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Archives for 2004
Laughable Defenses
Just a quick question before I get to the thrust of this post:
Is the first Swift Boat veterans for Truth commercial even airing anymore?
I live in WV, and other than cable news and the internet, I never saw the commercial. At any rate, back to my point.
One of the most maddening things about this whole Swift Vets bit has been the Democrat’s reaction. Rather than simply address the charges head on, having Kerry fill out Form 180 and letting the public decide, the Democrats have tried every strategy but a straight forward approach.
First they dispatched lawyers to threaten the television stations. Then they tried to shut down the publication of the book. Then they tried to intimidate wholesalers. All the while, they were launching ad hominem after ad hominem at the Swift Vets. When all of these failed, they unleashed the attack dogs so we could have another round of ‘Bush AWOL’ accusations. Needless to say, I remain unimpressed.
Now, it appears, the main thrust of the attempts to end this issue is to tar the Swift Vets as nothing more than a front group for the Bush campaign. The evidence? One member of the Swift Vets was also a low level advisor of sorts for the Bush campaign’s Veterans Steering committee and a flyer for a ProUSA rally. You heard that right- George Bush, President, Commander-in-Chief, Leader of the Free World, and events planner for the Alucha County Republicans.
There was also the NY Times shocker, complete with flowchart, that showed that it was Republicans, not Democrats, who were contributing to the Swift Boats 527. No Screaming Eagle shit.
All these silly attempts at proving Bush is behind the Swift Vets ad is provide kerry with another reason not to answer questions, while motivating the entire world (with the exception of the mainstream media) to focus on the numerous connections between the Bash Bush 527’s and the Kerry campaign. In fact, the efforts were so absurd that the FEC chairman laughed in Kerry’s face:
Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley Smith defended the right of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an independent political group, to run commercials against Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who complained to the commission about the ads.
Kerry, 60, a four-term Massachusetts senator, alleged last week that the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth illegally coordinated its activities with President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign. Smith, a Republican, said members of the group are exercising their constitutional right to free speech.
“I think it’s great we live in a country where 260 average guys can go out and put their point of view out there before the public and influence a major presidential race,'” Smith said in an interview with Bloomberg television. “I am not one who agrees it is illegitimate for citizens to take a stand on these kind of issues and only the politicians should be able to say what they want about the issues they want to talk about.”
It is unlikely the FEC will rule on Kerry’s complaint before the Nov. 2 election, Smith said.
Now, the most ludicrous bit of ‘damning’ information to date (by, of course, citizen-hero Dana Milbank) , once again peddled by the usual suspects:
A top lawyer in President Bush’s reelection campaign acknowledged Tuesday that he has been advising the veterans group seeking to discredit Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry’s military record, an admission the Kerry campaign said is evidence the president’s campaign is orchestrating a “smear” by the private group.
Benjamin L. Ginsberg, the chief outside counsel to the Bush campaign who also has advised Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, said: “I’ve done some work for them. . . . The law lets lawyers do that . . . and does not include lawyers among the coordinated political activities” that are prohibited by federal election law.
The revelation that a lawyer may work for two clients will come as a surprise to many of you. Ok, maybe it won’t. At any rate, perhaps the Kerry campaign need a refresher course in Hypocrisy 101:
Well, guess what. Mr. Ginsberg isn’t the only lawyer who is working for a 527 with another job on the side.
Neil Reiff is listed as the contact person for MoveOn.org’s 527 organization, as can be seen on the actual form submitted by MoveOn.org to the IRS here (PDF).
But Mr. Reiff seems to have another job. According to his firm’s website, he’s also the Deputy General Counsel for the Democratic National Committee.
Yawn. Clearly, this explains why Soviet dissident Anatoly Shcharansky, Leona Helmsly, John DeLorean, O.J. Simpson, and Claus von Bulow are all buddy-buddy. What? You see no connection? Impossible! All of them used attorney Alan Dershowitz. They must be in cahoots.
I guess this also explains the close personal relationship between Bill Clinton, Caspar Weinberger, Marge Schott, and Clark Clifford. After all, they all used Bob Bennett as a lawyer, so they must be attached at the hip.
Idiots
Great Samuelson Piece
I concur:
The presidential campaign has confirmed that, under the guise of “campaign finance reform,” Congress and the Supreme Court have repealed large parts of the First Amendment. They have simply discarded what were once considered constitutional rights of free speech and political association. It is not that these rights have vanished. But they are no longer constitutional guarantees. They’re governed by limits and qualifications imposed by Congress, the courts, state legislatures, regulatory agencies — and lawyers’ interpretations of all of the above.
We have entered an era of constitutional censorship. Hardly anyone wants to admit this — the legalized demolition of the First Amendment would seem shocking — and so hardly anyone does. The evidence, though, abounds. The latest is the controversy over the anti-Kerry ads by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and parallel anti-Bush ads by Democratic “527” groups such as MoveOn.org. Let’s assume (for argument’s sake) that everything in these ads is untrue. Still, the United States’ political tradition is that voters judge the truthfulness and relevance of campaign arguments. We haven’t wanted our political speech filtered.
Now there’s another possibility. The government may screen what voters see and hear. The Kerry campaign has asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to ban the Swift Boat ads; the Bush campaign similarly wants the FEC to suppress the pro-Democrat 527 groups. We’ve arrived at this juncture because it’s logically impossible both to honor the First Amendment and to regulate campaign finance effectively. We can do one or the other — but not both. Unfortunately, Congress and the Supreme Court won’t admit the choice. The result is the worst of both worlds. We gut the First Amendment and don’t effectively regulate campaign finance.
As I have stated, the only solution is to let it all hang out. Let ‘free speech’ be FREE speech. It is indeed a weird world when it is illegal for Karl Rove to talk to Bush supporters, when Terry McAuliffe is forbidden from speaking to MoveOn.Org, but wholly legal for MyPleasure’s Violet Rapture Anal Tickler to be advertised anywhere and everywhere.
Not that I have anything against anal ticklers. If anything, this Swift Vets/ 527’s issue has proven what a total failure McCain-Feingold and similar legislation has and always will be.
O’Neill’s Credibility
I have stated repeatedly that I do not know who is telling the truth- Kerry or the Swift Vets. I am predisposed to distrust Kerry, and I have a hard time seeing how all 264 members of the Swift Vets could be liars.
Having said that, John O’Neill’s credibility appears to be dropping:
O’Neill said no one could cross the border by river and he claimed in an audio tape that his publicist played to CNN that he, himself, had never been to Cambodia either. But in 1971, O’Neill said precisely the opposite to then President Richard Nixon.
O’NEILL: I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water.
NIXON: In a swift boat?
O’NEILL: Yes, sir.
It is time for O’Neill to put up or sut up. I don’t know who is telling the truth in the overall big picture, and Kerry’s backtracking about Cambodia and the first Purple Heart were telling, but if O’Neill said this stuff, I don’t see how you can view it as anything but a lie.
Note to the Kerry Campaign- See how easy that is? Provide facts, not lawyers. And just answer the damn questions.
(via Oliver)
*** Update ***
The Instapundit points out that this is not relevant, and I tend to agree with much of what he has to say. If, of course, O’Neill actually was in Vietnam.
Sensing’s Challenge
Donald Sensing has a challenge up:
Hence my challenge: If you support Kerry for president, I invite you to write a guest post for this blog explaining why. Here’s why it’s a challenge:
To be published, you must explain why Kerry is to be preferred in terms that do not simply say he’s not Bush. This is not an invitation to rage about Bush; it is an invitation to be positive about Kerry.
– It will be insufficient merely to declare that Bush is wrong on Iraq, taxes, education, etc. You must explain why and how Kerry is right.
– You must cite and provide links to Kerry’s speeches or campaign releases to back up your claims. These cites can reach all the way back to when Kerry declared his candidacy for the 2004 race.
– Citing the Dermocratic platform will be unpersuasive, since neither party pays a lot of attention to its own platform once the election is over, even if they win.
– Length limit is 1,500 words. That’s a long post, by the way.
– I will not rebuild your html code, so when you email your entry to me, you MUST email it in plaintext format (not an html email) with html coding revealed intact. Do not email me asking how to do that. You may write the essay as a *.txt document and send it as an attachment if you wish, but I won’t take responsibility if my security software alerts and sets phasers to kill.
– Your subject line must read OHC KERRY CHALLENGE ENTRY. I get pretty well buried in email every day, and unless it’s obvious your entry is there, I may well miss it and even delete it.
– I do not have time to be your editor. If you can’t spell or use good grammar and syntax, I won’t help you. Your essay must be publishable in style and readability!
– I am not promising to publish anyone’s essay. I will publish no more than one essay. I will not fisk any essay that I do publish, I will present it unedited and unabridged with your byline. You MUST include your real name; I will delete pseudonymous essays without reading them.
– I reserve the right to publish (maybe with attribution, maybe not) excerpts of any essay submitted.
– No – “means no” – profanity. Using the first and last letters of a cuss word with *** in the middle counts as profanity. When quoting someone else, delete profanity used in the quote.
ABSOLUTE DEADLINE is Saturday, Aug. 28 at 7 a.m. CDT
Have at it, libs.
An Open Letter
From Russ Vaughn, who needs a blog:
An Open Letter to Senator John McCain from a Vietnam Veteran
Senator McCain,
I begin this missive with an embrazo, as we call it here in Texas, for your service to our country, as a warrior, as a prisoner of war and as a United States Senator. You have served far better and endured far more in the service of America than most men will ever do. For that, this old sergeant salutes you.
That said, as a Vietnam ground combat veteran, I must take issue with you on the situation of John Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans. You have labeled these men
Flashbacks
Max Cleland, 19 August 2004:
You know, this is a great country, everybody has got a right to their opinion and to vote the way they want to vote. But why trash somebody’s record?
Terry McAullife, 2 February 2004:
“I look forward to that debate when Senator John Kerry, a war hero with a chest full of medals, is standing next to George Bush, a man who was AWOL in the Alabama National Guards.
You have your debate Terry- except Bush isn’t involved. Doesn’t seem like you like it that much anymore, you pompous windbag.