‘Kerry botched a joke, they botched a war’

November 1, 2006

I honestly can’t remember a more inane manufactured controversy than this one.

President Bush last night accused Sen. John F. Kerry of disparaging U.S. troops in Iraq, echoing the 2004 strategy of ridiculing the Massachusetts senator to raise anew questions about Democratic leaders and their commitment to the troops. The highly coordinated White House effort came as Republicans sought to shift the focus away from an unpopular war and GOP scandals that are putting their congressional majorities at risk. […]

Yesterday, Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the American Legion and many GOP candidates pounced on the comment from the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee to accuse him of insulting U.S. troops. The president said Kerry owes service members an apology — echoing a parade of prominent Republicans who criticized the Massachusetts Democrat throughout the day.

After reading Kerry’s comments to a GOP audience in Georgia, Bush said Kerry’s statement was “insulting and it is shameful. The members of the United States military are plenty smart and they are plenty brave, and the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology.” The White House tipped off the networks to when Bush would attack Kerry, so the comments could be carried live and make the evening news. (emphasis added)

I suppose I should give the Bush gang credit. They can’t govern, they can’t tell the truth, they can’t fight a war, they can’t write a coherent budget, they can’t respond to a disaster, and they can’t keep the nation safe, but they sure as hell know how to coordinate a media smear of a war hero. Kudos to Rove & Co. — we’ve found your one skill.

How ridiculous is this? Matthew Dowd, the pollster/strategist for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that Kerry “just misspoke” and “in no way” did he think Kerry intended to insult U.S. troops. Moreover, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), whom no one would describe as a moderate, said on Hardball, “Well, of course, this is a perfect example of politics in America … The President wants the people to perceive [Kerry] of having maligned our troops…. I think John Kerry’s right. He’s making a defense of himself. He’s saying, ‘Look, I was not maligning the troops, I was maligning the President of the United States.'”

James Carville summarized this nicely: “Kerry botched a joke, they botched a war.”

There’s no great mystery here. Kerry misspoke and said something he didn’t mean. But Republicans, desperate and without an agenda or vision for the future, have nothing else to say. The Bush gang, and their allies, literally want to create a massive political scandal out of a comment that didn’t make any sense, and which Kerry didn’t even mean to say.

Worse, the news networks treated this as if Kerry had shot a man. CNN and MSNBC devoted hours of coverage to a mistaken comment, apparently egged on by a White House which is so ashamed of its own record, it prefers to devote its energy to a verbal miscue of a man who isn’t even on the ballot this year. One gets the distinct impression that the media is overcompensating — after weeks of bad news (actual bad news) for the GOP, news outlets are treating the Kerry slip as a huge deal. All in the name of “balance.”

If merit dictated news coverage, what, exactly, is the story here? A senator flubbed a joke while criticizing the president, then explained what he actually meant. It’s worth about two paragraphs at the bottom of an AP round-up of election coverage. Instead, the White House manufactured a scandal where none existed.

James at the Swing State Project had exactly the right idea last night.

If the GOP wants to play that game, fine. Remember this nugget, from an August 2004 Bush speech? “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

Everyone had a big laugh over Bush’s verbal gaffe two years ago. Did you see John Kerry and the Democratic Party issuing press releases calling on Bush to cease his treasonous war against the citizens of the United States of America? No, because to do so would be completely ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as the sanctimonious, dishonest drivel that Tony Snow and George Bush are trying to feed into the media narrative tonight.

Excellent analogy. Imagine if Dems played by GOP rules. Bush accidentally says that his administration “never stops thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people.” Immediately, CNN and MSNBC show “Breaking News” updates about the president’s admitted desire to hurt Americans. Bush said so himself! He can’t deny it; we have the video of him confessing his own commitment to harm the United States! It must be true! When will Republicans publicly repudiate the traitorous president? How can he be trusted ever again? Why does Bush hate America?

Of course it’s absurd, and yet, we saw a media firestorm yesterday that made just as much sense.

Actually, I think the reaction to Kerry’s fauxpaux joke was because it hit a little too close to home for most of the keyboard kommandoes/Rear Echelon Mother F-ers that make up the braintrust of today’s Repub party

If you’re “smart” or get draft deferments (apparently up to five) you become a political appointee or strategizer that fucks up everything they touch and don’t have to face the miseries of the war they made.

If you’re “dumb” (like the rest of us) you get sent to the front.

Otherwise, it’s just another molehole alleged mountain.

  • “Why does Bush hate America?” – CB

    Frankly, I’d like an answer to that question myself.

    Though I think the answer is that America rejected his father in 1992.

    Which is amusing considering that Boy George II has rejected his father George the (Forty-) First on many ocassions, notably on his advice on NOT going to war in Iraq.

  • Ummmm, no, the networks didn’t treat this like Kerry shot a guy… I mean, the last time we had a prominent politician shoot someone, we didn’t find out anything other than minor, hazy details for a couple of days…

  • If we take into consideration the tandem of clusterf*** botch-jobs that this administration has made out of Iraq and the war on terror, it may well be that Kerry’s “botched joke” is actually a prophetic statement. All one has to do is remember what happened to those who, as the Senator stated, “didn’t do well in school.”

    They were drafted, inducted, given a few measly weeks of training—and summarily shipped off to the indefensible quagmire of Viet Nam.

    “Staying the Course”—the mantra of Herr Bush and his band of flying monkeys for years now—cannot be maintained with the all-volunteer force as it exists today. The all-volunteer force is far too few in number, lacks the basic equipment needed for the job, and does not possess the support-system integrity of an honest, dedicated-to-the-task administration.

    If Kerry’s “gaffe” can be turned in this manner, it will be like pitting a battleship against a canoe—and Herr Bush’s canoe is already a very leaky boat….

  • CB, I think you may be trying too hard to defend Kerry here. Yes, he misspoke; it happens. Yes, the Rethugs do 100 worse things every day. Yes, the media gives Kerry’s one slip more play than the 100 worse Rethug things. All of that is bad and wrong and contemptable. But. . .

    Politics is an opportunistic enterprise. If we are angry that the WH and the Rethug spin machine does a hellishly destructive job of coordination when they attack, that sounds like jealousy to me – I’ve long wondered why we can’t do messaging as well as they do it (it should be easier – we have the better message to start with). Kerry gave them an opening to do what they do best, it is late in a close election, they took the opportunity. This sounds like the way campaigns work, for better or worse, to me.

    Kerry is not blameless here. As was mentioned late in last night’s thread, this was part of a series of lame Bush jokes — not exactly like we were being substantive rather than snarky to begin with. Kerry needs to know his limits. All of a sudden, he wants to be Howard Dean circa 2003. The problem is (a) he should have been that way in 2003 when it counted (b) I know Howard Dean, and Senator, you’re no Howard Dean, and (c) Dean lost. Kerry’s whole approach risked kicking the sleeping Base, even if he did it right. He didn’t pull it off — and he blew the explanation by dribbling an evolving story out in two parts, reminescent of his 2004 campaign — now everyone suffers.

    Yes, every D should have the best response at the ready — which, as you point out, is that Kerry botched a joke, Bush botched the war, and the surplus, and Katrina, and upholding the Consitution, etc etc etc. Which is a great retort and hopefully will play well. Yes, we should take the media to task for how they have covered this (but hey, Kerry saw how they played the Dean Scream 83 times and handed him the nomination. live by over-coverage, die by overcoverage.) But we never should have been in this position. Hopefully a better story comes into the cycle early in the day today. We have few cycles to spare. There just isn’t time to be careless.

  • The Republicans created their own submissive media over a period of decades, and now they can use it. In this case, they are ginning up a fake controversy by repeating the same talking points (however inane) in all their controlled media, including supposedly independent entities like CNN. This ability to bring forth a large-scale imbroglio out of nothing is a powerful weapon, even if it isn’t terribly effective here. It will continue to be used against Democrats as long as it’s allowed to continue to exist.

    Once in power, Dems should aim straight for the roots of this monster. Bring back the Fairness Doctrine and tighten ownership rules to destroy the new gigantic media conglomerates. Otherwise this crap will be what passes for political discourse, and politics will continue to be a useless wasteland, dominated by scum like Limbaugh, and existing to spread lies and distraction.

  • I think the reason that BushCo. has seized on this gaff is that it give Dear Leader an opportunity to relive his last moments of glory and victory during the 2004 campaign. It really has been down hill for them ever since:Social Security privatization, a failed Katrina, Iraq sliding into civil war,the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan,…… You, know it just hasn’t been the same for them since the second term has started. They are looking to get back that old magic-even if it is black magic.

  • If we were Republicans, we would not be using the words “botched” or “misspoke”. If we did it the Republican way, our response would be “Everyone who heard me knew exactly who I was referring to– ignoramuses like George W. Bush, who might have kept us all from getting stuck in this pointless war in Iraq if he had paid attention in history class.”

  • Also note this from that clown Sullivan’s site, via TPM and Atrios:

    The U.S. military does not have a tradition of abandoning its own soldiers to foreign militias, or of taking orders from foreign governments. No commander-in-chief who actually walks the walk, rather than swaggering the swagger, would acquiesce to such a thing. The soldier appears to be of Iraqi descent who is married to an Iraqi woman. Who authorized abandoning him to the enemy? Who is really giving the orders to the U.S. military in Iraq? These are real questions about honor and sacrifice and a war that is now careening out of any control. They are not phony questions drummed up by a partisan media machine to appeal to emotions to maintain power.

    And where, by the way, is McCain on this? Silent on Cheney’s “no-brainer” on waterboarding. Silent recently on Iraq. But vocal – oh, how vocal – on Kerry. It tells you something about what has happened to him. And to America.

  • I propose a moratorium on flame-broiling politicians because of offhand comments. That would even include Trent Lott, who was just trying to lift the spirits of a decaying racist on his birthday. It’s just too easy to demolish a speaker because of a single comment, which gets replayed endlessly, as if that comment represents the totality of that person’s thoughts on an issue.

  • Tied in with their ability to smear is their ability to steal elections (Florida in 2000, Ohio in 2004).
    Their ability to brazenly lie and distort and then keeping the MSM in line can’t be forgotten, either.
    Lining the pockets of their cronies at taxpayer expense, pissing away the U.S.’s good name worldwide, and keeping their kids out of the military should be mentioned, too.
    So you see that they have many talents!

  • I still think the very fact that Democrats are buying into this theme that Kerry should have been more careful, etc. shows how much the Republican machine has succeeded in making us internalize their crap. I’m sorry: nobody but:
    a) an idiot; or
    b) someone consumed by hatred for Democrats in general, and Kerry in particular,
    would have any trouble understanding the point of Kerry’s joke, even with the “botched” delivery. (Bear in mind that in some cases the right answer is “both of the above”). We should be hitting back hard, just as Kerry did, not going along with the Republican framing of this non-story. Anything else just plays into their hands and gives this more validity than it otherwise deserves.

  • Nobody seems to believe that Kerry was speaking against the troops, which puts the lie to the Republican attacks. The question now is, what to do about it? Should Kerry apologize to kill the story and get the camera off him? Should Kerry apologize to heal any damage he did to Democratic ’06 chances? Should he apologize to show he’s a gentleman and the Republicans aren’t?

    I don’t see how apologizing for something you didn’t do is any different than admitting to a crime you didn’t commit. Framed is framed, and bowing to a frame like this only emboldens the Republicans. Everyone wanted Kerry to stand up to the trumped-up swiftboating charges. Well he’s doing it, and it’s going to take grit not just on his part but on ours. The people going after him would do the same to you and me if they thought it would get them five votes.

    For a hilarious and frightening example of what happens to a man who tries to deal with, please, or appease the right wing in this country, read this brutal takedown of ABC News political director Mark Halperin.

    http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/10/mark-halperin-and-hugh-hewitt-all-you.html#links

    http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/10/more-on-mark-halperins-sad-little.html#links

    That’s what you get and who you become if you apologize to these people.

  • Why doesn’t Kerry say something like:

    “I botched a joke. I am sorry that it came out the way it did. I, as someone who also volunteered to serve in the armed forces, never meant any disrespect to the brave people now fighting in Iraq. I do find it amazing that this President, of all people, is trying to make a federal case about a slip of the tongue.”

    Why doesn’t Kerry make sure that he has said he is sorry to the troops?

  • “Imagine if Dems played by GOP rules” — the mind, sad to say, isn’t boggling.

    Given the history of the last quarter century, I have a hard time imagining the Democrats playing by any rules of normal political expediency … or even common sense. Pelosi pulls impeachment off the table (even before she’s in office?), Kerry again puts his foot in his mouth (again), Diebold has repalced Democracy (unchallenged … until after yet another round of elections), Democrats have no more to offer than “new directions”, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

  • Dan raised a pretty good point in last night’s discussion. Kerry’s gaffe changes the debate from Republican scandals and failures to whether the senator thinks our soldiers are stupid.

    As happy as I am to see Kerry fight back, he can do the country and the Democrats a huge favor by shutting up now.

    For every hour the media spends on the Kerry “scandal,” it’s an hour that isn’t spent focusing on Iraq or the upcoming elections. Anyone hear that the Iraqi Prime Minister ordered U.S. troops to call off their blockade of and search in Sadr City for a missing American soldier? In other words, Maliki sided with radical Shiite militias over U.S. troops, and Bush agreed with his decision. This is pretty big news.

    Democrats would do well to repeat Carville’s summary, and quickly move on. There are more important things to talk about than the remarks of losing presidential candidate.

  • I don’t even think Kerry botched the joke. Use the Google on the phrase “You get stuck in Iraq”, and tell me how many hits don’t refer to the Bush Administration (before yesterday, obviously).

    The irony is, had Kerry been more deliberate in making it clear that he was refering to Bush, people would have ripped him for being awkward and stiff. You know, the kind of person that you wouldn’t want to have a beer with . . .

  • Let me be clear, I think Kerry said something boneheaded. I think its slanderous for anyone to peddle the preposterous story of a US Senator insulting anyone in uniform.

    However, the analogy above doesn’t work because Bush’s verbal gaffe two years ago didn’t follow the trauma of the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, people out there think that John Kerry insulted the troops before, and this just confirms their fantasy. That’s what makes this a story.

    On balance, Kerry is a bonehead, and the GOP is vile.

  • I think it’s all about eyballs and votes.One news org can’t ignore a story, no matter how inane, because other news orgs will cover the story and get those precious eyeballs that mean ratings that mean money. And Reps will use anything to try to get votes by covering up their own failures with anything no matter how inane. And again that’s about the money too.

    And lol on #19

  • One can at least hope that a gaffe like this will give Kerry pause to run again in ’08– which would be a really nice unintended-consequences gift from the GOP.

    Please, John, don’t run again in 2008.

    Although I do find the whole thing sort of hilariously absurd– the GOP really shouldn’t start the mangled speech game with Bush at their helm. When was the last time any of them stepped into a bookstore, are they not aware that there are multiple books of Bush’s malapropisms?

  • The Decider knows the poor wittle soldiers can’t take anything that might hurt their feelings but they can soak up a hell of a lot of bullets and shrapnel. The more ShrubCo focuses on this the stupidier and shriller it looks, especially to soldiers wishing they had better body armor right now. If the GOP wants to give Kerry more opportunities to take swipes at them, that’s their idiocy at work. They’ve got a lot of other issues they don’t want mentioned and since all of the cameras are focused on Kerry right now all he has to do is start listing them:
    “Hey, instead of making a fuss about a mis-delivered punch line, why don’t you tell us how you missed Mark Foley’s page hunting all of those years. If you’re so concerned about the soldiers what do you say about the 103 deaths in October? Seen Osama bin Laden lately? Ah, I got a million of ’em folks.”

  • Scoundrals and ne’erdowells – the whole lot of Republican leaders in Washington and elsewhere. I believe the following paragraph you observe tells the whole story very articulately:

    I suppose I should give the Bush gang credit. They can’t govern, they can’t tell the truth, they can’t fight a war, they can’t write a coherent budget, they can’t respond to a disaster, and they can’t keep the nation safe, but they sure as hell know how to coordinate a media smear of a war hero. Kudos to Rove & Co. — we’ve found your one skill.

    I can only hope the majority of voting Americans can see through the Republican milieu of profit-motive legislators and vested-interest WH policies that have had so much a corrosive effect upon our bodypolitik, and turn out on November 7th to turn out these charlatans. -Kevo

  • Politics aside, isn’t it true though, the best hope for average students who can’t get scholarships to go to college, is to enlist? Doesn’t that say that our higher education system in today’s ultra-competitive world is essentially broken?

    Or is that too “are you saying the troops are dumb?” of a subject to touch? If so, the next time I see recruiters hovering around high schools looking for prey, I’ll just stay silent.

  • Here’s what Kerry should have said:

    “Even though my remarks were directed toward the asshole in the white house, I would be happy to apologize to the troops. Just bring ’em home, and I’ll go around and apologize personally to as many of them as I can. I can start tomorrow. It’s up to you, dickwad.”

  • Boy George II says Kerry should apologize to the troops. Kery should do something better. Kerry should say this:

    “I’d like to do more than apologize to the U.S. Military. I’d like to fund the $25,000,000,000 dollars the Army needs to refit and refurbish.
    I’d like to do more than apologize to the troops in Iraq. I’d like to give them the best body armor available.
    I’d like to do more than apologize to those wounded in Iraq. I’d like to fully fund the research and medical care needed for those suffering from brain injuries from IED attacks.

    But I can do any of those things as long as the Republicans control Congress. So vote Democratic this Tuesday, and let’s all do something more for our troops.”

  • This is an interesting discussion, and I’m tempted to say everyone’s right. Kerry’s remarks and the Republican response are unique in that the affair touches several issues. Primarily, there’s truth and there’s political reality.

    The deed has been done. Now it has to be dealt with. I figure the best course may be to just shut up about it. But another option is to lie in wait for a similar (and timely) Republican verbal screw-up. You know there’ll be one, no matter how innocent. But who says the Dems can’t jump on it and take it out of context, perverting it to the point of absurdity. That’s what Republicans do. That’s how they win.

    In fact, Bush’s recent nailing of Democrats as treasonous supporters of terrorism is just sitting there begging for a loud Rangelesque response.

  • For every hour the media spends on the Kerry “scandal,” it’s an hour that isn’t spent focusing on Iraq or the upcoming elections.

    I respectfully disagree. Every hour spent on this “scandal” keeps IRAQ in the news. Last I checked over 2/3rds of the electorate were unhappy about Iraq. Anything that keeps Iraq in the news is bad for Bush and his GOP enablers.

    The Foley scandal has run its course (barring new info–if something new comes out, watch how fast the networks drop the Kerry references). The Fox/Limbaugh imbroglio is pretty much over. Yes, there is more real news regarding Iraq that should be on the airwaves, but until something salacious breaks, anything that brings Iraq to the forefront of discussion is good for Dems.

  • Carville nails it. Botching a good joke should be a capital offense. Botching a war? Eh.

  • Having glanced at the latest headlines and stories, I think Edo’s right. It looks like the matter is evaporating, with the result being re-focus on Iraq.

    Also, I think a lot of folks may have taken Kerry’s “joke” as a matter of fact, regardless of whether they took it as a slam on Bush or a comment on recruitment. I don’t think they saw it as an insult of the troops. In fact, I’ll bet there are a lot of soldiers in Iraq wishing they’d gone to school.

  • Ohioan: Politics aside, isn’t it true though, the best hope for average students who can’t get scholarships to go to college, is to enlist? Doesn’t that say that our higher education system in today’s ultra-competitive world is essentially broken?

    If it weren’t for the obvious fact that no Senator in his right mind would ever say anything to intentionally disparage “the troops”, one could make the argument that the right are playing that dusty old “political correctness” card the left have always been accused of brandishing.

    Of course the vast majority serving in the military are there for lack of better options (whether in terms of education or finances). They aren’t in Iraq to intellectualize and I’m sure many have no problem with the distinction between brains and brawn, and to which of those (and to what extent, each) they’re committed.

  • For me the unintended sad punchline of Kerry’s “joke” is the question, “How many of those young Americans who have served in Iraq, who have been seriously wounded, and who have been killed, originally joined the military as a way to pay for college?” My heart breaks at the thought of those brave kids who wanted to earn an education by serving their country and instead have been used by a idiot in chief.

  • Why not just confront the element of truth in what Kerry said, instead of painting it as a verbal slip or a mangled joke. The element of truth is that many of the front line troops in Iraq are indeed under-educated – and why is that? Because public education is underfunded by all levels of government. If you cannot get a good education, and a job, then the military recruiters will get you – and Iraq is your destination. With the courage of conviction, this could be turned into a debate on the value of public education. Not holding my breath.

  • There are so many questions raised by this whole nonissue:
    Who in hell told Kerry to use the word ‘Iraq’ in a joke?
    What gives Kerry the idea that anything he could ever say would be funny?
    Really, are we to believe that Kerry and his staff are this stupid?
    Are these the same people who have managed Kerry all along?
    Why haven’t they been fired?
    What’s that smell?

  • Kerrys apology really ticked me off. This is why we lose elections imo.
    Hillary and Ford demanding Kerry apologise just made me sick to my stomach. Why dont we Dems ever learn that fake outrage doesnt deserve apologies? The country knows their outrage is fake. So why do we play along with them?

  • Kerry’sbotched joke is probably more of a Freudian slip. When Kerry was in Viet Nam, many of the guys he was over there with could get the college deferment and were shipped out. As others have mentioned, many of the soldiers in Iraq ar/ were hoping to start or finish college through GI Bill educational benefits through regular enlistments or through the National Guard. Look at the ages of many of the dead. An unimaginable number are under 21, with many as young as 18 and 19.

    What’s scarier is that because of low enlistment numbers, the armed forces have lowered a number of their standards for fitness to serve.

    Will this gaffe hurt the Dems? It seems like the more the word Iraq is mentioned, the angrier the electorate becomes. One hundred and five of our fighting forces died in the last month … that’s a lot of college degrees wasted or college degrees that will now not be earned.

    Danno, Skull and Bones is the Yale secret society that Bush was a member of in his senior year. He got in there, just as in many things in his life, because of his daddy’s coat tails.

  • I hope most of you know that those promises of college money , that military makes ,are hollow. Only the top few who score really high on tests can be eligible for college money. They lie to recruits and tell them these things so theyll sign on the dotted line. I have a strange feeling those guys who held up that sign about Kerrys gaffe were actually mocking Kerry. I think they may be mocking the hypocricy of this whole damn country who seem to be incapable of seeing the reality of this war.

  • petorado – Sorry,
    That question should have been accompanied by a . It was rhetorical. I know what Skull and Bones is. However, a lot of people don’t know or maybe have forgotten that John Kerry is a Bonesman also. Sorry if I misled you; I meant to ask the question at the end of my previous post in the context of Kerry being involved as a willing (or not) accomplice. Cheers!

  • Great comments from just about everyone above. I agree with most of it. One element I want to add about the MSM (incl. CNN) jumping on this and pumping it up as the top story –

    Not only is it doing the bidding of its carefully bought-out and consolidated soul by the Wall St. Corpocracy over the last 26 yrs with their Rovian Igors in charge, implicitly….

    they also love to have the “sexiness” (in ranting/ratings terms) of scandal (however pathetic the source of the manufactured outrage, as here), and trouble in the horse race, so close to the election to supposedly draw ratings.

    Here we have yet one more example of the bottom line, shareholder-returns is all, devaluing integral public information and service.

    I’m no socialist, but free market capitalism unbalanced by common good values (19th century style, as the cons want) (is

    pigs-at-the trough, and I’ve got mine [more than I’ll ever need-maybe I’ll buy my way to immortality], f. everyone and everything else! – Now I’ll fly to Vegas and do my pain pills and buy the hottest hookers – if you’re more than a few in the W.H. staff they might not be female….

    those hypocrites – well the whole gang is/are hypocrites with moral blinders on selling out the future health of us all incl. the Planet for their short term illusion of staving off mortality (illusion fix) of conspicuous wealth and military power, the little paranoid greed-heads! Not too bright, but aholes of the first rank. Rank!

  • How very undereducated this little blog is. The hypocrisy of rhetoric is quite amusing though, especially in the sense that people here are shocked when republicans beef the military, and democrats beef the economy. Both parties make up the equilibrium that is the USA. Blaming the president on false pretenses, for all of the bad in the world (and even in the USA) is quite a hilarious and ignorant conclusion to our government as it is today. For shame at the complete ineptitude of this sad little blog.

  • When will the democrats learn. So Kerry bungled a joke… Big Deal, his response when attacked was nothing short of a breath of fresh air. Bill Clinton and John Kerry have given the democrats permission to attack and attack hard. American is hungry for leaders who fight back. If this was a GOP leader who goofed and then attacked back, the whole GOP would have stood shoulder to shoulder with them.

    You win wars by presenting a united front and going on the offensive. Not by attacking your own team. Not by joining the GOP to destroy one of your own. My advice to the dems in a next few days… Attack and attack hard. Time for the dems to realize they are in a war with a different kind of enemy. An enemy of the constitution, an enemy of free speech, an enemy of common decency, an enemy of true democracy, an enemy called the GOP. Time to fight the real battle here at home, then we might win other battles in far off lands with leaders who are capable of reasoning, thinking and planning..

  • Excellent analysis of this whole stupid controversy. Of course the GOP pounded on Kerry to avoid having to answer tough questions about their inept president, their inept conduct of an unconscionable war, their inept management of the taxpayers’ money into the hugest deficit in U.S. history, their Christian talk while having no compunction in killing 600,000 Iraqis and nearly 3,000 U.S. troops, their inept treatment of the Katrina-hit areas, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Broken government indeed. It’s all smoke and mirrors with this incompetent, inhuman crew.
    Glad Kerry shouted back at the shouters. Would that the media and the Democrats had pointed out Bush’s stupid “our enemies … never stop thinking of ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
    Our country and our people have been hurt enough. Let us mitigate the Bush effect next Tuesday in the voting booth!

  • The intellect of the GOP robotrons is amazing. I think a lot of them may have actually believed that John Kerry, a decorated war veteran would dis the troops. Afterall these are the same guys who invited Steven Colbert to roast the President because someone had told them he was a conservative comedian.

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