Wordyard

Hand-forged posts since 2002

Scott Rosenberg

  • About
  • Greatest hits

Archives

Wordyard / Media / Stuck inside of Iraq with the Swift Boat blues again

Stuck inside of Iraq with the Swift Boat blues again

October 31, 2006 by Scott Rosenberg 5 Comments

John Kerry: “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.”

If you just read those words on their own, it’s pretty clear what Kerry is saying: Good students can “do well.” Those who maybe weren’t such good students — like, for instance, our current president — end up “stuck in Iraq.”

It’s not a great joke, and it’s no model of clarity. But only someone absolutely determined to score points would read it and state with certainty that Kerry meant our soldiers in Iraq are idiots. So of course that’s what Tony Snow and the GOP attack machine are saying. (CNN’s lead basically buys it hook and sinker.)

There’s the stench of Swift Boating here. But Kerry’s not up for election this time. The vote is about Bush’s disastrous Iraq policies. And anyone who really cares about the welfare of our troops — who’ve been thrust into an unnecessary war without the forces, the equipment, or the strategy they need to win — will realize that the Bush administration is playing a desperate game of “Don’t look behind the curtain.”

Maybe they’ll successfully hijack the news cycle for a day or two by twisting Kerry’s words. Every minute spent arguing about what Kerry might have meant is a minute we’re not talking about the wasted billions and the wasted lives. Sooner or later we’ll return to the stark fact of this White House’s responsibility for driving America into the Iraq ditch.

Kerry responds: “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… 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… 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.”
[tags]john kerry, iraq, 2006 elections[/tags]

Post Revisions:

There are no revisions for this post.

Filed Under: Media, Politics

Comments

  1. Mel

    November 1, 2006 at 6:09 am

    Sorry, Scott. Ordinary folks who don’t spend their days playing gotcha will nevertheless think Kerry was casting aspersions on the troops, or at least advising those college kids to avoid service. This isn’t the first time that Kerry has played with these sorts of ideas — denigrating soldiers, other soldiers. It takes a bit of thought, and some good will toward Kerry to see another possible interpretation of his remarks. A great many (otherwise non-partisan) people don’t think he’s worth that much time or effort.

    Good and interesting interview with RB!

  2. ajw93

    November 1, 2006 at 10:37 am

    I’ve got to agree with Mel. The first time I read that quote, my eyes got wide and I thought, “Oh now, that was a really dumb thing to say; thanks a LOT, Senator.” With a bit of “goodwill toward Kerry” I figured that he didn’t mean any offense by it, but my first thought was certainly NOT that he was making jokes about the President. And Joe SixPack will certainly not think so either, unfortunately.

  3. Virginia Yank

    November 2, 2006 at 11:37 am

    When I read the original statement there was no doubt that Kerry was refering to the “Bush Bunch” and was surprised that anyone would misinterpret his meaning. Maybe those who missed the point SHOULD get stuck in Iraq. In any case I was delighted to hear John Kerry’s strong response. As an ex-Vietnam era sailor I’m sickened that the hate mongers made the term Swiftboat a synonym for distortion, lies and hate.

  4. Cleo Saulnier

    November 3, 2006 at 3:55 pm

    Anyone thinking that Kerry would insult the troops is contentious and close minded. You have to have to dig pretty low in the scumm bucket to believe that one. If you watch what he said just before, there’s ZERO doubt about what Kerry meant.

    BTW, this story wasn’t about Kerry. There’s no story there. There’s nothing new about what was going to happen. We all knew Kerry was going to apologise and we all knew that he didn’t insult the troops. Where’s the ‘new’ information that makes it news? No, it’s the media got played to take the attention away from Iraq and Bush’s failed administration. The target of the story was the media. People have verbal slip-ups all the time. That couldn’t have possibly been the story. This is as lame duck of a story as I’ve ever heard. It could have easily been about crop circles just as long as it took attention away from the Republicans.

Trackbacks

  1. UrbanGrounds » Blog Archive » John Kerry Calls US Troops Stupid says:
    October 31, 2006 at 7:29 pm

    […] OTHERS (and there’s a lot of them): John from WuzzaDem / WuzzaDem: John Kerry” I Was An Asswipe Before I Was A Moron” Michelle Malkin: The MSM is AWOL — ***12:30pm update. ***Kerry adviser admits … Gaius / Blue Crab Boulevard: Did Kerry Torpedo The Democrats? Deacon / Power Line: John Kerry — is now outdoing Al Gore when it comes to loser derangement syndrome. Tom Bevan / TIME: Kerry’s Gift — If Republicans really are depressed heading … Sister Toldjah: Kerry responds – does not apologize. … Emperor Misha I: Lurch Shoots Foot, Pauses to Reload Scott Rosenberg: Stuck inside of Iraq with the Swift Boat blues again Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org: CNN Shills for Sen. Kerry, Uneducated Soldiers Comment Meant For President Bush Pamela Geller Oshry / Atlas Shrugs: Here is Lurch, belittling our troops, again. This man might … Rob / Say Anything: Kerry Issues Press Release To “Right Wing Nutjobs” Who Quoted Him Accurately Confederate Yankee: The Charge of the Lightweight Brigade Dan / Riehl World View: John Kerry: Liar In Chief Bluto / The Jawa Report: John Kerry Insults Soldiers, MSM Covers Up (Updated) Allahpundit / Hot Air: Video: Mary Katharine Ham slams John Kerry on Fox Brian / Iowa Voice: But He Supports The Troops — John Kerry, the man who wanted … E. M. Zanotti / The American Princess: We Knew The Hair’d Get To Him — First he cost us the 2004 election … Scared Monkeys: John Kerry, Lover Of the Military Kim Priestap / Wizbang: JOHN KERRY MUST HAVE JUST REALIZED THE DAMAGE HE DID TO HIS PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRATIONS Little Green Footballs: Kerry Goes Ballistic McQ / QandO: (UPDATED) THANK GOODNESS HE LOST IMAO: John Kerry: “Support the Morons Protecting Our Country!” The Sideshow: Trick or treat — Top story: John Kerry puts his foot down, at last: Don Surber: Kerry should be smart enough to apologize Ace / Ace of Spades HQ: Kerry Update: Critics “Right-wing nutjobs” and Chickenhawks And More… The Anchoress:   Kerry will take the fall if the Dems fail Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:   John Kerry’s Greatest Hits On Our Troops Dean Barnett / Hugh Hewitt’s TownHall Blog:   More Kerry Magic! Confederate Yankee:   The Silence Hear ‘Round the World Mike / Cold Fury:   Another from the playbook  —  Uh oh — hot on the heels … Mary Katharine Ham / Townhall.com Blog’s TownHall Blog:   The Front Page at CNN TBlumer / Bizzyblog:   John Kerry Appears to Be on the Verge of Accomplishing the Impossible Varifrank:   9TH DAY OF “REASONS TO GET OUT AND VOTE REPUBLICAN” Chad Evans / In the Bullpen:   Senator Kerry: If You’re Stupid, You’re in Iraq Greg Tinti / The Political Pit Bull:   Kerry Responds: “I apologize to no one” Karol / Alarming News:   I support the troops, I just think they’re stupid and lazy. […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *