Kerry Haters: We're Not Fonda John

 
IEM Part Deux

What would 53-47% equate to in terms of electoral college votes? I took a look at presidential elections since 1900, and no candidate getting more than 49.55% has ever lost the presidency (Nixon got that percentage in his 1960 loss). Candidates getting 53% or more of the vote have never gotten fewer than 336 electoral college votes, and that was in 1900, when there were fewer votes in total.

 
The Vampire Theory Part Quatre--Confirmed!



Perhaps this guy can save us!

 
Iowa Electronic Markets Sees Kerry Losing



As you can see, despite the bouncing around in the polls, the IEM has shown Bush winning for quite some time, since at least late February.

 
It Could Be Worse for the Democrats



They could have nominated Frodo.

 
Edwards Would Be Winning

That's the conclusion of a New York Times article.

After choosing a representative national sample of more than 700 people, political scientists conducted what is called a deliberative poll. They created a group of well-informed voters by giving them home computers and exposing them to the candidates' commercials and policy positions. These voters, using microphones with the computers, discussed the candidates and the issues in small groups that met online once a week, starting in January on the day of the Iowa caucuses.

Over the next five weeks, as Mr. Kerry built up momentum among both real-life primary voters and the control group in the experiment, Senator John Edwards enjoyed the biggest surge in the well-informed test group, which was won over by his personal traits as well as by his policies, notably his protectionism on trade. Besides appealing to the Democrats in the test group, Mr. Edwards did better among the group's independents and Republicans, and he emerged as the strongest candidate against Mr. Bush.

The article also talks abou the first Bush/Kerry Debate, 39 years ago(!).

 
Just One Question



The caption under this photo reads as follows:

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., center, chats with St. Louis, Mo., area veterans during breakfast in a diner in St. Louis, Saturday, May 1, 2004. Some of the veterans raised their hands when asked by Kerry how many of them had received counseling. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Here's the question. Is Kerry raising his hand?

 
A Look At April's Visits



As you can see, we were creeping along at the beginning of the month, just hoping to get to 50 visits a day. By the end of the month we were regularly topping 150 visits per day, which would appear to rank Kerry Haters at about 700th in terms of total visits on the TTLB traffic count. I say appear to because it seems like a lot of the blogs (including this one) don't seem to show any traffic count, despite the data from the Site Meter above.

There were three big traffic spikes during the month. The first came on the 13th when I was first linked by Kitty. She still drives more traffic this way than any other website. It is quite apparent that she has a very loyal base of fans (including yours truly). On the 20th we got the link from Hugh Hewitt, and on the 26th, we got linked by Right Wing News.

Thanks for coming to visit us in April, we hope to provide you with lots more entertainment and inside information on John F'ing Kerry in May.

 
Black Veep?

Up till now, most talk of a black Vice President has been on the Republican side. Now the Reverrrrrrrend Jackson has weighed in to suggest that Kerry pick an African American. I suspect strongly that he has JJ, Jr., in mind, especially since he declined to name any names.

"There are a number of people qualified. They must be part of the search. We have congressional political leaders. We have military leaders."

Kitty has more, including a very humorous photo sequence.

 
LIKE WATCHING PAINT DRY


KERRY CAN BE A REAL TURN-OFF
John Kerry's appearance on "Meet the Press" took a bite out of the show's typically stellar ratings - and drew half the audience that President Bush did on the program last February.
Kerry's chat with "Press" host Tim Russert on April 18 recorded about a 9 percent drop in viewership from the week before, and was 44 percent less than the whopping 7.9 million viewers who tuned for the sit-down with Bush in the Oval Office.
Even critics in his own party have said Kerry is TV-challenged, and fails to come off well during television appearances.
With Kerry on the show, the healthy lead that "Meet the Press" had over its nearest competitor, CBS's "Face the Nation," shrunk from 51 percent the week before, to only 36 percent.
Despite the hit from Kerry, "Meet the Press" has been the top-rated Sunday morning political talk show for 174 weeks, consistently beating ABC's "This Week" and "Face the Nation."
For the season to date, "Meet the Press" has been averaging about 4.6 million viewers. With Kerry on the show, the ratings dipped about 4 percent lower than usual.

 
ONE OF KERRY’S FOREIGN LEADERS?
f t
Fidel Castro and General Vo Nguyen Giap, 1973
(Photo: Web site of the Embassy of Vietnam in Cuba)

Vietnam's Hero Still Grateful to Anti-War Americans
HANOI (Reuters) - Twenty-nine years after the end of the Vietnam war, communist military mastermind General Vo Nguyen Giap remains grateful to the Americans who opposed it.
…
"I would like to thank them," the 93-year-old veteran said on Friday of those Americans who opposed the war.

Still grateful to the Mekong Delta Dufus after all these years. Sweet.

 
If Ted Kennedy Had Been President in the 1980s, This Would Still Be In Berlin



Believe it or not, this is a piece of the Berlin Wall, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where The International Man of Apology gave a speech today. If Kerry'd had his way back in the 1980s with defense budget cuts it would still be standing.

 
The John Kerry Bobble-Head Doll



Another hot item on ebay.

 
Why Kerry's Going to Lose

I've talked about this before in different ways. The Democrats claim that they are united as never before in their determination to defeat President Bush, that they are going to turn out in droves.

But take a trip to some of the left-wing blogs, and you'll get a different picture. Both Roger Simon and Michael Totten have recommended Marc Cooper's blog, so I took a stroll over there this evening.

The top post is entitled "Modest Proposal: Should The Democrats Default?"

So, here’s a Modest Proposal. Why don’t the Democrats consider switching to the brilliant strategy deployed in the 70’s and 80’s by the Italian Communist Party? Maybe the Democrats should just default, not actively contest the election, allow GW Bush to be re-elected, and allow the Prez to exhaust himself and his governing party. It’s the old rope-a-dope move.

On Tuesday, he had a post entitled "Not Too Late: Anybody But Kerry".

Okay, one blog a trend does not make. So I will do some looking around for some more anti-Kerry comments and posts.

Update: Danegerus has more.

 
To Know, Know, Know Him...

National Review points out the snake lying in the weeds for the Democrats. James Carville's group has done a recent survey of attititudes about John F'ing Kerry. Believe it or not attitudes are cooler towards Kerry than they are towards the Republicans, the Democrats, President Bush, Dick Cheney, The NRA, Pro-Life Groups, and even Big Corporations(!). In fact, one of the few things that Botox boy is more popular than is gay marriage.

 
New Blog for the Favorites List

Dan from Kerry Waffles has a new blog/website called MoveOn Lies. In an amusing (and well-done) twist, he suggests that you have MoveOn open side by side for a comparison. Good job, Dan!

 
Let's Have a Big Hand for the Next Mike Dukakis!

 
Here Come Da Judge!

Captain Ed has invited me to judge a photo caption contest for him. Put on your thinking caps and come up with the best caption and you could win a major award!

 
The Newest Unreality Show

The Kerry Campaign can be tough to parodize at times. They have put a new feature up on their website with the "highlights" of John Kerry's "Change Begins with U" tour. Can't seem to get the link to work, but if you want to see it, click on the Waffles Link on the right side of this page and scroll down to "Watch Now: On the Road...."

I guess it's intended to be hip and edgy, but I found it poorly done and unprofessional. Caution at work--the volume is extremely variable and if you turn it up to hear the very beginning you'll get blasted by the (c)rap theme song that follows.

 
He is French-Looking, Isn't He?

Neil Boortz has the proof. Hat tip: LoanCat via Kitty!

 
Kerry Loses a Foreign Supporter (For Now)

Scrappleface has the inside story.

 
Meet the Newest Member of the Legion of Kerry Haters!

Sportsmen for Kerry? takes dead aim on Botox Boy's real positions on the Second Amendment.

 
Another Rat Declines to Become First Mate Aboard the SS Kerry-Tanic

Bill Richardson, the Hispanic governor of New Mexico, who was considered a strong candidate for the Veep slot, announced he didn't want it. Overheard at Kerry Headquarters: "Hello, Fidel? I've got a proposal for you...."

 
The Best Comic Strip in America



Note Kerry's thriftiness. Hat tip to Kitty.

 
Good Blog for Kerry and Catholicism

I've commented in the past that I'm a bit uncomfortable with criticizing Nuancy Boy on religious issues. I'm not an expert on the subject, and I feel as if I live in a glass house. Fortunately, others are not uncomfortable about it. For a very well-written blog on Kerry's problems with his faith, visit Catholic Kerry Watch.

 
They Could Call it Doprah

Howard Dean is getting his own talk show.

Kitty has more including a picture of the Vermonster with some of his fans at Moo-On.

 
Prediction: He'll Get The Coveted 3:00 AM Timeslot

BET is reporting that John Kerry wants the Reverend Al Sharpton to address the Democratic National Convention.

 
Kerry Rouses the Faithful



Everybody looks happy to be there.

 
They Also Serve....

Here's somebody who's grateful for Kerry's service.

 
DEEP POCKETS ON DISPLAY


Kerry family's deep pockets on display this election cycle
[T]hanks to a front-page story about [Kerry’s] butler in The New York Times, [we know] that [Kerry] owns a Serotta bike.
The Serotta, see, is custom-made, with the ``holistic (whole-cyclist) approach to bicycle fitting.''
Translation: It's very expensive. How expensive, you ask. Serotta's ``price points'' are between $1,800 and $5,000 - just for the frame, mind you, if you want extras, like gears and titanium spokes, tack on another $2,000 - which raises the question: what do you suppose Kerry's point is?
Consider that Kerry's second wife owns a Gulfstream V jet, the Flying Squirrel, worth $35 million, and also bought him a personal powerboat, the Scaramouche, worth at least $800,000. So do you think Liveshot's wife's first husband's trust fund bought a bike on the low end, or the high end?
I'll go out on a limb and say Liveshot's bike is worth five large.
And that it actually belongs, not to the solon himself, but to his ``family.''
….
Before he tracked down his second heiress in 1995, Kerry had a '91 Jetta. In other words, 10 years ago his car was worth less than his bicycle is today. And some people say being a gigolo doesn't pay?
Kerry still owns his old '85 Dodge convertible. The excellent New York Times story on his butler Wednesday said that Kerry's man Jeeves had ``inherited'' the car, but guess what - Kerry just re-registered the Dodge. Its plate is Purple Heart 3, which means he didn't have to pay for the registration

 
John Kerry, Art Expert

Just to remind us that John Kerry is a real man of the people, the Boston Globe runs a little article on his $175,000 capital gain on the sale of a painting. For starters, Kerry did not own a half interest as was reported earlier. He owned half of a half interest, which was given to him by his wife. And we also get this tidbit:

Heinz Kerry and her first husband, the late Senator John Heinz, were famous art collectors, specializing in 17th-century Dutch works, primarily still lifes. Kerry, too, has become quite knowledgeable about art during his second marriage. "He's fairly intellectual," one dealer noted, admiringly.

 
Left Wing Flapping

It's often instructive to see where the Left sees disaster looming. Not surprisingly, they saw it in the Tim Russert interview with John Kerry (see the numerous posts here under "Meet the Cuomo Aide").

Russert played a clip from Kerry's 1971 appearance on Meet the Press following his testimony as a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A long-haired Kerry, in uniform, was seen saying that he stood by the essence of his testimony, in which he had said that veterans had admitted they had "raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power." He added that under the Geneva Conventions such acts were war crimes.

Pretty damaging stuff, right? Well, not to the Nation:

Russert did not play the tape to congratulate Kerry for his truth-telling. On the contrary, he was clearly calling him on the carpet. He even suggested that "a lot" of Kerry's allegations had been discredited. In fact, every word that Kerry spoke then has been shown to be true in an abundance of testimony.

They go on to mention a recent Toledo Blade story that indicated 18 soldiers had committed 20 war crimes. However, there is no "testimony" because there were no trials. The Blade's story relies on the statements of two soldiers. And of course, there is no indication that such acts were "routinely" committed with the approval of officers higher on the chain of command as Kerry stated.

The Nation goes on to the usual leftist cant about how the anti-war movement gave the Democrats some spine and how that can't be wasted, but that they must also defeat Bush.

The antiwar movement that has lent Kerry and his party this energy and this backbone faces a dilemma, too. On the one hand, it needs Kerry to win, even though he refuses to repent his vote to authorize the war. On the other hand, neither the movement nor Kerry can afford to let the antiwar energies that were and remain a principal source of their hopes and his die down. The movement must persist, independent of Kerry and keeping him or making him honest, yet not opposing him.

These are the people on whom Kerry is relying.

 
THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULDN’T


Kerry's Convolutions on WMDs
By Hugh Hewitt
After train wrecks on Meet the Press and Good Morning America, John Kerry took his tattered credibility to the friendly confines of Hardball, where a sympathetic and compliant Chris Matthews did his very best to help Kerry make it through at least one interview without wandering into bizarre asides, prolix dependent clauses, and baffling hedges.

Chris Matthews failed.
…
Matthews: Why did Bush and Cheney and the ideologues around take us to war?

Kerry: Look, I want to make it clear: Who knows if a month from now, you find some weapons. You may.
…
This admission destroys the left's critique of the war and months of "Bush lied!" rantings from the MoveOn.org swamp. Kerry knows what everyone with a memory knows: which is that Saddam had WMD and the world agreed he had them.

All aboard?

 
Kerry's Support Lagging

The AP has a story on how Kerry is failing to rouse supporters.

For three days, Kerry has taken his "Jobs First Express" across empty US highways to speak to small crowds of convinced Democrats.

Small crowds? Isn't that an oxymoron?

The bus stopped on Wednesday in Toledo, an Ohio city which has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs in recent years, and about 50 supporters were waiting behind a white rope.

Fifty?

In Cleveland, the bus stopped at a site where houses are being built. The workers stood with their feet in the mud.

Yep, but not the Lord of Louisville Square:

 
Kerry Lying Yet Again

The LA Times (!) has the story.

Sen. John F. Kerry has claimed twice in recent days that since he effectively claimed the Democratic presidential nomination, he has not run a negative television advertisement against President Bush. But those viewing his ads in March and April could be pardoned for thinking otherwise.

They note that Kerry has run fewer negative ads than the President, but that does not count the ads being run by Moo-On and other groups which have been highly critical of Bush.

 
A Pair of Losers Share a Kumbayah Moment



What, Mike Dukakis wasn't available?

 
Welcome, Roger L. Simon readers!

I can't tell you what a shock and a thrill it was to see my name at the top of my favorite discussion blog. I'd like to say that you'll find the same depth of thought and high level of discussion here at Kerry Haters, but it wouldn't be true. We're just poking fun at the Democrats' presumptive nominee and his ever-changing positions on the issues of the day.

Hope you enjoy your visit, and please, consider visiting our regular blogs, Kitty Litter and Brainster's Blog.

Thanks Roger!

 
Tour de Farce

The Boston Globe takes on Douglas Brinkley's hagiography of Nuancy Boy, Tour of Duty, pointing out that the supposed historian has turned into a partisan flack for Kerry. They highlight three major goofs in the book that have already come back to haunt Brinkley:

Brinkley told the Atlantic magazine, which excerpted a portion of the book, that he interviewed "every single one" of John Kerry's crewmates on the so-called swift boats that Kerry captained in Vietnam. But in fact he did not interview crew member Steven Gardner, and -- surprise! -- Gardner turned out to be the only one of Kerry's crewmates who disliked his former commander. "I would have talked to Gardner, but I couldn't find him," Brinkley says now.

Kerry Haters covered this back on March 9th, in a post entitled "The Pete Best of Kerry's Band of Brothers".

Despite his claim to have reviewed Kerry's Navy records, Brinkley didn't interview Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard, the commanding officer who likened the wound for which Kerry was awarded his first Purple Heart to a scrape from a fingernail. Kerry declined to talk to the Globe about this incident. In his role as aggrieved Kerry factotum, Brinkley ginned up a quick article for Salon magazine condemning Hibbard as a "blowhard" and dumping on the Globe for reporting Hibbard's comments. Brinkley could have spared himself the heavy breathing if he had bothered to interview Hibbard for his book.

Predictably, Brinkley toes the current Kerry party line on the controversial medal-throwing incident of April 1971, reporting that Kerry threw his ribbons, and other servicemen's medals, away during an antiwar demonstration. But the historian seems blissfully unaware that the party line has changed several times since Kerry threw away, or did not throw away, his medals -- or his ribbons, or other people's medals.

 
The Six Million Dollar Man



Another vampire rises from his coffin.

 
Tough Guy on North Korea

Kerry's campaign yesterday issued a statement on North Korea.

"Today's report that North Korea has significantly increased its nuclear weapons capability under this administration's watch underscores how their failed policies have made America less safe. Even after the North Koreans made their intentions clear over a year ago by ejecting international nuclear inspectors, the administration dithered and blustered while Kim Jong Il has reportedly quadrupled his nuclear arsenal.

"There is simply no excuse for the administration's continued unwillingness to take realistic steps to address this growing threat. While President Bush has said he's running out of patience with the North Koreans, we are running out of patience with his complete lack of progress in getting the North Koreans to disarm. It is past time for the administration to put aside its failed approach and engage in meaningful negotiations that will lead to a comprehensive resolution of the North Korean nuclear crisis."

Don't you love that? If Bush had just "engaged in meaningful negotiations", Kim Jong-Il would not have "reportedly quadrupled his nuclear arsenal". Of course, Kim is a lying sack of Kerry, so what you get out of him in the negotiations will be unfulfilled promises.

Just pathetic.

 
SWIFT BOAT SKIPPY


Kerry Escalating Use of War Veteran Status:
In one 24-hour period, he invoked his service:
• To fend off attacks by his Republican rivals;
• As evidence he will fight to expand healthcare;
• As evidence he understands the complicated landscape in Iraq;
• To explain his love of peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

 
More of the Left Turning On Kerry?

Tina Brown has one of her classic catty takes. The article is annoying in many ways, but it sure shows that buyer's remorse is getting contagious.

"You don't have to fall in love," Hillary Rodham Clinton reportedly reproved a top Democratic fundraiser who was recently moaning about Kerry's lackluster performance as a candidate. "You just have to fall in line."

 
Medaling with History, Part Quatre

Jeff Jacoby takes Kerry to the cleaners. Choice observation:

Not one voter in 100 would vote against Kerry for trashing his Vietnam War medals when he was 27 years old. What he did with his combat decorations in 1971 has no bearing on whether he is fit to be president today. That long-ago episode is an issue today only because Kerry's versions of it have changed so many times and because it so perfectly typifies his lifelong habit of saying one thing today and something else tomorrow -- and then denying having done so.

 
Sleeping Quarters

Robert Sam Anson blows the lid off the latest Kerry controversy. It has long been claimed that during the famous VVAW Dewey Canyon III protest that Nuancy Boy did not sleep with his fellow veterans on the Mall in Washington, but instead decamped to a Georgetown home where he could sleep in a bed. Anson, who was there as a reporter, but also apparently friendly with Kerry, spent the evening sipping brandy with the future senator in a walnut-paneled library.

Why is this a controversy? Because Kerry has claimed that he was smeared by the Nixon White House with the Georgetown home story.

In 1971, the Nixon White House tried to discredit John Kerry by telling President Nixon that John Kerry was sleeping in a Georgetown home while other veterans protesting the war slept in tents on the National Mall.

Kerry's website claims that "Only Nixon Propaganda says he didn't sleep on the Mall".

Of course, what the website doesn't tell you (but it is clear nonetheless) is that Nixon said it in his taped conversations in the White House:

April 28, 1971, 4:33 p.m. President Richard M. Nixon takes a call from his counsel, Charles Colson.

"This fellow Kerry that they had on last week," Colson tells the president, referring to a television appearance by John F. Kerry, a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

"Yeah," Nixon responds.

"He turns out to be really quite a phony," Colson says.

"Well, he is sort of a phony, isn't he?" Nixon says.

Yes, Colson says in a gossiping vein, telling the president that Kerry stayed at the home of a Georgetown socialite while other protesters slept on the mall.

Now, unless Kerry thinks that Colson was lying to Nixon in a conversation that neither of them ever thought would become public, he's got some 'splaining to do.

Note that Anson writes this apparently as a Kerry fan. The article is bizarre in the extreme, including some dubious "facts" and opinion. For example, he says, "Leave it to The New York Times to come up with a videotape of Mr. Kerry saying something quite different during a television interview in November 1971." In fact, it was ABC who found the tape. The New York Times broke the story that it was going to be broadcast on ABC. And, "...Mr. Kerry isn’t accusing, he’s reporting, word for word, the confessions of 150 vets during a VVAW-sponsored conference in Detroit only weeks before." Of course those "confessions" turned out to be extremely dubious. Anson also urges Kerry to embrace the dark side:

The solution? Well, for starters, friend of days gone by, lay your hands on a tape of your 1971 Senate testimony; have Bob Shrum turn it into a TV commercial. Air it morning, noon and night.

Eh?

Oh, and speaking of sleeping quarters, here's a look at where some soldiers are sleeping.

Hat tip to Kitty and Kaus.

 
The Vampire Theory, Part Trois

In the middle of a story about Kerry's inability to connect with voters, comes this comment:

Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's Hardball programme, who went to Ohio to interview Mr Kerry, says: "I don't get a sense of the guy. There has been something about him which has been invisible."

Amusingly, the article contains this:

Mr Kerry points out that his campaign has barely begun. He describes himself as a "not even yet nominated Democratic candidate".

Then why is Kerry challenging Bush to monthly debates?

Answer: He's not yet nominated when it comes to talking about what a lame candidate he is, but he's the presumptive nominee when it comes to talking about debates. Flip flop.

 
Candidate Kerry Points Out the Person Responsible for Sabotaging His Campaign

 
Suggestion Box

What would you like to see more of at Kerry Haters? More anti-Kerry cartoons? More anti-Kerry jokes? More funny photos of the Boston Fog Machine? More fisking of Kerry's nuanced positions on the issues?

Let us know by leaving a comment below (when the comments link appears--periodically it seems to vanish).

 
Kerry Haters Continues to Evolve!

We have emerged from the primordial sea in the TTLB Ecosystem and are now crawling around on land as amphibians. We may slip back into the sea again, but our upward progress is encouraging. Thanks to all who link to Kerry Haters!

 
KERRY'S THE JOKE!

"John Kerry described his Republican critics as 'the most crooked, lying group I've ever seen.' Now, that's saying something, because Kerry's both a lawyer and a politician." -Jay Leno

"The White House begun airing their TV commercials to re-elect the president, and the John Kerry campaign is condemning his use of 9/11 in the ads. He said, it is unconscionable to use the tragic memory of a war in order to get elected, unless of course, it's the Vietnam War." -Jay Leno

"John Kerry has promised to take this country back from the wealthy. Who better than the guy worth $700 million to take the country back? See, he knows how the wealthy think. He can spy on them at his country club, at his place in Palm Beach, at his house in the Hamptons. He's like a mole for the working man." -Jay Leno

"I'm worried about John Kerry, he's so confident now that he's already planning his White House sex scandal." -David Letterman

"John Kerry will be the Democratic nominee for president. Democrats finally found someone who is Al Gore without the flash and the sizzle." -Craig Kilborn

"Kerry has already begun his search for a running mate. They say that because John Edwards still has $50 million in campaign money, Kerry might pick him. Pick him? Hey, for $50 million, Kerry will marry him." -Jay Leno

"Yesterday Senator John Kerry changed his mind and now supports the ban on gay marriages. I'm telling you this guy has more positions than Paris Hilton." -David Letterman

"During last night's debate, John Kerry and John Edwards were so friendly to each other some political experts think that they may end up running together. In fact Kerry and Edwards were so friendly, President Bush accused them of planning a gay marriage." -Conan O'Brien

"It really kind of looks like now that John Kerry is on his way to the presidential nomination. The only thing that can sink John Kerry now is an Al Gore endorsement." -Jay Leno

"According to a new study, Botox injections can help back pain. So you see, that's why John Kerry had all that Botox - his back was killing him from all that flip-flopping on issues." -Jay Leno

"An Internet rumor claims that John Kerry had an affair with a young woman. When asked if this was similar to the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, a spokesman said 'Close, but no cigar.'" -Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update"

Clinton's response: AUDIO

"Over the weekend, John Kerry - the big John Kerry juggernaut moves on - he won primaries in Washington D.C., Nevada and, I think, Canada. And he's so confident that he's started nailing that intern again." -David Letterman

"Presidential campaign getting kind of ugly, did you hear about this? Yesterday, a 27-year-old woman came for to deny rumors that she had an affair with Democratic front-runner John Kerry. The woman added, 'I would never cheat on Bill Clinton.'" -Conan O'Brien

"Senator John Kerry released his plan today to eliminate the deficit. He said all we have to do is find a really rich country like Switzerland and marry it." -Jay Leno

"The head of the AFL-CIO endorsed John Kerry, saying, 'The time has come to come behind one man, one leader, one candidate.' Then he said, 'And until we find that man, we will endorse John Kerry.'" -Conan O'Brien

"The Democrats are all over this. Democratic strategists feel John Kerry's war record means he can beat Bush. They say when it comes down to it voters will always vote for a war hero over someone who tried to get out of the war. I'll be sure to mention that to Bob Dole when I see him." -Jay Leno

"John Kerry said today that he wants to get rid of tax cuts for the rich and his wife said, 'Hey, shut up! What's the matter with you?! Are you nuts?!'" -Jay Leno

"They had a profile of John Kerry on the news and they said his first wife was worth around $300 million and his second wife, his current wife, is worth around $700 million. So when John Kerry says he's going after the wealthy in this country, he's not just talking. He's doing it!" -Jay Leno

"In a new issue of Esquire magazine, they revealed that before he was married to Teresa Heinz, Senator John Kerry dated Morgan Fairchild, Michelle Phillips, Catherine Oxenberg and Dana Delany. Finally a Democratic presidential candidate with good taste in women." -Jay Leno

 
Will PAC-Man Be Next?

Kerry Core has a new video game--Attack of the Flip Flops. Guide John Kerry's head around and shoot at the attacking flip flops. Of course, the really fun part of this game is losing and seeing Nuancy Boy's head explode.

 
Another Member of the Legion of Kerry Haters

This is starting to get like DC's old Legion of Superheroes, there are so many that you can't keep track of them all. Anyway, welcome the newest addition to our blogroll, the John Kerry History Page. Unlike Kerry Haters, he's trying to be fair:

If someone can pass me along something positive about John Kerry that he has done for vets, or the military I will promptly post that also , So send it in, I am all ears.

Days with no positive John Kerry news=71

Lots and lots of content there.

 
Buyer's Remorse

Glenn Reynolds nails it:

I'm pretty sure that if John Edwards were the presumptive nominee, we wouldn't be hearing so much voters' remorse from Democrats. This sounds like Bob Dole all over again: He can't connect with the public, he's unappealing on TV, but we'll nominate him anyway! Did we mention he's a war hero? They always win!

 
Two-Faced Kerry

Richard Wolfe has a comparison of Good Kerry (stays on message, speaks in sound bites) and Bad Kerry (meanders from the script, speaks in Senatese). Here's the bad news for the Democrats: Good Kerry is the guy on the right.

 
A Complicated Man

Zev Chafetz gets to the root of Kerry's problems with his past:

Kerry's complexities can be explained by a simple biographical fact: He was a very young man at the time, susceptible to a young man's weaknesses. Popularity, especially in his social circle, meant opposing the war. Admit atrocities, and you got to hang with John Lennon and Jane Fonda. Support the war, and you had to dine with Lurleen Wallace.

 
The Torricelli Option, Part Deux

Hugh Hewitt has some thoughts on the possibility that the Democrats will torch the Boston Fog Machine.

Another movie analogy: Jim Carrey in the bathroom scene from "Liar, Liar" when he tries to injure himself. That's John Kerry over the past six weeks, throwing himself against walls in front of the national TV audience with the effect of inflicting maximum damage on himself.

That's a great point. I've noticed in the past that some of the Democratic candidates in recent years did not seem to really want the job. Howard Dean commented after his primal scream that he never really expected to be the front-runner. And Gore's self-sabotage in the debates of 2000 was simply bizarre. You never got that sense with Clinton; despite his rather obvious problems, he genuinely wanted to be the President.

Hewitt also points out the danger that a weak presidential candidate poses for the down-ticket Dems. Osama bin Murray, Barbara Boxer, and Tom Daschle all run a greater risk of being defeated if the guy at the top of their party is declared a loser as soon as the polls in the East close.

Hmmm. Just for fun, I've reserved the Hillary Haters blogspot.

 
“THOSE WERE THE DAYS, MY FRIEND …”

BACK IN 'NAM: They thought they'd never end ... and they didn't want them to end, either. No wonder why these moldy-oldies are resurrecting their fave war of all time.

'GIVEN all the sharp partisan differences over the conduct of the war, it was obvious it would emerge as a particularly bitter and nasty campaign issue this year.
But who knew the war in question would be Vietnam?
…
This year, Kerry has made his Vietnam experience the center of his campaign. He touts it as the defining experience of his life, one that is meant to exemplify his character.'

 
TERRIBLE sur la TV


Is Kerry Blowing It?: M. Kerr-ee's friends are worried, very worried. Even his media lemmings are beginning to wonder if he'll ever be able to convey to us in Fly-over Country the never-ending wonders of all that is M. Kerr-ee. How can anyone expect him to dwell on such piffle when he's wondering where his dark hair has gone?

'"Mr. Kerry is terrible on TV.
"Abysmal," said John Weaver, the former strategist for Senator John McCain’s Presidential run and the man who coined the "Straight Talk Express."
Watching Mr. Kerry on TV, he said, "I don’t know if it’s a stream of consciousness or stream of unconsciousness."
…
"You committed atrocities," said Mr. Russert gravely, asking Mr. Kerry to address the statements of the young man on the screen.
Suddenly, the current John Kerry, of 2004, gave a stumbling, inexplicable guffaw.
"Where did all that dark hair go, Tim? That’s a big question for me."
…
Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for Mr. Kerry to transform.'

 
More Ebay



Who could pass that up?

 
Some Ebay Bargains

The John Kerry Dartboard.

A Two-Sided Pin?

The Democrats' presidential contenders first day cover.

A copy of The New Soldier is up to $305.

Tee shirt with Lurch and, errr, Lurch.

Some good bumper stickers here and here.

Worthy pins are not hard to find.

Dukakis Kerry Button!

FrankenKerry Poster

 
Taxing Matters

Turns out the guy who likes to denounce outsourcing corporate CEOs as Benedict Arnolds, was happy to invest in a questionable overseas tax shelter. Note that Kerry makes it clear that it was not that he felt guilty about it, or that it was wrong, but that it might cause him political embarrassment:

"I did not want to file an income tax return as a public person that I thought could have been subject to question," Kerry said.

However....

He also did not cite the investment in his financial disclosure statements filed with the US Senate, and only a fragment was in his Massachusetts statement of financial interests for calendar year 1983, when Kerry was lieutenant governor.

Kerry and aides who reviewed his holdings at the time of the disclosure filings said he fulfilled all his reporting obligations. Kerry said he had bailed out of the deal before the filing date for the Senate disclosure.

But records obtained by The Globe show a lot went undisclosed about the complex scheme, which he entered six weeks before he became a candidate for US Senate in January 1984, and, by Kerry's account, broke off before May 31, 1984, the date he chose for filing a report on his personal finances to the Senate.

In a heated Senate Democratic primary battle with US Representative James M. Shannon and two other candidates, Kerry sought and received a 16-day extension of the normal May 15 deadline for Senate candidates to file their financial reports.

Kerry said he does not recall why he asked for what he called "the routine extension" but does not believe it was tied to the tax shelter. Under rules for Senate candidates, he was required to disclose all assets and liabilities held at filing time.

Hat tip to reader Conservanatrix.

 
Medaling With History Part Deux

Scrappleface has the info on a reenactment of Kerry's medal and/or ribbon tossing.

The medal tossing scene will be part of an ABC-TV news special, sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, called "Real American Heroes." The segment on Sen. Kerry is called "Mister Patriotic War Protestor."

And yes, now I have that stupid song going through my head.

 
Kerry Treats His Staff

His wife may be worth $500 million or more, but Kerry can pinch a penny, according to this picture caption:

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., right, stands next to Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe manager Cathy Speer, center, while ordering lunch at the diner, in Beaver, Pa., Monday, April 26, 2004. Kerry bought 25 hot dogs for his campaign staff.

 
Watch Hannity & Colmes Tonight!

Fellow blogger Michael King will be on tonight to discuss Jesse Jackon's recent criticism of the liberation of Iraq. Michael's on my Blogger Royalty list (under Rambling's Journal) and is one of my daily must-reads. Check it out!

 
The Torricelli Option?

(Via Instapundit). The Village Voice becomes the first (to my knowledge) leftish media outlet to suggest that it's time to jettison The International Man of Apology.

What to do? Look for the Dem biggies, whoever they are these days, to sit down with the rich and arrogant presumptive nominee and try to persuade him to take a hike. Then they can return to business as usual—resurrecting John Edwards, who is still hanging around, or staging an open convention in Boston, or both.

Hmmm, sounds like they think Edwards is another vampire.

Seriously, it is way too early for the Democrats to be even comtemplating torching Kerry. Wasn't Al Gore down by like 10 points going into the Democratic Convention last time around?

 
A Heinz Alternative?

Bush Country Ketchup. Sounds like a good condiment. Be sure to click on their top ten reasons to buy BCK.

 
The $1,000 Haircut

Drudge is reporting that the New Wonk of Nuance paid $1,000 (includes travel expenses) for a touchup haircut before his appearance on Meet the Cuomo Aide.

Best detail: Isabelle Goetz, "who handles Kerry's hair issues", grew up in a small town in France. No wonder he's so French-looking!

(Hat tip to Crush Kerry)

Update: Danegerus has a good look at what $1,000 gets you.

 
Kerry, the Three Headed Frog?



Kitty sent me the picture along with the suggested text, I just did some quick work with a photo-editing program.

 
Another Guy Having Fun With Photoshop

(Via Anti-John Kerry)

Joe's blog has a couple of laugh out loud gags. Kerry's obviously seen the sign, Eat at Joes.

 
More Good Kerry-Hating Cartoons

Barbara Bassfire has been working overtime.

Send her a little note on the message board letting her know how much you appreciate her effort.

 
Is There A Rose Garden Strategy for Challengers?

In 1980, faced with the obvious fact that the America public didn't like him, the Jimmy Carter campaign decided to hide their candidate away from the TV cameras and hope that Ronald Reagan would implode. It now looks like that may be the best strategy for the Kerry people as well. Remember all the comments a week or two ago about how the American people had not gotten to meet the Botoxicated Brahmin, how he was the "Invisible Man"?

The campaign must be beginning to wonder if those weren't the golden days. John Podhoretz has more:

Trying to change the topic to Bush's service simply smacks of cornered desperation.

And that is Kerry's great weakness as a candidate - a weakness that will be hard for him to overcome, because it appears to be a character trait. The man who said "I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it" is a man filled with the conviction that he can talk himself out of a tough situation.

Sometimes, it's better just to be silent, take the hit and move on. But Kerry seems constitutionally incapable of doing that.

 
Kerry Among the Clouds?



The photogs are snapping a bunch of these photos. It's hard to tell what their thinking is--make Kerry look taller than Abe Lincoln? Get us all to look up to Herman Munster? Or is it a not-so-subtle way of making him look bad?

 
Medaling with Reality

The NY Post takes on Nuancy Boy's evolving medal story.

Last week, the Massachusetts Democrat angrily insisted that his story has been consistent, declaring: "I never ever implied that I did it" - meaning, throwing away his medals along with the ribbons.

Yep, that's where he got into trouble, even his campaign admits it (See Debunking the DBunker a couple of posts below).

 
The Kerry Vampire Story Again

Jon Keller has an article in Boston Magazine that talks about how his campaign staff brought him back from the dead.

So it was with considerable surprise bordering on shock that Payne watched over the next month as the Kerry corpse lurched out of its coffin and tromped all over the competition en route to the most miraculous political comeback in presidential primary history. "I thought he was dead meat," Payne recalls now.

The article contains a number of floaters (for example, Lurch's looks are described as "central-casting"), but overall it does a good job of summarizing a remarkable turnaround. He nails one of the major reasons that Dean faded badly in Iowa (those idiot volunteers in the orange caps). And Kerry's comeback should remind us all that the work of this campaign is just beginning.

 
Tomorrow's Line

The liberal columnists have gotten their talking points:

Joan Venochi says the truth will set Kerry free. This ignores the fact that telling the truth now requires him to admit that he lied quite a few times in the past. Vennochi is tedious in her best columns and this is not one of those. Suffice to say, she's one of those twits who thinks Bush lies all the time.

EJ Dionne got the thankless job of claiming that Republicans are smearing John Kerry because he went to Vietnam, and you can almost tell he's gritting his teeth.

Adam Nagourney and Jodi Wilgoren were charged with flogging the Bush National Guard story again, but even they can't muster up much energy to whip that dead horse.

It's obvious that the liberal pundits want John Kerry to win. It is equally obvious that they find the need to help him out pretty distasteful, as they should.

 
Debunking the DBunker!

Kerry's website features a page where Kerry's campaign "debunks" the myths and lies that the VRWC tells about Honest John. However even they have their limits, apparently. Power Line notes that Kerry's campaign changed the wording on their page dealing with the vicious claim of the Republicans that Kerry threw his medals away in 1971. How did they change it? Well, they removed the following words:

"...he has been consistent about the facts and the symbolism of the medal-returning ceremony."

Heh, you gotta give them points for honesty, which is more than we can say for their candidate!

 
Now Here's A Ringing Endorsement!

(Via Kaus) Alan Bevins has come up with a website that we'll call "John Kerry is a Dirt Ball, But I'm Voting for Him Anyway". Actually the Dirt Ball part is a euphemism, but if you click on the link, you'll see what Mr Bevins really thinks of Nuancy Boy. We don't want to be prudish here at Kerry Haters, but we also have our limits. Warning: the profanity does not stop at the website address, and Mr Bevins, despite his obvious qualifications as a Kerry Hater, apparently does not hate the Lord of Louisville Square enough to vote for W. However, the one post up there so far, goes into Kerry's Dirt Bagitude with obvious relish.

 
Kerry's Tank Ride

Wes Pruden draws some unfortunate comparisons for the Anti-War Criminal:

And so it went. Monsieur Kerry and his handlers are frightened that the medals episode could be taking another Massachusetts pol for a ride in a tank.

Could be worse. Hillary could suggest that Teddy give the junior senator a lift.

And here's the show-stopping question:

Would Monsieur Kerry disdain the Legion d'Honneur?

Nothing but net!

 
YES I DID, NO I DIDN’T


Kerry Criticizes Bush on Military Record:
John Kerry, a decorated Navy veteran criticized by Republicans for his anti-war activities during the Vietnam era, lashed out at President Bush on Monday for failing to prove whether he fulfilled his commitment to the National Guard during the same period.
...

"Just because you get an honorable discharge does not in fact answer that question."

HOWEVER ...

In 1992, as Democratic candidate Bill Clinton faced criticism for avoiding service in Vietnam, Kerry said, "We do not need to divide America over who served and how. I have personally always believed that many served in many different ways."…

Bush’s adviser, Karen Hughes weighed in on the issue of Kerry’s medals:
"He only pretended to throw his," Hughes said in a CNN interview. "Now, I can understand if, out of conscience, you take a principled stand, and you would decide that you were so opposed to this that you would actually throw your medals. But to pretend to do so - I think that's very revealing." …

The controversy over the medals overshadowed the start of Kerry's three-day bus tour of four manufacturing states that are expected to be pivotal in this year's election - West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. Kerry began the tour in Wheeling, W.Va., with a speech accusing Bush of failing to enforce trade rules that protect U.S. workers.

From NewsMax.com:
An angry-sounding John Kerry denied Monday morning that he ever claimed to have thrown away his three Purple Hearts and two medals for combat valor during an April 1971 anti-war demonstration, blaming Republicans for the new controversy and blasting President Bush's National Guard record.
"This comes from a president and a Republican Party that can't even answer whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard," a seething Kerry told "Good Morning America's" Charlie Gibson.

 
Perhaps This Pot Will Meet With Your Satisfaction, Senator Kerry?



Kerry goes hunting for Acapulco Gold after his disastrous interview with Charles Gibson on Good Morning America.

 
John Adam Smith Kerry

By Patrick Hynes

Patrick Hynes (copywriter for the Republican consulting firm Marsh Copsey + Scott and proprietor of CrushKerry.com) has discovered Kerry to be a closet free market kinda guy.

‘Kerry invests in the following outsourcers:

BristoMyers Squibb, Medtronics, Proctor & Gamble, SBC Communications, Verizon, Suntrust Banks, ExxonMobil Corp., Intel, Microsoft, 3M, General Electric, Wyeth, Citigroup, BellSouth, American Express, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Mellon Bank, USAA, AT&T, Comcast, Bear Sterns, Pfizer, Ingerson-Rand, Anheuser Busch, Automatic Data Processing, Bank of America, Becton Dickson, Chevron Texaco, Electronic Data Systems, Equifax, Goldman Sachs, Hershey Foods, Home Depot, IBM, JP Morgan, Johnson & Johnson, Oracle, Pepsico, Sun Microsystems, Target, Texas Instruments, Veritas Software.’

So typical of the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do limousine libs.

 
Whale of a Week for Kerry Haters!

I meant to put a post up about this over the weekend, but my trip out of town distracted me. Thanks to all of you for making last week the greatest in the short history of this blog.

First, and foremost, Kitty agreed to lend her talents to our blog. She'd already been helping out quite a bit with frequent links from her own blog, and great email suggestions for funny photos and good stories on the Boston Fog Machine.

Second, we got a link from my favorite radio talk show host, Hugh Hewitt, which sent the Site Meter spinning like a top. Amazingly, we had almost 100 hits in the first hour after that link, and a total of over 450 for the day. I know there are plenty of bloggers for whom that would be nothing, but it felt like a miracle to me.

Third, the comments section has been a roaring success. For those of you who don't blog yourself, you can't imagine what a thrill it is to have intelligent comments appearing on your blog from readers. It tells the blogger that somebody's really reading the site, and cares about what is being written.

Thanks to all, especially Kitty!

 
Kerry Was Where?

I didn't get past this part of a new Karen Tumulty article in Time about Kerry:

The bar is high, though, and getting higher. The most obvious way for Kerry to clear it is by exploiting his record as a Vietnam War hero — something that Kerry often talks about on the stump but that Democratic polling suggests is still largely unknown to voters.

And here I thought he was in Vienna!

 
Flapjack Kerry

There was a great article awhile ago giving Kerry this nickname. He takes one position until the heat becomes too great, then flips over like a flapjack.

Here's one side:

"We do not need to divide America over who served and how," Kerry said in 1992 (about Bill Clinton). "I have personally always believed that many served in many different ways."

But the heat is getting too great, so he flips over:

"This comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the National Guard. And I'm not going to stand for it."

 
If the Light's Not On, Nobody's Home



Kerry obviously thinks this is "mining for votes".

 
The Next Big Storm for the SS Kerry?

This one's a little complicated, so I may have to edit this post a couple of times before I get it completely right. First of all, Kerry enlisted in 1966 and served in the Navy from 1967-1970. However, his enlistment was for a total of 6 years, the final two of which he spent as an officer in the Naval Reserve. Thus when he met with North Vietnamese officials in Paris during his honeymoon in 1970, he was NOT an ex-Lieutenant. And in fact, he re-upped in the reserves for another six years, so he was technically not an ex-Lieutenant until 1978.

Just One Minute has some information about this. In the comments, I found a link to more information at John Moore's blog (more here as well). Moore points out that Kerry had tried to create the impression of a gap in service from 1970-1972, which would conveniently cover the period of Kerry's most significant anti-war activities, and his meeting with the enemy in Paris.

 
Welcome Right Wing News Readers!

The SUV story is covered in several places on this blog, just search for SUV and you can't miss it. Please also look around the site; we have LOTS of content here. Also, surf on over to Kitty Litter or Brainster's blog if you like what we've done here.

 
Chinagate Responsible for 9-11?

Scott Jordan makes a strong case. He points out that the Gorelick memo helped Clinton keep domestic law enforcement away from the foreign intelligence operation, enabling Clinton to transfer technology to the Red Chinese, while receiving millions in campaign funds in return.

Kerry connection:

John Kerry is today's victorious campaign-donation choice of Chinagate's Huang-linked George Chao-Chi Chu, described as having "unusual access to high-ranking Communist officials in China"

And that is old news, in a way, for in 1996 John Kerry received cash from Johnny Chung and Liu Chaoying, daughter of a powerful Chinese military official, for providing high-level access to federal securities regulators. Kerry's cash came from transfers sent to Chung on orders from the chief of Chinese military intelligence.

Hat Tip to Reader Mike Grobbel for the link.

 
Kerry Me Home to See My Friends

The Boston Herald has an article on some of the current Kerry controversies; to be honest it's hard for even Kerry Haters to stay on top of all of them. For example, there is the lobbyist story. Kerry, in a transparent effort to set up this week's Democratic attacks on Vice President Cheney, released what were supposedly complete records of Kerry's meetings with lobbyists since 1989.

However, the list was far from complete, as several lobbyists have come forward who were not on the list. And the Herald points out that the missing years before 1989 are significant:

And the missing four years of lobbyists' meetings raise questions about Kerry's activities during a time when Kerry himself has said he can't remember where he lived. (Boston Globe reports in 1996 determined Kerry, at various times in his first Senate term, lived at cut-rate rent or rent-free on the dime of political fund-raisers, including Robert Farmer, then a senior vice president of a major Washington lobbying firm.)

 
The Medal Story Part Deux

Drudge has a preliminary transcript of the Anti-War Criminal's appearance on Good Morning America. Predictably, Kerry tries to switch topics:

KERRY: i was asked specifically in greater detail about what took place. i answered the question truthfully. which is consistent with what happened in 1971. i mean, charlie, go back and get the file footage. there are were millions of people watching. i took my ribbons off my chest just as other veterans did. this is a phony controversy. this is being pushed yesterday by karen hughes of the white house on fox. it shows up at a several different stations at the same time. the republicans are running $10 million this week to attack my credentials on defense. this comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the national guard.

 
I Think It Was a Bird. I Hope It Was a Bird!

 
The Medal Story

The New York Times picks up the story.

One very interesting bit in this article. Remember, Kerry has claimed that he threw his ribbons over the fence, not his medals. So what are we to make of this comment:

"You know what? Medals and ribbons, there's almost no difference in distinction, fundamentally. They're symbols of the same thing. They are what they are."

So if there's no difference, why did you hold onto the medals and not the ribbons? Kerry at one point (looking for a link) claimed that the reason was because the medals were back in Boston, but this story doesn't hold water. What, you carry your ribbons around with you, but not the medals?

Hat tips to Hugh Hewitt and Captain Ed.

 
Another Nickname to Consider

I was amused by this part of an otherwise pretty pedestrian comparison of Bush and Kerry:

Kerry, up close and personal, was distant and impersonal, though vastly more eloquent, not to say grammatical, than Bush. Perhaps Kerry felt obliged to live up to the peculiar introduction in which an ASNE official likened the senator to Seabiscuit, the uncharismatic race horse who still won the laurels.

You gotta enjoy any horse comparisons to Kerry, but I'm not sure Seabiscuit works for me. Any thoughts?

 
A Lump of Coal in Kerry's Stocking

Bob Novak discusses Kerry's weakness on the coal issue.

Kerry also co-sponsors environmentalist Sen. James Jeffords' Clean Power Act, which the coal industry regards as a death sentence in eliminating 90 percent of mercury emissions by 2008. The nonpartisan Energy Information Administration estimates that the Jeffords bill would reduce coal consumed for electricity by 43 percent, resulting in the loss of 1 million jobs.

It may sound like a small thing, but remember, Al Gore lost West Virginia probably on the coal issue, and that swung the 2000 election to George W. Bush.

 
Who Is Hassan Nemazee?

Crush Kerry is on the story.

Indeed, Hassan Nemazee is the co-founder of the Iranian American Political Action Committee, which seeks to 'normalize' relations with the tyrannical regime foreign policy expert Michael Ledeen calls the 'Terror Masters.'

This is an excellent post from an excellent blog.

 
Maybe It Was Medallions He Threw Over the Fence

ABC News is now confirming that it has the videotape of Kerry talking about tossing his medals.

"I gave back, I can't remember, 6, 7, 8, 9 medals," Kerry said in an interview on a Washington, D.C. news program on WRC-TV's called Viewpoints on November 6, 1971, according to a tape obtained by ABCNEWS.

Throughout his presidential campaign, Kerry has denied that he threw away any of his 11 medals during an anti-war protest in April, 1971.

His campaign Web site calls it a "right wing fiction" and a smear. And in an interview with ABCNEWS' Peter Jennings last December, he said it was a "myth."

But Kerry told a much different story on Viewpoints. Asked about the anti-war veterans who threw their medals away, Kerry said "they decided to give them back to their country."

Kerry was asked if he gave back the Bronze Star, Silver Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded for combat duty as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam. "Well, and above that, [I] gave back the others," he said.

Captain Ed wonders (in the comments section) if Kerry is slated for the Torricelli Option.

 
Well, Officer, It Actually Was My SUV, Before It Wasn't



It doesn't look like the cops are buying his story, either. Note that for a change, Kerry is not using his revolutionary drug brothers' handshake.

 
Maybe He Should Try for Swinger Voters?

Ron Fournier comments that Kerry is looking for swing voters.

Pollsters say 15 to 30 percent of all voters are up for grabs, but strategists for Bush and Kerry, relying on voting habits as well as polls, say the figure is even smaller - about 8 percent.

 
Heroes & Zeroes

Spartacus has a nice post comparing Tillman with Kerry.

 
What Atrocities Did the Senator Commit, and When Did He Commit Them

Karen Hughes wants some answers:

"Did he think he did commit them or not? And who else did? And what was he really saying? Was he totally exaggerating? Was he making it up? I think the press ought to follow some line of inquiry about that."

Get the laughable response from the Kerry campaign:

Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer called Hughes' comments "misleading," adding that "we will stand toe-to-toe with [Bush] on our military service any day of the week."

The usual "they're attacking his patriotism" canard.

 
Tying Together the SUV Story & Iraq.

Mark Steyn lays it all out nicely.

His statement is true in the sense that his ''family'' (i.e., Teresa) also owns the house and the grounds, and indeed a big chunk of his presidential campaign. But it's hard to claim that your powers of diplomatic persuasion would have won over the French and Germans when you can't even win over your ''family.'' And do Americans want to hand over responsibility for Iraq to someone who won't even take responsibility for the car in his driveway?

 
Kerry's Medal Story

Drudge is highlighting a supposed upcoming story on Good Morning America that Kerry admitted in a TV interview throwing his own medals away during the infamous Dewey Canyon III protest, despite the fact that Kerry now claims he only threw away his ribbons and the medals of two other soldiers.

 
John Kerry, Anti-War Criminal

Vincent Carroll has an excellent article about Kerry's inability to admit that he lied before Congress about the war crimes supposedly committed by American soldiers in Vietnam.

There are two mysteries in Kerry's stubborn loyalty to his extremist everyone-did-it rhetoric. The first is why he would want to maintain a thesis that slanders tens of thousands of potential voters who served in Vietnam. Contrary to what Kerry told Congress in 1971, most of those veterans are not ashamed of their service. As Professor Mackubin Thomas Owens of the Naval War College (himself a Marine veteran of Vietnam) noted in a column that appeared January in NationalReviewOnline, "a comprehensive 1980 survey commissioned by the Veterans' Administration reported that 91 percent of those who had seen combat in Vietnam were 'glad they had served their country;' 80 percent disagreed with the statement that 'the U.S. took advantage of me;' and nearly two out of three would go to Vietnam again, even knowing how the war would end."

The second mystery is why Kerry would want voters to believe he spent his time in Vietnam committing awful acts against innocent people. That Kerry was brave and heroic there is no doubt. But why should voters honor bravery and heroism if they merely aided a despicable cause?

My suspicion is that we've finally found an issue on which John Kerry refuses to flip-flop, even though this is the one issue he should see as obviously requiring his dolphin skills. And it would be the right thing to do, from the standpoint of admitting that his "band of brothers" were not war criminals. And in my mind, failing to do it, makes Kerry an anti-war criminal.