Posted on 08/02/2004 5:57:00 AM PDT by OESY
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Mr. Kerry is a product of the '60s and fully committed to the side of the culture wars he views as progressive. But he needs votes from across the divide and will sing for them. Fair enough. He'd be a hopeless politician if he could not make his ideas fit the times. Politicians who try to get voters to change in order to fit their ideas end up like Ralph Nader.
Received wisdom is that Mr. Kerry is seen as weak on security hence his praetorian guard of the guys from his days in 'Nam. Now he finds himself in a double dichotomy -- relying on the very war he protested. Vietnam is proof of his martial virtues and a symbol of what the U.S. shouldn't do. "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" he famously said to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee in 1971. One forgives a young man his errata, but it was a 60-year-old who repeated this, portentously, to the convention's standing applause.
The question is intrinsically false and is the whine of hindsight. If you engage in military action, it is implicit that you will ask a person to risk his life whether in victory or defeat, whether he is the first casualty or the last. Naturally, there is more glory and purpose in dying on the field of victory than that of defeat but a patriot fights the war in which he finds himself.
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Mr. Kerry put his life on the line for his country, still his words on communism seem like empty rhetoric raising questions of judgment. He takes his share of credit for winning the Cold War and parlays it into a tough stance in the war against militant Islamism. The difficulty is that his ilk's antiwar protests of the early '70s made the Cold War that much harder to win. Similarly, his criticism of the administration's handling of Iraq doesn't make his militant opposition to Islamism very credible.
One can't doubt Mr. Kerry's basic sincerity. He has been in the same position on the political spectrum since his early youth. He may have flip-flopped on issues maniacally but that is intrinsic to his sort of consistency. His Democrat is always searching for some convergence or compromise, some good will, some way of finding a middle road between good and evil. He tacks this way and that, so as to avoid the wretched business of making a choice. But any hint of accommodation with militant Islamism will not propel a man into the White House.
Being Janus-faced becomes a tough act. Mr. Kerry wants the world to love America while promising never to allow any institution or nation to have a veto on American foreign policy. The two are mutually exclusive. Enemies will only love you if you give up and die, and even friends won't love you unless you meet them halfway, whether they're right or wrong.
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(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Kerry is a politician. But not a representative. In 20 years he basically has passed NO legislation on his own. In the past year he has not shown up for his job in which he is supposed to represent people as a US Senator.
Kerry is a politician who's only concern is for himself. One has to wonder why he even runs for president. I suppose it't something he's wanted and now has a chance to "get" because of his wealthy wife (remember the loan he got months back? No other way he'd get it). To Kerry it's like a new bike or snow board or new house.
It's impossible to link unless you're a paying OJO subscriber. Is this postable on FR?
John Kerry, when he was a child said, "one day I will be President." He, like millions of American born children have uttered these words since the dawn of our countries birth.
John Kerry is living the American dream. And on November 3, 2004 that dream will come to an end. You see, wanting to lead a country and wanting to be President are two very different things.
The country is finding this out and are not thrilled with the Democrat candidate. They realize that in a post 9/11 world, thinking as if it is 9/10 will not cut it. They want a proven leader, not a person that has said everything to everyone to make them vote for him.
The country wants a leader that will make a decision and stand by it. They want a leader that has a vision and the moral clarity to think of this countries survival first and foremost. They want a leader that is willing to risk his political career on what is best for this nation.
What they do not want is someone that takes every side of every issue, is afraid to risk his political aspirations for the benefit of this nation and who believes that this nation should subordinate itself the will of the United Nations.
And this is why on November 3, 2004 George W. Bush will be reelected.
From "These sites must be excerpted and linked only:"
opinionjournal.com
wsj.com
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