Kerry Out

Swiftboats, a crowded field, and a horrid stand-up routine. John Kerry announces today that he will not run for President in 2008. From his email to supporters:

35 years ago, I got into public life to end a war that was wrong. I believe now as strongly as I did then that it is wrong to ask more young Americans to die for anyone's mistakes. And I believe that a Congress that shares responsibility for getting us into this war must bear responsibility for getting us out.

Americans went to the polls and voted for change in Iraq. They sent a strong and clear message to all of us, on both sides of the aisle, that they wanted real change in Iraq. They certainly did not vote for us to sit by while some national leaders actually advocate escalating the war and sending more American troops into the middle of an Iraqi civil war. We must stand for a change in Iraq, or we don't stand for anything at all.

This mission, this responsibility, is something all of us must accept. As someone who voted for the resolution that gave the president the authority to go to war, I feel the weight of a personal responsibility to act.

I sought the presidency to lead us on a different course. There are powerful reasons to want to continue that fight now. But I've concluded this isn't the time for me to mount a presidential campaign. It is the time to put my energy to work as part of the new Democratic majority in the Senate, to do all I can to end this war and strengthen our security and our ability to fight the real war on terror.

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The Real Joke

Senator, the real joke is your record and the miserable failure of an administration which you have worked so hard to prop up. Unfortunately, your jokes kill.

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Kerry's Prepared Text

Although the wingnutz are still all gaga over the Kerry gaffe, The Washington Post got a copy of Kerry's prepared text for the Monday California speech. Here's what The Post had to say:

The text had Kerry starting out with a couple of jokes about Republicans and Bush: "You know, yesterday we turned the clock back an hour. Actually just Democrats did. Republicans keep trying to turn back the clock to 1958."That was followed by, "Yesterday I was in President Bush's home state of Texas. He no longer lives there. Now he lives in the state of denial."

The text continued: "It's great to be here with college students. I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."

The prepared remarks then had Kerry saying, "But in all seriousness, you know, California has the 6th largest economy in the world -- larger than most nations. It is vitally important to our success as a nation. And the future of California lies with the innovations, expertise, and achievements of our young people."

Instead of delivering the lines as written, Kerry said after the "state of denial" remark: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Of course, Tony Snow, Bush, Commedian Rush Limbaugh, and the other Repeater Beacons will continue to talk about Kerry. That's understandable because it shoves off the radar unimportant news, like this:

Originally published November 1, 2006, 1:15 PM EST

BAGHDAD, IRAQ // Bombs struck a police patrol, a market and a bridge in Baghdad today as violence across Iraq left more than 20 people dead, while police searched for dozens of Shiites abducted by suspected Sunni gunmen along a dangerous highway north of the capital.

The U.S. military also reported the death of a soldier in fighting Tuesday in volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad, raising to 104 the number of American service members killed in combat in October -- the fourth deadliest month since the war began.

or, this:

Nov. 1, 2006, 4:45AM BAGHDAD, Iraq — More than 40 Shiites were abducted along a notoriously dangerous highway just north of Baghdad, police said today, and the death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding party rose to 23, including nine children. At least eight other people were either found dead or slain in new attacks today, including one person killed in a car bomb attack in Baghdad's central market, which wounded five others, police Lt. Ali Hassan said. The death toll in the market attack was likely to rise, he said.

Miserable failure.

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