I voted for John Kerry in 2004. Did I think he was the best candidate? No. He was an effete man who did nothing to counteract that image. In fact, with the Swift Boating of Kerry, I, along with many others, lost nearly all respect for him.
.... two years later, in what appears to be an attempt to counter this long-standing image, he takes on Bush over the war in Iraq. Is this a topic worth having? You bet. Should Kerry be able to avenge his slam? Of course. However, what he should not be able to do is put his foot in his mouth once again over Bush's bungling over the war in Iraq. This should be a no-brainer. However, in the attempt to be clever or witty or funny, Kerry just fumbles time and time again. He is just not funny. He is not likeable. Gore, with all his faults, seems likeable as a person. Kerry seems like the elite patrician he's made out to be. His idea of nuance is so nuanced that it makes people who like nuance (like me) repulsed. He has once again utter a line as seemingly damning as "I voted for the war before I voted against it." The problem is that the American public doesn't do nuance. We like our politics and diplomacy like we like our films: black and white, simple and entertaining.
Kerry has backed away from his comment that if one does not study you'll end up going to Iraq. The assertion is that only the uneducated go to Iraq or into the military. That is quick fodder for the Republicans who will (and are) using this to say that Democrats are demonizing the military. Their spin machine is so damn fine tuned that this was the October Surprise that never came to fruition. Six days prior to the election, this is just the ammunition to say "see, we told you that they don't support the troops."
However, lets look at this bigger picture. Why is it not fair game to say what Kerry asserted? I would have more respect for him saying that it is a realtity that for many underprivilged and uneducated kids, the military is not the dream, but rather the only choice they have. That has been true since the beginning of time. Sure the officer class will object as will a healthy percentage of American Flag Waving meatheads that enlist every year. But the sad reality is that for many, it is the only way out. It is a sorry state of affairs when we do not have a lot of alternatives. I can speak from experience. My late step-brother was a very smart young man, but did not have a lot to show for it. He was bright but not overly ambitious and higher education just was not for him at the time. So he joined the Army. As boys we would play war with toy wooden guns and always had a blast (pardon the pun). He excelled in the Army. He went to Ranger school but blew his knee out. He went to Haiti during that mission. Despite my general dislike of the military, I always supported him as did everyone else I knew. But we always knew that he went because he did not have a lot of options.
This nation needs to get its collective head out of its ass and realize that our military is run by a civilian, namely the President. The President is an elected politician. Thus, the military troops and the policy are mutually exclusive. To criticise the failed policies of the Bush administration does nothing to detract from people essentially doing their jobs. The military does what Rumsfeld et al request of it. I don't fault the military, I fault the leadership. Additionally, pointing out that a disproportionate number of soldiers are from disadvantaged homes is not attacking the military, rather it is attacking our social strata and society. How can anyone argue against this? By the military's own admission, they have substantially lowered their qualification requirements to enlist. This means not only intelligence but criminal background. Can they deny this? No. It is a fact. This brings me back to Kerry. He backs away from a fight. If you put yoru foot in your mouth, don't run away from it if you were right. Instead, he appears to always be back-peddling.
My feeling is that Kerry should have shut his trap. He needs to realize that his time has come and gone and that he needs to bow out gracefully. At every move to position himself for 2008, he bungles it. Kerry is the intellectual version of Bush. However a bunlgled sentence or joke still has the seme effect, however broad one's vocabulary is. Next time, leave it to Colbert and Stewart.
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