The Hound Of Ulster

That shrieking, grinding, tortured sound you here is the American political machine rolling inexorably towards next Tuesday. What a mess.

Right Sided LINKS to an interesting AP ARTICLE - one that seems strangely strong on the whole Kerry question. Not something I would expect from the MSM, I must admit.

I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown. We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply ‘doing its job.’

Equally as important, a volunteer army with our present constitutional crisis takes accountability away from the president and put the people further from control over military activities.

Sounds like something that could have been delivered in Pasadena, doesn’t it? Would have fit nicely right before (or after) the “botched joke.” If the MSM isn’t buying the botch defense, will anyone buy it? Hundreds of e-mails posted to The Corner yesterday and today suggest the military boys aren’t, that’s for sure.

Andy McCarthy SAYS the apology doesn’t end the story.

Why would the side that is behind stop drawing attention to a revealing gaffe — indeed, a gaffe by the other side’s last national standard bearer — just because the opposition now says, on the basis of Kerry’s lawyerly-worded “apology,” that it’s now time to put all this behind us and get back to the important business of kicking the stuffing out of Bush?

And Rich Lowry’s not quite DONE with JFK, either.

Now, it is entirely plausible that Kerry was trying to make a joke about President Bush, for two reasons. One, typically of the humorless Kerry, it wouldn’t have been funny. Two, typically of the arrogant Kerry, it would have reversed the usual convention, wherein politicians tell jokes at their own expense in their opening remarks. (Someone needs to take Kerry aside and tell him, “It’s the hauteur, stupid.”)

But Kerry’s statement was also plausibly interpreted by people of good faith as a slam against the military. After all, he never mentioned the name Bush. And the fact that a lot of the Left believes exactly what Kerry seemed to be saying - that members of the military are cannon-fodder and boobs gulled into signing up because they have no other options in life.

Certainly, many service-members interpreted Kerry’s remarks that way, and they aren’t the partisan attack-artists Kerry wanted to make all his critics out to be. The comically mis-spelled sign from soldiers in Iraq, posted on the Drudge Report, said it all: “Halp us Jon Carry - we r stuck hear in Irak.”

Kerry said that it is “crazy” to think that “a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq.” That’s true of almost all veterans - except John Kerry. After Vietnam, he returned to the United States to smear the 3.4 million heroes who served there as monsters routinely committing the most grotesque war crimes.

Jim Geraghty TALKS about the ever-present polls. (Am I the only person that pays attention to polls when they agree with me, and dismisses them when they don’t? I doubt it. Do they serve any real purpose? I doubt that as well.)

But THIS is still my favorite bit of political news today:

…the next anti-cloning ad to hit the state will star World Series MVP David Eckstein from the St. Louis Cardinals. His fellow Cardinal Jeff Suppan and Mike Sweeney from the KC Royals will also be featured in the ad.

Brilliant. Think that will play well in St. Louis territory?

(Oh, and HERE is the actual ad. Watch out. PDF.)

Kansas City Catholic has a nice summary POST for today. Perhaps the most interesting link there is the strange ARTICLE by one Mike Hendricks.

The latest poll says all but 14 percent of likely Missouri voters have made up their minds on stem cells.

Fifty-one percent are for the amendment, which protects that type of research from political interference, and 35 percent are against it.

Personally, I find the certainty on both sides curious, given that your average Missourian is about as qualified to vote on Amendment 2 as I am to overhaul my computer.

That’s not a put-down.

Most Kansans are equally ignorant about the details of stem-cell research, I’d guess.

Same goes for average voters in the 48 other states and the District of Columbia.

I base those conclusions on the fact that Americans are abysmally ignorant on matters of science.

Something absurdly condescending about that whole piece, I think. I continue to be a large unfan of the “science is too complicated for anyone but scientists” approach.  It’s not helpful, and it’s not true.

OOPS.

I have no one to blame but myself. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept MLB’s suspension. I used extremely poor judgment and deserve to be held accountable.

To my teammates and the entire Mets organization, I am sorry. I truly regret what I did and hope that you can forgive me. To baseball fans everywhere, I understand that you are disappointed in me, and I don’t blame you. I feel terrible and I promise this is the first and last time that this will happen. I am determined to prove to you that this was one mistake.

Mota was spectacular for the Dodgers, so I have fond memories. And his apology is a lot more “up front” than most. But what did he get suspended for? My ability to believe the “first and last time” bit depends a lot on that.

I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform and I personally apologize to any service member, family member or American who was offended.

Can’t say that sounds particularly sincere. The triple-negative construction might have something to do with that. And also the fact that the statement has to fight its way through a lot of “it’s not my fault” before it gets to the “oh, and I guess I’m sorry.” Also, are there impersonal apologies?

I think Robert Novak’s right on this one:

Kerry, addressing a crowd of Democrats in California on the topic of education, tied in the Iraq War by bringing up the long-standing complaint by some on the left that the military preys upon poor and uneducated youths in their recruitment. “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” That is a slightly meaner version of what several Democratic members of Congress have been saying for years.

This apology won’t be enough, because people will know it wasn’t a “botched joke.” It was an “us against the evil, corrupt GOP administration” appeal, and it back-fired in a big way. More tin ear evidence. (And maybe tin-foil hat evidence, as well. But that’s for another time.)