But look, this GOP pile-on of him is transparent hogwash. Here is precisely what Kerry said to the college-student audience:
"You know, education -- if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq."
Now, how is it that a college student who flunks out would get sent to Iraq? That would be the case if we had a draft, and a young man lost his student deferment. But we don't. Anyway, Kerry just apologized on CNN, but the damage has been done. "It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy," he said in a statement, which he ought to have said on Monday. Anyway, he's right about that. I don't give a hoot about what John Kerry has to say about the troops in Iraq; I care very much about what President Bush is doing about the troops in Iraq. That's the real issue.
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I don't know how Kerry could have meant anything other than what he said. He has maligned the character of the military many times before. He has contempt for them. I have no idea how one can claim he was talking about the stupidity of Bush. If he meant to say, "stay in school, so Bush doesn't draft you in his stinkin' war," then say so. He didn't.
I have no idea as to any position of the Democratic Pary that could appeal to a "conservative." That's not to say that the GOP meets conservative principles in any measure--particularly these days...but, no way to the Dem party.>
And it is also true, that while Kerry firmly put both feet in his mouth, that Republican leadership is lacking in veterans. There are a lot of chickenhawks though. Cheney, Hastert, Chambliss, Lott, Delay, Ashcroft, Rove, Mehlman, and many other chose not to serve.
And it is also true that since JFK only Carter and Bush43 have had more military exerience than the losers. No combat commander has won since JFK.>
It's all just a distraction. The two parties need to stop trashing each other. They need to stop and realize that they are elected officials with jobs to do. That is to serve their communities. They are wasting time and money on this type of stuff. I wish they would just sit down, stop being so divided and petty and solve some problems. I wish more Americans would stop getting tangled in these distractions and start demanding that our elected officials do what they are paid to do.>
That's all well and good, but WHAT he SAID was offensive and an insult to every serviceman and woman on active duty and their families.
Ha! Such utter BS.
What he said was true to the core - both "what he said" and "what he meant to say."
Study hard, kids. It's the poor and disenfranchised that have no where else to go that become fodder for rich man's folly. Anything you can do to avoid that is GOOD.>
I posted this on another thread, but what the heck, since it's relevant here:
Good grief. I not only think that Kerry meant what he said, but I agree with it. If these kids don't work hard to get good grades, they may find that they have few other career options but joining the military. And then they might very well get stuck in Iraq.
I have had several students who have joined the military in order to get money for college. That is why many young people join the military. Not all, of course, but very many, if not most. For many of them, military service is one of the few -- or perhaps the only -- option they have to get a higher education and job training. I'm sorry if the self-styled flag-waving patriots don't like to hear that, but it's the case.
Just look at the commercials that the military puts on television to attract recruits. From "Be All That You Can Be" to "An Army of One" to whatever they're using now, the emphasis is on military service as a means of personal growth and professional development, not selfless service to one's country.
My father graduated from high school in 1950, the same year North Korea invaded South Korea. Of course, this was in the time of the draft. He had already been accepted to college, so he had a deferment. He told me that in his locker in college he kept a poster of a tank on a battlefield, to remind him daily of, in his words, "what would happen to me if I didn't get good grades". After graduating in 1955 (the engineering program took five years, with co-op jobs), he got his letter from the president, as he put it (i.e., he was drafted) and served his two years. But by then the Korean War was over, of course.
So yes, if these kids don't work hard and get good grades, many of them might very well find that they have few other options for career training and advancement besides the military. And then they may very well get stuck in Iraq. If some people conclude from this that I "hate the military", too bad. So sue me.
PS -- I just remembered, the current Army recruiting slogan is "Army Strong". Better than "Army Weak", I guess. ;-)>
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