John Kerry, KFI, Los Angeles

KERRY FIRESTORM

With Attack On Troops, Mass Senator Fuels Outrage




*** Updates Below ***

Like a last- minute, pre- election gift from the heavens, John Kerry has ignited a Democrat- damaging firestorm with an incredibly insulting comment about American troops in Iraq.

After the Massachusetts senator appeared at a campaign rally for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides in California and made the gaffe, talk radio and the blogosphere immediately jumped into action.

Here's the comment in question:

You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.

Leading the charge was Los Angeles news / talk powerhouse KFI, where host John Ziegler was the first to jump on this story. From KFI, it spread like wildfire across the Internet and other talk shows.

Here's video of the already- infamous incident:





And below the YouTube clip, 1000 comments have already been left by viewers, with some defending Kerry or making excuses for him.


Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin reports that the mainstream media has been busy covering for Kerry today and points to this highly slanted AP report, which seems to focus more on the White House than Kerry himself:

The White House accused Sen. John Kerry on Tuesday of troop-bashing, seizing on a comment the Democrat made to California students that those unable to navigate the country's education system "get stuck in Iraq."

"Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "This is an absolute insult."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran and Bush's rival in 2004, fired back, saying the president and his administration are the ones who owe U.S. troops an apology because they "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."

"This is the classic GOP playbook," Kerry said in a harshly worded statement. "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."

Snow was asked about the comment which Kerry made during a campaign rally Monday for California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides. The White House spokesman was clearly ready, consulting his notes to read a fuller account of Kerry's statement and unleashing a sharp attack.

Many bloggers are covering this today, including Patterico, Riehl World View, Sister Toldjah, Kathryn Lopez and others.

We'll continue to follow the reactions to this story as they develop.

UPDATE: Joel Connolly interviews John Kerry, dishonestly blaming it all on the "right wing".

From the Boston Herald: Bay State military families react to Kerry's pathetic "joke".

Here's John Kerry's crazed, defiant official statement:

Statement of John Kerry Responding to Republican Distortions, Pathetic Tony Snow Diversions and Distractions

Washington – 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.”

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