![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/nhfiresign.jpg\")
On the way to the Berkman Bloggers meeting we were listening
\n to that rabid libertarian Jay Severin ranting on about the meaninglessness
\n of the news that the New York Firefighters Union had a) endorsed Kerry,
\n and b) objected to Bush using film of dead firefighters being pulled from
\n the ruins of the World Trade Center in a campaign commercial which debuted
\n yesterday (see following story).<\/p>\n
Jay said that it was just the Union leaders who supported Kerry, and
\n that almost to a man (he neglected to mention the female firefighters)
\n the rank and file supported the President. He went on to say that this
\n is perfectly natural, as George Bush is the man much more likely to wake
\n up each morning thinking about our firemen and policemen and soldiers.<\/p>\n
He then went on to laugh at the idea that anyone in Washington had anything
\n to do, either overtly or covertly, with the expedited exit of President
\n Aristide from Haiti, because "no one in Washington gives a rats ass or
\n even cares enough about what is going on in Haiti" to intervene. Enlightened
\n political analysis, for sure.<\/p>\n
Excuse me, but my impression is that George Bush spends very little
\n time in the company of or even thinking about ANYONE whose net worth
\n is less than a million dollars. Say what you will about John Kerry, and
\n there is certainly much to say, but the man loves firefighters, and the
\n feeling appears to be mutual. Maybe he wanted to BE a fireman when he was growing up. At every Kerry event we attended,
\n and most we see on TV, firefighters are there.<\/p>\n
We’ll never forget an interview we heard on the radio, with the sister
\n of a firefighter who was burned horribly in a famous, tragic warehouse
\n fire in Worcester in December, 1999. Six firefighters died. While
\n this woman’s brother was hospitalized she said John Kerry came to his
\n bedside, not once, but many times, over weeks, without any press coverage,
\n or publicity, or an election to win, and just sat with the family and
\n fellow firefighters, and talked.<\/p>\n
This is starting to shape up as the best Presidential election match
\n up since Kennedy-Nixon, or maybe even Lincoln-Douglass, like a knife fight
\n between between octopi on MDA. A much better matchup than last time,
\n even though that one went the distance, and then some. It should be
\n a memorable slugfest, full of low blows, backstabbing, dirty tricks and
\n bizarre plot twists. One would expect no less from two Yale guys…<\/p>\n
\nWASHINGTON (AP) – President George W. Bush’s day-old campaign commercials
\n drew sharp criticism Thursday from relatives of the victims of the Sept.
\n 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and a firefighters union with ties to Democratic
\n rival John Kerry demanded the ads be pulled.<\/p>\nThe White House defended the ads, which include images of the destroyed
\n World Trade Center and firefighters bearing a stretcher through the
\n rubble. "It
\n makes me sick," said Colleen Kelly, who lost her brother, Bill Kelly, in
\n the attacks and leads a victims families group called Peaceful Tomorrows. "Would
\n you ever go to someone’s grave site and use that as an instrument of politics?
\n That truly is what Ground Zero represents to me."<\/p>\nIn Bal Harbour, Fla., the International Association of Fire Fighters Union
\n approved a resolution asking the Bush campaign to pull the ads, spokesman Jeff
\n Zack said.
\n The resolution also urges Bush to "apologize to the families of firefighters
\n killed on 9\/11 for demeaning the memory of their loved ones in an attempt to
\n curry support for his re-election."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/p>\n
from the CBC<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the way to the Berkman Bloggers meeting we were listening to that rabid libertarian Jay Severin ranting on about the meaninglessness of the news that the New York Firefighters Union had a) endorsed Kerry, and b) objected to Bush … Continue reading