Yes, watch what happens now, watch how it
develops...It will all come out before the end: the
Theft of Fraudida, Enron/Halliburton/Harken, the
pre-9/11 incompetency, the post 9/11 incompetency, the
foolish military adventure in the Iraq, the
squandering of the Federal surplus, the mismanagement
of the US economy and so much more...Sen. John F.
Kerry (D-Mekong Delta) does not blink. He is
disciplined and focused. He is pacing himself. And
most importantly, he is both wily and courageous...He
needs a strong running mate who can carry the simple,
powerful message of NATIONAL SECURITY and ECONOMIC
SECURITY and work with him to translate it sound
Electoral College math...There is an Electoral
Uprising swelling...Therefore, my friends, we are
living in very dangerous times...Will they finally
"discover" WMD in Iraq? Will they "capture" Osama bin
Laden? Will any of it matter? Will the "US mainstream
news media" withdraw into denial or will the Bush
cabal's stranglehold continue to weaken?
Sen. John F. Kerry, New York Times: "When it comes to
protecting America from terrorism, this administration
is big on bluster and they're short on action," Mr.
Kerry, the Massachusetts senator and presumptive
Democratic presidential nominee, said. "But as we saw
again last week in Spain, real action is what we need.
The Bush administration is tinkering while the clock
on homeland security is ticking. And we really don't
have a moment of time to waste."
Repudiate the 9/11 Cover-Up and the Iraq War Lies,
Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/politics/campaign/15CND-KERRY.html?pagewanted=print&position
March 15, 2004
Kerry Assails Bush Record on Security and Terrorism
By DAVID STOUT
ASHINGTON, March 15 — Senator John F. Kerry attacked
President Bush on national security issues today,
asserting that Mr. Bush has played politics with the
battle against terrorism and that the bombings in
Spain show how ineffective his policies have been.
"When it comes to protecting America from terrorism,
this administration is big on bluster and they're
short on action," Mr. Kerry, the Massachusetts senator
and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said.
"But as we saw again last week in Spain, real action
is what we need. The Bush administration is tinkering
while the clock on homeland security is ticking. And
we really don't have a moment of time to waste."
Mr. Kerry's remarks, delivered to a conference of the
International Association of Fire Fighters here,
showed that Mr. Kerry is acutely aware that President
Bush plans to make the war on terrorism a central
theme of his own re-election campaign and to portray
the Democrat as soft on national defense.
Mr. Kerry made only a general allusion today to the
bombings in Madrid. Whether they were the work of
Basque separatists, Al Qaeda or other terrorists has
not yet been determined. But the atrocity has already
had political effects, apparently contributing to the
Spanish Socialists' victory on Sunday over the
center-right party, whose retiring Prime Minister,
Jose Maria Aznar, had supported the war in Iraq
despite the overwhelming opposition of the Spanish
people.
The Bush administration reacted cautiously to the
events in Spain. The White House spokesman, Scott
McClellan, said today that Mr. Bush had called to
congratulate the prime minister-elect, Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero, and had "reiterated our solidarity
with the Spanish people." Both Mr. McClellan and the
State Department said it was premature to discuss Mr.
Zapatero's threat to withdraw Spanish troops from
Iraq.
The President himself did not mention Spain or Senator
Kerry as he campaigned in and around Philadelphia. He
did defend his decision to oust Saddam Hussein as
necessary for American security.
"Nobody wants to march to war," he said. "Now we're
marching to peace."
Vice President Dick Cheney was more pointed.
"The attack in Spain once again reveals the brutality
of our enemy and once again shows that the fight
against terrorism is the responsibility of all free
nations," Mr. Cheney said at a Phoenix luncheon for an
Arizona congressman. "The terrorists are testing the
unity and the resolve of the civilized world, and we
must rise to that task."
"I noticed recently that Senator Kerry has been making
some observations about foreign policy," Mr. Cheney
said a moment later. "He's been telling people that
his ideas have gained strong support, at least among
unnamed foreigners he's been spending time with."
Mr. Cheney went on to describe President Bush as a
leader of vision and determination.
"These are not times for leaders who shift with the
political winds, saying one thing one day and another
the next," Mr. Cheney said.
Mr. Kerry, in his address to the firefighters' union,
showed again that he was unwilling to be pre-empted by
President Bush on security issues. He said the times
demanded "truly dedicating ourselves to homeland
security, not using it as a political prop."
Mr. Kerry asserted that President Bush and his aides
had even demanded that the Department of Homeland
Security regularly set up "photo opportunities" to
show Mr. Bush in flattering settings.
"Ladies and gentlemen, America doesn't need leaders
who play politics with 9/11 or see the war on terror
as just another campaign issue," Mr. Kerry said a
moment later. "Our nation's safety is too important.
And if I am president, we will work toward victory in
the war on terror, knowing that those on the front
lines of this battle are heroes, not political props."
Mr. Kerry's remarks were applauded frequently, and
several of his gibes against President Bush sparked
appreciative laughter. The Senator was addressing a
friendly audience: the firefighters' union backed him
in the primaries, and it has accused the President's
campaign of showing crass television commercials using
the Sept. 11 attacks for political grist.
Administration officials went on television on Sunday
to declare that the war on terrorism is being won,
despite attacks like the Madrid bombings.
"The events in Spain are just more evidence of the
lengths to which these killers will go to try and
intimidate free people," the national security
adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said on NBC's "Meet the
Press."
"We are succeeding, because, slowly but surely, their
world is getting smaller, not larger," she said.
Mr. Kerry saw things through a sharply different prism
today. He said Mr. Bush had alienated America's allies
by waging war in Iraq — a war against the wrong enemy
at the wrong time, in Mr. Kerry's view.
"I don't fault George Bush for doing too much in the
war on terror, as some do," Mr. Kerry said. "I believe
that he's done too little and done some things that he
didn't have to. When the focus of the war on terror
was appropriately in Afghanistan and on breaking Al
Qaeda, President Bush shifted his focus to Iraq and to
Saddam Hussein.
"He pushed away our allies at a time when we needed
them the most. He hasn't pursued a strategy to win the
hearts and minds of people around the world, and win
the war of ideas against the radical ideology of Osama
bin Laden."
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