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KerryTales: getting bigger and bigger...
“John Kerry, Bob Kerrey. It's easy to get confused.
At least that's how the Kerry campaign is
explaining claims that Kerry — the Democratic presidential candidate —
served as vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence.”
–
Associated Press article on the latest Kerry tale.
The stories just keep on coming. As the reports surface (and the new
Bush campaign ad) regarding Sen. John Kerry's abysmal attendance
record concerning the Senate Intelligence meetings, the yarns from
Kamp Kerry get bigger and bigger...
Latest info to come to light? While Kamp Kerry's won't dispute him not
being at the numerous public Intel Meetings, what about the
numerous -- and vastly more serious -- secret Intel meetings?
Private sources say that Kerry's attendance record for these secret
Intel meetings is even worse than for the public meetings.
As with the 'who's lying about Vietnam' mess, this Kerry mess could be
quickly and easily cleared up -- if Kerry would agree to release his
records. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Intelligence Committee
Chairman Pat Roberts, member John Warner, Sen. John Coryn, Sen. Saxby
Chambliss and Sen. Jon Kyl have all publicly called for Kerry to
release his attendance records. So far, as with the Vietnam mess,
Kerry refuses to release his records.
And even more disconcerting is the Associated Press article, showing
John Kerry claiming to hold the Vice Chairman position on the Senate
Intelligence Committee – a ‘fact’ touted as recently as last Friday on
Kerry’s official campaign website, and in news releases. According to
the Senate Historical Office, Kerry never had the seniority to hold a
leadership position on the Senate Intel Committee. He was just a
member.
Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan said the reference to Kerry as
vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee was an error: "John
Kerry, Bob Kerrey — similar names," said Meehan.
As the AP article aptly points out, “Republicans were less willing to
see the misstatement as an innocent mistake.”
The
KerryTales just keep getting bigger and bigger...
Hairy Kerry
Presidential hopeful John (Hairy) Kerry flew his high-priced
Washington, D.C. hairdresser to Portland, OR, last week for a big
bucks touch-up. What’s with Kerry and his hair?
MoveOn.org responds
The money of billionaire George Soros -- who has likened President
Bush to Hitler -- is helping to pay for an ad against Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth. MoveOn.org is putting up an ad calling on
President Bush to take down the Swift Boat Veterans’ ad that calls
Kerry a liar.
MoveOn.org ad attacks Bush’s service record:
"George Bush used his father to get into the National Guard, and when
the chips were down, went missing," a narrator says. "Now he's
allowing false advertising that attacks John Kerry, a man who asked to
go to Vietnam and served with dignity and heroism." The ad quotes Sen.
John McCain (R-Ariz.) as calling on the Bush campaign to condemn the
"dishonest and dishonorable."
"We find it odd that MoveOn PAC would question the right of a group of
veterans to voice an opinion on a legitimate issue -- an issue first
raised by John Kerry -- and now the centerpiece of his campaign. . . .
We will not be silenced," said Retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, founder
of the Swift boat group.
[NOTE: President Bush is not running for re-election based on his
service record of 35 years ago. John Kerry is. Kerry has declared his
4 months of service in Vietnam is cornerstone of his campaign and the
basis by which he wants his leadership abilities to be judged.]
LA Times wades in
No less a newspaper than the LA Times has finally covered the
questions that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have been raising for
a long time. The story may not be all that favorable to the veterans
speaking out against Kerry, but at least they recognize that it is
important and news:
In a Swift Boat Veterans for Truth affidavit, Hibbard said Kerry came
into his office "to apply for a Purple Heart," but that he turned down
Kerry's "Purple Heart request." He said he was "shocked to later learn
that [Kerry] subsequently received an undeserved Purple Heart for his
wound."
But in a conflicting interview this summer, Hibbard said Kerry did not
directly ask for the medal but a medical report. (The report would
have been automatically forwarded to Navy administrators in Saigon who
oversaw Purple Heart awards.) Hibbard said he believed the wound was
too minor to warrant a report but that later he "took some heat" from
military superiors for refusing to write it up.
Kerry acknowledged to The Times that he later asked about the Purple
Heart. He said he "asked a guy where it was or something," but could
not recall whom he pressed for the award.
Kerry’s Job Attendance check
''The most basic responsibility of a lawmaker is just showing up,"
Speaker Dennis Hastert said. ''Based on John Kerry's attendance record
on the Intelligence Committee, Kerry didn't even do that."
The heat is on Kerry from another sector that challenges Kerry’s
record of doing the right thing to improve our nation’s national
security. Speaker Hastert joined the chorus of those who are asking
Kerry to release his record of attendance at secret intelligence
meetings. The chairman of the senate intelligence committee has called
on Kerry to come clean as well.
The spotty at best attendance record of Kerry would undermine his
claim that he would better protect America’s security than President
Bush.
The Bush campaign is running TV ads criticizing Kerry’s attendance
record and voting to undermine our nation’s security.
The ad:
Voice: "John Kerry promises..."
John Kerry: "I will immediately reform the
intelligence system."
Voice: "Oh really. As a member of the
Intelligence Committee, Senator Kerry was absent for 76% of the
committee's hearings."
Voice: "In the year after the first terrorist
attack on the World Trade Center, Kerry was absent for every single
one."
Voice: "That same year he proposed slashing
America's intelligence budget by $6 billion."
Voice: "There's what Kerry says and then
there's what Kerry does."
Images: Sen. John F. Kerry is shown on a
flat-screen television to the right of the viewer's screen, apparently
giving his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. As
he speaks, smiles and gestures, graphics appear to the left of the
viewer's screen, variously spelling out, "John Kerry … ABSENT 76% of
public Senate Intelligence Committee Hearings." Then, "John Kerry …
ABSENT every single public Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing," and
"John Kerry … proposed slashing Intelligence Budget 6 billion
dollars."
Troop pull out: Kerry disagrees
The Kerry campaign sent out former Ambassador Richard Holbrook to
deliver the message that John Kerry disagrees with the troop pull out
from Europe and Asia. Holbrook delivered the message that this pull
out from Europe further undermines our alliances with France and
Germany.
Holbrook further argued that pulling troops out of Asia weakened
America’s bargaining position in reducing N. Korea’s nuclear threat.
Troop deployment has been based since the end of W.W. II on the threat
of the Soviet Union, which no longer exists.
Harkin calls Cheney a coward
Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat, has called Vice President Dick Cheney
a coward for not serving in Vietnam, the Associated Press reports.
Cheney, in campaign speeches, has been mocking a Sen. John Kerry’s
statement that he would conduct a "more sensitive" war on terrorism.
Harkin, who shuttled damaged planes in Vietnam, said, "It just
outrages me that someone who got five deferments during Vietnam and
said he had 'other priorities' at that time would say that.
"When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward, who would
not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood boil," Harkin
said. "He'll be tough, but he'll be tough with someone else's kid's
blood."
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