CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Al Qaeda Plotting Attack Against New York City Corporations

ABC News reports that federal and New York City officials have credible intelligence that al Qaeda is plotting against corporations based in New York:

Sources at several law enforcement agencies tell ABC News that an "overseas source" has provided the information about the threat to New York and that it is more significant than the usual "chatter" intercepted from likely terrorists that has prompted warnings in the past.

[. . .]

Intelligence sources say al Qaeda plans to move non-Arab terrorists across the border with Mexico.

Authorities already have in custody a woman of Pakistani-origin arrested after crossing into Texas. She carried a South African passport with several of the pages torn out, $7,000 in cash and an airplane ticket to New York.

[. . .]

Particularly disturbing to authorities were the intelligence reports that the attack may involve one or more suicide truck bombings, a tactic never seen in the United States, but one widely used by terrorists elsewhere.

[. . .]

As to the timing of any planned attack, sources say it could take place between now and Election Day in November.

Maybe with the increased fear that terrorists could enter the U.S. through Mexico, more will be done to control the border with Mexico.

Officials Fear Terrorists Could Enter U.S. Through Mexico

The July 19, arrest woman suspected of having ties to al Qaeda at a Southern Texas Airport has increased concern about security at the nation's the Mexican border. ABC News reports: ABC News reports:

Farida Goolam Mohamed, who had an airplane ticket to New York, was stopped when a Border Patrol agent noticed several pages of her South African passport had been removed. Officials also said her clothing was dirty and muddy, suggesting she might have recently crossed the nearby Rio Grande, the river separating Mexico and Texas.

[. . .]

The 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico is virtually impossible to defend, officials said. And sources tell ABC News there is new intelligence that al Qaeda wants to smuggle terrorists across it.

It's well known that many Central Americans have been illegally coming across the U.S.-Mexican border. Now the U.S. government estimates that a quarter-million illegal aliens — not only from Central America, but also Africa and the Middle East — have been coming across the southern border each year.

It's about time that officials are concerned about the porous border with Mexico. It's a shame the concern is about 12 million illegal aliens too late.

Kerry's Marine Misfire

The Kerry entourage on a post-convention 22 state buses tour, stopped at a Wendy's in Newburgh, New York to celebrate the Edwards' anniversary.

There was a table of U.S. Marines trying to eat a meal at the "bunny suit" photo op:

Edwards happily approached a table of Marines, who didn't look like they wanted to be distracted from their combos. Kerry, who always gravitates toward men and women in uniform, came over and asked the men, "Where are you guys serving?"

Their answers were clipped. Later, the Marines -- none of whom would give his name -- said they were Bush supporters. "He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands," one said. "I'm 100 percent against" Kerry, he said. "We support our commander in chief 100 percent."

Ouch!

The New York Post version of the encounter makes it seem even more uncomfortable for the Marines:

The Marines — two in uniform and two off-duty — were polite but curt while chatting with Kerry, answering most of his questions with a "yes, sir" or "no, sir."

But they turned downright nasty after the Massachusetts senator thanked them "for their service" and left.

"He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands," one Marine said, adding, "I'm 100 percent against [him]."

A sergeant with 10 years of service under his belt said, "I speak for all of us. We think that we are doing the right thing in Iraq," before saying he is to be deployed there in a few weeks and is "eager" to go and serve.

I was taught that it is impolite to point. Maybe Kerry should have tried saluting the Marines instead of pointing his finger at them.

The Wendy's stop wasn't good for Kerry's ego. Besides the encounter with the Marines, the Washington Post reported that the local media and excited young ladies "swarmed like ants to a gumdrop" around Ben Affleck.

Newsweek Poll Shows Small Bounce For Kerry

In an article entitled "A Baby Bounce?" Newsweek reports a new poll found only a small 4% bounce from the Democratic convention:

Coming out of the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Sen. John Kerry now holds a seven-point lead over President George W. Bush in a three-way race with independent Ralph Nader, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll. Three weeks ago, Kerry’s lead was three points.

[. . .]

Kerry’s four-point “bounce” is the smallest in the history of the NEWSWEEK poll.

This is terrible news for Kerry. After a four day Kerry love fest including both Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Terry McAuliffe, Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama, Max Cleland, Tom Daschle, Howard Dean, Richard Gephardt, Madeline Albright, Joe Biden, Joe Lieberman, Wesley Clark, Nancy Pelosi, and others, Kerry's bounce is the "smallest in the history of the NEWSWEEK poll."

The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll showed President Bush and Kerry tied 46 to 46 at the beginning of the convention. After the convention, Friday's Rasmussen poll showed Kerry ahead by three. Today Kerry only has a 1 point advantage.

Some bounce.

David Brooks On Kerry's Acceptance Speech - "An Incoherent Disaster"

After reading Kerry's speech David Brooks finds that the speech is an "incoherent disaster:"

What an incoherent disaster. When you actually read for content, you see that the speech skirts almost every tough issue and comes out on both sides of every major concern. The Iraq section is shamefully evasive. He can't even bring himself to use the word "democratic" or to contemplate any future for Iraq, democratic or otherwise. He can't bring himself to say whether the war was a mistake or to lay out even the most meager plan for moving forward. For every gesture in the direction of greater defense spending, there are opposing hints about reducing our commitments and bringing the troops home.

This is really indicative of Kerry's approach to every thing. He tries to please all sides on all issues. A true leader doesn't have that luxury. A true leader has to make a decision, whether it pleases everyone or not, and stick with his position until proven wrong.

This something I appreciate about President Bush. President Bush makes a decision and sticks with it regardless of criticism or shifting public opinion. This is the reason that President Reagan is so admired. Many people often disagreed with Reagan but they respected his convictions.

Resumes Nuclear Effort

Reuters reports that backtracking from a pledge to Britain, France and Germany, has resumed building nuclear centrifuges, which can be used to enrich uranium for use in bombs:

"We have started building centrifuges," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told a news conference.

However he insisted had not resumed enriching uranium, the key part of the process which can either produce fuel for power stations or bomb material.

had previously said it would restart making centrifuges to retaliate against a resolution from the U.N. nuclear watchdog last month deploring Tehran's failure to co-operate fully with inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Diplomats say has also restarted work at a uranium conversion facility near the central city of Isfahan. The plant turns processed ore, or yellowcake, into uranium hexafluoride gas which is pumped into centrifuges to form enriched uranium.

[. . .]

"We just want to produce fuel for our plants and we are not after nuclear weapons," he said.

Washington says 's nuclear program is a cover for seeking atomic weapons.

Last October committed itself to full cooperation with the IAEA and to an exclusively peaceful use of nuclear energy. The statement published after the Foreign Ministers of Britain, France and Germany met with officials in Tehran on October 21, 2003 included this language:

While has a right within the nuclear non-proliferation regime to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, it has decided voluntarily to suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities as defined by the IAEA.

agreed to suspend enrichment to restore international confidence following revelations that it had kept secret sensitive nuclear research for nearly two decades.

By building centrifuges, once again demonstrates that it is part of the axis of evil.

Nader To Kerry "Call Off Your Dogs"

Nader, accusing the Democrats of dirty tricks said Kerry's "underlings" were "harassing, obstructing and impeding" his efforts to get on the ballot in all 50 states. Reuters quotes Nader:

"I say to Sen. John Kerry, call off your dogs," Nader said. "Stop encouraging these dirty tricks or you will be held responsible."

Those dirty tricks, he said, included Democratic operatives "directly harassing" his signature gatherers in West Virginia and filing legal challenges to his candidacy in Arizona that he could not afford to fight in court.

In response to Democratic charges that he is a Republican tool, Nader said that "slightly under 10 percent" of contributions to his campaign came from Republicans.

Nader denied allegations that his 2000 candidacy cost Gore the presidency saying in Florida 10 times as many Democrats deserted Gore to vote for Bush than to vote for the Nader.

Nader has accused the Democrats of dirty tricks before, but has offered few specifics. The New York Times reported that about an incident where Democrats blocked Nader supporters from attending meeting:

He said that while representatives of an antitax group encouraged Republicans to attend a meeting last Saturday in Portland, Ore., to help him collect 1,000 signatures, he said Democrats were "infiltrating" the same meeting merely to block other supporters from getting in.

Mr. Nader said Democrats crowded into a meeting hall, kept other people out and gave the false impression that they had signed petitions for him.

Democratic officials did not dispute Mr. Nader's account.

"I felt it as my obligation due to the dirty tricks that the far right were doing to stack the seats at that convention," said Moses Ross, communications secretary for the Multnomah County Democratic Party

CBS reported that a dozen Democratic state workers stand accused of working on challenges to Nader petitions on state time in Illinois.

Nader is struggling to get on the ballot in as many as 43 states. Nader's affiliation with the Reform Party ensures Nader will be on the ballot in Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, Colorado, Kansas and Montana.

Nader must submit his petitions to get on the Pennsylvania ballot on Monday. Kevin Zeese, a Nader campaign spokesman said the campaign will turn in close to the 40,000 signatures, substantially more than the required 25,697.

Democrats vowed to challenge Nader's ballot petitions:

Tony Podesta, the manager of the Kerry-Edwards campaign in Pennsylvania, said the first step will be determining whether enough of Nader's petition signatures are valid.

"Having signatures and having valid signatures are two different things," he said.

Nader's struggle to gain access to the ballot has produce some interesting maneuvering. Democrats have sued to keep Nader off the ballot in Arizona and Illinois, while Republicans and some conservative groups in Oregon, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan are mobilized to get Nader on the ballot in those states.

In Michigan, the Nader campaign was forced to accept petition signatures collected by Michigan Republicans in order to qualify for the state's presidential ballot. Nader's campaign only submitted 5,400 signatures, far fewer than the 30,00 required. Michigan Republican Party officials submitted 43,000 signatures ensuring Nader could appear on the ballot.

The Kerry campaign is making a mistake in fighting Nader's access to the ballot. It brings back memories of the Gore campaign disingenuously asserting every Florida vote counts, while trying to prevent military absentee ballots from being counted.

Allowing easy access to the ballot encourages meaningful elections by offering more choices and ideas. Battles over access to the election process turns voters off and results in lower election turnout, more voter apathy, and more dissatisfaction with the "choice" offered on election day. How many voters say they would rather vote for none of the above or consider their choice the lesser of two evils?

Ballot access was hardly restricted at all in in California's recent gubanatorial recall election. The free for all election generated unusual voter interest and voters turned out in higher number than in the previous election.

The voters, not arcane rules or the officials opposing parties, should decide the legitimacy of political ideas.

Kerry Favors Trying Bin Laden In U.S. Court

The Associated Press reports that Kerry favors trying Osama bin Laden in U.S. courts:

"I want him tried for murder in New York City, and in Virginia and in Pennsylvania," where planes hijacked by al-Qaida operatives crashed Sept. 11, 2001, Kerry said in his first interview as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Kerry is wrong on this. If he is ever captured, bin Laden should be tried by a military tribunal. Trying bin Laden in a U.S. court would be a real spectacle. One needs only to look at the silliness of the Zacarias Moussaoui proceedings to see what a bad idea it is to try bin laden in a U.S. court.

Kerry's Dukakis Moment Lingers

Kerry's Dukakis moment caused NASA to slip on Kerry's favorite footwear - flip flops. Florida Today reports:

The "bunny suit" pictures of Sen. John Kerry climbing around the shuttle Discovery this week disappeared from NASA's Web site for several hours Thursday, but the bizarre political brouhaha surrounding them will not go away.

Later Thursday, after a legal review, NASA put some photos back online -- a see-saw of action that only kept the shots in the news for one more day.

NASA lawyers worried the pictures might violate the Hatch Act, which bans campaigning using government resources. There was no objection before Kerry's campaign held a town hall meeting at the federally-owned KSC Visitor Complex. Those pictures are not back online.

As if it wasn't bad enough that NASA's Kerry-like flip flop caused Kerry's Dukakis moment to linger an extra day, today's Washington Post was very critical of Kerry's lapse of fashion sense. Calling the "bunny suit" an "An Unsuitable Costume for the Manly Candidate," and referencing Kerry's previously careful image management, the post calls Kerry's donning the "bunny suit" a "terrible miscalculation:"

In this age of image, the very mention of the lab suit should have set off flashing red lights and screaming sirens. No costumes! Do not let the candidate look like the boy in the bubble! Do not allow voters to make a visual connection between the candidate and Woody Allen dressed as sperm.

In case Kerry's campaign manager doesn't understand what a mess she has created for Kerry, she should read the article in today's Florida Today. It reveals that an online novelty shop is selling T-shirts with a caricature of Kerry wearing light blue bunny ears and the slogan "Hare-y Kerry."

My original post displaying the Kerry in the "bunny suit and the Dukakis tank pictures is here.

Reaction To Kerry's Acceptance Speech

The Bush Campaign's Reaction

Marc Racicot, Chairman of President Bush's reelection campaign, said:

John Kerry missed an opportunity to help the American people understand his vote for the war in Iraq based on the same intelligence that the president viewed, his description of himself as an antiwar candidate and his subsequent vote against troops on the front lines. He's right, America can do better

The Republicans also had Rudy Giuliani available for reaction:

"John Kerry voted against the Persian Gulf war when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait," Mr. Giuliani said at a news conference at the Omni Parker House hotel. "How you could do that, only he can explain - usually five or six different ways - but only he can explain. But he voted against the Persian Gulf war. Then he voted for the Iraq war, and then shortly after, when the question of an $87 billion supplemental appropriation came up - to support our troops, support our people who are on the firing lines, as many of you have been - Senator Kerry voted against it, as did Senator Edwards, among only four senators who voted for the war and against the appropriation."

Television Commentators

The Associated Press reports that all the TV commentators were wowed:

Television commentators gushed in their first response to John F. Kerry's nomination acceptance speech, while warning the address will be parsed in the weeks ahead for what wasn't said.

Newspapers

Tom Oliphant, who has covered Kerry for 30 years, writes in the In the Boston Globe:

Kerry muffed an opportunity to hone great material into a powerful address. He and his campaign can do better than this, and his supporters have a right to demand that they do.

John Podhoretz at the New York Post said:

Kerry has every right to go after Bush with everything he's got. But in essence, while calling on the president to engage with Kerry in a battle of "great ideas," Kerry articulated only one big idea last night.

Kerry's big idea is this: He was a war hero and Bush is a lying scoundrel.

So, in the end, it appears Kerry has decided to run as Howard Dean with some medals.

The New York Times said:

As an introduction to the candidates, the Democratic convention, on the whole, did its job.

The Times was also disappointed:

He did not, however, provide a clear vision on Iraq. Voters needed to hear him say that he understands, in retrospect, that his vote to give President Bush Congressional support to invade was a mistake. It's clear now that Mr. Kerry isn't going to go there, and it's a shame.

The Washington Post called the speech a "Missed Opportunity:"

Mr. Kerry last night elided the charged question of whether, as president, he would have gone to war in Iraq. He offered not a word to celebrate the freeing of Afghans from the Taliban, or Iraqis from Saddam Hussein, and not a word about helping either nation toward democracy.

[. . .]

Mr. Kerry could have spoken the difficult truth that U.S. troops will be needed in Iraq for a long time. He could have reaffirmed his commitment to completing the task of helping build democracy. Instead, he chose words that seemed designed to give the impression that he could engineer a quick and painless exit.

[. . .]

Yet in economics as in national security, Mr. Kerry missed an opportunity for straight talk. His promises to stop the outsourcing of jobs and end dependence on Middle East oil are not grounded in reality.

Blogosphere

Blogs for Bush rounds up the reactions of the Bush-bloggers.

Smash at The Indepundit posts that Kerry's performance was solid.

James Joyner at Outside The Beltway, wasn't favorably impressed by the speech but has a terrific round up of reactions so I will stop.

UPDATE: Steven Taylor at PoliBlog posted "Bite-Size Toast for Thursday Night" rounding up reactions to Kerry's speech.