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KERRY USED AN EXPLETIVE TO DESCRIBE SECRET SERVICE AGENT WHO KNOCKED ME OVER
DRUDGE Via NY Times ^ | 3/19/04

Posted on 03/19/2004 8:58:11 AM PST by areafiftyone

KETCHUM, Idaho, March 18 — John Kerry was in the air, approaching the Continental Divide, and the candidate often ridiculed as straddling both sides of political divides was wrestling with the big matter at hand.

Should he ski, or snowboard? Or maybe both? He gave no clue where he stood. But that was Wednesday night.

A longtime adviser recently suggested that there were two John Kerrys: "indoor John and outdoor John" — one who agonizes over decisions, and another who acts boldly on them.

It was outdoor John, decidedly so, who emerged from an armored S.U.V. at the foot of Bald Mountain here on Thursday morning, outfitted in blue ski gear and swigging from a bottle of vitamin-fortified water. From the rear of the vehicle he pulled a weathered old snowboard, and for most of the day proceeded to zigzag down what locals affectionately call Mount Baldy.

Mr. Kerry arrived Wednesday night for a full week of rest and relaxation, and a rare bit of privacy with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, at their high-altitude retreat.

His getaway came at a particularly rough time for the senator, the expected Democratic presidential nominee. For more than a week, he has had to defend himself from an onslaught of attacks by President Bush and millions of dollars in negative advertising, while taking criticism for calling Republicans "crooked" and "lying" and claiming to have the support of leaders whom he has not named. Moreover, a New York Times/CBS News poll indicated that many Americans were beginning to see him as the kind of politician who says what he thinks people want to hear.

Several Democrats and Kerry aides said some of his missteps were a result of exhaustion. They and some of the senator's friends said the vacation could not have come too soon. "He needed it about as badly as anybody could need it," said Sam Grossman, a real estate developer who has skied with Ms. Heinz Kerry here for decades, and with Mr. Kerry for years. "The best thing that can happen is he'll sleep, relax, eat some good food, and then, in a couple of days, he'll be back firing again."

Another reminder of how badly Mr. Kerry needed a break was provided by the Bush campaign, which released a commercial skewering him for saying Tuesday that he had voted both for and against the $87 billion appropriation for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it," he said, referring to an amendment he favored that would have rescinded some tax cuts to help finance the Iraq war.

Mr. Kerry's staff back in Washington was working in overdrive, meanwhile, marshaling surrogates to defend him and punch back at Mr. Bush. They were also compelled, however, to reject an endorsement from one foreign leader: Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian prime minister — "an avowed anti-Semite whose views are totally deplorable," Rand Beers, a foreign policy adviser, said in a statement.

But Mr. Beers added that Mr. Kerry would shun as inappropriate the endorsement of any foreign leader at all.

This is Mr. Kerry's first week with his wife away from the hurly-burly, as he calls it, since late August. Then, of course, no one much cared where he went.

This time his arrival was the top story in the local paper. His plane, a chartered 737, disgorged dozens of staff members and journalists, as well as a full Secret Service detail. A top-flight racing bicycle was also along, in case Mr. Kerry, as serious a biker as he is a schusser, chose to go for a spin.

On his first full day off, though, Mr. Kerry awoke determined to hit the slopes of Mount Baldy.

The image-conscious EGOTISTICAL candidate and his aides prevailed upon reporters and photographers to let him have a first run down the mountain solo, except for two agents and Marvin Nicholson, his omnipresent right-hand man.

His next trip down, a reporter and a camera crew were allowed to follow along on skis — just in time to see Mr. Kerry taken out by one of the Secret Service men, who had inadvertently moved into his path, sending him into the snow.

When asked about the mishap a moment later, he said sharply, "I don't fall down," then used an expletive to describe the agent who "knocked me over."

The incident occurred near the summit. No one was hurt, and Mr. Kerry came careering down the mountain moments later, a look of intensity on his face, his lanky frame bent low to the ground.

Ms. Heinz Kerry, for her part, stuck to a pair of skis and was taking her time down the slope, accompanied by two old friends, one a former Olympian, the other a ski school instructor.

"I'm going tentatively, but prettily," she said, wearing tight black pants and a flaming red jacket.

The couple's outing created little stir here amid this natural splendor, but then Sun Valley is used to people like Tom Hanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

"People of great fame and wealth can come here, and people don't invade their privacy," said one visitor, Larry Nast of Bellevue, Wash.

Still, Mr. Kerry could not entirely escape the hazards of the arena he had left behind. He had just sat down for a bite to eat on the crowded patio near the lift line when a waiting skier, John Norris, shouted: "Hey, John! What foreign leaders talked to you?"

Mr. Kerry beat a retreat back into the lodge, to an upstairs, out-of-the-way dining area where he would be sure to draw even less attention. (COWARD!)

Idaho, to be sure, is very much a red state, but Ketchum is actually a dot of deep Democratic blue on the political map. Many stop signs here have "Bush 2004" spray-painted underneath, and the rebellious teenagers tend to be "hard-core vegans," said Barrett Cincotta, 13.

"Everyone in this town is anti-Bush," Barrett, a Junior Olympic skier, said between runs. "He's trying to destroy our planet."

Even visiting Texans were sympathetic to Mr. Kerry. Admiring the senator's choice of sport, Patrick Riggins, 51, a Houston real estate investor, said, "It's a little bit different from clearing brush, but I like it."

"Snowboarding really keeps you in the now moment," said Mr. Riggins, who added that he was rooting for Mr. Kerry. "Maybe it'll give him a chance to not think about all that stuff, and revitalize himself. This is the place to do it."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Idaho
KEYWORDS: 2004; kerry; profanity; sunvalley; usss
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To: AppyPappy
Yep, I read it on a website. It said ONE of Bush's goals was TO DESTROY THE PLANET. It must be true, I read it on a website.
21 posted on 03/19/2004 9:14:16 AM PST by Probus
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To: ConservativeMan55; Born Conservative; doug from upland; Mia T; ALOHA RONNIE
Rush talking about gutter-mouth John F'in Kerry now... how Kerry is taking a ski vacation on the one year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, while President Bush is fighting the War on Terror...
22 posted on 03/19/2004 9:14:41 AM PST by nutmeg (Why vote for Bush? Imagine Commander in Chief John F’in al-Qerry)
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To: areafiftyone
What an A-Hole. I'm beginning to develop an active hatred for this guy.
23 posted on 03/19/2004 9:15:52 AM PST by reagan_fanatic (So you're a feminist - isn't that cute!)
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To: el_texicano
"Moreover, a New York Times/CBS News poll indicated that many Americans were beginning to see him as the kind of politician who says what he thinks people want to hear."

Thank God. If this guy makes it to the White House, geeeeez!
24 posted on 03/19/2004 9:16:05 AM PST by Probus
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To: areafiftyone
"Everyone in this town is anti-Bush," Barrett, a Junior Olympic skier, said between runs. "He's trying to destroy our planet."

Little Barrett would make Papa Stalin proud. He has learned the leftist drivel well.

25 posted on 03/19/2004 9:16:20 AM PST by eleni121 (Preempt and Prevent---then Destroy)
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To: areafiftyone
Unless they can get Bush for child molestation or something the Dems are in for the drubbing of their lives, and it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.
26 posted on 03/19/2004 9:16:57 AM PST by claudiustg (Go Sharon! Go Bush!)
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To: AppyPappy
"Everyone in this town is anti-Bush," Barrett, a Junior Olympic skier, said between runs. "He's trying to destroy our planet."

Boy, that Barrett is a real deep thinker

Actually, that 13-year-old is just as deep as Howard Dean and Terry McAuliffe.

27 posted on 03/19/2004 9:18:49 AM PST by inkling
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To: areafiftyone
"hurly-burly"

kinda girly-girly if you ask me!

28 posted on 03/19/2004 9:18:55 AM PST by malia (because of John F. Kerry !!! - How the Vietnam Generation was Robbed of its Heroes and its History)
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To: Lil'freeper
Kerry never falls down


Weebles
"Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down"
By Tori Mask
Weebles When Hasbro aquired Romper Room Inc. in 1969 the Weebles were on their way to Toy History. The Romper Room Show itself began in 1954 and was syndicated or franchised across America until the early seventies, when Weebles toys hit the marketplace.

The genesis of these little toys that wobbled but never fell down was actually the Romper Room Punching Clown -- Weebles are tiny plastic versions of "bop-bags".




One of several related threads on this:

Kerry says: "I Don't Fall Down" (Drudge's title)
29 posted on 03/19/2004 9:19:17 AM PST by TomGuy ('Jacques strap' Kerry is scarey.)
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To: areafiftyone
There was a certain event that involved Ernest Hemingway in Ketchum, Idaho back in July 1961. Maybe Kerry can do us all a favor and re-enact it. I'm sure he's got a 12-gauge laying around somewhere...
30 posted on 03/19/2004 9:19:28 AM PST by HenryLeeII ("The war on terror is not a figure of speech, it is an inescapable calling of our generation." -GWB)
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To: inkling
My Secret Service story about Al Gore is that no one liked to cover him since he sweated so much -- the odor I understand was pretty bad. It will be interesting if things re: Kerry begin to slip out.
31 posted on 03/19/2004 9:20:29 AM PST by Ceoman
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To: areafiftyone
KERRY MAY BE RICH BUT HIS MOUTH IS GUTTER WHITE TRASH!

Exactly. Some ambicious Freeper should gather a list of all his remarks over the last 30 years.

32 posted on 03/19/2004 9:20:48 AM PST by mtbopfuyn
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To: Damocles
"Everyone in this town is anti-Bush," Barrett, a Junior Olympic skier, said between runs. "He's trying to destroy our planet."

This mommy's boy better not go anywhere else in I da ho or he will get his ___ kicked. I would happy to bet him $10K that W carries the state in '04. Wonder who was vandalizing those stop signs? May want to check for spray cans in Yaaaawn's 8 car garage??

Pray for W and the Truth

33 posted on 03/19/2004 9:20:49 AM PST by bray (Hey Yaaaawn, can we hear some war stories???)
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To: TomGuy
This should hit the conservative talk shows this afternoon.

It did, Rush just did a number on it.
Would be very interesting if the "Bono Syndrome" should happen to kick in.....
34 posted on 03/19/2004 9:21:08 AM PST by 76834
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To: areafiftyone
"... Barrett Cincotta, 13 ..."

Quoting 13-year old, hard-core vegans. Is this investigative journalism? What are these people thinking?

35 posted on 03/19/2004 9:21:45 AM PST by capitan_refugio
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To: areafiftyone
Don't you all think it's interesting that the New York Times is running an article that makes Kerry look this foolish? What's up?
36 posted on 03/19/2004 9:22:04 AM PST by lady lawyer
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To: areafiftyone
"Everyone in this town is anti-Bush," Barrett, a Junior Olympic skier, said between runs. "He's trying to destroy our planet."

Ah, the mind-numbing logic of the typical Democrat voter!

37 posted on 03/19/2004 9:23:37 AM PST by Gritty ("This is beyond appeasement. This is decadence: Terror rages and we tend our garden"-C Krauthammer)
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To: areafiftyone
Cussing out the people who risk their lives to protect you. Oh, good one, Johnny. Real CinC material there, all right...
38 posted on 03/19/2004 9:24:00 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: Ceoman
My Secret Service story about Al Gore is that no one liked to cover him since he sweated so much -- the odor I understand was pretty bad. It will be interesting if things re: Kerry begin to slip out.

Ugh... poor Tipper. This secret service agent wasn't a very partisan guy, but said that if Gore had won he would have retired. He stunk in more ways than one!

39 posted on 03/19/2004 9:24:46 AM PST by inkling
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To: lady lawyer
I was thinking the same thing. The media didn't generally report similar incidents from Clinton or Gore...

I wonder if the Dems really might dump Kerry. They obviously should, but will they?

40 posted on 03/19/2004 9:24:54 AM PST by HarryCaul
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