posted on August 23, 2004 12:46:13 PM new
Bush Denounces Ads by Outside Groups
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush (news - web sites) on Monday denounced campaign commercials aired by outside groups, including an ad that accuses John Kerry (news - web sites) of lying about his combat record in Vietnam.
"That ad and every other ad" run by such groups have no place in the campaign, Bush said when asked about the commercial sponsored by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth that has roiled the race for the White House.
Asked directly whether his Democratic rival for the presidency had lied, Bush said, "I think Senator Kerry served admirably and he ought to be proud of his record."
The president made his comments as the Kerry campaign fought back against charges made by the outside group about the senator's wartime service in Vietnam for which he received five medals.
In a conference call with reporters arranged by aides to the Democratic presidential candidate, Navy swift boat officers Rich McCann, Jim Russell and Rich Baker said Kerry acted honorably and bravely and was well qualified to be the nation's commander in chief.
"He was the most aggressive officer in charge of swift boats," Baker said.
Additionally, crewmate Del Sandusky said at a news conference in Harrisburg, Pa., that he personally witnessed the battle action for which Kerry received Silver and Bronze stars and two of his three Purple Hearts.
"He deserved every one of his medals," said Sandusky, a retired computer repairman who drove Kerry's Navy swift boat for nearly three months.
In Texas at his ranch, Bush said, "I don't think we ought to have 527s," a reference to the outside groups that have poured millions of dollars over the past year into attack ads. Bush himself has been a main target of ads costing some $60 million. Bush said all of the ads should be stopped.
"That means that ad," he said, referring to the anti-Kerry ad, "and every other ad."
The anti-Kerry ad, no longer running but much publicized in news accounts, says Kerry didn't deserve his Purple Hearts, lied to get his Bronze Star and Silver Star and unfairly branded all veterans with his 1971 congressional testimony about atrocities in Vietnam.
"I couldn't be more plain about it," Bush said "I hope my opponent joins me in condemning these activities of the 527s."
With polls suggesting Kerry's standing was beginning to slip — at least among veterans — the Democrat last week called on Bush to call for the attack ads to be pulled from the air. He also accused Bush of allowing front groups to "do his dirty work."
Kerry's vice presidential running mate, Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites) of North Carolina, said Bush's comments on Monday fell short of what was needed.
"The moment of truth came and went, and the president still couldn't bring himself to do the right thing," Edwards said. "Instead of hiding behind a front group, George Bush (news - web sites) needs to take responsibility and demand that the ad come off the air."
Bush's campaign has denied any connection with the anti-Kerry group, and called on the Democratic challenger to join the president in a call for all outside groups to pull their ads.
Underscoring the impact of the anti-Kerry ad, the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) began airing a commercial last week that offered a testimonial to Kerry's fitness for national command.
And in a shift in strategy, Kerry's campaign has responded with two commercials, despite plans to preserve its campaign funds for the general election campaign.
In addition, Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona has said the anti-Kerry tactics are the same kind used on him and has asked the president to denounce them.
A new Kerry ad says Bush smeared McCain four years ago and "now, he's doing it to John Kerry."
A former Vietnam prisoner of war, McCain lost the South Carolina Republican primary in 2000 after Bush supporters accused him of opposing legislation to help military veterans. McCain never recovered from that primary loss.
Former Sen. Bob Dole, a World War II veteran and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, suggested Kerry apologize for his 1971 testimony to Congress about atrocities U.S. soldiers allegedly committed in Vietnam.
Dole, who has a disabled right arm from war wounds, said Kerry received an early exit from combat for "superficial wounds." He called on the nominee to release all of his Vietnam service records.
Dole told CNN's "Late Edition" in relation to Kerry: "I respect his record. But three Purple Hearts and never bled that I know of. I mean, they're all superficial wounds. Three Purple Hearts and you're out."
Crewmate Sandusky said Monday, "I was there when he got wounded. I saw the blood. I don't care what Dole said."
posted on August 23, 2004 01:03:15 PM new
I saw the President being interviewed this morning on Fox News. He said ALL groups...didn't single out the Swift Boat vets.
But I serviously doubt all kerry's 527s are going to stop....and I hope the Swift Boat vets don't either. They've just been joined by a few VN POW's and I think the public would like to hear how they saw kerry's actions when his short 4 month VN stent ended....and his anti-American work started.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One thing is for sure: the extremists have faith in our weakness. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us." --Tony Blair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"The War on Terror will not be won until America is united. And as long as Democrats target the Bush administration -- not the terrorists -- as the enemy, we are in trouble." --Oliver North
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those are only two reasons why we need to:
posted on August 23, 2004 01:11:51 PM new
`This is what I saw that day'
By William B. Rood
Chicago Tribune
Published August 22, 2004
There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago--three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969.
One is John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate who won a Silver Star for what happened on that date. I am the other.
For years, no one asked about those events. But now they are the focus of skirmishing in a presidential election with a group of swift boat veterans and others contending that Kerry didn't deserve the Silver Star for what he did on that day, or the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded for other actions.
Many of us wanted to put it all behind us--the rivers, the ambushes, the killing. Ever since that time, I have refused all requests for interviews about Kerry's service--even those from reporters at the Chicago Tribune, where I work.
But Kerry's critics, armed with stories I know to be untrue, have charged that the accounts of what happened were overblown. The critics have taken pains to say they're not trying to cast doubts on the merit of what others did, but their version of events has splashed doubt on all of us. It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there.
Even though Kerry's own crew members have backed him, the attacks have continued, and in recent days Kerry has called me and others who were with him in those days, asking that we go public with our accounts.
I can't pretend those calls had no effect on me, but that is not why I am writing this. What matters most to me is that this is hurting crewmen who are not public figures and who deserved to be honored for what they did. My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly about it.
I was part of the operation that led to Kerry's Silver Star. I have no firsthand knowledge of the events that resulted in his winning the Purple Hearts or the Bronze Star.
But on Feb. 28, 1969, I was officer in charge of PCF-23, one of three swift boats--including Kerry's PCF-94 and Lt. j.g. Donald Droz's PCF-43--that carried Vietnamese regional and Popular Force troops and a Navy demolition team up the Dong Cung, a narrow tributary of the Bay Hap River, to conduct a sweep in the area.
The approach of the noisy 50-foot aluminum boats, each driven by two huge 12-cylinder diesels and loaded down with six crew members, troops and gear, was no secret.
Ambushes were a virtual certainty, and that day was no exception.
Instructions from Kerry
The difference was that Kerry, who had tactical command of that particular operation, had talked to Droz and me beforehand about not responding the way the boats usually did to an ambush.
We agreed that if we were not crippled by the initial volley and had a clear fix on the location of the ambush, we would turn directly into it, focusing the boats' twin .50-caliber machine guns on the attackers and beaching the boats. We told our crews about the plan.
The Viet Cong in the area had come to expect that the heavily loaded boats would lumber on past an ambush, firing at the entrenched attackers, beaching upstream and putting troops ashore to sweep back down on the ambush site. Often, they were long gone by the time the troops got there.
The first time we took fire--the usual rockets and automatic weapons--Kerry ordered a "turn 90" and the three boats roared in on the ambush. It worked. We routed the ambush, killing three of the attackers. The troops, led by an Army adviser, jumped off the boats and began a sweep, which killed another half dozen VC, wounded or captured others and found weapons, blast masks and other supplies used to stage ambushes.
Meanwhile, Kerry ordered our boat to head upstream with his, leaving Droz's boat at the first site.
It happened again, another ambush. And again, Kerry ordered the turn maneuver, and again it worked. As we headed for the riverbank, I remember seeing a loaded B-40 launcher pointed at the boats. It wasn't fired as two men jumped up from their spider holes.
We called Droz's boat up to assist us, and Kerry, followed by one member of his crew, jumped ashore and chased a VC behind a hooch--a thatched hut--maybe 15 yards inland from the ambush site. Some who were there that day recall the man being wounded as he ran. Neither I nor Jerry Leeds, our boat's leading petty officer with whom I've checked my recollection of all these events, recalls that, which is no surprise. Recollections of those who go through experiences like that frequently differ.
With our troops involved in the sweep of the first ambush site, Richard Lamberson, a member of my crew, and I also went ashore to search the area. I was checking out the inside of the hooch when I heard gunfire nearby.
Not long after that, Kerry returned, reporting that he had killed the man he chased behind the hooch. He also had picked up a loaded B-40 rocket launcher, which we took back to our base in An Thoi after the operation.
John O'Neill, author of a highly critical account of Kerry's Vietnam service, describes the man Kerry chased as a "teenager" in a "loincloth." I have no idea how old the gunner Kerry chased that day was, but both Leeds and I recall that he was a grown man, dressed in the kind of garb the VC usually wore.
The man Kerry chased was not the "lone" attacker at that site, as O'Neill suggests. There were others who fled. There was also firing from the tree line well behind the spider holes and at one point, from the opposite riverbank as well. It was not the work of just one attacker.
Our initial reports of the day's action caused an immediate response from our task force headquarters in Cam Ranh Bay.
Congratulatory message
Known over radio circuits by the call sign "Latch," then-Capt. and now retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, the task force commander, fired off a message congratulating the three swift boats, saying at one point that the tactic of charging the ambushes was a "shining example of completely overwhelming the enemy" and that it "may be the most efficacious method of dealing with small numbers of ambushers."
Hoffmann has become a leading critic of Kerry's and now says that what the boats did on that day demonstrated Kerry's inclination to be impulsive to a fault.
Our decision to use that tactic under the right circumstances was not impulsive but was the result of discussions well beforehand and a mutual agreement of all three boat officers.
It was also well within the aggressive tradition that was embraced by the late Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, then commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Vietnam. Months before that day in February, a fellow boat officer, Michael Bernique, was summoned to Saigon to explain to top Navy commanders why he had made an unauthorized run up the Giang Thanh River, which runs along the Vietnam-Cambodia border. Bernique, who speaks French fluently, had been told by a source in Ha Tien at the mouth of the river that a VC tax collector was operating upstream.
Ignoring the prohibition against it, Bernique and his crew went upstream and routed the VC, pursuing and killing several.
Instead of facing disciplinary action as he had expected, Bernique was given the Silver Star, and Zumwalt ordered other swifts, which had largely patrolled coastal waters, into the rivers.
The decision sent a clear message, underscored repeatedly by Hoffmann's congratulatory messages, that aggressive patrolling was expected and that well-timed, if unconventional, tactics like Bernique's were encouraged.
What we did on Feb. 28, 1969, was well in line with the tone set by our top commanders.
Zumwalt made that clear when he flew down to our base at An Thoi off the southern tip of Vietnam to pin the Silver Star on Kerry and assorted Bronze Stars and commendation medals on the rest of us.
Error in citation
My Bronze Star citation, signed by Zumwalt, praised the charge tactic we used that day, saying the VC were "caught completely off guard."
There's at least one mistake in that citation. It incorrectly identifies the river where the main action occurred, a reminder that such documents were often done in haste and sometimes authored for their signers by staffers. It's a cautionary note for those trying to piece it all together. There's no final authority on something that happened so long ago--not the documents and not even the strained recollections of those of us who were there.
But I know that what some people are saying now is wrong. While they mean to hurt Kerry, what they're saying impugns others who are not in the public eye.
Men like Larry Lee, who was on our bow with an M-60 machine gun as we charged the riverbank, Kenneth Martin, who was in the .50-caliber gun tub atop our boat, and Benjamin Cueva, our engineman, who was at our aft gun mount suppressing the fire from the opposite bank.
Wayne Langhoffer and the other crewmen on Droz's boat went through even worse on April 12, 1969, when they saw Droz killed in a brutal ambush that left PCF-43 an abandoned pile of wreckage on the banks of the Duong Keo River. That was just a few months after the birth of his only child, Tracy.
The survivors of all these events are scattered across the country now.
Jerry Leeds lives in a tiny Kansas town where he built and sold a successful printing business. He owns a beautiful home with a lawn that sweeps to the edge of a small lake, which he also owns. Every year, flights of purple martins return to the stately birdhouses on the tall poles in his back yard.
Cueva, recently retired, has raised three daughters and is beloved by his neighbors for all the years he spent keeping their cars running. Lee is a senior computer programmer in Kentucky, and Lamberson finished a second military career in the Army.
With the debate over that long-ago day in February, they're all living that war another time.
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
------------------------------
YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
------------------------------
We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
posted on August 23, 2004 01:27:16 PM new "I saw the President being interviewed this morning on Fox News. He said ALL groups...didn't single out the Swift Boat vets.
Yes, he did specify "that ad".
Under pressure from Democrats and Republican Sen. John McCain, President Bush on Monday called for ads attacking John Kerry's record in Vietnam to be stopped along with others run by independent groups, and said Kerry should be proud of his war service.
"That means that ad and every other ad," Bush said when asked if he wanted to bring a stop to commercials by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which accuse Sen. Kerry of lying about his war record in Vietnam.
posted on August 23, 2004 02:11:51 PM new
Bush doesn't have to 'stop' or ask these people to stop. They are not endorsed by Bush. They are 'issue ads' and he doesn't have to condone or codemn them. Niether does Kerry if there are ads out there attacking Bush.
posted on August 23, 2004 02:36:34 PM new
Doesn't matter much if he denounces it directly or indirectly. The Swift Boat Liars have already responded and said they have no intention of pulling their ads despite the President's remarks.
Best of both worlds for Bush -- he looks like he did the "right" thing for denouncing 527 ads and, as he put it, "that ad" -- but at the same time he gets the benefit of the smear campaign because the aspho!es say they aren't going to stop.
posted on August 23, 2004 03:11:54 PM new
Then what is there to do about it? Unless a new campaign reform law? which there was recently passed by McCain, which someone can go look up, and it includes these 'soft money' ads, thats what they are. Neither candidate can say anything about them, there may be a limit on how much they spend, and they CANNOT say that Bush and/or Kerry approved them.
I heard, or read briefly over the weekend that Kerry is filing a complaint (or did?) withe the Federal Election whatever it is, because of these ads.
now, should Bush file a complaint against these moveon ads?
posted on August 23, 2004 03:17:58 PM new
helen....my point was....which I believe I CLEARLY made was that he denounced ALL 527 groups....he did NOT single out only the Swift Boat Vets should stop. He did NOT call for them to stop. He just see's that the McCain/Fiengold campaign funding rules were and are a JOKE. They didn't stop what they were intended to prevent. But the FEC has ruled there will be changes come 2005....which is a good thing, imo.
And Dr.D- I'm glad to hear it. I would hate to see any American not free to use their first amendment right of free speech.....especially one that fought for our freedoms and policies....like the Swift Boat Vets....like the POW's did.
And I find it absolutely despicable and UN-AMERICAN that kerry's lawyers have written letters to the TV stations...written letters and worked on other media to NOT allow their book and statements to be mentioned. That's blacklisting those veterans who hold different views.
This IS America..after all. What kind of a man has his lawyers going all over to prevent anyone's FREEDOM OF SPEECH? Not one who supports our Constitution, that's for sure. kerry's a farce....always has been - still is.
He started the bragging about his service....used it for his own political gain....made it the centerpiece in his convention campaign...election campaign...and now just can't take the heat from those who see it oh-so-differently.
posted on August 23, 2004 03:34:08 PM new
Linda, you said ...."I saw the President being interviewed this morning on Fox News. He said ALL groups...didn't single out the Swift Boat vets"].
Yes, he did, Linda. they were discussing the Swift boat ad. when Bush said, "That means that ad and every other ad." All news sources are reporting this, linda.
From Reuters... "That means that ad and every other ad," Bush said when asked if he wanted to bring a stop to commercials by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which accuse Sen. Kerry of lying about his war record in Vietnam.
~
Of course it means nothing as Drdolittle suggested but it is interesting that his last piece of advice on that score probaby came from McCain. Bush is incapable of independent thought.
posted on August 23, 2004 03:43:08 PM new
At least President Bush doesn't have his team of lawyers working to suppress US veterans free speech rights, like kerry has done.
What's a matter helen....free speech okay if the person/people are saying what YOU agree with....but NOT okay if they don't.
President has taken all the lies that the kerry 527 groups have thrown at him....and his numbers have stayed about the same as kerry's. Their smear campaign didn't make much difference. He didn't have to send a team of lawyers around silencing anybody either....he answered each charge and then blew them off.
Kerry can't take the heat....he thought he had a full-proof way to convince voters he'd make a great CIC because of his short VN service. Well....looks like others are going to hear the other side of that service now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One thing is for sure: the extremists have faith in our weakness. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us." --Tony Blair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"The War on Terror will not be won until America is united. And as long as Democrats target the Bush administration -- not the terrorists -- as the enemy, we are in trouble." --Oliver North
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those are only two reasons why we need to:
posted on August 23, 2004 03:54:47 PM new
Stick to the topic Linda...When there is possible collusion between the White House and the Swift Boat group it's a different story.
A series of suspicious connections, and one on target, have been established between SBVFT and the Bush campaign.
The Swift boat argument has been further damaged by new testimony from previously silent eyewitnesses. Logansdad posted that information from the Chicago Tribune editor who backed up Kerry's version of the events that led to his first Purple Heart and his Silver Star.
To back up its statements, Mr. Kerry's advisers noted that the Swift boat group got much of its initial financing from two men who had supported the political endeavors of Mr. Bush and his father: a Texas commercial real estate executive, Harlan Crow, and a Texas home builder, Bob J. Perry. Mr. Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove, has described Mr. Perry as a friend. And a member of Mr. Bush's veterans advisory panel, Kenneth Cordier, a retired colonel, resigned this weekend after appearing in the Swift boat group's latest advertisement. The campaign said he did so without its knowledge.
posted on August 23, 2004 03:54:59 PM new
Now President Bush throws the 'ball' back in kerry's court....to do the same thing.....denounce the ads by 527 groups.
from CNN.com today:
CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) --
President Bush on Monday called for the so-called 527 groups to stop airing political ads, but he did not directly condemn commercials by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that have attacked Sen. John Kerry's war record.
Speaking to reporters at his Texas ranch, Bush said he has repeatedly condemned 527 ads. These groups are named for the federal provision that makes such organizations tax exempt and allows them to accept unlimited donations.
One reporter cited the swift boat ads and asked, "When you say that you want to stop all --" "All of them," Bush responded. "That means that ad, every other ad. Absolutely. I don't think we ought to have 527s."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Bush's use of the words "that ad" did not indicate a repositioning on the issue. He said Bush was repeating his previous calls for an end to 527 ads.
The president also reissued his call for Kerry to echo his statement about such ads.
"I hope my opponent joins me in condemning these activities of the 527 -- I think they're bad for the system," Bush said.
While Bush has called on Kerry to criticize the harsh campaign ads of 527s in general, the Democratic nominee has not done so. He did recently, however, criticize one MoveOn.org ad that charged Bush used family connections to get into the Texas National Guard and then failed to fulfill his obligations.
In late March, when the Bush campaign accused some 527s of coordinating with the Kerry campaign, the Democratic camp denied the charge.
Kerry repeatedly has urged Bush to denounce the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks, saying they are lies.
The Kerry campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing the veterans group of illegally coordinating with the president's campaign -- a charge Bush officials called false and "libelous."
The group has run two ads attacking Kerry. The latest accuses him of betraying fellow veterans upon his return from war. The first accused him of lying to get medals in Vietnam.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One thing is for sure: the extremists have faith in our weakness. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us." --Tony Blair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"The War on Terror will not be won until America is united. And as long as Democrats target the Bush administration -- not the terrorists -- as the enemy, we are in trouble." --Oliver North
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those are only two reasons why we need to:
posted on August 23, 2004 04:00:13 PM new
Here's the link from the CNN.com article I just posted.
It will be interesting to see what kerry's next move is. Will he be willing to do what he requested President Bush do...now that he has....time will tell.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One thing is for sure: the extremists have faith in our weakness. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us." --Tony Blair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"The War on Terror will not be won until America is united. And as long as Democrats target the Bush administration -- not the terrorists -- as the enemy, we are in trouble." --Oliver North
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those are only two reasons why we need to:
posted on August 23, 2004 04:17:10 PM new
Just in case you missed this one.....
...When there is possible collusion between the White House and the Swift Boat group it's a different story.
A series of suspicious connections, and one on target, have been established between SBVFT and the Bush campaign.
To back up its statements, Mr. Kerry's advisers noted that the Swift boat group got much of its initial financing from two men who had supported the political endeavors of Mr. Bush and his father: a Texas commercial real estate executive, Harlan Crow, and a Texas home builder, Bob J. Perry. Mr. Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove, has described Mr. Perry as a friend. And a member of Mr. Bush's veterans advisory panel, Kenneth Cordier, a retired colonel, resigned this weekend after appearing in the Swift boat group's latest advertisement. The campaign said he did so without its knowledge.
John F. Kerry's campaign unveiled yesterday a new ad accusing President Bush of using the same smear tactics that he used against Sen. John McCain in 2000, as partisan surrogates swamped the news shows to argue about an issue that has dominated the campaign for more than a week.
A day after it posted a similar spot on its Web site, the Kerry campaign announced that the new ad will air in three battleground states to counter attacks on Kerry's Vietnam service leveled by a Republican-backed advocacy group. The ad asks Bush to denounce the attacks.
The Bush campaign announced it will be sending a letter to television stations Monday, stating: "The Bush-Cheney campaign flatly rejects this baseless allegation of illegal coordination between Bush-Cheney '04 and a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The ad running on your station contains this false and libelous charge."
posted on August 23, 2004 04:34:56 PM new
The only reason Bush finally denounced the ads is because of the new Kerry commercials showing denouncing the link between tose ads & Bush's campaign. Amazing timing, isn't it, to make his announcement just before the Kerry commercials air?
____________________
"Bad temper is its own scourge. Few things are more bitter than to feel bitter. A man's venom poisons himself more than his victim." --Charles Buxton
posted on August 23, 2004 04:56:20 PM new
NO....what this boils down to, in my opinion, is those who support kerry were more than happy when all the statements/lies were being made against President Bush by these 527 groups..Michael Moore..Wilson..etc. Then it was okay.
When ONE 527 group, a large group of US. Veterans does the exact same thing....and they state NOT FOR BUSH....but are democrats, republicans and independents.....but because of their own anger at kerry's actions...during his VN service and after he left.....they decided they want to be heard.
NOW the dems don't like it and support supressing their free speech. IF they are proven to have lied....kerry has legal rights he can use....libel/slander. Has he filed those type of complaints? NO....Has he answered the SB vets charges? NO. He fights them by trying to take away their right to free speech.
That's pretty sad...when someone who wants to be President is actively working to silence his opposition.
posted on August 23, 2004 05:02:33 PM new"Has he filed those type of complaints? NO...."
YES, he has.
Kerry files FEC complaint against swift boat group
The Kerry presidential campaign filed a complaint Friday with the Federal Election Commission, alleging that ads from an anti-Kerry veterans' group are inaccurate and "illegally coordinated" with Republicans and the Bush-Cheney campaign.
The complaint -- filed against Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- states that "... there is overwhelming evidence that SBVT is coordinating its expenditures on advertising and other activities designed to influence the presidential election with the Bush-Cheney campaign."
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Friday that President Bush "has been the recipient of 527 ads which are terrible, and in my view very, very inappropriate." McCain charged that all 527 ads are illegal. Previously he has asked both Kerry and Bush to condemn the critical ads.
Campaign officials with Kerry in Florida said the complaint notes a New York Times report of "a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures, and President Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove."
The complaint cites "journalistic research discrediting" the group's allegations and states that a member of the group's steering committee "admitted" on television that the group's intent was to defeat Kerry.
posted on August 23, 2004 05:54:39 PM new
And kerry by filing with the FEC is attempting to stifle the freedom of speech of the SBVT. Yet he refuses to renounce Moveon for using the same tactics against Pres Bush.
MoveOn Ads OK; Swift Boat Ads Not OK, Kerry Campaign Says
A Look at MoveOn.org and Swift Boat Vets For Truth
The Kerry campaign just keeps coming with attack after attack on the Swifties. He calls them Republican activist and Bush cronies, but what about MoveOn.org? They attack Bush all the time with nary a whimper from the President. Perhaps he is thicker skinned? In any case lets look at these two 527s, info courtesy of opensecrets.org:
MoveOn.org:
OpenSecrets.org's description:
Begun in 1998 to protest the impeachment of President Clinton, the group has become a powerful political force since then. Its political action committee, the MoveOn PAC, spends millions of dollars to support the election of Democratic candidates. The MoveOn.org Voter Fund is raising soft money, which may be contributed in unlimited amounts, for TV ads in key battleground states that are critical of President Bush.
* The major donors for MoveOn.org are Peter Lewis, chairman of Progressive Corp., and financier George Soros
* Soros and Lewis to give a combined $5 million
* Total Receipts: $9,086,102
* Total Expenditures: $17,435,782
Oh, but wait. Soros also decided to donate to John Kerry! According to the OpenSecrets.org donor look-up he donated $2000 to the Kerry Campaign. Remember, however, that Soros is a Liberal and is not allowed scrutiny in his donations. Only Conservatives or people who support Bush are culpable.
Looking at the Swifties now:
OpenSecrets.org's description:
SBVT represents Vietnam Swift boat veterans who are critical of Democrat John Kerry's decision to make his military service a major part of his campaign for president. The group questions Kerry's record in Vietnam and denounces his anti-war activities following his military service. The group's donors include some major Republican contributors.
* The major donors are Bob Perry with a whopping $100,000.
* Total Receipts: $158,750
* Total Expenditures: $60,403
Yeah, they are the big bullies here. The issue is that Kerry can only attack the Swifties by saying they are associated with Bush, and in the end it won't work. Bush's connection to the Swift Boat Vets is the same as Kerry's to the MoveOn.org group. Kerry cannot prove a connection, and in the end it won't matter. His only defense is to attack the issues raised, and he will do no so thing.
Another thing to look at is the top 10 donors to 527 Committees. You'd expect huge rich rich rich Republicans to fill the top but you'd be wrong. Here they are:
1 Peter Lewis
Peter B Lewis/Progressive Corp
Cleveland, OH
$14,030,000
Joint Victory Campaign 2004 $7,750,000
America Coming Together $2,995,000
MoveOn.org $2,500,000
Marijuana Policy Project $485,000
Young Democrats of America $250,000
PunkVoter Inc $50,000
2. George Soros
Soros Fund Management
New York, NY
$12,600,000
America Coming Together $5,000,000
Joint Victory Campaign 2004 $4,550,000
MoveOn.org $2,500,000
Campaign for America's Future $300,000
Democracy for America $250,000
SOROS, GEORGE
NEW YORK,NY 10106
SOROS FUNDS MANAGEMENT/INVESTOR
3/31/2003
$2,000
Kerry, John
3 Steven Bing
Shangri-La Entertainment
Los Angeles, CA
$8,086,273
4 Andrew & Deborah Rappaport
August Capital
Woodside, CA
$2,910,000
Music for America $1,550,000
New Democrat Network $1,100,000
Democrats 2000 $200,000
America Votes $50,000
EMILY's List Non-Federal $10,000
5 John A & Lawrie Harris
Changing Horizons Fund
Berwyn, PA
$1,674,000
League of Conservation Voters $1,478,000
State Conservation Voters Action Fund $130,000
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund $28,000
Sierra Club $28,000
MoveOn.org $10,000
HARRIS, LAWRIE R MS
BERWYN,PA 19312
3/31/2004
$1,000
Kerry, John
6 Lewis Cullman
Cullman Foundation/Cullman Ventures
New York, NY
$1,650,000
Joint Victory Campaign 2004 $1,000,000
America Coming Together $500,000
MoveOn.org $100,000
Americans for Jobs, Healthcare & Values $50,000
CULLMAN, LEWIS B
NEW YORK,NY 10017
CULLMAN VENTURES/PRESIDENT
2/27/2004
$2,000
Kerry, John
7 Agnes Varis
Agvar Chemicals
New York, NY
$1,500,000
Joint Victory Campaign 2004 $1,500,000
VARIS, AGNES
NEW YORK,NY 10019
AGVAR INC./DOCTOR
3/16/2004
$2,000
Kerry, John
8 Alida R Messinger
Alida Messinger Charitable Lead Trust
New York, NY
$1,158,000
America Coming Together $500,000
League of Conservation Voters $500,000
State Conservation Voters Action Fund $133,000
Democrats 2000 $25,000
MESSINGER, ALIDA R
NEW YORK,NY 10112
SELF/PHILANTHROPIST
6/11/2004
$2,000
Kerry, John
9 Fred Eychaner
Newsweb Corp
Chicago, IL
$1,150,000
America Coming Together $500,000
Media Fund $500,000
Voices For Working Families $150,000
EYCHANER, FRED
CHICAGO,IL 60614
NEWSWEB CORPORATION/PRESIDENT
4/5/2004
$2,000
Kerry, John
10 Susie Tompkins Buell
Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation
San Francisco, CA
$1,020,000
Joint Victory Campaign 2004 $1,000,000
EMILY's List Non-Federal $20,000
BUELL, SUSIE TOMPKINS
SAN FRANCISCO,CA 94111
RETIRED/RETIRED
3/12/2003
$2,000
Kerry, John
8 out of 10 also donated to Kerry, the max of $2000. The rest they are pouring into 527's, for some odd reason...
Yeah, those 527 have NOTHING to do with helping Kerry.
---------
NewsMax Uncovers Kerry's Ties to Anti-Bush Groups
Chuck Noe, NewsMax.com
Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004
Even as Sen. John Kerry and his cheerleaders in Big Media try to associate President Bush with the modestly funded Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, they remain silent about the links Kerry and the Democrat party have to multimillion-dollar Bush-hating groups. But they cannot keep concealing these ties, because NewsMax has uncovered multiple examples
Thanks in part to tips from readers nationwide who are outraged about the blatant bias of the media establishment, we have found the following:
# From Democrats.org, a Web site of the Democratic National Committee, May 9, 2003:
“The Democratic Party is partnering with MoveOn.org, People for the American Way, Campaign for America's Future, and dozens of other groups representing millions of Americans to organize a massive public mobilization. On Wednesday, May 14, join us by calling and emailing your representatives in Congress to let them know that the majority of Americans oppose more irresponsible tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the wealthiest sliver of Americans.”
“In their own words, DNC coordination with MoveOn.org,” noted a reader from Florence, S.C., one of several who sent this tip.
# From the same Web site’s unironically named “Kicking Ass: Daily Dispatches from the DNC,” here’s the ultimate in hypocrisy last Nov. 13 from one of Vermont’s more extreme ideologues:
“Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, took a short break from the 30-hour Republican hypocrisy-a-thon to come and see the results of the DNC's petition drive. We collected more than 310,000 signatures and comments from Americans who stand with Senate Democrats in the fight to keep ultraconservative ideologues off the federal bench.”
An accompanying photo has this caption: “DNC Chief Operating Officer Josh Wachs (left), Senator Leahy, and Zack Exley from Moveon.org pose with the more than 310,000 signatures.”
# In its push to obstruct judges who follow the U.S. Constitution, DNC admitted elsewhere on its site that same day, “The DNC is also conducting a major petition drive in partnership with MoveOn.org. More than 310,000 Americans have signed the petition to protect our courts — with more than 172,000 of those signatures coming in the past 36 hours.”
# And here’s DNC’s “Kicking Ass” item from Jan. 31:
Catch the Moveon ad during the Super Bowl
Here's a message from Moveon.org:
This Sunday, during the Super Bowl half time show, join us in changing channels on CBS. At 8:10pm and 8:35pm EST, switch over to CNN to watch "Child's Pay" on a channel which doesn't censor its ads. We'd like to keep a tally of the number of people who participate — you can sign up here.
# MoveOn’s Web site admitted Aug. 9, “We're running a contest to help us choose the ads that will best convince undecided and swing voters to vote for John Kerry.”
# The same site still posts a “letter to MoveOn members from John Kerry,” dated June 17, 2003. “Make no mistake, we need to take back the White House in 2004 and that’s why I’m running for President,” Kerry writes.
http://www.moveon.org/pac/cands/kerry.html
# A posting on “the official Kerry-Edwards blog” last Dec. 11 includes this boast from one Fe Bongolan of Berkeley, Calif.:
“The East Bay for Kerry/MoveOn House party on December 7th combined the forces of two grass-roots organizations based in San Francisco East Bay Area. We had 200 guests eating, drinking, and watching the MoveOn Documentary ‘Uncovered’ featuring Joseph Wilson and Rand Beers from the Kerry campaign.
“When Teresa Heinz-Kerry arrived, she handed me a pin that read in the center: ‘Asses of Evil’ with ‘Bush’, ‘Cheney’, ‘Rumsfeld’ and ‘Ashcroft’ surrounding it. She met, greeted and talked to a jam-packed room of Kerry supporters and others who came for the MoveOn documentary. …
“Thanks to Teresa, we kept the party going on, and she helped us here at East Bay for Kerry, throw the Mother of All House Parties.”
# From the liberal Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Sam Kaplan, one of Kerry's biggest and earliest fundraisers in Minnesota, said he plans to continue raising money working with Americans [sic] Coming Together.” (Hint to the Star Tribune: That pro-Kerry group calls itself America Coming Together.)
The reader from St. Louis Park, Minn., who sent this tip pointed out, “This is a more direct, admitted coordination link than anything asserted in the New York Times.”
# As NewsMax.com reported Sunday, Kerry refuses to fire Zach Exley, a campaign staffer who was a director for MoveOn.org.
# And, of course, Jim Jordan, formerly Kerry’s campaign manager, continues his work at the pro-Kerry Media Fund.
Although the Times and its countless imitators have for days made Kerry’s latest attacks on Bush and Swift Boats Veterans for Truth their lead story, note that they didn’t offer similar publicity when Bush’s campaign and the Republican National Committee on March 31 accused Kerry’s campaign of illegal coordination with anti-Bush groups.
"Senator Kerry, who supported the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act, is now the beneficiary of the single largest conspiracy to violate campaign-finance laws in history," RNC Chief Counsel Jill Holtzman Vogel said at the time.
Kerry’s adviser Michael Meehan claimed at the time: "This frivolous complaint is not worth the paper it is written on. John Kerry and his campaign have nothing to do with these ads or the groups that run them."
But as NewsMax has now proven, DNC’s own Web site and Kerry himself disprove that assertion. The chief question that remains is how the Times and the rest of the media establishment can continue to ignore the Democrat deceit.
Instead of doing research into Kerry’s questionable ties, the Times today was content again to parrot his latest attack ad as one of the lead stories on its Web site: “Kerry TV Ad Pins Veterans’ Attack Firmly on Bush.”
Yet the Times did not run a lead headline when Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for Bush-Cheney '04, neatly summed up the Democrats’ desperate tactics on Friday:
“Real coordination is what John Kerry's campaign has been engaged in with the Media Fund, America Coming Together, and MoveOn.org. The revolving door of personnel, coordinated strategies and overlapping fundraising between the Democrat 527s and the Kerry campaign is a flagrant disregard of the spirit and letter of the campaign finance reform law."
The latest smear ad selects quotes from Kerry's testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971. In the ad, Kerry says, "They had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads," "randomly shot at civilians," and "razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Kahn."
The ad does not include Kerry's preface, in which he said he is reporting what others said at a Vietnam veterans conference. Instead, a swift boat group member refers to the statements as "accusations" Kerry made against Vietnam veterans.
Bush sees the presidential campaign as a contest of who is the most ruthless advertiser. At least, Kerry won't have to lie in order to retaliate. Ad material is bountiful.
posted on August 23, 2004 07:21:19 PM new
In an interview on NBC's "Meet The Press" last Sunday, Kerry was asked about statements he made about Vietnam War atrocities during an interview with the same program in 1971, when he was a leader in the antiwar movement:
"There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed, in that I took part in shootings in free-fire zones, I conducted harassment and interdiction fire, I used .50-caliber machine guns which were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search-and-destroy missions, in the burning of villages," Kerry said in 1971.
posted on August 23, 2004 08:52:10 PM new
BUSH UPSTAGES KERRY WITH ALABAMA NATIONAL GUARD REUNION
Awkward Silences Dominate Rose Garden Visit
As Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry crossed Boston Harbor in a boat filled with his former Vietnam War comrades, President George W. Bush attempted to upstage Mr. Kerry by holding a reunion of his Alabama National Guard unit in the White House Rose Garden.
The former guardsmen arrived at the White House at noon and were immediately issued “HELLO, MY NAME IS” tags before being reunited with the President.
“Hi there… Johnny,” the President was heard haltingly greeting one of the veterans before posing with him for a photograph, saying to another, “Hey, how are you doing… Dan!”
The gathering was marked by a series of increasingly awkward silences as the guardsmen struggled to summon memories of their training days with Mr. Bush.
“I’m pretty sure I remember him,” said Tracy Conner, 57, of Mobile. “If I’m not mistaken, he called me late one night and said, ‘Sign in for me tomorrow, willya pal?’”
After the twelve-minute reunion appeared to lose steam, the president brought the event to a close with a brief prepared statement.
Calling the assembled guardsmen his “band of brothers,” Mr. Bush attempted to draw a sharp contrast between his military service record and that of Sen. Kerry.
Holding aloft his recently recovered Alabama National Guard payroll records, the president said, “Unlike some people I know, I am proud of my military service – and I will never throw these records away again.”
In other political news, two out of three Kucinich voters say they will vote for John Kerry, but the other one remains undecided.
posted on August 24, 2004 06:27:33 AM new
kerry is losing, and will lose as long as his lies sit out there for all to see, unfit for command says it all...
it is funny how kerry never went to the fec about moveon.org or those other ads against President Bush... which have not hurt him that much... but whew these swiftboat ads and book are killing that lying traitor...
In your comment that I replied to, you mentioned that kerry has legal rights that he can use. You failed to mention the FEC option which of course Kerry has used. The content of the ads which are coordinated with the Bush campaign is important only because it establishes the Swift ad as a political advertisement to influence the presidential election with the Bush campaign. I said nothing about libel or slander.
