Meet the Press comments?

[whometense]

I thought Russert's questions were overall pretty reasonable and he gave JK a lot of time to talk.

The show was delayed a half hour in Boston because they were busy sending the Patriots off to Philadelphia amid much fanfare.

Kerry was, as usual, wonderful. My personal favorite moment was his reaction to the question about Corsi's planned move to MA to challenge JK for his senate seat. That was a genuinely amused laugh.

[whometense]

1. Is the election really over?

Shadow President on MTP this morning, and emperor-without-clothes on C-Span tonight. Or online right now, if you have the stomach for it. Recorded January 27 at the White House.

[bush_is_wacko]

2. Kerry makes such a good president! The other guy is such a

nuisance!

[ginnyinWI]

4. I'm going to make an exception and watch * tonight

I need to be informed. If I have to I'll mute him and read the captions, because his voice raises my gorge.

[whometense]

16. I'm spellbound with admiration.

I need to be informed too, but I'm not going to miss "American Dreams" for that creep.

Ok, now you know how much of a flyweight I am. I've given myself away. But I am seriously addicted to that show. It would take a Kerry appearance to get me away from it. B-)

[TayTay]

18. My husband is addicted to that.

Then he watches Desperate Housewives. Lately, I am only watching Lost. I just don't seem to find much these days on TV. I miss Buffy.

[whometense]

19. I saw Desperate Housewives

a couple of times and enjoyed it, but it didn't grab me and refuse to let go.

"American Dreams" is up there with the very best soap opera series - like "My So Called Life" and "Freaks and Geeks." It's artful. The acting is amazing, and the whole Vietnam/Iraq duality is intense.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

29. If you want, check out this website.

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/americandreams/

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

21. I wouldn't miss "American Dreams" either. I, too, am hooked.

[whometense]

22. Aha!!

Another addict!! During last week's blizzard my daughter and I trekked to the video store to rent the first two parts of the first season. We had a great time. We laughed! We cried!
:D

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

27. I hope they renew the show for another season. It is quality TV.

Geez, I didn't sound like a fundie there I hope.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

28. My husband bought me the first season on DVD (seven DVDs).

I watched the whole thing is a matter of about 3 days. I hope they release the second season (I have some catching up to do).

[ginnyinWI]

23. After the shrub-fest on Cspan tonight

They are going to have Douglas Brinkley, (author of Tour of Duty)as one of the presidential historians speaking (not necessarily about JK but he is a great admirer of him).

[whometense]

24. I think I'll flip over there

after "American Dreams" and see if I can catch the discussion after the interview. I like Doug Brinkley.

[ginnyinWI]

3. I thought it very good

Whome, if you've gone to 2004 Elections or GD Politics this morning, you've seen the usual freepy comments, though. Faye and I and some others were trying to mitigate the damage, but it's exhausting. So I'm back here. whew.

He was great--I liked the laugh at Corsi, too. What people seem to be missing is that he didn't have to go on MTP today, and is not Russert's or anyone else's victim! He had the whole damn hour all to himself! And most likely knew what some of the questions would be about beforehand. I really don't know what people expected him to do--he's not able to perform a miracle, walk on water, raise the dead!

My one-word summary of the whole show: Smart. He was just so smart. And I hope a lot of the Mr. and Mrs. Average type people notice this and are sorry they voted for the little blow-hard with the God-complex.

[seito]

5. For some, he will never do anything right

Some are disruptors, and some will never get over primaries.

I missed most of the interview. I will try to stay up and watch it tonight.

[Pirate Smile]

6. Some people want him to go on these shows and say he won the

election. Oh, that would work great <sarcasm>.

[holiday]

7. I loved his laugh too at the Corsi comment!

That was funny.

He was right to bring up how many votes he won.. etc. Instead of focusing so much on what went wrong with the campaign I wish they would ask what went right? because to me the turning point in the election was the debates. He performed so well. I wish that was brought up more!

[holiday]

8. oh and i was angry about the stupid Cambodia crap.. who cares

about that.. geesh with all of Bush's mispeak, lies, embellishments and half truths they want to make a big deal about the Cambodia thing??????

[TayTay]

13. I thought this was handled well

He was in Cambodia. He was yards from it on that Christmas Eve. He had photographic evidence and it's in the Naval records. Sounds good to me. And that phoney will you sign the records release form question was handled with a definitive yes. That's good.

Kerry is so much more poised than I would ever be. I would have ripped the Swifties for lying and defaming veterans. That's why he's a Senator and I'm not, I guess.

I loved the comments on what should happen in Iraq. He always has little differences with Teddy K and these were enumerated well. And he repeated three times what his 'plan' was in simple terms. 1. Training replacement Iraqi troops. 2. Rebuilding infratructure 3. Internationalizing the occupation 4. Elections.

Nice job overall. Very poised, nothing got to him. Had an answer for all the questions, yet didn't come off a glib. Nice.

[whometense]

15. Agree.

My big wistful thought watching this was, if we had anything like the media we deserve, he would have had so many more hours like this on tv during the campaign giving people a chance to judge who he is for themselves, instead of all the lies and spin.

Cambodia? That whole issue wasn't even a tempest in a teapot. More like a tempest in an eyedropper. Russert normally drives me nuts, but I thought he was pretty respectful in this interview. And asking these stupid questions in a respectful way serves Kerry well; gives him a chance to fully discredit them in a very public way.

I LOVE Kerry's off-the-reservation moments. But I recognize that if you want to be a statesman you have to limit yourself. But I'm with you - I'd be out there slashing. I could never be so diplomatic after all that personal venom.

[TayTay]

17. Agreed. We need a new media.

I did notice how respectful Russert was. It was almost like a Presidential interview with even the 'gotcha' questions asked with respect and huge amounts of time were given for Kerry's answers. All in all, this was a great appearance.

BTW, I was on DKos and the results were surprisingly positive. A few malcontents were there with their usual complaints, but 75% of the comments were positive. And this was on the whole Dean for Chairman question. Deaniacs seemed content with his answers. That was handled very well. Kerry likes and respects Dean, holds him and his managerial skills in high regard, believes Dean is not as liberal as the media has made him out to be and would have no problem supporting him for Chair. (Guess all those long distance calls paid off. LOL!)This was great!

I agree with you about Kerry angry being a wonderful site to behold. He did say at one point in the campaign, "I can't believe I'm losing to that idiot." I have heard folks describe Kerry when he is not near recording devices and he had his strong opinions and strong language to back them up with. I like that.

I guess we are part of the 33% who would like to see Kerry run again. Yeah us!

[ginnyinWI]

46. on the other boards they were seeing it so negatively

like, oh that Tim Russert is so RW asking him all those questions about Vietnam! boo hoo hoo.

I wouldn't be surprised if JK suggested it--wanting a chance to rectify not speaking out stronger in August about the Swiftboat accusations. This guy has nothing to run away from.

The appearance was a way to try to clean the slates. He's promising to "hold this administration accountable"--that's his main purpose for coming on tv right now. This is great for us Kerrycrats--lots of stuff to follow and spread the word about.

Yup, TayTay--poised and in control, and never a smirk.:)

[Pirate Smile]

14. It is annoying but it was good to just confront the question himself and

try to get ride of this crap they keep trying to throw at him.

[ginnyinWI]

26. yeah--love that smile, it's contagious

He made a very good case for his showing in the election, even without the suppressed/missing votes. Won the swing states by 2%. Won the youth vote, won the moderate vote, etc. He has a mandate and knows it (and we are glad he does!). He has a mandate to just keep on doing what he's been doing, and with even more gusto than before. He's rediscovered the mojo that got him into public service in the first place.

I hope, in the long backward glance of history, we will be able to say that this election brought about good things, like election reform, grassroots involvement, the rise of the Democrats to power again, and the self-destruction of the Repubs by their neocon faction. There is so much going on that we are just beginning to become aware of. The more I learn about politics the more fascinating it is to me.

[whometense]

11. Completely agree.

He was smart, funny, and totally at ease. He was most definitely in charge of the interview, even though it was Russert who was asking the questions.

And he shows so much damned courage - unlike some others we could name. You're right - he didn't have to do the interview at all, and he certainly knew ahead of times what questions he's be asked. I also liked the way he owned the mistakes of the campaign.

I admit that one of my secret favorite things he does is to answer questions with a flat yes or no. It always makes me giggle - you know just what he's thinking when he does it. ("F*** that 'flip-flopper' crap.")

[ginnyinWI]

20. oh I do too!

That deadpan "No." "Yes." It's so---confident, I guess the best word is. The way you want a leader to be. Inspires trust.

(Not idiot-confident like shrub, though. Not "aw,the hell with it, let's do it" hubris.)

Just a plain, well-informed confidence in your ability to make a sound decision, based on years of sound decisions.

[JI7]

9. i don't like Russert , i think he is a whore

but Kerry seems to always do a great job on his show. i was watching around 2002 the various potential candidates for President go on the show and Kerry kicked ass every time and did better than the others.

[TayTay]

10. LOL! Delayed for Pats rally. Honestly

Okay, the delay was worth it to hear the fans boo Gov. Romney. That warmed the cockles of my heart.

And I loved the poll! Suffolk Univ. for The Boston Herald. I bet the poll was, would you rather have John Kerry run for President again and have Boston come under terrorist attack or have him sit home and take knitting lessons. Ahm, 18% don't know. (Boston Herald, bah!)

They would have gotten the same result if they asked in a Herald poll: "Should John Kerry cut his hair?"
59% no, it looks good the way it is
33% yes, He needs a trim
18% either don't know who John Kerry is or don't know what a haircut is.

Really. Polls at this stage of the game? From the Herald? Bite me.

[whometense]

12. Oh, I'm so glad you mentioned

that stupid poll!!!! It rated the same laugh he served up for Corsi, but he restrained himself admirably. Yeah, right.

Edited to say, I missed the booing, as we were eating breakfast. I did capture it on tape, though (set to record MTP) and now I'll have to go back and check it out. That must have been great fun.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

25. Good interview, I thought. As usual, Kerry handled himself well and with

the dignity I've come to expect from him. I really miss seeing him being interviewed and on TV as often as we saw him during the campaign.

He said something about (correct me if I'm wrong because I had just woken up) continuing to go after the Swifties and their allegations, am I right? I hope he does.

By the way, I loved the live shot of him walking thru the snow and throwing the snowball on the way to the studio. Damn, he's handsome!:crazy: :loveya:

[TayTay]

33. Yeah, I loved that shot in the snow too!

The longer version just ran on the local affiliate. I think he has had that black coat forever. Looks good on him. :evilgrin: I swear he was wearing that coat in '84 when I saw him near the State House in Boston. Either that or he keeps buying identical black coats. Either way, looks good.

Hey, he really did look good. He looks rested and ready to go to work. I think he got some rest, thank goodness.

[whometense]

30. Picture

In this photograph provided by NBC's 'Meet The Press,' Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., holds up a copy of the Financial Times during the taping of 'Meet The Press' at the NBC studios in Washington Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005. (AP Photo/Meet the Press, Alex Wong)

[vinessa4freedom]

32. That was a great moment...

He's so quick. He's so sharp, and he handled himself beautifully. I thought he did a great job on everything--but when he whipped that article out of his pocket...that was brilliant.

Whome--where do you get those pictures so quickly??? Seems to me you had the Condi hearing photos up instantly,too.

[whometense]

38. haha!

My little secret :evilgrin: - but not a secret any more: I go over to http://news.yahoo.com and do a News Photos search for "John Kerry". That's it. They get all the wire photos there pretty fast.

[vinessa4freedom]

39. thanks...

I was starting to think you were his personal photographer. I got so behind today, what with watching (ok- I confess, also taping and re-watching) Meet the Press this morning. I had no doubt he'd be wonderful, but he looks great, he sounds great, and damned if he doesn't get more presidential by the minute. He will be the next president. (I still believe he is the real current president, but...)

[whometense]

42. I know...

me too. At least we're in good company. ;-)

I seem to like the true believers a whole lot more than I like the doubters.

[ginnyinWI]

40. personally I like him better without the tv makeup

I think the shadows around his eyes add character:

[whometense]

31. Another picture

n this photograph provided by Meet The Press, Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., talks about the election in Iraq (news - web sites) and the policies of the Bush administration during the taping of 'Meet The Press' at the NBC studios in Washington Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005. (AP Photo/Meet the Press, Alex Wong)

[TayTay]

34. Any more pics

Particularly ones in which he is smiling?

[whometense]

37. He looked pretty serious in most of them.

But look what I found from The Independent

Buoyant Kerry refuses to rule out 2008 run

By Rupert Cornwell in Washington

31 January 2005

Sounding as much a future presidential candidate as a past one, John Kerry inveighed against George Bush's policies on Iraq, tax cuts and social security reform yesterday and refused to rule out a second run for the White House in 2008.

<snip>

Above all, however, he did not sound like a politician content to rest on his laurels. "I intend to lay out, over the next few months, how we can do a better job" than the present Republican administration, Mr Kerry vowed, emphasising that he was "keeping all options open" for 2008.

With his appearance, the Massachusetts senator seemed to be staking his claim to be de facto leader of his party, the chief Democrat spokesman against the Bush administration.

[TayTay]

41. Cool. I wonder if the Globe will do a story

Or pretty much ignore this, as they did last week. Their interview last week was very brief. Sigh! The Herald runs weird polls and the Globe underplays our junior Senator. Back to old timey coverage I guess.

(I always suspected the Globe's coverage was slanted and based on jealousy. Seriously. There are stories around that give some heft to this.)

[whometense]

43. Oh, you don't have to

convince me. I'm already there. I had a secret theory that maybe he'd accidently run over a reporter's dog or something.

If Corsi does execute his brilliant plan of moving to Boston and attempting to unseat the elegant Mr. K it will be interesting to see what contortions the Globe people go through. No need to wonder about the Herald, I'm afraid.

[ginnyinWI]

45. not only a de facto leader,

he's the de facto president!

de facto: "Actually; in fact; in reality"---Webster's Colligiate

[bunny planet]

35. I had to miss it this morning. What time is the rebroadcast Eastern time?

[angrydemocrat]

36. 10:00 on MSNBC

It was a good one. I'm going to watch it again.

[elshiva]

44. Please, Please, a transcript, please

thanks, elshiva

[elshiva]

47. No worries, found it!

Great about Howard Dean and abortion.
MR. RUSSERT: Some Democrats and many Republicans believe that Howard Dean is too liberal to be chairman of the Democratic Party. Do you agree?

SEN. KERRY: No, I don't agree with that. I think, in fact, if you look at Howard's record as a governor, he was a strong balance-the-budget governor. He was conservative on a lot of issues. And I think that's part of what happens in campaigns. You get these stamps and broad brushes that aren't exactly accurate.

Like Hell he thinks Dean will be a bad chair!

SEN. KERRY: We have pro-life Democrats today. Harry Reid is a leader. He is pro-life. We have others who are pro-life. I think what I was saying, Tim, is that, you know, you can't be doctrinarian negative against somebody simply because they have that position. There's more to it. Now, does that change the position of the Democratic Party in defending the right to choose? No, absolutely not. Not in the least.

But you can't be--I mean, let me put it this way. Too many people in America believe that if you are pro-choice that means pro-abortion. It doesn't. I don't want abortion. Abortion should be the rarest thing in the world. I am actually personally opposed to abortion. But I don't believe that I have a right to take what is an article of faith to me and legislate it to other people. That's not how it works in America.

So you have to have room to be able to talk about these things in a rational way. We also need--I mean, I thought Hillary gave a good speech the other way in which she talked about the need--and many of us have talked about this for a long period of time. The discussion is not about being pro-abortion. The discussion is about how you truly value life. Valuing life is also valuing choice. Valuing life is the exception for the life of a mother or rape or incest. I mean, there are all kinds of values here. And in addition to that, we ought to be making certain that people understand there are other options. Abstinence is worth talking about. Adoption is worth talking about. There are many things we can do.

And do you know that in fact abortion has gone up in these last few years with the draconian policies that Republicans have where they talk about it, but they do nothing to find this kind of place of discussion. And under President Clinton, abortion went down because we did have adequate family planning services, because we talked about counseling, adoption and other kinds of things.



"The article of faith" I guess is ensoulment the belief that the embryo becomes human, receives a soul, at conception. I believe this too, but I know that the whole life ethic can't be narrowed to fetal life.

All in all it was a good interview, although I hated all the Russert questions about where he was when in Cambodia. Give it a rest already!

[New Earth]

48. i caught the last half of tonight repeat

so i missed a good bit of it. what i did get to see though - was that he was slamming the Bush Admin. left and right.....:bounce:

wtf was with Tim Russert asking him about things he said 10 years ago, as if he were still on the campaign trail? :shrug: