Kerry slams Bush for "tampering" w/ the Constitution & looking for "wedge"

[scottxyz]

I believe President Bush is wrong. All Americans should be concerned when a President who is in political trouble tries to tamper with the Constitution of the United States at the start of his reelection campaign.

This President can't talk about jobs. He can't talk about health care. He can't talk about a foreign policy, which has driven away allies and weakened the United States, so he is looking for a wedge issue to divide the American people.

While I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, for 200 years, this has been a state issue. I oppose this election year effort to amend the Constitution in an area that each state can adequately address, and I will vote against such an amendment if it comes to the Senate floor.

I believe the best way to protect gays and lesbians is through civil unions. I believe the issue of marriage should be left to the states, and that the President of the United States should be addressing the central challenges where he has failed - jobs, health care, and our leadership in the world rather than once again seeking to drive a wedge by toying with the United States Constitution for political purposes.

http://blog.johnkerry.com/blog/archives/001234.html

[fearnobush]

1. Nicely said.

A little wordy but still concise and to the point. no Bushit.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

2. "tamper" is a good word...

It could be oft repeated.

[Maat]

3. I'm impressed with the reply.

It succinctly covers the important constitutional issues. Ironically, the right-wing wacks usually promote 'state's rights.' Except when they have a chance to force their 'morality' down our thoughts, destroying the most sacred document. I'm glad he didn't pussyfoot around ... and laid out his beliefs. And I'm glad he pointed out the distraction technique.

[Lindsey]

4. I'm starting to like Kerry

more and more. I think he's got guts.

[Zech Marquis]

11. he's not backing down is he?

Kerry's showing that he WILL fight back! I uspect he has a reapid respnse team who monitor * and the BFEE. :evilgrin:

[The Stranger]

16. Here, here.

Someone found a decent advisor for the Democrats because the message is beginning finally to hit the mark. Whoever he/she is, keep it coming, keep it coming, keep it coming.

[trogdor]

14. I don't know.

It fills a two-minute debate block nicely. You know they're going to ask, you know you can't really win this debate (there are only losers, hate to say it, which is why Bush would just love to keep it on the front burner), so what do you say?

[truthisfreedom]

5. dude's got some good advisors.

rove will be pulling his shorts out of his a**-crack over this one.

8^)

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

6. I am liking Kerry more each day

Attack, attack, attack, is the only way to deal with the RWN's.

[Mike Niendorff]

7. what he should be saying :

"Let me be clear: it is emphatically *not* the role of government to provide official pronouncements on 'the meaning of marriage'. Such matters of the heart are not the province of the state, nor should they be made the province of the state by those seeking to reap political gain by dividing Americans against each other.

"Under our Constitution, the role of the state in this matter is simply this : to ensure to all of our citizens -- all of our fellow Americans -- are guaranteed the full and equal protection of our law. It is not our government's role to usurp the authority of the church by declaring what a "marriage" is or is not, just as it is not the state's role to demand adherance to one man's religion or rejection of anyone else's.

"And yet here we have the Republican Party now commanding the state to march into the halls of religion, and demanding that the state issue official rulings on matters of private religious faith. This road is so antithetical to the American way, so violently opposed to all that America stands for, that only a fool would misconstrue it as 'traditionalist' or, even worse, mislabel it as 'patriotic'.

"Furthermore, it is the height of hypocrisy for George W. Bush and his supporters to pontificate about 'limited government' while at the same time proposing a government that expands so far as to *supplant America's churches* as the final authority on matters of personal belief.

"What I propose here is very simple, so let me be perfectly clear. I propose that the American government remain true to its heritage : that it *stay out* of matters such as the "meaning of marriage", and other matters best left to theologians, philosophers and the clergy. I propose that the American government remain true to its promise : that legal rights and privileges offered to *any* American must be offered to *all* Americans.

"Our government may not pick and choose catagories of citizens, designating some as 'first class' and other as 'second class'. Such a system may be called many things, but it *cannot* be called "American".

"This country belongs to all of us. We are all Americans. We are all in this together.

"And you can rest assured that I, John Kerry, will not stand by and watch as scores of my fellow Americans are left behind, written off simply as 'casualities of politics'. That is unacceptable, and America is better than this. Are you listening, George W. Bush? America is better than this. And America deserves better than you."

-----



MDN

[BR_Parkway]

10. If you want to run, I'd vote for you! n/t

[Qutzupalotl]

19. Put it on the Kerry blog

and send your resume to their HQ!

[fob]

21. Brilliant!!

This needs to be posted everywhere!

[waldenx]

8. when did Kerry start caring about the constitution?

obviously he is looking for a "wedge" to claim bush is looking for a "wedge."

[Dr Fate]

9. He did not "look for" this wedge...

...Bush is bringing out this amendment, not Kerry...

[ithacan]

12. can't talk about people dying in Iraq...

Kerry forgot that one.

I love it: "A president who is in political trouble tries to tamper with the Constitution."

Great choice of words: Tamper

Right up there with Prancing to describe his "Mission accomplished" dress-up stunt.

[keopeli]

13. Many, many conservatives will be impressed by KERRY's response.

Many, many conservatives will be impressed by this response. Bush* is having to shore up his base, while KERRY is able to reach across the aisle, because the liberals and moderate liberals have already made up their minds about Bush*.

Every Democrat or Democrat supporter should recognize this and reach across the aisle with Kerry.

I, for instance, am already in communication with my entire family, all of whom are proudly conservative, fundamentalist, and Republican. They, I assure you, will concur with KERRY's response.

This display of clear moral leadership by KERRY is exactly what our country needs. While everyone may not agree in total with what this statement says, most of us can agree with a majority of the content, and a large majority of us can agree that this is a principled, thoughtful, and reasonable example of moral leadership.

That, my fellow Americans, is how one builds consensus.

That is how you manage the diverse and richly blessed community that we find ourselves in today.

That is Presidential.

Keo

Edit: spelling

[TheDonkey]

15. Very good response to shrub! He needs to repeat this

1000x so it begins to stick in the media.

[smirkymonkey]

17. Finally, someone with the balls

to tell it like it is!! Go Kerry!

[central scrutinizer]

18. what he should be saying

yes it is a wedge issue, but more importantly, it is Bush's desperate attempt to change the topic with a smokescreen. Keep hammering on Iraq, jobs, outsourcing, Halliburton war profiteering, Plame investigation, 9/11 stonewalling, WMD lies, deficit, etc., etc.

[JPZenger]

20. God Endorses Bush by Cell Phone at Bush Rally

Here's a quote from yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer article about a campaign rally attended by George Bush:

"Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who took the stage before Bush, set the tone for the event by pulling out his cell phone for a mock conversation with God about Bush's candidacy.

"We're behind him, yes sir, we sure are," Huckabee said into the phone."

[Jack from Charlotte]

22. I'd have said,..............

Hey, you AWOL, right wing, draft dodging, drunk driving, insider trading, high school cheerleading, abject failure of a coke head frat boy............ keep your filthy hands off this country's constitution.

But that's just me.

I like what Mike N. wrote much better, I must say.