[Will]

I don't have the time to read through everyone's points and respond to them in full at the moment, but I just had to point out a few things from CNC's post.

First, the endorsements and condemnations of Kerry by various veterans Groups... I consider all of them highly suspect. I've known quite a few war veterans, and one thing nearly all of them had in common was the tendency to exagerrate EVERYTHING they say, even more so when it comes to war stories. Do I think Kerry is a war hero? No, but then again, he actually went to Vietnam, which is more than can be said for Clinton or Bush. Do I think Kerry is a terrible person from all the veterans' stories? Definitely no, as it's already been shown in various media outlets that many of those veterans attacking Kerry didn't serve at the same time Kerry did, and those that were there at the same time, most had either no or very short-lived contact with him. It all sounds to me like one big grudge-match between various camps of veterans. There are probably several veterans that oppose Kerry simply for the fact that he turned war-protester once he returned from duty. And in the end, the whole mess just stinks of political tactics to discount any areas where Kerry could possibly have an advantage over Bush; especially when the possibility of a percieved advantage when it comes to commanding the military is just about all that Bush has when you look at some of the public opinion polls.

Second thing I wanted to point out was the cuts to defense spending that Kerry voted for. I would like everyone to take a careful look at those dates in CNC's points one through five. All after 1991. And when did the Cold War end, everybody? 1991? Right! I really don't see the problem in cutting military spending when all that needed to be done was maintain a portion of the current military hardware, since there was no huge imminent threat to the US. To attempt a very poor analogy, it's like having your house covered in rat traps already, and then after the rats nest kills the fattest rats and the rest run away and disappear from your house, you keep spending money on bait for the rat traps IN ADDITION TO BUYING EVEN MORE TRAPS. It is simply not necessary, the major threat is gone, and the current traps are more than sufficient for any mice that may want to take up residence. And this isn't even getting into the fact that most likely all of those bills had many other provisions in them that would also cause Kerry to vote against. Common, ugly political tactic; present bill where it states that "Every person has rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", then also bundle that with a provision that says people who make less than $10k a year have to pay for and attend poverty counseling sessions, or else pay a $1k/year fine. If someone votes against the bill, the fact that they voted against "Every person has rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is held against them, no mention of other undesirable provisions in the bill.

As for the Cold War years points, joining with Dukakis in a lobbying group dedicated to cutting military spending and the '72 campaign promise to do so, I see this as just a reaction to the huge amounts of spending that were already occuring. It doesn't look like he voted for it at all, and I don't have the time currently to look it up, so I will do so later or hope someone else will to clarify. But without the votes, it just seems to me that he's helping to give voice to dissenters, a vital part of a democracy.

And for the point on opposing missile defense, there are many people that oppose it for the simple fact that it hasn't been demonstrated to actually WORK yet. Money for research on missile defense is fine, and doesn't hinge on Congressional funding, but on the discretionary research budget of the DoD. Funding actual deployments of the technology that fails most of the time is ridiculous.

I'll try to get back to the rest of the stuff later today.