Kerry heckled about war and Patriot Act vote

[underpants]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=536&e=5&u=/ap/20040205/ap_on_el_pr/kerry

PORTLAND, Maine - Answering a heckler, Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry (news - web sites) said Thursday "I never run away from anything, especially George Bush."

The Massachusetts lawmaker had just received an endorsement from Maine Gov. John Baldacci when somebody from the crowd of about 400 shouted, "Why don't you tell them about your vote on the war and the Patriot Act?"

"I'll explain them all as we go along," Kerry swiftly replied to the heckler. "I never run away from anything, especially George Bush."
Just a quickly, Kerry returned to his stump speech. About 15 minutes later, he referred to the heckler and what he called the "heartfelt" opinions. Kerry noted that he protested the Vietnam War after fighting in it. He also touched on his work as a senator to shed light on the Iran-contra affair during the Reagan administration

Kerry did not specifically defend his vote on Iraq, but said, "There was a right way to hold Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) accountable," including working through the United Nations (news - web sites) and "living up to the words 'last resort.'"
"Everything George Bush did was to choose the wrong way," Kerry said. He did not mention the Patriot Act.

[Wetzelbill]

1. he did that at the one I went to on Monday as well

He got heckled, said he never runs from it and would explain, then came back to it later.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Kerry is beginning to sound like Tony Blair

One idiot is enough!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

5. Your thoughtful and insightful post is appreciated.

Thank you for adding such a well-thought out and persuasively written comment.

[Snivi Yllom]

12. Poodle anyone?

Bwahahahaha

[Cocoa]

15. Dean's the idiot

and he's beginning to sound like Silvio Berlusconi.

So there!

[GalleryGod]

27. So NOW the laughable(cowardly) LOS-ers are down to Heckling?

I guess if you can't afford TV advertising anymore-one's campaign can show up at a winning rally and Heckle.

Don't test the "Patience" of Viet Vets, Kiddies!?:spank:

[Cocoa]

33. it's more likely republicans doing it

and Kerry probably knows this.

[oasis]

41. That's Republican dirty tricks at work. Let them blow $200,000,000. It's

good for the economy.

[isbister]

3. Ending the Era of John Ashcroft

Remarks by Senator John Kerry

December 01, 2003

Iowa State University

Iowans who use the public library are used to signs being posted on the wall. They might point to the reference desk or remind people to be quiet while inside the building. But, recently, residents of Iowa City who have visited the public library have been greeted with a new sign. It is a sign that tells us that some of what is fundamental to this country – and that we are right to hold dear – is in danger of being taken from us.

The sign reads: “Attention: Under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act…records of all books and materials you borrow from this library, and of Internet sites you visit on library computers, may be obtained by federal agents. This law prohibits librarians from informing you if federal agents have obtained records.”

In the past two years, speaker after speaker in this lecture series has focused on the impact of the September 11th attacks. They are right to do so. The War on Terror is the defining issue of our time. It is testing us daily. Testing our strength. Testing our resolve. Testing our patience. Testing our vision. And it is testing our faith in the ideals our nation was founded on.

Equality for every American. Liberty and justice for all. We teach out children that these rights are inalienable. But under the Bush Administration, we are being shown how fragile they really are – and how much they must be defended.

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_1201.html

[IndianaGreen]

7. Kerry is keeping the PATRIOT Act

The only promise Kerry has made is that he is going to change personnel. Policy under Kerry will remain the same as it was under Bush, including the PNAC agenda!

[blm]

13. Untrue. Kerry has sent up legislation to repeal parts of the Patriot Act.

He did so a few months ago as you already know yet persist with your claim. Interesting.

[IndianaGreen]

18. Kerry opposes outright repeal

What Kerry is proposing is to sugar coat PATRIOT so that the gullible thinks that Kerry is a civil libertarian, instead of the latent authoritarian he really is. As President, Kerry will be another Nixon!

[isbister]

32. Why wouldn't he

most of its good.

[Cocoa]

19. and yet you support Clark

Clark, who right after Sept. 11 went to work helping companies profit from the Patriot Act.

[redqueen]

11. Then why in the heck did he vote for it?!!!!

:eyes:

[bigtree]

24. The same reason 98 others did, including Paul Wellstone

They believed that the country needed a congressional response to the horrible events that occured on 9-11. The act was flawed but the way that the Justice Dept. has used some of it's provisions is a crime.

Most of the Patriot act amends existing federal statutes that were targeted by conservatives before the 9-11 terrorist attacks. (Like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was enacted in the wake of FBI surveillance of U.S. citizens in the '60's and the '70's) This national security intelligence tool is being recklessly manipulated in the administration's zeal to prosecute their cynical "war on terrorism."

The bill gives the authority for surveillance of citizens under a law intended to monitor foreigners. It amends laws such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to allow the government to spy on Americans.

The ACLU asked the Supreme Court to review whether the Constitution and the Patriot Act permitted the government to use looser foreign intelligence standards to conduct surveillance in criminal investigations in the United States. The Supreme Court refused that request.

The FISA was sponsored in the ‘60's by Sen. Edward Kennedy and others in an attempt to reign in warrantless surveillance. But the FBI and the NSA have used the act to set up secret courts and have perverted the act to conduct surveillance for domestic criminal investigations in addition to their foreign counterintelligence probes.

Ted Kennedy wasn't wrong then in passing the FISA which has been so abused, and others weren't wrong to expect the Patriot Act to be used without recrimination or guile.

[corporatewhore]

31. Kucinich didnot so that throughs off the grading curve

[bigtree]

37. good for him.

[corporatewhore]

4. He gave bush permission to send my father to iraq A little heckling isnot

enough

[TexasPatriot]

6. Hold Saddam Accountable?

he said he had no weapons... he pleaded with international inspectors to come back... he even offered to allow (at the last minute) armed UN troops to work with the inspectors to look for WMD...

the question is - how is the word ACCOUNTABLE the right word? Accountable for using chem on Iranians and Kurds? Chem we gave him and trained him to use? That cant be it... Accountable for being an evil person? We dont need to go half-way round the world to find those...

I think Kerry should avoid the word accountable - since he VOTED for the IWR and the last thing he wants is for the voters to hold HIM accountable for that.

[IndianaGreen]

9. Kerry shirks responsibility in the same way Bush does!

I am beginning to think that this is a character trait of all Skull & Bones members.

[bigtree]

16. Beginning to think.

It's a start.

[Cocoa]

21. Dean avoided Vietnam like Bush did

Dean, Bush, and Kerry were all priviledged people, and only Kerry served.

i.e., Dean = Bush.

[IndianaGreen]

23. Wrong! I served too!

I actually enlisted out of some misguided patriotism, before I learned the whole ugly history of US intervention in Vietnam going back to the truman Administration.

I will support any young man, or woman, that wants to evade the draft in order to avoid fighting in an immoral war!

[Cocoa]

28. sorry, my rules are very strict

my rigidity is a sign about the depth of my antiwar views. I have to insist that anyone who used priviledge to avoid serving in Vietnam is basically the same as Bush.

[CWebster]

34. Nice photo of

Harry Dean Stanton ya got there. I always thought he was pretty good in "Repo Man" and there was this "Twilight Zone" I saw once where he played a corpse that didn't know he was dead, and everyday he rotted a little more, his nose fell off etc. That was good too.

[Cocoa]

39. I always thought Stanton looked "presidential"

having a neck helps. :-)

[oasis]

38. I don't believe Bush dodged Vietnam because he thought the war was wrong.

He doesn't get my support.

Kerry began to realize that the Vietnam War was wrong and lead a campaign against it.

[sandnsea]

36. That's what Kerry supported

There were NO inspectors in Iraq at the time of the vote. I don't know why people keep referring to inspectors and the vote. They have nothing to do with each other. That is the time frame he is talking about when he talks about accountability, before the vote when nobody knew exactly what was going on in Iraq.

I'd like somebody on this board to be accountable to that. And quoting Kucinich doesn't work because he supported inspections. And quoting Clark doesn't work because he supported the exact same plan as Kerry. And quoting Dean doesn't work because he supported giving Iraq 30-60 days and then going in unilaterally.

[Melinda]

8. "I'll explain them all as we go along"? So he blew the questioner off!

Sounds exactly like what Bush* does to me. Exactly the same. :grr:

[underpants]

10. I've heard him do that before

Mostly as an aside about the topic of the day or his supporters calling out to him about something, it's not a very good way to deal with it. He definitely wants to give the stump speech in exactly the prescribed order. That is pretty common and smart. This is also a way to control the room (so to speak) but still it doesn't come off right IMHO.

[revcarol]

22. More waffle, waffle, dodge, dodge...

How about he TAKES QUESTIONS, even hostile questions, and answers them, like Kucinich?

Naw, we can't have our candidate work for our vote and be accountable to the common people...AAAAARRRRGGGHHHH.:argh: :grr:

[bigtree]

14. Have you ever seen this in one of his speeches?

I have. He handled it well. The questioner had another shot at him when the speech ended. They talked. What the hell are you talking about?

[Wetzelbill]

17. yeah, I heard him handle it well

that is not to say that maybe he sometimes doesn't.

[Melinda]

44. What the hell are YOU talking about?

Answering with "I'll explain it later" is classic dodgeball. You like it - fine. But don't expect ME to go along with more of the same old same old. I prefer HONESTY, something sadly missing in Kerry's exchange as detailed above, and what the Bush* criem family has been shoveling us for years now.

[TheDonkey]

20. He wasn't in the Q&A portion of his speech???

You can't have hecklers just yelling whatever they want while you stump and take their every demand. He could have easily brushed the person off completly.

Unless you like Dean's approach of barking red faced at people who heckle him looking like a crazed maniac. :nopity:

[GalleryGod]

30. Petulance Overrunneth in Maine, Donkey.

Somebody give these folks Detention.

[killbotfactory]

25. Someone needs to hold Kerry accountable for supporting the war

[CWebster]

26. Same all evasive shit nt

[GalleryGod]

29. When's Will Pitt's "Excellent Adventure" finally Over & Out?

There's some windmills in Amsterdam ,Pitt.

Cya',Bud!:boring:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

35. Sounds like Kerry came to DU.

:evilgrin:

[slinkerwink]

40. we need more people to ask kerry critical questions like this!

[PatrickS]

42. Make sure to check out the message board...

attached to the article

A lot of anti-Kerry posters there...

[NewYorkerfromMass]

43. It's an open board. (Freepers allowed)

I wouldn't waste my time.

[JNelson6563]

45. seems to have run from the question

what a terrible answer. Almsot as bad as "it's all so complicated I don't think I can explain it".

Julie