Chip McLean -- The Not-so-funny Senator Kerry

THE NOT-SO-FUNNY SENATOR KERRY

Like a loquacious parrot on steroids, Senator Ketchup has once again demonstrated his capacity to spout utter nonsense.

By now, everyone has heard of Kerry�s remarks to students at Pasadena City College, where he stated, �You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don�t, you get stuck in Iraq.� The implication was obvious � smart people go on to be doctors, lawyers and politicians (well, smart and politician doesn�t belong in the same sentence, but I digress) � and people who wind up in the military are just stupid losers.

Naturally, it didn�t take long before the blogosphere had unleashed a veritable tidal wave of backlash against Kerry. Republicans seized upon the remarks with the glee of hungry vultures, the President called upon Kerry to apologize and even Democrats were quickly distancing themselves from the Senator � many of whom feel that Kerry botched the 2004 election.

Kerry, who has an enormous talent for self-victimization when caught in a gaffe, attempted to explain away his remarks as a �botched joke� about the president. The public simply didn�t understand what he meant. This has been the modus operandi of John Kerry for many years � claiming that the public fails to comprehend the nuance of what he says.

Not that I am a fan of Dick Cheney or the Bush Administration, but I did find myself chuckling at the vice-president�s quip, "I guess we didn�t get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it.''

Kerry immediately refused to apologize for the remarks and lashed out at his critics for calling him on it. In addition he blasted the Republicans for trying to make political hay out of it. He is correct in that the GOP is hoping this will help them turn the tide, but John Kerry has no one to blame but himself for giving them the ammo.

At the time of this writing, Kerry, under much pressure, has issued a non-apologetic apology � one that basically says he�s sorry that people misunderstood him. Thus far he has expressed about as much actual contrition as a bargain basement hooker appearing in front of the same judge for the fourth time this year. He may as well have said that he�s sorry that we�re simply too simple-minded to comprehend his great intellect.

That is the problem with John Kerry � he is an elitist snob who lacks the ability to connect in any way with everyday Americans. That is the chief reason for his failure to unseat George Bush in 2004 � the public sees clearly through his transparency.

In addition to his condescending, �I�m so smart� demeanor, the record is quite clear concerning his stand on our military. Ever since returning from Viet Nam, Kerry has never missed an opportunity to demean and demoralize those who serve our nation in uniform. His testimony before Congress where he made wild accusations of rape, murder and other atrocities committed by other soldiers in Viet Nam is well known � what isn�t so well known are some remarks concerning an all volunteer army � made in 1972 � that recently came to light. Although Kerry opposed the draft, he also said the following:

"I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown. We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'� [Read]

This sounds very similar to his �stuck in Iraq� line that most assuredly implied that our military was made up of the less educated. Add to that the remarks a few months back, that our troops were �terrorizing� Iraqis, and there is a very distinct pattern � John Kerry disrespects the military and those in it. His �botched joke� seems to me a classic Freudian Slip � and his attempts to deny the obvious are indeed feeble.

Perhaps the greatest travesty in all of this, is that Kerry has managed to temporarily sideline all meaningful debate on Iraq itself. His ill-timed remarks have seen to that. The politest way I can paraphrase his impact would be to say that John Kerry is like an oversized lump of excrement that has overwhelmed the flushing capability of a toilet � he just won�t go away.

Subscribe to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts!

The fact is that most Americans want out of Iraq, but in such a way that would give that nation some sort of hope at surviving its civil unrest. Leaving immediately at all costs is not a viable exit strategy, nor is �staying the course� (although the Bush Administration has finally dropped that from their public statements). There are several ways being floated to help bring the mission to a successful conclusion, but Kerry has managed to further polarize America with his idiotic �jokem� thereby squelching pre-election debate on the matter. Thanks a lot, Senator.

His interest in politics began at the age of eight, when his parents took him to a Barry Goldwater rally during the 1964 presidential election. In addition to his work at CHCH, Chip's columns have appeared in a number of online conservative publications.