- BOSTON - The millionaires
are dancing now. The balloons are falling on John Kerry, John Edwards and
their nuclear families.
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- They're playing "Johnnie B. Goode" over the
loudspeakers. Democrats are hopping up and down like JFK never went to
Dallas; like Bill Clinton didn't blow it for us; like there's a chance
to bring the boys home alive; like America can crawl out of Dick Cheney's
bunker and look at the sun again.
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- But has Johnnie Kerry been good so far?
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- He told us tonight about some poor bastard in Ohio whose
job evaporated when his company unbolted the equipment and sent it south.
Hey, Johnnie, didn't you vote for NAFTA?
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- I applauded when he said the White House should stop
treating teachers and school kids like fugitives from justice and help
them out. But, Johnnie, didn't you vote for George Bush's "No Child's
Behind Left" assault on public education?
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- Then there was that little story meant to show us all
he is a Man for All Seasons, above party politics. "I broke with many
in my own party," he said, "to vote for a balanced budget, because
I thought it was the right thing to do." No, John, it wasn't. It was
craven political cowardice, going with the anti-government hysteria that
put a knife into the heart of the programs you cried over tonight.
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- He told us the sad story of the poor homeless guy huddled
in front of the White House. Is this the same John Kerry that voted for
Clinton's welfare "reform"? That put a five-year limit on food
stamps, making child starvation the law of the USA. At least Ronald Reagan
offered ketchup as a vegetable.
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- Kerry made good use of the cash he saved on feeding
the poor. "I fought to put a 100,000 cops on the street." Hey,
thanks, John.
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- But my absolute favorite of the night was when Kerry
told us, "Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't
make it so. As President, I will ask hard questions and demand hard evidence."
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- But, as Senator, you didn't. No questions asked: you
just closed your eyes and voted for the lie. I know it, and you sure as
hell know it.
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- And you mentioned a time or two tonight that you served
your country. Got yourself a medal for it, too. I'm sorry, but shooting
a Vietnamese teenager in the back who was defending his country doesn't
make you a hero.
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- Yesterday, my buddy Michael Moore and I held a press
conference in Boston. Some joker of a reporter asked Mr. Fahrenheit about
Kerry's gung-ho keep'm-in-Baghdad position. Michael fudged and fidgeted.
I felt bad for him as he faked the answer, "President Kerry would
not have sent us to war." But as Senator, Kerry did.
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- I've got an easier job than Michael: as a journalist
I don't have to defend any candidate. Nevertheless, I know that my Democratic
Party friends will want to ship me to Guantanamo for asking, "You
believe in Kerry, but does he believe in you?"
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- Remember, comrades, I'm only asking questions, here.
I'm sorry if the answers make you uncomfortable about your favorite rich
guy.
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- I know what you're going to say. "Isn't Bush worse?"
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- By a long shot. Asking if Kerry is as bad as Bush is
like asking if a slap in the face is as painful as a brick to the skull.
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- But don't you get tired of being slapped around by privileged
politicos on hypocrisy hyper-drive -- then having to applaud? It can't
be pleasant, no matter how many pretty balloons they drop on your head.
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- _____
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- Greg Palast will appear this Sunday on ABC TV, Channel
7 New York, at noon, with Gil Noble, "Like It Is." Noble will
preview Palast's coming film, "Bush Family Fortunes," with music
by Moby, available September 28 on DVD.
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- Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestseller,
'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy' and 'Joker's Wild: George Bush's House
of Cards' regime change deck.
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- http://www.gregpalast.com/
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