:: Netmarcos' Notes ::

:: Friday, March 19, 2004 ::

Does this report of John F. Kerry's relationship with the infamous 'Gainesville 8' bother you?

Scott Camil, a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, presented to the group, including Kerry, a plot to assassinate conservative congressmen at a November 1971 meeting.

The Kerry campaign denies the senator and presidential candidate was present at the meeting, saying he quit the organization prior to the heated session in Kansas City, Nov. 12-15, 1971.

However, Randy Barnes of Missouri Veterans for Kerry, disputes that account. Barnes participated in the meeting and he says Kerry, then 27, was at the meeting, voted against the plot and then resigned from the organization. According to a New York Sun report, another Vietnam vet who attended the meeting, Terry Du-Bose, agreed that Kerry was there.

:: Mark 9:02 AM [+] :: (0) comments
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More insanity on our nation's university campuses as two student senators at Western Oregon University try to ban student-sponsored blood drives on the school’s campus because they say questions associated with the donor screening process are discriminatory against gays.

“By continuing to allow the Red Cross on our campus, the university is telling all the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students that we don’t care about you,” said Bates.

:: Mark 1:15 PM [+] :: (0) comments
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Dick Cheney said it.

We must support those around the world who are taking risks to advance freedom, justice, and democracy, just as President Reagan did. American policy must be clear and consistent in its purposes. And American leaders--above all, the commander in chief--must be confident in our nation's cause, and unwavering until the danger to our people is fully and finally removed.

And I agree.

:: Mark 9:01 AM [+] :: (0) comments
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The outcome of the recent Spanish elections is somewhat of a disapointment to me. Many of my spanish friends disagree, but only time will tell if they have made a wise decision. I side with many, including the editors of the Wall Street Journal, who believe that Al Qaeda and other groups with similar aims and tactics will interpret the results as a victory of sorts. This is likely to enbolden them; make recruiting easier, and bring sorrow and death to many more innocents. I pray that I am wrong.

So, in their wisdom, Spanish voters ousted the ruling Popular Party on Sunday and elected the Socialists. Only three days after 10 bombs killed 200 in Madrid, this exercise in free choice shows the difference between terror and democracy.

But there's also no denying that the world's terrorists will take away a different, and more dangerous, lesson from the Spanish vote: That by murdering innocents they were able to topple one of the pillars of the Western anti-terror alliance. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party, which brought prosperity in eight years of rule and forged a strong bond with the U.S., had seemed headed for victory before Thursday's attacks.

We aren't among those who think the Spanish have repudiated everything Mr. Aznar stood for. A switch of only a few percentage points determined the outcome, and in the wake of Thursday's violence a public outpouring in favor of saying "enough!" is perhaps understandable. A similar wave of fear swept the U.S. after September 11--until it could be tempered by leadership and shaped into a new national resolve.

The Socialists were thus able to exploit the bombings by arguing that somehow they were caused by Mr. Aznar's alliance with America. "Thank You Aznar for al Qaeda Terror," read a banner at a rally in Barcelona. The Socialists were helped by the tactical mistake of the Aznar government in insisting that the bombers had been from the Basque ETA, even as evidence built that Islamists linked to al Qaeda may have been responsible. The Socialists cynically cried "coverup" without any evidence, but the charge played amid Spanish grief.

:: Mark 10:11 AM [+] :: (0) comments
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