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Edward I. Koch: Dems, media are making an unforgivable mistake
Jewish World Review ^ | July 16, 2003 | Edward I. Koch

Posted on 07/16/2003 5:43:32 AM PDT by SJackson

The Democratic candidates for President -- and many in the media -- are trying to make President Bush seem like a liar. In so doing, they are making an unforgivable mistake. In his State of the Union Address to Congress on January 28, 2003, President Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, defending himself before the House of Commons for making a similar representation, said last week that the representation was true and comes from a different source than the one that was recently discredited by the CIA.

For me, it comes down to this: If Bush actually did lie to the American public -- intentionally stating as the truth that which he knew to be false -- then he should be impeached and removed as President. However, if Bush did not lie, and I do not believe that he did, then Americans of all political persuasions should defend our country's reputation for fair play by displaying their indignation at those who bear false witness.

They can do this by rejecting those candidates and political leaders who have perpetuated that charge and by turning to other TV and radio channels when the unfair and venomous attacks against the President are being aired.

I am a proud Democrat who generally supports Democratic candidates for office. I have never voted for anyone other than a Democrat for President.

Although I am a Democrat, I am no ideologue. In some local and state elections, I have proudly crossed party lines for candidates I thought were appreciably better. I believe that the most important issue facing the world is international terrorism, and it is my current intention to vote for George W. Bush for reelection. I do not agree with him on many domestic issues, ranging from privatizing Social Security to tax reductions favoring the wealthy. However, because of his leadership and successes in the war against international terrorism, he is my current choice in 2004.

Whether intelligence reports about Iraq were accurate or not, the President had a right to rely on information from Blair, America's most steadfast ally, and his government. If either Bush or Blair knew the reports were false and either is now engaging in a cover-up, that individual should be removed from office.

I believe Democrats and their media allies will fail to bring Bush down because taking on Saddam Hussein was the right course of action for America. National Security Advisor, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, on Face the Nation over the weekend cleaned the clocks of her two media interrogators and critics, CBS' Bob Schieffer and Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau Chief, Doyle McManus with her brilliant responses to their questions. I quote her in part:

Bob Schieffer: The question I have for you this morning, who put it into the speech?
Dr. Rice: Well, let's start at the very beginning, as they say. And the president of the United States -- the notion that the president of the United States took the country to war because he was concerned with one sentence about whether Saddam Hussein sought uranium in Africa is purely ludicrous. And this has gotten to that proportion, that people are saying this statement is why the president took the nation to war.

The president took the nation to war to depose a bloody tyrant who had defied the world for 12 years, who was building a weapons of mass destruction program and had weapons of mass destruction, which he had used in the past, who was a threat to American interest in the Middle East and who, now that he is removed, is giving us an opportunity for Middle East that might finally be at peace and that will not create an atmosphere in which you have ideologies of hatred spawning people who slam airplanes into the World Trade Center. So we do have to put this in perspective.

The president's State of the Union said something that was accurate: This is what the British government said in its reporting. The British, I might note, still stand by that statement. It was not based, they say, on a single source, but on other sources."

Continued....

(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; edkoch; wmd
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To: cyncooper
Rare common-sense from a dem ping.
21 posted on 07/16/2003 6:50:34 AM PDT by EllaMinnow
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To: Alex Murphy
If you changed all the "um's" and "Ah's to "You know", and took out the last sentence.....it could be Hillary!
22 posted on 07/16/2003 7:07:40 AM PDT by Ann Archy
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To: SJackson
Koch is stating the obvious. There was no lie and there was no mistake. At worst, Brit Intelligence made a mistake. Period.
23 posted on 07/16/2003 7:07:46 AM PDT by kellynla ("C" 1/5 1st Mar Div Viet Nam '69 & '70 Semper Fi)
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To: txzman
which is usualy missing in NYC.
24 posted on 07/16/2003 7:16:25 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: SJackson
"I am a proud Democrat who generally supports Democratic candidates for office. I have never voted for anyone other than a Democrat for President.

Although I am a Democrat, I am no ideologue. In some local and state elections, I have proudly crossed party lines for candidates I thought were appreciably better. I believe that the most important issue facing the world is international terrorism, and it is my current intention to vote for George W. Bush for reelection. I do not agree with him on many domestic issues, ranging from privatizing Social Security to tax reductions favoring the wealthy. However, because of his leadership and successes in the war against international terrorism, he is my current choice in 2004.

25 posted on 07/16/2003 7:26:19 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Please invest 17 cents a day/5$ per month in Free Republic as a monthly supporter.)
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To: TomB
My mother-in-law thought Bush lied until I explained that the WH only said they wouldn't have included it if they had it to do over again because items in the SOU speech have to be independently confirmed and we couldn't do that.
26 posted on 07/16/2003 7:39:45 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative (Putting government in charge of morality is like putting pedophiles in charge of children.)
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To: Dog; Miss Marple
Americans of all political persuasions should defend our country's reputation for fair play by displaying their indignation at those who bear false witness.

They can do this by rejecting those candidates and political leaders who have perpetuated that charge and by turning to other TV and radio channels when the unfair and venomous attacks against the President are being aired.

Ping for Ed Koch's call to defend President Bush!

27 posted on 07/16/2003 8:20:41 AM PDT by cyncooper
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To: GraniteStateConservative
Is Koch getting ready to run for some office in New York? Perhaps Schumer had better start worrying about making it past new year's primary?
28 posted on 07/16/2003 8:23:38 AM PDT by princess leah
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To: redlipstick
I could hear the death knell of this trumped up story yesterday and Ed Koch is helping drive the final blows, going so far as to endorse Bush for re-election in 2004:

it is my current intention to vote for George W. Bush for reelection.

29 posted on 07/16/2003 8:24:02 AM PDT by cyncooper
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To: SJackson
Now, let's see how much face time Ed gets from CNN to say these things.
30 posted on 07/16/2003 8:40:36 AM PDT by jmaroneps37
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To: SJackson
Koch is more honest than most Democrat politicians in saying what he really things. He got himself in a lot of trouble during a trip to Ireland with some other Americans when the UK police had a talk with him and he said, in the open, that he thought they had some legitimate points. That's not what his Irish supporters wanted to hear.
31 posted on 07/16/2003 10:26:35 AM PDT by Question_Assumptions
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To: cyncooper; 1Mike; 3catsanadog; ~Kim4VRWC's~; A CA Guy; A Citizen Reporter; abner; Aeronaut; ...
Bumping this for all to read!
32 posted on 07/16/2003 10:41:10 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: princess leah
I swear, I'd send money to Koch!
33 posted on 07/16/2003 10:42:54 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: Howlin
How refreshing after these last few dreadful days to see somebody do the right thing.

This was the first thing I read this morning and it was a sight for sore eyes.
34 posted on 07/16/2003 10:44:47 AM PDT by cyncooper
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To: Howlin
Here as well.
35 posted on 07/16/2003 10:45:23 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: Howlin
Former New York mayor Koch is right, but will the New York Times print him or even quote him now?!
36 posted on 07/16/2003 10:47:36 AM PDT by Southack (Media bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack
I'm not going to wait to see, are you?
37 posted on 07/16/2003 10:48:04 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: SJackson
thanks for posting this. I heard Glenn Beck talk about Koch this a.m. on his radio show, and was wondering if Koch's remarks were online.
38 posted on 07/16/2003 10:53:07 AM PDT by mountaineer
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To: SJackson
Koch was the last decent mayor NYC had before Giuliani. I'd vote for Democrat Koch over "Republican" Bloomberg in a nano-second.
39 posted on 07/16/2003 10:57:13 AM PDT by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: SJackson
Gotta respect a Dem that can acknowledge the wrong-doings of his own party.
40 posted on 07/16/2003 10:59:25 AM PDT by rintense (Freedom is contagious, and everyone wants to catch it!)
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