J. Fonda Kerry is a flipflopping fool. bet it hurts your neck when he flips.
March 10, 2004
Posted at 2:45 PM, Pacific
The difference between wrong and rotten: John Kerry crossed a line today. Working a line of supporters, one of whom encouraged him to "keep smiling," Kerry, obviously thinking the microphones were off, said "Don't worry man. We're going to keep pounding. We're just beginning to fight here. These guys, er, these guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group of people I've ever seen." The tape aired on CNN, and I will be replaying it dozens of times on air for the country to hear this afternoon and evening.
Kerry obviously meant the president, the vice president, Karl Rove and the president's re-election campaign. Given the sweeping nature of the insult, throw in the entire White House staff, Rumsfeld and the Joint Chiefs, George Tenet, and Paul Bremer. Throw in everyone working to bring freedom to Afghanistan and Iraq, and demilitarization to Libya (successfully) and North Korea, Syria and Iran. It is a massive slander, and the tone of his voice brooks no doubt about his sincerity. Kerry really believes what he whispers in a moment he believes to be unrecorded. Kerry's sheep-dipped in paranoia.
Now the media needs to call him on it. What's the evidence for "crooked," for "lying?" What's he mean, and in detail. You don't get to walk away from such outrageous charges with a laugh and a wave. Kerry was a defender of Clinton, recall, a president demonstrated to be a liar and crooked. (Not just the impeachment, either, but Marc Rich etc.) But Bush-Cheney are worse than Clinton in Kerry's world. The president let slip once in 2000 what he thought of New York Times' reporter Adam Clymer, and the world collapsed on him. Kerry's charge is so much more serious that it defies comparison.
You can disagree with Bush on any number of issues, including the decision to go to war in Iraq. But no one candidate of the opposition party has to my knowledge ever uttered such a hate-infused polemic against the sitting president. This outburst is one with the MoveOn.org crowd's Bush-as-Hitler ads. It is bizarre. It is disturbing. It is disqualifying. Imagine a rage filled Kerry in the White House. And you thought Nixon had his demons.
At a minimum I hope the president responds by ruling out any debates with this jerk --any debates, period-- until a full apology is issued by Kerry to a full bank of cameras, a detailed and complete apology that includes everyone about whom the public might now think a liar or corrupt because of this recklessness. Seriously, the Democrats need to rethink their choice. Kerry's way off the cliff, and we have just begun to glimpse the inner Kerry: A mean-spirited, arrogant, angst-riden elitist with nothing but contempt for President Bush and the Americans who support him. And he has now given every nut in America more fuel for their inner demons.
No doubt Terry McAuliffe will be blaming the president for the low tone of the campaign that has now seen Kerry brand the president as a corrupt liar, McAuliffe brand the president as AWOL, Gore scream out his charge that the president "betrayed" the country, Wes Clark challenge the president's patriotism, and Howard Dean speculate that Bush had warning of 9/11. Don't hold your breath for CNN to report on who drove the campaign into the ditch, but there's no mistaking the party diving for the bottom.
UPDATE: This story's been out there two hours, and still no notice on Drudge or The continually updated web site. Incredible.
UPDATE II: Read this AP story and laugh at media duplicity. The reporter. Mike Glover, reports as fact that Kerry is talking about his "Republican critics." That's absurd and a transparent attempt to provide Kerry cover. The context of the remarks clearly telegraph that Kerry is talking about George W. Bush, and Glover's absurd attempt to provide Kerry a fig-leaf tells you all you need to know about Glover's objectivity --and the AP's for that matter. Ask yourself what the meedia would be saying had George W. Bush leaned close to a friend and said, "you know, these guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group of people I've ever seen." Somehow I doubt that AP would say the president made the comment about his Democratic critics, especially if the comment had followed a vow to keep fighting. But there's no media bias out there.
UPDATE III: Great post at Captain's Quarters. And FratersLibertas has the most appropriate quote concerning Kerry's outburst, from G. K. Chesterton: "As a matter of fact, it is generally the man who is not ready to argue, who is ready to sneer."
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