We've obtained a copy of a striking message sent out by Minnesota Democrats seeking to silence the television advertisements featuring soldiers and the parents of fallen soldiers supporting the war in Iraq. Why would Democrats want to silence the voices of these citizens? (You can see the two ads here.)

Here is the text of the e-mail message from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party calling for the ad to be pulled:

Dear DFLer,

I’ve heard from many of you that you are disturbed by the misleading "Midwest Heroes" ads produced by Progress for America Voter Fund that are currently being run by KARE 11 and WCCO. The ads erroneously make a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorists attacks and suggest that the war in Iraq will prevent an attack by Al Queda in America. The 9/11 Commission findings clearly state that there was no connection between Iraq and the the Al Queda terrorists attacks on 9/11. We must call for media responsibility regarding this issue. We have extraordinary sympathy for our troops and their families and believe that while our soldiers’ role is to protect the citizens of our country, it is our role as citizens to protect our soldiers and to make certain that they are not misused. It is a travesty that the tragedies of five countries and the deaths of our brave men and women are being used in this type of propaganda.

Right now, our state is a testing ground for these ads. If Minnesota speaks out and says no to this ad, the entire country can thank us. What we do here, now, will have an enormous impact on the success or failure of this kind of swiftboating in 06.

You can view the ads at: http://www.midwestheroes.com/

Additionally, WCCO did a Reality Check stating that the ad is misleading and partly true, which in my mind means that it is partly false. See it at: http://www.wcco.com/video/?id=14609@wcco.dayport.com

If you feel that this ad is doing a disservice to our troops and is misleading at best, and pure propaganda at worst, please call:

KARE 11 at 763 546 1111

WCCO at 612 370 0611

to ask for the removal of the ads. Letters to the Editor in your local paper would be helpful to point out the untruths being communicated to citizens as fact. Thanks in advance for being a voice of truth, and for all that you do to improve the state of our nation and state.

DFL Chair Brian Melendez will be holding a press conference at the State Capitol today at 2:30 to ask that this ad be pulled from the air waves. He will be joined by congressional candidate and veteran Tim Walz. Please tune in to your evening news to see coverage of this important event.

Sincerely,

Donna
Donna Cassutt, Associate Chair,
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

The new ad features the mother of Army Sergeant Michael Carlson of St. Paul, the young man who wrote his credo as a senior at Cretin High School:

"When I am on my deathbed, what am I going to look back on? Will it be thirty years of fighting crime and protecting the country of all enemies, foreign and domestic? I want my life to account for something...I only have so much time. I want to be good at life; I want to be known as the best of the best at my job. I want people to need me, to count on me...I want to fight for something, be part of something that is greater than myself. I want to be a soldier..."

The Midwest Heroes site includes the rest of the story here:

After serving nearly four years in the Army, including a final stint with the Ice Platoon (82nd Engineers), Michael, 22, fulfilled those prophetic words. During a night mission, his platoon was assigned to cordon off and take out of commission, two bomb-making factories. As the Bradley they were driving was going over a culvert in the roadway, the culvert gave way and the vehicle rolled over backwards into the water. Seven soldiers were in the Bradley; five died, including Michael. A rescue unit was able to save two other soldiers, in large part because before he died, Michael was able to partly pry open the hatch in the vehicle. Says [Michael's mother] Merrilee, "We are privileged to have men and women serving in the military who are willing to give their lives, their time, and their energy to preserve, protect and defend our freedom."

"We can't leave this work undone in Iraq. We can all argue about how we might have gotten there. But we're there and we need to see it through... I suppose we could have taken the beaches at Normandy," Merrilee said, "and then decided it was too expensive or too difficult to keep going. I wonder what the world would look like today."

On Memorial Day last year the Wall Street Journal published Carlson's credo under the heading "An American Soldier." See also our post "Michael Carlson and his credo."

JOHN adds: It's interesting that, while the Democratic Party repeatedly claims that the "Midwest Heroes" ad is false and misleading, it cites only one statement that it alleges is incorrect: "The ads erroneously make a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorists attacks...." The Democrats' assertion is false. Here is what the ad says:

[O]ur enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda--the same terrorists who killed three thousand Americans on 9/11, the same terrorists from the first World Trade Center bombing, the USS Cole, Madrid, London, and many more.

The ad doesn't say Iraq was behind September 11; it says that we are now fighting al Qaeda in Iraq, which is obviously true. The Democrats just made their charge up, because there is no legitimate basis on which the ad can be criticized. Minnesota's Democratic Party should be ashamed of itself.

JOHN adds one more: The Minneapolis Star Tribune has more tonight. They report on KSTP television's refusal to run the "Midwest Heroes" ad. KSTP refused to air the ad because it included a sentence that was critical of the media: "You'd never know it from the news reports but our enemy in Iraq is Al-Qaida, the same terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11." KSTP says:

We think it may or may not be true for other media but we know it's not true about us, which is why we wouldn't take those spots.

The paper also reports on the Democratic Party's press conference demanding that the veterans' freedom of speech be squelched:

DFL Party Chairman Brian Melendez called a news conference to call the ad "un-American, untruthful and a lie."

"Minnesota has a chance to take a stand against this misleading and untruthful propaganda," he said. Referring to controversial ads that ran during the last presidential race, he said, "Minnesota TV stations should pull this ad and send a message that we will not tolerate this kind of 'swift-boating' anymore."

So now soldiers who support the war they fought in are "un-American." Unbelievable. And, by the way, does anyone have any idea what "Swiftboating" is supposed to mean? Is that when a veteran says something that liberals disagree with? Is it when a serviceman publicly describes events that he participated in and witnessed with his own eyes? I'm not sure just what the criteria are, but it seems clear that only veterans and servicemen can be guilty of the dreaded crime of "Swiftboating."

Finally, Strib columnist Nick Coleman attacks the new ad, which features the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq:

Americans are divided about this war. But there are patriots on all sides of the debate and there are many families, including those in mourning, praying for an end to it.

These cynical ads ignore that. They exploit the fallen and are a disservice to the troops. More than that, they are lies.

Strong language. But what, exactly, were the lies in the second ad? Coleman hints at only one:

The final mother figure in the ad tells the camera: "We have to finish this job to remember Erik's sacrifice, and all of the other fallen heroes." She is identified as M. J. Kesterson, and many viewers will assume she is the mother of Chief Warrant Officer Erik Kesterson, 29, a helicopter pilot killed in 2003 who figures prominently in the ad.

But she's not his mom.

M.J. Kesterson is married to Erik's father, who also appears in the ad, and she's Erik's stepmother.

So that's the "lie." Of course, the ad doesn't say Mrs. Kesterson is Kesterson's mother rather than his stepmother; that's just what "many viewers will assume." In other words, it isn't a lie at all.

The hatred and fear with which liberals treat the efforts of a handful of servicemen and their families to express support for their mission and optimism about its outcome is sickening.

JOHN adds more: A reader writes to say that the DFL got the wrong number for WCCO TV. The real number is 612-339-4444. Feel free to call if you want to express support for servicemen's freedom of speech.