Swiftboat Veterans afraid to defend own lies
November 21, 2007 | Filed Under War | Leave a Comment
Mr. Pickens, in true form of the leadership of Swift Boat “Veterans for truth” spent an evening in which he defended his John Kerry slander in public. He essentially issued a challenge in front of an American Spectator audience –you know, the “Patriots” that helped President Bush lie to get us into war to murder our children. Pickens said that he would give a million dollars to anyone who would prove any of the allegations against John Kerry as false. If you recall, the Swift Boat liars popped out of obscurity in 2004 to slander John Kerry and effectively help President Bush retain his position of power.
Now, for the drama:
John Kerry gladly accepted the challenge and promised to take the money to give back to VETERANS of the war. T Boone “Mr. Patriot, himself” Pickens took the offer off the table.
Dear Mr. Pickens,
Thank you for your response to my acceptance of your challenge.
I’m grateful that you are prepared to make good on your word and fulfill the offer you made publicly at the American Spectator Dinner in Washington, D.C. on November 6th.
I must remind you, however, that this was and is your “challenge,” not mine. You are, after all, the one who said explicitly at the dinner — in a way that was calculated to challenge any naysayer — that you would give one million dollars “to anyone who could show that anything the SBVT said was false.” (RedState.Com) These were your words — and nowhere did you ever suggest, as you are now trying to, that your challenge referred specifically and exclusively to any advertising by the SBVT.
As you know, the lies of the SBVT were not confined just to their ads; they were a constant barrage of television, radio, Internet, speeches, and forums in which — significantly bankrolled by you — they launched and repeated lie after lie. Your challenge expressly stood behind all of their allegations.
It is disturbing that in reaffirming the challenge you issued, your parsing and backtracking seems eerily reminiscent of the entire approach of the SBVT — say one thing, put out an allegation, then duck and weave, hedge and bob when your words catch up with you. I want to believe that this was not your intent because I am told that you are a man of your word, not “all hat and no cattle.”
Honor and duty, which you purport to defend, demand that you not selectively back away from your original challenge. Your offer clearly said — boldly, unequivocally — to an audience of your friends and supporters — that you would give “a million dollars to anyone who could prove wrong anything the Swiftboat Veterans charged about Kerry.” (AmericanThinker.com) In my letter, that is the offer which I accepted.
I was interested to read in your response that you don’t want to see the SBVT “maligned,” and that you aim “to prevent this important part of American history from being unfairly portrayed.” I accepted your offer precisely because I want to prevent the honorable records of the courageous men who served with me from being maligned by the repeated lies of this organization. I want to see the word “Swiftboat” restored to its original meaning — synonymous with honorable service to country, not political lies aimed to distort and divide. I would hope that your interests should also be in protecting the record of all those who served our country.
As I’ve said to you before, I am prepared to prove the lie and marshal all the evidence, the question is whether you are prepared to fulfill your obligation — no variations, no back pedaling, no retreat, no new bets, no changing the subject.
The only thing remaining now is to set the date for our meeting in an appropriate forum, after which I look forward to you keeping your word and writing a check for one million dollars payable to the Paralyzed Veterans of America so that we can put your money to good work for veterans who have returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sincerely,
John F. Kerry
United States Senator
It is typical, that not even in the interest of “truth” as was the so-called cause of Swift Boat Veterans in 2004, would they stand up and weather the storm. What a bunch of pussies, seriously. If I were a member of the group, I’d leave because if all they are trying to do is ‘keep their reputation in tact’ at this point, they’ve already lost. They are nothing more than a smut peddling interest group that works to undermine soldiers, not honor them.
LOSERS.
Rudy Giuliani is President Bush to the extreme
November 20, 2007 | Filed Under War | Leave a Comment
Does that even sound possible? Could President Bush have a successor that is as dangerous, if not more so, than him? Five years from now, will Americans be talking about how we JUST had the worst President in the history of our nation serve a term in office?
I don’t have a lot of faith in my fellow American voters, but I do have faith in God. I can’t imagine another four years of the brutal regime of governance that Bush has brought to the United States. This country needs to reject the ideals of fascism and turn to liberty. Without liberty, a sense of justice, and a desire for free democracy, our nation is nothing more than World War II Germany, maybe even worse.
We’re not responsible for destroying the lives of millions of Jews, but we are committing atrocities in disturbing numbers and history will not write kindly about this generation. Help alert your friends and families to the dangers of having another neo-conservative puppet in the oval office. To do anything less is a disservice to everything this country stands for and that’s not what YOU are about.
Was “Iraqi Liberation” a fraud?
November 18, 2007 | Filed Under War | Leave a Comment
Is this video a tool of propaganda artists, or are they exposing the true propaganda artists?
Propaganda Artists? You decide.
“the whole war, it’s like an American movie. You know the end, you know the heroes, you know the ‘bad guys’ are going to die.”
You know, it really bothers me that IF the United States (my country) tried to stage this for the media for the purpose of promoting propaganda to support war, they should hire much better ‘directors’ and producers. It’s ridiculous how horrible of a job the media did covering and reporting on the Iraqi liberation ‘movement’. I remember the famous images, and I even went out and bought a news paper when Saddam Hussein was captured. The media has historically been instrumental as a tool for ‘success’ and ‘defeat’ in American wars, and the Iraq War is no different.
if you say “support our troops” then do it
November 17, 2007 | Filed Under News, War | Leave a Comment
Support the troops by protecting their children, support them and bring them home
Anti-War advocates often raise the issue of family and friends who have lost their lives due to illegal Iraq war and Bush administrative policies. Pro-War advocates often counter the anger by calling these anti-war Americans “unpatriotic” or “unAmerican”. In the end, it’s a bickering session by two interests that are forgetting the most important people of all: the children.
We’ve become accustomed to using children as props. Whether it is SCHIP or combating terrorism, children have become the face of “the future” and we often forget just what kind of affect our political sparring is having on the young. It isn’t even the psychological affects that come with such a negative environment in America, it is the War itself and the ramifications of constantly fragmenting families in order to continue the war. The children in the video above had to see their dad taken away more than one time, they expect daddy will never come back home. What does that do to a child if the same problem can severely affect the mind of a person three times or even ten times their age?
acting out against injustice, citizen arrested
November 15, 2007 | Filed Under War | Leave a Comment
It wasn’t all out civil disobedience, but the act by an American citizen below was deemed a threat to the orderly process of the Senate Judiciary committee. Someone screamed “Shame on you” and the protester was from California. This should give you an idea of how pissed off Americans are at our government’s stance on torture and the use of fear tactics and propaganda to destroy American democracy.
“I am ashamed of Diane Feinstein, she has betrayed me, she’s betrayed California and her constituents.”
Waterboarding is torture, says Harry Reid
November 14, 2007 | Filed Under government, News, scandals, War | Leave a Comment
“Any human being would admit anything under those circumstances.”
Harry Reid’s suggests that a person on the verge of death will admit to anything, even when it isn’t true.
This argument is used to support arguments against coercion and duress by law enforcement officials during their investigations. The argument counter to Reid’s assertion, of course is the Jack Bauer scenario. If a terrorist has information that would lead to saving the lives of thousands of people, then would “torture” be acceptable? I’m as liberal as the next guy, and I’d have to say that under a life or death situation, torture does and will happen. We should allow the law to play this out, instead of accepting ‘torture’ as a tactic, deny it under the Constitution as it previously has.
IF the Jack Bauer scenario actually happens, then the agent will likely make a moral judgment, thus, providing a defense in a court of law. What this does is makes sure that we preserve the integrity of our constitution, and continue supporting our “innocent, until proven guilty” system of jurisprudence. To remove torture from the ‘debate’ and insist that it is criminal, as it should be, would remove the heinous activity of torturing individuals and retrieving information under duress from among a laundry list of reasons for foreigners to hate the United States. This would go a long ways in restoring our reputation and significance in the world as a major political and international player.
Reid makes a very important point, historically, the United States has executed and jailed people for committing the crime of water boarding. During the Nuremberg trials, the use of torture was an issue that was not escaped by propaganda and clever political rhetoric. If President Bush were ‘on the other side’ of the Nuremberg debate, he would have surely been hanged for his sponsoring of such illegal activity (if it is proved that he is indeed guilty of promoting torture and terrorism to achieve political ends).
the Nexus of Politics and Terror
November 11, 2007 | Filed Under Elections, government, News, War | Leave a Comment
Politics, particularly on the GOP side has gained a nasty reputation for being propelled by ‘fear-driven’ propaganda. If I hadn’t heard it with my own ears, I might call the claim of ‘fear-driven’ politics a false claim or one based on propaganda itself. However, our President and current GOP leaders who are front-runners in the primary nomination, make no apologies for using the kind of rhetoric that has pinned the GOP in a corner over the Bush years.
What is most fascinating to me, is that they don’t see how detrimental this “fear-mongering” is. While, I recognize that “fear-mongering” is a propaganda driven statement, what they do is frighten Americans into submission. The problem that they seem oblivious to, is that people who have their backs against the walls (un-American liberal pussies) are in a fight or flight situation. If you take a look at the liberal movement right now, they are in fight mode.. they aren’t running away from anything no matter what GOP strategists would have you believe.
In the eyes of most liberals, the GOP is a bigger threat to America than any 3rd world terrorist ever was. They believe, and I to a certain extent, that the far right has harmed our nation far more than Al Qaida did on September 11th. It seems like an extreme and irrational statement to be made and even more difficult to defend, but the current ‘feel’ in America is that the GOP is the party of ‘evil’ and anything or anyone would make for a better candidate than another Bush-clone. Oddly enough, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have done their best impressions of President Bush and are trying to run on the ‘fear-driven’ agenda that has brought the GOP to its knees.
Not this time, my Republican friends, not this time.
James Blake Miller, Marlboro Marine
November 11, 2007 | Filed Under News, War | Leave a Comment
Times photographer Luis Sinco made James Blake Miller an emblem of the war.
The image would change both of their lives and connect them in ways neither imagined.