Posted on 08/03/2004 4:24:29 AM PDT by GRRRRR
'Everything is at stake,' Kerry tells riverfront crowd Race's intensity visible in exchanges with Bush supporters By CRAIG GILBERT and ALAN J. BORSUK cgilbert@journalsentinel.com Posted: Aug. 2, 2004
After scooting across Lake Michigan by high-speed ferry, Democrat John Kerry staged a large, raucous rally along the Milwaukee River Monday night, deriding President Bush's leadership in the war on terrorism and portraying the election as an all-or-nothing pivot point in the nation's future. Arriving in Milwaukee via the Lake Express ferry from Muskegon, Mich., Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, approach the Milwaukee shoreline against a brisk wind. "Everything is at stake!" Kerry told thousands of supporters who packed into Pere Marquette Park and lined the opposite side of the river. "Jobs! Health care! Education! Civil liberties! Civil rights! The Constitution! Social Security! Medicare! Our children! The environment! Our future! All of it is on the line."
SNIP
The high-stakes intensity of the campaign could also be seen Monday in noisy confrontations between Kerry and Bush supporters and the use of bullhorns and air horns by a small group of Bush supporters to try to disrupt the speeches, prompting Kerry and his wife to respond to what the candidate termed "goons."
While she was introducing her husband, Teresa Heinz Kerry referred to the group's audible call for "Four more years."
Said Heinz Kerry, "They want four more years of hell."
The Kerry crowd followed with chants of "Three more months."
Kerry also responded to the pro-Bush chanters, saying they wanted to "drown people out" with their megaphones.
"We don't want to be drowned out," Kerry said. "I want to thank George Bush for sending the goons here tonight to excite us to do a little more work! Thank you!"
Kerry pressed his criticisms of Bush over the report of the 9-11 commission, calling the president slow and reluctant to react to the need to reform the intelligence system.
And Kerry said the country's ability to gather intelligence was undercut by poor relations with allies under Bush.
"The way you win the war on terror is know who they are, where they are, and being able to go get 'em before they get us. And that requires the best intelligence in the world. And that requires the best cooperation with other countries we've ever had," Kerry said.
"The one thing they do worst," he said of the Bush Administration, "we need to do better."
SNIP
In her lengthy introduction, Heinz Kerry, describing herself as a "sassy" grandmother, went through a litany of reasons to choose her husband over the Republican incumbent.
"It is important to have a president who not only understands, but enjoys complexity," she said.
"It is important to have a president that believes having friends and making friends in this world is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength . . . It is important to have a president who can actually admit to success and failures, that learns from both. And it's vital for anyone intelligent to acknowledge mistakes and maybe change a position," she said.
SNIP>>
About 30 Bush supporters chanted loudly during the speeches by Kerry and his wife, sometimes setting off air horns. The pro-Bush group was on the Kilbourn Ave. sidewalk overlooking Pere Marquette Park, almost a full block from the stage, but it could be heard throughout the park, including on stage.
Tom Lange, 18, of Waukesha said he was setting off an air horn during Kerry's remarks because "we want them to hear us and not hear what he has to say."
Lange said it's "probably not nice, but it's my beliefs."
Michael Gaspar, 18, of Waukesha used a bullhorn frequently before and during the rally to welcome Kerry supporters "to Bush-Cheney country" and to spur on the Bush supporters.
Asked why he was leading the Bush volunteers in loud chants while Kerry was speaking, he said, "I'm doing this to show my support for President George W. Bush."
"I have the right to speak also," he said. "I'm just attempting to get my voice heard."
There were several incidents of scuffling between Kerry and Bush supporters during the rally, including one in which it appeared a Kerry supporter attempted to throw a large Bush-Cheney sign into the Milwaukee River. Police and sheriff's deputies on foot and on horseback moved into the crowd several times and ordered people to move on and to break up their confrontations. No arrests were made, although one man was pinned to the ground by a sheriff's deputy at one point.
About 100 Bush supporters lined the Kilbourn Ave. sidewalk before the rally so that thousands of Kerry supporters had to slowly shuffle past them as they waited to go through security checks to get into the park. Supporters for each candidate exchanged chants of campaign slogans, mixed frequently with insults.
Many of the Bush supporters carried waffles or waved flip-flops in the air, symbols of their view of Kerry. Several held signs criticizing Kerry's views on abortion and challenging his standing as a Catholic.
In addition to the large crowd in Pere Marquette Park, more than 1,000 Kerry supporters lined the Marcus Center of the Performing Arts side of the river, where they were able to hear reasonably well and see the stage in the distance.
The Kerry campaign lacks in class, as much as they lack in workable policy offerings, as much as they lack in a record of achievement, as much as they lack in charm.
"No arrests were made, although one man was pinned to the ground by a sheriff's deputy at one point".
Dope smoking FM type of maggot infested dim I'll bet!
LLS
Are you kiddin me!!!! ROTFLMAO! These people are so out of touch with reality it's scaring me!
Kerry, who was on the intellegence committee, which did nothing to stop terrorism, has the nerve to say Bush is not doing enough to stop terrorism...Why do these people actually think that fantasy trumps reality?
Oh what a class act. NOT. Goons Mr. Kerry? Goons? No, I think not. Patriots is more like it. People who love this country and want to keep her safe. Goons? The democrat party invented them. Be careful what you say, Mr. Heinz.
Kerry: "Everything here is at stake, for us, Tereza.
This is Lake Michigan.
Someday, very soon, this too will be owned by Europe again,
Mozambique, the UN, or us ....., I mean, you."
That's right John a change in leadership is "everything" in America. Government is all. People have no control over their lives. Schmuck.
Once he takes a breath, perhaps he will continue with the laundry list: "Kittens! Puppies! The Elderly! The Blind!"
Apparently, we will slide directly into The Dark Ages when Bush is re-elected. The number of people taking Kerry seriously IS shrinking, right? The guy is a joke.
Is it just me or has Kerry sounded more and more DESPERATE since the convention?
He's right - everything is at stake: notably America's ability to win the War On Terror.
Don't even go there...no class seems to over pretty well in this country...after all we sent the Clintons to White House...TWICE.
"There were several incidents of scuffling between Kerry and Bush supporters during the rally"
WOAH! I can't remember this happening in a campaign before.
Which must be why you voted against every weapons bill, and why you missed 38 of 49 Senate Intelligence meetings,hmm? THAT important?
So, the Mozambique Candidate's wife described herself as a "sassy grandmother." During the DNC, she told a group of gays and lesbians that, if Kerry were elected, they would have a "mother" in the White House. (Does this remark mean she considers homosexuals to be children?) Notice she always talks about herself. She just can't always remember who (or is it what) she thinks she is.
Over the years I have learned that this is the kind of statement that comes from people who have no firm principles
The power of principles is that they let you cut through some of that complexity to get right to the root causes which drive complexity.
For example on one level the war on terror is very complex. There are allies and enemies, secret shadowy networks, technology that can be used against them, hints & clues. Those who enjoy "complexity" will also point out that terrorism is very involved culturally and that we must understand each culture and therefore they are led to try and manipulate each culture, each ally, each enemy with ever sophisticated plans.
But on the other hand, terrorism is very simple. There are people in the world who desire a goal very strongly and they are willing to kill others and themselves to accomplish it. All the complexity of terrrorism derives from this basic fact.
The president understands this basic principle and therefore he says things like: "The terrorists are evil." and "We will defend America against the terrorists." Kerry basically believes the president is therefore simple-minded because he does not "appreciate the complexity." But these simple views are essential in order to avoid being caught up in all the complexity and losing sight of the goal.
Right now the Democrats are wishing they could keep these two in the closet.
Here's a great thread that was posted yesterday.
Only one Kerry/Edwards supporter showed up. Lots of good Bush/Cheney freeper pictures.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1183819/posts
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