And then there's just the brutally stupid:

[whometense]

Talking Politics blog on the Boston Phoenix website: http://www.thephoenix.com/TalkingPolitics/CommentView.aspx?guid=1fe16c40-7e9c-403c-97c5-f8f80e77c1fb

John Kerry, environmental author

Here's John Kerry, on CNN's Situation Room yesterday, trying to steal an issue away from Al Gore:

"Teresa and I are writing a book right now on the environment. It's a book we look forward to bringing out in a few months. I'm excited about it. We deal, obviously, with the issue of global climate change, but with a lot of other issues."

Hey, why not turn it into a film -- maybe call it "An Inconvenienter Truth?"

What's next: "I Had Audacious Hope Before This Obama Guy?"

Maybe he could plagiarize Joe Biden?

Dare I suggest: "It Takes a Village Idiot?"



12/1/2006 2:21:21 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments <2> | Trackback

My response, which hasn't appeared yet but hopefully will soon:

I have no desire to enter into a "who's greener, Gore or Kerry" pissing contest, but this slur against Kerry is both mean-spirited and incorrect.

A few facts:

From The great green hope - Vice-President Al Gore's environmental record
Sierra, July-August, 1997 by Paul Rauber
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1525/is_n4_v82/ai_19550538

"Surprisingly, Gore's environmental voting record in Congress was less than stellar. The League of Conservation Voters accorded him a mere 60 percent rating for his service in the House, and 73 percent for the Senate. In the House, he held hearings on hazardous-waste dumping, taking on homestate companies and helping to bring the issue national attention. Yet his courage failed when it came to confronting two environmentally disastrous projects of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the quasi-governmental public-power and development agency championed by his father.

SIERRA CLUB ENDORSES KERRY FOR PRESIDENT

Says Kerry Will Protect America's Health and Heritage
http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/releases/pr2004-05-11.asp

"John Kerry has spent his entire career promoting real solutions aimed at ensuring that America's air, water, and natural resources are protected for future generations."

Kerry has demonstrated environmental leadership throughout his career in public service, from helping organize Massachusetts' first Earth Day in 1970 to opposing the Bush administration's efforts to dismantle environmental gains made over the last century. Highlights of Kerry's environmental record include..."

Oh, and in case you weren't aware of the fact, Teresa Heinz Kerry has a longstanding personal interest in environmental issues:

"Their mutual interest in environmental issues brought Teresa and John together. She was first introduced to John Kerry by Senator Heinz at an Earth Day rally in 1990. In 1992, she met John Kerry again at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro when President George H. W. Bush appointed her as part of a State Department Delegation representing U.S. non-governmental organizations."

http://www.psrla.org/25th_gala_kerry.htm

If anyone else feels like jumping in, it's a fact-free zone, so come armed.

[JI7]

1. expect more of this to come out, i have already seen it from other jackases

on here and elsewhere.

[JI7]

2. my comments showed up, did you enter the code on the bottom ?

maybe that's why it didn't show up.

i had to do it twice to get the 2nd one up, so you should try again.

[whometense]

3. I did enter the code.

How long did it take before your comment appeared?

[JI7]

4. my comments appeared right away

the first one appeared right away. just like when i post on DU.

the 2nd one didn't appear at first so i did it again and it appeared right away the 2nd time.

[cadmium]

10. I had to do it twice.

I think it is good idea to do copy of your comments when responding to a format like this one so you don't have to write them over again. Huffington Post and Firedoglake have a delay like that - and you occassionally you never know if your comment went through.

[JI7]

5. this guy sounds like a bitch and i bet he looks like one also

asshole ,douche, prick is what i think of when i see comments like this.

[globalvillage]

6. Mine didn't show up immediately.

I was easy enough to find this from Senator Kerry, dated 8 years ago this week, warning us about the dangers of ignoring global climate change.
You know, it's really not that difficult to do a little research before you decide to attack someone.

" ... remain distressed that the United States remains the only industrialized nation where legislators and opinion leaders continue to question the validity of the scientific proof of global climate change and its dangers to our future. It is the persistence of naysayers - and their willingness to misrepresent even the flimsiest of pseudoscientific reporting as hard evidence - that is preventing the American people from delving into a serious discussion of worldwide efforts toward sustainable development and mitigation efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming."

http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=180114&

[blm]

15. Put together a PRE-EMPTIVE post and educate people now about what's to come so they

have no excuse to join in and look just as underinformed.

Kerry and Gore have over 30 years into the environment as an issue, and just because the media rarely discusses environmental issues much during that time, there is no reason for those who CLAIM to care about the issue and about governance to not know ALL those who have led on the issue for over 30 years.

It didn't start with Gore - and it didn't start with Kerry, but those two are the most wellknown, and each has been ahead of the other at various times in their careers - Kerry picked up much of the slack during the 90s when environmental issues were not a priority for Clinton administration.

[MH1]

7. No longer a fact free zone (except the original post)

Thanks for catching this, whome.

There's several comments up now that show the author to be the "Village Idiot." You all done good!

I added my .02. It posted immediately, so either they aren't moderating at all, or they've decided to be fair. I was pretty hard on the guy.

Good job everyone!

:toast:

[whometense]

8. Thanks for jumping in, guys!

Great comments. It's stuff like this that, left uncontested, can show up later to bit us in the butt: "Even Kerry's liberal home town paper..." We have heard that before.

[cadmium]

9. done

I wanted to say gratuitous political spin that I would have expected of Joan Vennochi but I censored myself!

[cadmium]

11. RAW STORY -- COMMENTS with the same theme

http://rawstory.com/comments/23352.html

[MH1]

12. The comments there are awful.

I feel like I need a shower now.

[ProSense]

13. Raw Story has always been

infested!

[wisteria]

23. You're right! Raw Story? I won't waste my time over there. n/t

[Inuca]

14. They are not awful

They are IDIOTIC, STUPID, and MEANINGLESS. There is criticism, and then there is mindless idiotic rambling, you get the idea... Or simply people that derive some kind of bizarre pleasure from saying such things, I do not know.... does one feel "empowered" when saying mindless nasty things about somebody in power? Just annoying noise, nothing else. It comes with the territory I guess... the Internet is wonderfully democratic in its ability to give anyone with access a voice, but of course this also means that we are put in a position to "listen" to people that we would never in our lives listen or interact with...

[whometense]

16. Oh man - responses like this make it all worth it -

12/3/2006 6:21:03 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
I find it hilarious that all the pro-Kerry comments in this thread are articulate and full of substance, quoting Kerry's history and his words, and the anti-Kerry posts all sound like they were written by taunting fourth graders. Because they have no real rebuttal to any of the facts, all they can manage to do is make ketchup jokes and sound like petulant assholes.

I wasn't a Kerry-first guy in 2004 and I haven't decided who I want to vote for in 2008, but let me tell you something: reading the immature and petty jabs from the Kerry-hating krew versus the well-informed and intelligent posts from his supporters really crystallizes the kind of people who seems to love or hate the Senator. Thanks to this thread, I've just been nudged that much closer to supporting John Kerry because honestly, someone who could inspire the hatred of such petty idiots deserves some kudos.

Blarney |andromeda1984AT NOSPAMyahoo dot com

Oh, yeah!!! WELL DONE, folks!!!!

[globalvillage]

17. NICE!

What a great comment.
Thanks, Blarney!

[ProSense]

18. What a terrific post! Thanks! n/t

[fedupinBushcountry]

19. That is a keeper

Good job to all. :applause:

[MBS]

22. this is wonderful!

Thanks so much for posting this, whometense!! Restores my faith in cyberspace humanity. And good work, Kerryites!!:toast:

by the way, Kerry discussion forum is now over 115,000 posts! (115,008 as I write this).

[globalvillage]

20. Look at the response from the writer of that drivel

What a jerk.

[globalvillage]

21. And Blarney delivers the knockout punch.

He rocks.

[whometense]

24. And he insists on having the last word too.

If I were him I'd call it a night.

Blarney nailed his sorry ass to the wall. I wanted to go in and say more, but I'm afraid of undoing our good work.

This was a fantastic effort - made much easier by the complete idiocy of the original post. But I am glowing with pride that we were able to have this effect on Kerry's behalf.

Thanks again, everyone!!!! You are all magnificent. :toast:

[beachmom]

25. You guys DO rule! You changed some minds today, and that's

just fantastic!!

[cadmium]

26. We were nice and got the points across I think. n/t