Reply #43: Consistency would be a good start. I am beginning to wonder re Kerry [View All]

[Tinoire]

I used to like Kerry. Had him as my number 2 and did quite a bit here at DU to defend his war votes & level his playing field against Dean & Clark but he's losing me rapidly. I do not want a candidate who says one thing to audience A and then runs over to audience B to say the total opposite.

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Kerry: I believe Ariel Sharon willing to make peace

By Shmuel Rosner in New Hampshire and Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters


"I believe Ariel Sharon is willing to make peace, I really believe it," leading Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry said to a crowd in Salem, New Hampshire on Monday, in his last public appearance ahead of Tuesday's Democratic primary.

<snip>

Kerry delivered the remarks on Sharon only hours after being quoted as saying that the government in Israel currently lacks someone who can provide the goods when it comes to negotiations with the Palestinians.

He was also quoted as saying that he believed the Palestinian Authority needed to be strengthened in order to overcome a power struggle with Hamas. Apparently the attributed quote was misinterpreted and did not accurately represent Kerry's stance. ((WTF?))

<snip>

Israeli officials who analyzed Kerry's comments on the Middle East said they were, at worst, a misunderstanding. They believe he meant that Israel does not have a partner for talks on the Palestinian side, since the Palestinians are unable to provide the goods.

Kerry's main rival, former front-runner Howard Dean, said at a campaign event in Manchester that the U.S. should increase resources for the Palestinian Authority in order to persuade the Palestinians to relinquish the right of return. The former Vermont governor specified that Israel should demonstrate flexibility in regard to final borders in order to allow the creation of a Palestinian state.

<snip>
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/387255.html

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<snip>

As far as American Jews are concerned, the jury is still out on the Democratic Party's new star, John Kerry. An experienced politician with 18 years on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee under his belt, he has a solid record of supporting Israel. American Jewish sources in Washington indicated that Kerry's comments in off-the-record talks recall the approach adopted by the Clinton administration: unqualified support for Israel, yet also insistence that a resolution to the conflict with the Palestinians depends upon Israeli concessions in the territories.

A few days after the Geneva Accord signing ceremony, Kerry praised the draft peace proposal, ignoring the reservations of the Sharon government. He has also proposed sending a special envoy to the Middle East - and one of the names he has mentioned in this connection is that of former Secretary of State James Baker.

In some American Jewish eyes, Baker is viewed has having been instrumental in determining foreign policy that brought U.S.-Israel relations to a low point.

The bottom line, says one seasoned political observer in Washington, is that Israel has nothing to fear from Kerry, Clark or other Democratic hopefuls. All of the candidates endorse their party's supportive stance toward Israel, and the candidates are surrounded by staff workers who are long-standing friends of Israel.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=386103&contrassID=1

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I would also like Kerry to explain S&B a wee bit more than this:

John Kerry admits to Skull and Bones Membership on 'Meet The Press'

In this video you will hear Senator John Kerry admit, on American National television show Meet The Press, that he is a member of The Secret Society named 'Skull & Bones'.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/010104kerryadmits.html (loads slowly)
http://www.themedianews.com/video/kerry.wmv (a little faster)