Kerry's Imaginary Friends

Powerline ^ | March 16, 2004 | Unknown

[conservativecorner]

The Republicans obviously think they are on to something with John Kerry's claim to have met with foreign leaders who told him they want him to beat President Bush. Yesterday, top Republican spokesmen like Scott McClellan, Vice-President Cheney and campaign spokesman Terry Holt all jumped on the bandwagon, criticizing Kerry for his comment, pressing him to divulge the identities of the supposed foreign leaders, and suggesting that Kerry was making the whole thing up.

Kerry's problem, apart from the impropriety of making such a claim even if it were true, is that a close examination of Kerry's schedule over the last year shows that it is almost certainly false, since he simply hasn't met with any foreign leaders.

Senator John Sununu added a new wrinkle yesterday when he pointed out that, as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry could have attended a number of "coffees" which are commonly held with visiting foreign leaders. "Unfortunately," Sununu said, "to the best of my knowledge, Senator Kerry hasn't attended any of the coffees since I've been a member of the United States Senate." Ouch. The "Kerry is AWOL from the Senate" theme, once again.

The story took a bizarre twist when the Boston Globe reporter who broke the original story tried to bail Kerry out by saying that after listening repeatedly to his audio tape, he now believes Kerry said he has met with "more leaders" who want him to beat Bush, not "foreign leaders." Unfortunately, this dodge didn't occur to Kerry until after he had already told reporters yesterday that:

"I have heard from people, foreign leaders elsewhere in the world who don't appreciate the Bush administration and would love to see a change in the leadership of the United States." Note that this statement is a significant climb-down from the original claim, which was that Kerry had "met with" foreign leaders who "look at you and say..." In other words, Kerry knows the original story was false, and can be shown to be false.

For now, this story mostly represents entertainment value. A single instance where Kerry is caught lying will not have great significance. The issue becomes significant only if a candidate is stereotyped as a person who can't tell the truth, so that his long nose becomes a joke, as happened to Al Gore in 2000. The Republicans clearly hope the same millstone can be hung around Kerry's neck this year. They may be right; there is certainly plenty of material to work with in the record, and for an experienced politician with a reputation for caution, Kerry comes out with a remarkable number of off-the-cuff blunders.

[cripplecreek]

I understand that John Kerry has chosen a running mate. It's his imaginary friend who's name is Drop Dead Fred.

[TomGuy]

Kerry's Imaginary Friends

This could come to rank right up there with Jimmy Carter's being attacked by the killer rabbit.

[So Cal Rocket]

[AgThorn]

this should help Kerry, Imaginary friends available on eBay:

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/redirect?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D2994305126

[blackdog]

Kerry was meeting with Shirley Maclain at the time and the room was so crowded with people from all countries, from all time periods it was hard to sort out just who was who?

Ghengas Khan was blowing spitballs at DeGaulle, Caesar was talking about brothels with JFK, and several units from the American civil war were settling some gambling debts with some deadbeat who went tits up at the Alamo.

One thing is certain though........That guy who wrote the Art of War, in the kimono should consider underwear. That may account for the "get rid of Bush" comment.

[gipper81]

bttt

[Puddleglum]

[moodyskeptic]

I have heard form world leaders, who, you know, look you in the eye and tell you: you must defeat the aliens in power, because the grays do not trust the lizard men. Halliburton controls the chip in Bush's brain.

[billorites]

Kerry's gotta win this thing.
We have to have a new policy.

[Imagine]

Motto of delusionary left:

"I think therefore it is (really, really.")

[rickmichaels]

"...to the best of my knowledge, Senator Kerry hasn't attended any of the coffees since I've been a member of the United States Senate."

Ketchup and coffee is like Kerry and the truth......neither goes well together.

[VadeRetro]

Not his only little fib lately. In Florida, before a strongly anti-Castro audience, he claimed to have voted for a bill penalizing businesses which deal with Cuba. He voted against the bill.

[cyncooper]

A short while ago a tape was played of President Bush in the Oval Office with the PM of the Netherlands.

A reporter asked President Bush about Kerry's claim to have heard from foreign leaders and he simply stated that if someone is running in a presidential election, they ought to be able to back up their claims with facts.

And they just did it AGAIN. All morning MSNBC has been reporting very briefly on the story as thus (and they are the channel I saw the above clip on, but I guess the anchors don't get that this story has not been "corrected", as they seem to think Kerry's been vindicated).

The MSNBC report is: The Bush administration has been criticizing John Kerry for saying he met with foreign leaders, BUT a reporter has corrected his notes to show that Kerry said "more", not "foreign".

And that's it. That's the MSNBC report which leaves the obvious implication that the WH screwed up by jumping the gun on this. I've already written on email pointing out that A) the word change does not change the context which is clearly referring to foreign leaders, and B) that Kerry has gone on to REPEAT the phrase for us all to hear.

I'm going to write them another note.

[Imagine]

Motto of delusionary left:

"I think therefore it is (really, really.")

[MrB]

Is that "Hennifer y Lopez" from South Park?

:)

[kevao]

This could come to rank right up there with Jimmy Carter's being attacked by the killer rabbit.

Well, that was no ordinary rabbit. That was the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on. Look, that rabbit had a vicious streak a mile wide. It was a killer!

[mtbopfuyn]

Secretly meeting with leaders wanting a change in leadership. Hmm, where was Kerry and what did he know about the bombings in Madrid? I'm only half joking.

[pad 34]

The author is:

John H. Hinderaker
"Hindrocket"

John H. Hinderaker is a lawyer with the Minneapolis law firm Faegre & Benson. For the past ten years Mr. Hinderaker has written with Institute fellow Scott Johnson on public policy issues including income inequality, income taxes, campaign finance reform, affirmative action, welfare reform, and race in the criminal justice system. Their articles have appeared in National Review, The American Enterprise, American Experiment Quarterly, and newspapers from Florida to California.

Mr. Hinderaker lives with his family in Apple Valley, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. He can be reached by phone at (612)766-8430.

[CatoRenasci]

Don't insult Harvey or other respectable pookahs by associating them with Jean-Francois Kerry's imaginary friends.