Grover Norquist: What I Meant to Say about John McCain

Given the state of political discourse these days, it's worth noting when a political figure acknowledges that his rhetoric may have gotten a little overheated. Conservative activist and uber-fundraiser Grover Norquist evidently thought he should reconsider his remarks from last week when he called John McCain "that nut-job from Arizona" and referred to Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins as "the two girls from Maine." According to the Washington Post:

Norquist backed away from his "girls" comment yesterday, telling The Post's Brian Faler that he did not mean to be derisive. "It was not meant that way. We were talking to a bunch of college kids," he said.

In other words, when talking to college Republicans, one should act like a college Republican. Norquist also retracted his "nut-job" comment:

As for McCain, Norquist said he "misspoke" and added, "I meant to say gun-grabbing, tax-increasing Bolshevik."