***12:30pm update.***Kerry adviser admits to National Journal’s Hotline that Kerry’s smear came out “mangled.” McCain to repeat demand for apology on camera at 1pm.

Here’s Kerry’s non-apology: Digging in, blaming conservatives, condescending as ever.

11:57am update. Drudge: McCain calls on Kerry to apologize. Well now that their favorite maaaverick has spoken, I guess the MSM will cover it now…12:09pm Rush Limbaugh playing the Kerry clip top of his show…”It tells us what John Kerry and the Democrat Party think about the troops and our US military”…The military press is covering the story: NavyTimes, Army Times…Boehner calls for apology (quoting from e-mail just received):

“Senator Kerry’s comments were disrespectful and insulting to the men and women serving in our military. These Americans who are risking their lives in the fight against terrorism in Iraq deserve better than to have their service demeaned by a United States Senator. Our soldiers need John Kerry’s support, yet John Kerry offers nothing more than disparaging commentary. “John Kerry should apologize, and Democrat candidates across the country should publicly denounce them and demand that Senator Kerry apologize to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces serving in Iraq.”***

***

There’s a five-alarm firestorm spreading over the radio airwaves and Internet in response to John Kerry’s troop smear while campaigning for anti-war Democrat gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides yesterday in California.

So, where’s the MSM coverage? Reader William B. went searching:

The LA Times? Nope. Not one word. As if the rally never existed even though there were television cameras there and the Times has daily coverage of the Angelides campaign.

The San Francisco Chronicle covered the rally. Here is their story.

See the Kerry comment in there? Neither did I.

But wait! Here is the San Francisco Chronicle’s story about the Virginia Senate race. I wonder if the word “Macaca” shows up…As some rap star once said, “Whomp! There it is!” (OK to be fair, it was an AP story that the Chronicle picked up. So that means that this story only reached another 200 newspapers or so.)

Let’s check the NY Times on Kerry’s comment.

Cue sound of crickets.

Stephanie Smith e-mails:

You can add the AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution - known in my circles as the Al-Jazeera Constitution) to the list of completely silent newspapers on the topic of Kerry basically calling our soldiers idiots. I’m as unsurprised as I am disgusted by his comments…We will not submit!

By the way, here’s a reminder of the last time Kerry put his foot in his mouth and broadly tarred American troops in Iraq as terrorizers in December 2005. Well, at least he didn’t call them “uneducated:”

***

More letters. The ladies are fired up:

Michelle,

I joined the Marine Corps in 1983, right out of high school, not because I couldn’t make it in college but because I wanted something more out of life than the small town I was in. When I retired, 21 years later, I had a BS in Finance and a Master’s degree in Computer Science. My husband, currently serving in Fallujah, Iraq, joined the Marine Corps after getting a BS in History and afterwards acheived his Master’s in Education Leadership. My oldest son, slated to go to Iraq in March 2007, joined the Marine Corps after 2 years of college. He just couldn’t let others fight a war for something he truly believed in so he joined the Marine Corps last December.

I guess we are a family of underachievers. AND PROUD OF IT!!!!!

Kim Whitehouse
USMC Retired

***

I am sure comments are pouring in from the spouses and parents of our soldiers but I must weigh in as well—my son just deployed to Iraq with the 1st Cav—he is an Arabic linguist—smart and dedicated (a National Merit Scholar in high school)—and to hear Senator Kerry’s offhand deprecation of his life, his intellect and his commitment to this nation is galling.

A few weeks ago, we were in DC as a family—as we toured the various spots including the White House and the Capitol, I turned to my son and said, “See, this is what you are defending.” He said, “No, mom, I am defending this” and pointed out to everything else—including a batch of protestors gathered across the street. He added, “We are not a monarchy or totalitarian government where we defend those who govern, we defend the Constitution—the “We, the people”—we defend the people!”

It would be good if Senator Kerry was as clear as to whom he serves.

Kathryn Martin

Pam M. e-mails:

Back in high school, a good friend of mine entered the Air Force upon graduating. He was part of a secret program that meant he had to become fluent in Russian as well as clear a background check; I was among those who were questioned when he applied for the program. After his discharge he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees…and I believe he may be working on his PhD.

A friend of my husband (who has seen action in Iraq) holds a PhD in history and is a university professor.

My own father served in the Army (in between Korea and Vietnam), went on to get both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and taught the fifth and sixth grades for nearly 30 years. He is one of the most educated and well-informed people I know.

For Kerry to imply that only dummies voluntarily enter the military is not just insulting, it’s wrong. Unfortunately, he is only saying out loud what most Democrats believe. A lib friend of mine recently lamented the decision of a mutual acquaintance to leave college in order to join the Army. He said he needed to “find himself.” Instead of respecting his choice, she wondered why he would joing the f***ing Army.

And these people wonder why we not only question their values, but their patriotism.

***

Jason Smith notes a Heritage Foundation study debunking the myth of the poor, uneducated soldier:

“According to a comprehensive study of all enlistees for the years 1998-99 and 2003 that The Heritage Foundation just released, the typical recruit in the all-volunteer force is wealthier, more educated and more rural than the average 18- to 24-year-old citizen is. Indeed, for every two recruits coming from the poorest neighborhoods, there are three recruits coming from the richest neighborhoods.

If, for example, we consider the education of every recruit, 98% joined with high-school diplomas or better. By comparison, 75% of the general population meets that standard. Among all three-digit ZIP code areas in the USA in 2003 (one can study larger areas by isolating just the first three digits of ZIP codes), not one had a higher graduation rate among civilians than among its recruits.”

***

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