The link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15499174/?GT1=8618
In 2004, I couldn't believe how clumsily Kerry ran his campaign. Even the liberals lost patience with him, and many still hold a grudge today. Apparently Kerry wasn't satisfied with simply losing his own election. Today he's handed the Republicans an October suprise, and is now attempting to lose races he's not even involved in.
Quoth Kerry: “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.”
I can't even imagine the hot faced, nauseous, ass puckering feeling that must have filled his handlers when he blathered that line. Bungled joke, honest truth, Freudian slip, who cares... It's just amazing that the man is such a consistent loser for the Democrats.
It's amazing how woodenly calculated he is, as well. In 2004, he was criticized for not responding to the Swift Boat ads quickly or decisively enough. So, this time around he's responded quickly and aggressively, refusing to apologize, throwing around insults, and “going on offense.” The only thing Kerry is capable of doing naturally is bungling. Everything else is an obvious and poorly thought out calculation.
What makes this whole thing worth posting about, and more than just more election season ridiculousness, is the genuine truths it exposes. Kerry's excuse is that this was a “bungled joke.” That's fine. But before the “bungled joke“ memo made its rounds, numerous Democrat diehards leapt to his defense on web forums, saying some variation of the following: “Kerry is only saying what we're afraid to, but we all know is true.”
Yes. Exactly. And by “we” they mean liberals. Conservatives have been saying, all along, that you people don't support the troops. You think they're a bunch of poor, uneducated fucks, who joined up out of financial inevitability, not patriotism. Liberals get mad when they're called on this, they're quite literally scared to admit it, but it is the truth. Liberals, at their core, are angry at the troops for bravely and resolutely going out and fighting a war that liberals think is awful. They don't support the troops, they think the troops are a bunch of idiot dupes whose commitment to a foolish war is getting in the way of their political dreams, and is becoming really tiresome and frustrating.
Just admit it, liberals. Admit it.
My dad served in Vietnam, just like John Kerry did. And just like John Kerry, my dad came out of college and headed off to southeast asia. At that point in time there was a draft in effect, and college was a way to avoid being drafted. As a result, the military was full of less educated, less motivated troops. My dad, a recent college grad, and probably about as impressed with his own brilliance as he would ever be in his entire life, was blown away by the poor intellect of his fellow soldiers, and of the military in general. It's a perception that has lasted with him. I can't begrudge him that perception, he was there, I was not, and it was certainly a low point in the quality and morale of the American military. But that's his perception.
Now, recalling my dad's view of the military post-Vietnam, and add to that the fact that my dad isn't even one thousandth as arrogant, self-serving and self-promoting as John Kerry. There's no doubt in my mind that Kerry viewed his fellow soldiers as a bunch of ignorant hicks, completely beneath him, and nothing more than a stepping stone to bigger things. The way he immediately came home and sold them out as murderers, torturers and barbarians certainly serves to support this.
Kerry's press release proclaims: “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.”
Well, John, what did you do after Vietnam? You pretty much came back and badmouthed the troops, didn't you? Did you have anything bad to say about JFK, the guy who “got us stuck there?” Not everyone who leaves the military leaves with fond memories, or love for fellow soldiers. That's fine, John, that was your experience. Just admit it.
Honestly, I think this was a slip of the tongue, and a botched joke, just as Kerry claims. But it wasn't a coincidence. I think it was a slip in which Kerry just said what he thought, mistakenly believing that what he thought, and the talking points he was reciting, matched up. That's the tough part about being a Democrat... You're so often asked to misrepresent or conceal your actual views, to pretend to be a conservative, to pretend to support the military, to pretend to care about poor people or minorities, to generally ape the actual values of the American populace, it can really get confusing.
In closing, I'll point out the cherry on the Kerry cake: The joke he botched basically said that if you were stupid, didn't study, didn't get good grades, you'd end up getting your country stuck in Iraq. So, Bush is stupid and didn't study, and we're in Iraq. The hoot of it is that Bush actually had comparable, but slightly better grades while the two were at Yale.
John Kerry, you are an endless font of giving. Republicans everywhere thank you.