humoring the proles

Glenn Reynolds has a link-rich roundup of reactions to John Kerry's terrorism-as-nuisance gaffe. Even if you don't usually follow links, do not miss Rudy Giuliani's response—if the Senator seems strangely unable to sit down at this Wednesday's debate, the Mayor should be the prime suspect.

Were I not so bloody tired, I might describe just how the foreign policy vision revealed in the Times piece is as attractive a prospect as Madeleine Albright in a thong bikini. But for now, I'll just leave you with this very, very odd and revealing excerpt (via Ryan Sager).

On an evening in August, just after a campaign swing through the Southwest, Kerry and I met, for the second of three conversations about terrorism and national security, in a hotel room overlooking the Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica pier. A row of Evian water bottles had been thoughtfully placed on a nearby table. Kerry frowned.

''Can we get any of my water?'' he asked Stephanie Cutter, his communications director, who dutifully scurried from the room. I asked Kerry, out of sheer curiosity, what he didn't like about Evian.

''I hate that stuff,'' Kerry explained to me. ''They pack it full of minerals.''

''What kind of water do you drink?'' I asked, trying to make conversation.

''Plain old American water,'' he said.

''You mean tap water?''

''No,'' Kerry replied deliberately. He seemed now to sense some kind of trap. I was left to imagine what was going through his head. If I admit that I drink bottled water, then he might say I'm out of touch with ordinary voters. But doesn't demanding my own brand of water seem even more aristocratic? Then again, Evian is French — important to stay away from anything even remotely French.

''There are all kinds of waters,'' he said finally. Pause. ''Saratoga Spring.'' This seemed to have exhausted his list. ''Sometimes I drink tap water,'' he added.

JFK v2.0b, working class hero.