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| Anchoress: Kerry is "a man who canÂ’t make a decent apology" |
| 2006-11-01 |
| Whew! Glad that’s all over! John Kerry has apologized for insulting the troops. Sort of. It’s not an apology that would ever be accepted by the press or the Dems, had a conservative “botched a joke,” but we’re told this is “the apology:” “I said it was a botched joke. Of course, I’m sorry about a botched joke,” Kerry, who had refused to apologize on Tuesday, said on the “Imus in the Morning” radio show on MSNBC. […] Kerry told the students that if they studied hard they could do well, but if they didn’t “you get stuck in Iraq.” His office said he neglected to add the punch line: “Just ask President Bush.” Alright, if you say so. Yesterday, I was almost willing to believe the “botched joke” excuse Today, I’m believing it less. . . . If you’re expecting laughs and you hear gasps, a siren should ring through your melon. You should think, “wait…did that come out right?” And if you realize it did not, you immediately say to your audience, “wait, I’m a chucklehead! I did not mean the troops are stupid. Their CIC sure is, though!” And the har-har’s would commence, and there would be no story. Or, if you give a speech and really don’t realize what you said, but you see a tape afterward that gives a very strong impression that you’ve just called our troops stupid and uneducated…and if that is not what you meant…you call a quick press conference and explain that you are horrified to see that you made a huge blooper, that you never intended in any way to disparage the troops for whom you have all the respect in the world, so much so that you simply can’t forgive their CIC…blah, blah…” And there is no brouhaha. However, if you realize that you “botched a joke” (if that’s what you did) and then immediately go swaggering out to a press conference declaring, “I apologize to no one,” and prattling on about “Katrina foreign policy” and “cutting and running in Afghanistan,” well…you kind of destroy your chance to believably claim you “botched a joke.” When your “botched joke” sounds rather a lot like echos of your past public disparagement and disdain for American troops, it all seems less like a “botched joke” and more like a “reflexive and ingrained hate.” Unless, of course…you WANT the brouhaha, because it’s been a while since you graced a magazine cover or led a news broadcast. Once one has “botched” a moment, how one “unbotches” the thing tells a great deal about their personal character and their leadership abilities. The press is going to give Kerry a pass, no matter what. But he has offered two punchlines as an excuse, and his “apology” amounts to “I’m sorry I blew the joke…” There is still absolutely NO acknowledgement that in blowing the joke he impugned the brave and honorable military he once presumed to lead. There is no acknowledgement of the insult or the hurt. “I’m sorry I blew the joke,” is a coward’s apology. It is meaningless. It takes no responsibility for the fallout from a thoughtless utterance. “I’m sorry I hurt you, I didn’t mean to, please accept my apology” is what grown-ups say. Children say “I’m sorry I screwed up the joke.” It is a profoundly stupid, adolescent and, yes, COWARDLY way to apologize. Go home, Mr. Kerry. Go surf the wind. Go write some more bills naming special days for special people. Maybe go see a shrink about why you’re so uncomfortable in your own skin. You’re done, nationally. You will probably get to be a Massachsetts senator for the rest of your life - why not, Teddy got to be one, too - but after this election no one is going to come knocking on your door for much of anything. And what influence you had will quickly ebb. And you deserve this. A man who can’t make a decent apology, who hasn’t enough of himself within himself to securely do that, deserves less, not more, public influence. And some pity. And btw, Mr. Kerry? The troops are much wittier and more clever than you are. They know how to joke around. BTW, Fred, add The Anchoress to your list of recommended blogs. She's smart and writes well, and she's on our side. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #1 Don Imus: Asswipe to the Stars. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-11-01 16:34 |
