second vibe

A Big Botched Joke And A Bloody Mess

Okay. John Kerry is not Jay Leno. He gets an F- when it comes to cutting jokes — although in his most recent "mission botched", perhaps the most significant after his 2004 presidential campaign, it was very much apparent, once you take the pain to interpret the ill-fated words in the context of the speech, that he was referring to President Bush and not the troops.

John Kerry's aides say the Senator mistakenly dropped the word "us" from his prepared speech which of course, created the entire controversy. What should have been "... you get us stuck in Iraq," came out as "... you get stuck in Iraq."

Either way, it's clear who's the target of the four-term Senator from Massachusetts. However, by dropping the innocuous two-letter "us" Kerry left his jab open to interpretations and misrepresentations — and the Republicans, who are virtually running the campaign on an empty platter, and are on the verge of losing both houses, grabbed the opportunity with all four limbs.

Of course the people who are taking digs at Kerry are the same people who continue to insist that everything is fine and dandy despite the catastrophic consequences of the "stay the course" policy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And the list also includes Senators Clinton and McCain, the Democratic and Republican front-runners of 2008. It's a shame that they lined themselves up in the same category as George Bush and Dick Cheney.

If they think Kerry should apologize for his slip, how many apologies do they think President Bush owes to America?

To err is human, and every reasonable person understands that John Kerry slipped big time. And I also agree with everyone, smart, dumb, and lazy, who suggested he should just shut up and go away, and Obama willing, never return. I've always maintained Kerry would make a poor president, poorer if you watch him with your Clinton glasses on, but - and here's a big but - compared to President Bush, he'd have been an angel.

Look, in the worst case scenario, some jokes, when lamely delivered like this one, can be in poor taste, but they are harmless and they don't cost you a penny and they don't cost American lives. And Kerry has apologized. So, let's move on and focus on the reality — and the facts.

Bush's botched policies are expensive — the Iraq war itself is currently tagged at more than $300 billion, and counting.

Think what you could have done with a judicious use of $300 billion if you were asked to spend it for your country. You would have certainly figured out ways to improve the current state of education, health care, the infrastructure, national security, and going after the real bad guys. You would certainly not help make the already fat corporations like Halliburton fatter.

Bush's botched policies have led to the death of almost 3,000 Americans and 40,000 more have been wounded. Many of the wounded ones will never be able to recover to have a healthy, productive, and normal life like you and me.

Think what you could have done for your country if you had 40,000 healthy Americans at your disposal, at your command. You would have found better ways to make use of their services.

George Bush, his vice-president, and their chosen band of losers, who never served in the army, think they are doing their patriotic duty by wasting billions of dollars and bringing death to American soldiers everyday in the minefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's time to tell them to back off.

And if the Republicans are hoping that they could wash away their bloody mess in Iraq and Afghanistan with a botched joke, they are indeed, as John Kerry noted in his ill-fated speech, living in the state of denial.

Labels: Politics

posted by QbiT @ 10:32