George Will said Mehlman was "outraged" over RNC ad...

[jenmito]

On This Week with George Stephanopoulos George Will said, about the racist ad in TN against Harold Ford, that Ken Mehlman was outraged but he had no control over that ad. Wasn't there a picture of Mehlman at the end of the ad with his voice saying the RNC is responsible for the content of the ad? And when he was on all the news shows he said he was fine with it and saw no racist overtones in it at all. But then he followed that by saying he had no ability to get the ad taken off the air.:eyes:

[saltpoint]

1. George Will is a liar. Mehlman approved and publicly defended the ad.

[jenmito]

3. I know. Doesn't he know people can check...

and see he's lying?

[saltpoint]

22. Will is a gifted writer. But he's also a maniacal partisan.

I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, and I doubt if I could pick him up.

[Fridays Child]

4. Oh, but now that Ken's gay porno connection is about to go public...

...well, you know, he is just outraged.

[jenmito]

6. Is this true?

Or are you just getting my hopes up only to knock them down? :D

[Fridays Child]

7. Check out this TPM page...

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/010647.php

[jenmito]

9. Thanks for the article!

Very interesting! :D

[charlyvi]

2. Bob Schieffer doesn't agree:

CBS's Bob Schieffer calls GOP head Ken Mehlman "lame"
by John in DC - 10/29/2006 10:53:00 AM

Unfortunately I can't give you the video because CBS is making YouTube take down video we post there, claiming copyright infringement, so we're no longer posting CBS's video. I can however quote CBS's Bob Schieffer from this morning's Face the Nation with Ken Mehlman.

CBS'S BOB SCHIEFFER: Why is the Republican National Committee spending its money on an ad down in Tennessee, the purpose of it seems to be to suggest that the Demoratic candidate Harold Ford is an African-American?

RNC CHAIRMAN KEN MEHLMAN: The ad that you're talking about is an ad that is being run independently of the Republican National Committee.

SCHIEFFER: Just a minute, let's run the end of the ad, let's hear what it say.



SCHIEFFER: Yes.

MEHLMAN: The way that the law works, unfortunately it's a law that I think ought to be changed, and by the way it's a law on which people on both sides of the campaign reform think ought to be changed, is that if I talk like I do on a regular basis to candidates like Mr. Corker then the TV ads that are run beyond a very small limit are run independently of me. This ad is down, I'm please the ad is down, and I'm pleased that the focus of that campaign is now about questions like...

SCHIEFFER: But you paid for it.

MEHLMAN: I've talked to Senator McCain and to Senator McConnell, both of whom have been on different sides of the campaign reform issue. Both agree that a law which says the Republican National Committee pays for the ad, but it's also illegal for the Chairman of the RNC, for the political director of the RNC, or the communications director of the RNC...

SCHIEFFER: But, but Mr. Mehlman, the logic... if I think something is wrong but I take advantage of a law that allows me to take advantage of that, that's pretty lame, if I may say so.

MEHLMAN: My response to that ad is the same response Mr. Ford had from a race perspective. I would not have put the ad up. I did not think that it was necessarily a racist ad, at the same time...

SCHIEFFER: But you approved of it.

MEHLMAN: I did not approve it.

SCHIEFFER: You said you thought it was "fair." You're on the record saying that.

MEHLMAN: Well I thought some of the issues raised in that ad, the issue of taxes, I think those are fair issues, on the other hand I personally would not have put that ad up.

SCHIEFFER: But what does that say, you talk about "values" and stuff, that you're taking advantage of an ad when you know what it says is wrong and you admit that it ought not to be that way but you're willing to take advantage of it.

Ok, so Wolf Blitzer actually demands answers from Lynne Cheney. Bob Schieffer doesn't let Ken Mehlman get away with his usual non-responsive BS. What's next, Spock with a goatee?


http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/10/cbss-bob-schieffer-calls-gop-head-ken.html

[jenmito]

5. Thanks for that transcript...

I recorded the show and will watch it soon. It's good to see some people trying to hold these Repubs. accountable.

[WCGreen]

28. Spock with a goatee.....

I love it....

[The Count]

29. The Mirror Mirror reference made my day...."If I know my Spocks....

[justgamma]

8. The end of the ad says

that the content was approved by the RNC. Obviously somebody saw that ad and said to go with it. If they approved the content, then they approved the freakin' ad.

[jenmito]

10. Exactly! And am I crazy or...

Didn't the ad USED to have a mini pic of Mehlman with a MALE voice saying the RNC is responsible for the content of the ad? I KNOW there used to be a pic of him but now there's NO pic and it's a woman's voice!

[Supersedeas]

31. but but but John McCain says the law may be wrong...chatter chatter chatter

[Jack Rabbit]

11. I'm waiting for somebody at RNC to lose his job

Wasn't there a picture of Mehlman at the end of the ad with his voice saying the RNC is responsible for the content of the ad?

If that's the case, heads should roll. Doesn't Mehlman have the authority to hire and fire people there?

Or are we going to assume that Mehlman is as pissed off about this as Bush was about the "bad intelligence" in Iraq? He didn't fire anybody involved, IIRC.

[jenmito]

13. So am I...

And I have seen the ad from the first day they aired it up 'til they took it off the air. I can SWEAR there was a small pic of Mehlman with HIS voice saying the RNC is responsible... I think they changed it to a woman's voice so people won't call him on it.

[Jack Rabbit]

15. That is very telling

EDITED for typing

That they took Mehlman's image off the ad rather than just pull it altogether tells us a lot about what they were thinking.

The ad was offensive, regardless of its effect. I'm in California, so I don't see ads for Corker in Tennessee; I hear his campaign is running a lot of dirty, race-baiting ads against Ford.

If posters on DU inform us correctly, Ford's lead over Corker has widened since the ads started running. Now, Mehlman is outraged.

Mehlman is an occupational liar and not a very good one. His approach to politics is basically character assassination. The White House couldn't just argue that Ambassador Wilson was wrong about his report from Niger to the CIA and why; they had to task Mehlman with coming up with a list of talking points attacking Wilson's character. The talking points were typical Mehlman; they were personal, not germaine to the subject at hand, easily refuted and self-contradictory. The attacks on Mr. Ford are also personal in nature and red herrings.

What Mehlman does is attempt to throw a barrel full of red herrings at his opponent. He figures if one red herring will get the hounds (i.e., public opinion) off the scent, then a dozen will really do the trick. Since the idea is not to honestly debate public policy, the different red herrings don't have to form a coherent whole. The idea is to confuse, not educate, the public; to that end, it makes no difference if the case being presented is itself confusing.

Dr. Goebbels must be revolving in his grave that such an incompetent propagandist serves the neoconservative cause, but I digress.

The point is simply that there is no way of knowing whether Mehlman is outraged at the ads because they are offensive or because they are counterproductive. While there may be no way of knowing for certain, Mehlman's past leads me to draw a conclusion; each may draw his own.

[jenmito]

17. I agree...

Great post! :hi:

[rucky]

12. "The Republican National Committee is responsible for this message"

What's the matter, Ken? Are you lying, or incompetent?

[jenmito]

14. Both. n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

23. His boss seems to be faced with the same choice, huh?

Liar or incompetent...

Can I take both?

[fuzzyball]

24. Mehlman jst pulled a LAY on us..."I did not know what my subordinates

were doing". That does not fly. If you are the boss, it is
your job to know what is going on.

[jenmito]

25. Exactly...

It wasn't even believable when he tried explaining himself.

[calimary]

16. I am KICKING this one UP-UP-UP!!! AND recommending. Join me?

This needs to be seen. And A LOT.

Let's put this on the greatest page, 'eh?

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Sure, why not?

!!

[jenmito]

19. Thanks, calimary...

I'd love to help, but I can't. :hi:

[calimary]

20. Yeah, I know. I keep getting the error message telling me I've

already recommended this thread...

[jenmito]

21. Thanks for trying...

I appreciate it! :hi:

[calimary]

26. Well, I shall try some more.

This should get out. If they wanna play dirty, we should shove it straight back in their faces.

[Contrary1]

27. You can see the video of Mehlmanless here:

Right side of page...Mehlman and Dean.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/02/ftn/main1773877.shtml

[calimary]

30. YESSSSS!!! Nine votes!

Tickled about this, and it's not even my thread! I'm just happy more people will see this.

[AtomicKitten]

32. two words

bull and shit