john kerry

Last night was the speech that I have been waiting for Barack Obama to make since he entered the race. As a supporter of John Edwards I often took Obama to task for clinging to the middle ground, for being too wishy-washy to stand up to the Republicans. It wasn't that I didn't believe in change or in the middle ground, it was that I wasn't sure he would stand up for the true middle, but would instead allow himself to be pulled to the right. Last night ended those worries.

I have never thought that I would vote for John McCain in this election. Never. I won't vote for a Republican any time soon, perhaps ever again, thanks for George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Jack Abramhoff, Dick Cheney, Grover Norquist, James Dobson, and John McCain. However, I was not fired up and in that way I was probably like many of the Clinton delegates. In fact, almost all my passion for politics evaporated with the exit of John Edwards. I tried to get excited again, but my heart was just not in it. Even earlier this week I was dispassionate about the process. But, Democrats this week finally ignited my passion again and I have to believe that it converted all those supposed PUMAs once more into Democrats.

If anyone thought that Bill Clinton alienated himself from party members during the primaries, they thought wrong. Last night, he more than redeemed himself. The “come back kid” did it again.

“The world is more impressed with the power of our example than the example of our power,” resonated Bill’s oh so easy to listen to voice. Through the convention hall, his words captured both the hearts and minds of Democrats.

As Ezra Klein notes,

There has been an outpouring of support for Senator Ted Kennedy as the sad news was delivered today, of Kennedy's malignant brain tumor.

Senator Ted Kennedy recently endorsed Barack Obama, stating "I know what America can achieve," Senator Kennedy said. "I've seen it. I've lived it. And with Barack Obama, we can do it again."

Senator Kennedy has "lived it." Considered the most effective Senator, he has led the way in the fight for social justice and is responsible for the passage of some of the most critical legislation of our time.

Obama stated today on the Situation Room, "I stand on his shoulders."

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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Candidates and supporters who believe we can win the presidency on a wave of apologies should learn the lessons of history.

Cross posted at the Francis L. Holland Blog.

John Edwards said Tuesday that honesty and openness were essential qualities for a president, and that he was proud to acknowledge his 2002 vote authorizing the invasion of Iraq was a mistake . . .

Yahoo.News

But, with John Edwards at 17% in the polls to Hillary Clinton's 43%, the public seems already to be punishing Edwards for his habit of apologizing.

In the September 30, 2004 debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry, the word "mistake" arose 13 times in the context of Iraq, offering Bush ample opportunity to admit that he had made at least one mistake.  Kerry admitted to having made significant mistakes while George Bush admitted to none.

What a great contribution to the debate by Senator Kerry:

Set a deadline

Make your voices heard, not only to President Bush, but to Democrats in Congress as well. Sign the petition to Bush, and take the survey to get our folks to buck up and stand up.

(Fixed your link . . . A)

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Well, unless something big happens, we seem to be stuck with John Kerry until election day. This is Kerry’s equivalent to Howard Dean’s scream.

This will get aired over and over and over and when the mainstream media is done with that, they will start in on the apology and play it over and over and over.

And no one will be talking about this misguided war in Iraq.

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Will somebody tell John Kerry to shut the hell up? Please leave the comedy to Robin Williams or Jon Stewart (my personal monkey).

Kerry’s remark “getting stuck in Iraq” was, I believe, a badly set-up joke directed at Bush, but that is water under the bridge. Now we need to push on, get over it and go back to the real message - staying off the road to Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran and Appomattox bypassing Bennett Place altogether.

Side Note: Kerry’s speech was, however, fertile ground for jokes. Here is today’s REJECTED strip. Not sure which is better - I am not really in love with either of them. But somehow, this too is Clinton's fault - I am sure of it!

In the middle of a multitude of activities, The Southern Dem found time to research and write an excellent series of articles about a usurper of democracy, one Theodore Lane Sampley of Kinston. Sampley, a political provocatuer, is the originator and maintainer of an eyesore in the nation's capital, an unkempt shack which sits in plain view of the Lincoln Memorial, mocking Lincoln and the nation's political heritage. The culmination of this writing was a three part article, links to which I have re-posted to recognize the excellent research and narrative which may have been missed by some readers the first time around in the whirlwind of daily posts.

PART 1 : Who is Ted Sampley and Why do I Care?

PART 2 : A Darker Shade of Ted

PART 3 : Disreputable, Despicable, Dishonorable

Disclaimer - To my knowledge, no person mentioned in this article has committed a crime, pleaded guilty to or been convicted of any crime associated with events listed here.

The year 1992 appears to be a turning point for Ted Sampley. In his biographies Sampley says he testified before the Senate Select Committee on MIA-POWs in 1991. Most of the hearings were held in 1992. Senator John McCain and Senator John Kerry were involved in the hearings and both drew the ire of Ted Sampley.

The Senate Select Committee on POW-MIAs covered many issues. One of the topics was fundraising of the POW-MIA organizations. Several were singled out as using unscrupulous tactics and having dishonorable intentions. Sampley's Homecoming II was among those singled out. From the transcript:

In stark contrast to the vast majority of volunteer POW/MIA organizations, stand a few private organizations who solicit money from millions of American households. In response, the American public has contributed tens of millions of dollars to the POW/MIA cause since Operation Homecoming. In many instances, however, well over half of the money raised was spent on fundraising.

:::snip:::

The Committee found that professional fundraisers created solicitation materials designed to maximize the emotional impact of the POW/MIA issue by stating that POWs remain alive in Southeast Asia and by stating that for a few dollars more, a private organization can rescue them. In virtually every case, materials relating to the existence, identity and location of POW/MIAs and attempts to rescue them were held out as factual but were based on circumstantial and hearsay evidence far weaker than claimed.

:::snip:::

The Committee's investigation was hampered by the refusal of the most active fundraising organizations to cooperate, in particular when it tried to verify statements made in the fundraising appeals of Account for POW/MIA, Inc. (Skyhook II), Operation Rescue, Inc., American Defense Institute, Inc., Homecoming II, Inc., and Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. (Emphasis my own)

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