What Everyone Should Know About The Secretive Group Trying To Swift Boat Barack Obama
What Everyone Should Know About The Secretive Group Trying To Swift Boat Barack Obama
By Judd Legum and Adam Peck
May 6, 2012
A secretive right-wing group, Veterans For A Strong America, is attempting to do to President Obama what the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did to Sen. John Kerry. And they aren’t shy about it. The group’s leader and sole employee, Joel Arends, told Mother Jones, ‘Yes, it’s the swift boating of the president.’
Joel Arends, VFSA’s founder, chairman, and sole staffer
Arends said his goal is to take ‘what’s percieved to be [Obama’s] greatest strength’ — the successful raid on Osama Bin Laden’s Pakistani compound — and make it ‘his greatest weekend.’ The effort started this week with a web video attacking Obama for taking too much credit.
In an interview with ThinkProgress, Arends refused to discuss any information regarding how the group was financed or its leadership. Arends also declined to provide legal forms he claims to have filed with the IRS. A representative from the IRS told ThinkProgress that the agency does not have any forms from Arends’ group on file.
Here’s what we do know about Arends and Veterans For A Strong America…
Continue reading at Think Progress.
Key points:
• In four days, the first ad by Veterans For A Strong America garnered almost 1 million view on Youtube.
• Veterans For A Strong America is seeking to recruit Navy SEALS to attack Obama.
• Arends also tried to Swift Boat Obama in 2008.
• Arends worked as a consultant for the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Properity.
• In 2008, Arends — posing as a ‘journalist’ — organized and participated in a taxpayer subsidized propaganda trip to Iraq.
• Arends is coordinating with key Islamophobic figures on the far-right.
• Arends helped promote a documentary advocating war with Iran.
• Veterans for A Strong American is fully endorsed by Karl Rove.