Does This Mean You Won’t Be Voting Kerry?
Martin Peretz continues to be overwhelmingly underwhelmed by one John Forbes Kerry, and today he takes a look at the King of Kings and the would-be President:
The Times alluded to Kerry’s well-known verbosity. So it wasn’t surprising that he also went off and said, “Not in one phrase uttered and reported by the Lord Jesus Christ, can you find anything that suggests that there is a virtue in cutting children from Medicare.” I’d actually go Kerry one further: I doubt that Jesus ever mentioned Medicare at all. Still, it’s probably significant that some presidential aspirants–Kerry, for one–want to demonstrate that there are among them some real live Democrats for God. Or, as the Times said about him, he is “A Roman Catholic, who has struggled at times to talk about his own faith … Mr. Kerry also told the group that he believed ‘deeply in my faith’.” Now, there are many Catholics including high ecclesiastics who doubt this. But who am I to have a point of view on what is essentially an intramural fight? In any case, as it turns out, Kerry is not only a Roman Catholic but also an ecumenicist. Once again I rely on the Times: Kerry asserted that “the Koran, the Torah, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles had influenced a social conscience that he exercised in politics.” My God, what bullsh** politicians feel obliged to utter! Or maybe the bullsh** is already second nature, or even first. But since Kerry raised it, let me ask: What hadith of the Prophet influenced him the most, and why? And here I have a personal interest: Which of the injunctions of Leviticus and who among the Prophets have the most meaning for him? Ordinarily, of course, I wouldn’t ask such personal questions of a politician. In the spirit of Jesus, Kerry will certainly forgive me for doing so.
I ask you, in all sincerity: is there a politican today who offers more sheer joy in taking him down than John Kerry? Believe me, we’re going to rue the day that we don’t have Senator Kerry to kick around any more…
is there a politican today who offers more sheer joy in taking him down than John Kerry?
Yes, and his name is Joe Lieberman. By some coincidence, The New Republic endorsed Lieberman for president in 2004.
Aha, a visit from the Nutroots® – I can tell, because you used the secret Lieberman-bashing handshake…
Comrade Mark,
The Nutroots® simply don’t like him because, well, he’s one of the jooooooos
and of course, the leftist/marxist/stalinist/trotskyist/whateverist types all know that the jooooooos are behind all of their problems.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see them front a meme about Lieberman being a Karl Rove “sleeper”, planted into Democratic politics decades ago for just this very age!
Too funny…..
Respects,
Gwedd
“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” or somesuch. Wise words that (my) the junior Senator from MA ought to heed. But, then, we’d miss out on al this fun!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but children aren’t even eligible for Medicare. Medicaid, yes, but not Medicare. You’d think a scholar like Kerry with 20+ years in the Senate would know the difference…
Comrades,
The only time that I believe a child is eligible for Medicare is if he or she has a permanent disability, or a long-term disability, and they still have to jump through hoops to get to that point.
In most states, children up to age 22 or so are eligible for Medicaid (or whatever the various state names for it are) as long as they are a dependant of a qualifying family and are in school full time.
Respects,
Gwedd