Author: Rove 'helped arrange' Swiftboat attacks on Kerry

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: The Raw Story

MSNBC's Morning Joe welcomed Paul Alexander, the author of Machiavelli's Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove, to dig through Rove's legacy of scandal.

Alexander explained further that "there were a number of issues that were still potential landmines," including the US Attorneys scandal, "leftover" Abramoff stuff, and the Plame affair.

Asked by Pat Buchanan whether Rove had "a hand in the Swiftboat thing," Alexander replied, "Sure, absolutely. He helped arrange the sort of message, arranged the funding. ... That was probably the key smear in the 2004 campaign."

Alexander said that Rove almost certainly knew Kerry suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which makes it very difficult for him to talk about his Vietnam experiences. "They attacked him in such a way that they knew he couldn't respond in an effective manner. ... He went 30 days without responding. ... He didn't know what to say or what to do."

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Author_Rove_arranged_Swiftboat_attacks_on_0620.html

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VIDEO interview with the author here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Author_Rove_arranged_Swiftboat_attacks_on_0620.html

[KittyWampus]

1. Oh, Kerry responded and the Mediawhores ignored him. And the part about PTS is bullshit.

[connecticut yankee]

13. Interesting ...

because Rush Limbaugh, et al, keep referring to the "drive by media," meaning "Liberal."

I'm not aware of it. Is anyone?

[Inuca]

2. Kerry suffers from PTSD?!?!?

What's this BS? Idiotic.

[bdamomma]

3. rove that stinking pig should be arrested.

[LSparkle]

4. Pigboy ought to be in prison, playing house with his pal Spike ...

:evilgrin:

[saigon68]

7. He can take the AWOL CHIMP with him

[gasperc]

5. boy this Paul Alexander guy is a total asshole

talks shit about Kerry WTF

[Giant Robot]

6. And this is late breaking news? n/t

[UTUSN]

8. K&R big #5 n/t

[Dr Ron]

9. Claims Re Kerry Don't Make Much sense

He claims that Kerry went 30 days without responding. Kerry spoke before firefighters on August 19, 2004 (two weeks after the ads started) and addressed the Swift Boat Lies. (I'm not sure if this was the first time).

Also keep in mind that there were other reasons beyond the claims of PTSD why the campaign said little at first. The attacks started out as a small scale ad, It was later picked up by Fox, and not until later by the legitimate news media. It took a couple of weeks before it was clear anyone would pay attention to this. There was also the concern that if they responded early they would have given the attacks more publicity. (The Swift Boat Liars had also raised similar attacks in the spring but it quickly died out, making it plausible at the time that this could happen again).

Kerry was also on a domestic policy tour at the time and the campaign was concerned that talking about Vietnam would distract from his attempts at introducing his domestic agenda.

In retrospect Kerry should have responded earlier, but at the time there appeared to be valid reasons not to which had nothing to do with PTSD.

Kerry had also talked about his Vietnam experiences earlier in the campaign, such as when he appeared with Jim Rassman. He presumably also spoke with Douglas Brinkley about Vietnam when Brinkley wrote his book on Kerry's experiences there. The whole line about having difficulty talking about his Vietnam experiences just doesn't make much sense.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Now I understand why ex-military are always angry.

Shame that the party that exploits them readily, also knew how to win their confidence.

[beachmom]

11. What does Rove know about war?

[boilinmad]

12. only....

....how to start them.

[JI7]

14. if Rove died i would celebrate, and Kerry did respond to the lies

but the whore media didn't cover it. he was also limited in the money he could spend and use towards TV ads because of the timing of the nomination and Republicans delaying their nomination until later.

this is the reason Obama is not going to take public funding. he knows he can't count on the whore media to tell the truth when the Republicans attack.

[Bigmack]

17. Yes!!!!

"....this is the reason Obama is not going to take public funding. he knows he can't count on the whore media to tell the truth when the Republicans attack."

I'm sending him more money in hopes that when the Swiftboaters - or those like them - start that shit, Obama can blast them, and blast them again... and again.

I also hope they use the money for opposition research. I want to see ads that make Rove piss himself.

[CBHagman]

15. Wonder what Dante would do with Rove?

Me, I'm all for putting him in the eighth or the ninth ring of hell.

Alexander said that Rove almost certainly knew Kerry suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which makes it very difficult for him to talk about his Vietnam experiences. "They attacked him in such a way that they knew he couldn't respond in an effective manner. ... He went 30 days without responding. ... He didn't know what to say or what to do."

[Doctor_J]

16. Until Rove is in prison keeping house for King Kong, I think "fall" is

an overstatement. He's still working for McCain and Fox News and the RNC.

[JerseygirlCT]

18. Weren't they supposed to be unconnected to the campaign?

Isn't that the deal with being a 527?

[AmyCamus]

19. Well, duh...

"That was probably the key smear in the 2004 campaign."
Understate much, Pat?

[newspeak]

20. and it would have carried no substance

if the media wasn't complicit.

[AndyTiedye]

21. That is At Least a Violation of Election Law

527s are supposed to be independent, and not coordinated with the campaign. Rove was breaking the law.

Do the frog march, Karl!