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Doing something this low is only going to hurt their campaign. Americans (I hope) are smart enough to see past the blatant misinterpretation of Hitler in this political ad.

It’s almost like the Bush campaign is getting desperate.

David, I think you missed something here and you may want to reel it in a bit.

First of all, it looks to me that the Nazi images are from the controversial rejected video from the MoveOn.org competition from a few months ago.

Secondly, even if the Bushies did put in the Hitler image, your inflammatory headline isn’t even really factually accurate: nowhere in that video does John Kerry and Hiter’s face appear in particularly close proximity to justify saying “put Hitler’s face on Kerry”.

That said, it’s pretty outrageous that the Bush-Cheney official site would use an image from the rejected-as-too-crazy department of the already marginal MoveOn.org group. The resulting message is pretty much in line with your point: The Democrats are supposed to be like Nazis.

That’s crazy.

-Cf

With regard to economics and libertarian-versus-authoritarian power, Mr. Bush is far closer to Adolf Hitler than Mr. Kerry. Not that the comparison even matters.

This is just an attempt by the Bush Administration to grab more votes from ignorant, stereotype-minded people. People who will believe misrepresentation are the Bush voting base this year.

I believe you have all got it wrong.

The message is that Democrats, and those backing them, are hysterical, angry, not in control of themselves, so how could you possibly vote for someone like that, someone who’s party is o out of control.

The use of the Moveon images was pretty clever in my mind, because we all know, both sides of the aisle, that that movie was made to anger, nothing more.

That ad is hilarious. It makes me want to vote Dem even more. GWB IS a miserable failure. How DO they dare drag us thru Abu Ghraib? Kerry could almost tack on the line “I’m John Kerry and I approved this message.”

im confused…

didn’t the republicans get all up in arms about the move-on hitler/bush comparison months ago?

you know….if they want to claim to be above the democrats in ethics and moral standing, or hell…just common decent human behavior…as their jesus would have wanted….then should they not pull the same crap on the public?

pot and kettle……

I think the ad is pretty good, and it’s obviously not “putting Hitler’s face on Kerry” but showing how Democrats put Hitler’s face on Bush.

It strikes me as interesting that Democrats might enjoy it too—it’s kind of a greatest hits collection of anti-Bush rants of the last year. So let’s all enjoy it together!

What’s good about the ad is its timeliness, corresponding to the realease of the Moore movie. The ad shows how the most extreme forms of overheated leftist demogogury, faces twisted with hate, veins bulging from necks, have now moved into the mainstream of a Democratic party that has lost its moral compass.

Interesting, isn’t it, that with a war on, with innocent Iraqis being killed by the hundreds by deranged Islamic terrorists, with graphic beheadings being aired across the middle east for the delight of Anti-American mullahs, the American left can only muster outrage at George Bush. The Al Gores, John Kerrys, Howard Deans and Michael Moores completely ignore the atrocities commited by those madmen because they don’t know or don’t care who the real enemy is.

Martin is right, the ad is about Democrats putting Hitler’s face on Bush.

Most recently Al Gore did it:

…today Al Gore upped the ante. He coined a new term for the Internet critics of his positions: digital brownshirts. Yes, yes, it’s over the top. But it’s not the sentiment that raises eyebrows, it’s the position of the person who’s saying it. We don’t expect presidential candidates past or present to indulge in Usenet flame-war lingo. We don’t expect serious party elders to call the other side Nazis, and for good reason: it’s obscene. The brownshirts were evil. The brownshirts kicked the Jews in the streets and made the little kids put their hands on their heads as they stumbled off to the trains. The brownshirts were not interested in refuting arguments. They were interested in killing the people who dared argue at all. -lileks

When you all get home from Michael Moore’s movie tonight, be sure to check out the Club for Growth’s new ad.

I think it’s even better than Bush’s.

No, Eric and Martin. It is the Bush/Cheney web site that has placed the images of Hitler, Gore, Kerry, and other lefties together in a video stream which with the context of the audio associates Kerry with the verbage that associates Hitler to Bush.

This is deceptive, and misleading. Where is the quote from Kerry that associates Hitler with Bush? The ad demonstrates that the left’s attacks on Bush using references to Hitler is a fair tactic from both the dupoloy parties as this ad demonstrates.

Ynot, you are of course quite correct. The intent of the video is to represent the Dem’s as out of control and knowing no bounds of behavior. The factual problem of the ad is with its attribution of actions by Gore and MoveOn.org to Kerry. That is in fact putting the face of Hitler on Kerry, where Sen. Kerry has not lost his cool like Cheney this week using the F word to relate his anger at the opposition, where Kerry’s image of anger contorted face can’t be produced because it does not exist in video archives.

Kerry, is a controlled, disciplined (often seen as unanimated and boring) person and to attribute the animated Gore delivery, or Red face of Kennedy, or the extreme tactics of MoveOn.Org to John Kerry is simply a fallacious and lying attempt to convince others that Kerry is a person out of control and no to be trusted. It is to put MoveOn.org’s Hitler face on the candidate who opposes Bush in a fashion as disgusting as Hitler’s attribution of the failings of the German people to the Jews. Thus reflecting Bush/Cheney’s capacity to act as Hitler did in public deception and misattribution.

David,

I, as a person that has voted Dem, but more recently votes Rep, see this ad not a putting Hitler’s face, or temprement, on JfK, at all, but is showing people the lengths that the Dem party, and its affiliates, will go, even to calling a sitting Prez Hitler.

To say that Moveon is not affiliated with JfK is disingenious at best, a lie at worst. Hell, Kerry’s Internet Media chief worked for Moveon before he worked for Kerry.

To me this ad didn’t make me equate Kerry, or Democrats for that matter, with Hitler at all. It just made me laugh, thinking about the lengths that people will go to win, and the Dems especially.

Ynot, I thought you got it. MoveOn may be supporting Kerry, but Kerry is not affiliated with MoveOn and that is the issue. Kerry had nothing whatsoever to do with the planning and representation of Bush and Hitler as cast in the same mold.

But, now the Republicans will stoop as low as MoveOn to try to make that implication in the video being discussed. Neither side has hit its lowest yet: we have 4 months to go. I won’t vote for either side of this garbage heap which is trying to do everything possible to avoid the real issues of major concern to our country: how do we restore prosperity with a 10 trillion dollar debt heading our way and how do we restore peace while making enemies of people around the world? Hell they demonstrated against us in large numbers in Ireland yesterday - make no mistake, it was not just Bush they were demonstrating against, it was the Americans who elected him as well.

This president has enlarged and advertised the bullseye OBL put on our Americans backs with his invasion of Iraq, millions now see this target who did not before the Iraq invasion and occupation, and think our invasion of Iraq justifies our wearing it.

It’s the worst commercial I’ve ever seen. It gives free airplay to the charges of the democrats at a time when more and more people are agreeing with those charges. Only the base for these people will not look at these ads and feel some kind of agreement with the Democrats.

I mean, really, they showed Gore at his most animated, his most passionate, and using words that reflect great pride in this country, and great disgust at what happened in Abu Ghraib. They broadcast Michael Moore’s speech where he flat out accused the administration of presenting a fictitious case at a time when most people believe that there was some degree of dishonesty concerning our evidence for going to war. Giving free airtime to your opponent’s strongest arguments is not the way to win elections. Also, it’s fairly easy for somebody to mistakenly assume that Democrats are being compared to Hitler, so it doesn’t reflect well on the tactics of the administration.

In essence this commercial reflects a failure on the part of its authors to step outside of their insular worldview. It seems like the Ivory Tower has new residents.

Those are the Democrat’s strongest arguments? Non-sequitors, tantrums, and baying at the moon? I sure hope so—it means that the election will be easier than I thought.

There’s as much reason(if not more reason) to blame Al Gore for incinerating children at Waco as there is for claiming Bush “dragged us through the mud of Saddam’s torture prison,” (which is no longer a torture prison today despite the Democrat’s best efforts to keep it one and keep Sadddam in his palaces).

There’s nothing left to say about Howard Dean—except too bad the Democrats didn’t want to buy his version of crazy this year.

And Michael Moore? Why doesn’t he go take his camera and wander around Fallujah for a few days? Then can send us back videos of children dancing through fields of daisies to show how “fictitious” the case against the Islamicists is. I just hope he doesn’t get his head chopped off in the process.

It’s hard to figure out exactly what the political strategy is behind this one. They’ve declared war on anger now — which I find really amusing. Most people think if you’re angry you’ve lost control — but that’s only the case if you don’t know WHY you’re angry. Ask any freshman psychology student.

So spending 30 seconds devoted to anti-Bush facts that SHOULD make people angry, is really funny when you think about it. So they’ve now aired “Bush as Hitler” footage that they had successfully quashed and was once only available via the Internet.

The only group this ad may appeal to is his base — the morning in America crowd. But to listen to the words being said — no one appeaered “wild-eyed” to me; no one’s out of control — and close it with that pollyanna ending just reinforces that Bush is a person who is completely out of touch with reality. Plus, the Kerry “kick your ass” clip should actually win votes for Kerry. But a Coalition of the Wild-Eyed? Not even close.

It is an internet-only ad, so the base is who it’s intended for.

This sets a really bad precedent for politics. Does this ad now mean that Kerry’s campaign can lump the statements of Jerry Falwell, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and god knows how many other right-wingers into a campaign commercial and use it to slam Bush? It would be interesting to see how the Bush administration reacted to such a slanderous clip directed right back at them (though it’s still very bad).

This has Karl Rove’s fingerprints all over it by the way. This is just their way of trying to derail the campaign from focusing on issues and steering it into a popularity contest based solely on image, which is Bush’s strongest point.

I believe the point is to play up the negativity from the democratic side. Which will forces the dems to respond with positivity, I.E. John Edwards as V.P.

Once he has committed to Edwards then its phase two.
Two businessment against a career politician and lawyer. Two of the most hated type of people in America.

Or the republicans are just dumb without a strategy. But I suspect they want to force the vp nomination.

Any Republican who defends this revolting ad needs to take a good look in the mirror. Its only redeeming feature is that it’s too silly to sway anyone’s opinion.

It is true that MoveOn had an ad on their website that compared Bush to Hitler, but it was one of hundreds submitted by users and it was rejected. Even if MoveOn had chosen to put such an ad on TV, what would that prove? Two wrongs make a right?

Bottom line: Stupid, repulsive ad that suggests desperation.

Woody, why do you find it repulsive? It consists of nothing but a selection of quotes and video from Democrats and their political allies. I find it repulsive too, but I’m not sure how anybody on the left could.

Or is that the quotes and video are spliced together in a manner that gives a misleading impression? Sounds a little like Michael Moore’s main technique, eh? A little sly editing to shape the story? I like the ad, expecially now, because it gives the left a small taste of what they’ve been dishing out for a year and half now with essentially no response from conservatives.

The real difference between Moore and this ad is that the ad is accurate, fair, and honest.

Martin,

All I can say is that I hope your point of view is popular at the RNC.

Comment deleted for failing to observe our Critique the Message NOT the Messenger rule.

WatchBlog Manager

Well, in David’s defense (I never thought I’d say THAT), I understand that the Kerry campaign sent out an e-mail to the effect that the Bush campaign was using Hitler imagery in an ad. So I’m guessing that’s where David got this now disproven story.

Fact: The two MoveOn ads with Hitler in them was from their Bush in 30 seconds were pulled after complaints from the RNC.

None of these was our ad, nor did their appearance constitute endorsement or sponsorship by MoveOn.org Voter Fund. They will not appear on TV. We do not support the sentiment expressed in the two Hitler submissions. They were voted down by our members and the public, who reviewed the ads and submitted nearly 3 million critiques in the process of choosing the 15 finalist entries.

We agree that the two ads in question were in poor taste and deeply regret that they slipped through our screening process. In the future, if we publish or broadcast raw material, we will create a more effective filtering system.

I understand that the Kerry campaign sent out an e-mail to the effect that the Bush campaign was using Hitler imagery in an ad. So I’m guessing that’s where David got this now disproven story.

Huh? What was disproven?

Martin, just fyi, I got the story about the ad from NewisFree. And what are you referring when you say disproven. The fact is the Bush Cheney campaing is trying to put MoveOn.org’s Hitler face on John Kerry as having had something to do with that. John Kerry had absolutely no association at all with MoveOn.Org’s contest or the making of that Hitler/Bush video. Thus, FACT, Bush/Cheney are trying to put the Hitler ad on to Sen. Kerry, implying Kerry had something to do with it.

So, again, I ask what is it you refer to as disproven? The evidence is there for all to see, how can one disprove what is in front of the eyes of any who care to visit the site?

To amplify Stephen’s point, let’s suppose that the Kerry people put together an ad from footage of Bush, Jerry Falwell, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, and some footage from a Bush campaign ad that just happens to be of Hitler(what luck!), and called it “The Faces of George Bush’s Republican Party.” Fair play?

Woody:

Jerry Falwell, Ann Coulter, and Michael Savage do not hold postitions in the Republican party leadership comparable to Howard Dean, Al Gore and Dick Gephardt (all three of whom are very prominent Democrats and former office holders).

The comparison you’re making just doesn’t hold water. Not a drop. The only person on that ad who is not a former Democratic office-holder (or for that matter, prominent contender for the Democratic presidential nomination this year) is Michael Moore.

But yes, if the Democrats wanted to use a quote from Coulter, Savage or Fallwell about Kerry, then go for it. But good luck.

Those guys (and gal) do not represent the soul of their party in the way that Moore does his, and most people wouldn’t even recognize them anyway (with the possible exception of Fallwell, who is just as whacko as Moore but hardly beloved or heeded by a comparable number of people).

Sad to say, but if Bush wants to cry about being compared to Hitler, I suggest he look to Germany, Australia, and Cuba, and to one of his own Judges. He’s whining about the Dems… but Ive yet to see him call down those in other countries that have made the same comparison. Doesnt sound to me like he’s too concerned about it, it’s just another popularity contest. And it’s one that Bush is helping himself loose.

As was pointed out yesterday, the jury is still out on how much devastation and death can be laid at the feet of our President. And thats something that many are remembering now.

The commercial in question from MoveOn.org was never endorsed by MoveOn.org, nor created by MoveOn, but was an entry by a citizen… the Bush ad fails to mention that.

It’s almost too precious for words, isn’t it, when the Germans start calling other people Nazis?

Yes, most Germans opposed this war to depose a murderous tyrant they were selling (among other things) illegal WMD techology to. So shame on them. I wonder if for once in their history Germans will ever take the side of a democracy against a tolalitarian state.

It doesn’t matter who created the Hitler ad for Moveon. They put it on their website, thereby implicitly endorsing it—they are ultimately responsible for what they put before the public.
It’s no different than if a prominent conservative group posted a racist video produced by the KKK. You can’t just plead innocence when you’ve paid for the bandwidth to broadcast something like that.

You can’t just plead innocence when you’ve paid for the bandwidth to broadcast something like that.

Someone’s paying for the bandwidth for this site. Are they endorsing everything that we are writing?

I noticed you skipped over my question about whether it would be fair to splice Bush footage with the Hitler footage from his own ad. (Not that I would endorse the Dems doing this; we’re talking about your ethical system.)

Who was it who invented the whole “is Hitler” comparison knee-jerk? Oh yeah. Do as they say, not as they do.

And the Democrats wonder why I won’t vote for them even if I won’t vote for Bush.

Who was it who invented the whole “is Hitler” comparison knee-jerk?

The “Bush In 30 Seconds” contest was open to anyone. Anyone could enter. I do not know if if anyone is taking credit for creating the Hitler ads, but dare I suggest it? Perhaps Karl Rove himself (or his operatives) planted those ads months ago knowing that they’d get rejected by MoveOn, solely so they could use them to their advantage later in the election season,

No proof, of course, but it’s exactly the kind of sleazy thing Rove would do.

Cameron, did Rove also put these words in George Soros’ mouth in his Washington Post interview?

To whit:

Saying he believed the White House was guided by a “supremacist ideology,” Soros complained: “America, under Bush, is a danger to the world … When I hear Bush say, ‘You’re either with us or against us,’ it reminds me of the Germans … My experiences under Nazi and Soviet rule have sensitized me.”

And now we have Tom Brokaw showing the Nazi video saying “how did it come to this in our political debates?” Well DUH! Put about a billion dollars of fuel behind it and it’s gonna grow some legs there, Tommy boy!

Lest we forget, we went to war with Iraq because of WMDs, not because Saddam was a tyrant. That same tyrant, whom Rumsfeld shook hands with in 1982, bought chemical weapons from us—along with skuds and other military hardware—to fight the Iranians. Over a million people were slaughtered in the war, without any protests from us or the international community. Yes, it’s good Saddam is gone. Unfortunately, under this poisoned political climate, we may never get a the truth as to the motive for going to war, much less how to reach a desirable and honorable conclusion to the crises in the middle east.