John Kerry just doesn't get it
It's not about what John Kerry said about U.S. troops that annoys me. I don't think he meant to imply troops are stupid. Of course, a quick look at Kerry comments over the years has caused me to believe he doesn't really mean to imply anything.
He's a career politician. He panders. He makes bad jokes. He talks about his favorite non-existent Red Sox players.
When I look at the outrage caused over Kerry's remarks, I understand a lot of it. But I am not going to pretend to be offended by John Kerry. The man lost in 2004, and if he had any sense, he'd realize he will never be president. His best chance was two years ago, and I don't think the Democratic leadership will put their stock in him in another two years. He lost in his best opportunity. He's done.
My biggest problem with Kerry is that he seems to have this idea that he deserves the presidency, as if it's his destiny. It makes him come accross as smug and arrogant.
So when he makes a stupid remark, and then doesn't apoligize for it, I don't get angry, I don't ask him to apoligize. I just hope that eventually, he realizes his career has reached its peak and he goes away.
* Isn't it funny how ABC World News Tonight anchor Charles Gibson refers to Kerry's comment as an "idle political remark?" After three years of every Bush mispeak being shown and reshown?
What about Trent Lott? Was anyone in the national media calling his ridiculous comments about Strom Thurmond "idle?" Maybe they were, but it didn't seem like it at the time. But just as Kerry didn't mean troops were dumb, Lott didn't mean we'd be better off with Thurmond policies from the 1950s today (Lott certainly didn't help himself afterwards, and I don't mean to say his remarks were OK. But he certainly didn't mean them any more than Kerry did his).
If we learn nothing from politicians and their mispeaks, we must learn this: In the spotlight, everyone says dumb things. But we're either harsh on all or harsh on none. We can't select based on political party what we'll be offended by. The media this month has struck me as very one-sided. Maybe that's just my bias, but it seems the major networks really want to jump on with a Democratic victory. That's fine. But honestly, if Fox News gets a bad rap for being biased (in many ways deserved), then liberals in this country shouldn't act as though that network is the only one with a bias.
Ask yourself: If Dick Cheney had called farmers dumb while trying to tell a joke, would Gibson call it idle? Or would he, and the rest of the major networks be talking about a disconnect between the GOP and rural America? Would it matter if Cheney was taking a dig at Willie Nelson or John Mellencamp?
Probably not.