Kerry’s Marine Stumble Part Two After All, Wendy’s Isn’t French

Captain Ed notes this morning that the reason they were at Wendy’s was a photo-op, and nothing more.
Says Ed:

“Those of us who covered John Kerry’s stumble with the Marines at Wendy’s on Friday missed a more significant story, one which highlights the phoniness behind the Kerry/Edwards “men of the people” act. ”

The report picks up from there:

“While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.
…
The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.”

Ed comes back with:

“I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy’s because it’s an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you … that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can’t even fake populism effectively.”

Well, you’re right as far as you go Ed, but I think you miss an important point.

The original story that Michelle Malkin linked from the NYPost points out that all the Marines in question serve at nearby Stewart AFB.

Think about it, if you’re running in Kerry’s mindset, what better way to play that up that a photo op with Kerry chatting it up with Military types, in a casual situation? What better way to do that than to park your butt at a Wendy’s just outside the base?

Looks like we’ve caught Kerry in another truth twisting session, gang…

Captain Ed notes this morning that the reason they were at Wendy’s was a photo-op, and nothing more.
Says Ed:

“Those of us who covered John Kerry’s stumble with the Marines at Wendy’s on Friday missed a more significant story, one which highlights the phoniness behind the Kerry/Edwards “men of the people” act. ”

The report picks up from there:

“While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.
…
The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.”

Ed comes back with:

“I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy’s because it’s an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you … that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can’t even fake populism effectively.”

Well, you’re right as far as you go Ed, but I think you miss an important point.

The original story that Michelle Malkin linked from the NYPost points out that all the Marines in question serve at nearby Stewart AFB.

Think about it, if you’re running in Kerry’s mindset, what better way to play that up that a photo op with Kerry chatting it up with Military types, in a casual situation? What better way to do that than to park your butt at a Wendy’s just outside the base?

Looks like we’ve caught Kerry in another truth twisting session, gang…

Captain Ed notes this morning that the reason they were at Wendy’s was a photo-op, and nothing more.
Says Ed:

“Those of us who covered John Kerry’s stumble with the Marines at Wendy’s on Friday missed a more significant story, one which highlights the phoniness behind the Kerry/Edwards “men of the people” act. ”

The report picks up from there:

“While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.
…
The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.”

Ed comes back with:

“I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy’s because it’s an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you … that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can’t even fake populism effectively.”

Well, you’re right as far as you go Ed, but I think you miss an important point.

The original story that Michelle Malkin linked from the NYPost points out that all the Marines in question serve at nearby Stewart AFB.

Think about it, if you’re running in Kerry’s mindset, what better way to play that up that a photo op with Kerry chatting it up with Military types, in a casual situation? What better way to do that than to park your butt at a Wendy’s just outside the base?

Looks like we’ve caught Kerry in another truth twisting session, gang…

Captain Ed notes this morning that the reason they were at Wendy’s was a photo-op, and nothing more.
Says Ed:

“Those of us who covered John Kerry’s stumble with the Marines at Wendy’s on Friday missed a more significant story, one which highlights the phoniness behind the Kerry/Edwards “men of the people” act. ”

The report picks up from there:

“While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.
…
The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.”

Ed comes back with:

“I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy’s because it’s an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you … that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can’t even fake populism effectively.”

Well, you’re right as far as you go Ed, but I think you miss an important point.

The original story that Michelle Malkin linked from the NYPost points out that all the Marines in question serve at nearby Stewart AFB.

Think about it, if you’re running in Kerry’s mindset, what better way to play that up that a photo op with Kerry chatting it up with Military types, in a casual situation? What better way to do that than to park your butt at a Wendy’s just outside the base?

Looks like we’ve caught Kerry in another truth twisting session, gang…

Captain Ed notes this morning that the reason they were at Wendy’s was a photo-op, and nothing more.
Says Ed:

“Those of us who covered John Kerry’s stumble with the Marines at Wendy’s on Friday missed a more significant story, one which highlights the phoniness behind the Kerry/Edwards “men of the people” act. ”

The report picks up from there:

“While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.
…
The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.”

Ed comes back with:

“I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy’s because it’s an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you … that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can’t even fake populism effectively.”

Well, you’re right as far as you go Ed, but I think you miss an important point.

The original story that Michelle Malkin linked from the NYPost points out that all the Marines in question serve at nearby Stewart AFB.

Think about it, if you’re running in Kerry’s mindset, what better way to play that up that a photo op with Kerry chatting it up with Military types, in a casual situation? What better way to do that than to park your butt at a Wendy’s just outside the base?

Looks like we’ve caught Kerry in another truth twisting session, gang…

Captain Ed notes this morning that the reason they were at Wendy’s was a photo-op, and nothing more.
Says Ed:

“Those of us who covered John Kerry’s stumble with the Marines at Wendy’s on Friday missed a more significant story, one which highlights the phoniness behind the Kerry/Edwards “men of the people” act. ”

The report picks up from there:

“While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.
…
The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.”

Ed comes back with:

“I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy’s because it’s an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you … that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can’t even fake populism effectively.”

Well, you’re right as far as you go Ed, but I think you miss an important point.

The original story that Michelle Malkin linked from the NYPost points out that all the Marines in question serve at nearby Stewart AFB.

Think about it, if you’re running in Kerry’s mindset, what better way to play that up that a photo op with Kerry chatting it up with Military types, in a casual situation? What better way to do that than to park your butt at a Wendy’s just outside the base?

Looks like we’ve caught Kerry in another truth twisting session, gang…

Captain Ed notes this morning that the reason they were at Wendy’s was a photo-op, and nothing more.
Says Ed:

“Those of us who covered John Kerry’s stumble with the Marines at Wendy’s on Friday missed a more significant story, one which highlights the phoniness behind the Kerry/Edwards “men of the people” act. ”

The report picks up from there:

“While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.
…
The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.”

Ed comes back with:

“I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy’s because it’s an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you … that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can’t even fake populism effectively.”

Well, you’re right as far as you go Ed, but I think you miss an important point.

The original story that Michelle Malkin linked from the NYPost points out that all the Marines in question serve at nearby Stewart AFB.

Think about it, if you’re running in Kerry’s mindset, what better way to play that up that a photo op with Kerry chatting it up with Military types, in a casual situation? What better way to do that than to park your butt at a Wendy’s just outside the base?

Looks like we’ve caught Kerry in another truth twisting session, gang…

Captain Ed notes this morning that the reason they were at Wendy’s was a photo-op, and nothing more.
Says Ed:

“Those of us who covered John Kerry’s stumble with the Marines at Wendy’s on Friday missed a more significant story, one which highlights the phoniness behind the Kerry/Edwards “men of the people” act. ”

The report picks up from there:

“While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.
…
The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.”

Ed comes back with:

“I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy’s because it’s an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you … that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can’t even fake populism effectively.”

Well, you’re right as far as you go Ed, but I think you miss an important point.

The original story that Michelle Malkin linked from the NYPost points out that all the Marines in question serve at nearby Stewart AFB.

Think about it, if you’re running in Kerry’s mindset, what better way to play that up that a photo op with Kerry chatting it up with Military types, in a casual situation? What better way to do that than to park your butt at a Wendy’s just outside the base?

Looks like we’ve caught Kerry in another truth twisting session, gang…

Traffic is up at Bithead’s place… in leaps and bounds. In fact, my HPD rate has doubled in the last week. I actually had to check my code to make sure I’d not put the sitemeter in twice, or something. I hadn’t, of course.

At first, I thought it might be the convention spurring interest. This would seem to be confirmed by the arctiles that are being pulled up by Google, Dogpile and so on… The most popular search when coming in here is “Kerry Lies”. And, my hit rates always spike some during an election period. (That’s a trend I’ve noted ever since my first site went up over at Servtech.com, 10 years ago)

But on looking closer, it looks to me like I’m not dealing with new people as much as I’m seeing a lot of repeat hits… people who come every single day, sometimes twice per day. Many are fellow bloggers, which frankly is the bigger thrill for my money… I consider that a sign of respect.. and to get that from a group of people that I have respect for is, well, quite a kick. It looks like my plan for a slow steady run-up in readership for this blog is working… everything according to plan.

And, look… I recognize that my views won’t turn everyone on. But, I don’t really care about that, frankly. In my view, that’s what Blogdom is about… you’re here because, even if you don’t agree, my views, and what links I find that trip my trigger.. those things are making interesting reading for you, simply because they ARE fairly unique.

BTW, I do want to tell you, I’ve spoken with Dale Franks and will be looking at setting up a blog on his servers, in a domain of my own soon. I want to thank Dale and the rest of the Q&O crew for taking the time to help me out in this effort. Mid-fall seems to be about the time the finacial picture will be able to deal with it. I’m still toying with what software to use. I’m open to suggestions from fellow bloggers on what to use. E-mail icon gets you to my mailbox. Similarly, readers who have ideas about what they want to see are welcome to chime in. Just be aware, I may or may not take your suggestions.

Oh… I also want to tell you I’ve had a bit of an issue moving articles off my old website. I’ve got all the Bits Bits stuff moved off my Roadrunner addressing, to bitsbits.blogspot.com… but I’ve copies of the old articles up on the roadrunner site, all in their old locations. This is due to so much of my hitcount coming from google searches which end up pointing at the RR addresses. I’m reluctant to shut off the old addresses before Google crawls the new ones.

I think what I’m going to have to do is set up redirection pages on each web page still on Roadrunner, directing the user to the new location over at Blogspot. That’ll take time, of course. The Latest Bit link has just such a re-direction in place, and it seems to be working OK. I’ll update you as that process progresses.

As always thanks for being a Bithead’s Place reader!!

Local10.com – News – Woman’s Dying Wish: Bush Defeated: “Woman’s Dying Wish: Bush Defeated”

That was her wish? Gee, that’s odd… exactly the same could be said about all those car bombers in Iraq, as well as the guys flying the planes into the WTC.

And yes, gang… I do equate the two.

Michelle Malkin points up an article in the NYT Post yesterday…

“July 31, 2004 — SCRANTON, Pa. — John Kerry’s heavily hyped cross-country bus tour stumbled out of the blocks yesterday, as a group of Marines publicly dissed the Vietnam War hero in the middle of a crowded restaurant.
Kerry was treating running mate Sen. John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, to a Wendy’s lunch in Newburgh, N.Y., for their 27th wedding anniversary — an Edwards family tradition — when the candidate approached four Marines and asked them questions.

The Marines — two in uniform and two off-duty — were polite but curt while chatting with Kerry, answering most of his questions with a “yes, sir” or “no, sir.”

But they turned downright nasty after the Massachusetts senator thanked them “for their service” and left.

“He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands,” one Marine said, adding, “I’m 100 percent against [him].”

So, why on earth not tell him this to his face?  It’s about time Americans got up to him, got in his face and told him what they really think of him… and leave the false politeness in the trash; the time for it is long past. It only serves to empower Kerry and his ilk. Kerry supporters have made ‘in your face’ the coin of the realm. I suggest it’s time they started PAYING in that coin.

CQ has more comments on this event, along with a few interesting links to other comments.

Update:

Sungg Harbor does too.

“You, senator, are the biggest lying sack of shit it has ever been my displeasure to meet” “The dishonor you brought to all vets who served during Vietnam shall forever call one word to mind when ever I hear your name…and that word is TRAITOR!” “Now if you will excuse me I would like to finish my meal with my fellow comrades in arms…you might not understand wanting to eat and be with those to whom you would trust your back to.” “But I do and so do they…Good day Asshole”

(Chuckle!) Ouch… I’d say offhand he shares my thought on the matter.
I’m curious how that works when one is in uniform, as both a legal and a practical matter. Could such a comment be held against him? Discuss in comments, please. Oh, and read Snugg Harbor’s link… the Cheif sugegsts there might be some rather unique punishments in order for such an “offense”.

Yahoo! News – Tyson’s Comeback Crushed by Williams

“LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The end came with the shocking suddenness of many Mike Tyson fights. First, the flurry of devastating punches, then a fighter falling bleeding to the canvas. Even more shocking was that fighter was Tyson himself.

A comeback born out of financial desperation didn’t go past the fourth round Friday night when an unheralded British heavyweight by the name of Danny Williams knocked Tyson out with a savagery that may have once and for all exposed Tyson as a shot fighter. ”

Suits me. The guy was a punk, IS a punk and will always BE a punk.
Prediction: We’ll next see Tyson as he’s being carted back to Jail. There is, after all, still that matter of a 38 million dollar debt brought on by a ‘bling-bling’ spree… debt he will never now be able to repay, given he won’t be able to get a good bar room brawl going, much less people paying to see him fight.

Only one group of people deserve any sympathy out of all of this; his creditors.
Yes, I know professional boxing was damaged by Tyson. It’s their own fault for not clamping down on this moron, when they had the chance. Are you listening, MLB, NBA and NFL?

Al Bawaba is confirming a report I posted here yesterday:

“Reports in Kuwait on Friday said a man assumed to be Al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi has been captured near the Syrian border.”

It’d still be interesting to get some western confirmation, OR denial.
I’m seeing neither.

Thomas Oliphant, at the Boston Globe:

“Kerry essentially blew an opportunity ”

Blogger This Liberal

“All in all, Kerry didn’t do what he needed to. He is still likely get a bounce, but it’ll be gone fast.”

Newly Minted Liberal Andrew Sullivan:

“…what an arrogant jerk.”

The New Republic’s Larry Kaplan, basicly fisks the entire speech, as well as Kerry himself.

I’ve gone over hundreds of leftist reactions, and they all end up basicly the same; Kerry fell well short of their expectations. The conclusion is inescapable… the Democrats coming away from their convention are more divided now than 4 days ago when the convention kicked off.

The sense of gloom and doom on that side of the street is palpable.

Instapundit notes Tom Junod in Esquire, this morning, admitting an undercurent I’ve started to detect in mainstream Democrats of late… and I don’t mean the “Bush is Hitler” crowd… I mean the people the Democratic Party is fast leaving behind them. Junod’s an unabashed leftist, but unlike most of them these days, he’s willng to give voice to what I think a Lot of Democrats… no… MOST Democrats are thinking:

“I didn’t know anything about the cadet. About President George W. Bush, though, I felt the satisfaction of absolute certainty, and so uttered the words as essential to my morning as my cup of Kenyan and my dose of high-minded outrage on the editorial page of the Times : “What an asshole.” . . .

Then I read the text of the speech he gave and was thrown from one kind of certainty—the comfortable kind—into another. He was speaking, as he always does, of the moral underpinnings of our mission in Iraq. He was comparing, as he always does, the challenge that we face, in the evil of global terrorism, to the challenge our fathers and grandfathers faced, in the evil of fascism. He was insisting, as he always does, that the evil of global terrorism is exactly that, an evil—one of almost transcendent dimension that quite simply must be met, lest we be remembered for not meeting it . . . lest we allow it to be our judge. I agreed with most of what he said, as I often do when he’s defining matters of principle. No, more than that, I thought that he was defining principles that desperately needed defining, with a clarity that those of my own political stripe demonstrate only when they’re decrying either his policies or his character.

As easy as it is to say that we can’t abide the president because of the gulf between what he espouses and what he actually does , what haunts me is the possibility that we can’t abide him because of us…because of the gulf between his will and our willingness.

What haunts me is the possibility that we have become so accustomed to ambiguity and inaction in the face of evil that we find his call for decisive action an insult to our sense of nuance and proportion.”

He’s hit it, freinds. He has hit on an unmoving truth, here, and one the far left has denied… and I think the DNC leadership with it. Who also, it seems, have gotten used to inaction and ambiguity, and after having had it for so long, perfer it.

Says Junod:

..The people who dislike George W. Bush have convinced themselves that opposition to his presidency is the most compelling moral issue of the day. Well, it’s not. The most compelling moral issue of the day is exactly what he says it is,..

…The reason he will be difficult to unseat in November—no matter what his approval ratings are in the summer—is that his opponents operate out of the moral certainty that he is the bad guy and needs to be replaced, while he operates out of the moral certainty that terrorists are the bad guys and need to be defeated. The first will always sound merely convenient when compared with the second. Worse, the gulf between the two kinds of certainty lends credence to the conservative notion that liberals have settled for the conviction that Bush is distasteful as a substitute for conviction—because it’s easier than conviction….

What he’s suggesting as a possibility, here is exactly what I’ve been firmly saying for a year now; All the Democrats have is stubborness and hatred to run on.

Well… Welcome to the adult world, kids.

It’s dangerous out here, and we can’t deal with it by hiding, anymore. In fact, it’s our hiding and thinking we can have peace by simply being inactive, that caused our problems in the first place. Unfortunately for the Democrats, the election of John Kerry would demonstrably lead us back to that inaction and ambiguity.