Posted on 06/29/2004 8:31:10 AM PDT by KMC1
Agreed....and furthermore it could turn into a backlash for Kerry if there's no "there" there. Bad, bad idea.
And my opinion stands, as well. I am uninterested in his marriage proceedings, too -- which means the government has no business giving anyone a marriage license, right?
OOOOPSSSS!!! Jinx.....hahahaha!!
Wrong.
Divorce records are normally public records open to public review.
So I vote they go for Big Drunk Ted Kennedy's divorce records next.
I understand that. My dissent from the common wisdom is not based in the law, it is based in common decency.
In that the documents are public record, why would they be sealed?
The common law has been that court proceedings are presumptively open to the public but not absolutely open to the public. Many records are sealed without public access for many different reasons.
What the exact law is in Mass I don't know.
Probably the same as in Dever County where it has been writtent that the best way to get them sealed is to be an attorney, a judge or related to a judge.
This is one of the few advantages of being widowed. Nobody knows anything about my marriages, which had their lumps. Divorce is a legal thing, a court thing, a most public thing. Any politician who thinks his divorce proceedings are off limits is FAR too stupid to be running loose.
They might just wait that long. No way Hillary would survive the debates.
1. if the documents reveal character flaws that reflect on Kerry's fitness for office, why wouldn't it be your business?
2. civil marriage is an act of the state. Why should those records be sealed any more than someone's criminal records - like W's old DWI?
I could have gone all day without thinking about that...
But noooooo....
I'm with you. Unsealing Ryan's divorce records only provokes the question; Why would he want to share that?!
Yes, my teacher in high school looked just like her. NOT!
"In reality, what's at issue is Kerry's credibility. When one takes a vow of marriage, just like any other vow, till death do us part, that's a promise. When one breaks a promise, they break their word."
Ronald Reagan was also divorced - could he be trusted? The argument against Kerry doesn't pass the smell test.
You have to ask yourself, then: what's so secret about the financial settlement? My theory; when Kerry divorced Thorne, she was rich and he was poor, so poor he was selling assets in the late 80's just to keep afloat. I suspect under the financial settlement, she was paying him alimony, in name or in effect. You might argue this shouldn't matter, but one has to ask how the public will view the character of a man who's lived off an ex-wife, particularly when he went out and got himself another sugar mommy afterwards.
Just a wild a55 guess, but it fits the facts.
Common decency is alas not at all common.
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.