Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Kerry camp demands apology for quip
Washington Times ^ | 5/27/04 | Stephen Dinan

Posted on 05/26/2004 9:51:29 PM PDT by kattracks

Edited on 07/12/2004 4:15:32 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

After months of nothing but praise for John Kerry's Vietnam War service, President Bush's campaign spokesman publicly made light of it, drawing a stern response yesterday from Democrats who called the remarks an insult to all veterans.

Terry Holt, appearing on MSNBC's "Hardball" program Tuesday, was being pummeled by questions from host Chris Matthews about why, if Mr. Bush supported the Vietnam War, he didn't join up and fight.


(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: kerryisacicada; vitriolic
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-52 next last

1 posted on 05/26/2004 9:51:29 PM PDT by kattracks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: kattracks

Forget this Kerry service crap. Talk about the future and move on. This is all Kerry has and wants to draw us into that swamp.

It's a losing issue for him and a losing issue for us.


2 posted on 05/26/2004 9:53:31 PM PDT by TheOldRepublic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

Well, Kerry doesn't have to get snippy about it.


3 posted on 05/26/2004 9:53:39 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Why the long face, John?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

When was the last time a democrat apologized for anything? To heck with apologies no one is sincere when offering one and no one ever accepts one as adequate.


4 posted on 05/26/2004 9:54:18 PM PDT by Texasforever (When Kerry was asked what kind of tree he would like to be he answered…. Al Gore.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

Boo-hoo. They snipe, snipe, snipe endlessly for months on end, with the MSM's help, about Bush's National Guard service... then when someone finally fights back, they run screaming to the fax machines with tomorrow's talking point.


5 posted on 05/26/2004 9:54:39 PM PDT by TenthAmendmentChampion (Freepmail me if you'd like to read one of my Christian historical romance novels!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
"John Kerry wore the uniform and was honorably discharged. We have never suggested anything other than that," Mr. Holt said.

Oooooh. Sweet!

6 posted on 05/26/2004 9:54:48 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

kerry says, "My Name is John F. Kerry, I love to perform fellatio on and with our enemies, that how I will get along with everybody in this world!!!!"!!!!


7 posted on 05/26/2004 9:55:28 PM PDT by Defender2 (Defending Our Bill of Rights, Our Constitution, Our Country and Our Freedom!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
Maybe I'm missing something here...they want an apology for saying Kerry took a camera to Vietnam? How, exactly, is that offensive?
8 posted on 05/26/2004 9:55:35 PM PDT by highlander_UW (Evil doesn't want to leave you alone. It wants to draw you in and force you into complicity. - Keyes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
"What Terry Holt said last night was an intentional effort to diminish John Kerry's military service," Kerry campaign chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen said. "Not only was it wrong, it shows a fundamental disrespect for the service and sacrifice veterans of military combat duty have given our country."

Terry Holt, you idiot. Don't you know the way you show fundamental respect for the sacrifice veterans of military combat duty have given our country is to accuse them of committing atrocities!?

Dammit. When will we learn?

9 posted on 05/26/2004 9:56:12 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

Kerry served in Vietnam? Wow, he should start mentioning that more in his speeches.


10 posted on 05/26/2004 9:56:46 PM PDT by inkling
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
Mr. Holt said: "He took his own photo camera, by the way, so he could get some good pictures."

And as a reaction we get:

Mr. Kerry's campaign was outraged, and demanded an apology.

"What Terry Holt said last night was an intentional effort to diminish John Kerry's military service," Kerry campaign chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen said. "Not only was it wrong, it shows a fundamental disrespect for the service and sacrifice veterans of military combat duty have given our country."

and

"No one who serves in this country's military -- not John Kerry, nor the men and women serving in Iraq today -- should ever have their patriotism or their courage questioned by one of George W. Bush's political agents," DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said.

And yet not one word about

was being pummeled by questions from host Chris Matthews about why, if Mr. Bush supported the Vietnam War, he didn't join up and fight.

Let the record reflect that neither Chris Matthews OR Terry Holt EVER implied that Bush supported the Vietnam War.



Now, is it me, or is this an EXTREME overreaction on the part of the Kerry people.

And if you agree with me that it is, does anybody have a clue why?

11 posted on 05/26/2004 9:58:01 PM PDT by Howlin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

It wasn't an insult to all veterans, just Kerry you twits.


12 posted on 05/26/2004 9:59:33 PM PDT by armymarinemom (Ultimate Flip Flop->I support the Troops but not their mission)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: highlander_UW

Here's the entire interchange: you tell me who got trashed:


Here is the transcript as posted by MSNBC:

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: My question is, do you think the American people are primarily focused on the success or not success of the president right now, and sometime late summer they‘re going to decide if they don‘t like this president or they don‘t like what he‘s doing, they‘ll take a good look at John Kerry? I don‘t think they‘re taking a good look at him yet.

HOLT: Well, I think that John Kerry has yet to make his case. And the more that people know about John Kerry, the less—well, in fact, maybe the more confused they are by his positions.

But he has a little bit of time to finally decide who he‘s going to be. But I wonder if they are going to like what they see when they finally get it.

(CROSSTALK)

DEVINE: Can I answer that question?

MATTHEWS: No, I‘ve got to ask you the questions. That‘s my job.

DEVINE: Sure.

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you this about your candidate‘s warmth factor.

DEVINE: Yes. Go ahead.

MATTHEWS: I‘ve known John Kerry for a long time. And I like him. I think he‘s a great, smart, tough guy, with flaws, like everybody else.

DEVINE: Sure.

MATTHEWS: But I also think he‘s never going to be Mr. Warmth. He‘s never going to be Bill Clinton, the hugging guy that loves to grab people. Well, that‘s one advantage, maybe, but he‘s not going to be like that.

But the fact is...

(LAUGHTER)

MATTHEWS: Even you‘re laughing.

(LAUGHTER)

MATTHEWS: The question is, can he be measured on the old—the cuddly scale? Is that a fair way to judge your candidate, on the cuddliness scale?

DEVINE: Sure.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: You really like the cuddly factor with him?

DEVINE: I think he can win on that basis.

Listen, people who know him like him a lot. First of all, he‘s got a group of veterans who have traveled around with him since they served together in Vietnam.

MATTHEWS: Right.

DEVINE: And these guys are devoted to him. Loyalty counts with them so much.

Second, the polls suggest otherwise. His favorability in the CBS poll I think went up four or five points in the last month, while the president‘s went down, the likability.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Why is he nailed on the flip-flop thing whenever you ask the poll question? Is that just negative advertisement or is that his history?

DEVINE: Listen, they‘ve spent $74.5 million on television, almost all of it negative, and that‘s been their message. And obviously people got that information. We don‘t deny that.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: John Kerry‘s own words.

(CROSSTALK)

DEVINE: It‘s not going to affect...

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: I voted for it before I voted against it.

DEVINE: It is not going to affect their voting decision, though.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: But what about that devastating bite you just mentioned, where you‘ve got John Kerry saying, I voted for this $87 billion for reconstruction in Iraq, and then I voted against it. It sounds crazy.

DEVINE: Chris, they put about $50 million behind that. And look

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: But he said it. But John Kerry said it.

(LAUGHTER)

DEVINE: But so what? Bush has the lowest

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: But, Tad, it‘s indicative of his personality.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: He can‘t give people a straight answer. And nobody can understand how you could be for it and then against it. And, in fact, he said voting against that bill would be irresponsible just weeks before he did that very thing.

(CROSSTALK)

DEVINE: If that‘s so powerful, why is the president going through the floor?

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you a question about a choice in John Kerry‘s life.

HOLT: Yes.

MATTHEWS: John Kerry went to Vietnam. He volunteered. Why didn‘t the president volunteer to go to Vietnam? He‘s for the war.

HOLT: Well, the president flew

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: No, but why didn‘t he volunteer to go to Vietnam if he was for the war? Shouldn‘t people who support wars go and fight them?

HOLT: But, in fact, he was one of the—he served in the National Guard honorably for his country.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: But why didn‘t he go and fight in the war? He believed in it.

HOLT: Well, everybody made a decision about how best they served. He served as a fighter pilot in the Texas Air Guard.

MATTHEWS: No, but if you believe in a war, shouldn‘t you fight it, rather than someone who doesn‘t believe in it, a draftee getting drafted in the war?

HOLT: But in John Kerry‘s case, he went to Vietnam. He took his own photo camera, by the way, so he could get some good pictures.

(CROSSTALK)

DEVINE: He was getting shot at.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: He had some souvenirs to bring home.

HOLT: As soon as he came home, after just a few short months, he began running for political office on an anti-war campaign.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: I know a lot of guys who went through school. They are all hawks. They said, I‘m for the war in Vietnam. And you know what the problem with a lot of these hawks? They‘re all conservatives and all that stuff. And I said, how come you‘re not going to the war if you believe in it? And they all said the same thing. Well, I participated in the system. They got draft deferments.

HOLT: That‘s not what the president said. The president served and was honorably discharged.

MATTHEWS: You don‘t want to give John for being one of guys that fought?

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: ... Vietnam. His service was honorable. But upon coming back...

MATTHEWS: Do you realize, if everybody did what your guy did, the president of the United States did in Vietnam, if everybody did what he did, no one would have gone to Vietnam. There wouldn‘t have been a war.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: A lot of people served honorably.

MATTHEWS: No, I‘m saying, if everybody did what the commander in chief right now did during the Vietnam War, there wouldn‘t have been a war, because nobody would have gone. Isn‘t that a contradiction?

HOLT: We‘re at war today.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Would he go to war today? Would he have volunteered today?

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: The president did go to war today, not because

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Would George W. Bush have volunteered today and gone to fight in Iraq? Would he have volunteered today?

HOLT: Oh, come on. Does that sound like a hypothetical question to you? The president is leading this nation.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: No, no, because he‘s gung-ho for the war. Would he, if he were a young man, go fight in this war?

HOLT: The president is leading this nation in a war on terrorism.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: You can‘t answer the question. You‘re afraid to be quoted.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Say to me right now

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: You‘re asking me a hypothetical question. And that‘s not the right kind of a question to be answered.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: If the president were a young man, would he go fight in this war?

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: He‘s committed troops.

MATTHEWS: You won‘t answer it.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: If I were you, I would say, of course he would served and go fight for this country.

HOLT: He‘s been to Baghdad on Thanksgiving.

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you this. Do you think the president, commander in chief today, who is leading other men into battle, would go fight that war if he were a young man today, yes or no?

HOLT: I think he would.

MATTHEWS: Great. Thank you. Great answer.

(CROSSTALK)


13 posted on 05/26/2004 9:59:59 PM PDT by Howlin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Defender2

Whats fellatio mean?


14 posted on 05/26/2004 10:02:40 PM PDT by al baby (Hope I don't get into trouble for this)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: al baby

#14. performing oral sex. After All it is the demoCommiecRATS who have proclaimed it is not sex!!!!


15 posted on 05/26/2004 10:05:46 PM PDT by Defender2 (Defending Our Bill of Rights, Our Constitution, Our Country and Our Freedom!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

I think our people need to be asking more about those atrocities Kerry says he committed in Vietnam. Now there's a part of his record that's relevant. No need to talk about his photography crew there - unless they filmed the atrocities he committed.


16 posted on 05/26/2004 10:05:49 PM PDT by KellyAdmirer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

Hey JeffinK... no one is listening to you whine.


17 posted on 05/26/2004 10:07:01 PM PDT by ShandaLear (John Kerry, the gift that keeps on giving!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks

drawing a stern response yesterday from Democrats who called the remarks an insult to all veterans.


Yeah yeah...... an insult to all veterans. What about the insults the RATS now hurl at our ACTIVE DUTY folks. These bastards will stop at nothing. I have HAD IT. I am now officially VERY TICKED OFF!!!!


18 posted on 05/26/2004 10:08:59 PM PDT by Just Lori (Liberals are seriously in need of neuro-proctologists!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
Sheesh!

Talk about hitting a raw nerve!

It is a fact that John Forbes Kerry brought both an 8 mm movie camera and other cameras with him, put on is uniform, and had others film him in "re-enactments" at certain places while on his 140+ day bug out tour of Vietnam.

This photo was posed on one such re-enactment. It is being used right now on his website.


19 posted on 05/26/2004 10:09:09 PM PDT by SkyPilot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
I am one Vet who says that the biggest insult to our service was Kerry trying to use his Vet Status to #1 go antiwar on Vietnam;#2 go antiwar on the War in Afghanistan;#3 go antiwar on the War on Terror (didn't like the Patriot Act);#4 go antiwar on the War on Iraq;#5 go Pro-UN and anti-US;#6 attempt to get elected to the most powerful political office in the world
20 posted on 05/26/2004 10:09:22 PM PDT by dila813
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-52 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson