Why is John Kerry so villified by those on the right?

Question

He served two tours of duty in Vietnam. I served one. Bush served none. He was on a ship in enemy waters. That is one. He served on a swift boat. That is two. Did he earn all his medals? Who knows. Who cares? One of those swift boat assassins was an attorney from Portland, Oregon( I live near there) who later admitted to having an affair with a fellow employee and lying about it. It would have cost him his job. Kerry didn't lie. He may have embellished, but he didn't lie. About Iraq and why we are there? Bush did lie. Where is the outrage? Most well positioned and well off Republicans have never served. Most of who did serve were from the bottom of the economic curve.

ret roch cop: Who in the hell did you serve with then? The Hiltons and theRockefellers? I was a young Marine sergeant who served with blacks, Chicanos and whites from deep in the south who had never had three meals a day or shoes.

Answer 1

I am a Vietnam veteran that knows from first hand experience that Kerry spoke the truth. I also was awarded a medal or two. They don't come cheap. Casting dispersion on how Kerry earned his medal casts dispersions on the entire system on how those medals are awarded. It is an affront to every veteran that served in every war. The same people that were vilifying Kerry also vilified McCain. Perhaps it is because they have no idea of what it is like to fight a war and think that supporting the troops means putting some made in China magnetic yellow ribbon on their car.

Answer 2

Kerry was in Vietnam? Really? I didn't know, except he only told us every time he opened his mouth. As much as he hated and publicly opposed that war, he never stopped bragging about it. Strike one.

John Kerry is "villified" as you put it, because he would tell anyone whatever they wanted to hear. He had no core convictions, and if asked about any issue, his answer was "I have a plan......," but he would never actually have a plan, just a slogan. Strike two.

My personal beef with the man is that he had no record of leadership, despite being in the Senate for nearly 20 years.

The Presidency is about Leadership. You'd think with 20 years in the Senate, he'd be able to crow about how he wrote some important piece of legislation and got it passed. What I call "The Kerry Bill" or "The Kerry Law." No such piece of legislation exists. Every hear of McCain-Feingold? Exactly!

Did Kerry sponsor any ground breaking reform or program, and fought for it's passage into law?

The answer is no. All he did in the Senate was lead a few committees early on, which was a good start, and then he wrote a few unimportant pieces of legislation, like commerorating janitors or some such nonesense, and then vote yes or no on things. BFD, my 82 year old grandma could do that. Strike Three. Yer out a there!

Other than his brief stint as a swift boat captain, 40 years ago, he had no record of leadership. That is why I voted for Bush in 2004. I didn't believe Kerry had the leadership ability during these troubled times, the ability to make tough decisions to do what was right, and I know Bush did. I'm not saying Bush has done a good job in his second term, because he hasn't. But I knew he was capable of it.

Answer 3

Nice that you can just make these snap judgements and lump a group of people together like that.

About Kerry and his medals, I care. I also served and they have me two of those Purple Hearts and truthfully, I don't think I deserved them. Oh, I got shot twice but it wasn't like I was doing anything any more brave than the men around me when it happened. I'll tell you why this matters:

First he used them to commit an act of outright treason against his own Country. He met with representatives of the North Vietnamese Government while he was supposedly a serving member of the armed forces. THAT'S TREASON. Then he claimed that he threw his medals over the White House wall. THAT WAS A LIE. He later admitted that he threw somebody else's medals. Then he used them to bolster his position as a candidate. I don't know how when he did nothing but disgrace them from the minute he got them so YES, it does matter that he lied.

So what if one of the Swift Boaters had an affair? That's supposedly OK with you guys when Clinton did it.

Bush lied about Iraq? Hmmm seems that, so did Kerry, Dean, Pelosi, Clinton, other Clinton, Berger, Reid and a whole lot more on the left so why does it only count for Bush?

Here's a clue: They all had the same information!!!!!!!

Bottom of the economic curve? I take umberage at that remark because it's crass and opinionated.

Answer 4

It is simply because he looks like the love child of Gomer Pyle and Herman Munster.
I wasn't in The 'Nam. Thailand was close enough, though.
I also got shot at by Kadafi/Qaddifi/however you spell it. That was scary as it was unexpected.
I don't make fun of Dubya since he is still the man. When he leaves office though... (Well, maybe a little bit.)
But Clinton has always been fair game. He was our only president without some military experience.

Dude - What is umberage? Umbrage? What do you do with all those tree branches?

Answer 5

I don't know about being "villainous", but John Kerry's uselessness has nothing to do with Bush's credentials. Or in other words, Kerry would be equally worthless had Bush never existed...

Kerry's political over-calculations leave him still pondering issues that all others have either addressed or sidestepped...

Proof of this assertion: His ineptness against a beleaguered Bush in the 2004 presidential election.

Answer 6

The comment Kerry made that joining the military was a mistake ( the infamous botched joke) turned me off from ever voting for him. I come from 7 generations of Democrats....

Its one thing to criticize the President, as ALL of us have the right to do, but Kerry was WOEFULLY inadequate in coming up with any alternatives.

That makes him a hypocrite.. and THAT is what put a bullseye on his forehead as far as conservative are concerned....

Answer 7

The right does not hate patriots.... they are more red white and blue than you could imagine. The reason John Kerry is so unliked, because he is such a sarcastic, egotistical, married for money phoney, and proves it everytime he opens his mouth. He tried to come off as an intellectual, but that didn't work. He tried to be a comedian, and blew the joke to the expense and insult of every inlisted person. He whines in the the Senate.... Why would ANYONE like this guy?

Answer 8

Kerry was vilified because the minute he set foot on American shores with his "documentary" he started attacking the American soldiers in Viet Nam with lies and slander. He teamed up with anti war demonstarters who claimed to be war veterans but were later proved to never have been in Viet Nam or even out of the country.

It didn't matter to Kerry who he teamed up with, as long they spouted of anti-American rhetoric. Then, he and the left went on an all offensive against the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and vilified them for questioning his time in Viet Nam. Many people on the left still hate them for telling their side of the story.

Added to that his famous "I was for it, before I was against it" statement just cemented his image as a flip flopper.

Answer 9

It was clear from the outset that the right wing could not attack Kerry on his qualifications, history or stands on issues, so they created a false basis upon which to smear him. Since the media has long since given up in its duty to investigate and report the truth, the claims were able to do their job.

Isn't it interesting to compare how Clinton, while running against WWII heroes, was attacked by the right as a draft dodger, but when Bush ran against men who served honorably in Viet Nam, the right didn't consider that to be important?

Answer 10

Sorry dude.......Im a disgruntled republican that will vote democrat this time around....but if you put Kerry on the ticket I'll push me back to the other party......if I ever see the video of him testifying in front of congress about Vietnam again.....I'll puke