Kerry disses the troops - again
We really shouldn't be surprised at John Kerry's latest insult against American troops, given his decades-long animus towards the US military - going all the way back to 1971 and his Winter Soldier lies. But for him to say something so monumentally offensive just days before the critical mid-term elections simply boggles the mind. Probably the only person happier than Karl Rove right now must be Hillary Clinton.
UPDATE: In response to Kerry's non-apology apology, Dick Cheney had this very funny line: "Of course, now Senator Kerry says he was just making a joke, and he botched it up. I guess we didn't get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it." And via Michelle Malkin, soldiers in Iraq deliver a hilarious plea to Sen. Kerry:
UPDATE: In response to Kerry's non-apology apology, Dick Cheney had this very funny line: "Of course, now Senator Kerry says he was just making a joke, and he botched it up. I guess we didn't get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it." And via Michelle Malkin, soldiers in Iraq deliver a hilarious plea to Sen. Kerry:
posted by Garry at
3:50 PM
6 Comments:
I'm not trying to condone what he said, but I'd like to have the context of the quote. A 10-second soundbite doesn't really do justice to a speech.
For instance, he could have been discussing how the wealthy who vote for Bush don't pay the cost of the war because they aren't the ones who are fighting it. I think that might be a valid discussion where his quote, which is terribly worded, would fit somewhat. Of course, the conservative that posted it at YouTube didn't bother to give the context.
I'll withhold judgement either way until I hear the context of the speech and the rest of what he said. I would hate to think that he just worded something poorly in a speech and got blasted for it considering that we forgive President "You've got to put food on your family" Bush for doing the same thing all the time.
By
Jeff, At
7:21 PM, October 31, 2006
Look, Kerry said "If you make the most of it, if you study hard, if you do your homework, if you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
The "you" Kerry was talking to was a bunch of students - the event was held at Pasadena City College. The context of the event was education: Kerry was stumping for Phil Angelides, and Angelides' focus at this event was "his planned education reforms, including a repeal of college tuition increases enacted under Schwarzenegger and an expansion of financial aid programs."
So the subject was education, the audience were college students, and Kerry's message was clear - study hard or you'll wind up like those poor undereducated losers in the military; thus perpetuating the liberal myth about our servicepeople being undereducated and from poor working class backgrounds - that is your "context".
Other Democrats, by the way, are not waiting around to "withhold judgement" on Kerry's statement.
By
Garry, At
10:47 AM, November 01, 2006
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
Jeff, At
12:47 AM, November 02, 2006
I found this after posting my first reply. Keith Olbermann explained the context of Kerry's quote and then some. It's certainly worth watching.
Special Comment
By
Jeff, At
1:13 AM, November 02, 2006
Ah, Olbermann - the genius who promised us a Rove indictment was just around the corner, and who is probably still the only pundit left in the country who never figured out that Joe Wilson is a liar.
Maybe - maybe - Kerry was trying to make a joke about Bush, although that argument doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense - surely he's not making the argument that Bush is lacking in education, with degrees from Harvard and Yale? Still, if Kerry hadn't made slanders in the past against our military, I might buy the argument that the joke was about Bush. But such is not the case...forget Olbermann's idiotic rantings, and try to understand the liberal elitist view of the volunteer military, as perfectly exemplified by Kerry himself back when he was first running for Congress:
"I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown," Kerry wrote. "We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'
By
Garry, At
9:50 AM, November 03, 2006
"forget Olbermann's idiotic rantings, and try to understand the liberal elitist view of the volunteer military"
I think that statement exemplifies Olbermann's point. It is easier in politics now to call something idiotic than to debate its merits. It's easier to divide the issue into black and white, and right and left instead of discussing it and finding common ground. Kerry was trying to call the President stupid (Insert "us" into the quote, and the joke works quite nicely, "get US stuck in Iraq"; however, that's not really the point.
The point is that it's easier for you to criticize Kerry and Olbermann than to consider what they say. I thought that Kerry's point was interesting, albeit a little too inflammatory (btw, just because Bush went to Harvard and Yale doesn't make him educated; especially considering that it was national news when he read a book--Camus's The Stranger, which incidentally is about a man who kills an Arab in cold blood and feels no remorse and also is only about 100 pages long--as if he had never finished one before). And, Olbermann's point was terribly insightful about how Bush has inflamed the country and divided it so bitterly. However, instead of listening to what either one of them had to say, you called their remarks "idiotic" and "elitist." In so doing, you proved Olbermann's point.
As for the "liberal elitist view of the military," how many of the members of the administration have fought in a war? How many served their country in a way that is even close to the way that Kerry did (or Murtha, or Cleland, or Hackett, or any other liberal veteran that's been critical of the war). Your "liberal elitist view of the military" that you believe Kerry has is a myth. What it means is, "anyone who disagrees with the administration's foreign policy is anti-military." That's just not true, my friend, and neither is your interpretation of Kerry's remarks.
By
Jeff, At
11:24 PM, November 04, 2006
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home