See- you just have to vote Republican now:
John Kerry said what?!
By Michelle Malkin · October 31, 2006 12:32 AM
***10/31 7:35am updated with more reax below…
…909am update San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Pasadena Star News reports on the Angelides campaign event at Pasadena City College where Kerry trashed the troops…”Kerry then told the students that if they were able to navigate the education system, they could get comfortable jobs – “If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq,” he said to a mixture of laughter and gasps.”***
A general rule of thumb regarding controversies like this is to count how many posts Michelle Malkin has about the issue, and to note that there is a positive correlation to how trivial the matter is and how many posts she has about it. At my last count, she had four on her site, two on her spin-off site Hot Air (who I still think ripped their name off from me). That would tell me that this issue would be somewhere between Cindy Sheehan and crescent-shaped 9/11 memorials and Terri Schaivo in importance, but the possibility is there for a new record.
Predictably, lamentably, the right-wing blogosphere is grievously insulted and has put the grass-roots outrage machine in high gear. Expect record levels of umbrage from all corners.
I wish Kerry had not made the remark (even though he was trying to insult the President and not the troops), but I do find it a little amusing that the people who are ‘upset’ about this remark managed (if my memory is correct) to remain completely silent about this:
I am sure we all remember the Bush supporters wearing fake purple heart stickers at the 2004 RNC to mock Kerry’s service. Additionally, I note that Malkin and company have not yet moved to condemn the treatment Vietnam war hero Jim Webb is getting at the hands of Red State, where he has been compared to John Mark Karr and today called a pervert.
Of course, the ‘libertarian’ reaction is predictably ‘nuanced.’ Well, no, it really isn’t:
JOHN KERRY — a gift that keeps on giving. Unfortunately, it’s a gift for the Republicans. . . .
Kerry’s suggestion that the troops in Iraq are dumb failures is not only reprehensible, but false on the facts. In other words, a typical Kerry performance, just in time for the elections. Democrats must be wondering what they were thinking to nominate him in 2004, and why he won’t go away now.
Glenn then links to numerous outraged (OUTRAGED) folks alternately condemning Kerry and demanding an apology. A snide observer (and I am one), might wryly note that Glenn thinks the mainstream media always drops the ball, paying too much attention to trivial issues rather than issues of importance, and that is why the blogosphere is so important- to provide real reporting. I guess Glenn is right- who needs the mainstream media when you have tons of bloggers who can treat elections like games and horse races?
Again, I wish Kerry had not made the remark (or phrased it better), but really, it changes nothing. The Republican party has no plan for Iraq other than rhetorical shifts, their policies are not constructed or implemented to actually accomplish anything but rather to maintain Congressional power, and we all will be better off if the GOP is swept out of power. The Republicans are corrupt, morally bankrupt, have no ideas, no principles, and are hoping upon hope that this latest distraction will help to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, the bleeding they care about is at the polls and not the bleeding in Iraq.
Let’s crush their hopes.
Andrew
John, I think it’s time to rename the site Jus de Ballon and premptively surrender to the terrorists.
Dave
Actually, Kerry was trying to insult the president, but didn’t manage to pull it off correctly.
“If you don’t, you get [US] stuck in Iraq,”
President Bush is well known for not studying hard, and has gotten us stuck in Iraq.
RSA
Kerry’s response, as I’ve read it, has been to say he specifically meant Bush rather than the military in general. Given the generally disparaging remarks Bush makes about being educated (“My flunky here has a Ph.D., and I was a C student in college. Guess who’s President?”) I think it’s a reasonable interpretation, though poorly phrased.
Perry Como
I like Kerry’s response to the latest swiftboating:
Why is Kerry so shrill?
Zifnab
I am shocked. Shocked and appalled. And disgusted. And ashamed. And saddened.
In other news, the US Military has no begun recruiting the mentally retarded and clinically insane.
Bruce Moomaw
McCain has just announced that he is shocked — shocked! — by Kerry’s outrageous treatment of Our Boys, and has issued a lengthy statement denouncing him (much longer than the statement he issued in defense of Kerry while O’Neill, Hoffman and company were smearing him). So far, however, not a word from McCain on Cheney’s waterboarding comment. Isn’t it amazing how power-lust can make you sell your soul?
Mike S
I’ve ceased being amused by any of their mock outrage. It’s just tedious now. Kerry made a sweeping generalization that was over the line in my view but the people gnashing their teeth over it do so while making sweeping generalizations.
I’m sure the military aged Redstaters will be screaming about this as they cheer on the war from their comfortable chairs.
matt
Kerry has to be one of the worst politicians around, but Malkin’s shtick is waaay played out at this point.
The right wing blogosphere must be on life support when it comes to readership, I just can’t imagine people are buying into this garbage anymore. Does anyone have the numbers?
cd6
Counting Malkin’s posts in nothing: RedState is on a roll.
Four of the last SIX front page posts have been Kerry related, including the last three in a row. Two of the ten recommended diares also harp on this topic.
That’s a lot of outrage, to put it mildly.
Pb
What–Michelle Malkin and Tony Snow might misrepresent what John Kerry was saying by taking a quote out of context for political gain? That’s unpossible! Right?
Paul L.
Care to link?
Bush got a MBA from Harvard and Kerry has a Law degree from Boston University.
Of course, the democrats portrayed John Kerry as a great intellectual and it turned out after the election that Kerry’s transcript showed him a D student with worst grades than Bush.
Faux News
Paul L, obviously never heard of the phenomenon of “Gentleman C’s”
Ed
The right blogosphere is so desperate for something to divert attention that they’ve seized on the misquoted remarks of someone not even running for office.
I feel bad for them, so let’s give ’em this one…I promise not to vote for Kerry next Tuesday unless he apologizes!
Andrew
Paul L. has obviously never heard W try to single handedly destroy the English language, either, apparently.
cd6
RedState Spoof? I report, you decide.
Here’s a copy of ‘Christian Soldier’s’ diary, in its entirety:
Kerry Hates the Military and its Bushs fault
Rusty Shackleford
“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,” (Kerry) 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.”
It isn’t that Republicans are retarded – it’s that they’re INTENTIONALLY retarded.
Tsulagi
Sounds like Kerry made a stupidly phrased/worded remark. One lame remark from someone with a “D” after his name is supposed to make me vote for a collective bunch of assholes who’ve screwed this country over for six years? No doubt that works for the Purple Heart bandaid crowd, but not for me.
Tony Snow said “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.” I’ll agree. How about we schedule his apology right after those of every one in this administration starting with the gutless bastard at the top.
sglover
Perry Como — Damn, I really wish Kerry had come out with that line after the Swift Boat disinfo op. That’s exactly the kind of sentiment Dems need to hammer home.
Otherwise, it’s nice to see St. “Straight Talk” McCain continuing to debase himself. He should give it up. His hopes for a presidential run are hopelessly compromised by now. It’s hard to be maverick and lickspittle at the same time.
Tony J
So, let me get this straight. We’re using Michelle Malkin as a filter through which to view the words of a former Democratic Presidential candidate a week before elections it looks certain the Republicans will lose?
This is something we should do because…?
Or, to put it another way. Does Michelle Malkin (or the Rightist Blogosphere in general) have a good track record in the accurate interpretation of statements by, well, basically anyone, never mind members of the Democratic Party who happen to have a pretty good record of giving a shit about the welfare of America’s military personnel?
Or, to put it in quotes.
“John… WTF?”
Zifnab
Between fighting the War on Terror and Protecting Our Borders and Making The World Safe For Democracy where do they find the time to launch all these press briefings about jokes from a Massachuetts Senator? No wonder we’re losing in Iraq. All these damn distractions.
Steve
Maybe he was trying to make a crack about Bush, but isn’t it a singularly unobjectionable point that a lot of people join the military because they don’t have many good options after high school? My father was a C student in high school who went on to join the Air Force because it beat sweeping floors. He’s a proud patriot but he’d never try to blow smoke up your ass by claiming he joined the military out of pure patriotism. He joined because he was a C student, and that’s reality for a lot of people.
Even if you take Kerry’s remarks as referring to the troops, what he said was that a lot of C students end up in the military. He didn’t say the military is nothing but a bunch of C students. People like Pat Tillman who join out of nothing but patriotism are to be commended, but I can’t imagine there’s a single soldier or ex-soldier who thinks the entire military is nothing but Pat Tillmans.
David
Also, Michael Moore is fat.
chopper
its a good thing for the GOP that kerry is running in every congressional election this year.
seriously, this does what for the GOP? they get to beat on kerry for a few days, so what?
you can definitely tell how weak an issue is as it’s proportional to the rate at which the right’s righteous indignatiomometer goes up. unfortunately for the GOP, this election isn’t a referendum on john kerry.
Pb
Re: Kerry’s grades — he didn’t do so well his Freshman year, but he learned from his mistakes, improved, and did better in Political Science — go figure. Bush, on the other hand, was always a pathological liar:
Otis from Mayberry
Wow, John Forbes strapped on a pair and is fighting back. That must mean that bashing our Compassionate Conservative Brethern is officially passe.
matt
Serious question: What happens to the right wing blogosphere if the dems run over the GOP in this election? People (like John) hope the party will be forced to return to sanity and get rid of the extremists, I wonder what will happen to sites like Malkin’s and RedState?
If the Republican party moderates itself, will Michelle and company fall in line and become more reasonable and sane in their rhetoric, or will they push for some kind of third party?
If the GOP goes back to being the GOP, I really wonder what’s going to happen to this whole community of right wing bloggers.
Pb
Ah, logic. Never underestimate the ability of partisan hacks to argue that their opponent said the converse of what he actually said. That must be like Strawman 101.
Perry Como
You wish, moonbat. If it wasn’t for the policies enacted by Kerry over the last few years, the US wouldn’t be in the situation it is today. It’s time to throw the DemocRATS out of power and let the Republicans take charge.
Proud Liberal
do you think perhaps the President should apologize to those that are serving and also to the families of those who’ve given their lives, for this?:
SeesThroughIt
Because he’s got book to sell to Islamo-commie-facists. Or at least he’s trying to sell it when he’s not busy performing gay abortions.
Davebo
No comment
yet another jeff
We were never about staying the course.
ImpeachmentOrBust
Much ado about nothing – its about AWOL aholes like bush and cheney and their arrogance and stupidity… not the troops… what ninnys!
jaime
Riehl has got 3 in the last 2 hours.
p.lukasiak
face it, even with his bad formulation, Kerry was right…. you’d have to be an idiot to join the armed forces while Bush is Commander in Chief…
SkippyFlipjack
Paul L, that’s actually one of Bush’s standard bits of ‘folkisness’ in his stump remarks, mocking his host and reminding everyone in attendance that he’s president. google it; he’s said it on at least four occasions I’ve read about, so probably many more.
here’s one example: “But I talked to a fellow from Auburn, he’s a Ph.D. — just reminded me the difference between a Ph.D. and a C student; the C student is the President, and the Ph.D. is the advisor. (Laughter and applause.)” link
(Bush always skips the part about how the C student, unlike the Ph.D., had a dad who used to be president.)
JRI
“him a D student with worst grades than Bush.
October 31st, 2006 at 2:42 pm ”
That’s “worse”.
Darrell
But Kerry did say that the military was made up of dummies when he made the comment about ‘make the effort to be smart or end up in Iraq’. Clearly anyone ‘smart’ wouldn’t be in Iraq according to Kerrythink. Given Kerry’s past ‘genghis khan’ smears on the military which the left did not have a problem with, Kerry’s remarks pretty clearly spell out an contemptuous attitude he holds for those who serve, and an attitude I’ve found prevalent on the left in general, who have a track record of referring to the military as made up nearly entirely of those “with no other option”
I believe Kerry joined the military to further his political ambitions.
RSA
Here are a few examples:
Time, 2005
White House press release, 2005
White House press release, 2006
It’s a laugh line for Bush. “I may be a dumbass, but I’m President.”
Darrell
They weren’t mocking his service, they were mocking the absurdity of receiving 3 purple heart in 4 months.. An unheard of feat.. And for dubious ‘injuries’ which were literally bandaid scratches.
chopper
how about the infamous ‘joking about the WMDs’ bit in the oval office?
cleek
seriously, this does what for the GOP?
it gives them a reason to sing another verse of “The Evil Dhimocraps hate America and are gonna use your tax money to buy the burkas your women will have to wear when they surrender to Islam!”
capelza
Bullshit Darrell….just bullshit. All of it.
Darrell
This, from the same hypocritical f*ckstick who put a bill on the Senate floor to get us out of Iraq by the end of the year
DJ
Bush got a MBA from Harvard and Kerry has a Law degree from Boston University.
No, it was Boston College, Paul L. And considering your website is titled “kingofidiots”, it seems you at least believe in Truth in Advertising.
Rusty Shackleford
F*ck you, Darrell. Only a mindless twat would ever think a man would join the military to fight in the meat grinder that was Vietnam (57,000+ Americans dead, 10M+ dead Vietnamese [North, South, civilians]) to further his political ambitions thirty fucking years down the road. Only an evil liar would ever believe such a thing. You’re an “intentional retard”. You’re retarded on purpose.
Kerry botched the delivery of a joke about Bush being a moron. That is all. Republican opportunists have yanked it completely out of context.
matt
One thing I’m interested in is generational conventional wisdom as it pertains to the two parties, and as far as the military goes, I think a great and simple post to illustrate a shift in thinking is if you said: If you’re over thirty, you probably associate the Republican party’s relationship with the military as follows: *insert a picture of Reagan looking all Johnny American* if you’re under 30, you probably associate the Republican party’s relationship with the military as follows: *inset the pic of the woman with the Purple Heart Band-Aids*
Bender
—– BJ’s new masthead slogan
capelza
I have really had it with wingnuts who aatack the service records of ANY soldier.
I hold Duke Cunningham’s record in high esteem sepite what he did later…in fact it makes him very tragic in my eyes. I absolutley respect McCain’s and Bob Dole’s records and heroism.
What the fuck id wrong with you people? Ann Coulter’s slur on Max Cleland, Using Webb’s Marine reccommended novels to call him a pedophile (A silver star winner for bravery) and the swiftboating of Kerry. Really…you people have NO shame…
chopper
uh, calling his injuries ‘bandaid scratches’ (based on the testimony of a single GOP hack who wasn’t even there and in contrast to the medical record)is mocking his service. wearing ‘purple-heart band-aids’ is also an insult to every man and woman who has ever earned a purple heart in combat.
but the GOP is the party that loves and respects the troops. well, as long as they’re republicans, that is.
Darrell
Back ‘atcha ahole.
Kerry took a camera with him to Vietnam to reenact war scenes for chrissakes… Phony as hell.
capelza
Sorry about the crappy spelling.
Rusty Shackleford
Here’s another fuck you, Darrell – go fuck your retarded self and the retarded horse you rode in on.
“The United States upset the regional balance in the Middle East when it invaded Iraq. Restoring it requires bold initiatives, but ‘cutting and running’ must precede them all. Only a complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops — within six months and with no preconditions — can break the paralysis that now enfeebles our diplomacy. And the greatest obstacles to cutting and running are the psychological inhibitions of our leaders and the public.
“Our leaders do not act because their reputations are at stake. The public does not force them to act because it is blinded by the president’s conjured set of illusions: that we are reducing terrorism by fighting in Iraq; creating democracy there; preventing the spread of nuclear weapons; making Israel more secure; not allowing our fallen soldiers to have died in vain; and others.
“But reality can no longer be avoided.”
How to Cut and Run, by William E. Odom, Lt.Gen.(Ret.)
Lee
Hey Darrell, glad to see you’re back.
Care to comment on this thread? We really missed you around here….
cd6
Oh hell, might as well compile them.
The best way to measure a right winger’s patriotism is how OUTRAGED they are by John Kerry saying he wants to kill our troops, rape with their stateside wives, and feast upon their babies.
And the best way to measure outrage is to count the number of posts made expressing that outrage.
And here they are, in increasing magnitude of anger:
————————-
shocking, because you’d expect more outrage from these usually reliable nutjobs, but they were finished after one post
The Mildly Indignant
Captain’s Quarters: 1 post, though with updates
Powerline: Just one post on the front page
Jeff Goldstein: I think 1 post, but its hours old so he might be so outraged he can’t handle it right now
Instapundit: Just one post, possibly because halloween costumes distracted him
———————–
Multiple posts, but not really devoting their days to Kerry got blogs into the next group
The “I’m Infuriated Enough that One Post alone couldn’t Sufficiently Demonstrate My Anger!” Crowd
Dan Riehl: 3 of his last 5 posts are Kerry outrage
Ace of Spades: 3 of his last 9
————————
This is where we’re starting to hit unhealthy levels of feigned disgust, as the Kerry percentage is getting a little high…
Furious: If John Kerry Were in Front of My Car, not Only Would I Not Slow Down, I’d Hit the Gas
National Review’s the Corner: 8 straight and counting now, and there’s another half dozen comments further on down the page, but they all come from different nutjobs
Hot Air: The “Top Picks” section is currently all Kerry, with 3 different Kerry posts
Hugh Hewitt: 6 posts on front page, including the last 3 in a row, and counting
——————————
And finally, the group reserved for those who have expressed nothing but continuous Kerry outrage in their most recent posts, those who would argue that the 5 minute hate is three hours too short:
CONTINOUS KERRY HATE. HE MUST BE DESTROYED
Michelle Malkin: Last 4 straight posts (and counting)
RedState: 4 of the last 6 front page posts (including 3 in a row now, and couting), 2 REDHOT comments, and 2 rec’d diaries
Disclaimer: This doesn’t count posts made in the last few minutes it took me to type this / do actual work
Andrei
Ok John… Mind doing the rest of us a favor put Darrell in his place so the rest of us don’t have to? Thanks in advance.
chopper
what i really love is how the GOP was so big on the band-aid thing, mocking a shrapnel wound and implying sans evidence that kerry inflicted wounds on himself like a coward.
at the same time kerry was in vietnam, their boy bush was summoning the bravery of 10 men to couragously ask his father to get him into the national guard.
Darrell
John Kerry says that if you write that poorly, you’ll get stuck in Vietnam.
RSA
Debating gets much easier if you make shit up and put quotation marks around it. Here’s what Kerry actually said:
So, in Republican minds, not doing well in school and going into the military is an insult to people who actually followed that path. (Notice Kerry didn’t say anything about people who do well in school; some might even become soldiers!) Talk about soft bigotry, etc. etc.
cd6
sorry about the horrible formatting
Damn you preview, for looking nothing like the final result!!
matt
capelza, heh, was your blood pressure through the roof when you wrote that? I know how you feel, the right’s constant attacks, not on veterans as candidates, but their actual service, is something worth getting genuinely outraged about, as it truly is shameful and despicable.
capelza
You know Darrell, really fuck you. I am a crappy typist, but I am NOT a CRAPPY human being…too bad you can’t say the same thing.
Bender
Yeah, that Kerry sure is a butcher of the language. Good thing he’s not president, right? He’d make fools of us all!
Ace already knocked Kerry’s latest cover-my-ass lie out of the stadium:
Tom in Texas
Who cares why Kerry joined the military? He could’ve wanted to kill a few commies, could’ve thought it would look good on a resume. Maybe he liked how he looks in cammies, or thought it would help with Jane Fonda. Whatever the man’s motivations, he went to war for you, Darrell. He took bullets. Plural. For You. If the Army chooses to give him an award for that, who are you (or I) to claim he doesn’t deserve it?
The Other Steve
“An unheard of feat”.
yes, that’s right. According to Darrell, Vietnam was a cake walk. A walk in the jungle. No big deal. It was rare for soldiers to get shot at while on tour over there. So getting three purple hearts in a 4 month period is simply unheard of.
Funny, many soldiers didn’t even last a month before getting sent home to the states, either on a stretcher or in a body bag.
But according to Darrell… they were all just faking it.
Darrell
Ah yes, the ever so eloquent left. RustyS: John Kerry’s military recruiting posterboy.
Punchy
I like this. Also, it could be amended to “Stand and still lose strategy”, “still losing but standing strategy”, or “Lose by standing, but still, a losing strategy”
As for this:
What about the extreme left bloggers? Watch DKos go apoplectic when the House Dems “moderate” their bills to match those of the Republican Senate. Both extremes’ bloggers are going have a TON of pissed off, angry keyboardists.
Darrell
I’m sorry, can you please direct us to where I said or inferred that Vietnam was a “cake walk”? TOSser is always so truthful and honest
cd6
Not only did Kerry use self inflicted wounds to get purple hearts he didn’t deserve, he actively shot at and tried to kill his fellow soldiers
You leftists and your hate of the military, its really outrageous
The Other Steve
stadium?
You’re talking about this Fenway Park Snow Globe?
Perry Como
I think everyone here should agree not to vote for John Kerry in next week’s election.
capelza
Oh the real fakers were the ones who hid so well they were never found! Incinerated in helicopters, stuff like that…within days of arriving in country.
I bitch about the death toll in the current wars, but idiots like Darrell have no idea how many kids were dying right everyday over there…till we hit 58K when the insanuty finally ended.
Matt, yeah..my BP shot through the roof there for a minute.
Darrell
3 purple hearts in 4 months. Did he even spend 1 day in the hospital? It’s a disgrace to every veteran who really earned their purple heart.
The Other Steve
That would be the words i quoted, my dear moron.
The Other Steve
Doesn’t seem to me that any of that matters.
Unless you’re claiming Vietnam was a cakewalk, and John Kerry had to fake his wounds?
Darrell
That is rich on so many different levels.
cd6
I agree
Max Cleeland only left 3 limbs in Vietnam? What a greedy coward. A real man would have left all 4.
I think Democrats join the military just to undermine it.
Preach on, Darrell, preach on
Bombadil
Are John, Tim and Tom so desperate for hits that they have to spoof their own sites with such obvious fakes as Darrell, Filthy and Paul L?
Tom in Texas
No Darrell — mocking the award the Army gives for injuries suffered in combat as nothing more than a “band-aid” wound disgraces every Purple Heart won by a Veteran. To claim the Army hands them out like Perfect Attendance Gold Stars is to demean the award itself.
Andrew
America: Orgy of Political Hate.
I think political campaigns would be a lot better, and more entertaining, if we just had the Thunderdome.
“Two men enter. One man leaves.”
Of course, Democrats have most of the actual warriors running for office, so it would be a real landslide. I mean, Allen played some college ball, but Webb was playing catch with grenades and capturing the enemy with a pistol.
Perry Como
Like Tammy Duckworth, the cut and run Democrat with no legs. Get it. She wants to cut and run. But she has no legs. Because she lost them in Iraq. Cut. Run.
Republicans would never make fun of a purple heart recipient. Or are there GOP talking points saying Duckworth didn’t deserve her Purple Heart? Maybe she blew up her own helicopter.
Perry Como
Well, apparently the military hands out the Navy Cross to perverts like Webb.
Andrew
Well, it was the easiest way to get out of serving her country.
Evilbeard
Am I the only one that seems to think that Kerry was insinuating that Bush would be instituting a draft?
When was the last time that if you weren’t able to “navigate the educational system” well enough that you ended up in a soldier’s uniform in a foreign war?
Hello Vietnam part deux.
Darrell
But John Kerry’s “injuries” were not in combat, and they really were treated with a band-aid. Furthermore, Kerry LIED to get them, making him a shitsack scumbag. Tell you what Tom, why don’t research how many days Kerry spent in the hospital recovering from those ‘battle injuries’ and then get back to us with what you learn?
SeesThroughIt
You’re finally getting it. I mean, look at Cleland–what a total pussy that guy is, only losing three limbs instead of all of them. And you know he only did it so that he could garner sympathy votes once he came back home. It’s hard to think of anybody who hates America more than Max Cleland, really.
The Other Steve
But wasn’t Darrell just telling us the other day that Cunningham totally make up the story about the third mig?
Three migs in one mission? Simply unheard of, according to Darrell.
matt
Punchy, you think Kos falls into the extreme left category? One thing that I really enjoy about the liberal blogosphere is how left it’s not. Sure, there’s the DU aspect, but that seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
My hope is that if the Republican Party itself is forced to move to the center, the bloggers will as well. Hopefully the John Cole’s of the world will be the rule and the Malkind will be the exception.
Bombadil
Hospitalization is not a requirement for a Purple Heart, shitsack.
The Other Steve
You’re starting to sound like a hysterical lunatic.
This reminds me of how the Republicans treated John F. Kennedy and his PT-109 story. They also claimed he was a liar.
A long, sad tradition of Republicans spitting on the service of Americans when it fails to suit their political purposes. :-(
Daniel DiRito
This is a non-story that is being hyped by the GOP to try and make it a real story. I’ve posted the clip being circulated and also explained exactly what was intended (though poorly worded) by the remark…here:
http://www.thoughttheater.com
Rusty Shackleford
Everything Darrell says is complete bullshit.
Perry Como
In order to really appreciate how much the Democrats hate the military, just look at how many former military are running for Congress this year. Overwhelmingly, ex-military are flocking to the Republicans to run for Congress.
Andrei
Wow. Just wow.
I know Cole is pretty busy, but man, we all should step aside and let Cole, Tim and Tom have at it with Darrell on this stuff. And I don’t mean that in a we’re watching a Thunderdome sort of fight. I mean that in a John, Tim and Tom need to address this sort of crap directly on their own blog and the rest of us should honestly step aside to let them.
Tsulagi
The pieces of shit that wore those Purple Heart bandaids not only mocked Kerry’s service, but that of everyone else ever awarded a Purple Heart in service to their country. But of course a Purple Heart bandaid patriot warrior couldn’t comprehend that.
The Other Steve
It’s possible.
After all purple hearts are nothing but a gag gift you give at parties.
Right Darrell?
Lee
Darrell, are you going to cut and run from that other thread?
jaime
Easy to question when you would suck every cock in the military to avoid combat, right? You chickenhawk coward.
chopper
exactly.
the wound the right keeps going gaga over is his first, which was a shrapnel wound he got in combat. the shrapnel was removed and he was sent back to combat.
according to the army, this deserves a purple heart. of course it does, it’s a shrapnel wound.
since when does a purple heart necessitate a stay in hospital?
Darrell
That may be technically true, but before the circumstances of John Kerry’s purple heart medals came to light, you’d be hard pressed to find many people who knew that, or examples in which purple hearts were awarded for injuries treated with a bandaid. Pretty much everyone here was raised to believe that a purple heart corresponded with a serious injury sustained in combat. That’s not what happened with John Kerry, who lied his ass off like the disgraceful sack of shit that he is, in order to get medals he didn’t deserve.
cd6
Any honor that Kerry would have earned as a soldier fighting in Vietnam is completely negated by the fact that he wasn’t sufficiently injured
Is that the new right wing talking point from Darrell? Awesome.
capelza
Bob Kerrey deliberately lost his leg so he could get the Medal of Honor and become Nebraska’s Senator.
Oliver Stone deliberately got a Bronze Star with V and a Purple Heart just so he could sell “Platoon” years later…what a cunning bunch the Left is…(okay he is definitely not a politican, but he gets broadsided a lot, too…)
Darrell
How rich, that calls to censor me are coming from the very asshole who was banned for calling a girl a “cunt”.
Bombadil
Great. Darrell is stupid, so everyone else must be too.
You know nothing.
The Other Steve
But Darrell is arguing in good faith.
He really believes that soldiers(who aren’t Republicans) who receive war wounds in combat don’t deserve purple hearts because they totally fabricated the injuries. He is 100% convinced of this.
It’s interesting though, that one of the original members of the swiftboat vets ended up quitting the group and voting for Kerry because he became convinced that they simply wanted to distort Kerry’s military record for political gain. Look up the name Steve Hayes.
chopper
most people are ignorant. so what? does that mean that a non-hospital stay wound isn’t worth a purple heart just because people don’t realize that it is? who writes the rules for the purple heart, you or the military?
uh, there were plenty of purple heart shrapnel wounds before john kerry got his.
Darrell
Bob Kerry, who lost part of his leg in combat, deserved his medal. John “reporting for duty” Kerry lied to get his. Are you honest enough to acknowledge the difference?
capelza
Darrell…you and you ilk talk about the band aid PH, but what about his Silver Star, Bronze Star and two other PH’s?
Don’t you realise how pathetic you people are?
SeesThroughIt
I heartily endorse this event or product!
chopper
i will admit that kerry’s purple hearts pale in comparison to bush’s golden keg award (with 6-pack clusters!) for winning the champagne unit’s octoberfest chug-a-thon back then.
Steve
I don’t think any response is necessary to these statements. They really tell you all you need to know about who Darrell is.
capelza
chopper..he got it for saving a man’s life! If he hadn’t turned the guy over, the guy would have drowned in his own puke!
(I stole that, but can’t remember from where..)
radish
Darrell, you’re a tool and an asshole, and the cherry on top is that you have no fucking clue what you’re talking about. Read down to the bit about Don Wallace.
Darrell
Last election we saw a good number of military veterans, probably a majority of them, echoing the same or similar sentiments.
What does that say about them?
radish
p.s. that was like two minutes worth of google and wikipedia. I was hoping to find out how long it took Hack to get his 4+4 hearts and what they were for, but then I ran across the editorial and the Wallace mention and that was even better.
The Other Steve
Maybe next time you feel the need to spit on the soldiers who have received purple hearts, you’ll take the time to educate yourself on the meaning.
Whether a bandage or an amputation, it is a sign that that soldier was wounded while fighting on behalf of our nation. If you don’t have any honor for that, maybe you ought to just keep your fucking pie hole shut about it.
Steve
“A majority of veterans” believe John Kerry was a disgrace to every veteran who received a Purple Heart. There’s no word except “delusional” to describe the person who would make that claim.
matt
While we’re mocking the idea that these (Democrats) guys deliberately set out to get wounded to help their political careers down the road, let’s not forget that their’s isn’t a partisan disrespect for service, they’ll attack anyone’s service who stands in their way. Remember how McCain’s imprisonment had made him crazy? I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more examples of Republican on Republican service bashing in less publicized races over the last 10 years
I know that it’s almost impossible to be outraged anymore, because everyone is outraged by everything, but seriously, these are some twisted folks.
Tsulagi
Depends on how you define “lot.” There are a lot of reasons why someone joins the services. Regardless of their reasons, they place themselves in a position to preserve their country and its freedoms. You can blog saying damn near anything you want because of an unbroken line of soldiers since the beginning of this country.
This was true when said, and just as true today….
Now, we have president who definitely isn’t a scholar, and he sure as shit ain’t no warrior. Backed by dittohead Purple Heart bandaid patriot warriors. Talk about being fucked by the idiot brigrades. Only in America.
Rusty Shackleford
Darrell is too stupid to realize he’s stupid.
Tom in Texas
Any man who gets shot and then says “Screw the Hospital, I’m going back out there” deserves an award Darrell. If you have a problem with the Purple Heart being awarded to these men, you need to take it up with a lot more vets than just John Kerry. Good Luck with that.
John D.
Bullshit.
Darrell, I’m getting seriously tired of your nonsense.
Explain to me how Kerry “lied” to get his. Please keep in mind that nobody is able to nominate themselves for a Purple Heart. I know you have a visceral reaction to any Democrat being honored for anything, but you have got to stop flat out lying.
I’m also getting immensely tired of *this* bullshit as well.
There is nowhere near a majority of veterans claiming such things. Put up or shut up.
Darrell
Was Kerry ‘shot’ with enemy fire? He may have gotten shrapnel in his ass from throwing a grenade too close to himself in a rice paddy or scratched his arm.. but was he ever shot?
The Other Steve
Perhaps you could be honest enough to enlighten us all on how Kerry lied to get his purple hearts?
The doctor who bandaged him doesn’t seem to think so.
Steve
Remember when the North Vietnamese offered McCain his freedom, but he turned it down because he felt more time in captivity would help his political prospects? Why, it’s an insult to every POW who never got offered the chance to go home.
I understand this is the sort of commentary that’s deemed acceptable these days.
The Other Steve
I rather doubt he was using the grenades as part of a fishing trip.
The Other Steve
He is arguing in good faith, though!
Tom in Texas
Darrell — it doesn’t matter who shot him. He could’ve walked over a land mine planted by the French tewenty years prior or shot by his own men in the back. The point is — he was injured. He chose to continue fighting (If he was the unbelievable pussy you claim he is, wouldn’t he just stay in the hospital indefinitely BTW?) According to Army regulations, a Purple Heart is awarded in such cases. Talk to the Army if you disagree. And to other vets who were hurt in combat or noncombat situations and were awarded for personal injuries suffered in defense of our country.
Darrell
Hi lied that he sustained injury from an enemy mine, when in his own journal he said that particular injury was self inflicted, throwing a grenade in a rice patty too close to himself. He also lied that he was wounded by enemy fire, a claim contradicted by the doctor who treated him.
Kerry wrote the after action reports which were the basis for purple heart. He’s phony as hell..
Paul L.
Next time I feel the need to spit on soldiers, I’ll watch a modern war film about Vietnam/Iraq out of Hollywood.
i.e.
Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Over There
Andrei
I never asked you to be censored in this thread. I said we should let Cole, Tim and Tom deal with you. But given how you finally uncensored yourself in parroting me knowing full well that Cole draws the line on that particular word, I guess you might get the same treatment I did.
Tom
“Clearly anyone ‘smart’ wouldn’t be in Iraq ”
Truer words were never typed. Too bad the US is led by a lying traitor with thousands of brainless sychophants to back him.
Darrell
Does it matter that he wasn’t even shot? Just wondering how far out there you are Tom..
You can’t stay in a hospital if the doctors say that the injuries were so minor that hospitalization isn’t required. And I think that is so very intelligent of you come up with such an assertion.
The Other Steve
I’d suggest “We Were Soldiers”, or “Blackhawk Down”, personally. “Saving Private Ryan” is also a personal favorite.
I’ve also heard “Flags of our Fathers” is very good. I intend to see it this week.
HyperIon
hmm…last time i checked this post had no comments.
then two hours later…well over a hundred.
only one explanation: Darrell AND the idiots who waste bandwidth giving him the attention he craves.
The Other Steve
I think you need to go look at the regulations.
Then get back to us when you’ve learned yourself some knowledge.
Darrell
From the doctor who treated Kerry:
John D.
I do hope you understand that, given your *rich* history with the concept of “fact” and “truth”, that I’m going to demand some confirmation of your assertions before accepting them.
(Just so you know, Army Regulations 600-8-22, section 2-17 lays out the processing steps for the Purple Heart. Please pay close attention to Paragraph i.)
capelza
Darrell, no linky? Why is that?
Can you explain away his other PH’s AND the Silver Star AND the Bronze Star?
Rick Moran
Hey John:
Read some of the comments from your friends on the left who agree with Kerry.
Nice company you’re keeping these days…
The Other Steve
I agree.
But I am celebrating! I finally figured out why my home server has been behaving badly. This thing has been giving me pains for the past 3 weeks… spontaneously locking up, not starting up right, etc.
Finally, I shook the motherboard with the power off and discovered I had a Darrell(*) in there.
I’m actually amazed that I didn’t burn out more than just the one memory stick I did fry. I’m usually very careful and can’t for the life of me figure out how that Darrell got in there.
(*) A Darrell is a loose screw.
Paul L.
Saving Private Ryan and Flags of our Fathers – WWII.
Blackhawk Down – Somalia
Perhaps “We Were Soldiers” will be the exception. But it stars Mel Gibson. Isn’t he hated by the left?
Rusty Shackleford
Everything Darrell is claiming about John Kerry is bullshit dreamed up by the “swift boaters” and complete dipshits like Darrell himself.
The swift boaters were exposed 2 years for the frauds they were. Darrell is a parasite, exposed by his own posts.
Darrell is a bad American. A traitor, if you will. He knows the Bush plan for Iraq is failing, yet he continues to try to bully others into supporting the failed effort in hope that the war will divide and bankrupt our nation.
Do not let Darrell succeed. A parasitic traitor, like Darrell, who would support an incompetent administration just to see the that incompetent administration tear this nation apart is the worst American imaginable.
Steve
Now that we know he hates the Jews, we’re on good terms again.
The Other Steve
It appears Darrell is trying to pass off an urban legend as his proof.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/kerry/service.asp
The Other Steve
But it’s from a book by Joe Galloway.
Oh yeah, that’s right… the right hates Galloway.
capelza
No Paul L…”We Were Soldiers” is a great movie, by a flawed man, but a great movie nonetheless.
Btw…”Full Metal Jacket” was, according to the hub, who was there, pretty right on.
Darrell
And on top of that, a bad human being and bad Christian too, according to the lefties posting here.
Zing! That was funny.
The Other Steve
Look. Darrell might be a bad American, a traitor to his people, and even a parasite.
But he is arguing in good faith.
capelza
Ha! So that’s why there was no link.
Darrell
Too bad that article doesn’t address, among other issues, John Kerry’s lie about stepping on an enemy mine when he wrote in his own journal the wound was self inflicted by throwing a grenade too close to himself.
canuckistani
I’ll throw some blood in the water here; the right wing are freaking over the comments because they know it’s true; a large portion of the “volunteer” army are people for whom a year of sitting in the desert getting shot is their best opportunity to get out of poverty or dead-end jobs. I think there’s a lot of guilt and anger among the cheerleaders who aren’t in Iraq because they don’t want to give up their (relatively) luxurious lifestyles.
The Other Steve
It also doesn’t say anything about how John Kerry was injured by sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads while walking across the Nile.
Obviously proof of a giant conspiracy!
The Other Steve
BTW… TPM linked to John Cole!
I suspect TPM get’s more hits than Dan Riehl and Redstate combined.
Darrell
I told you the left looks their noses at military service. I see it, hear it and read it from them all the time. I would be surprised if veterans of the voluntary military were not more successful on average (higher incomes, lower crime rates) than those who didn’t serve.
But the left, as demonstrated by canuckistani, persists in painting the military as a bunch of dead-end losers
John D.
Jesus, dude, you can’t even keep your smears straight.
The debunked version of the 3rd Purple Heart involved Kerry and Rassman blowing up a cache of VC rice, and Kerry being too close to the blast. Of course, it’s bullshit.
The “mine” in question was a fucking waterborne mine that blew up under the boat, not one that was “stepped on”. You’ve got to try harder, Darrell. This is weak, even by your standards.
Perry Como
Here’s some honesty from Rick Moran:
Smart. Strong.
Even though looking at Kerry’s press release will completely debunk that little point.
Perry Como
I suspect George Allen’s ex-wife gets more hits than Dan Riehl’s site.
Darrell
“mine” shrapnel
Shabbazz
I agree that we should all promise to not vote for Kerry next week. Done deal.
Now — back to the real issues.
capelza
Darrell you really are dishonest…
The very title of that article you linked to says:
Face
What’s Tom going to do? Throw a wine-soaked walnut pancake with mushroom truffles at him?
Mark
You guys are hilarious in the best way. Keep it up.
My two cents on Kerry: the Republicans are so used to getting away with this stuff that they have yet to notice they no longer can. And McCain is leaving his flank exposed unnecessarily.
Punchy
God DAMN that’s funny…
Darrell
Speaking of bald faced dishonesty capelza, from the first page of the article
In several of the cases cited, things don’t look so good for Kerry’s version of the story. But he refused to release all his military records (and lied about it), so it’s difficult to know.
capelza
He could certainly throw one at me! Lordy, that sounds good.
capelza
Darrell…Kerry HAS released his military records, rtc…a year and a half ago.
Don’t you remember? The funny thing was..some of the very officers that swift boated him were found to have written him commendations (they were found in the records).
tBone
He didn’t do anything of the sort. He referred to the REALITY that for a lot of people, the military is the best option for getting out of a bad situation and advancing themselves.
Christ, I knew you were pathologically dishonest, but you’re really outdoing yourself today.
JoeTx
Its embarrassing to try and defend a person who had daddy pull strings to get in a champaigne unit of the TXANG to get out of going to VN, compared to somebody who actually WENT and fought and risked their lives. Kerry went to VN, Bush DIDN’T.
DCR
I’m very sad now. This is where our country has arrived: debating whether a botched joke is a slur.
It’s quite depressing to see that the GOP is so bankrupt that, rather than stand up and defend their positions, they make a major issue out of a Senator who doesn’t tell a joke very well. This is all they’ve got.
And it ain’t much better that the Democrats have so few actual ideas that making Bush jokes is a major part of their campaign. Being against him is about all they’ve got.
And of course the most depressing part is that it might actually work to change people’s views about the election next week.
Where are our statesmen?
This will be a footnote in the big book of 2030 (in Chinese no doubt): “The Fall Of The United States of America”.
Darrell
Such an honest characterization capelza. Here are the details on his “release” of his military records
capelza
Let’s see…have you read the Boston Globe articles about his record? No, that would require some integrity on your part.
And wasn’t this supposed to be a tit for tat thing with Bush?
When did Bush release his records…I’d love to know what he was doing in Alabama.
Perry Como
Darrell, you win. None of us going to vote for Kerry next week. Yeesh.
Anderson
Anyone got a transcript, not a video clip, of Kerry’s entire remarks on Monday?
Damn if I can find one, & since context is so obviously crucial here, it’s rather odd there ain’t one.
Steve
My dad was a C student in high school. He joined the military after he graduated, because it was the best option available to a C student. This was back in the 60s, so there’s nothing new about this type of story, nor is it uncommon in the least.
My dad got out of the service, started his own business, enjoyed a long and happy life. So yes, there’s no doubt that service can have good results. But that still doesn’t change the reality of why he got into the military in the first place.
I just don’t get how the entire right wing can suddenly drop everything and start pretending that the entire military is a bunch of selfless Pat Tillmans, and that there aren’t thousands upon thousands of soldiers who sign up because they have no other prospects after high school. We all know it’s true. What’s the point in lying about it?
Matthew
Kerry makes a dopey statement and you file it under Republican Stupidity?
capelza
Okay..I admit I was wrong..Bush did release his NG records…and wow, two people have admitted to seeing him in Alabama. Two whole people remember him…the doctor who gave him a physical and a guy who remembers him showing up for his weekend duites…though even that isn’t clear.
John Cole
Why are any of you treating the “issues” Darrel chooses to debate as if they really matter? Historical accuracy (or honesty, for that matter) is not a Republican strongpoint recently- winning elections, however, is.
I personally don’t give a flying fuck if Kerry shot himself in the ass, faked his medical records to get the purple heart, and did it while high on heroin and watching gay porn and snacking on embryos all the while on the phone with Jane Fonda. It matters not a whit, and debating that as if it is an issue plays the game they want you to play.
You know what matters? More dead soldiers while the President recites ‘stay the course’ or whatever the mantra du jour might be.
So just ignore him and those like him.
Bombadil
Mmmmmm. Pancakes……
jcricket
If the Democrats win, everyone will be forced to dine on gay embryos (or as I like to call them, tiny tiny homos).
John’s got it right, there’s no use discussing this issue with Darrel. His set of “facts” don’t use the same standards that actual facts do. To Darrel, zombie lies are sources to be cited as proof on which the next set of lies will be built. Facts only exist insofar as they further the (current) Republican agenda. History is only useful when it supports current propaganda. War heroes of yesterday are the traitors of tomorrow. The collective shame for Internment camps and McCarthyism is instead now celebrated as the pride of American patriotism. I just saw the same people who attacked John Murtha as a coward, Jim Webb as a pervert and Tammy Duckworth as a “cut and runner” attempt to their names to smear Kerry as being anti-military.
When you think of Darrell and his method of argument: think of this:
He’s a lost cause, but obviously there’s a fairly big segment of the electorate that is not. They’re the ones moving towards the Democratic party and away from Republicans. They’re the ones whom when polled, clearly show a majority of support for the Democratic party’s position on the war, stem cell research and the economy. They’re the ones 8% who put their support behind stem cell research after watching Michael J. Fox’s ad.
And without them, the Republican party will never win another national election and never control the Senate or House again. Ever. Focus people. Focus.
jcricket
Fixed:
(That is, Republicans are claiming that these military folks, who they are smearing left and right, are being smeared by Kerry and should repudiate him).
jcricket
(attempt to use)… I give up.
Andrei
Ahh… closure. The best way to end the day.
Darrell
It speaks to character or lack of it. Character matters a lot, or you wouldn’t post so often about the need for principle and integrity, would you? You seem to want a one-way attack on Republicans without acknowledging the severe problems on the other side. Fine. Keep telling yourself they ‘matter not a whit’.
capelza
Darrell..Silver Star, Bronze Star…they hand those out like candy, too?
Pb
John Cole is so never going to get elected now! I’m not going to vote for you *or* Kerry this week!
chopper
the jewish left hooks their noses at military service?
chopper
i love it. this is a great example of exactly where the right is in this country; all sorts of nasty issues come up, they’re dead silent.
kerry says something stupid, and they come out of the woodwork. at last, something we can argue about!
if it weren’t for the occasional dem screwup, people like darrell would have nothing to say about anything anymore.
in other words, darrell is kerry’s fault. boo-kerry!
Darrell
For example? Speaking of important issues, what are the Dems proposing we do differently in the middle east? The most important issue of the day, and Dems haven’t floated jacksh*t for ideas on how they propose things be done differently.
Shabbazz
For example? Speaking of important issues, what are the Dems proposing we do differently in the middle east? The most important issue of the day, and Dems haven’t floated jacksh*t for ideas on how they propose things be done differently.Hmmm…I seem to recall a Democrat from Pennsylvania saying, over a year ago, that a calculated redistribution of troops was in order. He was called a coward, a cutandrunner and, in extreme circles, a traitor.
Fast Forward a year later and, whaddya know — the plan being floated by the generals (and conceivably James Baker) is calculated redistribution of troops.
Who woulda thunk it.
Perry Como
When, oh, when will someone talk about how a Marine veteran ruthlessly attacked George Allen with words and Allen’s
stoogesbrave warriors were forced to give the Marine veteran a physical beat down? Un. Hinged. Lefties.Perry Como
Of course the ex-Marine was probably asking for it. Look at the way he was dressed.
Darrell
What he called for back in around Nov. 2005, was a complete troop pullout within 6 months, spring of 2006. Doesn’t sound like a very “calculated” plan to me
Cassidy
If darrell doesn’t have a Purple Heart or served his country, then he should shut the fuck up about Kerry. You are not worthy.
Perry Como
We’ve turned a corner in Iraq since the spring of 2006. The insurgents are in their last throes. We need to
stay the courseadapt to win, otherwise the terriers will follow us to the United States.tBone
How about partitioning? Quit playing whack-a-mole. Instead, split up southern Iraq between Sunnis & Shiites. Redeploy some of our forces to Kurdistan and pull the rest out. See how things shake out.
Now, some people argue that this will lead to terrible violence in Baghdad and other mixed cities, and tip Iraq into civil war. I’m still trying to figure out how that’s any different than what’s already going on.
Perry Como
Because it isn’t a civil war until the President says it’s a civil war, moonbat. And since the President will never say Iraq is having a civil war, Iraq will never have a civil war. You lefties sure are thick.
Randy
If darrell doesn’t have a Purple Heart or served his country, then he should shut the fuck up about Kerry. You are not worthy.
Maybe if Kerry had actually earned his Purple Hearts, that would make some sense. Given that he caught them for cutting himself while shaving and the like, not so much.
chopper
jesus, look at the last like 10 threads.
ThymeZone
I was driving along this evening on the way to taking the missus to an appointment, and had CNN on the satellite radio in the car. So I heard the famous Kerry clip, and the cablemania bullshit about it. Clearly, the White House is just overjoyed at having something to talk about today.
I heard the famous “joke” and my first impression of it was that Kerry was drunk. I admire the man in some ways, but as a national politician, he is a walking talking disaster. He has no sense of national politics at all, no sense of the news cycle, no sense of anything. His pigheadedness probably cost us an election in 2004.
This latter point is salient. When confronted with the Swiftboat campaign, his stubborn reaction was to do nothing. I think this ranks as a collossal mistake on a historic scale.
Today, Kerry is refusing to apologize for his stupid joke, thereby giving this nonstory the extra momentum it needs to stay in the next few news cycles.
Kerry is a fucking idiot. He thinks that this little flap is all about him. He thought that the Swiftboat thing was about him, and his pride.
Here’s a newsflash: When you are the nominee of your party at a national level, it’s about things bigger than you. Just as George Bush thinks Iraq is about him and his daddy, John Kerry thinks it’s about him and his fucking purple hearts. These men deserve each other.
It’s about the world, and the people,and a national election. I am really tired of the old guard in politics, on both sides. FUCK THEM ALL.
chopper
start pulling the US the hell out, for one. for two, start reducing our dependence on the crazy choads there.
as opposed to the GOP ‘stay the course’ plan, which puts us in the middle of a decade-long civil war. what an idea!
Randy
How about partitioning? Quit playing whack-a-mole. Instead, split up southern Iraq between Sunnis & Shiites.
What makes you think that’s what the Iraqi people want? And don’t you know that Joe Biden plagiarized that whole plan from somewhere else. Bwahahahaha…
chopper
exactly. kerry, and everyone else who ever earned a purple heart who didn’t spend at least a week in hospital, were the subject of vile enemy paper cuts.
Cassidy
“just don’t get how the entire right wing can suddenly drop everything and start pretending that the entire military is a bunch of selfless Pat Tillmans, and that there aren’t thousands upon thousands of soldiers who sign up because they have no other prospects after high school.”
Because they haven’t actually served thier country, so they don’t know what we are like.
Perry Como
Unhinged leftist. If a building is on fire and you’ve lost 10 men in that fire, do you stop sending firefighters in? Hell no! Then the fire would win! You need to keep sending firefighters in until their charred bodies smother the blaze.
Lefties are so unserious about fighting the civil war in Iraq.
Darrell
First idea I’ve read from a Dem. I wish Dem politicians would be honest enough to do the same.
See any problem with leaving the Kurds in control of most all of Iraq’s oil? Because that’s what a partition would leave them with.
Perry Como
Has anyone said, “Kerry really stepped in the macaca today?” If no one has, they really should.
r€nato
Just curious… did the Malkin/right wing baboon crowd get this worked up when the President encouraged the Iraqi insurgents to kill our troops?
You know… BRING ‘EM ON!
tBone
Well, I’m not a Dem, so technically I guess you still haven’t. This idea has been floating out there in Lefty-Land for a while, though.
Obviously you’d have to try to work out some profit-sharing arrangement for the oil that all parties could live with. Yeah, that would likely be very difficult. Again, though, the salient question is “would it be any more difficult or less effective than what we’re currently doing?”
Until the mythical perfect plan appears, this seems like a reasonable alternative to both “cut and run” and “stay the course” to me.
chopper
you do realize that some dem politicians have been pushing partition for a bit now, right?
Shabbazz
Take off your “Cut and Run” goggles and (re)read what Murtha has been saying all along — not what you *want* him to be saying. His calculated redeployment to the surrounding countries sounds almost identical to the plans being floated today. “Cut and Run” automagically became “Adapt to Win”. And we have always been at war with Oceana.
Tom in Texas
So what does it mean when the New York Times considers you left leaning John?
Pb
Yeah, that NYT guy sounds like a totally uninformed tool–who the hell is he, anyhow, their film critic?
Steve
Hillary Clinton said we should try to set up a federal system where the oil revenues get distributed to all Iraqis… just like they do in Alaska, as a matter of fact.
One element of this is that by giving all Iraqis a financial stake in the nation’s stability, they’re more inclined to support the system, prevent terrorists from sabotaging the oil pipelines, and such. Right now there are probably a lot of non-Shiites who wonder what reason they have to support the Shia-dominated government.
Perry Como
That’s because she’s a socialist.
Steve
Well, right, that’s why Alaska is such a leftist paradise!
RonB
The only thing you have to do to get the Purple Heart is to get injured in combat- you don’t have to write a fucking AAR, you just have to be cited by another person as having been wounded. The AAR may have provided the context of the injury but in no way does an AAR reflect the valor of one individual.
AARs ask simple questions about the outcome of an operation:
1. What were we supposed to do?
2. What did we do?
3. What things did we do that were positive?
4. What did we do that was negative?
5. Do we sustain any of our actions for similar missions?
That’s it. It’s a teaching tool, not a “here’s a blow by blow”. I write them all the time. We discard all suggestions that this or that person did something well.
So it ain’t all that fucking shocking if John Kerry, commander of the damn boat I assume, wrote the after action report for his men and the people above him to learn from.
Randy
See any problem with leaving the Kurds in control of most all of Iraq’s oil?
That doesn’t sound bad to me. Not at all. The Kurds have always been our best ally in the region. We certainly owe em one after Clinton let Saddam have his horrible revenge on them back in 1993.
They’re not Muslim, so there’s less chance of the oil money falling into the hands of terrorists.
Andrew
Well played, Randy. Blaming Clinton, even!
But I’m worried that you might have overplayed your spoofing, because everybody, except oxygen deprived mouth breathing morons, knows that Kurds are indeed mostly Muslim. You’ve got to be a bit more facty to fool everyone.
Steve
Truth to power, Darrell style.
Perry Como
If you weren’t a spoof…
Richard Bottoms
Had Enough?
Salty Party Snax
It was a stupid remark. I wonder how many times the term “dumb fuck” has been used in Howard Dean’s office during the last day or so ..
Kerry should just shut up and go away.
Richard 23
Damn, a lot of action on this thread for something so simple and irrelevant.
Whether Kerry simply blew his lines or really hates the troops and thinks they’re all uneducated fools doesn’t really matter.
Kerry needs to shut the fuck up and get off the stage. This is not an issue and he is not running for re-election.
If Kerry wants to do stand up or try too hard to be clever in his snarky comments about President Bush he can knock himself out after the election.
But shut the fuck up, idiot. If you can’t speak plainly without handing the GOP a non-issue to howl about, go away. Go windsurfing or put on a sperm suit or something, but just go away. You’re not helping here.
And if I were a politician and some asshole asked me if I agree with Kerry’s ‘position’ about the troops being stupid, I’d tell them absolutely not. Why defend Kerry’s blown joke?
Although I like what he said afterwards, he should really just fade into the background. There are plenty of important things to be dicussing and Kerry is not one of them.
You think the soldiers getting killed and injured in Iraq are getting their feelings hurt over this bullshit? Like hell. The Bush Administration owes the troops an apology, if anyone does.
Salty Party Snax
R23: Yep. John Kerry has now changed the topic. It isn’t about Iraq and Bush’s incompetence in running the war there, now it’s about good old John Kerry and his inability to keep his fool mouth shut. And Karl Rove will run with this all the way to election day.
It’s like the guy has a genetic predisposition to fucking up.
chopper
uh, the vast majority of kurds are muslim.
Randy
uh, the vast majority of kurds are muslim.
I stand corrected. But they’re not shiites or sunnis, right? Aren’t they some other variant and that’s why they haven’t been involved in much of the fighting?
chopper
they’re sunnis.
chopper
the majority of kurds practice sunni islam, a minority practice shia islam (mostly iranian kurds, not many of them), and a very small minority practice alevi islam, but the alevi kurds pale in numbers compared to the alevi turks next door.
Tulkinghorn
Randy–
The Kurds are mainly Sunni. They speak and Indo-European language.
Unlike most other Iraqis they are not Arabs, and so are not Baathists; unlike most Iranians they are not Shia, neither twelvers nor sixers, but Sunni; unlike the Turks they do not speak one of the Turkic languages nor practice the Turkish flavors of Sunnism. I don’t know what sort of connection there may be between Iraqis Kurds and the maoist types who have been terrorists in Turkey.
B Dubya
A stroll through this little mangrove swamp is all that is rquired to remind me that I do not want Dhimmictrats running my country.
From the persective of most of the commenters here, 6 feet left of center is “the far right”.
If this parade really does get to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, then I suppose the people who voted it in will deserve everything that its odd selection of clowns and freaks deliver.
Have a nice day.
Brendan
Kerry’s a jerkoff. We know that. If he weren’t he’d be president right now. But I find the outrage a bit disingenuous coming from people who have assented to the description of the death and maiming of our military men and women as “a comma” in the annals of history.
brian in FL
Republicans also seem to forget that in 2004, President Bush said the following:
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we,” he said. “They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
So Bush hates America everyone!!! Spread the word! After all, people don’t misspeak. They always mean exactly what they say. Just ask the right-wing pundits.
Also, Bush NEVER APOLOGIZED for saying he wants to harm Americans! Can you believe that? NEVER APOLOGIZED!
Why does George Bush hate America and want to harm the American people?????
(I’m of course immitating an insane right-wing blogger)
What I love is this statement from Scott McClellan after that verbal gaffe by Bush:
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush’s misstatement “just shows even the most straightforward and plain-spoken people misspeak.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,128164,00.html
Rob Crawford
The remarks made by Sen. John Kerry, were meant for the President of the United States, not towards the troops. All of the faux Shocked posters here, know full well, what Kerry meant… And so does the White House, and so does the Neo-Con side of the aisle of Congress. Yes Kerry botched up, a perfectly great joke on Bush. Yes Kerry should’ve rehearsed the joke further, and got it right the first time, but he didn’t. I’m over it, why shouldn’t the Neo-Cons be? And that’s the 64 dollar question isn’t it??? Because the Neo-Con White House, and the Neo-Con Congress, have been caught in lots of lies. Lies to the American people over the Iraqi War, and how and why we’re in it. Lies about, how the Neo-Cons have a plan to get out of this War Mess. Lies about the handling of Katrina, and it’s victims. Lies about the outting of Valerie Plame. Lies about how Haliburton (a company Cheney still owns stock, and is connected too) has siphoned off Millions if not Billions of dollars, earmarked for our troops, and to Katrina victims, with no Over-Sight by Congress or anyone with any intelligence, or Morals. To Allow Rep. Mark Foley to go about Trolling for male pages in the Halls of Congress, for at least ten full years, and when he gets caught, Fox’s argument is: Well he’s “Gay”, shouldn’t there be some tolerance?” or “Well… the pages taunted Mr. Foley”, it must be their fault. Foley is, a PEDAPHILE, he isn’t GAY. BIG DIFFERENCE. All within plain view of Denny Hastert and most of the Neo-Con aisle of Congress. Back to the 64 dollar question…The reason why this Faux Shock coming from the Neo-Con rank and file??? Because of all of the above, mis-steps, bad calls, and out and out Lies, the Neo-Cons are in it up past their Friggin Heads in DIRTY Sh*T! So it IS for Political GAIN,(to make Hay)(to make a fool of) for a slight Gaff, made by a true Swift Boat Victim, Senator John Kerry. The Neo-Cons and their followers, know they don’t have a Political Leg to stand on, when it comes to the mid-term elections. So let’s pick on John Kerry one more time, for old times sake? How many troops were killed, or wounded, for Kerry’s remarks? Then Answer to that is Zero! When Pres. Bush was making a joke about where the WMD’s were, while patting his own pockets on stage. How many troops were killed or wounded by his funny joke? Try almost 3000 men and women, who wouldn’t be DEAD today, had Bush not got us into a needless War, based on Lies and deception. Try looking into the eyes of those Families who lost a loved one in either Iraq or Afganistan, and explain Bush’s WMD joke to them. Should Senator John Kerry offered an appology, for his remarks? I say NO, and Hell NO. Should Bush appologize? Damn right he should. He owes the American people and the World an explaination for his actions. We are now the most hated Country on the face of this Earth, and we owe it to George W. Bush. Two stolen Presidential elections later, and this country hasn’t been respected since President Clinton was in office. Let’s don’t let the Neo-Cons steal another one. Vote November 7th. This is more than a mid-term election, this is a reforendum aimed at Bush and his Crime Family.
Post American
We are in the last throes of GOP absolute power. Their desperation is bordering on the cusp of madness. The Cognitive Dissonance is real thick. It’s the Iraq Occupation stupid.
The White House is calling on Vietnam Vet John Kerry to apologize to U.S. Troops for criticizing the President for getting the U.S. stuck in Iraq. Republicans on the TV are apoplectic about the remark made by the Senator from Taxachussets. I’m no fan of John Kerry. It is one thing to screw up a joke, but screwing up and losing a War is quite another. Before the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Commander in Chief didn’t know that there was any difference between Sunni and Shiite Islam! Bush just thought they were all Muslims. It’s been 1,872 days since Bush said he’d catch bin Laden ‘Dead or Alive!’ Half a decade later, a civil war is raging between Sunni /Shiite Militia’s in Iraq!
The White House never apologized to the American People for lying about Pat Tillman’s Death, for ignoring pre Nine Eleven Warnings, for cutting and running in Afghanistan, for saying the Iraq had WMDS, for saying Saddam was a grave threat, for not sending enough Troops or Armor, for saying Bring Em On, for Abu Ghraib, for Staying the Course, for dividing the country, for trashing our reputation, for shredding the Bill of Rights, for using fear and violence for political gain, for the Genocide in Iraq, etc.
Chicken Hawks like George Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Hillary Clinton, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck need to STFU. I’m pro life for our Soldiers, and anti lie.
Marcella Perry
If you don’t ignore her, she’s the next Ann Coulter. IGNORE HER, she’s a stupid you know what. Don’t waste time giving her attention. Seriously.
danno
Interesting how this keeps happening to John Kerry. And how serendipitous (or not) that it happend in the last few days before an election his opponents are predicted to lose.
Making a mistake while telling a ‘joke’ – unfortunate. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result – insanity.
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Vote!
Brian Geoffrey
I’ll say it. Kerry didn’t say it, but I’ll say.
The troops are stupid.
Not stupid to have joined the army. Not stupid for pledging to defend their country. Not stupid for wanting to do some good in the world.
But stupid for trusting George W. Bush. For thinking that George W. Bush would respect their sacrifice. For thinking that George W. Bush would only send them into harm’s way for something important, and not to gain political power. For thinking the George W. Bush shared their desire to do some good in the world. But now, they’ve all had an education. But at what price?
When you get a President in office that’s never served in the military, this is a danger that is highly likely.
disgustedandamused
Malkin should be very careful what she calls for. In the story about the NY Times’ publishing a single frame from a Power Point presentation:
1. she decides the publication of frame that covers a general, high level assessment of the strategic situation constitutes a “secret” on the same level as a disclosure of sources and methods — in other words, something approaching the same level of leak as the outing of Valerie Plame;
2. she furthermore asserts that this constitutes treason, insinuating that staff at the Times should be subject to punishment for treason, possibly including the death penalty.
A couple of observations should be in order.
A. Malkin herself then goes on to publish THE VERY SAME PICTURE IN HER OWN BLOG. So for those who find looking up the Times article (which, after all, if the Times staff or legal department had changed their minds changed by her outcry, could very well decide to withdraw the graphic from their site), she now discloses the very secret to a wider audience. So now she is furthering the very same act of treason she decries.
B. The original disclosure was, in fact, a high-level assessment of the strategic situation, which basically proves that the Pentagon still has its head screwed on in private, and is only being politically correct in public (which is in fact what it is Constitutionally required to do — the Pentagon obeys, while we in the opposition are carrying out our Constitutionally right, and moral duty, to oppose the war based upon the obvious publically available facts). No sources or methods of intelligence gathering were exposed, no military personnel’s lives were put at risk… this isn’t treason by a long shot.
C. But now that the business of treason and media complicity has been brought up… let’s follow that up, OK Malkin?
Many of us, a large fraction of the population, are certain this administration is covering up the real facts about the 9-11 attacks. This isn’t ancient history, this is in fact by the Bush administration’s own proclamations the very reason for our current foreign policy, the new cornerstone of our foreign, defense, and “homeland security” policy. Many of us, in fact, are pretty certain that “9-11 was an inside job”… that the core of the Bush administration actually managed the attack itself. If proven in some future trial, that means that the Bush administration itself not only deserves impeachment, but that members of the administration deserve imprisonment for attacking the US, destroying Federal property, subverting their own oaths to defend the US and it’s Constitution… oh, and that they are guilty of the mass murder of about three thousand people. Hmmm, that sounds like treason to me. Especially after the execution of Timothy McVeigh for murdering 169 people in the Murrah building in Oklahoma City, what do you think should be fair for whoever pulled off 9-11? Especially if they are on the inside?
Malkin, if you shrilly raise the issue of treason; if you accuse members of the meida (and you yourself are part of athe media) of treason; if you through your actions defend an administration that could still be proven guilty of treason in a future court of law; are you perhaps guilty of treason yourself? And if so, what level of treason are you guilty of? And what level of punishment would then fit your crime?
Be very, very careful what you call for. Regimes that go up, eventually fall down. Even thosand-year reichs see their end, some after only twelve years.
To others reading this thread, if you have your own doubts about the official story of 9-11, remember this: the more these people have their backs to the wall, the more repressive their language has become. If by chance this election leaves the Republicans in power for two more years, do you have any reason to believe they will not take action to further cement their power beyond 2008? Do you have any reason to suspect they will not press their temporary advantage to the hilt? Do you, in fact, have any reason to suspect that your silence on 9-11 as “too inflammatory” will temper the viciousness of attack dogs like Malkin or Coulter?
Research for yourself the number one accusation brought against this adminstration. This is the one lie that, once broken, will not only bring down this regime, but the neo-cons and the conservative lapdogs who have acquiesced in the destruction of our Democracy AND Republic. Victory in demanding the truth on 9-11 is the only issue that will secure our freedom in the future. Continuing to turn our heads means continuing to live a lie every time you raise your hands at the Pledge of Allegiance, every time you raise you voice in the Star Spangled Banner. Sept 11, 2001 was not only our generation’s Dallas 1963, they were both our country’s “only in America”, apple-pie version of the Tien An Men Massacre.
One thing I have to hand those communist bastards: at least they didn’t lie. The Red Chinese openly slaughtered their own citizens as they openly re-asserted their own right to “divine rule” (though the nature of the demonic divinity they worshipped was subject to change). Even the Soviets, after the Cuban Missile Crisis, were capable of an honest, open coup d’etat when their generals decided their young leader was “unfit for command”; just as our generals and top spooks decided that JFK was “unfit for command” when he, along with Krushchev, decided global and national survival trumped absolute victory on some artificial schedule. At least the Soviets, in opting for an open coup, allowed Krushchev to live. Our rulers, on the other hand, opted for a lie of artificial democracy, backed by murder.
They murder those who would challenge the lie by insisting on making the democracy real (JFK, ML King,RFK, et al);
they murder those who would lift the curtain on the Dallas coup (search on witnesses, whistleblowers and investigators of the JFK murder);
they murder (9-11) as they commit another communal sacrifice of victims on the altar dedicated to insisting on the continued innocence of the “reluctant Empire”. This empire is no more innocent, as it cuts out its own democratic and republican heart upon the alter of Ground Zero, than the Aztecs were innocent when they literally cut out the hearts of prisoners in the center of Tenochtitlan.
This country, in the last generation, has learned to face the ugly truth of its’ racial history; it has slowly faced up to its bigotry and racism, and has at least started to repent of its sins of racism.
This country, in the last generation, has also slowly brought itself to face the reality of the real Sexual Revolution — it has sought to face the realities of sexual abuse in its families and other institutions. This is the real core and foundation of the Sexual Revolution, although it is hardly ever admitted, and indeed was not its historical starting place; for no human being in any social intercourse, sexual or otherwise, can freely say “Yes”, unless they are first free to say “No”.
These truly democratic revolutions were not won (and even now are not secure) by words alone; real blood has been spilt time and again, and the battles won on the streets have continued into courts and even into homes and into our own hearts and souls, as we work out the inevitable logic of at least respecting, if not loving, our neighbors as we love ourselves… and realizing that neither loving nor respecting others is possible, unless we love and respect ourselves.
How can we look a single child in the eye and encourage them them to accuse a sexual abuser, if we lack the courage to face the abuse wreaked upon our democracy and our republic at the hands of our own empire?
How dare we face another soul, oppressed for the color of their skin, to stand up to defend their own right to freedom from that oppression, an oppression possibly wrought on their family for generations, if we dare not face down the shame of letting ourselves be ruled by “the empire that dare not speak its own name”?
If we will not speak truly and plainly about how freedom is being snatched out from beneath our very noses… why do we care about elections?
If we will not defend our nation’s liberties from ALL enemies, both foreign and domestic… shall we really have the right to sacrifice the life of even an animal to celebrate one more Thanksgiving? Have we the audacity to pray to our Creator in thanks for a gift of freedom we refuse to defend, because in our generation the conqueror’s sword is raised from a quarter our teachers never allowed us to suspect?
Is it any crime to suspect the designs of those in power? Is it treason to question the motives of those in the innermost circles of any gathering? Jesus not only knew his treasurer was his traitor, he warned his “rock” not to be his “satan”. Our Founding Fathers knew the dangers of placing too much trust in inner circles — Benedict Arnold was among our first generals, and Aaron Burr among our first Vice-Presidents. Simply being at the top is no guarantee of loyalty or fidelity.
The election before us is crucial, but winning it will only be a beginning. Truly winnning will take facing up to some more ugly truths about our nation, some “family secrets” we have been loath to bare in public (and indeed, this regime’s members have been quick to use the language of shame found in abused families to hush those who would dare to air dirty laundry in public). But the evil has grown too great — the abusers have grown too bold, from murdering a president who took his oath too seriously, to sacrificing thousands upon a pyre in the heart of our greatest city, and as always, in their truly satanic way, callously blaming the latest burnt offering upon a new and improved brand of devil, while pompously warning us to look away from the mystery of this latest offering to their God of Ignorant Intelligence and Reluctant Power.
Truly I say to you all. After the signing of the decrees to abolish Habeas Corpus, the lapdogs of oppression are giving us fair warning. With their threats of treason, they warn us of their intentions if or when they remain in power after this election.
There is nothing more to be gained by reticence. Those who raise the cry of treason, now threaten you and I with death. So be it. If I am to die for words, at least let me die for words spoken, not those held back for fear of frightening polite company. Bush and his ilk murdered thousands on September 11th. They, not bin Laden, are the greatest terrorists in our nation’s history. If America lives, it will only be because “Bush” has replaced Benedict Arnold as our native term for traitor. And if our struggle to perfect our Republic and achieve our Democracy survives to beguile and bedevil our heirs, it will be because our generation will have found the courage and wit to finally name and face down the greatest threat to our Republic and our Democracy — our own American Empire.