Home > John Kerry is a true commander-in-chief and that was clear to me last night (…)

John Kerry is a true commander-in-chief and that was clear to me last night during the debate.

by Open-Publishing - Monday 4 October 2004
56 comments

Dear Friends,

John Kerry is a true commander-in-chief and that was clear to me last night during the debate.

I’m Jim Wasser and I was second in command to John Kerry in Vietnam on Swift Boat 44. The John Kerry I knew then is the same John Kerry I saw last night debating on the tough issues surrounding Iraq.

As a union veteran, I really love this country. Let’s face it, whoever becomes the next president has a bad situation on his hands in Iraq. But last night it was clear to me why John Kerry is the man to lead us out of this war and these troubled times.

Here’s what I saw last night:

* John Kerry has a plan to get us out of this deadly, costly mess in Iraq AND achieve our goals there.

* George Bush is misleading America about this war[ ]he just can’t seem to own up to his failed record. Deadly insurgency is growing in Iraq and could result in all-out civil war, according to the administration’s own top intelligence analysts.

* George Bush has been totally distracted from the real war on terror. That’s not the way to make America safer. He’s wasted our money on millionaire tax cuts[ ]but he’s cutting grants to first-responder programs and trying to cut funding for firefighters by 33 percent. He’s frozen hiring for border protection officers, cut funding for the community police program by 90 percent and he’s ignoring vulnerabilities in our transportation system, from rail to ports to air travel.

* George Bush just can’t acknowledge his mistakes in the Iraq war and the war on terrorism[ ]just like he refuses to acknowledge that here at home he’s devastated working families who need good jobs, health care and overtime pay. No way can this president solve America’s problems when he’s too stubborn to acknowledge reality. John Kerry will make us safer than we are today. He will fund our first responders and make sure our ports and borders, planes, trains and infrastructure become secure.

Last night John Kerry met Bush head-on and laid out his plan for a new course in Iraq and his plan for winning the war on terror. It’s the right plan[ ]it’s what we need. John Kerry will make America stronger and safer at home and respected in the world.

I served beside John Kerry and I know he has been in tough combat situations, putting his life on the line for America and for his men. That’s what we need in a leader today[ ]someone who really understands what our sons and daughters are facing under fire in Iraq and what we could face here at home if we don’t get serious about the war on terror.

George Bush has not leveled with the American people about Iraq. No matter how many no-bid contracts go to his friends, no matter how many soldiers and civilians die, no matter how many kidnappings and beheadings, he tells us he[base ’]s done the right things. But let me tell you[ ]his go-it-alone strategy is the WRONG course. When you’re in combat, you don’t want to "go it alone." You want your buddies right there with you like John Kerry was with me in Vietnam.

After the debate, I heard some of President Bush’s supporters talking about "trust and confidence." Let’s face it[ ]John Kerry is the one you would trust next to you in a foxhole or covering your back on a swift boat. He’s the one you want protecting the lives and freedoms of working families in America.

I trusted John with my life. After watching him debate last night, I trust him even more now with our future.

In solidarity,

Jim Wasser Oct. 1, 2004

P.S. Are you a union veteran, too? Please join me in the Union Veterans network[ ]sign up now at www.unionveterans.com

Forum posts

  • What a bunch a "yes-man" garbage!

    • The only thing that was apparent from the debate was that John Kerry is smooth polished speaker.... however that doesn’t negate the fact that 254 fellow Swift Boat vets have declared him to be "Unfit for Command" based on his fraudulent obtaining of medals & lies regarding his now discredited "seared, seared into memory" his Christmas in Cambodia story. His lies & smears of widespread, pervasive atrocities in Vietnam has never been validated by any signed avadavits or testimony ... and numerous of those "Winter Soldier" accounts and testimonies were recounted by "vets" who it turned out were never in Vietnam. Then his 2 traiterous meetings with North Vietnamese & Viet Cong communist delegations in 1971 & 72 should have been grounds for court martial & imprisonment. His record of the past 20 years is a lack luster, lazy, undistinquished record.... if John Kerry is so proficient at bringing forward proposals and solutions, where has he been for the past 20 years? John Kerry is a pathological liar and does not deserve to be President of the United States. I find it hard to believe that any intelligent, honest, forthrite U.S. citizen could vote for John Kerry.... I find it even more incomprehensible for any vet of any era to vote for a man who lied about his military records and now refuses to release them (we know why... they would shed tremendous light on his fabricated stories), and now wraps himself piously & self-righteously in the flag to deceive voters into voting for him. By the way none of the Swift Boat Vet accounts or the book "Unfit for Command" have been discredited or proven false by any legitimate investigations or documentation to the contrary. The "official Navy" records were more than likely written by none other than John Kerry, which we could verify very quickly if only John Kerry would have the courage & integrity to release his records by signing Form 180.

    • These accusations from the Busheviks that the OTHER guy is lying continue to amaze me. It’s as though they think we have no memory for all the lies and mistatements that Dubya has told. They want to use a double or triple standard, they way they "handled" Al Gore in 2000. Too bad for BushCo that it isn’t working this time around. Some of it is that Kerry is a much tougher fighter than Gore, but more important is that Dubya has been on stage for too long and too many voters can still remember all the flip-flops and lies little Georgie has been telling.

      Actually, I think they could have gotten away with it except for the delusions of grandeur. Actually, it started with that bogus stem cell speech just before 9/11, but after 9/11 they really hit the sauce. That’s why Fahrenheit 9/11 has the Busheviks so upset—it shows WAY too much of the real Dubya in inaction.

      By the way, have they been able to prove anything about Dubya cheating during the debate with the wireless earphone back to ol’ Karl Rove? It was so funny all those times Dubya got stuck waiting for his prompters.

    • Oh I love all your second hand talking points you scraped together from Free Republic and Rush Liebaugh. If you you don’t know Kerry’s brilliant career in the senate by now then you just don’t want to know. Does Iran-Contra investigation or the BCCI bust ring any bells?

    • So tell John Kerry to release his military records & medical records by simply signing Form 180! Why is he so evasive about releasing these records? Bush released his records by signing Form 180, plus releasing even more of his records under the Freedom of Information act. I wonder why this act isn’t invoked to force Kerry to release his records. Obviously he is concerned about his military records being revealed to the public... gee I wonder what he’s hiding!

    • I ALWAYS RESPECT PEOPLE WHO OWN UP AND COME OUT WITH A CLEAR STATEMENT " I MADE A
      MISTAKE".LET US NOW CORRECT IT" INSTEAD OF GOING ON REPEATING " I DID THE WRITE
      THING".IT REQUIRES COURAGE AND CONVICTION TO OWN UP TO MISTAKES COMMITTED AND
      THEN YOU CAN BE CALLED A TRUE LEADER.THIS QUALITY IS THE HALLMARK OF A CAPABLE
      LEADER.UNFORTUNATELY PRESIDENT BUSH FAILS THIS TEST MISERABLY AND YOU DON’T NEED
      TO BE AN INTELLECTUAL TO COME TO THIS CONCLUSION.

    • Holy Cow! I cannot believe someone actually believes Fahrenheit 9/11! The "Working Psychology" website even uses it to explain types of propaganda! http://www.workingpsychology.com/fahrenheit.html
      Also check out: http://www.davekopel.com/Terror/Fiftysix-Deceits-in-Fahrenheit-911.htm or http://www.bowlingfortruth.com/ All three of these websites have references to back them up. Where is Moore’s?

    • Don’t you read anything besides the drudge report. The Navy has already made a public statement that they won’t further an investigation into Kerry’s records because it’s all on the up and up. There is nothing shady about his record. Since the Bush family is so copious about sanitizing their history, I’m sure there is nothing shady about Bush’s record either.

    • You didn’t answer my question? What’s Kerry got to hide? Why is he so adament that he will not sign or release his full military & medical records? If his records are that impecable, just sign the Form 180! Bush did! Why not Kerry?

    • And since 1992? And what did he do for "the people [of the United States]" and his constituents? I formerly lived in Massachusetts...nothing memorable to report.

    • I would reply in kind but you and your idiot just arn’t worth the effort tell him to pack his bags and get out of my house.

    • Holy Cow! I can’t believe your sources of information. Classy stuff you got there. Let me guess, you havn’t seen F/911?

    • So those sites you list are supposed to be any more credible than F9/11’s main premise? Have you actually seen the movie to justify your position firsthand? Or, are you simply parroting other party liners who’ve never seen it either? In regard to that "56-deceits" site (which was once claiming 59), at least 40 of the so-called deceits are so trivial they’re not worth mentioning. I’ve not found one person who has actually viewed F9/11 who is willing to say it wasn’t worth the cost of admission and who doesn’t believe that enough of Moore’s assertions are true enough to deserve the attention of more Americans.

      Most of the movie’s main points ARE documented—on Moore’s site, as well as in numerous books and articles—books and articles that every voter ought to at least sample for himself. No one should automatically accept anybody’s or any party’s talking points. But, if you consider yourself to be a sensible, open-minded person, why not read the books, articles, or go see the movie for yourself? No one is going to hold a gun to your head to make your brain believe something it can’t handle!

      For the price of admission, Moore’s F9/11 is a fairly efficient way for any of us would-be "informed" voters to learn a few things that we probably wouldn’t know and probably wouldn’t appreciate unless we are willing to check out for ourselves a pretty impressive collection of opinionated (yes!), yet plausible connections of some fairly important dots leading up to and following 9/11.

    • While most of us realize politicians are not perfect, but for the good of our country we must get rid of the lying deceit that has already cost us so much !

    • Saw it...the gross distortions of the facts make it hard to swallow. Checked out the websites. The psychology one seems pretty unbiased. Why is it acceptable to watch the film and support it and not acceptable to watch the film and question it? This is America and I am glad that people question the president, question the media and do not take everything they see in the news, on the big screen or in print as gospel.

    • Yes, exactly, that’s what I’m saying too. And yeah, polititions aren’t perfect, as we all know, nobody is perfect! And some people just don’t get that...we do need to get rid of him, but do you really think the other guy is going to be any better? I already know Bush isn’t doing any good for this country, but just because there are only two candidates to choose from doesn’t mean we have to pick one of them. Honestly, none of two seem good enough, I mean, yeah they’re both trying to do good things, but for how long? How long are they going to keep it up? Just until the president is elected, then what? Everyone’s hopes will just be given up. It will turn out that you could have just been better off with someone else...and who says it has to be a male? Why can’t it be a female? There are good enough females out there to be able to run, and some of them would be able to a whole hellofalot better than both Bush and Kerry put together! I know that for a fact, and I’m sure some of you other people know it too. Anyways, that’s my point, none of those two old guys should win, it should be all on somebody else...And what’s up with being able to be president twice? That should be against the law or something, especially for some people-they’re just not good enough, and people are stupid to re-elect some presidents...

    • Screw all of this back and forth about what Kerry did or did not do....Bush is brain damaged and obviously taking orders from corporate America, it wouldn’t matter if Donald Duck was running against Bush, America needs someone anyone else...

    • I can’t believe how many of the American People are so blind as to the Bush’s Administration failures on the war in Iraq.
      Going it alone was his idea, he bribed other countries to join by paying them or giving them promises he can’t keep.
      Now he is in debt or should I say your country is in debt up to the eyeballs, maybe you could sue G.W.B. for all the lies he has told since September 11th 2001 and before that time when he was friends with Bin Laden.
      Bin Laden helped George Bush start up his business in oil, and funded him with his own money.
      Now GWB wants the other countries to pitch in and help pay the expences for this war that no one wanted except GWB. I say take it out of your pocket Bush, you’ve taken enough of the Iraqi Oil to pay for more than was actually spent.
      What kind of a country sends their army into war and make them pay for their own devices for protection? Why wasn’t GWB’s daughter sent to Iraq, oh no that wouldn’t be right would it, only the poor and suckers who fell into this joined the army for a Commander and Chief who can’t get his story straight. I feel the American people all have blinders and ear plugs in their ears or they would see and hear what this so called President is really up to.

    • I’ll tell you who did go to see F9/11 just about everyone in Ontario, what an eye opener, I go to see every documentary that Michael Moore puts out on the screen.
      We only wish we could vote for Kerry also, it would be a slam dunk Bush and you would be out on your buns looking in at the White House.

    • The thing about Iran contra and BCCI....shouldn’t Kerry have put the evil Bush cabal in prison way back when? Seems like he helped them get off , and now look what they have done to our country!!

  • Thanks Jim!

    Well said!

    Roberta Laidman
    Bridgeton, Missouri

  • Yes, yes he is. After seeing that debate I am chanting my new slogan. 4 more months! 4 more months!

  • I do not get what made that clear at the debates.
    I also get a completely different view of John Kerry’s Vietnam record from http://www.swiftvets.com. This website and their television ads came *after* I talked to another Swift boat veteran who is not affiliated with this group living near my grandfather. This veteran was working on my grandfather’s car and we were discussing politics and he expressed his opinion that Kerry was not as he seems and that he would never support Kerry if he was nominated (obviously this was before the DNC as well.) So when I heard about the group and their website, I was even more inclined to believe their claims and after reading the information they provide, am surprised that he keeps referring to his 4 month service in Vietnam as the shining example of his qualification to be Commander in Chief.
    I am a military brat and am proud of those who have served our country especially those who served in combat but those who use that to their own ends and denigrate their fellow service men are not the kind of representative I would like to have as Commander in Chief. This in combination with a senatorial record with no stellar moments or significant acts of leadership I can find make me say...this is not my Commander in Chief and hopefully not my next President.

    • The Swift Boat Veterans have been completely discredited. For 30 years, specific members of that group have worked hand in hand with the Republican party to smear Kerry. They’re a joke of an organization that no sensible, rational, open-minded person would give any credence to.

    • Don’t you get it. O’neil, head slanderboat guy, was the pro-war poster boy for Nixon. Kerry completely humiliated him in a debate on the Dick Cavit show 30 years ago. This is not about Kerry’s service. This is about Kerry having the courage to make a stand against an immoral and unjust war. Like Kerry said at the debates, you should always discern the warriors from the war. Every allegation the swiftboat Vets for truth have made has been thoroughly debunked. It’s nothing but political pornography that is fitting for tabloid rumor mongering not any hard journalism. Come on, their "book" is published by regenary press, infamous for printing kkk and white supremicist literature not to mention tons of delusional far right-wing nutbag stuff. As for all these bitter vets saying Kerry is unfit. Believe me, people will do and say anything in the name of the republican party. They will lie, cheat and steal with impunity. And who is really the unfit one? Bush has been clammering for months about how steadfast and resolute he is but the debate showed his true colors— a squirming, sweating, whining, petulant incompetent.

    • Show me the debunking...I have yet to see it.

    • As I said, I had prior non-partisan discussion with a vet (He is a Democrat by the way) who served with Kerry not affiliated with Swift Boat Vets which supports their position. I don’t think he even has been on the internet as he is a "Good Old Boy" auto technician well known to my Grandfather....and he is not KKK if that is your next comment :) I am NOT saying Bush is great or wonderful...just that Kerry scares me as a potential leader of the United States of which I am proud to be a citizen.

    • Sorry, I was’nt accussing your friend of being in the kkk, I was trying to set the context of the publication, ie., pulp fiction. I’ve heard the foxhole analogy several times: "who would you want in a foxhole with you, Bush or Kerry?" Well I have a more poignant analogy. Back in the eighties, an elderly senator (name fails me) was choking on a slice of apple in the hallway. People in the hall just stood there not knowing what to do, thinking he was having a heart attack. The elevator door opens and Kerry steps off. Immediately he recognizes the problem and performs the heimlich manuevor on him. The Doc says if he had hesitated just 30 seconds the man would’ve been brain-dead. Now if that were you? Would you rather have Bush step out of that elevator?

    • Good rebuttal. I, as most any clear thinking American, can easily see through the fog of the Swift Boaters false claims. The only reason the story survived as long as it did was because it was nurtured along by irresponsible internet bloggers and the likes of Limbaugh, Savage, and FOX "News." Even the mainstream media seemed to enjoy exploiting the untruths for the sake of short-term ratings. Thirty years ago, when credible reporting was still more the rule than the exception, this story never would have survived long enough to mislead the number of gullible people who allowed themselves to be shortchanged by the politically motivated Swift Boat lies.

      Even today, if the media had spent as much effort exposing the truth behind each of the instigators as it spent blindly exploiting Kerry’s supposed misdeeds, the country would have been spared the experience of witnessing this cheap shot against a true war hero. So these believers think Kerry got away with writing up his own awards? For all five of his decorations?

      How can they possibly believe the US Navy would ever allow this? How can they possible deny the fact that every single witness actually near Kerry substantiates the facts as described in the Navy’s official accounts? Do they actually believe Kerry has somehow bought them off? All of them? Unless one is simply looking for reasons to hate Kerry because he later chose to testify against what he interpreted as wartime atrocities, it’s hard to understand why people would so easily sacrifice their own intelligence to accept the Swift Boaters claims when they don’t even know these instigators and Kerry has been in the public eye for 20 years.

      To the person above who wondered how any vet could possible vote for Kerry, he should make the effort to learn that the core of CBS’s “forged" Air Natl Guard account against Bush is true. Of course, the lame attempt on someone’s part to reconstruct (from memory?) material that has likely been shredded was wrong, and CBS/Rather were wrong to have jumped the gun. But those wrongs don’t preclude the facts (as properly reported by US News & world Report, the Boston Globe, and others), nor the implication of those facts with respect to Bush’s lack of courage and credibility.

      Bush’s unwillingness to complete his Air National Guard commitments provides a glimpse into why he would choose to hang around a grade school for more than an hour on the morning of 9/11 despite being specifically informed that the US "is under attack," and why our country was essentially abandoned by our fearless leader while Air Force One meandered aimlessly around the southeastern US for hours after he finally left that school. Although these accounts were not duly reported by our "liberal" media, they are on record—to no doubt be fully exposed once Bush is no longer in office.

    • Point me to the proof...

      Just because you guys say "most any clear thinking American, can easily see through" and "no sensible, rational, open-minded person would give any credence to" the Swift Boat Vet claims does NOT make it so.

      I am an engineer (Masters degree from Georgia Tech). I consider myself and am considered by others to be "clear thinking", sensible, rational, and open-minded. I have looked at the claims on the website. I have scoured the internet to get opposing viewpoints and facts. I still believe that there is some truth to the claims of the Swift Boat Vets. I haven’t seen definitive evidence that the information presented there is false.

      Please do not lump everyone into one group and say you are stupid if you don’t believe what I say. This is unproductive and unAmerican. Show me the facts.

    • So you’re a engineer. From GA Tech, no less. Well I’m a geologist (with advanced degree from same institution that once employed Condi Rice), who has experienced the misfortune of cleaning up black-is-black, white-is-white, by-the-numbers interpretative messes made by two other Tech engineers. That is not to imply that any more than these two are necessarily incompetent. One of my former bosses (another GA Tech engineer) does have enough of his stuff together to have voted for Gore last time and will vote "against Bush" this time. Although Kerry may not be my first choice either, I am willing to give him a chance. In my humble opinion, no president has ever been less deserving of a second term than Bush has proven himself to be.

    • Don’t see how this is relevant or gives me more of the facts that I requested on which to base an opinion.

      I appreciate everyone sharing your opinions but as I stated before ... asking me to believe in something just because someone else does without telling me WHY you have those beliefs ... facts are needed to sway other people’s opinions.

    • Yeah, I think I’ll have to agree with you on this one. Bush is totally unfit for president, but I think Kerry just wants what’s best for himself more than others, he’d put himself out of danger first, but put the people of this country first out in the danger.

    • Oh hellno! You know just as well as I do that Bush wouldn’t have known what to do any better than all those brainless people who didn’t know what to do in the firs place. It was a good thing that it was Kerry who stepped off that elevator.

    • Kerry is definetely not First-choice material, but neither is Bush. Geez, all you guys are so well-educated, and all you can do is brag about what rank you’re at, so what. I’m sure I’m just as knowledgeable as you two are, but a little younger in years than you, well, alot younger inyears than you guys are, probably. It takes alot more time to get where you guys are than it does to be a sophmore in HS, huh? No worries though, straight out of High school, I plan on going into the Army, then maybe get as educated as you guys, but that’s a low probability. Hahahaha...

    • My God...thinking and intelligent men wow.... who’da thunk it....

    • Anyone who does not know that the Swift Boat Veterans are a Bush sponsored organization is way behind the available news, but what could we wxpect from the party of Nixon???

  • Sieg Heil!
    Bush ist unserer Fuehrer!
    Klown Konfederacy ueber alles!

    • Oh, real intelligent! Typical left-wing, radical liberal smear tactics 101! When all else fails, engage in personal insults, name calling & character asassination! Typical stuff for the Kerryocrats & left wing allies!

    • Hey I thought the right wing had the exclusive rights to name calling and character assasination. What with the goofy flip-flop flunkies and purple heart band-aids. I agree, the hitler comparison is lame. Hitler was actually elected.

    • You don’t know your history. He coerced the chancellor into signing the power of chancellory over to him. "Hitler elected" is very lame & sick indeed!

    • Did you say, he coerced an ultra-conservative supreme court into signing the presidency over to him? Maybe the Hitler comparison isn’t so outlandish...

  • Why do you Republicans always try to make yourselves sound like the downtrodden, persecuted minority when you’ve successfully stolen the White House and have control of both houses of congress? Is it because your party and its leadership have been responsible for some of the most colossal and deadly failures in American history during your watch, and are still too cowardly to do anything else but blame the Democrats?

  • The letter circulating the internet from Michael Connelly (http://www.snopes.com/politics/kerry/letter.asp) and a column I read by Oliver North (http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ollienorth/on20040827.shtml) say a lot of the things I have been thinking based on the fact that my grandfather and my father are veterans. Kerry wasn’t drafted. He went to war, fought to get his three purple hearts (e.g. issuing paperwork for the first one, denied and re-issued 3 months later to a different commanding officer), and left serving 4 months of a 12 month tour. He then came home and slandered American soldiers. His testimony paraphrased: "I saw terrible atrocities"...that no one else saw and he later said his testimony was "over the top." During the time he was there, did he protest the atrocities, no...only when it was convenient to him. Just like his positions politically throughout his "public service", whatever is convenient...however the wind is blowing. However he can be on top.

  • Kerry Lies and our Soldiers and Friends Die
    By Michael Ashbury

    Vietnam recently celebrated the 29th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and withdraw of American troops. In observance of the day Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap and Col. Bui Tin both gave credit to their friends in the US Anti-War movement and especially people like Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark, and John Kerry for their efforts to bring the war to an end. They said that it was the anti-war movement that gave their people the motivation to continue fighting even when they felt that the US Forces might over power them.

    They especially credited John Kerry’s speech before the US Senate for weakening the US Government’s resolve, and inspiring the Vietnamese people to continue their fight. A fight, which they felt, would have been concluded sooner had the US presented a solid front towards completing the action.

    Considered the longest conflict in the history of the United States how many Americans and South Vietnamese lost their lives because ill informed Americans and decorated veterans like John Kerry felt they could I positively influence the war, but not as they imagined? From 1970—1973 when John Kerry was fighting the war at home and throwing his medals across the Capital wall 9,000 American soldiers lost their lives and another 37,000 were wounded; many with lifetime injuries. And, almost 800 American Prisoners of War suffered additional abuse because Kerry legitimized the idea that they were criminals for committing atrocities against the people of Vietnam. There are untold stories of POW’s who faced increased punishment after John Kerry’s atrocity declaration before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Also an additional 100,000 South Vietnamese were killed because of this extended war and the fact that they had to unconditionally surrender when the United States pulled out.

    Now John Kerry and his friends on the left are pulling the same trick on the soldiers and our friends in Iraq. For the past 8 months they have emboldened the insurgents in Iraq by holding out hope that the United States doesn’t have the resolve to continue the fight for democracy and we will cut and run as we did in Vietnam.
    Since the initiation of the Democrat primaries John Kerry and his supporters have daily called the war illegitimate and that if they are in charge they will pull our troops out, if not today in a matter of months. All the insurgents have to do is keep up the pressure and Iraq will become a sanctuary from which they can foster their hatred against the West and have the oil resources to support their activities. During this period the daily rhetoric has cost almost 600 American and Coalition lives, and scores of Iraqi’s who were trying to build a better life for their people.

    John Kerry even added insult to injury by failing to meet with Iraq’s Prime Minister Ayad Allawi or even being present during his recent speech before the US Senate. The message that was sent to the insurgents in Iraq , by the man that wants to be the next US President, was that this Ayad Allawi is not a legitimate voice for the people of Iraq and merely a stooge for American occupiers who they are fighting against.

    When will the Left, as well as many countries in the United Nations, realize that you don’t fight tyranny with appeasement, but with a solid unified front.

    About the Writer: Michael Ashbury, a noted researcher and author, is the author of ’’Who is the REAL John Kerry?’’ (Booksurge.com 2004). His website is at www.whoistherealjohnkerry.com. Michael receives e-mail at michaelashbury@aol.com

  • Both John Kerry and Bush are missing the point.

    We have illegally invaded Iraq and they are in the process of kicking us out. No amount of troops or bombs will MAKE the Iraqis appreciate what we have done for them. And WHAT have we done for them? 15,000 innocents killed....I wonder if Americans would be pissed off at that?

    If we leave a "failed state" in Iraq, how will we be threatened? The Iraqis would be so grateful if we left right now, they would probably focus on getting their lives and homes back together. If they couldn’t really ’get us’ before the war, how are they possibly going to come and get us if we leave. It is just stupid STUPID logic.

    It is time to GET OUT John Kerry and George Bush GET IT!
    It is not called ’cut and run’...it’s called admitting you have made a mistake and finally doing the right thing! Every day innocent women and children are dying. Our soldiers know this war is based on lies and yet they are forced to put their lives on the line everyday. What are we doing to these men’s souls? Doesn’t anyone care about the ramifications of supporting mindless killing?

  • If I could, I would vote for John Kerry because George Bush just doesn’t compare. We all know Kerry will do what it takes to make America a better place than what it is, he will fix all those crooked lines Bush has made over these years of him being the President, which was a big miatke, as everyone can see-now that it’s too late though. John kerry will improve those lives that Bush has ruined. Bush did not want to fight, himself, for this country, he’s more willing to send others out there to Iraq or some other country we have to fight cause of his mistakes. He’ll put everyone else’s lives out there to die, but not his own, he’d rather live, be safe, happy, and be rich. He could do all these things, and feel no guilt from it, and he actually has the nerve to run for president again. For what? Why? Why should we let him destroy lives and take those lives away of our loved ones who go into the Military. Why doesn’t he ever go to war, face all the real challenges? He just tries to run from all that. And all the things he’s saying now, all that talk about wanting to make a better and safer world for us Americans, about improving lives, and reforming health, building a modern, innotive health care system that gives patients more options and fewer orders, reform America’s public schools, transform our national defense, provide tax relief, modernize social security and medicare, and encourage faith based and community organizations to work with government to help Americans in need. All those things, Bush has sworn he’d do and will do if he re-eleted as president. Half of that stuff has barely improved, even for "Baby steps", those steps are too small. We want more than Bush could ever offer, and we’ll get that if we elect Kerry for president.

  • Wasser is peeing on my leg and telling me its raining.

    Somewhere along the line, Wasser is going to get a payoff. The reality—so ably described in "Unfit for Command" is that Kerry is a talented and unrepentant political opportunitist. His debate contradictions confirm this life-long pattern. There are at least 10 examples of Kerry saying something, then adding "but" and contradicting what he had JUST SAID. I am constantly amazed at his ability to insult my intelligence with that long, straight face.

    "No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.

    BUT if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you’re doing what you’re doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

    The paradigm of pre-emption is that there is NO nice, neat set of legitimate reasons. Modern terrorism was created as a means to avoid precisely these legitimate reasons for war with plausible deniability, surrogate actors and other "arms length" tactics. The Arab nations of course are not "formally" at war with Israel, but there is no doubt that a war is going on nonetheless, perpetrated by lieutenants in the form of Hamas and Hezbollah. Kerry’s program is a 20th century policy for a 21st century war, or perhaps we should say, a 9/10 policy for a 9/11 world.

    • Too bad Hitler did so a poor job with the Jews, now we can see what the Jews are really like, too bad he didn’t get them all.....without Israel the world would be a peaceful paradise!

  • I read the book "Tour of Duty" by Douglas Brinkley and loved it. I feel like I know you guys on the swift boats.