Who Among Us Does Not Love Windsurfing? [Free Republic mentioned]

The New York Times ^ | September 5, 2004 | Kate Zernike

[Sarastro]

YOU'D think John Kerry could be excused for wanting to spend a summer afternoon on the water.

Instead, David Letterman mocked him for windsurfing instead of campaigning. Jay Leno played the flip-flop card, quipping that even Mr. Kerry's hobby depends on which way the wind blows.

Zell Miller, who could himself be accused of being flip-flopper-in-chief, derided Mr. Kerry's swim trunks as "silly little bicycle pants."

Conservative blogs lumped the windsurfing in with Mr. Kerry's other elite hobbies - skiing, biking, flying between vacation homes. ("He married the all-inclusive package," sneered one posting on freerepublic.com. "EVERYTHING is included.")

Like the helmeted Michael Dukakis peeking out of the tank, or the first George Bush bewildered at the grocery scanner, the photo of Mr. Kerry windsurfing played into the negative stereotype his opponents are trying to play up - in this case, that of the out-of-touch, elitist Massachusetts liberal.

The stereotypes of the sport are unfair - there are lots of plumbers and construction workers windsurfing off Cape Cod and in the lakes of Iowa. (Better put: Who among us doesn't like windsurfing?) "I would have expected it to go over well, the stodgy, overserious guy trying to do something hipper," said Robert J. Thompson, a professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University. "It's not like he was going out having a row with the Harvard crew team."

Still, there was the sense that no one would have mocked Mr. Bush photographed in the same position, even though the two men could have a Zell Miller duel over who has the deeper pedigree. But despite his legacy at Yale and the weekends in Kennebunkport, Me., Mr. Bush manages to pull off the common-man routine without question. Earlier this year when both he and Mr. Kerry were pictured riding top of the line bicycles, and both fell off, Mr. Kerry was the one ridiculed for the expensive bike.

"Often things that they both do still redound to Kerry's disadvantage - the Ivy League education, the biking," said Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter With Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America." Mr. Frank noted that he had just attended a Republican party at the New York Yacht Club, the varnished-wood redoubt of elitism. "But somehow the image of the yacht really clings to Kerry," he said. "Largely because Republicans have made the stereotype so natural. If a liberal drives an S.U.V., it's the car of the elite, if a Republican drives one it's instantly the car of the common man. They have a whole stereotype that they've spent years building."

Professor Thompson confesses that he does not think it has anything to do with windsurfing, or skiing, or even the mansions. After all, no one made fun of John F. Kennedy for all those yachting photos.

"The thing about windsurfing is, there's wind," he explains. "It blows through your hair. John Kerry looks like a guy who could ride in a convertible with the wind rushing through all that hair, but the truth is, his hair just looks goofy when he's out there on that windsurfer. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it just boils down to the hair." Quick, somebody warn Hillary.

[kstewskis]

He married the all-inclusive package. EVERYTHING is included.

87 posted on 07/18/2004 8:22:03 AM PDT by Watery Tart (Kerry is bin Laden's Man/Bush is Mine) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies ]

ATTA GIRL!!!! :)

[Fintan]

"The thing about windsurfing is, there's wind," he explains.

 

"No wonder this guy's one of them there professors!!!"
 

 

[OpusatFR]

"Professor Thompson confesses that he does not think it has anything to do with windsurfing, or skiing, or even the mansions. After all, no one made fun of John F. Kennedy for all those yachting photos."

JFK wasn't a closet socialist. Heck, Kerry isn't even in the closet with that voting record of his over 20 years.

Kerry's nine mansions are not the reason I am not voting for him. I'm not voting for him because he's an out-and-outright fraud.

He got his. NOW, he wants mine! To share with others who would rather have it given to them than work..

Charity in the Christian sense is not collected by the Government at threat of imprisonment for disobeying.

That's Marxist.

[wildwood]

one shudders to think what he looks like wet. bleh....

[Fintan]

"The thing about windsurfing is, there's wind," he explains.

 

"No wonder this guy's one of them there professors!!!"
 

 

[BansheeBill]

Any kite surfers out there? If so, what do you think of the sport? I am SERIOUSLY interested in this.

I have a friend that sells wind surfing, surfing and kite boarding equipment. He says that for around $1500-1800, you can get a decent beginners setup, (kite, lines, harness, board) and you could spend less for used gear. The problem is, that if you tend to go offshore a little bit and the wind changes direction or dies off, you can be stuck, and the boards are a LOT smaller than a windsurfing board and do not offer as much bouyancy, and therefore sitting/lying on the board with the harness, lines and bundled up kite and trying to paddle back to shore, becomes almost impossible (unless you are pretty close to shore). SO, just like Kerry does, add in about $20,000.00-$40,000.00 for the cost of a nice 20 foot Boston Whaler, "chase boat" to pick you up if the wind changes or dies (and yes, I know that an experienced kite boarder could eventually sail back to shore with even a reversal of the original wind direction (it would take some effort), but it would be hard for a beginner.

Most kite boarders stick to beach launches and stay in pretty close to the beach. Kerry seems to favor taking a boat to where the wind and sea conditions are favorable, and then has the boat pick him and his gear up when he is done.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Ha ha. Incredible. I am thinking a few things after reading that.

1. How typical that Kerry fell.

2. If it's as embellished as his other stories, who knows how much of it is true.

3. I always thought that running with the bulls was for idiots.

[PJ-Comix]

The problem is, that if you tend to go offshore a little bit and the wind changes direction or dies off, you can be stuck, and the boards are a LOT smaller than a windsurfing board and do not offer as much bouyancy, and therefore sitting/lying on the board with the harness, lines and bundled up kite and trying to paddle back to shore, becomes almost impossible (unless you are pretty close to shore).

Isn't it possible to get the kite flying from the water?

[Col Freeper]

Good picture.

As I looked at it, it occurred to me that if you "flipped" him around 180 degrees, you could have labeled the picture:

"My campaign is going well, and we expect an easy winnnnnnnnnnnn....."

[cloud8]

"Jeeves rushed right over to make a new cracker for me."

LOL

Jeeves, won't you bring Tamsey a martini. With two olives (it's been such a hard day), very good.

[bray]

If it wasn't for his wife's dead husband, he would be LIVING IN A VAN, DOWN BY THE RIVER!!!

Pray for W and Our Troops

[BansheeBill]

Isn't it possible to get the kite flying from the water?
Yes it is, but for beginners a sudden change in the direction of the wind (say from onshore to offshore) can make getting back to shore kind of difficult, unless you have had some sailing experience, especially windsurfing. I have spent many a day in the 80's at Cape Cod beaches watching friends try to learn windsurfing, and then the wind changed to offshore, and it appreared that they were going to go off to Europe as they could not figure out how to "tack" back and forth against the wind, so they could get back to the beach. Most usually slowly paddled back to the beach with the sail rig partially in the water.

Board sailing with the wind is relatively easy to learn. Learning to sucessfully sail off wind or against the wind is a lot harder. It's pretty much the same with kite boarding. Board sailing (wind surfing) was a big deal for my friends store in the 80's. These days he sells few boards, and sells mostly replacement parts for customers existing rigs. Kite boarding is catching on, but he doesn't think it will get as big as windsurfing was in the 80's.

[PJ-Comix]

Kite boarding is catching on, but he doesn't think it will get as big as windsurfing was in the 80's.

So why did windsurfing decline in popularity?

[Grampa Dave]

[AmericanMade1776]

YOU'D think John Kerry could be excused for wanting to spend a summer afternoon on the water.

Instead of a summer afternoon windsurfing, it is more like John Kerry spent the whole summer spent windsurfing.

[GretchenM]

But despite his legacy at Yale

You know, it's really, really stupid of them to rank on Yale and other Ivy League colleges, considering these universities' place in American society and the number of democrat elites who attended or graduated from them.

The doofs don't seem to realize that they grate on scores of millions of Americans, and not only among the GOP, when they make statements like that.

[Christopher Lincoln]

Yes, I think you're right. The whole point is that Kerry and the liberal establishment see themselves as an elite, superior to the rest of us. Their message to the voters is "We know better than you."

[Watery Tart]

I sneered before I didn't sneer.

Sneer? Since John Flipper Kerry is beneath contempt, I'm pretty sure I was going for humor there -- it was quite a funny thread, IIRC. (Jayson, is that you?)

I pretty much save my sneers for trolls from DiminutiveUnderparts these days, anyway -- it's more fun.

---

OK, my tagline (stolen from Howie Carr) is pretty sneery....

[The Scourge of Yazid]

Most of my best tag-lines are plagiarized from other people.

(Heists "Watery Tart's" tag-line. Runs over to comment, replaces "Watery Tart" with "The Scourge of Yazid.")

[Tamzee]

I agree... your comment wasn't sneery. Obviously that NYT journalist doesn't spend much time trolling here or they'd have seen very sneery ;-)

It's the law of NYT, though, whenever they stoop to mentioning a right-winger they will always mischaracterize what they said.