Posted 10:50 AM by Robert

EXTRA! EXTRA! Democratic Presidential Hopeful Devoured By Own Sentences!

"We have to diffuse the perception in reality of American occupation. The obligation of the United States government is to rapidly internationalize the effort in Iraq, get the target off of American troops, bring other people, particularly Muslim-speaking and Arab-speaking Muslim troops, into the region. The president clearly doesn't have a plan to do that, and we're paying a price for it.

Senator John Kerry, as quoted by The Guardian

Muslim-speaking?

For that matter, what is one to make of "the perception in reality of American occupation?" Surely some Bush mole tossed that in.

And did Yale-educated Senator Kerry really say "diffuse" (which means to pour out and permit or cause to spread freely) rather than "defuse" (which means to make less harmful, potent, or tense) or was that part just The Guardian at play? On the other hand, since "We have to diffuse [or defuse] the perception in reality of American occupation" does not appear to be an actual English sentence assuming either choice of vocabulary, perhaps the choice doesn't matter.

And, finally, what to make of: "The president clearly doesn't have a plan to do that, and we're paying a price for it?" Well, depending on what "that" turns out to be after the Senator's grammar and vocabulary is unpacked, maybe it's a price worth paying.

He just seems weirder and weirder.

(via Brothers Judd and Tacitus)