According to the records, Bush had been instructed to report to William Turnipseed, an officer in the Montgomery unit. 'Had he reported in, I would have had some recall and I do not,' Turnipseed, a retired brigadier general, told the Globe in 2000. 'I had been in Texas, done my flight training there. If we had a first lieutenant from Texas, I would have remembered.' . . . Reached in Montgomery yesterday, Turnipseed stood by his contention that Bush never reported to him. But Turnipseed added that he could not recall if he, himself, was on the base much at that time .\"

illini n milwaukee:
William, just because someone is a Democrat doesn't make them one of \"Kerry's People\". What comes out of Kerry's mouth is what matters.

CPT_Doom:
As for his speech that you quote - I am fine with people saying that Dean's 4-F status, Quayle's National Guard duty or Edwards high draft number, should not be held against them (as I read Kerry's speech, that's what he meant), but there is something entirely different about willingly accepting a commitment and then not fulfilling it. At least Quayle served his time.

Republicans maintain Mr. Kerry is every bit as liberal as Mr. Kennedy, and in most respects, Mr. Kerry's voting record puts him solidly in the liberal camp.

He has consistently voted in favor of abortion rights, even on matters where polls showed the public to be in favor of restraints. Last year, for instance, he voted against legislation that outlawed the procedure that opponents of abortion call partial-birth abortion. \"Even on the most difficult issues, we've never had to worry about John Kerry's position,\" said Kate Michelman, president of Naral Pro-Choice America.

Similarly, he has been a strong advocate of gay rights, even when most senators were on the other side. In 1996, he was one of only 14 senators who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, a law signed by President Clinton prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

At the time, Mr. Kerry said he opposed gay marriages but felt that \"this debate is fundamentally ugly, and it is fundamentally political, and it is fundamentally flawed.\"

Environmentalists also consider Mr. Kerry to be one of their most stalwart allies in politics. He took a leading role in blocking Republican energy legislation in 2002 and 2003 that would have allowed oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

\"John Kerry has one of the best environmental records in the Senate,\" said Betsy Loyless, vice president for policy of the League of Conservation Voters.

On other issues, Mr. Kerry voted for the Clinton tax increase, raising the minimum wage, stiff gun control laws, antismoking measures and a nuclear test ban treaty. He voted against the Bush tax cuts, capital punishment, the Star Wars missile defense system and the confirmations of Robert H. Bork and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.

But there are some exceptions to this liberal record. Mr. Kerry was one of the first Democrats to cosponsor the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings legislation, which was meant to lead to a balanced budget, and at various times he advocated a lower capital gains tax and the elimination of income taxes on stock dividends.

He supported President Clinton on some legislation that many liberals opposed, including the North American Free Trade Agreement and work requirements for welfare recipients. And more recently he voted for President Bush's education initiatives and the USA Patriot Act, which eliminated legal rules that might have made it more difficult to catch and prosecute terrorists. He has also spoken in favor of federal aid to religion-based charities.

sportinlife:
The Hippocratic oath to \"first do no harm\" would seem to discourage that kind of policy.

AP article
AP: Kerry Pocketed Speaking Fees


Feb 9, 3:27 AM (ET)

By JOHN SOLOMON

WASHINGTON (AP) - Back when federal lawmakers legally could be paid for speaking to outside groups, John Kerry collected more than $120,000 in fees from interests as diverse as big oil, tobacco, the liquor lobby and unions, records show.

Between 1985 and 1990, Kerry's first five years in the Senate from Massachusetts, he pocketed annual amounts slightly under the limits for speaking fees set by Congress. Unlike many colleagues, he donated a speaking fee to charity only once, according to annual financial disclosure reports reviewed by The Associated Press.

One of the companies to pay Kerry $1,000 for a speech in 1987, Miami-based Metalbanc, was later indicted, along with two executives, on charges it helped the Cali drug cartel in Colombia launder money in the United States. The charges eventually were dropped because the firm was defunct.

At the time of the 1987 speech to Metalbanc, Kerry was chairman of the Senate subcommittee that investigated drug trafficking and money laundering.[/i]

DC_guy
I will vote for Kerry and support him, but I think Dean would be a better President. Both are better than Bush right now.

bobby78751:
John Kerry DOES NOT want to roll back the itty bitty tax cut working families got -- just the tax cut for the wealthy.

MIB
the \"wealthy\" as defined by the Democrats is a 5-figure salary. What a bunch of anti-capitalist, unrealistics morons.

MIB:
Uh, yes he does. Plus, the \"wealthy\" as defined by the Democrats is a 5-figure salary. What a bunch of anti-capitalist, unrealistics morons.

gamecock:
Even the right-wing contingent on this board may make a FEW valid points on occasion but to claim that ANY Democrat considers a U.S. citizen earning $10-15,000/YEAR to be \"WEALTHY\" is absolutely absurd and a blatant misstatement of the facts!

MIB:
Uh, yes he does. Plus, the \"wealthy\" as defined by the Democrats is a 5-figure salary. What a bunch of anti-capitalist, unrealistics morons.

PhillyFan:
Hey Bluebird...

You are forgetting something way more important here kids... let's just say that the stiff gets elected. Just how is he going to repeal these taxes? Are you forgetting about the Repub Congress and Senate?

Kerry can talk till he is blue in the face about repealing taxes here and there, but unless he's got control of both houses there isnt shit he can do but throw out hot air to you guys.

Tally ho

Show me where I sais \"$10-$15K\" a year is wealthy. The Dems for yhears have believed that people making $75,000 a year are wealthy. This isn't wealthy for a single OR a married person.

Lksimcoe:
Quite easy.

Either he vetoes legislation to make the tax cuts permanent, or he uses his line item veto to veto the tax cuts for the wealthy becoming permanent.

CPT_Doom:
So, yes, MIB, as a man who makes more than $75k, I know that I am wealthy.

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU FEB 12, 2004 11:45:28 ET XXXXX

CAMPAIGN DRAMA ROCKS DEMOCRATS: KERRY FIGHTS OFF MEDIA PROBE OF RECENT ALLEGED INFIDELITY, RIVALS PREDICT RUIN

**World Exclusive**
**Must Credit the DRUDGE REPORT**

A frantic behind-the-scenes drama is unfolding around Sen. John Kerry and his quest to lockup the Democratic nomination for president, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

Intrigue surrounds a woman who recently fled the country, reportedly at the prodding of Kerry, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

A serious investigation of the woman and the nature of her relationship with Sen. John Kerry has been underway at TIME magazine, ABC NEWS, the WASHINGTON POST and the ASSOCIATED PRESS, where the woman in question once worked.

MORE

A close friend of the woman first approached a reporter late last year claiming fantastic stories -- stories that now threaten to turn the race for the presidency on its head!

In an off-the-record conversation with a dozen reporters earlier this week, General Wesley Clark plainly stated: \"Kerry will implode over an intern issue.\" [Three reporters in attendance confirm Clark made the startling comments.]

The Kerry commotion is why Howard Dean has turned increasingly aggressive against Kerry in recent days, and is the key reason why Dean reversed his decision not to drop out of the race after Wisconsin, top campaign sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

MIB:
Uh, what \"line item veto\"? The president does not have the constitutional authority of a line item veto.

Try again, but thanks for playing.

m1:
In another thread, golfer 20 posted

http://www.drudgereport.com

It's already been picked up by Fox and Boston radio. Look out...

...it's a bullshit story. Kerry had an active and public romantic life in between his first wife and Theresa. I remember reading about his \"wild\" days in the Senate somewhere. But he was single (or at worst legally separated), and darn it, being single and having sex is a good thing. And the dalliances weren't even with his interns.

Problem is, news headlines will simply say the words \"Kerry\" and \"intern\", and the Clinton association will do the rest of the dirty work. There are also some very hazy details, such as whether this is a \"new\" affair or stems from his days as an eligible Senate bachelor. Either way, I say \"who the f**k cares\".

Lksimcoe:
MIB

I thought the President had a line item veto.

If I remember my SOTU speeches, in President Clinton's last one, he talked about it as it being one of the accomplishments.

I might have mis-understood, but he talked about getting that law passed, even with a Republican Congress and Senate.

If I'm wrong, then I apologize.

As for the sarcasm. No comment.

puckman1:
Sleaze alarm please. The Repuglicans will make this probably the sleaziest Presidential election in our nations history. Count on it.Anything and everything to win.

William1865:
Now, children: Can anyone guess who is more motivated right now to smear/tarnish/attack Kerry?

MIB:
Personally, William, I'm a bit skeptical about this whole \"scandal\" anyway. I'll believe it when I see it, I guess you might say.

MIB
The president does not have the constitutional authority of a line item veto.

In early February 1861, the states of the lower South established a new government, the Confederate States of America, in Montgomery, Alabama, and drafted a constitution. Although modelled on the U.S. Constitution, this document specifically referred to slavery, state sovereignty, and God. It explicitly guaranteed slavery in the states and territories, but prohibited the international slave trade. It also limited the President to a single six-year term, gave the President a line-item veto, required a two-thirds vote of Congress to admit new states, and prohibited protective tariffs and government funding of internal improvements.