Posted on 11/01/2006 3:39:26 PM PST by MadIvan
Democrats stampeded over each other yesterday to disassociate themselves from John Kerry, their presidential candidate two years ago, who has handed Republicans an election lifeline with remarks implying US troops in Iraq are there because they are stupid.
Senator Kerry, speaking to a group of students in California on Monday, 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 dont, you get stuck in Iraq. A video of his speech was placed swiftly on the internet and then seized upon by the White House, which has been desperate to switch the focus of voters away from the mounting toll of death and destruction in Iraq before Tuesdays crucial elections for control of Congress.
On Tuesday night, in scenes reminiscent of the 2004 presidential contest, George Bush demanded that Mr Kerry apologise for his insulting and shameful remarks. Yesterday a number of top Democrat candidates joined him in calling on Mr Kerry to say sorry.
Harold Ford Jnr, who is running for the Senate in Tennessee, said: Whatever the intent, [he] was wrong to say what he said. Jon Tester, the partys senatorial candidate in Montana, said: He owes our troops and their families an apology. Senator Hillary Clinton called the remarks inappropriate.
At the same time Democrat candidates across the US cancelled scheduled campaign appearances with Mr Kerry, whose distant hopes of another presidential candidacy in 2008 have now all but evaporated.
Mr Kerry on Tuesday had insisted that it was Mr Bush who should apologise. But yesterday he said: Of course Im sorry about a botched joke. I mean, you know, its pretty stupid.
He claimed that his remarks had been aimed at Mr Bush for being intellectually lazy in getting us stuck in a war in Iraq but he had fluffed his lines.
Instead, he said the mock-outrage of the White House was the latest example of the Republican campaign of smear and fear that had characterised attacks on his military record in Vietnam during the 2004 presidential contest, as well as his gaffe that he had voted for Iraq war funding before voting against it.
Yesterday Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, twisted the knife with a direct reference to this when he told a campaign rally: Of course, now Senator Kerry says he was just making a joke. I guess we didnt get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it.
Mr Kerry has previously attacked the so-called chicken-hawks who have cast aspersions on his military record, while never seeing combat themselves. Yesterday he made no reference to how Mr Bush had avoided service in Vietnam, perhaps because it would have meant conceding that the President had got better grades than him at Yale.
# President Bush said last night that he wanted Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, and Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, to remain in his Administration until the end of his term.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
bookmarked for after Mass tonight.
"Ditch bungling" At a glance I thought that was some kind of British slang for something George Michael might be caught doing.
does this go with the John 16:3 line?
Hey Ivan have you been to Drudge report LATELY see how our US Miltary think of John Kerry ROFL
the US Senate.
Oh yeah, let's share a happy chuckle. This is just too GREAT!
I can see it already. When the Dems don't completely stomp the Pubs like the press has been saying they will, they will now be free to blame it ALL on John Kerry rather than admitting that they have been stumping for the Dems all along with absolutely no real basis for their call for a Dem landslide.
Yes, we know all about it over here. :)
Regards, Ivan
"President Bush said last night that he wanted Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, and Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, to remain in his Administration until the end of his term."
I do not know who asked the question that prompted this answer.
What I do know is that the answer is incorrect.
VP Cheney is elected to 4 years, just like the President. It is not the President's discretion to fire the VP, a separate political office.
SecDef is totally different as the SecDef serves at the pleasure of the POTUS.
The POTUS should have said that VP Cheney was elected by the Republic and serves the Republic. SecDef serves at his pleasure and will continue to do so. EOM!
First they ditched Gore, then Lieberman, now Kerry. One wonders if Edwards will likewise join the Democratic unmentionables along with McGovern (who wasn't even invited to the 2004 Dem convention in his home state!) and Dukakis?!
Oh, and Gary Hart. And Mondale.
I remember during the 2004 election how the Dems lavished praise on Kerry over and over again for being a polished and smooth speaker. Remember the run-up to the debates? Kerry was going to wipe the floor with Bush. He is such a good debater compared to the bumbling Bush. He is soooo nuanced! Remember that?
Now all of a sudden Kerry is an awkward speaker! His words just get in the way of his genius.
So which is it? I don't think it was an attempt at a joke. I do think Kerry is a polished politician and speaker. This was not a mistake; he was trying to encourage these college kids to get good grades, otherwise their only choice would be the military (to his thinking).
and that's exactly what's going to happen..instead of the usual "Bush's fault", it'll now be "Kerry's Fault"..
JFnK yesterday thought he was showing how tough he will be the next time the Swifties come after him.
It wasn't the Swifties that came after him this time, it was Americans saying JSTFU JFnK.
PS JFnK, I'll show you my DD214 if you show me yours!
This kills me. The newspapers can't stick to reporting the news, they feel compelled to insert their own opinions and commentary into every article. Unbiased my a$$!
Oooh boy, Lurch has really stepped into it now.
Heh heh.
Kerry needs a quick visit to the troops in Baghdad, He would become Mrs kerry real quick....
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