Doing the right thing

[Mavdog]

One of the candidates for President has the integrity to speak out against the scurilous attack ads, and it's not George Bush.
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Kerry calls interest group's anti-Bush ad inappropriate
At McCain's request, he faults spot criticizing rival's military service

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – John Kerry on Tuesday condemned a television ad that criticizes President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the Texas Air National Guard, even as prominent veterans linked to the Democratic presidential campaign echoed the commercial's accusations.

Mr. Bush's campaign accused Mr. Kerry of hypocrisy.

Republican Sen. John McCain had called on Mr. Kerry earlier Tuesday to denounce the liberal interest group MoveOn.org's new ad, which accuses Mr. Bush of using family connections to avoid the Vietnam War.

Mr. McCain, a decorated Vietnam veteran, had also called on Mr. Bush two weeks ago to condemn an ad by the interest group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that accused Mr. Kerry of fabricating his Vietnam War record. The MoveOn ad also urges Mr. Bush to condemn the anti-Kerry ad.

The White House has declined to denounce that ad. Mr. Kerry quickly accepted the Arizona senator's challenge concerning the anti-Bush ad.

"I agree with Senator McCain that the ad is inappropriate," Mr. Kerry said in a written statement. "This should be a campaign of issues, not insults."

Hours earlier at a news conference organized by Mr. Kerry's campaign, two veterans, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark and retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, accused Mr. Bush of using family ties to get out of combat.

Mr. Kerry served and fought, said Gen. Clark, a former presidential candidate. "The other man scrambled and used his family's influence to get out of hearing a shot fired in anger."

At the same news conference, Jim Rassmann, who credits Mr. Kerry with saving his life in Vietnam, noted that Mr. Kerry has said Mr. Bush served honorably.

The Kerry campaign did not criticize Gen. Clark and Adm. Turner.

"Those are veterans who earned the right to their opinion," spokeswoman Debra DeShong said. "John Kerry speaks for John Kerry."

Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt said Mr. Kerry can't have it both ways. "It's yet one more example of John Kerry saying one thing and doing another. John Kerry condemns the ad, then John Kerry turns the campaign's top surrogate loose to repeat the baseless charges that are in the ad."

Mr. McCain, in an interview with The Associated Press, called the MoveOn ad "totally inappropriate" and a disservice to members of the National Guard who are "fighting and dying in Iraq."

Asked whether he wanted Mr. Kerry to condemn the ad, Mr. McCain replied, "Yes. It's the same line of scurrilous attack" leveled against Mr. Kerry two weeks ago.

[Drbio]

Subtle difference here....

Moveon.org is a liberal democratic party based organization. Swiftboat vets for truth have both republicans and democrats.


McCains call is a good one, but whereas Kerry can influence the liberal group, Bush really has no control over the Swift boat vets. The emphasis for Moveon.org is clearly to elect a democrat. The Swift Boat vets only want to eliminate a man who they view as a coward from holding the nations most important elected office. The vets know that Kerry backstabbed them and accused them of being traitors and war criminals years ago. They don't want a flip-flopping sellout to be president. That group includes stated repubs and dimocraps.

[LRB]

Kerry is fence sitting on this issue like everything else. He condemns the ads on one hand and then has campaign personnel repeat the same message in the ads on the other hand. Further more Moveon.org is simply trying to smear Bush's name on a obscure issue with few facts that happened 30 years ago and which Bush has not pushed for as a prime reason to vote for him. The Swiftvets have a great deal of facts and are making an issue out of one of the reasons Kerry has proposed that people should vote for him. Further more the issues the Swiftvets bring up while originally occuring 30 some odd years ago, have been cited in most of Kerry's political career by Kerry himself over the past 30 years.

[LRB]

This was posted by Epitome22 in another thread on this subject that was locked for duplication.

Originally posted by: Epitome22
http://www.latimes.com/services/site...ered.intercept


THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Kerry Condemns Anti-Bush Ad
'This should be a campaign of issues, not insults,' the Democrat says after MoveOn attacks president's Air National Guard record.
By Richard Simon
Times Staff Writer

August 18, 2004

WASHINGTON — Sen. John F. Kerry took a cue from Sen. John McCain on Tuesday and denounced a television ad by one of his allies attacking President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.

In the latest twist in an ongoing debate about military credentials, Kerry condemned the new ad by the MoveOn political action committee, even though it was produced in response to an ad questioning Kerry's Vietnam War record.

"This should be a campaign of issues, not insults," Kerry said in a written statement.

Kerry called the ad "inappropriate" after McCain (R-Ariz.), a former Vietnam prisoner of war, criticized the MoveOn commercial. The 30-second ad accuses Bush of using family connections to avoid the Vietnam War.

McCain, who is popular with independents, is campaigning for Bush but has come to Kerry's defense against Republican attacks on the candidate's military record. He recently criticized an anti-Kerry ad that featured Vietnam veterans as "dishonest" and "dishonorable."<snip>

[Chiwas]

"I agree with Senator McCain that the ad is inappropriate," Mr. Kerry said in a written statement. "This should be a campaign of issues, not insults."

Exactly. For both parts.
Nobody wins anything with the negative campaigns.
Well, abstentionism does.

[Mavdog]

reading the attempts to create a difference between Bush not denouncing the ads of the swiftattack vets and Kerry denouncing the ads of moveon.org is really funny.

Sad, but funny.

Hypocrisy runs rampant on the right (Bush) side of the aisle.

[LRB]

Obviously Mavdog can't tell his left from his right. But what else is new.

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: LRB
Obviously Mavdog can't tell his left from his right. But what else is new.

welcome to the LRB world that is right out of Orwell's Animal Farm. ...

[Drbio]

And welcome to the world of Mavdog....where ignorance and blindness run rampant.

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: Drbio
And welcome to the world of Mavdog....where ignorance and blindness run rampant.

duh, there's an absolute certainty of "ignorance and blindness" as it's endemic to your posts.

[Drbio]

More drivel from the forum idiot.


*yawn*

[MavKikiNYC]

Uhm.....when Kerry starts to repudiate things like Michael Moore's film instead of parroting some of the accusations, I might be inclined to take him more seriously.

If not, not.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: MavKikiNYC
Uhm.....when Kerry starts to repudiate things like Michael Moore's film instead of parroting some of the accusations, I might be inclined to take him more seriously.

If not, not.

What after having Moore speak at the DNC, not a chance. So I guess Bush should have the Swiftvets speak at the RNC then?

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: LRB

What after having Moore speak at the DNC, not a chance. So I guess Bush should have the Swiftvets speak at the RNC then?

The Dems worst nightmare incarnate. Can you imagine the national coverage of that? The msm would crap themselves.

[LRB]

Doc I wish the republicans would do it just to piss the dems and MSM off. However the media would probably choose to skip to an unscheduled Kerry campaign speach while the Swiftvets were speaking.