Bush Campaign Criticized for Borrowing Nazi Images From MoveOn.org Ad

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 6/30/04 | Shannon Augustus

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry is criticizing President Bush for featuring Nazi images in an ad on his official reelection campaign website, but the images in question come from an ad featured on the website of liberal advocacy group.

Phil Singer, spokesman for the Kerry campaign, said using Nazi images is "simply wrong"" by any campaign, politician or party. He said it's not only insensitive but diminishes Bush's credibility as president.

"The fact that George Bush thinks it's appropriate to use images of Adolf Hitler in his campaign raises serious questions about his fitness to spend another four years in the White House," said Singer in a statement.

"Adolf Hitler slaughtered millions of innocent people and has no place in a campaign that is supposed to be about the future and hope of this nation," added Singer.

"The President's use of these images during a month that evoked the memory of World War II is remarkably insensitive to the sacrifices of the millions of people who lost their lives during Hitler's reign of terror," he said.

The Anti-Defamation League also expressed disappointment with the Bush campaign's use of the Nazi images.

"Using images of Hitler and terminology from the Nazi regime in campaign attacks is offensive and demeaning to the memory of the six million and others who died in the Holocaust," said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the ADL, in a press release.

But this is not the first time the intermingling of Nazi images and politics were found on a website.

Earlier this year, Moveon.org organized an ad contest, and one of the ads that were submitted and posted on the website for judging portrayed President George Bush as Adolf Hitler. The winner of the contest would win air time during the president's 2004 state of the union address.

A spokesman for the Bush campaign told CNSNews.com the images on their website serve a different purpose than that of Moveon.org.

"It is a web-video that we sent to our supporters so they can see examples of the kind of hateful and vitriolic rhetoric that we have seen from John Kerry's surrogates," said Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel.

"We are simply showing our supporters what the president's opponents have had to say about him and comparing that kind of hateful language to the president's positive optimistic vision," he added.

The ad begins with the words, "The following video contains remarks made by and images from ads sponsored by Kerry supporters. John Kerry has denounced our use of these ads attacking the President. He has not denounced liberal supporters like Al Gore, George Soros, and many others who have made speeches comparing the President to Adolf Hitler."

The ad continues with the words: "The Faces of John Kerry's Democratic Party - The Coalition of the Wild-Eyed." Former Vice President Al Gore is shown yelling, "How dare they drag the good name of the United States of America through the mud of Saddam Hussein's torture prison."

The video then shows the words: "What were war crimes in 1945 - foreign policy in 2003, sponsored by Moveon.org." That is followed by a collage of video featuring various liberals.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is featured saying, "I want my country back," followed by filmmaker Michael Moore saying, "We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons." Then Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt is shown saying, "This president is a miserable failure."

The words "God told me to strike at al-Qaida and I struck them" are shown over top of a picture of Adolf Hitler while Hitler is heard speaking in German. The picture of Hitler disappears and is replaced by a picture of Bush, while the words "...and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did," are centered on the screen. That portion of the video is clearly marked "images from a MoveOn.org ad."

The ad continues with footage of Gore yelling, "He betrayed this country. He played on our fears." Then Kerry is shown, saying "Today ... George Bush will lay off your camel, tax your shovel, kick your [bleep] and tell you there is no Promised Land."

The ad concludes with the words: "This is not a time for pessimism and rage..." Then a picture of Bush is featured, with the words: "It's a time for optimism, steady leadership, and progress."

Both parties have been advised by the Anti-Defamation League to refrain from using the Nazi images.

"After a proliferation of references to Hitler and the Nazis began appearing in the wind-up to the Presidential election season, we called on the Democratic and Republican parties to refrain from adopting Nazi imagery as a political attack tool," said Foxman in a statement.

"We had hoped then that both parties had heard our concerns. For us, this is neither a Democratic nor a Republican issue, but rather a matter of respecting the feelings of those who could be offended by such images, including Jewish Holocaust survivors and their families."

See Earlier Story:
RNC Takes Moveon.org to Task Over Bush/Hitler Ads (Jan. 5, 2004)

E-mail a news tip to Shannon Augustus.

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.

[Petronski]

All the Bush ad does is quote the moveon.org ad.

[Semper Paratus]

"Mr. Bush does not own the Nazi Flag!"

[RightthinkinAmerican]

Right for them, wrong for us.

[My2Cents]

Perfect! The Kerry camp has fallen into the Bush-Cheney trap! Had they simply ignored the ad, it would have faded away. But by complaining about the ad, they continue to draw people's attention to it, and the fact that the Hitler images were invented by MoveOn as a ploy against Bush. The Kerry camp gets no points for smarts.

[RWR8189]

We Agree, It's Disgusting (Bush/Cheney webvideo "Coalition of the Wild-eyed")
Bush Cheney '04 Campaign Email | June 26, 2004

Posted on 06/26/2004 2:47:44 AM CDT by RWR8189

 

 

Dear FReeper,

On Thursday, the campaign launched a web video titled Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed.  The video featured Democrats who support John Kerry making negative and baseless attacks against the President.  Interspersed in the video were segments of two ads that appeared on a website sponsored by MoveOn.org - a group campaigning for Kerry - in January.

On Friday night, John Kerry's campaign denounced our use of these ads, and called that use "disgusting."

The Kerry campaign says, "The use of Adolf Hitler by any campaign, politician or party is simply wrong."

We agree.  These ads, like much of the hate-filled, angry rhetoric of Kerry's coalition of the Wild-eyed, are disgusting.

• Where was John Kerry's disgust when he hired Zack Exley - the man responsible for encouraging the production of these ads as part of a MoveOn contest - to run the Kerry campaign's internet operation?
• Where was John Kerry's sense of outrage when Al Gore, just yesterday afternoon, compared the Bush Administration to the Nazis saying, "The Administration works closely with a network of 'rapid response' digital Brown Shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors for 'undermining support for our troops.'"
• Where was John Kerry's anger when Al Gore in May spoke of "Bush's Gulag"?
• Why has John Kerry not denounced billionaire and Democrat Party donor George Soros for comparing the Bush Administration to Nazis. Soros stated, "When I hear Bush say, 'You're either with us or against us,' it reminds me of the Germans. It conjures up memories of Nazi slogans on the walls, Der Feind Hort mit ('The enemy is listening')."
• Why has Kerry not spoken out against filmmaker Michael Moore who last October compared the Patriot Act to Mein Kampf.  "The Patriot Act is the first step. 'Mein Kampf' - 'Mein Kampf' was written long before Hitler came to power."

We created this web video to show the depths to which these Kerry supporters will sink to win in November.

Is this the Democratic Party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt who reassured his countrymen we have nothing to fear but fear itself?

No.  This is John Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed, who have nothing to offer but fear-mongering.

Sincerely,

Ken Mehlman
Campaign Manager

[muawiyah]

It really is conceivable that John Kerry and his evil minions are so distracted by inconsequential minutiae that they really were unaware that their friends at Moveon.Org published this stuff.

Guy like that'd end up with Hillary Clinton as a running "mate".

She just said she's going to take away some of her stuff ~ like she's everybody's mother or something.

The woman falls asleep at funerals, and the Dems want her as VP?

[My2Cents]

"Adolf Hitler slaughtered millions of innocent people...

This statement was for the benefit of much of the Democrat Party base who never heard of Adolph Hitler.

[Blue_Ridge_Mtn_Geek]

This whine is exactly like the man who murdered his father and then appealed for mercy from the judge on the grounds that he was an orphan.

The kerrybots throw "nazi" language and image mudballs at the Bush administration and campaign in a variety of ways, and then are "Shocked, shocked!" when Bush advertisements point this out.

Of course the Anti-Defamation League, a thoroughly kerrybot outfit, tries to make the "moral equivalence" argument work here too.

What slimeballs!

[Darksheare]

"The Kerry campaign, said using Nazi images is "simply wrong"" by any campaign, politician or party. He said it's not only insensitive but diminishes Bush's credibility as president."

SOoo, why doesn't teh Kerry Campaign back off of their use of such stupid actions?
After all, the Bush ad is merely quoting the Lib'rals own ads..

[El Gato]

Guy like that'd end up with Hillary Clinton as a running "mate".

And then they end up like Vince Foster.

[Bonaparte]

"Both parties have been advised by the Anti-Defamation League to refrain from using the Nazi images."

The ADL is an organization that has been successfully sued in court for falsely calling others "anti-Semites." They are in no position to give anybody advice on the use of Hitler's name, voice or image, and they are definitely not the "spokesman" for all Jews or even for all the Jews "and others" who died in the nazi holocaust.

[RetroSexual]

Actually, the most disturbing thing about this ad to me is that it appears to have been pulled by the Bush campaign. I do not see it on the website although I did view it a couple of days ago...maybe it was moved?

I hope I'm wrong. It should be prominent on the site. The only way we're going to beat the leftists if we stand our ground. They were wrong to use the Hitler imagery and we have every right to call them on it. We will lose this election if we don't show any backbone every time some whiny lib complains about our message.

[Alia]

Oh, fercryinoutloud: This, from the Anti-Defamation League? OH PULEEZE!!!! Anyone with an ounce of adulthood (reasonable, sensible adulthood) doesn't slam perp and victims alike in one fell swoop, as the ADL has. ADL is grandstanding. If they were really concerned about this issue; they'd have flat out civilly suggested the Democrats just knock it off. And issued a warning to Repubs to not follow the ugly example set by Dem.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Right On Brother!!!!

[finnman69]

I noticed they pulled the ad.

[orionblamblam]

It's apparetnly there, but I can't get the damend thing to play. It's one of those oh-so-cute webpages with the video built-in, rather than downloadable. Anybody know how to download the video so I can watch it?

[marlon]

It's really even quite a bit more simple than that. You see Kerry was for using Adolph Hitler in ads before he was against it. There now the world can get on with its Bush bashing.

[Ichneumon]

SOoo, why doesn't teh Kerry Campaign back off of their use of such stupid actions? After all, the Bush ad is merely quoting the Lib'rals own ads..

If I may adopt a Will Rogers saying, "If the liberals promise to stop telling lies about us, we'll stop telling the truth about them."