McCain condemns ad, Kerry's commander backs off

The thread was about Kerry, not Bush. Those of us who will probably vote for Bush or who at least believe he has frequently been unfairly smeared, insulted, and disrespected by some of the 'left wing nuts' are quite justified in giving equal scrutiny to the man the left wants to be President. Trying to deflect attention from Kerry to Bush is a standard tactic, but not likely to be successful.

However, if you want opinions by me or others related to Bush's record, please refer to the threads that deal with Bush. You will find many more of those than threads that focus on Kerry.

Meanwhile, if Kerry's war record is all you on the left can find to commend him on, or the only record he chooses to run for president on, in my opinion his war record continues to be fair game for scrutiny.

Foxfyre wrote:

The thread was about Kerry, not Bush. Those of us who will probably vote for Bush or who at least believe he has frequently been unfairly smeared, insulted, and disrespected by some of the 'left wing nuts' are quite justified in giving equal scrutiny to the man the left wants to be President. Trying to deflect attention from Kerry to Bush is a standard tactic, but not likely to be successful.

However, if you want opinions by me or others related to Bush's record, please refer to the threads that deal with Bush. You will find many more of those than threads that focus on Kerry.

Meanwhile, if Kerry's war record is all you on the left can find to commend him on, or the only record he chooses to run for president on, in my opinion his war record continues to be fair game for scrutiny.

"All we can find to commend?" What you're seeing as "running on his war record" is a myth. If you bothered to listen to him speak, you'd hear that it is most certainly not his centerpiece. If you'd bothered to read even a little of my post, you would have seen that I copied (for the benefit of those without a subscription to LA TIMES) a long and detailed record about Kerry and his work at a prosecutor. How can you say that I'm only finding his war record to commend him?

Panzade, if you think that I am being mean, then so be it. I am tired of having to explain why it is wrong for this or any group to come out with this kind of negative campaigning. This entire thread is based on one of the foulest smear campaigns led a person who has created some particularly awful campaigns in the past. Once that line has been crossed, then any fair-minded person should NOT trust them ever again. If Fox doesn't like being lumped with right-wing nuts, then she might consider who she's hanging with. At least she could admit that all she knows is what some obviously partisan fellas are saying in hopes that it will make Geo.W look better.

<shaking head> Like I said, we were better off on 9/12/2001 than we are now. We had more money, we had more jobs, we had respect in the world AND we had the opportunity to make something good out of all we'd lost in the awful attacks the day before. Instead, we as a nation blew it. Bush squandered the good will that had been flowing to our entire country.

And I have not smeared Bush. That would mean saying a lie about him in hopes it would stick. I have insulted things he's done while in office but I have never said anything bad about his family or lied about him. I may have little respect for him but I have never ever made up or encouraged a load of malarkey* like this that is being heaped on Kerry.



*that's a military term and means Bull Sh!t

Kerry's service requires the same scrutiny that Bush's does. Why the fuss?

Quote:

One of the most damning parts of it (damning for Matthews, that is) was when Matthews asked where he lived. When Matthews nailed him for being from Texas, O'Neill pointed out that he has not voted Republican since 1988. He voted for Perot twice,then for Gore and just backed the Democratic mayor of Houston, Bill White.

Yes, O'Neill voted for Al Gore over George Bush. After that little gem came out, Chris Matthews said he didn't really care who anyone voted for. HA

One of the most damning parts of it (damning for Matthews, that is) was when Matthews asked where he lived. When Matthews nailed him for being from Texas, O'Neill pointed out that he has not voted Republican since 1988. He voted for Perot twice,then for Gore and just backed the Democratic mayor of Houston, Bill White.

Yes, O'Neill voted for Al Gore over George Bush. After that little gem came out, Chris Matthews said he didn't really care who anyone voted for. HA

"We found a vet named John O'Neill and formed a group called Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. We had O'Neill meet the President, and we did everything we could do to boost his group."

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are not really interested in the truth. If they were, they would be condemning Bush--not Kerry.

Piffka,

I agree with your points and I share your frustrations with smear campaigns. I didn't think you were being mean to Foxfyre just lumping her with right wing nuts. I ve read much that she posts and she doesn't strike me that way. I might be wrong.

Kerry and Bush camps trade accusations

By Patrick Healy, Globe Staff | August 17, 2004

KETCHUM, Idaho -- Senator John F. Kerry spent yesterday afternoon on a 22-mile bike ride through the Idaho mountains, but his campaign advisers shrugged off any thought of the dog-days-of-August leisure activity, renewing their familiar attack on President Bush's fund-raising ties to corporations.

And while Bush was delivering a speech in Ohio yesterday about redeploying US troops from Europe and Asia, his campaign recruited the speaker of the House, Representative J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, to repeat Republican criticisms that Kerry missed an estimated 76 percent of public Senate Intelligence Committee hearings between 1993 and 2000, when the Massachusetts Democrat was a member of the panel.
The purpose of Hastert's comments was to increase Republican pressure on Kerry over his Senate record on intelligence, a major issue for both presidential candidates. They also coincided with the first broadcast in 19 battleground states of a new Bush television ad, titled ''Intel," that highlights Kerry's attendance record and questions his commitment to intelligence spending. And in a separate press statement, the Bush side tweaked Kerry counterparts for erroneously asserting Friday that the Democrat was once vice chairman of the intelligence committee. (Former senator Robert Kerrey held that position.)

Hastert yesterday, echoing previous comments from six GOP senators, called on Kerry to authorize release of his attendance record for closed-door intelligence committee meetings during his eight years on the panel -- which Republicans expect to be spotty.

''The most basic responsibility of a lawmaker is just showing up," Hastert said. ''Based on John Kerry's attendance record on the Intelligence Committee, Kerry didn't even do that."

Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton dismissed Hastert's remarks yesterday, calling them an attempt ''to distract from the president's four years of failure."

''This isn't about getting information to the public. It's about the Bush campaign trying to mislead them," Clanton said.

The Kerry campaign, in turn, sought to gain mileage from newspaper articles last weekend highlighting a series of regulatory measures that appeared to favor corporate interests that have donated money to Bush over time.

Patrick Healy can be reached at [email protected].

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.