This is a tempest in a chamber pot and some folks are trying to turn it into some kind of anti-Kerry scandal. Time for a little fact-check here. Speaking to the Pennsylvania delegation at the state house in Boston, Teresa Heinz Kerry came out against hate politics, and said:

"We need to turn back some of the creeping, un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics."

"My prayers for you, for me, for the country, for the world, are that we keep this at a high level, with dignity, with respect and with a great idealism and courage that took our forefathers to build this great nation."

Afterward, Pittsburgh Tribune Review reporter Colin McNickle said she accused the Bush administration of "un-American activity." The words "un-American activity, in the aftermath of the HUAC and McCarthy era—and still—carry a much heavier emotional load than "un-American traits," which is what Teresa did say. She told McNickle, "That's not what I said." When he persisted, she said that he was trying to put words in her mouth and told him to "shove it."

Even if she had said "un-American activities, considering the way the Bush administration has been ignoring the Constitution and Bill of Rights, it would not be difficult to build a case that she was exactly right.

And after checking several sources and watching the video of the exchange, that, folks, is what really happened. Some people out there (guess who?) are grabbing at straws. But then, what else do they have?

Time to turn our attention to more serious issues.

Don Firth