I think that last question to Kerry was a set-up!

Timed so Kerry wouldn't be able to answer it before Tweety ended the show!

Sounded like a few freepers (or college young repugs) were in the crowd. The questioner was cheered on.

and a set up... on Matthews show? Really (said with very feigned sarcasm).

I hope that this era finally brings a point where more and more of the public starts to recognize the right's cheap tricks when they see them.

Typical freeper rationale.

...about diplomacy!

it's okay to be a product of the 60's! we elected carter, clinton and gore. we did all right!

"First, destroying al Qaeda and other anti-American terror groups must remain our top priority. While the Administration has largely prosecuted this war with vigor, it also has made costly mistakes. The biggest, in my view, was their reluctance to translate their robust rhetoric into American military engagement in Afghanistan.

They relied too much on local warlords to carry the fight against our enemies and this permitted many al Qaeda members, and according to evidence, including Osama bin Laden himself, to slip through our fingers. Now the Administration must redouble its efforts to track them down. And we need to pressure Pakistan to get control of its territories along the Afghanistan border, which have become a haven for terrorists."

...

"A combination of harsh political repression, economic stagnation, lack of education and opportunity, and rapid population growth has proven simply explosive. The streets are full of young people who have no jobs... no prospects... no voice. State-controlled media encourage a culture of self-pity, victimhood and blame-shifting. This is the breeding ground for present and future hostility to the West and our values.

From this perspective, it's clear that we need more than a one-dimensional war on terror. Of course we need to hunt down and destroy those who are plotting mass murder against Americans and innocent people from Africa to Asia to Europe. We must drain the swamps of terrorists; but you don't have a prayer of doing so if you leave the poisoned sources to gather and flow again.

That means we must help the vast majority people of the greater Middle East build a better future. We need to illuminate an alternative path to a futile Jihad against the world...a path that leads to deeper integration of the greater Middle East into the modern world order.

The Bush Administration has a plan for waging war but no plan for winning the peace. It has invested mightily in the tools of destruction but meagerly in the tools of peaceful construction. It offers the peoples in the greater Middle East retribution and war but little hope for liberty and prosperity.

What America needs today is a smarter, more comprehensive and far-sighted strategy for modernizing the greater Middle East."

http://www.johnkerry.com/news/speeches/spc_2003_0123.html

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something to the effect that Bush hadn't captured bin Ladin even when the military had a thousand al quida members, including bin Ladin, trapped in Bora Bora (or wherever that place was)

Give Kerry credit. He barreled forward with his reply even when Matthews wanted to give a blurb for future shows.

And what was that crap from David (I don't care who you are, if you've got power I'm your bitch) Gergen? What is the heart of John Kerry? One pissed-off Senator, that's what.

I don't like Kerry all that much but I think he did a good job.