Medved: Why John Kerry's Wisecrack Matters

For several reasons, Kerry’s crack matters. Those reasons are:

1. He clearly meant it.

The day after his breathtakingly clumsy remarks at Pasadena City College suggesting that the uneducated and unsuccessful got “stuck in Iraq,” he made a laughable attempt to clarify his sentiments by insisting he meant to insult President Bush, not the troops in the field. Unfortunately for Mr. Kerry, videotape captured his actual observations (“You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, you try to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t you get stuck in Iraq.”) and so did many eye-witnesses. One of those reporters on the scene, Cortney Fielding of the Whittier Daily News, described the Senator’s statement and the context in which it appeared: “Kerry charmed the crowd with tales of surfing at Mission Beach and got laughs for a series of one liners, including telling the crowd he had just returned from Texas, ‘Where the president used to live –now he lives in a state of denial.’ Kerry then told the students that if they were able to navigate the education system, they could get comfortable jobs – “if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq,’ he said to a mixture of laughter and gasps.” If Kerry had meant his comments as another jab at Bush, why the gasps? And why not any attempt to explain his lame attempt at humor on the spot by adding, for instance, words that specified, “and a prime example of somebody who didn’t do his homework, and didn’t try to be smart, and who didn’t do well, is George W. Bush…. “or some comments to that effect. The actual tape shows Kerry delivering his fateful (and perhaps politically fatal) remarks, getting the decidedly mixed response, and then racing on without hesitation to fulsome praise of his Senatorial colleagues, Boxer and Feinstein. If the context of his words about getting “stuck in Iraq” had in any way exonerated him from the charge of insulting the troops then why, even twenty hours after the event, had his handlers failed to call press attention to the full tape (which most of America still hadn’t seen, as of this writing)? Only the blindest partisan could fail to acknowledge the Senator’s intent to portray the U.S. forces “stuck in Iraq” as pitiable losers, while he tried to encourage his student audience to avoid their fate by concentrating on educational success.

Kerry’s Words Expose the Essentially Fraudulent Nature of Contemporary Liberalism: Expressing Disrespect for the Very Americans the Left Claims to Defend.

Most people understand the difference between pity and respect. You may well feel sorry for the drunk collapsed on the street corner but you don’t, in any meaningful sense, respect his current condition. You probably look on a nursing infant with tenderness and affection but given his helpless, utterly dependent state you don’t view him as an equal. In similar terms, the Democrats who claim to care only about the less fortunate among us, who insist that they speak for the struggling victims suffering from cruel capitalist excesses, view these masses as helpless, unlucky, unintelligent and, ultimately, pathetic. On my radio show today I spoke with a caller from Santa Monica, California, who defended Kerry’s comments and noted that in his opinion the military option represented a “last resort” for unfortunates with no other options in life. To show his sympathy for the young soldiers, the caller said he sent “care packages” to the troops in Iraq. I noted in response that he might also send care packages to starving villagers in Africa, since the gesture suggested he felt sorry for our soldiers rather than inspired by their example. The consistent theme of Democratic propaganda is pity for the purportedly helpless and hopeless, including the middle class as well as the poor, all of whom can’t succeed or even survive without the efforts of liberal activists and the government programs they promote. If the Dems insist that ordinary citizens can’t succeed without government help, and the GOP emphasizes that hard work and decency still bring the American dream if bureaucrats and do-gooders stay out of the way, which side demonstrates the greater respect for the ability and potential of American strivers?
Despite their pose as “the party of the little guy,” the dominant Democrats are patronizing elitists who were born to privilege – people like Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and, yes, John Kerry. As a matter of fact, the very phrase “little guy” or “little people” is obviously condescending. The people who volunteer for our armed services aren’t little in any sense: they’re big and self-reliant and proud and powerful and determined, and rightly annoyed by Kerry’s demeaning but revealing attitude. Predictably, major veterans’ organizations (including the American Legion) have demanded his apology.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=why_kerrys_crack_matters&ns=MichaelMedved&dt=11/01/2006&page=1

 

Michael Fucking Medved?
Holy hell, we've reached the M-list of rightist pundits.
I prefer this story myself.
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2328683.php

 

Today's magic word is "disingenuous." Remember, when anyone says "disingenuous," SCREAM REAL LOUD!

 

Rhetorical question -- why did something Kerry say in 2004 become such an issue only now, a week before the election?

 

Michael Medved reminds me of a 75-year-old spinster librarian. You might as well get someone's old maid Aunt Tillie to provide commentary...it would be just as valid.

I'm avoiding political posts, but that uptight windbag irks the shit out of me. He always has a look on his face like he's constipated.

 

Obviously, the liberal media is trying to sway voters.

 

please edit the thread title:
Why does medved matter?

 

Can't wait to read Medved's review of "Borat." Just wrap plastic around your keyboard first.
For those just tuning in: Medved is a movie critic who suddenly decided one day he was a pundit.

 

Michael Medved lecturing the Dems on elitism. Huh. Medved grew up in ritzy Pacific Palisades and went to Yale with John Kerry, but unlike Kerry did not go to Vietnam. He was a lefty when it was fashionable to be a lefty and righty when it became fashionable to be a righty. He's full of it and always has been.

This was not the most politically wise thing Kerry ever said, but in my mind his time in Vietnam earned him the right to speak plainly and critically about the military. Same as if some jackass makes ridiculous snide comments about newspapers I'll point out his ignorance, but I'll criticize newspapers myself because I know what I'm talking about.

No doubt there are some bright people in the military -- it's not easy to get into the service academies -- but people like Kerry were the exception then and now. The Michael Medveds and George Bushes of the world have their gall, seeing as they used their life of privilege as a shield to keep them safe and Kerry didn't.

 

Wordman --
Word, man.

 

This might be in one of the other threads, but TDS last night had a hilarious bit with a CD called "The Botched Comedy Stylings of John F. Kerry," with him completely screwing up famous jokes.

My favorite was this one: "Hickory dickory dock. This woman was fellating my penis."

 

Andrew Dice Kerry?