Echoing Republican attacks on U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA) for his remarks during a speech at a campaign rally, a November 1 Rocky Mountain News editorial charged that Kerry's comment that “if ... you study hard and do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq,” was “elitist and patronizing and demeaning to the troops.” The same editorial, however, omitted Kerry's explanation that his comment was a “botched joke” aimed at President Bush, not the troops. It also failed to note the prepared text of Kerry's speech -- included in a graphic box elsewhere in the same issue as the News editorial -- which appears to support his assertion.

According to an October 31 Associated Press article -- which is posted on the News' website -- Kerry's controversial remark on October 30 “came during a campaign rally for California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides.” According to the AP:

Kerry opened his speech at Pasadena City College with several one-liners, saying at one point that Bush had lived in Texas but now ''lives in a state of denial.''

He then 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.''

That, Kerry said, was meant as a reference to Bush, not troops. Kerry said it is the president who owes U.S. soldiers an apology -- for ''a Katrina foreign policy'' that misled the country into war in Iraq, failed to adequately study and plan for the aftermath, has not properly equipped troops and has expanded the terrorist threat.

As The Boston Globe reported on November 1, “President Bush joined prominent Republicans yesterday in blasting Senator John F. Kerry for comments they said demeaned the intelligence of US troops, after Kerry gave a speech at a political rally where he said that students who don't perform well 'get stuck in Iraq.' ”

In the November 1 editorial critical of Kerry's comments, the News repeated Kerry's remarks before asking, “Only the dumb ones join the military and serve in Iraq?” The News further asserted that Kerry's remarks were “elitist and patronizing and demeaning to the troops”:

Preaching the virtues of education, Kerry told a group of California college students “if you make the most of it, you study hard and do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.” Only the dumb ones join the military and serve in Iraq? Where to start? It was elitist and patronizing and demeaning to the troops.

It was also, of course, just plain stupid. And just like in 2004 the Republicans hopped all over it, demanding that Kerry apologize.

The News editorial also repeated the criticisms of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who said that Kerry “not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this. This is an absolute insult.”

The editorial, however, did not mention Kerry's explanation that his comment regarding education and Iraq was a “botched joke” aimed at President Bush, not the troops currently serving in Iraq. While the News editorial did note that “Kerry lashed back fast and hard: 'I'm sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did,' ” the editorial neglected to mention Kerry's explanation of his comments -- even though they were included in the AP article posted on the News' website the day before. (The article did not appear in the News' October 31 print edition.)

According to the October 31 AP article featured on the News' website, “Kerry said the comment in question was 'a botched joke about the president and the president's people, not about the troops ... and they know that's what I was talking about.' ” The AP further reported:

The Massachusetts Democrat called the White House attack ''a classic GOP textbook Republican campaign tactic'' that reveals Republicans' ''willingness to reduce anything in America to raw politics.''

''I'm sick and tired of a bunch of despicable Republicans who will not debate real policy, who won't take responsibility for their own mistakes, standing up and trying to make other people the butt of those mistakes,'' he said. ''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.''

Furthermore, a graphic box accompanying a New York Times article about Kerry's comments elsewhere in the November 1 print edition of the News included a side-by-side comparison of Kerry's remark from the rally and his “prepared text” for the speech. According to the graphic in the News, “Kerry's prepared text” read: “Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.” The News editorial also failed to include any mention of Kerry's prepared text.

From the November 1 Rocky Mountain News editorial, “Kerry's political instincts fail him again”:

Preaching the virtues of education, Kerry told a group of California college students “if you make the most of it, you study hard and do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.” Only the dumb ones join the military and serve in Iraq? Where to start? It was elitist and patronizing and demeaning to the troops.

It was also, of course, just plain stupid. And just like in 2004 the Republicans hopped all over it, demanding that Kerry apologize.

Indeed, Bush spokesman Tony Snow said at the White House briefing that Kerry “not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this. This is an absolute insult.” Kerry lashed back fast and hard: “I'm sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did. I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium.”