Shut the %$#@ Up: Part III

Is any progressive besides me tired of John Kerry?

Senator Kerry is a talented, dedicated and effective public servant. And he would have made a decent president, sparing us 4 more years of pain under Commander Cuckoo Bananas.

But the good Senator is not the Great Communicator. He proved that in 2004.

I take him at his word, that he merely meant to deride W with his "botched joke" two days ago. Especially after hearing parts of the speech which preceded and followed the part that's gotten so much attention over the last few days. But a seasoned politician, particularly a veteran United States Senator, should have an instinct to avoid even being in the same neighborhood with the comments he made. The RNC folks are peeing themselves over this one. Those sharks know blood when they smell it.

And then his ego prevented a graceful exit. Instead he subjected us once more to that awkward, clumsy Kerry shuffle. The comments required a nuanced explanation. Then the explanation required a nuanced explanation. A painful flashback to 2004. The Great Equivocator.

Enter the leftie talking and writing heads. More explanation. Thin claims that all reasonable people would not have mistaken Kerry's comments, that the White House is intentionally making a mountain out of a molehill.

Next, righties everywhere wrap themselves in the flag once more and feign cynical, phony shock at this insult to our "brave men and women in uniform". The righteous demands for an apology. Then, on script, the declaration of the apology being either too little, or too late, or both.

Two sad things about this: First, the veneer of Iraq was finally wearing thin for the righties. So what does the good Senator do? He gives them a giant October present. Second thing? There's more than a little truth to his unintended meaning, and politicians on both sides of the aisle know it.

The good part? Any progressive who forgot the lessons of 2004 is reminded again why the Senator should not get his or her support in the 2008 presidential primaries.