Dog Fight For the Presidency

"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
...

No, Steven, he did not pay the reward to any witness, despite at least
one credible one coming forward. "It turns out that no credible
witness has come forward to claim the prize, so this week Trudeau
mailed a
personal check for $10,000 to the USO. "We're extremely grateful for
his generosity," USO Vice President John Hansen told me yesterday."
www.pro-war.com/prowardotcom/2004/week12/



No, Kevin, he didn't pay the reward to any witness. From the start, the
reward was not to be paid to the witness, it was to be paid to the USO.
After the witness came forward Trudeau very quickly, and very quietly,
paid off as promised.


Steven, what is so hard to understand about, "It turns out that no
credible witness has come forward to claim the prize..."? The money
was offered up as an individual reward--he only gave it to the USO after
he claimed no credible witness had come forward. Do a Google on it.
Even you should be able to handle that difficult task.


Yes, Kevin, I can perform a Google search. If you were capable of that
rather simple task you might have learned that the Trudeau prize was NOT
offered up as an individual reward. See the last of the FAQs below:


http://doonesbury.msn.com/strip/bush_guard.html


For the past twelve years, George W. Bush has had to endure charges that he
didn't take the final two years of his Guard service as seriously as duty
required. (For updated timeline, click here.) And the two witnesses who have
come forward in support so far haven't exactly cleared things up. We at the
Town Hall believe that with everything he has on his plate, Mr. Bush
shouldn't have to contend with attacks on the National Guard, which is
serving so bravely in Iraq. And we're willing to back up our support with
cold, hard cash.

Granted, this has been tried before. In 2000, concerned veterans in both
Texas and Alabama offered cash rewards to lure former guardmates of Mr. Bush
into stepping forward, to no avail. The problem, in our view, was that these
enticements weren't serious enough, that the sums offered were insulting. In
contrast, we at the DTH&WP respect how inconvenient it can be to subject
yourself to worldwide media scrutiny in general, and Fox News in particular,
and are thus prepared to sweeten previous offers by a factor of five. That's
right, we're offering $10,000 cash! Yours to either spend or invest in job
creation. All you have to do is definitively prove that George W. Bush
fulfilled his duty to country.

So don't let the smear artists define the president. If you personally
witnessed George W. Bush reporting for drills at Dannelly Air National Guard
Base between the months of May and November of 1972 we want to hear about
it. Help Mr. Bush put this partisan assault on his character behind him, so
he can focus on more serious issues like jobs, the deficit and the coming
civil war in Iraq. Just contact us below with the salient details. If we
think you're a possible winner, we'll get back to you pronto. Good luck to
all contestants!

Contest FAQs

Q: Isn't this just a publicity stunt?
A: If by a publicity stunt, you mean an attempt to draw attention to the
problem of gutter politics, trolling-for-trash, and cheap smear tactics,
then sure, guilty as charged.

Q: What if I saw Bush, but I can't prove it? Can I get some of the money?
A: No, but if your story's entertaining enough, you may qualify for our
consolation prize, an original Doonesbury strip personally signed by a top
studio intern.

Q: Haven't you done something like this before?
A: Yes, only in reverse -- the goal was implication, not exoneration. In
1992, we offered an Austin Powers-like $25.00 to anyone willing to admit she
slept with a presidential candidate. The entry form was multiple-choice with
a few essay questions (e.g. "You're dating a married father of three with
presidential ambitions. You believe that you and he have a future together.
Explain.") There were no takers.

Q: The DTH&WP is a media content web site, which means you're broke. Who's
paying the reward?
A: The reward is being generously underwritten by Doonesbury creator G. B.
Trudeau. The money has been put in escrow and is being administered by
Universal Press Syndicate.


Q: It's really in escrow?
A: No, but we're good for it. Thanks to Bush's massive tax cuts for people
who don't need them, GBT is flush.

Q: Are employees of Universal Press Syndicate, Slate or Microsoft eligible
for the contest?
A: Only if no one else comes forward.

Q: Is there some sort of hitch?
A: Well, yes, but it's a hitch for a good cause. The winner won't actually
receive the reward for himself; instead we'll be donating $10,000 in his
name to the USO. That way everyone's a winner, including GBT's tax
accountant.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
k.net...

"Ragnar" wrote in message
...

"WalterM140" wrote in message
om...
It's a marvel, really. Even a $10,000
reward offered this year by the cartoonist Garry Trudeau couldn't
smoke out a credible eyewitness to support George W. Bush's contention
that he showed up to defend Alabama against the Viet Cong in 1972.


Which leads to the rather unstartling conclusion that no such witness
exists, and that Bush was present. Rather bad for your Bush-bashing.


A witness did come forward and Trudeau paid. \

Cite?

"Ragnar" wrote in message
...

A witness did come forward and Trudeau paid.


Cite?


"Q: Is there some sort of hitch?

A: Well, yes, but it's a hitch for a good cause. The winner won't actually
receive the reward for himself; instead we'll be donating $10,000 in his
name to the USO. That way everyone's a winner, including GBT's tax
accountant."

http://doonesbury.msn.com/strip/bush_guard.html




CASE CLOSED: Four weeks ago, "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau announced in
his cartoon strip the "Bush Guard Service" contest: "We're offering $10,000
cash to any witness who can definitively corroborate Mr. Bush's claim" that
three decades before he became President, he served in the Alabama National
Guard. "So if you served with Mr. Bush - even if only in the officers'
club - we want to hear from you right now! Why? So we can put this trash
story to rest and get back to the real issues." Well, it turns out that no
credible witness has come forward to claim the prize, so this week Trudeau
mailed a personal check for $10,000 to the USO. "We're extremely grateful
for his generosity," USO Vice President John Hansen told me yesterday. But
has Trudeau's check cleared? "Oh, I think he's good for it."

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...p-152467c.html

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Ragnar" wrote in message
...

A witness did come forward and Trudeau paid.


Cite?


"Q: Is there some sort of hitch?

A: Well, yes, but it's a hitch for a good cause. The winner won't actually
receive the reward for himself; instead we'll be donating $10,000 in his
name to the USO. That way everyone's a winner, including GBT's tax
accountant."

http://doonesbury.msn.com/strip/bush_guard.html




CASE CLOSED: Four weeks ago, "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau announced
in
his cartoon strip the "Bush Guard Service" contest: "We're offering
$10,000
cash to any witness who can definitively corroborate Mr. Bush's claim"
that
three decades before he became President, he served in the Alabama
National
Guard. "So if you served with Mr. Bush - even if only in the officers'
club - we want to hear from you right now! Why? So we can put this trash
story to rest and get back to the real issues." Well, it turns out that no
credible witness has come forward to claim the prize, so this week Trudeau
mailed a personal check for $10,000 to the USO. "We're extremely grateful
for his generosity," USO Vice President John Hansen told me yesterday. But
has Trudeau's check cleared? "Oh, I think he's good for it."

Except that according to the article, NO credible witness came forward.
Looks like your cite only proves my earlier assertion that no credible
witnesses came forward.

"Steven P. McNicoll"

A witness did come forward and Trudeau paid.

If that were true, you could name this person.

Trudeau donated the money to the USO.

Walt

(WalterM140) wrote in message . com...

If that were true, you could name this person.


John "Bill" Calhoun.



Trudeau donated the money to the USO.


Yes, as was specified in the offer. The money was never to be paid to the witness.

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 09:27:10 -0700, WalterM140 wrote:

[nothing relevant]

If its a dog fight I guess those swine Trotskerry and
Bobbin John will have to drop out.

IBM

__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 - http://www.uncensored-news.com
The Worlds Uncensored News Source

Walt & Art, Have ""Hanoi John"" sign ""Standard Form 180"". I will not
bear false witness!!

Sgt. Randy USMC 64 - 68

"ian maclure" wrote in message ...
On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 09:27:10 -0700, WalterM140 wrote:

[nothing relevant]

If its a dog fight I guess those swine Trotskerry and
Bobbin John will have to drop out.

IBM

__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 - http://www.uncensored-news.com
The Worlds Uncensored News Source

Just Tell Your Hero to Sign a ""Standard Form 180"" & the truth will
set him free!!

Sgt. Randy - USMC 64 to 68


(WalterM140) wrote in message . com...
Only in an election year ruled by fiction could a sissy who used
Daddy's connections to escape Vietnam turn an actual war hero into a
girlie-man.

As we leave the scripted conventions behind us, that is the
uber-scenario that has locked into place, brilliantly engineered by
the president of the United States, with more than a little unwitting
assistance from his opponent. It's a marvel, really. Even a $10,000
reward offered this year by the cartoonist Garry Trudeau couldn't
smoke out a credible eyewitness to support George W. Bush's contention
that he showed up to defend Alabama against the Viet Cong in 1972. Yet
John Kerry, who without doubt shed his own blood and others' in the
vicinity of the Mekong, not the Mississippi, is now the deserter and
the wimp.

Don't believe anyone who says that this will soon fade, and that the
election will henceforth turn on health-care policy or other wonkish
debate. In a time of fear, the only battle that matters is the
broad-stroked cultural mano a mano over who's most macho. And so both
parties built their weeklong infotainments on militarism and
masculinity, from Kerry's toy-soldier "reporting for duty" salute in
Boston to the special Madison Square Garden runway for Bush's
acceptance speech. Though pundits said that Republicans pushed
moderates center stage this week to placate suburban swing voters, the
real point was less to soften the president's Draconian image on
abortion than to harden his manly bona fides. Hence Bush was fronted
by a testosterone-heavy lineup led by a former mayor who did not dally
to read a children's book on 9/11, a senator who served in the Hanoi
Hilton rather than the "champagne unit" of the Texas Air National
Guard and a governor who can play the role of a warrior on screen more
convincingly than can a former Andover cheerleader gallivanting on an
aircraft carrier.

Not that Bush is ignorant of the ways of Hollywood. Unlike Kerry,
whose show business pals he constantly derides, the president actually
worked in the film business. In the 1980s he lined his pockets as a
board member of Silver Screen, which financed Disney movies. Maybe he
even picked up a few tricks of the trade along the way.

The early drafts of the script pre-date 9/11. In "A Charge to Keep,"
his 1999 campaign biography crafted by Karen Hughes, Bush implies that
he just happened to slide on his own into one of the "several
openings" for pilots in the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 and that
he continued to fly with his unit for "several years" after his
initial service. This is fantasy that went largely unchallenged until
9/11 subjected it to greater scrutiny. Since then, the mysterious gaps
in the president's military résumé have been finessed by the dialogue
and wardrobe departments, from the invocation of "Wanted: Dead or
Alive" (whatever did happen to that varmint, Osama, anyway?) to the
"Mission Accomplished" rollout. Of late, Bush's imagineers have
publicized his proud possession of Saddam Hussein's captured pistol.

But with the high stakes of an election at hand, it's not enough to
stuff socks in the president's flight suit. Kerry must be turned into
a girl. Such castration warfare has long been a Republican staple.
We've had Bill Clinton vilified as the stooge of a harridan wife and
Al Gore as the puppet of the makeover artist Naomi Wolf. But given his
actual history on the field of battle, this year's Democratic standard
bearer would, seemingly, be immune to such attacks, especially from
the camp of a candidate whose most daring feat of physical courage was
tearing down the Princeton goalposts.

No matter. Once Kerry usurped Howard Dean, whose wartime sojourn in
Aspen made the president look like a Green Beret, the Bush campaign's
principals and surrogates went into overdrive. His alleged encounters
with Botox and a Christophe hairdresser were dutifully clocked on
Drudge. Eventually John Edwards would become "the Breck girl," and
Dick Cheney would yank an adjective out of context to suggest that
Kerry wanted to fight a "sensitive" war on terror.

But there was still this Vietnam problem. One guy went there, one may
have gone AWOL. Enter Karen Hughes. Having helped fictionalize Bush's
wartime years, she now resurfaced to undermine Kerry's, using her
April book tour (for her memoir "Ten Minutes From Normal") to
introduce the rhetorical insinuations of mendacity that would surface
in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth assault four months later.

The rest is the rewriting of history. Democrats are shocked that the
Republicans have gotten away with it to the extent they have. After
all, John O'Neill, the ringleader of the Swifties, didn't serve "with"
Kerry anywhere except on "The Dick Cavett Show." Other members of this
truth squad include a doctor who claims to have treated Kerry's wounds
even though his name isn't on a single relevant document. How could
such obvious clowns fool so many?
.By turning spurious, unchecked smears into a mediathon, Fox has given
priceless nonstop hype to commercials that otherwise would have been
seen only in seven small to medium markets, where the total buy of
airtime amounted to a scant $500,000. Though the major newspapers, did
vet and challenge the Swifties' claims, aggressive reporting on
television was rare.

But Kerry, having joined the macho game with Bush on the president's
own cheesy terms, is hardly innocent in his own diminishment. From the
get-go he has tried to match his opponent in stupid male tricks. If
Bush clears brush in Crawford, then Kerry rides a Harley-Davidson onto
the set of the late-night talk show host Jay Leno. In the new issue of
GQ, you can witness him having a beer (alcoholic) with a reporter as
he confesses to a modicum of lust for Charlize Theron and Catherine
Zeta-Jones.

The flaw in Kerry is not, as Washington wisdom has it, that he asked
for trouble from the Swifties by bringing up Vietnam in the first
place. Both his Vietnam service and Vietnam itself are entirely
relevant to a campaign set against an unpopular and ineptly executed
war in Iraq that was spawned by the executive branch in similarly
cloudy circumstances. But having brought Vietnam up against the
backdrop of our 2004 war, Kerry has nothing to say about it except
that his service proves he's more manly than Bush. Well, nearly anyone
is more manly than a president who didn't have the guts to visit with
the 9/11 commission unaccompanied by a chaperone.

It's Kerry's behavior now, not what he did 35 years ago, that has
prevented his manliness from trumping the president's. Posing against
a macho landscape like the Grand Canyon, he says that he would have
given Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq even if he knew then
what we know now. His attempt to do nuance, as Bush would put it,
makes him sound as if he buys the message the Republicans hammered in
last week: the road from 9/11 led inevitably into Iraq.

The truth is that Kerry was a man's man not just when he volunteered
to fight in a losing war but when he came home and forthrightly fought
against it, on grounds that history has upheld. Unless he's man enough
to stand up for that past, he's doomed to keep competing with Bush to
see who can best play an action figure on television. Kerry doesn't
seem to understand that it takes a certain kind of talent to play
dress-up and deliver lines like "Bring it on." In that race, it's not
necessarily the best man but the best actor who will win.

-- Frank Rich, NYT