revisiting that Skull and Bones thing

Somewhere or other, the matter of John Kerry’s Skull and Bones involvement came up.  Specifically, the annoying clinging to the rule of Skull and Bones that thou shall never say a word about it — Bush and Kerry both belonged to a secret society that they refused to talk about.

So Kerry sat there on Meet the Press, and did this.

That tight-lipped “Can’t talk about it”, followed by a moment of awkward silence as it went on, and then the awkward shift of topic with “I’ll tell you what’s not a secret” to the cursory jab at Bush.
It was a disorienting moment, and at a certain moment I wonder if a margin of Kerry’s defeat could not have been made up if he hadn’t done this.  The appropriate answer is pretty easy to conjure up, to the effect of: “It was a good experience in college, met lots of friends, had a lot of good times, good memories.  And, yes, a few of the traditions  were sort of silly.”

BANG!  A percentage point and a half the queasy feeling one gets in staring at two candidates who seem to be in a perpetual inside-joke that they refuse to let go, and continue on with when in Powerful Places.  (Bush pulled the same thing on Meet the Press.)  KERRY WINS!
But then again, perhaps the all powerful Skull and Bones hierarchy would have destroyed him right then and there.

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