Swiftboat doctor and co-author of "Unfit for Command," Jerome Corsi, was on Larry King tonight trying to defend his latest book, "Obama Nation." He kept accusing the guy from Media Matters of ad hominem attacks when Media Matters identified dozens of outright lies and undocumented innuendo. Corsi claimed he had hundreds of footnotes to back up his claims but Media Matters identified several of these reliable sources as nothing more than right wing bloggers.
Corsi insists that he has no connection to the McCain campaign and that he intends to vote for the Constitution Party candidate. But, in the New York Times today, "[h]e said he was planning to aid several conservative groups that intend to run advertisements against Mr. Obama this fall, though he would not name them." But, his publisher Mary Matalin "said in an interview that the book 'was not designed to be, and does not set out to be, a political book,' calling it, rather, 'a piece of scholarship, and a good one at that.' She said she was unaware of efforts to link it to any anti-Obama advertising." So, this is an example of Repug scholarship
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Yeah, and TraitoRove confirmed that Corsi had no demonstrable connection to McCain and that he had no knowledge of any efforts to link this pack of lies to any anti-Obama advertising.
As I said 4 years ago, the best way to counter these despicable liars is to go on the offensive and attack them at their supposed strengths. Four years ago Kerry refused to fight back with the truth about his opponent’s chickenhawk deserter record. This time, Obama or people he is unaware of should use this opportunity to educate the voters about John McCain’s past.
Believe it or not, Kerry is launching a web-site to fight back against the swiftboating of Obama.
http://www.truthfightsback.com/...
Hopefully, Kerry's site and the Obama campaign will be aggressive with a counteroffensive of John McCain is unfit to serve commercials. Of course, immediately debunking the lies is important but I think the best time to counterattack is after they've attacked. The voters will be more attentive to negative commercials which quickly follow their ads.
One commercial could feature Philip Butler, one of McCain's Naval Academy classmates who was also a POW for longer than McCain. Mr. Butler does not think McCain should be president and he could tell America about McCain’s time at the Naval Academy. Butler lived across the hall from McCain and personally observed McCain’s wild behavior that led to McCain graduating 5th from the bottom of his graduating class. He also personally observed McCain’s treatment as a POW. Butler can tell the voters that "John [McCain] allows the media to make him out to be THE hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals." McCain "was offered, and refused, ‘early release.’ [According to Butler], [m]any of [the POWs] were given this offer. It meant speaking out against your country and lying about your treatment to the press. You had to ‘admit’ that the U.S. was criminal and that our treatment was ‘lenient and humane.’ So [Butler], like numerous others, refused the offer. This was obviously something none of [them] could accept. Besides, [they] were bound by [their] service regulations, Geneva Conventions and loyalties to refuse early release until all the POW's were released, with the sick and wounded going first."
As Butler can further explain:
John was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for heroism and wounds in combat. This heroism has been played up in the press and in his various political campaigns. But it should be known that there were approximately 600 military POW's in Vietnam. Among all of us, decorations awarded have recently been totaled to the following: Medals of Honor - 8, Service Crosses - 42, Silver Stars - 590, Bronze Stars - 958 and Purple Hearts - 1,249. John certainly performed courageously and well. But it must be remembered that he was one hero among many - not uniquely so as his campaigns would have people believe.
http://www.military.com/...
And, maybe Mr. Butler would be willing to state this opinion for the camera so a commercial with no connection to the Obama campaign can be run:
I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate.
Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60's and 70's. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John's age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.
I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.
http://www.military.com/...
It’s not really swiftboating because these commercials would contain the truth about Teflon John and his 5 plane crashes and his powerful daddy keeping him out of trouble and his marital infidelities and his being in bed with lobbyist Vickie Iseman.
http://www.usvetdsp.com/...
http://www.nolanchart.com/...
We could feature Sean Hannity ranting about how we can’t trust a man who breaks his wedding vows to be president but excusing John McCain’s admitted infidelity to his first wife with Cindy because McCain was tortured as a POW for 5 years.
There are many documents that disprove McCain’s stated timeline on his divorce and quick marriage to Cindy the beer heiress. In fact, somehow, McCain got a marriage license to marry Cindy before his divorce was final.
http://www.latimes.com/...
We could have Ross Perot express his disgust with McCain’s treatment of his first wife: "McCain "is the classic opportunist--he's always reaching for attention and glory. Other POWs won't even sit at the same table with him." Perot helped McCain’s first wife with medical bills from an automobile accident while McCain was a POW. Perot said, "After [McCain] came home, he walked with a limp, she [Carol McCain] walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona [Cindy McCain, his current wife] and the rest is history."
http://www.newsweek.com/...
There’s a wealth of well-documented, corroborated evidence proving that McCain is a hothead, an opportunist with no real loyalty, a hypocrite with strong ties to the lobbyists he claims to despise, an admitted adulterer, and the spoiled son of an admiral who skated through life on his families’ coattails. The bottom line is that John McCain is the one who is unfit to lead and this scumbag Corsi’s book and the surrounding publicity provided us with the opening to swiftboat Crash McCain’s hidden record and educate the voters about the true McCain.
In fact, there’s a good chance that McCain will melt down on national TV when confronted with his many f-ups.