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Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Kerry: Apologize? UPDATED

The Comment:

"Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., at a rally at Pasadena City College in California on Monday.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Reaction:

"If Kerry doesn't apologize, we're going to beat him to death until he does," said House majority leader John Boehner, a West Chester Republican, on Fox News.
(Source: Boston Globe, 11/1/06)

"The people who should apologize are George Bush and Mike DeWine for sending our troops into battle without body armor and without examining the cooked intelligence," said Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat trying to unseat Republican Sen. DeWine of Cedarville.
(Source: AP story, 11/1/06)

"What Senator Kerry said was inappropriate. Disrespect for our troops is when Steve Chabot votes against a $1,500 bonus for our men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Democrat John Cranley, a Cincinnati city councilman who is running against Chabot, a Westwood Republican, in Ohio's 1st District.
(Source: Cranley interview by Enquirer reporter Howard Wilkinson, 11/1/06)

"John Cranley continues to refuse to stand up for the brave men and women serving in our military, choosing instead to stand with Sen. John Kerry who will not apologize for insulting our troops," said Chabot for Congress spokeswoman Jessica Towhey. "It is outrageous that someone who claims to support our troops, their families and our veterans would not stand up for them and demand an apology. Our troops deserve better."
(Source: Chabot for Congress news release, 11/1/06)

UPDATE:

Boehner plans to keep talking about Kerry today in the following TV and radio appearances:
4:25 PM EST – CNN’s Situation Room w/ Wolf Blitzer.
5:30 PM EST – Sean Hannity’s nationally syndicated radio show.
9:00 PM EST – Fox News’s Hannity & Colmes

ANOTHER UPDATE:

"As a veteran I am personally offended by the demeaning comments made by John Kerry about our brave men and women in uniform. Our soldiers are not serving our country because they had no other choice. They are serving because they made the greatest choice of all-defending our freedom and keeping us safe. The fact that Sherrod Brown has received so much support from John Kerry and has remained silent on these comments is unacceptable. Unless Sherrod Brown immediately repudiates these despicable comments and returns Kerry’s money, Ohio voters will know exactly where he stands when it comes to defending Ohio men and women in uniform," said Ohio state Sen. Steve Stivers, who is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Ohio Army National Guard and has served in Iraq.
(Source: Ohio Republican Party news release, 11/1/06)

THE UPDATES CONTINUE:

The Republican National Committee just sent out the following link, attacking Brown for being disrespectful to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former Army general:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CjlMi2obYo


23 Comments:

at 3:57 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is so much ado about nothing. Can you really believe President Bring-it-on having the audacity to tell Sen. Kerry that "words have meaning?" To all television stations and networks - the airing of this blip, rather than the real issues of our nation- triggers instant use of remote control to change station.

 
at 3:57 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is really a non-issue. Yes, Kerry misspoke, and he's ruined any chance of a 2008 nomination. That was really over anyway, but he just drove the final nail in his presidential coffin.

 
at 4:24 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

As a veteran who served honorably, I think John Kerry owes those serving in the military an apology.

 
at 5:07 PM, November 01, 2006 Blogger Nasty, Brutish & Short said...

Memo to John Cranley:
Yes, a lot of people believe Kerry does not support the troops, and thinks they are stupid.
What he said is what he believes.

 
at 5:14 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jean Kerry should write a book called, "Why You Should Think Before You Speak." It can be co-authored by Mean Jean Schmidt.

Kerry is an embarrassment to this nation. And John Cranley and Sherrod Brown are a disgrace to this state for failing to soundly condemn Kerry's insulting comments. Shame on them.

 
at 5:27 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just a tempest-in-a-teapot, ginned-up pseudo-scandal that proves how desperate the Republicans really are. The real question is why the media are giving it more than 10 seconds of air. Must be a slow week for celebrity gossip.

 
at 5:29 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

john kerry supports the troops. ha.

welcome to the democratic party.

had enough? vote republican.

 
at 5:41 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

They all owe those in the military an apology for sending them into an illegal and immoraal quagmire based on lies. They cut their benefits and didn't give them the body armor they need.

Support our troops by bringing them home and treating the affects of the depleted Uraniam that is called "gulf war syndrome.

 
at 6:58 PM, November 01, 2006 Blogger Brah Coon said...

I guess he should have said: "Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you'll get to ride around the streets of Baghdad all day in 115F heat being shot at like a duck in shootin' gallery." sheesh, I dunno.

 
at 8:39 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

This whole thing is a perfect example of why I hate politicians.

AND I ARE ONE.

 
at 9:08 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chabothead and Laura Bush should apologize to the public for "cutting and running" from a joint appearance at a soldiers burial because it was not a good photo opp !

You see, Laura was scheduled to be in the area, but, cut and run because the community had to bury a fallen soldier !

PATHETIC !

HAD ENOUGH, VOTE DEMOCRAT 2006 !

 
at 9:15 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is so apparent that Kerry meant to say that Bush should've done his homework before going into Iraq - but, it is really, really sad that Republicans only hope is pinned on the tail of a donkey's joke.
WHo in their right mind could ever believe that Kerry would insult himself - a veteran as well as his fellow servicemen
what a joke - what a joke - onthe republican strategists

 
at 9:18 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Republicans need to apologize for sending our troops into harms way without cause or reason.
Do republicans really think that americans don't get this and can see the disgusting spin the republicans are putting on it?
Republican spin makes them look like the donkeys here

 
at 10:44 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who started a war based on lies and cherry picked intel?

Who had the hubris to say "Bring it On?

Who failed to have a contingency plan?

Who failed to provide proper body armor for the troops?

Who voted to cut veterans benefits?

Who allowed for 9 Billion dollars to go accounted for in Iraq?

Who allowed Halliburton , KBR and others to grossly profit from this war?

Who has misrepresented the conditions on the ground in Iraq?

Who caused a proliferation of terrorism due to failed policy in Iraq?

Who undermined generations of diplomacy with empty cowboy rhetoric?

Who ignored the advise of generals in troop levels needed?

Now who owes who an apology?

If you are still confused watch Keith Olbermann's commentary from tonight Nov 1st:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/01/olbermanns-special-comment-there-is-no-line-this-president-has-not-crossed-nor-will-not-cross-to-keep-one-political-party-in-power

 
at 10:48 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

pResident Bush made fun of not finding the WMDs at a black tie event while our brave military was losing lives. This is what is despicable! Watch this crass lack of empathy at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl0sfF2j1iQ

 
at 10:54 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Boehner praises Donald Rumsfeld and places the blame for the ONGOING FAILURE IN IRAQ on the Generals:

On today's (11/1) edition of CNN's The Situation Room, Boehner and host Wolf Blitzer had the following exchange:

Boehner: ...let's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld.

Blitzer: But he's in charge of the military.

Boehner: But the fact is the generals on the ground are in charge and he works closely with them and the president.

WHERE DOES THE BUCK STOP MR BOEHNER? WHO FAILED TO HAVE A CONTINGENCY PLAN? OR PROVIDE PROPER BODY ARMOR OR FAIL TO LISTEN TO THE GENERALS REQUEST FOR MORE TROOPS? THE GOP FAILS TO ACCEPT BLAME FOR THEIR FAILED POLICY IN AN IMMORAL WAR!

 
at 11:01 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

WHO HAS FORCED OUR TROOPS TO IGNORE GENEVA CONVENTIONS AND ADMINISTER TORTURE?

Revealed: U.S. Soldier Killed Herself After Objecting to Interrogation Techniques
The true stories of how American troops, killed in Iraq, actually died keep spilling out this week. Now we learn, thanks to a reporter's FOIA request, that one of the first women to die in Iraq shot and killed herself after objecting to harsh "interrogation techniques."

By Greg Mitchell

(November 01, 2006) -- The true stories of how American troops, killed in Iraq, actually died keep spilling out this week. On Tuesday, we explored the case of Kenny Stanton, Jr., murdered last month by our allies, the Iraqi police, though the military didn’t make that known at the time. Now we learn that one of the first female soldiers killed in Iraq died by her own hand after objecting to interrogation techniques used on prisoners.

She was Army specialist Alyssa Peterson, 27, a Flagstaff, Az., native serving with C Company, 311th Military Intelligence BN, 101st Airborne. Peterson was an Arabic-speaking interrogator assigned to the prison at our air base in troubled Tal-Afar in northwestern Iraq. According to official records, she died on Sept. 15, 2003, from a “non-hostile weapons discharge.”


She was only the third American woman killed in Iraq so her death drew wide press attention. A “non-hostile weapons discharge” leading to death is not unusual in Iraq, often quite accidental, so this one apparently raised few eyebrows. The Arizona Republic, three days after her death, reported that Army officials “said that a number of possible scenarios are being considered, including Peterson's own weapon discharging, the weapon of another soldier discharging or the accidental shooting of Peterson by an Iraqi civilian.”

But in this case, a longtime radio and newspaper reporter named Kevin Elston, unsatisfied with the public story, decided to probe deeper in 2005, "just on a hunch," he told E&P today. He made "hundreds of phone calls" to the military and couldn't get anywhere, so he filed a Freedom of Information Act request. When the documents of the official investigation of her death arrived, they contained bombshell revelations. Here’s what the Flagstaff public radio station, KNAU, where Elston now works, reported yesterday:

-snip

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003345862

SHAME ON THE GOP! APPLE PIE AND TORTURE.

 
at 11:06 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

WHO ABANDONED A US SOLDIER BEHIND ENEMY LINES?

George Bush just abandoned a U.S. soldier behind enemy lines on the order of Iraq's government

"Extra checkpoints were set up last week as U.S. troops launched an intensive search for a missing soldier, who has yet to be found.

Shortly after leaving Sadr city, U.S. troops dismantled other checkpoints in the downtown Karradah neighborhood where the soldier had been abducted, loading barbed wire coils onto their Stryker armored vehicles."



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/31/AR2006103100452.html

 
at 11:11 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

THE GOP IS USING SEN KERRY'S MIS SPOKEN COMMENTS TO DISTRACT AWAY FROM THEIR FAILED LEADERSHIP IN IRAQ. THE MSM IS FOCUSED ON THIS WHILE BAGHDAD IS UNDER SEIGE:

Baghdad is under siege

By Patrick Cockburn in Arbil, Northern Iraq
Published: 01 November 2006

Sunni insurgents have cut the roads linking the city to the rest of Iraq. The country is being partitioned as militiamen fight bloody battles for control of towns and villages north and south of the capital.

As American and British political leaders argue over responsibility for the crisis in Iraq, the country has taken another lurch towards disintegration.

Well-armed Sunni tribes now largely surround Baghdad and are fighting Shia militias to complete the encirclement.

-SNIP

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1945769.ece

 
at 11:46 PM, November 01, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

WAAA, he said my daughter is a lesbian, which she is and everyone knows, but he said it.

Kerry's Remark: Right either way

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Republicans evidenced their election desperation by braying about an offhand comment that Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., made at a California college rally.

"Education" Kerry said "-- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Was Kerry making fun of the president, or warning students against the pitfalls awaiting the undereducated in general?

It doesn't matter. Kerry was right either way.

Kerry wasn't saying -- regardless of the Republican spin -- that our troops are stupid.

Kerry's intended point was obvious. President Bush didn't do his homework before he ordered the invasion. He didn't study the intricacies of Mideast religion, culture, politics and tribalism. He wasn't smart about it and we are stuck in Iraq.

Although there are plenty of well-educated people in our armed forces -- Kerry was one of them -- military service has long been an opportunity employer for those with less education and fewer skills than they need to work in the private sector. Indeed, the military sells itself as a place to garner skills and to help pay for higher education.

And wars, including this one, are often fought by those less privileged -- albeit no less smart -- than the sons and daughters of those who lead us into them.

 
at 8:51 AM, November 02, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The country is dvided and the Vet's say it is all:

because of Iraq !

HAD ENOUGH, VOTE DEMOCRAT 2006 !

 
at 11:33 AM, November 02, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mr Boehner also needs to apologize for blocking the investigation of the Republican Sex Scandal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb1uNyLRpAQ

Rep Leader John Boehner (R-OH) blocks sex scandal investigation

 
at 5:21 PM, November 04, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

i think everyone is getting into one big hissy fit over nothing. yes he mispoke but i i think ppl interperted it differently

 
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