Posted on 08/21/2004 12:27:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON — Anti-John Kerry veterans unveiled a new ad denouncing Kerry's 33-year-old stance against the Vietnam War, Kerry filed an official complaint against them, and Democrats aired an ad featuring a former Air Force chief lauding Kerry as ready to command.
So went yesterday's skirmish in the ongoing war over war ads.
The new ad by the Republican-backed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth depicts three former Vietnam POWs condemning Kerry's April 22, 1971, testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where he described alleged U.S. atrocities and called for an end to the war.
"He betrayed us in the past. How could we be loyal to him now?" Ken Cordier, a retired Air Force colonel who was a POW for seven years, asks in the ad.
Although the ad makes it appear as if Kerry is recounting atrocities he witnessed, he in fact was reciting claims made by soldiers that year during an anti-war gathering in Detroit. "They had personally raped, cut off heads, cut off ears," he told senators.
Reflecting on those comments this year, Kerry said they were too harsh. "I think some of the language that I used was a language that reflected an anger. ... The words were honest, but on the other hand, they were a little bit over the top," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press" in April.
Kerry's opposition to the war and claims that U.S. troops had engaged in atrocities have reopened a split between veterans who salute his service as a skipper of a Navy Swift boat in Vietnam and those who object to his subsequent protests.
The Swift Boat Veterans this month launched an ad questioning circumstances under which Kerry won a Bronze Star, prompting a tough response from Kerry on Thursday in Boston. Kerry accused the group of being a front for the Bush camp and said, "If (President Bush) wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: 'Bring it on!' "
The Kerry camp yesterday announced plans to file a legal complaint with the Federal Election Commission, claiming the Swift Boat Veterans coordinated with the Bush-Cheney campaign and Republican National Committee, a charge that, if true, would be a violation of federal law. The Kerry campaign cited news reports linking some financiers behind the veterans' group to Bush campaign officials.
The Kerry camp also distributed a brochure picked up by a volunteer at the Bush-Cheney campaign office in Gainesville, Fla., indicating a local rally this weekend was being sponsored by the Bush-Cheney campaign and the Swift Boat Veterans. Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt said the effort was not approved by Bush headquarters.
The Democratic National Committee also aired an ad yesterday featuring former Air Force chief of staff Merrill "Tony" McPeak, offering testimonials to Kerry. McPeak, a Lake Oswego, Ore., resident who endorsed Bush four years ago, later described the ad as positive. "I'm not highlighting the fact that Dick Cheney got five deferments or President Bush played dodgeball during Vietnam," McPeak said.
Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot went on CNN and said the Kerry campaign has come "unhinged," and that Kerry himself "looks wild-eyed." White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Kerry is "losing his cool." The Bush campaign used similar language in 2000 to portray rival Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as potentially too unstable to run the country.
David Wade, a Kerry spokesman, responded in kind: "Maybe if George Bush had seen combat up close his hired-gun mouthpiece wouldn't be so flip." Not to be outdone, Stephanie Cutter, another Kerry spokesman, said, "Mr. McClellan needs to understand that John Kerry is not the type of leader who will sit and read 'My Pet Goat' to a group of second-graders while America is under attack." Bush remained in a Florida classroom for several minutes on Sept. 11, 2001, after learning of the terrorist attack.
"If George Bush continues to smear (Kerry's) service, voters have a right to look at Bush's failure to serve out his time in the National Guard," Cutter added. Bush maintains he fulfilled his duties.
Compiled from Knight Ridder Newspapers, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press.
The Empire Strikes Back
It isn't hard for the American people to know who to believe.
If you would like to help the Swift Boat Vets ( as I have, and I urge all to do-- even a few dollars will help ) kindly click on this logo:
Looks like Kerry is trying to drag Bush into the fight to deflect the attention from him and onto Bush.
Apparently free speech is only for Kerry and his unhinged handlers. Also, apparently, the only people democrats think can relay any negatives are democrats. Any ad by anti-Kerry should be only by people who do not know what Republican means.
Therefore, if you plan on voting for Bush or have ever voted for the GOP - you have to shut up and do nothing - no ads, no words, no books, no pamphlets. Kerry has SPOKEN.
Would it be safe to have such a man as President? What else would he forbid republicans from doing?
Jerk. The democRATS have been beating that dead horse since day one of this campaign. Kerry is finished, and the RATS know it. Payback is hell, eh?
"The Kerry camp yesterday announced plans to file a legal complaint with the Federal Election Commission, claiming the Swift Boat Veterans coordinated with the Bush-Cheney campaign and Republican National Committee, a charge that, if true, would be a violation of federal law."
Well it must be true because the article already said that the add is "Republican backed." Which is it???
Again??? How can they hope to find something different this time?
I love the smell of good old-fashioned partisan combat in the morning.
Another thing.....
So Kerry would not spend time reading to children after an attack?????? No, of course not, he would be getting lawyers and running around with his finger in the air trying to decide how to take advantage of the opportunity.
Anarchists Support Kerry*** A group of anarchists is taking an unusual step to make its political voice heard — going to the polls. Anarchists generally pride themselves on their rejection of government and its authority. But a faction of them fed up with the war in Iraq say they plan to cast anti-Bush votes this fall. The voting debate was just one of the topics explored at the three-day North American Anarchist Convergence, which brought about 175 participants to Ohio University. ***
That's quite a charge being made by the Seattle Times, opening them up to libel lawsuits.
5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires
Ha! HA!
What the hell does that mean? Sounds like an exaggeration...so in other words, senator kerry, you LIED, right?
Your damn right!
Can you even fathom the explosion of media coverage if this was a reverse situation?
More charts.
Well, you know, I get all of my news here on FR and from talk radio, so, I have very little idea what, exactly, is going on in the "mainstream media" right now. I don't even read the paper, anymore and I don't remember the last time I watched Dan Rather or Peter Jennings.
But, I definitely don't have to take your word for it that they aren't reporting much (if anything) about this kerry deal.
why do these idiots think they can keep claiming that Bush is smearing Kerry's service??
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