Message to John Kerry: All You Have to do is Stand up to Take a Stand -- Filibuster Alito.
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
John Kerry would have made a good and decent President, but he was a lousy candidate: he listened to the greedy Democratic consultants who always confuse losing and wimpiness with some vague concept of "being moderate."
What the Dems have failed to understand in recent years -- and are once again evidencing by their failure to filibuster Alito -- is that you win by winning. It's that simple.
Americans respect winners. Winning changes perceptions in and of itself. You can't be perceived as strong on national security, when you don't have the guts to defend yourself from attacks that you don't have any guts.
That's what happened to John Kerry when he let the Barbary Pirate hit men of the Bush Campaign, the treacherous "Swift Boat Liars," define him as a liar and a coward -- when they were supporting a ticket composed of two chickenhawks who worked mighty damn hard to successfully evade service in Vietnam.
The list of courageous veterans that the Bush character assassination squad has attacked is long, including Max Cleland, Al Gore, John McCain, John Kerry and John Murtha -- their latest victim.
It took James Webb, a Republican war hero and Secretary of the Navy under Reagan, to recently pen a scathing attack on the permanent Bush campaign against war heroes who oppose any of their policies. Webb was filled with outrage over such a cowardly tactic.
Many of us in the progressive journalism field came to the defense of John Kerry for the rightful recognition he deserved for his valiant service in Vietnam. We defended him at a time when he barely defended himself. He didn't fight back against the Bush slander early enough or hard enough. But we were there for him.
Now, John Kerry is contemplating a second run for the Presidency. He has strategically criticized the Bush Administration and worked on building up a list of supporters and contributors, employing, among other tools, an aggressive Internet strategy.
Most recently, he posted a "petition" that asked people to support him in getting other senators to oppose Alito. The petition concludes, "I am honored to join John Kerry by putting my name in the Congressional Record against Judge Alito. I call on you to do the same with your vote."
So here's the Kerry trade-off, you give him your name and e-mail address and it is added to his list of potential campaign contributors and supporters. In return, Kerry votes "No" against Alito (as if a Democratic Senator from Massachusetts could get away with voting "Yes"), knowing that it doesn't matter because there are 55 Republicans and they will all vote for Alito, unless there is a defector or two. The petition is meaningless, except as a way for Kerry to grow his campaign list. He knows that; we know that.
By now, it shouldn't be James Webb, a Bush Administration official, who should be expressing the outrage we all feel. It should be Kerry. He was vilified, slandered, and filleted by the Bush campaign thugs, and he is still pretending it is of value to lose, as long as you get a high vote count.
Meanwhile, the Busheviks are laughing all the way to the coronation. They rightfully disdain and deride "symbolic votes." They only are interested in victories. And they will get Sam Alito on the Supreme Court, because the Dems don't have the guts to filibuster him.
After awhile, people stop voting for Democrats for national office because they simply don't fight hard enough. And people don't define leadership by empty rhetoric that's not backed up by action and victories.
It's amazing that we've come so far that Sandra Day O'Connor, who was the pivotal vote in stealing the election from Al Gore in 2000, is considered the gold standard of moderation. It's amazing that the John Kerrys of the world are pretending to lead, when all they are doing is collecting donor prospects for a run at the White House.
What good is your name in the Congressional Record when you have a Supreme Court that supports an incompetent, law-breaking Caesar with unaccountable power in the White House?
John Kerry should stop with his meaningless petitions and do what he won't do because he doesn't have the passion to stand up for democracy.
He should chuck his campaign list ruse, rise to the Senate floor and begin a filibuster. He should stand up for democracy and the Constitution and stop his low-risk posturing.
We stood behind John Kerry even when he wouldn't stand up for himself.
The least he could do is rise from his Senate chair and begin the fight to restore our Constitutional system of checks and balances, beginning with the words: "This attack on our Constitution will not stand. Ladies and gentleman, I am not going to stop speaking until we get a Supreme Court nominee from the White House who will uphold our Constitution, our checks and balances, and apply the law to every citizen of America, even the President of the United States."
All you have to do is stand up to take a stand, John Kerry.
We don't need any ineffective petitions. We need to see the man who fought courageously in Vietnam, and then came back home to risk everything to ask, "who will be the last man to die for a mistake?"
Now we ask you this, John Kerry: Who will be the leader that stands up for the Constitution and leads 40 more senators to sustain a filibuster until we stop the betrayal of the American Revolution?
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL