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Me#1You#10
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Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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 Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 8:20 am Post subject: "Anti-Kerry group aims to keep an active role" |
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Nice article on Bill Franke, the originator of this website and forum.
| Quote: | Anti-Kerry group aims to keep an active role
By Bill Lambrecht
©2004, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
12/16/2004
Photo Caption: St. Louis businessman William E. Franke carrying a Vietnamese infant with a cleft palate into surgery at a hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, as part of Operation Smile.
WASHINGTON - The end of the 2004 presidential election campaign doesn't spell the end of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the well-funded alliance of former servicemen that remains dedicated to preventing Sen. John Kerry from becoming president.
The group, which recently changed its name to Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, plans to convene next month to celebrate its successes and to consider speaking out further about Kerry's military service, his anti-war activities afterward, and other issues, says William E. Franke, the longtime St. Louisan who ran the organization's day-to-day operations.
In his first interview about his role in the anti-Kerry group, Franke, a Navy veteran who served briefly as publisher of the old St. Louis Globe-Democrat in the 1980s, said his group succeeded in its mission to discredit Kerry and may help distribute a controversial film attacking the Massachusetts senator.
Kerry has given no indication that he might seek the Democratic nomination in 2008 and would probably encounter resistance from many in his party if he did.
Nonetheless, Franke made clear that his disdain for Kerry had not abated and that his group was keeping a wary eye on the senator's activities.
Franke offered no new evidence for his claims that Kerry misstated facts about his Vietnam service.
But he said the swift boat group's members remained frustrated, feeling that the news media did not bore in sufficiently on what he regards as unanswered questions about Kerry's service records. He added that he was troubled by a political dust-up in Kerry's home state last week that may have cost the group's public relations firm, Virginia-based Creative Response Concepts, a contract with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.
"They have called us rag merchants and liars and scum and every name under the sun. But what he has never done is respond substantively to our accusations," said Franke. He said the group might issue more "statements" about Kerry, but he wasn't specific.
Kerry spokesman David Wade repeated assertions from the campaign that Kerry made all his military records public except for private medical records, and that even those had been viewed by a group of reporters last spring.
"This was a smear campaign led by right-wing Republicans who were willing to lie because they hated John Kerry for having spoken out against the war in Vietnam after he came home," Wade said, responding to questions in an e-mail.
"There's a reason why Franke stayed in a secure, undisclosed location during the campaign: This man had no respect for the truth. . . . History already has discredited Bill Franke and his right-wing crusade. His 15 minutes of fame are over," Wade said.
The ability of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and other "527s" to operate in the future as they did this year probably will depend on Congress. The 527s, so named for the tax code provision that governs them, emerged as a force this election as a result of what critics regard as a loophole in the recent campaign finance law.
Among the criticisms are that 527s operate with no donor limits and fewer reporting requirements. One of the legislation's main sponsors, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has vowed further efforts to rein them in.
The Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington, reported Thursday that the 527 groups raised $434 million this year and "played a major role, perhaps a decisive role" in the election.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth raised $27.2 million, Franke said, most of it in a three-month period starting in July. Texas home builder Robert Perry, a longtime GOP contributor, gave the group $4 million.
Potent ads
That money fueled some of the campaign season's most aggressive and memorable television ads.
One of the ads featured Navy swift boat veterans asserting that Kerry lied about his Vietnam service. Another recalled his testimony in 1971 in front of a Senate committee, in which Kerry related allegations of atrocities by American forces in Vietnam. The swift boat group painted that testimony as a betrayal.
The ads contributed to the broader Republican strategy of portraying Kerry as an unfit leader in time of war and drew wide attention, stalling Kerry's campaign at a critical point in August and generating criticism that Kerry did not respond sufficiently to blunt the attack.
In one measure of success, a poll in 12 battleground states taken on election night by a Republican polling firm found that the swift boat veterans' ads were far more recognizable and had more impact than ads of pro-Kerry groups.
"Most people, even Democrats, grudgingly acknowledge that those ads were hugely effective," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity.
Franke referred to his group as "a substantive organization" and said it had a 150,000-strong donor list. He said it would be considering proposals related to veterans issues when members convene Jan. 26 in Orlando, Fla., for two days.
Franke said the group might assist in distribution of the film "Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal," which is harshly critical of Kerry's testimony in front of the Senate.
A report that the Sinclair Broadcast Group planned to air the documentary on all or most of its 62 television stations just before the election provoked a storm of controversy that sent Sinclair's stock plummeting.
Sinclair ultimately backed down and aired a generally balanced report with the title, "POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media."
Franke noted the wide distribution of Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 911," a sharp-edged treatment of events leading up to the war in Iraq that raises questions about connections between Saudi leaders and the family and friends of President George W. Bush.
Franke said that Moore's film was distributed so widely that he could have seen it on a recent international flight. He termed it an injustice that "Fahrenheit 911" could be aired so widely in comparison to "Stolen Honor."
"One thing I suspect we may do is join in an effort so that the POWs are able to get their message out," he said, referring to the anti-Kerry film.
Franke, 60, a longtime St. Louisan, moved to the Washington area two years ago. He is president and chief executive officer of Gannon International Ltd., a company he founded in 1983 that is involved in diverse enterprises from St. Louis to Thailand that include real estate, exporting and management services.
Gannon International and several of Franke's companies are headquartered in St. Louis. He has been a Republican contributor over the years, giving at least $15,000 to GOP candidates since 2001, including $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney re-election effort.
In 1986, Franke purchased the foundering Globe-Democrat and closed it a few months later after losing heavily on the investment.
"Behind the scenes"
Like Kerry, Franke commanded a river patrol boat in Vietnam and was awarded a Silver Star and a Bronze Star. He had declined interview requests since the Post-Dispatch reported last May that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Web site was run out of Gannon offices.
Retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffman, a Crystal City, Mo., native and an organizer of the group, said he persuaded Franke to become involved.
"He was the guy behind the scenes," Hoffman said, adding that Franke hired consultants and carried out many of the management duties for the group.
Hoffman said the gathering in Florida next month would be primarily for camaraderie but that the group would be discussing its future. He expects about 130 veterans to take part.
Hoffman said the group still had money on hand but declined to say how much.
"Our objective from the beginning was to deny Sen. Kerry command over the armed forces of the United States. . . . We stopped him for the time being, but he's shrewd and aggressive, and if he can run again, he'd try it," Hoffman said.
Franke, who spoke by phone from Bangkok this week, said he believed that his group had undermined a Kerry campaign strategy of demonstrating leadership credentials by focusing on his Vietnam experience.
Referring to Kerry's testimony in 1971, Franke added, "This is the first time that the American public has had a group of men stand up and say John Kerry was lying when he made those statements before the Senate."
Whatever course the swift boat group takes, Franke believes that the organization has succeeded thus far. "There was an impact on the outcome of the election," he said.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
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SBD
Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 1022
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:32 am Post subject: |
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I was very pleased to read this story and would be honored to participate in any future campaigns the Swift Boat Veterans and POW's For Truth decide to endorse
Thank You for saving our country from the likes of John Kerry.
SBD |
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Beatrice1000
Resource Specialist
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1179
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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| This is a great article - such good news to read on a Friday morning ! Thanks so much for the post. |
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Fort Campbell
Vice Admiral
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 896
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| I am encouraged to read that the Swiftvets are not abandoning their case against John Kerry. I am hoping for two things. First, that the film STOLEN HONOR is as widely viewed and discussed as F-911. And secondly that Jerry Corsi does decide to run against Kerry for his Senate seat in 2008. I will help in any way that I can on both objectives. |
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SBD
Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 1022
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Friday, Dec. 17, 2004 11:35 a.m. EST
Swift Boat Veterans Vow to Continue
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group that John Kerry's campaign mismanager blames for the Democrat presidential nominee's defeat, promises that it won't go away.
Recently enlarged and renamed Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, it is keeping an eye on Kerry, who has thrilled Republicans by saying he might run for president again in 2008.
William E. Franke, who runs the organization's day-to-day operations, pointed out in a recent interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the group was needed because the media establishment failed to report adequately and accurately on the admitted war criminal Kerry's past.
"They have called us rag merchants and liars and scum and every name under the sun. But what he has never done is respond substantively to our accusations," Franke said.
Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth has grown to "a substantive organization" with a donor list of 150,000, he said.
In January the group plans to hold a conference of its members in Orlando, Fla.
He said the group might help distribute the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal," which NewsMax aired on television nationwide after left-wing groups censored Sinclair Broadcast Group's attempt to show it.
Franke noted that it was an injustice that the Bush-hating film "Fahrenheit 911" could be shown so widely by the same types who muzzled "Stolen Honor."
"One thing I suspect we may do is join in an effort so that the POWs are able to get their message out," he told the paper.
In the end, Franke said the 527 group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth raised just over $27.2 million in three months. One contributor, Robert Perry, a Texas residential builder, donated $4 million.
SBD |
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NortonPete
PO2
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 385
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| Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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Great Swifties!
I'm still here ready to go.
Lets keep this groundswell going! |
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d19thdoc
PO3
Joined: 17 May 2004
Posts: 280
Location: New Jersey Shore
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| Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2004 4:39 am Post subject: |
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"HE CAN LOSE, BUT HE CAN NOT HIDE!"
_________________
For The Honor of the Fifty-Eight Thousand.
"He Can Lose, But He Can Not Hide" |
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Stop Hanoi John
Ensign
Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 71
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| Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2004 11:06 am Post subject: |
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I think Kerry is probably done as far as running for the Presidency. He made too many bad choices, and the angry democrats are now mad at him as well.
I'm more worried about Soros' future involvement in buying candidates, but it would be nice to see Kerry lose his Senate seat. |
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streetsweeper95B
PO2
Joined: 25 Nov 2004
Posts: 365
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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Count me in. 
_________________
"Proud Member of the Freak Show" |
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CaptnJack
Ensign
Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 71
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| Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| This is the best news I've seen since kerry's defeat! |
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fortdixlover
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 1476
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| Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:29 pm Post subject: Re: "Anti-Kerry group aims to keep an active role" |
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| Me#1You#10 wrote: | Kerry spokesman David Wade repeated assertions from the campaign that Kerry made all his military records public except for private medical records, and that even those had been viewed by a group of reporters last spring.
"This was a smear campaign led by right-wing Republicans who were willing to lie because they hated John Kerry for having spoken out against the war in Vietnam after he came home," Wade said, responding to questions in an e-mail. |
Dear Mr. Wade: so, then, what's the big deal about Kerry signing the appropriate form to allow release of the records? ANSWER THAT QUESTION. Your excuse remarkably resembles the excuse of a person who's hiding something. No, no diversions, please. ANSWER THE ABOVE QUESTION.
Kerry did not "speak out" against the Vietnam war - he committed perjury before a U.S. Congressional committee.
That the majority in this country doesn't share your moral relativism (a.k.a., ABJECT LACK OF ETHICS) is too bad.
The People have spoken thusly: "Facts DO matter. Take your moral relativism and post-modern abuse of language and semantics and shove them up your collective arse."
-- FDL
_________________
"Millions For Defense, Not One Cent For Tribute" - Thomas Jefferson on paying ransom to Muslim corsairs (pirates). |
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carpro
Admin
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 1176
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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Kerry also revealed that he didn't release all his records.
When asked about the IQ story comparing his Navy tests to Bush's TANG tests, he asked how the researcher got the info because he didn't release his test results.
Caught in his own trap. 
_________________
"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service." |
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kerrlied
Ensign
Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 50
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 1:41 pm Post subject: We need to remove him from the SENATE! |
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| All of us mus keep hot on his trail to remove the Idiot from the senate! |
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