We interrupt this Oxford blogging for something more political.
I'm a little late to the game---I only just found out about Kerry's blundered joke at dinner tonight.
So, here are my comments:
First, Kerry should not need to apologize to the public or the troops for what he said. Assuming it was truly a slip (which I am inclined to believe), then it's fine that he chose to apologize, but other people demanding an apology is ridiculous. Also, the version of the statement he actually made is true. One is more lilely to end up in a war zone if one is not educated than if one is. People may not like to hear that, but there is a positive correlation. (There are admittedly people who choose to go.) It really drives me batty how people just automatically piss on anybody who tells them something they don't want to hear. Forget whether it's true; you just aren't allowed to say things people don't want to hear.
Second, it really annoys me (though it's unsurprising) that the Republicans have used this to divert attention away from real issues. Well, I took only two licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, so that must mean that I'm cheating. Why don't we talk about that in our public campaigns?
Third, Kerry is being dumb politically or he doesn't care that he's hurting his party (or perhaps his own political aspirations). He knows that the politicians and the public are going to act this way, so although I have no problems with his words/actions (as others do), it seems to me that he ought to realize how people will react and that he's not helping his cause as a result of that reality.
I don't follow your last paragraph. The remark as spoken was mis-stated; had he intended to phrase it that way, your criticism would be correct. I don't see how what he intended to say (poorly educated people who didn't study got the US into Iraq) is in any way bad for Kerry or Democrats in general.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've seen of this "scandal" it has done no harm to Democrats anyway, and may well have helped a bit by keeping the media focus on Iraq. It's not like anyone actually believes Kerry was "insulting the troops" - even Chris Matthews and Dick Armey found the botched joke explanation to be obviously correct. Though if this scares Kerry away from the '08 field, that's A-OK with me.
Personally I found it mildly helpful in judging two Senate candidates. I don't like Senator-elect Casey (PA) very much, but he joined Kerry in vigorously attacking Republicans over their false outrage, so kudos to him. In contrast, Ford (TN), who I also don't like, made clear that he's really a member of the Connecticut for Lieberman party, not the Democrats. :-) Still, better CfL than R...
I totally agree on points 1 and 2, btw. The way Rs unleash their flying monkeys and "demand apologies" really incenses me. I'm still furious over how Senator Durbin was treated a couple years back, just because he made the perfectly reasonable remark that torture gulags are things we associate with the evil authoritarian regimes America fought.
I'm not sure how coherently I made my point. I managed to get the flu (which blasted me starting last night) and I've now been out of it for a little while.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that anything that people will construe as unpatriotic (and it seems to me that the many idiots we have out there certainly do that) hurts one's political position in this country. I think the masses do think Kerry was insulting the troops, and the Republicans are very annoyingly trying to spin things that way. I think there is the potential to lose votes they might otherwise get.
I should go sick Margaret Thatcher on these people. (She's the most famous alum of Somerville [well, maybe one could argue Indira Ghandi] -- where I'll be a Tutor -- although I found the whole story I heard yesterday about both the Oxford faculty and the Somerville people voting against giving her an honorary doctorate to be highly amusing.)
I think one of the many enormous flaws in modern day US politics is the need to speak on eggshells (if I may egregiously mix metaphors). We've spent the last four years in a bizarro world where criticizing Dear Leader and/or saying truthful things (or making accurate predictions from factual data and historical experience) is equated with treason. That's pretty fucked up! The Republicans in their present form will construe *anything* as "unpatriotic", no matter how implausible the accusation. Which I guess is your point - even the intended version of Kerry's remark would have been fodder for hypocritical false outrage, though outrage over criticism of Bush no longer plays well to the general public. My impression is that this crap (and it's close cousin, the flagrant fear-mongering) is finally wearing off. I strongly suspect that the post-election polls will include a question about whether Kerry's botched joke affected anyone's vote, so we'll see how seriously voters are taking this sideshow.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I thought Thatcher already had a real doctorate; apparently not. I approve of her work on ice cream! :-) Man, she's a breath of fresh air. A conservative who's not batshit insane - if only we could replace the Republicans with Thatcher clones. I still wouldn't vote for 'em, but at least they'd be a party one could respectfully disagree with.
Who did you want to sick Thatcher on, and why? I think that got lost in the flu... Get well soon!
Yeah, things are definitely quite bad in this respect. I value bluntness way to much to even consider getting into any careers like this.
ReplyDeleteThatcher's undergrad degree is in chemistry. I don't think she has a real doctorate but Oxford has a tradition of honoring alums who become Prime Ministers with honorary ones. The reason for the intentional snub (and she's reportedly still extremely pissed) was her cuts on educational spending. I saw the ice cream thing briefly. Pretty cool. I was thinking of sicking her on Republicans generically.