Please, Please Don’t Apologize, Senator Kerry

Folks are in an uproar, pro and con, over John Kerry’s careless remark about the uneducated becoming cannon fodder:

"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, you

can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq."

Some pro-military folks, like John McCain want Kerry to apologize. Why bother? This kind of remark can’t be erased with an apology–it’s a clear marker that John Kerry belongs to that class of people who disdain the Average Joe who gets a solid, non-Ivy-League, education and does his bit in the service. JK and friends think those folks (me included) are dopes, rubes, suckers, suitable only to be the Lead, not the Leaders. Think whatever you want, Senator Kerry, but don’t forget that we rubes expressed our opinion of your opinions pretty strongly back in 2004–a$$hole.

Update (31 October): Wretchard weighs in.

Update (1 November): Soldiers. You can’t take them anywhere and expect them to behave.