I’m Sorry You Didn’t Understand My Genius, Part 37B

John Kerry has issued an apology, a day after insisting he would never apologize for his joke about George Bush (if you can read his mind) or American troops (if you quote him accurately). Here’s the statement in its entirety:

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.

Well, at least he said something, but this is hardly an expression of regret. His statement wasn’t misinterpreted; even he admits that he issued a “poorly stated joke”, which means Kerry failed to either write it clearly or read it properly. It’s the non-apology apology that politicians have accustomed themselves to making when they’ve thoroughly embarrassed their colleagues — and Democrats today made their displeasure known.
As it is, I’m inclined to believe that he meant to slam Bush, but screwed up the words. However, the words as he delivered them communicated something completely different, and he still won’t acknowledge his responsibility for his own failure. Other politicians would likely have received some benefit of the doubt, but Kerry’s track record of criticism for military personnel under fire added to the perception that he was at it again, another point Kerry refuses to acknowledge.
He can’t have it both ways. He can’t argue that Republicans are intellectually inferior and then blame them for not reading his mind. He can’t admit he botched the joke and then get mad when his words get interpreted in some manner other than he intended. Kerry’s insistence that the entire episode was nothing more than a Republican smear campaign ignores that no one paid much attention to him in this election cycle, and that a grand conspiracy against Democrats this year would have been pretty unlikely to target a Senator who isn’t running for re-election for another two years.
As it is, though, the story’s over. It made for some interesting fireworks, but it won’t do much to move the needle in either direction this year. The only benefit that will come from it is that we can all be spared the specter of another Kerry presidential run in 2008, a benefit that will be enjoyed by both political parties. Republicans will be better served getting back to the economy and national security, and let Kerry huff and puff his way back to oblivion. With only five campaigning days before the election, the GOP has little enough time to push its message.

9 thoughts on “I’m Sorry You Didn’t Understand My Genius, Part 37B”

  1. Jean Fraud Kerry — Still Lovin’ Our Troops — Day 2
    (Updated continually through the day, bumped occasionally); Update: Kerry “Apologizes”

    See previous See also: Some gear for the next Kerry Lied rally“You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you,

  2. VDH on Kerry, and Kerry’s apology

    Victor Davis Hanson skewers Senator Kerry and the rest of the Democratic Party elites’ condescending and contemptuous attitudes toward the military: Kerryism. Here’s the key paragraph: The Democrats should use this occasion to have an autopsy of Kerryi…

  3. John Kerry needs to apologize

    Even my Iraqi friend currently living in the states who hates George Bush thinks you insulted the military:
    Even though I am anti-war, I found Kerry’s remarks were pretty insulting to the US soldiers.
    Comment by Treasure of Baghdad

  4. Kerry Issues Apology

    Somebody finally smacked him hard.
    WASHINGTON – Thrust into the midst of the midterm election campaign, Sen. John Kerry apologized Wednesday to "any service member, family member or American who was offended" by remarks deemed by Re…

  5. Kerry Apologizes Without Apologizing

    BTW. Why does a U.S. Senator have a personal diary on the Daily Kos website that regularly accuses the U.S. military of being mass murderers, calls the president of the United States Bushitler and calls Pope Benedict a Nazi?

  6. A Demand for John Kerry to Resign

    I would like to demand that Senator Kerry resign his position. No (real) apology required. Just resign. You have offended thousands of military personnel and family as well as most Americans, including a large part of your own party. On what grounds?…

  7. The Kerry Mess- Post Mortum

    I think the issue is essentially dead.  We have heard all the apology we will get, I wager.
    I would be more satisfied were it not for two things.
    First, it has to do with his assertion this was a joke.  I can buy that as being plausible,…

  8. Deciphering John Kerry

    Despite the fact that his explanations and apologies ought to clarify things, I remain confused. It apparently takes a more sophisticated mind than mine to figure out John Kerry’s wiggly progress towards truth and reconciliation.

  9. Kerry Fails to Apologize, Lashes out at Bush & GOP

    I’m certainly not the first one to say this, but it’s quite clear that John Kerry has not yet apologized for his remark Monday suggesting that if students didn’t work hard in college, they could end up in the military, “stuck in…

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