Decision ‘08

More On JFK II

The Hotline On Call has a series of questions:

By making himself an issue, did Sen. John Kerry do the GOP a favor by giving them an issue to motivate their base? (Independents may not care, but the base hates Kerry… hates him.)

If Kerry is happy to let America know that he’s not going to take sleights, are Democrats happy to have Kerry in the spotlight seven days before the election?

Couldn’t Kerry have taken care of this imbroglio by admitting that he mangled his words?

Is it smart for any Democrat right now to take the spotlight? Shouldn’t the Dems want to keep the spotlight solely and totally on Bush and Iraq?

Does Kerry know how and when to pick his battles? Should Kerry respond to every ant bite with a gun?

Does Kerry have to respond to every Republican who picks on him… even at the expense of Democratic message unity?

Do Republicans really believe that Kerry wasn’t talking about Pres. Bush? (We believe that Kerry was referring to Bush because he’s used a similar formulation in our presence before and quite clearly meant to call Bush a dummy.)

Aren’t Republicans being a bit intellectually dishonest by taking Kerry out of context?

How many news cycles will this cost the Democrats?

Do independents associate Kerry with “strength?”

Will bloggers — smart and pragmatic — come to Kerry’s defense?

Will the media treat Kerry fairly enough to report on his comments fairly?

Do Republicans want to refight ‘04 about Iraq?

Okay, earlier, I claimed to our old friend mikebdot that it was obvious Kerry was talking about the troops…and from the formulation of the quote, I think that’s a reasonable conclusion.

Now, many people are saying, well, I’ve heard him use this quote before, only this time he mangled it, and he meant to say that Bush was stupid (as if that’s much better, insulting the Commander-In-Chief with schoolyard taunts for partisan gain while we’re at war).

Well, fine - he meant to insult Bush. Even so, he could have apologized for offending anyone, corrected the record, and done away with the story. Instead, as our friend mtl points out, by lashing out with the bile and venom we usually associate with Kos, Hamsher, and their ilk, he’s made a harmful issue for the Democrats with seven days to go until the election.

John Kerry, ladies and gentlemen…no matter how bad things are, remember this dolt could have been your president…

22 Responses to “More On JFK II”

1 mtl Says:
October 31st, 2006 at 6:34 pm
“Aren’t Republicans being a bit intellectually dishonest by taking Kerry out of context?”

the nuances of jfk have failed to address it.
2 fatman Says:
October 31st, 2006 at 6:40 pm
“Aren’t Republicans being a bit intellectually dishonest by taking Kerry out of context?”

No more so than Democrats are when they take Bush’s “I don’t care about Bin Laden” quote out of context.
3 mtl Says:
October 31st, 2006 at 6:42 pm
this is the democratic problem.

when they get in trouble, they turn inward. every dem advisor is going to tell kerry not apologize, or it will be worse. these are the same advisers from 04 and 02 and 00.

Find out what shrum believes and do the opposite.
4 mtl Says:
October 31st, 2006 at 6:46 pm
foley v. kerry.

one is a nationaly recognized figure, the other is not.
one can be dropped and ran aawy from, the other is still considered their parties nominee for 04.

independents are teh ones who want their pound of flesh as well. Base-wise, back a rat in a corner, and it will come out swinging. one is 3 weeks old and suppressed party identification, the other is current and ameliorates problems with the base.

the left hates bush, the right hates kerry.
5 mtl Says:
October 31st, 2006 at 7:15 pm
“The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa .”

which was distorted, to great effect into-

“The Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa .”

Probabaly not fair then, and equally unfair( but effective), now.
6 brassband Says:
October 31st, 2006 at 9:43 pm
So . . . Kerry really meant the “butt” of his “joke” to be Bush and not the Troops?

Does that mean that Kerry thinks if I don’t study hard and don’t do my homework and don’t become smart I will wind up as . . . . PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?!?!?

That’s even more idiotic than if the comment were intended to be about the Troops . . .

Besides, Bush went to Yale (like Kerry, but didn’t we learn after the 2004 election that Bush had higher grades at Yale than Kerry???) and to Harvard.
7 km Says:
October 31st, 2006 at 10:53 pm
First the New Jersey Supreme Court. Now John Kerry. Any minute now I expect Teddy’ll drive a girl off a bridge.
8 me Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 2:15 am
if I saw John F’n Kerry on the street I’d punch him in his f’n face.
9 Chris J. Breisch Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 8:25 am
There’s no doubt that at a moment when Mehlman and Rove are trying to figure out how to motivate the base, John Kerry is a gift from the heavens.
10 Chris J. Breisch Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 9:26 am
Still think there’s no media bias? Look at this: http://newsbusters.org/node/8746, http://newsbusters.org/node/8745. I don’t recall them hoping that Foley would go away.

Even this is moderately appalling: http://newsbusters.org/node/8752
11 Mark Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 9:32 am
Chris, that’s pretty rich, all right…
12 Andy Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 11:01 am
It was a treat to watch Kerry bloviate and take self-righteous swipes at Bush & McCain. If all we had to rely on was the print media, there may have been cause to claim that sKerry was taken out of context or that it was a Rovian trick.

But watching the footages makes it all to plain for anyone with eyes to see & ears to hear exactly what Kerry thinks of others beneath his exalted standing. T’was a lame attempt at an insiders’ joke with students and fellow moonbats at the soldier’s expense.

Everytime that fool opens his mouth, I am insulted and offended. It would take nothing less than a mugging by reality to redeem this joke of a man.
13 mikebdot Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 2:58 pm
Yeah, Kerry = Foley. Free speech = pedophilia.

Also, you are always the one to point at the left’s supposed hypocracy about not tolerating the intolerant, yet you seem to be insulting the man who could have been president, so, does this mean the following is true:

Mark = Kerry = Foley?

Disclaimer: Sure, freedom of speech can be full of self-righteous crap, but in politics that is quite frequent, and certainly not illegal…
14 mikebdot Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 3:08 pm
George Bush, may he remain a beacon of pure enlightenment for neocons everywhere. Via the Rude Pundit.
15 Mark Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Okay, so I’m equivalent to Mark Foley how, Mike? I anxiously await your reply…
16 Mark Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Hillary Clinton and Harold Ford have also called Kerry’s remarks inappropriate and worthy of an apology - are they, too, neocon equivalents of Mark Foley for saying so?
17 mikebdot Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 4:53 pm
I’m trying to use the strained logic that Kerry in any way resembles Foley. I’m in no way being literal. Your reader suggests somehow Kerry resembles Foley. I tried to strain logic that you resemble Kerry by insulting who could have been the president by calling him a dolt. You deride Kerry for insulting the president. I say, by way of strained logic they are equivalent. So if Kerry = Foley and Mark = Kerry, then Mark = Foley. It was a strained logic train, as it were. Intended to make myself chuckle. If nobody else chuckles along with me I could not possibly care less. I’m still chuckling though, anxiously awaiting 4:00 pm (when I go home).
18 Ed Capocy Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 5:10 pm
From: Edward J. Capocy Jr.
Phoenix, AZ

I’m amazed that this administration has the nerve to demand an apology from John Kerry for telling the truth. President Bush and his lackeys never apologized for anything they’ve done in the entire time they have held office. I demand an apology from them for selling off my rights as a citizen of the United-States.
Come to think of it, I demand a lot of apologies from them. Lets start with every lie they used to embroil us in a phony war in Iraq. Then they can apologize to the tens of thousands of our troops whose tours were extended two or three times.
How about an apology for raising our national debt to almost ten trillion dollars, while giving the top five percent of earners a trillion dollar tax cut, or for not protecting our borders and importing twenty-million illegal immigrants to ruin our schools, dilute every social program put in place for the benefit of our citizens and depress our wages.
Ninety-percent of the young people in Iraq and Afghanistan are in the military because that was the only way they could continue their education. You morons don’t have a single day in combat and wrote the book on how to avoid it. You believe you have a god given right to avoid the dangers of a war you declared.
I’ve had it with all of you. You’re fired.
19 Mark Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 5:20 pm
Oh, so I’m a clown, am I, Mike? I’m here to amuse you?…(Just joking)…

Ed, I demand an apology from you for making me read that self-righteous diatribe…good God, give me a break…
20 Mark Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 5:21 pm
Oh, and I’m excising your address and phone number…dude, this is the Internet…don’t just throw that stuff around…
21 mikebdot Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Well, as it turns out, ed sounds quite a bit like everyone calling for Kerry’s head, except, there is not substance to Kerry’s botched joke. At all. At least one can have a conversation regarding the topics he listed.
22 Chris J. Breisch Says:
November 1st, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Who said that Kerry = Foley? I missed that. Are you implying that I said it? All I’ve ever hinted on the subject is that our esteemed press never thought that the Foley story should go away, but wished that the Kerry one would. The Foley story is literally one who’s lifespan should’ve been measured in hours, but went on and on and on and on for weeks. A Congressman sends lewd instant messages to a page who’s over the age of consent. No physical contact occurred, and the Congressman resigns in disgrace. Is there more to the story, or did I miss it?

Kerry habitually goes out of his way to put down the troops. He habitually votes against giving them any kind of modern armor or weaponry. He has no respect for our all volunteer military in any way shape or form. He insults them, and doesn’t seem to care that he puts lives in jeopardy by doing so.

Now, which story should go away faster?