The album of snapshots showing John Kerry — beer in hand — with a bevy of young women has prompted a defensive-sounding denial:

“The caption on this TMZ gossip website is completely erroneous and insulting, and it should be immediately corrected. As Sen. Kerry and two friends left dinner at the Straight Warf restaurant on Nantucket and walked down the dock, a large group on a boat recognized Senator Kerry and asked if they could have a photo taken. The group came off the boat and onto the dock, took a photo with Sen. Kerry and his friends, and then Sen. Kerry and his two friends immediately walked away. End of story,” said Kerry spokesperson David Wade.

Apparently, this “spokesperson” fears that some people don’t get the ethos of the Facebook generation. The whole point of having a Facebook page, as any College Republican could tell you, is to post photos of yourself and your friends that enhance your reputation as a popular, fun-loving party animal. Kerry (and his “spokesperson”) can breathe a sigh of relief that at least none of the girls started doing that fake-lesbian-kissing thing that’s so common in Facebook photos.

UPDATE: A clarification seems necessary. While this photo appears to show Sen. Kerry holding a beer, it’s also possible that the hand holding the beer belongs to the wasted-looking woman beside him. It’s like Rashomon . . .