Kerry Comes Out Swinging?!

Do my eyes deceive? Am I hearing correctly? Did John Kerry actually hit the Bush administration where it hurts? Did he really talk about Dick Cheney getting $2 million from Halliburton since he became veep? Did he really make the following statement?

“As President, I will stop companies like Halliburton from profiting at the expense of our troops and taxpayers. I will stop companies from receiving no-bid contracts from the government when the president or vice president is still receiving compensation from that company. I will make sure that all government funds are properly accounted for. And as Commander in Chief, I will have two words for companies that cheat the U.S. military – ‘You’re fired.’”

For weeks I have been in a state of despair or rage because of Kerry's ineptness. I don't know what to believe about polls, but I am worried that none of them show Kerry ahead.
I hope that this speech is the beginning of a new theme against Bush, namely that he has been incompetent and corrupt, and not just in Iraq. Cheney's very obvious conflicts of interest are among the topics that should have been ongoing themes in Kerry's stump speech, but that is water under the bridge.

I have always felt that Kerry's pro-war vote was not necessarily a huge impediment. All he had to say was that he didn't vote for torture at Abu Ghraib or for Halliburton to steal tax payer money. Of course, in my dream Kerry says he was misled on Iraq and he is bringing the troops home. I know. Dream on. He could have said it but he blew it by saying that he would have voted yes even if he had known that no WMD would be found.

I kept reading that Kerry has made changes, that former Clinton staffers can put him over the top, but I didn't hear or see any improvements. The old proverb about the fish stinking from the head can be both positive and negative. It is all up to this candidate. If this is the beginning of a new Kerry, perhaps a sweet aroma can start from the head as well.

On the other hand, I hope that neither Kerry nor Edwards are being compensated by any corporations and that no one gets a no bid contract from the U.S. government. Hopefully, it was just a speech written in haste. I was hoping to have at least one post that was completely complementary of Kerry.