Thanks John
Oh boy. It's frenzy time, and like in 2004, John Kerry has managed to give the rabid right something to blow up into a huge tempest. And of course, the media is giving it all breathless attention.... "Could this hurt Democratic chances at the polls??????!!!! they ask in dramatic tones, as if they sincerely hope so.
I'll assume nearly all readers have already heard the remarks that Kerry made. They're being played every 10 seconds, so it would be hard to miss.
Kerry said, "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."
Kerry says he had merely "botched" a joke, and that he simply omitted the words, "just ask Bush", at the end of the sentence. His campaign released his prepared remarks which indeed read, "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. Just ask President Bush."
He strongly condemend any suggestion that he was insulting service men and women.
The right says it's a horrible, horrible insult to our troops (from a wounded and decorated war vet himself)
Kerry, unlike 2004, was out fighting back within hours, responding to demands tha the appologize, "The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and (Vice President) Dick Cheney who misled America into war," Kerry said, "I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed-suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium [Tony Snow] or doughy (talk-show host) Rush Limbaugh. 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."
At first hearing, I took his remarks to the students as alluding to the fact that the army depends on those with little education and primarily those from low income environments. As a matter of fact, it's a little reported fact that the military has been steadily LOWERING their standards for enlistment, accepting people with drug arrests and other blots on their records that they previously hadn't.
They're pretty hard up for bodies and will take what they can get.
But clearly it was, as Kerry said, a messed up joke. And for Bush to actually get on the stump and condemn Kerry for screwing up prepared remarks... well, that's the ultimate pot calling the kettle black. If ANYONE shouldn't criticize someone for mangling remarks, it's Bush.
Either way, Kerry has just handed the Repubs something they can run with which will knock the attention and coverage away from Dem momentum and Republican failures, and instead makes sure that a failed candidate from last time around is dominating the news. Not good. Not good at all.
What do you think about the dust up?
In a related bit of verbal fisticuffs, Dick "Dick" Cheney accused Charlie Rangle of not understanding how the economy works and wanting to raise everyone's taxes, and Charlie, bless his heart, called Dick Cheney a "a son of a bitch",
"He's such a real son of a bitch, he just enjoys a confrontation," Rangel fumed, describing himself as "warm and personable." Rangel said Cheney may need to go to "rehab" for "whatever personality deficit he may have suffered."
"When you have those sorts of problems, you're supposed to seek help," Rangel advised. "He ac- knowledged that he has problems with communication."
Asked whether he was resurrecting over-the-top charges he made last year that he believes Cheney is mentally ill, Rangel cracked, "I don't think he's shot anyone in the face lately, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."
When asked about the remarks later, Rangel said,
"He is a son of a bitch, but I shouldn't have said it."How great is that?
"I thought that he should be flattered, there's certainly no animosity in it," said Rangel, saying that he had been making an observation about Cheney. "Some people just have that as part of their personality."
And when Wolf Blitzer or others tries to suggest he should be ashamed, Rangle just gets a Mona Lisa grin on his face and says in his gravelly voice that after all, it was Cheney himself who, "invited Sen. Leahy to have sex with himself on the floor of the Senate." Boy... the next week should be interesting.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 10/31/2006
25 comments
25 Comments:
Conservative Demo here:
So Charlie sez Darth, Senator-why-don't-you-just-go-cheney-yourself, Vader is a sunuvabitch, eh? I've always liked Charlie Wrangle, now I see why.
It was a botched joke, yes - and if Kerry was smart enough to acknowledge so much and apologize for it, all would be fine.
But no, he goes on the attack - showing his incredible stupidity and lack of class and dignity (as well as his lack of the big picture view and willingness to swallow his own pride for the betterment of his Party).
He is still wounded over 2004.
If we escape the nightmare that would be Speaker Pelosi, we will have John Kerry to thank for it!
What a fool.
Colonel,
Good to see you, and that's wise advise indeed.
The media is still right leaning, if for no other reason than it's mega-corporate ownership. Let's face it, the owners love Bush and depends on his pro-conglomeration policies.
The public isn't getting all the news they should. Just watch the BBC for contrast against what a non-corporate dominated press looks and sounds like. (except for the British accents)
But perhaps the worst aspect of the press is not their bias, but rather their mindless pursuit of "the story".
They simply can NOT report anything, no matter how minor or otherwise inconsequential, without IMMEDIATELY casting it as a larger story, rife with titanic struggle and conflict and emotion.
This obsession is even stronger than any underlying and subtle knowledge that if you want your career to go anywhere, you're far safer expressing a conservative slant than a liberal one.
As a matter of fact, until recently, if you dared take a liberal slant, you'd simply get canned outright.
But it's the urge to turn the news into a seedy soap opera that is hurting the public's right to know the worst.
Anyone says anything that can by the furthest stretch be considered "fighting words", and the opposition jumps on it, and the press runs with it like a pack of hyenas.
In this Kerry story, I want you to count the number of times news people and pundits come out in chest thumping indignation over Kerry "insulting" every single service man or woman. And count the number of times they ask whether this will kill Democratic momentum going into the election. Count the times it's brought up and discussed whether this small remark is going to stop the Dems from winning.
It's not a stretch to see that this story is not only the story the Republicans were dying to have happen, it seems that THE PRESS was dying to have a reason to pound on Dems as well. Doubtless because they've been reporting the truth for awhile, and it's all been bad for the Republicans. They've probably been taking enourmous heat to change the tone, and so when this came along, BAM!! they jumped on it and went way, way, WAY overboard on it out of a desire to say, "see, we're balanced and fair."
Count how many times people act like Kerry ABSOLUTELY meant to insult the troops, how he's "elitist" and reminding everyone that he's the Dems failed presidential candidate, and importantly, count how many times both the supposed reporters and pundits discuss the story ASSUMING that Kerry both insulted the troops and intentially meant to.
And again count the times that they immediately link it with hurting or stopping or destorying the Dems chances at the polls. (which is ridiculous)
Contrast those two numbers with how many times you hear a reporter, pundit, or ANYONE discussing the story mention, as was clearly reported in initial pieces about this, that the Kerry campaign provided the press with Kerry's ORIGINAL copy of the remarks he gave, and that it clearly, in black and white, included the words, "just ask President Bush", after the remark about getting stuck in Iraq.
That's about as clear a proof as any that he had no intention whatsoever of insulting the troops.
Yet count the number of times it's brought up in contrast to the number of times they report as if it's a FACT that Kerry meant to insult the troops, and it's implied that this will really really hurt the Dems at the polls.
Report your numbers back here.
Conservative Demo here:
The man sez "nightmare" Pelosi heh, heh. Pretty sexy legs on that one too.
Focus conservative Dem!
The only legs that we should be concerned with here are how much legs this story will have.
Conservative Demo here:
Aw hell, every reader of these blogs is already a choir member (of either the D or the R choir) and no votes are going to change within this sub culture. Time to focus on legs and on having fun with fellow wackos who post to blogs.
Your point tho is well taken.
All I saw was the soundbite of Kerry's "joke," and that's obviously all the media wanted me to see. If it's a joke, I don't get it and I'm not laughing; but that has as much to do with Kerry's lack of a sense of humor as it does for his lack of delivery. But the fact of the matter is that John Kerry is an inconsequential player in 2006 compared to the gravity of the war in Iraq.
We've lost very highly educated, selfless, and talented Americans in Iraq because of flawed strategy, arrogance, and stubbornness. And they were sent there by a man couldn't find the courage to get a flight physical while in the ANG, and funded by a Congress that spends all of its brainpower on relections.
If the Republicans understood how to execute global strategy as well as it knows the Karl Rove's strategies of election politics, the world would be better off than it is tonight.
My votes been counted. My only regret is that I didn't have more incumbent Republicans to vote against.
Hey!! Don't talk about the fine commenters here like that! ha!
As a matter of fact, most of them aren't wackos. It just looks that way sometimes.
If you think these comments are wacko, you'd freak out if I posted all the comments I dump. Woah! Talk about the loony bin.
Hey! I'm no D Choir member. I'm an I.
...or maybe just an anti-R.
you guys are insane - 'right-leaning media!'
The head of political news at A BC has a book out that simply states that CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN are left-leaning and need to pay attention to balance - AND THIS COMES DIRECTLY FROM THE GUY RUNNING THE SHOW!
The left beats the Foley story to death - and you all love it and cheer for more.
Now, the press jumps on Kerry for his comments - and they are blowing everything out of proportion!
Doo they give you a labotomy when you go far-left?
anon 10:59.
I hate to tell you, but you, like most right wing dupes, have your facts completely botched up.
The guy you're probably referring to was NOT the head of ABC News. In fact, he was a relatively minor reporter who got his butt fired.
So in return, he wrote a couple widely debunked books to sell to rube like you who would eat up anything supposedly saying the entire media was biased to the left.
The guy used really stupid quotes and anecdotes to supposedly prove that the press was left-leaning.
Essentially, no one but right wing lemmings took the book seriously. As I say, it's been debunked and taken apart 8 ways to Sunday.
The guy gets heckled often at appearances for his ridiculous statements.
Unfortunately he's such a minor figure that his name escapes me.
But his 5 minutes of fame was over about a year ago.
You truly need better sources. Stop being such an easily lead sheep.
Now i remember... his name was Burnie something... wasn't it.
Dope, you're thinking of Bernard Goldberg who spent most of his career at CBS, won a bunch of Emmys, and wrote a book called "Bias." He wasn't a minor player who got his butt fired. He retired from CBS, but I still see him once in a while on Real Sports.
I haven't read his book, but saw him on several Meet the Press-type shows and I don't think he was taken apart 6 ways to Sunday, but if that's how you see it, so be it.
BH... thanks... that's the guy.
And if he retired, it was after being demoted a few times. It was definitely not under good circumstances.
I've seen him taken to task about some of the flimsy evidence he uses to purportedly show the liberal bias of the press and believe me, it's not pretty.
His book consists almost entirely of anecdotal evidence which can in no way be taken as evidence of a wide-spread liberal bias in the press.
It might be interesting to go see what comments on his book exist at Amazon. If there are any critical comments there, it would probably go further in explaining why his book didn't hold up to close scrutiny.
Sorry to bust your bubbles but it looks like somebody has made up the "prepared speech" Kerry supposedly botched. CNN is giving a different version of the joke than the "Just ask President Bush" version. Better coordinate your coverup a little better. LOL
Thanks for your useless information. I wish you would have at least provided some...even a little bit, of information about what you're talking about. Then perhaps others could discuss it.
As it stands, your comment informs us of nothing at all.
Anon 15:43.
Har har har... and even LOL. Kerry screwed up a punch line and Bush screwed up the entire country and led thousands to needless deaths.
Let's not pay attention to that and the Republicans who've supported this endless disaster, let's jump on Kerry, who, I might note is not running for anything.
Carville had it right.
Asked if Kerry owes an appology to .. whoever... Carville rightly said, "He doesn't owe anyone an appology, he owes them an explanation, and he's given one."
It's absolutely clear from both the tape of the remark as well as from the original copy of his remarks, and mostly simply out of common sense that Kerry did NOT mean any slight against the troops.
Think about it. The guy is a decorated vet who has devoted a large part of his life to military policy and service to his country would never have that view of the military.
To pretend otherwise is typical Republican practice.
It's their favorite tactic, the straw man.
They don't have a damn thing to run on other than their utter failures, so they have to MAKE UP issues to then condemn.
The fact of the matter is that the troops were not being mocked, it was a mistake.
Yet the Republicans gleefullly pretend that he conciously meant to insult those serving in Iraq and their families, and demand that he appologize to everyone in the country.
It's all based on a made up "fact".
But it plays right into the hands of the uninformed. It's a perfect storm for the Republicans.
They've already spent hundreds of millions of dollars characaturing Kerry and making him into some figure worthy of mockery and derision. They've utterly twisted his record and his character.
And now they're getting more value for their investment.
By his slip, Kerry served himself up on a platter for the right to re-run their '04 campaign, remind everyone of all the nasty smears and images that they'd established back then, and putting a failed Dem presidential candidate on center stage at a crucial time just before the election, thus taking up all the media oxygen and slowing the real Dem momentum going into election day.
It's truly a tragic farce for the Dems, and though it's obvious to any honest observer that Kerry did not intend to make a slur against troops in Iraq, the fact is that he provided the right with an astounding gift at just the wrong time.
It may be possible now that Kerry will be responsible for losing TWO elections for the Dems.
I only hope not.
Kerry could have also said that if you study hard and go to college you can avoid serving in war altogether.... like Bush and Dick "3 deferrments" Cheney.
Unlike Kerry who both went to Yale AND volunteered for service.
The entire Republican smear machine is beyond disgusting.
I am sorry, this comment (yes, blundered joke), when coupled with Kerry's Senate testimony (lies) in the 70's and his campaign comments of 2004 - show his utter disdain for the military.
This is no different than Mel Gibson's drunken rant.
What comes from the mouth is a reflection of what is inside.
Yes, it was a blundered joke. However, the speechwriter had an entirely different line written and Kerry, on his own, changed it to echo his heart and thoughts.
He hates the military and he has wounded his party, as this is a reminder to all people that the left is soft on defense and the military.
Yes anon, you definitely ARE sorry.
On what basis do you make the statement that Kerry's testimony before congress was "lies"??
VETS THEMSELVES testified to witnessing and participating in the attrocities that Kerry testified to.
You're a typical head in the sand right winger. You think they were lies because you simply don't want it to be the truth.
Your party has trained you to play with reality. It's not nice.
Kerry's testimony was NOT false.
And you simply went into the unserious by stating that Kerry "hates the military".
You sir, or madam, are easily led, gullible, and intellectually lazy.
If you you adhered to fact and reality rather than deciding that fact and reality are whatever you make up or that Rush tells you, you'd be much better off and wouldn't sound so foolish.
Whatever you want to believe...
If you think that Kerry is pro-military, I would have to suggest that you look in the mirror when it comes to "easily led, gullible, or intellectually lazy."
It's frustrating to run into the willfully ignorant like yourself.
PLEASE tell me what you're basing your opinion that Kerry hates the military on. I'm beggin' ya.
Or is it the case, as I'm nearly certain, that you're so intellectually lazy that you confuse opposition to military operations, such as the disaster in Iraq, with being against the military itself?
Because if you insist on thinking that the military and our war policy are the same thing, or that someone speaking out against the policies of the U.S. government is the same as speaking out against our military, then you're too dumb to debate with.
Again, tell me one reason or fact to back up the notion that Kerry hates the military, and then we'll talk.
His comments in the 70's.
His comments specific to our military killing women and children in Iraq.
His comment specific to our troops being stupid.
The man, every time he opens his mouth speaks with contempt for the military.
Of course, you will have a positive spin on all of these, but if a Republican said the things that Kerry has said, it would be a different story. Dope, you are far too one-sided.
And you're far to gullible.
Look at the guy. If you think he hates the military, you're the stupid one.
The idea is preposterous and false and anyone who is honest will say so.
You accuse me of being too "one-sided", I'd disagree. I simply don't choose to believe all the thousands of obvious falsehoods trumped up for political gain by the right wing.
You'd be a hell of a lot better off if you didn't either.
And so would the country!
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