Hitting the airwaves to take on the Bush White House leaks

May 16, 2006

Last month, [tag]Americans United for Change[/tag], a liberal group with increasing significance, unveiled a pretty tough TV ad on the security of U.S. ports. According to a report in Roll Call, this month, Americans United is going after Bush on national security.

As [tag]Americans United[/tag] waits with bated breath to see whether President Bush’s brain, aka Karl Rove, is indicted as part of the CIA leak investigation, the group’s ad reminds Americans about indictment No. 1, former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby, and how administration officials at the highest echelon have reacted to critics of the Iraq war.

The [tag]ad[/tag] begins with a nighttime view of the White House, flashes to Bush at a news conference in 2003 saying, “I want to tell you something — leaks of [tag]classified information[/tag] are … are … are … bad things. … If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is.”

Cut to an April 7, 2006, headline in The New York Times blaring: “Cheney’s Aide Says President Approved [tag]Leak[/tag].” (The leak being a classified, pre-war intelligence estimate, not Valerie Plame’s name.)

Then, floating backwards again in time, you can see then-President George H.W. Bush at the CIA headquarters dedication ceremony on April 26, 1999, saying, “I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the names of our sources. They are in my view the most insidious of [tag]traitors[/tag].”

A voice at the end of the ad says, “Tell the president to listen to his father. Call 202-456-1414.” (For the uninitiated, that’s the main White House switchboard.)

It’s a shame the ad is not yet online, because it’s pretty good. Americans United is spending about $100,000 to air the spot on CNN and Fox News — and the Fox affiliate in Waco-Crawford area, in case Bush happens to be visiting the ranch and he turns on the [tag]TV[/tag].

It’s interesting timing for the ad rollout. Michael Hayden’s confirmation hearings are coming up, but the ad seems to be timed to coincide with a Karl Rove indictment — if there’s a Karl Rove indictment.

In either case, it’s a solid ad going after Bush for one of his alleged strengths. Keep an eye out for it.

Update: Scratch that part about not being online. Here’s the ad.

Wow, an ad criticising Bush for the leaks. Why has it taken so long?

More of this, please.

  • And back to the port security…Who did Dubai World unload the operations of the U.S. ports to again??? Oh, that’s right, they haven’t.

    Just more lip service with no ACCOUNTABILITY. C’mon Chimpy, stop flingin’ poop and DO something.

  • No doubt the networks will refuse to air it for being “too partisan” or whatever lame reason they can come up with to hide their obvious right-wing bent. Fox especially.

  • The more ads we see of this hammering this point and other Bush screw-ups, the happier I’ll be.

    We need to have more independent ads by outside groups like the ones run by the Swiftboat Vets against Kerry — but this time, hit Bush and hit him hard.

    One of the reasons Kerry misfired in 2004 was that he wasn’t aggressive enough to respond to charges like that.

  • I haven’t forgoten about the ports. The only people who have forgotten about the ports are the MSM and of course our Congress. Out of sight; out of mind.

  • I have been waiting for the announcement of the new operator of the U.S. operations since DPWorld announced on March 9 that they would sell. Their own homepage has not been updated since that date and of course the MEDIA has totally blown follow-up of this story.

    In the meantime, Roy Blunt has been pushing a watered down foreign investment bill in Congress.

  • “in case Bush happens to be visiting the ranch and he turns on the TV.”

    The Secret Service probably DVR’s everything to weed out “inappropriate” material, or they just keep a stack of “Dukes of Hazzard” tapes close by.

  • Ooh, I really love that touch of suggesting he “should listen to his father.” If he hears about this, it should hit one of his rawest nerves.

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