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| Bag Lady of the Left? A lie. |
| 07.19.04 (12:57 pm) [edit] |
You've probably heard by now that John Kerry's wife, through the philanthropical entity she controls, has funded an evil organization with ties to several unsavory groups and organizations. You have been alerted to the link between her and Islamic suicide bombers, communist groups, radical protesters who attempt to disrupt important events and even that group of 9/11 victims' family-members that critiqued President Bush' advertising. You have been advised that the Tides Foundation has been funded by the Heinz charities so that the evil minions of many anti-American forces can go about their dirty work.
I don't know who broke the story. It may have been Drudge, NewsMax, Worldnet Daily, or any other similarly-minded source--whoever first read and then decided to extrapolate an apparently weak Capital Research Center paper. Whoever it was, though, is plugged in. Stories with titles claiming the presumptive nominee's wife is a "bag lady for the left" and similar slants quickly appeared and multiplied over and over again in cyberspace. I believe the Tides Foundation junk emails are replacing various Nigerian banking-related schemes as the most-popular-to-forward things in the world.
Here's the problem. The story is a lie.
I know, that seems hard to believe. After all, why would a lie be repeated over and over again? I mean, come on, even the Republican Party itself draws a link between the Heinz contributions and various less-than-desirable causes. The information presented is very compelling--there are great lists of all of the organizations funded by Tides and no denial by Kerry's camp of contributions made by Heinz to Tides. It must be true!
It is not.
Here's the deal. Heinz made contributions through Tides to specific causes. The money was specifically ear-marked for use by only those organizations. Some pollution abatement thing in Pennsylvania and some other relatively innocuous group were supplied with Heinz money to pursue their endeavors.
The crazy half-reporting of how this works is almost mind-boggling. Anti-Kerry types tell a simple story. Heinz gives money to Tides. Tides gives money to bad groups. Thus, Heinz funds bad groups. As with too many oversimplified statements, the story is misleading to the point of being wholly inaccurate.
Here's how the story really goes. Heinz gives money Tides. Heinz tells Tides to whom to distribute the contributions. Tides gives money to specified groups. Other contributors give money to Tides. Some of the other contributors earmark money for bad groups. Tides distributes money to specified groups.
See the difference there? Pretty significant. There is no doubt Tides has cut some checks to some pretty nasty organizations, as well as some pretty good ones. But Tides is nothing more than a mechanism for distribution. Tides is not the parent organization that has birthed every cause republicans find distasteful. It cuts checks. And it does so in accordance with the desires of those making contributions.
Tides offers a pretty good explanation: "The charge does not stand up to objective scrutiny...First, by legally binding contract, every penny of Heinz’s support to Tides has been explicitly directed to specific projects in Pennsylvania. It cannot legally be redirected and is the exact opposite of fungible.
Second, the Tides Center is a provider of management and administrative services, and we have used it only for those services, not to advance Tides’ grantmaking agenda. Foundations from all across the country-many, like Heinz, with strong centrist agendas-use these services to incubate an array of nonprofit programs. So does the federal government. It is no more accurate to suggest that Heinz supports every one of these programs than it is to suggest that someone who contributes to a specific group through the United Way supports the agenda of every other United Way beneficiary. "
The "Heinz Funds Evil" argument is already logged as an urban legend online. Still, the "bag lady for the left" nonsense continues.
The GOP's website continues to argue that those who criticized the Bush ads with the 9/11 backdrop were "a tiny group that's motivated by a far-left agenda and a festering hatred of the president - and has some quite dubious financial ties." The GOP then reminds us "Tides gets much of its funds from philanthropists like Mrs. Kerry and billionaire George Soros - who has made defeating President Bush his top personal priority." Of course, they stop short of revealing the truth about the nature of Tides and the Heinz money, instead relying on insinuation and implied linkages to score points against Kerry.
Drummond Pike, who heads Tides, takes that important step the GOP leaves out: "Tides Center, an independent offshoot of Tides Foundation, provides administrative and management services to nonprofit projects across the country. Tides Center has received additional support from the Heinz Endowments specifically to support projects in Pennsylvania, none of which has gone to September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows." And the people over at Peaceful Tomorrows have issued a statement stating categorically that they didn't get a dime via Heinz.
Even the person who edited the Capital Research Center report that spurred the accusations "said he saw no evidence the Heinz endowments were funding any extremist groups," although predictably claiming there were concerns in the giving patterns.
But the nonsense continues to make its rounds. "Heinz gives money to Tides, who gives money to bad guys" oversimplification is just too tasty for those on the conservative fringes to resist, I guess. Even if it is a lie.
GOP misleads HTTP://WWW.GOP.COM/NEWS/READ.ASPX?ID=3985
FrontPage magazine recites the "bag lady" lie HTTP://WWW.FRONTPAGEMAG.COM/ARTICLES/READARTICLE.ASP?ID=12187
Intellectual Conservatives mislead HTTP://WWW.INTELLECTUALCONSERVATIVE.COM/ARTICLE3198.HTML
Free Republic fibs HTTP://WWW.FREEREPUBLIC.COM/FOCUS/F-NEWS/1091129/ POSTS
NewsMax piles on HTTP://WWW.NEWSMAX.COM/ARCHIVES/IC/2004/3/6/ 121052.SHTML
Tides explains HTTP://WWW.TIDESFOUNDATION.ORG/PRESS_REL_03.CFM
Toledo paper comments HTTP://WWW.TOLEDOBLADE.COM/APPS/PBCS.DLL/ARTICLE?AID=/20040307 /NEWS09/103070191
ConWebWatch weighs in HTTP://CONWEBWATCH.TRIPOD.COM/STORIES/2004/FARAHKER RY.HTML
ETalkinghead talks about 501(c)(3) groups like Tides HTTP://WWW.ETALKINGHEAD.COM/ARCHIVES/DEFENDING-TE RESA-HEINZ-KERRY-2004-04- 27.HTML
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| Republicans Hate Trial Lawyers...Sometimes... |
| 07.19.04 (9:23 am) [edit] |
At least sixteen republican members of the U.S. Senate have endorsed his run for office.
George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, appointed him to a cabinet position and referred to him as "the embodiment of the American dream."
His name is Mel Martinez, former Secretary of HUD, current candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida, and a a former trial lawyer.
Yes, a trial lawyer. You know, those people Bush and others have criticized so very vocally ever since John Edwards joined the Kerry ticket. Bush said "You can't be pro-small business and pro-trial lawyers at the same time. You have to choose. My opponent had made his choice, and put him on the ticket," while referring to Kerry's VP pick. Bush has blamed trial lawyers for the rise in medical care costs and a host of other horrible social ills. His brother, Jeb, Florida's Governor and a once-strong voice against trial lawyers (he wanted to "whack them") is also a fan of Mr. Martinez.
Well, you might assume Martinez' support among those usually opposed to the demonic force of trial attorneys is a result of an awakening on his part. Perhaps Mel Martinez now rejects his greedy past and seeks to distance himself from his career as a successful litigator. No. He's downright unrepetant about the whole thing. Martinez says "I'm proud of what I did as a lawyer, helping people, doing good things, fighting big insurance companies." Yes, GW's "embodiment of the American dream" stands by his profession as strongly as does John Edwards. He sticks up for himself using the very same arguments Edwards seems to use.
So, what's the difference between Evil Trial Laywer John Edwards and Good Trial Lawyer Mel Martinez? Jeb Bush tried to provide a bright line separating the two. He said: "Mel Martinez was a successful plaintiff's lawyer, but he's a proven conservative. His views are conservative. He's a Republican."
The attacks on Edwards really have nothing to do with his background as a trial lawyer. They have everything to do with creating an issue the Bush campaign hopes to use to win re-election. It would take time, effort, answers and argument to compare and contrast policy and to defend positions. It is much easier to call the bogeyman of "trial lawyers" out of the basement to persuade voters to reject the Kerry-Edwards ticket. "Boo! He's a trial lawyer. Stay the course."
Bush and Company are banking on the fact that people won't think too hard about how differently Mel Martinez is viewed. They wouldn't want anyone thinking about the republican Senator and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Orrin Hatch, is a former trial lawyer. They won't mention that republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is a former trial lawyer. They won't talk about the Schiavo case and how Jeb Bush went through the process of seeking a hardship-based continuance because the trial lawyer he hired to help out was double-booked and he didn't feel anyone else had the necessary skills for the job. Those sixteen republican Senators endorsing Martinez won't be asked to hit the talk-show circle armed with "Edwards is bad because he's a trial lawyer" talking points.
It is not about trial lawyers. Not with Martinez and not with Edwards. It's about looking for a quick-and-easy way to grab votes instead of talking about something a bit more substantive.
Hillnews. comHTTP://WWW.HILLNEWS.COM/NEWS/050504/LAWYERS.ASPX
Klayman for Senate HTTP://WWW.KLAYMANSENATE.COM/A021204A.HTM
HUD HTTP://WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/GOVERNMENT/MARTINEZ-B IO.HTML
St. Petersburg Times
HTTP://WWW.SPTIMES.COM/2004/07/09/WORLDANDNA TION/TRIAL_LAWYERS_FACE_F R.SHTML
Martinez for Senate
HTTP://WWW.MELFORSENATE.ORG/INDEX.CFM?FUSEACTION=ABOUTMEL.HOME
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