Noteworthy?

Nov 06, 2006 14:37

A few links in lieu of a real post:

Sign of the apocalypse?

w00t for SPU!

HALP JON CARRY - soldiers spell like 14 year olds in chat rooms, but in their case it is to make a point. BTW - everyone knows it was about Bush, but still - Kerry, come on, you had worse grades than Bush in college. The joke's on you, Kerry.

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work, microsoft, politics

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anonymous November 6 2006, 23:29:23 UTC
BTW - everyone knows it was about Bush, but still - Kerry, come on, you had worse grades than Bush in college. The joke's on you, Kerry.

I don't know that at all. I know that's what Kerry wants us to think, and I know it's his only way out, but do I know that's what he meant? No, not at all.

Am I just being a partisan shill? Well, here are my reasons:

Kerry has a LONG history of saying similar things. His 1971 Speech in front of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and his quip that troops were 'Terrorizing' women and children in Iraq, for example. If this were his first statement like this, I'd agree, it was just a misstep, but it's not.

Second, what he said is common wisdom in liberal strongholds everywhere. Walk around the U-District and look at anti-war posters and talk to anti-war folks in Freemont. I've heard a similar thing from people like that time and time again. They think that troops are ignorant morons who signed up because of stupidity and lack of any better things to do because they are being 'explointed by capitalism' or something to that effect. It's not like it's an uncommon opinion among those on the far left.

Finally, if it was about Bush, does it make any sense at all? Bush is a graduate of Yale and Harvard Business School. I'll grant you that graduating from those schools doesn't make him smart, but it does make him well educated. Since what he said was related to graduating from college, the joke would make no sense. Bush might be stupid, and he might be wrong, but you can't credibly link that to his lack of education, which, if we are to believe Kerry, is what he was trying to do.

Do I know he meant to insult the troops? No, but I also don't know he meant to insult Bush. It's ambiguous. One explaination makes no sense, while the other would be so mindbogglingly stupid it's hard to imagine he'd do it.

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firewallender November 7 2006, 02:00:20 UTC
You have a point: either way it's pretty (characteristically) dumb. My point is, the man said it was about X, fine, let's say he said it about X - it doesn't exactly redeem him at all. It's basically that the statement was either insulting and stupid, or stupid and insulting.

BTW, why so 'anonymous'?

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bornofthesun November 7 2006, 02:08:52 UTC
Sorry, it was me. That guy you've never met.

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firewallender November 7 2006, 02:14:51 UTC
Ah, no worries. Your input is appreciated. :-)

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newkiss November 7 2006, 17:30:11 UTC
Kerry's not the sharpest tool - the fact that he and Bush were a single grade point apart in their academic careers (and both in the 70's) is sort of depressing.

but he's not about to purposefully slam the troops. Bush's C average is also a running joke in "liberal strongholds" everywhere and any liberal listening knew exactly what he was about.

regardless - I hope Kerry gives up any hope of another White House bid. The Dems have smarter people in the running, and I hope to God the GOP does, too. I'm tired of idiots all 'round.

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nslsmith November 15 2006, 08:11:51 UTC
I agree - but we all make stupid comments once in a while; I certainly do. Why did he resist apology so much? It was his resistance and justification that creeps me out.

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