John Kerry touched off a huge controversy on October 30th when he told students at Pasadena City College that if they make the most of their educations, “you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq,” he said.
Well, even Democrats like Richard J. Daley and Hillary Clinton started calling for him to apologize!
He posted this statement on JohnKerry.com on Wednesday:
| As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop.I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.
It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops. |
- Did he exhibit leadership? (This statement took 26 hours to release after the initial insult to our troops)
- Did he take full responsibility, without qualification? (I regret… my words were misrepresented… the Republican Party…?)
- Did he communicate sincerity? (He released this statement on his website. No personal statement using his own voice on camera, looking into the eyes of those he offended)
In my book, this is NOT an apology. If I pulled this kind of “apology” with my wife, it would NOT be acceptable, and I’d be in serious trouble!
I also wouldn’t accept this if I were the offended party (and, I am offended!) John Kerry doesn’t really think he did anything wrong, nor does he really care about the people he insulted. He cares that he made a political mistake, got other members of his party mad at him, and is irritated this thing just doesn’t go away. John Kerry hates the Bush administration so much that he is willing to sacrifice our troops and future national security in order to bring down George W. Bush.
If John Kerry has any honor left, he would resign in his disgrace and let others who are less inclined toward hatred of America, represent the people of Massachusetts,
I think this response by a group of American soldiers pretty much puts it all in perspective!
