http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Aug16.html

MoveOn.org's Swift Response to Anti-Kerry Ad

By Howard Kurtz
Tuesday, August 17, 2004; Page A08

A liberal organization is taking to the airwaves today to challenge an ad by a group of Navy veterans that accuses Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) of distorting his Vietnam record.

"George Bush: Take that ad off the air," says the 30-second spot from MoveOn.org PAC.


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The ad in question, from a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, charges Kerry with "lying about his first Purple Heart" in Vietnam 35 years ago. The MoveOn response -- airing in the same four markets in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin, and on CNN and Fox News -- begins by attacking President Bush's military record.

"George Bush used his father to get into the National Guard, and when the chips were down, went missing," a narrator says. "Now he's allowing false advertising that attacks John Kerry, a man who asked to go to Vietnam and served with dignity and heroism." The ad quotes Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as calling on the Bush campaign to condemn the "dishonest and dishonorable" ad.

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt called MoveOn "an extremist organization" making "completely baseless attacks." Schmidt said, "They have continued that tradition with this one, impugning the honorable service of the president in the Air National Guard." Noting that the campaign has praised Kerry's military service, Schmidt repeated Bush's call for both campaigns to denounce all ads by independent "527" groups, far more of which have aired in support of Kerry. But he did not denounce the content of the Swift boat group's ad.

Retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, founder of the Swift boat group, much of whose funding has come from a Texas developer, said in a statement: "We find it odd that MoveOn PAC would question the right of a group of veterans to voice an opinion on a legitimate issue -- an issue first raised by John Kerry -- and now the centerpiece of his campaign. . . . We will not be silenced."

Asked why Bush should be responsible for an ad by an independent group with the same legal status as MoveOn, Eli Pariser, the PAC's executive director, said: "They're clearly a surrogate organization. The Bush campaign has a responsibility for what's being done on its behalf. Certainly if Kerry felt MoveOn was doing something he didn't agree with, he has every right to condemn our ads."

Southern Discomfort

An unabashed racist won the Republican nomination for a House district in Tennessee earlier this month. James Hart, who contends that whites should not mix with "less favored races," thumped a Republican write-in candidate -- 7,865 to 2,061 -- to win the party's nomination for the state's 8th Congressional District.

"The poverty genes of less 'favored races', which are spread by welfare and immigration, are destroying our cities no less than if they were hit by a nuclear bomb," Hart said on his campaign Web site. "Unless we stop dysgenic welfare and immigration policies, the U.S. will look like one big Detroit."

The state GOP, which was unable to find another candidate in time for the election's filing deadline, has disowned Hart's campaign, calling his views "outrageous." The district, which is represented by Rep. John S. Tanner (D-Tenn.), is considered Democratic country. But Hart's candidacy will nevertheless give him a platform for his views and the Republican Party a headache.

Political researcher Brian Faler contributed to this report

__________________
Truth is by nature self-evident, as soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear. Gandhi

__________________
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

Well, if it is an extremist organization, then we need to bomb it and the company that hosts it, right?

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"George W. Bush surrounds himself with smart people the way a hole surrounds itself with a donut." —Dennis Miller

Liberals want to silence veterans.

This, in and of itself, speaks for itself.

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"John Kerry gave the enemy for free what I and my comrades in the prison camps in North Vietnam took torture to avoid saying. He sold us out."
- Paul Galanti, US P.O.W.

@PJO34

Please don't get the wrong idea - I never wrote anything in that post - I simply pasted the article (that's why I included the link)

I was actually curious how people would react to Arizona's Republican, John McCain saying that Bush should condemn the ad, as well as McCain appearing in a MoveOn.or ad.

But according to Livefrmtx, it appears John McCain is now a liberal????

__________________
Truth is by nature self-evident, as soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear. Gandhi

__________________
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

Question:

WHY is John McCain saying what he is saying?

A: Two reasons.

1. He has a long-standing gripe with John O'Neill, going back to when McCain and Kerry worked together to gloss over Vietnam MIA/POW issues in order to re-establish "normal" relations with Vietnam. In short, McCain still holds these veterans in large part, to blain for his failed bid to win the GOP nomination in 2000.

2. John McCain has NOTHING TO LOSE by condemning the Swift Boat Vets ad, but he IS STILL BACKING GEORGE BUSH IN THE ELECTION.

In fact, John McCain maintains political relevence by dancing neatly between Bush and the veterans, using liberal support for leverage.

He is every bit the political gamer the rest of them are.

__________________
"John Kerry gave the enemy for free what I and my comrades in the prison camps in North Vietnam took torture to avoid saying. He sold us out."
- Paul Galanti, US P.O.W.

Fair enough. In fact, this is what I was looking for, Livefrmtx

An intelligent debate about this issue without restricting opinions to boring namecalling and mudslinging.

I personally do not believe the content of the swiftboat vet ads are accurate, but I do believe the Verterans should have every right to voice there opinions. Just as I believe that MoveOn.org should have every right to put up ads demonstrating their views.

I think it's not John McCain job to ask Bush to condemn the SwiftBoat ads, I think it should be up to Kerry to defend himself and sue those verterans for slander(if it is in fact that)

I just wonder how much (if any) damage will be done to the Republicans/Swiftboat Vets, etc... having McCain speak out like that?

__________________
Truth is by nature self-evident, as soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear. Gandhi

WASHINGTON (AP) John Kerry on Tuesday condemned a television ad that criticizes President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the Texas Air National Guard, even as prominent veterans linked to the Democratic presidential campaign echoed the commercial's accusations.


McCain, a decorated Vietnam veteran with the reputation of a political maverick, had called on Bush two weeks ago to condemn an ad in which several veterans accused the Kerry of fabricating his war record.

The White House has declined to denounce that ad. Kerry, mindful of McCain's political clout, issued a conciliatory statement minutes after the Arizona senator told The Associated Press he wanted Kerry to condemn the anti-Bush ad.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/230/...y_conde:.shtml

Who is the bigger man now?

McCain and Moveon.org are wrong, its time that Americans are allowed to be heard, without censorship, smart people will see lies and mistruths, and judge the person on Nov. 2 not some ad

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Romans 10.
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."