KERRY NOT SURE GOD ON AMERICA'S SIDE IN WAR ON TERROR

Drudge Report ^ | 02/29/2004 | Matt Drudge

[autoresponder]

Just emailed FR post URLs to FL, PA, NC, TX, SC, GA, CA, overseas

By noon tomorrow it will reach over 10,000 people

They will FWD on

[prairiebreeze]

Dennis and Al came to Edwards rescue huh?

Yes, but what does it matter? Very little IMO, but time will tell and thanks for the ping. Kerry sure hems and haws when it comes to talking about believeing in God. Evidently in Kerry's brain it's OK to believe in God but we just shouldn't talk much about it. I'd be surprised frankly, if he truly does believe in God. Feh. Prairie

[Richard Axtell]

Perhaps God might not be on John F. Kerry's side. We shall see.

[JLO]

Great post!

In case any of you haven't gotten seen this email - take a looksee. Forwarded to me from a reliable VN vet wife. Sorry I don't have a good ping list of all you guys. Please pass along, as you see fit.
JLO



I got this from a friend. I looked thru the webpages at the bottom and it looks ok. It is an interesting editorial! Sorta makes
you wonder about politics!
signed:
C


>
>Thanks to my friend, William Powell, Retired Judge of the 80th District
>Court of Harris County, for forwarding this.
>
>I keep hearing about Kerry being a "Hero" in Vietnam, but have never heard
>what he did that I am supposed to believe was heroic!! If he ever did
>anything heroic in Vietnam, I would love to hear about it!!! However,
>everything I learn about Kerry since he last left Southeast Asia and
>campaigned against the war effort of President Lyndon Johnson and the United
>States is entirely inconsistent with heroism!! -AP
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>It looks to me like not every Combat Veteran of Vietnam has bought into
>the "Viet Vet" Kerry wagon train.
>
>Subject: Don Bendell on "Hanoi John"
>
>An open letter to Senator John F. Kerry
>
>My wife had rotator cuff surgery earlier this year, and the recovery
>is terribly painful. Then, she developed a staph-epi infection, and
>they had to cut the same scar open and operate on her again. Just
>thinking about the pain and anxiety of facing that painful surgery a
>second time in the same wound, makes me cringe. That experience, however
>pales in comparison to what I am going through right now, in my heart.
>
>The old hurts are surfacing and the feelings of betrayal by fellow
>citizens, and their leader stirring them up, are breaking my heart
>again. I am being cut in the same scar. How did we who served in
>Vietnam suddenly become cold-blooded killers, torturers, and rapists,
>of the ilk of the Nazi SS or the Taliban? Most of us were American
>soldiers who grew up idolizing John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and all the
>other heroes. That was why I volunteered. But for political expediency,
>John Kerry has rewritten history, again. After spending only four months
>in the country of Vietnam, John Kerry testified before Congress in 1971
>with these exact words about incidents he supposedly witnessed or heard
>about from other vets: "They personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads,
>taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the
>power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed
>villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and
>generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam."
>
>I was a green beret officer who volunteered for duty in Vietnam and
>fought in the thick of it in 1968 and 1969 on a Special Forces A-team
>on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, just for starters. We were the elite. We saw
>the most action. Everybody in the world knows that. But we did not just
>kill people, we built a church, a school, treated illnesses, passed out
>soap, food, and clothing, and had fun and loving interaction with the
>indigenous people of Vietnam, just like our boys did in Normandy,
>Baghdad, Saigon, and everywhere American soldiers ever served. We
>all gave away our candy bars and rations to kids. Our hearts to
>oppressed people all over the globe.
>
>My children and grandchildren could read your words, and think those
>horrendous things about me, Mr. Kerry. You are a bold-faced,
>unprincipled liar, and a disgrace, and you have dishonored me and all
>my fellow Vietnam veterans. Sure, there were a couple bad-apples, but
>I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did, as an army officer, it was
>my obligation to stop it, or at the very least report it. Why is there
>not a single record anywhere of you ever reporting any incidents like
>this or having the perpetrators arrested? The answer is simple. You are
>a liar. Your medals and mine are not a free pass for lifetime,
>Senator Kerry, to bypass character, integrity, and morality. I earn my
>green beret over and over daily in all aspects of my life.
>
>Eight National Guard green berets, and other National Guard soldiers,
>have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and you totally dishonored
>their widows and families by lumping National Guard service in with
>being a draft-dodger, conscientious objector, and deserter, just so
>you can try to sabotage the patriotism of our President who proudly
>served as an Air National Guard jet pilot. I have a son earning his
>green beret at Fort Bragg right now, and his wife serves honorably in
>the Air National Guard, just like President Bush did, and I am as proud
>of her as I am my son. I volunteered for Vietnam and have no problem
>whatsoever with President Bush being our Commander-In-Chief. In fact,
>I am proud of him as our leader.
>
>John Kerry, you personally derailed the Vietnam Human Rights Bill,
>HR2883, in 2001, after it had passed the House by a 411 to 1 vote, and
>thousands of pro-American Montagnard tribespeople in Vietnam died since
>then who could have been saved, by you. Earlier, as Chair of the Senate
>Select Committee on MIA/POW Affairs, you personally quashed the efforts
>of any and all veterans to report sightings of living POW¹s, when you
>held those reins in Congress. You have fought tooth and nail to push for
>the US to normalize relations with Vietnam for years. Why, Mr. Kerry?
>Simple, your first cousin C. Stewart Forbes, CEO, of Colliers
>International, recently signed a contract with Hanoi, worth BILLIONS
>of dollars for Collier¹s International to become the exclusive real
>estate representative for the country of Vietnam.
>
>"Hanoi John," now that it works for you, you beat your chest about your
>Vietnam service, but to me, you are a phony, opportunistic, hypocrite.
>You are one of those politicians that is like a fertilizer machine: all
>that comes out of you is horse manure, and you are spreading it
>everywhere.
>
>Medals do not make a man. Morals do.
>
>Don Bendell
>Canon City, Colorado
>
>Don Bendell served as an officer in four Special Forces Groups, is a
>best-selling author with over 1,500,000 books in print, a 1995 inductee
>into the International Karate Hall of Fame, and owns karate schools
>in southern Colorado.
>
>Don or Shirley Bendell
>BENDELL ENTERPRISES, INC.
>PO Box 276, Canon City, CO 81215-0276
>(719) 269-3929
>Please visit our website: www.donbendell.com or visit
>our other website at www.bendellkarate.com
>

[KillTime]

KERRY: I believe in God, but I don't believe, the way President Bush does, in invoking it all the time in that way.

Did F'n Kerry just call God "it"?

[Springfield45]

"The Democrats have to accept God with a wink and a nod...as if to believe in God just enough for the Bible Belt Votes.(But I Don't believe in God Like Bush does do you hear me you New England and Hollywood liberals)............."

I love how these guys try to be all things to all people. Remember how the only time you ever saw Bill Clinton in church was when he wanted to get support from black folks for a piece of legislation or when he found himself in some kind of negative publicity trouble? Remember the Bible under the arm during impeachment?
So, the smarmy, condescending message seems to be: "Okay, look here. I'm gonna kinda play the God game just enough to get elected, but I'm liberal/progressive/Socialist/open-minded. Hey, remember gang, I'm from the Communist Anything Goes Northeast, so I can pretend to like that Southern God with the old grey beard today and tomorrow, but I'm not limited to a Bible God. No, sir. You want me to worship the Earth? Hey, I'm there... You want me to like the Aztec Sun God? No prob, God can be anything in my world because I'm not a hayseed dogmatic narrow-minded Republican. I even use the f-word, so I'm way cooler than those people. Vote for me, I'm sophisticated... Why, I'll believe in a dolphin to be a god if you dolphin-worshippers want me to. Just let me fool those stupid Bible Belt Bozos long enough to get in the White House, okay? You need ME, John Kerry, the blue-blood aristocrat, not that hot-headed hillbilly Jesus-Freak moron who's president now..."

[JLO]

Great find. In case any of you haven't gotten this yet - take a looksee. Forwarded to me from a reliable VN vet wife. Different site/different friend.
JLO

---

I got this from a friend. I looked thru the webpages at the bottom and it looks ok. It is an interesting editorial! Sorta makes
you wonder about politics!
signed:
C


>
>Thanks to my friend, William Powell, Retired Judge of the 80th District
>Court of Harris County, for forwarding this.
>
>I keep hearing about Kerry being a "Hero" in Vietnam, but have never heard
>what he did that I am supposed to believe was heroic!! If he ever did
>anything heroic in Vietnam, I would love to hear about it!!! However,
>everything I learn about Kerry since he last left Southeast Asia and
>campaigned against the war effort of President Lyndon Johnson and the United
>States is entirely inconsistent with heroism!! -AP
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>It looks to me like not every Combat Veteran of Vietnam has bought into
>the "Viet Vet" Kerry wagon train.
>
>Subject: Don Bendell on "Hanoi John"
>
>An open letter to Senator John F. Kerry
>
>My wife had rotator cuff surgery earlier this year, and the recovery
>is terribly painful. Then, she developed a staph-epi infection, and
>they had to cut the same scar open and operate on her again. Just
>thinking about the pain and anxiety of facing that painful surgery a
>second time in the same wound, makes me cringe. That experience, however
>pales in comparison to what I am going through right now, in my heart.
>
>The old hurts are surfacing and the feelings of betrayal by fellow
>citizens, and their leader stirring them up, are breaking my heart
>again. I am being cut in the same scar. How did we who served in
>Vietnam suddenly become cold-blooded killers, torturers, and rapists,
>of the ilk of the Nazi SS or the Taliban? Most of us were American
>soldiers who grew up idolizing John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and all the
>other heroes. That was why I volunteered. But for political expediency,
>John Kerry has rewritten history, again. After spending only four months
>in the country of Vietnam, John Kerry testified before Congress in 1971
>with these exact words about incidents he supposedly witnessed or heard
>about from other vets: "They personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads,
>taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the
>power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed
>villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and
>generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam."
>
>I was a green beret officer who volunteered for duty in Vietnam and
>fought in the thick of it in 1968 and 1969 on a Special Forces A-team
>on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, just for starters. We were the elite. We saw
>the most action. Everybody in the world knows that. But we did not just
>kill people, we built a church, a school, treated illnesses, passed out
>soap, food, and clothing, and had fun and loving interaction with the
>indigenous people of Vietnam, just like our boys did in Normandy,
>Baghdad, Saigon, and everywhere American soldiers ever served. We
>all gave away our candy bars and rations to kids. Our hearts to
>oppressed people all over the globe.
>
>My children and grandchildren could read your words, and think those
>horrendous things about me, Mr. Kerry. You are a bold-faced,
>unprincipled liar, and a disgrace, and you have dishonored me and all
>my fellow Vietnam veterans. Sure, there were a couple bad-apples, but
>I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did, as an army officer, it was
>my obligation to stop it, or at the very least report it. Why is there
>not a single record anywhere of you ever reporting any incidents like
>this or having the perpetrators arrested? The answer is simple. You are
>a liar. Your medals and mine are not a free pass for lifetime,
>Senator Kerry, to bypass character, integrity, and morality. I earn my
>green beret over and over daily in all aspects of my life.
>
>Eight National Guard green berets, and other National Guard soldiers,
>have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and you totally dishonored
>their widows and families by lumping National Guard service in with
>being a draft-dodger, conscientious objector, and deserter, just so
>you can try to sabotage the patriotism of our President who proudly
>served as an Air National Guard jet pilot. I have a son earning his
>green beret at Fort Bragg right now, and his wife serves honorably in
>the Air National Guard, just like President Bush did, and I am as proud
>of her as I am my son. I volunteered for Vietnam and have no problem
>whatsoever with President Bush being our Commander-In-Chief. In fact,
>I am proud of him as our leader.
>
>John Kerry, you personally derailed the Vietnam Human Rights Bill,
>HR2883, in 2001, after it had passed the House by a 411 to 1 vote, and
>thousands of pro-American Montagnard tribespeople in Vietnam died since
>then who could have been saved, by you. Earlier, as Chair of the Senate
>Select Committee on MIA/POW Affairs, you personally quashed the efforts
>of any and all veterans to report sightings of living POW¹s, when you
>held those reins in Congress. You have fought tooth and nail to push for
>the US to normalize relations with Vietnam for years. Why, Mr. Kerry?
>Simple, your first cousin C. Stewart Forbes, CEO, of Colliers
>International, recently signed a contract with Hanoi, worth BILLIONS
>of dollars for Collier¹s International to become the exclusive real
>estate representative for the country of Vietnam.
>
>"Hanoi John," now that it works for you, you beat your chest about your
>Vietnam service, but to me, you are a phony, opportunistic, hypocrite.
>You are one of those politicians that is like a fertilizer machine: all
>that comes out of you is horse manure, and you are spreading it
>everywhere.
>
>Medals do not make a man. Morals do.
>
>Don Bendell
>Canon City, Colorado
>
>Don Bendell served as an officer in four Special Forces Groups, is a
>best-selling author with over 1,500,000 books in print, a 1995 inductee
>into the International Karate Hall of Fame, and owns karate schools
>in southern Colorado.
>
>Don or Shirley Bendell
>BENDELL ENTERPRISES, INC.
>PO Box 276, Canon City, CO 81215-0276
>(719) 269-3929
>Please visit our website: www.donbendell.com or visit
>our other website at www.bendellkarate.com
>

[autoresponder]

That is making the rounds in Florida and other states now.


Vets and their families and friends are mega POed.

[doug from upland]

The song is up and running -- CLICK.

[JLO]

The friend I rec'd it from is in TX -- I'm in MN.
Good job spreading the word!!

[right way right]

Dear Senator Kerry,

I talked to God today and he said that all was going well in accordinance with his plan.

[MeekOneGOP]

Earlier, Connelly wrote, when Yarrow sang “Puff the Magic Dragon”
at an event in a private home in Ames, Iowa, “Kerry lifted his
fingers to his mouth for a quick toke on an imaginary joint.
You can almost see his thick mane of silver hair returning to the
shaggy brown do of those days.”

John Kerry: Stuck in a Vietnam-era time warp
(Click here or on the pic to read the entire article)

[mewzilla]

Just when you think you couldn't be any more disgusted with this man...

[realpatriot71]

We should be very careful in ascribing any of the USA's actions as the "acts of God" on this planet for God doesn't need the USA or any other country for that matter to carry out His will. This kind of thinking - that the USA if the direct "arm of God" - could lead to a similar sort of fundamentalism that we see from the Muslims. God is on God's side and the USA is on the USA's side. Our WoT is a necessary step in securing the USA's geopolitical position at the top - this is in the best interest of the USA. God is rather ambivalent one way or the other - His Will be done - the USA is not "needed" by God in anyway, shapre, or form.

[Lunatic Fringe]

I dont see where Kerry said he was not sure God is on America's side.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

John Kerry is a Godless, secular creature who has sold his soul to the Devil! He, like Judas, will betray America just like he did when he badmouthed our troops in Vietnam and he bloodsucked his wives for their money. The man is not a hero but a Satan and a USA traitor!

[raybbr]

"Is God on America's side?"
KERRY: Well, God will -- look, I think -- I believe in God, but I don't believe, the way President Bush does, in invoking it all the time in that way. I think it is -- we pray that God is on our side, and we pray hard. And God has been on our side through most of our existence.

That help?

[bondjamesbond]

Did you catch the Lileks Bleat on the "God not on our side" Kerry quote. Scroll to the bottom... Priceless Lileks...

Love this. From Drudge:

Elizabeth Bumiller of the NEW YORK TIMES asked Kerry: "President Bush has said that freedom and fear have always been at war, and God is not neutral between them. He's made quite clear in his speeches that he feels God is on America's side.

"Is God on America's side?"

Oooooh, that’s a good one. It lets the questioner get in a Bush dig while posing a stumper that’s rather difficult to fudge. Of course people can have long complex theological arguments about the matter (just had one with my wife, for that matter – 40 minutes of intelligent discussion that completely missed the point, because she came at it from the lofty abstract approach, and I was looking at it solely through the cruel lens of politics.

If you want to be president of the United States, of course, your answer is simple: “yes,” and you move along to health care as soon as you can. Because the overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God, and they like to think they’re on the right side of the big guy. But! If you say “yes” without footnoting your statement, you run the risk of alienating the voters who get Marty-Feldman eys when politicians claim they have God on their side. Kerry seems to be assuring his base that he shares the religious values of those who have religious values – and if you don’t, fine, no prob – and that he has all the spiritual opinions of George Bush without the off-putting assertions of conviction. But! If you waffle on this one because you don’t want your base to think God wanted us to invade Iraq, then you’re suggesting that God preferred Saddam to remain in power, or that God wanted the US to work through the UN. Yea, the Lord did appear, and commandest the faithful to audit the Oil-for-Food program, and to pass a draft resolution expressing the will of the council for greater accountability.

If God is generally on our side but opposes the doctrine of preemption, then God would have shook His head at the invasion of Iraq. In which case He would have been more troubled by the invasion that resulted in liberation than the horrors of daily life in Iraq. War is bad. But Iraqis might have liberated themselves at some point down the road.

True enough. But how do you ask someone to be the last man to get fed to a plastic shredder for a regime that collapsed a day later?

Kerry’s reply:

Well, God will -- look, I think -- I believe in God, but I don't believe, the way President Bush does, in invoking it all the time in that way. I think it is -- we pray that God is on our side, and we pray hard. And God has been on our side through most of our existence.

My follow-up: Well, Senator Kerry, when wasn’t He? I’m not saying that God has favored all our undertakings, as the dollar bill suggests; surely slavery was a gross offense. But let’s press the matter and bring up the central animating issue of Kerry’s persona: was God on our side in Vietnam? You have several answers:

He was.

He was, but He disapproved of the way the war was handled.

He wasn’t.

The first is unacceptable to Kerry. The second just sounds silly. The third is consistent with what Kerry said after he came back from Vietnam; how could God countenance such horrors? But that puts God on the side of the triumph of atheistic communism.

Let’s go back to the answer: I don’t believe the way President Bush does, in invoking it all the time in that way.

Like this?

In the face of great perils never before encountered, our strong purpose is to protect and to perpetuate the integrity of democracy. For this we muster the spirit of America, and the faith of America. We do not retreat. We are not content to stand still. As Americans, we go forward, in the service of our country, by the will of God. --- FDR’s third inaugural address.

Like this?

God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world. --- FDR’s fourth inaugural address.

Like this?

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. --- That’s JFK.

Here’s Bush:

More than half of all the Muslims in the world live in freedom under democratically constituted governments. They succeed in democratic societies, not in spite of their faith, but because of it. A religion that demands individual moral accountability, and encourages the encounter of the individual with God, is fully compatible with the rights and responsibilities of self-government.

And the speech to the troops a year ago:

Iraqis are a good and gifted people. They deserve better than a life spent bowing before a dictator. The people of Iraq deserve to stand on their feet as free men and women, the citizens of a free country.

This goal of a free and peaceful Iraq unites our coalition. And this goal comes from the deepest convictions of America. The freedom you defend is the right of every person and the future of every nature. The liberty we prize is not American's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity.

State of the Union, Sept 20, 2001, when the fires at Ground Zero still burned:

I will not forget the wound to our country and those who inflicted it. I will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people.

The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.

That’s why I think it was a brilliant question. It doesn’t tell you who God favors – we all can have that debate. It tells you about the man answering the question. I ask you: who’s speaking his heart, and who’s crafting a response on the fly trying to cover all bases? One more question: take these two statements:

“The liberty we prize is not American's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity.”

Or:

“We pray that God is on our side, and we pray hard. And God has been on our side through most of our existence.”

Which one best represents the face of America you’d like the President to show to the world?

[GraniteStateConservative]

27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened."

28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.

29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

[Just mythoughts]

Think maybe we are having a replay of that "DRAMA"?

JFKerry's "god" is taking a potty break...

algore's "god" drank tooooooo much tea.

We are talking about the party of Genesis 3:5

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and YE SHALL BE AS GODS, knowing good and evil.