From the 2001 book “Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential,” anyone who could read was privy to the way Karl Rove’s brain works, amorally and analytically to only one end: Win an election by any tactic necessary regardless of how it might affect the citizenry .
The bubbling along story about Kerry’s war record finally popped to the top of the media pile on August 20th when, in a carefully researched story entitled “Friendly Fire: The Birth of an Anti-Kerry Ad”, located on the top left side of page one of the NY Times, Rove is finally and definitively caught with his fingerprints all over this vicious, and frankly stupid, attempt to discredit the military record of a combat veteran, at the same time his candidate is refusing to disclose his record.
From the Times article: “A series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and Bush’s chief political aide, Karl Rove."
Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family - one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove's, the other a trustee of the foundation for Mr. Bush's father's presidential library. A Texas publicist who once helped prepare Mr. Bush's father for his debate when he was running for vice president provided them with strategic advice. And the group's television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis in an oversized tank helmet when he and Mr. Bush's father faced off in the 1988 presidential election.
The strategy the veterans devised would ultimately paint John Kerry the war hero as John Kerry the "baby killer" and the fabricator of the events that resulted in his war medals. But on close examination, the accounts of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' prove to be riddled with inconsistencies. In many cases, material offered as proof by these veterans is undercut by official Navy records and the men's own statements.
Several of those now declaring Mr. Kerry "unfit" had lavished praise on him, some as recently as last year.
The Times story goes on to report that “In an unpublished interview in March 2003 with Mr. Kerry's authorized biographer, Douglas Brinkley, provided by Mr. Brinkley to The New York Times, Roy F. Hoffmann, a retired rear admiral and a leader of the group, allowed that he had disagreed with Mr. Kerry's antiwar positions but said, "I am not going to say anything negative about him." He added, "He's a good man." Subsequently, “In a profile of the candidate that ran in The Boston Globe in June 2003, Mr. Hoffmann approvingly recalled the actions that led to Mr. Kerry's Silver Star: "It took guts, and I admire that."
However, Kerry’s anti war stance before Congress in1971 which included criticism of tactics Hoffman advocated apparently festered with Hoffman and the chance to hit Kerry arose when Hoffman linked up with Lonsdale and the links to Rove via Rove’s impeccable and powerful Texas connections. The Times story traces in exhaustive detail the entire connection from the hatred and the money for the ads, etc.
While Rove of course admits knowing some of these ad advocates, in typical fashion he claims that he had not spoken to one of them who put up much of the money “in over a year”“.
Hopefully, all Americans will read this account as it is central to understanding how this Administration plays politics.
This is not just another dirty trick, this is lying at its worst and manipulation of facts at its best. Fortunately, we have a top quality news gathering team that exposed it. This should lead to an understanding by most Americans of how earlier dirty tricks are part of a pattern of behavior used to discredit other opponents and to an understanding of the enormous influence such covert activities can have on our country and its future leadership. Could be Mr. Rove has been involved in one dirty trick too many.
Donald A. Collins
Washington Dispatch
The bubbling along story about Kerry’s war record finally popped to the top of the media pile on August 20th when, in a carefully researched story entitled “Friendly Fire: The Birth of an Anti-Kerry Ad”, located on the top left side of page one of the NY Times, Rove is finally and definitively caught with his fingerprints all over this vicious, and frankly stupid, attempt to discredit the military record of a combat veteran, at the same time his candidate is refusing to disclose his record.
From the Times article: “A series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and Bush’s chief political aide, Karl Rove."
Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family - one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove's, the other a trustee of the foundation for Mr. Bush's father's presidential library. A Texas publicist who once helped prepare Mr. Bush's father for his debate when he was running for vice president provided them with strategic advice. And the group's television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis in an oversized tank helmet when he and Mr. Bush's father faced off in the 1988 presidential election.
The strategy the veterans devised would ultimately paint John Kerry the war hero as John Kerry the "baby killer" and the fabricator of the events that resulted in his war medals. But on close examination, the accounts of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' prove to be riddled with inconsistencies. In many cases, material offered as proof by these veterans is undercut by official Navy records and the men's own statements.
Several of those now declaring Mr. Kerry "unfit" had lavished praise on him, some as recently as last year.
The Times story goes on to report that “In an unpublished interview in March 2003 with Mr. Kerry's authorized biographer, Douglas Brinkley, provided by Mr. Brinkley to The New York Times, Roy F. Hoffmann, a retired rear admiral and a leader of the group, allowed that he had disagreed with Mr. Kerry's antiwar positions but said, "I am not going to say anything negative about him." He added, "He's a good man." Subsequently, “In a profile of the candidate that ran in The Boston Globe in June 2003, Mr. Hoffmann approvingly recalled the actions that led to Mr. Kerry's Silver Star: "It took guts, and I admire that."
However, Kerry’s anti war stance before Congress in1971 which included criticism of tactics Hoffman advocated apparently festered with Hoffman and the chance to hit Kerry arose when Hoffman linked up with Lonsdale and the links to Rove via Rove’s impeccable and powerful Texas connections. The Times story traces in exhaustive detail the entire connection from the hatred and the money for the ads, etc.
While Rove of course admits knowing some of these ad advocates, in typical fashion he claims that he had not spoken to one of them who put up much of the money “in over a year”“.
Hopefully, all Americans will read this account as it is central to understanding how this Administration plays politics.
This is not just another dirty trick, this is lying at its worst and manipulation of facts at its best. Fortunately, we have a top quality news gathering team that exposed it. This should lead to an understanding by most Americans of how earlier dirty tricks are part of a pattern of behavior used to discredit other opponents and to an understanding of the enormous influence such covert activities can have on our country and its future leadership. Could be Mr. Rove has been involved in one dirty trick too many.
Donald A. Collins
Washington Dispatch
