I'm a Purple Heart Winner,

Nobody should get jealous of this, since I simply found it amusing.

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 10:29:13 GMT

http://ihumpjohnkerry.greatestjournal.com

http://kerryis_hawtass.greatestjournal.com

As I said, amusing, despite the grammatical and spelling errors in the second one.

But anyway, Bush and I were in the same part of the same state. The governor of California made yet another "girly man" comment. But I suppose that the gay community means nothing to him, as long as Bush backs him, so he is free to call people whatever he sees fit.

He was washed-up, anyway. Honestly, the last few movies of his were lackluster at best (espcially that Terminator movie, ugh), so he had to enter a race with a few other people who are no longer "in". Except maybe that porn starlette.

I saw Gary Coleman on a loan commercial the other day, it was very amusing.

Excuse me, I honestly think I am too tired to make any sense, or write anything meaningful. So, I think I will sleep. I'll be in Oregon shortly!

A relatively short post, I apologize.

Wed, 11 Aug 2004 09:03:17 GMT

In the picture above Marsha Forkus a local resident (and registered Republican) tells John Kerry she will be voting for him in November.

I was in Nevada today, which is rather obvious by the above picture. While at this library, the heart of my discussion there was the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site, and how I oppose dumping nuclear waste so close to people. Honestly, what is bush thinking? Perhaps on his coloring map, a nuclear waste site looks good. I don't know why, perhaps because the color of the mountains and the bright green crayon he uses to represent nuclear waste look good together.

But it is all silly. These are beautiful mountains, which should not be tainted and made dangerous. This was what I was talking about to these people, and as much as I don’t want to brag and sound pompous, I had them eating out of my hand. Ha ha ha. ~~Gee, I hope that ‘ha,ha,ha’ part didn’t make me sound like an evil genius~~

Also, to update you all on that Swift Boat Veterans for Bush jibberish, this article appeared recently in the Wall Street Journal.

The Guy Who Was Actually There Speaks Out for Kerry

Shame on the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush

By JIM RASSMANN
Wall Street Journal
August 10, 2004

I came to know Lt. John Kerry during the spring of 1969. He and his swift boat crew assisted in inserting our Special Forces team and our Chinese Nung soldiers into operational sites in the Cau Mau Peninsula of South Vietnam. I worked with him on many operations and saw firsthand his leadership, courage and decision-making ability under fire.

On March 13, 1969, John Kerry's courage and leadership saved my life.

While returning from a SEA LORDS operation along the Bay Hap River, a mine detonated under another swift boat. Machine-gun fire erupted from both banks of the river, and a second explosion followed moments later. The second blast blew me off John's swift boat, PCF-94, throwing me into the river. Fearing that the other boats would run me over, I swam to the bottom of the river and stayed there as long as I could hold my breath.

When I surfaced, all the swift boats had left, and I was alone taking fire from both banks. To avoid the incoming fire, I repeatedly swam under water as long as I could hold my breath, attempting to make it to the north bank of the river. I thought I would die right there. The odds were against me avoiding the incoming fire and, even if I made it out of the river, I thought I'd be captured and executed. Kerry must have seen me in the water and directed his driver, Del Sandusky, to turn the boat around. Kerry's boat ran up to me in the water, bow on, and I was able to climb up a cargo net to the lip of the deck. But, because I was nearly upside down, I couldn't make it over the edge of the deck. This left me hanging out in the open, a perfect target. John, already wounded by the explosion that threw me off his boat, came out onto the bow, exposing himself to the fire directed at us from the jungle, and pulled me aboard.

For his actions that day, I recommended John for the Silver Star, our country's third highest award for bravery under fire. I learned only this past January that the Navy awarded John the Bronze Star with Combat V for his valor. The citation for this award, signed by the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Vietnam, Vice Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, read, "Lieutenant (junior grade) Kerry's calmness, professionalism and great personal courage under fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." To this day I am grateful to John Kerry for saving my life. And to this day I still believe that he deserved the Silver Star for his courage.

It has been many years since I served in Vietnam. I returned home, got married, and spent many years as a deputy sheriff for Los Angeles County. I retired in 1989 as a lieutenant. It has been a long time since I left Vietnam, but I think often of the men who did not come home with us.

I am neither a politician nor an organizer. I am a retired police officer with a passion for orchids. Until January of this year, the only public presentations I made were about my orchid hobby. But in this presidential election, I had to speak out; I had to tell the American people about John Kerry, about his wisdom and courage, about his vision and leadership. I would trust John Kerry with my life, and I would entrust John Kerry with the well-being of our country.

Nobody asked me to join John's campaign. Why would they? I am a Republican, and for more than 30 years I have largely voted for Republicans. I volunteered for his campaign because I have seen John Kerry in the worst of conditions. I know his character. I've witnessed his bravery and leadership under fire. And I truly know he will be a great commander in chief.

Now, 35 years after the fact, some Republican-financed Swift Boat Veterans for Bush are suddenly lying about John Kerry's service in Vietnam; they are calling him a traitor because he spoke out against the Nixon administration's failed policies in Vietnam. Some of these Republican-sponsored veterans are the same ones who spoke out against John at the behest of the Nixon administration in 1971. But this time their attacks are more vicious, their lies cut deep and are directed not just at John Kerry, but at me and each of his crewmates as well. This hate-filled ad asserts that I was not under fire; it questions my words and Navy records. This smear campaign has been launched by people without decency, people who don't understand the bond of those who serve in combat.

As John McCain noted, the television ad aired by these veterans is "dishonest and dishonorable." Sen. McCain called on President Bush to condemn the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush ad. Regrettably, the president has ignored Sen. McCain's advice.

Does this strategy of attacking combat Vietnam veterans sound familiar? In 2000, a similar Republican smear campaign was launched against Sen. McCain. In fact, the very same communications group, Spaeth Communications, that placed ads against John McCain in 2000 is involved in these vicious attacks against John Kerry. Texas Republican donors with close ties to George W. Bush and Karl Rove crafted this "dishonest and dishonorable" ad. Their new charges are false; their stories are fabricated, made up by people who did not serve with Kerry in Vietnam. They insult and defame all of us who served in Vietnam.

But when the noise and fog of their distortions and lies have cleared, a man who volunteered to serve his country, a man who showed up for duty when his country called, a man to whom the United States Navy awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, will stand tall and proud. Ultimately, the American people will judge these Swift Boat Veterans for Bush and their accusations. Americans are tired of smear campaigns against those who volunteered to wear the uniform. Swift Boat Veterans for Bush should hang their heads in shame.

Mr. Rassmann, a retired lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, served with the U.S. Army 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam 1968-69.

I <3 Jim Rassmann. Actually, I really do <3 anyone who supports me, including you, and especially all of you But, of course, I couldn't be good enough to actually have all of the support I have if it weren't for a wonderful wife, great kids, and an extraordinary running mate.

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to watch Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy. TiVo is one of the things that makes the United States so great. :D

Mon, 09 Aug 2004 10:53:54 GMT

Apparently a former FBI agent by the name of Thomas Rupprath is literally harassing anyone and everyone with knowledge of where, why, and how I received my war decorations. Personally, I find this somewhat pathetic. Why waste your time digging up mud for the Republican party when you could be doing things which are much more productive? Such as make a necklace out of macaroni spray-painted gold (I have heard this is a favorite hobby of President Bush) or make a picture with glue and sprinkles saying "I Love America"?

"Now Rupprath is pursuing the questions raised by the anti-Kerry veterans -- such as the nature of the wounds that led to the awarding of three Purple Hearts to the young lieutenant, and the circumstances under which he was decorated for valor. In a brief interview with the Dallas Morning News ? which broke the news of his investigation on July 12 -- the detective said: 'We're not making any accusations until I think we have them truly buttoned up and can be presented in as authentic and credible a manner as possible.'

During the past two weeks, in fact, Rupprath has been inquiring about the now-famous fire fight of Feb. 28, 1969, when Kerry ordered his crew to beach their boat on the shores of a Mekong Delta canal and then ran ashore to kill a guerrilla wielding a grenade launcher. The consensus among Kerry's former crew members is that his action saved all their lives, since otherwise the guerilla could have fired a round with enough explosive force to destroy their boat. His Navy superiors agreed, awarding him the Silver Star.

Kerry's critics have tried to suggest that he recklessly endangered his crew by leaving the boat -- or that the guerrilla was already mortally wounded before Kerry shot him. Presumably the 'Swift Boat' group hired Rupprath to find proof of such allegations, but so far he may not be making much progress."

What does it matter, I ask? People often have to risk things and people to get the job done, and being in Vietnam all of the time I was there, I can honestly say that a wounded guerrilla can shoot and kill. I have seen men with both arms blown off shooting with their feet, after all.

"Another theme promoted by the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" is that Kerry somehow exaggerated the injuries that led to his Purple Heart awards, or may even have inflicted them on himself. Kerry's first wound occurred on Dec. 2, 1968, which was the very first night he went on a swift boat patrol. Although several witnesses who were present that night remember that Kerry's arm was creased during a fire fight with National Liberation Front guerrillas, a former commander who wasn't there has claimed that there was no report of enemy fire."

May I remind everyone the key words there are a former commander who wasn't there, so how would he know? While we were fighting for what our naive minds assumed was freedom, he was sipping martinis in an officers' club.

I find it even funnier that there have been many reports from people interviewed who were there AND support me that Rupprath has been taking what they say out of context to make me look bad. It's a typical tactic done by people.

Anyway, I should get to sleep, there's a more campaigning to be done tomorrow!

Sincerely,
Your Future President, John Kerry.
Who won three Purple hearts fair and square.

Hello. :)

Fri, 06 Aug 2004 13:46:12 GMT

Somebody, I don’t remember who because now I know all of these people (you meet many new faces when campaigning for president, you simply can’t remember all of the names), was telling me to get a journal, because the blog on http://johnkerry.com “sucks”, to put it in the “hip” terminology. So, I got one. :) But it might be difficult to update as much, considering all of this campaigning I have to do so people will vote for me, an I can move into an even bigger house than the mansion I currently have.

I think the problem will be getting people to get up and actually vote. Did you know only 52% of the population voted in the 2000 elections? I know that the Bush administration botched that election, but I am most certainly sure they would have had a more difficult time doing so if more people got up and voted.

I’m in Missouri right now (I think lol) and I've been up all night, and all morning. If there's one thing that's better than Botox, it's coffee. I’m still on the train, and I was supposed to be asleep three hours ago, but I think I may have drunk too much coffee, because now I can’t sleep.

To tell you the truth, I am a bit hungry, I should wake everyone up. I’ll see if I can make hash browns with Ketchup. Mmm!