Here's Kerry in Baghdad

[DoYouEverWonder]

From the copy in the caption, it seems Kerry is surrounded by real soldiers. Not Secret Service guys dressed up to look like soldiers, like W did when he brought the plastic turkey to Baghdad.




In this photograph released by the U.S. Army, Senator John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., talks with soldiers at Camp Al Tahreer in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005. During his visit, Kerry discussed sports, the presidential election and the state of the war in Iraq. Pictured from left to right are Spc. Michelle Lacourse, 126th Aviation Battalion; Pfc. Kevin Cole, 356th Engineer Battalion; Spc. Michael Foly, 356th Engineer Battalion; and Sgt. Raymond Hegarty, 356th Engineer Battalion. (AP Photo/U.S. Army, Pfc. Charles Maib)

[leftchick]

1. A Real man doesn't need fakes...

everything about chimpass* is fake.

[purduejake]

3. Real man?

He won't even take an office he had enough votes to win. His ass should be here in DC right now, not over there at the time.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Why so he could be labeled a sore loser

or have to vote against his own self interest?

Instead he's looking good in a country where his opponent can only sneak in during the dead of night.

I can't wait for the MSM to go looking for Kerry tomorrow to get his comments on the challenge in Congress to the election and he's standing in Iraq surrounded by US troops while he makes his statement.

[leftchick]

6. lol! Excellent visual there DYEW!

I am praying it does indeed happen! :)

[purduejake]

9. The neocons would label him that...

But he probably doesn't have the guts to actually talk about what they are doing in Washington to defuse that bomb.

[purduejake]

8. No, I was hoping he would stand up for fair elections...

But maybe that is being against his self-interest. I think you pinned it by mentioning self interest... he probably feels he has a better chance in 2008 assuming all of us activists fix the election system as he sits by and watches and lets the 3rd parties foot the bill. Ugh!

[PDX Bara]

12. Kerry Photo

What time of day was the photo taken? Is it possible that he still could have made it back in time? He looks very comfortable in his skin in the photo, doesn't need any props like flight suits or plastic turkeys. As one friend said about the weed (bush is too nice a word), when a real crisis occurred on U. S. Soil (9/11), he disappeared down a rabbit hole.

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. AP released it some time before Jan 06 1:06 AM

If for any reason the certification of the results of the Presidential Election is delayed today. Kerry will have plenty of time to get back and take part.

If he steps back in too soon, it could blow the whole thing.

Patience, grasshoppers, patience.

[politicasista]

24. Thanks DoYouEverWonder

So many people here and everywhere are angry and will not support him if he runs in 2008 cause he "chickened out" when his supporters needed him most.:-(

[robbedvoter]

16. Romanian candidate was labeled sore loser too. He stood for democracy

got a re-vote, now he is taking office....

[ThorsHammer]

32. Ukranian not Romanian, but good point

[whistle]

2. Any videos of the visit and recordings of the discussions...

...I still would like to see Kerry back here in the senate to fight the hard battle of keeping the U.S. election free and open and allowing for every vote to be counted.

[roenyc]

4. yeah and no members only jacket

with funny patches that look like a Halloween costume. i dont thing Babs let George go trick or treating as a kid!

[leftchick]

7. That is just what I was thinking...

JK doesn't need a freakin costume like the chimp*!

[bowens43]

10. Kerry should be in DC today

not scouring the planet for photo ops. His trip to the middle east was a cop out, nothing more.

[livvy]

11. Love the pic!

Thanks for posting this. It's so nice to see someone actually doing something positive, related to their job, and important. Seems like all * ever does is tear things down, rip things apart, fall off his stupid bike, or cut brush.


What are they hiding???:think:

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. I am glad he is taking the time to visit the soldiers, but I do wish

he would come home and sort things out here.

------------------------------------------------------
Election reform can help save this country!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[robbedvoter]

14. Will he go to Ukraine next? Romania Some fact finding there too

Maybe in 2 years or so, according to Kerry time.
How brave of him - stand next to soldiers - when his own fight is safely thousands of miles away.

[moondust]

15. Something screwy about the picture.

The 1st Cavalry patch always has the horse on the upper right as it is on the soldier on the right. The patch on the soldier on the left is like a mirror image or something. :wtf:

Also the names in the description do not match the pic.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

18. The flag is reversed as well.

anyway, it is a great picture of a great man.

[Stuckintx]

19. That's the way the patch looks

when it's worn on the right shoulder. The image is altered so the horses head will always be moving forward.

[moondust]

20. Wrong.

The horse is always on the upper right. Here's a (bad) picture of Tommy Franks with the 1CD patch on his right shoulder. The horse is upper right:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,216117,00.html#


(I was once a member of the 1st Cavalry. All the patches are the same.)

Did you make up that bullshit all by yourself?

[jpgray]

25. Wrong yourself. Are you making up THIS bullshit by YOURself?

Note in the one instance of a soldier wearing a patch on his right arm, the patch is reversed. There is no space for the horse head to be on the upper right, because the stripe is reversed as well. So your claim that the patches are "all the same" is false as well. In the "official" patch, it is as you describe, but when worn on the right arm it is reversed.

[moondust]

26. They can't be reversed.

Have you ever seen the back of a military patch? Just threads and stuff.

Perhaps they've made a uniform change since Tommy Franks was in the army. I've been out a lot longer than him. Hard to believe somebody would do something as dumb as make a left arm patch AND a right arm patch but...that's military madness for you.

My apologies to the poster if they are are now wearing 2 different patches.

[LynnTheDem]

29. Left & right patches are reverse images

You buy patches specifically for the right shoulder or for the left shoulder; they are not interchangeable.

Same with the US flag patches; they are reverse images for right & left shoulders.

[BrklynLiberal]

27. Maybe picture has been reversed..like a negative printed backwards

[moondust]

28. New uniform.

Looks like some soldiers are now wearing a new patch on the right arm while others are still wearing the regular patch. So much for uniformity.

[BrklynLiberal]

34. Looks like some of them are just did not know how to sew the patches on

the correct shoulder..with the horse facing front. And it looks like the flag is supposed to have the blue/star part in the upper right hand corner.

[LynnTheDem]

30. They are mirror images

You buy separate patches, 1 for the left & 1 for the right.

Same with the US flag patches.

And actually the names do match the pics.

Start at Kerry's left, with the woman trooper; her name is Spc. Michelle Lacourse. :)

[moondust]

31. She's on Kerry's right.

"Pictured from left to right" starts with two guys.

Got any more of that stuff?

[donsu]

21. they look serious

nt

[TheDonkey]

22. Good thing he is staying involved

the Tsunami media orgasm made me forget he was even there.

[politicasista]

23. It's good that he is over there, but he needs to be in DC period.

He has nothing to lose, but more to gain. Everybody is turning on him.:shrug:

[IndianaGreen]

33. Who cares?

Kerry refused to stand with us on the trenches (re: Ohio vote). He is finished as a leader and as a candidate!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

35. But what other Dems could credibly stand in that same spot? nt

[IndianaGreen]

36. An inflatable doll would have done just as well

As to your point, Wes Clark would have been more credible, and he didn't vote for IWR.

Is that what Kerry said to these GIs?: "Gee guys, my vote for war was not a vote for war!"

[NewYorkerfromMass]

37. Good answer

well the Wes Clark part of it anyway.