Walter Cronkite calls out Kerry's Liberalism...

[onehandle]

An Open Letter To John Kerry

BY WALTER CRONKITE
King Features Syndicate

Dear Sen. Kerry:

In the interests of your campaign and your party's desire to unseat George W. Bush, you have some explaining to do. During the primary campaign, your Democratic opponents accused you of flip-flopping on several important issues, such as your vote in favor of the Iraq War resolution.

Certainly your sensitivity to nuance, your ability to see shades of gray where George Bush sees only black and white, explains some of your difficulty. Shades of gray don't do well in political campaigns, where primary colors are the rule. And your long and distinguished service in the Senate has no doubt led to genuine changes in some positions. But the denial that you are a liberal is almost impossible to reconcile.

snip...

If 1988 taught us anything, it is that a candidate who lacks the courage of his convictions cannot hope to convince the nation that he should be given its leadership. So, Senator, some detailed explanations are in order if you hope to have any chance of defeating even a wounded George II in November. You cannot let the Bush league define you or the issues. You have to do that yourself. Take my advice and lay it all out, before it's too late.

http://www.yankton.net/stories/031804/opE_20040318036.shtml

[burrowowl]

1. Go Walter! eom

[BootinUp]

2. Well that may be some very good advice

Walter is no dummy.

[tinanator]

3. he endorses the magic bullet theory

Not the guy I would trust, ever.

[BootinUp]

5. yer kiddin

You base your total judgement of him because of his personal theory on the JFK assasination?

6. Also notice

that judgement regarding the magic bullet doesn't address even one of the points Cronkite is making regarding Kerry.

Let me see, if I based my entire view of Cronkite on his position on the magic bullet would that be like basing my entire view of John Kerry on how he voted on the Iraq War Resolution?

[tinanator]

8. gd right

I dont trust the corporate media either, particularly with the element of the CIA's involvement, despite historical prohibitions from domestic ops. Shit, I dont trust Kerry, so this all kind of jibes for me. Good luck with your kindler gentler imperialism. When terrorism/retaliatory violence jumps up and bites you and your family in the ass, dont say I didnt warn ya.
-its not a "personal theory" it was a participation in a ridiculously lame computer graphics rebuttal to Oliver North's movie JFK. In that regard the fucker is in the same boat with NPR's number one lobbyist brother havin whore Cokie Roberts. If you dont think the coverup conspiracy of a presidential assassination is important, why in the fuck would you ever even bother voting? Did this nation lose its way that badly as a result, or was it just inevitable?

[Melodybe]

11. Come on Walter is a good man and a good democrat

if only the rest of the news folks were as decent as he is.

I just sent this letter to the Kerry campaign, here's hoping he listens.

[tinanator]

12. sure thats no major accomplishment though is it?

Compared to what we have had foisted upon us as media over the last twenty years? The facts remain, JFK's assassination and coverup was BIPARTISAN. The fact that there are several camps of intelligence agents doesnt excuse the reality of repeated coups at every level of US and international governance, and that precludes what democracy actually is. I simply prefer to choose my friends more carefully.
Please refer to Carl Bernsteins Rolling Stone article on the CIA in the press. October 20th 1977. Also recall the release of a list of CIA assets in the media which included Cronkite. Who, as tradition requires, denied any such affiliation. Trust us.

13. This still has nothing to do with

the points Cronkite is making to Kerry regarding the term "liberal."
It's all very interesting, but it's a different subject.

[enki23]

18. a historian of ehrlich, is he?

.

[lefty_mcduff]

4. "You cannot let the *Bush league* define you or the issues"

Nice one Walter. Heh, heh. heh.

[juajen]

7. Well, good for Walter Cronkite

He is right. Follwing please find a definition of "Liberal".

liberal - 1. Not limited to or by traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes or dogmas; free from bigotry. b. Favoring proposals for reform open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded. c. Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism.

So, tell me, WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH BEING OR BEING CALLED A LIBERAL?

I agree with Walter Cronkite. I believe Kerry needs to define liberalism for the American people and CLAIM the title, proudly.

NOTE: In no way does the definition say that a liberal is weak on defense.

Senator Kerry, if you or any member of your campaign staff are reading this, I would urge you, in addition to claiming your liberalism, to openly state what position Wes Clark would hold in your administration, whether it be VP of Secretary of State. He would then, "have your back", in a more positive way. He is and should be a very valuable workhorse in your stable. Great going, so far, Senator; but, don't let them define you.

[billybob537]

9. I was wondering

when someone would take the bait and difine Bush League. Thank you Walter. Now who'll Try "Lying King"?

[w4rma]

10. Labels are a great way to avoid talking about the issues. (n/t)

[ulysses]

17. the demonization of liberals and liberalism *is* an issue.

But by ducking the issue, Dukakis opened the way for the far right to make "L" for liberal a scarlet letter with which to brand all who oppose them. In the course of that 1988 exchange, Bush offered a telling observation, saying, in effect, that liberals don't like being called liberal. You seem to have reaffirmed that analysis.

[no name no slogan]

20. That's why I became disenchanted w/ him in 1988

...after I had spent all primary season working for him, volunteering, even organizing two precincts for him. If he would have stood up and said, "HELL YES, I AM A LIBERAL, YOU GOTTA PROBLEM WITH THAT?", he may very well have won the election-- he was catching Dubya's daddy at the tail end of October.

Everybody likes to whine about "labels" and how candidates are "above" those things. But not ALL labels are BAD!!!

Don't forget what "liberals" have done in the last hundred years: the New Deal, Great Society, Civil Rights, etc.

What's so damned bad about that?

[ulysses]

21. to be fair to Mike

I don't know that anyone would have seen what was coming in time to respond well. I keep going back to the question about what he would want to happen to someone who'd raped and murdered his wife, in the context of the death penalty, and wishing he'd said, "Why, I'd want to remove their testicles with a spoon before dipping them, inch by inch, into battery acid - but that's why our system of justice doesn't leave it up to the families of the victims". But he didn't.

Dukakis wasn't a great candidate and got blindsided, but we *do* know how the right wing fights now. My only real problem with MD is that the party took all the wrong lessons from his defeat.

[bigtree]

14. Everyone wants to put Kerry in their own box

I hate when folks do that to me. Kerry should present himself as he sees himself. He shouldn't mold his rhetoric or anything else to any narrow ideology. Not even his own. This is a nation with vast interests and concerns. Our government needs to reflect that. Our president will do well if he resists the pigeonholing that goes with the adoption of these subjective labels.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. Walter Cronkite.

eom

[VOX]

24. Can't improve on that.

:toast:

[sangh0]

16. Let's put everyone in a box and label it

It's the progressive way, right?

[ulysses]

19. like it or not,

our political system runs on labels.

[sangh0]

22. Well, looked who's been hired as spokesperson for the status quo!!

I never thought you'd sign up to run with the big boys, uly! Congratulations.

Maybe I'll take you a lil more seriously from now on. :-)

[ulysses]

23. well, god knows

that that's what I've wanted all this time...

[zulchzulu]

25. Is Cronkite working for Rove now?

Time to shuddup and hit the golf course, Wally. That's the way it is.

WTF is Kerry supposed to say?

Hi, I'm John Kerry. And I'm a Liberal. See my t-shirt. It's says I'm a Liberal. Wally Cronkite says I'm a Liberal and I wanna just thank him for pointing that out to me. Gee, even though I feel I did my best with the IWR, maybe I've been flip-flopping. I just wanna admit that. M-kay. Kewl!