All the conservative pundits are up in arms over John Kerry's idiot statements from Face the Nation the other day. If I can, I'll find an actual audio clip, but I think the transcription is good enough to watch the trainwreck happen. Normally I'd put everything John Kerry says in DeepPink, but in this case I need to use colors in order to show the flow of the quote.
“But I think what we need to do is recognize what we all agree on, which is you've got to begin to set benchmarks for accomplishment. You've got to begin to transfer authority to the Iraqis. And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs. Whether you like it or not Iraqis should be doing that. And after all of these two and a half years, with all of the talk of 210,000 people trained, there just is no excuse for not transferring more of that authority.”
Now, to explain... The quote starts out in a nice Navy sort of tone. Kerry is doing his thing, playing the part of the nuanced and competent organizer... He's cruising. Then he gets to the part where he starts to talk about American soldiers doing stuff that's not entirely composed of hugs, so things get a little Purple, cause he still feels really good, but he knows there's certain words he has to steer clear of. Then, he comes around the corner in the dead of night, and parked right in the middle of the track is a 1998 Bronco, and he just plows it.
Terrorizing. Ooops. We just accused American soldiers of “terrorizing.” Up to this point, John has been rolling along, dropping science and benchmarking knowledge. Then he blurts out the one accusation that is Not Allowed©, and he's off the tracks, pitching around the cabin, trying to regain control. He's naming very distinct groups such as kids and children... He's talking about customs... Well, sort of customs... Like, it's an Arab custom not to do midnight home invasions... Everywhere else, they're almost mandatory, and certainly appreciated by all. Sort of... You can just feel him trying to wrestle his way out of his mental tankslapper, unable to comprehend how he managed to just say the only word he's not allowed to say.
Of course, John Kerry is a massive egomaniac. It doesn't take long for him to remind himself that he is the rightful ruler of us all, he is a master of nuance, and everything he says is true. Quickly he's back down to Purple levels of confusion, and then, he pulls out a little statistic to bring himself safely back into the Navy range of his empty blathering.