WP: House GOP Assails Kerry's '71 Activities

[kskiska]

The presidential campaign spilled onto the House floor yesterday when Republicans attacked Sen. John F. Kerry's antiwar activities of 33 years ago. Angry and surprised Democrats defended their party's presumptive presidential candidate and, in at least one case, derided President Bush's military record.

The stinging exchanges took place in a series of one-minute speeches lawmakers can make on any topic. Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.) began the attack by denouncing the Massachusetts senator on the 33rd anniversary of his testimony before a Senate panel in which he sharply criticized the conduct of some U.S. troops in Vietnam. Kerry, a decorated Navy officer in Vietnam, became a prominent antiwar spokesman after his discharge.

Johnson, who spent seven years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war, said the young Kerry "blasted our nation, chastised our troops and hurt our morale. . . . What he did was nothing short of aiding and abetting the enemy." Comparing Kerry to former antiwar activist Jane Fonda, Johnson said: "He's called Hanoi John."

The presiding officer, Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), briefly cautioned members not to disparage senators by name, but other Republicans poured it on. Rep. John Kline (Minn.) said Kerry's service in the war "does not excuse his joining ranks with Jane Fonda and others in speaking ill of our troops or their service, then or now." Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (Calif.), whose plane was shot down over North Vietnam, said Kerry's 1971 remarks angered Cunningham and his comrades at the time. "We do not need a Jane Fonda as commander in chief," he said.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34817-2004Apr22.html

[freetobegay]

1. The best circus there is

What more can be said?

[ramapo]

4. Scum

These guys are worse than the scum that floats on top of the septic tank

[NewYorkerfromMass]

26. O.K. They're the encrusted scum on the bottom

of the tank.

[Enraged_Ape]

2. Good move, GOP! Keep reminding us of Vietnam!!

This will backfire on them like everything else they've tried of late. Because their presidential candidate is a fucking failure at everything, and there is no conceivable subject in which he doesn't look a complete douche when compared with Kerry.

[saigon68]

6. Hey asshole GOP "Bring It ON"

Its IRAQ-NAM all right. That CHIMPANZEE that you boys are shilling for has brought us into another one.

I love it when they keep it up.. They have more to lose in this debate than we do!!!!!

Plus their boy apparently was continuously COKED OUT during NAM I !!!

lol :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

[BattyDem]

3. Tell me ...

Where exactly in Vietnam did these Congressmen serve? :eyes:

[saigon68]

13. THEY ARE ALL VETERAN'S

This is Rove's new Tactic to get extreme right Wing Whack Job Veterans to TRASH OUT Kerry


BEWARE of this new shilling. It started with Lawyer O'Neill from Texas yesterday the EXXON OIL criminal

All 3 of these Veterans are whack jobs especially the Retired marine officer idiot from Minnesota who apparently insists we are winning in Iraq.

[July]

39. Why aren't the Dems calling on Bush and his buds to denounce these tactics

??

Every time a Republican compares a Democrat to Osama or Saddam, every time a Republican uses the time he's working for us to break Senate rules and disparage a fellow senator, every time a Republican and/or conservative talks about fellow Americans as traitors for disagreeing with a government policy, Democrats should be asking Republicans:

WHERE IS THE HONOR AND DIGNITY? WHERE IS COMMON DECENCY? WHERE ARE SIMPLE GOOD MANNERS?

[trogdor]

5. Kerry should do some stuff on the Senate floor.

C-Span2 is on all day. The best bits get replayed. I would just LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to see him take half an hour shooting down all of this bullshit, calling out all of the chickenhawks while he's at it.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

7. It's time for a few Democrats to ask about "AWOL George", isn't it?

[JI7]

10. jim mcdermott brought it up

he has planned to speak on something else(earth day i believe). but the republicans planned the attacks so they could keep going one by one for a long time without democrats being able to speak. but mcdermott went up there and defended kerry and brought up "someone" going awol, joining the national guard to get out of vietnam, and then going awol from even there. he kicked ass. jay inslee also did great defending kerry and calling out the republicans on their disgusting attacks. and john lewis called out the republicans on their breaking the rules. they are not allowed to name senate members but the republicans kept going without a word that idiot ray lahood who was in speakers chair. and john lewis brought it up an dgot them to shut up.

[JI7]

8. and what was Bush doing around that time ?

coked up, drunk driving piece of shit AWOL loser. yeah, as if the war was going greatly until kerry decided to speak out against it. what a bunch of idiots. they make the war about the troops. that way they don't have to discuss the actual issues of war policies which are usually made by non military people.

[moondust]

18. I'd like to see a BIG chart of the Bush vs. Kerry 1971 timeline.

.
.
.
Day 53:
Kerry takes shrapnel to leg.........Bush drinks a 6-pack and vomits.
.
.
Day 126:
Kerry saves life of Green Beret.....Bush snorts $500 worth of coke, drives around aimlessly.
.
.
.

[Catherine Vincent]

9. I suppose these idiot reps feel they are donig payback for awol Bush!

I know that is what they are up to. Because Bush* was exposed as being awol, they get pissy and want to criticize an actual veteran that did serve. And it's not surprising someone from Texas started it. What idiots!

[JI7]

12. and a day right after kerry's highly praised military records are released

was the timing a surprise at all ? and we know they did it with bush's permission and probably urging. they were crying about kerry not releasing his records, thought there was something in it they can attack him for. but the records only made kerry look great so they had to come back and attack him. hanoi john ? please, how pathetic of them.

[bushwakker]

11. Brings back memories of B-1 Bob Dornan in 1992

Dornan took to the House floor night after night during the runup to the November election and attcked Bill Clinton's lack of military service. While I loathed the man and his smear tactics I admired his kind of tenacity and willingness to mix it up. I hope the Dems are up to the task of defending their nominee.

[DS1]

14. Let's see what FUCKFACE was doing in 71 !!!!!

BRING THEM ON!!

YEEAARARRAAAARRRRGGHHH!!!

[KansDem]

40. I believe F*ckface was busy impregnating one Robin Lowman...

in 1971 and then had Mommy and Poppy pay for an abortion so F*ckface would not be responsible for raising an unwanted child.

http://www.democrats.com/display.cfm?id=159

[KansDem]

41. CNN scubbed Bush abortion story...

This is for the DU poster yesterday who wanted recent examples of CNN bias (ie, "yawning boy" story). I know this isn't recent, but it is very telling:

The CNN Coverup:
http://www.democrats.com/display.cfm?id=159

So much for the "librul" media...

[leetrisck]

15. More importantly, where was bush in 1971

and what was he doing? Let us compare - shall we?

[KansDem]

42. F*cking Robin...see post 40

In 1971, Bush was f*cking Robin...
Now he's just f*cking crazy!!! :crazy:

[leetrisck]

16. Oh yes, one more thing, only difference between bush

and Jane Fonda is Jane went to Vietnam

[Catt03]

27. LOL

[frylock]

17. randy "dick" cunningham..

I have always disliked this asshole. Out of respect for the many members of the board who are veterans of that terrible war, I'll refrain from saying something stupid like too bad the VC couldn't finish the job.

[saigon68]

21. That doesn't insult me

He is an idiot and like a few veterans has been in the sun too long.

He cares only for the "special" corporate interest.

[SpiralHawk]

19. This shit won't float

i mean, it helps sew up the Whack-job vote, but BushCo has that already. It gains no traction otherwise because it's such OBVIOUS and PATHETIC claptrap, partisan whining.

Your average Joe and Jane knows whining when they hear it.

Trust me, this stinker is also a sinker.

[mulethree]

38. haven't heard any good Dem spin on it

Kerry was saying he shot at Vietnamese indiscriminately (free fire exercises), burned down villages (collective punishment), used heavy guns against people and other things he considers war crimes. He considered himself, thousands of other soldiers, and the officers who ordered this stuff all to be war criminals.

Yet he, and the Dem's defending him, support Israel when they do the same things to Palestinians. For some reason its a requirement for elect-ability.

We have similar things going on in Falluja but they can't speak against it because that would be contrary to supporting our troops.

So now he backs away from the comments, basically they're true but I regret using the word "atrocities". So the fact is that we've crossed so far over the line that we can't go back, but the repubs can still attack him for drawing attention to the initial crossing of the line and theres little PC defense against them.

We would lose more soldiers if we played by the rules. The enemy doesn't follow the rules either. But 30 years ago the rules mattered more, and his conscience was fresh, and he was making idealistic statements on behalf of lots of vets including some of the ones who are using it against him now.


Would it be possible for a politician to criticize Israel? To insist that our soldiers follow the rules, stop shooting non-combatants and using inappropriate weapons? And show up as so extremely brave for taking a stand against the hypocritical majority that he would end up electable just on the basis of principles and guts?

Is there a "we are too good to stoop to their level" position any more?

Maybe not for Kerry who has sold out 100% to the Zionists, but some other or future politician?

[Must_B_Free]

20. and bush was shuttling "exotic plants"?

michuacan? acupulco gold? panama red? maui wowee?

[SideshowScott]

22. I heard that Too!! That Bush transported " Exotic Plants" by Plane

OMG why has that special nugget of info come out? Id really like to get more information about that..where he was flying..who was he working for ect..

[bobbyboucher]

23. Wasn't Kerry in Detroit not a week or two before his testimony,

where at some gathering, Viet Nam vets CONFESSED to the exact shit that he talked about?

Who knows about that gathering in Detroit? What was it called? Who was there?

Any help?

[bobbyboucher]

24. Just found this article, check this out,

http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061703.shtml

"Destroy the young demagogue before he becomes another......", wait until you see who's name comes up.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

28. Nader... Kerry as another Nader!.... NADER!!!!

Oh well.....

[bobbyboucher]

29. Can you believe it, another Nader, gawd, we have come full

fucking circle. It's the most Nixonian administration since Nixon and they are fighting against the Nixon Admins' former foes, Kerry and Nader.

It's the twilight zone.

[Old and In the Way]

25. It appears that these guys were quite happy seeing Americans die

for no good reason in VietNam. Not enough of their fellow soldiers died there...is that their beef? Should another 50,000 have had their lives wasted to stop goldless communism? 100,000? 250,000? At what point would these guys decide Hanoi Jane and John Kerry were right to stop the carnage on both sides....that question is never asked or answered. <In retrospect, it appears that SE Asia is now a hotbed of godless capitalism...maybe we should have let them maintain their social/economic system to begin with>

Perhaps this is why the Republicans love this war in Iraq...we get to continue another senseless war to benefit the political and economic interests of the Republican Party.

[saigon68]

31. Those Mother Fuckers like Col Kline

Still believe with a few more troops , bombs, years and $$$$ we could have WON? in Viet-Nam.

And Sam Johnson is still looking for closure from his P.O.W. days, rather than care about thousands of children soon to be killed on both sides he is fighting demons in his head. He needs some serious drug therapy and counselling.



Sam Johnson (r-tEXAS) WHERE ELSE--


http://www.samjohnson.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=2707

His website SEATHES WITH HATRED

(Of Kerry) Johnson said the idea that 200,000 Vietnamese were annually "murdered by the United States of America" was "not true. Absolutely not true." He also complained of Kerry's liberal use of his Vietnam service in his presidential campaign, particularly the use of the slogan "band of brothers," a Shakespearean reference to the camaraderie of men who have seen battle together.

"It's a phony deal," he said. "There are Vietnam veterans that you'll see who will call you brother and commiserate with you over experiences over there, but his use of that is totally false, and I don't know how anybody could fall for it."

[burythehatchet]

30. Most of the GOP lawmakers agreeingly nodded their heads

when one of them thanked god that pResident bush had the courage to stay out of harms way.

[Pretty_in_CodePink]

32. I'm so sick of this idea that to support the troops

is to support the war. The only people REALLY supporting the troops are those of us demanding they be brought home ASAP.

[City Lights]

33. [e-mail]

Use it.

[rocktivity]

34. A very surprising tactic when you consider

that Bush is "clearly ahead" in the polls.

:eyes:
rocknation

[KansDem]

43. Didn't think of that!

If "popular" Bush was "clearly ahead" in the polls, the GOP wouldn't be pulling this shit.

Hmmm...they must know something! :freak:

[Snellius]

35. Why is a woman always the face of Republican hate?

Jane Fonda was far from being an important force in the antiwar movement (she was more of an embarrassment), but she became the symbol that the establishment press used to personify it. Hillary had nothing to do with Clinton's misadventures -- except as a victim herself -- and yet no one gets Republican blood boiling faster than the "feminazi" from NY. (If she's really a lesbian how is it she was having an affair with Vince Foster?)

[Stuckinthebush]

36. Keep it up GOP....

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I just can't wait for the debates between Kerry and Bush. The contrast will be amazing!

[DFWJock]

37. I dont get it....

This is such a losing argument for them.
Kerry was in Vietnam fighting and saving lives, Bush was somewhere stumbling around in a drunken haze.

Bring it on!

[MsSnood]

44. Let's put GW's 71 activities on the block

What was GW doing 20 or 30 years ago? Snorting coke or boozing and making a regular ass of himself?

C'mon! Why do they get to set the rules here? It's not hard to challenge his record. He doesn't have one, and what he does have is rotten!

Why the fuck is he untouchable when he's not?

[bleedingheart]

45. Oh the hypocrisy...Bring up the past on the GOP and they cry

foul...

they are bringing up the past because they can't deal with the present.

[LeftHander]

46. WIll backfire....I heard his 71' testimony on NPR

Basically showed him as a eloquent anti-war voice that was sepaking the truth that many wanted stifled. (And still do.)

To propose that he is WAFFLED on an anti-war stance lets remeber it was Bush gave the order not congress...

If they had voted against bush having the authority to invade Iraq they would have tried again and again until they got it. Or invaded using some other excuse.