Wednesday, November 2: Howard Kurtz has a Kerry reaction round-up. Thanks for the shout out!
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Update: From the horse’s mouth.
Commenter Larry says:
“I very seldom agree with you but I come back to your blog because I think essentially you’re an honest person. Your response to the Kerry situation is the same as most Republicans would respond to the latest gaffe from Dennis Hastert or John Boehner. The fact that you would give the benefit of the doubt to a man you dislike is a testament to you as a person and a thinker.”
Later…OK, so Instapundit linked to this post, which guarantees that many eyes will see it. It’s sad that I have to direct new conservative readers to the comment policy, but there you go. Politics makes some people irrational.
I’m also a conservative defending, if you will, John Kerry, who is unpopular with conservatives and Republicans. Some folks are offended because I said the conservative response was “fanatical.” You really shouldn’t get your knickers all twisted up because of something I wrote, but if you must…
No matter who are, how long you’ve been reading this blog, or how much you “love” me, I stand by this post and everything in it. If John Kerry’s aide made up the story about the prepared remarks, then he/she is a liar and Kerry really intended to insult the troops. If the aide’s story is true, then what I said is true: Kerry botched a joke. Until I see evidence to the contrary, I’ll err on the side of believing that in this instance, Kerry intended to insult Bush, not the troops.
One risk of running a public blog with open commenting is that people tend to dump all their frustrations on a blog just because there is a comment section. If you have issues with liberal bloggers and media defending Kerry, Kerry’s previous remarks about the troops, his military record, etc., I suggest you take it up with them, not me. This post is about Kerry’s mangled remarks from two days ago, and no other statement. If you’ve actually taken the time to follow the links in this post, you know exactly what I think of John Kerry and why.
Misread the post, read only half of it, don’t follow links, twist my words — liberals do it and conservatives do it. I’m used to it. But read and comprehend the post before you comment.
Even later (12:00 p.m.)…And commenters are still doing what I asked them not to do: posting links and ranting about Kerry’s previous statements about the troops. Some people just have a hard time focusing. All that MTV-style TV. Then again, who said conservatives were careful readers?
12:24 p.m.: Kerry apologized today for the botched joke. Satisfied? All is well with the world now… 
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I don’t like John Kerry.
During the last presidential election season, I mocked him for his condescending attitude toward “the poor” while living it up on his second wife’s first husband’s money. I excoriated him for misquoting and misapplying Scripture to criticize George Bush’s policies (and here).
I made fun of him for hanging out at black churches at election time and preaching diversity while his own campaign staff lacked diversity. I laughed at his so-called education policy, criticized him for being “pro-choice” even though he acknowledged that life begins at conception, and realized how utterly daft he was when he tried to ban the Swift Boat Veterans book that exposed his war stories as lies. (John, banning or even trying to ban a book guarantees readership.)
I called Kerry a racist for trying to appeal to blacks with talk of government programs and said that if he ever talked that way to me, “but for the daily struggle of living a Christian life, I’d curse him to his face.” And meant it. I was walking on clouds for months after he lost the election.
I’ve said much more about Kerry. Just check the Liberals-Kerry category if you really want to know. The point is, I don’t like him. I think he’s an arrogant, dishonest, unprincipled, pandering, condescending expensive suit. He’s a liar, and he annulled his 18-year marriage to the mother of his children. I think that stinks.
And, perhaps worst of all, he won’t apologize to the troops for giving the impression that he thinks they’re stupid, and he won’t humble himself and tell critics exactly what he was supposed to say! It’s not enough to go on the defensive and call Republicans “hacks…willing to lie.” Correct the record! According to a “Kerry aide,” he was supposed to say this:
“I can’t overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq.”
That’s a clear reference to Bush, who Kerry implies is dumb. But it came out like this:
“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. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
I’m trying to figure out why Kerry has not released his prepared speech to the press. It would clear up this whole mess (I contacted his office yesterday and requested a copy – still waiting). Instead, Republicans and conservatives have jumped all over this. As a conservative, I’m embarrassed that my “brethren” are willing to use our troops to score points for the mid-term elections. It was a botched joke, for crying out loud. Let it go!
Military men and women and their families are up in arms. Democratic candidates are canceling Kerry’s appearances. The White House is playing hard-ball instigator. The conservative blogosphere has lost its collective mind.
Think about it, people. Do you really believe that John Kerry, a war veteran, thinks American troops are dumb or would say so publicly during a war in the midst of an election cycle? When I first heard about his remarks, I knew instinctively that he couldn’t have meant that. And I can’t stand the man!
Calm down. Get a grip. Take a pill. Blog about something that makes sense. Kerry’s mangled remarks aren’t worth it, in my view. So you rally your readers against him and enjoy the thrill of yet another blog swarm. But it’s based on nothing.
Are there any voices of reason on the Right???
(Photo source: Ann Johansson/Associated Press)
