Here we go again.....Uuggghhhh

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Here we go again.....Uuggghhhh
9
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 12:10pm
A friend of mine sent me the following article: (This is getting way out of control....it is like to 4 year olds fighting in a playground with each saying the other started it.)

Kerry Campaign Questioned Bush Service Record

By Jeff Gannon

Talon News

August 25, 2004

(Talon News) -- The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth controversy continued to rage Tuesday, with new calls from Democrats for Republicans to denounce the ads being run by a group who say that Sen. John Kerry is "unfit for command." More veterans on both sides of the debate have come forward to provide their own recollections of events in question.

Kerry said in a speech yesterday the Republicans are running a "fear and smear" campaign. He said the Bush campaign and their allies are trying to avoid the real issues facing America. Both the SBVT and the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign have denied any relationship between the two groups. Such "coordination" with the independent 527 soft money group would be illegal.

Republicans have countered that the Democrats' links to MoveOn.org, the Media Fund, and Americans Coming Together constitute illegal coordination that has resulted in $62 million of attack ads against the President since the beginning of the year.

Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie said yesterday that he hoped Kerry would join Bush in calling for an end to the 527 groups and their activities. He said that the RNC had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Committee a long time ago. The panel chose not to act until after this year's election.

Gillespie said that as long as the Supreme Court recognizes that certain aspects of the political process can be regulated, "These organizations that clearly exist to help elect or defeat a candidate for federal office should play by the same rules as those of us who are subject to the campaign finance laws."

Gillespie recalled Kerry's 1992 statement when he said that it's not right for political purposes to divide the country by who served or who didn't or who served how.

Gillespie said, "I think it would be helpful for Senator Kerry to tell those veterans who speak on his behalf like Sen. Cleland or Wesley Clark who have called the president unpatriotic and made other charges and have denigrated the honor of National Guard service. That's unacceptable."

Democrats and the media made Bush's Vietnam-era service with the Air National Guard the subject of intense scrutiny and speculation for the past year. Despite the fact that Bush received an honorable discharge following his service, many prominent Democrats including Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe continue to accuse the president of having been AWOL.

The Kerry campaign raised many questions about Bush's service record in April 2004.

In a press release posted on the campaign web site, Kerry is quoted telling NBC News, "If George Bush wants to ask me questions about that through his surrogates, he owes America an explanation about whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard. Prove it. That's what we ought to have. I'm not going to stand around and let them play games."

Bush said Monday that he believed Kerry served "honorably" and isn't making an issue of his record in Vietnam. Bush said that he'd rather focus on Kerry's record in the Senate.

There have been several new twists in the Swift Boat saga that continue to dominate the political space. Kerry phoned Robert "Friar Tuck" Brant Cdr., USN (Ret) Sunday night to ask what was motivating the SBVT. Brant was skipper of the #96 and #36 boat and spent time with Kerry in An Thoi.

During the 10 minute call, Brant is reported to have told Kerry, "You should know what you said when you came back, the impact it had on the young sailors and how it was disrespectful of our guys that were killed over there."

Kerry is said to have responded, "When we dedicated swift boat one in '92, I said to all the swift guys that I wasn't talking about the swifties, I was talking about all the rest of the veterans."

The latest ad being run by the "Swifties" centers on Kerry's testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 where he accused American soldiers of committing war crimes.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2003
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 12:18pm
During the 10 minute call, Brant is reported to have told Kerry, "You should know what you said when you came back, the impact it had on the young sailors and how it was disrespectful of our guys that were killed over there."

Kerry is said to have responded, "When we dedicated swift boat one in '92, I said to all the swift guys that I wasn't talking about the swifties, I was talking about all the rest of the veterans."

Well, isn't that dandy...if this is true, John Kerry is speaking of a number of people I personally served with during my time...not experiencing warm fuzzies here.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 2:05pm
I call it turning the tables. But I really don't think it matters. I don't think anyone is listening anymore. The media is just cheering them on. This way they don't have to do any investigative reporting, they just report on the mudslinging. I flipped between MSNBC, CNN and another cable news and all of them were talking about Swift Boats, so I just turned the TV off. Been like that for two weeks. Enough already. Maybe they figure everyone is still on vacation? Schools around here are already back in session and a few left to open Monday.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 2:16pm
Never questioned that, I just wish that each side (rep & Dem) would stop pointing fingers insinuating that the other side started the fight and started the negative campaigning....that is what is ridiculous to me.

I personally feel as you, that Kerry opened this can of worms, and has to deal with his mess that he himself made. Being the intellectual that he is, he should have known that his own words would eventually come back to haunt him, and that they were being used as a weapon against POW's. If he didnt know that then he is very naive.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 4:06pm
I know what you mean.

This is what I see the typical news like at night.

FoxNews

Headline story.....Swift Vets or something related

Following story.....Laci Peterson murder case

CNN

Same thing but possibly in reverse order

Then they talk about each topic until the guests run out of things to say.......

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2003
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 4:19pm
Then you get a few minutes of that goofy cleric....
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 4:46pm
Why do you say that? We are discussing it , aren't we? And the membership at the SwiftBoat Vets Message Board is growing by leaps and bounds.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 4:47pm
I agree.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 4:49pm
I wish they would quit playing around with that "goofy cleric". Ever hear of the phrase either **** or get off the pot? It is apropriate in this case.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Wed, 08-25-2004 - 5:21pm
You are so right....forgot about that part.

I knew that there were three items covered on the news each night....LOL