John Kerry on Hardball tonite at 7 eastern

[CatWoman]

about to come on ............

[sistersofmercy]

1. Thanks for the heads up.

[CatWoman]

2. and Tweety introduces him as

John Kennedy :eyes:

[Kool Kitty]

4. What an ass.

Tweety, NOT Kerry.

[janekat]

5. on purpose or by mistake?

[CWebster]

3. Tweety just slipped and introduced him as

John F. Kennedy.

Kerry must feel providence is finally shinning on him.

all these politicians dragging on Kennedy's coattails makes me ill

[mitchum]

45. Why would Kerry want to "drag on Kennedy's coattails"...

since Kerry actually has a long liberal voting record? Unlike St. Kennedy. And please don't start up with the ol' "what would have been..."

[blm]

47. Some people just don't like liberals, I guess.

And certainly don't appreciate what they've done for this nation. Imagine if the country had no liberal Democrats, just compromising centrists over the last 50 years.

[CatWoman]

6. Tweety is being extra snippy tonight

want's Kerry to explain himself about the "damn" war.

[sistersofmercy]

7. Is Tweety going deaf?

He hammered JK on his position, it was pretty clear to me.

[blm]

11. It's clear to anyone who is WILLING to hear it.

Saying it's unclear suits the agendas of the Bush ops and those Dem opponents who wish to capitalize on that perception. So far, only Dean and Lieberman have said they don't understand it.

[sistersofmercy]

26. Right On!

[TLM]

48. What is clear to anybody but blind followers...

Is that Kerry voted based on what he thought would help his career, not what he thought would help the country.

He did not want to have to run against accusations that he didn't support the war and was un-American etc. Kerry folded, he caved in to Bush over and over and over and now he wants me to buy that he's going to stand up to Bush and the republicans as he struts around in front of an aircraft carrier and uses our troops as props, just like W does.

Sorry, Kerry...

I still don't understand how you attack Dean for being a moderate who compromises to accomplish progressive goals... yet you openly support Kerry who compromised to help achieve republican war mongering goals.

Liberals who support Kerry are like wives who get beaten by their husbands, and keep coming back because "he only hits me because he loves me."

[blm]

50. That just proves you are ignorant of Kerry's entire record on Iraq

and that he worked with Clinton on a plan for Iraq back in 98. Career?

Career had NOTHING to do with it. His responsibility to get Bush to do the right thing by going to the UN with evidence (preserving the UN's role as an international institution) and preventing further bombings in Iran and Syria were the factors you choose to ignore to further your own political agenda.

[TLM]

53. Nothing in Kerry's record from 98 changes what he did in 2002.

"and that he worked with Clinton on a plan for Iraq back in 98. Career?"

So he also got behind going after Iraq under Clinton, how's that change what he did in 2002?


"Career had NOTHING to do with it."

Career had everything to do with it, and that's why he's had to flip flop on the issue of war, because NOW his vote for war is hurting his career.

"His responsibility to get Bush to do the right thing by going to the UN with evidence (preserving the UN's role as an international institution)"

That's funny, since his campaign attacked Dean for suggested exactly that... said that insisting on UN support was, "giving the U.N. veto power over national security decisions ." Kerry went from being against the UN, to supporting it. Guess Kerry's spin changes depending on the direction of the political winds.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/25/opinion/lynch/main541905.shtml

But the reaction to Dean hit a nerve in the Kerry camp. Kerry's campaign manager, Jim Jordan, snapped at Dean's insistence on getting U.N. backing (a position supported by three-quarters of Democrats and 53 percent of Independents). "Gov. Dean, in effect, seems to be giving the U.N. veto power over national security decisions of the United States. That's an extraordinary proposition, one never endorsed by any U.S. president or serious candidate for the presidency," he told the Associated Press' Ron Fournier.

Heh, even Kerry's campaign attacks on Dean are focused on the idea of Kerry's career advancement, "serious candidate for the presidency."


"and preventing further bombings in Iran and Syria were the factors you choose to ignore to further your own political agenda."


Again that argument is like someone being raped begging a passing police officer for help, and the cop simply asking the rapist to use a rubber and agree not to rape anybody else. Kerry let Bush have Iraq, to keep him out of Syria and Iran... and you think that's a defense for what Kerry did? THat's an arguement for why he should be tossed out on his ass.

What about standing up and saying NO to all three like Kucinich did? I don't think DK can win, but the man has more guts and honor than Kerry can ever dream of having, no matter how many aircraft carriers he stands in front of.

And once again you defend Kerry's far right compromise to let Bush have Iraq... while you attack guys like Dean for the act of compromising to secure and advance progressive goals.

It is rank hypocrisy.

[CWebster]

8. Tweety is cornering him

and Kerry is talking around it. No matter what Kerry says now about the way it should've happened, the truth is Senator Kerry,you gave that option away and nothing can change it now.

[Kool Kitty]

9. Tweety just said that Kerry is the only

one running for President that actually fought in a war. And what about Wesley Clark, dimwit?

[Kahuna]

10. Tweety is an asshole.

Plain and simple. :puke:

[blm]

13. Tweety is throwing full on HATE at Kerry.

As if he's on a mission to take him down tonight.

[TLM]

49. Clark isn't running.. he's a joke.

And being a war criminal negates any hero status one might have had.

[eileen_d]

54. Thanks for reminding me why I am reluctant to support Dean.

Waaah... I hate Kerry... Waaah... I hate Clark...

[FlashHarry]

12. Kerry throws it right back at him!

[Fabio]

15. Great responses by Kerry.

Just had the "applause" exchange. Excellent jijitsu.

I bet Matthews' backs down going forward tonight. 7.25 pm.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SayitAintSo]

19. You said it .... He is the ONLY one that appears to be ready and able

to take on the daunting task of getting this country out of the "ditch", as it were....

[TLM]

51. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! True Leader????

Yeah he really lead us... right to Bush's war... 350 billion of Bush's tax cut... the patriot act, boy he really was a leader on that one... the no child left behind act... and man the way he was such a leader against the PBA ban... oh wait he sat that vote out.

Kerry is a spineless coward more interested in his career than anything else... from lying about throwing his metals over the white house fence to lying about why he supported W's war... Kerry has been nothing but a phony.

[SayitAintSo]

16. Tweety tries to over simplify complexity and trick you into answers

That he can then trip you on later. I am so sick of these simpleton "stump the speaker" techniques and these bird brain pundits.

[Cocoa]

41. he handled it perfectly

he said Tweety, man, God bless you, but you know some of these foreign policy questions are COMPLEX.

Tweety tried to make it seem ridiculous to put off the invasion, Kerry just said why not? Tweety reworded the question to make it seem even more ridiculous, Kerry just repeated why not?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

44. Classic Kerry - deservedly condescending to the idiot

whereas the less experienced and less knowledgeable Dean would have been on the defensive an nowhere near as authoritative or righteous on the matter.

[Clete]

17. Kerry started off good.

There a loud ovation when he entered, but I could only watch five minutes and had to stifle an urge to hurl a lamp at the TV. That's how much Matthews pisses me off.

[sistersofmercy]

18. Hahhahaha! Howdy Clete!

:hi: Tweety's being pretty testy this evening.

[CWebster]

20. Was Tweey referring to Bush when he asked

"...how could he be so weak-minded". Too funny.

[proud patriot]

21. Kerry is doing well tonight

:thumbsup:

[WilliamPitt]

22. Call me crazy

but Kerry is rocking the house.

Asking about the leak...

[sistersofmercy]

23. OK You're crazy...

but Kerry is rocking the house.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sistersofmercy]

29. Pow! What a great response to Ma question? I loved Dukakis.

[sandnsea]

38. Perfect

It was just perfect. And Kerry IS a fighter and that Rove machine will be a little pile of parts, ground to a smoking heap, when Kerry is through with it.

[corarose]

57. Your not crazy Kerry is going to win!

:kick:

[Snellius]

25. He just told Tweety "It's not funny"

that Bush considers being rich an "entitlement." That there are people on welfare who can't even pay for their prescription drugs. Evidently Matthews was smirking off camera. When the camera turned back to him, he looked very serious.

[alcuno]

27. Senator Kerry, stop saying "I believe" in front of every other

statement. It's making me crazy.

[karlschneider]

28. Been watching 45 minutes now, I am liking him more and more.

;-)

I have not yet decided, but JK is beginning to look more electable than the rest of the Dem candidates. We shall see.

HOO! He just said "I know something about aircraft carriers for real..."

:D :D :bounce:

[blm]

30. Yeah, and then Tweety cut him off.

Tweety is SO obvious. He doesn't want his fawning over Bush in that photo op to come back and bite him in the ass.

[Cocoa]

42. I didn't even think of that!

that's as much an embarrassment to Tweety as it is to Bush. What a shameful performance that was.

Tweety even said that Kerry couldn't pull that off like Bush did.

[sistersofmercy]

31. I liked that statement as well. Kerry has my support.

[DrFunkenstein]

36. For Real?

<>

For a second, I thought they were going to call Bush a coke-snorting daddy's boy. Did you know that Bush lost his flying privileges because he refused to take a med exam with a drug test?

Or that he was a male cheerleader?

All that even before Harken...

[Fabio]

32. Overall, I thought he did excellent

Sometimes Matthews' messes up the process, but I think JK was great. Good intensity for the whole hour. IMHO, the hour flew by (which is a great thing).

[sandnsea]

37. It was OUTSTANDING

Anytime the Senator speaks, I always end up wanting to hear MORE. Especially in more impromptu settings like this one. He is so knowledgeable and thorough. Plus warm and funny. I just don't see how anyone can watch this show and not immediately KNOW he's the next President of the United States!

[Snellius]

33. His cancer scare seems to have thrown Kerry off stride

for a while. He didn't seem to have his heart in it. But he's back full speed ahead.

[annxburns]

34. Tweety

Anyone who can give against Tweety is a good man in my book. I thought I could not dislike Tweety more .... then he sat there with G. Gordon Liddy and commented favorably on Bush's "package" when he landed on the Lincoln.


This is the sound of me retching

[chimpymustgo]

35. Liked what I saw. Kerry was very relaxed and funny.

And he LOOKS so Presidential.

[cthrumatrix]

39. Read Michael Ruppert (From the Wilderness) Bush II ...see about Kerry

I found his new story quite compelling and informative on all the candidates

go to fromthewilderness.com

[quaker bill]

40. Kerry on the war.

He puts up an interesting argument. My reading is that he was trying to state the he was right to give Bush* the absolute authority to go to war. In short that he was right to give Bush* license to be wrong.

The premise of his vote on IWR was stated to be that the intelligence on Iraq was very compelling and justified a war under the "right" circumstances. He said for a commander in chief to go to war, he has to be able to look the dead soldier's parents in the eye and be able to say "it was necessary".

A question, How much less important is it for a Senator to be able to do the same? It is no less important to my mind. I think that is just what the framers had in mind when they drafted the constitution to require congressional consent.

So he falls back on the conundrum, War on Iraq would have been right if Bush* had proceeded properly, or perhaps if Russia, France, and Germany had signed on.

Bombing innocent civilians over non-existant WMD's is never right regardless of who signs on. It is not a matter of personal or diplomatic style. There simply was no way to "do this right".

Kerry's line on the war has gotten better over the months. It still does not work for me, but it might for some.

I see a problem here and it probably applies to all IWR supporters. If they continue to say that the intelligence was compelling enough to eventually justify a war, then when you start it and who you get on board first is just a judgement call. Bush can just say that Germany, France, and Russia were owed a lot of money by Saddam and would never have come on board. So proceeding without them was the only way to do what "we both agreed was right". "I had the job and the guts to exercise true leadership on this". Checkmate.

The "I was lied to about Iraq, the war was wrong, and I am running to kick this lying b**tard out of office" position would be much stronger. I would also nicely correspond to the facts we have learned since the war began.

On other fronts, I felt Kerry did a fine job this evening. I am not a Kerry guy. However, all being said, if he gets the nod, he has my $ and my vote.

[curse10]

43. He was so great tonight! Both on the show and off!

I went to a reception before the show, Kerry gave a really good speech. He was really energetic and funny.

The show was fabulous, I wasn't as close as I would have liked to have been, but it was still a lot of fun. And, surprisingly, Tweetie is kind of funny before the show and during commercial breaks. I thought Kerry handled himself well- he looked completely calm. And, during the commercial breaks he was chatting with Vanessa, talking to other kids in the audience, and happily having his picture taken with people there.

[alfredo]

46. I'm impressed. I have wavered between candidates, but

each time I see Kerry, I see why I felt good about him even before the campaigning started.

[Gato Moteado]

52. did you also see tweety cut kerry off near the end.....

...when kerry attacked bush for not getting osama bin laden when he had the chance? i think he said bush let bin laden get away when they allowed al qaeda personnal to get airlifted out of pakistan, or something like that. tweety starting talking over kerry at that point and cut him off.

[CatWoman]

55. transcript

http://www.msnbc.com/news/983074.asp

[Cocoa]

56. I like the end

the last question was an ambush.

As soon as Kerry started answering, the end-of-show music started, so as to get the ambush question in, but not let Kerry respond.

Unfortunately for Tweety, Kerry ignored his trying to cut him off, he continued his answer.

And it doesn't show in the transcript, but if you saw the show you'd see that Matthews was the one who got cut off, he started to promote his next show but didn't get it in. :-)


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Senator, my name is Andy Lipinski (ph), I am a senior at Harvard College, and you said if elected president, you’d be more diplomatic and work through the United Nations, but the people who flew planes into our buildings on September 11, the only language they understand is force. So my question to you is, should we be speaking with these people, or should we just be smoking them out of their caves like President Bush says?
(APPLAUSE)
KERRY: Well, if the president had smoked them out of their caves when he had a chance, we’d be a lot better off. But he failed at Tora Bora, when he had 1,000 people, all al Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden, in the mountains and he didn’t do it.
MATTHEWS: OK, thank you. We’re out of time.
KERRY: My answer is, you have to do both.
MATTHEWS: OK, Senator, thank you very much.
KERRY: Btu you have to do it smart.
MATTHEWS: Thank you very much. It’s great to have you. Senator John Kerry. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
END