Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Lerkfish · Aug 21, 2004, 10:52 PM

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ampaign_ads_dc

RAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - A Vietnam veteran who worked with President Bush (news - web sites)'s campaign has left over his appearance in a commercial by a group challenging Democratic candidate John Kerry (news - web sites)'s war record, a campaign spokesman said on Saturday.

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Ken Cordier was a Bush supporter during the 2000 election and served as a member of his a steering committee to help reach out to veterans during this election.

"Col. Cordier did not inform the campaign of his involvement in the advertisement being run by (Swift Boat Veterans for Truth)," Schmidt said. "Because of his involvement with this 527 (group), Col. Cordier will no longer participate" in the steering committee.

The disclosure of Cordier's involvement came one day after White House spokesman Scott McClellan and Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot denied the campaign coordinated with the group on the ads, which claim that Kerry lied about his Vietnam War service.

sooooo...there's absolutely NO coordination from the Bush campaign for the swiftboat....er....ah......wait, let's fire the guy so we can be allowed to say that.

MacGorilla · Aug 21, 2004, 10:54 PM

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ampaign_ads_dc

sooooo...there's absolutely NO coordination from the Bush campaign for the swiftboat....er....ah......wait, let's fire the guy so we can be allowed to say that.

OOOOPS! Busted!

Lerkfish · Aug 21, 2004, 10:57 PM

Originally posted by MacGorilla:
OOOOPS! Busted!

wait! there's more!
http://www.okbar.org/news/cordierbio.pdf

if you read his bio....looky what you see:

Political Involvement - During the 2000 Presidential Primary Campaign, Col. Cordier rallied fellow POWs to support George W. Bush and collected signatures from a large segment of the POWs for a press release endorsement. Following President Bush's nomination, he was appointed as Vice Chair for the Veterans and Retired Military for Bush - Cheney National Coalition. In that capacity, he coordinated daily electronic message traffic to the Vietnam POW membership for follow-on networking. During the fall campaign, Col. Cordier carried Presidentelect Bush's message of the need to rebuild our military and the importance of restoring support for veterans and military retirees at every public speaking opportunity. At the personal invitation of Congressman Pete Sessions, Col. Cordier has served on the Service Academy Selection Board for the 5th Congressional district for the years 1997-2000. Several students selected are now in the top ten of their class at their respective academy. Col. Cordier and his wife have hosted the annual dinner for the Dallas Republican Career Women in their home for the past two years. Congressman Sam Johnson was a guest speaker for this event attended by 53 members and guests. Vietnamese American Community (VAC) - Col. Cordier is an active supporter of and contributor to both the local and national VAC organizations. For the past four years he has acted in the role of legislative consultant to coordinate visits to Washington DC, and to escort their leaders for meetings with members of Congress and State Department Officials. He has spoken to the VAC at their national meeting in Washington DC, and numerous times at their Dallas meetings. Most recently, he was the keynote speaker at their �Thank You America� Gala, where more than $10,000 was raised to support their new community center. As a result, he is known and respected by Vietnamese leaders around the country. Col. Cordier addresses the VAC �Thank You America� Gala, September 2000.

heh, "only in amurica, can a man so mundane...."

CreepingDeth · Aug 21, 2004, 11:31 PM

Riiiight.
Did Bush say go make the ad? Who cares if he worked for Bush? Connection has to go to the top, but don't let that stop you.

Lerkfish · Aug 22, 2004, 12:07 AM

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:
Riiiight.
Did Bush say go make the ad? Who cares if he worked for Bush? Connection has to go to the top, but don't let that stop you.

Who cares? well, it would be against the law, for one thing...it does an endrun around the campaign reform legislation. I don't think it has to go "to the top" as much as just be connected to the committee to reelect.

spacefreak · Aug 22, 2004, 12:11 AM

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
Who cares? well, it would be against the law, for one thing...it does an endrun around the campaign reform legislation. I don't think it has to go "to the top" as much as just be connected to the committee to reelect.

It's telling that you don't also conduct an investigation of similar fashion into MoveOn.org's ties to the Kerry campaign.

CreepingDeth · Aug 22, 2004, 12:42 AM

macvillage.net · Aug 22, 2004, 12:56 AM

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:
Riiiight.
Did Bush say go make the ad? Who cares if he worked for Bush? Connection has to go to the top, but don't let that stop you.

Still an election law violation.

Bush Campaign can not take part in 527's.

Says nothing about the candidate. It's the campaign. And a member did.

And considering who funded that series of ads (hint, it's a republican)... rest assured they were reviewed, and authorized.

Sucks to be Bush right now. He's going to need to get his propeganda team down to texas to help him out of this one.

CreepingDeth · Aug 22, 2004, 01:05 AM

Sure. But his point Bush himself was involved, not just the campaign. And please, you've go rich Liberals funding stuff left and right. Soros funds MoveOn.org with $10 million. $200,000 is little compared to that.

Lerkfish · Aug 22, 2004, 01:15 AM

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:
Sure. But his point Bush himself was involved, not just the campaign. And please, you've go rich Liberals funding stuff left and right. Soros funds MoveOn.org with $10 million. $200,000 is little compared to that.

Nope. I said Bush campaing worker and Bush campaign.

CreepingDeth · Aug 22, 2004, 01:18 AM

Talking to village. There are many people in a campaign. Just because it says Bush in the noun doesn't mean that Bush supports it. He has several statements not supporting the SBVT.

Lerkfish · Aug 22, 2004, 02:02 AM

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:
Talking to village. There are many people in a campaign. Just because it says Bush in the noun doesn't mean that Bush supports it. He has several statements not supporting the SBVT.

"Bush in the noun"? not sure if I understand that phrase.

the only person in this thread mentioning Bush in person is yourself. You said it couldn't be illegal because Bush isn't directly involved, and village and I were pointing out that doesn't matter as long as the organization to reelect is involved its illegal.

Bush can say he doesn't support the SBVT all he likes, that doesn't erase the infraction.

Saad · Aug 22, 2004, 09:32 AM

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:

How is the tax law grounds for a conspiracy theory? Seems the Bushies employed a member of a 527 group, which is against the law. I imagine the conservatives would do the same things if it is found that someone working for MoveOn is also on the Kerry/Edwards staff.

MacGorilla · Aug 22, 2004, 11:03 AM

Originally posted by Saad:
How is the tax law grounds for a conspiracy theory? Seems the Bushies employed a member of a 527 group, which is against the law. I imagine the conservatives would do the same things if it is found that someone working for MoveOn is also on the Kerry/Edwards staff.

They'd freak and sick the DOJ on them.

olePigeon · Aug 22, 2004, 02:10 PM

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:
Riiiight.
Did Bush say go make the ad? Who cares if he worked for Bush? Connection has to go to the top, but don't let that stop you.

Wait, I thought the connection stopped with the FBI or the CIA and never made it to the President... that's why we thought there were WMDs.

Oh, wait, I get it. It only has to go to the top when it's convenient for the administration.

macvillage.net · Aug 22, 2004, 02:38 PM

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:
Talking to village. There are many people in a campaign. Just because it says Bush in the noun doesn't mean that Bush supports it. He has several statements not supporting the SBVT.

The laws state that the campaign can't in any way be involved. And an individual who was part of the campaign (he was fired *after* the fact) was involved in this ad. That's a clear violation, no questions asked. A campaign member participated in the Ad. And the guy admitted to participating. His name was on the website, and registered as a participant of the campaign. So there's no debate left.

The only question is if the election commission is going to enforce the rules or not (and that's debatable since most elections they ignore all complaints of violations... though none with an admission that I can recall). Personally I doubt the comission is going to do anything, since it would be to high profile. I'd feel pretty safe betting they will say something post-election though. Perhaps even push for further reforms. But not until after the election, so the focus is the candidates (as pathetic as they are), not the scandal.

And Bush never denounced the SBVT. That was the first half of Kerry's complaint. Bush himself never commented on it. His press secretary said he didn't participate in the ads, or have any association with SBVT... but he did not say anything about not supporting them.

Might want to look at the websites. Bush's webteam devoted the majority of the pages to anti-kerry, and about 25% to Bush Agenda. Kerry did slightly better. Only Nader seems to be avoiding the smear technique. Perhaps he'll win after all?