"Defense of Democracies" Fear-Mongering Attack Ads Targeting Freshman Democrats
By Bill W. Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 12:00pm 
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While this video of the ad goes after Rep Nancy Boyda (D-KS) (btw, whose response so far has been really good), she is just one of many "Freshman Dems" targeted by this fear-mongering ad campaign so far. As the Minnesota blog Bluestem Prairie notes:
Other Freshman Dems targeted that we know of so far: Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy (CT); Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes (NH); Jason Altmire (PA); Ron Klein and Tim Mahoney (FL); Gabrielle Giffords and Harry Mitchell (AZ); Jerry McNerney (CA); Melissa Bean (IL); Joe Donnelly (IN); ... Michael Arcuri and Kirsten Gillbrand (NY) ; Steve Kagan (WI). [...]
Defense of Democracies is affiliated with the non-profit, non-partisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focused on defeating terrorism and promoting democratic values.
The ad is similar to one posted last week by House Republicans on gop.gov, that also misleadingly blames the expiration of the "Protect America Act' on the Democrats. The fact is that "there is one reason, and one reason only, that the Protect America Act expired. Its name is “George W. Bush.”
Not surprisingly, the group The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies' list of "Directors, Fellows, Personnel" includes many PNAC-neocons like Kristol, Krauthammer, and Perle (a lot more on the group here). The list also includes, however, several prominent Democrats, which begs the question: Why would Democrats be affiliated with a group that would be running these ads?
Update: Begged question answered. :
Who's behind the shadowy organization isn't entirely clear, but it is definitely an offshoot of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, an organization that until a few days ago listed among its board of advisors Donna Brazile, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA), Zell Miller, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY). Engel, Schumer and Brazile have all resigned from the board, with Brazile making this statement
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http://www.defenddemocracy.org/
Nail these scumbag sunbitches right on their home turf.
Well, we can't blame William F. Buckley anymore.
END THE REPUBLICANS' PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are they like the attack ads on all the male run Democratic sites on the web that are constantly attacking Hillary Clinton. Nothing has been said about that, oh oh oh but of course they got their viagra candidate a man...obama the weak sissy empty suit.
You know, someone ought to do an Anonymous video on this group. I'd make it myself, but I'm not sure how to do it.
I WISH we could blame the expiration of the Defend America Act on the democrats. Unfortunately most of those bastards were all for it.
Save Democracy from Democrats?
That is when Republicans aren't insisting we're a Republic.
Amusing that they would have such a title when attacking democracy is all these people seem capable of.
Marge @ 4:
You've just downgraded yourself again. What's below pathetic?
Also from mcjoan:
There's another board member listed at FDD as "Distinguished Advisor" who hasn't resigned as a result of these false attacks. Three guesses who that would be. Yup, our old buddy Joe Lieberman.
That ought to tell you all you need to know about these dirtbags.
This spot has been running ad nauseum here in South Florida. I yell at the television every time it comes on and then my wife yells at me for getting so upset and yelling at the tv.
Appealing to the idiotic scared people who are too stupid to do their own research.
Not surprising at all from the repigs.
Fear fear fear. Oh my what would we do without Fear?
After I saw some their ads airing here in Fla, I looked up their website and saw what a strange combo of people they had. This ad is running in lots of places and running often, so who is footing the bill for this?
This is fantastic reporting, Bill W., tying together these various aspects of the campaign to promote fear.
Marge @ 4:
*yawn*
When discussing oranges, it is not wise to bring them apples.
So now criticism of Hillary equates misogyny...
Misandry whoever for your ilk seems to be perfectly OK.
Dr. Acula @ 11:
Did you lose electricity yesterday? Better bundle up tonight, it's gonna get cold. Okay, cold for those of us who think anything below 60 degrees is cold. Actually just heard it will be 39 here tonight.
I'm seeing these ads on local channels as well as cable news channels. I tend to do a little talking back to them myself.
They are fully geared up for any democratis candidate. Key word: Democrat.
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/573-fox-attacks-obama?utm_source=rgemail
Marge @ 4:
Marge, these ads have nothing to do with the candidates. These are trying to make the viewer think we're going to be hit by terrorist because they say it's the democrats fault that the Protect America bill was not passed. It's all a giant lie and they know it, but using fear to get their way is the only game they know.
Easiest response would to point out that Republicans have been in control for the past 7 years, so if you're scared, it's their fault.
Good lord, marge is still at it. Doesn't she usually use the word 'codpiece' in there somewhere? Always cracks me up. Nothing like an Edwardian reference early in the morning!
The Dude @ 16:
Shouldn't that be Msogyny?
Just to be a Msongynecologist about it.
Republicans have a lot of nerve showing Bin Laden in an ad when under their watch we were attacked by him and still haven't caught him. According to President Bush, he's not too concerned about him.
In psychology this is called an extinction burst.
Imagine that Republicans running fear-mongering ads for public support is like a rat pressing a lever for a piece of cheese. Once you take away the reward, the rats (same subjects in this example) exhibit the rewarded behavior with increased frequency. In this case the fear mongering of Al Queda is no longer swaying the majority of Americans. The rest of us have learned that the quickest way to defeat the Boogeyman is to no longer fear him. But since the GOP doesn't know what else to do, you're going to see a lot of these in the next year.
Better learn to start laughing at them.
Schumer, Brazile, et al. pwned again? Say it ain't so.
PoP - we never lost power yesterday, thankfully. I read that the windchill will be low-to-mid 30's tomorrow morning. Brrr!
Can you imagine these "democrap" being involved with such an organization in the first place? Can you imagine a human being involved?
Saw this ad yesterday here in AZ.... asking viewers to pressure Harry Mitchell This has to be an expensive ad campaign... where does the money trail lead?
Where did the money come from for these ads? They’re probably using the $5mil that the FEC has on hold for McShitForBrains as collateral.
Democrats have to start highlighting all of the FAILURES and how the intelligence was politicized by
the Bush Administration -- and how the Bush Admin failed to act to prevent the WORST attack on America in History: Sept 11
And also highlight the fact - NO ONE was held responsible.
and....
Talk About Why Big Media is Biased:
The New Head of Tribune Company Blames the Current Economic Problems on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?
http://www.attytood.com/2008/02/major_new_media_mogul_blames_l_1.html
Another creepy neocon think tank. Great.
Dr. Acula @ 11:
I am sick of it too, so I finally called my congressman and left a message that I support him and will vote for him again. I encourage all Dems too do the same. They need to know we don't buy this bs.
the membership of "defense of democracies" is compromised of those who spurn democracy across the globe.
it never fails to amaze me how so many of these suckers, who have no problem installing, propping up and supporting dictators worldwide, turnaround and claim to be for democracy.
when has american policy favored democracy in a country that is comprised of a population that is not pro-american? pakistan? saudi arabia? bolivia? venezuela? turkmenistan? etc. etc. etc.
someday americans will wake up and demand an end to neoliberalism....
nancy boyda is an uncloseted bush dog democrat, former repug. whatever her opposition, it is all-to-frequently cosmetic:
She was among Six Democrats Vote To Deny DC Right To Full Representation and before that, her answers to questions about Busch's presidential prerogatives begged the question: "Is Boyda nuts?"
So forgive me if I am not impressed that she is where some have pinned their hopes.
Not sure about any of the others but I'm really surprised that they're targeting Melissa Bean of Illinois. Since she's been in office her voting record has been blue dog all the way. I think she gets her marching orders from Holy Joe Lieberman himself.
At first I gave her the benefit of the doubt because she was a Dem elected to a traditionally repig district in northern Illinois trying to look "moderate" but for Melissa, the right wing hits just keep on coming - right up to, and including, her vote for telecom amnesty.
Clouldn't this ad pretty much be a defined as a form terrorism?
If only the American voter would pay just a little bit of attention they would know that the Protect America Act sunset-ed and the original FISA law is still in effect. The FISA law allows wire tapping with a court order as long as you have some legitimate reason and the wire tapping can begin without court order as long as you get to a FISA judge later. I believe that something in the neighbor hood of 5000 wire taps have been requested from a FISA judge and 2 have been rejected. That any wire tap started under the Protect America Act can run for up to a year. If there are voters in this day and age fooled by this lying, silly ad then maybe we SHOULD start testing before allowing people to vote.
Tell the republicans to quit lying and tell the truth. Congress easily would have extended the bill had the republicans not included amnesty for the phone companies. Since republicans claim they do everything legal, the amnesty is not needed, right?
CoIntelPro @ 34:
That's true, except she's not officially a Blue Dog/Bush Dog but she does echo them on a host of issues. I wouldn't call her uncloseted in that respect.
Sadly, she's just echoing her district, which is where I live. I've run two GOTV field ops here in KS - the smaller one in her district, and after two polls and scouring the responses from canvassing over a thousand doors of registered Dems in her district who voted in both 2004 and 2006, the answers are pretty scary. The #1 issue that Dem voters are concerned with is immigration (Lou Dobbs disease is epidemic here)- almost 90% answered that way in both polls and all of the canvassing. Ending the war and bringing our troops home didn't even register (<4%). (Overturning Roe v Wade was the # 2 as the most important political issue in her district at almost 8%).
Sadly, considering that registered Republicans outnumber the Dems almost 2-1 in the 2nd district, Boyda is as good as the Dems will ever get in her here, and she is WAAAAY better than the Republican she replaced, Jim Ryun. Sometimes you just got to be pragmatic.
Blue Lensman @ 9:
Seriously, Marge, if your intent is to represent Clinton fans as ignorant and vituperrious, by all means, continue.
Dr. Acula @ 26:
I think ours will be 80.
From the FDD:
So, not only are they lead by a dead woman, they also boast Joseph Lieberman (L-CT), Zell Miller (Crazy-GA), and Mark Foley (Republican Pedophile-FL).
This 501 was supposed to be bi-partisan. This morning almost all of the dems resigned. So much for bipartisanship with the goopers and jomentum. It just means we're screwing you.
It really chaps my ass that the politicians of today think all Americans just fell off a turnip truck last week. Some people will believe anything they are told and the Whitehouse thugs are saying a lot. Look out, America! The Big Bad Wolf will huff and puff and blow your house down unless illegal wiretapping is done with immunity for the communications companies. What a sack full of @#$%!!!
I highly recommend emailing defense of democracies and CNN directly. I emailed CNN complaining about the ads regarding inaccurate information and political bias with no opportunity for response. Perhaps if we flood CNN, MSNBC they will stop airing the ads.
How many times can they lie in 30sec? Was this ad written by KKKarl Rove?A person would have to have the IQ of a garden slug to believe this tripe.
Cynthia Tun @ 45:
i haven't seen the ads on either channel. They have been airing at least once an hour an Fox News Channel for days now and during the evening news on the Fox and ABC affiliates (I think CBS too but I don't tivo it so I haven't noticed. Just in what I record I caught the ad more than a dozen times just yesterday.
support the GOP !!!!!
after the 2008 election we will need the occasional right-wing cemetary stumper to remind us of the past... and why it is the PAST
"Raises the question", not "begs the question!"
This is pretty much a rehash of the ads that Nancy Johnson ran here in Connecticut against Chris Murphy durning the 2006 elections.
The incumbent, Johnson, was defeated rather soundly.
The overall style of both ads (like something out of the mind of a tom Clancy wanna-be) is so similar I wonder if they come out of the same production house.
EFF (Eltronic Frontier Foundation) makes some notes on the subject here
I always wondered why conservatives, especially of the far right, are such cowards. Avoiding the draft when it is in effect, and military service in general for both themselves and their children is a hallmark of their type. They assume that everyone else is similarly frightened of their own shadow and an appeal to your inner bogeyman cannot fail. Well I am not afraid nor are any of the people I know.This is essentially the body of an e-mail that I'm sending them.Please join me in urging them to get psychological help for their hysterical fears. A life spent in the shadow of anxiety is no life at all.
Ozymandias @ 49:
Actually, modern usage "beg the question" is a synonym for "to raise the question." it may drive prescriptivists nuts, but it's already starting to appear in dictionaries as an acceptable alternative use. hehe
very little of this swiftboating bushit goes anywhere without the tie-in to their talk radio monopoly. the local state right wing talk station, usually the biggest in the state, will give it "credibility" just by repeating it over and over. then it migrates to the rest of the media and by the time the candidate reacts it's too late.
Dem politicians need to react directly to the local radio stations who keep airing the liars by addressing them directly- the station and the liars who dutifully repeat the lies. their supporters should consider their free speech rights to wave signs and boycott the sponsors of the lies. to ignore the talk radio repetition thinking it gives them undeserved credibility has been very bad 'strategery', as limbaugh would say- a disastrous strategy in the context of the last twenty years since reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine.
It must be absolutely exhausting to remember all the lies told by the Republicans. They must go through hell trying to keep it all strait in their heads as to not slip and tell the truth once in a while. It is so much easier to tell the truth and is so much easier to remember.
jeffenator98 @ 46:
The new 501c organization Garden Slugs Supporting the Constitution (GSSC) have, in fact, found it difficult to overcome this hurdle; but they are making strides.
If the irredeemably corrupt disinformation/manipulative lies/propaganda machine we all know as the "MSM" were actually doing their jobs as journalists, instead of carrying water for the totalitarian fascist wannabes, organizations like this wouldn't even exist, and we wouldn't be having this conversation. Spin machines masquerading as think tanks wouldn't be viable. 527's would not be able to withstand the light of day. Jouranlists' jobs would be to cut through the lies and expose the truth, instead creating the lies and suppressing the truth at every turn, as is now done.
This "Defense of Democracies" propaganda piece is just one more indication of how much we are so running out of time to get things fixed.
Have seen this "ad" 3 times in the last week or so -- while channel surfing between CNN, MSNBC, and Fixed News.
It is such utter, outright, and patent propaganda: "The House refuses to vote. . . goes on vacation. . . and new surveillance of terrorists is crippled."
As ever, it speaks to this crew's opinion of the "rabble" they intend to rouse with this trash -- "We'll lie to them, and scare them, and they'll roll our way."
"Our way," in this instance is immunity for the telecoms, for their law breaking -- for colluding with Bush & Co to massively violate our civil liberties.
Would like to uncover whether or not the telecoms are bankrolling this bullsh*t.
Sourewatch entry: FDD
My video response.
More Christian terrorism against the American people. Just lovely. Christian fascists have been and continue to be the worst threat against America, far greater than vague Islamic crazies -- which are in any event the ideological equal to these Christian terrorists.
This is happening in Tucson also against Giffords - I have watched them for over a week.
So basically we're talking about attacks on Democrats by Democrats?
"This stinks like yesterday's diapers."
*
Why don't groups that lean on the Democratic side make videos. We are always on the losing side with these because no one has the nerve to call them out.
They can still spy on the al Qaeda. Absolute BS.
James, "my video response" was excellent.
I'm in Indiana's 2nd, and they've been spewing that crap against Joe Donnelly here lately. Every time I have to see that commercial I just cringe. Luckily it won't make much of a difference here - for a freshman representative, Donnelly has a remarkable lack of competition, and he also has a decent war chest saved up if he needs to use it. (the closest thing the GOP could muster is some ex-blackwater guy, but I believe he has already called in the towel).
I posted on these guys many times YEARS Ago when they used the acronym PNAC.
What really troubles me is I'm semi retired carpenter and had the where with all to knew about these guys in 2003 why did it take Engel, Schummer and Brazille so long to figure this out ?
No wonder why things are so screwed up!
See my post from yesterday.
Hello World , Any organization with Billy the Bloody Kristol , Jesus Freak Bauer and Dem.Judas Lieberman as an adviser or director is suspect.
Jeeezzz
pissed off patricia @ 14:
The corporate fascist empire. When you pay no taxes, hire slave workers in third world countries, and do any damn thing you like to the environment, well, lets just say them profits are mighty big.
Many people around you are intentionally misleading the public under the guise of preachers, boy how the devil is clever. We are surrounded folks.
Is it safe to come out from under my desk??? I'm so scared.
James [at] 58: thanks for the video-- two thumbs up.
bushco is acting like a cornered animal.
Why doesn't the Dem party have the balls/spine to put out attack ads against the Repugs? It would be so easy. Just say that Repugs want to be able to spy on Americans, and with secrecy and impunity.
But no, the Dem party is the party of pussycrats.
Otay @ 71:
they won't get airtime. look who owns big media.
James @ 58:
OUTSTANDING!!!!
This same ad has been running here in West Palm Beach, Fl. It is directed at Ron Klein who has also been on the receiving end of some anti-semitic hate mail as well.
Naturally, I wrote to encourage him to stand up for me and continue to vote NO on telecom. immunity. He is not my Rep. as he is in district 22 and I'm in the 19th. Bob Wexler is my guy, so I'm fortunate, I know Wexler won't cave.
Sondra from WestPalm
I've just relocated into Jerry McNerney's district and this piece of crap commercial has been running here ad nauseum. I want to throw things at the TV every time I see it. Lies, lies and more damned lies is all it is.
Thank you so much for the link to our post regarding the Congresswoman's response...we've been awfully proud of her on this issue, and we think all the liberals in the country should be, too....
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