Kerry-Edwards 2004 Issues 'Smear Boat Veterans Newsletter'
8/31/2004 11:38:00 AM
Contact: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, 202-464-2800, both of Kerry-Edwards 2004, Web site:
http://www.johnkerry.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by Kerry-Edwards 2004:
Smear Boat Veterans Newsletter
The Latest on the Failed Efforts to Smear John Kerry's Military Service
August, 31, 2004 -- Volume I, Edition 2
"By refusing to specifically condemn this smear, George W. Bush is insulting the military service not only of John Kerry but all veterans who have served this nation. President Bush could stop this smear right now. Yet he still refuses to heed Senator McCain's call to specifically condemn it," said Kerry campaign spokesman, Chad Clanton.
$40 Million Memory -- Smear Boat Veteran's Fuzzy Memory Clear Up After Receiving Federal Contract From Bush Administration
Web Of Connections Grows Wider: $40 Million Contract From The Bush Administration And A "Swift Shift In Stories" Four days ago, retired naval Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr. seconded accusations made by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth seeking to discredit Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry's record in Vietnam. But since then, Democrats have discovered that Schachte is also a long-standing supporter of President Bush and a lobbyist whose client FastShip Inc. recently won a $40 million grant from the federal government. According to a March 18 legal filing by Schachtes firm, Blank Rome, Schachte was one of the lobbyists working for FastShip on issues such as the effort to win funding for a new marine cargo terminal. On Feb. 2, Philadelphia-based FastShip announced that it would receive $40 million in federal funding for the project. In addition, David Norcross, Schachte's colleague in the Washington office of Blank Rome, is chairman of this week's Republican convention in New York. Records also show that Schachte gave $1,000 to Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns. (Washington Post, 8/30/04)
RNC Delegates Wear Fake Purple Hearts to Convention in an Effort to Smear John Kerry
Bush Republican Delegates Wear 'Fake Purple Hearts' To Smear Kerry. "Convention-goers were handed bandages with purple hearts on them Monday night by a GOP delegate in a swipe at Democratic nominee John Kerry's war record. The bandages were handed out by Morton Blackwell, a longtime GOP activist from Virginia, with the message: 'It was just a self-inflicted scratch, but you see I got a Purple Heart for it.' " (AP, 8/31/04)
WEB OF CONNECTIONS CONTINUES TO GROW: Fake Purple Heart Effort Comes Back to Karl Rove
Much more:
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=35444 ________________________________________
Kerry Press Release: Bush Flip-Flops on Winning the War on Terror
August 31, 2004
BUSH: AGAINST WINNING THE WAR ON TERROR BEFORE HE WAS FOR IT
Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said: “What today showed is that George Bush might be able to read a speech saying we can win the war on terror, but as we saw yesterday, he’s clearly got real doubts about his ability to do so and with good reason.
“This President has gone from mission accomplished to mission miscalculated to mission impossible on the war on terror. We need a leader who knows we can win the war on terror and has a plan to do it. America can do better than a go-it-alone foreign policy that has alienated key allies, leaving U.S. troops bearing the overwhelming burden in Iraq and U.S. taxpayers shouldering the bulk of the cost.”
BUSH ON THE ATTACK BECAUSE HE CAN’T TALK ABOUT HIS RECORD
BUSH DISTORTS KERRY POSITION ON REDEPLOYMENT
Bush Distorts Kerry’s Position. While the Bush campaign continues to distort Kerry’s position, Kerry in fact believes that now would be a dangerous time to pull troops out of nuclear-armed North Korea and further fray our alliances in Europe at a time when we need them more then ever. Bush and Cheney themselves have pointed to the need to keep our troops in the Korean Peninsula.
What Kerry said in early August was: “IF THE DIPLOMACY THAT I BELIEVE CAN BE PUT IN PLACE CAN WORK, I think we can significantly change the deployment of troops, not just there but elsewhere in the world. In the Korean peninsula perhaps, in Europe perhaps.” Unfortunately, with Bush’s failures in Korea and with our alliances around the world, we don’t have the diplomacy right at this point. (This Week, August 1, 2004)
· Bush: “And I'm not -- I strongly believe we need to have a military presence in the Korea Peninsula, not only to keep the peace in Peninsula, but to keep regional stability. And I strongly believe we need to keep a presence in NATO.” (Bush, 10/11/00)
More:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x701765