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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (3024)	2/18/2004 1:38:16 PM
From: JakeStraw	Respond to of 81568

LOL! Would you have responded any other way! LOL!! thedailybrew.com... LOL!!

To: American Spirit who wrote (3024)	2/18/2004 1:46:28 PM
From: JakeStraw	Respond to of 81568

Flapjack Kerry John Kerry wishes you to believe that he is the new coming of JFK. He has tried to sound a populist tone in the spirit of the former President. But unfortunately for Kerry the initials are where the similarities end. As one studies the voting record and public policy position on almost anything John Kerry has attempted to associate himself with it is easy to see why I pinned the name "flapjack" on his middle initial. The way I explain to my listeners is "he lays there until the heat gets too hot and then he flips." His voting record over the years demonstrates this easily. His position on the sanctity of marriage demonstrates this. He even flipped his position in roughly 24 hours this last week on one of his key campaign themes. Let me demonstrate my claims then offer my opinion why such a person is a concern. In the War on Terror, John "Flapjack" Kerry voted in favor of military action. He followed that by voting not to fund the efforts. He now claims that President George W. Bush lied to the American people. He conveniently forgets that based on his own examination of the facts he made similar claims: "Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..." Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003. Kerry also states repeatedly that he is more prepared to lead the United States forward in this global war on terror because of the lessons war taught him. What we are supposed to assume that means is that he will make us safe. But his idea of safety in 1970, according to the Harvard Crimson, is to let the United Nations dictate where our troops will or will not fight to protect us. In fact the direct quote was, "I'm an internationalist, I would like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the U.N." But no worries John Kerry voted against funding for intelligence thus proving he would have had to depend upon the U.N. to advise. He has also voted in favor of removing nearly every weapon that we now have in our arsenal and have been using to win the war on terror. In 2003 he insists that he would have only gone to war with a "true international coalition". Sixty four nations were not enough he needed three more France, Germany, and Russia. All of whom have now been shown to have had a "conflict of interest" with the Iraqi regime. On the national security front he has done little to demonstrate that he truly would look out for America's interests first. Though he proudly says "bring it on" in the partisan gatherings that he frequently finds himself in the midst of these days a closer look at his record indicates that he is not nearly so cavalier. In 2002, according to the Boston Globe, "Flapjack" repeatedly argued that he supported the death penalty for terrorists. Yet in an examination of his voting record from 1989 forward he has voted repeatedly to exempt terrorists from the death penalty and in 1996 in a debate with former Massachusetts Governor William Weld he publicly scorned the idea of executing terrorists. John "Flapjack" Kerry spends a large portion of his campaign speeches on ridding Washington of "special interests". Yet according to the most recent data in terms of money from lobbyists - Kerry takes more than any other sitting U.S. Senator. "Flapjack" has also arm twisted in the Senate on behalf of special interests even when he was aware that the interests involved were defrauding the American tax-payer to the tune of one hundred and fifty million dollars in overages on false workers compensation claims. In addition, according to the report filed by John Solomon of the Associated Press, once the company had the special legislative arrangement with Kerry work out on their behalf, they contributed totals close to forty eight thousand dollars towards setting up his Presidential campaign. Kerry insists upon the creation of unions for Gay and Lesbian couples. Kerry has signed multiple letters to the Massachusetts legislature lending his support for mounting piles of pro-homosexual preferences legislation. Kerry has also voted against every act that would preserve the sanctity of marriage - most notably the "Defense of Marriage Act" passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton. Yet according to the San Fransisco Chronicle Kerry claims, "he opposes gay marriage". But as the Chronicle correctly points out "when 85 of his colleagues voted to ban gay marriage he compared it to 1960's Southerners wanting to ban interracial marriage". In terms of abortion "Flapjack" is also consistently inconsistent. When campaigning the in the liberal northeast he states that he is the only candidate with a "clear record" on the issue. When campaigning in the much more conservative south, according to the Boston Globe's Patrick Healy, Kerry circulated a flyer describing his "personal opposition" to abortion because of his catholic faith. If asked about the inconsistency the best he can come up with is that one's personal convictions "should not be legislated". Even as "Flapjack" has tried to make an issue of the service record of President Bush while spending his time in the National Guard, John Kerry has been on both sides of the issue. For weeks he was jaunting around the country raising the issue and questions about whether President Bush's time in the Guard had truly been fulfilled. As the White House again released records that the Washington Post, The New York Times, and even military commanders have all said demonstrate that President Bush did fulfill his obligations, John Kerry responded on Tuesday, "This is not an issue that I created...". While earlier in the week appearing at an endorsement photo-op with the Governor of Virginia he clearly raised the issue again as he has done multiple times in inferences at campaign speeches. And since the issue of what happened roughly 30 years ago hit the front page, the spotlight began to shine on those "heroic feats" of John Kerry's from the Vietnam war. Taking enemy fire and being wounded is a heroic thing. It matters not how minor the wounds are. Standing to face the danger and defending your country should always be seen as courageous. But the major reason John Kerry will not enjoy the broad support of Vietnam veterans will be because of his association with Jane Fonda upon his return home. In addition the slanderous and unsubstantiated claims he made before the senate along with his admission thereafter that he had no first hand knowledge if any of the autrocities that he accused his fellow soldiers of carrying out were true. And as columnist and author Ben Shapiro pointed out this last week, later in his career "Flapjack" fought hard for the normalization of relations with Vietnam even when they were still holding POWs. He went so far as to initially decide to shred documents that would have erased the evidence of those same POW's for eternity. In one fell swoop of campaigning foolishly on the Vietnam era John Kerry managed to insult all national guardsmen and re-ignite the anger of his fellow Vietnam veterans. Now that I laid out the examples of how Flapjack flops let me conclude with a scriptural analogy. An old verse of scripture says that a "double minded man is unstable in all his ways". There could not be a more fit description of John Kerry. If "Flapjack" were to be faced with the tragic circumstances that were visited on America on 9/11 his answer would have been to apologize to those carrying out the terror against us. This must never be an acceptable path for the land of the free and the home of the brave. mensnewsdaily.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (3024)	2/18/2004 4:22:37 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 81568

Some vets are not fonda John Kerry. By Anne Hendershott WATERBURY, CT — While John Kerry's handlers continue to find Vietnam War buddies to provide a patriotic prop for each campaign stop, there are thousands of others who view Kerry as one who slandered American soldiers following the war. They remember his role, along with Jane Fonda, in portraying Vietnam War veterans as sadistic soldiers willing to torture and maim innocent civilians. They recall reading his 1971 book The New Soldier, a book with a picture of an American flag flying upside down on the cover and a description of what it called "routine" war-time atrocities committed by American military "war criminals." They witnessed his leadership in the Vietnam Veterans against the War march on Washington in 1971 when he supposedly threw his medals onto the steps of the Capital. And, most importantly, they bitterly remember his testimony before Congress in the "Winter Soldier Investigation" when his charges of American soldiers' war crimes were so extreme that even contemporary critics of the Vietnam war have disputed his outrageous claims. Indeed many Vietnam veterans have bitter memories of John Kerry — just as they have for Jane Fonda because they both inflicted the same kind of pain for them. Kerry and Fonda attended the same antiwar rallies in those days and Kerry will probably wish he had moved out of camera range when the photographers arrived. But, in those days he was clearly proud of his antiwar activities. The country was in a different place then and his activities helped perpetuate the myth of our sadistic soldiers in Vietnam. Perhaps he thought that veterans would have forgotten his betrayal. But, in old factory towns like Waterbury, Connecticut — a town that became famous for a while when veterans tried to stop Jane Fonda from filming a movie there in the late '80s — there is little love for John Kerry and Jane Fonda among many veterans. Waterbury vets have an especially long memory of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Their city suffered far more casualties in that war than comparable Connecticut cities. And, they haven't forgotten. They still commemorate Veterans' Day each year by erecting a "Hanoi Hilton" cage in the middle of the city's green and veterans volunteer to take hourly shifts "imprisoned" in the cage. They have little tolerance for those they view as traitors. Even today, more than a decade after the Fonda movie controversy in town, you can still spot the bumper stickers on Waterbury cars with the slogan "We're Not Fonda Hanoi Jane." During Fonda's time in the city, veterans organized to make her life miserable. They interrupted the filming by honking horns, waving flags within camera range, and picketing the old Waterbury button-factory building where the filming took place. Although they did not stop the film production, Waterbury vets considered their campaign a success as an exasperated Fonda finally appeared on ABC's 20/20 to publicly apologize to all of the veterans she may have offended during the war. It is doubtful that John Kerry will ever apologize for his role in the radical and most unpatriotic movement. Many might have forgotten about his outrageous behavior and preposterous claims. But, there are certain sections in the city of Waterbury that Kerry may want to avoid as he continues his new march to the Democratic nomination. — Anne Hendershott is professor of sociology at the University of San Diego. She is the author of The Politics of Deviance.