I've been bothered by what seemed like an apparent lie by Kerry, but the more I looked at the underlying facts, the more I realized it wasn't all that much of a lie. Just a little error in explaining the timing of the error in the timing, more or less. A cultural misunderstanding which can be easily put to rest. Not even a contradiction, really, despite what some people might think.

So (albeit with a heavy heart), now I am forced to defend Kerry!

Let's start with Kerry's most famous quote to date:

I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it"

But here, (via Tom Maguire) is his explanation of the flub:

It just was a very inarticulate way of saying something, and I had one of those inarticulate moments late in the evening when I was dead tired in the primaries, and I didn't say something very clearly," Mr. Kerry said on the ABC program "Good Morning America."

West Virginia - Huntington, WV - Doors open at 11:00 am
John Kerry will host a Town Hall Meeting with Veterans at the Francis-Booth Experimental Theater at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

But isn't that a little superficial?

After all, as most of us know, no "lie" can be viewed in isolation from the truths which underlie the lie! So, once it is shown that Kerry's statement substantially conforms to the real underlying truth, then it cannot truthfully be a lie, right?

By providing the key underlying facts, Tom Maguire once again proved most helpful:

Many of Mr. Kerry's oldest friends express exasperation at his willingness to drift at times in his campaigns. His tendency to focus best in the crunch is a longtime habit, dating at least to his days as a champion debater at Yale, and one that cannot be explained as a result of mere procrastination or inattention.

"He was so incredibly overcommitted to activities, it was hard getting him together," said Bradford Snell, one of his debate partners in those days. "At 11 or 12 midnight the day before, I'd finally be able to corral him. When his back is up against the wall, the adrenaline starts flowing and he just does phenomenal things. It's a last-minute, rush-type operation."

Obviously, what Kerry meant to say was this:

It just was a very inarticulate way of saying something, and I had one of those inarticulate moments in the middle of the day when I was incredibly overcommitted to activities, not in the crunch, and willing to drift, and I didn't say something very clearly.

Seen in this context, it becomes clear that Kerry was merely putting the explanation into words ordinary people would understand.

To call it lying is a typical example of a mean-spirited, right-wing lie!