[kcvl]

bttt

[skip2myloo]

From an earlier thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1077163/posts?page=1#1

Senate Packwood Hearing Carries into Second Day

The Senate, facing an unprecedented confrontation with one of its members, wrestled Monday with whether to go to court to force Republican Sen. Bob Packwood of Oregon to turn over hundreds of pages of personal diaries as part of an ethics committee investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and possible criminal wrongdoing.

After seven hours of often tedious debate over legal technicalities and constitutional questions, the Senate retired for the night, its leaders vowing to vote sometime Tuesday on whether to support the committee's effort to obtain the diaries by subpoena.

So sensitive was the issue that by nightfall Monday no senator had openly defended Packwood, although several had raised legal points on his behalf. And while only a few indicated how they would vote, informal comments by others demonstrated that Packwood faces an uphill fight in his effort to persuade the Senate to side with him on privacy grounds.

"We are being tested here," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "Let's tell the American people we are not going to cover up and we're not going to have a double standard.

Go to thread link for the ‘rest of the story.’

[TheSarce]

Today's birthdays: ...Peter Tork, 62; ...Florence Henderson, 70

Way off subject, I know, but after I read these, Kerry's first wife isn't the only one who's depressed! Peter Tork of the Monkees is in his sixties? And Mrs. Brady is seventy?

Definite Pop Culture Shock moment...

[mewzilla]

The big question: Did Dean opt not to pull out of the race after the Wisconsin primary because he was waiting for the Kerry scandal to erupt?

Duh :)

[COUNTrecount]

"In addition to Gore backing Howard Dean for president, because he wanted access to the cadre of Dean youth called the "Deanie babies" when he runs for president again and goes up against Hillary Clinton, Gore chose Dean because he feared the Kerry female mess would rear its ugly head," the source added.

Since Gore knew about Kerry's baggage and was probably very unhappy that his man Dr.Demento was attacked to the point of almost being nullified as a candidate, it's not much of a leap to think that Gore, not Clark-Clinton, released the Kerry bombshell.This news may resurrect Dean and allow Gore to recapture his Demo power base.

[Alas Babylon!]

Is this the first story on this in the American media (save Drudge and Rush)? If so, they seemed to have pulled it. I got a "Page not found" on the link.

[DM1]

I hope that this derails Kerry he is beating bush by almost 10 points in the latest poll

[TheSarce]

"In addition to Gore backing Howard Dean for president, because he wanted access to the cadre of Dean youth called the "Deanie babies" when he runs for president again and goes up against Hillary Clinton, Gore chose Dean because he feared the Kerry female mess would rear its ugly head," the source added.

Hmmm, looks like Sneed's "top source" even managed a classic two-fer, also managing to slime Gore's motives a little bit: see, Gore only endorsed Dean over Kerry 'cause he'll need all the help he can get from the useful Deanbots when he runs against Saint Hillary, don'tcha know.

Heck, I just read it again and it's actually a THREE-fer! While the main point is to torpedo Kerry, it also takes a dig at Dean by implying that Gore obviously would have endorsed Kerry over Dean had it not been for Kerry's "ugly mess."

So much mud slung in one little sentence. Must be just a coincidence that the only Dem the "top source" doesn't manage to slime as a Presidential candidate is Hillary...

[js1138]

...heiress to the Heinz Ketchup fortune, whom he met in 1990.

...Pennsylvania Republican Sen. John Heinz -- who was killed in a plane crash in 1991 ...

Hmmmm...

[js1138]

Just for the record, Kerry denies the bimbo allegations absolutely on Imus. Nothing is there, Nothing will come up.

[Neets]

A top source tells Sneed Gore was talking about Kerry's sexual baggage "with a young woman" as recently as late last week!

"He BETRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYED US!!"

[AmericanMade1776]

John Kerry's first wife, Julia Thorne's book Monday, May 12, 2003 11:58 a.m. EDT John Kerry's Newt Gingrich Problem? After Newt Gingrich hit the national spotlight in 1994 by becoming the first Republican speaker of the House in 40 years, he was skewered by reports that he had served his first wife divorce papers as she lay in a hospital bed battling cancer. But the press has been far kinder to Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry, who, according to published accounts going back more than a decade, began extricating himself from his first marriage to Philadelphia heiress Julia Thorne at the same time she was battling a case of depression so debilitating that it drove her to the brink of suicide. In an attempt to explain why he decided not to let his wife's precarious mental state derail his 1982 bid to become Michael Dukakis' lieutenant governor, Kerry told the New Yorker magazine last December, "When I get focused and set out to do something, I'm pretty good at staying focused." "You don't want to let yourself down, you know what I'm saying?" added the ambitious Democrat without a hint of irony. Thorne, whose family is reportedly worth $300 million, married Kerry in 1970. According the New Yorker's Joe Klein, the couple's friends said Julia was not a typical political wife. "There were times at dinner parties when John would be very pompous, unable to control his impulse to make a speech," one acquaintance told the writer. "It was all slightly laughable, and Julia was one of those who laughed. She'd say things like, 'What the f--k did you just say?'" Kerry's career focus was so intense that Thorne apparently felt she was an impediment to her husband's ambitions. In her 1994 book about that period in her life, titled "You Are Not Alone," she wrote: "I could no longer pretend I was of use to my husband or my children. ... I knew that, once I was gone, my family and friends would be relieved of the burden of my incompetency." By Thorne's own account, she began to contemplate suicide a full two years before Kerry ratcheted up his 1982 campaign. Reviewing her book shortly after it was published, the Boston Globe reported: "One night in 1980, Julia Thorne put her children to bed and then sat on the edge of her own bed to contemplate suicide. She was exhausted - overwhelmed by despair, self-loathing and pain. She wanted to lie down. Curl up. Sleep forever." The Kerrys were separated in 1982 but didn't divorce until 1988. Press summaries of the New Yorker report focused on other details of Kerry's life story, such as his Vietnam heroism. Most omitted any mention of Kerry's first wife altogether, a fact that likely pleased the Massachusetts Democrat. "Kerry is understandably loath to talk about the details of the marriage," noted Klein. In response to the New Yorker report, Sen. Kerry wrote what was described as "an anguished letter" of protest to the magazine. Thorne's two daughters by Kerry also registered their displeasure. Their mother, who has since conquered her depression and is happily remarried and living in Montana, told the Globe, "I support John's [presidential] candidacy, and I believe in John's candidacy. I think he is an immensely talented statesman, and I am 100 percent behind him." But previous reports indicate that Thorne had problems with Kerry even after they split 21 years ago. During the period the Kerrys were separated, for instance, the senator apparently felt little constrained by his marital vows. Gossip columns at the time linked him to Morgan Fairchild, Cornelia Guest and even President Reagan's liberal daughter, Patti Davis. An upcoming Boston Globe expose will reportedly feature details of the Massachusetts Democrat's 1980s affair with a 25-year-old British reporter. According to a previous account offered by the paper, the fact that Kerry was still technically married till 1988 "reportedly came as a surprise to some of his frequent companions." Just weeks before his May 26, 1995, remarriage to Ketchup heiress Theresa Heinz, Thorne took Kerry to court in a bid for an increase in child support payments, arguing that "his income was up substantially," according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Both Kerry and Thorne denied that the lawsuit had anything to do with Heinz or her fortune. But friction arose again two years later when Kerry, a Catholic, applied to the Washington, D.C., archdiocese to have his marriage to Thorne annulled, even though the couple had two grown daughters. Thorne "has written a letter of opposition to the archdiocese because she feels the process demeans their relationship and their children," reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1997. The paper blamed Kerry's new wife on the annulment bid. His office issued a terse statement: "Sen. Kerry very much understands Julia's feelings and appreciates her support. Sen. Kerry believes that this is a private family matter." The Washington Times noted in a Kerry profile several years ago that his critics consider him "a ruthless political opportunist." Given some of the more obscure details of Kerry's first marriage, that assessment may not be too far off the mark. http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml?a=2003/5/12/120519

[Chris Talk]

Divers report, too much Baggage to Port

Caused the Wreck of the John "Ketchup" Kerry!

[maggief]

Queries for Kerry

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is rebuffing claims that he skipped the funeral of his state's first casualty in Iraq to attend a fund-raiser for his presidential campaign.

Kerry was addressing the Arizona Democratic Caucus last week when 22-year-old Matthew Boule of Dracut was laid to rest. But Kerry's camp insists he did not put his bid for the White House ahead of the Boule family's grief.

"Sen. Kerry was unable to attend the funeral and spoke with the family of Spec. Boule to express his condolences," said spokesman Tony Wyche.

He added that Kerry was not fund-raising, but launching a policy initiative on prescription- drug reform for veterans. Kerry himself served in Vietnam.

Such is the scrutiny on the man who would be President. The Boston Globe is working up a series about the candidate that will revisit his bachelor days. Among the morsels: His relationship with British gin heiress Emma Gilbey (now married to The New York Times' Bill Keller) is reputed to have ended when she took a fancy to Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

We asked Wyche if he cared to comment on this lighthearted issue. "It may be lighthearted to you," Wyche intoned, declining to elaborate.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/77644p-71622c.html

Originally published on April 23, 2003