The above photo of John Kerry about to give a speech at the Register for Peace Rally in Mineola, N.Y., in June 1970 was altered to show Jane Fonda standing next to him. Right-wingers then circulated the the faked photo -- shown below with a fabricated caption falsely attributing the faked photo to The Associated Press -- on the Internet in an attempt to damage Kerry by associating him with Fonda's controversial 1972 trip to Vietnam. (Above: Ken Light/Corbis photo; below: The San Francisco Chronicle)
How low will they go? This low
Right-wing nutjobs have been searching for a picture of John Kerry and Jane Fonda French-kissing to "prove" that Kerry, front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, is an America-hating, commie-loving traitor. (Guilt by association.)
I know this because during the past few weeks my weblog has received several hits from search engines in which people have typed in phrases such as "John Kerry Jane Fonda photograph."
It's the warmonger's wet dream: A photo proving that Kerry and Fonda were close during the 1970s anti-Vietnam War movement.
The only known authentic photo that contains both Kerry and Fonda shows them in the same audience at an anti-Vietnam War gathering in Pennsylvania in 1970. Fonda is in the foreground and a fuzzy but recognizable young Kerry is visible just above her head:
But this photo wasn't potentially damaging enough -- it just shows Fonda and Kerry in the same audience, and since they were both against the Vietnam War, it's not surprising that they were at the same anti-Vietnam War gathering -- so the right-wingers superimposed an image of Fonda onto the black-and-white photo of Kerry shown above so that it appears that they stood side by side. A false caption for the faked photo, which the right-wingers have circulated on the Internet, reinforces the lie.
Even The New York Times apparently bought the deception -- which was pointed out by snopes.com, a great Web site that debunks hoaxes and urban legends -- when the Times reported yesterday:
Ted Sampley, a retired Green Beret who runs a Web site for veterans devoted to defeating John Kerry, says he spent months looking for a photograph of Mr. Kerry and Jane Fonda, the actress whose antiwar protests still evoke bitter memories. Then, last week, a message from a stranger arrived by e-mail, telling him precisely where he could find one.
For $179, he bought the image and posted it on his site. By Wednesday it was popping up all over the Internet and on television. Mr. Sampley, of Kinston, N.C., says he does not know who tipped him off to the photograph, and he does not care. "I'm going to use it as much as possible," he said.
He is not the only one. With Mr. Bush answering questions about his National Guard service, conservatives are working hard to shine an unflattering spotlight on Mr. Kerry's antiwar activities and his record on military and intelligence matters in the Senate.
Commentators, including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, have been talking up the Fonda photograph. National Review has a cover article entitled "The Senator's Other War Record." It says Mr. Kerry, who returned from Vietnam a highly decorated veteran and then led protests against the war, "helped to slander a generation of soldiers who had done their duty with honor and restraint." The Weekly Standard is highlighting a 1971 book co-written by Mr. Kerry, The New Soldier, which commemorated a march on Washington by Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
And on Thursday, a new photograph of the senator and the actress began circulating via e-mail. Unlike the image Mr. Sampley bought, which shows Mr. Kerry seated several rows behind Ms. Fonda, this picture -- its origins are unclear -- shows them side by side, Ms. Fonda behind a microphone and Mr. Kerry, holding a notebook, to her right.... [Emphasis mine]
...Jane Fonda still draws the ire of some veterans. She earned the nickname Hanoi Jane for her 1972 trip to North Vietnam, where she criticized the United States government over Hanoi Radio.
The [authentic] photograph with Mr. Kerry was taken two years earlier. But it brings up deep memories for people like Mr. Sampley, who said he had been seething for years over Mr. Kerry's protests, including one in which he threw away his ribbons and some war medals, though not his own. Mr. Sampley publishes an Internet newspaper for veterans; two weeks ago, he established a Web site, www.vietnamveteransagainstjohn kerry.com.
"Jane Fonda, to Vietnam vets is the symbol of all this," said Mr. Sampley, who says he is not supporting any presidential candidate, including President Bush. "That's why they don't want these pictures out, and that's why, I'm sure, some other people want them out."
The Times did not run the faked photo -- at least not with its online story -- and the Times' story does not question the photo's authenticity. (Indeed, when I read the Times story yesterday I was rattled about the new Fonda-and-Kerry photograph that the Times reported, but then learned from Salon today that the photo is a fake.)
Note in the Times story the venomousness of the Kerry haters. Simpleton -- er, Sampley -- spent months looking for a photo containing both Kerry and Fonda, the Times reports, and when he finally found one he paid $179 for it. (I'm sure he'd have paid a lot more if the seller had required him to.)
The Times is running a story today in which Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam veteran like Kerry, defends Kerry from Sampley's vicious attacks. In the Times story McCain calls Sampley "one of the most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter" and says of Sampley: "I consider him a fraud who preys on the hopes of family members of missing servicemen for his own profit. He is dishonorable, an enemy of the truth, and despite his claims, he does not speak for or represent the views of all but a few veterans."
Today's Times story also notes that "In recent days, a picture showing Mr. Kerry at a podium with Ms. Fonda has circulated on the Internet. But the picture is a hoax, according to the photo agency that owns the original, Corbis. In the original photo, Mr. Kerry is alone at the podium."
I wouldn't care if there were an authentic photo of Fonda and Kerry hugging -- except, of course, for the fact that such a photo would have sensationalistic anti-Kerry value.
Fonda and Kerry opposed the Vietnam War because the Vietnam War was what Gulf War II is: A war fought for the interests of stupid rich white men. Tens of thousands of Americans and millions of Vietnamese died in the stupid rich white men's war in Vietnam, and hundreds of Americans and thousands of Iraqis have died in the stupid rich white men's current war in Iraq. The stupid rich white men get even richer off of other people's blood and other people's money -- tens of billions of dollars of the American taxpayers' money in the stupid rich white men's current war.
And we let them.
Anyway, such tactics as faking photographs in an attempt to damage John Kerry demonstrate what a threat the right-wingers perceive him to be.
Well, they are right about something.
2:10:45 AM 
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