May 4, 2004

QUOTABLES:

“The wound was covered with a bandaid.” – writes Dr. Louis Letson, the doctor who treated John Kerry’s first ‘Purple Heart’ wound.

"I do not believe John Kerry is fit to be commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces," said retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, chairman of the organization [Swift Boat Veterans for Truth]. "This is not a political issue. It is a matter of honesty."

"I’ve got a hunch this whole thing might be a case of mistaken identity," Bush told supporters at a pancake breakfast at a recreation center just outside Toledo. "Whoever these mystery men are, they’re not going to be deciding this election. The American people will be deciding this election," President Bush said about Sen. John Kerry’s foreign support.

"You're just as strong a patriot if you worship as if you don't worship," President Bush said. "Personally, I do rely upon the Almighty."

"They're wondering whether or not politics will cause the politicians to change their minds in the midst of this transfer of sovereignty. I'm not changing my mind. We're doing the right thing. We'll always honor those who sacrifice for our freedom. We will not allow them to die in vain. Iraq will be free, and Iraq will be more secure," President Bush said.

JUST POLITICS

Doctor recalls Kerry Purple Heart ‘wound’

Byron York, National Review, has an interesting read in is column. It contains a detailed account of John Kerry’s “purple heart” wound, written by Louis Letson, the doctor who treated Kerry’s wound. Letson says he remembers his brief encounter with Kerry 35 years ago because "some of his crewmen related that Lt. Kerry had told them that he would be the next JFK from Massachusetts." Here is an excerpt of Letson account:

“The story he [Kerry] told was different from what his crewmen had to say about that night. According to Kerry, they had been engaged in a fire fight, receiving small arms fire from on shore. He said that his injury resulted from this enemy action.

Some of his crew confided that they did not receive any fire from shore, but that Kerry had fired a mortar round at close range to some rocks on shore. The crewman thought that the injury was caused by a fragment ricocheting from that mortar round when it struck the rocks.

That seemed to fit the injury which I treated.

What I saw was a small piece of metal sticking very superficially in the skin of Kerry's arm. The metal fragment measured about 1 cm. in length and was about 2 or 3 mm in diameter. It certainly did not look like a round from a rifle.

I simply removed the piece of metal by lifting it out of the skin with forceps. I doubt that it penetrated more than 3 or 4 mm. It did not require probing to find it, did not require any anesthesia to remove it, and did not require any sutures to close the wound.

The wound was covered with a bandaid.

Not [sic] other injuries were reported and I do not recall that there was any reported damage to the boat.”

Al Franken for Senate?

Say it ain’t so!!

According to an AP article, Al Franken is considering a challenge to Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman (R), up for re-election in 2008. Though Franken lives in New York, he grew up in suburban Minneapolis.

And whom did he seek out for advice? Hillary Clinton.

"I asked Hillary, 'Can you give me some suggestions about running for Senate in a state you haven't lived for in a while, or in your case, ever?' " Franken recalled, laughing heartily. "And she said, 'This will be a long conversation,' so we agreed to have a long conversation about it."

Senator Coleman declined to comment on a Franken senate run, but Minnesota Republican Party chairman Ron Eibensteiner asked, "This is a joke, right?"

Insight Magazine prints searing Kerry article

Following the formation of “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” and today’s press conference releasing a letter stating Kerry is unfit to serve as Commander-in-Chief, “Insight” magazine covered the story. Excerpt:

"I do not believe John Kerry is fit to be commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces," said retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, chairman of the organization. "This is not a political issue. It is a matter of honesty."

Hoffman said Kerry had recently telephoned him and spent 45 minutes attempting to convince Hoffman of not proceeding with the formation of the organization, which Democrats have attacked as a shill for Bush.

[read entire article here]

Yes America can

President Bush is on the campaign trail in the battleground Midwest states. These states characterized by old manufacturing industry and agriculture have been hard hit by job losses and President Bush is engaging in retail politics to let them know he understands and relates to their problems. All of these states are up for grab.

The Bush campaign is not only demonstrating that the President is empathetic it is also delivering the message that Kerry is unstable. The measure of the hand to hand combat in these states by both candidates is a measure of the struggle and division of today’s American political scene. Bush continues to offer a message that conveys that he is not through with achieving his goals for America.

"Yes American Can" are the words displayed on the Bush bus that is carrying him through the states. Bush will take a trip back to Washington and be back in the bus on Friday.

 MoveOn.org registration drive

MoveOn.org is working to register voters for the Democrat effort to defeat President Bush. They are organizing the following:

Dear MoveOn Member,

It's been a tough few weeks, with pictures of flag-draped coffins coming home from Iraq and the horrifying abuse of prisoners there, and a rollback of longstanding overtime laws by the Bush administration.

So let's do something to change the tone. Let's create a little hope.

Together with a broad coalition we're organizing a National Election Action Day. In battleground states we'll join forces this Saturday, May 8, for the largest one-day voter mobilization in history. So far there are 7,000 volunteers signed up, but we aim to get 10,000 volunteers in order to register hundreds of thousands of voters Saturday. Sign up now:

http://action.moveon.org/may8/

On Saturday we'll have a brief kickoff event where you'll hear from leaders of MoveOn or our partner groups. You'll get some training so you feel confident about registering voters, and then you'll head out in a team to register voters for a few hours. You'll likely be with a buddy during that time, and when it's all done, we'll meet back together to turn in the registration forms and hear the results.

Note that in a few states, where voter registration isn't required or is impractical, we'll substitute another activity, like surveying voters to find out which are undecided and which have made up their minds who to vote for.

Still not sure? If you like, you can watch a couple short videos first, which will show you what the day will be like and let you hear from a MoveOn member who volunteered for a similar effort recently. Go to http://www.moveonpac.org/canv/training.html.

It will also be a chance for you to meet some like-minded people in your neighborhood, including MoveOn members as well as those from other groups like Planned Parenthood, Howard Dean's new group Democracy for America, and local labor unions.

In preparation, thousands of MoveOn members attended community meetings this weekend, with more to come tonight and tomorrow. They came up with some great ideas--like outreach to young people and minorities, or getting absentee ballots to senior centers and VA hospitals--and even more important, nearly all of them signed up to help on Saturday.

The success of this effort will depend on how many of us can pitch in. Can you help? Sign up now at:

http://action.moveon.org/may8/

The Republican Party has been traveling the country with an 18-wheeler registering voters--now it's time for us to do our part. We look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,

--Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, and Wes
The MoveOn PAC Team

ACT in Iowa 

American’s Coming Together (ACT) is one of the 527 political organizations dedicated to defeating President Bush. These organizations have raised far more than the Bush ’04 campaign. This 527 is dedicated to grassroots organization. It is in a number of states and has set up in Iowa:

Welcome to Iowa ACT 

Visit our site: http://www.iowa.act4victory.org

Volume 1

 Welcome to the first edition of Just the fACT s newsletter from Iowa’s America Coming Together (ACT), the grassroots organization aimed at:

• 1) Defeating George W. Bush and send his extreme Administration back to Texas

• 2) Mobilizing Democrats and getting them to the polls this November

• 3) Electing progressive candidates up and down the ticket.

NOTE: This newsletter is not intended to spam, but rather to mobilize, inform and have a little fun while we are at it.  Every couple weeks we’ll send it out this newsletter with various fACTs complied by our own research shop about the direction George W. Bush has taken our great state of Iowa.  Feel free to share this information with friends, family and co-workers, or just stare at them with a bewildered look on your face as many of us enjoy doing.

 Drop by our office:

1500 Locust Ave.
Des Moines
515-244-3111

 ACT’s central office in Iowa is at 1500 Locust Ave in Des Moines.  We will soon have offices across the entire state.  Our main line is 515-244-3111 and a guy named Devin will answer and assist you with how you can help take back Iowa and your country this November.

A brief history: ACT was founded by Ellen Malcolm, founder and President of Emily’s List, Steve Rosenthal, former political director of the AFL-CIO, Andy Stern, president of SEIU and Carl Pope, Executive Director of Sierra Club.  ACT is funded by a combination of small donors and large donors, and is focused on defeating Bush and electing progressive candidates in 17 different battleground states, with Iowa being one of the top targets.

Campaign finance law allows us to coordinate and work closely with some other fantastic groups that have set up shop here in Iowa for the election like: America Votes, MoveOn.org, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Planned Parenthood, and NARAL to name a few.

 fACT of the Day:

How Much Did You Get from Bush’s Tax Cuts?  In 2006, 87% of Iowa taxpayers will get less than $100 from the Bush Republicans’ tax cuts. By contrast, Iowa’s super-rich got a tax break, on average, of $31,334 in 2003.   ("CTJ Issue Brief: The Bush Tax Cuts in Iowa," Citizens for Tax Justice, November 19, 2003) 

WIN A FREE T-SHIRT!
ACT is looking for Iowans who are fed up with Bush and have something to say!

ACT is looking for Iowans in various fields who are fed up with this Administration and want to say something about it. We frequently talk to the press and share stories with our national office, and are always looking for good quotes from concerned Iowans with various backgrounds and skills. The top three individuals who give us the most names of Iowans related to the specific categories below by May 15th will win a free, highly-coveted ACT t-shirt! Specifically, we are looking for:

• Employees whose job were outsourced thanks to Bush;

• Teachers fed up with No Child Left Behind;

• Doctors and nurses upset that Bush has offered NO plan to lower health care costs or insure the uninsured;

• Accountants or financial planners fed up with Bush’s unfair tax cuts for the rich;

• Farmers fed up with Bush’s inaction on conservation funding and rural development;

• Registered Republicans that are simply fed up with Bush and joining the good guys this November.

Please forward your names and contact information (if you have it) to Brad Anderson at banderson@act4victory.org or 515-244-3111 x232.

 Contributions to ACT are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Paid for by America Coming Together (1500 Locust Ave., Des Moines, Iowa, 50209), and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

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