[John Lenin]

If they notice in Japan it must be obvious.

[JimVT]

Given Mr. Kerry's admittedly aloof New England demeanor, it is almost too easy for Republicans to use his French connections against him.

Yeah...but I'll betcha 'ol JFK can't pronounce "Nuculer".

[widowithfoursons]

I have never heard Kerry speak a word of French. As far as that goes, this could be another Purple Heart story. What if the guy speaks no French at all?

[mewzilla]

I'd like to know what Kerry was saying while he was on the phone to the Frenchies in the months leading up to the war. Inquiring minds want to know...

[bannie]

...Mr. Kerry learned his French, in a Swiss boarding school and at his family's summer vacation home in Brittany.

aaaaah, he certainly is "The Common Man."

[vpintheak]

Kerry is a rich SNOB, and his french speaking is just an extension of that.

[hauerf]

"...turn his knowledge, experience and abilities into something he feels he should apologize for."

Indeed people really should stop attacking John Frenchie Kerry's whimpy French view of America and American commoners. After all, John Frenchie Kerry has much more and far worse stuff for which to apologize than just his snotty French fluency and whimpy French attitude.

[Soundman4x4]

The GOP would benefit by charging that knowing another language should be considered a political liability?

That's just stupid.

[RightFighter]

The president, however, has crafted a self-image as a regular, plain-speaking guy from Texas who picked up Spanish from poor folks along the Mexican border.

This line is hilarious!

[bondjamesbond]

Why is the senator's language ability, which should be a clear plus, so vulnerable to that kind of obtuse ridicule?

The American People recognize that the French see themselves as rivals to the United States in terms of prestige and power. This annoys the American People, who know full well that the French are a bunch of cheese eating surrender monkeys. It further annoys the American People when we can bail the French out of two World Wars at murderous cost, only to have them sneeringly refer to our policies as simplesme when we want to kill terrorists.

If John F'n Kerry spoke Spanish or Portuguese, the American People would have no problem with that.

[kevkrom]

Nobody denigrates the current national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, for speaking Russian, Spanish and, yes, French. Even President George W. Bush has won kudos for his passable Spanish. So it seems both odd and hypocritical when Republicans sneer at Mr. Kerry's French.

The difference is not the fluency, it's the usage. When Bush speaks in Spanish, it's because he's speaking to a Spanish-speaking crowd and trying to conenct with them. Kerry uses his French likewise, but also does it to appear "cultured" -- an elitist bad habit.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" And then there's the issue of where Mr. Kerry learned his French, in a Swiss boarding school and at his family's summer vacation home in Brittany."

The media is too lazy to report that Kerry's mother Rosy, while technically an American citizen- was born in Paris and lived most of her life in France.
Rosy emigrated to the US in 1940, where she married Richard Kerry, an Air Corps pilot she first met when he visited her village in France.
Rosy wrote to her fiancee that America was a country " that she was afraid of coming to."
She remained in the US until 1954, when she and Richard moved back to Europe.
Kerry's mother, aunts, cousins, etc- spoke English with a French accent.
Kerry's paternal grandparents-Ida and Frederick " Kerry " ( nee Kohn ) emigrated to the US from their native Austria in their early 30s. They spoke English like Wolfgang Puck and Arnold.
Kerry's mother and her whole family spoke English with a French accent and his paternal grandparents spoke English with an Austrian accent-but, somehow Kerry thought he was Irish.
Go figure.