A Change in Tone
Reported by Eleanor - August 22, 2004 -
Fox & Friends Week-end (Aug. 22, 7:00 a.m.) again spent a lot of time on the swift boat story but with a different slant this time.
A summary of some key points are listed below from the three different times this story was covered:
- Kerry says "stand up and stop."
- Kerry says he knows better (is smarter) in fighting the war on terror.
- William Rood, with a story in the Chicago Tribune, was there when Kerry got his silver star.
- This is "eerily" similar to the attack on John McCain.
- Kerry's Internet ad says Bush is up to his "old tricks."
- John Kerry said he wasn't going to have any kind of negativity.
- Democrats have lost five points in the polls among vets.
- Democrats planned not to spend money for ads in August - now they're spending money.
- Politicians (Bush and McCain) are hugging.
- I'm an independent and can't figure this out. Maybe both should answer questions. (Julian Phillips)
- I admire John Kerry. He's a friend. This is McCarthyism and obsession...yelling fire. Excesses have little place in American politics. We need to stop 527's. Combat is confusing, and people don't see the same things. Critics have gone overboard. (Harlan Ullman, Fox Contributor)
- William Rood said they are distorting Kerry's service, and this is backed by military documents.
- Kerry says the Bush campaign is responsible and needs to stop the ads.
- Bush says there is no connection, and a POW in his campaign who is connected with the SBVT has resigned.
- In the McCain video, Bush doesn't say a word. The saga continues.
- Bush can't tell them to stop. It's in the 527 rules.
- O'Neill said that if Bush calls him, he won't stop.
- Bush says we're not questioning Kerry's service.
- MoveOn.org compared Bush to Hitler. (Mike Jerrick)
- No one condemned Michael Moore.
- No one condemned calling Bush AWOL.
- Boils down to who you support is the one you believe.
Comment: This story is not going away, but the good news is that the coverage of this story is changing. It should be interesting to see how many times they show the new SBVT ad this week. While they're condemning these ads, they give them free air time.
