Bozo Erectus said:
Does anyone actually dispute the fact that for the most part, people with the most educational opportunities are less likely to join the military?
If that's what he said, there wouldn't have been a problem.
The next day, he could have stated something like, "I misspoke, and I apoloize for that. What I meant was that getting an education opens up more opportunites for young people... including military service if they so choose. Without an education, one's opportunities are more limited." If he'd said that, his critics wouldn't have had a leg to stand on, and he might well have garnered support for Democratic candidates next week.
Instead, his words fed the perception (true or false) that Democratic leaders consider people who join the military to be nothing but poor, dumb kids with no alternative but to place themselves into indetured servitude. He refused to apologize, instead attacking people who already mistrusted him. And finally, apparently after some Democrats realized he was a political liability a week before an election, he issued a near-apology.
I don't know if his words and actions will have any effect on the election, but I think it certainly might motivate some GOP-leaning individuals to go out and vote, who might otherwise have stayed at home due to dissatisfaction with Republican policies. In a close race, that might make a difference.
Bozo Erectus said:
They did it either because they saw it as their immediate ticket out of pressing financial problems, or their key to getting an education that was otherwise out of their reach, or a combination.
And do they consider that as a positive opportunity, or as getting "stuck" with a negative situation as some believe Kerry implied?
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