In '71 Antiwar Words, a Complex View of Kerry (huge barf alert)

The New York Times ^ | 2/28/2004 | TODD S. PURDUM

[Utah Girl]

For many Democrats, part of Mr. Kerry's appeal lies in the very fact that he both served in, then opposed the war, giving him the cachet of gallant warrior and principled dissident.

I think I'm going to be sick.

[Utah Girl]

Just to add to the nausea factor...

[DoughtyOne]

The liberals would like us to believe that complexity explains away the abuses of John Kerry. Unable to see things as right or wrong, the issue of John Kerry and his sordid past, is indeed complex to them. Able to see right from wrong, conservatives find this a simple issue of John Kerry being unfit to hold any public office, let alone the one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Is anyone amazed that the appologists for Bill Clinton find John Kerry to be a man of high moral fibre? Need I say more...

[Utah Girl]

How can they??? Kerry flops more than a fish on a hook. Truly amazing self delusion amongst the left.

[Reactionary]

Here we go with the usual liberal mewling about the "complex nature" of a liberal presidential frontrunner. Like clockwork, the press lemmings produce these stories to confuse voters and to confuse whatever issues there are at hand. In this case, it's Kerry's record - or more accurately his involvement with known 60s Marxist revolutionaries.

So we get the usual trip about "nuance" and "complexity" when referring to something everyone knows. Liberals love to be told they have a real respect for "complexity" even if their political speech amounts to nothing more than name-calling and personal attacks.

[MJY1288]

This article is a prime example of the Liberal mindset, They have no principles, it's what ever the flavor of the day is. They believe that no one should be held responsible for their actions, unless there is a chance to further the Socialist Utopian Society they dream about, then they get the long knives out.

John Kerry was not just a dissident, he testified about atrocities he never saw, he smeared his brothers in arms while they were still fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. He betrayed them at the least, and came very close to committing Treason.

Benedict Arnold was a "Gallant Warrior" at one time as well

[nopardons]

Much more of one, tha Kerry ever was.

[Utah Girl]

I'd forgotten about that. I refuse to watch Chris Matthews anymore, but he was also mewing about how uncurious President Bush was, and how unintellectual he was. The Left does place a high premium on 'smart intellectualism' which is just like a sixties college BS session.

[MJY1288]

"The Left does place a high premium on 'smart intellectualism' which is just like a sixties college BS session."

Yes, just like the way they can excuse placing a Crucifix in a vase of Urine as a form of Art that provokes thought and expresses the torment the artist has been through

[NYCVirago]

Whenever the libs in the media use the words "complex" or "nuanced", the real meaning is flip-flopper and liar.

[Knuckle Sandwich Combo]

COMPLEXITY = EXCUSES

[Timeout]

The NY Times is just getting this story out of the way.

--Saturday edition.

--In the "dead zone" between primaries and the general election.

--Report just enough bare facts to say they've done the story, sprinkled liberally (no pun intended) with exculpatory quotes from politically motivated players.

This could be known as "killing the story by putting it on the front page".

[Interesting Times]

Outstanding!

The Dems are feeling enough heat on this that the NY Times is being called upon to do some damage control.

But even as they spin, minimize, and excuse, we have the conversation firmly focused on *our* topic.

See www.wintersoldier.com for considerably more on the subject.

Did you know that Kerry went to a Paris "peace talk" to meet with NVA and Vietcong leaders *before* the Senate appearance that made him famous? Or that during the little-reported Q&A portion of his testimony, Kerry accused the U.S. military of murdering 200,000 Vietnamese civilians per year?

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

He lost my vote 33 years ago, in 1971, when he slandered me and 3,000,000 of my buddies.

[secretagent]

For many Democrats, part of Mr. Kerry's appeal lies in the very fact that he both served in, then opposed the war, giving him the cachet of gallant warrior and principled dissident.

Yes, the central Hollywood myth!

[secretagent]

Good point. I learned from your site:

'Asked for a recommendation about possible courses of action for Congress to
pursue, Kerry stated that he had talked with representatives from Hanoi and from
the PRG (Viet Cong) at the Paris peace talks, and mentioned his support for
"Madam Binh's points." Madam Win Thi Binh was at that time the Foreign Minister
for the PRG.'

[GraceCoolidge]

But when Mr. Kerry was involved, contemporaries recount, he often took steps to moderate the group's actions, believing it was better — for it, and him — to work within the political system that he ultimately sought to join.

To me, that says it all. Two key points: 1. How noble it is to "moderate" the actions of a malevolent group...gee, isn't that praiseworthy. What a totally unprincipled position... you can join a hate group, as long as you are trying to "moderate" it. I'd like to see that rationale applied to some other groups... 2. Kerry was trying to "work within the political system that he ultimately sought to join." So is that NY Times speak for an effort to maintain his "political viability" (hmmmm, where have we heard that before?). It wasn't about principle, it was about electability, at that time at least in Massachusetts.

[SandRat]

Nah when a liberal says that there is complexity involved what they are saying is that you are too stupid to understand the issue. Even if they are talking about one of their own the very second that complexity word is used it's code for you're STUPID!

[scotiamor]

I see the picture of Kerry --- who is that guy with him - isn't that his driving instructor? Or maybe his sex-ed instructor - both of them (Kennedy and Kerry) were well known for sexual conquests then - Wonder if Kerry ever got invited to the rape compound the Kennedy's ran in Florida?

[aculeus]

Little Todd just wants to keep his boss happy:

Quote:
the Times's new publisher, Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger Jr ... was a sixties anti-war activist who famously declared that in a confrontation between an American and a North Vietnamese soldier he'd want to see the American get shot."
Unquote.
Stanley Kurtz (NRO on line, June 5, 2001)