"Stuck in Iraq"

[Dos Equis]

And this man wanted to be commander in chief? 

GOP, Kerry launch war of words over Iraq comment
POSTED: 3:04 p.m. EST, October 31, 2006

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republicans unleashed a firestorm of criticism Tuesday against Sen. John Kerry after the Vietnam veteran told college students they'd "get stuck in Iraq" if they didn't work hard in school.

Kerry later said the remark was a "botched joke" meant to target the president, not U.S. troops.

Before the clarification, 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. (Watch Kerry's 'botched joke' that launched the political stink -- 1:50 )

A CNN poll suggests that Iraq is the second-most important issue behind the economy as voters ponder for whom to cast their ballots in next week's midterms.

"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 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."

Kerry, who is not up for re-election this year, fired back at the White House and GOP, saying he was not disparaging U.S. soldiers.

"If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they're crazy," he said. "No Democrat will be bullied by an administration that has a cut-and-run policy in Afghanistan and a stand-still-and-lose strategy in Iraq."

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, spoke to students at Pasadena City College in California on Monday.

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the senator took the stage to roaring applause before regaling the crowd with one-liners, Bush barbs and tales of surfing at nearby Mission Beach.

He then said: "You know, education -- if you make the most of it, 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."

A Kerry aide told CNN that the prepared statement, which had been designed to criticize President Bush, "was mangled in delivery."

Kerry was supposed to say, "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."

Before the announcement that the statement was botched, McCain, a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, joined his GOP colleagues in condemning the remark and demanding an apology.

"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.

But Kerry refused to relent, calling the criticism part of the "classic GOP playbook."

"I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed-suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq."

He further expressed disgust with "Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country."

Kerry added that President Bush and Vice President Cheney "owe our troops an apology" because they "misled America into war."

Bush and Cheney "have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it," the senator said.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/31/kerry.mccain/index.html

[theonlyone]

Where would be the USA has not had stuck in? It stucks everywhere where it shows its nose.

[buffbodz]

We did our thing already.  What do we want to do?  Occupy the country.  If they have a civil way, let them.  We should make sure that no more American lives are lost for a war that should of been over once we got rid of Saddam and made sure that Iraq had their own elections and army/police force in place.  We cannot be the world's peace keepers.  There will always be fighting in a country that has 3 separate religious groups who want nothing to do with each other than wipe the other off the face of the earth?  Time to get out with before civil war makes it impossible to know the enemy from the friend.  No WMD, no ruthless dictator.  What more can we do?

[Mr. Intenseone]

And this man wanted to be commander in chief? 

GOP, Kerry launch war of words over Iraq comment
POSTED: 3:04 p.m. EST, October 31, 2006

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republicans unleashed a firestorm of criticism Tuesday against Sen. John Kerry after the Vietnam veteran told college students they'd "get stuck in Iraq" if they didn't work hard in school.

Kerry later said the remark was a "botched joke" meant to target the president, not U.S. troops.

Before the clarification, 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. (Watch Kerry's 'botched joke' that launched the political stink -- 1:50 )

A CNN poll suggests that Iraq is the second-most important issue behind the economy as voters ponder for whom to cast their ballots in next week's midterms.

"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 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."

Kerry, who is not up for re-election this year, fired back at the White House and GOP, saying he was not disparaging U.S. soldiers.

"If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they're crazy," he said. "No Democrat will be bullied by an administration that has a cut-and-run policy in Afghanistan and a stand-still-and-lose strategy in Iraq."

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, spoke to students at Pasadena City College in California on Monday.

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the senator took the stage to roaring applause before regaling the crowd with one-liners, Bush barbs and tales of surfing at nearby Mission Beach.

He then said: "You know, education -- if you make the most of it, 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."

A Kerry aide told CNN that the prepared statement, which had been designed to criticize President Bush, "was mangled in delivery."

Kerry was supposed to say, "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."

Before the announcement that the statement was botched, McCain, a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, joined his GOP colleagues in condemning the remark and demanding an apology.

"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.

But Kerry refused to relent, calling the criticism part of the "classic GOP playbook."

"I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed-suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq."

He further expressed disgust with "Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country."

Kerry added that President Bush and Vice President Cheney "owe our troops an apology" because they "misled America into war."

Bush and Cheney "have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it," the senator said.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/31/kerry.mccain/index.html

This is the typical thinking of the left

[240 is Back]

Kerry = stone cold idiot.

[kh300]

We did our thing already.  What do we want to do?  Occupy the country.  If they have a civil way, let them.  We should make sure that no more American lives are lost for a war that should of been over once we got rid of Saddam and made sure that Iraq had their own elections and army/police force in place.  We cannot be the world's peace keepers.  There will always be fighting in a country that has 3 separate religious groups who want nothing to do with each other than wipe the other off the face of the earth?  Time to get out with before civil war makes it impossible to know the enemy from the friend.  No WMD, no ruthless dictator.  What more can we do?

if we left iraq right now it would be 100 times worse. iran would come in and take over. then there goes the oil. as everyone knows oil is the most important resource in the world and without it the us cannot function.

[OzmO]

if we left iraq right now it would be 100 times worse. iran would come in and take over. then there goes the oil. as everyone knows oil is the most important resource in the world and without it the us cannot function.

Well, no.  Iran will just get rich off the oil.  And we will pay.

[240 is Back]

then there goes the oil. as everyone knows oil is the most important resource in the world and without it the us cannot function.

What does iraq oil have to do with the US?

We invaded to liberate them.   Whether they have oil or shoelace factories should matter naught to us.

[Camel Jockey]

I don't think Kerry meant to offend our troops.

These fucking war-mongering Republicans are attacking him left and right, but it's clearly obvious he was a taking a jab at Bush with the "stuck in Iraq" comment.

Kerry served in Vietnam himself. Why would a former solider throw his own under a bus like that?

[240 is Back]

I am curious if there are any trends in class vs. enlistment.

Rich kids are just as likely to join the military and fight in iraq as poor children, right?

[Mr. Intenseone]

I don't think Kerry meant to offend our troops.

Kerry served in Vietnam himself. Why would a former solider throw his own under a bus like that?

Bullshit, Kerry has a history since Vietnam of speaking against our troops, he knew exactly what he was saying. BTW, don't bring up Kerry fake war record, it's an insult to those who really fought!

[Dos Equis]

I just watched Kerry's comments.  I'm appalled.  He was absolutely saying uneducated dummies are the ones who get "stuck in Iraq."  The fact he won't apologize is the height of arrogance.  Thank God his is not president.

[240 is Back]

I saw the complete opposite.  To me, it was him trying to compose a joke on the stop, but it sat in the middle of questioning Bush and his admin's intelligence and having us stuck there.  It would seem very odd for Kerry to suddenly leave the attack on bush and pull a random shot against our troops out of nowhere like that. 

Most political pundits agree it was about Bush, also.  (I watched 8 hours of them yesterday lol)  The AP initially clarified it was about bush.  Even right-wingers are on cable news saying "while he may have meant bush, why won't he apologize for those who were wrongly offended?" 

[Dos Equis]

Who cares what the "pundits" think?  I have my own opinion.  It was a stupid comment.  It displayed an alarming lack of judgment by a combat veteran, senator, and wanna-be commander in chief.  You don't make those kinds of comments when you're a public figure and so-called leader AND when we have uneducated kids dying on foreign soil.     And what's worse than his comments is his refusal to apologize.  An honorable man would just say "I'm sorry."  He's apparently not smart enough to do that. 

[pumpster]

Kerry = stone cold idiot.

Sadly, he's brilliant compared with Bush.

[The Squadfather]

i think John Kerry's comments were right on the money, he would make a fantastic president.

[240 is Back]

Who cares what the "pundits" think?  I have my own opinion.  It was a stupid comment.  It displayed an alarming lack of judgment by a combat veteran, senator, and wanna-be commander in chief.  You don't make those kinds of comments when you're a public figure and so-called leader AND when we have uneducated kids dying on foreign soil.     And what's worse than his comments is his refusal to apologize.  An honorable man would just say "I'm sorry."  He's apparently not smart enough to do that. 

Hey, every American is enetitled to their own opinion. I was merely pointing out that the talking heads who usually parrot Bush and parrot a far left are not doing that in this case.  Bush/Snow got on the mics and acted deeply offended and seriously had a drama queen moment.  The normally far-right guys like OReilly and Hannity didn't parrot that.  

*IF* he apologized for something he didn't believe he said, what would happen?  Would everyone let it die?  Or would you have the same non-serving Bush/Snow shouting "See, he apologized, he DID say it, we were right!"

Either way, the probability is that Kerry probably DIDN'T mean the troops.  I can't stand Kerry.  I called him an idiot when I first heard the news but didn't hear the quote.  So this certainly isn't a blind defense.  His speech was bashing the intelligence and war planning of the Bush admin.  His quote focused upon the lack of intelligence and poor war exit strategy of someone.  My money says it was still about the Bush admin, as they were the target of his next sentence as well.

My point is that even the normal Bush parrots are not doing so on this one, even a week before the election.  And truth be told, we've had a dozen October surprises, and the poll numbers haven't changed much.  a top Dem could strangle a hooker this week or a top repub could spend a week at Neverland touching bottoms, and the results wouldn't change much.  People have made up their minds. All they can do at this point is try to motivate with party base with emotion.

[Cavalier22]

Okay, Kerry has managed to confuse the issue even more this afternoon while I was at work. On one hand, he claims that the entire issue got engineered by "right-wing nut jobs", led by a "doughy Rush Limbaugh". Later this afternoon, though, he claimed the problem was a "mangled joke" that was supposed to slame George Bush.

Well, no. Kerry can't have it both ways. Either it's a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy or he botched the joke, but he can't seriously push the blame onto Republicans if he screwed it up and didn't bother to correct the record until later. Quite frankly, I'd be willing to buy this version -- few politicians could really be this stupid -- except that he has been this stupid on a number of occasions. He called American soldiers rapists and murderers in his Senate testimony in 1971, and just last year accused them of terrorizing Iraqi families on midnight raids for no reason.

But then, that's our John Kerry. He insulted the troops before he lauded them, and he was the victim of a smear before he botched his own prepared speech. And that Secret Service son of a bitch tripped him on that ski slope, too. It's a revealing moment for Kerry and anyone/everyone who rises to defend him, but honestly, it's not going to change anyone's mind about Kerry. We already knew this about him, and his lame excuse-making after his paranoid rantings have always been par for the course with J. Forbes. I doubt this will keep candidates from taking his contributions and shunning him on the stump, even though his behavior in the last 24 hours should at least embarrass the candidates working with him at the midterms

[Cavalier22]

I don't think Kerry meant to offend our troops.

These fucking war-mongering Republicans are attacking him left and right, but it's clearly obvious he was a taking a jab at Bush with the "stuck in Iraq" comment.

Kerry served in Vietnam himself. Why would a former solider throw his own under a bus like that?

throw his own under the bus???  what do you think he has done on a number of occasions.  He came back from vietnam and made a name for himself calling soldiers in vietnam rapists and murderors.  He has called our troops in iraq the ones who are terrorizing civilians. There is a reason those who served with him don't support him one iota and say he is a phony.

[240 is Back]

He came back from vietnam and made a name for himself calling soldiers in vietnam rapists and murderors. 

Did any of our soldiers commit rape or murder over there?

[Mr. Intenseone]

Sadly, he's brilliant compared with Bush.

FYI, Bush finished school with higher grades than both Kerry and AlGore!

[Dos Equis]

Hey, every American is enetitled to their own opinion.

Every American is not entitled to express his or own opinion in any way they choose.  A public figure who can speak to the entire country, including our troops, has to be responsible with his or her comments.  If you want to demean the troops, do it in the privacy of your house, not in front of a friggin camera. 

[240 is Back]

Every American is not entitled to express his or own opinion in any way they choose.  A public figure who can speak to the entire country, including our troops, has to be responsible with his or her comments.  If you want to demean the troops, do it in the privacy of your house, not in front of a friggin camera. 

No.

Every American has the choice to say what he/she pleases.  If kerry is stupid enough to put out statements like he did yesterday - malicious enough to offend or vague enough to invite offense - it's his right. 

His "come-uppance" will come in the fact that he will be shit on by those in both parties, he will no longer be a viable 2008 candidate, and he will lose whatever credibility he had with troops. 

A public figure can be anyone - Kerry, Bush, Mel Gibson, Rush Limbaugh, any actor, any overnight star, ANYONE.  To say they HAVE to be responsible for their comments is wrong.  Of course they SHOULD be more responsible.  But they are Americans and have the same right as any of us nobodies to put uor foot in our mouths and suffer the consequences.



Oddly, your statement "Every American is not entitled to express his or own opinion in any way they choose." reeks of poor constitutional values. 

[pumpster]

Quote from: pumpster on Today at 11:30:29 AM
Sadly, he's brilliant compared with Bush.

FYI, Bush finished school with higher grades than both Kerry and AlGore!

Which only proves how misleading a degree or good schooling can be. Neither necessarily equate with good judgement or savvy. Bush was not considered a good student, BTW.

[Dos Equis]

No.

Every American has the choice to say what he/she pleases.  If kerry is stupid enough to put out statements like he did yesterday - malicious enough to offend or vague enough to invite offense - it's his right. 

His "come-uppance" will come in the fact that he will be shit on by those in both parties, he will no longer be a viable 2008 candidate, and he will lose whatever credibility he had with troops. 

A public figure can be anyone - Kerry, Bush, Mel Gibson, Rush Limbaugh, any actor, any overnight star, ANYONE.  To say they HAVE to be responsible for their comments is wrong.  Of course they SHOULD be more responsible.  But they are Americans and have the same right as any of us nobodies to put uor foot in our mouths and suffer the consequences.



Oddly, your statement "Every American is not entitled to express his or own opinion in any way they choose." reeks of poor constitutional values. 

What???     This isn't a constitutional issue at all.  It's about a public official who made a stupid comment and refuses to apologize for it. 

This will actually be a good teaching tool for my kids.  I've been working with my teenagers on being accountable and accepting responsibility, something Kerry has a problem with.