White House criticizes Kerry's "profanity" (and Kerry's response)

[JI7]

"John Kerry used profane language to assess President Bush's Iraq policy, and Bush's chief of staff said Sunday the Democratic presidential candidate was out of line.

That's beneath John Kerry," the president's chief of staff, Andrew Card, said on CNN's "Late Edition."

"I'm very disappointed that he would use that kind of language," Card said. "I'm hoping that he's apologizing at least to himself, because that's not the John Kerry that I know."

The Kerry campaign said the Massachusetts senator had no regrets.

"John Kerry saw combat up close, and he doesn't mince words when it comes to politicians who put ideological recklessness ahead of American troops," said spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. "I think the American people would rather Card and the rest of the White House staff spend more time on fixing Bush's flawed policy in Iraq than on Sen. Kerry's language."

On the 62nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Kerry laid a wreath in remembrance at the Navy base in Coronado, Calif., where he trained before shipping out to Vietnam, where he was wounded and was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star with combat V. Kerry, a swift boat commander in the war, was joined by his daughter, Vanessa, and two crew mates who served with him in Southeast Asia."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apelection_story.asp?category=1131&slug=Democrats%202004

[Alex146]

1. So did Kerry plan this?

or was it a spur of the moment thing?

[JI7]

6. not planned but

it wasn't planned since it resulted from a question asked during an interview. but i think he knew what he was about to say when he did say it.

[Philostopher]

17. Nobody who's been around as long as Kerry

Does anything during a campaign that's 'spur of the moment.' He's a seasoned campaigner -- it was no impetuous decision, although that may have been the effect he was aiming for.

He said it in a Rolling Stone interview. I suppose I could be wrong, but personally, I think he knew exactly what he was doing. Good for him, if I'm right -- and even better if people in the Bush Administration are willing to give him free column-inches of coverage in the news because he chose to say the word 'fuck' in a Rolling Stone interview that's aimed at people 18-30, mostly male, who often don't bother to register or vote.

I doubt very much that he cares whether Bush likes it or not. That likely wasn't Kerry's main concern. He's not my number one guy, but I have to say, I think he knew exactly what the impact of it would be, or at least he thought he knew, and I think it probably will (ultimately, if not in the short run) prove to have been a pretty smart move. If he ends up being the one who gets the nomination, it will make me less wary about him, to know he has that kind of savvy and ability to revive a flagging, temporarily chaotic campaign.

I think this is the theory behind it -- older, more seasoned Dem voters will very likely rally around the candidate who gets the nomination before November, even if they don't like him initially. It's the undecided voters you have to wake up -- or even registered non-voters or non-registered potential voters. It's a wake-up call for people that Kerry's not going to make excuses about the IWR, but at the same time he's letting potential voters know he's not at all happy with what Bush chose to do with it. This is something he needed to clarify, and yeah -- using a vulgar term will turn off a certain number of people, at least temporarily. But I don't think Kerry thought people who'd be offended that he used one vulgar word once, in an interview published in a rock and roll and pop culture magazine aimed at young adults, were likely to vote for him, anyway.

Finally, I don't think he'll say anything that dramatic again. I think he's 'pissed in his corner' on the issue, raised his profile with the right potential voters, and that in the future he'll continue to woo as many voters across the spectrum as he can. But this may well have been a very good move to tickle the chins of people who might not have cared or bothered to register otherwise, and anybody who can get them to pay attention has my full encouragement.

[xultar]

2. Puhleez....Like Chimpy face hasn't said the "F" word. Puhleez n/t

[oasis]

IIRC, Chimpy unloaded a ton of profanity on CNN's Al Hunt in public (n/t)

[ninkasi]

3. I guess he thinks use of that particular word...

is the exclusive property of his boss, as in "F... Saddam, we're taking him out."

The Bush gang better think twice before getting on that particular high horse, considering the things they've said.

[thebigidea]

4. I wonder who the John Kerry that Andy Card knows is...

[maddezmom]

5. excellent response.

<<< "I think the American people would rather Card and the rest of the White House staff spend more time on fixing Bush's flawed policy in Iraq than on Sen. Kerry's language.">>>

that's the damn truth...

[JI7]

11. yeah, it's great

because it puts the focus back on the real important issue which is bush's handling or iraq (among many other things) rather than some word used to describe it.

[Woodstock]

7. That's what we need to pull us all together

Hopefully they will keep this up - it will certainly bring DU together (I hope.) It would be good to see us all rally around our candidates, first choice or not, in defense against the Bush Crime Family's attacks.

Right on, Kerry!

[Cocoa]

8. Kerry knows fubar first hand

unlike Bush, who just causes it.

[Cappurr]

9. I saw that interview...

and I nearly fell off the sofa laughing when Card complained about Kerry's language. These guys will deflect the issues every time. Kerry said "fuck" in an interview. Big deal. Does anyone remember when Bush was overheard calling a New York Times editor a "major league asshole" during the campaign? Dems didn't criticize his language.....just his foolishness in talking privately into a live mike. :eyes:

[KayLaw]

10. Gosh, Golly, Gee

I wonder if poor Card read the interview in which Bush , when asked what he and his father discussed other than politics, said, well- rather than saying women- used the P word.

[maddezmom]

12. What?

please explain...I need a good laugh. :)

[JI7]

19. this is true, no joke

some years back. i think during his dads run for president either in 88 or 92 bush was asked at the republican convention i believe, what he talks about with his dad when they aren't discussing politics. and bush responded by saying "pussy".

[maddezmom]

26. he was still drinking then right? what a boob. n/t

[booksenkatz]

13. Such puritanical thinking

The rest of the world must be laughing its ass off at all the fuss being made over a 4-letter word while our entire country is falling down a rat hole. We're such Puritans in this country! We have no trouble bombing children, we have no trouble sending our own children off to be slaughtered as cannon fodder, we have have no trouble denying our citizens proper medication, health care or schools, we have no trouble putting the next 20 generations of our offspring into eternal debt so that the oil men can fatten their pockets, we have no trouble pumping mercury into the air and arsenic into our drinking water supply: BUT GOD FORBID someone should use the F-word in conversation! That'll really offend our sensibilities!

I don't know what color the sky is in everyone else's world, up here where I live it happens to be blue. I'm so sick of the distorted and backwards values of my countrymen and women.

BTW, I'm not defending Kerry, he is not my first choice in the primaries. I just cannot believe our lack of focus on the issues. Looks like 2004 is going to be every bit as Kafka-esque as 2000 was. We'll be talking about pancake makeup colors for the debates instead of the cliff we're about to drive over.

[laruemtt]

32. patsified, i really wish

you'd send your post in as an editorial or at least a letter to the editor to the paper(s). you said everything i've been feeling about this whole charade but much more eloquently and able to stir / wake up more people than anything i could have written - which would have ended up using the F word every other word, this whole situation angers me so much!

[sandnsea]

14. What other word fits?

None that I can think of. Sometimes that word is the only word that really hits the target. The lies, the arrogant "diplomacy, the alientation of allies, the disastrous military plan... Bush fucked up and that's the only way to say it.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. Kerry at least new the mike was on!

Would be fun to see Clymer write an article about this. Besides, sometimes FUCKED UP communicates more accurately.

[Forkboy]

16. Sometimes the truth hurts

[amazona]

18. who the eff cares what andrew card thinks ?

I hope Kerry continues to tell it like it is, and if there is a little sailor's salt in there for spice, so be it!

[in_cog_ni_to]

20. Should we all send the WH

copies of the book "The Bush Dyslexicon..Observations on a National Disorder" by Mark Crispin Miller? I think their memory needs to be refreshed on what kind of language the fuhrer uses. :eyes: Give me a damn break.

[MIMStigator]

21. Kerry's response should have been "who the fuck cares"

nt

[eileen_d]

22. yeah, or "like i give a fuck"

[kskiska]

23. In addition to *'s use of that word (previously documented)

it seems to me they should be quite used to hearing that sort of language from their very own Karl Rove. Anybody remember the account of Karl angrily shouting, "We'll f**k him like he's never been f**ked before," just prior to greeting a guest who had been waiting outside Karl's White House office?

I doubt they're shocked.

[DeepModem Mom]

25. I was remembering Karl, too -- here's the documentation:

Eventually I met with Rove. I arrived at his office a few minutes early, just in time to witness the Rove treatment, which, like LBJ's famous browbeating style, is becoming legend but is seldom reported…. I squeezed into a chair near the open door to Rove's modest chamber, my back against his doorframe.
Inside, Rove was talking to an aide about some political stratagem in some state that had gone awry and a political operative who had displeased him. I paid it no mind and reviewed a jotted list of questions I hoped to ask. But after a moment, it was like ignoring a tornado flinging parked cars. "We will fuck him. Do you hear me? We will fuck him. We will ruin him. Like no one has ever fucked him!"

http://www.tnr.com/etc.mhtml?pid=129

[citizen snips]

24. Kerry said nothing wrong.

Kerry was right when he said that. He was in combat Bush was not Kerry hit the nail on the head. Finally someone got Bush's attention on how bad he is doing. I commed Kerry for defending himself and I hope he has no regrets.

[Walt Starr]

27. Bush fucked up in Iraq

Kerry just told it the way it is.

[dean4america]

28. for once i agree with Kerry

as well as those up-thread who said that Kerry's response should have been the equivalent of "Go eff yourself" or "eff off" --

Just the same, I'd love to see Dean (or one of the other candidates) break out a "bullshit" in response to some asinine comment by Shrub in the debate.

[LizW]

29. "Beneath" John Kerry, but apparently not beneath Bush* and Rove

Can you believe Card would dare to turn up his nose at anyone's use of the F word? Jeez.

It was frankly very civilized of Kerry not to quote the widely reported instances when Bush and Rove used the word. As has already been noted, Rove screamed it out describing what he planned to do to a political opponent who displeased him. Bush used it in front of United States Senators, no less, speaking with drooling anticipation of his intention to murder of the leader of a sovereign nation.

[kodi]

30. of course its ok for bush to call adam clymer an asshole in 2000

anyone recall that one?

[sistersofmercy]

31. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The hypocrisy continues! Fuck Card!


But great response from Kerry!

[hlthe2b]

33. Well, one thing the Bushies DO excel in: Hypocrisy

On this, I think we can all agree.

[snippy]

34. Kerry said a bad word! Kerry said a bad word! Kerry said a bad word!

Bush is such a childish president. Someone should have asked Andy Card whether Bush remembers saying fuck repeatedly during an interview which included questions about the execution of Karla Fay Tucker:

The style of his responses is far superior to the substance. Another reporter asks if Bush regrets giving an interview to Talk magazine (in which he repeatedly used the F-word and mocked Karla Fay Tucker, a woman who was about to be executed).

"It wasn't an interview," Bush says.

"What was it?" the journalist asks.

"Somebody came in to get a flavor of the campaign. It wasn't a sit down meeting."

But before he can pursue this Clintonian distinction any further, Bush's press secretary Karen Hughes steps in to rescue him. "Governor," she says, "you need to get back to your guests."

http://slate.msn.com/id/1003405/

"Bush Fucked Up" should be on every banner behind Bush during every appearance for the rest of his life.

"Bush Fucked Up" should be on his tombstone. (Maybe on Bar and Poppy's tombstones too.)

Merchandise, like belt buckles and coffee cups and hats and photographs, with "Bush Fucked Up" on them should be available.

We should put "Bush Fucked Up" on the dime.

[buycitgo]

35. stumbled across this very astute observation of * from FOUR years ago

Regarding Carlson's reporting of Bush's several uses of the f-word, Karen Hughes, Bush's communications director, who travels with him, says, "I don't remember those words being used." She says Bush agrees with those who say such language is inappropriate. Carlson, who says he remembers the words, quotes a Bush aide who says Bush "used to say 'f-k' a lot more before this all started."

I remember, further, from that time, that Hughes denied he ever swore at all....anyone else?

more, from same source, documenting, once again, these peoples' apparent total inability to tell the truth about ANYthing, important or not:

Carlson reports asking Bush whether he met with any persons who came to Texas to protest the execution of the murderer Karla Faye Tucker. Bush said no, adding: "I watched (Larry King's) interview with (Tucker), though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' " Carlson asked, "What was her answer?" and writes:" 'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me.' "

Hughes, who says Bush's decision not to commute Tucker's sentence was "very difficult and very emotional," says Carlson's report is "a total misread" of Bush. Carlson, who describes Bush as "smirking," says: "I took it down as he said it."

Nothing remotely resembling the King-Tucker exchange that Bush describes appears in the transcript of King's hour-long Jan. 14, 1998, program. And it is difficult to imagine anything Bush said that Carlson may have "misread" that could do Bush credit.


also...
Bush told James Barnes of the National Journal, "I'm a decisive person" who doesn't "read treatises," and he told Carlson, "I'm not interested in process. I want the results. If the process doesn't yield the right results, change the process."

that last bit certainly fits with what the boy who would be king has done since he squatted down in our house, yes?

care to guess who wrote this?