did John Kerry just call soldiers stupid?

[Nephythys]

More people who don't "get" the joke-

DES MOINES, Iowa A Democratic Congressional candidate from Iowa is canceling a campaign event later this week with Senator John Kerry.

Brucy Braley says Kerry's recent comments about the Iraq war were inappropriate.

Braley is running against Republican Mike Whalen in Iowa's First District congressional race. It's a contest considered to be one of the most competitive House races in the country.

Braley's decision to distance himself from Kerry came as a furor grew from comments Kerry made about the Iraq War during a campaign stop in California on Monday.

Kerry said if you make the most of your education, you "can do well." The Democrat went on to say that is you don't, (quote) "you get stuck in Iraq."

The remarks prompted sharp criticism from some Republicans, including President Bush and Arizona Senator John McCain.

Kerry refused to apologize.

A Dem no less- I thought this was a GOP faked up outrage?

Link

[Strangler Lewis]

I sense no genuine outrage here. Just another politician avoiding controversy. People wouldn't campaign with Bush or Clinton at various times for fear of being associated with them.

[Nephythys]

ah ha- he flubbed it allright-

Original script-

“I can’t overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq.”

(funny- Bush got better grades than Kerry- so I wonder where Kerry would have gotten us stuck)

and what he said was-

“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, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

Which can be- and has been- taken in a totally different context.

He blew it, took NO responsibility (which is such a great quality in a man who wants to be President ain't it?) and comes off looking like a jerk.

No surprise there.

Some are also saying the transcript of the original was written AFTER the fact- as a CYA.

[MouseWife]

While he may have said it in a way that totally pissed everyone off, I have to agree with him.

But, the education thing is right on. The testing issue. I have kids in school, up and down the grades and into college.

I've seen the system change where, yes, they are being geared to pass tests and that is the main focus. They have cut so many other programs just to make sure they focus on passing these tests.

But I digress. The issue of being educated or not. Well, I would imagine the educated ones 'over there' are not the majority of the people going into the towns to do battle. That would be the difference.

I know young men/women who have gone there and they do use them to do things that are not told to the general public.

I also know a few who have been told they would not be going over to Iraq but would instead be going to school first and then bam they are sent over to Iraq. Young people, 18, 19.

Ever look at the casualty ages?

So, while I don't agree with his wording I think he is saying what a lot of people think. But it seems people can't say anything against the war or the prez because then we are being un-American.

I can love my country and not the president. Or his actions. And too many of his actions are overlooked.

[Nephythys]

So if a member of the GOP demands an apology- it's overworked outrage.

If a Dem wants him to apologize or wants to distance himself from Kerry- it's just being prudent- no outrage.

[Nephythys]

...and more

[wendybeth]

Oh, for shyt's sake- Bush has trashed the English language and misspoken on too many occasions to count. How's about a sampler?:

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." --George W. Bush, interview with CBS News' Katie Couric, Sept. 6, 2006

"I've reminded the prime minister-the American people, Mr. Prime Minister, over the past months that it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship." George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 29, 2006

"I think -- tide turning -- see, as I remember -- I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of -- it's easy to see a tide turn -- did I say those words?" --George W. Bush, asked if the tide was turning in Iraq, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

President Bush: "Peter. Are you going to ask that question with shades on?"
Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times: "I can take them off."
Bush: "I'm interested in the shade look, seriously."
Wallsten: "All right, I'll keep it, then."
Bush: "For the viewers, there's no sun."
Wallsten: "I guess it depends on your perspective."
Bush: "Touche.
--an exchange with legally blind reporter Peter Wallsten, to whom Bush later apologized, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

"The point now is how do we work together to achieve important goals. And one such goal is a democracy in Germany." --George W. Bush, D.C., May 5, 2006

"I was not pleased that Hamas has refused to announce its desire to destroy Israel." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 4, 2006


"No question that the enemy has tried to spread sectarian violence. They use violence as a tool to do that." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 22, 2006


"People don't need to worry about security. This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America." --George W. Bush, on the deal to hand over U.S. port security to a company operated by the United Arab Emirates, Washington, D.C., Feb. 23, 2006

"And I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company." --George W. Bush, defending a plan to allow a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates to manage ports in the United States, aboard Air Force One, Feb. 21, 2006

"You see, not only did the attacks help accelerate a recession, the attacks reminded us that we are at war." --George W. Bush, on the Sept. 11 attacks, Washington, D.C., June 8, 2005

I could go on and on, but the point here is that Kerry does not have a corner on the idiot market.

[Nephythys]

..and more

Hmmm....and more

...and some form of apology

"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," Cheney said in a line meant to recall Bush's skewering of Kerry in their 2004 race for saying he had voted for war funds before he voted against them.

GOP Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam veteran and possible 2008 contender, said Wednesday he wasn't sure "how you could construe" Kerry's comment as a joke.

And White House spokesman Tony Snow said Kerry's apology on Imus didn't pass muster. "He's insisting on pointing fingers at the president," Snow said. "Just say you're sorry. It's not hard."

[Prudence]

I think I personally would have respected him more if he'd just gone with what it sounded like he said. Seems to me the soliders are essentially the red shirts for the country. Which isn't as much a criticism of their worth as it is of how we value them and their service.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Prudence

I think I personally would have respected him more if he'd just gone with what it sounded like he said. Seems to me the soliders are essentially the red shirts for the country. Which isn't as much a criticism of their worth as it is of how we value them and their service.

Yup. And with all the hooplah, I STILL have yet to see someone articulate what exactly is offensive about the way he said it. They just say it's offensive and that he should apologize, but no one's, so far as I've seen, been able to say, "It's offensive because..."