Mystery solved - sort of

[whometense]

Consider the source, but at least it's info (though a bit of a teaser...)

http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=91183

Kerry blts D.C. and misses Bolton vote
By Noelle Straub
Thursday, June 23, 2005 - Updated: 12:21 AM EST

WASHINGTON - Sen. John F. Kerry has been an outspoken critic of John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the senator skipped a roll-call vote on the appointment Monday as he took a two-day leave from his Washington duties.

Kerry missed four roll-call votes altogether on Monday and Tuesday, including one on an energy amendment he co-sponsored.

Kerry spokesman David Wade refused to divulge where the Bay State senator had been, characterizing his absence only as a ``longstanding commitment which could not be rescheduled.'' Monday evening, Kerry skipped the vote that Republican leaders had scheduled to end debate on the Bolton nomination.

``While we hate to miss any vote, the fact remains that (Kerry's) vote would not have been decisive in any outcome,'' Wade said. ``The fight against the Bolton nomination continues, and John Kerry will continue to speak out.''

On Tuesday, the Bay State senator missed a roll-call vote on an amendment he co-sponsored that would have stripped a provision from the energy bill allowing an inventory of all offshore oil and natural gas resources. The Senate rejected the measure, but Kerry's vote would not have changed the outcome.

The senator missed votes on two other energy amendments, on promoting technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reducing emissions on from diesel engines. The senator's aides said he has cast 97 percent of votes this Congress.

Kerry's office on Tuesday also released a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about equipment shortages in Iraq. A note from the press office called it a letter ``Kerry sent to Rumsfeld today,'' although the senator was not in Washington at the time.

[ginnyinWI]

1. hmmm

that was a teaser. Long-standing committment? It might have been some personal or family thing. Well I guess we don't have to know everything! :freak:

[karynnj]

2. I seriously can't imagine the Newark Star Ledger or any

New Jersey paper writing something like this on Corsine or Lautenberg. But I guess I know where this will be soon, if it's not there already. The numbers often don't add to 100, so it seems other Senators have been absent at times.

Why does the Herald think that the technologically sophisticated John Kerry could not dictate a letter by phone or even use email to send a letter to his office to send to Rumsfeld? They might not be smart enough to do this, but Kerry is.

[Mass]

3. This goes directly to the meme that Kerry is not a good senator

and misses a lot of votes.

Who cares that this is directly debunked by the record.

[TayTay]

4. That's Mass for ya. Politics is serious here.

Anybody can have a private life and 'commitments.' But there are thousands of people in this state who think they would make swell US Senators and they resent the hell out of Kerry for, well, whatever the hell is the thing of the week is this week.

The Herald is a rag. They hate Kerry, always have and always will. They never point out anything but the negatives. Screw them. So he missed a couple of votes, he probably phoned Durbin or Durgan and asked what the vote count looked like and figured he could afford to take the two days to do whatever it was needed doing. No biggie. But it was a snarky article by the Herald.

Hey, we know the Senator was on Nantucket this weekend. I hope nothing went wrong. He sure seemed fine and rested yesterday.

[Mass]

5. Kerry's statement from the senate record.

Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I would like the record to show that on June 21, 2005, I missed a series of votes as I was out of the office for personal reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted yes for the Nelson amendment No. 783 to strike the section providing for a comprehensive inventory of Outer Continental Shelf oil and natural gas resources. I would have voted no for the Hagel amendment No. 817 to provide for the conduct of activities that promote the adoption of technologies that reduce greenhouse gas intensity in the United States and in developing countries. I would have voted yes for the Voinovich amendment No. 799 to reduce emissions from diesel engines.

[jillan]

6. Do you ever worry about Kerry's health?

We all know he had prostate cancer, and I worry about this, alot;(

When I hear that he was out for personal reasons, I worry even more.

[rox63]

7. It could be a family thing

He looked pretty healthy during his speech today. Maybe he and Teresa had a fight and he decided they needed some time together. Maybe one of his daughters had a personal crisis. It could be anything, and he doesn't feel like telling the world about it.

[TayTay]

8. I doubt it was that.

Teresa takes real good care of him. And I don't think he could be in those 90 mile bike runs if he was hurting.

Most likely it was pent up family matters. Just as he said.

[Island Blue]

9. If I were Teresa

I'd enjoy having the Senator home for a few days to take care of my "pent up family matters". Is that what the kids are calling it these days? :evilgrin:

[TayTay]

10. well, blush, blush, sometimes

We are Proper Bostonians, don't ya know. Hmmm, Pent Up Family Matters. Okay, that was inadvertent, but not unlovely.

How about: Unresolved but urgent family needs?
No? Ahm, Pressing concerns at home (simple, but elegant.)

Your turn, my dear.

[Island Blue]

11. I don't think Teresa would take kindly to having

unresolved urgent needs - I think those might be more pressing than pent up family matters.

Pressing concerns at home ... OK.

How about "family issues that required prompt and personal attention." Which when you think about it is the same thing as "pressing concerns at home" only dirtier sounding. OK, we'll go with yours!

[TayTay]

12. I don't know

I like yours. (Cuz of the reason you gave.)

Heck, if it was me, I'd want those "family issues that required prompt and personal attention", attended to in a rather pressing fashion.

Okay, that's a good concensus phrase. Dirty, yet elegant.

[Island Blue]

13. Dirty, yet elegant it shall be then!

I do love the man for his body AND his mind after all!

[TayTay]

14. And I woldn't mind his body either.

Damn, it's been a good day. We are using mucho innuendo. This is usually either a sign that we are tired and frustrated from the DU lefty freeper crowd or that we have something to be happy about. I like that it's the later.

[Island Blue]

16. If I told him he had a beautiful body

would he hold it against me?

And I think it's all of the above.

[TayTay]

17. Geez, that would be nice

Can he hold it against me too? (Whome, how about you?)

[whometense]

19. I'm not sure you

want to get me started tonight. :evilgrin: I like him pissed off, and he was plenty pissed off today. Is it warm in here??

[Island Blue]

20. Sure he can, but you'll have to take a numba

I got first dibs!

[whometense]

21. Now you've gone and done it...

Bush's Democratic rival for the White House in 2004, Senator John Kerry, seen here, noted that an overwhelming majority of Democrats had voted to use force against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and said Bush 'should fire Karl Rove'(AFP/Karen Bleier)



Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., makes a statement on AIDS/HIV during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 23, 2005 in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

[Island Blue]

22. The gauntlet has been thrown - pictures have been posted!

Is it hot in here or is it just him?

[jillan]

18. Ha ha - you guys crack me up!

Yep- if he was mine, I'd want to have that bod home too!

Thanks for making my worries go away;)

[whometense]

15. I hear you,

but to answer you honestly, no, I don't worry about his health. He's a very strong, healthy guy, and he has a lioness looking after him.

There was a period in the campaign when I literally was kept up nights worrying about plane malfunctions. That was when Kerry was ahead in the polls. :tinfoilhat:

[ginnyinWI]

23. I would worry about the crowds during the campaign

If I was watching a rally live, I would be on pins and needles about that crowd. Thinking back to Bobby Kennedy, probably. Same honesty, same enemies. Even though I knew they were screened and there were at least six secret service around him all the time. :scared:

[whometense]

24. I had a few of those

flashbacks too. I'll bet few who lived through 1968 have forgotten the horror of that year.

I always had this sense that they would never allow * to lose, no matter what it took. I kept hoping that enough voters would see the truth and that it would be so large a win that they couldn't cheat their way out of it.