SwiftVets.com

[1991932]

John Kerry has struck again.

If you watch the news, you know that we had a major winter storm in the Northeast yesterday. We all knew it was coming, but it was a bit worse than predicted, and tracked a little closer to the Atlantic Ocean than expected. Nonetheless, I had planned for several weeks to join the counter-protest to those moonbats from A.N.S.W.E.R. in Washington, DC on St. Patrick's Day. The weather would be a hassle, but I got up at 0300 Friday morning to start my trip.

St Patrick's Day also heralds Don Imus' annual visit to Boston, where he does a live broadcast of his aging show. I had two tickets to Kiss Me I'm Imus, which started at 0530. My sister lives in Boston, and she was the only one I could find who would get up that early, so we went together. She's been with me a twice before, and it's always a good excuse to catch up with family news while enjoying the show.

Now I haven't listened to Don Imus in several months, mostly because I slowly realized what a total turn he had taken because of his opposition to the Iraq War. He's become impossible to listen to. But he always has John Kerry on when he does his show from Boston, and I wanted to see the crowd reaction when he announced the senator's name. Last year, the crowd booed lustily when Imus mentioned Kerry's name. Imus was taken aback and gave us a lecture on being polite to his guests. When Kerry called in a couple of hours later for his scheduled appearance, the crowd gave him a tepid round of applause. Even if it would delay my departure a little bit, I wanted to see the Imus show before leaving for DC. Besides, there was no pending Nor'easter when I purchased the tickets in February.

This year, Imus wised up. He gauged the crowd's acceptance of Kerry by phrasing his question in a positive sense: "How many of you people are happy that John Kerry isn't running for President this time?" The place erupted in wild cheering. It was embarrassing for Imus, who has been one of John Kerry's biggest supporters. And this was from a Boston crowd, to boot. But then again, we know John Kerry better than Don Imus does.

My sister and I endured the first hour and a half of the show, but after listening to a breathless interview with Timmy Russert, we looked at each other and got up and left. She had to get to work, and I wanted to get on the road. I could listen to Kerry on the radio.

The snow didn't begin until two hours into my drive. By the time I got to southern Connecticut, I-95 was 4 ruts in the snow and cars were barely moving. All of the traffic reports from the NYC radio stations told of multiple accidents ahead on my route of travel. Since the storm was now predicted to last into Saturday morning, the situation was hopeless. I turned around in Stratford, CT and headed back to Massachusetts.

Once you get north of New London, CT, traffic thins out quite a bit on the interstate. But the storm was fast-moving, and there was no escaping it. Idiots in their Ford Explorers who thought they were not accountable to the laws of physics were flying by. There were spin-outs and accidents everywhere. Tractor trailers couldn't climb the grade on the bridge over Fall River. On I-195 near New Bedford, a Honda passed me doing 65 mph. Apparently, he couldn't afford an SUV. He was spun out in the median a few miles ahead. I finally arrived home at 5pm, exhausted. I went to bed so fast that I even forgot to cancel my hotel reservation in Washington. When I woke up at 1am, I considered getting back in my car and trying again. But the snow had turned to sleet, and I did what any Marine would do and went back to bed.

As it turned out, John Kerry actually showed up in Boston and did a live interview, which was a first for him with Kiss Me I'm Imus. It was difficult to judge the audience response over the radio, since there were no crowd microphones. But at one point, Kerry referred to the crowd as "...you Mitt Romney/ Republican group" so I know they got to him. He's about as popular with thinking Bostonians as he was at the Swift Boat Veterans Reunion at Norfolk in 2003.

So my pleasant memories of Washington, DC and John Kerry will have to be those of a warm September day back in 2004. That was the "Kerry Lied" rally, a more spontaneous event than today's Gathering of Eagles. I waited in line for over an hour to get a copy of Unfit For Command signed by John O'Neill and Dr. Corsi. Two months and a few hundred dollars later, John Kerry was politically dead, done in by a handful of Swifties and a stadium full of football fans somwhere in Ohio.

How sweet it is!
_________________
Former "War Criminal"

[Me#1You#10]

Dang. Great anecdote 199...and thanks for your efforts, past and present.

Glad you made it back home safely and sorry you missed an opportunity to insult that bastage up close and personal.

[wonhyo]

I was in Florida for springtraining. Never saw so many VETS gathered in one place, without it being a memorial of some kind. Tony LaRussa, of the saint louis cardinals, (my team!) spent most of the warm up with the VETS signing autographs. Anytime someone complained, he said "Gotta honor our VETS". Many of the Vets, told stories, of when they signed up, they were in for the long haul, they never got to come home for a year, and then go back. One guy told me how is boat was blown up, he got bandaged up, shipped out on another ship, went back to the front. He said no one ever questioned about time out. Said that most enlisted, wanted to get to work, get the job done, then you go home. Never enjoyed my day at a ball park more.
Tried to fly home, got stuck at the airport , because of the snow up north. Many were told not to expect to be home before tuesday. Glad I finally got home, to snow (just dusting) but sure missed not seeing the Great Turn out for the Gathering of Eagles. couldn't find much on the news. Great to see all those flags. Thanks for all you've done and continue to do for the U S A.

[USMCWayne]

Great stuff, as usual, 1991932.

I knew you'd do all in your power to try and be there, but sometimes Mother Nature really does throw a curve ball at us.

Because you lived in Wyoming for all those years, I knew you wouldn't be deterred by a few snowflakes. However, there really is nothing any of us can do about the driving habits of everyone else.

Maybe next year eh?