You’ve fallen for the utterly false “Kerry is a flip-flopper” propaganda from the 2004 campaign. He supported the war at first, but then when more information came out he changed his decision. This is intelligent strategy: you work with the information you have, and if find you made the wrong decision then you don’t stick by it.
The real flip-flopper is Bush: “Stay the course.” “Stay the course.” “Stay the course.” “Stay the course.” “Stay the course.” “Stay the course.”…“We’ve never been ‘stay the course’.”
I’ve heard that Foley was offering some unique ways to shut up both Kerry and Bush but gave up when reminded that neither one is a pre-pubescent congressional page.
[quote]Mr. Kennedy, who had, according to the Soviet letter, sent former Sen. John V. Tunney to meet with Kremlin leaders. Chebrikov writes that Mr. Kennedy “charged Tunney to convey the following message, through confidential contacts, to… Andropov.”
According to the letter, Mr. Kennedy was concerned with “Reagan’s belligerence,” which he felt was in part the result of the president’s popularity. “The only real threats to Reagan are problems of war and peace and Soviet-American relations,” wrote Chebrikov, relaying Mr. Tunney’s message. “These issues, according to [Mr. Kennedy], will without a doubt become the most important of the [1984] election campaign.”
The letter goes on to say how Mr. Kennedy felt that the Soviets’ peaceful intentions were being “quoted out of context, silenced or groundlessly and whimsically discounted.” Conversely, Mr. Reagan “has the capabilities to counter any propaganda.” In other words, if the letter is to be believed, Mr. Kennedy felt his own president was the real aggressor. Mr. Kennedy had two proposals for Andropov, according to Chebrikov. First, he asked for a meeting later that summer in order “to arm Soviet officials with explanations regarding problems of nuclear disarmament so they may be better prepared and more convincing during appearances in the USA.” Second, that “Kennedy believes that in order to influence Americans it would be important to organize … televised interviews with [Andropov] in the USA.” If Chebrikov’s account of events is accurate, it’s clear Mr. Kennedy was actively engaging the Russians to influence the 1984 election. He also seems to have genuinely believed that Mr. Reagan’s policies were endangering U.S.-Soviet relations and that the best solution was to get Mr. Reagan out of office. The letter closes with Chebrikov saying that “Tunney remarked that the senator wants to run for president in 1988,” possibly suggesting Mr. Kennedy had other, more selfish motives.
As Mr. Kengor concludes, "if the memo is in fact an accurate account of what transpired, it constitutes a remarkable example of the lengths to which some on the political left, including a sitting U.S. senator, were willing to go to stop Ronald Reagan."
We agree. Even in a jaded world, [b]it is breathtaking to discover a U.S. senator -- brother of a former president -- actively and secretly collaborating with Soviet leaders in an attempt to undermine the president of the United States' nuclear defense policy during the height of the cold war[/b]. [/quote]
Ted, ya fat bastard, why are YOU not frying for this on my nightly newsscreen?
Because…
he’s a Kennedy
. ie. American royalty. His incumbency is unassailable this year, he hasn’t even put up posters. I guess no one remembers Chappaquiddick anymore, sheesh!
Reminds me of a Halloween costume of mine from a few years back, after the highjinks of one William Kennedy Smith in Florida. I simply put on a shirt and tie and a pair of boxer shorts: voila! When people asked me what I was, I just said “I’m a Kennedy”.
The GOP once again went after Decorated combat veteran Senator John Kerry yesterday. The 101st Fighting Keyboardists and assorted neocon shills may be conspicuously absent when their country is in need, yet they’re always on duty, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to smear any survivors. But this time, the good Senator took the gloves off.
[quote="Sen. John Kerry 10/31/06"]"I'm sick and tired of a bunch of despicable Republicans who will not debate real policy, who won't take responsibility for their own mistakes, standing up and trying to make other people the butt of those mistakes. It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who've never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did."[/quote]
* VP Dick Cheney - several deferments, by marriage and timely fatherhood.
* Karl Rove, occasional Deputy Chief of Staffand alleged full time smear artist, escaped the draft and did not serve
* Secretary of State and former NSA Condaleeza Rice - did not serve
* Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - did not serve.
* Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - did not serve.
* Republican Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay - did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh - did not serve
* Sean Hannity - did not serve
* Ann Coulter - did not serve
* Bill O'Reilly - did not serve
I could go on and on with this list. To note all the GOP politicians and Republican pundits who both did not serve and who now happily smear those who did, would take up several front pages. And this craven GOP breed of prestige parasites are particularly loathsome because once off stage and out of frame, they will insidiously cut VA benefits in favor of corporate welfare and tax cuts for billionaires. Not to mention they spooked us into war against the wrong country.
Meanwhile, our troops are being killed and maimed in Iraq for the colossal blunder and subsequent ass covering of the Republicans. Taxpayers have been fleeced of the better part of half a trillion dollars. And until the Republicans are sent packing, there is no end in sight.
[quote]"If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they’re crazy. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.
I’m not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq . It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.
The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it. These Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor.
Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men. And this time it won’t work because we’re going to stay in their face with the truth and deny them even a sliver of light for their distortions. No Democrat will be bullied by an administration that has a cut and run policy in Afghanistan and a stand still and lose strategy in Iraq ."[/quote]
I salute you John Kerry! Apparently your extensive combat experience taught you how to fight like a man. Way to rip 'em a new one.
Fred, TC, give it a rest. You know you’re gonna get it in the shorts on November 7.
The Republicans’ deliberate and knowing misrepresentations of Kerry’s statements are truly shameful. Like Kerry, I have had it with Republican lies. Hopfully the American people will feel the same way on November 7.
If I were a Republican, I would be horrified and ashamed by the lies that my party tells. I’ve noticed that as elections approach, the lies become more bizarre. Remember Max Cleland being morphed into Osama bin Laden in Republican campaign ads in 2004? Remember John McCain being accused of having a “black love child”? Shameful.
[quote]
Look, this is a great volunteer army. And the word “volunteer” army means you have to be smart to get in it. They know that. Everybody knows. You can’t get in the military today if you’re not capable and not smart.
This comment couldn’t have been directed at them, because you can’t get into the military by doing badly in school. This was directed at the people who didn’t do their homework, didn’t listen to history, didn’t listen to their own advice, and they owe the American people an apology.[/quote]
Uhm, unless the military has changed a whole lot sense I was in, Kerry is talking shit. And I thought they have been LOWERING enlistment qualifications, and now Kerry says “You needs to be smart to git in da Army.”
Keep twisting John. Keep twisting.
BTW, if Kerry is taking the heat, what are we really missing? I mean he went to college an evrthin’, they must be perpetratin a distraction!
First, I think that Bush’s supposed AWOL status as a National Guardsman was fair game for the presidential election and I think that Kerry’s flip flopping is game as well. I think that Bush’s lack of “real” service as opposed to the false claims that there was no service was a genuine issue just as Kerry’s inability to stick with a policy is one. They are real issues. There is a trail to support concerns. In the case of Kerry, his flip flopping is embarrassingly real. It is not a “media moment.”
Kennedy as American royalty? Don’t make me puke. The family spends tons on PR efforts to keep that myth alive. It has directly benefited them to remain the Royal Family, self-appointed no less. Barf.
Finally, take it up the shorts on Nov. 7… That is a distinct possibility but what exactly do you think will change in terms of American policy then? Nancy Pelosi has a whole string of things that she wants to do, but do you think that she will really have the support of Congress to do so and IF the Democrats take over Congress, how many do you really think will vote for a pullout of Iraq? It is all fine to snipe while out of power but once in power… therein lies the rub. I do not believe that the Republicans would be in this mess if they had not squandered so much money and alienated their core base. This is not about Iraq for the Republicans. In fact, I would argue that if Bush had been tougher on Syria and Iran to limit their influence in Iraq and had cut back on government and spending, he would not be in this predicament now. Then of course there is the failure to act on illegal immigration which regardless of your view on the subject is a concern of his core base and one that he has neglected to deal with effectively. People are fed up. This may give him the scare he needs to reinvigorate his policies and approaches. As a staunch Republican, I have to admit that I am ambiguous about whether I want the Republicans to keep the House or Senate. IF that is true for me, obviously Bush and his team have a problem and they had better look to start addressing it. To me, I want action on spending and the ever-increasing size of the federal government. I want all this devolved to the states. Why do we need all these departments and all this money concentrated in DC? Why cannot the states receive block grants for everything from welfare and education and housing to transportation and labor insurance and unemployment benefits to spend as they see fit? Why does this require a huge bureaucracy in DC?
[quote]I was also thinking of titling this post “when you’re in a hole, stop digging.” Either expression would apply to Kerry’s recent press conference. Given the chance to explain his musings about education and the military, he stated that he was, in fact, attacking Bush.
Considering that Bush graduated from Kerry’s alma mater, doing better than Kerry did, and that the President then went on to get an MBA from Harvard, it’s hard to accept that it was the President to whom he referred when he said “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” That Kerry is retrofitting madly is also evident from the fact that he was giving advice to young students — that is, he seemed to be saying to them that their career choice (not the President’s) was to go to college or be in the military.
Kerry would have done much better just to apologize gracefully. As it is, he just can’t help being the gift that keeps on giving.[/quote]
Anyway, I know that Kerry did not mean to say what he did and that his words are being twisted but after seeing this happen to Bush so often… I guess, well, I am just going to laugh along with everyone else this time.
When even CNN is running a video snippet entitled ‘Kerry’s falling fortunes’ after his late apology, you know it is done. Even his own DEM buddies are distancing themselves from him.
[quote=“Chris”]“even” CNN? CNN is a Republican mouthpice. Not as bad as Fox, but they are right-wing biased.[/quote]Chris -
I gotta ask…what color is the sun on your planet?
Just curious, I may be judging your posts by a standard that’s not applicable. Just wanna be fair.
