I am now convinced Kerry is a tool of the republican party. Just shut up, guy. Your party stands to gain a majority of house and senate seats- WITHOUT YOU trying to sabotage the fvcking thing. No political sense whatsoever. Another perfect example of why dems are always big losers. Idiots. If it was not him it would have been another one of them. ~breaking news ~ Kerry apologizes. ~breaking news ~ I'm going to go throw up now
They probably saw her rank was a Petty Officer and thought she was an officer, I have seen that mistake several times.
Only to someone with a degree who doesn't want to be lumped in with those without a degree. This the only forum I've seen that is making that distinction. Incidentally, if you buy Senator Kerry's explanation that the comment was targeted at the President (whom does hold a couple of degrees), it seems rather apparent that he was in no way specifically targeting those without degrees.
Kerry wasn't targeting anyone in the military, however he said it without thinking what it could mean. Kerry specifically said if you don't study and don't do well then you go to Iraq. It's easy to draw the conclusion that those who don't study and don't do well in school don't get degrees, therefore it could be deduced that it would be more offensive to enlisted personnel. Honestly though, that's neither here nor there. Kerry said a dumb thing and put his foot in his mouth. The only response it got from me was a roll of the eyes, and in my opinion that's about the strongest response it should get. Why bother getting your panties in a bunch over a lame attack made by some politician? If you are offended by this, you made it a point to be offended.
You know, even though it is safe to say Kerry is not highly liked on this board, I'd like to submit what he said does have some truth in it and should not be discounted outright. I would be willing to say that over half of the enlisted Navy personnel joined straight out of college and either received their degree once in, after dischrge, or still do not have a bachelor's degree. It also seems fairly safe to say that most of the people who join the military, including the Navy, either can not afford to go to college or have no desire to continue learning in the educational system (they wanted a break). I fit into this stereo-type, as did most to all of my former shipmates and many of the officers on this board. Most people who join the military after college did so to becoming an officer, due to poor job prospects, or simply had the post 911 patriotism. This occurance seems to be relatively rare given the total population graduating college. Otherwise, most college graduates simply enter a civilian job and do not give the military a thought. Given this, it not hard to see the direction Kerry was going with his statement. If high schoolers don't study hard or have the desire to study, they may not have the grades to earn scholarships or grants and may need to find an alternate funding source, which seems to be the US military in many cases, in order to attend college. Also, I think it is important to place into context his military service, where a draft was implimented and the only way to be safe from required service was to be in college. It would not be hard for Kerry to step back in his mindset to his youth and these days. I'm sure we slip back into slang or thoughts we had in the past. I do, and this is why after 10 years it was easy to assimilate back into Navy culture without a glitch. Lastly, I too am getting a little tired of people in the current administration who never served in the military at all, let alone in a war zone, speaking flippantly about our troops and what is best for them. The President has admitted in the past weeks that things are not working in Iraq, that "Stay the Course" has not produced results, and that the current situation in Iraq is reminicent of the Vietnam War. These are the President's words. I would like to finish by saying that although we may not agree with Kerry and his statements most of the time, at least he has been there and done that, which should add some credibility, which many in the current White House administration do not have. Thanks for listening.
1. You know, just because someone has served in the military doesn't mean they can make better decisions regarding the military. 2. So, what you're saying is Sen. Kerry is unable to properly speak his mind and needs you (grey) to translate his comments to the rest of the world? I agree. 3. He tried to make a joke and failed. Normally not a big deal if you fess up to it. However, instead of apologizing or trying to reword his comments or explain himself, he got into a huff and attacked the current administration. Again. Everyone knows President Bush isn't the most talented speaker (by far), but you don't see him attacking the Democrats when he flubs up. MAYBE these are SOME of the reasons why one of these gentlemen are President and the other is not.
Thank you. Beautifully stated. Senator Kerry could have negated the whole stupid affair if he would have just said "I'm sorry, misspoke(or my joke was misunderstood), I deeply regret if I insulted any of our fine servicemen and women who selflessly serve to keep our country safe." Instead he made himself out to be the victim. It's kind of funny how he blatantly admits that his intent was to denigrate a sitting Commander in Chief, during time of war (for which skidkid would bring him up on charges were he subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice) and apperently we should all think that is okay. Yet when that same Commander in Chief uses the Senator's own words against him the Senator gets all indignant. Does anyone else see any hypocisy here?
My polysci background is getting the best of me...lets get a straw poll on the issue. The way I see it there are 4 options to either confirm or deny what Kerry said but didn't mean (since he wasn't making fun of the military but instead was simply botching a joke about the President). Post in with your catagory... 1) Finnished college & Didn't get stuck in Iraq 2) Finnished college & Still got stuck in Iraq 3) Didn't finnish college & Didn't get stuck in Iraq 4) Didn't finnish college & Got stuck in Iraq 5) Finnished college (at Penn State) & Had sex with cows...jk (but seriously) I'll put myself down for a 1
dwight how about you shut up and vote... fact, I have no idea anymore but once I did four in three nights with the help of a few cases of straub
6: Didn't finish my degree and served my country in Iraq(and Afghanistan). However.... I do know how to spell "finish(ed)". Finnish = of, relating to or characteristic of Finland. Oh, and 'catagory' is correctly spelled 'category'. UPDATE: The Senator has finally gotten with the program and issued a proper apology for inadvertently insulting members of the United States Military.
After getting verbally beaten mercilously by fellow Dems since his press conference 24 hours prior addressing the same subject. You know, if I was ever unclear what a "Yes-man" was, that is no longer the case. Anyone catch VP Cheney's comments on this? He said something to the effect of "John Kerry was for the joke before he was against it." A jab at one of the major campaign sticking points in which Kerry voted for invading Iraq and then voted against it.
I don't know what effect this will have on the election, but I would just LOVE it if the dems failed to take either the House or Senate, then blamed Kerry for the whole thing. Brett
^In which case you can plan on a resurrection of the Republican Hate Machine and Vast Right Wing Conspiracy allegations once again. Sack up, take accountability for your actions, and move on...but nooooooo...
A little recent history lesson: Kerry was the first to get in front of a camera and demand Trent Lott resign after his stupid comment about Strom Thurman being president way back when.
While John Kerry's comments were unfounded and have succeeded in putting egg on the face of the entire Democratic party, I don't think they are on par with suggesting that a racist proponent of segregation should have been president.
so far I've got flynavy and myself down as 1's, changing Stubby's vote to a 4, and nittnay03 for a 5... stubby brings up an obvious point that I can not spell the english language nearly as well as I consume alcohol and I don't think Trent Lott was making a racist statement when he was speaking about good old Thurman
I don't believe that Trent Lott was making a racist statement anymore than I believe that John Kerry was deliberately trying to bash the military rank and file. They are both political creatures and regardless of their true feelings on any particular issue they would not intentionally try to alienate a large portion of the electorate. However taking both of their comments at face value I think that Lott's faux paux is a little more extreme.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061103/ap_on_re_us/kerry_iraq_photo Here's some quick background info on that photo.
