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.

[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.