Why'd He Do It?

Good afternoon,

Yes, he's baaaack!

John Kerry lost himself recently and believed he was Jim Carey for a second, resulting in an untimely "botched joke" when he told a group of college students "if you study hard you can do well, if not you get stuck in Iraq". His explanation was that he had left off the punch line of "just ask President Bush".

Ok, I'm not crazy enough to believe he intended to insult the men and women of our nation's military who serve bravely each and every day. John Kerry himself is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. I do believe it was nothing more than an attempt at being funny by an unfunny man. C'mon let's face it, the man is not funny, and that's ok, not everyone is.

When John Kerry secured the nomination for the 2004 Presidential election, I first thought "well, he wasn't my first choice", but I lived with it and watched intently in the days leading up to the election. Whew, the guy was dry, so dry I wondered if he was made of straw. Yep, that dry. Remember the voice? Tough to stick with in my support, but shoot, what was my alternative? No way was I goin there.

Around the time of the election, I saw film footage of the scene pictured above, and thought "couldn't someone have loaned the guy a respectable sized sailboat?" Who wants to see the man who might be the president one day with some sorta contraption strapped to his ass just days before the election? Who let him do this, and all of the other "I'm still strong and young at heart" photo ops he was doing? Really, the only thing we didn't see him doing was skateboarding a half-pipe. Geez.

But about this latest mistake, why'd he do it? Just why? Was it just a need for the spotlight? Was it a belief that he'd show 'em all how it's done? Was he just trying to be charming? Or was there a secret handshake deal? Ok, I don't really believe the secret handshake deal theory, I'll just call the mention of it a botched joke, but now I see how easily it can happen. We'll never know the reason why this happened, but I hope the Democrats can contain the Republican driven attempt to shift attention away from the issues they're doing so poorly with.

It's a shame, it truly is.

Now the Republicans can attempt to show themselves as the party who respects the soldiers, even though they were the ones who sent them to fight in a country under false pretenses, costing the lives of 3000 of our bravest, they were the party of "Bring it On!", they were the party of "Mission Accomplished" when little was actually accomplished, the hardest of times were yet to come, they were the party of "stay the course", even when that course seems to be leading us to a place we don't want to be. So far, their policies, actions, and inactions have resulted in the deaths of more Americans than were lost to the 9-11 tragedy. Yes, I said it, and it's sadly true, I say it with a heavy heart.

From what I've noticed, the Dems are fractured on this silliest of issues, some siding with their opposition in their interpretation of what happened, others using it as an opportunity to spring forward in political position for the next presidential race of 2008. Why did it take so little to get the Democratic Party off point? At a time when their voices should be united in unison about the need for change, some are sounding scarily like the people they're running against. Get it together, sooner not later, now if possible!

In closing, I want to say I'm not anti-Kerry, I'm also not one of those who would count him out because of this incident of his own creation. Personally, I feel sorry for the guy, if it was indeed just a mis-spoken word, then I can only imagine how he must feel today, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But I believe John Kerry needs to work on himself to re-learn how to be one of the regular people again, what it is we care about, how it is we speak, and how it is to just relax and be himself. Too often these career politicians exist in a bubble world for so long, that they cease to be just a regular person taking part in a government "of, by, and for the people", a place where even the language is by far different from how we speak. He has some good things he can still say, he has a role in Democratic Party politics, and on the occassion when I've heard him relax and just talk, he makes some good points, it's when he gets back into that voice projecting Senate floor speak tone that he loses so much.. If he would conduct himself as just a classy guy who speaks the truth in real sentences, he'll regain respect. I hope he can do it. If I could say anything to him, I would say "don't take anything I said personally, it wasn't intended as an attack but was intended to show how the political advice he's taking from someone just isn't working nor is it playing well with the average man on the street. Be smart, do the right thing, speak to the people of this great nation in a way that shows you respect them enough to just level with them and give them the straight truth, and you'll find people will listen and cheer again."

Why am I still shaking my head after I've attempted to wrap up this matter and put it into perspective in a way that makes sense to me? Sheesh, does anyone else find politics in our country to be frustrating?

To all, please remember to vote on November 7th, it's very important.