Senator John Kerry (Personal opinion)

The BBQ Pit
1

Dear Senator Kerry.

I’ve been aware of you on the periphery of my social vision for some time now, mostly due to the Presidential race. Politics is not really my thing, as I know that most if not all politicians are corrupt, and do nothing more than please themselves, their friends, and their colleagues. That is unfortunately just how politics is. Unfortunately it’s a pandemic corruption and it now spans the globe. It’s rife in my country of origin, rife here, and equally rife in every other nation I’ve visited, and I for your information have travelled the globe.

I’ve heard much airing of American political dirty laundry over the last few years but of course with the race for President hotting up, this airing of dirty laundry is becoming a daily affair. Recently I became aware of one individuals opinion on a website, which I was somewhat surprised at, so I did some basic research. What do you know? It’s true! Which is really the point of this thread.

You Senator Kerry, are a disgrace. I cannot say I’m ashamed of you, because I barely know you, or what you have done in the past, but I can say that as of right now, I’m ashamed for you.

Link: http://www.donbendell.com/

How VERY true.

Logic.

2

And I am less than impressed by those who quote partial sentences from public leaders without using elipses.

It’s dishonest. It’s misleading.

Unsubstantiated claims of corruption dismay me as well. I’m not saying that corruption does not exist in the US. I’m saying 1) it is worse than some Western countries and better than most all 3rd world countries and 2) it is wholly irrelevant to the point being made in the quote.

When politicians spin, they have an excuse: part of their job involves not offending anybody, when possible.

When posters spin, it becomes more of a personal character issue.

I’m sure there’s a case to be made against Kerry. I would hope that in the future it could be pitched with more honesty.

Yours,

M4M

3

From here:
VIETNAM WAR VETERAN JOHN KERRY’S TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE, APRIL 22, 1971
http://www.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/JohnKerryTestimony.html

That sounds to me like Kerry is reporting on a meeting. Please show me the part where Kerry is saying that he “personally witnessed” something. Thanks. Google is your friend.

4

The OP is posting someone else’s dishonest, partisan diatribe as if it’s a legitimate cite.

Hey, Logic. FYI, your quoted rant is a gross distortion of what Kerry actually said. Why don’t you read the actual fucking transcript before you make any more of an ass of yourself.

Here’s a hint for you, Kerry never said he “witnessed” anything, nor did he make any general accusations against all vets. Kerry interviewed scores of vets for his “Winter Soldier” investigation and reported to congress what they had told him. I defy you to locat a single “lie” in Kerry’s testimony and I double dog dare you to deny that US soldiers committed attrocities in Vietnam.

Your OP is shite. Fuck you.

5

ah, ok. (Holds hand to head)

I beg your pardon? Are you trying to be funny?

Ah, no. The point is this. Politics is corrupt, politicians say whatever they want to, not out of public spirit, but out of political and personal expediency. That is what Senator Kerry is doing, to make the most out of his war record, and time served in the military. He is in fact slurring the many, so that the few can stand out whiter than white against a backdrop of black or grey. Take your pick.

POLITICIANS SHOULD NOT SPIN PERIOD. They should TELL THE DAMNED TRUTH, they are in the position they hold because they were elected, and the public trusts them with whatever power they have been given. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR any SPIN, or LIE. None at all. YOU are the kind of person who thinks politics is corrupt and that lies must be told because people cannot be told the truth, because in your eyes, they’d be unable to deal with it. Thanks. I’d prefer the brutal and honest truth at every juncture.

I was not spinning anything. I began this thread and called it personal opinion. I never said I was Mr Informed or I knew better than anyone. I did not talk down to anyone or berate and attack them with my opinion. I said what I had become aware of, and said that I’d done some basic research that proved the opinion I cut and pasted to be correct. No more and no less. Thankyou for attempting to characterise me though. Big thumbs up there sweety.

Feel free to add your own opinion then and try to attack the topic, not the poster. There’s a good doper.

6

I see I was not clear. Let me try again.

You claim that Kerry says that he witnessed atrocities (or at least your hero Dan Bandell does).

Your evidence for that contention is a single re-arranged sentence by Kerry’s. When you look at the original sentence, you see that no such claim is being made.

Then, Danny-boy has the nerve to call Kerry a liar. He bases his claim on his own fabrications.

How dishonest.

7

Ok. Danny-boy is dishonest. We know that, because he mangled Kerry’s quote for his own twisted purposes.

It is possible that the OP’s characterization of Danny-boy (“How VERY true”) is merely incompetent.

The original poster has some choices ahead of him. He can clarify. He can confess error. He can tip-toe away.

Admittedly, he may also be able to substantiate his claims. But I doubt that.

We know that the poster is comfortable attacking the character of Kerry. We know that he doesn’t like to have his own character attacked. And we know that this is the pit, where personal attacks are permitted.

Time will reveal all.

8

This is hilarious. I typed “Kerry Testimony 1971” into Google: the very first link that came up was… Kerry’s actual Testimony! This testimony… revealed that Danny-boy misquoted Kerry!

Basic research my posterior.

I’d call that, “Talking down”, to Mr. Kerry. Oh heck, I’d even call it an attack. But, hey, that’s just IM-not-so-HO.

9

“POLITICIANS SHOULD NOT SPIN PERIOD. They should TELL THE DAMNED TRUTH”

10

Umm… What the hell?

11

Logic, commendations! Seldom have I seen such a droll satire, underscoring so perfectly the moral bankruptcy of Mr. Kerry’s political enemies! Your humorous fiction is a bit over the top, however. Not even the scoundrels and lickspittles currently infesting the White House would really stoop so low as your characiture suggests. I mean, decency has bounds, after all!

Still, despite it’s grotesque exaggerations, it is a worthy effort, and shows promise. Have you considered writing in domestic comedy?

12

What a fucking dipshit. And you there’s assholes all over the net spreading this horseshit without getting the Straight Dope smackdown.

13

/sarcasm

But … but … but …

John Kerry is a war hero, OP!!!

14

[substantiated claim]
Well, in fact Kerry is a War Hero.

"Sandusky, an Illinois resident who appears in a widely viewed television ad for Kerry and is traveling the region stumping for his old comrade, said Kerry regularly risked his own life to save those of his crew.

Sandusky vowed Thursday to steer clear of the “blood and guts” stories, but he did recount the time Kerry earned the Silver Star by ordering the boat beached so he could chase down and kill an enemy soldier who wielded a rocket launcher.

“John knew it was the only way,” Sandusky said. “He knew (the enemy soldier) was going to launch.” "
[/substantiated claim]
Emphasis added.

15

Oh, it won’t do any good M4M, Snoopy’s just a drive-by bitch and all the facts in the world won’t matter, because holding more than two or three ideas in her head at a time would be too difficult.

16

Actually, we have the makings of a decent case study in political pathology.

Specifically, the Danny-boy quote displays Preemptive Hypocrisy, a rhetorical trick used by the dishonest.

Indulge in a vice, then accuse your opponents of that same vice to confuse the issue.

Danny-boy intentionally misquotes Kerry, and then uses this falsehood to accuse Kerry of lying. Of course, it is Danny-boy who is the liar.

Preemptive hypocrisy is a sound technique. One could write a book filled with statements bordering on defamation and title it, Slander. Also, one could fill it with demonstrably false claims (as opposed to contentious statements) and subtitle it, “Lies by My Political Opponents”. Or something like that.

One could defend somebody who supported a certain mid-20th century tyrant’s shock troops and title the resulting book, “Treason”. (Not that defending SS troops constitutes treason per se, it merely satisfies the loose characterization of that serious accusation put forward in the book that I’m alluding to). Ditto for those who pen tributes to defenders of mid-20th century war criminials: free speech is certainly not a crime.

Preemptive hypocrisy shows promise. Expect to see more of it and use it as a gauge of the speaker’s honesty.

17

Lies, LIES! Snoopy was a decorated World War One flying Ace!

18

It will certainly go over big with those who believe that all politicians are bought-and-paid-for liars, except for their own third-party/splinter group/ independent/fringe element candidate crusading for the true-blue agenda, no compromise allowed.

And he wasn’t a bitch, either. :stuck_out_tongue:

19

I opened this thread up as I just got the e-mail of Danny-boy-cakes in my e-mail box from my republican step-dad. (I’d like to take this time to thank Diogenes for a very good quotable part of my retort to him). :slight_smile:

The best part of the statement in the OP is

So he says there are a couple of bad apples, but then he didn’t see any, but then he saw everything. So which is it? Did he see some and not report it? Did he suddenly become an omnipresent god and saw everything and therefore would be the q.e.d. expert? If he did see everything and knew there were bad apples, why didn’t he report it? It’s statements like that up there that make one’s head explode trying to find the logic in it.

20

So because this fella and his unit didn’t commit any atrocities, nobody did? Sure.