What struck me most about the piece was the absolute fear that Bai sensed in Kerry. That’s the fear that comes from being a liberal who doesn’t believe we’re really fighting a war on terror, but can’t admit out loud: 1) that he’s a liberal; 2) that he doesn’t believe we’re really fighting a war on terror. He has to worry constantly about betraying himself by signaling his true beliefs–so he lives in a state of self-induced terror.