The distinction is an important one, since Kerry - now in full damage control mode over charges he fabricated parts of his war record - continues to maintain that the White House is behind the criticism and is demanding that Bush personally call off the dogs.

But if any apologies are in order they should start with Kerry, who has tried to smear Bush in a way that neither Bush, nor anyone else associated with the Bush Cheney campaign, has dared to even try.

Here's Kerry during an April 26, 2004 appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America" complaining about a report questioning which medals he threw away during a 1971 anti-war demonstration:

"This comes from a president and a Republican party that can't even answer whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard. I'm not going to stand for it," the top Democrat told GMA's Charlie Gibson.

In case anybody missed his Bush smear, Kerry repeated it two more times during the same interview:

"The Republicans are running $10 million this week to attack my credentials on defense. This comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the National Guard. . . ."

Here's Kerry's third attempt to slime Bush's Guard service in less than ten minutes:

"George Bush has yet to explain to America whether or not, and tell the truth, about whether he showed up for duty. I'm not going to get attacked on something that I did, that is a matter of record, that the press saw, that I did in front of the entire nation, and everyone then understood."

And it's not as if Kerry was having a bad day and simply flew off the handle without thinking. Instead, Kerry's April 26 attack on Bush's Guard service echoed similar smears by the candidate only weeks earlier.

Here's Kerry on Feb. 8, arguing that the fact that Bush received an honorable discharge doesn't get him off the hook on suspicions he was a no-show during his time with the Guard:

"The issue here, as I have heard it raised, is was he present and active on duty in Alabama at the times he was supposed to be," Kerry declared. "Just because you get an honorable discharge does not in fact answer that question."

Five days earlier during an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes," Kerry compared Bush's Guard service to those who fled to Canada during the Vietnam War.

"There is a question that's been raised about whether -- about what [Bush's] service was. And I don't know the answers to those questions," he told Sean Hannity.

"I've never made any judgments about any choice somebody made about avoiding the draft, about going to Canada, going to jail, being a conscientious objector [or] going into the National Guard. Those are choices people make."

How about it, Sen. Kerry? Care to apologize to President Bush for opening this particular Pandora's Box?

Editor's note: