Post by Stanley Hetz on Dec 4, 2008 2:36:18 GMT -5
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Kerry Should Challenge Obama In 2012
By Stanley Hetz
© 2008
It is my opinion that John Kerry should challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 Democratic Party's primary, and I am going to explain why I feel that way. First off, I have studied Obama's political career in ways that few others have, and I believe that he will be somewhat susceptible to a challenge from the left in four years. A lot of liberals are going to be disappointed when they see firsthand that the man they voted for doesn't stand for the same things that they thought he stood for. Maybe they are already noticing that if they are closely examining his recent comments as well as the choices he has made so far in assembling his economic team and cabinet. If they haven't been paying attention, then they will see where he plans to take this nation. Right down the same path this country has been headed the last several years. "Hope" for "change" will soon evaporate. Of that, I'm sure. But that's not the only reason I am suggesting that Kerry challenge Obama next time around. Not by a long shot.
Nobody in the political establishment has done more to help elevate Obama to winning the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, and the presidency itself, than Kerry. It didn't take long for Obama to forget how beneficial it was to his career when Kerry helped to put him in the national spotlight with that speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. And when Hillary Clinton was running a close race against Obama, Kerry was the one who came out early and endorsed him.
During a rally in South Carolina on January 10, 2008, Kerry said in a speech, "Martin Luther King said that the time is always right to do what is right. And I'm here in South Carolina because this is the right time to share with you that I have the confidence, and that Barack Obama can be, will be, and should be the next President of the United States."
Obama said after Kerry was done with his speech, “Well, first of all, I want to thank John Kerry. I want to thank John Kerry for his support in this campaign, but more importantly for his service to this nation. This is a man who knows how much people who love their country can change it. This is a man who sacrificed the comforts of youth to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. The young lieutenant who extended his hand to a brother in arms, pulling him from a river, as bullets screamed by. This is the hero who returned to a Washington where politicians continued a senseless war day after day, life after life, because they were too afraid to challenge the conventional thinking. Too consumed with their own careers and ambitions. This is the patriot who saw all of this and said, 'No more.' Who posed a question to our leaders that challenged the conscious of a nation. Who believed in his heart that change does not come from the halls of power, but from the power of a movement thousands of voices strong. John Kerry is a man of courage, a man of conviction, and a man whose life story, a man whose life story has given him an intimate understanding of the kind of change we need right now. This is a defining moment in our history.”
Clinton said quite a few nasty things about Obama as the primary season progressed. One of the statements that she directed towards Obama which immediately comes to mind, because it's exactly the thoughts that are going through my head right now. I'm talking about when she said, "Shame on you, Barack Obama."
Obama responded at a United Steel Workers union hall on April 13, 2008. He said, "...I'm a little disappointed when I start hearing the exact same talking points coming out of my Democratic colleague Hillary Clinton. She knows better. She knows better! Shame on her! Shame on her! She knows better!"
Obama also said, "She's running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the 2nd Amendment, she's talking like she's Annie Oakley. Hillary Clinton's out there like she's on the duck blind every Sunday. She's packin' a six shooter. C'mon. She knows better. That's some politics being played by Hillary Clinton. I want to see that picture of her out there in the duck blinds. Haha. Ya know, c'mon. When Hillary Clinton says I'm out of touch, I just have to remind people of the track record."
Speaking of track records, Obama surely has one with his voting record while in the United States Senate. It's not quite what many of his liberal supporters might think it to be. Did you know that in 2006, Kerry introduced amendment 4442 to Senate bill 2766 which stated, "Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation with the Secretary of State, submit to Congress a report that sets forth the strategy for the redeployment of United States forces from Iraq by July 1, 2007."
Kerry's proposed amendment went down in defeat. A lot of Obama's supporters think of him as an anti-war candidate, but the man they supported voted against an amendment that would have begun pulling troops out of Iraq.
Prior to voting against the proposed legislation, Obama said during a floor statement, "...I would like nothing more than to support the Kerry Amendment; to bring our brave troops home on a date certain, and spare the American people more pain, suffering, and sorrow. But having visited Iraq, I'm also acutely aware that a precipitous withdrawal of our troops, driven by Congressional edict rather than the realities on the ground, will not undo the mistakes made by this Administration. It could compound them. It could compound them by plunging Iraq into an even deeper and, perhaps, irreparable crisis."
As tempted as I am to go on with this history lesson, I want to get back to the subject at hand. Kerry did a lot more to help Obama than was deserved. Not only was he not Obama's running mate in the recent election, but he also got passed over for the Secretary of State cabinet position in favor of Clinton.
What more needs to be said? Only one thing comes to mind. To quote our next Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, "Shame on you, Barack Obama!"
Kerry Should Challenge Obama In 2012
By Stanley Hetz
© 2008
It is my opinion that John Kerry should challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 Democratic Party's primary, and I am going to explain why I feel that way. First off, I have studied Obama's political career in ways that few others have, and I believe that he will be somewhat susceptible to a challenge from the left in four years. A lot of liberals are going to be disappointed when they see firsthand that the man they voted for doesn't stand for the same things that they thought he stood for. Maybe they are already noticing that if they are closely examining his recent comments as well as the choices he has made so far in assembling his economic team and cabinet. If they haven't been paying attention, then they will see where he plans to take this nation. Right down the same path this country has been headed the last several years. "Hope" for "change" will soon evaporate. Of that, I'm sure. But that's not the only reason I am suggesting that Kerry challenge Obama next time around. Not by a long shot.
Nobody in the political establishment has done more to help elevate Obama to winning the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, and the presidency itself, than Kerry. It didn't take long for Obama to forget how beneficial it was to his career when Kerry helped to put him in the national spotlight with that speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. And when Hillary Clinton was running a close race against Obama, Kerry was the one who came out early and endorsed him.
During a rally in South Carolina on January 10, 2008, Kerry said in a speech, "Martin Luther King said that the time is always right to do what is right. And I'm here in South Carolina because this is the right time to share with you that I have the confidence, and that Barack Obama can be, will be, and should be the next President of the United States."
Obama said after Kerry was done with his speech, “Well, first of all, I want to thank John Kerry. I want to thank John Kerry for his support in this campaign, but more importantly for his service to this nation. This is a man who knows how much people who love their country can change it. This is a man who sacrificed the comforts of youth to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. The young lieutenant who extended his hand to a brother in arms, pulling him from a river, as bullets screamed by. This is the hero who returned to a Washington where politicians continued a senseless war day after day, life after life, because they were too afraid to challenge the conventional thinking. Too consumed with their own careers and ambitions. This is the patriot who saw all of this and said, 'No more.' Who posed a question to our leaders that challenged the conscious of a nation. Who believed in his heart that change does not come from the halls of power, but from the power of a movement thousands of voices strong. John Kerry is a man of courage, a man of conviction, and a man whose life story, a man whose life story has given him an intimate understanding of the kind of change we need right now. This is a defining moment in our history.”
Clinton said quite a few nasty things about Obama as the primary season progressed. One of the statements that she directed towards Obama which immediately comes to mind, because it's exactly the thoughts that are going through my head right now. I'm talking about when she said, "Shame on you, Barack Obama."
Obama responded at a United Steel Workers union hall on April 13, 2008. He said, "...I'm a little disappointed when I start hearing the exact same talking points coming out of my Democratic colleague Hillary Clinton. She knows better. She knows better! Shame on her! Shame on her! She knows better!"
Obama also said, "She's running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the 2nd Amendment, she's talking like she's Annie Oakley. Hillary Clinton's out there like she's on the duck blind every Sunday. She's packin' a six shooter. C'mon. She knows better. That's some politics being played by Hillary Clinton. I want to see that picture of her out there in the duck blinds. Haha. Ya know, c'mon. When Hillary Clinton says I'm out of touch, I just have to remind people of the track record."
Speaking of track records, Obama surely has one with his voting record while in the United States Senate. It's not quite what many of his liberal supporters might think it to be. Did you know that in 2006, Kerry introduced amendment 4442 to Senate bill 2766 which stated, "Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation with the Secretary of State, submit to Congress a report that sets forth the strategy for the redeployment of United States forces from Iraq by July 1, 2007."
Kerry's proposed amendment went down in defeat. A lot of Obama's supporters think of him as an anti-war candidate, but the man they supported voted against an amendment that would have begun pulling troops out of Iraq.
Prior to voting against the proposed legislation, Obama said during a floor statement, "...I would like nothing more than to support the Kerry Amendment; to bring our brave troops home on a date certain, and spare the American people more pain, suffering, and sorrow. But having visited Iraq, I'm also acutely aware that a precipitous withdrawal of our troops, driven by Congressional edict rather than the realities on the ground, will not undo the mistakes made by this Administration. It could compound them. It could compound them by plunging Iraq into an even deeper and, perhaps, irreparable crisis."
As tempted as I am to go on with this history lesson, I want to get back to the subject at hand. Kerry did a lot more to help Obama than was deserved. Not only was he not Obama's running mate in the recent election, but he also got passed over for the Secretary of State cabinet position in favor of Clinton.
What more needs to be said? Only one thing comes to mind. To quote our next Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, "Shame on you, Barack Obama!"