http://www.washtimes.com/national/20011029-24603150.htm Political ad is
uniformly embarrassing By Hugh Aynesworth THE WASHINGTON TIMES DALLAS —
Texas homeland security chief David Dewhurst wanted Texans to feel
confident in these trying times and — as a Republican candidate for
lieutenant governor — wanted Texans to know he was taking his new
anti-terrorism job seriously. Top Stories So he purchased a full-color,
four-page advertisement in Texas Monthly magazine a few days ago. The ad
layout has received far more comment than any similar effort in recent
history — but perhaps for all the wrong reasons. In the ad, a military
officer is depicted standing in front of an unfurled American flag, with
the caption, "As chairman of the Governor's Task Force on Homeland
Security, David Dewhurst encourages you to support President Bush and the
brave men and woman of our Armed Forces as they fight to eliminate
terrorism and work to restore confidence in our economy." Within hours of
the magazine's hitting the streets last week, the Dewhurst campaign became
inundated with calls — some angry, some joking — informing the state land
commissioner that the officer in the photograph was not an American
general, but was clearly a German Luftwaffe officer — complete with
military decorations, insignias and a name tag bearing the German flag.
Early in the week, a stunned Mr. Dewhurst, 56, conceded he had examined the
ad "a couple times" before OK'ing it but later he and his staff placed
blame on the advertising agency that prepared the ad. "When I had asked for
a picture of an American soldier against the flag," he said Friday, "our
graphics consultant made a mistake. The ad agency and the graphics
consultant won't be doing further work for us." Predictably, Democrats
jumped all over the situation — not only making fun of the faux pas, but
complaining that Mr. Dewhurst was using his new assignment as home security
head for political advantage. "The ink wasn't dry yet on the appointment
when he was sending out political brochure copy to the print shop," said
Kelly Fero, who is directing a coordinated state Democratic campaign. Texas
Gov. Rick Perry named Mr. Dewhurst to coordinate the state's anti-terrorism
efforts earlier this month. "It's pretty scary that the man Rick Perry has
put in charge of homeland security doesn't know the difference between an
Air Force uniform and a German uniform," snapped Democrat state Chairwoman
Molly Beth Malcolm at an Austin party meeting Saturday. Friday, with strong
backing from Mr. Perry, Mr. Dewhurst defended his political ad — saying
maybe he should not have stressed his new role, but solidly standing behind
his expressed sentiments of supporting the president and the armed forces.
"If I had it do to over again," said the former Houston businessman and
one-time Air Force officer and CIA agent, "I would have said the same
words. I might not have said 'as chairman of the Governor's Task Force on
Homeland Security.'" Mr. Dewhurst said that at political gatherings people
asked him about security issues and that he intended to continue to mention
his state task force assignment. "Not in a way that politicizes what I'm
doing for the state," he added. "I make a point of saying: 'All right,
we've stopped talking about politics. We're going to talk about a state
issue, and let me tell you what my thoughts are.' "I didn't find anything
out of the ordinary about saying 'Here's what I'm doing; here's what makes
me qualified to lead you,'" said Mr. Dewhurst. *** NOTICE: In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational purposes.***
http://www.infoshop.org/pipermail/infoshop-news/2001-October/000180.html
FROM
Government Restructuring Solidified with Fatherland Security Act
AT
http://sf.indymedia.org/
Check out Homer Ridge Simpson!
AND
My 'Dan Mobilio,a child molestor?'story.
