***10/31 7:35am updated with more reax below...
...909am update San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Pasadena Star News reports on the Angelides campaign event at Pasadena City College where Kerry trashed the troops..."Kerry then told the students that if they were able to navigate the education system, they could get comfortable jobs - "If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," he said to a mixture of laughter and gasps."***
915am update. Here's a pic of Kerry and Angelides from the event posted by the Angelides campaign...
Losers
And another in the Pasadena Star News captioned "Some help from his friends:"
You can ask Angelides whether he endorses his friend Kerry's disparagement of American troops at his campaign blog here.
9:54am. Watch the video here.
***
Trashing the troops
Demonstrating his trademark jerkitude, John Kerry said this about the troops in Iraq during a campaign event in California for loser Democrat gubernatorial candidate Phil "Bring the Troops Home Now Or I'll Sue" Angelides:
“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.”
Listen to the audio: Allah and KFI's John Ziegler have it.
***
Reader David e-mails:
After just a quick search, I found the following:
Academic Education
-- 49.2 percent of officers have advanced or professional degrees; 39.4 percent have master's degrees, 8.5 percent have professional degrees and 1.3 percent have doctorate degrees.
-- 22.8 percent of company grade officers have advanced degrees; 16.5 percent have master's degrees, 5.9 percent have professional degrees and 0.3 percent have doctorate degrees.
-- 85.4 percent of field grade officers have advanced degrees; 70.7 percent have master's degrees, 12.1 percent have professional degrees and 2.5 percent have doctorate degrees.
-- 99.9 percent of the enlisted force have at least a high school education; 73.3 percent have some semester hours toward a college degree; 16.2 percent have an associate's degree or equivalent semester hours; 4.7 percent have a bachelor's degree; 0.7 percent have a master's degree and .01 percent have a professional or doctorate degree."
That comes from http://www.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?storyID=123027385 (about a third of the way down). I'm sure there's better information out there. Also, while I was in the military, I remember reading a study showing that the education levels in the military FAR outstrip anything seen in the civilian world. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything like it in the short time I looked. I'd bet that if you contacted an official military liaison, they could give you good information instantly.
***
Now go read about Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, who gave his life in Ramadi last month, here and here and here:
A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret.
"He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it," said a 28-year-old lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."
Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began.
Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. The four had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area.
In an interview at the SEALs' West Coast headquarters in Coronado, four members of the special force remembered "Mikey" as a loyal friend and a quiet, dedicated professional.
"He was just a fun-loving guy," said a 26-year-old petty officer 2nd class who went through the grueling 29-week SEAL training with Monsoor. "Always got something funny to say, always got a little mischievous look on his face."
Other SEALS described the Garden Grove, Calif., native as a modest and humble man who drew strength from his family and his faith. His father and brother are former Marines, said a 31-year-old petty officer 2nd class.
Prior to his death, Monsoor had already demonstrated courage under fire. He has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions May 9 in Ramadi, when he and another SEAL pulled a team member shot in the leg to safety while bullets pinged off the ground around them.
The honor and courage of Monsoor and his team members make me weep.
The cravenness and condescension of John Kerry make me sick.
***
Reader Andrew Porsch responds to Kerry:
I’m currently attending American University in Washington, DC, but I enlisted in the Army immediately after my graduation from high school. Guess my decision to enlist prior to going to college means I was lazy, uneducated, and don’t want to even attempt anything academic. Oh, by the way, I was a Korean linguist in the Army.Mr. Kerry, I served in Afghanistan, and proudly at that. Nobody forced me to join the Army - my parents were supportive of my decision and I don’t reget a second of my service. My enlistment was not a punishment or a final option as a result of being lazy and not wanting to put forth any "brain power." Some people just happen to be patriotic or want to better themselves through the military.
Andrew Porsch Proud former (and possibly future) Soldier
***
Here's another answer to John Kerry:
Via Major John at Miserable Donuts, watch "A Call to Duty" about American boots on the ground.
Guess they didn't make enough of an "effort to be smart," eh, Sen. Kerry?
***
More reax:
Michelle,
I really became ticked off about the message John Kerry is sending to my kids, those serving, and those who have served. He is saying that I'm uneducated and to stupid to do anything else! Well, I would rather have any 100 random service men or women serve in the Senate than the current group we currently have serving today. Jerry Kerry has inherited all of his wealth, other than his very short time in the Navy, I would say he has not really worked a day in his life. Effectively he has been working on the public dole his whole life. So, who really is smarter?
My father served in the Air Force, served in Korea, and 3 tours in Vietnam, earned a bachelors degree, Masters degree, and almost finished his PhD before retiring from the USAF as a Chief Master Sergeant (NCO). I earned a BS in Engineering, volunteered to serve in the Army as an officer, earned an MBA while serving, fought in combat twice, and retired from the service. The men and women I served with in the military are better than the average person you walk into on the street. There are many reasons why that is true, but the big one is that they give a damn about our Nation.
Maj. Ben M. Bauman II (U.S. Army, Ret.)
Roger B:
But he supports the troops.
And don't question his patriotism.
Lynne S.:
John Kerry's orange pancake make-up and his deteriorating yellow rubber Armstrong bracelet have created a toxic soup in his befuddled brain as poisons are absorbed through his thin skin. This chemical imbalance and synapse damage have created a violent, jealous syndrome causing impulsive-repulsive bleating bursts of nonsense. He has no idea what he is saying until bloggers spell it out for him.
Just because Kerry was mediocre at Harvard (with average grades) does not mean that our great volunteer soldiers are lacking brains nor courage. Kerry is obviously envious of brave men he cannot be: our soldiers and President Bush. He craves the same respect but knows his Heinz catsup bottle will always be half empty.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor is more than a hero, he is what Christ asks us to be: Greater Love Hath No Man Than This, That a Man Lay Down His Life for His Friends--John 15:13. May God comfort his family and friends knowing we honor this brave hero who made our world safer.
The Canine Pundit e-mails:
I'm sure your mailbox is overflowing, but I had to write regarding Lurch's comments regarding American troops currently serving in Iraq.
My brother was deployed to Iraq earlier this month. He is a senior NCO and an 18 year veteran of the United States Air Force and Air National Guard. He holds a Bachelor's degree in his MOS, as do many of his comrades in the Guard.
He is currently serving in Iraq not because he lacks the education or work ethic to pursue a different career. He is there because, ultimately, he chose to be. Rather than bemoan his choice and those made by so many other, Lurch should celebrate the fact that there are still men and women among us willing to serve their country in uniform - sometimes at the cost of an arm, a marriage or their very lives. And, God willing, those men and women know that the majority of Americans are a damned sight more grateful for their sacrifices than a hasbeen war protestor still trying to score cheap political points.
SergeantJack:
Mrs. Malkin,
I am a 14-year NCO in the US Air Force. I just returned from a deployment to Iraq. I had to leave my wife and my two-week-old son behind to go serve my country. I could list the academic achievements I've had since I entered the service, but that's not really important. You and I both know that what Senator Kerry said was not only insulting, it was inaccurate as well. Senator Kerry simply said what he really thought, maybe for the first time in a long time. We all knew he despised the US Armed Forces, and now he's just confirmed it.
The Democrats are calling the upcoming election a referendum on President George W. Bush. I say differently. I think the 2006 election should be about removing people from office who don't deserve to be there. And Mr. Kerry has graciously provided us with a list of those people on the home page of his website.
Eric Turner:
One other thing about his statement - there are methods to attend college while actually deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. With distance education being what it is, soldiers are now able to earn college credit while deployed.
Eric Turner
Sergeant First Class (Retired)
U.S. Army
***
Flashback: DNC supports vets...but from which country?
More feedback:
Michelle,Perhaps Kerry should compare the SAT's of the cadets and midshipmen at the military academies with his college audience in CA. The differences would stagger anyone with the brains that God gave a doorknob.
God bless,
Ed Cottingham CDR, CEC, USN (Ret)
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