State Rep. Frank LaGrotta – 8/12/04

This page was last updated on October 16, 2004.

Divisive, dirty tricks resurface in the White House; State Rep. Frank LaGrotta (D-10); August 12, 2004.

You will note much of Mr. LaGrotta’s faux column has nothing to do with the source of his heartburn, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Rather than address the group’s allegations, Mr. LaGrotta tries to cloud the issue by innuendo and weaving in irrelevant comments.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject faux column.

“As the truth about the latest dirty trick by the Bush-Cheney team slowly seeps out on talk shows and in chat rooms, one can almost imagine Ronald Reagan shaking his head and sighing, ‘There they go again.’”

[RWC] Perhaps Mr. LaGrotta would do us the honor of providing something other than innuendo that the Bush campaign had anything to do with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. You’ll note Mr. LaGrotta can’t even bring himself to name the group or the book – Unfit for Command – written by one of the SBVT leaders. Democrats and their allies in the old media have been looking for a real connection ever since the SBVT came out and haven’t found any compelling evidence of a link. Mr. LaGrotta knows this.

The 250+ members of SBVT are all Vietnam Swift boat veterans and they come from all political parties.

I find it amazing that a person of Mr. LaGrotta’s political beliefs could bring himself to quote President Reagan.

“Remember?

“The time: the 2000 Republican Primary. The place: South Carolina. The victim: Sen. John McCain. The tactic: a telephone campaign ‘reminding’ Republicans that McCain had fathered an illegitimate bi-racial child – a stake through the heart of any candidate in South Carolina where the Confederate flag still flies and Bob Jones University officials frown on their students dating Catholics or someone of another race. The mastermind: White House Political Director Karl Rove. The winner: George W. Bush.”

[RWC] I don’t know if the alleged telephone campaign occurred, but the only reports of it I could find said it did not claim McCain fathered a biracial child. Though a fine distinction, the call allegedly asked, “Would you vote for John McCain if he fathered a biracial child?” In any case, all evidence I could find on this topic was anecdotal. Likewise there were no known links to the official Bush campaign, only innuendo.

Mr. LaGrotta states as fact that Karl Rove was behind the alleged anti-McCain activity. Can Mr. LaGrotta provide real proof? Note to Mr. LaGrotta, allegations are not proof. If they were, we’d all be in jail for one thing or another. I read the Kerry campaign’s talking points on this issue and all they do Is make allegations without proof.

“The truth: McCain, a bona-fide war hero who spent five years in a North Vietnam POW camp, and his wife had adopted a Vietnamese orphan.”

[RWC] The Kerry web site says the child McCain and his wife adopted was Bangladeshi, not Vietnamese.

“It all was done so deliciously surreptitiously that some people actually believed Bush when he shrugged his shoulders and said, with his trademark smirk, ‘I don’t know nothing about it.’”

[RWC] Did you ever notice that Democrats claim Republicans are morons, except when it comes to a conspiracy? In this case, the conspiracy was so brilliant, there was no evidence the Bush campaign was involved. If they can prove an allegation, you’re an idiot. If they can’t prove an allegation, you’re an evil genius. Either way, you are guilty. These guys are a hoot!

I get a kick out of Democrats complaining of McCain’s alleged treatment by fringe wackos in one state in the 2000 primary. Does Mr. LaGrotta really expect us to believe he cares about how a Republican was treated? Was Mr. LaGrotta concerned in 1996 when Democrats tried to denigrate Bob Dole’s service? Would Mr. LaGrotta be so concerned if Mr. Kerry were running against John McCain? You’ll notice Mr. LaGrotta forgot to mention that some fringe wackos in South Carolina supporting McCain accused George Bush of being anti-Catholic.

Frankly, I’m surprised Democrats are still enamored of McCain since he turned them down for VP and actively campaigns for President Bush. It must be tough knowing your VP candidate is the second choice.

Before Mr. LaGrotta criticizes anyone for a smirk, perhaps he should get a new picture for his web site.

“That’s the same response oozing out of the White House these days regarding a book filled with lies about Sen. John Kerry’s record as a decorated war hero. It’s not the first published work by the book’s author, Jerry Corsi, nor is it the most inflammatory. For instance, here’s a sample of something Corsi wrote last year about Catholics:”

[RWC] I’m sure it was an honest – not - oversight on Mr. LaGrotta’s part, but Mr. Corsi was a co-author. The lead author of Unfit for Command was John O’Neill, himself a Swift boat commander during the Vietnam War.

“‘So this is what the last days of the Catholic Church are going to look like. Buggering boys undermines the moral base and the lawyers rip the gold off the Vatican altars. We may get one more Pope, when this senile one dies, but that’s probably about it.’

“In the same piece, he offers this critique of Islam:

“‘Islam is a peaceful religion — just as long as the women are beaten, the boys buggered and the infidels are killed.’

“Of course, Corsi now claims he only ‘was joking’ when he wrote those insults. Well, I’m a Roman Catholic, and I’m NOT laughing.”

[RWC] Assuming Mr. Corsi made these comments, and Mr. LaGrotta’s record of distorting quotes makes that a leap of faith, I certainly won’t defend them. I don’t understand what being a Roman Catholic has to do with denouncing crude comments. I believe people of all legitimate faiths can distinguish good from bad.

“The ‘official’ White House position is that neither the president nor the vice president has any knowledge of, or involvement with, the book or its author. The question I have is, why has Bush refused to denounce these dirty tactics and this controversial author?”

[RWC] According to USA Today, “In calling for an end to the attack ads by outside groups, the president said, ‘That means that (Swift Boat Veterans) ad and every other ad.’”

While President Bush wanted all attack ads to end, John Kerry opposed only the SBVT. Kerry did not condemn ads likening President Bush to Hitler. But when the little SBVT 527 came along, Kerry whined, “Please, please President Bush, make them stop!” Liberals – you know who you are – can dish it out, but they can’t take it.

“Perhaps the advice that ‘Deep Throat’ gave Watergate reporters Woodward and Bernstein when they were investigating a similar White House scandal is helpful here: ‘Follow the money.’”

[RWC] A “similar White House scandal?” An independent 527 group produces some anti-Kerry ads and it’s a White House scandal? Is Mr. LaGrotta serious?

Regarding Watergate, that was a break-in at the DNC headquarters covered up by White House staff including President Nixon. Please, Mr. LaGrotta, tell us how a perfectly legal 527 group is comparable to Watergate.

“In this case the money to follow takes one deep in the heart of Texas, the home of George W. Bush and one of his best buddies and biggest contributors, Bob Perry. Perry, who owns Perry Homes, has contributed thousands of dollars toward Bush’s reelection.”

[RWC] Though Perry is a big contributor to Texas Republicans, I could find no evidence President Bush and Bob Perry are “best buddies.” I’m sure they know each other, but Texas is big enough that just because two people are from Texas doesn’t mean they are “best buddies.”

According to the FEC, Perry contributed a total of $3,000 to the Bush campaign, $1,000 for the 2000 campaign and $2,000 for the 2004 campaign.

“He also found a spare $100,000 to contribute towards the publishing of this book.”

[RWC] $100,000 sounds like a lot, but let’s put it in perspective. According to the FEC, Democrat political supporter George Soros contributed $2.6 million to MoveOn.org, $5 million to Americans Coming Together, and over $4.5 million to Joint Victory Campaign 2004. If you remember, MoveOn.org had ads on its web site morphing Hitler into President Bush. This is over $12 million from Mr. Soros to anti-Bush 527s. Why doesn’t the press refer to Soros as “a major Democrat political contributor from Hungary?” Peter Lewis has given over $14 million to anti-Bush 527s. Given this knowledge, is Mr. Perry a major contributor compared to Messrs. Lewis and Soros?

“Connect the dots and it’s pretty hard – at least for me - to believe that the White House and Rove aren’t somehow behind these lies and their bigoted author.”

[RWC] What dots? A person contributes to both President Bush’s campaign and the SBVT and this proves the Bush campaign is pulling the strings? I hope Mr. LaGrotta is not a lawyer.

“Of course, there are those (Rush Limbaugh and the entire Fox News staff, for instance,) who might label these lies ‘just politics.’”

[RWC] What lies? Let’s refresh Mr. LaGrotta’s memory.

Kerry claimed he spent Christmas 1968 in Cambodia because of President Nixon. He said it was “seared” into his memory. The SBVT – including Kerry’s crew – said no way. The Kerry campaign changed the story to “near the Cambodia border” about 50 miles away. Of course, the first red flag was that Richard Nixon was not yet President in 1968. Nixon was inaugurated in late January 1969.

Kerry claimed that all Swift boats except his fled the scene of an incident. The SBVT said that was a lie and the Kerry campaign admitted the reverse was true.

Remember when Kerry claimed a shrapnel wound for which he received a Purple Heart came from an enemy mine? The SBVT said that was a lie. Even Kerry’s best buddy (Jim Rassmann) on the campaign trail stated it was accidentally self-inflicted earlier in the day when Kerry and Rassmann threw grenades at a rice cache.

These were only three of the charges the Kerry campaign had to backtrack on. To this date, the Kerry campaign has not been able to disprove any SBVT claims. The best the Kerry campaign has been able to do is say some of the SBVT claims contradict some Navy records. The only problem is, Kerry authored the Navy reports.

As a side note, did you ever notice how much liberals fear Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, Sean Hannity, et cetera?

“However, they would be dangerously wrong.

“Words like Corsi’s do much more than unfairly influence elections. They fan the flames of hatred and religious intolerance, which, when hot enough, burn in the hearts of men who fly airplanes into buildings, killing thousands of innocents and leaving behind millions who never will learn to hate enough to make sense of their deaths.”

[RWC] Mr. LaGrotta equates the SBVT with al-Qaida?

“As a Christian, I am called by my faith to reject hatred like this wherever it is found. Sadly, President Bush, a self-proclaimed “uniter, not a divider,” has refused, just as he did in 2000, to follow suit.”

[RWC] So, if you are not a Christian you cannot tell the difference between right and wrong? I know I’m an “intolerant conservative,” but I believe most of us can distinguish between right and wrong regardless of faith.

I guess Mr. LaGrotta read a different Unfit for Command than I did. I read a book written by some men angry about Kerry’s actions in and after the Vietnam War, but I didn’t read hate. Oh, that’s right, I forgot. Any time you contradict a liberal it’s “hate speech.”

The fact is, Mr. LaGrotta hopes we don’t read Unfit for Command so he can get away with the hate story. I can understand why Mr. LaGrotta is upset with the book. John O’Neill did a great job of documenting the book’s sources. In many cases, Kerry’s own words were his worst enemy.

While we’re on the topic of hate, did Mr. LaGrotta reject the ads by Kerry’s supporters that compared President Bush to Hitler? I think we know the answer.