Will Kerry fight?

He's making a good show of things this week. After his no-show during the call to challenge the Ohio vote, that is. I've signed on, and I've sent a couple of remarks to his office about the importance of fighting, versus the importance of appeasement in the name of judiciousness. Like Gore, Kerry could be an inspiring candidate. But he has to provide the inspiration, and it's going to be an uphill battle against the media.

Here's the text of an online petition that he's circulating:

We must stop rewarding incompetence, start demanding accountability, and for the sake of the troops in Iraq, we must replace Donald Rumsfeld. Please join me in signing the following letter to President Bush on johnkerry.com.

http://www.johnkerry.com/replacerumsfeld

Mr. President,

I was surprised and disappointed that you told the Washington Post last week that no Bush administration official should be held accountable for our failures in Iraq. As the situation worsens and more American lives are lost and troops deployed to the region, it's time to stop rewarding incompetence and to start demanding accountability. For the sake of our men and women in uniform and their families here at home, I urge you to start by replacing Donald Rumsfeld. His record of failure and his inability to play it straight with the American people and our troops overseas make him unfit to serve as Secretary of Defense for one more day, never mind four more years.

If you care about restoring our credibility around the world and our credibility with our troops on the ground in Iraq, you've got to start by removing Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense. That's why I am joining Senator John Kerry and hundreds of thousands of Americans in adding my name to the johnkerry.com petition calling for Rumsfeld's immediate removal from office.

I urge you to act without delay. We can't afford any more auto-penned letters of condolences and shifting stories about what kind of armor we have to protect our troops.

American soliders and their families are counting on you as Commander in Chief to hold those in charge of the war in Iraq to the highest standards.

http://www.johnkerry.com/replacerumsfeld

Thank you.