Jeff Seemann campaign buys ad at dKos website (after Kos called Fallujah victims "mercenaries")

The Jeff Seemann for Congress campaign recently learned of the controversy brewing regarding www.dailykos.com

Blogs like Daily Kos are some of the best byproducts of the country we live in....a country that cherishes its' right to speak freely. Weblogs and other independent forms of expression are extremely important today because they allow for everyone’s voice to be heard.

We were saddened to hear that three [now four--xm] advertisers pulled their ads on the site because of the remarks posted on the blog. The comments may be controversial, but they are just as relevant. The ability to allow comments like those read on Daily Kos is a testament to the virtues this country was founded on, especially the right to free speech.

Our campaign has decided that because of the recent events we will step in and advertise on www.dailykos.com. We have made this decision for two reasons:

1) We firmly believe in the First Amendment and everyone's right to say whatever he or she chooses on their own website.

2) We refuse to allow our campaign to be bullied by the right wing like they bullied Kos' previous advertisers.

We entered this campaign for Congress based on courage and the desire to stand up to the Republicans who are destroying our country with huge deficits, unjustified wars, and a blatant disregard for Americans and the challenges they face in their daily lives.

We understand that the decision to launch this advertising campaign will attract attention, both positive and negative. We will make no statement regarding the actual content of Kos' controversial statement, but we will always stand up for his right to dissent.

Furthermore, we are campaigning to return this country to a Democratic majority in Congress and we will not allow our message to be written or altered by our opposition.

What Seemann leaves off his website, after proclaiming support for Kos's right

to free speech (which no one has denied), is Kos's actual remarks. They were:

Let the people see what war is like. This isn't an Xbox game. There are real repercussions to Bush's folly.
That said, I feel nothing over the death of merceneries [sic]. They aren't in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.

He tried to hide what he said at first by editing the post, and he has since put them back up on his web site, but in a different place (in the comments section, instead of as a stand-alone post; he is trying to deceive people into thinking he said that as a comment few people would read rather than as a post on the front page of his web site). He has not retracted the comments nor apologized. DO NOT bother freeping Kos--sending hate mail is lame. My point in posting this has nothing to do with Kos, and everything to do with this Seemann fellow.

Seemann wants money from Kos's readers, and he wants to stand up for Kos's views, but he doesn't actually want to admit that he supports those views, or even tell the people who visit his web site what those views are. DO NOT bother freeping Seemann either--he would probably like nothing more than to receive hate mail, and he's obviously immune to logic (so non-hateful mail is not going to accomplish anything, either).

There is a difference between supporting someone's right to say something, and associating yourself with what they said (implicitly endorsing it) by advertising on their web site! Nobody is actually trying to shut Kos down or silence him. This is not a matter of "free speech," it is a matter of a congressional candidate endorsing the view that the murder of American citizens in Iraq, who wereworking to provide security for food convoys, is not at all important; they are not worth caring about. Is that the sort of man you want in Congress? Throw these comments back in Seemann's face, when election time gets nearer.

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg	Freepers/Avg	Monthlies
8	Illinois	485.00	10	48.50			338.00	20

"Our campaign has decided that because of the recent events we will step in and advertise on www.dailykos.com. We firmly believe in the First Amendment and everyone's right to say whatever he or she chooses on their own website."

Surely then, he has also purchased advertising on the Web site of the Klu Klux Klan.

it is a matter of a congressional candidate endorsing the view that the murder of American citizens in Iraq, [that] they are not worth caring about. Is that the sort of man you want in Congress?

Not just murder mind you, but the desecration of their corpses. Any US politician (or citizen for that matter) who offers aide and comfort to the enemy in time of war, should be tried for sedition. And stating that these four men "got what they deserved" is doing just that.

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