It is the silly season and of course that means that people are saying silly things. John Kerry's now famous faux pas has morphed into a mini-scandal today, even though the MSM do not want to talk about it. For evidence, consider the treatment that Kerry's comments received in this morning's editions of the Star Tribune, where a one paragraph blurb appeared under a "Developments" headline on page A-6. Of course, insulting soldiers is far less important than calling someone a "macaca." Most of our soldiers are pretty well mannered; even if they are well-armed, they won't likely do anything rash when insulted.
And the more I've thought about it, I think Kerry did insult the troops. I say that even though I suspect he is telling the truth when he insists he meant the comment as a slap at President Bush. Words matter and the words he spoke were easy to interpret as a slam on the intelligence of those who serve in the military generally, and in Iraq in particular.
It's easy to say that you support the troops but not the mission. But it's also wrong. The mission that U.S. forces are currently undertaking in Iraq is a difficult one and many of our soldiers and sailors have paid a terrible price in the course of that duty. The Democratic party generally, and John Kerry in particular, have an almost visceral disdain for military matters, which has been part of the Democratic Party DNA since the Vietnam era. Kerry has struggled with this issue his entire career and it is the reason why the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign so bothers him. He has invested a lot of his personal narrative, in believing that he was a truth-teller, that he was a valiant hero and that he has been a friend of the military. He often seems genuinely surprised at the equally visceral reaction he gets from his opponents within the military structure. And since a big part of Kerry's personal narrative is that people recognize his moral goodness, anything that would undermine his own view is not tolerable.
Kerry cannot apologize. Kerry is too proud of himself to accept any self-abasement, any shame for his statement. He will likely back off his statement in stages, blaming Republican operatives all the way. But he has a blind spot about how he comes off in this debate. We all have our blind spots, but few of us actually put ourselves out in the public arena and have to endure such personal dramas in the public eye. His choice? Absolutely. And the results are before us.
The Democrats are smart enough to recognize how toxic this really is and they are trying hard to change the subject. I 'll bet that John McCain (who is very much like Kerry) is having a lot of fun with this today as he campaigns through Minnesota.
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