Posted on 03/23/2004 12:36:29 AM PST by kattracks
KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) — Reports that the FBI monitored John Kerry's anti-war activities in the early 1970s highlight the need "to be vigilant about civil liberties," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said Monday.In a radio interview Monday evening on WBZ-AM in Boston, Kerry said the reports are "such ancient history."
"It's just sort of in the past, but it underscores to everyone of us why we have to be vigilant about civil liberties, why we have to have an attorney general who respects the Constitution, and why our Bill of Rights is so important in the United States," said Kerry, who was on vacation in Sun Valley.
He added: "We're suddenly learning about it because I am about to be the nominee of the party, and the Republicans are very good at finding records that have been lost for a long period of time, particularly when they control the government."
The Los Angeles Times, in a story published Monday, cited FBI documents indicating the bureau spent a year monitoring the activities of the group Vietnam Veterans Against the War. After returning from Vietnam, where he commanded a swift boat and won honors that included three Purple Hearts, Kerry became a leader of the group, thus coming under FBI scrutiny.
Earlier Monday, a spokesman for Kerry's campaign said the reports are both "a badge of honor" and a troubling example of government intrusion into peaceful and legitimate protest.
"Revealed in page after page of FBI reports is the portrait of John Kerry at age 27 speaking with courage and conviction, leading veterans to Washington for peaceful protests, advocating nonviolent protests and moderation," said spokesman David Wade.
Wade noted that the FBI concluded Kerry was simply a peaceful and legitimate protester, but he said reports of the clandestine surveillance of the group brought home the troubling divisions the war created for the country.
"That the Hoover FBI and the Nixon White House paid such attention to John Kerry is both a badge of honor and a reminder of that difficult pre-Watergate era in our country," Wade said.
He said Kerry returned "with a deep sense of moral responsibility to end the war" and understood at the time he was fighting against entrenched powers.
"He knew it wouldn't be easy," Wade said. "The Nixon White House set out to destroy him because he was a credible voice speaking up for veterans. Now we learn that J. Edgar Hoover's FBI was following his every move."
Although Kerry was a leader of the VVAW, he eventually left it after concluding that the most effective way to oppose the war was to run for public office, Wade said.
So is the Vietnam war, but Kerry doesn't seem to have a problem using it for his political purposes.
He added: "We're suddenly learning about it because I am about to be the nominee of the party....
No, we're hearing about it because Kerry chose to make the Vietnam war part of his campaign. Unfortunately for him, he can't pick and choose which aspects of that war he want to talk about.
"Revealed in page after page of FBI reports is the portrait of John Kerry at age 27 speaking with courage and conviction, leading veterans to Washington for peaceful protests, advocating nonviolent protests and moderation," said spokesman David Wade.
All the while belonging to a "peaceful" group that advocated the assassination of Senators who didn't agree with them.
"Lost" or "buried"? At least the Republicans aren't releasing these documents on the eve of the election like a certain Dim did with candidate Bush's DUI ticket. Think that cost President Bush a half a percent in the election? Then it cost him the popular vote.
I've been saying that the FBI and others who monitored for the HCUAA (House Committee on UnAmerican Activities) had photos (and likely film) of Kerry at rallies (and maybe even with Jane Fonda). The "Corbis" photo is only the tip of the iceberg.
"Hero" Kerry is worried about be discovered for the war criminal and traitor that he also is.
"--and leading an organization parroting communist propaganda and considering the assassination of US Senators." (I'm sure Wade just forgot that part.)
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