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FIMM
isn't the only one sticking his foot in his mouth these
days! Politicians do it all the time and Senator
John Kerry is no exception. Well, maybe he is! He
stuck both feet in and then refused to take them out! Senator
Kerry was in California this week where he told students at
Pasadena City College to make the most of their education by
saying, "you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to
be smart, you can do well...And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq,"
Uh...Senator?
That didn't sound so nice. Care to apologize for any hurt
feelings you might have caused our highly trained military (and their
families) who are overseas serving our country with honor? The
Senator refused to apologize for, what he said was, a joke about the
President. "If anyone owes our troops an apology it's the
President." And the Senator went on to Bush Bash ad nausium
trying to take the focus off his comment. Not a good tactic to
employ unless you have already cleared yourself with those you have
offended. If
you say something and it is misinterpreted by many as an issue you
have been known to take in the past, it would be wise to apologize for
any misunderstanding to those you had not intended to offend.
Kerry refused to apologize for anything for two days! Further,
when we misspeak, our record is what people use
to interpret our true meaning. If you have always fought for
lower taxes and a comment comes out of your mouth that sounds like you
are for higher taxes most people would think back to what you had
said in the past and conclude that you might have misspoke..you might
have said "higher" when you meant "lower". If you have
always bashed the military and you make a comment that is interpreted
as the military are not very bright, most people are going to go back
to your record and conclude that this is what you really mean. Pressure from the Democratic Party forced the Senator's hand and he eventually issued this statement on his website: "As
a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to
their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and
never intended to refer to any troop." He also said: "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."
If
you say you apologize for offending someone, it requires an explanation
of what you really meant to say in order for the apology to carry any
weight with those you have offended. Kerry said his joke was a
stab at the President and not the troops.
How's that Senator? How else could we interpret your comments? "you
study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart,
you can do well...And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," -John Kerry
From JoJo's Purple Crayon... It isn't enough to KNOW God's Word...
We must be able to ARTICULATE it!
Talk is cheap. Effective communication skills are priceless!
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Nov. 2, 2006 - But wait...there's more!