Hey, check out this Iraq War Quote I found from 9/25/04 (Post 1)

[TayTay]

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blkerryquotes.htm

I like these. Not knee-slappers, but not bad either.

[TayTay]

1. Or an old video

Looking really, really, really good.

http://homepage.mac.com/njenson/movies/kerryletterman.html

EDIT: Woah - check out the Iraq comments about mid-way through. Damn, was he ever right!

Letterman: "If you had been elected President in 2000, would we be in Iraq right now?"
JK: "No. Well..."
Letterman: "If you had the same intelligence Bush had...Would we be in IRaq now?"
JK: "If we had the same intelligence that President Bush had... We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction, we know there was no connection to Al Qaeda, we know there was no imminent threat, and under those circumstances I would not have taken America to war." 9/25/04 David Letterman Show.

[globalvillage]

2. Damn.

I would pay money to see that replayed on network television. I'd call every person I know who voted for bush* or who didn't vote, make them watch it, and then phone them back and call them all a bunch of friggin assholes.
Maybe I'll do that anyway.

[TayTay]

3. Fun interview, but about half way through, wow!

It just answers a lot of the lefty freepers who claimed on DKos today that Kerry never dis-avowed the war. He did.
On TV.
In front of a huge audience
And it's on a webcast that can be downloaded.

Geez, wish I had found this earlier. It's visual evidence in a lefty freeper dog fights.

[jillan]

9. Kerry was awesome on Letterman that nite.

Letterman really got Kerry to show his fun side.
I remember Letterman saying that the road to the whitehouse starts in that chair, pointing to the chair Kerry was sitting in :(.

And then Green Day came on and played AMERICAN IDIOT. First time I heard that song. Bought the cd the same week, and it's still the ringtone on my cell.

I would give anything to go back to those days. Kerry was on fire.
There was so much excitement. And I had an incredible amount of energy.

Sigh.

We need to find a way to remind people of what Kerry has said.
Everything he gets bashed on now, he already explained. Someone (like me)will post something, and someone else will answer "he already explained that". It's true. But Kerry's words have been forgotten.
Maybe the campaign season has already become a blur to many people.:shrug:

[karynnj]

10. I think that always tends to happen

There seems to be a need for Americans led by the media to make everything in American history seem inevitable. The candidate that won, is the candidate that should have won. At 911, this was incredibly wrong when they talked about how much harder it would have been with Gore.

This time, the tv media did so little to help Kerry before the election it's not surprising they would like to forget how competent he really was. As people see Bush more clearly, they may want the sorry to be "but Kerry would have been worse". Hard to do with Kerry continuing to fight the issues.

[karynnj]

11. Thank you so much for posting this

and this was when Kerry was still publicly giving Bush the benefit of the doubt on whether he (Bush) believed the intelligence himself. No wonder he is pushing the investigation.

It was great seeing the interview. I loved the grins whenever the audience cheered.

[Goldeneye]

4. there's a poll there...could use some DUing

by kerrycrats.

[globalvillage]

5. Did any of the bush* voters

actually read the quotes?
It's deja vu all over again.
Sheesh.

[karynnj]

6. I voted

How can Kerry be losing on sense of humor?

[wisteria]

8. I voted also!

I couldn't understand either how it was possible he could be losing to the uninspiring Bush whose most famous quote seems to be "uh,uh,uh".... so if you look now, Kerry seems to have benefited from a late, last minute rush of voters.

[wisteria]

7. I love the quotes, especially these cleverly funny ones! n/t

[beachmom]

12. Some context for some of these funny lines at Slate

I was tooling around the internet, and found this article on Slate from June 2003. Unfortunately, the article is written with a snarky air (like he usually isn't like this, but . . . ) but I enjoyed it very much anyway! In fact, I would say this is an excellent piece of catnip (you old time Kerry gals and guys probably have already read it).

http://slate.msn.com/id/2084445/

A few nuggets:

Maybe the credit belongs to the bad weather that made him horribly late, throwing him off script. Or maybe it was the odd layout of the room, with some people seated on the floor and others on a sofa facing away from him. The senator's rumpled shirt sagged over his trousers. He thanked the audience for waiting, praised its "good humor," and launched into an impromptu comic routine. His timing was excellent; his deadpan was worthy of late-night TV. Gesturing to a nearby piano, he joked that for a minute there, he thought he'd been booked for a recital. He recalled Bill Clinton's suggestion that presidents be allowed to serve three terms. "I promise just to serve two terms," said Kerry, adding, "Republicans do it differently. … They just have the son repeat the father's whole first term." His language was salty and boisterous. "What the hell's going on?" he teased. As the audience got into it, he demanded, "Yeah, applaud! Come on!"

Leaving the reception, Kerry climbed onto a motorcycle outside. A woman who had just seen him speak called out, "Senator, you're not arrogant, and you're not aloof." Kerry didn't answer. He just looked up at her, raised a devilish eyebrow, and gunned the motor.

[beachmom]

13. Now I will attempt to post a picture although I don't really know how

I found it on somebody's personal website, so I don't think we've seen it before, at least from the particular angle. Here goes nothing:




I'm usually not much for "kissing baby" pictures, but he was so sweet to this little guy.


In case, it doesn't work, here's where I got it:


http://www.hartcreek.com/kids/kerry.htm

[beachmom]

14. Okay, I'm excited the picture worked, but I think we have seen it before

Oh well. But the quote below it is from a personal website and the whole family was personally there. Obviously, they thought he was genuine with the baby!!! Anyway, now if I DO find a new picture, I can join in the fun when you guys do picture threads. And I ASSUME y'all didn't mind me throwing in the picture to this thread, right?

[wisteria]

19. Now that is a sweet picture! Thanks for posting! n/t

[politicasista]

20. Nice baby pic

He seems to be great with children unlike Smirky.

[TayTay]

15. Why are people so surprised when Kerry seems human?

I don't get this. I think we should have had a 'Take a Masshole to Dinner' night all across America last year and we could have told you that he is a genuine representative of a rather salty state. (Hasn't anyone ever seen a nationally televised Red Sox game or a Pats game? We are frickin' nuts ova he-yah. Not a gentleman amongst the lot of us. And a pure 'Gentleman John' would never have succeeded in MA politics. It defies reason.)

This quote from the slate article had me LMAO:

Kerry couldn't resist a few flowery allusions to President Kennedy and the moon landing. But overall, his presentation was refreshingly human. He dropped some of his G's. He raised both hands to his forehead to convey how crazy he thought Bush's tax cut was. It's hard to imagine Kerry mustering this much body language without Viagra. "This is a choice between common-sense American values—down-to-earth common sense—and a bunch of extremists who are prepared to undo 50 years of progress in this country," Kerry declared. Down to earth? John Kerry? Heavens.

Bite me. Granted, he is getting older and has sort of domesticated in the last dozen years or so, but geez, give me a break.

[Mass]

16. Some reporters are simply stupid

I remember an article in one of the SCLM just after Kerry had his operation for his shoulder and he could not carry anything with his arm.

The reporter was describing a family scene with one of his young nieces where she obviously loved him and wanted him to take her in his arms. All the goal of the article was to say that Kerry was not receptive to her because he did not take her in his arms (while he could probably not).

Another one (I think this one was in the Globe) was describing him before a debate talking with a group of nurses. The complaint was that he was writing in a notebook at the same time and not focusing on them. I have to say that my first thought reading the story was that he was taking notes of what they were saying, but the reporter was so busy describing the traditionnal image of the aloof Kerry that the obvious did not cross his mind.

[TayTay]

17. The Globe: Sigh, why am I not surprised.

They have a vested interest in making Kerry look like a stiff.

I kind of know why the Globe doesn't get along with Kerry and I kind of don't (As you know Mass, it's a long story.) But this kind of thing just stinks.

Hey, the Gay Marriage amendment will come up for a vote in the Great and General Court on Sept 14th. That means the Globe gets 3 weeks or so to bring up Sen. Kerry's position on the issue in-state. We all know he tried to hide it from the Globe. He sneakily went on live TV last fall, in a Presidential Debate and told 57 million or so people his views on the matter. Sneaky, very sneaky how he evaded those Globe reporters by announding his position in this way. Bet he thought he'd get away with too. But oh no, those crafty Globe reporters will track him down and ask him why he won't stand up and proclaim his position to them. Geez!

[karynnj]

18. It might be his genuine professionalism and sense of dignity

when he is in the Senate or on the serious talk shows. Even the famous "pissed off" Kerry speeches are eloquent and always seem to have an appeal to the Senate's history,the constitution, or American values and history in addition to making the case for whatever the subject was. At the hearings, he seemed so serious and very respectful of the process. (Some of you who followed Kerry on C-SPAN seemed to say he was more animated there than he was pre-campaign.)

I had vague memories of a very smart guy on old Sunday talk shows, memories of probably the most memorable day of the 60s -70s anti-war movement,and the campaign forming my impression of Kerry. I was initially surprised at how different his demeanor was in the Senate. They likely were coming from the opposite direction, knowing the "Senate Kerry" and being surprised to see the other Kerry.

He actually seemed incredibly energetic at the rallies, often seeming to almost run onto the platform where he was speaking, or reaching 3 or 4 rows into the crowd.

[beachmom]

21. This makes me think of what Bono of U2 said once

He said that he couldn't just "turn it on" at will, charisma, that is. He said some days he was "on" with reporters, and other days, he said he had troubles stringing a few words together. And this from one of the most charismatic rock stars who ever lived.

I have read (and maybe it's not right, or is unfair) that Kerry can be uneven in his "performances", which is what political speaking is, after all. I mean we all have good days and bad days. That day in June 2003 sounded like a very good day!!!! Were his poll numbers plummeting at that point? Was the pressure off a bit, allowing him to loosen up more? You Kerry experts know the answer. Of course, he's been known to pull out an awesome performance when the pressure was ON, too. So who knows.

But a good example of presidential ambitions choking you is Joe Biden. Soon after the election, he appeared on The Daily Show and I tell you he was awesome. He was funny, he gave insights that made me feel better. My Mom said "oh, maybe he can be president!!". Well, now that he has officially said he's throwing his hat in the ring, he recently made an appearance again on The Daily Show. He sort of bombed. He wasn't funny (which was pointed out by Jon), he seemed more nervous, and he appeared weak (Jon Stewart was the commander-in-chief in THAT room, I'll tell you). Which is why I will defend Kerry's appearance on The Daily Show, because although it wasn't his greatest TV moment, more importantly, he didn't bomb. Jon was nice to him, of course (after all, the SBVT had just hit, and we all kind of felt bad for him at that time). But the point I am making is the presidential election is the Olympics of politics, and there are moments when people choke. At the crucial moments, Kerry DIDN'T choke, but like any 400 plus day race, he had his off days.

Final point. I think Kerry is not aloof except with one group: reporters!!! He doesn't trust them, and falls back into that whole Senatese talk because it's safe. But if he wants to be a contender for 2008, I don't know, he's going to have to take more risks, and let it all hang out (Vektor -- mind out of the gutter, immediately!!). Just my humble opinion.

[TayTay]

22. I agree with your assessment

People have on and off days. Speaking 'Senatorese' is an occupation hazard, but it is also the right thing to do when discussing specific issues that come up in the Seante. (There is no other way to discuss some issues. Take the recent tax issue that Sen. Kerry wrote about in The Financial Times. You can't dumb that stuff down. It's about the numbers and any real discussion of it is going to be wonky.)

I am a huge fan of looking at the whole person. Interesting people are usually interesting because they have facets to their personalities. It's almost like asessing a brilliant jewel, turn it this way in the light and you see one thing, turn it another way and you see something else. It's still the same jewel.