Republicans found their voice again this week, and boy is it shrill. It all started when Sen. John Kerry told some college students to “study hard [and] make an effort to be smart… If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” Republicans demanded that Kerry apologize for insulting the troops, but Kerry said he was actually insulting Republicans for getting us stuck in Iraq. Seizing on a pointless excuse to make hay out of the Kerry dustup, Gov. Rick Perry called on Democrat Chris Bell to condemn Kerry for his “demeaning statements.” If Bell doesn’t condemn Kerry’s comments, Perry warned, than it must mean that Bell agrees with Kerry. Consider Bell in agreement that Republicans got us stuck in Iraq.

This article appears in Chris Bell.

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Amy Smith has been writing about Austin policy and politics for over 20 years. She joined The Austin Chronicle in 1996.