Remember Kerry's goose-hunting "photo-op"?

Kerry's Christmas Goose Is in the Bag

Sorry, PETA; Sen. John Kerry really does hunt--and not just when the campaign cameras are whirring. Remember that scene in late October of last year's presidential election when Kerry emerged from a muddy Ohio field in a new camo jacket cradling a shotgun but not his dead goose? The one that prompted critics to giggle that the photo op was ginned up to show that the Boston brahmin was a regular guy?

Well, sources tell us that Kerry is an avid bird and deer hunter, and a good shot to boot. The proof: Early last week, he traveled to Nebraska for a waterfowl hunt. The senator and some friends, including old Swift Boat pal Jim Wasser, bagged 10 mallards, some smaller widgeons, and two Canada geese. We hear "J.K." and Wasser met near Decatur, Neb., by the Missouri River, huddled in a bunkhouse, grilled some steaks, popped a few beers, and watched the Colts-Steelers Monday-night football game on a 14-inch TV. They were out by 4:45 a.m. Tuesday. Temperature: 19 degrees. Wind: 30 mph. Kerry, armed with a Benelli shotgun; Wasser, and six others set the decoys on a pond and jumped into two blinds. At sunup, three ducks screamed in and the crew nailed 'em with their 12-gauges. Nearly a dozen more fell by lunchtime, all retrieved by the host's black lab, Bo. "Not bad for a few hours' hunting," said a Kerry buddy, who added that the birds will probably be served for Christmas dinner.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/articles/051212/12whisplead.htm

I have always wanted to shoot something, but somehow, never get around to it.

I guess I'm squeamish.

He's a very respectful hunter, not greedy, doesn't take more than he needs to provide for his family. Certainly not a Cheney, who has toadies chase prey towards him so God forbid, the geezer doesn't actually have to MOVE his ass to get a shot off.

I always thought he had some money but you know, it's none of my business. Whatever. Live and let live or not let live or something like that.

Like I said, I've always wanted to shoot something. I'm just squeamish.

If you want to know his reasons for hunting, you might want to send him a polite note and ask HIM why he does it. Perhaps he prefers wild game, instead of chickens full of hormones who live their lives trapped in pens and force-fed so they cannot stand? Perhaps he is the type of guy that feels that if you are going to eat meat, you should have the guts to go get it yourself, instead of waddling into the supermart and picking up a shrink-wrapped, styrofoam packet?

I can't read the guy's mind, so you will have to ask him if you really want know.

wrapped styrofoam packets of meat.

Like I said, I'm squeamish. I would never dream of eating something that might scream while it dies.

I was a big supporter of John Kerry's when he was the Democratic nominee, and I did all I could to see him elected.

I didn't support him in the primaries, though, because I thought the macho thing wouldn't ring true. It didn't, I think. I put my squeamishness aside though last summer, even when the convention became a paen to the glory of patriotic war, because I wanted the best for my country and clearly Kerry would have been the best outcome from July 2004 onward.

Maybe John Kerry hunts because he doesn't like styrofoam wrapped meat. I don't know. I don't care. Somehow I think there is something more important in the world than John Kerry's taste in meat. Maybe it's some kind of honesty trip, a statement of "if I eat it, I should be able to kill it myself."

John Kerry sends me a form email every other day about this or that, and seldom touches on his taste in foods. I guess he thinks I'll support him for President in 2008. We'll see what I have to do. There won't be much of a country left in 2008.

I'm not on a crusade against hunting, but I just can't see killing things unless you have to.

I understand the getting out in nature with the kids, but then take a camera.

I don't even like to fish. I just cant see putting living things in pain for my recreation.

woth those guns? And how are they cooked?

It really helps their food buget. I am not a real fan of a lot of meat, but he does make some fine sausages.

it was to raise money for a Volunteer Fire Dept. I weigh 205 and would eat nearly anything but....Weee-OOOOOO, that stuff! Whew!

But I don't have a problem with people who do hunt their own food. I don't like Cheney using beaters to send hundreds of birds overhead, so he can close his eyes, let blast, and take down dozens of birds flying in a low, unnatural formation, though. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Not terribly sporting...!

I swear some here at DU are SO susceptible to spin and can't wait to be spun FURTHER.

Exactly?

who gives a shit. Kerry was not a wimp for the impression that he didn't hunt, he was a wimp because he didn't defend himself against the Swifty boat liars, thus betraying not only his own true and best self, but also the finest, and most honest of that generation of veterans.

have been creamed in the 'librul' media no matter what he did or said! But somehow it's Kerry's fault that the media ran with bullshit! Gotcha!:eyes:

"Blame the victim, it's the American way" is a nice means up summing up the hate for Kerry that still persists on this site. For stupid reasons.

the fact that you don't remember it and remember what the news media feed you is proof that the media -not Kerry was responsible for these thugs. Kerry and the campaign had dealt with them in April and thought they had them taken care of-forcing them to run through their funds. Amazingly, the SBV were discovered by a very close and rich friend of Rove's and a strong Bush supporter who gave them just about what they needed to rear their ugly heads again during a very slow news month. How about that. Any way, within a day the Kerry camp responded and when they didn't get enough media coverage they came out even louder than at first. The problem was, the media continued to play the SBV even after they were discredited.
As I said Kerry did fight back, but he had to fight the SBV and the media too. I don't see how you can blame Kerry for the SBV. What was he suppose to do?

amount of money to spend. The Republicans waited to see when the Dem convention would be and scheduled theirs a month later. They could spend like a drunken sailor while Kerry had to save money for last few weeks of the campaign. So during that month, the Swift boat liars attacked. Kerry couldn't launch a full rebuttal without spending the finite amount of cash he had.

It was obvious the Swifties and the RNC coordinated the attack, which is of questionable legality. Kerry wasn't weak, he was cash strapped.

That photo op led to an accusation of hypocrisy for using a shotgun he wanted to ban in a revised Assault Weapons bill he sponsored.

They're in the business of lying you know. They also orchestrated a campaign crying about how irresponsible Kerry was for shooting without goggles and hearing protection too remember? Then photos of Bush appeared doing the same thing, but the NRA propogandists never mentioned that one. Hmmm.........

would have banned semiautomatic shotguns using receivers/actions used on military/law enforcement weapons.

That issue has been discussed several times in the "Guns" forum.

Senate bill 1341 in the 108th Congress said.
QUOTE
`(L) A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General. In making the determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any Federal law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.'
UNQUOTE

And these are the exact kinds of lies that way too many so-called supporters and fierce campaigners helped to spread last year that are the real reason he lost.

The truth is he was given the gun as a gift in W. Virginia and a photo was taken. That's the story. That's all.

From there it was blown into this:

http://www.gunlaws.com/Kerrys%20Illegal%20Shotgun.htm
http://www.nationalreview.com/kerry/kerry200409270857.asp

And it isn't even clear which Remington 11-87 he was given either.

http://world.guns.ru/shotgun/sh24-e.htm

and while we're on the subject of lies and the trigger happy, let's note that NOBODY did more to spread the slime boatters slander than the National Rifle Association and the gun owners' online forums. The NRA even started its own "media" to evade campaign finance laws.

Did any "pro-gun democrat" ever say "boo" about that? Not that I saw...and I spent a considerable amount of time looking and urging them to do so.

Most of us have spent some time trying to figure out why right wingers are so willing to spread lies. So help us out. Why????

You know I wasn't talking about Kerry's bill. I was talking about how the entire gun incident was distorted and blown out of proportion. From your original post, I thought he was out hunting with it or something. It was a gift and it still isn't clear from any article whether the gun he was given was the police or military version.

So why did you intentionally ignore what I said in order to repeat right wing talking points? Why is it more important to lie for your guns than tell the truth and help change the perception of the Democratic Party?

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Chimpy gave a speech before the National Guard last fall in which he mentioned that the "well regulated militia" referred to in the Second Amendment IS the National Guard...just as every court decision in the land has affirmed, the ACLU says, the Founding Fathers said, etc. Of course, that contradicts the gun lobby's "it's an individual right" lie.

Did you hear the NRA and the rest of that bunch say "Boo?" Me neither.

That gun would not have been banned by Kerry's bill.

Sure doesn't make me respect him more. In fact, it's something else to add to my list of reasons why I don't particularly like Kerry.

Do I really have to explain? Oh, OK...

I don't enjoy watching boxing, but I do enjoy a looking at a picture of Harry Reid knocking out his opponent (psst...it's a metaphor...the picture represents Harry "knocking out" the Republicans.)

Oh, and another thing...boxing may be down and dirty, but it is a sport, one that happens to involve two consenting adults. It is quite a bit different then blowing the brains out of a defenseless animal.

Arm the animals and then lets see who hunts.

How can you take that as a yes? :shrug:

It's so damn lonely at the top of the pyramid. At bare minimum, we should encourage food sources (plant, animal, etc.) to come to us, and not pursue them so ruthlessly!

had to be killed by someone. I'm not sure what's so bad about "do it yourself."

If he didn't then eat the meat, that would be disgusting. But the goose is gonna be Xmas dinner.

I was repulsed then and even more repulsed now. :-(

Edit: spelling

Not when he other team doesn't know there is a game going on and is not equally armed.

me-his hunting. Thanks for posting this though, its nice to know what Kerry is up to.

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being so presumptious as to speak for HIM. Your boy Kerry DID capitualte, quit, roll over, and so on....

Nice post. It's funny how some alleged liberal people can be so violent, cruel and unfeeling. You wonder what they really believe in, when they are not be hypocritical.

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but he betrayed me


:nopity:

Those words fit you well.

I have :nopity: for you, there for I will put you on my ignore list.

double check to make sure and you did it correctly when you did your "ignore" thing.
By the way, no chance your boy Kerry will EVER slip through to the nomination again so go ahead and give it up. Sorry :nopity: for you OR Kerry the Capitulator

is the first time I see it explained that plainly.

I had a friend that killed herself, so sorry if I find this post absolutely revolting.

:puke:
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Well no shit. The man had something like 20 confirmed kills in Vietnam. You don't do that with harsh language alone.

Of course, that makes no difference to those determined to label all liberal Democrats as gun-hating wimps.

But Kerry's hunting prowress is not the thing that has been bothering me since before the election. But it does have something to do with the wilderness and the places he vacations in.

Good gawd they make it sound like Kerry and his buddies scaled Mt fucking Everest wearing nothing but t-shirts and shorts.

To think they could accomplish this amazing feat of taking out some defenseless ducks in 19 degree weather. Amazing!!!

Yeah, I sure do remember that ridiculous photo-op last year with Kerry prancing around in front of the cameras in camouflage like some friggin idiot out to impress the swing voters into making them think he was some big bad hunter at the time. Trouble is, they all saw it for the dumb stunt that it was.

They ran a little article that someone phoned in about an utterly average hunting trip in Nebraska. (This sort of thing happens thousands of time every day across the country.)

A bunch of guys got together, camped out and ate steaks, had a few beers and watched some Monday Night Football, then got up before first light and bagged some birds. Ahm, excuse me, but who said it sounded like anything else? The article sounds pretty mundane to me.

As long as they eat the kill or donate any excess to a food pantry if they can't eat it themselves, then what's the harm? These birds are not endangered species. I don't get the fuss.

"Temperature: 19 degrees. Wind: 30 mph. Kerry, armed with a Benelli shotgun; Wasser, and six others set the decoys on a pond and jumped into two blinds. At sunup, three ducks screamed in and the crew nailed 'em with their 12-gauges. Nearly a dozen more fell by lunchtime, all retrieved by the host's black lab, Bo."

I have plenty of close friends who hunt, and none of them ever take commonplace hunting escapades such as this one and make them sound like something just short of heroic.

Wow, 19 degrees out and a 30 mph wind blowing. I'll bet all that lead birdshot coming form the barrel of those 12 gauges at several hundred mph really got blown all over the swamp. Yeah, right. Like I said, they're making a nothing story into something phenomenal. Maybe if the great white hunter, Kerry, bagged some game in those stiff winds with a bow and arrow I'd be impressed.

All this does is bring back those pathetic memories of his idiotic photo-op last year when he tried to pander to the right by dressing up in camouflage on that well-staged hunting trip in the middle of his futile campaign.

And now this. Too funny!!

To kill, not one but many, and sit back and dwell on how productive the day has been?

Was somebody starving?

Sorry Kerry, I side with PETA.

Otherwise your remark would be extremely hypocritical

I was completely turned off by the story in the OP, which presented Kerry's evident joy in killing for recreation as some kind of proof of his sincerity. Completely turned off, just as I was with the dead goose photo-op, as I said at the time.

I don't believe one has to be a vegan or vegetarian to hold that view, much as PETA targets its actions toward the companies that kill in the most needlessly dispicable way - boycotting and picketing kfc while not going after a somewhat compliant McDonalds, for example.

Am I a vegetarian? I'm getting there pretty damned quickly, thanks for asking.

hunting is more ethical than buying meat that comes from factory farms. At least animals in the wild get to run free most of their lives.

But there is a difference between a clueless consumer and a hunter, especially a recreational hunter.

Killing is not entertainment.

To my mind, it's only really hunting if you have to do it to live. Anything else is just slaughter for slaughter's sake whether you eat the flesh or not.

that comes from factory farms, though. I'm someone who eats meat only very sparingly but I would be much more likely to eat meat that was hunted than meat that was factory farmed.

And if you've never been to a food bank, you might not know that meat is very difficult to come by. I guarantee you thousands of families are very appreciative of the game hunters donate every year.

my book. I just don't like hunting and couldn't do it myself.

Your right though, the opponent never wins. Personally, I don't think I could ever shot anything. I would starve to death if I had to depend on hunting to eat. They would be pets with names.

You know, I actually AM a vegetarian (with respect to land animals - guess they call that pesce-vegetarian but that sounds too much like "pesky vegetarian" which I try not to be), and I have ZERO problem with someone hunting for food - and it doesn't matter one whit whether the person does that because they are poor and have to, or because they are rich and feel like getting their food that way once in awhile.

Animals are part of a bloody food chain, just like we are. (Get lost out in bear wilderness without the means to defend yourself, and you might find out just where humans reside in that food chain when they aren't protected by the products of their intellect).

I'll bet the death of an animal being killed by a natural predator is far more agonizing on average, than the relatively quick death of being killed by a bullet or crossbow arrow (? dart?) by a skilled hunter.

The REAL issue of suffering is with factory farming practices. Then there is the issue of environmental pollution from those practices, too.

Every meal that someone like Kerry gets by hunting, or chooses to replace meat completely with a vegetarian protein, makes a reduction in demand for those immoral practices. So I don't see where you come off having a problem with it.

so to speak, then hunting might loosely be called a sport. I cannot see how sneaking into the animal's environment/home, masking your presence with cammo and scent, baiting the animal, then laying in wait until you can emerge from hiding to ambush and take its life - I cannot see how that could possibly be called a sport.

But my comments, where I "come off" saying what I said, was more a revulsion at the evidently sheer enjoyment of the kill, bragging about how many unsuspecting animals you were able to sneak up on and kill. I mean how many would have been too many?

As I said, killing is not entertainment.

Do I have a problem with people hunting to eat, as in, survival? Absolutely not. Do I have a problem with people killing animals for recreation - yeah, I think its sick.

Nothing should have to die for your fun.

btw, congrats on being any type of vegetarian, and I agree with you 100% on factory farming. I'd add animals raised for fur, and animals held in cages and subjected to endless days of agony so that some vain man or woman can use the latest hair gel or lipstick.

I'm sorry, but taking pleasure in the taking of a life-ANY life-is just fucking sick. I don't care WHO calls it a "sport", killing shouldn't be promoted as a pleasurable activity. The Native American had it right; kill only for survival, then do so reverently and responsibly, thanking the being for the sacrifice it did not wish to take.

And yes, I am a vegetarian who doesn't wear leather shoes.

I could tell by the way he was handling the gun.

did he "bag" any ketchup?

I think KKKarl looks like Elmer Dudd.

Of course they loved to make Kerry out to just be a patsy and everything even though he is very active in hunting and sports.

O8)

Good God, who will speak for the smaller widgeons?

Pandering to the right works soooo well.

and even he wasn't pro-gun enough for the nutless weenies who shriek "They're going to take our guns!"

He should have him Chimpy over the head with gun control every fucking day of the campaign.

More drama and fighting than holiday dinner with my daughter and siblings.

And THAT'S saying something.

....down in the Gun Dungeon, who joined with all your right-wing shooting range, hunting camp and NRA pals to trash Kerry's goose hunt during the campaign: Shame on you. I have not forgotten, nor do I forgive.

That goes for those of you pulling the same crap on this thread, as well. Making common cause with Karl Rove: Aren't you proud of yourselves?

the real problem is that his campaign allowed him to be Dukakised.

ridiculed Kerry for the hunting photo op, then the NRA crowd votes for Bush whom I have never seen with a gun. The only picture I remember seeing of Bush as a sportsmen was him fishing with the old man on the $500,000 Cigarette boat. That reminds me of the Kerry windsurfing photo they ridiculed and said no regular guy could relate to that, yet regular guys can relate to Bush on the $500000 boat, go figure!

or illegal workers and you get a war going here.