Saturday, October 23, 2004
Small John Kerry
John Kerry is a small man. Obviously, I don't mean small in physical stature -- I'm talking about small in character.
A small man can't admit he's wrong. A small man doesn't care about people of lesser status unless there's something in it for him. When something bad happens to a small man, it's always someone else's fault.
One recent example of Kerry's smallness: his reference to Mary Cheney in the third debate. Raising Ms. Cheney's sexual orientation was not responsive to the question asked, which was about same-sex marriage. Bringing her name up at all was inappropriate, as Ms. Cheney had not been out campaigning for her father or the President, or if she had been, she was definitely not a high profile figure in the campaign. Despite the ensuing uproar, Kerry has not apologized either to Ms. Cheney or her family for his invasion of her privacy. Instead, he has offered a (rather lame) explanation of what he meant.
Another anecdote: Kerry is skiing; he takes a tumble. Upon getting up he says something like, "I don't fall down! That SOB ran into me." The "SOB" Kerry is referring to is a secret service agent, whose job it is to take a bullet for Kerry, if necessary. I've read no account of any apology by Kerry to the agent. Of course, he might have apologized privately, but it seems to me that a public remark like that deserves a public apology.
Yet another: Back in September, Outdoor Life magazine ran an "interview" with Kerry in which Kerry said he owned a Communist Chinese assault rifle. Assault rifles were illegal at the time. Upon further inquiry, Kerry's campaign office said that the "interview" wasn't a real conversation between Kerry and the reporter, but was really a response prepared by Kerry's staff to written questions submitted by the magazine. So "the staff" was to blame for the kerfuffle, not Small John.
Most famously, Kerry testified before the United States Senate in 1971 about atrocities committed by US troops in Vietnam, as reported in the VVAW's Detroit "Winter Soldier investigation." Kerry's testimony was a propaganda goldmine for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, as it gave great credence to their claims of war crimes by the United States. As it turned out, many of those who testified in Detroit were never in Vietnam, and some were not even in the military. One participant has recently come out and said he was pressured to make untrue statements in support of the VVAW's agenda. Kerry has stated that perhaps his antiwar activities were youthful indiscretions, and that he might better have expressed himself differently, but he has never apologized for the statements he made, or for the effect his activities had on American POWs in North Vietnam. Jane Fonda has apologized for her fawning trip to Hanoi, but not Kerry. To Kerry, apparently, an apology is tantamount to an admission of error, which is impossible for a small man.
Small men are not leaders; they are imperious. Small men do not inspire; they coerce. Small men are the epitome of "do as I say, not as I do." Will America elect a small man as its President in today's dangerous world? I surely hope not.
A small man can't admit he's wrong. A small man doesn't care about people of lesser status unless there's something in it for him. When something bad happens to a small man, it's always someone else's fault.
One recent example of Kerry's smallness: his reference to Mary Cheney in the third debate. Raising Ms. Cheney's sexual orientation was not responsive to the question asked, which was about same-sex marriage. Bringing her name up at all was inappropriate, as Ms. Cheney had not been out campaigning for her father or the President, or if she had been, she was definitely not a high profile figure in the campaign. Despite the ensuing uproar, Kerry has not apologized either to Ms. Cheney or her family for his invasion of her privacy. Instead, he has offered a (rather lame) explanation of what he meant.
Another anecdote: Kerry is skiing; he takes a tumble. Upon getting up he says something like, "I don't fall down! That SOB ran into me." The "SOB" Kerry is referring to is a secret service agent, whose job it is to take a bullet for Kerry, if necessary. I've read no account of any apology by Kerry to the agent. Of course, he might have apologized privately, but it seems to me that a public remark like that deserves a public apology.
Yet another: Back in September, Outdoor Life magazine ran an "interview" with Kerry in which Kerry said he owned a Communist Chinese assault rifle. Assault rifles were illegal at the time. Upon further inquiry, Kerry's campaign office said that the "interview" wasn't a real conversation between Kerry and the reporter, but was really a response prepared by Kerry's staff to written questions submitted by the magazine. So "the staff" was to blame for the kerfuffle, not Small John.
Most famously, Kerry testified before the United States Senate in 1971 about atrocities committed by US troops in Vietnam, as reported in the VVAW's Detroit "Winter Soldier investigation." Kerry's testimony was a propaganda goldmine for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, as it gave great credence to their claims of war crimes by the United States. As it turned out, many of those who testified in Detroit were never in Vietnam, and some were not even in the military. One participant has recently come out and said he was pressured to make untrue statements in support of the VVAW's agenda. Kerry has stated that perhaps his antiwar activities were youthful indiscretions, and that he might better have expressed himself differently, but he has never apologized for the statements he made, or for the effect his activities had on American POWs in North Vietnam. Jane Fonda has apologized for her fawning trip to Hanoi, but not Kerry. To Kerry, apparently, an apology is tantamount to an admission of error, which is impossible for a small man.
Small men are not leaders; they are imperious. Small men do not inspire; they coerce. Small men are the epitome of "do as I say, not as I do." Will America elect a small man as its President in today's dangerous world? I surely hope not.
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