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Edited on Mon Apr-09-07 09:10 PM by karynnj
He was discussing Romney's lies about being a hunter. I'm not sure who he was speaking to - but the man - then said something to the affaect of Kerry having said he was a hunter too, what is it with MA? Then he said Romney has a "Kerry problem" like the $87 billion being for it than against it. Olberman said not one word in defense.
In anger, I send this ranting (likely over reacting) email -
In your segment covering Mitt Romney's lie about being a hunter, your guest rather than call Romney a liar and speak of the fact that he has clearly changed positions on several major issues decided to attack Senator Kerry. He first implied that Kerry like Romney was not a hunter. In fact, Kerry has hunted since he was young . Then he said that Romney has a "Kerry" problem of changing his positions, referring to the famous $87 billion quote. You remained silent allowing Kerry to be slandered by the same RW talking points that were not true in 2004. Here, it was worse. Romney LIED, Kerry is an unusually honest politician.
The $87 billion NEVER was a flip flop. Kerry explained many many times that he had just explained in detail that he had voted for a version of the bill that rolled back the tax cuts on the top 1% and had oversight to how the money was spent and against the bill without these two features.
Kerry is actually one of the most consistent politicians in his philosophy and his positions:.
- There are no flip flops on environmental issues (where he had a 96 average from the League of conservation voters - note Gore was in the 60s).
- He's always been the same on economic issues like social security, and on providing help to minorities and women running small business.
- There were no flip flops on any civil rights, women's rights, gay right's issues.
- Kerry authored the Clean elections, clean money act that he and Paul Wellstone sponsored. Kerry's floor speech on this from 1997 could be given tomorrow (updating the statistics only) and it would sound like what I heard him say in 2003 in NH (on CSPAN).
- Madeline Albright quoted positively a 1966 Yale speech on foreign policy where Kerry spoke of the importance of respecting the cultures of others and negotiating. His views are more sophisticated now, but there is enough of a thread of consistency there that if he added it to a speech today, it would not stand out as not belonging..
- On the War on Terror, Kerry was one of the first to see the problem. In his book, "The New War" he outlined the problem of the globalization of crime, including terrorism. He proposed legislation in the 1990s to track them and stop them through following the money. His views in the 1990s, were similar to the views he expressed in September 2004 (at the University of Pennsylvania). on how the war on terror would be occasionally military, but mostly law enforcement and intelligence. George Will, among others said after London stopped the plane attacks that Kerry had been right.
- On Iraq, the media repeated that he changed his positions - in fact he was far more consistent than Bush. From op-ed's before the vote, his speech when he voted, and in a Georgetown University speech ion Jan23, 2003 (before the war), he was consistent in saying that you should only go to war as a last resort, after you exhaust all diplomatic options, with a real international coalition, and in a way that plans for the aftermath. He repeated this list in every speech I saw on CSPAN. He got in trouble for calling for regime change here after Bush invaded. Every Kerry plan for Iraq since 2004 called for a diplomatic summit and no permanent bases.
Every time Kerry spoke on Iraq - the Republicans said that was what Bush was doing and the media repeated it - though it was clearly NOT what he was doing. They also claimed Kerry had changed his position.
Senator Kerry is not running for President. It seems beyond unfair that you, one of the few non-Republican voices on cable, allow Kerry's 3 decades long Reputation for honesty to be smeared. (As to flip flopping, as an exercise - go look at Edwards' 2004 positions vs his 2008 positions or Hillary's positions in 2008 vs her positions in 2000 - then look at the Faneuil Hall speeches and Kerry 's 2004 speeches. - the one who is BY FAR the most consistent is Senator Kerry.) It's rather sad that the legacy of making a principled run for the white house that might have succeeded if there were an adequate number of voting machines in Ohio is that his Senate career, his war record, and his character have all been unfairly smeared. This should really make people of character want to run for President.
Sincerely disappointed in you,
Karennj's real name
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