From Left to Right and what they’ve done to make this a great place to call home:

Tom Ridge: Secretary of Homeland Security – Ridge was instrumental in implementing the Homeland Security Advisory System that we as ‘Resolute Americans’ live are day to day by. Ridge plans his Terror Warnings according to the chatter that occurs every time the president’s political livelihood seems to head south.

Colin Powell: Secretary of State – Powell as you will remember is the guy who fell on his sword for the administration right in front of the United Nations. Powell is what many see as the great tragedy of the Bush administration, I just see him as a man who will never again be trusted by anyone in the world outside the Bush White House.

George W. Bush: War President – We all know this guy, he’s the one that has done nothing but stimulate the economy with tax breaks during times of war. Speaking of war, he’s seems to be a little premature in his declarations.

Donald Rumsfield: Secretary of Defense – Rumsfield is the guy who seems to think Iraq flew planes into our buildings. He also likes the idea of fighting wars without nearly enough troops.

John Ashcroft: United States Attorney General – John will do anything in the name of freedom including detain you for over a year without letting you see your lawyer. John also likes the term enemy combative.

Robert Mueller: Director of the FBI – Mueller is kind of just along for the ride. He inherited the FBI right before the 9/11 attack but he has been more than slow to adapt to the needs of the FBI.

What seems to be missing from this picture? Ahh that’s right some one from the CIA. Remember there the ones we’re supposed to blame for the intelligence failures, they’re the ones that blew the 9/11 plot and the botched the Iraq deal. Where are they on this historic day?

John Kerry gave the speech last night which many hope will push him over the top with the ‘swing voter’. Here are some of the direct challenges to the President:

“I want an America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation – not the Saudi royal family.”

“We have it in our power to change the world, but only if we’re true to our ideals – and that starts by telling the truth to the American people, as President, that is my first pledge to you tonight. As president, I will restore trust and credibility to the White House.”

“I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a secretary of defense who will listen to the advice of the military leaders. And I will appoint an attorney general who upholds the Constitution of the United States.”

Funny thing happened yesterday about 4 hours before John Kerry was supposed to give his speech; the administration announced the capture of a High Level Al-Quieda Operative in Pakistan. I guess timing is everything. The funny thing is in May The New Republic published an article claiming the Administration was planning this exact move. TNR claimed the Senior members of the Bush Administration were pressuring Pakistani leader Musharraf to ‘capture’ and handover a High Level Terrorist right around or on the week of the Democratic National Convention. Well everything seemed to work out fine when like clockwork at around 5:30PM EST news outlets across the nation began reporting the capture of a major Al-Queida suspect(CNN& MSNBC)

In another example of the politics of fear the FBI has issued a Terror Warning for the Western States. Maybe John Kerry was planning on campaigning out West this week.

Look out Barack Obama; Sharpton has just taken the stage. With possibly the line of the week Sharpton sticks it to the man:

Mr. President, as I close, Mr. President, I heard you say Friday that you had questions for voters, particularly African- American voters. And you asked the question: Did the Democratic Party take us for granted? Well, I have raised questions. But let me answer your question.

You said the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. It is true that Mr. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, after which there was a commitment to give 40 acres and a mule.

That’s where the argument, to this day, of reparations starts. We never got the 40 acres. We went all the way to Herbert Hoover, and we never got the 40 acres.

We didn’t get the mule. So we decided we’d ride this donkey as far as it would take us.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Here’s the full text.

Here’s the video