He slandered the military, of course, and the white hot anger is the result.  (See this e-mail from a Navy officer. I have received scores of similar e-mails and calls)

But Kerry also reminded and clarified.

Kerry reminded people that the war against the war has been underway since mid-2003, and that the Democrats have never taken the many opportunities to try and rally around the effort to reconstruct a free Iraq but at every turn have demanded an exit on some sort of rushed and arbitrary timetable.  They disparaged the effort to push elections forward, then the effort to form a government, and now that government's effort to rule and unite.  The enemy has been watching, and has calculated that they only way they can win is by waiting out America ---just as the North Vietnamese did.

Today Kerry also reminded all Americans of the deep, anti-military bias that has infected the left since Vietnam, and through the left, the MSM.  In a flash all the anti-military rhetoric that began in the late '60s and built through 9/11 was back on the front shelf.  (Donna Shalala's on Vietnam veterans: “not our best and brightest."  Clinton Assistant Secretary of the Army Sara Lister: ""The Marines are extremists. Wherever you have extremists, you've got some risks of total disconnection with society. And that's a little dangerous."  Michael Moore's portrait of the recruits in his bit of agitprop.)

The coverage of the Kerry slander is also reminding Americans of the MSM's deep-seated left-leaning bias, a reminder that will grow more pronounced as viewers recall the pursuit of Trent Lott and more recently George Allen over gaffes.  Kerry's slander is much, much worse than a gaffe, but the MSM was already in "he was misunderstood" mode tonight, as my interview with ABC News' Mark Halperin today made clear:

HH: Mark Halperin, how did ABC handle the John Kerry story today? How ought it handle it tomorrow in the morning show, and in the evening news?

MH: We led with it, as did the other networks. It’s an interesting story. Sometimes in politics, interesting trumps everything else. But it’s also a complicated story, because you’ve got to decide what standards do you use to decide what matters about John Kerry says, something we don’t normally care about much in the evening news these days, and also about whether or not what he said is being mischaracterized, how it’s being used by you and other conservatives. So we did lead with it. I suspect it’ll play very big on the news tomorrow. I’m not sure about after that, how much shelf life it will have, or should have.

HH: Do you believe he was making a joke?

MH: I do believe he was making a joke.

HH: And now, I have had…and have you talked to any military active duty about that conclusion?

MH: Not active duty, but retired. But I don’t know that…but that was almost a fluke. I don’t know that someone in the military would have more insight into what John Kerry’s brand of humor is like than someone not in the military.

HH: Does it matter at all how they, to your reporting, how the military is reacting to this statement by Kerry, and his explanation?

MH: Sure.

HH: And given that I’ve done an hour of radio tonight, I probably had fifteen calls from veterans and active duty, including one non-com just got back from a second tour there, a medic, a combat medic, seething with outrage. They’re not buying the apology. They believe it was premeditated. Should their point of view find a prominent place in your news coverage?

MH: The point of view should find a prominent…or a place in all news coverage. But again, as important and valuable as the troops are, as much as all Americans, and we respect them, that’s not always…they’re not necessarily the best arbiters of Senator Kerry’s sense of humor.

HH: And so, how are you going to figure that out? Because obviously, it’s convenient for him, Mark Halperin, to say he was making a joke. I find it astonishing. I can’t imagine anyone making that joke, or trying to make that joke to college students facing a choice of careers, talking about stuck in Iraq where there are hundreds of thousands of their fellow aged Americans are, or have passed through. I just can’t imagine it as a joke. But you think it was.

MH: Well, Hugh, you’ve got greater faith in John Kerry’s sense of humor than I do, I guess.

HH: I don’t understand.

MH: Well, I mean, you can’t believe he’d be making a joke about President Bush’s intelligence? He’s done it in the past.

HH: But he always has been willing to use President Bush’s name. And if he wanted to make that joke, if you don’t study and do your homework, you’ll end up as President of the United States, and you’ll get us stuck in a war? As opposed to indulging a stereotype that he once testified to about…in 1971, the Genghis Khan testimony, that he might really have severe and significant contempt for America’s fighting men…

The MSM is going to try and cover for Kerry and his party, and will refuse to press other Democrats for responses to the obvious questions: What do you think about Kerry's remarks?  Do you believe he was making a joke about President Bush?  Should Senator Kerry apologize?  (There are others, but I'd settle for those three.)

Having reminded the public of all this, Kerry's slander will also clarify things for many, many Americans.

The Democrats remain the party of Michael Moore, Ned Lamont, Kosputin, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, Dan Rather and Howard Dean.

Any vote for any Democrat is a vote for every one of those folks, and many more besides.

Kerry sent up a flare over the whole Democratic Party.  Other Dems and the MSM are trying mightily to  put it out.  I don't think they will succeed.  The silence about Kerry from Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and every high profile Democrat is the loudest noise in American politics tonight.

What cowards not to state the obvious,  rebuke Kerry and join the American Legion and countless others in demanding an apology.  And what a disaster for the United States if this party achieves a majority in either the House or the Senate.

Any vote for any Democrat is a vote against victory and a vote for vulnerability.  It is also a vote against the military.

That's the headline on a FreeRepublic thread.  Kerry the slanderer was supposed to be in Minnesota with Minnesota candidate for US Senate Amy Klobuchar and Pennsylvania with legacy candidate Bob Casey tomorrow.

Will the MSM press Klobuchar and Casey on Kerry?  Did they agree with his statement on Monday?  Do they accept his explanation?  Ought he to apologize to the troops, and not a Dick Durbin style apology, but the real deal?

Don't hold your breath.  Trent Lott and George Allen get pursued by MSM from stop to stop post gaffe, but not Kerry and his would-be colleagues even though what Kerry said was not a gaffe but a slur.

UPDATE: The Corner has many updates, and it is clear that this is a giant story, a bonfire throwing a light on every Democrat who says nothing about Kerry's slander. Also illuminated is the heart and soul of the Democratic Party from which has yet to issue a single critical note of their standard bearer from 2004.

Markos Moulitsas will not take John Kerry pissing away the 2006 midterms sitting down. Kos has bellied up to his modem and rallied the liberal masses with the kind of incoherent, mixed-metaphor-laden pose of which he is the acknowledged master:

And for the rest of you who think this is the end of the world -- stop being afraid of your own shadow. Just stop it. Fight or get out of the kitchen!

You have to admit, it’s sort of Churchillian. If Churchill were a moonbat, that is.

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From the e-mail bin:

Hi Hugh,

AGHAST!! I simply could not believe my ears when I heard what Sen Kerry (Did you know he served in Vietnam? HT Taranto) said regarding all of my military brothers and sisters in arms. Ours is a PROFESSION, the profession of arms that protects Quislings like Kerry to denigrate us and show zero respect for the irreplaceable service we provide to our country NOT for monetary gain (most of us could, can and will become leaders in business and government upon leaving active duty) but out of love for and a commitment to something deeper than ourselves - country and liberty.

My anger has grown throughout the day as I interacted with the fine young men and women at Air Force, men and women who joined the Air Force during a time of war with the full understanding that they would very likely find themselves in harms way. While John Kerry makes his stupid and hateful remarks, graduates of West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy, people who Senator Kerry saw fit to nominate to attend these elite undergraduate institutions, act as mayors, and counselors to freedom loving Afghanis and Iraqis. They are helping to install liberal constitutional governments in a place where a few short years ago there was complete Stalinist theocratic despotism and another that suffered hopelessly under an egomaniacal tyrant bent on destroying Israel and the greater middle east. They come from not only the service academies but from Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Tufts and Columbia. Their sailors, airmen, soldiers and marines are the most educated, most technologically savvy and culturally aware force EVER assembled on the face of the earth. These men and women are far superior in intellect and decency to Senator Kerry and his ilk in the nutroots that has hijacked a once great political party. Were it not for you and your colleagues in the new media, we may not even know of this slander but thanks to you and the new media, Kerry cannot hide. The Democratic Party must now take a stand. Either they stand with the American fighting forces or they stand with Kerry. We all know deep in our hearts that the Democratic Party had a window into its soul exposed by Kerry. NOW they must defend the indefensible. Now I will go take my young children trick or treating in complete safety from terrorists and criminals because OUR Navy, Army, Air Force and wonderful Marines and first responders keep us safe. Sleep well America, WE HAVE THE WATCH!

Angrily,

A NAVY OFFICER

Is it just me, or does it seem like someone struck a nerve where John Kerry is concerned? I swear, if I were a Democrat, all the feelings of frustration that I developed for the Senator in 2004 because of his maladroit campaigning style would have resurfaced and intensified the past 24 hours.

I always use the lefty blogs as my leading indicator on these things. Allah thought Kerry’s very butch press release would put the Nutroots into a state of orgiastic pleasure that they usually reserve for one of Keith Olbermann “Special Comments”. Alas, to date we have only radio silence on the matter from the progressive blogging aristocracy including Markos Moulitsas, Glenn Greenwald (and his various alter egos), John Aravosis and that very gentlemanly blogger who calls himself Atrios.

This isn’t particularly surprising. A few months ago I noted that as the nutroots matured, its leaders anyway were developing message discipline. These guys know when to starve a story of oxygen. If I were a partisan Democrat, I’d want this story to just go away. Every day we argue about this story adds another day that it doesn’t go anywhere.

THE NUTROOTS ALSO SENSE what a serious issue this is, even if the most recent Democratic standard bearer does not. For the longest time, it’s been obvious that many members of the far left don’t want America to prevail in Iraq. While they try to square the circle by saying they hate the mission but still support the troops, that dog has never hunted. The fact that the left has gleefully seized upon every piece of bad news that’s come out of Iraq since 2003 has made the sale tougher still.

Then there’s the further matter that the left’s attitude towards the troops (that they so enthusiastically support) has often been marked by condescension. On the Daily Kos front page this morning, DemFromCT (if that’s his real name) titled a post, “103 of Our Children Died in Iraq This Month.” Somehow I doubt the men and women who defend our country would be thrilled with the characterization “children.”

DemFromCT acknowledges that it might indeed be offensive to call our military members “children,” but defends this stylistic decision by saying, “For those who are offended by referring to the military as children, remember that every soldier, airman and Marine has a parent.” Even by Daily Kos standards, that’s some weak stuff. The point is that when John Kerry offers the opinion that the soldiers in Iraq are dim bulbs, it’s part of a larger mosaic.

And then of course there’s the hostility towards the troops. John Kerry’s history of animus towards the troops hardly needs recounting. It’s also worth noting that when a politician refers to the troops as baby-killers or offers some similar slander, the politician doing the slandering is almost invariably a member of the Democratic Party.

While I was writing this post, I noticed that Markos Moulitsas has ended his silence on the matter, perhaps acknowledging that like the Foley matter it has to be dealt with and won’t have the courtesy to just go away. Markos writes:

“So John Kerry mangles a sentence in a public appearance, and the right-wing smear machine and its traditional media enablers are apoplectic… Kerry has nothing to apologize for.”

This has become the strange logic behind the Kerry defense. A) He misspoke and obviously caused offense; but B) He has nothing to apologize for. I wish I could remember where that Greenwald post on basic logic was so I could see if this formulation makes the cut.

Of course, John Kerry never apologizes. And Markos Moulitsas only knows one political tactic – charge straight ahead into the opponent’s and the public’s face. This was an opportunity to have done something a bit more subtle and a lot more effective.

Alas, it is just another missed opportunity for Kerry, the Democrats and the Nutroots. In other words, just another day at the office.

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President Bush on Kerry's slander.

And Bill Frist weighed in as well:

“Senator Kerry clearly owes an apology to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines serving in Iraq. But Mr. Kerry has refused to do so. Instead, he’s claiming that Republicans are “desperately distorting” his comments. Watch the video yourself … it is perfectly clear what Mr. Kerry said … what’s unclear is whether Mr. Kerry ever means what he says. Perhaps he was against his comments before he actually made them.

And Senator Kerry is falsely claiming that Republicans “love to attack those who did [serve in war].” The truth is that Senator Kerry served honorably in Vietnam over 35 years ago, but he’s not immune from criticism today. Republicans aren’t “questioning his patriotism,” but we are calling him on his slur of our troops in the field.

Having just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, I can tell you that the American troops I met were hard-working, intelligent, and dedicated to victory. Maybe the reason that John Kerry is so eager to accept defeat in the War on Terror is that he doesn’t share my opinion of our fighting men and women.”

Mark Halperin, author with John Harris of The Way To Win: Taking the White House in 2008, returns today at 7:06 PM EST for two segments.

Here's one excellent take on yesterday's marathon interview.

John Kerry Refuses to Be Swift-Boated!

So instead, he swift-boats himself.

Governor Romney's statement on Kerry's slander:

“Senator Kerry owes an apology to the thousands of men and women serving in Iraq, particularly the many patriotic soldiers from Massachusetts who come from all backgrounds to defend our freedoms. As Governor, I represent thousands of Massachusetts National Guardsmen. They are more diverse, educated and prepared to do their job than at anytime in our country’s history. No matter where you went to school, or how many degrees you have, most people understand the strength of our nation comes from every corner of America.”

Democrats must be cursing that damn Karl Rove. How does he do it? From where in the black depths of his soul did he conjure the idea of putting a microphone in front of John Kerry’s mouth during the last week of a campaign season? We all know the truth now, and it is incontrovertible: Karl Rove is one magnificent bastard!

For those of you late to the party, here’s the source of the controversy:

According to the Pasadena Star-News: "Kerry then told the students that if they were able to navigate the education system, they could get comfortable jobs - "If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," he said to a mixture of laughter and gasps.''

The suggestion that only defective students go to Iraq is manifestly offensive and a needless slur on the troops in Iraq. While Kerry may have been painfully recalling his own experience at Yale where he got 4 D’s during his freshman year and ultimately wound up in Vietnam, there’s nonetheless no excuse for these comments.

I assume if you’re a Democrat, you’d like to see this controversy go away since most people won’t incline to share Kerry’s view that it’s quite cricket to call our soldiers a bunch of dullards. If Kerry were a team player, he would issue a perfunctory apology and let the story die a quick death.

But Kerry is no team player. Never was, never will be. He is once again playing the “Swiftboated” card and his response to the controversy is almost as obnoxious as his original comment. A news release from the Senator’s office reads in part:

Washington – Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry’s comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:

“If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they're crazy. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did…

It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have…

These Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor.

Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men.

By all means, read the whole thing. The part about Rush Limbaugh making fun of Michael J. Fox is especially on point.

The paragraph I bolded and italicized is particularly telling. John Kerry thinks his service in Vietnam four decades ago means his every comment and action should be beyond reproach. It doesn’t work like that. Ask Duke Cunningham. It’s rather amazing that a man of Kerry’s age and experience has formulated such a simplistic, juvenile and narcissistic worldview.

At a time like this, I think it only appropriate that we thank the Lord that John Kerry is one of the public faces of the Democratic Party. It will truly be a delight watching Democrats who tapped the Kerry fundraising spigot this cycle rush to distance themselves from the Senator as his mouth has put his career and those around him into full-on Chernobyl mode.

What’s the next trick up Rove’s sleeve? An open-ended interview with Howard Dean?

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John Kerry slandered the American military yesterday, showcasing one of the myths from the Vietnam era, and thus beginning the necessary extension of the effort to discredit the war --discrediting the warriors. 

First Kerry tried lamely to argue he was referrring to President Bush as the non-homework doing stupid one who got "stuck in Iraq."

Now he's given a speech swinging at his critics.  Rush reports that Kerry is also claiming yesterday's slur was a joke that misfired.

Too late.  Kerry dropped the mask long enough for the American public to see clearly the same contempt we heard from him years ago, and the outrage coursing through the e-mails and the blogosphere and I suspect on today's program will not let Kerry walk away with "it's just a joke."

And it is not just Kerry, but the left in America that holds as an article of faith that the military is full of losers who didn't do their homework.  The anti-military bias is also nested deep in the MSM.

Last year on my program, Terry Moran of ABC News said:

There is, Hugh, I agree with you, a deep anti-military bias in the media. One that begins from the premise that the military must be lying, and that American projection of power around the world must be wrong.

I asked ABC News political director Mark Halperin about that admission by Moran in my interview with him yesterday (full transcript here):

HH: Terry Moran on this program said…Terry Moran on this program from ABC, your colleague…

MH: Right.

HH: …said that the media hates the military, has a deep suspicion of it. Do you agree with that?

MH: I totally agree. It’s one of the huge biases, along with gays, guns, abortion, and many other things.

The Kerry sneer is part and parcel of the Pelosi Democrats, just as the attempt to suppress the votes of military serving overseas in the Florida recount is part of the Democratic Party legacy.

Mark Halperin was upset by my conclusion that he is a very liberal MSMer.  So I offered him the space below to make his case as to why I --or you-- cannot come to the conclusion that I have come to and retain.  Arguing for a sort of "sovereign immunity" from opinions being formed about his ideology and agenda is at first baffling and then humorous.  Smart and pleasant, but the condescension in his offense taking is startling.  This is the MSM disease, one associated with all aristocracies  --that it will not endure criticism or questioning, is easily offended, and quick to cast aspersions on opponents.

For the record, Mark Halperin e-mailed me and asked if he could be a guest.  Not only did I agree, I thought his position worthy of a three hour interview and the offer of a return visit.  His anger with me comes from my opinion that he is very liberal, and as I explained below, I don't think it is easy to come to any other conclusion with the evidence at hand.

I report, and interview.  You decide.

John Kerry is trying to be against his slur on the American military after being for it.

He is trying to argue that he was referring to Bush as the one "stuck in Iraq."

To his slander on the military we know add deception and a very low level of opinion of the American electorate who can listen and judge for themselves.

John McCain has called on Kerry for an apology, as will the millions of veterans and active duty military and their families.  The arrogant Kerry has exposed his deep contempt for the men and women in uniform, just as he did when he testified long ago about Genghis Kahn etc.

So where are the Democrats denouncing the Kerry slur?

The same place they were at when Al Gore tried to disenfranchise military voters in the Florida recount:  Nowhere to be found.