John Kerry's Opinion on Military Service

[Zeb_Carter]

John Kerry recently told a group of college students the following: "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 don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

What are you feelings on this? Comments? Rants?

 

[AngeloMichael]

Kerry is a douchebag, not because this is his opinion on military service, because it isn't, he is a douchebag because, among many other things he mucked up this dig at Bush, which is all it was.

When taken in context with the rest of what Kerry is saying, it is obvious he is talking about Bush.

I'd like to say that Bush is so stupid he doesn't even realize that Kerry is calling him stupid and thinks he's talking about the military service, but the truth is the Republicans are taking this "gift" and spinning the Hell out of it.

 

[sophia jane]

I'd like to say that Bush is so stupid he doesn't even realize that Kerry is calling him stupid and thinks he's talking about the military service, but the truth is the Republicans are taking this "gift" and spinning the Hell out of it.

It's not like they needed more stuff to spin. Being a Democrat means being supportive of terrorists, after all.

As for what Kerry said, I have no comments- the context really makes a big difference. Altho, if Bush and cronies have their way, we'll probably end up with a draft.

 

[McKenna]

I don't believe his comments were directed towards military service, but rather to a president who has sent servicemen to die in Iraq. Big difference, however the Republicans are putting quite a spin on his words to make Kerry sound anti-military. If drama doesn't exist, someone's always willing to create it.

 

[Belegon]

It's asinine that a group whose nominal leader is a man who did everything he could to avoid dangerous military service is jumping all over a man who was decorated for the military service he did perform by taking comments out of context and blowing them out of proportion.

It's sad that it doesn't surprise me. It's sadder that telling the truth is somehow considered un-American now. Or does anyone out there have the opinion that the average enlisted man in Iraq is there because he feels it is the best use for his Master's degree?

The military is an honorable profession...but it is not a lucrative one. Nor are college graduates fighting each other for spots in line to become an enlisted man.

That said, Kerry should know better by now...he played right into their hands.

After all...disagreeing with the policies and feelings of our sitting president is obviously treasonous...and has been ever since Clinton left office, right?

 

[cloudy]

After all...disagreeing with the policies and feelings of our sitting president is obviously treasonous...and has been ever since Clinton left office, right?

You forgot "unpatriotic."

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

This is an instant replay of the BoatRon incident during the 2004 Presidential election. Bush buys some scumbags to say Kerry wasn't wounded and didn't deserve his medals then trys to side step and say these guys weren't his. Later, if you remember, during the debates, Bush claimed he was a war hero and Kerry hid out from the draft

This is just more Bush-Rove Sleezebag ploliticing at the last minute to try and salvage the Republican party from imploding on it's own crimes.

 

[Belegon]

You forgot "unpatriotic."

Yes of course...

obviously, Jefferson and Adams and Paine and Washington didn't teach me much about trusting that an authority figure is always right simply because they are an authority figure...

 

[S-Des]

Kerry is a moron. It's not the first time he's said something stupid. Unlike people who want to give him a break at all costs, I think people should be held accountable for saying stupid things (and what he said was a flat out insult to anyone serving...only the dumb ones wind up in Iraq...what a dick). BTW, that includes Republicans (I often get confused with a Republican because I'm not a Democrat). My biggest problem with Kerry is that he is such a screw up, he got Bush re-elected last time around. He should have retired in shame for that (him and Al Gore).

 

[shereads]

Whatever Kerry's opinion of military service, it's based on combat experience, not sitting on his soft white derriere playing at war like it's a board game.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I loved Bush's response to Kerry - "He owes every American Soldier an Appology."

Bush owes a PERSONAL APPOLOGY to about 2800 families of soldiers he's killed in Iraq and Afganistan. Kerry's words are nothing compared to the continuing debacle Bush is carrying out daily in the middle east.

 

[jeninflorida]

Personally, I dont think Kerry is a smart man. He and his wife, talk about car pooling and conserving when they have at least four big S.U.V., a private jet (as they don’t fly commercial), at least four homes, and live life rather well. Now, part of that is the American dream, to do well and life the high life (granted, it came from John’s wife dead husband)…

Why can’t John admit that he stated something incorrect, apologize to the military? Why can’t most democrats apologize? Why must pro-kerry people put a spin on it……the comment isn't about us being in iraq, or all the other iraq crap.

Do you find John’s comments inappropriate, yes or no? Don’t take a political stance, just focus on this one topic.

It's asinine that a group whose nominal leader is a man who did everything he could to avoid dangerous military service is jumping all over a man who was decorated for the military service he did perform by taking comments out of context and blowing them out of proportion.

It's sad that it doesn't surprise me. It's sadder that telling the truth is somehow considered un-American now. Or does anyone out there have the opinion that the average enlisted man in Iraq is there because he feels it is the best use for his Master's degree?

The military is an honorable profession...but it is not a lucrative one. Nor are college graduates fighting each other for spots in line to become an enlisted man.

That said, Kerry should know better by now...he played right into their hands.

After all...disagreeing with the policies and feelings of our sitting president is obviously treasonous...and has been ever since Clinton left office, right?

 

[Explaura]

I guess I am confused.. Why does anyone care what John Kerry says?

 

[jeninflorida]

Amen!!

I guess I am confused.. Why does anyone care what John Kerry says?

 

[jeninflorida]

I loved Bush's response to Kerry - "He owes every American Soldier an Appology."

Bush owes a PERSONAL APPOLOGY to about 2800 families of soldiers he's killed in Iraq and Afganistan. Kerry's words are nothing compared to the continuing debacle Bush is carrying out daily in the middle east.

I agree with you Jenn (And i do think that Kerry should appologize - not for bush bashing), and not just to the military but to the american people. I was all for the way, if Iraq had WMD and all that jazz. there is no doublt that sadam is an evil man, but we were better off with the devil that we knew, or what's going to come next?

 

[Guest]

Bush on Kerry remark: U.S. troops are 'plenty smart' *snicker*

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/01/kerry.remarks/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush joined GOP lawmakers Tuesday in blasting Sen. John Kerry for telling a group of college students they could either work hard in school or "get stuck in Iraq."

"Even in the midst of a heated campaign season, there are still some things we should all be able to agree on, and one of the most important is that every one of our troops deserves our gratitude and respect," Bush said.

Kerry told reporters in Seattle, Washington, that the remark was a "botched joke" meant to target the president, not U.S. troops.

Bush added that U.S. troops deserve the full support of the government. (Watch a recap of the day's war of words -- 3:02 Video)

"The senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and shameful," Bush said. "The men and women who serve in our all-volunteer armed forces are plenty smart and are serving because they are patriots -- and Senator Kerry owes them an apology."

Republicans unleashed a firestorm of criticism against Kerry after the Vietnam veteran's remarks on Monday, but Kerry said Tuesday that he made a mistake.

"The White House's attempt to distort my true statement is a remarkable testament to their abject failure in making America safe," the Massachusetts senator said. "It's a stunning statement about their willingness to reduce anything in America to raw politics." (Watch Kerry say he won't apologize for criticizing the president and "his broken policy" -- 9:33 Video)

Kerry's comment did not sit well even with leading members of his own party. A number of top Democrats told CNN they were upset with the senator for giving the Republicans election-time ammunition -- even if the GOP was hyping the remark.

"He has already cost us one election. The guy just needs to keep his mouth shut until after the election," a top Democratic strategist said Tuesday. (Watch how Kerry's gaffe may be a gift for the GOP -- 3:00 Video)

But not all Democrats concurred. Vietnam veteran and former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia defended Kerry and applauded the senator for showing "our party how to fight back with the truth."

"John Kerry is a patriot who has fought tooth and nail for veterans ever since he came home from Vietnam. He has stood with his brothers in arms unlike this administration, which exploits our troops to make a political point and divide America," Cleland said in a statment.

Before Kerry's clarification, White House press secretary Tony Snow, House Majority Leader John Boehner and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, lambasted the four-term senator and demanded he apologize. (Watch Kerry's "botched joke'" that launched the political stink -- 1:50 Video)

A CNN poll suggests that Iraq is the second-most important issue, behind the economy, as voters ponder for whom to cast their ballots in next week's midterms.
White House: 'An absolute insult'

"This is an absolute insult," Snow said at a daily press briefing. "Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this."

Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said the remark was "insulting" and called on "Democrat candidates across the country" to publicly denounce the comment.

"These Americans who are risking their lives in the fight against terrorism in Iraq deserve better than to have their service demeaned by a United States senator," Boehner said in a statement. "Our soldiers need John Kerry's support, yet John Kerry offers nothing more than disparaging commentary."

Kerry, who is not up for re-election this year, fired back at the White House and the GOP, saying he was not disparaging U.S. soldiers.

"If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they're crazy," he said. "No Democrat will be bullied by an administration that has a cut-and-run policy in Afghanistan and a stand-still-and-lose strategy in Iraq."

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, spoke to students at Pasadena City College in California on Monday.

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the senator took the stage to roaring applause before regaling the crowd with one-liners, Bush barbs and tales of surfing at nearby Mission Beach.

He then said: "You know, education -- if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well.

"If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Comment 'mangled in delivery'

A Kerry aide told CNN that the prepared statement, which had been designed to criticize President Bush, "was mangled in delivery."

Kerry was supposed to say, "I can't overstress the importance of a great education. 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."

Before the announcement that the statement was botched, McCain, a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, joined his GOP colleagues in condemning the remark and demanding an apology.

"Senator Kerry owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education," McCain said in a statement.

U.S. troops "deserve our respect and deepest gratitude for their service," he added and said the notion that only those with poor educations serve in the Iraq "is an insult to every soldier serving in combat."

"Without them, we wouldn't live in a country where people securely possess all their God-given rights, including the right to express insensitive, ill-considered and uninformed remarks," McCain said.

But Kerry refused to relent, calling the criticism part of the "classic GOP playbook."

"I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed-suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq."

He further expressed disgust with "Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country."

Kerry added that President Bush and Vice President Cheney "owe our troops an apology" because they "misled America into war."

Bush and Cheney "have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it," the senator said.

 

[sophia jane]

Yeah, he gave the Republicans unfortunate election ammunition, but damn his intended comment was funny.

 

[jeninflorida]

Yeah, he gave the Republicans unfortunate election ammunition, but damn his intended comment was funny.

if i (or friends/family) was in the military...i would be upset...john's comment came out as he was speaking down (which i'm sure he was as he has a very big ego)....

the troops don’t have a choice if he/she wants to be in iraq, and they are watching friends die....so regardless of your stance on the war, we have to support our troops...(we don’t need another Vietnam)

 

[TheOlderGuy]

it's a lot of wind about nothing.

A Kerry spokeswoman, Amy Brundage, said Kerry’s prepared text had 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.”

so he went off-script, with far less damage than the daily gaffs Bush makes when he gets off-script. fortunately ole JFKnot has taken himself off the campaign trail till things calm down. and i hope he reconsiders the 2008 run. he's not going to be an asset to the struggle to take our country back from the thugs.

 

[jeninflorida]

it's a lot of wind about nothing.

A Kerry spokeswoman, Amy Brundage, said Kerry’s prepared text had 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.”

so he went off-script, with far less damage than the daily gaffs Bush makes when he gets off-script. fortunately ole JFKnot has taken himself off the campaign trail till things calm down. and i hope he reconsiders the 2008 run. he's not going to be an asset to the struggle to take our country back from the thugs.

kerry is all over the place, he stands for nothing...he's the devil we dont know..like you said, he want off-scipt.

are there any honest peole to run for office? one that you can trust, one that is honest, one that can't be purchased?

so far, the only person that seems honest is Obama

 

[TheOlderGuy]

kerry is all over the place, he stands for nothing...he's the devil we dont know..like you said, he want off-scipt.

are there any honest peole to run for office? one that you can trust, one that is honest, one that can't be purchased?

so far, the only person that seems honest is Obama

Obama show great promise, and i'm curious to see how far he can get. sadly it takes far more than honesty to get anywhere. Howard Dean was about as straightforward as anyone i've seen in a long time, but his enemies were able to destroy him because of the enthusiasm he showed his supporters at a post campaign rally.

Kerry and McCain deserve no one's support because they have no spine for speaking the truth. and when they try they sound insincere.

 

[sophia jane]

if i (or friends/family) was in the military...i would be upset...john's comment came out as he was speaking down (which i'm sure he was as he has a very big ego)....

the troops don’t have a choice if he/she wants to be in iraq, and they are watching friends die....so regardless of your stance on the war, we have to support our troops...(we don’t need another Vietnam)

ETA: Not directed at Jenn cuz I know she wasn't attacking me personally. The labeling of Dems as unpatriotic and supportive of terrorists has gotten on my nerves lately.

1. I didn't say I don't support the troops. My brother in law is in Iraq. I support the troops completely, I admire them for doing what I could never do. But I despise the war. And I despise the administration that put us there under false pretenses. And I'll be damned if I'll shut my mouth about the horrors of the war and the idiocy of the president just because people want to label dissension unpatriotic. If Iraq becomes another Vietnam, whose fault is that? Mine or others for saying what ought to be said- that this war should never have happened? That our men and women are dying for nothing?
2. My comment was that Kerry's intended statement was funny. He intended to criticize the Pres, not the troops, and that criticism was funny.

This reminds me of the 4th of July parade here, all us flaming liberals standing up to cheer for the veteran groups and the soldiers and then promptly signing the petitions to get the troop removal referendum on the ballot here. You can support the troops and still criticize the war, still be a patriot, still be an American. Yeah, Kerry mispoke which is annoying, but for fuck's sake- listen to the president and the crap that flows out of his mouth.

 

[sophia jane]

so far, the only person that seems honest is Obama

Feingold. Not only is his honest but he stands up for his beliefs, regardless of the rest of his party.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

so far, the only person that seems honest is Obama

The big question is: Is the U.S. ready for a black President? Similarly, as far as Hilary goes, Is the U.S. ready for a Women in the White House.

I suspect both of them would have a hard run.

 

[jeninflorida]

The big question is: Is the U.S. ready for a black President? Similarly, as far as Hilary goes, Is the U.S. ready for a Women in the White House.

I suspect both of them would have a hard run.

wait....is hilary a women? i dont think the world is ready for hilary, maybe parts of new york and stuff...but she's too....socialist and very wishy washy....oh yea, and not honest. maybe she can run for prez in Iraq?