by Taylor Marsh
Not pretty and caught on tape.
Below is what Kerry actually meant to say, which I got straight from the Kerry team, which Kerry uses all the time.
"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." - Senator John Kerry
He screwed it up. Period. Hey, but the wingnuts don't care. And now it's on tape!
Mis-statement or not, you've just seen footage of the first negative ad in the '08 campaign, if Kerry runs.
Below is Kerry's statement responding to all the wingnuts going wild, which can be found here, here, here, here.
He's right about one thing. While U.S. soldiers are dying in Iraq, the wingnut brigade prefers distractions.
Statement of John Kerry Responding to Republican Distortions, Pathetic Tony Snow Diversions and DistractionsWashington - Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry's comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:
"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 Dick 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."
Okay. But it still doesn't unwind the tape.
Kerry should just admit he screwed up his statement. It may be ugly, but it's the truth.
And of course, St. McCain has already chimed in.
Senator Kerry owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education. Americans from all backgrounds, well off and less fortunate, with high school diplomas and graduate degrees, take seriously their duty to our country, and risk their lives today to defend the rest of us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
They all deserve our respect and deepest gratitude for their service. The suggestion that only the least educated Americans would agree to serve in the military and fight in Iraq, is an insult to every soldier serving in combat, and should deeply offend any American with an ounce of appreciation for what they suffer and risk so that the rest of us can sleep more comfortably at night. Without them, we wouldn't live in a country where people securely possess all their God-given rights, including the right to express insensitive, ill-considered and uninformed remarks.
This from a guy who caved on torture so he could suck up to Bush's base. I'm not impressed.
Let the '08 games begin.
A press conference from Kerry is expected later today.
In the meantime, do not get distracted by the wingnut rumble. In '06, it's IRAQ-IRAQ-IRAQ.
UPDATED: Below is Kerry's push back.
