(Kerry) An Echo, Not a Choice

[Larkspur]

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0813-05.htm

John Kerry is a man of great personal courage, which served him well as a naval officer in the Vietnam War. But the man who takes the inaugural oath in January won't be asked to lead a bayonet charge. A more vital quality in a president is moral courage. And trying to detect evidence of that attribute in Mr. Kerry is like expecting Mikhail Baryshnikov to show up at the county fair.

The latest proof that Mr. Kerry's backbone is made of goose down was his statement that even if he had known what he knows now about Iraq's yet-to-be-found weapons of mass destruction and mythical partnership with al-Qaida, he still would have voted for the resolution authorizing President Bush to go to war. "I believe it's the right authority for a president to have," he said.

The Iraq war is shaping up to be the greatest American foreign policy debacle since Vietnam. It has killed nearly 1,000 American soldiers and wounded more than 6,000, while tying down 140,000 troops who are cruelly undermanned. Its price tag has reached $150 billion, with more costs to come. The war and occupation have alienated our friends, inflamed anti-Americanism in the Arab world and diverted us from the war on al-Qaida. If those facts don't convince Mr. Kerry that his vote was a mistake, it's hard to imagine what would.

Actually, it's not so hard to imagine what would cause Mr. Kerry to recant: political expedience. The Massachusetts senator firmly believes something he firmly believed when he voted for the war resolution, which is that he should take the politically safe course no matter what. So he's happy to straddle the fence by criticizing Mr. Bush for taking us down the wrong road in Iraq while refusing to say Congress should have stopped him. And he figures he can stand by his vote because opponents of the war have nowhere else to turn. But they can always turn to Ralph Nader, or just stay home. When it comes to Iraq, after all, Mr. Kerry sounds an awful lot like the guy who got us into this mess.
<SNIP>

Maybe Kerry thinks the Prez race is Saturday Night Live skit and he thinks he's a SNL comedian and he is doing his best job of parroting Bush?

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. How long before this flame bait attack is locked, I wonder?

Place your wagers here, ladies and gents! 5 minutes? 10? 30? Step right up...

:eyes:

[Larkspur]

5. Not flamebait. It's the title of the article that ran in the Baltimore Sun

and was reprinted on Commondreams.org.

[Cuban_Liberal]

7. This line is a direct attack on Kerry:

"...The latest proof that Mr. Kerry's backbone is made of goose down was ...."

Not permitted, hence flame bait by definition.

[Larkspur]

14. And it was printed in the Baltimore Sun, not by a DU poster

If you are so PO'd about this, then write a LTTE to the Baltimore Sun.

[StopTheMorans]

18. so what? If it was published on a right-wing blog, would

it still be permitted here? An attack is an attack by any other name.

[Cuban_Liberal]

19. It *was* posted bu a Du-er--- you.

The rules are clear: you cannot attack Kerry here---period. Just because you didn't personally write the article doesn't affect the rule.

[StopTheMorans]

10. "But they can always turn to Ralph Nader, or just stay home"

if they're that delusional about how much better Kerry will be than *, they need to lay off the Kool-Aid.

[Kierkegaard]

2. Woefully misguided drivel, AGAIN...

Congress did the only f'in thing they could to put obstacles in Captain Bonehead's path to war. If the IWR wasn't passed, there was nothing that could stop him from invading Iraq anyway.

[Democat]

3. Ralph Nader, is that you?

Let's get Kerry elected, then you can trash him.

Otherwise, you're just helping Bush.

[StopTheMorans]

4. This is great, I guess I'll just vote for Nader!

:eyes: :eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:

[MajorFlaw]

6. Since you obviously don't like Kerry, could you suggest a viable

alternative?

[Larkspur]

17. As I've said before, I'm voting for Kerry but not supporting him

Remember the ABB Coalition expires on Nov 2 right after the polls close.

[gasperc]

8. you know, press at the time INSISTED that this did not mean we would GO

TO WAR, this resolution was intended to show Iraq our resolve and Bush repeatedly said HE HAD NO WAR PLANS ON HIS DESK. A lie, of course, the paper work wasn't on his desk but they fully planned to invade Iraq. Anyway, my point is that Bush himself was personally insisting that IWR didn't necessary mean we would go to war that depended on Iraq. Of course, now the spin is that IWR was a vote to go to war no matter what. Of course, we on DU knew it meant we'd go to war but the press was being spun with a completely different story.

[MichiganVote]

9. Bullshit

"But they can always turn to Ralph Nader, or just stay home."

Hurricane Charley would be a safer alternative. Sanity is not found in ducking voter responsibility or reducing one's vote to a wish in place of a want. Urging people not to vote is not a valid civic option at anytime, let alone when a voters is not offered an election that is akin to a Baskin&Robbins ice cream selection.

Why post this shit?

[JI7]

11. must make you sick that Kerry is doing so great with huge crowds coming

out to see him.

[kat21]

13. Or how about the thousands of Kerry supporters that -

showed up in Santa Monica yesterday where Bush was speaking? My brother was there and said 75% of the crowd were Kerry supporters. Woo hoo!!! He gave me a good laugh by telling my he took his Kerry sign and walked through the Bush supporters with it. That sure ruffles their feathers!

[JI7]

15. yeah, i live in so cal, i heard that , that's even bigger than most

who come out for bush.

kerry looked so great. he is just out with the people.

bush is always with pre selected people of a certain position .

kerry is so open and out and smiling.

[Larkspur]

16. No it doesn't make me sick

Crowds turn out for various reasons and it doesn't mean that they like Kerry. They may vote for Kerry, but the ABB coalition expires on Nov 2 right after the polls close.

[JI7]

20. HAHHAHHAHAHHA, YOU WISH

"Crowds turn out for various reasons and it doesn't mean that they like Kerry."

they sure are coming out FOR Kerry. even when they have to put up with long waits , heat, rain anything that may be uncomfortable. they can vote for kerry without going to rallies. but they go because they LOVE KERRY. and he gets great reviews , many of them from people on du who attend and post their experience here.

[Larkspur]

23. Not really

People who attend just may want to see Kerry for themselves. I support that. People should go find out about candidates for themselves.

[StopTheMorans]

21. great, that's reaaaaaaaaaal productive

so you essentially will vote to elect a president, but would like him to be a lame-duck once he gets in? real smart :eyes:

[Monte Carlo]

12. ''Moral Courage'' is a poor substitute for cool-headed strategy.

In times of crisis, cooler heads prevail. Any moron is capable of experiencing moral outrage. It takes someone a little more realistic to turn that into a successful plan of action.

If people don't want to see the different paths for American that Bush and Kerry represent, that's just being naive. Kerry is a Democrat who's hero was JFK. Bush is a Republican who wanted to reverse the New Deal. Don't let the campaign-time rhetoric throw you.

This is America, in all it rights and wrongs - it's not perfect, and it's far from homogenous. Kerry has to talk TO them, not AT them.

[Parrcrow]

22. locking