Not a Joking Matter

Senator John Kerry has stooped to a new low, making a joke in exceptionally poor taste.

U.S. Sen. John Kerry must have been channeling his inner Letterman yesterday.

The Bay State senator was telling a group of business and civic leaders in town at his invitation about the “bizarre’’ tale of how South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford had “disappeared for four days’’ and claimed to be hiking along the Appalachian Trail, but no one was really certain of his whereabouts.

“Too bad,” Kerry said, “if a governor had to go missing it couldn’t have been the governor of Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin.”

Excuse me, Senator…since when is person going missing a joking matter? Political rival or not, that kind of joke is inexcusable, and shameful to come from the mouth of a United States Senator. Would you still be joking if the story of Governor Sanford turned out worse?

I’m sure Senator Kerry wouldn’t be laughing if someone joked “too bad it couldn’t have been the other Senator from Massachusetts with the brain tumor,” so perhaps he ought think twice about joking about such serious matters.

I hope we get something resembling an apology from Senator Kerry. Until such time, I hope Governor Sarah Palin knows that the rest of us in the Commonwealth, at least, those of us with some class, apologize for the behavior of our junior Senator.