John Kerry’s Startlingly Dishonest Criticism Of John Boehner

by John Hawkins | September 14, 2007 8:30 am

Over at the HuffPo, John Kerry is pulling out all the stops to mislead people about something John Boehner said[1],

Just yesterday on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked John Boehner, the leader of the GOP in the House, this question (video on Horse’s Mouth):

“The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?”

And Mr. Boehner responded:

“The investment that we’re making today will be a small price if we’re able to stop al Qaeda here, if we’re able to stabilize the Middle East, it’s not only going to be a small price for the near future, but think about the future for our kids and their kids.”

What a stunningly cavalier statement about the lives of the young men and women who serve our country.

That would be a very cavalier statement — if John Kerry hadn’t left off half the question in order to trick people into thinking that John Boehner was talking about the soldiers.

Here’s the full question John Boehner was asked,

How much longer will U.S. taxpayers have to shell out $2 billion a week or $3 billion a week as some now are suggesting the cost is going to endure? The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?

Predictably, dishonest left-wing bloggers have been bending over backwards to take what Boehner said out of context, just like John Kerry, but it’s very obvious that Boehner was responding to the first part of Blitzer’s question.

In fact, for whatever it’s worth, Boehner’s staff has even said that was what he was referring to,

Wolf asked about the money spent in Iraq, and that’s what Mr. Boehner was referring to when he said our troops’ efforts are critical for the safety and security of our country. To attempt to put a dollar figure on what we are doing in Iraq does a disservice to the work our troops are doing to make our children and theirs safer.”

This is the same old, same old from the Left. They take a comment from a conservative way out of context, none of them have enough integrity or guts to point out the lie, the mainstream media amplifies it, and the conservative is left trying to defend himself from a completely manufactured controversy while conservatives stay mum, noncommittal, or even agree with the Left’s ridiculous assertions to try to show that they have a lot more integrity than the Left.

However, unlike John Kerry and the other slime merchants who are spreading this story, Boehner said nothing wrong and he has nothing to apologize for. Hopefully, more conservatives will step up and say that.