If anyone hasn't heard about this yet...you will, during a speech today given in California, Kerry made a comment and in the comment more or less insinuated that unless you get an education you end up in Iraq. Well, the White House/Shrub and Tony Snow have picked up on this BIG time, and have called on Kerry to apologize to all the troops and their families. Also McCain is calling for an apology as well.Kerry's response so far has been that this was a "joke" about Bush and that they owe him the apology. I have been watching MSNBC this afternoon, and this story is coming up constantly. The GOP is desperate at this point for anything to run with, and it sounds like Kerry handed them something today, and boy are they running with it. I wish he would just quietly go away. In my opinion, he did not help the Dems. today. I wish he would quietly go away. Maybe someone can advise him today.
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Kerry's comments are completely being blown out of proportion. But the Repugs have not an ounce of momentum on their side and no answers so yes, let's have the entire nation focus on Kerry right now. How ridiculous.

Judge for yourself, as this is what he said, “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.”

As for me, I think John Kerry should shut the hell up! He has shown why he's out of touch with America and should give up on that presidential bid he's considering in '08. He's making the case for Obama to become the Dems nominee!

I agree with you, but Kerry needs to watch what he says, the opposition needs NO help.

Apparently the joke was supposed to go, "If you don't, you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq" (e.g., lamebrained King George II).

The only positive about this is Kerry's press release hitting back at the Rethugs. He finally said everything he should have in 2004 - the GOP leadership never spent a day in combat, that sort of thing. A day late and a dollar short.

I thought it was the mother of all Freudian slips.

He'll never catch up with Bush on those.

This is pretty funny. Kerry may wind up costing the Democrats the '04 AND the '06 elections. What a dope! The guy went to war; he should know when you're winning the battle the last thing you should do is get in the way of your enemies' gun.

This isn't going to cost the Dems the '06 election. You've got to be kidding. Is this country so incredibly stupid and backwards that it'll vote Republican because of a botched Kerry one-liner in front of Pepperdine University students and ignore the hundreds and thousands of lies, missteps, half-truths, scandals and falsehoods that came from Bush and his administration?

I liked Kerry's rebuttal today. Wish he'd had those same balls during the 2004 campaign or we wouldn't be in half the mess we're in now.

Lost in all of this is the fact that the number of dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq this month is now up to 103. And can there be anyone more embarrassing than John McCain? How anyone can have an ounce of respect for that man is beyond me.

The GOP has demanded that Kerry apologize to the troops. So be it. This would be the apology I'd write for him if asked:

"Ladies and gentlemen of the armed forces, I said something during a campaign appearance the other day which, upon reflection, sounded like I was insulting your intelligence. As a fellow American who proudly wore the uniform of our armed services, I can tell you that in my lame attempt at making a joke, my lame attempt at being cute with joking about the president, I carelessly said something I now regret.

I have served our nation in a war very much like the one you are fighting now; a war that cannibalized another young generation of patriotic American youths, much like yourselves, a war that was waged by an older generation more interested in doing well politically than in doing good ethically. I know from first hand experience, experience earned on the battlefield, that the words in my campaign speech in LA do not fit who you are. For that, and for any misunderstanding, I am profoundly sorry and sincerely ask your forgiveness.

What I should have said was that I fear your leadership -- our leadership -- has failed you by not being forthright with you. I feel that they have failed to learn past lessons, that they failed to be inquisitive from the start of this war. I feel that they thought they had all the answers and that anyone who disagreed was somehow unAmerican. Yes, I question *their* intellect, not yours. I was trying to be smart, which sometimes comes across as being elitist, I know, but I never intended to call your intelligence into question. That's not who I am and if I failed to live up to my own standard, I am sorry.

And I also apologize to all of you wearing that noble uniform for anything I have done which enabled this administration for having you where you are today. You are fighting a noble fight. I should have fought the 2004 election more forcefully. I was on your side then and am on your side now. Your country called upon you and you answered that call. I don't for a second question your commitment to total victory in the theatre of war. Unlike too many policy-makers in Washington, I was there once, myself. Literally, in your boots. I know what it is to believe in a mission, to commit to it and to do all you can to wage battle against an elusive enemy. And I know how frustrating it is to seek an end game in a battle when an administration is continuously reframing the objectives. Personally, it always made me wonder if the administration ever really knew what the objectives were. Sometimes history repeats itself, and I can't help but feel for you what I know other fellow veterans felt for me when I served our country in Vietnam.

So I humbly ask your forgiveness. My intent was not to insult you, but I can now see that what I said had the opposite effect. You deserve better from me, both as a fellow serviceman and as a US Senator, both in my words and in my deeds. I vow to you this day that I will do good by you. I will not let your service, your honor, your integrity be questioned nor will I allow your commitment to be abused. I promise to you today that I will not let you down. I only wish I could say that the president and his Secretary of Defense will make this same pledge, but I know they cannot."

It's being totally blown out of proportion, but at the same time, WOULD JOHN KERRY JUST SHUT HIS F*CKING TRAP??? My God, if you're going to botch comments as a Democrat, don't do it at a right-wing university like freaking Pepperdine! This is so totally John Kerry, though! I'm sick of seeing him, hearing him, having to know that he's out there always ready to show up the other Democrats with a stupid comment or misstep, endlessly running for a position HE WILL NEVER WIN. Even if Iraq disintegrated completely and terrorists were racing towards the US in speedboats, JOHN KERRY WOULD NOT BE ELECTED PRESIDENT. He had his chance, he refused to stand up and fight when it came to the Swiftboaters, he refused to contest that flawed Ohio election, he even had to be convinced, kicking and screaming, to unload his warchest after the election and then again just a week ago. He's a vain, self-absorbed, pompous, narcissistic, fickle ninny who, while he would STILL have been a better choice than the Worst President Ever, should just go back to being the junior senator from Massachusetts!

Umm, no thanks, we're over him too. Two more years...

Actually, the statement was made in front of college students from Pasadena City College, which is a far cry from those at Pepperdine. Pepperdine is quite conservative, whereas Pasadena City College is very much not. That's why Kerry could get away with saying what he did with no challenge or booing from the audience.

An earlier USA Today story today said, "In a meeting with reporters, a clearly agitated Kerry said his remarks at Pepperdine meant that if people such as President Bush aren't well-educated,..."

And I heard it from various other media outlets that it was at Pepperdine too. But other reports, apparently more accurate ones, show it as Pasadena CC. I guess this is what happens when the media and Republicans in general were rushing to get the story out as fast as possible. They rarely let facts get in the way.

Regardless of where he said it, Kerry did indeed say it. While he may have meant it as a joke, what he said was the furthest cry from it. It came out as though he were insulting American servicemen and servicewomen as being stupid. Honestly, Kerry has always come across as a snobby S.O.B. to me and that's why I think he is such a turnoff to me, as well as to a great number of voters like me.

Was it the wisest thing to say? No. I'd just like to know what was said before and after that statement. So far, I haven't heard the entire context of the statement. By the way, where was Bush in the summer of 1972? I keep forgetting where he was. This is being blown so far out of proportion, it is taking on a comedic hue.

You keep forgetting where he was in 1972? I'm pretty sure he keeps forgetting too.

Bottom line: Kerry can't tell jokes, he should have shown his balls back in '04, and thank God, he has cancelled his appearance in Minnesota today.....hopefully this will go away, eventually.

If Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emmanuel have any sense they've told Kerry to just shut up and not make any more speeches between now and next Tuesday. He essentially played right into the oppositions' playbook, if for no other reason than it takes attention away from where the Dems want it focused in the final days of the campaign. Also, it's hard to believe that any Democrat would give Kerry consideration for the 2008 nomination after such a faux pas - he simply doesn't have the "common touch" a Dem is going to need in order to be successful nationally.

Watching CNN and Kerry's response to everyone's reaction to his failed joke attempt, I am being called crazy for his badly botched joke. Yes, he does need to shut the hell up! His elitist attitude has come through crystal clear.

His reaction: "If anybody thinks that a veteran would somehow criticize mroe than 140,000 troops serving in Iraq and not the president and his people who put them there, they're crazy. It's just wrong." Wrong answer, pal! The appropriate response: "I apologize to those whom I have offended, as I left my joke open to misinterpretation. Please accept my deepest regrets. I would never insult our servicemen and servicewomen."

No, I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy enough to keep opening my mouth and allowing oral diarrhea to spew forth as Sen. Kerry has obviously done. As the title of this thread goes, Sen. Kerry, shut up, please!

We Dems just can't seem to get out of own way sometimes. Why can't Kerry just keep his mouth shut. He ran an awful campaign in 2004 and now his idiotic comment could hurt the Dems next week. This is just what the GOP has been praying for.

While looking at the headlines just now I ran into this bit of an interesting read on the whole thing. This puts the focus back on Iraq again, and Iraq of course is the biggest GOP weakness.

Sure, our Imperious President has more to lose, but Sen. Kerry has plenty to lose for '08. Thinking on it, he really should just not campaign for anyone for the next week.

Distortion and diversion as a campaign tactic. It's all the Repugs have anymore.

And as many analysts are pointing out today, the whole thing could very easily backfire on Bush and his sadly misguided ilk.

Newsweek: Could Bush-Kerry Fight Hurt Republicans?

Headline off MSNBC: GOP is pulling out of Colorado, Ohio, and Pennsylvania races.

Regardless of what Kerry meant, to join the US military at this juncture -- given its record of waging one unnecessary, immoral war after another for the last 60 years -- is not a smart move. Don't give me "defending our freedom." Ain't s**t being defended in Iraq.

on the bright side, Kerry isn't going to campaign for anyone in the next week, and if he's smart, he'll give up on 2008 and not run for re-election whenever his term is up

Ripped from the MSNBC headlines, here is Sen. Kerry's somewhat apology. I called it and it's about time this dullard realizes he's not waging the '04 campaign all over again.

Now, mercifully, he'll slink back under a rock and allow the '06 vote to be a Democratic victory, no thanks necessary to Sen. Kerry. For the record, I was never a big backer of Sen. Kerry; I wanted Sen. John Edwards to have been the '04 nominee and Mr. Kerry is finally showing why I never chose to fully back him.

Interesting that you mention that, MM, because yesterday a Democratic congressman had said:



BTW, I find it amusing that Kerry's own paper, the Boston Globe, called him an "embarrassment."

John Kerry's comments have been taken totally out of context. He has nothing to apologize for. I am so sorry that Kerry is not our president now. Bush and his dirty Iraq war is a debacle. Just an endless, tragic bloodbath.

That doesn't mean his choice of words wasn't poor. It was. He said something stupid--as usual--and now has to apologize. If he'd just keep his stupid mouth shut...

He has apologized. Now if we can only get that other man to apologize, what was his name??? You know, the one who said (paraphrasing) "a vote for the Democrats mean the terrorists win."

That's right, King George II, perhaps he should apologize for lying about Democrats (many of whom would be happy to restart the war in Afghanistan, where the actual terrorist who launched the slaughter of 9/11 is sill hanging out, happy as a f**king clam).

If he is even thinking of running in '08, he really seriously needs to re-think this. Its time to get talking about the mess in Iraq again. Thank God he is staying home and quiet. I hope.

The new CBS News/NY Times poll released just minutes ago shows the Dems have strengthened their lead to a robust 18-point lead (52 to 34 percent), an increase of 4 percent for the Democrats since their last poll a few weeks ago. In the NBC News/Washington Post poll released last night, the Dems held the largest lead over the Repugs in the history of that poll.

So I take it to mean the respondents are going to vote in all 435 congressional districts and each of the 33 senate races? No, I didn't think so.

Such national polls are meaningless. All politics is local, as the saying goes.

I'd be saying that too right now if I was a repug.

Good point.

Of course my point was good. And accurate. They always are.

Gotta love the resilience of this guy. Most people believed the election was wrapped up, but leave it to Kerry to attempt to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I truly admire his never-say-live attitude.

LXN

Is he seriously considering running again in 2008?

If he does, will his wife change her name yet again? After all, it WAS Heinz, then Heinz-Kerry, then back to Heinz.

Leave it to Sen. Kerry to throw a verbal grenade at our Imperious President, only to have W throw it back at him.

Well, it should be over in about 15 more minutes. Let this thing die and throw Kerry in the nearest closet. That is one man who should STAY in the closet.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

Keith's take is right on....

MSNBC: Bush Owes Troops An Apology, Not Kerry

Argh, you beat me to it!

I have such a crush on Keith btw.