Oh well. Whatever. Nevermind.
This is a little old but I just saw it and, given the admirable levels of humor involved, I’m going with it anyway:
“There once was a man named Vitter/Who vowed that he wasn’t a quitter/But with stories of women/And all of his sinnin’/He knows his career’s in the — oh, never mind.”
– Senator John Kerry (D-MA) on colleague Senator Vitter (R-LA) (via Political Wire)
Didn't exactly expect this but Senator Kerry has apparently decided that he will not run for President in 2008. It's probably for the best, Senators Edwards, Obama and Clinton are clearly the front-runners right now and there wasn't a lot of room for Senator Kerry to position himself. Senator Kerry has faced much criticism for his campaigning in 2004 but, and I say this with the disclaimer that I worked on that campaign, I think we can all agree that the world would be a better place today if he had won in 2004.
I remain firm in my belief that Senator Kerry would have made a great president, even if he was, at times, not the best campaigner. The guy gets a ton of shit, most of it unfair in my opinion, but I'm glad he'll remain the Senate and continue to do some pretty good things for the American people.
As of 11 am EST the headline stories on MSNBC.com and CNN.com concern Senator Kerry's botched joke attempt yesterday concerning the military and education. Drudge has been screaming about it since yesterday, the cable "news" shows wouldn't shut up about it last night, etc. Despite my best efforts I don't think I can properly come up with the words to describe how pathetic this is. This is, entirely, a Republican driven story. They have nothing of substance to talk about with a week to go before the elections and so they (Republicans) have latched on to Senator Kerry's blunder like a life raft, as if a guy who's not even on the ballot next week's dumb remarks even matter to voters. All that is to be expected, Republicans wouldn't be doing their jobs if they didn't try to push this non-story, but for the "news" media to fall head over heels over themselves to cover this; I can't properly express my contempt and disgust. If ever you wanted an example of news media people pathetically trying to show conservatives/Republicans that they aren't really the "liberal" media, this would be it. Note to MSNBC and CNN, its never going to happen, they will always say you are liberal. Grow some spine and move on.
It's not like there aren't important things out there to talk about. Hey, remember that Middle Eastern country we invaded? There's been some kind of big developments over there recently. Like how about the news that the Iraqi Prime Minister basically told President Bush to call off his siege of Sadr City and the President backed down. U.S. forces were blockading the city in an attempt to rescue a kidnapped U.S. soldier but you can't even find this story, one of actual substance, on the CNN.com headlines. MSNBC.com is no better. And this is, make no mistake, a huge story. Whatever happened to leave no man behind? Andrew Sullivan puts the whole thing in proper perspective here.
As almost always seems to be the case with these vaunted news organizations, when push comes to shove, choose sensationalism over substance. Its pathetic and the public deserves better. Why would any thinking person count on these organizations to provide information? I don't get it. So yeah, with less then a week to go before an election lets talk about Senator Kerry and his humor; thats the stuff that really matters.