REVERSING POSITION,

GEORGE "DUBYA" BUSH EXPLOITS 9/11 IN POLITICAL AD

"There ought to be limits
to freedom..."

— George W. Bush,
commenting on the website
www.gwbush.com

CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS ABOUT GEORGE W BUSH!!!

QUOTES OF THE MONTH:

"I did the right thing. It's a little early to project the amount of money the Legislature will be dealing with, and as you know I hope I'm not here to deal with it. I'm seeking another office." --Governor George W. Bush, on the effect of his tax cuts on the Texas budget. 7/13/00

"If you don't think it's a gamble to put a man in the White House who believes we should have guns in church, who thinks the Taliban is a rock band, who was such a failure as a businessman that his company was nicknamed "El-Busto," who wants to turn our Social Security system into a Wall Street boiler room, who can't name a single thing he disagrees with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson on, who smeared a bona fide hero named John McCain, and whose principle policy proposal is to give America's surplus to the idle rich in the form of a $1.3 trillion tax cut, you're either nuts or a Republican." ... Equal Time co-host Paul Begala, shooting the bull.

BUSH EXPLOITS PHOTO OF DEAD BODIES, DESPITE BAN

03-06-2004  As the nation headed for war last year, President Bush "clamped down" on the media, extending and expanding a controversial policy that banned reporters from photographing flag-draped caskets of soldiers killed in combat (1). The White House said the policy was enforced to "spare the feelings of military families." (2) Yet, in the very first television advertisement of his 2004 campaign, the president has blanketed the nation's airwaves with an image of "firefighters carrying a flag-draped body" from the 9/11 wreckage at Ground Zero (3). The hypocrisy of preventing Americans from receiving a "reminder of the toll of war" at the very same time the president exploits an image of a dead body for his own political gain has caused an outrage among victims' families (4). Chris Burke, whose brother Tom died in the attacks, said, "Using my dead friends and my dead brother for political expediency is dead wrong. It's wrong, it's bad taste and an insult to the 3,000 people who died on Sept. 11." (5) The president's actions have also raised new credibility questions because he previously promised not to exploit the 9/11 attacks. Speaking of 9/11 in January 2003, President Bush told the Associated Press that he had "no ambition whatsoever to use this as a political issue." (6)

Sources:

1. "Return of U.S. war dead kept solemn, secret", USA Today, 12/30/2003, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20588.

2. "Pentagon avoids the 'Dover test'", The News Journal, 11/26/2003, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20589 ml.

3. "Relatives of those slain on 9-11 fault Bush ads", Star-Telegram, 03/05/2004, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20590.

4. "Return of U.S. war dead kept solemn, secret", USA Today, 12/30/2003, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20588.

5. "Ads' use of 9/11 upsets families", Miami Herald, 03/05/2004, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20591.

6. "Sept. 11 and Nov. 2", The New York Times, 03/05/2004, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20592.

REVERSING POSITION, BUSH USES 9/11 IN POLITICAL AD

As President Bush's $10.5 million campaign ad blitz begins, Public Citizen has released a report detailing the money raised by representatives from key industries -- including finance, real estate, communications, energy, health care, and insurance  -- and connects the dots to the tax breaks, regulatory changes, legislative favors and plum appointments Bush has given his backers in return.  Get the background on the 416 Rangers and Pioneers who have bundled together at least $58.1 million for the 2004 campaign. Read the full text at:  http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20424

Less than 19 weeks after the tragic attacks of September 11th, President Bush reassured America that he had "no ambition whatsoever to use [the war on terror or 9/11] as a political issue."(1) Today, however, "President Bush's re-election team unveiled his first campaign advertisements [which] in part use the events of Sept. 11, 2001...Two ads refer to the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001...One ad, entitled 'Tested,' shows, among other images, a damaged building from the World Trade Center ruins behind an American flag." (2) The ad is already provoking outrage among 9/11 victims' families as well as firefighters who were at the scene that day. "It's a slap in the face of the murders of 3,000 people. It is unconscionable," said Monica Gabrielle, whose husband died in the twin towers. Similarly, firefighter Tommy Fee of Queens Rescue Squad 270 said, "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." (3) Of course, this is only the latest chapter in the president's efforts to politicize 9/11 for his own personal political gain. Less than 19 weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Bush's top political adviser Karl Rove urged Republicans to "go to the country" on national security issues, claiming Americans "trust the Republicans to do a better job" of "protecting America" against another 9/11-like attack. (4) AP soon reported that the "White House is advising GOP candidates to focus on the War on Terror." (5) Then, nine months after the attacks, CNN reported that "the White House approved of the Republican congressional campaign committee's plan to use a photograph of President Bush taken on September 11 as part of a GOP fundraising effort. The photograph shows Bush aboard Air Force One, talking to Vice President Dick Cheney hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon" and was given to "donors who contributed at least $150 and attend a fund-raising dinner with Bush and the first lady next month." (6) To top it off, the president took the extraordinary step of making the 2004 Republican National Convention the latest in party history in order to have it come three days before the 9/11 anniversary. Even White House advisers admit "they are wary of being portrayed as exploiting the trauma of Sept. 11, a perception that might be particularly difficult to rebut as Mr. Bush shuttles between political events at Madison Square Garden and memorial services at ground zero." (7)

Sources:

1. "Big boost for US military spending", BBC News, 01/24/2002, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20425.

2. "First Bush Ads Focus on 9/11, 'Steady Leadership'", Reuters, 03/03/2004, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20426 ection=news.

3. "Bush TV Ads Anger 9/11 Victims' Families", ABC News, 03/04/2004, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20427.

4. "Rove: Republicans Benefit from War Credentials", ABC News, 01/18/2002, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20428.

5. AP, 6/13/2002.

6. "WH defends GOP plan to sell Bush 9-11 photo", CNN, 05/12/2002, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20429.

7. "Bush strategists planning late campaign for 2004", Charlotte Observer, 04/22/2003, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1880274&l=20430.

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