John Kerry: Inconsistant Candidate

I've not been a fan of John Kerry since I started this site and started paying a little more attention to his pronouncements and his actions. I also believe that he is, quite possibly, one of the most dangerous candidates the Democrats have running. He has enough political savvy to build coalitions to push through some of his more risky platform planks. He is also suffciently unmoored politically to basically propose anything from a moderate agenda to the Kuncinich plan.

He flip-flops on issues without a concern. He backtracks seemingly without consequence. He is nothing more than an opportunist - which makes him a very dangerous person given enough power.

So we know that he is currently against the war in Iraq. We know that he claims that he never authorized the use of force - only the threat of it's use. Here are but a few examples of his waffling around - and quotes that are at odd with his current positions:

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." -- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..."
-- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by:
-- Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct. 9, 1998

He enlisted in the Navy and became an officer. After training, Kerry volunteered for Vietnam. His body count included-- a woman, her baby, a 12 year-old boy, an elderly man and several South Vietnamese soldiers. "It is one of those terrible things, and I'll never forget, ever, the sight of that child," Kerry later said about the dead baby.

On Jan. 3, 1970, Kerry requested that his superior, Rear Admiral Walter F. Schlech, Jr., grant him an early discharge from the Navy so that he could run for Congress.

On April 23, 1971, Kerry led members of VVAW in a protest during which they threw their medals and ribbons over a fence in front of the U.S. Capitol. (but not his as he wore tham during his Senate testimony that same day.)

The cover of his book in The New Soldier raises questions about his true commitment to the American soldier:

In the Senate debate itself, Kerry, rather than embarass Vietnam by demanding the truth, launched a highly publicized diversionary investigation of the POW/MIA families and activists, who were demanding an honest accounting. Kerry labeled them "professional malcontents, conspiracy mongers, con artists, and dime-store Rambos" who were only involved in the POW/MIA issue for money.

Source for the first three quotes: The War room. Source for the other material: Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry

Kerry is not the principled politician he claims to be. I think that Ann Coulter's description of him as a "gigilo" and a "kept man" is probably a little over the top rhetorically, but not completely untrue either.

The man is not, and never has been, Presidential material. He is dangerous and disingenuous and should be treated as such.