Kerry queries:
“When I voted for the war, I voted for what I thought was best for the country. Did I expect Howard Dean to go off to the left and say, `I’m against everything?’ Sure. Did I expect George Bush to f— it up as badly as he did? I don’t think anybody did.”
I know Kerry didn’t have an opportunity to question me when he voted, but I’ve pretty much had low expectations about Bush the whole time.
Of course the White House language police had to respond with their humor:
The expletive drew a rebuke from White House, which suggested an apology might be in order.
“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.”
I was about ten years old when the Watergate hearings were on TV. During the hearings, transcripts of President Nixon’s private conversations were read. I remember asking my parents what “expletive deleted” meant, as the transcripts were peppered with that phrase. Although I admit my parents disliked Nixon and must have prejudiced me in that direction, I was delighted to hear that the President was, at least in private, swearing like a sailor. It exposed him as hostile, angry, human, just like everyone else.
The real question here is not whether John Kerry swears, like most folks do, but whether he planted the swear word in the interview to look tough or cool or otherwise to manipulate public opinion. People who go out of their way to use language to impress are anything but cool. Cool people have the confidence to be themselves. They don’t need to pander.
So that’s how I feel about politicians who cuss. And if you don’t like it, expletive deleted!
Hey, as far as I’m concerned, it’s about time one of these guys actually plainly stated the idiocy of the Bush Administration. Why they don’t make more of Bush’s “war record” (in which he was AWOL for at least one year), I don’t know. That’s not to mention Cheney and the rest of them–all of whom supported the Vietnam War when they had the chance to go–but had “more important things to do.”
I don’t owe these class warriors one ounce of “courtesy.” A friend of mine got killed out there–leaving his job at the steel mill. Now George wants to take away overtime, medicare, social security, and Labor rights. In fact he is doing that in Iraq! The heads of the Labor Federation has been deposed and Bremer has his own guy in there. This is while they steal the people’s resources and industries.
Is everyone seriously asking if Kerry said a curse word to look cool? Nah, and the Bush fighter pilot photo op?? not to make him look cool at all. (notice W was pretending that the war was over at the same time) Saying f*** to rolling stone makes a lot more sense and costs a lot less.
These politicos are constantly being pushed to enhance some “image” and I don’t believe a f***ing word of any of it. but the problem is that they ALL do it, because the american public laps it up.