Oliphant on Newshour: Hughes was untruthful when she accused Kerry

[blm]

of "pretending" to throw his medals.

Oliphant was crystal clear recounting when Kerry threw his "decorations" as he was standing just 4 feet away at the time. He also said it was a spontaneous event that was not planned by the vets ahead of time.

Watch the exchange on the Newshour when it hits your timezone. I tuned in late and only heard this part.

[Zeke]

1. GREAT POST.

Thank you from California!

Got the Newshour penciled in for 6PM westcoast time now.

Thanks again.

[glarius]

2. Hughes has been all over TV saying how "troubled" she is about Kerry

The smug, phony bitch!
edidt..in one interview I even heard her say, she was angered by those who belittle Bush's intellect...She said she knows him extremely well and he is very intelligent and well informed believe it or not!!!

[physioex]

3. I disagree.....

I like to think of her as a Marketing Skank.

[glarius]

4. Okay...how about a marketing skank, smug, phony bitch?.....

:)

[physioex]

10. It might work....

:puke:

[DemLikr]

17. And it must be true because Darren/Karren (sex change) says so! n/t

[CatWoman]

5. I saw it too

and Bill Kristol, true to form, was whining about Kerry's counterattacks.

[blm]

6. Heh...you can always tell when Kristol doesn't even believe what

comes out of his mouth. Today was one of those days.

[Must_B_Free]

29. Kristol wanted desparately to change the subject

He said "it's not helping Kerry". Yeah the right is always so concerned about helping their enemy.

[rinsd]

7. Did he say spontaneous?

"He also said it was a spontaneous event that was not planned by the vets ahead of time."

Oliphant said there was some heated discussion the night previous as to whether to throw the medals(ribbons) over the fence or lay them out on a table. Kerry apparently lost the debate for the table idea.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/04/27/i_watched_kerry_throw_his_war_decorations/

"While the idea of turning back decorations had been talked about prior to that week, there was no clear plan when the veterans arrived. The night before, the men had had a long, loud argument about whether to throw their stuff or simply place it on a long table in front of the Capitol. I watched Kerry argue for the less dramatic approach and lose."

I know its a nit picky thing but "spontaneous" would seem a bit much. Not throughly planned/organized would be a better description, at least based on Oliphant's account. But hey people talk about spontaneous protests even though there is obviously some planning involve, so what do I know.

[blm]

13. He was saying it wasn't planned or thought out.

I took that as spontaneous to paraphrase what he was saying.

[peacetalksforall]

8. Notice anything...Kerry must be a huge threat for them...

Cheney is out of his bunker and is vile....
Hughes is back from Texas and is vile....

Big gun cannonballs being shot!

[SideshowScott]

9. From a Woman who attempts to link 9/11, Terrorists and Pro-choice

I would not listen to her no matter what she said..She seems to want to be the Queen-whore of the Bush Admin.

[revcarol]

11. He's her husb....

whoops, wrong skank.

[Tinoire]

12. How much more untruthful is this story going to get?

The more they spin it, the worse it looks.

This new spin doesn't even stand up. If it was so unplanned, how did 2 friends who couldn't make it to the protest manage to get their medals to Kerry so he could get rid of them for them?

This story is of course better than the one based on a nuanced moral code that it's OK to throw away your ribbons and somebody else's medals, but not your medals. None of this is making any sense and Kerry & the spinmeisters are beginning to look foolish.

Nuances now of decorations vs medals vs ribbons? C'mon. Please, please. Children are burning to death in Fallujah. I'm getting so tired of Kerry's nuances and now this new spin.

This shouldn't even be an issue except that just like with the WMDs, Kerry is trying to have it both ways. You can't in life. Not when children are burning. There either are WMDs or there aren't; you either support the war or you don't, the event was either planned in enough time for 2 people who couldn't make it to give you their medals or it wasn't planned in advance.

The Kerry campaign really needs to hire some good liars who are so used to dealing with lies that they can spot the holes before telling the lie. It also does not help Kerry that Oliphant's daughter works on his campaign. Not the best move. Someone totally unrelated to the campaign would have been a better bet.

That is honest advice. I don't want to see us lose this election but I have lost almost all faith.

Stop spinning DLC. The only chance Kerry has for this issue not to impugn his character (which as absurd as it may sound to us is what millions of people think Bush has going for Bush) is to ridicule Bush, talk about the war, ridicule Bush, talk about ENDING the war, ridicule Bush, talk about not having an occupation of Iraq, ridicule Bush, talk about oil theft etc... Just stop spinning this story so it can die, die, die.

[blm]

15. I don't think it's Kerry doing the spinning. BushInc is.

And the story is already turning alot of folks against Bush and Cheney and Karen is losing whatever cache she had as well.

[Tinoire]

19. How much of this is being said without Kerry's knowledge?

It's too close when your daughter works on Kerry's campaign. You're totally right about Bush spinning but I do believe Kerry is spinning in reaction and he's not very good at it.

It's too late for this because of too many contradictory statements about such a simple thing but if I could undo it and were Kerry's advisor, I would tell him to take a hard Left, cross his fingers and salvage the whole thing by chuckling and saying that he did throw away his medals but that the ones in the display case were replacement medals he bought later on because he realized there was no reason to be ashamed of his honorable service, only of a corrupt government that had sent young buys over there to die for lies. That he can't understand that replacing the medals he threw away (because you KNOW what an emotional and stunning event that was at Dewey Canyon 33 years ago this week- grown men who had lost so much for those medals were crying as they hurled those medals back at the government that had betrayed them) now that he had finally been able to lay the entire matter to rest in his mind. Something like that. But unfortunately, we can't go back in time; I'm not his advisor and there are already too many lies & spin on this simple, small matter.

Right now this peddling is seriously pissing off some very good people who could have done a LOT to help Kerry.

I'll skip Veterans for Peace, because you know all about the angry letter S. Brian Willson wrote to Kerry. (He wrote a second one by the way and now Kerry has got Stan Goff from Military Families Speak Out on his tailas well).

Look at what Veterans against the Vietnam War, the group he worked so closely with, the group he threw the medals with is saying about him. You have to admit THIS is SAD! This is the group he rode to political fame on:


Ten years ago, the last time that VVAW members and friends gathered in Washington, DC to commemorate the anniversary of Dewey Canyon III, we invited John Kerry to join us. His office said he could not be there, but promised us a statement from Kerry on the event. It never came. Many of us were angered, though not really surprised, at Kerry's denial of VVAW and his connection with us.

I decided to make a personal statement by sending him my medals and calling him out on his weak response to the Persian Gulf War. Here is the letter I sent out to him:


April 22, 1991
Champaign, IL

Senator John F. Kerry (ex-VVAW member):

Well, John, we missed you last Saturday at the rededication of the tree VVAW planted on the Mall in 1971. And, you did not show up for the speeches in front of the Capitol. Nor did we ever receive that statement your office promised us. Was this one of those the check is in the mail sort of promises? Of course, after all this, we didn't expect you to show for the reception that evening . . . and, you didn't.

As I stood among my brothers and sisters in VVAW and Veterans for Peace, waiting to give my short speech to the gathering, I wondered what I would do with the medals I brought along to the ceremony. As I was unable to participate in Dewey Canyon III, I have waited a long time for some opportunity to make these bits of metal and colored ribbon count for something. This commemoration of DCIII was to be that opportunity, but I couldn't see just leaving the medals for any tourist to walk off with - what would be the point? So, as I walked to the microphone, I decided to mail them to you. When I announced this intention to the crowd, they cheered and applauded with their support and appreciation. You should have been there, John!

Everyone standing there on that cloudy and chilly Saturday morning clearly understood why these medals should be directed at you. <snip>

For that group standing there on the grass in front of the Capitol (and, for the thousands we represented who could not be with us), many things have not changed. We still oppose U.S. interventionist policies overseas, in El Salvador, the Philippines, etc. We still support the right of self-determination for all oppressed peoples, such as the Palestinians. From our Vietnam experiences, we remain always skeptical about the motives of successive U.S. governments in situations like the recent war in the Middle East.

Many of us have remained critics and activists for more than twenty years; some were brought back into activism over the last seven months. For example, there were 2,000 of us veterans (from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada) leading the march of 200,000 in Washington, D.C., on January 26. We did this to express our suspicion, our anger, our frustration with people such as yourself who so quickly lined up behind Bush's warmaking. Where were you that day, John?

You should have been on the floor of the Senate every day since August and after January 16, demanding an end to the bloodshed caused by our government. Your voice should have been heard in every newscast as a veteran who was not going to allow this carnage to go on.

More than 300 U.S. troops and probably more than 200,000 Iraqis died in the war to kick the Vietnam syndrome. Was it worth it, John? Did your posture in support of the war improve your chances for a future presidential bid? Not with your former brothers and sisters in VVAW. That's for sure! Once again the politics of expediency rears its ugly head, and so-called liberals such as yourself and our Illinois Senator Paul Simon line up with the warmakers.

Do you recall how we veterans felt about that during the Vietnam War, when our so-called friends in Congress just kept voting for the continuation of that horror? This is exactly how most of us anti-war veterans feel about your actions (or, inaction) this time around. Of course, you probably don't really give a damn. So, with that expectation, you can take these medals and shove them - they don't mean a thing! I don't want them; they don't bring any lost lives back.

Twenty years ago today, you asked members of Congress: how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? Now I am asking you: how can you, as a former anti-war veteran, ask men and women to continue to fight and die for profits and U.S. control over the world's resources? My, how some can change! Or, were you always just a fortunate son?

We shall not forget!

Joseph T. Miller
(VVAW member, 1970-present)

***

Well, I never received any sort of response to this letter. I often wonder what he actually did with the medals and papers I sent to him. It does seem, however, that he would rather put those days up to youthful indiscretion. His comments of May 6, 2001, on "Meet the Press" show that he has lost any connection with what VVAW was and is. While many of us might actually vote for him in 2004, given the potential other choices out there, we must not assume anything about him or his policies. Let's not be fooled by another politician.



Joe Miller is a national coordinator of VVAW.

http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=82

We'll see how many people this turns off from Bush and Cheney. I don't think you can turn that many people off. IMO, our best bet is to turn as many people on as possible. People have had 4 years to see what Bush, Cheney and Hughes are. The lines are already firmly drawn in the sand by now. It is time for Kerry to quit running after an elusive center and make a hard LEFT if he wants to salvage this thing.

Talk about the war. Never stop. WAR. WAR. WAR & OCCUPATION and how you won't have any of it. Anything else is standing in the middle of the road and for whom? There's no one else coming to this party- we're all here. Time to start worrying about what we think.

For those in the Democratic Party who are not against this war, shame on them. We don't need them or their votes. They come at too high a price and at the sacrifice of too many others. If there are that many pro-war people in this party that we can't win without unequivocally saying that these wars and occupations are wrong then damn, I am in the wrong party.

But really about the spin coming from our side. It's very insulting to the intelligence of people who are not in the Kerry camp right now because it's bad spin. I don't think it's making believers out of anyone but the people who already believe.

[blm]

20. They are entitled to their opinions and I am entitled to acknowledge

and respect the over 30 years of progressive actions that Kerry has racked up. They might not appreciate that Kerry exposed more government corruption than any other lawmaker in modern history. I and many others like me, DO appreciate his dogged efforts under grueling scrutiny and near impossible obstacles. He did that for me, for all of us who care about justice and true democracy.

If those men collectively have accomplished half of what Kerry has as one man, I will be pleasantly surprised.

[Tinoire]

24. You certainly are

and your opinion is one of the few on Kerry that I actually value. We'll just agree to disagree and acknowledge that I am a crusty, cynical old sort.

[blm]

26. Ex-nay on the crusty.

YOU could never be crusty. And you are far too hopeful and caring to be cynical, so you needn't give in to that, either.

;)

[Tinoire]

32. Naw... seriously

(though you are very kind, as my friend, to say that) I have indeed become crusty and cynical in the last 3 years. A total turn-around from the fresh-minded poster who always hoped that good and justice could win.

It is so bad now that I hate people with whom I never previously had any quarrel simply because they don't know, because they never took the time to find out what was going on in their own government which, whether they like ir or not, represents them around the world.

I have really had it with the folks who wring their hands wailing "why do they hate us?" but turn to 30 minutes of Fox News for answers before switching the channel because Survivor's on.

It's gotten bad. Trust me.

You must certainly remember the days when Kerry was my number 2, practically tied with my number 1 Kucinich.

One year ago, I would never have been this hard on him but one year ago, I also wouldn't have hated my Democratic landlord for thinking that Saddaam caused 9-11, had WMDs, and that we had to go after him to save the world.

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/herman/herman10.html">"We had to destroy the village to save it"

It is sickening. It is disheartening. I rely on people like you and NOT on the Kerry shills, who do more to turn me OFF than on, to set some of us straight, to convince us that there John Kerry is a man as fit to represent us as any politician could be in this corrupt system.

I know the Kerry myth. I fell in love with it. Now, with children burning in Fallujah and Haitians crying for the only person they had who was willing to stand against the corporate globalization that is choking the life out of them, I want the real Kerry. I want to not waste my vote and ABB is not enough.

There is so much pain and rage in my heart that if Kerry is not the right man to rebuild, I am more than willing to help stand back and watch the house burn down knowing that we will have to rebuild afterwards.

I do however, understand where you and I are able to part ways because ideologically we are the same. You are just as pro-peace and anti-war as I am. I know this... we had long conversations... but you have children.

Your children, my friend, are my dilemna between watching the termite-ridden house burn down for good so that we can rebuild it and rushing in with the fire-extinguishers. Either way, the entire house is dead.

:hug:

[yardwork]

34. I understand your frustration, but.....

there is no guarantee that the house will burn down if Chimpy is reelected. And he'll have the chance to nominate as many as four new Supreme Court justices, each of whom will serve for life. Scalia will be Chief Justice, and the majority of the Court will agree with his views - for generations, for decades.

I'm in my mid-40s. I've been listening to people predict that the revolution is right around the corner all my life. It never comes. People said "Go ahead and elect Nixon, and then we'll have the revolution!" Then it was, "Go ahead and reelect the b*st*rd - we'll have the revolution for sure!" Um, then we had Ford. Then we had Carter. Then it was, "Oh good! Ronnie Raygun will definitely cause people to see that it's all so terrible, we have to have a revolution!" Eight years of Ronnie, four more of Poppy Bush. And so it goes...

If we get Chimpy again, that's what we'll get. Four more years of Chimpy. More wars. A draft for sure. A Supreme Court in lockstep with Scalia. More dead children. No health care. No revolution.

[Tinoire]

35. Lol... Kind of

I am happy you understand my frustration because I so sympathize with yours with the difference that it was always

elect Carter and "after the election: hw'll move to the Left

elect DLC Clinton and "after the election: he'll move to the Left

now it's elect Kerry and "after the election: hw'll move to the Left

and with each step these guys just kept collaborating more with vile reptiles like with Reagan & Bush.

Things have gotten so bad, that the PNAC-infiltrating DLC, in a reprehensible attempt to whore after a few ideologically misguided votes (which trully are owned bt the Republicans) is willing to deliberately sacricifice everything we used to stand for.


I hear your pain. It's the same as mine except that you must have children to so desperately want to hope, If you do... your children are the only reasons I might sacrifice all I believe in and vote for Kerry.

I hold you NO ill will. If anything, I really appreciate your heart-felt post. Thank you.

[blm]

47. Kucinich is no traitor to humanity...and he undoubtedly will support Kerry

Kerry is a man steeped in the philosophy of the left. I understand that campaigning is different than governing at times. I am certain that Kerry's heart is with the left just as I was when a prolife, anti-flag burning candidate was running for Congress.

I know hearts and souls, Tinoire. There may be a few aberrations here and there, but the overall substance remains solid and intact.....and. importantly, on OUR side....moreso than any nominee in my 30 plus years of voting.

[Must_B_Free]

31. Choose your battles wisely

the spin he was referring to was Krystol and Hughes.

Oliphant was clear - specifically, they talked about it - Kerry wanted to put up a card table and pile them up there, but he was overruled by the others.

He threw what he had and at some later time, some vets who had heard of it gave Kerry their medals to throw. There was even one from WWII in there.

[Tinoire]

33. As a child who could lie with the best of them

to the point where my mother would tell me: "Tu devrais etre un arracheur de dents" (you should be a yanker of teeth aka old-fashioned dentist who would lie and say "this won't hurt a bit")

trust me

Kerry's lies are very, very bad.

He should stick to the truth or a 100% substained lie.

There are so many holes in this story that you could drive a 10-ton truck through it. I am only asking Kerry to at least respect my intelligence and that of others like me. There are many of us, we are not stupid and we do not say these things lightly. ESPECIALLY not now!

[kiahzero]

44. So you want Kerry to lie, rather than tell the truth?

Interesting moral code, you have there.

It's too late for this because of too many contradictory statements about such a simple thing but if I could undo it and were Kerry's advisor, I would tell him to take a hard Left, cross his fingers and salvage the whole thing by chuckling and saying that he did throw away his medals but that the ones in the display case were replacement medals he bought later on because he realized there was no reason to be ashamed of his honorable service, only of a corrupt government that had sent young buys over there to die for lies. That he can't understand that replacing the medals he threw away (because you KNOW what an emotional and stunning event that was at Dewey Canyon 33 years ago this week- grown men who had lost so much for those medals were crying as they hurled those medals back at the government that had betrayed them) now that he had finally been able to lay the entire matter to rest in his mind. Something like that. But unfortunately, we can't go back in time; I'm not his advisor and there are already too many lies & spin on this simple, small matter.

Funny that you seem to be concerned about "lies & spin" while advocating adding to it.

Here's a simple fact: The "ribbons" are medals. They are the same thing. They represent the same thing. Those little stripes you see on 'highly decorated' uniforms? Those are "ribbons" - medals.

It's really not that complex, unless you're drinking Republican Kool-Aid to try and smear our candidate as not 'pure' enough for you.

[Tinoire]

45. Please.

If you're going to lie at least tell a believable lie instead of pussy-footing on nuances. I doubt that would be a politician's first lie or Kerry's for that matter. If you don't want to lie, don't start. Once your lie has snow-balled like this you have two logical choices:

- Fess up (which would be a bad political move because one would have to wonder why a 33 year charade)
- or tell a story believable enough to cover all the bases

Betting on what we shall politely call nuances to get you out is weak stupid spin of the worst sort. We are not discussing the morality of lying here. The lie was in the 33 year, sometimes reinforced, charade that it was his ribbons that were thrown. What we are discussing is one better way to strategically put this story to rest. The morality of the story was sacrificed long ago.

Don't come with this BS that ribbons are medals that they're the same thing. I know all about ribbons and medals from having been awarded quite a few and there's quite a difference between the two.

That spin is STUPID.

SO let me ask YOU. If the event was so unplanned- How did 2 people who couldn't make it to the Protest have time to get their medals to Kerry, one of the organizers of the event, in advance for him to fling for them?

But noooo, keep your head buried and pretend Rove, who's got the best pathological liars on his team, won't notice this glaring hole in the new spin.

[kiahzero]

46. Clearly you don't

Don't come with this BS that ribbons are medals that they're the same thing. I know all about ribbons and medals from having been awarded quite a few and there's quite a difference between the two.

Take the Bronze Star, for example. There's a ribbon and a medal. They are both the Bronze Star, and they are both accurately referred to as "medals."

SO let me ask YOU. If the event was so unplanned- How did 2 people who couldn't make it to the Protest have time to get their medals to Kerry, one of the organizers of the event, in advance for him to fling for them?

My understanding of the situation was that the tossing the decorations over the fence was unplanned - the original plan involved filling a bodybag with the decorations instead, but the change in situation (the giant fence) made them go with another plan.

On edit: The "medal" referred to above should be more accurately termed a medallion.. so there's the ribbon and the medallion, both of which are the same "medal."

[calimary]

21. Dear Lord I hope you're correct.

Where do you see it?

I had a VERY good, VERY progressive friend venture to Georgia on an art-teaching trip. She promised me she'd take the temperature of the people there, to guage how they really felt, and whether they really were the hopeless knuckle-draggers I've dreaded they might be. She came over, Sunday evening, and reported that the polls have got to be wrong. She said she didn't meet a single soul who was a bush supporter. They rather despised him, she said. Of course, she also admitted that considering the type of people with whom she'd be going there to inter-act (more creative, artsy-fartsy, bohemian types), the opinion pool among them would be far more left-of-center anyway.

[blm]

27. I'm in SC, calimary

and I've been spending alot of time in NC lately looking for houses.

There is a completely different mood going on here than I saw in 2000. The Bush-Cheney bumperstickers are few and far between.

[sandnsea]

36. You've got more spin thin a disco

or something.

This is a simple story. Medals come with ribbons. Military people generally only wear the ribbons. The ribbon associated with the medal is called a medal when the person has it on. It stands for the medal won, it's called a medal. He threw them. They threw them. They threw all sorts of things that day. There is no confusion here except by people who want to create confusion, either from ignorance or political mischief.

And I think Oliphant is just wrong. It wasn't spontaneous at all. From what I've always read, it was planned on and voted on beforehand.

Very simple. And if you want to blame somebody for this stupidity, why don't you blame Bush. One more time. Why does the left wing prefer to blame Kerry and Democrats for shit Bush does? Unreal.

[Tinoire]

37. Whatever. Whatever....

because (gasp) unlike certain Kerry supporters here, your word is not Gospel truth.

Sorry. Kids burning in Falluhaj. No time for Spin. Do a little research, click on a few links and then come back with your snippy titles.

:puke:


Children burning alive. Why did Kerry give the idiot of the backward's village the power to wage unlimited war?


Is Bush that smart? Or is Kerry that stupid?

You tell me. Unlike Kerry, you can't have it both ways.

I'm sick of blaming Bush. Sick of blaming the idiotic child. I'm looking for the irresonsible adults who handed the book of matches to that spawn of Satan.

On edit... last 3 words edited from 'idiot child' to 'spawn of Satan'. Hope no Liberal here minds ;)

[sandnsea]

39. Nope, don't blame Bush

Nobody ever does. He likes it that way and you guys are playing right into his hands.

And your post was about Kerry supposedly lying about his medals. For whatever reason you felt it important to fuel the right wing bullshit on that.

If you don't want to participate in bullshit spin, DON'T. How about that?

[kiahzero]

43. Wrong wrong wrong

Sorry. Kids burning in Falluhaj. No time for Spin. Do a little research, click on a few links and then come back with your snippy titles.

Gee... you're the one that's insisting how horrible Kerry is for calling a spade a spade (or in this case, a medal a medal). Don't try to get out of the argument now, just because you're losing.

Children burning alive. Why did Kerry give the idiot of the backward's village the power to wage unlimited war?

Actually, the IWR didn't give "idiot of the backward's village the power to wage unlimited war?" ... that was precisely the point. IWR limited the scope of actions in the Middle East to Iraq, when you damn well know that Bush was just aching to get into Syria, Iraq, and more.

Should Kerry have just reflexively voted against any resolution? The Republicans didn't NEED his vote to pass, they WANTED it. If all the Dems had said "Fuck this shit, we're not voting for anything authorizing a war under any circumstances" the Resolution wouldn't have authorized war in Iraq, it would have authorized war in the entire Middle East. That's if there even WAS a resolution, since Bush lawyers were signalling that they didn't think they even NEEDED any authorization from Congress.

[Stephanie]

38. "There is no confusion here except by people who want to create confusion"

And that's the bottom line. When I see Democrats taking this bait I despair. It is so fucking irrelevant.

[Jawja]

41. I don't believe it's Kerry

that's looking foolish. It's the Republican Attack Machine and Karen Hughes. They've gotten into the slime with the "Medals Controversy (as the media now calls it)" and I believe the public will perceive it as the mudslinging that it is.

I do think, however, that Kerry needs to stop taking the bait and move on with, "I believe Americans are concerned about health care, etc."

[DemLikr]

42. Go, go go Tinoire! You're my new hero.

The only necessary JK response to inquiries about thrown medals is, "well, whatever the minutuae of the matter, I would have been happy to throw GWB's medals also, if he HAD any; if he HAD gone to Vietnam instead of hiding in Texas and lying about it for 30 years..."

going on the defensive and trying to explain is crazy, weak bullshit.

Also, I think I'm one of those reformed, really good liars, (in recovery now) who might be a good asset for Kerry. I often wonder if many in the Bush camp really aren't dry, angry drunks, or even worse, souless, hateful things who have no need to drink away their guilt because they lack the capacity to feel any.

Darren/Karen Hughes is example #1.

What a lying sack of s hit.

[KoKo]

14. Thanks for reposting this and staying on top of it.Oliphant's "on the

scene" view of what "really happened" deserved more than than the one post here on DU it got.

This should be e-mailed to the Cables/Networks to show them we know that they are LIARS.

But, if we do that they will keep Oliphant off their shows. See, the "trade offs" they've put us into? :shrug:

[blm]

16. Yep...that's what happened to Joe Wilson last fall.

As soon as he the media realized he was working with Kerry, they stopped booking him.

[Disturbed]

18. Rethugs in all war-No rules!

Whatever they can do to smear J.Kerry they will do. Also, it diverts attention from the core issues. Rethugs fight dirty and whine if Dems fight back. Dems are in defense mode exactly where the Rethugs want them to be. This issue about the medals is sand in the face and Kerry and the team should have not responded. This is a game that the Rethugs are better at than the Dems. Dems have the weakness of having some honor in a fight. Rethugs never have that problem.

[calimary]

22. Unfortunately for them, he'll be unavoidable next month.

May is when Wilson's book comes out. He'll be making the rounds. They'll HAVE to deal with him. No way around it. He'll be in the news because he'll be making news. Hell, he'll BE the news. What I've read about it: he supposedly identifies, or gives a crystal clear indication of which White House higher-ups talked to Bob Novak. And if you'll recall, late last summer when his allegations first surfaced, he was on the record telling people he knew who it was - who THEY were, that is.

[KoKo]

23. I'm glad he got out there. There was an article posted early this a.m.

by him where he talks about being there. I was afraid it would die and no one in the TV Media would carry through and report it. I haven't watched Newshour (assume you mean Jim Lehrer's PBS show)in a long time, so I missed it, est. here.

I'm glad they showed it. Thanks.

[Sparkly]

25. Also catch Deborah Norville's show

if it hasn't yet aired in your time zone. She had the woman who interviewed Kerry on TV in 1971 and a fellow member of VVAW who was with Kerry the day they returned the medals.

[moondust]

28. How would the Chickenhawks know anything about medals?

They're making complete asses of themselves pressing this riduculous non-issue. If they had served they might know something about military medals and ribbons and thus how petty and goofy it would be to try to make an issue of it.

[TankLV]

30. Who cares WHAT Kerry did with his medals. They were HIS. He EARNED the

right to do with them what he wished.

WHERE ARE BUNKERBOY'S MEDALS AND RIBBONS? h, he had a root canal done!

That's the whole point that should be emphasized.

AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL AWOL

[Lefergus70]

40. Kerry is better than...well, nothing

Perhaps we should think of Kerry as the only hope to recover our nation from the grasp of terrifying, rightwing fanatics. That is no small thing. Sure, his support of the Iraqi war is deplorable, but he knows the U.S. public would never vote for an anti-war candidate, and that is why Dean and Kucinich are gone from the picture. Either he plays the political game or he's out of there too.

Someone pointed out here that Carter and Clinton raised false hopes of turning the nation left. Well, I don't think they did too bad considering the enormous forces from the right that worked against them. Carter returned the Panama Canal to Panama, a brave and fair act that no Republican would ever do; he also sent progessive-minded ambassadors to Latin American American countries when the continent was completely controlled by dictators, marking the first time ever -I mean ever! - that the U.S. showed sympathy for democratic movements on that continent (Reagan rewound all that). Clinton gave the nation Family Leave, and might have achieved more toward impproving health care if the insurance lobbies hadn't crushed him with a $400 million negative advertising campaign. I guess that's enough to make my point, which is: a wily Democrat can let you down now and then, but you can still count on him for some good deeds. Not so from his opponent who is relentlessing pushing a doctrine that promises no good for anyone.