Ain't It the Truth?

Dan K. Thomasson, Scripps Howard News Service:

"Kerry should not be let off the hook easily. ... The senator is enough of a political veteran to have known that his remarks could be easily construed as an attack on those who volunteer for military duty, especially with his history. Even if he meant only to imply that Bush was stupid, he had to have been aware that the president's record at Yale University was better than his. ... Under the circumstances, he should not be making jokes about intellectual acuity."

Mm-hmm.

And while I'm talking about Kerry, liberal and Democratic bloggers, columnists and TV hosts have made it very clear that we should realize that Kerry meant to insult President Bush. So his mistake shouldn't be held against him, because we all know what he meant.

But this brings me back to the Mitt Romney and Tony Snow "tar-baby" incidents. They both meant it as an innocuous reference to a "sticky situation". The term originated in a Brer Rabbit story. But everybody went crazy. So we only judge Democrats based on intent?