Never mind? Kos says he has the innocent ‘joke’ John Kerry meant to tell

Markos Moulitsas Zuniga at Daily Kos says Sen. John Kerry actually meant to tell this “joke” two days ago (and might Kos himself be joking?):

A. “I can’t overstress the importance of a great education. 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.”

Instead, Kerry told a crowd at Pasadena City College:

B. “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

Bad aim? If Kerry started with that script (A), it helps explain the ugly result (B). If he meant to say the words in Exhibit A, his ridicule apparently was meant for President Bush. (We’ll forget the fact that Bush’s Yale grades were higher than Kerry’s.)

Kerry simply may have flubbed his lines, accidentally implying that the U.S. troops in Iraq are there because they’re lazy and stupid. Republicans may be piling on Kerry too hard.

But you know, even if Kerry truly meant to target Bush alone, Kerry is not automatically absolved. If you intend to recite Mother Goose but blurt out a horrible insult instead, you don’t just move on (dot org). You stop and you apologize, and then you move on.

Frank Warner

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Update: Kerry today tells Don Imus, “I’m sorry about a botched joke.”

Imus: Well, why not apologize for the misunderstanding?

Kerry: Well, I did. I said it was a botched joke. Of course, I’m sorry about a botched joke. You think I love botched jokes? I mean, it’s pretty stupid.

But on the other hand, here’s what’s culpable and here’s what’s really unconscionable:  The White House knows it.

Now there, don’t we all feel better? Or should Kerry apologize again for lying when he said “I did” apologize? And on it goes.

* * *

Comments

[Kevin]

I bet he meant to say "A" as well. Which is why I just laughed at his idiocy when I heard it and didn't comment anywhere. But then he refused to apologize for what he said, because it wasn't what he meant. Big mistake. It's not the crime, it's the coverup :)

At least have the decency to apologize to the troops! Too much pride to do the right thing?

[Adam]

Coverup? No, this is more like refusing to take any more crap from morally bankrupt people and policies. If he had this attitude in 2004 then the whole swift boating bullsh#@t would have been stopped in its tracks.

[spike]

Haha, apoligize? Admit you were wrong?

Still waiting on President Bush to do the same, on countless issues that actually matter.

[patx77]

Yup, yup Kerry should apologize; 'cause we all know that every Red blooded American kid who graduates with an MBA or other degree decides to send 2 or so years in the service of his country rather then earning 6 figures in corporate world.
Yeah right, and in Wingnut world pigs have gossamer wings.

[jj mollo]

Yeah, well there is always the defense that he spoke the truth. I think we have the best military we have ever had and the most competent military personnel, and I think people who serve are to be admired. I certainly admire them. And I also think the war in Iraq is good and necessary, but Kerry doesn't.

The fact is that people who go to Yale don't usually serve or even join the reserves. Since Kerry sees the war as useless, he sees the soldiers as victims. Through the prizm of Vietnam, he sees that getting into college is a life or death issue.

From his POV, he is being pilloried now by the Republican political correctness police.

[tommo]

It must be really sad being you right now. It's not like us liberals all these years, knowing what a lying piece of filth The Current Occupant is and not getting the MSM to report the truth.

For you, the American public has come to know you and your kind. And the more they get to know you the more they hate you.

Hold your nose, you and the Repugs are entering the dustbin of history.

[jay k.]

how about making bush apologize everytimehe mispeaks. he wouldn't have time for anything else. or how about apologizing for when he doesn't mispeak, but just f's up. like "bring it on". the looking for wmd's under the sofa video. mission accomplished. etc. etc. the hypocrisy is staggering.

[fiskhus jim]

Under the provisions of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" travesty, the military are required to actively recruit under-achieving students from poorly performing schools.

So, what Kerry said is absolutely true - "Make an effort to be smart or you'll get stuck in Iraq."

[jj mollo]

tommo,

A Democratic victory this November, though I wish for it, will not change the facts of life. The next terrorist incident will wipe the smile off our faces. And wasn't it the Soviets who were always talking about the dustbin of history?

[Mary Rosh]

Kerry didn't mis-speak; both versions basically mean the same thing, and in fact the version he actually came out with was more to the point. It is more about USING your education than about getting your education in the first place. It's clear what he meant, the audience understood what he meant, and you understand what he meant. The Republicans simply took the opportunity to use our soldiers as shields to deflect criticism away from them. You go along with it because you are a lazy, cowardly, hypocritical piece of garbage.

[dubya]

maybe the WMDs are under this sofa. Nope, not there! Hahahahahahahaha! now THAT's a joke!

[patx77]

As to the militaries recruitment policies here is an example. My daughters friend who is now in Kuwait was 17, a definate non-grad and PREGNANT the military said no problem we can take care of all that for you, including the pregnancy, I guess abortion is prolife and antiterror when mom is going to kill "sandn******" as repayment. My kid is in collage and understands all too well what JK meant by his comment.

[Kevin]

Good Lord, did you get linked by Kos or something? Way to change subjects people! Yeah, Kerry thinks the military is full of idiots, but... WMDs! Frank is lazy!?

And most painful of all - jj, you wish for a Democratic victory?

[George]

OMG! The Bush derangement is out in full force.

I see lefties still clinging to the mythical stereotypes of the military being composed disproportionately by the underprivileged and minorities. It just isn't true; get over it.

Heh, and there is no way Kerry could stop the swift vets. He was in hiding the whole time because it was true. He wouldn't release his military records as promised to help clear it up. The MSM tried to protect him (no one reporter asked about the obvious lies of spending Christmas in Cambodia). In all of the brouhaha, the only retracted claim was Kerry's (Christmas eve in Cambodia) and it came from his biographer; Kerry could never admit it himself ("pompous ass" comes to mind). Now, Kerry is doing it again.

Kerry showed his defiance at the press conference, along with his statements that he never or would never criticize our troops. That pretty rich coming from the same guy that said our Vietnam troops "...had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam..."

[Kevin]

Update: Kerry finally apologizes to the soldiers. I wonder if the pseudo-liberals above think he's wrong for doing so.

[pete]

bad news kerry critics, follow the link and find out he is right

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/iraq/war/mfacts_people.html

[Kevin]

If pete's answer is any indication to my previous question... :)

[George]

Pete:
Let's look at some more recent data:
Debunking the myth of the underprivileged soldier

A new and comprehensive study of enlistment data by military analysts at the Heritage Foundation has found that the typical volunteer is both more affluent and better educated than the average 18 to 24-year-old American. That's right: The average soldier is more privileged than his civilian counterpart. And the gap is widening. As the study puts it, since September 11th, "more volunteers have emerged from the middle and upper classes and fewer from the lowest-income groups. ... Since 2001, enlistments have increased in the top two-fifths of income levels but have decreased among the lowest fifth."

And, while you're at it, take a look at the casualties for the Vietnam war. Minorities were not overrepresented there either.

[dubya]

look, if giving muqtada al-sadr veto over US military operations is wrong, i don't wanna be right.

[jj mollo]

Kevin, I am a Democrat. I have always been a Democrat except when I registered Republican so I could vote against Nixon twice. I am not comfortable with the Left Wing of my party, but I am less comfortable with guys like Tom Delay and Rick Santorum. I believe in liberalism, which is why I support the war in Iraq. I disapprove of Bush in almost every way except that. I am strongly opposed to partisan excess, so I am willing to support him as my president. Being a pro-war Democrat makes me something of an outcast, but I'm stubborn.

I admit, it's a close call these days. Both sides are so reprehensible, but I'm still a Democrat. I admire Bill Clinton often, Joe Lieberman most of the time and Al Gore some of the time. I admire Ralph Nader, but wish he had never run for president. I liked Barry Goldwater. I like George Will and William F. Buckley, and especially Milton Friedman. I admire Christopher Hitchens. I despise George Galloway. I am pro-choice, in favor of monogomy and gay marriage, opposed to divorce, in favor of paternal responsibility, generally in favor of gun control, offended by drugs but opposed to drug laws, against illegal immigration, in favor of enforcing the law, in favor of raising the minimum wage, in favor of funding no-child-left-behind, in favor of increased regulatory action, strongly opposed to monopolistic powers of large corporations, opposed to large salaries for CEOs and baseball players, against corruption and gambling. What else you wanna know? I believe that problems have solutions and that the government can help.

Most of my family is Republican so I have had to learn to live with them, and I accept that they are human.

[Frank Warner]

Boy, does that sound familiar.

[Kevin]

I was rooting for you jj (except for your Gore and Nader comments) until you said, "I believe that problems have solutions and that the government can help."

I'm assuming you didn't mean that the government can help by letting the people do their economic magic without the aimless cudgel of big government smashing their efforts in an attempt to help. You didn't mean that, did you? :(

[Frank Warner]

We need some government, but government should be neither aimless nor unaccountable.

Hey, Kevin, I used to work for Ralph Nader. I've voted for him a few times. I disagree with him on the liberation of Iraq, but he's done a lot of good.

On any number of matters before Congress, where our congressmen are lobbied heavily by favor-seeking big business -- and even by favor-seeking big government -- Nader repeatedly has been the only voice for the little guy.

I'm a liberal because liberalism is for the little guy. It's for defending the defenseless and freeing the oppressed. I belong to neither major political party because both fall far short of these high standards.

[eddie]

Would that you applied such rigorous analysis and criticism to the considerable and even more outrageous statements of our President. Why is there no outrage when he utters completely blatant lies like "I never said 'Stay the course.'"?

[Kevin]

*sigh* Sadly, we will never see eye to eye on this issue. I still haven't forgiven Nader for his part in the creation of the 'spend lots of time/money, save no lives' OSHA agency. He'd have to do a lot of good in the future to make up for that.

(imo)