Broadcast networks all led with Kerry's "botched joke," entirely ignored Bush's statement that a Democratic victory means "terrorists win and America loses"
On October 31, all three broadcast networks led their nightly news programs with coverage of the controversy surrounding an October 30 statement by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), which Kerry has said was a botched joke intended to criticize President Bush on his Iraq war policies, but has been misrepresented by Republicans and some in the media as denigrating U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Kerry stated: "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." In contrast, at no point has NBC's Nightly News, ABC's World News, or the CBS Evening News even mentioned* -- much less led with -- President Bush's October 30 statement during a campaign speech that a Democratic victory in the midterm elections would mean that "terrorists win and America loses."
Speaking during a campaign appearance in Statesboro, Georgia, as noted on the weblog Talking Points Memo, Bush said, "However they put it, the Democrat [sic] approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses." The statement received no coverage on the October 30 and 31 broadcasts of the network news programs, yet what Kerry admitted was a mangled joke was the lead-off story for all three networks on October 31.
From the October 31 broadcast of NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams:
WILLIAMS: A week from tonight here, we will be covering the midterm elections. They are often a referendum on the president in power and this year, especially, given the situation in Iraq, that seems especially true.
In a moment, Tim Russert will join us as we release our brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll but, for starters, we can show you the president's benchmark approval number. Tonight, that number stands at 39 -- that's up one point from our last measurement, with 57 percent saying they do not approve of the job the president is doing. If you had landed on Earth today after a long absence, you might have thought the last presidential campaign was still going because today's political debate was between Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush; and like so much of the talk this election year, the debate is over Iraq.
From the October 31 broadcast of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson:
GIBSON: Good evening. One week before the election, you'd have thought today we were approaching the 2004 presidential election, not the 2006 off-year election. One week before the election, you'd have thought today it was Kerry v. Bush all over again. And what happened today is an object lesson in how, in this day and age, an idle political remark gets seized upon, becomes fodder for the talk shows, the blogs, and the politicians, and suddenly obscures discussion of all other issues.
From the October 31 broadcast of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:
COURIC: Hi, everyone. With just one week to go now before the next election, tonight it looks like they've decided to rerun the last one. President Bush and Senator John Kerry were going at it again today, fighting about Iraq, American soldiers, and who said what about them. The sparks are flying. Here's Jim Axelrod at the White House.
This wouldn’t of happened if the Senator would keep his mouth shut and stop trying to be funny. Even on Imus this morning when he called in he started talking insane again even attacking McCain. We are trying to win this election Senator, we don’t need you to screw it up again.
You are full of hooey. Kerry didn't "attack" anyone. Imus asked the question about McCain's comments and Kerry explained how he thinks McCain is worng and why. Get a grip on reality...leave the lies and spins for the media and the politicians...we certainly don't need to follow their crappy example.
Is John McCain untouchable?
I used to respect him, but not any more. Bush and his thugs reemed McCain good in 2000, then McCain turned around and kissed Bush's butt. I have no more use for the man.
All McCain had to do was be the "man" that everyone wants him to be by dissing the BushieCo politics of hate, but no, he stuffed the Repub money in his pocket and pretends to be a man. And the "desperate for a daddy" mindset of the MSM and the American people eat it up like crow
You said:
McCain is a phony...
I used to respect him, but not any more. Bush and his thugs reemed McCain good in 2000, then McCain turned around and kissed Bush's butt. I have no more use for the man.
* - nerzog /
Your reasoning is exactly the same as mine. I supported McCain in 2000, I voted for him in the primary, we can do that in Ohio. When the bushites smeard his family they went into the sewer. When McCain turned around and supported Bush McCain joined them in the sewer.
I don't see McCain ever being anything better than a low class politician.
Is anyone actually surprised that the big three networks would jump on Kerry's statement and underplay Boy George's? No one would argue the point that Kerry really botched his line. And anyone with a grain of logic would know that no Vietnam veteran is going to willfully insult the troops in Iraq. However, the sad truth is that the uneducated DO end up in the military, and if you're in the military in this day and age, you're in Iraq. The truth hurts; but that does not diminish its credibility.
How many Senators, Congressman or wealthy families have children fighting in Iraq? None! So, before the media places Kerry on trial for telling the truth, perhaps they should place the blame where it belongs. This attack on Kerry is merely a political tactic to distract voters from the real issue: The war in Iraq is an abomination; the biggest military blunder in history
Kerry doesn't misspeak that often, whereas Bush lies all the time. It's not news anymore.
George wasn't joking.
Kerry claimed he was joking. Does he always refer to attacks as a joke? Nobody believes he was just attacking Bush.
Bruce Braley doesn't believe, Harold Ford doesn''t believe and countless other Democrats who have disinvited him from campaigning don't believe him.
He has always loathed the military and thinks he is smarter and more nuanced than everyone else. Well, he finally got what was coming to him -- and he did it all to himself.
A couple of slices of humble pie can go a long way John.
Just lying...again.
You are one crazy dude!
I agree Kerry screwed up, but he shouldn't apologize and Braley and Ford are just playing politics.
They don't want the bad publicity. It's got nothing to do with whether they think Kerry said something wrong or not.
They are in close races and don't want anything to tip the balance.
I think they are being cowards, but that's just me.
I also think Kerry should have been this defiant during his campaign, he would have had a better chance.
As for his being against the military, you are really off your rocker. He was in the military, is he insulting himself?
he was in the military means nothing.
There are dozens of military groups against John Kerry.
Ever since the 60s Kerry and Hillary types have loathed the military. Kerry never wised up and it cost him the 2004 election.
Not it didn't. A smear campaign that wasn't answered right away with the conviction he has here, lost him the election. And you cons want to perpetuate that baseless smear over and over again.
Bush loves the military? There are many Vets who agree with Kerry and are angry at Bush. Again, you don't speak for all of us.
His military service means everything. It means, unlike the current admin, he was willing to put his life on the line.
It also means that he has a better understanding of what it means to be in the military.
Not every person who belongs to a particular group thinks the same way, so there will always be people that are against what John Kerry stood for. That doesn't make them right or him wrong, it means they have a difference of opinion.
I am truly disturbed by people like you who villify people that you don't agree.
What has John Kerry or Hillary for that matter done to make you think they loathe the troops?
Or is that just how you justify your stupid arguments against them?
No one believes Kerry was making a bad joke? You mean no one except top Republicans:
[link to mediamatters.org]
Leatherhelmet- please. Saying John Kerry despises the military is like saying George W. Bush served in combat willing and often along with Cheney, Rove, et al. John Kerry misspoke. The list of outrageous misspeak by the current President is obnoxious, insulting, and in some cases a threat to our very democracy. Open your eyes and ears.
You said:
It's because
George wasn't joking.
Kerry claimed he was joking. Does he always refer to attacks as a joke? Nobody believes he was just attacking Bush.
Leatherhelmet.
Kerry was just attacking Bush. At first I thought he was stuck in the Vietnam era mindset, where flunking out of college put you in the military. Or not being able to afford college, which is why I was in the military.
But, after it was explained it was obvious he was attacking Bush. Like I said before, if you have to explain a joke, it flopped. However, it was obviously an attack on Bush.
That doesn't explain Kerry's stupidity, but it was stupidity, not an attack on the troops.
Kerry served, he doesn't need to prove his manhood with the blood of other men. Bush evaded service, by joining the reserves then not doing his service.
For four years I showed up, where I was supposed to, when I was supposed to. Bush couldn't even do it on one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer.
Yet Bush has the gall to claim to defend the men in the field. He just diverts the blame to the men in the field.
He made a joke and it bombed. According to news reports I Have read he misread his joke.
The media is trying to create something out of this and its playing right into the Rove hands.
This demonstrates, once again, that the "liberal bias in the media" is a carefully fabricated myth.
By handing Karl Rove this ill-advised soundbite, Kerry has supplied them with their October surprise.
The knuckledragging sheep who make up the Republican base will eat this up like candy, even as they ignore the mountain of evidence that their President and his goon squad have played them for suckers.
Everything is Karl Rove with you. Whew.
In any event, this is staggering how many of you cannot take responsibility for this, especially Kerry. He screwed up, whether a botched joke about Bush or not, why is he insisting on making this about him and his grudge from the 2004 election? Which is exactly what he is doing? He refuses to be "swiftboated" again, and is just positioning himself for 2008.
But if he weren't so selfish, he'd realize the Democrats are in a tough fight in 2006 and they don't need this hanging over their heads. That's why they've yanked him from campaigning and shelved him until further notice.
He should have apologized for whatever he said, or meant to say and it would have been history by now.
Blame Rove all you want, it's Kerry who is sandbagging his own party for his pathetic ego.
But I didn't see it, so I can't say. You don't think Rove is pulling the media strings? He is the master strategist for the Republicans, and they obviously own the media...you connect the dots.
Yes, Kerry screwed up...the point is that, as usual, the press is making a mountain out of a molehill, when Bush has said even more ridiculous things that got very little play if any.
The point is this is Kerry's doing. Whether he apologized now or not is not even the issue anymore, he should have done it yesterday instead of his whole "poor me" speech. The damage has been done and it will played to the hilt, probably until Tuesday - which considering the stakes in this election, is unfortunate to say the least. For him to apologize now looks disingenuous, even if it isn't.
They shouldn't be talking about something as silly as this anyway, but it's Kerry's fault, nobody else's. As I have said, if you give your opponent a sword, don't be mad if they use it.
First you day he didn't apologize and and then, being flat out wrong, say he didn't apologize soon enough.
There is one entity to blame here, and that is our ridiculous mass media. It is the media's job to not hype a mistatement in order to benefit one party and to ignore a deliberate outrage by the other party. The Kerry story would have been dismissed in the press of most other countries, but our press has become so ludicrous that it makes a botched joke the head story for at least two days.
If Kerry had said "you get us stuck in Iraq" it would've been a great line and ignored by everyone. If he would've given that simple explanation, even the next day, it would have worked. It's pretty pathetic that the media has treated it this way, except for Olberman, but I do understand Ford's and Webb's call for an apology. They're trying to win Republican votes in the deep red states and have to play the game.
If the people skewering you with that sword are supposed to be objective observers, then there is a problem. I understand the professional liars like Rush and Sean and Ann the Man Coulter making hay out of it, that's what they're paid to do. However, when CNN and the so-called "liberal" networks saturate the airwaves with it while giving the Moron in Chief a pass on equally stupid statements, that's not Kerry's fault.
You may be right, but juicyness and controversy and misspoken words sell. They sell from any ideology or political affiliation. They make great soundbites and the subsequent scrambling for positioning even make for more delicious press for the media.
To think otherwise may be a worthy goal, but naive.
So now you agree that it isn't Kerry's fault, but use the old defense that contreversy, even fake controversy, sells. Well, but that just proves MMFA's point, that the media is reporting misinformation.
As to being naive, that is just a poor excuse. That is essentially like saying "Well, of course it is unfair, but that is the way the world is." Using that reasoning we can dismiss any complaints anywhere and never have any reasonable discussion.
don't they mercilessly hammer Bush for equally asinine utterances? Yeah, I know left-wing talk radio does, as well as Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, but why don't we see it endlessly dissected on the "news"?
The media are too busy trying to prove to everyone how they aren't liberal (and doing a good job of it!). They have been doing it for a while now.
The flying monkeys have convinced the gullible knuckledraggers that truth is "liberal bias". Therefore, the press kisses Bush's butt just to look neutral.
Cowards.
everyone knows the left doesn't care if America loses the war and the terrorists take over Iraq.
They just want the troops to come home and our strength minimized in the world.
Bush nailed exactly what the left wants.
You're wrong. And you'll find out how much on Tuesday.
Rightwing warmongers like Leatherhead want to get as many Americans killed as possible because only war can make their useless little thingys hard.
the left wants a less secure america. they want us defeated by our enemies. they are so obssessed with hatred of bush that they wish to see their own country, where they and their families live, endangered. do i have your position correct?
I notice no one made a big deal about Bush saying our enemies never stop trying to hurt America and niether will we. No one pretended he really meant that. Liberals didnt pretend he meant he never stopped trying to hurt America. There are Conservatives that just dont have that kind of integrity. They will lie about anything.
Bush misspoke.
Kerry has a long history of being elitist and is a peacenik who hates the military and is hated by the military. He made a statement that was like Mel Gibson when he was drunk --- maybe he meant it, maybe he didn't. But it sure as hell sounded like he meant it.
YOU are ignorant. You dont know anything until you are TOLD what to believe so when a Conservative misspeaks that is just a mistake and when a liberal does its an insult YOU are an insult to my intelligence. It is clear that YOU are the one that hates military men, you show this by the way you want to get as many killed as you possibly can. You hate troops and want to see them die, you are jealous of a real war hero like Kerry so you insult him like the coward you are. You wouldnt make a pimple on Kerry's rectum.
For pretending Kerry meant something he obviously didnt. The Dems should have made the same kind of big deal when Bush said our enemies never stop thinking of ways to hurt America and neither do we. Bush obviously wants to hurt America.
One, Kerry has apoligized...twice now that I know of. He also admits he totally fubbed the line. Two, Kerry himself cancelled some of those appearences too because he doesn't want his gaff to be a distraction and has said he is going back to Washington and laying low. So now that you know the facts what else does he have to do since he has fufilled your requirements but it hasn't seemed to make any difference. It is amusing how some call for him to opologise and say that is why they are harping on it but then when the opology comes they come up with some new spin as to why it isn't enough.
I have already said Kerry's apology is too late now. It just looks like political maneuvering and CYA! He missed the opportunity yesterday because of his bruised ego.......too bad for him. Bad for the Democrats, and that is sad.
As for him distancing himself, are you kidding? No doubt he was scolded quite firmly by the powers that be, and being a good soldier and needing their support for any future presidential runs, he was probably told "Go home, shut up - NOW!"
Will Puddinhead George ever apologize for lying us into a war and getting thousands of people killed for no good reason? I doubt it.
>>I have already said Kerry's apology is too late now. It just looks like political maneuvering and CYA!
Right, and it doesn't look like political maneuvering from the right wing strategists? What a bunch of crap about Kerry's ego. The press is deliberately misleading the public, and Kerry is to blame?
then all is ok in your view? Good...because he did. he came out right after the uproar and explained himself and what the actual fobbed line was supposed to be. You say he should do this and that and then when you are informed he did this and that you qualify that he didn't do this and that to your satisfaction or some other endless qualification. This would have been a big story if Kerry had Resigned in aopolgy because he fobbed his lines...the real story, what we should be discussing in the run up to an election...well, the media and the Republicans don't want to talk about so they want to waste time on this crap to avoid the real issues...typical.
What I think is not important. And he absolutely did not apologize yesterday, instead he tried to explain it away as a "botched joke". Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't?
But there would have been far less press and uproar if he had been conciliatory and apologized. You want to give him a pass, I could really care less and he is irrelevant in 2006 anyway. But he made himself the issue with his non-apology.
You and others want to scream up and down, and maybe you should. But your indignation should be at Kerry, as other Democrats are such as Ford, and not the media.
Think about it, do you believe for one minute that if the situation had been reversed and some Republican made some statement like that, joke or not - it would not have been expolited by Pelosi, Reed and company.
You know it certainly would have been.
If Kerry straight up apologizes without any caveats, it looks like he meant what he said and didn't mis-speak. I can understand some apprehension at apologizing for something he apparently didn't mean to imply.
Kerry's first explanation should have been good enough.
The only reason this is getting any play is that an election is coming up an the media are all out apparently overcompensating to prove how un-liberal they really are.
Total non-story that has been blown up to an epic.
Kerry's first explanation should have been good enough.
It was, for reasonable people.
Even Tom Delay says that Kerry wasn't insulting the troops. And I've never thought him a reasonable guy. Guess I was wrong about him.
Exploitation by the media. The media has rolled over and played dead for the bush administration. They allow them to call anyone who disagrees a traitor and question the motives of any dissenter. Bush is the one directing this war and his statement about "terrorists winning and Americans losing" is pure bull. It was a mistake to go in and a mistake to "stay the course". This should be the lead story in the media, not some poorly worded joke by Kerry.
And, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but who the f__k are you to say it's too late to apologize now? I've always defended you Tommy, but the last couple of days, you seem to be on a real tear, like you've got money on the outcome of the elections next Tuesday. That doesn't strike me as the position an independent would take.
Say what you will about Kerry, but only a pure ideologue would think that he meant to disparage our military. And you're never struck me as one. But to jump all over him for this statement and to not jump just as hard on Bush's statement about terrorists winning is baffling to me.
I guess what I'm getting at is that one side can say whatever the hell they want to and it's reported as gospel. The other side says something and it's picked apart like leftover turkey. If that's the way it's going to be, then the sides are drawn and there's no turning back, we're headed for serious problems in this country.
Please show me in anything I have written where I said flat out that Kerry definetely slammed our troops? Because if I did, I would apologize. That was not my intention.
What I did say was that Kerry screwed up, he didn't apologize the next day and stopped this media feeding frenzy in it's tracks. Instead, he wanted to settle a score, or something, for his 2004 defeat. He whined about "poor me", and said he wasn't standing for it. Well, good for him - but he was very shortsighted in his explanation. Also, I feel like he was positioning himself for 2008 - my opinion.
I have no clue whether Kerry botched a joke or not, and I have said that over and over here. Maybe you missed it. He was scolded, told to shut up, then told to finally apologize......that's what happened as he needs the party bigwigs if he ever plans another White House run.
As for the election, the only stake I have is the one you have. I want fair elections, everyone to vote and hold the politicians accountable. This Kerry flap was a ridiculous distraction that either party would have exploited to the fullest, it just happened in the Republicans lap - what did you think they were going to do? The same thing the Democrats would have done.
Hopefully, time to forget John Kerry and focus back on issues that matter. The fallout from his remarks are his fault, and his alone. That's politics, seize on any opening given to you and make a mountain out of it.......nothing new.
This is good for the Democrats. Anything that gets people thinking about Iraq hurts the Republicans. Kerry did the right thing by standing up and defending himself. Apologizing right away would have played in the Republicans' hands.
Where you said, "instead he tried to explain it away as a "botched joke". Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't?". I just thought that was a cheap shot. To me I thought you meant that he just might have meant to denigrate the military or maybe he didn't. To me, it's pretty clear that he didn't.
You're right, this is nothing more than a distraction from the real problems. We need to focus on the issues. One of the issues is that the party in control of our government is getting away with saying that anyone who disagrees is helping the terrorists. That is despicable.
"But there would have been far less press and uproar if he had been conciliatory and apologized."
How can one be so naive? If he had corrected himself and apologized in the NEXT sentence, Hannity, Rush, Coulter, Savage, et. al. would have ignored it and still gone with the supposed slur of the troops. Then the MSM would have been reporting all about the "uproar" caused by the Kerry speech. They would have been "citing" sources (Rush, etc) about how Kerry had slandered our fighting men.
Rove and the noise machine would have kept this going no matter what Kerry had done.
JFM USAF, RET
Kerry already did apologize on Imus.
I call Tommy question mark Tommy because he started a thread that stated that a question mark at the end of a headline absolved the headline from responsibility (as in "Are martians eating Bush's brain?" is okay because there is a question mark at the end). After bringing up the point and arguing it on and on, he finally says "Who cares, why are we arguing about a question mark?"
That is the dishonesty of Tommy. Don't take him eriously since he repeatedly pulls stunts like that.
If Kerry wants to reclaim the dignity I had for him, he must appologize for his thoughtless comments. I would except these comments from an kretin like George Bush, or Rick Santorum, but not from a decorated war hero, and anti-war hero like John Kerry. I will not be taking Kerry's side on this issue as he has now lost my respect and trust. Kerry your joke was not funny and you are hurting my beloved political party.
Kerry should have just been a little more specific with his joke. I know he wouldn't insult troop. He's a veteran himself.
The whole idea is silly. Not only is Kerry a veteran, he also went to college and got educated first. If his statement came out as others have apparently falsely inferred, Kerry himself would belie his own comment (assuming you would substitute Vietnam analogously in time for Iraq).
... we all know that Bush says whatever he likes...makes the most inane comments...garbles words... says the wrong thing... says ugly and scary things... and he just gets a swat on the hand (if even that!)
Kerry should know better. What a bonehead move. Equating Kerry's comment to Bush's perpetual double-speak are two different issues, if you ask me. Of course Bush gets a pass. He's the 'decider'.
The only way for Kerry not to make a mistake is not to speak. We all make speaking mistakes.
It is the mass media's job to not report mistakes as fact. For example, Cheney once said that Iraq had nuclear weapons. From context it was very clear that he meant a nuclear program (he was wrong, of course), but should the press have made his mistatement an isssue?
The press is deliberately misleading the public. It is doing the opposite of what it is supposed to be doing.
...I do not disagree with you. But, how long have we been witness to how the press operates under the thumb of the Bush Admin? Ideally... OF COURSE the press should do their job and be fair and report fact...
But, we all know (as should Kerry) that the deck is stacked very high against the Dems at this point -- sadly, even with all the blatant theft, crime, perversion of the Right. Kerry should've know better. I don't blame him for making a mistake. I blame him (to some degree) for not being able to see this coming -- especially after all the abuse he got during the '04 election. The man's a target and he should know it.
How is this statement any less ridiculous than what Kerry said? Where is the media outrage that the President would tell such an obvious, vicious lie?
Since he does it all the time, it isn't news anymore.
did you just call our president a liar?
Why do you hate America and the constitution?
I'm gonna give you a pass, as you're probably exhausted from a long Halloween night of gay trick or treating, death tax raising, and fetus experimenting. With fidel castro and Nancy Pelosi.
I thought it was appropriate to do all my death tax-raising on Halloween, which I celebrate because it is a pagan holiday and I hate Jesus so much.
Just about anything will suffice right now, to try and distract the American People from what this election is all about:
The lies that got U.S. Troops into Iraq, and the greed ($8 billion per month) that keeps them there, and all of the sacrifice (2,818 U.S. Troops) that has nothing whatsoever to do with the National Security of the U.S., not to mention tens of thousands of Iraqis killed (what was it they did that caused their deaths?).
Anything at all to distract from that.
And once these distractions go to being chatted incessantly by the televised "media", it takes on the appearance of a feigned hysteria, to draw in as many persons as possible to something they're sure must be "controversial"...
...or why else would the "media" chat away, hysterically, like they do?
Remember not long ago, "World War III" on the Israeli-Lebanese border?
I watched a little of that hysteria on the Fox... I don't recall though whether it ended with the dropping of an atomic bomb, or was simply resolved with an armistice agreement.
And hey, remember the hysterical "NY Times traitorously reveals banking records being monitored" distraction?
I can't recall wether they actually did arrest and try the NYT editor for Treason, or simply had him shot summarily, under martial law...
I do recall what it was though, that the American People were being distracted from by that hysterical chattering about the NY Times committing "treason"...
It was the fact that the U.S. Senate had just had thirty-nine Senators (one of them a Republican!) vote for a resolution calling for a timetable to strategically redeploy U.S. Troops from Iraq.
"NY Times commits Treason!"
"WWWIII on the Israel-Lebanon border!"
"Kerry insults our Sons and Daughters in the military!"
Any old hysterical and incessant chat will do for the "media" right now, so long as it distracts from the lies and the greed and the death that is this administration's Iraq.
Today is one year exactly to the day, when the U.S. Senate was forced into secret proceedings, so that the minority party there could discuss just how to get the interminable investigation into the FALSIFIED 'pre-invasion intelligence' completed...
Gee, I don't exactly recall just how successful that effort was...
Did they ever get the investiagtion into the FALSIFIED 'pre-invasion imtelligence' completed?
I do recall the immediate and full-court distraction employed in the days follwing November 1, 2005...
"Secret Prisons" and "interrogations" and "detainees at Gitmo".
I'm kind of hoping that even if the First Session of the next (110th) Congress's Senate can't get that investigation into the FASIFIED "pre-invasion intelligence' completed, then maybe the First Session of the 110th Congress's House of Representatives can get the job done...
...unless they get distracted.
for distracting from Republican failures with his "botched joke", but something tells me the media would not have reported on Bush's outrageous comment anyway, or at least not with the same enthusiasm with which they are covering the Kerry "botched joke" non-story. It probably would have been played, but then there would have been anchors and reporters providing quasi-excuses for the Connecticut Cowboy, and their would have been other stories burying it. However, that should be the outrage, not Kerry's "botched joke" which was clearly not meant to insult the troops. Hopefully this story will just go away in the next 24 hours.
THANK YOU. njguy93@yahoo.com
I LOVE WATCHING FOX DOING IT'S 24/7 COVERAGE ON KERRY, UNLIKE THEY DO WHEN REPUBLICANS SAY OR DOING SOMETHING WRONG!!!
You are mildly amusing.
THANK YOU. njguy93@yahoo.com
This is not a benign statement. This statement was not made as a joke. This statement was not made by your average Joe or Jane on some right wing nut talk show. This statement was made by the President of the United States on the campaign trail financed by ALL taxpayers dimes- to SCARE voters. Hell? What's wrong with this picture? That's THE point of this MM psting. That is NEWS every American should have heard on network and cable news shows. That is a statement ( among many) that Bush should have been held accountable for. Our Constitution is being TRASHED in broad daylight by a man elected to serve the people. These are the calls, e-mails, letter, blogs, etc that should go out to the air waves.
right now, and he's showing footage (recent) of huge crowds cheering Bush and busting their asses to shake his hand.
OK, not huge, a gymnasium in Texas, probably, but still...
They all got there, some must have passed driver's license tests.
And Cavuto just started, bottom of the screen "Kerry cancels events as key Dems press for apology".
Is this good, that the media is latching onto something this obviously fabricated, or bad that some of our fellow voters are apparently buying it?
what he said is not incorrect. Fact is, those most willing to join the military are among the poorest. And having to admit you are so poor you have to escape into the military to live a decent life is not something to be proud about. The military offers enough 'pride' and 'honor'-illusions to save face.
What I find disturbing is how patriotic-fanactic the US has become. So far that you cannot second guess anything the military does else be branded someting or another. This is a great pressure point that people allow. Once you allow yourself to to have a pressure point, people will learn to use it to get you to support anything.
Fact is the military works for the president, not the people. But the people will feel the backblast and suffer the burdens.
Countries like germany had to learn that fact the hard way.
Kerry made a really really stupid statement. When I first heard it I thought he was stuck in the '70s, when flunking out of college meant the draft. But there aint' no draft. When they explained it I understood he was bashing bush. Only thing is, basic rule, if you have to explain a joke it flopped. Kerry says some smart things, in such a stupid way it bites him.
We can't afford Kerry as a presidential candidate, he opens his mouth and says something the wrong way, and we lose. Doesn't matter if a lot of it is republican spin, if he didn't give them the opening, he wouldn't have to defend it.
Don't complain if the press doesn't cover Bush's comments about the democrats win America loses and terrorists win. Terrorism is the only thing that gets them votes. As bad as Iraq is, too many still jump at any mention of terror. This time Bush is the one not getting coverage.
I had thought similarly. The problem was I had only read a portion, THE portion people want to distort. After reading Olbermann's repeat of what he had said it cleared up.
Problem was, it could be misunderstood and easily distorted, either unwillingly by people like me who only heard part of it (but who did not attack) and those wanting to misunderstand it so they could add more fuel to their flames.
What I find annoying is that democrats screw up *ONCE* and all hell breaks loose while others can trash the sick and poor and lie and distort all they please.
Though I am a fool for thinking lead could shine as bright as gold.