The Smile and The Knife in the Back

I read last night on Jeff Jarvis' blog that George W Bush called John Kerry "heroic" in an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show which airs this morning.

This is the same guy whose political advisers approved the Swift Boat ads which accused Kerry of lying about his record in Vietnam. I bet we'll find out sometime after the election that Bush himself approved of those ads.

We are witnessing a President who has his hatchet men do his dirty work and then appears on TV to pretend he's above it all.

Would you like a boss who does that? A co-worker who does that? A business partner who does that? I wouldn't.

Comments

[jackson]

And I thought we were the flip floppy left who wants it both ways, now I'm confused.

[jackson]

And I thought we were the flip floppy left who wants it both ways, now I'm confused.

[jeff]

and I'm sure the DNC and Kerry's campaign had nothing to do with the Moveon, Media Group, and ACT ads... and let's not even get into the whole Michael Moore fling that the DNC is engaging in.

With Michael Bauer serving as Kerry's legal counsel, while at the same time serving as ACT's legal advisor, it smacks of hypocrisy to complain about 527's.

[jackson]

Jeff's point is well made. But Kerry's not complaining about 527's, he's complaining about one particular 527 who's ads are all lies and heresay. MoveOn's ad, or at least the one I saw, was simply a woman saying she though G.W. was 'so fucking stupid'. That's opinion. That's different.

[jackson]

Jeff's point is well made. But Kerry's not complaining about 527's, he's complaining about one particular 527 who's ads are all lies and heresay. MoveOn's ad, or at least the one I saw, was simply a woman saying she though G.W. was 'so fucking stupid'. That's opinion. That's different.

[jeff]

Despite making every effort possible to suppress this book and the group behind it, Kerry's campaign and the DNC have yet to take on the claims in a sufficient manner. In fact, they have already capitulated on the Christmas in Cambodia story, even Brinkley called it a "mongrel statement that should never have been said". The campaign has been backtracking on the first purple heart, admitting that it was most likely self inflicted. Now there is the v-silver star issue. Kerry hasn't held a press conference since 8/1, he's effectively in hiding. There is a lot more substance to the Swift Vets charges than you are willing to acknowledge.

There is a saying in the legal profession: if you are right on the facts then argue the facts, but if you are wrong on the facts then argue the law. Kerry has gone to the FEC, he's used the media as his foil, and he's threatened broadcast outlets that have run the Swift Vets commercials. But the one thing that he hasn't done is take on the Swift Vets themselves, or release his full military records for the public to review. If he's confident about the facts in this case, then Kerry should sue the Swift Vets for libel and slander.

But at any rate, this is less to do about the medals and everything to do with Kerry's actions, while still a Navy officer, when he came back. To sell out every soldier who served in Vietnam and stand in front of the country 35 years later and assert that his 18 week tour of duty in Vietnam is what qualifies him to be Commander in Chief is beyond the pale.

Neither Kerry nor the DNC will call for any oversight of the 527's because 9:1 they are anti-Bush. Nonetheless, everyone should really ask themselves a hard question about the kind of political system they want, one where political parties rely on indvidual contributions and they become part of the public record, or one where guys like George Soros write huge checks and can do it in secret with no oversight. Whatever your political ideology, I would hope that you would recognize that unregulated money in the political system is bad for everyone.

PS- there have been a great many advertisements to come out of the Demo-leaning 527's that are not only unsubstantiated, but void of any redeeming quality... such as portraying the President as Hitler.

[jeff]

one last comment and then I'm going to pull the handle to eject myself out of this debate.

Kerry's campaign is fundamentally based on 18 weeks of service (and I will submit that it was honorable service), but his campaign has not been based on anything about the last 20 years he spent in the Senate. Now he's complaining about groups digging into his service history and his conduct as an opportunistic anti-war veteran? As I read somewhere else, it's like Pamela Anderson complaining that people just look at her boobs.

From my vantage point, it's just sinking in that the Democrats nominated a weak candidate. Now with the media turning on him it's gonna get ugly.

[ed]

Fred you expressed admiration for Michael Moore, who wove the most implausible and irresponsible of conspiracy theories in F-911 and Kerry and other close friends of his not only lauded Moore, they invited him to the D convention. WTF? You D's sure can dish it out but as Marvin Hagler would say, "ya'll got no chin!"

[Mandown]

Fred is a typical liberal - raving with righteous indignation while stinking to high heaven of hypocrisy.

Not to mention thin-skinned; watch, he'll delete this comment too.

[brad]

Here's my problem w/ the way the Kerry camp is rebutting the swift boat vets ad(s). It's a no win for the President...

• If the President does nothing, the current rhetoric continues unabated

• If the President demands that the independent swift boat vets stop and they do, Kerry camp will say “See! We told you he was in control”

• If the President demands that the independent swift boat vets stop and they don’t, Kerry camp will say “What a weak leader, even his own don’t listen/obey”.

It’s kind of like the old “Have you stopped beating your wife” question.

[jackson]

Mostly I agree with Jeff. The whole thing is rediculous. I wouldn't mind if campaigns were forbidden to advertise altogether, force the networks to actually televise the conventions, and let that stand as the message.

[lalins]

Fred is a typical liberal - raving with righteous indignation while stinking to high heaven of hypocrisy.

http://membres.lycos.fr/messengermsnfr/