re: Kerry"flap". (Message discipline... keep it simple)

[troublemaker]

How many times do we have to see this exact same story... A Dem says something, the RW lies about what the Dem said and Dems get drawn into defending a completely fake statement.

Kerry was talking about George W. Bush. Bush is the "you" in the quote... Kerry was saying that Bush did not make good use of his educational opportunities and ended up a dummy who was too dumb to avoid a quagmire in Iraq.

Kerry said NOTHING about anyone in service.

That is 100% of the substance. So please respond only on that basis, rather than spinning off into the class structure of the military, educational opportunities, or any other tangent.

Things we NEVER SAID don't warrant any explanation, let alone and apology, so please don't respond to the merits of what Kerry never said. (This RW stunt of getting us to respond to things nobody ever said is a trap and we fall into it all the time.")

Thank You

____________________

Speaking to students at Pasadena City College, Democrat Kerry said Monday, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don’t you get stuck in Iraq.”
...
Kerry's written response is unusually personal and biting, and insists the "stuck in Iraq" reference is to President Bush. “If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they're crazy. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2006/10/tony_snow_reads.html
____________________

On Update: If Kerry has tape of his saying the same thing at other appearances but phrased more presisely it would be good to get it out promptly.

[AlCzervik]

1. i hope he explains it just like you did.

[tblue]

8. The perfect retort: How the Repugs voted against funding for

traumatic brain injury care. I would rub their faces all in it, and I would never, never stop.

Why aren't all the Dems doing that anyway?

[lynch03]

10. Kerry's response is pretty awesome

"If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they're crazy

. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.

I’m not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq. It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.

The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and •••• Cheney who misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it. These Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor.

Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men. And this time it won’t work because we’re going to stay in their face with the truth and deny them even a sliver of light for their distortions. No Democrat will be bullied by an administration that has a cut and run policy in Afghanistan and a stand still and lose strategy in Iraq.”

[texasleo]

2. It doesn't matter what you mean, it matters what you say.

Especially on camera.

When will people realize this?

[blm]

9. What he said was appropriate - especially in context. The GOPs would

edit and spin anything Jesus or Churchill said - they did it to the carefully crafted and accurate remarks Kerry made in his 1971 testimony - IT DOEN'T MATTER WHAT IS SAID - they can and WILL chop it and LIE ABOUT IT NONSTOP. And there will be Dems whining about it instead of COUNTERING it as they should.

[sandnsea]

22. They LIE about EVERYthing

When will 'people' realize THAT?? You either support the people you want to win or support the opposition. That's really all there is to it.

[LSparkle]

3. Very good point

When you hear what Kerry actually said -- in context -- it becomes more clear that that is indeed what he meant. I only hope that he clarifies this whenever he responds. Make it plain that he wasn't talking about the troops, and hit RatBastard square in the face with the criticism HE deserves for taking a dismissive CEO approach to a major problem that he is WOEFULLY ill-equipped to handle himself.

[tblue]

4. Yes, they are masters at twisting your words

I know people personally who are like that. They will take the most benign comment and spin it into the most unforgivable affront (remember Darth's wife after the VP debate?). There's something wrong with people like that. But, you are right. Knowing that's their game, the Dems should have Rapid Response ready to fire back in the same news cycle.

[closeupready]

5. Not defending himself was Kerry's mistake in 2004.

He doesn't have the luxury of "not dignifying that with a response". At least, not if he's going to run in 2008.

[troublemaker]

agreed. Respose is mandatory

but the response should begin and end with the truth, which is that he did not say what is being reported. Everything else is a red herring.

Kerry is (I assume--he's no rookie)not going to get drawn into "what are the merits of the statement the RW falsly claims you made?" and neither should anyone else.

[texas1928]

6. What he meant is one thing.

But just on MSNBC, they have already repeated that he was bashing the troops 4 times now, and had a republican pundit on to denounce what he said 4 times in the last hour. They are blowing this up so that all he can do is get drawn into defending a completely fake statement.

[BootinUp]

7. Wheres the text of the speech?

Seems like a funny way to talk about Bush.

[Norquist Nemesis]

11. Here's the youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLuMWiQ6r2o

It's the same video they are showing all over the cables, over and over and over, and commenting on. It leaves out everything else.

[BootinUp]

13. I saw that.

Its impossible to tell if he was talking about Bush in that clip.

[Norquist Nemesis]

16. That's the point, though. That is all that is being discussed

So, people stopping in to get some gas or waiting to get their tires rotated, etc. all see that out-of-context clip all day long. And as a bonus, the Generals slam Kerry, the White House says Kerry is "troop bashing" and McCain is demanding an apology.

[BootinUp]

17. I guess

Kerry needs to release the actual text of the speech.

[Norquist Nemesis]

18. They just showed the clip again...for the umpteenth time

Said Kerry's going to have a press conference shortly.

Dammit! He'd better not start off with 'I'm sorry'. He'd better not!!!!

[John Gauger]

24. Those guys that are condemning him

Those Freeper types - they actually believe all that Swift Boat shit. They just believe whatever they are told. There was never any serious consideration that they were telling the truth. If you think about it, their claims are ridiculous on their face. The media companies all knew that there was no substance to these claims, but they played them up because it was a juicy story. But these people just believe it because that's what they were told. These preposterous claims are not worthy of thoughtful consideration because they are about an enemy. They may be blindly accepted.

And then there are those who think it is an atrocity to criticize our troops. You know what? If Kerry had said that desperate people join the military then he would have been right. Why do you think so many kids from the ghetto join? They don't have patriotic feelings; look what this society has done to them. What could possibly possess them to feel that they owe this country something? They join because they get food and shelter. It's sort of an open secret that the military is for people with no other options. I grew up in the suburbs. In my high school, nobody that had anything better was going to join up. Patriotism just didn't do it for them. Only kids with no where else to go joined.

What's more, they are grown men. They can take a little criticism. They aren't fucking babies who will curl up and cry when faced with a few strong words. This one guy was still angry about the 1971 Genghis Kahn comparison. Why is it it inappropriate to say that? Kerry was there. He saw those things. He heard stories that reminded him of Genghis Kahn. Maybe those stories weren't true, but he knew ones just like them were. He told the truth.

[DaveJ]

12. There aren't enough responses that begin with the words...

"You are a liar." Too many times Cons are treated as though they misunderstood when in fact they simply are lying. Just tell them they are liars right away clearing the air first of all.

[Zavulon]

14. I didn't read it that way and don't see why anyone would.

Kerry was talking about George W. Bush. Bush is the "you" in the quote... Kerry was saying that Bush did not make good use of his educational opportunities and ended up a dummy who was too dumb to avoid a quagmire in Iraq.

I read the same thing that the right wing is overeacting to. If you don't do well in school, the army could be your only choice. I'm not surprised that the Repugs are trying to make something out of it that isn't there, but using something like this to "defend" Kerry when he needs no defense is unnecessary.

The economy sucks, social justice is a pipe dream, and kids from poor neighborhoods have little or no opportunity. Why is everyone scrambling to defend Kerry with excuses like this that the Repugs won't ever (and, quite frankly, shouldn't ever) buy? I hope Kerry doesn't try using an excuse like this - he should stand behind his words, and attack the economy and Iraq simultaneously.

[closeupready]

20. good point. if the MSM is going to give him free coverage,

make it a two-pronged response.

[malaise]

15. Your comment is very necessary

Kerry coming up on MSNBC

[BootinUp]

19. Makes no sense.

Kerry is talking to students. Kerry's spin is not ringing true. Sorry.

[troublemaker]

21. Kerry often doesn't speak clearly and he was being

kind of cute, assuming the subtext that he and Bush have the same education on paper. It's a mish-mash. (The reason I always heard it as being about Bush is the odd phrase "try to be smart")

[AtomicKitten]

23. just that clip (youtube posted upthread)

sounds like JK is telling students to study hard and they will do well, otherwise they will end up in Iraq .... sounds like he's talking about either the draft or going into the military because of no other options.

Haven't heard anything else from either side, but if that is the clip that is being played, that's what it sounds like to me and I don't understand the problem with it. It's no secret that poor kids with zero opportunities end up in the military.

IMO the wingnuts are burning down a strawman because they need to feed the fake outrage and dominate the news cycle.

[reformed_military]

25. Wow, I had no idea....

It's no secret that poor kids with zero opportunities end up in the military.

Really, is that how it is?

[AtomicKitten]

27. That was my impression

... when I spent some time at Fort Bragg in the mid-80s. You may disagree but that doesn't make my impression any less valid. And, yes, poor kids often find the military the only option for them to further their education.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. The irony of the comment...

that that the people who are trying to make political hay out of it are the ones that didn't get an "education," didn't "study hard," didn't "do their homework," and don't "make an effort to be smart."

[theothersnippywshrub]

28. Kerry misspoke. Hotline reported that he has used this line before.

Only republican voters are sufficiently stupid that they are incapable of seeing the irony of Bush and his followers attacking Kerry for misspeaking.

[Zavulon]

29. Where has it been used?

I'd love a link to a transcript. This would clear up a lot.