8.25.2004
Max Cleland Goes To Texas
Yahoo ran a story this afternoon covering former Democratic Senator Max Cleland's trip to the Bush Ranch.
"The question is where is George Bush's honor. The question is where is his shame," Cleland said after Bush's guards refused to accept his letter calling on the president to "recognize this blatant attempt at character assassination, and publicly condemn it."
Apparently Mr. Bush's honor and shame were nowhere to be found, as he failed to meet with Cleland or even respond to his presence. Well, ok, he responded; by sending out his own war veteran to meet Cleland.
The Bush campaign dispatched its own supporters, including a war veteran, to meet Cleland and supporters of the Democratic nominee at a security checkpoint just down the road from the entrance to Bush's secluded ranch.
But Cleland refused to give the letter, signed by nine senators who served in the military, to Jerry Patterson, a former Marine who now serves as Texas State Land Commissioner.
Patterson had his own letter for Kerry, signed by him and other war veterans, that criticized Kerry's anti-war comments after he returned from Vietnam.
So, not only will the Bush campaign not respond to Cleland's request in a respectable manner, they send out a prepared veteran with a list of criticisms of John Kerry? Let's hope they at least bothered to criticize actual comments he made, unlike the Swift Boat Vets.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached a new low. Scott McClellan dubbed Cleland's visit a "political stunt" and yet they somehow are holding on in the polls. How can the American people even think of supporting a group as surly as this? Certainly Democrats have done wrong, placed attack ads, and so on. But the Bush campaign allows this series of ads, one that is based not on fact but heresay of a handful of individuals, to continue and while they say they don't "agree" with this sort of thing, manages a total reversal by criticizing Kerry through an emmisary. Will our nation ever recover from all of this?
"The question is where is George Bush's honor. The question is where is his shame," Cleland said after Bush's guards refused to accept his letter calling on the president to "recognize this blatant attempt at character assassination, and publicly condemn it."
Apparently Mr. Bush's honor and shame were nowhere to be found, as he failed to meet with Cleland or even respond to his presence. Well, ok, he responded; by sending out his own war veteran to meet Cleland.
The Bush campaign dispatched its own supporters, including a war veteran, to meet Cleland and supporters of the Democratic nominee at a security checkpoint just down the road from the entrance to Bush's secluded ranch.
But Cleland refused to give the letter, signed by nine senators who served in the military, to Jerry Patterson, a former Marine who now serves as Texas State Land Commissioner.
Patterson had his own letter for Kerry, signed by him and other war veterans, that criticized Kerry's anti-war comments after he returned from Vietnam.
So, not only will the Bush campaign not respond to Cleland's request in a respectable manner, they send out a prepared veteran with a list of criticisms of John Kerry? Let's hope they at least bothered to criticize actual comments he made, unlike the Swift Boat Vets.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached a new low. Scott McClellan dubbed Cleland's visit a "political stunt" and yet they somehow are holding on in the polls. How can the American people even think of supporting a group as surly as this? Certainly Democrats have done wrong, placed attack ads, and so on. But the Bush campaign allows this series of ads, one that is based not on fact but heresay of a handful of individuals, to continue and while they say they don't "agree" with this sort of thing, manages a total reversal by criticizing Kerry through an emmisary. Will our nation ever recover from all of this?
