MTP video of Kerry's interview; Also, RNC's response.

[ProSense]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/


RNC response is a great recap of Kerry kicking a** and the Democrats on fire!

RNC Response to John Kerry's Appearance on NBC's Meet The Press

1 hour, 23 minutes ago

Snip...

"In his never ending effort to remain relevant, John Kerry today put forward his trademark pessimism. From his calls for retreat and defeat in Iraq to censuring the President, the Senator is more consumed with his own political future than national security. Despite the Democrats' consummate defeatism, President Bush remains committed to winning the War on Terror and protecting Americans." -Tracey Schmitt, RNC press secretary

MORE OF THE SAME FROM KERRY

Snip...

NBC's Tim Russert: "But by setting a specific date for withdrawal, you say immediate withdrawal, it is a change in your thinking. ...Now you're saying yes (to a specific timetable to withdrawal)." Sen. Kerry: "Yes, I am saying yes." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 4/9/06)


-- Sen. Kerry: "(I)f (Iraqis) can't put a government together under the threat that the United States is going to withdraw, they're not going to do it." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 4/09/06)


-- Sen. Kerry: "Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military." (Sen. John Kerry, Op-Ed, "Two Deadlines And An Exit," The New York Times, 4/05/06)


-- Sen. Kerry: "The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave." (Sen. John Kerry, Op-Ed, "Two Deadlines And An Exit," The New York Times, 4/05/06)


-- Sen. Kerry: "There's a complete absence of real diplomacy." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 4/9/06)


Kerry Once Again Joins Left Wing In Embracing Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-Wis.) Call For Censure Over Terrorist Surveillance Program:


Kerry Said He Would Vote For Censure. NBC's Tim Russert: "Senator Russ Feingold said the President should be censured for his eavesdropping program because he did not seek authority that Feingold insists is demanded by statute. Would you vote to censure President Bush?" Sen. John Kerry: "Yes." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 4/9/06)


"The Left Wing Of The Party Has Greeted Feingold's Censure Call Ecstatically." (Shailagh Murray, "A Senate Maverick Acts To Force An Issue, The Washington Post, 3/15/06)


Kerry's 04 Running Mate Recently Called For Censure. "'I think that George Bush deserves to be censured,' said (former Senator John) Edwards, while opening a three-day campaign swing through Iowa on Saturday." (Mike Glover, "Edwards Backs Effort To Censure Bush," The Associated Press, 4/9/06)


"(C)alifornia Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Said That She Could Vote For The Resolution." (Craig Gilbert, "Even Democrats Leery Of Feingold Resolution," Craig Gilbert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/14/06)


Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): "The President broke the law and he needs to be held accountable ... Talk about high crimes and misdemeanors!" (Dana Milbank, "The Feingold Resolution And The Sound Of Silence," The Washington Post, 3/15/06)

-- "Harkin Said He'll Vote For The Feingold Resolution -- If It Comes Up." (Dana Milbank, "The Feingold Resolution And The Sound Of Silence," The Washington Post, 3/15/06)

Democrat Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV): "My personal conviction is that Senator Feingold did this as a matter of principle. Senator Feingold is a man of principle." (Sen. Reid, Press Conference, 3/14/06)

-- Sen. Reid: "I commend Senator Feingold for bringing this to the attention of the American people." (Sen. Reid, Press Conference, 3/13/06)

MoveOn.Org Quickly Embraced And Supported Sen. Feingold's Censure "Principle":

MoveOn.Org Says The President "Mislead The Public And Congress." "(W)hen the President misleads the public and Congress while willfully and repeatedly breaking the law, there must be consequences ..." (MoveOn.org Email, "Join Feingold: Censure President Bush," 3/14/06)

-- Sen. Feingold Says The President "Mislead The Congress And The Public." Sen. Feingold: "(The President) misled the Congress and the public about the existence and the legality of (the) program." (Sen. Feingold, Congressional Record, 3/13/06, p. S2011)

MoveOn.Org Has Called The President's Terrorist Surveillance Program "Illegal." "(W)e'll continue to work together to make sure there is a full investigation into the President's illegal program." (MoveOn.org's Website, http://www.political.moveon.org , Accessed 3/13/06)

-- Sen. Feingold Also Calls The President's Terrorist Surveillance Program "Illegal." Sen. Feingold: "The President authorized an illegal program to spy on American citizens on American soil." (Sen. Feingold, Congressional Record, 3/13/06, p. S2011)

Sen. Feingold Has Received $1,000 From MoveOn.Org. (The Center For Responsive Politics Website, http://www.opensecrets.org , Accessed 3/13/06)

Other Democrats Beginning To Call For Impeachment?

"Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., The Highest-Ranking Democrat On The House Judiciary Committee, Called For The Creation Of A Select Committee To Investigate 'Those Offenses Which Appear To Rise To The Level Of Impeachment.'" (Michelle Goldberg, "The I- Word Goes Public," Salon.com, 3/3/06)

-- The Boston Globe's Rick Klein: "The resolution has been quietly gaining support since Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, filed it last year." (Rick Klein, "3 Bay Staters Join Call To Investigate Bush," The Boston Globe, 3/15/06)

-- House Democrats Have Embraced Conyers' Plan And Are Co- Sponsoring The Bill. (H. RES. 635, Introduced 12/18/05)

Democrats Want To Censure And Impeach The President Over A Program That Is Successfully Stopping Terrorists:

Gen. Michael Hayden: "(T)he program has been successful; that we have learned information from this program that would not otherwise have been available. This information has helped detect and prevent terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad." (Gen. Michael Hayden, Committee On Select Intelligence, U.S. Senate, Testimony, 2/2/06)

-- "Officials Have Privately Credited The Eavesdropping With The Apprehension Of Iyman Faris, A Truck Driver Who Pleaded Guilty In 2003 To Planning To Blow Up The Brooklyn Bridge." (Peter Baker, "President Says He Ordered NSA Domestic Spying," The Washington Post, 12/18/05)

President Bush: "(T)he (9/11) Commission criticized our nation's inability to uncover links between terrorists here at home and terrorists abroad. Two of the terrorist hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon, Nawaf al Hamzi and Khalid al Mihdhar, communicated while they were in the United States to other members of al Qaeda who were overseas." (President Bush, Radio Address, Washington, D.C., 12/17/05)

-- 9/11 Commission Report: "On January 15, (2000) Hazmi and Mihdhar arrived in Los Angeles. ... after the pair cleared immigration and customs at Los Angeles international airport, we do not know where they went. ... we do not pick up their trail until February 1, 2000 ..." ("Final Report Of The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States," The 9/11 Commission Report, 7/22/04)

-- 9/11 Commission Report: "The agents in Minnesota were concerned that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minneapolis would find insufficient probable cause of a crime to obtain a criminal warrant to search Moussaoui's laptop computer. Agents at FBI Headquarters believed there was insufficient probable cause. Minneapolis therefore sought a special warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to conduct the search ... FBI headquarters did not believe this was good enough, and its National Security Law Unit declined to submit a FISA application." ("Final Report Of The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States," The 9/11 Commission Report, 7/22/04)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060409/pl_usnw/rnc_response_to_john_kerry_s_appearance_on_nbc_s_meet_the_press101_xml

[C_U_L8R]

1. The GOP considers that a response ???

It's just a slander followed by a whole lot o cut n paste.
No wonder they are so f*cked.

[ProSense]

2. Actually, I just edited in the best part! n/t

[Jade Fox]

6. The RNC responses to Democratic criticism...

have been nothing but personal attacks for awhile now. They no longer seem to feel any obligation to address the issue raised. The RNC has even used that first sentence about Kerry before.

It's like Rush Limbaugh is the RNC spokesperson.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Bush doesn't have a "terrorist" surveillance program, he is spying on us

Bush is spying on domestic calls of Americans opposed to his policies. This is the truth they don't want the public to know, that all of us are being spied upon by Big Brother.

Bush has broken the law and he should be punished!

[ProSense]

4. Added video link to OP n/t

[glitch]

5. Kerry's so irrelevant they needed a rapid response. Me thinks they protest

too much. Man they are flailing all over the place, it's beautiful to see.

[_dynamicdems]

9. He's drawing them out. This is very good. It is going to hurt

the Republicans to go after Kerry like this. This gives him greater news coverage for his plan on Iraq and it also makes the Republicans look even more like idiotic war-mongers in the public perception

I'm glad they couldn't resist taking the bait.

Dumb repugs.

[karynnj]

10. Great catch - you are right if they thought he was irrelevant

and no one listened to him - they wouldn;t help him get attention.

[ginnyinWI]

7. Memo to the RNC: it's called "Facing Reality".

They should try it sometime. Not everything is about politics or spin. Sometimes it's about real people's (and real troops') lives.

[Dr Ron]

8. Again, they go on and on because of having nothing to say

The Republicans have a reputation for having a well oiled machine to present their views. Often this is true, but not always. Is a long laundry list like this really going to be read by the average voter, or convince many peopole?

Sometimes they have nothing to say so they try to substitute quanity for quality. Sure there are some people who will cut and paste these all over the blogosphere (and I wonder if even they read them).

If they really had a coherent answer to Kerry they would issue a simple one or two paragraph statement which includes sound bites ready for the media. As they are getting desperate they have to resort to this type of laundry list.

[karynnj]

11. Because they didn't, Russert had to use Biden's criticism

as there was no coherent Republican criticism