2006 gubernatorial debates

Voters will soon have the opportunity to see Jennifer and her opponent together on the same stage.

From Grand Rapids NBC affiliate WOOD TV8:

WOOD TV8 will host the second debate at 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 10, and be available to all NBC stations in Michigan. WOOD TV8 anchor Suzanne Geha will moderate the debate, which will include panelists from WOOD TV8, Detroit's NBC affiliate WDIV, and the Detroit Free Press.

The first debate is set for Monday, October 2. The 8 p.m. debate, moderated by Tim Skubick, will be held at WKAR in East Lansing and be available to all Michigan Public TV stations and all Fox stations.

On Thursday, October 12, Granholm and DeVos will make a joint appearance and deliver remarks at a luncheon sponsored by Detroit's Economic Club and the Michigan Chronicle.

The third and final debate will be Monday, October 16 from the studios of WXYZ in Detroit. Chuck Stokes will be the debate moderator, which will be available to all CBS and ABC affiliates in the state.

There is a form on Channel 8's web page where you can submit questions to be asked in the October 10 debate.

Michigan voter registration deadline is October 9!

Just a friendly reminder: the voter registration deadline in Michigan is Monday, October 9! Registration forms are available at the ICDP office, the city and county clerk's offices, and online.
Also, be sure to apply for an absentee ballot if you need one!

If this is your first time voting, you must do one of the following in person: 1) Register to vote at the clerk's office; 2) Request an absentee ballot in person; or 3) Vote at your voting place on Election Day.

Report: Iraq war worsens terror threat

From the New York Times:

A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

An opening section of the report, “Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement,” cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

(etc.)

To think of the thousands of American soldiers who have given their lives in Iraq. They deserve better from their commander-in-chief and leaders in Washington.

If you want to truly protect America and fight terrorism, vote Democratic.

Told you so: Senate panel finds no link between Iraq and al-Qaida

Here's how MSNBC puts it:

There’s no evidence Saddam Hussein had ties with al-Qaida, according to a Senate report issued Friday on prewar intelligence that Democrats say undercuts President Bush’s justification for invading Iraq.

Bush administration officials have insisted on a link between the Iraqi regime and terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Intelligence agencies, however, concluded there was none.

...

The declassified document released Friday by the intelligence committee also explores the role that inaccurate information supplied by the anti-Saddam exile group the Iraqi National Congress had in the march to war.

It concludes that postwar findings do not support a 2002 intelligence community report that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear program, possessed biological weapons or ever developed mobile facilities for producing biological warfare agents.

Proving once again that it was wrong for Bush&Co. to cut and run from the real war on terror in Afghanistan.