Unsealing Kerry's divorce records

[demon67]

What is the latest with this? Clearly, the Bush folks are going to go after this and, after the Ryan decision, they will likely get them. Does anyone know the status of efforts to unseal the records? Moreover, does anyone have any sense as to why they were sealed and what might be in them? At this point, Kerry is on a roll and we don't need any unwelcome surprises.

[phillybri]

1. Since it was annulled, isn't it legally not possible?

:shrug:

[powergirl]

2. The annullment is a church declaration

But for legal purposes, a divorce must and was filed in Mass state courts. I'm not worried if the records are unsealed. Kerry's first wife already stated in a book and in person that she suffered and still suffers from severe depression and that was the cause of the divorce. She says always that Kerry is a decent and kind person.

[demon67]

4. Divorce records still exist

I think the annullment simply means that the church no longer recognizes the marriage.

[in_cog_ni_to]

24. Well, since the church doesn't recognize the marriage

neither should the repuke party! If they want the church to uphold their ant-choice and anti-gay agenda then they surely would want the church to not recognize Kerry's first marriage and therefore, the repuke party can't recognize something that doesn't exist. So, it never existed. Period.

[RobertSeattle]

3. Boy the GOP is going to regret this Pandora's box

Gingrich, Limbaugh, etc divorce records would be n-a-s-t-y.

[demon67]

7. But none of those guys are running for President

My fear is that the Ryan move was the opening of Pandora's Box and we do not know what will come out vis-a-vis Kerry.

[RobertSeattle]

14. Yes, but DEMs don't shove "morality" down people's throats

Like the GOP-types who take the "hyprocite" oath...

[Bunny]

21. And frankly, IIRC, the Ryan move was initiated by the

conservative-leaning Chicago Tribune, not by the Democratic Party. I don' think we had anything to do with that, and could not have prevented it in any case.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

9. I think this will be snuffed out...

Remember when Barney Frank basically said that if the pit bulls didn't stop the ethics charges flying around the House about 10-12 years ago, he was going to start telling the press who shows up at his parties? They clammed up pretty tight.

I have a feeling there are plenty of embarrassing Republican divorces and that the RNC will decide to take their lumps with Jack Ryan and call it a day. Democrats tend to be a lot more forgiving and open-minded about these matters, so a series of ugly personal revelations will effect the Bible-thumping conservative voters the most.

[LTR]

13. Barney's Da Man!

The guy takes no shit from no one.

[Wapsie B]

19. I was thinking about

chimpy's records in Texas that were either scrubbed or hidden. Someone needs to go after those big time.

[Frances]

5. I was divorced in Maryland

and I don't know if my records are sealed or not, but it doesn't matter to me. They just say something like irreconcilable differences.

My guess is that Kerry's say the same thing and that's why this story isn't in the news.

The Repubs probably brought up the story just to plan suspicions in people's minds and to remind the electorate that Kerry is divorced. But since we just had Reagan's funeral where everyone was reminded that Reagan was divorced, that fact doesn't make much difference.

[demon67]

8. Hope you are right, but

an article I read noted that the former Mrs. Kerry wrote a very unfavorable book on the marriage and Kerry's people are fighting hard to keep the records sealed. My concern is that there may be some smoke. If there truly is no fire, then let's just release the thing and be done with it. There are no minor children to protect and I think the CA judge's decision made it pretty clear that such information is likely to be released in the end, anyway. I do not want this festering until Oct/Nov.

[pauliedangerously]

16. Agreed...

this would be a really crappy October Surprise.

[papau]

22. Link? - Book former Mrs. Kerry wrote WAS NOT unfavorable to Kerry

Sounds like more lies and right wing crap that avoids any fact checker.

[demon67]

25. Here is a link

below to an editorial that makes that claim. I have not read Mrs. Kerry's book and the writer might be wrong, I simply do not know. The point is not whether they had an amicable divorce. The point is that, in a post-Ryan world, such records now appear to be fair game. My hope is that there is nothing in there to worry about. If there is nothing, then let's get it out there. If there is something, then we better get prepared for a bumpy ride.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12134258&BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18168&rfi=6+

[papau]

27. John's Boston Globe tellall makes Drudge look like the liar that he is

Even the Affair post marriage break-up is in the Globe Story.

:-)


http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061903_p.shtml

PART 5

Taking one prize, then a bigger one

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff, 6/19/2003


<snip>Victory (1982), however, came at a cost. Kerry won his first election and lost his first wife. By mid-campaign, his marriage to Julia had fallen apart. Struggling with depression since 1980, she felt abandoned and had tired of being, in her words, "a political wife." <snip>

But the marriage was beyond repair. "Politics became my husband's life," Julia wrote in "A Change of Heart," her 1996 book about divorce. "I tried to be happy for him, but after 14 years as a political wife I associated politics with anger, fear, and loneliness."

In an interview, she declined to elaborate on this period, except to say: "The dissolution of the marriage was my doing, not John's. I wanted something else."

After he took office, Kerry was romantically involved with Sragow for a few years, but Kerry said their relationship "had nothing to do with our marriage or breakup or anything." Sragow, now a state district court judge, declined to be interviewed. <snip>

As he tried to make a mark, Kerry maintained a breakneck pace, squeezing in fatherly time with his two daughters, Alexandra and Vanessa, who were living with Julia.(in 1982)

[Baltimoreboy]

26. Jeri Ryan says her ex would make a good senator too

But what appears in divorce documents is often different.

[recidivist]

31. Custody/visitation disputes bring out the worst. So does money.

No fault divorce makes it fairly easy for adults to walk out of a marriage without a public washing of the dirty linen. More often than not, that's what happens. Not always, of course -- sometimes the Ex-Spouse From Hell sets out to destroy the other party, and then it's Katie-bar-the-door. But usually people manage to divorce on fairly nonspecific grounds and avoid embarrassment.

Let custody or money get involved, however, and the dynamics change pretty fast. I gather from the news accounts that the Ryans had a visitation dispute. That's where the salacious accusations surfaced. I don't know if the Kerrys ever quarreled over the kids. John was a busy politico without time for a family, his ex-wife had all the money so she didn't need support, and the kids stayed with mom. That probably suited all concerned.

Unless John tried to make a play for custody by making an issue of his ex's depression -- which I very much doubt -- I'd guess he's clear on that score. The other obvious possibility, since his ex was wealthy and he was not, is that John made a play for cash. She might have countered with any of several complaints (adultery, mental cruelty, abandonment) against him. If there's a skeleton lurking in the closet, I'd bet that's what it is.

If the divorce was entirely clean, there would have been no reason to seal the records to begin with, and there would be no reason for Kerry to be fighting their release now. I think there ARE grounds to worry. When the Ryans' records were released, there was quite a bit of gloating on this board. I offered the opinion then that a nasty precedent was being set and that what goes around comes around. Happened faster than I expected.

Kerry's records, at this point, probably SHOULD be released on the grounds that both Parties should play by the same rules. All the same, I hope Congress and the state legislatures take a good look at this after the election.

[Bridget Burke]

23. What's the title of the former Mrs. Kerry's book?

I'd at least like to look at the Amazon listing. None came up on a cursory search.

[papau]

28. In 1996 ex-Mrs wrote in "A Change of Heart," about divorce coping

A Change of Heart: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey Through Divorce

by Julia Thorne

Availability: Out of Print--Limited Availability


Edition: Paperback

Review: by Ingram: The author of the bestselling You Are Not Alone, which sold 125,000 copies, now offers a new book which provides comfort, help, and inspiration to readers coping with divorce. Thorne provides specific advice, coping skills, and practical solutions as well as national and local resources for additional assistance

You Are Not Alone: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey Through Depression by Julia Thorne

[LittleApple81]

6. I would have thought the military record thingy would have taught them a

lesson. Or the "affair" thingy. Or the Heinz ketchup company money...

[seabeyond]

10. raising hand in sarcasm.................

then surely we get to see bush's criminal record. surely that is a little more relevent

[curlyred]

11. Fine. Let's unseal Bush's criminal records

Right? I mean after all, the argument is that unsealing Kerry's divorce records is necessary so we know what kind of a person he really is......so let's go on and reveal all about Bush's past.

Not that we need any further indications of what kind of person he is...we already know.

[LTR]

15. Are you kidding?

I'll bet Poppy arranged to have all that stuff shredded.

Money talks.

[elperromagico]

18. But don't you know the Republican rule for criminal/immoral behavior?

Anything which happened prior to age 40 is a "youthful indiscretion" if you have an R after your name.

Note: This rule is null and void if you have a D after your name. In those instances, anything you did must be investigated fully (and at tremendous expense) "for the good of the American people."

[bluedog]

12. Kerry and Ex-wife get along great!!

Thorne remains a Kerry supporter, and sometimes called him after primary wins with her congratulations.

Today she and her current husband, an architect, are active in local environmental issues and arts education, and she's working on a memoir about growing up in Italy.

The local paper has discovered her, and slowly, townsfolk are waking up to the fact that they have the former wife of a presidential candidate in their midst.

She's told friends that she's hopeful that Kerry will win. Just leave her out of it.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4825946/site/newsweek/

[Loonman]

17. Let's all get down in the mud!

Fucking jackals.

The press whores can go Cheney themselves.

[papau]

29. There is no mud - just Drudge pretending that there might be!

:-)

[truthspeaker]

20. OK. Let's unseal the records of Bush divorcing Laura and marrying Condi

[oldcoot]

30. Massachusetts is a different state from California and

may have different laws. This means that a Massachusetts judge does not have to follow the same legal precedent as the California judge. Indeed, the decision to whether or not to unseal those records should be determined entirely by Massachusetts law. Since the Republicans like to present themselves as the great defenders of states rights, they should respect the right of Massachusetts to make its own laws even if it ends up hurting them in the long run.

I would also argue that there is another key difference between Kerry and Ryan. If one wants privacy, one probably should not have sex in public. Unless the behavior or events that lead to Kerry's divorce was equally public, Kerry and ex-wife have a right to expect some privacy.

[Davis_X_Machina]

32. The Globe...

...has been gunning for Kerry since forever. If there were anything really odorous, they'd have found it during Kerry's re-election campaign against Bill Weld.

Whatever there is, is already out there.

Fret not.