Kerry Just Can’t Help Himself

John Kerry proves why we should all be grateful he’s not President with his latest shameful comments slandering our troops in Iraq. John McCain has a statement which utterly nails Kerry:

Senator Kerry owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country’s call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education. Americans from all backgrounds, well off and less fortunate, with high school diplomas and graduate degrees, take seriously their duty to our country, and risk their lives today to defend the rest of us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They all deserve our respect and deepest gratitude for their service. The suggestion that only the least educated Americans would agree to serve in the military and fight in Iraq, is an insult to every soldier serving in combat, and should deeply offend any American with an ounce of appreciation for what they suffer and risk so that the rest of us can sleep more comfortably at night. Without them, we wouldn’t live in a country where people securely possess all their God-given rights, including the right to express insensitive, ill-considered and uninformed remarks.

Kerry is completely, utterly, and absolutely tone deaf. He’s stuck in 1971 and continues to slander his own comrades-in-arms. Senator McCain is correct – Kerry’s comments were absolutely disgraceful and inexcusable. Sadly, they’re representative of the way the Democratic Party views the military — as a bunch of rubes who have been hoodwinked into fighting foreign wars rather than trained and professional warriors.

This is exactly the sort of attitude that should remind the American voters why the Democratic Party simply can’t be trusted to provide the leadership we need at this critical juncture in history.

UPDATE: Hot Air is following the story closely, with video. Kerry may have just cost the Democrats the election – he couldn’t have said anything dumber at a less opportune time. Especially with Sen. McCain leading the charge, Kerry’s idiotic response has only made things worse for him and the Democrats.

Couldn’t have happened to a nice bunch of people…

UPDATE: The American Legion has called on Kerry to apologize. As the nation’s largest veterans organization, that statement carries a great deal of weight with veterans. I have a feeling that Kerry’s idiotic statement and his even more idiotic refusal to back down from it will have profound effects on Democratic chances in a week… this is the sort of thing that doesn’t just blow over.

20 thoughts on “Kerry Just Can’t Help Himself

  1. Attacking Kerry’s character over pointing out that it’s the poor and disenfranchised who are fighting this war and not the middle-class, educated, and armchair-bellicose sure is alot easier than signing up for combat and proving Kerry wrong, huh Jay?

  2. Technically, they’re mercenaries. It’s not like we conscripted some serfs, our government is paying them. Yeah, they’re trained professionals…but that doesn’t negate the fact that it’s primarily the less fortunate among us who choose military careers. At least, it’s the less fortunate who go in at the bottom to be the cannon fodder. It’s pretty good pay, excellent benefits, excellent training, good opportunity for upward mobility. If you’re poor, it’s a fantastic deal…except for the part where you might die. But people with a lot of choices don’t typically choose the army. Like me, for example. I get harrassed by the Medical Corps on a fairly regular basis because they need entomologists, but why would I go into the army when I can get a job at a company like Monsanto?

  3. Mark:

    You just want to see Jay get killed by a roadside bomb, don’t you? Typical liberal, always hating America and it’s defenders first.

  4. “Kerry may have just cost the Democrats the election”

    Keep whistling past graveyards on that one, good buddy. Kerry will end up apologizing tomorrow, but it would actually work out better for Democrats if he didn’t because it would allow red-state Democrats to distance themselves from him by publicly repudiating his comments. Furthermore, if the Republicans get too self-righteous about this, it could backfire as badly as last week’s efforts to smear Jim Webb as a filth peddler because of graphic passages from his novels about Vietnam (Allen is now trailing in every poll….perhaps angering him to the point that he’ll beat up his little sister again).

    While Kerry’s choice of words was undeniably dumb, sane people will recognize his point. It’s unclear whether Americans will even be insulted at Kerry specifically, let alone Brad Ellsworth, Heath Shuler, and Tim Walz. I’m kind of hoping that you GOP weasels overplay your hand here and try to convince a disgruntled voting public to set aside their feverish disdain for your party to repudiate a Senator from Massachusetts who isn’t even on the ballot.

  5. Kinda funny how quiet Reding got with his “updates” now that it’s crystal clear that Kerry’s comments were taken shamelessly and gratuitously out of context by desperate GOP operatives seeking to keep the real “disservice to our troops” out of the news cycle for 24 hours.

    Looks like this could prove to be the latest example of Republicans starting to piss before pulling down their zippers. Now they run the risk of going before voters with urine-stained breeches just before the election. As you said yourself, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of guys.

  6. I’m a curious as to why Senator Kerry voted to give President Bush the authority to send our forces into Iraq.

  7. Kinda funny how quiet Reding got with his “updates” now that it’s crystal clear that Kerry’s comments were taken shamelessly and gratuitously out of context by desperate GOP operatives seeking to keep the real “disservice to our troops” out of the news cycle for 24 hours.

    Or it may be that I don’t spend every waking moment blogging…

    Furthermore, I posted the video. There is no “context” that makes Kerry look good. He said exactly what he said, and it’s clear that his pathetic efforts to defend the indefensible are only slightly more shameless than your pathetic attempts at spin.

    Looks like this could prove to be the latest example of Republicans starting to piss before pulling down their zippers. Now they run the risk of going before voters with urine-stained breeches just before the election. As you said yourself, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of guys.

    I just can’t wait for Kerry to explain why he won’t apologize when the American Legion is demanding one of him…

  8. “Yeah, they’re trained professionals…but that doesn’t negate the fact that it’s primarily the less fortunate among us who choose military careers.”

    This is yet another typically ignorant elitist liberal stupid remark. While it might have been more true 40-50 years ago under conscription, nothing could be further from the truth today. Contrary to your assertion, Erica, the fact is the only group lowering its participation in the military is the poor. The percentage of recruits from the poorest American neighborhoods declined from 18 percent in 1999 to 14.6 percent in 2003, 14.1 percent in 2004, and 13.7 percent in 2005. Further, wartime U.S. mil­itary enlistees are better educated, wealthier, and more rural on aver­age than their civilian peers. They bank more money too, especially given the level of benefits they receive.

    And Mark? I suppose John Kerry, true war hero that he is, has cancelled all his campaign appearances simply because “his comments were taken shamelessly and gratuitously out of context by desperate GOP operatives.” But then, given that he’s compared U.S. troops to the raping and pillaging hordes of Ghengis Khan in the past and has more recently claimed they are stealing into Iraqi houses at night and terrorizing innocent women and children, then it stands to reason that his most recent remarks are perfectly consistent with his established opinion of the American military and that of the Democratic Party which nominated him to be President of the United States.

    What’s even more proof of this leftist anti-American mindset is not even one single leading Democrat has yet to step out of the Marxist-Leninist line to denounce Kerry’s typically ignorant elitist liberal stupid remark. Not Harry Reid. Not Nancy Pelosi. Not John Murtha. Nobody. You can’t find ’em anywhere.

    True to form, they’ve all cut and run.

  9. “Contrary to your assertion, Erica, the fact is the only group lowering its participation in the military is the poor.”

    I didn’t assert that. Apparently your reading comprehension is no better than your reasoning skills. But, hey, prove me wrong. Show me where Jay said he’s turning down law school to join the military. Show me where you did the same. No? I guess name-calling as all people like you have to offer.

  10. Show me where Jay said he’s turning down law school to join the military.

    At this point, there’s a very strong possibility that I’m going to law school to join the military…

  11. Don’t you know there’s a war on, Jay? If the Islamists take over, we won’t need lawyers. The clerics will handle the law, right? If the war on terror is so important, and there’s nothing better than to be a soldier (as Republicans would have us believe this week, compared to months past when they’ve voted against upgraded body armor and vehicle armor for troops), what’s holding you back? I’m sure the yellow elephants can spare one keyboard kommando.

    Either show us all how you’re turning down law school to enlist, or recognize the basic truth of what I’ve been saying – people with better options don’t join the military, and those better options require self-application and self-improvement. Hard work and study. Some people aspire to military service, it’s true. But even military recruiters recognize that a lot more of their recruits see the military as the best of a lot of bad options. (“I got nowhere else ta’ go!!”) If that’s not true, why else would the military be ramping up enlistment bonuses in the face of declining enrollment?

  12. Either show us all how you’re turning down law school to enlist, or recognize the basic truth of what I’ve been saying – people with better options don’t join the military, and those better options require self-application and self-improvement. Hard work and study.

    Which only shows how arrogant and ignorant the left is about the military. You really want to argue that the military doesn’t require “self-application” and “self-improvement”? That only the uneducated join the military?

    It’s that kind of idiocy that makes it clear why the Democratic Party isn’t fit to serve.

  13. “You really want to argue that the military doesn’t require “self-application” and “self-improvement”?”

    Only after you get in. Look, if they’ll recruit the autistic and mentally handicapped, you can’t really argue that the military is anywhere as selective as, say, the nation’s top colleges. And that’s my point. The military is the option of last resort for a lot of people who lack the grades or cash for college, because the military will take just about anybody.

    Even Dick Cheney dismissed the idea of serving in the military, saying he had “other priorities.” But I don’t hear you on his case. This is nothing more than an excuse for partisan boosterism.

    There’s plenty of military folk among my friends and family, too many for you to accuse me of being ignorant about the military. How about you? I doubt it, somehow. I suspect your friends and family all had “other priorities”, as well. Certainly you did.

    “It’s that kind of idiocy that makes it clear why the Democratic Party isn’t fit to serve.”

    That’s hilarious, considering that nationally-prominent Republicans are less than half as likely to have had any sort of military service as nationally-prominent Democrats. In the face of your assertion that Democrats aren’t fit to serve in the military, it’s rather funny that you and the rest of the yellow elephants don’t have any problem leaving actual military service to the Democrats, after all.

  14. ERICA, maybe something gets lost in the ether here, but you seem to have a collosal ignorance of the military –any military– but especially the military of the United States and its history. To compare today’s military recruitment to the nation’s top colleges and universities is a ridiculous analogy; it’s like comparing Burger King to Tavern on the Green. It’s just plain silly, and it makes it really quite hard to believe that there are “plenty of military folk” (interesting characterization) among your friends and family that would allow you to carry on like you have here with such an embarrassingly ignorant, liberal elitist argument.

    Now, if your point is that many people join the military because they have no better options, then I can’t see how anybody can logically dispute your assertion. That’s been true for centuries of recorded history. But Erica, that’s not what you’ve been saying at all. You have argued here that only “poor minorities” and the “less fortunate” join the U.S. military “to be the cannon fodder” –and that is patently and demonstrably FALSE. It is also a disgusting and morally repugnant characterization of those Americans who, for whatever reason, volunteer to put themselves in harm’s way to serve and protect our way of life. If you have any decency, you should take that back.

    The fact is there are a great many Americans today who are volunteering for military service precisely for the same reasons you joined Monsanto. Like you, they just chose the best option for the life they wanted to lead. Who the hell are you (or me) to criticize that choice? The reason the military is “ramping up” enlistment bonuses, etc. is not because of any “declining enrollment” (it’s 112% generally) but rather because the United States is enjoying the absolute lowest unemployment rates in the history of mankind (thank you George Bush, thank you GOP tax cuts). The competition for job applicants is at an all-time high, Erica, and the U.S. military is not immune to the laws of supply and demand.

  15. “ERICA, maybe something gets lost in the ether here, but you seem to have a collosal ignorance of the military –any military– but especially the military of the United States and its history.”

    No, I really don’t. I’m quite familiar with both military service and military recruitment. I doubt you have any kind of experience whatsoever with the armed forces. (Just like a conservative, of course, to expound on the virtues of a military he considers himself too good to be a part of.)

    “To compare today’s military recruitment to the nation’s top colleges and universities is a ridiculous analogy; it’s like comparing Burger King to Tavern on the Green.”

    Hrm, so you’re saying that serving in the military isn’t any more respectable than working at a Burger King? That’s an outrageous slur against our noble men and women protecting and dying for us every day. Why do you hate the troops so much, Eracus? I guess now we see why your “support” for the military is just a way to disguise your contempt for the jarheads you don’t see as doing anything more important than flipping burgers.

    “Now, if your point is that many people join the military because they have no better options, then I can’t see how anybody can logically dispute your assertion. That’s been true for centuries of recorded history. But Erica, that’s not what you’ve been saying at all.”

    That’s exactly what I’m saying. Thank you for agreeing with me, at last.

    “You have argued here that only “poor minorities” and the “less fortunate” join the U.S. military “to be the cannon fodder” –and that is patently and demonstrably FALSE.”

    I have not been making that argument. Those groups are overrepresented in the military, precisely because racial minorities and the poor are precisely the groups who are typically denied better options than military service.

    That’s a point so obvious that it can’t be denied.

    “The reason the military is “ramping up” enlistment bonuses, etc. is not because of any “declining enrollment” (it’s 112% generally)”

    112% of what? Their declining enlistment “goals”? Conservatives used to call that “defining deviancy down.” Sad to see that they’ve now embraced it. The truth is that as the war goes on, the military is so desperate for new soldiers that they’re putting so much pressure on recruiters that they’re recruiting all kinds of people who shouldn’t be.

    “but rather because the United States is enjoying the absolute lowest unemployment rates in the history of mankind (thank you George Bush, thank you GOP tax cuts). The competition for job applicants is at an all-time high, Erica, and the U.S. military is not immune to the laws of supply and demand.”

    So, in fact, exactly what I’ve been saying all along – when presented with better options, people tend to eschew the military. Of course, you seem to ignore the glaring inconsistency that, if the US government is feeling the pressure to compete, it can only be because they’re feeling the burn in enlistments.

    Also, your prayer to Bush there is honestly just a little creepy. What, do you have a Bush altar in your closet, too? A picture of him in your bedroom?

    “If you have any decency, you should take that back.”

    Just as soon as you retract your assertion that soldiers are as dumb as the people who work at Burger King.

  16. ERICA, you are becoming evermore so hysterical, so full of hatred and rage, that you can’t even put together a coherent response, let alone a credible argument.

    The Burger King vs. Tavern on the Green analogy was to illustrate the concept of public accessability; it was not a job description. More people can get into Burger King for dinner than can get into Tavern on the Green on any given day. It’s easier to get into the military (Burger King) than it is to get into higher institutions of learning (Tavern on the Green). Get it?? That is a fact. It has been a fact for more than 3,000 years. It is also axiomatic that many people with better options would eschew the military, just as it is axiomatic that many people with better options would eschew Monsanto, so what is your point?

    Further,

    ERACUS:“You have argued here that only “poor minorities” and the “less fortunate” join the U.S. military “to be the cannon fodder” –and that is patently and demonstrably FALSE.”

    ERICA:”I have not been making that argument. Those groups are overrepresented in the military, precisely because racial minorities and the poor are precisely the groups who are typically denied better options than military service.” [11/03/06]

    But Erica, here is what you argued previously: “Yeah, they’re trained professionals…but that doesn’t negate the fact that it’s primarily the less fortunate among us who choose military careers. At least, it’s the less fortunate who go in at the bottom to be the cannon fodder.” [10/31/06]

    The fact is, Erica, it is the middle- and upper-middle class WHITE population that is overrepresented in the American military today. It is a highly competitive, all-volunteer, professional military force structure. It is the declining enlistment of Asians, Hispanics, and African-Americans, due to competition with their improving civilian fortunes in an expanding economy with the lowest unemployment rate in history, that is making military recruitment more difficult. You can read more about it here:

    http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/apa/goals.htm

    here:

    http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/demographics.htm

    and here:

    http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-11-03T142328Z_01_N02359086_RTRUKOC_0_US-ECONOMY-JOBS.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

    “…if the US government is feeling the pressure to compete, it can only be because they’re feeling the burn in enlistments.”

    Again, this is axiomatic: The U.S. military, like any other employer, must compete in the labor market to attract its workforce. What is your point?

    Meanwhile, the 112% figure is the aggregate enlistment and re-enlistment rate currently for the U.S. Armed Forces, which suggests, at least for the time being, that the U.S. military labor force is in surplus, contrary to the prevailing liberal dogma. I will grant you, however, that this is a fluid statistic, in that people are enlisting in and retiring from the military every single day. But that in no way detracts from the fact that today’s American military is the most advanced, best educated, and thoroughly integrated fighting force the world has ever seen.

    Like John Kerry, your perception and discussion of these matters is utterly misinformed.

  17. “The Burger King vs. Tavern on the Green analogy was to illustrate the concept of public accessability; it was not a job description.”

    Uh-huh, sure it was. Hey, maybe you can release some redacted “prepared remarks” to prove it, too.

    Look, there’s no point in denying it. You’ve got a history of bad-mouthing troops. Sure, you support the military, but only because it’s an extension of your Fearless Leader’s will. When it comes to the actual men and women who serve, you couldn’t hold them in any greater contempt. Referring to them as nothing better than Burger King employees proves it.

    “The fact is, Erica, it is the middle- and upper-middle class WHITE population that is overrepresented in the American military today.”

    A statistical anomaly from a military that, ever since Vietnam, has been overstocked with officers, who are predominantly white. African-americans make up less than 8% of the officer corps.

    But, hey, you know. Keep flogging the Heritage Foundation’s unreleased, unsourced study. I’m sure they don’t have a partisan axe to grind.

    “But Erica, here is what you argued previously:”

    Apparently you don’t read any better than you think. “Primarily” is not synonymous with “only”. You know, maybe if you had enlisted, you might have been trained in a little logic. It’s probably not too late for you, if you can get over your choking hatred for the lowly peons who you’d be forced to serve with.

    “But that in no way detracts from the fact that today’s American military is the most advanced, best educated, and thoroughly integrated fighting force the world has ever seen.”

    Which really makes it even more embarassing that we haven’t been able to pacify a country the size of Texas in three years.

  18. Look, there’s no point in denying it. You’ve got a history of bad-mouthing troops. Sure, you support the military, but only because it’s an extension of your Fearless Leader’s will. When it comes to the actual men and women who serve, you couldn’t hold them in any greater contempt. Referring to them as nothing better than Burger King employees proves it.

    Which he didn’t do.

    A statistical anomaly from a military that, ever since Vietnam, has been overstocked with officers, who are predominantly white. African-americans make up less than 8% of the officer corps.

    Less than 20% of the military are officers. African-Americans make up about 13% of the overall population, and just under 10% of the officer corps. (Not 8%.)

    But, hey, you know. Keep flogging the Heritage Foundation’s unreleased, unsourced study. I’m sure they don’t have a partisan axe to grind.

    Except for the fact that they did release the study, including all sources.

    Apparently you don’t read any better than you think. “Primarily” is not synonymous with “only”. You know, maybe if you had enlisted, you might have been trained in a little logic. It’s probably not too late for you, if you can get over your choking hatred for the lowly peons who you’d be forced to serve with.

    Troll much?

    Which really makes it even more embarassing that we haven’t been able to pacify a country the size of Texas in three years.

    Of course, because it’s so simple to stabilize a country that’s been under totalitarian rule for 30 years, not to mention fighting an enemy with no regard for human decency.

    Typical arrogant lefty crap.

  19. “Which he didn’t do.”

    More reading difficulties? That’s exactly what he did. He compared military service to working at Burger King.

    Everybody read it. Not sure what your problem is, here. Apparently there’s absolutely no conservative who you might approach with a little suspicion, or give the benefit of every doubt when it might make a leeebrul look bad.

    “African-Americans make up about 13% of the overall population, and just under 10% of the officer corps. (Not 8%.)”

    Oh, off by one. My bad.

    “Of course, because it’s so simple to stabilize a country that’s been under totalitarian rule for 30 years, not to mention fighting an enemy with no regard for human decency.”

    “Simple” was exactly how that very problem was defined by the Bush administration, prior to the war. So simple a step they didn’t even have to plan for it. So simple, indeed, that Donald Rumsfeld promised to personally fire anybody who even broached the topic for discussion.

    Indeed, it turned out to be far from simple. You know, just like everybody on the left told you it would be, beforehand.

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