07-07-2004 

QUOTABLES:

"Kerry has solved that problem by hiring the lawyer," he said. "He's made the guy his lawyer, and he will deliver the Kerry message better than Kerry himself probably could," Emory University political scientist Merle Black said.

"Today we're embarking on a new journey together -- not for us, but for our country. A journey to make our country all it can be, to make it stronger here at home, and, once again, respected and influential in the world," John Kerry said.

He schmoozes a lot of people," Lesley said. "He's … a master at that. I'm concerned the country's going to fall in love with the guy. The pretty face, the looks and all that — superficial," said North Carolina, Todd Lesley, 42, a loan broker and Republican during Bush’s visit.

"More power to Kerry and his surrogates in the media if they can successfully bewitch the nation into believing that this safe and dull selection is a major thriller. That will be nothing more than spin, but so what? If it works, it works," New York Post columnist John Podhoretz writes.

"I hope we do not see them wearing matching outfits when they ride bikes this weekend." -- Kerry campaign spokesman.

BUSH BEAT

Dump Cheney

The NY Times reports that a former Republican senator is calling for dumping Vice President Dick Cheney from the ticket: 

    Alfonse M. D'Amato, the once-influential Republican senator from New York, says that President Bush should drop Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. D'Amato, famous for his blunt candor and shrewd political skills, has suggested twice in the     past two days that Mr. Bush could replace Mr. Cheney with one of two big-name Republicans who he said could ensure Mr. Bush's re-election: Secretary of State Colin L. Powell or Senator John McCain of Arizona.

"As an observer of politics, I believe the president can guarantee his essential re-election by looking to several other notable individuals who would add a great dimension to his ticket as a running mate," D'Amato said.

 Just POlitics

Can’t keep hands off each other?

According to the latest Drudge article:

Hugs, kisses to the cheek, affectionate touching of the face, caressing of the back, grabbing of the arm, fingers to the neck, rubbing of the knees... John Kerry and John Edwards can't keep their hands off each other!

In the past 48 hours, "candidate handling" has become the top buzz on the trail.

News photographers have been going wild with photos of the two Johns.

"I've been covering Washington and politics for 30 years. I can say I've never seen this much touching between two men, publicly," e-mailed one wire photographer.

When asked if the Johns are acting out a cynical focus group series of poses -- perhaps to show warmth to the chilly Bush/Cheney -- a Kerry spokesperson explained: "I think we're just seeing genuine affection between them."

But the spokesperson added, "I hope we do not see them wearing matching outfits when they ride bikes this weekend."

Edwards’ two Americas speech

John Edwards' "Two Americas" stump speech is a powerful rallying cry to take our country back. As he said at a campaign stop in December:

“Today, under George W. Bush, there are two Americas, not one: One America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward. One America that pays the taxes, another America that gets the tax breaks. One America that will do anything to leave its children a better life, another America that never has to do a thing because its children are already set for life. One America -- middle-class America - whose needs Washington has long forgotten, another America - narrow-interest America - whose every wish is Washington's command. One America that is struggling to get by, another America that can buy anything it wants, even a Congress and a President.”

“I've been fighting this fight my whole life. For 20 years, I have sat in courtrooms across from these people. I have been an advocate for families and their children against armies of lawyers. I've won most of those battles. In the Senate, I fought for the Patients' Bill of Rights, against big HMOs, against big insurance companies. I fought to bring down prescription drug costs for every American, against big drug companies. I fought to do something about drug company advertising on TV when others weren't willing to do it. I fought to create energy independence in this country.”

“I believe the backbone of the American economy is the hard work, determination, and ingenuity of the middle class, not the insiders. I believe the way to grow the economy is to grow and strengthen the middle class, not shrink its size and add to its burdens. I believe the way a rich nation gets richer is by giving all its citizens the chance to get richer, not by only helping those like me who've already succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. I believe the way to create new wealth is by rewarding work and responsibility, not coddling the privileged and going soft on executives, accountants, and analysts who squander other people's money.”

“For every man and woman who is worried about paying their bills; for every child who needs health care and a strong school to go to, and for every American who waits for the 1st and the 15th of every month --  together we will end this era of anxiety. We will replace the crass politics of greed and the current politics of rage with a new politics of opportunity.” [As Prepared, Des Moines, IA, 12/29/03]

Still not doing his homework?

"We Americans need a president who will lead the world, not bully it," Edwards said. "We need a commander in chief that will protect and keep the American people safe, who will keep our military strong and stand for the men and women who serve this country. For John Kerry, this is personal."

Mark Mellman pollster for the Kerry campaign PBS’s show Charlie Rose and Sen. John Edwards both brought up Sen. John Kerry’s service in Vietnam in providing Kerry’s bona fides for being able to keep America safe and secure. Edwards said that if you need to know about Kerry’s credentials for keeping America safe ask those who served with him in Vietnam.

Was this spoken unwittingly, or not? Was Edwards displaying his own lack of knowing, or perpetuating the Kerry campaign’s lie?

While campaigning for the presidential nomination of his Democrat Party, Edwards was shown to be lacking in the homework department -- coming up short on facts and just plain unknowing in important and sometimes embarrassing ways.

Perhaps this was the case yesterday, when Edwards waded into the foray and proclaimed Kerry to be indisputably credentialed to lead America... based on his service in Vietnam.

The Kerry campaign is clearly trying to perpetuate the lie that those who served with him will vouch for his ability to be Commander in Chief. The fact is that 11 of the 19 ‘band of brothers’ from his swift boat days that Kerry used in his ad to prove his war credentials have not only signed a letter saying that Kerry is unfit but are also bringing a law suit forward to make him stop using their pictures as proof of Kerry qualifications to defend America from its enemies.

Shedding more light on the Kerry-Vietnam subject, the Washington Times ran an article July 4th which shows that Kerry’s anti-war activities have given him war hero status with Communist Vietnam:

A photograph of Senator John F. Kerry, receiving an award for special contributions to the communist victory from the Marxist government of Vietnam, hangs in the War Remnants Museum (formerly the War Crimes Museum) in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). His partner in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), Jane Fonda, is honored in the Women’s Museum, but she, unlike Kerry, did not receive a special commendation as a "Hero" of communist victory. Kerry was given the award in 1983, when he was Lt. Governor of Massachusetts. Kerry’s record of activism on the behalf of the communists was also lauded by the military commander of North Vietnamese forces, General Vo Nguyen Giap, in his 1985 memoir of the war. Giap wrote that.."if it were not for the disunity created by...stateside protests, Hanoi would have ultimately surrendered." Thus, Kerry’s efforts aided and abetted the enemy, prolonged the war, and probably resulted in greater American casualties. The photograph of the award presentation can be viewed on the internet at www.wintersoldier.com. It depicts Kerry being congratulated by the future general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Comrade Do Moi. Regardless, the former enemy’s award is apparently not displayed on the wall of Kerry’s Senate office, with his reclaimed US wartime citations--which he once declared were thrown away during a VVAW war protest.

In the 1970s, Kerry attended 2 meetings with North Vietnamese communist representatives, according to Marc Morano of CNS News (CNSNews.com). Kerry admits to one meeting in 1970, but FBI records unearthed by Morano, indicate a second took place in 1971, with the purpose of securing the release of American prisoners of war. Freelance diplomacy by non-governmental agencies such as the Kerry-Fonda group, VVAW, is illegal (US Code 18, USC 953). It is therefore understandable that Kerry would not wish to be portrayed as negotiating with the communists. Kerry’s efforts may have also led to a later undisclosed Vietnam trip, according to an unimpeachable source of antiwar activity--the Communist Party USA’s Daily World newspaper of 16 June 1971. On the wintersoldier web site, Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D., has written extensively of Kerry’s dealing with the Marxists, and is quoted by Morano as saying.."Vietnamese communists would not have won the war without John Kerry.." In 1991, Kerry co-chaired a Senate select committee evaluating whether unacknowledged American POWs remained alive in Vietnam. Once again, his loyalty was to Vietnam, rather than to his "band of brothers." He cut short the investigation rather than embarrass the communists--and shredded the reports carefully collected over a period of years by the Defense Intelligence Agency so that the evidence could not be reexamined in the context of new POW sightings.

Further, Kerry lobbied for renewed trade relations with Hanoi, and failed to vote in favor of measures that would require Vietnam to recognize human rights to qualify for that trade. After the Vietnam trade bill was passed (without the human rights requirement), Kerry’s cousin, C. Stewart Forbes, chief executive for Colliers International, assisted in brokering a $905 million deal to develop a deep-sea port at Vung Tau. Further, Kerry has stalled the Vietnam Human Rights Act (HR2833) in the Senate. Finally, were Kerry’s activities in time of war, as acknowledged by the awards given him by a foreign power, covered by Article III, Section 3 of the US Constitution regarding giving aid and comfort to the enemy? A group of Navy veterans who served with Kerry in Vietnam believes it was, and declares Kerry unfit to be the commander-in-chief (www.swiftvets.com).

Kerry’s actions may have also been crucial in persuading the Communist Party, USA, and the Marxist Socialist Worker’s Party to support him for president. Will Kerry repudiate that support, or wear it like a badge of honor--along with his communist "Hero" medal?

So, which is it? Is Edwards not doing his homework again, or is he knowingly perpetuating the Kerry-Vietnam lie?

Edwards: International trial for Saddam

Sen. John Edwards who made a tens and tens of $millions as an ambulance chasing trial lawyer says that Saddam Hussein should be tried by an international body that includes the United Nations.

"Prosecuting Saddam is not like restoring electricity or picking up the garbage — it is one of the most politically sensitive and complex tasks facing a post-Saddam Iraq," Edwards said. "Giving that task in its entirety to a council that is neither elected nor sovereign, whose members were hand-picked by the United States, diminishes the likelihood that trials will be seen as legitimate."

Edwards and Kerry continue to want to offer the future of America to the nations of France and Germany and others who have state that their goal is to weaken America’s power in the world. They also continue to denigrate the nations who are continuing to support America and fight the socialist tendencies of France and Germany in Europe.

Johnson-Carter-Kerry legacy

The John-John’s socialist America

Editorial by Roger Wm. Hughes

" 'There's something else that's important about John Edwards," Sen. John Kerry said after declaring him 'ready for this job' of vice president. Edwards, in his own presidential campaign and afterwards, has talked about the 'great divide' between the 'two Americas,' one well-to-do and privileged, the other poorer and struggling to make ends meet. Kerry embraced the idea. "That concern is at the center of this campaign," he said. "It is what it is all about." ...

Ron Brownstein of the LA Times and Fred Barnes of the Wall Street Journal both are covering the shift in the Kerry campaign to more accurately reflect the John-Johns' leftist records in the U.S. Senate. Kerry is ranked the farthest to the left and Edwards is ranked fourth.

"Kerry's goal, aides say, is more to project empathy for middle-class aspirations than to stoke populist resentment of the interests Gore targeted," Brownstein reports in the LA Times.

Barnes argues that from the time of the Democrats' great Williams Jenning Bryan, the Democrats Populist-Socialist wing of the Democrat Party has not been successful. He further points to the failed effort of Al Gore just four years ago to bring the "era of big government   B A C K" did not work.

However, the Kerry campaign is hopeful that the repackaging of growing the bureaucracy, redistributing the wealth, bringing back protectionism, leaving America’s defense to the French, supporting wacky environmentalism, implementing socialized medicine -- in general, the bringing back the eras of Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter -- will be the message of hope and caring that will win them the election.

How, you might ask, are they going to package these failed policies so that they can win? Through the Orwellian slogan of "One Nation."

Edwards' adopted message (honed in Iowa) that there are two nations – one rich and one poor – is nothing more than class warfare. It is not a message of "One Nation." It is a message of division. It is a message that we will destroy our seed stock so that they can win an election.

The tax cuts of John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich’s Congress and George W. Bush have proven that if you want to increase the revenues of government, you must tax its citizens in such a way that promotes the entrepreneurial spirit of the nation. Kerry’s tax increases would hurt the heart of America’s entrepreneurial spirit, small businesses that are mostly personally owned, the most.

John-Johns' message is that government can solve America’s problems and manage our economy in such a way that avoids what Fredrick Hayek referred to as the "Fatal Conceit." The fatal conceit that anyone or any group of people can know everything. This is the very necessity of a managed, thereby socialist, economy.

The audacity of the John-John duo is not in the repudiation of the Democrat salvation through Bill Clinton’s the era of "big government is over." No, the audacity is in the fact that President Bush is and has made the American economy better because of his policies and actions.

It is President Bush who is offering hope to America. It is President Bush who is trying to remove the death grip hold of the teachers' union on the spiraling decline of education and moral corruption that is passed off as public education. A public education not experienced by Kerry. It is Bush who is forging alliances with the growing "new" Europe of the former Warsaw Pact. It is Bush and the American public that recognizes that there was a long association between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. It is Bush that is not only offering America hope but is doing the hard work of making it a reality.

Will the repackaged socialism of the John-Johns sell? We will find out in November.

The Charisma gap

Sen. Lindsey Graham pointed out the obvious to all who would listen when he was asked about what effect his fellow S. Carolina born colleague John Edwards would have on the election:

"If Edwards gets their base excited, the theory is that he will help in terms of energy. But this is not a pick of confidence. Edwards was chosen to fill the gap. Kerry's campaigning gap is that he has no charisma, that he doesn't relate well to average people.

"This is Kerry saying, 'I know I've got this problem, and hope this will fix it.' But there's no such thing as a charisma transplant."