DeclinetoState
01-12-2006, 06:33 PM
Never overestimate the intelligence of a liberal:
We don't know why Martha-Ann Bomgardner (http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_01_08_atrios_archive.html#113708549198417000) , Samuel Alito's wife, started crying yesterday. That's a personal matter -- that's getting waaay too much attention in the mainstream media -- and frankly we had no intention of even mentioning it on the blog.
But now we feel compelled to, because of this:
Why are Swift Boaters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth) -- the folks who smeared John Kerry's war record in the 2004 election -- now trying to promote Alito's nomination by capitalizing on yesterday's bizarre incident?
We're referring to this release (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1148113,00.html) sent out yesterday by Creative Response Concepts, an Alexandria, Va., based PR firm with deep blood lines on the far right:
The always-alert Creative Response Concepts, a conservative public relations firm, sent this bulletin: "Former Alito clerk Gary Rubman witnessed Mrs. Alito leaving her husband's confirmation in tears and is available for interviews, along with other former Alito clerks who know her personally and are very upset about this development."
In case that was too much trouble for the journalists, the firm also e-mailed out a statement from the Judicial Confirmation Network calling "for the abuse to stop."
This post (http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/5/91341/50154) this summer from the citizen-journalists at ePluribus Media notes that the Judicial Confirmation Network is essentially an arm of Campaign Solutions, "the public-relations firm for Bush-Cheney '04, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee." And the JCN had hired Creative Response Concepts as a key part of its team to aid John Roberts, now the Chief Justice, and Alito in their Senate confirmation battles. (JCN's leader, Gary Marx (http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/06EVENTS/WCBspeakerbio.cfm?sid=%23%20-XC%0A), used to work for Century Strategies, the firm of Ralph Reed, best pal (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007414.php) of Jack Abramoff...small world, isn't it?)
Who is Creative Response Concepts (http://www.crc4pr.com/)? Among other things, they were "the brains" advising Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth last summer, when the group made national headlines with its smear campaign against Kerry's Vietnam War record. As this story (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/9641483.htm) notes:
LaCivita, whom [Swift Boat Veterans founder John] O'Neill said draws a $10,000-a-month retainer, declined to be interviewed.
Two steering-committee members - O'Neill and [William] Franke, the founder of Gannon International Ltd., a St. Louis-based holding company - brought in LaCivita and a public-relations firm to oversee ads and media strategy.
The public-relations firm, Creative Response Concepts, of Alexandria, Va., has worked for the Republican Party and conservative causes.
In fact, when it comes to PR, the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth and the Judicial Confirmation Network -- the instant promoters of the Alito spousal tears -- are essentially one in the same. From the ePluribus piece:
To the consultants at Creative Response Concepts, the distance separating "dishonest and dishonorable" and "fair confirmation process" is apparently not great -- in physical terms, at least. Interview requests for CRC's clients are routed through the main switchboard at a single telephone number; extensions 108 and 110 at the same number handle Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, while extensions 109 and 130 are for the Judicial Confirmation Network.
You might be interested to know about one other "rapid response (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/10/forgery/index_np.html)" that Creative Response Concepts was involved in: The apparently forged documents on President Bush's Texas Air National Guard record that ended up with "60 Minutes":
Creative Response Concepts, the Arlington, Va., Republican public relations firm run by former Pat Buchanan communications director Greg Mueller, with help from former Pat Robertson communications director Mike Russell, sent out a media advisory Thursday to hawk a right-wing news dispatch: "60 Minutes' Documents on Bush Might Be Fake." Creative Response Concepts has played a crucial role in hyping the inaccurate, secondhand Swift Boat allegations, with Russell serving as the group's official spokesman. A company spokesman could not be reached for comment.
That was just one day after the "60 Minutes" installment aired.
Now, in the wake of that surprisingly speedy response, we see the same people jumping on Alito's wife's tears in a matter of minutes (and trumpted almost instantly by Matt Drudge (http://www.drudgereport.com/)). Interesting, no?
This all gets back to Alito. He's happy to ride on the backs of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton (http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002637.html) and its despicable views on women and minorities, if it will help him advance his career by getting a plum job in the Reagan administration. And now, he's happy to surf in the wake of the Swift Boaters and their despicable trashing of a veteran's medals and his war record, if it will help him advance his career by getting the ultimate plum, a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Should you judge a man by the company he keeps?
In this case, yes.
This argument works if you forget that nothing the Swift Boat Vets said was ever proven to be false.
Kerry trashed his own war record many years ago.
Never overestimate the intelligence of a liberal blogger (http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002645.html). They're even dumber than those liberals elected to office.
Case in point: "We don't know why Martha-Ann Bomgardner (http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_01_08_atrios_archive.html#113708549198417000) , Samuel Alito's wife, started crying yesterday."
We don't know why Martha-Ann Bomgardner (http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_01_08_atrios_archive.html#113708549198417000) , Samuel Alito's wife, started crying yesterday. That's a personal matter -- that's getting waaay too much attention in the mainstream media -- and frankly we had no intention of even mentioning it on the blog.
But now we feel compelled to, because of this:
Why are Swift Boaters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth) -- the folks who smeared John Kerry's war record in the 2004 election -- now trying to promote Alito's nomination by capitalizing on yesterday's bizarre incident?
We're referring to this release (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1148113,00.html) sent out yesterday by Creative Response Concepts, an Alexandria, Va., based PR firm with deep blood lines on the far right:
The always-alert Creative Response Concepts, a conservative public relations firm, sent this bulletin: "Former Alito clerk Gary Rubman witnessed Mrs. Alito leaving her husband's confirmation in tears and is available for interviews, along with other former Alito clerks who know her personally and are very upset about this development."
In case that was too much trouble for the journalists, the firm also e-mailed out a statement from the Judicial Confirmation Network calling "for the abuse to stop."
This post (http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/5/91341/50154) this summer from the citizen-journalists at ePluribus Media notes that the Judicial Confirmation Network is essentially an arm of Campaign Solutions, "the public-relations firm for Bush-Cheney '04, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee." And the JCN had hired Creative Response Concepts as a key part of its team to aid John Roberts, now the Chief Justice, and Alito in their Senate confirmation battles. (JCN's leader, Gary Marx (http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/06EVENTS/WCBspeakerbio.cfm?sid=%23%20-XC%0A), used to work for Century Strategies, the firm of Ralph Reed, best pal (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007414.php) of Jack Abramoff...small world, isn't it?)
Who is Creative Response Concepts (http://www.crc4pr.com/)? Among other things, they were "the brains" advising Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth last summer, when the group made national headlines with its smear campaign against Kerry's Vietnam War record. As this story (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/9641483.htm) notes:
LaCivita, whom [Swift Boat Veterans founder John] O'Neill said draws a $10,000-a-month retainer, declined to be interviewed.
Two steering-committee members - O'Neill and [William] Franke, the founder of Gannon International Ltd., a St. Louis-based holding company - brought in LaCivita and a public-relations firm to oversee ads and media strategy.
The public-relations firm, Creative Response Concepts, of Alexandria, Va., has worked for the Republican Party and conservative causes.
In fact, when it comes to PR, the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth and the Judicial Confirmation Network -- the instant promoters of the Alito spousal tears -- are essentially one in the same. From the ePluribus piece:
To the consultants at Creative Response Concepts, the distance separating "dishonest and dishonorable" and "fair confirmation process" is apparently not great -- in physical terms, at least. Interview requests for CRC's clients are routed through the main switchboard at a single telephone number; extensions 108 and 110 at the same number handle Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, while extensions 109 and 130 are for the Judicial Confirmation Network.
You might be interested to know about one other "rapid response (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/10/forgery/index_np.html)" that Creative Response Concepts was involved in: The apparently forged documents on President Bush's Texas Air National Guard record that ended up with "60 Minutes":
Creative Response Concepts, the Arlington, Va., Republican public relations firm run by former Pat Buchanan communications director Greg Mueller, with help from former Pat Robertson communications director Mike Russell, sent out a media advisory Thursday to hawk a right-wing news dispatch: "60 Minutes' Documents on Bush Might Be Fake." Creative Response Concepts has played a crucial role in hyping the inaccurate, secondhand Swift Boat allegations, with Russell serving as the group's official spokesman. A company spokesman could not be reached for comment.
That was just one day after the "60 Minutes" installment aired.
Now, in the wake of that surprisingly speedy response, we see the same people jumping on Alito's wife's tears in a matter of minutes (and trumpted almost instantly by Matt Drudge (http://www.drudgereport.com/)). Interesting, no?
This all gets back to Alito. He's happy to ride on the backs of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton (http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002637.html) and its despicable views on women and minorities, if it will help him advance his career by getting a plum job in the Reagan administration. And now, he's happy to surf in the wake of the Swift Boaters and their despicable trashing of a veteran's medals and his war record, if it will help him advance his career by getting the ultimate plum, a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Should you judge a man by the company he keeps?
In this case, yes.
This argument works if you forget that nothing the Swift Boat Vets said was ever proven to be false.
Kerry trashed his own war record many years ago.
Never overestimate the intelligence of a liberal blogger (http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002645.html). They're even dumber than those liberals elected to office.
Case in point: "We don't know why Martha-Ann Bomgardner (http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_01_08_atrios_archive.html#113708549198417000) , Samuel Alito's wife, started crying yesterday."