OK. I cannot live with the thought of Kerry not being president.

[Vektor]

I cannot fathom living out the rest of my days without seeing it happen.

It would be a cruel, cruel trick of nature. Have me be born, have me witness the man's potential, have a Kerry Presidency never come to fruition.

Die without seeing him take the OATH.

I'd rather die now.

[WildEyedLiberal]

1. I know exactly how you feel

I simply refuse to accept anything else. I mean, I just simply refuse to accept anything less than him in the White House.

[WildEyedLiberal]

2. Additionally

I still believe with all my soul that it will happen. And I will move heaven and earth to make it happen. He WILL be one of our greatest Presidents ever. Mark my words.

[wisteria]

3. I can't imagine him never being President either. I don't and can't

even consider anyone else until he gets his due.

[zann725]

6. Then we MUST begin "imagining" again...even against odds..

and passage of time. Logically, on a gut-level (if that is possible), I still believe it IS JK's Destiny to be Prez. And that Destiny is definitely BEFORE 2008. I don't know how, but...for now I keep visualizing.

My favorite visualization is of JK giving a Press Conference in the WH Rose Garden. That works best for me somehow...him actually near the WH, doing WH duties...speaking in coherent, complete sentences.

Silly as it seems...as John Lennon would say, "Some call me a dreamer, yet I'm not the only one. Some day I hope you'll join me..."

[ProSense]

4. Well he is going to be president

No matter what the whiny gang of A-holes say. The pretenders have run the country into the ground. They need Kerry, a real man, to undo the mess these morons have created. Yes, that's right, a real man.

[ginnyinWI]

23. they certainly do need Kerry, now more than ever

Washington and the whole country has become so corrupt, and Kerry has the integrity to start restoring our honor. If only that could have started in 2005!

But we really don't have to wait for a Kerry presidency to see results. He's working right now, with every fiber of his being to make things better. Every candidate he helps win an election, every statement he makes about what America should be and policies we should hold, every time he nails some corrupt Republican to the wall, every legislative action he proposes(even those that fail)--all of his work does some good and helps America be a better place. Together with other dedicated Dems in Congress, he is a leader with a stong voice for change and is helping turn things around, slowly but surely.

We are impatient. But reality is reality. Kerry would have had a tough, uphill slogg as president in 2005. Not that he wouldn't have relished every minute of it--but maybe it's better that we get Congress straightened out first. Then the White House. And if it's Kerry, that would be splendid! We know he's far and away the best qualified and most decent and deserving person for the job! If it's not, we know he will remain a key player, in whatever capacity he's in. Cause that's who John Kerry is--he's not going to quit just because it's not all about him.

[BlueIris]

5. Egh. Don't post like that.

Kerry will still be President, goddamnit. Even if I have to bleed out of my eyes, or do something else entirely undignified in order to secure him the necessary votes. I repeat: Kerry WILL be President. Now relax and go do some nursing school homework.

[Vektor]

7. No homework - I'm on holiday break...

All I have to do is sit around and ponder for a while...

[BlueIris]

8. Well, for Christ's sake don't ponder THIS.

Kerry will be recognized as President before my 30th birthday. There will be no further discussion! Kerry in '08 or bust!

[Vektor]

9. Ok, then.

It's not like I don't have faith he will do it. I do...I was just being fatalistic. I really won't rest until he is President. I'll do whatever I have to.

[BlueIris]

10. Good.

I still have my positive feeling about him, if anyone cares. There will be intense challenges for him during his administration, but he'll pull through, get done what he has set out to do with his destiny, and help America start to repair from the Bush disaster.

[zann725]

30. ...way before '08! Let's stay positive!

n/t

[BlueIris]

35. I...was?

As regards JK's prospects, I'm the most positive individual I know.

[TayTay]

11. Aw Geez, relax.

It's the winter doldrums that got to ya, that's all. (And the rain, right?) Relax, it'll be okay. We just have to get through this year first.

You know, there are a lot of naysayers out there. It's what they do. You have to learn to take the little grains of true information from what they say and disregard the rest. Otherwise, you ain't making it through 2006 and 2006 is going to be a very fascinating year.

Just relax and know that you are among friends. We will get through this together. No problem.

[karynnj]

12. It also looks like there will be all sorts of complicated

investigations of Bush. Who is one of the few people who can, in good conscious, talk about always doing the right thing and letting investigations find the truth? His natural dignity - that in 2004 was mocked as being aloof or not a regular guy - could be very reassuring as the true base nature of so many Bush people is exposed. People may realise that they do want a President who is smarter and better than they are.

[TayTay]

13. Hey, I just found a new hearing online.

The SBA hearing from Nov 8th is up on the SBA site. http://sbc.senate.gov/hearings/109hrgs.html (Pissed off Kerry. Go about 33 or so minutes into the thing. Very pissed off Senator. Sigh!)

Hey, it's the new year and I like the hearings. (I'm just so geeky.)

Sen Kerry gestures to Sen. Snowe: "You and I have worked diligently with this committee to get an emergency hurricane response. It passed the United States Senate 96-0. It's been sitting in limbo between the House and the Senate and just last Friday it was cut out of the CJS, cut out of the CJS conference by the Republicans. It has an emergency response, emergency lending. It has what we need and was cut by the Republicans. I just want to make that absolutely clear. I raised this issue with Sen. Frist on the floor last week and we get this talk about how we are going to look around. It's all politics. Politics as usual in Washington DC is screwing a lot of Americans. And they deserve better." (About 43-44 minutes into the hearing.)

Now Vek, honestly, them's fighting words. Take heart. People like that don't give up.

[ProSense]

14. Thanks for the link.

I'll have to watch it later. I came across a few articles mentioning that JK was calling for the resignation of the SBA head.

[TayTay]

15. Oh god, this one is an absolute classic.

You just gotta hear the direct questioning of Sen. Kerry with Sec. Barreto. It is priceless. Kerry just nails his sorry butt and makes the guy look like a posturing fool. Oh Lord this is just classic stuff.

About 1:35 into the tape. Just go, listen and feel better. If I were Barreto, I would looking to resign around now. The fact that he didn't is a sign of his extreme denial of reality and absolute fealty to Rethug dementia.

[karynnj]

17. Barreto is pathetic - I can't believe that they put a hold

on a bill that passed 96-0! Even though he said almost everything was good.

Even Vitter is making him look totally incompetent.

[globalvillage]

27. OMG

I thought for a minute the Senator was going to make that poor bastard piss his pants.

Damn. He's good.

[TayTay]

29. I think Sen. Kerry just intensely dislikes this hack Barreto.

He is at his absolute, prosecutorial best in these SBA hearings. (Check out the earlier ones, dating back to the beginning of '05, they are all gems. So was the budgeting hearing for HHS in Commerce.)

See, some of the Committee hearings are really, really good. (Well, when Kerry is there and when he is 'on.' Damn, there isn't anyone better.) Really, it's not geeky at all. They are sad in content (okay, tragic) but, ahm, damn Kerry is good. (So was Sen. Snowe, but Kerry went after Barreto with everything he had in his considerable arsenal and Barreto looked like what he was, a whining sniveling little fool.) BTW, SBA's budget for '06 was cut 20% or so, by $123 million dollars. Barreto thought this was great! Gotta get that deficit down. No wonder Kerry was so angry.

Curiously enough, there is no written transcript of this hearing. Usually I get a written, but no video. This one is a video, but no written. Odd. (BTW, I have transcripts of just about every hearing in '05 that Sen. Kerry was at. In case anyone wants them for archiving purposes.)

[karynnj]

37. I have never before seen a clearer example of

a meeting showing the best of government and the worst of government. Kerry, Snowe, Landrieau, and Vitter clearing tried to get emergency help as fast and as well designed as they could to help a desparate situation. They had an excellent bill within weeks of the hurricane.

Barreto is more concerned with multi colored charts showing irrelevent information to show they were doing a good job - while Kerry was pointing out they had processed less than 3% of all the applications - all put in by desperate people. I can't believe that they would hold up emergency relief funding even though they liked most of it because they didn't want to do bridge loans. What an incompetent bureaucrat!

[karynnj]

16. Thanks for the link - this is pathetic

Why wasn't any of this given any press in November. Is the bill still waiting or was that part of the hurricane relief done before Christmas.

Oh, I really wish Kerry wouldn't speak in Senatese - Who could possibly understand this.

"Politics as usual in Washington DC is screwing a lot of Americans. And they deserve better."

(Thanks for the audio link - unbelievably it sounds even angrier than it reads. Kerry's reference to Brian William's NO Convention center reporting and saying that water or MRE drops would have made a difference when people were dying of dehydration and hunger were compelling - I wish more people could see how obviously concerned for people's welfare he is.)

[TayTay]

18. The SBA hearings are gems, when you can get them.

They are not broadcast live and sometimes there is no tape of them at all. (Or maybe just an audio.) It's too bad, cuz these hearings are amazing. This is no-holds barred, give 'em both barrels events. (Geez, have you ever heard Sen. Kerry so angry? Wow!)

I did get this:

12/15/05
John Kerry: SBA Needs to Help Gulf Coast Instead of Holding Press Conferences

WASHINGTON, Dec 15, 2005 (U.S. Newswire via COMTEX) --With SBA Administrator
Hector Barreto on his way to Capitol Hill for yet another press conference to
spin away the SBA's failure to help small businesses in the Gulf Coast
devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Senator John Kerry, top Democrat on the Senate
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, issued the following
statement:

"This administration should be ashamed of the SBA's response to Katrina.
Hector Barreto is not doing a heck of a job. Out of more than 300,000
applications, they've only approved 20,251. Small business owners
throughout the Gulf Coast are still hurting months after Katrina, but the Small
Business Administration's leadership is offering them only hurricane force
spin. There's no sense ofmurgency, no understanding of the challenge that
lies ahead. For the SBA Administrator to stand up and brag about their success
completely ignores what's happening in the Gulf Coast. Administrator Barreto
needs to either lead, or get out of the way. They need to stop stalling and
stonewalling and make the Republican Congress pass our Small Business Relief
legislation to help the Gulf Coast."

I will look up what happened after this. I know the Drought Relief package passed. Hey, that only took 3 years of work.

[karynnj]

20. He did seem as angry as I ever saw him

even including the 70s. Beyond angrer, there was something far deeper which was that he was fighting to keep it about people who are in really really desparate shape. The fact that people were dying in the US when obvious simple remedies (like MRE and water drops) could have prevented it seemed to totally disgust and hurt him. (He had almost that tone when he talked of people potentially freezing - this administration is cold beyond belief to these people.)

It was also interesting that the SBA head seemed to blow off Kerry's comment about paying the workers benefits packages - because they are short term at SBA - obviously not the question for those who will be borrowed. The SBA is not paying their full "cost" if they pay only the salary - leaving the banks to foot the benefits costs. (I know in the 90s, in big companies, the benefits in total were a very big part of labor costs.)

[TayTay]

21. I agree. This was just amazing.

Kerry also did a much better job questioning Barreto than Sen. Vitter did, which is just sad. Honestly, why doesn't DU ever pay attention to the real work that gets done, and more importantly, gets hustled in Congress. This guy is indeed the real deal.

[ProSense]

25. Anyone who has dealt with the SBA,

specifically since 2001, can attest to the fact that it is a bureaucratic joke. Kerry was pissed. Some of the things he mentioned, like the the data entry stuff, boggles the mind.

[whometense]

41. Well, I finally got a chance to watch this

(way too) late last night. I think Snowe, Kerry, Landrieu all deserve medals for not jumping across the table and throttling that toad Barreto. Didn't you just love the way he was trying to yes them along, agreeing with everything?

Well, almost anything. What was that all about with the bridge loans? What on earth was that about? If anyone could explain I'd be grateful. It sounded like none of the senators understood it either. Clearly there seemed to be some kind of collusion between the *ise and the advisory banks, but I couldn't figure out why.

That tape displays * appointees in their full glory. Arrogant, slimy, inept, and slick, all at once.

[jillan]

19. There is no one else in either party that can hold a candle to Kerry.

I am glad he has made it clear that he is going to run.

Get used to it people.

[YvonneCa]

22. I don't know how I know this...

...but I KNOW he will be President.:patriot:

[mousie]

24. I know how you feel too!!

I always think it will be a tragic loss if we are not fortunate enough to have this man as our President!! I'm hoping like crazy it's gonna go for 2008. He is the best man for the job!! A leader who truly cares about the people... imagine that!! (Tho I cannot envy him if he has to pick up where george bush leaves off.... what a mess!!)

[globalvillage]

26. Hey mousie!

Welcome to the forum.
:hi:

[TayTay]

28. Mousie: Wlecome to the JK forum

Nice to have you here. Feel free to ask away about anything going on. And please feel free to jump in and start talking.

It's so nice to be a growing and thriving group!

:patriot:

[karynnj]

39. Hi mousie

Like you, if Kerry runs in 2008 - there is no one who comes close to him in my opinion.

[globalvillage]

31. Only 1,114 days till Inauguration 2009

Hang in there, Vek. It'll happen.

Eyes on the prize.

[TayTay]

32. I agree.

Now, what will you wear to that ball? Honestly, that's going to be a real dilemma for me. Everyone has seen my one and only good jacket. I'm going to have to get something new. Sigh!

[globalvillage]

33. Let's go shopping!!!

It may take me that long to find just the right dress and shoes.
Well, you said we had to get organized, didn't you?

What's the Senator's favorite color, anyway?

:-)

[Vektor]

34. You KNOW you have to count me in for shopping!

I'm already getting ideas for dresses for next year's b-day bash!

[TayTay]

38. Oooh, good question.

I don't know. Time for some research, I think. (It should be blue. He just looks great in blue.)

[ProSense]

40. I'm posting this

because the last time I hestitated, I missed out.

:-(

[BlueIris]

36. Hee. That's the spirit.

:-)