Kerry's not wholly wrong on this. If you don't study hard, you do have few options. For kids who can't get a merit-based scholarship to college, the military (and by extension) Iraq is their ticket out of poverty.
The fact that the military is a ticket out of poverty is not a bad thing. The bad part is that there are so few other options.
He was talking to those who already were in college...not to high school kids.
In any case, his words are in black and white. They fit his history of disdain for the military.
The democrats are probably all wishing he'd keep his mouth shut.
Anyone willing to work hard at anything will be successful. You don't need an education or a military career to make in in America. There are thousands of people every day who work hard and become millionaires without any higher education. Then again there are a lot of people who think some stupid diploma is by itself a ticket to success. Those people will never succeed at anything.