Benjamin Ginsberg, chief “outside counsel” (whatever the fuck that means) to BushCheney04 resigned today because of his connection to the Not So Swift Boat Veterans for Smear. In a tone of weaselly defensiveness, he had this to say in the New York Times :
Except for the minor point that MoveOn.org does not exist for the sole purpose of spreading lies. What an asshole. Who is he, Martha Stewart? The point isn’t that you became associated with a political group, hon; it’s that you became associated with a political group that’s a bunch of liars; that you are the smoking link that makes it pretty hard to deny that Dubya was part of a dirty-tricks smear campaign. But as has been the rightwing battle cry for a couple decades, “We have to fight dirty; when we fight fair, the Democrats win.”
So there! Ginsberg function was to make sure that such coordination did not happen! He was there to prevent such coordination from happening!
Does Kerry have a lawyer on staff whose function is to prevent coordination with MoveOn.org? I very much doubt it! Boy, I’ll bet the Kerry’s team had red faces when they found out that Ginsberg was on Bush’s staff to prevent coordination! Sure showed them, huh? Huh?
Y’know, I read the gentleman’s defense of his actions in the paper this morning, and to tell the truth, I pretty much bought it. Then I saw he’d resigned from the Bush campaign. What the fuck? If it was OK, and Democrats do it too, he had to resign? Almost immediately, even before the shit really hit the fan? OK, I guess I’ve learned a lesson.
Is it just me or is there a slight difference in relative party-politicalness between a group that tells everybody to vote, and a group that attacks one candidate in particular?
This 527 nonsense is beyond surreal. First of all, Bush’s sudden out of the blue attack on all 527s (uh, they came in real handy for you in 2000 recount and you didn’t mind them then, and you opposed the laws against certain of their activities that you now claim to support!) makes no sense. Suddenly, he wants money out of politics and to constrain the use of money as free speech? Since when, yesterday? Did he even think about what he was saying, or was this yet another totally off the cuff remark that his handlers then had to quickly spin into a serious policy insight?
Of course, if he actually wanted 527s to stop running ads, he could simply call up his buddies who are funding them and tell them to stop. Chances are, they would. Kerry could probably do the same thing. Except that neither of them can do that, most likely. Because that would be coordination, technically. All they CAN do is demand that people stop running certain types of ads with particular dishonest claims: something Kerry has done, and Bush has weaseled out of. But the legal situation is still pretty surreal.
[paraphrase] “Because one 527 is making factually incorrect attack ads, any 527 is wrong, espcially one which makes an ad which attacks a candidate based on factual and verifiable content. And there’s nothing out of the ordinary or in any way bad about the administration having links to a bullshit line being fed to us by a group of liars.” [/paraphrase]
For the Gods’ sakes! What does it take for this administration to say “the SBVfT are factually incorrect and dishonorable in their conduct.”
Why doesn’t Harold Ickes and Bill Richardson quit as well so we can just move on from this and get back to which knucklehead is going to work on the issues facing us in 2004 and beyond? :dubious:
No. I am not angry at the choices for POTUS. Not angry at all. More like disappointed…deeply disappointed. Okay, maybe a bit angry and disappointed.
And, although I don’t have a cite for it up yet because CNN transcripts from today aren’t yet posted, I just watched an interview where Benjamin Ginsberg admitted that he’s friends with Bob Perry.
So, you can roll your eyes all you want, but 'nothing to do with the GOP?"
Being associated with a political party is far different from being employed by them. If a group wants to help a candidate, they are free to do so. (see moveon.org)
Considering George Soros, Barbara Steisand, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Springsteen, et al, I see no problem with people that personally know Kerry speaking out against him.
