John Kerry has spent a lifetime both fighting corruption and being targeted by the corrupt.

After his service in Vietnam, Kerry took a stance against the war and Richard Nixon targeted him for his Vietnam protest activities. President Nixon, (aka Tricky Dick) can be heard in taped conversations ordering that his staff to "take down the young demagogue" (aka John Kerry). The individual they chose to lead their attack dog was another Vietnam veteran. This same individual, although unsuccessful in thwarting Kerry and the Vietnam protest in 1971, reemerged during the 2004 presidential election to once again attack Kerry, this time with a lot of conservative money behind him. Sam Fox, recent recess apointment by George W. Bush, personally gave 50K to the "swifties". The trail of the swift-boating campaign was thinly veiled and led back to the GOP and even to White House "Rasputin" Karl Rove, who sent a letter thanking the "swift-boaters" for their help during the election.

Prior to his election as Lt. Governor of Massachusetts and his election to the United States Senate, John Kerry served as Assistant District Attorney where he initiated special units to fight organized crime and white-collar crime. He was one of the first victim advocates, starting programs to council rape victims and other crime victims. Kerry put a notorious local mobster behind bars and won convictions in other important cases, including one high profile rape case. "“I always had a prosecutor’s mind and a prosecutor’s bent," Kerry was quoted as saying in a New Yorker interview.

In the Senate, Kerry continued his war on corruption, taking on an investigatory role that led to the exposé of the Iran-Contra scandal, which was a particularly nasty episode in recent history. Accused drug runners, who were shipping guns to the Nicaraguan Contras, claimed they were under orders of the National Security Council. The implication was that the administration, or at least the National Security Council, turned a blind eye to the drug running. There were attempts to derail Kerry’s investigation, but the scandal was ultimately brought to light. President Reagan's military aide, Oliver North was tried on sixteen felony counts, convicted on three and later had all charges dismissed by the Supreme Court. Today he is a conservative commentator on Fox News. The Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America, Elliott Abrams, pleaded guilty to a felony for lying about foreign funding for the Contras. He was later pardoned by the George Bush Sr. and was appointed by George W. Bush in 2005 as National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy.

During the Iran-Contra investigation, Kerry pursued the financing for the South American drug cartels and the investigation led to the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), a powerful, international institution that was eventually exposed as a front for drug running, money laundering and terrorism. Kerry faced strong opposition from the Reagan and Bush administrations and also from powerful members of his own party who did not want him to pursue his investigation. The covert goal of the BCCI was to finance the destruction of Western influence and as part of its goal financed numerous Muslim terrorist organizations. There were alleged CIA connections and a vast web of BCCI corruption that may not be entirely known for generations. Kerry probed further and delved into the connection between drug trafficking and terrorism. In "The New War, the Web of Crime that Threatens America's Security", which Kerry wrote in 1997, he warned of the increasing threat from terrorists.

While Kerry did not win the presidency in 2004, he remains in the Senate, fighting with even more vigor, the corruption that has our country in a stranglehold. And the attacks on him continue as one might expect.

The alternative to having a hairless chimp for president.

The Kerry detractor comments are TERRIFYING. Having just graduated from an great prep school I was lucky to be able to attend and finished two consecutive intensive US History and political science courses, these comments seem lifted straight out of everything from the Salem Witch trials to Orwell's 1984.
Someone said that Kerry is wealthier than Bush, and therefore could not legislate in any way benefiting the indigent. This seems almost too ridiculous to be sincere, but factually, all you need to do is look up pending legislation before the Senate Subcomittee on Finance and you'll see a bill Kerry has written this year called the Kids First Act which provides healthcare for children who fall below Medicaid and SCHIP cutoffs by rolling back Bush's taxcuts for people who make over 300, 000 dollars a year.
Erica says that there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Even George W admits that there aren't. You've gotta stop watching so much Fox News, Erica, but it's not just you-- 46 percent of Fox viewers believe that there is a direct link between Iraq and Al-Queda, as compared to only 9 percent of PBS viewers. Also, I don't know where you learned US Government and Policy, but obviously Senators do not have the authority to issue purple hearts to themselves or anyone else.
I'd love Boekenoogen to get back to me about Kerry receiving purple hearts for "splinters" when he gets back from a tour of duty in, say, Tel Aviv, gets shot at by insurgents, and saves a ...

John Kerry is a decorated Vietnam veteran, former prosecutor, United States Senator and 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate, who lost to a sitting President during a time of war by a close margin. John Kerry has been in service of others all his life.

Kerry served on a Swift Boat in Vietnam during a period when these boats were used for very dangerous patrols. Kerry saved the life of Jim Rasmussen on one occasion, the lives of his crew on another, and was also responsible for rescuing a number of Vietnamese villagers. Critics who generated partisan attacks on Kerry's military service in 2004, have been largely discredited because of their ties to right-wing groups and acceptance of neocon funding. This kind of dirty politics is now referred to swiftboating, after the group that attacked Kerry.

After Vietnam, Kerry became an anti-war activist. The rancor and division over Vietnam carries into the present. Many Vietnam vets see Kerry as a hero for speaking...

Vietnam war hero turned war protester. Senator from Massachusetts, only senator elected 4 times without any PAC special interest money. Fights for the middle class, education and the environment. Organized the first Earth Day in 1970. Chaired Senate subcommittee on Iran-Contra and exposed CIA drug smuggling in 1986. Lead a Senate probe that exposed a Pakistan based bank financing terrorists in 1992.
Ran for President in 2004 and lost to a lying criminal.

John Kerry enlisted in the Navy in 1966. He began his first tour of duty on a guided-missile frigate off the cost of Vietnam. In 1968, John Kerry began his second tour of duty, and volunteered to serve on a Swift Boat, one of the most dangerous assignments of the war. Swift Boats patrolled the narrow inlets and canals around the Mekong Delta to draw fire and smoke out the enemy. Lt. John Kerry's leadership, courage, and sacrifice earned him a Silver Star, the Navy's fifth highest medal, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts, awarded for wounds received in combat.

After he returned home he decided he had a responsibility to his friends still serving, the friends he had lost, and his country, to help restore responsible leadership in America. He became a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

After graduating from Law School in 1976, John Kerry went to work as a top prosecutor in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He took on organized crime and fought for victims' rights.

John Kerry was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1982. In that office, he organized the nation's Governors to combat acid rain that was polluting lakes, rivers, and the nation's water supply. Two years later, he was elected to the United States Senate and he has won reelection three-times since. He is now serving his fourth term, after winning again in 2002.

During his two decades of service, he has fought for fiscal discipline, fought to put 100,000 more cops on America's ...

the man who should be running our country right now! he is intelligent, courageous, and compasionate. he fights for whats right and for the people.

Truly great American. He fought for our country in the Vietnam War, and then, in 2004, fought for our country against the Sinister Monkey.