Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

John Kerry: U.S. Soldiers Not 'Smart'

outfctrloutfctrl Member UncommonPosts: 3,619
 

Sen. John Kerry has sparked outrage by suggesting that U.S. troops in Iraq are uneducated and not "smart.”

At a campaign event for California gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides at Pasadena City College on Monday, the Massachusetts Democrat and Vietnam veteran said: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

Kerry’s troop-bashing remarks belie the truth about the educational level of U.S. troops. According to figures readily available on the Internet, 99.9 percent of the enlisted forces have at least a high school education, 73.3 percent have some college, 16.2 percent have an associate’s degree or equivalent semester hours, and 4.7 have a bachelor’s degree.

What’s more, over 85 percent of field grade officers have advanced degrees – 70.7 percent have master’s degrees, 12.1 percent have professional degrees and 2.5 percent have doctorate degrees.

"Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who’ve given their lives in this,” White House press secretary Tony Snow said regarding Kerry’s remarks.

"This is an absolute insult.”

image

«1345

Comments

  • modjoe86modjoe86 Member UncommonPosts: 4,050
    4.7% of US troops have a Bachelor's degree...in what way was Kerry wrong?
    I mean, he shouldn't have said it, but I can't really say he's completely wrong.



    Easy Nulled provide latest nulled scripts. we deal in wordpress themes plugins, nulled scripts.
    https://easynulled.com/

    Free porn videos, xxx porn videos
    Onlyfans nudes
    Onlyfans leaked
  • RazorbackRazorback Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 5,253

    I guess its pretty clear I am fully against the actions in Iraq. But I strongly support the troops both Australian and US in thier efforts. Coming out and saying things like that is just DUMB! or not smart if you like.

    I have been constantly perplexed by the operational orders these guys are given to work from. I mean its the same mistakes made in Vietnam all over again and that is the leadership, not the soldiery.

    What the hell is up with this tactic of sending a few guys in a humvee out to face certain death ?? Then when they perish, sending out a few more...... failed in Nam and its failing now.

    Whilst I am anti war, I am pro victory and if your going to send in 140K troops, why the hell dont you coordinate them better. There are enough troops in Iraq to do the job if they were just coordinated effectively. Im no military strategist, but it seems like there is a complete inability to devise a method that doesnt involve using every so slightly less troops than are required to perform any given task.

    bah.... wtf do I know.... the results speak volumes...image

    +-+-+-+-+-+
    "MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
    http://purepwnage.com
    image
    -+-+-+-+-+-+
    "Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon

  • LilithIshtarLilithIshtar Member Posts: 667
    Lmao, go Kerry go! XD


    Independant, Shinto, Lesbian, and Proud!
    image

  • NierroNierro Member UncommonPosts: 1,755
    I'm just waiting for someone to dig up the limitless archives of retarded things Bush has said. 


    image
  • LilithIshtarLilithIshtar Member Posts: 667

    Originally posted by Nierro
    I'm just waiting for someone to dig up the limitless archives of retarded things Bush has said. 
    The things Bush says...;D

    "Arbolist...Look up the word.
    I don't know, maybe I made it up. Anyway, it's an arbo-tree-ist, someone who knows
    about trees."

    Crawford, TX 8/21/01

    "It's your money, you paid for it."

    La Crosse, WI 10/18/00

    "The Bob Jones policy on interracial dating, I
    mean I spoke out on interracial dating. I spoke out against that. I spoke out
    against interracial dating. I support the policy of interracial dating."


    CBS News 2/25/00

    "I don't read what's handed to me."

    New York, NY 3/15/00

    "More and more of our imports come from overseas."


    Beaverton, OR 9/29/00

    "I understand small business growth. I was one."


    New York, NY 2/19/00

    "Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it
    hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."


    Austin, Texas 12/20/00

    "If affirmative action means what I just described,
    what I'm for, then I'm for it."

    St. Louis, MO 10/18/00

    "This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation...You
    gotta preserve."

    Nashua, NH 1/28/00

    "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children
    learning?"

    Florence, SC 1/11/00

    "They Misunderestimated me."

    Bentonville, AR 11/6/00

    "I think if you know what you believe, it makes
    it a lot easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question."

    Reynoldsburg, OH 10/4/00

    "Our priorities is our faith."

    Greensboro, NC 10/10/00

    "If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck
    of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

    Washington, DC 12/18/00

    "There's nothing more deep than recognizing Israel's
    right to exist. That's the most deep thought of all...I can't think of anything
    more deep than that."

    Washington, DC, 3/13/02

    "And so, in my State of the my State of the Union
    or state-my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the
    nation-I asked Americans to give 4,000 years-4,000 hours over the next-the rest
    of your life-of service to America. That's what I asked for-4,000 hours."


    Bridgeport, CT, 4/9/02

    "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating."


    New York, NY 4/23/02

    "For a century and a half now, America and Japan
    have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times (Dude, it's
    been like 60 years)."

    Tokyo 2/18/02

    "I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate
    what I believe and what I believe

    Independant, Shinto, Lesbian, and Proud!
    image

  • NierroNierro Member UncommonPosts: 1,755
    Ya, like those. Except there are more. 


    image
  • LilithIshtarLilithIshtar Member Posts: 667

    Originally posted by Nierro
    Ya, like those. Except there are more. 
    I know. I'd find them but like I said, being lazy. ;D


    Independant, Shinto, Lesbian, and Proud!
    image

  • layzwombatlayzwombat Member Posts: 17

    Not everyone has the privilege of mommy and daddy paying for college… and student loans can be very daunting... No one wants 100k debt upon graduation. 

     

    I think they should take a new poll of the soldiers who put in their time and are now college graduates.  I would bet it is much, much higher than that.  Being smart and having college degrees aren’t always opposites (sometimes they are though).

     

    Also, if you already have your degree why would you want to join then?? They don’t pay better and risks of the job are higher.  Look at Pat Tillman – millionaire football player who lost his life in Iraq.  He certainly wasn’t there to get funding for college… but many people are.  Anyway… I have a roommate in med school, and he is looking at joining the army when he finishes – I can’t say I would do the same.

     

    So yes, Sen. Kerry is wrong.

  • NierroNierro Member UncommonPosts: 1,755
    So do you say "mommy and daddy" to belittle people who get help paying for college from their parents?


    image
  • AckbarAckbar Member UncommonPosts: 927
    Its clear neither bush nor kerry are fit for being president. God i hope the dems find a decent presidential candidate.


    ----ITS A TRAP!!!----

  • tetsultetsul Member Posts: 1,020

    Ok I got to ask.

    Who the hell cares what Kerry says? Democrats don't even care anymore, he's not their shot at presidency (and if they're smart, he won't be again) Is his seat up for election in a week?

  • bhagamubhagamu Member Posts: 425
    There's a way to go about saying what John Kerry meant, but my opinion is:

    John Kerry's situation needs to be handled.

    I'll leave that statement as enigmatic and authoritative. Anyway, on to better congressmen.

    www.draftgore.com
    Gore '08

  • lardmouthlardmouth Member Posts: 701

    I predict this will have a big effect on the elections.

  • 8hammer88hammer8 Member Posts: 1,812



    Originally posted by modjoe86
    4.7% of US troops have a Bachelor's degree...in what way was Kerry wrong?
    I mean, he shouldn't have said it, but I can't really say he's completely wrong.



    QFT. 

    Just because someone may not like what is being said does not make it false.  There is obviously a direct correlation between education and a persons desire/need to join the military.  However, you have to also understand that a school taught education does not necessarily mean you are more intelligent. 

    I know people that went into the military to pay for their schooling, so I think that the numbers are slightly skewed.  I think most people given the choice between a scholarship to college and going into the military currently are going to choose college.  Self-preservation is high up on a lot of people's lists of things to consider about their future.

    I just knew Outfctrl was going to bring this up as soon as I heard it on the radio today...and yep, like white on rice he was all over it.image

    "It is easier to be cruel than wise. The road to wisdom is long and difficult... so most people just turn out to be assholes" Feng (Christopher Walken)

  • bhagamubhagamu Member Posts: 425



    Originally posted by lardmouth

    I predict this will have a big effect on the elections.



    I don't think so, but that's because I'm pretty sure that all of the "polling" going on is false. The Republican party has a firm hold on this country, and I'm predicting that they will acutally gain seats in both Houses. Such a statement is radical to say, and I don't have perfect evidence to back this up.

    Anyway, I thought that the Repubs would "win" even before the Kerry comment. Post-Kerryflaming guarantees their victory.

    Nice job Kerry, screwing it up for us again.

    Edit: I acutally haven't heard this entire speech, so if Kerry was actually trying to comment on the inadequate education system and sucked at it, I don't know.

    www.draftgore.com
    Gore '08

  • daeandordaeandor Member UncommonPosts: 2,695
    I'm just waiting for the leftist pundits tomorrow to be touting kerry's response as the greatest thing since Clinton's interview where he reverse bashed that Fox guy.

    In the end though, it is merely evidence of the incredible disdain Democrats have for anyone who does not agree with their ideas or policy. "If you aren't with us, you are too uneducated and stupid to understand our genius."  Or, you can just go with Kerry's version, "you are stupid."  Always a great argument, I know it works well on these forums for the left and right alike.

    What is incredible about this election season is that both parties feel that the other is on the run from the other.  Of course, they are wrong.  I just wish there was a credible independant / 3rd party candidate appearing for 2008 and maybe we, "the People," could give the parties a shock.



  • bhagamubhagamu Member Posts: 425
    I think that it's very possible that we could fix our own parties rather than having to throw them away. We just need to think about how to do it.

    www.draftgore.com
    Gore '08

  • outfctrloutfctrl Member UncommonPosts: 3,619
     

    "The senator’s suggestion is insulting and shameful," Bush said. "The U.S. military men and women . . . they are plenty smart, and plenty brave, and the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology."

     His statement called Republicans "assorted right-wing nut jobs."

    And at a hastily arranged news conference in Seattle, Kerry said: "I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy."

    Kerry said the comment in question was "a botched joke about the president and the president's people, not about the troops ...... image                 and they know that's what I was talking about."

    image

  • AelfinnAelfinn Member Posts: 3,857

    Damn, I really do hope the Democrats pick Kerry to run for pres now, a guaranteed loss for them is better by far in my opinion than them for example picking Mrs. bitc... excuse me, Clinton and possibly winning with her, for both parties.

    No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
    Hemingway

  • qotsaqotsa Member UncommonPosts: 835
    Not that I like Kerry, because I really don't. But he could have been talking about Bush or his henchmen. Is there more that he said that the press may be cutting out? Did he specifically say our troops are r-tards? If he really did mean our troops, it's too bad. As much as I dislike Bush, it's not our troops fault where they go serve.

    Impact on the upcoming elections? I doubt it very much. People are more than likely pretty set in what they are voting for. The actual being somewhere we don't need to be, killing our troops off for oil will have a bigger impact than a comment made from nobody special, ie John Kerry.



  • DraenorDraenor Member UncommonPosts: 7,918



    Originally posted by LilithIshtar
    Lmao, go Kerry go! XD



    I don't think that I have ever agreed with anything that you have said...and your post really sums up our differences quite nicely.  Grats on being extremely insensitive and insulting, but it's okay, because only Bush says stupid things.

    I could watch the news for 1 hour and come up with a plethora of quotes from people who mis-spoke and then bring them here and make it seem like these people are fools.  I'm not saying that Bush is a great public speaker, he is far from it.  But the fact is, very few people are good public speakers, most people stammer and stutter while they try to talk to a crowd, so how about you try and do it for 6 years, while you get hounded by a liberal press every step of the way?  How about you speak in front of the nation for 6 years and try to come away without ever mis-speaking?

    I myself have a great talent for speaking in front of large groups, does it mean that I never screw up?  Of course not...

    But really, all of the stuff about Bush is beside the point, but it just goes to show you that you liberals will take jabs at Bush every chance that you get...even if the subject is actually the idiotic remarks of someone that you people thought was good enough to be the president of our country.

    Your argument is like a two legged dog with an eating disorder...weak and unbalanced.

  • RazorbackRazorback Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 5,253

    Excuse my ignorance on this one..

    Is Hillary actually running ?

    +-+-+-+-+-+
    "MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
    http://purepwnage.com
    image
    -+-+-+-+-+-+
    "Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon

  • bhagamubhagamu Member Posts: 425



    Originally posted by Draenor



    Originally posted by LilithIshtar
    Lmao, go Kerry go! XD


    But really, all of the stuff about Bush is beside the point, but it just goes to show you that you liberals will take jabs at Bush every chance that you get...even if the subject is actually the idiotic remarks of someone that you people thought was good enough to be the president of our country.



    Because all liberals definitely thought Kerry was the best... whatever.

    www.draftgore.com
    Gore '08

  • PyscoJuggaloPyscoJuggalo Member UncommonPosts: 1,114

    Originally posted by qotsa
    Not that I like Kerry, because I really don't. But he could have been talking about Bush or his henchmen. Is there more that he said that the press may be cutting out? Did he specifically say our troops are r-tards? If he really did mean our troops, it's too bad. As much as I dislike Bush, it's not our troops fault where they go serve.




    I wondered myself because I was thinking "Kerry is nothing but a political whore, he knows better then to say shit like that???  Hmmm....  Better do checking!"

    Then I found this from Yahoo News:

    The war of words, tough even for this hard-fought campaign season, came
    after Kerry told a group of California students on Monday that those
    unable to navigate the country's education system "get stuck in Iraq"


    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061101/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_kerry


    Getting stuck in Iraq and being called stupid are two different things.  And was what Kerry was saying all that wrong?  I remember growing up, the option for those who were not gifted or connected and that wanted to stay our of prison, was joining the millitary or the police.










    image
    --When you resubscribe to SWG, an 18 yearold Stripper finds Jesus, gives up stripping, and moves with a rolex reverend to Hawaii.
    --In MMORPG's l007 is the opiate of the masses.
    --The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence!
    --CCP could cut off an Eve player's fun bits, and that player would say that it was good CCP did that.

  • lardmouthlardmouth Member Posts: 701

    "You know, education, if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you -- you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq. "

    Yeah, because our troops didn't want to make an effort to be smart.  That's why they joined.  That, and they didn't do homework , nor study hard.  It  has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to volunteer for the armed forces.

Sign In or Register to comment.