They have a great show, and their bikes are amazing. True human emotions and hard work. Real winners, just like JK.

What a great way to spend time. Gee Ted, you have the best job ever! 

I love those pics.  Too bad there was no time for anyone to go for a ride on one of those custom-build bikes. That would have also made for a great bunch of pics.

How great to hang out with these guys who are trying to raise money to help wounded veterans.  Sounds like it was a real good time and a real change of pace on the road.

Thanks for the post!

Check out how Tammy Duckworth is doing in this Zogby poll report.

I guess my observations were off the mark, and I am happy to see that I am probably wrong.

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/polltracker

Thanks for another great report, Ted.  I was out for a while and see the previous thread has 307 comments, so I’ll state my opinion here.  I support Senator Kerry 100% and am madder than hell that the media YET AGAIN was fooled into spending so much time on a nonissue.  But let’s not get too stuck in that silly cable world:  nobody can escape the horror that the Iraq War is; it touches you everywhere when you live in a military town like I do.  Maybe I didn’t talk to the right people, but I didn’t hear ANYBODY discuss this “story”, as people have to worry about when their spouses deploy and talk about the very bad situation in Iraq.  They don’t talk about matters invented by the right wing noise machine.  They talk about real things that actually affect them.  Sometimes a step back is what you need to realize what a fantasy this administration lives in—that trying to turn a botched joke into an issue is going to change what REALLY is happening in Iraq.  Just like screaming “cut and run”, it just ain’t gonna work.

Here’s a few Digby posts that put it all into perspective:

The Fantasy World:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_digbysblog_archive.html#116240460250848623

The Real World:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_digbysblog_archive.html#116241103442297869

Aw heck my pic showed in the preview but not in the post.

Try this.

Here’s the kind of news that warms the heart: Jim Webb may be moving ahead of George Allen. You may remember that John Kerry busted him hump to hep Webb win a tough primary, and has been raising money and appearing with Webb ever since. The idea that Allen was being taken seriously as a presidential candidate before this Senate race exposed him as the not-very-closeted, lynch-rope saving racist!

Here’s what Eric Kleefeld |over at TPM’s Election Central has to say about developments in VA:
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/#block-views-breaking_polls

In the wake of polls showing Dem Jim Webb edging ahead of GOP Senator George Allen, political analysts are beginning to paint a grim picture of his reelection chances. CQ Politics has just downgraded the race from “Leans Republican” to “No Clear Favorite.” Says CQ: “Even though other Republican senators are as or more vulnerable than Allen, it can be argued than none has fallen further over the course of this year.” Robert Novak, meanwhile, is even tougher: He’s just shifted his rating of the race from “Leans GOP” to “Leans Dem,” saying that Allen “is on the verge of losing his Senate seat.” Novak labels Allen’s effort a “circus campaign,” and concludes ominously, “it is much easier to dump an incumbent in a circus campaign than it is in a serious campaign.”
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/#block-views-breaking_polls

Not into bikes, but I love JK’s sunglasses.

In other ReScumlican News…have we all read about my Congressman, John Sweeney?

Those of you that know me well, know that I have made it a personal mission to stop Congressman “Animal House” from ever occupying the Governor’s chair in New York.  I don’t believe that will ever happen, thanks to a number of citizen activists who had never been activists before the Kerry campaign.  They dogged Sweeney, the piece of crap behind the Brooks Brothers riot in Florida in 2000, on the Social Security front and we worked together to get the information out there in public and keep it that way.

Well, here’s the update:  You know that old question, “When did you stop beating your wife”?  Well, it seems that yet ANOTHER GOPer Congressman gets his thrills from shoving women around.  Josh Marshall at TPM has all the deets, and it’s getting pushed out waaaayyy far and will land in the mainstream national media soon, no doubt.  It’s ALL OVER the local.

BUT, besides that sinking a close campaign in yet another “safe” Republican District, people here have worked very hard for the last two years on making Sweeney vulnerable by diligently tracking him, calling, reporting it on blogs, etc.

Sure, Gillibrand raised money.  She has Clinton connections after all, but money alone couldn’t give her what, really, a handful of committed thoughtful citizens did.  And that handful turned into another, and another and another.

When the campaign didn’t want to do a blog, supporters took it upon themselves to start and run a great blog in True Blue 20 ( Go Phil and Andrew!).  And when the campaign didn’t want to do events calanders on the site because of Sweeney thugs showing up, volunteers organized the network for getting information out.

Sweeney refused to debate, even though he promised he would, and citizen activist who had had ENOUGH of members of Congress who don’t represent them, stood up and took control of their own Congressional District, and with it, their own fortunes.

When Kirsten Gillibrand wins, it won’t be the because of the DCCC.  They dropped support for her in late September.  They cancelled their ad buys. Sweeney’s people trumpeted their pullout.  But folks here pulled together, which is saying something, because my Congressional District is located in parts of ten counties. 

When Kirsten Gillibrand wins, she won’t have far to go to find the people to thank.  It will be her neighbors. 

And that’s the way it should be.

This is a note directed to John Kerry,

Why would a serviceman who received 3 purple hearts apologize to a President who was joy riding around the country on tax payers money while John Kerry was risking his life in Vietnam? 

Do our present day servicemen & women join the service because they think it is a way out of there economic or poor academic situation?  Of course they do.  Anyone who was raised on the other side of the railroad tracks knows this to be the case.

Regarding the Republicans & Bush:  don’t let them off the hook.  You are fighting for the middle class working men & women, just like you fought for our freedom in Vietnam.  They are attacking you.  You need to attack back & sound & be confident & convincing.  You have nothing to apologize for.  Bush & the Republicans are the ones who owe the families of those killed & wounded in Iraq the apology & explanation which I have never heard!  In fact, I have only heard the opposite!  Arrogant lies!  Don’t let them get away with this! 

What percent of the servicemen in Iraq come from the upper middle class of America?  That was your point, right?  Ask Bush to explain that insulting & shameful statistic!

Bush is insulting & shameful, not your comments!  His arrogance & ignorance is leading to the deaths of our servicemen as we speak.  Those servicemen no longer have a voice.  John Kerry can be their voice.

Bush wants to say you are shameful & insulting, what about all of his lies.  The Republicans are masters at lying.  Why not point this out to the American people. 

Bush had know right to use 9/11 to screw our country.

John Kerry…Attack that jerk.

I too support JK 100%  Anyone who twists his obvious respect for our troops is living in denial.  Again, our hyped up media is focusing and wasting everyones time on stupid hate games instead of focusing on the many serious issues that face us today.  Most of these issues created the ever incompetent Bush Cheney administration.  Stay focused on the real issues and let them know on 11/7 that we are all fed up with the BS and we’re taking back our country, principles and dignity.  Tune into LINK TV and Democracy Now for the “Real Story behind the hype” and be sure to watch hacking democracy on HBO for a real look into the “IN YOUR FACE” good ole boy ranch of corruption courtesy of our current administration.  Go Kerry

Thanks again, Ted. Just what I needed. A way cool JK in shades, mixing with the guys. So where’s Sandra Bullock? Oh, wrong shop.

After today’s NY Daily News with a Kerry Kamakaze cover and even Babs Walters musing its significance on The View, Elizabeth saying Iraq is the central war on terror, to Rosie and Joy’s efforts of self control, I thought, deja vu all over again. It’s 2004, I’m 70 lbs thinner, and hoping that swiftboating won’t work.

Let’s hope the Dems show some respect for a leader, key to whatever success we have these mid-term elections. There is maneuvering going on for 2008, and this corporate media storm of lemmings could happen to them tomorrow.

Joe Bangert -

Yes, Webb was not especially kind to the VVAW.  But he was also not always a Dem.  People change, and I’ll take it - especially after he took the high road today and didn’t dis JK like too many other Dems.

I hope John Kerry keeps on fighting and remains focused on looking out for the welfare of our troops.

Our Country needs his leadership.

We have to show the democrats and media not to be imtiminated by the smears. They are afraid of being attacked too, or they just don’t have any substance.

You know the baseball saying that only those who go to make the play and actually touch the ball could be charged with an error. Or something like that. And those who have the courage to risk their neck to tell the truth are open to be criticized. But that’s leadership.

I am confident in John Kerry because he is a Vietnam Vet and will know how to get us through all this crap.

John McCain and GOP know this was a fake story and they exploited the good people that care about troops.

How can we show our support for John Kerry?

I don’t remember bush having to apologize for saying that our enemys never stop thinking of ways to harm our people, and neither do we.

I suppose this reflects the religoius right double standard.  They still vote for and excuse stupidity from stupid people but yet punish the intelligent ones like Kerry by expecting perfection at all times, pounding them into the ground and trying to destroy their credibility. 

Kerry ‘08

Yeah, Cassandra, you nailed the double standard. The only cure is to hold Bush and the rest of these clowns responsible for the mess they’ve made—which means we’ve got to win big next Tuesday. I’m really impressed by JK’s single-minded focus on helping other Dems in the upcoming election. If we follow his example and do what we can to help the local races, I think we’ll have a lot to celebrate next week.

For those of you who have yet to read, see, and/or hear Keith Olbermann’s powerful ‘Special Comment’ segment from tonight, in which he defended Mr. Kerry and went on to call Mr. Bush and his colleagues out for the sheer dishonest demagoguery they so pride themselves on, you can do so at MSNBC.com and/or at Crooks and Liars.

A few choice excerpts from tonight’s ‘Special Comment’ by Mr. Olbermann, by way of encouraging you to experience the entire incisive essay for yourselves:

Bush owes troops an apology, not Kerry

[snip]

There is no line this president has not crossed — nor will not cross — to keep one political party in power.

He has spread any and every fear among us in a desperate effort to avoid that which he most fears — some check, some balance against what has become not an imperial, but a unilateral presidency.

And now it is evident that it no longer matters to him whether that effort to avoid the judgment of the people is subtle and nuanced or laughably transparent.

[snip]

A brief reminder, Mr. Bush: You are not the United States of America.

You are merely a politician whose entire legacy will have been a willingness to make anything political; to have, in this case, refused to acknowledge that the insult wasn’t about the troops, and that the insult was not even truly about you either, that the insult, in fact, is you.

So now John Kerry has apologized to the troops; apologized for the Republicans’ deliberate distortions.

Thus, the president will now begin the apologies he owes our troops, right?

[snip]

This is our beloved country now as you have redefined it, Mr. Bush.

Get a tortured Vietnam veteran to attack a decorated Vietnam veteran in defense of military personnel whom that decorated veteran did not insult.

Or, get your henchmen to take advantage of the evil lingering dregs of the fear of miscegenation in Tennessee, in your party’s advertisements against Harold Ford.

Or, get the satellites who orbit around you, like Rush Limbaugh, to exploit the illness — and the bipartisanship — of Michael J. Fox. Yes, get someone to make fun of the cripple.

Oh, and sir, don’t forget to drag your own wife into it.

“It’s always easy,” she said of Mr. Fox’s commercials — and she used this phrase twice — “to manipulate people’s feelings.”

Where on earth might the first lady have gotten that idea, Mr. President?

[snip]

Powerful stuff indeed. And there’s plenty more where that comes from, too.

Keith Olbermann is the new Edward R. Murrow, and he is not at all chary of calling the current administration out for their egregious sins and errors.

His courage in so doing is admirable, his effectiveness in telling truth to power is worth emulating, and his employers’ willingness to back him up deserves our encouragement.

So go to MSNBC’s site and read the transcript, and go watch the video of Mr. Olbermann’s presentation tonight at Crooks and Liars.

Afterwards you will surely feel inspired, recharged, and ready to go out and take our country back from the Neandercons who have brought it to the very brink of ruin just six short days from now.

now go out there and win one for the jkipper,
Otter

Senator -
My people come from one of the most conservative states in the union.
My people have gone “over the top”
My people have stormed across black sand beaches
My people are some of the ‘Chosin Few’
I fought along a ‘Street without Joy’
My children and grandchildren in Iraq and Kuwait.
and i have only one thing to say to you sir:

WAY TO GO JOHN!

please don’t let them shut you up.
I am tired of flags in triangles resting on mantles.
The current administration only jumps on your statement
because the can’t stand on a record of lies and deceit.
They ignored warnings they went without a plan they didn’t
have a goal - gee sounds like somewhere you and I went.
Don’t forget the lessons you learned in the mud and the blood
they are the truth - not some spin radio show host who couldn’t go
because he either was an anal cyst or had an anal cyst or something like that or a Vice President the had ‘Other Priorities’ when it was his turn to go.

peace - it starts with peace

You have some very interesting comments on your website. I heard JK’s statement of a botched joke about our servicemen and women todat along with the apology. I will assume that his apology was sincere if he could respond to my querry as to his service in ‘Nam. I was in Taskforce 117 in Viet Nam aboard the USS Tom Green County LST-1159 from Aug’67-Aug’69. I returned for a second tour aboard the USS Pitkin County LST 1082, in country Oct’70 to May’71. My twin brother, Loyd was aboard LST 1159 with me. He was wounded twice during our tour of duty. My parents were very concerned after his second purple heart, and asked that my brother be allowed to return home quoting the Sullivan act from WWII. My brother and I did not want to be separated and told our C.O. how we felt. We were advised that we volunteered and that we could only be separated if we requested so. My brother with some concern was wondering what would happen if he were wounded again. He and I were advised by numerous command level officers that as long as he was physically able, he could stay aboard the ship until the end of his assigned tour unless he requested to be sent home. I take it from that fact, sir, that you requested to be shipped home after 4 months in country, with your third purple heart ? I am sure you will not post this, however, with all of these folks on your site lauding your service and heroism, could you please advise a fellow vet…if the going gets tough, will you request transfer to a safer location?

Otter

I agree Olbermann was again phenomenal. He speaks for me.

The past few days have been very surreal I think. We all need to go out and help GOTV for JK. Nothing else matters at this point.

The Great Divider can not win this one.

Did Bush apologize to the troops over in Iraq for this??????????????? The press needs to bring this up again!!!!!!!  Can someone post this videotape of this event and Bush’s speech!!

Bush takes heat for WMD jokes

McAuliffe: ‘Should not be making light of the situation.’

WASHINGTON (CNN)—What was meant by President Bush to be a joke about the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has brought little laughter to some Americans.

During the annual Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner this week, Bush presented a slide show of quirky photographs from inside the White House. In one, the president is looking under furniture in the Oval Office.

“Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere,” Bush joked. “Nope, no weapons over there ... maybe under here?” (Bush pokes fun at himself at dinner)

Democrats have seized on the matter, calling it astonishingly insensitive when Americans have died for their country in Iraq while the search for WMD has turned up nothing.

The administration had cited the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons program as one of the primary reasons for the need for war.

“It’s inappropriate to the thousands of people obviously who have been wounded over there,” Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday.

“This is a very serious issue. We’ve lost hundreds of troops, as you know, over there. Let’s not be laughing about not being able to find weapons of mass destruction. ... We certainly should not be making light of the situation.”

McAuliffe’s Republican counterpart, Ed Gillespie, responded by saying people need to lighten up, that the president made the comment in jest.

He noted that the correspondents at the dinner laughed when the president made the remark.

“There is a long-standing tradition of the president making light of serious matters and self-deprecating humor” at the dinner, he said.

“The people in the room obviously saw the humor in it at that moment. And to play it back now in a different context is unfair, frankly, I have to say.”

Mark Katz, a former speechwriter for President Clinton who wrote jokes for the former president when he appeared at the same dinner, told CNN he thought the joke crossed a line.

He said the joke sounded like something a speechwriter would write for internal White House amusement, but something “I never would expect” to have been approved for public consumption.

“There are lines you cannot cross,” Katz said. “With regard to going to war, sending American troops to war to find weapons of mass destruction, that’s a joke that’s playing out on the world stage—and is at our expense.”

A non-scientific poll by CNN.com showed 54 percent of the more than 200,000 respondents felt Bush crossed the line.

A majority of CNN viewers who have responded by e-mail also said they were offended.

“Seeing our president joke about WMDs at a comedy function was terrible. How can a thinking, caring human being joke about this!

Citizen Patriots, a beautiful thing.  :-)

“When Kirsten Gillibrand wins, she won’t have far to go to find the people to thank. It will be her neighbors.
And that’s the way it should be.”
~~Posted by casey | November 1, 2006 10:54 PM

And it’s another beautiful day.

I have to say that as a high school junior I have been finding myself incredibly disappointed with how supposedly mature     s act when it comes to politics. I am finding that the majority of what is done is simply backstabbing and name-calling…the sort of immature behavior that is associated with junior high and high school. What is even more disappointing is finding that leaders of the country are acting this way too. And, let me say that, the President is the President, and because he is the President, whether or not you agree with him, he deserves your respect. If people can’t respect the authorities, then they cannot properly respect anyone else in this world.

Please, everyone check out this site and pass it along.  Well worth the 10 seconds it will take to calculate your Senators and Congresspeople’s IAVA standing. This valuable information came via DTW 06 to the Liberal Values blog.

http://capwiz.com/iava/dbq/officials/

Each IAVA Congressional Rating is based on a given legislator’s voting history on issues that affect US Troops, Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and military families.

To calculate the Ratings, IAVA reviewed all legislation voted on in the Congress since September 11, 2001. For each piece of legislation that affected troops, veterans or military families, IAVA took a position either in support of, or in opposition to its passage.  The letter grades were derived, using the scales below, from the percentage of times that each legislator’s vote matched the official IAVA stance.

A total of 169 House votes and 155 Senate votes were used to determine the ratings. You can view all of this legislation, either in a complete list or grouped by session, by clicking here.

IAVA is a non-partisan, non-profit organization. These ratings were determined using a simple and transparent mathematical formula.

A Kos diary about the REAL meaning of supporting the troops.

When this guy’s brother was killed in Afghanistan, only one elected official that wasn’t from his state showed up for the funeral. It was John Kerry.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/31/175122/71

MH,

I’m scouring the IAVA site as fast as I can, trying to figure out ways to pass all its information along.  Also, did you see the front page of today’s NYT?  “Medic Aids Fallen Marine” ?  I’m not sure I should be commenting on all this here at John Kerry’s site, but my blood pressure is surely high right now.  :-  To think days were spent on distorting a badly delivered dig at GWB when the reality of what GWB has done to our citizens and the citizens of Iraq is beyond comprehension

Blatent link spamming:  http://capwiz.com/iava/dbq/officials/

Read citizens, READ!

There are certain unfortunate political realities. John Kerry got a bloody nose in the last news cycle. He was sucker punched by the lamestream media and our own President. Will we see a reversal of fortunes? I am confident we will. Americans are fed up with the lies, distortions, and failures. The day of reckoning is rapidly approaching. The editorial in today’s New York Times is a premonition of what Americans will be saying if George Bush continues with his reckless   attacks on those who disagree with him. The majority of Americans will view him as pathologically detached from reality while his desperate rhetoric betrays his overwhelming fears.

John Kerry has done so much to help Democrats in this election cycle and we are all thankful for his hard efforts. But he should stay away from scripted “jokes”. He is not Jon Stewart. Americans can get their political humor from others. We want a serious, rational leader (like John Kerry) who can lead America out of this dysfunctional relationship we have with our government.

Watch this video:

Andrew Sullivan And Christopher Hitchens Blast Bush And Defend Kerry

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/02/andrew-sullivan-and-christopher-hitchens-blast-bush-and-defend-kerry/

A poem from ourt friend Lori Perdue:

Wish List

I want to have a poet’s uprising on the White House lawn.

I want to have heartfelt, sometimes tearful talks with people that care about human rights.

I mourn for America still.

I want to listen to people who don’t think World Peace is a radical idea.

I want to learn how to return this country to the roots of respectability.

I want Dick, George and Donald to face their Butcher’s Bill.

I want to march in the streets of D.C. and raise my voice with others putting out the call.

I want to stomp my feet demanding peace and have the vibrations soak into the soil of the National Mall.

I want to stop bitching about the Mainstream Media and lead others to abandon it, replace it with truth. Render its sales techniques obsolete. Because my red white and blue, freedom-loving, All-American soul is not a part of any marketable demographic.

I defy definition and I want to combat the popular opinion

That any Grassroots movement in America is either quaint or run by a bunch of hippies.

I want to help my people realize that Global Catastrophe, in whatever form it takes…

Pandemic Illness, Nuclear Winter, Global Warming or Massive Meteor Strike (which to be honest, would be my personal choice for it’s brainless and blameless instantaneous decimation of life.) …

None can be considered quaint nor do you have to be high to see that it’s high time we did something about the three preventable possibilities of the Earth’s demise.

I want all the votes to count.

I want our Senators and Representatives to take a walk up the Hill and act on behalf of the People.

I want our Justices to take the Bench and uphold the Rule of Law.

And I want every single American who has taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to actually do so.

But I’d settle right now for rhyme making a way for reason.

And there’s probably a contingent out there that would accuse me of treason, but…

I want to have a Poet’s Uprising on the White House Lawn.

I want peace poets, past their anger, to infuse the positive and reinforce reason with flowing prose like the winds of change.

I want academic poets to remind us of the past and the dangers of it’s repetition; Repetition of the facts from every angle like acid rain.

A Poet’s Uprising on the White House Lawn.

I want hip-hop wordsmiths to spit phrases crying out against all -Isms, resurrecting the resistance that faced fire hoses.

I want slam Poets hurling free verse, solid, like Anarchist bricks through Starbucks windows.

I want Sonnets flung like service medals from the hands of veterans trying to spare the soldiers of tomorrow.

A Poet’s Uprising on the White House Lawn.

I want rapid-fire couplets filled with apple pie anguish.

And tortured triplets soaked in yellow ribbon tears.

I want silky quatrains whispering how we can change this.

And gritty limericks like sand in the war machine’s gears.

I want a Haiku that can restore Democracy in 17 syllables.

I want a Poet’s Uprising on the White House lawn.

I want the Poets who refused Laura’s invitation

To read – as an act of demonstration –

Something they have written in the last five years.

A Poet’s Uprising on the White House lawn.

Stanzas excising Spin from Law.

A Poet’s Uprising

Freedom of Speech without fear.

A Poet’s Uprising

Because Truth and Poetry

Belong in the People’s ears.

I voted for Kerry and I have believed that he was an answer to our problems. I absolutely cannot acknowledge Bush as my president.  In my opinion, he has brought our country to a new low—in intelligence, in leadership, in every way.

But…..I have to tell you, with a son-in-law serving in the Marines, we are very tense and touchy about Iraq. We pray every day that the phone won’t ring. And Kerry’s comment made me cry. I had to stop the car and pull my self together.

Thomas Jefferson said “a man cannot help but say what is in his heart”.  I don’t think it was a joke, and for all those young people who VOLUNTEERED, this was a slap in the heart—not to mention all of us parents.

I will still vote against the Rupublicans, but I won’t support Kerry any more. I have blocked the emails and stopped contributing.

Posted by Diane Barfield | November 2, 2006 12:29 PM

Diane, I can’t imagine what you’re feeling these days.  But, as gently as I can, I’m going to ask you:  Is what you’re feeling really about the distortion of Kerry’s badly delivered dig at GWB, or the situation on the ground in Iraq?

Don’t answer, just do me a favor.  Click on this link. http://capwiz.com/iava/dbq/officials/
See where Kerry ranks.

I was taught that it’s what I do, not so much what I say (botch, mangle), that matters.

Hi.  I came here hoping to find a transcript of at least that part of the speech that includes the ‘state of denial’ lines that led up to the little snippet the MSM has chosen is the only line worthy of broadcasting.

I really want the lines immediately before the big ‘controversial’ line, so I can e-mail it to as many people as I can, so I can ask them ‘how could anyone with a third-grade education buy the GOP’s spin on this?’

Any help would be appreciated.  Btw, I think Sen. Kerry’s ‘apology’ is an awesome statement.  Only problem, as you all know: the mainstream media, so in the pocket of the GOP crooks, doesn’t broadcast any of his hard-hitting remarks, only the apology part.  I don’t think the MSM is ready for the light that’s going to be shone on its rightwing-appeasing practices, when we gain the ascendancy in the national debate, and the average American sees the facts.

Sorry this is off-topic, but I need to get this off my chest before I explode. If it is moved or removed I certainly will understand.

In reference to “the botch”:

I cannot express in just a few words my OUTRAGE at my OWN party right now. This is why:

1) Repubs who were “offended” would never give this great man a vote anyways, so even though we should be appalled, it’s to be expected, and I’m not too concerned with thier thoughts anyways.

2)Some Dems like Hillary coming out to skewer a possible competitor is appalling as well, but as above, to be expected. Someone oughtta remind her that her husband’s behavior in office DEFINITELY lost a whole slew of elections for the Dems, yet we stuck behind him and even revere him to some degree today. I have great respect for both Clintons and what they have done, but in all seriousness IMHO John Kerry is twice the person either one of them will ever be. Thank you Hillary for chopping him down to your level for your own gain.

3) I have to precurser my next comment. I have been painstakingly following JK on a DAILY basis for about 8 months via the internet, MSM, and personal appearances that I’ve attended. During the last 6 months the Senator has been literally busting his ass to support every Dem candidate or cause he could get to. Every weekend, and every weekday when the Senate was out of session he was helping others. Spending his own money for he and his staff to travel, spending 40-50 hours per week of his time in addition to all his responsibilities. In doing so he endorsed hundreds of candidates, raised millions of dollars for these candidates, and STILL contributed more $$ from his own political campaign fund to the DNC, etc.

Bottom line is this: Not only has nobody done as much for the party this last year, noone can even hold a candle to it……not Obama, not McCaskill, and certainly not Hillary. Why is it that these people have the nerve to publically label him a huge liability to a pending victory when in reality he was a major part of WHY we are in the position for a victory??!!??

But, as I have said, this precurses what is my REAL RAGE at this moment……some of these people who recently recieved the benifits of the money, time, and legitimacy from Kerry personally sticking his neck out for them have back-bitten him IMHO. I want to call all the Claire McCaskills, Harold Ford’s etc. and tell them that THEY are the ones who have really tried to crucify John Kerry. They could have jumped up like the honorable John Murtha, Max Cleland, or Sherrod Brown (all people who have recipricated Kerry’s kindness to their campaigns). They could have even simply sat back and said nothing, at least publically. But these people went out of their way to demean someone who had helped give them the resources to be in the position they are now in today. The Dems (in all truthfullness) have maximized the press about things like FoleyGate for political gain (that’s just politics), so I actually have to say that the Republicans are just taking advantage of this as the parties will do.

Condemn me, I deserve it, but I actually have less respect for those FROM WITHIN who have decided to be the “Judas” who will sell out thier own.

IMHO while they are still listening (because they haven’t won their election just yet) we ALL owe it to the Senator to call each of their campaigns and tell these Candidates that we are extremely remorseful of supporting them through John Kerry only to see them try to completely destroy thier benifactor’s character.

If I’m seeing this wrong, someone from the Kerry camp can contact me and explain that I’m off-base……but honestly, I’ve looked at this hundreds of times over the last two days and that’s the way I see it.

Jav

Anybody, please, can ANYbody point me to the transcript of the speech in question?  I’m looking at the posts at a trivia-lovers blog right now, one where ALL sides come to give their two cents, and as of the last post…

...NOBODY on OUR side seems to have knowledge to the run-up lines, instead they’re trying to explain away the one publicized line.

I’ve looked around this site, I can’t seem to find the speech in question.  PLEASE, help me blow some conservatives out of the water, by showing that Sen. Kerry’s lines immediately before the ‘controversial’ line prove that there should be no controversy about this at all, it’s a GOP smear job.

Haven’t read all the posts here, but I do wanna thank ‘oncall,’ that’s a GREAT crooksandliars piece, I’m one of those who practically hooted Hitchens off the stage over a war debate in ‘04 at the L.A. Times Bookfest, so you know I’ll use his indictment of the GOP over this incident to FULL advantage.

Mr Kerry I hope you read this because you are the only one who has stood up to this man who is our President (sigh) Don’t let people who are fearful of losing a election and the perks stop you from doing the right thing. There is no price for a peace of mind even a ELECTION. You did the right thing Sir and we love you for it. Do me one favor ask Mr Bush can he tell the American people why the urgent need to attack Iraq when Dafur,North Korea,Iran are more urgent and when he says (we want to help the people in Iraq) what about the thousands of people in Dafur,North Korea who are hurting. Now will he say that Iraq was more dangerous then Iran which I hope he doesn’t because that would be a lie. Mr Kerry do you want to know what these third world countries are saying now? The United States is tired up in Iraq now its time to beat up on them and call there President a devil. Because of Iraq and the mess we have countries who truly are testing our might and respect. One person I feel sorry for is Colin Powell because he wasa good soldier and because he wasn’t in the cliq he got burn.

Re: Posted by fourmorewars | November 2, 2006 1:52 PM

fourmorewars,

There is video of the speech in the multimedia section of this site:

http://www.johnkerry.com/multimedia/

Scroll down and select, “John Kerry speaks a rally in Pasadena.”  It’s in the warm-up remarks, so it’s not too far in.

You could also watch Olbermann’s most recent Special Comment.

However, I would also like to vote for site admin to post a transcript, as well as the “as prepared” version of the speech.

Has anyone thought what effect publicising this ‘joke’ will have on the troops?  Don’t the Republicans understand that distractions in time of war costs lives?  Why would they bring this bogus issue up in the first place?  And why is it continuing to this day even after the apology?

go john!  yeah!

Dubya owes his father an apology.

I am a great Kerry supporter and I hope he will not let this flap stop him from running for President.  As for Hillary Clinton, I will never vote for her.  In the past I have always supported the party’s nominee even if it wasn’t my choice, but I will not vote for Clinton in a general election.  She stabbed John Kerry in the back for her own political gain and it is disgraceful.  All of the democrats who failed to stand up for him are exactly what is wrong with our party.  Kerry took a personal political hit over the last few days by apologizing for something he had no need to apologize for, and he did it for the sake of the party and the election.  Compare that to Clinton’s disgusting detrayal.  After the election, Kerry needs to come out fighting and hold nothing back.

Another two-item post:
1) PS to Otter:
“When I relocated from northern California to northwestern Pennsylvania a couple of years ago. . .”
All is now understood. .: )

. . All is now understood, EXCEPT, that is, for your blog slander of Enhydra lutris , who is not only a cousin of yours, but a former neighbor. Tsk, tsk.

2) To the Kerry blog team:
I also vote for a link to complete transcript (both as prepared and as delivered) of Sen. Kerry’s PCC talk. . various friends have been asking me for it. .