POLITICIANS NEED TO THINK BEFORE THEY SPEAK

Why don't politicians think before they speak..... or act, for that matter? Seems to be happening a lot lately and, to be fair, in both parties. Are they too stupid to realize that being in the public eye exposes them to greater scrutiny and judgment, or are they just too darn arrogant to believe that anyone will hold them to a higher standard (befitting their office) simply because they happen to be who they are.

John Kerry finally (albeit begrudgingly) apologized for his idiotic remark denigrating the intelligence of our troops, but only after being pressured by the White House and fellow Democrats to do so. Had the Dems not piped in as well, he would have dug in his heels and refused. As it is, it took him a while to acquiesce and even then it was far from an apology. In his supreme arrogance he blamed the listener (and primarily those offended by it) for misunderstanding his intentions. As with most Dems, blame always has to be placed elsewhere.

And the obvious reason the Dems that did join forces with the White House in demanding an apology was out of fear that this could turn off those undecideds who might possibly vote Democratic on November 7th. And we know how desperately they want the majority.

Then Howard Dean comes along and defends Kerry calling what Kerry himself claimed was a "botched joke": a "blooper". Blooper, joke .. I call it stupidity, and Dean and Kerry: 2 peas in a pod. Regardless of one's stance on the war in Iraq, supporting the troops has always been something everyone has agreed upon. So when Kerry, at a campaign event at Pasadena City College for gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, says: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq" , our troops deserve a sincere apology. Unfortunately Kerry, in all his arrogance, is incapable of that.

And Kerry was the man half the U.S. population wanted as President!

As for Florida Rep. Ralph Arza-R, he claims he was drunk when he left some obscenity filled messages (along with racial slurs referencing Miami-Dade School Superintendent, Rudy Crew, who is black) on fellow Republican Rep. Gus Barreiro's voicemail . Barreiro, who like Arza is Hispanic, apparently filed a complaint which then resulted in calls for his resignation. He has complied and since resigned, although he claims he never used a racial epithet when referring to Crew. There is also talk about witness tampering, but I'm not sure of the details.

Drunk or not, there are consequences for our actions and maybe our politicians will start thinking, for a change. Yeah, right!