Email Debunking Help - THEY ARE NOW ATTACKING TERESA

[matcom]

sorry all. i'm at work so could use some help. haven't seen this piece of trash before but maybe some of you have. there are about 60 people that i could nail with a "Reply All" so have at it.

Email below
-------------------

Following is a brief background on Mrs. John Kerry. She hates being
>
> called that, by the way: Maria Teresa Thiersten Simoes-Ferreira Heinz
>
> Kerry. Married Senator Kerry in 1995. She only took his name eighteen
>
> months ago and she is an "interesting" paradox of conflicts.
>
> If you thought John Kerry was scary, he doesn't hold a candle to his
>
> wife! Maria Teresa Thiersten Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry was born in
>
> Mozambique, the daughter of a Portuguese physician, was educated in
>
> Switzerland and South Africa. Fluent in five languages, she was working
>
> as a United Nations interpreter in Geneva in the mid-60's when she met a
>
> "handsome" young American, H. John Heinz, III, who worked at a bank in
>
> Geneva. He told her his family was "in the food business."
>
> They were married in 1966 and returned to Pittsburgh where his family
>
> ran the giant H. J. Heinz food company. He was elected to the US House of
>
> Representatives in 1971, and in 1976 he was elected to the first of
>
> three terms in the United States Senate. A Republican, he wrote a burning
>
> diatribe against some of the causes backed by young House member John
>
> Kerry.
>
> Several years later, in 1991, he was killed when his plane collided with
>
> a Sun Oil Company helicopter over a Philadelphia suburb. The senator,
>
> his pilot and copilot, and both of Sun's helicopter pilots were killed. He
>
> was survived by his wife, Teresa, and their three young sons.
>
> Four years later, having inherited Heinz's $500 million fortune, she
>
> married Senator John Forbes Kerry, the liberal then-junior senator from
>
> Massachusetts. She became a registered Democrat and the process of her
>
> radicalization was set in motion.
>
> Heinz Kerry is not shy about telling people that she required Kerry to
>
> sign a prenuptial agreement before they were married. John Kerry may not
>
> have check writing privileges on the Heinz catsup and pickle fortune,
>
> but he is certainly a willing and uncomplaining beneficiary of it.
>
> A lot of hard-earned money, made through many years of hawking catsup,
>
> mustard, and pickles has fallen into the hands of two people who despise
>
> successful entrepreneurship and who believe in the confiscatory
>
> redistribution of wealth.
>
> So how does Mrs. Heinz Kerry spend John Heinz's money?
>
> Just one example: According to the G2 Bulletin, an online intelligence
>
> newsletter of World Net Daily, in the years between 1995-2001 she gave
>
> more than $4 million to an organization called the Tides Foundation. And
>
> what does the Tides Foundation do with John Heinz's money?
>
> They support numerous antiwar groups, including Ramsey Clark's
>
> International Action Center. Clark has offered to defend Saddam Hussein
>
> when he's tried.
>
> They support the Democratic Justice Fund, a joint venture of the Tides
>
> Foundation and billionaire hate-monger George Soros. The Democratic
>
> Justice Fund seeks to ease restrictions on Muslim immigration from
>
> "terrorist" states.
>
> They support the Council for American-Islamic Relations, whose leaders
>
> are known to have close ties to the terrorist group, Hamas.
>
> They support the National Lawyers Guild, organized as a communist front
>
> during the Cold War era. One of their attorneys, Lynne Stewart, has been
>
> arrested for helping a client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, communicate with
>
> terror cells in Egypt. He is the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World
>
> Trade Center bombing.
>
> They support the "Barrio Warriors," a radical Hispanic group whose
>
> primary goal is to return all of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and
>
> Texas to Mexico.
>
> These are but a few of the radical groups that benefit, through the
>
> anonymity provided by the Tides Foundation, from the generosity of our
>
> would-be first lady, the wealthy widow of Republican senator John Heinz,
>
> and now the wife of the Democratic senator who aspires to be the 44th
>
> President of the United States.
>
> Aiding and supporting our enemies is not good for America, regardless of
>
> your political views.
>
> If voters will open their eyes, educate themselves and see the real
>
> Teresa Heinz Kerry, they will not appreciate her position as ultra rich
>
> fairy godmother of the radical left. They will not want to imagine
>
> her laying her head on a pillow each night inches away from the President of
>
> the United States.
>
> Hopefully they love this country enough to decide that the only way
>
> these two will ever be allowed into the White House is with an engraved
>
> invitation in hand.
>
> Instead of deleting this, pass it on. Let everyone know these people
>
> are unfit to represent this great nation. The uninformed will never hear
>
> the truth from the press, who wants Kerry elected!
>
> Those who buy the Kerry facade, beware what you vote for - - - you may
>
> regret that you got it!

[NMDemDist2]

1. matcom this is an old one, go to snopes for debunker n/t

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

7. I think he needs some assistance composing a reply to all

[meegbear]

2. Go here ...

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/kerrycter.html#heinzkerry

Goto the section:
Krry's Wife Uses Inherited Heinz Millions to Fund Nefarious Causes?

It's pathetic what they're saying, as well as what else they're saying.

Also here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/kerry/tides.asp

[sniffa]

3. aLso

i beLieve (off the top of my head) she was a registered repub when she married john, and stayed that way untiL (2002?)

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

4. "two people who despise successful entrepreneurship

and who believe in the confiscatory redistribution of wealth. " A cheap attempt at calling them communist. Why, they sound like the viet cong.

[ComerPerro]

8. Yeah, and the best part

is that this is coming from supporters of a moronic alcoholic who has never had a successful business venture in his life.

[ozymandius]

5. Here's my respnse to this sham e-mail from awhile ago.

Strike one: this is a verifiable hoax. http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_teresa_heinz_kerry.htm

And the rebuttal:
Comments: With the general election only a few months away, 'tis the season for partisan attacks on presidential candidates — and their wives too, evidently.
The first half of the above article on Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic contender John Kerry and heiress to the Heinz family fortune, accurately recounts some of the salient facts of her biography.

The second half, alleging that Mrs. Kerry has used her vast wealth to support extremist causes — including groups that foster terrorism — through donations to an organization called the Tides Foundation, is false.

While it is a fact that the Heinz Endowments, of which Teresa Heinz Kerry is the chairman, has granted upwards of $8 million through the Tides Center and Tides Foundation since 1994 to fund high school career programs, environmental protection projects and the like in Pennsylvania (see complete list of grants), those funds were not shared by any other causes or organizations connected with Tides, according to administrators.

Heinz Endowments President Maxwell King explains it thus:

First, by legally binding contract, every penny of Heinz’s support to Tides has been explicitly directed to specific projects in Pennsylvania. It cannot legally be redirected and is the exact opposite of fungible.
Second, the Tides Center is a provider of management and administrative services, and we have used it only for those services, not to advance Tides’ grantmaking agenda. Foundations from all across the country-many, like Heinz, with strong centrist agendas-use these services to incubate an array of nonprofit programs. So does the federal government. It is no more accurate to suggest that Heinz supports every one of these programs than it is to suggest that someone who contributes to a specific group through the United Way supports the agenda of every other United Way beneficiary.

Third, the projects we have supported through Tides speak for themselves. They include programs to test the career readiness of area high school students, protect Pittsburgh’s environment and retain young people in our region-hardly an extremist agenda.

Fourth and finally, information about every one of our Tides-related grants is and always has been readily available in our public filings, annual reports and here on our web site. Far from being secretive, we have been consistently open in detailing the nature of our grants to Tides and every other organization we fund.

Strike Two: Then, of course, I had to check Snopes, the urban legend clearing house. They are all over this nonsense.
Claim: Teresa Heinz Kerry donates millions of dollars to fringe political groups through the Tides Foundation.
Status: False.

Example:

And who authored this bullshit: By Paul R. Hollrah; Former STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT NO. 8, OK

Strike Three: http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/kerrycter.html

The most popular versions of this essay go on to cite the G2 Bulletin and NewsMax to back up the author's claims that, in her inherited position of power over the Heinz Family Trust, Heinz Kerry channels "hard-earned money" into questionable causes (such as the International Action Center, Planned Parenthood, Council for Arab-Islamic Relations, Barrio Warriors and others), though the Tides Foundation. The article was, indeed, written by Paul R. Hollrah, former Oklahoma state representative. He offered it as an editorial to several sources, though he is not a regular columnist with any publication. It has been published on many conservative web sites. The folks at Boycott Watch contacted Hollrah, who vouches for his story.. Unfortunately, several e-mail versions have changed significantly from his original, adding unverified facts and comments.

Further, Heinz Endowments President Maxwell King has issued a statement saying that even if Heinz-Kerry wanted to, she would be prohibited by law to divert funds in the manner described. Read King's full statement at Snopes.com and About.com.

[ComerPerro]

6. If the press wants Kerry elected,

They sure have a funny way of showing it.

Its kind of pathetic, really.

Why is it that the only women that the right wing shows any respect to are either psychotic, hateful, slanderous bitches like Annorexic Coulter or Xanax using housewives whose faces are frozen in a combination of stupor, Valium, and Botox?

[Malva Zebrina]

9. I got one of these from a former friend, retired and living in Florida

He had sent me several Repuke e-mails and I asked him to please not send me anymore because I was against Bush and the war from the beginning. End of a friendship that goes back many years after he sent this one.

[matcom]

10. thanks all. should have known to check snopes first

you are all the best :hi:

[comsymp]

11. Got this from my mom a while back- my reply:

Hoo-boy, where to start with this one... mostly garbage- and Snopable, to begin with...responses in bold:



>I know some of you do not like to receive e-mail of this nature (especially those of us who don't like to waste our time on already-debunked propaganda)

, but at a
>time like this we all need to do some research on the people (family
>relationships) (digging for dirt is more like it) we are electing to office Thank you.

>Please forward to as many people as possible! What a
>
>fake, and to say she is a "devout" catholic!
>
#1- You always want to keep an eye on Christians who disparage the religious faith of others... something about judging not~


>Just passing this along... intersesting to say the least!
>
>
>
>BEWARE
>
>" To mention just a few, they support the "Barrio Warriors," a radical
>
>Hispanic group whose primary goal is to return all of Arizona,
>
>California, New Mexico and Texas to Mexico..." but read on, please!
>
>Following is a brief backround on Mrs. John Kerry . She hates
>
>being called that, by the way:
Well, we're off to a good start- after all, what kind of good, Christian, American woman doesn't want to be known as anything beyond an appendage of her husband? Remember the flack Hillary got for calling herself HRC? Take me back to the '50s... and bring me the head of Lucille Ball (I mean, Mrs. Desi Arnaz)!!!


>Maria Teresa Thiersten Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry. (suspicious already- sounds furrin', don't it? And Catholic, to boot- not even a "real" Christian!) Married
>
>Senator Kerry in 1995. She only took his name eighteen months ago and
she
>is an "interesting" paradox of conflicts. see above If you thought John Kerry
was
>scary, he doesn't hold a candle to his wife! If you think John Kerry is "scary" then Teresa is probably the least of your problems.

Maria Teresa Thiersten
>Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry was born in Mozambique, the daughter of a
>Portuguese physician, was educated in Switzerland and South Africa. see, told ya- she's furrin'!
Fluent
>in five languages, she was working as a United Nations interpreter in
Geneva
>in the mid-60's when she met a "handsome" young American, H. John
Heinz,
>III, who worked at a bank in Geneva. He told her his family was "in
the
>food business." we've got 3 here-

1) fluent in 5 languages = intellectual "elite" (remember when "elite" used to be a good thing?),

2) UN = baaad thing- New World Order & black helicopters, never forget that! and

3) she's so unAmerican that she didn't know Heinz!?
>
>They were married in 1966 and returned to Pittsburgh where his family
ran
>the giant H. J. Heinz food company. He was elected to the US House of
>Representatives in 1971, and in 1976 he was elected to the first of
three
>terms in the United States Senate. A Republican, he wrote a burning
diatribe
>against some of the causes backed by young House member John Kerry.)
>
>Several years later, in 1991, he was killed when his plane collided
with a
>Sun Oil Company helicopter over a Philadelphia suburb. The senator, his

>pilot and copilot, and both of Sun's helicopter pilots were killed. He
was
>survived by his wife, Teresa, and their three young sons.
>No evidence has "turned up" that she was responsible... so far.


>Four years later, having inherited Heinz's $500 million fortune, she
married
>Senator John Forbes Kerry, the liberal then-junior senator from
>Massachusetts. She became a registered Democrat and the process of her
>radicalization was set in motion.

1- she and their children were, indeed, her husband's beneficiaries- no big surprise there.

2- she did marry JK in 1995. The morality of a widow remarrying is something each of us has to weigh for ourselves.

3- she changed her party affiliation after the elections of 2002- in part due to her disgust with the way her party maligned Senator Max Cleland, D-GA. Cleland was a triple amputee (left an arm and both legs in VietNam) whose opponent, with help from the Republican Party, ran campaign commercials morphing him into Saddam and challenging his patriotism, based on their twisting of the facts behind a vote he made.
>
>Heinz Kerry is not shy about telling people that she required Kerry to
sign
>a prenuptial agreement before they were married. THK is not shy about much of anything. Is the point here that she is failing to follow Biblical admonishments to submit to her husband? If so, how does it square with the next "point?"

John Kerry may not
have
>check writing privileges on the Heinz catsup and pickle fortune, but he
is
>certainly a willing and uncomplaining beneficiary of it.

Senator Gigolo, now? Good thing THK made him sign that pre-nup!
>
>A lot of hard-earned money, made through many years of hawking catsup,
>mustard, and pickles has fallen into the hands of two people who
despise
>successful entrepreneurship and who believe in the confiscatory
>redistribution of wealth. Bull- prove it.

So how does Mrs. Heinz Kerry spend John
Heinz's
>money?
>
>Just one example:
>
>According to the G2 Bulletin, an online intelligence newsletter of
>WorldNetDaily, in the years between 1995-2001 she gave more than $4
million
>to an organization called the Tides Foundation.

World Net Daily is known in Internet circles (other than FreeRepublic-type rightwing websites) as World NUT Daily, for what it's worth. An Ultra-right cyber-rag with a lower accuracy rate than Matt Drudge, WND is known for regularly posting discredited/debunked garbage. General rule of thumb- if you cite WND in an internet debate, you lose.

And what does the Tides

>Foundation do with John Heinz's money?
>
>They support numerous antiwar groups, including Ramsey Clark's
International
>Action Center. Clark has offered to defend Saddam Hussein when he's
tried.
> Whoops, offering to defend an accused criminal in court? How unAmerican is that!?

>They support the Democratic Justice Fund, a joint venture of the Tides
>Foundation and billionaire hate-monger George Soros. Hate monger = rich guy who funds Democrats. Not to be confused with good, patriotic Americans like RM Scaife, Rupert Murdoch and the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

The Democratic
Justice
>Fund seeks to ease restrictions on Muslim immigration from "terrorist"
>states.
>
>They support the Council for American-Islamic Relations, whose leaders
are
>known to have close ties to the terrorist group, Hamas.
>
>They support the National Lawyers Guild, organized as a communist front

>during the Cold War era. One of their attorneys, Lynne Stewart, has
been
>arrested for helping a client, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, communicate
with
>terror cells in Egypt. I realize that this is a distinction lost on most rightwingers but "arrested" is not synonymous with either "convicted" OR "guilty"- Many Americans have been arrested since The War Against Terror (TWAT) began. Wanna take a guess as to the current conviction rate, or even the %age of those arrests which have resulted in indictments?

He is the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World

>Trade Center bombing.
>
>They support the "Barrio Warriors," a radical Hispanic group whose
primary
>goal is to return all of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to
>Mexico.
>
>These are but a few of the radical groups that benefit, through the
>anonymity provided by the Tides Foundation, from the generosity of our
>would-be first lady, the wealthy widow of Republican senator John
Heinz, and
>now the wife of the Democratic senator who aspires to be the 44th
President
>of the United States.

And as usual, Snopes is your friend. This is yet another Internet scam. From the Snopes debunking, according to Heinz Endowments President Maxwell King (this is the most basic point in rebuttal, IMO):

"First, by legally binding contract, every penny of Heinz’s support to Tides has been explicitly directed to specific projects in Pennsylvania. It cannot legally be redirected and is the exact opposite of fungible." Also see point 4- all their contributions are publicly available- no "anonymity" to be found!

>
>Aiding and supporting our enemies is not good for America, regardless
of
>your political views. If voters will open their eyes, educate
themselves
>and see the real Teresa Heinz Kerry, they will not appreciate her
position
>as ultra rich fairy godmother of the radical left. Ultra rich... thought it was the Democrats who were supposed to be into pushing class warfare... obviously, we need more middle-class multimillionaires like oil tycoons GW Bush and Dick (Go F--- Yourself) Cheney running the show.

They will not want
to
>imagine her laying her head on a pillow each night inches away from the

>President of the United States.
>
>Hopefully they love this country enough to decide that the only way
these
>two will ever be allowed into the White House is with an engraved
invitation
>in hand.
>
>Instead of deleting this, pass it on. Let everyone know these people
are
>unfit to represent this great nation. The uninformed will never hear
the
>truth from the press, who wants Kerry elected!
>
>Those who buy the Kerry facade, beware what you vote for - - - you
>
>may regret that you got it!

If I were a Republican, I'd resent the Hell out of the way the Conservative power structure insults my intelligence by expecting me to swallow this kind of garbage, or the Swift Boat Vets, Ann Coulter, or Fox "News."