Profiles of Bias in the Media - Jennifer Loven

John Kerry in typical fashion, implied that only stupid people join the military. Here's what he said: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” Now political operatives posing as independent journalists do their best to spin. Take Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press. Let's breakdown her article (my comments are italicized)

White House, Kerry Trade Accusations -- Jennifer Loven, AP

The White House and Sen. John Kerry traded their harshest accusations since the 2004 presidential race on Tuesday, with President Bush accusing the Democrat of troop-bashing and Kerry calling the president's men hacks who are "willing to lie."

Ms. Loven tries to bore you to make it appear as if it is just "politics as usual," so you skip reading. She starts off with Bush to boot as if it some petty fight. If it had been a Republican she would have written: "Senator John Kerry is under fire tonight from veterans organizations for implying that only the uneducated go into the military."

The war of words, tough even for this hard-fought campaign season, came after Kerry told a group of California students on Monday that those unable to navigate the country's education system "get stuck in Iraq."

Unable to navigate the education system? That's a euphamism if I ever heard one. It would have read "Kerry told a group of California students on Monday that if you are smart you succeed other you'll be forced to go to Iraq."

The two parties are searching for any edge amid indications Democrats could take back the House and possibly win control of the Senate in next week's midterm elections. Though neither Bush nor Kerry is on any ballot, the bitterness with which they fought each other as 2004 rivals spilled over as both campaign hard for their parties in a race shaped in large measure by public doubts about the Iraq war.

Again she is trying to downplay it, and make it seem as if typical politics. If it had been a Republican it could have easily read: "Despite Kerry's claims, the all volunteer military is more highly educated that the average American. Every officer in the military is required to have a college degree. 92 percent of all enlistees have high school diplomas, compared with 79 percent of the American population."