More on Kerry

[This started out as a comment to Terry's long post on the subject, but I think it's just gotten too big.]

I find it very instructive to judge people by who they consider important, or worthy of admiration, or who they want to model themselves after. The yokel who considers white trash pop stars as examples; the thug wannabe idolizing the rap stars; the hollywood groupies enraptured by a heartthrob or babe of the week - at best these people lose my respect, and at worst I have contempt for them. You have to set your sights higher, on the kinds of people that represent the best in human action and behavior, not the lowest & most meaningless we have to offer.

So what to make of a political party and its supporters that thinks a man like Kerry deserves the highest office in the nation? That a man that can casually insult the most honorable members of our citizenry (not to mention the rest of us who disagree with his politics) should be given the right to decide and direct national policy?

I recognize the reality of Kerry's presence in presidential politics. Many within the party do not idolize Kerry - he appeared at the right time for many to be the best option to win the White House. Most, I suspect, would have chosen a better candidate if they could have. The fact that Kerry is the best they had to offer is frightening - no one serious, with respect for the citizens of this nation and the tasks ahead of us was available to them? There are practical political factors behind Kerry's standing within the party and the left, I grant you. And, naturally, the Bush Hatred Factor contributes mightily to every choice made by the left.

And yet...

There is a noticeable group of people who truly respect this man. And Harry Reid, and Ted Kennedy, and the rest of the lefty "leadership." This is what they idealize. The old saw is "judging a man by the company he keeps." I think one can also judge by the leaders people follow, and the examples they hold up to the rest of us to follow. Needless to say, Kerry is a fool. A wealthy, privileged fool lording over the plebes and promising panem et circenses for all, never mind the higher taxes we shall have to pay to accomodate the circus clowns. A fool without the sense to keep his mouth shut, especially when his foot is zeroing in on his perfectly whitened teeth.

This is what you hold in high esteem? Think carefully, voters, if this ideal matches what you truly respect. What's worse? The fool, or the fools who put him in power?