44 Comments

1. Captain Hate:

Hubris, thy name is Lurch.

Oct 31, 2006 - 2:45 pm 2. Charlie (Colorado):

Unfortunately, “none of the above” isn’t an option.

Oct 31, 2006 - 3:02 pm 3. Ray:

In 1972, the head of admissions at Harvard turned down John Kerry’s application for admission because he had a “less than honorable” discharge. It was felt that this would prohibit Kerry from being accepted by the bar. It took six more years before Kerry improved his discharge by having it annulled and reissued with President Carter’s signature in 1978.

Carter also forgave those that had fled to Canada to avoid service in Viet Nam and issued a blanket pardon to encourage them to come back.

John Kerry still refuses to sign Form 180 which will release those records showing his less than honorable discharge.

Kerry’s public disdain for the American military remains “less than honorable”.

Oct 31, 2006 - 3:08 pm 4. David Thomson:

“Unfortunately, “none of the above” isn’t an option.”

That’s right. We live in the real world and must often choose between the lesser of evils. Republicans are currently the only game in town. The Democrats are out to lunch. John Kerry is not a marginalized figure—but a “mainstream” leader of the party.

Oct 31, 2006 - 3:27 pm 5. Buddy Larsen:

The most odious human being in national politics, bar none. And that’s saying a mouthful.

Oct 31, 2006 - 3:33 pm 6. patrick neid:

clearly a Rove employee.

Oct 31, 2006 - 3:51 pm 7. photoncourier.blogspot.com:

“an election in which both parties deserve to lose”…the question isn’t what *they* deserve, it’s what *we* deserve, and we don’t deserve the kind of catastrophes which would be brought about by Democrats with the levers of power in their hands.

Oct 31, 2006 - 4:05 pm 8. photoncourier.blogspot.com:

Specifically regarding Kerry’s comment: it was obviously insulting to anyone who is, or who ever has been, in the military, and I don’t think his “explanation” makes much sense.

Also, though, the attitude portrayed in the comment is damaging to society in another way: it encourages anyone who has or is getting a college degree, regardless of how easy and/or useless the course of study, to feel a sense of unmerited superiority to the undegreed. It increasingly seems to me that the desire to look down on one’s fellow citizens is a defining attribute of modern “progressivism.”

Oct 31, 2006 - 4:08 pm 9. Dave:

Ray, do you have a cite for Kerry getting turned down for Harvard Law by virtue of a less than honorable? I know it is strongly suspected, and I would love to see the proof, but the last I heard, everything was still locked up by the Kerry stonewall.

Oct 31, 2006 - 4:19 pm 10. GaryK:

If I were Ketchup boy I’d clutch my Magic Hat real tight and keep my mouth shut. But, life being what it is, Kerry can’t keep it shut and the logorrhea just keeps rolling on.

Oct 31, 2006 - 4:40 pm 11. Rhod:

Kerry was almost certainly telling (his) the truth in his press conference, and this is much worse than any random comment on the troops or Presidents. He’s simply too slow-witted, solipsistic and crude to articulate a clear idea, so any interpretation is possible, and any explanation of meaning is convincing. He doesn’t understand what he’s saying most of the time, but simply observes himself saying it.

This is why Kerry is so complicated. He’s a dissembling dolt, but so remote from the meaning of his words and expressions and so bewitched by his own droll cleverness that he has no fixed position on anything except uncertainty.

His complaints about complaints about him therefore have some validity. He’s the most non-objective man in politics today, except for the loon Al Gore. Ellen Goodman was right. Get this idiot off the stage before he runs for President again.

Oct 31, 2006 - 4:46 pm 12. Carl Spackler:

One of the ways I put people in perspective is to imagine some time in the future if there would be any biographies of them, and if anyone would care to read them. Another future reading would be their speeches and letters. Kerry, 0 for 2.

Oct 31, 2006 - 4:55 pm 13. Rhod:

Carl:

It’s hard to imagine Kerry leaving anything of value, except le chapeau magique for some musty Boston shrine to moribund northeastern liberalism. Or maybe his Churchillian diaries from The Delta, where he speculates on the tragedy of his own death. But his story has already been told. “Being There” sums it up, except for the simple-minded decency of Chance.

Oct 31, 2006 - 5:18 pm 14. Ray:

Dave,

I am not a computer expert, however; the place that I found out about Kerry’s discharge was as follows:

I googled “John Kerry discharge”. The second listing stated “Kerry’s Discharge is Questioned—”. The article is called “Kerry’s Discharge Is Questioned” by Thomas Lipscomb, published in the New York Sun, dated November 1, 2004. The specific quote is near the end of the article and reads, “A member of the Harvard Law School admissions comittee recalled that the real reason Mr. Kerry was not admitted was because the committee was concerned that because Mr. Kerry had received a less than honorable discharge they were not sure he could be admitted to any state bar”.

Oct 31, 2006 - 5:19 pm 15. Bruce Wechsler:

Rhod: Somehow. your post captures the essence (or lack of essence) of Kerry. well and badly said, just like him.

Oct 31, 2006 - 5:20 pm 16. Roger:

Much as I admire “Being There,” Rhod, it does not really seem to fit Kerry. “Bought His Way In” would be a better title.

Oct 31, 2006 - 5:24 pm 17. Always right:

All of the above comments are true about Kerry, however, Kerry never miss a chance to put his both feet in his mouth (a good thing he is not an actor or comedian, his timing would be gawd-awful).

Imagine if he occupies the WH, we would have non-stop daily press conferences for Kerry to ìexplainî himself. Hard to picture Kerry blaming Ahmedinerjat (whatever the spelling) putting words into his mouth or being mis-interpreted by the world. Or maybe not.

Whew, we really dodged a real buffoon, didnít we? Thank you Ohio.

Oct 31, 2006 - 5:26 pm 18. Rhod:

Roger:

True enough. And maybe “Married His Way In” would also work.

Bruce:

Thanks, I think. Maybe saying something badly, while capturing or not capturing the essence, or lack of it, of Kerry, is an uncertainty principle that qualfies me for Junior Senator of Massachusetts. I apologize for nothing.

Oct 31, 2006 - 5:42 pm 19. jedrury:

This stupid Kerry comment fires the GOP base
but it will have little effect on the election because the House will go Democratic despite
it. The media spin is that Kerry is showing his cojones and will not allow any charge to go unanswered as he allowed the Swiftboats’ charge to get traction.

A day or two on this news story and the election veers back on the War.

So the House goes Democratic, perhaps, the best thing for a reality check. Let the mainstream voter see what type of party the Dems really are when they are in power. Let them cut off funding for War, and let the GOP get rid of the bad apples (Ney, Cunningham, Foley, etc.) and return to the true principles of conservatism, and let the Dems see what they can achieve with a divided Congress.

It sets the stage for more GOP presidential power in 2008 and beyond.

Oct 31, 2006 - 6:02 pm 20. Luther McLeod:

“but simply observes himself saying it”

Has Kerry ever looked beyond the mirror, has he ever listened to anyone other than himself? When you imagine that you are the grit of sand around which the pearl is built, how can you be challenged?

What a pompous ass.

I may be stupid, nay…even vengeful…in a way. But I think Kerry may have been the type of “leader” who gave rise to ‘fraggin’. I left, by the way, before that became ‘popular’.

His “here to serve” was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.

Hello Bruce.

Oct 31, 2006 - 6:16 pm 21. Lem:

“Poor John Kerry, he can’t help it…He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.” to paraphrase a note worthy politician.

Kerry’s reaction to calls for a retraction to his comment reveals a chronic malady of many liberals. That because he was in Vietnam, nothing he says about the military can be interpreted as disparaging. His military service endowed him with a kind of innocence. So he not need apologize.

The proponents of PC speech, for example, cannot themselves be accused of breaking it. African Americans, on account of the US racial unjust past, cannot themselves be racist, and so on.

Oct 31, 2006 - 6:36 pm 22. Rhod:

Kerry’s self-assigned absolution from all criticism on war matters because he served in Vietnam, is (or was) common among a lot of vets. I’m one, 25th Div 66-67, and as a rule, have avoided the company of VN vets for this and a few other reasons.

We need to say it. Many vets elaborate upon and promote the mystery of their service because it’s a sympathy-getter, and a kind of silent status which sets us apart from other men. It’s easy, because non-veterans sometimes participate in this little conspiracy by their deference and consideration.

Middle-age seems to have stripped this little vanity from most of us because we have other concerns now, and the war is just so much smoke. It’s curious to see Kerry hanging onto this fantasy of his so late in life. It’s of no political value, and makes him appear foolish to those of us with the same experience.

Oct 31, 2006 - 6:57 pm 23. wennejunk:

“It sets the stage for more GOP presidential power in 2008 and beyond.” -jedrury

While I agree this is a likely outcome, what I really want is not more presidential power (although I do want a Republican in ‘08), but more Congressional Power.

I want Congress to do it’s job, to stand up to the judiciary and refuse to let the Supremes, other judges and the Executive make our laws by default.

I want a Congress that stands firmly upon the powers they are supposed to wield and actually do their job.

Had they done this, Conservatives and Republicans (not the same thing), Libertarians and even a good share of honest Democrats (that would be larval-stage Republicans) would be standing in line to re-elect the current Congress and even increase the majorities held.

That’s what I want, instead, I get a nail biter where deep in my heart, I wonder whether retaining the majorities is a good thing or just not nearly as bad as losing them.

My son goes to Iraq in 14 months and I would like us to have moved solidly forward by then. Retaining the Republicans is likely to only maintain the attrition-based status quo.

Decisive defeat of an enemy, unencumbered by political concerns. Is is even possible today?

Oct 31, 2006 - 6:59 pm 24. Terrye:

This might hurt the Democrats this election. After all if all the Republicans have to carry the load for Foley then why shouldn’t the Democrats carry Kerry?

I could not help myself.

Oct 31, 2006 - 7:04 pm 25. Lem:

Don’t cry for Kerry… Terrye

Oct 31, 2006 - 8:02 pm 26. Dick Stanley:

Rhod, good analysis of Vietnam vets, but not all of us are like that. I think Kerry is rather unique, given that he gamed the system and only stayed in-country for what, three months? Most of the vets I know, particularly the combat vets in my OCS class, 504-68, Fort Benning, are embarrassed by the “didn’t get their parade” or “got spit on” mantra. Being called baby killers (thanks to Kerry, et al) was one thing, but being pitied is worse. Guys like Kerry perpetuate the pity for their own twisted reasons.

Oct 31, 2006 - 8:24 pm 27. Lem:

When dealing with our enemies John Kerry proffers nuance. But republicans?

“They are crazy”… “despicable republicans”… (I’m) “a real veteran, a real man.” – Senator Kerry.

Does Kerry owe republicans an apology?

Oct 31, 2006 - 9:28 pm 28. Gary Rosen:

Not every Democrat has the contempt for the military expressed by Kerry. But everyone who *does* have that contempt is a Democrat. Which is why many of the other Democrats (like myself) are becoming former Democrats.

Oct 31, 2006 - 10:00 pm 29. Rhod:

Dick:

Ah, memories of Sand Hill never go away.

I agree, and have found that most of us reject that characterization. The baseball cap and handlebar affectation is a creation of Michael Cimino and others in The Biz, and it preceded the actual type rather than the other way around.

But Kerry is still a puzzle. I think while “we” are angry at him, some part of me, at least, still understands and knows his real story, but I dismiss the narrative he’s made of it.

While I blogged against him with the rest of us during the 2004 campaign, I can only find myself moderately pissed at him for his endless sideways disparagement of veterans. He’s simply too bizarre and unnatural to make a mark on anyone except those of his own kind, and lots of them are veterans.

At his age, this relentless fixation on military plumage and the variations in intelligence between, say, himself, and an 11B is more than slightly mad.

I didn’t mean to classify most, or even many, VN vets in this way. I just recognize Kerry’s fiction, and wherever it comes from in him, he’s not alone with it by any means. Among the horrors of war is having to watch a man like Kerry for almost forty years. It just never goes away.

Nov 1, 2006 - 4:22 am 30. ricpic:

If Kerry’s latest gaffe has energized the Republicans’ conservative base he may have just handed them the election. We shall see.

Nov 1, 2006 - 4:23 am 31. Captain Hate:

This is what happens when you put a loose cannon like Dean (with major input by Kos) in charge of a major political party. Even Rove couldn’t come up with a better scenario than to send an arrogant loser like Kerry out stumping for other candidates; now it’s about him and his lack of an “exit strategy” to get his foot out of his mouth. Meanwhile you have a deranged Kossack stalking Allen in Virginia and making a spectacle of himself being wrestled to the ground.

The Dean Donks: The party of Manson family values.

Nov 1, 2006 - 4:41 am 32. RandMan:

Sen. Kerry has really mishandled his gaffe. Evidently it was a botched punchline to a joke at GWB’s expense. His gaffe turned it into an insult of military personnel. While I don’t usually give advice to Democrats, he should do something like this:

“Ladies and gentlemen, a comment of mine from a speech I gave has come under intense criticism from both political friends and foes. And rightly so. I was trying to make a politcal joke and I badly mangled the punchline. My gaffe accidentally turned the punchline into something I never meant, the demeaning our military personnel. Having watched my gaffe, I understand why many are angry with me. I would be angry too if someone else said the same things I did. Please accept my humble apology for my mistake. Thank you.”

Will he do it? Who knows.

Nov 1, 2006 - 8:22 am 33. Buddy Larsen:

Randman, do you really believe that it was a botched punchline? I ask because I’m wondering if my own perceptions of the video are being colored by my intense dislike of Kerry’s type.

Nov 1, 2006 - 9:21 am 34. Buddy Larsen:

To me, this here, a quickie comment from VDH, contains the largest truth of the matter.

Nov 1, 2006 - 9:30 am 35. Fausta:

a botched punchline
More like a Freudian slip-and-fall.

Nov 1, 2006 - 9:40 am 36. Buddy Larsen:

Sorry to paste this long snip from the VDH link, but I just can’t help myself:

The Democrats should use this occasion to have an autopsy of Kerryism, or this strange new tony liberalism, that has turned noblisse oblige on its head. It used to be that millionaire FDRs and JFKs felt sympathy for those of the lower classes and wished to ensure that the hoi polloi had some shot at the American dream. But today’s elite liberals-a Howard Dean, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, George Soros, Ted Turner-love the high life and playact at being leftists simply because they are already insulated from the effects of their own nostrums that always come at someone poorer’s expense while providing them some sort of psychological relief from guilt. Poor Harry Truman must be turning over in his grave-from bourbon, cigars, and poker to wind-surfing and L.L. Bean costume of the day says it all.

Nov 1, 2006 - 9:46 am 37. jedrury:

The media is really trying hard to control this election; Time cover of the president as “the Lone Ranger,” Newsweek something about “out of control,” the Economist asking “Cut and Run?” Brian Williams (NBC) almost shouting nightly the headlines of the recent polls or the death toll in Iraq. You can just sense the palpable energy from the MSM press, fangs exposed, claws out front. Meat, red meat.

The Big Guy at 1600 Penn just goes on doing what he does best; out there on the campaign trail making his legacy, a real legacy . . . not like that two bite piece of dung before him. He ignores the press. They hate him. He gives an exclusive interview to Sean Hannity, They hate him more.

What a guy, What a difference. Character.

Nov 1, 2006 - 12:49 pm 38. Steven Mitchell:

What Fausta said. Freudian slip was the first thought that came to my mind on the original Kerry comment, even before the later “nuanced” follow up.

If you want better Republicans, then we need a loyal opposition. Why is it imperative that the GOP be 100% pure? Maybe if we, for example, had 25 moderate Dem senators and 100 moderate Dem house members, it wouldn’t matter if the GOP was five or ten percent flake.

The complaint that the GOP “deserves to lose” is essentially saying: “As we have already conceded that you are the grown up party, while the Dems are not, you must be not slip at all.” Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. I bow to no one in my comtempt for the powers that be in the donkey party, but I think the Dem voters are capable of electing better than they do presently.

Nov 1, 2006 - 1:05 pm 39. Steven Mitchell:

P.S. You might think I deserve a couple of years of Nancy Pelosi as speaker. (Those that will reach heaven, must pay for their sins on earth. Sort of a secular purgatory.)

I can tell you that the Iraqi people don’t deserve her.

Nov 1, 2006 - 1:08 pm 40. Fausta:

Actually, Steven, my initial thought when I first heard him say it was “somewhere, Karl Rove is saying ‘There IS a God!’”

Nov 1, 2006 - 3:46 pm 41. RandMan:

Buddy –

One the one hand, I do think it was a botched punchline. On the other hand, considering he launched his political career with Winter Soldier and the like, it may be more of a Freudian slip after all. It’s a certainty that, so far, he’s really shown himself to be a real jack ass in this whole affair.

Nov 1, 2006 - 9:28 pm 42. Buddy Larsen:

Randman, I sorta go along with the idea that the guy spends all his time with people that spend all their time making sarcastic references to the war. Then he found himself on a campus, where that attitude is even more bold, and he–desiring rapport and approval–just laid it on out there, big as day. Sort of a verbal power-handshake. Solidarity and all. Hip, hip, above all act hip.

Nov 1, 2006 - 9:55 pm 43. Gary Rosen:

I don’t think it was a “botched joke” or a Freudian slip. But nor do I think that Kerry was deliberately (let me emphasize *deliberately*) trying to insult the troops. He just said it without thinking (and not thinking is one thing that JFKerry is very good at) because that is his natural view of the world, as well as that of his audience. He can’t imagine that anyone would think anything else.

He is like our friends in the MSM. We rail at them for trying to influence the election but frankly I don’t think they are that clever. *They* actually think they are being objective! And they are too stupid to know the difference. How many reporters do you think could get through law school, or business school, or engineering school?

Nov 1, 2006 - 9:57 pm 44. RandMan:

Gary, Buddy -

Your points are well taken. There is one certainty in all this, that this was an unforced error of biblical proportions.

Nov 2, 2006 - 12:07 pm

Write a Comment

Name:	(required, displayed)
Email:	(required, not publicized)
URL:	(optional, displayed)
Comments: