UQ Wire: Bush 911 Election Ads Bring On Firestorm

Bush's 911 based political advertising campaign is bringing a fair degree of blowback. Below are links to a couple of press releases and a couple of news reports. You will find many many more news reports online and in your local paper. Meanwhile the folks at Take Back The Media have made a flash media parody version of the advert that is causing the White House so much grief.

Alastair Thompson
UQ Wire Editor

9/11 Families & Firefighters Call on Bush Campaign To Withdraw Ads Using WTC Imagery
2004-03-04 | *PRESS CONFERENCE, NEW LOCATION: SHERATON NY*
President Bush Breaks Promise Not to Use Sept. 11th “As a Political Issue”

Press Release
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

9/11 victims’ families and firefighters will convene in NYC on Friday at 10AM to charge President Bush with exploiting September 11th for political advantage in his new line of campaign advertisements. They will call on the campaign to remove the ads from the airwaves.

MORE:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0403/S00084.htm

President Planning NYC Extravaganza
By The Hill.com
Wednesday 03 March 2004

"And now, direct from Ground Zero, heeeeeeere's the president!"

Well, that's not exactly how President Bush is likely to be introduced when he gives his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Sept. 2, but it might be something equally dramatic and theatrical.

According to sources privy to convention planners' discussions, the 2004 GOP conclave at New York's Madison Square Garden will be unlike any previous quadrennial gathering of either party. In fact, not all of the main events will be held at the Garden, sources involved in planning the Aug. 31-Sept. 2 convention said.

"The entire format and actual physical setup could be radically different," one GOP insider commented. "They might not even have a podium, or maybe a rotating podium or even a stage that comes up from underground. It would be like a theater in the round, with off-site events that are part of the convention."

MORE:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/030504A.shtml

Bush Ads Anger Some 9/11 Families
By The Associated Press
Thursday 04 March 2004

NEW YORK (AP) --President Bush's re-election campaign on Thursday defended commercials using images from the September 11 terrorist attacks, including wreckage of the World Trade Center, as appropriate for an election about public policy and the war on terror.

Some families of the victims of the attacks are angry with Bush for airing the spots, which they called in poor taste and for the president's political gain. (Bush ads tout 'steady leadership')

"I respectfully, completely disagree," Bush adviser Karen Hughes said Thursday on CNN's "American Morning."

"Your viewers saw the ad. I think it's very tasteful. It's a reminder of our shared experience as a nation. I mean September 11th is not just some distant tragedy from the past, it really defined our future."

MORE:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/030504A.shtml

Fire Fighters' President Says Use of Fire Fighter Images in New Bush Ads Smack of Political Opportunism

Press Release
By International Association of Fire Fighters

The General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO (IAFF), Harold Schaitberger, issued the following statement today after President Bush unveiled new political ads that use images of fire fighters in September 11, 2001 attacks for political gain:

MORE:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0403/S00083.htm

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