Kerry blows off again
 

John Kerry, who considers himself the No. 1 supporter of our troops in Iraq, appeared yesterday at Pasadena City College to campaign for Phil Angelides, Democratic challenger to California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

YouTube has video:

"You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

What a stirring call from this war hero and patriot.

Part 2
 

Kerry: The Mature Alternative to Howard Dean

Washington--Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry's comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:

"If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they're crazy. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I'm sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.

I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq. It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.

The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it. These Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor.

Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they're afraid to debate real men. And this time it won't work because we're going to stay in their face with the truth and deny them even a sliver of light for their distortions. No Democrat will be bullied by an administration that has a cut and run policy in Afghanistan and a stand still and lose strategy in Iraq."

He's bitter.

So that makes what 6 or 7 completely asinine statements by Kerry, to what, 800 or 900 by Bush? Kerry really going to have to step it up if he hopes to make a dent in Bush's lead :P

Hahahahaha!

But seriously, if you reference a youtube video, provide the link.

The difference is, a dumb statement by Bush involves saying "internets" or "the google" but a dumb remark by Kerry insults U.S. troops.

As a military wife, I was highly offended by Kerry's asinine comment. It is so typical of his ilk yet it makes it no less insulting.

As insulting say, as making a joke about combat wounds/casualties in front of the wounded?

"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself—not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch."

Pres. George W. Bush, after visiting with wounded veterans from the Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 1, 2006

Yes, because Bush trying to belittle himself to get a laugh out of troops is similar to him calling them stupid. Good call. Typical liberal response, one of their own makes a completely disrespectful statement, and then goes off the deep end about Republicans, and liberals simply go, "well Bush is worse." I can't wait for Tuesday.

Ah yes, I forgot, I'm a liberal :D

Hey, both of the jackasses made disrespectful comments - why should either get a pass? But in the case of jokes that insult the military - one of these tools served in combat; the other didn't - so the jokes coming from one are tolerated a hell of a lot less.

At least when our past PM made a "joke" like that, the Padre had the balls to tell him to STFU and show some respect for the wounded. So far Harper has managed to avoid sticking his foot in his mouth... of course he hasn't visited the wounded yet - that'll come next weekend I'm sure, unless the PCs have wrangled up some competent PR people.

Funny RA, after a search the only people angry about Bush's comments seem to be liberal bloggers...The fallout from Kerry's comments has already surpassed that.

I don't think Bush trying to ease a soldiers situation with a little humor is nearly the same as him calling them uneducated and dumb.

I've noticed as the older I get, and the busier I get with actually living an adult life, this stuff becomes less and less important. Not the actual political process, because I am an informed voter, but the constant bickering.

"Every time Kerry speaks he fires another shot into his foot. Now - if only he could turn all those self-inflicted shots into more purple hearts..."

A Democratic congressman told ABC News Tuesday, "I guess Kerry wasn't content blowing 2004, now he wants to blow 2006, too."

You know, I don't know what Kerry meant inside any more than any of you do, but it can be offered that his statement could be construed as pointing out that the elite, highly educucated, wealthy, etc. etc. etc. are not the ones fighting and dying for the country, it always seems to be those who are worse off in society, i.e. poor, uneducated and others who don't have many resources or a solid social backing who are recruited and sent over there to die. Those who often have to rely on enlisting to try to get money for school or an income or some sort of opportunity in life. This interpretation, given the brevity of the statement, is just as possible as any other. It's interesting the points of view that are being given and how they are representative of peoples' political affinities.

I also want to question why it is that anyone would try to indicate that Kerry, like any other American, would blatantly insult American troops or feel that they were stupid, especially when he, himself, is a veteran. It just wouldn't make any sense. So why put it out there when its obvious that no one would actually feel that way, especially a U.S. Senator. I feel the same way when conservatives say horrible things like democrats are not patriotic just because they don't agree with the way the administration is handling things. You can't disagree without this kind of rediculous criticism.

While apparently it was a joke gone bad (directed at the White House, not the troops) he's an idiot.

I just read on Yahoo news that Kerry's people are saying that he misread his notes and the statement was supposed to mean that if you aren't smart you end up in situations like Iraq, "just ask President Bush". Apparently he's calling it a "botched joke". It may be, to give him some credit, but in my opinion if you're making a joke referencing something as touchy as that subject, you better make sure you have the punch line down.

Exactly. Foot, meet mouth.

I don't think you can chalk this up as solely a political thing, because Democrats have come out today against him. This isn't a liberal/conservative thing, this is about people being personally offended. If people were offended by his comments, they have a right to be offended.

If it is a joke that went badly, well, hopefully he'll learn from it and not make the same mistake again; it happens a lot that politicians or public speakers make jokes or lighthearted remarks in speeches and appearances, and those remarks don't go over well. I (and no one else on this board) can explain his motives or what he was thinking, and I'm not going to crucify him over one remark.

This doesn't change my opinion one way or the other. I have a whole bunch of reasons why I'm not a fan of Kerry (stories from staffers, his Senate record, etc.).

This is exactly right. As usual, some conservatives have jumped all over this. It is so retarded that it always seems to come down to 'lol lie-berals'. Seriously, shut up with your ham-fisted rhetoric. Just look at this from a human perspective. Botched joke, no one found it funny, Kerry screwed up and I don't think he'll let it happen again.

It wasn't just the joke, it was his response. He's a loose cannon. "I apologize to no one." What a loser.

Yeah, I just heard about his official response to the situation, "I apologize to no one. If anyone should apologize, it should be President Bush and his failed team." What a complete douchebag.

Why should he appologize for people not unerstanding his joke? I don't appologize as it isn't my fault that people are too dense to understand. I think people should be appologizing to Kerry for jumping all over him and insinuating that he was insulting people that have been deployed.

Dude, when I heard what he said I was shocked. It basically sounded like he said that the stupid people who don't do well in school end up in the military. I don't think it was a case of not understanding a joke, it was him completely f-ing up a joke and insulting the military with his f-ed up version of the joke. The fault lies with Kerry and whoever prepared his notes.

I can't believe I'm totally agreeing with something posted by our own "Ann Coulter," but that Democratic Congressman is exactly right.

Correction: It was a bad joke gone worse.

He should apologize (1) because as scripted it was a bad joke, and as delivered it was much worse, and (2) because the problem is not that people were too dense to understand what he said. The problem was that he "botched" the joke badly, and people understood him to mean what he actually said, not what he meant to say.


What an embarrassment.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. What about his "joke" should we all understand?......or maybe you missed the part when both parties and the public in general felt it was absolutely dispicable and ludicrous....even if he did "botch" it. Nothing about his comments sounded like a joke, nor did he say it in a joking manner. I didn't exactly hear a bunch of college students laughing about it when the footage was shown on FoxNews.


...but maybe they are all "too dense to understand."

http://www.californiaconservative.or...g-football.jpg

i've had enough of the entire senate....i think they should all be recalled, our legislature is seriously becoming a national embaresment everytime I turn to c-span it is always some dipshit prattling on, seriously i'm ashamed to live in the same hemisphere as these asshol*s

Awww, whine whine freaking whine. Typical conservative response. Get over it, there are more important things in life. Most people know Kerry is a babbling fool. Which in reference to your later post in this thread is the reason why there is so much backlash on this. Because Liberals tend to be more open-minded and realize that Kerry is an idiot. When Bush makes a blunder many Conservatives write it off as nothing instead of actually calling it out.

Many conservatives would like it if he did but they shouldn't. They should be proud of an American "sticking to his guns" or "staying the course" if you will. Oh that,'s right, it's no longer about staying the course...

Why do we need apologies for these statements? I agree it was wrong but we should be searching for ppologies from people that sent your men and women to Iraq for a number of improper reasons, regardless of why we are there now, staying the course and whatnot.

And this is something that drives me nuts. Liberals knew Kerry was an idiot, and voted for him anyway, simply because he wasn't Bush. I absolutely fail to understand that line of reasoning.

The same thing is going on here in PA with the Senate race - people are being asked to vote for Casey just because he's NOT Santorum. Even though he's anti-choice. I hate Santorum too, but I'm not going to vote for Stalin to get rid of Hitler. I'm not voting for EITHER of them, and if someone feels my vote is "wasted" because of this, they can bite me hard.

It's not just conservatives, democrats have jumped on him too. It's a bit annoying that people are using this incident to attack conservatives - to me, it seems a bit hypocritical to defend Kerry in one breath, and criticize conservatives in the next. (I'm not saying you're a hypocrite, I'm just talking about in general.)

To be clear, I'm not defending or criticizing him. My opinions of him are already well-formed, and this won't make my dislike of him grow any deeper.

33girl, that drives me a bit nuts too; luckily, it sounds like more people in MA are understanding just how bad Kerry is. It's Kennedy who does all the work for MA; hopefully more people will understand this, and Kerry will eventually go down in history as a lackluster Senator.

Oh I hear you for sure. It's that whole "voting for the lesser of two evils" thing or whatever. I guess it makes sense to some people and it doesn't to others. I just think some people wanted Bush out office so badly that they were willing to throw there support to anyone but him.

I didn't vote for either of those hippies...but my hippie had no chance anyway.

Oh I know, I'm not saying you are, it's why I said 'some conversatives'. I would never presume to sweep you all up in one generalization. I still would have voted for Kerry, merely to get Bush out of office. That was the basic mentality. The next general election is going to be very interesting I think.

-and I thinkthey are only doing so for political reasons, not because they were personally offended. They are thinking more strategically, in my opinion, rather than really thinking the man would have whole-heartedly thought that way.

i heard this quote and thought I might share

"if you choose the lesser of two evils, you are still choosing evil"

Wow.. he should seriously apologize for saying that. Apparently he says that he read the speech wrong, but still.. awful.

Are you suggesting that any political parties or politicians the week before an election do things for other than political reasons, or at least with an eye to the political effects?

Regardless, here's one Democrat who found the the whole thing tasteless and embarrassing and who thinks, regardless of strategy, a mea cupla is due.

If only Santorum was in a less liberal state, there wouldn't even be a race. Hopefully Rick will find something else to do, he's a great guy.

Look at this picture...
www.drudgereport.com

Honestly though, what was the choice? Bush or Kerry? I'd rather vote for the lesser evil than not vote at all.