I “love” this graphic. First, because I have been a LOTR fan since I was 13. Second, comparing Bush to Sauron is hysterical! Let’s just hope we don’t have a ring of power out there; and if we do, we have a loyal hobbit to cast it (or anything else of evil) into the pits of doom.

September 16, 2004 @ 8:39 pm | Comment

If bush is Sauron, Cheney is definitely an Ork. Kerry and the Democrats, needless to say, are Elves. John edwards is The King. (Yeah, I wish Edwards were running instead of JFK; what can you do?)

nice to hear from you, Cathy!

September 16, 2004 @ 9:49 pm | Comment

There’s no doubt about it. Regardless of what Bush may or may not be, Cheney is still an Ork.

September 16, 2004 @ 10:24 pm | Comment

Kerry is definitely Smeagol/Gollum.

“We supported the war, yes we dids. Give Master Bush the authority, we saids.”

“No, we didn’ts. Master Bush tricked us he dids.”

“Yes, we voted for for the 87 millions.

“No we didn’ts. We voted against the 87 millions after we voted for it, we dids.”

September 16, 2004 @ 10:38 pm | Comment

Conrad, that’s beneath you — you know that the Republican talking point you cite is BS: Kerry said very clearly that he would vote for the $87 billion only if bush would agree to pay for it by repealing part of his tax cuts for the rich. Surely you don’t believe in spending money we don’t have and imposing the debt on our children, do you? No serious conservative/libertarian could agree to such frivolous and careless raping of future generations. Now that you know the facts, here’s how you can atone: vote for John Kerry!

September 16, 2004 @ 10:55 pm | Comment

This one is much, much better-

http://www.lightwatcher.com/culturejam/frodo_failed.html

September 16, 2004 @ 11:02 pm | Comment

As you well know, Richard, there is very little that is ‘beneath me.’

Maybe forging old military records, but that’s about it.

September 16, 2004 @ 11:11 pm | Comment

The only thing beneath Conrad is usually a domestic helper from Strawberry!

Ta-boom!

September 17, 2004 @ 4:13 am | Comment

I don’t know who forged the bush records; I do know who forged our reasons for going to war.

September 17, 2004 @ 7:35 am | Comment

Good one Tim. To whom do I send the bill for the coffee I just snorted all over the front of my shirt?

September 17, 2004 @ 10:13 pm | Comment

If Chenney is an ork, shouldn’t that be orc, then Tony Blair is Smegol.

“yes, master. Good kind mastr, he be nice to us, gollum, gollum.”

“Bush give us spot on 60 minutes he did, let us stand next to him at press conference he did, good master, kind master.”

“Master give us dodgy dosier he did, yes, yes, made us feel like big man he did, we licked his boots, yes, master give us boots to lick, shiny boots. Good master, kind master”

September 17, 2004 @ 11:47 pm | Comment

John Kerry is an Ent.

September 18, 2004 @ 2:01 am | Comment

No, the ents could be provoked into taking action. I haven’t seen any sign Kerry can be.

If Bush = Sauron, Blair would be Saurman. Dunno what Cheney would be, the leader of the Nazgul, maybe.

Kerry would be the Steward of Gondor.

September 18, 2004 @ 3:45 pm | Comment

The Steward of Gondor? Our decorated war hero? Nonsense. He is The King.

September 18, 2004 @ 4:50 pm | Comment

Aragorn believed in the cause, was willing to fight and die to accomplish it, and inspired others to do the same.

Dethenor thought victory against the forces of Mordor was impossible.

Which sounds more like Kerry on Iraq?

September 18, 2004 @ 8:55 pm | Comment

Based on kerry’s documented heroism and willingness to risk his life, anyon ebeing truly fair and objective would simply have to say Aragorn, who said, “I do not fear death.” Look where bush went when the two times in his life he was faced with a crisis:

1. When faced with getting drafted and sent to Vietnam, he chose the good life, playing pool volleyball in the Champagne squad

2. When told America was under attack, he sat petrified and beady-eyed, looking like the village idiot on crack whilst reading about a pet goat.

No, shrub’s the coward, Kerry’s the hero, and there’s no way around it. For once, forget the GOP talking points and simply look at what happened.

September 18, 2004 @ 9:12 pm | Comment

Based on kerry’s documented heroism and willingness to risk his life,

All 4 months of it?

anyon ebeing truly fair and objective would simply have to say Aragorn, who said, “I do not fear death.”

Why? Back up your reasoning with something. It’s not enough to just attack the other guy, you have to give people a reason to support *your* side. Of course, seeing as Kerry has yet to figure this out, I suppose it might be unfair of me to expect it of you…

Look where bush went when the two times in his life he was faced with a crisis:

1. When faced with getting drafted and sent to Vietnam, he chose the good life, playing pool volleyball in the Champagne squad

….flying an aircraft that is generally regarded by people familiar with it as dangerous to fly. Furthermore, that aircraft’s mission was to defend the continental US from inbound bombers- something considered laughable today, but things were a bit different in the late 60s.

2. When told America was under attack, he sat petrified and beady-eyed, looking like the village idiot on crack whilst reading about a pet goat.

You must have missed this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A46913-2004Aug6?

[…]

Kerry’s case that he would have acted with more swiftness and poise than Bush was also undermined by another interview — this one with the candidate himself. On July 8, Kerry recalled for CNN’s Larry King his actions that day. He was in a meeting in the office of Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) when he watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center on television, while standing next to fellow senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). “And we shortly thereafter sat down at the table, and then we just realized nobody could think, and then, boom, we saw the cloud of the explosion at the Pentagon.”

The Bush-Cheney campaign noted that there were 40 minutes between the second trade center attack and a plane hitting the Pentagon. “By Kerry’s own words, he and his fellow senators sat there for 40 minutes, realizing ‘nobody could think,’ ” said a campaign statement. “He is hardly in a position to criticize President Bush for ‘inaction.’ “

[…]

No, shrub’s the coward, Kerry’s the hero, and there’s no way around it. For once, forget the GOP talking points and simply look at what happened.

It’d be nice to be able to discuss politics with lefties and not have them start throwing insults around. It doesn’t help when that lefty is accusing a sitting President of cowardice, and demonstrates remarkable ignorance of what happened.

Furthermore, I would like to point out that Bush isn’t running on his service in the Texas Air National Guard, he’s running on his accomplishments in the last ~3.5 years. Regardless of what you think of President Bush, there are far more relevant matters to discuss regarding his qualifications to be President than his conduct in the Texas ANG, and all you are doing by dredging it up is giving me *another* opportunity to ask what Kerry has accomplished in the ~20 years since he was Lt. Governor to Mike Dukakis that gives me a reason to vote for the man.

September 18, 2004 @ 11:42 pm | Comment

That GOP talking point — “he only served in Vietnam 4 months” — is bullshit and it’s beneath you. Every minute on the swift boat was tempting death.

As to your qyotes about Kerry and 911 — how absurd! Kerry was a senator. he could not mobilize the Army and the Marines, he had no powers to make national decisions. Sorry, but the presidents’ advisors knew he had to get out of the room, and finally they just took him out cuz he wasn’t leaving on his own. He was paralyzed! Kerry had bullets zinging at him and death right in front of his face, and he fought on and never lost his cool.

About shrub’s TANG service — yeah, he learned to fly a plane, cool. He also disobeyed orders and partied like there was no tomorrow. They didn’t call it the champagne unit for nothing! Go ahead and try to equate Kerry’s service with bush’s — that may work on Conrad’s site, but not here. With respect, it’s pure fantasy and we all know it. Even you, I suspect.

September 19, 2004 @ 12:17 am | Comment

That GOP talking point — “he only served in Vietnam 4 months” — is bullshit and it’s beneath you. Every minute on the swift boat was tempting death.

No, actually, it wasn’t.

Kerry volunteered for Swift Boat duty when they were assigned to coastal patrol, about two weeks after he arrived in-country, the mission changed to river patrol. Then he rapidly accumulated the three purple hearts that would give him the option of transferring to some other duty.

Now, it is entirely possible that the purple hearts were merited. However, unlike Bush, Kerry has declined to sign the Form 180 to release his records, so we don’t know for sure. But his refusal to authorize the release of the records makes me wonder what’s in those files. Given Kerry’s track record regarding his service in Viet Nam, I’m fairly certain that if he thought it would help him win the election, he’d have released the reports. He didn’t. What is the logical conclusion?

What we do know is that he volunteered for a relatively safe posting, and after the posting became far more dangerous, he transferred to another relatively safe posting four months later.

From this you conclude that Kerry’s attitude is “I do not fear death”? Sorry, richard, that’s not supported by the known facts.

Personally, I don’t much care about this, and would be perfectly willing to ignore everything either candidate did earlier than 1980 or so… but the lefties keep bringing it up.

As to your qyotes about Kerry and 911 — how absurd! Kerry was a senator. he could not mobilize the Army and the Marines, he had no powers to make national decisions. Sorry, but the presidents’ advisors knew he had to get out of the room, and finally they just took him out cuz he wasn’t leaving on his own. He was paralyzed!

What good would mobilizing the army and the marines have done on 9/11?

IMO, the only service that would have been useful that day would be the Air Force, and that’s only if you’re willing to shoot down hijacked airplanes full of civilians. Furthermore, air force fighters in the continental US are generally *not* ready to go at a moment’s notice. Why not? Simple- everyone thought we’d have hours of warning before hostiles were in US airspace.

The ambulances and fire trucks would not have responded any more quickly because it was the President telling them to go.

Kerry had bullets zinging at him and death right in front of his face, and he fought on and never lost his cool.

There’s a couple hundred swift boat veterans who say otherwise.

About shrub’s TANG service — yeah, he learned to fly a plane, cool.

I don’t think you understand how much of an accomplishment that is.

He also disobeyed orders and partied like there was no tomorrow.

He disobeyed orders? According to what, the forged CYA memos?

Is that the standard of proof the left considers acceptable these days?

They didn’t call it the champagne unit for nothing! Go ahead and try to equate Kerry’s service with bush’s — that may work on Conrad’s site, but not here. With respect, it’s pure fantasy and we all know it. Even you, I suspect.

Fantasy?

Fantasy is looking at Kerry’s record and saying he’s a man who does not fear death and takes decisive action in a crisis.

What is really disturbing about this is how little I’ve heard about Kerry’s accomplishments after he got back from viet nam. The man has been a Senator for about two decades- what has he accomplished in that time?

September 19, 2004 @ 12:06 pm | Comment

Let’s end it here — it’s been over-dissected and discussed already. You see Kerry as a coward and a nobody, but the military we both respect has said the exact opposite — even Tommy Franks says he is well fit to command the nation. Swift boats weren’t high-risk at first, but then they became one of the most dangerous of all assignments. And Kerry didn’t disappear or make excuses — he fought, he saved lives, he was recognized as a hero.

About shrub disobeying orders — are you aware that the White House saw the forged documents and never disagreed with a word that was in them? If shrub says it wasn’t true, I’ll listen, but for now he hasn’t challenged it! Of course not — because all the content of the docs is true, but Rather fucked up bigtime. It’ll all come out on the wash.

As for Kerry’s accomplishments, they’re as good as most other sebators. He was a zealous uncoverer of the Iran-Contra scandal and always served his state well — his name isn’t on any bills because he wasn’t a committee head. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t served well. Hell, shrub had only 5 years of government experience before becoming president — the coke-snorting draft dodger! And all he accomplished was executing a lot of people and initiating the miserable failure known as No Child Left Behind. Talk about undistinguished experience!!

September 19, 2004 @ 12:21 pm | Comment

Let’s end it here — it’s been over-dissected and discussed already.

Yeah, that’s what a lot of lefties fall back on when it becomes clear that they’re losing the debate.

You see Kerry as a coward and a nobody,

NO.

You are the one throwing around accusations of cowardice. Personally, I think Viet Nam was a hellhole of a war, and I don’t blame anyone for trying to avoid it. What I object to is Kerry and his supporters taking his service there and holding it up as evidence of heroism, when it’s pretty damn obvious to me that he was trying to avoid getting killed, just like George W. Bush.

IMO, Kerry’s 4 months in a swift boat vs W’s time in the Texas ANG is a wash. Niether candidate looks like they have a whole lot to be proud of.

What I find absolutely *infuriating* is how the Kerry camp KEEPS BRINGING IT UP. Don’t they understand that the horse is freakin’ DEAD, it’s time to stop beating it?

Is Kerry’s four months in a swift boat the only thing he’s done in his life that’s worth talking about? No? Let’s hear it.

but the military we both respect has said the exact opposite — even Tommy Franks says he is well fit to command the nation. Swift boats weren’t high-risk at first, but then they became one of the most dangerous of all assignments. And Kerry didn’t disappear or make excuses — he fought, he saved lives, he was recognized as a hero.

…and I respect that. Really. But the record also shows that he also got out of that duty as soon as he possibly could- and I don’t hold that against him. What I object to is calling that heroism. Kerry did his duty, and did it well. That’s all.

About shrub disobeying orders — are you aware that the White House saw the forged documents and never disagreed with a word that was in them?

Now, I’m speculating, but is it at least concievable that they were trying to verify the things and wanted to find proof one way or the other before making an official statement? And that due to the memos allegedly being from the private files of a dead man, this took time?

If shrub says it wasn’t true, I’ll listen, but for now he hasn’t challenged it! Of course not — because all the content of the docs is true, but Rather fucked up bigtime. It’ll all come out on the wash.

Here you go-

Bush questions documents story from reuters-

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=AZ5QEALNYSKYQCRBAEZSFEY?type=topNews&storyID=6271556

BTW, there’s also a side-by-side comparison of the forged documents and authentic ones, courtesy of the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/graphics/cbsdocs_091804.html

As for Kerry’s accomplishments, they’re as good as most other sebators. He was a zealous uncoverer of the Iran-Contra scandal and always served his state well — his name isn’t on any bills because he wasn’t a committee head.

…actually, any Senator can write bills. You don’t have to be a committee chair to do that.

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t served well.

IIRC, he was also involved in the BCCI investigation- which was an accomplishment, but one that makes me think he’d be a decent Attorney General, not President.

Hell, shrub had only 5 years of government experience before becoming president — the coke-snorting draft dodger! And all he accomplished was executing a lot of people and initiating the miserable failure known as No Child Left Behind. Talk about undistinguished experience!!

Yeah, Bush and Teddy Kennedy are very proud of how they worked together to pass NCLB. And I’m perfectly willing to agree that compared to Bush in 2000, Kerry’s experience in government is more impressive.

The problem is that Kerry isn’t running against Bush in 2000.

September 19, 2004 @ 1:29 pm | Comment

Yeah, that’s what a lot of lefties fall back on when it becomes clear that they’re losing the debate.

I won’t let you stereotype me as a leftie, and if you do it again, I’ll delete the comment – just a warning. I try neber to delete, but there are some rules.

We’ll end it here because you are a broken record and we’ve both made clear how we feel. What’s the point of spewing out the same arguments ad infinitum, in perpetual tug of war. All good threads must come to an end.

Luckily, you have given me a magnificent opportunity to end this thread: You challeneged my assertion that bush never once questioned the charges in the documents and you cite a Reuters link as evidence.

Ha! Hoisted on your own petard! The article is all about how shrub says we need to question whether the documents were forged. He never once says the information in the documents was untrue! That would be the very first thing he would do if he was being lied about. Instead, all he does is say we need to question CBS — not gwb. Amazing. Thread closed, and thanks for backing me up

September 19, 2004 @ 1:34 pm | Comment

Anyone who doubts that the Bush administration is run by orcs should check out this news item. http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/California/sequoiamonument-logging.cfm
It is about Bush’s plan to clear-cut the Giant Sequoia National Monument, a plan which only the foulest of orcs could love.

December 16, 2004 @ 11:59 am | Comment

ummmm…..yeah. just a friendly Democrat here to talk about how bad the ummm…..Bush administration is. Down with the ummmm…..Republicans?

August 23, 2005 @ 2:41 pm | Comment

that picture is pathetic. attaching your own political views to lord of the rings is stupid, not funny. The book was a masterpiece. The way so many people pollute it with politics is inexusable, and an insult to tolkein.

June 23, 2006 @ 12:22 am | Comment

dude, it’s a joke. lighten up. It’s a tribute to Tolkien’s marvelous imagery. (And I see you’re such a fan you spelled Tolkien’s name wrong.)

June 23, 2006 @ 6:54 am | Comment