Why I am so passionate about the Kerry issue.

[madfloridian]

It is not really about Kerry, you know. It is about our party overall, and about Kerry only incidentally. Our Democrats have got to get over this fear of the right wing attacks.

My son is here this week, a staunch Republican. He thinks Kerry was right, and was proud he spoke up and defended himself. He did not even have to think about it, he just said good for him for speaking up. Don't underestimate the intelligence of the general populace.

This is about standing up for fellow Democrats when they dare to speak the truth. There has not been a lot of that kind of courage for a while, too many Democrats think by appeasing and pacifying they will not hurt anyone's feelings.

It has to stop.

This happened last year to Howard Dean. It is one reason these Democratic attacks on Kerry hit me so hard. Few stood by Dean. Only a few. He was attacked just as viciously as Kerry is being attacked right now. Yet he was right, just as Kerry is right.

There comes a time in a party when they must make decisions about who they are and what they stand for. Don't bother reading the discussions on this thread, they are too ugly. I am trying to make a point.

Dean in San Antonio about Iraq
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/189

I've seen this before in my life. This is the same situation we had in Vietnam. Everybody then kept saying, 'just another year, just stay the course, we'll have a victory.' Well, we didn't have a victory, and this policy cost the lives of an additional 25,000 troops because we were too stubborn to recognize what was happening."

[grasswire]

1. thank you

I'm not even a Kerry supporter -- I feel he made grave errors in his campaign.

But by God, I'm standing with him against the juggernaut of gutter politics. It isn't about defending him. It's about resisting THEM.

[madfloridian]

18. Exactly.

:hi:

[blm]

2. We have nothing to fear but the fear of RW noise machine, itself.

Applauding both Dean and you today.

[MercutioATC]

3. It'd be easier to stand behind Kerry if he didn't describe it as a "botched joke"

Kerry has a knack for making statements and then either not explaining them or rationalizing them in a way that makes the situation even worse.

Kerry screwed up in two ways here...he botched a strong statement which turned out to make more sense as verbalized than as intended. Then, he played it off as a joke gone awry.

ANY course of action short of saying "Yes, I'm making fun of the troops" would have been better.

[madfloridian]

5. It is about all of us. All of us are human.

Everyone of us makes mistakes every day. I am tired of those in the party who are like shrinking violets when someone speaks too clearly.

[MercutioATC]

8. The point isn't that he spoke "too clearly",

it's that he took a statement that was right in two ways and turned it into a mangled joke that could be used against us.


It's "I voted for it before I voted against it" all over again.

[blm]

15. I saw him take the opportunity to POUND Bush for 15 solid minutes on Iraq.

How often does that happen on the news networks?

[madfloridian]

16. I am glad Keith Olbermann got it. Sorry you did not.

Even Markos at Daily Kos is supportive of Kerry on this.

[MercutioATC]

17. I "got it"...I just think Kerry blew it.

So sorry to disagree with Kos...

:eyes:

[AtomicKitten]

19. Heh ... wasn't Kos a pariah here last week?

Ah, the vicissitudes of convenience.

[WildEyedLiberal]

20. Kos is, quite simply, not being an ass about this

I think he knows he can't - if he attacked Kerry for doing what his "netroots" bible has commanded Dems do all along - stand up and fight back hard - he would be one of the biggest hypocrites in the country.

My opinion of Kos has hardly changed - even he knows that failing to back Kerry up on this would be a fatal misstep.

[robbedvoter]

4. It's more than that. It's about integrity and courage.

If Democrats are willing to throw it all under the bus at the first challenge, how are they any better than the others?

[MH1]

6. Thank you.

I appreciate your posts on this. And I really appreciate Dr. Dean coming out supporting Kerry on this too.

Some people in the party get it. ** Make it about Iraq, people!! **

[Mabus]

7. And Dean got Gored

Gore was also attacked relentless and not enough a lot of Dems defended him either. Before that, they attacked Clinton and too many sat silent. Before that they attacked to Dukakis, the Kennedys, Gary Hart, Jimmy Carter, etc. In other words, this whole episode was manufactured by RW talking points and brought to our attention because of RW media whores. They've done it before and they will do it again until we start fighting back.

fwiw, I was a Dean supporter. I was a Dean delegate to the 2004 DNC. And I am still a Dean supporter.

[Totally Committed]

9. Not a Kerry Supporter, either, but this is not about that....

it's about standing up to the gutter tactics of the other side, and while we're standing, standing beside one of our own who was out there in the trenches trying to help other Democrats get elected.

Kerry has given his time, his money, and his presense to this election and to some of the very candidates who are throwing him under the bus right now.

For crimineysake, get up off your knees and stop being too afraid to stare down the other side. When he's wrong, I'll say it, but Kerry would not dishonor the troops that way, and we all know it.

TC

[OllieLotte]

10. The whole thing is just a bunch of crap.

I miss-speak (and type) on a fairly regular basis. Everyone does sooner or later. What Kerry said was silly, inappropriate and forgivable. He should have apologized the next day. After he sits down with a dozen advisers and they come up with "I apologize for nothing" after they have had a day to think it over? Clueless.

[karynnj]

14. The problem is what to apologize for

Think of what they but Durbin - who always seemed like one of the very nicest guys in the Senate through. They screamed until he apologized on the floor of the Senate. The fact is HE never said what they CLAIMED he said - but now months afterwards they make fun of his apology AND still claim he said what he didn't.

Kerry did help turn the topic to Iraq. Hopefully, the decide not to speak on Iraq will make this game less fun and it will be dropped. The disgusting think is that McCain who Kerry defended from RW mears and Bush smears didn't have the decency to bash Kerry only on misspeaking. He knows Kerry well enough to know the truth.

[roamer65]

11. Kerry said nothing wrong and owes no one an apology.

He should also be attacking on Iraq. He should have a copy of the British newspaper "The Independent" where it says "Baghdad under siege" and hold it up for all the TV cameras to see. It's all about Iraq, but the Rethugs are trying to divert from discussing Bush's fiasco. BTW, thank you, Chairman Dean!

[zulchzulu]

12. I couldn't agree more

It's time to stand up and fight or get out of the way.

[emulatorloo]

13. Thank you -- I am Proud of Dr. Dean, and I am proud of Kerry for standing up

to those vicious thugs yesterday.

Every Democrat and American should be proud too.

[WildEyedLiberal]

21. Proud of Dean for having the courage to stand by Kerry

He knows what it's like to be targeted by the "oh, but what about the swing voter" crowd for speaking truth forcefully, so I am unsurprised that he is not throwing Kerry under the bus like so many craven "Dems" have been willing to do.

[madfloridian]

22. And I was so proud of Keith Olbermann tonight.

He was so filled with righteous indignation, we found ourselves applauding here at our home.

He defended Kerry well.

This is about all of us in the party, about standing up. We should all here at DU be sounding like Keith Olbermann.

[youthere]

23. kicking

[sendero]

24. I agree with you..

... at some point a stand has to be taken. I was hoping against hope that JK would prove me wrong and stick to his guns. Alas, he has done the expected.

OTOH, this might not be the exact right time to "stick to our guns". An uber-important election is mere days away, and getting this BULLSHIT off the front burner might have been worth the price.

We have to be pragmatic here. I'm ready for the Dems as a party to say things comparable to what the other side says. God knows they have 10 times the raw material. There is definitely a fear of the media, that much is certain - but the only way we're going to get past that in the near term is to confront, not retreat.

[madfloridian]

25. I think the pressure is too great...they have to give in and apologize.

If our party would get over the need to make the other side happy, it would not be necessary.