A Follow Up on the Anti-Branstad Video
- Friday, August 28, 2009, 9:46
- Blogs, Krusty Konservative
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- 28 comments
A Follow Up on the Anti-Branstad Video
Apparently I caused a little grief for a few people with my post from Thursday. What I find odd about the situation is that I didn’t receive a single email about it. Like so many times, I think people miss the main point of the article. So let me try and clear things up.
As I mentioned on Wednesday, the television ad that Victory Enterprises produced for Stephen Burgmeier’s campaign in House District 90 has some eerie similarities to that Anti-Branstad video. Both use animated bobble-head figures, and both use the same cartoon-like image of the Iowa State Capitol.
I’ve been told that both ads were also produced by using the same software. While that’s interesting, that is not a smoking gun. A lot of media people use that type of software. One thing to keep in mind is that the software used to create it was not cheap. I don’t think it’s likely that some anti-Branstad activist just happens to have that sort of software on their computer and the knowledge to use it.
What I do think is telling is the background image in the video. I spent most of yesterday looking for the image on-line and have had no luck. I’ve searched Google, Alta Vista, Shutterstock, iStockphoto.com, WorldofStock, Yahoo, and Bing. I came up empty every time. I can’t even find something close.
So I guess that means that someone had to pull the image from the Burgmeier ad and edit it in Photoshop and then use it in an Anti-Branstad video.
Here is what that looks like when I gave that a whirl.
So as you can see, it’s not all that easy to do. The quality of the copy I tried to make was very bad because it’s a copy plucked from a Youtube video. The quality of the image in the Branstad video was still very good, which makes it seem more likely that the creator of the Branstad video had access to the original electronic image (not just a copy from Youtube). If you had the original image, it would be very easy to hide or deleate the cityscape in the background. So either there is some evil mastermind out there with some mad video and photo editing skills that hates him/her some TEB, or someone got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
That’s all, have a good weekend everybody.
About the Author
Krusty Konservative has written 224 stories on this site.
Herschel Krustofski is the pseudonym for the anonymous author of Krusty Konservative, a blog which focuses on Iowa Politics. Created in February of 2006, Krusty Konservative is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the Iowa blogosphere. Since its conception, Krusty Konservative has never shied from tackling controversial issues, and providing insight to the inner workings of Republican politics in Iowa.
28 Comments on “A Follow Up on the Anti-Branstad Video”
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If Grubbs is behind this, he needs to brush up on his grammar and spelling and he must also remember that he was in the Iowa House during much of the time Branstad was governor and he voted for some of these same issues.
I think we’re assuming that the flier and the video came from the same person/group, and that may not be the case.
Perhaps the flier emboldened the culprit behind the video to jump on the Branstad bashing bandwagon.
But, the same thing can be said of the complaints contained in the video. A certain someone was in the Statehouse during all those things as well.
Still, this feels more like a Dim-style, hit-and-run attack full of half truths and is misleading.
Well, since Grubbs has been working for Dems, that would make sense.
If so, this isn’t going to do VE any favors in the long term.
it is definitely the same stock photo. the lighting,shadows and angles all match up. and you are right, i cant find it anywhere on the web. so if they are two separate photos, what are the odds of them both being taken at the exact same time of day,time of year from the same angle…
When this video first came out i called it correctly .The Fong campaign is brilliant for releasing this. it reminds us that Terry was no saint, and he hits the front runners by making them look like the culprits. the only problem was they screwed up by not using a separate video editor for a different feel.
next they need to release another one of these hit pieces on Rants and the on Fong himself, just go easy on the Fong one with information we all know. release a “hit” video on himself would help throw off the internet detectives.
Well played Mr Fong… well played.
There have been many speculations made in this series, but you all are missing the one person who clearly doesn’t want Branstad to run…..it’s gotta be his wife.
1) Just because you suck at Photoshop doesn’t mean that snagging a shot from the Burgmeier ad and removing the background is difficult. If someone can put together this type of video, they can get rid of the cityscape and lighten up the capitol building and trees with little trouble. It’s not hard, and putting together either of these videos isn’t either. It doesn’t take such sophisticated, expensive ‘equipment’ or software as it’s been suggested in this and the other video story.
2) How about this mind-blowing scenario? Someone *not* related to VE put the second video together using the Burgmeier capitol graphic in order to raise suspicion that it *was* VE. Everyone’s suspicious of the ‘coincidence’ of the graphic and convinced that it *HAS TO* be VE,
Is it just as suspicious that the background was quickly pointed out and immediately recognized as the VE vid, even though it’s lightened up to be barely recognizable and is only on screen for a few seconds? In other words, isn’t it equally likely that some anti-Fong/VE person who’s also anti TB *planted* the VE image in the vid and then quickly pointed it out? This is a crazy, super-sly theory, but it’s as plausible as the theories that democrats or VE made the vids.
I think everyone is missing the point. Politics ain’t a tea party. If TB can’t handle it, then he can’t run. Geez. Do we not believe in free speech anymore? Who cares who did it and why? It doesn’t really matter squat. What matters is what TB says in response. Remember, it’s not what comes at you that makes the man. It’s how you handle what comes up that makes the man. The issues raised in the flyer are legitimate. He brought us gambling – what does he think now after all these years? It sucks. Second – how about raising the sales tax twice and the big expansion of government he presided over? It speaks to his Financial conservative credentials. He’ll need to respond instead of just getting mad at the messenger. For gods sake – let’s man up around here and quit whining that someone said something TB didn’t like.
Right now, TB is a nostalgia candidate. He still has to answer policy questions.
Since the states currently regulate health insurance, why isn’t anyone talking abour reforming health care? The Feds shouldn’t have a role at all. Where the hell is our 10th amendment states rights? Why isn’t anyone egaging our insurance division and saying something serious. A big huge chunk of what is wrong with our health insurance right now and the reason for it being so expensive are all the legislation passed by our state legislatures. How about we review some of that and review what worked and what didn’t. There was some good stuff in the Register yesterday from Bob Skow – who reminded us of the bad ole days of co-ops when Hillaryfascistcare was struggling to explode and was finally resisted.
Health insurance reform belongs in state government according to the constitution.
Jo Oldson is vulnerable on this issue as she was something of an architect during her years at the insurance commissioners office. She was integrally involved in Small Group Reform (oxymoran of a term). Seems like we could use that to her and the democrats detriment, couldn’t we? It’s all the mandated coverage levels and rules about premiums etc that have caused health insurance costs to rise dramantically Lots and lots of dumb things our state legislature passed. Surely, there is something in there that a candidate could use to his advantage as a demonstration of what’s wrong and how to fix it. I think TB could excel in this area if he ever decides to talk policy. It’s the number one issue in the country. It’s not for feds to solve.
This is Iowa. We are the second largest insurance capital in the US. The third largest insurance capital in the world. Seems like we ought to be leading on the subject.
Esther: You can’t be serious. You don’t really believe it is ok to make misleading accusations, do you?
So you don’t care who made the accusations, or why? It’s just as telling as how TB responds to the accusations.
There is an element of truth in the accusations but the accusations are not the WHOLE truth.
I haven’t heard of any reaction from Branstad at all. It is still possible that this is going to work to Branstad’s favor as once the accusations are addressed, then there is very little standing in the way for him to move forward.
The accusations are very curious. It’s skillful how the accusations were cherry picked and worded to only contain an element of truth. It truly is more like Dims MO than Republican’s.
There were very many Republicans who were around during the Branstad years who are still around and they were members of the Iowa legislature at the time. Most of them voted for the same things.
I remember the gambling vote. It really was not a direct gambling vote. IIRC, it gave counties the right to vote on if they wanted to implement gambling.
Of course, the whole thing has expanded greatly since that time but I think that is how it started.
The issue was more popular in border counties as I think the casinos were to be confined to river boats. I may be wrong about this but this is my recollection. So you see it’s not as simple as was portrayed in the flyer.
Do I think the gambling vote was wrong? Yes, but at the time it was portrayed as economic development for border counties.
Rush was talking about HMO’s yesterday. Ya know, Ted Kennedy’s preview of things to come? He talked about it terms of the damage that Ted Kennedy did to this country and the slippery slope that the HMO act was. Let’s repeal the HMO act in Congress. Nationalist Fascist Healthcare is just HMO’s on steroids.
Tort reform? They took care of tort reform already. If NFH passes, the doctors, hospitals become defacto employees of the US Government. You can’t sue the government. You won’t have any freedom of choice at all.
The only things the feds should do is remove the state barriers to purchasing health care and let the competition begin.
That turned about to be wrong, D.Hater.
D Hater – you illustrated the slippery slope concept. First, it was just the border counties. The boats had to be on the river. Then, they changed that rule. Gambling could occur anywhere. Then, horses, then slots, then touchplay, then casinos in every community. Now, a 2nd casino is being pitched for Des Moines with the requisite guarantee of profit to the state! They GUARANTEE profit. Boy, we heard that when Prairie Meadows was built. Then, it was bankrupt in about three years – taxpayers took it in the shorts.
I recall some reasoning for the slot machine addition to Prairie Meadows involved – It’s too big to fail. Terry brought us all that.
How much is the taxpayer going to be out with the bankrupcty of Terribles in Osceola? How many people saw that bankruptcy coming before it was even built? How many people knew that all the pro-hockey teams were going to go belly up? How many people knew Arena football was going to go broke? Why do our Supervisors think they know anything about pro-sports? It ends up costing the taxpayers millions, like with the most recent bankruptcy of our most current version of a pro-hockey team. Who pays when they go bankrupt? We do.
Stop it! Stop using tax money to fund these boondoggles that private enterprise won’t touch. I
D-Hater – The point is, Gambling isn’t economic development. All it does is prey on the bad luck of desparate citizens. We need real sustainable economic development that serves all Iowans, not just the unlucky who gamble and the sliver of society that works there. Real economic development involves creating a tax and regulatory structure that induces business start up and growth, irrespective of the particular industry. The Government should not be promoting one industry at the expense of others.
How many people know that Chet’s passenger rail pipedream is going to be a taxpayer boondoggle too? Stop him!
Esther: You may be surprised that I agree with all you say.
I thought it was a mistake at the time and I still consider it to be a mistake. However, that doesn’t change facts.
It probably goes to show that this issue is less likely to be a huge issue to voters than it was back in the early 90s. IIRC, this thing was not Branstad’s idea. He eventually went along with it because there were those in bordering counties who wanted it as economic development and as I said, it didn’t mean that one single county had to vote for it. They had the choice.
We’ve progressed to where we are now. We have it. It’s expanding. What does VP plan to do to get rid of it?
considering the time
Sorry about that tag along mistake. It should have been erased.
The gambling thing is a perfect example of how the voter believes politicians lie to them. It was touted as economic development but turned into something else and it’s pervasive to overall detriment of our society. The gambling industry should have to pay a fee equal to their entire operating costs to fund the social services needed for the families, along with taking care of their housing etc when gamblers lose their homes to bankrupcty.
Yes, it’s here and it is what it is. But, it is true that this is a terrible legacy of TB’s. It is his biggest weakness and hurts his economic development, fiscal conservatives credentials.
He could turn this weakness into his greatest strength if he acknowledged what it has become and that he has come to believe that gambling, was at best, a short term band aid to a more sinister problem with economic development.
He, and the other candidates could tell us what their policy positions are with respect to ED. Where does gambling fit in? Do they think more is better? If he had to do it all over again, what would he have done differently. Raising the sales tax was bad. Raising it twice was terrible.
One issue that will come up if he becomes Gov is the gas tax. Does he want to raise the gas tax? Or, will he reprioritize what government should be spending our money on and what we should not.
Roads are a fundamental purpose of government. Roads should be paid for with existing taxes. Roads are a part of economic development. It gets goods to market. Don’t tax the economic engine by taxing it. It hurts productivity.
I’m not voting for anyone who wants to raise any tax at all. That would include fees, and other euphamisms for TAX.
Does anyone else find it tragically ironic that the founder of the special olympics is the sister of the guy that would put into law, panels or commissions or councils or ‘death panels’ that would deem those special olympians unworthy of high dollar medical care, the kind that Senator had for himself, even though he was fat, an alcoholic, old and not much use to most people? Ted Kennedy’s own mentally handicapped sister would not meet the standards that Obama’s chief rationer in charge, Dr. Emmanual, sets out with his Reaper Formula for allocating health care dollars.
It continues to stun me beyond belief that D’s who consider themselves somewhat intelligent would want this system for themselves. Just don’t get it.
Esther, even the flaming liberal minion of Obama (yeah, right) Charles Krauthammer, says there _are no_ death panels. I quote from a column he wrote on August 21st, just over a week ago.
(Krauthammer) ” — Let’s see if we can have a reasoned discussion about end-of-life counseling.
We might start by asking Sarah Palin to leave the room. I’ve got nothing against her. She’s a remarkable political talent. But there are no “death panels” in the Democratic health care bills, and to say that there are is to debase the debate.”
con dem – I read that article. Clearly you did not. If you had read the entire article you would find the Charles went on and then proved what Sara said about rationing which is the true death panel. She put death panel in quotes to reflect a euphamism for government making coverage decisions like they do in England which results in deaths due to lack of treatment .
The death panel is a euphamism for someone on a panel or a commission or some other thing that involves someone other than yourself in concert with your family and doctor deciding what care you will get. We do not want some government bureacrat making a decision about our health care.
The death panel refers to rationing. It refers to Dr. Emmanuals Reaper Curve. It reflects what is currently happening in the UK and Canada. I’m very familiar with the contents of it all. Your writing reflects that you are not. Now, go back to SEIU headquarters and get your new marching orders on where to line up for the next bussed in purple shirt fake protest.
Don’t forget your phony Hitler poster.
Esther, your distortion of the system in Canada and the UK can’t obscure the fact that Americans are dying every day because of rationing carried out by the insurance companies, or rationing carried out by medical professionals who don’t want to do expensive procedures for uninsured patients.
To cite just a few examples, in the U.S. uninsured trauma patients are 50 percent more likely to die than trauma patients covered by insurance.
Uninsured people are often denied organ transplants on the grounds that they will lack the capacity to pay for anti-rejection medications.
Uninsured people are much more likely than insured people to be diagnosed with “advanced cancers [...] that could have been detected early through proper screening.”
It was democrats who turned insurance companies into what they are today. You guys came up with HMO’s (Ted Kennedy). Rationing began with HMO’s. You guys did that. You guys destroyed health care financing that used to work before Teddy Killer Kennedy got his fat little fingers involved.
The Fascist plan the Democrats want to pass is exactly the same thing. Have you read up on Oregon, Massachussets and Maine? All disasters. Each and every one of them is a disaster.
Go back to the purple shirts at SEIU and see if they’ll let you read about those states bad experiments. They might not let you because it damages their attempt to thug America for their own personal power and benefit.
Did you hear about the 4000 babies born on floors, in toilets and in unsanitary conditions in the UK? My God. Please read more than what the SEIU lets you read. You are being a soviet style useful idiot. (Actually, just like Kennedy. I think he was the soviets first Useful Idiot. I think that’s his nickname). Ironic, isn’t it? The big Kennedy legacy was teaching his party faithful to be useful idiots to communism, marxism and fascism. So sad.
You go, Esther. You are so right. These moronic Dims who are trying to shove their soviet-style health care down our throats are too stupid to see the fact that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are bankrupting our country and now these economic illiterates want to throw big government-run health care on this sinking Titanic. Unbelievable that anyone is this stupid.
Only the weak minded fall for this baloney. They’re the same morons who voted for Obama because he was going to put the gas in their gas tanks and pay for their mortgages.
God spare us from any more voters who believe big government has the answers to our problems. As Reagan said, “They are the problem.”