NYT: President Urges Outside Groups to Halt All Ads (new info!)

[grytpype]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/24/politics/campaign/24swift.html?hp

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 23 - President Bush said on Monday that political advertisements run by a broad swath of independent groups should be stopped, including a television advertisement attacking Senator John Kerry's war record. But the White House quickly moved to insist that Mr. Bush had not meant in any way to single out the advertisement run by veterans opposed to Mr. Kerry.

Mr. Bush put his remarks about the advertisement by the Swift boat group in the context of his previous calls for a ban on advertisements from third-party groups known as 527's, using large, unlimited donations. Only when pressed by reporters whether he specifically meant the commercial from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, did he say "all of them.''

"I don't think we ought to have 527's,'' Mr. Bush said, referring to independent political groups that are running advertisements on both sides of the political spectrum. "I can't be more plain about it and I wish - I hope my opponents join me in saying - condemning these activities of 527's. I think they are bad for the system.''

His press secretary, Scott McClellan, said Mr. Bush had not intended to single out the Swift boat advertisement as one that should be stopped.

So now Bush is explicitly NOT condemning the Kerry ad. Mistake. He should have kept it ambiguous for as long as possible.

[librechik]

1. release the hounds!

what an evil, lowlife cad Bush is. This move allows us to attack at will, right?

[Cha]

2. bush thinks it's helping him..

why should he do the honorable thing and condemn it?

bush hasn't done an honorable thing in his life..why should he start now?

[0007]

17. ............ junior and his friends had Robin Loweman get an abortion.

[catzies]

3. But, once his side was FOR the "free speech" behind these in 1st place!

Mitch McConnell, I'm looking at you. :eyes:

[Career Prole]

23. Yeah, but that's a patriotic flip-flop

[young_at_heart]

4. McCain had the proper response

McCain's response was immediate and let us know his revulsion. It's obvious Bush is not at all unhappy with the ad.

[Gman]

5. I almost took Bush seriously until

he said the words "I think..." That was a dead give away he was told what to say because we all know he doesn't think. Bush's sincerity and credibility takes another hit.

[grytpype]

6. Josh Marshall will be very happy.

He's been keeping his eye on that ball for the entire time!

[Born Free]

7. keep it up

force the coward bush to stand up and stop hiding behind others..

[aquart]

8. Tell him to put it on a ribbon and wear it on his chest.

[Virginian]

9. Different words, same message. Bush wants MoveOn.org to leave him alone.

n/t

[Virginian]

10. Dup

n/t

[drdtroit]

11. Now that he's had the most vile commercials

running for weeks. Fuck you GWB!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

12. Memo to Yahoo News: Bush DID NOT single out the Swift ad!

yet look at the top 2 most viewed stories:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index&cid=1776

[ninkasi]

14. Apparently, some reporters...

took a course in fiction/fantasy writing instead of a course in journalism. Why tell the truth in delivering the news, and let all those hours spent learning creative fiction writing go to waste? It's so much easier to just make it up as you go along.

[Jawja]

21. MSNBC has a

misleading headline on their front page as well:

"Bush: Vets should halt anti-Kerry ads"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

This is misleading, at best. It's a damn lie. That's not what he said. Clearly Big Media is covering for *, because he won't do the right thing.

ON EDIT, my email to MSNBC.com:

"Why do you have a misleading statement as a headline on the home page of MSNBC.com? I am referring to the link to the 527 ads story that says, "Bush: Vets should halt anti-Kerry ads."

As I regularly visit MSNBC.com for my daily news, I am very disappointed to see that your organization is peddling the untruth that George W. Bush specifically condemned the "Swift Boat Veterens for 'Truth'" smear and asked for it to be taken down. He did NOT.

So, If a reader sees the headline but doesn't click on the link to get the REAL story, the reader is left with the impression that George W. Bush finally condemned the smear against the heroism and courage of John Kerry. He did NOT.

Your lead-in on the home page of your website is a LIE. Please correct it."

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

30. Wow, the first three paragraphs are even more misleading

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush on Monday criticized a commercial that accused John Kerry of inflating his own Vietnam War record, more than a week after the ad stopped running, and said broadcast attacks by outside groups have no place in the race for the White House.

“I think they’re bad for the system,” added Bush, who had ignored calls to condemn the ad while it was on the air.

Democrats criticized the president’s remarks at the same time they worked to limit the political damage from the ad, which they denounce as a smear sanctioned by Bush and his high command.


Granted it does get better after this beginning, but if you only read the first three paragraphs you are definitely mislead. They make it sound like Bush finally condemns the ad and says that they are bad for the system and the Democrats criticize that. Neither are true. Bush doesn't condemn the ad and that is what the Democrats are criticizing.

[nolabels]

13. Calling George, Hello George..........can you hear me George?

There are no outsiders George, we are all insiders George, we are your base :evilgrin:

[deacon]

15. So he admitted he was BS'ing- n/t

[EST]

16. Okay, everybody,

we heard it from the president. Lets sit down and shut up. Send no more money to move-on. Nobody needs us to help out or hear from.

Well, George, you ain't my president. Furthermore, thanks to all us little people, soon you ain't gonna be anybody's president. I can't type---I'm so mad at this bastard.

[ChrisK]

18. He is doing what he always does

and thats bait and switch.

He says one thing and does another, just look at "No child left behind"..he is for it but cuts there funding, veterans and there benefits, says he is for helping them then has millions cut from there funding, his tax cuts, he says are there to help ALL Americans but seems to neglect to mention that 75 to 80% really only help the upper 1%, "I'm a war President"..."I want to be a peace President".

The man is gutless when it comes to being strong on an issue unless its religion because he knows that he has to pretend that he is a man of god or he will loose that base, which is one of his strongest groups...which sadly doesn't say much for them in my opinion.

What seems to be getting under his skin is the fact that 527's like Move On are, for the most part, unstoppable and that to him is bad because he really doesn't want to attack them head-on because it will look like he is worried what there saying is sticking and it will start to add some validity to what there saying...and for him thats not good...He can't control them in some way and that is driving him crazy.

[Jazzgirl]

19. Very well put ChrisK and welcome to DU!

As far as controlling the 527's, as long as they are on his side they're okay. SWL's (swift boat liars) have real strong ties to KKKarl Rove and are doing exactly as they've been told. *shrub just hates groups like Moveon because they don't represent repukes!

[goclark]

28. I'm sending MoveOn more money

MoveOn tells the truth and doesn't give up!

[truthisfreedom]

20. can a waffle balance on one edge?

not if it can't ride a bike or sit on a couch without screwing up it's face.

[Bucky]

22. Bush: "Citizens speaking their mind 'are bad for the system'.''

True, depending on which system you're talking about

[BiggJawn]

24. "There oughta be LIMITS on Freedom..."-GW Bush

Of COURSE he's against groups like Moveon-dot-org.

[truthisfreedom]

25. you see how he works. he's PROVING that he's right by polluting the

airwaves with lies about Kerry, then complaining that there should be "limits on freedom." this whole "527" thing is just another way of saying "AMERICA IS TOO DARNED FREE. SEE, THEY HATE OUR FREEDOM! WE HAVE TOO MUCH... THAT'S WHY!"

it's now tuesday the 24th of August, 2004, and the whole debate about the 527 ads has completely disappeared from Drudgereport and most of the news.google.com articles. surprised? they turn off and on the news at will.

[BiggJawn]

27. You're right, yesterday it was "All Slime Barge all the time"

Today, a only few items about Chimpy beseeching the 527 to "be nice" (STFU, in other words) Now we have "Breaking News" about a posible settlement in the "mosque siege"...

Just as fast as somebody says a story "has legs", somebody out there in Editorland cuts those "legs" off at the knees.

[goclark]

29. Did he actually say there should be "limits on freedom"

I see it in quotes but I can't believe my eyes-they just woke up. :)

Is he really saying that "there should be limits on freedom?"
No, you are kidding,right??

How can the leader of the free world say that at anytime?

[Supersedeas]

26. When Edwards called him out, Bush hides behind ambiguities

So the moment of truth has come and gone, and the man who was supposed to return integrity to the White House hides behind ambiguities, when John Edwards called him out.

Edwards 1, GW Bush 0

The mainstream media needs to expose the President's position on Campaign finance?

When the bills were in Congress, the President was no pushing the issue.
When the final bill was hammered out, and McCain and others pointed out the loopholes, the President was not responsive.
In fact, the Republican Party challenged the Constitutionality of McCain-Feingold.

Now, holier than thou (again), the President is claiming that he thought he had solved the problem by "signing" McCain-Feingold. As if he was a leading advocate of campaign finance reform--total bunk, and that too needs to be exposed.

More hypocritical than that is the Freeps position that the Dems are chilling the First Amendment with their attack upon the Swift Boat ads--one wonders what kind of logical acrobatics the people go through when confronted by the President's stance against all 527's.

Of course, for some validity and integrity of belief have nothing to do with logic.

Long live cognitive dissonance Freeps.
Integrity dismissed.

[MaryBear]

31. Obviously, Bush is hurt by

the MoveOn ads (and Michael Moore's films, too), and wants them to go away! But he can't bring himself to denounce ads that support him, full of lies and misunderstandings or not.

[Zorra]

32. OK. After Kerry wins in November, we'll go to a public campaign finance

system, ironclad and loophole free.

No problem, George. We'll end 527 campaign ads after the election, and next year we'll pass a campaign finance legislation that will be a republican's worst nightmare. You asked for it, and you're gonna get it. Something like this, only much stricter:

Senator Paul Wellstone’s Speech on Clean Money
Clean Elections Legislation
S. 719, April 5, 2001

By Mr. WELLSTONE (for himself, Mr. Kerry, Mrs. Clinton, and Ms. Cantwell):
S . 719 . A bill to amend Federal election law to provide for clean elections funded by clean money; to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, the Senate this week took a historic step toward fairer elections. I was proud to join a solid majority of my colleagues in voting for the McCain-Feingold bill. However, passage of that bill is not the end of the reform debate, but hopefully merely a beginning.

It is clear to me that we need to go still further to reform our elections comprehensively, and for that reason I rise today along with Senators KERRY, CLINTON and CANTWELL to re-introduce ``Clean Money, Clean Elections'' campaign finance reform legislation. Debates about campaign finance reform should be debates about who is at the table and how to level the playing field. Looking back at the two weeks of debate on McCain-Feingold from this perspective highlights the importance of and also the severe limitations of the bill. I say importance of the bill, because if you believe that reform of our federal elections is essential for the reasons I believe, restoring the centrality of one person, one vote, then you need to get soft money out of the system since it allows too much political power to flow from too few. I say severe limitations of the bill because even if we ban soft money and sham issue ads, we will still have too much money in American politics. And, the wealthy investors will still have an all too prominent role in our elections.

Fundamentally, we need to go beyond legislation that merely seeks to patch a badly broken system. The McCain-Feingold legislation seeks to stop a leak here, and block a loophole there. It does not eliminate private, special interest money flowing to candidates and parties. The Clean Money, Clean Elections legislation that I am reintroducing today will fix this problem--it will reduce the costs of campaigns and provide public funds to eliminate the dependence on wealthy investors entirely. Hence the Clean Money, Clean Elections legislation will truly level the playing field for all candidates and ensure fair elections.

http://www.publicampaign.org/congress/s719-107wellstone.htm

[plcdude]

33. Someone raise the point

that these organizations are protected by free speech and that unless or until the speech is hateful, slanderous, or fraudulent the elected President of the United States (which he is not)should be defending their right to speak rather than limiting or wanting to be destroyed. Where is government 101? Where is an informed press?