According to the Pleasure Boat Captains for Truth, George W. Bush is Unfit for Cancun.

We all know that Michael Moore is a complete whack job, but it’s always nice to have a reminder.

If you haven’t seen this before, check it out. If not, check it out again, it’s funny stuff.

I love the irony here. These Naderite complain that Bush lies and the want you to vote for Nader? Oh yes, Ralph Nader, the man who lied about the Corvair, claiming that it was “Unsafe at Any Speed.” Not only was the Corvair not an unsafe car, but it was the most successful GM compact car of the time, and the most fuel-efficient. We should never forget that Nader built his career on this lie.

Here’s Jeff Jarvis’ fisking of today’s op-ed piece by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. Copps argues that the networks should be carrying more fo the convention. Jarvis’ take is right on. As Jarvis says, “So who the hell are you, Copps, to tell us what is in our interest?”

If you don’t think there is a lot of good things going on in Iraq–read this. I’m not saying that’s it’s all fun and games over there, but there is apparently a lot more good things happening than we usually hear about.

So boys in my hometown like to play computer games on the big screen.

From the Motely Fool:

If you were spooked by the vision of technology and institutional hubris gone amok in Minority Report, pull the covers over your head now. This week, the European Union’s (EU) European Commission (EC) opened an investigation into a Microsoft and Time Warner deal that would give them control of digital rights management (DRM) company Contentguard.

The crime? Future domination of a market that does not yet exist.

If you’re confused or angered by this, then you must not be a socialist or an EU commissioner. So step outside yourself for a moment, you capitalist dog, and try to see things from the EC’s side of the table.

Here’s what the EC claims: “It appears to the Commission that the transaction might possibly create or strengthen a dominant position by Microsoft in the market for Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions.”

Silly me, but I thought the whole point of a business was to make money from a competitive advantage. Apparently, in Europe, competition is OK, so long as there’s no winner. That may be a nice way to run a church T-ball league, but it’s no way to advance an economy or culture. (But maybe it explains a few things about the medal counts in Athens these days.)

Another unfortunate reality for the commissioners is that there isn’t much of a market for DRM at all right now, and the leader in the field is the only company making a splash in the download biz: not Microsoft but Apple. Of course, from the EC point of view, Cupertino had better stop selling so many iPods. Not only is the device cuter than the other players out there, but also it refuses to run files from RealNetworks and other competitors. That’s clearly an advantage, and therefore, it must be stopped. Oh, and by the way, Wal-Mart, Home Depot? Your low prices and tight inventory control put your competitors at a disadvantage. Get out your checkbooks.

The Swift Ship Vetrans for Truth claim:

“We’re not saying that General Han Solo didn’t serve the Rebel Alliance with honor,” says the leader of their group, who only identifies himself as Red-5. “But we feel that he isn’t telling the truth about some of the things he did during the war against The Empire.”

• Even though the current record shows that Greedo shot first in the incident in the Cantina at Mos Eisley, a little investigation into the original video evidence demonstrates clearly that Han Solo shot the bounty hunter first. Who altered the evidence and why?

• His claim of having made the Kessel Run in eight parsecs is just downright bizarre. You measure a smuggling run based on time, not distance. What is he trying to hide here?
• The blindness he suffered from being frozen in carbonite was only temporary and he suffers no permanent disability to his vision, but he submitted the report for the Purple Heart anyway. He also lists that period as being a Prisoner Of War despite the fact that he was in suspended animation at the time, where conscious time did not pass for him during his incarceration.
• He abandoned the Rebel run against the first Death Star before joining it at the last minute to provide covering fire for Luke Skywalker. Would we have lost so many young and talented X-wing and Y-wing pilots if General Solo had accompanied the attack formations in the first place?

“We accept his explanation for the video evidence of him wearing the stormtrooper uniform as ‘a rescue attempt on Princess Leia,’” says Red-5, “and we call on General Solo’s opponent to join us in denouncing their out-of-context use of this recording for propaganda purposes.

“We’re not trying to discredit General Solo at all. We just want the public to be informed before making any decisions regarding the rebuilding of the leadership of the Republic.”

I’ve been ticked off and George W. for his “craven caving” on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law and then criticizing the very system he helped create. Apparently the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board is ticked off too:

President Bush didn’t tell the full story on Monday when he denounced TV ads by such “527s” as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. But not because he didn’t agree to the Kerry campaign’s demand that he repudiate the specific Swift Boat ads.

Our gripe is that Mr. Bush assailed the very campaign-finance system that he helped create.”I don’t think we ought to have 527s,” Mr. Bush said, referring to the independent political fund-raising groups that have become such an important part of this election season. “And I hope my opponent joins me in saying, condemning those activities of the 527s. It’s the — I think they’re bad for the system.”

Not so fast, Mr. President. One reason 527s are so prominent now is because Mr. Bush made the mistake of signing the McCain-Feingold campaign finance “reform” that barred big donations to political parties. So 527s have become the new alternative vehicle that Americans passionate about politics are using to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech. The difference is that now the campaigns can’t control how that money is spent.

If Mr. Bush wanted the two major parties to better control their campaign messages, he could have vetoed McCain-Feingold. Some of us urged him to do so, but his political advisers whispered not to worry, the Supreme Court will take care of it.

Well, Sandra Day O’Connor failed too, but in any event since when are Presidents supposed to pass the buck to judges?

In our view, this was among the worst moments of Mr. Bush’s term. Having helped to midwife the current campaign-finance system, it ill behooves him to blame others for the way this world works.