Kerry’s Troop Insult Tempers Democrats’ Momentum
Sen. John Kerry insulted troops by saying, “[I]f you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” Only stupid people are fighting in Iraq. That’s amazing since the U.S. has the most technologically advanced military in world history. Organizing logistics, manning radar stations, flying jet fighters, or developing on-the-spot counterinsurgency techniques requires plenty of mental accumen. The Heritage Foundation determined, “the typical recruit in the all-volunteer force is wealthier, more educated and more rural than the average 18- to 24-year-old citizen is.”
Maybe Kerry is still living in the Vietnam War–he did serve there if you don’t remember. He said it; you can watch it yourself. Sen. John McCain jumped on him, the American Legion jumped on him, and President Bush jumped on him.
All Kerry had to do was apologize and take his lumps. Doing that would have made his words a one-day story. Kerry went in another direction:
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.
It’s like the guy thinks he’s running for President again. It’s not even a non-apology apology. He didn’t defend his remarks or step away from them. He calls it a “botched joke.” He could have tried to tell the joke again. Or he could have taken Donald Sensing’s suggestion and “issue an unconditional apology.” If he’d have done that we’d be talking about this for a day and move on the next attention-grabber. Instead, he went on an unhinged rant tossing around the “chickenhawk” attack, “Bush lied, people died,” and Rush Limbaugh’s weight. The guy thinks this is about him. At a time when Kerry’s party is poised for electoral success he turns a one-day story into one that will last for days. Cable news talking heads, webloggers, and talk radio yappers have plenty to chew on. Nationally, Kerry has sucked a ton of momentum from the Democrats. If they underperform many will point to this moment and blame Kerry.
Glenn Reynolds sums it up: “What was he thinking?”
“Kerry Responds to Right-Wing Chickenhawk ‘Nut-Jobs’; Update: Source Says Comments Were a Joke Gone Wrong”
“John Kerry: Get An Education or Get Stuck in Iraq”
Well, so much for Democrats being weak. Great response by Kerry, who absolutely should not apologize for saying something true.