Dan Bartlett and the Bush team "cleansed" the Texas National Guard archives of damaging materials in preparation for President Bush's run for the White House.

In fact, there's evidence that Bill Burkett and his cronies hired "Red Dog Publicists" at Talion.com to try to push the Bush is AWOL story in conjunction with the Bush DUI story in November 2000.

Despite protestations to the contrary on their website, talion.com seems to be a front for DNC opposition research. One of the principals of talion.com (their website is down now; the record was conveniently last changed on 9/10), Bev Harris, is currently pushing the electronic voting machines may be hacked story on the Internet. This seems to be a DNC-backed effort to cast doubt on the vote in Florida before it even occurs.
46 posted on 09/12/2004 1:11:31 AM PDT by conservative in nyc
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To: patriciamary
did Kerry get treated for a mental disorder?

Yes- he had once been treated for grain-shock. It's similar to shell-shock, only grain-shock results from having a cache of rice explode in close proximity to an ass. It's been known to incapacitate the ass for at least forty minutes and make it a clingy, dependent pathological liar for life.

47 posted on 09/12/2004 1:14:41 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: Anti-Bubba182

This article seems to attempt three primary functions:

1) lend some nominal credibility to the fraudulent memos (suggestion that these could possibly be files that survived a mythological "cleansing").

2) revive the already discredited sotry of said mythological cleansing (if for no other reason than to further muddy the water).

3) most importantly, to throw off the scent from the bowels of the Democrat party (so if all else fails, it looks like the work of some kook working independently from the DNC).

I'm not buying it.


48 posted on 09/12/2004 1:19:17 AM PDT by counterpunch (The CouNTeRPuNcH Collection - www.counterpunch.us)
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To: Anti-Bubba182

Anybody who has a bone to pick with the Bush family is a candidate for the dems to use to further their agenda. We know how this works.


49 posted on 09/12/2004 1:20:06 AM PDT by CyberAnt (Sen.Miller said, "Bush is a God-fearing man with a good heart and a spine of tempered steel")
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To: counterpunch

I'd have to agree.


50 posted on 09/12/2004 1:20:25 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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