John Kerry to strike back at "infidelity"-coverage, will appear on Imus

[OutlawCorporatePolls]

02/13/2004 02:44 AM

John Kerry to strike back at "infidelity"-coverage, will appear on Imus-Show

Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry is set to strike back at the "infidelity"-coverage by "Drudge Report" joining Don Imus on his Friday morning talk show.

"Drudge Report" had first broken the news of intense US media investigation into the two-year relationship of Kerry and a young woman, which is said they had since Spring 2001. The woman is said to remain at an undisclosed location in Africa.

Kerry will be joined later Friday by former rival Wesley Clark, who is set to officially endorse Kerry´s nomination bid, allthough he confirmed quotes of himself stating "Kerry will implode over an intern issue" earlier this week.

http://www.shortnews.com/shownews.cfm?id=36944&u_id=56352&CFID=73891&CFTOKEN=47026997

[MrSlayer]

1. Confirmed? Show me this confirmation?

[Renew Deal]

2. I heard that Clark denied everything/

Where is all this shit coming from?

[spooky3]

5. I know I have a lot of confidence in a website that

includes this headline: "Pig Lard To Be Used As Anti-Terror Measure."

[Straight Shooter]

9. Same headline is on BBC online

It's a true story. And it's even worse than you think. They're wanting bus passengers to carry squirtguns loaded with pig lard or some derivative of it.

The idea is that Muslim terrorists cannot go to heaven and have their 70 virgins awaiting if they touch a pig or are touched by pig products before they die.

The world has finally gone over-the-edge crazy.

[spooky3]

12. LOL! Well, if it works, ok, then. :-)

[Tim_in_HK]

17. The crazy thing is . . .

My girlfriend's father has been advocating this for years . . . but not only against terrorists, but against Palestinians as well.

I love the guy, but he's a wacko.

[smiley_glad_hands]

3. This whole situation seems Rovian.

I don't believe Clark said that. If he did--they've taken it out of context--like the time he said if Rove had returned his calls he'd be a Republican---it was a joke.

[David Dunham]

4. Drudge Claimed Falsely It's "Confirmed". Teresa should sue Drudge

[Jen]

6. If Reports Are True

Should Kerry continue to deny them, or should he tell all to during a prime time interview?

I think Clinton did a good job fighting the Flowers affair by confessing. Kerry should come out now and get this over before the real election begins. Maybe he will on Imus.

[molly]

7. Teresa would NEVER put up with a man that cheated

end of story.

[Tinoire]

13. You don't know that Molly.

You, as well as I, know what goes on on a certain segment of society.

There are 3 kinds of marriage.

Marriages of Love.
Marriages of Reason.
Marriages of Interest.

Everything will depens on what kind of marriage they had. And coming from those circles, my choice is "marriage of reason". She will probably cover his a** just like Hillary did over Jennifer flowers.

The only thing women in those marriages care about is being shamed in public & that is where Kerry trangressed. He has now embarrassed her in front of the entire world.

Like Clinton he should have kept his zipper shut knowing what was riding on it.

WTH is wrong with men? Show them a thong in firm buttocks and presto! Sorry. I am really angry tonight.

[Straight Shooter]

18. About that "marriage of reason"

Either The New Yorker or The Economist ran a mean little article about Kerry and Heinz shortly after their wedding, indicating it was an "economic alliance" or words to that effect. The article basically said Ms. Heinz wanted to marry a Senator for the prestige, and as we all know, Kerry was quite an eligible bachelor back then. I do not have a link, I'm sorry, the article was years ago.

Of course we all know that people can be brought together for one reason, and then become very fond of each other or fall in love with each other over time.

I would guess that tonight is a very difficult night for John and Teresa.

[John_H]

23. But you'd like us to take at face value

your interpretation of your eight year old reccollection of the opinion of a magazine writer (which magazine, you're not sure about) about the reason two other people got married? LOL! That's it. I support Dean now!

[Tinoire]

34. Definitely

Even kids in arranged marriages sometimes fall in love. DeGaulle's marriage was one of interest (his part) & reason (hers). They were madly in love with each other after a while.

I have no idea about these two but I have a feeling they're at least fond of each other.

Teresa looks like she has a temper too. Ouch.

[janx]

8. No can do. Kerry is a public figure. n/t

[John_H]

24. Sure can do, counselor. You can't say a sladerous charge is "confirmed"

if it's not, public figure or not.

[Walt Starr]

10. Ruh Roh

If he's going to mainstream media to denounce Drudge internet rumors, there must be something to the rumors.

This doesn't look good for Kerry.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tinoire]

11. I'll not wait months to watch Bush win until we get to the TV coverage of

"I did not have sex with THAT woman".

Maybe if we bury our head's long enough and say it's Drudge (like we did the first time) it will go away.

Kerry could sleep with every single slut in the world & I could care less but he voted for the war & says he was misled which is a crock of bull. Will he also say that he was "misled" by this woman? That she showed him her thong and that he just couldn't resist? Screw that- I'm shopping for a President who won't fall for the thong of any little temptress sent his way. The fate of the Free World should not hand on your uncontrolled d&ck.

Waiting, eagerly, to see how he and his wife handle this. She might save his ass just like Hillary saved Bill's when the Jennifer Flowers' story broke (Democrats again burying their head) which is what I expect from any 'pragmatic' wife married to a wealthy, powerful man but that won't be enough this time.

DLC pandering to the Center again as opposed to Progressives? Stick a fork in Kerry- he's done.

He KNEW he was going to run for President. He KNEW what the 'rules' are and what the hypocrisy of the Centrist & Swing voters is but, like Clinton & Hart, he figured he'd get away with it.

Screw this. I'm not going through it again. Especially not for someone who voted for the war, is pro-NAFTA and is pro-occupation.

Yeah, I'm MAD tonight. Really f(*^ing mad. It's now Kucinich or BUST for me. Maybe Dean- maybe.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[in_cog_ni_to]

36. I couldn't agree more!

WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING???? He knew this shit would come out. "I" don't care if he has no morals, but a LOT of voters DO CARE. Shit. Kerry just denied the intern affair in his interview with Imus....next up, THE INTERN who will say it's true and Kerry will be dead in the water. This sucks....big time. He knew this would happen. Look at what he's done. :grr:

[farmbo]

15. Like Gary Hart challenging reporters to find evidence of his Monkeybusines

...Kerry had better be DAMNED SURE he didn't boink his intern before he goes on Imus to denounce Drudge.

[Renew Deal]

21. I will hate him forever if he banged some chick

while he was married. He would have had to have known it would get out. It would be incredibly selfish of him to run this race after doing that.

[oasis]

16. No rightwing Rovebot generated rubbish is going to slow the Kerry

juggernaut. This story will only fuel the engines of determination. Damn the White House spitball barrage, full speed ahead.

[Adelante]

26. NOT rightwing Rovebot generated rubbish

"I can only verify that Chris Lehane's rivals in other Democratic campaigns made these claims and I have found no independent source to confirm it."

Hmmm, which Democratic campaign would it be? It must be the Kucinich campaign, ya think? :eyes:

The Drudge item blaming Lehane quoted Craig Crawford, a former Democratic operative who now works as a consultant and columnist for MSNBC. Within 10 minutes after Drudge posted the Kerry intern item, Crawford sent a memo to his superiors that said the story was "something Chris Lehane (clark press secy) has shopped around for a long time." According to Crawford, someone at MSNBC promptly leaked his memo to Drudge. But when Lehane called Crawford with a loudly indignant denial, the MSNBC columnist quickly issued a public retraction. He said:

"The comments attributed to me are from a private email to television news associates based on conversations with Democratic campaign operatives. I did not consider any of it confirmed enough to report or publish. I can only verify that Chris Lehane's rivals in other Democratic campaigns made these claims and I have found no independent source to confirm it. Which is why we did not go with the story. But then someone sent my email to others, which is the only reason it got into the public domain." In other words, there is no proof that Lehane circulated the rumor, let alone that the rumor has any basis in reality.

Source: Salon 2/13/04

[oasis]

33. Hmmmm. Verrrry interesting. Nothing a Wisconsin victory won't cure.

And I'm talking steamroll victory.:party:

[CabalBuster]

19. He denied Botox and now he will deny the "Babe" how classy n/t

[Eloriel]

28. Maybe he'll say he never heard of her either

Like he had never even heard of botox.

Think that'll work?

[Johnyawl]

22. If Clark knew Kerry was about to implode...

...why would he drop out of the race? Clark would have to know that if Kerry had his legs cut out from under him, he (Clark) would be the primary beneficiary. It would be all veterans for Clark, and Kerry has put together quite an organization of veterans, and has been working hard (and successfully) to motivate the Vietnam veteran to get involved. That would have all switched to Clark, if scandal forced Kerry out, or dropped him out of the lead.

[maggrwaggr]

29. good point.

to me, that makes it all bullshit. Also, he wouldn't plan to endorse him.

[Cheswick2.0]

35. several possibilities

It is all very well to do well in the south, but Kerry was beating him there and as a democrat Clark would also have to do well in the north which he really had no hope of. As far as delegate he was behind Edwards. And just maybe he was disgusted by the whole process. Remember he wanted to drop out a few weeks ago and Gert had to talk him out of it (at least that was the rumor I heard).
If he actually did make that statement to reporters, off the record/on purpose, it was probably in a moment of anger and he now regrets it. That would be why he is now going to endorse Kerry.

[AnnitaR]

25. Anyone else here NOT surprised at the timing of all of this??

Clark drops out and the next day this shit hits the fan???

How bad are we being played here???

[Adelante]

27. See Post #26

We're being played, all right. :grr:

[JackRiddler]

30. Content of Locked Thread

Mods say it should continue here, but a lot of interesting things on this topic were said, so I am transplanting it:

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Kerry should do what Clinton didn't: Tell media sex hounds to get lost!
JackRiddler (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 02:47 AM

So here is Kerry's chance to do what Clinton should have done back in 1992, or in 1997 at the latest, which would have avoided a whole lot of trouble and helped America grow up.

Assuming the charges are limited to an affair with a consenting adult and do not involve force or anything illegal, Kerry should not deny or explain anything. Something like the following will do:

"Whatever love relations I may have had with another consenting adult are none of your business. The American people have had ample opportunity to show that they do not vote based on stories about sex lives, and rightly so. They are sick of media-driven distractions from the issues that actually matter to them. I will make no statements about things that every reasonable person will agree are rightly private. Get your cameras out of my crotch!"

This is what Jesse Ventura did, by the way, for whatever it's worth. He's the only one I can think of who stood up for his god-given rights to sexual privacy.

It would work fabulously. (So well, in fact, that I hope instead he equivocates and weakens himself, because he is bad news for our country.)

So what are the chances? He's Mr. Business-As-Usual on NAFTA, 9/11 investigations, Iraq invasion, PATRIOT and everything else that matters. Can he at least make this minor contribution towards improving American culture?

Regardless of your opinion of Kerry, what do you people think he should do?

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boobooday (105 posts) Fri Feb-13-04 02:49 AM
Response to Original message

1. You got that right.
Edited on Fri Feb-13-04 02:50 AM by boobooday


Let's not have any more "crotch politics." When the white house press corps brings up W going AWOL, they scream "politics."

But a candidates sex life, hey, that's serious.

Susan Estrich just wrote a column about how John & Theresa were making out backstage at some event.

I guess running for president means having an "open marriage" only not in the usual sense.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

Jeanette

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coloradodem2004 (572 posts) Fri Feb-13-04 02:51 AM
Response to Original message

2. I would Agree.



Kerry should tell people to f*ck off. Of course Dean already did that and he is being villified.

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mzpip (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 02:51 AM
Response to Original message

3. I kinda agree



It worked well for Bush. He wouldn't answer "personal" questions during the 2000 election and it worked.

MzPip


"We should be very clear on this... this country was founded on the principles of the enlightenment. It was the idea that people could talk, have reasonable dialogue and discuss the issues. It wasn't founded on the idea that someone would get struck by a divine inspiration and know everything, right from wrong. People who founded this country had religion, they had strong beliefs, but they believed in reason, and dialogue, and civil discourse. We can't lose that in this country. We've got to get it back." Wes Clark

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arewethereyet (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 02:52 AM
Response to Original message

4. IF its true, he must come clean and really soon



as in tomorrow morning

Edwards - the right man with the right message

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aldian159 (385 posts) Fri Feb-13-04 02:53 AM
Response to Original message

5. Here's what he could say if bob woodward asks him.



"Bob, I thought you worked for the Washington Post, not the New York Post."

"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." P.J. O'Rourke

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Alopenia (74 posts) Fri Feb-13-04 02:55 AM
Response to Original message

6. Sorry, but it DOES matter if a man is unfaithful to his wife



I think it speaks very much about the trustworthiness of an individual. As a woman, I have a BIG problem with this sort of behavior.

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JackRiddler (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:08 AM
Response to Reply #6

9. How do you know about Kerry's marriage?


Sure, Theresa plays the role expected of her in the campaign and talks about the sanctity of their bonds blah blah.

How do you know any of that is true? How do you know enough to call it "cheating" if they screw around? What if it's considered okay between them? (Given this country's utter prudishness they wouldn't be able to say, would they?)

They are practically billionaires! She inherited the Heinz fortune from Sen. John Heinz, who was also in Skull & Bones. You think this was a marriage of passionate love? It's an arranged power marriage, like almost any other among the ruling class.

What if Theresa doesn't care? Why should we even know the details? If she does care, isn't it her problem, and not ours? You're proposing we should waste time discussing the sex lives of strangers?

Sept. 11, 2004 - The Day the Lie Died

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arewethereyet (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:22 AM
Response to Reply #9

10. it matters



its not about sex so much as its about honor.

Edwards - the right man with the right message

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spooky3 (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:30 AM
Response to Reply #10

13. But it's not our business. It is the Kerry's, and no one else's.
Candidates should not have to forfeit all of their privacy just to run for office.

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arewethereyet (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 04:43 AM
Response to Reply #13

17. I should know if someone has honor



especially if he wants me to help him become the leader of the free world. If he were not doing so then, you're right, it would be none of my business.

Honor matters.

Edwards - the right man with the right message

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YouMustBeKiddingMe (388 posts) Fri Feb-13-04 02:57 AM
Response to Original message

7. Yes, but if there is absolutely no merit to the stories, say so.



But DON'T LIE!

This is exactly what Bush is facing now with the AWOL issue. He lied time and time again, and in the 2000 election the media covered his butt for him, but now the media is running with it and he's backed into a corner. He was AWOL and has no place to hide now.

And to make matters worse, his credibility is being questioned on multiple fronts now. The budget, WMD's, the Plame affair, his service record, etc. If he'd dealt with this issue straight up when it first surfaced it wouldn't be piled on top of multiple credibility issues now.

GD 2004 - Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

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spooky3 (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:27 AM
Response to Reply #7

12. I disagree.
Edited on Fri Feb-13-04 03:28 AM by spooky3

You're telling him to say there's no merit if that's true, and that it's no one business if there is merit? Then he essentially gives up his privacy--many people conclude that there is merit in the stories if he says "none of your business".

He needs to make the same statement whether there is merit or not. If it is a private matter, it is a private matter and no one is entitled to know anything. Clinton's situation was different, because there were issues of workplace discrimination raised and courts were involved. He could have taken the Fifth and to non-court inquirers, said it was his own business. But if Kerry has had any private affairs that involved no legal issues or workplace relationships/potential discrimination, etc., then voters have no right at all to know the answers. If he loses a few votes from people who believe they have a right to know, so be it. That's a small price to play for maintaining privacy in the few realms that a candidate can maintain it.

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mourningdove92 (306 posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:01 AM
Response to Original message

8. I find it very hard to believe that this so called breaking story

has any validity to it. After what we saw the repugs do to President Clinton, any Democrat that runs for President must be squeeky clean in this area. Kerry may not be my first choice for our candidate, but I do not believe he is dumb enough to believe he could run for president with any kind of adulterous affair in his closet. None of us are surprised to see the repugs stoop to this level. Anytime things don't go their way, the try to make a SEX case. Its their pattern, over and over. Surely Kerry would know better than to try it, therefore, unless Kerry himself admits to this, I will consider it bogus bullshit designed to detract from the Democratic frontrunner and scare the country into believing we are going to have to go through this again. Kerry is making a statement regarding this issue tomorrow. I have faith it will be a complete denial.



"Did you know that we're in an economic recovery right now? What they call a 'jobless economic recovery.' Where I grew up, if you don't have a job, you don't have a recovery." John Edwards

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sgr2 (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:24 AM
Response to Original message

11. Media's Answer: So you're admitting you had an affair while married?



They'd tear him up.



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spooky3 (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:33 AM
Response to Reply #11

14. Kerry: "Let me repeat what I just said to you...



You are asking questions that are none of your business."

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JackRiddler (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 04:39 AM
Response to Reply #14

16. exactly!

Shame THEM!

How many of them never had an affair?!

What proportion of married Americans never had an affair?

Enough already!

Sept. 11, 2004 - The Day the Lie Died

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Dr Fate (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 03:33 AM
Response to Original message

15. He needs to tell the media to "grow up"...



...and stop distracting people from important issues...



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Tinoire (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 04:43 AM
Response to Original message

18. Fess up and REAL quick but



He's already waited too long. I was hoping he would have done it this afternoon but he didn't. Not good, not good at all.

Teresa is probably heaving (and do I mean heaving) an entire battery of Calphalon at his head right now- not because he cheated but because he embarrassed her and the other woman's pictures are up on the internet for everyone to compare the two, for everyman to oggle and reflect.

Bad, bad. Should have kept his zipper super-glued- especially when he knoew he was going to run for President and would be appealing to the center. DLC wisdom at it again.

http://www.chavezthefilm.com/html/home.htm

You know, the only thing I never got over in life is I took a young lady to a dance when I was in high school and she left with somebody else. And that's what the Democrats, some, have done to the black community.
We helped take you to the dance and you leave with right wingers, you leave with people that you say are swing voters, you leave with people that are antithetical to our history and antithetical to our interests. I am saying in 2004, if we take you to the party, you going home with us or we're not taking you to the party.
Al Sharpton, September 2003 Democratic Debates

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Moderator (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-13-04 04:44 AM
Response to Original message

19. locked

please continue here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic...

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Okay, have now done...

[ithacan]

37. I would only add: John F. Kennedy

here's a president who was bonking like crazy, apparently.

Should he have been disqualified for that?

When it comes to "scandals" there's always something. They become public for totally other reasons, like fear on the part of political opponents.

Let's now forget what's happening to Shrub right now:

guys are coming forward saying he was never there. The WH is totally on the defensive. What better solution than to divert everyone's attention to a REALLY important story, like two consenting adults having a relationship (or not)...

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[Adjoran]

32. Kerry's been scheduled to be on Imus

since well before this stuff broke.

There are pluses and minuses to that.

On the down side, no mainstream journalists would ask the question unless they had some information from at least two sources. Imus will say anything, so you know this will be first up.

On the plus side, it gives Kerry the chance to get out in front of the story, and frame the debate. He just has to be telling the truth, with no hedging at all. He can refuse to answer a question, if he answers most of them, but he must be perfectly truthful in the answers he gives.

If he isn't, he will suffer the death of a thousand cuts as the story slowly but surely comes out, a piece at a time, keeping it on the front pages for far longer than it would be if he comes clean at the beginning.