The Disingenuous Gaffe

As a Media Strategist, I am sometimes astonished at how many people will buy into a lie because they simply want to believe. Especially one where the video clearly contradicts the lie. In the video, John Kerry transitions from a barb at President Bush to the subject of education and then clearly says,

If you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.

Then this morning on the Imus show, Kerry was disingenuous when he claimed it was a botched joke,

I left out one word. I left out the word “us.” “They got us stuck.” Instead of that, I said, “They got stuck,” and they’re taking advantage of it.

Even an eight year old in third grade can tell you the sentence does not fit in the context of the previous sentence (not to mention the change is four words, not just one.) Thus, Kerry's effort to explain his meaning is a BOLD FACE LIE.

Kerry was not talking about the President's failures, he was clearly showing contempt for the men and women who proudly serve our nation and the fact he's back-tracking now and people like Imus are buying into his cover up is shameful. Worse, it shows tremendous ignorance of today's military, their educational level, and the economic background they come from in the Democratic party.

From a media strategy viewpoint, John Kerry should have apologized in a straightforward manner instead of attacking the President and Republicans as twisting his words. They do not have to twist anything--they simply have to quote him. And as if his original comments were not already painfully clear, Kerry's attempt to fix them in the past several hours has substantiated their contemptuous meaning all the more.

In fact, Kerry's public claim his comments were a misfired joke might have worked except for the explanation he offered stands in such stark contrast to what he actually said in context. The Democratic party is not very forgiving of defeated candidates for President anyway, but this incident will very likely be the final straw that ensures Kerry never runs again for anything more than Senator from Massachusetts.

Imus is correct in one regard--Kerry needs to shut up and become invisible until after the election. Otherwise, Democratic candidates around the country are going to find themselves in the same tar pit.

Lee Reedy
Media Strategist