Posted on 08/16/2004 4:28:33 PM PDT by BushisTheMan
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=231 Writen: August 6, 2004 Modified: August 15, 2004
Sources:
Michael Kranish,“Veteran Retracts Criticism of Kerry ,” The Boston Globe, 6 August 2004 .
Jodi Wilgoren, "Vietnam Veterans Buy Ads to Attack Kerry," The New York Times, 5 August 2004.
Douglas Brinkley, Tour of Duty, (NY, HarperCollins, 2004).
Jim Rassmann, "Shame on the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush," Wall Street Journal, 10 Aug 2004: A10.
Ron Fournier, "McCain Condemns Anti-Kerry Ad," Associated Press, 5 August 2004.
Michael Kranish, "Kerry Faces Questions Over Purple Heart," The Boston Globe , 14 April 2004: A1.
Michael Kranish, "Heroism, and growing concern about war," The Boston Globe, 16 June 2003.
Copyright 2004 Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
= = = = = = = Judgments expressed are those of FactCheck.org’s staff, not the Annenberg Center
Check out their sources - all the "Liars for Kerry" crowd: Kranish, Boston Globe, Doug Brinkley, and Rassman.
Don't know anything about Jodi Wilgoren myself.
Republican-funded Group Attacks Kerry's War Record
People interested in this allegedly non-partisan document by a supposedly non-partisan group might also want to read a well-developed discussion from a few days back -- over here -- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1186934/posts
Yeah, but the funny thing is many of the members are democrats, they just hate girlie-man back-stabbing Kerry.
Over the weekend, on FoxNewsWatch, Neal Gabler suggested the truth could be found at FactCheck.org.
I suggest FactCheck.org is being used as a handy weapon by "journalists" who are too lazy to check primary sources themselves (or are too corrupt to present the real truth).
Corruption
Corruption
Corruption.
Gee. Where's the "Liberal Marxist Billionaires Attack Bush" website?
CHECK THIS OUT TOO:
Demand Thurlow Return His Bronze Star
On Inside Politics yesterday, Larry Thurlow, of "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" has stated that the swift boats did not receive enemy fire on the day John Kerry rescued a shipmate. He went on, as has been reported on other blogs, that Kerry deserved neither his purple hearts or his Bronze Star.
If there was no enemy fire, is Thurlow prepared to give back his Bronze Star?
Ask him.
contacts Swift Vets: Latch@swiftvets.com
Symmes, Weymouth WeySymmes@aol.com
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
P.O. Box 26184
Alexandria, Virginia 22313
United States
4067210875
(from their Whois information.)
Use it for good. Please be polite. But ask Thurlow to return his Bronze Star if he was in fact not under enemy fire.
I called the number. An older lady answered the phone. area code is Montana. I asked politely, "is this Swift Vets?" She abruptly hung up. (not even a..."I'm sorry you have the wrong number.") Just hung up on me.
Posted by Doug McDaniel at August 6, 2004 05:14 AM | TrackBack | Political Strategies
Forgot to list the link:
http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/001447.html
Maybe we should get these guys busted. Who is it?
yes, it IS non-partisan.....why is it emphasized that they are 'funded by the republican party'???/ why not?? they sure as hell wouldn't get any support or funding from the democrats..........of course, that's just the 'conservative' media at work..........
What war record?
did he sustain enemy fire later in his tenure in vietnam for the bronze star, of does his bronze star specifically relate to fire during kerry's four month presence?
WHat fact check does is have a democrap review republicans and republicans review democrats, so by there own standards the review was done by a democrat with source materials from democrats which means we cant trust there review since they are from democrats who are probably democratic donors or are related to one to the third power seperated by a stain on a couch.
They've changed the first paragraphs on this "non-partisan' "factual" web page of theirs.
On August 6th, their first paragraphs read
Ad features vets who claim Kerry "lied" to get Vietnam medals. But one accuser quickly recants, and other witnesses disagree.Since August 15, their first paragraphs have readAugust 6, 2004 Modified: August 6, 2004
A group funded by the biggest Republican campaign donor in Texas began running an attack ad Aug. 5 in which former Swift Boat veterans claim Kerry lied to get one of his two decorations for bravery and two of his three purple hearts. However, one of the veterans who appears in the ad has already recanted his principal accusation against Kerry, in an interview with the Boston Globe
Ad features vets who claim Kerry "lied" to get Vietnam medals. [Words about recanting removed here] But other witnesses disagreeAugust 6, 2004Modified: August 15, 2004
A group funded by the biggest Republican campaign donor in Texas began running an attack ad Aug. 5 in which former Swift Boat veterans claim Kerry lied to get one of his two decorations for bravery and two of his three purple hearts. [words about recanting removed here]
So, there is no need for Mr.Thurlow to return his bronze star.
Also, I found strange that media ignored the biggest claim against Kerry, that he lied to Senate in 1971.
BTW, I sent a letter to factcheck.org:
Your site was mentioned as a trusted nonpartisan clearing house where everybody can verify veracity of Vietnam-era accusations made about John Kerry. Instead of honest nonpartisan view all I found was tired agitprop from Globe and Kerry campaign.
You spent half a page investigating 'where the money come from' and found that money came from a Republican (what a surprise), however, you forgot to even mention that the only source of the claims to the contrary are coming from a paid participant of Kerry's campaign.
Talking about the Silver Star, you spent most of the space quoting as a gospel truth the widely criticized Globe article written by a an alleged Kerry campaign worker.
Talking about the first Purple Heart, you spent some space making a ridiculous point that Mr.Hubbard left Vietnam when Kerry received the award. How it is related to the story about the time when Mr.Kerry was wounded and paperwork was filled.
You added John McCain's opinion to the picture. He is a well respected Senator, War Veteran and POW, but how his opinion is even related to the subject of fact checking with regard to what happen?
You conveniently omitted the biggest problem: Kerry's lying to the Senate in 1971.
Your counting 'how many yards away from Kerry's boat” is outright ridiculous. Think about how many yards away Kerry's boat were John McCain and Douglas Brinkley
I suppose you have to completely rewrite this piece to make it look even remotely credible.
BTW, apparently there are only four facts
1. Kerry's version of Vietnam events is supported only by a few veterans one way or another related to his campaign.
2. Opposite version is supported by 250 people (with much better military credentials), whose activities are funded by Kerry's political opponents.
3.Everybody (including Mr.Kerry himself) agrees that he lied to Senate in 1971.
4. Everybody (including Mr.Kerry himself) agrees that on the whole he was immensely more helpful to North Vietnam.
Democrat-funded group backs MoveOn.org Attacks Against Bush
It's interesting to consider how quickly FactCheck.org swallowed and promulgated the Boston Globe's fish story (which said Elliot recanted) on August 6th.
FactCheck.org has shown how very partisan they are OR they've shown how very incompetent they are.. Those are the only two options that I can see..
Either they are incompetent for spreading the Globe's "story" or they are partisan for spreading the Globe's "story" and neither description bodes well for their keeping their jobs.
I you read the bio's you can understand why they slant everything to the liberal side of the fence. Of course Neal Gabler would love these people .. they agree with his point of view.
FactCheck.org - About Us: Our Mission
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels.
The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by an endowment from the Annenberg Foundation.
Brooks Jackson
Director, Annenberg Political Fact Check
Brooks Jackson is a journalist who covered Washington and national politics for 32 years, reporting in turn for The Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal and CNN. At CNN he pioneered the "adwatch" and "factcheck" form of stories debunking false and misleading political statements starting with the Presidential election of 1992. His investigative reporting for The AP and the Journal won several national awards. He is the author of two books: Honest Graft: Big Money and the American Political Process (Knopf, 1988) and Broken Promise: Why the Federal Election Commission Failed (Twentieth Century Fund: 1990).
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, PhD
Director, Annenberg Public Policy Center
Dr. Kathleen Jamieson, Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, has written extensively on the press, politics, and presidential campaigns. Her research into deceptive political TV ads produced techniques that are now in common use in TV "adwatch" stories. Among the many books she has authored are: Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction, and Democracy (Oxford University Press, 1992) and Everything You Think You Know About Politics...and Why You're Wrong (Basic Books, 2000).
Jennifer Ernst
Researcher, Annenberg Political Fact Check
Jennifer Ernst earned her B.A. in political science at American University in Washington, DC. She joined the Annenberg Public Policy Center in June, 2004 with previous experience in the office of US Sen. Chuck Hagel, as well as the non-profit sector. After working in the Communications Department of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, she spent time in Brussels, Belgium working as a policy researcher for NGO Voice, a network of humanitarian aid organizations.
Seth Goldman
Researcher, Annenberg Political Fact Check
Seth Goldman earned his B.A. in political communication at George Washington University. He joined the Annenberg Public Policy Center in June, 2004 with previous experience as journalist, press relations assistant, and media researcher. He has worked at the Committee for a Democratic Majority and at Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's campaign committee. At GWU he founded and edited Sticks & Stones, an independent, student-run progressive newsmagazine.
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