The Billiken's Bluff

Cheney today in Montana:

Time and time again, we're seeing examples of Democratic Party leaders apparently having lost their perspective concerning the nature of the enemy we face, and the need to wage this fight aggressively. No sharper example can be found than the Democratic Party chairman himself, Howard Dean, who said the capture of Saddam Hussein didn't make America any safer. And maybe it should be no surprise that such a party would turn its back on a man like Senator Joe Lieberman, who has been an unapologetic supporter of the fight against terror.

Instead they highlight people like John Kerry, their presidential nominee in 2004. Aren’t we lucky he lost that election? You remember John Kerry – the senator who voted for the 87 billion dollars before he voted against it … the guy that was always lecturing us about “nuances.” He’s the one, you’ll recall, who last year said that American soldiers were “terrorizing … children” in Iraq. And just this week he took another swipe at the U. S. military. Here’s what he said, word for word. Quote: “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.” End quote. Well, apparently Senator Kerry’s the one who needs to be educated.

Of course, now Senator Kerry says he was just making a joke, and he botched it up. I guess we didn’t get the nuance. He was for the joke before he was against it.

As a leading Democratic senator, John Kerry needs to learn that the men and women serving in Iraq aren’t there because they didn’t study hard or do their homework. The all-volunteer force represents the very best of this country. They’re smart, patriotic, exceptionally well trained, and dedicated to their mission. They are heroes, and they are the pride of the United States of America.

Kerry says he was just calling Bush stupid. Its a sketchy excuse, given that it doesn't make a lick of sense: Bush got better grades than Kerry at Yale, and anyways Kerry voted for the same decision to go to war. In addition, it is a matter of historical record that Kerry started out in politics by slandering the troops that fought in Vietnam and has said things about the troops fighting now, including that they were "terrorizing children" (This guy was ALMOST PRESIDENT!).

Still, in this case I'd have to say that I don't know why yo but I believe him.