"Kerry Derangement Syndrome" 

by Kevin McCarthy
Aptos Times
November 1, 2004

Hate-filled rhetoric.

There certainly is plenty of it, too much actually, emanating from the political campaigns this season.

It's sad that citizens of this country have to be subjected to such animosity when we should be basing our political decisions on facts, not hatred.

You have Republican Ann Coulter writing in her latest book that "liberals are always against America...they are either traitors or idiots...fifty years of treason hasn't slowed them down...liberals relentlessly attack their country, but we can't call them traitors, which they manifestly are, because that would be 'McCarthyism,' which never existed."

Then the editors of USA Today asked Coulter to write a column covering the recent Democratic National Convention. She submitted her first story and was promptly dropped. Here's how she began her first story: "Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston..."

Right in line with Coulter is the web page offering links that proudly proclaims: "Not just anti Kerry, Anti Stupid, Egotistical, Liberal Democrats."  To assuage the lighthearted, said page concludes at the bottom with "In God We Trust."

How about Zell Miller after his verbal bashing of John Kerry during a speech at the Republican National Convention? He apparently was still so worked up that he lamented that dueling is no longer a means of solving disagreements while fulminating against MSNBC political host Chris Matthews? Is this an example for our children?

The Republican hatred of Democrat Kerry runs so deep that White House National Counsel Benjamin Ginsberg got in on the action and covertly advised and approved the scripts for the television ads run by the Texas-Republican-funded Swift Boat Veterans For Truth. He resigned when his double-dealings became known.

One of the Kerry-hating Swift Boat collaborators, Clackamas (Oregon) County prosecutor Alfred French, seems to have his own personal problems to worry about now. French signed an affidavit accusing John Kerry of exaggerating his war record but later was forced to concede he had no personal knowledge of Kerry's war time service. His legal problem is he used office equipment to print the affidavit. That resulted in his 2-week suspension without pay.

Ginsberg and French are lawyers who presumably know law and yet decided to step out of bounds because of their raging personal animosity towards John Kerry.

Jerome Corsi, the co-author of the anti-Kerry book "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" is another shining example of the extreme level of odious behavior towards John Kerry. But Corsi apparently is an equal opportunity hater. He has also bashed Hillary Clinton, the Pope and the Catholic Church, Judaism and last, but not least, described the Democratic Party thusly: "Isn't the Democratic Party the official SODOMIZER PROTECTION ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA?" The captial letters are his.

Matt Drudge, who runs the right-wing Drudge Report web site reported a scandalous scoop this past February. According to Drudge, John Kerry had an affair with a Washington D.C. intern who then, at the Kerry campaign's request, ran off to Kenya to escape press scrutiny. A few days later, the former intern categorically denied Drudge's accusations and asked the press to leave her alone. Kerry also denied any such affair. Drudge has yet to issue an apology.

Although this may come as a surprise to Matt Drudge, a web site called KerrySucks.com offers 'evidence' completely eliminating John Kerry from suspicion of an affair with a female intern. The reason being is that he is gay! On the site it is written: "We've seen a few different pieces that suggest Kerry is gay" and offers a link with "more proof of the gay conspiracy."

There is even a web site ihatejohnkerry.net that states: "John Kerry is the poster child  for all those that haven't got a clue and proclaim theirs to be a just cause, without standing on a single moral principle." Well, that seems better than being accused of treason.

Going even a bit further is the crushkerry.com site that has a top-of-the-page picture of John Kerry being compacted by the title of the web site.  A recent crushkerry.com article opens with this: "crushkerry.com is honored to have guest P** C***** from the fine blog KerryHaters explain why he hates the ever-so-hatable Senator John Kerry." Uh, just how many hates is that?

The KerryHaters blog has a special section titled "Legion of Kerry Haters" and an ad for The Digital Brownshirt Alliance. Hopefully this poorly chosen moniker is a spoof. Why would anyone, unless they are completely consumed by malevolence, actively align themselves with the stormtroopers who protected Hitler's rallies and wrecked polling places, stole ballot boxes and attacked opposing politicians and voters?

Some people get so worked up over John Kerry that it's scary. Just what is it that brings out such nasty invective? Here is a man who voluntarily went to war for his country, was wounded and awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Heart medals for his service. He served as an assistant district attorney, Lieutenant Governor and United States Senator. Yet, there are those vituperative individuals who imagine him as Satan arising and will say or do anything to harm his political career.

I say let's go back to that wonderful line from Dragnet's Jack Webb: "Just the facts." Then the people can truly decide.

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