Botched Kerry

John Kerry's apology today was the right thing to do politically, since the right wing noise machine had successfully goosed the MSM into making a stupid gaffe the story of the century, just a week prior to a national election. Like it was the goddamned October Surprise or something.

But this whole thing about Kerry has got me pissed. I was protesting in the streets in the lead up to the Iraq War, before the invasion. I remember watching Colin Powell at the UN and laughing out loud at the trumped up charges. Especially those cartoon-y renderings of mobile chemical weapon labs. So were you, probably. How is it that you and I KNEW IT WAS ALL B*LLSHIT, and yet Senators like John Kerry say they were duped. Did they not have access to the Internet, to newspapers, to the TV news? As mawkishly patriotic as all of our national media was, we could see through the BS to perceive a war of naked aggression. And our Senators could NOT?

Sure Kerry now says he made a mistake in voting to Bushwhack Iraq. I believe the truth is that Kerry's mistakes were political in nature ... in that he thought Bush's war on Iraq would go well. Not poorly. It was not a matter of being duped by faulty intelligence. It was a matter of having too much faith in BushCo's capacity to run a competent invasion.

So I accept John Kerry's apology. He's being unfairly pilloried, like Howard Dean was, for nothing really. An awkward moment, a little mistake. It's not like it cost 3,000 troops their lives and sullied our national reputation, like Bush's mistake. It's not like he lost New Orleans, like Bush did.

It's not even like he shot a man in the face, like Cheney did. But you'd think Kerry's gaffe was far worse than these examples from the coverage it's getting.

I liked Kerry's fire-breathing response to the chickenhawks who have been lambasting him. Doughy Limbaugh. That's good.

Yet, I think if we're going to revive a failed presidential candidate and ask him to speak for the party, to act as a standard bearer, and possibly to run for the Oval Office again, let's make it Al Gore.

Or let's look for new blood...like Obama.

Or let's get behind a real progressive with a conscience and honest compassion...like my favorite Senator...Russ Feingold.

Kerry is a decent man who served his country. But he didn't fight back against the Swift Boaters, didn't challenge the Ohio vote. I think he is among the richest men in government. And he makes ...gaffes. Kerry is not worthy of a second chance. Let's move on.