Kerry's Botched Joke

There’s a fallacy of equivalency here. The statement is not the everyone in Iraq must have done poorly in school, but that anyone who does poorly in school is at risk of ending up in Iraq. The statement that “all lemons are yellow” is not equivalent to saying that everything yellow is a lemon.

OK, let’s say that’s true. Can you see, even so, how impolitic Kerry’s crack is? Just at a point where Democrats had a chance of making some inroads with military voters?

Kerry, do your party a favor: shut the hell up and don’t even think about another run for President.

This article seems to back up some of what Diogenes is saying. It may be mean, but the reality is that although we have the best “soldiers”, they are not the best students.

That’s how way I interpreted the ‘joke’. And I’m pretty sure everybody in an audience of college kids would understand it, too.( These are young people, very self-absorbed. Getting a good job is the number one issue on their minds. When there was a draft in the 60’s it was the college kids who resisted violently, not the ‘bullet sponges’)

And what’s offensive about it? Well, ask anybody in uniform.

And only a politician who is totally out of touch could say what Kerry said. Imagine a politician speaking to a white audience and saying “do well in school, so you don’t end up like those blacks in the ghetto”.

I make no claims about the intelligence of the average G.I., but having written instruction manuals for complex electronic gear to be used by grunts in the field, I’ll note that we were specifically told to write them in a plain, unambiguous, and simple style, that made instruction manuals for a VCR look difficult by comparison.

Once again you are showing that you can’t understand how anyone could have a different world view than you have. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but how many Pit threads do you need to have started over you’re inability to see something as insulting before you realize that everyone “didn’t know that”?

But here’s a suggestion. Since everyone knows that the military is haven for fuck-ups and soldiers are nothing but “sponge bullets”, why don’t you go to the nearest military base and carry around a placard that says just that. I’m sure you’ll be greeted with cheers.

I would like to float a speculation out, see if it flies far:

Sen. Kerry is a long time polititian. He tailors his messages to his audience.

He may have made these assumptions:

  1. The typical young college student is anti-war in general, Anti-Iraq-war in particular, on ideological grounds. There may be a feeling that the U.S. service member should not be carrying out, or supporting, an “Illegal” war. So, the servicemember is stupid (or misguided) for their work in Iraq.

  2. They see their decision to go to college as a “smarter” move (compared with a stint in the military), in terms of securing their future. Ergo, folks who volunteer for the military are stupid, or at least made a stupid decision. (Exception is made for those who cannot afford college. However, remember that not all poor people are forced into the military to earn a living, and that not all those in the military came from a desperately poor background.)

So, Kerry made a comment that was intended to be taken as Anti-Iraq-war first, and to bolster the feeling that going to college was the “right” choice. Unfortunately, he kinda bungled it… hehe.

That was supposed to be “bullet sponges”, obviously.

Would that we fought our wars with “sponge bullets”. :slight_smile:

Damn. Y’all are missing the point. The point is not whether soldiers are or are not (on average) good students. Here’s the point:

“Vote for us, stupid!” is not a good rallying cry.

How can you ever make inroads with the military if party elders are busy insulting them?

I said it plenty when I was in uniform and rarely found any disagreement. There was a lot of self-deprecating joking about that sort of thing within the ranks.

Ironic, I guess, in that making a joke about the troops being stupid is not the most intelligent political comment to make.

Even with the surprising amount of pro-Republican/anti-Democrat threads the OP has posted recently, I have to agree with him on this one; he’s crawling out a hole.

There may well be that feeling, but I really don’t think you can say lack of support for the Iraq war = lack of support for the troops there. It’s only the nutjobs that are saying “The troops should resign, quit, go MIA rather than take part in such a war”. (I’m aware this isn’t your opinion; just pointing out why I don’t think we can assume Kerry would assume it, if that makes sense).

Yeah, well Black people call each other “nigger” all the time. Does that mean they like when White folks call them that? If you include yourself in the joke, it’s a different ballgame.

We’re a bunch of idiots ≠ You’re a bunch of idiots.

For someone who self-describes as “intelligent”, how could you not know that?

Except he made it quite clear that he was referring to the latter. Does anyone have a good reason to not believe his intended meaning?

Exactly, do you honestly think any politician would be stupid enough to say anything bad about the troops? Kerry may not be a genius, but he is not retarded.

I believe Kerry is capable of astounding feats of political idiocy. Which explains why he couldn’t beat a weakened Bush in '04.

I enlisted and served six years in the US Navy. Electronic technician. When I read Kerry’s comment, my eyebrows went towards my receding hairline…

When I saw those comments, I thought “How can such a long time politico not see that comment as possibly being seen as a negative opinion on the IQ of the US service member?” He should have known better, being in politics as long as he has.

Hence my post above about catering to an audience.

However, I can see that there are stereotypes that are acceptable. For example: folks in the military are stooopid. Sigh. Please, fight ignorance. Abandon that stereotype…

No, you missed the point. The quote was not about soldiers. It was about the President. As in, those who do not study grow up to be Presidents that commit their country to endless, unjustified wars.

Oh bullshit. That’s just Kerry trying to cover his tracks.

True, but the TV news media give a higher amount of airtime to the “nutjobs”. They mostly appear to be young, and a lot of them are shown in stories involving anti-war demonstrations arranged on campuses (campii?), or by students… (I don’t claim bias here. These news stories are more dramatic than the “adopt-a-kitten” segment, so they get more air time.)

This (unintentional) skewing of air time might create an (incorrect) impression of the mood of the students at the political rally Keery was to attend, college students in general, or the country as a whole… an incorrect impression that Kerry himself might have harbored, and tailored his comments towards.

Again, when I first read his comments (I didnt see the video yet. Body language and voice inflection may change the meaning…), I saw a swipe at the military IQ, and was surprised at Kerry for making the goof.

I don’t know-- this is a tough one. It really doesn’t make much sense either way. Here’s how I would decide-- did he and/or the audience laugh when it was said? If yes, then I think he was talking about the president. If not, I think he might very well have been talking, not about the troops per se, but about someone who might have to end up in the military, and thus in Iraq.

Is there a video link?