I guess some troops were offended

[Revolution]

For all you brilliant people that were defending Kerry saying politicians are blowing it out of proportion, it looks like some of our troops didn't take too kindly to it either.

This poster here is hilarious. I bet when Kerry saw it the first thing he said to himself was they need to learn how to spell, because there is no way a soldier could be bright enough to come up with something so clever.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11022006...washington.htm

Thanks for the link, Ken Mehlman.

[Buffymommy]

Rep or Democrat. I don't care what he is, but that was a dumb comment. He deserves their anger.

[GenuineRisk]

I think it was a misinterpreted bad joke, not a dig, but I did find the soldiers' banner funny, nonetheless. Of course, since the only news access the gov't gives them is what the current Administration thinks is appropriate (did you all know that? That your tax dollars pay for the soldiers to get free Rush Limbaugh?) I wonder if they'll ever get the full story. From Andrew Sullivan (again-- what's up with me spending so much time at conservative webblogs?)

<<Maybe this story isn't over. I've been thoroughly persuaded by John Derbyshire and Christopher Hitchens that John Kerry's words were indeed a botched joke. The clincher for me was the actual prepared text, which I confess I hadn't seen till I watched the Daily Show (where I tend to get the news these days) last night. The actual text was that if you didn't work hard, "you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."

Now, I may be typical of many people's real-time response to this piece of "news." When I first heard the remarks, I cringed and was appalled. When I saw the context, I could see what Kerry might have meant, but also saw the need for him to apologize for the way his spoken remarks could have plausibly been misinterpreted. I stand by that. But now I also see the prepared remarks in black and white, I have a third wave of sentiment. I agree with Jay Nordlinger here:

"When you see Kerry's prepared text — I guess you would have to accept it as authentic — you can see precisely what Kerry meant: Bush is stupid, he has always been a slacker, that left him unprepared to lead in Iraq, blah, blah, blah."

So the debate over what Kerry actually meant is now over.

Now what do I next remember? I remember that the president vehemently went after Kerry, as did McCain. Now, when a president decides to do such a thing, his staff have examined the upsides and downsides every which way. They are paid to know any possible backfire for the remarks. And Rove is very smart. So this much I now know: knowing full well that he was deeply distorting Kerry's meaning, the president used the quote full-bore to impugn Kerry's commitment to the troops - and to help turn the base against the Democrats.

I know it's politics. I'm not naive. But it's also revealing about someone's character that he could authorize and exploit such a thing. Most fair-minded people will have to concede that, in retrospect, this was a very, very, very low blow. It hadn't sunk in for me till last night how low. In retrospect, this incident says much more about Bush than about Kerry. I'll bet I'm not the only one mulling that over this morning.>>

But, the banner still made me laugh.

The banner is hilarious. It's unfortunate the troops can't give their opinion of the Commander in Chief. I bet the banners would be comedy gold.

One thing I respect about Kerry is that he's man enough to admit a mistake and apoligize for it. Can't say the same for Bush. Hell will freeze over when he apologizes for the mess he's got the troops in.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Pillow Pants

The banner is hilarious. It's unfortunate the troops can't give their opinion of the Commander in Chief. I bet the banners would be comedy gold.

One thing I respect about Kerry is that he's man enough to admit a mistake and apoligize for it. Can't say the same for Bush. Hell will freeze over when he apologizes for the mess he's got the troops in.

PP, Bush won't ever apologize for it because he doesn't think it's a mess. It's the thing with the fundamentalist mind-set-- admitting fault would be like admitting God is fallible, since they believe so many of their decisions come from God. Ergo, it can't be a mistake or a mess, because he doesn't make mistakes. Under what other circumstances could anyone believe Rumsfeld is doing a "terrific job?"

Now, why he won't fund or staff the troops properly, I have no idea...

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

PP, Bush won't ever apologize for it because he doesn't think it's a mess. It's the thing with the fundamentalist mind-set-- admitting fault would be like admitting God is fallible, since they believe so many of their decisions come from God. Ergo, it can't be a mistake or a mess, because he doesn't make mistakes. Under what other circumstances could anyone believe Rumsfeld is doing a "terrific job?"

Now, why he won't fund or staff the troops properly, I have no idea...

So what you're saying is he's crazy?

[Revolution]

Originally Posted by Pillow Pants

The banner is hilarious. It's unfortunate the troops can't give their opinion of the Commander in Chief. I bet the banners would be comedy gold.

One thing I respect about Kerry is that he's man enough to admit a mistake and apoligize for it. Can't say the same for Bush. Hell will freeze over when he apologizes for the mess he's got the troops in.

There are a few things to respect about Kerry, but one of them isn't being man enough to admit a mistake. The only reason he apologized is because his own party was pissed at him. He could have apologized right away, but didn't because he isn't big enough to admit when he is wrong.

The people that worked for his campaign in 2004 said he lost to that idiot Bush because he never would admit he was wrong and didn't listen to his advisors because he and his wife were never wrong. Spend millions on advisors and never listen to them. Brilliant.