[dwd1]

I am not familiar with the books but if you are going to say that Daniel Ellsberg is telling the truth, then you have to admit that the US government was not playing nice....

I have always been told truth is a complete defense. Have any defamation or slander suits been filed against Mr. Kerry and if so, were they successful... I would think someone who was successfully sued for slander against military personnel would be unelectable....

If not, I say again... He did his time... He can express his opinion... That is the freedom he fought for....

I may disagree with what he said but I would never say he has no right to say it... And if you look at others in elective office...

They seem to be equally unapologetic...

Seem to be a lot of books out there that show people in a bad light....

If we can forgive Bush for making mistakes in foreign policy and we can forgive Reagan for not doing all he could on domestic issues and covert ops (Iran Contra, bin Laden, supporting Hussein in their war against Iran) and we can forgive Bush 41 for not taking Hussein out back in 91, then we can forgive someone who expressed an opinion 30 years ago after killing, seeing friends die, and doing his time honorably...

And the thing that everyone has to realize about these smear stories is that you open your side to it....

Kerry can say he was there which gives him a perspective and a credibility that Bush does not have.... Bush can say he was involved with helping a political campaign and that his father was running the CIA...

Also, for good or bad, he has been elected, re-elected several times, and served the public for a long time...

I think it is best to stick to policy issues because I can promise you everyone has skeletons in their closets and made mistakes in their youth...

I don't think Kerry is going to make it as a candidate anyway but I do tire of the smearing...

If you combine the disputed Florida Vote in 2000, the recalls, the acting on questionable intelligence, the bad economy and loss of jobs, questionable administration ties to certain businesses, and other problems... That is where the case can be made that Bush can handle things when they are good or bad... Attacking the opposition on character issues instead of policy issues is a clear indication to me that someone is a little too defensive...

Yes, character counts, but let us be honest and state that a boy scout has not been elected in the US since 1789...

We want someone who can get things done and takes responsibility for their decisions....

Both Kerry and Bush could use some work in that area...

[jmstein7]

"Also, for good or bad, he has been elected, re-elected several times, and served the public for a long time... "

So has Ted Kennedy. That means nothing.

"Attacking the opposition on character issues instead of policy issues is a clear indication to me that someone is a little too defensive"

Exactly -- and that is ALL the Democrat candidates have done... attack. Not a single one of them has said what they will DO; all they do is attack Bush.