Kerry pulls numbers out of his ass

From Drudge:

Sen. John Kerry claimed this morning on NBC TODAY that 53% of America's children do not graduate from high school -- a claim that raised eyebrows in the NBC control room, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

Kerry made the comments after host Katie Couric asked the former presidential candidate about Bush's State of the Union call to train 70,000 additional teachers in math and science.

COURIC: He wanted to train 70,000 additional teachers in math and science.

KERRY: That's terrific. But 53 percent of our children don't graduate from high school. Kids don't have after-school programs... He didn't ask America to sacrifice anything to achieve great goals and the biggest example is making the tax cut permanent for the wealthiest people in America. The average American struggles to find time to take carry of families, working two or three jobs... It's a disgrace. He did not tell the real state of the union.

Kerry's 53% claim conflicts with a recent press release from the U.S. Census Bureau: "High School Graduation Rates Reach All-Time High"

And the Census Bureau's own website states: 85.9 Percent Of Americans Aged 20-24 Are High School Graduates. (U.S. Census Bureau Website, www.census.gov , Accessed 2/1/06)

You know it's bad when a newsroom full of people that did their damnedest to get Kerry elected look at each other and ask: "What in the hell is this haughty, French-looking toy poodle talking about?" This guy thinks that over half of Americans are high school dropouts, and he wants to be President? Considering that he got 48% of the vote in November 2004, I could see maybe 48% of Americans being high school dropouts, but 53%?

For those of you on the left, the last sentence in the prior paragraph was sarcasm.