Lame Apology

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.” —John Kerry

This said by and man who almost became, and still hopes to be, president.

The statement which was made to students was apologized for like this.

As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop.

I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.

It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops.

The manner in which the apology was delivered (see blog link) hardly carries the personal force with which the insult was presented. Clearly the presidential candidate cannot be taped admitting that he is a horse's ass.

The spin put out alongside suggested that the statement was meant to be a joke at President Bush's expense. This is admittedly plausible and would be consistent. Why is such a negative politcal intention accepted at face value by the mainstream press?