Kerry Must Go

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0417/mondo1.php

John Kerry Must Go
Note to Democrats: it\'s not too late to draft someone—anyone—else
April 27th, 2004 11:45 AM
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WASHINGTON, D.C.— With the air gushing out of John Kerry\'s balloon, it may be only a matter of time until political insiders in Washington face the dread reality that the junior senator from Massachusetts doesn\'t have what it takes to win and has got to go. As arrogant and out of it as the Democratic political establishment is, even these pols know the party\'s got to have someone to run against George Bush. They can\'t exactly expect the president to self-destruct into thin air.

With growing issues over his wealth (which makes fellow plutocrat Bush seem a charity case by comparison), the miasma over his medals and ribbons (or ribbons and medals), his uninspiring record in the Senate (yes war, no war), and wishy-washy efforts to mimic Bill Clinton\'s triangulation gimmickry (the protractor factor), Kerry sinks day by day. The pros all know that the candidate who starts each morning by having to explain himself is a goner.

What to do? Look for the Dem biggies, whoever they are these days, to sit down with the rich and arrogant presumptive nominee and try to persuade him to take a hike. Then they can return to business as usual—resurrecting John Edwards, who is still hanging around, or staging an open convention in Boston, or both.

If things proceed as they are, the dim-bulb Dem leaders are going to be very sorry they screwed Howard Dean.

I love seeing liberals get all nervous.

Village Voice eh?  I think the more radical liberals always liked Dean more anyway.  Kerry just doesn\'t have any appeal.  He comes from the combination of 2 obscenely wealthy families and he can relate to the working man?  LOL

I can say that if the Dems would have picked Dean it would have been an exciting run up to the election - given Dean\'s fondness for Hulk Hoganesque outbursts!

OT:  I know some may think this is an oxymoron, but where are our intelligent liberal posters?  Toxical doesn\'t count, but it would be nice if some of our more reputable posters with differing opinions posted.

Dean was the perfect liberal. They loved him but they knew he could never win. Liberals are looking for a daddy but they can\'t find one.

The Democratic party is full of aging middle class professionals like my Dad, who have no interest in supporting a candidate based on beliefs, but only based on "who can beat Bush."  I never really liked Kerry, and my views were most closely represented by Kusinich.  Howard Dean was my compromise to the fictional ideal of moderation.  My Father shunned both those guys, calling them "unelectable."

How the hell are the Democrats ever going to get young people interested in voting, and bring new people into the party if they keep playing these stupid games trying to find the one candidate who will offend as few people as possible?  We ****ing need to start offending LOTS of people to make them wise up.  The truth needs to be told, not obscured with the perfect window dressing.  

Having said all that, and even though I don\'t love Kerry, I would much prefer to have him elected than Emperor Bush.  The election is more than six months away.  SIX MONTHS.  That\'s a long time, and predictions of Doom at this point are virtually worthless.  Everyone likes to predict doom for someone at this stage in the race.  The election is far enough off that the journalists can\'t be held accountable if their brilliant prediction does not come to pass.  

True a lot can happen in 6 months.  The Dems and the Repubs cater to special interests - there is no denying that, but I feel the Repubs aren\'t being pulled in "8 different" directions like the Dems are.  There seems to be more unity in the GOP as opposed to the Dems.  

I think Bush has done a good job with the hand he has been dealt.  He inherited a sliding economy from Clinton and more importantly the Homeland Security issue.  My fear is having a Democratic President who cares more about "world opinion" than the US.

Speaking of which, I saw a show on HBO last night called Strip Searched... (no it wasn\'t late night exotic viewing) and it was about an American woman being detained in China and an Arab man being detained in NY.  The only thing interesting is that the scripts for the two and their interrogators were identical, but the point I am getting at is at the very end some statistics pop up on the screen about how many people have been detained since 9/11 and how many have been deported... blah blah blah... and I am thinking what is the damn point?  Some activist made this movie to make a "point" about the Patriot Act and I am thinking so he would rather have 400 potential terrorists running around the US as opposed to having them deported?  Is anyone going to miss the 400 who were deported (most probably with good reason)?  Anyway, enough my rant, I just don\'t understand the logic behind that kind of thinking... its unAmerican to round people up and deport them so we should take the unnecessary risk of letting suspected terrorists run around unchecked?

I saw part of that program, but I came in late so I didn\'t watch the whole thing.  I think the point was not how many were deported, but the much larger number who were hassled and abused for no justifiable reason.  You may say it\'s a price we have to pay to ensure our safety, but isn\'t it true that you and I, caucasian male americans are not really paying that price?  If white americans were subjected to that kind of treatment a few times, they might have a different view on the subject.

Our culture and our very economy depends on foreigners being able to travel to the US for business and educational purposes.  The brain drain we have inflicted on other nations of the world through the reputation of our University system has had huge benefits for our economy.  Lets not forget all the outsourcing and foreign manufacturing our US corporations have set up in the third world.  Foreigners need to be able to come to the US for legitimate purposes, and be treated with respect during the journey.

I understand what you are saying, but I am still willing to pay the price.  I think a few less foreigners coming from areas where terrorism is high isn\'t going to hurt us economically.  Lets face it the only ones who are being examined closely are Arabs and those of the Islamic faith.  To the terrorists it is a cultural war and for us not to screen or round up suspected terrorists is a far worse crime than if we did.  

Imagine if another attack like 9/11 happens again and the perps were let go because they couldn\'t be held... the public outrage would be catastrophic.  A law would be passed that would make the Patriot Act look like school detention.

I think it\'s overkill to observe draconian security measures for ALL people of Middle Eastern nationality or descent... not to mention the political price we pay for that posture.  We are trying to make friends with some of these countries, aren\'t we?  

Right now, it is not just middle easterners who are being affected by this climate of fear that our country is wallowing in.  One of my coworkers is from Brazil, and he told me that within the last year, the US government implented much stricter rules for tourists visiting from that country.  Now you need to pay $100 to obtain a visa before traveling, which is an agonizingly slow process.  Technically you can get one in person in Brazil, but the US consulates there are hopelessly understaffed, and it\'s a nightmare.  Previously no visa was required.  The Brazilian government was so pissed off they instantly snapped up the identical requirements for US citizens vacationing in Brazil.  Does this make any sense?

It\'s a spiraling chain of knee-jerk reactions with no rational justification.  I wish that we Americans could just accept that we are dwellers on planet earth like everyone else, not living in some panglossian utopia.  Bad things can and will happen here just like everywhere else.  We shouldn\'t destroy our own quality of life because we are afraid of BAD things.

I disagree  What would be put in place of what exists now?  Less strict measures of screening foreigners coming into the US?  I don\'t that is the answer.  To be honest there is no perfect solution that will please everyone.  

Brazil has bigger security issues than the we do with the drug cartels - they are so bad I wouldn\'t visit Brazil on an all expenses paid vacation.  As I have said before, the world should not dictate our national security policies and learn to deal with the ones we have in place.  

Terrorists originate from our so called allies in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia in particular tells us one thing and does another.  Now there is suspicion that they were aiding Iraq during the war!?  It has long been said that Saudi Arabia is our greatest enemy in the Middle East and there is something to be said about that.  One point I don\'t agree with the Bush Administration on is just that.  Investigate Saudi Arabia... I am sure we will find numerous skeletons.  Why won\'t we?  Oil of course... anyone who says otherwise - conservative or liberal is blind.

More laws only complicate and destroy things as history proves. If one really wanted to, they can look up any and every law passed in the last 20 years.

All of those will contridict several of the same laws worded differently. We dont need more laws and rstirctions, we just need more people who actually do their job to enforce those laws.

If you were not a white male, you would not be so complacent. I am a white female and even I am not so blind.

kerrys better then dean...

go nadar.

Originally posted by TSina
More laws only complicate and destroy things as history proves. If one really wanted to, they can look up any and every law passed in the last 20 years.

Prove it.

Originally posted by TSina

If you were not a white male, you would not be so complacent. I am a white female and even I am not so blind.

You have to be kidding.  Being a white male isn\'t all it is cranked up to be in these times.

So Ms. white female, how has the Patriot Act effected you?  What rights of yours have been taken away?  The sit and do nothing approach is not the answer.

There are many redundant laws that have been passed in recent years that already have a similar in effect. Im not going to sit here and waste my time proving to you what I and others already know. If you really want to know, do the research.

Are you kidding? Being white gets you into more places than visa..lol Being a white male is like having AMEX black.

Uhm that was the point. It doesnt affect you or I much at all. Open your eyes, everyone but basically a "white" gets harrassed at some point in time since this rediculous Patriot Act and Homeland Security junk.

We already know what we need to do to curb more terrorist events on our shores. We already know the types of people to look out for. We already know or have found out the measures we need to take to "protect" ourselves. Why do we need more stuff on the books? So it looks like tweedle dee and tweedle dum are doing something while in office except for vacationing on a Texas ranch?

Come on.

Do you REALLY feel better knowing this patriot stuff is nice and legal now? It\'s really nothing new unless one is simply blind and or deaf. Its to make the general public "feel" safer. Like the government never knew about terrorists and what to do about it.

Originally posted by TSina
There are many redundant laws that have been passed in recent years that already have a similar in effect. Im not going to sit here and waste my time proving to you what I and others already know. If you really want to know, do the research.

Weak... you made the statement not I, the burden of proof is upon you.  You stated "history proved it" so it should be easy for you to recall should it not? :rolleyes:

[clips]

i don\'t have no beef with the patriot act..if they wanna peep atr what i\'m doin\' go right ahead..while they\'re at it maybe they can switch my credit with somebody else\'s ..seriously tho we all know that the majority of cats gettin\' checked out will be of arab descent anyway right? i\'m don\'t really condone that,..but it\'s who most likely will have the shady background if one were to try something(i know i will catch some heat for that but it\'s the truth)

that s**t that went down in maco tx, and that cat that blwe up the fbi bldg were rare cases...