Bush Denounces Swift Boat Ad.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-08-23 04:00pm

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush (news - web sites) on Monday denounced campaign commercials aired by outside groups, including an ad that accuses John Kerry (news - web sites) of lying about his combat record in Vietnam.

"That ad and every other ad" run by such groups have no place in the campaign, Bush said when asked about the commercial sponsored by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth that has roiled the race for the White House. The group said it would not stop its new anti-Kerry ad, which will start running in three states this week.

Happy now, Kerry fanatics?

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-08-23 04:02pm

Kerry fanatics? Give me a break. The scumbag has some implicit ties to them and its cut from the same "'dat evil McCain's been fatherin' bastards with dem darkies!" shit that they pulled in South Carolina in 2000.

Fuck him. This is the least he could have done, and plenty late too.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-08-23 04:09pm

Hell, if my people were behind the Swift Boat ads, the first thing I'd do would be to denounce it but not actually do anything about it, just to put some distance between me and it so it looks like it's an independant thing.

Besides, it's not like Bush is being sincere there. The Republican presidental campaign is probably really grinning ear to ear over it, because they know how much money Kerry will end up spending to fight it and defend himself, rather than focusing on the issue at hand. That should be obvious to anyone.

18-Till-I-Die · Post by **18-Till-I-Die** » 2004-08-23 04:22pm

Good, fine.

I'm sure he is smiling ear to ear about being able to pull out in time just once in his life.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2004-08-23 04:32pm

More smarmy bullshit from Dubya. Bush tried the dishonest trick of lumping the lies of the Swift Boat Scumbags with the true statements of other independent ads. The Swift Boat ads aren't wrong because they're allegedly "independent" of the parties (in fact the Republicans and Bush's campaign team have a hand in these, in violation of federal law) or the presidential campaigns. They are wrong because they are chock full of lies.

Once again, Bush is a moral pygmy.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-08-23 04:38pm

Elfdart wrote:in fact the Republicans and Bush's campaign team have a hand in these, in violation of federal law

Prove or retract. And supposed connections aren't proof. Remember 6 degrees of seperation.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-08-23 04:39pm

I was wondering how long it would take before he tried to wash his hands of them.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-08-23 04:40pm

Elfdart wrote:More smarmy bullshit from Dubya. Bush tried the dishonest trick of lumping the lies of the Swift Boat Scumbags with the true statements of other independent ads. The Swift Boat ads aren't wrong because they're allegedly "independent" of the parties (in fact the Republicans and Bush's campaign team have a hand in these, in violation of federal law) or the presidential campaigns. They are wrong because they are chock full of lies.

What the hell do you want? Him to use an executive order to have them taken off the air? There's not a lot that Bush can do to have them stoped. If this is such slanderous crap then Kerry could take legal action to have them stopped; he's about the only one that can.

A lot of these independent ads are pure crap. This one's gaining a lot more attention just because the people involved and because Kerry hasn't done a whole lot but tout his war record.

Post by **Cairber** » 2004-08-23 04:41pm

Now we just need to wait until both parties denounce 527s (this is what they seem to be calling them) all together and end this. The legislation didnt work, now we need our leaders and potential leaders to admit it and shut down these sleezy advertising machines. They are on both sides, and if they let them do this in this election it will continue for those to come.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-08-23 04:46pm

1st amendment. Though could you get them for libel.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-08-23 04:48pm

Pu-239 wrote:1st amendment. Though could you get them for libel.

Few make statements provably false enough to be sueable for libel.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-08-23 04:49pm

Beowulf wrote:From Yahoo! News

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush (news - web sites) on Monday denounced campaign commercials aired by outside groups, including an ad that accuses John Kerry (news - web sites) of lying about his combat record in Vietnam.

"That ad and every other ad" run by such groups have no place in the campaign, Bush said when asked about the commercial sponsored by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth that has roiled the race for the White House. The group said it would not stop its new anti-Kerry ad, which will start running in three states this week.
Happy now, Kerry fanatics?

Oh fucking blow me. You make it sound as if denouncing those bullshit ads was some sort of painful thing for Bush to do. Give me a break.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-08-23 04:49pm

Actually, the administration said something about the ad two weeks ago, (link), but I guess it was pretty much ignored.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2004-08-23 04:50pm

Elfdart wrote:More smarmy bullshit from Dubya. Bush tried the dishonest trick of lumping the lies of the Swift Boat Scumbags with the true statements of other independent ads. The Swift Boat ads aren't wrong because they're allegedly "independent" of the parties (in fact the Republicans and Bush's campaign team have a hand in these, in violation of federal law) or the presidential campaigns. They are wrong because they are chock full of lies.

Once again, Bush is a moral pygmy.

The president does not have the power remove them even if they wanted to(You know, because this isnt a communist country), as they are not being endorsed by him, and they are not breaking any laws necessarily(I am not sure on this one, I dont watch TV often and as such, have not seen this add in order to know)

Post by **Cairber** » 2004-08-23 04:51pm

I dunno, we tried to legislate so that sleazy people like this couldnt be connected to a campaign but we didnt specify enough about the money going to these people.

But its tough...take the swift boat ad, for example, people who contribute HUGE amounts to the Bush campaign also gave money to them. The commericals have been, by many people, connected to Bush through these contributors. (and now through the guy that quit the campaign since he was in one...but the money is what more people are talking about) The only thing is...DUH....of course the people paying for these ads are also giving money to Bush. How can you tell them what they can do with that money? We could limit the amount of money a candidate can accept from a major contributer of one of these 527 groups. We cant limit what people can do with their money to any huge extent, but we can limit what the candidates can accept

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-08-23 04:57pm

Joe wrote:Actually, the administration said something about the ad two weeks ago, (link), but I guess it was pretty much ignored.

That time, Bush was saying he has nothing to do with it, not saying that he didn't like the ad.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-08-23 04:58pm

Sure you can limit what 527s do with their money; that's the whole problem. 527s aren't allowed to come out in favor of any specific candidate, so they do the next best thing; smear the living shit out of the opposing candidate. The system as it is right now is designed to produce negative ads.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-08-23 05:00pm

Beowulf wrote:
Joe wrote:Actually, the administration said something about the ad two weeks ago, (link), but I guess it was pretty much ignored.
That time, Bush was saying he has nothing to do with it, not saying that he didn't like the ad.

He (or rather, the spokesperson) said that 1) we will not question Kerry's service record and 2) what SBVT is doing should in fact be illegal. How clear can you get?

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-08-23 05:06pm

Joe wrote:Sure you can limit what 527s do with their money; that's the whole problem. 527s aren't allowed to come out in favor of any specific candidate, so they do the next best thing; smear the living shit out of the opposing candidate. The system as it is right now is designed to produce negative ads.

Simple. Abolish 527s right out then. They tend to polarize (even more than usual) and completely one-dimensionalize election politics anyway, something that's extremely destructive to the democratic process with their useless tangents. They also give bad candidates cover to hide behind: Example: the gay-marriage issue. Just a couple well-paid 527s can drown the airwaves with shit about the gay marriage issue while far more important issues like the Drug War and the RIAA's Raping of the American People get NO attention whatsoever by anyone at all. Don't think for a minute that either one of the candidates wouldn't love to keep it that way forevermore.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-08-23 05:09pm

But its tough...take the swift boat ad, for example, people who contribute HUGE amounts to the Bush campaign also gave money to them. The commericals have been, by many people, connected to Bush through these contributors.

Jee, a Bush supporter giving money to a anti-Kerry group: what a fucking suprise.

It's going to take more than that to prove any improper link.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-08-23 05:11pm

Simple. Abolish 527s right out then.

That would be doable, except for a little thing called the Constitution. It's that document you talk about so much when it comes to gay rights, legal protection from the RIAA & MPAA, and such.

Post by **Cairber** » 2004-08-23 05:15pm

Stormbringer wrote:
But its tough...take the swift boat ad, for example, people who contribute HUGE amounts to the Bush campaign also gave money to them. The commericals have been, by many people, connected to Bush through these contributors.
Jee, a Bush supporter giving money to a anti-Kerry group: what a fucking suprise. It's going to take more than that to prove any improper link.

Thats why I said DUH...of course they give to Bush. I couldnt believe it when this guy on CNN was talking about how the same people paying for the ad also made huge contributions to Bush. Thats all they have been saying all week. But now that theres been a guy on the campaign connected to ad the ramblings are changing a little

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-08-23 05:16pm

Not really. If they can pass McCain-Feingold without any Constitutional issues, they can outlaw 527s.

Marksist · Post by **Marksist** » 2004-08-23 05:21pm

Elfdart wrote:in fact the Republicans and Bush's campaign team have a hand in these, in violation of federal law

Beowulf wrote:Prove or retract. And supposed connections aren't proof. Remember 6 degrees of seperation.

Yahoo News

Associated Press wrote:By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas - A volunteer for John Kerry (news - web sites) said Friday he picked up a flier in a Bush-Cheney campaign office in Gainesville, Fla., promoting Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group the Bush campaign has insisted for weeks it has no connection to.

The Kerry campaign e-mailed the flier to news organizations Friday, declaring that the Bush-Cheney campaign was "busted" for coordinating "in their smear campaign against John Kerry."

At Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters outside Washington, spokesman Steve Schmidt said: "The Bush-Cheney campaign has nothing to do with that piece of paper. ... I don't know how it showed up at the campaign headquarters."

"The Bush-Cheney campaign would object to any flier like this being displayed in any Republican headquarters," said Schmidt. He characterized the campaign operation in Gainesville where the flier was found as county GOP offices used by Bush-Cheney volunteers.

The flier distributed at Alachua County Republican Party headquarters promotes a weekend rally sponsored by "Swift Boat Vets for Truth" and other groups.

Bill Shilling, a Kerry volunteer in Gainesville, says he went to the GOP offices there Thursday and picked up the flier from a pile of literature on the table.

"The flier they gave me was on the same table as some Bush-Cheney bumper stickers," said Shilling. "I asked them if the Swift boat veterans were coming to Gainesville, and the woman I talked to said yes."

Shilling said he went back to Kerry headquarters and turned over the flier.

"I thought there was supposed to be some separation between Bush-Cheney and the Swift boat controversy but I didn't understand there was a big deal about this," said Shilling. "I think this whole thing attacking Kerry's war record is a diversion by Bush-Cheney from the real issues of the campaign."

This isn't a direct proof that the national campaign had anything to do with it. But, it is the headquarters for the local campaign, and it made national news because the advertisement and rally for "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth[sic]" is being promoted and organized by Bush/Cheney campaign in Florida.

And I also think it's obvious Bush and the campaign doesn't really want to denounce these ads, as they most definetely help him as long as he can play the "I got nothing to do with them card," which seems to be growing more difficult.

The Advertisement for rally in Gainesville-

Also on an OT note: read the small text at the bottom of the advertisement. It says "Time to go play in the "Lefties" sandbox." Which is a pretty stupid thing to say, as most of the events in that plaza are mostly local rock bands, and one night a week they show older movies for free, which generate large crowds of homeless people. Nothing particularly "leftist" about the downtown plaza. Oh well.

Post by **Cairber** » 2004-08-23 05:27pm

Lets not forget the news' role in all of this. Those ads coulda been polled but they still woulda gotten all of this free air time. The entire country has seen them now when they were only suppose to be in 3 states. Now CNN and FOX are both reporting that veteran support for Kerry is falling (10 min ago on CNN and around noon on FOX). And the second ad didnt even air yet...(actually i think it started today) they got free air time in all 50 states for the past 5 days.

Hmm that rant was kinda off topic, but I feel like the media has involved itself in sleaziness (wow...ok, maybe not too much of a surprise)

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Bush Denounces Swift Boat Ad.

Bush Denounces Swift Boat Ad.

Re: Bush Denounces Swift Boat Ad.