Glad-I-Ate-Her

This doesn't surprise me at all. I'm glad they were able to dig this up. The Dems are willing to do almost anything to knock Bush out of the White House. I find this more offensive than Bush's campaign ad.

Like it says in the last sentance of this article, "Remember that the next time you hear a news report about "widespread popular outrage."


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http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/20231.htm

(MRS.) KERRY'S CASH CONNECTION
March 9, 2004 -- To hear some folks tell it, families of the 9/11 victims have risen en masse to denounce President Bush for using brief images from Ground Zero in his campaign commercials.
We have no doubt that the use of the images is appropriate - given that the president's leadership in the wake of 9/11, and his conduct of the War on Terror, are under drumbeat assault by John Kerry and the Democrats.

But now it turns out that this whole furor is driven by a tiny group that's motivated by a far-left agenda and a festering hatred of the president - and has some quite dubious financial ties.

Leading the rhetorical charge has been an outfit called September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows - which, the group admits, has only a few dozen members and represents relatives of no more than 1 percent of the 9/11 victims.

More to the point, the group was formed specifically to oppose the entire War on Terror: Not just the campaign against Saddam Hussein, but also the toppling of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Indeed, the group's leaders traveled to Afghanistan, drawing a detestable moral equivalence between the 9/11 attacks and U.S. bombing of the Taliban and opposing "violent responses to terrorism."

Then, before the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a Peaceful Tomorrows delegation went to Baghdad to "demonstrate solidarity" with Iraqis - a move that Saddam's deputy, Tariq Aziz, termed at the time "a very important international development."

They also demanded that Congress set up a $20 million fund to compensate Afghan "victims" of the U.S. military.

And back in January 2003, the group said had it had gotten a "verbal commitment" to the fund proposal from the junior senator from Massachusetts - John F. Kerry.

Little surprise there - because Peaceful Tomorrows' parent group, the San Francisco-based Tides Foundation, has received millions from foundations controlled by Kerry's heiress wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

A spokesman for Kerry insists that her donations to Tides were earmarked specifically for environmental charities based in Pennsylvania. But money is fungible - and the Tides Foundation has a lot more than greening the earth on its plate.

It has given millions to anti-war groups since 9/11 - particularly the extremist MoveOn.org.

Tides has also funded groups like United for a Fair Economy, which has been involved in violent anti-globalization street protests.

For example, the Ruckus Society, which was largely responsible for the anarchy in Seattle in 1999 and trains would-be environmental terrorists in the practice of "monkey-wrenching" - the willful destruction of construction equipment and so on.

Tides gets much of its funds from philanthropists like Mrs. Kerry and billionaire George Soros - who has made defeating President Bush his top personal priority.

As Richard Berman, director of the Center for Consumer Freedom, told Congress in 2002: "The Tides Foundation distributes other foundations' money, while shielding the identity of the actual donors."

Call it charitable money-laundering.

This, then, is the fringe crowd that declares itself "offended" by the Bush ads.

They're people who are offended by anything this president does - and they are working hard to put John Kerry in the White House.

Remember that the next time you hear a news report about "widespread popular outrage."



Glad

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I'm "Glad I Ate Her" because the payback was worth it!!

Sparhawk

"verbal commitment" "parent group" "extremist Moveon.org"

Hot Air. Zero Substance.

Next!

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"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."

Mephisto2

I love the way victims is in quotes.

It's as if the US Military never killed innocent civilians in Afghanistan.

Hang on. Wait a sec...


Mr Mephisto

Silvy

Clearly a anti-dem pro-rep article which if overstresses otherwise somewhat critical points. With this article the author over-extends his facts and falls into propaganda.

I feel that any and all ties from political candidates to extremist groups should be investigated, not turned into FUD. And that goes for all parties of all countries.

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"Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace. "
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mml

Teresa Heinz Kerry gives millions of dollars to many groups. She is considered one of the most prolific philanthropists in the United States and I am sure she can be "linked" to numerous groups on both the left and the right. Her politics are very middle of the road, and she was a Republican for most of her life.

All this being said, the NY Post has every right to publish this story, it just loses much of its punch when it is reported in such a partisan way. (This is true of the NY Times on the flipside - so save me the Liberal Media comments).

By the way, if you are interested here is a like to the Tides Foundation web-site:

http://www.tidesfoundation.org/index_tf.cfm

__________________
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
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Tomservo

This article didn't even get two lines before declaring their "opinion" on the morality of the ads. If, as a journalist, you can't discipline yourself any more than that, you shouldn't be writing.

I know many folks who disagree with the usage of 9/11 in any political ad, regardless of party or candidate- far more than 1% of 3,000 folks. As already declared.. next!

HarmlessRabbit

Ahem... (clears throat)

THE NEW YORK POST IS A TABLOID.

Next you'll be quoting Bat Boy in defense of Bush.

Johnny Rotten

Ruckus has recieved a piddling $25,000 or so from Tides in the last five years, hardly enough to fund anything beyond a shack with a single light bulb in the ceiling, and a drop in the bucket the Post says Tides is getting from the Kerry family. And I would hardly call "involved in" anything to get worked up about in regards to WTO protests, since the Seattle police were also "involved" in it--because they were busy keeping the peace.

As to Peaceful Tomorrows being pro-Saddam, as is the NY Post's insidious implication, I offer you the complete CNN transcript from which the quote was skillfully lifted.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/01/08/otsc.brahimi/

The meat of it:

BRAHIMI: There have been quite a few groups of peace that have come into Iraq to demonstrate some form of solidarity with the Iraqi people. One of them -- which arrived Tuesday -- is called [September 11 Families] for Peaceful Tomorrows. They include four Americans who are relatives of victims of September 11 attacks.

Now they've been meeting with Iraqi families that are said to be relatives of U.S.-led bombings in Iraq and families here who've lost people in the 12-year United Nations trade sanctions against Baghdad.

They plan to go later Wednesday to the Amriyah air raid shelter, which is a shelter that was bombed in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and in which [Iraq says] many Iraqis seeking shelter were killed, including many women and children.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has been meeting with some of the peace delegations that have come into town, calling the visit a "very important international development."

How horridly anti-Bush and anti-American.

I also offer you the transcript of a speech written by one of the traitorous delegates:

Last January, I was part of a Peaceful Tomorrows delegation to Iraq. Deciding to go was difficult. I was definitely no supporter of Saddam Hussein. Indeed the entire time I was in Iraq, I was deeply distressed by the memory of my government’s support of Hussein’s regime during the 1980s – when Amnesty International and other human rights organizations were publicizing abundant evidence of his human rights atrocities.

When I was in Iraq, I was angry too that there was no real opportunity for free dialogue with the civilians we met. They lived in a repressive society. We traveled with government minders. So what we learned was a complex message to interpret. Mostly the Iraqis were angry that their relatives – innocent civilians – had died in the 1991 Gulf War and they feared yet another round of killings. Sometimes, in quiet meetings we simply grieved together about our common pain.

Many Iraqis told us they feared that war would lead to increased terrorism. American aggression and occupation of their lands by foreign troops, they warned us, would make it much easier to attract young men to terrorist training camps.

The Peaceful Tomorrows delegation returned to the U.S. hopeful that our voices could help stave off a devastating war, hopeful that we could inspire our national leaders to use the wealth, power and intelligence of the United States to work for non-violent change to increase justice in Iraq and through-out the world. An unprecedented international peace movement was forged to prevent war in Iraq. It is painful to acknowledge that even in the face of the strength of that movement, the United States went to war anyway. But it is crucial that we keep that movement alive. Its work is not done.

The lesson? Know your sources. A NY Post editorial, or any editorial, is not a source. It is an opinion. And, as I hope I have demonstrated, opinion does not always have a firm connection to reality. Especially when it is a partisan hit piece. Peaceful Tomorrows was not remotely against toppling Hussein. They were merely against violent resolution. Blood does not wash blood, in their opinion.

Yet, to hear the NY Post tell it, Kerry was somehow Pro-Saddam. Funny how you walk away from the article with that impression, isn't it?

Isn't it?

Oh, but I've got one more for you. Let's go back to Peaceful Tomorrows "demanding" $20 million dollars for the victims.

They created a form letter which you can find here. It's the standard kind an interest group whips up for its members to send to Congress.

The pertinent section, from which the NY Post so helpfully interpreted a "demand" of $20 million dollars:

"I believe it is the right thing to do for our government to create a fund to
help these innocent families. Afghan relief organizations suggest an average
grant of $10,000 to rebuild homes, restock possessions, secure adequate
medical and psychological care, or compensate for the loss of breadwinners
and caretakers. Assuming 2,000 families seek compensation, this would amount to
$20 million, which is less than one day’s military expense during the
bombing campaign."

How cheeky of them, don't you think?

The NY Post editorial is shit.

Edit: No offense meant to you, Glad. My ire is directed wholly at the NY Post and its partisan ilk.

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