RonCerr2
11-01-06, 11:52 AM
From BBC News:
Kerry under fire for Iraq 'joke'
Former Democratic US presidential candidate John Kerry is facing angry criticism for comments made to students about the war in Iraq.
On Tuesday the White House demanded he apologise for saying failed students could get "stuck in Iraq" as soldiers.
But Mr Kerry refused, saying the target of his "botched joke" was Mr Bush's "broken policy" and not US troops.
The war of words comes just days ahead of US mid-term elections, which could hinge on the issue of the war in Iraq.
Mr Kerry, speaking to a group of California university students on Monday, said: "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."
He added: "If you don't you get stuck in Iraq."
The BBC's James Coomarasamy, in Washington, says the White House seized on the comments to attack the decorated Vietnam War veteran and by extension his party.
On the campaign trail in Georgia, President George W Bush described the comments as "insulting and shameful" and called on his former rival to apologise to servicemen and women.
"The members of the United States military are plenty smart and they are plenty brave and the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology," Mr Bush said.
Mr Kerry refused, saying that the comments were merely a badly delivered joke intended to be a criticism of Mr Bush's "botched war".
He said Republicans were refusing to debate real issues of foreign policy.
"It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who've never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did," he said.
Okay, while I dislike the man's public personna, I don't for one second believe that GWBush is in any way a stupid man - regardless of who your old man is, you have to be pretty sharp to become Prez. With this in mind, why does he adopt this idiotic 'plenty smart' idiom when he's speechifying? I understand that he's trying to 'appeal to the common man', but kerr-iste is it patronising.
Kerry was indeed an idiot to make that kind of a joke, and it is pretty damn insulting to the average soldier (who I'm damn sure is just as smart as the average Joe), but is it not equally insulting for Bush to come back with that kind of anti-intellectual remark? If the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces can't string a sentence together without sounding like he's addressing a meeting of a local lynch mob, how does that reflect on his men on the ground?
Do Americans actually like being patronised by their President? Just askin'.
Kerry under fire for Iraq 'joke'
Former Democratic US presidential candidate John Kerry is facing angry criticism for comments made to students about the war in Iraq.
On Tuesday the White House demanded he apologise for saying failed students could get "stuck in Iraq" as soldiers.
But Mr Kerry refused, saying the target of his "botched joke" was Mr Bush's "broken policy" and not US troops.
The war of words comes just days ahead of US mid-term elections, which could hinge on the issue of the war in Iraq.
Mr Kerry, speaking to a group of California university students on Monday, said: "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."
He added: "If you don't you get stuck in Iraq."
The BBC's James Coomarasamy, in Washington, says the White House seized on the comments to attack the decorated Vietnam War veteran and by extension his party.
On the campaign trail in Georgia, President George W Bush described the comments as "insulting and shameful" and called on his former rival to apologise to servicemen and women.
"The members of the United States military are plenty smart and they are plenty brave and the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology," Mr Bush said.
Mr Kerry refused, saying that the comments were merely a badly delivered joke intended to be a criticism of Mr Bush's "botched war".
He said Republicans were refusing to debate real issues of foreign policy.
"It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who've never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did," he said.
Okay, while I dislike the man's public personna, I don't for one second believe that GWBush is in any way a stupid man - regardless of who your old man is, you have to be pretty sharp to become Prez. With this in mind, why does he adopt this idiotic 'plenty smart' idiom when he's speechifying? I understand that he's trying to 'appeal to the common man', but kerr-iste is it patronising.
Kerry was indeed an idiot to make that kind of a joke, and it is pretty damn insulting to the average soldier (who I'm damn sure is just as smart as the average Joe), but is it not equally insulting for Bush to come back with that kind of anti-intellectual remark? If the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces can't string a sentence together without sounding like he's addressing a meeting of a local lynch mob, how does that reflect on his men on the ground?
Do Americans actually like being patronised by their President? Just askin'.