Kerry: Rantisi's killing was justified

The Jerusalem Post ^ | April 18, 2004 | Janine Zacharia

[Piranha]

US Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said on Sunday Israel's killing of Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi was justified because Israel "has every right in the world to respond to any act of terror against it."

"Hamas is a terrorist, brutal organization," he told NBC's Meet the Press.

"It has had years to make up its mind to take part in a peaceful process. They refuse to ... and I support Israel's efforts to try to separate itself and to try to be secure."

[Lijahsbubbe]

What have they done in the interim to change his mind?

Maybe he figured out he's not exempt from the Jew haters.

[dennisw]

A president Kerry would throw Israel to the Islamic wolves at the slightist Muslim pressure or terror.

Kerry is sucking up to the Jewish donors.

[alpha-8-25-02]

WATCH OUT!
HE'S GOING TO THE RIGHT!
DUCK!
just for now.

[gawd]

Taht is exactly it!! He was starting to lose the Jewish vote, he had no choice...

a lot of freepers are so partisan it's pathetic. they won't give credit to a dem even when they agree with him.

[veronica]

His European friends won't like this! ;)

[JimRed]

Not only was it pandering .. but also danagerous and most likely will tick off Hamas and their followers.

Good, maybe their next suicide bomber will target DNC HQ. < /sarcasm >

[okie01]

"a lot of freepers are so partisan it's pathetic. they won't give credit to a dem even when they agree with him."

But, only a few short weeks ago, Kerry couldn't bring himself to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization. Only after a follow-up question did he settle on "sort of...a terrorist organization".

Kerry deserves no credit for calling a spade a spade, when only two weeks ago he was calling it a rake. Or a pitchfork...sort of.

[veronica]

Kerry is terrified that Bush's recent moves will siphon off Jewish votes. :)

[patriciamary]

He is truly a sickening man.How anyone with an ounce of sense would vote for him is beyond belief.

[Cicero]

Bush's support for Israel puts Kerry between a rock and a hard place. If he starts speaking like a Euroswine he'll please his leftist base but drive away the Jews. If he speaks out in favor of killing Palestinian terrorists, he'll offend his leftist base who preferred Howard Dean to begin with.

The funny thing is that Kerry is far more of a leftist than Dean ever was. But he never got a chance to play the leftist card in the primaries, and now he has to pretend to move right.

[Dave S]

Boy you can tell that Kerry was in Florida today. Would Kerry have said that if he was campaigning in Iowa or Washington state rather than campaigning in Southern Florida for the accidental Pat Buchannan vote.

[Redcloak]

Give him a couple of minutes and he'll condemn the killing.

...and then support it.

...and then condemn it.

...and then...

Waffles

[meenie]

Kerry is becoming a ringer for Bush. He is advocating all the solutions in foreign policy that Bush advocates. Part of the Dick Morris-Karl Rove brand of triangulation to take the issues away from the opponent by endorsing them yourself. Expect him to horn in on Bush's amnesty program and more money in the prescription drug program. Alas, the country, between the two of them, promises to become more socialist, debt-ridden, and weaker in strength in the economy and military.

[yonif]

These are probably his views. When it comes to Israel, there is almost no difference between administrations and their foreign policy towards Israel, in my opinion.

[Southack]

"MR. RUSSERT: On Thursday, President Bush broke with the tradition and policy of six predecessors when he said that Israel can keep part of the land seized in the 1967 Middle East War and asserted the Palestinian refugees cannot go back to their particular homes. Do you support President Bush?
SEN. KERRY: Yes.
MR. RUSSERT: Completely?
SEN. KERRY: Yes."

In this one exchange you can see that Senator Kerry has lost. He is clearly following President Bush's lead now, but who would vote for Bush-lite when they can have the real thing?!

In all fairness, Senator Kerry had no good choice. The mood of America has shifted firmly for *solutions* to terrorist problems, rather than on *talking* about what to do. Thus, Joe Sixpack and his wife want to see tangible results against terrorists everywhere, be they in Israel or Iraq. Military action against such problems is one clear thing that the public now supports.

BUT...Senator Kerry has been wishy-washy on supporting military solutions to world problems. Sometimes he votes for them, other-times not. His anti-war supporters certainly aren't going to like his newfound support of unilateral Israeli military action. They are going to go for Nader or stay at home now.

Heck, even the unions may begin to question their support of pro-NAFTA Kerry over anti-NAFTA Nader now.

However, this shift isn't going to show up in the polls anytime soon. Senator Kerry's anti-war supporters are going to take some time to fully turn against him. Meanwhile they are going to tell pollsters that they are still voting for him.

On issues, Senator Kerry has now lost the majority on:

1. His opposition to the death penalty
2. His support of abortion
3. His wavering support of unilateral action against terrorists
4. His gun control views/votes
5. His support and votes to raise taxes

Consider, all that President Bush has to do is win in 2004 the same states that he won back in 2000. That alone would give GWB an 18 electoral vote win this year.

On the other hand, Senator Kerry has to win more than 18 electoral votes away from GWB in heartland states...without losing any of the close Gore states (from back in 2000) like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, New Mexico, Iowa, etc.

That's just not feasible for the most liberal Senator in America. Sen.Kerry is a high-praise pick for uber-liberals in groupthink enclaves like San Francisco...not for Jane Average who goes to church on Sunday in Tennessee.

[Pukin Dog]

Well, its just that you understand what a lot of people don't.
In the end, when the chips are down, people revert to form. Kerry will have to be Kerry sooner or later, and the moment that happens, Bush will drop him like a hot rock.

[boop]

Problem is, I don't believe Kerry for a second. If he was known for his integrity, I might. I would buy a statement like this from Lieberman, because he has been consistent.

[steveegg]

Time to start making bets on how long it will be before he reverses himself on this one. Especially since the UN and European Allies are outraged.

Can you put me down for 10:27:43 am EDT Tuesday April 20, 2004?

[Doogle]

...someone mentioned that botox boy was heading for the "middle of the road"..
Kerry couldn't find the middle of the road if corelick built a wall on the white line

[Lady Jag]