Posted on 11/14/2004 1:08:09 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
On the afternoon of Aug. 9, John F. Kerry stood on the lip of the Grand Canyon, about to make one of the biggest mistakes of his three-year quest for the presidency. A stiff wind was blowing across the canyon, and Kerry, whose hearing was damaged by gun blasts in Vietnam, had trouble understanding some of the questions being thrown his way. But he pressed on, coughing from the pollen blowing on the breeze.
Would Kerry have voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, one reporter asked, even if he knew then that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction? "Yes, I would have voted for the authority; I believe it's the right authority for a president to have," Kerry replied, as aides stood by, dumbfounded.
Kerry's answer ricocheted around the political world. Faced with the revelation that almost all the prewar arguments for invading Iraq were wrong -- the existence of weapons of mass destruction, close links to Al Qaeda -- President Bush had nonetheless insisted that he would do nothing differently. And he had been challenging Kerry to do the same, hoping to catch the Democrat changing his position on the unpopular war.
The senator explained to aides that part of the question had been lost in the wind; he thought he was answering a variation on the same basic query he'd been asked countless times: Was it right to give Bush the authority to go to war against Iraq? Kerry had simply given his standard "yes," with the proviso that he would have "done this very differently from the way President Bush has" -- yet the misunderstanding now muddied Kerry's message.
Worried advisers briefly considered issuing a clarification, but feared it might further feed Republican efforts to portray Kerry as a "flip-flopper."
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
You'd probably have to go to Antarctica to find a lower pollen count than at the Grand Canyon in August.
Then it must have been the altitude......
Plus, Teddy made a royal ass of himself on election night when he was on CNN around 7:00pm, clearly drunk and high on the crooked exit poll numbers, stating this was Kerry's night, and Bush had been routed...
He can't ever sign it; his dishonorable discharge is in his files. The MSM wants to know just how many TANG meetings Bush went to, but will they pursue Kerry's Form 180 or his Mystery Discharge? Of course not, they're on his team.
Hey, See-BS! Show us that you aren't just the media arm of the Democratic Party and go chase down Kerry's discharge history.
"In the planning, proposed segments about Kerry's Senate record -- on the environment, on small business, on foreign policy --..."
"In his 20 years in the Senate, John Kerry authored a grand total of five bills that passed both the Senate and House and became law: Just How Many Bills Has Kerry ‘Passed?’ (Hat tip: Paul.)
* S.791: Authorizes $53 million over four years to provide grants to woman-owned small businesses. (1999)
* S.1206: Names a federal building in Waltham, Massachusetts after Frederick C. Murphy, who was killed in action during World War II and awarded (posthumously) the Medal of Honor. (1994)
* S.1636: A save-the-dolphins measure aiming“to improve the program to reduce the incidental taking of marine mammals during the course of commercial fishing operations.” (1994)
* S.1563: Funding the National Sea Grant College Program, which supports university-based research, public education, and other projects “to promote better understanding, conservation and use of America’s coastal resources.” (1991)
* S.423: Granting a visa and admission to the U.S. as a permanent resident to Kil Joon Yu Callahan. (1987)
He was also author of two bills that became law in modified form:
* H.R.1900 (S.300): Awarded a congressional gold medal to Jackie Robinson (posthumously), and called for a national day of recognition. (2003)
* H.R.1860 (S.856): Increased the maximum research grants for small businesses from $500,000 to $750,000 under the Small Business Technology Transfer Program. (2001)
... and co-authored four “joint resolutions” that are not technically “bills:”
* S.J.Res.158: To make the week of Oct. 22 — Oct. 28, 1989 “World Population Awareness Week.” (1989)
* S.J.Res.160: To renew “World Population Awareness Week” for 1991. (1991)
* S.J.Res.318: To make Nov. 13, 1992 “Vietnam Veterans Memorial 10th Anniversary Day.” (1992)
* S.J.Res.337: To make Sept. 18, 1992 “National POW/MIA Recognition Day.” (1992)
That’s it. This is what Kerry has to show for 20 years in the Senate."
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13189_John_Kerrys_Sad_List_of_Achievements
In his defense, he cares about dolphins...
Pretty darn thin.
One of the biggest mistakes !!! Other than running !!!
Excuses Excuses Excuses ..... Flipped flopped ;-)
Dammit, think of the dolphins. THE DOLPHINS...
"His band of brothers stood on stage..."
"Curiously they also seem to overlook the fact that Kerry's crewmen are all now working for the Kerry campaign..."
http://www.poorschmuck.net/archives/008651.html
"Kerry said he would "never hesitate to use force" and "never give any nation or international institution a veto over our national security." "...
“I’m an internationalist,” Kerry told The Crimson in 1970. “I’d like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations.”
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=9836
"Only six lines of his acceptance speech were devoted to his 20 years in the Senate..."
And from another angle...
"The other party's nomination battle is still playing out. The candidates are an interesting group with diverse opinions - for tax cuts and against them, for NAFTA and against NAFTA, for the Patriot Act and against the Patriot Act, in favor of the liberation of Iraq and opposed to it.
"And that's just one senator from Massachusetts," Bush said
http://www.balloon-juice.com/archives/003730.html
I think his hearing was damaged by blasts from Teresa......
""Unfit for Command" used mostly unsupported allegations to label Kerry a liar who didn't deserve some or all of his combat medals..."
Of course, these spurious allegations were summarily disproved when jfk signed form 180...
Nah, I really don't care.
Maybe the song lyrics should be changed:
"The QUESTION my son is blowing in the wind,
the QUESTION is blowing in the wind!"
No, I don't think so, it was just another flip-flop.
"But this time, there was no prison scandal, or anything else, to swallow the swift boat veterans' crusade..."
or, more accurately: But this time, there was no prison scandal, or anything else, to distract the public from the truth...
"It pissed him off, people attacking his Vietnam service."
I know what he means. He must have felt kinda like the million or so vets who he off handidly compared to "Jen-Jiss Khan's hordes". You know, the rape and mutilation stuff...just a "little over top"...
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