John Kerry: Secretary of State?

[Donger]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...yJQ&refer=home

"Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is lobbying for secretary of State, although Obama has been cautioned that would be received negatively by many Republicans."

What do you think about this? I remember Kerry's "passing the global test" line from the debates. I wonder if Obama subscribes to the same test.

[dirk digler]

I can't believe you guys are still arguing over John Kerry's war record and IMHO it is disgraceful.

The guy is a decorated veteran who served this country in time of war.

None of you guys have so maybe you should

[Donger]

Originally Posted by banyon

I meant a weak case for a pretty insubstanital, tangential point about his service, just in case there was confusion.

I don't think pointing out lies about anything about the cornerstone of his campaign is unsubstantial.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I can't believe you guys are still arguing over John Kerry's war record and IMHO it is disgraceful.

The guy is a decorated veteran who served this country in time of war.

None of you guys have so maybe you should

Only because he couldn't get a deferment...

But I digress.

[SHTSPRAYER]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123006066784530789.html

[StcChief]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I can't believe you guys are still arguing over John Kerry's war record and IMHO it is disgraceful.

The guy is a decorated veteran who served this country in time of war.

None of you guys have so maybe you should

4 months of photo ops and faking it is not serving. Got plenty of "material" to fight against soldiers.

I'll trust the real vets to tell what a POS Kerry was/is.

[melbar]

Kerry would be a slap in the face. No way.

[melbar]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I can't believe you guys are still arguing over John Kerry's war record and IMHO it is disgraceful.

The guy is a decorated veteran who served this country in time of war.

None of you guys have so maybe you should

What he did after his service negates everything. He served then turned around and spit on his and everyone else servings service.

[banyon]

Great bump. Let's talk about the guy who lost the 04 election some more. Good grief. I guess when you don't have much to be excited about in your party, it's time to whip out the nostalgia.

[penchief]

It's pretty simple. Kerry was swiftboated because undermining his military services negated the contrast between his volunteered service and Bush's shameful record of evading his National Guard duties even after his silver spoon status got him out of Viet Nam. That and Cheney's several hundred deferments.

Kerry truly served his country honorably while Bush and Cheney were ingrates. The ingrates knew that winning the election meant redefining the nature of Kerry's honorable service in a way that made him look like more of a scumbag than they were.

[SHTSPRAYER]

Originally Posted by banyon

Great bump. Let's talk about the guy who lost the 04 election some more. Good grief. I guess when you don't have much to be excited about in your party, it's time to whip out the nostalgia.

BS narrative.

Good ol' Wade "band of brothers" Sanders!


Sanders is back in the news. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that he "pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal charge of possessing child pornography":

The investigation into Sanders began in October 2007, according to a statement filed in the case by San Diego FBI agent John Caruthers.
Another FBI agent working undercover signed on to a file-sharing computer network and entered a search term that is used for accessing child pornography images.
Among the responses to that search term was one for a specific computer address that the agents eventually traced to Sanders' home in South Park in San Diego. The agent then obtained a list of files that were being shared on the computer and downloaded 11 files, including at least two that contained images of child pornography.
On May 2, 2008, agents executed a search warrant at Sanders' home and seized his computer. During the search, Sanders admitted he had downloaded child pornography using the file-sharing program, but said he deleted the files once he noticed they were downloaded, according to the FBI statement.
Sanders acknowledged in court that he had "possessed computer files containing 600 images of minors, including a 21-minute video that depicted girls engaging in sex acts with an adult man." But don't worry--his motives were "pure and innocent":

In a telephone interview last night, Sanders said he had downloaded the files as part of his research for an article on the sexual exploitation of children in foreign countries. He said his work for the Clinton administration had included aiding victims of child sex abuse in the former Yugoslavia.
"I have no sexual attraction to children whatsoever," Sanders said. "There was no evil intent."
Sanders, a lawyer, said he didn't realize federal child pornography laws barred downloading or viewing the material even by researchers. He said that is why he decided to plead guilty.
"I thought since my motives were pure and innocent, that would make a difference," he said. "I'm technically guilty of the crime."
If this explanation sounds familiar, you probably are thinking of Bernie Ward, the liberal San Francisco talk-show host who in August was sentenced to seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography. As the San Jose Mercury News reported, he claimed he was working on a book:

[Ward's] lawyer urged [Judge Vaughn] Walker to impose the lowest possible sentence, saying Ward began downloading the images as part of journalism research that went awry, spiralling out of control when he began drinking heavily. Doron Weinberg, Ward's attorney, told Walker the child porn downloading "spanned a brief period in an exemplary life.''
Don'tcha just hate when journalism research goes awry? To ensure that things don't spiral out of control, we'll give Sanders the last word: "Those of us who are real swift boaters know something about judgment and responsibility for our decisions."

[patteeu]

If it weren't for his BS excuse, I'd have some sympathy for Sanders. In the world of internet file sharing, it's all too easy to download something where the content isn't completely disclosed in the title. Putting aside how you might feel about adult porn to begin with, how fair is it to hold a person responsible for possessing child porn if he/she downloads a video entitled "Asian Chick Gives BJ" only to find out that the Asian Chick is a minor?

In Sanders case though, his excuse makes it look (to me at least) like he's really guilty of intentionally possessing kiddie porn.