Hell yes, Kerry fought for us . . . and, he's still fighting for us

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This comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the National Guardthe worst instincts of divisiveness and reaction that still haunt America If I am commander in chief, I won't just bring to that profound responsibility the perspective of sitting in the Situation Room. I'll also bring the perspective of someone who's fought on the front lines We are still bogged down in Iraq and the administration stubbornly holds to failed policies that drive potential allies away. What we have seen is a steady loss of lives and mounting cost in dollars with no end in sight he would have been prepared to send troops to Haiti "immediately" to support Mr. Aristide. To do otherwise, Senator Kerry said, sends "a terrible message" to other nations in the Americas I'm a person of faith, and I know I'm surrounded by people of faith. But there's nothing conservative about allowing your administration to cross that beautiful line drawn by the founding fathers that separates affairs of church and state in the United States of America Kerry Criticizes President, Then Undergoes Surgery. Kerry criticized the Bush administration and Republican congressional leaders for not providing the government's unemployment insurance program with an additional extensionIf Condoleezza Rice can find time to do 60 minutes on television before the American people, she ought to find 60 minutes to speak to the commission under oath," Kerry told reporters. "We are talking about the security of our country Kerry used an Earth Day speech to criticize a meeting in which, according to a broadcast report, Bush and Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan discussed increasing oil production to drive down prices as the election nears. I don't know if it was a deal, I don't know if it was a secret pledge, I don't know if it was just a friendly conversation among friends," Kerry said. "The fact remains that whatever it was, the American people are getting a bad deal today We don't need a president who just says, 'Gentlemen start your engines,'" Kerry said. "We need a president who says, 'America, let's start our economy and put people back to work If ... it is true that gas supplies and prices in America are tied to the American election, tied to a secret White House deal, that is outrageous and unacceptable to the American people," "If this sounds wrong to you, that's because it is fundamentally wrong Kerry said Bush should prove he reported for duty We should not delude ourselves into thinking for an instant that because Brown represents the law we have achieved our goal, that the work of Brown is done when there are those who still seek, in different ways, to see it undone — to roll back affirmative action, to restrict equal rights, to undermine the promise of our Constitution I don’t think people want questions about character; I think they want questions about our security to be answered,” Kerry said Saturday. “That’s what this is about There's still too many people who can't afford health care, can't afford to go to college, there's too many people struggling while at the top end people get ahead What we need now is not just a regime change in Saddam Hussein and Iraq, but we need a regime change in the United StatesKerry was awarded the Bronze Star for heroic achievement, the Silver Star for gallantry in action and three Purple Hearts for injuries that included shrapnel wounds to his arms, legs and buttocks Kerry dismissed the attack as an attempt to divert attention from the president's own dismal record on jobs, the economy, health care and foreign policy I don’t know what it is that all these Republicans who didn’t serve in Vietnam are fighting a war against those of us who did We went into Iraq with too few troops to prevent looting and crime, and we failed to secure nearly a million tons of conventional weapons now being used against our troops," Kerry said. "We failed to build alliances and squandered the opportunity to generate wider support inside Iraq, in the Arab world, and among the major powers "As president, I will seek out, listen to and respect the views of our experienced military leaders and I will never let ideology trump the truth Had I been reading to children and had my top aide whispered in my ear, 'America is under attack,' I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to -- and I would have attended to it We have bankrupted the bank of good will toward our country and all that was felt toward us since Sept. 11. In my judgment much of that has been squandered by the way in which we have chosen to deal with the rest of the world I say to you, this administration is the most anti-science in the history of the USAAll these politicians running around talking about values, I just think it's wrong," Kerry told union workers. "For middle-class Americans to be saddled with endless debt and deficits while the most fortunate among us walk away with billions in tax cuts. Where does that value come from? As president, I'm going to fight to put America's tax code in line with our moral code If we pursue the limitless potential of science -- and trust that we can use it wisely -- we will save millions of lives and earn the gratitude of future generations," Kerry said. "We have the potential to do so much good while at the same time meeting some very practical challenges -- lowering healthcare costs and creating new jobs Unlike previous administrations, Republican and Democratic alike, the Bush administration has ignored unbiased scientific advice in policy-making The president promised to build the international coalition, to do this as a matter of last resort, to go through the United Nations process and respect it," he said. "And in the end, it is clear now that he didn't do that sufficiently. And I think in that regard, the American people were let down. It seems quite clear to me that the president circumvented that process, shortchanged it and did not give full meaning to the words 'last resort'Like President Kennedy's challenge in the 1960s to go to the moon, I'm going to ask America to go to the moon right here on earth by discovering oil-free, gas-free, fossil-fuel-free energy source of the future," he said. "And never will any American go abroad and give their life to defend itLet me tell you, we've just begun to fight," Kerry said. "We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary As you well know, Vietnam was a very difficult and painful period in our nation's history, and the struggle for our veterans continues. So, it has been hard to believe that you would choose to reopen these wounds for your personal political gain. But, that is what you have chosen to doYou shouldn't be abandoned and struggling the way you are today," he told the 100 or so employers and students crowded into the center, which faces a 33 percent decrease in funding next year. Kerry called the cuts "almost criminal He thinks that empty slogans like the "Clear Skies' initiative and the "Healthy Forest' initiative - that somehow names that would make George Orwell rise up and cheer ... will make people forget what is really happening in our country Just investing in Detroit itself, where the mayor has lots of major infrastructure projects, you could put a lot of people to work tomorrow if you put the money into that. But this administration has not been willing to do that The horrifying abuse of Iraqi prisoners which the world has now seen is absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable. And the response of the administration, certainly the Pentagon, has been slow and inappropriate. The president of the United States needs to offer the world an explanation and needs to take appropriate responsibility, and if that includes apologizing for the behavior of those soldiers and (for) what happened, we ought to do that What about the Saudi-George Bush gasoline tax that we're now paying because OPEC wasn't pressured to lower the prices by producing more? "They could've produced more before now. And America's paying an enormous penalty as a result of that and all of our economy gets hurt as a result of that These are moments I think America ought to share. If we are going to be a strong democracy, and it’s all driven by money, we’re in trouble We are still bogged down in Iraq and the administration stubbornly holds to failed polices that drive potential allies away," What we have seen is a steady loss of lives and mounting costs in dollars, with no end in sight. I will be a president who is truly a uniter, not one who seeks to divide one nation by race or riches or by another label It's not acceptable to do nothing while families lose their savings, workers lose their jobs, and businesses close their doors because of the high cost of health care," Kerry said. "We need a president who knows our health care crisis isn't acceptable and who has a plan to fix it. This president comes along, and he supplants photo opportunities for real policies, and he particularly is trying to do that, may I say respectfully, in the Hispanic community," Kerry told a group of about 20 Hispanic leaders at the El Portal Restaurant. "A couple of appointments here, a few conservative people here and there. But immigration policy? No. Education policy? No. Voting rights? No. "All the things that are really important and make a difference to people, they are taking a walk on We didn't have the patience, we didn't have the maturity, to exhaust the remedies available to us and truly build that coalition and understand the nature of the threat If all we do is make war against the Iraqi people and continue an American occupation fundamentally without a clarity to who and how sovereignty is being turned over, we have a very serious problem from the long run here and I think this administration is just walking dead center down into that trap I did obviously fight in Vietnam, and I was wounded there, and I served there and was very proud of my service," To have these people, all of whom made a different choice, attack me for it is obviously disturbing. This is a controversy that the Republicans are pushing," The Republicans have spent $60 million in the last few weeks trying to attack me, and this comes from a president and a Republican Party that can't even answer whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard. I'm not going to stand for it Being flown to a carrier and saying the words Mission Accomplished, does not end a war. The swagger of a President saying "Bring 'em on" does not bring peace. Giving a speech on national television does not reassure Americans about what's happening in Iraq -- to be straight with the American people about Iraq takes more than a speech, it takes real answers to tough questions. President Bush needs to lay out the full answers owed to the American people. He should have done so before he ever went to war, he needs to do it now He misled every one of us. I will not let him off the hook throughout this campaign with respect to America's credibility and credibility to me because if he lied, he lied to me personally


and, he's still fighting for us