After my initial post on John Kerry yesterday I received a few emails from left-leaners who said that it was quite clear to them Kerry was trying to make a joke about President Bush. I watched the video twice and it never occurred to me that was what Kerry was trying to do until he came out at the press conference yesterday afternoon and said so.

I went back and watched the video again and I have to say: given the limited context we have, it's a very close call. I tend to believe John Kerry is not so dumb he would publicly insult the troops. Then again, it may have been an inadvertent slip.

But even if you take Kerry at his word that he simply "botched" a joke, he should still apologize. Because by saying he "botched" it, Kerry is admitting he could have been more clear. And if he could have been more clear, then reasonable people can come to different conclusions about what he said and what he meant - including members of the U.S. military and their families. That's why Kerry's "this is a Rove/GOP/rightwing hit job" tantrum is so patently absurd.

Think about it this way: If I went out in public and told the one about "the Jew, the Catholic, and the atheist" but left out the part about the the Catholic and the atheist, wouldn't it be reaonable to expect people might misinterpret my joke as being anti-Semitic?

Obviously, the proper thing to do would be to apologize, not to go out and give some unhinged harangue saying "I apologize to no one," calling all those who might be offended by my failed joke "crazy" for not understanding exactly what I was trying to say, and screeching about some vast conspiracy out to try and twist my words.

If John Kerry had been more clear with what he says he meant to say, this wouldn't be a story. If John Kerry had been less arrogant, it wouldn't have erupted into a potentially damaging firestorm six days before the election.

UPDATE: A reader emails this link from Think Progress pointing out that Kerry already apologized on the Imus show this morning, saying: " I said it was a botched joke, of course I'm sorry about a botched joke." I dunno. On a scale of 1 to 10 - with a "ten" being a perfectly sincere, direct expression of remorse and a "one" being a totally insincere expression filled with weasely words meant to deflect responsibility, I'd say Kerry's effort ranks about a two and a half.