John Kerry in the news

Reuters: Iranian President Spars with Academics in NY

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with an American university president who called him a "petty and cruel dictator" at a forum on Monday where Ahmadinejad criticized Israel and the United States and said Iran was a peaceful nation.

Sen. John Kerry, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said: "Calls for 'research' and 'study' don't change the fact that this man is a Holocaust denier who trades in anti-Semitism. It is long past time for the world to renounce this bigoted revisionist history."

Chicago Sun Times- Hillary's last health plan still looms large

It has clearly ticked off the other Democratic candidates that Hillary Clinton has been receiving so much positive press for her newly unveiled health care plan. There has been a sympathetic column from David Brooks of the New York Times, an appearance with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Situation Room," a polite interview with Melissa Block on NPR's "All Things Considered" and many other interviews.

To be sure, anything can happen until the primaries. As David Axelrod, Obama's media strategist, points out, former presidential candidate John Kerry came into Iowa in 2004 well behind and still won.

Boston Herald: He’d (Rather) act like the fool he is

In 2004, at the height of the Dan Rather Memogate story, I wrote in National Review: “Across the media universe the questions pour out: Why is Dan Rather doing this to himself? Why does he drag this out? Why won’t he just come clean? Why would he let this happen in the first place? Why is CBS standing by him? Why . . . why . . . why?

CBS News, under Rather, ran with fake documents - or, to be fair, documents so shoddily verified that no unbiased journalist would have run with them. When confronted with the rank incompetence and bad faith of the team he led (the lead producer tried to coordinate with the Kerry campaign), Rather first allowed three of his colleagues to be thrown under the bus, while he took a few more face-saving laps around CBS before he was escorted out the door like the muttering office old-timer who’s gone off his feed.

Associated Press: Campaigns Prepare for Big Spending

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Presidential campaigns are hoarding money for a coming advertising blitz -- mostly in Iowa and New Hampshire -- during the final three months of the year on airwaves already saturated with candidate commercials.

Edwards, meanwhile, hasn't spent much on advertising in Iowa, though he campaigned there more than any other candidate. He came in second in the caucuses in 2004, behind John Kerry. A well-timed ad blitz could give him a surge.

Associated Press: Number of U.S. hunters steadily declines

Hunters remain a powerful force in American society, as evidenced by the presidential candidates who routinely pay them homage, but their ranks are shrinking dramatically and wildlife agencies worry increasingly about the loss of sorely needed license-fee revenue.

Last month, President Bush ordered all federal agencies that manage public lands to look for more room for hunting. In the 2004 presidential campaign, both Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry courted hunters' and gun owners' votes. A camouflage-jacketed Kerry even toted a shotgun during a goose hunt.

Oregon Daily Emerald: Taser incidents remind us responsibility, trust are key

By now, you probably have heard about the University of Florida Taser incident. If not, don't be alarmed: It likely means you spend less time glued to news outlets than I do and, therefore, have an actual life. Nonetheless, it is a somewhat important incident to us, especially considering the requests by our local Department of Public Safety to be armed with Tasers of their own.

On Sept. 17, Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry found himself speaking to a crowd of college students at the University of Florida. An undergraduate student-journalist named Andrew Meyer began drilling Kerry with questions regarding his early concession in the 2004 race and the subsequent allegations of voter fraud in key states. Meyer went on for a while and didn't yield for Kerry to answer, but other than that wasn't really creating any havoc. Nonetheless, event organizers asked for him to be removed, his microphone was cut off, and, eventually, he was Tasered by University Police officers. The whole event is documented on YouTube, of course, along with virtually every other overzealous Tasering. It's pretty disappointing (if not horrifying) to say the least.

Newsday: Hillary Clinton can't defend anti-military image

So Hillary Rodham Clinton had a pretty good week. But so did the Republicans.

That's why MoveOn.org's Sept. 10 advertisement attacking Gen. David Petraeus was so toxic - you just don't trash the military in wartime. Or put it this way: If you do, you're less likely to win an election. Don't take my word for it: Ask Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), who, as an embittered young veteran, denounced the U.S. military on Capitol Hill back in 1971. The voters of red-state America never forgave him.

Rocky Mountain News: 300 at CSU urge firing of editor

FORT COLLINS - The student newspaper that stirred up a hornet's nest when it dropped the F-bomb last week drew more fire Monday.

The profane editorial was a response to last week's Tasering of a University of Florida student who disrupted a forum with Sen. John Kerry.

Rocky Mountain News: Dumb and Dumber

So this is what passes for insightful commentary nowadays on the campus of Colorado State University - a petulant cry from the crib.

"The bold statement we printed was more a declaration of free speech than it was a political statement about President Bush." This simply doesn't pass the straight-face test. If it were merely a declaration of free speech, why not invoke John Kerry's name (who was the speaker at the event in which the Tasering referenced in the editorial occurred) or even Jon Stewart's, for that matter?

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Controversy after Kerry lecture

Last week, a University of Florida student stirred up controversy at a lecture held on campus by Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and was Tasered by police.

Before getting up to ask Kerry questions at the lecture held Sept. 17, the student, Andrew Meyers, gave another student behind him his video camera.

Meyers began by getting up to the microphone and thanking Kerry for coming to the University. But soon, Meyers started shooting off question after question, not giving Kerry a chance to respond to them.

Roll Call: Race for Pickering’s Seat Tops ’08 Political Agenda

There are a number of areas in the traditionally Republican South where either shifting demographics or the current winds of political change have opened up some enticing new possibilities for the Democratic Party.

On the Democratic side in the 3rd district, former Rep. Ronnie Shows has been one of just a few names mentioned for the seat that favored President Bush by an almost 2-1 margin over Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in the 2004 presidential election. Shows lost not only his race to Pickering but also his entire district in 2002 after reapportionment following the 2000 Census cut the Mississippi Congressional delegation by one seat. The new map merged Shows’ Jackson-based 5th district with Pickering’s 3rd district, and Pickering won their matchup 64 percent to 35 percent.

Staten Island Advance: At CSI, the students shrug -- and go about their day

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was introduced to speak at Columbia University yesterday, the two flat-screen televisions suspended over the cafeteria at the College of Staten Island pumped out music videos.

Michael Miley, 20, of Sunnyside, attributed the lack of interest to "apathy," with a tinge of disgust in his voice. He said students were more engaged during the Vietnam era, partially due to the draft, which forced them to take a direct role in the debate.

As an example of current indifference, he cited last week's case of the University of Florida student who was deemed disruptive during a speech by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the failed Democratic presidential nominee, dragged out and zapped with a taser gun.