Halp Us, Jon Carry-We R Stuk Hear N Irak!

Post-9/11 Era Forum

http://drudgereport.com/irak.jpg

Figured this would help you come out of under that rock of denial. No other good neocon news to report? Classic.

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What is great in a pathetic way is how Bush and Cheney hit the ground running with this. Are they that desperate?

"(Kerry) heaped praise on the troops, adamantly accused Republicans of twisting his words and said it was the commander in chief and his aides who "owe America an apology for this disaster in Iraq."

"Anybody who is in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words. ... We've got incredible people in our military, and they deserve full praise and full support of this government," Bush said in an interview with conservative talk-radio personality Rush Limbaugh. Hmmm, what did Dubya say about WMD? Iraq - 9/11 connection? Mission Accomplished? For further brain droppings, visit dubyaspeak.com

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Open your mouth often enough and your true colors will be revealed. What an idiot…

What a brilliant platform to try and retain control of the house.

At times, reading some posts in this particular forum is like taking a dump while watching someone eat a warm Snickers bar.

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"Sen. Kerry's remarks were poorly worded and just plain stupid," said Montana Senate President Jon Tester, a Democrat trying to unseat GOP Sen. Conrad Burns.

"Nobody has accused me of having a real sophisticated vocabulary."
Dubya, White House, Oct. 11, 2006

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"Carry" cancels events.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?s...tics&id=4715706


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What a moron!

we downt wanna woose contwol of the senate....

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Kerry apologizes for remark about troops

AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Thrust into the midst of the midterm election campaign, Sen. John Kerry apologized Wednesday to "any service member, family member or American" offended by remarks deemed by Republicans and Democrats alike to be insulting to U.S. forces in Iraq.

Six days before the election, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee said he sincerely regretted his words were "misinterpreted to imply anything negative about those in uniform."

In a brief statement, Kerry attacked President Bush for a "failed security policy." Yet his apology, issued after prominent Democrats had urged him to cancel public appearances, was designed to quell a controversy that party leaders feared would stall their drive for big gains on Nov. 7.

With polls showing the public opposed to the war in Iraq, Democrats have expressed increasing optimism in recent days that they will gain the 15 seats they need to win control of the House. They must pick up six seats to win the Senate, a taller challenge.

Kerry beat a grudging retreat in his return to the national campaign spotlight. Earlier, on the radio program "Imus in the Morning," the Massachusetts senator said he was "sorry about a botched joke" about Bush. He heaped praise on the troops, adamantly accused Republicans of twisting his words and said it was the commander in chief and his aides who "owe America an apology for this disaster in Iraq."

Democrats cringed, though, at the prospect of the Massachusetts senator becoming the face of the party for the second consecutive national campaign. "No one wants to have the 2004 election replayed," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., like Kerry, a potential contender for the 2008 nomination.

Congressional candidates in Iowa and Minnesota swiftly made plain that Kerry was no longer welcome to appear at scheduled rallies, and the senator scrapped an appearance in Philadelphia.

"It was a real dumb thing to say. He should say sorry," said Democrat Claire McCaskill, running in a tight Senate campaign in Missouri.

The White House accepted Kerry's statement. "Senator Kerry's apology to the troops for his insulting comments came late but it was the right thing to do," said Dana Perino, deputy press secretary.

With Bush showing the way, Republicans had worked energetically to turn Kerry into an all-purpose target in a campaign that has long loomed as a loser for the GOP — much as they ridiculed him two years ago on their way to electoral gains.

"Anybody who is in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words. ... We've got incredible people in our military, and they deserve full praise and full support of this government," Bush said in an interview with conservative talk-radio personality Rush Limbaugh.

"Of course, now Senator Kerry says he was just making a joke, and he botched it up," Vice President Dick Cheney said in remarks prepared for a campaign appearance in Montana. "I guess we didn't get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it."

The jab was designed to recall Kerry's inartful comment from the last election that he had voted for $87 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan before he voted against it.

Two days ago, Kerry stirred controversy when he told a group of California students that individuals who don't study hard and do their homework would likely "get stuck in Iraq." Aides said the senator had mistakenly dropped one word from his prepared remarks, which was originally written to say "you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq." In that context, they said, it was clear Kerry was referring to Bush, not to the troops.

The speed with which party leaders and candidates shoved Kerry aside underscored the difficulty he will face running for the nomination after leading the party to defeat in 2004. He also had the misfortune of being disinvited from an appearance in Iowa — the state whose caucuses will begin the delegate selection process for the White House race.

Party leaders were far more focused on the election in six days time, rather than the one two years away.

Democratic officials said the leaders of the party's campaign committees had relayed word to Kerry for him to avoid becoming a distraction. Aides to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., chairmen of the Senate and House campaign committees, said they would not comment on any possible telephone conversations that had occurred.

Democrats have privately told outsiders they have locked up 10 of the 15 GOP-held seats they need. Polls indicate several dozen additional races are competitive, far more than appeared possible at the outset of the campaign, and too many for Republican comfort at a time of opposition to the war and low presidential approval ratings at home.

In the Senate, Democrats claim they are on track to defeat four Republican incumbents, including Sens. Mike DeWine in Ohio, Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island and Conrad Burns in Montana. Republicans tacitly concede DeWine and Santorum appear headed for defeat, but the party's senatorial committee has launched television commercials in the campaign's final week in an attempt to save Chafee and Burns.

Barring a dramatic shift in opinion in the campaign's final days, that leaves only a handful of races in significant doubt, principally three Republican-held seats in Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia.

Unlike 2004, when Bush rallied the country to his side by asking "who do you trust" in wartime, public opinion polls now show the conflict in Iraq is unpopular. Increasingly, Republican candidates have found it politically necessary to emphasize their differences with Bush on a struggle that has dragged on for nearly four years and cost more than 2,800 American lives.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee unveiled a web video during the day, hoping to turn discontent with the war into opposition to Republican lawmakers who have backed the president. Bill Burton, a spokesman, said it would air on cable television nationally, although he provided no details.

The ad features scenes of carnage and an ominous soundtrack, while the announcer says, "With the White House in denial, while top generals warning that Iraq might be sliding into a full scale civil war, tell Congress it's long past time to put down their rubber stamp and ask the hard questions about Iraq."

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OMG... these cartoons are so intelligent. Wow... the conversation that you give just makes me drop to the floor. Can I worship your intelligence... or, shall I just use a battering ram, and break the Dems apart? I'm just in awe of you, Curley Joe... I mean, damn, the thoughts behind your posts make me drop my jaw in wonder of the greatness behind the mask of the man you are.

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Imbecile, John Kerry? That's fine, but then what in the blue blazes does that make Dubya?

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as politically incorrect as what he said was, it is kinda true.

most people in the military go as an alternative to college cuz their grades weren't so hot in high school.

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http://youtube.com/watch?v=MLsxKY4Y0qI

Some apology. I like how he apologizes not for anything he did, but rather, he apologizes for all who are too stupid to understand his drift.

I feel his pain.

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Dean defends Kerry, attacks Bush in Vt.

AP Political Writer

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The chairman of the Democratic National Committee leaped to the defense of the party's 2004 presidential nominee Wednesday against charges that he was insulting American troops serving in Iraq.

Howard Dean, in comments to reporters in his home state, said Sen. John Kerry had committed "a blooper," but the reaction had given Democrats an opportunity to highlight what they describe as the Republicans' weaknesses on the Iraq war.

"Kerry made a blooper. Bloopers happen," Dean said at the state party's campaign headquarters.

"I think we want to focus on the president's intemperate rhetoric in saying to vote for a Democrat is a vote to help the terrorists win," Dean said. "That's clearly untrue and that's exactly the reason why President Bush is a failed president."

The Republican National Committee shot back, accusing Dean and Kerry of disparaging the military. "Howard Dean's defense of John Kerry's shameful comments is sadly indicative of Democrats refusal to defend the integrity of our military," RNC spokesman Aaron McLear said in an e-mail. "Democrats have an opportunity to stand up for our troops but they instead are either justifying Kerry's comments or staying silent while accepting his money. Either way they are showing voters exactly what they think of our brave men and women in uniform."

Kerry got caught up in charges and countercharges with the president for saying earlier in the week when he told California students that if they did not do well on their school work they were likely to "get stuck in Iraq."

The Massachusetts senator has since said he was attempting to deliver a joke about the president but "botched" it.

"Of course I'm sorry about a botched joke. You think I love botched jokes?" Kerry said during an appearance on Don Imus' nationally syndicated radio program. "I mean, you know, it's pretty stupid."

Dean predicted during his own news conference that, if the election were held today, Democrats would win a majority in the House and would come close in the Senate. The only open question in the Senate, he said, was whether Democrat Claire McCaskill would defeat incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Talent (news, bio, voting record) in Missouri.

Democrats also are likely to pick up between four and six governors' offices, Dean said.

The president's unpopularity is a big part of the reason that Democrats are surging in the final week of the campaign, Dean said, comparing Bush to Richard Nixon.

"I think there's a lot of similarities between Nixon and Agnew and Bush and Cheney," Dean said. "They're both using the IRS for political purposes. They're both spying on people they don't like and not just terrorists, but also American citizens. Neither one of them particularly believes in judicial rights. They've both been dishonest with the American people."

Democrats will not try to even the score if they win control of the Congress, Dean said.

"I think what the American people want for us is to be pulled back together again and given hope again," he said. "You can't do that if you spend all your time trying to impeach the president."

Dean, who vied with Kerry for the presidential nomination in 2004, repeatedly sought to refocus the attention on Bush's remarks about Democrats and he rejected denunciations of Kerry's remarks by Republicans and even some Democrats.

"The voters want change. Change does not mean the voters like terrorists," Dean said. "He's (Bush is) out there using outrageous rhetoric and I think he'll be punished for it."

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Yeah, because that's what he said.

At least the man went to Vietnam. Your boy made sure Texas wasn't invaded by the Viet Cong.

Keep on trollin'.

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What John Kerry Really Meant
By David Strom
Thursday, November 2, 2006

John Kerry, Democrat Senator from Massachusetts and 2004 candidate for President is back in the news reminding us all why we didn’t vote for him.

If you haven’t been on vacation in New Zealand or living under a rock, you probably have been bombarded ad nauseum with his offhand comment to California college students: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

On its face, what Kerry said is clearly an insult to the troops, and if for no other reason than that alone Kerry both owed them an apology and needed to do some serious damage control to save his bid for the 2008 nomination for the Presidency. Predictably, Kerry did neither. Instead, he used the inevitable criticism as an opportunity to lash out at President Bush and the “Republican hate machine” for mischaracterizing his comments.

Few of us are surprised at Kerry’s blunder in itself; this is the guy who voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it. It’s no news that he is his own worst enemy.

But is this all a tempest in a teapot, hurting only Kerry, or does it really make a difference in how Americans view the 2006 election?

I think it matters, and perhaps a lot, for a pretty simple reason: for one of the only times during this campaign season Americans are being forced to consider why they haven’t been voting for Democrats in recent years, not on why they are so disappointed in the performance of Republicans.

To oversimplify a bit, the storyline of this campaign season has been dominated by the general discontent with the way that Republicans have been running the government. Spending has gotten out of control, the war is unpopular and getting more so, and few people are enthusiastic about Bush’s leadership right now. Add in the Foley scandal and mistakes by some candidates, and you have a recipe for a bad election year for Republicans.

John Kerry’s comments—at least for the moment—have served as a stark reminder to many swing voters of why they have tended to pull the lever for Republicans in recent years: the cultural elitism of the Democratic Party.

Kerry comments, which imply that members of the military are second-class citizens who are stuck there because they have no other options, reflects a cultural bias that we have come to expect from leading liberals. Kerry may indeed not have intended to say exactly that, but this comment will stick like glue to him because we all know that he really meant it in some way. Maybe the troops aren’t exactly stupid, but why on earth would you join the military if you didn’t have to?

Since the 60’s, the intellectual elite of the Democrat Party has revealed a very thinly veiled contempt for the military and a suspicion of patriotism that has deeply hurt it politically. While most Americans are proud of our troops and what they do, it’s clear that a significant minority see them as rednecks inclined to, in the words of John Kerry himself, act in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan. Since Vietnam, the Democratic Party has been identified as the home of this minority.

For years, Democrats have tried in vain to erase the impression held that it is reflexively anti-war, anti-military, and even anti-American. In other words, the party of Michael Moore. The 2004 campaign was often punctuated by candidates, led by Kerry himself, decrying all criticism of their foreign policy positions as attacks on their patriotism. And for a very good reason: Democrats know that in the minds of many Americans, their patriotism is indeed suspect.

That conversation has, for all intents and purposes, been off the table this year. Despite that fact that the U.S. is still at war, both in Iraq and against Islamic fascism worldwide, Republicans could not successfully steer the conversation to the issues on which Americans have tended to trust them most, especially war and peace. Simply put, to the dismay of many Republicans, the dominant theme of this campaign has been the exhaustion of the Republican agenda and the incompetence of Republican leadership.

What Republicans couldn’t do, John Kerry succeeded in doing: getting Americans to focus once again on what irks them so much about today’s Democratic Party. Their cultural elitism, their preference for internationalism over Americanism, their…well…Frenchness.

Will it be enough? Will this one reminder, so late in the campaign, of what is so wrong with today’s Democratic Party rally the Republicans and Middle-Americans to fight off the Democratic tide this year? Obviously, we won’t know until next Tuesday evening.

Dean says Kerry made a blooper. He says, "Bloopers happen." Yeah but that was not a blooper. It was Kerry's world view. Anybody who experienced the Viet Nam era with its draft knows exactly what Kerry meant. Kerry revealed his view and it did not go over well. So he comes out and lies about what he meant and then apologizes for your inability to understand him if you thought what he obviiously meant was the truth instead of believing his subsequent lie about what he meant.

Wow! David Strom can read minds? Thank the Maker he can tell us what Kerry really meant. Maybe the reason he's writing that article is because he can see the outcome of the election next week...

I just wish Kerry would have lied about WMD's or the Saddam - Bin Laden connection, then a lot more people would kiss his backside and forgive & forget.

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how many college students do you see in the military

Kerry should have started a sex scandal, taken a page from the GOP playbook.

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We should be hones in the miltary you have Marines, Special forces, high command, technicians and medics once you get away from those groups the army is not filled with the most intellectual people is it? I will bet we all know of at least one person who has either joined the forces or considred joining the forces because they can't get a job back home.

You guys are funny.

Anything to divert attention from the real issues America is concerned with right? Man, republicans are looking desperate these days trying to peddle this nonsense
Nevermind the disastrous Iraq, gas prices & the assault on the middle class.

I can’t wait till Nov 7th. We will see just how much America really cares about what Kerry said to those kids at that school which was obvious to all except the minds of you die hard republican Bushites.

"For those of you keeping score at home, John Kerry has now called members of the U.S. military (a) stupid, (b) crazy, (c) murderers, (d) rapists, (e) terrorizers of Iraqi women and children. I wonder what he'll call them tomorrow. Whatever Karl Rove is paying John Kerry to say stupid things, it's worth every penny."


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Well lets be honest here we can pretty much guess that some of the infantry units don't exactly have the sharpest minds, you do need to be a crazy to in the army, murderers no killers yes, rapists no but terrorisers of Iraqi women and children was it Haditihi he was talking about because if he was he would be spot on.

It was as if John Kerry understood that now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the other party.

Whatever possessed him, he got up in front of a student audience in California and told them:

"You know, education - if you make the most of it, you study hard and 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."

Gulp.

The worst of it was that not until the speech started drawing flak from a suddenly revived GOP did it occur to the senator that he had screwed up - bad.

And that he had some explaining to do. Even then, he resisted apologizing for an agonizingly long time.

It's remarkable when you think about it:

Here the country now has what may be our first dyslexic president in George W. Bush, a lead-tongued orator who can scarcely get through a presidential address or press conference without making word-salad of his speechwriters' finest efforts. His manful struggle with the English language is renewed every time he gets behind a rostrum, and it's a rarity when the language wins.

Yet offhand I can't think of anything George W. has said, or attempted to say in his clumsy way, as stupid - or as self-destructive - as this mangled "joke" from a supposedly sophisticated man of the world, a Beacon Hill Brahmin no less. But maybe that's precisely why John Kerry has such a problem communicating with the rest of us: He's so removed.

Windsurfing through his prepared text, the senator's mind and mouth must have disconnected. Sen. Kerry wound up insulting the troops - which may be the one thing in this long, bitter, bare-knuckle campaign season that the American people will not tolerate.

How like John Kerry. The man has a talent for political disaster. Of course he'd fall into a hole like this. He's the Joe Bfstplk of American politics; raindrops keep fallin' on his head. How'd you like to have him campaigning for you? Right now his endorsement would be toxic. As sharper Democrats immediately realized:

A Democratic congressional candidate locked in a close race in Iowa called off a joint appearance with his party's most recent presidential nominee. Canceled, too, was John Kerry's scheduled appearance with Bob Casey, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. And with her eye already on '08, Hillary Clinton called Sen. Kerry's comment "inappropriate," which is schoolmarmish for Just Plain Awful.

All of which is understandable. What prudent Democratic office-seeker now wants to be seen with John Kerry? Not even John Kerry wanted to be seen with John Kerry. Passing up interviews, he was soon hightailing it back to Washington. And to think, till only a few days ago George W. Bush was the man to avoid in this campaign.

To quote one Democratic strategist on the subject of Sen. Kerry: "He has already cost us one election. The guy just needs to keep his mouth shut until after the election." The best thing the senator can do for his party at the moment just now is to disappear. The man is a verbal danger to himself and others.

The senator's disappearance from the news would certainly disappoint Republican strategists. At this point, John Kerry may be one of the GOP's few rays of hope in an election many pundits and pollsters have already handed the Democrats without waiting for a mere formality like counting the votes. But let him deliver more speeches like this one, and Sen. Kerry may yet be able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

The man has a genius for what the pols call Energizing the Base - the Republican base, that is. A few more replays of this affair on Fox News, and the GOP may still be able to pull this one out of the fire.

Never complain and never explain, said Disraeli. John Kerry does little else. First the senator explained that it was all a misunderstanding, an accident, a botched joke, a case of a politician's wandering away from his prepared remarks. Nice try. Pity he wasn't writing instead of speaking. Then he could have resorted to the newspaperman's favorite out and claimed it was a typo. (Hey, it works for me.)

Then he started complaining about his critics: "It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who've never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did."

The way Franklin D. Roosevelt, another wartime leader, never served in uniform? And didn't FDR's more fervid critics back then accuse him, too, of "lying" us into war? Is the senator saying that only veterans have the right to discuss war and peace? Or does he just think free speech ends where Republicans begin? And is this the level of civility a once again Democratic Congress will exemplify?

I know politics ain't beanbag, but does it have to be mud-rasslin'?

Apparently so. But this time the mudslinger muddied himself. John Kerry has provided the GOP with the grist it needed in a campaign that appeared all but lost. No wonder his Republican critics must be sorely disappointed to hear that he's giving up the campaign trail. This guy is better'n Howard Dean.

By Paul Greenberg

Copy n' paste politics, just like Dubya. Fitting.

-HECK!

Democrats, both by temperament and philosophy, seem incapable of figuring out anything. And when it comes right down to it, not getting it at all (Democrats) is worse than not always getting it right (Republicans). It's better than being stuck with the party of John Kerry, in "Irak" or anywhere else.

Shouldn't you be more attentive to teaching your president how to speak, rather than worrying about someone's spelling?

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POTUS, do you learn everything you know from comics or something?


I dunno, John Kerry's a tool. I've always thought so. This whole thing doesn't change my thoughts one way or another, 'cause I'd already considered his toolness. The thing I find funny about this whole thing is the way all the right wing nuts have crawled out of the Saddam Hussein-esque holes to pick up on this one. Been so long since they've been able to get any real shots in. The recent "Clinton went insane" thing was just grabbing at non-existant straws.

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Note the flag. Just the way "Carry" and the like like it.

Iraq is certainly keeping the Americans 'occupied'. Titter, titter.

I mean, you've got to doff your cap to Bush. Look at the purple heart he won for avoiding the Vietnam war, ducking and diving, managing to 'dodge' the slings and arrows of accusation after accusation. And the way in which he almost single handedly helped to destroy Iraq with the cannons of dishonesty. Yep, the greatest military man America has never had.

And Kerry, well, he's never seen military action, has he? Doesn't know what it's like to see bodies being blown to ribbons. Hasn't got a clue how war and occupation warp the minds of soldiers. Doesn't understand the meaning of reckless US military adventures abroad, unlike poor Mr. Bush, who's seen so much action – on his television set!

Preston

What an unusual way to fight an election. Normnally the parties would be talking policies you know helath, pensions, unemployment, tax, security and foreign policy ( if you have one) and the mud slinging and name calling are a sideshow that is unless you have no decent policies to talk about.

Last gasp from weak minded fools trying to save a sinking ship. Bush's failure is now the failure of the GOP.

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You have to hand it to John Kerry. It takes a lot of bravado to -- whether intentionally or not -- insult the men and women of the American military in the plainest of terms, and then insist that those he’d insulted "misinterpreted" his comments. Kerry is aghast that Americans would consider his comments insulting. When he told students in California that they better study hard or they would “get stuck in Iraq,” he insists he was not referring to the military, rather he was joking about President Bush.

How anyone who understands the English language could read the simple words uttered by John Kerry and conclude that this was a joke is hard to see. In fact, if you watch the tape of Kerry delivering the comments, the students behind him appeared stone faced at the “botched joke.” Nevertheless, Kerry insists it was so and, unfortunately, his revisions appear to be gaining traction in a way that he may not personally desire, but that his party should be thankful for.

This week, late night comics have been having a field day with the Kerry “botched joke.” The Kerry flap was the subject of David Letterman’s famed Top Ten List this week -- Top Ten Kerry Excuses. The list had such gems as, “So I botched a joke, Letterman does it every night,” and “Hey, it was still funnier than most of the jokes on this list.” Not to be outdone, Jay Leno chimed in about Kerry’s “foot in mouth syndrome” to the laughter of his studio audience.

Perhaps the funniest joke about the “botched joke” came from an unlikely source, the U.S. troops. A group of American GIs gained internet fame this week when they posed for a picture in Iraq with a giant sign reading “Halp us jon carry – we R stuk here n Irak.”An anonymous internet blogger who writes for a conservative website called Influence Peddler made an astute observation about the GI’s sidesplitting humor.

“I think this picture may hurt the GOP, in that we are helped when people realize that John Kerry is a leader in the Democratic Party, and he holds offensive views,” writes the blogger. “This picture however, tends to make it plainer that John Kerry is a joke, who almost never ought to be taken seriously. And if enough voters think that Kerry shouldn’t be taken seriously, they are less likely to regard it as important to come out and vote for his opposition.”

Each time a late night comedian further reinforces the absurdity of the “botched joke” the real substance of this event becomes further lost. Reinforcing the late night comics is the mainstream media, where most commentators seem to believe the Kerry “botched joke” excuse.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is a lead Kerry apologist. “The context is he’s trashing Bush for not having studied the region of the Middle East,” said Matthews this week on his show Hardball. Kerry was criticizing Bush, continued Matthews, for “not being prepared for what we face over there, the Sunnis and the Shias and everyone else fighting with each other, being stuck in that quicksand.”

Well if that is indeed what Kerry meant, perhaps he should have said that.

The tragedy here is that as the Kerry caricature grows to ridiculously laughable proportions (deservedly so) the fact that this was a rare political moment when a politician said what he really thinks is lost.

“During a Vietnam-era run for Congress three decades ago John Kerry said he opposed a volunteer Army because it would be dominated by the underprivileged, be less accountable and be more prone to ‘the perpetuation of war crimes’” writes the Associated Press in a report this week. “Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran who turned against the war, made the observations in answers to a 1972 candidate questionnaire from a Massachusetts peace group.”

So whether Kerry did indeed “botch a joke” as he claims or he accidentally let his true colors show is a matter that is up for debate. But it is entirely reasonable for observers to take his words at face value, especially given the fact this is not the first time he has expressed these kinds of views about the military. But someone should inform the junior Senator from Massachusetts that not only are those views insulting and demeaning to those who serve in the military, they are wrong.

The Heritage Foundation’s Tim Kane recently conducted a study in which he concludes, “With regard to income, education, race, and regional background, the all-volunteer force is repre¬sentative of our nation and meets standards set by Congress and the Department of Defense. In con¬trast to the patronizing slanders of antiwar critics, recruit quality is increasing as the war in Iraq contin¬ues.”


By Tim Chapman

Perpetuating a tired old 1970s peacenik myth is insulting. And no, it is not funny, and it certainly is no joke.

Yeah, what Kerry needs is a sex scandal. Works for the GOP, right?

-HECK!

Curley is the epitomy of the right winged zealouts. They have a dismal record on the issues so lets talk about Kerry's boggled joke. Hopefully, everyone won't see the issues we're concerned with, get outraged at Kerry and all vote republican.

I heard this guy on the radio today say he was a republican but he was discouraged by the way they've led the country the past few years. When the host asked him "well who will you vote for on the 7th"? He said robotically "Oh I'm voting republican all the way". The host asked him why not vote for the guy that is closer to handling your issues, he went silent as if it was a new concept or something.

Curley, were you on the radio today?

Anyone who wants to vote the issues they're concerned with instead of mindlessly following party lines, check out the site dontvote.com.

It has all the candidates and where they stand on the issues. To some, it will be a valuble resource in making an educated decision. To others, well I'm sure you'll just climb in the booth and vote down the entire column of one party or the other. What a sad waste of time for those that do.

Does anyone else find it weird that the guys in the photo are from the Minnesota National Guard... and they're in Iraq? I mean, that's pretty far from Lake Minnetonka. If it were me I'd feel a little stuck, afterall, I doubt taking shells in Baghdad was what they signed up for.

-HECK!

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Botched Apology
By Rich Galen
Friday, November 3, 2006

Here's the Merriam-Webster Unabridged entry for "Botch:"

Main Entry: botch

Function:transitive verb

Inflected Form(s): -ed/-ing/-es

Etymology: Middle English bocchen

To make a mess of through clumsiness, stupidity, or lack of ability : foul up hopelessly : BUNGLE, SPOIL, RUIN

# Who uses the word "botched" in regular conversation, anyway? Kerry, probably: "Theresa, m'dear, please sack the butler. He appears to have botched the martinis again."

# Kerry's statement, and his refusal to admit he had said anything wrong, was so astonishingly … John Kerry, that even the Popular Press had trouble pretending the GOP was overreacting.

# Not Kerry, though. His tortured non-apology was issued as a printed statement, instead of him saying it in front of reporters:

"I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform …"

# Which is perilously close to a botched apology because a close reading shows Kerry regrets the misinterpretation of his words … as opposed to apologizing for his actual words which he actually spoke.

# According to the CNN coverage of the Kerry issue, when asked why every candidate in the solar system for whom he had been planning to appear had suddenly developed scheduling conflicts, his office said the cancellations were necessary to prevent,

"[T]he Republican hate machine to use Democratic candidates as their proxies in their distorted spin war in which once again they're willing to exploit brave American troops."

# Ohhhhh Kaaaaayyyy, then. That should put this whole thing to rest.

# As usual, the central point has been missed. Kerry's botched joke and botched apology will not be the drivers in Tuesday's election, any more than Mark Foley's botched morality will be.

# What one has already become, and the other very likely will become, are symbols of larger and more important issues.

# Putting aside for a moment about who knew what and when, the Foley matter provided a useful shorthand about what people are upset about with regard to the GOP leadership in the House: Republicans are no longer seen as being good stewards of their Branch of government.

# Kerry's botched joke is likely to trigger in heartland Republicans and Democrats a sense that the elitist Liberals of the Northeast and California coasts are still, at their core, anti-military and soft on national security issues.

# While that may not be true, that's what Kerry's remarks will signal.

# As I have told you before, there is a strong feeling among Americans who do not live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that the National Democrats have a powerful Peacenik gene which, in spite of the stage play put on at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, remains as a central element of their DNA.

# If the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision on Gay Marriage energizes just one percent of Conservatives who would not otherwise have voted, that could mean an additional 850 votes for a Republican incumbent.

# If the highly-touted GOP turn-out program produces an additional one percent, a Republican incumbent may get a total of 1,700 additional votes.

# If John Kerry convinces yet another one percent that, no matter how angry they may be at the GOP leadership the Democrats cannot be trusted on the national security front, that may total to something on the order of 2,500 additional votes.

# That won't help an incumbent who is behind by double-digits, but in a 50-50 race, that could well mean the difference, in a GOP district, of an incumbent losing by 500 votes, and winning by 2,000 - well outside the range of an automatic recount.

# Republicans should be inviting John Kerry to campaign for them.

Oh golly geez, here's to hopin' and prayin' for that 1%. Sad state of affairs.

-HECK!

"Carry's" botched joke is likely to trigger in heartland Republicans and Democrats a sense that the elitist Liberals of the Northeast and California coasts are still, at their core, anti-military and soft on national security issues. Ya think!?

The right keeps fighting to stay afloat. Grasp at those straws little buddies

-HECK!

There is a strong feeling among Americans who do not live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that the National Democrats have a powerful Peacenik gene which, in spite of the stage play put on at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, remains as a central element of their DNA.


http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/TownHall/Car/b/06.11.02.Botched.jpg

Kerry makes a joke about US soldiers in Iraq – no one dies.

Bush makes a joke about WMD in Iraq – thousands upon thousands die.

I wonder which one the families of the dead Iraqis/families of the dead US solders find more distastful.

Preston

The script has already been written for the outcome of the US-led invasion of Iraq. It goes like this:

The violence continues without end until the Bush regime is forced to sack the present Iraqi prime minister and replaces him with a Hussein clone, who will torture and rule with an iron fist. And Bush can then remove the vast majority of US troops and live happily ever after knowing that he's made a success of taking Iraq full circle – but just don't mention the cost in money and lives: we don't want Bush to have nightmares, do we?

You couldn't make it up if you tried. Long live Republican comic-tragedy

Preston

A GRIEVING FATHER'S MESSAGE TO "JON CARRY." Another moving response to what John Kerry said, and his non-apology apology:"


Shame on Him
John Kerry picked the wrong people to insult.


BY RONALD R. GRIFFIN
Friday, November 3, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

I missed the joke. You must forgive me, for there just is not a lot of room in my life for even good jokes--and there is absolutely no room for "botched jokes"--when the subject of the joke is my son who was killed in Iraq. I know exactly what came out of Sen. John Kerry's mouth, and in those words there is no interpretation required. His attempt to convince us--and, I believe, to convince himself that that there was really a botched joke buried deep within his insult is in fact a reaffirmation of his ever-present condescending nature. He actually believes that we are stupid enough to agree with him and start laughing simply because he said it was a joke. Mr. Kerry said exactly what he meant and meant exactly what he said. In those words Mr. Kerry did in fact wash completely away the facade of his support of our magnificent troops and revealed for all to see his true colors.

All one had to do is look into the face of Mr. Kerry as the last word came out of his mouth, and it was painfully obvious that he knew that he had just disparaged the entire military. As the firestorm grew, the calls for an apology filled me with unease. It is not up to him to determine if an apology is in order. That decision most certainly rests with the millions of individuals he offended, and then they would decide if they were going to accept one or not.

As Sen. Kerry began his soon-to-be-reversed "I apologize to no one" rebuttal to a call for an apology, I was driving by the memorial built in honor of Kyle, my son, and the other fallen heroes from my town. As I listened, I tried unsuccessfully to make sense of the meteor shower of thoughts that were streaking through my mind. Then came one remembrance that brought all those other thoughts to an instantaneous halt. Last year I had written an editorial and I received a number of written replies. Among those was one postmarked from San Diego addressed simply to "the father of a hero" and my town of Emerson, N.J.

It started off friendly enough then quickly became argumentative and before the first paragraph was completed this individual had written, "I am glad that your son got killed for he probably was an idiot just like you". My first reaction, and really the only reaction I have ever had, was sadness for an individual who is so consumed with anger that he felt it necessary to lash out at me for my beliefs.

That is exactly how I feel about John Kerry. His anger was in full bloom as he tried desperately to control the damage that his words had caused. He knew full well that he could not defend his remarks, so he attacked President Bush. In doing so he reinforced his now fully revealed condescending attitude towards our troops. He talked over them, as he always does, never even beginning to understand that there might be individuals who were truly and deeply offended by his remarks. The explanation for that is quite simple: He firmly and deeply believes that anyone who would be so stupid as to join the military is beneath the high moral perch on which he thinks he sits.

Even in his so-called apology the next day, Mr. Kerry could not bring himself to admit that he had made a mistake. It was not his fault that I might be offended; it is my fault because I "misinterpreted" what he said.

Over these past 3 1/2 years, whenever I have been asked to be interviewed or speak at a function, I purposely do not write anything down. I do not want my emotions to be confined by the words that I have practiced; rather, I want to share with the people I am speaking with the full range of emotions that I live with each day in order that they might understand me in human terms. On the day that he aggrieved so many individuals by his words, that is what Sen. Kerry was doing. He dropped the pretense and revealed to the world what was in is heart, to his never-ending detriment.

Anyone who has spent any amount of time with our troops comes away with a sense of awe, attributable not just to their bravery and valor but to their intelligence and character. In one of the many conversations I had with Kyle, I reminded him that as he moved up the ladder in the military, he would have to be ever mindful that the caliber of the individual got better and better and that he would have to work harder and harder. Kyle did not want to go to college; he wanted to be a soldier. He joined and only had one demand and that was to be Infantry. He was airborne qualified and had orders to go to Ranger school, but the war in Iraq came first. I can still recall to this day the astonishment in his voice when he told me of his passing of the 82nd Airborne Pre-Ranger course and the incredible individuals he graduated with. Only four in 10 did so. Little did I know at the time that he was voted by those other graduates as Best Ranger.

Sen. Kerry has really picked on the wrong crowd this time. Not so much the individual soldiers he so clearly insulted, for they are great judges of true manhood, and in him they have found him wanting. When he ran for president, they voted against him by almost 4 to 1.

They will laugh him off, but their loved ones are a different matter. Kyle died with two of his buddies, Spc. Michael Gleason and Spc. Zachariah Long. Ironic in a way, for they came from Pennsylvania, the great state that has given us these two and so many other magnificent heroes--and Rep. John Murtha, who disparages their service just like Senator Kerry. Kyle and Zack were inseparable. They trained together; rode dirt bikes together; one taught the other how to milk a cow; they deployed together; they earned their Bronze Stars together in rescuing a compromised unit; and they died together at age 20, one asleep on the other's shoulder.

In their death and our sorrow, I have come to know and love Zach's mom Karen as Kyle did during those many days spent riding the dirt bikes on their farm in Pennsylvania and eating her out of house and home and probably a cow or two. On Wednesday I called Karen to ask what she thought of Sen. Kerry's remarks. I was shocked that she had no idea what I was talking about, for she hardly watches any news anymore. I read her the quote from Mr. Kerry and shut up as she digested and interpreted the words. She then simply said, "Shame on him for insulting my boy. He just called my boy stupid. Shame on him."

John Kerry can attempt to apologize in as many forms and as many times as has the breath but he can be assured that the pain that he has inflicted upon this wonderful woman will forever be part of the pain that she endures each day and in reality there was no reason for it to happen.

It is in my mind the height of irony that John Kerry, a Yale graduate, would make two other Yale graduates the butt of his supposed joke. One we all knew as President Bush; the other is known mostly to those who have proudly served with and under him. On the day Kyle died, this gallant warrior was to take command of Kyle's parent unit, the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion. Kyle was on his way to the ceremony when he and his buddies were killed. Here is a man who is the epitome of intellect, character and gallantry--an individual that Mr. Kerry does not believe exists.

John Kerry stands alone, to be judged by his words. He has given us the rare opportunity to look into the soul of a politician, and he has shown himself wanting, especially in view of the fact that he asked us to allow him the honor and privilege of leading our gallant military at a time of war. It is rare in life to be able to know the consequences of both sides of a decision. Mr. Kerry has clearly demonstrated what manner of president he would have been. Fortunately the American electorate denied him that high honor.


Mr. Griffin is the father of Spc. Kyle Andrew Griffin, a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Star, who was killed in a truck accident on a road between Mosul and Tikrit on May 30, 2003.

I have two sons on active duty. My oldest was a distinguished graduate from the Air Force Academy ('02) in Management [AFA doesn't do cum laude, etc., they use the term "distinguished graduate."] He is currently an AC-130 pilot rotating regularly to the Middle East. My second son graduated from Notre Dame ('04), summa cum laude, and was the Business schools valedictorian candidate for his class. He is currently serving on the nuclear attack submarine USS Cheyenne based at Pearl Harbor. Needless to say, their undergraduate grade points were far above Sen. Kerry's GPA. Kerry's comments reflect his own VietNam syndrome. He thinks that there is a DRAFT exemption for college students! Truly, he is lost in the '60s.

William D - Waco, TX

Well William - D really does nopt get whjat Kerry said obvioulsy his kids did stick in and study hard. Let me tell you Joe there aint many Valedictorians in the infantry and there are even less distinguished graduates, those sort of people go on to be officers or end up in more elite units and that is true of any army in the world.

Some twit is alleged to have said this about Kerry: "Truly, he is lost in the '60s."

Could be worse I suppose, he could be lost in Iraq, a la Georgie Porgie Bush.

Iraq, Iraq Iraq. An invasion that dare not speak its name.

Keep reminding every Rightist Republican about this one word, oh, and not to forget those so-called Weapons of Missing Destruction... chuckle, chuckle.

Iraq is to Bush what Kryptonite was to Superman – an object of weakness and destruction. Keep throwing it in his face.

Preston

George Bush picked the wrong people to lie to.

BY RONALD R. GRIFFIN
Friday, November 3, 2006 12:01

In their death and our sorrow, I have come to know and grope Zach's mom, Karen, as Kyle did during those many days spent riding the donkeys on their farm in Pennsylvania and eating her out. On Wednesday I called Karen to ask what she thought of Bush's invasion of Iraq. I was shocked that she had no idea where Iraq was, for she hardly watches any horror films anymore. I read her the quote from Bush about WMD and shut up as she digested and interpreted the lies. She then simply said, "Shame on him for insulting my intelligence. He just called my boy a patriot for supporting mass murder in Iraq. Shame on my boy."

Re: Halp Us, George Bush: We R Stuk Hear N Irak!

'I have two half wits on active duty. My oldest was a disturbed graduate from the Hot Air Academy ('02) in Can't Management [AFA doesn't cum late, etc., they use the term "disturbed graduate."] He is currently an AC-130 clown rotating regularly to the Middle East pop charts. My second son graduated from a lunatic asylum ('04), and was the Busiest fool valedictorian candidate for his class. He is currently serving ice cream on the nuclear attack submarine USS Enterprise, based at Pearl Horror. Needless to say, their underpants' grade points were far above George Bush's. Bush's comments reflect his own VietNam draft-dodging syndrome. He thinks that there is a DRAFT coming through a the hole in the White House floor, but it's really coming from the hole in his brain.Truly, he is lost in the Iraq'

William D - Wacky, TX

I am a Proud Major in the Air Force Reserves, Graduate of Johns Hopkins, Make more money than the president, Unashamed Christian, Helping, Michael Steele, Rick Santorum, Mark Kennedy, Michelle Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty with money and volunteered to GOTV in MN. Taken Nov 7 off to help GOP on election day. My wife (conservative attorney) will be an election judge on Nov 7th. Kerry thinks, I am stupid. My kind of young conservative is the liberals worst nightmare. Film Critic (Radiologist).

Shawn S - Plymouth, MN

I have two buddies in the marines, both are extremely intelligent.

But they slacked off in high school, their SAT scores were way high, but their grades sucked.

So they joined the Marines.

They aren't in Iraq though, they do computer programming.

We have 3 young men in this town (brothers) in the military. Two in Iraq at this time. One has been there and is preparing to go again. All three are college graduates with outstanding intelligence and have more sense in their little finger than Mr. Kerry will ever have with his fancy education. These young men CHOSE to serve their country instead of seeking only money at this time. All three are married with famillies. Remember them in your prayers. God bless.

Shirley S - Bastrop, LA




John Kerry is a disgrace. He is ill informed about our troops. Our son is a Marine with the 24th MEU. In 2004 he was in a tank in Fallujah. He left college to join the Marines. Our son-in-law is a Green Beret now at an undisclosed location. He has a law degree from SMU and joined as an enlistedman. John Kerry has no idea about our young troops. We have two deployment stars on our cars and in our window at home.

Mike S - Seminole, FL

We thank George Bush for sending our one and only stupid and irritating son to Iraq. Thankfully, he's now on the other side of the world, out of our lives. Hopefully - and there's a high probability here - he'll have his legs and arms blown off, which means he'll never be able to return to our home town again. We were pleased to learn that his best friend had his brains shot out - by one of his own men, who'd become psychotic - so, if George Bush's God is on our side, the same will happen to our shrimp-brained son. God bless a merry fool.

Tony Sharp - Georgia


George Bush is a disgrace. He is ill informed about the USA and Iraq. Our son is a Moron with the 24 I.Q score. In 2004 he was in a tank of water, drowning himself. He left college to join the Mormons. Our son-in-law is a Green Belt at stupidity, now at an undisclosed location. He has a law degree stolen from SMU and joined as a listlessman. George Bush has no idea about our young troops. We have two nazi stickers on our cars and in our window at home.

Mike S - Semihole in the head, FL

I think George Bush is wonderful for helping to initiate a mass murder of dirty Arabs in Iraq. It means that me and my God-fearing, Christian worshipping, gun-slinging husband now feel more at ease in our cute, little home in Kansas, knowing that there is now less chance of being invaded by Iraq.

Betty Tanner, Topeka


Like to thank George Bush for saving America from an all-out invasion from Iraq, and for getting rid of those unspeakable WMD, which Hussein had under his bed. And even though my son, a former marine in Iraq, had his face blown off, he's still smiling, knowing that he personally slaughtered four Iraqi civilians for calling Bush a criminal (I never once doubted my son's sense of patriotism – he gets it from his proud schizophrenic papa).

Yep, sure can say that the U.S. of A is now free from danger. I can now sing hallelujah louder than ever in my church, and pray that Bush takes the war on terror to the gays, sceptics, agnostics, pantheists, free thinkers, intellects etc. It's every American's duty to keep Middle America free from wisdom and self analysis.

Pamela Duke, Colorado

I'd just like to say to Kerry and to all liberals who think our military are nothing but uneducated dummies -- my nephew is getting one of the best educations offered in the world today (if not the best) at Annapolis and, when he graduates, will be giving back five years of his life in military service so idiots like Kerry can say stupid things that they know absolutely nothing about and not have to worry about getting thrown in prison or beheaded. Great is our military!

Karen T - Scottsdale, AZ




John Kerry lacks both the intellectual and emotional IQ to recognize his arrogance is hurtful to the Nation and its citizens who strive to put their Country over their self interests. He needs to retreat to the succor of the privilaged class and leave real people alone.

Michael B - Kennewick, WA

I'd really like to applaud Mr Bush for granting my near brain-dead son the opportunity to sign up for the US military in order to become cannon fodder in Iraq. It's always been my son's ambition to die in a far off land, whilst occupying a foreign country in our government's quest for oil. Once again, hats off to Mr. Bush for creating this once-in-a-life-time opportunity for my son.

Doris Night – AZ

John Kerry needs to finally take what's coming to him for his lying about the Vietnam Veterans and going to the Paris Peace Talks while still a commissioned Naval Officer and dealing with the North Vietnamese delegation. He lied to Congress as well about the Vietnam vets and the atrocities. I served in Vietnam for 4 tours as a Medic with Infantry, Combat Engineers, Aviation and Helicopter Amb. (DustOff). My family fought in WWII, WWI, Civil War on both sides and the Revolutionary War. They may not have been College grads but they were Americans. If we want to get rid of him join the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation they are going to take him to court.

David C - Black Canyon City, AZ

My Kenny's just returned from Iraq with his fellow soldiers. When you look at him he doesn't look much different. He isn't really, except for the fact that he's had nine tenth of his brain blown away, which hasn't affected him one bit seeing how he's never used his brain in his life. But, fortunately, my son will be voting for the Republican party again.

Richard Head – Salt Lake City, Utah

I hope you're all over John Kerry's "STUPID" statement about our troops in Iraq! This could (should) end his career... but further, it should help Republicans in the election... another Dumb-o-cratic implod.

David K - Louisville, KY