The Washington Post poll shows rising approval of president Bush’s handling of Iraq and terrorism, but a widening lead for John Kerry – eight points if you remove Nader from the survey. Hmm. This graph is particularly striking. I’d say that’s not too good news for the president. On the other hand, the same poll also shows that the economic turn-around is beginning to be felt. The Wall Street Journal equally shows Bush gaining in a handful of swing states – but the movement is all within the margin of error. What to make of all this? Not much at this stage – but the Post’s recording of a big swing away from Bush among independents strikes me as significant. I’m not the only McCainiac rattled by Bush’s growing closeness with the religious right and large errors in the conduct of the war. Of course, we haven’t seen much of Kerry lately either. No wonder the Democrat is moving up.
THE OTHER ABU GHRAIB STORY: I couldn’t agree with Nick Schulz more that the awful record of Saddam in Abu Ghraib merits dissemination in the media. I’m glad that some of the footage was finally shown on Fox News last night. And as readers know, I’ve been in favor of showing as widely as possible the horrors of the enemy. We have to look these monsters squarely in the face and see them for what they are if we are to sustain the morale necessary to keep taking the fight to them. But this does not in any way lessen the need for us to make sure that the U.S. government hasn’t endorsed or practised much milder but still reprehensible abuse and torture. Between those who want to downplay the evil of Saddam and those who want to look the other way at the Bush administration’s own conduct, there must be a middle way.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY: “To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing would be too obvious. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of “dissenting” bravery.” – Hitch, telling it like it is, in Slate. It’s a tour de force, and reminds me that Moore is beneath contempt. Meanwhile, Moore is threatening to sue anyone who criticizes his movie for libel. Shafer eggs him on.
The Dish 