To: Mephisto who wrote (45200 ) 8/26/2004 7:41:20 AM From: stockman_scott Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 81568 A laughably transparent diversion ______________________________ As a registered Republican who values integrity, I am appalled that the Bush team is condoning a smear campaign to distort and demean John Kerry's Vietnam service. They've taken politics to a new low -- and given me one more reason to vote for John Kerry. Republican Sen. John McCain said it well when he described the TV commercials as "dishonest and dishonorable." He called on President Bush to condemn the ads. Republican Sen. John Warner said the same. Kerry's own crewmates, who dodged the same bullets and saw their boat captain save the life of a Green Beret, stand shoulder to shoulder with him. And the president? He lets the false ads continue. These dirty tricks are laughably transparent to anyone who followed the smear campaign against McCain during the 2000 Republican primary. Desperate to stop the popular McCain in South Carolina, Bush operatives began planting rumors that McCain had fathered an illegitimate child who was black. A professor at Bob Jones University even sent an e-mail to "fellow South Carolinians" stating that McCain had "chosen to sire children without marriage." Bush said nothing -- and went on to win. There's an obvious motive for the current slander. The administration is desperately trying to divert attention away from the nearly 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, the 6,000 wounded, the $180 billion price tag for the Iraq War, the $445 billion deficit, the 44 million Americans without health coverage, and the 1.8 million lost private-sector jobs -- among other things. How could the Bush team pull off such an orchestrated diversion? Ask Karl Rove. The original money for this ad campaign came straight from one of the biggest Republican donors in Texas -- who just so happens to be one of Rove's close friends. Like I said, this is all laughably transparent. The American people are too smart to get misled by some politically motivated reinvention of events that took place 36 years ago. They're going to focus on the past three-and-a-half years and the next four years. Don't be surprised when many Republicans choose to put the good of their country ahead of their party affiliation. -- Tom Terez (Columbus, Ohio) This site is not endorsed or paid for by John Kerry, the Kerry Campaign, or any political group. It is maintained and funded by a private citizen and Republican who believes that John Kerry is by far the best candidate to put America back on track. anotherrepublicanforkerry.com