Take cover. Get ready for the blast that’s about to sweep through the media. A former presidential candidate said something that can be easily taken out of context and blown up into an absurd controversy by lazy and unethical media whores. Therefore, it will be.

At an economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, John Kerry was asked a question about the U.S. government’s relations with Iran prior to the election of Ahmadinejad. Kerry had the audacity to answer the question honestly and correctly recognizing the reality of Americas place in today’s world diplomacy. Unfortunately, he failed to couch the answer in phraseology that would prevent the misuse of his thoughts. Here is what he said:

“When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don’t advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards, we set a terrible message of duplicity and hypocrisy. So we have a crisis of confidence in the Middle East – in the world, really. I’ve never seen our country as isolated, as much as a sort of international pariah for a number of reasons as it is today.”

Lookout! Incoming! It has already started. This morning Fox News’ Brain Wilson (recently promoted to VP and Washington bureau chief) asked Democratic “strategist”, Bob Beckel, if John Kerry should be calling the U. S. an international pariah. The headline on Foxnews.com is: “Kerry Blasts Foreign Policy, Says U.S. Has Become ‘International Pariah.'”

Never mind the fact that that is neither what Kerry said, nor the obvious intent of his comments. And forget that both surveys of international leaders and populations affirm the accuracy of Kerry’s statement. Fox (the only cable news channel that does not bring you the usual left wing bias), will find this just too juicy a morsel to exploit and too easy to misrepresent.

So be prepared for the Fox-led onslaught condemning these unpatriotic remarks that embolden the terrorists. And all public persons need to be aware of their QQ: Quotation Quotient. That means that you must now vet everything you are contemplating saying in public through a filter to ascertain its QQ. Never say anything that can be edited down to a misrepresentative soundbite.

Update: The echo chamber is beginning to ring in.

Kerry: US A Pariah, Hezbollah Not So Much (Reposted at Newsbusters)
Kerry said nothing about Hezbollah in Davos, despite Dan Riehl’s slanderous headline. He did, however say this last year during the Israel/Lebanon conflict:

“That’s why we must work urgently to achieve a viable and sustainable peace agreement that includes an international force capable of ensuring Israel’s security and Lebanon’s complete territorial sovereignty, the return of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers, and the permanent removal of the threat posed by Hezbollah.”

Kerry rips Bush in front of former Iranian president at Davos
AllahPundit at Hotair is so concerned about the policy of politics ending at the water’s edge that he openly advocates hypocrisy to his own principles. But he also seems to be conceeding that the Democrats are going to win the White House in 2008.

“If that means Gingrich or Giuliani going over to Israel or Australia or Japan when the Democrats are back in the White House and badmouthing the new president’s foreign policy, so be it.”