"At issue are remarks the Massachusetts Democrat made on Monday before a college audience in California in which he said he was joking that if people don't study and work hard they could end up getting "stuck in Iraq." He said it was a "botched joke" that was referring to President Bush."

It wasn't a bad joke; it's that he told it wrong -- he doesn't have a good sense for the comic, and he should know that by now (wouldn't a good student learn?)

But if Kerry's really going to be charged with being unpatriotic (and for crying outloud, he's a distinguished veteran, as were many of his supporters in the last election), you'll have to charge us too:

Ds currently attends kindergarten at a school that provides narratives and keeps binders of progress, but no grades. I unthinkingly remarked in front of him that I was concerned about his transition to a school that issues grades in the first.

Since his dad once jokingly posted my grad school grade report on the 'fridge, he knows that "A"s are "really good."

So he said, "I hope I get A's. But what if I get a C?"

I answered, "One C? Nothing, really. All C's and D's? You could be president."

That, I think, is what John Kerry meant. Oh, and it's funny and awful, because it's true.