I' m not trying to beat a dead horse here

[Homer Wells]

but I was thinking over the Kerry quote which caused such a brouhaha. I understood that the joke that JK was trying to get over to the crowd was botched by leaving out the "us" in the text.
I do not think anyone ever put the two versions of the joke on the same page, for anyone to consider what the joke was.

So, I am going to do it right now.

First, the way it was said to the crowd at the school in California:

"Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard and do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

And here is the corrected copy, which totally changes the meaning, and puts the slam directly on Shrub, and sympathizes with the troops


"Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard and do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get US stuck in Iraq."

So, why in the hell was such a fuss made over this? Intelligent minds want to know!!!!!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. They made a brouhaha, Stephen...

because the Republican's are desperate and they're grasping at straws.

[Touchdown]

2. Kerry's a Democrat. Any questions?

Sorry, not trying to be flip, it's just the truth. If it's a Democrat, they will always look for something to be fake outraged about.

[redqueen]

3. Desperation. Simple.

They've got that and tax cuts. That's it.

[bryant69]

4. This is one of those situations where people basically decided

to be idiots, because they couldn't make political hay out of not being idiots.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[robinlynne]

5. watch jon stewart's reply. he explains it quite well.

[Dr.Phool]

6. The next time Kerry tries to tell a joke....

He should put a bag over his head and become the Unknown Comic.

You've got a good day job John. Leave the comedy to Dave Chappelle.

[bigpathpaul]

7. It's not a dead horse.

The GOP made this an issue knowing full well what Kerry meant. What amazing is the speed with which everyone -- including many dems -- reacted negatively. I think your post is very important.

If you're interested, also take a look at my response from the other day here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2922744&mesg_id=2922744

[cautiouslywaiting]

8. Why?

Because they could. They knew the MSM would run with it.

[sandnsea]

9. John Kerry was bucking both parties

All the appointments, the Alito filibuster, war amendments, the voting machines - they've all been gunning for him for a long time. If his voice is silenced, I don't think people realize what that will mean for any significant change. We'll muddle along with Blue Dog legislation and the left blaming the DLC and nobody standing up for anything different.

[Rosemary2205]

10. I wish Kerry would give up on the comedy act.

I think his appeal IS that he's a serious, thoughtful man. I appreciate that his handlers are telling him he needs to loosen up and show some charisma - and that may have been true for 04 - but it's not Kerry's talent. He has a bad habit of laying an egg every time he tries to be haha funny. If Kerry goes again for 08 I really hope he just sticks to the fact these are serious times that need serious, thoughtful leadership.

IMHO a little self depreciating apology about how he sucks at joke telling would have quickly diffused this whole thing - but really it was just a hiccup anyway.

[helderheid]

11. because only * is allowed to misspeak!!

[DaveJ]

12. To be fair, I think reporters are harping on this more than anyone...

I saw the press conference where Tony Snow said Kerry should apologize and, IMO, it really was the press who wouldn't let it go. Snowe looked like an idiot when he said he didn't know where the 'us' goes in the sentence, and Republicans generally look like idiots when they raise the (non)issue. To me the botched joke does not seem very harmful.

[Kashka-Kat]

13. BC it is their strategy - a concious deliberate act to misquote/take out of context

I listened to Shawn hannity (gag, puke) briefly the other night and he was playing over and over a clip of Kerry saying "I apologize to no one" but NOT the full quote of "I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy." According to little Shawny it was one more example of Kerry's supposed "disrespect" for the troops.

They just conveniently left off the second half of the sentence to make it mean what they wanted it to mean!

That's what they do.

[bigpathpaul]

14. For what it's worth, Kerry's words in black and white...

Not for folks herre, but for anyone else who questions whether or not Kerry was swift-boated here, I took the liberty of turning your post into a flyer at BigPath.

Not for me to also beat a dead horse (everyone wants this to go away and it's already fading) but I do believe there are people who actually do care about what was said and what was meant. With that said, you can use this or ignore it. I don't honestly know which is best:

Download from BigPath

http://bigpath.net/What-Kerry-Said/">

[seabeyond]

15. because there are dishonest people who lack integrity that dislike

kerry on a personal level, (dems) or that want an issue to bring dems down (repugs) or a media that simply lacks integrity adn honesty.

and they dont have the balls to attack kerry in truth, only in nontruth

[underpants]

16. I got it the first time I heard it

but conservatives simply don't get irony, satire, or parody. I don't know why they just don't.

The explanantion is that the MSM is completely under their thumb. The "benefit of the doubt" is the margin that Rove and company operate in.