John Kerrys comments on Education

I believe what he said was cruel, and ingornant. In case you havent heard.

" If you dont get educated, you end up in Iraq."

First off, what do You think that means. I think hes insulting those who dont like school, and the soldiers over there.

What do you Think?

He probably meant: If you don't go to college and get a good education, so you can then get a successful carreer, then you may not have many options other than going to war. People think he's calling American soldiers stupid, and I think that highly un-likely. Just my opinion.

He probably meant: If you don't go to college and get a good education, so you can then get a successful carreer, then you may not have many options other than going to war. People think he's calling American soldiers stupid, and I think that highly un-likely. Just my opinion.

I Agree, he wasnt careful about what he said, but i believe that was much closer to what he meant. I cant see why people can really get terribly offended by this because there is a small amount of truth in what he said.

I think hes insulting those who dont like school, and the soldiers over there.

No, i dont think that was what he was trying to do. He's trying to inform the american public of the situation, as he percieves it. He wouldn't just blatantly insult groups of people in public. I think some people may have taken what he said the wrong way.

It was a stupid thing to say and he may have hurt his party. However, I truly doubt he meant to criticize the military. He is a veteran himself. He has (allegedly--haven't acutally researched it) sponsered several acts of legislation in support of veterans.

It was a botched joke. He meant to say:

"If you dont get educated, you end up [getting us] in Iraq."

It was intended to be a slam on the president, not on the military.

This seems strange, but I agree with both of you.

@BlueFox: Yes, that comment is an insult to those who don't like school, and even more to those in Iraq right now.

@<ans>: Kerry probably didn't mean that American soldiers are stupid, so I agree. However, he could have put it in a better cohice of words.

The way it is with politicians and their popularity scales is they go up one level, then down a level, then back up, back down, and so on. My point is if Kerry didn't want to have the country against him (with the addition of the troops in Iraq), he should've said it in a different way.

This political commic pretty much sums up my view, but to look professional I'll explain.

What Kerry is basically saying is that all dropouts are going to serve in the army and he presents in a negetaive fashion like the Army is made up of complete morons, therefore disrespecting an army that is fighting for his freedom to say such ignorance. He bit the hand that fed him and I don't think he'll be running for '08, even with support of Iraq slumping.

Originally Posted by BlueFox

First off, what do You think that means. I think hes insulting those who dont like school, and the soldiers over there.

...I doubt very much that people would get worked up over him saying that people who don't go to school are stupid.

As for the whole soldier angle, maybe. Without looking at the context it seems to me to be closer to an attack on Bush then on the American military.

There is truth in what he said, to an extent.
Many people who dont get an education are likely to have a lower income because many of them will be working in jobs that have a lower pay due to their lack of skills. Many of these people saw the army and the iraq war as a good way to serve their country and earn some money. So they sign up.
Thats what i think he means. He is not delebiratly insulting the army or anyone else, and i think some people are only hearing the bad side of what he said. But i can agree that he wasnt that clever in the way he said it, and he could have offended a few groups that are a bit... sensitive.

Many people choose to go into the military so that they can pay for college because their families simply can't pay for all the hefty bills. It's certainly not shameful to serve your country and make money to educate yourself at the same time.

Now I've never really liked Kerry, but what he said about our soldiers certainly doesn't help...

Hmm.

Kerry jokingly insults Bush.
Bush and his gang take it out of context to change the meaning (the meaning is quite clear if you consider the context).
Kerry makes a public apology for his statement anyway.

And we're supposed to criticize Kerry?

I would have thought the meaning would be pretty obvious. Why would Kerry insult the army, which he proudly served in? Do you think Kerry would have had any chance at all of winning the last election if he hadn't served in the military? Obviously not. So are we going to think rationally, or are we going to look for whatever reason we can find to dislike the people who disagree with us?

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

Kerry jokingly insults Bush.
Bush and his gang take it out of context to change the meaning (the meaning is quite clear if you consider the context).
Kerry makes a public apology for his statement anyway.

And we're supposed to criticize Kerry?

Yes, yes we are. Heck, he refused to apologize before he blew his top about it. The apology came the next day.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

"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."

That was not a joke about Bush. It was made quite clear that what he said was that if you get a good education, you won't "get stuck in Iraq". It had very little to do with Bush, unless he was trying to insult Bush's education. The iffy thing in there is figuring out whether or not he meant "stuck" as in politically (The Bush Administration) or physically (the soldiers). The comments about education, and considering he was speaking to young, "soldier-age" students makes it look like the latter.

I would have thought the meaning would be pretty obvious. Why would Kerry insult the army, which he proudly served in?

See, I'm one of those who doesn't think he "proudly" served. Far as I know, he did all he could to get out of Vietnam.

Hmm.

Kerry jokingly insults Bush.
Bush and his gang take it out of context to change the meaning (the meaning is quite clear if you consider the context).
Kerry makes a public apology for his statement anyway.

And we're supposed to criticize Kerry?

I would have thought the meaning would be pretty obvious. Why would Kerry insult the army, which he proudly served in? Do you think Kerry would have had any chance at all of winning the last election if he hadn't served in the military? Obviously not. So are we going to think rationally, or are we going to look for whatever reason we can find to dislike the people who disagree with us?

Exactly, finally someone seems to be making a bit more sense. I agree with you in the fact that a lot of people here just dont like kerry. I had no idea it was taken out of context. thank you.

Originally Posted by KnightWing

Yes, yes we are. Heck, he refused to apologize before he blew his top about it. The apology came the next day.

I'm not quite sure what you mean here.

That was not a joke about Bush. It was made quite clear that what he said was that if you get a good education, you won't "get stuck in Iraq". It had very little to do with Bush, unless he was trying to insult Bush's education. The iffy thing in there is figuring out whether or not he meant "stuck" as in politically (The Bush Administration) or physically (the soldiers). The comments about education, and considering he was speaking to young, "soldier-age" students makes it look like the latter.

You're a perfect example of what I just explained. You're completely ignoring the context.

Here is the context, according to this article:

Sen. Kerry, as you well know, spoke at a college in Southern California. With bitter humor he told the students that he had been in Texas the day before, that President Bush used to live in that state, but that now he lives in the state of denial.
He said the trip had reminded him about the value of education — that “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.”

Still don't think he's talking about Bush? Let's try looking at it with the sentence that people seem to conveniently leave out:

“Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.”

When I say "read the context" I don't mean "read the quote again."

Originally Posted by Drew

See, I'm one of those who doesn't think he "proudly" served. Far as I know, he did all he could to get out of Vietnam.

What difference does it make? I couldn't care less if he honestly served proudly or not, and I think it's sad that people need to be in the army to be president.

What actually matters here is that Kerry uses it as support for his campaign, and making a comment like that would quite obviously shatter this support.

If you don't think Kerry was honest about his time in the army, then good for you. But that's completely superfluous to his comment.

Originally Posted by BlueFox

I believe what he said was cruel, and ingornant. In case you havent heard.

" If you dont get educated, you end up in Iraq."

First off, what do You think that means. I think hes insulting those who dont like school, and the soldiers over there.

What do you Think?

Well I think he might have just meant that if education is not right for you, there is the great oportunity that is the Army. Also I don't know much about the politics of US and A but perhaps John Kerry is in oposition of Bush and the War and Iraq and could be commenting on how if your not educated, you are looked down upon and sent off to die.

From that comment alone I like Bush Better then Kerry. Loved the comic, and he looks like that too. I think He was talking about the troops, because No one else from the us is over there really. Escept news crews etc.

Oh lord... I thought that we'd be beyond this, but I guess this place has finally caught up with current events (I notice the ISB usually takes about a week to respond to an issue that appears).



The commentary is about Kerry making fun of Bush, but during all the cheering and yelling of the end of his speech, his words got a little mixed up. See, like others have keenly pointed out, Kerry's speech was to an audience of college kids, and the small quote we are arguing about comes only from the end when, to a cheering crowd, he starts to yell random jokes about Bush and the Republicans. Out of the many jokes he said, one ended up as a misfire.

Originally Posted by Drew™

See, I'm one of those who doesn't think he "proudly" served. Far as I know, he did all he could to get out of Vietnam.

Care to expound on that thought? Don't tell me this is another 'I believe the Swift Boat Veterans blindly!' thing...

By all standards, the man has a distinguished military career and tour. His demeanor over the war is, in fact, hardly any different from many other Vietnam veterans.

Originally Posted by BlueFox

From that comment alone I like Bush Better then Kerry. Loved the comic, and he looks like that too. I think He was talking about the troops, because No one else from the us is over there really. Escept news crews etc.

...Read the whole quote in context. It is blindingly obvious that he's joking about Bush, heck, I even guessed as much without the full context. It. Is. That. Obvious.

Originally Posted by BlueFox

From that comment alone I like Bush Better then Kerry. Loved the comic, and he looks like that too. I think He was talking about the troops, because No one else from the us is over there really. Escept news crews etc.

Thats just about the most ignorant thing I've read on the internet.

I dont think he is Joking. Him and Bush arent exactly friends. They both disagree on all topics, and even dont agree with choice of wives.