Reply #81: Yes it was manufactered

[fujiyama]

and so was the swift boat campaign.

But guess what? It was effective, just like this distraction has been effective. Kerry fuckin blew it. Now, did I think he was bashing the troops in his joke? Of course not. In fact, it even took me a little while to figure out what the fuss was about, because I knew from the context of the rest of his comments, that he was slamming Bush. Kerry served in the military. Those folks were his friends. He saw some shot. He even saved some the life of one. He's served years in the senate working for veterans.

But I'm really pissed at him for not thinking a little longer about the stupid attempt at a joke. Kerry would have made an amazing president, but this makes me really question his political skills. This was an incredibly inept thing to do. He should have known how the RW media machine would react to this as well. He just hasn't seemed to learn from his mistakes in the last campaign. And of course, the first thing Bush and the other ass holes would do is say "this is more proof the Dems don't care about troops". In states with large braindead populations like TN, these attacks are actually effective. And in a year when there are some very close races, this is the kind of thing that can swing a small but crucial number.

Kerry got played this time. And denying that is spin. This was a major fuck up.