Ha! aWol* Exploitation of 9/11 Backfiring Already!

[leftchick]

They have dragged Karen Hughes out of mothballs again! She was on t.v. this morning on both GMA and the Today show DEFENDING the shameless ads of dimsom*! It was fantastic! The news people even brought up the Widows' revulsion at the shameless use of Sept. 11! Marvelous TV for a change. :)

[imax2268]

1. Yup...

I'll say...

Familes of WTC victims angered at Bush campaign ads

[molly]

2. They still think they are the "in crowd"

[H2O Man]

3. she's on Fox now....

....this series of ads gives us the ammo needed to ridicule bush. Contrast the "noble" bush from the ads with the quivering coward of 9-11 .... oh, yes, it was a "defining moment" Karen, and we are going to hammer that message home!

[leftchick]

5. I can't watch faux news at all...

could you tell me if anyone is challenging her with the widos" opinions?

[MI Cherie]

4. Their shameless exploitation ...

... should backfire! How can anyone not be disgusted by this offensive, phony propaganda?

[H2O Man]

6. "Mancow" on Fox....

...is saying bush is exploiting 9-11. When his supporters say this, it's a good sign. (He just called it "evil" to use this in political ads.)

[Malva Zebrina]

7. I have not seen the ads yet

From the sounds of it, it is typical Bush staged playacting and leeching off his own people's emotions. It is terrible that he uses the deaths, the horrible deaths of three thousand of his people, in order to get elected.

And, someone should start already questioning him about Iraq-his lies and the AWOL thing should come up harder-he can brag he took down the Taliban--and avoid talking about the failure in Iraq and all the ads run by the corporate propaganda managers, will show little housewives dressed modestly,standing behind their man, literally, chanting, freedom, freedom--Laura freed the women of Afganistan.

I hope Kerry has a crack staff that is extra smart. I almost could put some hope back to the American people whom I have given up on if these ads are as cheap and as glitzy as they are being described.

[imax2268]

8. if you want to see them...

you can go to georgebush.com and see them...

if you can stomach it...!

[Disturbed]

11. Taliban?

"He can brag he took down the Taliban."

He can do so but he would be lying and that would be another lie easily proven. The Taliban are making a resurgence.

[NewJeffCT]

12. Not only in Afghanistan

The American Taliban of the Religious Reich are surging in America as well

[underpants]

17. Actually they are VERY polished very professional

Lots of slo-mo too and of course the first words out of Laura's mouth (she is his character reference) is "leadership".

As full of BS as they are they are very good ads I have to say.

[jean]

9. let bush show all his ads, then I want to see one from the 9/11 widows

[scarface2004]

10. bush is so proud of 9/11!

'yeah i caused the death of thousands...whatcha gonna do about it!!??'

[underpants]

13. Karen Hughes~"9/11 was not a tragedy but a shared experience"

God I hope I got that quote right.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1192363

[DinahMoeHum]

39. gee, Karen, just like the old joke about Californians and a head

of lettuce??

Joke goes like this:
Q. How many Californians does it take to pick a head of lettuce?
A. Six (or more). One to pick the head, the others to share in the experience.


:evilgrin:

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. We need to get copies of these ads

before they pull them. Anybody have a link?

This is great. They couldn't have screwed up the start of a campaign better than this.

I heard one of the ads has a brief clip of firemen carrying out a dead fireman from the ruins. That is way over the line. Those people in the shot are recognizable individuals. That was someone's son, brother, friend being carried out and it is despicable that Bu$h would use that image to promote himself and the great success his pResidiency has been so far. Especially when you consider the fact that when this man lay under the ruins dying this is how W reacted:

[leftchick]

15. "We have our Pearl Harbor!"

"Now we can get Saddam".... my best guess as to what Card actually said to smirky* at that moment.

[imax2268]

19. I believe

that he actually said "America is under attack"...after the second plane hit the tower...he sat there for five and a half minutes and did...."NOTHING"...

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. And then he went to the situation room

they had set up at Booker and according to Condi Rice, they worked on preparing Bu$h for the statement he was going to make to the public regarding the attack. So while 2 hijacked planes were still in the air, their biggest priority for the pResident was to get him ready to make a statement. What's wrong with this picture?

[nostamj]

34. no. it was more than 20 minutes

I have seen the unedited Booker School video.

more than TWENTY minutes

[nostamj]

35. NY Daily News cover story today...

<snip>
Mindy Kleinberg said she was offended because the White House has not cooperated fully with the commission and because of the sight of remains being lifted out of Ground Zero in one of the spots."How heinous is that?" Kleinberg asked. "That's somebody's ."Firefighter Tommy Fee in Rescue Squad 270 in Queens was appalled."It's as sick as people who stole things out of the place. The image of firefighters at Ground Zero should not be used for this stuff, for politics," Fee said.
<snip>
One, titled "Safer, Stronger," also features a one-second shot of firefighters removing the flag-draped remains of a victim from the twisted debris.

Both ads reinforce the Ground Zero imagery with frontal shots of two firefighters. Unlike the paid actors and actresses in most of the footage, they are not ringers, but their red headgear gives them away as non-New Yorkers. The Bush campaign declined to reveal where the burly smoke-eaters actually work.

Bush officials defended the imagery as totally appropriate.

Story

[leftchick]

37. WoW! That is great!

I am hoping we see Kristin Breitweiser tonight, perhaps on the nightly news or tweety's show?!? I doubt we will see this truly shameful ad again after today. What a waste of a few million, huh?

[leftchick]

16. eek! they just played it on c-span...

It really is absolutely appaling... :puke:

[underpants]

20. Notice how they work W's 'I approved this ad" in the beginnning

Him walking outside of the West Wing. To be fair and truthful that is the best handling of the now required "I am _____and I approved this ad" I have yet seen.

[enough]

18. Are they mentioning the Firefighters' statement BLASTING the ads?

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=155-03032004

Fire Fighters President Says Use of Fire Fighter Images in New Bush Ads Smack of Political Opportunism

WASHINGTON, March 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO (IAFF), Harold Schaitberger, issued the following statement today after President Bush unveiled new political ads that use images of fire fighters in September 11, 2001 attacks for political gain:

-- As Bush Trades on Heroism of Fire Fighters, His Homeland Security Funding Cuts Hurt Fire Fighters and Communities --

"I'm disappointed but not surprised that the President would try to trade on the heroism of those fire fighters in the September 11 attacks. The use of 9/11 images are hypocrisy at its worst. Here's a President that initially opposed the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and now uses its first anniversary as cause to promote his re-election. Here is a President that proposed two budgets with no funding for FIRE Act grants and still plays on the image of America's bravest. His advertisements are disgraceful.

"Bush is calling on the biggest disaster in our country's history, and indeed in the history of the fire service, to win sympathy for his campaign. Since the attacks, Bush has been using images of himself putting his arm around a retired FDNY fire fighter on the pile of rubble at ground zero. But for two and a half years he has basically shortchanged fire fighters and the safety of our homeland by not providing fire fighters the resources needed to do the job that America deserves.

more>

[imax2268]

21. man o man...

he's going to piss off many a fire fighters with this one...exploiting them for his gain...

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. Have you ever seen a horde of pissed off firefighters

I did once. The landlord of my building pissed them off and they descended upon the place and wrote over 300 violations in less than a hour. I can't wait till we see what they do to W over this.

[OneTwentyoNine]

28. Maybe an apology to Hillary Clinton could be first...

As she was booed heavily by 9/11 fire fighters for whatever reason. Maybe they can finally wake up to who really supports them and who REALLY wants the truth of why this tragedy took place. It sure as HELL isn't the thugs that occupy the WH right now.

David

[DoYouEverWonder]

32. They did apologize

a month or two after it happened.

[OneTwentyoNine]

36. I didn't know that,I'm glad...wonder if there's any link to the story?

I'd love to hear what they said,who said it. I was shocked and throughly pissed when I heard the booing replay on radio,and of course they played it over and over.

Glad to hear they did apologize..

David

[NewJeffCT]

23. Didn't Bush promise not to exploit 9/11 for political purposes?

Or, is my old memory getting foggy?

[underpants]

26. No if anyone criticizes him on 9/11 he says they are politicizing it

or at least his mouthpieces do. They have politicized it from day one, hell they even SOLD pictures of him in Air Force One on 9/11 for political contributions.

[seabeyond]

29. he did he did

clear as bell your memory is

[NewJeffCT]

40. thank you Yoda

Do you have the date & the exact quote?

[seabeyond]

41. lol lol

no. just the wrong person. i am always dependent on others to find. not my strong point even a little. i watch all the time and remember and go on to the next. but i do know there are good dudes out there that just magically have all that info, love them dearly

[robbedvoter]

24. Make sure you unfreep this poll on that

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/index.html
on the lower right of the page

[cmf]

44. Right now 55% say it is "okay" to use the WTC in ads. 45% say "not okay."

[robbedvoter]

27. MoDo is good on it today

Op-Ed Columnist: See Dick Run

March 4, 2004
By MAUREEN DOWD

WASHINGTON

snip

Mr. Bush continues to imply that we should be scared
because we're not safe, so we need to keep him to protect
our national security. Which seems like a weird
contradiction. If he's so good at protecting us, why aren't
we safe?

The president doesn't hesitate to exploit 9/11 in his ads,
even as he tries to keep 9/11 orphans and widows in the
dark about what really happened.

Mr. Bush's ad flashes a shot of firefighters removing some
flag-draped remains of a victim from the wreckage at ground
zero even as he prohibits the filming of flag-draped
remains of soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
You might call the Bush ads, an homage to Ronald Reagan's
famous ads, "Mourning in America."

Nothing like hypocrisy with high production values.....more

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/opinion/
04DOWD.html?ex=1079382706&ei=1&en=
a5a5db0a69c94af4

[leftchick]

30. NYT:Bush Campaign Defends Ads With 9 / 11 Images!!!

It has hit the Times!!

<snip>``With all due respect, I just completely disagree, and I believe the vast majority of the American people will as well,'' Karen Hughes, a Bush campaign adviser, told ``The Early Show'' on CBS. ``September 11th was not just a distant tragedy. It's a defining event for the future of our country. ... Obviously, all of us mourn and grieve for the victims of that terrible day, but September 11 fundamentally changed our public policy in many important ways, and I think it's vital that the next president recognize that.''

The first three ads, unveiled Wednesday at campaign headquarters in suburban Washington, will run on broadcast channels in about 80 markets in 18 states, most of which are expected to be critical to the election, and nationwide on select cable networks.

``It's a slap in the face of the murders of 3,000 people,'' Monica Gabrielle, whose husband died in the twin towers, told the New York Daily News for its Thursday editions. ``It is unconscionable.''

Two of the spots show the destruction at the World Trade Center and include an American flag flying amid the debris. They also feature images of firefighters working through the wreckage.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Bush-Political-Ads.html

[seabeyond]

31. speaking of 9/11

just a couple months before elections.

how does kerry do it in grace yet not let bush get a huge emotional push from it

[leftchick]

33. A NYC Fire fighter speaks out...

from the link...

<``It's as sick as people who stole things out of the place,'' said Firefighter Tommy Fee of Queens Rescue Squad 270. ``The image of firefighters at ground zero should not be used for this stuff, for politics.''>

[librechik]

45. yeah, the same "vast majority" who voted Bush into office, huh Karen?

she is the worst. Somehow I knew I'd see her evil face in this mess...

[YNGW]

38. I'm not buying.

There's no way they didn't test-market these ads, considering and researching extensively all the ramifications before they aired them. They had to expect some backlash from the opposition, but something told them it was insignificant or could be turned to their advantage. In the overall grand scheme of things, it probably is of no concern. I would expect to see them keep running the ads, and despite what I'm reading here they'll likely work just as planned.

[jackstraw45]

42. "But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me."

Remember, Dubya had GREAT year in 2001....

That bastard's use of 9/11 for shameful political purposes has just begun (an UNUSUALLY late convention in NYC in September - they could have held it in July like the dems before the Olympics).

The Rethugs have NO shame. SHAME on Karen Hughes too for slamming the lid on the rights of victims to grieve.

[leftchick]

43. "lucky me I hit the trifecta!"

another shameless quote from a shamless bastard...

[Cat Atomic]

46. LMAO! Check out the "Safer, Stronger" ad at georgebush.com.

It should be called "Passing the Buck" instead. It plays up the whole, "Clinton is to blame for the economy" angle, then moves onto the "9-11, 9-11, 9-11, BOO!" angle.

Pathetic shit.