Cybrpnk's Rantings

The so-called 'Swiftboat Veterans for Truth' are a bunch of scum-sucking un-American weasels. Why mince words about this? These people have launched a scurilous attack against a candidate for President. They have no evidence to back up their lies. they are clearly funded by George W. Bush's friends. They have no policy goal. They are political hatchet-men. If they really were concerned about the qualifications of a man asking to be commander-in-chief, why attack the guy who actually fought in combat, when the alcoholic with a rumoured history of cocaine use is clearly far less qualified? and in Bush's case we don't even need to go on his use of political influence to evade combat duty, his history of arrests, his numerous failed businesses. We can just look at his support of Donald Rumsfeld and the failed attempt to disprove the Powell doctrine. Just lay at Bush's feet the nearly one thousand American soldiers and countless Iraqi civilians he has gotten killed in Iraq, and clearly the man is unqualified to be commander in chief.

And what is Bush's response? Does he condemn the use of outright lies by his supporters? Of course not. Those are his tactics they're using. And given the access and influence he peddles to his major donors, is it really credible that there is no connection whatsoever between the administration's desires and this campaign? Of course not. So what does the Uncumbent do? He denounces all 527's. Why? Oh, that wouldn't be because he's getting his butt kicked by groups like Moveon.org and America Coming Together and True Majority? Is it? This couldn't just be sour grapes from the people who were so sure that they were going to win that they didn't even bother organizing anything but official campaign fundraising, could it? You betcha. I can just picture the conversations about fourteen months ago when all of these conservatives approached Rove and company and said that they were willing to set up groups to work for their agenda, and were told to put their energy into raising money directly for Bush instead. I bet Rove is still having nightmares about the cocky arrogance that led him to make that call.

Rather than showing even a slight modicum of decency and respect for the American people and our electoral process, Bush has instead turned the unauthorized attack into a chance to slime legitimate leftist activist groups working against him. Could anyone but a coke-addled messianic sociopath think that a legitimate grassroots organization deeply concerned about the state of Democracy in America today is somehow equivalent to a bunch of privileged white guys telling lies? Don't be fooled. The only reason Bush is against 527s is that the conservatives fucked up and didn't raise any money for their own non-partisan campaigns. And let's not forget that Bush spoke out against McCain-Feingold on the basis that limiting independent free political speech was Unamerican. If Bush actually had principles it might be notable that he is failing to stick to them in this instance. Clearly however all he cares about is getting re-elected.

Here's one simple litmus test for these groups: if the group exists as a social change organization and will clearly still have a purpose after the election, they are probably legitimate. Even better if they existed before this election cycle even started. If the group seems to exist solely for the purpose of running attack ads against one candidate in this year's election, then they are not legitimate. Take a look at Moveon.org and then go look at Swiftboat Veterans Betraying Truth. I believe the contrast between those sites speaks for itself. BTW, those of you who are tech-savvy will immediately notice the interesting fact that Moveon is a .org while Swiftvets is a .com. Clearly no self-respecting real non-profit would willngly choose a .com address. BTW, after looking at the slander, clear your metaphorical palette at www.swiftvets.org.