You think John Kerry did this for "political points"?

To all you saying "oh Kerry is doing this for 2008" than you don't know SHIT about Kerry. NOTHING. Remember who did BCCI? NOT ONE DAMN DEMOCRAT SUPPORTED HIM THAN. Who did Iran/Contra? Who supported him than? Who predicted 9/11 would happen? John Kerry, that's who. Kerry has stud up for us for as long as he's been in the Senate. Sure, he makes mistakes, every person does that, but if you still believe Kerry did this for "political points for 2008" you need to seriously research John Kerry. Thank you.

:rant:

I may have had some serious issues with Kerry from time to time but I do not think that he did this for political gain, I think he meant every word of it.

to give some of the speeches he gave, and sound like it was coming from his gut, if he didn't mean it.

he is a good man. It is OK to have issues with good men/women but that does not mean one has to believe they are bad people. I can't look back at his long record and think he does not feel the way he was talking.

"Dean, Dean, Dean.."

He did what he did because he sees this country going down the toilet.

It seems to me like it took guts to support what many declared was lost cause! I seem to remember the MSM actually laughing about him. I applaud his courage!

What he does is primarily done out of love of country. :patriot:

by standing up. How could that ever be wrong?

And we are the only ones he's earned points with. Everyone else seems to think he was a fool, or the same old elitist they saw during the campaign.

If he earned points, he earned them from activists who should not be considered foolish for reacting in that way, being told they should "wake up" and the like.

This is the John Kerry I know and love. The one who fights and comes out swinging. I'm proud to call myself a Kerrycrat and proud that he stuck a chance out there. All the other democrats were afraid to filibuster thinking the public wouldn't be on his side. But they were on his side. Every poll I did said they supported the filibuster. Still some of them caved. :patriot: to John Kerry.

n/t

And I think he understands what they did to him in 2004 and he's taking this very personal.

I highly believe so too. I remember reading an article that told how Kerry has learned a lot from his last campaign. Remember that when he ran for Congress he didn't make it and than his first try at the Senate he didn't. So Kerry does learn from his mistakes. He wouldn't be in the Senate today if he didn't. He has nothing to lose since he's in a "safe" seat in Boston.

public interest and to neutralize any effectiveness Kerry could have.

Sadly, many Democrats join in the ostracization because of their own cowardness in facing down corruption.

Because he's a threat to them. Just like with Ted Kennedy. Why else do you think the rightwingers bring up that stupid crash all the time? They're afraid of him.

on DU, and without even going to read the source themselves, folks will believe whatever spin has been put out. No analysis. But some folks will stop, and LOOK for a way in which Kerry could still be an asshole and fulfill their perception of him. It's odd to watch people pretzel themselves into knots just so they can believe what they've always believed about him, and go on their way.

He could cure cancer, and someone would call him a glory hound.

However, I think those folks are more in the minority than they used to be now. He did not gain from this effort, except among those who wanted to fight. So what could be wrong with that?

who planted all those memes regularly against Kerry and did so for over THIRTY YEARS.

A nonstop Arkansas Project. But, too few understand real history and our lawmakers' roles in it because television or internet chatter is all they have accessed in recent years.

Sick of good dems that being trashed for fighting this criminal and evil administration. It ain't healthy or productive. :-(

I agree with you. He left himself open to ridicule to stand up for this.

I see a man that puts the country and the people's good before his own skin. any other politician that has been in a similar position has sought to remain outside the spotlight, where the bullseye can find you so easily. Kerry goes where his conscience tells him he needs to go and to hell with the bad publicity. He knew on Friday that it was a long shot, but he also knew that someone had to do it.

He did what he has always done. He took another one for the team. Let them laugh. It is their own ignorance of true character that makes them point and giggle. Shallow people only see shallow things.

I believe in Kerry. I believe he did the right thing because it was the right thing, not because it would garner him any points toward positive press. Even if it had succeeded, he would have been demonized for the effort. He knew that, and he did it anyway. That is leadership!

Cuz yours would totally be up there. :applause:

:blush:

they stand up for what is right. We have to be willing to take some defeats if we are going to win ever again. Where would we be if we had thrown Washington under the bus the way we throw our dem patriots today? We would be paying taxes to the Queen, that's where. Washington didn't win every battle either, but we put our trust in him and he did not fail us. Same with Lincoln and Roosevelt. True greatness requires true courage, even when it's more expedient to give up or give in.

I'm mas as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.

Trash the ones that took the easy road and hid behind the other party. Leave the guy alone that chose to "suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune".

I do not believe that Kerry did this for political points. I see him as very forthright, and, even though he may have disappointed us during his pres campaaign and the election aftermath, I never saw him doing less than what his conscience dictated.

disallow this talking point.

It is ridiculous.
Kerry took a huge chance.
This could actually hurt him.

This is a call to action against any
dem that goes out in public and accuses Sen Kerry of
playing politics.

All the democrats were saying it would hurt them but I think Kerry knew it wouldn't do it either way in the public eye and just did what was right. And I'm glad Kennedy supported him too.

President Kerry was acting like a leader.

It's enough that he did it. He listened to his base. He represented us. He stood up for what he believed was right. He made the traitors angry because he exposed them for what they are.

How cares why he did it? :shrug:

-Laelth

He couldn't have done anything less than take this stand on Alito. Political opportunism had nothing to do with it.

ways on Wed, Fri and yesterday in his speeches - this was a nomination that will negatively change our country for a generation. What he did was the same thing he did in 1971, he spoke out loudly and clearly. He and Kennedy likely led more people to see what was done here. There was very little chance of winning - it would have taken Republican conservatives to wake up and see that Alito was anathama to everything they believe in. It didn't happen.

Someone on another thread quoted what Kerry said at the Rosa Parks memorial as being part of his motivation. He spoke of the need to speak out when faced with a situation you know is wrong. That same desire to speak truth was his motivation in 1971. Here's a quote:

"If she did that, then how much greater is the responsibility of those of us with privilege and power who pay tribute to her today. The life of Rosa Parks demands deeds, not epitaphs. For the final words cannot be spoken or written while her cause is still unfinished. Nothing we say here can match what she did in that sacred moment on a municipal bus in Montgomery, Alabama. What matters now is what we do after the casket is gone, the candles are quenched, and the next bus comes by. "

He was very sincere at that memorial and I think you saw that he used his position of power to speak out this week. He said many times this week that it will be too late after the vote to say that Alito will change the country negatively. He certainly used all his passion and eloquence to speak out. It's too bad he couldn't wake up his peers.

I WANT DEMs to pander to me- please- how refreshing-I love it.

... politics is about gaining favor. It is about pleasing one group without displeasing too many others.

Personally, I couldn't care less what his motivation was. He did the right thing and frankly one could make the case that there could have been (or could be) political costs for doing it.

Today, I'm giving John Kerry two thumbs way up!

When this country is in the throes of fascism, he will be able to say he did everything in his power to stop it.
I'm proud of him. He did good.
Too bad more didn't follow his lead.
Our job now is to look at the chain--put our strongest links in the center and remove the weak links so that the next time we need this chain, it will hold up to the task.

continue to be ill served by Republicans.

on these votes. I'm glad he tried really hard to lead a filibuster against Cloture, and that he voted NO on Alito's confirmation.

he did the right thing. He has done the right thing many times and the fascists bastards have obstructed his fight on many vitally important matters.

Having said that, I strongly recommend that he sits out the 2008 presidential run and allow someone else that has the ability to fight these fascts bastards who possess the talent to communicate the issues in a more straight forward manner, like Feingold can or someone else with Feingold's style of straight, tough talk.

We don't need someone with Military creds (Americans didn't require it from W after all). There are many other reasons why I won't support Kerry for a Presidential Candidacy, but truly it is way too early to discuss the 2008 elections.

Really, it is. Why carry on this painful argument for the next three years?

Since he knew this was coming from a long way off, then explain to me why he waited until the eleventh hour to mount a filibuster campaign. I think that Barack Obama was 100% correct in saying that Democratic leaders must stop using last minute procedural maneuvers to block the opposition and get their way. Don't you think it's way past time our illustrious leaders in the party make effective cases to the people and mount serious opposition, formulate long term strategies for such important issues like dangerous SCOTUS nominees?

I believe John Kerry is an honorable man, and I also believe that he is, after all a politician with an eye on 2008. For him, it was a slam dunk win, win situation. Let's face it. There are very few altruists in Washington.

For him to have addressed this before the hearings would be stupid. It needed to be based on the findings. He was out of the country on a 12 day trip to the ME - India, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, and Jordan (real vacation spots) - as part of his SFRC job. He returned a week ago Friday.

From Israel, he told Blitzer that he needed to review the hearings before he could say anything about Alito. He said on THIS WEEK that Sunday he would vote against Alito. He and Kennedy started the filibuster effort at the Wednesday caucus.

Kerry stood up because no one else did and he thought someone should. It sounds like initially it was just him, Kennedy and possibly Durbin. You could argue that Kennedy could have worked on it earlier, but I really don't see how Kerry could have. (I assume that before his trip, he was hard at work preparing for that trip which covered an enormous range of issues.)

With Republicans laughing and Democrats cringing and the only ones thrilled being the base. And I'm not sure if we can sway an election either way. God knows I feel like the only one paying attention where I live.

I'm not sure he even wanted to do it. He had to cancel a speech in Ireland to come flying back. It was, in three days, Senate... Davos... Senate, like a human ping pong.

Someone suggested he was supporting Kennedy, but I'm not sure about that, as I think Teddy probably was capable of coming out on his own if he had to. I somehow can't see why he would need a fillibuster buddy.

This time he was playing to the left, unlike his play to the right with his dispicable vote for the war.

As we see in arguments already posted, he knew, as we all did, that the chances for success were slim. Being a crafty opportunist, he figured he'd get out in front of a losing cause so he could be the whipping boy for Republicans and the press as they delighted in his inability to "lead" his own party to unified opposition. It was a helluva plan. Next week, he's going to introduce legislation that would kickstart colonization of the moon. The more he loses, the more he wins? Don't you see? It's a hidden formula no one else has figured out yet.

.

mars? :P

Jesus Christ on a pogostick... you just have to make shit up don't ya?

he's a career politician, and I thank him for it. At least we can expect the career politicians to act in our interest, don't ya think? Anyone who is naieve enough to believe these guys actually have deep seated belief systems, is unfortunately......wrong. The new ones do....for about one term. Most of them are even willing to break term limit promises for the DC power surge. So while I am over the mooon with Kerry spearheading the filibuster, I really was born over fifty years ago.

to his last campaign only to come away angry, but the filibuster was from the heart. I'm sure of it. There should be a political gain for someone willing to stick his neck out and actually represent the people of the party. I'm very grateful to him and Senator Kennedy and all the Democratic Senators who stood for us.

:shrug:

there was no signing statement support question, no over reaching executive questions, no racial questions ... There was nothing in his history to warrant it. There was plenty in Alito's to do so. His record was screaming loudly!

They did try to get those papers of Roberts and they were denied. I still want those papers.

to that.

And if a Judiciary Dem had wanted to filibuster Roberts, Kerry would have supported it, too.

He knows of what he says.

So did Senator Kennedy. I watched the media trash him and make it look like what he was doing was some kind of a joke. What points did he gain? You're right, FreedomAngel.

lost some. Doing the right thing is seldom the same thing as doing the politically expedient thing. Now we can have a conversation about some of the other presidential aspirants, who definitely weren't for this, yet voted no for cloture anyway. They were flanking their left wing base, and didn't seem to have their heart in it. But Kerry -- no way. It's heartbreaking to learn that he is actually the "real deal" and yet not in the Oval Office.

Al Gore said this in his address in 2000 at the convention and he said "Sometimes you have to do what's right and not what's popular."

It was the right thing to do on every level. And the 2008 argument is a mess on every level. If stuff like this gets him the nomination, GOOD! The argument shouldn't be about whether or not John Kerry deserves the nomination, but whether or not we deserve leadership like this all the time - which, btw, we do. :)

I don't get the people who are disparaging him by saying he's doing this for 2008 - what exactly DO they want in a President? Wouldn't you think they WANTED someone willing to show courage and leadership and do what is right instead of what is merely popular? Isn't that what leaders are made of? Do the people here want their future president to take no risks and show no courage?

period.

to effectively disable one of our most effective leaders.

Of course he isn't perfect. But just falling right in step with the RW talking points against him is the stupidist thing we could be doing.

base is some sort of moral outrageous anomily, while the WH governs with political policies instead of government policies.. then it is fine. Somehow if xtians are taught to hate "secular humanists=liberals" and that is funded by big oil and written by Tim Lahaye - well, that takeover of the church is normal.

:mad: They loved the filibuster when Clinton was president.

How many Dems are FIGHTING?

I called him and Kennedy today - I offered my deepest admiration, appreciation, and support. I told them they can each expect a donation from me.

I love my senators from MA. They did me and my state proud yesterday.

SCREW anyone who dares raise their voice against them. They are unfit to lick their shoes.

Didn't he promise to do this and someone called him on it?

There just trying to shift the blame back on Kerry because they wont face the truth. The truth of the matter is this you didn't vote for John Kerry that cost us a party vote for Bush. Thats whats got the shrub in the white house. Accept it. People didn't vote for Kerry and all I got is a right wing supreme court. I wish that non Kerry voters would stop shifting blame and accept the consequences of not voting for him.

BCCI, Iran/Contra. Few Americans have a better record of trying to excise the Cancer consuming our nation.

And I don't really care who says that he did.

He loves this country with his whole heart and soul and has proved that time and time again.

I believe he knew that the filibuster was a no go from the beginning, but he saw that at least trying to get one organized was doing the right thing.

I will never become ashamed of my votes for John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004.

My vote for Joe Lieberman in 2000, however, is a completely different kettle of fish.

I think perhaps he waited for the party leadership to take a stand, and when he and Kennedy saw they weren't, they felt SOMEONE had to. I'm not sure he scored any political points, except with the grassroots, matter of fact he may have lost some. Anyone who says it was a "win/win" situation is mistaken, I think.

Kerry is a good man, and he tried to do what was best for his country. He also listened to the people he represents. There are not many in his position we can say that about, and I'm grateful to the few we have, particularly Kerry and Kennedy.