John Kerry: Round One

[ProSense]

Round One

by John Kerry
Thu May 24, 2007 at 09:10:53 AM PDT

Let’s be really clear about the Iraq vote coming down the pike in Congress this week.

I’m voting no on this bill. I’m tired of the false choices of Republicans and all the recycled spin of old battles and the political calculations that do nothing for our troops who bear the real costs of this war. Bottom line: we support the troops by getting the policy right, and this bill doesn’t do that. I’ve said it again and again and I’m not about to stop: we need a deadline to force Iraqis to stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home, not watered down benchmarks and blank check waivers for this President. We support the troops by funding the right mission, not with a White House that opposes a pay raise for our brave men and women in uniform. Do we need to bring out the hand puppets and make the case again?

More at Daily Kos

[truebrit71]

1. Where the fuck was THIS spine when it really mattered?

I mean, it's nice to hear, but exactly how does a fucking AWOL chickenhawk coward paint himself as being more patriotic and supportive of the troops then a decorated war veteran, and in the face of baseless attacks the decorated war veteran DOESN'T FIGHT BACK?

[MH1]

2. BULLSHIT. Why do people at DU insist on perpetuating lies?

Oh, wait. I get it...

:eyes:

[truebrit71]

10. Yeah he fought back hard against the swiftboaters and the vote-stealers in OH right?

...riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight....that's why he's the Presi...oh wait....

[ProSense]

11. Oh,

yes and yes.

Blogged by JC on 08.22.05 @ 04:19 PM ET

Fighting for Every Voter

A few more words about an issue that is of the utmost importance to me.

As political candidates, we spend considerable time and effort every election cycle fighting for votes. After the election, whether won or lost, many candidates leave the irregularities of the election behind. But we owe the voters more than that. When voters are disenfrachised, we owe it to them to seek justice and expose the truth. That is why I have been so proud of the Kerry-Edwards campaign's ongoing involvement in the investigation and litigation of what went wrong in Ohio. I wrote to the candidates recently to ask that they continue to be involved in this important endeavor.

This is not about the past. It is about figuring out what went wrong and why -- and then getting the next election right, not for the Democratic Party, but for all of the voters.

http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000213.htm

[Unbowed]

17. Silly child, you're using logic and facts again.

Facts don't apply, you know. People get an idea in their heads and they don't like to hear anything that contradicts it. That, my dear, is why we have George W. Bush in the White House.

Failure to accept logic or listen to evidence contrary to a preconceived notion are what we most loathe in the opposition. Ironic, isn't it?

[itcfish]

14. Kerry is Guilty

of underestimating the ignorance of the American People.

:wtf:

[Unbowed]

18. He is trying to educate the ignorant, but it is a grueling and thankless job.

Ignorance and narrow-mindedness are what elected Bush. And they are the same things that keep giving him power over us.

[blm]

19. Go to Research Forum and access the facts on the swifts' counters.

And I suppose YOU have fought and won many a battle when you had 90% of the media and your own side undermining you at every turn.


This talk by historian Douglas Brinkley occurred in April 2004:

http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=13354

Whom does the biographer think his subject will pick as a running mate? Not Hillary Rodham Clinton. "There's really two different Democratic parties right now: there's the Clintons and Terry McAuliffe and the DNC and then there's the Kerry upstarts. John Kerry had one of the great advantages in life by being considered to get the nomination in December. He watched every Democrat in the country flee from him, and the Clintons really stick the knife in his back a bunch of times, so he's able to really see who was loyal to him and who wasn't. That's a very useful thing in life."
>>>>>>


http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward


Did Carville Tip Bush Off to Kerry Strategy (Woodward)

By M.J. Rosenberg
I just came across a troubling incident that Bob Woodward reports in his new book. Very troubling.


On page 344, Woodward describes the doings at the White House in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the day after the '04 election.

Apparently, Kerry had decided not to concede. There were 250,000 outstanding ballots in Ohio.

So Kerry decides to fight. In fact, he considers going to Ohio to camp out with his voters until there is a recount. This is the last thing the White House needs, especially after Florida 2000.

So what happened?

James Carville gets on the phone with his wife, Mary Matalin, who is at the White House with Bush.

"Carville told her he had some inside news. The Kerry campaign was going to challenge the provisional ballots in Ohio -- perhaps up to 250,000 of them. 'I don't agree with it, Carville said. I'm just telling you that's what they're talking about.'

"Matalin went to Cheney to report...You better tell the President Cheney told her."

Matalin does, advising Bush that "somebody in authority needed to get in touch with J. Kenneth Blackwell, the Republican Secretary of State in Ohio who would be in charge of any challenge to the provisional votes." An SOS goes out to Blackwell.
>>>>

[sandnsea]

3. With Americans lying about him

And saying he didn't fight back when he did. He laid out a plan for getting out of Iraq by summer 2005. I bet you didn't know that either.

[ProSense]

4. It was right

fucking http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A23490-2003Apr3">here and here. Did spine matter when you weren't paying attention?

[O.M.B.inOhio]

6. No need for insults.

I read the quotes on your second links and remember hearing most of them in Kerry's voice. Kerry was right, and has been very consistent. However, his recent statement about the funding bill really has balls. It's made in bold, simple language. He's clear and doesn't require too much participation from the listener. The language for a public address is different from a conversation among intellectual equals (and 0.05% of the people who hear him are his equals). The archived statements of his campaign are so full of detail and qualifiers that the punch is diluted. So it seems to me that Kerry always has spine, but his message hasn't always been as clear as the statement you posted. Thanks for posting, but I'm not sure it's fair to assume truebrit71 hasn't been paying attention; the same thoughts has occurred to me, and I know I've been paying attention.

[ProSense]

8. Sarcasm, maybe, but what insult?

Sorry! The fact is I listened during the campaign and heard those statements when he said them. I've now read the archived campaign statements and they are clearly in opposition of the war. There is no way on earth, except maybe paying attention to filtered media, that anyone who heard the Senator and read his statement can conclude that Senator Kerry wasn't the most vocal critics of the war. Not all of his statements were filtered by the media, a couple of those quotes were from the debates. The regime change statement was covered in all the media (I guess they were hoping for a backlash). In fact, Senator Kerry didn't have a problem in 2004 with attracting anti-war voters.


None of it matters because is still one of the leading critics of the war and leading the fight to end it.

[blm]

9. Bush didn't fight - RNC and media did it for him. Kerry did fight and media ignored his counter

while promoting the lies.

Go to the Research Forum here at DU and check out the accumulated counterattacks that corporate media made sure to mute or downplay.

[wisteria]

13. The senator did fight back trouble was not enough Dem's had his back. n/t

[Unbowed]

16. It matters NOW.

And what doesn't matter is more prattle about 2004.

Lord, I am so sick of this utter nonsense. No wonder we don't get anywhere. When someone stands up on an issue, the people on the side of that issue knock the person speaking out because they deem him unworthy. Jesus, that's the kind of logic (or lack of it) I thought we were fighting!

[freesqueeze]

5. In the broad scheme...

Kerry's beenn better than most Dems on Iraq. That is Dems who hold office in Washington.

Compared to the average Dem voter they are all behind the curve.

[ProSense]

7. Updated

with a response to one of the comments.

[wisteria]

12. I appreciate hearing from Senator Kerry. Now there is even more reason to set a deadline

and go after the road block Republicans. Senator Kerry realizes we need to keep fighting. Ending this war is not going to be easy.

http://www.johnkerry.com/

http://www.setadeadline.com/

[depakid]

15. Bush's challenge: "Knowing what you know now..."

Seems to me more than any one misstep, that one cost him the election.

[beachmom]

20. All of Senator Kerry's individual comments here:

http://www.dailykos.com/search?offset=0&old_count=30&string=John+Kerry&type=comment_by&sortby=time&search=Search&count=30&wayback=20160&wayfront=0

All I can say is Oh. My. God. Very poignant and moving. For a politician, he puts a lot of himself out there.

[illinoisprogressive]

21. go John go