Unscripted Kerry calls GOP liars

[InjaYew]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed

Unscripted Kerry calls GOP liars


By Jill Zuckman and Jeff Zeleny, Tribune national correspondents. Jill Zuckman reported from Chicago and Jeff Zeleny reported from Washington. Tribune staff reporter Stephen Franklin contributed from
Published March 11, 2004


Seemingly unaware that his microphone was still on, Sen. John Kerry used uncharacteristically harsh language Wednesday to describe Republicans as "crooked" and "lying" during a quiet exchange with several workers at the Hill Mechanical Group in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood.

As one worker urged Kerry to "tell it like it is" and to "keep smiling," the presumptive Democratic nominee told the man not to worry.

"We're going to keep pounding, let me tell you. We're just beginning to fight here," Kerry said. "These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary."

The incident followed a videoconference call by Kerry to a meeting of AFL-CIO leaders in Florida before he left for Washington to meet with former rival Howard Dean to seek Dean's support. It also came on a day in which Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he would "entertain" the possibility of serving as Kerry's running mate, only to issue a retraction a few hours later.

Republicans were quick to pounce on Kerry's blunt talk, in a sign that the general election contest is well under way with an intensity unusual so far in advance of the November election.

"Sen. Kerry's statement today in Illinois was unbecoming of a candidate for the presidency . . . and tonight we call on Sen. Kerry to apologize to the American people for this negative attack," Marc Racicot, chairman of President Bush's re-election campaign, said in a statement. "On the day that Sen. Kerry emerged as his party's presumptive nominee, the president called to congratulate him. That goodwill gesture has been met by attacks and false statements."

Kerry rebuffed reporters' requests to answer questions Wednesday, but spokesman David Wade offered no apologies for his candidate's slicing rhetoric and said Kerry was referring to Republicans' "hardball, gutter politics."

"We're going to make it very clear that he's a Democrat who punches back," Wade said.

Kerry's remarks explained

Wade said Kerry used the word "crooked" to describe the personal attacks he has endured. Those attacks, he said, included doctored photos of Kerry falsely showing him protesting the Vietnam War with Jane Fonda and wrongly portraying him shooting a prisoner during his stint in the Navy.

He also cited a report in the Tribune about a Bush political appointee, John Thomas Burch, who attacked McCain's credentials as a veteran in 2000, and said he appears poised to do the same to Kerry.

During the 2000 primary, Burch stood by Bush's side and accused McCain of opposing heath care for Persian Gulf war veterans and blocking efforts to find prisoners of war and those missing in action. Burch, a Vietnam veteran and Veterans Affairs official, said former POW McCain "came home from Vietnam and forgot us."

Last year, Burch registered the Internet domain names veteransforjohnkerry.org and veteransforjohnkerry.com.

Wade said the campaign is expecting Burch and others to engage in "political dirty tricks," and said it is "standard operating procedure" for Bush to stand by and allow it.

[Cloudbringer]

LOL, I heard this on the news this morning. Politics as usual.

[skywalker]

Anyone remember when Mr. Bush called reporter Adam Clymer "major league @$$h0le". Here are some of the responses to it.

From the article: Among the reactions to the aside: • N.Y. Times Washington bureau chief Michael Oreskes: "We completely accept George Bush's statement that he didn't mean for us to know this. As far as I'm concerned, it wasn't said, so I don't need to address it." • N.Y. Times executive editor Joseph Lelyveld sniffed: "If they have a complaint, they should convey it to us and we will review it." • Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala: "He certainly is not (an asshole). He's a big teddy bear." • Energy Secretary Bill Richardson: "Adam is a major league pro. He's as straight as they come, and the comment is a bad rap." • Al Gore political consultant Bob Shrum: "I don't think he needs any defense. I think it's half true. He is major league, one of the most respected journalists in Washington and a major league analyst of American politics." • Former Newt Gingrich press secretary Tony Blankley: "It's actually a charge that any good reporter should take pride in. I think Adam personally is a lovely fellow, but professionally he's tough as nails." • White House press secretary Joe Lockhart: "Anybody who gets to George Bush that quickly is a friend of mine. What did you say his name was again – Adam what?" • Former Colorado senator Gary Hart, a Democrat: "If Governor Bush doesn't like what he writes, that's tough. I've known Adam since the early George McGovern campaign. It took a while to penetrate his demeanor. He could be very remote. But over the years, I've discovered a very droll and dry sense of humor and a very keen mind – the kind of guy who could be fun to be with after hours." • Former Wyoming senator Alan Simpson, a Republican: "You're not going to get me into this. I have made many statements in my public life that I wish I could recapture, and I think it would be untoward of me to comment." • Tucker Carlson of the Weekly Standard: ''I think it does a great disservice to all journalists when someone like Adam Clymer pretends to be offended by the use of the word 'asshole.' I mean, aren't journalists supposed to be the kind of people who say 'f...' a lot?'' • Media Research Center: "Bush Is Right: Clymer Is a Liberal Jerk." • An anonymous reporter quoted in The Reliable Source by Lloyd Grove – "Bush probably picked up 3,000 votes in the Washington press corps." • James Warren, Washington bureau chief of the Chicago Tribune, thinks the coverage that begot the remark is worth considering. ''Before one confronts the reflexive media habit of circling the wagons, one should look independently at the stuff that someone has been writing and see if it is fair.''

It shouldn't make any difference. Republicans sure have a short term memory. I especially like Michael Oreskes' response, which fits in with this particular incident. Cry me a river.

I wonder if Adam asked for an apology?

That fact that Adam turned out to be an avowed Bush hater is beside the point. I suppose the point is moot since none of the people alluded too in Kerry's quote could possibly be considered of being crooked or ever lying. At least he didn't name names.

An apology in politics...that's rich, what a bunch of whiners. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

The whole article is here.

Mark

[ 03-11-2004, 08:54 AM: Message edited by: skywalker ]

[Night Stalker]

What's this? A politician calling other politicians liars? Hello Pot! Meet Kettle.

[skywalker]

On CNN.com there is a non-scientific poll:

Do you think John Kerry should apologize for his "crooked" comment?

Yes 39% 646 votes
No 61% 1024 votes

I voted no (what did you think I'd vote [img]smile.gif[/img] )

Mark

[ 03-11-2004, 07:55 PM: Message edited by: skywalker ]

[InjaYew]

I thought it was pretty funny meself. What can ya say? Truth hurts don't it?

[InjaYew]

Kerry Won't Apologize for Comment on GOP
Thu Mar 11, 2:14 PM ET

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) on Thursday rejected Republicans demands that he apologize for calling his GOP critics "the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen."


"I have no intention whatsoever of apologizing for my remarks," Kerry said during a news conference on the Senate side of the Capitol. "I think the Republicans need to start talking about the real issues before the country."


A group of GOP leaders in the House and Senate called on Kerry to stop negative campaigning even while describing him as "Ted Kennedy on a South Beach diet." They scolded Kerry for the offhand remark he made Wednesday in Chicago, contending it was undignified for a presidential candidate.


"If you ask me, he's getting off on the wrong foot in this campaign by name-calling," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters as he and other GOP leaders met in his office Thursday. "We're not lying when we start saying that Senator Kerry is the old-time Democrat of tax and spend."

(Considering Bush has spent us into a three trillion dollar hole, the fact that Hastert is even attempting this old saw is hilarious.)


Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said, "We see John Kerry as Ted Kennedy on a South Beach diet."

(And this passes for wit exactly where?)


The Republicans rejected Kerry's call for returning to Clinton-era tax rates for people earning $200,000 a year, contended he would raise taxes on the middle class by $900 billion, and doubted Kerry's ability to adequately fund defense.

(Unlike Bush who has been raiding Social Security to fund defense... These people are high!)


Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Kerry was "not in synch with the American people." Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, "This concerted effort to convince the American economy is in the tank is simply not accurate."


Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Kerry's remark about "crooked ... lying" Republicans gave Americans "a little glimpse of the real John Kerry, and he's not even tired yet." Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said Kerry should apologize for a comment "outside the bounds of where people who want to hold the highest office in this country should be making."

(Ooh I do hope this is the real Kerry. I'm certainly liking him a little bit better these days. )

[ 03-12-2004, 12:00 AM: Message edited by: InjaYew ]

[Timber Loftis]

(Ooh I do hope this is the real Kerry. I'm certainly liking him a little bit better these days.)

Agreed. Nothing quite like a good schoolyard fight to air out the issues.

[John D Harris]

Lordy I hope this didn't come as a suprise to anybody, It doesn't matter who the politician is they're going to say all kinds of things in what they thunk is a private conversation. Just look at ourselves how many times had each of us said something in private to one person and then taken a differant or less offensive view in public or to another person. The Republicians blew it by calling for an apology. They should have played it up as this is the real Kerry, talk'n behind people's backs. But then they'd have to worry about President Bush saying something over an open mike.

[ 03-13-2004, 11:48 AM: Message edited by: John D Harris ]

[InjaYew]

Yeah, I'd rather see a Kerry Bush debate or two as far as issues go. I think Kerry would make Bush cry. [img]smile.gif[/img]