Tuesday, October 31, 2006

A Backbone is a Good Thing

A lot of people are afraid to tell the truth, to say no. That's where toughness comes into play. Toughness is not being a bully. It's having backbone.
Robert Kiyosaki, investor, businessman, and self-help author

Senator John Kerry finds a backbone, unfortunately it’s two years too late.

He said during a discussion at gathering at Pasadena City College in California, “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.”

The Republicans looking for anything to keep the country in its divisive political pattern are now attacking Kerry for his remarks. Statistically, it is the less well off families and those without college educations that make up the bulk our combat forces, so Kerry is correct.

The Decider in Chief, 18 Republican members of the House and John McCain have called on Kerry to apologize.

As reported in the New York Times, Kerry’s response:

"If anyone should apologize, it is President Bush and his administration officials who started the ill-conceived war. 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. 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.”

At least Kerry is willing to learn from mistakes, Bush keeps getting soldiers killed for his.

5 comments:

Trish said...

Kerry also grew some balls.

theBhc said...

Did you see Kerry's explanation of the remark? He claims, which seems to be backed up by CNN, that he was actually referring to Bush as the uneducated one who got stuck in Iraq. The remark was not supposed to be about sldiers at all and claims he "blew the joke." Since he had already told a number of Bush-bashing jokes at that point, it seems entirely reasonable.

Here is what Kerry claims he 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.

That certainly sounds a lot more like a Bush-bash to me. Unfortunately, Kerry's mangled remarks once again became front page news while Iraq burns. I just wish these guys could keep their words in the right order, because when they don't, it merely becomes for fuel for the distracting fires of the GOP campaign machine.

Anonymous said...

On The Mark says: That idiot Kerry has f’d everything up. We just lost a lot of votes from military families and have driven republicans to the polls who otherwise would not have gone this time. Rove and team are going to ride this one hard to get out the vote. I am so pissed at him. He needs to disappear. He wasn’t joking, and even if he was, it’s a stupid joke to tell. There are men and women dying every day over there and they don’t want to hear that they’re there only because they’re stupid, which is what his comment implies. The dems need to bury him. Every democrat running this year should be holding press conferences in their districts/states stating that they think Kerry should stick to wind surfing.

The Misanthrope said...

While I was glad to see Kerry not back down, his weak explanation of a joke is pitiful. He should have just said he stands behind his comments and provide statistics that show he is right. I agree with On The Mark, it’s time for Kerry to go away.

theBhc said...

Yeah, I agree. These guys never fail to stick their own foots in their mouths at the most crucial times. Even the "supposed to say" remark is vague. Remarks like this must be made with extreme clarity, and this one is entirely lacking that and has now become GOP fodder.