Wasn't it Kerry that ripped on his fellow Vietnam vets as soon as he came home? Why would you think it's out of character for him to do it again?

Hillary has a bigger pair than this guy.

Some people have principles and some don't.

I don't know what Kerry's are: "I actually voted for the war before I voted against it"
Lick finger. Test wind direction. Then take le position de jour.
Is this a proper compass for a man who would be king? IMO, no way!

Claude Raines in Casablanca:
"I follow the prevailing winds and right now they are blowing from Vichy." Hmmm...

I personally think he was trying to make a joke. An incredibly stupid and not even a funny one at that. But he botched it. And his follow up statement was worse.
Instead of saying, defiantly, I won't apoligize to anyone, political hacks, etc, all he had to say was " I wasn't speaking of our men and women in the military. I apologize to them if my remarks were misunderstood." That would have ended it. That's where he made his mistake IMO. And those remarks were prepared, and not off the cuff. Who's giving him advice??

Question: Hasn't it been reported in the past that Bush had a higher GPA at Yale than Kerry? If that's so, the feeble joke was based on an untruth!!

Kerry: "...you make an effort to be smart, you can do well.."

Does it follow then:

Bush must have been a better student than, and is at least as smart as Kerry, because he's climbed higher up the political food chain that Kerry and will forever be the 43rd president, while Kerry's bio is likely to end at "the ___th Senator from Mass".

(That must really, really, really, twist his britches! )

No. They can jump all over it if they choose to, but I think they might be better off taking the proverbial high road on this. The Republican elite might look better if they simply state their objections to the comment and then let it go.

I'm just saying that keeping it in the headlines as long as posible might not be the best thing they can do, politically. I'm not suggesting that it is somehow morally wrong of them to talk about it. I doubt John Kerry's comments are going to convince someone in Missouri, for example, to vote for Talent instead of McCaskill. I think people hear "Iraq" and don't hear the rest. Everyone has made up their mind about what they think of the conflict already.

That would be my political advice, but then again I reserve the right to be wrong.

__________________
Ralph

1985 300D Turbo, CA model
248,650 miles and counting...

I agree that Kerry is not a man of principle, but the example you cite is another example of his opponents distorting the record. When he said he voted against "it" he was referring to his vote against a version of the bill that he thought was inferior to another bill that would provide better funding for the troops. He only voted for the bill when it became a last resort. He took a principled position on that issue, but made the mistake of giving people a nice sound bite that makes him sound unprincipled.

EDIT: I garbled that. His actual quote was, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." He voted against it because the bill did not provide a reliable mechanism for ensuring continued funding for the troops. As far as I know, Kerry has never opposed funding for troops. The Bush campaign's charges to the contrary were lies.That sounds right to me.Probably the same knuckleheads that advised him in 2004.

i think he ripped the war, not his fellow vets.

tom w

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

A little of both

On April 22, 1971, Kerry became the first Vietnam veteran to testify before Congress about the war, when he appeared before a Senate committee hearing on proposals relating to ending the war. Wearing green fatigues and service ribbons, he spoke for nearly two hours with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in what has been named the Fulbright Hearing, after the Chairman of the proceedings, Senator J.W. Fulbright. Kerry began with a prepared speech, in which he presented the conclusions of the Winter Soldier Investigation, where veterans had described personally committing or witnessing war crimes. Controversially referring to US servicemen in Vietnam as having been sent "to die for the biggest nothing in history," Kerry alleged that the military had "created a monster" in the form of violence-prone American soldiers, and recounted that soldiers had personally recollected stories of having "personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads," of Vietnamese citizens and rampaging across Vietnam "[razing] villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan"

and if he had balls, 4 years ago he would not have voted to invade Iraq. If he had balls blah blah blah.

Agreed. Every politician who voted for Iraq and/or passed the Patriot Act without even bothering to read it should be drummed out of office by American voters.

No kidding? Maybe I should put some of those goofy smilie thingies everywhere.

The whole improglio is just politics as usual. Sometimes it's Republican who says something stupid and the Demos go wild and sometimes vice versa. I'd liek to see a video called, "Politicians Gone Wild" hosted by Snoop.

Kerry's a not-too-bright guy that sort of drifts through the world without having much effect. His grades make Bush's look not too bad and yet he's done rather well and certainly did a good job of selecting widows to marry. Good for him. Some knuckleheads even care what Republicans say about Kerry. I can't believe anybody takes any of this seriously. WGAS?

B

Exactly right.

My bad. I always misconstrue sarcastic remarks on this board.

As soon as I read Kerry's remarks, I figured he was trying to slam Bush. It was fairly apparent to me it was just poor delivery, and I'm not sure that whipping the GOP base into a frenzy over it is the way to go integrity-wise... but yes, it will probably buy some votes.

The press lives for this stuff. I remember having the same reaction to GW's "Mission Accomplished" appearance on the aircraft carrier; I still don't know what the big deal there was. That carrier's mission was accomplished. They completed their tour, hence MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. That phrase is not reserved only for the successful completion of a war, and the folks who lit into GW after that probably knew perfectly well that that was the case. No integrity.

Kerry stepped in it by not speaking more clearly, then tracked it all through the shag carpet in the DNC house by not apologizing and clarifying the remark immediately to the press.

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

That is where the hahahaha's come from for me. Kerry has made his living being a Forbes and being smarter than Bill Clinton with his penis; he's a straw man for sure.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Perfect pic MedMech.