A "Dear Kerry" post on Dkos needs help

[karynnj]

claims Kerry basicly repackaged Feingold's August call for withdrawal - welcomed him but said he should have backed Murtha and Feingold months ago.

_ There's one really really good comment by someone who was part of the campaign -that talks a lot about what they did in 2004 -

[Mass]

1. Interesting agenda.

Sad indeed, particularly because this person does not accept that Feingold did not ask for a firm withdrawal date.

[karynnj]

2. It just seems stupid that they want to pit supporters of the 2

against each other. What I can't get is how they absolutely miss the difference in the level of sophistication between the plans of the two. Although I want Kerry to be President, he would make an awesome Secretary of State because he seems to have a talent for finding solutions, balancing needs and thinking out solutions where he can point out the advantages of each little piece.

I didn't see that with Feingold's plan - and was tempted to point out Kennedy called for withdrawal (in the future) in February or March, 2005. The concept of a flexible target date is redundant. A deadline is fixed, a target date is a goal and if it isn't met it is changed. The Plan just seemed to be words.

I wonder if the media is pushing Feingold to be the "antwar" person because Hillary could beat him.

[Dr Ron]

3. My response

Kerry was speaking out against Bush's foreign policy well before Feingold's proposal, as well as before the war itself began.

John Kerry spoke out against going to war in his Senate floor speech at the time of the IWR vote, as well as in articles in the New York Times and Foreign Affairs. He spoke out against going to war multiple other times prior to the war, most prominently in his pre-war Georgetown speech.

At the onset of the war, Kerry protested, calling for regime change in the United States.

The actions of those on both the left and right to misquote Kerry and claim he supported the war representes a victory for the right. This unnecessarily divides the anti-war movement, as opponents of the are waste time either attacking or defending Kerry's position on the war depending upon their view of him.

Kerry and Feingold are on the same side here. The primary battles of 2004 are long over. It is well past time for opponents of the war to concentrate on attacking the war, not each other.

[ProSense]

4. This is what Kerry said

at the time of the first debate:

Kerry accuses Bush of ‘colossal error’ in Iraq
Bush promises not to let up in the war on terrorism

MSNBC
Updated: 11:16 a.m. ET Oct. 1, 2004

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Sen. John Kerry assailed President Bush’s prosecution of the war in Iraq in the first presidential debate Thursday night, accusing the president of “a colossal error of judgment” as the candidates finally faced each other after a torrent of speeches and hostile television advertisements.

Snip...

“I will make a flat statement: The United States of America has no long-term designs on staying in Iraq,” he said. “... That’s how we’re going to win the peace, by rapidly training the Iraqis themselves.”

Snip...

But Kerry said it was Bush who was sending conflicting messages.

“He misled the American people when he said we’d go to war as a last resort,” Kerry said. “We did not go as a last resort. And most Americans know the difference.”

Snip...

“Iraq was not even close to the center of the war on terror before the president invaded it,” Kerry said, adding later, “Saddam Hussein didn’t attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us.”

Bush responded firmly, declaring: “Under my leadership, we’re going to win this war in Iraq.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6123725?GT1=5100

Bush is delusional.

[kerrygoddess]

5. I don't have time to go to Kos today

But, I just pointed this out a few days ago that Feingold's August call for withdrawal came after Kerry said on the Senate Floor on June 28, 2005

"Getting it right also means drawing up a detailed plan with the clear milestone of transfer of military and police responsibilities to Iraqis after the December elections."

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?page_id=230

Read the floor speech carefully because the entire speech is a set up to the October speech and then the one for the other day.

In effect he said in June it's time to start getting the F out of there. He called for milestones - or timelines then - this was definately before Feingold. There's other quotes of value in the speech to show his intent in June.

See the links at the bottom of the post as well

[karynnj]

6. Thanks

I will definately read those - if only for future arguments. It also sounds like that speech could be used to show the consistent threads through Kerry's plans. It seems that looking at the plans and the events that happened in Iraq - there's a really good story of a series of well thought out, well crafted plans that have adjusted, sometimes subtly, to events. At this point, events have even caused a possible change in goals.

[JI7]

7. so what makes someone such a stupid ignorant ass like this ?