Kerry's Floor Speech on Karl Rove - Transcript

[kerrygoddess]

John Kerry's Floor Speech on Karl 9/11 Remarks
23 June 2005

Text of John Kerry's Floor Speech on Karl Rove's 9/11 remarks:

Intro to Kerry's speech: "Karl Rove made some remarks last night that need to be addressed, that need to be apologized for..."

"Mr. President, None of us will ever forget the hours after September 11th, the calls to our families, the evacuations, the images on television -- and then the remarkable response of the American people as we came together as one to answer the attack against our homeland.

"We drew strength when our firefighters ran up the stairs and risked their lives, so that others might live. When rescuers rushed into smoke and fire at the Pentagon. When the men and women of Flight 93 sacrificed themselves to save our nation's Capitol. When flags were hanging from front porches all across America, and strangers became friends. It brought out the best in all of us.

"That spirit of our country should never be reduced to a cheap and divisive political applause line from anyone who speaks for the President of the United States. I am proud that after September 11th all our people rallied to President Bush's call for unity to meet the danger. There were no Democrats. There were no Republicans. There were only Americans. That's why is hard to believe that last night the most senior advisor to the President of the United States is twisting those days of unity to divide us, that rather than focusing attention on finding Osama Bin Laden and smashing Al Queda, he is instead challenging the patriotism of Americans every bit as committed to fighting terror as he is.

"For Karl Rove to equate Democratic policy on terror to "indictments" and "therapy" is an outrageous attempt to divide the nation at just the moment we must be unified. Just days after 9/11 the Senate voted 98-0 and the House voted 420-1 to authorize President Bush to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against terror. After the bipartisan vote, President Bush said, I quote: "I am gratified that the Congress has united so powerfully by taking this action. It sends a clear message - our people are together, and we will prevail."

"Karl Rove also said last night, quote: "No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals."

"Well, I think a lot more needs to be said about Karl Rove's motives, because they're not the people's motives, and if the President really believed his own words of unity, then he should fire Karl Rove. If the President of the United States knows the meaning of his own words, he should listen to the plea of Kristen Breitweiser, who lost her husband when the Twin Towers came crashing down: she said, "if you're going to use 9/11, use it to make this nation safer than it was on 9/11.

"And that's not being done. If you're going to use 9/11, if you're going to be impassioned about the lives lost on 9/11, then do so by making us safer."

"Karl Rove doesn't owe me an apology, he doesn't owe Democrats an apology, he owes her an apology -- he owes an apology to every one of those families who paid the ultimate price on September 11th.

"Millions of Americans across our country are questioning whether this Administration is making us safe. Kristen Breitweiser wants to tell her daughter that she'll grow up in a country safer than on the day her father was taken from her.

"Mothers and fathers spend sleepless nights worrying about sons and daughters in humvees in Iraq that aren't protected. They're asking Washington for honesty and results and leadership, not political division.

"Before Karl Rove delivers another political assault, he needs to think about those families. The 9-11 Commission has given us a path to follow, endorsed by Democrats, Republicans, and the 9-11 families. Implement the recommendations of that commission. We shouldn't be letting ninety-five percent of container ships come into our ports without ever being physically inspected. We shouldn't be leaving our nuclear and chemical plants without enough protection.

"Until they've done the work of making America safe, don't dare question the patriotism of Americans who offer a better direction. Before wrapping themselves in the memory of September 11th, and shutting their eyes and ears to the truth, they should remember what America is really all about -- that leadership isn't insult or intimidation, it's the strength of making America safe -- they should remember what their responsibility is to every American -- and start to do the work of living up to it."

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=1139

[KalicoKitty]

1. Thanks so much for that, kerrygoddess

[Supersedeas]

2. it'll never see the Corporate Media light of day

[OneTwentyoNine]

15. Nope,more "runaway bride" BS is much more important....

And the latest in Aruba,then back to Aruba,then see how MANY people FOX can send to Aruba then,then....

[bunny planet]

16. So let's send it to everyone we know. That be the media thing.

[orwell]

3. President Rove's Reply

Neener, Neener

I won. You lost.

Bite me.

Georgie Bush's reply:

Yeah...what he said.

Had enough America?

[Sydnie]

4. Thank You President Kerry

Just, Thank You.

[Linette]

52. I just wish Kerry had...

...read The Republican Nemesis before he went toe-to-toe with the Republicans last year. Maybe we wouldn't be talking about Karl Rove right now.

If the vast majority of Democrats understood exactly what they're dealing with in the Republicans, we'd be able to establish an entirely new relationship with the electorate. They'd be seeing us as their Protectors from the Republican Menace.

That's where we've got to go, people. Jame Kroeger's Nemesis spells it all out with crystal clarity. It's a must-read at times like this.

Linette

[pgh_dem]

5. Great speech, very well delivered...but so much for DSM...

He just checkmated himself. Scored a direct hit on the biggest asshole in the * admin, but now how can he accuse them of manipulating intel and lying about the reasons for war when he just proclaimed on the floor of the senate that KKKarl owes an apology to all the patriotic democrats (like Sen Johnson's son) in Iraq who are 'fighting for to protect our freedom'?

That said, again, it was a touching and powerful speech, given by a man who can at least say 5 words in a row without taking a breath, listing to his earpiece, and smirking like he just ate the cat and the canary.

He shoulda been Pres

[LittleClarkie]

7. Because there is a dfference between the troops

and the asshats who sent them into harms way. You can stand up for the troops, and still tell the administration they had no business putting them in there without proof.

He will, still. He's waiting on some signatures on his letter, KG says. The more the merrier I say. We didn't bitch at Conyers as he was getting signatures. I don't know why we would bitch at Kerry.

[pgh_dem]

11. I agree we should be patient with Kerry

Although Conyers went with the sigs he could get, and went public with the content of his letter, still I don't think Kerry waiting another couple of days hurts anything.

My poorly typed point above was that his inclusion of soldiers in Iraq amounts to a sort of tacit admission that the fighting in Iraq is part of the War on Terra. If I was preparing that speech, I would've just stuck to pointing out Dems' equally militant response to 9-11 with regard to the invasion of Afghanistan, and just left the intentional exclusion of the invasion of Iraq up to the imagination. Of course, that might be why I'm a poster on a bulletin board, and he's the mayan.

I'm sure it will work out, and I'm glad he said what he did.

[karynnj]

8. That was to fight Bin Laden and the Terrorist

"Saddam did not hit us, Osama Bin Laden did". The motive of the soldiers is to fight for America.

[Boo Boo]

18. ...but so much for DSM...

Probably ol' Turd Blossom's purpose in making the remarks in the first place. Cause a big flap. Get the wags talking about something else.

[TayTay]

19. Because he specifically mentioned Afghanistan

Not Iraq. The only mention to Iraq was made after Sen. Johnson asked his question about Rove and his attitude toward the troops, including Sen. Johnson's son who is a staff sargeant with combat experience in Iraq.

Sen. Kerry's remark on approval of the war were about the 98-0 approval of war against Afghanistan. That was a legitimate vote in reponse to an attack on American soil.

[ProudDad]

24. He would have been

If the repukes hadn't supressed the vote in Ohio...

[Gato Moteado]

6. nice.

another thing that the fat piece of dogcrap, karl rove, and all the rest of the filthy republikan party and the tools that support them must all remember is this:

on september 11, some of the bush family's old business buddies flew planes into the WTC in new york city. if the lazy, stupid, vacationing bush administration wasn't to blame for this then tell us why it is that new york city overwhelmingly supported kerry in the 2004 elections. that's right....ground zero, the place that the disgusting republikan party used for political gain wanted bush out. who cares what the toothless hillbillies in alabama, the carolinas, georgia, wyoming and texas think? they have no right to use 911 for anything....those planes hit new yorkers and the survivors don't want that to ever happen again and that's why they don't support bush and the rest of the corporate whores and war pigs in the republikan party.

[karynnj]

9. To be fair Manhattan is always a Democratic Stronghold

I really don't know if it was more skewed than usual

[Gato Moteado]

13. yes, i know NYC is strongly democratic, but......

....after a horrible tragedy like 911, if new yorkers felt safer with bush they would have voted for him. they didn't. they were the ones hit. i'm so sick of southerners and middle americans using 911 for political purposes. they weren't there.

i'm also so, so, so sick of gas guzzling SUVs with "support the troops" bumper stickers and loudmouthed chickenhawks with their war cries. these people support the war until they or their family have to go fight in it.

repukes, freeper filth, rednecks, and white trash all of them. they aren't americans, they are garbage.

[karynnj]

17. Exactly

Especially when Texans etc tell us we don't understand it - 4 people from my town died, one the father of a boy in my then 6th grade daughter's class. It takes enormous chutzpah for the Republicans to push an extremely RW agenda on the deaths of people the majority of whom would never agreed with it.

[LittleClarkie]

12. There be Democrats in them states

Watch it with that broad brush.

One step further to the north, and this Virginian woulda had to have words with ye.

I have all my damn teeth, btw.

[Gato Moteado]

14. i know there are dems in those states.....

i wasn't talking about them. i was talking about the majority of the people who are, unfortunately, white trash repukes.

also, i'm glad to hear about your teeth. it's what enables me to distinguish between you and the average repuke there. ;)

[dxstone]

28. LOL!

:rofl:

[kerrygoddess]

10. This caught watching live... not in text...

"Frankly, he ought to fire him."

We'll have video on LUTD soon!

[TayTay]

20. Not only that, but Sen. KErry uttered the "L" word

no, not that one, he said 'Liberal' on the floor of the Senate in reference to people who were the target of Doughboy Rove's attack. (Not a big point, but I liked it.)

[kerrygoddess]

40. Proud to be a liberal!

I liked that too!

[CarolNYC]

21. thanks for posting this

Very eloquent and, no doubt, passionately delivered.

As a NYer, I can't even begin to express my disgust at the fact that these clowns continue to use my city's tragedy to further their agendas and further divide the country.

Thank you, Senator Kerry.

[oxbow]

22. Rove IS NOT this stupid

I wonder what his strategy is?

[ProudDad]

25. From Ed Shultz' show

Rove plays bad cop

* gets to play good cop...

Sounds right to me. More likely than Rove having a brain fart...

[dxstone]

29. I dunno...

I find all these references to Rove as a 'political genius' really annoying; this guy is a political scientist second-rate, MAYBE an excellent chess player...
But I don't think he's EVER found himself playing such a MASSIVE and confusing board before now...
I don't know how they ever got this far. Rove's no genius; it's just that so many people in this country have been asleep at the wheel 24/7...
And with the price of gas these days, MANY people are starting to wake up...
Rove's a fuckin' doughboy; I can almost hear his heart constricting tighter and tighter in the masses of filthy flesh we commonly designate as his body... it's sweating in there...
The flop-sweat is glistening on all these evil gnomes of late... it's there for all to see; soon it will begin to run freely...
And then their tenuous hold on the controls of this culture will begin to slip...
d

(edited for spelling error, cuz I'm such a stickler for the tiny details... and what the hell, might as well throw in a pic)

[oxbow]

30. You may be right, BUT

I will never EVER underestimate these evil fucks again. And now that the people are turning against them, is when they're going to start using any and all tricks they have in the sack. Chance favors the prepared.

[dxstone]

33. I totally agree!

It's a question of balance, right?...
And btw, I checked out your art... you're very talented, dude... good luck!
d

[oxbow]

57. thanks d

i am into doing much more political stuff right now. I love your swamp monster Bush

[ProudDad]

23. Hubris

The right-wing, fascist cabal is unravelling? Could be...

Good response from Kerry though.

[Ksec]

26. * wont fire him, he didnt fire ashcroft

he sticks with his losers so they wont turn and expose his crimes.

[checks-n-balances]

42. You are ABSOLUTELY right!

Under the guise of being "loyal"...

Imagine that whole group being bound together because the alternative is personal ruination. With friends like that...

[AuntiBush]

27. Thanks for Posting this, KerryGoddess. Kerry's still my Prez in Exile.

[kerrygoddess]

39. He's still my Prez in Exile too...

The Shadow President!

[KoKo]

31. Thanks for the post on this. Tried to watch it but the "Vote" intervened

and he must have spoken late because I missed it. He graciously allowed the vote to go on. He was scheduled to speak after Kennedy's incredible speach where he asked Rummy to resign among other points about what a terrible state Iraq is in since our Invasion.

I hope Kerry and Kennedy's speeches will be talked about on the Blogs here on the Internet tomorrow. I've given up on the MSM reporting.

Thanks again for the transcript.

[ebayfool]

32. Thanks, KG!

He is as eloquent as ever! And he reminded, again, that bin Laden still has NOT been caught (dead or alive)! LOL

[IndianaGreen]

34. MSNBC reported that Kerry demanded Rove's resignation

after a suitable apology, of course. Why would Bush fire Rove when Rove speaks for Bush? I can only speculate that the White House is getting panicky about Bush's falling poll numbers. Harry Reid is not helping Bush's morale either, and the DSM issue doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

[halobeam]

35. Way to go Kerry.

What a better world with him in it. He gives me hope because I know there are people in high places who actually do care.

I live in NY too. I had friends who died that day. No way will I ever believe that NY would've voted Dem. if they felt Bush was the answer. NY doesn't give a crap about labels, repub/dem... if Bush held true to the words he spoke when he stood there on that pile of rubble, NY would've went red. Bush lied and thousands died. New Yorkers KNOW it. Period.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

36. Here's the part that bothers me.

...and I'll say first that I voted for Kerry, I contributed to Kerry's campaign, I worked to get Kerry elected...so I'm not "bothered" with Kerry himself or the content of his speech.

I'm bothered by the fact that he addresses his remarks to "Mr. President" and Bush will never...never, never, NEVER...read them.

And as far as "every one of those families who paid the ultimate price on September 11th," Bush and Cheney only care about one price, and it's the price of Halliburton stock.

I read Kerry's words, and while I applaud them, they're never going to get within ten feet of Mr. "President."

[Mass]

37. President of the Senate, whoever it is at this time, not Bush

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

38. OK, that makes sense...

...but as far as Bush is concerned, it will be just like the cries demanding that he speak out against the Swift Boat Liars.

There's not going to be qa Rove apology, and it IS a distraction from the DSM and everything else, so I guess we can express our outrage and move on.

[zulchzulu]

41. ---> MP3 file available of the speech

http://www.kerrysupport.com/media/Kerry-Rove.mp3

128bps/stereo MP3 file...I mean Podcast...let's see if AAR uses the speech...

[kerrygoddess]

45. Awesome!

You rock! How's the movie coming?

[zulchzulu]

55. I'm paring down about 20 hours of video

Th version I am editing down now is about 6 hours with actually some other footage being looked at from CSPAN that I want to get licensed to show...I may have an online "Director's Cut" by early Fall...

[followthemoney]

43. While Rove is accusing liberals of being weak on defense...

Can we start describing the attacks of September 11 in realistic terms?

The U.S. was attacked by Saudi Arabians. Lets be perfectly clear about this. Fifteen of the nineteen attackers were were Saudi nationals. They hated us for setting our infidel boots on their sacred soil. Osama Bin Laden is a Saudi.

Bush COMPLIED with the demands of Bin Laden and the Saudi royal family by removing the U.S. infidels from the Saudi holy land. For the sake of Saudi stability Bush APPEASED the Saudis by removing all U.S. forces from Saudi Arabia. Despite all of the macho bluster used to hide this fact, Bush CONCEDED, COMPLIED with the demands of, and RETREATED from the WTC attackers and invaded Iraq because he thought it would be easier to maintain middle eastern U.S. bases in an easily defeated Iraq.

This is analogous to the removal of missiles from Cuba in the sixties. Kennedy stared down Kruschef and he blinked, so the message went for domestic consumption. In reality, U.S. missiles were pulled from Turkey in an agreement having less to do with blinking than a mutual pullback.

Bush and his people have no standing to criticize liberal lack of macho. Roves charges of weakness ring hollow. He plays with American fears for political advantage.

[LightningFlash]

44. That's some great words and speech Kerry....

But you need to be the John Kerry who will say no to all corruption. You know the 9/11 commission whitewashed the reports on 9/11, that 9/11 was allowed to happen.

So why don't you say anything against them? You know the senate intelligence committee whitewashed the 9/11 report and IRAQ reports, and it's an ILLEGAL CRIME!

So why don't you say anything against them?

Stop acting like the opposition.....And be the opposition instead, fight to end their tyranny like Howard Dean!!!! Or a new leader will have to rise to the challenge.

:mad: :mad: :banghead:

[kerrygoddess]

46. Hold on here...

Don't start! Kerry has talked about this stuff before. Today's spoeech was about Rove's remarks. That's it. Rove's remarks.

Kerry's lucky he even got on the floor today to make this speech. I was watching because I got a head's up he was making it and then they tried to block him from making it.

He was only alloted a short amount of time and they bitched about it because of the stack of Energy bill amendments.

[LightningFlash]

48. Kerry should do what a real president and fighter does..

He should call his OWN press conference. He should stage his OWN talks before the american people.

If the fascists want to silence his voice, he should be like Howard Dean and tell them to stuff it. A REAL voice of the people will speak up no matter what, no matter how. They won't let someone like Senator Frist the coward, bully them or push them around.

Hell, Bush does that now and he always wins illegally. Bush calls his own events, brouhahas and press conferences to get his message out. He does them every time he's slipping and the world isn't believing in Rove's bullshit lies.

The least Kerry could do is do the same thing and fight the lame guerilla tactics of the senate GOP.

[kerrygoddess]

50. Kerry should be like Kerry

Thanks. A multitude of Dem leaders addressed this today and they all did a fine job doing so, in their style and in their own way. Kerry did so on the Senate floor, it's now entered into the record.

Bush can get away with calling press conferences whenever he likes, he's the president. Sad but true.

[LightningFlash]

51. Anyone who wants to can call a press conference.

They just have to have the *guts* to do it. Dean called one just yesterday. It takes nothing.

[wiggs]

47. Too much time spent on Rove

Kerry should be talking about the issues...and as an aside mention that Rove's comments are beneath contempt and are an insult to the intelligence of all Americans.

Rove's comments are not worthy of a long speech on the senate floor. Dismiss them as idiocy and talk about napalm, dismal CIA and Pentagon reports on how Iraq is going, missing billions, Halliburton/Gitmo, Bolton, DSM, etc.

Why is Kerry taking the bait? This is exactly what Rove wants....more soap opera bullshit, finger pointing, everyone wallowing in mud and getting dirty. More confusion.

[kerrygoddess]

49. It was not a long speech actually...

And it needed to be addressed. A multitude of dems addressed it. I guess they should not have too. Huh?

[wiggs]

56. Think he swayed public opinion?

Exactly what did this speech accomplish aside from getting Rove more attention? Did he propose a resolution of some sort? Did he inspire change? Did he change the minds of any republican senator that really thinks democrats proposed therapy for 9/11 perpetrators? Did he make the evening news? Did he bring the focus back to where it belongs or did he just add to the sideshow soap opera? Did he speak plainly and clearly about Iraq incompetence, Sensenbrenner illegally shutting down a hearing, DSM, deficits, administration lies, and the path our nation is on to real disaster?

For me, if he walked up there and said: "The recent administration statement once again used 9/11 for political gain, is beneath contempt and is not worthy of comment except to say that this is the biggest bunch of crooked liars I've ever seen. Now, let's talk about the worst administration in history and what they have done to our country...."

How much insult do these guys need to stop pulling punches? Playing politics as usual will lead to nowhere....again.

[formernaderite]

53. This whole thing is absolutely funny to me...

partly because it is true, as a liberal I knew America under the Bush admin would overreact to 9-11. I still feel we overreacted, and believe there are root causes to terrorism that haven't been examined. I am not embarassed by my pacifist and empathetic leanings.

I am proud to be a liberal.

[Mad_Dem_X]

54. Bravo, Mr. Kerry!

Up yours, Rove.