Place DNC News here....AKA the John Kerry Flip-Flop Re-invention Convention

[Drbio]

Lets chat up the Dimocraptic National Convention.


Any thoughts?

[Drbio]

Sean Hannity is broadcasting live from the DNC. His slogan is "We are here so you don't have to be". Genius. His guest list is damn impressive. For those of you would like to hear from many of the Dim heavy hitters, Hannity has lined up a very impressive guest list. Tune in on the radio dial near you.

[chumdawg]

I'll be watching all week. The preliminary stuff should be entertaining. But nothing will be as entertaining as John Kerry going up in flames on Thursday night.

Last night I watched a special on MSNBC about Kerry's testimony before Congress in 1971...and the anti-war rallies he organized...and the medals he tossed away...and other stuff. I found it fascinating. Particularly fascinating to me was how close his voice sounded to, say, that of one of the Beatles. Good luck to this guy in trying to connect with the average voter.

You're a liberal weiner....

[Drbio]

You're a liberal weiner....

And yes it's true that Bush kicks ass! This land will surely vote for Bush!

[MavKikiNYC]

Damn....that Barbara Mikulski is some kind o' telegenic.

[chumdawg]

Originally posted by: Drbio

And yes it's true that Bush kicks ass! This land will surely vote for Bush!

Truer words...never spoken.

Can't get that tune out of my head now...

[Drbio]

Me either...LOL

[reeds]

Clinton's speech was perfect in every way, he was and still is awesome...Bush couldnt make that great of a speech if he practiced for a year...

"“When I was in office, the Republicans were pretty mean to me,” Clinton said. “When I left and made money, I became part of the most important group in the world to them. At first I thought I should send them a thank you note — until I realized the rest of you were paying the bill, and then I thought better of it.”"

Classic...even though he is NOW making millions, he let the world know what he thinks of the Bush tax cuts, the cuts that benefit the top 1% of the US, screwing over the others...

Gore had some good lines also..

For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all? Did you expect, for example, the largest deficits in history? ... And the loss of a million jobs?” hmmm..them tax cuts again...largest defictits in history..nice...

"And on the war on terrorism, he asked, “Wouldn’t we be safer with a president who didn’t insist on confusing al-Qaida with Iraq?”"

Just cant figure out how half this country still beleives in the BUSH BS

[FishForLunch]

Just cant figure out how half this country still beleives in the BUSH BS

Duh! because they trust Bush, he is all action while Bore and Clinton are all talk. When they talk all I hear is blah blah blah blah!

[reeds]

Clinton was buffeted by charges of dodging the draft throughout his 1992 campaign and presidency, and in a moment of self-criticism made the point that Kerry volunteered for the Southeast Asian conflict.

"During the Vietnam War, many young men including the current president, the vice president and me could have gone to Vietnam but didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background and could have avoided it too.


"Instead he said, send me," Clinton said.

"When they sent those swift-boats up the river in Vietnam, and told them their job was to draw hostile fire to show the American flag and bait the enemy to come out and fight, John Kerry said, send me," Clinton continued.

Hmmmm..how can Bush counter that one? I served in the national guard- or did I? I cant recall... Serving in the war was a big issue For BUSH SR when he ran...cant wait to hear the Republican spin on it this time around...

[reeds]

The Massachusetts senator "will lead the world, not alienate it. Lower the deficit, not raise it. Create good jobs, not lose them. Solve a health care crisis, not ignore it," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites) in her turn at the podium...even Hillary made sense tonight...

what is Bush actually doing that is beneficial to this country? Oh, besides making the rich richer...i keep forgetting that..

[reeds]

WOW- powerful stuff....you should read it sometime...

We think the role of government should be to give people the tools to create the conditions to make the most of their own lives. And we think everybody should have that chance.

On the other hand, the Republicans in Washington believe that America should be run by the right people — their people — in a world in which America acts unilaterally when we can and cooperates when we have to.

They believe the role of government is to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of those who embrace their economic, political and social views, leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves on important matters like health care and retirement security.

Now, since most Americans aren't that far to the right, our friends have to portray us Democrats as simply unacceptable, lacking in strength and values. In other words, they need a divided America.

But we don't.

Americans long to be united. After 9/11, we all just wanted to be one nation. Not a single American on September the 12th, 2001, cared who won the next presidential election.

All we wanted to do was to be one country, strong in the fight against terror, helping to heal those who were wounded and the families of those who lost their loved ones, reaching out to the rest of the world so we could meet these new challenges and go on with our democratic way of life.

The president had an amazing opportunity to bring the country together under his slogan of compassionate conservatism and to unite the world in the struggle against terror.

Instead, he and his congressional allies made a very different choice. They chose to use that moment of unity to try to push the country too far to the right and to walk away from our allies, not only in attacking Iraq before the weapons inspectors had finished their work, but in withdrawing American support for the climate change treaty and for the international court on war criminals and for the anti-ballistic missile treaty and from the nuclear test ban treaty.

Now, now at a time when we're trying to get other people to give up nuclear and biological and chemical weapons, they are trying to develop two new nuclear weapons which they say we might use first.

At home, the president and the Republican Congress have made equally fateful choices, which they also deeply believe in.

For the first time when America was in a war footing in our whole history, they gave two huge tax cuts, nearly half of which went to the top 1 percent of us.

Now, I'm in that group for the first time in my life.

And you might remember that when I was in office, on occasion, the Republicans were kind of mean to me.

But as soon as I got out and made money, I became part of the most important group in the world to them. It was amazing. I never thought I'd be so well cared for by the president and the Republicans in Congress. I almost sent them a thank you note for my tax cuts until I realized that the rest of you were paying the bill for it. And then I thought better of it.

Now look at the choices they made, choices they believed in. They chose to protect my tax cut at all costs while withholding promised funding to the Leave No Child Behind Act, leaving 2.1 million children behind.

They chose to protect my tax cut, while cutting 140,000 unemployed workers out of their job training programs, 100,000 working families out of their child care assistance, and worst of all, while cutting 300,000 poor children out of their after-school programs when we know it keeps them off the streets, out of trouble, in school, learning, going to college and having a good life.

They chose — they chose to protect my tax cuts while dramatically raising the out-of-pocket costs of health care to our veterans and while weakening or reversing very important environmental measures that Al Gore and I put into place, everything from clean air to the protection of our forests.

Now, in this time, everyone in America had to sacrifice except the wealthiest Americans. And most of us, almost all of us, from Republicans to independents and Democrats, we wanted to be asked to do our part, too. But all they asked us to do was to expend the energy necessary to open the envelopes containing our tax cuts. Now, if you like these choices and you agree with them, you should vote to return them to the White House and the Congress. If not, take a look at John Kerry, John Edwards (news - web sites) and the Democrats. We've got a different economic policy.

In this year's budget, the White House this year wants to cut off all the federal funding for 88,000 uniformed police officers under the COPS program we've had for 10 years. Among those 88,000 police are more than 700 members of the New York Police Department who put their lives on the line on 9/11.

With gang violence rising, and with all of us looking for terrorists in our midst and hoping they're not too well armed or too dangerous, the president and the Congress are about to allow the 10- year-old ban on deadly assault weapons to lapse.

Now, they believe it's the right thing to do. But our policy was to put more police on the street and to take assault weapons off the street. And it gave you eight years of declining crime and eight years of declining violence. Their policy is the reverse. They're taking police off the streets while they put assault weapons back on the street.

Now, if you agree with that choice, by all means, vote to keep them in office. But if you don't, join John Kerry, John Edwards and the Democrats in making America safer, smarter and stronger again.

On homeland security, Democrats tried to double the number of containers at ports and airports checked for weapons of mass destruction. It cost $1 billion. It would have been paid for under our bill by asking the 200,000 millionaires in America to cut their tax cut by $5,000. Almost all 200,000 of us would like to have done that, to spend $5,000 to make all 300 million Americans safer.

The measure failed. Why? Because the White House and the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives opposed it. They thought our $5,000 was more important than doubling the container checks at our ports and airports.

If you agree with that, by all means, re-elect them. If not, John Kerry and John Edwards are your team for the future.

These policies have turned a projected $5.8 trillion surplus that we left, enough to pay for the baby boomer retirement, into a projected debt of almost $5 trillion, with over $400 billion in deficit this year and for years to come.

[dude1394]

Quite frankly this is more of clinton lying his ass off like he's done most of his life. For example his first statement.

We think the role of government should be to give people the tools to create the conditions to make the most of their own lives. And we think everybody should have that chance.

On the other hand, the Republicans in Washington believe that America should be run by the right people — their people — in a world in which America acts unilaterally when we can and cooperates when we have to.

Is complete BS. HIS party is the one that believes in government largesse to tell the people how to run their lives and keep them beholden to the government for the rest of their lives, giving them a handout instead of a handup. For example the health care package he tried to pass was one big humongous beauracracy with administrators manageing it and governemnt beauracrats doling out the goodies. Pure socialism.

When the blacks of this country at approximately 70% want vouchers for schools, who is against it????? The democrats and the labor unions they are beholden too.

He is right about one thing however. Republicans DO believe that American should be run by the right people, themselves. They should decide where to spend their bucks, they should decide what is important to them, they should decide if they want religion in their lives. NOT the government.

[reeds]

"Republicans DO believe that American should be run by the right people, themselves. They should decide where to spend their bucks, they should decide what is important to them, they should decide if they want religion in their lives. NOT the government."

BUT the republicans only care about the rich- cant u see that? Why are they so protective on not losing those tax cuts to the top 1% of wage earners???WHY??? Those millions upon millions of dollars could go to much better use..the rich get richer and thats what the republicans have always been for

[mavsman55]

BUT the republicans only care about the rich- cant u see that? Why are they so protective on not losing those tax cuts to the top 1% of wage earners???WHY??? Those millions upon millions of dollars could go to much better use..the rich get richer and thats what the republicans have always been for

I actually agree with what you said. As a republican living in a middle class family, I can assure you that I, as a republican, care <u>only</u> about the rich more than myself. Even though my family, at the beginning of this fiscal year, received a big-ass tax break from George W. Bush himself. But that doesn't matter. I just can't understand why in the world Bush would want the upper-class families in the USA to spend more money to create jobs for less-fortunate people and feed the US economy. It's just such a crying shame, ain't it? That Bush guy, man, he's such a doofus!

Don't you just wish you were rich, reeds?

[MavKikiNYC]

I never thought I would see a more homely child than Chelsea Clinton on television at a Democratic National Convention.

Clearly, the organizers of the convention sought out a child who could eclipse Chelsea's homeliness. They outdid themselves in giving a televised speaking role to Ilana Wexler of KidforKerry (kidsforkerry.org).

[reeds]

"I actually agree with what you said. As a republican living in a middle class family, I can assure you that I, as a republican, care only about the rich more than myself. Even though my family, at the beginning of this fiscal year, received a big-ass tax break from George W. Bush himself. But that doesn't matter. I just can't understand why in the world Bush would want the upper-class families in the USA to spend more money to create jobs for less-fortunate people and feed the US economy. It's just such a crying shame, ain't it? That Bush guy, man, he's such a doofus!

Don't you just wish you were rich, reeds?"

U nailed it right on the head...He is DOOFUS...do you honestly think the rich go out and spend that tax cut- and it helps create jobs???Please...what is 5 grand to the rich? Do you think they sit by their window waiting for the mailman to come, just waiting for that check to come?? Oh goodie, lets go out and stimulate the enconomy..lets go spend this check?? Hell no, the rich are RICH, they have what they need..

Boy whatever we do, dont keep those tax breaks and help out social security with the money, or health care, or that defecit....just help the rich- those needy people who already make 250k a year...what a joke...... oh well, whenever a Democrat does get elected, im sure he will bail out the country again- just as Clinton did..he left with the biggest surlplus in US history..not the biggest Deficit- which is what we have now....

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally posted by: reeds
"Please...what is 5 grand to the rich? Do you think they sit by their window waiting for the mailman to come, just waiting for that check to come?? Oh goodie, lets go out and stimulate the enconomy..lets go spend this check?? Hell no, the rich are RICH, they have what they need..

yeah. 5,000 to them is like 50 to you, reeds.
give me 50 bucks.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: reeds
"I actually agree with what you said. As a republican living in a middle class family, I can assure you that I, as a republican, care only about the rich more than myself. Even though my family, at the beginning of this fiscal year, received a big-ass tax break from George W. Bush himself. But that doesn't matter. I just can't understand why in the world Bush would want the upper-class families in the USA to spend more money to create jobs for less-fortunate people and feed the US economy. It's just such a crying shame, ain't it? That Bush guy, man, he's such a doofus!

Don't you just wish you were rich, reeds?"

U nailed it right on the head...He is DOOFUS...do you honestly think the rich go out and spend that tax cut- and it helps create jobs???Please...what is 5 grand to the rich? Do you think they sit by their window waiting for the mailman to come, just waiting for that check to come?? Oh goodie, lets go out and stimulate the enconomy..lets go spend this check?? Hell no, the rich are RICH, they have what they need..

Boy whatever we do, dont keep those tax breaks and help out social security with the money, or health care, or that defecit....just help the rich- those needy people who already make 250k a year...what a joke...... oh well, whenever a Democrat does get elected, im sure he will bail out the country again- just as Clinton did..he left with the biggest surlplus in US history..not the biggest Deficit- which is what we have now....

Reeds at times you can be such a total doofus. Flip over to the around the NBA section and checkout the article speaking of the multimillion dollar ring Kobe bought for his woman for screwing around. Hell no one "needs" a piece of bling-bling like that. That is a total luxary. Of course you can't buy it on 250k a year or even double that. However that bling-bling helps employ a lot of people who aren't rich. Someone has to clean the store. I'm sure that they aren't rich. Someone has to provide security to the store. I'm sure the security guards aren't rich. Someone has to provde PC support for the store. Hell I know that they aren't rich. The owners of the store will probably take their profits and invest in stocks. Stocks are a way of companies to raise new capitol which can be used to create new jobs. Of course all this means viewing this with at least a college level view of economics. Sorry, but 3rd grade and below economics just doesn't cut it.

And you're right, 5000 dollars to the very wealthy isn't very much. Hell they're just as likely to not even cash the damn check. [img]i/expressions/anim_roller.gif[/img]

[dude1394]

An interesting analysis and political statement would be to take a company that is "rich" by the dims standards and then have the actual people who would be unemployed if the tax cuts were rescinded. So the question is "why do you dims want to put this person out of work?".

[FishForLunch]

Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Oh, Deer: Steyn Shoots Down Kerry's Hunting Tale

Doh! A deer!

Apparently hoping to outdo Hillary Clinton's improbable attempt to reinvent herself as a duck hunter, John Kerry has tried to avoid alienating supporters of gun rights by depicting himself as a deer hunter. Mark Steyn will have none of it.


Steyn wrote in the London Telegraph yesterday:
"He was in Wisconsin the other day, pretending to be a regular guy, and was asked what kind of hunting he preferred. 'I'd have to say deer,' said the senator. 'I go out with my trusty 12-gauge double-barrel, crawl around on my stomach ... That's hunting.'

"This caused huge hilarity among my New Hampshire neighbours. None of us has ever heard of anybody deer hunting by crawling around on his stomach, even in Massachusetts. The trick is to blend in with the woods and, given that John Kerry already looks like a forlorn tree in late fall, it's hard to see why he'd give up his natural advantage in order to hunt horizontally.

Oh, Pooh

"Possibly his weird Vietnam nostalgia is getting out of control. Still, if I come across a guy in the woods in deer season inching through the undergrowth with a mouthful of bear scat, at least I'll know who it is," Steyn noted.

Considering that these days Kerry looks more like a bunny wabbit than Elmer Fudd, perhaps he could use a refresher course from Gun Owners of America, which, by the way, he still hasn't met with, despite his phony claim that he'd meet with any critical group.


Update from a reader from Minnesota: "The fact that John Kerry claims he crawls around on the ground while deer hunting is less ridiculous than the fact that he claims to hunt deer with a double-barrel 12 guage. Ask any hunter. You hunt deer with either a rifle or a shotgun slug (which you cannot do with a double-barrel shotgun). To a true deer hunter, Kerry's claim is even more ludicrious than Howard Dean stating that the book of Job is in the New Testament and then claiming he is a devout Christian. Kerry's statement clearly shows he has absolutely no clue about hunting."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here another interesting story

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS KERRY CONVENTION FILM: WAR SCENES REENACTED

**World Exclusive**

A bombshell new book written by the man who took over John Kerry's Swift Boat charges: Kerry reenacted combat scenes for film while in Vietnam!

The footage is at the center of a growing controversy in Boston.

The official convention video introducing Kerry is directed by Steven Spielberg prot&eacute;g&eacute; James Smoll.

MORE

Smoll was given hours of Kerry's homemade 8 millimeter film to incorporate into the convention short, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

"Kerry carried a home movie camera to record his exploits for later viewing," charges a naval officer in the upcoming book UNFIT FOR COMMAND.

"Kerry would revisit ambush locations for reenacting combat scenes where he would portray the hero, catching it all on film. Kerry would take movies of himself walking around in combat gear, sometimes dressed as an infantryman walking resolutely through the terrain. He even filmed mock interviews of himself narrating his exploits. A joke circulated among Swiftees was that Kerry left Vietnam early not because he received three Purple Hearts, but because he had recorded enough film of himself to take home for his planned political campaigns."

UNFIT FOR COMMAND, Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, will be unleashed next month by REGNERY. [It ranked #1,318 on the AMAZON hitparade Wednesday morning.]

The films shot by Kerry's own Super 8 millimeter hand-held movie camera have the grainy quality of home movies.

MORE

The BOSTON GLOBE reported in 1996 that the Kerry home movies "reveal something indelible about the man who shot them - the tall, thin, handsome Naval officer seen striding through the reeds in flak jacket and helmet, holding aloft the captured B-40 rocket. The young man so unconscious of risk in the heat of battle, yet so focused on his future ambitions that he would reenact the moment for film. It is as if he had cast himself in the sequel to the experience of his hero, John F. Kennedy, on the PT-109."

"John was thinking Camelot when he shot that film, absolutely," says Thomas Vallely, a fellow veteran and one of Kerry's closest political advisers and friends.

NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson in his new book RECKLESS DISREGARD, details one of the claimed Kerry reenactments for film:

"On February 28, 1969, now in charge of PCF 94, Kerry came under fire from an enemy location on the shore. The crew's gunner returned fire, hitting and wounding the lone gunman. Kerry directed the boat to charge the enemy position. Beaching his boat, Kerry jumped off, chased the wounded insurgent behind a thatched hutch, and killed him. Kerry and his crew returned within days, armed with a Super 8 video camera he had purchased at the post exchange at Cam Ranh Bay, and reenacted the skirmish on film."

Developing...

[reeds]

Reeds at times you can be such a total doofus. Flip over to the around the NBA section and checkout the article speaking of the multimillion dollar ring Kobe bought for his woman for screwing around. Hell no one "needs" a piece of bling-bling like that. That is a total luxary. Of course you can't buy it on 250k a year or even double that. However that bling-bling helps employ a lot of people who aren't rich. Someone has to clean the store. I'm sure that they aren't rich. Someone has to provide security to the store. I'm sure the security guards aren't rich. Someone has to provde PC support for the store. Hell I know that they aren't rich. The owners of the store will probably take their profits and invest in stocks. Stocks are a way of companies to raise new capitol which can be used to create new jobs. Of course all this means viewing this with at least a college level view of economics. Sorry, but 3rd grade and below economics just doesn't cut it.

And you're right, 5000 dollars to the very wealthy isn't very much. Hell they're just as likely to not even cash the damn check.


I wasnt speaking of people signing 130 million dollar contracts was I?
3RD grade economics...hmmm...get real..the bottom line is simple- the rich get richer with Bush, and the poor get poorer...call it what you wish if i makes you feel better about it..

[Drbio]

Kerry will havea deer-in-the-headlights look as this story makes the rounds. That was moronic.

[u2sarajevo]

Deer hunting with a double-barrel 12-gauge? He must like lots of Buckshot with his Venison.... what's left of it I guess.

[Mavdog]

I know little about hunting, but I do know a good speech when it's given.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

State Senator Barack Obama

On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant.

But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place; America which stood as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before. While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor he signed up for duty, joined Patton’s army and marched across Europe. Back home, my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA, and moved west in search of opportunity.

And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream, born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or “blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential. They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with pride.

I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible. Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody’s son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted—or at least, most of the time.

This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations. And fellow Americans—Democrats, Republicans, Independents—I say to you tonight: we have more work to do. More to do for the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that’s moving to Mexico, and now are having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour. More to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back tears, wondering how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits he counted on. More to do for the young woman in East St. Louis, and thousands more like her, who has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but doesn’t have the money to go to college.

Don’t get me wrong. The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks, they don’t expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead and they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don’t want their tax money wasted by a welfare agency or the Pentagon. Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. No, people don’t expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice.

In this election, we offer that choice. Our party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer. That man is John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and sacrifice, because they’ve defined his life. From his heroic service in Vietnam to his years as prosecutor and lieutenant governor, through two decades in the United States Senate, he has devoted himself to this country. Again and again, we’ve seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available. His values and his record affirm what is best in us.

John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he’ll offer them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves. John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren’t held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but it should never be the first option.

A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, six-two or six-three, clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he’d joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain why he’d enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us? I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one’s full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm’s way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they’re going, to care for their families while they’re gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.

Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it’s not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga.

A belief that we are connected as one people. If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief—I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper—that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. “E pluribus unum.” Out of many, one.

Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism here—the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!

In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead. I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!

Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do—if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president, and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president, and this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. Thank you and God bless you.

[u2sarajevo]

Obama-Osama.... I can't believe the Dems would allow him to speak. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/moon.gif[/img]

[reeds]

Obama-Osama.... I can't believe the Dems would allow him to speak. ??

You cant be serious???Obama is an up and coming STAR.....he will take Ill by storm...

[Murphy3]

It truly is unfortunate that the Democratic party is represented by John Kerry. However, it is refreshing to see an up and comer such as Obama.



edited to add an 'e' to unfortunate

[Drbio]

Obama is a talented young man. I don't agree wiht his evaluation of Kerry, but the kid is an up-and-comer in his party.

[Dooby]

I don't think I have posted in this forum for months, nor do I intend to do so again. But I have been keeping track of Obama for months since realclearpolitics.com started talking about him early in his race with the would be pervert Jack Ryan.

Obama is the real F'ing deal. If all you are is a partisan hack and don't really care about the individual and you are a straight ticket republican, then this guy should scare the tar out of you. If, on the other hand, you get excited about quality people being in positions of power, you have to be excited. It is like watching A-rod in Triple-A. He is brilliant and eloquent.

Peggy Noonan today:

When Barack Obama began his speech everyone watching thought: A star is born. Talk about famous overnight. His Bill Cosby-esque line--"the slander that a black youth with a book is acting white"--was right for the times, which is to say in line with common wisdom, and when he spoke of blue states where "we worship an awesome God," he was not just hitting a note but using the authentic language of American evangelism. When you first see him he is a plain man of irregular features and jug ears. But when he begins to speak his features blend into harmony and handsomeness. This kind of thing only happens if you have magic. At one point the C-Span cameras went to an unhappy looking Jesse Jackson in the stands. He looked like he was thinking, "I don't remember passing a torch." But it was passed.

It all comes down to what he does in the senate. Does he be a good soldier to the democratic party or does he chart his own path. If he chooses the latter, I have wonder if I will someday get the opportunity to vote for him.

[chumdawg]

Obama was indeed terrific. Kudos to his speechwriter for producing a masterpiece. It just doesn't get much better than that. As for lines, the "slander" one was good. Even better was "the audacity of hope."

He fully deserves his rising-star status. But he is someone that no Republican should fear. For the fact of the matter is, he's more Republican than most of the Republicans I know. With only minor changes, that speech would have gone over just as well at the Rep convention next month. Probably even better.

There is definitely a second generation of black politicians (thank God). The Ford kid from Tennessee has been on the radar for a while, and is still even ahead of Obama in terms of potential, I would think. Of course, Ford does not support gay marriage, he is for a 'prayer minute' in public schools, and he doesn't believe you should have the right to burn our flag. Again, he's got one foot already across the aisle.

The Democratics would be a stronger party for it if they would convince the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world to simply go away. The irony of this convention is terrific. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson rage on and on, in the same tired way they always have, about civil rights issues that were settled decades ago. They present the plight of blacks as hopelessly repressed.

Yet the keynote speaker of the convention is a 43-year-old black man from Illinois who was president of the Harvard Law Review and doubtless will be elected to the Senate this fall, cementing his rapid rise to stardom in the party. He is a son of a Kenyan immigrant, of a family that came from nothing--and he was able to make himself into something.

The keynote speaker of the last convention (Ford) is a young black man with a law degree who was elected to Congress at the ripe old age of 26--and who is also seen as a rising star in the party.

It would seem that the hopelessness and oppression is something less than universal.

I am a big fan of both Obama and Ford. If either of them ran for national office, I would probably be inclined to give them my vote.

But there is still one thing that bothers me a bit. Make no mistake about it, Obama's star is rising at least in part *because of* his race. Obama says in his speech, "There is not a black America and a white America. There is *one* America." Well you see, that's something that only a black man can say. Could you imagine those words coming from a white man?

If they did, the response would be immediate in pointing out the disadvantaged "black America." So here you have an issue where the Dems get to have it both ways. When it is to their benefit, there are several Americas. And other times, it benefits them to only have one.

[kg_veteran]

So here you have an issue where the Dems get to have it both ways. When it is to their benefit, there are several Americas. And other times, it benefits them to only have one.

Absolutely. Obama talks about there only being "one America" -- basically implying that the Republicans are trying to act like things are divided when they really aren't. Then John Edwards and John Kerry come forward and talk about "two Americas" -- implying that the country is divided along economic and racial lines.

Unfortunately, not many people will be as smart as you, Chumdawg, and catch on to the rather obvious inconsistency.

[dude1394]

Until the democrats can show that they are a serious party, not one will ever get my vote, no matter who they are. With Obama, you also get the daschle, kennedy, kerry, pelosi's, grahams, franks, biden, durbin, etc. no thanks...

[mavsman55]

Originally posted by: reeds
BUT the republicans only care about the rich- cant u see that? Why are they so protective on not losing those tax cuts to the top 1% of wage earners???WHY??? Those millions upon millions of dollars could go to much better use..the rich get richer and thats what the republicans have always been for

Originally posted by: reeds
the bottom line is simple- the rich get richer with Bush, and the poor get poorer...call it what you wish if i makes you feel better about it..

Where did you pull this one from? Poor get poorer? George Bush only cares about the rich? Let's have a look, shall we?

Link

[quote]
President Bush has taken bold steps to tear down the barriers that separate the poor from effective programs.

Leading the Fight against HIV/AIDS: In his 2003 State of the Union Address, President Bush announced the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a five-year, $15 billion initiative to turn the tide in combating the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Providing Access to Medicine for HIV Positive Americans: Just as he has shown leadership globally, the President is concerned about U.S. citizens who are suffering with HIV/AIDS.

Increasing Access to Effective Drug Treatment: The President’s Access to Recovery (ATR) program will give individuals seeking drug treatment expanded access to effective providers through a new voucher program.

Mentoring Disadvantaged Youth and Children of Prisoners: Last year, President Bush proposed a three-year, $450 million mentoring initiative.

Helping Ex-Offenders Contribute to Society: In January 2004, President Bush proposed a four-year, $300 million initiative to reduce recidivism and help released inmates contribute to their communities.

Opening or Expanding Community Health Centers: Access to health care has been extended to 3 million additional Americans – part of the President’s five-year plan to fund 1,200 new or expanded sites to serve an additional 6.1 million people.

[PlanoJ]

Originally posted by: mavsman55

Where did you pull this one from? Poor get poorer? George Bush only cares about the rich? Let's have a look, shall we?

Drudgereport.com, an unabeshedly conservative news source, ran an article earlier this week saying that for the first time in history the IRS finds that the average income for Americans has decreased for two straight years. The next article was how the average raise for CEO's over the same time was 15%. The gap between the rich and the rest is growing.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: PlanoJ

Drudgereport.com, an unabeshedly conservative news source, ran an article earlier this week saying that for the first time in history the IRS finds that the average income for Americans has decreased for two straight years. The next article was how the average raise for CEO's over the same time was 15%. The gap between the rich and the rest is growing.

Or could it be that the poor are getting more ways to shelter income from the IRS while the rich are getting less?

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: LRB
Or could it be that the poor are getting more ways to shelter income from the IRS while the rich are getting less?

too funny LRB. Jon Stewart type of humor, when they ask an absolutely ludicrous question to someone serious.