John Kerry in Manila
The humorist P.J. O'Rourke has a contribution to the latest issue of the Weekly Standard recalling John Kerry's 1986 wimp-out in the Philippines. John Kerry was in Manila in 1986 as a member of the American delegation tasked by then American President Ronald Reagan to observe the snap elections. According to P.J. O'Rourke, who was also in Manila that time covering for the Rolling Stone, Kerry did nothing when Mrs. Bea Zobel, upon the suggestion of O'Rourke and Village Voice's Joe Conason, asked him for help after the walkout of some thirty COMELEC computer operators. O'Rourke writes that:

He [Kerry] was ushered into an area that had been cordoned off from the press and the crowd and where the computer operators were sitting. To talk to the women, all he would have had to do was raise his voice. Why he was reluctant, I can't tell you. I can tell you what any red-blooded representative of the U.S. Government should have done. He should have shouted, "If you're frightened for your safety, I'll take you to the American embassy, and damn the man who tries to stop me." But all Kerry did was walk around like a male model in a concerned and thoughtful pose.

O'Rourke says that the manila 1986 episode was characteristic of Kerry, having his cake and eating it too. Not wanting to displease the pro-Marcos Reagan, Kerry simply watched as events unfolded, going the convenient way of the wimp. O'Rourke concludes:

Just as today Kerry is brave sailor/bold war protester; foe of Saddam/friend of Hans Blix; political underdog/entitled nominee; big government liberal/corporate tax-cutting conservative; rider of Harleys/marrier of Heinz; and, incidentally, still a real jerk.

Perhaps, Kerry was a jerk. So is W Bush now. Would that Hillary run.