John Kerry Timeline

[SamSpade]

What I do know is that our surplus is now a deficit,

While we ARE spending more, we never had a surplus. Never. Looked cool on paper, but it never materialized.

I'm not crazy about the deficits we're running. I do know that in a recession, however, the stupidest thing to do is raise taxes to make up for the shortfall in revenues - you have to LOWER taxes to give the economy a shot in the arm. I also know that there is no way in hell Kerry can keep his promises without deepening the deficit. I mean, come on, the Democrats griping about spending TOO MUCH MONEY? You'll notice they didn't complain much about it on the Senate floor.

America is looked at more as an evil empire now than it ever was.

Yes, and no. A great deal of the resentment has been that way for years. We were attacked by Osama because we're in the holy land of Saudi Arabia, and our support for Israel. Oh, and because we don't obey Islamic law - the stated reasons Osama issued. He's p*ssed because 13 YEARS AGO we put our military in Saudi. Because we've historically supported Israel. Not exactly policies begun by Bush, and not things likely to be changed by Kerry.

Other nations "hate" us for other reasons, many of which are economic, and many are social. For all the good we've done in Europe (read : France and Germany; by and large the Eastern Bloc and many others are stalwart friends; the Poles LOVE us), they're still p*ssed we don't do their bidding.

There's resentment against the US, but it's not George's doing - he only revealed it was there all along with our entry into Iraq. Kerry ain't winning over any nations by insulting the Iraqi president and calling our allies in the Gulf "the bribed and the coerced". That's diplomacy? And France and Germany have both stated they're not changing their stance on Iraq no matter who gets elected. So much for getting our allies to "like" us.

 

[2ndAmendment]

"Life is short, Don't be a Dick!"

Then why are you?

 

[itsbob]

Sheesh. My whole original point was that he (Kerry) went into combat. Bush did not. And yes, I don't care what happened 30 years ago. The only thing I said was that because I had been in combat and Kerry had been in combat that he understands what it is like. I also said the only two people I know that I am voting for are Mikulski and Hoyer. I could care less what happened 30 years ago. What I do know is that our surplus is now a deficit, America is looked at more as an evil empire now than it ever was. Whoever gets elected needs to focus more on domestic issues rather than sticking our nose where it does not belong. Believe it or not, I am more on the republican side of things, just not with the President.

OKAY I'm taking this bait.. with a name like "Aim High" what exactly, type of combat are you talking about, that you and Kerry can relate to an such an animalistic level.. and his 4 months of "combat" experience compared to an infantryman who did a FULL tour.. now who can relate??

Hell thats like basing my vote on "He drives the same kind of car as I do" I can relate to him so I'm going to vote for him.. I wouldn't vote for someone that did my job in the Army just becasue we can relate.. that would be stupid.

 

[Ken King]

OKAY I'm taking this bait.. with a name like "Aim High" what exactly, type of combat are you talking about, that you and Kerry can relate to an such an animalistic level.. and his 4 months of "combat" experience compared to an infantryman who did a FULL tour.. now who can relate??

Hell thats like basing my vote on "He drives the same kind of car as I do" I can relate to him so I'm going to vote for him.. I wouldn't vote for someone that did my job in the Army just becasue we can relate.. that would be stupid.

Hey, did someone turn down the volume?

 

[Aimhigh2000]

Combat

Let me see, you know, the enemy shooting at you, you shooting back. Being scared out of your mind as things blow up around you. That kind of combat. Any vet (no matter what their opinion) will tell you that it is a living hell. I still have memories of looking over the bodies of the dead. Aimhigh is in reference to my duty in the Air Force, and damn proud of it. And I am not a dick. I think some people here are that are so one sided. I mean, if you look over my many posts, I tend to side more with the republicans than I do with today's democrats. But don't you think we might get along better if we (the US) attempts diplomacy rather than the go it alone attitude we have now? And it was GW's father that put us in Saudi Arabia. I know, I helped construct part of what is now Prince Sultan Air Base.

 

[Ken King]

Let me see, you know, the enemy shooting at you, you shooting back. Being scared out of your mind as things blow up around you. That kind of combat. Any vet (no matter what their opinion) will tell you that it is a living hell. I still have memories of looking over the bodies of the dead. Aimhigh is in reference to my duty in the Air Force, and damn proud of it. And I am not a dick. I think some people here are that are so one sided. I mean, if you look over my many posts, I tend to side more with the republicans than I do with today's democrats. But don't you think we might get along better if we (the US) attempts diplomacy rather than the go it alone attitude we have now? And it was GW's father that put us in Saudi Arabia. I know, I helped construct part of what is now Prince Sultan Air Base.

Who were you shooting at and who was shooting at you 50 miles southeast of Riyadh during Desert Storm?

Attempt diplomacy? What was 12 years of UN resolutions, inspections, and sanctions (that were ignored by many of the same that set them) if not diplomacy. And where did that get us? Nowhere. We even used the last chance resolution, UN SCR 1441, to give them one more chance to come clean and Iraq still would not comply. Are you suggesting that we should have continued these useless efforts indefinitely or until such time as Iraq could have done the harm they sought to do?

 

[BuddyLee]

Only those who practice hate don't want a hate crime bill. It sounds like some people on this forum have hate issues. Like I said if your not some neo nazi, and gay bashing person you have nothing to worry about.

If Kerry does lose this election I strongly believe it will be because of uber-liberals such as you. You bring up regurgitations of what others have said. I don't think the American public wants to be fooled into believing anything you might say or anything an uber-conservative fool might say. The public merely wants the truth and I don't think they are getting it from either side considerably. Find your own opinions and not what Teddy screams.

 

[BuddyLee]

If you commit violence against someone else, you should be prosecuted for it. It shouldn't matter if you did it for hate or for money.

If someone kills a gay man or a black man because they are gay or black, it doesn't change or alter the fact that they were killed, nonetheless. The law contains enough nuances to cover unintentional killing and crimes of passion, for example. You kill someone on purpose, it doesn't matter *why* you did it. You should be punished, period. Calling something a "hate" crime is trying to guess someone's *thoughts*.

What are you going to do if it's a "hate" crime - kill them twice?

I'm pretty much with Sam on this issue in particular. If someone commits murder they will be charged, simple as that. Why do we have hate crimes? Is it for a reminder that hate still exists?

 

[BuddyLee]

You have NO problem with calling your brothers war criminals?

Could you please cite a credible source where Kerry called his fellow soldiers war criminals? TIA

 

[willie]

Could you please cite a credible source where Kerry called his fellow soldiers war criminals? TIA

I also thought that statement might be an exaggeration or warping Kerry's words until I did a Google search. Some of the results should be credible and some politically inspired.
http://hnn.us/articles/3552.html

 

[SamSpade]

I'm pretty much with Sam on this issue in particular. If someone commits murder they will be charged, simple as that. Why do we have hate crimes? Is it for a reminder that hate still exists?

For people who actually field intelligent opposition to me on this issue, they have some reasons which I don't agree with, but they are understandable.

For example, we punish someone who kills another - but we tend to be MORE severe if the victim is a policeman. That goes double if the person is an elected official or judge; it's seen as simply more disgraceful to attack the ones who enforce the laws, and who protect us. We'll incarcerate a man who commits robbery, but he gets more jail time if he was carrying a firearm, even if he never uses it.

The reasoning goes, "hate" should be included among the extenuating circumstances. You're not guilty of first-degree murder if you kill in the heat of passion, or if it was an accident, so the penalties are less. For murder to be pre-meditated - the one that carries the stiffest penalty - it has to be established that it was done intentionally. It can get a little murky with a 'hate' crime in that it might qualify more likely as a lesser charge, since it may not be premeditated.

On non-violent crime - say, hate-related vandalism - it can have a more devastating effect on a larger group of people than a simple rock through the window.

Now I don't agree with their argument - I do think that if the courts did their job, we wouldn't have a revolving door for crooks. If police did their job, they wouldn't spend all their time filing reports but would actually investigate crime like they do on TV or in big court cases. People are outraged that crime isn't really being dealt with - "hate" crimes just tend to stick out more. We shouldn't need little addenda to laws to ensure prosecution - they should be prosecuted. I'm all for expanding the court system just to nail all the bastards out there.

But as I said, hate crime comes as close to thought crime as I can imagine.

 

[Aimhigh2000]

Prince Sultan

The construction began after the 100 day war thank you. Were you there old man? No. I was. Prince Sultan construction began after we kicked Iraq out of Kuwait. Ever here of when we invaded Grenda? What is that popping sound I hear? Perhaps the sound of you pulling your head out.

 

[Aimhigh2000]

Oh, and sanctions.......

Heck, don't we still have an embargo against Cuba? Don't tell me we can't simply "ignore" a country. We do it all the time. The whole basis of Bush's pathetic invasion of Iraq is so Haliburton could gain control of the oil pipelines, and giving us leverage against OPEC. If you don't believe that, then you are foolish. Any American with common sense can tell you that Bush was wrong. And by the way Ken, what combat experience can you offer? And I still haven't seen any proof that Saddam was trying to do anything but be a horrid dictator to his own people.

 

[Ken King]

The construction began after the 100 day war thank you. Were you there old man? No. I was. Prince Sultan construction began after we kicked Iraq out of Kuwait. Ever here of when we invaded Grenda? What is that popping sound I hear? Perhaps the sound of you pulling your head out.

So where were you during the Gulf War? There was nothing close to Riyadh other then the rare unguided Scud. Is that the combat you are talking about?

And yeah, I know about Urgent Fury (Grenada) – flew it you dimwit. Are you saying you took fire there too? Looking at your profile you would have been 12. I am smelling something and it isn’t because my head was up my ass.

 

[Ken King]

Heck, don't we still have an embargo against Cuba?

Yeah, and have they been doing anything in violation of UN Resolutions lately? NO.

Don't tell me we can't simply "ignore" a country. We do it all the time.

Yep, sure do and that led to what? Ever hear of 9/11?

The whole basis of Bush's pathetic invasion of Iraq is so Haliburton could gain control of the oil pipelines, and giving us leverage against OPEC. If you don't believe that, then you are foolish.

So are you saying that we are taking the oil and using it for ourselves? You are full of it. Read the IWR and that will explain to a dweeb like you why we went in there.

Any American with common sense can tell you that Bush was wrong. And by the way Ken, what combat experience can you offer?

Bush saw Iraq as a threat, Congress agreed and authorized him to act including the use of force, so by your logic the Congress was wrong too?

My combat experience is limited, but I never touted off saying I had any, but here goes. I was assigned to OLAA, part of the 605th Tactical Control Squadron at Don Muang Royal Thai Airbase from November 1974 until April 1975, less than 180 days (so it only counted as a TDY) providing tactical surveillance (from a mobile radar trailer somewhere east of Thailand) to heavy bombers hitting Hanoi and the evacuation of Saigon. Our unit did come under fire twice during my tour, small arms and was repelled, no casualties. Flew surveillance support with the 964th AWACS for the KAL 007 shoot down in September 1983. Flew Urgent Fury in October of 1983 in support of the invasion of Grenada, again 964th AWACS. Flew tactical support for Operation Elf-One, Saudi Arabia during the Iran/Iraq war, again 964th AWACS. Awarded two Air Medals while amassing 2400 hours of flight time during the period August 1983 to August 1986.

And I still haven't seen any proof that Saddam was trying to do anything but be a horrid dictator to his own people.

What would you need as proof, another attack like what Al Qaeda pulled off?

 

[UrbanPancake]

I think we can all agree that we have no business in Iraq. Now the insurgents are infiltrating the US trianed Iraqi force. Why are we in Iraq? Well, Halliburton has made a lot of money on this war, and they haven't been very forthcoming in providing any evidence of where all the money has went. I believe I read in a newspaper artical in the post that said they can't even find (and talk too) most of the contracted guards that Halliburton claims are in Iraq(but they're getting paid, even if they're not there). That sounds pretty fishy when the VP used to be the CEO of that company. Now the appointed President of Iraq is blaming Bush for not providing adequate protection to the newly trained Iraqi forces that died recently while traveling on buses that didn't even have armor, any protection from US forces, and the individual Iraqi's didn't even have guns. It seems that Bush's personal vendetta against Iraq and Saddam is crumbling all around him, he now blames his own troops for the missing explosives in Iraq. That will only lower morale among our troops who are only doing what their commander in chief is ordering them to do. Bush has also allowed a back door draft policy to evolve to help keep soldiers within the military. It's only predictable that a draft will arise in the near future if a conflict makes itself known that truely needs our attention and our military might. With the ever increasing deficit, and tax cuts that only help the rich,and with a huge conflict which only has ever increasing costs, I can't help but ask, how can this President continue on without saying he has been wrong, that he has made mistakes? Is his big Texas ego getting in the way here? What Bush has done is setting this country up for a recession in the near future with higher interest rates which will only further degrade the typical American family's quality of life. Bush has done well so far only because he tells Americans that "God speaks through him" and he invokes religion and family on everything. Why do American's buy this total waste of crap? Are they uneducated? Well the conservative right believes that Americans are stupid, and apparently their right. If Bush can't admit that he was wrong then he needs to go. You can't expect someone who thinks everything is okie dokey to fix problems that he can't even acknowledge. Kerry will bring us back to an economy that brings wealth and security to every American family. Kerry will also represent all of his constituents. Not just the politically connected christian coalition. Voting for Kerry is the only way that Bush will realize his folly. Voting for Kerry will only improve this country's economy and the morale of our people and neighbors in other countries.

 

[ylexot]

I think we can all agree that we have no business in Iraq.

Since your first statement is false, why bother reading the rest of your diatribe?

 

[Aimhigh2000]

Let me see

Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Case closed. That was Osama.
I never said I was in Riyadh. I was in Al Kharj (where Prince Sultan Air Base is) a year after I left the AOR the first time. And I believe you to be the dweeb ya old fart. Get with the program. Congress did not believe in the use of force. They narrowly passed the resolution to do so. As far as the oil, um Haliburton = Cheney = Bush Family. They are trying to exploit the oil there just as they are trying to in Africa. Pull your head out and examine the real world. People in other countries hate our government more now than ever because of your beloved Bush. At least I am not blind. And if you check, I believe you will see that I am not that big a fan of Kerry either. I just think he will at least be more diplomatic about how we do things. And my experience? Combat/Pararescue. I have been places you probably have never heard of. Nuff said.

 

[UrbanPancake]

You tell'm Aimhigh. Send that oldtimer back to the senior center.

 

[PrchJrkr]

Since your first statement is false, why bother reading the rest of your diatribe?

But, TurnipCowcake says the tax cuts only helped the rich. Woo Hoo! Now I'm rich. I read it on the Internet, so it must be true. How in the world is Scarey Kerry going to improve the economy? We currently have single digit unemployment rates and interest rates.