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[RedDwarf]

Daily Kos has some excerpts from what's claimed to be his upcoming speech. He sounds agitated. I hope he talks deferments, it's about frigging time.

"We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention. For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as Commander-in-chief. We'll, here's my answer. I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.
The Vice President even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.

Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without healthcare makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi Royal Family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit. That's the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And it's not going to change. I believe it's time to move America in a new direction; I believe it's time to set a new course for America."

 

[Incognito]

when is this event going down? sounds excellent so far...

 

[dog$]

Letting the Saudi Royal Family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit.

There's no way Kerry would publicly say this... but if it did happen it'd be hilarious.

Let me tell you

There needs to be a globally enforced law which says any American who starts a sentence with these four words shall be executed immediately.

 

[Outlaw Pro Mod]

"We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention

:lol :lol What an absolute joke.

 

[explodet]

There needs to be a globally enforced law which says any American who starts a sentence with these four words shall be executed immediately.

"Shut up, you American! You Americans, all you do is talk, and talk, and say 'let me tell you something' and 'I just wanna say.'"

 

[Chesapeake Silt]

Sounds angry. September is going to be a brutal month for both sides. Nothing is off limits, no holds barred. There's going to be blood spilled.

 

[Catchpenny]

dog$, why wouldn't Kerry say that? He already said essentially the same thing at the Democratic convention.

 

[dog$]

Eh I mean just the tone of it... at least during the DNC the overall message was all about the non-attacking and all that BS. So I just meant that these paragraphs above seem to be a lot more cutting and direct, which would contradict the campaign's earlier intents. *shrugs*

Explodet knows exactly what's up.
"but... I didn't eat the bread pudding..."

 

[shoplifter]

SON OF A BITCH

I have tickets to go tonight, but no one else to go with. I really don't feel like driving an hour by myself.

 

[Slurpy]

Daily Kos has some excerpts from what's claimed to be his upcoming speech. He sounds agitated. I hope he talks deferments, it's about frigging time.

"We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention. For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as Commander-in-chief. We'll, here's my answer. I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.
The Vice President even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.

Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without healthcare makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi Royal Family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit. That's the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And it's not going to change. I believe it's time to move America in a new direction; I believe it's time to set a new course for America."

Nice. Its time to harden up the language a bit.

 

[Incognito]

from ant at OA:

The election comes down to this. If you believe this country is heading in the right direction, you should support George Bush. But if you believe America needs to move in a new direction, join with us. John and I offer a better plan that will make us stronger at home and more respected in the world. And we need your help to do that.

For three days in New York, instead of talking about jobs and the economy, we heard anger and insults from the Republicans. And I'll tell you why. It's because they can't talk about the real issues facing Americans. They can't talk about their record because it's a record of failure.

We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican convention. For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as commander in chief. Well, here's my answer. I'm not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.

The vice president even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.

Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without healthcare makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi Royal Family control our energy costs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit. That's the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And it's not going to change. I believe it's time to move America in a new direction; I believe it's time to set a new course for America.

And we have a specific plan to do just that. So tomorrow morning, John and Elizabeth and Teresa and I are hitting the road across America's heartland. From here, we'll go out and talk with Americans in towns across Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. And because a stronger America begins at home, we'll talk about our plan to create jobs, cut taxes for the middle class, lower health care costs, and make America safer and more secure.

 

[MIMIC]

The vice president even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.

 

[impirius]

There needs to be a globally enforced law which says any American who starts a sentence with these four words shall be executed immediately.

That's how we learned to write papers in the second grade!

"I want to be the President. Let me tell you why."

 

[neptunes]

Those be fighting words.

Sounds like a school yard brawl is about to happen.

 

[Drensch]

It would have been hilarious if Kerry could have gotten into the convention. Walks up behind Bush wearing bdu pants, a camo vest w/o shirt, and a camo bandana with face paint. Then challenge him to a hand to hand on the spot. Too bad shit like that never happens in real life.

 

[Mooreberg]

I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.

Well it's not like voters would pick a draft dodger over a WW2 veteran... twice...

 

[xsarien]

Well it's not like voters would pick a draft dodger over a WW2 veteran... twice...

My memory of the 1996 election is pretty hazy, but I don't believe Dole was using his WW2 experience as a crutch for national security experience. He was just using it as a crutch for honor or something. I say that because for a brief period that year, I was in Maryland, and someone said to me with a straight face that not dodging the draft made Dole more qualified, which stunned me.

The situation is slightly different there, of course. Clinton dodged because he didn't want to fight, he wanted to protest. Bush "dodged" because he just didn't want to fight.

Anyway, Dole was a poor candidate, if for the simple reason that he wasn't that sharp. Him praising the Brooklyn Dodgers...Heheh. Ho boy.

 

[impirius]

Haha, I love the hastily scrawled sign that says "ARTISTS FOR KERRY"

 

[Chesapeake Silt]

He's on now.

 

[impirius]

The Red Sox pulled out of the Yankees? *blink*

We're up to three catchphrases so far:
"This is your wakeup call"
"All hat, no cattle"
"Really Not Compassionate"

This could be one of the best soundbite speeches ever!

 

[doncale]

Blah Blah Blah
HYPE

 

[Drensch]

The RNC thread is above.

 

[RedDwarf]

The RNC thread is above.

I don't think Kerry's part of the RNC this year.

 

[impirius]

I don't think Kerry's part of the RNC this year.

That would be the biggest heel turn since Hulk Hogan!

 

[Drensch]

I don't think Kerry's part of the RNC this year.

BlaH Blah Hype is.

 

[Ill Saint]

Ugh, he's awful.

 

[KingV]

Kerry has lost too much ground in the past month. That Swift Vets controversy has killed him, especially since so much of it has panned out to at least be partially true. Kerry's been too busy with damage control to make an effective counterattack on the current administration. It was a big mistake for Kerry to base his campaign on his Vietnam service. He would have been much better off if he had immediately brushed it off as irrelevant from the beginning.

Bush has been criticized for being a Warmonger, lieing about WMD, War for Oil, being AWOL, wearing an expert marksmanship ribbon, and a meritorious unit commendation ribbon that he supposedly never earned (and trust me, being in the military, that is probably the most laughable allegation yet). Unfortunately, all of these charges are based on conspiracy. There's no hard evidence directly attributing any of these things to anybody in the administration. Nobody in government coming forward with any evidence that Bush purposely lied (rather than acted on incorrect information), maliciously plotted to steal Iraqi oil, etc. Worst of all for Kerry, these allegations have been going on since practically the start of the Iraqi Conflict, some longer. Nobody is going to hear the Kerry speech and say "Oh, sh**, Bush misled the country into Iraq? I've never heard that before!" There's nobody else listening to these charges except the die hard Bush haters, because there's nothing else to know. The evidence is all inconclusive conjecture at best, lunatic conspiracy theorism at worst.

Until Kerry can come up with this tape:

Bush: "F*** it, let's take the Iraqi Oil"
Cheney: Yeah dogg, and give money to Halliburton
In unison: (I'M RICH, BITCH!)

it's going to be very difficult to negatively spin Bush. He's been heavily criticized for the last two years, and so far has rolled off all of the spin. Regardless of my political leanings, or whether the allegations are true or not, Bush has just come out of the last month looking more honest and straightforward than Kerry, which is a sentiment that registers with the middle of the road strongly. Kerry's only chance is to completely squash the Swift Vet allegations, but he's already backpedaled too much to completely blow them all off. Calling out Bush and Cheney for being AWOL and lying to the American public just makes him sound like Dean when he went off the deep end. I have a very difficult time seeing Kerry recovering.

 

[KingV]

My memory of the 1996 election is pretty hazy, but I don't believe Dole was using his WW2 experience as a crutch for national security experience. He was just using it as a crutch for honor or something. I say that because for a brief period that year, I was in Maryland, and someone said to me with a straight face that not dodging the draft made Dole more qualified, which stunned me.

The situation is slightly different there, of course. Clinton dodged because he didn't want to fight, he wanted to protest. Bush "dodged" because he just didn't want to fight.

Anyway, Dole was a poor candidate, if for the simple reason that he wasn't that sharp. Him praising the Brooklyn Dodgers...Heheh. Ho boy.

Bush didn't dodge the draft. What you've said is an insult to all military personnel whether Navy, Marine, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard or National Guard everywhere. To imply that your military service doesn't count unless you get shot at is ludicrous. I'm a submariner, since no one is likely to find me underwater, in the current climate, am I a "Lesser" servicemember? Should my time only count half? I should've have been a marine instead, because then I'd have been shot at and be able to speak authoratively about war, unless my unit did not go to Iraq, which then my experience meant nothing, and I gave up nothing for my country....

 

[xsarien]

Bush didn't dodge the draft. What you've said is an insult to all military personnel whether Navy, Marine, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard or National Guard everywhere.

Bush "dodged". Notice the quotes? He got a cushy position in the National Guard. Check your history, during the Vietnam era, the NG was a haven for people who didn't want to see any active duty, lots of rich kids, sons of politicians, etc. I didn't insult anyone, and I resent the accusation, especially since I have a close friend in the Navy who shares the sentiment.

 

[Celicar]

Woah. That speech was lame.

He didn't say anything new. Same old shit.

What a disappointment.

 

[SolidSnakex]

"Kerry has lost too much ground in the past month."

You do know that in most polls, they're basically still dead locked, right? Is that your idea of losing too much ground?

 

[Ill Saint]

He didn't say anything new. Same old shit.

Compared to Bush who has literally paraphrased the same speech for the last 4 years?

Kerry's speech was indeed kinda lame, but you can't accuse him of being a broken record.

 

[Razoric]

Kerry is such a douche... this election is going to suck. We either get Bush who has already done enough damage, or Kerry who is a flip flopping idiot with no plan at all... just a bunch of anti-Bush crap.

I'll cast my vote for Alf.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Bush "dodged". Notice the quotes? He got a cushy position in the National Guard. Check your history, during the Vietnam era, the NG was a haven for people who didn't want to see any active duty, lots of rich kids, sons of politicians, etc. I didn't insult anyone, and I resent the accusation, especially since I have a close friend in the Navy who shares the sentiment.

You're kind of insulting me. My dad served four years in the Air Force and made a career in the National Guard. He wasn't a rich kid, son of a politician, and you can resent what you want, just like I resent your statement. BTW I'm 28 so that puts my father in the Vietnam age. He served his country, but his bad that he didn't go to Nam. So yeah, consider yourself insulting.

 

[xsarien]

You're kind of insulting me. My dad served four years in the Air Force and made a career in the National Guard. He wasn't a rich kid, son of a politician, and you can resent what you want, just like I resent your statement. BTW I'm 28 so that puts my father in the Vietnam age. He served his country, but his bad that he didn't go to Nam. So yeah, consider yourself insulting.

And I can go straight to my father, who served in both Korea and Vietnam, and have him agree with me 100%. Teh dilemma.

The heart of the issue doesn't stop at "Bush went into the National Guard," as the national discussion has made painfully clear. It's the fact that he - apparently - didn't show up for a majority of his time there. Nobody can really prove otherwise, all we have are a few trips to the dentist to say that he was "around."

 

[seismologist]

Ugh, he's awful.

yeah. and still he's better than Bush. Anything's better than Bush.

They might as well just put me in there

 

[puck1337]

"Kerry has lost too much ground in the past month."

You do know that in most polls, they're basically still dead locked, right? Is that your idea of losing too much ground?

What, you haven't been watching CNN? Apparently, polling results don't really matter - it's the TREND from week to week. And supposedly, Kerry has slid ever slightly, meaning that he is probably going to lose to GWB. Whatever. American politics are shit. Politics have enough spin as it is, but I can't imagine what I'd do if I had to vote in the States.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

It was a big mistake for Kerry to base his campaign on his Vietnam service. He would have been much better off if he had immediately brushed it off as irrelevant from the beginning.

I don't blame Kerry for using the fact to differentiate himself. However, I do blame the people who voted for him in the primaries for the reason that that appeared to make him more "electable".

Bush has been criticized for ... wearing an expert marksmanship ribbon, and a meritorious unit commendation ribbon that he supposedly never earned (and trust me, being in the military, that is probably the most laughable allegation yet).

And not being in the military, can you explain further?

Bush didn't dodge the draft. What you've said is an insult to all military personnel whether Navy, Marine, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard or National Guard everywhere. To imply that your military service doesn't count unless you get shot at is ludicrous. I'm a submariner, since no one is likely to find me underwater, in the current climate, am I a "Lesser" servicemember? Should my time only count half? I should've have been a marine instead, because then I'd have been shot at and be able to speak authoratively about war, unless my unit did not go to Iraq, which then my experience meant nothing, and I gave up nothing for my country....

Well, if you used political connections to get that safer position, maybe a little.

 

[Alcibiades]

In a video posted on the Internet, former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat, says he is ashamed that he helped President Bush and the sons of other wealthy families get into the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 so they could avoid serving in Vietnam.

what a coincidence. former Bush-rival from Texas, no way he'd be holding a grudge of any kind... and weeks before a re-election campaign for one of the closest races he brings this up?

You can take this as seriously as you could take the Swift Boat Vets. Bush Sr. already said George W. got in like everybody else, and Kerry has said the Swift Boat Vet are just angry Repubs and that their story doesn't match up. Truth is, lots of things don't match up for either side 100%, and military service SHOULD be irrelevant, as Kerry proposed for the '92 election between Bush Sr./Clinton.

 

[Celicar]

Compared to Bush who has literally paraphrased the same speech for the last 4 years?

Kerry's speech was indeed kinda lame, but you can't accuse him of being a broken record.

What's funny is he went and gave a speech in the middle of the night to try and compete with the rnc and he didn't accomplish anything.

His speech was lame and I don't even think the people who were there enjoyed it. I think I saw a few people yawning.

LOL

 

[Alcibiades]

What's funny is he went and gave a speech in the middle of the night to try and compete with the rnc and he didn't accomplish anything.

His speech was lame and I don't even think the people who were there enjoyed it. I think I saw a few people yawning.

LOL

not only that, I noticied even the RNC competing with stories like Hurrican Frances and the hostage situation in Russia...

this may actually help Bush a bit tomorrow when the dastardly job numbers come out, but a lot of coverage of the Hurricane is going to be happening. It did get in the way of seeing endless Rudy/Arnold soundbites the last two days though, the hurricane and hostage situation were getting tons of airtime...

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

what a coincidence. former Bush-rival from Texas, no way he'd be holding a grudge of any kind... and weeks before a re-election campaign for one of the closest races he brings this up?

You can take this as seriously as you could take the Swift Boat Vets. Bush Sr. already said George W. got in like everybody else, and Kerry has said the Swift Boat Vet are just angry Repubs and that their story doesn't match up. Truth is, lots of things don't match up for either side 100%, and military service SHOULD be irrelevant, as Kerry proposed for the '92 election between Bush Sr./Clinton.

Yeah, I do regret linking that. It is very similar to the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth as far as possible motives and proof. And even then, the guy doesn't claim that it was a Bush that asked for W's position, but a family friend, so even this story wouldn't necessarily be a mark on them if true.

 

[Incognito]

What's funny is he went and gave a speech in the middle of the night to try and compete with the rnc and he didn't accomplish anything.

His speech was lame and I don't even think the people who were there enjoyed it. I think I saw a few people yawning.

LOL

shut the fuck up already, delta.

 

[Catchpenny]

what a coincidence. former Bush-rival from Texas, no way he'd be holding a grudge of any kind... and weeks before a re-election campaign for one of the closest races he brings this up?

Uh, Barnes has mentioned this for years, but hasn't gone high-profile with it before. He agreed to a 60 Minutes interview only after being disgusted by the Swift Boat attacks.

 

[Alcibiades]

I thought you were joking, but tune into CSPAN, they are re-running it.

people ARE all tired and falling asleep, they aren't responding enthusiastically to questions from Edwards..

heck, Edwards looks a TAD droopy...

some of the people don't even look like they are paying attention...

it's not a bad rally, some people are still cheering, just not an enthusiastic, spectacular one.

 

[Alcibiades]

Uh, Barnes has mentioned this for years, but hasn't gone high-profile with it before. He agreed to a 60 Minutes interview only after being disgusted by the Swift Boat attacks.

the guy who supposedly asked him is dead though, how convenient...

 

[Incognito]

I thought you were joking, but tune into CSPAN, they are re-running it.

people ARE all tired and falling asleep, they aren't responding enthusiastically to questions from Edwards..

heck, Edwards looks a TAD droopy...

some of the people don't even look like they are paying attention...

it's not a bad rally, some people are still cheering, just not an enthusiastic, spectacular one.

it was past midnight when these rallies took place, dork.

 

[Catchpenny]

Yeah, it's amazing how people die 40 years after an incident. With records and memories growing fuzzy, you could make up almost anything you want about a person, and they'd be hard-pressed to refute it.

 

[Ill Saint]

What's funny is he went and gave a speech in the middle of the night to try and compete with the rnc and he didn't accomplish anything.

His speech was lame and I don't even think the people who were there enjoyed it. I think I saw a few people yawning.

LOL

Does a crowd need chants of of "4 more years!" repeated ad nauseam, and slapping thongs together to look like they are enjoying a speech? I figure waving the little flags around is enough?

LOLOL?

 

[Leon]

Bush has been criticized for being a Warmonger, lieing about WMD
[...]
Unfortunately, all of these charges are based on conspiracy.

...