January 31, 2005

Senator Kerry takes a stand, or two, or three

By Bob Weir
Weir Thinking About It As I watched Senator John Kerry on Meet the Press on Sunday I imagined an appropriate scenario for one of Johnny Carson's skits. As 'Carnac the Magnificent,' Johnny puts the envelope to his head and says: 'The answer is, yes and no, pro and con, for and against.' Then he opens the envelope and reads: 'Describe John Kerry's position on any major issues.' Tim Russert, moderator for the weekly interview show, asked Kerry if he agreed with what Senator Ted Kennedy said about immediate withdrawal of some troops after the Iraq election. 'No,' was Kerry's terse reply. Then, there was the inevitable, 'But,' as the former presidential candidate began his usual two—step into verbal ambiguity. In the next few sentences he agreed with his Massachusetts colleague as many times as he disagreed with him. It was déjà vu all over again as Russert played a video of Kerry during the campaign. 'I actually voted for the military spending bill before I voted against it,' Kerry...(Read Full Article)