What passes for religious

The Democratic National Committee's new adviser for religious outreach, Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson, was one of 32 signatories on a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief backing an atheist who sought to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

"Religion has been manipulated by this administration to a new and disgusting level," Peterson told Agence France-Presse after she was hired by the network. "We are a group of clergy that has come together to say things have gone so bad with this administration that we can no longer be silent."

Peterson is undaunted by Religious groups outrage at her actions. She said, "We plan to go all over the nation. We plan to have a religious Web page on the DNC site and to let people of faith be heard. To let them know that their voice can say, 'We think the federal budget is a moral document. We think that there are issues in this campaign that have a theological underpinning.' "

Kerry’s plans

Ron Brownstein of the LA Times reports on an interview that offers Kerry’s plans for the war in Iraq and the nation as a whole:

Iraq: Within a first term as president, Sen. John F. Kerry thinks he could attract enough international help in Iraq to make it a "reasonable" goal to replace most U.S. troops stationed there with foreign forces, he told The Times in an interview... "I will engage in the creation of a very different equation, very rapidly," the Democratic presidential nominee said of troop deployment in Iraq.

Deficit: On domestic issues, Kerry said he would not scale back his plan to expand access to healthcare even if the federal budget deficit grew. And he was less definitive about maintaining his pledge to halve the federal deficit over a first term... "That's a goal," Kerry said. "It's a goal we are going to try to achieve. But I have to see what the numbers are on Jan. 20 [inauguration day]. I am not going to dig myself a hole based on some ideological … promise like the president did when he did his [tax cut] plan."

Another story in the LA Times reports on how Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, claimed the mantle of fiscal responsibility. Never mind that the statements are in direct opposition to what Kerry told Brownstein:

In central Louisiana, Edwards told supporters at a town hall forum that fiscal responsibility was "not some abstract Washington thing."

"This affects people's lives," he said in Alexandria, a small town on the Red River. "And the deeper and deeper we go into deficit, the more and more Social Security is at risk. We are leaving our children with a debt and a responsibility that's not theirs."

The Bush campaign responded:

The Bush campaign repeatedly has charged that Kerry's agenda does not add up financially. In a statement released Tuesday, Bush aides said, "Kerry's empty rhetoric on fiscal responsibility still doesn't answer the fundamental question of how he intends to pay for his campaign proposals.

"His tax hikes don't even begin to cover the drastic increases in spending he has proposed, and he owes it to the American people to explain himself," the statement said.

By Bush campaign estimates, Kerry's proposals would leave a $1.3-trillion budget hole over the next 10 years.

Drudge says he’s ‘breaking the embargo’

Matt Drudge of DrudgeReport fame says he’s breaking ‘the embargo’ on the new Kerry lied tell-all book, “Unfit for Command” written by John O’Neil. (O’Neil is the former Navy officer who took over command of Kerry’s swift boat in Vietnam after Kerry left. )

Kerry’s swift departure after serving only 4 months is the subject of controversy. He is the only swift boat vet to have served only 4 months. The new book, which officially goes on sale August 10, touts answers to this controversy – and numerous others swirling around Kerry.

Much has been reported through the nontraditional media about Kerry’s Vietnam service. But such information has gotten a chilly response by the mainstream, liberal press who fail to pursue it. This new book, which is now ranked #7 at AmazonBooks, may break the ice.

Here’s what DRUDGE is reporting:

A veterans group seeking to deeply discredit Democrat John Kerry's military service will charge in the new bombshell book UNFIT FOR COMMAND:

·        Two of John Kerry's three Purple Heart decorations resulted from self-inflicted wounds, not suffered under enemy fire.

·        All three of Kerry's Purple Hearts were for minor injuries, not requiring a single hour of hospitalization.

·        A "fanny wound" was the highlight of Kerry's much touted "no man left behind" Bronze Star.

·        Kerry turned the tragic death of a father and small child in a Vietnamese fishing boat into an act of "heroism" by filing a false report on the incident.

·        Kerry entered an abandoned Vietnamese village and slaughtered the domestic animals owned by the civilians and burned down their homes with his Zippo lighter.

·        Kerry's reckless behavior convinced his colleagues that he had to go -- becoming the only Swift Boat veteran to serve only four months.

The Kerry campaign is planning to vigorously counter the charges and will accuse the veteran's groups of being well-financed by a top Bush donor from Texas, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

"They hired a goddamn private investigator to dig up trash!" charged a top Kerry adviser traveling with the senator late Tuesday. "This is pay for play, and the dirtiest of all dirty tricks ever played on a candidate for the presidency. How low can they go?"

Kerry supporters are comparing the effort by the veterans to the Arkansas State troopers tell-all against Bill Clinton.

UNFIT FOR COMMAND will not be released until August 15.

The names. The details. All on the record.

Beginning tomorrow, the DRUDGE REPORT will break the embargo.