JINSA Report #615 "T'aint funny, McGee"

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November 1, 2006

JINSA Report #615

"T'aint funny, McGee"

It wasn't a "botched joke" and it wasn't about the President (who has
the same Yale education as Sen. Kerry but with a slightly higher GPA).
It was about American soldiers, it stunk and it wasn't the first time.
In 1971, under oath, Mr. Kerry gave uncorroborated testimony about
solders that cut body parts off the Vietnamese and randomly shot at
civilians. This year, he accused American soldiers of, "going into the
homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you
know, women, breaking the sort of customs of the – of – the historical
customs, religious customs."

American soldiers deserve better from a United States Senator, and in
particular from a veteran.

Our men and women in uniform are an extraordinary cross-section of the
"smarts" our country produces and an extraordinary cross-section of our
racial, ethnic, socio-economic and religious identity. Watch and listen
to them on the rare occasions the news media interviews them at any
length in or about Iraq or Afghanistan. Whether high school or college
graduates, whether studying for degrees while in service or using their
GI benefits to study after they serve or using the military to enhance
their technical or language training, they make the rest of us Americans
look good. There is a reason our military leadership adamantly opposes a
return to the draft – we wouldn't field as skilled and motivated a force
as we do now.
But what if you take Senator Kerry at his word that it was a "botched
joke" about President Bush? He was talking to college students. He had
an opportunity to appeal to their patriotism and love of country by
suggesting ways to improve our foreign and defense policy. He had the
opportunity to talk about the threats to our security and our homeland
and encourage them to find ways to make the world a better place. He
had an opportunity to elevate them and himself. He didn't.
He descended instead into the gutter that has prevented any actual
discussion this election year of North Korea, Iranian nuclear weapons,
the future of America's deterrence or its alliances abroad. Or
discussion about China and Russia as competitors, our improving
relations with India or our declining ones with Turkey. Or the need for
a larger army or reduced commitments – maybe giving up South Korea for
Darfur.
Mr. Kerry says in his own defense that he was using the platform to take
a crude and ugly potshot at the President. Yuck, but it's not the first
time for that either.
In October, Sen. Kerry told talk show host Bill Maher that he took his
wife to Vermont for her birthday. Maher said, "You could have went
(sic) to New Hampshire and killed two birds with one stone" (referring
campaigning for the 2008 nomination). Sen. Kerry replied, "Or I could
have gone to 1600 Pennsylvania and killed the real bird with one stone."
"T'aint funny, McGee."

To view this JINSA Report online click on the link below.

http://www.jinsa.org/JINSAReports/3576

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