Kerry Dismisses Critics of Time That He Took Off Campaigning

[kskiska]

(snip)

Mr. Kerry became combative when told that some conservatives were criticizing him for being a Roman Catholic who supported policies, like abortion rights and same-sex unions, that are at odds with Catholic teaching.

"Who are they?" he demanded of his questioner. "Name them. Are they the same legislators who vote for the death penalty, which is in contravention of Catholic teaching?"

He added: "I'm not a church spokesman. I'm a legislator running for president. My oath is to uphold the Constitution of the United States in my public life. My oath privately between me and God was defined in the Catholic church by Pius XXIII and Pope Paul VI in the Vatican II, which allows for freedom of conscience for Catholics with respect to these choices, and that is exactly where I am. And it is separate. Our constitution separates church and state, and they should be reminded of that."

Mr. Kerry apparently meant John XXIII, as there is no Pius XXIII.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/06/national/06KERR.html?ex=1081828800&en=2754f66484bc4e12&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[grytpype]

1. Mr. Kerry apparently meant John XXIII, as there is no Pius XXIII.

Who is this secret Pope to whom Kerry has sworn allegience? Hmmmm?

[yardwork]

2. I like his tone. Combative is good!

Edited to add:

Let's imagine that reporters started correcting every little misspeak and error that Chimpy makes while speaking casually with reporters.

Oops. Chimpy doesn't speak casually with reporters. They are to maintain a proper distance and call him "Mr. President."

Let's have the reporters start listing every little error that Chimpy makes during his scripted speeches. The list of errors and errata at the bottom of each press report would be longer than the speeches!

[KissMyAsscroft]

3. Good Response..

He should also point out that the Pope condemned the Iraq War.

[Skip Intro]

4. "Our constitution separates church and state - "

"...and they should be reminded of that."

Amen. Hallelujah.

[PartyPooper]

5. At least John Kerry is a real Christian and not a fake Xtian like Junior!

Junior wants a theocracy with "faith-based" programs for tax-exempt churches who preach fundamentalism and conservatism. What horseshit!

[yardwork]

9. Where does Chimpy go to church, again?

Has anyone ever seen Chimpy and Pickles go to church on Sunday?

I mean, I never go to church, but then I'm not running a theocracy, either.

Seems weird to have the leader of a theocracy never attend church. Maybe Chimpy is founding his own church?

[Broadslidin]

6. The conservative Narcissists can stick it...!

>*<

[Catherine Vincent]

7. Good for you Kerry!

Btw, I thought he was jewish?

[JI7]

8. his grandfather was jewish

the family on kerry's father's side was jewish. but kerry didn't find out until later in life. his grandfather changed his name from kohn to kerry to avoid discrimination when he immigrated to america. i'm not sure how much kerry's own father knew abou this father's jewish background, but john kerry himself was raised catholic.

[leftistagitator]

10. His father converted

His family fled the holocaust

[Democat]

11. The church was against the Iraq war - tell it to the media!

Don't let the right wingers get away with this bullshit!

[kera]

13. just a remainder

Kerry voted for the war after a forceful speech to support his vote and has not changed his mind on the tragedy he is still standing for more troops and god knows what he will do if elected .. it is to bad that so few are in power the like Kennedy and kuccinich those are men of principles and conscience, ...at least it makes me feel hopeful that such leaders still exist in this country

[Dr Fate]

16. Kerry's response was pefect ...

...just to steer us back on topic- Kery's response was appropriate- right?

[Catch22Dem]

21. Wow, a lot of facts are out of whack there

First of all, Kennedy sent advisors into Vietnam.

Second, the resolution Kerry voted for was not what Bush carried out.

Third, if you're a Kucinich supporter, get the spelling right.

[Sunny_Sunshine]

24. Thank goodness there is no spelling test at the polls

I'd never be able to vote for Dennis (which I did). I'd be stuck voting for those I can spell which would have been Dean or Kerry. Nice, simple names.

[prodigal_green]

12. Nice response

Thank you very much Mr. Next President. Besides, didn't people fear that Kennedy would be TOO close to the Catholic church?

That weekend of KKK and American Nazi programming on the History Channel taught me a lot about the religious right's attitude toward Catholics, which makes me weirdly proud to have been raised one.

[w4rma]

14. Fantastic response. (nt)

[Dr Fate]

15. I like his response...

...it's really what the average person wants to hear too- most people really do not want a particular religion guiding policy...

[Merlin]

17. Well, at least I feel I've been heard and he's aware of the problem.

I still disagree completely with his strategy of allowing Bush to define him first with the still ongoing barrage of ads.

Kerry says: "I'll put out a positive message, define myself to people — there's plenty of time here." Sure, John, but it's going to be twice as tough now to win over those all important undecideds who don't follow the news but do vote.

Anyhow, I'm glad to see he's back in the swing of things.

[JI7]

18. he doesn't have as much money as bush does

if he did it would be much easier and he could just run his own ads to counter where bush is attacking him. but he is limited so can run fewer ads in fewer places. and the people who fall for them are those who don't always watch news but some entertainment shows so they aren't all that informed. in fact even if they watch news like fox or cnn they are likely to be uninformed unless they check other sources also. what's helping kerry for now is that bush himself has been a failure , and not just a failure but a total mess so bush isn't all that credible to many. which could help explain bush still not with a big lead considering all the money he spend going after kerry and the free media he and cheney and others get to attack kerry.

[TahitiNut]

26. He also doesn't have a media that quietly cleans up his misstatements.

If Dim Son misspeaks, the media normally revises it and cleans it up without comment, and the clean-up is a major task. When Kerry misspeaks, they dedicate a separate paragraph to it.

The media has been eagerly broadcasting Bush/Cheney political speeches given under the guise of 'official' speeches, given at taxpayer expense. There has never before been an administration that has spent more time campaigning and fund-raising during their entire term in office, a huge portion of which is done at taxpayer expense, follwed by excessive "vacation" time, again at taxpayer expense.

[sandnsea]

19. Ah, primacy of conscience

I was wondering if John would go there. Good for him. Many Catholics will be shocked to discover they have a right to freely exercise reason in exploring their faith and develop their conscience accordingly.

I guess JK's gonna' do some Catechism out on the campaign trail too. :D This is going to be a WILD campaign!

[mcar]

20. Finally hearing a Catholic bring up

Repubs love of the death penalty! His response was wonderful, thoughtful and shows a knowledge of the Catholic church that most practicing Catholics do not have.

Go Kerry!

[meow2u3]

23. I agree--it's about time!

It's time someone outed the right-wing cafeteria Catholics as the hypocrites they are!

But then again, as a true Red Dog Democrat, I oppose both abortion and the death penalty, and for the same reason: they kill off the poor.

[Malva Zebrina]

22. filthy swine--they have nothing else to do but attack someone's religion

Kerry should not say any more. He answered firmly, established his boundaries, and it should end there. Antonin Scalia, a Catholic, has come out strongly in favor of the death penalty.

[kskiska]

25. How low can these people go?

They're actively trying to deny a man his faith, to turn his church against him. They're the same family values people who would have liked nothing better than for Hillary to divorce her husband. It's pretty ugly watching the Freeps on the subject of Kerry receiving communion. I'm not religious myself, BTW.

[rocktivity]

27. Stay the course, Kerry!

The media is leaning on you becuase they need a weapon of mass distraction away from Bush and troubles, nothing more. Rest up your shoulder, ponder over your running mate, ignore the polls--let the media AND the Bush campaign stew!

:headbang:
rocknation