Smear by veterans may hurt Bush (Oliphant, Boston Globe)

[swag]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/08/22/smear_by_veterans_may_hurt_bush/

WASHINGTON
I HAVE VIVID memories of John E. O'Neill's first incarnation as an attack dog trained to go after John Kerry more than 33 years ago, using techniques that are quite familiar as he goes about the same task today. Like Kerry, he was a lot younger then, fresh from the war that still raged in Vietnam and still raged here as well. But then as now he was playing a carefully obscured role that made it nearly impossible to consider him an independent human being.

As The New York Times reported last week, O'Neill had been selected by Richard Nixon's White House to counter the profound impact that Vietnam Veterans Against the War were having on public opinion in the spring of 1971. As the Times also reported, Nixon's political henchman, Chuck Colson, had specifically recruited the Navy lieutenant, like Kerry a swift boat commander in the war, to debate the antiwar movement's freshest star on Dick Cavett's television program.
. . .

Kerry may have been nicked some at the margins by all this while he was responding via surrogates the last few weeks. Raising the profile of the smear, as well as confronting it directly and putting it at Bush's door, is overdue in the view of some Democratic Party operatives, a risk in the view of others. My own guess is that the higher the profile of this mess the more it looks like the smear it is, and the more it risks boomeranging on the president.

As happened to O'Neill in 1971, the best counter to him today is the serious press attention that his group fears most.

[rocktivity]

1. And in a related story

Rainstorms May Result In Wet Sidewalks

:headbang:
rocknation

[swag]

2. Tell that to all the panty-wadders from last night.

But with due respect, the panty-wadders may still prove right.

I hope they're wrong, but sometimes panty-wadders are right.

[Erika]

3. The FEC Must Rule Quickly

The Swift Boaters have violated all rules for 527's. Plus it's apparent they are a bunch of GOP henchmen.

[Catfight]

4. I AGREE, the FEC should be as quick as they were with a boob!

[UpInArms]

5. that was the "FCC", this is the "FEC"

and the FCC is run by Michael Powell (offspring of Colin).

The FEC is:

http://www.fec.gov/members.htm

and here is a bit about the makeup of the committee:

http://www.fec.gov/about.html

The Commission is made up of six members, who are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Each member serves a six-year term, and two seats are subject to appointment every two years. By law, no more than three Commissioners can be members of the same political party, and at least four votes are required for any official Commission action. This structure was created to encourage nonpartisan decisions. The Chairmanship of the Commission rotates among the members each year, with no member serving as Chairman more than once during his or her term.

[hansolsen]

6. Here is exactly how it will hurt Bush:

I was an early Howard Dean supporter, and have been having great difficulty warming up to the Kerry candidacy, due in large part to his vote for the IWR, and his support of Likud policies in Israel. I have said in this forum that I will vote for him but with strong reservations.

That's now over.

I still have reservations about Kerry, and I still despise George Bush as I always have. But this past two weeks, George Bush and the Carl Rove slime machine have demonstrated that they will sink to any depths to defeat the Democratic candidate. I guess I knew that, and fully expected this kind of campaign, but they crossed a bridge with me when they started running these ads. I'm now climbing in that Swift Boat with John kerry, for better or worse. I'm reporting for duty.

Today I ordered $48.00 dollars worth of Kerry yard signs, campaign buttons, bumper stickers, etc. This is one old Democrat who will not take the slime lying down.