A reader writes:

I think what you are describing (Kerry’s ability to nuance his butt off) is actually a symptom of a bigger failing. I have often thought and others have written extensively about the moral relativism of modern liberals. I believe the phenomena you describe is simply part of the condition that makes all things good or evil based upon a constantly updated current evaluation of how I feel and what others are doing or thinking. Kerry and those like him have to reevalutate what is right and wrong every moment of every day because they are too sophisticated and brilliant to be constrained by a dreary notion of right or wrong rooted in anything so silly as religion or even philosophy. The inability to recognize their own wishy washy behavior is a symptom of the disease that is moral relativism.
Ironically, a fundemental division exists between parties and portions of society that those who hold to a belief system that recognizes a stable concept of right and wrong are always going to be at odds with those who redefine right and wrong on an hourly or daily basis. Frankly, Kerry is just a highly evolved liberal. A true conservative may be willing to overlook flaws in a system that generally works well. Kerry, on the otherhand, is never willing to appreciate the benefits (unless of course he can take credit for them) of a system that can be shown to have flaws. Kerry can with a straight face (long long straight face) claim to have a more nuanced approach because it is true. Kerry will reshape, alter, fold, spindle and mutilate his own plans and beliefs every moment of every day to take into account every little change in the world that he perceives.
The difficulty Kerry has is that most regular, working people are not wealthy enough or privileged enough to afford this sort of nuance. Bosses tend to not care how sophisticated your approach is. They tend to want results. And, anyone in business knows that the wrong decision based on the facts you knew at the time will always work out better than the right decision two months too late. Most folks are way to busy living and learning and earning. We just don’t have the time to be so slick. Being unsophisticated hicks we rely on traditional notions of right and wrong, good and bad in the here and now of our lives. We are parochial and boring and we are the backbone of this country and the world. We are also the folks who save the world every single day while brilliant and nuanced deep thinkers dither away the days constantly coming up with the right answer just a few days too late to matter.