dubla,
i agree. to idealize a politician is usually a big mistake.
kerry is without doubt more intelligent than bush and might actually have been an idealist when he was young....but by now he is probably just as corrupted as W (no honest man would or could ever get as far as he did).
concerning the iraq war...no one dared to speak out against the war. in march 2003 it would have been a political suicide to do so.
there was one senator (old guy, forgot his name) who dared to voice his opposition. he gave a fantastic speech...but the guy is overdue for retirement...so he had nothing to loose. for kerry and the other democrats a lot more was at stake. besides...i am sure they too get enough sponsoring from the oil and weapons indusry to look the other way in such cases.