Soccer Mom: Unplugged

raves, rants, reviews and recounts of life in middle America

2006/10/31

Kerry slips up and reveals liberal elitism in all of it's ugliness

@ 08:49 AM (23 months, 20 days ago)

John Kerry.  The face of American liberalism.  And here he is suggesting that American troops are uneducated victims rather than patriotic volunteers.  What an ass.

There's no denying that many go into the services for the benefits and the money.  But unlike John Kerry, who apparently only sees the Daily Kos side of military service, many enlist because they see doing so as the responsibility of good citizenship.  You know, in contrast to taking tax payer funded six digit salaries and not bothering to show up for Senate votes or roll calls.  Let's not forget that all officers have college degrees, most of them have multiple degrees.  Enlistees are earning degrees as well with mini campuses all over the world on military posts set up with night classes and flexible schedules specifically to accomodate them.

The divide between patriotic conservatives and liberal snobs who see military service as little more than a prison sentence just cracked wide open with this poignant little reminder of the paternalistic condescension of the Democratic party's poster boy. 

Comment(s) »

  1. Cate,

    I worked with enlisted men who had masters degrees. The military often hires people as enlisted men even though they have a degree. While I was a recruiter this happened all the time. (Mustangs in the Navy do not require a degree). The Navy is very specific to the type of degree that can qualify as an officer and even though you may have the "right" degree you had to have been a good student. Our officer recruiters would not talk to a candidate with less than a 3.0 in a technical degree and even then he better have been very active while he was in college.

    In my 20 years in the Navy I have never heard of so many former shipmates despising a fellow sailor as much as Kerry's. Even if we didn't personally like a man's style we respected the fact that he served. It's striking that it wasn't the case for Kerry.

    Comment by elmers brother— 2006/10/31 @ 09:39 AM — (Reply)

  2. I've known quite a few degreed enlisted men, as well. Regularly, I met people who signed up to get student loan forgiveness.

    Michelle Malkin has the stats on our uneducated service members. One of her links leads to an article from Nov. 2005 titled "Debunking the myth of the underprivileged soldier". Should we forward a copy to Kerry - obviously he missed it the first time 'round?

    Comment by Cate— 2006/10/31 @ 10:39 AM — (Reply)

  3. he just typifies the left's contempt for people in the military...the funny thing is he was a "d" to c+ student himself.

    Comment by elmers brother— 2006/10/31 @ 10:29 PM — (Reply)

  4. Hey Cate,

    Just caught Kerry's muck-up last night, and what a fiasco... I -think- he was trying to suggest that Bush and co. didn't succeed in school and wound up stuck in the Iraq quagmire, but whatever the "joke" was supposed to be, it came out completely wrong.

    But before you start preaching to Kerry about the educational merits of the military, don't you think that as a former officer himself, Kerry might already be aware of that?

    Dumb mistake, horribly phrased. Kerry ought to apologize for the (I suspect) unintended slam on the military... and he really ought to stop trying to tell jokes. He's too wooden-faced to succeed at all.

    Comment by Michael— 2006/11/01 @ 11:16 AM — (Reply)

  5. Actually, Michael, I don't think that Kerry is aware.

    The military has radically changed since the "draft" days in which he served.

    Furthermore, I believe it is either horribly naive or wholly partisan to suggest that he doesn't harbor ill feelings about military service. 11 months ago he accused our troops of basically raping and plundering Iraq. Statistically, there is more raping and plundering in DC on any given weekend than among the entire military. So anomalies like Abu Ghraib aside - this is a GROSS misstatement.

    Kerry would do well to sit down and take a lecture from ANYBODY familiar with the modern American military because it is clear he has no clue what is going on out there.

    Personally, I believe he has taken a detour on Algore alley and is driving headlong over the cliffs of insanity.

    I'll pit the 20 years I was raised as a retiree's brat in an Army town and my entire married life as an officer's wife up against Kerry's 4 years of service - I haven't worn the uniform but I'd say that 35 years of living with soldiers more than qualifies me to put his ass in a chair and read him the riot act, thank you very much.

    Comment by Cate— 2006/11/01 @ 11:39 AM — (Reply)

  6. Hard to believe it was simply an innocent mistake on the part of Kerry. He's a smart guy.

    Comment by Barry G.— 2006/11/01 @ 02:44 PM — (Reply)

  7. The real kicker for Kerry is that now even the troops are making fun of him - publicly! Have you seen the picture yet?

    Now, if the Dems keep trying to support Kerry for commander-in-chief, we'll know they've flat lost their minds.

    Comment by Cate— 2006/11/01 @ 03:31 PM — (Reply)

  8. It says access forbidden. How about pasting it into your original post?

    Comment by Barry G.— 2006/11/01 @ 03:40 PM — (Reply)

  9. I tried - access forbidden. it's on www.michellemalkin.com

    Scroll down 'til you see the guys in desert camo holding up a big banner.

    Comment by Cate— 2006/11/01 @ 03:58 PM — (Reply)

  10. Even the Boston Herald editorial staff is embarrassed by him - they express regret that he has "D-Mass" after his name...

    Comment by Cate— 2006/11/01 @ 04:00 PM — (Reply)

  11. Micahel Cate is right. As a former recruiter..I can tell you that it's not easy to get in the military these days with anything less than a high schoold diploma. The military actually uses the high school diploma more as a measuring stick to try and divine if a person can make a four year committment and stick to it rather than any sign of intelligence. That's what the ASVAB is for. The most important parts are the math and english. (2 parts each) this is the AFQT or armed forces quotient. If you score in the upper mental group you are considered more intelligent than most. The USAF only takes people in this category. The rest of the services will take someone who scores in the next category down. This is used to measure the likelihood that you will get through whatever your training might be....mechanics...nuclear propulsion etc. The vocational part of the test is used to see how much you already know...add in the AFQT or portions thereof is used to determine the skills you would do well in. I think high school kids who do not take this test really miss out. Not because they may not join the military but because so often they never have the benefit of having someone try to match up their interests with their skills and abilities. Something I think the military does very well.

    Comment by elmers brother— 2006/11/01 @ 04:43 PM — (Reply)

  12. I'm sorry I meant that she is right in that the military is very different than when Mr. Kerry was in.

    Comment by elmers brother— 2006/11/01 @ 04:44 PM — (Reply)

  13. You ALMOST got it right Michael but you couldn't help yourself and inserted a Kerry defense. Kind of "What I said was wrong but what I knew was right but I said it wrong but meant it right."

    Comment by Barry G.— 2006/11/01 @ 04:56 PM — (Reply)

  14. Hey Barry,

    I've no personal interest in defending Kerry, I don't like him. But I'm sickened with the media's debasement of all things political into 5 second sound bites, and relentless over-analysis of those excerpts as if they were actually news.

    Go ahead, mock it, poke fun at it... Jay Leno had a really good take on it last night (wish I could find the quote or video somewhere!) But let's not read more into it than is really there. It's not like us Democrats actually believe that Bush thinks there are 30 days in February. Well, not the sane ones here...

    :grin:

    Comment by Michael— 2006/11/02 @ 07:50 AM — (Reply)

  15. A commenter on that site pointed out the obvious blunder. Letterman had to preface his joke, made to a largely anti-bush audience, by reminding them of how many days are actually in Feb. Apparently, the Dems don't know the calender, either. :lol::lol::lol:

    Comment by Cate— 2006/11/02 @ 10:47 AM — (Reply)

  16. I normally give politicians a lot of slack...they often have to speak off the cuff..at impromtu meetings etc....so I can be forgiving when it comes to gaffes...malapropisms aside...Kerry's gaffe...foleygate etc are all getting the 5 second sound bites because it's election season and that's it period. As far as sane ones you have to look no further than Al Gore.

    Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/11/02 @ 08:02 AM — (Reply)

  17. :lol:

    Love the Gore quotes, EB!! I'll just sneak in the easily found link of Bushisms for balance.

    Comment by Michael— 2006/11/02 @ 08:55 AM — (Reply)

  18. thanks Michael they all speak out of turn and say stupid stuff, I know a website that has a bunch from both sides. I thought I was providing balance to the February thing. Now you've done it. LOL!

    Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/11/02 @ 12:04 PM — (Reply)

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