Adolph Hitler is the new spokesman for Bush/Cheney '04

Actually, that title is not a joke.

Maverick Media produced a video for the Bush campaign called "Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-Eyed." In this video, it shows video clips of John Kerry, Michael Moore, Dick Gephardt, Howard Dean, and Al Gore...oh yeah, and Adolph Hitler.

In the scenes of Hitler, the words "sponsored by MoveOn.org" appear at the bottom. That is misleading.

Here's the real story:

MoveOn.org sponsored an ad contest called "Bush In 30 Seconds" in which there were over 1,500 submissions received. These submissions were put on the website www.bushin30seconds.org for the public to vote on and critique. Two of the submissions compared Bush and Hitler as warmongers.

It is important to note that MoveOn.org did not film or sponsor these ads. In fact, Wes Boyd, the founder of the MoveOn.org Voter Fund, released a press release saying, "The claim that MoveOn.org sponsored the ads comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler is deliberately and maliciously misleading."

Boyd agreed that the Hitler ads "were in poor taste", and said that he "deeply regret[s] that they slipped through our screening process."

Now the Bush campaign is using the same footage that they spoke out against - to attack John Kerry. It is also worth noting that John Kerry had nothing to do with the MoveOn.org ads, but that doesn't stop the Bush campaign ad from saying, "The following video contains remarks made by and images from ads sponsored by Kerry Supporters."

The Bush campaign going from being angry about the MoveOn.org ads to its use of the ads to attack John Kerry is not the only irony in this scenario.

Remember 2002, during the Senate race in Georgia between Max Cleland and Saxby Chambliss? There were ads attacking Max Cleland, questioning his patriotism. (And for the record, Max Cleland is a triple amputee. He lost both legs and one arm in a grenade explosion in Vietnam. I could not find any record of Saxby Chambliss serving in the armed forces.)

In his press release, Wes Boyd says, "Contrast this attack with the behavior of the RNC and its allies when supporters of President Bush used TV ads morphing the face of Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) into the image of Osama Bin Laden during the 2002 Senate race."

Contrary to what ideologues might think, dirty politics really does go both ways.

Here is John Kerry's response to the Bush ad (found on the Newsweek web site):

"'The fact that George Bush thinks it’s appropriate to use images of Adolf Hitler in his campaign raises serious questions about his fitness to spend another four years in the White House,' campaign spokesperson Phil Singer said in a statement. 'Adolf Hitler slaughtered millions of innocent people and has no place in a campaign that is supposed to be about the future and hope of this nation.' The Kerry campaign called on the president to remove the video from his Web site."


more info:
"Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-Eyed"
Newsweek's article with Kerry's response
Bush plays the Nazi Card @ slate.com
Wes Boyd's press release
Sen. Max Cleland: experiencing war
Bush In 30 Seconds