You know what? I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this whole thing. I'm going to trust that he's telling the truth when he says 'twas a "botched joke." I mean, he isn't the sort of man who can handle stand-up comedy - there are few who can. We knew he was fairly humorless because he proved that during the year 2004.
I'm not going to chide him for messing up his punchline. What I will chide him for is taking so long to finally address it. It took him 24 hours to apologize, something that should have been done immediately, or at least quickly. NBC's Brian Williams said last night that it was the 3rd day of coverage about his remarks.
(If you want to take the time to argue that Kerry's apology is actually a non-apology, fine. Whatever. Waste more time on this if you so desire. As for me, I just don't want to to think about it anymore. )
If Kerry had just made his apology right away instead of dragging his ketchup-covered feet, we would have all moved on by now. Instead, he plodded along and gave us an important life lesson: IF YOU MESS UP, APOLOGIZE FOR IT RIGHT AWAY. DON'T DILLY-DALLY.
You husbands know what I'm talking about...
Any recriminations for the media who decided to spend 3 days on this issue or the partisan hacks who decided to feign ignorance of Kerry's intent?
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think I like your assesement best of all the ones I've seen. Kerry does seem to be a reasonable honest man (as politicians go) and I'm sure he isn't all that fond of GWB, for obvious reasons. For all of the publicity surrounding Kerry's returning medas in the Vietnam era, I also know that he consideres his military service as part of a citizen's patriotic duty.
ReplyDeleteI've been struggling to connect his "joke" with my optimistic belief that most of us are true to our statements most of the time, and your reasoning is helpful. Thanks!
Doug: Little ole me chide the big & bad MSM? You know what good that would do... As for the "partisan hacks," they can be found on both sides of the aisles, and you know that as well.
ReplyDeleteLemming: Thanks.