The Shootin' Fish In a Barrel Trilogy:

Some targets are just way, way too easy, like gettin' gonhorrea in Thailand or, to wit, like shooting fish in a barrel. (Numbers in easy to read French.)

Une - Context Is All:

Oh, how the Bush campaign is all a titter-twitter with John Kerry's quote from his New York Times Magazine profile. Kerry said, with extraordinary logic, tact, and, yes, sensitivity, "We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance. As a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life." Of course, the Bush campaign focused in on the single word "nuisance" and pounced like a pack of feral dogs on a wounded child, issuing an ad that mocked Kerry for actually believing that a sledgehammer alone is not the way to win this "war."



So, since taking shit out of context is the way the Bush campaign gets an issue to run on, like "nuisance" and "global test," let's have fun with context. Here's a great ad - all it needs is evil mariachi music:



In the first debate, George W. Bush called terrorists "folks": "We're facing a group of folks who have such hatred in their heart, they'll strike anywhere, with any means."



But in an October 11 speech, Bush called Hispanic officials with him at a campaign rally "folks": "These folks are here to help us inspire the Hispanic vote to come our way."



Terrorists are "folks"? Hispanic officials are "folks"? Is George Bush saying that Hispanics are terrorists?



John Kerry: Consistent on Who the Folks Are.



Wheee. Coming in short order: Trilogy Parts Deux et Trois.