No comments? No defense? No taking about how this tasteless, stupid "joke" is really an example of Republican evil?

This is precisely the kind of comment that Bush gets nailed for constantly. It's a fair point to say it's easy to nail someone who makes alot of gaffes. But be fair. Nail this loser, too.

This is just Kerry being himself. He simply has no respect for military. All he has to do was say it was just a joke about Bush, and he gets a pass. Sure, no harm, no foul but did he wasn't to be commander-in-chief of these poor unfortunate people?

To look at another way, what if it really was a jab at Bush, saying that if you don't study and do well...you could be President? A state governor? A CEO of a major company?

Well if thats the case, then shoot me up with 12cc's of Stupid cause I want in on that.

Kerry is a jerk. Duly nailed.

The right wing must admit that this has been getting some play, though. It is like high school. Kerry is showing the same charm and deft touch that he demonstrated in 2004.

Without defending Kerry's jokiness (on par with GWB's 'Where are those durn WMD?' bit, but GWB is still funnier as a quipster on the stump), I must ask those who may know in this group:

What is the educational breakdown of both active duty and reserves currently serving in Iraq? Is it a lie to say that many people serving in Iraq either lack a college education or post-graduate education?

I do know that Dick Cheney got 5-20 educational deferments so he could keep his shooting touch confined to the States. Maybe Kerry was dumbly and inadvertently onto something about wealth, education, and privilege keeping you from getting fragged by IEDs.

"It is like high school."

Welcome to modern politics.

The crowd laughed, which has been cut out of all of these replays, whichever way they interpreted it.

Kerry isn't exactly Mr. Charisma, and you do see him look down at his notes longingly before giving the "punchline", so his explanation is pretty plausible.

A lot more plausible than him attacking the military, as he's the only person sounding off on this that actually served. And no, Bush's silver spoon service, whether he went AWOL or not, doesn't count. Let's not even discuss how many deferments Cheney applied for and got.

I know the right reeeeeally wants to make hay out of this (y'know, because all liberals are hippie elites that hate our troops and our freedom), but one gaffe does not erase six years of incompetence. Sorry!

John, Why make jokes about Iraq so close to an election? Why try to make a snide remark about Bush using Iraq? I understand what Kerry was trying to do, and his coke-snorting, draft-dodging opponent certainly does not own the high ground here. But all I can say as a loyal democrat is this: Thank you for screwing us so close to the election, John. I sure am glad I spent all that time volunteering down at the DNC just to have you blow the easily held advantage we had.

Tim, take a breath, and read the last line of my post above.

I guess you're right theo47. I'm just frustrated.

OK.

Let's not make Kerry a whipping boy for the DNC's woes.
He's not my favorite Dem, he wasn't my choice for the Presidential nominee, he/says does silly things, but it ain't all his fault.

This just seems like a taste of the Dems own medicine. Don't constantly mount ad hominem attacks and nit pick every verbal flub, then screech in outrage when the exact same thing is done to you.

It's like complaining that the Supreme Court decided the 2000 election when you were the ones that petitioned them to do so.

The fact that the media is burying this story so close to the election just proves their liberal bias.

/sarcasm

What an asshole.. I have some very smart friends stuck in Iraq and it's not through their own personal choices or level of education.

See, that's why I downvoted this - it plays one truncated clip, and without any context, people like deathcow can run off and make their own interpretations.

Kerry's fault, I guess, for still not realizing he lives in a soundbite culture.

He should really just apologize and move on, regardless of anyone's interpretation. He already lost one election and now he's about to lose another for his party. This is just what the Republicans needed, something to energize their base. And their base was pretty apathetic up until now.

What I find most amusing about this whole flap is that everyone seems to forget that Kerry served in Vietnam. So any joke at the troops is a joke at himself.

Kerry responds:

October 31, 2006

Statement of John Kerry Responding to Republican Distortions, Pathetic Tony Snow Diversions and Distractions

Washington – Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry’s comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:

“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. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.

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. It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.

The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war and 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. These Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor.

Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men. And this time it won’t work because we’re going to stay in their face with the truth and deny them even a sliver of light for their distortions. 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.”

> people like deathcow can run off

Thanks Theo47, I'll try to catch the full video so the context makes what he said appropriate.

Oh yeah! Way to go Kerry! Your true colours are showing my friend, and they're entirely anti-military.
Friends and family of mine are stupid for being military? So my grandfather was an idiot for fighting in Vietnam? You remember Vietnam, Kerry? The war where you betrayed your country like you're doing now?!
Joking? Hahaha...sure you were.

Left makes bad joke, right goes crazy.
Right makes bad joke, left goes crazy.
Who gives a sh!t?

Just wanted to add that I realized at the time I was only posting a clip, not the entire speech with its' audience reaction, hence the 'sound bite' part of the title. There were no longer clips at the time except for those including Talking Head commentary. I chose to not post one of those so that the submission wouldn't seemed biased either left or right.

Personally, I think Kerry is an asshat to have seemingly insulted our soldiers, even if he was joking. I heard a non-political radio show this morning calling for Vets to vote a straight GOP ticket in the upcoming elections...

Countdown played Kerry's response yesterday, and it was a blistering. Hope someone posts it.

let's see....
1. The iraq war is completely FUBAR and has been since day one. Even Bush admits it isn't going good right now. I don't even know where the body count for our side is, but it has to be reaching for 3,000. Don't get me started on the civilian deaths. This war is another Vietnam and Bush was misinformed with a motive/ lied to to get us there.
2. In the last 6 years, the Republican controled government has done nothing short of waging economic war on the middle and low class with massive tax cuts for the top one percent. The middle class gets the burden because poor people don't pay taxes in the first place, but somehow, they get all the blame from the middle class on this. Meanwhile, wall street rolls around in its collective money bin a la scrooge mcduck.
3. Osama bin who?
4. A republican congressman who is supposed to be in charge of federal missing and exploited children laws turns out to be a pedophiliac. Republican leadership doesn't act, even though they had word of it at least a couple years before.
5. Lobbyist Jack Abramoff looks to have bribed several promenant members of congress and even the vice president. The government is owned by special interests, not the people.
6. Huricane Katrina. "Heckuva job brownie"
7. Pretty much every country in the world hates us.
8. Religious fundementalism is on the rise, including Jewish, Christian and Muslim. Not a good thing if you want to live a fairly peaceful life.
9. Say good-bye to privacy! Since this is a post 9-11 world, the government needs to be able to listen to your phone conversations without a warrant, just in case you want to sell a dirty bomb to a guy calling from Iran. PATRIOT act? How much money did they spend on the PR firm to think that acronym up? Oh, and make sure you paint any news reporter brave enough to leak anything about it as a terrorist.
10. While you're at it, say good-bye to Habeus Corpus. The government can hold you without charges now in camp Guantanomo. Isn't that nice?
11. And of course, good-bye to the Geneva convention. Terrosists aren't human beings much less any sort of real military force, so naturally it's ok to torture them. Make sure to respond with horror and amazement when their side does it to American contractors for maximum effect.

And we're worried about some assclown who isn't even running for an office that said something stupid, which he obviously didn't mean? This is why critical thinking should be taught in grade school.

This country absolutely needs change. I'm no fan of Democrats (or any "leadership" for that matter), but lets face it: things aren't going so great here in the ol' US of A under republicans. A senator from Massachusettes' comments aren't going to make people forget that.

I heard a non-political radio show this morning calling for Vets to vote a straight GOP ticket in the upcoming elections...

Yeah, that sounds really non-political...

What people miss is that both democrats and republicans have sold out the United States, NAFTA, GATT, WTO, World Bank anyone? Kerry, Bush, there is no difference in where we are today and where we would be. Kerry probably set this up to make the election closer so that it will be plausible for another stolen election so that business as usual can continue. Until they stand behind removing the creation of money from the Federal Reserve, a private corporation that prints our money and then rents it back to us, no politician is a patriot. I only know of 2 who advocate returning to Congress the interest-free, constitutional right to print money, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul. This should be the litmus test of every politician and every would-be public servant: the elimination of the Federal Reserve (which is as 'government' as Federal Express). For those of you who have eyes to see and ears to hear please see: Aaron Russo's, America - Freedom to Fascism. They want $5 to view the movie online, but there is a 14 minute trailer that you can find at: http://www.freedomtofascism.com/

Anyone who thinks what Kerry said is insulting is right to be so, but remember what the president, George W. Bush did at state dinner conducting a mockery of the search for WMD's. An act the whole country was mobilized for war in the first place, why troops are dying there, why civilians are dying.

So now decide which one is far more important.