Kerry team, DNC hit Bush on Guard issue

[CatWoman]

By and Rick Klein, Globe Staff | September 10, 2004

NEW ORLEANS -- The Kerry campaign and leading Democrats yesterday launched a new line of attack aimed at President Bush's character, using military veterans and political allies to accuse him of skirting his National Guard service requirements during the Vietnam War and charge that such behavior foreshadowed Bush's "dishonesty" in justifying the invasion of Iraq.


Advisers to Democratic nominee John F. Kerry said they helped craft the battle plan with the Democratic National Committee but were leaving it to the DNC to execute to keep Kerry publicly above the fray and focused on criticizing the incumbent's leadership -- as he did in a speech in New Orleans yesterday where he compared Bush's policies to racist "Jim Crow" laws.

For the second day in a row, the DNC held a conference call with reporters on newly disclosed documents about Bush's service, with Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa and Richard Klass, a retired US Air Force colonel, repeatedly questioning the incumbent's "character" and "honesty."

"If the president will lie about this, will he lie about how we got into Iraq, for example?" Harkin said. "This goes right to the heart of the character and the truthfulness of the current occupant of the White House."

A group of veterans in West Virginia, organized by the DNC, also held a news conference yesterday to challenge Bush's Guard record, and veterans in Pennsylvania and Ohio plan to do the same today. More such events are planned in other battleground states, DNC adviser Howard Wolfson said yesterday. He said criticism will continue almost daily, "at least until Bush himself answers these questions about his service directly."' Last spring, Kerry said that he would not question Bush's decision to serve in the Guard instead of going to Vietnam but that he would challenge the president on whether he had fulfilled his Guard obligations.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/10/kerry_team_dnc_hit_bush_on_guard_issue/

[Catfight]

1. "Stop now what's that sound, everybody knows Bush's is going down!" nt

[lfairban]

16. Hey, not now.

For What It's Worth.

http://www.reasontorock.com/tracks/for_what_its_worth.html

[Pax Argent]

25. Rush (the band) just did a remake of this song

along with a bunch of other good old songs on their Feedback EP. Its definitely worth a listen.

Speaking of which(Getting up to fire up the CD player).....

[frank frankly]

2. awesome.

add this to Rather tonight and Bush may get some questions...

[Nite Owl]

3. Now this is putting

the gloves on! We're off and ready for the fight.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

4. Exactly!

If the documents are bogus, let Bush provide proof that he actually showed up. If he can't do that, then fuck him.

[PartyPooper]

5. Poppy and Babs must be real proud of their son right now.

They can hardly watch tv anymore without hearing and seeing his miserable and fraudulent life being exposed right before their eyes.

I wonder how Poppy's temper and Babs' beautiful mind are holding up?

:D

[CatWoman]

6. they are sneaking into Jenna and Barbara's stash

as we speak :D

[jayctravis]

32. apparently it "kills" her

...everytime Babs hears someone saying vicious mean things things about her widdle dubya, but can't waste a portion of her "beautiful mind" to honor caskets coming home from the war.

What-ever.

[LiberalFighter]

34. Vicious mean things need to continue being said about her dumb baby

[scarletwoman]

7. I'm sorry, but this strikes me as REALLY STUPID!!!!

For cripessakes! Attack bush* for what he's doing NOW! It's absolute IDIOCY to keep rehashing 30+ year-old crap instead of hammering the bush* maladministration on CURRENT POLICY DECISIONS!

Read the blog entry below, and tell me WHY the Kerry campaign can't run on THIS:

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com /

<snip>

Just remember:

-- It wasn't Democrats who dragged the presidency through the mud with a political witch hunt culminating in a bogus impeachment trial, diverting the national interest from serious issues -- like the mounting threat of terrorism -- at a time when the threat was first manifesting itself.

-- It wasn't Democrats who minimized the seriousness of the Al Qaeda threat by dismissing President Clinton's missile strikes on their camps as mere "wagging the dog."

-- It wasn't Democrats who dismissed the warnings of the outgoing Clinton team regarding the need to take Al Qaeda and the larger threat of terrorism seriously, simply because they came from Clinton's team.

-- It wasn't a Democrat who went on vacation for month after receiving initial intelligence warnings about an imminent terrorist threat, and who failed to act on that intelligence in any discernible fashion.

-- It wasn't a Democratic administration that first focused its attentions on Iraq after the 9/11 attacks, only changing to Afghanistan after it became irrevocably clear that Osama bin Laden, and not Saddam Hussein, was responsible.

-- It wasn't a Democratic leadership that then withheld manpower from Afghanistan (almost certainly in anticipation of an Iraq invasion), depending to a large extent on help from local forces, which created an opening for the majority of the Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan -- including Osama bin Laden -- to escape over the Pakistani border.

-- It wasn't a Democratic president who then proceeded to (perhaps intentionally) misread intelligence and mislead the public about the nature of the threat posed by Saddam, successfully portraying him as an essential component of the "war on terror," when the reality both before and after the subsequent invasion was that Hussein played no role whatsoever in the events of 9/11, and had only a secondary and relatively minor role in terrorist activity. (It's worth remembering that a substantial number of the horrifying victims of his brutal regime were radical Islamists.)

-- It wasn't a Democratic administration that so poorly prepared for the post-invasion reality of the forced occupation of Iraq that it created a violent quagmire in which the death toll for American soldiers (not to even mention the thousands of civilians) has now passed 1,000. This quagmire is gaining all the earmarks of an insoluble mess, regardless of who inherits it, and competence and measured judgement -- none of which Bush has displayed -- will be required to deal with it.

-- Nor was it a Democratic president who, by creating the opening for an armed insurgency, has actually fanned the flames of terrorism by creating a massive cauldron for anti-American hatred and an environment rich for swelling the ranks of Islamic radicals.

-- It wasn't, in other words, a Democratic administration that foolishly, through its own arrogance and incompetence, handed Al Qaeda leadership nearly everything it hoped for at nearly every step of the drama: a lax mindset regarding security, an escape through Pakistan, a gift invasion of Iraq that diverted precious resources from the serious work fighting terrorism, a mishandled occupation that provided a groundswell of recruitment.

(go to the link and read the whole piece...)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

GEEZE -- don't the Kerry people have ANY sense?

sw

[democrat in Tallahassee]

9. His lying IS connected to what is happening now. He is a LIAR

now and he was a liar and a dopehead then

[scarletwoman]

15. Yes, WE all know that. But if it's not being actively connected to NOW

and it's not going to convince people. Do you really think that the masses give two hoots about "integrity"? They DON'T. They want to know, "What's in it for ME?"

And the ONLY thing that bush* has got is the meme that "I can keep you safer than Kerry can."

Think about Maslow's hierarchy of needs ( http://web.utk.edu/~gwynne/maslow.HTM ) -- a primal need is survival. That's what bush/cheney are appealing to. You cannot override the survival instinct with appeals to honesty. People will do ANYTHING to survive, truth is an irrelevant luxury in a life/death situation.

What the Kerry campaign needs to hit is the illusion that bushco can make America "safer" -- i.e., that people's personal survival is at less risk under bush* than under the unknown factor of a Kerry administration.

Impugning bush's integrity, as valid an area of criticism as it is, is simply not sufficient. It HAS to be connected with NOW.

sw

[Triana]

19. I read right here on DU that the DNC IS connecting those dots...

...that they have a new ad or some such that will connect bu$hit's past dishonesty with his more recent lies about the economy and Iraq...

So, I believe they do intend to tie it all together, and IMO, it is very relevant that this man's character is so bad - he lies. He lied in the past, and he lied to Americans during the past 3-4 years on a myriad of issues. I believe the DNC intends to put that picture into focus - and I think they need to.

Because it's the Dishonesty and Lies - past, and now, in regards to present issues, that matter.

[kskiska]

26. If he'd lie about National Guard duty…

what ELSE will he lie about? (Golden Oldie from impeachment days.)

[smiley_glad_hands]

10. Goes to character.

Has to be done---and they are hitting him on his record.

[Guaranteed]

12. It worked for the Smear Vets...didn't it? nt

[TankLV]

21. Isn't THAT the "truth"!

We've got to hit this and keep it front and center with all we've got.

I want THIS to go on for months and months.

We've got to play by THEIR rules! Negative attacks WORK - the SB Liars ads proved it. No one can deny this.

To stop know would be admitting they were right and we are wrong.

We've got to drum this into the sheeple's heads till their all sick of it - all the while KNOWING as we already do, what a lying sack of shit bunkerboy and his entire gang of criminals and liars is!

No, this is only the BEGINING!

And we have the TRUTH on our side! BIG DIFFERENCE!

[Politicub]

18. This is tangible proof Bush is a liar

especially to Ma and Pa America. Everyone hates a liar, Scarletwoman.

I don't think most folks have enough of an attention span to comprehend Bush's dismal record. But Bush being proved to be a liar gets to people -- hits them in the gut.

[liberalcanuck]

24. I understand your concern but I don't see how people can't see the

relevancy to what's going on now. We have this war-mongering pResident who proudly struts and preens basking on the deck of a naval ship like he's G.I. Joe or something. How exposing the reality, the truth that this chickenhawk actually did everything he could to shirk NG duty and hides behind the SBVT while they impugn a decorated war-hero, is not relevant is beyond me. To me the hypocrisy is obvious and astoundingly tactless.

[barb162]

28. all of this is important BUT

the swifties attacks worked to destroy credibity of Kerry. Bush has to be outed on what he did in those years to show his character and why he shouldn't be commander in chief.

[Just Me]

8. While "they" make sh*t up,...let's pull ALL their skeletons out!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

They have far more embarassing things to hide!!!

They incited the "character assassination" fight.

Time for REVELATIONS!!!!

Let us give proof to their paranoia,...they cannot escape all that they have left behind *grin*.

Oh,...how reckonings hurt the arrogant.

[readmylips]

11. yea.h...lets's fight those bush lying bastards....

use every means possible....let them prove the lies or whatever comes their way...cream them...cream them...

[HarveyBriggs]

13. Excellent!

Perfect tieing his past lies to current ones.

HB

[David Zephyr]

14. Direct From the DNC & Kerry. No 527's. Direct As It Should Be. I Love It.

No swiftboatjelousy crap.

No 527's.

No subterfuge.

DIRECT FROM THE DNC.

DIRECT FROM KERRY'S TEAM.

THEY HAVE TO RESPOND.

GO KERRY!

[Placebo]

17. Have there been any polls showing this is effecting bush?

if it's not driving his poll numbers down then they should focus their energy on domestic issues which is where bush is really vulnerable.

[TankLV]

22. It's only been - like - 2 minutes. Give it time.

We need to keep this front and center and it WILL have an effect!

It took more than a "couple minutes" for the SV Lies to take hold and take affect - even tho they were proven LIES.

This will take equal time.

Full frontal assault - with everything we've got.

And this is just ONE piece of the puzzle - Kerry can remain above the fray, and stick to issues.

The sheeple only understand the gutter - give it to them both barrels.

[barb162]

27. I'd like to see this stuff run at least 2 more weeks, then run a poll.

and then see what the shrubster's numbers are on who would make the best commander in chief.

[Oilwellian]

20. Kick

This is VERY encouraging! :kick:

[jeanmarc]

23. Hope it only lasts for about 2 weeks. Then the final month, ISSUES!

This is to drive down Bush's personal numbers, but sooner or later we need to get back to the real issues. I think it's the right move right now, but if it lasts longer than two weeks, I'm going to be a bit upset as an armchair pol.

[Dr Fate]

29. The "Bush is a liar" memo is the most important aspect of this.

This talking point needs to stick so that we have it around for the issues too...

[waywest]

30. So...It's not just about the AWOL thing...

We've established that. It's the LYING about it....

[Dr Fate]

31. "Bush LIED about his Guard record, what else has he lied about?"

"WMDs"

"Saddam caused 9/11..."

"Majority of Tax cuts will go to regular folks"

"I have no connections to Kenny-Boy"

"I have no connections to Saudi Royals or Bin Laden family"

"This war is not about oil"

etc, etc

[Merlin]

33. Well this is good news. Let's hope they hit the son of a bitch hard enough

They have to be ruthless to do damage to the punk in chief. They don't have to lie about a thing. Just tell the truth; lots of it; in the accusatory tone of outraged Americans.

[Disturbed]

35. Sell this to "Texans for Truth"

This is an excellent ad. ;)