Anti-Kerry Veterans' group now political machine with big budget

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON - (KRT)

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Vietnam veterans group that set out this spring to make an issue of Democrat John Kerry's 1971 anti-war stance, has grown into a well-organized political machine with a multimillion-dollar budget and a network of Republican- affiliated paid consultants.

Organization leaders are adamant that they remain in control of the group's strategy. But interviews with founders and others familiar with the group's formation make it clear that the GOP-allied pros have joined with hard-liners in the group's leadership to make its campaign against Kerry more strident.

Some feel the advertising campaign, which initially featured plain-spoken old sailors, has become too slick.

"Sincere is better than smooth. I get my two cents in, but I'm not making (ad) decisions anymore," said retired Rear Adm. Roy F. Hoffmann, one of the group's founders. ..

[LTR]

1. Where do the donations come from?

If any of it comes from corporations or unions (yeah, right!), then they are breaking the law. But they can still run TV spots if their donations come solely from individuals.

Personally, I favor sending O'Neill and the rest of those lying anti-American assholes back to Vietnam, but that's just my opinion.

[tom_paine]

4. We would need somebody to investiagte.

Where would you find someone willing to be brutalized, perhaps literally, by the Imperial family, to do that?

<cue crickets chirping>

[Romulus]

2. right wing "trojan"

Would that be the Iliad kind, or the (used) fun kind? ;)

Anyway, now that the ShrimpBoat crowd has fulfilled their purpose of getting people's attention by appearing "grassroots," the time has apparantly come for the "machine" to take over and blast listeners with slick propaganda.

[tom_paine]

5. Bingo.

[MrBenchley]

3. Jeeze, we're supposed to be surprised they got dirty money?

"the GOP-allied pros have joined with hard-liners in the group's leadership to make its campaign against Kerry more strident"
Yeah, that was the problem--it wasn't hysterically shrill enough.....

[pinniped]

6. They claim to be non-politically affiliated.

Liars!

[Bigmack]

7. How is Kerry going to govern?

These groups certainly aren't going away when/if Kerry wins. It's gonna make the Clinton hunt look like a walk in the park.

The "Not-so-Swifties" and the "Guard-documents-are-Forgeries" assholes are just the cultural children of the Impeach Clinton mob.

This election is a turning point in world history, and I've got very little hope for a happy future.