On 1 Nov 2006 08:31:44 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:


Eisboch wrote:


If he had any class or brains he would have immediately called a press
conference. clarified his statement and apologized for the misunderstanding.
He has not. In fact he refuses to. Instead, he is blaming the opposition
for using his screw-up to their political advantage.

You missed the coverage of the press conference? Kerry was in Seattle
for at least part of yesterday, and the press conference may have been
held at the Westin- but in any event portions of it were shown on CNN.
Bush has very cleverly painted Kerry into a corner in this game of
political chess. If Kerry apologizes for the "misunderstanding", that
will be spun as an "apology for his insult to the troops- see, he knows
how wrong it was to insult the troops and furthermore he is
flip-flopping again!". Kerry should have read from his prepared text
and not tried to wing the original joke. He's not really a statesman,
and he's even less a comedian. (Prepared text of the original speech is
available in this morning's papers. This text is often handed out in
advance to the press covering speeches, so the original cameraman may
well have known that his clip was an attempt to capitalize on a
misstatement and did not represent Kerry's theme of the speech or his
intended remark).

Not to say that Kerry has brains or class, but the point I have been
trying to make throughout has been validated by additional revelation:
Any time somebody comes forward with a few seconds of a long speech,
snipped out of context, and proclaims "look what
so and so said" the evidence is dubious at best. The remark was part of
a series of "shots" Kerry was taking at Bush. It is George Bush, not
the troops, that finds himself and his administration "stuck in Iraq"
(due, in part, to poor pre-war intelligence as well as a disregard for
history and further disregard for expert advice). The reason for the
brevity of the clip is *exactly* as I theorized, the material on either
side of it would refute the spin that the administration is trying to
put on that 10 second extract of the speech.

Kerry isn't running for office this year, but the R's know for a fact
that a lot of voters will hear their spin on Kerry's remark and
conclude: "I'm a-gonna vote fer them thar Republicans thisa year.
Lookie here, them thar Democrats *all* think the troops is stupid!"
It's why the game of politics, as played today by both sides, is such
bull****. Everybody is pandering to people who vote emotionally rather
than thoughtfully evaluating individual candidates and issues. It's a
time when Republicans running for office against Democratic incumbents
are saddled with undeserved baggage over the Iraq war, when in some
cases the Democratic incumbents have supported the war until the last
year or so and of course the Republican challengers *never* voted on it
at all. The intellectually lazy will get sucked in by the rhetoric.
(See McGovern Vs Cantwell in WA State). Democrats running against
Republican incumbents are saddled with the Republican "trigger" issues;
gay marriage, abortion, etc- so there is plenty of dirt on both sides.

GWB has flubbed a few lines as well, and like every president I can
remember and almost certainly ever president before that he has been
subject to vicious criticism while in office. Politics is not for the
thin skinned.

I love that line: "Bush has very cleverly painted Kerry into a corner in
this game of political chess."

Yes Chuck, you and Chris Mathews are of the same mold. Kerry should have
apologized for his misstatement. (If that's what it was.) He could have
done so easily and gotten himself off the hook with which he was
*self*-impaled.

Don't impugn the intellectually lazy. Most of them will vote for a
Democrat, and most don't watch the news anyway.

JohnH wrote:
On 1 Nov 2006 08:31:44 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:


Eisboch wrote:


If he had any class or brains he would have immediately called a press
conference. clarified his statement and apologized for the misunderstanding.
He has not. In fact he refuses to. Instead, he is blaming the opposition
for using his screw-up to their political advantage.

You missed the coverage of the press conference? Kerry was in Seattle
for at least part of yesterday, and the press conference may have been
held at the Westin- but in any event portions of it were shown on CNN.
Bush has very cleverly painted Kerry into a corner in this game of
political chess. If Kerry apologizes for the "misunderstanding", that
will be spun as an "apology for his insult to the troops- see, he knows
how wrong it was to insult the troops and furthermore he is
flip-flopping again!". Kerry should have read from his prepared text
and not tried to wing the original joke. He's not really a statesman,
and he's even less a comedian. (Prepared text of the original speech is
available in this morning's papers. This text is often handed out in
advance to the press covering speeches, so the original cameraman may
well have known that his clip was an attempt to capitalize on a
misstatement and did not represent Kerry's theme of the speech or his
intended remark).

Not to say that Kerry has brains or class, but the point I have been
trying to make throughout has been validated by additional revelation:
Any time somebody comes forward with a few seconds of a long speech,
snipped out of context, and proclaims "look what
so and so said" the evidence is dubious at best. The remark was part of
a series of "shots" Kerry was taking at Bush. It is George Bush, not
the troops, that finds himself and his administration "stuck in Iraq"
(due, in part, to poor pre-war intelligence as well as a disregard for
history and further disregard for expert advice). The reason for the
brevity of the clip is *exactly* as I theorized, the material on either
side of it would refute the spin that the administration is trying to
put on that 10 second extract of the speech.

Kerry isn't running for office this year, but the R's know for a fact
that a lot of voters will hear their spin on Kerry's remark and
conclude: "I'm a-gonna vote fer them thar Republicans thisa year.
Lookie here, them thar Democrats *all* think the troops is stupid!"
It's why the game of politics, as played today by both sides, is such
bull****. Everybody is pandering to people who vote emotionally rather
than thoughtfully evaluating individual candidates and issues. It's a
time when Republicans running for office against Democratic incumbents
are saddled with undeserved baggage over the Iraq war, when in some
cases the Democratic incumbents have supported the war until the last
year or so and of course the Republican challengers *never* voted on it
at all. The intellectually lazy will get sucked in by the rhetoric.
(See McGovern Vs Cantwell in WA State). Democrats running against
Republican incumbents are saddled with the Republican "trigger" issues;
gay marriage, abortion, etc- so there is plenty of dirt on both sides.

GWB has flubbed a few lines as well, and like every president I can
remember and almost certainly ever president before that he has been
subject to vicious criticism while in office. Politics is not for the
thin skinned.

I love that line: "Bush has very cleverly painted Kerry into a corner in
this game of political chess."

Yes Chuck, you and Chris Mathews are of the same mold. Kerry should have
apologized for his misstatement. (If that's what it was.) He could have
done so easily and gotten himself off the hook with which he was
*self*-impaled.

Don't impugn the intellectually lazy. Most of them will vote for a
Democrat, and most don't watch the news anyway.

JohnH wrote:

I love that line: "Bush has very cleverly painted Kerry into a corner in
this game of political chess."

Yes Chuck, you and Chris Mathews are of the same mold. Kerry should have
apologized for his misstatement. (If that's what it was.) He could have
done so easily and gotten himself off the hook with which he was
*self*-impaled.

Don't impugn the intellectually lazy. Most of them will vote for a
Democrat, and most don't watch the news anyway.

Well, Kerry has now apologized. And, as I predicted this morning, the
response to this apology has been renewed charges of "flip-flopping".
Can't win either way. Kerry did not apologize immediately after making
the statement because he had no idea how damaging that short phrase,
pulled out of context, would be. In his mind, he made and delivered an
entire speech with a series of jabs at GWB. It took 24 hrs for Kerry to
realize that some clever propagandist had isolated that single phrase
and spun it like a top.

What Kerry *should* have done was to offer a more complete explanation
at yesterday's news conference. Instead, he allowed his anger to be
evident and that is always a loser's move. Instead of yakking about how
most of the Bush administration were Republican hacks that had "never
worn the uniform," etc, he *should* have said. "It has come to my
attention that a portion of my remarks, taken out of context, are being
circulated as some indication that I believe that our brave men and
women serving in Iraq may be undereducated. Nothing could be further
from the truth, and as a veteran myself I know full well the kind of
dedication and sacrifice required of our service members on a daily
basis. Like most Americans, I am grateful for their service. The point
of my remark was intended to be that intellectual laziness is partially
responsible for the current administration being 'stuck in Iraq'. I
apologize for phrasing my remark so carelessly that it was possible to
be manipulated into a hurtful and inconsiderate statement. I apologize
to any service people or their families who were upset as a result of
the isolation from context and the mischaracterization of my remarks by
my political opponents. To our men and women serving in Iraq and
Afghanistan, specifically, I regret that your noble service and
sacrifice continues to be required and I want to assure you that more
of us now realize the most effective way to 'support our troops' is to
bring you home, as soon as strategically possible, and with honor."

So, IMO, that's what he should have said. But the fact that he responds
very poorly to political attacks is exactly why he isn't POTUS today,
and probably does not deserve to be in the future.

I'm now off to the corner to beat my head against the wall for getting
sucked into a political thread after avoiding participating in these
things for a long time. Damn hypocritical and less than perfect of you,
Gould.

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ups.com...

JohnH wrote:

I love that line: "Bush has very cleverly painted Kerry into a corner in
this game of political chess."

Yes Chuck, you and Chris Mathews are of the same mold. Kerry should have
apologized for his misstatement. (If that's what it was.) He could have
done so easily and gotten himself off the hook with which he was
*self*-impaled.

Don't impugn the intellectually lazy. Most of them will vote for a
Democrat, and most don't watch the news anyway.

Well, Kerry has now apologized.

No he didn't. He was forced to apologize by his own party. If he really
meant it he would have done so immediately following his statement or
yesterday at the latest. He did neither.

He belongs in a hole.

On 1 Nov 2006 16:58:50 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:


JohnH wrote:

I love that line: "Bush has very cleverly painted Kerry into a corner in
this game of political chess."

Yes Chuck, you and Chris Mathews are of the same mold. Kerry should have
apologized for his misstatement. (If that's what it was.) He could have
done so easily and gotten himself off the hook with which he was
*self*-impaled.

Don't impugn the intellectually lazy. Most of them will vote for a
Democrat, and most don't watch the news anyway.

Well, Kerry has now apologized. And, as I predicted this morning, the
response to this apology has been renewed charges of "flip-flopping".
Can't win either way. Kerry did not apologize immediately after making
the statement because he had no idea how damaging that short phrase,
pulled out of context, would be. In his mind, he made and delivered an
entire speech with a series of jabs at GWB. It took 24 hrs for Kerry to
realize that some clever propagandist had isolated that single phrase
and spun it like a top.

What Kerry *should* have done was to offer a more complete explanation
at yesterday's news conference. Instead, he allowed his anger to be
evident and that is always a loser's move. Instead of yakking about how
most of the Bush administration were Republican hacks that had "never
worn the uniform," etc, he *should* have said. "It has come to my
attention that a portion of my remarks, taken out of context, are being
circulated as some indication that I believe that our brave men and
women serving in Iraq may be undereducated. Nothing could be further
from the truth, and as a veteran myself I know full well the kind of
dedication and sacrifice required of our service members on a daily
basis. Like most Americans, I am grateful for their service. The point
of my remark was intended to be that intellectual laziness is partially
responsible for the current administration being 'stuck in Iraq'. I
apologize for phrasing my remark so carelessly that it was possible to
be manipulated into a hurtful and inconsiderate statement. I apologize
to any service people or their families who were upset as a result of
the isolation from context and the mischaracterization of my remarks by
my political opponents. To our men and women serving in Iraq and
Afghanistan, specifically, I regret that your noble service and
sacrifice continues to be required and I want to assure you that more
of us now realize the most effective way to 'support our troops' is to
bring you home, as soon as strategically possible, and with honor."

So, IMO, that's what he should have said. But the fact that he responds
very poorly to political attacks is exactly why he isn't POTUS today,
and probably does not deserve to be in the future.

I'm now off to the corner to beat my head against the wall for getting
sucked into a political thread after avoiding participating in these
things for a long time. Damn hypocritical and less than perfect of you,
Gould.

A lot of horse pucky.

Kerry should have said, "I apologize to the troops in Iraq for making a
statement which implied their education was lacking. I meant to say Bush
was lacking in his."

Amen, case closed, nothing more need be said. He didn't need to say all the
crap he did, just as you don't need to defend his crap.

"JohnH" wrote in message
...


Kerry should have said, "I apologize to the troops in Iraq for making a
statement which implied their education was lacking. I meant to say Bush
was lacking in his."

Amen, case closed, nothing more need be said. He didn't need to say all
the
crap he did, just as you don't need to defend his crap.

John? Is that you?