Simply put, there has been a lot of Kerry bashing on this blog. It breaks my heart to see it and I would do anything in my power to change the minds of the Kerry bashers out there. And so I am writing this diary. I intend to respond to all the problems that people have with Kerry, and from that hope to change the minds of at least a few people.
What has disappointed me the most is that people are bashing Kerry over his every move. He can do no right. He goes to a funeral for a soldier, but it doesn't matter. He voted for the authority to go to war, so he deserves part of the blame. He joined the recount effort. Too little too late, and he betrayed his supporters by conceding and not fighting.
It doesn't matter what he does, he can do no right. And man, is it frustrating. The democratic party has a sorry history in the way losing presidential candidates are treated. That needs to change.
So, lets start with something that not many people know about John Kerry, the senator. Republicans attacked him over his record, and now some democrats are attacking him over it.
Well, John Kerry has sponsored 57 bills while he was in the Senate over the last 20 years, but his legacy as a Senator will never be about legislation.
His career has been about restoring the public's trust in the government. He has done that by making them obey the law, and its officials to tell the truth. For example:
He took down Oliver North by busting open the
Iran-Contra Scandal. He exposed the connection between the U.S-supported Nicaraguan contras drug trafficking. He was the one who led the committee that took North down. The White House demanded that that the committee be allowed to see only edited portions of the North diaries. Kerry refused and subpoenaed for all diaries.
Kerry broke the Bank Of Credit and Commerce International mega-larcenies. Read the story, but in short: this bank was an international criminal bank with murderous clients and terrorists who got secret government support from the last bush administration. John Kerry took it down.
And he also, along with John McCain, restored relations with Vietnam. So, please, spare me the John Kerry has no record argument. The reason why he is so upset with the Bush administration is because the Bush administration's secrecy and distortions that it presents publicly is opposite everything John Kerry has fought for.
Kerry has been fighting his whole life to have the government on the side of the people, and to restore respect and dignity that the government has seemed to lose in the eye of the public.
And whether he mentioned or highlighted these things during the campaign is irrelevant.
He may not of been the most charismatic man in the world, but he sure came a long way. What you saw in the primaries was a grim man. What you saw a week before the election was a man truly inspired and touched by the millions of people putting their hopes and dreams into him.
And who says he couldn't take a stand on an issue? He took clear stands on stem cell research, the assault rifles ban, health care, the outsourcing of jobs, and taxes. And this is just off the top of my head.
His support for the war has been explained countless times before the election. If you are a regular poster here, you should know his position like the back of your hand.
He voted for the authority to go to war. The way the president conducted the war was not how Kerry would of conducted it. In fact, if he were president, we would of found out Iraq had no WMD's, and we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. But if it was found out Iraq had WMD's, we would strike. As he said on the senate floori in 2002, we are going for the sole reason to disarm Saddam of WMD's.
It was to defend our country. He was wrong, I was wrong. But war is not a yes or no answer. People bashing Kerry over his position on the war are using all the republican talking points we discredited before the election. War is complicated, and the decision has many factors to it. With Kerry, we would of evaluated all our options, get support from the U.N., let inspectors do their jobs, and focus on the people actually responsible for 9/11.
So, voting for the authority is not a reason to partially blame Kerry for what has happened in Iraq. Voting for authority is not a reason to mock Kerry's appearance at a dead soldier's funeral. In fact, it is shameful to do so. He would of handled almost this whole process in Iraq differently.
As a poster mentioned in the "What John Kerry Did Today" diary, Kerry gave over $250,000 in the Washington governor's recount efforts. He also joined the recount effort in Ohio.
He gave more money to other campaigns than any presidential candidate in history. And he will have very little money left if he does choose to take another run at it in 2008.
Do you think it is credible if a losing candidate screams fraud and demands a recount? No, it isn't credible. You look like a sore-loser, and all the recount efforts, the voting irregularity reports, and the talk of a fair election look uncredible as well.
The reason we have gotten this far is because people unassociated with the campaign have led the charge. You can't say that we are being sore-losers if people like Badnarik, Cobb, and Nader are leading the recount effort.
Sure, it is frustrating to not see Kerry publicly declaring outrage, but it is the smart thing to do. There is no clear evidence of fraud, so it is foolish, especially for the person who actually lost the election, to say there was fraud.
His concession allows him and his team to operate behind the scenes, to have the support of the public, and, in my honest opinion, to live up to his word that another Florida fiasco would be terrible for the country, and do what he thinks is best for this country.
And just because he isn't publicly saying anything does not mean he is not behind the scenes working on making sure a fair election was conducted. It does not mean he is not living up to his promise that every vote will be counted. If you have proof he isn't doing that, come forward, if not, then shut up, because while constructive criticism is appropriate, personal attacks and accusing somebody of something that can not be proven are not appropriate.
So, this is the real John Kerry. This is the man I grew to admire, respect, and like throughout the course of this campaign. I became attached to John Kerry and was devastated when he didn't win. And I will back him up everytime.
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