Presidential Race T-2

1. Osama full-tape was 18 minutes, edited to 6 by al-jazeera: Osama bin Laden doesn't seem nearly so cocky in the unedited version of a videotape aired on al-Jazeera, complaining that the manhunt against him has hampered al Qaeda. AFP/Getty ImagesBin Laden the impotent / Opinion: Page 27 Osama bin Laden's newest tape may have thrust him to the forefront of the presidential election, but what was not seen was the cave-dwelling terror lord talking about the setbacks al Qaeda has faced in recent months.
   Officials said that in the 18-minute long tape — of which only six minutes were aired on the al-Jazeera Arab television network in the Middle East on Friday — bin Laden bemoans the recent democratic elections in Afghanistan and the lack of violence involved with it.
   On the tape, bin Laden also says his terror organization has been hurt by the U.S. military's unrelenting manhunt for him and his cohorts on the Afghan-Pakistani border. (nypost)
2. BBC correspondent Plett sheds tear for Arafat: Yet when the helicopter carrying the frail old man rose above his ruined compound, I started to cry... without warning. In quieter moments since I have asked myself, why the sudden surge of emotion? (bbc)
3. Bob Kerrey's bumbling defense of Kerry on Meet the Press: a) This is the old view that bin Laden is a criminal -- like Dahmer, but with more victims -- who needs to be arrested. Of course, this chimes with recent statements of John Kerry's.
   b) I cried out in pain when Kerrey said "They don't give a damn about the war in Iraq." What a bunch of selfish louts Kerrey imagines the people of small town Ohio to be! In Galena, those people can't even imagine the wider world. They're all about "where's my money .. where are my benefits?" I know how badly you want to win Ohio -- really, Ohio is practically the whole game, now, isn't it? -- but in your eagerness to please them, you reveal your contempt for them! (instapundit)
4. Picture contrasting Hollywood actresses and Afghan women voting (jessicaswell)
5. Justifications for backing Kerry fall flat (mark steyn)
6. Broken-glass Republicans battle to the end (guardian uk)
7. Bush Leads(in polls), Uncertainty Reigns (cbsnews)
8. NY Daily News (liberal paper) endorses Bush (ny daily news)
9. America cannot afford Terry Kerry(by reporter told to "shove it") (pittsburghlive.com)
10. CBS: Explosive charge failed (Jack Kelly Ohio Post-Gazette)
11. Liberals, please embrace the 'L' word again (houston chronicle)
12. Kerry campaign threatens Fox news (throw off plane) (california yankee blog)

Other

1. Kerry's non-honorable dischargeExclusive: Earl Lively makes solid case senator left Navy under a cloud There is overwhelming evidence that the Navy gave John Kerry either a dishonorable discharge or an undesirable discharge – which is the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge without the felony conviction – and that, as a result of such discharge, he was stripped of all of his famous but questionable Navy awards and medals. And the kicker? The evidence is on his website! (Earl Lively is a former colonel who was assigned as Director of Operations of Headquarters, Texas Air National Guard when George W. Bush was a lieutenant in the Air Guard.) (worldnetdaily)
2. Early voting fraud file (foxnews)]
3. John Kerry late night jokes (about.com)