Never assume anything

The 2004 presidential campaign carried with it the assumption that John Kerry was always the "brighter, more intellectual" of the two contenders. Of course, grades aren't everything, but this is pretty amazing to me.

In 1999, The New Yorker published a transcript indicating that Bush had received a cumulative score of 77 for his first three years at Yale and a roughly similar average under a non-numerical rating system during his senior year.

Kerry, who graduated two years before Bush, got a cumulative 76 for his four years, according to a transcript that Kerry sent to the Navy when he was applying for officer training school. He received four D's in his freshman year out of 10 courses, but improved his average in later years.

And what exactly did he take, may we ask?

The transcript shows that Kerry's freshman-year average was 71. He scored a 61 in geology, a 63 and 68 in two history classes, and a 69 in political science. His top score was a 79, in another political science course. Another of his strongest efforts, a 77, came in French class.

Ok, so I'll let the geology one go... but the best he could manage was a 79 in a poli sci class?? And this is an aspiring lawyer/politician, mind you. Not to mention that he spent a significant amount of time in France and Switzerland when he was younger, so his French had to have been a little more than adequate. What is this 77 nonsense??

Here's the kicker:

''I always told my Dad that D stood for distinction," Kerry said yesterday in a written response to questions.

Not at Yale it doesn't, my Boston Brahmin friend.