WHEN JOHN KERRY SPEAKS, NOBODY LISTENS – AT 8:20 P.M. ET:  Is there a duller man in politics than John Kerry?  Is there a man whose timing is worse?  The man just shines with distinction. 

Now, apparently speaking for his party, Kerry takes on Dick Cheney.  Just at the time when Americans are becoming concerned again about terror, and the former vice president speaks the words Americans agree with, Kerry attacks him.  What great strategy.  From The Politico:

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) went after former Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday for leading Republican “hysteria” in the wake of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner.

Did you see any hysteria?  I didn't.

“Unfortunately, too many Republicans have treated this episode as a political opportunity,” Kerry said in a statement. “Led by former Vice President Dick Cheney, they have resorted to partisan denunciations that serve no legitimate purpose and have no place in the nation’s vital debate over how to fight terrorism.”

Yeah, right.  Like all that bipartisanship that Kerry gave us during the Bush administration.  The Republican criticisms have been entirely appropriate, and often constructive. 

“The hysteria of Mr. Cheney and some of his fellow Republicans is sadly reminiscent of the days when the previous administration substituted fearmongering for sound policy and led us into an unnecessary and tragic war in Iraq while starving a necessary conflict in Afghanistan,” Kerry added.

Would you get that?  Has Kerry noticed that the "necessary conflict in Afghanistan" does not have the support of the base of his own party?  And at a time when Americans are starting to realize that President Bush kept the country safe in the years after 9-11, Kerry attacks...BUSH (!!).

Oh, and Big John: We're winning in Iraq.  It's tough, nothing certain, but Bush's surge policy, developed by David Petraeus, has paid off.  What do you read every day, Senator?

January 6, 2009