Uh oh. Are the Republicans committing a no no at their convention?

Laura, discussing the attack ads on Kerry’s military service:

TIME: Critics throw out so many charges against the President. Is there any one that you found the most unfair?
BUSH: I think they’re all very unfair. [Laughter.] I really do.
TIME: Do you think these swift-boat ads are unfair to John Kerry?
BUSH: Do I think they’re unfair? Not really. There have been millions of terrible ads against my husband.

George W., on Kerry’s military service:

President Bush said opponent John Kerry’s service was “more heroic” than his during Vietnam, in an interview shown Saturday on NBC News.
“I think him going to Vietnam was more heroic than my flying fighter jets,” said Bush, who served in the Texas Air National Guard. “He was in harm’s way and I wasn’t. On the other hand, I served my country. Had my unit been called up, I would have gone.”

Perhaps the first couple should iron out their position here.

We sure live in a confusing world, don’t we?

If (1) the U.S. military has been fighting “terrorists” in Iraq, and
(2) the Iraqi government just signed a peace treaty with said “terrorists,” doesn’t
(3) application of the “Bush Doctrine” (we make no distinction between the terrorists who commit acts and those who harbor them) require that
(4) America now attack the government it helped establish?

If I was the skeptical type, I’d be thinking these terms being tossed around are pretty meaningless and only get invoked when the administration wants to pursue a particular agenda.

You may have noticed that I haven’t been commenting on presidential election polls as much as some people have. A couple reasons for this. First, the election isn’t today and the slight bobbing up and down of the polls over the next month or so isn’t that significant. Second, the generic national polls are pretty meaningless, since we don’t elect based on the popular vote.
Electoral College polls are a little better. And since Zogby has the reputation of being more accurate than most, I note his snapshot of where things stand heading into the Republican convention.
Based on polling in 16 battleground states Zogby has the current score as:

Kerry 286
Bush 214

Two states–Florida and Missouri–are too close to call. I’m not paying to read the full report, but according to the map shown on MSNBC, the only toss-up states Bush leads in are Ohio and West Virginia. All the rest, including Tennessee, are leaning toward Kerry.
So when is Kerry going to start doing some serious campaigning in the Volunteer State?

That’s what some people would apparently like to see. Here’s what fair and balanced commentator Bill O’Reilly should be done with unruly GOP convention protestors:

However, the new problem is that these potentially violent protestors damage security efforts against the terrorists themselves, who want to kill us. And that’s a fact.
So what should happen is that any illegal activity by these protestors should be considered a terrorist act on its face. Putting the lives of New Yorkers in danger by distracting the police is terrorism, period.
There are reports of some anarchists who are going to douse themselves with gun powder to cause security alarms to go crazy. We also hear some of these people may roll marbles underneath the hooves of police horses. Any of that stuff is terrorism and the federal government should take over the prosecution.
Instead of being slapped on the wrist, violent and damage causing protestors should be slapped with federal prison time. Most Americans value protest. I certainly do. But we’re fighting a war here. And any act that puts this country in danger is sabotage. Again, a terrorist act.
Homeland Security Czar Tom Ridge should lay it on the line to the protestors. Behave yourselves. You’ll be respected. Put Americans at risk, you’ll be severely punished.

Yes, if some protestors get out of hand and damage property or, heaven forbid, injure anyone, they should be punished . . . for those acts.
What does participating in a constitutional protest have to do with terrorism? Nothing. “Terrorism” is becoming a generic catchall phrase by proponents to empower the government to do whatever it is they want it to do. And fair and balanced citizens should find that troubling.