When you think politicians will sink no lower
 

When you think there is some standard of decency they will not sink beneath... of course, they prove you wrong.

I can think of nothing more disgusting or distasteful that "President" Bush could chose to campaign on than to seek to gain political capital from the murder of 3000 people.

Once again, the American people must surely reject this man

Yes the DNC can run adds with Bush pushing old ladies down the stairs, but heaven forbid we get reminded about why we are fighting the war on terror.

The democrats are TERRIFIED of this issue and will try their best to spin it as politicizing the war on terror, which ironicly, is all they have been doing since the week after 9/11.

Before 9/11 I wasn't sure about Bush, I liked him but didn't know if he was the best man for the job (I always like Chenny better). Bush showed leadership and resolve after 9/11 and I was damn glad he was our president.

Dammit SF, you beat me to the thread. I was going to put a poll in it, but in any case...

Ustwo, gimme a break. By now you know that I fall into neither the Liberal, nor the Conservative camps. You should also know by now, that I am certainly no fan of GWB. My reasons are my own, not the Democrats or the Republicans. But, c'mon, man!! Even you have to see that it's in extremely poor taste to use film footage of that day for an election campaign. This just adds to list of reasons why I have little respect for him.
There's a "low road", and there's a "high road" to any campaign. In my opinion, he just sunk to the lowest road that he could possibly have taken. JHC, I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

There are a few questions people will ask about these ads eventually...

• Did President Bush's administration have previous intelligence about the impending attacks, and were they in part responsible for not doing everything could to prevent such attacks?
• Did the President do everything in his power to initiate a complete investigation after the attacks?
• Is the President doing enough right now to defend our borders against another major terror attack?
• Is Bush funding our nation's defense (firefighters/policemen/etc...) enough to be able to fully respond to another attack?

I'm not surprised about the ads at all. He was in power during the terror attacks, and so he can either ignore that responsibility, or use it to his advantage (which may backfire).

If Kerry truly wants to play hardball with Bush, he's going to have to run ads counterattacking the President's ads. For instance, he would run an ad showing how Bush has largely ignored the fallen soldiers of the war he started.

I think people have unfortunately forgotten all about 9/11. Terrorism in the publics mind is no longer a threat, people need to be reminded what happened so we are on guard to make sure it never happens again.

Here's something for you, I live in New York fuckin' City. I saw the towers fall – live in person not on CNN. I'm not offended. The NY Daily News didn't call and ask my opinion. I thought my cousin was dead (she made it out). She's not offended. The NY Daily News didn't call and ask her opinion. She said the same thing. Too many people have forgotten that WE were attacked first. Bush has one job, to make sure this nation is safe from secure so we can do things like waste time on a website looking at porn, go to baseball games and not worry about some crazy fuck blowing himself up. She used to be a uber-liberal. Now she walks around with her Bush pin on her bag. And to do that in this liberal city is pretty ballsy. I Think what did it for her, was when Bush threw out the opening pitch at the World Series. Standing out in the middle of the field with no protection when the nation is at war with fanatics was a nice move to relax the country.
The people who are all in a 'furor' over this ad, are not going to vote for Bush anyway, so what does it really matter?. End of rant.


Here are the Ad's…in case no one has seen them..
<a target=new href="http://www.georgewbush.com/TVAds/"><b>LINK</b></a>

I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle, indeed.

Bush does have a job to protect this country from terrorist attacks, and the public shouldn't have to live in fear. However, the public needs to examine whether or not the President is truly doing his job to the best of his ability, and not just reminding people to live in fear because it could happen again we don't reelect him.

I missed the dnc ads with bush pushing the old lady. Sounds like a good metaphor for what social security is going to look like when the baby boomers start qualifying for it en masse though.

I don't think the war on terror is anything the dems need to be afraid of. In fact, if there's anybody who should fear war talk it should be those responsible for our failed sortie in the desert.

As for the ad, i'm not really in a position to scream blody murder. I do think it ironic that the dems could probably use the same footage to show how the current admin dropped the ball on national security and then missappropriated 9/11 to wage a war on false pretenses. You can bet if they did that many of those who were previously dismissive of bush's use of these ads would have a hissyfit.

I guess its all in how you spin it.

Forgive me if I am splitting hairs, but I have no issue with the Bush campaign referencing 9/11. It is a seminal event in U.S. history. Whether I like him or not, President Bush rose to the occation and led this country through an incredibly trying time.

What I do have an issue with is the image of a body, draped in the flag, being carried by rescuers. It is only flashed for a second, as though they thought it would be subliminal. I find it disgraceful that they would use the image of an American who lost their life to further their political fortunes. This is the same White House that (rightfully) forbade the T.V. Networks from filming the return of slain soldiers from Afganistan and Iraq. Apparently it is not permissible to record the return of deceased U.S. servicemen and women, but we can show victims of terrorism for political gain.


And Mojo I lost two good friends on 9/11 and a dear friend in the bombing on Bali so I have felt the pain of terrorism. I also have a friend who, like you, watched the towers fall. He is a staunch Republican and called me today to ask about how to get involved in Kerry's campaign after seeing the Bush ad.

This add was a mistake, but the rest of them are frankly fantastic.

And I am not trying to be a jerk, but when Bush threw out the first pitch he was wearing a bullet proof vest. I still thought it was great and inspiring but he wasn't without protection.

Go Diamondbacks :D

strange famous: i'll grant you that there is a case to be argued that President Bush shouldn't have used those images in a campaign add... but to imply that this is a new low in politics is just too dramatic for me.

mml: if someone switches presidential candidates and joins the formerly opposing campaign after viewing a single ad, i seriously doubt they would fit the description of "staunch republican." obviously, you know this person... and i don't. still, that doesn't seem very believable.

my personal opinion is that the democratic strategists know that the war on terror has been prosecuted effectively by the President and will do what they can to take the leverage he holds from this issue away from him. the whole uproar over this in light of the countless other attacks (from both sides) smacks of sanctimony and hypocrisy.

I have always found it fascinating to watch the dems and reps slug it out, whether on the scale of all of us here, or the world stage. It all comes down to the nature of humans....honestly there is very little difference between the two.
Kerry and Bush are both dirty, and corrupt. Both have major issues of credibility and financial indescretion. And both reak of special interests.
As an independent, I will be voting for the lesser of two evils(one of the few times this statement is entirely accurate). Thus , with hesitation I give my vote to Kerry, If only to protect this country and its population from becoming pawns of corporate ownership.
I do take issue with the Bush Ad, but I will take issue with Kerry Ads as well. I am sure. And although this is indeed a new low, I am relatively resigned to a series of lows over the next eight months, on both sides.

Go ahead and label me a "Bush Apologist" so you can discount my opinion, but you can not discuss or portray the last four years accurately without including the events of 9/11.

As others have said, people are already forgetting the terror generated on 9/11.

The main reason for the war on terror is 9/11.

Opponents are attacking Bush for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which rose from 9/11 (go ahead and claim Iraq was planned before 9/11 we've heard it all before).

I am not offended in the least. The flag draped coffin is a testament to the sacrifice of firefighters, police, and ordinary citizens who gave their lives on 9/11. Overall I think it's a positive message which shows the unbelievable ability of our citizens to get the job done in the face of monumental tragedy.

Its Bullsh*t.
There is still no justification for the post-9/11 actions. The president will not answer questions asked of him. Investigations into the tragedy are blocked...& then you go and use the images for political reasons.

People complaining have every right to complain & furthermore the administration will continue to enable them to complain until all their questions are answered.

This administration is supposed to work for us.

All politics is personal, and the firefighters are pissed:

I suppose I can't blame 'em, I'd be pissed if they come out with a campaign ad of Bush preening on the flight deck of the Enterprise.

If you want to talk about hypocrisy, how about the fact that when John Edwards criticized the Bush campaign for exploiting 9-11, a Bush campaign spokesman said "I can't believe he said that. They are playing politics with a national tragedy." Give me a break.
It's not the fact that Bush is talking about 9-11 that bothers me and most other people. It's the fact that he's trying to exploit it for purely political reasons in a campaign ad. That's cheap and shameful and I would say the exact same thing if it was coming from the other side of the aisle.

*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*DING*


maximusveritas wins the giant stuffed teddy bear, for "getting it".

Whereas, the IAFF backs which candidate?

http://www.firefightersforkerry.com/...resolution.php

This is such a whiney joke.

These 'adds' are not selling soap, its to determine who is the president for the next 4 years.

If democrats want to whine, thats fine, its what they do.

Laugh a Union that doesn't like Bush, thats unpossible! Next thing you will tell me is the NEA doesn't support the adds either!

I don't know firefighter union leadership, I do know firefighters, they like Bush :D

Except that its pretty clearly true. Look st the memos Paul O'Neil released and there you have it, an invasion of Iraq on the agenda of a national security meeting right after Bush takes office, long before 9/11. No one from the Bush camp has denied this, to my knowledge. In Bob Woodwrd's Bush at war using the 9/11 attacks as a pretext to launch a long-planned invasion of Iraq comes up in one of the first National Security Council meetings after the attack.

I agree that some of the imagrey in the ads is in poor taste, particularly the coffin draped in the American flag. At the same time, making 9/11, or Bush's leadership right after 9/11, off-limits is bullshit. Saying "Our country went through a trying time, and I led us through it" is not low politics, its a statement of a perfectly valid reason why we might want to reelect Bush.

Note that generally I'm in the anyone-but-Bush crowd.

Not w/out full disclosure on the tragedy. This has SIMPLY not happened.

I agree that its highly ironic that Bush is highlighting his leadership during 9/11 at the same time members of his administration are refusing to testify before the 9/11 investigation committee and members of his party are trying to deny that committee more time to work.

That is a fair statement, and yes he has been more and more dissatisfied with the Bush Administration as time has gone on. This was simply the final straw. He is a "Goldwater Republican" and doesn't like the excessive spending and overly religious tone of the Bush Administration.(His words, not mine)

And as far as discussing 9/11 during this election, of course we must. As I said it is an integral part of Bush's presidency and American history. Again, I do not fault him for refering to 9/11 or even showing the ruins. I fault him and his campaign for using the image of a dead body draped in a flag. I think it is in poor taste and offensive. If Kerry uses that type of imagery I will slam him as well.

There have been "plans" for an Iraq invasion since before the first gulf war. I don't doubt that it was on the agenda for meetings in the Clinton administration as well. It doesn't change the fact that the invasion would likely not have happened if not for 9/11.

Well, they definitely don't like being called terrorists.

I guess the firefighters in your Ladder aren't having their first-responder funding cut in the FY05 budget, aren't lacking training and personnel, and don't have outdated equipment.

Must be a nice neighborhood. Have any rooms to let?

Oak Lawn, Il, blue collar town, I'm sure you can find cheap housing.

It happened. We know it did. It matters. It matters how the situation was handled. Many people died in Vietnam. That also is being used for political gain, and an argument could be made that Vietnam is relevant too. While distasteful, (I would not have done it had I been Bush's campaign manager) we should not pretend that it did not happen, nor that it is not relevant to the campaign.


edit:
I kinda hope these threads don't get merged, because I there are alot of people that don't look at tilted politics very regularly, and you can usually predict what those that do will say. I'm curious what the TFP in general thinks.

edit to edit: Oh well.

Well said, mml.

The ads showing just a tattered flag are fine with me, obviously this was a major event that happened during the Bush administration. However, showing firefighters carrying a body out of ground zero is crossing the line and in my opinion disrespectful to those who lost loved ones on that day.

WTC ad - short version
~~~~~~~
"Hi, I’m George W. Bush. I was in charge of keeping America safe when THIS happened.

Please re-elect me."

I'm curious how he can reconcile his current actions with this reported earlier statement:

--http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/05/1078464644489.html

Yes, it's especially hard to swallow when you consider that they won't allow the filming of dead soldiers coming home from Iraq.

I know 17 NYC firefighters personally. I have spoken to 9 of them in the last two days. None of them found the ad disgraceful or tasteless. Some of them thought that it was a reminder of what they went through and what most citizens have forgotten.

Bush was President during that fateful day. Doesn't he have the right to mention it? I'm sure past Presidents have used wars and or tragedies in their campaigns in the past. Doesn't Giuliani have the right to mention 9/11 in a book or in any speach that he is paid to speak in?

9/11 is a reality. Sometimes people are too wrapped in their own lives to remember what happened only two and half years ago. It seems to me like it happened so long ago.

I was only a few blocks away when the towers fell. I don't know if I can ever correctly explain what I saw or how I felt on 9/11.

Glad

I see you put president in quotes

how odd, perhaps you would rather someone be president who would have done nothing when the attack occured?

perhaps your 'democratic front runner kerry' can win over the hearts of the country with his ads on his 'vietnam' service, where more than 3000 americans died.

But then again, the world is fine when you look at it through rose glasses.

the president ISNT in charge of keeping the country safe, thats what we have countless other agencies for, and they failed us, not once but twice. And if Clinton had fineshed the job in the first fucking place we wouldn't be talking about this now. But instead we get these dense ABB politics.

I think America has turned the whole 180 degrees and started running in reverse when chance and ill luck, along with the deaths of thousands can be used to promote someone's personal standing in the social and political climate.


Amen, and I'm not even a religious man.

What job do you think Clinton could have "finished" that would have prevented the attack on America? Did you want him to declare war on Saudi Arabia?

Amen my Brother.

Holy Shit, the ideology on this thread is so politically motivated. It has nothing to do with the Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a third target that ended in failure after a brave fight for control of an airplane. Now, I must admit, President Bush did miss the mark on this re-election ad. He should have shown the damn planes flying into the buildings, our brothers and sisters jumping to their deaths, burnt bodies in the Pentagon, a ditch in Pennsylvania to remind us what we’re doing. The world is a dangerous place and putting our heads in the sand pretending nothing bad happens and innocent people don’t die is absurd. What ever happened to “NEVER FORGET” just 2 years later? It’s time we take off our skirts and get down to the grim business of protecting ourselves. By the way, before you pull a voting lever in November, just think who, if they had a choice, would our terrorist enemies would vote for. KIM Chong-il already endorsed Senator Kerry. Hmm, how come?

Speaking of politically motivated ideology on this thread...
Yeah, and i hear that saddam endorsed the reagan administration. Didn't seem to hurt his election chances.

Answer the Farking question! We are dealing with now. Who would "THEY" rather have in office?

I think who "they" would rather have is irrelevant. It is strawman line of argument meant to lead one to the erroneous assumption that the democrats are soft on national defense.
But if you want to see that argument from another angle: I imagine, with the current level of security at our nations seaports and not so much anymore airports, that most terrorists like gwbush just fine.

If you are scared to answer the question just say so.

There was a great quote about this on NPR yesterday, from an older woman who's brother died in the WTC. She said, "Surely the president can find some way to campaign other that doesn't involve <i>walking on the bodies of our dead</i>." (and you really could hear the italics in her voice.)

That said, above and beyond my extreme degree of comfort with anything that makes Son of Bush writhe, this should be a non issue. If Karl Rove wants to talk about 9/11 and highlight the somewhat questionable leadership qualities W displayed on that day, well, gee, what can I say?

Oh I know: "Bring it on!"Because he's not the total psychopath his father was? Because he'd rather talk to someone who came to the table with a bit less xenophoia than the DPRK generally displays? Because the world is a complicated place and could use a fellow who's more interested in solving problems than gittin' the bad guy? Because he just plain hates GWB? Because Kerry might possibly bargain in good faith?

That a terrorist would prefer Kerry over Bush is not necessarily a bad thing. It could be as simple as that they would find it easier to relate to a fellow who has experienced a Guerrilla insurgency first hand (as opposed to skipping out on his duty to his country to fight a losing battle in Alabama.) Maybe the crazy evil courage it takes to strap dynamite to one's self and take your enemy with you when you go responds to the kind of courage that turns his boat into enemy fire and goes on the offensive when attaked more than it does to the kind that runs the risk of going brazenly AWOL because one's daddy will certainly make things right.

What I'm getting at is that having one's enemy's respect is step one to not having an enemy.

Tophat665, you really think we can deal with people who’s sole goal is our destruction? Do you believe that appeasement will keep us safe? You find honor in this? Perhaps you missed the memo on who they target?

Let me be more obvious.

It doesn't fucking matter.

Maybe you could explain to me how jong-il has any idea what kerry will do in office?
Or whether the terrorists would like to keep bush in office, since any current terrorist could easily sail into seatle or san fran and do his damndest to make 9/11 foreplay. Feel free to answer...
If you're not scared.:rolleyes:

q: Maybe you could explain to me how jong-il has any idea what kerry will do in office?

a:He's as much as said he doesn't want boots on the ground.

They know Bush is just crazy enough to come after them and has.

BTW: "It doesn't fucking matter" still doesn't answer my question, there were two answers Kerry or Bush.

Bush attacked one of the weakest countries in the axis of evil. He will never set foot in n. korea because to do so would be idiotic.
What jongil thinks is irrellevant. As i said before, a strawman argument.

Besides, i think bush is probably trying to avoid the "I'm so crazy, i just might do it" platform. Its probably not the best way to go about dealing with the world.

Lets face it. We can bat this thing back and forth for ever and no one will change their mind. All I ask is don't let your abhorrence for Bush override what's best for our Country overall. Think before you vote. Now I'm off to work.

Fair enough. Don't let your abhorrence for whatever you abhor override what's best for your country either.

That's a nice broad brush you have there. Some terrorists can be dealt with by negotiation, and some cannot. I would appreciate having someone at the helm who's willing to find out which are which, and willing to change course when (as will happen from time to time) the estimate is wrong. That's not waffling; it's just good sense. A black and white view of the world is nice, simple, and largely wrong.

Nope, not by itself, but it will cut down the number of times we have to put our soldiers in harms way, cut down the number of terrorists (as opposed to those waging war the only way they can - those can be reasoned with, terrorists cannot). It's very simple to lump all terrorists together and brand them all evil. Hell, it's a nice and simple thing to do with republicans. It's wrong. Some honestly believe they are doing the best thing they can for their people, and those minds can be changed.

You don't? You can't respect the commitment that takes? What are you thinking? Sure it's wrong. Sure it's misguided, deluded, and morally reprehensible. What the heck does that have to do with it being courageous too? These aren't demons any more than GWB is. Bill Maher had it right - suicide bombers have to have more courage than guys who stand on their ships miles from the target and send a missile to destroy the general area where they think their target is.

What you need to bear in mind though, is that having some respect for one's enemy should be an aid to defeating him, not an impediment. Blinding yourself to the courage of these people doesn't do a damn thing but ensure you will be continually shocked and blindsided by their actions. Recognize it without being defeated, and you can begin to outmaneuver them.

Sarcasm is something I am familiar with. I find that it doesn't work all that well in this forum, unless you're <b>ustwo</b>, and even he miscalculates and undermines himself with it from time to time.

Now that's something to keep in mind.

It doesn't surprise me at all that he's using a national tragedy to further his political career

George Bush's entire history consists of fucking up whatever he's involved with, yet personally gaining from it.

I think "THEY" would prefer that the whole world not be united against "THEM". Therefore, having the Great Divider in the White House is to "THEIR" advantage. I'm sure "THEY'D" like to keep it that way for another 4 years.

The majority of the planet's population feels that George Bush is the single biggest threat to peace in the world - it sure takes the heat off of the <i>real</i> bad guys.
If Kerry is elected, he'll make peace with the French, the Germans, the Russians, and the rest of the U.N. Then - and only then - can the world concentrate a united effort on the War on Terror.


But that's just my opinion - your misconceptions may vary. :)

Although I agree with the sentiment that it is important to study all the reasons why terrorists are after us, I think it is ridiculous to believe that some can be negotiated with. This is waffling. Once you start to negotiate, people realize that they can get anything they want if they just threaten to do something crazy enough. There is no compromise in a suicide bombers mind. Is there? I mean really. Terrorism is not a form of negotiation or compromise, it is the result of a breakdown and complete dismissal of political means to acheive goals. If you can catch these causes long before they turn into terror, then compromise can and has been acheived, however, once terror is something that a group is willing to resort to, they have shown they no longer have the will to compromise and have committed suicide both figuratively and in many cases literally.

Sometimes you just NEED NewsMax...

Well isn't that just dandy? The democrats are afraid of this issue and will do ANYTHING to bring it off the table.

I agree that you can't negotiate with terrorists. But there is definitely an inclination to paint everyone with a broad "terrorist" brush in this administration.

And we know that "terrorist" and "freedom fighter" means the same thing, it is just a different perspective - "ie the French Resistance in WWII are freedom fighters, the IRA are terrorists..."

No they are NOT the same thing.

IF you target civilians for the purpose of scaring the shit out of them and breaking their will to continue the struggle (or just because you want to), it is a terrorist act.

Terrorist act: Blowing up a Pizza Parlor, a full bus, a party.

Sometimes civilians can be killed by 'freedom fighters' but they are not the target of the attack.

I wouldn't entirely disagree with you there. I think the president is pretty good at dealing with the "terrorists" but maybe not-so-good at finding "terrorists" before they become "terrorists".

That bashes Peaceful Tomorrow, but does nothing to respond to the issue: Bush promised NOT to politicize 9/11, Yet his first official action in the campaign does just that. Regardless of who calls him out on it, he still needs to own up to it.

No, taking care of Bin Laden in the first place when he had the chance. After the embassys being blown to bits in Africa, after the USS Cole, etc.

They are not the same. The French Resistance was fighting a nation that invaded their peaceful country. The IRA is using terrorism to force their agenda in a peaceful country. The French didn't randomly blow up innocent citizens. The IRA blows up innocent citizens at random.

What are you talking about?

Terrorism has been going on for decades, but terrorists only recently changed their targets from "hard" targets to "soft" ones.

Sparhawk summed up my argument to this better than I possibly could have.

it didn't work when bush administration gave the taliban 43 million to support their reign in afganistan in early 2001. which of course was because the taliban outlawed opium production once they got there. but that would bring this whole issue full circle back to the war on drugs...

ok. clinton probably messed up there. but how is that an issue now? because clinton is running for president again? what should be an issue is how bush administration removed all of the clinton administration's efforts that were put in place to fix the mistake you already mentioned.


back on topic of 9/11 ad... the fact that he used it doesnt bother me too much. what does bother me is the hipocrasy of how he said earlier he wouldn't politicize it, so he's basically going back on what he said. most ppl call that lying. of course by now i'm rather used to the bush administration lying about everything so its not surprising.

Which words gave you trouble. I'm sorry but this is pretty obvious. And define 'recently' was the Israeli olympic team a 'hard target'?

I'm speaking outside of administration lines. I'm talking about in general. I agree with Sparhawks argument but I don't think it was against what I said. I'm just saying that you can't negotiate with terrorists. Whether or not Bush is painting terrorist on everybody's face is beside the point. I'm speaking simply about terrorism not necessarily Bush's "terrorism".

Fair enough, then let's get particular. I agree that you can't negotiate with al-Quaida, and yet there is the Kurdish Terrorist group in Northern Iraq that we did come to an agreement with, and which is turning around to bite us.

But this was all brought up in relation to North Korea, and, by extension, the Axis of Evil. These are not terrorist regimes; they are merely regimes America doesn't like (for all sorts of good reasons), and which George Bush particularly hates (for not such good reasons). Now, I am not saying that none of them support terrorism - Iran certainly does, and Iraq might have indulged in what amounted to cheerleaderism as relates to that nasty little war in Israel. (When both sides target innocent civilians, is it still terrorism, or is it just a particularly ugly war?) But North Korea? I don't think so. And supporting terrorism is something that can be negotiated away, maybe. Certainly worth a shot, and probably cost a lot less than $87 biliion plus whatever it acually cost to prosecute the latest spasm in Iraq.

Further, I think a large proportion of those who might ally themselves with al-Quaida because al-Quaida has successfully made us afraid (and very, very angry, and they will in time learn, when there is someone in power of a mind to quit shilly shallying around with pissant dictators and do the necessary on them, was most unwise; They don't market that last part, though -) aren't really so much with the program as along for the ride. Find them, negotiate with them, find what their gripes are and solve what we can of them (with Israel specifically off the table), and we have a natural source of human intelligence. This is something we desparately need in the Muslim world, and something we have been sadly lacking for as long as I have been alive anyway.

Kids need to come out of the bath now, but that's pretty much what I wanted to say anyway.

IMO - The ads are fine. We need to show 911 pictures 300X a day until they are burnt into our brains.

Using footage of happenings during your term in office is not distasteful. The act of 911 was distasteful, using footage is not. It is a brief history lesson for those of us that seemed to forget.

I spent time on alert in South Korea. When "things" happen on that border, people freak out. That is not a situation to be taken lightly.

Beating Bush up for 911 is juvenile. Yes it happened on his watch. It could have happened on anyones watch. What I believe is more important is how he is handling it.

We will someday be out of Iraq and Afganistan. The debt from these will be paid for in time. Life goes on. .... ..til we run out of oil.

How does the deaths of 3000 people make Bush a better president? If he wan't to talk about how he delt with 9/11 then fine. Show pictures of Afganistan or him throwing the pitch at the baseball game, fine. But showing the attack and the dead bodies has nothing to do with him being reelected. Its just a cheap trick to pull at the heart strings of voters. I fail to see the connection that just because he was president when it happened that it makes him a better choice.

I'd sure looooveee to have 9/11 burnt into my brain (sarcasm)

Dwelling on it means the terrorists win - they've affected you enough to change your thinking, to publicize their cause.

No that doesn't mean you ignore it, but i don't think at all we need to dwell on it - in fact, i think its tough to say people have forgotten 9/11 because in truth, most Americans have a low memory and attention span anyways.

What do I think of showing images of 9/11? I think its a nice try but its the wrong thing - why show images of what happened when instead one should show what was done in RESPONSE to the event.

It means absolutely nothing to me to show an intelligence blunder

I see you on here going on about our destruction and need for protection and I agree with you to a certain extent. I think all Clinton's work to protect us was not followed on by current administration.

Furthermore I must point out something which relates to the quote above...
...
These same people who hit us on 9-11, the so called people linked to Iraq could have killed millions that horrible day, yet they did not. So dont take your GWB justifications too far.

Is there anyone out there who really thinks that talking about 9/11 during this election should be "off limits"? IMO it is not about whether we should discuss it, but how we discuss it. I said it earlier, I have no qualms with the Bush reelection campaign bringing up 9/11, it is too important of an event to be left out of the discussion. I think, however, that it is a bit of a tightrope and they need to be careful and "compassionate" when they bring up 9/11 - especially the images. I say edit out the image of the firefighters carrying the flag-draped corpse (this will take about 30 minutes in an edit room) and get on with talking about what they did. Bush handled the crisis well, and should get points for that (it finally made him president in the minds of many) he also has to face the fact that many believe his followthrough in the wake of the crisis has been haphazard, poorly thought out and overly ideological. There is the real debate about 9/11.

http://www.georgewbush.com/tvads/

Such a joke those Video clips.

The same clips could have been commercials for Thigh master and Total Gym... At the end: "You just have to try yourself..."
Running for a president shouldn't be such a circus and acting.
To me it's just disgusting to make it such a business.
Zero dignity.

There is another way to see the ads other than see that Bush is taking advantage of 9/11. Could these images be taken in the context of remembering that tragic day? Could they be showing in a light of respect? Yes they can.

There are many different ways this ad can be construed. Is it the general opinion that Bush can't mention 9/11 in any way shape or form? No matter what he does, someone will always find fault with it.

Glad

I'm just going to jump in here quick and toss in my $0.02...I voted Bush in 2000, but I've not been happy with the way the country has been run. I feel he handled 9/11 very well, and I'd say Iraq was probably inevitable at some point or another. However, i didnt agree with tax cuts, I don't agree with the pending medicare bills that will allow drug companies to charge whatever they want for Rx meds, I'm not happy with his treatment of the enviroment (namely rejecting the Kyoto protocol) amongst other things. I plan to vote Kerry.

I've just now watched the ads for the first time and was suprised. From what it sounded like on the news, and from some posts here Bush was loading the ads with carnage and bodies and everything else. The images were subtle but were still there to remind us all of what happened. I think they are appropriate, and if he wants to use it for his campeign, then go right ahead. I still plan to vote Kerry in '04...

Yes, frankly this has gotten WAY overstated and overplayed. I also commend and thank you for your support of Senator Kerry.

Kerry used 9/11 images in an add he ran in Iowa. Its just a media smear of Bush, what else is new.

Damn liberal media.;)