Senator John Kerry dissects the state of denial of a Washington press corps, media, and government that kowtow to the serial deceptions of the Bush administration. Some pretty damning words from the Senator who stood there like a box of rocks during the third presidential debate in 2004, as President Bush sneered "My opponent [Kerry] IS A FLIP-FLOPPER!"
----------------------------------------
Speech by Senator John Kerry to the New Hampshire Jefferson-Jackson Democratic dinner Oct. 15, 2006:
Thank you, thank you, Kathy, Thank you for a wonderful introduction to New Hampshire.
I congratulate Mary Chambers and Ray Buckly for their unbelievable service over the years, and most importantly, and will you join me please in welcoming my wife, an extraordinary citizen, Teresa Heinz Kerry (applause).
My fellow Democrats, my friends from an extraordinary journey.
This war in Iraq is a disgrace. Bob Woodward is right. They are in a state of denial. But its worse than that. They are in a state of deception. They tell us that we're making progress in Iraq, and that there is no civil war.
THAT IS A LIE.
They tell us that the Johns Hopkins study of Iraqi casualties is phony.
THAT IS A LIE. You can see it for yourself every day on the television.
They tell us the Congressional page scandal is a Democratic ploy to win the mid-term elections.
THAT IS A LIE. The issue is here because of a Republican cover-up, and the party that preaches "MORAL VALUES" that covered this up has no right to preach "Moral Values" to any of us at this time.
They tell us the North Korean nuclear test is the fault of Bill Clinton, well THAT is a LIE. North Korea's nuclear program was FROZEN under Bill Clinton, and when George W. Bush turned his back on diplomacy, Kim Jung Il turned BACK to making nuclear bombs, and the world is LESS SAFE TODAY because a madman has the Bush bomb.
A Lie, a lie, a lie, and a lie, what we have in Washington is a house of lies, and what we need to do in November is to clean house! (applause)
And to those who question my opposition to this war, just as they questioned my opposition to Vietnam after I returned, let me tell you, when you know the truth, when the facts are there for all to understand, when the lies and deceptions have been laid bare for everybody to see, then it is both a right, and an obligation as an American to disagree with a president who is wrong, with a policy that is wrong, and a war in Iraq that weakens our nation, doesn't strengthen it.
They say we have to support this war in order to support the troops. I say the best way to support the troops is to oppose a course THAT SQUANDERS THEIR LIVES. Oppose a course that DISHONORS their sacrifice, oppose a course that does a disservice to our principles.
They say that we would dishonor the lives that have been lost by changing course in Iraq.
How immoral and shameful and extraordinary to suggest, that we should use the lives already given, to excuse more lives that must be given in the future.
How immoral to say, that "More must die, because others already have."
Let me tell you when soldiers suffer and die on an altar of an administration's pride, when they loose their limbs because of the incompetence and arrogance of mere politicians, then the ONLY patriotic choice is to take back the moral authority that has been abused by those in high office, TAKE IT BACK AND THROW THEM OUT."
Right here, right here in New Hampshire Congressman Bass and Congressman Bradley have FAILED TO ASK the TOUGH QUESTIONS, failed to demand answers, and rubber-stamped a willful president's wrongful course. That failure demands that the independent voice of New Hampshire be represented by the independent voices of Paul Hodes and Carroll Shay Porter.
And replacing Jeff Bradley and Charlie Bass actually becomes even more urgent when they rubber stamp the agenda of an administration that refuses to debate their policies or disclose their facts or to respect the Constitution, as Carroll said.
And when that administration uses their OWN MILITARY BLUNDERS to answer their own failures, with more of the same.
Let me tell you, presidents and politicians may worry about losing face and losing votes and losing legacy, I believe as a veteran and as a citizen, that we ought to be worried about young Americans who are losing lives. ......
And then there's Donald Rumsfeld. He's been called the most stubborn, incompetent, and arrogant Defense Secretary in American history... and that's just what Republicans are saying about him! (applause)
Donald Rumsfeld, the man who should have been fired as Secretary of Defense a long time ago, Donald Rumsfeld recently gave a low and ugly speech, in which he smeared those who dissent from a catastrophic policy, and then he spoke of moral confusion.
Well, there certainly is a lot of moral confusion around these days.
It is IMMORAL for old men to send young men to fight in a war without a strategy to be able to win, and for a war that makes you weaker, not stronger.
It is IMMORAL to lie about the progress in that war in order to get through a news cycle or an election cycle.
It is immoral to treat 9-11 as a political pawn and to continue to excuse the invasion of Iraq by exploiting the 3,000 mothers and fathers and sons and brothers, daughters who were lost that day.
THEY were attacked NOT BY SADDAM HUSSEIN in Iraq, but by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
We've seen in recent days that this administration will say anything, they'll do anything, twist any truth, and even endanger our nation's character just to survive a midterm election.
But I think Americans are now beginning to see through that charade. Americans now know the truth that we have a Katrina foreign policy, blunders and failures piled upon each other, all of which have betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and WIDENED the terrorist threat, instead of diminishing it.
And Americans know the Republican playback backwards and forwards. Every time this administration is down in the polls, every time their political opponents at home appear to be gaining, they trot out the fear card. Well, enough is enough. I think we deserve leaders, who remember that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
NOT politicians who the only thing they have to sell is fear itself. (continued on video)
------------------------------------
(note: CSPAN's podcasting and video-link index is terrible.)
CSPAN's ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Fmr. Mayor Giuliani & Sen. Kerry (D-MA)
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani headlines a fundraiser in Concord for the House Republican Victory Committee. Then Massachusetts Senator John Kerry speaks at the annual New Hampshire Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Manchester
javascript:playClip(clip1_27792);
http://download.rbn.com/cspan/cspan/download/rwh_feed.xml
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment