Tuesday, October 31, 2006

I get it...but it's still inappropriate

Kerry comments on the war and the troops

I’m sure everyone has heard or seen the comments made by Senator John Kerry, so I won’t repeat them. If you haven’t, then the link is provided. I understand what the Senator was trying to say. He was basically suggesting that Bush was not educated and was not attempting to take a cheap shot at the troops. I get it.

But the effect is obvious and the troops will not see it the way he intended. I can speak first hand of this. What he intended and what it sounded like are two very different things and it will obviously hurt him politically. His defiant attitude about it doesn’t help. The least he could do is issue a statement of support for the troops and clarify his attempted insult of Bush. But he refuses to do even that, which reaffirms my decision not to vote for him in 2004. I have seen nothing that comes close to resembling support for our nation’s military from this man, and his recent comments are no different. As a veteran, he should know better.

Senator Kerry could be better. He could be supportive of the military. He could be standing behind the President, saying yes there were mistakes, yes we will adjust our strategy, yes we will work together to solve the problems in Iraq. In fact, the entire Democratic party could be doing this. In my mind, it would go a long way in solving the Iraq problem and, in truth, would probably result in a landslide victory for them next week. Instead, they choose to guttersnipe like this, make snide comments that do no one any good, and demoralize the troops in order to gain political favor. It’s nauseating. Senator Kerry should be reminded that he too voted to remove Saddam from power, so he should be careful about criticizing the President for sending the military to war.

Senator Kerry, you DO owe the military an apology, and I hope you understand that enough to swallow your pride and issue that apology.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you really think the troops CARE about what Senator Kerry said? My opinion is that the majority of them are doing kegstands with the republican kool-aid and don't even recognize Kerry as a Senator.

--"he could be supportive of the military"

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think what Kerry said slams the military. I think it slams Bush and the quagmire in which he has subjected the military. --Deano

John Washburn said...

Dean,

The truth is that most military members aren't Republican or Democrat. In fact, they don't like politicians...period, because it's usually the politicians that screw things up so bad that the military has to go fix it. So don't defamate the military by grouping them in with the Republican party. But you are wrong on whether they recognize Kerry as a Senator. He is respected, though maybe not particularly like, as a properly elected representative of the people of Massachusettes. Be careful about your generalizations.

Speaking of Kool-aid, after your quagmire comment maybe you could tell the rest of us how it tastes. If you'd like, I could post for days on why Iraq is NOT a quagmire but is, in fact, a work in progress. However, I doubt you'd be interested...drink up.

Anonymous said...

Dean,

I don't think that it really matters whether or not the troops care what Kerry said, he should still apologize. Even if it is a hollow shell of an apology.

His comments, whether spoken in error or humor, are degrading to men and women who are serving our country. The last time I checked, he is paid to be a U.S. Senator, not a comedian. Therefore, he should leave the jokes to the comedians.

This is simply another example of the double standard that our country displays towards the Democratic Party. I for one could care less what the jerk says. However, if he were Republican, there would be outrage and you would likely be on a message board somewhere bashing him for being close-minded and backwards.

Robert

Anonymous said...

He wasn't talking about the troops. Why should he apologize to them? I understand that there would probably be a way to twist anything he would have said, and that this just so happens to be an easy one, but if he has stated what he meant to say, why should he apologize?

John Washburn said...

Allison,

George Allen was skewered for saying Macaca. He apologized. Do you think he was right in doing that?