After a week of well-deserved ridicule, Sen. Jon Kyl's spokesman releases a statement to the Arizona Republic about the absurd notion that his wild misstatement about Planned Parenthood was "not intended to be a factual statement":

"Senator Kyl misspoke when he incorrectly cited a statistic on the Senate floor last week regarding Planned Parenthood," Patmintra said. "Rather than simply state that in response to a media inquiry, I responded that his comment was not intended to be a factual statement; a comment that, in retrospect, made no sense. Senator Kyl neither saw nor approved that response."

But Kyl stands behind his effort to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood's other health-care services for women:

I regret the error. However, regardless of the number, I believe it is still fair to question whether taxpayers should continue to subsidize Planned Parenthood, thereby freeing up its resources to provide abortion services.

Well, that should put an end to the whole controversy and we can go back to respecting Kyl for being such an honest statesman. (#NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement)

[Arizona Republic]