Special From NewsMax's Most Informed Sources
Sunday, Nov. 7, 2004

1. Rehnquist's Clever Boost for Bush

When Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist announced in late October that he had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, we took the news sadly.

Now that the election has taken place and the dust has settled, we think the clever veteran of the Court and Beltway politics may have timed his announcement to give George Bush a small boost before Election Day.

Rehnquist could have waited a few days, until after the election was over -- as John Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, did to announce her breast cancer.

As NewsMax reader Miguel Tuas first pointed out to us, Rehnquist's timing was impeccable.

Though Rehnquist did not say he planned to step down, many media commentators said the ailing chief justice, now 80 years old, may have to leave the court to attend to his health.

And that suddenly injected the judiciary -- and the number of Supreme Court appointments the next president may have to make -- into the presidential campaign.

Can you imagine Kerry's potential court picks: Dershowitz? Tribe? Estrich?

Thankfully, we don't have to.

2. 'Liberal' Bigots Explode After Bush Win

Religious bigotry is alive and well in America. Sadly, much of it comes from so-called "liberal" folks who say they believe in diversity and tolerance.

Catholic League president William Donohue says the following examples, taken from newspapers and Internet sites after Bush's victory, prove that the Democrats are guilty of bigotry:
 
* In the Wichita Eagle, Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press wonders if President Bush understands that "he was not chosen god, bishop, rabbi or high priest?"
 
* The publisher of Harper's magazine, John R. MacArthur, blasts President Bush and Sen. John Kerry for advertising "their subservience to Jesus Christ and the Christian god, without the least concern about whether it might offend me" and others like him.
 
* Ex-seminarian Garry Wills writes in the New York Times, "Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an Enlightened nation?"  He ends by saying that "moral zealots" will scare moderate Republicans with their "jihads."
 
* Maureen Dowd, a New York Times columnist who hates Bush, says the president "ran a jihad in America so he can fight one in Iraq."
 
* Dowd's colleague Thomas Friedman intolerantly accuses Bush's base of wanting "to extend the boundaries of religion" and of promoting "intolerance."
 
* Without providing one example, Margaret Carlson opines in the Los Angeles Times that Catholic bishops "demonized" Kerry's supporters by warning them that "they could go to hell just for voting for him." 
 
* Sheryl McCarthy of Newsday accuses Bush of "pandering to people's fears, petty interests and prejudices" against gays and others.
 
* Sidney Blumenthal, writing in Salon, nervously claims that the new Senate majority is "more theocratic than Republican."
 
* In the same spot, Sean Wilentz embarrasses his fellow Princeton faculty by saying "religious fanaticism" has "seized control of the federal government."

3. One Voter Asked a GI Who to Vote For

We knew last week's anti-GI letter from Berkeley would spark a reaction. Here's a response from reader Sharon Couch, no hometown given:

I was deeply saddened upon reading the scathing comments expressed by the Berkeley Idiot (dubbed such, since the name is unknown).  Apparently the fumes of Timothy Leary's drugs still waft over the Berkeley campus, infiltrating the minds of current students.  This campus is well known for their opinion of war.  We all remember how they protested the Vietnam war, how they refused to serve their country.  In my opinion, Berkeley is a campus for those who really do not fit in with mainstream society.  As in the days of the "flower children," they want peace.  We all want peace!  However, those of us who have minds unfettered by drugs know that peace comes at a high cost.
 
In response to the horrible remarks made by the Berkeley Idiot who assumes that our soldiers are stupid, and could not find employment elsewhere, this person is so very wrong!  Our military is comprised of the finest people of America.  I know, my Grandson is one of them!  He had other options of college, and employment, but he chose to serve his country.  He will still become a college graduate.  The difference will be: When he receives his degree it will be with great pride, knowing that he had the intelligence, and courage to become a good citizen.  These are the people that are the real future leaders of our country.  Not the vermin of Berkeley.
 
I felt, after much research on John Kerry, that George Bush, already known to be a courageous leader, and a compassionate man, would get my vote.  All at once, I hear John Kerry stating that our fighting men in Iraq were ill equipped.  He stated they were lacking in body armor, and their vehicles were not armored.  He even said parents of soldiers were buying body armor on eBay to send their children in Iraq.  At this alarming news, I bristled.  Shortly after, my Grandson arrived home on leave. 

After a nice family dinner, I broached the subject by stating that how he answered my questions would be the deciding factor, as to how I would cast my vote.  I asked if he had body armor, and if their vehicles were plated.  His answer was yes.  I asked if he felt our government was giving our military personnel in Iraq the full support they needed.  He said yes, once again.

I then asked who he would like to see win the Presidential election.  He emphatically said, President George Bush.  He had confirmed what I had suspected, John Kerry was not telling the truth. 

My vote will go to George Bush, the man with the strength, and stamina, who can, and will, lead America in the right direction.    

4. Vegas Oddsmaker Picks Bush, Beats 'Experts'

Wayne Allyn Root, a handicapper and oddsmaker in Las Vegas, gets to boast of beating the pundits.

A fixture on CNBC, he predicted that President Bush would win by 3 percentage points in the popular vote and more than 30 electoral votes.

The conservative Root gave the following reasons for his pick:

* The population shifted from "blue" to "red" states.

* "Kerry has just not made a compelling case to remove a sitting President in a time of war."

* The economy is in decent shape.

* "No sitting President has ever lost an election in the midst of a war."

* Kerry was the better debater but too slick and elitist.

* "Bush has made MAJOR inroads to Jewish voters by being the most Pro-Israeli President in American history."

5. Election Sleaze in Hollywood

We received many reports of vote fraud and corruption from readers. Here's a sample from California:

I enjoy your website and thought you might want to know what happened to me today. I live in North Hollywood. I went to vote today and on the booklet attached to my voter machine was a "sample vote" marked with the ink pen for president. The vote was for John Kerry. I immediately informed a poll worker. She removed the voting machine and seemed disappointed that such a thing took place. Now whether or not the other machines were defaced as well I do not know. But I thought everyone should know that this happened in our state. A state that will easily be won by John Kerry. And if it happened here. ... I filed a Election Complaint Form and mailed it off myself today.

6. Russia Maintains Vast Nuclear Arsenal

Keep Your Eye on the Birdie:

Army General Aleksey Moskovskiy, Russian deputy defense minister and chief of armaments, said that since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia has maintained its nuclear missile potential, Interfax reported.

"The collapse of the USSR caused a partial collapse in the cooperation between designers and manufacturers of nuclear weapons that had evolved over decades. Russia was forced to tackle the enormous task of developing a purely domestic rocket and space industry. Despite all the difficulties, this country coped with the task," Moskovskiy told Interfax.

Moskovskiy said that "preservation and development of research and technical facilities, leading scientists and the most important production technologies remain among the most urgent tasks at the moment and for the foreseeable future."

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