Some of you may have missed this from last week. John Kerry actually compared the state of Louisiana to Vietnam.

Standing at the bow of a 25-foot power craft called "Fishing Magician" inspecting coastal erosion in southern Louisiana reminded Kerry of his days as commander of a Navy "swift" boat 35 years ago.

"I looked out at the shoreline and I commented that parts of it looked a lot like the rivers and coastline that I went through in Vietnam," the Massachusetts senator said.

He told about 100 supporters sweltering in the heat on the banks of the Mississippi that he had spent a lot of time "in a habitat that looked a little like this" as a young Naval officer. He said the 50-foot gunboat he commanded was built "right here in Louisiana."

He's not backing away from the comments either. His campaign web site carries a proud synopsis of the events.

At one point, the decorated veteran and presidential candidate pointed off to one side of his boat and said: "This river bank over here looks like some of the river banks in Vietnam."

Replied [Rep. William] Jefferson: "Yeah, but nobody's shooting at you."

Is comparing someone's home to a communist third world country a complement? Just how out of touch can you get?