Truespeak

With this week's expected announcement of his running mate and the upcoming Democratic Convention, John Kerry stands to garner a lot of attention. This should be to his advantage. Considering that a large portion of the American public claims to know very little about him, the fact that he and Bush are running neck-and-neck in the polls is fairly impressive. But beginning with yesterday's commentary in the Washington Post, John Kerry is positioned to make his move in the race for president.

Kerry has been called a number of things by the Bush administration; most notably "weak on defense" and a "flip-flopper." Truth is, neither of these labels fits. Has he changed his mind on some issues? Who hasn't over the last twenty years? As I recall, Reagan was once a Democrat. People change their views. It happens. So to say that he's a "flip-flopper" is irresponsible. We all change our minds as we grow and, hopefully, get wiser. Our president should know all about changing his mind. He's done it on a number of issues himself; the 9/11 Commission comes to mind.

As for being weak on defense, Kerry is anything but. According to FactCheck.org. Bush and his supporters are deliberately misleading America concerning Kerry's voting record.

The statement that Kerry voted against a long list of mainstream weapons is misleading. He didn't vote against those weapons specifically, and though he did vote against the entire Pentagon budget on occasion he voted for weapons spending far more often than not. Furthermore, Republicans including Bush's father and Vice President Cheney also proposed cuts or elimination in several of the same weapons at around the same time Kerry supposedly "voted against" them.

In a series of articles concerning this subject, FactCheck.org debunks the Bush attack. Not only has Kerry been supportive and strong on defense, he has voted for Pentagon money bills 16 of the 19 years he has been in the Senate, but he has been prudent in his decision making, stating that "there's no excuse for casting even one vote for unnecessary weapons of destruction." His voting record reflects this attitude.

Throughout Kerry's early Senate years he often voted against specific weapons systems and sometimes against the entire Pentagon budget. He voted repeatedly to cancel the B-2 Stealth bomber, for example, in  1989 , 1991 (twice ) and  1992. He voted against the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile in  1994  and  1995.  And he voted repeatedly to cut funds for the Strategic Defense Initiative (ballistic missile defense) in 1991,  1992,  1993 ,  1995,  and  1996. He also voted for across-the-board cuts in the military budget in 1991 and 1992, as Congress struggled to deal with mounting federal deficits and the former Soviet Union disintegrated.

Republicans shouldn't make too much of these votes, however, since President Bush's own father announced in his 1992 State of the Union address that he would be ceasing further production of B-2 bombers and MX missiles, and would cut military spending by 30 percent over several years.

In true Republican fashion, the hypocrisy of these attacks is astounding. While claiming that Kerry is weak on defense, they are failing to mention that Dick Cheney and George H. W. Bush voted against the same weapons that they are accusing Kerry of voting against.

Bush's own father, who was then President, and Richard Cheney, who was then Secretary of Defense, proposed to cut or eliminate several of the very same weapons that Republicans now fault Kerry for opposing. In his first appearance before Congress as Defense Secretary in April 1989, for example, Cheney outlined $10 billion in defense cuts including proposed cancellation of the AH-64 Apache helicopter, and elimination of the F-15E ground-attack jet. Two years later Cheney's Pentagon budget also proposed elimination of further production of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and targeted a total of 81 Pentagon programs for termination, including the F-14 and F-16 aircraft. And the elder President Bush said in his 1992 State of the Union address: "After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will shut down further production of the B - 2 bombers. . . . And we will not purchase any more advanced cruise missiles." So if Kerry opposed weapons "our troops depend on," so did Cheney and the elder President Bush.

Check out all of the articles at FactCheck.org. Some of these articles will point out some of Kerry's more misleading statements as well a George W. Bush's. The key point is to be informed. Know that Kerry is not the waffler that he has been made out to be. As this campaign hits the homestretch, look for Kerry to define himself beyond the boundaries of Bush's advertisements. And as people learn more about him, and in turn more about the Bush administration's hypocrisy and deception, expect Kerry's lead to increase. Bush can not hide from the truth.