Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry brought you these great moments in Kerry-vision. Kerry's own words describing America, the world and our future, as seen through his eyes.
On May 13, 1998 John Kerry spoke about the American Missile Protection Act of 1998, a proposal to build a national defense against long-range ballistic missiles.
"The simple truth, Mr. President, is that only Russia and China have such missiles, and despite the fact that some rogue nations such as North Korea have been working to develop more advanced ballistic missiles, our intelligence and military leaders do not expect those threats to materialize for a decade or more," stated Kerry.
"The vote today is about whether-at a time before a real ballistic missile threat from sources other than Russia and China exists, at a time before we perfect the anti-missile technology on which we have been energetically working for years so that we know it is ready to be deployed-we will make a national commitment of scores of billions of dollars to field the nonexistent system against nonexistent threats," said Kerry.
"The urgency that the bill's proponents are voicing is a false urgency, Mr. President. I hope the Senate will look at this carefully and will choose the prudent course by rejecting the bill before us," concluded Kerry on the Senate floor.
Of course, the leader of North Korea, Kim Jung Il, was working to a different timetable. John Kerry's prediction of "a decade or more" turned out to be off by 9 years and 9 months.
Three months after Kerry spoke, on August 31 1998, North Korea launched the Taepodong I ballistic missile. The "nonexistent" North Korean missile flew over Japan and dropped a dummy nuclear warhead off the U.S. coast.
Kerry on National Security
Senator Kerry's vision of the future includes protecting America but not with weapons. On May 2, 2001, John Kerry gave the world a clear idea of his priorities in national security.
"Here we are in a debate about education and we are being told we are not sure we have enough money for education; we are not sure we have enough money for alternative and renewable fuels; we are not sure we have enough money for a prescription drug program for seniors; we are not sure we have enough money to fix our schools and provide the next generation with the kinds of education we want-we need to balance what we get for our expenditures in terms of national security against other initiatives that also have an impact on the national security of our country," said Kerry.
Three months after Senator Kerry asked us to balance U.S. "national security" against a wide variety of social spending programs, Osama bin Laden's suicide pilots struck.
On Sept. 11, 2001 the world watched as airliners full of innocent passengers plowed into the two towers at the New York World Trade Center, another plane smashed into the Pentagon and a final plane crashed into the open fields of Pennsylvania after a brave crew and passengers decided to make a last ditch stand for freedom. The act of terror took America to war.
Kerry on Saddam
Of course, Senator Kerry is very familiar with America at war, reminding everyone that he fought in Vietnam. Yet, Senator Kerry also proposed some Vietnam like actions in the past, such as his statement to the Voice Of America on Feb. 23, 1998, suggesting that the U.S. should assassinate Saddam Hussein.
"There are plenty of covert operations that I took part in prior years in places that we weren't suppose to be. And I'm quite confident that we have the ability through Presidential finding (directive) or otherwise or even more overtly to be of assistance to people who want to make it their business to make life miserable for Saddam Hussein," stated Kerry.
Today, we know for a fact that Kerry would not have gone to war against Saddam. He has repeatedly told us that after ten years, containment, embargos and weapons bans against Iraq would have worked eventually. However, on March 13, 1998, Senator John Kerry made a clear and compelling case to violently oust Saddam.
"Mr. President, we have every reason to believe that Saddam Hussein will continue to do everything in his power to further develop weapons of mass destruction and the ability to deliver those weapons, and that he will use those weapons without concern or pangs of conscience if ever and whenever his own calculations persuade him it is in his interests to do so," said Kerry.
"Saddam Hussein has not limited his unspeakable actions to use of weapons of mass destruction. He and his loyalists have proven themselves quite comfortable with old fashioned instruments and techniques of torture-both physical and psychological.
During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Kuwaiti women were systematically raped and otherwise assaulted. The accounts of the torture chambers in his permanent and makeshift prisons and detention facilities are gruesome by any measure," stated Kerry.
"Saddam Hussein's actions in terrorizing his own people and in using horrible weapons and means of torture against those who oppose him, be they his own countrymen and women or citizens of other nations, collectively comprise the definition of crimes against humanity," concluded Kerry.
Kerry on War
It is true that Senator Kerry has spoken more than once on the use of force. On May 3, 1999 the Senator appealed to his Senate colleagues to act swiftly and approve military action.
"We are fighting for the standards of internationally accepted, universally accepted behavior that country after country has signed on to through United Nations conventions and other instruments of international law and through their own standards of behavior," stated Kerry.
"I can't think of anything more right than taking a position against this kind of thuggery and this kind of effrontery to those standards as we leave the end of this century," noted Kerry.
"Some people say to me, "well, Senator, we are going to have some people there for a long time." My answer is, So what? If that is what it takes in order to try to begin to establish a principle that is more long lasting, so be it," concluded Kerry.
Unfortunately, the war Kerry sought was not in Iraq or Afghanistan. The war was not against Saddam or Osama bin Laden. It was the battle over Kosovo.
According to the Boston Globe, on April 14, 1999, "Senator John F. Kerry, one of 50 legislators who met with Clinton yesterday, said later in the day that US forces might have to be involved, in one way or another, not just for "a matter of weeks" but rather for "months or even a year."
Kerry said it might take a year or so to force the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw from Kosovo and let the ethnic Albanian refugees return to their homes. That was five years ago and we are still fighting in Kosovo.
Kerry on Human Rights
Some might say that this self-less speech demonstrates that Senator Kerry is a firm supporter of human rights. Ironically, the Senator spoke about human rights on January 25, 1990.
"Who can forget the gunning down of student demonstrators in cold blood? Who can forget the Chinese army tanks that rolled over their own countrymen? Who can forget the summary execution of student leaders? Or the indelible impression of courage that the sight of one lone man, brave enough to stand before a line of tanks, made upon the world?
The fact that this man, and others like him, have been executed by the Chinese Government for their demands for a more open society, is truly chilling and shakes our senses," said Kerry.
Who can forget human rights? Senator Kerry ten years later speaking before the Wilson Center on March 30, 2000.
"On some initiatives, the (Clinton) Administration has had success in dealing with China. It moved quickly to abandon the counterproductive MFN-human rights linkage," noted Kerry.
Kerry on Clintons Economy
Senator Kerry has also praised the Clinton administration for its economic efforts. On July 13, 2000, Kerry noted that the Clinton administration had a great impact on the economic living standards for the poor.
"In the past decade, the number of families who have "worst case" housing needs has increased by 12 percent-that's 600,000 more American families who cannot afford a decent and safe place to live. For these families living paycheck to paycheck, one unforeseen circumstance, a sick child, a car repair bill, can send them into homelessness," said Kerry.
"The number of families living in extreme poverty-on less than $6,750 a year for a family of 3 -- has increased from 13.9 million in 1995 to 14.6 million in 1997," noted Kerry of the Clinton economic boom.
"Affordable housing units are being lost. Between 1993 and 1995, a loss of 900,000 rental units affordable to very low-income families occurred. From 1996 to 1998, there was a 19 percent reduction in the number of affordable housing units. This amounted to a dramatic reduction of 1.3 million affordable housing units available to low-income Americans," said Kerry fondly of the Clinton years.
John Kerry's worst enemy is not President Bush. The so-called "vast right wing conspiracy", as defined by Senator Hillary Clinton, is simply no threat to the Massachusetts Democrat in his run for the Presidency.
Senator Kerry's worst nightmare is himself.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/3/22/143711.shtml
On May 13, 1998 John Kerry spoke about the American Missile Protection Act of 1998, a proposal to build a national defense against long-range ballistic missiles.
"The simple truth, Mr. President, is that only Russia and China have such missiles, and despite the fact that some rogue nations such as North Korea have been working to develop more advanced ballistic missiles, our intelligence and military leaders do not expect those threats to materialize for a decade or more," stated Kerry.
"The vote today is about whether-at a time before a real ballistic missile threat from sources other than Russia and China exists, at a time before we perfect the anti-missile technology on which we have been energetically working for years so that we know it is ready to be deployed-we will make a national commitment of scores of billions of dollars to field the nonexistent system against nonexistent threats," said Kerry.
"The urgency that the bill's proponents are voicing is a false urgency, Mr. President. I hope the Senate will look at this carefully and will choose the prudent course by rejecting the bill before us," concluded Kerry on the Senate floor.
Of course, the leader of North Korea, Kim Jung Il, was working to a different timetable. John Kerry's prediction of "a decade or more" turned out to be off by 9 years and 9 months.
Three months after Kerry spoke, on August 31 1998, North Korea launched the Taepodong I ballistic missile. The "nonexistent" North Korean missile flew over Japan and dropped a dummy nuclear warhead off the U.S. coast.
Kerry on National Security
Senator Kerry's vision of the future includes protecting America but not with weapons. On May 2, 2001, John Kerry gave the world a clear idea of his priorities in national security.
"Here we are in a debate about education and we are being told we are not sure we have enough money for education; we are not sure we have enough money for alternative and renewable fuels; we are not sure we have enough money for a prescription drug program for seniors; we are not sure we have enough money to fix our schools and provide the next generation with the kinds of education we want-we need to balance what we get for our expenditures in terms of national security against other initiatives that also have an impact on the national security of our country," said Kerry.
Three months after Senator Kerry asked us to balance U.S. "national security" against a wide variety of social spending programs, Osama bin Laden's suicide pilots struck.
On Sept. 11, 2001 the world watched as airliners full of innocent passengers plowed into the two towers at the New York World Trade Center, another plane smashed into the Pentagon and a final plane crashed into the open fields of Pennsylvania after a brave crew and passengers decided to make a last ditch stand for freedom. The act of terror took America to war.
Kerry on Saddam
Of course, Senator Kerry is very familiar with America at war, reminding everyone that he fought in Vietnam. Yet, Senator Kerry also proposed some Vietnam like actions in the past, such as his statement to the Voice Of America on Feb. 23, 1998, suggesting that the U.S. should assassinate Saddam Hussein.
"There are plenty of covert operations that I took part in prior years in places that we weren't suppose to be. And I'm quite confident that we have the ability through Presidential finding (directive) or otherwise or even more overtly to be of assistance to people who want to make it their business to make life miserable for Saddam Hussein," stated Kerry.
Today, we know for a fact that Kerry would not have gone to war against Saddam. He has repeatedly told us that after ten years, containment, embargos and weapons bans against Iraq would have worked eventually. However, on March 13, 1998, Senator John Kerry made a clear and compelling case to violently oust Saddam.
"Mr. President, we have every reason to believe that Saddam Hussein will continue to do everything in his power to further develop weapons of mass destruction and the ability to deliver those weapons, and that he will use those weapons without concern or pangs of conscience if ever and whenever his own calculations persuade him it is in his interests to do so," said Kerry.
"Saddam Hussein has not limited his unspeakable actions to use of weapons of mass destruction. He and his loyalists have proven themselves quite comfortable with old fashioned instruments and techniques of torture-both physical and psychological.
During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Kuwaiti women were systematically raped and otherwise assaulted. The accounts of the torture chambers in his permanent and makeshift prisons and detention facilities are gruesome by any measure," stated Kerry.
"Saddam Hussein's actions in terrorizing his own people and in using horrible weapons and means of torture against those who oppose him, be they his own countrymen and women or citizens of other nations, collectively comprise the definition of crimes against humanity," concluded Kerry.
Kerry on War
It is true that Senator Kerry has spoken more than once on the use of force. On May 3, 1999 the Senator appealed to his Senate colleagues to act swiftly and approve military action.
"We are fighting for the standards of internationally accepted, universally accepted behavior that country after country has signed on to through United Nations conventions and other instruments of international law and through their own standards of behavior," stated Kerry.
"I can't think of anything more right than taking a position against this kind of thuggery and this kind of effrontery to those standards as we leave the end of this century," noted Kerry.
"Some people say to me, "well, Senator, we are going to have some people there for a long time." My answer is, So what? If that is what it takes in order to try to begin to establish a principle that is more long lasting, so be it," concluded Kerry.
Unfortunately, the war Kerry sought was not in Iraq or Afghanistan. The war was not against Saddam or Osama bin Laden. It was the battle over Kosovo.
According to the Boston Globe, on April 14, 1999, "Senator John F. Kerry, one of 50 legislators who met with Clinton yesterday, said later in the day that US forces might have to be involved, in one way or another, not just for "a matter of weeks" but rather for "months or even a year."
Kerry said it might take a year or so to force the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw from Kosovo and let the ethnic Albanian refugees return to their homes. That was five years ago and we are still fighting in Kosovo.
Kerry on Human Rights
Some might say that this self-less speech demonstrates that Senator Kerry is a firm supporter of human rights. Ironically, the Senator spoke about human rights on January 25, 1990.
"Who can forget the gunning down of student demonstrators in cold blood? Who can forget the Chinese army tanks that rolled over their own countrymen? Who can forget the summary execution of student leaders? Or the indelible impression of courage that the sight of one lone man, brave enough to stand before a line of tanks, made upon the world?
The fact that this man, and others like him, have been executed by the Chinese Government for their demands for a more open society, is truly chilling and shakes our senses," said Kerry.
Who can forget human rights? Senator Kerry ten years later speaking before the Wilson Center on March 30, 2000.
"On some initiatives, the (Clinton) Administration has had success in dealing with China. It moved quickly to abandon the counterproductive MFN-human rights linkage," noted Kerry.
Kerry on Clintons Economy
Senator Kerry has also praised the Clinton administration for its economic efforts. On July 13, 2000, Kerry noted that the Clinton administration had a great impact on the economic living standards for the poor.
"In the past decade, the number of families who have "worst case" housing needs has increased by 12 percent-that's 600,000 more American families who cannot afford a decent and safe place to live. For these families living paycheck to paycheck, one unforeseen circumstance, a sick child, a car repair bill, can send them into homelessness," said Kerry.
"The number of families living in extreme poverty-on less than $6,750 a year for a family of 3 -- has increased from 13.9 million in 1995 to 14.6 million in 1997," noted Kerry of the Clinton economic boom.
"Affordable housing units are being lost. Between 1993 and 1995, a loss of 900,000 rental units affordable to very low-income families occurred. From 1996 to 1998, there was a 19 percent reduction in the number of affordable housing units. This amounted to a dramatic reduction of 1.3 million affordable housing units available to low-income Americans," said Kerry fondly of the Clinton years.
John Kerry's worst enemy is not President Bush. The so-called "vast right wing conspiracy", as defined by Senator Hillary Clinton, is simply no threat to the Massachusetts Democrat in his run for the Presidency.
Senator Kerry's worst nightmare is himself.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/3/22/143711.shtml
