GOP TACTICS: INFERENCE, INTIMIDATION, AND LIES

GOP TACTICS: INFERENCE, INTIMIDATION, AND LIES

Dubya's people are so pleased with the reaction to their lies over the WMDs that they've decided to continue down this path. They will infer, intimidate, and, yep, just plain lie -- in order to get the vote, or to try to prevent others from opinting out what a miserable job the present administration has done since it was appointed by the Supremes.

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE RESORTS TO INTIMIDATION
(or, "What to do when the truth won't work")

MoveOn.org [1] has the RNC in a tizzy. Have you seen those MoveOn ads [2]? They are excellent uses of the medium, pointing out the failures and inadequacies of the Dubyadministration.

Get a load of http://www.gop.com/media/Station_letter.pdf [3] ">this piece of prosaic paranoia penned by Jill Holtzman Vogel, Chief Counsel of the Republican National Committee. She alleges to TV Station Managers, that by having read http://www.gop.com/media/Station_letter.pdf [3] ">her letter, they ìhave been apprised of the law to prevent further violations of federal law,î and then she grandly and graciously continues, in her position as Chief Counsel for the RNC, ever the concerned member of the public, to tell the station managers that, ìwe urge you to remove these advertisements from your stationís broadcast rotation.î

Holtzman Vogel suggests that Move-On, using soft money, has the station aiding and abetting the violation of law, by not having registered with the Federal Election Commission.

Radio and TV stations are free to choose to run or not to run any ads, at their own discretion. The only ads stations are obligated to run are political ads for candidates for federal office. Those ads may not be modified, edited, or altered in any way. Stations may (and routinely do) lawfully turn down any political ads for candidates for state and local offices. (Ref.: 47 USC ß312(a)(7)) Note: a tip of the hat to New York Market Radio Message Board [4] contributor Sid Schweiger. A message Sid posted [5] saved me much time and research energy. It is one of Sidís messages from which I culled, quoted and modified most of this paragraph.


Of course, the fact that no candidate is endorsed in the ads is curiously omitted from her letter. Move-On wants Bush out. But there's no mention of an alternative. Just a commentary on life as an American under the Dubyadministration. Gee, how it must bother the RNC to see how much the truth hurts.

Earlier in the letter she quotes both John Kerry and John McCain out of context, then wraps up the paragraph with an allegation that the ìMoveon.org Voter fund is one of these groups evading the new campaign finance law.î

These Dubya-promoters know no shame. They use graphics of firefighters and remains from September 11th [6] in their ads. They offend the firefighters ñwho well recall that Dubya is no friend to firefighter financial support . . . how will that enrich Cheney-burton, anyway? -- and the families of the dead, but yet they call Move-On a violator of federal law. Name calling. False allegations (like, uh, say, WMDs?) This is the approach, from the outset, the opening salvo, courtesy of the Dubya team.

Consider this: if the Move On ads were a real and true violation, why wouldnít the RNC lodge a formal complaint? Why wouldnít the Commission itself be taking a position?

Letís hope the old ìsticks and stones [7]î rhyme is recognized by the undecided voters, the ones the pundits predict will decide the election this time around.

Additional note: CNN coverage of this story may be found here [8].