STARRING KERRY AS "WILL KANE," BUSH AS "BILLY THE KID"

I really, really dislike Dick Cheney. The old fraud had the chutzpah to say today that "John Kerry [is] an indecisive opportunist who is "not prepared to lead America in the war on terror."

Dismissing Kerry's plan for Iraq as "an echo" of President Bush's strategy, the vice president told supporters that Kerry has supported and opposed Bush on Iraq depending on how he assessed the political advantage.

(1) Kerry is surely much more prepared to lead America in the war on terror since:
(a) he's not at war with the CIA;
(b) he reads intelligence reports;
(c) as an educated man (not merely a degreed one) he has some familiarity with the world, its diverse cultures, diplomacy, etc.
(d) he'll listen to someone other than Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, and Doug Feith.

(2) Bush is now TRYING to "echo" JOHN KERRY's plan, not the other way around, but he's extremely unlikely to see much success since he's hated, despised, or at the very least mistrusted, by all the nations and leaders he needs to accomplish it. Once more it's a case of "too little, too late."

(3) Kerry, like most Americans (not me), supported Bush as PRESIDENT and REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR NATION in his attempts to disarm Saddam (before it was known he was armless). That's not the action of a man who had decided to oppose the pResident to gain political advantage over him. If they didn't differ, who would vote for Kerry? He never "supported" Shrubby's rush to war, although he did compliment the troops on their splendid performance in toppling the regime.

(4) Since Americans seem to be in love with tough Western characters, I think it's time for us to start comparing Kerry with Gary Cooper's in High Noon, who deliberated thoughtfully before he started blasting pistols, and picture Bush as Emilio Estevez's Billy the Kid, who comes out with pistols blazing without giving a thought to the ultimate consequences. These probably aren't the best pairings (since I'm not a fan of Westerns), but surely someone can come up with an effective analogy, hmm?