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Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
It's hard to imagine that if a high-level Washington operative with a rap sheet like Bossie's even existed on the left, he or she would be celebrated by the Democratic Party or courted by the press the way Bossie has been. "There are kooks on the left, no doubt about it, people who believe Bush is guilty of murder," Begala says. "The difference is, journalists don't pay attention to kooks on the left, and neither do Democrats."
When the Clintons exited the White House, Bossie seemed rudderless as he jumped from one political target to the next. During the 2000 presidential campaign he coauthored another quickie attack book, "Prince Albert: The Life and Lies of Al Gore," but it didn't seem to play much of a role in the disputed election. During the summer of 2001, Bossie played the Gary Condit game, going on cable TV to tie the Democratic congressman to a dead intern. ("Gary Condit doesn't have much credibility left," Bossie said.) No evidence linking Condit to the murder ever emerged, and he was never charged. The next year, when the Enron scandal broke, Bossie appeared on Fox News and repeated GOP talking points that both political parties deserved blame because, after all, Enron's former CEO, Kenneth Lay, slept in the Lincoln bedroom once while Clinton was in office. But that in fact never happened. Also that year, Bossie appeared on TNN'S late-night show, "Conspiracy Zone With Kevin Nealon," where he dissected, yet again, the supposed mysteries surrounding the suicide of Clinton aide Foster. Plus, Bossie guaranteed that Sen. Hillary Clinton would run for president in 2004.
In early 2003, Bossie's group released a pro-Iraq War commercial starring former Tennessee senator and "Law and Order" actor Fred Thompson -- to "combat the left-wing propaganda" Bossie asserted was coming from Hollywood. Bossie also made TV appearances to rail against France for its Iraq stance and call for an American boycott of French products.
This spring Bossie returned to his roots, producing an anti-Kerry ad that used recent "priceless" MasterCard ads to parody "another rich liberal elitist from Massachusetts." (According to Bossie, the ad's light touch was meant to stand in contrast to the left's "hate-filled speech and vitriol" aimed at Bush.) The spot, actually seen by very few TV viewers, produced a nice publicity bump for Bossie as the same network of reporters and pundits he'd cultivated for years with tips and leaks welcomed him into the unfolding campaign coverage. MSNBC's Chris Matthews announced on "Hardball": "Let me go to David Bossie. That ad is great, by the way."
Bossie's press welcome extended into May, when he began promoting his polemic claiming Clinton was responsible for 9/11. In June, Bossie boasted to the Washington Times that he is "one of the few people who actually know the facts about Whitewater, Travelgate, campaign finances and the Monica Lewinsky affair," and declared, without citing any facts, that Clinton's just-released memoir was not truthful.
Then came the "Fahrenheit 9/11" press bonanza and Bossie's self-styled cameo featuring the FEC. Thanks to Citizens United's filing, the FEC is considering a ban on the movie's TV ads because the new campaign finance law prohibits corporate-funded ads that identify a federal candidate just before a primary or election. For purposes of the law, the Republican National Convention, which begins at the end of August, is considered a primary. The same ban would hold for 60 days prior to the general election in November.
What is odd about this is that if the FEC ultimately agrees with Bossie on the ads, all Moore has to do to make them legit is to replace Bush's fleeting image in the TV ads with someone else, such as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. In addition, Moore's distributor spent a relatively tiny $3 million on TV advertising on the eve of the movie's premiere, and the chances that it will spend anything in August are very slim.
Even the editorial page at the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post mocked the notion that ads for a movie should be regulated for political content. "Have affairs really come so far that government has vested in itself the power to constrict the political debate -- right before an election, when voices and opinions matter most?" the paper asked.
Yet Bossie, once again, insists that the fight is about the rule of law and taking on a proven liar. During an online discussion hosted by Washingtonpost.com, Bossie insisted that Moore "never lets the facts get in the way of a good story. He doesn't exactly have a track record of credibility. His reputation as a liar are well documented."
For those who have watched Bossie wrestle with the truth over the years, that's a curious claim for him to make.
