and that's exactly what we've been saying for years, so it's not exactly BREAKING NEWS
Follow me below the jump to see more of what they said...
In an interview with Obama due to appear in their newest magazine, they question Obama about being swiftboated. And Rollingstone says (approximately), "In the past the Democratic Party has been afraid to stand up for the person being swiftboated." And they comment on how the DNC WAS NOT there for John Kerry to protect him because they were afraid to be smeared by Rove and because they're afraid of being called "unpatriotic" (etc.)
And remember the way the media and Republicans smeared Al Gore in 2000?...(I heard this quote on CNN Reliable Sources just a few minutes ago.)
Could Rollingstone be right?
In 2000, Did you see Terry McAuliffe (the head of the DNC), Bill Clinton, or the DNC standing up to defend Al Gore against those smears? (You know which ones I mean!)
They are exactly right about this!
Right now, John Kerry has been the one CONSISTENTLY defending ALL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES against swiftboating!
He's defended Obama against swiftboating.
Sen. John Kerry reached out to veterans here on Barack Obama's behalf Saturday, saying he believes Obama is more prepared to be commander in chief than Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were when they took office.
Kerry told the crowd he did not think Obama would be victimized by GOP attacks the way he was in 2004 by the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." Kerry took responsibility for not fighting the Swift Boat assaults more effectively, but he said advisors, including Bill Clinton, suggested he not defend himself aggressively.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
He defended Hillary Clinton
At first blush they seemed like a surprising couple: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator John Kerry, teaming up last month to defend Mrs. Clinton from Pentagon criticism over the Iraq war – criticism that had a Swift-Boat-style ring to it, her campaign believed, of questioning her patriotism.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
He defended John Murtha in 2005 when Murtha came out against the war.
...coming to the aid of fellow Democrats who find themselves in similar predicaments.
In the fall of 2005, for example, Kerry was among the first to defend Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and decorated former Marine Corps officer, against right-wing attacks following Murtha's vociferous opposition to the Iraq war. Kerry took the Senate floor to defend Murtha, a fellow Vietnam veteran, and took part in grass-roots efforts to highlight Murtha's courageous military service.
A year later, Kerry stood up for Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran trying to unseat Representative Michael Fitzpatrick in the Philadelphia suburbs. Fitzpatrick had enlisted military veterans to attack Murphy's service record; Murphy won the election.
http://www.boston.com/...
He defended Patrick Murphy against swiftboating.
I won’t stand for the "swift boating" of Patrick Murphy. It disgusts me that a congressman who has never worn the uniform of our country stands there in silence as a veteran home from Iraq has his service disparaged. . . . What is it these Republicans who never served have against Democrats who did? . . . .
You know why Mike Fitzpatrick is engaged in the lowest form of smear and fear politics? Because he’s afraid of actually debating Patrick Murphy about the disastrous war in Iraq. He’s afraid to debate a veteran who lives and breathes the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor. He’s terrified of actually leveling with the American people about the way the administration misled America into war, and admitting their stay the course slogans just guarantee more Americans die for a stand still and lose strategy. http://liberalvaluesblog.com/...
He's defended Joe Sestack
On Thursday, former Vice Admiral Joe Sestak, the Democratic candidate in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, and Senator John Kerry, a fellow Navy veteran and Democratic Presidential candidate, joined fellow veterans to denounce shameless swiftboat attacks from Curt Weldon.
He's defended Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Tammy Duckworth, and more.
Yesterday, I sent out an email to Barack Obama's email community urging people to fight against the vicious smears from the modern conservative movement (they began in a right wing magazine) that have been bouncing around the Internet for months. I'll reprint it below, but first I want to mention one thing.
I'm supporting Barack Obama because I think he's the right person for this moment, but I have -- and I will -- condemn and fight against these kinds of smears no matter who is the target.
In the last few years, I've defended Jack Murtha, Patrick Murphy, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and others (including a candidate in a state house race in New Jersey) from the smears of the right-wing, and I'll defend many more patriots in the months ahead.
I'll defend the nominee of our party, no matter who it is, and I'll defend people like Mark Udall in a Senate race in Colorado, or Jon Powers in a House race in central New York, or state house candidates across the country.
The right-wing has nothing to offer but fear and smears, and they are gearing up to deliver plenty of it. Already we hear of a conservative group with ties to the Bush White House -- Freedom's Watch -- that plans to spend a quarter of a billion dollars on this election. I think we all know enough about how the right-wing operates to know that this money won't go to helping voters make informed choices. That money will go to smearing candidates across America, up and down the ballot.
And right now, the most egregious right-wing smears are being spread about Barack Obama. Make no mistake, they'll spread them about any candidate we have, but they have some catch-up to do on Barack, so they are pushing out the most despicable lies. I couldn't stand by while that happened...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Thank you John Kerry for taking a stand against swiftboating for the benefit of our Democratic candidates. Thank you for your strong leadership against the rampant swiftboating of our candidates. And thank you for taking care of us by taking care of those ugly-evil liars out there!
Clearly the neoCONS are gearing up to spread more lies via email, more lies via the blogs, and more lies, spin, and innuendo via the complicit media.
Thank you John Kerry for your strong leadership. I hope that all Democrats will join you in fighting the smears! Because we need ALL HANDS ON DECK!
OH...and by the way...I saw Beachmom's Diary on Burning Bridges: Why Kerry doesn't owe McCain a thing and I highly encourage you to read her kick-ass diary about how John Kerry will be John McBush's worst nightmare. (Especially important since John McCain is taking thousands of dollars from the same money-bag funders of the original swiftboat liars for Bush. (Remember McBush's half-hearted defense of his respected friend, John Kerry?))
Seriously...check it out. Her diary should be bookmarked as we continue to fight the smears against Obama and as we watch McCain using the same swiftboat-style lies and attacks.