Day: October 30, 2004

PunditGuy provides scariest image you’re likely to see this Halloween.
I far prefer this one.

Well, didn’t take long:
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 10:23 am
I have been asked by the highest authorities (No — I will not expound) to not hold this Rally.
Although our actions and intent has been nothing but honorable, this effort will not serve our purposes.
My sincerest apologies for this but I must ask that we stand down…
I certainly hope the “highest authorities” know what they are doing and I don’t like this anymore than anyone else but I must ask you to stand down.
We can however, return to our previous effort in getting the truth to media outlets, Congress, and other influential organizations.
This was a great idea and I’m very disappointed — I hope you will forgive me for this. I’m assured that all will be clear in time (yeah right).
– Troy Jenkins (aka “Navy Chief”)
No word on what this means, if anything, in relation to the rumors of a break in the Kerry discharge story.

I still can’t vouch for or confirm any of this, so please treat this all as the purest form of Internet rumors. But here’s what’s being posted on and elsewhere this morning:
I [DONALD L. NELSON, CAPT, JAGC, USNR] was on active duty as a U.S. Navy lawyer when all of this was going on some 25 to 30 years ago, and so was Mark F. Sullivan, who at all relevant times was the personal lawyer to J. William Middendorf, then the Secretary of the Navy. We remember.
We are trying to break this absolutely true story nationwide, i.e., Fox News, C Span, and hopefully all the major networks. We are positive that John Kerry was one of those dishonorably dismissed from the Navy for collaborating with the Viet Cong, after he was released from active duty but still in the Navy, and for a totally unauthorized trip to Hanoi. He later got an “honorable” separation in 1978, some 12 years after joining the Navy, under President Carter’s “Amnesty Program” for draft dodgers, deserters, and other malcontents who fled to Canada and Holland, among other places, to avoid military service to our country.
This is why he has refused, and continues to refuse, to release all of his Navy records: they reflect that he was Dishonorably Dismissed from the United States Naval Service. If they do not (which they do), he would have released them to the public. Again, he has not done so, because he well knows that the truth would kill his challenge to President Bush.
New Conservative Voice says that this is a letter sent to Sean Hannity.
I’m still waiting for real evidence, and real on-the-record statements. But for whatever it’s worth, the memo above represents the state-of-play this morning…
Update: I don’t think it’s an unreasonable guess to state that Jeff Jarvis does not approve of this story. That’s Jeff’s choice. I’m not buying it as truth just yet, but the rumor is out there. I won’t report just any rumor, but this one rings true enough to me to post as rumor. We’ll see if it turns out to be true or not.
Update II: NavyChief just posted this at the SwiftVets forum:
The information I posted about a former SECNAV and Kerry’s Discharge was pulled at my request because I jumped the gun.
You couldn’t believe the powerplay behind the scenes at this moment regarding this story.
You can call me many things (and probably will) — I don’t care.
This isn’t my call anymore on how/where/when/why this story will come out.
I’ve been told/asked/cajoled whatever you wish to call it — to stand down.
So, this Chief will STAND DOWN (for now).
That’s all I have to say on the matter. If you want me to personally apologize to everyone — so be it.
– Troy Jenkins (aka “NavyChief”)
One bit of context: although all this action is happening at the Swift Vets forum, NavyChief is not actually a Swift Boat veteran (nor does he claim to be), although he is a veteran.

On Thursday, The New York Times published weblog story which included the following statement:
“A recent posting on DailyKos, a liberal Web site visited by more than 500,000 people daily, according to blog rankings posted on a site called The Truth Laid Bear…”
That evening, I replied with full snark. But after thinking about it a bit, I also decided to contact the Times directly and suggest that a correction was in order, as in my view, their statement innacurately suggests that Kos is visited by more than 500,000 individuals daily, when in reality, it is likely far fewer than that, but those individuals visit several times daily. And after all: my name is next to the inaccurate statement (the source being my Ecosystem Traffic Rankings, the sibling listing to the classic Ecosystem, which ranks by inbound links).
The following is the exchange of e-mails I had with Bill Borders, a senior editor at the Times, on the subject. To the Times’ credit, Bill replied swiftly to my initial inquiry. But in the end, I was unable to convince him that an error had been made. Read the discussion, and make your own judgment; feedback is welcome in the comments section.
Update 10/30 pm: Jeff Jarvis has posted on the subject, and says:
Bear is absolutely right and The Times is absolutely wrong. And I say that with the authority of an Internet executive who has dealt with these issues for 10 years now and as a founding member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation online committee that officially defined exactly these measurements with the Internet Advertising Bureau.
So I’m guessing that Bill Borders didn’t follow my advice to check with Jeff on this issue. Whoops.
(click ‘more’ if you are coming from the TTLB front page)

Continue reading “NYT Declines to Correct Kos Daily Visitor Error”

This morning’s required blog-radio listening:
at INDC reports that Dean Esmay will be on Pundit Review Radio.
The Northern Alliance has Saint Paul Mayor Randy Kelly (“the first major Democratic politician to break ranks and endorse George W. Bush for President.”), and representatives from Protest Warrior.
The Northern Alliance show runs from noon to 3pm Central time, and I’ll most likely be listening in on their web stream. Might even call in again, if the urge strikes me; was fun chatting with the gang the last time.
I generally catch Pundit Review the week after via their audio archives (as they don’t have a live web stream), so I’ll be a bit behind the curve on them.
And yes, for the record, my fond wish is that NARN and Pundit Review Radio would swap technologies, so they both could have a live web stream, and both could have online archives… but then, I’m demanding, ask anybody…
Update: I stand corrected! Kevin at PunditReview writes to point out that they are streamed live every Saturday from noon to 1pm EST on www.wbix.com.

Powerline notes that the Kerry campaign seems bit frayed at the edges:
KERRY CAMPAIGN BLOWS UP AT FOX, THREATENS TO THROW FOX OFF THE PLANE, BACKS OFF:
KERRY CAMP OBJECTS TO 4:00pm FOX NEWS SEGMENT: ALAN COLMES: “It’s not like he [Osama bin Laden] had a Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker in his cave.” NEIL CAVUTO: “But he’s all but doing that, isn’t he? I thought I saw a button.”
KERRY CAMP ASKS FOR RETRACTION, DOES NOT GET ONE