BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial

Subject: BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 11:51 AM

Dewey Canyon IV?

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry will be speaking at the Vietnam Memorial today, as part of the 20th anniversary commemorations of the memorial. Kerry was a leader of Vietnam Veteran's Against the War, and there is a great deal of media heat surrounding him this week, as the media tries to get the scoop on his decision to run for president in 2004, which he is clearly leaning towards doing.

Interestingly, President Bush briefly stopped by the memorial before dawn this morning--the White House called it an "impromptu" visit. With a pool photographer, of course. Sure, Ari.

In an interview yesterday, the Boston Globe reports that Kerry had this to say about the Republican assaults on Max Clelland's patriotism as their "clean, bi-partisan, change the tone in Washington" tactic to defeat Clelland:

Kerry, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Bush administration's policies on Afghanistan and Iraq, suggested that Republicans will try to cast him as unpatriotic for his stances.

He said he was dismayed that Senator Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat and a fellow Vietnam veteran who is a triple amputee, lost his reelection race after the GOP attacked him for voting against a bill to create President Bush's Homeland Security Department. Democrats generally support the proposal, but have had reservations about Bush's request for more authority over hiring and firing federal workers in the new department.

''If they want to go that route, I'm prepared to go that route, and I've got a bunch of veterans around this country who are prepared to stand up and define patriotism in ways these guys never understood,'' Kerry said.

Indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 12:06 PM

CSPAN will broadcast the Wall Memorial live at 1PM EST.

Subject: RE: BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 02:40 PM

It was a very good speech, I thought. And as with everything related to Vietnam, there was no shortage of ironies on the day. I watched it with my dad, who is hoping Kerry will run against Bush.

General Kennedy's speech was good too. Sad there was so little applause and enthusiasm in the crowd for the women vets, though. It made me feel uncomfortable when Gen. Kennedy had made what should have been a rousing remark, and the camera panned onto the audience, and showed a couple of women cheering loudly, a few men clapping, and a large number of men looking grim, with arms folded across their chests, not responding at all. Ouch. I guess the campaign to see women vets recognized may continue die a death by 1000 cuts.

I liked the overcast--it made the intensity of changing leaf colors more dramatic. It looked beautiful. Much more intimate than the Arlington thing, which looked stiff and cold and distant by comparison.

Subject: RE: BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial
From: mg
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 03:18 PM

I would love to see the speech but I don't have tv access..and the rental house I help manage the owner just put a flea bomb in. If anyone wants to give a synopsis of Gen. Kennedy's speech I would love to know what she says...we were friends in OCS together and she was a great woman then. I wouldn't mind seeing her as president, vice president whatever. And Kerry is darn handsome if you ask me. Good team. Maybe he'll be her vp or something...

mg

Subject: RE: BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 03:25 PM

I'm sorry you missed it, Mary. Hopefully someone taped it, and will be able to give you a copy.

Her remarks seemed thought out, but not scripted, like Kerry's were. I liked that about this memorial. It was grassroots, not too formal. Like I said, compared with the big thing at Arlington with Bush, it really was lovely. A lot of that has to do with the site itself being surrounded by the trees, a smaller space, that sort of thing.

Gen. Kennedy's remarks (BTW, the woman who introduced her said she recently became a bride!) were probably what you would expect. She talked about women's involvement from WWI to WWII, to Korea to Vietnam. Spoke of women in the military in Vietnam being limited to 2%, but now stands at 16%. That sort of thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial
From: mg
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 03:52 PM

good for her. I didn't realize she had been married and divorced I guess. She was an extremely beautiful young woman and has matured into a lovely um..middle aged woman...mg

Subject: RE: BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial
From: GUEST,Taliesn
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 04:14 PM

Well if anyone can speak with some genuine*authority* on actually *being* a veteran in a war , unlike Cheney/Bush ,
it's the Kerry's.

My preferred choice candidate was Congressional Medal of Honor recipient , private sectorian, and then politiican Bob Kerry from Nebraska as he was everything Clinto was not. Don't know about any ambitions for the White House for him ,but now there's John Kerry as probably the best non-Republ;ican candidate to call Bush on the result of his policies and whatever other scandals will emerge *univestigated* by the Repub-dominated Congress a year from now.

Why am I so cock sure there will be a scandal of Administration-shaking proportions?
1) A One-Party Repub Congress
2) The greed with which the Repub-supporting Big Corproate Boys will again bilk the public coffers of billions because they know "their boy" is in the White House and there will be *no* SEC,DoJ or any enforecment of the rules of any consequence
( Harvey Pitt episode and no urgency by Bushites to fill his chair soon) and a pliant Repub Congress.
3) Military contracts at the WarHog troughs will blossom.

I well remember John Kerry';s outright and thorough *toughness* on international organized crime during the hearings on the uncovered corruptions of BCCI which ultimately collapsed under the white hot scrutiny. If you don't remember the
all Arab Bank of Credit & Commerce Internationsal scandal that acted to fund terrorists and drug lords then you've not been paying attention to this terrorist issue.

Kerry has been in the trenches and was in harm's way; experience neither Bush nor Cheney have anything but *anecdotal* experience of. Kerry also has a warche$t by marriage. It's the only thing the Bu$he$ understand so
bring it on Veteran John ;you've got leadership experience that Bush/Cheney can only read about.

There, that felt good, ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Kerry Speaks at Wall Veteran's Memorial
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 05:02 PM

It was heartbreaking to see what happened to Bob Kerry, but his political career is over because of it.

As the the Massachusetts Kerry, he definitely has the Kennedy/Irish thing going for him. And as you pointed out Taliesin, BIG $$$.