By now you’ve probably heard that John Kerry stuck his foot in his mouth yet again: “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.” But his “apology” today is evasive at best: A Kerry aide said the senator was supposed to say, “I can’t overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq.”
Thankfully, Michael Medved helpfully explains why Kerry’s blunder is significant.
1. He clearly meant it.
“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.”
2. Kerry’s Comments Highlighted the Democrats’ Longstanding (and uncomfortable) Position on the Wrong Side of the Nation’s Key Cultural Divides.
3. Kerry’s Words Expose the Essentially Fraudulent Nature of Contemporary Liberalism: Expressing Disrespect for the Very Americans the Left Claims to Defend.
4. You Can’t Portray the Troops as Pitiable Victims and Still Say You Support Them in their Mission.