I see that the text of the speech with the (rather lame) joke, in the fuller version where Bush was clearly the intended target, was actually released to the press in advance of the speech. So they know perfectly well it was a fluffed line,not an insult.

Fair enough to have a go at Kerry for messing up his lines - after all Bush has come in for a fair bit of that. But trying to make out it was a deliberate insult - that's straight dishonesty.

Nothing new there then.