Vietnam vets criticize Kerry in TV ad; others condemn it

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH ^ | Friday, August 06, 2004 | Darrel Rowland

[Ohioan from Florida]

Here's the Columbus version of the anti-Kerry ad coverage. At least Rowland covers it from an Ohio angle.

[gilliam]

Sen. John McCain condemned the ad yesterday, and the Arizona Republican called on President Bush to repudiate it. Bush spokesman Scott Mc-Clellan declined, but did call for an end to ads by all such littleregulated "shadowy" groups operating on the fringes of campaign-finance laws.

It's the Arizona Republic, not the Arizona Republican.

Gee, and the AFP reported yesterday that Bush did repudiate the add. Maybe the Arizona Republican (sic) newspaper should find a different word to use.

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

"The Bush campaign should state clearly that this ad is a disgusting misrepresentation of John Kerry’s honorable service to his country"

Just yesterday, John Kerry related a disgusting misrepresentation of George W Bush's honorable service to his country on September 11, 2001.

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

It's the Arizona Republic, not the Arizona Republican.

By "the Arizona Republican", they are referring to McCain.

BTW, the paper used to be called the Arizona Republican.

[Always Right]

"The Bush campaign should state clearly that this ad is a disgusting misrepresentation of John Kerry’s honorable service to his country," Cull said. "Unfortunately, they have not done so and are only trying to ignore the fact that these ads are malicious and false."

And he knows the ads are false because:

A. Kerry denies the charges
B. Kerry has release records that show otherwise
C. We should not believe a bunch of verterns who served with Kerry
D. Reporters have investigated and found the stories to be false.
E. None of the Above.

[beelzepug]

"It's the Arizona Republic, not the Arizona Republican."

Are you sure this wasn't simply a reference to McCain himself (R. AZ) and not to the newspaper?

[Always Right]

McCain acknowledged to the Associated Press, "It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me,"

McCain did in himself by attacking Christian Conservatives during his campaign. That is the wrong group to piss off if you want to win the GOP nomination. It was a grass-roots effort the beat McCain, not anything Bush did.

[jonno]

Not good enough, said Brendon Cull, communications director for the Ohio Democratic Coordinated Campaign.

"The Kerry campaign should state clearly that Michael Moore's movie is a disgusting misrepresentation of President's Bush's honorable service to his country,"

How it SHOULD read - IMHO

[gilliam]

thanks, I stand corrected.

[buzzsaw6]

Gardner lived in Friendship, a tiny town next to Portsmouth, Ohio, until about age 8, when his family moved to the Lake Erie community of Port Clinton. He also obtained a Purple Heart.

You "obtain" a PH at the army surplus store, your earn one by being wounded incombat. The writer is a dolt.

[BushisTheMan]

Not good enough, said Brendon Cull, communications director for the Ohio Democratic Coordinated Campaign.

It will NEVER be good enough for RATs.

Again, they ignore the real message and go for a side issue of getting Bush to condemn it...as Democrat scum always do.

[Petronski]

That's a pretty even account of the story.

[Starstruck]

Bush should just say "I wasn't there. These men and Kerry were. This is between him and all of them."

[Ohioan from Florida]

I enjoyed this part of the article:

"We had that war won until John Kerry and Hanoi Jane Fonda stuck their nose in it," Gardner said. "He’s a traitor."

Gardner said his criticism is not political.

"If you’d put a good Democrat up there instead of Kerry, I’d probably vote for him, because I don’t agree with everything George Bush has done."

[Ohioan from Florida]

I was a bit surprised at how evenly it was covered, since just about everything around here is slanted to the left. And it was even on the third page!

[ex-snook]

"The General paused. His eagle like eyes swept over the hillside. He said with pride, "There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you WON'T have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, "Well, your Granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana." No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, "Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-Goddamned-Bitch named Georgie Patton!"

All who served in WW II, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait and Iraq did not shovel sh't somewhere.

There is plenty reason to whack Kerry for what he did when he returned. However he was in uniform, he was at the front, he risked his life and he was lucky the near misses didn't get him in the head or blow his limbs off. Criticism for front line service is pretty thin political gruel.

[DaiHuy]

AZ used to be a nice Repbulican state. IT has been invaded by Califorina Socialists and illegals and is slowly becoming another socialist utopia like CA.

[Ohioan from Florida]

To me, the problem comes in that Kerry has been using the picture of these men in his campaign. He knowingly continued to use their picture to show how many were behind him, even though most in that picture disagreed with him. Their names have been tarnished, and I think they have every right to say that John Kerry is NOT telling the truth about the swift boat vets' approval of him. That's the message that I get from it.

It's fine that Kerry went and served in Vietnam. I admire and respect all the veterans who fight in any war. They paid for my freedom. What I object to, as I'm sure they do, is that Kerry is trying to say that these men he served with are behind him, and this is their way of saying that they aren't.

[lstanle]

"Criticism for front line service is pretty thin political gruel."

I want to know if someone seeking by vote to be the Commander-in-Chief has repeatedly lied about his front line service. I thank these Swift Boat Vets for bringing this out.