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To: American Spirit who wrote (12635)	2/7/2003 8:53:55 AM
From: JHP	Respond to of 89467

Kerry A POLITICIAN THAT STANDS FOR NOTHING! Kerry shows true American spirit,DO NOTHING THAT IS NOT POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT!!!!!!!!! Kerry a farking joke. Kerry won't join boycott of S.C. NAACP taking aim at Confederate flag on Capitol grounds By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 2/7/2003 WASHINGTON - Senator John F. Kerry said this week it is impractical for him, as a presidential candidate, to comply with an NAACP economic boycott in South Carolina, despite indicating his support for the boycott less than a year ago. The Massachusetts Democrat, in an interview published Monday in The State newspaper of Columbia, S.C., said he supports the ''goals and aspirations'' of the boycott, but added: ''I can't run for president of the United States and change this country and have a positive impact on the issue of race and the needs of blacks if I can't campaign effectively.'' Yet during a visit to South Carolina last May to address a state Democratic convention, Kerry made a point of staying in the governor's mansion - and instructing his aides to stay in private homes - to comply with the boycott, which aims to force removal of the Confederate flag from the state Capitol's grounds. In an interview yesterday, Kerry campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said: ''There is a difference between respecting the goals of the boycott and formally endorsing it. And I think that's the difference that Senator Kerry saw. To be able to get to South Carolina and be able to talk about the issues that are important to the people of South Carolina ... requires you to be in the state.'' The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced the boycott three years ago to protest the state's decision to move the Confederate flag from the Capitol's dome to a monument on the Capitol grounds in Columbia. Many blacks consider the flag offensive. The boycott has created an issue for Democrats preparing to compete in the state's early primary on Feb. 3, 2004, when blacks are expected to constitute a sizable number of the voters. The only Democratic presidential contenders who have said they will honor the boycott are Senator John Edwards of North Carolina and the Rev. Al Sharpton, a New York civil rights activist. In Edwards's case, only he will comply. Edwards said he plans to open an office in the state and let his aides stay in hotels, both of which help the state economy - and thus breach the boycott. Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri has stopped short of endorsing the boycott, while former governor Howard Dean of Vermont and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut have withheld an endorsement while they assess the impact of complying with the boycott. Kerry aides said the senator decided not to honor the boycott after consulting various South Carolina political leaders and activists, including US Representative James E. Clyburn of Columbia. Clyburn, who does not support the boycott, is a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. ''The visit last year was [Kerry's] first visit to the state,'' said Gibbs, the campaign spokesman. ''He was in the process of learning about the state and learning about the boycott. I think it would be disrespectful to go in and presume you knew all the issues around it. We were respectful of it, but we were not asked and did not endorse the boycott.'' Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. This story ran on page A3 of the Boston Globe on 2/7/2003. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company. [ Send this story to a friend \| Easy-

To: American Spirit who wrote (12635)	2/12/2003 1:52:00 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Sen. Kerry Recovering After Cancer Surgery Wednesday, February 12, 2003 WASHINGTON — Sen. John Kerry successfully underwent surgery Wednesday to treat an early form of prostate cancer, his doctor reported, saying that "everything went well" and that the Democratic presidential hopeful can leave the hospital in a few days. "Everything came out very nicely. Everything looked completely contained," said Dr. Patrick Walsh, the chief of urology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, who performed the surgery. Walsh said Kerry will not require follow-up radiation treatment and should be able to get on with his presidential campaign very soon. The 59-year-old Kerry, who disclosed Tuesday that he had prostate cancer, vowed to return to work within a matter of days and said the diagnosis would not derail his campaign for the Democratic nomination. Joining the doctor at a hospital news conference, Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, said her husband was in "good spirits" and relieved that the surgery had gone well. Kerry's surgery Wednesday came 11 months before the first votes are cast in a Democratic primary campaign that already has attracted six candidates. Kerry had said Tuesday that cancer diagnosis would have "no impact at all" on his campaign. But some Democrats said it could raise questions about whether he is physically fit to lead the country. "If it is indeed true that he will be able to rebound quickly, I don't think he'll miss a whole lot," said Joe Shannahan, a Democratic activist in Iowa, where Bill Bradley's 2000 Democratic campaign was dogged by questions about the former New Jersey senator's irregular heart beat. "But there are people who will take a second look at him now because health is very important in a presidential candidate." Kerry, whose father died of prostate cancer at 85, spoke positively to reporters on Tuesday while disclosing a diagnosis that had been made on Christmas Eve. He began the news conference with a joke about his standoffish reputation, saying he was having his "aloof gland" removed, then repeatedly described himself as lucky, blessed and on his way to being cancer-free. "If you talk to any medical people in the country, they will tell you I'm 100 percent capable" of pursuing the presidency, he said. Kerry is among a long list of public figures diagnosed with prostate cancer, including retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, FBI Director Robert Mueller, New York Yankees manager Joe Torre and former Sen. Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee. Dole managed to wage a vigorous campaign five years after his surgery, but former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani abandoned his plans to run for the Senate in 2000 after being diagnosed with the disease. "This is very early in the campaign situation. It's a year and a half away," said Giuliani, who spoke to Kerry by phone Tuesday. "He should be able to make whatever situation he wants to make. It should not interfere in any significant way with his future." At least five other Democrats are running for the presidential nomination, and Sen. Bob Graham of Florida may enter the race after recovering from Jan. 31 heart surgery. Graham and presidential hopefuls Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina sent Kerry best wishes for a speedy recovery. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush, whom Kerry hopes to oust next year, "wishes him the best of health." Kerry, who regularly bikes and plays ice hockey, said he has felt "absolutely terrific" and the only physical indication of his hectic campaign schedule has been that he's lost two pounds, down to 178. A reporter said he thought Kerry looked run down when he saw him on Jan. 30, but when he asked Kerry if he was sick, the senator said no. He asked Kerry at the news conference if Americans should draw any conclusions about his truthfulness from his answer. Kerry said he wanted more time to talk with his family and doctors, then publicly announce the cancer "on my own terms." About 220,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and 28,900 will die, the American Cancer Society estimates. It is the second-leading cancer killer of men, behind lung cancer, and risk increases with each decade of age beyond 50. But caught early, it is highly curable. Surgery is the most common treatment when the cancer that has not yet spread beyond the prostate, a doughnut-shaped gland that surrounds the urethra and is involved in semen production. But it is a rigorous operation that will keep Kerry in the hospital for about three days. foxnews.com