Dole defends attack on Kerry's military record as 'political hardball'

[Democat]

Bob Dole, a prominent Republican and former presidential candidate, defended his criticism of White House hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites)'s war record as "political hardball," saying he had merely "tweaked" the Democratic candidate.

Dole said Kerry called him to express "disappointment" over his comments Sunday that the Massachusetts senator had won "three Purple Hearts and never bled that I know of. I mean, they're all superficial wounds."

"There's respect there," Dole said Monady. "We were in the Senate together. But we're talking about the presidential race, and I tweaked him a little on the Purple Hearts."

"I just wanted him to get off Bush's back and have his people get off Bush's back," Dole said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1521&e=18&u=/afp/us_vote_kerry_veterans

What the hell is he talking about? He wanted Kerry to get off Bush's back? How about Bush get off of America's back and stop funding smear campaigns against U.S. war veterans.

What an ass.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. "Political hardball"? Feh.

Mean, creepy old Bobdole can't make anything hard without Viagra.

[Born Free]

9. front man for bush

bush is afraid to stand up, he knows people will see his own military record as a sign of his cowardice, so he hides behind anyone he can.
He must be smoked out of hiding...let him stand up for himself and show the American people what kind of character he really has.

[TahitiNut]

58. It's "political COWARDICE," pure and simple!!

Hiding behind lies and deceit and running from the truth is COWARDICE. There is absolutely no virtue whatsoever in spreading falsehoods. None. There is nothing 'tough,' 'brave,' or 'skilled,' about throwing shit. Shit isn't even mud. Neither shit nor mud are 'hard.'

Bob Dole has demonstrated political cowardice. Nothing else.

[still_one]

2. Because of Viagra the blood has moved from his brain to his dick

[Journeyman]

41. The human male is given two heads to think with. . .

but only blood enough for one at a time.

[Skidmore]

51. Hahahaha...you owe me another cup of coffe and

a clean computer screen!!!

Too funny--but true!!!

[Kierkegaard]

84. But

what happens if you take Viagra and you are a dick? Nothing?

[Journeyman]

87. It improves your posture.

n/t

[LiberalFighter]

90. Are you sure he has one??

What do I mean?

A. Are you sure he has a dick?

B. Are you sure he has a brain?

C. Are you sure he has a dick or a brain?

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Dole is a pathetic , senile, bitter rw bastard

His kind has made the USA an inequitable rich/vs/poor country. For an ass like this to chime in must mean that chimp is in deep, and this is all they have/

[Judi Lynn]

49. They're running out of Republican big names to defend him.

Whom ELSE can they call to pick up the fight for Henry Kissinger, f'r chrissakes?

Gerald Ford? No one pays any attention to _{Newt Gingrich,} of course. How about _{G. Gordon Liddy?}

Too bad General Curtis LeMay is dead. He's their kind of guy. (General Jack D. Ripper was created to represent him in Dr. Strangelove.)


As the poster said above, it's time to SMOKE him out. (Get him on the run!)

[LiberalFighter]

91. He is continuing his '96 campaign...

being mean-spirited as always.

[Craig Roberts]

4. But...

I ask the same question but in a different sense. What the hell is he talking about? Is he saying he's not really questioning Kerry's service? He's just "playing hardball" and trying to "tweak" Kerry? What the hell does that mean?

So...are we to understand we shouldn't take his comments too seriously because he's just playing a political game? Or...

I swear these guys are losing their minds. Nobody ever questioned Dole's service or his sacrifice. He was the last person I expected to join in this crap. Is he now feeling guilty? What the hell?

[Philostopher]

7. He means the truth and Kerry's honor mean nothing now

that he's running against one of Dole's fellow Republicans. Why mince words? It doesn't matter if he lies about Kerry -- all's fair in love and war, right? And if you can't make love, buy Viagra. And even if it isn't really a war, if Kerry's not a Republican, f*ck him -- lie about him. He's no longer a real human being, now that the campaign is on.

They're all lizards, I swear. Reptiles. I just wait for Dole to reach out and straighten his hair with his blue, forked tongue.

[Old and In the Way]

14. Exactly!

Republican First, Personal Greed Second, American Third.

Sad that the elder statesman of their Party will lie to support Bush. Probably had IOU's that the BFEE called in.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. Of course

GOP stands for Greedy Old Pigs

[jdj]

65. or GOP=Gossip, Obfuscation, Propaganda. n/t

[Joe Turner]

22. If I may, being a former Repug

It's Personal Greed First, Republican Second, American Third.

I know these greedy bastards all too well. They'd sell their mother for a quick buck.

[Old and In the Way]

25. Glad to have you onboard!

Who am I to argue with former Republican? :-)

Can I ask what straw broke your back?

[Joe Turner]

96. Can I ask what straw broke your back?

Sorry for the late reply.

My departure from the GOP was not really a case of the proverbial last straw but rather a slow and growing awareness that the GOP, particularly under this Evil Regime, simply does not care a whit for everyday Americans. It's all about Money, Money, Money and to hell with anything else.

And I have to say that I've been in denial for quite some time. Though I first broke ranks with the Republican Party in 1992 by voting for Clinton (I never did trust the Bush Family) I remained naive about the neo-con and corporate influence that CONTROLS the party. I have no such illusions today.

It's quite unfortunate that Party activists in both parties often say each election that this is the "most important" election in our lifetime. It's unfortunate because in THIS CASE it really is the most important election.

George Bush is the most dangerous president this country has ever had. I see nothing but great tragedy for this country if this Oil Plundering, War Mongering Traitorous Regime remains in power.

[yardwork]

27. Welcome to DU!

Thank you for sharing your perspective.

[Cha]

30. We know that but, thanks!

Welcome to the light!

[progressivebydesign]

64. Welcome! You nailed it!

That is how I've always understood the GOP to be. The republicans I know talk FIRST AND FOREMOST about the money side of politics. THEIR tax cuts, etc. Sadly.. they don't realize, that unless they are multi-millionaires (which few of the ones I've met are), the policies of the GOP are disastrous to everyone else's bottom line. The economy does better under the Democrats... but the republicans have people fooled into believing that they get more from them. Silly.

[Joe Turner]

97. Thanks all for your kind welcome...

Actually the more I think of it regarding the below, "American" would not even make the GOP Robber Barrons' list. They don't care about America. It's only what they can "squeeze" out of America and Americans to line their deep pockets.

"It's Personal Greed First, Republican Second, American Third."

[LiberalFighter]

92. He is not an elder statesman!!

An elder statesman would be more honorable than Dole has ever been.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Oh, yeah, he was just kidding.

What happened is that about a million people wrote and called him and told him he was a dishonorable old fuck for dissing a fellow veteran's service, and now he's trying to backtrack by claiming it was just politics. And what I just can't figure out is why these asswads are so ready to slime a guy who served his country honorably and courageously in combat in order to advance the political career of somebody who didn't.

[jdj]

66. IOW, Bob Dole confesses "I am completely full of shit."

Wow, this machine is eating every formerly honorable Repuke for lunch. It's like the the plant in Little Shop of Horrors. Maybe the Movie would be called "Little GOP of Horrors" and the plant is on Bush's desk in the oval office, and it keeps going "feed me...".

In goes McCain, then Dole..wonder who is next?

p.s. This IS pathetic, to backpedal on a lie, and then fully admit to a) backpedaling, and b)lying. Tragic. I hate to say this, but I'd have respected it more if he'd stood his ground. Now he looks even more spineless.

[Leilani]

40. This comes as no surprise

Dole {tweaked} Wes Clark on Larry King during the primaries. He made Clark look like he was putting down Kerry for being of lower rank.

The press talked about it for days, & laughed at Clark.

Today, Dole said, {But I sided with Kerry against Wes Clark!}

So it was OK to slime Clark during the primaries, & now OK to slime Kerry in the general election.

A nasty hatchet man.

Does anyone have a contact number or E-Mail for Dole? I would love to send him my opinion.

[poliguru]

62. Actually, somebody did question Dole's record

That somebody was the senior Bush. And Dole was pissed. Funny when you turn into the person you hate.

[markses]

5. Dole is a political SLIMEBALL

And...oh...by the way...a fucking LOSER! He might remember when Bill Clinton handed him his corrupt ass back in 96. A tremendous smackdown that he's probably still not over. Fucking loser.

[nolajazz]

6. Who is he kidding?!! Who should get off whose back?

It's the Bush's smearing campaign that should get off Kerry's back!

[tuvor]

8. So dole was actually saying that

what he said, he didn't really mean it in the way it came out? That he was only playing a game? He was only bugging Kerry to lay off someone who can't/won't fight his own battles?

You just KNOW that if Wesley Clark, your next Secretary of State, tried something similar, he'd be SO dumped on by the media. And that the repubs would make a huuuuuuuge deal out of it.

dole is a slimy bastard.

[Cha]

31. American politics are a just a little too

creepy this year, eh?

Your point is good about dole trying to fight dubya's battles for him.

The old man on viagra tryin' to get everyone off of bush's back.


So he comes out and says something really stupid and insulting to one of his fellow Senators and everyone else including himself who has ever earned a Purple Heart.

[VaLabor]

10. Dole has forever soiled his reputation.

I used to have respect for this guy.

No more.

Playing "political hardball" with someone's self-sacrifice for their country should earn Dole a toasty place in hell.

[demoman123]

43. I didn't think he was this big a swine.

This has changed my attitude about Bob Dole. I never agreed with him, but I thought he was above this sort of filth.

[w13rd0]

11. I think it's about time for a very short lived 527...

...that runs ads about how Bush went AWOL, is still a coke addict, a Satanist, molested his daughters, and killed the family dog by kicking it across a room in a drunken rage.

I mean, why the hell not?

[moran4change]

15. Why not?

Because all those things are true. If you're gonna do it, you'll have to make up some REAL wild shit.

[Chelsea Patriot]

24. He killed a dog?

[yardwork]

28. Somebody said he did.....

Don't you wonder? I mean, don't you think somebody should ask him?

[Sparky McGruff]

45. Bush STILL hasn't fully answered these charges...

People are talking. And BUSH WON'T SAY ANYTHING. His silence speaks volumes, doesn't it!

And I still hear people talking about how Michelle Malkin is a major-league crack addict, and that she performs live girl-on-dog sex acts in Tijuana to fund her $2000 a week crack habit. I hear that there are videos out there. And she hasn't even begun to refute these charges.

Some people say! Some people say!

[JoFerret]

78. I heard it was actually

Laura Bush with Condi taking the digipics. I have not heard any reputable person refute this yet. I have seen no evidence it did not happen.

[moran4change]

12. Dole's a greasy politician

and he's never been anything else. Remeber the Contract on America? If the GOP is resorting to losers like Dole, November's gonna be a landslide.

[grytpype]

13. You're about to learn what hardball is...

... you limp-dicked loser!

[Cha]

33. And I hope it spreads all the way

down there to North CArolina and soils libby,too.

[Dr Fate]

17. Dole does not know anything about being hard...

...unless he is jacked up on pharms.

Poor Liz.

[daleo]

19. He is really is saying is "don't do the same to me, that I did to Kerry"

Like bullies everywhere, he is resorting to the "can't you take a joke?" defense. The corollary is that replying in kind means you can't take a joke. An old technique of abusive personalities.

[Union Thug]

20. Bob "Third Person" Dole...

Bob Dole thinks that Bob Dole wants Kerry off of Bush's back? Huh?

Bob Dole is still fighting off Bob Dole losing to Clinton and has a Bob Dole axe to grind.

Bob Dole should just go CHENEY HIMSELF.

[dolstein]

21. "I just wanted him to stop winning"

Apparently, Dole believes that ANY claim against Kerry, no matter how outrageous or patently untrue, is justified on political grounds. Dole's beef against Kerry isn't that he served in Vietnam, or protested the war afterwards, but that he wants to defeat Bus. Apparently, that makes it open season on Kerry.

I think Bob Dole should go back to hawking Viagra and masturbating to Britney Spears videos.

[MarianJack]

23. As Usual with dole,...

...if the letter after the name is a D, they can do no right, if the letter is an r, they can do no wrong.

I bet he's really proud of putting a war hero like dan quayle's name in nomination in '88. But then again, at least quayle showed up after getting a cushy National Guard posting from his daddy.

Unlike somebody we all know & love (to detest).

[Skittles]

26. no Dole, you pathetic piece of SHIT

it's SCUM-BALL and SHAME ON YOU for participating

[Cha]

29. How about bush and dole getting

the Fuck off of Kerry's back?

Oh forget it...you want a tweak war, dob bole?

Like Kerry says..Bring it on!

[TA]

32. Give Bob Dole some slack

He served our country in war and made a run for president and that was noble. But now he is just a tired old man whose mind is diminished. Can't remember much of what counts and what is important for this country. Probably just repeats what he heard this morning during brunch. Bob is just an old man remember him for what he was.

[The_Casual_Observer]

35. The bastard was a far rw heartless dick that always opposed

hikes in the minimum wage etc. That what he "was", not the jovial shit selling viagra.

[goclark]

38. He was an still is a two faced old man

He has forever earned a hole in history.

May he rot in Viagra.

IMO, the only reason that he is coming out "swinging" in this election is that he is trying to get his slime wife a J O B. You better believe he has torn his Pampers for good with the majority of clear thinking Americans.

Do you think he is on heavy meds or something?

[mitchtv]

46. the man who voted against Medicare

that's the man he was. If he can play"hardball" no quarter.

[mac56]

61. Slack?

Slack this.

Dole can go Cheney himself.

[Malikshah]

76. Sorry, one's actions denote one's character

Shame on him. He defiles the honor of all veterans.

[frylock]

34. someone should gun a political hardball at bob's nads..

fuck that old bitterman. Get off bush's back?!? What ad is Dole watching?

[Spinzonner]

36. Party is thicker than honor

apparently

[Supersedeas]

53. Yep, that the Dole message exactly

Party affiliation is thicky than honoring the memories of those who actually volunteered for armed combat in defense of this country.

[AP]

37. Bob's letting it hang heavy, if not hard.

[flordehinojos]

39. Dole says he wanted Kerry to get off Bush's back!!!!

So, instead of telling Bush to stop the negative ads and debate the issues as Kerry has been trying to get Bush to do, Dole goes out and STEPS ON KERRY? WOW! What a way to get somebody to get off somebody else's back! :nuke:

[bullimiami]

42. political scumbaggery

slimeballery.

the bush taint corrupts all who embrace it.
necrotising fascitis of the soul.

bob dole, dont come crying when satan tosses you naked on the manpile and jams a flaming pitchfork handle up your ass.

and as far as respect? if it ever was there you just gave yours to bush for a wedding present.

[Piperay]

44. Get chimp the fuck off of

Kerry's back!!! :mad:

[Disturbed]

48. Mc Cain hugs on Dumbass and

Dole humps on his leg. People respect these lap dogs?

[enigmatic]

47. What a piece of garbage he is..

I'm glad to know Dole thinks a fellow veteran's war wounds are fair game for ridicule and political smears. Maybe he will just chalk it off to "hardball politics" if we started ridiculing his withered arm as not withered enough to be able to govern.

What piece of shit he is.

[ixion]

50. try gutter politics, not hardball

have another pepsi and viagra and shut the hell up Dole. Your fifteen minutes are up.

[Uber Es]

52. What does a pinapple know about politics anyway?

Dole's opinion is pretty weak. Clinton cleaned the floor with him.
Dole's first grenade wound happened by his own mistake. He said so
in his own book. Dole wasn't in VietNam with Kerry. And no one in
their sane mind cares what Mr Rightwing hack Dole says anyway. I
always had a higher opinion of him, the more fool me. Thanks "Bob"
for setting me straight on that mistake. :hi: By By Bob :hi:

[DrBB]

54. Subtext: "Kerry can't take it"

Dole understands not just the superficialities here but the deeper strategy of this kind of attack. The initial attack is directly on Kerry's record, but the more insidious one is to portray him as a loser/whiner/crybaby/wimp/wetnoodle for complaining about it.

"Hey, it's just a little political joshing and now he gets all wild-eyed about it. Maybe the guy really is unstable."

--Thus, phase II of the attack.

[indepat]

55. Dole's kind of hardball is played by those lacking the balls to play

by any acceptable standards of decency: Smear tactics are their only weapons since running on the factual record would assure defeat in almost every election.

[BrooklynRider]

56. Tell Dole what you think: http://www.bobdole.org/contact.html

[Irishladdie]

57. Continue the calls to Doles Office 202-654-4848

Screw him, we will show him HARDBALL!!! Here comes the complaint calls!!!

[Triana]

59. ...as soon as bu$h get his bullies off KERRY'S back...

...since that's where all this bu$hit started, eh?

Furthermore - what abject hypocrisy (who could expect any different from a Repug though?)! They come on the scene like playground bullies then call the person they're bullying a bully and want them to call it off?

Christ. HOW LONG has Dole been out of the First Grade?

What does this Viagra-sucking limp-d*ck moron know about ANYTHING hard anyway?

[Child_Of_Isis]

60. Dole feels guilty about

his own purple heart. Keith brought up the point that it was self-inflicted. He threw a grenade and shrapnel came back and got him.

[takumi]

63. Political 'Hardball'

Is this Dole's twisted way of trying to promote Viagra?

Viagra - Around the time that Democratic President Bill Clinton was facing his impeachment charges for the sexual scandal with former White house intern Monica Lewinsky, ex-Republican Senator Bob Dole, who lost his 1996 presidential bid for the White House, became the poster boy for erectile dysfunction when he appeared in a television commercial for Viagra, a new wonder drug created by Pfizer that promised miracles for those 30 million men who unlike Clinton "couldn't get it up." The commercial (a sort of "a public service announcement,") aired in mid-February, 1999. And true to his political roots (of never giving a straight yes or no answer), Dole addressed the subject of ED ("as a private citizen") but never directly endorsed the product. The spot was created by BBDO advertising agency who previously had featured Bob Dole in a Super Bowl commercial for Visa.

Source: http://www.tvacres.com/chemicals_viagra.htm

[MurrayDelph]

72. Bob Dole: Stop taking Viagra!

the BALLS are not what is supposed to be hard!

Seriously, someone needs to tell this two-faced jerk that
there is a difference between playing "Hardball" and "Mudball"

[DFWJock]

67. Maybe Bob Dole

can give the chimp some advice on how to win a presidential election.

[fishnfla]

68. What Dole's fellow soldiers thought of him

when he was wounded and stretched out on the transport train, totally infirmed, the other soldiers thought he was a goner, so they used his casts as ashtrays. he never got over that bitterness....

[barb162]

69. what gets me

is that swifties, Dole, O'neill and whoever else are not really taken to task or closely questioned about the Bush military record. The interviewers may allude to Mr. Awol with one question but the interviewers never really say why are you so worried about this or that wound, medal, etc., but shouldn't you be more concerned about Bush being a deserter since he is sending young Americans to be killed in Iraq every day.

[ignatius 2]

70. There he goes again, obsessed with hardballs.

n/t

[Career Prole]

71. Duck

Fole!

[Gingersnapsback]

73. Adlai Stevenson Jr. had it right...

I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.


Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.(1900 - 1965), Speech during 1952 Presidential Campaign

[Career Prole]

82. I was told by a conservative at work that people tend to grow more

conservative as they get older.
I replied, "You're right. I saw it happen. As they get older they forget their ideals, then their very principles, until eventually they reach a point where they can no longer remember their own names."
Viagra's oldest surviving test-pilot is just about there, it seems.

[qwlauren35]

74. Those last 3 words...

"what an ass"

...sum it up pretty nicely.

The Viagra ads not withstanding, ever since Dole spoke out against his own wife's presidential bid and informally endorsed another candidate, I've considered him a contemptuous jerk of the highest order.

[MaryBear]

75. The state of

his, or anyone's, dick is irrelevant both to a man's potency as an intimate lover and to politics.

"Political hardball" has to go! Much of John Edwards' success in the primaries was directly related to his taking the high road with positive politicking. It is what most Americans want.

Dole is old school, and needs some continuing education courses.

[tom_paine]

77. If Dole thinks this is "political hardball" he is more delusional than

I previously thought.

this is nothing less than the life and death struggle for post-WWII egalitarian America...the Old American Republic.

If Dole thinks the grandchildren of Hitler's Money Launderer, who are borrowing generously from his propaganda playbook, are simply playing "politics" then he has EARNED the contempt I now hold him in.

Will ANY decent Republicans from Colon Foul to manchurian McCain to now "Bob Dole", will ANY of them come through with their hoor and dignity intact?

No. Totalitarianism seeks to debase such concepts behind Loyalty to THE PARTY.

Busheviks like any other that have come before it, including the Nazis who Dole fought (but now aids indirectly their vision of Tyrannical Superiority).

[franmarz]

79. Doles statement of Kerry

How would Dole feel if he were accused of the same thing.We can all see the effect of his wound, but did he also bleed, or was just scratched, as he states of Kerry's wounds?

[GingerSnaps]

80. "Tweaked him"

What the hell does that mean?

Dole is a slimy POS.

[peacetalksforall]

81. For months or more I thought Dole tried to distance himself from * and

the cabal. We should be glad - that eliminates another person for their credibility and authoritativeness. He is now a joke. And his true military history has been exposed again. Just pity him.

[playahata1]

83. Go eat some more Viagra, Bob!

Looks like you need some.

[lebkuchen]

85. Complain to his wife

and tell her you're a NC constituent. She'll get him to shut up.

[malachi]

86. Dole's self inflicted wound- from his autobiography

DOLE (1988): As we approached the enemy, there was a brief exchange of gunfire. I took a grenade in hand, pulled the pin, and tossed it in the direction of the farmhouse. It wasn't a very good pitch (remember, I was used to catching passes, not throwing them). In the darkness, the grenade must have struck a tree and bounced off. It exploded nearby, sending a sliver of metal into my leg—the sort of injury the Army patched up with Mercurochrome and a Purple Heart.

[dolstein]

88. Dole defends attack on Kerry as "shameless gutter politics"

I think that's a more accurate headline.

[dolstein]

89. If I called Dole "an embittered, impotent, senile, partisan hack"

would that be "tweaking" as well?

[struggle4progress]

93. Dole has just established himself as a liar:

Kerry TV Ad Pins Veterans' Attack Firmly on Bush
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JIM RUTENBERG
New York Times

<snip>
"John Kerry's a hero," Mr. Dole told Wolf Blitzer. "But what I will always quarrel about are the Purple Hearts. I mean, the first one, whether he ought to have a Purple Heart - he got two in one day ..."

Mr. Kerry did not receive two Purple Hearts for events of the same day. He received them for the events of Dec. 2, 1968, Feb. 20, 1969, and March 13, 1969. Mr. Kerry often acknowledges that his wounds were not severe, but he still has shrapnel in his left thigh from the firefight that led to his second Purple Heart.
<snip>

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040823/ZNYT02/408230704

[kodi]

94. why is it so hard to understand that the GOP is the f*cking Borg?

shake hands with one in peace and like as not he'll stab you right in the eye.

i distrust either the intelligence or ethics of anyone who votes for bush and the GOP.

two types of people vote republican, those who don't know any better, and those who do but don't care.

[Geo55]

95. Hmmm....I KNOW !

Listen , Bob , down a coupla "tool tuners" ...an' go "tweak" it.

"But we're talking about the presidential race,"

Good GOD ! YES ! ....I'd say ANYTHING to support my little monkey boy.

THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE !! GET IT !...."jeezus, I get hard just thinkin' how close I came....

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

98. Honest mistake

Look everyone. Dole made an honest mistake. Given his heart of stone he didn't bleed when he received his medals. He truly had no idea that some people do.