I believe in John Kerry Options

[Druid]

I believe the senator. I have always believed him. I believed him when he said he supported the war in Iraq, and I believe him now when he says he was against it. I believed him when he said he would take care of our troops regardless, and I believe him now when he says he was only showing them just how much he cares by voting to cut off their funding when the going got rough. I believed him when he said he was caught in the crossfire in Cambodia in 1968 and I believe him now, when he reportedly admits he wasn't.

I believed the senator when he said every last detail of that blue Cambodian Christmas was “seared” into his brain, and I believe him now when he says he’s not quite sure if his recollection of that blessed event is solid. And I most certainly believed him when he testified before the transparently non-partisan Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 22, 1971, swearing America made him commit horrific but strategically needful acts, like hunting down cattle and dogs for sport. I believe the senator and his fellow Vietnam Veterans Against the War were motivated by nothing but patriotism and love for their vile country.

I believe the senator’s totally unsolicited television appearance on the Dick Cavett show in April 1971 was in truth doctored, even then, by the radical right-wing Carlyle cabal, operating in concert with the Saudi royal family, the CIA, and the reactionary conservative media conglomerate, News Corp. I believe in a secret, subterranean, centralized corporate authority.

I believe in the Kerry standard of adherence to the First Amendment, enunciated by the senator in his formal complaint to the FCC accusing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the Bush campaign of illegally conspiring to discredit him--a standard which holds that censorship is okay so long as it acts to suppress speech in instances where there exists "overwhelming evidence [of] coordination with the Bush campaign." I note with appreciation the senator’s use of the word “overwhelming.” I believe the senator when he says there is no evidence of any similar coordination between his own campaign and MoveOn.org.

I believe the senator when he says Bush’s attorney, Benjamin Ginsberg, is clearly in bed with special interests, and I believe him when he says his own lawyer, Joe Sandler, clearly is not. I believe counselors like Ginsberg who represent campaigns, parties, and soft groups simultaneously are all acting illegally, even though the law and the FEC declare they aren’t. I agree with the senator that all lawyers working in conjunction with the Bush reelection team and the SBVT are automatically suspect, and I agree with him, too, that counselors representing the DNC and their sludge funds are by default not even remotely fishy.

I believe the senator has the right to criticize his country, just as I believe VVAW had the right to criticize it, too. And I believe the senator now has the right to force John O’Neill to abrogate his right to criticize the senator, just as I believe the SBVT should be forced to abrogate its right to criticize the senator, too. I believe those sixty-some-odd veterans who signed affidavits are all lying, just as I believe the senator and his massive army of eight are the only ones telling the truth.

I believe the senator is being sincere when he lauds Michael Moore, whom he thinks should never be censored, and I believe he’s being sincere, too, when he denounces Paul Galanti, whom he thinks must be. I believe the senator is being sincere when he condemns as illicit the $17 million in 527 and 501 soft money the Bush campaign has raised thus far, and I believe he’s being sincere when he condones the $186 million his own campaign has to date accumulated by these same unquestionably above-board means.

I believe the senator when he says he favors a strong national defense, and I believe he was in fact actively strengthening our nation’s defenses throughout the 1990s by systematically hacking military and intelligence budgets to bits, and by voting to slay every single major weapons system that ever dared lumber across the Senate floor.

I see nothing suspicious in the report that the senator was awarded the Purple Heart for sustaining mortal scratches etched by whizzing bullets on December 2, 1968, even though he wrote in his journal a full nine days later, on December 11, that he and his crew in the Viet Cong had not yet “been shot at.” I believe the Purple Heart was similarly bestowed upon every rice-paddy warrior, who, like John Forbes Kerry, suffered self-inflicted, practically lethal nicks, cuts, and bruises, and I believe, too, that the Bronze Star and other medals of valor are routinely granted for knee scrapes.

[Johnzillah]

You know this is a big post, but it could be ten times more if you had the time to write it all down about Mr Kerry. Its getting pretty ugly for John Forbes Kerry to say the least.

[xl-FLAME-lx]

[Silver]

[GanGstA_Ba||eR]

L0lz

[Blakjak]

I believe that President Bush cut taxes (he may have tried but in reality hes gotta pay for all that deficit spending). I believe Saddam was a threat to our national security and that he was in cohorts with Osama bin Laden (and that parrots can do calculus). I believe President Bush has improved public education (at the price of lower teacher salaries). I believe President Bush has protected our environment from corporate exploitment (oh right, I forgot he opened millions of acres of national forest, oops, my bad). I believed President Bush when he denounced the swift boat ads (yea, get over yourself dubya). I believe President Bush is protecting American jobs (unfortunately President Bush rather likes free trade agreements). I believe America is in good standing with all our international allies (need I say more?).

Come on Druid, bashing his Vietnam record from 3 decades ago doesn't hide the things Bush did 3 years ago, or even 3 months ago. Like zillah said, there's 10x more. We could both go on about each candidate but the're both rich, white, priviledged, assholes who scammed people 30 years ago and they're doing it now. I live in Georgia anyways so it's not like my vote would matter.

[Druid]

Blakjak I'll give you an A for effort.
A few things to clarify.
I was never a big supporter of the tax cuts.
I may be wrong but I don't think they ever drew a direct connection to Saddam and OBL. Saddam was more about 18 U.N. Resolutions over 12 years which where never met and lots of faulty intelligence not only from us but also 6 or 7 allies.
I never supported "No child left behind", for that matter I want the federal government 100% completely out of the school system.
I can't argue with the environmental stuff because I don't pay attention to it.
On the other hand when it comes to opening the forrest up, most experts agreed it was needed. Last year alone we lost between 6 and 7 million acres to forrest fires. He opened up these areas to selective clear cutting for the simple purpose of preventing fires. Several polls showed the majority of the people in the affected areas supported this.

As for bashing on Kerry for his Vietnam record. I'm only doing that because he made it center piece of his campaign.
Just for you here are a few more recent ones.
Kerry recently begun accusing Bush of rushing to war for the wrong reasons at the wrong time and without building a real coalition. It's funny he would talk about how he would build a real coalition before going to war. The Gulf war was the single largest coalition ever made ( France even supported it ). Well Kerry still voted against it.
When Kerry was asked on Face the nation if he would vote for the $87 Billion his reply was ""I don't think any United States senator is going to abandon our troops and recklessly leave Iraq to whatever follows as a result of simply cutting and running. That's irresponsible." and " I don't think anyone in the Congress is going to not give our troops ammunition, not give our troops the ability to be able to defend themselves. We're not going to cut and run and not do the job, such a vote would be reckless, irresponsible, and tantamount to abandoning U.S. troops.
"
A few weeks later that is exactly what he did.

I was talking to a friend of mine a few days ago who is a big Kerry supporter, he said it will be all over once the debates happen because Kerry will blow bush away.
We now have a twenty dollar bet on who gets a boost in the polls after the debates.
Kerry is 10 times a better speaker but Bush will only have to bring up Kerry's senate voting record to contradict 90% of what Kerry says and his stance on the issues.

[Blakjak]

Druid you missed my point or we misunderstood each other I think. I wasn't saying that you yourself supported those things. And I don't deny that Kerry has some serious flaws but I think everybody is looking at the wrong issues. To tell you the truth, I couldn't care less about Iraq or Vietnam, they're no longer of importance to me. What is rather interesting is how many people fail to realize is that there are more countries in the UN than just the U.S. I wonder why none of the other major countries of the UN supported this- maybe they realized how foolish a venture it was. Maybe they recognized it for what it has turned into. Maybe they're just a bunch of gdp's. Who knows...

I'm glad you agree with me on education. The federal government really has overstepped it's bounds with No Child.

Bush's tax cuts really don't exist as far as I'm concerned, due to his other economic policies. His deficit spending has got a lot of people scared because there really is no way to pay off those debts, except by rainsing taxes. This a really perplexing issue, because many americans whine and bitch about our taxes, and yet they want the federal government to provide all these services. I say put up or shut up. If you don't want to pay the money, then you don't need the service. Not like any of this would really matter if the multi-national corporations we owe trillions of dollars ever came knocking.

As for the environmental stuff, I think you should pay more attention because it's startling some of the things that have happened. The most startling thing of all to me is how backwards Bush's energy policy is. He is catering to his big spender oil buddies, using things like the need for fire prevention as a smoke screen to cover his tracks. If you disagree on this that's your prerogative, but I formed my opinion in this issue long ago. We should be looking to the future, but instead we look out only for ourselves.

[Silver]

my 2 cents. the no child left behind, the gov needs to stay out of the schools and so does the aclu. when a teacher makes 80 grand a year thats a wee much dont ya think? not talking about a college professor, talking about mrs. johnson in the fifth grade. i dont support athletes making millions but in reality who fault is it. put the blame were it belongs. with the american people. we think the running back neds a new mansion. no he dont need to make that much money. you talk about the loss of jobs in america. next time you leave your neighbor hood and buy something that was not made in your area its your fault. go to walmart, you are helping people out side your neighbor hood and probally out side your country. everything you can find in a large store you can find in a small one in your city that is owned by a mom and pop. this is the demise of the small business. well how does it hurt the major factories that empoly the people that u work or want a job with. buy things that are made in ur area.
for example: a company called me and wanted me to swicth my telephone over to their service. they were in georgia, i asked how many people they employed in the local area (mine) answer was a few. i know 12 people that work for verision. and know they employ alot of people. i told him this and he cared less but at least he got my 2 cents.

[Blakjak]

what teacher makes 80 grand a year? or did i misunderstand this part...?

[Silver]

[Blakjak]

80 g is unheard of here in ga

[Hard Drive]

80 g is unheard of in SC also. My 2 cents: Well we can sit here and bash both parties. What good will it do? Bush is bad and Kerry is a flip flop. Both in my opinion do not even need to be in office. Maybe all we need is some guy with a high school education and a little bit of COMMON SENSE. I'd vote for him.

[Silver]