John Kerry has walked into a political minefield by associating uneducated, uninformed folks with members of the US Military.
Pretty sad. I don't know about Major John's academic credentials, but I've got a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, along with graduate work in environmental engineering, two professional engineering licenses and a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Guess I'm too dumb to know any better. What I have found of interest in recent DoD surveys is that there is a higher percentage of individuals with graduate degrees among the US Army's NCO corps than any single enlisted segment. Additionally, US Navy requirements for the advancement to E7 will now require a bachelor's degree and all officers must have some language proficiency.
Huh.
Now if I was only smart enough to figure out what John meant by his comments...
UPDATE - The prevailing opinion is that Kerry let his own context and sarcasm get the best of him. Perhaps this is even more damning as it reveals to me his own contempt for the military. I suspect he is still holding on to old ideas from his time in service during Vietnam and shortly afterwards.
By the way, acknolwedgement to Major John over at Miserable Donuts - his JD trumps my MBA!
Dang Army guys...
At least we still have the best chow.
9 comments:
It's funny. One reason I didn't go into the military was because I didn't think I was smart enough. Of coarse the gay thing also counts as a reason.
Based upon your posts, you would have been a great asset.
BA and MA (History) from U of IL, JD from Northern IL. Too dumb to do anything else - well, except be an Assistant State's Attorney, then National Trial Counsel for a mid sized manufacturing company, and now in-house at the third largest insurer in the world...
Even John Derbyshire recognizes that it was a poorly delivered joke that was supposed to reference Bush, and not the troops. Or has he said, "there is far too much fake outrage over this." We are getting the one sound bite, not the setup, which makes it clear he was referring to Bush. Sure, we can vilify for being stupid (which, in retrospect, it probably is), but we also need to realize that he is no David Letterman.
Should this one badly delivered, not well thought out comment cause even one person to switch their vote from Dem to Republican, it is that person I worry about....there are more important issues out there.
Here is my problem, Kerry delivered the comment in the frame of an attack on the Bush administration. However, the comments (although meant in a sarcastic manner) were addressed to the gathered school children.
To me this underscores Kerry's inherent contempt for our military, colored by his own experiences in Vietnam and afterwards. He has, in the past, also displayed this opinion - only it was not in such a highly charged arena.
I find his comments in keeping with his character - he is an internationalist at heart - and although poorly delivered, I do not believe it was the gaffe he claims.
This is further underscored by his responses and utter lack of sensitivity to the impact of his comment.
Even Bill O'Reilly is giving Kerry the benefit of the doubt, and certainly Hillary is smiling broadly.
I have a Fill-In-The-Blank game posted on my blog.
"...If you don’t, you get stuck _____________________."
Well, not to beat a dead horse, but at least he served in Vietnam. Unlike the President, unlike the Vice President, unlike numerous members of Congress.
Also, he was not speaking to "school children". He was addressing a college audience, who generally have a great deal of depth and political savvy (or at least think they do) , and would probably resent you referring to them as children as much as you resent Kerry for his remarks. As for his contempt of the military, how about the administrations thinly veiled contempt for anyone who opposes them(see: brownshirt goons employed by George Allen throw blogger against window......
yup, it is getting ugly as it gets down to the wire, but so far, the party in power retains the title for ugly attacks. Oh wait...no one mentioned gay marriage yet or NAMBLA today, so maybe things are cooling off. ...
hmmmm...I wonder what Brett Somers or Charles Nelson Reilly would fill in Sonic's Blank with......
Sullivan has a good post today. Throwing Kerry's service in Vietnam as a litmus test against anyone in office is a non-starter.
His actions post-service are more significant.
By the way, as I have said before - service is service. Not everyone gets to fly jet fighters...
I love how the line suddenly became a "misdelivered joke" when it went over as a lead balloon. Now all id forgiven!
He said what he has believed and demonstrated many times as his opinion.
His time has now passed and he should go buy some ketchup.
Post a Comment