Kerry comments on troops

I was never huge John Kerry fan. Today Kerry said:

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

Reading it the first time, it does seem to be an insult to troops, making them out to be unintelligent. After hearing his passionate defense, that the remark was a botched joke about President Bush, it became a little clearer. I think I even know how he botched it. He forgot to add three words to the end, "like George Bush." His corrected statement should read:

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

**UPDATE**
It looks like not all Republicans/conservatives got the memo about the bashing Kerry for his comments. The pollster for Bush-Cheney '04, Matthew Dowd and Republican ex-Majority Leader Dick Armey disagreed with the assertion that Kerry meant to insult troops. Dowd said that Kerry "just misspoke" and Armey said, "The President wants the people to perceive [Kerry] of having maligned our troops… I think John Kerry’s right. He’s making a defense of himself. He’s saying, ‘Look, I was not maligning the troops, I was maligning the President of the United States.'”

700-mile "virtual fence"

The Border Patrol agents don't even think the new $2 billion fence will help:

"We're disappointed that the 700-mile fence has become the centerpiece of reform, because fences don't stop people," says T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents border-patrol agents. "As long as the employment magnet is turned on full force, people will continue to come across our borders in 125 degree heat.

People who make liberals look bad.

Rosie O'Donnell: I caught this clip of Bill O'Reilly on The View, and I was very annoyed by Rosie O' Donnell. And I strongly dislike O'Reilly.

Deadly natural disasters

Of the 10 deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, a full 9 have occured in or around Asia (i.e. from Pakistan to China). In case you were wondering.

Nuclear North Korea

The Doonesbury Straw Poll excellently worded the escalating controversy:

"You can't unsplit atoms. I'm sure it was a rush to be the only people with bows and arrows when everybody else had spears. But as a North Korean vice minister put it: "We are not boys. We are a nuclear power." Sigh. Okay. Welcome to the club."

Politics of economics

President George W. Bush has been trying to "convince voters Republicans are the best stewards of matters affecting the wallet."

He is trying, but failing, apparently. The United States Commerce Department, a cabinet-level department of the executive branch of which the President is the head, says the opposite. The department released a report stating that "economic growth slowed to the weakest pace in more than three years."

Question asked, question answered.

Bill O'Reilly interviewed the Commander-in-Chief:

O'Reilly: Sixty percent of Americans are now against the Iraq War. Why?

Bush: Because they want us to win.

There has GOT to be a better metaphor

A Lexis search for "buzz saw of opposition" shows 361 results! A Google search shows 10 results. A Google blog search show 55 results (no doubt, some are referencing the original 361).

Reporters who continue to use the metaphor are going to run into the proverbial saw from me.

Disproportional contribution

According to Technology Review 35, the prominent tech journal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:

"while the Indian-American population is less than one per cent in the US, the contribution of the community is to the extent of almost 17 per cent."

When are the other hyphenated Americans gonna pick up the slack?

Knoxville paper endorses Corker

The Knoxville News-Sentinel editorial board wrote:

"I have been shaped by Tennessee," and Knoxville and East Tennessee have played a role, Corker told the News Sentinel editorial board.

That provides a good backdrop for his hope to serve Tennesseans in the Senate.

I say the same about me, but I still voted for Ford.

Walk the talk...

"It's time that we start reading the Bible instead of knocking people over the head with it."

- Claire McCaskill, Missouri U.S. Senate candidate

A lifelong GOP voter who is now an active Democratic campaign volunteer stated:

"Republicans don't know anything about working-class survival."

Flash forward to the American Taliban

From a TIME.com article on fundamentalism of Pakistani college students come this excerpt:

"Pakistan is an Islamic country, and our institutions must reflect that," says Umair Idrees, a master's degree student and secretary-general of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (I.J.T.), the biggest student group on campus. "The formation of these departments (i.e. musicology and performing arts) is an attack on Islam and a betrayal of Pakistan. They should not be part of the university curriculum."

If the following came out in a press release from Focus on the Family, would it be a surprise?

"America is an Christian country, and our institutions must reflect that," says Jason Lowell, a master's degree student and secretary-general of College Republicans, the biggest student group on campus. "The formation of these departments (i.e. musicology and performing arts) is an attack on Christianity and a betrayal of the United States. They should not be part of the university curriculum."

Tax and Spend Liberals

Maybe "tax and spend" is just a euphemism for better government.

It's been established that "...the federal government budget improved every year...and went from a record deficit in 1992 to a record surplus in 2000. An Internet-powered tech bubble and a booming stock market resulted in some of the lowest national unemployment rates in decades."

Who was the evil, reviled president during those years. Oh, yeah. That guy.

Ex-Rep. Mark Foley's view of being gay.

After a family friend complained to former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) about his vote for the Defense of Marriage Act, Foley responded that he:

"...could never compare any relationship I have ever had to the nature of my mother and father's relationship."

I presume that means that, as a gay man, he viewed his relationship with his longtime partner as being purely about sex. It had no other meaning for him (i.e. love or caring).

A sad, messed up man.

On what to be done with Foley's seat.

Jay Leno, on what should be done with Foley's seat:

"I say, spray it with Lysol!"

AND...

Why I don't watch Fox News:

Listen to the people on the ground...

The National Intelligence Estimate "said the war in Iraq has increased the threat from terrorism."

Electoral prediction.

The Republicans will retain control of the House and Senate in November 2006. President Bush may appoint another neoconservative to the Supreme Court in 2006-2008, causing it too to be run by Republican-appointees. The reason?

The Democrats "...still have to... explain what they are for, not just what [they] all are against."