I can see we're going to have to set up some sort of "Democratic PR school" soon. There seem to be a few remedial lessons they are lacking, as the John Kerry incident demonstrates.
First of all — I don't care if John Kerry was eating live babies on TV, one week out from an election you do not repeat GOP talking points. Ever. It makes you look like a big pussy who can't stand up to the Republicans, even when they're playing from an exceptionally weak hand on an issue you own. For all those anxious to be seen as the tough defenders of national security, huddling in a crouch position while they pummel you about the head and saying "yes, yes, we deserve this" is just not the best option.
Secondly — did I mention that the Democrats own the issue of Iraq? Even the WSJ acknowledges it is the #1 issue influencing people's votes this election. If the Republicans want to bring it up, that's a perfect opportunity to pivot and attack:
- "John Kerry's inability to tell a joke probably should disqualify him from further appearances on Comedy Central, but I'm glad you brought up the topic of Iraq. What a fucking Republican quagmire that is…"
- "John Kerry is a decorated war hero and I have no doubt that his comments were meant to denigrate George W. Bush, who dodged military service. Why else would Bush be abandoning American soldiers behind enemy lines? I don't think anyone who had ever served in combat would ever do that, and I think you should ask my opponent what (he/she) has to say about this."
- "I'm glad you asked that, Chris. I think the real insult here to our military is being delivered by George Bush and my opponent (fill in the blank), who simply will not admit that the Administration's policies in Iraq have failed. That's why I'm running, so we can stop wasting $250 million a day in Iraq and bring our soldiers home."
See? It's that easy. Jesus H. tapdancing Christ, it's not like there's a shortage of material, George Bush's JAR is in the gutter and nobody trusts him to run this war. Tie him to your opponent then kick him every time someone mentions the "I" word.
How difficult is that?
(video by Jamie at Intoxination)
Related posts:
- Let’s See Who Else Owes Howard Dean an Apology Today
- Early Morning Swim: Al Gore Discusses GOP Global Warming Denialists with Rachel Maddow
- Afghanistan: Karzai Agrees to Runoff Election
- DPC to Continue Drive for Oversight, Accountability for Iraq and Afghanistan Contractors
- My Memory is Better than Ezra’s
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
fitz
GET OUT THE VOTE!!!
Volunteer today. Yes, I mean YOU.
If shy little egregious can get out there and Talk With People, you can too. The nation depends on YOU. No pressure.
I live for the day it’s you and Christy on TV instead of these clowns.
Logic…intelligence…actual answers to important questions…
Why Kerry lost the election. He is stiff as a board,takes himself too seriously, and doesn’t go for the jugular when it really counts. He should have shut up after the first really strong response. Why the hell doesn’t he trust his instincts? He’ll never be president.
You got it Jane. Any chance the spotlight feature can be enhanced with congresscritters?
Ok, egregious.
Campaigning for Steve Sinton in GA-06 today.
Any other Atlantans want a piece?
Let me know.
Right on Jane! Enough of this apologist caca, John Kerry can handle himself just fine and finally.
Dems, move along and realize there is nothing to see or smell here but your own self manufactured fear. Kerry’s gaffe handed you an opportunity.
Thanks Jane.
What egregious said.
Yes, Jane…
Take them to school!
You are so right, Jane. No real people are talking about what Kerry said, only those invested in keeping it in the news cycle. That video is phenomenal and worth a thousand words. Thanks for posting it, and I hope we can send it around and get some further exposure for it.
–
My post from near the last of the old thread.
GOP’s Arza resigns House seat over message with slur, obscenities
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
Associated Press
Posted November 1 2006, 2:25 PM EST
HIALEAH — State Rep. Ralph Arza resigned Wednesday from the Legislature, bowing to pressure to quit after leaving messages filled with obscenities and a racial slur on a colleague’s voice mail.
snip
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/s outhflorida/sfl-11arza,0,7726693.story?c oll=sfla-home-headlines
John who?
We really, really need our own version of the Mighty Wurlitzer.
I’d just like to say that Jack Murtha did this on MSNBC this morning — just after the Lynn Cheney Interview Hour — and Andrea Mitchell could not get him off the show fast enough. SIGH How hard it is to not hand people the ammunition they then use to shoot you in the face?
Attack! Attack! ATTAAAAACK!
h/t Trex
Jane, you nailed it.
Am I alone in thinking that John Kerry doesn’t have a dang thing to apologize for?
All they needed was something to push George Allen’s thugs out of the news cycle. If it hadn’t been Kerry, it would have been something else – maybe water-skiing squirrels or just footage of shiny, shiny car keys jingling on the screen.
Meanwhile I’m waiting for the belated October surprise to turn up. Hows that carrier group doing off of Iran?
EPU’ed and OT, but hopefully of interest…
schedule for lamont bus tour has just been announced.
any interest in an fdl/bloggers meetup on saturday night in new haven for the grand finale (including Squirrel Nut Zippers performance) of the bus tour?
trex and tommy yum will already be there!
See a tongue-in-cheek posting that employs the same GOP tactic used in relation to Senator Kerry to creatively interpret remarks made by the President in the most unfavorable manner…here:
http://www.thoughttheater.com
My high school debate coach would have given me hell if I had wasted time addressing a tangential assertion of my opponent when there was a gaping hole just waiting to be ripped out of the heart of their argument.
Luckily W. is the gift that keeps giving. He just gave an interview saying Rummy stays until the end of his term.
Each day W. helps us by using his bully pulpit to keep Iraq right in the glare of the news. Strange.
Albatross @ 14
Umm, war games with area nations were set to start yesterday. If a GOP congressman gets caught in flagrante delicto with a live boy or a dead girl, watch out.
Albatross @ 14
exactly. ’bout time D pols figure out how to deal with it, since they ought to know that they will be confronted with it.
Oh yeah. I’ve got the South Park Jesus tapdancing my head now.
I guess only the Republicans observe the 11th amendment. I bet it’s the only one that they remember.
According to MSNBC News online, Kerry is cancelling campaign appearances.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13018908/
It’s possible he’s doing that at the request of candidates he was going to speak for, in which case he would be right to honor their requests.
But I hope that he is not cancelling appearances on his own volition. What he should be doing is taking every opportunity to use the spotlight to pound away at the Bush administration’s disasterous policies in Iraq, while ignoring the silly controversy over the botched joke.
Attack.
Great ad by Jaime! Wish someone would pick it up and run with it.
Right on Jane!
I have to admit that I cringed on seeing the clip of Kerry’s botched joke. I then had the opportunity to see more of the that speech leading up to the “botched joke”.
It is obvious that Kerry misspoke at most and the media being way too lazy besides conditioned in their duck and accommodate as the right-wing scream machine frames the “issue”. In the big picture, this is a relatively minor statement.
However, this makes me wonder if the unnamed Democrats voicing concern are the concern trolls who are behind a potential Democratic presidential candidate and they are feeling pressure to weaken a potential Kerry run.
Most of all though, I am furious with these weak-kneed Democrats who are voicing concern over this …… this is exactly how the right wings plays us and we are way too quick to feed that public narrative. No wonder people view Democrats as being weak.
Kerry came out swinging in his initial response and we should have applauded but instead we get the hand wringing from these nameless Democrats voicing their concerns.
Heck, I am a grandma with a bad hip and it makes me want to go out and kick a little Democratic butt on this.
Thanks for the therapeutic rant opportunity.
Furthermore, Ford in TN is now on my list as a Tennessee Lieberman
Since we’re on the subject of Idiot Son, I wanted to submit this. It’s also cross-posted at theLeftCoaster and dailyKos.
http://tinyurl.com/ye6jtb
I created this brief video from the New York Times’ October 29th photo essay, “A Mornful Month”.
This photo essay brings all the loss and sorrow home.
I hope it stays with you.
End this war. Vote November 7.
selise @ 15
LOL – I just sent you an email with the schedule.
…I see your point, Sean, and I would like to take this opportunity to ask Mr Bush,Jr. to apologize to our troops for putting them under foreign command; for sending them to die on a bogus mission; for undermanning the mission; for withholding armor; for making them pay for their own armor; for not allowing photos of their coffins to be printed; for not attending their funerals; for cutting their benefits; for exposing them to depleted uranium; for not having an exit strategy; for not listening to your generals……
Mr Bush, when will you apologize to the troops?
Mr Bush, why won’t you apologize to our troops?
Mr Bush, why do you hate our troops?
This would also be a great time for the Democrats to roll out an ad that shows Bush doing his hilarious “Where are those darned WMDs” shtick that he did for the White House Whore-respondents Dinner.
“You thought John Kerry’s joke was in poor taste? At least 2800 American soldiers didn’t die because of it.”
PR 102: Attacking with Facts
1) http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00621.html
Air Force said to seek $50 bln emergency funds
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
Reuters
Tuesday, October 31, 2006; 2:50 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Air Force is asking the Pentagon’s leadership for a staggering $50 billion in emergency funding for fiscal 2007 — an amount equal to nearly half its annual budget, defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute said on Tuesday.
The request is expected to draw criticism on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are increasingly worried about the huge sums being sought “off budget” to fund wars, escaping the more rigorous congressional oversight of regular budgets.
Another source familiar with the Air Force plans said the extra funds would help pay to transport growing numbers of U.S. soldiers being killed and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
2) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11…..r=homepage
Bush Reaffirms Support for Rumsfeld and Cheney
By DAVID STOUT
Published: November 1, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 — President Bush reaffirmed his support for two of the most polarizing figures in his administration today, saying he wanted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld as well as Vice President Dick Cheney to remain until the end of his presidency.
The president’s verbal embrace of Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Cheney, offered during an interview with The Associated Press, seemed to be another reflection of Mr. Bush’s belief in the basic wisdom of the Iraq war and his determination not to back away from it as the Congressional elections approach.
Mr. Bush praised Mr. Rumsfeld’s supervision of the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and his attempts to revamp the Pentagon bureaucracy. “I’m pleased with the progress we’re making,” Mr. Bush said during the interview in the Oval Office.
The president said he valued the advice and judgment of Mr. Cheney, by most accounts one of the most influential vice presidents of modern times. “The good thing about Vice President Cheney’s advice is, you don’t read about it in the newspaper after he gives it,” Mr. Bush said.
[snip]
“Both men are doing fantastic jobs,” Mr. Bush told The A.P….
You’re absolutely right Jane. These spineless Dems haven’t a clue. Maybe the Dems want to keep the Repubs in town because they’re the only living entity in the Beltway with lower IQs than the Dems and their consultants.
(The repubs can’t govern, but they can sure campaign.)
That Girl,
No, you are not alone. But the over/under on how many days (hours?) its going to be before the Dems throw him under the bus is 2. And the Dems need no PR lessons. They need a spine transplant.
Why is it that those who “get it” aren’t running the party and those who are running the party don’t get it?
Just askin’.
OT – This article just got my tears going this afternoon. One of our female soldiers who died in Iraq back in 2003 apparently did not die from an accidental firearms discharge (as this administration would want you to believe) but COMMITTED SUICIDE after having to interrogate Iraqi prisoners. What was she having to do that after two days of interrogations she refused to participate and instead took her own life? But no, we don’t torture….
Makes me sick to my stomach.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 10
egregious @
2
FDL TV – egregious you are a genius! Stop my pounding heart! ;~D
That was most refreshing Jane — like a tornado ripping through a ranch in Crawford, Texas at the same time a Noreaster is ripping apart some home on the coast of Maine. Of course without injuries and/or death — in case the NSA is doing a particuarly thorough monitoring job on innocent Americans — as well as not to further the mistaken MSM notion that I am one of the many crazy left-wing wackos.
But I am sure, like Kerry’s comments, the MSM would be more than thrilled to take it out of context if it sells their souls further down that hole of purgatory with which they are galloping at full speed.
two beers @ 27
Why can’t people on television talk about these issues? Are they just joking around to show how clever they are? People are dying. It is important to talk about why.
Great post!
I know choochmac @ 33. ;(
From the chimp’s interview on the doughy one’s show:
Fling that poo right back at them! Bring ‘em on.
newspaperbrat, I may indeed be a genius but it is cause for much anguish, am I using my talents sufficiently to serve God. It’s kind of an ongoing question.
Ok ok ok, I’m going on that walk now.
Once again, FDL is the only major blog working right now. Dkos, AmericaBlog, Atrios, and MYDD all seem to be down.
Hastert gets dumped on for sheltering a pedophile and and Bush campaigns with him. Limbaugh gets dumped on for making fun of someone with Parkinson’s disease and Bush shows up on his show.
John “Shecky” Kerry makes a botched joke – and I gather he is now the pariah of the Dem leadership – as everyone runs for cover.
These are the same idiots who allow themselves to be “bitch slapped” by Lieberman (who is now putting the three potential Dem congressional seats in jeopardy) and do absolutely nothing about it.
By the way, what happened today that would prompt Jane’s statement of disgust? Can someone update me on what’s going on? Have there been Dems on TV who have allowed themselves to be brow beaten over this fabricated situation?
And don’t get me started on Ford & Lieberman.
Kos isn’t down.
MyDD isn’t down.
Atrios and americablog are on blogspot, which is often hinky.
#32. Read Glenn Greenwald’s most recent post. I think he has it right. Those of us who saw the fascism from the get-go in the Bush wing of the Republican Party get frustrated because everyone else was so slow to wake up. The Dem professionals are so traumatized by three straight losses that they have lost the capacity to judge shifts in public opinion. It doesn’t help matters that they made their bones under trying to shave a few points off the middle instead of trying to convince the middle. I just had a colleague come into my office wringing his hands over Kerry. He falls into the latter category.
Jane, I wish you were advising these people before they go on TV, though Wrangle performed magnificently yesterday and Kerry fought back. It is the media. Anything to keep from looking directly into the eye of the storm. It’s amazing that Katrina got the coverage it did. Due only to the fact that the anchors were down there in person and the physical footage was so overwhelming.
Yes, let’s weigh the issues and make it really simple for the people to understand just what is at stake here ..Botched War vs. botched joke.
Dean response to the the Prez up on Raw Story:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._1101.html
Oh a Kerry Fu#*!#g apology on CNN now. Idiot!
I didn’t know Jesus tapdanced…
They were for a good 15 minutes. That’s the second time in the last 2 days where I went to all those sites, and this was the only one working!!
I expect them all to have a tough time come election day!
OldSchool @ 7
“A big Pussy!”
Jane, You da’ man!
That video was great. Good job, Jamie.
I know I am a one-note commenter here, but more on CA-11:
The Big Dog is coming to CA-11!
Tonight, at 9:00 pm in Stockton, President Clinton will be here for a GOTV rally for Jerry McNerney. The campaign only had 24 hours notice, so if you are anywhere near Stockton or have friends or family near, please come one, come all!
RSVP here.
No one should ever refer to Dick Cheney other than as “Five Deferment Dick.” George Bush is “Flight Suit George” and, of course, don’t forget “Blue Man Rush.” Let’s ask Blue Man Rush how many viagra it takes to stiffen his spine. Remind the country it takes more than landing on an aircraft carrier that you have steaming in circles to make you a “war president.” Remind everyone that it takes more than sending no bid contracts to your old company for Five Deferment Dick to understand how our economy really works. Turn the clowns into real clowns in the minds of the people.
“They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” –GWB
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a…..bush1.html
Love your comment regarding Comedy Central–great minds must think alike. :)
I started my first defense of Kerry at Liberal Values with comparisons to David Letterman and Johnny Carson.
While I agree that this gaffe may disqualify Kerry from being on Comedy Central, or from being the next host of The Tongiht Show, Kerry certainly followed in Johnny Carson’s tradition of turning a botched joke into a success. In Kerry’s case, instead of following up with a joke as Carson would, Kerry followed with his strong attack on the dishonesty of the Republicans.
Jane – exactly.
And Olbermann last night, alone amongst the idiot talking heads, was beautiful:
“Senator John Kerry has, in essence, called out President Bush for not being smart, not studying, and being intellectually lazy, and the president and his minions have replied by demanding Kerry apologize to the troops in Iraq. Kerry called them stupid, and they were too stupid to know he called them stupid.”
Of course, in the repubs’ case, calling them too stupid is being generous. It’s not that they’re too stupid to know he called them stupid (at least, the Tony Snowjobs in the WH aren’t that stupid), it’s that they’re shamefully, intentionally, and pathologically disingenuous – as they have been about everything else.
If it’s not clear to all Americans by now, it bloody well should be: they distort and lie… about everything. That’s the real outrage.
Pivot and attack. Absofrigginlutely.
Young Turks has hired Mike Stark.
as i said, for the publicans’ outrage to be valid, they have to concede the point that the men and women in uniform are indeed “stuck” in iraq.
.
.
re 36 and 27
“Why can’t people on television talk about these issues? Are they just joking around to show how clever they are? People are dying. It is important to talk about why.”
Apparently, they consider asking such questions to be “heckling” and deserving of physical assault.
Kerry is lucky we’re all holding our collective breaths till next week or I’m sure he’d be turned into permanent ground beef by our side. He may still be next Wednesday. Fortunately, the otherside is caught between a rock and a hard place with this. Small favors.
Sen. John Kerry issues a statement saying: “I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended” by comments he made about being “stuck in Iraq.”
raven – Imagine me throwing large objects at my TV!
Egregious, you da man, or woman, whatever. I bow to your superior coveted zero posting acumen.
I don’t know which is more pathetic; the repubs demanding an apology for a botched joke, or Kerry apologizing for a botched joke. They’re all a bunch of pussies, as far as I’m concerned.
And I’m now done with this issue, gotta go get Webb elected.
Moran doing a great job wrt Kerry and Webb on Tucker.
heh! exactly, Dru @ 56.
Just spent a few minutes watching CNN and MSNBC continue to flog this “story.” Since it wasn’t good for the blood pressure, I flipped over to AMC and was relieved to see that we won WWII.
It’s so obvious that Kerry was taking a shot at Bush, and the corporate media is once again carrying water for an increasingly desperate GOP. It would be sad if it wasn’t so stupid, and it would be stupid if it wasn’t so infuriating.
Fiyero @ 54
KO’s going to make a “Commentary” at the end of tonight’s show. Hopefully – HOPEFULLY – he will finish Kerry’s line with the question I’d really like to see raised. Namely, “President Bush and other members of Republican Leadership: are YOUR children fighting in the war YOU created?”
Why, oh, why won’t anyone ask that simple question? Maybe tonight…
Wolfie on CNN now reading John Kerry’s latest written statement – profound apologies to the troops among others. It is personally very painful to hear his words. Not unlike my late husband, who was also an officer in Viet Nam, the melancolia and sadness Kerry carries in his heart is painful and almost unbearable to witness.
Love the ad above. It says it all.
Kerry should be able to handle the damn pivot all by himself: “I’m sorry I offended the men and women fighting in the quagmire in Iraq.” Short, simple, to the point. It will get play on all of the networks, and it conveys two major points: (1) Kerry is apologizing for being an ass, and (2) Iraq is a mess. It will immediately shift the debate to the failure of the Iraq war. Try it on your right-wing friends: “I think Kerry should apologize for offending the men and women fighting in the quagmire in Iraq.”
Kerry has been ‘dead man walking’ since the election. Now with his latest gaffe (remember ‘I voted against it before I voted for it”?), he has helped to scatter his own ashes. Having said that, I am uncomfortable with his DEM peers calling his comments “stupid” and “inappropriate”.
Jeeze, even Boehner waited a couple of days before he stuck his shiv into Hassert.
I am really down today … bummed out to the max. Seeing these Dems roll over and play dead makes me realize how deep a hole we are in.
Even if we win next week, we still have some serious climbing to do. It all seems overwhelming.
While Tony Snow is demanding an apology and the media is all twittering about Kerry putting his foot in his mouth, our fearless leader Dubya was putting something else in his mouth as he fellates Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki. al-Maliki ordered US troops off the streets of Baghdad after they blockaded Sadr City while searching for a kidnapped American Soldier. Bush caved to al-Malaki and left one of our own behind to the tender mercies of Moqtada al-Sadr, the real boss of Iraq, while he bitches and whines about John Kerry. This is just total bullshit. Bush is all mouth and no balls.
Great. Kerry just apologized to the troops, which is a complete capitulation to the GOP talking point. Goddamn it. Now I’m gonna have to go out and buy another pint of ice cream to eat tonight just to feel better.
Taylor Marsh, not surprisingly, has a good take on this too.
Jeebus, why is he apologizing and canceling appearances.
I just wrote an angry email to my Sen. Hillary. I am one pissed off liberal today. What kind of f&*(ing idiot can believe that a joke, botched or not, does not get 105 Americans killed in a month?
I am tired of coddling these people. If the joke or the point is too smart for you –buy a damn dictionary, read a freaking book and free yourself from f&*king ignorance.
God, I am so f&*(king tired of idiocy.
(Deep breath, deep breath, deep breath.)
Ok, now back to phone banking.
James Carville–mole in the Democratic Party?
EllenG @
69
Ellen, I felt that way last week, but today for some strange reason I am optimistic. In fact, in a few minutes I am going over to the Charlie Brown office to make calls for a few hours.
This is the
beginning of the endsecond act in that play where the DLC types get purged from the party. (The first act was the rest of us waking up; essential, but unseen.) The third act begins November 8.Prairie Sunshine @ 74
Nah, he’s already sleeping with the enemy.
Too obvious!
Tas @ 51
My standard line (which I use as often as I can :) ), is “George Bush has more costumes than the Village People.”
That gets people thinking in several directions….
Exactly
Kerry is lame
So what
He is also not a candidate (thank god!)
i’m leary of the soldier behind enemy lines story though
one report said he was out of the green zone without permission to visit family
i would keep the focus on the larger ABJECT FAILURE
just sayin’
Terry Jeffries [sp?]–the high-pitched voice of the rightwing on CNN right now still keeping up the anti-Kerry shilling.
All out of time to discuss anything except Kerry/apology…. thanks a lot, Wolfie. More Rethug Infomercial efforting.
Jane, your talking points are great! Where are the Dems with the savvy to use ‘em?
John Kerry yesterday said he has nothing to apologize for (he doesn’t) yet today the papers are picking up his chat with Imus this morning as “an apology”. What a sack of shit media this country has! I heard the same Kerry speech everyone else did and never thought he was aiming it at anyone but BushCo. I guess it’s coz I’m educated and did my homework.
But John, you should’ve said No, I’m not sorry, it’s only really sad that the assanine media and a percentage of stupid Americans would’ve heard me ragging on anyone but Bush.
Geez, it’s not hard to stand up and say Fuck You, you’re stupid coz you didn’t get it. Never back-pedal.
Dan
PS, I’m not a lurker. I just don’t have time to write after reading every word from my fellow firedogs. I’m a better listener than orator or writer.
oh
i really meant to say
Jane, you hit it exactly though
NEVER let the opposition frame your argument,
ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE WINNING
I just had to share this from John Cole/Ballon Juice (yeah, Kerry again):
“Apparently Kerry apologized this morning on Imus (via the Instapundit) for screwing up his joke.
I guess this means we are winning in Iraq now that Kerry has capitulated. Thank goodness the right-wing blogosphere was successful in removing that last barrier to victory.
What, you say? Iraq is still a mess? Shit. How are the Democrats causing us to fail now?”
Now, there’s a Democratic response if I ever heard one!
btw – my personal impression upon hearing kerry’s speach was that he is best ignored
Prairie Sunshine @ 73
Indeed, though I like to use shrew.
What does
“James Carville–mole in the Democratic Party?”
refer to?
Josh Marshall at TPM has a post up that Kroll and Bechtel are pulling people out of Iraq. Apparently it’s too dangerous for the hired security folks. Shrub, remind me again about how well it’s going over there?
From Whippersnapp:
… [W]hen I first heard the clip I figured Kerry was referring to the poverty draft, the virtual Hobson’s choice between squalor, privation and crime or military service faced by so many low-income Americans. It’s a real problem, and broaching the matter in public has nothing to do with a belief that our troops are retards, which is basically what the right wing has distilled Kerry’s remark down to.
Kerry apologized this morning, but he should have left it there. Instead he went on to offer a highly suspect equivocation, parroted by the left’s own echo chamber, that he was referring to President Bush as “stuck in Iraq.” As we all know, Bush is not stuck there, our troops are. Bush is just in a jam. He does not need to worry about death or disfigurement and wouldn’t even face removal from office by a Democrat-controlled Congress. No, Kerry made a poorly-worded reference to the over-representation of the lower-middle class and poor in the military, a subject about which we need to have a national dialogue. The shame is that he then lied about it. …
more at Whippersnapp
Aside from the issue of whether Kerry should apologize or not, this whole mess could have been avoided if Kerry weren’t trying to promote himself for the 2008 presidential election.
While I voted for Kerry last time around, I have to say that he turned out to be a profound disappointment. He abandoned the ship in Ohio without much of a fight (the Diebold machines and voting irregularities saga). Whatever happened to “no surrender baby?” And now Kerry sticks his big foot in his mouth as he tries to grab some face time for himself, in my opinion.
Kerry needs to just sit down, shut the hell up and think about someone other than himself. The Dems are going to do well on Nov. 7 and we don’t need any distractions from folks like John Kerry. He’s a hindrance rather than a help.
salon.com War Room
choochmac @
33
As I read the story I choked a bit. My wife asked WTF and I couldn’t tell her without taking a minute to compose.
The nature of warfare is such that to operate day to day one has to reach a disconnect. The feelings that are normal in a human being are shunted into the background, paranoia becomes a survival trait. The warrior becomes a swaggering life taker, a heart breaker.
That was how I coped, then. Others could not make that transition. One man in my company laid down on a bunk, pulled the pin on a frag, and slipped it under his pillow.
I often joked that the most dangerous thing in the world was a pissed off 19 year old in a war zone. I was talking about myself. I still wake with a shout from troubled sleep forty years later.
Jane — what are the possibilities for further distribution of the video. It’s the best response I’ve seen.
Do the video links go through with Spotlight?
neurophius @ 85
without knowing the context, the simple all-purpose answer is “just about anything he does”. oh, and sleeps w/ enemy.
neurophius @ 84
I don’t have the link but the story of James calling Mary on election night ‘04 and telling her the Kerry plan (or lack there of) comes to mind.
If we are now in the habit of asking for apologies, I officially ask Delores Brewer of Alexandria, Louisiana to apologize to Jacques Roy and to every single woman and man who has been molested and raped.
I would add to Jane’s counterpoint bullet list the following:
“All of the time President Bush and his subordinates spend thinking about and speaking about Kerry’s gaffe — tell me again how that’s time spent protecting our troops?”
_
Aravosis turns the tables:
jeffreyw — glad you’re still with us. You’re not alone; there are lots of us here. Hang in there; stay with us.
Dam’ right Jane! It’s SO not difficult it’s hard not to just stand agog at this almost pavlovian tendency to lie down and go limp on cue.
The country desperately needs and deserves better than this, but the fact is the Democratic party is the only organization with the nation-wide presence and experience to have a hope of countering the Republicans’ subversive agenda, institutionalized corruption, extremism and incompetence.
But to paraphrase Rumsfeld, we have to go to the polls with the Democratic party we have, not the one we *ought* to have, and if we can just get a beachhead somewhere, it’ll be a start. Maybe we can slow them down, start to turn things, and in the next few elections improve the ratio of real Democrats to DINOs in Congress and the statehouses, too.
A Senator Lamont, if we can manage it, would be a nice harbinger of things to come on that score. Might even temper just a bit the DLC crowd’s likely sense that taking a house of Congress totally vindicates their long-standing policy of “why risk being an effective opposition when we can twiddle our thumbs and wait, and when the Republicans self-destruct the voters’ll give us back the government without us having to get all sweaty and icky earning it (cuz that might upset someone y’know)”.
scarecrow @ 97
thanks for your service, jeffreyw.
All of this is so clearly a distraction from what is actually happening in Baghdad and across Iraq. Major wheels are coming off over there. This is all a Republican smoke screen to distract us from the fact that the Iraq War has moved one giant step closer to outright chaos.
Why do we dignify this bullshit with an answer?
I’m here at Lamont HQ by the way. The mood is upbeat and determined and focused like a laser.
Why are we letting ourselves get sidetracked by obvious GOP dirty tricks?
David Sirota is very handsome in person.
That is all.
punaise — that’s the second time I’ve heard of Boehner making that argument; it got no attention the first time. The first time it was to defend Bush: “Bush listens to the Generals, so if we’re losing, . . . [it must be their fault.]”
Bravo. I’d another:
Bush backs down from Sadr city and put soldiers in harms way just to win election.
I’m not sure who benefits from another day of discussion of Kerry’s comment- but my guy it- the dems do. Why- cause they’re ahead and the goopers need somethin big to break through- this doesn’t smell like something that wil lead em to victory- so by all means goopers- holler about Kerry as you watch your ship slip into the icy grip of the deep.
Leading Dem harrumphing over Kerry – another example of the Dems acting like victims of spousal abuse – if we cower enough in the corner mayabe the abuser will decide to like us. Oh, by the way, the abuser is not the GOP, it is the fricking MSM.
TRex – glad you made it safely to CT. Now, behave yourself!
curve666 @ 80
You (and Jane) get it. The only problem with Kerry’s immediate press release is that he didn’t make it clear in no uncertain terms that when he referred to those who didn’t study hard and try to learn, he was speaking of President Bush. Yes, you and I get it because we hear the actual clip and get the joke, but those disgruntled GOPers who have nothing to rally them to the polls only listen to the GOP spin. People like Hannity and Rush (not to mention Snow Job) can easily spin this into an anti-military statement. That gets the blood pressure rising in the GOP base.
What Kerry and other Dems should be repeating over & over is that he wasn’t clear when he said “then you get stuck in Iraq” should have been “then you send thousands of Americans to Iraq and get our military stuck there without a plan”. I wish that was in the very first paragraph of Kerry’s statement, and that he then talked about how Bush has not been supporting Kerry’s military comrades (body armor, no protection or plan for managing the war, leaving a soldier captured in Iraq, etc.)
While I was happy with Kerry’s tone in his response yesterday, I sure was disgusted with his retreat. The media (including CNN radio, which gives the news on my AAR station) has made the top story of the day about how “the flack over Kerry’s statements, which indicated that if you don’t study or are not smart, then you’ll end up stuck fighting in Iraq”, basically going only with the GOP spin. Then, they follow it with how Kerry is “withdrawing from the campaign trail due to the controversy”. This makes him look weak and guilty.
Now, the MSM is following up with “Kerry’s apology” (see sites like MSNBC.com, which is making it their headline). Just like you mentioned, Dan, they’re gonna run with the “Kerry and the Dems are anti-military pussies” meme.
Kerry should be on the offensive, just like Jane said – and all of his colleagues should do the same.
Why in the hell do our Democratic party leaders NOT understand this? Why can’t they clearly state what needs to be said: the issue is the WAR, stupid. And Bush has been the Stupid One – The Decider whose only clear decision has been to put our troops in harm’s way and leave them there indefinitely, with no defined goals or an exit strategy. Bush continues to dishonor our troops every day with his failed policies and incompetent staff.
angie @ 99
And my thanks, as well.
dems should BURY Clusterfuck for his comments that:
1) Iraq ain’t goin well
2) He’s hangin on to Rummy for two more years no matter what.
So he’s fuckin the pooch and the pres wants to keep him. Why? He LIKES pooch fuckin? Or what?
punaise @ 105
But-! But-!
I’ve never behaved in my life. You expect me to start now?
Hey Trex. You know we’re not comin’ in til Fri night, right?
Not that we’re the only reason for you being up there.
scarecrow @ 101
Billmon’s take on this interplay between Bush and “the generals.”
History’s a wunnerful thing.
mc @ 61
I’m a girl.
And a very early supporter of Webb, back in February when nobody thot he had a chance.
TRex @ 109
We’ll look the other way. I’m just trying to limit my liability as a modest partial sponsor of your trip. No telling who they’ll come after. :~)
rwcole @ 103
I see Jane’s post, and the video, as helping to make that true. Since this flap is out there, and we have to deal with it, use Jane’s arguments and the video.
Newsweek takes a similar view to rw:
Bush Nostalgia
rwcole @ 108
Time for an interview with Barney….
TRex @ 100
I agree, but let’s remember that our former and future [choke]nominees, John and Hillary, threw marinated red meat at Rove less than a week before this crucial election. The two of them should be the one’s shutting the f___ up!
Ding, ding, ding. Thank you Jane.
We OWN this.
Here’s what Prof Lakoff has said…
On strength
Framing the “War on Terror”
p.s. LindaR if you’re reading this, I’m going to headquarters later too ;-)
Brilliant suggestions.
Bush’s comments about no diminution of the service of the military now on CNN. That words matter..etc. Didn’t catch it all on Rushjob.
But given Boehner’s comments, people ought to be blasting the Rethugs for shifting blame to generals/soldiers instead of Rummy and Bush.
Wolfie stickin’ it to Kerry for not coming to his SitRoom.
Hopefully someone [Keith? C&L?] will juxtapose Bush’s words on Limpballs with Boner’s words on SitRoom.
Nov. 7–every other day of the year, the corrupt and the incompetent rule. This is the people’s moment to say Enough!
Get Out Our Vote.
TRex@100-
I’m sorry, I apparently had laptop WiFi signal interruptus.
My response should have been:
I agree, but let’s remember that our former and future [choke]nominees, John and Hillary, threw marinated red meat at Rove less than a week before this crucial election. The two of them should be the one’s shutting the f___ up!
Article and text of apology:
WaPo article
TRex – I have a hard time believing that the Lamont team really believes the Q poll. They have their own internal polls, which are much more reliable than the crap Schwartz is putting out there.
They’ve asked for the demographic breakdown and Schwartz has yet to produce it.
I think what you are seeing is sheer exhaustion. Those folks have been pushing the wall since July.
neurophius @ 85
Helping to pull the plug on election night 2004, among many possibilities.
Oh Jane, I forgot to put on my seatbelt this morning …. thanks for the reminder.
egregious @ 112
Nice to meet ya…you know, if Allen keeps beating up constituents on camera, Webb might just take it.
Froomkin gets it:
WaPo: Froomkin
[there’s lots more]
“Because of Iraq”
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/9329
Why isn’t every Democrat running demanding that Bush apologize for lying the troops into war with no planning, no armor, no exit, no potable water, poor after-service medical care, and no clear goals?
By the end of this weekend the candidates of Blue America need to seize this issue and demand an apology from Bush…Where are the Dem ads demanding this?
For the rest of this campaign, our side should be asking for apologies for [fill in the blank]. As someone mentioned above, they want apologies – well then let’s have us some apologies.
Let’s make a list of all the things we demand apologies for — [here are a few of mine]
1. Using faith based intelligence
2. Firing some of our military leaders when they did not agree with No. 1 above
3. Not sending enough protective gear
4. Sending BAD protective gear
5. Sending bad water
6. Sending unarmored vehicles to get blown up
7. torture (unless tested on self first)
8. [and so on and so on]
scarecrow @ 97
One of my biggest regrets about the antiwar movement in the Vietnam era was that we activists felt that we were somehow against the troops that fought over there.
This showed a lack of understanding on our part about the hideous sacrifices made by those serving in Nam. We ask people to join the armed forces, and depend on them in an emergency. It was wrong to vilify them then, and I ask forgiveness from any soldiers here who were hurt by our antiwar movement. I would like to hear from you, please? I am truly sorry. It took a long time for me to understand the nature of your sacrifices. Webb’s book Born Fighting helped push me over the top to understanding what you all have done for us, with such little praise or affirmation from folks back home.
I am so happy this time around that progressives and veterans are working TOGETHER to make things come out right. Who would want to be opposing such a force of nature as Norske?
I wrote an apology Kerry could give our troops:
Bullseye post, as per usual.
bingo, what I thought when I heard it. That freaking dinner with the WMD jokes.
Of course guess who apologizes and rightfully so. Kerry.
Obama/Edwards 2008
Clark/Edwards 2008.
Just sayin’.
Prairie Sunshine @ 134
Ditto! ; )
As long as we’re keepin track:
Clark/Feingold 2008
:-)
As for attack I think the Olberman when he was pissed summed it up best putting the IWII, and WOT failures:
Bush could not retrieve the bodies of fallen brothers and sisters when the battle ground of America. 5 years and 5 months Americans who fell during the WT attacks were not retrieved. Found when a manhole cover was removed.
It made me sick and it made him sick and it should make anyone sick.
Bong Dr. – Feingold/ Clark 2008
:-}
egregious — the antiwar movement was not responsible for waging the war; you don’t owe anyone an apology for opposing mindless killing. I honor what you do, everyday. Thank you.
Who served and who didn’t?
Served:
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan.
1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-’47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze
Star with Combat V Purple Hearts.
* John Edwards: did not serve.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-1953.
and on and on …
Didn’t:
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* House Whiip Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Had “other priorities.”
Several deferments, the last for wife’s pregnancy.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. “Bad knee.” The man who attacked Max Cleland’s patriotism
and on and on …
Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a ‘pilonidal
cyst.’)
* Bill O’Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
and on and on and on …
I don’t go with Clark due to my rule of no dynasties and no generals right now.
I assume he is a self made person so he has half my support.
Only self made people and no dynasties (so no Clinton, no Gore).
I like Obama, we need someone who is smart, dogged, and can speak.
I have come around to Edwards since he has a bit more experience now. And I do respect Clark a lot more since he has polished how he speaks.
I just see Obama as having all the needed tools, and in addition being able to tell the nation and the world folk tales. To relate policy and civics to our lives and fabric. FDR had fireside chats, somehow I imagine Obama as having folk tales, and parables to tell – but mixed with solutions and a call to national/global effort.
GrandmaJ @ 129
“Faith-based intelligence” – a well-crafted line!
I’m hearing more people like Shrum say that “why isn’t Bush apologizing for his mismanaged war?”
Harold Schaitberger, the President of the International Firefighters (union?) just said on Hardball, “John Kerry is a combat veteran, and Kerry would never intentionally insult them (soliders)”. Tweety agreed fully, and tried to get Pat Buchanan to agree… then Schaitberger said, “He mangled a joke. Personally, I told him today that I don’t think the Iraq war is something to joke about. But the fact of the matter is that what’s REALLY mangled is the administration’s prosecution of this war.”
Very well said.
Sorry, but:
people who VOTED for Bush are the stupid ones. And if that’s elitist, so what? They were beyond stupid. They had to get three private tutors to even qualify for stupid.
Or, quote somewhat mashed from Wanda the Fish movie: “You’re so stupid, stupid people don’t want to be around you.”
Ah — OFG, the video — PR 101 — Olberman. Daou. Gotta go home.
Re: John Boehner’s comments blaming the generals for failure in Iraq:
For what it’s worth, I checked Boehner’s official congressional Web page biography and it does not mention any military service.
Another chickenhawk criticizing our military?
egregious @
130
Thanks to you all for your support. I never experienced anything like some may have, no spitting or shouts of baby killer. I was disoriented, suprised that what had been, for me, such a life altering experience was the subject of yawns. Where’ve you been? Oh. Nice tan. Haw ’bout those Cards! School sucks.
I was anxious about something that nagged at me for weeks, a feeling that I was forgetting something. It was my M-16, of course.
1,321 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Firepup Patriots:
Gore-Edwards…Gore-Fiengold…Gore-BILL Clinton…Gore-Clark…
Notice all are winners and none have Obama or Mrs. Clinton within smellin’ distance…
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION…THE BILL OF RIGHTS IS WORTH FIGHTIN’ FOR!!!
New thread
Raven – OT but I just read the NY Times article, Baby Steps. Personally, I thought it was a good article about Ned. I don’t see why people are looking at this as a negative.
I grew up in Greenwich and compared to most, Ned comes across as a moderate, down-to-earth guy who has grown up in a family which stressed social responsibility and giving back to the community.
Very Kennedy-esque actually (without all the Kennedy baggage.)
Look – right now the campaign needs to appeal to Independents and Republicans who want to know who Ned is. I think after reading this article, a lot will find that they have much in common with Ned, and will better understand where he is coming from.
I also thought it was interesting that Ned has given a number of fundraisers for Bill Clinton in the past.
1,321 DAYZ says everything!
NorskeFlamethrower @ 147
Gore
Clark
!
Follow the populism, money and the national organization. With Warner and Kerry out of the running, it looks like Edwards as the DLC-slayer (aka Hillary) at least from this far out.
What about EDWARDS/CLARK?
egregious @ 130
I’m generally of the opinion that this feeling has been overblown by many, and for a number of different motives.
I never encountered any hostility from anti-war people–most offered to get me to Canada. :)
Then, as now, people were able to make distinctions between soldiers and the government. My Lai and the Winter Soldier testimony hurt the reputation of some, but not all, soldiers.
Think about Sy Hersh’s writings on this time and then. Measured, and capable of seeing that war damages all. I think most people, including anti-war activists, were also able to understand that concept.
Troll shit gone?
choochmac @
33
I read that and had the same reaction. Of course, my cynicism makes me wonder if she pulled the trigger or if someone “helped” her. The constant drip of scandal after scandal …
Had enough?
Patricia Madrid said we were wasting money being in Afghanistan, and Heather Wilson used it against her in an ad.
Best ad ever.
Have you seen the new video add for CNN and FOX through Nov. 7.
Provided by Gen. Wesley Clark
Vote Vets
http://www.votevets.org
The simplest reply for Kerry?
Yes… I messed up a joke about Iraq
But George Bushe messed up the war in Iraq!
That’s why I posted it but I felt like I was back on the FDL shit list.
dab from CT @
149
George Bush and Dick Cheney insisted on the use of torture in Iraq. Rumsfeld orders honest American servicemen and women to torture, in contravention of international law and military ethics.
This brilliant, gifted honest young patriot killed herself after she was ordered to torture.
Bush’s torture orders killed Alyssa Peterson.
The Commander-in-Chief loves torture – he started young with frogs.
Now he has troops to play with. At a distance, they rend flesh and kill – just as little George needed to do.
Big George orders the troops to torture for him.
And the torturers die a little inside with each torture they commit.
while the GOP war criminals and the press are wetting themselves over a failed pol’s joke.
No one is more surprised by this than I, but Bob Casey got it right on this issue (h/t Taylor Marsh):
. . . Casey said that before Kerry’s critics “talk and pontificate they should remember who served.”
“Mr. Bush didn’t serve in combat,” Casey said, “(Vice President) Cheney didn’t serve in combat.”
My hometown paper covered it:
http://www.mcall.com/news/loca…..l-news-hed
I think there are many prominent Democrats who should be ashamed that they didn’t say this.
punaise @ 89
Guess I’m just something of a sentimental old fool but I have a lot of empathy for John Kerry and hope the corporate media whores give it all the rest it deserves.
MarkH @ 155
I’m sorry I missed your comment before I opined – tears make for blurry blogging…
and I wasn’t reading too clearly
thanks for your caring for this victim of Bush’s war crimes.
OT – and critical. Sorry, I accidently posted it below first. Ed Schulz this afternoon suggested that Bush is planning to send troops to various polling places around the country. And, I just received this staggering email:
The latest shocking news about the state of our country.
If you have the inclination take a look at what follows. I’d be interested in your reaction(s).
*Bush Moves Toward Martial Law** Frank Morales ::/ The incoming address of this article is : // towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/911/
/ *
October 26, 2006
In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually eencourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President’s ability to deploy troops within the United States.* The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.
Public Law 109-364, or the “John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007″ (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony_, allows the President to declare a “public emergency” and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to “suppress public disorder.”
President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act of 2006. In a sense, the two laws complement one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military onto the streets of America. Remember, the term for putting an area under military law enforcement control is precise; the term is “martial law.”
Section 1076 of the massive Authorization Act, which grants the Pentagon another $500-plus-billion for its ill-advised adventures, is entitled, “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.” Section 333, “Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law”
states that “the President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, aas a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of (”refuse” or “fail” in) maintaining public order, “in order to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.”
For the current President, “enforcement of the laws to restore public order” means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over the objections of local governmental, military and local police entities; ship them off to another state; conscript them in a law enforcement mode; and set them loose against “disorderly” citizenry – protesters, in other words.
The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters, “illegal aliens,” “potential terrorists” and other undesirables for detention in facilities already contracted for and under construction by Halliburton. That’s right. Under the cover of a trumped-up “immigration emergency” and the frenzied militarization of the southern border, detention camps are being constructed right under our noses, camps designed for anyone who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of the Bush administration.
An article on “recent contract awards” in a recent issue of the insider “Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International” reported that “global engineering and technical services powerhouse KBR [Kellog, Brown & Root] announced in January 2006 that its Government and Infrastructure division was awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the event of an emergency.” “With a maximum total value of $385 million over a five year term,” the report notes, “the contract is to be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers … for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations
(DRO) – in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs.” The report points out that “KBR is the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton.” (3) So, in addition to authorizing another $532.8 billion for the Pentagon, including a $70-billion “supplemental provision” which covers the cost of the ongoing military maneuvers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places, the new law, signed by the president in a private White House ceremony, further collapses the historic divide between the police and the military: a tell-tale sign of a rapidly consolidating police state in America, all accomplished amidst ongoing U.S. imperial pretensions of global domination, sold to a gullible public as a “global war on terrorism.”
The defacto repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act is an ominous assault on American democratic tradition and jurisprudence. The 1878 Act, which reads, “Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uuses any part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both,” is the only U.S. criminal statute that outlaws military operations directed against the American people under the cover of ‘law enforcement.’ As such, it has been the best protection we’ve had against the power-hungry intentions of an unscrupulous executive intent on using force to enforce its will.
Unfortunately, this past week, the president dealt posse comitatus, along with American democracy, a near fatal blow. Consequently, it will take an aroused citizenry to undo the damage wrought by this horrendous act, part and parcel, as we have seen, of a long train of abuses and outrages perpetrated by this authoritarian administration.
Despite the unprecedented change created by this act, there has been no outcry in the American media, and little reaction from our elected officials in Congress. On September 19th, a lone Senator Patrick Leahy
(D-Vermont) noted that 2007’s Defense Authorization Act contained a “widely opposed provision to allow the President more control over the National Guard [adopting] changes to the Insurrection Act, which will make it easier for this or any future President to use the military to restore domestic order WITHOUT the consent of the nation’s governors.”
Senator Leahy went on to stress that, “we certainly do not need to make it easier for Presidents to declare martial law. Invoking the Insurrection Act and using the military for law enforcement activities goes against some of the central tenets of our democracy. One can easily envision governors and mayors in charge of an emergency having to constantly look over their shoulders while someone who has never visited their communities gives the orders.”
A few weeks later, on the 29th of September, Leahy entered into the Congressional Record that he had “grave reservations about certain provisions of the fiscal Year 2007 Defense Authorization Bill Conference Report,” the language of which, he said, “subverts solid, longstanding posse comitatus statutes that limit the military’s involvement in law enforcement, thereby making it easier for the President to declare martial law.” This had been “slipped in,” Leahy said, “as a rider with little study,” while “other congressional committees with jurisdiction over these matters had no chance to comment, let alone hold hearings on, these proposals.”
In an understatement, the Senator from Vermont noted that “the implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus) Act are enormous”. “There is good reason,” he said, “for the constructive friction iin existing law when it comes to martial law declarations. Using the military for law enforcement goes against one of the founding tenets of our democracy. We fail our Constitution, neglecting the rights of the States, when we make it easier for the President to declare martial law and trample on local and state sovereignty.”
Senator Leahy’s final ruminations: “Since hearing word a couple of weeks ago that this outcome was likely, I have wondered how Congress could have gotten to this point. It seems the changes to
the Insurrection Act have survived the Conference because the Pentagon and the White House want it.”
The historic and ominous re-writing of the Insurrection Act, accomplished in the dead of night, which gives Bush the legal authority to declare martial law, is now an accomplished fact.
The Pentagon, as one might expect, plays an even more direct role in martial law operations. Title XIV of the new law, entitled, “Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Legislative Provisions,” authorizes “the Secretary of Defense to create a Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Consortium to improve the effectiveness of the Department of Defense
(DOD) processes for identifying and deploying relevant DOD technology to federal, State, and local first responders.”
In other words, the law facilitates the “transfer” of the newest in so-called “crowd control” technology and other weaponry designed to suppress dissent from the Pentagon to local militarized police units.
The new law builds on and further codifies earlier “technology transfer”
agreements, specifically the 1995 DOD-Justice Department memorandum of agreement achieved back during the Clinton-Reno regime.(4)
With the president’s polls at an historic low, growing resistance tto the war Iraq, and the Democrats likely to take back the Congress in mid-term elections, the Bush administration is on the ropes. And so it is particularly worrying that President Bush has seen fit, at this juncture to, in effect, declare himself dictator.
*Source:*
(1) http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/091906a.html and http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/092906b.html See also, Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, “The Use of Federal Troops for Disaster Assistance: Legal Issues,” by Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, August 14, 2006
(2) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill h109-5122
(3) Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International, “Recent Contract Awards”, Summer 2006, Vol.12, No.2, pg.8; See also, Peter Dale Scott, “Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps,” New American Media, January 31, 2006.
(4) “Technology Transfer from defense: Concealed Weapons Detection”, National Institute of Justice Journal, No 229, August, 1995, pp.42-43.
>>
>
Kerry’s joke may have failed, but from Iraq, WMD, Dubai, the class war and even the Cheney hunting accident, President Bush’s sick sense of humor shows the joke is on us.
For the details, see:
“Kerry’s Failed Joke, Bush’s Sick Humor.”
Outstanding, Jane!
The Democratic response should be: ” Kerry can’t tell a joke, Bush can’t tell the truth; which is more important?”
Given a choice between a botched joke or a BOTCHED WAR IN IRAQ, I would have to choose the joke, since it isn’t costing enormous loss in lives or humongous amounts of taxpayer money like Bush’s Iraq War is.
And then there was GWB’s actual joke– in very poor taste– at the WH Correspondents’ Dinner when he couldn’t find the WMDs in his own office.
Reminding everyone of THAT faux pas would have been the best segue, but apparently everyone’s forgotten about it.
(unless it’s been mentioned in these comments)
Welcome to the real world George. Welcome to youtube.
jjohannson @ 29
I demand that George W. Bush apologize to the troops.
Maybe this has already been said (who has time to read 171 comments?) but the fault, Dear Brutus, is not with awkward patrician Kerry but with the media that pretend to be disinterested observers of the garbage that the GOP spews while in fact acting as its transmission belt. It’s like a horrible flashback of the Swiftboat episode.
One other thing, while I’m here: why hasn’t anyone thought to refer to our brave, doomed troops in Iraq as “Bush’s Human Shields?” Just wondering.
Thanks Jane, for posting absolutely what I wish all the Democratic campaign staffers were telling their bosses last night.
It’s only fair that Kerry had to apologize for this. After all, look at what the major media did to George “Macaca” Allen after his verbal gaffe – they were all over him too!
Oh wait…..
touche. it seems the same clueless fucks (’experts’) that ran the successful 2000-2004 elections are still on the payroll. Stand up for your man (or woman). stabbing your own guy in the back is not a winning elective technique. Jesus. it didn’t work then and it won’t work now. turn it around. damn.
Better said this way:
Kerry botched a joke but Bush has botched Iraq. With 2800 Americans dead and thousands maimed for life, that’s no laughing matter.
umm – what does it take to get the dnc into action? RUN THAT AD IMMEDIATELY!
it’ so simple.
Thanks, Jane.
Did you see the video of Clark on Fox the other day? It was like 2 separate conversations. They’d ask him didn’t he find Kerry offensive, and he’d say the real issue here is Iraq and talk about it in depth and they’d come back with, but didn’t you find Kerry offensive? and back and forth. (It’s over at securingamerica, as are all his tv appearances.) He did a good job of not being drawn into it and saying Kerry wasn’t running, unlike Hilary. Got to wonder how many friends she’s really got, the way she treats the party…