NYT Admits Error in Kerry Story

On Thursday the New York Times printed a story that completely mischaracterized the calculated insult John Kerry delivered to American troops serving in Iraq (I'm not buying the "botched joke" canard).

Yesterday, they issued a correction:

Political Memo article yesterday about the fallout for Senator John Kerry over what he called a “botched joke” referred incompletely to the differences between prepared remarks and what he actually said about the Iraq war to students at Pasadena City College in California on Monday. Mr. Kerry not only dropped the word “us,” but he also rephrased his opening sentence extensively and omitted a reference to President Bush. Mr. Kerry’s aides said that the prepared text read: “Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.” What he said: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

The quotes around "botched joke" in the correction seem to indicate that someone at the New York Times isn't buying that one either. If Kerry can't even sell it to the Gray Lady...

Via little green footballs.