Dropping Smart Bombs

To award such a dubious distinction as the Genius of the Week every Friday is to toil in the regular abundance of idiocy in our modern world. But then every once in a very long while a perfect storm delivers the entire story under a perfect headline, literally.

Think back to early 2004 when a Senator named John Kerry came to the national stage as the Democratic hopeful to defeat sitting president George W. Bush. Kerry was a decorated war veteran. He was contemplative, thoughtful, and experienced. He could point to foreign countries on a map. He was the antithesis of Bush.

But he bungled that one, didn't he? And today, with only days to the mid-term elections, Kerry's back! Again letting the Grand Old Party kick him around like a ragdoll. Yes, in trying to make a joke about Bush's failed policy in Iraq, Kerry insulted the troops. Great move, wiseguy.

Easily that alone warrants a GOW award, but there actually came a real spark of true mental agility by those wily headline writers at the New York Post. Besides their affinity for 'putting' random 'words' in quotes, they've got talent. Check this.

So the soldiers make the banner that reads: "HALP US JON CARRY-WE R STUCK HEAR N IRAK." Fine. Somewhat funny, but nothing compared to the post headline, pictured at right, that ran in a spread the next day:

GIs DROP SMART BOMB ON KERRY

Genius.

Comments

[Ellen]

Everyone quick, JUMP IN THE HALLOWEEN PARADE WITH YOUR ARMS OUT AHEAD OF YOU AND WALK IN A TRANCE WHILE CHANTING.........."IT WAS ONLY A JOKE".
Only fools and those trapped in the African noonday sun are gullible to the spin of "kerry's bungled joke". If you really believe the bs, supply the punch line to the end of the sentence that ends with "stuck in Iraq". A typed entry on the web with words carefully chosen from a "focus group" does not an apology make. kerry is no leader, he is better termed a wind sock. A nickel amongst dimes fooled the ketsup heiress.

kerry is a certifiable and effite jiggello. just ask her.

[sammy]

Suppose Kerry did not intend to insult every American soldier or civilian who has served or is serving or will serve in Iraq. Suppose he really did intend only a jibe at George W. Bush's intellect - and unfortunately botched it.

If true, that would mean that while even the Dixie Chicks can deliver an anti-Bush jeer without tripping over their own tongues, Senator Genius cannot even manage to unburden himself of the single most trite observation in the whole Democratic handbook without stumbling into the single most self-destructive gaffe of campaign 2006. Maybe he should be more cautious about disparaging the intelligence of others ...