Mugger

Russ Smith, as I say every week, is an excellent writer who must get a blog. What would diehard Sox fan Mugger say today after whacking the Yanks last night? We won't know because he doesn't have a blog. Here's a snippet from this weeks column in the NY Press:

I don't watch Fox's Hannity and Colmes anymore—Hannity's not stupid, but he's as much of a shill for Bush as the Washington Post's Dana Milbank is for Kerry—but thanks to Mickey Kaus' blog, which linked to another site, I read the transcript of veteran Democratic political consultant Pat Caddell on the subject. As I mentioned last week, the Kerry camp isn't, as of yet, drawing black voters in the overwhelming numbers that Clinton or Al Gore did, partly because of resistance to the senator's pro-abortion and pro-gay rights positions.
Caddell, no Bush partisan, but unusually honest, had a different take on Kerry's unctuous reference to Mary Cheney. He said: "This is the biggest issue that's never been discussed in this campaign, the same-sex marriage issue… And among [the] most ardent opponents of gay marriage are African-Americans, Hispanics, and voters over 65, the heart of the Democratic Party. That's who Kerry was speaking to."
Now, while Kerry's proved to be a superb candidate in a debate setting, something he can prepare for, on the campaign stump he's no match for Bush. Forget Kerry's fear mongering of last week, when he told the Des Moines Register, "With George Bush, the plan for Iraq is more of the same and the great potential of the draft." That's standard fare: Even though Bush explicitly ruled out a draft during the second debate, Kerry's desperately trying to reach young voters.
And Kerry's ludicrous claim in Ohio on Oct. 17 that Bush plans a "January surprise" to cut Social Security benefits must've been crafted by the reptilian and tone-deaf Joe Lockhart. Kerry's an experienced politician: Does he really believe, if Bush wins, that the reelected president would announce such a measure in his second inaugural speech?
Still, my favorite quote from the temporarily populist senator came from a rally in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, last Friday. Maybe trying to neutralize the self-inflicted damage from last month when he called the Green Bay Packers' home "Lambert Field" instead of the correct "Lambeau Field," Kerry uncorked this one-liner: "Some brats, some cheese, a few beers, and then I can go out and talk about health care."
So that explains Kerry's goofy, Hillaryesque health care proposals during the debate. He had one too many bottles of Trois Mont!
And lest we forget—thanks to Jack Hitt's Oct. 17 Times article—Kerry's not a "brats" and nachos kind of chap. Hitt writes about the day in July when the Democratic ticket made a big deal of eating at a Wendy's. Yet afterwards, as Hitt writes: [T]hey returned to their bus, where they were greeted with a meal smuggled in from the Newburgh Yacht Club: shrimp vindaloo, grilled diver sea scallops and prosciutto-wrapped stuffed chicken."

I agree with him about all of this, including the Hannity reference. I can't listen to Hannity at all anymore. He was different when he was only on WABC in New York, less grating, less redundant. He is a shill that will gloss over anything Bush does. I actually have no problems with a partisan, hell thats politics, I do have a problem with a partisan who is an apologist and will cover for a candidate or incumbent who screws up or says something stupid.