i was thinking about kerry this morning. it hit me... fast. kerry knows

[seabeyond]

something. i jsut feel it. thinking back. about the last debate i felt something in kerry, that there was an anger. anyway, all just a feel, but since the election kerry has held strong against bushco. being way bolder than anyone else. it felt like the end of election something was being held on him, but like he said fuck it..... but it is against the certain group of democrats too. he has been doing things that are totally turning back on dems. where it would quietly support bush.

just a thought. but i find this interesting. things he has done recently makes me feel like he just knows something. i jsut keep coming to kerry is our one hope, gore too,.... he is probably there too. or feingold. those are the ones i see the knowledge, fire in

[ginnyinWI]

1. With all the years he's been fighting this kind of enemy,

I'm sure he knows them about as well as anybody could. They say, "know Thy enemies" and he does. Nixon, Reagan, the Bushes, and all the unnamed villans working in the shadows--they're all cut from the same cloth. They're greedy, power-mad and acting according to thinking that's wrong.

I think he's filled with a righteous anger, even more since he travelled all over and got to see the faces of the people, and see how they're hurting in so many ways.

I also think he knows he would have won the presidency in a fair election. So he feels empowered by that. So he's his old self, living to right the wrongs he sees, plus his new self, newly empowered. I think all of us who are not Bushies are realizing the seriousness of this game more and more, and Kerry, with his vantage point, sees more than the rest of us do.

That's why I get so frustrated with people at DU who constantly second-guess Kerry. They hold him to a higher standard, but they go too far and think they know better. I say, "walk a mile in his shoes" first. (there, I've gone and put not one but two old cliches in one post--lol.)

[seabeyond]

2. they dont even try

to look at kerry without negativity. i dont know if it is the people that just had a preference prior to him winning primary. but i know i cam on right after primary, adn i always had to call bullshit on comments made about kerry, and what he was saying, the misinterpretations or flat out lies...

maybe you are right. maybe that is the confidence. your explanation seems all accurate. jsut something hit me today, and body language..... i wonder

anyway, i love this guy

i especially like the part you wrote about going across the nation, getting a in you face about what the people felt. i agree absolutely with you on that. could see the realization as the campaign went on. edwards too.

[ginnyinWI]

4. people at DU:

I think some of them, unfortunately, are rather narrow-minded and prejudiced in their opinions. They suspected JK from the start because of his upper-class background and never quite got over it. So he has a much higher bar to meet than they give other people. That's classist and wrong!

Then there is a kind of group mentality here where you have to conform to an overall skeptical, cynical attitude--and since the election JK's gotten on their enemies list. It's like every Dem starts out on that list, and have to prove they are good by passing some kind of litmus test that only DU knows the rules of. They love to hate people (it's more fun) more than support anybody or try to build some unity.

Some of them are probably very young, and some probably just don't have the education or experience to be very broad-minded, which is too bad.
Liberals/Progressives can be just as thick-headed as Republicans; they're just stubborn about different things.

When I run into this type I usually just click out of reading that thread. It's almost impossible to change their minds.

[seabeyond]

7. you kerry supporters are good. smart

excellent post. i agree with all

[TayTay]

3. Two Numbers: 2543 and 1577

"Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure." -- Abraham Lincoln

2543 is the number of American dead in a war that was based on lies. 8584 is the number of US wounded, who could not return to duty. Many of them have suffered disabling injuries that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Can you even imagine being 19 or 20 years old and having life-altering and crippling injuries that will affect you for the rest of your life? Can you imagine being the parent of a kid sent home that way? All for a war that rests of a pile of lies.

The Los Angeles Times just reported last week that over 50,000 Iraqis have died in this "operation." 50,000 human souls. We have no idea the number who have suffered crippling and life-altering injuries that will affect them for the rest of their lives. We do know that the rest of the world sees this and holds America in contempt for it.

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson

Hurricane Katrine has, to date, resulted in the deaths of 1577 people. Once again, the injuries, both to body and mind, have been horrific. This President abandoned millions of his fellow Americans in a time of dire need and then did everything he could to blame others for his failures. This man went to New Orleans in the middle of last September and promised that America would do whatever it took to rebuild this great city. Apparently, whatever it took meant however long it took for Americans to forget.

My sister-in-law and my neice and nephew were in New Orleans the week before last. They were in a Church group that was working on a Habitat for Humanity type project in that City of Despair. They showed me pictures they took of the devastation that still exists over 10 months later. It pretty much looks like this: http://www.davidmetraux.com/news/2006/hurricane_katrina_new_orleans.html I saw pictures of the Ninth Ward and we all know that's not coming back. A little bit of America has died. The President has turned his back on that region. All those people have been forgotten. You see, they were the 'have nots' and can't write Republican campaign checks. They were abandoned long, long ago by a society that doesn't want to think it has any poor people.

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts." -- Abraham Lincoln

I don't really wonder why Senator Kerry has been more willing to take these people on recently. He has taken on a lot of good causes over the years. I have seen more fire lately because more is needed. This uncaring and unfeeling government has abandoned the principles that this nation was founded on. There are people who hold the idea of accountability and the idea that government that works for the people, not for the special interests as sacred principles. They are real democrats.

No, I don't wonder about Sen. Kerry. I wonder about all the others who have seen this abandonment of people and principle and have done nothing. I worry about them a lot.

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong. -- Abraham Lincoln

[ginnyinWI]

5. Abandonment

One thread that's run through JK's life is the idea of not abandoning those in need. Whether they are Swiftboat crewmates, wounded vets, children without healthcare, personal friends, or just ordinary Americans in need. That's what motivates and mobilizes him--because he's very loyal and feels a responsibility to help. He won't abandon them.

[sandnsea]

8. Or the Vietnamese

That's actually something that really impressed me with normalization. Not only did he not forget his fellow vets, he didn't forget the Vietnamese either. The real "winning" of the Vietnam war is in the trade and communications done since normalization and in the years ahead. I swear the only thing Republicans seemed to learn from Vietnam was to ignore anybody who says they're wrong.

[seabeyond]

6. damn good post

just today, i went into thought about iraq. laying on my bed. we live in such peace in our house. life is so secure. thinking about those in iraq nad what we have done. breaks my heart.

excellent post.

you are right

[cadmium]

9. I get the same gut feeling about this

Thank you for getting this thread going. It is hard to put a sixth sense about political issues in words. My antennae are up too.

Maybe it has something to do with long and many times obstructed BCCI investigation. Note that he didn't brag about it during the campaign. I wanted him to-but I am sure there were reasons to be circumspect. With this unglamorous and dogged investigation Kerry and Brown did more to hinder terrorism than all the other politicians combined. It makes sense to me that the sense that he knows something comes from this investigation.

Here is a quote I have saved from election season from Republican Harold Brown about BCCI:

'"Perhaps Sen. Hank Brown, the ranking Republican on Kerry's subcommittee, put it best. "John Kerry was willing to spearhead this difficult investigation," Brown said. "Because many important members of his own party were involved in this scandal, it was a distasteful subject for other committee and subcommittee chairmen to investigate. They did not. John Kerry did." '

[blm]

11. And THAT is why the man needs to be the president of this country.

There is no one else more likely to open the books on the corruption that has engulfed it and effected every one of our lives because of it.

[ProSense]

10. Awesome post! Great thread!

I agree about the other people. I just saw that a thread on the home page about "23% of us." I spent the past few days thinking about this, having a passionate discussion with my brother about this: he's angry and doesn't believe the Democrats are effectively addressing the problems. Not the issues, but the problems that led to this power grab by the RW and, as you say, the abandonment of people and principle.