Fleischer Ignorant Of The Name Of Wounded Iraq Vet Featured In His TV Ad

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/22/fleischer-rieckhoff/

Fleischer Ignorant Of The Name Of Wounded Iraq Vet Featured In His TV Ad

On MSNBC’s Hardball tonight, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who is leading a White House front group to defend Bush’s escalation, was unable to name the wounded Iraq veteran featured in his organization’s pro-war ad. “I don’t have his name in front of me,” said Fleischer when asked by host Mike Barnicle if he knew the soldier’s name.

Later in the program, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America executive director Paul Rieckhoff ripped into Fleischer’s offensive ignorance. “What bothered me the most is that Ari Fleischer didn’t even know the guy’s name.” said Rieckhoff. “He’s willing to run a multi-million dollar campaign, utilizing the personal story of a soldier, and he couldn’t tell you on national TV what that soldier’s name is.”

Rieckhoff described it as part of “a problematic trend” that Freedom’s Watch is using the soldier’s “personal story” as “a backdrop for political rhetoric”:

People on both sides of the aisle, but especially the president and this administration, have continued to use troops as a political prop. As a backdrop for political rhetoric. It’s why the president gave such an impassionate speech today in front of the VFW. It’s why this ad carries so much weight on a visceral level. And it really bothers me because our troops are not political props and they’re not chew toys.

Watch it at link~

Fleischer and his team of Bush surrogates are spending $15 million to run the ad featuring the soldier, whose name is John Kriesel, in 20 states for a month. Hopefully, Fleischer will remember his name from now on.

[SoFlaJet]

1. yea Sis

but he DID remember to try and link the WTC tragedy to the Iraq war...dispicible "They Attacked Us" over a picture of a plane about to slam into the tower-of course failing to mention it was being flown by SAUDIS NOT Iraqis

[CatWoman]

2. it's on right now

on Hardball -- I could slap his lying, stupid face.

[MasonJar]

3. Even the troops are not giving a big "whoopee" to W these days.

I guess the Vets" organizations are it for the next miserable 17 months. I know he is addressing another such bunch next week, officiously trying to verbally prop up his nasty war.

[johnfunk]

4. Airy Flesheater: Objectively Pro-DEATH

Memo to Ari Fleisher:

[colonel odis]

5. have another donut, ari? wow. what a fatass.

freedom watch .... roflmao. this is the guy who said americans should be careful of what they say. the guy who would go back and scrub press conference transcripts.

this young man is pitiful and disgusting. seeing his face on tv again is enough to make one puke.

follow the money. a lot of people are making a lot of dough by virtue of us being in iraq. and they'll do everything they can to keep us there.

[johnfunk]

6. "This is the guy who said americans should be careful of what they say." Exactly!

See my memo to Airy in the form of the poster, above. He thinks we have a short memory.

[Turner Ashby]

7. What an idiot

He said there were 4 commercials, if I'm not mistaken. He couldn't remember 4 poor wounded guys? What an absolute schmuck. As bad as his neocon pal, Wolfie of Arabia, who couldn't remember the number of guys killed in his conquest of the Middle East in his Congressional testimony. I'm sure like their ex boss Cheney, their other priorities, just get in the way of the "little people".

[snappyturtle]

15. Yes there are four videos.....see Neecy's OP here for link

and rate these pieces of progaganda!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1642204

[bullwinkle428]

8. What a creep...kudos to Paul Rieckhoff for calling him out on that!

[EST]

9. Strangely, Barnacle is turning out to be a worse host that has been

Tweety, in his most recent incarnation. Barnacle used to seem at least tolerable, with middle of the road tendencies, avoiding being run over. Fliescher is a professional liar; why people forget that and assign him some credence, any credence, is a difficult question.
I say it again, Fliesther is a professional liar, as is Snow, and deserves no credit on the veracity meter. Both of them took a job where their capability shines--that of serial mendacity--and only their skill at keeping their lies straight from day to day is something that might deserve some respect--it doesn't but it might. They are good at something that, in the real world, is pretty much universally despised, and often emulated and privately praised.

I object to the deliberate elevation of such commode scrapings to anything like public attention and respect.
Never thought I'd say it--bring back Tweety.

[razors edge]

10. They are props.

They don't believe in giving props to their props.

[Fridays Child]

11. Of course you know his name, Ari. It's "Prop."

:mad:

[babylonsister]

12. That's it! I think you've got it! nt

[petersjo02]

13. Similar ad ran during our local news this evening

Mother of a soldier killed a couple weeks before Iraq "election." I'm not sure what exactly her argument was for "staying the course," but she wants us all to call our reps in Congress and tell them to "stay the course." Wonder how much she was paid to do that--support even more soldiers like her son being killed "for our freedom and Iraq freedom"? I'm not at all sure that anyone in Iraq feels "free" under American occupation with death and destruction at every turn.

[beberocks]

14. I'm all for Ari going to fight in Iraq

After all, he looks in good shape. Let him actually fight in this war and I might listen to him, otherwise he (and the rest of the chickenhawks) better go hide in the basement.

[and-justice-for-all]

16. "Fleischer" means MEAT in german "Fleisch"..nt

[DeepModem Mom]

17. K&R

[Liberalynn]

18. They are running these ads every few minutes in my

area. I find them completely offensive and disgusting. I found myself wondering if these are paid performers and not who they claim to be at all?

They sure went out of their way to trot out that old chesnut that Iraq was responsible for 911 in the latest one I saw. They just continue to lie, lie, lie.

Is that patriotism. To lie to your fellow citizens?

I wanted to throw my chair through the TV set, I was so pissed at these ads.

Is there an effort under way to undermine or counter these ads? They are so below the belt, its not funny.

[sandnsea]

21. How can we help counter this.

One district at a time. Where are you and what do you think we need to do. If we don't come right into your district and fight, then we can never expect the kind of monumental change we need to get out of this mess.

[Liberalynn]

22. NY State

I am planning on writing the station I see it most often on, even though I am sure they will ignore my letter. I am sure they are running it here because they know our representative is in trouble for claiming he challenges Bushco on Iraq, when his voting record shows he's voted with the administration 9 times out of 10.

[sandnsea]

23. Does your news report accurately?

They are running it because they are getting paid to, if I understand you correctly. I don't think there's anything the local station can do. I think the best we can do is start running our own ads, maybe in newspapers and such, to make sure people in your area get the truth.

[Liberalynn]

24. You're right about it being a paid ad. So they probably can't do

anything about pulling them. They do, however, occasionally run those stories about how honest are the political ads and talk about a little who's paying for them during the actual news, so I was hoping to nudge them about doing one of those pieces regarding these. Particularly how misleading the ads are about tying Iraq to 911. But maybe that is just bringing more attention to them than they deserve and they usually don't run those until closer to the elections.

I agree though the Dems-Liberals need to start fighting back with our own ads.

The local news station I watch does generally IMHO try to be non-biased in their reporting, careful not divulge which way the reporters lean right or left politically. They report without adding personal comments, unless its sympathy on a natural disaster or a joke on a non-serious story.

[sandnsea]

25. If it would help to contact them

I'm sure people would join in. It seemed to help when that channel censored protest signs in Kansas.

[tabasco]

19. Soldiers are mere props for these assholes.

Only the stupidest among us believe republicans give a damn about soldiers.

If they cared about soldiers they would not have launched an unjustified and counterproductive war.

[Liberalynn]

20. And they wouldn't defund

veteran's health care.

[EFerrari]

26. What a disgusting waste of space he is.

:puke:

[tabasco]

27. Kick!

:kick:

[Forkboy]

28. K&R....give the thread some love,people.