Today's 'Uh-oh, We've Nominated a Turkey' Moment: Kerry blames speechwriters again

Slate ^ | 05/06/04 | Mickey Kaus

[Pikamax]

Today's 'Uh-oh, We've Nominated a Turkey' Moment: From Lawrence Kaplan's TNR account of Kerry's Israel flip-flop comes Kerry's increasingly convoluted explanation for why he mentioned Jimmy Carter and James Baker as potential Mideast envoys, something that upset mainstream Jewish organizations. Turns out it was those overzealous speechwriters again! But there's a peculiar twist at the end:

[O]ne of the first things Kerry did at the meeting [with Jewish leaders] was to blame his aides for the mention of Carter and Baker as possible envoys in his December speech--a claim that several participants double-checked as soon as they walked out the door. The names, Kerry said, had been inserted by mistake, and he had even asked that they be removed. The problem is, in the speech itself, Kerry said, "There are a number of uniquely qualified Americans among whom I would consider appointing, including President Carter. ... And, I might add, I have had conversations with both President Clinton and President Carter about their willingness to do this." Kerry spokesperson Stephanie Cutter even confirmed to The Boston Globe in December that he had spoken with Carter. Today, the campaign offers this explanation: The candidate eventually did speak with Carter--but only after noticing that a draft of his speech said that he spoke with Carter. [Emph. added]

Er ... is that how the Kerry presidency will work? I always thought speechwriters had power!**... But wait a minute: If Kerry instructed his aides to remove Carter's name as a possible envoy from the speech, then why did he go ahead and meet with Carter just because the to-be-corrected draft of the speech said he'd met with him? ...  That's where his story falls completely to the ground!

**--What's the reductio ad absurdum of this? Kerry reveals he went to Vietnam after reading a draft of his autobiography that said he went to Vietnam? ... Hmmm. [Don't go there--ed.]

P.S.: It's always an underling's fault with Kerry, isn't it? He doesn't fall! The Secret Service guy got in the way. He doesn't engage in 'Benedict Arnold' demagoguery! It was those wacky speechwriters. He didn't want Carter or Baker as envoys. That was an aide's mistake. Do we think that if Kerry were president he'd take any blame for the Abu Ghraib abuses? ... P.P.S.: And does Bob Shrum think Kerry will be loyal to him if his big new TV ad buy doesn't 'move the needle'? ... [But how is Kerry going to wriggle out of promises he personally made to the Jewish leaders?--ed. It turns out they were actually meeting with Kerry's overzealous body-double! You can hardly hold Kerry himself responsible for his stand-in's constant screw-ups.] 4:35 P.M.

[Pikamax]

Today's 'Uh-oh, We've Nominated a Turkey' Moment: From Lawrence Kaplan's TNR account of Kerry's Israel flip-flop comes Kerry's increasingly convoluted explanation for why he mentioned Jimmy Carter and James Baker as potential Mideast envoys, something that upset mainstream Jewish organizations. Turns out it was those overzealous speechwriters again! But there's a peculiar twist at the end:

[O]ne of the first things Kerry did at the meeting [with Jewish leaders] was to blame his aides for the mention of Carter and Baker as possible envoys in his December speech--a claim that several participants double-checked as soon as they walked out the door. The names, Kerry said, had been inserted by mistake, and he had even asked that they be removed. The problem is, in the speech itself, Kerry said, "There are a number of uniquely qualified Americans among whom I would consider appointing, including President Carter. ... And, I might add, I have had conversations with both President Clinton and President Carter about their willingness to do this." Kerry spokesperson Stephanie Cutter even confirmed to The Boston Globe in December that he had spoken with Carter. Today, the campaign offers this explanation: The candidate eventually did speak with Carter--but only after noticing that a draft of his speech said that he spoke with Carter. [Emph. added]

Er ... is that how the Kerry presidency will work? I always thought speechwriters had power!**... But wait a minute: If Kerry instructed his aides to remove Carter's name as a possible envoy from the speech, then why did he go ahead and meet with Carter just because the to-be-corrected draft of the speech said he'd met with him? ... That's where his story falls completely to the ground!

**--What's the reductio ad absurdum of this? Kerry reveals he went to Vietnam after reading a draft of his autobiography that said he went to Vietnam? ... Hmmm. [Don't go there--ed.]

P.S.: It's always an underling's fault with Kerry, isn't it? He doesn't fall! The Secret Service guy got in the way. He doesn't engage in 'Benedict Arnold' demagoguery! It was those wacky speechwriters. He didn't want Carter or Baker as envoys. That was an aide's mistake. Do we think that if Kerry were president he'd take any blame for the Abu Ghraib abuses? ... P.P.S.: And does Bob Shrum think Kerry will be loyal to him if his big new TV ad buy doesn't 'move the needle'? ... [But how is Kerry going to wriggle out of promises he personally made to the Jewish leaders?--ed. It turns out they were actually meeting with Kerry's overzealous body-double! You can hardly hold Kerry himself responsible for his stand-in's constant screw-ups.] 4:35 P.M.

[Izzy Dunne]

This from SLATE?
Color ME surprised...

[Piranha]

Today, the campaign offers this explanation: The candidate eventually did speak with Carter--but only after noticing that a draft of his speech said that he spoke with Carter.

That's only so we couldn't write, "I actually did speak with Carter before I didn't speak with Carter."

[Freemyland]

"P.S.: It's always an underling's fault with Kerry, isn't it? He doesn't fall! The Secret Service guy got in the way. He doesn't engage in 'Benedict Arnold' demagoguery! It was those wacky speechwriters. He didn't want Carter or Baker as envoys. That was an aide's mistake."

He doesn't own an SUV, his family does.

[Pikamax]

Kaus has kerry hate flowing thru him.

[Izzy Dunne]

So, if somebody slipped a quote like "..so therefore, I resign from the Senate and will not seek the presidential nomination" into his speech copy, would it work?

Not that I would favor that, this is too much fun...

[Wheee The People]

The candidate eventually did speak with Carter--but only after noticing that a draft of his speech said that he spoke with Carter.

You can't make this up.

[BillyCrockett]

sKerry is REALLY not ready for prime time. Sometimes I even wonder if he's thought about how impossible it will be to flip flop as an American president. How could he deal with that? Once decisions are made, ya kinda gotta follow them thru.

[Mr. K]

Kerry will be gone by the convention

[steveyp]

The Boston Globe and other MA media outlets have to be thoroughly embarrassed by what's coming out about this buffoon now that he is under a national spotlight. Doesn't speak very well to the job they've done up till now.

Then again, how long has the senior Senator of MA been around...

[blanknoone]

Boy, I would hate to be a Lurch speechwriter. Everything would be my fault...'Benedict Arnold CEOs', his choice of mideast envoys, the stain on his tie, global warming, Islamonazi terrorists (no, wait...that one is Bush's fault)

[Bobber58]

[jcb8199]

The "F" stands for "Flip-flop"...

[68skylark]

Good post.

Actually, freepers may want to click the link and read the whole article -- there are lots of other interesting parts. For example, Kaus says that the Washington Post's Robin Wright seems so hostile to American goals in Iraq that she's "almost Al Jazeerish." Sounds like something a freeper would say!

[Wright is right!]

"Kaus says that the Washington Post's Robin Wright seems so hostile to American goals in Iraq that she's "almost Al Jazeerish."

If there were a Dem in the White House, Robbin' Wright would be orgasmic about how well the war is going.

Michael

[new cruelty]

He spoke with Carter before he didn't speak with him. Clearly obscure.

[RichInOC]

Johnny, my man...who hired the speechwriters?

[Maceman]

This article is just another example of the right wing media doing the bidding of the Republican attack machine.

[Gurn]

Wasn't Kaus at The New Republic (or is he still) for a long time? Of the liberal mags, that one always seemed intellectually honest to me. I'm almost positive he was pretty good friends w/ Gore, so I think these comments should raise some eyebrows.