The Cautious, Thoughtful Mr. Kerry

We been abused with story after story about how Kerry takes his time, making sure he gets it right.

So how is it that so many howlers escape his lips?

There was that secret, massive reserve call up he had discovered - a call up that had been scheduled for months.

There was the secret plan to reinstate the draft, that turned out to be bunk.

There were his gratuitous insults directed a the Iraqi Prime Minister.

And now, he has repeated an urban legend about the "firing" of Gen. Eric Shinseki.

John Kerry in a press conference last week repeated his accusation that Gen. Eric Shinseki was "forced out" as U.S. Army chief of staff because he wanted more troops for Iraq. The trouble is that the Democratic presidential nominee was spreading an urban myth. The bigger trouble is that it was no isolated incident.

Sen. Kerry last week also said the Bush administration may push reinstatement of the military draft, when in fact that idea comes only from anti-war Democrats. At the same time, he said retired Gen. Tommy Franks complained that Iraq was draining troops from Afghanistan, when the truth is he never did. Over a week earlier, Kerry blamed Bush for higher Medicare premiums when in fact they are mandated by law (one that Kerry voted for).