Kerry's Anti-War Record Discussed at White House Briefing

2/10/2004 | Jeff Gannon

[Jeff Gannon]

This was the exchange at today's White House press briefing, much of which focused on George W. Bush's service records with the National Guard.

JEFF GANNON (Talon News): Since there have been so many questions about what the President was doing over 30 years ago, what is it that he did after his honorable discharge from the National Guard?

Did he make speeches alongside Jane Fonda, denouncing America's racist war in Vietnam?

Did he testify before Congress that American troops committed war crimes in Vietnam?

And did he throw somebody else's medals at the White House to protest a war America was still fighting?

What was he doing after he was honorably discharged?

MR. McCLELLAN: We've already commented on some of his views relating back to that period the other day. And, obviously, this was a time period also when he was going to get his MBA at Harvard. But the President was certainly proud to serve in the National Guard.

TERRY MORAN (ABC NEWS): And would the White House consider those actions by Senator Kerry, that Jeff mentions fair game in the political season?

MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, I think -- I know that that's a way to try to draw us into a Democratic primary that is ongoing.

[DollyCali]

Bravo, most excellent, we can now & then not cringe at the el-crapo questions at the news conferences...Thank you for making our day!

[MeekOneGOP]

Kerry: America needs a 'regime change' too

[Jorge]

Well, then we disagree. You are implying that Republicans were beating up on Dean and this impacted media reporting and public perception. I do not believe this is what did him in. The reason why it's important for you to understand this is because Republicans on news talk shows have little effect on public perception of politics. The liberals control the press.

Is this why FOX News is the #1 Cable News channel?

Or why Talk radio which reaches MILLIONS of people is TOTALLY dominated by conservatives?

Common! Start showing some courage when it comes to being a conservative and stop being intimidated by the liberal losers like CNN.

The fact remains that Republicans gave Dean the out of control unelectable label LONG BEFORE the media caught on to it. Don't tell me that this and the conservative media replaying and laughing at Dean's inane speech had NOTHING to do with his downfall! They did.

[bray]

How did you get your Cahones past the metal detectors??? We need to get a full accounting on Cash & Kerry's war hero records. If not for his Communist activism there would be 10 million Asians alive today!

Pray for W and The Truth

[ohioWfan]

Good points all.......

Let's just say I HOPE it comes up with some facts before our good President took office and started cleaning up the mess........

[StriperSniper]

btw, I was just on Sean Hannity's radio show.

Saw the briefing, heard the show, great job on both!

I haven't been watching the WHPB often since Ari left, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more of your killer questions. I think Scott appreciated it too from the smirk he was trying to hold back. ;-)

[Chi-townChief]

PURE PRAIRIE PING

[cyborg]

I got to listen to Mark Levin after, and to me Kerry is filth.

[Jeff Gannon]

It's hard to say with Scott but he usually knows what he's going to get from me.

[oceanview]

anyone listening to Buchanan on Scarborough right now? really disgusting, I am totally losing respect for him.

[DollyCali]

Thank you for providing the news we need & can point others toward.

God Bless you & your work. We all know you will now be targets.. let US know here at FR when you need help. We can do some .. well, amazing things in mass...

[StriperSniper]

The C-SPAN rerun is on right now, I don't know if he just passed or is comming right up.

[FreedomPoster]

Sir! You rock! <*golf clap*>

Ping! - check this out.

[Bobby Eberle]

Hi Kayak,

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, please come visit us at http://www.gopusa.com

I think our server can take it. :)

GOPUSA features new Talon News stories week day, and we send out an e-mail news update each morning so you know what's up. Please sign up. As you can see, my DC reporter is right on top of things. You can trust that Jeff will do the digging where no one else will.

We're also planning to do more activities with FR as time goes along. I'm really looking forward to working with all of you!

Bobby

---

Robert R. Eberle, Ph.D.
President and CEO, GOPUSA
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Talon News
Web: http://www.gopusa.com

---

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

What's he saying?

[StriperSniper]

he usually knows what he's going to get from me.

Well, it was a break from the others nonsense. ;-)

Were you before or after April? Scott's reamming her right now on the rerun. :)

[oceanview]

the same stuff we've heard all day about "being AWOL", "being at a tavern having a drink". really bad.

I don't know why I bother watching Scarborough, he has a panel on with 4 people bashing Bush and only Peter King giving a weak defense. And this is supposed to be MSNBCs "conservative" show?

[cyborg]

I missed it. What did he say? The usual anti-war blather?

[olliemb]

Just saw you on Cspan. You are very good looking and physically you exude strength. And then with the questions you asked, well, Jeff, you were simply awesome.!! Keep up the good work.

I am embarrassed that those reporters acted the way they did. Poor Scott McClellan. Now, don't lose your press pass.

[nightowl]

Jeff, you made my day today at the WH Briefing. Your questions came right out of the blue after about a half hour pounding of Scott from the liberal Washington elite press corp. I was listening to the TV, but not watching at the time. When I heard your questions, I swung around to see who was speaking. I was absolutely delighted.

The reason we have heard practically NOTHING about Kerry's violent war protests is that the liberal media doesn't see the problem with it and thought it was honorable. If you looked closely at the photos of those war protests, you would probably see some of those liberal reporters in the crowd. They all agree with an article in Time Magazine last week that described Kerry's Jane Fonda activities as "PRINCIPLED" protests. These people are way out of touch.

John Kerry is not only a liberal, but arrogant and opportunistic. He's also a pacifist appeaser at a time when terrorist killers are trying to destroy us. But the American people can be very stupid at times, i.e. eight years of the corrupt Clintons.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Well, then screw Buchanan.

[kristinn]

Just passed a few minutes ago. David Gregory on now. Ay carumba.

Jeff, thanks for providing some perspective on this with your question. The DNC presstitutes were in full Watergate mode today.

[Jorge]

I got to listen to Mark Levin after, and to me Kerry is filth.

You're right.
Kerry is a two-faced, double-talking liberal pompous bag of wind. A real lying piece of crap. (I hope Jim Rob doesn't ban me from FR for saying this).

All we have to do is look at Kerry's voting record and public rhetoric, including his post-Vietnam testimony before Congress to see what this man is really about.

Heaven forbid this man should EVER be elected President.

We all have to get out there and work for Bush anyway we can!

[Columbine]

Hey! Hey! Mr. Gannon!

Heard you on Hannity and you did a great job!

[StriperSniper]

Just passed a few minutes ago.

Thanks, when he got to Wendel Goler(sp?), I knew I missed it. :(

[cyborg]

Kerry IS SCUM.

At any rate, I live in rat heaven and pubbies where I live are a joke. I wrote a letter to the state Bush campaign coordinator about setting up Bush stuff in my area and never got a response. I'll still vote for Bush because Kerry MUST NOT BE PRESIDENT.

[oceanview]

now he's saying the 9/11 commission will show "hints" that Bush knew.

Peter King going ballistic now when he heard that.

I have to email MSNBC, this show must be taken off the air.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Bobby Eberle]

Very good looking??? I'm afraid we need to draw the line somewhere and that is it! :)

Jeff... please disregard those comments.

Bobby

---

Robert R. Eberle, Ph.D.
President and CEO, GOPUSA
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Talon News
Web: http://www.gopusa.com

---

[plain talk]

The fact remains that Republicans gave Dean the out of control unelectable label LONG BEFORE the media caught on to it

That's not the point. The point isn't who was first. The point is who or what was effective in changing public perception. It was only when Dean became embarrasing to the man on the street and became a joke, that the public perception changed. Polls changed. Dean beat Dean. Until folks like you figure this stuff out and what works, we are in for some hard times ahead. As I said, if Republican attackers were so effective in changing public perception, name some names of who they are. Also, remember that Republicans in the WH and RNC had no interest in defeating Dean now because he would have been so good to run against in the fall.

[kristinn]

I have to email MSNBC, this show must be taken off the air.

You do realize how Soviet that sounds, don't you?

[onyx]

I hate Terry Moron. I'd like to bitch slap him.

[Howlin]

Joe Scarborough is no friend to conservatives.

And the idea of having Pat Buchanan, of ALL people, on speaking for conservatives and the Republican Party is just an insult.

Hell, Buchanan joins right in with the Bush bashing liars.

[Jorge]

I'll still vote for Bush because Kerry MUST NOT BE PRESIDENT.

Yes! This is the spirit we need see all over FR.

I can't imagine that how any so called conservatives can sit out the election to pout over his immigration worker program (which will never happen anyway)..and actually help to elect something like Kerry. WAKE UP PEOPLE.

[oceanview]

I don't mean forcibly. What I mean is that this is supposed to be a show hosted by a republican, and he's just a figurehead so they can present the same anti Bush stuff that Matthews does, but under cover of a republican host. Its a sham. Better to take him off, and put on a show with a liberal, at least people will know what they are getting. I watched the show a few weeks ago, he was just letting this insane 9/11 widow and her lawyer repeat lie after lie about how Bush setup and knew about 9/11, they were on unopposed.

I think that why Peter King blew up, he just couldn't take it anymore.

[olliemb]

Buchanan is plain crazy and I agree to have him as the conservative rep is an insult to me. Buchanan does not speak for me.

I remember Buchanan when he agreed with all those little ole Jewish ladies that they voted for him by mistake in Florida. Whew--Buchanan is a bigot,how can he represent the conservatives.

And Jorge i agree with ya. Perhaps Kerry and his Vietnams Hanoi Jane duet will be enough to wake up the conservative base. Let us all work hard to get the president elected and let us all go out and vote.

[j_tull]

Checked out the Talon link, cool. Also linked from there to Men's News Daily, which could soon be my second favorite website 8^}

[Jorge]

Jorge"The fact remains that Republicans gave Dean the out of control unelectable label LONG BEFORE the media caught on to it"

That's not the point. The point isn't who was first.

Sure it is.

The people (Republicans)who FIRST labeled Dean as an out of control loose cannon who was NOT ELECTABLE...... had EVERYTHING to do with those who SECONDED THE EXACT same perception in the media.

The fact that Republicans were laughing at Dean and consider him the ideal losing candidate was a MAJOR influence on the dem primaries.

[prairiebreeze]

Pukeanan is the worst. And Scarborough has turned into a huge disappointment.

Prairie

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

You rule, dude!

[alwaysconservative]

So we have to wait until after the Dim coronation to laugh more openly about Kerry? Darn it, I was looking for a good laugh now!

[Jorge]

And Jorge i agree with ya. Perhaps Kerry and his Vietnams Hanoi Jane duet will be enough to wake up the conservative base. Let us all work hard to get the president elected and let us all go out and vote.

Believe me, when the Hanoi Jane connection gets out there, Kerry will wish nobody remembered his record . What a bag of wind.

[kristinn]

Thanks for the explanation. I don't think Scarborough's a bad guy.

[j_tull]

Don't miss this one, Uncle Dave.

[Howlin]

Actually, that picture was found and linked by a poster on FR on February 8th! A Freeper named laker5372 or something like that.

Dog will tell you who.

[mplsconservative]

New subscriber to gopusa.com bump! Thanks for all you do!

[plain talk]

Being first is not the same as being the determning factor. You know that. You are smarter than that. The gaffes whittled him down some. But the one thing that did in Dean was the replay of his speech over and over and over. Finishing 3rd in Iowa meant little. He should have won NH but didn't because of the cumulative effect of the gaffes and the speech finished him off. NH dems aren't persuaded by Republcians. Again, for the third and last time, name the names of Republican attackers that were effective in bringing down Dean. If not, you're wasting my time with your petty arguments.

[Brasil]

The Press Conference is repeating now, after the (muted here) speeches by campaigning RATS -- now there are hateful questions--look forward to Jeff's.

[Humal]

"I was just on Sean Hannity's radio show"

That was you?? Good job!

Were you the one who gave the "behind the scenes" description of the ignorance of the other reporters, who kept asking "what does this mean" when reviewing the military information given out about the President's military service? I found that VERY informative.