White House slams Kerry campaign for 'stunt' at ranch
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The White House slammed Sen. John F. Kerry Wednesday for staging a "political stunt" at the president's ranch and for a double standard on attack ads.
Spokesman Scott McClellan said Kerry's dispatch of former Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., and Vietnam veteran Jim Rassman to Crawford to press President Bush to condemn and stop ads by a veterans group that questions Kerry's war record was an attempt to divert attention from Kerry's "out-of-the-mainstream record and out-of-the-mainstream views."
"Senator Kerry says he wants to talk about the issues. Today's political stunt is an interesting way of showing it," McClellan said. "If Senator Kerry was interested in focusing on the issues, he would join the president in calling for a stop to all these ads by these shadowy groups."
Kerry accuses the Bush campaign of being behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, whose questioning of the veracity of Kerry's war accounts has roiled the Kerry camp. Bush denies it, but a lawyer resigned from his campaign Wednesday when it was disclosed he also did some legal work for the group.
Bush has called for a ban on all ads by the so-called 527 advocacy groups. Kerry has not heeded Bush's call to stand with him on the issue.
Kerry campaign recycles ad from Internet
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. presidential hopeful John F. Kerry's campaign released "Shame," a television version of its "Old Tricks" Internet ad featuring Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Wednesday.
Both ads feature the Arizona Republican delivering a rebuke to President Bush during the 2000 GOP presidential campaign for refusing to disavow or condemn attacks on McCain's military record made during the South Carolina Republican primary.
"Sen. John McCain's comments are resonating with Americans across the country," Kerry-Edwards campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said, amplifying allegations made by Democrats that the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is a front for the Bush campaign.
Calling it a case of "deja vu," Cahill accused the president and senior White House aide Karl Rove of "using the same exact tactics to go after Kerry."
The campaign did not indicate where or when "Shame" would air but advised it could be downloaded from the Kerry-Edwards' Web site, johnkerry.com.
Democrats unveil Republicans for Kerry leadership
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The Kerry-Edwards campaign unveiled Wednesday a list of Republicans it says agreed to lead an effort to convince other GOP'ers to defect in November.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign said the roll out of the list and a new Web site at republicans.johnkerry.com is "the beginning of an ongoing national effort by Republicans who have pledged their support for John Kerry."
The leadership committee is composed of 29 individuals the Kerry-Edwards campaign identified as Republicans, including CSX Vice-Chairman A.R. "Pete" Carpenter, former National Policy Association Chief Executive Officer and Reagan administration official Malcolm Lovell, and ex-Nixon EPA Administrator Russell Train.
Others individuals involved, identified only by name and state of residence, include Georgia's Rich Boggs; Jason Brooms and Clyde Prestowitz of Washington; Kentucky's Owsley and Christina Brown, Marshall Field of Illinois, New York's Rita Hauser and George Hume of California.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign did not respond to an attempt to obtain more information about the committee's leadership and GOP activities.
Pro-Bush veteran rebuffed in attempt to send letter to Kerry
CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland Wednesday was rebuffed an effort by a pro-Bush veteran to give him a letter critical of presidential hopeful John Kerry.
In a highly publicized photo-op, Cleland traveled to President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, to deliver a letter from nine senators calling on the president to repudiate the activities of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has been running ads questioning Kerry's Vietnam War record.
Cleland was met at the ranch by Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a Republican elected official and Vietnam veteran, who tried to give the former senator a letter addressed to Kerry, accusing him of using his military service for political gain.
"You can't have it both ways," the letter, signed by Patterson and six other veterans including two Medal of Honor recipients and a former North Vietnamese prisoner of war, said. "You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up. There is no double standard for our right to free speech. We all earned it."
Cleland was not able to deliver his letter nor would he accept the letter Patterson tried to give him.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an independent 527 organization, has run ads questioning Kerry's version of events during his four-month service on the Mekong Delta and critical of his activities as an anti-war protester after he left the service.
Michigan GOP Rep. Pete Hoekstra to be House Intel Committee chairman
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. House Speaker Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Wednesday named Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., to head the House intelligence committee.
Hoekstra will succeed Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., who stepped aside as chairman after his nomination earlier this month as CIA director.
"Pete has big shoes to fill, but I am confidant he will do an excellent job," Hastert said in a statement.
Hoekstra is sixth in seniority on the committee, but all but three of those above him were not considered candidates and the GOP House leadership is not bound by seniority -- or even membership -- of the committee in making the appointment.
Hastert's statement noted Hoekstra's interest in Iraq -- he has led a number of congressional delegations there -- and the Michigan congressman has loyally defended President Bush's prosecution of the war there, attending a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the launch of the U.S. assault at the White House earlier this year.
Judge in Virginia limits same-sex unions' rights
WINCHESTER, Va., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A judge in Virginia, handing down a decision in a custody case, has ruled same-sex civil unions in Vermont do not bestow parental rights.
Frederick County, Va., Circuit Judge John Prosser said laws in Vermont, which have allowed civil unions of same-sex couples since 2000, and Virginia, which last year enacted a statute that says such unions are void, are in conflict. He said, however, he "must be guided by Virginia law."
Prosser then ruled the biological mother of the 2-year-old girl at the center of the case was a "sole parent," the Washington Post reported.
Lisa Miller-Jenkins and Janet Miller-Jenkins entered into a civil union in Vermont in 2000 and decided to have a child through artificial insemination. That child was born to Lisa-Miller-Jenkins in 2002. The couple, however, has since split and Prosser's ruling rejected Janet Miller-Jenkins' request for equal custody, the Winchester Star reported.
The case is complicated by Lisa Miller-Jenkins' residence in Virginia, where she said she moved to be near family, and Janet Miller-Jenkins remaining in Vermont.
Rep Markey challenges nuclear security tests
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has come out against plans to leave nuclear security testing to industry groups and keep the test results secret.
"Allowing the nuclear industry to assess its own security and then withhold the results from the public is like letting Olympic athletes conduct their own drug tests and keep the results secret," Markey said.
The tests, set to begin in November, will involve "hostile forces" trained and employed by the same company that employs many of the guards to be tested.
The Wackenhut Corp., which provides guard forces to 30 of the United States' 64 nuclear power plants, has been chosen by an industry group to create two hand-picked, specially trained teams to test the performance of nuclear power plant guards nationwide. Industry group representatives say Wackenhut employees are the best qualified to carry out the tests and stress the entire program will be closely regulated by the NRC.
Gays in United States call for boycott on Oct. 8
ATLANTA, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A gay rights group said Wednesday homosexuals should boycott work and stores Oct. 8 to increase awareness of gay rights.
The group "Boycott for Equality" said gays and lesbians in the United States spend about $1.4 billion each day, with about 27 million people in the country identifying themselves as homosexuals.
"We want to remind those in our nation who don't always see the impact of our community in terms of dollars and cents that we do have real market power," said the group's co-founder Dale Duncan. The boycott is, in part, a protest against the inability of gays and lesbians to become married.
The group is calling for homosexuals to boycott work, not buy anything, and not use cell phones Oct. 8.
