Kerry's Inconsistencies
by Andy Obermann

John Kerry is a man of contradiction. This is obvious to anyone with a pulse, but his blatant disregard for personal integrity is alarming, especially for a man aspiring to be the President of the United States.

The news from Iraq concerning the shameful actions of a half-dozen American troops has offered Kerry a bit of political respite. With the media rightly focused on the POW abuse, Kerry has gained an opportunity to recover from what has to be one of the worst series of lies and half-truths a presidential candidate has been forced to endure -- and the funny thing is, he brought it all upon himself.

Despite claims of a GOP "smear machine," Kerry has succeeded in personally de-railing his campaign with his propensity for being caught in untruth after untruth.

The whole situation began with Kerry's Vietnam (and post-Vietnam) service and activities. Now, most rational-minded Americans don't really care what Kerry, or President Bush for that matter, did or didn't do 30-plus years ago in Vietnam, but since Kerry continually makes his service record an issue in campaign stops and ad blitzes, one must discuss it.

The major gaffe is his claim to have, "thrown his medals" (1971) over a fence and onto the lawn of the Capitol building -- no, wait, he threw "his ribbons" (2004) -- err "two other veterans" medals (2003). Wait, John Kerry "never threw [his] medals away," at all (1984) -- that's the ticket. The reality is Kerry has been all over the place on this one and if you ask him about it enough times, you'll probably get an answer you like.

A second gaffe arose a couple of weeks ago when it was revealed that John Kerry has several SUVs, but doesn't really own any. Apparently, back in February, when speaking before a union group in Detroit (the SUV capital of the United States), Kerry was proud of his collection. When asked what vehicles he owns, Kerry replied, "We have some SUVs...I have an old Dodge 600 that I keep at the Senate...and also a Chevy, a big Suburban."

But wait, no, that's not what the Senator meant. A few weeks later, on April 22, when speaking to a group of reporters on a conference call, Kerry outright denied his previous statement, definitively claiming, "I don't own an SUV." Later that day, at an environmental rally, Kerry was confronted with his hypocrisy and waffled accordingly. This time, however, instead of taking the definitive, Kerry settled somewhere in the middle when he explained, "The family owns it [the SUVs], I don't have it." Thanks for clearing things up there, Senator.

Kerry continued this nonsense when discussing Israeli-Palestinian relations before a group in Michigan, back in 2003. In a speech to a Palestinian advocacy group, he openly came out in opposition to the wall being built by Israel to defend against infiltrating Palestinian terrorists, dubbing it a "barrier to peace," and criticizing Israeli leadership for "derailing" the peace process.

The odd part is that just four months later, in Feb. of 2004, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Kerry reneged on his previous assessment of the Israeli wall, calling it a "...legitimate act of self-defense..." This flip I suppose can be easily cleared up. To sum it up, Kerry believes the barrier is both good and bad depending on whom he is talking to at that moment.

Kerry has also flipped on education. Originally, the presidential hopeful was in full support of the President's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) bill. He was one of many senators who voted for the measure. Now, however, Kerry is criticizing the very bill he voted into law, calling it "ideological" and "laughable." I guess the wording of the law has changed since he signed it. Oh well.

I agree that NCLB is poor legislation and I don't really care if he drives to work in a SUV or Radio Flyer, but it is scary that a man who has hopes to be President of the United States can't hold a steady position on any issue -- big, small, or in between. It would be laughable if he weren't so close to the President in recent election polls.

Regardless, as the old saying goes, "If you don't like the weather in Missouri, wait a minute -- it'll change." Truer words were never spoken -- especially about Sen. Kerry.

Andy Obermann is a 22-year-old senior at a small private college in Central Missouri. He is majoring in both History and Secondary Education at Missouri Valley College.