Kerry coming up shortly on ABC's morning news

[TheGunslinger]

[NMDemDist2]

1. thanks! n/t

[TheGunslinger]

2. "We need a commander-in-chief...not a campaigner-in-chief"

"You don't call Murtha a coward."


"Dick Cheney had five deferments."

[TheGunslinger]

3. "Should we be bringing US troops home?"

"Over a period of time."

"Gen. Casey just submitted a plan to begin withdrawing troops in Jan. Is he a cowrd? Is he unpatriotic?"


"We put 20,000 add'l troops in for the referendums and elections. If the referendums are successful, we can bring 20,000 troops back."

[TheGunslinger]

4. Showing clip of * spewing before a crowd of troops

"I'll tell you what's endangering our troops. Sending our troops in w/o proper armor...Not properly guarding ammo dumps..."


"None of us are saying the sacrifice isn't worth it....not cut-and-run...I said set the benchmarks for success by which you can withdraw the troops....you cannot win this war militarily...you have to win it politically."


Being questioned on running in '08


"This is about our troops now"

[TheGunslinger]

5. "What we need is an honest discussion"

"The president has never laid out a plan."


"Bring Sunni and Shia together...let Iraqis search homes...our men and women don't have to be doing what they're doing everyday."


(end of interview)

[welshTerrier2]

9. Kerry needs to address Murtha's JUSTIFICATIONS for withdrawal

i'm glad to see Kerry standing up for Murtha ... it's important ...

but what's more important is discussing the ARGUMENTS Murtha made to support his call for IMMEDIATE REDEPLOYMENT ...

[MH1]

15. Help - Can you sum up

the justifications Murtha used? (You raise an excellent point - my question is entirely snarkless.)

The main ones I got are:

* US presence is fueling the insurgency. (Kerry has re-iterated that; his plan to addess it is slightly different than Murtha's but they agree on the issue).

* BushCorp never had any kind of plan in Iraq, and it is not possible to "win" in Iraq with no plan, so we might as well get out. (Kerry has pounded the first phrase over and over, including in his 2004 campaign; but doesn't address it as a simple win/lose proposition, more like, "what's the best we can do with the cards as they are dealt now?")

* ?? Murtha also describes eloquently the impact this is having on military families, but that isn't so much a justification as an aggravating condition - if this were WWII and everyone believed we had to stop Hitler, then I don't think the losses would be seen as a reason to quit. Of course this is most certainly not a WWII-like situation.

[welshTerrier2]

17. this thread says it all ...

i wish more were interested in a real discussion ... thanks for your question ...

check out this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2263098&mesg_id=2263098

the goal is to stimulate a REAL DISCUSSION ... most of DU's candidate supporters seem unwilling to engage in the discussion ... they would rather just hurl their arsenal of insults at those who call for PEACE NOW !!

[sandnsea]

22. gee

Maybe it's because some of us have heard these concerns being addressed for a very long time now. Kerry said from the beginning that we needed to take the target off the backs of our troops. He has said that we are less secure at home. He said we have a backdoor draft with the stop loss measures. He said the oil wasn't paying for the war as promised. He said we have to get the corporations out and fuel the money in to generate Iraqi business and jobs. He's said all of this and more for 2 years now. Sorry all you heard was stay the course warmonger. Oh, and Murtha is NOT saying bring the troops home, he is saying redeploy them to the PERIPHERY IN IRAQ. You really need to read beyond the headlines and listen to the details.

[ProSense]

19. Why? Kerry has his own plan. He doesn't need to make a speech

about Murtha's plan. Likewise, Murtha doesn't need to address Kerry's justifications for withdrawal. Each person's plan stands on its own merit.

[welshTerrier2]

20. brilliant

then i say fuck Kerry's plan ... i'm for withdrawal now ... and you can say fuck that ...

that's a great way to build unity ...

[ProSense]

21. How did you get a call for disunity from my post? Why the anger?

That would never be my response.

There are several withdrawal plans out there. Kerry or any of the Democrats calling for withdrawal have and will continue to defend their own plans. I have no doubt the Democrats will rally behind one plan.

[Mass]

23. Except Kerry did not say fuck Murtha's plan.

He actually addressed many of the same reasons that Murtha addressed in all his interviews this week, including the need to bring troops home, the fact that there was no military solution, the damage that the Bush administration have done to the troops, the fact that it was about kids dying, not politics... (not all of them, I agree).

Short of endorsing Murtha's plan, I am not sure what he can do more than what he is doing. I understand that you want him and others to do that, but once again, I am more concerned by other dems going around and saying that we will have a plan for Iraq when it is time to have a plan: when will it be time?

[Roxy66]

6. He needs to stop using words like. "Mis-leading". Lets use words

that are more clear. That is the problem with Kerry. He sounds too political. He needs to be more pointed with his wording.

[sandnsea]

13. It's the exact word

Pretend you're a 50 year old krischun who always watches Fox. Mislead is the exact word that might get through their thick heads. My LTTE that I blasted around my state yesterday.



If you believe fighting in Iraq is going to keep terrorists out of the streets of the US, you’ve been MISLED.

If you believe our freedom is contingent on anything that happens in Iraq, you’ve been MISLED.

If you believe Congress ever voted to “liberate Iraq”, you’ve been MISLED.

If you believe Iraq was ever in a position to drop nuclear bombs on our heads you’ve been MISLED.

If you believe the single balsa wood model plane could spray chemicals over your town, you’ve been MISLED.

If you believe Bush didn’t know the Niger documents were forged before he and his Administration terrorized you with visions of mushroom clouds, you’ve been MISLED.

If you believe Iraq had anything to do with 9/11, you’ve been MISLED.

If you believe Iraq was conspiring with al qaeda, you’ve been MISLED.

If you believe Congress had the exact same intelligence as the President, you’ve been MISLED.

If you don’t know that you’ve been MISLED, it’s because you still believe things that are simply NOT TRUE.

It’s your choice to believe what you want, but stop vilifying the rest of us as unpatriotic just because we choose facts over blind allegiance to George Bush.

[Roland99]

14. Wow! Great LTTE!

[sandnsea]

16. Thank you

These people are going to be the death of me. We ought to be able to sue them for intentionally endangering our lives because of the utter stupidity they spew that causes our blood pressure to rocket out of control. How can they be so fucking stupid? Certainly we don't want Iraq to dissolve into a chaotic terrorist haven, but jeebuz, it isn't like we're going to be overrun with terrorists the minute we leave Iraq. Or EVER. Or that there is ever anything any terrorist anywhere can do to change this country. How fucking cowardly are they anyway? Do they think Osama is going to become the mayor of their city or something? Stupid. Just fucking stupid.

That's why I don't listen to C-Span call in. But that is what prompted the letter.

[ProSense]

18. Excellent! n/t

[tinfoilinfor2005]

7. Right in the middle of a sentence about getting the troops home

the newslady breaks in with "You sound an awful lot like a candidate running for president."

I loved the look Kerry gave her, one of exasperation and "Oh get OVER it!"

[blm]

10. The media do this because they are IDIOTS who turn every real issue into

a political one, even when lives are at stake. They do it because their GOP masters have trained them to do this.

[MH1]

8. Thanks!

I missed it but your recap is very helpful!

[whometense]

11. I just watched it online

here: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=1328763

The look he gave her when she mentioned 2008 was really priceless.

[fedupinBushcountry]

12. It was

and BLM was right on, his facial expression said , what a stupid question when our troops lives are at stake.

Go get em John and smack them down everytime they play politics.

[YvonneCa]

24. My letter...

Thank you for having Senator John Kerry on your show to discuss the path forward in Iraq. Both Senator Kerry and Congressman John Murtha (whom I support) are the true patriots...they are fighting for our country's future by speaking truth to power...that's a good thing, standing up for what you believe by working within our contitutional and legal systems to get things done. Anyone who is a citizen of this country should do the same. Again, thank you for having the senator on, and I hope you will find a way to publicize his ENTIRE plan for the future in Iraq by drawing attention to his speech on October 26, 2005 at Georgetown University called "The Path Forward in Iraq." He speaks eloquently and with great knowledge, detail, and compassion about what we should do for success in Iraq...the country needs to listen.

[jillan]

25. Bravo Yvonne!

Excellent letter
:yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[wisteria]

26. It is good to see him appearing on so many new shows recently.

He understands this war and his ideas make a lot of sense. It's about time John Kerry gets some recognition for all his efforts. Many others do a lot less and receive so much more undeserved recognition.