My Dear DU: thank you for taking the Kerry-bait proffered yesterday..

[AzDar]

this should help deflect attention from the fact that GEORGE W. BUSH HAS COMPLETELY SCREWED UP EVERYTHING HE HAS EVER TOUCHED, including our once-great nation. Up next:I'll dangle something shiny..
Love,
Unkkkle KKKarl

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Yup. Cause Karl Rove lies awake at night pondering how to piss DUers off.

:eyes:

[Mass]

4. Nope, but Democrats are good at helping him. It seems the world disappeared

yesterday. Nobody died in Iraq. The economy is great. Bush stopped lying.

At least, this is what I would think reading DU. The good news is that most blogs did not fall for it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Respectfully It Doesn't Matter How DU Interpets Kerry's Remarks

What matters is how the voting public interpets Kerry's remarks through the prism of the media...

[City Lights]

10. Bingo!

:hi:

[BOSSHOG]

3. I think it will direct attention towards bush and his crimes

I think this should stay on the front burner. Lets us compare and contrast bush-kerry and Iraq. Bush is stuck in Iraq as the Senator said and the bush hate and lie machine is twisting. Twisting in an ugly, evil, nasty, self destructive manner.

[AzDar]

20. Excellent observation, BOSSHOG. I 'm hoping voters will see

through this sad little ploy...

[Connie_Corleone]

5. You should direct your comments to the media.

They are the ones taking the bait. What members of DU discuss doesn't matter.

[meegbear]

6. AzDar is Karl Rove?

ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!

[AzDar]

8. Well, I did dress up as Unkkie KKKarl for last night's festivities:

20 lbs. o' shit in a 10 lb. package...:rofl:

[bowens43]

7. Blah blah blah .....

Believe it or not, our discussions here will not change the course of the election.

You seem to be suggesting that Kerry works for Rove.


I suggest you step back from your Rovian alter and find someone else to worship.

[seabeyond]

9. true. so often with so many of our candidates, du plays rove game

it is embarrassing

[johnnie]

11. It is a good representation of some typical Dems

Chances are that what is said here won't change the outcome of Tuesday, it sure shows how a lot of Democrats are. I am blown away by how many people who are Democrats are falling in line with bush, Snow and McCain. The republicans know damn well what Kerry meant but they are counting on the average citizen to be told what to think and they spun this thing to their benefit.

Instead of gathering together to speak out against the spin, many Democrats are pushing the republican-speak again and doing more damage.

[cigsandcoffee]

12. Karl Rove doesn't control what comes out of Kerry's mouth

Kerry admittedly made a gaffe. Instead of apologizing and explaining his gaffe (and thus robbing the wind from GOP sails), he came out like a cornered pit bull.

This was a mistake. He could have apologized to those who would understandably be offended by his mis-statement, and then come out swinging. By not doing so, he made himself look petulant, which the GOP are doing their best to spread to the rest of the Democratic party.

He responded to this tempest-in-a-teapot by fighting the way we all wish he had in 2004 - but the problem is that this wasn't a "clear-skies" Swiftboat attack - it was an opportunistic response to the gaffe that he should have cleared up right away.

[AzDar]

13. My take on it: Kerry, whether making fun of Chimpolini's intelligence,

or highlighting the fact that many join the military due to lack of opportunity, was correct in either assertion and has NOTHING
to apologize for.
I only wish he had responded as aggressively to Rover's attacks in 2004...

[cigsandcoffee]

14. He does, though.

He should have apologized for a verbal mistake that offended some folks on either side of the political spectrum.

His botched comment, taken alone, looks like he's saying that only dumb or lazy people find their way in to the military. He would have done well to explain that misinterpreatation to the people who were understanably confused by it - instead of launching immediately in to an angry verbal tirade.

Get angry, yes. Nail the Bush administration, absolutely. But do apologize for an admitted botched joke that is easily misconstrued as offensive and insulting by people serving in the military. Good God, why not apologize for that?

Not doing so made him look insensitive to his mistake and downright petulant. It didn't help with the ensuing coverage.

[BootinUp]

15. You must have mistaken this forum

as a place to post common sense. Please stick around so we can brainwash you into defending Democrat's blunders regardless of how America sees them. /sarcasm

[AzDar]

16. I respectfully disagree. When taken in context, his comments can in no way

be seen as insulting to our troops. Only the Bush Administration has promulgated that view; how can one apologize for another's
deliberate stupidity?

[cigsandcoffee]

17. But he said it was a botched joke.

By saying that, but not apologizing for any offense it may have caused, he appears petty.

Take the Repubs out of the picture altogether for a moment - and then ask whether Kerry should have explained his botched joke and apologized to those who were confounded by it. If the answer is yes, then it's irrelevant that some shrieking Repubs are doing all they can to capitalize on his gaffe. By not apologizing for it, he gave them a second gift.

[BootinUp]

18. The context argument

sounds more like a lame excuse to me.

Let me put it this way. What does Kerry believe on the issue of the social economic class makeup of the troops? Does he believe the recruiters are targeting the lower class? I submit that he does believe those things, and tried to tell those students about that in a very clumsy way.

I have yet to see any other context that makes sense. Some of the Kerry supporters at DU have said this is what Kerry believes. So Kerry could have chosen to clarify his comments in a way that praised the troops and questioned the reruiting practices/problems caused by Bush's war, bottom line he should say what he believes and not make up a story to cover his ass.

[AzDar]

19. Actually, I believe in Kerry 's response last night he said the 'joke'

was aimed at Bush...as in 'study hard and you won't end up leading the Country into an unnecessary war'.
My position is whether targeting Bush's intelligence or the pathetic lack of options for those who cannot afford college tuition, he was spot-on. The delivery was certainly awkward, but the substance is solid.

[Cameron27]

21. And last night

I agreed with you; but this morning I turned on MSNBC, and democratics are AGAIN in a position of explaining, a stupid remark...6 days before an election we need to win.

I'm praying that this passes by tomorrow, but no matter what we read on DU, this is being talked about on national news at a time when the focus should be on bush's mistakes and not on any democrat's misstatements.

[AzDar]

23. ..Totally agree about the focus. However, J.K.'s remarks are just

the distraction du Jour, like attacking Michael J. Fox for his views.
John Kerry shouldn't play their game; just say 'I have nothing to apologize for, the G.O.P. does', and leave it at that.

[Cameron27]

25. Exactly

"I have nothing to apologize the GOP does" should be enough to stop this.

[WyLoochka]

22. No Apologies

When Dems apologize for "mis-speaking" it always makes matters worse. The Dem base is insulted and depressed, the apology is never accepted, the subject is not dropped and they are characterized as weak and wishy-washy for years following such foolishness.

[AzDar]

24. Absolutely right! All we can do is refuse to play their reindeer games.

[Swamp Rat]

26. k&r

[OzarkDem]

27. Thanks for telling winning Dem candidates

how to run their elections.

Dems have been running good, hard campaigns for the last year and they're pulling ahead with momentum in the final weeks.

They know what message works best in their district, not you and not John Kerry.

So please save it until Nov. 8.