The Truth About John Kerry, #77 in a series of a 1,000.
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Republicans say that Kerry has voted against the B-1 and B-2 bombers, the F-14, F-15 and F-16 fighters, the Apache helicopter, the Bradley fighting vehicle, the Abrams tank and a host of other critical weapons.
In fact, Kerry did not vote against these weapons specifically. Rather, as the Annenberg fact check explains, Kerry simply voted against the overall defense appropriations bills in 1990 and 1995.
Having voted in support of such bills at least 16 other years, Kerry is, on balance, a supporter of the weapons systems the Republicans accuse him of opposing.
Moreover, Annenberg says, the first President Bush and his defense secretary, Dick Cheney, also advocated eliminating some of the same weapons Kerry opposed.
WRONG
Kerry voted against them during the height of the cold war, circa 1985…bush and cheney both went against them post cold war when it was clear our weapons systems needed changing.
Kerry was on the wrong side of this issue at the time, just like he is on the wrong side of terrorism this time.
[quote]biltritewave wrote:
WRONG
Kerry voted against them during the height of the cold war, circa 1985…bush and cheney both went against them post cold war when it was clear our weapons systems needed changing.
Kerry was on the wrong side of this issue at the time, just like he is on the wrong side of terrorism this time. [/quote]
Good point. That essentially defeats the argument that Kerry isn’t anti-defense compared to Bush/Cheney based on the record of voting for/against these weapons systems.
However, there is another argument. Conservatives have been arguing that based on these votes, if it were up to Kerry we would not currently have these weapons, which are essential to fighting the war on terror. It follows that if it were up to Cheney we still would not currently have these weapons, which are essential to fighting the war on terror, because regardless of when he voted against them, they would not be available now. Right?
[quote]biltritewave wrote:
WRONG
Kerry voted against them during the height of the cold war, circa 1985…bush and cheney both went against them post cold war when it was clear our weapons systems needed changing.
Kerry was on the wrong side of this issue at the time, just like he is on the wrong side of terrorism this time. [/quote]
I’m certainly willing to consider your argument, but please give me dates and facts and some rationale as to why the Annenberg people are wrong. I did find records of him being against the Bradley fighting vehicle back then, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many that supported that piece of equipment ever, save for the company that had the contract.
Biltritewave,
Please check also Snopes.com
They’re a site that refutes urban legends. The one you mentioned has been circulated so widely on the Internet that they felt the need to debunk it as an “urban legend.”
Funny, I’ll take congressional research service and LIS over Fact Check any day.
some of the stuff that zell miller mentioned has probably been used to fight the war on terror and i am sure some of it cheney voted against…but the real issue is the multiple things that kerry voted against when he first got in…much of which was instrumental in elevating the arms race which eventually bankrupted the U.S.S.R. He also has supported in the past american nuclear disarmment, has stated that he doesnt think the U.S should ever act without approval or threw the U.N (see his 1971 senate testimonay) and he missed something like 85% of his senate intelligence hearings/briefings, which is absolutely shocking…and I am not just talking about during the campaign, i am talking about since he has had the position
Wrong side of the issues from the begining. I am sure if John Kerry went with his gut he would be howard dean/denis kucinich type, he realizes that this is an untenable position for a national leader and therefore has to come off as more of a dove. The democrats arent dumb, they know that the only thing that has enough show to cover up his past positions on defense and foreign policy are to tout his veterans status…unfortately this backfired for them big time.