John Kerry reminds me of...

[tambourine-man]

Originally posted by Sinner
Kerry marched in demonstrations where there was a clear presence and "abundance of Vietcong flags, clenched fists raised in the air, and placards plainly bearing legends in support of China, Cuba, the USSR, North Korea and the Hanoi government."
Kerry was a vocal supporter of the "People's Peace Treaty," a supposed "people's" declaration to end the war, reportedly drawn up in communist East Germany. It included nine points, all of which were taken from Viet Cong (Vietnamese Communist) peace proposals at the Paris Peace Talks as conditions for a United States retreat from the Vietnam War.

Originally posted by Scooob
bush never marched against america under the communist flag

Heh heh... when was the last time you guys went on a protest march? It's time to break out the 'secret knowledge' that I don't often hand out... but for you guys - I'll make an exception.

The trouble with all these posts your slapping around, is that they're all essentially secondary sources (and since the accusation of not 'study[ing] history' has surfaced), I'm sure we're all well aware that secondary sources make really shitty arguments within historical science (both for and against). The reason for this is simple: they'll be written with a particular bias, memory or perspective - some will be obvious, like Limbaugh, others will be not so obvious.

Couple of things really, if you'd been on a march at some point in your life, you'd realise that the appearance of solidarity or singular ideal is transient, it's imaginary. Protest marches come and go, and serve the purpose of providing a focused outlet for mass anger, mass frustration and mass desire to see change. However, there's very rarely a single reason why people are on the streets - sure, there may be a common, underlying desire to "stop bombing (insert minute country) now", but the people who congregate within marches generally have radically different perspectives. For example, I've frequently marched against the Iraq War and been joined by people who's motivation comes from nuclear disarmourment, others who desire stricter environmental laws, others who demand action for Palestinians, some who wish to see Cuba brought out of the 1930's and... shock, horror.... even some who are socialist and... I'm not sure how to tell you this.... but there's a small percentage of people who are even strongly Communist!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The point being: that individuality and distinction don't stop at mass gatherings. Despite what might be easy to conclude (that all people who gather there can have the 'Commie label' slapped on them), you're incorrect to find 'guilty by association'. Simply flinging a couple of pictures (one of them fake - the other that looks like a picture of Fonda with Herman Munster in the background) and a few heavily-biased articles does not constitute an argument... and certainly not one that can pass the guilty verdict on something (as apparently important) as whether someone is 'a Commie'. No doubt you'll argue: "I never said he was a Commie", but frankly, the insinuation comes through loud and clear.

If there is a connection between Fonda and Kerry, then the only one I've seen is the aforementioned picture and a couple of right-wing articles that accuse them of sharing a pick-up truck. I'll also give you some more 'insider info' on protestors - they'll quite happily share resources (even a stage) with one another to achieve the common underlying desire, despite the fact that their politics and morals are antithetical - such are the tight finances of genuinely people-powered movements.

You might also wonder why I'm apparently arguing for Kerry - well... I'm not. Kerry will have as many skeletons in his closet as any other politician, (though how he could be any worse than the present, double-dealing masquerader is hard to imagine). What I'm arguing against is the usual dog-turd, Government inspired drivel about how activists and protestors are somehow a bunch of Anarchists, or Commies or Terrorist-sympathisers, or enemy-lovers. It's crap. Absolute crap. As is the rhetoric that gets churned out at times like this, about how protesting against your country is somehow wrong, unpatriotic or traitorous. Protesting and playing an active part in what is allegedly 'your Democracy' is one of the most patriotic things you can do. Standing on an aircraft carrier, pretending to shoot down planes is not.

If Kerry's guilty of anything, it'll be a quivering ideological stance and an inconsistant, mixed-message voting record. As for being a Commie/USA-hater/enemy-lover - you've got a better chance of pinning that label on me!