|
|
|
« What Might Have Been | Main | Treason? Why Not? » January 24, 2007Listening to his Little ManSo, we won't have John Kerry to kick around any more, as Senator Kerry plans to announce today that he will not seek his party's nomination for President in 2008. That strikes me as good news for everyone. For Senator Kerry, that means he can focus on whatever it is he does in the Senate. He won't have to go through the pain of another long campaign, nor will he have to face the likely verdict of his voters in 2008 telling him that while they appreciate him coming close in 2004, they're looking for new blood this time. For the Democratic Party, that means they don't have to endure the spectacle of a man trying to establish his military bona fides on the strength of two years' service. For a party that prides itself on being of the people, the Democrats have had a terrible tendency to run aristocrats in recent years, and Kerry certainly epitomized that trend. For the rest of us poor sots who have to live with whoever occupies the White House, it means that at least we don't have to face the specter of yet another verbally challenged President issuing speeches on national TV that some of us feel obliged to watch. Now if only he'd bow out of the Senate, too... Posted at January 24, 2007 11:19 AM
Comment policyI apologize for only allowing authenticated commenters, but comment spam overwhelms the site if I don't use those measures to prevent it. I reserve the right to delete any comment, although generally comments will only be deleted due to use of profanity or personal attacks on people. I have no objection to vigorous argument, but when name-calling begins, I'm putting a stop to it. In the immortal words of Eugene Levy, "People, people, let's stop this before somebody says something untrue!" If you want to call people names, I recommend you get your own blog. Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: Comments"the spectacle of a man trying to establish his military bona fides on the strength of two years' service" While noting your professional perspective, this seems unfair to me. Is there some recognized threshold of combat or non-combat experience that allows a man to establish his bona fides without spectacle? Also note that (at least as I understand it) Kerry left the Navy intending to criticize the war effort, something both reflective of the two years and relevant for the situation. Posted by: rilkefan I respect the fact Kerry served. But I found the entire 2004 DNC repellent. Had he kept his yap shut about his service, I would have seen it as a bonus. But by effectively centering his campaign on a two year (and really a three-month) stretch of his life, I found it decidedly off-putting. Posted by: Andrew I had mixed feelings about the 2004 DNC display. I respect Max Cleland a helluva lot more than John Kerry, but watching him wheel himself onto that stage made me cringe. Obviously, these guys were desperate, and I will leave it to Mr. Cleland to explain his sincerity. It likely earned Kerry few extra votes, but I will give them credit for showing us that real people make real sacrifices when they join the military. Sometimes shock and awe has its place. I am loathe to disrespect a man who strapped himself to the seat of a well-used Texas ANG F-102 having never done so myself. But given the feckless (to borrow from John McCain) attitude with which our one and only president threw our blood and treasure at Iraq, I can't blame the 2004 DNC crowd all that much. But then both Kerry and Cleland voted to follow that president into the Iraq fray, even given their personal experience. That they did so because of the feckless (again to borrow from McCain) attitude of the American people - a people in mass too disconnected from reality to understand what it means to sign on that dotted line and put your life on the line - is what really disturbs me (and no, I never signed anything). Now if only he'd bow out of the Senate, too... In favor of, say, Max Cleland? Works for me! Posted by: Steve Jones Post a commentThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out) (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://andrewolmsted.com/nav-commenters.gif)