GOP complaints over Democrat ad draws more traffic

[Robbien]

By EDWARD EPSTEIN


California Rep. Nancy Pelosi and House Republican leaders are exchanging verbal blasts over an Internet ad produced by Pelosi's Democratic House campaign committee that shows the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers killed in Iraq.

Republicans, sensing an opportunity to rally their conservative base in the midterm election-year campaign, said they were outraged and called on Democrats to pull the ad, which was posted July 2 on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Web site. Refusing to back down, Pelosi scoffed at the criticism, saying the Republicans are "in denial of the consequences of their actions in Iraq."

. . .

Bill Burton, the Democratic campaign committee's spokesman, said the Republican criticism had boosted traffic for the short video. Until Thursday, only about 1 percent of visitors to the campaign committee had bothered to watch.

But that changed with the GOP complaints, he said, with "tens of thousands" of people clicking on the ad on Thursday. And thousands of them signed up to either contribute or volunteer for the Democratic campaign, he added.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/nw_washington/articl...

[Avalux]

1. YES!!!!! Woo hoo!

Now that's what I like to hear. Give the big bad bullies a taste of their own medicine.

[iconoclastic cat]

5. Mr. Edwards needs to cut the circular shooting, though. nt.

[iconoclastic cat]

2. FINALLY, a Dem is playing the REPBUS for suckers!

Someone send her some flowers!

[CottonBear]

3. Ah ha! Republican outrage blowback! Sweet irony! n/t

[skipos]

4. Which is why we should ignore Ann Coulter and her kind

Negative press really does help exactly who it is intended to hurt.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

6. Perfect. Free publicity!

mmm, free earned media!

[Rose Siding]

7. Go Nancy!

She must be so relieved to finally be able to argue this position. For her to have opposed the war all along, and to have to deal with a caucus that includes the kind of dems like the two who already called for the ad to be taken down must be endlessly frustrating for her.

[DELUSIONAL]

8. Well of course . . .

The first book in history that went "best seller" was one of the very first books to be published using the early version of the "printing press".

Seems that a minister bad mouthed this book in one of his sermons -- and then people make a huge effort to read this book.

That was an important lesson -- get someone to condom a book -- and people will buy it.

So what's the fuss about this commercial -- got to see it. . . so a commercial that would sink into the commercial graveyard gets seen by more people.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

21. Do they make condoms that big?

[DELUSIONAL]

63. I can't spell -- the spell checker did its best -- anyway it is funnier

as condom -- than condemn.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

77. Indeed it is.

No big whoop.

[Tempest]

9. Another Repug self-inflicted wound

I hope they keep it up until November.

[Tempest]

10. It's been viewed by almost 10,500 people on Youtube.com

Thanks for the support, you stupid Pugs.

[1monster]

23. Anybody have the link to the video:?

[Tempest]

30. Here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UurfouWoqs&search=flag%...

[1monster]

32. Thanks. Nothing really offensive about that.

[Tempest]

36. Nothing at all

The coffins are on the screen for just a split second.

This is no where near as bad as some of the GOP campaign ads. Like the one where Democrats are compared to Hitler.

[Ian David]

52. Spongebob! They need to put Spongebob in the ad! n/t

[Divine Discontent]

55. exactly... no biggie

it's an ATTACK ad against the war, using the RESULT of the war as a point... not USING it for "PATRIOTIC" purposes like BUSH DID!



www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<--- check it out!

[leQ]

51. yeah, thanks for posting the link.

the only thing i see that's offensive is the face of cheney plastered on my nice new tv (well, my nice new computer).

[TankLV]

84. The ad is PERFECT as it is. They'd better not "apologize"!!!!

Thanks for the link.

That's just the kind of ad I've been wanting to see for SIX YEARS!

[rocktivity]

11. Rally around THIS, Rethugs!

Remember the image on the left from a Bush '04 campaign commercial?


rocknation

[IndyOp]

12. DCCC PULLED THE "NEW DIRECTIONS" AD - LOOK...

http://www.dccc.org/multimedia/archives/new_directions

[truebrit71]

15. FUCKING COWARDS PULLED IT!!!!

OMIGOD what a bunch of spineless bastards.....

[Teaser]

57. Before you run your mouth

check out the goddamn facts.

[FighttheFuture]

38. There is an mp3 running... was that the ad?

[progressivebydesign]

48. They didn't "pull" it, they have a series of ads unveiled.

If you read their site you'll see that they have "installments" in the New Directions campaign. It was probably a timed rotation. Unless you know for sure, which it doesn't sound like they're backing down at all, that they pulled it under pressure, then it's wrong to accuse them.. unless you're trying to stir up trouble and divide democrats.. which I'm sure you're not.

[rosesaylavee]

54. can you supply a link?

I looked for it and wasn't able to find it.

Thanks

edited to add:

IndyOp is definitely NOT trying to divide dems- I don't know him/her personally but all her/his posts that I have read are of hope and positive activism.

Peace.

[rosesaylavee]

65. Check out this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

They did pull it according to this article.

[rosesaylavee]

53. I contacted the site and this is what I wrote...

I just watched the ad on Youtube you pulled from your site - the one that the GOP was complaining about. It was wonderful and truly spoke to what I needed to hear from you.

I am writing you to ask that you put it back on your site - front and center on your home page. We will not win this fight by half measures. The voters need to know who we represent and what we will do when we win back the House.

It was a wonderful video. Nancy Pelosi, I was so proud of you when I watched it. Finally, I thought, a hard hitting video - the DEMs are hitting back with class and compassion.

Please put the video back. To not put it back on the site would signal weakness and acquiescence to the GOP. We know that they don't deserve such regard.

Sincerely,

Proud Democrat in Hastert's District

--------------

Anyone else want to tell them to grow a spine?
http://www.dccc.org/action_center/contact /

[Spirochete]

13. Hope this stays in the news

for awhile. Pelosi will keep pushing their buttons, and they'll keep squawking, and it'll get more coverage, which doesn't make the repugs look very good.

[Sapere aude]

14. It's amazing that the repubs can walk after all the times they shoot

themselves on the foot.

[ejbr]

16. Link to the video

a pissed off repig post on youtube.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FCUhHlrmFkM&search=dccc

[rodeodance]

19. is this the only site where the ad is?

[ejbr]

62. Ironically

I could not find it anywhere else and it was the first video on youtube under "DCCC"

[kimmylavin]

22. Wow

I read some of the other comments.

Its truly amazing.

They completely managed to foist this "liberal media" on people. Someone actually said that Fox News does the only real reporting!

I'm not sure how these people view the world, but I can guarantee that I don't want that view...

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Interesting comments there

buckslayer201 (22 hours ago)
do I have to mention John Kerry's flip flop bullshit.....hmmmmm
(reply to this)

buckslayer201 (22 hours ago)
Saying that the Washington Republicans sold America out is an awfully strong comment to make, when it is the liberal press and the democrats that are actually doing it!!!! Showing the coffins on the video proves that the democrats are desperate for new ideas on how to attack George Bush. In showing those coffins the democrats are in a way "celebrating" the lives lost in Iraq....I THINK THAT IS SICK!!!! I really hope that all of you agreeing with the video can't possibly sleep at night!
(reply to this)

karltm (21 hours ago)
like that's better than Bush's "not into nation building" before he was into nation building? Yeah. Ok. Sure.
(reply to this)

toddh2 (21 hours ago)
"The liberal press?" Are you talking about the five Republican Party-donating corporations that control the media? The whole liberal media excuse is getting old. What is Fox News to you: moderate?
How are the Democrats "celebrating the lost lives in Iraq?" Listen to the music. The first part of the ad was negative (hence the sad music), then when the music gets uplifting they talk about the Democrats. Maybe you had a mental block and thought the coffin scene was at the end of the video.
(reply to this)

toddh2 (21 hours ago)
Bush did this same sort of thing during the 2004 Campaign. He used the 9/11 aftermath in a number of campaign ads.
(reply to this)

jelorick (18 hours ago)
Great ad from the DCCC. Tells the truth like it should be told. Americans should see the GOP's agenda. 2500 US soldiers dead. A war of choice.
Oh, and thanks to the RNC for posting this. Free publicity. What more can Americans disgusted with the GOP ask for?

Thanks for posting the video for the whole world to see what the Republicans agenda has wrought on this nation.
(reply to this)

buckslayer201 (9 hours ago)
please explain the five republican party corp. that control the media. The last I checked Fox News was the only news company that reported the actual news facts, not like the Commy News Network(CNN) does by reporting opinion. Do I have to metion the liberal newspapers as well......NEW YORK TIMES!!!!! bunch of cukes...
(reply to this)

fnj321 (6 hours ago)
Were you LISTENING? "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is RIGHT with America!", and from a Democrat, too!
(reply to this)

peacetakescourage (44 minutes ago)
gave me chill bumps... it's that good...
that is the best ad i've seen in a long time.

dems o6!
(reply to this)

tv4errol (17 minutes ago)
Under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.
--Albert Einstein

[Mabus]

40. Notice they don't complain about Katrina victims pictured

I guess that's a whole other hornet's nest they don't want to stir up.

[proud2BlibKansan]

41. They will complain about the property damage before they complain about

anything that happened to people, especially brown skinned people. That's the repukelican mantra.

[Aviation Pro]

44. What's he pissed off about? The Truth?

Waddafugginasshole.

[rodeodance]

17. seems people want to see and hear the TRUTH (dead soldiers).

......But that changed with the GOP complaints, he said, with "tens of thousands" of people clicking on the ad on Thursday. And thousands of them signed up to either contribute or volunteer for the Democratic campaign, he added.

[dave123williams]

18. I say we punch these bastards in the face as hard as we can.

Boehner has some nerve with his comment; the leader of demagougeing for votes and cash cries like a little girl. Waaaaaaah.

[drfresh]

20. The real outrage is that these soldiers are dead in the first place

not to mention thousands of civilians. Funny how the GOP is condemning the display of images that they directly created with their war of choice.

[The Doctor.]

24. "Always use someone else's hot air....

to fan your cooking fires"

[rodeodance]

25. www.dccc.org

[rateyes]

26. See it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UurfouWoqs&search=DCCC

Too bad the DCCC pulled it.

[aquart]

46. Gutless wimps?

Or well aware of the placement of the ad elsewhere?

[rateyes]

56. Gutless wimps. nt

[Teaser]

59. They didn't pull it.

Read. learn. Then think.


In that order.

[rateyes]

60. I went to the site, and clicked on the link where it used to be...

and it had been replaced. I googled "New Directions+DCCC" and clicked on the first link that came up, and it was the REPLACEMENT ad that came up. I clicked on "cached" beside that same link in google, and the original site came up...I clicked on the "movie" screen, and it said that the video was no longer available.

I read. I learned. I thought. And, guess what, I came to the correct conclusion.

Now, don't you start jumping to conclusions about what I have or have not done. Read. Learn. Think.

[Exiled in America]

87. Lol yes they did. Read, right back at ya.

[Independent_Liberal]

27. Very nice Nancy.

Give "We the People" what we want... IMPEACHMENT

[Monkeyman]

28. Hey it still playing over cable TV

[Onus]

31. Keep Em Coming

I've got no problem whatsoever with Republicans or Democrats showing images of the casualties of this war. The other side does it daily to foment support for their cause. Hopefully this will be the start of a trend to even the playing field.

[twaddler01]

33. GET OVER IT!

How is this offensive? This is merely projecting the truth!! It is amazing how much people can hate the truth somtimes....

Anyway, lets get more people to watch it so we can perhaps let other people agree that the US needs to get out of Iraq now and we need to get back on more important domestic issues....impeach bush!

[Monkeyman]

35. Did you ever see the Nixson ads ahowing us in combat

Dam right play the ads

[KurtNYC]

34. Me thinks they doth protested too much

Yeah!

[CAcyclist]

37. Edward Epstein is such a hack

I hate his articles. He doesn't know how to write news without giving it a republican spin.

[timontheleft]

39. What are they complaining about?

If there wasn't a US occupation of another country producing dead bodies to put in the caskets over which to drape flags, there wouldn't be any pictures of them. Seems like a simple concept to me. Am I missing something?

[VegasWolf]

42. They can dish it out but they can't take it!!! Poor babies! nt

[FighttheFuture]

43. DCCC = Democratic Clowns and Cowards Committee

This ad was great, it spoke truth to power, but they are to timid to hold the reigns of power. Let's face it, they, along with the DLC need to be ejected.

[Ravy]

72. You are shooting in the wrong direction. Aim for republicans. (n/t)

[FighttheFuture]

81. I'll AIM for both of them!! That's why Joementum is sinking!

[NavyDavy]

74. they didn't pull it

It is 1 in a series of videos they are posting on the site....so give'em a break

[FighttheFuture]

79. Bull!!! I still can't find it at the site, so, if you know of a ....

secret link, or some incantation one must recite to see it there, great. Otherwise, they are keeping it pretty mum!!

Oh, BTW, the DCCC still sucks. I'm glad Dean told them to take a hike when they went scratching for cash.

[aquart]

45. Grinning from ear to ear.

Let's run that ad in every state of the union.

[Divine Discontent]

49. hehhee... it sure seems to piss em off. good!

the death of the people inside is the real horrible act, not showing the flag draped coffins that don't say who is inside...


www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<--- check it out! 100's of new funny stickers/shirts

[aquart]

50. These coffins belong to them. Why don't they want to see them?

It's not like any of their own children are inside.

[progressivebydesign]

47. So Bush can use images of 9/11 rubble..

but the Democrats can't use flag draped coffins? The republicans are just better at screaming louder. The stupid fucks just don't want people to remember that our soldiers are dying over there. Good to see the Dems standing their ground.

[Straight Shooter]

58. Flag-draped coffins disturb them, but not the images of Katrina victims.

[farmbo]

61. Here in Ohio, Dewine is flooding the airwaves with the Twin Towers burning

From the ODP:

DeWine Uses Smear Tactics to Mislead Ohio Voters
Ohio Republican incumbent Senator Mike DeWine reached a new low in negative campaigning today when he used images of the American tragedy of 9/11 to smear his opponent in the U. S. Senate campaign, Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown.

It is not the first time DeWine has used underhanded distortions in a campaign. During his failed bid against American hero and astronaut Senator John Glenn an Ohio newspaper reported the DeWine campaign claiming, "...if Glenn had his way the Berlin Wall still would be standing and former Soviet republics still would be enslaved."

"Misleading voters and dirty campaigning is nothing new for Mike DeWine," said Brown Campaign Manager John Ryan. "But today, he reached a new, shameful, low. The ad uses images of the burning twin towers, and mug shots of all nineteen 9/11 hijackers.

"He added insult to injury when he shrouded the images with distorted claims about Sherrod's record," Ryan said. "Sherrod has a strong record fighting for body armor for our troops and calling for full funding for homeland security programs to secure our borders and keep our communities safe."

Brown has voted for 2.4 trillion in national security funding, voted for the death penalty for terrorists, and demanded answers about body armor, troop numbers, and weapons of mass destruction from President Bush before going to war in Iraq.

"Clearly Senator DeWine is trying to mask his serious vulnerabilities on this issue," Ryan said. "He sat on the Intelligence Committee and reviewed the faulty intelligence that sent us to war in Iraq and did nothing to question the president. He voted time and again to cut homeland security funding - including voting just yesterday against funding for Ohio's fire fighters. He desperately wants to mislead Ohio voters to hide the truth. But it won't work this time. 2006 is about change."

[Monkeyman]

64. Let them know how you feel reading here pissed of our base

Let them know call the hill you know who's office to call hint it begins with R

[The Wizard]

66. Republican douche bags

always pull this feigned indigence bullshit when confronted with the facts. Remember the press conference when Kerry said kind words about the Cheney's loving their lesbian daughter and the Cheneys along with the rest of the GOP threw a tantrum. Hell, all they have to do is hear the name Clinton and the tirade begins. I wouldn't piss in their mouths if their throats were on fire. Fuck them and their bigoted nazi enablers.

[erpowers]

67. What Needs to be Said

Something that needs to be said is that when President Bush used flag draped pictures of bodies for the World Trade Center the Republicans had no problem with it. So now the question needs to be asked what is the difference. Why was it okay in 2004 when the Republican President did this, but it is not okay now that Democrats are doing it.

[kevinbgoode]

68. Good God. Do we have to get approval from the GOP

for our own damned ads now, too? Look - they hated this ad because the GOP knows it relates to the public and what the public is feeling right now. There was no excuse for pulling this ad at all.

Does the DCCC actually think that the Rovian nuts are going to refrain from smear ads again this year? And that they don't care if anyone complains or not?

This is ridiculous - and that stupid SC Dem who asked for it to be pulled needs his butt kicked for having no goddamned spine. Listen up Dems = we don't want a Republican pretending to be a Democrat representing Republican interests.

[kdpeters]

69. I guess I'm in the minority, but I don't like the way the image was used.

I expected to be in the minority, but I didn't expect to be a minority of one. What am I missing here? I was disgusted when Bush used 9/11 rubble and a flag draped coffin carried out of ground zero in a political ad. Now I'm supposed to defend the use of soldiers' flag draped coffins in a political ad because the Democrats made it? Not if I have principles higher than my political party I'm not.

There has to be some other way to make the point. We're supposed to be better than the Republicans -- and we are.

[The Wizard]

71. These are

Ku Klux Karl's rules. We're just playing by them. The Administration has been abusing and misusing the troops they claim to support with reduced veterans benefits and other such travesties. If Repubes find pictures of flag draped coffins offensive, but have no qualms about the needless war and all the tragedy and heartbreak that goes along with it, they can put out their own ads discussing the invasion and occupation of Iraq. But somehow I don't think they want it brought to light. If the Iraq quagmire was going the way they wanted they'd be beating the drums and shouting from the roof tops. The fact that they've gone to such extremes speaks volumes. It's our job to make them talk about it.
I asked a Bushbot if she was happy about Iraq and she went on a mouth frothing tirade about Bill Clinton. So, I kept asking her for more information about this Clinton guy, hoping to induce a stroke. She stormed off talking to herself.
Make them talk about Iraq. When they start talking about how much better off the Iraqis are now, ask for proof. We have destroyed their infrastructure because the tyrant Bush wants to steal their resources. We will be paying for this immoral fiasco for the rest of our lives, and it's time to make the repubes discuss how much they like burdening their children and their children's children with the tab for Bush's criminal acts. If they try to change the subject, a distinct characteristic of Bush enablers, always bring it back to Iraq. We are less secure now that our military has been compromised. If Bush was serious about transforming the middle east in our image through military force he'd re-institute conscription, but quite frankly, he doesn't have the balls to go there out of fear of being horse whipped on the great mall in Washington DC. But who knows to what ends these creeps will go to impose their particular brand of fascism on the world.
Maybe this nightmare will end when the pictures of W, Karl Rove and Don King in a three way get published. Now try to get that image out of your head

[Dawgs]

75. What do you want them to do?

Playing nice went out the window a long time ago. This country and world are falling apart. If we have to show coffins to wake up the apathetic in this country then so be it. It's easy to ignore talking points and words, but you can't ignore the image of what Bush and the Republicans have done.

But, if you need a difference here it is. Bush used a tragic event that affected EVERY american like it was his own. He used the images of 9/11 for political gain. The Democrats used the images of war (the ones that the Republicans refused to show) to wake up America to the death and destruction that Bush has caused.

I'm sorry you don't see the difference.

[FighttheFuture]

83. That does not mean it is not right nor justified to use! Grow up!!

People have died for a useless war based on lies from Bu$hitCo and aided and abetted by many politicians, but specifically, the repuglicans.

Unless people, including you, see the results of these actions, and feel that disturbance, they will not take the action needed to stop this war. Most of these fools will, of course, protest the ad itself, not the real object of the add -- the war of lies. They are fools and need to be called on their stupidity.


They must be used, it is the raw TRUTH of the matter!! Stop being a milquetoast and an asshat American who wants to be continually shielded from the reality of being sheared like a sheep and fucked by those charged with leading us and looking after our best interests.

Christ, fools like you make me sick. Somehow thinking your "better" if you don't show the imagery. Your simply conditioned and STUPID, not "better". All the while, Rethuglicans, Rove, Bu$hitCo, et. al. are laughing all the way to the winners line in this Confederacy of Dunces.

[TankLV]

85. "Eye yam sofa king, we todd did!"

Look in the mirror when saying it aloud.

It helped me when I did it!

It's called "playing by their rules" - they changed the "game" rules, it's about time we played this new "game".

Sorry for you if you can't see the difference.

It's about time WE democrats grew a spine!

When you're being hit time after time, after turning your cheek so many time, pretty soon you run out of cheeks...

[yankeeinlouisiana]

70. Ha! Ha!

Best news I've heard all day!!

[goofticket]

73. Spporting the troops...in rhetoric or in deeds.

Support the troops.
We hear the phrase every day.
But we don't hear it as a request. It has become, thanks to the ranting of the conservative media divas, an insult to those who want the troops to come home. It's a cheerleading rally cry of the right. It has little to do with the actual troops in how it’s used today.
Support the troops. A great term, but highly abused. The disgusting conservative use of this phrase, is loud and clear. If you question the Bush plan, or anything to do with Iraq, terrorists or the military...you don't support the troops. Only conservatives are 'qualified' to support the troops. After all, the conservatives planned and designed the war, so they get to take credit for supporting the troops. Liberals have never supported war....well, maybe just this one in Iraq. Conservatives love war, it's profitable and thats were their support stops. Just like a four year old tank that can no longer be repaired.
No, liberals don't like war. In fact, only the fanatical far right likes war. If you'd ask Americans if they would prefer a war over peace talks, the talking part would win hands down. Americans know wars cost lives. Americans have enough experience with wars to know that supporting the troops is doing everything possible to avoid sending them into a war....any war.
If you don't support the troops....you hate America, you are a Bush hater.

If that isn't the most idiotic phrase, I don't know what is.

Supporting the troops means avoiding putting them in danger, at all costs. It means assuring they have, not adequate, but exceptional health care and family support before, during and after conflict. It means providing them with safe protective equipment. It means supporting the actual troops, and not using the troops; to promote a political agenda or discredit opposition to war.
It means making some effort, any effort, to guarantee that when a tour is done. the soldier comes home. He or she has done their part. It doesn't mean sending the soldier back into harm's way, rotation after rotation after rotation.
Supporting the troops means planning and executing a strategy that provides for the shortest tour of duty in combat.
Supporting the troops, as the pro-Bush phrase, by the insulting right wing are an affront to what all Americans know . Especially the troops themselves.
That the best war is the one avoided. Ask a vet about it.
The most noble causes for war are not based on the most questionable of evidences. Genocide, like that in WWII Europe are a noble cause for war. Attacks on our soil, like Pearl Harbor and 911 were noble causes for war.
Sending troops country hopping, willy-nilly, on ill-perceived threats is not a noble cause. Drawn out wars deplete troop efficiency and equipment, something the enemy watches very carefully. We certainly did that with Japan and Germany in WWII. When the enemy sees a force become weaker from depletion, this often results in further conflicts.
This week proved that point.
Iran, North Korea and most other perceived and known enemies of the US, are saber rattling for their own perceived 'noble' causes. They know the US cannot mount other offenses, it has it's hands full on two major fronts.
Fight the war on terror! Who is terror? Terror is a tactic, not an entity. Anything and everything can be terrifying at some point. Defining the enemy is a key in fighting any war. We fight the war on terror but really can't find the enemy.
We are not fighting an enemy, we are fighting an ideology with an army.
Ideological conflict is something no amount of bullets and bombs will change. Only dialogue, compromise and a certain level of respect for different ideologies can protect the world from ideological terrorism. It's not an all or nothing scenario, as the far right claims it to be. We haven't waged war with the Buddhists? or with the entirety of Islam itself. We are dealing with a very small, but dangerously, loud faction of a fringe religious philosophy. By at least making an attempt to understand why this faction; fractured from the main Islamic belief, and trying to see that point of view can we begin to provide a place for both ideologies to exist.
What is most dangerous is refusing to begin that understanding.
But they cut off heads!!! They don't wear uniforms!!! They torture!!!
Good grief! Humans have done that since the beginning of war and they are likely to continue to do so in the future. There is a fine line in arguing that vaporizing someone is far more humane that lopping off their head. Both people die. Both are killed in a horrific manner and someone is going to miss them after they are gone. That is why war is hell.
But to simply discount the enemy as barbaric, or somehow not capable of rational debate in coming to a peaceful conclusion to a conflict is not the sign of competent leadership, nor is it a very human mindset.
It does work well for the conservatives who somehow have come to the conclusion that it is a 100% all or nothing, right or wrong process.
And that is usually as far as they get in the debate. Once their mind is made up thats it. Any and all questions to the contrary are taken as supporting the enemy. It's called attacking the messenger. And that really supports the troops.
It doesn't make the HumVee stronger, it doesn't make the flak vest more bulletproof, it doesn't send the IED or mortar off target thats shot from an enemy bunker.
It just sounds really good.
Pro war cheerleading does not increase the performance of the American military. Troops are not 'inspired' by the likes of Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity, but rather, knowing that their families have enough food and their rent is paid while they serve. Lots of people, especially liberals, work in the social services and support agencies that the troops and their families rely on before, during and after conflict. Conservatives send money to their favorite PAC to make sure the 'agenda' stays the course.
The next time you hear some war-happy right winger make the accusation that someone doesn't 'support the troops'; ask them for money so you can send it to Fort Bragg for the kids of a infantry troop who is on their third tour of duty.

[Pachamama]

76. This ad is great! The Dems/DCCC are stupid to not keep it!

I'll give them credit if they milk this controversy to let the ad get alot of traffic and then keep it. But if they give in to the GOP whining, they are stupid.

[gully]

78. HA! Awesome! To bad it's gone now though.

eom

[mzarathustra]

80. Maybe I can get the GOP to smear my latest CD

One way to overcome the challenge of promoting one's original music. Perhaps a strategy like this might work... Unfortunately my CD is entirely instrumental, and there's no overt political content. Hm.

But obviously, counterpoint so complex must be a form of encrypted propaganda! Some of those chromatic harmonies are surely a sign of communist infiltration! Ehm, I mean, terrorist! Drug-induced! Leading to abortion! Laced with pretzels!

See, if you play it sideways....

[McCamy Taylor]

82. Should submit alt. ad, substitute famous torture victim of Abu Ghirab for

the flag draped coffins, see if the GOP likes that ad better. Could so a whole series of ads with substitutions, each worse than the last. Next one could be the infamous photo of the little Iraqi girl with her head hanging off her body by a thread---do the Repubs like that one better than coffins draped with flags? Or maybe some shots of dead humans in NOLA, corpses littering the streets.

Could have a "Poll" up asking GOPers to rate the various versions to see which one they find most tasteful.

[redqueen]

86. Brilliant idea :)