Political Links

There's been a flurry of interesting posting happening in the blogosphere ... here's some of what I've been reading in the past few days:

• I got a lot of hits Friday from Google searches like "Bush ad photoshop" (I'm #1 for that search when it's limited to blogspot.com, as someone did). The page all these searchers were directed to was my post on Bush's Yakuza ad back in July, not one discussing the more recent example of photoshopping that Pharyngula covers (CNN article on the recent example). Fascinating that the Bush campaign has now been caught poorly photoshopping content in not one, but two ads. At least they didn't plagiarize this time ...
  
  
• "What happened to George Bush after 10 years?" is a video that compares Bush's speaking abilities in the 1994 Texas gubenatorial debates to the 2004 presidential debates. I was stunned by how well Bush spoke in 1994; I highly recommend watching the comparison. (via BoingBoing)
  
  
• The Bush campaign is apparently blocking access to its website from many foreign countries (BoingBoing post #1, post #2).
  
  
• There's more debate flying around the web that Bush might have had something on his back under his jacket, both during the debates and at other times. Bush has tried to brush this bulge off as a badly tailored shirt/suit, but others have said it could be an audio prompter, a defibrillator, or safety equipment.
  
  
• The Economist has endorsed John Kerry for president, after endorsing Bush four years ago. Even though I don't agree with all their points, the article is very thoughtfully written. "If Mr Bush is re-elected, and uses a new team and a new approach to achieve that goal ["to finish the job he has started"], and shakes off his fealty to an extreme minority, the religious right, then The Economist will wish him well. But our confidence in him has been shattered. We agree that his broad vision is the right one but we doubt whether Mr Bush is able to change or has sufficient credibility to succeed, especially in the Islamic world." I believe the point that Bush has lost all credibility in the Islamic world is a critical one: how can we hope to peacefully work with countries when they have no faith in our leadership?