Some facts about Bush and Kerry that the NY Times is hiding from you...

1 - Bush is significantly smarter than Kerry.

Kerry was dumber than half the Naval officer wannabees according to the test on his website.

Bush, on the other hand, was smarter than two thirds of the Airforce officer wannabees according to his records.

This shows Kerry with a 120 IQ and Bush with 125.

2 - Kerry was also a legacy at Yale.

3 - Bush was honorably discharged from the Guard after fullfilling his military obligation.

4 - Kerry was dishonorably discharged from the Navy after committing treason negotiating with the Communists in Paris while still a Naval officer. He got that changed after he was elected to the Senate. This is why he won't allow all his records to be released.

5 - As Dukakis Lt. Governor he presided over the creation of Taxachusetts (since dismantled by a series of good Republican governors - Thank God)

6 - Not a single charge made by the Swift Boat Veterans has been sisproved or even contested. Their vilification by the DNC and its controlled media is strictly ad hominem.

7 - Real Red Sox fans hate him. Kerry knows absolutely nothing about our Red Sox. He referred to "The Great Manny Ortez" and was booed when his girly throw bounced before home plate when he was asked to throw out the first pitch at Fenway (it was his first time in Fenway).

8 - More than two thirds of his Vietnam Veteran Comrades can't stand him. He could never be an effective Commander in Chief.

9 - Kerry would have to reinstate the draft if he is elected because most military types hate him and will get out at the first oportunity, or not volunteer in the first place.

Comments

[Stephen Downes]

1 - Bush is significantly smarter than Kerry. Kerry was dumber than half the Naval officer wannabees according to the test on his website. Bush, on the other hand, was smarter than two thirds of the Airforce officer wannabees according to his records. This shows Kerry with a 120 IQ and Bush with 125.

IQ tests from 30 or 40 years ago are hardly telling - this, remember, is before Bush destroyed his brain cells with binge drinking and possible hard drug abuse. It seems clear from their recent public displays that whatever metal advantage Bush had he has frittered away.

2 - Kerry was also a legacy at Yale.

I don't think anyone has denied that.

3 - Bush was honorably discharged from the Guard after fullfilling his military obligation.

As you well know, there has been a great deal of doubt raised about just how well (hic! snort!) Bush fulfilled his obligation.

4 - Kerry was dishonorably discharged from the Navy after committing treason negotiating with the Communists in Paris while still a Naval officer. He got that changed after he was elected to the Senate. This is why he won't allow all his records to be released.

So far as I can tell, this is patently untrue. What is clear is that Kerry has never been convicted of treason - which makes your suggestion that he committed treason a case of slander.
5 - As Dukakis Lt. Governor he presided over the creation of Taxachusetts (since dismantled by a series of good Republican governors - Thank God)

Or - rather than strip Massachusetts' public services to the bone, Kerry agreed that taxes should be employed as part of an overall economic strategy, one that sees the state in relatively good economic condition today.

6 - Not a single charge made by the Swift Boat Veterans has been sisproved or even contested. Their vilification by the DNC and its controlled media is strictly ad hominem.

This is another patent falsehood. Many of the charges have been disproved by people who were there and actually served with Kerry (unlike the so-called Swift Boat vets).

7 - Real Red Sox fans hate him. Kerry knows absolutely nothing about our Red Sox. He referred to "The Great Manny Ortez" and was booed when his girly throw bounced before home plate when he was asked to throw out the first pitch at Fenway (it was his first time in Fenway).

Huh? Given that he is expected to get a majority in Mass., it seems unlikely in the extreme that RedSox fans hate him. This assertion moreover has no statistical support. In a crowd of 30,000 some boos should be expected. Finally - there is no correlation between being able to throw a baseball 60 feet and being a good president.

8 - More than two thirds of his Vietnam Veteran Comrades can't stand him. He could never be an effective Commander in Chief.

And yet his entire crew stood on the podium with him, suggesting that this statement is yt another patent falsehood.

9 - Kerry would have to reinstate the draft if he is elected because most military types hate him and will get out at the first oportunity, or not volunteer in the first place.

There is no statistical support for this assertion. Moreover, there is no evidence that hatred for Kerry will cause military types to choose other occupations like, say, plumbing. Moreover, there is no evidence that this would force him to hol;d a draft.

Face it - your post was the work of a partisan hack with little or no regard for the truth, a stance typical of the government and president you are trying to defend.

[Adrian Spidle]

""4 - Kerry was dishonorably discharged from the Navy after committing treason negotiating with the Communists in Paris while still a Naval officer. He got that changed after he was elected to the Senate. This is why he won't allow all his records to be released.

So far as I can tell, this is patently untrue. What is clear is that Kerry has never been convicted of treason - which makes your suggestion that he committed treason a case of slander.""

John Kerry has refused to sign form DD180 to release his records. I am a Vietnam Veteran and most of us believe he was dishonorably discharged for going to Paris to talk to the Commies while he was still a reserve officer.

If you say I'm wrong, just have Kerry sign the 180 so we can see ALL of his records. Kerry is a TRAITOR who screwed his comrades. That's why well over 2 out of 3 Vietnam veterans HATE him.

It would be a crime against humanity if he should get elected.

[Cypherpunk]

""5 - As Dukakis Lt. Governor he presided over the creation of Taxachusetts (since dismantled by a series of good Republican governors - Thank God)"

Or - rather than strip Massachusetts' public services to the bone, Kerry agreed that taxes should be employed as part of an overall economic strategy, one that sees the state in relatively good economic condition today.""

No, Adrian has half-a-point here. Massachusetts had been a high-tax state long before Dukakis (with Kerry in tow) showed up, but the "Massachusetts Miracle" that Dukakais touted in 1988 was indeed shown to be a house of cards shortly after he lost that election. While Bush Sr. was responsible for throwng the nation into a recession, Massachusetts got their first thanks to Dukakis's ineptitude. When he left the governor's office in 1990, Massachusetts's bond rating was perilously close to "junk bond" status. It was indeed Republican governor (and Grateful Dead fan) William Weld who restored financial prudence to the state, even as Republican president Bush was ruining financial prudence on the national level.

[anymouse]

the ones about kerry's record and the swiftees is true. Kerry was still an officer when he pulled his jane fonda and was discharged. Other than a few minor details the swiftees charges are panning out to be true.

[Cypherpunk]

Anti-Kerry Arguments Worth Making

Kerry has stated more than once that he will not privatize any portion of Social Security, will not reduce benefits, and will not raise the retirement age. This can only be done by raising taxes to a crippling level. (Bush has promised as far back as the last campaign to privatize portions of Social Security, but we ain't seen jack from him yet.)

Kerry rightly skewered Bush for his Medicare prescription drug boondoggle, but all of his Medicare proposals are even worse, and in the same direction.

Kerry's stance on trade is not only protectionist, it would try to undo the progress made by his own party. Clinton & Gore picked up the ball from Reagan which the elder Bush dropped, and which the junior Bush has tried to bury; Kerry would do his best to destroy the ball altogether.

Like Al Gore before him, Kerry would try to subsidize "faith-based organizations". Incorporating the religious mainstream infrastructure into government is wrong, whether it's done by Kerry or Bush.

Kerry seems to believe that guns are for hunting. The notion of self-defense is alien to him. As Public Enemy reminded us years ago, "911 is a Joke". I do believe that of the duopolist candidates, Kerry is the better choice. But I'd like to remind all and sundry that this ain't saying much. But better the bureaucratic nightmare than the apocalyptic quagmire.

[Adrian Spidle]

"It would be a crime against humanity if he should get elected."

"Crime against humanity"?! Adrian, I protested the Vietnam War back in the day as well. It wasn't an effective means of stopping Communism in south-east Asia (or anywhere else),

THIS IS WRONG. THE VIETNAM WAR GAVE THAILAND TIME TO DEFEAT THEIR COMMUNIST INSURGENCY AND THUS SAVED THAILAND, MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE FROM COMMUNISM.

it wasn't an effective method of winning the hearts and minds of any of the Vietnamese people, and it propagated involuntary servitude here at home.

YOU CONTRADICT YOURSELF - I THINK. WHY DID SO MANY VIETNAMESE LEAVE VIETNAM AND COME HERE?

And, oh yeah, it killed a lot of people.

MILLIONS WERE KILLED AFTER WE LEFT. THOSE LOST SOULS ARE ON YOUR ACCOUNT AND THE ACCOUNT OF KERRY AND ALL THE OTHER "ANTI-WAR" TYPES WHO ABANDONED THEM.

The thing which convinced the Vietnamese to ditch Communism was trying to live under it. That's the way things should go. The insignificant remainders of Communism which are still there tend to be the bureaucratic rituals.

YOU ARE RE WRITING HISTORY.

What John Kerry did back then was question (vehemently) the motive and execution of the war. He turned against the war. That is not the same thing as turning against the soldiers (altho, to cede a point, many people on both sides of the issue were unable to make that distinction back then. Downes still has that problem).

BULL, KERRY ACCUSED ALL VIETNAM VETS OF BEING WAR CRIMINALS AND BETRAYED US. MOST OF US CONSIDER HIM A TRAITOR.

Now, why you bringin' up old stuff? By and large, that war is over.

BECAUSE A MAN'S RECORD IS A BETTER INDICATOR OF WHAT HE WILL DO THAN HIS WORDS ARE. KERRY, AN INVETERATE LAR, WOULD LOSE THE WAR ON TERROR AND AMERICANS WILL DIE IF HE WINS.

It wasn't a crime that Kerry turned against it;

IT WAS A CRIME WHEN HE LIED ABOUT HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS BEING WAR CRIMINALS AND IT WAS A CRIME WHEN, WHILE STILL A NAVY OFFICER, HE WENT TO PARIS TO "NEGOTIATE" WITH THE COMMIES.

it wasn't a crime that Bush tried to dodge it.

HE DIDN'T

It was a crime that McNamara's Band tried to fight it at all, and that they conscripted cannon fodder for it.

IT WAS A CRIME THAT THE DEMOCRAT ESTABLISHMENT LOST ITS WILL AND DIDN'T WIN THE WAR.

[Tet Offensive]

We would have won in Vietnam if only Bush had served. His steel eyed fighting techniques are unstoppable and would have done what millions of tons of high explosive and 500k american troops couldn't.

[darkhorse11]

My son just got back from IRAQ.
In an informal survey, he says the people in his unit say this.
40 % will not reenlist no matter who is president.
40 % will not reenlist if Kerry is president.
20 % will reenlist no matter who is president.