Fleischer Ignorant Of The Name Of Wounded Iraq Vet Featured In His TV Ad
Fleischer Ignorant Of The Name Of Wounded Iraq Vet Featured In His TV Ad
On MSNBC’s Hardball tonight, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who is leading a White House front group to defend Bush’s escalation, was unable to name the wounded Iraq veteran featured in his organization’s pro-war ad. “I don’t have his name in front of me,” said Fleischer when asked by host Mike Barnicle if he knew the soldier’s name.
Later in the program, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America executive director Paul Rieckhoff ripped into Fleischer’s offensive ignorance. “What bothered me the most is that Ari Fleischer didn’t even know the guy’s name.” said Rieckhoff. “He’s willing to run a multi-million dollar campaign, utilizing the personal story of a soldier, and he couldn’t tell you on national TV what that soldier’s name is.”
Rieckhoff described it as part of “a problematic trend” that Freedom’s Watch is using the soldier’s “personal story” as “a backdrop for political rhetoric”:
People on both sides of the aisle, but especially the president and this administration, have continued to use troops as a political prop. As a backdrop for political rhetoric. It’s why the president gave such an impassionate speech today in front of the VFW. It’s why this ad carries so much weight on a visceral level. And it really bothers me because our troops are not political props and they’re not chew toys.
Watch it:
Fleischer and his team of Bush surrogates are spending $15 million to run the ad featuring the soldier, whose name is John Kriesel, in 20 states for a month. Hopefully, Fleischer will remember his name from now on.
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Hmmm….camo-colored chew toys…. by Mattel.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:18 pmOMG, they are running an ad to promote war? What has happened to this country. How will we ever survive this administration.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:23 pmChicken-
hawk.
And a dumbass to boot.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:23 pmWe again have the line about fighting those in Iraq who attacked us on 9/11. Wasn’t it Bush himself that said Saddam had “nothing” to do with 9/11? So it appears some one is not telling us the truth. But coming from Republicans, why does this not surprise me?
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:25 pm“Ari? It’s Karl…”
“KARL, you overpaid, overprotected bullet head!”
“Listen up, you were let off the hook early in this administration, and we got you immunity in the Plame thing… you owe me big time.”
“No more fu(k-ups like the Hardball fiasco, got it?”
“I expect you to have your script memorized forward and back from here on out, or I’ll have my “little league team” come by and use your thick skull for a little batting practice…..”
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:25 pmAri doesn’t remember the name of the wounded vet he USED, because the wounded vet is not the point.
Continuing the war in Iraq is the point.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:26 pmAri may be auditioning for his old job again as WH BS Spewer.
After all, he has the experience, and he has the lack of humanity and itegrity needed for the position.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:29 pmFleischer Ignorant Of The Name Of Wounded Vet Featured In His TV Ad
Because the ad is one BIG LIE as every other action and verbal exchange of this administration.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:31 pm“a backdrop for political rhetoricâ€
Nice! Rieckoff is doing good work! I may have to learn how to spell his name!
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:32 pmhttp://www.zeitgeistmovie.com
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:34 pmOnce that lying gets in your bood, you just can’t shake it.
You lie, and continue to lie for your leader. Ari should stay in retirement, but apparently the White House needs all the spokesmen it can get.
Ari the jerk can’t even name the guy featured in the propaganda commercial.
Even Barnicle was incredulous. Barnicle asked him how many Iraqis were on the planes on 9/11. Ari accused Barnicle of conflating facts.
See? They lie, they continue to lie, they cannot accept fact or truth.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:35 pmDemonstrating, once again, that soldiers aren’t “real people” (major donors) to Bushco.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:39 pmIraq/Afghanistan Veterans of America is a front group for major anti-war rhetoric, though they deceptively hide behind the veneer of being a group that supports vets. This group is a menacing group that hides its anti-war agenda behind the gentle facade of “supporting” vets; what they mean by “support” is to undercut the war by focusing on army suicides and complaining about the alleged lack of healthcare to vets. Luckily, this group has barely any membership and most vets are totally behind Bush and the war. Freshly, TP dares post an article about a Republican misspeaking or making a verbal flub, yet the Demoncrats feature many more prominent imbeciles on their side. For instance, consider Reid who says the war is lost; Dick Durbin who compares Gitmo with Soviet gulags; Mulatto Obama for saying he’d bomb the ally Pakistan while leaving Iraq to terrorists; and Bill Richardson for blaming gays for being responsible for choosing to be gay.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pmFleischer, Senor, etc. – all paid liars. Sad.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:44 pmAri: He’s uhhh, uhhh, the guy who HASN’T been KILLED for our LIES and TREASON. Yeah, yeah, THAT’S it!!!
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:44 pmPosting here is getting too frustrating.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:45 pmPosts disappear if they appear at all.
Trolls are highjacking names.
TP is unable to control anything.
It does not matter how many new (long) screen name’s a troll uses….A black hearted little troll is still a troll….Don’t feed them, just ignore…Soon they will slither back under the dank wet bridge’s whence they came….Blessings to every one else….
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:46 pmRieckhoff didn’t know the name of the soldier either. So who is he to complain?
I hope John Kriesel becomes a household name. He served and he deserves to tell his story.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:46 pmWHOAH, proof lyin makes you get old quick!!!!!
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:46 pmDick Durbin who compares Gitmo with Soviet gulags
Comment by LibsloseALLargumentstoconservatives — August 22, 2007 @ 6:40 pm
Your point being… ?
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:47 pmComment by LibsloseALLargumentstoconservatives – Do you have to be consistantly stupid on every thread, my goodness, you have no idea what is going on, do you?
From the posts I have read your name should be – IgetownedbylibseverytimeIpost
Fool, you are still wasting perfectly good oxygen, knock it off.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:50 pmHmmm….camo-colored chew toys…. by Mattel.
Comment by Troll Hater — August 22, 2007 @ 6:18 pm
With lead paint?
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:50 pm“Rieckhoff didn’t know the name of the soldier either. So who is he to complain?”
Um, Rieckhoff didn’t make the ad. He presumably doesn’t know your mother’s birthday, either; I hope you do.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:51 pmThat these clowns are taken seriously by the media/entertainment complex – not to mention ostensibly running our government – boggles the mind.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:51 pmSillystupidconservativetroll: “Dick Durbin who compares Gitmo with Soviet gulags..”
Dick Durban was reading from an FBI report written by an FBI agent who went to Gitmo, dumbass. Durban didn’t compare Gitmo procedures to Nazis, the FBI did!
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:51 pmI agree with your post Marie….Rarely here any more because of the lost post’s and troll trash….Leaving now again….Blessings
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:52 pmWho is this “they” that attacked us on 911? Last I checked it was the bushy best buddies the Saudis…
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:53 pmYeah!
If Bush hadn’t been AWOL, we would’ve WON in Vietnam!!
Right On!!
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:53 pmHmmm perhaps it’s
Freedumb’s Watch us Make Complete Asses Out of Ourselves
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:57 pmFleischer is looking more and more like Colonel Klink every day. And sounding just about as bright.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:58 pmLosers, Users, Poseurs, Hosers.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:59 pmHeckuva Job Ari’ie
Fleischer’s faux pas will get smoothed over by his friends in the MSM (or else).
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:06 pmAri Fleischer is a paid liar.
He is still the same. The same liying press secretary that got us into this war and covered up the facts about Sept 11.
He still works for Cheney and Bush. The two corrupt insane men who chose their path to seek their fortune as oilmen. Bush..
“Citizens must accordingly set aside White House propaganda statements and carefully consider the advisability of returning to the White House an individual who has demonstrably experienced psychotic episodes during his tenure in the White House, and who has presented no convincing evidence of remission.”
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:17 pmYa know, the first two words in the article say it all>
Fleischer Ignorant
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:19 pm“they attacked us” the soldier says. Thats what is even worse, to lie to the troops. No “they” didn’t attack us. Al Quada attacked us, mostly Saudi’s. nothing to do with Iraq.
These ads are going to backfire bigtime on these morons.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:22 pmI never would have thought Ari could look any uglier than he did in the past but this spot has changed my mind.That’s just fugly.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:22 pmNow what is wrong with not knowing their names. I can’t remember the names of half the girls in the back seat of my old sedan.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:22 pmthey got that poor soldier to lie about iraqis attacking us on 9/11. this whole campaign is about conflating iraq and al qaeda; it’s the only way they can confuse people into thinking staying in iraq is a good idea.
another point: there are more members of al qaeda who are directly responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the territory of our “ally” pakistan (you know, the country whose top nuclear scientist gave secrets to a number of other nations, the country that sold centrifuge parts to north korea) than there are — or ever have been — in iraq.
the ignorance is rife with these trolls. what an easy life it must be if you just believe every lie you’re told.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:24 pmNo “they†didn’t attack us. Al Quada attacked us, mostly Saudi’s. nothing to do with Iraq.
These ads are going to backfire bigtime on these morons.
Comment by esther — August 22, 2007 @ 7:22 pm
The ads shows the planes hitting the WTC. The goal is to make the people who don’t know better believe that Iraq was responsible for the terrorist attack. If Democrats were smart the would counter the ad with one that explains how Iraqis weren’t involved and that Bush’s friends, the Saudies, were.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:33 pmWell he certainly has the tell-tale look of half brain dominate.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:38 pm[unbalanced eyes]
“Rieckhoff didn’t know the name of the soldier either. So who is he to complain?”
Riechoff didn’t use the guy to make a pro war advertisement so how would he know who the guy was?
Talk about imbeciles, you set the bar.
August 22nd, 2007 at 7:44 pm“what they mean by “support†is to undercut the war by focusing on army suicides and complaining about the alleged lack of healthcare to vets.
I’mtoostoopidtorememberascreennameandtoocowardlytopostthesamenamettwice”
Right, they support the troops, not the idiots who started a war on lies and can’t run a war. your idea of “support” is to ignore the fact that our sons and daughters are killing themsselve in record numbers and are being denyed decent help when they return injured from a war you “support” but don’t have the guts to fight. like bush, like cheney, like every other repug troll on this site.
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:09 pmWasn’t Ari Fleischer one of the criminal Republicans in the Bush administration who exposed covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity while on a presidential trip to Africa???
Why isn’t he in jail for having endangered our national security? Why is Karl Rove? Why isn’t Scooter Libby? Why isn’t Dick Cheney? Why isn’t George W. Bush? Why aren’t any of the criminals in the Bush administration locked up behind bars, at a safe distance from our government and our nation’s children?
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:29 pmI hope you do.
Comment by ahem — August 22, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
His mother’s b-day? He’s lucky if he knows his mother, period.
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:57 pmThis was not even close to the most offensive moment in the interview. That was when Barnicle tried to point out that the huge difference between WWII and Vietnam and Iraq is that Bush hasn’t asked the country to sacrifice or do anything other than go shopping. Fleischer responded by disagreeing, saying that everytime one of our soldiers dies, it’s a sacrifice we all make. Parse that one, baby. We’re dealing with monsters.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:07 pmParse that one, baby. We’re dealing with monsters.
Comment by balisardo — August 22, 2007 @ 9:07 pm
And stone, raging idiots… don’t forget the idiots.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:08 pmAnd who ok’d this 15 million cartoon?
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:27 pmWho is asleep??
And who ok’d this 15 million cartoon?
Who is asleep??
Comment by Johnsnottoodistracted
Does it matter?
What does matter is that the “reality†series crowd will buy it hook, line, and sinker. They’re already asleep watching mind numbing stupidity…throw in a little “feel good†patriotic American rhetoric and Bushes ratings will probably rise a couple of points too. Nothing quite like the feeling of supporting the troops while watching TV. Great to be an American aint it!
Had enough of the little Aryan when he quit the suckretary job. Doesn’t surprise me he’s back in such fine form…pecker neck!
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:05 pmBarnicle also gave Ari a swift kick to the nuts by suggesting the add was a blatant attempt to tie Iraq to 9-11. Touche!
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:24 pmChickenhawk Fleischer should be made to have that soldier’s name tatooed on his beach like forehead. Then I know he wouldn’t forget it.
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:42 pmCome on Ari, I know you haven’t been out in front for the White House for a while but you were Press Secretary for god’s sake. I expect you to be a little more prepared than that. Bring your notes next time. I guess the soldier wasn’t important enough to make it in to the talking points.
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:03 pmI’d also point out this appears to be a for profit enterprise on Fleishcer’s part. Sort of like paid advertising. Belongs on late night TV w/Tony Robins and such.
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:19 pmMore proof how disconnected these thugs are with even their own activities. Their so focused on selling the lie they don’t even pay attention to it’s content. Experienced at selling lies Ari rises from the ashes with big business money and I’m sure keeps a few bucks for himself in the process. His book went nowhere but the bargin bin and who wants to give speaking engagements to a failed press secretary of an unpopular president. The people wised up, these ads will be ignored.
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 pmthe ad: “They attacked US…”
No, Iraq did NOT attack us. A lie coming from a soldier who served honorably is still a lie.
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:53 am>though they deceptively hide behind the veneer
> of being a group that supports vets.
It’s run by vets and its founder is a vet. I went to undergrad with the guy…
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:01 amidiot..
Just watched the ads. Creepy creepy stuff….they aren’t even trying to be subtle in associating 9-11 and iraq…. we are witnessing the first public service ads for mass murder and bloodshed…waxman needs to get off his ass and investigate where the funding for these things came from….
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:07 amonce people realize whose paying for these ads (defense contractors no doubt) they will backfire on them in a big way…
info on “Freedom Watch” constributors:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389×1643369
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:09 amWow, Ari looks ooold. Seems being a hack is no healthy lifestyle.
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:48 amhttp://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/22/iraq.democracy/
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:49 am” But for the first time, exasperated front-line U.S. generals talk openly of non-democratic governmental alternatives, and while the two top U.S. officials in Iraq still talk about preserving the country’s nascent democratic institutions, they say their ambitions aren’t as “lofty” as they once had been. “Democratic institutions are not necessarily the way ahead in the long-term future,” said Brig. Gen. John “Mick” Bednarek, part of Task Force Lightning in Diyala province, one of the war’s major battlegrounds.”
Democratic institutions are not necessarily the way ahead in the long-term future
So the Yankee military is musing about what form of government they should impose on this supposedly sovereign nation… If there’s any justice you will get not one whit of Iraqi oil ever.
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:06 amI love how we’re supposed to listen to Private John Doe in the ad, but not listen to soldiers like Reickoff and John Solz.
SUPPORT THE TROOPS!
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:43 amALL THE TROOPS!
TOO BAD NEITHER ARI FLEISCHER NOR ANY OF HIS FAMILY ARE DYING OR BEING MAIMED IN IRAQ. Seems not too many Jews are serving in combat on the front lines, huh? But they are apparently adept at manufacturing PROPAGANDA campaigns in the media back here at home….
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:55 amHow much you wanna bet the soldier Fleischer is using as toilet paper is not a Jew?
Bet you they are really using OUR money to fund this propaganda push.
Who’s the actual company producing it — a known republican-operative video production company?
One that might also have government contracts for other ads used in other markets, like Iraq?
Just sayin’.
And I haven’t checked yet, but is there a relationship between these folks who are “out†and listed as involved in this 501(c)4, and the folks who wrote letters on behalf of Libby?
Occurred to me there could be an overlap.
I would hope they consider bringing six enlisted men from the 82nd Airborne home from Iraq a few weeks early. These six men can testify to the facts on the ground far better than Betrayus or any of the recipients of the Pentagon’s Dog and Pony tours.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could get the 7 that wrote the NYT article to testify before Congress on the same day as the Betray-us report?
One of the seven has been shot in the head since the editorial was first written but before publication and is supposed to be on his way back to the states already.
I hope the other six are very careful. Bullets can come from anywhere these days.
___
Some how I don’t think it is only, or even principally about “their own.†It is also directed as the HRC, Schumer, Lieberlier crowd in the Democratic party as well. These ads are saying “we have drawn the line in the sand,†you are either with us or you are against us (meaning AIP*C) on this.
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:05 amAri is associated with the extremist Jewish group CHABAD LUBIVITCH and the NOAHIDE LAWS – look it up and see Israel’s formal plan to behead Christians. That is why there are guillitines in the concentration camps they have prepared for Americans.
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:09 amHey Ari… who’s “they” from the ad (as in “They attacked us…”)?
Just curious. Cause that’s kinda vague. I’m all for fighting the “they” who attacked us on 9/11. But I’m kinda curious what that has to do with Iraq…
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:41 amI just watched the ad, and the fact that Ari doesn’t know the soldiers name is NOT the most important thing.
The important thing is that the Administration is HIDING BEHIND a wounded soldier and using that disabled vet to push the Administration message that Saddam = Osama; Iraq was behind 9/11, and we must fight the terrorists there so we don’t have another 9/11.
This is like a bunch of scared kindergardners hiding behind the kid with glasses. Use a cripple to push the Administration lies because the public wouldn’t dare challenge a cripple.
Pitiful. WEAK and pitiful.
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:00 amComment by LibsloseALLargumentstoconservatives — August 22, 2007 @ 6:40 pm
this poster wrote these above:
“alleged lack of healthcare to vets”
“most vets support Bush”
“Mullato Obama”
Are there actually people out there that really think like this?
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:14 amAn ad campaign for war shows that there isnt enough boxoffice for a sequel. Time to change studio heads.
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:52 amIt’s really quite amazing how long this whole thing is allowed to continue. In any other country by the time the government has approval ratings like what we see in the US today the government would fall. That’s called honour and it is quite surprising that in the US the only thing that seems to matter is the calendar. Get in on whatever pretext you can manage, then turn tables on your voters *and* the rest of the population and use them as you see fit.
How long wil lthis continue ?
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:50 pm$15mil pro war ad campaign. I guess you’ve got to spend money to make money.
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:05 pmDoes Fleischer’s return to the spotlight indicate that he no longer wants to spend more time with his family?
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:22 pmA page full of useful idiots. Y’all would make Chaiman Moa proud and Marx is absolutely creamin his jeans. Amazing how so many people can be duped so easily.
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:53 pmFrom Source Watch:
All the Freedom’s Watch-sponsored ads “encourage viewers to ‘Call your Congressman and Senator’ and provide a phone number: 1-877-222-8001.
“Only that number? It ain’t Congress”,[41] which, by the way, is (202) 224-3121 for the U.S. Senate, and (202) 225-3121 for the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Go on, call it,” blogger and radio host Taylor Marsh wrote August 22, 2007. Then, “once you get through something amazing happens. The operator asks you a question. Yes, you’re expected to take part in a survey before she puts you through to Congress. But there’s a catch. The question asked goes something like this: Do you believe the Iraq war is important to the war on terror? They may have changed the question by now, because we’re on to them, but that’s what I was asked. If you say no, the operator immediately thanks you but doesn’t connect you to Congress. Instead, she asks if you have anything else to say and then basically gets rid of you. They’re only allowing people who agree with them through.”[42]
“I called,” chrisj at The Daily Kos wrote, “and the person who answered asked me immediately if I thought that the Iraq war was preventing attacks in America. When I answered ‘no’ she referred me to their website at http://www.freedomswatch.org and then hung up on me.”[43]
See the Americans United for Change YouTube video of a call to Freedom’s Watch.[44]
See entire story here: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Freedom%27s_Watch
August 24th, 2007 at 4:43 pmThe Democrats want war also, the only hope for America is Ron Paul. He hasnt changed his position in 30 years and was oppsed to the Iraq war from the beginning.
August 25th, 2007 at 2:29 amAs long asd people play part politics and dont listen to simple logic we will always just get more of the same old political bullshit.
August 25th, 2007 at 2:31 amSupporting our troops? Or does Ari Fleischer’s campaign ads simply support the GOP? The man couldn’t even remember the name of the vet. If this “new” group was truly interested in supporting the troops, they would “swift boat” this administration over their failure to provide proper medical care, testing and benefits here at home for returning troops. As Americans we should be ashamed that we put up with an administration which refuses to fully support our wounded veterans, refuses to provide adequate testing for DU contamination and brain injury, and even allows the Pentagon to interfere with the diagnosis of these vets. It is a national shame that veterans returning from Iraq have to sue the United States government to get these benefits. It’s easy to wave the flag isn’t it, as long as we close our eyes to the realities?
This is a GOP ad campaign that pushes for extended tours, less time at home between tours at the expense of the strength of our military and at the expense of the mental health of our troops. Will this same group rally around the hundreds of thousands of troops suffering from PTSD who will also have to fight for benefits as well? Unless Ari and friends back it up with actual support for our military and demand this administration to do right by our troops.. it’s all just PR.. tacky PR at the expense of our veterans. Like I said, a national shame.
August 25th, 2007 at 4:10 am