Comments on Botched Joke vs. Botched War

No doubt Republicans accuse any Dem who negotiates rather than imposing his/ her will as soft on terror. But are you saying that you think the U.S. should completely fence in Bagdhad and route all traffic through a couple dozen checkpoints? Or that if the Prime Minister of Iraq makes a demand of the U.S., that the U.S. should simply snub him and refuse to negotiate or conceed in the least? The Bush administration probably made the right decision here, and I hardly see being responsive to the puppet government the U.S. created as the same thing as the U.S. President ceding all authority over U.S. troops to Iraq's Prime Minister. Treating over a million city residents like terrorists and choking the economy of the nation's largest city probably isn't the best strategy for "winning hearts and minds"-- assuming the Bush administration ever cared about what real Iraqis want anyway.

dan,

opinion is one thing but the fact of the matter is that john kerry didnt mean this as a joke ,i have seen the footage in its entirety and i have to say he was not joking. though i agree things may not be going as well as they could it doesnt justify john kerry making a blanket statement about the military. let me ask . have you ever tried to join the military? its not as easy as you think. it takes way more than straight a's to get into any military academy. i personaly know people who didnt pass the asvab on the first try .granted i dont hang out with the brightest people but, thats my point they dont just let everybody who wants to be there in. john kerry is not who he portrays himself to be and to blame the gop and george bush for his ultra bad taste is ridiculous . our army is 100 percent voluntary and offers alot of opportunities that some people would not have other wise.

bush's hostage crisis?? could we see an inversion of the carter/reagan era where bush plays carter to obama/hillary/et. al.'s ronnie?

But, but ... Dan; I mean, isn't Bush following your stirring neo-Marshall Plan (again I call it the Dan Plan) for the triumph of truth, justice, & the American Way? Iraq is your baby, your monument. Don't throw it out with the bathwater!

(And about impeachment: Could we maybe start with you? At what point did the imperial media ascribe to itself immunity? Why should you be allowed to mislead us again? Inquiring minds want to know.)

David. I understand what you are saying. There are many brilliant, kind, educated and good people who have volunteered for military service. People who could do many other things, and be a success.

The honest truth is, though, that while people with opportunity do occasionally join the military for personal reasons (honor, true patriotism, a desire to blow things up and stay out of prison, etc), for someone who has grown up hard it is one of the very few ways to escape the extreme poverty.

Someone growing up in inner-city Detroit or Baltimore filled to the brim with talent has very few outlets to really grow beyond the military, particularly after the Bush cuts in education grants, federal public school grants, and so on.

What are you talking about Dan - it IS Clinton's fault! Everything BAD that happens in the world (that is, BAD if you're a card-carrying member of Goons On Parade) is Clinton's fault, and always will be, until the day Jeebuz comes down the celestial escalator to take the righteous to their just reward in the City Paved With Gold.

And if any of the True Believers don't get their Eternal E Ticket - well, that'll be Clinton's fault, too.

I've also seen the Kerry footage in its entirety. Not only is it obvious that what he said was a joke (the audience certainly got it), but it was also obvious that he wasn't talking about the troops. He left out one word in his statement that would have clarified what he was saying without any doubt. That word was "us."


"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 us stuck in Iraq."

Dan, you miss the most important point: the missing U.S. soldier is of Iraqi descent. He's just another brown person, and thus, expendable.

Not only that, but now US troops are taking orders from Iraqi elected officials. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside ... ok, where can I puke?

Now Kerry has apologized for what right wing bloggers said that he said; great way to look like a mega-pussy, and not to mention the fact that Bush, Rummy and Darth Cheney have never apologized for causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

Meanwhile, we’re still not addressing any of the impending crises facing the nation.

Are Americans really this flat-out stupid?

yes, and proud of it. ;-)

Um, I'm surprised that I have to point this out. If what Kerry meant to say was what was in his original statement, it was just very stupid to say. People have always joined the military for many reasons. I was a top student at a top school in NJ and I still took the ASVAB. I seriously considered the military. Ultimately I went to college, but sometimes wonder what else I could have done (I have done very well). However, if what Kerry meant to say is what is contained in his revised statement then the joke is on him. He was a worse student at Yale than Bush. Granted, not by a statistically significant amount, but nonetheless worse. And Kerry got 4 Ds. Not even Bush got more than 1 D. 4 Ds is quite a few Ds. Surely, he was describing an ass like himself. The key thing of course is our military is volunteer. It isnt the only option, just an appealing one.

This is important because it is the same old Kerry. Saying one thing, not making much sense, revising it and convincing people he is even a bigger dope. It is easier to stick by what you said and apologize.

Granted, none of this means much. It does mean that Kerry is still the same clown he always was though. I'm surprised the Dems dont put him out to pasture. He probably cost you guys some seats in the house. I'm a libertarian anyway, so I love to see both parties suffer.

so, Web, you admit you hate America then. figures. the suffering is our country ...

War? There's a war on?