Dems "Support" Our Troops

Blueblood "Swiftboat" Kerry in fine style. Video here, via Michelle Malkin. More here and here.

UPDATE: American Legion demands Kerry apologize. Amvets calls on Senator to apologize to troops.

UPDATE: Hugh Hewitt on media anti-military bias, confirmed by some ABC execs. Kerry non-apology video via RedState. And Sen. John McCain (update on earlier Powerline link):

Senator Kerry owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education. Americans from all backgrounds, well off and less fortunate, with high school diplomas and graduate degrees, take seriously their duty to our country, and risk their lives today to defend the rest of us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They all deserve our respect and deepest gratitude for their service. The suggestion that only the least educated Americans would agree to serve in the military and fight in Iraq, is an insult to every soldier serving in combat, and should deeply offend any American with an ounce of appreciation for what they suffer and risk so that the rest of us can sleep more comfortably at night. Without them, we wouldn't live in a country where people securely possess all their God-given rights, including the right to express insensitive, ill-considered and uninformed remarks.

UPDATE:Sen. Bill Frist. Hat tip Allahpundit at Hot Air.

While America’s servicemen and women are fighting and dying against our adversaries in the global War on Terror, John Kerry has the gall to criticize their intelligence, their education, and their motivation for service. His comments represent the absolute worst in Democrat scare tactics and present a grave insult to our all-volunteer Armed Forces.

Senator Kerry clearly owes an apology to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines serving in Iraq. But Mr. Kerry has refused to do so. Instead, he’s claiming that Republicans are “desperately distorting” his comments. Watch the video yourself … it is perfectly clear what Mr. Kerry said … what’s unclear is whether Mr. Kerry ever means what he says. Perhaps he was against his comments before he actually made them.

So what does Tammy have to say?

UPDATE: Still no statement on Duckworth's site. Meanwhile, the Trib's DC blog The Swamp has some pithy commentary, "Kerry Digs a Deeper Hole":

But here’s the problem. In his moment of high dudgeon, he may have made matters worse. It probably wasn’t a good idea to accuse everyone who saw the video of his campaign appearance and thought he was disparaging the IQ of U.S. troops of being “crazy.”.....

You don’t have to be a right-wing radio talk show host to look at the video from Kerry’s campaign appearance yesterday and believe that he was indeed implying that those serving in Iraq are academic losers, there because they had no other choices.

It’s a safe guess that millions of Americans, including many Democrats, who saw the initial Kerry video have been shaking their collective heads all day wondering what was on his mind.....

John Green, a political scientist and director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute at the University of Akron, has a good summation of the dynamic on this between the two adversaries.

"Sen. Kerry has a history of saying unfortunate things and then not being able to explain them, because they are inexplicable,'' Green said.