AMERICANS ON ALERT OVER KELLY RANT
Oct 22 2007
A CONTROVERSIAL councillor has sparked a Transatlantic tiff after branding American President George W Bush a “draft-dodging coward.”
Terry Kelly, who is also a leading aid to Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander, has sparked outrage by posting a blistering rant against President Bush on his own website.
The Paisley North West councillor has dubbed the American a “dishonourable, pathetic excuse of a President” and claims he used “his family’s wealth and connections” to avoid serving in the US Armed Forces during the Vietnam War.
It is understood staff at the American Consulate General in Edinburgh have been alerted to the comments and are now considering their response.
Paisley man Dave McCartney is among those who have condemned Mr Kelly’s remarks.
He said: “At a time when relations with President Bush have cooled with Prime Minister Brown, is it too much to ask for Mr Kelly to keep his opinions to himself? After all, he is a senior Labour councillor now.
“I think that comments like ‘draft- dodging coward’ will not assist in helping to thaw Labour and Republican relations.
“I feel personally that our relations with America are of the highest priority.”
Writing in his controversial web-log, Mr Kelly highlights Mr Bush’s recent comments on the Vietnam and Iraq wars.
The Labour man comments: “His insult to Americans this time was not Iraq or illegal torture or even the highest number in the world of people in jail, no this was an insult to savour as he spoke about America’s failures in Vietnam.
“Some 50,000 American lives lost and he chose to use the Vietnam war to bolster his stance on Iraq.
“So, why is this so bad? Well, many of you will be well ahead of me now. Yes, that’s right, the President of the USA, George W Bush, is a draft-dodging coward.”
Mr Kelly goes on to say: “The Republican right attacked Clinton for missing Vietnam and elected Bush, conveniently avoiding a slight difference between them which is that Clinton opposed the war. The coward Bush was happy to support it with the proviso that someone else would do the fighting.
“He was all for fighting those pesky commies, as long as he didn’t get shot at. I truly despair at what this great nation has become.
“This dreadful President Bush makes Nixon look cuddly. He’s a coward, a liar and a crook.”
This is not the first time Mr Kelly’s web-log has courted controversy.
On a previous occasion, he described the Mormon Church as “the Moron Church.”
Yesterday, Mr Kelly insisted he stands by his comments about President Bush.
He added: “If the person who reported me to the American Consulate would like to get in touch, I will gladly have a debate with him about the matter.”
A spokesman for Ms Alexander said the Labour leader did not agree with Mr Kelly’s views.
He added: “Terry Kelly is a hard- working local councillor. The homepage of his website makes it abundantly clear that the views expressed in his blogs are his own.”
Source: icRenfrewshire
Dubya VS Terry
Whoever wins, we lose!
2 comments:
Check out Terrywatch, it would appear that his views on the fine sport of Rugby have been posted to the BBC.
Read and enjoy :-)
But he was a draft-dodging coward. It's public record, not conjecture.
Such faux outrage!
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