Free Republic

Last Thursday evening at the Democratic National Convention, presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to score a political touchdown on the 50 yard line of Denver's Invesco Field stadium. Instead, he won the all-time governmental convention award for the best over-the-top political spectacle of sight, sound, speech and pyrotechnics – complete with superstar performances, Braveheart-like epic music endings and an Olympic-sized fireworks show. For a week prior to the event, newscasters, commentators and pundits were trying to guess what exactly that Greco-Roman, column-structure was that served as a stage backdrop, and what it was supposed to be representing and stating on...

Well, today is supposed to be the day the big, huge, bad, devastating, apocalyptic, {insert-dire-adjective-here} political "bombshell" is supposed to drop on Senator The Obama's head. Which... um... (looking around)...so far, no "boom." So I am proposing we mount a "Bombshell Watch." And thus, I make the first log entry: 6:13am PT — so far, no "boom" In the meanwhile, you can (if you like) read my own prediction Man your posts, FReepers!

Campaign 2008 Fifty percent of adults would not vote for Clinton By Kelly McCormack March 27, 2007 Half of voting-age Americans say they would not vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) if she became the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, according to a Harris Interactive poll released Tuesday. More than one in five Democrats that participated in the survey said they would not vote for Clinton. Overall, 36 percent say they would vote for the former first lady and 11 percent are unsure of their top choice. Forty-eight percent of Independent voters also said that they would...

Were all the pundits wrong about Hillary's strength? by Chris Reed at January 17, 2007 10:50 AM For years, the assumption has been nearly universal that Hillary Clinton would have an easy path to the 2008 Dem nomination. She had the money, the establishment support and the great goodwill among Democrats for the first Clinton administration going for her. Well, maybe everyone was wrong. Reason Online's David Weigel makes the case:   Anyone But Hillary   David Weigel | January 17, 2007, 1:20pm Rasmussen Reports has been polling the Democratic field, and today they measure the strength of Hillary...

Zune launched this week and, as predicted, it easily jumped to the number one spot in one of the most critical market metrics. How can this happen? How can a company known for practices that should dominate this metric fall so far behind its Redmond rival? Sometimes it’s about focus and commitment and a never ending desire to maximize critical metrics like third party studies. Sometimes it about executive integrity and the ability to present a product in the most favorable light in the face of all information to the contrary to overcome all objections in getting a product to...

North Korea sets off an earthshaking explosion _ and claims it was nuclear. Was it? For scientists, that was not a quick and easy question to answer. *****Snip**** His agency estimated the North Korean blast at around 1 kiloton or less _ equivalent to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT. For a nuclear device, that would be so weak that the French defense minister suggested that "there could have been a failure" with the North Korean reported test.

CARVILLE'S 'Clinton is electable! Clear the way!' BATTLE CRY SPELLS TROUBLE FOR HILLARY by Mia T, 7.02.06 he embarrassing need to dispatch longtime clinton operatives, James Carville and Mark J. Penn, to the Washington Post in order to prop up hillary clinton yet one more time,1 confirms what is plainly in the field... and what is doubtless in missus clinton's internal polls: Big problems ahead for the quondam shoo-in. "Faugh a Ballaugh!" The Post Carville-Penn apologia, full of poses, poll-tested phrases and prevarication is, clearly, missus clinton's response-by-proxy (how else?) to the growing 'dump hillary' movement within the Democratic...

THE THIRD PARTY HILLARY NEEDS... TO WINFLIM FLAM SCAM42% WILL VOTE FOR HILLARY. 40% WON'T. SHE NEEDS TO MAKE SURE THE OTHER 18% WON'T VOTE REPUBLICAN... JUST LIKE THE DNC MANAGED TO DO IN BOTH 1992 AND 1996 n 1991 when Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton decided to challenge President George H.W. Bush for the White House, all of the honest in-house polls the Clinton Campaign and the Democratic National Committee took indicated that Clinton would lose to Bush by a margin of 16 points. The polls taken by Bush and the Republican National Committee said the same thing. Bush...

'HILLARY'S BIGGEST PROBLEM... SHE'S OLD NEWS' by Mia T, 6.07.06     "I think the reason somebody like Mark Warner is doing better, I think the reason they picked Tim Kaine, for example, to give the response to the State of the Union is because hillary's biggest problem isn't the scandals, it isn't her being a polarizing figure, which she is. I think it's that she's old news. I think the Democrats are looking for somebody new. They're looking for a new face. And that's what they think they need." young, unidentified reporterThe Chris Matthews ShowVIDEO   THE DECLINE...

THE DECLINE OF HILLARY CLINTON: THE DYNAMICS (SHE HAS ONLY ONE WAY TO GO. AND IT ISN'T UP.) From THE HOTLINE Luntz Focus Groups The Dems.... March 30, 2006(ANNOTATED BY MIA T, 6.04.06)   Luntz Maslansky Strategic Research presented its findings on the '08 Dem field this a.m. to reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. Their focus groups tested Dem primary voters in NH and IA.... Support for Hillary Clinton "disappeared by the time the night was over, and she won virtually no new converts. Only Edwards faired worse." KORNBLUT:  And I would add to that.  It's 51...

TIRE INFLATION, GAS STATIONS + THE NEED TO SEQUESTER HILLARY by Mia T, 6.01.06   hillary talks:ON GANDHI & GAS STATIONS(Why it DOES matter...)by Mia T, 01.08.04 HILLARY GOES NUCLEARPROLIFERATION IN THE AGE OF CLINTON by Mia T, 5.30.06     For more than a half decade, the Clinton administration was shoveling atomic secrets out the door as fast as it could, literally by the ton. Millions of previously classified ideas and documents relating to nuclear arms were released to all comers, including China's bomb makers. William J. BroadSpying Isn't the Only Way to Learn About Nukes The New...

The Nation -- The news that Chris Dodd, the stodgy senior Senator from Connecticut, is pondering a run for the presidency proves that ego knows no bounds. Dodd's been in the Senate forever, has no natural constituency in any important primary state and has recently angered the Democratic base by repeatedly defending Joe Lieberman. Think John Kerry is a liberal elitist? Wait until you meet Dodd. He may be an able, distinguished Senator, but Dodd has absolutely no chance of becoming president. The fact is, everyone, including ten of Dodd's Senate colleagues, is running for president these days. What better...

THREE WOMEN AND A FUNERAL:HOW THE CLINTONS ARE HANDLING THE HILLARY DUD FACTOR 3   by Mia T, 03.18.06   er head bobbed nonstop in servile compliance.... Her gaze was fawning, fixed on him.... Her mouth was frozen shut, corners upturned a carefully calibrated nine degrees above the horizontal.... Not a smile.... (Never a smile).... Just enough of an upturn to hide the always-present anger. His sock puppet was on display.... Finally.... He spoke for both of them, alternating between oily racist and reliable misogynist. Instead of striking out as her own person in this friendly venue--it was the...

BILL MAHER WARNS DEMOCRATS: HILLARY WILL TAKE YOU OVER A CLIFF IN '08 First of all, she will never win the presidency. The people who are worrying about that should stop worrying. She will never be elected president of this country. The democrats should buddy up to that concept before they walk over the cliff with her in 2008. Bill MaherHardball with Chris Matthews February 14, 2006 'HIATUS' FOR HILLARY? by Mia T, 02.02.06 The clintons, as is their wont, are now taking this proxy scheme to even more outrageous extremes. The latest: an actual hillary clinton proxy presidency,...

  THE (oops!) INADVERTENT ADMISSIONS OF BILL + HILLARY CLINTON part one FROM WHENCE COMES THEIR REPUTATION FOR BRILLIANCE, ANYWAY? AND WAS THEIR FAILURE TO TAKE OUT BIN LADEN WILLFUL?   by Mia T, 02.08.06 "You know... the job which we should have done 1... which should have been our primary focus, to find [you know] bin Laden and eliminate al Qaeda." hillary clintonSaturday, Jan. 28, 2006 Chitchat with Jane Pauley San Francisco, CA "Mr. bin Laden used to live in Sudan. He was expelled from Saudi Arabia in '91 and he went to the Sudan. We'd been hearing...

'HIATUS' FOR HILLARY? by Mia T, 02.02.06 The clintons, as is their wont, are now taking this proxy scheme to even more outrageous extremes. The latest: an actual hillary clinton proxy presidency, populated on both sides of the camera by assorted rodham and clinton ex-staffers, sycophants and should-be felons, witness the latest hire. 'Commander-in-Chief,' a show that sets out to crown a 'queen,' instead exposes the kitschy simplemindedness of Hollywood fantasy and the special sway and shortsightedness of the pathologic ego. Mia T, 10.27.05THE DANGER OF RUNNING VICARIOUSLYBill O'Reilly chews up and spits out the hillary clinton candidacy(clip included)...

Police officers clear holy site of worshippers after finding suspicious object, which later turns out to be fake bomb used by security guards during exercise Police officers cleared the Western Wall area of worshippers Sunday night after finding a suspicious object, which later turned out to be a fake bomb used by security guards during an exercise they held at the site. It remains unclear why the guards left the fake bomb behind. According to an initial investigation into the incident, the company in charge of security at the Western Wall held an exercise for its employees. At around 10:30...

WHY HILLARY MUST NOT WIN. WHY HILLARY CANNOT WIN. by Mia T, 12.10.05 When it comes to electing our first female president, we can do better than Hillary Clinton. We need to do better than Hillary Clinton, or the symbolism of a woman as president will be marred by electing a woman who has done almost as much to inflict mistreatment on real-life women as her misogynist husband. Candice JacksonTheir Lives: The Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine   '04 ELECTION PROVIDES CLUE To better understand why this move is fatal for missus clinton, we must go back to November...

  AN OPEN LETTER TO TIM ROBBINS, DAVID GEFFEN, CHRIS MATTHEWS, MAUREEN DOWD + JEANINE PIRRO RE: a not-so-modest proposal concerning hillary clinton December 7, 2005 Dear Concerned Americans, Hillary Clinton's revisionist tome notwithstanding, 'living history' begets a certain symmetry. It is in that light that I make this not-so-modest proposal on this day, exactly 64 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The context of our concern today--regardless of political affiliation--is Iraq and The War on Terror, but the larger fear is that our democracy may not survive. We have the requisite machines, power and know-how to defeat the...

bill's bud explains1.... by Mia T, 11.26.05 Hillary, it seems, is not only "watching me like a hawk," as Bill puts it at one point,1 Having failed to snare the Nobel Peace Prize by ignoring terrorism, clinton has apparently decided to intensify his America-bashing on foreign soil, the method employed by Jimmy Carter to great (if somewhat belated) effect. (The Nobel committee, sufficiently mollified only after 24 years of the peanut president's America-bashing, awarded Carter his 1978 Peace Prize finally in 2002.) Meanwhile, back in the Senate, the missus, the other half of the clinton construct, maintains her hawkish...

REINVENTING HILLARY... AGAIN(clinton machine dumps Geena Davis for Margaret Thatcher) how the clintons are handling the hillary dud factor2 by Mia T, 11.23.05   Clinton, who is running for re-election in 2006, is widely considered to be the frontrunner for her party's 2008 presidential nomination, based on her association with the Clinton brand, her fundraising prowess and her institutional support. Her perceived frontrunner status is also built on a perception among some Democratic strategists that her reservoir of goodwill in the Democratic base makes her uniquely capable of appealing to centrists in the general election by running as what...

HEAR CHRIS MATTHEW + MAUREEN DOWD DEVOUR HILLARY (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) THE DANGER OF RUNNING VICARIOUSLYBill O'Reilly chews up and spits out the hillary clinton candidacy(clip included) for the birds(THE INCOMPETENCE OF HILLARY CLINTON) IT TAKES A CLINTON TO RAZE A COUNTRY SCHEMA PINOCCHIO how the clintons are handling the hillary dud factor NANO-PRESIDENTthe danger of the unrelenting smallness of bill + hillary clinton HILLARY FLUNKED D.C. BAR EXAM"the smartest woman in the world" sought less competitive venue HILLARY'S COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF PROBLEM(see descriptor morphs) Why hillary clinton should never be allowed anywhere near the Oval...

A CALL TO IMPEACH CLINTON IN ABSENTIA by Mia T, 11.17.05         id you see it? More to the point, did the American press? bill clinton made page one of Aljazeera today. The reportage was a schizophrenic mix of schadenfreude and agitprop. It was the story of an impeached ex-president of America trashing America--to standing Os--in the Arab state of Dubai--in the middle of a war zone--only several hundred miles from the American troops. And, if that weren't enough, the traitor pocketed $200,000 from the Arabs for his efforts. Having failed to snare the Nobel Peace...

NEW MOVIE! for the birds(THE INCOMPETENCE OF HILLARY CLINTON) by Mia T, 11.13.05 (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) ARTICLE

September 28, 2005 The left nips at Hillary after her move to the right Right after Election Day in November 2004, Bill and Hillary Clinton seemed to have reached certain conclusions. They appear to have decided that Hillary needed to stress religious values, hew to a hawkish position on the war on terrorism, remain steadfast in her support for the Iraq war and move to the center on a variety of issues, painting herself as a moderate. But circumstances have changed, and there is increasing evidence that the Clintons are realizing that they miscalculated in their November decisions. The...

CARRYING-hillary's-ANTI-PIRRO-WATER club by Mia T, 8.16.05 Let's keep a running list on this thread of thecarrying-hillary's- anti-Pirro-water club. Let's prove whatAndrea Mitchell's performance last Sunday merely hinted at, namely, that there's not a dime's worth of difference between a purveyor of access journalism and a useful idiot.   Hillary in Aviary by Mia T, November 2000, sometime before "the first Tuesday after the first Monday" "Bird of paradise" would have been a brilliant wrong answer for the New-York-state-bird question; in one fell swoop it would have flattered the necessary constituency, rendered hillary's cheating marginally believable and suggested a quick, secure,...

New York, New York -- if hillary can't make it there, she can't make it anywhere by Mia T, 8.10.05   JEANINE PIRRO: 30-year career fighting for the abused woman  (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) oes missus clinton take Americans for fools? (Well, as a matter of fact, yes, she does.) When she drops out of the race -- and she will -- it won't be the dough. It will be Pirro. Missus clinton has an endless supply of cash. Even if domestic sources go the way of Geffen, she'll still have plenty. Missus clinton will...

HILLARY DUD -- NOT DUFF -- PORTENDS JEANINE WIN by Mia T, 8.10.05 As the unquestioned leader in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, and as the holder of a 34 percent advantage in her Senate re-election campaign, she will almost inevitably deploy the strategy of "sitting on a lead." There is probably no more dangerous stratagem in American politics. -- Tony Blankley-'Pirrotechnic' campaign against Hillary ASIDE: I can think of one -- sitting on the elephants in the Hildabeast's living room. What Bush 41 knew in 1992 What every congressman and senator knew in 1998 What everyone...

Who in heaven's name is writing missus clinton's speeches? A "handling the hillary dud factor" AFTERWORD     by Mia T, 8.04.05   They turned our bridge to the 21st century into a tunnel back into the 19th century. Back us out of that Republican tunnel, fill it in, go back across the bridge.... We'll have a giant celebration when we come back to Columbus in 2020. There's nothing more wonderful than making dreams come true. hear hillary clinton address to the Democratic Leadership Council Columbus, Ohio 7.31.05 ho in heaven's name is writing missus clinton's speeches? They make...

Sunday July 10, 3:23 PM 7,000 evacuated in Tokyo suburbs while wartime dud shell removed(Kyodo) _ About 7,000 residents in western Tokyo suburbs were evacuated Sunday as a Ground Self-Defense Force unit disposed of an unexploded bomb, believed to have been dropped by the U.S. military during World War II, from a crop field in the city of Nishitokyo. It took about half an hour for the GSDF unit to remove the detonator from the so-called "1-ton bomb," which was found 10 meters underground in the field. The bomb was 180 centimeters in length and 60 cm in diameter. The...

was absolutely astounded yesterday when Florida Governor Jeb Bush held that press conference and talked about the State of Florida taking custody of Terri Schiavo. He presented to the media the opinion of a doctor that Terri Schiavo was not in a persistent vegetative state .. but rather just in some sort of a period of reduced consciousness. This doctor has never seen Terri Schiavo, except on videotape, and he's issuing findings that are completely at odds with doctors who have been personally examining Terri for many months. Think about this for a moment. Attending physicians conduct their examinations and...

US Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who had hoped to replace George W. Bush as president yesterday, instead sat in the cold and clapped as the Republican began a second four-year term. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin patted Senator Kerry on the back shortly before the inauguration Senator Kerry had hoped would be his. As Mr Bush delivered his inaugural address, Senator Kerry, about 10m away on the steps of the US Capitol, joined other lawmakers and the crowd in repeated applause. Senator Kerry looked relaxed, at times wistful. He frequently smiled, able to hide any disappointment over what...

PORT ORANGE -- Luke Porto bit the Milk Dud in half and eyed the remaining chunk of gooey chocolate-covered caramel. The 15-year-old freshman at Father Lopez High School could have finished it off. He could have thrown it in a trashcan. But he chose another path that November day, prompting a chain of events that has landed him in juvenile court. Luke's choice was to throw the candy out the window of his mother's moving car, hoping to get a chuckle out of his 4-year-old brother. A passing motorist claimed the hurled hunk hit her windshield and cracked it, causing...

NEW YORK - Madison Avenue had unwelcome news for John Kerry's campaign yesterday as advertising executives said Bruce Springsteen, who is campaigning with the Democratic presidential hopeful, turns away more votes than he attracts. The campaign trails have begun to look like Hollywood Boulevard as both presidential candidates inject star power into their campaigns, with Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing with George W. Bush in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday. While many stars have spoken out about their presidential preference, with most opting for Mr. Kerry, a major ad industry study shows most voters prefer candidates who keep their distance from Hollywood....

Despite Democratic excitement about John Edwards (news - web sites)' solo campaigning debut on Wednesday after his selection as the party's vice presidential candidate, history suggests the North Carolina senator will deliver few votes for White House contender John Kerry (news - web sites). A good choice of running mate can sooth warring party factions or complement a presidential nominee's personality and experience, but the vice presidential candidate has little direct impact on the election, experts say. "Come November, voters will be choosing between Kerry and (President George W.) Bush, and it really won't matter who the vice presidential candidates...

WHY JOHN KERRY IS DANGEROUS FOR AMERICA(a NEW virtual john kerry talks series) Kerry's Imaginary Leaders Foreign & Domestic   Mia T, 4.2.04        (viewing movie requires Flash Player 6, available HERE) http://johnkerryisdangerousforamerica.blogspot.com   

No Shades of GrayBy JOE SABIA Last week's "Democratic Unity Dinner" produced multiple political orgasms, most of which came from Bill Clinton. Speakers at the fundraiser appeared convinced that recent blips in the polls mean they are mere months away from resuming all-night pizza parties and orgies in the Oval Office. But times have changed and Americans are no longer looking for an antiwar gigolo to serve as their president. National defense will be the central issue of the 2004 campaign, thus dooming the Democrats' chance of recapturing the White House. In recent weeks, the Bush re-election team has...

I believe the 40 or so Bush supporters at the Democrat's "Unity Day" Shawn Macomber saw were organized by the D.C. chapter of Free Republic of the FreeRepublic.com website. The head of the chapter wrote a thread on the site of their efforts and the harassment they received from the Democrat supporters. At one point they were told they had to move by someone they weren't sure was a Police officer or just hired security. The reason? He told them that they were inciting violence. When asked how, the man with the gun said because they were agitating the Democrat...

[For obvious reasons, I'm not linking directly to this site.] There are pictures of popular liberal blogger Atrios here: www.dailykos.com/story/2004/3/29/44616/4711 However, his face has been blurred. Does anyone have any crowd shots of this event that might give us some clue to his identity? Visit Atrios' site here for more fun: atrios.blogspot.com There has been speculation in the mainstream media about Atrios' identity. Some thought he might be Sid Blumenthal, but he denied it: http://www.liberaloasis.com/blumenthal.htm

Apologies to every comic book character ever created, and even some that never were ...In Washington, D.C., last week, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, John Kerry, Al Gore and many other Democrats, got together for what was billed as a "unity dinner." The group put aside their differences to join forces and form the "Stupor-friends" band of not-so-super heroes. Together, they stand united with one goal in mind: to defeat Bush's "Legion of Doom & Halliburton." Let's take a closer look at the major "Stupor-friends," the powers they possess and some general facts about them: Bill Clinton, aka "The DNAvenger," formerly...

"DEMOCRATS ROCK! Can you feel it?" hollers Michigan senator Debbie Stabenow. It is sometime after 7:00P.M. on March 25, and Stabenow is onstage at the National Building Museum in downtown Washington, D.C., addressing countless tables of Democratic donors and politicians, who are half-listening to her as they drink wine, sip iced tea, and eat catered barbecue. There are over 1,500 people in all. Stabenow takes a deep breath. "Isn't this just wonderful to see everyone coming together?"Certainly it's impressive. From the print media's perch on the museum's balcony, some 50 feet above and at least 100 feet away from the...

<p>March 27, 2004 -- John Kerry this week staged a huge media event to receive the official endorsement of his erstwhile Democratic rival, Howard Dean. Forgotten, apparently, are the months of bickering in which Kerry accused Dean of lacking principles and Dean, in turn, derided Kerry as "Bush lite." That's how these things go once the nomination has been decided.</p>

Mar. 26--WASHINGTON - The Democratic Party staged a giant lovefest yesterday to display how united they are behind John Kerry in the push to oust President Bush.Kerry stood with former Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former Vice President Al Gore and all his major primary rivals in a significant show of force."Never has the Democratic Party been more united than it is today," Kerry said at a huge fund-raising dinner in Washington that was to put $11 million in Democratic coffers.For $1,000 a plate, donors ate barbecue family-style and gawked at Carter, Clinton and Gore. Hardly the...

Last night at the DNC "Unity Dinner" John Kerry boldly stated that the United States deserved "a truthful leader." And he said it with a strait face! After all the lies he has told... but he continues to attack President Bush on the credibility issue and in my opinion merely blackens his own credibility in the process. sidebar: I am thrilled to find out today that Richard Clarke's 2002 sworn testimony given to the U.S. House Intelligence Committee may be unclassified and used to nail his lying aye-double-ess!

Washington -- Returning to the campaign trail eager to cut a 40-to-1 money gap with the president, Sen. John Kerry Thursday night headlined a Washington fundraiser that brought together former presidents and former rivals, a carefully choreographed Democratic group hug to bring in $11 million for the party. It was an unusually strong show of unity for the normally fractious Democratic Party, but the shared desire to beat President George W. Bush squelched past differences. The presumptive Democratic nominee Kerry shared the stage former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and Clinton's vice president Al Gore, who had endorsed Howard...

WASHINGTON - For Democrats, there was only one problem with Thursday night’s Democratic National Committee unity dinner in Washington: one of the invited speakers totally outshone presidential candidate John Kerry. It came as no surprise that the star of the evening was former president Bill Clinton, who gave a virtuoso performance, reminding the crowd of why he is the only Democrat since Franklin Roosevelt to win two terms in the White House. Vintage Clinton Clinton’s speech was folksy, anecdotal, full of scornful gibes at the Republicans, and rhythmic with the cadences of a Southern preacher — in other words, it...

<p>Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry returned from a nearly weeklong vacation yesterday to collect the endorsement of one-time rival Howard Dean and have the torch passed from former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, the last two Democrats to win the White House.</p>

Honor Roll for tonight: Staytrue, BillF, Angelwood, tgslTakoma, GunsareOK, BufordP, Trueblackman, sauropod and kristinn.An officer with the Federal Protective Service ordered the D.C. Chapter of Free Republic to stop addressing Democrats waiting across the street to enter the Democratic Party's Unity Dinner in Washington, D.C. tonight.Members of the D.C. Chapter had been peaceably assembled for two hours exercising their First Amendment rights with protest signs and their unaided voices. Apparently the litany of Democrat 'sins' grew too much for this officer to bear so he walked across the street to give a cease and desist order to the FReepers.I had...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter joined a who's who of Democrats in celebrating the party's next presidential nominee John Kerry on Thursday at a unity dinner peppered with tributes to party heroes and harsh criticism of President Bush. The gathering of the brightest Democratic stars, including seven of Kerry's nine former campaign rivals, raised about $11 million for the party and featured strong denunciations of Bush's leadership and Republican campaign tactics from both Carter and Clinton. The rare gathering of the two former presidents, along with former Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee in...