Great letter, Julie ! Thanks.Here is another one I had on my desktop. I just uploaded it to my website for this thread ...
Posted on 03/13/2004 7:16:03 AM PST by ex-Texan
"Outraged 9-11 Victims" Tied to Kerry Campaign
"September 11 Families Say Bush Campaign Treading on the Dead . . ."
So reads the headline. It makes one think that Bush has enraged every member of every family who lost someone on September 11. It gives the idea that Bush has crossed the line and disrespected the victims of our nation's tragedy. . . . . . . then you read "the rest of the story."
The article has quotes from some women like Rita Lasar, who lost her brother. Rita says, "Ground Zero is a sacred site . . . find some other way to run a campaign without stepping on the bodies of our dead." In passing it mentions that Rita is a steering committee member of the group, September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.
Then another article quotes Colleen Kelly as saying, "It's absolutely inappropriate . . . There are certain memories and certain images that I consider sacred." Colleen Kelly leads the group, September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.
Now just reading these articles leaves the average person with the feeling that these women would have no political agenda, they're simply mourning victims of a national tragedy who are voicing their heartfelt, personal feelings in reaction to a few ads supporting President Bush in the Presidential campaign. But let's take a closer look:
Peaceful Tomorrows:
Organized primarily by families of victims, Peaceful Tomorrows seeks to open up a public dialogue about appropriate alternative responses to the September 11 tragedies. Efforts will be made to raise awareness of the complex issues involved in responding to terrorism and influence the US policy towards more effective, democratically-based responses to terrorism in both domestic and foreign policy.
That is the description of the group as presented on a list of projects sponsored by the Tides Center of Pennsylvania
. But who is the Tides Center? Known as the Tides Center for Pennsylvania, formerly the Tides Center for Western Pennsylvania, it is none other than a creation of the Tides Foundation and Center, headquartered in San Francisco, and two Pennsylvania-based foundations -- the Vira Heinz Endowment and the Howard Heinz Endowment-- chaired by Teresa Heinz Kerry, heir to the Heinz food company fortune and wife of Democrat presidential contender Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
That's right - - these poor outraged victims are simply pawns in the political workings of the Democrat Party.
Tides works like this: When a high-profile donor wants to give money to a group with an extreme agenda but doesn't want its fingerprints on the donation, it simply gives the money to The Tides Foundation in the form of a "donor- advised donation." Tides then passes that money on to the desired recipient, masking the real source of the cash. As anti-war activist Drummond Pike (who set up the Tides Foundation in 1976 for the express purpose of keeping donors' identities unknown) told the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a publication for the nonprofit world, "Anonymity is very important to most of the people we work with."
And, the amount of "hidden money" handled by the Tides Foundation is considerable. Since its founding, the relatively little-known foundation has made over $300 million in grants. In 2002 it amassed assets of $139 million and had an income of $59.3 million. Between 1995 and 2001, $4.3 million of that money came from the Howard Heinz Endowment. In 2002, it and the Vira Heinz Endowment blessed The Tides Center, a San Francisco spin-off of the Tides Foundation, with another $190,000 while the two endowments gave $1.6 million to the new Tides Center for Western Pennsylvania.
If all this movement of money between the Tides Foundation, Tides Center, two Heinz Endowments and Pittsburgh's new Tides Center for Western Pennsylvania has you shaking your head, let's talk about your money. You, the taxpayer.
Nearly $8 million in taxpayer money flowed into the Tides Center in the form of federal grants made by eight different agencies between 1997 and 2001. They include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy. Does this mean your tax dollars also are going to fund the Tides Center for Western Pennsylvania, a creation of the Howard Heinz Endowment, which in 2001 was worth a breathtaking $788.6 million in 2001? With the Tides Center for a partner, we will likely never know.
(Excerpt) Read more at newspundit.net ...
Thanks for this, it will provide me with additional ammo in conversations with a politically challenged dumbocrap.
Kennedy will "drive" the submarine.
Great letter, Julie ! Thanks.Here is another one I had on my desktop. I just uploaded it to my website for this thread ...
Dear Editor:
Democrats have complained that the recent Republican TV Ads are politicizing the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, during his 1944 reelection campaign, used lapel buttons stating: "We are going to Win this War and Win the Peace that Follows". Another of his campaign buttons said "Remember Pearl Harbor" and a poster of Uncle Sam urged FDR to "Stay and Finish the Job". Was FDR's reelection campaign 'politicizing' the Pearl Harbor attack or actually reminding voters of his record?
It has been revealed that the "outrage" expressed against President Bush's ads was manufactured by a group called "September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows". This group is a splinter of the Tides Center, which receives its funding from the Vira Heinz Endowment and the Howard Heinz Endowment-- chaired by Teresa Heinz Kerry, heir to the Heinz food company fortune and none other than the wife of Democrat Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Now there is real exploitation of 9/11 for political purposes.
Democrats don't want Americans to remember 9/11, the result of the Clinton Administration's negligence, because it reminds voters that their party is weak on national security issues. The tragic events in Madrid, Spain on 3/11 demonstrate that the world is in constant danger of terrorist attacks. Al Qaeda continues to plot against our nation. Sen. John Kerry thinks the threat is “exaggerated” and stated so on January 30 of this year. Perhaps Sen. Kerry should take a trip to Madrid.
Since 9/11, President Bush has displayed the courage, determination and strong leadership, which inspired Americans to recover and to respond to terrorism with decisive action. Democrats are trying to declare the tragedy of 9/11 "out of bounds" for political reasons, hoping we won't remember how President Bush rose to meet that challenge. His actions since 9/11 have shown that he has what it takes to lead America in these perilous times and he has earned my vote to 'Stay and Finish the Job'.
Sincerely,
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