The Education of John F. Kerry
By Miguel Guanipa (11/02/06)
Senator John F. Kerry has again paid the price for having the same slow response problem he had back in 2004 when the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth launched an "attack" on his Vietnam record, which he had chosen to place at the center of his campaign. Back then he tried first to ignore it hoping that the controversy would simply vanish into political oblivion. It didn't; since then John Kerry has viewed not responding quickly to allegations that could prove damaging to his campaign as a cardinal error, even if - as he would probably put it – they are merely a "pack of lies" from a few uneducated grunts who possess the same mental quotient as the kid behind the counter where he gets his daily latte.
The problem this time was that he did not respond quickly to calls for some contrition until he heard from his own party that perhaps it was time to eat some humble pie. Until that time, Kerry had dug his heels in deep, promptly dismissing calls from Republicans to issue a public apology as politically motivated attacks.
If John Kerry has not learned that the opposition will always try to capitalize on what could be an honest mistake, then he has not been paying close attention to his own party’s modus operandi.
The lesson that Mr. Kerry should learn from this incident, and which most democrats have always resisted, is that Americans are fundamentally a conservative to moderate people. An insult to the armed forces is still an unforgivable offense against what is in essence a very traditional institution held in very high esteem by a large segment of the population. Many of those who are looking to fill congressional seats this coming election recognize that fact, and they will strive to appear supportive - at least for the time being – of what are considered to be traditional to moderate values, as they seek to be elected or retain the seats they already hold.
To quote CNN, the “unvarnished” fact of the matter is that Senator Kerry’s remarks belittling the intellectual prowess of our Armed Forces is merely the reflection of a pattern from the senator himself about how he really feels, not to mention many other Democrats who have conveniently remained silent before the coming election. The difference is that most democratic hopefuls remain faithful to their scripts, lest their real sentiments are made public, and some of their less informed constituents realize whom they are voting for after all, in which case they would have plenty of reason to change their minds before it is too late.
But the most significant lesson Senator John F. Kerry could learn from his latest “blooper” may be the one that he probably won’t learn, which is that there is no honor among thieves.
This was evidenced by the fact that while he stubbornly maintained he had simply botched what could have been an otherwise side-splitting one liner aimed at ridiculing the president, democrats idly stood by and did not immediately feel the urge to restrain the Senator, who soon began to look like a hapless man throwing buckets of gasoline at a fire that could have been easily extinguished earlier by simply stepping on it with a sincere apology. It wasn't until the firebomb had exploded and a few buildings had burned to the ground that the democrats realized their own political assets could be in danger.
Now Mr. Kerry, who is likely to have plenty of time for reflection - as he has had to dramatically rearrange his schedule - is in for a rude awakening when he sits down to revisit what just happened, and realizes that his so called "friends" in the democratic party are no more than the fair weather kind, who will turn on him and crush him at the drop of a hat should he threaten to besmirch their political aspirations with one of his many impromptu slips of the tongue.
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