posted on August 12, 2004 09:49:53 PM new
Kerry has made Vietnam an issue and must answer
CAL THOMAS
Last week, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry returned to Sept. 11, 2001. He criticized President Bush for remaining in an elementary school classroom seven minutes after the president had been told a plane had struck the second World Trade Center tower. Kerry said, had he been president at the time, "I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to."
Kerry's actual decision-making ability, however, was exposed by Kerry himself July 8 during an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live." Asked where he was that fateful morning, he said he was in a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and Sens. Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid. "We watched the second plane come in to the building," Kerry said. "And we shortly thereafter sat down at the table and then we just realized nobody could think, and then boom, right behind us, we saw the cloud of explosion at the Pentagon." (Emphasis mine.)
The second plane hit the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m., and American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. According to Kerry, he and his fellow senators sat frozen and indecisive for 34 minutes. Kerry is dismissive of the president's explanation that he did not wish to seem panicked and so remained seated for seven minutes (while aides were busily trying to acquire more information), yet Kerry admits to not knowing what to do for 34 minutes.
Why does this matter? It wouldn't if Kerry had not brought it up and had he not made a recent statement about his own actions (or in this case inaction) on that terrible day. If one preaches a certain line, one should be expected to practice it.
Then there is Kerry's war record. Liberal interest groups with ideological ties to Democrats and the Kerry campaign have questioned whether Bush showed up for duty in Alabama as he neared the end of his National Guard service. They first questioned whether that service was an attempt by Bush to avoid going to Vietnam, and they have said Kerry is a war hero because he went to Vietnam and earned several medals, including three Purple Hearts.
This wouldn't matter much either had Kerry not made his Vietnam service central to his campaign for president. He wants voters to believe that his "bravery" earns him leadership points and will make him more thoughtful and more reluctant to go to war than Bush.
Kerry has attached himself to several of his swift-boat comrades who testify to his bravery. But a new book co-written by a swift-boat veteran, John E. O'Neill, and including interviews with other swift-boat veterans asserts that Kerry is lying about some of his claims, including how he sustained his slight wounds. Several of these men are part of a TV commercial in which they say Kerry fabricated his own story for political gain.
In the book, "Unfit for Command," O'Neill and co-author Jerome R. Corsi write that Kerry took no enemy fire on the night he sustained a slight injury for which he received one Purple Heart and that the injury was accidental, caused when Kerry fired a grenade launcher at too close a range.
This may end in a "they said-they said" stalemate, but other actions and statements by Kerry might be worthy of more debate, especially since he doesn't talk about his political career.
That TV commercial by the swift-boat veterans, which Democratic Party lawyers are attempting to persuade TV stations not to run, has been attacked by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. McCain calls the commercial "dishonest and dishonorable."
Yet McCain has criticized Kerry's anti-war activities. In a May 14, 1973, issue of U.S. News and World Report, McCain wrote that testimony by Kerry and others before Sen. J. William Fulbright's Foreign Relations Committee was "the most effective propaganda (my North Vietnamese captors) had to use against us."
If Kerry did not regularly invoke his Vietnam past, most people would not be focusing on it. What he did or didn't do in Vietnam, what he said and did after coming home, and his reaction to the 9/11 attacks are now issues in play that will help voters decide between a leader they know and a man whose leadership skills ought to be seriously questioned.
Sorry I can't post the URL because it is a paper you have to sign up for but it was taken from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press Dated August 10.
Kerry was ASKED by a reporter what he would've done if he were president at the time the planes struck.....he just answered the question....something bush has a hard time doing no matter what the question.
Why isn't BUSH asked why he sat for 7 minutes? Because he KNEW what was happening.....Kerry didn't!!!!!!
Second:
Kerry was NOT the PRESIDENT when the planes struck. The fact remains the PRESIDENT just sat like a bump on a log. (see above)
Third: Bush DIDN'T go to Vietnam and fight.
Fourth: Kerry did.
Fifth: McCain did NOT criticize Kerry's war record , he criticize his anti-war statements.
There is a BIG difference.
Sixth: """"If Kerry did not regularly invoke his Vietnam past, most people would not be focusing on it.""""
YUP and IF people would quit focusing on it Kerry would not invoke it.
Seventh: I WANT a president who is hesitant to go to war.
Eighth: He was a brave soldier in Vietnam and to criticize veterans who have endangered themselves for Y O U
is treasonous, slanderous, and Anti-American!
Shame on YOU and shame on Bush(the sleazy coward)!
posted on August 13, 2004 08:04:17 AM new
Crow, have you only 8 fingers to count on ?
This issue is one of the weakest yet for the democrats. They need something of a little more weight if they are go after this administration, imo.
What exactly do you think Bush could have done within 7 minutes of hearing the news? Launch a nuclear missile? Hop a ride on Superman's back right to the burning towers? Or, I know, he could have called Batman to Gotham city to stop the building from crumbling, right??? - Well, What?? What change or difference could have been made to the situation in 30 seconds vs. all seven long long minutes?
Please tell me, I'd like to know what the basis of this lame lament is.
To maintain an opinion because it is thine, and not because it is true, is to prefer thyself above the truth. Ones self-love, then, leads men of narrow minds to measure all mankind by their own capacity.
posted on August 13, 2004 08:36:19 AM newWhat exactly do you think Bush could have done within 7 minutes of hearing the news? Launch a nuclear missile? Hop a ride on Superman's back right to the burning towers? Or, I know, he could have called Batman to Gotham city to stop the building from crumbling, right??? - Well, What?? What change or difference could have been made to the situation in 30 seconds vs. all seven long long minutes?
Seven minutes does not seem like a lot of time but it is seven minutes that were wasted in my opinion. Instead of reading a book for another seven minutes that time could have been used coordinating efforts, launching fighter plans or coming up with a game plan.
If a nuclear missle was headed toward the US, would you want the President reading a book for seven minutes before he decides to launch a counter attack.
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
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YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
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We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
posted on August 13, 2004 09:49:07 AM new
Bush has yet to answer questions on his service, so Kerry isnt the one in the hot seat.
I saw the footage of bush sitting there on 9/11, and I am shocked. This man isnt qualified to be president. The look of stupidity on his face, and ari looking at him with the "do something" look.
posted on August 13, 2004 09:56:25 AM new
What could bush have done in those 7 minutes?
Well, first:
he could have
GOT OFF HIS ASP !!!
Second: acted like a leader who's country is being attacked, you know, FAKE surprise!
Third: as our president, however unfortunate THAT is, he was under obligation to IMMEDIATELY go to "The" safe place.
Kerry, Daschle, Boxer were Senators...their duties are not those of the president.
And since THEY were truly surprised at what was happening being shocked was a whole lot more natural than bush's response......""
""Let me see, how long did they tell me to sit here after hearing the news ....was that 7 or 8 minutes and where would the big hand on the clock be then??????""
[ edited by crowfarm on Aug 13, 2004 09:58 AM ]
[ edited by crowfarm on Aug 13, 2004 09:59 AM ]
posted on August 13, 2004 10:11:24 AM new
I suppose that kerrys actions were better? Sitting on HIS thumb for 40 minutes.
As kerry says: "I sat stunned until the realization hit us that we needed to call loved ones to let them know what was happening. President Bush was charting a course of action while remaining calm in a classroom of children. Despite what Kerry says he would have done on 9/11, upon hearing the news of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center, Kerry told CNN's Larry King that he and fellow senators "watched the second plane come in to the building."
"And we shortly thereafter sat down at the table and then we just realized nobody could think," Kerry continued to King.
Kerry said he was shaken out of his non-thinking state by seeing the "cloud of explosion at the Pentagon." From the time between the second World Trade Center attack and the attack on the Pentagon, forty minutes had elapsed. That's forty minutes of the Democrats' presidential nominee being unable to think. Yet despite the fact that as senator, Kerry was unable to think for forty minutes, the American public is supposed to believe that President Bush was wrong to continue reading for seven minutes and that as president, Kerry would have acted immediately.
posted on August 13, 2004 10:44:35 AM newI suppose that kerrys actions were better? Sitting on HIS thumb for 40 minutes
Kerry was not the Commander-in-chief nor did he have any political authority to make any type of military decision. The decision was for BUSH and his staff. Kerry's actions were no different than those of ordinary citizens at the time of the tragedy. So I suppose you still would prefer Bush reading stories to children the next time America is attacked. Did you see Roosevelt reading stories to children or sitting on his butt after Pearl Harbor was attacked?
Did you see Rudy G. reading stories to children while his city was under attack? No he took action right away.
If someone asks those kids 20 years from now "Where were you on 9/11/01?" Would you want them to respond, I was in the classroom on 9/11/01 while President Bush was reading to me while the country was being attacked.
What kind of soldier would stay in their barracks and do nothing while being attacked?
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
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YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
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We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
posted on August 13, 2004 11:22:43 AM new
Logan, actually bush wasn't reading during those 7 minutes. He was staring.....waiting the appropriate time which was when all the planes had hit. At which time he knew he should leave.
Thank you for answering bear though, he must have me on ignore or can't read well....it's a Republican problem (why do you think bush wasn't REALLY reading)
posted on August 13, 2004 12:27:22 PM new
I wonder how long Bush would've sat there if someone told him a family member had been killed or his ranch was on fire?
posted on August 13, 2004 12:37:01 PM new
You liberals really crack me up by the pettiness you display over such a minor issue....making SUCH a HUGE deal about 7 minutes. Must be desperation time for you all if you think there was anything that he could have done in that tiny period of time. geezeeee....
Anybody with any common sense knows full well nobody knew what was happening at first - when the first plane hit the towers....they had no idea whether there had just been an accident or whether we were being attacked. That was more clear when the second plane hit.
Common sense would dictate that they had to figure out exactly what was going on FIRST....then decisions had to be made as to where they were taking the President to safe-guard him.
Then the Pentagon was hit. And there sits kerry [and others] - STUNNED - not thinking maybe they should take shelter for themselves since by then it was obvious we WERE being attacked....instead of sitting there watching TV...stunned for 40 minutes.
Watching an unbelievable event take place and being stunned into inaction...even protecting themselves [kerry]...is NO different than what the President's security was doing - working on what was actually happening and getting our Commander-In-Chief to safety.
Very petty issue, imo. But what's more important is how he handled the area at ground zero AFTER the attacks...his reasurance to the workers there....those who had done this were going to pay for it. That's leadership.
posted on August 13, 2004 12:59:29 PM new
OK Linda , now it's 40 minutes Kerry didn't do anything... it was 34 minutes but by the time you neocons tell the story enough it'll be up to 2 hours.
Ya, the pres was great AFTER things settled down. But those 7 minutes ARE important because of the way he just sat and WAITED !
He was told we were under attack.....he showed NO curiosity whatsoever!!!!!!!!About what was happpening, didn't even show concern or ask questions about his family!
posted on August 13, 2004 01:09:43 PM new I wonder how long Bush would've sat there if someone told him a family member had been killed or his ranch was on fire
That is really a asinine statement. What did you do when you heard or the attacks Kraft. Was your first consideration your family or home, or like mine and most Americans wonder if these were the only attacks that were happening on that day.
My first thoughts were of the Jap attack on Pearl Harbor. And the start of another world war.
Any sane person would have behaved as Pres Bush & paused to consider the trauma of what was happening.
posted on August 13, 2004 01:11:23 PM newhis reasurance to the workers there....those who had done this were going to pay for it. That's leadership.
And those responsible for the attacks were going to pay for it....Three years later and have they? The person responsible for this has not been captured. Nobody has been convicted and sentenced. Osama, come out, come out wherever you are.... Ahh that's leadership.
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
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YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
------------------------------
We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
posted on August 13, 2004 01:24:22 PM newYou liberals really crack me up by the pettiness you display over such a minor issue....making SUCH a HUGE deal about 7 minutes. Must be desperation time for you all if you think there was anything that he could have done in that tiny period of time. geezeeee....
Suppose the JFK motorcade just continued on traveling for another seven minutes....
Suppose they waited another seven minutes before taking Regan to the hospital after he was shot.....
Minutes do make a difference. If the commander in chief can not make life or death decisions he should not be in charge.
Before you say these are different circumstances...think what seven minutes could have prevented if Flight 93 received information earlier. It was just minutes after Flight 93 heard something about enforcing their cockpit door that the terrorists broke through and gained control of the plane.
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
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YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
------------------------------
We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
posted on August 13, 2004 02:17:02 PM new
There goes crow telling you what not to do. Seems like that happens in the majority of its posts.
Now how did WE know that this was a true event? Because the TV said it. We didn't. How did HE know it was a true event? He didn't. When you watched what happened did you believe it? Now don't lie? I know I didn't until I saw the second plane hit. Whose fault was it. Ask Boston who let the hijackers on the planes. Now unless someone isn't educated there are systems in place for any kind of disasters whether it be the USA or where you work. The President does go into hiding and the VP is the one that keeps in contact with him. In your work disaster, there are people other than the ECO that takes over the disaster plan. Employees are given certain jobs to make sure things go smooth, same as with the government.
Remember "The War of the Worlds" was that a true event? Everyone thought it was, but it wasn't.
posted on August 13, 2004 02:21:07 PM new
"If a nuclear missle was headed toward the US, would you want the President reading a book for seven minutes before he decides to launch a counter attack."
If that would happen no command would be given as the missle's we have are programed to go if there is a missle attack on us.
posted on August 13, 2004 05:26:09 PM newNow how did WE know that this was a true event?
If you are referring to Bush waiting 5 to 7 minutes it was stated in the 9/11 commission report. Did you read it??
How did HE know it was a true event?
I suppose Bush decided it was better to talk with a bunch of children and possing for the press instead of taking a few extra minutes out of his day to find out what was really going on.
Besides Bush WAITED 5-7 Minutes AFTER the secret service told him that a second plane had hit the WTC.
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
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YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
------------------------------
We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
posted on August 13, 2004 05:29:17 PM newIf that would happen no command would be given as the missle's we have are programed to go if there is a missle attack on us
Is this based on your opinion from watching the movie "War Games" or did President Regan tell you this before he died???
As much as you think this is true, I don't think the government will have a computer decide when missles should go to war. After all we would not want a nuclear holocust to happen by mistake because of computer error now would we
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
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YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
------------------------------
We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
posted on August 13, 2004 05:48:47 PM newThree years later and have they? ugh....yes logansdad...you're really going to have to keep current. Back in 2002 the Bush administration destroyed their training camps....killed several AQ ....several have been captured.... matter of fact within the last two weeks a most important AQ leader was captured. One by one...they're being captured. Catching binLaden isn't going to stop this AQ crew....they want to slit your throat as much as they want to slit mine. Better work with us capturing them....rather than hiding out and criticizing everything our troops in Afghanistan are doing....or according to you and your ilk...not doing.
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The President does not go out and 'seek' information....information is brought to him.
And on the missiles.....the liberals are usually the ones against our tax dollars paying for a missile defense system/program....so why worry about it. If kerry gets in....we'll be waiting until we're attacked again to do anything about it....not just waiting this WHOLE 5-7 minutes. It will take years to rebuild our defense systems and get our military back to where it needs to be to protect this nation - not just a 5-7 minute pause.
After all....he's going to be more 'sensitive' when dealing with our enemies.
posted on August 13, 2004 05:51:06 PM new
Neroter: logans, yeah, but do we still have the bat phone??
Under Linda's theory, we may all be dead before the President wakes up to figure out what is going on (assuming this happens at night while we are sleeping).
Hey but then again, I think Linda is hoping the League of Justice destroys the incoming missiles before they reach the coast of the United States.
Wonder Twin powers activate....form of a global shield.
Neroter, do you want to play Global Thermonuclear War... I can break into the government's computer at NORAD and launch the missiles since they are all controlled by a computer - the W.O.P.R.
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
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YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
------------------------------
We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
