Here’s what Kerry’s staff claims he meant to say:
A Kerry spokeswoman, Amy Brundage, said later that the senator’s prepared text had called for him to say: “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. Just ask President Bush.”
So, “if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy,” you get elected President of the United States?
Maybe that’s why Kerry thought he was qualified to be president. In any event, if that’s the “botched joke,” it’s on him.
UPDATE
Senator Kerry has now issued a quintessential Kerry-like apology, which is to say that he’s sorry that his words were “misinterpreted.” In other words, he’s “apologizing” for a mistake others made. Too bad they were too dumb to interpret his words correctly.
Meanwhile, I’m prepared to believe that Rep. John Murtha really did have trouble interpreting what Kerry said, since he has trouble interpreting most things. The words — if you don’t study, etc., you’ll get “stuck in Iraq” — are apparently too confusing for him. He’s issued a ringing statement saying Kerry “needs to explain” what he meant.
I think my favorite attempt to fly through the Kerry flak, however, was Hillary’s statement that Kerry’s words were “inappropriate.” She thus has responded to a statement that the troops in Iraq are too lazy and stupid to have avoided service there — for that is what the words say, whatever Kerry’s intent — with all the moral fervor with which she would, say, attack the use of the wrong fork at a formal dinner.
The prepared text has racial overtones – certainly if a Republican said it would.
“Not smart” implies that the reason is inherent – the lazy and work-ethic stuff isn’t quite there. But combine that with the fact that disproportionate numbers of poor – and therefore disproportionate numbers of minorities since they are disproportionately poor – are in the military, and you have racial overtones.
Kerry just plain blew this one. And what politician doesn’t vette their own speeches – at least with a quick scan. With jokes, I always prepare my clients to read them more carefully in advance, since they require skill to pull off even if well written. It sounds like he simply didn’t pre-read his speech here.
“you get elected President of the United States?”
Ya, we live in a sick society.
If you have not seen it, do yourself a favor and find the photo of the troops in Iraq who made a banner for Sen. Kerry that reads:
“”Halp us Jon Carry – we R stuck hear N Irak.”.
The “k” in “stuck” is backward.
Knowing that my family and I are being defended by people like that helps me sleep better at night.
Chetly Zarko writes:
>>>”The prepared text has racial overtones – certainly if a Republican said it would.
“Not smart” implies that the reason is inherent – the lazy and work-ethic stuff isn’t quite there. But combine that with the fact that disproportionate numbers of poor – and therefore disproportionate numbers of minorities since they are disproportionately poor – are in the military, and you have racial overtones.”
I agree with you here, Chetly. But Kerry didn’t blow it by simply misreading his speech, in my estimation. I believe that the GOP and Karl Rove machine have been waiting for a nationally RECOGNIZABLE Democrat to say ANYTHING controversial, or subject to misinterpretation so that their red-meat minions on Fox News and talk radio could make it the focus of the campaign. Rep. Nancy Pelosi hasn’t given them anything and not enough people on the street know who she is. Howard Dean, or Sen. Hillary Clinton for that matter have been relatively measured, and nobody knows where Al Gore is.
So Kerry was the natural target. And the shame of all this is, even with the botched joke, the only problem with Kerry’s statement was:
It was true.
Botched or intended
interpretation.
Why do I say that? I’ll give you three facts to SUPPORT your conclusions about the make up of our military and how Kerry’s line is accurate:
FACT #1: The No Child Left Behind Act is an enabler of the Pentagon’s recruiting focus on the poor, minorities, and the under educated.
>>>”SEC. 9528. ARMED FORCES RECRUITER ACCESS TO STUDENTS AND STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION.
(a) POLICY-
(1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION- Notwithstanding section 444(a)(5)(B) of the General Education Provisions Act and except as provided in paragraph (2), each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings.”
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/pg112.html
FACT#2: The Pentagon is taking full advantage of the NCLB for targeted recruitment:
>>>”The Defense Department began working yesterday with a private marketing firm to create a database of high school students ages 16 to 18 and all college students to help the military identify potential recruits in a time of dwindling enlistment in some branches.
The program is provoking a furor among privacy advocates. The new database will include personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, grade-point averages, ethnicity (hello, John?) and what subjects the students are studying…
…The data will be managed by BeNow Inc. of Wakefield, Mass., one of many marketing firms that use computers to analyze large amounts of data to target potential customers based on their personal profiles and habits.
“The purpose of the system . . . is to provide a single central facility within the Department of Defense to compile, process and distribute files of individuals who meet age and minimum school requirements for military service,” according to the official notice of the program”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062202305.html
FACT#3: With this power, the Pentagon actively recruits by RACE, ETHNICITY, ECOMONIC STATUS and DEGREE OF EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS:
>>>”While the military is taking steps to increase its minority officership, it is simultaneously recruiting an ever increasing number of minorities for general service. Today, African-Americans compose 13 % of the American public, but constitute 21.7% of servicemen. Another 18 % of the armed forces consist of Latinos, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans (Grutter 16). This discrepancy is in large part due to heavy recruiting of minorities. When the nation switched to an all-volunteer army in 1973, recruiting became necessary in order to augment the ranks. Recruiters offer a steady job, opportunities for career advancement, basic benefits such as health and dental care, and the promise of scholarships and basic education for those who wish to attend college. Such incentives are most appealing to the lower economic classes, which also consist largely of minorities. The result is that recruitment efforts target blue collar workers and the unemployed, the poor, the undereducated, and often minorities. This so called ‘poverty draft’ is responsible for the high numbers of minorities in the front lines of military conflicts since the end of the draft.“
http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/The%20Poverty%20Draft.doc
Wait, it gets better!
>>>”Other attempts target specific racial subsets. Since 1994, Secretary of the Army Luis Caldera has toured the nation and visiting inner-city schools to encourage Latino youth to enlist in the army, providing accounts of the opportunities presented to those who choose a career with the military. Similar efforts have been targeted at African-American youth as well.”
>>>”Recruiting begins as early as high school, with some students receiving as many as three telephone calls a day from recruiters. Provisions made in the No Child Left Behind act of 2002 provide student information to military recruiters by default. Army recruiting vans tour the country visiting high schools, malls, racing events, and other teenager rich events. On average, these vans visit 2000 high schools per year. In their tours, the army offers “educational multi-media shows,” which some groups criticize for being misleading and blatant recruiting attempts that glorify the army lifestyle. According to Fred Zinchiak, a Public Affairs Specialist for the Army Recruiting Battalion, “The vans zero in on our target market, and that’s in high schools.”
http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/The%20Poverty%20Draft.doc.
>>>”Currently, approximately 37,000 immigrants, mostly from Mexico and Central America, fought in Iraq in order to obtain citizenship in exchange for three years of service (Sending). These “green card soldiers” often saw military service as their only hope of gaining citizenship, and many argue that the army took advantage of their position. ”
http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/The%20Poverty%20Draft.doc.
And how does it work out in PRACTICE?
>>>””I have no idea how they got my e-mail or my phone number,” Amber Brown said, secretary of student government. “I try not to be rude to them when they call, but I’m firm, and just like telemarketers, I tell them I’m not interested.”
Brown explained that she has no interest in joining the military and resents the phone calls and e-mails.
“Me and my family don’t have any interests in the military. We use our minds…we’re more creative,” the high school senior said.
Students were also perplexed on how the military gained access to their SAT scores without their consent, a practice illegal under federal law. “A recruiter once called me and said that with my high test scores, that I would be a great military candidate,” Jones said. “How did they know my SAT score?” Jones explained. “How are they accessing my scores without me knowing about it?”
The Frederick Douglass students also theorized that once recruiters learn of their SAT scores, they specifically target students who have low-test scores, whereas students with higher test scores are called less frequently. “I’ve never got a call from the Army,” Jones said. “We have a theory that the military targets the kids with lower scores and continues to call them, hoping that they will sign-up for military duty,” she said. “They know that the students with lower grades and test scores have fewer opportunities, so [the military] preys on them,” Jones added.
“Isn’t that leaving children behind?”
http://www.thesentinel.com/279909936044332.php
Well said, Ms. Jones. I think that the Pentagon using RACIAL PREFERENCES in it’s recruiting practices is an issue well worth discussing on “Discriminations.”
Sen. John Kerry said:
>>>”You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
–Cobra