1 Like any *intelligent* (i.e., Leftist) person, Kerry is flexible and open to change. That trait is a must if one is to swallow revisionist history: e.g., Vietnam as stage for war heroics one moment and AmeriKKKan hell zone the next. It's the rigid Rightists who are dangerous, not John Fluid Kerry, capable of adapting to anything, including Iranian nukes. Besides, unilateralism under Clinton would be small r-right by defintion. Anything is justified as long as it is branded with the sacred letter "D."

2 Kerry on his own war record: "However, I did take part in free-fire zones, I did take part in harassment and interdiction fire, I did take part in search-and-destroy missions in which the houses of noncombatants were burned to the ground. And all of these acts, I find out later on, are contrary to the Hague and Geneva conventions and to the laws of warfare. So in that sense, anybody who took part in those, if you carry out the application of the Nuremberg Principles, is in fact guilty." Source: http://qando.net/archives/002186.htm So is he a hero or a war criminal?

3 This is what annoys me about him: And all of these acts, I find out later on, are contrary to the Hague and Geneva conventions and to the laws of warfare. Everyone in the military has this stuff drilled into them in basic training. Maybe he slept through those classes.

4 The thing that should upset you the most as a Military wife is how he talked about the military when he returned from Vietnam. He almost single handedly is responsible for the hatred that many hippies had for soldiers in Vietnam calling them baby killers and the such.

5 Oh, you are just a mean lying ultra-conservative right winger. I've never said the things that you said I said.

6 Oh my, JFwordK, such venom! I happen to be very close to this blogger, and people like you scare me! Atleast Bush is honest and truthful, whether people like him or not; he stands up for his principles. From what I see of Kerry, he's just out there saying whatever he chooses to say just to get the votes, and to me he has a mean streak! And guess what, I'm a registered Democrat!!! Kerry will not get my vote.

7 I identify completely with your comparison of your dislike for Kerry with the left's hatred of Bush. Are we all guilty of the same crime? But really, I don't cast that dislike of Kerry on to other Democratic candidates. Although I dislike Sharpton, Kucinich, and Dean for different reasons, I have some degree of respect for them insofar as they seem to be honest repesentatives of themselves, at least. Dislike of Kerry on my part is driven by his abandoning of command in time of war, his betrayal of his fellow veterans while that war was ongoing, his voting history through his Senatorial career, and his contemptable behavior on the current campaign trail. The left's hatred of Bush is "he's a big fat smirking chimp liar!" and "It's all about the oil!" Equivalency?

8 "Are we all guilty of the same crime?" Yes, though methods and motives differ. I agree with you about respecting the other Democrat candidates. Kucinich in particular has always struck me as sincere. But the presidency requires a lot more than that. And Kerry doesn't even that on his side. I'd respect him more if he were consistent, or if he changed his mind and explained himself. Maybe he IS doing the latter, but frankly his behavior has been so contemptible that I don't really care to research his attempts at self-defense, if any.