Kerry Rules Out Opening Records of 1988 Divorce

[Khephra]

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Tuesday rejected any suggestion that he release records of his 1988 divorce, calling it old history that had nothing to do with anyone else.

``I have no intention of doing that at all,'' Kerry said during a campaign stop in Phoenix, Arizona, when a reporter asked if he would release the papers from his divorce from his first wife Julia Thorn.

snip........

Kerry, who will try to unseat President Bush in November, said there was no reason for him to release his divorce records.

``It's history, ancient history. My ex-wife and I are terrific friends, very proud of our children. We have stayed close through those years as an extended family,'' the Massachusetts senator said, adding, ``It's none of anybody's business, period.''

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-campaign-kerry-divorce.html

[bushisanidiot]

1. How About If AWOL Talks About The Girlfriend he got pregnant and was made

to have an abortion?

no reporters are interested in THAT story, are they?

[sweetness]

25. clueless..

on that one please enlighten me!!

I have not seen that one before... would be HUGE if true!

[Bunny]

28. start here and do some googling:

http://www.democrats.com/display.cfm?id=159

[sweetness]

30. Thanks for the link!!

and the advice (sorry lazy today)

[sui generis]

2. who on earth thinks this has anything to do

with his qualifications for president? I am sure an argument could be made that we also need to know which direction he wipes his ass, north to south or south to north, which is just about as rational.

Leave the guy's personal life alone!

[tlcandie]

3. He's correct.... it isn't anyone else's business. eom

[molly]

4. The pukes are just upset about the Ryan sex scandal

too fucking bad!

[mac56]

5. And if the pukes try to make hay with this -

let's just ask Dubya - again - to reopen his military service records! Far more relevant than Kerry's divorce.

[goclark]

37. Or the records for Pickles and her boyfriend that she killed with her car

Why should that be sealed?

[Philostopher]

21. The most annoying part is, Ryan brought that one on himself.

He'd hired a flack to follow Obama around with a video camera at all his public appearances, hoping to catch him, oh, I don't know -- picking his nose? Saying something they could use against him in the campaign? Whatever. They drew the line -- now they're crying because it bit them in the ass.

[Itchinjim]

6. Do you think he's setting the pubes up again?

Like he did with his Service record? Let them make a big stink, and then open the records up and they find....nothing?

[radwriter0555]

18. I'd bet a hundred bucks... we know he's a good, honorable man with nothing

to hide.

[sweetness]

26. Good call!

I hope you are right but the frustration of the 'look' of deception is bothersome....

[connecticut yankee]

7. Lousy Hypocrites!

Did anyone ever ask Reagan to open the records of his divorce?

:mad:

[MarkTwain]

8. If ONLY William Clinton...

... had said precisely the same thing: ``It's none of anybody's business, period,'' we would not have George Bush in the White House today.

[Isere]

22. Amen to that!

If Clinton had answered that young girl who asked "Is it boxers or shorts?" with a statement like "That's too personal" then he would have set a precedent for future questions. He allowed himself to be disrespected and that's sad.

[Voltaire99]

35. "He allowed himself to be disrespected" - LOL!

Where'd you get that phrase? Oprah? ;-)

Clinton bagged the intern because he was weak. It's not the worst offense in the world. But it did give us Bush.

[AngryAmish]

9. How dare they?

This sickens me. Here we have John Kerry, probably the most upright and just man ever to serve America, and that filth want to open old records. This is an unprecedented attack on his privacy.

[MikeG]

10. Get ready folks. It will come out.

[mac56]

12. What "it" are you talking about?

nm

[MikeG]

23. The divorce file. They'll use the Ryan case as precedent.

[gratuitous]

11. "None of anybody's business"

Perfect! It's the same excuse being proffered by Dick Cheney about his energy commission meetings, as well as Stupidhead's response about his arrest record. Choke on it, Repukes. If it's good for the goose, then Cheney you right in the Stupidhead.

[struggle4progress]

13. How about if Cheney releases the records of his meetings with Ken Lay etc?

That's really more relevant to the campaign, isn't it?

[UTUSN]

14. I Think JK Is "Misunderestimated" in Many Quarters

He's as steady as a rock.

[SoCalDem]

15. While i appreciate his standing up to the rightwingers, I fear

that some "drooler" who works in the records department will "oops", and "accidentally" release them.. There are always embarrassing items in divorce records..They should be sealed and remain sealed.. The final disposition on the case should be public, but the intimate
details that are sometimes included in the filing and the litigation should remain private.

on the other hand...

if you are a public person, you have to expect that every nook and cranny of your life will be put under the microscope...unless your surname is Bush :)

[lovedems]

16. Who is trying to get him to open his divorce papers?

Is it a newspaper or a conservative group?

[Cocoa]

17. an important thing to remember about the Ryan records

it was NOT dems that called for the release of those records, it was the very republican Chicago Tribune.

The dem Obama was consistent in saying he didn't want Ryan's divorce to be an issue, and he said the same thing about his primary opponent Hull's divorce records.

[AlGore-08.com]

19. This is a classic "lose/lose" for any candidate

If they refuse to open their records, they look like they're hiding something. Even if their records are 100% clean and they open them right away, a Rovian opposition can turn the smallest detail into a pseudo-scandal - - the settlement amount could be used to make them look petty or greedy, etc. Even if their opponents don't go that route, their records often co-opt the news cycle for several days ("No bombshell in Kerry divorce records" etc.).

[sui generis]

32. well, that's why we need a strong candidate

he needs to be able to say "NO, it's my personal life, and it has nothing to do with my ability to deal with foreign policy, domestic issues or any other requirement of the presidency."

And to hell with worrying about what anyone thinks. If his ex-wife was harmed or the reason for the divorce was that he was a terrible person, I am sure that she would say so. An inquest into the terms of the divorce is a really poor use of the attention of the nation in considering real issues.

[wabeewoman]

34. Can't agree...

I think you'll find most of the public think the same as Kerry-it isn't any of their business. Heck, everyone I knew(and obviously much of the country based on his popularity) thought Clinton's blow job was his(and his wife's) business. There is such a thing as too much information.

[AlGore-08.com]

43. Did you miss the threads here about Jack Ryan's divorce?

The fact that his ex-wife accused him of forcing her to go to sex clubs and have sex in front of strangers was far from ignored - - and if there were any posts saying "who cares, it's none of our business", I didn't read them. Or do you think that the GOP were totally out of touch by deciding Ryan was now toast and forcing him to drop out of the race?

If the shoe were on the other foot - - if Smirk was on his second marriage, and he refused to open his divorce records, there would be endless speculation here about what he was covering up, along with derisive posts about how Smirk not opening his records right away was stupid, because it made him look like he was covering something up.

I suspect Kerry's divorce records are uneventful, but if they aren't, I am not so naive as to think there is no possiblity that they will have a negative effect on voters.

To take it away from the specific (Kerry) to the general, let's say that a candidate's divorce documents contain proof that he beat his wife. What if the records contained proof of drug use? Alcoholism? Child abuse? Would you rush out enthusiastically to vote for that candidate? What if the records proved the candidate had a history of tax evasion? Or refusing to pay his child support payments? What would you think of that candidate the next time he made a speech about child welfare - - or did a photo op with poor children?

Sorry to step in here with a more general comment about the perception of candidates' personal lives and characters. I'm sure I'll get flamed for it and accused of being a GOP shill and the rest of that nonsense.

[GiovanniC]

20. Kerry and His Ex Are Friends

I haven't heard anything that would imply that their divorce was particularly ugly.

So how about this?

Kerry is pressured to open his divorce records. The media makes a big stink about it. The conservative groups harp on it. The Bush campaign makes insinuations about the fact that he won't release his divorce records. Kerry starts saying that his divorce records aren't as relevant as Dick "Go Cheney Yourself" Cheney's energy policy documents.

Eventually, he opens his records to reveal a very amicable divorce, and once again throws the spotlight on the secrecy of the administration, armed with quotes from the conservative right saying, basically, "The only reason he wouldn't open those records is if he had something to hide!"

[sweetness]

24. smart candidates

would freely give all of their financial and legal history ...including divorce (legal matters)
Even the look of hiding something can hurt a candidate. I for one would like to know all of the financial and legal details of someone I vote for.

Kerry is full of it when he says it is no ones business..it was a legal matter in a PUBLIC court!! A divorce is a public matter because it takes place in OUR courts. I am surprised that there would be such an outcry of support for Kerry regarding PUBLIC records.

Sure divorces and bankruptcies are embarrassing but hiding them from the public is just dumb. It makes it look like he is good at hiding the truth. Can't Democrats take the high ground on disclosure???

I really hope the republicans don't get far with this but in light of Ryan's recent disclosure trouble and where that one lead to ...

Who the heck is advising Kerry???

[Bunny]

29. Oh stop.

Just stop.

[oldcoot]

31. What about Kerry's ex-wife?

She is not running for office. Shouldn't she get a say in this?

It is a sad day in America when energy companies have a greater expectation of privacy than private citizens.

[Democat]

36. Everyone should disclose everything except Bush and Arnold, right?

Try harder next time!

[sweetness]

41. I love how the ignorant

read that much into my opinion that candidates should be forthcoming in their legal and financial matters.......I think ALL political candidates should be open about their legal and economic past. These matters are as important as their positions and or voting records.

[goclark]

38. Just stop freeping

[sweetness]

40. a sad day indeed

when disclosure from apolitical candidate is a 'freeper' thing.

[hughee99]

39. Was his divorce decided in a public court

or was it a legal settlement between lawyers? If no paid government employees had to intervene at any point, and the matter was settled by the Kerry's attorneys they why do we have any right to expect the records opened? If they want to, that's fine, but we don't have a "right" to this information.

[sweetness]

42. a divorce is a legal matter

that is disposed of in the court system. Agreements can be made by outside arbitration or agreement but I believe that it is a judge who issues the decree. I am not a lawyer but that is what I believe is the case.

[hughee99]

44. One thing about this, I agree with...

"I for one would like to know all of the financial and legal details of someone I vote for." I agree with this. I WOULD LIKE to know all of this information. I realize that I'M NOT ENTITLED to all of it. Simply because someone runs for public office, they are not stripped of all privacy rights. I would prefer if a canidate were to be upfront about everyting, but it cuts both ways as far as politics go. You're giving the public as much info as possible, but your also feeding the sharks who will wonder why you returned "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" to the library 4 days late when you were 8 years old, and therefore, you are not reliable or trustworthy.

[rocktivity]

27. Kerry is absolutely right

Divorce records are not public property. It's criminal records that are. I smell a "bad Catholic" meme.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Cerridwen]

33. Conservatives are gearing up

It sounds as though conservatives are gearing up should Kerry in fact win in November.

They will begin now by amassing any and all rumor, innuendo, and even the occasional fact spun out of recognition, as ammunition to be used against Kerry should he win.

They will use anything and everything Kerry says now, against him as president. The effect will be to demoralize the presidency, obstruct policy making and/or enforcement, demoralize democrats and scare off mainstream voters from progressive politics.

See previous duly and legally elected Clinton administration as an example.

If you think putting "anyone but Bush" in the Oval Office will change anything or be the "end of the war," please, please, look to history for a broader view.