# Say it ain't so, Kerry. Not another intern! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 12, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876 "2004-02-12T16:56:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/141 "2004-02-16T19:22:47Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > I listened to Rush Limbaugh as much as I could stand this morning. I believe this was before the denial statement, but Rush already had things covered – according to him, if the “suspect” – he actually used this word in one of his comments – didn’t admit to anything, that was merely a sign that she had either been intimidated or bought off by the Democrats. It’s kind of funny that Rush would call somebody else a “suspect” right now. God, I hope he gets jugged, even if it’s only for a short time. I know he probably won’t be, but wouldn’t it be sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/142 "2004-02-16T19:29:07Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > "Because these stories were false, I assumed the media would ignore them. " > > Isn’t that so precious you just simply want to hug her? Thought ‘the media was just going to ignore this’?? Sorry - I don’t buy it. I suspect there were many communications exchanged during that delay. There is just nothing about that statement that sounds right. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/143 "2004-02-16T19:36:56Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > She added: “I [never interned or worked](http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2539130) for John Kerry” > > If she never “interned or worked” for Kerry - how did her name surface? Does she know Kerry or did they just pick it out of a phonebook? According to Drudge, some sort of unnamed news outlets were approach by an unnamed “friend” who told “fantastic stories.” All of this was completely unsourced by Drudge, of course. It looks like someone was trying to plant this stuff to raise a lot of smoke and drive down Kerry’s poll ratings. The mainstream media never picked up on it, though, not even Fox, surprisingly and it probably just makes Kerry look like the victim of a baseless smear tactic more than anything else. I like the way that Drudge implied that the story was coming from other Dems without really saying so. That way, if the story blew up in his face he could insinuate that it was all the Dems’ fault. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/144 "2004-02-16T19:42:54Z")
Interesting to compare Bush’s two big scandals currently (National Guard and Iraq War) with Kerry’s. Bush’s scandals have been going on for years, and the evidence to refute the rumors and facts of the scandals is poor to nonexistent. Kerry’s scandal has been going on for days, and already there’s clear and unambiguous evidence to refute the scandal. This isn’t to say that a real scandal won’t erupt with Kerry, or that Bush’s scandals won’t eventually be refuted. But at this point, I’m real happy with my candidate’s way of weathering a scandal. Indeed, with that quote from the father – an endorsement of Kerry – this could turn out working to his benefit :D. Score one for the Democrats! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/145 "2004-02-16T19:55:03Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > According to Drudge, some sort of unnamed news outlets were approach by an unnamed “friend” who told “fantastic stories.” Does that mean they picked it out of a phonebook or is there a personal connection outside of interning or “working for…”? And why the four day delay before she denies? Were the eariler statements allegedly from her parents manufactured by the media? If so why didn’t her parents come out and say so when first reported? Nope - ain’t I buying. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/146 "2004-02-16T20:05:53Z")
[More from Sludge](http://www.drudgereport.com/mattjk7.htm): > [@](#): > > A woman at the center of John Kerry intrigue dated longtime Kerry Finance Director Peter Maroney, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. > > When pressed by media outlets in recent week, the Kerry campaign confirmed the relationship, according to top sources. Shocking, just shocking. She dated a guy who _worked_ for Kerry. This will turn the campaign on its head. Oh, and there’s also this: > [@](#): > > TIME magazine’s Tim Burger and ABC NEWS have developed intriguing elements to the case, sources reveal. > > She would joke that she was dating 'the next president of the United States, says a source. > > Polier’s flippant remarks and flirtatious manner, according to friends, fueled the intrigue. My god, she made a flippant remark and showed a “flirtatious manner.” Clearly John Kerry is unfit to be president. You know, I thought about the alleged “joke” for a few seconds and I realized she could have been making a sardonic comment about the influence of Kerry’s chief fundraiser on his campaign-- kind of like somebody who was dating Karl Rove might joke that he/she was “dating the president.” This keeps getting more and more lame. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/147 "2004-02-16T20:10:52Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > The mainstream media never picked up on it, though, **not even Fox** , surprisingly and it probably just makes Kerry look like the victim of a baseless smear tactic more than anything else. My bolding. I just heard it reported on CNN. “Kerry denies rumors…” Does that now make CNN the new right-wing bogeyman? ---
**Author:** ![Tasha\_Yar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@Tasha\_Yar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tasha_Yar)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/148 "2004-02-16T20:17:01Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > [More from Sludge](http://www.drudgereport.com/mattjk7.htm): > > This keeps getting more and more lame. Honestly. It feels as if Drudge is self destructing. He’s sticking to this stupid story, which as you pointed out just gets weaker and lamer with each update, with such desperation that he’s really making himself look a gigantic fool. Yeah, I know you’ll probably say he’s always been a fool but at least he had a sort of maverick outsider thing going on. Now he’s just coming off as an attention seeking lunatic. I wonder when he’ll swap his goofly little “press” hat for a tinfoil version. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/149 "2004-02-16T20:17:09Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > Does that mean they picked it out of a phonebook or is there a personal connection outside of interning or “working for…”? Apparently, she dated Kerry’s finance director. She never worked for Kerry in any capacity. > [@](#): > > And why the four day delay before she denies? She didn’t want to feed the story any more than she had to. She obviously had hoped that the media would figure out it was bogus and she wouldn’t have to see her name and face all over the internet. She may have also thought that Kerry’s public denial would end. There wasn’t any _eveidence_, after all. When the Righties insisted on fueling the story more and more on rank speculation and innuendo she felt like she had to put an end to it. Four days is not that long. Are you calling her a liar? based on what evidence? > [@](#): > > Were the eariler statements allegedly from her parents manufactured by the media? If so why didn’t her parents come out and say so when first reported? Nope - ain’t I buying. The parents’ earlier statements _denied_ that there was an affair. What’s the contradiction? What is there to correct? ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/150 "2004-02-16T20:22:06Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > …The parents’ earlier statements _denied_ that there was an affair. What’s the contradiction? What is there to correct? Quit spinning – her parents had called Kerry a sleazebag and didn’t want him around their daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/151 "2004-02-16T20:24:21Z")
Perhaps the thread title should be changed to “Say it ain’t so, DRUDGE. Not another intern!” What a crock of shit. I take her comment to be an irritated, fake attempt at naivete, if that makes sense. The subtext is “I didn’t think you’d keep talking about this because I assumed you had a functional brain, but since you don’t…” Not an usual way to respond. **John** , **Diogenes** is correct in the sense that this never erupted into a major scandal. Kerry’s ratings in Wisconsin held up and this doesn’t appear to be a problem for him nationwide. Don’t have much to add beyond that, aside from “Suck it, Matt. Suck it long and suck it hard!” :o :o 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/152 "2004-02-16T20:29:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I take her comment to be an irritated, fake attempt at naivete, if that makes sense. The subtext is “I didn’t think you’d keep talking about this because I assumed you had a functional brain, but since you don’t…” Not an usual way to respond. So … its your position that she didn’t say anything because … by not saying anything as one of the principals - all questions would be answered? That doesn’t make any sense. Please guys. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/153 "2004-02-16T20:30:53Z")
> [@Tasha Yar](#): > > Honestly. It feels as if Drudge is self destructing. He’s sticking to this stupid story, which as you pointed out just gets weaker and lamer with each update, with such desperation that he’s really making himself look a gigantic fool. > > Yeah, I know you’ll probably say he’s always been a fool but at least he had a sort of maverick outsider thing going on. Now he’s just coming off as an attention seeking lunatic. > > I wonder when he’ll swap his goofly little “press” hat for a tinfoil version. Actually, i’m probably not as anti-Drudge as you might expect. I am a confessed Drudge addict and his page is one of the first sites I check every day. I like the idea of a guy who will run with some of the crazier, sleazier, slightly less sourced material. I think he has far more hits than misses and quite a bit of it is just links to other new sites anyway. He also hasn’t been shy about running bad news for the Pubs. I thing he gets off on the scoop more than the politics. He’s partisan but he makes no pretense otherwise and he’s not a _slavering_ partisan. If he were to get some pictures of Bush and Cheney in a drug fueled sexual tryst I have no doubt he would post them instantly and accompany them with that siren of his. I sort of wonder if he got used this time, if someone wanted to flaot a rumor about Kerry on the net just to poison his current aura a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/154 "2004-02-16T20:35:20Z")
Wow, it took four whole days for her to respond, two of those being a weekend… from Africa, where she is with her fiancee (not spirited away like early ‘reports’ had). The parents, as you may note, even in reportedly calling him a sleazeball initially, did not think an affair took place. So all we have right now is anonymous second or third-hand comments that are refuted by all first parties. Yeah, this sure has some meat on the bones. This carcass is picked over. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/155 "2004-02-16T20:39:44Z")
**John Mace** : The story became slightly more newsworthy after the Kerry denial, not because the allegations had any more merit but simply because Kerry had addressed the rumors publicly. Whatever a candidate says publicly is going to get covered. The television media has really (and commendably) stayed away from this story absent any evidence. There may have been a hope by some that it would get picked up and talked about endlessly on the cable news channels but that never happened. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/156 "2004-02-16T20:41:03Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Wow, it took four whole days for her to respond, two of those being a weekend… . What - she is not going to respond because it’s a weekend?? What are you saying? Look - this was a worldwide story ---- and she didn’t respond to the allegations for four days — including the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/157 "2004-02-16T20:41:12Z")
> [@](#): > > So … its your position that she didn’t say anything because … by not saying anything as one of the principals - all questions would be answered? Thanks for not reading my post. I was offering an interpretation of her comment. I don’t know why she waited, though it’s not like she waited a long time. And you know what? I don’t care. There’s never been any substance behind this rumor, and now we have her denial, Kerry’s denial, her parents’ denial, and still no evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/158 "2004-02-16T20:43:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > …I was offering an interpretation of her comment. And that’s all I was responding to — your interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/159 "2004-02-16T20:50:09Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > Quit spinning – her parents had called Kerry a sleazebag and didn’t want him around their daughter. So what? How is that a scandal? They also said there was no affair. the fact that they intend to vote for him in the election would indicate that they didn’t think he was all _that_ sleazy. What exactly are you suggesting anyway? what do you think really happened? Is there any charge of illegality, even if there _was_ an affair? This is private sexual behavior we’re talking about. It’s not like it was anybody’s business in the first place and now we have nothing but denials from everyone involved. Is there any compelling national interest to keep badgering them about this? ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876/160 "2004-02-16T20:51:32Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > What - she is not going to respond because it’s a weekend?? What are you saying? Look - this was a worldwide story ---- and she didn’t respond to the allegations for four days — including the weekend. For one thing, you’re wildly overestimating the broadness of this story. Secondly, four days is not. a long. time, especially if you’re hoping the whole thing dies down without having to comment on it. everything that was even mildly suspicious about thisis explained away. It’s now up to the other side to come up with the evidence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-it-aint-so-kerry-not-another-intern/228876.md?page=9)