The "Web of Connections" Between the Kerry Campaign and Dem 527s

Okay, I have vented my spleen to "news"papers from sea to shining sea. Here is what I wrote:

Dear Editor,

The controversy that has arisen in recent days over Sen. Kerry's actions in Vietnam, via the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, has brought to light so much more than the Vets ever intended, and all of it through Sen. Kerry's own actions. His handling of the situation he finds himself in has spoken volumes more than this 200 page book ever could, and clearly demonstrates that he truly is "unfit for command".

To wit:

Zack Exley, the Kerry/Edwards Internet Director, formerly worked for MoveOn.org (a 527 group which has thrown many millions of dollars at discrediting and slandering the President of the United States of America).

George Soros, a billionaire born in Hungary, has donated over 15 million dollars to MoveOn.org and Americans Coming Together, two large 527 organizations working tirelessly to get Kerry elected to the White House. He also has donated the maximum allowable to Sen. Kerry, and to many other Democrat candidates for other public offices.

Jim Jordan, who was Kerry's campaign manager, now works for Media Fund, the largest Democrat shadow organization, as their spokesperson.

Harold Ickes, who was investigated for campaign abuses in the Clinton administration, is working with the Media Fund.

Teresa Heinz Kerry has donated millions of dollars, over the past several years, to the Tides Foundation, a "clearinghouse" for wealthy contributors to donate money to pet causes without their donations being traced back to them. Coincidentally, one of the groups who has received large amounts of cash from the Tides Foundation is a protest group, one which maintains a website advocating marginally legal, and quite dangerous, methods to disrupt the Republican Convention in New York City, including attempting to have Madison Square Garden evacuated for bomb or terror threats.

One would have to be very gullible, perhaps even delusional, to believe that there has been absolutely no collusion between these groups and the Kerry campaign, given their intimate, intricate relationships. However, Sen. Kerry sees fit to make false allegations against the President and his campaign, making accusations of collusion with the Swift Boat Vets, (which have no basis in fact), in order to deflect attention from his dubious history. The victims of Kerry's accusations would be well within their rights to file a lawsuit against him for defamation of character, given the fact that his statements, which were stated as fact, are not true.

In addition to fabricating falsehoods about the Bush campaign, Sen. Kerry has, in the past week, called for the President to order the Vets to cease their rhetoric (which is tantamount to asking him to break the law, because the McCain-Feingold campaign finance laws forbid collaboration between 527s and candidates), he has threatened, via his lawyers, any television station which runs the ads which the vets have purchased air time for, he has called for a book ban, of all things, on the book which one of the Swift Boat Veterans has written, and has called for the publishing company to cease publishing of the book! These requests are in clear violation of the Veterans', the bookstores', the television stations', and the publisher's, First Amendment Rights, but clearly Constitutional Rights are only to be protected, in Kerry's view, if they aren't used to speak negatively about him.

This is not Germany, pre-WWII, this isn't Afghanistan before the defeat of the Taliban, this isn't Iraq under Saddam Hussein, this is America, which has been free for over 200 years, and we, as Americans, are not about to stifle the voices of those who have fought to keep this country free, nor anyone else's voice, because it suits the political ambitions of a senator who has an overblown sense of entitlement. Senator Kerry has demonstrated, unequivocally, that he lacks the "right stuff" to handle difficult situations. This was the first real test of his candidacy, and he failed. We are a country at war with a perilous and crafty enemy, and, if Sen. Kerry can't even deal with his own fellow Veterans with dignity and self-control, how is he ever going to handle Al Quaeda?

Senator Kerry chooses to confront this situation only by repeating his fabrications, in the hopes that if he repeats them enough, and the media lackeys play his little soundbite enough, the public will believe it, and look askance at the President (yet again). He is trying to make himself look like the victim, instead of the prevaricating opportunist that he is. The pity of it is, the media are content to play this little "you lie and I'll swear to it" game for him, and the majority of the American population is blissfully unaware that under the sheep's clothing skulks a most treacherous creature (I shall not call it a wolf, because wolves have grace and dignity, while Sen.Kerry is sorely lacking in both).

I signed the letter and sent it far and wide. There, now I feel a little better!

"Kerry has, in the past week, called for the President to order the Vets to cease their rhetoric (which is tantamount to asking him to break the law, because the McCain-Feingold campaign finance laws forbid collaboration between 527s and candidates), he has threatened, via his lawyers, any television station which runs the ads which the vets have purchased air time for, he has called for a book ban, of all things, on the book which one of the Swift Boat Veterans has written, and has called for the publishing company to cease publishing of the book! These requests are in clear violation of the Veterans', the bookstores', the television stations', and the publisher's, First Amendment Rights, but clearly Constitutional Rights are only to be protected, in Kerry's view, if they aren't used to speak negatively about him."

Excellent letter! It isn't just that Kerry doesn't want people saying negative things about himself, he doesn't want the public to know the truth about himself.

You are so right. Democrats like Kerry, think First Amendment rights are only for themselves.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1065034/posts?page=52#52

To: mabelkitty
Kerry spokeswoman Kelley Benander , confirmed that aides to Kerry, who hired Clinton White House opposition researcher Mike Gehrke last spring, have begun scouring the public backgrounds of Democrats on the White House campaign trail as well as President Bush. ‘We are certainly getting up to speed on the public records of all the candidates in the race, including our own,’ she said. ‘We also thoroughly scrub John Kerry's background to prepare him from attacks from George W. Bush and his right-wing allies.’

Kerry putting `mean Mike' to work; Anita Hill at play in Boston. (the insider).(various; John Kerry hires Mike Gehrke and Anita Hill dating playboy)
Insight on the News, Feb 18, 2003

Insiders expect Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to run one of the meanest presidential campaigns in memory, having just hired Mike Gehrke, chief of "opposition research" at the Clinton White House, to dig up dirt on his opponents.

Research Director
Mike Gehrke
Worked at the DSCC, 2001-2003. Research Director in the Clinton White House, 1999 to Jan. 2001. Worked with AFL-CIO Political Department/Labor '98 program, 1997-99. Research Director for Citizen Action, 1995-97.

Campaign Manager
Jim Jordan
Spokesman for Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee during the 1998 impeachment hearings of President Clinton and for Democrats on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee during the 1997 campaign finance investigation.

Deputy Campaign Manager
Marcus Jadotte
During the Clinton administration he worked in the Department of Labor in the Office of the Deputy Secretary and in Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. In 1998 he served as political director on the MacKay-Dantzler campaign for governor of Florida. In 1996 he was a regional director on the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign in Florida.

Communications Director
David J. Morehouse
During the first term of the Clinton Administration, Morehouse served in a number of senior positions including Director of Strategic Planning in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

Treasurer
Robert Farmer
Farmer gained fame as finance director for Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign. Earlier he raised money for John Anderson's independent campaign in 1980 and John Glenn's 1984 campaign. In 1992 raised money for Bill Clinton's campaign and he then gained the position of U.S. consul general to Bermuda.

Advance Director
Greg Hale
(started Aug. 2003) Prior to joining the campaign Hale was working at consulting in Little Rock. Worked on Clinton/Gore '96 and then in the White House. Graduate of the University of Arkansas. (source:AP)

Senior Strategist
Jill Alper
Coordinated Campaign Director at the DNC, 1994-96. Other campaign experience includes: Michigan State Director for Clinton/Gore in 1992;

State Director
Mario Diaz
Before joining the Kerry campaign, Diaz was a longtime aide to Janet Napolitano. He worked with Napolitano starting in 1993, when President Clinton appointed her U.S. attorney for Arizona.

State Director
Paul Rivera
(started March 2003) Has worked on the campaigns of Carl McCall (2002) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (2000), three Democratic Conventions and the 1996 and 2000 Presidential Elections.

David Wilhelm
Wilhelm is president of Wilhelm & Conlon Public Strategies, founded in 1998. He managed Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, and subsequently served as the chair of the DNC

Angelique Pirozzi served as campaign manager of the Kerry Committee, Sen. Kerry's re-election campaign. Previously, she directed the Democrats' coordinated campaign in Wisconsin in Fall 2000, and she worked on the Clinton/Gore campaign in New Hampshire in 1996.

52 posted on 01/25/2004 7:14:28 PM EST by kcvl

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