My two cents
Unlike I guess every other blogger and their dog I have not yet commented on Kerry's statement.
First off go over to Happy Catholic for some good comic relief on this subject.
I certainly don't buy any of Kerry's excuses or his apology after he said he would not apologize. I have experienced this sort of military sneer first hand in my own life. When I joined the Navy in very liberal Portland, Or the reaction by some was that I must have been forced by a judge or that I didn't have any other job opportunities. My High School electronics teacher who was the quintessential liberal (though so was I at the time) often made comments to me how I was throwing away my life away and that I would be doing nothing but mopping the deck. I also spent six months as a recruiter where my tires were spiked and our office vandalized in Washington state.
I think this attitude is quite prevalent among many liberals. When Richard Belzer appeared on the Bill Mayer show earlier this year they both disparaged the reason people joined the military and Belzer said "They're 19 and 20-year-old kids who couldn't get a job," These statements were welcomed approvingly by the audience, but being a Bill Mayer audience that does not say much. Then there was Donna Shalala who said that "the best and the brightest sons" did not go to Vietnam. Though maybe with John Kerry she had a point.
"I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended."
So I guess now us military types are to stupid to correctly interpret what he said. I guess some of us must be dumb after all to not get the nuance of his statement. Maybe if I studied the French I would get it. A "retired Army guy" at Michelle Malkin's site has the same opinion about this part of the apology.
Maybe those serving in Iraq should feel themselves honored instead. After all he didn't accuse them of cutting off heads and acting like Genghis Khan this time around. He was also slightly nicer than last year when he said "And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women,"
Now that I think of it John Kerry is actually making real progress. Going from calling military personnel beheaders acting like a Mongolian warlord, to people who terrorize women and kids, and finally to just people who lack job opportunities is progress indeed.
Known as 
My question is: how smart can Kerry himself be to become functionally illiterate whenever a papal encyclical is released?
A pro-choice Catholic?
At the foundation of this remark is a belief commonly held by Kerry's kind that ideas should not matter. Ultimately, he cannot apologize for something he believes was basically without substance. You will not ever get an apology from these folks because nothing they think or do is worth noticing in the first place.
And that is THEIR philosophy, not mine.
Everyone who makes a stupid mistake is now claiming 'misinterpretation' of their clearly stupid remarks. Take the first idiot, the 'women=meat' Muslim teacher, and now this one; people are not so stupid as to believe that the statements were not intended.
"...how smart can Kerry himself be to become functionally illiterate whenever a papal encyclical is released?"
You are missing the point here. Kerry (in his own mind) is smarter than the Pope and the Holy Spirit.
The Kerry Gaffe is actually a Democratic plot to avoid winning the election:
The Democrats don't have a plan to solve any of our most pressing problems. So, If they get into power in either/both House and Senate, they're going to have to PERFORM, instead of just gripe.
Being a critic is always easier than being the performer, and there are Democrats that realise the danger in this situation. So, they send out John Kerry to "take one for the team", by saying something dumb, sabotage the election, and they can go on blaming everything on Republicans without actually having to do something.
I sure wish someone would make one of those bumper stickers for Sailors (My Sailor is smarter than John Kerry) If I weren't so inept with computers, I'd do it myself.
This was a slap in the face to my son, who entered the Navy a year after HS graduation, was an Honor Recruit at basic, was "Turbo Pro" from his A school (Seabees) and then volunteered to go to Iraq. He's not there because he's stupid, ill educated, or lacking in options.He is there because he chose to go in hopes of supporting his fellow servicemen and women and to help rebuild.
That is, of course, a very personal response. But I am sure that my son, as special and wonderful as he is, is not alone. Prayers requested for him and all service personnel who are risking their lives daily in the service of others and being denigrated by those who claim to support them.
Here's one for Sailors! I'll be working on one for the Marines soon.
Thank you so very much, Tim!
"I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative".
On the other hand, if you go to school, study hard, and make an effort to be smart, you might also one day speak english so well that you won't split infinitives.