Liveblogging the Kerry nomination

Okay, let's try this. I'm starting to pay attention as Andre Heinz comes up to speak. Silly touch -- opening music is "Hey Ya", by Outkast. Fronted by Andre 3000, get it?! Ha.

Wooden performance by Andre Heinz -- sure that JFKII is just his stepdad?

Vanessa Kerry seems to be smoother. Definitely looks like dad, but somehow makes it work. "At my father's core is integrity", and then relates an anecdote that seems to have more to do with familial love. More positive, though, and seems to be doing what bloggers wanted Teresa to do -- provide an image of the man, rather than reiterate the party platform.

Alexandra Kerry next: An anecdote about her father saving a hamster from drowning and then administering CPR. Making a comment about DemocRATs is too harsh, so I won't. Again, emphasizing Kerry's personality -- hero, listener, studious, "doesn't play to our baser instincts". And then . . . "If we want our children to . . . control their own bodies . . ." That's politispeak for abortion rights, of course, and the image of our children having it is wierd at the least.

Then C-SPAN airs something with the subtitle "Kerry Campaign Video". At elast they're being honest about it.

Hmm . . . Both Alexandra and the campaign video have stressed that JFKII is 6'4". Any importance to this?

That voice on the Campaign Video -- I recognize it . . . If I'm not mistaken, it's Morgan Freeman!

Ah, I'm right about Freeman -- check it out here. Hmm -- contribution by Steven Spielberg also.

There's an emphasis on Kerry the family man, talking about how he never let his job get in the way of his family. But talking about traveling back to Massachusetts all the time to be with family -- for some reason my mind compares this to Moore's complaints that Bush was always on vacation in Texas before 9/11 . . .

Another campaign video, this time from the DNC.

Next up are members of Kerry's Swift Boats. Are they going to just be trotted out, or will they be given the chance to speak? Can't see them contributing all that much, since Kerry's scheduled to speak in ten minutes.

Ok -- speaking is a Green Beret whose life was saved by the company, Jim Rassman. Nothing too new or innovative . . .

Former Senator Max Cleland up now, to introduce Kerry. You may recognize Cleland's name from this. And this prediction about the 'band of brothers' motif is holding true. Cleland states that "There is no greater patriotism than that", referring to his actions in dissent of the Vietnam War. As for Kerry's 'patriotism' post-Vietnam, check out this, and the transcript of his Senate report here.

I would like to talk on behalf of all those veterans and say that several months ago in Detroit we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged, and many very highly decorated, veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia. These were not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit - the emotions in the room and the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.
They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

And then Kerry's response this year to his own testimony here:

MR. RUSSERT: You committed atrocities.

SEN. KERRY: Where did all that dark hair go, Tim? That's a big question for me. You know, I
thought a lot, for a long time, about that period of time, the things we said, and I think the word is a bad word. I think it's an inappropriate word. I mean, if you wanted to ask me have you ever made mistakes in your life, sure. I think some of the language that I used was a language that reflected an anger. It was honest, but it was in anger, it was a little bit excessive.

MR. RUSSERT: You used the word "war criminals."

SEN. KERRY: Well, let me just finish. Let me must finish. It was, I think, a reflection of the kind of times we found ourselves in and I don't like it when I hear it today. I don't like it, but I want you to notice that at the end, I wasn't talking about the soldiers and the soldiers' blame, and my great regret is, I hope no soldier--I mean, I think some soldiers were angry at me for that, and I understand that and I regret that, because I love them. But the words were honest but on the other hand, they were a little bit over the top. And I think that there were breaches of the Geneva Conventions. There were policies in place that were not acceptable according to the laws of warfare, and everybody knows that. I mean, books have chronicled that, so I'm not going to walk away from that. But I wish I had found a way to say it in a less abrasive way.

MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, when you testified before the Senate, you talked about some of the hearings you had observed at the winter soldiers meeting and you said that people had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and on and on. A lot of those stories have been discredited, and in hindsight was your testimony...

SEN. KERRY: Actually, a lot of them have been documented.

MR. RUSSERT: So you stand by that?

SEN. KERRY: A lot of those stories have been documented. Have some been discredited? Sure, they have, Tim. The problem is that's not where the focus should have been. And, you know, when you're angry about something and you're young, you know, you're perfectly capable of not--I mean, if I had the kind of experience and time behind me that I have today, I'd have framed some of that differently. Needless to say, I'm proud that I stood up. I don't want anybody to think twice about it. I'm proud that I took the position that I took to oppose it. I think we saved lives, and I'm proud that I stood up at a time when it was important to stand up, but I'm not going to quibble, you know, 35 years later that I might not have phrased things more artfully at times.

And this is 'patriotism' -- self-admitted (and denied in the same paragraph)exaggeration accusing his fellow soldiers of hideous acts of torture?

Next up: JOHN FORBES KERRY HIMSELF!

He comes up. Lots of "Thank you"s -- can someone go back and get a count? MY guess is fifteen so far . . . Maybe closer to twenty.

"I'm John Kerry, and I'm reporting for duty!" Is that with or without your medals?

He does look scary . . . Like Evil Bert. Okay, I'll try to stay serious.

He's emphasizing "telling the truth to the American people." His first pledge: "I will restore trust and credibility to the White House."

Now he's taking potshots at the whole Cabinet -- all the negative talking points: The Vice President is a corporate pig, etc.

"There is nothing more pessimistic than saying America can't do better." I haven't heard anyone say that . . .

"I accept your nomination for President of the United States." Straightens out this controversy.

He's talking about Teresa Heinz-Kerry as the next First Lady of the United States. Question: were Kerry elected, would Teresa be the first foreign-born First Lady? I'm not up on First Lady trivia.

He keep talking about the "fight for our country", but he's talking about fighting against Bush. What about the terrorists?!

Ha -- here's the answer right now, hopefully. He's talking about 9/11, the firemen, flight 93, flags, "the worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us." Talking about unity behind Bush. "And how we wish it had stayed that way!" Well, what changed?

Talking about reformation of the intelligence agency, and against the Iraq war. Making sure that our country "never goes to war because we want to, but only because we have to!" Well, didn't you, John Kerry, vote for going to war? That's Congress's job, not the President's.

Again, talking about not going it alone in the world, rebuilding alliances. Still belittling the coalition of the willing. Sheesh, even I didn't know that Europe was that supportive! And Instapundit here mentions new alliances we're building in Asia.

"Values are not just words. Values are what we live by . . . It's time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families." What about Kerry's position on abortion -- that a fetus is a human life, but that abortion should be legal?

"Help is on the way!" I thought that the campaign slogan was "Hope is on the way"?

He's now saying that he's going to close tax loopholes that provide incentives for corporations to move their manufacturing jobs overseas. Now, I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that outsourcing isn't because of tax loopholes, but rather because of lower wages elsewhere. Of course, moving the corporation headquarters overseas is a different matter entirely, but that's not what he's talking about.

Haha -- and now a man with a trial lawyer as a running mate complaining about the cost of health insurance!

He's pushing independence from Mideast oil. Good! Is he going to support drilling in Alaska, or what? "New technologies and alternative fuels" -- nuclear, or something else? What are the specifics?

Words directly to President Bush: He asks for civility in the coming election race, and then gets in a dig about misusing the Constitution for political purposes. "The high road may be harder, but it leads to a better place . . . Big ideas, not small-minded attacks." So what was the Constitution dig?

Instapundit had comments up, but looks like they're down now?

Arrghh. . . Fifty minutes. Growing tired of listening to liberal talk.

Alright. It's done. I get the feeling that he's trying to channel Reagan in calling for optimism. A good thing, I guess.

Haha -- "Beautiful Day" by U2 as the closing song. Seriously, it sounds to me like it was set to start at the beginning of the second stanza -- but why would they do that?

You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In a maze of her imagination

You love this town
Even if that doesn't ring true
You've been all over
And it's been all over you

I don't think that's the message the DNC wants to send . . .

UPDATE: Instalaaaaaaanche! Yeah, a link to this post is in there somewhere . . .