The Kerry Reflex

Medals or Ribbons? SUV or hybrid? Foreign car or domestic? Vietnam, good or bad? Who cares? What John Kerry’s answers are to any of these questions aren’t his main problem; it’s how he answers. Yes, boys and girls, 'how' matters just as much as ‘what,’ often more.

My observation: instead of answering a given question truthfully and taking the accolades or lumps for that answer, John Kerry attempts to spot-calculate which answer will accrue to him the most votes. He takes a mental poll for everything. So when he gets asked stupid, insignificant crap regarding his/somebody else’s medals/ribbons,* his mental poll reflex sends out conflicting information at any given time. Why? Times change, and his answers, his truth, must change with them.

Doesn’t the idea of having a guy like that as president—especially during wartime—just give you a warm fuzzy feeling? Me neither. Little things, big things, you know.

“You don’t have to fall in love. You just have to fall in line.”
--attributed to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) regarding Senator Kerry in this very fiskable article by Tina Brown

All’s fair in war and getting rid of Bush, I guess. Brrrrr.

What makes my blood run even colder is the fact that many people, many voters have no problem with a person who can’t even tell the straight unweasel-worded truth about his car. People have become used to those who create their own "truths." I haven't. I keep many miles between me and those who believe their own lies, even if I'm related to them. (Okay, especially if I'm related to them.)

Of course, we've had such people in the White House before and the republic survived. But if such a blatant liar about stupid stuff has been in the Oval Office, I'll have to do my research because I don't know about it. (And no. The president's WMD issue isn't a lie. It is a mistake. Perhaps.)

(See John Donovan's well-taken reasons for not trusting John Kerry. It's one of the big things: abandoning those he chose to lead.)

*Some ribbons have corresponding medals, some do not.

Comments

[ic]

"...abandoning those he chose to lead." He might have abandoned his "band of brothers", but he hadn't chosen to lead them. He asked for a deferment to spend a year studying in France, but was denied.

[Indigo]

"Clinton without the charisma" is a cliche by now, but so true. Too many politicians -- both parties -- earn the Southern truism about big liars: "He loves to lie so good, he'll lie when the truth would help him."

[Noah]

"But if such a blatant liar about stupid stuff has been in the Oval Office, I'll have to do my research because I don't know about it."

What about Bill "I did NOT have sexual relations with that woman" Clinton?

P.S. Love your blog!

[Fausta]

It was Clinton's lies (and a little help from Christopher Hitchens) that turned me against him.
As to WMDs, the dead-tree press seems to have ignored this

[baldilocks]

Bill Clinton was better at keeping his lies straight. But they were exposed in the end, nonetheless. He also wouldn't bother to lie about his (lack of) military service. He's smart enough to keep his yap shut about it.

Bill Clinton, however, was also part of turning me away from the Democrats, as I've documented on this blog.

[John Anderson]

I do wonder how many people hear "ribbon" and think he took the ribbon from the actual medals (e.g. for hanging around the neck), big deal, not realizing what is meant is the "ribbon" pin(s) worn on the chest.

[Ara Rubyan]

Make you a deal: you worry about Kerry's lies about his cars; I'll worry about Bush's lies about the war.

[baldilocks]

Use the un-redefined meaning of 'lie,' Ara--meaning 'to knowingly perpetrate a falsehood'--and you have a deal.

[baldilocks]

Recall, Ara (if you've read this blog past the first page), that I despise people who twist meanings and concepts to suit their own purposes. If you can argue without doing that, have at it. Otherwise, save your snark for some other blog and have a nice life.