Kerry Owes America An Apology

John Kerry went too far today, effectively accusing President Bush of corruption.

In comments, caught on tape, Kerry had this exchange with union workers:

"Keep smiling," one man said to him.

Kerry responded, "Oh yeah, don't worry man. We're going to keep pounding, let me tell you -- we're just beginning to fight here. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group of people I've ever seen."

Shame on John Kerry! Kerry should be required to support the slanderous charges with detailed facts or apologize to President Bush and the country. What evidence does John Kerry have of corruption or lying by President Bush? John Kerry has no more evidence to support his assertion of corruption and lying than Terry McAuliffe had to support his outrageous allegations that President Bush was AWOL, Al Gore had to support his outlandish charge that President Bush "betrayed" the nation or Howard Dean's "speculation" that President Bush was warned about the 9-11 attacks.

Why can't John Kerry and other Democrats stand up and debate policies based on reason and facts? Instead of resorting to slanderous name calling, Kerry ought to try to engage President Bush in a reasoned discussion about the merits of particular policies. Why is that too much to ask?

Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel chided Kerry for breaking his promise to run a clean campaign, and faulted Democrats for "harsh, angry (and) bitter" comments:

"Throughout the primary process and obviously now, Democrats have used some of the most harsh, angry, bitter rhetoric that we have seen in our country's history," Stanzel said.

"As always, we indicated that we want this to be about the issues," he added.

Stanzel said that on the night of March 3, when Kerry effectively clinched the nomination, Bush called Kerry and said he looked forward to a spirited race. Kerry replied that he hoped the campaign would stick to the issues but, Stanzel said, "It doesn't seem to me that Senator Kerry is following that statement."

Fox News reported that Bush-Cheney campaign chairman Marc Racicot called for Kerry to apologize:

"Senator Kerry's statement today in Illinois was unbecoming of a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America, and tonight we call on Senator Kerry to apologize to the American people for this negative attack," Racicot said in a statement. "On the day that Senator Kerry emerged as his party's presumptive nominee, the president called to congratulate him. That goodwill gesture has been met by attacks and false statements."

According to the Washington Post, Kerry shows no remorse for slandering president Bush:

Kerry campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the Democratic candidate had no regrets about his characterizations of the opposition. "Not at all," she said.

If this election is to be a meaningful debate about the conduct of the war against terrorism and other important issues, the outrageous and slanderous name calling must stop. Reasoned debate requires a modicum of decorum. Accusing a sitting president of corruption and lying, without any supporting evidence, is not the sort of "debate" I expect from a former attorney general who is a U.S. Senator and wants to be president.

UPDATE: At Captain's Quarters, Captain Ed is all over this story with several posts. Ed highlights the biased way the Associated Press tried to spin the story in a way that was favorable to Kerry.

Will Collier at Vodka Pundit asks what will it take before a major, non-conservative media figure and/or outlet describes Kerry's charges as "mean" or "nasty."

Dr.dna at the Voodoo Lounge asks how long will Kerry get away with making comments such as these and answers that its not that long till November.

At annika's journal, Annika is disgusted with Kerry.

Comments

[Nate O.]

Bush did nothing wrong to loose sight of what was right for the country. I just watch Michael Moores documentary on what should be considered "slander" on Bush. What a shitty movie that was. I am happy I didn't have to pay any money to watch it. The worst part was when they showed Bush sitting in that class room in shock and time passed by and he did nothing. Lets think what other Americans did. I know that my class stopped and everyone in the hall came into my class room and looked on in awe. No one had a clue about what to do. Who would have known that was going to happen. Even after all of the terrorism alerts got put in place we will never know when another strike will happen. I bet even if they had that terror alert scale they would have no way of knowing what would happen. Kerry has done nothing but slame bush into the ground. Bush being the bigger man is taking it in strides. If Kerry thinks the only way he can win this election by pointing the blame at Bush, for 9/11, then Kerry is the smaller man. Kerry has effectivly done nothing for America; Bush, after the attacks, created 1.7 million jobs, which will help bring America out of recession.
I bet Kerry will not accomplish as much as Bush, if Kerry makes it to the white house.
Bush is the man with the plan
Bush '04, all those Kerry lovers should leave. There is no need for this Bush Racism.

[mani Rahbari]

We do not want another Jimmy Carter who brought terrorism to this world by taking Shah of Iran out and replacing him with a terrorists.
Bush is the man this world needs. I am sure he will do lot more than he has done during the past 4 years. May God bless him always.