Quotes by Senator John Kerry

“John Kerry was a thorn in our flesh. He was very articulate, a credible leader of the opposition. He forced us to create a counterfoil. We found a vet named John O’Neill and formed a group called Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. We had O’Neill meet the President, and we did everything we could do to boost his group”

“America has not led but fled on the issue of global warming.”

“And I’ll tell you, few things make me more angry than some out of touch Washington politician saying that Head Start doesn’t work. That’s a flat out lie and it’s disrespectful to you and the tens of thousands of Americans who make this program work for children every single day.”

“Martin Luther King challenged the conscience of my generation, and his words and his legacy continue to move generations to action today at home and around the world. His love and faith is alive in millions of Americans who volunteer each day in soup kitchens or in schools, or who refused to ignore the suffering of millions theyd never met in far-away places when a tsunami brought unthinkable destruction. His vision and his passion is alive in churches and on campuses when millions stand up against the injustice of discrimination anywhere, or the indifference that leaves too many behind.”

“We’re busy exporting Democracy abroad to Afghanistan and Iraq, which is fine, but what we really need to do is a better job at making our Democracy work right here at home.”

“When you see Washington consistently turning a blind eye to suffering, don’t sit back and apathetically blame indifference. The loudest voices may be delivering the worst messages today, but history shows that grass-roots energy has the power to change anything when that energy is focused toward justice”

“There the Bush Administration has offered only a merry go-round policy. They got up on their high horse, whooped and hollered, rode around in circles, and ended right back where theyd started.”

“Were in a battle for our lives for things that really matter to us. Theres a shell game going on like Ive never seen before.”

“Well, you know, when I talked about the $87 billion, I made a mistake in how I talk about the war. But the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?”

“The Senate and the country need Senators of courage who are prepared to make their mark on history by standing with past profiles in courage, and defending not party, not partisanship, but defending principle and democracy itself.”

“It’s hard to believe that in the greatest democracy in the world, we need legislation to prevent the government from writing and paying for the news.”

“So much promise stretches before us. Americans have always reached for the impossible, looked to the next horizon and asked, What if?”

“And whatever our faith -- whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country.”

“This budget is like an Enron budget -- smoke the numbers, cook the books, hide the truth and hope no one finds out.”

“The best way to create a genuine responsibility era -- a genuine commitment to families and to the values they reflect -- is to begin with those to whom we owe the greatest responsibility -- those whom we most value -- our kids. Lets not just talk about it -- lets put kids first.”

“I defended him [John McCain] in those hearings when some stupid-ass right-wing idiot accused him of being the Manchurian Candidate, that somehow the Vietnamese had brainwashed him. This is the most unbelievably callous, degrading, nonsensical piece of crap Ive ever heard in my life, coming from some chicken hawk out there, to hurl at somebody who spent as long as he did being tortured and standing up for his country, and caring about it as much as he did. Its incredible that people would behave like that, absolutely stunning.”

“If anything prepares you to be president, its being a Red Sox fan.”

“You may not understand completely in what ways, but it is true when I say to you that you have taught me and youve tested me and youve lifted me up, and you made me stronger”

“A lot of Americans think they got a tax cut, and they didnt because their local property tax went up, their excise tax went up, their sales tax went up, and their prices went up and everything else, because we failed to invest in some of these other things we ought to be doing. ... We are squeezing the middle class, we are losing the middle class, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing wider and wider, not closing as it used to be.”

“Fixing our healthcare system as a whole is our primary challenge, and to make it happen you need to get engaged – to pound the pavement, get your hands dirty, endure real sacrifice, take on antiquated thinking and help lead the public debate.”