Yesterday on Democracy Now! (wich now airs daily on Link TV [DirecTV channel 375, Dish Network channel 9410]), Amy Goodman reached back into the Pacifica archives to contrast Kerry's acceptance speech with one he gave in 1971 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding the Vietnam war. The contrast was striking.

This was the speech that defined John Kerry and began his political career. It's fascinating to see the anti-war roots of the candidate, and to witness how well-spoken and clear-thinking he was as a most impressive young man. A partial transcript can be found here, and I urge everyone to read it.

That speech from 1971 can be seen as a measure of how corrupted he has become since then, or it can provide hope that perhaps he still has some of his old integrity left. What do you think?

Cheers,
Michael