Kerry, who was widely criticized as the party's standard-bearer in 2004 for being too cautious in his criticism of the war, said Tuesday that politicians "cannot have it both ways."

Flip-Flop, Flip-Flop, Flop-Flop............it's the energizer bunny he just goes on and on and on. Meanwhile back at the ranch, "I see we got ole "Z" Man, Rove is not indited and the "culture of corruption" BS is a non-starter. Let me see that picture of the tin foil hat brigade again. Ha,ha,ha,ha-ha-ha,ha! You have to give it to 'em, they are funny."

I wonder which is more asinine -Kerry saying this or Bill lecturing us about values?

Come on. There's plenty to criticize about Kerry, but this is just petty. I think a lot of people were for the war, then turned against it due to changing rationalizations and Rumsfeld's complete lack of management skills (not me, BTW. I've always thought it was stupid).

His funding vote comment was an incredibly dense thing to say, but the actual vote made sense: he wanted the funding to come from a rollback of tax cuts on high income voters.

He may be politically tone deaf, but he's not particularly inconsistent.

The only person I can think of that's more irrelevant than John Kerry is axis.

The only person I can think of that's more irrelevent than axis is Jon parker.

The "richest" 10% pay 90% of the taxes.
1. The tax cut for the "rich" allowed them to re-invest.
2. Which drove the recovery we are now experiencing.
3. Which creates jobs.
4. Which let's EVERYONE make money.
5. Which raises tax revenues.
6. And the "rich" actually end up paying more in taxes (because their income is up).
But, the "rich still pay 10% of the taxes.

Put aside the chants and think for yourself for a change. The above scenario has happened with EVERY major tax cut.

But you know. John Kerry himself is a billionaire - he could buy body armor and helmets for every soldier and Marine in Iraq. You can ALWAYS volunteer to pay more.

WORD OF THE DAY: IRRELEVANT

(Yesterdays word: pathetic) As in neocons are irrelevent in a pathetic way.

The tax cut for the "rich" allowed them to re-invest.

Or perhaps buy that third Mercedes they have been desperately needing?

For cryin' out loud - stop the inane chanting and look at the facts and think for yourself. This liberal class warfare speak is just wrong.

The Rich pay more in dollars AFTER tax cuts. It's real. Tax cuts stimulate the economy. Tax revenues go UP. The facts are there?

Your method is like putting more leeches on a sick patient. It is a disproven technique. But, thats what your little mob chants and you don't care to think for yourself.

Still griping about that! GW has flip flopped so many times its not even funny but, few seem to recognize that. I will list dozens if you like. You only seem to remember that Kerry first voted for a bill, the bill was amended with all types of riders, then he voted differently. So what? It happens all the time with republicans too but it seems that Kerry's change is a major focal point for some people. Right, it's is solely Kerry's fault that no body armor and unequipped vehicles are in Iraq right now.

Or perhaps buy that third Mercedes they have been desperately needing?

Maybe they should give the 100,000 they'd spend on the Mercedes to the government instead so that only 22,000 of it would filter down to you so you could buy a Kia.

VW

Ash, or maybe John Kerry bought another $8,000 Serotta Ottrott bicycle.

These people are playing you. And you're swallowing it. The Democrats in the Senate and the House ARE some of the richest people in the nation.

Chant chant chant chant - so much easier than thinking.....

Ash, or maybe John Kerry bought another $8,000 Serotta Ottrott bicycle.

These people are playing you. And you're swallowing it. The Democrats in the Senate and the House ARE some of the richest people in the nation.

Chant chant chant chant - so much easier than thinking.....

I can understand someone having a sincere, deeply held, political philosophy which differs from mine. I've had calm, rational, mutually respectful discussions on many topics of differing political positions.

So if John Kerry merely had a differing political philosophy from mine, it would not matter so much to me. He'd be in favor of high taxes, for example, and I'd find them economically damaging, but it would be a simple matter of differing political philosophy.

What bothers me about Kerry is his well-proven history of inhabiting roles he takes on for personal gain, and then abandoning those roles for new ones as the situation, or his goals, change.

When his personal agenda needed a war hero, he did what he had to do to get the creds. And then he shifted, seamlessly, to a role that was diametrically opposite that, not just different but in direct opposition to it. And he evidently just walked away from the commitments of the first. At least no one has ever offered an explanation for how he could, during the remainder of his six-year commitment to the Navy, indulge in his anti-military and even anti-American activities. (And yes, I do consider secretly and illegally traveling to an enemy country to conspire with the enemy anti-American. There's a reason he is featured in a North Viet Nam military museum as a hero of that country.)

We need to remember that to shift from war hero to anti-war activist he needed to do many carefully planned dishonest things. He needed to associate with people who had either never been in Viet Nam or never been in combat positions there, and represent them as valiant veterans of battle. He needed to invent, out of whole cloth, elaborate stories which calculatedly branded an entire generation of noble, patriotic, and idealistic soldiers as brutal cold-blooded murderers, raping and torturing and committing all sorts of atrocities. In an attempt to add credence to his lies, he admitted committing "atrocities" himself. Now remember, he went on to read this carefully prepared script in SWORN testimony to Congress---the same Congress he later inhabited in an entirely new persona.

It's entirely too facile to claim that Kerry's contradictions are simply matters of changing a position once new information is received. If it were only that, I don't think anyone would feel as strongly about his for/against record. But when a man evidences such wildly divergent positions, each with its own personality, and each in direct contradiction to the last, questions have to be asked...expecially when at least one of the positions was in direct opposition to the interests of the country.

My first question is, does he simply walk away from the last persona as if it never existed, wipe it from his reality, and then expect others to do the same? Because I find that truly frightening. Bad enough in a Senator, chilling in a President. Kind of a serial Sybill. (sp?)

But maybe he knows exactly what he is doing, and each persona is a calculated invention designed to accomplish whatever might be the goal of the day. That is not pathological in the same way as the above possibility, but it is certainly alarming.

Remember, within a period of about two years he was first a much-awarded Navy captain and then posing for a picture with the American flag turned upside down. He was fighting for our country and then colluding with the enemy, having had to travel thousands of miles to do so.

When he decided to run for office, he turned away from his radical anti-America role, and inhabited the role of a clean-cut patriotic politician. The medals he claimed he threw over the White House fence because they disgusted him now hung in his office in a place of honor. The medals were desireable, then shameful, then a source of pride---depending on what he needed them to be at the time.

His entire life has been one of wild swings from one persona to another. These shifts do not seem to represent simple growth as a human being, but more of a trying on of different personalities and philosophies, to fit whatever situation he is in at the moment and to gratify whatever needs he has at the moment.

And it is far more serious than the typical politicians' ploy of eating bagels in a Jewish neighborhood and burritos in the barrio. If the accounts of the Swift Boat vets are true, his reckless pursuit of instant glory in Viet Nam put many American lives at risk and cost at least two Vietnamese lives, including that of a young boy. Certainly his contribution to the deception of the American people and their subsequent dishonorable withdrawal from Viet Nam cost literally millions of innocent lives as whole populations of South Vietnamese and the Cambodians were butchered.

No one with the slightest knowledge of Kerry history could possibly say, with a straight face. "...he's not particularly inconsistent." Casually dismissing such major offenses, some of which could actually be considered crimes (lying to Congress, visiting North Viet Nam) as mere political tone-deafness indicates either an unawareness of the extent of the Kerry history of completely changing positions, or an acceptance of it.

Here's an example of Liberal hypocrisy. Or ignorance, or whatever.

As a youth, George Bush lived in a middle class suburb of Midland, Texas, wore jeans and T-shirts, and rode his bike for recreation.
John Kerry lived in Massachusetts and went sailing with the Kennedys.

George Bush asked for official permission to leave the National Guard early, to attend Harvard.
John Kerry asked for a military deferment to study in Paris.

George Bush married a local librarian/teacher, and stayed married to her.
John Kerry married one heiress, and after about 15 years and two children with her did NOT simply divorce her to marry another, richer, heiress, but took legal action which had the entire marriage declared to have never existed.

George Bush lives in a simple house on a ranch in Texas.
John Kerry lives in a series of elaborate mansions in various countries, and flies in private jets.

George Bush relaxes by cutting down trees on his ranch.
John Kerry relaxes by snowboarding at Sun Valley and Klosters.

And the Left calls Bush "elitist" and thinks Kerry is for the "little people".

I blame Kerry's troubles on the biased media ..Damned media! Oh wait...that only applys to one party it seems.

Almiranta,

Absolutely brilliant post. Can't add a thing except Kerry was a Lieutenant, not a Captain.

Almiranta, I bow down to you...I'm not worthy! Awesome posts! You're my hero of this morning! I'm so glad you are on our side. I'll take half of you over all of the a(xi)sses, ashes to ashes, tom shipleys, 3 day blinds, peace-sign steves, jon parking lots, canadian grievers, mike h's, salvelanus, mini shortz, georgia leapin frogs, purple barney model 2000s, etc. etc. all combined.

George Bush lives in a simple house on a ranch in Texas.

You're joking, right? Holy crap, you're not joking. Wow.

"Simple house?" It's 10,000 square feet and worth, according to Bush's own tax records, somewhere between $1 million and $5 million. Real simple. If it's a ranch, what does he raise there? Sheep? Cattle? Oh, that's right--he raises nothing there. It's just a gigantic estate. You know, like what John Kerry lives on. No difference. You just want there to be a difference when in fact, George Bush is richer than John Kerry. But Bush affects a southern accent! And listen to that folksy way he says "nuke-you-lar!" There's a common man for ya!

The simple fact is that George Bush is as blue-blooded as the Kennedys--or the Kerrys--which is to say he's about as blue-blooded as anyone can be in this country. That you actually buy his "down-home" projection doesn't speak very highly of your ability to discern image from reality.

Almiranta,

Though I haven't posted for several months, I just
couldn't let this one go by, without saying what an insightful posting you did here. You have captured the "Real John Kerry", and past records are the proof in audio, video and print, to back up your well written posts. It was through my posting a while back, that I would NOT let the world forget about his picture with enemies of the U.S., that hangs in the Viet Nam Museum. HE
IS THEIR "HERO", NOT AMERICA'S OR THE BRAVE AND TRUE SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT IN THAT WAR. NOW, HE IS TRYING TO DO TO THIS VALIENT EFFORT IN FIGHTING TERRORISM, WHAT HE DID BEFORE. THIS PHONEY IS ONLY AN "OPPORTUNITST---DEPENDING ON WHOM HE IS SPEAKING TO AT THE TIME"....

Again, excellent post....

Jlear, it was the "Damned" blogosphere that you should be blaming, not the media. A UCLA study confirms that the "media" is liberal to moderate. And yes their are bias does apply to one party, in favor of the Democratic party.

When I said,"And yes their are bias does apply to one party, in favor of the Democratic party." I was refering to the media, not the blogosphere.

These people are playing you. And you're swallowing it. The Democrats in the Senate and the House are some of the richest people in the nation. Absolutely true.

I can understand someone having a sincere, deeply held, political philosophy which differs from mine. I've had calm, rational, mutually respectful discussions on many topics of differing political positions.

So if John Kerry merely had a differing political philosophy from mine, it would not matter so much to me. He'd be in favor of high taxes, for example, and I'd find them economically damaging, but it would be a simple matter of differing political philosophy.

Almiranta,

There is so much wrong with your post that I frankly don't have the energy to refute it point by point.

Let me just make two comments.

First, Kerry's photo in the museum hangs with pictures of US diplomats and was taken as part of a series of photos commemorating a 1993 delegation to normalize relations with Vietnam. It has nothing to do with the war.

Second, it's possible to debate the minutiae of the Swift Boat Liar's distortions all day and into the night. But with ONE exception, every single person who actually served with Kerry supports his version of events. NONE of the SBL's actually served with Kerry.

I'm not a Kerry fan, but just let up with the distortions and lies about the man.

The tax cut for the "rich" allowed them to re-invest.

Or perhaps buy that third Mercedes they have been desperately needing?

Posted by: Ash at June 14, 2006 09:49 AM

The Mercedes dealership provides numerous jobs for Americans from the sales staff to the mechanics. Mercedes also has a manufacturing plant in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, where all their M-class, R-class, and GL-class vehicles are built, thereby employing many Americans.

And all this for buying another Mercedes. I wonder how many jobs would be provided by just sending the money to the IRS?

Republican4ever----half of me? Ouch! Try to get my good side.

Spook, can a Lt be the Captain of a boat? I was wondering about that When I was reading a Kerry biography when he surfaced as a possible candidate, I read that volunteering for a Swift Boat was a fast track to being a boat captain.

Thanks, guys....I try hard.

And I'm sure it was in that bio that they talked about the Kerry photo in the NVN musuem, and it was not taken in the 90's but when he was doing his illegal visits.

jon, please go to the other Kerry thread, if it is still up, and answer my questions about Kerry. The last time I looked, no one had taken me up on my challenge.

And I'll go back and check my reference material, as I am pretty sure others of Kerry's crew thought he was a phony. I know that many of his superior officers despised him for his grandstanding, such as carrying an 8mm movie camera around and staging reconstructions of events so he would have a record of them.

I also remember a superior officer, on the event where Kerry beached his boat and ran off to shoot a fleeing man---wounded or not, in the back or not, whatever---that he should have been court-martialed for that.

First, he completely destroyed the only three strengths of the Swift Boat, speed/maneuverability and gunpower, by beaching it, bow up,with the guns unable to train down far enough to defend the boat if it was attacked from the shore.

Then he committed a serious error in running off and leaving his crew behind. Evidently it was a rule to stay with the crew.

He was not highly regarded by many of his superiors or many of his peers. And I have read accounts of how closely together the boats often worked, so I can accept that men on one boat could easily have an excellent awareness of what was going on on Kerry's.

Also, men who benefitted from Kerry's largesse after he started to run for office, as well as benefitting in Viet Nam by getting written up themselves (in what has been described as a quid pro quo) just MIGHT not be the most reliable witnesses. Certainly the crewman who fretted, with the gunner, about being called in front of a review board or even court-martialed for the killing of the father and son and the dereliction of duty that led to the event was also on Kerry's boat.

And Kerry's wife wouldn't even keep his name. Whatta bum!

Sees, I was talking about lifestyle. So what if Bush has a better pedigree than Kerry? That's a given, anyway. Kerry's background has never been illustrious, and he got the name when an immigrant father or grandfather liked the name after seeing a map of Ireland and thought it sounded good.

As for the Kennedys being "blue bloods" you seem to have an odd idea of what that means. God help us all if the Kennedys are "..about as blue-blooded as anyone can be in this country." Do NOT confuse simple financial gain with being a "blue-blood". JFK's own father was a bootlegger and the family's fortune came from his criminal activities.

You are right about the Bushes and the Prescotts being distinguished as well as (mostly) wealthy for generations, though George H.W. Bush did not have money of his own till he got in the oil business, when George was a kid. At one time, Bush Sr. and Barbara and their two oldest kids, George and Robin, lived in a small apartment, sharing the bathroom down the hall.

But in this country, it is about actions more than pedigrees.

Bush lives in Texas. I don't know where you got your information on the size of his house, but I saw a picture of it and it was far from grand. It was a simple, sprawling, single-story traditional Texas house, built of stone that Laura got at a discount because it had been cut wrong for another customer. Everyone who has been there has said it was "unpretentious"---a word never used to describe Kerry in any of his incarnations or any of his homes.

I don't mean to be insulting, but I have to point out that your claim of his house having some kind of 'mansion' status because it is valued at more than a million dollars shows a very limited concept of what nice houses cost these days.

I have friends in a simple but nice neighborhood in Denver---basic single-story bungalows, 2500-3000 square feet, built in the early 70's, undistinguished architecture, well-kept yards, big old trees---and the median price in that neighborhood is $750,000.

Your range of 1-5 million is pretty broad, as well. And is that for the house alone, or a specific number of acres where the house is sited, or the entire ranch/"estate"?

You can sneer at the use of the word "ranch" if you like, and substitute "estate" if it serves your purpose. But I have read accounts by Secret Service agents who accompany Bush to Crawford, and boy, this ain't no sissy "estate". It is rugged, and isolated. It is not some groomed and manicured place with rolling lawns and dainty rose gardens. While I have not been a guest there, I have been on other ranches in West Texas and I know the terrain. Staff don't like having to go there because once Bush is there, they have to stay there, and it is out in the boonies, remote, and the only entertainment is what Bush likes, which is cutting brush and riding his bicycle on the steep trails.

As for livestock, Bush DOES have a job right now, you know, and will have for a couple more years. So the fact that he may not have a lot of critters for someone else to take care of right now is meaningless.

Sorry, Sees, but your provincialism is showing. Which is the nicest way I can possibly come up with to say you're talking through your hat about Bush's supposedly equally opulent lifestyle, as compared to Kerry.

And it takes a Dem Crystal Ball to determine that he "puts on" a Texas accent. I used to spend about two and a half to three months a year in west Texas, and I can tell you, you don't "put it on". You are surrounded by it,and it just kind of takes over. And it is more than an accent---it is a whole different way of using words. It's a whole distinct culture.

And Bush has always spoken like that. His biographers agree that the snobbery he encountered when he went to school back East, because of his Western ways, reinforced his pride in the way he was brought up. But he first encountered that effete psuedo-intellectual snobbish snotty sneering bias way back when he was a kid, because of, for the most part, his accent.

So thanks but no thanks for the lecture on how elite and pompous Bush really is. He does not have plastic surgery and fake tans and elaborate hair styles, a la Kerry. He does not hang out with movie stars and jet around the world to his various mansions in his private planes. He does not lounge around Sun Valley or Gstaad. He does not speak French, or collect rich heiresses to support him in lavish style.

That is what the American public, for the most part, gets---that Bush is not a phony. He truly is a Texas good 'ol boy. And if you've never known any, then you aren't in a position to claim to know better. I've known a few, and found them to be genuine, smart, and funny, and not people to screw around with. Edna Ferber, in "Giant", wrote about the "men with quiet eyes" and warned not to take them for granted. That goofy accent can lead you into a false sense of security about their supposed stupidity, but that would be based on ignorance and prejudice, not on reality----as many a greenhorn has learned, to his dismay.

And you, seesthroughnothing, seem like a pretty typical greenhorn. One with a bad case of BDS.

Almiranta, I'll even take your bad half/side over these leftist donkey clowns anyday.

Sounds like we have something in common: a great respect and admiration and support for this sitting President. Though far from being perfect, I'm a huge fan of GWB's faith, values, determination, decency, class, and character. But I guess you could of deciphered all that from my screen name. :-)

Keep up fighting the RIGHT fight. Me and many many others smarter and stronger than I are with ya!

Jon Parker,

FYI, A photograph of 20 Swift Boat Officers, including Kerry, ran in Kerry's campaign commercials. 11 officers had called upon Kerry to STOP using their image. Of the remaining 8, two were deceased, four didn't wish to be involved
and one was NOT a supporter of Kerry, but did NOT have the opportunity to sign the letter requesting that the image NOT be used. ONLY "ONE"
OF THE 19 WAS BELIEVED TO SUPPORT KERRY.

Secondly, the photo of Kerry and Vietnam's former General Secretary of the Communist Party Do Muoi,
"is part of an exhib it honoring heroes(would include Kerry-the turncoat) WHO HAD HELPED THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNISTS WIN THE WAR AGAINST THE UNITED STATES. THIS PHOTO IS DISPLAYED WITH KERRY
AND THE GEN.SEC., IS DISPLAYED IN THE 'WAR REMNANTS MUSEUM' in Ho Chi Minh City.

Third, there is also a photo of Jane Fonda (who also should have been brought up on treason charges) with Madame Binh displayed in another
Women's Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

YOU, need to "stop, look and listen" to the video
taped account by Kerry before Congress, in which he lies and turned his back on his own countrymen
and made it even more difficult for those who were
left behind in Viet Nam, and thus, were tortured and imprisioned, having to hear about their "Fellow Soldier, Kerry-agreeing with the enemy".....

Kind of sounds like what goes on today, doesn't it
with his rants about the war on Terrorism? It IS,
AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN.....ONLY ABOUT KERRY'S OWN CAREER THAT WAS, AND IS, HIS ONE AND ONLY OBJECTIVE.

He truly is a Texas good 'ol boy.

Well, cling to delusions like this one if they make you feel better. Keep thinking that a 10,000 sqaure-foot sprawling house on a big chunk of land is a "folksy" thing good ol' regular folk have. Keep thinking that Bush--like Kerry, like Ted Kennedy--isn't just a spoiled rich kid. Keep pretending that image politics is actual reality.

Kahn,

Correction:

Kerry is NOT a billionaire, his wife is from an inheritence from her deceased Republican Senator husband, who BTW hated Kerry!

Kerry is "just a gigolo..everywhere he goes".

They are both pond scum.