Kerry assails Bush on Iraq

[politicasista]

This is posted in LBN, but if you don't feel like going over there, here is a snip:

Kerry assails Bush on Iraq
Policies on Social Security, health care also draw fire
By STEVE URBON, Standard-Times senior correspondent

NEW BEDFORD -- Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday called on Americans to be more aware of the "bait and switch" Iraq war and the "hollowing out" of the Army in the pursuit of a mistaken policy.
In a swing through SouthCoast, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee attacked the priorities of the Republican Party and President Bush, elaborating on what they are sacrificing -- health care for children, infrastructure, Social Security -- in the pursuit of tax cuts.
"The Holy Grail of the Republican Party is a tax cut, whether or not we need it," he said in a meeting with The Standard-Times editorial board.
Sen. Kerry puzzled over the apparent lack of interest by Americans in the Iraq war and the near silence in the U.S. mass media about the so-called Downing Street Memo.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/06-05/06-02-05/a01lo167.htm

[JI7]

1. it's not loading for me

or at least it seems very slow . will try again later.

but i did read the part that someone else quoated from this where Kerry mentions the internet. i wonder if Kerry has ever come on DU.

[Der Blaue Engel]

2. Oh, this is beautiful!

I LOVE YOU JOHN KERRY!!! :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

There are one or two whiners over there trying to find a way to turn it around on Kerry, but ignore them. He's got our back! :D

[Mass]

3. Great, he is going to raise the question of the Downing Street memo

[Mass]

4. More about Kerry's tour in Massachusetts

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_2775447

Some extracts here:

Kerry supporter Joyce Wrend, a North Adams resident who helped him campaign in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and elsewhere, said she thinks he is "touching his roots again. He may have heard some grumbling, and I am sure he is very sensitive about the needs of our state."
She said this visit is "low-key, and I think that is because he is very interested in talking to people and listening to what they have to say. It is not a publicity run through the Berkshires."

'Haven't missed a beat'

Kerry rejected the suggestion that he has grown disconnected from his constituency while caught in the whirl of the presidential campaign and its aftermath. "I am doing the job of a senator. I ran for president and was the nominee of the party. I haven't missed a beat from the day that ended. I have continued to do the work of the state, and that is what the people elected me to do and expected me to do."

He pointed to his efforts over the last several months on behalf of New Bedford fishermen to protect them in the recently enacted bankruptcy bill, and to his work to protect the families of military men and women, allowing them to stay in military housing for a year after the death of a spouse and guaranteeing they receive $500,000 in total death benefits.

[TayTay]

9. Geez, that'sone awful pic

Either that's a pre-embalming photo or they could only spare the underwater camera crew to take pics. That's one of the worst pics I've ever seen. (Jayzus, what did the Eagle do -- hire the guy who did publicity for the CryptKeeper to do their news photos? Times must be hard indeed out there WOW.) (WOW = West of Worcester.)

On the ohter hand, the coverage is nice. It was a rave, in that Massholey fashion. (This is a rave in Massholese: "That didn't suck as bad as I thought it would. You know, there might not be nothing wrong with it."

See, Massachusetts is not grumpy all the time. We are filled with, ahm, sweetness and .... (Okay, not really. But it didn't suck. The press coverage was not nothing. It was better than that.)

[Mass]

10. I think this is a picture from a previous campaign

Kerry is going to be in the Bershires today.


Hopefully, they will have better pictures then.

[whometense]

12. Yeah,

the caption says it's from 2001.

Hideous lighting. :-)

[Mass]

5. ABout Head Start program

http://www.heraldnews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14627881&BRD=1710&PAG=461&dept_id=99784&rfi=6

Parents fear loss of key resource
Daniel Fowler, Herald News Staff Reporter
06/02/2005

FALL RIVER -- Families involved in Head Start are happy with the results they’re seeing and fear that any changes to the program will hamper its effectiveness, parents said Wednesday.

"It would be treacherous to think of going from having people who care about you, being there every day, to being a number in the school department," said Bobbi Figuerido, a mother of 4-year-old triplets in Head Start. "It scares me to death. The program has been an incredible resource to my family."

[Mass]

6. And the Boston Globe talking of Kerry

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/02/kerry_stays_on_message/

Kerry stays on message

By Adrian Walker, Globe Columnist | June 2, 2005

NEW BEDFORD -- It felt a little like a primary-season morning in Iowa or New Hampshire, except for the near-total absence of any political stakes.

The proper culmination of Senator John F. Kerry's political dreams would not have led him to the Buttonwood Senior Center on Oneida Street, talking to a gathering of perhaps 60 senior citizens about his efforts to save Social Security.

The idea of reconnecting with people one has represented for decades might seem odd, but not in the context of what might have been. Few would be shocked if Kerry runs again, but for now, at least, his political life here is about more modest gestures.

Not that he would put it that way. Asked about the coincidental juxtaposition of a senior event followed by one devoted to young children, he invoked Hubert H. Humphrey's dictum that the moral test of government is its treatment of those who are in the dawn of life and those in the twilight of life.

''I think that's a pretty fundamental test of who we are," he said. Maybe he was talking about Southeastern Massachusetts, but it's a sentiment that might be aimed at a larger audience.

[whometense]

14. Nice column.

Wow. A Globe columnist who is thoughtful and perceptive about Kerry. Will wonders never cease?

[vinessa4freedom]

7. OK can I vent a little excitement...

:bounce: Thanks. Bill Clinton was on Larry King last night, and I caught part where he was discussing the war. I'm not sure if he's trying to be diplomatic because his wife wants to run for president, but I was disgusted that he didn't speak out about how the American people, Congress, everybody got bamboozled.

I LOVE JOHN KERRY!!! Thank you John, great big smooch!:loveya:

[Mass]

8. Apparent;y he also said Bush was a good man.

[vinessa4freedom]

11. Please tell me you're kidding...

I only saw a couple of segments of the show. Even Social Security, which any idiot can see would be doomed from privatizing, he skirted around criticizing. He said my solution was better, but....so then... I had no idea he said Bush was a good man. I wonder who was standing off camera threatening him, because I can't see the suck-up value. Most Americans aren't very pleased with leadership right now, so the time is perfect for honest criticism. Has he started campaigning for the GOP? Honestly.

[TayTay]

13. How is sucking up to * going to help Hillary

I don't get this. Everytime I see Clinton with the BFEE I cringe. It makes me less likely to vote for Hillary. It reminds me of the utter incompetence of the first two years of Clinton. What the hell is he thinking.

[whometense]

15. Agree.

Don't get it at all. I have exactly the same reaction. To me, it just emphasizes that whole slick, who is this guy persona. All I get from both Clintons is a sense of their maneuvers.

[Mass]

22. I did not see the show. but here is the DU thread on the subject

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1822627&mesg_id=1822627

[vinessa4freedom]

27. I have to agree with what I saw on that thread...

He's been abducted by aliens.

I don't care what his motivations are for acting like a zombie, the fact is he did. We were complaining about whoopi goldberg acting irresponsably--at least what she said (although crude) had truth to it because of the sincerity behind it. Here is a former president and a prominent democrat, who could be the spouse of someone making a bid for the white house. Tell me how promoting war, and * in any way represents true democratic values or does anything to strengthen the party? I'm not expecting him to change speeds and become a total progressive, but I didn't expect him to sell out to the right, either.

[Dr Ron]

20. Didn't like what I saw

I turned on the TV for a few minutes to set it up to record Larry King in full on a later showing (and to record Dan Rather tonight). I heard a little of Clinton whle setting up the recorder, and I was not very pleased with what I heard from him. I do want to hear the full interview before really judging Clinton.

At the time I did think about the attacks we would be hearing on Kerry if he made such comments.

[Dr Ron]

16. Great Article--Idiotic Responses on Kos

Note several use Kerry's continued criticism of Bush's record as reason to attack Kerry, and repeat the usual missatements of his position.

[TayTay]

17. Yeah, but a lot didn't

He got a lot of positive responses as well. The only thing that won't be heard is that the guy has been kind of busy, what with the Nukular Opshun, Bolton and the other pressing matters of the Senate.

You know, I may be wrong on this, but I sense a big speech coming up on Iraq from Kerry. I just feel it coming. Should be worth watching and listening to. I suspect a change.

[Dr Ron]

18. Mixed response

Response at Kos is quite mixed but I'm not pleased just because there are some positive remarks. There is no reason for any of the negative comments.

Kerry spoke out against Bush's policy every step of the way leading up to the war, and continued to criticize him during the war. It all comes down to their twisting the meaning of Kerry's IWR vote.

Meanwhile they accept plenty of other Senators who did vote yes, as well as Dean and Clark who gave every indication tha tthey supported it at the time. At least Kerry made his views on the war clear in his Senate Floor Statement, clearly showing he was not going along with they type of invasion which occured.

Criticism of Kerry for taking this long to resond is also rather meaningless. Not only were there plenty of other issues, but other Sentors have not acted on this yet either. Regardless, Kerry is the one they will attack for keeping quiet.

Far too many on Kos (along with some of the people on DU) are way out in left field and have little relevance to the future of the Democratic Pary.

[karynnj]

21. The mischaracterizations are indefensible

because they are clearly written by people who know better and are more informed than the population at large. The RW noise machine tried to equate Kerry's position in the lead up to Bush's, but as you say, it was never true. There are people, who are not obsessed with politics, who really never learned the truth, but the Kos people have repeatedly been given plenty of proof that Kerry was not in favor of war just for eliminating Hussein.

There is still the tendency to also say that, because Kerry didn't say to immediately pull the plug, he would have continued as Bush did. This can't be blamed on Kerry's nuances - he gave his plan as if it was a Power point slide with 4 bullet points. He even used nearly the same words each time. The fact that Dean never laid out a plan, other than to say we can't just leave is ignored.

So, I guess it boils down to their simple filter that they use to process anything. If Kerry says something, even if it is precisely what they've been complaining he was too DLC or too cowardly or too Kerryish to say, it was bad. However, change the story by replacing the name John Kerry to Howard Dean and they would be singing his praises to the heavens and complaining that Kerry should also be doing this.

[Dr Ron]

23. Often true about switching name

It is similar to a few weeks ago when there was the article on Kerry attacking the GOP leadership. Kos attacked him as if he was pretending to be an outsider.

When Kerry had his proposal on religion in the workplace, he was attacked. Boxer had a very similar bill,and they loved it.

I bet that if you took Kerry's pre-war statements and Dean's without saying who they are from, they would not be able to tell. I also bet that if you took some of Dean's statements and attributed them to Kerry, they would attack them viciously.

The same could be said about support for civil unions. It is ok when Dean or others do this, but every time Kerry calls for civil unions there's a round of posts accusing him of gay bashing.

[TayTay]

26. There will always be doubters

That is the nature of the Dems. We are who we are. Ed Schultz yesterday on his radio show said that the difference between Dems and Rethugs is that Dems value truth, then loyalty. Rethugs value loyalty, then truth. It's part of who we are. And Dems are not shrinking-violets when it comes to speaking out.

[WildEyedLiberal]

33. Except the Kosbots DON'T value truth

Which is pretty evident by their glaring, incredible double standards when it comes to Kerry.

[karynnj]

19. I think you're right

It's been nearly 6 months since the Iraqi elections. Kerry gave a strong enough MTP comment to be severely criticized by the RW that the elections per se weren't enough to fix Iraq so we could get out - and he said it might be our last shot at getting it right. They've done almost none of the things needed and are now threatening other countries.

I wonder what forum he'll use to speak out if he does. At least this war, he doesn't need an invitation to speak to the Senate. ;)

[whometense]

24. Very slightly OT,

but aren't the internets just amazing?

Article in a teeny little local MA paper about a Kerry constituent event. And all this reaction. Amazing.

[karynnj]

25. It is amazing

It can work both ways though. If this was a throw away comment where Kerry does plan to bring this up, but has it on a list of several other things to do next week - there will be people expecting it first thing Monday morning!

The internet may possibly cause some politicians who do pander by saying different inconsistent things to each constituent group to be seen for what they are. Kerry's honesty and integrity may be seen by the fact that although he intelligently tailors his speeches to the items likely to concern the audience, he doesn't seem to tailor his positions.

[beachmom]

28. Kerry and Iraq

This was my one criticism of Kerry this year, that he wasn't speaking enough about Iraq. I wondered why. His statement gives us a little bit of what's up -- that it's all in Bush's hands, that the only way to affect change in Iraq was to elect Kerry president. Having failed at that, there are not many options for him. Normally, I would totally disagree with this statement, BUT the Bush presidency is not a normal one. The only poll that * sort of respected was the election. Now that he has been re-elected, he appears to not give a damn what the American people think or want. So even if all the Dems joined by some Republicans made a lot of noise about the Iraq War, and 70% of the American people demanded we pull out, that SOB wouldn't care. He would say "I'm right, and ALL of you are wrong", and conduct the war as he has been doing. People in the '90s hated Clinton for checking polls when taking action on something, but you know what -- that's what democracy is about. Heck, even dicatorships check what the will of the people is so that they're not overthrown.

Nevertheless, along with my strong admiration for JK, I also expect great things from him and I don't think he has gone out on a limb on this issue. Maybe it's due to his own history with the Vietnam War. But the situation in Iraq is a nightmare, and we need leadership since we are getting NONE from the White House. Can you believe *'s statements at his press conference -- that we are turning the corner? WTF? You said that a year ago you moron, and it STILL hasn't happened! Dick Cheney was even better -- he said the insurgency will be defeated by the end of *'s term. Well, people let's hold him accountable for that remark, and play it over and over again in 2008! We don't have enough troops to defeat an insurgency, how are we going to defeat them in 3 years? I am SOOO frustrated over this issue, and we need solutions NOW! Despite my rhetoric, I will patiently wait for Kerry to mull over things and come out with that big Iraq speech -- it's inevitable. The stakes are too high for him to remain silent.

[TayTay]

29. I agree that we need to speak out on Iraq

There is a big, big, big march planned for Washington DC Sept 24-26th. That's a good step. (It takes a while to plan for massive marches.)

I just feel that we are getting closer to a big speech that wouldn't be so much a break with what Kerry said in the past as, well, something louder. He was lied to with the intel. That's what he voted on. And that is now of the past.

We have people who are still dying for a lie. He needs to address that and to address the idea of what to do. I think it's coming.

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

Actually, I would like to see a march on the media. Instead of going to congress and DC we should go to the branch offices of big media and demand they tell the whole story of the war.

[whometense]

30. I'd agree with that.

The sad fact is, * may be the worst, but he's probably not the first integrity-free president we've suffered through.

All the Watergate coverage has been a huge eye-opener for me. Not because of Watergate, but to see the revisionism paraded in front of our faces of a period I actually remember. And you can see their tactics played on a big screen right in front of you. It's truly shocking.

Jeff Jacoby's Globe column today is yet another example of their tactics. They move the goalposts a few inches further to the right every time they open their mouths. They expect pushback, but what they get are moved goalposts. And that is what they want. Everything else is just a means to that end. The big victim is the truth.

[TayTay]

31. Jacoby lied. Remember that.

PJ O'Rourke thought that Kerry even bringing up the fact that Corporate Big MEdia lies and misleads was enough to get him banned for life from serious consideration as a serious pol. (JFK Library Speech, Feb 2005.)

Jacoby is deep in RW victim speak. They can never admit that they have power or the media, it woudl break the victim mentality. That doesn't mean it isn't a lie, it just means they are not going to stop disseminating the lie.

[whometense]

32. Oh, I'm not expecting them to stop.

Just wondering what we can possibly do to make their whining irrelevant.

There was something black-ly humorous about hearing Pat Buchanan tear into Deep Throat for his lack of morals next to hearing the audio clip of Nixon doin' his jew-hatin'.

See last night's Daily Show?? Ooooh, more, please. http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/06/01.html#a3233