From an Associated Press article on Sen. John Kerry's recent idiocy:

One thing the episode does show, says a prominent analyst of political communication, is that more than ever, politicians need to listen to themselves while speaking, and catch remarks that could be misconstrued. Call it self-editing, or self-monitoring _ Kerry was not doing that on Monday, says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

"It happens to people who give lots of speeches -- you get tired, and you start to abbreviate," says Jamieson. "It wouldn't be like Kerry to criticize the troops -- it's perfectly plausible that he was trying to joke about Bush." [emphasis added]

OK...I'll post it again.

They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

Or how about this one from an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation" less than one year ago:

"And there is no reason, Bob [Schieffer], 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, breaking sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs," Kerry said Sunday. "Whether you like it or not ... Iraqis should be doing that."

It's not "like Kerry to criticize the troops"? An informed, honest individual wouldn't be able to make such a statement.