Kerry's 'Botched Joke' Not Funny, Say Conservatives and Veterans
by Chad Groening and Jody Brown
November 1, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Senator John Kerry says it was a "botched joke" -- but conservative and Republican leaders aren't laughing. And neither is the American Legion.The senator from Massachusetts, while stumping for Democratic candidates in California, was speaking to a group of college students in Pasadena on Monday when he said: "You know, 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."
The comment, as CNSNews.com puts it, has been "raising eyebrows and infuriating conservatives" since it hit the newswires and airwaves, eliciting accusations that the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee is demonstrating "elitism" and "smearing" American service men and women by implying they are uneducated.
In the ensuing firestorm, Kerry initially refused to apologize -- calling the remark a "botched joke" intended to insult President Bush -- and accused Republicans who are taking issue with the statement of engaging in a "classic GOP, textbook Republican campaign tactic." He has now apologized, says Reuters, which quotes him as saying "Of course, I'm sorry about a botched joke." According to the senator's office, Kerry neglected to add the punch line: "Just ask President Bush."
But Gary Bauer of the group American Values says Kerry's comment does more than expose Kerry's anti-Bush leanings. "I think it also exposes the left wing of American politics, generally," says Bauer. "They've been very chameleon-like in this campaign, sounding moderate, keeping their leaders like Nancy Pelosi and others off the radar screen. But we've seen the real face, I think, of the political left in the United States."
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The conservative spokesman, a former GOP presidential candidate, also does not buy Kerry's explanation that his comment was not really directed at American troops."He's now denying that he was referring to U.S. service men and women [on Monday], but we have to keep in mind that, not that many months ago, Senator Kerry talked about U.S. troops terrorizing Iraqis -- and he had to backtrack on that, too," Bauer recalls. "So I think we got a real glimpse here of the anti-military attitude that prevails on the political left in the United States."
The president himself fired back, saying that Kerry's suggestion that men and women serving in the U.S. military are somehow uneducated is "insulting and shameful." Bush was speaking in Georgia when he said, "Our troops did not enlist because they did not study hard in school or do their homework. [Those] who serve in our all-volunteer Armed Forces are serving because they are patriots -- and Senator Kerry owes them an apology."
Arizona Senator John McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, also demanded that Kerry apologize, pointing out that it is precisely because of Americans like those serving in Iraq that the Massachusetts senator has the freedom -- and right -- to utter "insensitive, ill-considered, and uninformed remarks."
In addition, the national commander of the nation's largest veterans organization says Kerry's "over-the-top" verbal attack demanded an apology. Paul Morin says while The American Legion shares Senator Kerry's appreciation for education, the troops in Iraq "represent the most sophisticated, technologically superior military" that the world has ever seen.
"I think there is a thing or two that they could teach most college professors and campus elitists about the way the world works," Morin offers in a press release, sharing that he is both "disappointed" and "outraged" by Kerry's comments. The spokesman for The American Legion also points out a consistency in the senator's comments over the years.
"A generation ago," says Morin, "Senator Kerry slandered his comrades in Vietnam by saying that they were rapists and murderers. It wasn't true then, and his warped view of today's heroes isn't true now."
As Election Day approaches, Bauer believes there could be some political fallout for the Democratic Party as a result of Kerry's comments. He expresses concern about the survival of the nation when there are politicians "ridiculing patriotism and suggesting that military service and sacrifice is something for stupid kids."
