Swiftboating

I hate the term "Swiftboating." I hate how the name of the boats we honored when we were in uniform in Vietnam has become a verb for the twisted politics of Karl Rove.

But today we need to fight the right wing's tactics not just to reclaim a word, but to reclaim our democracy.

And for anyone who thinks, "we don't even have a nominee yet, are the Republicans really attacking Democratic presidential candidates already?" -- the answer is not just yes, but it matters (and, yes, some people are really asking that).

Just think back to April of 2003. Yes, 2003.

In the New York Times the Republican narrative was first introduced:

"Another Bush adviser said of Mr. Kerry, 'He looks French.'"

In the same article, anonymous Republicans described John Edwards as the "Breck Girl"

Bottom line, we can't wait until we have a Democratic ticket to combat the right wing's efforts to "frame" our candidates.

Yesterday, I sent out an email to Barack Obama's email community urging people to fight against the vicious smears from the modern conservative movement (they began in a right wing magazine) that have been bouncing around the Internet for months. I'll reprint it below, but first I want to mention one thing.

I'm supporting Barack Obama because I think he's the right person for this moment, but I have -- and I will -- condemn and fight against these kinds of smears no matter who is the target.

In the last few years, I've defended Jack Murtha, Patrick Murphy, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and others (including a candidate in a state house race in New Jersey) from the smears of the right-wing, and I'll defend many more patriots in the months ahead.

I'll defend the nominee of our party, no matter who it is, and I'll defend people like Mark Udall in a Senate race in Colorado, or Jon Powers in a House race in central New York, or state house candidates across the country.

The right-wing has nothing to offer but fear and smears, and they are gearing up to deliver plenty of it. Already we hear of a conservative group with ties to the Bush White House -- Freedom's Watch -- that plans to spend a quarter of a billion dollars on this election. I think we all know enough about how the right-wing operates to know that this money won't go to helping voters make informed choices. That money will go to smearing candidates across America, up and down the ballot.

And right now, the most egregious right-wing smears are being spread about Barack Obama. Make no mistake, they'll spread them about any candidate we have, but they have some catch-up to do on Barack, so they are pushing out the most despicable lies. I couldn't stand by while that happened, so I sent this email:

I support Barack Obama because he doesn't seek to perfect the politics of Swiftboating -- he seeks to end it.

This is personal for me, and for a whole lot of Americans who lived through the 2004 election.

As a veteran, it disgusts me that the Swift Boats we loved while we were in uniform on the Mekong Delta have been rendered, in Karl Rove's twisted politics, an ugly verb meaning to lie about someone's character just to win an election. But as someone who cares about winning this election and changing the country I love, I know it's not enough to complain about a past we can't change when our challenge is to win the future -- which is why we must stop the Swiftboating, stop the push-polling, stop the front groups, and stop the email chain smears.

The truth matters, but how you fight the lies matters even more. We must be determined never again to lose any election to a lie.

This year, the attacks are already starting. Some of you may have heard about the disgusting lies about Barack Obama that are being circulated by email. These attacks smear Barack's Christian faith and deep patriotism, and they distort his record of more than two decades of public service. They are nothing short of "Swiftboat" style anonymous attacks.

These are the same tactics the right has used again and again, and as we've learned, these attacks, no matter how bogus, can spread and take root if they go unchecked.

But not this time -- we're fighting back.

And when I say "we," I mean that literally. I know Barack is committed to fighting every smear every time. He'll fight hard and stand up for the truth. But he can't do it alone.

We need you to email the truth to your address books. Print it out and post it at work. Talk to your neighbors. Call your local radio station. Write a letter to the editor. If lies can be spread virally, let's prove to the cynics that the truth can be every bit as persuasive as it is powerful.

The Obama campaign has created a place where you can find the truth you'll need to push back on these smears and a way to spread the truth to all of your address book.

Take action here:

http://my.barackobama.com/factcheckaction

So when your inbox fills up with trash and the emails of smear and fear, find the facts, and help defeat the lies.

Barack Obama is committed to bringing our country together to meet the challenges we face, but he knows that power gives up nothing without a struggle -- and to win the chance to change America, we must first defeat the hateful tactics that have been used to tear us apart for too long.

With you help, we can turn the page on an era of small, divisive politics -- but only if next time you hear these attacks on Barack, you take action immediately:

http://my.barackobama.com/factcheckaction

The fight is just getting warm -- we won't let them steal this election with lies and distortions.

Thank you,

John Kerry

Thanks. I'll be devoting some serious time, resources, and energy from both my staff and myself in fighting these smears and empowering all of you to fight them as well. I'll have more on what you can do to help combat smears as we go forward.

We can't let the right-wing steal another election with lies and distortions.

Comments

[PenFighter]

Good post, but what stood out most is the Fear and Smear line. That's a designation that's easy to say and resonates: "Oh, you mean the Fear And Smear party?" The GOP is dead. Long live the FAS! But in this soundbite world, everything boils down toward one-word nicknames, so I'm wondering how we should refer to this FAS party. Hmmm... some fitting, simple, one-word designation that starts with FAS... what could that be?

[Norge]

Mr. Kerry,

"The boats we honored"??????

Get real Mr. Kerry. What was a swift boat for?

The fastest way to get to a place to murder people. + with "beehive rounds which were illegal under the Geneva Accords.

The only honorable moment of all of those years of murder and brutality, assinations, torture and chemical defoliation were the final hours of liftoff from the roof of the American embassy.

[Athens]

Those who vote for immunity for telephone companies are erased from the Book of Life for eternity. five generations.

[Snardius]

Mr. Kerry,
The only way you could have successfully answered the Swiftboat veterans allegations which, by the way included your entire chain of command, was to release your entire military record to the public. If you are in control of the facts, why haven't you released them?

[wolfgirl]

thank you john kerry!i called you an honorable man in 2004 and i can still call you an honorable man in 2008! we can only hope that people will fact check and not listen to a 20 second soundbite. we have important matters here in our great country bigger than ever i think ! please everyone fact check everything! not just one side or another all of them!!the media is not going to give it to you !!go out and find it for yourself.

[Tulka2]

Regarding the swift-boating aimed at McCain in the primaries: Actually, i suspect in McCain's case, his swift-boating is an artful G.O.P. spin to make sure McCain is bullet-proof from the left by the time the general election rolls around. By that time, media pressure will be firmly in place not to say a word against this "war hero's" service in Nam. (Liberals are so easy to manipulate.)

And there's a lot to say about McCain's views on his war service. The G.O.P. would have us think the charges of betayal after he was tortured are dispicable and hence unmentionable. But... since McCain talks about his torture in his own book, we should talk about torture too since McCain's experience underscores the pointlessness of torture.

In Flags of Our Fathers' McCain tells about how he caved and signed a confession about being Nam's "black enemy". It is why he is so opposed to torture.

The most important fact that really does need talking about is that McCain actually was a "black enemy" of innocent civilians in Nam.

Now, any soldier's action in that war can be blamed on youth and ignorance. What i blame a man for is never understanding what he did, years later. I blame a man for never apologizing for the suffering he personally is responsible for. Never coming to terms with the horrible mistake that war was.

McCain is as wacko as so many who have been fighting that war ever since. With the same wacko ferver so many still fight the Civil war....often the same guys. We should say it early, say it loud. I feel sorry for anyone, Ebenezer Scroog and Morley's ghost for not being able to own up to their sins. I believe in redemption, but this guy is still embracing his mistakes. Do we need a frozen-up mind as our next president?

I don't think it is the time to embrace all points of irrational view. The first principle of non-vilolence is to never allow a lie to stand.

[RTIII]

"I hate how the name of the boats we honored when we were in uniform in Vietnam has become a verb for the twisted politics of Karl Rove."

No, John Kerry, that's NOT what it has become synonymous with. The modern meaning of "Swift Boating" is to fail to respond adequately to false charges.

[itsnotmyfault]

Maybe Kerry should encourage Obama to actually address some hard truths.
Reagan:
Obama's defended his statement how Republicans for years were the party of ideas, by indicating he was not saying or implying good ideas.Obama's words have no meaning if within the context of his speech he was really saying , "I think it's fair to say the Republicans were the party of (bad)ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last ten, fifteen years, in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom." -ObamaHmmmmm, makes no sense that way does it?
Cocaine use:
Obama's admitted cocaine use is troubling. In 2000 many respected liberal voices suggested that George Bush's suspected cocaine use, a felonious act, should disqualify him from taking office. Why does this reasoning not apply to Obama?
Rezko:
Obama, indicted or not, was clearly engaged in some extremely disconcerting nefarious activities with Rezko, from which he realized enormous financial gain.
Racial Politics:
It was Obama's campaign that stirred the furor over Hillary's inartfull but innocuous comments about MLK and LBJ.
"Present" Votes:
regardless of Obama's claim that that present vote is standard practice in IL. politics, if the present vote has no impact on bills being approved or not, altered or corrected, it is strictly a device for political cover. In the debate the faulty bill Obama addressed was approved, in its existing form and is still on the books. His "present" vote, simply political cover.

[luziannagirl]

John Kerry, you read my mind. Too bad that technique wasn't all set up & ready to roll in a big way for you a few yrs ago. That's a good idea; shoot the truth right back at the e-smearers.

Facts trump fiction, we hope.

Maybe we could also this time battle fiction with fiction. "Republican Party: Satanic Front"

I am only partly joking. I mean, it wouldn't really be a smear. It's religion, so it's not like there are any facts to be checked or anything...plus, THEY were the ones who brought religion and theology into politics and public policy in the first place.

[BradKnSF]

Obama said oops on 6 state Senate votes: LA Times
"I was not aware that I had voted no," he said

After reading this I really wonder about his honesty. He accidentally pressed the wrong button when voting??? Some times it's the smallest lies that are the most telling.

"some lawmakers say the practice also offers a relatively painless way to placate both sides of a difficult issue."

What a lame excuse -- sounds really politically contrived to me!!!

Obama needs to talk about the issues. SORRY, but the issues are not hope, dream, togetherness, etc... All he seems able to do lately is attack Hillary in an attempt to swift-boat her. She has every right to fight back.

He is displaying the ugliest of tactics: Pretending to be a uniter, while subtly doing everything possible to divide us.

This is why republicans won so often. They at least know (or knew) how to stick together.

[ibsteve2u]

xrayman said:

"I agree with James Carville this morning on the Today show when he said that campaigning is a competitive sport, and people need to quit whining."

Me, I think that we should take all political consultants and campaign advisors like James Carville and the others who work so hard to convince the candidates and the American people that any tactic is acceptable in a political race and drown them in a burlap bag like the farmers of yore (...) did with excess kittens.

I mean, WTF? Before a candidate even reaches office, his or her morality has been corrupted to conform to a belief system that holds that any action is acceptable if it is "politically expedient".

And we wonder why our leaders suck?

[dk2]

How long have you knowm Senator Obama personally?

Could you offer some remarks as to Jonathan Alters (Newsweek) remarks about Senator Obama on the Charlie Rose show and how he has known Senator Obama for 8 years and how Senator Obama is more like Senator Clinton than any other, and how Senator Obama got his start with get the vote out in IL for Clinton and how he is a "third way" candidate and like a "new Democrat"? Which both are DLC related.

Enlight of the connection of the DLC, Third Way and New Democrats how is it that you see a major difference between Senators Clinton and Obama?
Isn't it true that John Edwards is the real Change candidate esp. enlight of the philisophical simularities between Senators Clinton and Obama?

[jbstonesfan]

Why are you endorsing another LOSER??? Hillary and Bill will make sure you and the lovely Mrs. Heinz are not invited to any of their wild parties...wtf
where you thinking?

[MorganTruce]

John,
All admiration I have for you aside, you were instrumental in your own 'swiftboating' in 2004. Much earlier in 1970 you testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about terrible things that were going on in Vietnam.

Having just returned from Vietnam myself, I could easily vouch for nearly everything you testified to. Many Americans were horrified; yet others were unable to believe what veterans were saying. That testimony was, of course, what brought you into the consciousness of the American people: the young war veteran from Boston who spoke so eloquently of his experiences and observations.

Twenty-four years later you re-surfaced on the national stage as a Presidential candidate. You then presented yourself as a highly decorated war veteran who was "reporting for duty" once again. There was never ANY mention of the first time we came to know you--and certainly no mention of the role you played in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War that opened so many eyes. I regret having to say that, by casting yourself as a hero, and ignoring your service as an antiwar activist, you somehow managed to simultaneously enrage your critics AND your friends. The damage was done before the "swiftboating" even began. It was self-inflicted. Each one of us has paid the price for that mistake.

---------------

I certainly agree that it is loathsome to call into question the character or service of anyone who has honorably served in the military. To later question the merits of a particular Silver Star, only serves to tarnish the reputation of every veteran who was awarded that honor. Nothing much good comes from examining anyone's service records. It's much better just to say, "Thank you and welcome home!"

If "swiftboating" a veteran is bad, it follows that applying the same tactic applied to any citizen is just as repugnant. We are all the beneficiaries of veterans who have served. Anyone who is willing to sacrifice and make an effort like any of our presidential candidates, should have our respect--even if it does not include our vote.

[NJYankee]

Senator Kerry:

Thanks for your service to this country as a soldier and as a Senator. With your social standing you could have stayed home or play golf. Interesting how the most conservative people who claim to have such high morals are precisely the ones who either invent or ardently consume and spread this garbage about other people. My mother in law is such a Christian yet she is guilty of being gullible because another republican says so, like Huck, Bush or Rove. I'm of the notion that this country has gotten too much of god, or of a percieved god which has actually become detrimental to this country. I hear all the time that this nation was founded by Christians who were being persecuted, however careful study reveals that a majority of the framers and early presidents were in fact deists, not necesarily Christians. The current "Christians" have now become the persecuters?