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A Letter from Joe Wilson
on John Kerry |
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The first President Bush appointed me as Ambassador to two African countries and President Clinton put me in charge of African Affairs at the National Security Council. So when this President Bush's Administration sent me to Africa to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein was seeking to buy materials for weapons of mass destruction, I was ready to serve. But I wasn't ready to keep quiet when this President misled the nation in his State of the Union Address. Because of that, leakers in the Bush White House illegally revealed that my wife worked in the CIA - endangering her life and that of my family. They tried to intimidate me and others who were willing to speak up and tell the truth.
Some people have said I was courageous to speak truth to the power of the Bush White House. But let me tell you, what I have done doesn't hold a candle to the courage that John Kerry showed as a young man and throughout his political career. I am supporting him for President because he has been willing to tell the truth no matter what the pressure. He is ready to restore truth and honor to the White House. And I hope that everyone else who is outraged by this Administration and who wants to change America will join me in doing all you can to make John Kerry our next President.
In deciding on the best candidate to support in next year's election, I looked for qualities that are important in a President: leadership, experience and courage. There are many candidates who possess admirable traits but only one who has summoned the nerve to stand up to our government and for what's right over and over again: John Kerry. To speak out against bad policies after a career of accomplishments, as I recently did, is a civic duty. To do so as a young person, as John Kerry did, in the face of the unremitting official hostility to end a bad war, is truly inspiring. John Kerry didn't have to go to Vietnam. He volunteered and served bravely earning a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. And when he came home as a decorated hero, he didn't have to fight the war. But John Kerry helped lead the fight to end the war, he earned the wrath of Richard Nixon and his cronies, and he won the respect of Americans for his courage.
Throughout his career in public service he has been ready to hold government accountable again and again. He blew the whistle on Ronald Reagan and Oliver North's secret war in Central America. He exposed Manuel Noriega's drug laundering operation. And he wrote a nationally acclaimed book on fighting global terrorism long before September 11th. John Kerry is a decorated veteran, an experienced public servant, and a man of integrity. But most of all, he has the personal courage and integrity that I want in the leader of our great nation. George Bush's Administration has betrayed our trust - I know that personally. I am honored to endorse John Kerry and to commit myself to his campaign to wrest our democracy back from those who have so squandered the public trust. I hope you will join us. - Joe Wilson
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Paid for by John Kerry for President,
Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc.
Registrant:
John Kerry for President, Inc.
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Created on: 22-Oct-03
Expires on: 22-Oct-04
Last Updated on: 22-Oct-03
Best of the Web Today
BY JAMES TARANTO
Thursday, July 15, 2004 1:22 p.m. EDT
Homer Noshes
Many readers took issue with our statement yesterday that Joe Wilson's sudden camera-shyness is "like Homer Simpson turning down a cheeseburger." Here's reader Greg Vojnovic:
You got your cartoons and characters wrong. You're thinking of Wimpy from "Popeye" when you have a cartoon character contemplate turning down a cheeseburger. I believe that the logical twist you were attempting was that of a simplistic buffoon turning down something he couldn't readily live without. If that was the case, then the correct comparison would be "That's like Homer Simpson turning down a doughnut." Homer would not turn down a cheeseburger, but he could live without one. Homer living without doughnuts on the other hand, well, that's like Joe Wilson without a TV camera aimed at him. After all, how would Wilson be able to prove his existence if he didn't see himself on TV?
If you feel my observation is worthy of your attention, I'm sure that you will have a tightly written, logical premise behind your decision that Homer prefers cheeseburgers. If so, I look forward to reading it. Just make sure you recognize that I'm not saying your logic is incorrect, I'm just saying that it was not the best comparison available.
Point taken. Meanwhile, Jonah Goldberg echoes our point about Josh Marshall: "Since Wilson lied to Marshall himself, why isn't Marshall leading the charge for Wilson to clear the air?" A reader signing is e-mail only as "John"--a covert spook, perhaps?--offers this theory:
Right in the middle of watching "Fahrenheit 9/11" it came to me: Boing! Josh Marshall is a Bush sleeper agent. Bush used Saudi money laundered by Halliburton to hire Marshall.
Marshall's charge: Lure liberals to his blog; gain their trust; and then, at a critical time in the presidential campaign, "surface" in a way that would damage Marshall's credibility. Confused and demoralized, his followers would stay home on election day.
When and on what issue to "surface" was up to Marshall. Bloggers who praised him and referred visitors to his site were not in on the plot. Only Marshall knew.
So now we can understand why Marshall put so much of his credibility on Joe Wilson. It would be so easy for people to see Wilson was a fraud and lose confidence in Marshall.
Isn't that just the way a "sleeper" works?
Marshall isn't the only one to have staked his credibility on Wilson's story. Robert Novak, whose column a year ago reporting the Plame-Wilson nepotism, now reports that Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee feels that "Wilson had been such a 'cause celebre' for Democrats that they could not face the facts about him." Thus Democrats refused to endorse the committee's finding that "rather than speaking publicly about his actual experiences during his inquiry of the Niger issue, the former ambassador seems to have included information he learned from press accounts and from his beliefs about how the Intelligence Community would have or should have handled the information he provided."
The credibility-impaired Wilson is an adviser to the Kedwards campaign, whose Web site features a transcript of an October online chat with him. Ann Coulter draws our attention to a Web site ironically called RestoreHonesty.com, on which Wilson sings the praises of John Kerry. Scroll to the bottom of the screen, and you see the notice "Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc."