Remeber the ‘nuts and sluts’ attacks by the Clinton game? It seems that was just a warm-up:
The Democrat National Committee has prepared a full-scale assault against the Vietnam Veterans for Truth to draw their character and veracity into question, according to one anonymous source inside the DNC. The campaign of character assassination is scheduled to coincide with the release of the book Unfit for Command which reveals inconvenient facts for the Kerry campaign.
“We have prepared what we call
Oliver
Is this from the same source as what Instapundit is linking? As a member of the VLWC I await the arrival of my Brown Book!
Bloggerhead
Hmmm…”according to one anonymous source inside the DNC” and “which reveals inconvenient FACTS for the Kerry campaign.” Where’d you get this, John? There’s no link that I can see.
Not that I disbelieve it, mind you; it’s just that a link would allow me to judge whether to nod my head knowingly or to burst into laughter.
John Cole
Sorry- was on the phone when I wrote this and forgot to add the damned links.
Oliver
Well the site is CrushKerry.com which is obviously the site of someone with deep contacts in the DNC.
John Cole
Oliver- One ofthese days you will have an argument that is simply not a dismissal of what someone says simply because you don’t like them.
This is known as an adhominem attack, itis clear no one has ever told you what they are- there are numerous types, look em up.
Example:
Me: Pat Buchanon says 2+2 is 4.
Oliver: Yeah, well he is a racist.
Example #2:
Me; The 250 Swiftvets claim Kerry is lying and have leveled specific charges.
Oliver: John O’Neill is nuts.
Try this on and see how you feel:
Oliver: Media Matters sees a Republican bias in the media and attempts to document it.
Me: David Brock is a lying sack of shit who has admitted publicly that he can not be trusted.
OF Jay
John, am I the only guy who thinks that this is an even more bombastic reaction to a damaging accusation than that of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon’s reactions towards the Pentagon Papers? Kerry himself is turning this into such a huge issue that it has taken on a life of its own, thanks to John Kerry himself.
Oliver
It’s not that I disagree with them, John, its that I don’t find them credible. For instance Newsmax.com is not credible. The Washington Times and Fox News are slanted, but the news they’re spinning often has some truth to it. On the far left, I’d say the same for publications like Indymedia or CounterPunch. Would you believe a report saying that “Bush killed a baby with his bare hands” from a site called FuckGeorgeBush.com? I sure wouldn’t. So pardon me if a site called CrushKerry.com claiming that it has connections to the DNC doesn’t exactly rate high on my internal BS detector.
Like I said, as a member of the VLWC, I’m waiting for my copy of these books to arrive.
Gahrie
1) Has anyone noticed yet that Sen. Kerry has not come out and called these guys liars? If someone was saying about me, what the SW vets are saying about Kerry, and they were lies, I’d be in front of every news camera in the world denouncing them.
2) Surely if it was OK to research Pres. Bush’s National Guard service, it is also kosher to research Sen. Kerry’s record?
3) Why won’t Sen. Kerry sign the papers tomorrow to release ALL the records of his service including the paperwork on his medals?
Steverino
If this story is true (and the jury is still out on that), then the DNC has committed a series of federal crimes. Releasing medical records without the patient’s approval and with the intent to embarass or otherwise harm the patient is a violation of federal law. Each instance is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth do not strike me as the types to roll over for this kind of smear, and may very well seek prosecution.
Oliver, if this turns out to be true, will you repudiate the DNC and the Kerry campaign for it? I know that John is honorable enough to print that this story is wrong, if in fact it turns out to be.
M. Scott Eiland
Given how much Kerry loathed Richard Nixon–not completely without cause, to say the least–it’s a little ironic to see suggestions that he–like Bill Clinton–has developed a fondness for Nixonian tactics in dealing with his political opponents. Daniel Ellsberg ring a bell? How about the Nixon Enemies List?
Bloggerhead
Scott:
What’s equally ironic is the origin of John O’Neill’s political career as a (s)pawn of the Nixon administration. Alas, politics is an eternally dirty pastime, and the ultimate irony is that some appear to believe that only the other side engages in this sort of unsavoriness.
Ralph Gizzip
Hmmm, Brown Books from the Brown Shirts? Why am I not surprised?
When you can’t refute the message, attack the messenger.
Jay
Gahrie, Kerry isn’t going to come out and call them liars because remember, he “loves” them.
Therefore, he’s letting his underlings call them liars, drunks and racists.
shark
Oliver, the soros funded hack talking about “credibility”!??!?!
Amazing. He has no shame…
recon
While we’re asking about the release of Kerry records, let’s not forget about the Heinz-Kerry tax returns.
THAT also matters!!
Rick
“Brown” books? Saaayyyy…using Soros-funded Atrios logic, that’s subliminally racist. Prolly genocidal, too.
Oliver! Look into it, in order to save all Peoples of Color!
Cordially…
JC
There is no reason to read this site anymore. This is my own, unofficial jump the shark moment with this site.
1. No mention here of John O’Neill’s lifetime job of hating Kerry – since Nixon.
2. No mention of Corsi, and the absolute and complete jerk he is.
3. No mention of the money funding of this group – completely totally fanatic Republican funding.
4. No mention of the fact that Bush himself, and his administration, has distanced themselves (though not condemned) from this group.
5. No mention of how McCain considered this a smear job.
All there is, is a retreat to the 1st Amendment – a poor victimhood saying, “Democrats don’t want free speech for this group!”.
I’m not saying these guys can’t speak freely. These guys can be disgusting smear artists, if that turns their fancy. The question is, do legitimate voices treat them seriously? That’s the question.
And again, there is that unanswered question:
If John Kerry is “not fit” for the presidency, because of how he performed his service, then George Bush is even more unfit – again, if this is used as the measuring stick.
This site is now nothing, but pure, unadulterated, propaganda.
shark
So JC is following the Oliver path- denouncing the accuser, not refuting the accusations.
JC- refute the substance, will you? O’Neill may hate Kerry. Coris may very well be a jerk. A Republican may have funded the commercial. And McCain may have been against it.
SO WHAT
Argue the substance- if you can.
Awwwwwwww, poor widdle baby Dems. are being beat up by a mean old Republican 527 group. WAHHHHH! Cry babies…
ape
JC – there’s a lot going for that view. This current post is quite shocking. Cole’s argument appears to be that the smearers should somehow be immune from being smeared. How absurd.
In UK criminal trials, a character attack on a witness means that the defendant has ‘thrown away his shield’ and opens himself up to character attacks from the other side. This bunch exist only as a character attack and dont deserve to be well treated.
In any case, the whole principle is absurd. Bush uses the day on which the worst-ever deficit is announced to say Kerry has no record in the Senate (??cc Cheney). Some of his supporters decide 30 years after the fact (surely beyond the reach of accurate memory recall) that he did not deserve the medals that he was awarded. Well then, they can go through the appeals process and apply for them to be withdrawn. [Oh. Can’t they? Perhaps that’s because their 30yr old views are completely irrelevant and Kerry’s medals are, and will remain, as legitimate as anyone elses.].
I thought Bush was supposed to be running on his record and the negativity all coming from the left. Why is manufacture of kerry-hatred so vital?
jeff
Hey JC, it’s John’s opinion and John’s opinion on certain news, events,etc.
He’s not entitled to present both sides to every story.
So, now i’m sure you’ll go to well-balanced sites like Kos, Atrios, and Kryptonite to Sanity?
John is far more likely to criticize Bush and present both sides of a story (even though, again, it’s not his responsibility) than any of the partisan hacks the ones i mentioned above.
John Cole
JC- I am not sure who pissed in your cornflakes this morning, but let’s takethe charges one by one.
1. No mention here of John O’Neill’s lifetime job of hating Kerry – since Nixon.
In my first about the issue, I notedthat there was personal animosity between the O’Neill and Kerry, and I went on to state:
“There is no way the Democrats can get away with tarring all of these men as VRWC members and brownshirts.”
I didn’t say they wouldn’t try.
2. No mention of Corsi, and the absolute and complete jerk he is.
Who cares whether the ghost writer is a jerk. If you COULD show how his past asinine statements invalidate the claims of the 250 men in Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, you would. Instead, all you do is bray about what a scumbag Corsi is- and from what I have read, he is a scumbag.
3. No mention of the money funding of this group – completely totally fanatic Republican funding.
There has been no offical Republican funding of this book. Some people , who happen to be Republicans, have contributed to the group. But the RNC, theWhite House, Bush/Cheney-2004- all of them have had nothing to do with this book.
Should the financing of Media Matters and Move On invalidate all of their claims? Just curious…
4. No mention of the fact that Bush himself, and his administration, has distanced themselves (though not condemned) from this group.
Thanks formentioning it-their behavior stands in stark contrast to the Kerry/Edwards campaign, who is actively coordinating with 527’s to run hit pieces against Bush in anattempt to evade CFR.
Your point?
5. No mention of how McCain considered this a smear job.
Personally, I have not been blinded bythe cult of McCain, but if it is necessary for you, here goes:
“John McCain is against the commercial.”
Mind you, he has not refuted any of the charges, but he is just against the campaign.
Dman
Hey JC , can you take ape with you.
JKC
John-
I applaud your spending so much time and energy on this issue… I’m sure the next thing that you and the valiant SBVT will discover is that the incompetent Kerry has blown the cover of an alQaeda double agent!
Oops, wait… never mind.
John Cole
JKC- there are conflicting reports aboutthis. Once it shakesout Iwill examine it.
JKC
Fair enough: I haven’t heard any reports of this story being untrue, though. The only question to date is whether Khan’s outing was due to miscommunication or sheer incompetence on the Administration’s part.
Given the stakes, I’d really like to be wrong about this.
John Cole
I have read reports thatstates the NYT got the information independently (perhaps from a Pakistani source- they leake like a sieve), and when the administration was blindsided with the name, corroborated it. Now- they shouldn’t have done that, if that is the case, but it is certainly less damagin than a straight forawrd outing.
What I do find repulsive, is the kevin Drum/Atrios/Juan Cole mantra that is developing. They repeatedly claim theadministration is using intelligence for partisan benefit, claiming hey arelying about intelligence breakthroughs, creatinga climate where someone in the intelligence communitymight be pressued to release sensitive info.
Then, when they have proof that the administratikn and intelligence communities have been acting in good faith, instead of saying, wewere wrong, they moveon to:
“These guys are so incompetent they are outing agents.”
That does not excuse someone releasing the information, but the motives of the partisan left is just revolting. But then again- we knew this was thereMO sincethe release of the Rockefeller memo.
James
What exactly are the “charges” that everyone’s refusing to address? What is Kerry accused of doing, 30 years later? Does anyone know?
My understanding is that Kerry is supposed to have only suffered mild injuries for which he received medals, and later protested the war.
What was Bush doing in his 20’s?
norbizness
John: Regardless of the importance on which you place this particular issue [I’m largely ignoring it, like I disregarded and pled with others to disregard the GWB AWOL stuff, no.. really I did], you can certainly distinguish between varying levels of credible news sources. I mean, the piece doesn’t even have an author! “Our source”? Instapundit citing it doesn’t transfer to this some sort of magic credibility.
Trust me, I’m sure this won’t die out in blogospheric circles if it’s mentioned less frequently and less breathlessly.
James
And John, you can’t be serious with this “Don’t refute the charges. Destroy the accuser.” business, are you?
Paul O’Neill and Richard Clarke (far more credible than Corsi), meet John Cole.
Dman
James,I believe the President was piloting a jet fighter for the Texas Air National Guard and obtaining an MBA from Harvard in his 20’s. He also threw down a few beers good ole boy style.
In his 20’s, Kerry bugged out of Vietnam after 4 months, testified that his fellow vets were war criminals, attended meetings where he voted whether or not to assasinate US Senators and was on his way to marrying the first of his two sugar mommas.
Rick
“Should the financing of Media Matters and Move On invalidate all of their claims?”
I’m down with that!
Cordially…
Rick
“2. No mention of Corsi, and the absolute and complete jerk he is.
Who cares whether the ghost writer is a jerk….-and from what I have read, he is a scumbag.”
John,
I screwed up and got filthy by looking at Media Matters and saw a claim that this Corsi fellow admits to being a FReeper of a specific screen-name.
Have you seen verification of this, because I can’t credit it on the say-so of Joe Conason and the Soros whores @ Media Matters.
Thanks, and cordially…
HH
John Kerry continues to use Michael Moore talking points without noting Michael Moore’s jerkish statements about September 11, America, his attitude towards co-workers, etc. Therefore Kerry’s claims are automatically false because a jerk is connected to them.
HH
“Paul O’Neill and Richard Clarke (far more credible than Corsi)”
Except it has been confirmed that O’Neill handed over documents to Suskind without even looking at them, which allowed Suskind to distort what they said, which he did… and of course Clarke’s ever-changing statements and inaccuracies on the millenium plot and other subjects have been long established.
shark
Still no refutation of the Swifties points of contention….doubtful we’ll see one forthcoming.
bg
No there isn’t shark. Know why? None of us were there so it’s their word vs. Kerry’s. That means it comes down to who you trust more.
furious_a
Sen. Kerry has already rolled out one poor cripple in a wheelchair to defend him, why not call in Larry Flynt?
Reminds me of Paula Jones and Bill Clinton — Ms. Jones was a trailer-trash extremely made-over money-grubbing cats’-paw of the Hate Clinton crowd…
…but Bubba still dropped his pants in front of her and told her to ‘kiss it’.
Don’t hide behind your lawyers, Mr. Kerry. Refute the charges, not the Messengers.
–furious
tweell
There are ways to prove the Swifties wrong. One is to release all military records. Waiting for Senator Kerry’s page 180 request…
crushkerry
Did anyone here notice that leftie David Brock got a copy of his “brown book”. Follow the link below and you can see the source was credible, as this appeared the morning after the story broke on crushkerry.com
http://mediamatters.org/items/200408060010