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Politics : Proof that John Kerry is Unfit for Command -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (3225)	8/27/2004 2:23:23 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27181

More Hollywood Hate for Kerry to Ignore: Beat 'Madman' Bush Sen. John Kerry keeps pretending that President Bush hasn't already condemned the modestly funded Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's commercial and keeps ignoring the president's challenge to reject all ads from 527 organizations. And now the latest attack ads from Kerry's multimillion-dollar support groups have hit a new extreme. The pro-Kerry outfit MoveOn has teamed with Hollywood heavyweights including Rob Reiner, Matt Damon, Kevin Bacon, Scarlett Johansson, John Sayles, Ed Asner, Margaret Cho and Al Franken to unleash Bush-bashing ads (10, according to the Associated Press; 14, according to USA Today) for TV and the Internet. Story Continues Below 'Madman' Rap video director Benny Boom, who produced the first of the new attack ads to be released, said, "We've got to get George W. Bush out of office, and it's very important that kids understand what a serious condition the world is in with this madman." Among the commercials: An evil white policeman intimidates young black voters. When American workers begin disappearing, the multimillionaire Damon says, "George Bush - it's his job, or yours." What this movie star fails to mention is that his latest film, like most of Hollywood's fodder, was made overseas. Thousands of union jobs have vanished from L.A. so the producers can afford the stars' windfalls of $10 million, $20 million and even $30 million a pic. Actor Donal Logue, reprising the unlikely role of a cab driver he has played on MTV, part of the pro-Democrat media giant Viacom, claims he doesn't benefit from Bush's tax relief. A stewardess forces greedy businessmen to parachute into Iraq. A voiceover from Bacon (whose most convincing movie role was in "Telling Lies in America") whines, "What if the same men who profited from the war were asked to fight it?" Most of the ads end with the phrase "George Bush, he's not on our side." Bush isn't on the side of the pampered elitist fat cats of Malibu and Beverly Hills? And Kerry is? Fascinating! Reality Check Of course, MoveOn has never cared much about accuracy. CNSNews.com reported Aug. 10 that among the attack ads it was considering: One spot repeats yet again the false Democrat claim that Bush "cut educational funding" and "cut veterans benefits." In reality, CNSNews noted, "based on Bush's latest budget, education spending would increase 35.8 percent in just four years, from $42.2 billion in 2001 to $57.3 billion in 2005. Likewise, the Veterans Affairs budget would jump 37.6 percent under his watch." Another ad claims that Bush hasn't funded police departments and that "homeland security amounts to nothing." In reality, "Dating back to his 2003 budget, released months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bush proposed a $3.5 billion boost to aid first responders, which the White House called a '10-fold increase' in federal resources. In Bush's latest budget, he proposes $3.6 billion for first-responder grants and $1.3 billion for state, local and hospital bioterrorism preparedness grants." Yet another video makes the opposite complaint, that Bush is spending too much. In reality, "The ad makes no mention of Kerry's proposals, which one study claims would boost federal spending by $226 billion in the first year of his presidency. The National Taxpayers Union Foundation conducted the analysis, concluding that in five years, Kerry's proposals would result in a $734.6 billion increase in government spending," CNSNews reported. Tinseltown's latest blast of venom could once more backfire on Kerry. Recall that at first he defended the rants of former Slim-Fast shill Whoopi Goldberg and company as "the heart and soul of America," but as the outcry rose he later tried to distance himself from the obscenity-laced hatefest. newsmax.com

To: calgal who wrote (3225)	8/27/2004 2:23:37 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 27181

Kerry Pulls Ad of McCain Smear Complaint NewsMax Wires Friday, Aug. 27, 2004 NEW YORK - President Bush and Sen. John Kerry bowed to the wishes of popular maverick John McCain on Thursday, as the president embraced the Republican senator's legal fight against big-money special interest groups airing negative ads and the Democratic nominee scrapped a commercial that featured McCain. Story Continues Below Their bitter fight over Vietnam-era military service took a compelling new twist as Kerry stood by the central charge in his ad — that Bush has used smear tactics to undercut the Democrat's valorous combat record. "I am absolutely telling you the God's honest truth about what happened and what took place over there," Kerry told supporters in Minnesota. He has been on the defensive since a group financed by Bush supporters, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, aired a television commercial early this month accusing Kerry of exaggerating his wartime experience. Calling the group a front for the Bush campaign, Kerry unveiled an ad this week that features four-year-old footage of McCain accusing Bush of smear tactics in their bitterly contested 2000 GOP primary race. The fierce response reflects concerns inside the Kerry camp that the debate could undercut his signature political theme — as a decorated Vietnam veteran, Kerry argues, he is capable of replacing the incumbent Republican while the nation is at war. It is too early to tell by polls whether the debate has hurt Kerry. Or whether it has exposed Bush, who served stateside in the Texas Air National Guard during the war, to voter backlash. The only obvious winner is McCain, a former Vietnam War hero who emerged from his 2000 defeat as one of the nation's most popular politicians, beloved by independent voters and courted by both presidential candidates. He has welcomed the attention, often instigating it, with an eye toward a possible run for the presidency in 2008. Three weeks ago, the Arizona senator asked Bush to condemn the anti-Kerry ad. This week, he asked Kerry to withdraw the anti-Bush ad. With their actions Thursday, Bush and Kerry satisfied McCain's demands. Announcing that Kerry had yanked his ad, spokesman David Wade said, "It's long past time that Bush also take McCain's advice and do the right thing by putting an end to the smears and lies on John Kerry's service." Bush has criticized all outside group attack ads, including the Swift Boat Veterans group's anti-Kerry commercial. Kerry's campaign insists Bush has essentially endorsed the accusations against Kerry because he has not denounced the ad. McCain sought to take Bush off the hook, suggesting that the president had gone far enough in condemning the accusations. The political reprieve came only after the White House announced that Bush will join forces with McCain in legal action to crack down on political ads aired by outside groups, dubbed "527s" because of the section of the tax code that covers them. Legislative Action "The president said if the court action doesn't work, that he would be willing to pursue legislative action with Sen. McCain on that," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said after Bush called McCain with the news. McClellan did not indicate how quickly Bush would act. Election Day is Nov. 2. McCain, an advocate of campaign finance reform, welcomed the White House embrace and said he would soon press forward with efforts to force Democratic and Republican groups to live within fund-raising limits. Currently, the 527s raise money with few limits under so-called "soft money" rules. McCain suggested, and associates privately confirmed, that he had accepted Bush's statements as proper condemnations of the anti-Kerry ad. "I've said before I would like for the president to specifically condemn that ad, but the president has said John Kerry served honorably and also the president is now committed to acting to try to bring 527s into regulation," McCain told The Associated Press. He said the lawsuit will likely have no impact on the election. Kerry's advisers belittled the White House action, calling it a ploy to gloss over the attacks against their boss. "It's a little ironic that George Bush is now trying to assume the mantle of campaign finance reformer given the fact that he worked so hard to block the McCain-Feingold bill when it came up for a vote," Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said, referring to campaign finance legislation sponsored by McCain and Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin. Kerry running mate John Edwards took a glancing jab at Bush while campaigning in New Mexico, denouncing "the same old false, negative attacks." In Minnesota, Kerry pointed out that the Navy documented his actions 35 years ago, and called the accusations "the lie that's been put out there." While many Democrats want the controversy to go away, Kerry's team plans to keep it alive at least until Bush's convention gets under way here next week. His team is underscoring ties between the anti-Kerry group and the Bush campaign. Republicans say there are similar ties between Kerry's campaign and Democrats 527s. Previewing a line of attack against Kerry at the convention, Republican chairman Ed Gillespie said Kerry "can't have everything both ways" on campaign finance reform, the war in Iraq and other issues. A Los Angeles Times Poll shows Kerry losing a bit of ground since July on questions related to his Vietnam experience, his honesty and his fitness to serve as commander in chief. A CNN-USA Today survey shows that people believe 2-to-1 that Kerry is probably telling the truth about his Vietnam record. But Kerry lost half the support of people who said they would vote for him based on what they learned about his military experience during his convention last month. newsmax.com