It came during a campaign rally for California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides. Kerry opened his speech at Pasadena City College with several one-liners, saying at one point that Mr. Bush had lived in Texas but now "lives in a state of denial."
He then 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. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
You can pretty well bet that the Republicans jumped all over this Kerry remark. President Bush started out, at a campaign rally in Georgia, by demanding that Kerry apologize to the U.S. troops for his remark:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush joined GOP lawmakers Tuesday in blasting Sen. John Kerry for telling a group of college students they could either work hard in school or "get stuck in Iraq."
"Even in the midst of a heated campaign season, there are still some things we should all be able to agree on, and one of the most important is that every one of our troops deserves our gratitude and respect," Bush said.
Bush added that U.S. troops deserve the full support of the government. (Watch Kerry say he won't apologize for criticizing the president and "his broken policy" -- 9:33 Video)
"The senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and shameful," Bush said. "The men and women who serve in our all-volunteer armed forces are plenty smart and are serving because they are patriots -- and Senator Kerry owes them an apology."
And right behind Bush, just about the entire Republican Party went after John Kerry:
White House press secretary Tony Snow, House Majority Leader John Boehner and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, lambasted the four-term senator and demanded he apologize.
[....]
"This is an absolute insult," Snow said at a daily press briefing. "Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this."
Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said the remark was "insulting" and called on "Democrat candidates across the country" to publicly denounce the comment.
"These Americans who are risking their lives in the fight against terrorism in Iraq deserve better than to have their service demeaned by a United States senator," Boehner said in a statement. "Our soldiers need John Kerry's support, yet John Kerry offers nothing more than disparaging commentary."
Arizona Senator John McCain had this to say about Kerry:
"Senator Kerry owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education," McCain said in a statement.
U.S. troops "deserve our respect and deepest gratitude for their service," he added and said the notion that only those with poor educations serve in the Iraq "is an insult to every soldier serving in combat."
"Without them, we wouldn't live in a country where people securely possess all their God-given rights, including the right to express insensitive, ill-considered and uninformed remarks," McCain said.
So why am reporting all these quotes from the Republicans? To really show you just how quickly the Republicans have latched on to this botched quote--shifting attention away from the Bush administration and Republican Party's own failed policy in Iraq. It is easier to attack a politician who has botched a criticism of the Bush administration's failed policy during an election year, than it is to defend that failed policy. And that is what the Bush administration is doing here.
Kerry even admitted that his remark was a botched joke. According to the New York Times:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 — Senator John Kerry tried this afternoon to put what he called a “poorly stated joke” behind him for good, offering an apology for anything he said on Monday that might have been interpreted as an insult to American troops in Iraq.
“As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loves ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop,” Mr. Kerry said in a statement. “I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member or American who was offended.”
The Massachusetts Democrat, his party’s standard-bearer in the 2004 presidential race and considered a likely candidate for the nomination in 2008, was trying to get past a furor that erupted after his remarks on Monday at a Democratic rally in Pasadena City, Calif. With the Congressional elections less than a week away, Republicans have pounced on Mr. Kerry’s remarks to try to gain a political advantage.
Kerry apologized to the troops. This issue should be dead--but it isn't.
The Republicans are going to milk this story for maximum political gain--it really doesn't matter how many apologies John Kerry gives out. This story shifts the political debate away from Bush and the Republican's own failure in Iraq, to a politician who is not even running for a seat. Here is the latest Republican attacks from the Washington Post:
Asked by talk show host Don Imus why he did not "apologize for the misunderstanding," Kerry said, "Well, I did. I said it was a botched joke. Of course, I'm sorry about a botched joke. You think I love botched jokes? I mean, it's pretty stupid."
[....]
n a midday news briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow dismissed Kerry's remarks on the Imus show and indicated that the White House wants him to apologize for offending the military.
"You know, two words really are sufficient to convey an apology: I'm sorry. And he hasn't," Snow said. "All he has to do -- it's really easy -- say, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend the troops. But, instead, there's always: I'm not going to apologize for going after the president. Fine. But there are troops out there who are clearly unhappy."
Snow added, "Senator Kerry's words were pretty straightforward. And if you listen to the tone of voice in which he said them, it's hard to construe them as a joke. It didn't sound like he was trying to make funnies. But again, look, this is simple. I mean, there was an insult delivered to troops, whether it was intended or not. And the way you clean the slate is say, I didn't mean to say it; I'm sorry."
In response to another question, the White House spokesman continued, "I mean, this is helpful advice. We're trying to help you out. We're throwing you a lifeline, buddy. Just say you're sorry. It's not hard."
Vice President Cheney was taking up the issue today, slamming Kerry in prepared remarks that were released by the White House ahead of a campaign appearance in Montana.
"Of course, now Senator Kerry says he was just making a joke, and he botched it up," Cheney says, according to excerpts e-mailed to reporters. "I guess we didn't get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it."
"As a leading Democratic senator, John Kerry needs to learn that the men and women serving in Iraq aren't there because they didn't study hard or do their homework," Cheney adds. "The all-volunteer force represents the very best of this country. They're smart, patriotic, exceptionally well trained, and dedicated to their mission. They are heroes, and they are the pride of the United States of America."
The subject also came up in an interview with Bush on "The Rush Limbaugh Show" today. After Bush provided an opening by lauding U.S. troops in Iraq at length and saying they "deserve all the support of the United States of America," Limbaugh remarked, "Yes. And then they turn around and get insulted routinely." Kerry is "now trying to laugh this off by saying he was talking about you," the conservative radio talk show host told Bush.
"Yes," Bush said.
"But clearly he has a Vietnam-era mindset, back when we had a draft, that if you didn't have a college deferment, you got drafted," Limbaugh continued. "And that's his thinking on who comprises military members: that they're basically uneducated rubes."
"Yes," Bush replied again.
Bush said later, "Anybody who's in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words. And our troops deserve the full support . . . of people in government. People here may not agree with my decision. I understand that. But what I don't understand is any diminution of their sacrifice."
This is the nature of the Republicans--attack, attack, and attack. The reason for these continued Republican attacks is simply to motivate their own conservative base to get out and vote for the Republicans--even though the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress has failed in every way to effectively govern this country.
Update: This little video is starting to make the rounds at YouTube:
Hat tip to Daily Kos user Jimstaro for the link.
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