Reply #45: You miss the point completely - it doesn't matter

[birdman]

No matter what amount of truth may have been
contained or intended it was still a big mistake
because it was easily converted in damning sound bites.
That's a unforced error and a better politician wouldn't
have made it.

The fact that it's still joked about today shows just how
big a mistake it was. In politics perception is 100
times more important than reality.

A politician who needs the Howler to give tortured explanations
of his statements is a poor politician.