Enemy Combatant
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Kerry to Bush: F*ck You; Strong Letter to Follow
Borrowing heavily from some excellent advice by Josh Marshall over at Talking Points Memo, here's an "immediate action drill" full of soundbites that Kerry should practice, in anticipation of the next time he's asked to respond to some Bush minion's slandering of his Vietnam service (and subsequent war protests):
"You know what? I'm tired of responding to some Bush lackey's attacks on me about my Vietnam service. If George W. Bush has a problem with my service (or my opinions about the Vietnam war afterward), let's hear it from him directly.
"I think we need to pull back and see the bigger picture here, too, which is: What's the signature pattern of George W. Bush's life?
"When he faces a challenge or a tough scrape, he lets his family and friends bail him out, and fight his battles for him. You see it again and again through his failed business dealings, his legal scrapes -- even the whole matter of his ducking service in Vietnam and then getting help cleaning up his records of his spotty service in the Texas Air National Guard.
"And it's come up again and again on the campaign trail. Remember, people: George W. Bush has faced three opponents who each served in Vietnam -- Senator McCain, Vice-President Gore, and now myself -- and he's had his underlings attack the service of each one of us.
"So here we have the same pattern, repeating itself again -- no different. If the president wants to attack my war record, then he needs to stop being a coward, and hiding behind the gossipmongering of his friends, like Karen Hughes (or whoever). Be a man, George. If you've got a problem with me, then come out into the daylight and tell it to my face. In other words, put up or shut up."
