Text of JK's Speech - "A Right and Responsibility to Speak Out"

[kerrygoddess]

John Kerry’ Speech at Boston’s Faneuil Hall : "A Right and Responsibility to Speak Out"
April 22nd, 2006 @ 7:31 am, pst

In a very short time, today, on 35th anniversary of John Kerry’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony, John Kerry wll deliver a speech in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall about patriotism and dissent at a time of war and the assault on free speech in America today.

Below are Kerry’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

Senator John Kerry
“Dissent”
Faneuil Hall
April 22, 2006

Thirty-five years ago today, I testified before the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate, and called for an end to the war I had returned from fighting not long before.

It was 1971 – twelve years after the first American died in what was then South Vietnam, seven years after Lyndon Johnson seized on a small and contrived incident in the Tonkin Gulf to launch a full-scale war—and three years after Richard Nixon was elected president on the promise of a secret plan for peace. We didn’t know it at the time, but four more years of the War in Vietnam still lay ahead. These were years in which the Nixon administration lied and broke the law—and claimed it was prolonging war to protect our troops as they withdrew—years that ultimately ended only when politicians in Washington decided they would settle for a “decent interval” between the departure of our forces and the inevitable fall of Saigon.

I know that some active duty service members, some veterans, and certainly some politicians scorned those of us who spoke out, suggesting our actions failed to “support the troops”—which to them meant continuing to support the war, or at least keeping our mouths shut. Indeed, some of those critics said the same thing just two years ago during the presidential campaign.

I have come here today to reaffirm that it was right to dissent in 1971 from a war that was wrong. And to affirm that it is both a right and an obligation for Americans today to disagree with a President who is wrong, a policy that is wrong, and a war in Iraq that weakens the nation.

FULL TEXT - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2723

[fedupinBushcountry]

1. This man is

"The Real Deal" :patriot:

[kerrygoddess]

2. AP already has some in the wires!

"Invoking bitter memories of the public tumult over the Vietnam War three decades ago, Sen. John Kerry is accusing the Bush administration of stifling dissent about its failed Iraq policies by branding critics as unpatriotic.

“The spirit of intolerance for dissent has risen steadily, and the habit of labeling dissenters as unpatriotic has become the common currency of the politicians currently running our country,” Kerry, D-Mass., said in remarks prepared for delivery Saturday at Boston’s Faneuil Hall." - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060422/ap_on_go_co/kerry_iraq_1

[Island Blue]

3. Oh wow. Just wow.

Can't wait to see this tomorrow on Cspan. This was an incredible read, I can only imagine what it was like to see it live. I hate that I missed all the action this morning because of work. (Damn mortgage.)

It's difficult to pick out a favorite line, but I think this might be it. (On first glance anyway.)

When brave patriots suffer and die on the altar of stubborn pride, because of the incompetence and self-deception of mere politicians, then the only patriotic choice is to reclaim the moral authority misused by those entrusted with high office.

[kerrygoddess]

4. Pics from news

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2724

[globalvillage]

5. Great pics

Thanks.
Red tie? OK.

[kerrygoddess]

6. Got to know what tie!

LOL!