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Give 'Em Hell, Johnny!
By SARAKAY SMULLENS
Published in the Philadelphia Daily News
: September 4, 2004
YO! REMEMBER when John Kerry ordered a
Philly cheesesteak and asked for Grey Poupon mustard? This was a
food order laughed at worldwide.
But Kerry recovered. Ted Kennedy sent his lead campaign
strategist, Mary Beth Cahill, to whip Kerry and his campaign into
shape. Kerry removed his patrician cloak, revealing a guy with the
right stuff - the kind of leader with the bravery and character to
steer the Swift Boat he commanded in the Mekong Delta onto the shore
toward the fire, pursue the enemy on the beach - and fight like
hell.
At the Democratic convention, Kerry didn't come from offstage to
accept his nomination. Instead, he strode presidentially down the
aisle as if about to offer a State of the Union address. The look on
his face revealed a hero's strength and grit - a resolve that so
frightened the Republican leadership that their waves of ugly and
ruthless lies and distortions after the Boston convention have been
relentless.
And this ugliness, often covered by charm and charisma, reached
fever-pitch during the Republican convention as speaker after
speaker capitalized on the public's fear of another terror attack.
I'm not sure how Maria Shriver managed to sit through her
husband's speech as he tried to dismantle every inspiring political
ideal that her Kennedy family has stood for. At one point, the
camera caught her looking like a deer in the headlights. I was
strangely grateful that her father, Sargent Shriver, who fathered
the Peace Corps, suffers from Alzheimer's and couldn't get his
son-in-law's message: Richard Nixon was a giant; Hubert Humphrey was
a socialist; Democrats are girly-men; the premise of the United
Nations is ridiculous.
In parallel tastelessness and distortion, John McCain likened the
leadership of Bush 43 to FDR, even stealing his eloquent analogy, "a
rendezvous with destiny."
And Zell Miller revealed a terrifying state of megalomania with
his vicious message that the Almighty is on America's side, and all
who questioned the president's decisions are traitors.
Since the Democratic convention, John Kerry has done all that he
can to keep the debate on the high road and to respond to questions
in thoughtful and honest ways, avoiding meaningless,
focus-group-tested sound bites. But his critics have projected their
own natures onto him, condemning him as indecisive and weak.
Kerry's enemies' lies have been so relentless and effective that
many supporters are now also questioning his capacity to lead. Case
in point: It has long been a courteous tradition for a presidential
candidate to restrain from campaigning during the convention of his
opponent. But when Kerry did so he, was criticized for lazily
luxuriating at his wife's Nantucket mansion.
So now is the time for Kerry's "decent guy" gloves to come off.
He must once again show a warrior's face and fight like hell.
He must highlight the numerous issues that, if not addressed,
paint a dire future for all we love and all we hold dear.
Only the very rich are better off financially than they were four
years ago. But their children and grandchildren are in the same boat
as the rest of us. Our huge budget deficits inhibit job creation and
restrict necessary improvements in security, health care and
education.
The president's reduction or elimination of regulations that
restrict pollutants from poisoning our environment and our bodies
put all of us in jeopardy.
His attack on Iraq without mature consultation with other
countries or appropriate planning for the aftermath of the war has
resulted in worldwide resentment and hatred toward America and has
strengthened our enemies.
PRESIDENT BUSH is but the marionette of a small ultra-right-wing
group that has groomed him and now controls him. Free of their
oversight for a brief moment, he recently confided mistakes,
admitting that the war we are in cannot be won.
It didn't have to be this way, and under mature and enlightened
leadership, it does not and will not have to remain this way. |
