Know and Understand VA Benefits

Thom Stoddert

"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."

Let’s take Senator John Kerry at his word–that the above quote was a "botched joke" about President Bush, and he never intended to insult United States troops. I can easily picture a scenario that supports that version of the incident.

Unemployed gag writers from the old Rosie O’Donnell show (now known as Democratic strategists) sit around a table at John Kerry’s office, hemmed in by snow boards, that camouflage duck hunting suit (practically new), a bin containing his Vietnam war medals marked "Take One,"a reproduction antique Heinz ketchup bottle turned into piggy bank, and two litres of unused "Tan in a Can." It’s the way the Oval Office would look now if Ohio had gone the other way.

John Kerry says he’d like to open his appearance at the California fundraiser with a few jokes, and, being an Ivy League graduate, is at least smart enough to know he can’t write his own material. The strategists toss out ideas, in the tradition of Buddy and Sally on the old Dick Van Dyke show. John Kerry sits in judgment, rejecting cute line after cute line. For him, there is a litmus test. The punch line has to say, "George Bush is stupid."

The strategists go back to their laptops, wracking their brains. In six years, they’ve come up with thousands of "George Bush is stupid" jokes. They’ve sold them to Rosie, Barbra, Howard Dean, Teddy Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, David Letterman, Keith Olbermann. Joe Biden is one of their best customers–but he likes ‘em folksy. They tried to sell a few to Harry Reid, but just looking at him, no one would believe he’d ever told a joke in his life.

Finally, one wag comes up with the education line, shown above. Kerry, who hasn’t had much to smile about since early November 2004, cracks up. That’s it. George Bush is stupid, because he’s stuck in Iraq.

Perhaps some or all of the gag men, er, strategists, wonder if the joke could be misconstrued. It could be interpreted as a zinger against the troops. There are over 100,000 American troops in Iraq–somebody could think that Kerry is talking about them being "stuck in Iraq," rather than Bush. But it’s late and fresh Bush shots are hard to come by. Kerry’s happy with the line, so why rock the boat? It’s time for the  strategists to get their evening briefing from Jon Stewart.

This scenario is plausible because it is a microcosm of the Democrat approach to this campaign and to politics in general since American forces removed Saddam. The Democrats are not at war with Islamic terrorists. Their enemy is George Bush. Getting rid of him is their primary mission. If zinging him at a fund raiser offends a few million members of the United States military, and their families, that’s what the Democrats call collateral damage. A small price to pay for making   Bush look stupid.

And if getting rid of Bush requires a constant barrage of criticism about the war, about the planning of the war, about the reasons for war, about the conduct of the war, about the tactics of the war, about the troop levels of the war, or about the food, equipment and weapons  of war, then so be it. If calls for withdrawal of our forces, resignation of our leaders, prosecution of our soldiers serve only to embolden and encourage our enemies, then the nation will have to bear it. If claiming  that half of America wants to give up before the job is done causes more casualties to our troops, that’s okay–because at least it gets rid of George Bush.

The Democrats are consumed with a hatred of Bush that blinds them to every other consideration, and makes them deaf to the sound of their own words. That’s why John Kerry went before the crowd at Pasadena City College and told a joke that a majority of reasonable people believe was a put-down of every man and woman in uniform. While America heard a moronic, insensitive and despicable quip, all Kerry could hear was "George Bush is stupid."