Kerry has finally issued one of those political non-apologies ("I am sorry if I was misinterpreted"). When will a politician just say, "I was wrong"?
The Right is still a little frosted at how this was handled. From IBD: "Kerry's gaffe revealed something important about the man and his party. The coverage, likewise, showed influential newspapers rooting for this story to die." See also Patterico's report on the New York Times' flat out misrepresentations.
Jim Geraghty gets taken to task. I suggest that Jim does not take Donald personally…I think you just got a glimpse of the Angry Right. There is a substantial number of members in the Angry Right, but my sense is that they differ from the Angry Left in that what stirs them up is the lack of an aggressive defense against their perception (mostly correct) that the playing field of public debate is stacked against them. So Rush get lambasted for what he supposedly meant, not what he said , while Kerry gets off for what he said he meant, not what he said. Follow that? On the other hand, the Angry Left is much more offensive (in both senses of the word).
Jim's commenter takes the attitude of Mario Loyola of NRO…put the Dems on the spot. Make them take a stand. Quite frankly, in 2006 I agree. The Democrats have made it a campaign mantra NOT to take a stand on anything but being anti-Bush. And Republicans have generally accepted that because they do not want to be perceived as being pro-Bush given the President’s weak poll numbers.
But the Republicans need to get the Democrats on the record: Do you agree with Senator Kerry? Do you favor immediate withdrawal? Do you favor immediate repeal of the Bush tax cuts? Do you favor addressing illegal immigrant in a manner that does not reward law breakers? Do you want to eliminate pork?
I would guess that many conservatives think the Conservative Establishment lacks the backbone to focus on the issues that have kept this country safe and the economy humming along. And sometimes being angry is a good thing.
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