Tue PM Update: Click here for Kerry’s outraged response!
Just scanned Memeorandum and the blogosphere is understandably going wild over some incredibly despicable comments Senator John Kerry made about our troops at a campaign event for Governor Ahhhnold’s Democratic opponent loser Phil Angelides.
Allah’s got the audio, as does John Ziegler, and Michelle provides the relevant transcript excerpt (along with angry reader reax). Here’s what Kerry said:
“You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
Just think: this man could have been president.
The comments speak for themselves, and Kerry’s (lack of) character. I wonder if Rep. Murtha and other vets in DC will condemn the remarks? I won’t hold my breath.
I do think this is a belief about our wonderful military that more than just a few Democrats share. Remember Bill Maher’s insulting remarks about the military ‘already’ picking the “low lying Lyndie England fruit”?
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., takes issue with remarks on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, first aired May 13, in which Maher points out the Army missed its recruiting goal by 42% in April.
“More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club,” Maher said. “We’ve done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies.”
Rep. Charlie Rangel, on trying to justify his phony call to reinstate the draft so “the rich” (who apparently aren’t fighting in this war) would get “a chance” to fight it:
“Those who love this country have a patriotic obligation to defend this country,” Rangel said. “For those who say the poor fight better, I say give the rich a chance.”
In other words, only the poor and uneducated sign up for military service.
I tell you what, the masks really are coming off the Democratic party this Halloween, aren’t they? First this, now Kerry’s comments? Trick or treat.
Update I: Gaius nails it:
There is this vast amount of contempt for the military within the Democratic party. They continually refer to the people in the military as ‘children’. The routinely paint them as having joined the military out of financial desperation, lack of education or a lack of ambition. Kerry is one of the contenders for the 2008 nomination and he speaks for a large part of the party.
Update II: Greg Tinti:
Also, I think we should all take a moment today and thank Ohio for keeping this condescending jerk out of the White House.
Don’t you mean Kenneth Blackwell, Greg? 
Update III: Here’s video of Kerry’s comments, along with a list of upcoming campaign stops/stumps.
Update IV: In my “others blogging” section of this post, I linked to Jason’s post at Texas Rainmaker on the issue of Kerry’s comments, but he has since updated his post and included info in it that debunks the myth of the “underprivileged and uneducated soldier”. Make sure you read it.
Malkin’s a blogging machine on this today, and notes the MSM’s silence so far. I honestly will not be surprised that, if the MSM picks up this story, they actually try and prove Kerry is right.
Update V: McCain has called on Kerry to apologize:
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. Americans from all backgrounds, well off and less fortunate, with high school diplomas and graduate degrees, take seriously their duty to our country, and risk their lives today to defend the rest of us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
They all deserve our respect and deepest gratitude for their service. The suggestion that only the least educated Americans would agree to serve in the military and fight in Iraq, is an insult to every soldier serving in combat, and should deeply offend any American with an ounce of appreciation for what they suffer and risk so that the rest of us can sleep more comfortably at night. 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.
Update VI: Gateway Pundit posts this helpful link:
* Myth 1: Military recruits are less educated and have fewer work alternatives than other young Americans.
In fact, military recruits are far better educated than the general youth population, [Bill Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy] Carr said. More than 90 percent of recruits have a high school diploma, compared to about 75 percent of the U.S. youth population.
That’s an important issue to the military, Carr said, because a traditional high school diploma is the single best indicator of a recruit’s stick-to-it-ness and likelihood of successfully adjusting to military service. Recruits with a high school diploma have a 70 percent probability of completing a three-year enlistment versus a 50 percent chance for nongraduates.
The military has exceeded the 90-percent benchmark for recruits with high school diplomas every year since 1983, Carr noted.
* Myth 2: The military tends to attract people with lower aptitudes.
Recruits actually have much higher average aptitudes than the general youth population, Carr said. In fiscal 2005, 67 percent of recruits scored above the 60th percentile on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. The test is designed so that the average young person will score 50 percent, he explained.
But high achievement on the test isn’t new, Carr said. Sixty percent of new enlistees have scored at or above the 50 percentile — the military’s benchmark for recruits — every year since 1985.
* Myth 3: The military attracts a disproportionate number of poor or underprivileged youth.
In reality, military recruits mirror the U.S. population and are solidly middle class, Carr said. He cited a recent Heritage Foundation report that shows most recruits come from middle-class families, rather than poorer or wealthier ones. Patterns in recent years reinforce this trend, showing a slight dip in recruits from lower socioeconomic groups and a slight increase from upper-class groups, Carr said.
* Myth 4: A disproportionate number of recruits come from urban areas.
Inner cities are actually the most underrepresented area among new recruits, Carr said. Both suburban and rural areas are overrepresented, he said.
* Myth 5: The military isn’t geographically representative of America.
The southern part of the United States generates the most recruits, 41 percent, but also has the biggest youth population to draw from, 36 percent, Carr said. Twenty-four percent of recruits come from north-central regions, which have 23 percent of the youth population. The west, with 24 percent of the nation’s youth, contributes 21 percent of the new enlistees. And the northeast, with 18 percent of the youth population, provides 14 percent of new recruits.
Others blogging about this: Captain Ed, Justin Levine at Patterico’s, RightWinged.com, Iowa Voice, Dan Riehl, Astute Bloggers , Tigerhawk, Bizzyblog, Kim Priestap at Wizbang, Sensible Mom, Texas Rainmaker, Rob at Say Anything, Hyscience, USS Neverdock, Conservative Blogger, Tom Maguire, Anchoress
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I will say that my enlisting in the military was due to a desire to get ahead in life, as a poor inner-city kid tired of earning minimum wage or little more.
Now I’m pretty well off, with a nice li’l acre in “da ‘burbs”…
Comment by camojack @ 10/31/2006 - 9:12 am
Camo, you fool, don’t you know you’re supposed to marry your way into money rather than using the military as a springboard to success? Man, don’t you know nuthin?
And, if GI’s in Iraq are losers, what does that make Kerry for “volunteering” to go to Nam?
Just another shining example of how Democrats “support the troops.”
Comment by Severian @ 10/31/2006 - 9:24 am
- Is it alright to call them unpatriotic, service dodging cowards now?…..Pretty please….
- Bang
Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 10/31/2006 - 10:52 am
You guys are such a bunch of losers. The Left is whipping your ass. Let’s see how the halloween masks are really coming off…
* Bushie stole both elections, dishonouring the Constitution and the votes of millions of Americans.
* He planned for attacking Iraq before 911 and then lied his head off about WMDs even in his 2003 SOTU address.
* His WH Iraq Group manufactured evidence for war and fed it to the American people and her allies. Now they’re doing the same for Iran. Watch that Middle East just ‘glow’.
* The economy’s screwed. Read what Paul Craig Roberts has to say about the jobs you and your families will never see again thanks to this government.
* Former World Bank Vice President, Chief Economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz has predicted a global economic crash within 24 months - unless the current downturn is successfully managed. Asked if the situation was being properly handled Stiglitz emphatically responded “no”….Discussing the warning signs of plummeting real estate prices in the U.S., Stiglitz stated that a global economic depression could only be avoided if a correction was made but at the moment all the indicators are that the situation is not being well managed. That’s your Bush boy.
Two more years of this lunatic and we get the doozy of economic depressions and a cindered Middle East - two for the price of one!
Skip the rapture. Leave the Bush operatives in jail where they belong. Just get yourself over to Driftglass or any of the Left wing sites for an education in reality and accept that in these difficult times “you can either be good Republican or a good American, but you can’t be both”.
Short of bribing Diebold to cheat faster, you’re screwed - and you know it!
Comment by ken @ 10/31/2006 - 11:03 am
No one should be suprised when Kerry lamely criticizes the intelligence of our brave servicemen and women who volunteered to serve in the armed forces. He called the people he served with in Vietnam “monsters”! But don’t you dare question his patriotism! Right.
With Veteran’s Day coming up in a few weeks, now is the time to show real support and thanks for what our troops do on our behalf every single day. There are many, many wonderful charities that offer ways for the American people to do just that.
Here’s a You Tube video about a non-profit group I volunteer with, Operation Gratitude:
LINK
Comment by Ann @ 10/31/2006 - 11:46 am
Thanks for the laugh, Ken. Funniest thing I’ve read in awhile.
Bunch of leftard sites supporting leftard nonsense. Who’da thunk?
“Predatory globalism” indeed.
Incidently, re: the bolded quotation. Who are you quoting? Yourself or Kos?
God help us if folks who think like you ever gain positions of authority.
Comment by Dave in CO @ 10/31/2006 - 11:50 am
Funny how when ever anything goes south, a blizzard, lost hikers, hurricanines, flooding, riots, wild fires, evacuations…they call the military. Not Greenpeace, not NOW, not the Sierra Club, or any other lefty group.
But hey, what do I know, I’m a military sucker too.
Comment by Paul @ 10/31/2006 - 12:08 pm
Great point, Paul!
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 10/31/2006 - 12:11 pm
Thanks for the good laugh, Ken. But alas, save it for another thread, or better yet, another site where it actually ties in with the topic of the moment. But thanks again for at least getting my mind off that debacle of a Monday Night Football game
Excellent point, Paul, although I do wonder what it would be like if NOW was mobilized to assist with a flood.
Comment by Ryan @ 10/31/2006 - 12:27 pm
Every time this jackass opens his mouth, it’s a wonderful reminder of the bullet we dodged (no pun intended) in 2004.
Comment by libertarianobserver @ 10/31/2006 - 12:47 pm
Ken wrote, “You guys are such a bunch of losers.
What did conservatives lose? Did the election happen and you ugliness is already on display?
Ken wrote comically, “* Bushie stole both elections, dishonouring the Constitution and the votes of millions of Americans.”
I guess Bush will choose not to steal this time… and therefor you’ll “whip [our] a**” What should we do? Poor us.
Ken wrote, ““you can either be good Republican or a good American, but you can’t be both””
Great. Democrat good, Republicans bad. Thanks for your insight about how we can’t be good Americans. You are so pursuasive!!!
Comment by Baklava @ 10/31/2006 - 12:55 pm
Congratulations Ken, on having the most content free post of the week here. You are living proof that Democrats and liberals must never be allowed to control anything more important than the position as dog catcher or village idiot, and even those would be a stretch for your competence. Gullible doesn’t even begin to describe you.
Comment by Severian @ 10/31/2006 - 1:00 pm
This shouldn’t surprise anyone, or rather, the sentiment Kerry expresses shouldn’t surprise anyone, the amazing thing is that after a lifetime of being a politician Kerry is so completely dense and incompetent as to actually come out and step on his tongue with such vigor. I mean, this is the same kind of thing he said in the 70’s when he was part of the Winter Soldier slander of our troops in Vietnam. Actually, compared with then, he’s toned his rhetoric down. His lashing out at the White House is just completely pathetic and disgusting, he said it, he believes it, and it’s part and parcel of everything he’s been about since “I have the hat” Vietnam.
So, if military are losers, what does that make Kerry for going to Vietnam?
Comment by Severian @ 10/31/2006 - 1:13 pm
As for Kerry:
Way to belittle our troops and do more for demoralizing our men than any other in recent history…
Now sit down and … better yet… keep on talking so as people can see they should vote for!
Comment by Baklava @ 10/31/2006 - 1:35 pm
Just get yourself over to Driftglass or any of the Left wing sites for an education in reality
Uh-huh. And exactly what kind of reality check do the Dems need, since they’ve empowered a party leadership that sincerely believes that giving bribes to terrorist nations and refusing to confront terrorist groups will make them give up terrorism? That’s worse than simple detachment from reality. That’s suicidal delusion.
As for Kerry, well, he’s probably talking about himself. Remember, he was a D student in college. Except for French, of course.
Please, please, please let him run for President again….
Comment by Great White Rat @ 10/31/2006 - 1:54 pm
- This is causing such a nationawide backlash LurchKerry has scheduled a news conference within the hour. Dean is probably screaming at him to STFU!…… But Nooooooooo. If he follows his usual stammering, flipfloper ways, we may get to see a man push both feet, AND his legs in his mouth. We should really encourage him to make campaign stops for ALL the Dem candidates… what a tool….
- Bang
Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 10/31/2006 - 2:15 pm
Ann Awesome video that is so wonderful that this group is there collecting stuff for our troops.
Paul God Bless you and your family for your sacifice. Many in this country appreciate your service. I agree with Sister, you have a very good point. We do rely on our uniformed Men and Women for a variety of needs.
I worry about the people on the left. What is going to go thru the minds of people like Ken when NONE of those predictions come true. I think people like this could do some serious harm to themselves when their world comes crashing down on them after the elections and the Repubs keep their majority or the the economy doesn’t crash or Iraq becomes a peaceful Democracy or….. Good Lord this list could get long. These guys are always so certain that the doom and gloom will come true, and when it doesn’t they might just hurt themselves in some fashion. We can only hope that they get help or meds - Lorica
Comment by Lorica @ 10/31/2006 - 8:26 pm
Ken does your bo friend still think you’re nonfattening as well as fact free?
Comment by forest hunter @ 11/1/2006 - 6:43 am