Kerry Promotes Energy Independence & Climate Crisis Solutions

Equating American energy independence with national security and global climate crisis to a threat as grave as terrorism, John Kerry laid out his energy policy vision today. While many of these ideas were raised during his 2004 presidential campaign, Kerry now further elaborates on his plan and incorporates a new sense of urgency with regard to the consequenses of global warming. The debate is over. Scientists agree global warming is a real threat and that human actions are to blame. It's time our government started doing something while there is still time to act. - IFK Editor

For Kerry's full remarks read: Our Energy Challenge by Senator John Kerry

Iraq War Bill: 11 Ways we could have spent the money to actually make America safer

The American Prospect Magazine offers us this month's cover story on 11 ways the US could have spent the projected $1.27 TRILLION (with a T)war cost to actually make America more secure.

1. Military Transformation

2. Nuclear Materials

3. The Other War: Afghanistan

4. International Security

5. Transportation Security

6. Ports Security

7. Airplanes Again

8. Emergency Response

9. Public Diplomacy

10. Development Assistance

11. Fight Climate Change

Kerry Shows Independent Mind, Out Front of Party on Iraq

John Kerry once again proves why independent voters should consider him as a Leader not just a "Democratic" leader. Bucking the Democratic Party, Kerry lead the charge in the Senate to bring about a true debate on Iraq. His call to redeploy American troops and force Iraqi's to stand up for themselves is a valuable idea vs. a rubber stamp congress devoid of new ideas on Iraq.

“Lie and Die” as Kerry called the President’s plan is not a strategy to win Iraq and make America safer against terrorists. After 3 years of military combat isn’t it time we recognize that the problems now facing Iraq must be solved diplomatically. Yes security is an urgent issue that will be met with Kerry’s plan, but Iraq’s have said themselves they want American troops to stand down. Iraqis need to rule their own country.

As the Democratic Party tries to come to terms with its position on Iraq, they are clear on one thing. The president lied about WMD’s and why we went there in the first place. Regardless of whether you think our troops should leave in a year or stay longer democrats want a diplomatic solution equal to that of the military one. They want what’s best for our troops and for Iraq as a country, but they are smart enough to realize tough talk and slogans are not a substitute for a successful policy.

Kerry is willing to take the heat for his party and from his party which is still coming to terms with wanting to look tough on terrorism yet angry over how Bush and republicans use the war as a wedge issue. This is why I support Kerry as an independent voter. He is out in front on the issues not towing the party line.

More background: John Kerry on the Vote on Kerry-Feingold-Boxer-Leahy Amendment

Republicans on Iraq: More "Lie and die"

Kerry calls the Republicans plan for Iraq "Lie and die" and he's right. Republicans repeat the President's tough talk about staying the course, but the course is wrong. It's costing US tax payers and future generations billions of dollars, and costing US troops their lives and limbs. Bush's mistaken war of choice has also given America a black eye around the world.

Democrats want to succeed in Iraq, but the Bush policies are not making America safer. Kerry's goal to bring combat troops home or redeploy some of them to bases in the area is anything but cut and run. That's Republican BS. Kerry's plan would leave training and special ops troops in Iraq and they would have access to American air power and other recources.

Iraq will succeed or fail based on Iraqi willingness to stand up for themselves and learning to compromise with their fellow Iraqis, not on military action.

Kerry is leading on this issue. It's time Americans, democrats and republicans alike, demand more results from their leaders and stop hiding behind pathetic slogans to cover for disasterous policy.

Kerry: Democratic Ideas for 2006 and Beyond

Speaking at the Take Back America Conference Kerry offered some simple Democratic ideas for 2006 and beyond.

• Set a deadline to bring home the troops. It's time Iraqi's stand up for themselves.

• Tell the truth to the American people.

• "Fire the incompetents" and hold government accountable.

• Make America secure by making America energy independent.

• "Value work, not wealth."

• Export products, not jobs.

• Provide affordable health care for all Americans.

• Address global warming and the pollution of our air and water.

Kerry demands US troop pullout

Help Kerry gain support for withdrawing our troops from Iraq. Contact your senator today.

By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | June 14, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry is placing himself at the center of congressional action over the war in Iraq this week with a crisply worded resolution to require President Bush to withdraw almost all US troops by the end of this year.

The measure has exposed Kerry to attacks from Republicans and some Democrats, as critics rushed to tag the plan as a ``cut-and-run" strategy. But it also has made him a rallying point for antiwar activists.

The sweeping resolution amounts to the senator's sharpest condemnation of the war and his broadest repudiation of his own vote to authorize force. It also stands in contrast to his handling of the war issue during his campaign for president two years ago.

``My friends, war is no excuse for its own perpetuation," Kerry said before a group of cheering liberal activists who had gathered in Washington yesterday for a ``Take Back America" conference. ``It is essential to acknowledge that the war itself was a mistake -- to say the simple words that contain more truth than pride. . . . It was wrong and I was wrong to vote for that Iraqi war resolution."

Kerry Defends 9/11 Widows Against Ann Coulter Attack

John Kerry calls 'em like he sees 'em. Ann Coulter will say anyhting to sell her hate filled books, even attacking 9/11 widows. Rather than discuss Iraq or Homeland Security she would rather stir up controversy to make a buck. Join Kerry in holding these Republican Shills accountable for their words and bad policies for America.

When I heard on cable television what Ann Coulter wrote and said about the widows of 9/11, my first reaction was pretty much unprintable. I have no apologies for it. Did this woman ever for a second stop and think that these women's children might be watching TV and have to listen to her venomous words?
So much for family values.

Then I thought: grotesque as it is, this is her attempt to be provocative -- infamy's its own kind of fame -- to get her mug on TV and sell books. Coulter is counting on this "controversy" to get her ink and sell her angry harangue of a book.

Which is why we owe all the 9/11 families Ann Coulter slandered so much more than just outrage.

We owe them thanks. Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg, Patty Casazza, Kristen Breitweiser, and Monica Gabrielle -- and others -- provided an incredible service to each of us. And we also owe it to them to put the focus where they originally put it when, in the middle of their grieving, they stood up to demand answers and action from a government that invoked their husbands' memories for political reason but then wiped them away when the real work of fighting terror and providing homeland security got to be too tough and less ideologically attractive compared to a sideshow disaster in Iraq.

These women weren't and still aren't "in politics." Many voted for George Bush in 2000, some voted for me in 2004 and I was proud to have their support. They're independent-minded, they're their own people. They take homeland security more personally than many Members of Congress -- and they take it more seriously. These are women whose sole mission is to make our country as safe as it can and should be -- so the same thing that happened to their husbands will never happen to someone else's, or to their children. Think about what they accomplished -- bottom line: We would not have had the 9/11 Commission and their recommendations to make America safer without these brave women.

Read Full Post: Shameless, but the Real Shame Is If We Don't Act

Rolling Stome: Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

Finally someone documents the story the main stream media is all too happy to ignore. It also bolsters Kerry's case for another shot in '08 and shows how hard it would have been for Kerry to prove any wrong doing, when it was so easy for Republicans to play dirty within the system by keeping the Kerry vote supressed in swing states. Lets hope the media revisits this issue with some real reporting. -IFK Editor

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House. BY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.

Like many Americans, I spent the evening of the 2004 election watching the returns on television and wondering how the exit polls, which predicted an overwhelming victory for John Kerry, had gotten it so wrong. By midnight, the official tallies showed a decisive lead for George Bush -- and the next day, lacking enough legal evidence to contest the results, Kerry conceded. Republicans derided anyone who expressed doubts about Bush's victory as nut cases in ''tinfoil hats,'' while the national media, with few exceptions, did little to question the validity of the election. The Washington Post immediately dismissed allegations of fraud as ''conspiracy theories,''(1) and The New York Times declared that ''there is no evidence of vote theft or errors on a large scale.''(2)

But despite the media blackout, indications continued to emerge that something deeply troubling had taken place in 2004. Nearly half of the 6 million American voters living abroad(3) never received their ballots -- or received them too late to vote(4) -- after the Pentagon unaccountably shut down a state-of-the-art Web site used to file overseas registrations.(5) A consulting firm called Sproul & Associates, which was hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters in six battleground states,(6) was discovered shredding Democratic registrations.(7) In New Mexico, which was decided by 5,988 votes,(8) malfunctioning machines mysteriously failed to properly register a presidential vote on more than 20,000 ballots.(9) Nationwide, according to the federal commission charged with implementing election reforms, as many as 1 million ballots were spoiled by faulty voting equipment -- roughly one for every 100 cast.(10)

Read More: Was the 2004 Election Stolen?