Updated RNC List

Here’s the bloggers that will be there.

• Kevin Aylward of WizBang!
• Michele Catalano of Command-Post and A Small Victory
• Matt Margolis of Blogs For Bush
• Captain Ed of Captain’s Quarters and Blogs For Bush
• Scott Sala of Slant Point
• John H. Hinderaker of Power Line
• Karol from from Dean’s World, Spot On, and formerly Blogs For Bush.
• Bill from INDC Journal
• Tom Bevan from RealClear Politics
• Ben Domenech of Red State
• Tacitus
• Roger L. Simon
• Brian Reich from Campaign Web Review
• David Adesnik from OxBlog

Says: Novak:

“Why should details of what Kerry did more than 30 years ago be part of this election campaign? Only because the senator has made them integral to his strategy. Kerry as war hero received more attention at the Democratic National Convention than plans for the future. Thus, what he did in his shortened four months of combat becomes a valid campaign issue.”

….” “Unfit for Command” sends a devastating message, unless effectively refuted. Perhaps most disturbing are allegations that Kerry’s combat decorations are unjustified. His first Purple Heart, the book alleges, was accidentally self-inflicted. His commander, Grant Hibbard, is quoted as saying: “I didn’t recommend him for a Purple Heart. Kerry probably wrote up the paperwork and recommended himself.” Full release of documents demanded by his critics could settle this claim quickly if it is unwarranted.

“

The book is available on the right column under BitsBooks.

AP says:

“GRAND CANYON, Ariz. (Reuters) – Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said on Monday he would have voted for the congressional resolution authorizing force against Iraq even if he had known then no weapons of mass destruction would be found.”

So, Kerry’s admitted Bush did the right thing.

Where’s the front page coverage of this, I wonder?

Update: I’ve gotta stop blogging when the kids are up and around, I get distracted. The truth is a bit thicker than this. First, the article I linked doesn’t give the original question the President asked and therefore anyone reading the article would figure the question to be answered, however damningly for Kerry. 

However, it’s worse for Kerry than the article makes it. The President originally said:

“My opponent hasn’t answered the question of whether, knowing what we know now, he would have supported going into Iraq. That’s an important question and the American people deserve a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.”

Now, let’s remember, here, Kerry claimed he voted for the authority to go to war, never dreaming that Bush would use that authority… he said this while trying to explain away why he’d vote to go to war, but not fund the troops he voted to send.

By that explaination, that vote was not support for the action of going to war.  By the same token, then voting for that auithority even sans WMD, still is not a vote of going to war.  So Kerry pulled a Clinton, and dodged the question rather than answer it.

Any questions?

I’ve been toying with the CSS over at BitsBits. I’ve noted some faster load times, and so have been toying with the idea of changing the look here at BitsBlog as well. Load times of this server have always been the biggest complaint I get here.

Check out the look over there, and see what you think; Should I copy that look here?

By the way… Non IE users, I may not have the layering right yet. I don’t have Mozilla at work, so I’m flying blind for around 30% of my readers…

Feedback in comments, please:

Canada.com:
Ah, yes, the magic of government healthcare.

“TORONTO (CP) – A bacterial agent commonly found in health-care settings has been blamed for the deaths of 100 patients in the last 18 months in a single Quebec hospital, says an infectious disease expert at the facility, who is calling for government action to forestall more outbreaks across the country. ”

Remember, gang, this is the healthcare model Kerry’s crowd would have us under.

Communists for KERRY in 2004 Presidential Election

Need I say more?

He who doesn’t need the links and whose nose we are unworthy to pick, has been at it for three years.

Captain Ed says tonight:

“The effect of the collapse of Kerry’s Cambodian Christmas should be devastating. It shows that Kerry repeatedly lied about the nature of his service in Viet Nam, destroying his credibility and bolstering that of the Swiftvets. It also casts a lot of doubt on Kerry’s 1971 Senate testimony regarding widespread atrocities committed by American soldiers and Marines in the war and the complicity of US leadership. In fact, such blatantly false assertions and testimony undermine the confidence any reasonable person would have in Kerry’s entire character.”

You’re quite right, Ed, it should be devastating, and were we dealing with an homorable Democrat base, it would and should end his carreer.

Only one problem.
We’re not dealing with such an honorable Democrat voter base. I will ask you to remember Bill Clinton. If catching someone in a lie swayed Democrats, it certainly would have happened then… and we both know it did not. I will remind you of an Oldsmobile being driven off a bridge a few years earlier. Either of those would under the conditions of an honorable electorate, have ended their carrers, and swung elections for a few decades to come.

Neither happened, and we both know why… The Democrats, as a rule, hold party over truth.

It’s as I said a few days ago: Kerry’s rabidly leftist base disagreed with his even being in the service in the first place. Any lie he tells in that regard will be viewed by such people as a badge of honor among them.

His base isn’t moving even should be suddenly be revealed as an axe murderer. What motivates Kerry’s base isn’t getting Kerry elected, nearly as much as it is a hatred for George W. Bush and getting him unelected. As such, I expect the net effect to Kerry’s base however this falls out will be zero.

Now, of course there are the undecideds to worry about, and the few Democrats with an ounce of integrity left. But will it be enough to swing an election? I’m too tired at the moment to play the numbers out.

Update:

James Joyner and NZ Bear both seem to think this will be the campaign killer for Kerry. I hope they’re right, but I won’t hold my breath.

Ap is reporting

“An ex-convict who blamed a young woman for taking his video game system and clothes recruited three teenagers to stab and beat her and five others to death, investigators said Sunday.”

Now at least, we have a good idea why the Democrats did as well as they did in Florida, and why they had such problems understanding a paper ballot.

(shake of the head)

I’m shaking my head as I look at my hitcounter and spreadsheets.

Last month was a record, both in terms of vists, and in terms of page views.
As of this writing… with less than a third of the month gone… the numbers say that BitsBlog is already over halfway to the record set last month. When charted month over month, the chart line for the readership of this blog goes very nearly straight up.

At the moment, the TTLB system rates this blog as being number 727 overall. All this represents an amount of growth I’d never have predicted.

Bragging?  Heck, no. Shocked, would be more accurate.

To all of you, thank you.

I’ve always held that politics are a mere tool toward attaining one’s goals. Generally these involve one’s cultural values pretty heavily. So, every once in a while, I steer off Politics and into our cultural life.. and those cultural happenings which underlie our political life.

Such is the case today, in this week’s Bit’s Bit:
The Amusement Park, and The Past and the Future of America

Let me know what you think, when you get back here.

Living along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, one is presented with a number of unique places to experience. One of them is, to my understanding the only Amusement park of any serious size along the south shore… SeaBreeze Amusement Park, which is just outside Rochester.

The Seabreeze of today is sort of the last man standing.

Rochester had several amusement parks years ago that one thought about spending their time at. 25 years ago, one had Roseland, southeast of Rochester in nearby Canandaguia, and Olympic Amusement Park in the town of Chili (pronounced Cha eye-l-eye, if you’re a local)

Roseland and Seabreeze were by far the older… Olympic was the upstart. Olympic had rides that were designed to travel around to state fairs and whatnot, whereas the other two had a sense of permanency about them.

Seabreeze had a Merry Go Round built by the Philadelphia Toboggen Company (PCT #36). Inside the Round-House was a Wuriltzer style 165 band organ that was a wonder to listen to. It’s pictured above. That organ and the “round were mated at birth; both having been built and purchased in 1926.

They also have a wooden coaster.. a largish out and back created in 1920, called the Jack Rabbit… an intense ride even for today. It’s pictured here a few years ago. I’ve been on that ride perhaps 100 times over the years… and it still scares the hell out of me.

Roseland was older by a few years, and most of it’s rides and attractions had a somewhat older feel to them. It’s ’round was also created by PTC. Number 18 was built in 1909. Roseland closed nearly 25 years ago, and Olympic closed at more or less the same time. Of the two Roseland was by far the more memorable for most folks; I can’t even find any pictures of Olympic as it was to show you.

Roseland’s ’round currently lives about 60 miles east of it’s original spot, inside the Carousel Mall in Syracuse. Here’s a few pics of it in the new location.

All that’s left of Olympic is a bowling alley.

Someone tried to put a water park on Roseland’s site a few years ago, but it never did work; the owners were always fighting the memory of how grand the place used to be… and the new place could never measure up to that memory. It’s abandoned, as far as I know… what of it wasn’t taken up by high priced apartment complexes filled with people wanting a shoreline view of Canandaguia Lake.

Those closings left Seabreeze all alone in the Rochester Market, which in turn gave rise to the Darien Lake megapark, at Corfu, NY about 20 miles west of Rochester, which is now owned by the Six Flags people.

As for Seabreeze, on March 31, 1994, came the worst. I never thought I’d have a practical use of my recording of Todd Rundgren of “Were you there when the Carousel Burned Down”, but I did, that day. The fire was started about 3 p.m. by contractors who were working to re-tarring a roof. An hour later, PTC 36 and the Wurlitzer, 100 rolls of music and all… nothing of it was left but ashes, and a column of smoke that could be seen for 30 miles. Being positioned directly across the street from the firehouse didn’t help at all; it was gone at the first spark. Local stories said the firemen were crying, some of them, trying unsuccessfully to put the fire out. It took an emotional toll on them, the local news said at the time.

I remember looking out of my downtown office window and wondering what that column of smoke to the north was, and not understanding that one of my memories would now never be anything more than that… And a place of the entire area’s collective consciousness, was dying. Even when told by co-workers what was up, it didn’t hit me.

Until, that is, later that night. I remember driving past the park that night, to get an idea of how bad the damage was. It was dark by the time I got by there.  But I recall being taken back at the sight. I leaned on my horn in a salute to the pile of ashes as I sat in front of the place, my headlights playing on what was left of that ancient frame of PTC36 as I sat on the edge of the park grounds.  In doing so, I happened to catch the eye of someone else, who apparently was there for the same thing… sitting in his car, his young wife with him. He simply nodded at me, and joined in, giving a blast from his horn, as well. He understood, and shared the loss. I’ll never know his name, but it doesn’t matter.

I can think of a number of people that wouldn’t get that kind of reaction. I certainly can’t think that any MegaPark such as Darien Lake would ever attain that kind of status within the community. Perhaps because it’s not been there long enough, but also possibly because as loud, gaudy and intense as it gets, it’s never really as comfortable as some of the older parks this country has to offer… Seabreeze among them.

Fortunate, that the owners of Seabreeze understand that factor, and take such pride in their park. and the idea that they’ve been there for 125 years this year, and plan to be there for many years to come. They rebuilt the ride, and the organ, all to the original specs, from the original drawings, all with handcrafted care.  The cost must have been several million dollars. The ‘Round of today… well, all you can say is, it’s a real beauty.

OK, I know it’s a long lead in, over half this column, in fact…but I say all of this because you need to understand the background, to understand where I’m going with this.

You see, I had the chance yesterday to take part in the company picnic, which, as it has been for the last few years, was at Seabreeze.

Now, I’ve been going to Seabreeze (yes, along with the other parks, too) for the last 40 years and more. So, in many ways, it’s attained the status of an old friend. It did my heart good to see my old friend looking well, and fit, and well cared for. After all, I’d seen a couple friends like this wither and die away, already. The Seabreeze folks obviously take pride in caring for my old friend.

One of the first places the boys wanted to stop was the newly rebuilt ‘Round. I found myself being a little sad going into the new ’round. I had to sit and think about why, though.

A Merry Go Round, particularly as beautiful as this rebuild is, making me sad? Rather an unexpected response. I found myself having to stop and think about why this was. The result of that thinking is the reason I’m writing all of this today.

You see, yesterday, in all the activity, I re-discovered the emotions surrounding my seeing my two boys’ delighted smiles, as they discovered and enjoyed the very same rides I enjoyed as a child of their ages. The reaction, the feeling, the emotions surrounding that event are as powerful as any I’ve ever had. There’s something of a feeling of, well… of permanency, of a continuance of sorts… And for just that brief, powerful moment, I found myself, looking at myself, 40 years ago. I now understand a bit more of my own parents.  Heady stuff, this.

But for the ’round, as nearly perfect as it’s replacement is, that emotion is gone. In some ways, it’s like a first love; You never quite love a woman the same way again, as you did your first. You can marry, and find that one true love and yet, in many ways you’re always affected by the memory of the first. Sadly, it can never be again.

It’s all that and more; and understand, please, I don’t mean at all to slight the efforts of the Seabreeze folks; they’ve done the best anyone could ever have done. I and the remainder of the community are forever grateful to their efforts in rebuilding 36, and the organ.

Thing is, though, I’ll always feel a twinge of sadness when entering the new structure, for the one that was lost, because I can’t tell my kids “I rode on this when I was your age”. I’m sorry, gang, I can’t help it. I find myself shocked at how important that one point is to me.

I know things happen, and changes come. But I think I begin to understand what places like that mean to a soul, and what preservation of our landmarks means to us both individually, and as a community.

At least Seabreeze’s ownership was thoughtful and foresighted enough to understand that new memories count nearly as much as old ones, and then providing for them, by rebuilding.

They understand that old memories, precious as they are, cannot die when the edifices involved in those memories do. and new memories need a place to be made, as well. This new ’round, Lord willing, will be around for my boys to watch THEIR kids on, 20 years hence.

I had a passing thought as I watched my youngest on his last turn of the day on the Bear Trax, the kiddie sized Coaster….. I wonder if those Islamofacists seeking our destruction, will ever care about, much less understand, that emotion.

I doubt it. What exact connection that has with the future of America, in light of our current struggle with terrorism, is not fully clear to me. But I can’t help but feel strangely reassured tonight as I write this, about our future. It’s not just our armies, our police and our financial institutions they’re fighting against. They certainly tried to hobble us by attacking these.

What they fail to reckon with, however, is it’s our Amusment parks as well, and the emotions we experience inside them, and for that matter, all the places, everywhere we get a sense of our cultures and our families, continuing. Those are an enemy which in my view, they will never understand, much less defeat.

This is a site every American should view.

Not all at once, please… just do it before, say, November.

So, lemme see if I’ve got all this down.

We have a paper.
It’s called the Boston Globe.
The paper is owned by the New York Times.
The Times is known for being rabidly leftist.
The Boston Globe has a guy working for it as a journalist.
The guy’s name is Mike Kranish.
Kranish is assigned to cover John Kerry and his presidential bid.

Kranish writes a bit today which the Globe prints, with inaccurate information in it, the object of which is to tear down the Swift Boat vets and their statements about John Kerry..  a leftist, who as it happens, hails from Boston. This story is exposed as a lie when the subject of the story comes out with a statement calling Kranish’s writeup ‘misleadning’. This subject then goes on to suggest he’d told Kranish exactly the opposite of what Kranish printed.

The subject, one George Elliott, in fact goes on to re-state and reaffirm his original statement… a very harsh criticism of the fitness for the office of President of John Kerry… or, more correctly, the lack thereof

Now, we find out that this Kranish person also has been Hired by the Kerry team to write a nice forward to the official Kerry-Edwards campaign book.  The book was to be published by Times Publishing.

Now that all this case come out, Kranish has been removed form the project, AFTER the initial printing went out. Second pressings are going out sans Kranish.

Hmmm. Oops, huh?

Am I not to take this as indication of a corrupt press willing to lie and anything else it has to, to get their fellow leftists elected?

Am I not to question what else Kranish has falsified for money?
Am I not to question who else has similarly been corrupted?
Am I not to wonder why Kranish has a job at all?

Since this action of the Democrats is also outright stupid, perhaps fatally so, are we not to accept this as further proof of the desperation of the left?

And given all of this, can we trust anyone connected with either the so-called mainstream press OR with John Kerry and the Democrats?

Update: A tip of the hat to Jahn Hawkins over at RightWingNews, who is clearly watching this blog more closely of late. Also a tip to Captain Ed, who advises he’s about changed his mind from his original post. He now is beginning to understand what I’ve been saying, and has a very healthy discussion thread going on this topic you should check out… on that same thread.

A hello, and a thank you to Kevin McCullough atWMCA 570 & 970 DJ in NY for his notes about this blog.

I wondered where those hits were coming from…

Hey, Kevin… I do have about a decade and a half of radio behind me… if you need a vocal blogger…… You know where the e-mail is….chuckle