1muddytruck-- I'd have to agree with you. I think many the politicians are so rehearsed that they will only say what they want to say. I do not think there are as many unintentional errors in their speech as they like to say. Many of the elected officials are lawyers or work very closely with lawyers. They know even if they misspeak people will remember it. Some might think it is funny others might be angered. Either way, I believe most of the "errors" are an attempt to make the politicians look more human. Nobody likes someone who is rarely wrong; they start to appear smug. So in the end I think Kerry said exactly what he was thinking, only to discover he royally screwed the pooch.

If his statement was an Innocent mistake in delivery, like he is claiming, then an apology to the troops is warranted and would not, in my opinion, be a sign of weakness. If he meant it how most people are interpreting it, he will continue to cry about how the GOP is mischaraterizing his statements and miss the opportunity to poke fun at the GOP in a larger forum.

 

Agenda for the 2008 democratic national convention


7:00 P.M. Opening flag burning.

7:15 P.M. Pledge of allegiance to United Nations.

7:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

7:30 till 8:00 P.M. Nonrsectarian, nonreligious
prayer and worship. Jessie
Jackson and Al Sharpton.

8:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

8:05 P.M. Ceremonial hugging.

8:15- 8:30 P.M. Gay Wedding - Barney Frank
Presiding.

8:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

8:35 P.M. Free Sadam Rally. Cindy Sheehan , Susan
Sarandon.

9:00 P.M. Keynote speech. The proper etiquette for
surrender, French
President Jacques Chirac.

9:15 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.

9:20 P.M. Collection to benefit Osama Bin Laden
kidney transplant fund

9:30 P.M. Unveiling of plan to free freedom fighters
from Guantanamo Bay.
Sean Penn.

9:40 P.M. Why I hate the Military, A short talk by
William Jefferson
Clinton

9:45 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

9:50 P.M. Dan Rather presented Truth in
Broadcasting award, presented by
Michael Moore.

9:55 P.M., Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

10:00 P.M. How George bush and Donald Rumsfeld
brought down the World Trade
Center Towers, Howard Dean.

10:30 P.M. Nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton by
Mahmud Ahnadinejad.

11:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

11:05 P.M. Al Gore reinvents Internet

11:15 P.M. Our Troops are War criminals , John Kerry

11:30 P.M. Coronation Of Mrs. Rodham Clinton

12:00 A.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

12:05 A.M. Bill asks Ted to drive Hillary home

 

Now that is hilarious. Or, it would be if it were not so true.

 

The snip is damning.
Listening to statements he made just prior would lead a reasonable person to believe that Kerry was talking about the President.

An unreasonable person would believe that he was talking about the troops and purposely commiting political suicide for his Party one week before an election.
It isn't much but, the Republicans can run with it for all it's worth and who knows, it may turn the tide and they can hold onto Congress next Tuesday.

This brings us to the 'Law of Unintended Consequences'.
1. Republicans Win.
2. We Stay the Course.
3. 15-18 year olds had best heed Kerry's 'altered' warning.

 

No I teach them to open their eyes and look around.

"Yes son...I know breaking down this brick wall with your head is hard but Stay the Course....keep up the good work...you don't want to be a quitter"

You can be an ideologue or you can be a realist...

I posted the clip...of course I looked at it.

But here is what was written in the speech:

Now I still think Kerry should apologize ...for his tongue slip

It is refreshing to see someone your age interested in politics and the world around them but remember it takes more than reading headlines and 10 second clips to form an informed opinion. It is easy to do...heck I was kind of surprised he said it and my first reaction was..."What a moron" but when you actually look into it...it really wasn't what he meant.

 

 

Nope Vader, even if what you are saying is what he meant, he is still a moron.

 

I'm no Kerry fan...believe me...I can't stand him. He is smug, aloof, and probably truly means what he said but to be objective you have to look at both sides..

 

YOU ARE FULL OF IT!

(integrity, that is)

 

Just saw on local news where Bush said Kerry should apologize. Kerry commented back "I will not apologize to anyone"

*EDIT* As of now he HAS apologized for "botched" joke. Geez this guy needs to make up his mind....

 

He just apologized for "botched" joke. Right.

 

To tell the truth I did not (streaming video is blocked by our firewall here at work) although I did read a quote of the conversation. I think it's much ado about absolutely nothing. Even if he meant what was quoted, it's the truth... You don't see a lot of high school seniors with scholarship offers to Harvard turning them down to go serve their country. The military IS made up of primarilly lower-class young men. Are there exceptions? Of course.. There are exceptions to almost anything, but it doesn't change the fact that what was quoted is true much more of the time then it isn't. (And I don't believe what was quoted was what he meant to say.) Again.. Debuya sais something else then he intended to say atleast twice a week... Ultimately, this is nothing other then the Republicans trying to defer the media's attention to anything else other then their failed foreign policies in an attempt to get out of the spotlight. (And might I add the democrats would do the exact same thing if the positions were reveresed!) It's time to start holding our leaders accountable for their actions, and quit playing along with there games to defer your attention elsewhere.

 

You gotta just love the troops don't ya..

 

What you say about the military being primarily lower class is comparing apples to oranges. The argument is about education level and intelligence, not financial situation. Are you saying that poor people are inherently less intelligent? There were statistics just on the news (I dont remember the specifics) that indicated that even amongst enlisted, the military has a higher average level of education than the general public. It is true that many people use the military as a way to get higher education. However, that just furthers the argument against what Kerry said. Joining the military to improve your place in life IS working hard and applying yourself to get a better education.


As to your argument about the military being made up of mostly lower class, that is also completely untrue:

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Nat...y/cda05-08.cfm

Here is a report showing that the demographics of military recruits' household income prior to enlisting is actually a little higher than the median general public



BTW, I'd like to see any one of those Harvard scholarship high school seniors (wait a minute, if he or she is smart, he must not be lower class and must not need a scholarship) try to get accepted to any of the military service academies, whose standards for entrance are FAR more stringent than Harvard.

 

I'd definately agree that people that are less intelligent are often poorer then those with more intelligence. This comment may not be real popular with both the less then intelligent, aswell as the poor, but it's still the truth.

And what percentage of our young men fighting in Iraq were accepted into the military service academies? 1%? (Talk about comparing apples to oranges.)