John Kerry is soaking up media attention and basking in the bright light of his own diplomatic genius in bringing around Hamid Karzai to the Obama administration’s point of view. Question: Isn’t this what Richard Holbrooke was supposed to be doing? Could it be that Holbrooke — diplomat extraordinaire — so badly alienated Karzai in the course of leading the administration’s botched handling of the first election that he no longer has any sway with the Afghan leader?