Posted on 08/13/2004 6:41:53 AM PDT by areafiftyone
President Bush is no fan of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
"I haven't seen the ad, but what I do condemn is these regulated, soft-money expenditures," he said last night on CNN's "Larry King Live."
He hailed Kerry's stint in Vietnam and said nothing about the Massachusetts Democrat's admission on "Meet the Press" in 1971 that he had committed "atrocities" there.
"He views it as honorable service, and so do I," the president said.
He said the question was who could lead the country in time of war. "I think it's me. Because I understand the stakes."
Alluding to Iraq, King said John Kennedy "took the rap" for the Bay of Pigs fiasco. "I'm taking the rap too, of course," Bush replied.
"That's what elections are about," he said. "The American people can go in that voting booth and decide."
Bush replied "you bet" when asked if the U.S. would leave Iraq if the government in Baghdad told it to.
"The governing of their country is up to them. They are a sovereign government. We are there at their request," he said.
The president defended staying in a classroom for seven minutes on 9/11 after being told the nation was under attack.
"I was collecting my thoughts, and I was sitting with a bunch of young kids, and I made the decision there that we would let this part of the program finish," he said.
As for Kerry's potshots about the matter, Bush noted, "I think it's easy to second-guess."
He didn't mention that Kerry has admitted being unable to think or do anything for 40 minutes after learning about the terrorist attacks.
Brutus was an "honorable man" as well.
think?
ping Noonan. Please help this man.
Just when I was starting to like Bush...
Maybe not. But I didn't hear him say that. He said he doesn't like the soft money expenditures, that would include Moveon and whatever else Soros has up his sleeve.
Unless I missed it, I didn't hear Bush say he is "no fan" of the Swift Boat Vets.
NewsMax is startin' to get on my nerves.
Exactly. He just needs to stand to the side and let Kerry crumble.
Bush & Cheney need to stick to hammering Kerry's flip flops and Senate record. The rest of us can pick apart Kerry's "honorable" medal grabbing.
To say "I think" is better than to say "I feel."
Smart move by Bush. The Swifties against Kerry hurt Kerry, but don't necessarily help Bush. There are NOT that many undecideds out there in voterland, but Kerry's support is much softer than Bush's.
Rove knows what he's doing, and let's face it: GWB is basically a very nice man. He has chosen to fight Kerry on issues that are clearcut, namely, national security and the Iraq liberation (note I didn't say war).
I agree. If you turn this into a referendum on who had the better record in that era, Kerry wins in a walk. President Bush doesn't want to make this about who has earned that chestful of medals and if the Democrat isn't telling the truth, the American people will make their decision known in November.
And we all know what happened when Anthony repeated that enough times.
When your enemy is carving pieces of his own flesh off, stay out of the way.
"I know its me"
All he should of said was that Kerry can solve is problem by signing Form 180 and , no, he doesn't plan to have John O'Neill sit with him at the Pub Convention.
Sure, but it's not as good as: "I am the better choice to lead this country in time of war because..."
I wrote Newsmax a little letter. They are getting worse and worse in distorting facts.
I watched the interview as well as taped it. No where did the President say he wasn't a fan. He dissed 527's and soft money not the Vets.
Exactly - This is between the Swift Boat Vets and Kerry and Bush is not in this. Bush needs to keep his concentration on winning the race and exposing Kerry's Senate record which Kerry is trying to hide by running on his Vietnam service only.
"Anthony"
Or was it Antony?
related to the Swift Boat story, O'Neil transcript from CNN attack by Carville and Lanny Davis.
Carvell/O'Neil link has the transcript posted from CNN...here it is.
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0408/12/cf.00.html
The perception, which is fueled by the media, is that Kerry has a better record in that era. I disagree completely since the risks in training to fly F102s, and the purpose of the training, doesn't equate to a poor record of his personal service. But, the perception has been made that John Kerry is a war hero while President Bush hid from Viet Nam in the ANG.
As for this article, I don't see anything wrong with what President Bush said. He should stay above arguing over VietNam with John Kerry. Kerry is the one trying to present himself as a leader by his serving a few short months in Viet Nam, while trying to forget his disrespect for the men still in harm's way and his dreadful record in the Senate.
The President should stay focused on the future, not Viet Nam. He should shine light on Kerry's flips and flops, his lousy record on defense, and the fact that he's nothing but an elitist Massachusetts liberal.
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