Dumb and dumb

But the effort by President Bush and the Republican chorus to lambaste Kerry for a meaning he didn't intend, and clearly doesn't believe, is equally dumb.

According to a text provided by his office, Kerry intended to skewer Bush as someone who is not "smart," who is "intellectually lazy," and who, as a result, "end[ed] up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq." Even if delivered properly, the jab put Kerry in murky water. When Kerry and Bush were at Yale, neither excelled academically. Also, in 2002, Kerry voted for the Iraq use-of-force resolution while possessing nearly as much information as Bush. And when they competed for the presidency in 2004, Kerry was the clear winner of the debates, but Bush ran a far smarter campaign. So who is Kerry to be lampooning Bush's brainpower?

Especially when he bungled the delivery. The words he said at a rally in California Monday seemed to portray America's fighting men and women, or at least some of them, as intellectually lazy and not smart. Then Kerry compounded the gaffe by refusing to apologize right away, delivering a blustery attack against Bush and his aides. Kerry may still be hurting from the ugly swift-boat campaign of 2004, and from the fact that Bush and many other of his critics were avoiding war duty while he was fighting heroically in Vietnam. But that doesn't make it good strategy to turn the burner up under his own mistake.

Finally, yesterday, Kerry expressed some contrition in the morning and released a statement in the afternoon, saying, "Ipersonally apologize" to anyone who was offended.

Meanwhile, Bush and other Republicans were doing their best to convince Americans that Kerry in fact meant to demean the troops. Bush said Tuesday night that Kerry's remarks were "insulting" and "shameful." On "The Rush Limbaugh Show" yesterday afternoon, Bush assented to Limbaugh's assertion that Kerry thinks of the troops as "basically uneducated rubes."

Kerry knows fighting troops far more intimately than either Bush or Limbaugh. Kerry deserves criticism for stepping on his tongue, and then for refusing to apologize promptly. But suggestions that he was questioning the troops are themselves insulting to the public, and shameful.

With only five days left before mid term elections, Republicans are clearly hoping to capitalize on Kerry's speech, but the impact is hard to gauge. The story does keep the focus on Iraq, and, with 105 Americans dead last month and the Iraqi government uncooperative, Iraq may not help the GOP. Also yesterday, Bush vowed to retain Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for two more years. Many Republicans join Democrats in thinking that this is the dumbest move yet.