Here I said “last word,” and then I read the dishonest AP attempt to back up Kerry’s absurd explanation for his slur against the troops:

Kerry opened his speech at Pasadena City College with several one-liners, saying at one point that Bush had lived in Texas but now "lives in a state of denial."

He then 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 AP wants its readers to think that offensive remark immediately followed his joke about President Bush. In actuality, the remark came much later, not in the midst of jest, but smack in the middle of Kerry making serious observations about the importance of education, and the dangers of not taking it seriously enough.

The AP then goes on to regurgitate Kerry’s unapologetic rant about Republican dirty tricks almost in its entirety, while slipping a sentence or two about Press Spokesman Tony Snow or Republicans “sensing opportunity for their side.”

Otherwise? They slander the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and underscore how Kerry’s little tantrum was to show that “he’s not going to be pushed around this time.”

What a whiney, dishonest affair. The AP, Kerry, take your pick.