Kennedy Obssess Over Nixon/Vietnam
From My Way News (AP):Iraq has become "George Bush's Vietnam," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said Monday, calling the president deceitful and for the first time comparing him to former President Nixon, who resigned in disgrace.
Saying that truth has become the biggest casualty of the Bush administration, Kennedy said Bush misled the public about the war, the economy, health care and education, eroding the nation's reputation at home and abroad.
"As a result, this president has now created the largest credibility gap since Richard Nixon," Kennedy said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a think tank. "He has broken the basic bond of trust with the American people."
Terry Holt, a spokesman for the Bush campaign, called Kennedy a "hatchet man" for John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator who is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
"I don't think Kerry and Kennedy understand that this is a nation at war," said Holt. "Kerry and Kennedy act as if the war on terror is more akin to crime fighting, and that's just fundamentally out of touch with the reality we face."
Matt's Chat
As much as Republicans need to get over Clinton, liberals REALLY need to get over Nixon. This obssession is dangerous. Let me point out a few facts about the presidential implications of Vietnam: Kennedy (D) started the war; Johnson (D) lost the war; and Nixon (R) ended the war. That's in the history books, you can look it up Teddy Boy, if you like...If Vietnam was fought like Iraq, quagmire wouldn't even be in the dictionary today. And that is no slight against the brave men and women who served in Vietnam. The politicians lost that war, not our soldiers. No military force has ever gone farther, faster and with as few casualties as Operation Iraqi Freedom. The casualty rate, even at this point, is close to the average murder rate in New York and/or Chicago.
Teddy Boy, you need to put the drink down now...really...this isn't good for you.
Update
Tim Perry NAILS IT...He must be kidding, right? Iraq is not even George Bush's Chappaquiddick! This charge is just John Kerry trying to attack President Bush via surrogates. The level of intellectual dishonesty running rampant in this debate is reaching staggering levels.Atta boy, Tim...
If Ted Kennedy wants to argue credibility over Iraq, let's see him explain this quote:
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." -- Ted Kennedy, September 27, 2002
Mark's Remarks
Tim has it dead on....Intellectual dishonesty is at an all time high on the Left.....I mean, when the unemployment rate is 5.6% and job growth is relatively even keeled, let's gripe about the jobs lost and ignore the fact that unemployment is still just 5.6%, a lower average than the 70s, 80s, or 90s. Then, when we have a massive job creation like this past month (300,000+), let's then turn to the umemployment rate, which went up A TENTH OF A PERCENT(!!!!!!) because more people jumped back into the searching workforce or changed positions. Come on, which is it? Unemployment rate or job growth? Which is it, preemption stops terror (the whole liberal flip flop over whether preempting Afghanistan vs. the liberal cries against Iraq) or it does not?
The Left wants it both ways, and the Partisan Press is letting them get away with it. We cannot continue to let this happen. Americans need to stand up to this ridiculous, underhanded smear from the Left. It has gone on too long, and it must be stood up against.
And, Mr. Kennedy, what would you know about Vietnam? You were so drunk during the time, that you a) engaged in a questionable matter in Chappaquitick that ended with the death of a campaign worker, b) engaged in a playboy lifestyle cheating on your then wife, and c) were for the war before you turned against it.
Mr. Kennedy, you are a shame to your family name and to your office. You have engaged in some of the worst namecalling and smear that has ever been done. You have tried your best to talk down the economy, to tear away at the pride and morale of our troops, and for what? Just so your buddy can win the White House and you can possibly (though not likely with your sad track record) gain back some political and personal respect? Is it worth soldiers getting killed as you posture, Mr. Kennedy? Is it worth justice being grounded to a halt as you and your ilk hold up judicial appointments? How much are you going to make the American people feel like crap and suffer just so you can gain power? Is that what it is about for the Left? Is it just about power and not about service? Signs point to yes.
And an additional point about Vietnam--we were winning the war until 1968....What happened then? Well, the Tet Offensive, which your boy Johnson didn't listen to the warnings about an offensive, and the politicians did not respond to good enough, and your buddy Walt Cronkite decided that a week of offensive meant we shouldn't be over there, and opportunists like John Kerry decided to take false testimony by soldiers who weren't even in Vietnam to smear the troops serving bravely. And, again, who was in power? At the time, Democrats. Who started the War? Again, Democrats. So, bringing this sad fiasco up, Mr. Kennedy, only proves the axiom that since the end of WWII, Democrats have no clue on national security.
