Scribblings

Political Ads

I am so sick of the election ads. I was sick of them after the first few aired in the late spring, negative attacks by Mr. Bush on Mr. Kerry. After awhile, Mr. Kerry began to air his own negative ads. Most recently, some disgruntled vets (calling themselves Swift Boat Veterans -- SBVs) have been insinuating that Mr. Kerry didn't really earn those purple heart medals and even if he did, he went before Congress and testified about all the atrocities he saw in Viet Nam. This is the best they can do? It's a long way to November.

Tuesday Newsday:

Two issues have recently been raised in regards to political ads.

First are the 527 Group Ads both sides are using to attack one another.
? Should ALL 527 Group ads be condemned or only those with obviously false information?
? Should all 527 group ads be made illegal?"
? When a member of the Bush campaign team appears in a 527 group ad, and a major Bush donor finances these same ads with a $100,000 donation can the 527 group still be called independent?
And second, there's the Bush Ad using the Iraqi Olympic Soccer team.
? Is Mr. Bush in violation of the IOC regulations which state that
the organization ?shall be non-political and may not promote the candidacy of a individual seeking public office."
? Was it right to use the images of the Iraqi Soccer team without their approval, or ANYONE's images without their approval? The Iraqi Soccer players were very upset about this ad.

I wasn?t sure that I totally understood what a 527 group is. Luckily, I remembered what my teachers said when I didn?t understand something. I looked it up. So these are organizations that are formed to influence an election one way or the other ? and they are exempt from taxes. They can take as much money in contributions as they like. That sounds rather frightening to me. It seems there is so much potential for bribery and coercion and all kinds of bad things. Why do we need 527s? I would rather see them abolished or restructured so that they?d be accountable to someone ? to the IRS or to some kind of authority.

As for being independent, well, it sounds like they are specifically formed to advocate one candidate or another. I?m not happy about the possible connection of the Swift Boat Veterans to the Bush campaign via a donor. I don?t think the candidates ought to be connected to these groups in any way shape or form.

I am pretty disgusted that the President made an ad taking credit for the Iraqi team being ?free? at the Olympic games without asking the athletes and coaches for permission. They wouldn?t have been able to say ?yes? according to the IOC regulations. If they?d said yes they might have violated the IOC regulations. But I don?t think Mr. Bush did because he doesn?t have anything to do with the Olympics. I don?t think it was right for him to do the ad without asking anyone for permission. I?ve been very unimpressed with Mr. Bush?s ads. Most of them just seem to be attacks on John Kerry. Can?t he think of anything positive to talk himself up? It makes me wonder.

QOTW

If a movie was being made about your life and you could choose any living actor or actress to play you in the film, whom would you choose? Would that choice be different if you could pick any actor or actress, living or dead?

I would choose Kathy Bates. I kind of feel a strong affinity for her. Maybe it?s because I feel that we look somewhat similar and seem to have similar characteristics. Of course, that could be because she is such a good actress. I don?t think my choice would be any different if I could pick anyone, living or dead.