| John Kerry |   |
Standing With Harry Reid (190 comments )
They're at it again. When I came here to the Huffington Post and supported Speaker Pelosi when she was attacked by the right-wing, I said, "They thrive on destroying our leaders - we can't let them." I take no pride in my prognostication.
Now they're going after my friend and Majority Leader Harry Reid.
And once again, it's up to us to defend him.
There's a very strange dynamic at play right now. When I talk to a people on my book tour, and when I take part in online discussions or calls with bloggers, I see an America that is sick and tired of politicians in Washington who refuse to change course in Iraq; an America that doesn't believe the words that comes out of Dick Cheney's mouth about everything from escalation in Iraq to global climate change; an America that wants our troops taken care of and knows that George Bush's policy has not just been a failure, but an unmitigated disaster of arrogance and isolation from day one.
And then I read in the paper about another America, one where we're supposed to believe it's the Democrats that are in disarray. Where we "fail to back" the Majority Leader. Where the GOP is united and ready to use the Iraq debate to paint the Democrats in a bad light.
You all know what's happening - and once again, you need to let the media gatekeepers know it. Harry Reid is a tough guy and a good fighter, but he can't change the media narrative all by himself. We all need to speak up and protect our leaders when they speak their mind. Minutes after he let loose with a steady stream of pejoratives about Harry Reid, I hit back at Dick Cheney. And I will continue to do so. It's important ... because if we don't stand up for our leaders no one will. This isn't about policy intricacies or a Democrat's syntax, it's about character - the character of a good man, Harry Reid, and the character of our Party which needs to stand up when one of our own is unfairly attacked.
And the worst part is, the whole attack is based on a completely out-of-context quote. This is what Harry Reid really said, "And as long as we follow the President's path in Iraq, the war is lost. But there is still a chance to change course - and we must change course." Any questions? The President's own generals say there is no military solution to the civil war in Iraq, that it requires the political solution the Iraqis have resisted. By the Vice President's standard, are they "uninformed and misleading"?
I ask you to join me in hitting back. The time is now to take the fight to the other side. The GOP machinery is tottering and creaking. Dick Cheney has the approval ratings of the Yankees in Fenway Park, and he has zero credibility. I set up a page on my site defending Harry Reid, and calling attention to Dick Cheney's long run of, yes, misleading and uninformed comments on Iraq. And, most of all, calling out the failure of this administration to make us safe.
Because that's what they're really trying to hide. It's no coincidence that they step up these attacks on the very day that the bill setting a deadline to change course in Iraq, get tough on squabbling Iraqi politicians, and get our troops out of the middle of a civil war moved to the floor of Congress.
We can't let them get away with it. We need to take the fight to them, and we can start by letting the media know that when it comes to Harry Reid speaking from his heart or Dick Cheney speaking from both sides of his mouth, we'll take Harry Reid's heart any day. Write letters to your local paper, call in to radio shows, write emails to the national media centers. These things make an enormous difference. I'll continue to speak out at every opportunity, and I ask you to join me.
Speak out, stay active ... the GOP is teetering on the brink over this. And it's time to start giving them a push. That's how we win a fight to set America back on the right course
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