SwiftVets.com

[Adnil77]

Does anyone know if this was a rumor or is it true, that Kerry lied about being Irish to get the votes in Mass.? I heard it on the radio one day, then I never heard anymore about it. I wonder why this isn't being brought up too, if it's true? I would think the good Irish people out there wouldn't like it to know they were duped... .

[rb325th]

Kerry allowed the misconception he was of Irish Heritage to go on for years. I don't have the time to try and find a link for it, but he made numerous statements that led people to believe he was.
Just another indicator of his willingness to say anything to get a vote.
_________________
U.S. Army 1983-1995, 11C1P/11H2P NBTDT

[Stacman]

I guess it depends on what group he's delivering one of his proclamations to. But you can't hold it against him. I think he's just too stupid to know what's what with anything...

[Se7eN]

Self-proclaimed Catholic too, yet supports partial birth abortions and is pro-choice. Not suprising from a guy who tosses grass into the political wind every second of the day..

[Adnil77]

''For those of us who are fortunate to share an Irish ancestry, we take great pride in the contributions that Irish-Americans …"

—Senate floor statement by John Kerry, March 18, 1986, as quoted in Frank Phillips' and Brian C. Mooney's "1986 Statement Counters Kerry's Stand on Heritage," in the March 6 Boston Globe.

"As some of you may know, I am part-English and part-Irish. And when my Kerry ancestors first came over to Massachusetts from the old country to find work in the New World, it was my English ancestors who refused to hire them."

—Draft remarks prepared for Kerry in 1984, quoted by Phillips and Mooney in the March 6 Globe. Kerry was lieutenant governor of Massachusetts at the time.

"[I]n 1982, at the state Democratic convention in Springfield, his campaign gave his convention floor workers emerald-green T-shirts and hats featuring the logo, 'Up Kerry'—a takeoff on the rallying cry for the first president of the Republic of Ireland, Eamon de Valera, whose supporters cried, 'Up de Valera!' "

—Phillips and Mooney in the March 6 Globe.

Discussion. The question before the jury is whether Kerry has systematically sought to con Massachusetts voters (a great many of whom are Irish) into thinking that he's Irish. Kerry's spokesperson, Kelley Benander, told the Globe the erroneous Senate floor statement was staff-written and that Kerry neither recited nor saw it. (It's common for members of Congress to submit written floor statements in lieu of going to the Senate floor and saying the words out loud, and these statements are indeed often written by staff members.) Neither Kerry nor Benander nor Jonathan Winer, the Kerry aide who wrote the draft remarks prepared for Kerry when he was lieutenant governor, recall the speech being used. (But they don't seem specifically to recall it not being used, either.) As for the Irish-themed Kerry campaign paraphernalia, Benander said it was meant to attract Irish-American voters, not to con people into thinking Kerry was Irish.

Still, it's striking that the Globe was able to find two separate instances where Kerry's own staff thought he was Irish and a third where Kerry's campaign invited the public to believe he was Irish. (Benander's explanation about the hats and T-shirts fails to persuade because Kerry wasn't visiting an Irish neighborhood. He was at a state convention attended by people with all sorts of backgrounds.) And it is striking that Kerry has never attempted to correct various references to his Irish ancestry that have appeared in the Globe, which is the most important newspaper in his state.

Chatterbox's bottom line is that a political candidate and officeholder is responsible for whatever goes out under his name. So the Senate statement alone qualifies this as a Whopper. As to the larger question of whether Kerry habitually tells opportunistic lies about his background, or anything else, the jury's still out. But you can bet the Globe, and everyone else, will be watching.

[Correction, March 15: Winer, who was not contacted by the Globe for the story, says it misreported (secondhand, via Benander) his recollection about the 1984 draft comments. The Globe said Winer didn't remember Kerry giving the speech. Winer says he does remember that Kerry did not give the speech. "He refused to use it," Winer e-mailed Chatterbox. "Told me it wasn't funny." Chatterbox notes that Winer does not affirm that Kerry further said, "And besides, I'm not Irish," so he presumes that didn't happen.]

[shawa]

I read in Newsweek Magazine that his grandfather was Jewish . When immigrated to U.S. settled in Massachusetts. Since there was a large Irish population there he changed the family name from Kohn to Kerry.

[shawa]

Newsweek, August 2. 2004
Story written by Evan Thomas, " The Solitary Soldier"

[vickie]

http://www.jewishsf.com/bk030207/us02.shtml

First being Jewish is not just a religion it is a people, like Arabs are a people. We have Christian Arabs and Islamic Arabs. Yes we have Jewish Jews and Christian Jews (Jews for Christ, etc)

And according to Jewish tradition, when a Jew who marries a non-Jew the family is considered Jewish.

What does it matter that Kerry is half Jewish? It shouldn't matter at all but it will matter to the Islamic terrorist. They are already paranoid about the Isreal-US alliance. In their mind we are being controlled by the evil Jews.

Can you imagine if we had a President Kerry, how it would further enrage teh Islamic terrorists.

[poseidon]

[Guest]

It is sad we cannot believe Kerry. I would think we would expect our polititions to be as transparent as GWB, all of them. But in the real world there are too many Kerry's and not enough Bush's. Jewish, Irish, English....he is whatever he wants to be when the circumstances call for it. We cannot believe nothing documented about him, because he lied about the Vets before the Senate Commision and lied on his service records to get those medals. How can anyone get that many medals in four months? Outrageous. Help us all if Kerry is elected. Him being part Jewish and that inflaming Islamic extremists is far less threatening than all the lies and deceptions he has created and the fact he has no plan.