1) That the belief will continue that Senator John Kerry claimed that ‘foreign’ leaders were telling him that they wanted him to win, even though the reporter involved is now saying that Kerry had actually said ‘more’ leaders;
(Hat tip: Reader rilkefan)
2) That the belief will continue that President George Bush used actors instead of real firefighters in that one campaign ad, even though Newsweek has made a full retraction;
(Hat tip: Wonkette)
3) That great swaths of people will be ready to endorse #1 and explain away #2, or vice versa;
and
4) That I for one am apparently going to have to start reminding people more often of the ‘reasonably civil’ section of the Posting Rules.
Just to be fair, the context of the Kerry quote suggests that he might well have had “foreign and other leaders” in mind. But I think it’s simply true that a clear majority of leaders of friendly nations would like to see a more internationalist WH, and that quite a few of them explicitly ran on anti-Bush platforms. Anyway, I don’t think the question is of much importance to the US electorate.
If the Bush-Cheney crowd were the ones who said actors were used (as reported in retraction) they deserve the fallout they get – for being stupid if nothing else.
I think most people agree with Kerry either way the quote is stated. Republicans may be angry that he said it but, if they are honest with themselves, they will agree, too. Cheesus Cripes, the rest of the world hates Bush. (I’m not crazy about him, either).
InstaPundit debunks Item #1. Kerry stood by his statement on ‘foreign leaders’. No where does Kerry himself say he was misquoted. And even if he did say ‘more leaders’, it was still an unwise statement.
McClellan is simply taking the next logical step, calling Kerry out by asking him to name names. By refusing to do so, Kerry will then he’ll be called a liar. He painted himself into his own corner. He can’t invoke wine-and-brie party confidentiality with his international friends.