Posted on 07/28/2004 8:00:27 AM PDT by amordei
Wednesday, July 28, 2004 Kerry Iraq Documentary
BOSTON-At this morning's press conference RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie released the following Kerry Iraq Documentary
------
Here it is:
rtsp://real.stream2you.com/RNC/RNC07200.rm
http://media1.stream2you.com/rnc/072304v2.wmv
Awesome!
(Excerpt) Read more at demsextrememakeover.com ...
Just wow...
I agree, we are just seeing the "big guns" come out. Wait until the "grey suits" (you know, the single-malt Scotch drinkers...James Baker, you feel me, dog?) come out with the details on Kerry.
And, I would recall that one John Heinz was one of those "grey suits". I understand that Mr. Heinz was not at all fond of John Kerry. There hasn't been (perhaps, rightly) any recitation of how Mr. Hienz felt about the junior Senator from MASS.
That would be an interesting juxtaposition, especially given TERAAAZZZAAA's waxing romantic about her husband even to this day.
Mrs. Heinz Rodham Kerry has really disgraced her husband's legacy by shacking up with this grifter.
Post and email it to everyplace you can think of as a CHALLENGE TO ANY KERRY VOTER, to watch and defend Kerry from it. Message boards, IRC, Usenet, *anywhere* you can send the link. LETS MAKE THEM RESPOND TO IT! They will flail and fail miserably trying. This is great stuff, its up to us to get it out!
I was just thinking that would be a perfect way for this video to be shown. The media buy, alone, would get press. That would be PR for the ad spot, which is PR for the Bush camp. End result, PR for the Bush camp.
What amazes me are the Heinz "kids". I guess they just want power in any form and are willing to dishonor their father with little concern. (They must get along well with Ron Reagan.)
The Dems justify the flipflop mentality by reminding us that "that was then, this is now", as if that explains it all away. Can you say "nice try"?
from the KerrySpot on NRO:
TALE OF A TAPE [07/28 11:11 AM]
Wednesday morning, the GOP fired one of the biggest guns in its counter-spin arsenal: a twelve-minute video of John Kerry's statements on Iraq and how to handle Saddam Hussein, contrasting his pro-war views of 1998 and 2003 with his antiwar views of 1991 and 2004.
While the charge that John Kerry is a flip-flopper is nothing new, rarely has the case been made so comprehensively, in such detail, relying almost entirely on the Democratic senator's own words.
There are quite a few Kerry quotes that have disappeared down the memory hole that are worth recollecting. Like his statement on Dec. 11, 2001, on The O'Reilly Factor (does it seem shocking now that Kerry once appeared on O'Reilly's show?): "I think we ought to put the heat on Saddam Hussein. I've said that for a number of years, Bill. I criticized the Clinton administration for backing off of the inspections when Ambassador Butler was giving us strong evidence that we needed to continue. I think we need to put the pressure on no matter what the evidence is about September 11."
Got that? Tougher stance than Clinton. Evidence about 9/11 is irrelevant.
Kerry on Larry King Live, several days later: "I think we clearly have to keep the pressure on terrorism globally. This doesn't end with Afghanistan by any imagination. And I think the president has made that clear. I think we have made that clear. Terrorism is a global menace. It's a scourge. And it is absolutely vital that we continue, for instance, Saddam Hussein."
Afghanistan's not enough. Continue the fight. Take Saddam Hussein.
Then this exchange with Chris Matthews on Feb. 5, 2002: Matthews asked, "Do you think that the problem we have with Iraq is real and it can be reduced to a diplomatic problem? Can we get this guy to accept inspections of those weapons of mass destruction potentially and get past a possible war with him?"
"Outside chance, Chris," Kerry responded. "Could it be done? The answer is yes. But he would view himself only as buying time and playing a game, in my judgment. Do we have to go through that process? The answer is yes. We're precisely doing that. And I think that's what Colin Powell did today."
There was no complaining then about a "rush to war." No warnings that Saddam Hussein's WMD programs might not be as advanced as the administration feared. No skepticism about the intelligence, no blood-for-oil, no conspiracy theories about Chalabi and Halliburton and neocons.
Finally, his speech to the Democratic Leadership Council's national convention on July 29, 2002: "I agree completely with this administration's goal of a regime change in Iraq."
What makes the video more than a collection of Kerry's rhetorical hits is its documentation of how outside events were influencing the Democratic senator's political positions. Specifically, as 2003 wore on, Howard Dean rocketed to the top of the Democratic-primary polls and garnered laudatory press coverage. And Kerry obviously, blatantly, started borrowing Dean's anti-war rhetoric.
By August 2003, Kerry was declaring on Meet the Press, "The fact is, in the resolution that we passed, we did not empower the president to do regime change."
By October, the struggling Kerry was insisting that the war he had said he "agreed completely with" was unnecessary. "But the president and his advisors did not do almost anything correctly in the walk-up to the war. They rushed to war. They were intent on going to war. They did not give legitimacy to the inspections. We could have still been doing inspections even today, George."
Remember, the previous February, Kerry had dismissed diplomatic negotiations for more inspections as Saddam's "buying time and playing a game."
Judging by the 100-percent certainty with which Kerry made both sets of comments, he doesn't seem to even acknowledge that they contradict each other. Both appear to accurately express his views at the moment he speaks them.
The point is that there isn't truth or untruth to Kerry's views. There is simply what is needed and what is not needed, and the True North of Kerry's rhetorical and policy compass is whatever he needs politically at that time.
George Clooney's character in Three Kings, a film about the first Gulf War, explains to three soldiers under his command that "the most important thing in life is necessity... As in people do what is most necessary to them at any given moment."
What does Kerry stand for? Whatever is most necessary to him at that particular moment.
One could say that's not unique to Kerry, and may be a common trait among politicians. But what would this mean in a president? Periodically, Sen. Edward Kennedy or some other Democrat will make the stupendously illogical charge that George W. Bush made the call to go to war in Iraq in order to boost his poll numbers. But the political boost from a war, the rally-around-the-flag effect, is notoriously short lived. Winston Churchill won World War II and got tossed out on his tush by British voters almost the moment the war ended.
President Bush didn't decide to got to war to boost his poll numbers. In spite of the near-certainty that it would erode his high poll numbers after toppling the Taliban, Bush made the decision to go ahead.
What would John Kerry do in a similar situation? How dire would a threat have to be for him to risk his popularity on an unpopular war? Or would he put his faith in diplomacy with dictators and agreements with rogue states — "buying time and playing a game," as he once described it?
Before the voters can consider that question, Kerry's long and meandering views on Iraq have to be brought front and center before the millions of Americans who are not paying close attention to this race. Unfortunately, this video format doesn't lend itself well to the traditional methods.
It's way too long to condense into a 30- or 60-second ad. If it were shown during the GOP convention, it would be putting the spotlight on the challenger instead of the president, and much of the media would explode with fury at the "negative campaigning." Some political shows might spotlight it, but few would be willing to let it run for the entire eleven minutes. Maybe C-SPAN will show it. Perhaps it could serve as the entertainment for the Bush "House Parties."
Maybe talk radio could run the audio of the tape uninterrupted.
A GOP source says the idea of buying airtime on the networks, like H. Ross Perot did in 1992, has been tossed around. One way or another, this 11-minute tape will be coming to a place near you in the not-too-distant future.
That's a good point. However, to be fair, I haven't heard the Heinz kids supporting Kerry. (Note: I'm not saying that they haven't; rather, that I haven't heard of that).
I take it you missed Chris Heinz introducing his mother at the convention last night then?
Yes, awesome.
Amazing chronological rendition of the MAN WHO GETS IT BOTH WAYS!! Somehow someway this should reach everyone before they vote. Very telling and VERY scary to think this man could be our next POTUS.
I wish every single voter could be forced to watch Kerry's speech on the Senate floor before the Iraq war vote. I just happened to have C-SPAN on in my office and made myself watch the whole thing. It was horrible, perhaps the most revolting speech I have ever watched, and I've been in politics for 30 years. He rambled platitudes and qualifiers for 20 minutes, trying to take every possible side of the issue. A classic of political obfuscation and equivocation. It was obvious he really didn't want to vote for the war but knew he had to.
Excellent! Thanks for the link!!
I have heard that the Heinz son wants a career in politics and I guess Kerry promised to help him. His own father cannot be of much help, now.
Ping!
Yes. I missed that...thankfully. I had fallen asleep by then. LOL
Incredible. They should play this an an infomercial right before the debates. Or make minute long ad buys in key swing areas.
Kerry's real problem is that he isn't slick enough or likeable enough to get away with this crap like Bubba was able to pull off. IMHO
anyone having issues downloading and opening the .wmv??
Keep getting "file corrupted or not available" message...
G
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.
