ADVERTISING: Critics Attack Efforts to Link Bush and Hitler (NY Times' take on this)

NY Times ^ | January 6, 2004 | MICHAEL JANOFSKY

[Pharmboy]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 — It sounded like a fun way to expand participation in this year's presidential election, at least for those opposed to re-electing President Bush. The left-leaning Internet group MoveOn.org sponsored a contest, "Bush in 30 Seconds," inviting people to submit television advertisements about Mr. Bush, with the best to be determined by a vote of visitors to the site.

But two of more than 1,500 submissions have outraged Republicans and leading Jewish groups for comparing Mr. Bush, in profile and policy, to Hitler.

"This is the worst and most vile form of political hate speech," Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in one of several statements he issued. He urged the nine Democrats running for president to repudiate the advertisements.

Wes Boyd, a MoveOn.org founder, fired back, saying Republicans were "deliberately and maliciously" misleading the public by asserting that MoveOn.org had sponsored the advertisements. "None of these was our ad," Mr. Boyd said in a statement. "Nor did their appearance constitute endorsement or sponsorship by MoveOn.org Voter Fund."

On Monday, MoveOn.org said more than 100,000 visitors to the site had selected 15 finalists, none of them the Hitler advertisements. A panel of celebrities and political experts has been asked to pick a winner, which will be televised.

Mr. Boyd conceded that the advertisements were "in poor taste," and said he "deeply regretted" that they had "slipped through."

Mr. Gillespie and Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center criticized MoveOn.org for posting advertisements that showed Hitler morphing into Mr. Bush. One asserted, "What were war crimes in 1945 is foreign policy in 2003."

"Their lack of discretion cheapens the level of political discourse in America." said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

[Pharmboy]

The left-leaning Internet group MoveOn.org sponsored a..."

Left-LEANING? LEANING?

The love affair with Stalin continues...

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[Coop]

Hey, I'm happy with "left-leaning." Before this happened I imagine the Times would have described MoveOn.org as "mainstream."

[Prodigal Son]

"Mr. Boyd conceded that the advertisements were "in poor taste," and said he "deeply regretted" that they had "slipped through."

Slipped through? Yeah right buddy. Take a look at the list of judges for that contest. Some familiar names there. I guess they just slipped in as well. I'm sure we might have seen this ad selected by some of the following if it had been allowed to stay:

http://www.bushin30seconds.org/judges.html

Eddie Vedder
Musician, Activist

Al Franken
Comedian, author and commentator

Janeane Garofalo
Comedian, actor and commentator

Michael Moore
Filmmaker and author

Jessica Lange
Actor, Activist

Michael Stipe
Musician/Film Producer

Michael Mann
Producer, Director, Writer

Moby
Musician

Donna Brazile
Political strategist

James Carville
Political strategist and commentator

Jack Black
Actor, writer, comedian, and musician

Benny Boom
Director/Gorilla Flix, Inc.

Margaret Cho
Comedian

Hector Elizondo
Actor

Stan Greenberg
Pollster/Author

Ted Hope
Producer/Partner/Founder

Mark Pellington
Filmmaker

Tony Shalhoub
Actor/Producer

Russell Simmons
Chairman, CEO Rush Communications

Gus Van Sant
Director, Author

Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Editor, The Nation

[rickmichaels]

He urged the nine Democrats running for president to repudiate the advertisements.

Why ask the Demonrat candidates to repudiate the ad? The ad speaks for itself, as does the Rats' silence about it. As far as I'm concerned, the ad is a noose that the Rats have placed around their neck. Why ask them to remove it?

[Pharmboy]

Sheesh! Quite a list when the editor of The Nation looks like a centrist in that crowd...

[Defendingliberty]

I think "Bush is Tojo" will be the next Democrat battle cry

[Sender]

Exactly. We should urge the 9 Democrats to embrace the ad.

[mewzilla]

LOL. Left-leaning. Moveon.org is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toon, Inc.

[Dutch Boy]

Exactly haow does something "slip through" to be posted on a web page? A disscussion forum is one thing but adding a video clip takes at least minor programming to the page. It takes moving files to the server and publishing the changes. Sounds like a very odd set of accidents needed to occur to let the "slip through" occur.

[Arrowhead1952]

"Their lack of discretion cheapens the level of political discourse in America." said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

As the saying goes, "The first thing you do when you are in a hole, is STOP DIGGING! Let them keep it up.

[Pharmboy]

And the other piece of good news attached to this: it produces another wedge between the rad-lib sect of the demonrat party and the DNC-type Jews within the party. Oh yeah!

[Prodigal Son]

Quite a list when the editor of The Nation looks like a centrist in that crowd...

Yep, all they really needed was the Dixie Chicks and Babs Streisand to round it out.

[OpusatFR]

Best thing to happen to the GOP in years. These dolts are preaching to their choir when they should be attempting to convert the heathen.

I love mailing the site around to liberals who in abject disgust and anger mail it to their liberal friends and so forth.

[Inspectorette]

I'm disappointed about Tony Shalhoub. I liked him.

[Prodigal Son]

Exactly haow does something "slip through" to be posted on a web page?

Exactly. There's no way it just slipped through. If nobody had complained, I have no doubt that video would be among the finalists right now.

[metalboy]

"This is the worst and most vile form of political hate speech," Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said...

Which is why my Grandmother who is a life long democrat said she is voting for Bush, Republican, for the first time in her life come November. "They are siding with the terrorists! Crazy people have taken over my party!" So I say KEEP IT UP!!! Republicans couldn`t get any more help!! And the ultimate exclamation point on that will be when the mouths on these liberal psychos slams to the floor when Bush wins by the biggest landslide in this nations history.

[dts32041]

Michael Mann

Producer, Director, Writer

Say it so, I'll have to throw out my copies of Miami vice, manhunter, and band of the hand.

The humanity the humanity of it all.

[deleuze03]

Awfully silly to compare Hitler and Bush. The former actually served in combat I believe.

[dts32041]

Yeah won the knight's cross as a dispatch runner, got gassed and then went on and gassed approximately 12 million folks.

What most people forget about Hitler was that he followed the eugenics practices that had been written and established by demo rats in the the 10's 20's and 30's.

Remember the current demo rat party was founded on slavery and drug running.