KERRY RESPONDS ON 'GMA'

ABC NEWS GOOD MORNING AMERICA'S CHARLIE GIBSON: Now joining us from West Virginia is himself senator John Kerry. He's in the town of Glen Easton, West Virginia, today. Good to have you with us.

GIBSON: 1984, senator, to the present. you have said a number of times, as brian pointed out as recently as friday with the ""los angeles times,"" have you said a number of times that you did not throw away the vietnam medals themselves. but now this interview from 1971 shows up the in which you say that was the medals themselves that were thrown away.

KERRY: absolutely. that's absolutely incorrect. charlie, i stood up in front of the nation. there were dozens of cameras there, television cameras, there were -- i don't know. 20, 30 still photographers. thousands of people and i stood up in front of the country, reached into my shirt, visibly for the nation to see, and took the ribbons off my chest, said a few words and threw them over the fence. the file footage, the reporter there from the ""boston globe,"" everybody got it correctly. and i never asserted otherwise. what i said was and back then, you know, ribbons, medals were absolutely interchangeable . senator simmington asking me questions in the committee hearing, look ad at the ribbons and said what are those medals? the u.s. navy pam let calls the medals, we referred to them it is a symbols, representing medals, ribbons, countless veterans through the ribbon -- threw the ribbons back. everybody did. veterans threw back dog tags. they threw back photographs, they th rew back their 14's. there are photographs of a pile of all of those things collected on the steps of the capitol. so the fact is that i have -- i have been accurate precisely about what took place. and i am the one who later made clear exactly what happened. i mean, this is a controversy that the republicans are pushing , the republicans have spent $60 million in the last few weeks trying to attack me. and this comes from a president and a republican party that can't even answer whether or not he showed up for duty in the national guard. i'm not going to stand for it.

GIBSON: senator, i was there 33 years ago and i saw you throw medals over the fence and we didn't find out until later -

KERRY: no, you didn't see me throw th. charlie, charlie, you are wrong. that's not what happened. i threw my ribbons across. all you have to do -

KERRY: after -- excuse me. excuse me, charlie. after the ceremony was over, i had a bronze star and a purple heart given to me, one purple heart by a veteran in the v.a. in new york and the bronze star by an older veteran of world war ii in massachusetts. i threw them over because they asked me to. i never --

GIBSON: the military makes no distinction between ribbons and medals but you are the one who made the distinction. in 1984 --

GIBSON: senator, i don't want -- i just want to ask the question. in 1984 when you were running for the senate, that was the first time that you called someone in from labor because they were upset that you had thrown ribbons away.

GIBSON: you called them and you made the distinction and said i didn't throw my medals away. i just threw the ribbons away. you made the distinction.

KERRY: i was asked specifically in greater detail about what took place. i answered the question truthfully. which is consistent with what happened in 1971. i mean, charlie, go back and get the file footage. there are were millions of people watching. i took my ribbons off my chest just as other veterans did. this is a phony controversy. this is being pushed yesterday by karen hughes of the white house on fox. it shows up at a several different stations at the same time. the republicans are running $10 million this week to attack my credentials on defense. this comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the national guard.

GIBSON: i-understand you are feeling politics is behind this. but i ask you, is it not --

GIBSON: when trying to appeal to the anti-war people in 1971, you said as in that interview, it was the medals and then when the people who supported the war were giving you political problems, you then said i didn't throw the medals away 13 years later.

KERRY: that's the most -- with all due respect, that's the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. because i stood up in front of the country, in front of cameras, a reporter of the ""boston globe"" got it correct . he wrote about the medals but knew they were my ribbons. everybody understood what we were doing. i even said in that interview we threw away the symbols of what our country gave us for what we had gone through. and if i was -- you know, back then, trying to appeal to somebody, i stood up against richard nixon, stood up against the withar, took a position, and it wasn't popular, and it was polarizing. i didn't have to do it. if i was trying to hide something, i would have never stood there in floment of everybody and thrown them over the fence. i threw my ribbons over. i threw the medals of two veterans who asked me to throw them over, after the ceremony, completely separate, and i'm the one -- if hi something to hide, i'm the one who made it known exactly what happened. to me, it is one in the same. and i'm proud of it.

GIBSON: let me ask you, too, about two other things that you have said. subsequent to that. 1985, you said to ""the washington post,"" it is such a personal thing i did no want to throw my medals away. then 1996, you said to the ""boston globe,"" i didn't bring my own medals to throw because i didn't have time to go home and get them. which one was it?

KERRY: i expressed there was great sense of wrench being the whole thing. many of us -- we had a long argument the night before, charlie. it is a matter of record. as to how we were going to do it. and the vote was taken. i was not in favor of throwing them over the fence. i thought we ought to lay them on a table and put them in front of people in a way that, you know, wouldn't be as challenging to many americans. other veterans felt otherwise. they took a vote. the vote was made, they voted to throw. i threw my ribbons. i didn't have my medals. it is very simple . what the republicans are trying to do is make this into an issue because they have no record to run on and they can't go out and talk about jobs or health care or environment. they are going to attack 35 years ago. last week in an unprecedented attack, they sent congressmen to the floor of the senate of the house to attack me on the anniversary of my speech. george bush has yet to explain to america whether or no t to tell the truth about whether he showed up for duty. i'm not going to get attack order something i did that's a matter of record that the press saw, that i did in front of the entire nation and everyone then understood there was no distinction. we threw away the symbols of the war. i'm proud i stood up and fought stood up and fought against it. proud i took on richard nixon. and i think to this day, there's no distinction between the two.

GIBSON: all right. senator, i appreciate your being with us this morning. i'm glad to have you here. thank you. all the best. diane?

Even in the face of this sort of blatant, pathetic double talk that speaks of all the worsts in his character.

Can you say "Clintonesque"? I knew you could.

John Kerry doing his best Bart Simpson imitation "I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, can't prove anything."

"i stood up in front of the nation. there were dozens of cameras there, television cameras, there were -- i don't know. 20, 30 still photographers. thousands of people and i stood up in front of the country, reached into my shirt, visibly for the nation to see, and took the ribbons off my chest, said a few words and threw them over the fence."

I would like to see the film of Kerry doing that as well as see the still pictures.

Where are these pictures now so that we can verify what Kerry claims?

KERRY: no, you didn't see me throw th. charlie, charlie, you are wrong. that's not what happened. i threw my ribbons across. all you have to do -

What an arrogant piece of shiite.

His "how dare you question me" attitude will turn off a lot of voters.

Kerry's problem is that his is not Clintonesque. Clinton could pull it off without a 2nd thought or single problem. Kerry can't do it.

25 posted on 04/26/2004 9:55:31 AM PDT by Phantom Lord (Distributor of Pain, Your Loss Becomes My Gain)

What's the world record for tossing a ribbon, 3 feet? How did it clear the fence without the weight of a medal?

"Gibson claims he SAW Kerry throw his medals. Kerry tells Gibson he's wrong and tells him "Get the tape. There's file footage of this" (paraphrase)"

Don't believe your lying eyes, Gibson. Believe what I am saying!! Do you know who I am?

For medals
against medals
for ribbons
against ribbons
for someone elses ribbons
against someone elses ribbons

Hillary must be laughing out loud!

31 posted on 04/26/2004 9:58:31 AM PDT by Seeking the truth (The Bullhorn that chased Jesse is right on my desk as I type this!)

"What's sad, is that Kerry's followers blindlessly say, KERRY ROCKS! Even in the face of this sort of blatant, pathetic double talk that speaks of all the worsts in his character."

I said this on another thread, bears repeating: Kerry could say in a press conference that the United States was the most unjust, evil nation in the world and he'd still get 35-40% of the vote in November.

33 posted on 04/26/2004 9:58:42 AM PDT by Rebelbase ("Kerry is the female version of Hillary"............FReeper Paul Atreides)

I hope Gibson doesn't take this lying down.

You're right - Kerry basically called Gibson a liar when Gibson said he SAW Kerry throw his medals.

ABC - get the tape!

KERRY: no, you didn't see me throw th. charlie, charlie, you are wrong. that's not what happened. i threw my ribbons across.

You can bet Charlie and staff are viewing old tapes. If they can find further proof Kerry lied again (first to Peter Jennings in December) and Charlie this morning, they will toast Kerry.

Rush might be right on this--that Jennings is out to get Kerry now for lying to him, Jennings.

ABC News might have declared war on Kerry.

35 posted on 04/26/2004 9:59:02 AM PDT by TomGuy (Clintonites have such good hind-sight because they had their heads up their hind-ends 8 years.)

"And I did not inhale".

"And I did not commit war atrocities, but we all committed them"

36 posted on 04/26/2004 9:59:21 AM PDT by biblewonk (The only book worth reading, and reading, and reading.)

I'm not an expert either and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express, but here are some stats:

Number of Kerry responses during interview: 13
Number of words needed to flip-flop: 1,027
Number of characters need to flip-flop: 5,402

Let's see how Hillary!_{TM US media} would have handled the same question...

HILLARY: "Look at it logically Charlie. Whether you believe me then or you believe me now doesn't matter. What matters is that you believe me! I'm someone you can believe in and that's what matters in a president! Right?"

GIBSON: "Oh Hillary, I'm such a dunce. You're 'the smartest woman in the world'_{TM US media} !"

38 posted on 04/26/2004 9:59:56 AM PDT by mrsmith ("Oyez, oyez! All rise for the Honorable Chief Justice... Hillary Rodham Clinton ")

Oh, man. Et tu Charlie? It's almost to the point where one has to start thinking that the media is trying to bring him down. Could this get any worse for Kerry? Here he goes on GMA, a Democratic friendly zone, and gets proverbially fragged by Mr. Gibson. Stop the madness.

Very true, they usually play softball with the democrats. This is wierd.

39 posted on 04/26/2004 10:00:24 AM PDT by biblewonk (The only book worth reading, and reading, and reading.)

"I actually did throw my medals away before I didn't throw my medals away."

Kerry Theme Song.

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