1 Boring Old Man

Freedom’s Watch is a White House front group "hatched" in March 2007 by a group of prominent "deep-pocketed" conservatives at the "winter meeting" of the political lobbying group the Republican Jewish Coalition in Manalapan, Fla., where keynote speaker Vice President Dick Cheney "accused the Democrat-led House of Representatives of not supporting troops in Iraq and of sending a message to terrorists that America will retreat in the face danger." Masquerading as a grassroots movement (i.e. astroturf), Freedom’s Watch supports the policies of the expansionist Israeli right wing. Freedom’s Watch "denies coordinating its activities with the White House", Don Van Natta Jr. wrote September 30, 2007, in the New York Times, although "many donors and organizers, including Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary, are well-connected" to the Bush administration. The Freedom’s Watch "inner circle of strategists and donors are close to Vice President Dick Cheney or held high posts at the White House," the Associated Press’s Kim Kuhnhenn wrote September 28, 2007. Bradley A. Blakeman, president of Freedom’s Watch, is a former deputy assistant to President George W. Bush. Fleischer is a Freedom’s Watch co-founder and spokesman. During summer 2007, Mary Matalin "brainstormed" with Blakeman, Kuhnhenn wrote. Matalin formerly served as an assistant to President Bush and as a counselor to Cheney, is a member of the I. Lewis Scooter Libby Legal Defense Fund Advisory Board and is a lead publicist for Republican 2008 presidential hopeful Fred Thompson.

The Republican Jewish Coalition’s board of directors also includes:

• Ken Mehlman, former chair of the Republican National Committee.
• David Frum, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush for economic speechwriting and credited with helping coin the phrase "Axis of Evil", who is now with the American Enterprise Institute.
• Mel Sembler, Freedom’s Watch funder, appointed Ambassador to Italy (2001-2005) by President George W. Bush.
• Fred Zeidman, a "longtime friend" of President George W. Bush and convicted felon Jack Abramoff’s "immediate successor at the lobbying firm of Greenberg Traurig.
• David M. Flaum, RJC National Chairman and Bush Pioneer 2004.
• Richard J. Fox, Freedom’s Watch funder, long-term Republican activist, and chairman of The Jewish Policy Center, who served as Pennsylvania state chairman for the Reagan/Bush campaign in 1980 and finance chairman in 1988 ofJack Kemp’s presidential campaign.
• Wayne L. Berman, Bush Ranger 2000 and Bush Pioneer 2004 and member of the Libby Defense Trust Advisory Committee.
• Ned L. Siegel, who was involved in the 2000 Florida recount and a Bush Pioneer 2000 and Bush Ranger 2004.
• Walter P. Stern from the Hudson Institute.
• Ronald Weiser, Bush Pioneer 2000 and Ambassador to Slovakia (2001-2004).
• No longer listed as a director is Sam Fox, the Republican fundraiser from Missouri who was named in an April 2007 recess appointment as Ambassador to Belgium by President George W. Bush. Fox’s 2004 funding of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth prevented his Senate confirmation earlier.

"Ideologically," Fleischer stated, Freedom’s Watch was "inspired by much of Ronald Reagan’s thinking: peace through strength, protect and defend America, and prosperity through free enterprise." Comparing Republican Freedom’s Watch to the liberal organization MoveOn.org, Matalin said " We were ahead of the Democrats on think tanks and white paper operations that feed the Congress and are the source of new ideas based on conservative principles. Where they jumped ahead of us was by adding the communications arm to that." Freedom’s Watch has been described as "a covert ‘cut-out’ organization" and an "outfit dedicated to keeping the war industry thriving." "A sort of shadow White House communications shop has emerged to help the beleaguered president sell his unpopular war to the American people," Jake Tapper and Avery Miller wrote August 22, 2007, at ABC News.

I love Fleischer’s quoting Reagan, "Peace through Strength." Thanks to the Republican Administration, we nave neither. One thing about the Republicans, once they hop on a strategy, they run it in the ground. Swift-boating, the 2004 version of this group certainly worked in terms of putting Kerry on the defensive and undercutting his Military Service. I remember it – the great burst of Talking Points that hit the streets, as well as the T.V. Ads. I expect they’ll start with fomenting War with Iran and defending the Iraq War [War oin Terror]. But what’s coming is some version of swift-boating of Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama. They’ve got lots of personae to highlight on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. There’s the Weekly Standard and Wall Street Journal for the newsprint version. One thing the Republican Machine has is money – lots of money. They might as well rename themselves C.R.E.E.P. after the Nixon version. And unlike the groups on the other side like MoveOn.ORG or AfterDowningStreet, they’re focused, directly connected to a Political Party, and "owner financed." They’ve made this kind of thing work before. At issue, can they purchase enough fear based polarization to bring it off again? Frankly, I think the answer is in the hands of the people, not Freedom Watch’s organized opposition…