Washington Post: "In his speech to the Republican National Convention on Monday night, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani made a number of specific attacks based on statements made by Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry. But Giuliani's description of those comments often lacked context." The former mayor whose ratings were in the low 40% before he exploited 9/11 to aggrandize himself is the Republicans' designated 9/11 exploiter. He mentioned 9/11 several times in his speech. The pro-gay, pro-choice, pro-gun control Republican is way out of step with his Neanderthal party, but hopes to win its nomination in 2008 so these lies are transparent efforts to ingratiate himself to the right wing extreme. Keep dreaming, Rudy. Look what they did to McCain!

John Cory writes: "If Swift Boat veterans are truly concerned with truth and honor, perhaps they should focus on the numerous articles about Iraq veterans being billed for their hospital stays and having their disabilities downgraded so the government won't have to pay as much as they should; of veterans having to fight the VA system for benefits; of troops being short of bullets; of families having to take up collections for the purchase of body armor for their loved-ones, because the government fails to supply them; of Humvees poorly armored to protect our soldiers; and of course, the stories of high ranking officers who live well and distant from the grunts who bleed and die in America's name. No, these men care not for the present, only their past. They have no concern for the living, only the fading of their [fantasy-ridden] glory days."

Corporate front group-cum- "nonpartisan watchdog" Judicial Watch went after Clinton with a vengeance - but has kept kid gloves on with the Bush junta, no matter how outrageously they violate federal and moral codes. So it comes as no surprise to find that chief JW phony Larry Klayman is a self-described "true Republican" who is now running for office so he can "help the pResident," whom, says Klayman, is just a poor guy who got "bad advice." Klayman believes WMDs existed in Iraq but were mysteriously spirited away and instead of admitting the war was a trumped up debacle, complains that Bush didn't go in SOONER. Yeah, Larry, we bet you'll be as much help to Bush as you were to the American people while you were with Judicial Watch. As in worse than useless.

"The Army Reserve officer who wants to unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer returned to Lafayette on Thursday with evidence allegedly showing that the Monticello Republican is not being truthful about his military status in March... Republican challenger Dennis Hardy read a letter from Buyer to House Speaker Dennis Hastert that Hardy obtained from the March 20 Congressional Record. 'Dear Mr. Speaker: I have been called to active duty in the United States Army,' the letter states. 'Pending further orders, I request immediate indefinite leave of the House of Representatives to accommodate my military duties.' Hardy, who announced plans Tuesday to challenge Buyer in next spring's primary, said the letter offers proof that Buyer lied about being called to active duty for the war in Iraq... Hardy said he thinks Buyer lied about his military status in order to burnish his political image and thus position himself to run for the Senate if Indiana's senior U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar decides to retire."

From Buzzflash: "The Republican 'big lie' machine has generated an utterly false email that they have launched onto the internet to mislead less politically aware voters about social security... here is the original GOP liemail and, below it, a rebuttal... Q: Which party put a tax on Social Security? A: The Democratic party. FALSE Ronald Reagan signed a bill taxing Social Security benefits. In the early 1980s the Social Security program faced a serious short-term financing crisis. President Reagan appointed a blue-ribbon panel, known as the Greenspan Commission, to study the financing issues and make recommendations for legislative changes. The final bill, signed into law in 1983, made numerous changes in the Social Security and Medicare programs, including the taxation of Social Security benefits, the first coverage of Federal employees under Social Security and an increase in the retirement age in the next century (See www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.html)."

Many of us have received a viral e-mail like this:

Subject: Truth
Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500
employees and has the following statistics:
29 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad check
Can you guess which organization this is?
Give up yet?
It's the 535 members of the United States Congress
83.4% of them are Democrats

As all experienced Internet users know, any e-mail without a link to a credible source is garbage. If you want to know the origins of such e-mails, you can usually find them at the excellent hoax-buster site, snopes.com.