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Politics : The TRUTH About John Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (1302)	5/5/2004 7:29:48 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1483

Drudge should go back to his gay bar. Or should go to church and confess his sins. WHo cares about this GOP book? The guy's sole job is to make the Cheney-Bush team look like honest geniuses who never make mistakes. In fact we know just the opposite is true.

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (1302)	5/6/2004 3:23:43 AM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1483

Bush Campaign Ads Mislead Voters 58 minutes ago By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites)'s commercial claims, "John Kerry will raise taxes by at least $900 billion in his first 100 days in office." The candidate has never proposed such an increase, and the figure is based on GOP calculations. Welcome to the world of political advertising, where half-truths, exaggerations and distortions can make it difficult for voters to tell fact from fiction. "There's more misleading stuff popping up than you can swing at," said Brooks Jackson, a former reporter and the director of the Annenberg Political Fact Check, a Web site that evaluates the accuracy of campaign rhetoric. "Voters, be aware: These guys have a constitutional right to lie to you as much as they want." Advisers for Bush defend their candidate's ads as accurate interpretations of the other's record or views, and each campaign typically releases pages of documents backing up its claims. Yet, independent fact-checkers have found flaws and accuse the Bush campaign of fiction. While federal regulations require truth-telling when advertisers sell soap on television, they don't regulate what candidates for federal office say about each other. As a result, they can bend or twist the truth by selectively choosing facts that suit their agendas, giving voters only a slice of the picture. Much of the murkiness is caused by the realities of political advertising. Strategists often have only 30 seconds to project their candidate's message. That means the context, details and explanation surrounding an accusation or an appeal end up on the cutting room floor, leaving only vague sound bites. Most of the time, that's by design. "Ads in politics are by definition about advocating the best possible representation of your position and the worst possible representation of your opponent's position," said Carter Eskew, a Democrat who helped create ads for Al Gore (news - web sites) in 2000. But voters are smart enough to know that they are only getting one side of the story in an ad, argued Eskew, who says they "bring a pretty sophisticated and cynical filter to it." Still, it's more difficult for voters to figure out the truth when ads contain "lies of omission," said Christian Grose, a campaign media expert at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. Bush's campaign has based its ads, which portray Kerry as weak on national security and favoring tax increases, on isolated votes and quotes plucked from the Democrat's 19-year Senate career. However, some of Bush's ads are based on Senate votes that Kerry made in the context of larger bills. Other ads cite votes Kerry cast decades ago or past comments that may not reflect his current positions. Bush's latest ad claims "Kerry has repeatedly opposed weapons vital to winning the war on terror: the Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Patriot missiles, B-2 Stealth bombers, F-18 Fighter Jets and more." Those accusations are drawn, in part, from Kerry votes in the 1980s and 1990s against a few monstrous Pentagon (news - web sites) spending bills, which included money for various weapons systems. Another ad accused Kerry of wanting to raise gas taxes by 50 cents a gallon — a claim based on a fleeting 1994 quote by Kerry published in two Boston newspapers. Grose's advice to voters: "If you want to learn about a candidate, a 30-second ad is not the best place to go!"

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (1302)	5/6/2004 8:33:02 AM
From: JakeStraw	Respond to of 1483

John Kerry names Johnny Depp as running mate :^) Written by ej moore Depp may decide to take a stab at politics. WASHINGTON – Presidential hopeful and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry today announced he has offered Johnny Depp first refusal of the coveted VP spot in his Democratic bid for the White House. “I first saw Johnny in that scissors movie,” Kerry told reporters, “and I’ve wanted to run with him ever since.” A source close to the Kerry campaign stated that Kerry believes “Depp’s charm, charisma and intense global popularity is just the thing needed to sway voter support of post-teen females, twenty-something housewives, every woman in middle-aged America and that ‘certain section of guys’ towards the Democratic ticket” in November. Depp’s oddball je ne sais quoi is much admired by fans around the globe and Kerry is eagerly awaiting Depp’s decision to take on the challenging role of Vice President . The somewhat shy actor is said to be “favorable” regarding acceptance of Kerry’s offer and will come on board only if he and his family are allowed to remain in France. “Also, I must be able to chase anyone I please around the Lincoln bedroom while brandishing my sword,” said Depp. “That’s if I decide to show up at all.” Kerry told reporters: “George Bush spooked the French with his highfalutin attitude but Johnny will bring ‘em back around." “I’ll bet my discarded ribbons on it,” he added. thespoof.com