John Kerry showing how liberals "Support the Troops"

[Devastatin Dave]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLuMWiQ6r2o

Yes, military members are stupid.
What an elitist!!!
So will the media pick this up, or will they continue to carry the DNC's water?

[Mithrandir]

How is that elitist?

[Devastatin Dave]

How is that elitist?

He's looking down on the people who serve in the military. He's basically saying that only uneducated people join the military, which is completely false. Todays Armed Forces are the most educated military in the history of the world. Then again, its common for civilians to look down on military members, so it might be hard for you to understand how insulting his comment is to Vets...

[Mithrandir]

He didn't claim he was better than them.

[Justiciar]

Seems like a reasonable statement to make. Militaries the world over see kids with poor grades and "no hope" for a future as their primary target for recruitment.

freedom hating liberals, eh?

[Spino]

Pretty funny coming from an Ivy League educated naval officer that volunteered to be 'stuck' in Vietnam for three months.

[Devastatin Dave]

Seems like a reasonable statement to make. Militaries the world over see kids with poor grades and "no hope" for a future as their primary target for recruitment.

freedom hating liberals, eh?

Thanks for proving my point.

edited quoted language.

-Mithrandir

[doc_bean]

Hey, at least he didn't cut their wages, or lower veteran benefits, or outsource the supply of their basic needs to a money grabbing compnany that doesn't give a **** about whether the soldiers live or die.

Yeah, Kerry is the bad guy

[Redleg]

Hey, at least he didn't cut their wages, or lower veteran benefits, or outsource the supply of their basic needs to a money grabbing compnany that doesn't give a **** about whether the soldiers live or die.

Yeah, Kerry is the bad guy

Hey the thread is about Senator Kerry, not President Clinton.

[Tribesman]

He's basically saying that only uneducated people join the military

I thought he was saying only an idiot would end up stuck in Iraq .

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Seems like a reasonable statement to make. Militaries the world over see kids with poor grades and "no hope" for a future as their primary target for recruitment.

freedom hating liberals, eh?

You need at least a modicum of intelligence to pass basic training in any western military.

[Devastatin Dave]

Hey the thread is about Senator Kerry, not President Clinton.

Excellent!!!

[Crazed Rabbit]

Senator McCain Fights Back:

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.

Just another example of the elitist left's disdain and scorn for the military.

CR

[Justiciar]

You need at least a modicum of intelligence to pass basic training in any western military.

I didn't say or even imply that all soldiers are retarded, for god's sake. Just that militaries go after kids that come out of school with lower grades, because they're more likely to get stuck in a dead end job - which no 15-20 year old really wants. Service in the army comes as an attractive alternative. And Iraq isn't exactly the happiest place on earth at the minute. Seems to be all that Kerry is saying, and I agree. It was poorly worded on his part though. And clearly he's paying for it.

[Redleg]

I didn't say or even imply that all soldiers are retarded, for god's sake. Just that militaries go after kids that come out of school with lower grades, because they're more likely to get stuck in a dead end job - which no 15-20 year old really wants. Service in the army comes as an attractive alternative. And Iraq isn't exactly the happiest place on earth at the minute. Seems to be all that Kerry is saying, and I agree. It was poorly worded on his part though. And clearly he's paying for it.

So in escence you are retracting your ill informed statement of

Seems like a reasonable statement to make. Militaries the world over see kids with poor grades and "no hope" for a future as their primary target for recruitment.

freedom hating liberals, eh?

Then I must ask have you ever served in the military? My experience sort of indicates that there is a representive ratio of the general population in the military of the United States. Except in the education level which is slightly higher since it does require a High School diploma or a GED to enlist, and the passing of a general appitude test.

[Mithrandir]

Keep this thread on topic and inline with forumrules : no flaming.

[Xiahou]

And this guy still thinks he can be president.

[yesdachi]

People really need to pay attention to what the individual says and not the party they represent. The only reward for stupid comments is a trip to the sidelines when it comes to the next election.

[BigTex]

Thats disgusting, so much disdain for a military that he served in and protects him. Good job McCain. Kerry needs to take a bus to some paris superbs.

[Justiciar]

So in escence you are retracting your ill informed statement of;

Sort of. The first post was off it's intended message. Though I was essentially trying to say the same thing in both posts. That being that armies target fresh-faced kids who've just hopped out of school, seeing the army as their best bet for stability. Often because they haven't got the grades they might have hoped for. That isn't to say a majority, or even a significant minority of soldiers fit that bill. It's just the people that armies aim to bring in, because they're an easier group to bag.

I didn't do particularly well in school, and I've considered joining the army on a number of occasions, as have many of my friends in a similar situation. Unlike a fair few of them I just can't pluck up the balls to go through with it. I agree that I should have picked my words better. Sorry for upsetting you, as I so clearly have. You can put your handbag down now. At no point do I claim that my "ill informed" opinion is gospel.

Your statement here indicates you realize that your statement is nothing other then a cheap shot at something you have never bothered to become informed of.

Silly, true, and needlessly hostile. So I've never joined the US Army, and thereby haven't got any real insight into it's internal workings? Sue me. Doesn't stop me from agreeing with a statement that may or may not be true.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

A big slice of the generation born from 1946 through 1959 have this model of the military in their heads.

1. The 1960's rules for draft deferrment (college deferrments etc.) really did work to screen many of the "best and brightest" of that age group out of the service. A very high percentage of our HS dropouts and those who couldn't get deferrment production jobs right out of HS were the ones who were sent to Vietnam.

THIS was the era of their teens and 20's, when they thought of serving (or not) and became a defining characterization of the military for them.


2. These were the generation of Vietnam. The Vietnam conflict is the standard by which all conflicts are judged. Any conflict that lasts for a considerable duration must be an incipient defeat. The US is incapable of projecting its power successfully against a guerilla-style opponent.

THIS was the truth of the conflict, the lessons of war as that generation learned it on TV.

3. Using force to impose US policy is immoral and transforms the USA from a force for good into an evil worse than the opposition. What right did the USA have to try to tell the Vietnamese which kind of government should be theirs?

THIS was the moral verdict on the conflict, and serves as a touchstone for evaluating the use of force. Thus, if force is sanctioned unilaterally, it must be suspect. If we cannot get our Allies in Europe -- with whom we share many cultural values -- to agree as to the use of force, we are probably enacting the wrong strategy. Violence, as a moral wrong, should be avoided in all but the most extreme instances (e.g. direct homeland defense).


John Kerry is no more than a product of his times. Thankfully, they weren't a majority opinion then....and aren't now.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Everybody knows the only real way to support our troops is to put a nice yellow sticker on your car.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

But while the students showed proper enthusiasm for Angelides by waving his signs and wooing and booing at the right places, the energy in the room clearly belonged to Kerry. He tookthe stage to roaring applause and left it only to be mobbed by students and reporters.
Kerry charmed the crowd with tales of surfing at Mission Beach and got laughs for a series of one liners, including telling the crowd he had just returned from Texas, "Where the president used to live - now he lives in a state of denial."

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.

The man never could tell a joke. What college was this where he got roaring applause?

Also:

Washington – Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry’s comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:

“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. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.

I’m not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq. It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.

The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it. These Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor.

Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men. And this time it won’t work because we’re going to stay in their face with the truth and deny them even a sliver of light for their distortions. 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.”

[Spetulhu]

Somewhat on topic: I thought you can try to gain permanent residency in the US by joining the armed forces. After serving a certain time you might be eligible for citizenship. Isn't this true? And wouldn't this be a method for people to get into the US when they have no other means of doing so?

[CrossLOPER]

Somewhat on topic: I thought you can try to gain permanent residency in the US by joining the armed forces. After serving a certain time you might be eligible for citizenship. Isn't this true? And wouldn't this be a method for people to get into the US when they have no other means of doing so?

One year of active duty.

[Redleg]

Silly, true, and needlessly hostile. So I've never joined the US Army, and thereby haven't got any real insight into it's internal workings? Sue me. Doesn't stop me from agreeing with a statement that may or may not be true.

No need for me to sue you. If you found the statement needlessly hostile maybe you should review what you have wrote, and do a little actual research on the subject before agreeing with a politican who is saying something that is ridicolous to score politicial points with the ill informed.

Now a moderator as asked me to edit my previous statement - but I shall wait until I see a retraction of your own comments first.

[Mithrandir]

Keep this thread on topic and inline with forumrules : no flaming.

I hate it when I have to repeat myself.

No personal attacks allowed.

[Tribesman]

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.

A slight problem there , patriotism can be a deficiency of education .

[Justiciar]

No need for me to sue you. If you found the statement needlessly hostile maybe you should review what you have wrote.

Done. Can't see anything wrong with it. I've expressed a view point, and acknowledged that it may well be wrong. Afterall, it's ill informed, like you said.

[Redleg]

Done. Can't see anything wrong with it. I've expressed a view point, and ackowledged that it may well be wrong. And you're still throwing your toys out of the pram.

Incorrect -