Finally, a report on Condi, Rummy, and Kerry at the VFW.

[blm]

http://www.fortmilltimes.com/24hour/opinions/story/980178p-6877740c.html

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There, and through the excellence of C-SPAN, anywhere where there was cable television it was possible to witness the unimpressive best efforts of the Bush administration's top guns - national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. They made their best case: Rice urged us to be patient in Iraq; Rumsfeld assured us that more troops are not now needed in Iraq.

And then, onto the stage of the VFW came one of their own, a battle-decorated veteran who talked of the experience he gained in battles aboard a PT boat in Vietnam, where college grads served alongside high school dropouts, and where he earned a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. He told some painful truths - about how he and his fellow Vietnam vets came home to a country that gave them no thanks.

Then, Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat running for president, observed that one of the lessons of Vietnam is that veterans "have learned to tell the truth" when it mattered most. And he went on to tell a number of tough truths in which he was clearly sticking up for America's fighting men and women in uniform - often voicing some tough criticisms of the nation's present commander-in-chief.

"In Iraq," he warned, "we have over-extended our troops." He said "a lack of candor with the American people" has placed U.S. troops increasingly in harm's way. Still, Kerry was not one of the pack of liberal Democrats now demanding a quick exit strategy in Iraq. "The only exit strategy is called victory - mission accomplishment."

Throughout his speech, Kerry was clearly sticking up for America's war veterans, whom he said repeatedly are not getting the medical treatment, service or benefits that they are due. He spoke of the need to pursue an all-out effort "to defeat radical terrorism." He cited a report by a commission headed by Warren Rudman, a former Republican senator from New Hampshire, that U.S. homeland security efforts are "dramatically under-funded" and "dangerously unprepared." He said a nation that can afford to be paying for fire houses in Iraq should not be shutting down fire houses at home because of lack of funds.
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[Sweetpea]

1. Thanks

[AnnabelLee]

2. I know it's too much to hope for

but I really would have liked to read that Condi & Rummy were booed.:-)

[blm]

4. Well...from what I saw on Cspan

late that night, they received only a smattering of applause. And Condi's big moneyshot lines fell completely flat.

[JI7]

5. only watched kerry

and it was great. had to mute or switch to something else while rummy and condi were on.

[alfredo]

3. Kerry is a good man. I could support him if he gets the nod. I tend to

trust the vet. they've been tested.