Mr. Wonka, one of your Oompa-Loompas is missing

Poor John Kerry just can't seem to catch a break. Today he's got his new skin colouration to take away the oxygen from whatever policy position he's promoting lately. I'm assuming some consultant determined that Kerry was too pale and needed a bit of colour -- too bad those tanning pills can sometimes turn you orange. And just before the debates too, that's gotta hurt.

This is funny, but it also goes to the heart of what's wrong with Kerry. The moral of many after-school specials was, 'just be yourself'. It's still good advice. But for Kerry, after 20 years in the Senate doing the Zelig thing with every person he met, there's no self left to be. Bush is frequently considered by the clever people to be just the friendly front for those that manage him, but certainly gives the impression at least that there's someone in there. Kerry is the result of competing focus groups and consultancy reports. He does what he's told by the last 'expert' to see him -- which has resulted in the present chaotic mess of conflicting policies and postures. I'm interested to see what mode he'll be set to for the debates.

UPDATE: It didn't take too long for the photoshoppers to go to work.