I Wish Kerry Didn't Bring Up "My Pet Goat"

[liberalpragmatist]

Don't get me wrong - I agree with him. But personally, I think it's going to strike those in the middle as aggressively mean. It has the potential to make about 40-45% of the voting public extremely happy -but they're going to vote for Kerry anyway. I worry that if this becomes too much of a mudslinging contest the public will tune out.

Now, W's camp has been negative too, but I think the best response here is the original response of the Kerry camp - to take on the swift-boat lies and point them out as a Bush front. That's where I'd draw the line. As someone else pointed out on another board, we don't have to abandon the high road to strike back.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. Nobody Will Remember It (nt)

And it was cathartic....

[volosong]

47. I Hope People Remember It

And I feel it is appropriate.

It references an important event on 9/11 which calls into question the decision making capabilities (or lack thereof) of our current President.

[A_Possum]

2. I liked it

Nice touch of disdain, while telling the absolute truth.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Maybe These Comments Are Intended To Make Bush Blow His Gasket....

nt

[troublemaker]

13. Yes. As Scarborough says, Bush doesn't fight well backing up.

[ochazuke]

39. We've never seen bush with his back against the wall.

I have a feeling that if he's pushed hard enough, he'll break down. I wouldn't be surprised to see him swear at a hostile questioner.

[Bunny]

50. Didn't he storm out of a press conference because he was

getting pissed off at the questions being asked?

[ochazuke]

52. I don't recall that

But his performance at that press conference a few months ago was horrible. (The one where he couldn't remember a mistake.)

[Bunny]

54. Here's a link:

http://www.unknownnews.net/040714bushstormout.html

[ochazuke]

55. Can't put too much stock in that

Quote:

But it's still only Capital Hill Blue that says Bush was "clearly rattled" or "stomped off" the stage. And that still triggers my innate skepticism.

I don't believe Capital Hill Blue has the media credentials necessary to actually attend a presidential press conference, so I suspect -- more and more strongly -- that their 'coverage' is based on nothing but AFP's "refusing to answer" and The Telegraph's "walked away," intermingled with Capitol Hill Blue's hatred of Bush.

End Quote.

According to Capital Hill Blue, Bush is on heavy medication, flys off the handle at aids, and seems increasingly less mentally stable. I wouldn't count on that, but I think he may make a big gaffe (even for him) if pressed by a reporter or during the debates.

[SayitAintSo]

59. Yes he did .. stormed off when questions @ Kenny-boy were asked

I think the "my pet goat" comment was very calculated in two ways: 1) to insinuate that Bush's ability lead in crisis is doubtful ... just look at what he actually did ! 2) to get under his terribly thin skin and make him blow his cool eventually. I thought it was risky , but brilliant ... and yes very calculated.


edited for fat finger problem ...:)

[Feanorcurufinwe]

3. Mean?

"John Kerry is not the type of leader who will sit and read `My Pet Goat' to a group of second graders while America is under attack,''

[Octafish]

11. JFK2 would ask: "Under attack by whom?"

Then he'd say: "Here's what we're going to do about it..."

[still_one]

4. I disagree, they started this, and it is up to us to finish it

[WilliamPitt]

5. Everyone who saw Fahrenheit 9/11 will get the reference

Almost all of them will appreciate it. It was a perfect little mindbomb.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. I Think The Kerry Team Is Trying To Smoke Bush Out...

To get him to blow his cool...

We'll see...

[vickie]

20. This is exactly what they are trying to do. He's an arrogant

sanctimonious, pious, thin-skinned, vindictive jerk - but he's also quick to anger. We'll see how long it takes.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

34. He's All Those Things....

but he's also has a need for power which borders on the socipathic....


He knows that if he blows his stack he will risk harm to his efforts to maintain power....


He's the scariest and most unbalanced occupant in the White House since Richard Nixon...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

51. We need to ask THIS question...

If Bush threw a temper tantrum and stormed off stage in the middle of a press conference when asked about his little buddy "Kenny Boy" Lay, WHERE...on a scale of 1 to 10...would you say his anger peaked when Kerry brought up "My Pet Goat?"

ESPECIALLY in light of the fact that Bush had just, within a couple of days, "defended his actions" and "explained" why he sat on his ass for the seven minutes?

[SayitAintSo]

60. BINGO ... Smoke 'em out and bring 'em on...

Can't wait to see it :bounce:

[Eric J in MN]

7. It wasn't Kerry personally, it was a spokeswoman (nt)

nt

[Cocoa]

9. he was answering a question

and if you look at his answer, it wasn't "mean" at all.

[lunarboy13]

57. Actually, I think this thread refers to yesterday's press release...

I'll try to find a link, but this came out yesterday and it was quite to the point. I don't think it was overly harmful to Kerry, however, because unless someone has seen "Fareniheit 9/11, they may not get the "Pet Goat" reference....

[oasis]

10. "My Pet Goat" Get those posters/signs ready for the Repug convention.

When the bulk of convention viewers take the time to inquire about it's meaning, that's when the light bulbs start going on in their heads.

[Ruffhowse]

12. If we play patty cake with Repugs they will Dukakis and Gore us into

losing the election. Don't make the same mistake again.

[fearnobush]

14. They can only attack Moore for it and they do, What Kerry is doing

is trying to get them to pull their "Moore" card saying something bad about more then pinning him on Kerry. The Problem for them is the fact that the 911 commissions final report clearly states the 7 minute time Bush sat there. All Kerry has to do is accuse them of insulting the hard work of the commission.

This is puke politics, but the only way Kerry can fight their lies from hell is to use there own tactics against them. It sucks but is needed.

[thecrow]

31. They're still brain hemorrhaging over Moore...

and that wasn't even a "527".
It was F9-11!!
God, that movie was great.
Thank you Michael!!

[Eurobabe]

15. I say friggin go fer it!

I was in Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon and heard part of Kerry's speech to Vets on NPR at 4:00pm. I screamed SOOOOO loud in the car, finally he is pushing back. Excellent, and glad I heard it in Pitt. How prophetic!

Bush and company deserves everything they get.

[MichiganVote]

16. Have you been drinking? If not, you better try it.

[fujiyama]

17. Bush has already

exploited 9/11 and the issue of terrorism for political gain. Basically it's the only thing he's running on (that and cutting taxes).

Kerry has a right to hit him on that and tell the people what he would do differently in an emergency situation.

[sampsonblk]

18. "We will not discuss this matter longer. Help me fight these people"

Its fighting time. The people in the middle have put up with Bush's meanness for four years. I still haven't been convinced that their guy can get away with it, but our guy has to be "nice."

This is the perfect time for Kerry to get all his guns blazing. Bush's convention is coming up. I say let them have it.

Hell, we should all join in - convince a friend this week!

[stopbush]

27. I disagree. The last thing we need is for our guy to act "nice."

I don't know how many times I've heard neighbors opine that they vote R because "Dems are spineless...at least R's stand for something."

That is the crux of the issue. If Kerry can't stand up for himself, how can he stand up for the country?

JK is playing this exactly right, which is why his poll numbers are growing.

[sampsonblk]

43. We are saying the same thing

You just said it better than I did.

I don't believe that their guy can be mean, but ours can't. Fight fire with fire, I say.

[Cha]

19. What is "mean" and stupid is..bush sitting there for

7 minutes with the Goat Story and then 20 more minutes of photo ops after that, while our Country was in Flames.

No more sweeping it under the Persian Rug!

[librechik]

21. the media can shove it

I'm sick of cowering before the media. Just say the goddamn truth and let the chips fall where they may. Have courage! If you have done your homework and your heart is in the right place, everything will turn out swell.

Where is Chimpie's heart? In various battleground states, I hear. Satan still has the soul.

[depakid]

22. The Republicans are aggressively mean and yet

if history is any indication, that doesn't seem to strike the middle as a particularly good reason not to vote for them.

[Andromeda]

23. I think it's good strategy...

Bush froze when confronted with a news of a terrorist attack, choosing instead to read a children's book in a classroom instead of excusing himself to take care of important matters of national security.

He used the excuse of not wanting to frighten the children which is bogus because he did not have to go into detail when a simple explanation was all that was necessary.

[kerryin2004]

29. He endangered those children..

He thought he could be a target yet he never attempted to evacuate that school building to make sure that all those children were safe.. That tells me everythinhg I need to know about Awol Bush's character.

[bigtree]

24. It highlights a charge that Kerry has already made that Bush was

frozen in place at the time our nation was under attack.

[TheWebHead]

25. actually this was more a response to Racicot

once he used the words "wild-eyed" and "unhinged" to describe Kerry today he made 'My Pet Goat' fair game.

[Cha]

28. There ya go!

I love when the bushcabal overplays their hand and Kerry gets an opening to let 'er RIP!!

[dweller]

26. Why the hell not?

Pick any direction, check whichever wind you want. Point with your eyes closed and throw a dart in the opposite.

you'll still hit a group god almighty pissed at what the *moron has done to America in the last 4 frigging long years.

i'll try to repeat, but not verbatim what was said here today that i think (and who am i? nobody/anybody) summed it up.

" it's not anger, but a deep emotional feeling " , and that will rise to the top, as time goes by.

but first there must be an outpouring. It's cathartic.
dp

[Generator]

30. Let's destroy the media myth of George W. Bush, shall we?

It's not mean. It's a fact. The commander in chief is not wearing any pants and we have been force fed to believe that he's wearing a suit of armor.

If it hurts his itty bitty feelings, my tears have already been shed over the thousands that have died due to his actions and inactions.

Negative=calling him a murderer.

Truthful= pointing out his (lack of) response when our country needed him most.

[dennis4868]

32. WHY THE HELL IS IT....

that Buah can be "aggresively mean" but Kerry cannot be?

[Cha]

33. Cause the repugs and the media set it up that way...

but I ain't buyin'!

[indie_voter]

35. I disagree

The Kerry camp is pointing out that he (Kerry) is a fighter and can defend himself (and this country, hence the Pet Goat reference). I am glad they included the word "lies" in the statement.

Taking the high road is what Gore did when Bush made those stupid "fuzzy math" and "invented the internet" cracks. By not shutting Bush down immediately, it looked to the general public (read : uninformed) Bush must have a point.

Responses like this from the Kerry camp, show the public that Kerry is angry and not scared to push back (not to mention raise the stakes). People will then be better primed to question the lies spewed about Kerry, if Kerry himself loudly proclaims them so.

The Pet Goat comment serves to focus some attention on what Bush did that day, on the eve of his return to NYC to accept the nomination.

:)

[KC21304]

36. Knowing now what we do about the Aug 6 PDB

Bush's people were grossly negligent to let him go in that school knowing that an airplane had already hit the WTC.

[geek tragedy]

37. It's bloody brilliant.

1. They try the Smearvets, Kerry punches them back in the nose.

2. The goal is to irritate, vex, insult, mock, and ridicule the boy king. He is famously thinskinned, and he will crack.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Zen Democrat]

40. Why "My Pet Goat" needs to be exploited to the MAX ...

The Republicans are saying that the reason Kerry's Vietnam record is germane is because "John Kerry made his Vietnam service the centerpiece of his campaign" at the DNC.

George W. Bush is making his "decisive leadership" his centerpiece. We need to rip it apart. MoveOn should show clips from the "7 Minutes" in ads all over the battleground states. It would be incredibly effective. And it's all true. In living color.

[LisaL]

44. MY PET GOAT

Of all the books to read, Bush sure picked the best one on 9/11.
LOL>

[SayitAintSo]

61. I think you are exactly right....

Why can't the Kerry Campaign use the footage for their ads ? I don't see anything wrong with it. It won't be a lie ... everybody knows what Bush did and didn't do ... I think we are seeing bushies "taking the bait" ... I hope... setting them up for a grand slam of truth. Stay tuned folks....

[iwantmycountryback]

41. I think it was great

And it probably won't get any media traction anyway.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

48. It was great. Kerry didn't say it though- Stephanie Cutter did.

and if it gets any air play it will be negative. However- Kerry didn't say it.

[grasswire]

42. maybe Kerry's people listened to Justin A. Frank

...the psychotherapist who wrote "Bush On The Couch"

In a recent interview, Frank said this:

Frank: Well, I really think that he has honed his defenses to a very fine point, and I don't see that that would really affect him that much. I actually think he is so disconnected that he would just disconnect himself, and go to his inner version of Crawford, Texas, just retreat to the Crawford of his mind. And I think that's what he does always when there is anything that bothers him: He zones out. You can see it on television; you can see him glaze over. So if Cheney left, I think he would zone out, and he would be taken care of by the three women in his life: Karen Hughes, Laura Bush, and Condi Rice. And they really do take care of him. I think that he would find some other vice president. But I really think that the only way to really break through, and get through to him, would not be losing Cheney. The only way would be for somebody to actually directly confront him in a clear way, to bring him out, so you would really see the bully, and you would also see the fear.

[moondust]

45. Hammer it.

The 7 minutes of "My Pet Goat" is highly pertinent to one of the main themes of this and every election: Who is more qualified to lead the country? Isn't that what Swiftsmear is all about in the end?

I believe that when told the country is under attack a genuine leader's instincts would pick him/her straight up off the chair to politely excuse himself and instantly take command.

Boy George does not have the instincts of a leader and "My Pet Goat" will be an eternal reminder of that fact.

[Bluebear]

46. "Aggressively mean!?"

Truthfully, "John Kerry is not the type of leader who will sit and read `My Pet Goat' to a group of second graders while America is under attack'' does not even begin to register on the Mean-O-Meter with what the Malkins and Coulters and "swiftboat vets" and other Bush surrogates have been saying about Democrats for years.

[Zynx]

49. I think it is a very legitimate issue.

What I'm more interested in is why does nobody mention the fact Bush went ahead with the photo-op on 9/11 after hearing about the FIRST plane hitting the WTC?

[kittykitty]

53. Everybody gets it wrong about bush and My PET GOAT!

He wasn't reading it to a class. He was listening while the children read it aloud!

[NightOwwl]

56. Does it matter?

:shrug:

[JPJones]

58. Not this year - not this administration

We played it your way in 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988 and 2000. The boat is turning into the ambush this year.