This morning I awoke to a headline similar to this: “Bush Campaign Lawyer Tied to Veterans.” My first thought was, “So what?” The veterans asked one of Bush’s lawyers for advice on what to do about John Kerry’s attack dogs.
Benjamin Ginsberg told the New York Times that yes, he’d spoken to the veterans. I could almost hear the air seeping out of the Bush-haters’ partisan balloons. I guess they thought he’d lie like someone else they know. Via the AFP:
“The truth is there are very few lawyers who work in this area … What happened was a month or so ago some decorated Vietnam vets came to me and said: ‘We have an important point of view to enter into the debate. There’s a new law that’s complicated, and we want help complying with the law.’”He added, “I have given them some legal compliance advice.”
A Bush spokesman said there was no connection between the Bush campaign and his Vice President Dick Cheney and independent groups like Swift boat veterans, called 527’s for the section of the tax code that created them.
While I believe he should have used better judgment, I don’t think Ginsberg needed to do this: “Lawyer Advising Vets Quits Bush Campaign.” He said:
“I cannot begin to express my sadness that my legal representations have become a distraction from the critical issues at hand in this election,” Benjamin Ginsberg wrote in a resignation letter to Bush released by the campaign.“I feel I cannot let that continue, so I have decided to resign as national counsel to your campaign to ensure that the giving of legal advice to decorated military veterans, which was entirely within the boundaries of the law, doesn’t distract from the real issues upon which you and the country should be focusing.”
I really hate all this divisiveness between liberals and conservatives. I really do. In the words of a famous philosopher (Rodney King, April 1992), can’t we all just get along?
Side note: Rush Limbaugh was out yesterday and today. Let’s hope he’s still out on Friday so we can hear Walter Williams guest hosting! In his latest column, he has a word or two for you appeaser-types in the audience.
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La Shawn,
It is amazing that the mainstream press jumped on this so quickly, yet they have never said a word about James Sandler, a lawyer who represents both the Democratic National Committee, and Moveon.org.
Nearly an identical situation, but I hear no cries for Sandler’s resignation from representing the DNC. But then, that might look bad for Kerry and we can’t have that now, can we?…
So is the lawyer working for Kerry =and= Americans Coming Together going to resign, too?
It’s all politics, with both sides trying to take the higher ground. I’m sick of the whole thing. I hate that stupid campaign finance law. All I care about is accountability in knowing who is donating, not caps on the amounts. They’re never going to be able to gag somebody like George Soros, so why not let the little guys give all the money they want to a cause they support, too?
It gets to the point where one has to own a newspaper to be allowed what you want to say. Thank goodness for blogs.
I’m sorry, I got my facts wrong. I was referring to the guy Montie mentioned. It’s so easy to get all these groups confused.
meep,
You are so right. There are so many Democrat/liberal 527’s that the all seem to blend together. The Dems have really done their homework on using the 527’s to get the anti-Bush message out. Moveon.org has already spent in excess of $16,000,000 on anti-Bush ads(compared to $185,000 the Swiftboat Vets spent on the first anti-Kerry ad).
Yet, despite all the negative ads put out by all the anti-Bush 527’s, and Michael Moore’s huge propaganda film, the President still had close to a 50% job approval rating!
Kerry is still calling for Bush to “pull” the Swiftboat Vets’ ad, even thought he knows that it is illegal for Bush to do so. Bush expressed yesterday how he wished ALL the 527 groups would desist and let the candidates get down to business. Kerry has yet to even acknowledge the existence of all the Dem/liberal groups’ ads attacking Bush.
I still wonder why Kerry won’t release all of his military records. If HE’S right it would stop the Swiftboat Vets claims cold.Instead he just calls them liars and wants everyone to believe him.
Regarding money in politics, one thing I have not seen mentioned is the reason it is so critical. Money buys airtime- but why is airtime important? It is because too many citizens are too lazy to research things themselves and think for themselves, and they simply accept what they see on TV.
Money in politics is ultimately the fault of the people- not the politicians. And if all politicians are corrupt, it is because they reflect the people electing them.
Conservative blogs, by the way, are a good way to counter money in politics- there’s a case to be made that they helped the few hundred thousand dollars the SwiftVets spent on ads stretch much farther than the massive amount of money the Democrat 527’s have spent on ads so far….
I almost don’t know where to start; first, it is incredibly disingenuous and cynical for Ben Ginsberg to assert that ?I cannot begin to express my sadness that my legal representations have become a distraction from the critical issues at hand in this election.? The entire Swift Boats fiasco was a distraction in itself.
Next, the issue is not 527’s or lack thereof, the issue is (1) the employment of libel and slander to attempt to destroy the credibility of one’s opponent; and (2) the coordination of a campaign with organizations of this tax status, which is illegal. One simply cannot purchase a commercial containing asserting false information as truth. As well, democratic 527’s like Moveon.org were in existence well before the current presidential campaign. The Swift Boat vets were an apparatus created for the sole purpose of attacking Kerry’s credibility, and inverting reality by asserting that a man who enlisted in Vietnam, was injured, and was subsequently awarded medals, is somehow less fit to be a “war president” (whatever in the world that is) than a man who didn’t even bother to show up to National Guard duty.
No matter one’s political leanings, it is the distortions, lies and contempt for the intelligence of the voting populate that is problematic, not the lawful existence of 527’s. In your strive to defend the GOP from any and all incidents of malfeasance, make sure that you don’t turn into a mere apologist for actions which are clearly wrong.
Aisha G.
“I almost don’t know where to start” Sorry I need to borrow that phrase to express how I feel about your post. What does when a particular 527 started up have to do with how they are behaving in this election cycle. MoveOn.org has become one of the Democrats most outspoken smear machines against Bush. When you talk of libel and slander, look at some of the stuff that’s been put out there by the Democrats about Bush.
When you say Bush didn’t show up for National guard duty you are repeating an oft-repeated lie. Bush released all of his records and there is no AWOL time in the records. Kerry has yet to release a thing. If he has nothing to hide then why won’t he do so?
Kerry’s campaign decided early on to try to contrast his military record with Bush. By making it the centerpiece of his campaign he opened Pandora’s box. The veterans I know all remember Kerry most for his testimony in the “Winter Soldier” hearings, and they despise him for it. If he wants to make a big deal of his medals then fine, lets see the records.
It is sooo hypocritical to come home, claim that all your fellow servicemen are WAR CRIMINALS, then CLAIM TO BE ONE YOURSELF, followed years later by “I am a genuine 4 1/2 month war HERO”.
You are absolutely right that it is the distortions, lies and contempt for the intelligence of the voting populate that is the problem, you are just wrong about WHO is spreading the lies.
By the way, do some research on the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth somewhere besides a liberal blog and you might be suprised. 250+ Vietnam Vets can’t all be wrong.
Oops, I take back my takeback. I was right – there is a lawyer shared by both Kerry and ACT:
The campaign of Senator John Kerry shares a lawyer, Robert Bauer, with America Coming Together
I believe someone found that there are three such lawyer links between either Kerry or DNC and one of the liberal 527s. So… when shall we hear about their resignations?
The technical question of whether the Bush campaign’s ties with the Swiftboat Vets are legal or not is irrelevant. The real issue is Bush’s refusal to condemn the lies and distortions of the ads in a meaningful and timely way. He either approves of the ads or is unable to control his people. In either case, he should be held accountable. And with regard to the supposed “illegality” of Bush calling for the pulling of the ads: an official of the FEC just stated that there’s nothing illegal about asking a 527 to “not do something.”
Uh, Drew, Bush has been on the record that he doesn’t approve of any 527s, and he is on the record about honoring Kerry’s service.
Kerry, on the other hand, has trashed Bush’s service, and he has not condemed a single 527 for outright lies and distortions, like equating Bush to Hitler.
Kerry and co want to eat their cake and have it too.
Rush is in Scotland this week……..so you can heart Walter Williams on Friday! Hahaha! It will be a good day!
The whole thing says something about Republicans vs. Democrats. When something even “smells” wrong, the Republicans tend to end the conflict immediately. Democrats tend to take the “wait-and-see” approach.
Thanks for visiting, everyone. I hope you make my blog a regular part of your day!
Thanks for the info, Rose. Williams is so funny, and the way he’s always referring to “Mrs. Williams” is so cool.
Hey:
What does everyone think about John O’neil and his contradictions on Cambodia.
Kerry’s campaign motto:
“Vote for me because I ‘fought bravely’ for four ‘long’ months in a war we lost because of military and political incompetence of the highest order and came back to America and slandered my ‘Band of Brothers’ (aka rapists, murderers, and sadists) and all other soldiers just so I could further my own future political career like any good, proper, uppercrust, elitist, privileged Easterner educated in the best bording schools in Switzerland who used military service as so much resume padding!”
Gotta love that John Kerry! He just may fool enough folks into buying that phony baloney Hollywood-inspired tripe. May heaven help us all should a man of his limited character and integrity ever become our Commander-in-Chief. His lack of moral courage and steely resolve is exactly why he’s the favored candidate of our most dangerous enemies.
“”What does everyone think about John O’neil and his contradictions on Cambodia.”"
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/vietnam/vietnamization/cambodia.aspx
You have to remember a few things like, O’Neil served a “whole” tour, (which started after Kerry’s), and not 4 months. He was serving during the Cambodia incursion of 1970, which began on April 29 and lasted two months. It was official, large, and well-publicized. But Kerry was gone by then.
So it is hardly a contradiction.
Hi LaShawn,
Mark Levin, the conservative lawyer/talk-show-host, who I deeply admire and listen to each weekday evening on WABC Talk Radio, said the same thing about Talk Radio WABC’s morning host, communist/anarchist/terrorist defense attorney Ron Kuby:
“Ron Kuby didn’t resign [from WABC] and he still defends lowlifes.”
I agree with you; I just don’t get why Ginsberg did that.
Don’t dump on John Kerry too much. Down deep he really is quite shallow.
It’s very sad for America when the peace party candidate runs on the theme, “Vote for me; I killed people and my opponent didn’t”.
We need to get government out of politics. The political parties are not part of the governmental structure, are not in the Constitution, and are, in fact, private organizations that freely use public monies. 527s should should be abolished so that truly free politiacl speech as guaranteed in the 1st Amendment can again take flight. American politics has always been dirty as all politics are dirty. There is no way to clean up politics. All attempts have only provided more dirt.
That doesn’t answer my question about his Cambodia statements that contradict each other.
expatise – if you have questions, then you should visit Roger L. Simon’s place and scroll thru the postings, especially the current Viet Nam posting, it’s explained there.
What Aisha fails to realize is that if Kerry was not the candidate, there would be no SBVTs.
This is not about W – it is about Kerry and his Nam and post-war activities. This is THE inter-60s-boomer event which will not die until they all do. This is what defined them.
He is a communist sympathizer, appeaser and traitor. He visited w/the VC in Paris while he was on inactive status in the Naval Reserves.
His 1971 Congressional testimony partially based on people who never were in Nam. Liars. Parts of his testimony read right out of the VC propaganda.
The VC used Kerry’s testimony during torture, that is where the “what he gave up for free” statement comes from. One of those in the ad is a great friend of McCain who was with him in the Hanoi Hilton, even ran his pres campaign in VA(?).
Kerry actively shaped the domestic and world view of our soldiers which continues to this day. He SMEARED them all. I don’t know how old you are, but it was bad here in the 70s if you were a soldier. He was wrong about the VC and over 1m people died. It’s not coincidence that 90% of Vietnamese-Americans are voting for W.
C-Span runs a 1971 debate between O’Neill and Kerry on the Dick Cavett show. Check it out.
My first (and my last) thought was also “so what?”
More interesting would be to track the various advisors, lawyers, et al associated with the Dean campaign. That would provide much more interesting insight into today’s politics. Those involved with his fund raising efforts are especially suspect. They seem to think of the whole business of fund raising on the Internet as being more important as some political game than the reason for which the funds were intended.
And now, of course, their efforts and “what they learned” have moved on to the Kerry campaign, directly or indirectly, or moveon.org, etc. etc. It’s truly amazing how much money these people make whose motives are really to manipulate the electorate with their liberal philosophy being incidental.
Liberal media keeps forgeting it is Kerry that is after the top job, not the Swift Boat Vet’s. There truly is a double-standard with the Dems. Anyone that has served in the Guard and the Reserve, knows that you are allowed up to three excused absences when serving. The Bush being absent for thirty days is not even on the table anymore, and the Dems keep riding this story to Iran and back. Kerry was wrong to defame any of our soldiers when he came back safe and secure, and someone should say something. I can’t believe there are veterans who back him up on this, but bitterness and hatefulness will blind a man. At least Bush is backing the soldiers now, what has Kerry done in the last twenty years. Release your records Senator Kerry, those that have served in the military know that pencil whipping an award is still going on, Senator Kerry was a young lieutenant, the brass had to make him look good. It is kind of strange to get three purple hearts and have no disabilities. Somebody better check the VA hospitals, and asked the real purple heart recipients. Dems will be Dems, kind of strange. Y’all have fun!
To SCSIwuzzy and the rest:
Seems that Bush is a Johnny-come-lately convert to “condemning” 527s. Directly from his official statement upon signing McCain-Feingold (www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020327.html):
“However, the bill does have flaws. Certain provisions present serious constitutional concerns. In particular, H.R. 2356 goes farther than I originally proposed by preventing all individuals, not just unions and corporations, from making donations to political parties in connection with Federal elections.
I believe individual freedom to participate in elections should be expanded, not diminished; and when individual freedoms are restricted, questions arise under the First Amendment.
I also have reservations about the constitutionality of the broad ban on issue advertising, which restrains the speech of a wide variety of groups on issues of public import in the months closest to an election. I expect that the courts will resolve these legitimate legal questions as appropriate under the law.”
In other words, Bush opposed restricting 527s. I think that might be called a flip-flop. Moreover, nothing Bush or his supporters have said goes to the direct question of the specific ads in question. Talk about having one’s cake and eating it — he never condemns the ads, his supporters, friends and employees pay for and support the group who makes them, he then makes some insincere and empty noises about “all 527s” and how Kerry “ought to proud of his service” and reaps whatever benefits he can from the repeated airings, both paid and free on newscasts. Kerry, in contrast, directly stated that he opposed the specific Move-on ad that questioned Bush’s National Guard “service.” And give it up already about the Bush/Hitler claim — as everyone with an ounce of brains should know, the ad that contained the statement was one of 100s that were submitted by an individual in a Move-on contest. It was never aired, was only available briefly on the web-site and was promptly removed.
Drew,
From the get go, the Bush campaign and Bush himself have said they honor Kerry’s service, and will not attack his record. Which is more than Kerry has done in return. This is not a recent change. Never try to present facts unless they are indeed facts.
Second, long before the swifites ran their comercial, Bush has said that he thinks the 527s are a flawed concept. Maybe that’s because he has been hit over the head since M-F went into law by a bunch of 527s. That much I’ll grant.
However, until Kerry condems some of the shenanigans over at ACT or Move-on, he is on shaky ground with regards to this issue.
As for Bush-Hiler, there were two ads, and they only came down when word got out that they were there, and people pitched a fit.
The main ad in question didn’t really come down, it was just moved to a different place on the site. Until Drudge found it in July????
And we can’t forget the snarky apology when they were busted.
Anyone w/an ounce of brains knows the ads should have never gotten as far as they did.
Look at the timeline, Drew.
Americans were screaming for the incumbent protection act. They got what they wanted. This is what happens when you don’t keep it simple, just raising the limits which were set in 1974 and adapting to the web.
Sign the 180, John.
If anyone wants to know about the dem cash flow, Opensecrets.org or tacitus’s 8/23 posting. He did his homework.
Bush has now raised the ante by asking Kerry to join him in condemning the activities of all 527s. Will it happen? Not a snowball’s chance. Not when nine of the top ten 527s are either anti-Bush, pro-Democrat or pro-Kerry. The “liberal eight” have collected over $113 million so far, 718 times more cash raised than the Swiftvets ($158,000) over the same period. Three of the top ten are heavily funded by George Soros, who had strange opinions on how to deal with 9/11:
“Bush has now raised the ante by asking Kerry to join him in condemning the activities of all 527s. ”
I don’t think kerry will join on bush’s flip flops. He signed CFR saying it was too restrictive. Now he thinks not restrictive enough? I think not.
I apologize if this information has already been posted, but here is some additional info on Kerry’s ties to liberal 527’s.
Taken from http://www.mediaresearch.org/. I believe this was actually a segment on ABC World News.
–
Moveon.org’s former organizing director now helps run the Kerry campaign’s Web site. Moveon.org gets legal advice from Joe Sandler, who also works for the Democratic National Committee, which works directly with the Kerry campaign. The Bush campaign claims illegal coordination between the Kerry campaign and not only Moveon.org, but liberal independent groups, America Coming Together, or A.C.T., and its partner, the Media Fund. Harold Ickes advises both A.C.T. and the Democratic National Committee. Attorney Bob Bauer gives legal advice to A.C.T. and gets paid by the DNC for advice he gives to the Kerry campaign. Bill Knapp made TV ads for the Media Fund and now makes them for the Kerry campaign. Even former Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan, who left the campaign late last year, now helps run both A.C.T. and the Media Fund.”
Kerry’s Lie is the sand that Political Correctness is built on top of, and the Leftist Press has been enabling it.
Leftists claim “moral superiority” based on Kerry Lies. This is the unspoken heart of the issue. See
http://tomgrey.motime.com/1093544824#329796
I guess the white noise of fear and anger prevents Republicans and their supporters from hearing facts. First,though you’re all falling it, the issue is not 527s — its the specifics of particular ads and whether or not a presidential candidate will promptly and fully disavow them. Second, you haven’t answered the Bush flip/flop question. He didn’t oppose 527s until the table were turned and the Republican usual financial advantage was undercut. Third, the Bush/Hitler ad were two submissions from independent individuals or groups of people among over 1,500 ads submitted in the Move-on contest. They were in no way endorsed, funded, promoted or publicized by anyone remotely connected with Kerry, the Democrats or Move-on and were promptly removed (so exactly where on the web-site was it moved to? And where is this “fact” from?) and public apologies were issued. In fact, it was the Bush campaign that publicized and broadcast it on its web-site. Had you dared to look at the contest, you would know that one would have to search for hours to even find the ads.
But the real point here is that this is just another example of Bush and his supporters firing off irrelevant weapons of mass distraction to divert attention from the massive failures and incompetency of this administration, whether it be the incredible shrinking surplus and balooning deficit, the first record of job loss during a presidential term since Herbert Hoover, non-existent or completely inept planning for post-war Iraq, increased numbers of Americans without health insurance, increased numbers of Americans in poverty, stagnant or falling wages and income, substantial increases in income inequality, failures to take any actions that might have prevented 9/11 such as adding air marshalls after being warned that airplanes were targetted for terrorist operations (and no, I’m not arguing that Bush knew or should have known that bin-Laden was going to attack the WTC and the Pentagon), failure to take actions that would have prevented the easily foreseeable abuse and torture at Abu-Gharaib, failure to take actions that would have prevented the easily forseeable looting and pillaging that took place in Iraq after we achieved “mission accomplished,” the failure to capture or kill bin-Laden, the returning chaos in Afghanistan, etc.
Where is the “accountability” that Republicans are so fond of touting? And what exactly are the accomplishments of this administration? It appears that the only one is that we haven’t yet been hit by another terrorist attack.
Drew, Nice talking points.
Anyway, the usual republican funding advantage you mention is just a bit of a myth. Most of W’s money, for instance, comes from the small individual contributors, spiced with a few rich contributions. Gore and Kerry get most of theirs from the millionaire donors.
Republican’s may be the party that see’s the wealth of the nation as being the property of the people, not the government, but that doesn’t make it soley the party of the wealthy.
And as for your facts… hyperbole and nothing more. The job loss you are kvetching about began in 2000, and was on the horizon in ‘99.
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