Coming Up - Kerry to respond to 'Swift Boating' of Murtha on Senate Floor!

[kerrygoddess]

Coming up soon, Kerry will resond to the 'swift boat' style attacks on the Senate Floor in a short time - C-Span 2!

John Kerry Responds to Sickening Republican Attacks on Decorated Veteran Rep. Jack Murtha
November 18th, 2005

Rep. John (Jack) Murtha spoke his conscience on the Iraq situation yesterday at a press conference, and introduced “a bill today to start an “immediate redeployment” of U.S. troops out of Iraq, to be completed within six months. Republicans immediately went on the defensive by attempting to ’swift boat’ Murtha.

Republicans pounced, chastising Murtha for advocating what they called a strategy of surrender and abandonment.

John Kerry issued the following statement in response to the attacks on Murtha. He will also be speaking on the Senate Floor in a short time, regarding the attacks on Murtha:

“I won’t stand for the ‘swift boating’ of Jack Murtha. It disgusts me that a bunch of guys who have never put on the uniform of their country venomously turn their guns on a Marine who came home from Vietnam with a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. No matter what J.D. Hayworth says, there is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha’s character and conscience.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1195

[RagingInMiami]

1. It's too bad he was unable to respond to his own swift boating

[NewJeffCT]

2. August is a dark month for presidential candidates from Mass...

Kerry got swift-boated in August and lost all his momemtum... Dukakis had an 18 point lead in the polls until Bush pulled out the Willie Horton ads to no response from Dukakis.

[RagingInMiami]

8. I still don't see how hard it would be for a war-decorated veteran

to respond to a draft dodger about who served their country better in Vietnam.

[liberalnurse]

3. Sometimes I get the feeling, Kerry and the 04 Campaign was

only considered a practice run. Kerry knew so much more than we did at that time, regarding the War etc......It will serve him so much better if he Now Fights *bushs administration and the repugs for 3 years and while setting-up the 08 campaign. I sense Hillary will be his VP. This may have been the secondary plan all along.

[bigscott]

4. wrong (IMHO)

Kerry lost most of his support after his failed campaign - I don't know anyone (and I work in Boston) that supports another run by Kerry

[liberalnurse]

6. I am currently in that catagory that you speak.

You know how one gets these sudden brain farts.....That one was mine.... :blush:

[noahmijo]

Get ready for your own swiftboating

The "I hate Kerry because he's not as cool as my to the left of Stalin candidate no one has ever heard of" brigade should be here shortly to take you away.





Personally I'd proudly vote for Kerry and campaign for him again-although not too big on the idea of Hillary being his VP I'd still support it if it was the ticket.

[noahmijo]

5. dupe

[second edition]

9. Please put this all to rest, I think the SBV issue has been beaten

to death. IMO, the attacks were responded to quickly, the media wouldn't let it go. I think Kerry has paid the ultimate price for any mistakes he made during the campaign, he has had to suffer through a personal loss and pick himself up and move on while listening to people such as yourself that can't seem to find anything good to say about a good man. Give the guy a break will you-these beatings are not productive.

[RagingInMiami]

10. I'm not going to stop voicing my opinion as long as he remains

in the public eye. I'm just posting on a website, not calling him or writing him letters or anything.

[welshTerrier2]

7. here's what i hope to hear Kerry talk about

(i'm reposting this here because the same topic was raised in another thread ...)

I heard Kerry's Hardball remarks about Murtha and about what Murtha said ... i thought Kerry's comments were respectful and i've previously said so ...

if Kerry is speaking about Murtha today on the Senate floor, here is what i would like to hear him say ... most of the following are direct quotes from Murtha ... i have removed those statements that draw conclusions (included at the end of this post) about "what the policy should be" and retained statements that provided facts or assessments about what was happening in Iraq or in this country regarding the war ... if Kerry is sincere in defending Murtha, he should clearly state exactly where he agrees with him ... before we debate what the policy should be, we should decide whether we agree or disagree on the facts ...

Here are the statements Murtha made yesterday that led him to the policy position he advocated - I would like to know whether Kerry agrees or disagrees with these statements ... it would be unfortunate if Kerry chose to hide from discussing the foundation of Murtha's position and instead focussed primarily on his conclusions ... my point, btw, is not to suggest Kerry hasn't commented on some of these issues previously ... my point is, out of respect for Murtha and those who agree with him, Kerry should specifically state whether he agrees or disagrees with the following:

1. "the American public is way ahead of the members of Congress" ...
2. he quoted General Casey who stated that "the American occupation of Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency" ...
3. "the future of our military is at risk" ...
4. "recruitment is down even as the military has lowered its standards" ...
5. "the war in Iraq has caused huge shortfalls in our bases at home" ...
6. "over 2079 confirmed American deaths and over 15,500 have been seriously injured ... and it's estimated that over 50,000 will suffer from what i call battle fatigue" ...
7. "oil production and energy production are below pre-war levels - you remember they said that was going to pay for the war" ...
8. "unemployment is 60%" ... "clean water is scarce" ...
9. "and most importantly, this is the most important point - incidents have increased from 150 per week to over 700 (a week) in the last year" ...
10. "attacks have grown dramatically" ... "since Abu Ghraib, American casualities have doubled (i.e. the rate of casualties)" ... "if you look at the timeline you'll see one a day (i.e. American deaths) before Abu Ghraib; after Abu Ghraib you'll see two a day" ...
11. "i sent a letter to the President last September and i got an answer back five months later" ... "i believe the same today; they don't want input" ...
12. "our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency" ... "they are united against US forces and we have become a catalyst for violence" ... "US troops are the common enemy of the Sunni, the Saddamists and the foreign jihadists" ...
13. "over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition forces and about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified" ...

Here were the conclusions Murtha reached based on the above observations ... i intentionally separated the conclusions from the "facts" shown above to see if we could at least agree on a starting point ...

"it is evident that continued military action in Iraq is NOT in the best interests of the US, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region"

"i believe, and i have concluded, the presence of US troops in Iraq is impeding this progress" ...

"i believe with a US troop redeployment, the Iraqi security forces will be incentivized to take control" ...

"i believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis" ... "i believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid-December, the Iraqi people and their emerging government must be put on notice - the US will IMMEDIATELY REDEPLOY" ... "IMMEDIATELY REDEPLOY" ... "no schedule which can be changed; nothing that's controlled by the Iraqis; this is an IMMEDIATELY REDEPLOYMENT of our American forces because they have become the target" ... "all of Iraq must know that Iraq is free; free from US occupation" ... "and i believe this will send a signal to the Sunnis to join the political process" ... "my plan calls for IMMEDIATELY REDEPLOYMENT of US troops consistent with the safety of US forces, to create a quick reaction force in the region, to create an 'over the horizon' presence of Marines, and to diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq" ...

[kerrygoddess]

11. Text of Floor Speech

Kerry Responds to Murtha Attacks on the Senate Floor, Debate Rages
November 18th, 2005

John Kerry just delivered a scathing speech on the Senate floor decrying the ’swift boat’ style attacks on Jack Murtha. The floor speech has facilitated a bit of raging debate between Senator Jon Kyl and John Kerry. The back and forth was quite heated.

The following is the text of Kerry’s floor speech:

Mr. President, yesterday, Jack Murtha, a respected congressman on military matters, and former Marine Drill Sergeant and decorated Vietnam veteran, spoke out on our policy in Iraq. He didn’t come to that moment lightly. He spoke his mind and spoke his heart out of love for his country and support for our troops. I am not going to stand for a swift boat attack strategy against Jack Murtha.

It disgusts me that a bunch of guys who have never put on the uniform of their country venomously turn their guns on a marine who served his country heroically in Vietnam and has been serving heroically in Congress ever since.

No matter what J.D. Hayworth says, there is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha’s character and conscience.

Dennis Hastert — the Speaker of the House who never served — called Jack Murtha a coward and accused him of wanting to cut and run. Well let me tell you, Jack Murtha wasn’t a coward when he put himself in harm’s way for his country in Vietnam and earned two purple hearts — he was a patriot then, and he is a patriot today. Jack Murtha didn’t cut and run when his courage in combat earned him a Bronze Star, and his voice should be heard, not silenced by those who still today cut and run from the truth.

Just a day after Dick Cheney, who had 5 deferments from Vietnam, accused Democrats of being unpatriotic — the White House accused Jack Murtha of surrendering. Jack Murtha served 37 years in the Marine Corps. He doesn’t know how to surrender — not to enemy combatants, and not to politicians in Washington who say speaking his conscience is unpatriotic.

MORE - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1197

[atommom]

12. Yes! Let the ass-kicking commence!

:kick: