Pentagon: Rudy Ad's Use Of Petraeus Image Done "Without His Consent"

[babylonsister]

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/09/pentagon_raps_use_of_petraeus_in_political_ads.php

Pentagon: Rudy Ad's Use Of Petraeus Image Done "Without His Consent"
By Greg Sargent - September 15, 2007, 1:42PM

Rudy's new political ad attacking Hillary Clinton features multiple pictures of General Petraeus in uniform -- but now the Pentagon says that the General "has not condoned" the use of his image in Rudy's ad or any other political ads, adding that it was done "without his consent."

Rudy's Web ad -- launched yesterday -- features images of a uniformed Petraeus as a narrator's voice in the background accuses Clinton of slandering the General. In the ad, the Giulilani campaign also faults Clinton for not forcefully condemning a MoveOn ad in The Times that also features a picture of Petraeus.

Giuliani's ad, in addition to featuring multiple pictures of Petraeus in uniform, also features photos of uniformed American soldiers in Iraq that are "shown as Mrs. Clinton is accused of turning her back on them," as today's New York Times piece on the ad puts it. You can view the ad here, on Giuliani's campaign Web site.

Defense Department regulations prohibit uniformed personnel from appearing in political ads. And while these are stock photos, meaning that neither Petraeus nor the other military personnel actively moved to appear in Giuliani's ad, their use in this ad makes the question of whether Petraeus or the Defense Department condone the use of images of him or other military uniformed personnel a fair one.

It also raises the question of whether the Giuliani campaign perhaps should have asked Petraeus' permission to use his image in the ad -- particularly since the ad is designed to portray him as respectful of the General while painting Clinton as disrespectful, even disdainful, towards the top commander in Iraq.

So we posed the question to Petraeus' spokesman, Colonel Steven Boylan: Does General Petraeus condone the use of his image in political ads? He emailed this reply:

"General Petraeus has not condoned the use of his photo in political ads. Use of his photos in recent ads was without his consent or advance knowledge."

We've emailed the Giuliani campaign for comment about this, asking whether Petraeus should have been informed of the use of his image in a political ad in advance. We also asked whether the ad would continue to remain posted now that Petraeus's spokesperson has confirmed that he "has not condoned" its use in any political ad.

We'll keep you posted.

[bluerum]

1. The use of the US miltary to endorse any political position should be illegal.

[NYVet]

4. Current military regulations forbid the wearing of uniform while engaging in

politically motivated activities (campaigning, making a speech for a candidate or position, etc.)

And I do agree, politicians should not be allowed to use the military to endorse a position. I don't care which party they are part of...

[rodeodance]

2. HOOT HOOT

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. It's just one more indication that the GOP has no viable candidate for 2008

In addition, even if they did have one, the party's desire to distance themselves from one of the most unpopular outgoing presidents in U.S. history doesn't help.

Let's say George W. Bush had the popularity of a Bill Clinton (I know, I know...it's a stretch, but hang in there).

:-)

He could have spent the last year positioning and grooming a Rudy, a McCain, a Romney...probably not a Thompson, regardless of the circumstances...but there would have been plenty of time to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, "to kind of catapult the propaganda," as Junior likes to say.

Without that, you have a bunch of fatally flawed Republicans staggering around, taking shots at each other and pinning their hopes on MoveOn.org being seen by the voting public as worse than Al Qaeda.

The Rudy / Petraeus thing reminds me of George Will's attempt to use Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." for Saint Ronnie The Gipper's re-election campaign:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_in_the_U.S.A._(song)

Political reactions

In late August 1984, the Born in the U.S.A. album was selling very well, its songs were all over the radio, and the associated tour was drawing considerable press. Springsteen shows at the Capital Centre outside of Washington, D.C. thus attracted even more media attention, in particular from CBS Evening News correspondent Bernard Goldberg, who saw Springsteen as a modern-day Horatio Alger story. Yet more notably, the widely-read, bow-tied conservative columnist George Will, after attending a show, published on September 13, 1984 a piece entitled "A Yankee Doodle Springsteen" in which he praised Springsteen as an exemplar of classic American values. He wrote: "I have not got a clue about Springsteen's politics, if any, but flags get waved at his concerts while he sings songs about hard times. He is no whiner, and the recitation of closed factories and other problems always seems punctuated by a grand, cheerful affirmation: 'Born in the U.S.A.!'"<1> The 1984 presidential campaign was in full stride at the time, and Will had connections to President Ronald Reagan's re-election organization. Will thought that Springsteen might endorse Reagan, and got the notion pushed up to high-level Reagan advisor Michael Deaver's office. Those staffers made inquiries to Springsteen's management which were politely rebuffed.

Nevertheless, on September 19, 1984, at a campaign stop in Hammonton, New Jersey, Reagan added the following to his usual stump speech:

"America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts; it rests in the message of hope in songs so many young Americans admire: New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about."

The campaign press immediately expressed skepticism that Reagan knew anything about Springsteen, and asked what his favorite Springsteen song was; "Born to Run" was the tardy response from staffers. Johnny Carson then joked on The Tonight Show, "If you believe that, I've got a couple of tickets to the Mondale-Ferraro inaugural ball I'd like to sell you."

During a September 22 concert in Pittsburgh, Springsteen responded negatively by introducing his song "Johnny 99", a song about an unemployed auto worker who turns to murder, "The President was mentioning my name the other day, and I kinda got to wondering what his favorite album musta been. I don't think it was the Nebraska album. I don't think he's been listening to this one."

A few days after that, presidential challenger Walter Mondale said, "Bruce Springsteen may have been born to run but he wasn't born yesterday," and then claimed to have been endorsed by Springsteen. Springsteen manager Jon Landau denied any such endorsement and the Mondale campaign issued a correction.