Some Relatives Defend Ads With 9/11 Images

[telos2000]

Bush Supporters Defend Ads With 9/11 Images

Friday, March 05, 2004



WASHINGTON — Supporters of President Bush and some relatives of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are defending his new campaign ads, which show the wreckage of the World Trade Center (search).

"These images honor those whose lives were lost," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother, Charles, was the pilot of the plane that hijackers crashed into the Pentagon.

Bush's re-election campaign on Thursday began airing the commercials nationally on cable television and on broadcast stations in about 80 media markets in 18 states.

One ad shows the charred wreckage of the Twin Towers with an American flag flying amid the debris. Another -- and a Spanish-language version of it -- use that image and one of firefighters carrying a flag-draped stretcher.

In January 2002, just a few months after nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, Bush told House and Senate leaders in a meeting at the White House that, "I have no ambition whatsoever to use this as a political issue" that election year.

On Thursday, his aides defended the ads as appropriate for an election about public policy and the war on terror.

"Sept. 11 changed the equation in our public policy. It forever changed the world," said Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary. "The president's steady leadership is vital to how we wage war on terrorism."

But the commercials have angered some victims' relatives and prompted a firefighters' union that backs Democratic presidential rival John Kerry (search) to demand that Bush pull them off the air.

"It's absolutely inappropriate," said Colleen Kelly, who lost her brother, Bill Kelly Jr., and leads Peaceful Tomorrows (search), a group for victims' families. "There are certain memories and certain images that I consider sacred."

In Bal Harbour, Fla., the International Association of Fire Fighters Union (search), which endorsed Kerry early in the presidential race, approved a resolution asking the Bush campaign to pull the ads and urging him to apologize to the families.

Kristen Breitweiser, of Middletown Township, N.J., whose husband, Ronald, died in the World Trade Center, said Bush should not use the tragedy as "political propaganda."

"Three thousand people were murdered on President Bush's watch," she said.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he did not object to reminding "the country and the world about the sacrifices that the New York City fire department and police department and civilians made."

And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (search) said Bush's "leadership on that day is central to his record, and his continued leadership is critical to our ultimate success against world terrorism."

Deena Burnett, a Little Rock, Ark., resident whose husband, Tom, was a passenger on the plane that crashed into a Pennsylvania field, said the ads were "a perfect reminder of what happened that day."

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[prism68]

Originally Posted by telos2000

Bush Supporters Defend Ads With 9/11 Images

Thank you for the article; surely many families of victims feel the same, but the media is more happy to report the dissenting views.

[bwsmom]

Originally Posted by prism68

Thank you for the article; surely many families of victims feel the same, but the media is more happy to report the dissenting views.

Then again....

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More than a dozen families who lost relatives in the Sept. 11 attacks released an "Open Letter to America" Saturday declaring their support for President Bush and his use of images of the destroyed World Trade Center in campaign ads.

"There is no better testament to the leadership of President Bush than Sept. 11," the letter states. "In choosing our next leader we must not forget that day if we are to have a meaningful conversation."

"In the November election we will have a clear choice laid before the American people," the letter reads. "President Bush is rightly offering us that choice and the images of Sept. 11, although painful, are fundamental to that choice. The images in President Bush's campaign television ads are respectful of the memories of Sept. 11."

Jimmy Boyle, former president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, spearheaded the letter, signed by 22 people who lost loved ones, mostly firefighters, in the Trade Center attacks.

Boyle, who said he will be voting for a Republican president for the first time in November, said he decided to ask other families to sign the letter after hearing that the president was being criticized for using Sept. 11 images in campaign ads.

"I don't think he's taking advantage of Sept. 11 and I feel that he's given us the leadership that we need," Boyle said.

[luvmetender]

Why are there two threads about the exact same thing? Mods, can you merge them?

[telos2000]

Because they are not the same. This one is in defense and the other is against. This is clear to the most common observer.

[FUNdamental]

To put pictures of caskets in the adds was very wrong. It juxtaposed images of the deceased, not the event, with a political campaign.

[luvmetender]

Originally Posted by telos2000

Because they are not the same. This one is in defense and the other is against. This is clear to the most common observer.

umm, i thought that is what DEBATE is all about

[telos2000]

You have the right to post your opinion here.

[luvmetender]

telos, i find both threads to be totally mergable. The fact that bwsmom posted the exact same thing on both threads just proves my point.

[bwsmom]

Originally Posted by luvmetender

telos, i find both threads to be totally mergable. The fact that bwsmom posted the exact same thing on both threads just proves my point.

I did that on purpose... knowing full well that some would skip the "for" thread and go straight to the "against" thread, and vice versa. Wanted to make sure no one missed it, since quite a few folks seem bent on posting only the negative stuff...

[luvmetender]

ack! AGAIN, I thought we could post for and against on any thread. Now they have to be separate?

[telos2000]

You have the right to post your opinion here.

[FUNdamental]

On my way home tonight I was listening to 1010 WINS, a clear channel out of New York. The news story was that the President went up to Nassau today to put a shovel in the dirt at the construction site for the Twin Towers' Memorial.

Many people being interviewed for the piece were pleased the President came, but had also made clear they were disappointed with the adds, and said the President shouldn't have used the images of their fallen loved ones for a political campaign.