John Kerry can't even vacation without making an ass out of himself, according to the New York Times and ABC's The Note. While playing on the slopes and chatting with members of the media, Kerry got knocked off his feet snowboarding after getting tangled up with a member of his Secret Service security detail. While most people would choose to make a joke out of such an incident, Kerry reminded the nation that he's never the one at fault for anything:

His next trip down, a reporter and a camera crew were allowed to follow along on skis — just in time to see Mr. Kerry taken out by one of the Secret Service men, who had inadvertently moved into his path, sending him into the snow.

When asked about the mishap a moment later, he said sharply, "I don't fall down," then used an expletive to describe the agent who "knocked me over."

From a more personal point of view, here's The Note's Ed O'Keefe:

As Senator John Kerry carved his Burton snowboard down a green rated Upper College run, another skier interrupted his stride, colliding with the presumptive Democratic nominee at 9,010 feet.

The slope-cade of two Ski Patrollers, several Secret Service agents, two journalists, one camera and one Kerry aide suddenly came to a halt. The Massachusetts Senator lay on the ground, removed his Smith sunglasses, and surveyed the damage.

Assured that the ABC News camera accompanying the entourage had not captured Kerry's fall, the Senator glared at your sloping Noter and assured, "I don't fall down. That son of a bitch ran into me."

I don't fall down. That son of a bitch ran into me. A common proverb instructs that one can get the best measure of a man by how he treats those whose stations are below his. In one response, Kerry confirms his character as a patrician, full-of-himself snob who can never admit to one misstep, instead blaming those around him for any errors he commits.

Think of how George Bush (41 or 43), Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, or even Joe Lieberman would have reacted to such an incident. There would have been a self-deprecating joke, a suggestion of an official pardon for the agent, perhaps (with Reagan or Bush 43), a folksy anecdote about brushing one's self off after a fall and going back to try again. Instead, Kerry snaps at reporters, claims he's perfect, blames his subordinate for his fall, and then makes a show of going back down the mountain, "a look of intensity on his face, his lanky frame bent low to the ground."

Does this mean anything about policy? No. But it tells you something about character, and Kerry's revealed an ugly side of himself here that all the ads in the world won't cover up. (via Hugh Hewitt)

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Kerry: Sourpuss?:

» Vacation, Spotlight? -- Vacation, Spotlight? from Cranial Cavity
To hell with it, I'm such a pompous ass I'll take the Spotlight. -- John Kerry.His next trip down, a reporter and a camera crew were allowed to follow along on skis — just in time to see Mr. Kerry... [Read More]

Tracked on March 19, 2004 7:14 PM