He Can Really Dole It Out

News Max might not always get it right on the first salvo, but I don't see how anyone can call this anything but a true X-ring shot.

Monday, Aug. 23, 2004 4:42 p.m. EDT

Dole Defends Swiftees in Call From Kerry

Presidential candidate John Kerry telephoned former Sen. Bob Dole this morning to complain about Dole's demand a day earlier that he apologize to Vietnam veterans for protesting the war, the one-time Republican presidential candidate revealed Monday afternoon.

"John Kerry called me this morning, which surprised me," Dole told radio host Sean Hannity.

You'll want to go to NewsMax and read the whole (rather brief) transcript. Or better, just listen to Senator Dole and Mr. Hannity's on-air conversation.

Suffice to say, Kerry had his ketchup handed to him.

Dole said Kerry responded, "I haven't spent one dime attacking President Bush."

But the Republican war hero shot back, "You don't have to. You've got all the so-called mainstream media, plus you've got MoveOn.org and all these other groups that have spent millions and millions of dollars trying to tarnish Bush's image."

"Don't tell me you don't know what some of these people are doing," he told Kerry.

"Everybody likes quiet heroes," Dole added, saying he told Kerry, "John, everybody knows you were in Vietnam and the less you say about it, the better."

If Bob Dole can get in front of the alphabet media's cameras with that story, you can then declare that this was the moment that the Kerry campaign gave up the ghost.

Nobody today dares besmirch Senator Dole's combat record, nor the terrible injuries he sustained in combat.

Kerry ran crying and whining to Bob Dole concerning the Swiftie's ads, and Bob Dole laid the bitchslap of the century on the Botox Boy.

Is this how Kerry intends to work with the U.N.? How he intends to stand up to rogue nations? How he intends to fight terrorism?

Running and crying to Mum and Pop is not what we expect from a candidate for the highest office in the most powerful and influential nation on the face of the earth.

Way to go, Bob Dole. You handled that with class, poise and dignity. But you didn't suffer that fool gladly, nor were you obligated to. My hats off to you, sir, and you've once more rendered a valueable service to your country.

Read the whole thing, and listen to the audio.

Comments

[Marcus]

Kerry's seemingly lack of culpability smacks of the Mafia Don that simply shrugs his shoulders and says, " I dint kill no one."

That's a great piece, Jim, and the audio is awesome to listen to!

[GE]

Of course, the mainsteam media is focusing on the apology and neglecting to mention that Dole told Kerry off about using attack groups.

[Guy S.]

Always thought Dole was a class act. This just backs it up. And the Hannity audio (I heard it on the show itself) rocks!

[homebru]

The way that Ferretface keeps crying "make them stop being mean to me" instead of dealing with it made me wonder what he'd do if he became president.

Looks mightily like he'd have a permenant place in front of the World Court begging "make them stop being mean to me".

And he has already picked out his lawyer for the job.

[Steve Teeter]

The thing that political insiders said about Bob Dole forever was that, behind closed doors, he had a sharp tongue, a wicked sense of humor, and could be truly funny while skewering his targets. He was in magnificent form in this interview.

It's a pity that when people like that run for president, they always seem to buy into their advisors' inevitable advice that they've got to tone that down, don't make jokes, don't be witty, be solemn, be presidential. Who knows, if Dole had let a little more of his real personality out in '94, things might have been a wee bit different.