I’ve decided to respond directly to someone who left comments on yesterday’s post. Jon is apparently a Kerry supporter judging from his comments, so I’ll respond openly and publicly for the world to see:

Jon’s comments were:

John Kerry personally denounced both the “Hitler” ad and the recent MoveOn.org ad which questions Bush’s service. In fact, MoveOn.org pulled the “Hitler” ad from its website almost immediately, didn’t it? To say that they solicited it may be true insofar as they wanted people from across the country to submit their ads to the site, but I’m pretty positive they didn’t ask anyone for that specific ad.So far I haven’t heard Pres. Bush condemn either of the Swift Boat Vet ads, and I very much doubt he will. This leaves the impression that he’s perfectly happy having John Kerry’s war service questioned, contrary to his public statements that he and his people will never question that service.Using this as an excuse to attack 527s *in general* is not an answer to the question of how Mr. Bush feels about SBVFT’s two ads, despite it being all the Republican mouthpieces can say when asked direct questions about how Mr. Bush feels.

Let’s go point by point.

1. John Kerry personally denounced both the “Hitler” ad and the recent MoveOn.org ad which questions Bush’s service.

Actually, let me help you here. John Kerry’s campaign criticized the Bush campaign for running a Hitler ad, apparently failing to realize the Bush campaign was simply replaying the Moveon.org ad. Kerry’s “denouncing” had nothing to do with Moveon.org’s use of the ad and everything to do with the fact his campaign thought it was a Bush creation. Sure his spokesman said it was wrong for any campaign to use the Hitler images, but the entire campaign was eerily silent when Moveon.org originally hosted the ad.

2. In fact, MoveOn.org pulled the “Hitler” ad from its website almost immediately, didn’t it? To say that they solicited it may be true insofar as they wanted people from across the country to submit their ads to the site, but I’m pretty positive they didn’t ask anyone for that specific ad.

Do you think Bush solicited the specific Swiftboat ads? If that’s your standard, you better be prepared to show proof Bush actively solicited “that specific ad.”

You claim MoveOn.org pulled the Hitler ad “almost immediately”….but you don’t clarify “almost immediately” after what? It certainly wasn’t “almost immediately” after it was submitted, posted and hosted on their site. According to Wes Boyd, MoveOn.org’s founder, referring to the TWO Hitler ads, “They were voted down by our members and the public, who reviewed the ads and submitted nearly 3 million critiques in the process of choosing the 15 finalist entries.” That’s at least 3 million viewers of the ad, as there were probably many who reviewed them and didn’t even post critiques. They accomplished what they wanted and that was to show the world, via the Web, these videos. If you think hosting them on a website is less effective than running them on television, you might want to revisit the statistics detailing the audience size of each medium.

In fact, as late as July 12, 2004, the Hitler video was still accessible on MoveOn.org’s website. So please explain again what you mean by “almost immediately”.

3. So far I haven’t heard Pres. Bush condemn either of the Swift Boat Vet ads, and I very much doubt he will.

Bush has given his statement on the 527 groups and their ads. He said, “…what I think we ought to do is not have them on the air.” Do you require some sort of Executive Order, sworn deposition, blood sample or three eyewitnesses to corroborate his statement?

UPDATE: President Bush is denouncing ads that question John Kerry’s Vietnam war record — and all other attack ads by outside groups as well. … Bush says Kerry served honorably in Vietnam. … And he says the anti-Kerry ad — plus all others by ostensibly independent groups — are “bad for the system.”

4. This leaves the impression that he’s perfectly happy having John Kerry’s war service questioned, contrary to his public statements that he and his people will never question that service.

Wait, wait, wait. His “public statements that he and his people will never question [Kerry’s] service”??? If he made public statements that he and his people will never question Kerry’s service (and in fact, has made even more public statements calling Kerry’s service noble and honorable) then what “impression” are you talking about?

So, despite Bush condemning all 527 group ads, Bush calling Kerry’s service honorable and noble, Bush saying he and his campaign will never question Kerry’s service, you still claim he’s trying to leave some impression that he’s happy Kerry’s service is being questioned. What a leap of logic.

5. Using this as an excuse to attack 527s *in general* is not an answer to the question of how Mr. Bush feels about SBVFT’s two ads, despite it being all the Republican mouthpieces can say when asked direct questions about how Mr. Bush feels.

FYI, it’s President Bush, not Mister Bush. If he deplores ALL 527 ads, then that necessarily includes those of the Swiftboat vets. Unless you want to argue their 527 status.

As for political mouthpieces, let’s review a few:

Terry McAullife, DNC Chariman - “I look forward to that debate, when John Kerry, a war hero with a chest full of medals, is standing next to George Bush, a man who was AWOL in the Alabama National Guard.”

John Kerry - “The issue here is, as I have heard it raised, is was he present and active in Alabama at the time he was supposed to be … just because you get an honorable discharge does not in fact answer that question”

Sure sounds like they still want the question of Bush’s service to be front and center. Those who own multiple multimillion dollar glass houses….

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