Kerry Throws-McCain's-"It's ALL Clinton's Fault -Back In McCain's Face

[kpete]

John McCain is taking another dose of stupid pills to please the wingers again. You guessed it: it’s all Clinton’ fault that North Korea went nuclear this decade.

John Kerry threw it back at McCain today:

"He must be trying to burnish his credentials for the nomination process," said Kerry, who labeled McCain's comments "flat politics and incorrect."

"The truth is the Clinton administration knew full well they didn't have a perfect agreement. But at least they were talking. At least we had inspectors going in and we knew where the (nuclear fuel) rods were. This way, we don't know where the rods are, the rods are gone. There are no inspectors. Ask any American which way is better," Kerry said.

more at:
http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/008964.php

[David Zephyr]

1. John Kerry!

Damn! Kerry is on fire lately.

[faithnotgreed]

2. the consistent problem is that when mccain says his usual bs

it is quoted and shown on cnn and the rest of the big newsmakers
when its kerry or another dem then its quoted on blogs - unless of course someone is swiftboating/swiftbaiting dems then that is also covered in the big media

[babylonsister]

3. Same as it ever was. Nothing's changed. nt

[faithnotgreed]

5. precisely

[Jacobin]

27. Yep. I was in the car half the day listening to npr and

mccain was the only one quoted....the only one.Typical

[Buzz Clik]

4. My, my, my. And to think I once liked McCain.

Is McCain's nose permanently imbedded in Bush's ass, or is there a chance he'll become a human being again sometime in the future?

[mac56]

6. Answers, in order:

Yes. And no.

[Richard Steele]

12. No matter what the future holds, McCain can never be trusted again, IMO.

[chelsea0011]

7. The Senate was in control for much of the Clinton administration.

I assume McCain was on the forefront for going after North Korea in the Senate. Well, was he? NAH!

[flpoljunkie]

8. Bush waived Clinton Framement requirement that NK allow inspectors in '02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia-pacific/1908571.stm

Wednesday, 3 April, 2002, 12:06 GMT 13:06 UK

US grants N Korea nuclear funds

Pyongyang threatened to pull out of the nuclear deal

The US Government has announced that it will release $95m to North Korea as part of an agreement to replace the Stalinist country's own nuclear programme, which the US suspected was being misused.

Under the 1994 Agreed Framework an international consortium is building two proliferation-proof nuclear reactors and providing fuel oil for North Korea while the reactors are being built.

In releasing the funding, President George W Bush waived the Framework's requirement that North Korea allow inspectors to ensure it has not hidden away any weapons-grade plutonium from the original reactors.

President Bush argued that the decision was "vital to the national security interests of the United States".

[suziedemocrat]

9. They'll be blaming Clinton forever. Hell - they are still blaming FDR n/t

[elfin]

10. He seems to have learned an important lesson - FIGHT BACK

and FIGHT BACK immediately - a bit surprised Albright didn't book herself and any available show - maybe she will. MCCain is really bad news -- and he knows better to boot.

[marmar]

11. Weren't Kerry and McCain pretty good friends at one time?

Seems like that's cooled, since McCain went all Manchurian Candidate on him.

[Laurab]

15. Indeed it did - With a friend like McCain.......

Kerry I think would have taken the high road with regard to McCain because that's the kind of guy Kerry is. McCain stabbed him in the back, probably more than once, and I believe their friendship has been over for a couple of years now. I'm glad, because if it weren't, I think Kerry would be kinder to him.

[lillilbigone]

18. They worked together, yes... but friends?

Only in the my-good-friend-the-Senator-from-Arizona meaning of the word, I'd guess.

[_dynamicdems]

19. They were friends, but McCain betrayed the friendship.

John Kerry probably still considers McCain a friend because he's that kind of person, but I doubt he'd trust the man and he's certainly not hesitating to call McCain out on his BS.

This article from the New Yorker archives is very telling:

Quote from Senator Kerry about Senator John McCain from a New Yorker article:
(A Friendship That Ended the War by James Carroll - Issue of 1996-10-21 -Posted 2002-01-28.)

"I defended him in those hearings when some stupid-ass right-wing idiot accused him of being the Manchurian Candidate, that somehow the Vietnamese had brainwashed him. This is the most unbelievably callous, degrading, nonsensical piece of crap I've ever heard in my life, coming from some chicken hawk out there, to hurl at somebody who spent as long as he did being tortured and standing up for his country, and caring about it as much as he did. It's incredible that people would behave like that, absolutely stunning." - John Kerry


More from the same article:


Sometimes McCain was attacked by his fellow-senators and sometimes by witnesses. He was the lightning rod. I was told by a member of the committee staff that when Kerry and McCain were sitting near each other on the senators' dais, Kerry would, at such moments, unobtrusively move his hand over to McCain and place it on his arm and leave it there, a quiet gesture of what was becoming absolute mutual support. I asked McCain if he had been aware of Kerry's touch. "Yes," he replied. "He did that several times, and I'm glad he did. I'm grateful to him."

The article goes on: check out the whopper of a flip-flop:

McCain is working hard to protect the Republican majority in the Senate, and he regards the liberalism of Democrats like Kerry as a danger to the nation's future. Nevertheless, when I asked McCain if he would be campaigning for Weld, he shook his head, an emphatic no. "I simply would not do such a thing. I couldn't do that. . . . I'm surprised you would ask. . . . Going to campaign against John Kerry is just something I wouldn't consider."

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/020204fr_archive03

Even back in 1996 John Kerry was defending veterans who got swift boated. McCain for all his bluster about how he would never campaign against his "friend" was quick to embrace Bush (figuratively and literally) when it was to his benefit to do so.

I'm glad Senator Kerry called McCain out on his remarks against Clinton.

[The Count]

13. Well done! Like with the Taliban, W reversed all Clinton's safeguards

Inspectors, treaties - everything out the window.
I hope more Democrats follow Kerry's lead - as this is a very important matter.

[pacalo]

14. Dimson's choice of UN ambassador says "We aren't going to talk to NK",

yet it's Clinton's fault. This wild, wild west stance is getting old. We need someone in the WH who knows which end is up & knows how to gain back the respect of other countries.

[samsingh]

16. and Clinton didn't label NK as the Axis of Evil

shouldn't this have gotten more hard work and progress with such focus.

[tuvor]

17. C&L: Sorry St McCain, you forget to send Rove's memo to Condi

(via The Situation Room)

RICE:…We have been through bilateral talks with the North Koreans in the
1994 Agreed Framework, it didn't hold. They…

BLITZER: That was a mistake the Clinton administration…

RICE: No. I will not blame anyone for trying. I just know that the 1994 agreement, of course, didn't hold. The North Koreans cheated.

BLITZER: Is there any evidence that what the Clinton administration did helped North Korea build these bombs?

RICE: Oh, I think North Korea has been persistent and has been consistent in pursuing this nuclear weapons program for decades. Now, it is going to have to be fought. And the international community is speaking with one voice very loudly, because the North Koreans crossed an important line when they proclaimed that they had conducted a nuclear test.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/10/condi-backs-clinton-over-north-korea/

[B Calm]

20. If republicans hadn’t spent all their time protecting child sex predators,

maybe they would have paid more attention to Korea!

[NewJeffCT]

21. Kerry has been great this year

Too bad he wasn't this forceful in 2004.

[politicasista]

23. Too bad fellow Democrats didn't back him up in 04

Check the editing room of the corporate media and the C-SPAN rallies and people who were actually there. They tell a different story than what the media told us.

[_dynamicdems]

25. Exactly! He drew the biggest outdoor rally ever in NH on Oct. 31st '04!

And people were pumped! He kicked ass in the debates but nobody gave him the credit he deserved, especially when he warned about North Korea. He was right all along, but the media wasn't paying attention. They were too busy playing Bush's terror alert game.

Dems didn't back him up either. A few did and more didn't. They damned with the faintest of praise.

[blm]

26. His speeches then were blistering - the media didn't air them and hardly

even covered them as news stories.

You should read some of those speeches today and see how tough he was and how starkly RIGHT he was on so many levels. What Kerry needed that he didn't have was a united front from Dem lawmakers who could go on camera and battle GOP bignames who were supporting Bush 100% - Giuliani, McCain, Dole were out there almost everyday. No bigname Dem lawmakers took up that task.

And still Kerry won - imagine if the DNC had done their four year task of securing the election process for Dem voters and candidates.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. McCain is going to be on the Today Show about this in a while. Puke alert.

[Imagevision]

24. Bush, I refuse to talk with N.Korea - not as long I'm the president

[VOX]

28. Kerry has been Just ***smokin'*** this year. Glad he backed Clinton...

on this particular issue. All the feverish Clinton-blaming would be a laugh riot if the stakes weren't so high. But it's far from funny, and it is a desperate gambit for those members of the right wing who have no arrows left in their collective quiver.

And shame on McCain for using such a shopworn stunt. He should know better. But then, he's a Republican.