Not particularly, if you actually read what he says instead of the snippets of speeches that are first chopped to bits, spit upon, and served up by the Republican politicians/pundits, cheerfully swallowed by the shallow, lazy media, who then finally regurgitate it back to you.
For example, if you’re talking about the fact that he voted for the IWR (Iraq War Resolution) but now is against the war, you should a) read the actual IWR text, and b) read his speech on the Senate floor at the time of the vote. The IWR makes it absolutely clear under what conditions the Congress was authorizing military action. In his speech at the time, Kerry strongly emphasized these conditions, saying that Bush must exhaust every diplomatic means possible to let the weapons inspectors do their job in Iraq, prior to military action. Kerry (and the other IWR yes-voters) made the mistake of thinking we had a trustworthy CIC willing to avoid armed conflict and bloodshed.
In any event, Kerry is certainly no more wishy-washy than most politicians, at least who actually consider positions and sometimes change their mind when situations develop or new information is offered. When he’s wrong, he’ll change course. That makes him flexible – much better than being a stubborn jackass like Bush and Cheney.
How? By doing his duty, then returning stateside and trying to stop the war, in hopes that he’d save others like him from having to face the horrors of what he’d seen? That’s not selling out. That’s honoring their lives and the principles that these men were supposed to be fighting for. That’s being a true patriot.
… not hard to do, since Bush saw NO war action …
According to whom? Surely you’re not talking about the Swiftboat vets who lied about serving with him, lied about Kerry’s wounds, lied about the situations under which he earned his medals, lied about having had negative opinions of him during the war, and lied about having no links to the Bush campaign? You do realize that their charges have been disproven by official navy records, right?
The people who talk the most about his being a hero are primarily his crew and his superiors – why would they exaggerate? His official records are filled with overwhelming praise of his bravery and high standards as a soldier. Kerry didn’t give himself those medals, you know.
Why “clearly”? So far, the suicidal nut-cases that came out of the woodwork and committed their attack on the U.S. did so under BUSH’s watch, not Kerry’s. In addition:
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Kerry isn’t the one who dropped the ball in Afghanistan while the job was half-done and then turned his attention to Iraq, leaving Osama bin Laden in place. Bush is.
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Kerry isn’t the one who attacked a sovereign country with little justification, killing thousands of civillians and thereby angering millions of people in the middle east (and beyond), fanning the flames of hatred towards the U.S. Bush is.
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Kerry isn’t the one appointing freaks in charge of the military who approved of brutal torture of civilians, including women and children. Bush is.
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Kerry isn’t the one who underfunds homeland security; he’s also not the one who, for more than a year, blocked creation of an independent 9/11 commission to study what went wrong (and then, when finally caving in to pressure, wanted to put Henry fucking Kissinger in charge!). Bush is.
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Kerry isn’t the one who then balked at following the 9/11 commission’s recommendations for improving our ability to prevent future attacks, then finally gave in – again, only after pressure. Bush is.
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Kerry isn’t the one who ignored the Presidential Daily Briefing from August 6, 2001, that warned of Osama bin Laden’s imminent plans to attack within the U.S. Bush is. (To be fair to Bush, this warning was hidden in a report with a pretty vague title: Osama bin Laden Determined to Attack within the United States. One can understand how he might have missed the nuance.)
Okay, these are things you can be sure as hell that he won’t be doing. So what WILL Kerry do? For starters, he’ll strive to repair our credibility and standing in the international community, which will improve our ability to fight terrorism. He’ll avoid unjustified empire-building wars. He’ll move funds into homeland security and intelligence, rather than aforementioned empire-building. And when necessary, he will strike militarily – with solid targets unearthed thanks to the improved intelligence and repaired relationships with allies.
Bill, the Bush campaign, their Republican colleagues, and lazy members of the media have invented a fake opponent for Bush to run against. I strongly urge you not to fall into their trap, and take the time to learn about the actual candidate. Because John Kerry will be a very, very good president.
Well, you’d better book that dinner before January 2005, because I hope and suspect he’ll be too busy himself. 