What are your thoughts on

Horrifically tacky and exploitive.

Since you asked...

A lot of 9/11 victims' families feel that the ads are 'exploitive' (as someone else put it) because Bush appears to be using the tragedy to advertise himself. Their argument, basically, is that no one should be allowed to use those solemn, terrible images in any kind of commercial. One very angry man who lost someone actually said that he'd rather vote for Saddam Hussein than Bush at this point. Obviously, this is a very emotional issue...

Also, a lot of firefighters are upset about the fact that Bush seems to be celebrating their heroism in these ads, but in reality his administration has significantly cut funding to fire departments.

Those seem to be the two main controversies about the ad.

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Posted by heidla

I think that they are a horrible display of a man who is trying to capitalize on the suffering of the country he is suppose to be leading.

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That's pretty much word for word what what I was going to say.

They make me sick. Heres the article.





Bush Campaign Ads Show Sept. 11 Images
Spots Anger Some Victims Families, Firefighters


By LIZ SIDOTI,
the Associated Press

NEW YORK (March 4) - President Bush's campaign commercials - on the air just one day - have angered several relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and a firefighters union that has endorsed Democratic rival John Kerry demanded the ads be pulled.


The White House defended the commercials, which show images of the skeletal remains of the World Trade Center and firefighters bearing a stretcher through the rubble.

''It makes me sick,'' said Colleen Kelly, who lost her brother Bill Kelly Jr., in the attacks and leads a victims families group called Peaceful Tomorrows. ''Would you ever go to someone's grave site and use that as an instrument of politics? That truly is what Ground Zero represents to me.''




In Bal Harbour, Fla., the International Association of Fire Fighters Union approved a resolution asking the Bush campaign to pull the ads, spokesman Jeff Zack said. The resolution also urges Bush to ''apologize to the families of firefighters killed on 9/11 for demeaning the memory of their loved ones in an attempt to curry support for his re-election.''

The union gave Kerry an early endorsement in the presidential race.

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

The ads refer both to the terrorist attacks and to the recent recession, and are designed to project Bush as a candidate offering ''steady leadership in times of change.'' The commercials do not mention Kerry.

One of the ads shows the charred wreckage of the twin towers with an American flag flying amid the debris. Another ad - and a Spanish-language version of it - use that image as well as firefighters carrying a flag-draped stretcher through the rubble as sirens are heard. Firefighters are shown in all the ads.

Bush had said he would not use the attacks for political gain. His aides defended the use of the images.


''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.''

The administration arranged for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and three others to appear on network and cable broadcasts to defend the ads. One Bush aide said the controversy gave the president's commercial priceless free publicity, with millions seeking clips of the ad.

Several relatives of victims also praised the ads.

''These images honor those whose lives were lost,'' said Debra Burlingame, whose brother Charles piloted the plane that crashed into the Pentagon at the hands of hijackers.

Deena Burnett, a Little Rock, Ark., resident whose husband Tom was one of the passengers on United Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field, said the ads were ''a perfect reminder of what happened that day.''



ABC News 'This Week' host George Stephanopoulos answers your political questions from his insiders' perch.



And Bernard Kerik, the former New York police commissioner who lost 23 officers that day, said Bush has every right to use the images to show his leadership abilities just as Kerry has used footage of his military service in Vietnam in his ads.

''It's comparable. It's about the president's history. It's about his leadership ability,'' said Kerik, who is on a roughly $140,000-a-year contract with the Defense Department to help establish security and stability in Iraq.

Bush is not the first politician to cite the terrorist attacks in campaign ads. In 2002, New York Gov. George Pataki mentioned the tragedy in an ad that was shown to victims' families for approval before it was broadcast.

But the images in the Bush ads have sparked a furor.

Kristen Breitweiser, of Middletown Township, N.J., whose husband, Ronald Breitweiser, 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,'' Breitweiser said. ''He has not cooperated with the investigation to find out why that happened,'' a reference to the effort the Bush administration has made in working with the Sept. 11 commission investigating the intelligence failures.

Harold Schaitberger, the firefighter union's president, said: ''We're not going to stand for him to put his arm around one of our members on top of a pile of rubble at Ground Zero during a tragedy and then stand by and watch him cut money for first responders.''

Terry Holt, a Bush-Cheney spokesman, defended Bush's support for homeland security, saying spending has tripled in the three years since the attacks.

Associated Press Writer Geoff Mulvihill in Mt. Laurel, N.J., contributed to this report.


Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.


03/04/04 20:52 EST

And I just don't understand why he would use that?

Why can't he use how he started this war and has troops everywhere... Or how about how he feels on gay marriage.

I don't think they were the worst thing he's ever done...But I don't think they were the best thing either...

It's tacky. A grim reminder of something many people don't need to be reminded of (something most people will never forget anyway)

But, 9/11 was a huge, huge part of his administration, naturally he's going to try to use it to positively promote himself.

People who are unhappy with him are just looking for things to call him out on...

Note: No specific opinion here, just random thoughts.

I think that BUsh is grasping for straws. He needs to leave 9/11 and go find something else

He knows hes days are numbered

Personally He is getting to righteous for me

He didnt lose anything but sleep during 9/11 and he needs to drop it

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Posted by kel2004

Have you guys actually seen the ad? I saw it last night, and I didn't find it offensive at all. However, I didn't lose anyone in the WTC attack, so I may not be the best judge. I found it patriotic. Was Bush really supposed to ignore 9/11 during his campaign?

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I am an injured survivor and lost a very close friend.

I think they are done tastefully. You can see whatever you want out of it.

It did happen. He was there for us, it's part of our past and it's part of his record. I see no problem as long as he dosent imply that Kerry couldnt have done as well.

I really rather them (politicians) stick to proving to me what they've done rather than sling mud. I don't expect to see the images of the people jumping or the plane hitting the building. THAT would be too much.

JMHO