neljapäev, mai 13, 2004
Marc Racicot is a Horrible, Dishonest Little Man
"How can the Republicans charge that Democrats are playing politics with this issue when they are the one holding the press conferences?"
Apparently, calling Bush arrogant is now unacceptable. See here and here. It's also on the front page of today's Washington Times, but it's honestly not worth subjecting myself to that filth to link to it.
Some highlights. From the NYT story:
Pressed repeatedly during his conference call to explain why discussion of the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq was inappropriate - particularly when Republicans have made the war in Iraq a central campaign issue - Mr. Racicot said linking the prison scandal to fund-raising crossed a line. He took issue with Mr. Kerry's suggestion on Tuesday that the abuse reflects "America's overall arrogance in its policy," as well a statement by Mr. Kerry's friend and adviser Senator Edward M. Kennedy. "Shamefully,'' Mr. Kennedy said, "we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management - U.S. management."
But Mr. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, had already disavowed Mr. Kennedy's comments in a nationally broadcast interview with Don Imus, and Mr. Kerry's press secretary, David Wade, said the "Keep the ball rolling - Donate Now!" button at the bottom of the Rumsfeld message was a routine signature for all such missives....
Noting that Mr. Bush used images from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in his own campaign advertisements, Mr. Wade denounced Mr. Racicot's heated comments as "hyperbolic, baseless, false" and "dangerous to our democracy." Ms. Cutter, asked, "How can the Republicans charge that Democrats are playing politics with this issue when they are the one holding the press conferences?"
From the Washington Post:
The Bush campaign has repeatedly accused the senator of "politicizing" Iraq. Bush-Cheney chairman Marc Racicot told reporters Wednesday that Kerry is relentlessly "playing politics" and exploiting tragedy for political gain.
Racicot, for instance, told reporters that Kerry suggested that 150,000 or so U.S. troops are "somehow universally responsible" for the misdeeds of a small number of American soldiers and contractors. Racicot made several variations of this charge. But Kerry never said this, or anything like it.
As evidence, Racicot pointed to the following quote Kerry made at a fundraiser on Tuesday: "What has happened is not just something that a few a privates or corporals or sergeants engaged in. This is something that comes out of an attitude about the rights of prisoners of war, it's an attitude that comes out of America's overall arrogance in its policy that is alienating countries all around the world."
What Racicot did not mention was that Kerry preceded this remark by saying, "I know that what happened over there is not the behavior of 99.9 percent of our troops."
This is one of those times where I really have to wonder why the headline is "Kerry Assails Bush on Iraq" and not "Bush Campaign Manager Lies to Press." But then, reporting the truth in Bush's America is just another sign of liberal bias, isn't it?
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"How can the Republicans charge that Democrats are playing politics with this issue when they are the one holding the press conferences?"
Apparently, calling Bush arrogant is now unacceptable. See here and here. It's also on the front page of today's Washington Times, but it's honestly not worth subjecting myself to that filth to link to it.
Some highlights. From the NYT story:
Pressed repeatedly during his conference call to explain why discussion of the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq was inappropriate - particularly when Republicans have made the war in Iraq a central campaign issue - Mr. Racicot said linking the prison scandal to fund-raising crossed a line. He took issue with Mr. Kerry's suggestion on Tuesday that the abuse reflects "America's overall arrogance in its policy," as well a statement by Mr. Kerry's friend and adviser Senator Edward M. Kennedy. "Shamefully,'' Mr. Kennedy said, "we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management - U.S. management."
But Mr. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, had already disavowed Mr. Kennedy's comments in a nationally broadcast interview with Don Imus, and Mr. Kerry's press secretary, David Wade, said the "Keep the ball rolling - Donate Now!" button at the bottom of the Rumsfeld message was a routine signature for all such missives....
Noting that Mr. Bush used images from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in his own campaign advertisements, Mr. Wade denounced Mr. Racicot's heated comments as "hyperbolic, baseless, false" and "dangerous to our democracy." Ms. Cutter, asked, "How can the Republicans charge that Democrats are playing politics with this issue when they are the one holding the press conferences?"
From the Washington Post:
The Bush campaign has repeatedly accused the senator of "politicizing" Iraq. Bush-Cheney chairman Marc Racicot told reporters Wednesday that Kerry is relentlessly "playing politics" and exploiting tragedy for political gain.
Racicot, for instance, told reporters that Kerry suggested that 150,000 or so U.S. troops are "somehow universally responsible" for the misdeeds of a small number of American soldiers and contractors. Racicot made several variations of this charge. But Kerry never said this, or anything like it.
As evidence, Racicot pointed to the following quote Kerry made at a fundraiser on Tuesday: "What has happened is not just something that a few a privates or corporals or sergeants engaged in. This is something that comes out of an attitude about the rights of prisoners of war, it's an attitude that comes out of America's overall arrogance in its policy that is alienating countries all around the world."
What Racicot did not mention was that Kerry preceded this remark by saying, "I know that what happened over there is not the behavior of 99.9 percent of our troops."
This is one of those times where I really have to wonder why the headline is "Kerry Assails Bush on Iraq" and not "Bush Campaign Manager Lies to Press." But then, reporting the truth in Bush's America is just another sign of liberal bias, isn't it?
