Thank you Sen. Kerry.

all seriousness now. i was playing devils advocate before. What he said was wrong and inappropriate. If he hadnt said worse before I'd be more offended. I know it is inevitable for me to go to Iraq. So to me. Its him calling me dumb. As a Senator who represents my state. It makes us look even worse. Especially when the President said "That senator from Massachusetts".
Then you need to think. Who said the comment. Senator John Kerry. Couldnt expect anything else from him. no sense in being offended. So I've decided. No reason to take offense when he says it. He is a fool to begin with. But he should apologize and say whatever he had ment to say if he had ment to say something else.

Agreed - not particularly funny either way.

But this is John Kerry we are talking about, after all.

That's what Kerry said on Imus too - he forgot to say "us".

Not sure I buy it. 

But I still don't see how any version of this statement can be twisted into an attack on the military.  That just makes no sense.

Tae Kwon Do wrote: Right. The other debate using misrepresented and misinterpreted statements suck as well. "But others do it" = Not a good excuse. You know good and well what he intended, but would rather not admidt to it.

Not "others", YOU.  Just playing by the rules you play by.

And no, I DON'T know what he intended.  I think he said what he intended.  I think if we were not in an election cycle, no apology would have been issued.  Kerry just screwed up by opening his mouth during the biggest Democratic quiet periord so far this year.  I GUARANTEE the apology was not his idea...

RicWhic414 wrote: he said he was making a joke at the pres. i dont know if any of you have heard what he said but it doesnt really sound like a joke at the pres. to me... I think he should re-run for pres.

Kerry is a tool and is now trying to cover himself any way he can.  I don't believe any of his "apologies" or explanations any more than I believe the GOP spin on the issue.

Edited by Clark Kent - 01 November 2006 at 3:26pm

RicWhic414 wrote: how is that wow you cant not say anything bad about the armed services in this country and not be hated... so wow

I just had a conversation with a friend of mine where this came up.

His theory - there are some things that you are just not allowed to be critical about, not even a little bit.  These include, but are not limited to:

 - 9/11 Firefighters

 - Rosa Parks

 - The US military

His reason for why this is?  He theorizes that there is just enough truth in those criticisms to make us cringe.  Society doesn't like to think that it is disproportionately sending its poor and uneducated off to die, so instead we make unassailable heroes out of them.  Kind of a defense mechanism.

Interesting theory, I think.

good god your so smart

Anyways john kerry completely screwed the democratic party.
I can see the momentum changing hands, all he had to do was shut his mouth

Tae Kwon Do wrote: Feel good story, but not much to do with the quote at hand. Once again, he was not saying all people in the military are dumb. He just did not do it. To think that he did takes some hardcore blinders.

I'm sorry, I don't follow.  Let me quote it again, in case you missed it the first time:

John Kerry wrote: "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. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq"

That's an either or quote there.  Please show me where the third option is in there...

And don't play me this crap about what he meant, or intended.  There's plenty of debate on this forum about other misrepresented, misinterpreted, taken out of context and outright false quotes of political leaders on both sides.

His quote was elitist, condescending, and just plain ugly.  It's what I expect from most politicians, right or left.

RicWhic414 wrote: sorry TKD i was just typing fast but good job looking passed what I said and just going to the grammar because I forgot this is a English class

 

Past*

.Ryan wrote: I find that many current/ex-military folks seem to think that because you haven't done what they have done or seen what they have seen that you don't have a right to an opinion on military matters. Displaying such an opinion is perceived as arrogance.....

That's definitely true, but for the most part, unless you're familiar with the life, you really can't say too many things.  But there are certain matters that a civilian can have an opinion to.

Example- my journalism teacher talked about how the journalists in iraq were having just as much to worry about and were feeling the same things as solderis.  I flipped out, there's no way you can compare a journalist to a soldier, there just isn't.  Prime example being that the enemy isn't specifically targeting journalists embedded in a unit. If you'd like to argue that they're just as big a target, then give them the same gear as our soldiers.