Dissing the troops.....

[BlackVelvet04]

How about sending the troops into an illegal war without the proper equipment, giving Haliburton the contract to feed them and Haliburton screws that up, declaring mission accomplished when it had barely begun, extending tours of duty over and over again and cutting veteran's benefits during a war. How's THAT for dissing the trooops?

But I guess that tacky little plastic yellow ribbon from China makes up for it, eh?

Let's face it....Kerry make a huge gaffe. I've found the best way to handle it is to diffuse it by agreeing that it was a mistake and letting it go. The more we try to explain it or excuse it the bigger the story gets. It's hard to argue when the person you are talking to says "yes, it was a mistake" and moves on to another more important topic.

[emulatorloo]

1. Kerry made a joke about Bush. The topic is Repug Lies and Distortions

to distract from thier failures.

Read Kerry's conference yesterday -- he handled it damn good, and their weren't any "explainations"

http://www.johnkerry.com/news/releases/release.html?id=34

--

This is a textbook Republican campaign strategy: Try to change the topic; try to make someone else the issue; try to make something else said the issue, not the policy, not their responsibility.

<snip>

This administration has given us a Katrina foreign policy: mistake upon mistake upon mistake; unwilling to give our troops the armor that they need; unwilling to have enough troops in place; unwilling to give them the Humvees that they deserve to protect them; unwilling to have a coalition that is adequate to be able to defend our interests.

Our own intelligence agency has told us they're creating more terrorists, not less. They're making us less safe, not more.

[CJCRANE]

4. Great reply from Kerry n/t

[Windy]

8. too bad the media won't play his entire rebuttal

We only get sound bites which is what the right wing thrives on. They can easily distort when an entire statement is not presented.

Kerry had the same problem with the media filter throughout the presidential campaign...

[BOSSHOG]

2. I don't think it was a gaffe

I think we should keep it front and center. Let us compare bush and Kerry and Iraq. Who didn't study and do their homework? bush and his crew of criminals. They didn't need to do their homework because invading Iraq was a foregone conclusion. So he lied.

and any republican running for congress who supports bush supports the continued slaughter of our troops in Iraq. We aren't fighting terrorism. bush is only running out the clock until someone else has to take his pile of shit and fix it. Then he'll scram to paraquay, a country which has no extradition treaty with the U. S.

[Berserker]

6. I think it was a gaffe

You can tell as Kerry is speaking he momentarily loses his train of thought. I have seen this clip about 50 times on every channel as has all American viewers and anyone can tell it was a botched joke.

[TayTay]

9. Boss, did you see this chart this morning from CenCom in the NYTimes?

Oh my God. The military, our 'generals on the ground' in Iraq have determined that Iraq is sliding into chaos.

We have to talk about Iraq. We have to use every opportunity to talk about Iraq. This is the defining issue of this time.

My God, look at this:



No wonder the Republicans want to talk about a fake issue. This is devastating.

Other significant factors are in the political realm. The slide notes that Iraq’s political and religious leaders have lost some of their moderating influence over their constituents or adherents.

Notably, the slide also cites difficulties that the new Iraqi administration has experienced in “governance.” That appears to be shorthand for the frustration felt by American military officers about the Iraqi government’s delays in bringing about a genuine political reconciliation between Shiites and Sunnis. It also appears to apply to the lack of reconstruction programs to restore essential services and the dearth of job creation efforts to give young Iraqis an alternative to joining militias, as well as the absence of firm action against militias.

The slide lists other factors that are described as important but less significant. They include efforts by Iran and Syria to enable violence by militias and insurgent groups and the interest by many Kurds in achieving independence. The slide describes violence motivated by sectarian differences as having moved into a “critical” phase.

The chart does note some positive developments. Specifically, it notes that “hostile rhetoric” by political and religious leaders has not increased. It also notes that Iraqi security forces are refusing less often than in the past to take orders from the central government and that there has been a drop-off in mass desertions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/world/middleeast/01military.html?hp&ex=1162443600&en=ae294d1d13aed188&ei=5094&partner=homepage

OMFG!!!!!!!!!

[BOSSHOG]

18. Thanks Teammate, that chart proves Senator Kerry was right

Someone did not study. Someone did not do their homework. And rational, thoughtful human beings all know who that someone is.

[panader0]

3. Someone would have to very dense not to understand that

he was talking about bush.

[whistle]

5. Kerry botched a joke aimed at the president, Bush botched the war

...in Iraq. Kerry admitted that he botched his joke about the president and explained that the next day. Bush deflects Kerry's caricature of his academic laziness when he was a student and continues to make reference to the Kerry's statement as disrespectful of the people in the military. This is yet another indicator of a Bush's psychopathic traits as a sociopath and a complete failure as a leader.

Define deflection:

Deflection is a psychological term used to describe a coping mechanism that people use to avoid dealing with troubling feelings or situations. People do this by being able to alternate from one topic to another so that they do not have to deal with either topic in depth.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

7. You mentioning those tacky yellow ribbons,

made me think... Other than the car magnets, you can’t purchase the plastic yellow ribbons you could tie on your tree anymore. When bu$h first brought us to war Wal-Mart had tons of them, and they SOLD (and they would continue to be a big seller). ...But you can’t find them anywhere.

It’s like corporate America is telling us to move on and forget about the fact that young people are dieing everyday in Iraq.

[BOSSHOG]

17. My Sister in Law

a fine upstanding republican gave me a red white and blue magnetic ribbon which states: Got Freedom? Thank a Vet. I thought it was a kind gesture. I put it proudly on our refrigerator in the garage. I don't put such stuff on my truck. None of my in-laws served in the military except my dear departed wonderful kick ass democrat father in law and his wonderful oldest daughter whom I married.

[pecwae]

10. I don't think it was a gaffe

You just can't get from his statement to an insult of the troops unless that's what you want to hear. Kerry has said it was a bungled joke at the expense of Bush, which was quite obvious.

Let's face this instead: BushCo will trash troops (or anyone or anything else for that matter), lie, thieve, perpetuate proaganda, anything, to keep their party in power.

[BlackVelvet04]

12. Well, duh......

I didn't say he trashed the troops. I said he made a gaffe....the definition of which is 1 : a social or diplomatic blunder
2 : a noticeable mistake

So you turned around and used the word bungled. Excuse me for not using the word bungled.

I SAID HE MADE A MISTAKE.....HE BUNGLED THE JOKE. Nowhere did I say he insulted the troops. The point is that by trying to explain it away and arguing over it, it stays alive. When it has been brought up to me I merely say "yes, he screwed up his joke" and then there is nothing to argue about.

[pecwae]

16. Fiine, you're exxcused. nt

[Maggie_May]

11. I know what exactly what Kerry meant

I live in Michigan and travel around in my State. Do you know where I see the army recruiters well I will tell you in the very low income areas. I have seen them out in store parking lots. I have seen them at the low income housing areas. Its not that Kerry meant that our men and women our stupid he meant stay in school don't join because you have no chance for a education or a job. I wish Kerry would have said this because this is the truth. If I am wrong than why do I see these guys out in these areas every week why are they not recruiting in the upper areas and believe me when I say I travel all over. I never see recruiters in the upper area schools and parking lots I see them a lot in the lower income areas. So what Kerry should have said was stay in school don't join Bush's war of lies.

[BlackVelvet04]

13. I Knew what he meant, too.......

but obviously the wingnuts either didn't understand or chose to take it the wrong way.

Arguing with them over it is accomplishing nothing.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. They knew what he meant and that is what pissed them off.

[AzDar]

15. Hear, hear!! (or is it 'here, here'?..lol) n/t