John Kerry Apologizes to No One
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 10:41PM **UPDATE**
Unedited, full video of Kerry's comments
**UPDATE**
John Kerry issued an "apology" today for his comments about Pres. Bush and the troops, which he called a "botched joke". His "apology" went something like this:
"As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop," Kerry said in a statement published on his Web site.
Excuse me?? He was sure quick to defend himself on national TV, and make the derogatory comments in person to a group of students, and he issued a written statement of "apology"? The passion of his defense yesterday was unmistakable. He meant every word and didn't care who it hurt, especially us "right wing nut job" military families. This was political damage control. He couldn't even make a public appearance. John Kerry was probably listening to the "neocon" talk radio programs today who said his Presidential aspirations are permanently shot as a result of his his comments and then decided to "apologize". This is more like a "Dear John letter" than an apology. "Dear military folks, I've screwed you. Good bye."
The reason Kerry issued a statement is because his disingenuousness would be too obvious. Coward. At least yesterday he was being honest for a change.
Apology not accepted.
**UPDATE END**
Bottom Line Up Front: John Kerry insults the troops but it too blinded by his own pattern of contempt for them to realize it.
With a salute like that, what kind of credibility does John Kerry have with the military anyway??
Democratic Senator John Kerry had the courage on Monday to say what he really believes about the US soldier: they are stupid for serving in Iraq.
Here is his controversial statement to a group of Californian students:
TEXT:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if 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."
Apparently it runs in the family. Remember the 2004 Presidential debate when Teresa Heinz-Kerry said about Laura Bush:
Well, you know, I don't know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good. But I don't know that she's ever had a real job — I mean, since she's been grown up. So her experience and her validation comes from important things, but different things. And I'm older, and my validation of what I do and what I believe and my experience is a little bit bigger — because I'm older, and I've had different experiences. And it's not a criticism of her. It's just, you know, what life is about.
Well! Laura Bush has only been a school teacher and mother. No real job there!
Here’s the President’s response to Kerry's comments:
Kerry’s reply? Refusing to apologize to the troops and changing the subject. At his press conference (click on the photo below), he adds insult to injury to all military and their families with his offensive attack and inane ranting.. Must watch video of Kerry imploding and refusing to take responsibility for his comments:
Kerry is now insisting that this is the White House's fault for taking the "botched joke" out of context. The real joke read, "If you get an education, you won't wind up in Iraq. Just ask George Bush." How exactly is that different? Beside the fact that George W. Bush's GPA (grade point average) at Yale was higher than Kerry's, he still states that if a student gets an education he can avoid going to Iraq. He can spin this anyway he wishes, but apparently everyone but Kerry knows what he really meant. He really dislikes the military. Period.
JOHN KERRY: But there is no excuse three and a half years later for American troops to be driving by IEDs and getting blown up. Are you telling me that they can’t drive a truck?
AND
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. Iraqis should be doing that.
Military bashing aside, the idea that Kerry can so haphazardly insult the sitting Commander in Chief, which he admitted was his intent, is another example of his disrespect for America and the troops. No good soldier ridicules and mocks the Commander in Chief during wartime. But we all know this.
John Kerry is a man who volunteered for service in Vietnam to ensure a short tour, escaping a year or 2 tour that every other draftee or volunteer faced in the 70’s. He served in Vietnam from November 1968 to March of 1969 for a grand total of FOUR MONTHS. This is a man who who injured himself to avoid continuing service in Vietnam. This is a man who, once he returned to the US, bought medals from a military surplus store, which he lobbied laboriously to get, and threw them over the White House wall to show how much he distained his service and those awards.
John Kerry is a man who claims to be a war hero but who virtually none of his men in Vietnam will support. The men on his swift boat said:
Though we come from different backgrounds and hold varying political opinions, we agree on one thing: John Kerry misrepresented his record and ours in Vietnam and therefore exhibits serious flaws in character and lacks the potential to lead.
We regret the need to do this. Most Swift boat veterans would like nothing better than to support one of our own for America's highest office, regardless of whether he was running as a Democrat or a Republican. However, Kerry's phony war crimes charges, his exaggerated claims about his own service in Vietnam, and his deliberate misrepresentation of the nature and effectiveness of Swift boat operations compel us to step forward.
Of course, all this discounts the fact that this is NOT Vietnam and that this all volunteer armed forces have answered the call to serve. All branches of the US military, Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, are consistently exceeding recruitment and re-enlistment (retention) expectations according to the Department of Defense.
RECRUITING:
Army: 104%
Navy: 100%
Marine Corps: 107%
Air Force: 100%
(Oct. 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006)
RETENTION:
Army: 104%
Navy: 100%
Marine Corps: 101%
Air Force: 100%
(Oct. 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006)
This confuses a man like John Kerry, who doesn't understand patriotism and a sense of honor, duty and country. Yesterday I posted about a young enlisted man whose funeral I attended. He was 21 adn killed in Iraq. Both he and his father served in Iraq, volunteering for service knowing full well a deployment to either Afghanistan or Iraq is imminent. Are CPL or SGM Unger uneducated or stupid, or are they heroic? Apparently John Kerry believes the first.
There's one Vietnam vet who deserved being spat upon. His name is John Kerry.
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Reader Comments (33)
Kerry is one person I've despised for years, beginning back in Vietnam when my husband was serving over there and Kerry was running around in the states babbling his traitorous bs! He's only gotten worse over the years and as far as I'm concerned he isn't even an American. Great post, Amy.
I have to admit I'm glad he said it, though, because it shows everyone what the Dems think. Rush Limbaugh asked today why are they denying what he really meant? They all believe the same thing. You know that, and every thinking American knows that. John Kerry has reached the status of a total buffoon; a Court Jester. I believe he should move to Fwance where he and his yellow stripe will fit right in.
http://www.splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/archives/004496.php
Just a brief note to say that I found your critique of Senator Kerry's salute to be way out of line. You know full well that the senator injured his arm grievously when he threw those medals over the White House fence-an act which raised him to the stature of a Jane Fonda in my opinion. You should be ashamed of yourself and your "compassionate conservatism."
Sincerely,
Chris Matthews
Democratic party pimp and host of CNN's Srewball.
http://www.thepoliticalpitbull.com/2006/10/video_matthews_decries_vile_at.php
The Democratic voters sure picked a terrible candidate for President that year.
- In the mean time, other than the usual DNC talking heads, laboring mightily to find some strained way to defend the indefensible, the Dems, particularly those that are running for office, are rushing to get in front of this mess, and calling for Kerry to apologise, and then begging him to just go home.
- Kerry, in his usual elitist snobbishness, has managed in one statement to "pants" the entire Democratic party on the eve of Congressional elections, an election in which they are already struggling to keep thier heads above water, and have any chance to gain the house.
- Senator Kerry, who is not running for anything, but obviously was using his campaign appearances as a springboaard in the '08 cycle, and to get out ahead of Hillery, is the best weapon the Republicans have right now. I'm sure the DNC is praying he keeps his promise to return to Washington to "avoid becoming a distraction". In this case the verbal equivalent of saving a dinner menu off the Titanic.
- Kerry issued an "apology" which started with a side-handed regret of "being misunderstood, but did end with a peronal apolgy to all families and servicemen in the military "If my words offened anyone".
- Too little too late, and particularly when his past underlines his arrogance is exactly what he said it is in his own words.
"An apology badly given is nought else but a second insult" (John Henry Cardinal Newman?)
"Your tongue runs before your wits." (John Heywood, Proverbs)
"The privilege that statesmen ever claim;
Who private interests never yet pursu'd,
But still pretended 'twas for others' good:
What politician ever scap'e his fate,
Who saving his own neck, not saved the state?" (John Dreyden, Absalom and Achitophel)
"In friendship false,
Inplacable in hate,
Resoved to ruin or to rule the state (Dreyden, Absalom and Achitophel)
Amy, according to the MSNBC link you provided the text for his prepared remarks called for him to say: “Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.”
That does seem very different to me.
Of course I can only speak for myself, but as a former soldier and the wife of a current soldier I accept his explanation. In my opinion, I don’t think there was any intent to insult our soldiers serving in Iraq. Having said that, however, I think he could have explained himself a little better and I agree with you that he should have done so in front of the cameras instead of on his Web site.
It took 48 hours for that to change. My quote is what Kerry used for 24-36 hours as he explained what the "joke" was. Suddenly today, he came up with the new "original quote." I don't think so. I have followed this man say things synonomous to this. The quote I gave above was particularly offensive:
"JOHN KERRY: But there is no excuse three and a half years later for American troops to be driving by IEDs and getting blown up. Are you telling me that they can’t drive a truck?"
Here's the video:
http://www.johnnyproctor.com/sqsp2/insulting.wmv
Etc., etc... Why do you think everyone believed what Kerry said before any explanation? Because he's said similar before.
Best case scenario would be that he was only being rude, disrespectful and anti-Ameircan toward our President, the commander in Chief. That's much better. Of course, it isn't Bush whose doing the work on the ground in Iraq that "stuck", it's.... THE TROOPS.
This is pretty simple.
And, remember his intial reaction? "I APOLOGIZE TO NO ONE'. He had no concern for the troops or their feelings from the onset.
John Kerry is a communist pansy. He is really despicable.
He was addressing a bunch of liberal college kids who don't want recruiters on their campuses. Do the math, this is all connected.
I think this man is as good or better than Dean for the Republican party.He is a poster child for sticking your foot in it.
IMUS: I was talking to Charles last night about this, and it was my inclination to try to defend you in this. And I said, I think I know what he meant. I mean, it’s clear what he meant. But I had to acknowledge, in my conversation with Charles, that that’s not what you said.
KERRY: Of course, it isn’t what I said.
I left out one word. I left out the word “us.” “They got us stuck.” Instead of that, I said, “They got stuck,” and they’re taking advantage of it.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15512797/
Even THAT is very different than what his damage control... I mean, pulbicist said was the original.
I don't know if you're familiar with this study report published by the Heritage Foundation but it shows you point.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/cda05-08.cfm
There's a reason why no one questioned what he said. I didn't hear anyone say, "He must have meant something else because we KNOW John Kerry LOVES the troops!" No, everyone said, "There he goes again."
And did you notice he was a college in California saying remarks that, no matter what his intent, were negative about the war in Iraq, while California colleges are notoriously liberal and anti-recruiting? This is no mistake. He meant to diss the President and the war movement and the military. PVT Joe? Maybe not, but the military, YES.
This was a total throw back to the 60's for him. Same type of sarcastic demeaning rhetoric against military action and the commander in chief. Oh, and how classy is that, even if what he said were true and he were ONLY trying to insult the President of the United States during wartime! What to go, Lurch, make the war harder on the troops by saying crap that will be repeated and put into enemy propaganda. But, right, you didn't mean to insult the troops, just their Comamnder in Chief!
Brilliant.
"Our analysis of the demographic composition of enlisted recruits vis-à-vis the general population considers the following characteristics:
Household income,
Level of education,
Race/ethnicity, and
Region/rural origin."
Several things to keep in mind.
1) This was produced in 2005, conducted between 2001-2005. The recruitment stats are no longer valid becuase all branches of military have exceeded or at least met 100% of the recruting goal.
2) The study focused only on enlisted, not officers. Virtually all officers have a minimum of 4 years college. You have to be college educated to be an officer.
3) Many of our great patriots come right out of high school, so of course their level of education and income will be low. The military enlisteds are comprised largely of these young guys, but they GET AN EDUCATION WHILE SERVING. The findings are misleading.
4) For poor citizens, I believe the US military offers an outstanding package for advancement, achievment and importance. If young poor kids, let's say, are left become adult poor, the military should be commended for reaching out and giving a GREAT opportunity to citizens WITHOUT demanding a college education.
As an Army wife, I can say that overall the military relly takes care of its own. Health insurance, great rate on dental, housing, etc.... but the most significant thing the military does for the study cases in this analysis is to give confidence and a future to these kids. The military is being swept over by a wave of patriotism rivaled by the Reagan years and these guys join knowing the risks, but they want to make a difference in the world: AND THEY ARE.
____________________________________________
This paper also reviews other evidence that is at odds with the image, painted by some supporters of the draft, that the military exploits poor, ignorant, young Americans by using slick advertising that promises technical careers in the military to dupe them into trading their feeble opportunities in the private sector for a meager role as cannon fodder.
The caricature of conscription—a harsh reality of European militaries in the 18th and 19th centuries—lives on in the popular imagination, but it does not accurately represent the all-volunteer U.S. military. Indeed, the U.S. military's qualitative superiority is what makes it the most efficient and lethal combat force in history. In economic terms, high-skill human capital among troops makes the military more productive overall. There may be legitimate equity concerns that outweigh national security, but they will undoubtedly come at a cost or trade-off in productivity.
However, **our research shows that the volunteer force is already equitable. That is, it is highly likely that reinstating the draft would erode military effectiveness, increase American fatalities, destroy personal freedom, and even produce a less socioeconomically "privileged" military in the process.**
In summary, we found that, on average, 1999 recruits were more highly educated than the equivalent general population, more rural and less urban in origin, and of similar income status. We did not find evidence of minority racial exploitation (by race or by race-weighted ZIP code areas). We did find evidence of a "Southern military tradition" in that some states, notably in the South and West, provide a much higher proportion of enlisted troops by population.
The household income of recruits generally matches the income distribution of the American population. There are slightly higher proportions of recruits from the middle class and slightly lower proportions from low-income brackets. However, **the proportion of high-income recruits rose to a disproportionately high level after the war on terrorism began, as did the proportion of highly educated enlistees. All of the demographic evidence that we analyzed contradicts the pro-draft case.**
____________________________________
I can't really add much to what everyone else has posted but I am very happy to say that Kerry has proven himself to be a complete and absolute idiot.
And for him to demand that President Bush apologize for his blundering mouth, is just ridiculous and preposterous. Once an idiot always an idiot.
Really odd is that people like Kerry, who know that all officers must be college educated (with a few exceptions) make such stupid comments. He's clearly talking about enlisteds, but even they are better off than the general population in their age groups.
In my opinion Kerry’s remarks have more to do with how the military is being used by the current administration – not the troops themselves. If you want to continue to follow the “Kerry hates the military” story that is certainly your right. I didn’t vote for him in ’04 and I wouldn’t vote for him in the future, but it’s not because I have reservations about how he “feels” toward the military.
I would love to share that opinion but then I watch the clip of his "testimony" (which wasn't under oath) regarding war crimes he supposedly witnessed, referring to the military in general as some of the worst butchers in history. He has a history of making broad, sweeping negative generalizations about our military, and none of them have ever been supported in fact.
In case you were on the moon last week, let me go over what happened. Kerry was making a joke about Bush not having studied hard in school and ending up getting us stuck in Iraq, and left out the word "us." Republicans decided to try to trick people into thinking that Kerry - a war hero who had volunteered to serve in combat after graduating from Yale - was "insulting our troops." They sent instructions out to their echo chamber to pretend to be outraged.
They cranked up the phony outrage across the internet, got the story onto The Drudge Report, got Rush Limbaugh to "run with it," and then the TV networks started non-stop coverage and commentary. It was an instant, manufactured media frenzy. And then it went away. Just like that.
So here is why I think in the end this was a very good thing for the Democrats.
1) It distracted the Republican machine. Kerry isn't running for anything but the entire conservative outrage machine spent 2 days attacking him instead of talking about anything relevant to the election and to the concerns of voters. Who CARES what John Kerry said? This is not to run down Kerry, but for voters to care it has to be about SOMEONE OR SOMETHING THAT MATTERS TODAY. In this election what John Kerry said just doesn't matter because he isn't running for anything.
But the Republican noise machine IS capable of influencing the public and doing real damage. That was two days in which they could have been causing trouble and instead they were entirely focused on something that just does not matter.
2) Crying 'wolf' too many times reduces the effect of crying "wolf." (That's why they call it "crying wolf.") The Republicans cranked up their machine to absolute full volume over something that wasn't true and just didn't matter, and everybody had to listen to it. So the realization that these people cry "wolf" is sinking in.
John Kerry DIDN'T SAY WHAT THEY SAID HE SAID, and everyone knew it. And it JUST DIDN'T MATTER and everyone knew it. They were crying "wolf" AND EVERYONE KNEW IT!
3) It allowed us a peek behind the curtain. We're becoming more and more aware of how the Republicans do it, how the sound machine works and how the phony outrage and smear machine operates. We're learning about their techniques. So we're watching and learning, and this week was like a lab experiment for studying conservative outrage and smears. We are learning how to react, how to keep from getting sucked into the defensiveness game, and how to fight back. Two years ago the swiftboating of Kerry cost him the election. This year Kerry - and all of us by extension - understood more about what was happening and responded effectively.
So yes, I think last week's media frenzy was, on balance, very good for the Democrats.
“Iraq: Indications and Warnings of Civil Conflict” and lists factors that are destabilizing Iraq.
Where exactly is the military saying our strategy there is a failure? It MIGHT interest you to know that Iraq's government is the reason things are in upheaval. The US is standing back and Iraq is conducting the majority of security, which is the biggest problem. Al-Maliki is making decisions the US military planners don't necessarily agree with, but it is their country to do with what they want. They are a brand new democracy, give them time. This isn't a McDonald's drive through.
The factions and particularly outside interferance from Iran are the biggest instabilities. You'd have to understand religious and secular history of Iraq over the past 200 years or so to get a better understanding of why things are going the way they are. You do understand this is a WAR, right?