Posted on 08/05/2004 2:31:25 PM PDT by Grig
HUMAN EVENTS has obtained a copy of a letter which lawyers for the Democratic National Committee and John Kerry have sent to television station managers attempting to suppress the blistering anti-Kerry TV spot created by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and first reported here on HumanEventsOnline.com.
The letter claims the ad is "false" and "libelous" and suggests, in not-so-subtle terms, that TV stations should use their "legal authority" to refuse any requests for advertising airtime, stating that "because your station has this freedom [to refuse the ad], and because it is not a 'use' of your facilities by a clearly identified candidate, your station is responsible for the false and libelous charges made by this sponsor" (emphasis added).
As their first piece of evidence of the ad's supposed lies, the DNC/Kerry lawyers claim that the veterans in the ad "purport to have served on Senator Kerry's SWIFT Boat in Vietnam" but, "in fact, not a single one of the men who pretend to have served with Senator Kerry was actually a crewmate of Senator Kerry's." The problem is that none of these men claimed to have served on Kerry's SWIFT Boat. They simply said they "served with John Kerry" -- and they did.
The letter goes on to make several more misleading statements about the advertisement, in an attempt to protect Kerry's "war hero" record. Read the full text below.
That would be a nice irony.
I think the ad will likely turn some people off. They just keep saying that Kerry lied, but no specifics are given. Moreover, the reference to the Winter Soldier statements and hearings are not very specific and rather vague. I think the ad could have been done in a more sophisticated and less "in your face" way. After all, it is to Kerry's credit that he served, even if what he did afterwards was despicable. Republicans should take the high road, in my opinion.
The defense offered by these lawyers is piss poor. They don't even bother to refute the central allegation that Kerry's wound was self-inflicted. The book already has counterpoints to everything they say in the letter--read it.
Good, lets fight with threatening letters. I think this is going to backfire in the court of public opinion on Kerry-big time. Kerry's people are shockingly stupid when it comes to "managing" a story.
Wonder if these attorneys know who Sandy Burgler is? and I wonder what the connection is to any of the Clinton cases.
I think the donkeys on that cartoon should be changed to hamsters.
You know you've punctured Democrats when they click off the safeties on their Assault Lawyers.
I'm praying they keep this up; it'll keep this issue alive far beyond whatever life span it would have had. Sandy Berger disappeared from the air waves quickly, but Kerry looking like an Oompa Loompa got extended into overtime by their cries of, "NASA leaked it! Dirty trick! Waaaah!"
You know, the DNC is a bunch of idiots. What is to prevent the RNC from doing the same when left wing "non-affiliated" 527c's try to run similar attack ads against President Bush?
bump
And here is the Perkins Coie client list:
http://www.perkinscoie.com/about/clients.cfm
Make it cost 'em.
Swift boats weren't big enough to have doctors on the boat, so of course he wasn't a crewmate. If this was for the first purple heart, the "doctor" who signed off was a hospitalman first class, i.e. a medic. Sorry you don't get a doctor to sign off for a metal fragment the size of a matchstick.
You can tell how important an enemy position is by how vigorously he defends it.
This seems to be the case here. Kerry's entire campaign has been built upon his service in Vietnam. If that service is denigrated by the truth then his campaign is finished.
Regards,
TS
>>> Democrats must be terrified. Otherwise they wouldn't care so much if the ad were obviously untrue.
That's a good spin for this -- but honestly, imagine if some lib group put out ads claiming that the President had lynched some black when he was supposed to be at National Guard duty. Even though it is obviously untrue, you better believe that the President and his lawyers would care and would jump all over anyone who tried to broadcast it.
Lurch and Fluffy are tone deaf.
This smack of coordination in violation of FEC rules.
How specific can you get in 30 second ad? The book is detailed--a whole lot more detailed than Kerry wants you to think. They caught him in some glaring contradiction outside of the medal stuff.
Maybe Kerry would like to show us his medical files to prove it?
I'm re-typing the letter so it will be easier to read. Will post on this thread when done.
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