Kerry Finally Apologizes
Sen. John Kerry finally apologized. It’s about time:
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.
Don Imus gets the quote of the day for telling Kerry, “Oh, I know what you meant. But, I mean, God, just stop it, I’m begging you.” [I know I already have one; publisher's perogative.]
He could have saved himself a lot ot grief had he said this earlier. I wonder which (if any) had more effect: this, or Harold Ford, Claire McCaskill, John Tester, and Ben Cardin all asking Kerry to apologize?
This pretty much ends this story for me. Kerry apologized, and that’s what his critics wanted. ‘Nuff said. If the GOP keeps hammering on Kerry it would be beating on a dead horse and could “boomerang” against them. With the Republicans getting antsy over their impending losses I won’t be shocked if they overreach.
UPDATE: James Joyner writes,
John Kerry is sorry that you (like President Bush and/or our troops in Iraq) are too stupid to understand him and, to the extent that you took his words literally and were thus stupidly offended, he apologizes.
Jay at Stop the ACLU link to a lot of people who aren’t accepting Kerry’s apology. They should listen to the Anchoress that “it is probably all Kerry is ever going to be capable of.”
