How far off was Kerry? Army recruit median household income is$48K

[zulchzulu]

Affordability of going to college is an obviously major issue when a family decides that their child should sign up for the military or not. When the Republican mudslinging machine decided to take Kerry's statement out of context and hand it to the compliant mainstream media, they played up the idea that Kerry said you either study hard and go to college or you end up in Iraq.

Well, it turns out that this is actually true.



"The comparison between 2004 and 2005 indicates that upper-middle and high-income neighborhoods have fallen in representation from 2005. In other words, wealthier neighborhoods are less represented in 2005 than they were in 2004. All neighborhoods with median household incomes between $30,000 to $54,999 increased in proportion. All neighborhoods with median household incomes $55,000 or more decreased. Taken together, the entire range from $55,000 and above became more under-represented."

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=231

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. I have been thinking two things about this entire flap......

(other than complete contempt for the repugs).
#1 If the statement(taken out of context) hadnt been so close to the truth, it wouldnt have been such a big deal
#2 If the repugs didnt actually believe the mis-statement, they wouldnt have immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.
They are just evil, evil I say.

[emulatorloo]

2. BUt Kerry was slamming Bush - not the median household income of soldiers

It was pretty clear from the context that Kerry was saying Bush did not do his homework.

Whereas the right wing liars twisted it to say that Kerry was dissing the troops.

[Mountainman]

3. Kerry was not talking about the troops was he?

[liberal N proud]

4. He was right on the money even with the misquote.

If you don't get an eduction, you will be pressured to enter the military to pay the bills.
If you have a student loan they are going to pressure you even more if you can't pay the bill.

The regime with their master slut Karl just seized the opportunity to twist the truth into something they could propagate and keep alive for days.

[Demit]

5. I'd say it's so true it's a truism. I mean, is there actually any doubt?

I don't mind it being pointed out again and again, but tying it to Kerry's botched joke is wrong-headed. It shouldn't need to be tied to it, it's sad enough on its face.

[BootinUp]

6. Well this is why I was not sure it was a joke

in the first day of the flap. But I do not believe he was talking about this issue now.

[Apollo11]

7. Memo to Kerry

1. You don't make jokes about the War in Iraq - period.

2. You don't hand ammo to the enemy the week before the elections.

3. Don't even think about running again for the Whitehouse.

Thanks,

Apollo11

[emulatorloo]

9. um . . .

1 the joke was about Bush;s ignorance. Not ha ha the war in iraq is so funny!

2. the right-wing lie machine will lie about anything. and the media will serve up thier bullshit on a silver platter. Do you notice the media going apeshit over the TONS of botched things bushboy has said? NO

(and a PS -- have you noticed republicans slamming bush for these mistakes on republican websites? Yet du'ers want to slam Dems all the time)

3. it is 2006, not 2008. Please don't forget to vote Dem this year. Let's worry about next year abou 2008

[Kashka-Kat]

11. 4. Dont say ANYTHING bc repubs will purposesly take whatever you say out of context and manipulate

it to their advantage. Reminds me of life with my Ex! I'm on to those games.

Its exactly like taking Howard Dean screaming to be heard t his own political rally, filtering out the crowd noise, and repeating it endlessly for days until the "Dean is unhinged" message takes hold...

It's a tried and true M.O. One smear technique out of many...

Think about effective ways to counter the M.O. Silencing oneself is not an option...

[Mojekearthe]

8. The Commander of the Unit Should be COURT-MARTIALED.

The commander of the unit in Iraq who allowed the poster that ridiculed John Kerry should IMMEDIATELY be court martialed. Political discourse has NO place among soldiers in the military. The REAL indictment, of course, should go to every republican involved in this scheme who allowed for Iraq to happen in the first place. Of course banning the republican party should be JOB ONE of a Democratic Congress.

We need to identify Democratic members of the unit who now face isolation and degridation because of this slap in the face to their integrity.

[Virginia Dare]

10. Agreed....

welcome to DU!

[xchrom]

12. welcome!

:toast:

[endarkenment]

13. Bush family median income very high.

Idiocy is as idiocy does.

[leesa]

14. Helloooooooo.....the remark was about Bush! Jeez people are so dense

about this! Kerry has told this joke many times before.

[zulchzulu]

18. I'm well aware of what the situation was...

I know Kerry was talking about Bush...but my point is that the perception that he was talking about the troops and how they need to get a good education or end up in Iraq (which he didn't actually mean or say intentionally) is ALSO true.

I'm firmly with Kerry on this non-story...

[NiteOwll]

15. First of all

I do believe that Kerry botched the joke. With that being said, he was still right in his actual words. At least in my area, the military recruits heavily at the high schools that are predominantly low-income and minority. Sadly, they get a lot of kids to sign up at these schools, not because the kids are answering a "calling," but because they want to go to college and they can't afford it any other way. Even if you study hard, you're not guaranteed a scholarship.

People I've talked to about this don't understand what the big deal was. Either way, Kerry was telling the truth. Maybe it's not like that in Washington D.C. I'm sure the military doesn't get a lot of recruits from the elite prep schools there. No, they're from my rural county in middle America. And we're not stupid enough to believe the Republican hype, either.

[Infinite Hope]

16. Median vs. Average.....plus the cost of living is higher in some...

parts of the country. (CA, DC, NY, etc.)

[geek tragedy]

17. Since when does lower income = stupid and lazy?

His remarks had nothing to do with income, they dealt with Bush's stupidity and laziness.

$48K a year isn't a tremendously low number. Not affluent, to be sure, but it's not poverty level either.

[sandnsea]

19. E1's Make $7.50 An Hour

Only 7% of enlistees have degrees. They get $8400 a year after they get out for tuition, books, fees, etc. The top ten counties for recruitment have 15% poverty rates and average incomes of less than $25,000.

Even though this isn't what JK was referring to, it's still true.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/