I am not sure if this has been posted on here before, but anybody that has any doubt about Kerry’s flip-flopping has got to check this clip out. It is about 12 minutes long, but is well worth the time. It shows exactly what Kerry is all about and it doesn’t even include the comment from a couple of days ago about still authorizing the war knowing what he knows now.
mjagiels,
Thanks for the link!
Anyone who wonders why John Kerry did not tout his Senate voting record, at the democratic national convention, relative to Iraq (and other major issues) only need to look at this clip.
That was taken out of contextand edited just like Michael Moore does to Bush.
I watched the movie and have to say Kerry’s statements were fairly unequivocal and the clips were long enough that I don’t think you can just call them clever editing.
I actually came away with the sense that at one time he wasn’t as dumb as he sounds now. When he said Saddam is dangerous and we should take him out WMD or no WMD it’s just too much to risk, he made sense. I was actually liking a lot of what he had to say. Throw in support for stem cell research, less radical theological beliefs, less support for predjudice and I have to say the old John Kerry was someone I could have got behind.
It seems to me that after Deans meltdown Kerry figured he could pick up Deans antiwar supporters, so he comprimised his beliefs. I think now that we find ourselves in a war, coupled with the challenges presented by a nuclear armed N Korea and Iran working on it, it wouldn’t be good for us to spend the next four years with a first term president whose base of support is the antiwar lobby. The last thing N. Korea and Iran need is a four year vacation to build up nuclear arsenals and develop intercontinental missiles. I think Kerry will be too concerned with getting a second term to confront them in a meaningful way and they’ll know it too.
Kerry shouldn’t have flip flopped, he should have stuck to his convictions. If Kerry gets elected with his present base of support he will be a weak ineffective president.
Little Grasshopper,
I’m not sure you’re thinking clearly. I believe you are right in saying JK is anti-Irag war for political purposes. But was he for the war before out of conviction? I don’t think so. He was again, making a political move.
Here is something to think about- Anti-war after he gets back from “Nam”. I have no problem with that if he really believes it. Even MacNamara wrote in his book “In Retrospect” that the war was fought based on the misplaced fear of a “domino effect”, a mistake. He says CIA analysis in the early days seamed to confirm this fear though. Then again, by 1967 they were saying we could get out with no serious damage to US interests. This was the right advise. I suppose the current JK is probably for war when it’s necessary. What will tell us that? Good intelligence. They can’t be right all the time, but look at the role Isreal’s Mossad has played in the defense of that nation. JK served on our intelligence committee. His country’s CIA said we could’ve gotten out of Vietnam a lot earlier than we did. Doesn’t anti-war JK think that would have been a good thing? Doesn’t he think that analysis worthwhile. So why did he propose to cut intelligence spending by billions, surely weakening our administration’s abilility to get quality intel? Yes, you are getting it now Grasshopper- political expediency. What is he for, America? He is only for himself.
JK is a shameless, beady-eyed cameleon.
Good little montage…scary business this political game is, huh?
I do like, however, how everytime the clip of his infamous quote “I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it…” is shown, it is always cut off immediately at that point…What did he have to say to complete the response? Nevermind the bill was changed…nevermind the vote was through already regardless of what he voted…
I also like how the video cuts him off abruptly with “That is not a flip-flop” without letting him complete even his sentence…
I have an idea, JK could make a video and comment on his comments, then noone would misunderstand him.
Surely he has enough money for that.
I agree he is a chamelion. I also have the feeling that he doesn’t believe most of his criticism of president Bush. Getting rid of Saddam was a good move. We no longer have to playa guessing game of what comes next from Saddam. Even the best intelligence gathering can miss things. The Cuban missile crisis is a good example of that. It was also a good move because now we can get our troops out of Saudi Arabia and deprive Osama of one of his main gripes. We also no longer have to commit air force units to enforce the no fly zone.
Kerry saw an opportunity to pick up all of Deans supporters so he got on the antiwar bandwagon. With that being his main base of support a president Kerry would be unable to confront North Korea or Iran, without risking the 2008 election.
I do see Kerry as too willing to comprimise in order to make himself look good Vs Bush who was willing to do a politically unpopular move in order to clean up a mess rather than pass the buck to his successors like Clinton did with Iraq and North Korea.
Kerry is an image conscious hustler who will say anything to get what he wants. I still don’t know how or why Kerry the gung ho war hero only spent 4 months in Viet Nam. Why didn’t he spend a full year over there like everyone else? To me it seems like he did what he needed to get some medals then got the hell out of there.
RightSideUp,
Your post about “cutting the clip” sounds hilarious coming from a farenheit 911 fan.
There is no excuse for authorizing the war and then denying funding for the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no excuse for voting against BODY ARMOR FUNDING.
You cool with Kerry acting like political expediency trumps support for our troops and Iraq/Afghanistan?
I’ve heard the entire speech in West Virginia where he uttered his revealing “Actually, I voted for the 87 billion dollar reconstruction bill before I voted against it.” His explanation about the “nuances” involved with the bill is typical of this guy. He is like trying to grab a handful of air.
Being sensitive and employing nuance (aka…adding political backdoors for later escapes) does not win wars. Go ahead and vote for the smoke and mirrors candidate. I’ll stick with the guy who “mangles a few syalllables.”
JeffR