Background on Bulge Story
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The latest from the Political Grapevine:
Background on Bulge Story
The man behind the story picked up by The Washington Post and New York Times — suggesting a bulge in President Bush's suit during last week's debate may have been a transmitter feeding him answers — turns out to be left-wing writer Dave Lindorff, who just last year said, "It's going a bit far to compare the Bush of 2003 to the Hitler of 1933. Bush simply is not the orator that Hitler was."
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But comparisons of the Bush administration's fear-mongering tactics to those practiced so successfully ... by Hitler ... are not at all out of line."
Lindorff published his latest allegations on the liberal Web site Salon.com. The White House insists President Bush had no help during the debate.
Bush Should Apologize?
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A group of Norwegian citizens and politicians has placed a half-page, $50,000 ad in The Washington Post, urging President Bush to apologize to the Iraqi people for "an unjust war" and to the allies for "having misled them."
The ad says, "To pursue a flawed and failed [foreign] policy is a sign of weakness. ... Your present policy only fosters resistance, more than ever, everywhere."
British Interests
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Meanwhile, in Britain, The Guardian newspaper is urging Britons to write to Americans in Clark County, Ohio, insisting that is "where this year's [presidential] election truly will be decided."
What's more, The Guardian will fly the most persuasive Britons to the U.S. to help campaign, though it doesn't specify for which candidate.
Taxpayers' Money at Work
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Livermore, Calif., has unveiled its new $40,000 mural outside the local library.
Only problem is, the mural misspells the names of Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo and seven other historical figures. So what is the city going to do about it?
Well, it has offered the mural's creator, artist Maria Alquilar, another $6,000, plus expenses, to come from Miami to fix the mural.
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Alquilar reluctantly agreed, but accuses the city of "denigrating my work," insisting, "The people that are into humanities and ... enlightenment ... are not looking at the words."
Democrats' Denunciation
Democrats denounce Sinclair Broadcast Group's plans to run an anti-Kerry documentary on its stations as a "blatantly partisan attack," but Democrats have yet to even note the Sundance Channel — which has devoted a significant portion of its airtime in the coming weeks to anti-Bush programming.
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The Sundance Channel — owned by CBS owner Viacom and actor Robert Redford — has already shown 10.5 hours about the anti-Bush Vote for Change Concert tour, and has already begun airing Al Franken's radio show each weekday.
What's more, the channel plans to air a series of anti-Bush and anti-Republican movies on the eve of the election.
— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report