Adapted from The New Yorker article by Joe Klein


Kerry’s school mates called him Just For Kerry, although he likened himself to JF Kennedy.


Always the flip flop, 2002…"Look, I was a very serious guy except for when I was a non-serious guy," Kerry said.

So much for Bush’s drinking issue…. “There were plenty of times when I was disengaged, frivolous, four sheets to the wind on a weekend," Kerry said. (Kerry has admitted to smoking marijuana a few times, but, sadly, he claims to have been bothered by the smoke.) SADLY????


Reckless behavior anyone?
"We did do some wild things together," Thorne, a friend of Kerry’s, recalls. "He was very gutsy, always pushing—let's do this, let's do that." Kerry's physical daring—as a skier, a windsurfer, a motorcycle rider, a stunt pilot—remains a source of wonder among his friends. He was, apparently, something of a cowboy in Vietnam as well. His old crewmates remember that he played rock music over the boat's loudspeaker system—the Doors, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix—before they went on patrol. "He starred in that Marlon Brando movie, 'Apocalypse Now,' long before they ever made it," Gene Thorson, a former crewmate, says.

To release the tension after a trip up the river, Kerry would often instigate chicken races between the swift boats, cutting over each other's wakes. He also organized water-balloon battles. Once, his three-boat squadron attacked an American supply ship at night with flares. "The brass was not too happy about that," Kerry recalled. "But what were they going to do to us, send us to Vietnam?"

Admiral Elmo Zumwalt later joked that he wasn't sure if he should give Kerry the Silver Star or court-martial him for his actions on February 28, 1969. Kerry had ignored standard operating procedure as his squadron ferried troops up the river that day.

So much for volunteering for Vietnam
"I signed up for the Navy in 1965…." Kerry said now, with quiet vehemence. He repeated it, for emphasis: "I signed up for the Navy.(emphasis Kerry's) There was very little thought of Vietnam. It seemed very far away….”

The true Scary Kerry

"I've reached the point (in my political career) where I'm just going to do what I'm going to do, and to ###### with whatever the conventional wisdom is," Kerry said in 2002. It seemed the sort of thing politicians always say at the beginning of a campaign, but then he added, "I mean, if I screw up, what are they going to do to me—send me to Vietnam?"

Yeah, Kerry's a windsurfer. Even his sports depend on which way the wind is blowing.

Utterly shocking!

You mean some of his school mates didnt like him? What about GWB's schoolmates? They say all sortsa bad stuff about him and his motives. Like they say he was deathly afraid of going to Vietnam, and the only reason he entered the guard was to protect his daddies military career. They say he was always a very heavy drinker, and snorted coke, and slept with anything with boobs.

But you are right - this doen't compare to the nickname 'Just For Kerry'


And so much for Bush's drinking issue? That is so unbeleviably hypocritical as to be utterly rediculous. How do you excuse someone's admittedly quite serious drinking problem with someone who got toasty on the weeksends from time to time. How about GWB's cocaine use? "I can't andswer that question because I don't want to give the young people of Texas an excuse to do what the Governer did." I guess Kerry's using weed a few times is worse than GWB's steady cocaine use. (according to his classmates, it was pertty steady)


So You are willing to trash Kerry for his physical daring, but when it comes to bravery in battle, bo way ti happened? Pick a side and stick with it, mate. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Thats funny though - his reckless behavior of playing rock music before they went on patrol! [/] My god! How did that man ever get to be a Lt??? Oh -= it gets worse ... [b]water baloon fights! I guess thats the origin of the 'spitball' comment....


And you trying to the line "what are they going to do .... send me to Vietnam?" to prove that he didn't volunteer for 2 tours of duty? Dear Lord! I don't even need to say anything about that.

What the heck does that mean?